Action chess tourney yesterday

I dunno, .47 is a pretty nice advantage. Not losing, but not particularly pleasant to play against almost anyone.

I kind of like how you have all of these deep ideas in your 3 0 games. I literally just try not to hang pieces. If I somehow achieve that, I'm happy.

It's true, Elubas... quite a lot passes through my mind when I play - also in fast tempi... sometimes when I actually start writing it down it surprises me how much thought and ideas you can condense into a unit of time...

And very true about the .47 - although it depends on the position, and sometimes computers don't really understand what they're talking about with regards to these elusive positionally-numerical evaluations... by the way I didn't really check Houdini to see its evaluation at that point... just kind of tried to imagine what it would be...

gut feeling... probably my comment after his move 21 was right on - as now that I look at it, 22. Bc7+ would have probably won the game - 22...Kc8 would cost his queen after 23. Nb6, and on other answers, the combination of a knight on b6 and a queen on f2, with checks each time, looks lethal - and more specifically, would either win the Queen or lead to that Kramnik bitter end, described a bit further in the notes. 

Qg3, a3 and obviously Qf2 (without check) utterly miss the point - and he manages finally to breathe a little through ...Bxd5. 

Hey solskytz! I use to think playing the Sicilian Alapin was akin to dereliction of duty with the White pieces. After a few successes, in a lame attempt (admittedly) to dodge very sharp lines my friend occasionally clubed me with like a baby Harp Seal, I kinda evolved a penchant for certain lines. Overall, you definitely have keen vision in shorter time controls. Enjoyed the games!

Fun games.  BTW, ...I assume Doggy_Style meant to say (above) that ...Black gets open lines, easy development and plenty of ready-made plans to pursue, consistent with his previous assessment of c3 (and the Alapin, for that matter), as a dodge of the open Sicilian. All good though. Peace solskytz!

Nope, I meant exactly what I said. Maybe you've lost the context.

Copy that. Reread and follow what you meant & agree.  As an e4 player, playing directly into the Open Sicilian obtains said advantages, rather than trotting out c3, Alapin. Most players eventually get it out of their systems for such reasons (the Alapin), I think, ...as best winning chances, having played e4 in the first place as White, into the Sicilian, come from playing into main lines. Am I correct? The great Lev Polugaevsky series, The Sicilian Labyrinth confirmed this for me, converting my thinking long ago. 

Peace

BTW, I truly believe, if one aspires to be a serious tournament player (online Bullet & Blitz aside, ...another debate leading to often declining speed & age issues for many, ...darn mouse), and love to play e4 meeting & beating Sicilian players; ...or perhaps you're a great Sicilian aficionado as Black (c5, still the highest eco winning percentage against e4), the remargable Lev Polugaevsky series, The Sicilian Labyrinth is truly transformative.  He was a surely one of the games greatest teachers. The chess world suffered a hugh loss, the day he passed.  I believe, as do many players, The Sicilian Labyrinth was his finest and most significant contribution to the chess world and a must-have for your chess library (if you can get your hands on them ;'). I used to muse at how players would sometimes chuckle at 2.c3.  After reading these books, I got it. Peace.

Good to know - I'll take a note of that - The Sicilian Labyrinth, by Polugaevsky. Thank you guys!