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I managed to make it to the third and final round of the Team Australia, 2022 Australia Day Tournament (Division 3) on chess.com! This is match 5 of 8 and I’ve managed to win my first four matches!

I entered the final round with the lowest rating. The contestants:

• vitualis (the chess noob!) – 1158
• @gothedogs – 1159
• @KnightBeatsAll – 1186
• @edwardsl – 1229
• @flylikeaD6 – 1266

At this point, I think I’m guaranteed to come within the top three and getting a (virtual) medal! I’m going to covering each of my matches, win or lose, in this round.

Match 5 (https://www.chess.com/game/daily/427146389) was a rematch against @flylikeaD6 – I had the black pieces and they white. Firstly, I must give kudos to my opponent – this is likely the single most exciting and enjoyable game I’ve ever played in a tournament or daily format!

I’ve noticed that my opponent likes to bring out their bishop early – you’d remember in the last game, they played the Anderssen Defense against my Vienna Game opening which is also a very early bishop. In this game, they played the Bishop’s Opening (1. e4 e5 2. Bc4) and this isn’t something I have much preparation against. Usually, I try to steer this towards a Two Knights Defense of an Italian Game. But in this game, I decided to develop my own bishop symmetrically after developing my knight – for no reason other than to do something different (1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. c3 Bc5).

This is apparently an inaccuracy according to Stockfish [+0.69] and it must have been within my opponent’s preparation as they played the best next moves. First, a Ponziani Opening-ish attack (4. d4), and after I captured that pawn (4… exd4), they played an unexpected bishop sacrifice capturing my pawn on f7 (5. Bxf7+) that was a brilliancy! I must admit, this move really woke me up in the game! I could see that this wasn’t really a loss of material for my opponent as another check was coming from their queen and then my own bishop would be lost, and that’s what happened (5… Kxf7 6. Qh5+ g6 7. Qxc5).

At this point, I had a distinct sense that White was probably in a better position objectively, but that I still had some chances. My king’s defences were going to be… complicated, as I can no longer castle, and my kingside pawns were disrupted. However, my opponent had no development other than their queen, and there was an opportunity to win tempo and development while chasing their queen. We still had material balance.

This logic didn’t go as well as I hoped and by move 13, Stockfish’s evaluation gave a commanding lead to my opponent at [+5.48], they had castled, and inaccuracies meant that I was about to lose a couple of pawns for no compensation. Ouch!

However, by move 18, there was a shift in the tone of the game. My opponent who was up on material and had a better position, started to play more conservatively. I had moved a pawn counterattacked their bishop (17… h6) and rather than forcing a series of equal trades, they opted to withdraw. This was my opportunity to get counterplay and develop! By chasing the White, I managed to centralise both rooks, now taking control of the open d- and c-files.

Then, my opponent failed to see a tactic I had set up with the innocent b-pawn move (22… b6). The White queen was practically trapped in the centre of the board! It was hemmed in by my pieces on one side, and her own White pieces on the other. And my rooks on two consecutive open files acted like laser beams slicing down the board. This was sprung on move 23, my rook attacks the queen on the fifth rank supported by the pawn on b6 (23… Rc5)!

The only escape for the queen was for the White bishop to sacrifice itself with check, when then allowed the queen to take over its square the next turn (24. Bxh6+ Kxh6 25. Qf4+). I had managed to mostly equalise the position in the middle game [-0.58]!

At this point, the game was in a very interesting state as it was unbalanced. Technically we still had equal material, but I had one extra minor piece, a bishop, while White had three extra pawns. My king was an active piece in the centre of the board with defensive challenges, while White’s king was still safe in its castled position with the kingside pawns on their starting squares. All my pieces were on active squares, while both of White’s rooks were not yet influencing the game.

Stockfish called my next move (25… g5) which attacked White’s queen a blunder [+2.53] and technically, it was. However, that required White to find the single good move that on the surface, appears to be sacrificing their knight (their only other developed piece) for the attacking pawn (26. Nxg5). If they followed down the line, they had an opportunity to force capture my rook, but neither my opponent or I saw that. The interesting thing with (25… g5) is that all other legal moves by White were bad! My opponent played the second-best move, and the only other move where White doesn’t lose their queen (26. Qe3) and Stockfish, with its typically unfeeling judgement, calls it a blunder [-1.58]!

White’s relative lack of development, being down a piece, and my control of the open files results in the advantage gradually slipping further in my favour. Stockfish’s recommendations on analysis at this point recommended piece trades despite my opponent and I technically had material equality. And then, I found a brilliancy of my own in this game, capturing the White knight with my rook (32… Rxf3) that looked like a sacrifice (but it was a checkmate trap). My opponent saw through it, but this cracked open the defences around the White king and I infiltrate with my queen. And then on move 36, my opponent makes the wrong move with their king against check (35… Qe3+ 36. Kf1) and a forced mate in 5 becomes available. This was relatively easy to see and after one more check (36… Bc4+) my opponent resigns. GG!

Game on chess.com: https://www.chess.com/game/daily/427146389

[Event "TA 2022 Australia Day Tournament Div 3  ratings up to 1150 - Round 3"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2022.08.29"]
[Round "-"]
[White "flylikeaD6"]
[Black "vitualis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C23"]
[WhiteElo "1262"]
[BlackElo "1190"]
[TimeControl "1/259200"]
[Tournament "https://www.chess.com/tournament/ta-2022-australia-day-tournament-div-3-ratings-up-to-1150"]
[Timezone "UTC"]
[ECOUrl "https://www.chess.com/openings/Bishops-Opening"]
[UTCDate "2022.08.29"]
[UTCTime "06:25:14"]
[Termination "vitualis won by resignation"]
[StartTime "06:25:14"]
[EndDate "2022.09.03"]
[EndTime "04:21:09"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/daily/427146389"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 {Bishop's Opening} 2... Nc6 3. c3 Bc5 {An inaccuracy [+0.69]. I'm not really familiar with this opening - the better move would have been to develop the other knight.} 4. d4 exd4 5. Bxf7+ $3 {A brilliant bishop sacrifice $1} 5... Kxf7 6. Qh5+ g6 7. Qxc5 d6 {An inaccuracy [+1.68] and White is now substantially ahead on evaluation.} 8. Qc4+ $6 {An inaccuracy [+0.78] giving Black counterplay} 8... Be6 9. Qd3 Qf6 {A mistake [+3.22]} 10. Nf3 Ne5 {An inaccuracy [+4.47]} 11. Nxe5+ dxe5 12. O-O Kg7 13. Qg3 c5 {An inaccuracy [+5.48] and Black will soon lose the e5 pawn} 14. Bg5 Qf7 15. Qxe5+ Nf6 16. cxd4 cxd4 17. Qxd4 h6 18. Bf4 {There is now a shift in tone in the game. White starts to play conservatively, when they should be pushing aggressively. This allows me as Black to get counterplay with development and tempo as the White queen is chased.} 18... Rhd8 19. Qe3 Ng4 20. Qc3+ Nf6 21. Nd2 Rac8 22. Qe5 b6 {This seemingly innocent move that Stockfish dislikes as a loss of tempo, creates an opportunity to bring the rooks into the attack rather than simply controlling files} 23. Nf3 $4 {A blunder [-0.58]. White doesn't recognise the threat to their queen with it being trapped.} 23... Rc5 {[%c_highlight
f5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f5;persistent;false,g5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false,h5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;h5;persistent;false,f6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;f6;persistent;false,e6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e6;persistent;false,d6;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d6;persistent;false,c7;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c7;persistent;false,b8;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;b8;persistent;false,d5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d5;persistent;false,d4;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;d4;persistent;false,c3;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;c3;persistent;false,e5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;e5;persistent;false][%c_arrow
b6c5;keyPressed;none;from;b6;opacity;0.8;to;c5;persistent;false,f7e6;keyPressed;none;from;f7;opacity;0.8;to;e6;persistent;false,f7f6;keyPressed;none;from;f7;opacity;0.8;to;f6;persistent;false,h6g5;keyPressed;none;from;h6;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false,c5e5;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;e5;persistent;false,d8d6;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;d6;persistent;false,c5c7;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;c7;persistent;false,c5c3;keyPressed;none;from;c5;opacity;0.8;to;c3;persistent;false,e6d5;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;d5;persistent;false,e6f5;keyPressed;none;from;e6;opacity;0.8;to;f5;persistent;false,g6h5;keyPressed;none;from;g6;opacity;0.8;to;h5;persistent;false,d8b8;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;b8;persistent;false,d8d4;keyPressed;none;from;d8;opacity;0.8;to;d4;persistent;false]}
24. Bxh6+ {This is the only move availabe to White to save their queen. The bishop must sacrifice itself with check, to give the f4 square for the queen to escape the attack.} 24... Kxh6 {And now, the game enters a very interesting phase. The game is very unbalanced but evaluatively equal [-0.58]. Black has an extra minor piece for three pawns. White's king is positionally safe but their pieces are under-developed. Black's king is exposed but all pieces are active $1 Chess continues...} 25. Qf4+ g5 {Stockfish rates this a blunder [+2.53] as White could force capture my rook. However, this is only if White finds the single move Nxg5. All other moves by White are blunders on the next turn.} 26. Qe3 $4 {A blunder [-1.58] but this was the second best move, and only move that allows White to save their queen.} (26. Nxg5 {This is the optimal line that White missed in the game} 26... Rxg5 27. h4 {[%c_arrow
f4g5;keyPressed;none;from;f4;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false,g5h6;keyPressed;none;from;g5;opacity;0.8;to;h6;persistent;false,h4g5;keyPressed;none;from;h4;opacity;0.8;to;g5;persistent;false][%c_highlight
g5;keyPressed;none;opacity;0.8;square;g5;persistent;false]}) 26... Ng4 $1 27. Qa3 Qc7 {Setting up a checkmate threat, effectively pinning the knight on f3 to the position} 28. b4 $4 {A blunder [-6.78]} 28... Rc3 $1 29. Rac1 Rdd3 {Stockfish rates this a mistake [-2.98] preferring the trading of queens} (29... Rxf3 {Stockfish's preferred line [-6.78] was to simplify and to win the endgame with a material advantage} 30. Rxc7 Rxa3) 30. Rxc3 Rxc3 31. Qb2 Kg6 $1 {This move is to prevent a future Qh8+} 32. h3 Rxf3 $3 {A brilliant move [-3.32]. If White captures the rook, then Qh2 is checkmate.} 33. hxg4 Rf7 $6 {An inaccuracy [-2.44] with Stockfish preferring a more aggressive approach to simplify} 34. f3 Qf4 35. Rd1 Qe3+ 36. Kf1 $4 {A complicated position and White makes a terminal blunder [-M5]} 36... Bc4+ {[%c_effect
g6;square;g6;type;Winner,f1;square;f1;type;ResignWhite] Black resigns} (36... Bc4+ {If the game continued...} 37. Rd3 Bxd3+ 38. Qe2 Qxe2+ 39. Kg1 Qe1+ 40. Kh2
Rh7#) 0-1