The game I am sharing today was played on the second round of the 2014 October Split II tournament that is being played at Red Hot Pawn. I advanced from the first round by sharing the win of group 1 with two other players, NN Cheap and aukermdr (1933). All three of us were able to get 56 points out of the possible 66. It was a bit of a surprise for me to tie the win with these two players. I was quite confident at some point that I will not be able to make it, but somehow it all worked out for me. Interestingly also the winner of group 2 managed to get 56 points. Based on these things one might think that the second round group would be evenly fought, but it is not. While the winner of the second round group and with it the winner of the tournament has not been decided yet, NN Cheap is very close in securing at least the shared win of the tournament. NN Cheap is the highest rated player in the group, so it is not a surpise that he or she is leading the group. I may be currently the second highest rated player of the group, but my chances to get the shared win of the tournament are lower than those of the other three players.
I have never really liked the positions that arise in the King's Gambit and this game was not going to change my views about it. Already on my 5th move I went a bit astray because I was not playing aggressively, but instead I played the slow move 5...g6, with the intention of planting my dark-squared bishop to the long diagonal. A much better alternatives would have been 5...Bg4 and 5...Nf6. Even after the move I played, the game is still not over yet, the position only slightly favors NN Cheap after the move 5...g6. The move that made my position go downhill even more came when I played 7...c6. I just can't afford to play so many pawn moves and get behind in development so badly. The reason I played 7...c6 was that I wanted to prevent moves like Nd5 and Nb5. That being said, it was better to play Be6 and develop one piece to protect d5 instead of the pawn move. Be6 would have also protected against Nb5 because after that I could have taken the bishop with a check and on my next move I could take the knight on b5 with my bishop as well. Therefore 7...Be6 prevents the immediate Nb5. If White takes on e6, I take back with a pawn and if now Nb5, then Na6 and White has nothing. My 7th move was far from the losing move, because even after that I could have ended up in a decent position after 9.Bxf4, but my 9th move was already the losing move. After that I just try to hold on as best as I can. I struggle with the game quite awhile, but after the move 26.dxc6+ even I have to admit that I am completely lost and there is no point in continuing the misery this game had ended up being for me so early on.
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