Day two at TATA Steel chess - the best defense is good offense!
Photo taken by Wouter Doorn

Day two at TATA Steel chess - the best defense is good offense!

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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

So the day started of very pleasantly. I got up, took a shower and went down for breakfast. While I was grabbing some food I heard in the back "excuse me, are you bikfoot?", well yes I am! It was a very nice guy and we enjoyed breakfast together while talking about chess. After that, I headed out to the playing hall, on two round two!

The game, round number 2


Today I faced off against Alex Albrecht, who has a FIDE rating of 1872 and definitely not a pushover. The thing I loved the most though is that when the game started he offered me a drink, that's when you know your opponent is a nice one! However, without further ado, here are the most important positions displayed. Today I was playing with the white pieces and after a few moves, we reached the following position:

Position after 10... Kh8

A few moves in and we're into the Stonewall Dutch. My opponent told me he heavily prepared and that he knew everything about the stonewall after the game, but that he didn't know how to react to Qb3. I was very happy about that, since I don't know anything about the stonewall dutch myself! My plan at this moment is to push with a pawn break on f3 and e4. This is what happened...


A sacrifice on g3! I'm not going to lie, I was in "the thinking tank" for a bit. It looked really dangerous because that bishop really is a beast on that diagonal. Can you figure out what white's best defense is here?

Thing look incredibly scary for white, with black ready to pounce on the white king. I kept my cool however and a few moves later, the following position arose:
Position after 19...Rg8
Definitely a scary position. Black's idea is to play g4 - g3 and Qh2#. Do you know what white's best move is here to defend to position? Remember the title of the blog, the best defense is a good offense!
Beautiful positional play, if I say so myself. White locks black down of development while slowly preparing to crush his enemy! I'll show the final moves of the game below before black resigned. Especially Kg3! is worth your attention, where black is completely cut off on all directions and ready to capitulate.
And that's the game! I'm very happy how I played it and I'm ready to face off on the next round. After the game, my opponent and I got a drink and I went back into the playing hall to meet a few viewers of me, which was a lot of fun. Funny fact, when I was ready to leave the press room to grab a bite I bumped into GM Alireza Firouzja, who swiftly gave me a handshake and a promise to have dinner together this Monday!
As always, here's the entire game:


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Wouter Bik

Chess.com staff and Esports producer. Partnered twitch streamer and enthusiastic coach! I offer coaching for 35€ per hour, send me a message if you’re interested happy.png

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