An unfinished attack

Two weeks ago I played in a rapid tournament here in Singapore. It turned out to be surprisingly good, with two IMs, two or three FMs, a couple of strong youngsters... All of that diversity occurred among only 8 participants, so the organizers decided to switch from a Swiss tournament into a round robin one. The time control was one of my least favorite - 20 minutes, but no increment. On the one hand, one cannot play too quick because the mistakes would be punished, but on the other hand, with no increment I often find myself spoiling a good game in the endless time trouble.

In any case, I enjoyed playing against strong opponents, as it does not happen too often in local competitions. IM Kevin Goh Wei Ming wrote a nice report on two games that he played in this tournament - a draw vs IM Liu Xiangyi and a victory in the last round over yours truly. 

I decided to complete his report by writing about the last game among the leaders. I had many opportunities to play rapid & blitz against Liu Xiangyi in the past, and my record was, let's say, very mixed. But then he made even more progress over the past two years, scored an IM title and increased his rating to 2450. Playing against such opponents is interesting, but tough.

I was disappointed that I was not able to win this game. I knew that I was standing much better after the exchange sacrifice. On the other hand, one good idea is rarely enough to win against stronger players!