My Road to IM: Playing an All-Time Legend!
Hi ChessKids, I'm back with Part 2 of my personal recap of the European Individual Chess Championship. Check out part 1 if you haven't already. This article features my comeback after losing my way in rounds 3-6 in the first article. However, this article also has its fair share of setbacks…Game Recap
Round 7: Yasin Chennaoui (2015) vs. FM Shreyas Royal (2296)
I was now playing another strong 2000. He had beaten GM Haik Martirosyan (2630) before in classical chess! It was a solid sideline opening. I went for a strong pawn sac which he cleverly declined. I got nice light-squared control and he eventually blundered in the endgame. I was very happy and was hoping that this was the boost-up for me to come back to form.
End of Round 7: 3.5/7
Round 8: FM Shreyas Royal (2296) vs. IM Georg Kilgus (2415)
The opening was a surprise advantage. I made it very interesting by sacrificing a pawn for good attacking chances, eventually sacrificing another and even putting a third one for offer! This gave me monster bishops in the bishop where I found a nice tactic to destroy his defenses, which unpleasingly to the eye, were holding everything together...
Can you find the killer blow for White here?
1.Re6 is the move! It wins a piece due to the fact he cannot play 1...Qxe6 since 2. Qxg7# is mate.
End of Round 8: 4.5/8
Round 9: GM Anton Korobov (2695) vs. FM Shreyas Royal (2296)
I was happy to jump back to form but now I was playing an all-time legend. He had beaten almost any top player you could name. Once again, I was nervous but got some confidence based on my games vs. Jobava and Basso. He seemed to play a slightly dubious Catalan as white and gave me a slight advantage. I played well and made it not so easy for him; he even spent 30 mins on one move! It got down to 10 mins with 10 moves left to make before the 30 minutes secondary time control, which made me excited. I got to a simple endgame fortress. I felt magic coming from my hands as I transferred the energy into the pieces in what would be a draw soon.
My heart froze. A mix of emotions whizzed through me like a swarm of bees around a beehive. I sunk my head deep into my hands. I blundered. Blundered horribly! My emotional change came with a simple bishop move. I was devastated. I stormed off, never in my life had I felt such pain! I resigned when only a few moves ago would be one of the greatest draws of my life so far!
"The easiest of fortresses!’" "DAH!" "Why did I play Bd7?????" "How can one play so well and blunder so badly due to excitement??" These were all the heart-puncturing thoughts I was pondering in the midst of the moonlight while sleeping…
End of Round 9: 4.5/9
Round 10: FM Shreyas Royal (2296) vs. IM Jakub Kosakowski (2452)
I was still upset, with only three hours of sleep. I had no clue how I would do today… I felt even worse when he sacrificed three pawns in the King's Indian Defense as preparation for the engine. I did not have the slightest clue of how to play. However, I started to gain confidence. My instinct was coming back and I went into a drawn R+B endgame each where I had three pawns and he had two. We eventually drew. I had regained my confidence, my opponent was strong, young, and had drawn to a 2637.
End of Round 10: 5.0/10
Round 11: IM Bojan Maksimovic (2455) vs. FM Shreyas Royal (2296)
I was playing another strong, young IM. I wanted to finish the tournament with 5.5/11, but 6.0/11 would be a bonus. He prepared another line that I was unfamiliar with, but I made some good positional decisions…
Can you find a good plan for Black to equalize?
I played 1...Nd7! with the idea of ...Nf8, ...Bc8 and ...Be6! getting my knight to a good square and exchanging my bad bishop.
Soon, we went into an endgame which was an easy draw. But, I was blowing it again! The thoughts and emotions smacked back into my dad. …"Will I never learn from my mistakes?"… "Another simple draw" "WOW, I have a serious talent for blowing easy drawn games."
However, this time I pulled myself back together and defended brilliantly. It ended in a draw and gave me a very impressive tournament.
End of Round 11: 5.5/11
Wow, what a journey this has been! It ended well, and I have unlocked some brilliant chess that I never knew I could play. I'm also going to cross 2400, or if not I’ll just be a few points behind it. This means I only need three IM norms to become IM (you need to perform at 2500+ and sometimes 2450+ three times for that). I really hoped you enjoyed this article, stay tuned for more!