Day seven at TATA Steel chess - Twenty minutes too late

Hi all! Time to post a blog on the adventures that I'll have at TATA steel chess. I'll be playing the amateur ten camp - ten days and 9 rounds of intense chess right next to the pro players. This will be day one of my blog and I will stream the analysis of my games every day. So sit back, relax and enjoy the content!

Make sure to follow me on my twitch channel where I will live stream the analysis of my games and tell you all the on site chess gossips! https://www.twitch.tv/bikfoot

• Part one: https://www.chess.com/blog/Bikfoot/day-one-at-tata-steel-chess-not-off-to-a-great-start
• Part two: https://www.chess.com/blog/Bikfoot/day-two-at-tata-steel-chess-the-best-defense-is-good-offense
• Part three: https://www.chess.com/blog/Bikfoot/day-three-at-tata-steel-chess-bishops-rule
• Part four: https://www.chess.com/blog/Bikfoot/day-four-at-tata-steel-chess-why-didnt-i-just-take-the-draw-offer
• Part five: https://www.chess.com/blog/Bikfoot/day-five-at-tata-steel-chess-my-opponent-played-what
• Part six: https://www.chess.com/blog/Bikfoot/day-six-at-tata-steel-chess-i-had-to-fight-really-hard-to-draw-this
• Part eight: https://www.chess.com/blog/Bikfoot/day-eight-at-tata-steel-chess-facing-the-the-undefeated-tournament-leader
• Final part: https://www.chess.com/blog/Bikfoot/final-day-at-tata-steel-chess-i-won-my-tournament

Round number seven! Out of my last 3 games I scored 2.5 points so I was feeling really good coming out of the rest day. The idea was that I would participate in the Pub Crawlers tournaments in Wijk aan Zee with GM Roeland Pruijssers, but only a few teams had applied, five in total. In stead, we drove to my place and streamed a bit. So I did wake up at the start of round 7 at my own place (I've been spending the rest at a hotel in Wijk aan Zee!)

THE CHAOS

Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my phone charger from the hotel so my phone died in the morning - how was I ever going to find my way towards TATA Steel chess now? (It's about an hour drive from my place). So, I packed my stuff - hopped in the car and just used my memory to find my way. The trip was... kind of stressing but I did drive the right way. However, there was an accident on the road which delayed me for 20 minutes!!! So when I finally arrived at Wijk aan Zee, I was already 20 minutes down and I was playing with the black pieces against Kees Jongkind, with a rating of 1836. I quickly jumped in my seat and started the game!

The Game

This game turned out to be the London system where I played the Modern defence. I really, really, really dislike this opening (if you're prepping against me, play the london!), because it's a very dull and slow opening in my perspective. Very strong for white, difficult to counter as black. Since nothing really exciting happened in the first few moves, I'll show you the position 14 moves in:

Position after 14. Nb3

Like I said, nothing to crazy going on at the moment! I wanted to change that by pushing g5 and causing some mayhem on the board, but it seems like my opponent took the liberty of doing it himself!

As stated above, I did miss that I could win a clear pawn on d5 but I figured I could win that later anyway with Nb6. I must mention that I only took five minutes this whole game untill now! I was tilting behind the board because I was late and the fact I left my phone at home.

My opponent, however, was so nice to play the move 20. f3?. Let's punish that!

Boom! Right what the doctor ordered. I'm now up two clean pawns and all I have to do is trade pieces and play the game out nice and easy. A few moves later I played 29. Rc4 trying out a cute little trick. My opponent played the solid 30. Rd1 but what if he played the silly move 30. Kh2... can you find the winning combination?

He however, didn't play Kh2 but Rd1 and the game went onwards. Slowly but surely I entered white's position more and more until I reached the following position. Again, I could trick my opponent juuuust a little bit. Let's find out if you can play like me and close out this game!

And that was the game! After Bd4+ my opponent resigned. Sweet! Tomorrow I will play the player who is still #1 in the standings - one full point ahead of the pack and still undefeated. Let's hope I can change that streak and claim the first spot for myself!

As always, the entire game can be found below. Enjoy!  

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