Fightback

The previous game felt like my first really good win in a while. Now I was very much looking forward to playing 4 more games of chess, and the first of them presented an interesting challenge: White against the junior player Dominic Klingher (173/1758). I knew the name, but only looked at some games the night before when pairings were published.* I saw a lot of sharp attacking play, of the sort everyone plays when their chess style hasn't grown up yet - the Smith-Morra and King's Gambits looked to be particularly effective in his hands. But, of course, I had White!

As ever, my opponent decided that I would be the ideal candidate for his new opening. That left both sides feeling in the dark, but I was pleased to eventually win this scrappy clash of styles when Klingher took his aggression too far:

2/3 in an Open! That was a first, and one that allowed me to appreciate this game despite its flaws - after all, chess is a fight, and I hadn't been involved in a proper struggle for too long.

There are lots of lessons to be drawn here, I feel, for both sides made some instructive mistakes. We were both guilty of impatience, and whilst my 13. dxe6? was the root cause of all my subsequent difficulties, Klingher was probably the worse offender. By move 19 White is searching in vain for counterplay, and Black's forces are well-positioned enough that he can take his time. So he should be trying to stifle any hint of a White counter-attack. Allowing 20. c5! must, therefore, be regarded as incredibly careless. It is compounded by the equally rash 22... Qg4??, after which not even my time trouble could save him. I think that Black underestimated the long-term danger to his king created by kingside castling - although perhaps I too put my king on the wrong side of the board.

For the first time in months, I now believed that I was on form. My heart was back in it, I'd had two good scalps in a row, and I had been able to out-cheapo a young hacker - pretty much beating him at his own game! And I was happy with my 2/3 score - perhaps too happy, as I was about to find out.



* - And that was a bold decision - usually there's a change somewhere along the line in this tournament!