Titled Tuesday

Yesterday I had my first experience with this new kind of tournament. As it has been more than a year since I played officially, I considered myself quite rusty.

I started with two wins, but in both cases I needed some luck and time pressure from my opponent's to impose my will. Here is the second win:

I exercised a lot of pressure in round 3 but couldn't crack my opponent. In the fourth round, I lost rather quickly from Jon Ludvig Hammer. I was quite nervous, and played the defence too quickly.

I had another disappointing draw but could beat my sixth opponent in a theoretical line. Then came round 7, in which I played my best game against a very strong opponent.

I played a favorite line of mine in round 8, against GM Kubrick28. I got better, but my rustiness prevented me from seeing clearly on how to proceed. In the end it was R+2p against R+p. He continued to play as long as he could, it was a draw because of the 50move rule, and so I had to begin the final round at once.

That final round opposed me against a strong young Dutch GM, who loves the Grunfeld.

So I ended with 5,5/9, which I considered a success in view of my strong opponents as well as lack of practice. Hope to be back next time.