My Road to IM: My Second IM Norm! (Part 2)
Hi ChessKids! I am back with the second half of my adventure on achieving a second IM norm! You can read the first part here.Game Recap
Round 5: IM Kirk Ghazarian (2440) vs. FM Shreyas Royal (2412)
I was playing a young American who plays a lot of different openings. He played a Reti, and I surprised him with a dynamic line. I weakened some squares in the hopes of not falling behind in development, but it would almost cost me the game. I was getting tortured for some time, but I was very rigid in my defense, and he was stumped on a plan. He eventually offered a draw in an equal position, and I gladly accepted.
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Photo courtesy of Matjaz Loviscek. Me during my game against Kirk.
End of Round 5: 3.5/5
Round 6: FM Shreyas Royal (2412) vs. FM Domen Tisaj (2329)
I was now playing a local young FM. He surprised me with the Semi-Slav, and I decided to play not such a well-known line. He was getting outplayed, so he decided to make the position very complicated, which he succeeded in doing. I managed to blunder the winning position, but it was still very complicated since it transitioned into a fascinating endgame. I managed to get a winning position, but still needed to find the winning plan:
Can you find the winning plan for white here?
Qe6+! Kc7 Qf5! Kd6 Rb1 Qe4 Rd1+ and he resigns
End of Round 6: 4.5/6
Round 7: IM Matthew Wadsworth (2423) vs. FM Shreyas Royal (2412)
My opponent was also from England and was the eventual winner of the tournament. He played a solid Reti line, but I blundered quickly. I tried to fight back, but it was all in vain since I lost. This result was kind of anti-climatic to my brilliant start.
Round 8: FM Shreyas Royal (2412) vs. FM Erik Ronka (2248)
In the penultimate round, I played a tactically sharp Finnish FM. He played a sharp line in the Catalan, where I had the initiative. The game had a sudden end to it, where he blundered a simple tactic:
Can you find the simple tactic to win the game?
Qh5! simply forks the rook and h7
End of Round 8: 5.5/8
Round 9: FM Shreyas Royal (2412) vs. IM Subelj Jan (2505)
In the final round, I wanted to play a solid game. I got just that in an endgame by move 10. It was soon turning into a dead draw, so my opponent offered a draw, and I accepted! To be honest, I thought I needed this draw for a norm, but it turned out I had exceeded the norm requirements by a full point! My performance rating was a staggering 2535!
End of Round 9: 6/9
Here are some pictures:
Me with my win!
Me at the prize ceremony.
Me outside the playing venue.
Wow, ChessKids! After so many close margins, I get two IM norms in consecutive tournaments. I also collected joint 3rd in the tournament. I hope you enjoyed reading this article, and stay tuned for when I get my final norm!