Atlanta Championship 2013

I recently played in the amateur (<1800) section of the Atlanta championship ending up sole winner with 4.5/5. This was one of my best games in the tournament. The last move (a modest pawn push) is effectively a zugzwang, which is a rare game finish for me.

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I'm back!

Where to start? Since my last posts, I've moved from Montpellier, France to Athens, USA. I'm still playing chess. My USCF grade has yo-yo'd a bit. Currently 1696 but I'm hoping that is an underestimate. I recently beat a player rated >2000. My tactics are a bit foggy, as the game shows. I'm using the website "chess tempo" to work on that. Meanwhile, enjoy the game.

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Narbonne 2008 Round 5 - Lesson 5

in my round 5 game i had the black pieces against a 1990 rated opponent. the opening had a been a little difficult for me and i have just castled in the hope of consolidating.



here, my opponent did what i had done in my first round game: he'd become fixated on one plan and was not considering alternatives. he wants to put a rook on the 7th rank. obviously 24.Rd7 loses to 24...Nxd7 so he played 24.Bxe5 removing the defender of d7, but after 24...fxe5 he realised in time that there was a nasty check looming (25...Bh6+) so he had to waste a move dealing with that threat (25.Rc3). this gave me time to take control of the d-file (25...Rfd8 & 26...Bf6) and the game was eventually drawn.

rather than the routine "rook to the 7th" plan, white could have played 24.Rd6 keeping the bishop pair, doubling rooks on the d-file and even threatening tactics against black's weak g6 pawn in some lines. i think that looking for plan B, plan C etc is something we could all work on.

Narbonne 2008 Round 4 - Lesson 4

look at the whole board! this might sound obvious but take my round 4 game. i had the white pieces against a 1775 player, and felt i stood a lot better. the opening was a caro-kann nimzowich and my opponent had begun to play some 'off-beat' moves. in the position below i was focussed on 2 tactical ideas: the e-file with white's Q and black's K; and the h2-b8 diagonal where i wanted to put my B to attack the Q. I was trying to make the tactics work, playing my B to f4 to provoke black into pushing his pawn to e5.



if i had been surveying the board as a whole, i would have noticed that if i start with 20.c5, then black must move the bishop on to the a-file, so his rook at a8 is no longer protecting the pawn on a4. then my 21.Bf4 would provoke 21...e5. although the tactics involving the e-file and the h2-b8 diagonal don't work, after 22.dxe5 Nxe5 i will be able to play Qxa4 safely (probably after exchanging rooks on d8 in the case of 20...Ba7).

Narbonne 2008 Round 3 - Lesson 3

my round 3 game was one of the most exciting. i was paired against a fairly strong player (1965 elo) and i had the black pieces. it was a king's gambit and we both missed wins (the game eventually being drawn). the main lesson i learned was that i need to improve my sense of when i have a winning idea. let's look at one of the critical positions



my opponent has just attacked my queen with 22.c4

what is the best square for my queen? highlight the space between these quotation marks for the answer "g2! play it through and see if you can see how things end up after the exchanges on g2"

Narbonne 2008 Round 2 - Lesson 2

staying focussed is very important during tournaments. i notice that some people walk around after they've played their move, while others remain at the board. i usually stay at the board and use the technique that many good players have mentioned: when it's your move, use the time to calculate specific lines - and when it's your opponent's move, plan your strategies using more general principles.

in my round 2 game, i had the white pieces and have just played 15.RxNe4



what's wrong with the automatic recapture 15...exf4? and what should black play instead?

for the answers, highlight the space between these quotation marks

"if 15...exf4 then 16.Nd6+ wins the exchange. black should instead play 15...a6. once the white knight can no longer hop into d6, then black can think about exf4"

although my opponent didn't fall into this trap, i later went on to win this game.

Narbonne 2008 Round 1 - Lesson 1

i've just finished playing in a 7-round open. in the first round i was paired against an IM rated 2370. i didn't last too long but there are still some lessons to be learned.

we got a fairly standard position out of the 4.Ng5 variation of the two knights defence. i am black and my opponent has just played 13.Re1



here i ignored the saying "if you see a good move... look for a better one". i found the idea of playing f5 irresistible (followed by the pawn fork e4). first i played 13...Nxc3 and after 14.dxc3, i struck out with 14...f5

clearly, i should have thought things through more. why would an IM allow this? if you play it through you'll see that white gets a big attack (and gets the piece back).

However, 13.Re1 wasn't such a great move. if i had played 13...Nb4 i would have lasted longer, enjoying a nice middle-game. white's bishop on d3 is tied to defending c2. if white tries to force the issue with 14.a3 then black can play 14...Nxd3 and whether or not queen's are exchanged, white would have to play cxd3 at some point, when my other knight on a5 can jump into the 'hole' on b3.

i was guilty of underestimating and overestimating my opponent at the same time. i underestimated him by not looking deeper into the f5, e4 pawn pushes, and i overestimated him by assuming that Re1 was a natural, un-punishable developing move.

the lesson?: play the board and not the opponent. it doesn't matter whether the person sitting opposite you is much higher rated or much lower rated. you should always think your plans through carefully (especially if they involve committal pawn pushes!) and you should always question your opponent's move, however natural it looks.