Diary from the Tromso Olympiad – Day 4
Round 4
Disaster strikes!
Davor Palo held a slightly worse position on board one, while Mads Andersen got little from his slightly better position on board four.
I played the opening very conservatively. Basically I was surprised and then decided to bluff a bit, but was called and had nothing up my sleeve. I had to do something and decided to go for an old-fashion QGD in a passive version. My opponent played really well and instead of Qc5, I think I was quite a bit worse after g3. Instead I managed to solve my problems with a nice tactic. I am actually quite happy with my play in this game; but less so with my opening choice. See the link here.
The match was decided on board 2. Allan Stig Rasmussen decided to avoid a repetition of moves on move 16 only to lose a pawn and the right to castle – immediately. It looks like insanity struck or that the disappearance of his winning position made the game hard to play in practice.. Look also at move 19 here. Finally, move 9. Bc4 had some nice ideas, but I think the computer overestimates White’s advantage. On the other hand, 9.Qg4 seems lethal. I was wondering why he did not play this. Black does not have any decent way to meet it.
A big disappointment. But we are back tomorrow.
What surprised you in the opening? Were you prepared for the Botvinnik and Moscow?
@TonyRo
Clearly not. I was bluffing and it was called.