Overview of Stajnitc 2025

Hi Everyone, This is Post 3 on trying to become a Grandmaster series.
I just finished a tournament last sunday, and i will go through every round's thoughts i had.

Round 1

I was white against Kolevski, Stojanche. He was 1595, and did not really play proper chess. The win was easy.

Round 2

In this game, i was black against 1768 rated Bozhinovski, Miloe. He played a rare and drawish sideline of the sicilian alapin, which led to a dry ending. In the very end, he made a fatal error heading into a pawn ending with a inactive king, and the game won itself. On 2/2 going into round 3, expecting a tough opponent.

Round 3

One cannot simply prepare against FM Bogoevski, Jani! His dynamic attacking style fits for rapid. He pulled off and early surprise in the opening with the Alekhine's defense. I was completely winning but in time pressure threw the game and lost quickly. No time to calculate.

Round 4

A rather similar situation arose in this game, i was black against Alex Naskov. We got to a Catalan position where i was a pawn up but he had the bishop pair.
I spent time on worthless moves, such as a forced move, forced capture, etc, Leading to the unfortunate result of a draw.

Round 5

I realized that in this game if i was shooting for a prize/medal i had to start winning. I played Jovanovski, Damjan who quickly blitzed out the caro-can and got into a balanced position. In the ending he simply hung a pawn and i converted flawlessly. A nice bump up in rankings.

Round 6

In this round, i played Pavleski, Nikola who had a perfect 1-0 against me. I had to get it back. I was disappointed at his opening choice of the alapin, as it leads to relatively dry positions. Fortunately, he blundered into a ending where i had the better knight vs bad bishop, and blundered a series of tactics leading to a lost pawn ending. A very nice and flawless game from me to keep momentum.

Round 7

The Nimowitch sicilian is a pretty rare opening that i have never faced before. Simovski, Goran Surprised me on move 2. Unfortunately, he blundered a knight fork and it all ended quickly.

Round 8 The Key Game of the tournament

This game was super tough. I had to face a IM as black. I have a snippet of the game until the critical moments.<iframe width="600" height="371" src="

" frameborder=0></iframe> And i suffered the entire game.

Round 9

Unfortunately, in this round i was white and blundered a bishop in a tiny bit better position.

Final impressions

Overall, a good impression up 45 rating points, and 5,5/9. I should have spent time on more important moments instead of lavishly wasting it. A important lesson to be aware always. My next stop is a blitz tournament in Osgovo, Kriva Palanka, And then a classical tournament 7 rounds in thessaloniki greece.
I hope you enjoyed, thanks for reading. Best of luck, see you next time!
Michael Burns