Inside the Master Mind: Fight a Strong Chess Master

In this article from the “Inside the Master Mind: The Best Games of a Chess Coach”, I would like to show you one of my best recent games. That game was played at the prestigious open tournament in Teteven (Bulgaria) this year and my opponent was the strong and experienced international master Sasho Nikolov. I had to play with black pieces and since that game was very important for my good performance at the tourney, I had to choose a specific opening system which would provide me with convenient development with good middlegame perspectives. Since, as I already mentioned, the game was of great importance for me and my adversary was strong, during the preparation I emphasized more on finding a system, in which both players will have the chance to lead a long and exhaustive battle with dynamic contents, such in which my opponent will not feel well. This is the place where I want to give the readers one very useful piece of advice: When you are going to play against a strong opponent it is of great importance for you to choose the specific opening variation in which your game should not be very complicated  (for instance, positions with material compensation, opening variation that you have not played often or have no experience in exploring it in the middlegame level after the opening, etc.) and at the same time your position and the placement of your pieces to be harmonious and stable. Certainly, this advice should not be used as a principle, since the most important thing in the preparation for a given game of chess is to choose such a variation in which the positions arising in the middlegame are not the same as the favorite and most often chosen ones by your adversary. Therefore, sometimes, when you know that your opponent does not feel well in certain dynamic and unclear variations, you should choose such kind of variation and thus improve even more your chances for getting a good result at the end. Nevertheless, all you have to know about, when you are playing against a strong chess player is that you should never scatter your pieces thoughtlessly and haphazardly on the board, but to keep each of them in harmony with all the rest. Something similar happened in my game against IM Sasho Nikolov. I chose to play a variation against the Ruy Lopez, where it arose a complex and dynamic positional battle, in which there appeared to be a long and exhaustive game, something that was not at all in the style of my adversary. Additionally my position remained consistent all the time.

In the above game, you see how the concentration of strength in one given part of the board is the most vital and critical moment in the game, which can influence decisively over the outcome of your struggle for success.