IMSCC Semifinals: Rozman Mounts Comeback Victory Vs Shahade
IM Levy Rozman beat IM Greg Shahade in their semifinals match for the 2021 I'M Not A GM Speed Chess Championship by a score of 13.5-10.5. Rozman advanced to the IMSCC final where he will face IM Roberto Molina.
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Shahade lead throughout the match, and seemed to be in firm control—after winning the first bullet game, Shahade was up by a score of 9.5-5.5. Then Rozman kicked into a new gear and won eight games in a row to take the match.
Five-Minute Segment
In the first game, Shahade was baited into going for a win instead of continuing the perpetual for a draw, thinking he could flag Rozman who only had three seconds on his clock. But Rozman pulled out the checkmate and drew first blood in this match.
This would be a theme in the five-minute and three-minute sections, with Rozman consistently down on the clock, sometimes as much as two minutes. However, in many of the games, Rozman was able to stay calm with under ten seconds on the clock, playing accurate moves despite the immense time pressure.
In the final five-minute game, Shahade's better time management got him the win as Rozman could not convert a winning endgame. Shahade went into the three-minute section with a one-game lead.
Three-Minute Segment
Rozman once again took the first win in this section. And although he continued to have more time trouble issues than Shahade, he was somehow able to find amazing moves with very little time on the clock.
Here's game 11, with a clip:
Shahade, on the other hand, stayed steady and stable over the games. He kept a reasonable amount of time on the clock throughout and took advantage of the many errors Levy inevitably made trying to play with single digits on his clock.
One-Minute Segment
Shahade built up a large three-game lead heading into the bullet section—great news for him considering that Rozman had been touted as the favorite in the bullet section. Here's game 16:
But Rozman shook things up from then on, playing a variety of openings and scoring an amazing eight wins in a row to take the lead for the first time since the very beginning of the match. He won all but the first and last games of the 1+1 section in one of the biggest comebacks of the tournament.
Rozman will now face Molina in the final, which is sure to be an exciting match.
All Games
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