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Usually, I play one or two 30 min rapid live games on chess.com. Today, I played a couple of really enjoyable games after work. The first game was an Italian, which I lost. And fitting very well with the geographic theme, after being booted off Italy, the next game was a Sicilian!

One of my weaknesses with more positional games is that the pressure gets to me as the moves increments, and I have a habit of prematurely trading pieces to relieve some of the pressure. By “cracking” first, I’m often left in a disadvantageous position in the midgame and endgame. It’s something that I have to work on!

I hope you enjoyed this video, and thanks for watching!

Game 1: https://www.chess.com/game/live/33179977111

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.12.13"]
[Round "?"]
[White "bTommyDouglas"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "1189"]
[BlackElo "1131"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[EndTime "17:07:09 PST"]
[Termination "bTommyDouglas won by checkmate"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. a4 O-O 7. h3 h6 8. c3 a6 9. Nbd2 Ne7 10. Nh2 d5 11. exd5 Nexd5 12. Ndf3 Re8 13. Bd2 c6 14. Qc1 Nh7 15. Re1 Bd6 16. Bb3 Bf5 17. d4 exd4 18. Nxd4 Bd3 19. Rxe8+ Qxe8 20. Ng4 b5 21. Bxd5 cxd5 22. Bxh6 gxh6 23. Qxh6 Bf8 24. Qh4 Be7 25. Qg3 Bg6 26. Nh6+ Kh8 27. Re1 Qd7 28. Ng4 Bd6 29. Qh4 Be7 30. Rxe7 Qxe7 31. Qxe7 bxa4 32. Nf6 Rb8 33. Nxh7 Kxh7 34. Qe2 f6 35. Qe7+ Kh6 36. Qxf6 Kh7 37. Qe7+ Kh6 38. Qa3 Re8 39. Kf1 Bd3+ 40. Kg1 Re1+ 41. Kh2 Rf1 42. Qd6+ Bg6 43. Nf5+ Kh7 44. Qe7+ Kg8 45. Qg7# 1-0

Game 2: https://www.chess.com/game/live/33183566765

[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2021.12.13"]
[Round "?"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "Weweeeeee"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "1141"]
[BlackElo "1193"]
[TimeControl "1800"]
[EndTime "17:59:49 PST"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 d6 5. Bb5 Bg7 6. d3 Bd7 7. Bxc6 Bxc6 8. O-O e6 9. d4 b6 10. d5 exd5 11. exd5 Bb7 12. Re1+ Ne7 13. f5 O-O 14. fxg6 hxg6 15. Bg5 Re8 16. Bxe7 Rxe7 17. Rxe7 Qxe7 18. Qe1 Re8 19. Qh4 Qe3+ 20. Kh1 Bxc3 21. bxc3 Bxd5 22. Re1 Qxe1+ 23. Nxe1 Re4 24. Qf2 Ra4 25. h3 Rxa2 26. Kh2 Be4 27. Qg3 d5 28. Qe5 a5 29. c4 1-0