I'm back to playing a chess tournament, this time the Sydney International in Parramatta.The tournament has 75 players, including a number of foreigners, with many backing up from the Doeberl Cup in Canberra.
I was paired with IM Kantholi Ratnakaran in the first round & felt like I had a reasonable, though not advantageous position, when the IM sacrificed a piece for an attack & I was unable to stop it. In round 2, I played Melbounre junior Zachary Loh, for the third time in just over a year. Each time the opening has been my favourite 'Broken Arrow' line of the Modern Defense & this time I managed to escape with a win after Zach missed playing the crushing 28.Qe8, when I am unable to stop the threats of Qc6, Qd8 & Bf5. Zach underestimated the counterplay I would later get with my c-pawn & once he had to give up his bishop, the game was practically over.
Full results can be found on the tournament website and there is live coverage of the top 8 boards online, as well as commentary from GM Ian Rogers at the venue.
I get to play FM Tomek Rej this morning as white, which is something I haven't done for a long time, with most of our previous encounters being Benko Gambits where I was playing black, though Tomek has improved quite substantially since those days!
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