I had to wait quite some time for this tournament as the early registration opened in May. It was 2023 Ontario Closed Championship, it was actually open for all residents of Ontario, one section. It was 7 rounds, starting from Friday and continuing on Canada Day long weekend. I decided not to play on Friday and took a bye, late games sometimes cost me a bad night and I didn’t want that. On Saturday in the morning I looked at the first round results and was surprised by a few draws and 1 loss in the pairs with 400-500 rating difference.

Round 2. I get a boy rated 2000+, I have Black, he plays Ruy Lopez. On move 6 he plays d3, Martinez variation, I didn’t have it OTB, but had quite a few times online. So I play d6, a second choice with a good stats. The position is equal after the opening. Computer doesn’t like my 17… Rab8 and prefers 17… axb4 18. axb4 Rxa1 19. Rxa1 Nxb4. I didn’t play 17… axb4 because of 18. Nxb5, but after 18… Qxb7 19. a4 it is ~-0.5.

My 20… b4 looks like a natural move, but later I regret playing it because it opened the play for his bishop. On move 28 I can play Ne5 instead of Rd8. In a few moves I get annoyed by his pressure on d6 and decide to sacrifice “d” pawn in order to get a free play. It is a mistake, he gets ~1.5 advantage.

The position eventually simplifies and on move 41 I get my queen on b6 with the idea of checking his king. I have only 2 minutes left at that moment, he has essentially more. Unfortunately the right idea is followed with a bad execution when I put my queen on b1. I see right away that he can exchange the queens now and he does it.

The rook endgame is lost, it takes only a few moves to make it obvious and I resign. We played for 4 hours and I am very tired after the game. It is probably not a good idea having only two hours break to record a 68 moves game in my DB and run it through the computer instead of getting some rest.

Round 3. I get another boy rated ~1200. I have Black, he plays French and we get Tarrasch, closed variation. He closes the center on move 10, computer evaluates the position as 1.20. I develop an attack on the kingside, it goes smoothly, my goal is sacrifice on g6. After his 20… Nd7 the evaluation is +4.14.

Then I go the wrong way. I see 24. Qg5, but after 26. Bxg6 hxg6 27. Qxg6+ Kh8 do not see how I can threaten his king. So I decide “to prepare” for it and play Re3. He plays Qd8, evaluation goes down to 3.00. What I miss is that after queen goes to g5, it frees the square e5 for the rook. The best for him is to play e5, it is still losing after White doubles the rooks on “e” vertical.

Then I make a “natural” move Rbe1 and to my horror see right away Qh4 threat. The best move I find is 26. Rf3. On move 31 I miss Qc7, if 31… Qe8 32. f5 the evaluation is 0.00. I play f5 later, but in a worse position. Then I miss the last chance to survive by playing 40. Qe5 instead of h5!. His rook finally comes to play and in few moves I resign.

Round 4. I check the pairings at home in the morning, another low rated boy. My DBs show him playing Ponziani Opening. I played only one game against Ponziani with high rated opponent and lost. So I prepare a variation that looks safe and simple enough. At the board we play this variation, now maybe I would play d6 instead of d5.

On move 11 I create light complications, computer says after 14… axb6 15. Bxc4 I would get ~0.5 advantage. So I get two bishops and in a few moves exchange both rooks, hoping that I have better chances. My advantage is very small, about a quarter of a pawn.

He offers a draw at some point, I refuse. Then after some maneuvering I finally force him to exchange on f6. I still do not see how I can win and when he again offers a draw, I agree. Computer says the position is equal and 2 shootouts end up both in a draw.

Round 5. During the break I learn that my opponent is another low rated boy, can’t find his games. I have White, he plays Caro-Kann. I am not in a mood for Fantasy variation, so play regular Nc3, on move 4 he plays Nf6. I played against this line 2 times, with high rated, lost both games. Last time I played Nb3, so I decide to play Nxf6.

After his 12… Qd7 I decide to stay on the safe side and play Bf1. I have an impression that I am under some pressure, but after exchange on f4 the position is equal. Computer doesn’t like my 20. Nc4. After his 21… Bh6 I am ready to answer his f4 with Ng4 and it happens.

By move 30 the position is equal, but on the next move he makes a mistake playing Qe3+. On move 45 he makes a very serious mistake by playing g5. Unfortunately I just take his pawn instead of f5 which wins, the plan is to move the king to the queenside and win his bishop.

Then for some reason I allow him to play h4. From this point it is a draw, it was still winnable after 48. g3. I am a bit upset. Next morning at home looking at the analysis I realize that my knowledge of opposite-colored bishops endgame has big gaps.

Round 6. I learn in the morning that my opponent is a boy, my namesake, funny. His rating is about 1660, finally not another low rated. He plays e4, it is the only information I can find. The game starts and we have Ruy Lopez, Chigorin variation. We go along the book line, then I play 14… Rac8 instead of 14… Rfc8. Computer doesn’t like my 16… Nc4.

After he plays 21. Nh4, I see, of course, Nxd5. But then I start to think and see that after 21… Nxd5 22. exd5 Bxh4 he has 23. Qe4 Bxg3 24. Qxh7 Kf8 25. fxg3. It doesn’t look very exciting, so I play instead Kh7. Next 4 moves he pressures me and I defend. Then in a few moves he wins a pawn, but I am optimistic as it won’t be easy to use that advantage, my pieces are located very well.

We transfer into R+B vs R+B endgame, I try to keep a balance. On move 50 he misses h5 with some chances. He moves his king to the queenside, it looks very dangerous, so I play f5. It works and we end up in a opposite-colored bishops endgame. From this point it is a clear draw, as my bishop holds h5 pawn and my king doesn’t let his king to penetrate through f5 or b5. I offer a draw, he refuses.

I mark the next move after the rooks exchange and calmly continue to play. He makes meaningless moves with his bishop unless we agree to a draw. In this game I was on another side of the opposite-colored bishops endgame and my modest knowledge was enough for a draw.

Round 7. The pairings come and I see that my opponent is a man rated 1716. I beat him with Black in Budapest Gambit in January, then he won in a rapid (rated) game playing Pirc Defense. I have White, so I go through the last game and look at the book moves. We start, he plays Pirc, the same line. I play a waiting game with the castle, wanting him to show his intentions.

On move 13 I feel that I have to defend my e4 pawn, so I play Nh2. After we both castle queenside the position is equal. Computer doesn’t like his 24… b4. On move 33 I consider Qxd3, but it looks too risky. Actually this is a best move, leading to equality.

After my 34. Nc3 he suddenly plays Kd7. I immediately play f4. Then I play 39. Nc3 instead of Qf2 that could give me some winning chances as Rf1 will follow. Then a have a brain cramp. I play 40. Rd2 with the intention to put it on f2, but when the time comes, I suddenly start to consider 41… Nb3. It looks like after I play Rxf8 he follows up with the fork on d2. So I play g2, which is an inferior move. There was is a clear draw after 41. Rf2 Rxf2 42. Qxf2 Qb3 43. Qf8 and he has to force a perpetual.

He repays the favor by playing 41… Qb3 instead of a4. On move 43 I have an excellent move Qf1 which would force him to give up a rook on f8 and then force a perpetual. But I am obsessed with Nd5 idea and play it. He makes a few checks winning my c4 in the process, then suddenly looks at me smiling and says something like “I do not know what to do”… then repeats it in a couple of moves. I perfectly understand him, he means my threat Rf6+ with then my queen joining. I smile back. He finally decides and forces a draw.

We look at the game afterwards. My fresh acquaintance, 2000 rated guy joins us and criticizes my Qg2, I agree. Then he tries to find a win for Black, he can’t, so he says Black did the right thing. I smile and agree. Something funny happens at home, he Houdini tells me that the Black had a win in the end of the long, forcing line.

It was a strange tournament in a sense that there were many unexpected results which some young players showed, winning and drawing with a much higher rated older opponents. It is what I called before a “Covid generation”, youngsters that set at the basements, played online and studied chess for two years, then they came…