Back to the board at the Italian Serie A2

Few weeks ago I got a call from the Sicilian club “Amici della Scacchiera” from Erice, inviting me to yet again play, on board one, for their club’s top team which plays in the Italian Serie A2 (third top team league). This came after one full year of no over-the-board chess activity, with only playing the Malta Championship Finals in 2020.  

On one hand I was grateful that the club was again trusting me with its only spot for a non-local player (in Serie A2 an Italian club can only play one non Italian player). On the other hand I felt the responsibility, especially since I was inactive for so long.  My urge to return to playing over-the-board chess made me accept, making this my sixth year in playing for the club, where in the first year I also experienced and contributed to have the club get promoted for the first time to the Serie A. 

On a personal level I performed quite well, obtaining two wins, two draws and one loss, with an overall performance of 2159. I am very happy with these results especially after such a long inactive period. The story from a team perspective was on the other hand negative. We started with three team losses, but then made a great reaction and ended the event with two good wins. Unfortunately this was not enough to avoid relegation back to Serie B after 4 years in Serie A2. Next year the club will have time for a comeback and hopefully I will be invited to be part of it. 

I would like to share one of the wins which I obtained against a FIDE Master from a club from Palermo, including some notes about the situations that came up in the game and some variations.