A free lesson from a Fide Master ⎸Road to GM, Game 16

July 16, 2018 NHaselton Uncategorized

Hanging PawnsMon, July 16, 2018 10:07pmURL:
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FM Matija Ostovic (2372 ELO) vs Stjepan Tomic (1851 ELO), Semi-Slav D30, Quiet Variation
Marko Damjanovic Memorial, Round 1, 07/16/18

I faced a very strong opponent in the first round. He’s a strong FM and I had no idea who I would play because the pairings are announced a few minutes before the round starts in the Swiss pairing system. But, still, I wanted to stand my ground and not loose without a fight.

We played a quiet Semi-Slav and I was fairly familiar with the position and I got a reasonable middlegame for black. That’s when he started to put on immense pressure on my position and forced me into making several concessions. I misplaced my knight on b8 and he had the bishop pair.

I held on to it for a while, but then made a blunder which made an equal position just losing. It was a good lesson though, and I managed to get something out of this defeat. Still eights rounds to go!

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