Very well played and showcased. So many instructive positions, strategic pawn pushes / imbalances and few other hits and misses. Being ahead in Opening development vs opponent no weaknesses vs creating weaknesses, very nicely played and explained. I recall something from Mastering your Openings book/course :)
We’ll have to see what happened in the game, but I can tell you right off I’m a big fan of declining draw offers, so well done on that, even if you didn’t get the result you wanted.
My submission for game of the week - it felt like a bit of a failure tbh - it was a club match OTB - I was black and got a good position - then got stumped for a continuation as black at move 23. I spent a long time trying to figure out how best to continue but just could not see a way through when I felt sure there should be something. I focused on calculating various h5 and Ng5 ideas but having expended way too much time already bottled it and made a poor exchange decision. The computer reveals two key ideas which I did not even consider. Having examined the game - I think I did not evaluate the opportunities in the position correctly - eg where are weaknesses - or the motifs / dynamics - what pawn pushes are available - and thus restricted my choice of candidate moves - I then circled round on the chosen candidate moves - getting nowhere and frustrated because my position just felt so much better - burning up time which caused subsequent problems for me. My own analysis of the game has found this quite instructive - I think I am possibly not scanning my positions up front enough looking for tactical motifs enough plus not recognising the weaknesses in the position and seeing how they offer up candidate moves for consideration. 'Awaken your pieces' (as per Can Kabadayi) was the takeaway for me
Oh man, I bet those kids go absolutely bananas when their chess teacher talks about PP on the PP.
Very well played and showcased. So many instructive positions, strategic pawn pushes / imbalances and few other hits and misses. Being ahead in Opening development vs opponent no weaknesses vs creating weaknesses, very nicely played and explained. I recall something from Mastering your Openings book/course :)
I'd like to submit a game I lost in the last season of the League.
I lost the game after refusing two draw offers and feeling I had great chances, so I'm curios to know where you feel it all went wrong.
[Event "League Games: Tal (2030) - Felix (2150)"]
[Date "2025.03.22"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "E83"]
[Opening "King's Indian Defense: Sämisch Variation, Yates Defense"]
[StudyName "League Games"]
[ChapterName "Tal - Felix "]
[UTCDate "2025.03.22"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 Nc6 7. Qd2 a6 8. Bd3 e5 9. d5 Nd4 10. Nge2 Nh5 11. Bg5 Qe8 12. O-O-O c5 13. Bh6 b5 14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Rdf1 b4 16. Nd1 Nxe2+ 17. Bxe2 f5 18. exf5 gxf5 19. g3 Nf6 { Black offered draw, White rejected } 20. Nf2 Ra7 21. g4 Re7 22. Rhg1 Kh8 23. Qh6 Qf7 24. g5 Ne8 25. Qh4 Rg8 26. f4 Qg7 27. Bh5 a5 28. Ne4 exf4 29. Nf6 Nxf6 30. gxf6 Qxg1 31. Rxg1 Rxg1+ 32. Bd1 Rf7 33. Qxf4 Rxf6 34. Qe3 Rg8 35. Qe7 Rgf8 36. Qc7 f4 37. Bf3 a4 38. Kd2 Re8 39. Qc6 Rg8 40. Qxa4 h5 { Black offered draw, White rejected } 41. Ke2 Bg4 42. a3 bxa3 43. bxa3 Rb8 44. Qc2 Re8+ 45. Kf2 Re3 46. Bxg4 hxg4 47. Qb2 Kg7 48. a4 Rh3 49. Kg1 f3 50. Qf2 Rh8 51. Qg3 Rb8 52. Kf2 Rb2+ 53. Ke3 Rg6 54. Qf4 Re2+ 55. Kd3 Re5 56. a5 Re7 57. a6 Rf7 58. Qc1 f2 59. Qf1 Rgf6 60. Kd2 Ra7 *
We’ll have to see what happened in the game, but I can tell you right off I’m a big fan of declining draw offers, so well done on that, even if you didn’t get the result you wanted.
This one is in honor of blitz week. 3 minute time control, rife with blunders on both sides.
Game submission. My last game of the online tournament:
https://lichess.org/study/yHcQVXbm/n2rvdA10
My submission for game of the week - it felt like a bit of a failure tbh - it was a club match OTB - I was black and got a good position - then got stumped for a continuation as black at move 23. I spent a long time trying to figure out how best to continue but just could not see a way through when I felt sure there should be something. I focused on calculating various h5 and Ng5 ideas but having expended way too much time already bottled it and made a poor exchange decision. The computer reveals two key ideas which I did not even consider. Having examined the game - I think I did not evaluate the opportunities in the position correctly - eg where are weaknesses - or the motifs / dynamics - what pawn pushes are available - and thus restricted my choice of candidate moves - I then circled round on the chosen candidate moves - getting nowhere and frustrated because my position just felt so much better - burning up time which caused subsequent problems for me. My own analysis of the game has found this quite instructive - I think I am possibly not scanning my positions up front enough looking for tactical motifs enough plus not recognising the weaknesses in the position and seeing how they offer up candidate moves for consideration. 'Awaken your pieces' (as per Can Kabadayi) was the takeaway for me
[Date "2025.10.20"]
[White "Ramaraju"]
[Black "Smith, Nigel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "1655"]
[BlackElo "1888"]
[Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/tranq2"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "B00"]
[Opening "Pirc Defense"]
[StudyName "202509 My Classical Chess Games September 2025 -"]
[ChapterURL "https://lichess.org/study/8JaXuRX5/RQ6JiwVT"]
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 4. dxe5 dxe5 5. Qxd8+ Kxd8 6. Bg5 Be6 7. Bxf6+ gxf6 8. Nf3 c6 9. h3 Nd7 10. a3 Kc7 11. Bd3 a5 12. O-O Bc5 13. Ne2 Rhg8 14. Kh2 Nf8 15. c3 a4 16. Bc2 Bc4 17. Rae1 Ne6 18. g3 b5 19. Nfg1 Rad8 20. Rd1 Rxd1 21. Rxd1 Bxf2 22. Kg2 Bc5 23. Kf3 Rd8 24. Rxd8 Kxd8 25. Kg4 Ng7 26. h4 h5+ 27. Kf3 Be6 28. Kg2 Bg4 29. Bd1 Be3 30. Nf3 Ke7 31. b3 axb3 32. Bxb3 Ne6 33. Bc2 Kd6 34. a4 Bb6 35. axb5 cxb5 36. Bd3 Kc6 37. Nh2 Be3 38. Nxg4 hxg4 39. Kf1 Nc5 40. Bb1 1/2-1/2
I wish to submit this Blitz game played 21-Oct
URL - https://www.chess.com/game/live/144566013374
[Event "Live Chess"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2025.10.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "wcioglia"]
[Black "thinkmaster99"]
[Result "0-1"]
[TimeControl "180+2"]
[WhiteElo "1772"]
[BlackElo "1789"]
[Termination "thinkmaster99 won by resignation"]
[ECO "C07"]
[EndTime "17:57:33 GMT+0000"]
[Link "https://www.chess.com/game/live/144566013374"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 c5 4. Ngf3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. exd5 cxd5
8. Bd3 Nf6 9. O-O Bd6 10. h3 O-O 11. Re1 Qc7 12. Nb3 a5 13. a4 Ba6 14. Bxa6 Rxa6
15. f3 Rc8 16. c3 Bh2+ 17. Kh1 Bg3 18. Re2 Nh5 19. Nd4 Qe7 20. Be3 Qh4 21. Qf1
Raa8 22. Rc2 Bf4 23. Bf2 Ng3+ 24. Bxg3 Qxg3 25. Qg1 Qg6 26. Re2 Rab8 27. Nb5 Qd3
28. Qd1 Qg6 29. Qd4 Qg3 30. Qg1 Qg6 31. Rae1 h5 32. g3 Bc7 33. Rd1 h4 34. g4 Bb6
35. Qe1 Qf6 36. Kg2 Qf4 37. Nd4 Bxd4 38. Rxd4 Qf6 39. f4 Rc4 40. Qd1 Rbc8 41.
Red2 Rxd4 42. Rxd4 Rc4 43. Kf3 Rc8 44. Qd3 g5 45. b4 gxf4 46. Rxf4 Qxc3 47. Qxc3
Rxc3+ 48. Kg2 Rc4 49. Rxc4 dxc4 50. Kf2 axb4 51. Ke2 b3 52. a5 b2 53. a6 b1=Q
54. a7 Qb7 0-1
[Event "Safaldas vs. grampabumkin1"]
[Site "Chess.com"]
[Date "2025-10-21"]
[White "Safaldas"]
[Black "grampabumkin1"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1402"]
[BlackElo "1362"]
[TimeControl "180"]
[Termination "grampabumkin1 won by resignation"]
1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d5 3. e5 d4 4. exf6 dxc3 5. fxg7 cxd2+ 6. Bxd2 Bxg7 7. Rb1 Bf5
8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Bb5 Qd5 10. c4 Qe4+ 11. Be3 Qxb1 12. Bxc6+ bxc6 13. O-O Qxd1 14.
Rxd1 O-O 15. Ng5 Bxb2 16. h3 h6 17. Nf3 Kh7 18. Rb1 Ba3 19. Rb3 Bd6 20. c5 Be6
21. Rb2 Rab8 22. Re2 Rb1+ 23. Re1 Rxe1+ 24. Nxe1 Be5 25. a4 Bc3 26. Nd3 Bb3 0-1