I went to the St. Louis Chess Club on Friday and played in the rapid quads. After losing to a 2400, I faced former US champ GM Alexander Yermolinsky:
[Event "Friday Action Quads"]
[Site "St. Louis"]
[Date "2026.04.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Wilson, Matthew"]
[Black "Yermolinsky, GM Alex"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B42"]
[WhiteElo "2108"]
[BlackElo "2442"]
[Annotator "Wilson,Matthew"]
[PlyCount "79"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3
Nf6 6. Qe2 Bc5 $6 {Mixing up the move order} 7. Nb3 Be7 8. O-O $6 {
Soon we transpose back into the main line} ({
I trusted my opponent and didn't seriously consider} 8. e5 {
. Stockfish thinks White is clearly better after} Nd5 9. c4 Nb4 10. Be4 d5 11.
exd6 Qxd6 12. Nc3 $16) 8... d6 9. c4 Qc7 10. Nc3 b6 11. Bd2 Bb7 12. f4 Nbd7 13.
Rae1 Rd8 14. Kh1 ({Stockfish wants to play} 14. g4 $1 {
even though Black hasn't castled yet. This felt too aggressive to me.}) ({
The point of Black's move is that it tactically prevents} 14. e5 $4 {
since that loses to} dxe5 15. fxe5 Nxe5 16. Qxe5 Qxe5 17. Rxe5 Rxd3 $19) 14...
O-O 15. Nd4 Rfe8 16. b4 (16. f5 {
is Stockfish's suggestion. It thinks it can put pressure on Black with} Bf8 17.
fxe6 fxe6 18. Bc2 {followed by Bg5 and possibly Bb3}) (16. g4 $6 Nc5 17. Bc2 d5
18. cxd5 exd5 19. e5 Nfe4 {is good for Black}) 16... d5 $2 {During the game, I
felt this was incorrect. However, I thought he might play it anyways, since
otherwise Black just suffers.} ({Stockfish calmly plays} 16... g6 {
and claims White is only slightly better after} 17. Nf3 Bf8 18. a3) 17. cxd5
exd5 (17... Bxb4 18. Ncb5 axb5 19. Bxb4 exd5 20. e5 {transposes into the game})
18. e5 Bxb4 19. Ncb5 $1 (19. Rc1 {
was my first instinct, but Black can plug the c-file with} Bc5) 19... axb5 20.
Bxb4 Ne4 21. Nxb5 Qc6 22. Bxe4 dxe4 23. Nd6 Re6 24. Nxb7 $2 {
I jumped at the chance to get a risk-free advantage against a GM} ({After} 24.
Qh5 $1 {Stockfish thinks White's attack is so strong that Black should
sacrifice the rook for the knight immediately}) 24... Qxb7 25. Qxe4 Qxe4 26.
Rxe4 Nc5 27. Bxc5 bxc5 28. Rc4 Ra6 29. a4 (29. Rxc5 Rxa2 {and maybe in my time
trouble he would find a way to double rooks on the 2nd rank. My move is safer})
29... g6 30. g3 Rd4 31. Rfc1 Rxa4 32. Rxc5 Rd2 33. R5c2 Ra2 34. Rxa2 Rxa2 35.
h3 h5 36. Rg1 f6 37. exf6 Kf7 38. Rg2 Ra1+ 39. Kh2 Kxf6 40. Re2 {We played a
few more moves before agreeing to a draw. My first draw against a GM in
rapid!!!} 1/2-1/2
