Good luck!

Damn you have skillz op.

you can do it imo, you obv have natural talent.




Zy

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++++++++

By the way, when are we going to get another update? I followed the results of the Limburg Open, and while the last few rounds weren't what I was hoping for, I'm very curious to see the win over GM Johannessen from round 2. And to know what your next tourney will be so I can continue stalking your results tables!

There are 47 people in the world 2700 or above so best of luck!

It has all been just hard work man. Talent has avoided me like a plague believe me.

Hmm a small break once again huh? Limburg was a nice small tournament. Unfortunately my ending was indeed terrible. But I gotta tell ya couchsurfing rules. The first Finnish host was very friendly. In the end though I got the feeling she was disappointed with me for some reason. She never later replied to my messages. But that's really nothing new to me. I have a habit of not doing what people want me to do. And the thing that people want is always a secret... Anyway the second host was this crazy classical guitar banging marihuana smoking Ukrainian woman. I am not sure how many people would have turned down free drugs in that situation, but I did lol. The third couchsurfing experience was in Sweden in an exchange student party. From that I just have one question left. Why does every foreigner speak better english than me? Arrgh.

After Limburg I played in the Finnish championship and came second. Last year I won, but I am still satisfied in just not losing elo points for a change. And now I am in Sweden doing pretty good. I only need I think 50% in the next four rounds to get a gm norm.

The tournament that is going on right now: http://www.vismachess.com/en/
Next tournament http://eestimale.ee/raud2013/
And the last tournament in a row http://www.hof2013.fi/index.php/en-AU/

I will write chess stuff in Estonia I promise! My promises don't mean much nowadays but still... I promise

Dang, 4/5 against five players all rated higher than you? That's a sick start, keep it up!

great results man, couchsurfing again in Sweden at this tournament?

Great results so far! Go QC!

(spoiler for GM norm calculations which QC may not want to think about now)

6 points should be enough. I now only need half a point in the last two rounds.
My roomie is also on 5.5 in the IM group. So obviously I am in good company. I am kinda couchsurfing here. The hostess is part of the växjö chess group here so it was all arranged by the organizers.

I agree, 6 points looks correct. 6/9 vs average rating 2477.4. Idk what the page DaMaGor linked to is, but it should not be rocket science.

Hi, I am the programmer of the norm calculator at http://skaktal.dk/en/norm.php. You're right that 6 points is enough in this case, and I have fixed the tool. The bug was that it did not take into account that the score 6/9 should be rounded upwards to 67% before calculating the performance rating. If you should have other problems please report them using the site's feedback page as one person was so kind to do in this case. Thank you.

looks like QC made his draw today pretty comfortably. congrats!

Way to go, winning the tournament and getting a GM norm! Is that your first?

He also has another GM norm from the last Rilton Cup i Stockholm in December/January 2012/13. Congratulations on both norms!

Oh nooz am I going to be a draw lord now? I have had 9 draws in my last 14 games. My unbeaten run is also now 19 games long. It's not a good day to die my dear bear. Analysis from my first round game. It was pretty easy overall:

[Event "Ilmar Raua"]
[Site "Viljandi"]
[Date "2013.07.01"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Quantumcage"]
[Black "Lumiste rene "]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "1768"]
[ECO "A21"]
[Opening "English"]
[Time "20:58:20"]
[Variation "Kramnik-Shirov, 3.g3 Bxc3 4.bxc3"]
[WhiteElo "2423"]
[TimeControl "300"]
[Termination "normal"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[WhiteType "human"]
[BlackType "human"]

1. h4 {Best by test} e5 2. c4 f5 {Yay let's go crazy all shall we} 3. d4
{With this move I was ready to sac a pawn. Apparently it would have been a
good idea too. Unfortunately e3 seems to be even better. Just more solid.}
e4 {How should I explain this. E4 is a bit of a nothing move.} (3. .. exd4
4. Nf3 Nc6 (4. .. c5 5. e3 dxe3 6. Bxe3 {And indeed white has nice comp. D7
pawn ain't gonna promote anytime soon.})) 4. Nh3 Bb4+ 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Nf4
{Comp idea is cool: Bf4,e3,Bg3,Nf4} d5 7. Qb3 Bxc3+ (7. .. Nc6 8. cxd5 Nxd4
9. Qd1 Nb5) 8. bxc3 c6 9. Ba3 (9. e3) 9. .. e3 (9. .. dxc4 10. Qxc4 Nd5)
10. f3 (10. fxe3 Kf7 11. g4 {Missed this idea}) 10. .. Qc7 11. g3 Kf7 (11.
.. Nbd7 12. cxd5 Nxd5) 12. Bh3 {After Bg2, O-O the f4 knight can move
without Qg3 being check. **** computers.} (12. Bg2) 12. .. h6 13. h5 (13.
O-O-O) 13. .. Be6 14. Qc2 dxc4 15. Nxe6 Qxg3+ 16. Kd1 Nxh5 17. Qxf5+ Nf6
18. Nf8 {And that is how the game is played yo} 1-0

Congrats on the GM norm Vilka!

Yay. It would be cool to get there this year.

QC played 1.h4 against me back in the days of yore in team blitz when he was a cocky kid and pretty bad at chess (as witnessed by the fact that I steamrollered him). Last time he played the English though next time h4? Congrats on the norm!

I stand corrected then
I'll be following this thread, your work ethic is inspiring.


Zy

I'm seeing a win over GM Jaan Ehlvest on chess-results.com, did you play 1. h4 in that game too?

If I had an work ethic I wouldn't have had this 6 month slump. Chess just isn't so hard as everyone thinks.

I chickened out. I will post that game's analysis at some point

Normal move in this position for white?

[Event "Ilmar Raua"]
[Site "Viljandi"]
[Date "2013.07.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Vjatseslav Koop"]
[Black "Quantumcage"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "2423"]
[ECO "B48"]
[Opening "Sicilian"]
[Time "09:42:57"]
[Variation "Taimanov, 6.Be3 a6 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.f3"]
[WhiteElo "2000"]
[TimeControl "300"]
[Termination "normal"]
[PlyCount "119"]
[WhiteType "human"]
[BlackType "human"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 Nf6 {Yeah I
have been wondering about playing without a6 against the normal Be2,O-O
system. After Be3 white can still play Be2 so I still had to avoid playing
it for one move. I think white has one extra system now though with 7.f4.}
7. f3 a6 8. Qd2 Bb4 9. O-O-O Ne5 10. Nb3 {I already was kinda out of prep.
Nb3 still seems a bit weird to me.} (10. Qe1) 10. .. b5 11. Qe1 {Nb5
coming} Nc4 (11. .. Be7 {Engine's favorite}) (11. .. O-O 12. Nxb5 axb5 13.
Qxb4 Rxa2 14. Bc5 Nc6 15. Bd6 {White has great control of the position})
12. Bxc4 (12. Bd4 Bb7 (12. .. e5 13. Qg3 {Did I miss this move or
what...})) 12. .. bxc4 13. Nd4 d5? {How could I completely forget about
king safety?} (13. .. O-O) 14. Bg5 Bxc3?! {I didn't think he would be able
to takeback with his queen. I was soo crazyy.} (14. .. dxe4 15. Bxf6 gxf6
(15. .. Qf4+ 16. Kb1 Bxc3 17. Nxe6 Bxe6 18. Bxc3 O-O 19. Rd4) 16. Qh4) 15.
Qxc3 e5 (15. .. dxe4) 16. Bxf6?! (16. Nf5 Bxf5 17. exf5 O-O-O (17. .. d4
{Nice center!} 18. Qa3 Qe7 19. Qxe7+ Kxe7 20. Rhe1 Kd6 21. f4 {and over})
18. f4 e4 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20. Qxf6 Kb7 21. g3) 16. .. gxf6 17. exd5 exd4
{Only now did I start to wonder how many pawns would he get for his
piece...} 18. Rxd4 (18. Qa3 {Another interesting option} d3 19. Rhe1+ Kd8
20. d6 Qc6 21. Qc3 Be6 22. Rxd3 Kd7) 18. .. Qd6?! {Blocking just seemed so
normal} (18. .. O-O 19. d6 (19. Qxc4) 19. .. Qc6 20. Qxc4 Qxc4 21. Rxc4 Be6
22. Rc6 (22. Rd4 Rfd8 23. c4 Rac8 24. b3 Rc6 25. Rhd1 Kf8) 22. .. Rfc8) 19.
Re1+ (19. Qe3+ {Apparenty the best}) 19. .. Kf8 20. Rxc4 Kg7 (20. .. Bd7
21. Qb4 Qxb4 22. Rxb4 {It really wouldn't be easy to stop those pawns
rolling in.}) 21. Rc6 Qd8? {If only I could get Bb7 in} (21. .. Qf4+ 22.
Kb1 Bd7 23. g3 (23. Re4 Qh6 24. Rd6 Bf5 25. Rb4 Rhd8) 23. .. Qh6) 22. Re4?!
(22. g4 Bb7 23. g5 Re8 (23. .. Bxc6 24. gxf6+) 24. Rxe8 Qxe8 25. Rd6 Qb5)
22. .. h5 23. Rf4 Rh6 24. g4 (24. d6) 24. .. hxg4 25. fxg4 Kg8 {It was a
nice relief to find this move. Apparently I wasn't out of trouble yet
though.} 26. Rfxf6? {Exchanges almost always help the defender} (26. b3 Bb7
(26. .. Rg6) 27. g5) 26. .. Rxf6 27. Qxf6 Bb7 (27. .. Qxf6 28. Rxf6 Bxg4
29. Kd2 Kg7 30. Rb6 f5 (30. .. Re8 31. Rxa6 f5 32. Re6) 31. Ke3) 28. Rd6
{Not my or the computer's first choice but a lot more easier to play.} (28.
Qxd8+ Rxd8 29. Rb6 Bxd5 30. Rxa6 Bf3 31. b4 Bxg4) 28. .. Qxf6 29. Rxf6 Bxd5
30. h4 Kf8 31. b3 Be6 32. Rf4 Ke7 33. g5 Kd6 34. Kd2 Ke5 35. Ke3 Bf5 36.
Rc4 Re8 37. c3 Bg6 38. Ra4 Kf5+ 39. Kd3 Re6 40. Rd4 Re1 41. a4 a5?! (41. ..
Ke5+ 42. Kc4 Bc2 43. Rd5+ Ke6 44. Rd2) 42. Kd2 (42. Kc4 {Uh this would have
been pretty annoying}) 42. .. Rb1 {Just giving tempos to my opponent. To my
defence I missed b4...} (42. .. Rh1) 43. b4 axb4 44. cxb4 Ke5 45. Rc4 Kd5
46. Rf4 Ke5 47. Rc4 Rh1 48. b5 Be4 49. a5 Rxh4 50. b6 Rh2+ (50. .. Rh8 51.
a6 {And white is actually winning here.}) 51. Kc3 Rc2+ {After spending all
my last 13 minutes I finally decided I could only make a draw. I am glad I
did this because the other options were actually just losing for me.} 52.
Kb3 Rxc4 53. Kxc4 Kd6 54. a6 Bf3 55. Kd4 Be2 56. b7 Kc7 57. Ke5 Bxa6 58.
Kf6 Bc4 59. g6 fxg6 60. Kxg6 1/2-1/2







I just played Ng5. Show me the way!




[Event "Ilmar Raua 47th"]
[Site "Viljandi"]
[Date "2013.07.02"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Quantumcage"]
[Black "Alexander Khalifman ex-worldchampion"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "2400"]
[ECO "C54"]
[Opening "Giuoco Pianissimo"]
[Time "19:32:20"]
[Variation "5.d3 d6 6.O-O O-O"]
[WhiteElo "2400"]
[TimeControl "300"]
[Termination "normal"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[WhiteType "human"]
[BlackType "human"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d3 {I think this was my first
time playing this solid system} O-O 6. O-O d6 {Usually black plays Bb6
before castling. I wonder why because playing d4 would actually give an
advantage for black.} 7. Bb3 (7. d4 Bb6 8. d5 (8. Re1 exd4 9. cxd4 (9. Nxd4
Nxe4) 9. .. Bg4) 8. .. Ne7 9. Bd3 Ng6 {Our d5 pawn push achieved absolutely
nothing.}) 7. .. Be6 {He tried really hard to find something interesting to
play. Unfortunately it also worked} 8. Bxe6 fxe6 9. Qb3 {Apparently I
should have pushed my pawns first} (9. b4 Bb6 10. a4 a6 11. Qb3 Qd7 12.
Bg5) 9. .. Qc8 10. Be3 Bb6 11. Nbd2 Kh8?! {Why?} (11. .. Qd7) 12. Ng5?! {In
awe of my tactical ability I missed his next move.} (12. Rae1) 12. .. h6
13. Nh3?! {Yeah I kinda knew I should have admitted my mistake and just
come back.} Nh5 (13. .. d5) (13. .. Qd7) 14. Nc4 Nf4 (14. .. Qd7 15. Nxb6
axb6 16. f4 Nf6 17. fxe5 (17. Qd1 Kh7 18. a3 Qe8 19. Qe2 Qh5 20. Qxh5 Nxh5
21. fxe5 Nxe5 22. Rxf8 Rxf8 23. Rd1) 17. .. Ng4 18. Bd2 dxe5) 15. Nxf4 exf4
16. Bxb6 axb6 17. f3?! (17. Nd2 {A bit more cooler way of defending against
f3}) 17. .. Na5 18. Nxa5 Rxa5 19. d4 Qd7 20. c4?! (20. d5?! {I really
wanted to block his rook but oh problems} 20. .. exd5 21. exd5 Rb5 22. Qa4
Rf7 23. Rf2 Rxd5 24. Qa8+ Kh7 25. Qxb7) (20. Rfd1 Rh5 21. d5 e5) 20. .. Qe7
{This move came with a draw offer! I guess he was really bored or
something. Rh5 would have been the obvious winning try.} (20. .. Rh5 21.
Rfe1 Qe7 22. Re2 (22. Qc2 Qh4 23. h3 Rg5) 22. .. Qh4 23. h3 Qg3 24. Kh1 g5
25. e5 g4 26. fxg4 Qxg4 27. Rf2) 21. d5 Qf6 22. Rfd1 Rfa8 23. a3 (23. dxe6
Qxe6 24. a3) 23. .. exd5 {I completely missed this move. Now a draw is
pretty much forced} 24. Rxd5 (24. cxd5 Rc5 {I was afraid of losing this
position actually. He will play b5,Ra4 and penetrate a bit.}) 24. .. Rxd5
25. cxd5 Ra5 26. Rc1 (26. Qb4 Rc5 27. Qd2 {Computer style. Should still be
an easy draw for black though.}) 26. .. Rc5 27. Rxc5 Qd4+ 28. Kf1 bxc5 29.
Qxb7 Qd1+ 30. Kf2 Qd2+ 31. Kf1 {My first draw with an ex-worldchampion.
Hopefully not last.} 1/2-1/2

Thanks for posting your games. I always enjoy them and your original analysis.

Could you elaborate on why you say "chess just isn't so hard as everyone thinks"? What do you mean by this? What prompts you to say it?