Fighting in the Lion’s Jaw | Road to GM, Game 63 скачать в хорошем качестве

Fighting in the Lion’s Jaw | Road to GM, Game 63

A very complex and instructive game in the Lion Defense against a higher rated opponent. Tomic S. (1876) vs Markovic V. (2144), Lion Defense, Lion’s Jaw 4th Croatian League, Rd. 6, 05/05/2019 In round 6 of the league we faced the strongest team. We were not expected to do well at all, but we are a good team and we can do well against anyone! I had two possible opponents (I played board 2), and both were higher rated than me. With three weeks to prepare, I looked at almost all of their games and did detailed preparation. The opponent I ended up playing always plays d6 against e4, and sometimes goes for the Pirc, sometimes for the Modern Defense. I learned a new system against those openings and tried it out today! It’s the setup with an early f3, when white defends e4 without Nc3. The setup is quite strange and unlike normal Pirc positions. White delays Nc3, and goes for an early g4! This move attempts to dislodge the f6 knight, and then to develop the knight to e2 and to g3. It’s very aggressive and very double edged because the white king is almost certainly going to be stuck in the center for the rest of the game. I was superior out of the opening (but I wasn’t aware of that). My plan went well, and I got the setup I wanted. He played aggressively and I lost my initiative and instead of having an attack on the kingside, quickly got in trouble. My position was weak and crumbling and I spent a lot of time trying to figure it out. It’s hard to play positions you have no experience in. Luckily for me, he didn’t figure it out either and I managed to survive his initiative. We traded the major pieces and I was left with a much better bishop and a slightly better position. Whether I could win or not was questionable, but I couldn’t see a way to break through. The league is played on 6 boards and we won on boards one and six while I was playing. That meant that we only needed a point and a half to win the match. So I figured a draw is fine and offered a draw. He accepted. In the end, the remaining three boards got two losses and a draw and the match was drawn. So I have a bitter feeling for drawing early and not pushing on. The engine says it’s a draw, but against a human… I was the only one who could win. I should have played on! If you would like to support the channel and my quest to chess improvement, you can donate here: https://www.paypal.me/HangingPawns Any support is greatly appreciated! Thank you! The next tournament abroad I plan to play is at the start of July in Slovenia. Thank you for the support so far! Francisco R., Simon F., Ken A., Debbie and Brian T., Philip D., Alexandre M., Pascal S., Daniel N. #chess