I need to look back at some of my games in TL, as I haven't spent time on them in any way,and so as a prelude to that, I thought I'd put out another "TL Openings' post to cover TL55, as a way to start the process for me.
Personally, my record was +2=3-2, that's 50%. Par for the course, although if you take out my default win and draw ( as you should ) , I have a not great 40%, and only 1 win out of 5 played games : GM material I am not !
Definitely room for improvement, although I would have to say generally not in the area of openings. Here, I tend to do well, mostly coming out into the middlegame with a good position. Its there, that I lose it !
In opening play, as White, I stayed with 1.e4, and in my two games faced:
The French, where, as usual, I avoided mainline French lines with the fun-filled Réti Gambit. Certainly, I reached an acceptable middlegame, but let things slip with a simple oversight losing a pawn. Following this with a less than active defence meant I played a pawn down for 20 moves, and eventually blundered a piece. I held ground for quite some time, but ultimately couldn't hold of the attack.
I
really
don't like the French.
The Sicilian ( sounds like a Gothic novel title ! ). This was a different prospect, as I think it was the first time I switched to a main line, rather my usual 2.b3 ( the so-called Czerniak Attack ).
Guided by Timothy Taylor ( in spirit, not in person :) , I played a Classical line with Be2, and again found myself well-placed in the middlegame, helped, I am sure, by an indecisive Black Qb6, followed by a creeping Qd8 retreat. I don't think he was ready or could calculate the positions after Qxb2, but no shame there !
In the end a forced combination led to a loss of a piece and an inevitable resignation : always satisfying to defeat the Sicilian.
As Black, I started with a loss in a Philidor. Again, I came out of the opening well, and then spent a long time until I made a major mistake. I even had a great chance to recover, but didn't see it, ending up a long piece down and resigning.
Twice I had games in the Old Indian/King's Indian, drawing both, which was a good feeling , as I don't consider myself a d4 player.
I'd say I was well-prepared in both of them, with a more than acceptable middlegame. In both, I gained the upper hand, but didn't see a plan to win, and with a lack of time my draw offers were accepted. Definitely could do better here.
How does my opening experience compare to Team League overall ?
