Edinburgh Fide Open Rounds 1-4

Well the first three rounds didn't end too well for me, but I won round 4! =D

Round 1 vs Jonny Scott was fairly tight until he unleashed a pretty remarkable attack out of nowhere (at least from my perspective). He can't have calculated all of it from the beginning of the attack so it's a great example of imagination and instinct, especially from such a young player (he's 15 or 16).

Round 2 vs Ian Marks was going well until I missed an inbetween move which lost material, although I tried to fight back with not much success. Ian confirmed in our post-game analysis that he thought I had a better position prior to that and he was really struggling for ideas so I can take something from that. Had I been more patient and built my position before trying to exploit his weaknesses then it might have been a different outcome, or maybe not. Connect rooks on the back rank is a must-learn lesson!

Round 3 vs Findlay Murray was pretty even throughout with him having the better of the beginning but me probably having it slightly better after that: until I blundered a pawn after 3 hours and 20 minutes of play. I was very annoyed with myself for overlooking something so simple, and something that proved decisive! I decided to play it out until it was beyond doubt as I resigned a drawn ending in the Edinburgh Congress Open (which I was pissed about).

Round 4 vs Eoin Campbell was a repeat of last season (which I won), and now it has happened again. I was very happy with the way I played in this one, which was probably even more emphatic than our last encounter, although on neither occasion did he play as accurately as he is able to. This one was virtually about momentum and tactics, and with material strewn all over the place it's not always easy to find the answers. I spent a lot of time calculating how to protect the full piece, rather than let him get it back to me just having the exchange advantage.