Today I did something that I have not been able to do in 15 years of tournament play, slightly more than 100 official tournaments.
Today I beat my first master in tournament play.
Some of my friends may be surprised to learn that I have never beaten a master before in a serious game. I have beaten near masters, I have drawn masters (including an IM), and I have been up several pieces against masters. Yet, give my opponent a 2200+ rating, and they always find a way to win or hold, sometimes with massive help from me.
Not today. Today I was prepared. I spent the weekend going over my opponent's games in chessbase, and I found an interesting line of the King's Indian 4 pawn attack that my opponent plays. This was going to be the battleground, I decided, so I practiced with Fritz to familiarize myself with the themes.
Since I am so proud, I am going to post the game with a few comments here. I am leaving out a lot, but I wanted to share how I prepared for this game and how being comfortable with the position and the themes of play led to my victory. Normally, this aggressive line for White would have scared me OTB, but Fritz showed me how to defend and counterattack without getting too nervous.
(White) Simon, J vs. (Black) Rihel, J.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0-0 6.Nf3 Na6 7.e5 Nd7 8.h4 c5 9.d5 dxe5 10.h5 exf4 11.Bxf4 e5
This was the position I found in Chessbase, and on which I spent a couple of hours. In that game, though, Black erred with 11.... Nf6, which was followed by the white error 12. Ne5? That pawn could be taken on h5, but black missed it. I wasn't willing to play the less good move in the hopes my opponent would blunder the same way again!
12.Bg5? f6
Ah, a mistake already. I knew that the best line was 12. dxe6 e.p. Re8 13. hxg6 Rxe6 14. Be2 hxg6, but I figured my opponent had a 50% chance of moving the Bishop instead. So far, my preparation is going great!
13.Be3 e4 14.Nh4
Whoops. I only analyzed the line following 14. Nd2. I was on my own now. But the important point is that the themes are similar in all the lines, so I still felt prepared.
14... Ne5 15.hxg6 hxg6 16.Qd2? Bg4!?
I saw immediately that g5 wins the Knight on h4, but it looked scary to me. Fritz shows me after the game that this was nothing to fear, and taking the knight is a game ending move. Still, my pressure is getting bigger with my move, and I felt safe and comfortable. But, come on, Jason! Over-respecting a master's desperate trick is probably why they beat me so often.
17.Be2 Bxe2 18.Qxe2 Nd3+ 19.Kd1 Qe8 20.g4 f5 21.gxf5 Nab4
A move that throws my small advantage away. Fritz now likes any of the following-- Rg1, Ng6, or Qh2. But after
22.Qd2 gxf5 23.Qg2 Qh5+
I am winning handily now. Black's king is almost totally denuded, but it is the White monarch that is in trouble.
24.Ne2 Nxb2+ 25.Kc1 N4d3+ 26.Kb1 Nxc4
Threatening the cute Knight mate on a3
27.Bc1 Qh6
Other moves win, but I was getting excited. The point is that BxQ loses to Na3 mate. I am also threatening QxB followed by Na3 mate. Not just a master win, but one with a queen sac, please.
28.a3 Qb6+ 29.Kc2 Nxc1 White resigns
If not mate, then all the material comes off, with an extra exchange and many pawns for Black.
And I had my first master win!! Maybe I can make expert by the end of the summer yet.
Today I beat my first master in tournament play.
Some of my friends may be surprised to learn that I have never beaten a master before in a serious game. I have beaten near masters, I have drawn masters (including an IM), and I have been up several pieces against masters. Yet, give my opponent a 2200+ rating, and they always find a way to win or hold, sometimes with massive help from me.
Not today. Today I was prepared. I spent the weekend going over my opponent's games in chessbase, and I found an interesting line of the King's Indian 4 pawn attack that my opponent plays. This was going to be the battleground, I decided, so I practiced with Fritz to familiarize myself with the themes.
Since I am so proud, I am going to post the game with a few comments here. I am leaving out a lot, but I wanted to share how I prepared for this game and how being comfortable with the position and the themes of play led to my victory. Normally, this aggressive line for White would have scared me OTB, but Fritz showed me how to defend and counterattack without getting too nervous.
(White) Simon, J vs. (Black) Rihel, J.
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0-0 6.Nf3 Na6 7.e5 Nd7 8.h4 c5 9.d5 dxe5 10.h5 exf4 11.Bxf4 e5
This was the position I found in Chessbase, and on which I spent a couple of hours. In that game, though, Black erred with 11.... Nf6, which was followed by the white error 12. Ne5? That pawn could be taken on h5, but black missed it. I wasn't willing to play the less good move in the hopes my opponent would blunder the same way again!
12.Bg5? f6
Ah, a mistake already. I knew that the best line was 12. dxe6 e.p. Re8 13. hxg6 Rxe6 14. Be2 hxg6, but I figured my opponent had a 50% chance of moving the Bishop instead. So far, my preparation is going great!
13.Be3 e4 14.Nh4
Whoops. I only analyzed the line following 14. Nd2. I was on my own now. But the important point is that the themes are similar in all the lines, so I still felt prepared.
14... Ne5 15.hxg6 hxg6 16.Qd2? Bg4!?
I saw immediately that g5 wins the Knight on h4, but it looked scary to me. Fritz shows me after the game that this was nothing to fear, and taking the knight is a game ending move. Still, my pressure is getting bigger with my move, and I felt safe and comfortable. But, come on, Jason! Over-respecting a master's desperate trick is probably why they beat me so often.
17.Be2 Bxe2 18.Qxe2 Nd3+ 19.Kd1 Qe8 20.g4 f5 21.gxf5 Nab4
A move that throws my small advantage away. Fritz now likes any of the following-- Rg1, Ng6, or Qh2. But after
22.Qd2 gxf5 23.Qg2 Qh5+
I am winning handily now. Black's king is almost totally denuded, but it is the White monarch that is in trouble.
24.Ne2 Nxb2+ 25.Kc1 N4d3+ 26.Kb1 Nxc4
Threatening the cute Knight mate on a3
27.Bc1 Qh6
Other moves win, but I was getting excited. The point is that BxQ loses to Na3 mate. I am also threatening QxB followed by Na3 mate. Not just a master win, but one with a queen sac, please.
28.a3 Qb6+ 29.Kc2 Nxc1 White resigns
If not mate, then all the material comes off, with an extra exchange and many pawns for Black.
And I had my first master win!! Maybe I can make expert by the end of the summer yet.
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