"IGRAME SAH ZA KOCANI 2025"

The Tournament hall and the city where it was played

My writing skills will probably be a bit rusty :D
This was a rapid (10+5) tournament in which i played in Kocani. The hotel in which it was played was called HOTEL AMOR, a very beautiful hotel at the edge of kocani. The playing hall was in the middle of a cafeteria, where we played. I had to wake up at 7, because the round started at 10, which resulted in minor fatigue issues, but nothing serious enough to affect my chess.
Here are some pics.

The food

The cafe

The interior
The Place was nice, and food was great, so i hope to come again next year.

The Games

As usual, i beat the first 2 easier guys, and then lost to a IM in round 3, was equal but threw a drawn ending. afterwards i beat some more weaker players and played weaker towards the end.

Round 1: Kolevski, Stojanche-Michael Burns 0-1

As usual, a first round win, he lost in time in a worse position

Round 2: Michael Burns- Stankovic, Srdjan 1-0

Again, here i played a 1700. I messed up the opening badly, was a Pirc defense. But thankfully I outplayed him when we reached a normal position, where he blundered M1.

Round 3: IM Kukov, Velislav-Michael Burns 1-0

My dreaded game: facing the London. I have now found a weapon vs that, but back then it would be a dreadful sight, i just played usual e6 Bd6 ideas, and he played the Bg3 lines, where i just allowed him to take on c5 and push b4. We all know where this one is going. I was ground down, but I was equal at many points, but failed to capitalize. A unfortunate loss.

Round 4: Michael Burns-Spasovski, Lazo 1-0

Again, a weaker opponent now. But he played the Archangel of the Ruy lopez, where I played the a4 line, and got a good grasp on the d5 square, later he blundered a queen for a rook and a bishop and the rest was easy.

Round 5: Nikolovska, Dragana-Michael Burns 0-1

Now this one was a roller coaster. I tried my new idea, and blundered a simple Bf7 tactic. But i had 3 pieces vs a queen+ a pawn. I had to win this game in swindle style, as i slowly consolidated and activated all my pieces. She did not sense the dynamical play, and allowed me to develop and end matters. A nice survive of a dangerous scare vs a 1800.

Round 6: Michael Burns-Mihov, Filip 1/2-1/2

My only draw of the tournament, was of course, a exchange French. Although he had some winning chances, at was not much.

Round 7: Gjorgjieski, Dejan-Michael Burns 1-0

A unfortunate time scramble. The opening was very good for me, but i wasted a lot of time, and by move 15 i had only 4 mins left.
In time trouble a dropped a bishop and resigned

Round 8: Michael Burns-WIM Velickovski-Nejkovic, Maja1-0

It was a intresting Pirc defence, where i got some nice kingside space. Surprisingly, she blundered a lot of her pieces and resigned. A quick job done.

Round 9: FM Veljanoski, Andrej-Michael Burns 1-0

The experienced FM caught me right out of the opening, where i was worse after a complex reti. I got to a complex ending, but botched it up in time pressure.
A disappointing loss, and a way to end the tournament

My overall result and conclusions

I scored 5.5/9 which was decent, and climbed up the rapid rating ladder to 2047.
I should be more careful with my time
I should not blunder free pawns :)
Overall, i played well, and only blundered a bit.
Next blog will be my coverage of my national age group championship, which I unfortunately played badly and got second. And the second league, where i reached 2100 FIDE!
Thanks for reading!
Michael Burns