Manuel 1-0 Kyan
Manuel was White in Game 1 and opened with 1 e4. Kyan replied with the Sicilian Defence.
After a cagey opening, Manuel made the first aggressive move with g4. After Manuel castled first, on the Q-side, Kyan for a while kept his powder dry. The game came alight the moment Kyan castled K-side. Manuel sacrificed his h-pawn for open lines. Kyan accepted and had the advantage, until recapturing on f6 with the g-pawn; the knight recapture would have kept his clear advantage. After that, Manuel carefully added to his attack until breaking through in the time-scramble.
A fine game, worthy of a play-off.
You can play through the game via this link:
Game 2, in which Kyan will be White, is on Thursday 13 June.