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I am participating in the Team Australia 2022 Australia Day Tournament and so far, 4 wins out of 4. Yes! This game was quite exciting after I made an egregious blunder in the opening, resulting in being down material for most of the opening and middle game. My opponent played very well and so kept their advantage for most of the middle game… until disaster – a one move blunder where they hung a piece.

This was a tough match in the middle game with it effectively being a battle of manoeuvres between the opponent’s bishop pair, and my bishop and knight. Some of my disadvantages, in context, can be seen as advantages. A silver lining as it were. For instance, although I didn’t have the bishop pair, the bishop and knight can do something that the bishop pair cannot – they can attack the same square. Having one fewer pawn, with it isolated meant that I had semi-open files – my rooks could exert an influence on the middle game, while my opponent’s rooks were most locked behind their own pawns. I certainly didn’t play perfectly but having fewer inaccuracies does allow for a gradual improvement towards a less disadvantageous position.

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

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/382492251

[Event "TA 2022 Australia Day Tournament Div 3  ratings up to 1150 - Round 1"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.01.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "vitualis"]
[Black "AnandaUma"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C25"]
[WhiteElo "1095"]
[BlackElo "869"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[EndDate "2022.01.30"]
[Termination "vitualis won by checkmate"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. f4 Nxe4 5. Nxe4 exf4 6. Ne2 d5 7. Nxf4 dxe4 8. d3 exd3 9. cxd3 Qe7+ 10. Qe2 Qxe2+ 11. Nxe2 Ne5 12. Bf4 Bd6 13. O-O Bg4 14. Rae1 O-O 15. Bxe5 Bxe5 16. h3 Bd7 17. d4 Bd6 18. Nc3 c6 19. Ne4 Bb4 20. Rd1 b5 21. Bb3 Be7 22. Nc5 Bc8 23. Rde1 Bf6 24. Re4 g6 25. Rxf6 Bf5 26. Re7 Kg7 27. Rfxf7+ Kg8 28. Rxf5+ Kh8 29. Rxf8+ Rxf8 30. Ne6 Kg8 31. Ng5+ Kh8 32. Rxh7# 1-0