Thanks for the comments guys.

I considered the move briefly Graham (Nd6), but I saw that after he takes and I hit the Knight, I am then losing the Bishop too and I thought he was just winning then. My thought process at the time was actually to try and defend my King against the sac without losing material, and if that happened I think I would have probably been winning, Jonny had other ideas though.

Looking back on the game now I do see dangers from having my pieces quite cramped. I didn't think a sac would occur quite so quickly though, given the proximity of my Queen to the King. I figured that he might think it too risky; knowing that if it fails then he is probably worse, so I didn't even really consider it at that point. Note my move before the sac was preparing to get the Knight to b5, which is a pretty slow idea that is indicative of my opinion at that time that I wasn't in immediate danger and should be trying to develop my pieces onto good squares. When he did play it my first thought was that it must be sound though, and that I was probably done for, which turned out to be true.

To be honest I wasn't too disapointed after losing to Jonny in the first game. I don't think I played terribly, I was just outplayed; and will try to learn from that. The thing that bugs me the most is when I am in an even or superior position and ruin it with a stupid move, like in rnds 2 and 3. That said; it's only a game and things usually take a turn for the better in a tournament. I just seem to lack a bit of composure at the crucial stages against strong players; but I used to be much worse at it. For instance I remember once being up by a Rook against Stephen Hogg and I later turned down a draw offer and went on to lose. The nerves of beating someone like that just got to me. I doubt I would make such a mistake now.

I like the format Mike, although in reality I doubt it makes much difference to the actual players because in such a small tournament you will always end up playing most of the players anyway. Thanks for the good luck, and I wish the same for Jonny (especially now that he is in serious contention of winning it, and at least then I could say that I lost to the eventual champion too). None of the games are easy so it should be a pretty interesting end. I like a good challenge though, and being the underdog takes the pressure off a bit.

My record against Eoin is 2/2 now Graham. I'm not sure if he just doesn't like my style of opening after 1.d4, or if it's just a coincidence, but in both games against him I have won quickly and efficiently. I found some very accurate moves on both occasions, and I need to find those more consistently to rack up more than just the odd game in a row at an event like this one.

Hi Andrew,

Good luck in second part. What do you think of the format?

BTW Jonny's sac on h6 is fairly routine in these types of positions where the defender is cramped with his pieces largely out of play while the attacker can rapdily bring his pieces to bear. That said it takes courage to give up material without having a definite forced win.

I note that taking time to play 18 h3 saved white from nasty back ranks at the end.

Your 2nd and 3rd games were close affairs - chess is so cruel, so many games are lost by only 1 poor move or oversight. In a way that is good news as it means it only requires as small impovement to ensure that such games are drawn or won.

Very tough opposition, Andrew, but i'm guessing you never expected anything else.

I considered entering too, to get back from the doing i got in the East of Scotland, but haven't been keeping well all week.

One wonders how much stronger than his grade young Jonny Scott is. I think from the position where he played Bxh6, i would have been looking to try make something happen. I would have considered the same move, leaving the big weakness on f6, and with knights and queen well positioned. I don't think i could have seen it through the way he did, but it's incredibly difficult to accurately defend when pieces are coming at your king. Incidentally, Stockfish 1.9 gives 28. ...Nd6 as +/-  (0.88), is that a move you considered?

I'll bet Eoin will be sick of playing you. Is that 2½/3 against him now?

Well played. Unlucky on some of the earlier games. I don't see how you didn't spot the dangers from Johnny Scott's attack though. His two knights can clearly get in your face quickly and with his queen and rook also able to attack that side quickly he was clearly going to get much more than the bishop in return. Your king looks so isolated after Qe7.