My good games at this week #66
Hello, everyone!
I'm thrilled to announce that this week has brought me some spectacular new chess records and trophies. Let's dive right into the action!
First up, check out the crushing, squall-like attack I unleashed against a Russian player who dared to challenge me with the unusual Van Geet opening . This is a good choice if you want to stun an opponent with a theoretical rarity, but thanks to the work I did on my previous blog about the Van Geet, my skills were ready! The result, by the way, was reminiscent of my The Best Game of February.
Since it's pure, six-minute action, I’m only including the video for this one. Enjoy the fireworks!
Next, I faced FIDE Master Sasa Pantelic (FIDE 2289) from Serbia. He chose a more traditional line against my Scandinavian Defense, but I completely forgot how to play it properly. Instead, I accidentally started some kind of tactical 'carnival' that thoroughly confused my opponent. The result was quick, unpredictable, and totally unexpected!
This game allowed me to set a huge personal record: my Chess.com rating hit 2245 — an all-time high! First time breaking that barrier, and it feels amazing.
But the truly incredible highlight happened on Friday.
My friend invited me to stream the ARENA KINGS tournament. I was over the moon!
Of course, the beginning of the broadcast was pure chaos: one minute before the game, my webcam decided to take an unscheduled vacation. Oh, the joys of streaming!
I finally fixed the technical issues and launched the stream, trying to be courteous and answer audience questions. This distraction cost me several games due to one-move blunders — I was basically giving away free rating points.
Then came my game against the streamer and new Grandmaster Pavel Anisimov (FIDE 2527) from Saint-Petersburg, Russia.
Here I must to say that Pavel is a very strong player.
Pavel is an absolute machine; he had an incredible tournament, winning 25 out of 27 games and finishing third out of 690 players globally.
Yet, our match was an absolute, glorious surprise for both of us!
This game is my biggest trophy yet, and it marks only my second-ever victory over a real Grandmaster in a personal chess battle. (I detailed the first in My Good Games #56).
If you like this kind of decisive, tactical win, you’ll definitely enjoy myThe Best Game of November as well!
So, what a week!
To cap it all off, I’ve included a few more short, funny games below that perfectly capture the blitz chaos.
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