Past Bird Opening Games

0B - updated 5 July 2019

I have decided to show one tournament to reflect my past Bird Opening play: the 1990 Midwest Masters. A strong tournament and in round 2 I got paired with IM Michael Brooks. He traded queens quickly hoping to grind me down, but with my correspondence background I have never minded playing endgames. He burned the clock trying to put me away and he blundered in time pressure.

After surviving Brooks, the next round I got another IM: Tim Taylor. Years later Tim would write a book on the Bird's Opening. Strangely he does not mention our game, although in chapter 10 of his book, he recommends how I played against him. The middlegame became insanely complex, easy to make a mistake, but I saw everything that day and I got a nice win!

This game was played in the penultimate round, and I got my first ever grandmaster opponent. Whatever the reason, I played an excellent game and I got my best all-time win with the Bird Opening.

I have other good Bird Opening games, but the above is a nice reflection of my past play. Good Chess! Keith