The Greatest Achievement of My Young Career!

Sevilla, Spain. After gaining 12 Elo in my last tournament in Rilton Cup in Sweden, I return back to Spain with a live Elo of 2127, just 73 points shy of Chess Master. Coming into this tournament, I have two goals for myself. One is to surpass the 5 out of 9 score that I had two years ago when I played this event in 2024 and also beat the performance of 2086 that I had in that tournament. After a good last round, I have 4.5 out of 7 in the Sevilla Open and here is my biggest challenge yet. I am playing Ismael Alshamiri Puente, who is an international master from Spain who has a rating of 2350. And I have the black pieces. I'm cooked. My opponent starts off the game with 1d4 and I had prepared kind of a little surprise. Usually I go d5. I went with knight f6 and he showed up a little bit late. He saw my move and he was like a little bit suspicious. He goes c4. I go e6. He goes knight c3, which allows the Nimzo Indian. And this time I played against the IM from India. I had not prepared the Nimzo Indian, so I was not ready. That would have been very, very tough for me to play in this position because I had not prepared it. But here he played two moves against bishop e4 very clearly. He played f3 and e3. So I was expecting one or the other. And he went with the sharper of the two lines and the one that he plays the least frequently. He went pawn to f3. This is the sharpest line in the Nimzo Indian defense for the white pieces. Super sharp. Like this is super aggressive. But I was prepared. Here white tries to get a glimpse of the entire center. So you play d5 trying to take away the e4 square from the white pieces. And so my opponent played a3. And here you're supposed to go bishop e7, e4, takes, takes. And now c5 attacking the center once more. It says inaccurate. It's not inaccurate. This is the move. So my opponent goes d5 or maybe e5 is also the move. But this is my book. This is theory. So takes, takes. And here castles. I was still in book. 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So I had only seen one of the two ways whites can develop here, and I had seen Bishop d3, and my book said something like this, and then check, and then Bishop f6, equality. But my opponent played Knight f3, which is a little bit different, and you'll see the big nuance once I get to it. So I very naively play Knight g4 anyways, preparing Bishop h4, but there's a big difference. My opponent plays Bishop b2 instead of the Bishop d3 that we had in our line, and after check, my opponent goes for g3 here. My opponent needed to get the advantage, needed to play Knight takes, Queen takes check, g3, Queen h3 going to g2, and then Bishop f4, getting the Bishop out so that when I go Queen g2 attacking this rook, King d2, advantage white. And seeing this after the game, I wasn't, I was shocked, but I wasn't that shocked because I had seen this pattern of King d2 in another game from Grandmaster Praveen Balakrishnan in the same tournament on DGT board. He played this with the white pieces like some round one or something. But anyways, this is a big tangent. I go Bishop h4, he doesn't, he doesn't take, and he goes for g3 instead. I go Bishop back, we're still kind of in book, only the small difference is the Bishop is on e2 rather than d3, and the King can still castle normally. So I didn't, yeah, I didn't know what the evaluation or the big difference was in this game. I just was forward thinking and like, what is the best move for the black pieces? Like, get a grip, right? So he goes Bishop f4, I put my rook on this very nice open file, and now he goes Queen d2, stopping some Knight e3 ideas. So I go Knight d7, I'm developing, and I'm playing ultimately for this e5 square upon which I can trade some pieces and create weaknesses more and more. If I have a centralized Knight in this position while the King is still out in the open, it would be a fantastic thing for the, accomplishment for the black pieces. So he castles here finally, and then I play Knight d5, which allows one trade of minor pieces, and then he plays Knight b5. Hmm, Knight b5. I didn't really understand the idea of this move, and only after I played a6 that I get a little bit what he wanted. Here, my opponent wants to play Bishop takes g4, but I thought, why can't I just take this Knight? And so my opponent takes on e5, and what he wants is on Bishop takes g4, Queen f4, and this feels a little uneasy. Yes, I can go Bishop h5, but it seems like this dark-squared Bishop is dominating my light-squared Bishop. And in middle games, when you have opposite-squared Bishops, the dominant one usually tells the tale of a winning advantage for the one, the side with the dominant opposite-squared Bishop. So instead, I take here, keep the same colored-squared Bishops on the board, and here my opponent just tries to create problems. Queen f4 with this double attack, f6 is forced, defending everything, and now Rook e1. I take on g4, he takes here, and now I have, he's created an isolated pawn for me by force. Very nice play. I go Queen d6, and here my opponent is taking like a significant turn, and during this turn I go, okay, I lost. That's what I say. I say to myself, oh my god, I lost. Because I had seen this very poisonous variation. c takes b5, gaining a pawn up, and after Queen takes, but you have to really see it, right? Rook d1, and the Rook's coming to d7. And I don't have good squares, and I thought, okay, Queen f7, Rook d7, Queen f6 maybe? And I thought, this looks really dicey. And it is. Queen c4, Queen takes c5, and white would have a nice advantage. However, my opponent went for Queen f5, which I was much happier to see on the board, as I can now take on c4 myself, and there's no mating threat. Yes, my opponent can take this pawn on b7, attack my Rook, but after Rook b8, Queen c6, it still looks dry-ish. So I take on c6, my opponent takes on c6. All I have to do to equalize against an international master is get rid of this problem and the back rank problem, right? Because I can't just do this, this, he's going to checkmate me. So I bring my King in, King g8, my opponent goes Rook d1, he wants to try to defend his pawn from this side of the board. So I go Rook c8, I pressure the pawn now, there's no back rank checkmate threat, and so he defends with Rook d6. I go King f7, and King f2 allows me to have this critical moment in the chess game. Okay, I'm going to raise you a situation here. I want to go King e7, and after Rook here, I want to go King e6, and then I win this pawn by force. The only problem is this Rook can eat at my pawns. So I have to find a way to get rid of these pawns here, and it's not really obvious. I opted for a fine move, but there was one particular branch of moves that was very, very nice. This move g6, which I want to share with you. g6, and after any move by White, White has to stand still and progress with the King. Now King e7, and now Rook d7, King e6, and now we just trade pawns, and this is an easy enough end game to equalize in. Rook b7, probably preventing Rook b6, and now Rook d6, and I infiltrate, and it's pawns are going to trade off. Also, this looks interesting. So I didn't see that. I go for King e7 immediately and give a pawn down in this Rook endgame. But there is a saying. There is a saying. All Rook endgames down a pawn are drawn, and all Rook endgames that are equal are losing. So I went into this with this great mindset, of course. But what I have going for me in this pawn down Rook endgame is that I have King activity over my opponent. So I go King d5, striving for King e4. My opponent goes King e3, and now I go Rook b6, trying to knock over this King and get into the action. Rook check, King e6. He's not going to let that in that easily. And now he goes Rook d2, defending his weakness. Yeah, so there's also this target, right? So I have some counterplay. I go Rook b3 check, King e2, and by this time, I remember, yeah, King e4, I have found c3, takes, takes, takes, and then Rook c4, Rook a4, which equalizes. Super dream variation. But he goes King e2. Very, very nice move. And I had remembered at this time in the game, our clocks were kind of down. I mean, my opponent was like on three minutes, and I was like on 12 minutes. So here I go e4. My idea is very simple. I want to Trojan horse my pawn into the white camp for my King to come on in on e5. So a4, I go Rook b4. It looked like a normal move, but this actually loses to an idea I completely missed. Instead, I'm supposed to play e3, which maintains balance, which is hard to find. I mean, Rook c2 and now King d5, just destabilizing the Rook. And if the Rook stays on the d-file, we gobble here. Rook b4 is a little bit rushed. I missed my opponent's idea, and I'm, ah, I'm really, I'm really sad that I missed my opponent's idea. It's like a little bit of maybe arrogance. I don't know what it is, but I missed this idea, which is very findable. a5 here. Sensational move. And it turns out my Rook trying to untangle to win this pawn is going to cost me one or two pawns that are weak. So let's look at it. I go Rook a4, King e3, only move. And this is now completely winning for white. I go King e5, defending my pawn, and now Rook c2. And eventually these pawns are going to trade off, and this pawn is going to remain weak. So I go King d5, and my opponent should have just gone g4, and now has like the two pawns that can fly, because I'm literally stuck in this position. Instead, my opponent goes King f4. And now I play this very nice practical resource, c3, which is hard to play against, I think. My opponent takes with the Rook, and now I go Rook takes pawn, and now Rook e3 is blundered to this tactic. Well, I'm threatening King d4, so you kind of have to tend to this. The best move here is Rook c2 or Rook c1. Hard to find, honestly. He goes Rook e3, and it blunders this tactic, Rook a1. And here White cannot take this pawn, and this is my entire point of the c3 move, which I thought was very nice. Here I have Rook f1, checking the King. King can't go here because the Rook falls, and King can't go here because of the skewer winning the Rook. So my opponent's a little bit trapped. It's like Rook f1 is coming, so he has to untangle from this threat, and he doesn't want to go King g4, because I go King d4, and my pawn is first before these ones. So my opponent untangles with Rook e2. And now I have Rook f1 check, King e3. Say what you want about this game. I'm down a pawn, but I like my initiative. Rook f3 check, King d2 and King d4. And suddenly I'm like in the driver's seat. I have some Rook b3 ideas, e3 ideas, c4 ideas, Rook d3 ideas, and these pawns can't march as easily. Like h4, g3 falls, and g3 is possible. My opponent has one move to not lose this game in this position. If you want to try to solve it, it's a defensive puzzle. My opponent had to play King e1. Whereas after e3, b3 only move to not lose. Which is absolutely crazy. Just nuts. King d3, and this is the idea. Rook a2, and the Rook can defend from the back rank. Whereas I don't have e2, White will be in time. Insane, right? My opponent plays g4 instead, and we learn very quickly why this is losing. e3 check. If the King goes here, which it did not happen, I have Rook f2 I found. Oof, very spicy move. Takes, takes, I win the pawn endgame. So he has to go King d1, and now King d3, and I'm pressuring this Rook. Once again, I would win this pawn endgame on a trade, and the Rook going down would only be more lethal as I win the further pawn endgame on another trade. It's just a consecutive trade proposal that is very nice for me because of this very strong pass pawn. So my opponent plays King e1, but now it is too little too late. I have this King d3, and this b3 resource loses to Rook f4. He plays b3, but I miss my opponent's idea. Rook f8. My advantage is gone. Here I had to play Rook f4, tap this pawn once, h3, and now Rook b4. When Rook b2, I have c4, and this is game over. Wow. Instead, I go Rook f8, and now this Rook a2 move is only resource for White to equalize this game. Rook a2, Rook d7, and check from behind. However, my opponent played g5. We're both completely time-ridden. I have probably three minutes. My opponent has 30 seconds on the clock for the rest of the game. So he plays g5. He's trying to march his pawns up, but now I go Rook a8. I had seen only one defense for White, which is King f1. You're getting out of these mate threats without losing a Rook, and now I can repeat Rook f8, and now Rook e1. This is classic Soviet way to win a chess game against a stronger opponent or a strong opponent. You repeat once so that the opponent thinks they're going to get a draw out of it, and then you push for the win when the psychology is somewhere in the chess player's psychology. Players are forced to resign after this, and then you play the winning move, Rook g8, and my opponent can't defend here. h4, Rook h8. The second my opponent defends his pawn with a Rook, right, illustrating, Rook a8, and this mate threat is imparable unless you want to give me a full queen on e2. So he goes g6 here. I go Rook takes, King f1, trying to get out of this terrible pattern paradox, but I can just tap with a check, King e1, and then Rook back to g4, and my opponent is in a vicious circle of doom. After King f1 and Rook takes g6, my opponent resigned. On account of easily Rook g1 next, or I can just do check, and then this one, a million ways I can win this, my opponent resigns, and I beat an international master. A 2350 international master is done. This is now 1.5 out of the last two rounds against IMs in this tournament. I am back in this tournament. I am plus 15 elo on the tournament, and the final round is against a 2200, and it's a morning round, which historically I've played bad in, but we have to hustle it out against a 2200 from Spain in the final round of Sevilla to get my all-time high peak elo, 21 plus plus plus. See you in the final round, round nine tomorrow.