Smuk GM Skanderborg | CHESS AT THE BAG OF CATS

I had an experimental summer, playing five tournaments in less than 2 months, and two days after arriving from Chennai I went to the idyllic town of Skanderborg to participate in a closed GM-tournament. I was perhaps not in my most inspired mood, and I tried to make the best of circumstances by studying new stuff and expanding my repertoire. We played at Skanderborg Kulturhus, a lovely venue overlooking the lake. During the one and a half month before I had only had a few hours at home with my piano, and I was starting to suffer from something close to abstinence. I am thankful that the organizer put in a good word for me so that I was allowed to practice on the Steinway (once owned by Mercer Ellington) that was sitting in the concert hall.

I spent hours at the piano, and got back some of my inspiration, although my attention to detail and focus never quite caught up. My game against Nicolai Vaesterbaek Pedersen was symptomatic for my tournament as a whole:

   [Event "Smuk Skak GM"]  [Site "Skanderborg"]  [Date "2022.08.19"]  [Round "7"]  [White "Hillarp Persson, Tiger"]  [Black "Pedersen, Nicolai Vesterbaek"]  [Result "1/2-1/2"]  [ECO "E59"]  [WhiteElo "2514"]  [BlackElo "2366"]   {I felt I ought to share one of my own games from the tournament, although I  did not feel happy about any of them. I did win three games, but it was rather  the four games that I ought to have won (in rounds 1, 2, 7 and 9) that sticks  in my memory. This game is quite representative of them.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3.  Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 {At this stage of the tournament is was clear to me  that I would not win, and in order to save some energy for the next tournament  (in Öbro, Copenhagen) I decided to quite my daily four hours of prepration.  Instead I watched a lot of Netflix and tried to relax. So, this move was not a  choice born out of preparation, but rather a way to play something that I did  not need to prepare.} d5 6. Nf3 c5 {I was expecting that my opponent would  choose something else, but now I was back in my "old", pre-Stockfish,  repertoire.} 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3 Bxc3 9. bxc3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Qc7 11. Ba2 ({I used  to play} 11. Bd3 e5 12. Qc2 Re8 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Qxe5 15. f3 {rather  frequently, so I decided to try something else.}) 11... e5 12. h3 Bf5 $6 {  This is already a mistake. Black should not waste a tempo on moving the bishop  to a place which might not be the best one in the end.} (12... e4 13. Nd2 Bf5  14. a4 (14. d5 Ne5 15. c4 Rfe8 {and White does not get the chance to play the  d5-d6 idea, like in the game.}) 14... b6 15. Ba3 Rfe8 16. Qe2 Rad8 {with a  balanced position, in Babula,V (2576)-Navara,D (2682) Usti nad Labem 2022.})  13. d5 $1 Rad8 (13... e4 14. Nh4 $1) 14. c4 Na5 $6 ({I expected the game to  continue} 14... e4 15. Nh4 Bc8 16. Bb2 Qe7 ({I funny detail is that we both  noticed that} 16... Ne5 {fails to} 17. d6 $1 Rxd6 18. Bxe5 Rxd1 19. Bxc7 Rxa1  20. Rxa1 g5 21. Bd6 {with a winning position. In the game I get an even better  chance to use the same type of tactic, by neither I nor my opponent noticed it.  }) 17. f4 {, with a strong initiative for White, I thought. However, White's  advantage is not as big as I expected after} exf3 18. Qxf3 Ne5 19. Qg3 Rde8 20.  Rf5 $1 Ng6 $1 21. Rxf6 gxf6 22. Re1 f5 23. Nxg6 hxg6 24. Bb3 {although Black  will have to play with great precision, in order to stay in the game.}) 15. Bb2  Rfe8 $2 {My opponent was not in great shape either...} (15... e4 $1 {and  although there is more than one way for me to get an advantage, it is  generally better to not lose a pawn than to lose one.}) 16. Nh4 $2 ({I do not  think I have missed such an easy tactic in the opening stages, for more than  two decades.} 16. Nxe5 $1 Rxe5 (16... Bxh3 17. Qf3 Bc8 18. Rad1 {Black can  resign here.}) 17. d6 {just wins, so Black has to go for the side-line, which  is hopeless.}) 16... Bg6 17. Nxg6 hxg6 18. Qc2 e4 19. Qc3 b6 {I thought for a  very, very long time here, trying to evaluated the concequences of 20.f3, but  in the end I just went for the positional move.} 20. f4 $5 (20. f3 $5 Nh5 (  20... Qg3 21. Bb1 Qh4 22. fxe4 Qh6 23. e5 Nd7 24. e6 fxe6 25. e4 e5 26. Bc2 Nf6  27. Rf3 Nb7 28. Re1 Nd6 29. Rg3 $18) 21. f4 Qe7 22. g4 Qh4 23. Rf2 Nf6 24. Kg2  Re7 25. Raf1 Ne8 {Black is somewhat worse coordinated here due to the weird  position of the queen. Still a lot to play for though.}) 20... Nb7 21. g4 Re7  22. a4 Nd6 23. Bb3 a6 24. Rfc1 Rc8 25. Bd1 $6 {I played this quite fast,  trying to make up for some of the time I had squandered on my 20:th move.} (25.  Qd2 $1 Nfe8 (25... g5 26. fxg5 Nd7 27. Qh2) 26. Bd1 Qd8 27. g5 Rb8 28. Be2 Nf5  29. Bg4 Nh4 {is better for White, but once again, Black is not without  counter-chances.}) 25... b5 (25... g5 $1) 26. axb5 axb5 27. cxb5 Nxb5 28. Qa5  Qb8 (28... Nxd5 29. Qxb5 Nxe3 30. Be5 Rxe5 31. Qe2 Rf5 32. Qxe3 Rxf4 33. Ra3  $16) 29. Bxf6 $4 {Immediately after the game Nicolai pointed out that this is  a big mistake, and I came to the conclude that this is one of the worst moves  I have ever played. Well, perhaps it had more with my mind-set to do. I did  not expect myself to play good at this stage, and my bad decisions seemed  worse than they actually were. There is actually a (mistaken) logic behind my  play.} ({I wanted to play} 29. Rab1 $1 Ra7 30. Qd2 {, but got annoyed by the  possibility of} (30. Qe1 Nxd5 $2 31. Be5 Qb6 32. Be2 {wins.}) 30... Ra2 {  Indeed that is correct. Instead I should move my queen all the way to e1, when  there is no pin and White is hugely better.}) (29. Qd2 g5 $5) 29... gxf6 30.  Rab1 Rb7 {I had missed the fact that Be2 can be met with ...Nc3! All in all,  the result is that my concept with Bxf6 was a huge mistake.} 31. Qa1 Nc7 (31...  Rb6 $5 32. Ba4 Nd6 33. Bc2 {is balanced, but would have been extremely  unpleasant for me to play in time trouble.}) 32. d6 $2 {I was down to the  minute by now, and failed to find the best moves. It is a miracle that I  survived:} (32. Bc2 $1 Nxd5 33. Bxe4 Nb4 34. Qxf6 Rb6 35. Qc3 $13) 32... Nd5  33. d7 Rd8 34. Ba4 Rxb1 ({During the game I worried about} 34... Nxe3 $1 35.  Rxb7 Qxf4 {, which indeed is dangerous for me:} 36. Rb2 Qg3+ 37. Kh1 Qxh3+ 38.  Rh2 Qf3+ 39. Kg1 Qxg4+ 40. Kh1 Qf3+ 41. Kg1 Qg3+ 42. Kh1 Ng4 43. Rcc2 Qf3+ 44.  Kg1 Nxh2 45. Rxh2 e3 46. Bb5 Kg7 47. Qe1 $15 {In practical play this is close  to winning for Black.}) 35. Rxb1 Qc7 36. Qb2 g5 37. Qd2 {I am out of the woods.  } Nb4 38. Qc3 Nd5 39. Qd2 Nb4 (39... gxf4 {I did not have to time to properly  analyze what would happen after} 40. Qxd5 f3 {, but it seems that} 41. Qd2 Qg3+  42. Kf1 Qxh3+ 43. Kg1 {is enough for a draw.} Qg3+ 44. Kf1 Qh3+ $11 45. Kg1  Qxg4+ $2 46. Kh1 $18) 40. Qc3 Nd5 {And I claimed a threefold repetition on the  next move.} 1/2-1/2