Recipe for an ego boost

1. Don't show yourself at chess.com for half a year

2. Get your Glicko way up up up up the roof (by not playing)

3. Gloriously return one day

4. Be lucky to be paired against an IM

5. Win 2:0

6. Go back to your lair. 

- - - - - - - - - - - - 

The time control was 3/2 as I'm still suspicious of the actual speed I can get in V3 if I dare to play 3/0...

Here are the games:

So are you going to show off your shiny new 2100+ rating in next week's Untitled Tuesday event, or stay in your cave?

Well, I don't know - an Untitled Tuesday event with no IMs to crush... it feels a bit like going on a diet... :-) !!!!

Seriously though - who knows, why not - if I'm free etc.... when is it going to happen? I see April 3rd and April 7th, but what times?

https://www.chess.com/clubs/forum/view/schedule-of-upcoming-events

22:30 UTC on Tuesday and 17:00 UTC on Saturday.

I can't provide any IMs, but if we have our usual collection of several 2000+ players, it won't be an easy tournament.

Absolutely not!! I can't remember ever doing better than 10th place or something, in one of these tournaments... but the mate-in-one against SmyslovFan (after being given some thorough chess schooling during the entire game) is unforgettable!!

That's 16:30 and 11:00, respectively, here in Mexico... chances aren't in the sky, but I'll definitely keep this in mind.

Last month I had two rotten tournaments and dropped almost 150 points, but in January I got to play double spoiler in the final two rounds with wins over @Schachmasteo and @KaosKid (either of which would have won the tournament by beating me - a draw would have been enough for @KaosKid).  That, and my win over @Paldrick and missed mate in two against @Serbrus are my best games.  But I've also had some real stinkers, such as a loss to @SmyslovFan where I found every bad move there was to be found and blundered a queen and two minor pieces in thirteen moves.

You already have the reputation of being the spoiler. That's the first thing I thought when you now appeared on the thread with your charming proposal - "Oh no, Gleason - a spoiler!! What if he spoils it for me?"

On another note, it's never fun to lose pieces to anybody in thirteen moves - but some strong, solid and knowledgeable players can make that happen to you. SmyslovFan is definitely in this category as far as I'm concerned.

Yes, but in this game I beat myself before he got a chance to do so: https://www.chess.com/live/game/2600146250

This month, though, he got another chance where I didn't implode quite as badly (I did hang a rook due to a mouse-slip, but he was already winning): https://www.chess.com/live/game/2660625583

 Yes, @MGleason - I was looking at that position after move 5 and said to myself: "don't play e3! Don't play e3!!"... and then you play b4 and forget that there's a bishop on f8...

The second game also didn't go so well. It's dangerous to move the LSB early with black, after white already moved the c-pawn and can go Qb3. Such variations do exist - but due to the risk involved (the game was practically over right after you played your sixth move) - it's very recommended to study such variations with some diligence, or to refrain from playing them.

Yeah, the second game wasn't great either, but hanging a pawn and destroying my position is definitely better than hanging a queen, a bishop, and a knight.  In the first game, we actually both missed 8. Qxg2 (he rejected it because of Bf3, but that doesn't actually help me).

I'll definitely keep in mind the risk of moving the LSB early if white has moved the c-pawn.  After that I tried to complicate things - he was down to 30 seconds, while I had 1:30 - but the mouse slip blunder finished off whatever faint hope I had of hanging on for time trouble to play a hand.

Well - that tip can definitely help you in your QP games - back when I was rated around 1400-1500 I stopped losing so often with black once I noticed WHY Qb3 by my opponent was such a dread...

And yes - that 8...Qxg2 - I also missed it in going over the first game...

In the other game you also lost a piece on a4 before mouse-slipping the R - and then, considering that the games are played with increment, it's basically a matter of whether your opponent has strong nerves and can win up a piece plus several pawns with 30 sec + increment... I bet that he would, but one never knows...

And yet - sometimes you "spoil tournaments" and defeat players rated many hundreds of points about you... so I would still be rather scared.

It's definitely something to watch out for as white, too, since I usually play d4.

Most of my upset wins are exploiting some blunder from my opponent.  A classic example is the win over @Schachmasteo where he hung a bishop and then made sure of it by hanging mate: https://www.chess.com/live/game/2600161791 

But I was quite pleased with my near-win over @SerBrus: https://www.chess.com/live/game/2111496087 

Definitely something to watch with white!!

The guy went ...Bf5 or ...Bg4, you have your pawn on c3 or c4, and now - Qb3. 

What can happen?

1) Maybe it's a double attack on d5 and b7 and he's losing one of them by force (sometimes you FIRST play cd to weaken the defenses of the d5 pawn, and not allow him to play ...dc himself, which may save the situation in some cases). The classical case is when his Q does protect d5 - but you also have a N on c3, so Qb3 is still a double attack and he's out of resources (though if he already had a N on d7, he plays ...Nb6 and everything is protected for the moment). 

2. Maybe he can also play ...Qb6 and neutralize your idea (in case you don't now have Qxd5 or Nxd5 under favorable circumstances - another great reason to first take with the pawn BEFORE playing Qb3 in some situations)). In this case the first guy who hits the other guy's queen IMPROVES the other guy's pawn structure (b7 and b6 is BETTER than a7 and b7) and OPENS the a-file for their rook. 

3. Maybe he'll move his Q to c7 or to c8 to defend the b7 pawn - in these cases sometimes you can even play Bf4 sacrificing the bishop (if the Q is on c7 - and if ...Bd6 then of course 1. Bxd6 Qxd6 and 2. Qxb7, horray!! People fall for this all the time) to hit on b7 (unless he has something like for example 1. Bf4 Qxb4 2. Qxb7 (winning the rook, but here comes a surprise - ) Qc1 MATE!!), sometimes the queen will now be missing from the defense of d5, and sometimes you can simply play Rc1 (to the same file his Q is standing on) with some more pressure or initiative.

In all of these cases the B is direly missing from c8. Even if he answers your Qb3 with ...b6 and loses no material - it's good news as he weakened his structure with no fianchetto (the B's already gone the other way) and Qb3 didn't cost you time (...b6 was a wasted move). 

In the Q-pawn opening we sometimes develop the B to b7 or to a6 as black - which is a wholly different story of course, and sometimes we delay its development until our other forces are deployed - or even live with a bad piece for a while - but this isn't as bad as losing two pawns (on b7 and d5) because we played an idea and aren't ready for the consequences.

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Now to the two games from your last post:

In the first one you didn't ONLY win because of a blunder. You played solid, knew what you were doing, lost a pawn but this is still forgivable (study that tactic well and learn why the pawn fell - then use it in your own games for advantage!) - now put yourself in your opponent shoes. He expects an easy win against a much lower rated player - and suddenly things aren't so easy - so rather than just playing chess, he's stressing a bit - and then he blundered the piece. You played very well up to that point and reaped your just reward!

There was an alternative to his play - he could have played 22. Bxb7, "only" losing the exchange - but then, after ...R1d2 (correctly avoiding the exchange of rooks) he's also winning the b2 pawn and, more importantly, establishing his other rook on the 7th rank - so of course you shouldn't have complained in that case either.  

You did well to avoid the variation 21...Bxa6, which may well win a whole rook if he's still in panic - but he also has 22. Rxd6 Bxe2 23. Rxd8+ with a lost position, to be sure - but it offers him more practical chances than he had in the actual game.

The mate was amusing - he collapsed remarkably quickly!!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - 

In the second game you played the opening very very well: a clear development plan, logical play, ideas for the further development of the game. OF COURSE he should have answered your first check with Bf2 - after all, you have the B-pair and why not get rid of one of them?

19...f6 is passive. Play 19...Nd3! Suddenly it's not clear where the bishop is going, and your pawn storm is on, if you still want it...

Simplifications are the MUCH BETTER plan in this type of situation - he's much higher rated, he's two pawns down, the Ks are castled on opposite sides - all of the indicators are there, saying that he's totally going for your throat!!

I would say, something like 19...Nd3 20. Bg3 f4 (a tribute to your original plan) 21. Bf2 Nxf2+ 22. Rxf2 g5 and 23... Qe6. The idea? Put your heavy pieces on the e-file, then start a huge exchange operation and win the endgame with the extra material, not taking risks and no Q-side attack against you!

You can combine play for exchanges with K-side threats, to force the exchanges. 

Also 22...g4 is a bit dogmatic (the pawn storm at all costs!). Play 22...Ng4 and 23...Ne3 - that's WAY more convincing. Well-placed minor pieces are much stronger than pawns that advance and carry no threats (the piece is mightier than the pawn!) From e3, the knight is exercising disagreeable influence over d1, c2 and g2. It blocks the d-file and Rf1 or Rd1 are out of the question. That knight is worth AT LEAST an enemy rook, and totally limits white's play. Watch a video by Kasparov, in which he talks about "the octopus knight" in a game he played against Karpov - very very instructive and inspirational!!

Another nice point about ...Ne3 is that if he hits, he UNDOUBLES your pawns. Not so bad either, right?

Later, ...d4 may well win more than just the exchange, as you still have the idea ...h4 (with tempo!) and ...h3 :-)

In such positions, it is often good practice to maintain the pin (the ...Rg2 blocks the road to the K) and bring more pieces, than to liberate traffic around his K by playing ...Bxg2+, Kxg2, and winning the exchange. You can win the exchange any time you want - so just hold it and keep mounting the pressure. Then either mate or win more than just the exchange. 

After that there was the entire time trouble tragedy - stronger and more experienced players don't have to think that much and are always doing better in time trouble - but yes, you played very well for your level, and are definitely a scary giant killer!!

A move like ...d4, gifting him a pawn AND a centralized knight, is extremely hard to see!

The difference is freedom to YOUR pieces, as opposed to a SOLID BLOCKADE against you, immunity from attacks for your opponent due to your isolated pawn on d5, limited scope for your pieces and your opponent "establishing headquarters" on d4 and gaining a measure of control over the game and over your plans.

For me, his move Qxd4 was already the beginning of your troubles in the game (no matter what Stockfish says). He suddenly gets a say in the game - and we shouldn't allow him that.

You notice that in my first game against the IM (in this post above) I hurried to play ...d4 (maybe even too early) as an alternative to ...Bc6 and being blockaded eventually, exactly because ALL of his remaining pieces had easy access to d4 and I didn't want to let him blockade my game to that extent. 

My game against Carlsen, back in 2014, also featured a similar pawn sacrifice - ...d5-d4 - for the same purpose exactly - and it won the praise of titled commentators on ChessTV (even though I ultimately lost the game very convincingly).

I once saw Ivanchuk playing that exact pawn sacrifice in the French and winning a nice game (I think against Leko) - I was present in the hall when he thought and thought, and finally played that surprising move in Melody Amber 2008 in Palais de la Mediterannee in Nice. That was really impressive. He kept pressing and I can't remember if he ultimately won or drew - but pressure was palpable, even though the Qs were already off the board.

What's the minimum rating for Untitled Tuesdays? I'll join...

There is no minimum rating. You should join.

Try King's Pawn Opening: Duras Gambit as black...

Why?

Please put an annotated game of this variation in this thread, to give us more incentive...

Not annotated but here's an example:

https://www.chess.com/live/game/1830297591