Bye Bye

Today marked the final round of the Minorca Open chess tournament, where the player faced Woman Grandmaster Jovana Report, rated 2244, who is the wife of strong Hungarian chess player Richard Report. Despite being tired from the previous late-ending round and having an early start at 9:30 AM, the player was excited to play with the white pieces, aiming for a good game without focusing on rating changes. The game began with D4, E6, C4, F5. The player admitted to forgetting the prepared theory for Bishop B4, opting instead to play intuitively. A move of Bishop D2 was followed by B6, A3, then an exchange. The player then made a "very strange move," B4, with the idea of potentially playing Bishop B2 if the opponent didn't take, aiming to save the bishop as a strong piece, despite acknowledging the loss of development. After the opponent took on B4, they played Bishop B7, and the player brought out their knight. The opponent castled, and the player went G3, believing the bishop belonged on that diagonal. The opponent played A5, leading the player to spend time deciding between Bishop G2 and pushing the pawn. The player avoided Bishop G2 due to concerns about the opponent gaining activity after Queen E7, Queen C3, Knight here, B5, Queen B4, and a series of exchanges that would give the opponent significant activity. Instead, the player chose B5 to restrict the opponent's pieces and control the A-file. The opponent responded with D6, and the player played Bishop G2, then castled, aiming to play quickly. After Queen E7, the player needed a plan, recognizing the opponent's potential to play F4, G5, or E5. The player chose Rook D1, anticipating that if the opponent played E5, a series of captures would lead to winning a piece. This move also aimed to activate the rook and prevent it from being exposed on F1 during tactical play. The opponent played F4, prompting the player to spend 20 minutes calculating various responses, including Rook C1, taking on F4 and playing Queen E3, G4, D5, or Queen D3 with the threat of Knight G5. During this extensive calculation, the player realized the need to trade minor pieces to mitigate the opponent's attack on the king, leading to the discovery of Knight E5, identified as the best move in the position. This move forced trades, but the player was now 40 minutes down on the clock. After the trades, including taking on D7 and G2, the opponent played Rook F5. The player chose A4 to defend the pawn, a necessary move. When the opponent played Rook F8, the player went G4, slightly concerned about a potential F3 check but ultimately dismissing it. The opponent played Rook here, and the player protected the pawn with F3, aiming to close down the kingside. The opponent played Queen E7, and the player's Rook C1 was deemed a slow move, as the opponent responded with E5, creating significant threats. The player initially miscalculated, thinking they could take on E5 and then play C5, but realized the opponent could take with the rook, leading to a loss of the E2 pawn. Unable to take, the player considered C5 but found it too risky, allowing the queen to enter. The player opted for E4 to block the opponent's entry, believing it would be fine. The opponent took on the pawn, the player recaptured, and then the opponent played E4, a move the player had missed, causing stress. Despite this, the player felt the position was still fine and found Rook E1, a critical defensive move. The idea was that if the opponent took the rook, the player could recapture with Queen E4. If the opponent took the pawn, which they did, the player played King G3. The player initially considered Queen takes E4, but realized Queen D7 would threaten both the queen and the G4 pawn, leading to a loss. After King G3, the opponent played Queen F6, and the player responded with Queen E6 check, followed by an exchange. The player spent time calculating H4 and F2, believing Rook E7 was necessary, followed by a potential Rook G6 from the opponent. However, the opponent surprisingly went Rook G7, and the player took on F3. The opponent played Rook here. The player felt they should have sacrificed and marched the king, but instead played Rook E4, believing it was a good move to force the opponent to react with H5 or F5. The opponent played F5, the player took, and the opponent played Rook G3. The player debated between King F2 and King E2, choosing King E2. The opponent checked, the player moved King D3, and another check. The player felt they were winning at this point with five minutes left on the clock. The player's plan was to take, then play King E4, but instead played C5, which was also considered fine. A critical moment arose where the player, with five minutes left, hesitated to take the rook, despite it being the winning move. The player admitted to "freaking out" about losing a pawn and the opponent's potential counterplay, describing it as a "weird psychological thing." Despite calculating the winning line, the player couldn't bring themselves to execute it, leading to frustration. Instead, the player took on D6, which was also considered good but allowed the opponent's king to become active. The game eventually led to a drawn endgame after pawns were traded, where the player knew the position was a theoretical draw as long as the king reached G1 and the rook stayed on the fourth rank. The opponent offered a draw, which the player accepted. The player expressed happiness with the overall game, having found good moves and drawing a strong Woman Grandmaster, which resulted in gaining nine rating points and moving closer to the 2100 goal. The tournament performance was rated at 2131. The player also expressed motivation to play more tournaments and highlighted the enjoyment of the Minorca Open, despite its challenging time controls. The player aims to reach and surpass the 2100 rating this year. The video concluded with an invitation for viewers to comment on their favorite game or thoughts on the tournament and included clips from the prize ceremony.