Player of the week

Each week I will be looking at a player from our Chess @ 4 series. This will be the player of the week and it is possible to be Player of the Week more than once! To be considered for this position, all you need to do is score 15 points during the week in the Chess  @ 4 series on Tornelo. Chess @ 4 is a series of 5 round events that run Monday to Friday, starting at 4:00pm. Between the rounds there are interviews with players, analysis of games and positions, and chat about other chess related things.

This week I have to go with a player who has already been player of the week before, Michael Ooi. Michael has had a brilliant week winning 4/5 of this weeks chess @ 4 Premier events. Since we last looked at Michael, he has not had such good results, until this week. This is probably because his opponents are trying even harder against him. This puts Michael under huge pressure, but he has proven himself able to rise to the challenge. He wins most of the time, and can hold difficult positions, even with very little time on the clock.

This is definitely the save of the week. First Black is way down on material but still created a mate threat, and then White saved the game with a perpetual. But one thing I noticed was how difficult it is to spot long queen moves, especially when there is little time on your clock. What would you play as White? You can check out the answer and this endgame here.