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This year the BSG Open was held in the A&O Hotel round the back of the Hauptbahnhof, a rather more central location than the Knauthein’sche Gasthof zur Ratte. I must say I preferred zur Ratte, though admittedly it was rather easier to get to the tournament hall this year.
Unusually for me, I was placed in the upper half of the field, so that, as is normal in tournaments organised according to the Swiss system, for the first round I was paired against a lower-rated opponent. This didn't prevent me from losing! I made a foolish error as early as move 4 (!), giving White a distinct advantage — the time-losing 5...a6 is forced after 5.Lf4, whereas if I had played 4...Sf6, then the threat of Sb5 is answered by Sa6. White, however, later threw his advantage away with a positional error of the first magnitude (16. Sxc6); realising which, he offered a draw on the next move, which I refused. Of course in hindsight I should have accepted! White had some threats on the Kingside, but they could be countered easily enough, and they were. However, Black struck forward in the centre too soon, losing a Pawn for what turned out to be not quite so much counter-play as he'd thought. Thereafter he seemed to loose the thread of things, and a succession of poor moves gave White a winning advantage, which he duly converted. I played on long into a lost ending in the hope of a swindle, but it was not to be. Well played in the second half by David Bauer, I thought, and a deserved win.
A victory for my "secret weapon" against the Caro-Kann. It's all over after 14...Dxa2 — if only Black had been content with one extra Pawn! Gluttony is one of the Seven Deadly Sins for a reason...
I had a tough fight as Black against the Sokolsky. I thought I had it all wrapped up quite early on with a powerful King-side attack, but failure to press my attack accurately gave White the chance to take counter-action in the centre along the open K-file. However, he failed to find the best course (29.De2 statt Df2 may well leave Black fighting for equality!), and I was able to convert to a won endgame.
Another tough fight. Contrary to my natural inclinations, I grabbed a free pawn in the opening, and sure enough my opponent developed a dangerous initiative in consequence. I fought this off at the cost of returning the Pawn, then was able to grab another! This one I didn't let go, and after the Queens came off the Rook endgame was easily won for me, and I duly proceeded to win it.
Young Marius Müller has improved considerably since I mated him in twenty-three moves at the VfB Turnier in 2007! He played the Modern variation of the Two Knights, which I am quite used to, but that didn't stop him gaining the advantage. I got the chance to equalise, but tried to press for more, which resulted in my remaining worse. I probably ought not to have acquiesced in the trade of Queens; after that, the Rook ending was won for White. I played on in hope of a swindle (see move 50), but Müller wasn't having any of it!
Another outing for my Geheimwaffe against the Caro-Kann (I suppose it's hardly very secret at this stage...). I managed to catch the Black King in the centre; ironically, if he had stayed there, he would have been safe! Black's Queen-side castling on move 17 was the decisive error, costing him a piece. I gave the piece back shortly afterwards in order to simply into a R+N ending 2 Pawns up, which I won easily.
A hard-fought draw. Black's 35th is of course ein grober Fehler , even allowing for time pressure (I had 2-3 minutes left, so it wasn't that pressing). However, White overlooked the chance to win a piece, played 36. T4d4... and offered a draw, which was at once accepted by yours truly, who in the heat of the moment seemed to forget that it was after all his move, and he could simply put the bishop back on e1, leaving him with somewhat the better game... In the post-game analysis, my opponent did me the honour of declaring that he had prepared for our game. I had no idea I was considered such a formidable player!
Apart from making a balls of things in Round One, overall I played quite well.
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Last changed: Sun Mar 3 11:49:38 CET 2019