GOAT Performance

Past couple of days my chess has been really good. I played one of the most beautiful games of my life, hit 2600 bullet and had the best (rapid) tournament up to date.

Before talking about the event, let me show you the game as an appetizer. I've been trying to find a way of avoiding theory in open sicilians, but still keeping the game exciting with a simple plan — if the d4 knight is pressured, retreat to b3. This works best against Dragon and Kan, but I think there is potential in Taimanov and Classical Sicilians.

My opponent chose the Dragon, so I have to go for typical f3–Be3–Qd2–O-O-O setup.

Bxb3 is a big strategical mistake if White can recapture with the c–pawn, making it impossible to break-through on the queenside. Then White's play is so easy to follow up. g4–h4–h5–hxg6, meet Ne5 with Ne2. If Black goes for h5, I like g5–f4–f5, but taking on h5 is another option.

The simple 19.a3 kills all hope for a c3 sac, and 20.Bc4+ forces Black to go down in material.

Thankfully my opponent didn't want to give up the exchange, so he proceeded with 20... e6 allowing me to get this brilliant attack rolling.

I wish I had found 29.Bg8+!! as a cherry on top, but even without it, this is the most beautiful game I've ever played.

Now let's talk about the tournament. It was a 10+5 9–round swiss format, sadly not FIDE–rated, with a grandmaster playing. I was the 6th starting seed, which doesn't say much, as I'm yet to play a rapid event where I lose elo, meaning I'm still underrated.

Game 2 — Lucky pairing

First game I was paired with a 1596–rated opponent playing Black. We went into the Scandinavian and I was up a piece by move 16. With that win I got paired against the grandmaster already in Round 2! And with the White pieces! We have played numerous times before, most recently 3 weeks ago, where we made a quick draw in QGA.

He is extremely solid, and therefore difficult to beat. He responds to 1.e4 with e5, and meets the Vienna with more solid Nc6 and I really wanted to play 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.d4, so I decided to switch the move order with 2.d4.

I made a really stupid mistake on move 10 not playing Bg5, which I have in my notes, but with a different move order (8... d6 9.Bg5 Ne5? 10.Qg3). Then the game is basically already over. Well... it happens.

With how the game went I still have a big advantage in the opening/early middlegame. White's attack is clearly much faster, but Black got rid of the c6 knight, meaning they can play c6–b5–a5 very soon and catch up.

I'm not sure if it's due to a hallucination, miscalculation or an oversight, but I allow a fork on f2 and go down in material. However after immediate Nxh1 I'm pretty happy with my position, having very well positoned pieces, especially my knights neutralizing any pressure on the e4 pawn. Btw the best move (and ony for advantage is d5 lol)

Luckily my opponent doesn't find 20... d5, and falls for my trap playing 20... Be6 letting me storm the kingside, and eventually break–through.

I'm obviously very happy with the win. A little annoyed at not realizing in time I can transpose to a practically winning line with 10. Bg5! as punishing mistakes in my openings is what I do best. Then a little bit careless mistake with f4–Ng3, but it worked out in the end.

Since this game to the 5th or 6th round I experienced annoying stomach pain, the kind you feel when on a swing, or from anxiety, but multiplied tenfold. Probably from the excitiment, which grew with every game.

Round 4 — Minature!

In Round 3 i won against a 2109 in a clean Scandi game, where I accurately punished a mistake in the critical position.

14... Nxe5 15.dxe5 Nd5 — Black enjoys an almost strategically won position

In the next round I get White, and my opponent chooses the Kan Sicilian, against which I've been looking at an interesting idea, trying to make it work as often as possible.

9.Nd5!! I'm so glad I went for it. I was calculating it for a while, but realized there is no way I can calculate this much in a rapid game and spending 4 minutes this early simply would be a mistake, so I had to trust my intuition. Turns out my intuition was right!

Round 5 — Passed pawn

Next round I play another big dog. He goes for a sideline in the QGA and we get a very tactical middlegame.

This was the position we eventually arrived in:

Ina time scramble, my opponent, afraid of a mating net, pushed his pawns letting me exchange rooks and win the game.

I didn't see a clear winning plan, and no mating net since I can't waste moves with my king, and my opponent can shuffle with Rh5–Rh6. But the position is winning nonetheless

Round 6 — Disaster

All good things come to an end. For me, the end (or a pause, if you will) was this round. Finally I get paired against a lower–rated opponent, since top–seeds are simply running out. And what do I do? Let's see...

My preparation ends with knowing 13... Rxe4 is a mistake and figuring out how to punish it is trivial. Throwing such a game hurts so much, especially given the position, and the performance up to this point. But I have to move on and play 3 more rounds.

Round 7 — Calculator

It's time to face the last higher–rated opponent in the entire event.

9 moves. I calculated 9. full. moves. ahead. In a rapid game. I'm so proud of that.

Round 8 — Mistakes come in pairs

I still can't believe what happened in this game. My opponent played the French, and I played the Millner–Barry Gambit!

An amazing position out of the opening. So good, the engine gives 14... Rxc1 as one of the top options. What definitely isn't the top option is 14... Bxb5

When I touched the e6 pawn I realized my mistake. Since I can't make any other move I played it confidently hoping my opponent won't wee 20... Bxh2+. Of cousre it didn't work haha. But the game is still not over, the king is somewhat weak, especially if I win the d5 pawn, so I played on hoping for a miracle.

Still can't believe both that I've blundered and that I won. I guess to have the tournament of my life, a little luuck is required.

Last round pairing was funny. I had 7.5 points, and got paired against someone with 4. He played the London System and I went for the interesting 3... Nc6. The game was pretty slow, but I'm very happy with how I played it.

The end!

I finished the event with an insane 8.5 points out of 9. If it was FIDE–rated, I'd gain 85 elo. Mind you I'm not a junior.

This tournament is a part of 6–event Grand Prix cycle, and this is the last one before the big final. And I might be able to qualify to top 20 and play in the final (7th of December) only from one event! That sounds so unreal.

I'm so happy with my performance, beating every single higher–rated player, getting a better position out of the opening/early middlegame in 8 games, with the last round being equal and of course beating a grandmaster! First, but definitely not the last time. Just that Round 6 draw... it hurts so much. Like a coffe stain on a Mona Lisa painting.

Well — that's all I have for you today. If you really want to confirm, here's the tournament link and here is the public study link with the games. Thank you for sticking around to the end. I hope you enjoyed it and you feel inspired to play! I'll go back to working on move 3 sidelines in the Scandinavian (btw they aren't good aswell). Cya!