My league games from 2022/2023

This blog was on hold for a while, as I had a lot of work with my students, the garden, the house - so something had to give way.

Well, at least I can post all my league games in one go, as the team championship has ended meanwhile.

Our team came second in the second division, and I became the second best scorer of the whole league (7,5 points out of 9), playing on the second board. Now the idea is to change all those "seconds" to "first": we want to win our division next year, I will be playing on the first board, and I will aim to be the best scorer of the league. (The latter feels pretty impossible, but there is no harm in trying, I guess.)

Here are the games. I have already posted the first one, but I will upload it again, to have them all in one place. 

Round 1

An important win against a Croatian FM. Overall, a good game. 

• Opening play & preparation: Rubbish, as usual. I knew he plays this with White, but did not chose a setup during preparation, just made it up at the board. 
• Middlegame play: A mixed bag, some good decisions with mistakes here and there. 11. ... a6? is an eyesore. 
• Endgame play: All right. True, the endgame was not really challenging. 
• Evaluation: All right, I was mostly in the ballpark. 
• Calculation: It was fine, with some small mistakes. 

Round 2

A win against a 2000+ player. A decent game.

• Opening play & preparation: I could play my preparation, and remembered the lines.
• Middlegame play: I don't have much experience with the Catalan, and it shows. 
• Endgame play:  
• Evaluation: I overestimated my advantage after 20. d5, but otherwise it was quite all right. 
• Calculation: A bit sloppy, not enough candidate moves, mostly playing my first ideas. 

Round 3

A win against a 2100+ player, who used to be over 2200. A good game, with some mistakes.

• Opening play & preparation: My preparation worked like a charm, I got an advantage effortlessly with Black. 
• Middlegame play: Impatient play here and there (17. ... g5?), but nothing horrible.
• Endgame play:  
• Evaluation:   
• Calculation: Poor calculation between move 24-27.

Round 4

A win against a 2000+ player. One of my worst games from this season. Ugly coffeehouse chess, counting on the opponent's mistakes. 

• Opening play & preparation: I did not remember opening theory, it was all too fresh from Marin's book. 
• Middlegame play: I am not familiar with the Leningrad, and it shows. A lot of moves with the queenside knight, a coffeehouse style attack on the kingside. 
• Endgame play: N/A 
• Evaluation:  I did not fool myself, I was completely aware that I was worse after the opening.
• Calculation:  

Round 6

A loss against an FM, one of my childhood coaches, the highest rated player in our division. My second worst game of the season, and not because I lost, but because the way I lost. I had something like a spring fatigue, I was afraid of my opponent, and did not sleep well the night before. I have to figure out how to avoid such slumps in the future. Maybe a holiday in January? 

• Opening play & preparation: I got what I prepared for, but... 
• Middlegame play: ...I was completely unfamiliar with the middlegame, and it clearly shows. That is the high price to pay for the surprise effect. 15. ... Na6? is so unprincipled, it still hurts.  
• Endgame play: Completely missed my chances, like 26. ... b5! or 42. ... Kf6!
• Evaluation: I accepted too early that I was lost, when it wasn't the case.  
• Calculation: I saw and calculated very little during the game, mostly just played by instinct.