In this game, I made a simple mistake in the opening, found myself defending some intense pressure on the Queenside, defended and then turned the tables, only to miss a win in the endgame.
Mahony v. IM Arjun
I am playing in the February 2021 Gramdmasters Institute tournament. My first round opponent was IM Arjun. I missed a chance to gain an edge with my 12th move. Here you go!
FIDE Arena Activity
I played a few games on the FIDE Arena last year that I thought I would share. I can see how much I’ve improved since these games. Simply click the elipses (…) above the board to see a list of the games.
Mahony v. Kobersky – FIDE Arena
I play often on the FIDE Arena. The players there are stronger. This is one example.
Rapid Game – Scandinavian
One of my current focuses is building a bulletproof opening repertoire that fits my playing style. As a player who likes to play 1.e4, there are so many openings I need to know something about. This game was interesting.
The Quest Gets Serious
A few months back I got serious and hired a coach, IM Luis Coelho. He and I are working on endgame technique, opening repertoire for white and black, and studying games together. My goal remains to achieve at least a FIDE Master rating.
I have not been following a particular study schedule as I want to “feel” what I am studying that day, but despite what coach says, I feel super disorganized this way, so I am likely going to plan on some basic tactics study daily along with a review of openings 2 times a week. The rest will be as it feels right. This means that if there is nothing specific scheduled ona day, I will study what feels right to me that day. It could be endgames, master games, etc.
I also plan to publish more of my games here on the site. I will probably annotate a fair amount and have just game scores on a fair amount. I hope you enjoy following my progress.
IECC Grunfeld Thematic: Michael Mahony and Michael Bertel
These are two games played in the IECC Grunfeld Thematic. I have been exploring playing this opening as Black. I’ve used it in some 15 minute games and done quite well. In this 2 game match I went 1.5-0.5, with the win coming with the White pieces.
Michael Mahony v. Lucian Gavriletenau IECC CL3-2017.02.08
This game was a quiet draw. I don’t usually play the main line Sicilian opening at all. I tend to use an offbeat anti-Sicilian when playing against the Sicilian. This type of game exemplifies why. Black has too much theory backing him up and can simply play it safe.
Matt Lewis v. Michael Mahony IECC Pyramid Challenge
This hard fought win brought me into the #2 spot on the IECC Pyramid. A draw was offered by white around move 28. I declined that offer and decided to play for a win. I was able to squeeze my opponent by using my two bishops and leveraging a passed h-pawn.
Leon Blackman v. Michael Mahony IECC Swiss 581.1.04
This game took place via email. It is the 3rd time I’ve played this same opponent. He is an amazingly nice guy and plays a decent game, but I came out on top for the 3rd time.