Nice that you also did a video ! Quite impressive calculation I have to admit.

I think that a 2 game playoff might be better for the future, too. I was always trying to avoid the tourney being very time intensive/demanding but I guess for the next one it makes sense to at least have the playoffs being played with 2 games.
As it was a rather short-term decision this time I didn't really think much about the details but Calm also voiced subtle criticism

Anyway, very nice game and as said before very impressive calculation speed !

When I heard your voice I wondered if I actually have ever watched a video by you *shame*

Thx a lot for the dual commentary. Playing and videoing can be pretty stressful.

I think the playoff format for this tourney is fine, it just puts a lot of pressure on a single game (and color can be a determining factor). Not that different from the first 5 games though...

The consensus seems to be that the hardest part is actually scheduling the game, not the time spent playing, so maybe two games instead of one would be reasonable if the time control was slightly shorter or something...

Thanks for the comments. I think I got a bit lucky in the opening that Calm tried so hard to avoid the main lines and white ended up with a good isolani game.

Good game at any rate!!

Very nicely played! d7! was a very energetic move to keep the king in the centre and really it should have been (and was) a game winner. 2...g6 was a bit odd and black used a lot of time to play this offbeat opening. Probably he shouldn't have struggled so hard to avoid your preparation but hindisght is a wonderful thing! After that, he played some natural looking moves and all of a sudden was in a losing position! That speaks volumes for the quality of your play. I wish I could calculate and visualise like you! You just reel off a 10 hlafmove variation and say "yeah, that looks ok for me!"

The videos and audio are badly out of sync (out by about 10 seconds) on my computer. Don't know why, but stopped me watching your post-game analysis which was a shame.

Anyhow, well played and thanks for the video. Enjoyed the live commentary.

Thanks for the comment. I'm not sure why the video and audio got so out of sync (or how to fix it) but I noticed it too. I'm not sure if there's better software that might work around the issue?

Thanks for the compliment about calculating and visualizing, but I also think that's one of my weaknesses - I often will overlook a move fairly early on in a variation and then just miss a whole slew of complications. For example, I didn't really give Nxd7 credit when I was analyzing d7... It ended up working out ok for me (most of the moves were the same), but that's the kind of thing that I really try to avoid (and I do a better job of not missing moves like that in a slower game).

Without getting into a huge theoretical debate, 3...g6 is playable with 4...Bg7 and then moves like Nf6, Nc6, Qb6, and possibly Ne4 (to meet e5). It's very complicated, but the idea is that black needs to keep the pawns on d7 and e7 until white commits in the center.

Your suggestion of 3...Nf6 (might have been in the other thread?) is probably black's best move to avoid the sharp lines of the Morra accepted. White's advantage is minimal at best, and black retains full winning chances.

What recording software are you using? I use windows media encoder and it has always been ok for me.

I like 3...Nf6, can white keep it in independent waters or will it definitely transpose to the Alapin? I think that taking the pawn is probably objectively best, but I quite like killing 2 birds with 1 stone with 3...Nf6.

I'm using CamStudio. Might have to get a license of the professional version for my laptop and see if that makes a difference...

After 3...Nf6, the only way for white to get to unusual territory is 4.e5 Nd5 5.Qxd4!? The usual Alapin move would be 5.cxd4 when the game has directly transposed into an Alapin. Qxd4 is at least not the standard position so white can sometimes catch his or her opponent unprepared.

I agree that taking the pawn is objectively best, but no matter what system you like against the Morra, you're going to have to find a handful of only moves along the way to getting an advantage - not something that a black player who rarely sees the Morra will be able to do without special preparation or lots of experience. That said, a top GM could grab the pawn and survive based on calculation alone, but there's a good reason that at the top levels black plays Nf6 and gets into the favorable (for black) Alapin lines.

To be honest, my opponents usually seem surprised when I trot out 3...Nf6, often thinking for a long period of time. Maybe as my rating increases opponents will be better prepared. I know very little Alapin theory, but I seem to be getting on well with that variation (as black). I had a quick look at 5.Qxd4, but it doesn't really worry me. Just 5...e6, 6...Nc6 and 7...d6 seem like they should give black a good game.

Also 5.Bc4 looks like an independent line which might catch black off guard but 5...Qc7 seems to be decent for black (but complicated- so playable for a well-prepared white player.)