As I transitioned from G/45 to the more standard weekender 2-time-control games, I was a bit concerned that I'd get bored. I tend to play very quickly, relying on intuition rather than calculating (calculating is hard and exhausting!). In G/45 games this allows me to put a lot of pressure on my opponents - however, in the slower time control, it gives opponents the time to find stronger ideas in response.

Cue me looking at the pairings to see a sharp increase in difficulty from my prior rounds. I was happy enough as it is to not have lost all my games, and I quickly wrote this one off as a loss.





Games like this always remind me that, even though I don't know opening theory (and never bothered trying to learn), a knack for the concept of piece activity allows me to find the right opportunities to equalize or create play, even from worse positions.

As I prepare for the intercollegiate championships, I can at least take my perfect record of not having lost a game as white in 2017 to it!