Facing 1.b4 · Road to GM, Game 260

June 25, 2022 NHaselton Uncategorized

Hanging PawnsSat, June 25, 2022 12:00pmURL:
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In round 3 I played a lower rated opponent and he started with b4, the Polish Opening. I’ve faced this in a tournament game, but I played the setup I play against b3, which should give black a slight edge.

I managed to get an edge, and kept allowing him to equalize. Several times. Eventually, we reached an endgame which was completely winning for me. In a single move. It was like a 1500 rated puzzle on lichess. I messed it up. Mistakes I made in this game were purely psychological I think. Missing easy wins shows lack of concentration and involvement in the game, and should alarm me way more than real “chess” mistakes. This is something I will have to work on until I play again. The worst thing is, it kept happening in the games I’ll be showing you in the following days.

Deriš A. (1852) – Tomic S. (2043)
Polish Opening
Vrsar Open 2022, Rd. 3

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