My Road to IM: Playing a Super GM!

Hi ChessKids! I'm back with another article on my road to International Master. This time I played an extremely strong open tournament, the European Individual Chess Championship (EICC), against some top-rated chess players, including GM Anton Korobov (2695 FIDE) and GM Baadur Jobava (2588 FIDE), and many more 2600+.

Crossing 2400 FIDE?

I made a great comeback after starting well but then lost the plot. However, I will either cross 2400 here or come within touching distance after this tournament! Meaning I only need three IM norms to become IM (you need to perform at 2500+ and sometimes 2450+ three times for that).

Game Recap

Round 1: GM Baadur Jobava (2588) vs. FM Shreyas Royal (2296)

I was playing the extremely strong and creative Jobava. He had a peak rating of 2734 which made him a Super GM, and he even beat Magnus in classical chess too! This made me very nervous; I didn't think I deserved to play in the same board as him.

He surprised me in the opening and went for a risky but fun sacrifice. Objectively, it was losing but very difficult to defend against. He put a lot of pressure and played exactly in the style he is known and loved for, but I also played exceptional chess, and we eventually drew! I was winning, but I had to play like an engine. Credit to Jobava for putting me under a lot of pressure not to win. He's a nice guy, appreciated me for the game, and was impressed by my talent. After a pat on the back by him, I was running back ecstatic! I had played my first Super GM and held him to a draw… Check below to see my thoughts on the game:

End of Round 1: 0.5/1
 
Round 2: FM Shreyas Royal (2296) vs. GM Pier Luigi Basso (2600)

I was playing another extremely strong player that required tough preparation. With the help of GM John Emms, we prepared a computer-ish line in which I memorized 20 moves and all their variations. It would reap great rewards because the most difficult and best moves could be a draw and a great result. I prepared hard and well, but unfortunately, almost none of it got used due to them changing their repertoire, but my opponent stuck to it, and I executed it perfectly, we eventually got to a draw. Once again, I was ecstatic to draw two 2600s.
 
End of Round 2: 1/2
 
Round 3: GM Burak Firat (2487) vs. FM Shreyas Royal (2296)
 
I am playing a Turkish GM who plays a lot of openings. This troubled me when preparing. And indeed, he played one of the openings he did not play much, which led to me forget the deep and vast QGD theory. I got an equal position after having a bad one but did a horrible miscalculation and eventually lost. The next day Firat drew to GM Nils Grandelius (2663) which made me feel a bit better.

End of Round 3: 1.0/3

Round 4: FM Shreyas Royal (2296) vs. WFM Monika Rozman (2094)

Once again, I couldn't make much preparation due to her lack of games. However, she prepared well and played a pretty drawish opening. She played well after that but blundered a simple tactic after my positional endgame squeeze on here.

White to play. Can you find the tactic I used to get a winning position?

I played Rxa7! winning a pawn. The game continued ...Rxa7 in which I replied Nc6+ winning back the rook.

Then I got too relaxed and failed to look at her ideas, which made it a very easy knight ending to defend for her. Even though she was underrated, I was disappointed as when I made hard-working progress, I blew away an almost winning knight endgame due to being careless for one move… this mistake also happened in Round 9 in the tournament but much more deadly and painful so stay tuned for it when it comes out.

End of Round 4: 1.5/4

Round 5: Darius Babrauskas (2003) vs. FM Shreyas Royal (2296)

My opponent was underrated. He surprised me in the opening and followed the game Esipenko-Nakamura from this year. In that game, Nakamura struggled for his dear life to draw. The same thing happened to me, good preparation by him. I tried for dynamic chances and made it complex. He missed a very difficult combination to win in the heat of the mess and I eventually drew.

Can you find the very difficult combination to win for my opponent? White to play:

1.Qf6 is the move! If 1...Qxd5 the White has the beautiful sac 2. Qxg6+! fxg6 3. Rxf8+ Rxf8 and he wins back the queen with 4. Bxd5+ and is a full bishop up.
 
End of Round 5: 2.0/5
 
Round 6: FM Shreyas Royal (2296) vs. FM Robert Veleski (2136)

I was desperate for a win, as I was now losing the plot. He played a Benoni-like King's Indian Defense and had good counterplay, but I masterfully outplayed him and got a completely winning position. Once again, I went into R+R vs R+N endgame with four pawns each. Confident I was winning, I decided to easily go into it without evaluating. He managed to find a fortress and left me heartbroken with a draw.
 
End of Round 6: 2.5/6
 

I was devastated, after a great start which was then interrupted by some heartbreaking draws to underrated players. However, I made a great comeback and made an exciting finish…Stay tuned for part 2 of this series!