McGaugh vs Bidari, March 2009

This is a game played against Glenn Bidari. The year 2008 was not a great year for me in chess. I knew that I could play better, but poor health and a lack of study lead to a decline in my game. By early 2009 my health had improved and I was losing some extra pounds of body fat. Then my confidence in my ability started to return. In January I beat Renaldo Velasquez with pretty good play. But I did have some doubts. Could this continue or was it just a lucky break?

I was lucky in this game against Glenn. He played 2. Qa5--an offbeat line against the c3 Sicilian--not a terrible move but not highly recommended. After getting a slightly worse positon out of the opening he played 21. Rf7?? and got in a bad position. I played the middlegame very poorly and I could feel Glenn surging at the board. But sometimes willpower isn't enough when you are material down in a bad position. When you are up in material and have a positonal advantage then you can afford some mistakes and oversights like I made and still win. After 51. Rbxb5! it was all over.

A few months later I went on to beat Virgil Reyes, although he blundered. After that I realized that with a little help from my opponents that I might be able to win a game or two.

Here's the game.

cheers

Paul