Playing My Own Novelty

In the last post I covered Round 3 of the Rubinstein Chess Festival, where I defeated a Candidate Master, and had 2.5 points out of 3!

Before the classical event, there was an 11 round blitz opener, where (excluding the first round) I faced on average 250 FIDE higher-rated opponents. Which means that Round 3 was fourth day of very intense and stressful chess. And I felt that fatigue kick in from Round 4, where facing a 2251 I won a pawn up with black on move 8, but I played fast, without much thought and offered a draw in a better position.

And that was the theme for the rest of the tournament. I played fast and poorly. Luckily that mental block didn't stop me from playing a nice game in Round 6.

Rg1 Najdorf - Freak Gambit Declined

I lost Round 5, so I was sitting at 3/5. I knew my opponent plays the Najdorf and often goes for e5 in different lines, so that's mostly what I spent my time reviewing on. However he surprised me and decided to show up for a fight.

As I said, the move I was expecting was 6... e5, but since I've been playing the Freak Attack for close to two years I think, I was still very familiar with b5. The point is simple — Black wants to put quick pressure on the e4 pawn with b4 and Bb7. Funnily enough White can allow b4, and gambit the e4 pawn! But my opponent decided to not accept the gambit — at least not the first...

Novelty gambit

10. b3 looks like I just forgot that my pawn is hanging, but White gets good development for it. Position is objectively equal, but it's up to Black to neutralize White's activity. And the most natural setup with e5 (blocking the b2 bishop) after capturing doesn't quite work.

With two accurate moves Nf5 and Qf3 it becomes clear, that my opponent will struggle to develop his f8 bishop, while I'm already castled and ready to start an attack. That made him play Qg5+ forcing my knight back, but putting the queen on a vulnerable square, which I have now figure out how to take advantage of.

The plan I chose was g4–Be2–Nf5–h4, as it seemed the most logical to me, utilizing the g1 rook, and launching a very quick pawn storm. Even though engine doesn't fully agree with me, it's much better to come up with a solid and sound plan quickly, rather than spending 40 minutes trying to solve the position. But I do think, that I should've spent more time on choosing how I want the game to progress, since I already have a sizeable time advantage, and its move 17, over the third of the way to the bonus 15 minutes.

The plan in action

Instaltny after I finish my plan, my opponent goes wrong with 21... Bxf5? opening my g1 rook. And he's still on the back foot, as Bg5 is a game-winning threat, so he goes 22... h6.

I spent some time calculating 23. Bg5, but I couldn't find anything concrete after 23... e4!, so I improved on my idea with 23. Bc4, quickly ruling out 23... Kh8, which happened in the game anyway.

Now as a challenge to the viewer, after 27... Bf8 I want you to try and find a move, that ends the game on the spot. I played too fast and missed it, but the position was still around +5.

Last trick

The move in question is — Rd5! With pieces so scattered Black isn't able to defend from mate. Congrats if you found it!

In the game I went for much simpler Bxf8–Rd6, which also was enough.

To my opponent's credit, he found some counterplay with 31... Rd7 threatning mate and with tricky 33... Ne4, but ultimately 3 passed pawns are just too much, and I won the game after a couple more moves.

Tournament thoughts

I finished the event with 4/8 gaining 40 FIDE, going up to 2014. I had decided to not play the 9th Round, as I already didn't enjoy the last two rounds. I had slept very poorly through out the event, and effects were clear, but there was something else that made me frustrated with my play. Since the middle of Round 4 I wasn't able to tell myself to slow down. After the opening I kept playing quickly and poorly, and I felt, like it wasn't in my control.

Looking back it's very annoying, as in Round 4, when I was on 2.5 out of 3, I won a pawn with Black on move 8, so winning that game would put me on a generational performance. But it is what it is. I'll try to locate the mental issue and fix it before my next strong event in October, which is Polish U20 Championship.

With all that said, thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed the post, and maybe got interested in this funny looking Rg1 move. If so here's a study I made sometime ago to get you started.