"When you see a good move, look for a better one"- Emanuel Lasker.
Hello, Chess brothers. Yesterday, we played Round 11 of season 19 of the Hive Chess tourney. I thought the last wound was the final, but I was surprised to find out that we still have one round to go. Luckily, yesterday, I didn’t get paired with the likes of Stayoutoftherz, Tortyllan and Rosmarly. Interestingly, yesterday was the best I have ever played since we started the season 19 of Hive Chess tourney. We played the Chess960 variation and out of 8 games, I lost just one. I would've won the game I lost, but somehow, the tides of war turned against me. As usual, I'll be reviewing my games in this post.
My first game was against RD-Cast. Ever since I joined the Hive Chess brothers, I have played with him 11 times, with 6 wins to me, 4 to him and one draw. Yesterday was the first ever time we played a draw. A few weeks ago, I watched some YouTube videos about Chess960 and I found out that the best way to play this variation is to develop your center game and try to protect your king (castle and put your two rooks in the middle). That way, it is easier to play offensive. This is exactly what I did against RD-Cast. When he blundered his Knight, I was certain that I’d win. Somehow, the euphoria of winning the better of me and the game ended in a draw- Stalemate.
Next, I got paired with guisep73. I opened the game with D4 and my opponent responded with D5. Next, I played g3, giving my bishop space to attack. Everything was going well until we traded pieces, including knights and bishops. Since I had more pawns, I decided to promote to queen. When I did, my opponent was forced to resign.
Next, I got paired with Justola. I knew I had to stay focused and prevent making blunders. Justola is a higher-rated player who has won against me 3 times. We have played a total of 4 games, with 3 to him and one to me. Well, yesterday I won my game against him. Now, I've closed the gap a little. There are two explanations to why I won my game against Justola. One, I played better. Two, he is not familiar with Chess960. Regardless, I won my game against him. Things started to go my way when I captured his Rook.
Again, I got paired with RD-cast. This time, he blundered his queen and resigned afterward. Queen blunders can be quite frustrating. Next, I got paired with wagnertermanaha. I played better against him. I won my 4th and 5th games.
I got paired with Olujay. I was on the verge of losing when I discovered a nice checkmate. I also played with @masterswatch. He would have won the game, but I think he was in a rush to win that the game ended up in a stalemate. Good game.
Overall, I played nice games yesterday. I lost just one game to Guisep.