Losing to a lower rated opponent is always tough. And especially so when you have to reach a certain goal and win a number of rating points.

In round 3 (the first game of the video) I had faced a lower rated opponent whom I have completely underestimated. I went for a pawn sacrifice line in the Italian, the Deutz Gambit, a line in which black equalizes easily if he plays properly. To my surprise, my opponent did find all the best moves and had even managed to get me out of theory with a very aggressive move on move 9.

I blundered as reaction and was completely losing. Behind 19 Elo points… Horrible.

After having lost the game I came back to my room completely crushed. I had 6 rounds to go and had to spend most of them making up what I’ve messed up in rd. 3.

I sat and thought and decided to focus on round 4 and not dwell on my mistake. What’s even worse I got paired against a 1400 rated opponent in rd 4., which meant that even if I win I would only get 1.6 points back. It was tough… But, I won the game and I won round 5 as well.

Starting off badly in a tournament can ahppen to anyone any time. one simple blunder can make a difference between a great start and a devastatingly bad one. I think it’s key to stay focused after that and to regain composure.

Torturing yourself because of the mistake you made will weaken you for the rounds to follow. It’s not easy, but try to forget about it as soon as possible.

So, anyway, after 5 rounds I was at +1. Not too horrible. I was still 10 elo points behind and had a lot of work to do to earn them back. Rounds 6, 7, 8 and 9 will be covered soon and you will see how the thing finished.

#ZadarOpen #Chess #RoadtoGM