Note: it has been awhile since I posted (last in June); after a busy summer I was unfortunately hospitalized and had two surgeries, and am still waiting to go home. Getting back to my routine (such as posting here) will hopefully aid my mental recovery.
I showed part of this game to my Friday afterschool chess class today (via Zoom), and it has long been one of my hidden instructional gems. Now I share my notes with the readers of this blog.
Oliver Barbosa (born 1986) is a Grandmaster (2011) from the Philippines currently living in New York City who played in many tournaments I ran for NYC Chess Norms. The last-round game featured here propelled him to overall victory in this event, the 19th Kolkata Open.
Konstantin Landa (1972-2022) was a Grandmaster (1995) from Russia. In addition to many notable tournament wins, he trained Arkadij Naiditsch, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Aleksandra Goryachkina, and Evgeny Alekseev among others.
In our featured game, White continually gives Black problems: backward development, a struggle for open files, a questionable pawn structure, and finally a losing endgame.
When playing through the game and notes below, clicking on a move brings up the current board position.
Transformation of Advantages
All the best for your recovery- I always enjoy reading your posts.
Richard