I won my round 4 game against Dave Gordon, a very strong player at our chess club. The first 3 opening moves looked like the King’s Indian Defense, but we digressed to something else after Black played c6. Against my better judgement, I opted for an early Queen Side attack before fully developing my pieces, but I seemed to have gotten away with it this time.

Black had some pretty strong counter play after I gave up control of the center. I exchanged my knight for a bishop, thinking it would shatter Black’s pawn structure with double pawns. Instead, Black ended up with a strong pawn mass in the centre. And the double pawns could not be exploited. Black played very tactically, with material sacrifices for position and tempo, but I managed to pull through in the end.

My key takeaways has to do with complacency. The tides can turn very quickly, if you’re not keeping your eye on the ball. So I should always watch the centre, and stifle Black’s counter play, if possible, especially if I have a winning position. I should also always think VERY carefully before initiating an attack if my pieces are not fully developed.

My game with commentary is on my site:

http://azroykandan.com/2012_KCC_Championship.html