I participated in the event and scored a good 4.5/9, winning four games and losing four. Below I am showing some salient points from a few of my games.
On round 1 I played with the white pieces against International Master Mrdja. I got a good position out of the opening, but as the time control was nearing I started to play suboptimal moves. In the position below, white should just play 23.Rae1 Rxe2 24.Qxe2 with a comfortable advantage, but I played the dubious 23.c4?! and soon blundered a pawn. No problem for Mrdja to get the full point...
![](http://www.pd.infn.it/%7Edorigo/dorigo-mrdja.jpg)
After losing an uneventful game with a strong master in round 2, on round 3 I played against Buchicchio, a 2080 player. I got a good position out of the opening, and after we reached the following position:
![](http://www.pd.infn.it/%7Edorigo/dorigo-buchicchio.jpg)
black played 12....Nh5? which allowed 13.Nb5! Qxd2 14.Bxd2 Nf4 15.Bc4! a6 16.Nxd6 b5 17.Bb3 f5?
![](http://www.pd.infn.it/%7Edorigo/dorigo-buchicchio2.jpg)
In the above position white has several ways to get a winning position. I analyzed many variations but incorrectly chose the most "tactical" way, which was less effective - but was enough to win. I played 18.Bb4 Rd8 19.Nxc8 Nxc8 20.d6+ Kf8 21.Ng5 Nxd6 22.Nf7 with a winning advantage; on the other hand 18.Bxf4! exf4 19.e5 would have been much simpler.
On the fourth round I played against Claus Seyfried, a elo-2180 player, with the black pieces. In the position below white appears to be able to gain space on the queenside, but I had correctly evaluated that I could then effectively sacrifice the exchange for two pawns and a safe position.
![](http://www.pd.infn.it/%7Edorigo/seyfried-dorigo.jpg)
He played 16.b4?! Qxa3! when he sank in deep though. Of course if now 17.Ra1 Qb4 18.Reb1 Rxe2! black stands no worse. White thus played 17.Rb1, but unfortunately I badly misplayed the resulting middlegame and ended up losing.
After a simple win on the fifth round against a weaker player, I played Fide master Xia Jie on round 6. Here I also got a reasonable position with the black pieces:
![](http://www.pd.infn.it/%7Edorigo/xiajie-dorigo.jpg)
Here I should have played calmly 22....Bg7, but I decided to play for a kingside attack: 22....Nxe5 23.fxe5 Nh7 24.Kh2 Qd8 25.e4 Qd7, intending Ng5 and Bh3. Unfortunately my plan never concretized, and I soon lost a pawn.
On round 7 I won against a 1800 player who tried to attack my position when his position did not allow him to do so: in the position below I am black, and it is white's turn. Do you see the problem with white's choice 11.Nc7?
![](http://www.pd.infn.it/%7Edorigo/rosina-dorigo.jpg)
Of course black played 11....g5! (11....Be4! would also do). After 12.Be5? Nxe5 13.fxe5 Qxc7 14.exf6 Bxf6 black's position is simply won, and indeed in six more moves I trapped his queen and he resigned.
Finally, after a uneventful draw on round 8 with a 2100 player, I won convincingly the last round despite a momentary lapse of reason. In the following position I have black and it's my turn to move. Do you see the simple way to get an advantage ?
![](http://www.pd.infn.it/%7Edorigo/giuriato-dorigo.jpg)
After 29....Rxe5! 30.Bf4 (there is nothing better) Rxg5+ 31.hxg5 Qxf4 32.gxf6 Ra3! it is basically game over. My opponent chose 30.exf6 but after 31.Re6 fxg7 the position is a win for black.
All in all, I am not too dissatisfied with my play, although I did waste at least a half point (with Seyfried on Round 4). My performance rating was 2097, which is in the ballpark of my playing strength.
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