2024 Maia Open - Round 7
Training Log
Classical Game - 3 hours
Lost my second game of the tournament, this time to a lower rated player from the Netherlands. I was doing well out of the opening, until the position quickly became critical, with my opponent launching a kingside attack. I spent about 30 minutes on one move, trying to figure out the best way to diffuse the situation. I came up with something clever, but changed my mind on the next move, which turned out to be a huge error.
From there things became very difficult, and I couldn’t manage to solve my problems to save the game. Full credit to my opponent for playing well in the complications.
Black has just pushed f5-f4. I spent 30 minutes on my previous move, Qd3, with the intention to play 1.g4!+\- here, after which Black will struggle to open the kingside. But upon reaching this position, I suddenly decided that 1.c4? Ndb4 2.Qe4 was stronger, with threats of a2-a3 and d4-d5. This was incorrect—as you can see from the game, Black’s counterplay on the f-file was simply too quick:
Kavutskiy - Boulahfa, Maia 2024
4.5/7. Unfortunately this result has spoiled the tournament for me, but my mood has remained relatively unchanged—chess is still enjoyable! Will try to finish strong with two wins.