August 19 Rapid Session: The Long Diagonal
| Time Control: 10 min (Rapid) | Games: 10 | Record: 6W / 2D / 2L |
Overview
Ten rapid games. Six wins, two draws and two losses, and my rating went from 847 up to 903.
Both draws were stalemates, in opposite directions. In game 3 I was the one winning and stalemated my opponent. In game 9 I was nine pawns down and my opponent stalemated me. One of those I earned and one I did not.
The highlight is game 5, where I scored the highest accuracy of the session over a full game. It was a Pirc, I got the f-pawn break in, and the whole game turned on a battery pointing down the long diagonal at White’s rook on a1.
All Games
| # | Colour | Opponent | Result | Moves | My Acc | Comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ⚔️ | White | PinoTryhard (872) | 0-1 | 24 | 64.2 | Loss. Five blunders after move 14. Mated on e1. |
| 2 | 🏳️ | White | ARRahamed (815) | 1-0 | 39 | 88.0 | Queen trade on move 6, then a long grind with the c-pawn. |
| 3 | 🤝 | Black | AronSzucs (842) | ½-½ | 44 | 78.4 | Draw. Queen and rook against king and pawn, and I stalemated him with 44...Qxh7. |
| 4 | ⚔️ | Black | Knqz33cs (825) | 0-1 | 52 | 82.0 | Win. A long queen chase across the board, mate on a3. |
| 5 | 🏳️ | Black | Ajubhai10 (835) | 0-1 | 30 | 91.4 | Best game. Pirc, f5 break, and the battery on the long diagonal won the exchange. |
| 6 | ⚔️ | White | balbaidsrf (841) | 1-0 | 16 | 90.8 | Win. 14.Rxh6 and mate on h7 two moves later. |
| 7 | 🏳️ | White | Xanqoja (855) | 1-0 | 12 | 95.3 | Win. Twelve moves, no move flagged, opponent abandoned. |
| 8 | 🏳️ | Black | KoK1n1NamMo (895) | 0-1 | 27 | 64.7 | Win. Two blunders early, then 13...Nxd4 and the rooks took over. |
| 9 | 🤝 | White | jackjames90123 (917) | ½-½ | 46 | 89.7 | Draw. Lost from move 12, saved by his stalemate on move 46. |
| 10 | 🏳️ | White | CalinRotaru (867) | 1-0 | 12 | 84.9 | Win. Bishop collected the rook on a8 and he resigned. |
Accuracy is Stockfish 16.1 at depth 14 through python-chess, using chess.com’s win-percentage formula. Chess.com weights by position volatility, so its own numbers differ by a few points.
Highlight: Win vs Ajubhai10 (835) as Black
This was a Pirc Defense, and White chose to lock the centre with 6.d5.
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bd3 e5 6.d5
6…O-O 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Bg3
White played 7.Bg5, which I kicked with 7…h6. He retreated with 8.Bh4 and I kept pressuring with 8…g5.
9…Ng4 10.O-O f5 11.exf5 Bxf5 12.Bxf5 Rxf5
Then I went for the thematic 10…f5 pawn break and we traded the light-squared bishops.
13.Ne4 Nd7 14.c4 Ndf6 15.Nfd2 Nxe4 16.Nxe4 Nf6 17.Nxf6+ Qxf6 18.b4 Rf8
Some knight manoeuvring and trades, and I ended up with a triple battery of rook, queen and rook on the f-file.
19.f3 e4 20.c5
Here I spotted a tactic. Pushing 19…e4 puts my queen on double duty: it stays on the f-file and it forms a second battery with the bishop on g7, aimed at White’s rook on a1.
20…Qxa1 21.Qxa1 Bxa1 22.Rxa1
White didn’t see the plan. I temporarily sacrificed the queen for the rook on a1, he recaptured with his queen, and I recaptured with the bishop. That left me up an exchange.
22…exf3 23.cxd6 f2+ 24.Bxf2 Rxf2 25.dxc7
I took on f3 and pushed 23…f2+. The only other legal king moves let the pawn queen, so White gave up the bishop with 24.Bxf2, and after 24…Rxf2 I was up a rook.
White tried to get some counterplay with 25.dxc7, but I had the back rank covered with the rook on f8.
25…Rd2 26.Rc1 Rc8 27.d6 Rxd6 28.a4 Rd7 29.b5 Rdxc7
I collected the d and c pawns with my rooks and formed a battery against White’s rook on c1.
30.a5 Rxc1+
White blundered with 30.a5 and I took the rook for free. He resigned.
Engine Review
90.7% accuracy for me against 85.1% for White at depth 20. Sixteen of my thirty moves were the engine’s first choice, with one mistake, three inaccuracies and no blunders.
The mistake was 9…Ng4, and it cost about two pawns of evaluation. White’s answer is 10.h4, attacking the pawn on g5. If I take with 10…gxh4 then 11.Bxh4 gains a tempo against my queen on d8.
If instead I play another developing move and allow 11.hxg5 hxg5, the g-pawn is weak and the h-file is open for the white rook.
The position was pretty equal until 19.f3, which the engine has at 0.05 before and 1.96 in my favour after. The engine’s line from there is flashy but it just leaves Black better: 19…e4 20.Qe2 h5 21.Rae1 h4 22.Bf2 exf3 23.gxf3 Qc3.
20.c5 was the real mistake, dropping White from about two pawns down to five. There was a better way for me to play it, though. Rather than going straight for 20…Qxa1, the stronger move is 20…Qd4+, which leads to White giving up a bishop.
White sealed their fate with 30.a5. The engine calls it mate in seven: a ladder mate, where White prolongs the game with a few pawn moves.
Reflections
What went well:
- The Pirc plan held up. Lock the centre, kick the bishop, play the f5 break, and take the open lines that come out of it.
- Seeing that the e-pawn push made my queen do two jobs at once. That is the move the whole game rested on.
- Covering the back rank before White got the pawn to c7, so his counterplay never started.
What to work on:
- Knight moves that do not have a target. 9…Ng4 gave White 10.h4 with tempo and was my only real mistake of the game.
- Taking the first winning tactic I see instead of the best one. 20…Qd4+ was half a pawn better than 20…Qxa1 and I did not look for it.
Full PGN of Game 5:
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bd3 e5 6. d5 O-O 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4 g5
9. Bg3 Ng4 10. O-O f5 11. exf5 Bxf5 12. Bxf5 Rxf5 13. Ne4 Nd7 14. c4 Ndf6
15. Nfd2 Nxe4 16. Nxe4 Nf6 17. Nxf6+ Qxf6 18. b4 Rf8 19. f3 e4 20. c5 Qxa1
21. Qxa1 Bxa1 22. Rxa1 exf3 23. cxd6 f2+ 24. Bxf2 Rxf2 25. dxc7 Rd2 26. Rc1 Rc8
27. d6 Rxd6 28. a4 Rd7 29. b5 Rdxc7 30. a5 Rxc1+ 0-1