In Part One, Two, and Three of my series, we looked at my first three games. If you haven't read those articles yet, I highly recommend you to do so!
Round 4:
I was most worried for this game, as I was Black against the highest seed. In addition, my opponent had been playing very well the entire tournament so far, and so I thought this was going to be the hardest game this tournament (spoiler: I was wrong).
The position looks fairly equal here since Black has more space for now and the b3 pawn is a weakness. However, White plans to play e4 after my knight moves away from e4, and b3 is hard to attack. If White can get e4 in, I think that Black might even be worse.
Here's a little puzzle for you all: Analyze 15...Bxe5. What's the followup idea? Hint: b3 is weak.
Solution for Round 4:
15...Bxe5 is a good move. White is forced to take back on e5, since taking on e4 leads to a recapture with check and Black just wins a pawn. This is followed up by 16..Nd2! The point is that 17. e4 doesn't work because after 17....Nxf1 there's a fork on e3, winning back the queen. The best option for White was probably 17. Bc1, and after a rook to d8 (which is forced), taking on d2 and then just playing a slightly worse endgame. This would probably lead to a draw. However, after 17. Re1, which my opponent played, White is losing material.
17...Rfd8!! The b3 pawn isn't defendable, since after 18. Ra3 there's 18...Nxf3, winning an exchange. The rest was just a matter of technique, which can be seen down below.
After my win, I was 90 percent sure that I would get a norm (one of the three tournament performances needed for me to make IM). I only needed 2.5/5, but I believed my hardest opponents were only to come. My game plan was to win one game and draw two during the next three games, since I figured I could either get a draw from my second to last or last round opponent.
Until next time, ChessKids!