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Twitter chess tournament R3

For a few weeks now, I have been a part of a tournament within the Twitter chess community. The tournament is hosted by fellow blogger Say Chess, and resistance is quite tough. I came into this round with two losses, and felt good about finally scoring a point.

The game was quite one-sided, but I realize that my board vision needs some work. I missed a free pawn and misevaluated the position a few times. Apart from that, I felt quite good about the game. Click through the moves below for more detailed comments.

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