The final round of Dorastav Open. A great thank you to everyone who supported the channel and made it possible to play the tournament!
The last round was extremely frustrating. I was the last board to finish the morning round so I had no time to prepare. Combine that with the fact that I had no sleep the night before, and you get a winning combination.
Regardless, I tried to focus as best as possible and play as best I could. I faced a slightly higher rated opponent with the black pieces. We entered the Exchange Caro Kann and I chose a sideline which I know well. His response was uncommon. He played f3 and Kf2, which isn’t bad, but it gives black an equal game.
Right out of the opening I had tactical ideas and possible threats (while he didn’t have anything offensive on the horizon). Soon enough, playing really quickly and without too much thinking, my opponent made a horrible move and blundered the key d4 pawn. After that, the game was simply winning for me. Since the queens were off already, all I had to do was consolidate and expand in the center (which was the most obvious continuation too). Instead, I complicated matters and traded off into an opposite colored bishops ending!
The game was a dead draw after that. A dead draw. Needless to say that I wanted to scream and shout and run like a madman for screwing a winning position up without spending 5 minutes on the clock. Still, a lesson to be learned. Regardless of material superiority or piece activity, consider trading with care. No matter how winning the position is!
S. Tomic (1859) vs D. Chlpek (1931), 2019 Doprastav Open, Bratislava, Round 7, 04/21/2019, Caro-Kann, Exchange Variation
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Nf6 6. Bf4 Qb6 7. Qb3 Qxb3 8. axb3 g6 9. f3 Bg7 10. Kf2 O-O 11. Nd2 Re8 12. Ne2 Bd7 13. Rhe1 Nh5 14. Be3 f5 15. Nf4 Nxf4 16. Bxf4 a6 17. Bc2 Rac8 18. b4 Nxd4 19. Bd1 Nc6 20. Nb3 e5 21. Nc5 Rc7 22. Bd2 Bf8 23. Bb3 Bxc5+ 24. bxc5 Be6 25. Ba4 Bf7 26. f4 e4 27. Bxc6 Rxc6 28. Be3 Ra8 29. Ra5 Rcc8 30. Bd4 Be8 31. Ke3 Bb5 32. Rea1 Kf7 33. Re1 Rg8 34. h4 h6 35. Rh1 Rad8 36. Be5 Ke6 37. b4 Rd7 38. Raa1 Rf7 39. g3 Rc8 40. Bd4 Rcc7 41. Be5 Rcd7 42. Bd4 Rh7 43. Rag1 Rdf7 44. Be5 Rf8 45. Bd4 Bc6 46. Ra1 Rg8 47. Rag1 Rd7 48. Rh2 Rf7 49. Rhh1 Kd7 50. Be5 1/2-1/2
—
If you would like to support the channel and my quest to chess improvement, you can donate here: https://www.paypal.me/HangingPawns
Thank you to everyone who made Doprastav Open possible!
Aurel Mihai F., Christian S., Antonio B., Данила Ш., Alessandro D. B., Jakub S., Frank J., Robert L., Cedric J., Richard C., Ronaldo B., Codefog, Jakub S., Dan O., Riccardo W., Shahram F.
—
The next tournament abroad I plan to play is at the start of July in Slovenia. The trip, accommodation, entry fee and food come out at roughly 860$. So far I am at 70/860$ (8.13%).
Thank you for the support so far!
Philip D., Alexandre M., Pascal S., Daniel N.
#chess