Another year, another tournament, and only gotten a bit better. With a new member of the family last year I missed the July beginner tournament, and had to drop from the ’21 Open (I did get to play GenCon Online though!), but am excited to give it another shot this year. My first of the round-robin pairings was with Evoshen, with a long and brutal first game that went to flats, and a shorter Tinue on round two. Games were 15 minutes + 10 second increment, no komi.
Game 1
First round, I played black and ultimately won on flats. I missed two Tinue wins throughout (at moves 26 and 29), but was only able to find 26 at first. had to reach out to Simmon to get a hint. I think I got a bit focused on the flat endgame even around that 26 Tinue, and didn’t think through the cap throw, preferring to keep placing. View on PTN Ninja for a better interface for the alternate threads. Missing from the playback is the time controls— by the end, Evoshen was under thirty seconds (although a good player can keep that momentum going on the increment for a while).
Game 2
We took a few minutes before this second game to let the heart rates settle a bit. Second win was a Tinue as white that I’d like to be a bit more proud of, but I was doubting the direction I was headed just a move or two before.
Hey Pwhaug! Love your analysis of the games. Just one point, but I think game 2 had a missed tinue earlier! At move 13, you mention liking 5a4+ more than what you played in game (5a4+32). You worry that not having the extra flat on a6 to protect it leaves it weak. But you actually already have an extra flat: on a4! See, 5a4+ threats both 3a5>12 and 3a5-12, making black’s only response b5<. You renew the threat with a4+, and black can't stop both threats!
Great games all around, and it really goes to show how unexplored the game is!
Yep, as I said in discord, in hindsight I think 5a4+ would have been the better move. I haven’t really explored where the game would have gone if black responds b4-, but I could renew threats placing a2 or c2, so the momentum would certainly continue in white’s favor.