South Wales International 2022, Round 3

Round 3 was the round where the real heavyweight clashes of the tournament began, and it showed in the results; of the nine players who started the day on 2/2, only one, FM Borna Derakhshani, made it to 3/3, with a win against Alistair Hill. Together with a clean sweep of decisive results in the 1½ scoregroup, this meant that there was a chasing pack of nine players on 2½.

 My game against Keith Arkell was one of those topsy-turvy games that often characterizes our encounters; after getting a big advantage from the opening, Keith overlooked a freeing move that allowed me to get a good position; I then misplayed a winning middlegame and allowed him to escape into a drawn - although not trivially so - ending.

 


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