V. Lovrinic (1739 ELO) vs S. Tomic (1863 ELO), D00, Queen’s Pawn Game, Mason Attack
V Cro. League, rd. 9, 10/28/18
I got crushed. Congratulations to my opponent who completely outplayed me. He played a thematic queenside attack with Qb3, and after Qb6, c5 and forcing me to take. Now, the common response after he recaptures is for black to play Nbd7 and a6, thus being able to move the rook from the sensitive a file in anticipation of b5.
I knew that attacking plan was a weakness of mine, so I worked on it in preparation for this game. I found an aggressive idea in which I counterattack on the kingside, not giving him enough time to force through his idea of b4, b5 comfortably.
I got my exact plan in, but the middlegame went horribly wrong. I played three bad moves in a row, which got my position from equal to lost. I misplaced my pieces, gave up any initiative I had in the center and on the kingside, got scared and started defending. To make matters worse I gave up my dark squared bishop while trying to make a tactical idea work. I didn’t manage to make it work and my bishop being gone left a gaping hole in the middle of my position which my opponent went on to exploit masterfully.
A bad game, but full of useful lessons. A lot to work on!
Game moves:
1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Bf5 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 e6
5. Qb3 Qb6 6. c5 Qxb3 7. axb3 Nd7 8. b4 f6
9. Nf3 g5 10. Bg3 h5 11. h4 g4 12. Nd2 Bh6
13. b5 e5 14. e3 Ne7 15. bxc6 bxc6 16. b4 exd4
17. exd4 Kf7 18. b5 Rhe8 19. Kd1 Be6 20. bxc6 Nxc6
21. Nb5 Rh8 22. Bd3 Bxd2 23. Kxd2 Nf8 24. Kc3 Bd7
25. Ra6 Ne6 26. Bf5 Nxc5 27. Nd6+ Kg7 28. dxc5 Bxf5
29. Nxf5+ Kg6 30. Rxc6 Kxf5 31. Ra6 Rac8 32. Bd6 Rhe8
33. Kd2 Re4 34. Re1 Rd4+ 35. Kc3 Rc4+ 36. Kd3 Rg8
37. Rxa7 g3 38. fxg3 Rgg4 39. Bf4 Rxc5 40. Ra4 Rg7
41. Rf1 Kg6 42. Ra6 Rb7 43. Rxf6+