My Eighth Chess Tournament, Game 1 (Another Advance French Finish)
In this game I beat one of the strongest players in my section, one that I had played against once before. The first time I played against this opponent I ended up drawing. Coincidentally, that game was played in the Winawer Variation of the French Defense, while the game played this time around was in the Advance Variation of the French Defense. I am glad to have beaten my opponent this time, unlike the last time I played against him and let my advantage slip.
Throughout the game there were several moves on my opponent's part that seemed a bit interesting at first. However, it turns out that these kinds of moves are what made my position easier to play, and therefore those moves weren't so good. I had mentioned that to my opponent at the end of the game. He said that he was just trying to play for a draw, which surprised me because he is rated higher than I am, so I would have expected him to try to win. As this game shows, if you try to play for just a draw (i.e. you don't try your best), you won't be very likely to get your draw. More often than not, you will end up losing. If you want to get at least a draw, you should play your best, which means play for a win!
Here is the game:
Themes: Double Attacks, Skewers, Overloading, Removing the Guard, Forks, Zwischenzug, Pins, Desperado, King Activity, Simplification, Bishop Pair, Overprotection, Semi-open Files, Good and Bad Bishops, Opening Traps, Isolated Pawns, Weak Pawns, Doubled Pawns, Blockading, Passed Pawns, Converting Extra Material, Mating Nets, Opposite Side Castling, Basic Checkmates
