I didn't anticipate such a hard-fought game. DesertKnight thoroughly deserves this victory, and I can bow out happily knowing I gave my all. Some comments about this desperately-fought game:
His unconventional opening gave me a little opening confidence, as I didn't expect to see it, and thought he might not know the game well. Still, it didn't shake my concentration... I always play expecting a contest. No sense letting down my guard.
10. Qh5 is the only small mistake I can point to in this whole game... subsequent moves paralyzed his queen for the entire middlegame and gave me an open target. In the end, that Queen on h5 came back to haunt me, though. From move 10 onward, the game became increasingly complex and difficult to track.
10. ... Nc6 was my first real opportunity for an attack, threatening Na5, which would one way or another remove his light-square Bishop and expose his central Knight for capture, but he saw through it and pre-empted. I kept pushing his Bishop back to the a2 square, where it would camp out until the very end.
15. ... Qd6 was my next big attack, threatening to break up his castled position by sacrificing a Bishop in exchange for two Pawns. This partially worked, after some tempo moves on his part. 17. e4 opened up the middle for him, a move I just didn't have time to prepare for.
From that point on it became a frenzy. The rest of the game was made of checkmate threat after checkmate threat, and the pressure kept shifting. 19. Nxe4 threatened to exile my Queen, and only three tempo checks on my part kept her in the fray - 21. a3+ is undoubtedly my strongest move in the game, buying precious time in the face of entrapment, and freeing my Queen to maintain her pressure on his castle. As soon as I was set up for the kill, though, he played 23. Nf6+ and shifted the attention back to me... he gave me one little turn without a check, but it was not enough... his two most out-of-position pieces (Queen and Bishop on a2) delivered the deadly dagger and moved DesertKnight into the semifinal.
*doffs hat* Well played, sir. Tournament or no, we'll play again.
