Serenity Now!
After my tournament in Montreal, I went to Philly to play the 7-day schedule of the World Open. The 7-day featured a pretty small group of players, most of whom were above 2500! After a draw with GM Vladimir Potkin (2721 USCF) in round 1, I got the white pieces against my friend GM Josh Friedel in round 2.
Josh has normally beaten me in tournament play, so I was hoping to get on the scoreboard with this game. Our last two games (one Ruy Lopez, one Nimzo Indian), both devolved into tactical melees where he came out on top. In this game, I essayed a rare line against the Queen's Indian Defense, hoping for a quieter life. But this was not to be - "Serenity now, insanity later!"
As usual, open the move list to see all the variations.
Question 1: What would you play here, after 7.Qc3?
Question 2: What would you play here, after 11...Nb4? Would you keep repeating, or move the queen away from the defense of the knight on c4?
Question 3: How would you play as White here after 18...Nc4?
Question 4: What would you play as Black after 22.Kf1?
Question 5: How do you assess the position after 31.R1d2?
And here's the entire crazy game in one viewer:
