Winter 2021 Tournament - Round 3

Our youngest player Julian was the first to draw blood and did so against Peter in a interesting game that is worth taking a look at. Despite material equality for much of the game the analysis engine shows a significant advantage for one side or the other at most points. Interesting positional lessons here.

The round saw Jonathan continue his dominance of the tournament by breaking down Denis's pawn structure in a French Defence. From a spectator point of view it was clear that Denis was going to have a long night when at move 14 all of his remaining pieces were still on their home squares.

Jacques and David renewed their perennial debate over the King's Indian Defence in which David is convinced that a queen-side breakthrough for White should compensate for Jacques's onslaught on his king. Jacques seems to be right approximately two out of three times and sadly for your correspondent, this was one of those occasions :(

In the last game of the round Patrick refused to be bound by John's Maroczy and after winning a piece he was able to convert the win.

If there is any chance of anyone catching the leader, Jonathan's next opponent will have to find the way to beat him. That opponent will probably be Julian. Here are the pairings as I am guessing they will be made by the platform :

Julian vs Jonathan
David vs Patrick
Jacques vs Denis
Peter vs John

Have a good week everyone and study hard !

I thought the david / jacques game had much to consider. Before david's retreat and subsequent forking, i would say he had a superior position. Yes, his king was hampered by jacques pawn, but david's own pawns were menacing. Surely, some heroic material sacrifice was in order. For the record, if I were jacques, i would have accepted an offer of a draw.
As for Julian, bravo!!
P