I thought the chess season was over, but apparently, some of us are still free to play chess on Monday evenings. And so Sid and I are playing every Monday now, until I leave for the summer in July. We should hopefully have 7 games, which we’ll play at the Upper Canada Academy on Brock Street (which is why we’re calling it the “Upper Canada Series”).
Anyway, game 1 ended today, with a loss by me on White. Congratulations to Sid on the early 1-0 lead, of a 7-game series, hopefully.
I played e4 as White, and Black responded with the sicilian defense. I thought I’d play the Grand Prix Attack, which is a favorite of KingsCrusher, a chess commentator whom I follow on YouTube. Black played an unusual e5 on move 2, with a morocy bind type structure. I don’t think I played the opening very well. Here are some things to remember for next time:
1 – I should play the g4 push earlier in the game. The Grand Prix is all about attacking on the King side with tempo.
2 – I should not open up the queen side in this opening. Expanding on both sides of the board make me susceptible to infiltration.
I think those were the 2 main problems with my play in this game. You can check out my full commentary here:
http://www.azroykandan.com/2012_UpperCanadaSeries.html
I’ll get you next time, Sid!
May 07, 2012 @ 21:47:24
19.Nxg5 might have been good, which actually applies pressure on f2, and may even force Bxg5 by Black.
Another possible alternative, 26.exd4 should be safe and playable as well.
White certainly had chances, but did not calculate fully and thus played less accurate moves. Nice play by Black nonetheless.
May 08, 2013 @ 19:02:31