In this continuation of the “Climbing the Rating Ladder” series I take on players of various ratings levels while pointing out typical mistakes and spots for improvement along the way (possibly my own!? :)). Here I commentate a 10+0 game against a player rated 1927 on Chess.com. For the past 8+ months I’ve been working on a course on the 3…Qa5 Scandinavian that I’ll be self-releasing in a couple months (details forthcoming!), and this game provides a good opportunity to test the repertoire and discuss some move orders and ideas. In this opening, you have to be comfortable “playing chicken” with White’s bishop on d2, as in the line here, 4.Nf3 Nf6 4.d4 Bf5 6.Bd2. I like reacting with 6…Nbd7!?, as I played in an over-the-board game in Charlotte back in May (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZYBJOHIJTw), because Black is safe from discovered attacks on her majesty unless White can load up Nc3-d5. My opponent tries the active 7.Nb5 followed by 8.a4, but I rebuff the attack, and we soon settle into a fairly typical Scandi middlegame structure. White surprises me by delaying castling and voluntarily accepting an isolated pawn, but it doesn’t prove easy to exploit as my time dwindles lower. Happy New Year, everyone!
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Life and Games of Mikhail Tal: https://amzn.to/2zq741X
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