Road to the Grandmaster title - January - Hard start - Happy End
I played a training, consultation game with my student against a French player.
We played the London system and black transposed to a Grunfeld type position.
We get the initiative when black allowed the a2-a4-a5. He wanted to create a counter-play in the kingside but it weakened the diagonals and he bulndered:
My road to the Grandmaster title started hard in January. I played in the year opening open tourney in Budapest, Hungary. My first game on the journey was 101 moves long and looked impossible to win for a long time, until at the end I was able to sacrifice a pawn and exchange queens to go to a winning pawn endgame.
I lost the final game and I got 8th place and lost 2,7 rating points with 2246 performance rating.
With a victory I would share 1st and win 7,3 points.
Final Ranking after 9 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 1 | IM | To Nhat Minh | HUN | 2368 | 7,0 | 54,0 | 37,0 |
| 2 | 6 | IM | Nemeth Zoltan | HUN | 2255 | 7,0 | 52,5 | 36,5 |
| 3 | 8 | IM | Szalanczi Emil | HUN | 2180 | 7,0 | 46,5 | 33,0 |
| 4 | 9 | IM | Boguszlavszkij Jevgenyij | HUN | 2179 | 6,5 | 50,5 | 34,5 |
| 5 | 11 | FM | Jamrich Gyorgy | HUN | 2155 | 6,5 | 50,0 | 34,0 |
| 6 | 24 | Kis Bela | HUN | 2054 | 6,0 | 51,5 | 30,5 | |
| 7 | 15 | Fule Simon | HUN | 2117 | 6,0 | 49,5 | 32,0 | |
| 8 | 4 | IM | Turzo Attila | HUN | 2296 | 6,0 | 48,5 | 32,0 |
| 9 | 2 | Balint Vilmos | HUN | 2315 | 6,0 | 48,5 | 31,0 | |
| 10 | 13 | WIM | Dudas Eszter | HUN | 2145 | 6,0 | 47,5 | 30,5 |
| 11 | 18 | IM | Eperjesi Laszlo Dr. | HUN | 2099 | 6,0 | 47,0 | 31,0 |
| 12 | 14 | Stern Tibor | HUN | 2127 | 6,0 | 46,0 | 30,5 | |
| 13 | 5 | FM | Zentai Peter | HUN | 2277 | 6,0 | 43,5 | 29,0 |
| 14 | 3 | IM | Orso Miklos | HUN | 2297 | 5,5 | 45,0 | 29,5 |
| 15 | 19 | Juhasz Mark | HUN | 2088 | 5,5 | 44,0 | 26,5 | |
| 16 | 62 | Tolnai Jozsef | HUN | 1716 | 5,5 | 44,0 | 23,0 | |
| 17 | 21 | Forgacs Attila Jr. | HUN | 2071 | 5,5 | 43,0 | 26,5 | |
| 27 | Divald Tamas | HUN | 2033 | 5,5 | 43,0 | 26,5 | ||
| 19 | 33 | Trajber Csaba Dr. | HUN | 1972 | 5,5 | 41,5 | 28,0 | |
| 20 | 36 | Vereczkei Laszlo Dr. | HUN | 1948 | 5,5 | 41,5 | 24,0 | |
| 21 | 31 | FM | Pesztericz Laszlo | HUN | 1986 | 5,5 | 40,0 | 26,0 |
| 22 | 10 | Czegledi Barna Jr. | HUN | 2176 | 5,0 | 49,0 | 30,5 | |
| 23 | 25 | FM | Koczo Kristof | HUN | 2048 | 5,0 | 48,5 | 30,5 |
| 24 | 28 | Trajber Daniel | HUN | 2026 | 5,0 | 45,5 | 27,0 | |
| 25 | 12 | Geher Koppany | HUN | 2154 | 5,0 | 44,0 | 26,5 | |
| 26 | 34 | Konya Balazs | HUN | 1969 | 5,0 | 43,5 | 26,0 | |
| 27 | 29 | FM | Orso Janos | HUN | 2025 | 5,0 | 43,0 | 28,0 |
| 28 | 39 | Yip Michael | CAN | 1935 | 5,0 | 42,5 | 27,0 | |
| 29 | 32 | Ritter Gabor Dr. | HUN | 1981 | 5,0 | 38,5 | 23,5 | |
| 30 | 17 | Piroska Istvan | HUN | 2104 | 4,5 | 49,0 | 29,0 | |
| 31 | 7 | Khechumyan Gagik | ARM | 2189 | 4,5 | 47,5 | 29,0 | |
| 32 | 23 | FM | Hradeczky Tamas | HUN | 2054 | 4,5 | 44,5 | 24,5 |
| 33 | 30 | Balsai Nikolett | HUN | 2017 | 4,5 | 44,0 | 25,0 | |
| 34 | 43 | Karacsonyi Kata | HUN | 1885 | 4,5 | 43,0 | 20,0 | |
| 35 | 35 | Heyl Thomas | GER | 1950 | 4,5 | 42,0 | 25,0 | |
| 36 | 47 | Bodrogi Laszlo | HUN | 1874 | 4,5 | 42,0 | 23,5 | |
| 37 | 49 | Szlabey Geza | HUN | 1861 | 4,5 | 42,0 | 20,0 | |
| 38 | 41 | Orfei Rolando | ITA | 1925 | 4,5 | 41,5 | 22,5 | |
| 39 | 22 | Mezei Csaba | HUN | 2065 | 4,5 | 41,5 | 21,5 | |
| 40 | 45 | Havaskori Laszlo | HUN | 1880 | 4,5 | 41,5 | 20,5 | |
| 41 | 51 | CM | Giang Tran Nam | HUN | 1830 | 4,5 | 40,5 | 19,5 |
| 42 | 26 | Borda Lajos | HUN | 2044 | 4,5 | 39,5 | 23,0 | |
| 43 | 61 | Chivela Felisberto | ANG | 1735 | 4,5 | 39,0 | 23,5 | |
| 44 | 38 | Majoros Rozsa Evelin | HUN | 1937 | 4,5 | 37,5 | 24,5 | |
| 45 | 73 | Kozma Jeno | HUN | 1431 | 4,5 | 35,5 | 18,5 | |
| 46 | 50 | Palczert Matyas | HUN | 1832 | 4,5 | 35,0 | 17,5 | |
| 47 | 20 | Balka Richard | HUN | 2079 | 4,0 | 50,0 | 27,0 | |
| 48 | 16 | Torok Tamas Titusz | HUN | 2110 | 4,0 | 43,0 | 26,0 | |
| 49 | 56 | Bodnar Janos | HUN | 1767 | 4,0 | 38,0 | 18,5 | |
| 50 | 37 | Nagy Csaba | HUN | 1945 | 4,0 | 37,5 | 21,0 | |
| 51 | 48 | Bernula Istvan | HUN | 1865 | 4,0 | 37,5 | 19,5 | |
| 52 | 66 | Hajdu Marton, Abris | HUN | 1645 | 4,0 | 34,0 | 18,0 | |
| 53 | 40 | Palvolgyi Istvan | HUN | 1933 | 3,5 | 43,0 | 21,5 | |
| 54 | 53 | Polyanszky-Tamasi Zoltan Dr. | HUN | 1792 | 3,5 | 43,0 | 20,5 | |
| 55 | 42 | Merenyi Gabor | HUN | 1913 | 3,5 | 39,0 | 17,5 | |
| 56 | 69 | Szurkos Andras | HUN | 1635 | 3,5 | 37,5 | 17,5 | |
| 57 | 46 | Horvath Jeno Kalman | HUN | 1875 | 3,5 | 37,0 | 17,0 | |
| 58 | 60 | Di Giovanni Vilmos | HUN | 1740 | 3,5 | 35,5 | 17,0 | |
| 59 | 71 | Piskoti Laszlo | HUN | 1569 | 3,5 | 34,5 | 15,0 | |
| 60 | 67 | Czimer Jozsef | HUN | 1644 | 3,5 | 34,5 | 13,5 | |
| 61 | 57 | Ablonczy Kalman | HUN | 1757 | 3,5 | 33,0 | 13,5 | |
| 62 | 76 | Karacsonyi Luca | HUN | 1358 | 3,5 | 32,5 | 17,5 | |
| 63 | 65 | Birk Balazs Dr. | HUN | 1658 | 3,5 | 30,5 | 13,0 | |
| 64 | 59 | Hegedus Peter Dr. | HUN | 1741 | 3,0 | 38,0 | 19,0 | |
| 65 | 74 | Lang Krisztian | HUN | 1410 | 3,0 | 34,5 | 14,5 | |
| 66 | 54 | Suranyi Istvan | HUN | 1792 | 3,0 | 34,0 | 15,0 | |
| 67 | 64 | Szalay Janos Dr. | HUN | 1661 | 3,0 | 34,0 | 14,5 | |
| 68 | 70 | Szalay-Ocsak Bank | HUN | 1601 | 3,0 | 34,0 | 13,0 | |
| 69 | 78 | Monduk Laszlo | HUN | 1342 | 3,0 | 31,5 | 11,0 | |
| 70 | 58 | Rabovszky Gyorgy | HUN | 1752 | 3,0 | 31,0 | 13,0 | |
| 71 | 79 | Babos Daniel | HUN | 1332 | 3,0 | 29,0 | 10,5 | |
| 72 | 52 | Bartuszek Andras | HUN | 1812 | 2,5 | 35,5 | 14,0 | |
| 73 | 68 | Peterfia Ferenc | HUN | 1639 | 2,5 | 34,5 | 11,0 | |
| 74 | 72 | Farkas Imre | HUN | 1440 | 2,5 | 30,0 | 10,0 | |
| 75 | 44 | Bellan Istvan | HUN | 1881 | 2,0 | 40,0 | 14,0 | |
| 76 | 75 | Karacsonyi Bank | HUN | 1403 | 2,0 | 33,0 | 8,0 | |
| 77 | 55 | Tessedik Karoly | HUN | 1791 | 2,0 | 31,5 | 13,5 | |
| 78 | 63 | Vegvari Ferenc | HUN | 1700 | 2,0 | 30,0 | 8,0 | |
| 79 | 77 | Czipp Janos | HUN | 1352 | 1,5 | 29,0 | 7,0 |
Player info
| Name | Turzo Attila |
| Title | IM |
| Starting rank | 4 |
| Rating | 2296 |
| Rating national | 0 |
| Rating international | 2296 |
| Performance rating | 2246 |
| FIDE rtg +/- | -2,7 |
| Points | 6 |
| Rank | 8 |
| Federation | HUN |
| Ident-Number | 0 |
| Fide-ID | 704954 |
| Year of birth | 1978 |
| Rd. | Bo. | SNo | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Res. | |
| 1 | 4 | 43 | Karacsonyi Kata | 1885 | HUN | 4,5 | w 1 | |
| 2 | 39 | -2 | not paired | 0 | 0,0 | - 0 | ||
| 3 | 15 | 42 | Merenyi Gabor | 1913 | HUN | 3,5 | s 1 | |
| 4 | 10 | 38 | Majoros Rozsa Evelin | 1937 | HUN | 4,5 | s 1 | |
| 5 | 3 | 17 | Piroska Istvan | 2104 | HUN | 4,5 | w 1 | |
| 6 | 3 | 11 | FM | Jamrich Gyorgy | 2155 | HUN | 6,5 | w 0 |
| 7 | 5 | 21 | Forgacs Attila Jr. | 2071 | HUN | 5,5 | s 1 | |
| 8 | 2 | 9 | IM | Boguszlavszkij Jevgenyij | 2179 | HUN | 6,5 | w 1 |
| 9 | 3 | 8 | IM | Szalanczi Emil | 2180 | HUN | 7,0 | s 0 |
After the tourney I had around 1 week to concentrate on teaching and prepare for the next tourney.
Unfortunately I did not dedicate too much time for the preparation, because of other priorities.
Then from the 22nd of January, I play an international master tourney a round robin event with 10 players. My opponent's average rating was around 200 points higher, than in the first tourney.
I started badly, got half point out of the first 3 games. My loss in the 3rd game was the turning point.
With big material advantage over long period of the game I blundered a checkmate.
Then I decided to dedicate time for calculation training every day and did it every day from then.
From game 4 I started to win and made 5,5 points out of the last 6 games.
Got 2nd in the tourney and won 14 rating points and 2407 performance rating
Final Ranking after 9 Rounds
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
| 1 | 10 | IM | Polivanov Anatoliy | UKR | 2374 | 7,5 | 30,00 | 0,0 | 6 |
| 2 | 2 | IM | Turzo Attila | HUN | 2296 | 6,0 | 21,75 | 0,0 | 5 |
| 3 | 1 | FM | Ustianovich Nazar | UKR | 2382 | 5,5 | 20,00 | 0,0 | 4 |
| 4 | 4 | FM | Nagy Bence | HUN | 2396 | 5,5 | 19,50 | 0,0 | 4 |
| 5 | 3 | WIM | Terbe Julianna | HUN | 2259 | 5,0 | 18,75 | 0,0 | 3 |
| 6 | 7 | Halak Miklos | HUN | 2257 | 5,0 | 18,50 | 0,0 | 3 | |
| 7 | 9 | IM | To Nhat Minh | HUN | 2368 | 4,5 | 20,25 | 0,0 | 2 |
| 8 | 8 | IM | Vuelban Virgilio | PHI | 2308 | 2,5 | 8,50 | 0,0 | 1 |
| 9 | 6 | WFM | Demeter Dorina | HUN | 2150 | 2,5 | 7,75 | 0,0 | 1 |
| 10 | 5 | Narendran Gouthaman | IND | 2062 | 1,0 | 3,50 | 0,0 | 0 |
Player info
| Name | Turzo Attila |
| Title | IM |
| Starting rank | 2 |
| Rating | 2296 |
| Rating national | 0 |
| Rating international | 2296 |
| Performance rating | 2409 |
| FIDE rtg +/- | 14,0 |
| Points | 6 |
| Rank | 2 |
| Federation | HUN |
| Ident-Number | 0 |
| Fide-ID | 704954 |
| Year of birth | 1978 |
| Rd. | SNo | Name | Rtg | FED | Pts. | Res. | |
| 1 | 9 | IM | To Nhat Minh | 2368 | HUN | 4,5 | w 0 |
| 2 | 1 | FM | Ustianovich Nazar | 2382 | UKR | 5,5 | s ½ |
| 3 | 10 | IM | Polivanov Anatoliy | 2374 | UKR | 7,5 | w 0 |
| 4 | 3 | WIM | Terbe Julianna | 2259 | HUN | 5,0 | w 1 |
| 5 | 4 | FM | Nagy Bence | 2396 | HUN | 5,5 | s 1 |
| 6 | 5 | Narendran Gouthaman | 2062 | IND | 1,0 | w 1 | |
| 7 | 6 | WFM | Demeter Dorina | 2150 | HUN | 2,5 | s 1 |
| 8 | 7 | Halak Miklos | 2257 | HUN | 5,0 | w ½ | |
| 9 | 8 | IM | Vuelban Virgilio | 2308 | PHI | 2,5 | s 1 |
On the free day, I played in the Hungarian top league and made a draw with black against WGM Ildiko Madl.
So I got 12,5 point out of 18 games. I am happy about the development over the month.
I felt very uncomfortable in the openings of my games, but got a fine position most of the times.
I was thinking to review my old games and find the games which I like and enjoyed to play and get inspiration for my future opening studies.
I decided to dedicate at least 80% of my study time for calculation. I started to learn tactics from the ground again, to build up my GM level tactics.
I study tactics from the book of Lev Alburt and Sam Palatnik: Chess Tactics for the tournament player
You can get the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Tactics-Tournament-Player-Comprehensive-Course/dp/1889323276
As you know I stream all of my chess preparation on my twitch channel at https://www.twitch.tv/attilaturzo
Twitch saves the streams as a video, so you can watch it later too. If you want to build or rebuild your calculation skills, then I invite you to join me online when I study and share your ideas and questions!
You can replay the games and read my articles from January by clicking on the titles:
First tournament game for the Grandmaster title
Round 2 for the Grandmaster title - Victory with a pawn sacrifice
Round 3 for the Grandmaster title - Victory with the Dragon
Round 4 for the Grandmaster title - Victory with the London system
Game 5 for the Grandmaster title - The mating attack in the London system
Game 6 for the Grandmaster title - An exciting Dragon
Game 7 for the Grandmaster title - Victory against the King's indian
Game 8 for the Grandmaster title - Last game of the first tourney
Road to the Grandmaster title - Priorities and the next tourney
Road to the Grandmaster title - Game 9 defended passed pawn or pawn majority?
Road to the Grandmaster title - Game 10 - Good Defense
Road to the Grandmaster title - Game 11 - Last minute blunder in the Dutch Defense
Road to the Grandmaster title - Game 12 - London system - Queen vs Rook
Road to the Grandmaster title - Game 13 - Rossolimo - Victory against the top player
Road to the Grandmaster title - Game 14 - Draw against Olympic champion WGM Ildiko Madl
Road to the Grandmaster title - Game 15 - Gambit in the London system
Road to the Grandmaster title - Game 16 - Checkmate attack in the Slav defense
Road to the Grandmaster title - Game 17 - my first Torre attack
Road to the Grandmaster title - Game 18 - Victory against the Exchange Slav
Please write me, if you have any ideas, suggestions how can I prepare for the next tourneys, or if you organise a tourney and would like me to join or have any ideas about cooperation.
I am a full time chess coach and happy to help you to reach your chess goals.
If you would like to study with me, please send me a message!
