This round I played against a very good player. His name is Philip Haley and has a long distinguished record in Canadian Chess. I was told that Philip is around 90 years old and has been playing chess for 80 years. That is a lot of chess experience. I hope that I am still playing chess at that age! I didn't know what to expect in this game and I was pleasantly surprised even though I lost the game.
1.e4
e6
2.d4
d5
3.exd5
I really don't like the French defense and prefer open positions. That is why I always take the d-pawn.
3...exd5
4.Nc3
Nf6
5.Be3
I usually develop these 2 pieces first in the Exchange French with the hopes that my opponent will castle Kingside and I can then castle Queenside and launch an attack against their King!
5...Bd6
6.Bd3
c6
7.Nf3
0-0
8.h3
Normally, I play Qd2 first hoping to castle next move. However, in this game, I decided to be more patient to see what my opponent was up to with c6.
8...Re8
9.a3
Still waiting. I am not sure what to do here and I am waiting to see where he will deploy his other pieces.
9...Qc7
10.Qd2
Nbd7
11.0-0
OK. I chickened out. I felt he developed his pieces sufficiently caution me from castling Queenside. Now, I am in a positional battle.
11...Ne4
12.Bxe4
dxe4
13.Nh4
I thought this Knight was better on the side and I was hoping to either send it forward later or bring it back to g2 or f3 if possible.
13...Nf6
14.Qe2
I didn't like black Knight going to h5 so I decided to keep it out for now.
14...Bd7
15.f4
Qd8
I had great hopes of him taking my f-pawn en passant (which would have been exf3). I had planned to take back with my Queen and I had all kinds of tactics worked out from that point. However, my opponent had other plans of attacking my weak Knight on h4.
16.Qf2
Be7
17.g4
I didn't have a lot of options here and thought that I was in a little bit of a mess. So, I decided to let him play into my position and let me open the h-file all at the expense of a pawn.
17...Nxg4
18.hxg4
Bxh4
19.Qg2
Be7
20.Kf2
I had dreams of attacking down the h-file with my Rooks and Queen but my opponent was able to easily close the position.
20...f5
21.g5
g6
After this move, my opponent had only 1 minute and 45 seconds left on his clock for the next 19 moves. He had been playing very slowly up to this point. He will receive 30 seconds back on his clock for every move he makes but I thought that there would be no way he would be able to make the 40 move time control if I kept the position complicated. Boy, was I wrong!
22.Rh1
Bf8
23.Qh3
Re7
24.d5
I decided to try and break open the position in the middle of the board to keep the complications up and to force my opponent to find good moves.
24...Rg7
25.Bd4
Qe7
26.Rae1
Maybe taking the Rook on g7 would have been better. But, I thought that maybe my opponent wanted me to do that. Chess is quite the battle of the mind!
26...Rf7
27.b4
Rc8
28.Bxa7
Qd6!
This move threatens my pawn of f4 and allows him to start activating his pieces.
29.Qe3
cxd5
30.Bc5
Qc6
31.Bd4
Bg7
This move forces the trade of my good black Bishop.
32.Ne2
Bxd4
33.Nxd4
Qc3!
He wants to trade off my Queen and then his pieces will be much more active than mine.
34.Rh3
Qxe3+
35.Rhxe3?
Being under time trouble now myself, I played this blunder which it turns out cost me the game. I should have played Rexe3 keeping both Rooks on the 3rd Rank.
35...Ba4
36.c3
Rfc7
37.Rc1??
A natural looking move but totally losing in my opinion after Blacks next move.
37...Rc4!
38.Ne2
d4!
39.Rh3
d3
40.Ng3
Every move I make is bad. All his were great! Talk about being punished for one simple mistake!
40...Rxc3
41.Rxc3
Rxc3
42.Ke3
Rxa3
43.Kd2
Ra2+
An excellent game by my opponent. I am very impressed that he was able to blitz me off the board! 0-1