Shanky-Santarius

The recent Chicago Class Championships was won by GM Dmitry Gurevich with a score of 4/5. My result was not amazing and I think fatigue was starting to settle in- I had played three nine round tournaments in a row and was not well rested. However, in round 4 I managed to win a nice game on the white side of the Catalan, which I present to you here:

One lesson I learned from analyzing this game was that I was complacent after the opening phase worked out really nicely for me. I'll have to think further whether my lack of calculation and killer instinct was due somewhat to fatigue, or just to the satisfaction of having a beautiful position. This will be my last week taking over GM Bhat's column; I hope you enjoyed the games and be sure to give him a hearty welcome back home!

Sam Shankland