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First OTB tournament game

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Wilio

This was my

first OTB tournament game. My opponent was much older than me and I was intimidated by the difference of age. Only, during the game, at one moment where I felt I had a strong advantage and lost it afteward. We agreed for a draw at the end.

Rules: 1h30 / 30 moves + 1h00 for mate.

likesforests

Did you have fun? I find OTB much more exciting than online chess. Tongue out

2...e6 - "I believe this is King's Indian Defense." - Nah, a King's Indian is defined by ...Nf6, ...g6, ...Bg7, ...O-O, and ...d6. After developing naturally, Black threatens to hit back in the center with either ...e5 or even ...c5. It's too early to tell what this is.

7.a3? - Passive. You already have a lead in development and space. Why do you worry about ...Bb4? That would be a bad move. He's lost more time and he threatens nothing. Much better is 7.e4!, threatening the fork e4-e5, freeing your dark-squared bishop, gaining space in the center, and making d4-d5 worrisome in some lines. Be careful about spending tempi putting "little ears" on your position with a3/a6/h3/h6, and note that a major theme in d-pawn openings is usually to put a pawn on e4.

9.e4! - Woohoo! Finally.

10.Qb3?! - Better was winning a piece with 10.dxe5!. Notice you are forking his bishop and knight. If 10...Bxe5 11.Qxd8! wins.

11.Ng5? - Better was 11.dxe5! Bxe5 12.Nxe5 Rxe5 13.Bf4! Yes, it's a bit harder to see the combination than it was a move ago.

11...Re7! and you only walk away with one pawn.

14.d5! - Nice. :)

17.Bxf6 - "After this move it went towards a draw" - Nah, Bs of Opps are only drawish if they're the only pieces left. Your big mistake wasn't missing a strategical move, it was dropping your d-pawn. 18.dxc6 Qxc6 19.Rad1 would've preserved your advantage and left you with reasonable winning chances.

"32...Qxf2+!!" - While g3 deserves ??, a checking capture doesn't deserve !!. Since your opponent could force a draw by moving his queen back and forth between e2 and f3, so hopefully he spent at least 4 out of 5 minutes looking for the win. If he still didn't see it, then fair enough offering a draw in this position.

Wilio

Hey, thanks for these tips.