More painful but necessary work. I have fallen into the bad habit of not checking key losses very carefully but after the poor results from my last two tournaments, it is clear something has gone wrong and needs fixing.

Step one is find all the mistakes and then isolate the cause(s).

Gal-Yip

This was the first of two losses in my last tournament.

Queen’s Indian Defence

Art Pub Open June 2017

After 19.g4(Diagram)

How should Black defend the kingside?

After 19.g4

After 22..Kh8(Diagram)

Things have gone badly for Black and now it is White to play and win essentially.

After 22..Kh8

TWIC 1181(2516 games) June 26 is now available.

King’s Indian Defence

Hesham-Kovalev

This game was practically two games in one as White had the upper hand in the early going before losing thread of the game.

Saemisch(E81)

After 22..Rb8(Diagram)

White has three minor pieces for Q+P but his king is exposed. How should White continue?

22..Rb8

Later in the game

After 31.Bg2(Diagram)

It is hard to figure out who is doing what to whom. How should Black continue?

After 31.Bg2

I usually work quite hard but have gotten away from checking my own games in enough detail lately and drawing correct conclusions from mistakes made. Re-living painful losses is not much fun but I have lost around 45 elo points in my last two tournaments so again, I have to conclude that something is not right and must be fixed.

Here is the result of Saturday evening’s work.

Kratzmejer-Yip

June Art Pub Open 2017

Rossolimo Sicilian 3..d6

After 16.Nc3(Diagram)

Black must find a good  plan now. I failed to do this in the game.

After 16.Nc3

After 18.Rxd6(Diagram)

Black is committed to taking on e4 but which way is correct? I chose the wrong way in the game.

After 18.Rxd6

Little helper(left). Black to play and win.

I need all the help I can get

Practice makes perfect 🙂

Closed Catalan

Leiva-Kovalyov

After 29.Rc2(Diagram)

Black is more active but what is the plan now?

After 29.Rc2

The Rossolimo Sicilian 3.Bb5+ Nd7

3..Nd7 keeps more tension in the position than 3..Bd7.

Selected games

Bocharov-Leko

Black has the better structure but how to proceed?

After 28.Rd3

Later in the game

After 40..Rf5(Diagram)

The Qg5 is attacked so how should White press the attack?

After 40..Rf5

Later in the rook ending after 53..Ra2(Diagram)

Does Black has enough counterplay? Continue for White.

After 53..Ra2

Thank you! to all my birthday well wishers and to Kinga for the lovely cake.

Kinga(left) made me this beautiful cake

I swear I did chess work today, like usual. There was just a bigger than usual lunch break.

King’s Indian Defence(E97)

Erdos-Mamedov

9.Bg5 Classical

After 28..Rf6(Diagram)

White has the better structure and dominates the light squares. How to continue?

After 28..Rf6

Nimzo-Indian Defence(E32)

Molina-Bachman

After 23.Bf1(Diagram)

White’s central pawns are slightly loose. How can this be exploited?

After 23.Bf1

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More new books from Quality Chess

Thinking Inside the Box-Aagaard

In Thinking Inside the Box Jacob Aagaard describes his chess improvement philosophy, developed over more than twenty years of thinking about one question: How do we make better decisions at the chess board?

As the final volume in the award-winning Grandmaster Preparation series, this book unifies the concepts of the previous five books and delves into such topics as:

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Kotronias on the King’s Indian-Kotronias

The last volume of a 5-volume series.

In this, the fifth and final volume of the epic Kotronias on the King’s Indian series, Grandmaster Vassilios Kotronias completes his masterpiece by tackling all major variations after 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 which were not covered in the previous volumes. Starting with 3.f3 and working through numerous set-ups including the Smyslov, Sokolov and Seirawan Systems, followed by the Four Pawns Attack and culminating in the mighty Sämisch System, Kotronias has produced perhaps the finest book of his career.

Open Final Ranking after 7 Rounds

IM Aczel Gergely won with a perfect 7/7!

I suffered another accident in rd6 losing quickly to Kratzmajer Akos Gyorgy who gained +112 elo.

I had been working quite hard and finally pushed my rating over 2000 but June is turning out to be a tough month I think I lost more than 50 elo.

So time to work harder.

Tegzes Laszlo(HUN)

U1600-Final Ranking after 7 Rounds

Hajdu Marton Abris was clear first with 6/7.

Juhasz Agoston(seated) with brother IM Juhasz, Armin

The U1600 group getting ready

My Games

Light notes were made with Tactical Analysis(15s/move). I added more to the following game. I plan to check the other games in more detail later.

Yip-Aczel Rd2

Nimzo-Indian Defence(E32)

After 21..e4(Diagram)

White has a key decision to make.

After 21..e4

Results Round 1

Kratzmajer Akos Gyorgy pulled off the big upset beating veteran IM Mozes Ervin.