Road to 2000: Club player vs. MAXIME VACHIER-LAGRAVE!!!
Yesterday I learned that I was selected to play in a lichess simul against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Maxime is probably my favorite player in the world right now (and in case you were wondering... Kasparov is my all-time favorite chess player) and I've always been a fan of his creative attacking chess and his will to win even in positions that are quiet or "draw-ish". It's a quality that has set him apart from many of his contemporaries and what was helping him lead in the Candidates until the COVID-19 situation led to its cancellation. I've played a few FMs in my lifetime but for MVL to be the first GM I've ever played was a pretty cool experience even if it was in a simul and even though he was blitzing most of the moves.
I don't think anyone should be surprised that I lost this game. I am a 1600 player on a good day, and can maybe get lucky against some 1900s or 2000s if I'm in tip-top mental shape and warmed up. Even still, playing one of my chess idols online was a dream come true to me, especially after working all week on research and astrophysics homework. How much do I admire MVL's games, you might ask? Well, the only reason why I've picked up the Grunfeld Defense against d4 was because of how beautiful some of Maxime's games have been in that opening, even when he loses! You can check out the game we played with my annotations above. I'm very grateful that I had the opportunity to play Maxime.
I think that there are five main lessons which I took away from this game about how to play chess like a grandmaster. There were a couple of moments in this game which I would like to highlight below with the lesson I took from it...
1) You cannot out-prepare a grandmaster. My favorite opening, the Dragon Sicilian, is one Maxime has probably played against countless numbers of times over the board. I tried to learn some main line variations the day before I played him to a depth of 11 or 12 moves, and to my surprise Maxime played into my preparation ... or so I thought. Maxime was basically playing the best move up until 16.h4, something I had not prepared for. I thought about playing Rad8 (which is the best move) but I figured I should start a queenside attack in the spirit of the Dragon, and this was probably the decision that led to the game being more uncomfortable for me.
2) Learning openings =/= learning a move order. Typically when I learn new openings now I just cram the first 9 or 10 moves of a few variations into my head and try to get bulk experience with it online. I have been warned by my chess coach and more experienced players about the pawn structure that you're left with in this sort of Dragon Sicilian which I ended up playing (and which I play in correspondence games when I have the chance). After 13.Qxb4 you'll notice that black has open files for its rooks but has weak pawns on the queenside as a result. I never really consider things like endgame pawn structure or middlegame ideas in the openings I've choosed to play in my lifetime, even if I end up learning some of those things eventually. With the Dragon I haven't prioritized learning the pawn structure that you end up with in different variations. I've not studied how to defend isolated pawns like this and Maxime has. So it allowed Maxime to make quick work of my awful structure once he simplified the position. In general...when I decide to learn an opening now, I'm going to spend more time learning what the endgame pawn structure is like for that opening and its variations so I can learn how to defend or convert to a win depending on what my situation is at the end of a game.
3) If a grandmaster gives you a "free" pawn, spend a lot of time deciding whether to capture or not. I played 18...Bxa2 which led to a trapped bishop. I could have probably taken three pawns for the piece and had some chances though I miscalculated what would happen if i gave check with the queen and this basically lost me the game. Had i not captured the pawn I'm sure the game would have been more even. To be honest, I'm sure he would have found the right moves and I probably should have left the pawn alive 
4) If you don't have to make a move immediately, improve your position before making that move. Maxime demonstrated this by playing 19.hxg6 immediately after 18...Bxa2. He made my kingside even weaker and destroyed the pawn structure even more. I could not save the bishop due to the threat of checkmate with the pawn. This is a lesson I'm never going to forget now. Improving your strategical position is more important at the end of the day than playing a forcing move that is in the position in any case.
5) The gap between me and a grandmaster is simply too much for me to fathom. All it took was a single mistake for me to lose the game. Generally I do not play against opponents like this online, but Maxime was able to take an inaccuracy and a mistake on my end and convert it to a win. It's this kind of technique that makes him one of the best in the world. Furthermore I was stunned by 14.Qe5 -- even though it's a known move in the position I thought it was very imaginative and prevented me from starting an attack. In general the difference between a total novice (400 or 500 rating) and me (1600 rating) is the same or even less than the difference between me and a super GM (2700 and 2800).
I want to thank Maxime for the great game and I wish him the best of luck in the Candidates (whenever it continues). I know who I'm rooting for to challenge Magnus in November!
