Chessable Authors in Action: Kamil Plichta

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Our series of Chessable Authors in Action shines the spotlight on FIDE Master Kamil Plichta today.

Kamil has produced numerous courses for Chessable, the details of which can be found here.

He recently registered his second International Master norm and we now hand over to Kamil to tell us the full story of how Chessable helped him on his way.

Sit back, pull up your chessboard and enjoy Chessable Authors in Action: Kamil Plichta.

Kamil Plichta in Action

Invitation Accepted

The last over-the board tournament that I played in was Lisbon 2020, held in January this year. Due to the quarantine, I wasn’t sure when I would have a chance to play in a live competition again. You might wonder how excited I was to hear that there would be a Chess Festival 20 kilometres from my place, and that I was invited to participate in the International Master round-robin tournament. I, of course, accepted the invitation without any hesitation.

The tournament was held in Łazy – a seaside village with access to the Baltic Sea and the Jamno lake. I know this place very well, because together with my fiancé we visit it from time to time. The first game started at 28.06.2020 and the last one at 6.07.2020.

Amazingly, I was the third oldest participant, being surpassed by age by International Masters Michael Kopylov (45) and Igor Gazik (60). The rest of the participants were below 20! I knew a tough battle was ahead of me. The time control was 90 minutes for the game plus a 30 second increment from move one. Every round was played at 3.00 p.m.

Chessable Courses Lead to Success

Let me tell you, that I honestly believe that Chessable was the biggest ‘helper’ in scoring me a norm and winning the tournament. Eight of my opponents had severe time trouble, and the only game where time trouble didn’t appear was the game which was actually too short for my opponent to fall into time trouble.

The games that were hugely influenced by Chessable were games against International Master Igor Gazik, International Master Michael Kopylov and Candidate Master Tymon Ochedzan. I will show you step by step how knowing certain lines and remembering key plans helped me get great positions with a huge advantage on the clock.

Kamil’s Sicilian Preparation

In the third round, I battled IM Igor Gazik, the most experienced player in the field. The opening was The Four Knights Sicilian, which I created a course about. After White’s tenth move I didn’t remember the exact theory, but I knew that whenever I have a dilemma what to do, I should push the a-pawn up to a4 and combine it with exchanging the light-squared Bishops.

Sicilian Four Knights Chessable Preparation

I was right; I implemented the aforementioned plan, and soon got a very good position.

Chessable Authors in Action: Kamil Plichta

White to play

My opponent played the inaccurate 13 Qh3?! and after the following exchanging operation White faces problems with the first rank and the b2-pawn – all thanks to the …a5-a4 plan!

Kamil Plichta Major Piece Ending

Position after 17 …Rfb8

Actually, after my 17 …Rfb8, there is no way to protect the pawn, which can be seen after Black’s 19th move …Rd8. So I got a much better position with the Black pieces, not being forced to do anything fancy – I just had to play a few accurate moves and then convert the game.

Kamil Chess Mask

The Trompowsky Attacks

In the sixth round against IM Michael Kopylov, I played the Trompowsky, and my opponent went for my favourite line in the Raptor. After Black played 6 …Qxb2

Chessable Authors in Action: Kamil Plichta Trompowsky Attack

White to play

…I replied with 7 g6! and White has tremendous initiative. A great thing is that I had updated the Trompowsky course a few weeks ago, and I remembered all of the ideas very well. I knew that this is going to be a hard game for my rival. One or two inaccuracies, and my opponent is virtually busted after my next move.

Chessable Trompowsky                                                      White to play

13 Rxh7! Only bad converting skills (this was my biggest weakness throughout the tournament) prolonged the game, because I could cash in the point with 18 Nh4 and Black is busted. In the game, I didn’t see the …Qf6-f4-c1 manoeuvre.

Switching to the Caro-Kann

In the seventh round, I faced a young player CM Tymon Ochędzan. He is a very principled guy who always goes 1 e4 and plays the main lines. I also knew that he would be very well prepared against the Four Knights, Accelerated Dragon and the Alekhine so a decision has been made; for the first time in my life I will play the Caro-Kann! He always went for the 3 Nc3 variation, so I prepared the 4 …Nf6 line. I learned some plans, and most importantly, imported the key variations to Chessable!

Then I did four or five study sessions and was ready to play the Caro-Kann for the first time in my life! All of the ideas that I have learnt against the long-castling from White happened in the game, and soon I got a superior position. Only bad endgame technique allowed the game to slip to a draw.

So those are the three games where Chessable influenced me hugely. But not only those!

Unleashing the Budapest Gambit

I started working on my course on the Budapest Gambit for Black. In the ninth game, I expected my opponent to play 1 e4, but when he played 1 d4, I decided not to check his preparation in the King’s Indian Defense, but decided to go for the Budapest! If I hadn’t been working on the upcoming course on the Budapest I would never consider abandoning the King’s Indian.

Chessable Authors in Action: Kamil Plichta

Black to play

The key idea of 10 …a5 and 11 …Ra6 resulted in a more or less winning position in a few moves against a 2350 player.

Also, there is something that we very often don’t consider to be a huge boost for our game – confidence. Knowing most of my courses by heart, I was never afraid of my opponents out-prepare me, because I would be in my theory anyway. So having this thought that you are not afraid of any opening is very important. It doesn’t lead to any hesitation in your play and helps build confidence during the game.

Let me add that working on the Anti-Sicilians influenced my decisions too. When I expected to see either the 2 …e6 Sicilian or the French in the first game, and my opponent immediately went for the 2 …Nc6 Sicilian, I decided to play the Rossolimo with White! I didn’t get a good position, mostly to one bad decision, but I won that game anyway!

Kamil Helps his Brother

I also want to mention one person; my brother, who is rated a little above 1600 FIDE. He had one of the last starting numbers in the strongest Open A group, and he started with 0/3. Then I decided to help him, and I knew that the upcoming fourth game is the key one. One can usually get up after three losses, but four is hard.

So for the first time in his life, he played the London (he is a 1 e4 player) and wanting to support him – I played the London at the same time! We both won our games, and my brother finished the tournament on 4/9 losing only one more game and gaining 30 points. But how did Chessable help here? I told him to get Chessable’s Short and Sweet: The London System and learn basic ideas and plans – it was enough to get a very pleasant position, when his opponent was kicked out of his preparation!

So to sum up, I scored 7.5/9 with a performance rating of 2566 and gained 22 rating points. I scored my second International Master norm and played many interesting, fighting games.

Kamil the ChampionThe tournament results can be found here and my games are here.

So keep ‘Chessabling’, and use this to the advantage against your opponents!

We hope you enjoyed Chessable Authors in Action: Kamil Plichta. An interview with Kamil Plichta is currently in preparation will be coming to this blog in the near future.

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