1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nxc6 Qf6 6.Qd2 dxc6 7.Nc3 Qe7 8.Qg5 Nf6 9.f3 O-O 10.Be3 Bd6 11.Bd4 h6 12.Qh4 Be5 13.O-O-O Bxd4 14.Rxd4 Qc5 15.Qf2 Be6 16.Be2 a5 17.Rhd1 a4 18.a3 b5 19.Qe3 Qb6 20.R4d3 c5 21.e5 Nh7 22.Ne4 Bf5 23.Rd5 Bxe4 24.fxe4 Ng5 25.Qxc5

Conventional wisdom has it that playing through the centre normally trumps a wing attack. Or putting it another way, launching wing pawns forward is rarely a good idea unless the centre is closed. This situation doesn't appear to be an exception and White has a clear advantage.  25...Qg6 26.Bf3 Rfc8 27.Qe7 c6 28.Rd8+ Rxd8 29.Rxd8+ Rxd8 30.Qxd8+ Kh7 White seems to have exchanged away his advantage  31.Qd1 Nxf3 32.Qxf3 Qg5+ 33.Kd1

I am not sure what the time situation was at this point. Black seems to be fine but I can understand the big free pawn on e5 must have been tempting  33...Qxe5? Allowing white the opportunity to play a very advantageous king and pawn ending. I am not 100% sure it is winning, I'll leave that judgement to the real experts  34.Qf5+ Qxf5 35.exf5 g6 36.Kd2 gxf5 37.Kc3 c5 38.b4 c4 39.Kd4 Kg6 40.Kc5 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.O-O g6 Not sure I've ever seen this before. Is it a made-up line? [Bill: The kings fianchetto Lopez is a respectable old line - a favourite of Smyslov for example]  6.d4 Bg7 7.Bxc6+ bxc6 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Bg5 Qxd1 10.Rxd1 Be6 11.Nbd2 Black has the 2 bishops, but I wouldn't say his opening has been a success  11...h6 12.Be3 f5 13.Nh4 Kf7 14.Nb3 f4 15.Bd2 Ne7 16.Ba5 g5 17.Nf3 g4 18.Ne1 Ra7

This turns out to be a lousy place for the rook (18...Rhc8 19.Nd3 Ng6 20.Nb4 is not much better ) 19.Nc5 Bc8 20.Rd2 Ng6 21.Rad1 Re8 22.Rd8 Bf8 23.Rxe8 Kxe8 24.Ned3 Bd6 25.f3 gxf3 26.gxf3 Ra8 27.Kf2 Rb8 28.Bc3 Rb5 29.b4 Kf7 30.Rg1 Rb6 31.h4 Nxh4 32.Rh1 (32.Nxe5+! Bxe5 33.Bxe5 Ng6 (33...Rxb4 34.Rg7+ Ke8 (34...Kf8 35.Rxc7 Bh3 36.Ne6+! Bxe6 37.Bd6+ ) 35.Rg8+ ) ) 32...Ng6 33.Rxh6 Rb8 34.a4 Kg7 35.Rh5 Kf6 36.a5 Be6?

Black understandably wants to get out of the mess on the queenside, but this seems to be the decisive mistake  37.Rh6 Bc4 (37...Bxc5+ 38.Nxc5 Re8 39.Bxe5+! Kxe5 40.Rxg6 ) 38.Nxf4 (38.Nd7+ surely wins on the spot  38...Kg7 39.Rxg6+ Kxg6 40.Nxb8 ) 38...Rg8 39.Nd7+ Ke7 40.Nxg6+ Kxd7 41.Nxe5+ Bxe5 42.Bxe5 Rf8 43.Bd4 Rf7 44.Ke3 Bf1 45.f4 Bc4 46.f5 Ba2 47.b5 cxb5 48.Rxa6 Bb1 49.c3 Rf8 (49...Re7 50.Re6 ) (49...Rh7 50.Re6 Ba2 51.Re5 Rh3+ 52.Kf4 ) 50.Rh6 Rc8 51.Rh7+ Kd6 52.Rh6+ Kd7 53.Bc5 Re8 54.Re6 Rh8 55.a6 Rh3+ 56.Kd4 Rh8 57.a7 Ra8 58.Rf6 Re8 59.e5 Rh8 60.Rf8 Rh4+ 61.Ke3 1-0

1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 Qa5 5.Bd3 e5 6.h3 Nbd7 7.O-O Be7 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.Nh4

Isn't that just falling into a standard trap dropping the e pawn?  9...Nxe4?? As it turns out, no. With the benefit of hindsight, I think you need to be capturing on h4 with a Queen rather than a Bishop to make this idea work.  10.Nxe4 Bxh4 11.Nd6+ Bugger, didn't see that one in advance  11...Kf8 Absolutely forced (11...Kd8 12.Nxf7+ ) (11...Ke7 12.Nf5+ ) 12.Qh5 Qd5 What else?  13.Qxh4! ( I was hoping for the apparently decisive 13.Bc4 when   13...Nf6 allows black to limp on ) (13.Qxh4 Unfortunately now after  13...Qxd6 comes the annoying  14.Qd8# ) 1-0

1.e4 e6

2.f4 Michael had prepared this surprise for me knowing he would probably face a French. People have done this to me on the internet quite a lot, and I have often got into trouble by marching the d pawn down towards d3, so I decided not to do that this time   2...d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.c3 Bd7 6.Na3 a6 ( Not really necessary because the knight is heading for c2, not b5 6...Nh6 is better ) 7.Nc2 Nge7 8.d4 Nf5 9.Ne3 Nxe3 10.Bxe3 Qb6 11.Qd2 cxd4 12.Bxd4 Nxd4 13.Nxd4 Bc5 14.Be2 O-O 15.O-O f6 16.Kh1 (16.exf6 Rxf6 17.g3 with an even position ) 16...Bxd4 (16...fxe5 17.fxe5 looks better. I decided that I would swap off all the minor pieces and go for the draw ) 17.cxd4 Bb5?! I only saw white's reply after I had lifted the bishop off the d7 square  18.Qb4 Qc6 19.Rac1 Qd7 20.Bxb5 Qxb5 21.Qd6 (21.Qxb5 axb5 22.a3 Ra4 and black is fine despite the doubled pawns ) 21...Rae8 22.b3 Qe2 23.Rf3?! I think this is a mistake while white has to worry about his back rank. White is about to lose a pawn (23.f5 fxe5 24.dxe5 Rf7 is even ) 23...Qd2 24.Qc5 Qxa2 (24...fxe5 25.fxe5 Rxf3 26.gxf3 Qf2 27.Qc3 Rf8 is also good for black ) 25.Rg3 Qd2 26.exf6 (26.Rf1 fxe5 27.Qc7 g6 28.Rh3 Rf7 29.Qxe5 black is winning, but not by so much ) 26...Rxf6 27.Rf1 Qe2 ( Better 27...Rxf4 28.Rxg7+ Kxg7 29.Qc7+ Kg6 30.Qxf4 Qxf4 31.Rxf4 Rc8 ) 28.Rgf3 Ref8 29.h3 Qe4 30.Qb6 R6f7 31.Qd6 Rf6 32.Qc7 R6f7 33.Qb6 g6 partly to prevent a pawn break with f5  34.Qd6 Rc8 35.Qb4 Rc2 36.Re1 Re2 37.Rc1 Kg7 38.Rc8 Qb1+ 39.Kh2 Qb2 40.Rg3 Qd2 41.Qd6 Qxf4 42.Qd8?? allowing mate in 4, which I didn't see!  42...Kh6 ( is ok, but 42...Rxg2+! 43.Kxg2 Qf1+ 44.Kh2 Rf2+ 45.Rg2 Qxg2# is obviously better! ) 43.Qh8 Re3 (43...Rxg2+ again - but the move played was enough! ) 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c4 Nf6 4.d4 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Bxd2+ 6.Qxd2 Nxe4 7.Qe3 d5 8.cxd5 Qxd5 9.dxe5 O-O 10.g3 Qa5+ 11.Nbd2 Nxd2 12.Nxd2 Nxe5 13.Bg2 Nc4

Throughout the tournament Pat has shown that good things tend to happen if simple, classical quick development is not countered in kind.  14.Qd4 Re8+ 15.Be4 Rxe4+ 16.Qxe4 Qxd2+ 17.Kf1 Bh3+ 18.Kg1 Nd6 19.Qe7 Re8 20.Qxe8+ Nxe8 21.f4 Qg2# 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.a3

A speciality of mine. On the surface it doesn't look very ambitious, but I have built up my own theory in this opening and black still needs to play accurately.  4...d5 5.Bb5 Nxe4 My most recent game (last round of the Waitakere Trust Open against Luke Li last weekend) went: (5...d4 6.Ne2 Nxe4 7.d3 Nf6 8.Nxe5 Qd5 9.Bxc6+ bxc6 10.Nf3 c5 11.Nf4 Qd8 12.O-O Be7 13.Re1 O-O 14.Ne5 Bb7 15.Nc4 Rb8 16.Bd2 Bd6 17.Nxd6 Qxd6 18.Nh5 Nxh5 19.Qxh5 Qc6 20.f3 the pawn weaknesses already make black's position difficult, but his next move loses a pawn   20...c4? 21.Bb4 Rfe8 22.dxc4! Qxc4 23.Qc5 and white is winning a pawn. A game I was embarrassed not to win in the end ) 6.O-O Nxc3 7.dxc3 Bg4 8.c4 d4 9.Re1 f6?? Suddenly black is lost  10.Nxe5! fxe5 11.Qxg4 Qf6 12.Bg5 h5 13.Qxd4 Qd6 14.Rxe5+ Kf7 15.Qd5+ The practical human move. A chess engine confidently sacrifices material for checkmate: (15.Qf4+ Kg8 16.c5 Qxe5 17.Bc4+ Kh7 18.Bd3+ g6 19.Qf7+ Qg7 20.Bxg6# But you'd have to see the 20th move and be confident that nothing is overlooked. To be honest I didn't even consider this rook sacrifice, though this would have been a nice way for the game to finish! ) 15...Qxd5 16.Rxd5 Black resigns. White is 2 pawns up and 16...Bd6 is going to be met by 17.c5 1-0

1.d4 e6 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 d5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.h3 cxd4 6.exd4 Bd7 7.Nbd2 Qa5 8.c3 Bb5 9.a4 Bxf1 10.Kxf1 Nc6 11.g4 Be7 12.Kg2 O-O 13.Re1 Rfc8 14.Qe2 Qd8 15.Qd3 Na5 16.Ne5 Nd7

Mark spots a combo  17.Nxf7!? Kxf7 18.Rxe6! Nf8 19.Qf5+ Kg8 20.Rae1 Nc6 21.R6e2 g6 22.Qd3 Qd7 Brian has defended calmly and driven white back. Still, as Frank Marshall showed a century ago, a small material investment can be justified by a slow burning initiative - you don't always have to keep slashing and burning like a madman.  23.Qb5 Bf6 24.Nf3 a6 25.Qb3 Qf7 26.Bg5 Rd8 27.Bxf6 Qxf6 28.Qxb7 Picking up one pawn gives White nominal material equality  28...Ra7 29.Qb6 Rf7 30.Ne5 Nxe5 31.Qxf6 Rxf6 32.dxe5 Rb6 33.f4 Ne6 34.Kg3 d4 35.f5 d3 36.Rd2 Nc5 37.e6 Nxa4? Unwisely allowing White to establish an advanced passed phalanx  38.f6!

Usually the king is a good pawn blockader, but in this situation the rooks and pawns combine too well, and the offside knight doesn't help either.  38...Rb7 39.e7 Re8 40.Rxd3 Kf7? ( White was threatening 40...-- 41.Rd8 and this natural move surprisingly does nothing to stop it ) ( So actually 40...Rbb8 was forced, with an unpleasant position for Black ) 41.Rd8 Rb8 42.Red1 Black has no defence to the threat of Rxb8 and Rd8  42...Nxb2 43.R1d4 Na4 ( The best Black can do is 43...Kxf6 44.Rxb8 Rxb8 45.Rd8 Kxe7 46.Rxb8 with a hopeless exchange down ending - Brian elects to die quickly and painlessly instead ) 44.Rxb8 Nxc3 45.Rxe8 Ne2+ 46.Kf2 1-0

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 b6 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.O-O Nbd7 10.Qe2 c5 11.Rac1 Ne4 12.Bxe7 Qxe7 13.Bxe4 dxe4 14.Nd2 f5 15.f3 exf3 16.Nxf3 Nf6

(may be better to challenge the d file with 16...Rad8 ) 17.Ne5 Rfd8 18.Qf2 Rac8 19.b3 Qe8 Hoping for a more active life on h5  20.Rcd1 Qh5 21.Rd2 Alan was looking forward to a nice comfortable life now, doubling rooks and eventually crushing me down the d file. It was here that I formulated a cunning plan!  21...cxd4 22.exd4 b5! Even Rybka doesn't rate this move to start with, although it sort of comes round eventually. The idea is to lure the knight away from control of e4  23.Nxb5 (23.Ne2 is preferred by Mr Silicon, with equality ) 23...Ne4 24.Qe2 Qxe2 25.Rxe2 a6 26.Na3 ( Not 26.Na7? Rc7 ) 26...Rxd4 27.Nc2 Rd6 28.Nb4 Rcd8 29.c5? I sat there scratching my head looking for the subtlety behind this move, but it turns out that Alan simply didn't see that the pawn could be taken here!  29...Nxc5 30.Rc2 Rd2 31.Rxd2 ( obviously not 31.Rxc5?? Rxg2+ leads to total annihilation ) 31...Rxd2 32.Rf2 Rd1+ 33.Rf1 Rxf1+ 34.Kxf1 Kf8 35.g3 Ke7 36.Ke2 a5?? Throws away pretty much the whole advantage.  37.Nec6+ Alan offered a draw at this stage, and I was so shocked at my own appalling 36th move that I agreed almost immediately. I suspect that psychologically Alan had the edge here! 1/2-1/2

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.c3 Nf6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Nxc6

The scene is set for some sparkling combinative play from the senior player (by 60 years or so I'd guess :-) in this pairing  7...Bxf2+?! 8.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 9.Kg1 Qxg5 Black threatens mate and the loose knight, if he wins back the piece he will be two pawns up...  10.Nd4?? Oh dear ( Unfortunately there is a flaw in the combination, white can defend against the mate and simultaneously counterattack black's loose piece, after say 10.Qd4 dxc6 11.Qxe4+ Be6 black has decent compensation as his rooks get to the open centre files much faster than white's ) 10...Qe3# 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be2 e6 6.O-O Nge7 7.Na4 d6 8.Nc3 O-O 9.Qe1 Bd7 10.d3 Nd4 11.Bd1 Nec6 12.a3 Nxf3+ 13.Bxf3 Nd4 14.Bd1 Bc6 15.Ne2 f5 16.Ng3 Qd7 17.c3 Nb5 18.Bb3 Kh8 19.Bc2 Rae8 20.a4 Nc7 21.Ne2 Qe7 22.Rf3 Bd7 23.Qf2 e5 24.Qg3 fxe4 25.dxe4 Ne6 26.f5 gxf5 27.exf5 Nd8 28.Be3 Bc6 29.Rf2 Bf6 30.Qh3 Rg8 31.g3 Nf7 32.Qf1 Ng5 33.Rd1 Rd8 34.Bb3 d5 35.Re1 b6 36.Bc2 Qf7 37.h4 Ne4 38.Bxe4 dxe4 39.Qh3 Bxa4 40.Rg2 Bb5 41.g4 Ba4 42.g5 Be7 43.h5 Rd1 44.Rxd1 Bxd1

White has been making attacking overtures the whole game. Initially Black countered with strong thematic Sicilian central counterattack - but then Don started dithering and now Black's situation looks critical  45.g6! Qd5 46.Nc1? Anaemic (46.Bh6 is a good, natural move ) 46...Bf3 47.Rd2 Qb7? 48.Qg3?? (48.f6! Bxf6 49.Rd7 wins easily ) 48...Bf6 49.Bg5 Qe7 50.Bxf6+? (50.Rd7 first is much stronger ) 50...Qxf6 51.Rd7

Now Black needs one accurate move to stem the attack with a winning position  51...Bxh5?? This is not that move (51...Rg7! ) 52.Rxh7# 1-0

1.e4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.Bc4 c5 4.d3 Nc6 5.O-O e5 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.g3 O-O 8.Be3 Nd4 9.a3 d6 10.b4 Bg4 11.Bxd4 cxd4 12.Nb5 d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Re1 Nb6 15.Kg2 Nxc4 16.dxc4 a6 17.Nbxd4 exd4 18.h3 Bxf3+ 19.Qxf3 d3 20.Ra2 d2 21.Rd1 Qd7 22.c3 Rad8 23.Qe2 Bxc3 24.Rc2 Rfe8 25.Qf3

Black finishes powerfully, letting the bishop go in order to keep the killer pawn on d2  25...Re1! 26.Rxc3 Rxd1 27.Qxd1 Qd4 28.Rc2 Qd3 Threatening Qxc2  29.Rb2 Qe4+ 30.Kf1 Re8! A lovely final touch, white can prevent mate or Qe1+ but not both  31.Qxd2 Qh1# 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 d5 5.Bb5 Qd6 6.O-O a6 7.Bxc6+ bxc6 8.Re1 d4 9.b3 h5 10.Bb2 h4 11.Ba3 c5 12.Nbd2 Rh5 13.Nc4 Qe6 14.h3 Bd6 15.Nh2 Rg5 16.Nxd6+ cxd6 17.Qf3

17...Qxh3 18.Qxh3 Bxh3 19.f3 Rxg2+ 20.Kh1 Rxc2 21.Bc1 a5 22.Bg5 Bg2+ 23.Kg1 h3 24.Rec1 Rb2 25.Rcb1 Re2 26.Re1 Rxe1+ 27.Rxe1 Nh7 28.Bd2 f6 29.Re2 a4 30.b4 a3 31.bxc5 dxc5 32.Bc1 Ng5 33.Bxg5 fxg5 34.Ng4 Bxf3 35.Rf2 Bxg4 36.Kh2 Rb8 37.Kg3 Bd7 38.Kh2 Rb2 0-1

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 c6 5.O-O O-O 6.Nc3 d5 7.d3 Re8 8.Bg5 Be6 9.Nd4 Bg4 10.h3

10...e5? Unnecessary and unwarranted  11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.hxg4 Nbd7 Doubling down by giving up a second pawn for nothing  13.cxd5 cxd5 14.Nxd5 White had the pawns and the compensation and went on to win routinely if a little laboriously  14...Rb8 15.Qd2 Rb5 16.Nxf6+ Bxf6 17.Bxf6 Qxf6 18.Rac1 Reb8 19.b3 Nc5 20.Qe3 Qe7 21.Bc6 Ra5 22.Rc4 Ne6 23.Rfc1 Qa3 24.R1c2 Nd4 25.Rd2 Qd6 26.Ba4 Rd8 27.Qe4 Rd5 28.e3 Ne6 29.Rc6 Qe7 30.Qc4 Nc5 31.Bb5 e4 32.d4 Qg5 33.Rc2 Nxb3 34.Rc8 Na5 35.Rxd8+ Qxd8 36.Qc8 Qxc8 37.Rxc8+ Kg7 38.Rc5 Rd6 39.Re5 Rb6 40.Bf1 Nc6 41.Rxe4 Nb4 42.Re7 a5 43.Bc4 Rc6 44.Bxf7 Kf8 45.Ra7 Nd3 46.Bb3 Rc1+ 47.Kg2 Ne1+ 48.Kh3 Nd3 49.Rf7+ Ke8 50.g5 Rb1 51.Rf6 Rb2 52.Kg2 Nb4

By this point all other games were finished and a crowd were watching. I was predicting Bg8 and a mass of five protected and passed pawns, but Ian conducts the rest of the game with extreme caution. The result never seemed in doubt though.  53.g4 Nxa2 54.Bxa2 Rxa2 55.Kf1 a4 56.Ke1 a3 57.Ra6 Ra1+ 58.Ke2 a2 59.Kf3 Kd7 60.e4 Kc7 61.d5 Kb7 62.Ra3 Kb6 63.Ra8 Kc5 64.Kf4 Kd6 65.Ra6+ Kc5 66.d6 Rd1 67.Rxa2 Kxd6 68.Ra7 Rh1 69.f3 Ke6 70.Ra6+ Ke7 71.Ke5 h5 72.gxh6 Rxh6 73.f4 Kf7 74.Ra7+ Ke8 75.Kf6 Rh4 76.Kg5 Rh1 77.Kxg6 Re1 78.e5 Re4 79.Kf5 Rb4 80.g5 Rc4 81.g6 Rc1 82.g7 Rg1 83.g8=Q+ 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.Ne2 c5 7.O-O Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Qc7 11.Bd3 e5 12.Qc2 Re8 13.f3 Be6 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Bb5 Red8 16.Nf4 Bd7 17.Be2 c4 18.e4 Qc5+ 19.Kh1 Bb5 20.g4 h6 21.Ng2 Nd3 22.Be3 Qc6 23.a4 Ba6 24.Bd4 Re8 25.Ne3

A complex and unbalanced middlegame battle has developed. I think I prefer Black with his entrenched knight and compact, weakness free setup.  25...Nf4 Another good square for the knight, but sometimes running your knights around a series of advanced, impressive outposts can be a bit like a rich man playing with his money rather than spending it.  26.Bd1 Very mysterious, surely Black would never trade his lovely knight for this impoverished prelate?  26...b6 27.Nf5 Rad8 28.h4!? Optimistic and brave play  28...Bc8 29.Qh2! The pawns advance has the side benefit of making this useful square available  29...Ne6? Retreating the knight seems wrong in principle, and is punished due to an unfortunate tactical detail   30.Nxh6+! The retreating knight has cut off the queen's defence of the f6 point.  30...Kf8 31.Nf5 Nxd4 32.Nxd4 Qc5 33.Ra2 Bb7 34.Raf2 I like activation of the rook along the second rank in principle, but f2 doesn't look like a good square to me  34...Qa3 35.Nb5 Qc5 36.g5 Rxd1?? A pity the game was just getting interesting! Did Black forget the f2 rook was defended by the h2 queen as well as the f1 rook?  37.Rxd1 ( Or maybe the idea was 37.Rxd1 Ng4 38.fxg4 Bxe4+ but after  39.Kg1 there is no follow up ) 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.O-O Bc5 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.Re1+ Be6 9.Ng5 Qd5 ( One of the Classic Standard Opening Traps(tm) is 9...Qxf6?? 10.Nxe6 fxe6 11.Qh5+ Kd7 12.Qxc5 ) 10.Nc3 Qf5 11.Nce4 O-O-O 12.g4 Qe5 13.Nf3 The first deviation from the Max Lange main line (13.Nxe6 has been played in hundreds of games ) 13...Qd5 14.fxg7 Rhg8 (14...Bxg4! has been played here. After  15.gxh8=Q Rxh8 16.Nf6 Qxf3 17.Nxg4 Qxd1 18.Rxd1 Rg8 Black restores rough material equality and is slightly better- the game ends up transposing to something very similar ) 15.Nf6 Qd6 16.Nxg8 Rxg8 17.Ng5 Bb4 The first deviation from known theory (17...Rxg7 with advantage to black has been played here L'Ami-Markus Soest 2001 ) 18.Ne4 Qd7? Playing for a tactical coup. Simpler is (18...Qe5! and black is better ) 19.Nf6 Bxg4? The right idea but the wrong move order ( Black's idea is illustrated by 19...Rxg7! 20.Nxd7 Bxg4 and in a chaotic situation, black holds his own ) 20.Nxd7? Falling in with Black's idea, a brilliant finish was possible (20.Nxg8!! Bxd1 (20...Bxe1 21.Qxe1 ) 21.Nf6 and white gets a new queen or wins black's existing one (or even both) ) 20...Bxd1 21.Rxd1 Rxg7+ 22.Kf1 Kxd7 The fireworks end in a roughly level ending  23.c3 Bd6 24.cxd4 Bxh2 25.Ke2 Nb4 26.Be3 Nd5 27.Rh1 Bd6 28.a4 a6 29.Rh4 f5 30.Rah1 Nf6 31.Bf4 b5? Allowing the bishop to come to e5, after which one of black's precious extra pawns drops off and the game opens up (favouring the side with the extra exchange) Andrew plays the rest of the game well.   32.Be5 Re7 33.f4 Nd5 34.Kd1 b4 35.Rxh7 Rxh7 36.Rxh7+ Kc6 37.Rh6 Ne3+ 38.Kd2 Ng4 39.Rh5 Kd5 40.Rxf5 Ke4 41.Rg5 Nh2 42.Rg6 Nf3+ 43.Kc1 Kd5 44.Bxd6 cxd6 45.f5 Nxd4 46.f6

46...Ne6? It was essential to reserve this square for the king, now the f pawn gets away from black and the game is soon effectively over  47.Kd2 Nf4 48.Rg5+ Kc6 (48...Ke6 49.f7! ) 49.Rg4 c3+ 50.bxc3 bxc3+ 51.Kc2 Nd5 52.f7 Ne3+ 53.Kxc3 Nxg4 54.f8=Q Ne5 55.Qc8+ Kb6 56.Qb8+ Kc5 57.Qb4+ Kc6 58.a5 Nd7 59.Kd4 d5 60.Qc3+ Kd6 61.Qc8 1-0

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.e5 Ng4 8.e6 Bxb5 9.exf7+ Kd7 10.Nxb5 Qa5+ 11.Nc3 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Bxd4 13.Qxd4 Nc6 14.Qc4 Qb6 15.Qe2 h5 16.h3 Nh6 17.Bd2 Nf5 18.O-O-O Ng3 19.Qd3 Nxh1 20.Rxh1 Raf8 21.Qxg6 Nd8 22.Qf5+ e6 23.Qf6

Anthony and I have played all of this before. On the previous occasion Anthony now played Rhh7? and I missed the brilliant rejoinder 24.Nd5! A few hours before this game I played through the older game to refresh my memory. I had carefully avoided documenting Anthony's prior mistake (discovered by interested spectator Scott Wastney). You can see the end (not the beginning) of the previous game in the Summer Cup Round 6 report. I hoped to get another chance to use the move!   23...Nxf7! Bugger! After a long think Anthony plays a better move. In fact I had done a little more investigation as preparation - basically I just asked Houdini what the best moves were. Houdini's moves and our game continued down the same path!  24.Re1 Nd8 25.Qg7+ Kc8 26.f5 Rhg8 27.Qh7 Rh8 28.Qg7 Now Houdini recommended Black continue repeating moves. Watching Anthony descend into a long think I could detect a slight twitching of the nostrils. I think he sensed that repetition was best but of course that is the last thing he wants against a patzer.  28...exf5!? Oh no! I am on my own! With 1:20 on my clock versus Anthony's 30 minutes or so, I have to actually think for the first time - on move 29!  29.Re3? And of course I butcher it. I realised that Houdini was willing to sacrifice with 26.f5 in order to get access to the d5 square and the e file, but I wasn't up to the task of using those assets myself. With Re3 I am threatening Nd5 and Rc3 but I did not have a move to spare for this. ( After the obvious 29.Nd5! Qc5 (absolutely forced) I couldn't see a way of strengthening my position, I missed the fantastic resource  30.Nf6! The knight stops black harassing the queen with his rooks. The knight and queen co-operate beautifully and can't be ejected. Black has to find further precise moves in order to keep the balance  ) 29...Rhg8 Now Anthony, who has been playing Houdini moves with his mind rather than his memory, takes over and smoothly outplays me. Soon I am left with nothing except my material deficit.  30.Qh6 Qc6 31.Nd1 Kb8 32.Rc3 Qd7 33.Ne3 Nf7 34.Qf4 Ne5 35.g3 Rc8 36.Nd5 Qe6 37.Qd4 Rxc3 38.Bxc3 Rxg3 39.Ba5 Nc4 40.Qh8+ Rg8 41.Bc7+ Ka8 0-1

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc2 Bg7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.e4 d6 8.Be2 O-O 9.O-O Bd7 10.f3 Qc8 11.Rb1 Ne5 12.b3 Be6 13.Be3 a5 14.Bf2 Nc6 15.Nd5 Nd7 16.Nd4

. This all looks pretty sensible. In these positions the normal idea is to take off the Nd5 with the Be6  16...Nxd4?? Oh dear.  17.Nxe7+ Kh8 18.Nxc8 Nxe2+ 19.Qxe2 Rfxc8 20.Rfd1 a4 21.Rxd6 Be5 22.Bd4 Bxd4+ 23.Rxd4 Rc7 24.Qb2 Kg8 25.Rbd1 axb3 26.axb3 Rac8 27.R1d3 b5 28.h3 bxc4 29.bxc4 Rb8 30.Rb3 Rd8 31.Rb4 Rdc8 32.Rb7 Rxc4 33.Rbxd7 Bxd7 34.Rxd7 Rc2 35.Qf6 Rc1+ 36.Kh2 h5 37.Qxf7+ 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 e6 7.Nc3 Nge7 8.Be2 O-O 9.O-O a6 10.Qd2 Re8 11.f4 e5 12.fxe5 Nxe5 13.Nd5 b5 14.cxb5 Nxd5 15.exd5 axb5 16.Nxb5 Qh4 17.Bg5 Nc4 18.Bxc4 Qxc4 19.Nc3 Ba6 20.Rfe1 Qg4 21.h3 Bd4+ 22.Be3 Bxe3+ 23.Rxe3 Qf5 24.Rae1 Rxe3 25.Rxe3 Qf1+ 26.Kh2 Qf4+ 27.g3 Qf5 28.Ne4 Bf1 29.Nf2 h5 30.Qe1 Bc4 31.Re5 Qf3 32.Re8+ Rxe8 33.Qxe8+ Kh7 34.Ne4 Qe2+ 35.Kg1 Qd1+ 36.Kh2 Qc2+ 37.Kg1 Qb1+ 38.Kh2 Qxb2+ 39.Kg1 Qa1+ 40.Kh2 Qxa2+ 41.Kg1 Qb1+ 42.Kh2 Qc2+ 43.Kg1 Qd1+ 44.Kh2 Qe2+ 45.Kg1 Qf1+ 46.Kh2

46...Qe2+ ( Black should play 46...Bxd5 and with f7 and f6 defended, extra pawns, mate threats, a paralysed knight that will drop off after another queen check, black wins easily ) 47.Kg1 Kg7? Letting white back into the game  48.Qe5+ Kf8?? g8 or h7 were safe  49.Qh8+ Ke7 50.Qf6+ Kf8 51.Qh8+ Ke7 52.Qf6+ Kf8 53.Qh8+ At this stage to claim a draw John just needed to announce his intention to play 53...Ke7 (establishing a threefold repetition) without playing the move.  53...Ke7 54.d6+! This time Don sees the winning idea  54...Ke6 55.Qf6+ Kd5 56.Nc3+ 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 d6 4.Nc3 e6 5.g3 exd5 6.cxd5 Nbd7 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O Re8 10.Nd2 Ne5 11.f4 Neg4 12.Nc4 h5 13.a4 a6 14.a5 Nd7 15.h3 Ngf6 16.e4 b5 17.axb6 Nxb6 18.Nxb6 Qxb6 19.e5 dxe5 20.fxe5 Nd7

This children, is what we call a dream anti-benoni position  21.d6 Ra7 22.dxe7 Rxe7 23.Nd5 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 f6 4.d5 Nce7 5.g3 d6 6.h3 f5 7.exf5 Bxf5 8.Bg2 Be4 9.c4 Bxb1 10.Rxb1 Nf6 11.O-O Qd7 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Nh2 O-O-O 15.c5 dxc5 16.d6 cxd6 17.b4 d5 18.bxc5 Nc6 19.Nf3 Kb8 20.Qe2 Rh7 21.Kh2 Bxc5 22.h4 e4 23.Ng1 f5 24.Qh5 Qf7 25.Qe2 Rd7 26.Qb5 Bb6 27.Rfc1 Rd6 28.f3 e3 29.f4 Qd7 30.Nf3 Na5 31.Qd3 d4 32.Ne5 Qe7 33.Qxf5 Rd8 34.Bh3 Qe8 35.Qxh7 e2 36.Qf5 d3 37.Nf7 d2

Under normal circumstances, a black pawn duo on d2 and e2 signals a black win. These are not normal circumstances.  38.Nxd8 dxc1=Q 39.Rxc1 a6 40.Rc8+ Ka7 41.Nc6+ bxc6 42.Rxe8 c5 43.Qd7+ Nb7 44.Re7 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 b6 6.e4 Bb7 7.Be3 g6 8.Be2 d6 9.f3 Bg7 10.Rc1 O-O 11.O-O Rc8 12.Qd2 Ba6 13.b3 Nd7 14.Rfd1 Nf6 15.Bf1 Qc7 16.Qf2 Qb8 17.Nd5 Qb7 18.Nxc6 Rxc6 19.b4 b5 20.cxb5 Bxb5

The Nd5xe7+ idea seen in Whittle-Brockway pops up again, in slightly more refined form  21.Nxe7+ Qxe7 22.Bxb5 Rxc1 23.Rxc1 Rb8 24.a4 a6 25.Bxa6 Rxb4 26.Bb5 Nd7 27.Qd2 Rb2 28.Qd5 Nf6 29.Qa8+ Bf8 30.Bh6 1-0

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Bg5 Bg7 5.Nf3 a6 6.Qd2 h6 7.Bf4 g5 8.Bg3 Nh5 9.Bc4 (9.O-O-O ) 9...e6 (9...b5 ) 10.O-O-O Bd7 11.Kb1 Nxg3 12.hxg3 =  12...g4 13.Nh4 Nc6 14.d5 Ne5 15.Be2 Qf6 ?! (15...b5 ) 16.f4 gxf3 17.gxf3 O-O-O 18.f4 += Ng6 19.Nf3 exd5 (19...Kb8 ) 20.Qxd5 (20.Qe3 Kb8 21.Rxd5 Rhe8 = ) 20...Bc6 (20...Ne7 21.Qb3 Be6 22.Qa3 += ) 21.Qd4 Qxd4 (21...Kb8 ?!  22.Qb4 ) (21...Rhe8 ?  22.Qa7 Bxe4 23.Rhe1 d5 24.Nd4 Qb6 (24...h5 25.Qa8+ Kd7 26.Qxb7 ) 25.Bg4+ +- ) 22.Nxd4 Bd7 23.Bc4 Rdf8 24.Nd5 Bg4 25.Be2 Bxe2 26.Nxe2 f5 ?! (26...Re8 = ) 27.exf5 ?! (27.Nd4 += ) 27...Rxf5 28.g4 Rf7 29.Rdf1 c6 30.f5 Ne5 31.Ne3 Bf6 32.Nf4 Bg5 33.Ng6 ? (33.b3 = ) 33...Nxg6 (33...Re8 = ) 34.fxg6 Rxf1+ 35.Rxf1

35...Rg8 (35...Bxe3 ??  36.g7 ) 36.Nc4 ?! (36.Rf7 Rxg6 37.Nf5 Kb8 !  38.Rf8+ Ka7 39.a4 Kb6 40.Rf7 a5 41.Ka2 Bf4 -+ ) 36...Rxg6 37.Rf7 Bd8 (37...b5 !  38.Na5 (38.Nb6+ Kd8 39.Rd7+ Ke8 40.a4 (40.Ra7 Be3 ) 40...Bd8 -+ ) 38...c5 39.a4 Rf6 40.Ra7 Rf1+ 41.Ka2 Rf4 42.b3 Bf6 43.Rf7 Be5 -+ ) 38.a4 b5 (38...d5 39.Ne3 Bg5 40.Nf5 Kb8 41.Rf8+ Ka7 42.Rf7 (42.a5 Bf4 ) 42...a5 43.c3 Re6 44.Ka2 Re4 45.Kb3 Rxg4 46.Nd6 Kb6 47.Rxb7+ Kc5 -+ ) 39.axb5 axb5 40.Ne3 d5 41.Nf5 (41.Rh7 ! [if White can capture the h-pawn with the rook, it is very difficult for Black to win] ) (41.c3 Kb8 [getting away from knight forks on e7, after knight e3-f5]  42.Kc2 Bc7 (42...Bb6 43.Kd3 Bxe3 44.Kxe3 Rxg4 45.Rf6 = ) 43.Rh7 Be5 44.Kd3 [White is probably holding here] ) 41...Bg5 (41...Rxg4 42.Nxh6 [Black is better, but White has drawing chances] ) 42.Rh7 =  42...Re6 43.Ka2 c5 44.Kb3 ?! (44.c3 = ) 44...Kd8 ? (44...d4 45.Ka2 Re2 46.Nd6+ Kd8 47.Nb7+ Ke8 48.Nxc5 Rxc2 49.Ne6 Be3 50.Nc7+ Kd8 51.Nd5 [White has drawing chances] ) 45.Rb7 Re4 46.Rxb5 c4+ 47.Kb4 Rxg4 48.Rxd5+ Kc7 49.Rc5+ Kb6 50.Rxc4 (50.Nd6 !?  50...c3+ 51.Nc4+ Kb7 52.Kxc3 h5 = ) 50...h5 51.Rxg4 hxg4 52.Ng3 Bf4 53.Ne4 g3 54.Nxg3 [draw agreed] 1/2-1/2

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 e5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bc4 Be7 6.cxd4 exd4 7.O-O d6 8.Nxd4 Nf6 9.Nc3 O-O 10.Bf4 Nxe4 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Nxe4 d5 13.Bd3 dxe4 14.Bxe4 Ba6 15.Re1 Bb4 16.Qxd8 Raxd8 17.Red1 c5 18.Bc7 Rc8 19.Bd6 Rfe8 20.Bf5 Rcd8 21.a3

My instant reaction was to lash out with Be2, but I quickly thought, that's silly he can take both my bishops while I am taking just a rook. But fortunately I took a moment to check whether there was anything left to say after this...   21...Be2! 22.axb4?? (22.Rd5 Bc4 23.Rdd1 Be2 would have finished the game with a repetition, like a few other games this night ) 22...Bxd1 since this threatens mate on e1, white can't bail out  23.Rxd1 Rxd6! and the game is effectively decided  24.Rc1 cxb4 25.g3 g6 26.Bg4 Rd2 27.b3 Rb2 28.Bd1 Rd8 29.f3 a5 ( I missed the simple 29...Rbd2! winning the bishop ) 30.h4 Rxd1+ 31.Rxd1 Rxb3 32.Kf2 a4 33.Rd8+ Kg7 34.Ra8 a3 35.Ke2 Rb2+ 36.Kd3 a2 37.Kc4 b3 38.Kc3 Rb1 0-1

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 d4 5.Ne4 Be7 6.Nxf6+ Bxf6 7.d3 O-O 8.Nf3 c5 9.O-O Nc6 10.a3 Re8 11.Rb1 a5 12.Nd2 e5 13.Ne4 Be7 14.f4 f5 15.Ng5 Bxg5 (15...e4 16.dxe4 Bxg5 17.fxg5 fxe4 Black has some good chances ) 16.fxg5 e4 17.Bf4!

A nice outpost  17...e3?! this looks stifling, but black can't do anything with the space advantage. White's bishops have ample freedom, and the black pawn chain proves vulnerable eventually  18.h4 a4 (18...Qb6 19.Qa4 Bd7 (19...Ra7 20.Rfc1 Be6 21.Qb5 Ra6 22.Bd6 Qd8 23.Qxc5 ) 20.Qb5 Qxb5 (20...Ra6 21.Qxb6 Rxb6 22.Bd6 ) 21.cxb5 Nd8 22.Rbc1 good for white ) 19.b3 Qa5?! ( interesting is 19...axb3 20.Qxb3 Ra7 21.Qb5 Ra5 22.Qb6 Qxb6 23.Rxb6 Rxa3 24.Bd6 Ra5 25.Bd5+ Kh8 26.Rfb1 advantage to white ) 20.bxa4 Qxa4 Now black's pawn chain is starting to look shaky, whereas white's is easily defendable  21.Qxa4 Rxa4 22.Rb5 Rxa3 23.Rxc5 Ra2 24.Bf3 Bd7 25.Rd5 Be6 26.Rd6 (26.Rb5 Re7 27.Rfb1 Nd8 28.Kf1 may be better ) 26...Kf7 27.Rb1 Re7 28.Kf1 Ra6 29.Bxc6 it's fine to give up the bishop pair now, white is gaining material  29...bxc6 30.Rxd4 Bd7 31.Rb7 (31.Bd6! Re6 32.Rb7 Ke8 33.Bb4 Bc8 34.Rb8 is much better! But the move played is sufficient ) 31...Bc8 32.Rxe7+ Kxe7 33.Bxe3 c5? 34.Rd5 Ra1+ 35.Kf2 g6 36.Bxc5+ 1-0

1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.e3 Bf5 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Be2 c6 6.O-O Qc7 7.d4 e6 8.c4 Bd6 9.Nc3 Rc8 10.c5 Be7 11.b4 b5 12.a4 a6 13.axb5 axb5 14.Qd2 Ne4 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.Ne5 Bf6 17.Nxd7 Qxd7 18.f3 e5 19.fxe4 Bxe4 20.Qc3 exd4 21.exd4 Qd5 22.Bf3 Bxf3 23.Rxf3 O-O 24.Rff1 Rcd8 25.Rad1 Rfe8 26.Qf3 Re4 27.Kh1 h6 28.h3 Rde8 29.Rd2 Qc4 30.d5 Re1

31.Rf2? (31.Rxe1 was unpleasant for white but mandatory ) 31...Bxb2 32.Qxf7+ Kh8 33.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 34.Kh2 Be5+ 35.g3 Qe4 36.Qf8+ Kh7 37.Rg2 Re2 0-1

1.d4 c5 2.dxc5 Nc6 3.c3 a5 4.e4 Nf6 5.Qc2 e5 6.Nf3 Bxc5 7.Bg5 O-O 8.Bc4 Be7 9.O-O d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Bxe7 Ndxe7 12.Na3 Bf5 13.Qe2 Ng6 14.Rfd1 Qf6 15.Qe3 Nf4 16.Nb5 Rad8 17.Ne1 Bg4 18.Rxd8 Rxd8 19.h3 Bf5 20.g4 Qg6 21.Kh2 Be4 22.f3 Bd5 23.Bf1 Be6 24.b3 h5 25.Ng2 Qc2 26.Qc1 Qf2 27.Qe1 Qxf3 28.Nh4 Qd5 29.Nc7 Qd2+ 30.Kg3

30...g5! A good, simple, human move. ( The computer prefers 30...Rd3+!! 31.Bxd3 Qxd3+ 32.Kf2 Nxh3+ 33.Kg2 Nf4+ 34.Kf2 Bxg4 when black has a material advantage and an overwhelming attack ) 31.Qxd2 Rxd2 played instantly, but as often happens in combinative situations the obvious recapture is a terrible mistake,  (31...gxh4+ is a simple free piece ) 32.Nf5 From now on black retains his advantage but doesn't really hammer it home  32...h4+ 33.Kf3 Rh2 34.Nxe6 fxe6 35.Nd6 Nxh3 36.Nxb7 Nf4 37.Bb5 Ne7 38.Nxa5 Ned5 39.Bf1 Nxc3 White lost on time 0-1

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.d4 c5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Bg2 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Bf4 Be6 10.Rc1 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Qd7 12.Na4 Rac8 13.a3 b6 14.Nc3 Na5 15.a4 Nc4 16.b3 Nd6 17.Qd3 Nb7 18.Ncb5 Nc5 19.Qb1 a6 20.Nc3 Bd6 21.Bxd6 Qxd6 22.Rfd1 Qe5 23.Nf3 Qb8 24.Qb2 Rfd8 25.b4 Nce4 26.Nxe4 Nxe4 27.Ne5 Qb7 28.b5 Nc5 29.Qb4 a5 30.Qa3 h6 31.Nc6 Rd7 32.e3 Kh8 33.Rd4 Kh7 34.Rcd1 Kh8

Sometimes capturing a besieged weak IQP (isolated queen pawn) frees the defender's game, but here White remains fully dominant  35.Bxd5 Bxd5 36.Rxd5 Rxd5 37.Rxd5 Kh7 38.Qa2 Ne6 39.Qb1+ g6 40.Qd1 Black lost on time 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 e6 3.Bd3 d5 4.Nd2 c5 5.c3 Bd6 6.f4 h5 7.Ngf3 Nc6 8.Ne5 Ne7 9.O-O Neg8 10.Ndf3 Nh6 11.h3 a6 12.Bc2 Bd7 13.Ng5 Bb5 14.Rf2 Nd7

15.Nxe6!? fxe6 16.Qxh5+ Ke7 17.Ng6+ Kf6 18.Nxh8 Qxh8 19.Qg6+ Ke7 20.f5 Nf6 21.fxe6 Be8 22.Qg5 Kxe6 23.Bf5+ Ke7

24.e4! John correctly opens more lines  24...dxe4 25.Bxe4 Nf7 26.Qe3 Ng4?! Bob wants to play too  27.hxg4 Qh2+ 28.Kf1 Qh1+ 29.Ke2 Bb5+ 30.Bd3+ Kf8 31.Bxb5 axb5

32.Kd2? A shame, clearly white is worried about ...Re8, but Qe6 attacking the undefendable and pinned Nf7 is begging to be played ( after 32.Qe6! Re8 33.Rxf7+ Kg8 34.Re7+ and White is not only not losing his queen, he is winning even more material and forcing mate! ) 32...Re8 33.Qf3 Qe1+ 34.Kc2 Qe6 35.Bd2 cxd4 36.Re1 Qxa2 37.Rxe8+ Kxe8 38.Qe4+ Kf8 39.Qxd4 Be7 40.g5 Kg8 41.g6 Nd6 42.Re2 Kf8 43.Qf4+ Ke8 44.Qg4 Qd5 45.Bg5 Nf5 46.Bxe7 Nxe7 47.Qc8+ Qd8

48.Qxd8+ This is a good practical winning move, but (48.Qe6 would have been really classy, Black is completely powerless to prevent the white rook unhurriedly (it takes three moves) wandering over to h8 and forcing mate! ) 48...Kxd8 49.Re6 Kd7 50.Rb6 Kc7 51.Rxb5 Nxg6 52.Rg5 Nf4 53.Rxg7+ Kb6 54.g4 Kc5 55.Rxb7 1-0

1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Bc4 Ngf6 6.d3 Qb6 7.O-O e6 8.Re1 Be7 9.Qe2 O-O 10.c3 Nc5 11.Nxf6+ gxf6 12.Be3 Qc7 13.Bh6 Re8 14.d4 Nd7

15.Bxe6! Nice  15...Qd6 16.Bf5 Nf8 17.Bxf8 Kxf8 18.Nh4 Qf4 19.Bxc8 Raxc8 20.Qe4 Bd6 21.Qxf4 Bxf4 22.Nf5 Bc7 23.h3 Re6 24.Kf1 Rce8 25.g3 b6 26.Re3 b5 27.Rae1 a6 28.R1e2 a5 29.b3 Bb6 30.Ke1 Bc7 31.Kd2 Kg8 32.Kd3 h5 33.c4 Kh7 34.cxb5 cxb5 35.d5 Rxe3+ 36.Rxe3 Rd8 37.Ke4 Re8+ 38.Kd3 Rd8 39.Ke4 Re8+ 40.Kf3 Rd8 41.Rd3 Bd6 42.Nxd6 Rxd6 43.Ke4 Kg6 44.g4 hxg4 45.hxg4 Kg5 46.f3 Kg6 47.f4 Kg7 48.Rc3 Kf8 49.Rc5 Rb6 50.Rc6 Rb7 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nge7 5.Bc4 d6 6.O-O Ne5 7.Bb3 a6 8.Bg5 f6 9.Bh4 N7g6 10.Bg3 c5 11.Ne6 Qe7 12.Nf4 c4 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.Bxe5 cxb3 15.Bg3 bxc2 16.Qxc2 Bd7 17.Nc3 Rc8 18.Qd3 Qd8 19.Bxd6 b5 20.e5 Bf5 21.Qd5 b4 22.Rfe1 Qd7 23.exf6+ Kd8 24.Qa5+ Rc7 25.Bxc7+ Qxc7 26.Rad1+ Bd7

27.Re8+! Very nice! 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.e5 Ne4 6.Qe2 Nc5? 7.cxd4 Na6?

(Things have got very unusual very fast. Houdini thinks ...Ne6 is essential despite the invitation to play d5. Here is its main line after a short think 7...Ne6 8.d5 Ncd4 9.Nxd4 Nxd4 10.Qe4 c5 11.d6 g6 12.Nc3 Bg7 13.Be3 Qa5 14.Bd3 O-O 15.O-O Nc6 16.f4 b6 17.Nd5 Bb7 18.Be2 Rae8 ) 8.a3!? I like this cunning move  8...Ne7 Forced! the black minor pieces are starved of squares  9.Nc3 d5 10.exd6 cxd6? 11.Bf4! Decisive. Square d6 is a fatal weakness  11...Nc7 12.Ne4

12...Kd7!? A rather embarrassing move to make. But Houdini agrees that this is as good as anything. For the rest of the game, Andrew clings on to life, with (almost) material equality, but an almost comically horrible position.  13.Nxd6 Ng6 14.Ne5+ Nxe5 15.dxe5 Bxd6 16.O-O-O A shame. A beautiful computer finish would have been (16.exd6 Re8 17.O-O-O Rxe2 18.dxc7+ Ke6 19.cxd8=Q ) 16...Qe7 17.Qd2 Ne6 18.Bb5+ Kd8 19.exd6 Qf6 20.Be3 Bd7 21.Qa5+ Ke8 22.Bxd7+ Kxd7 23.Qb5+ Kd8 24.d7 b6 25.Qd5 Nc7 26.Qd2 h5? A pity, but it's a situation where voluntary euthanasia is a pretty respectable option. It's rare to see a game last this long with one side still chronically unable to develop their pieces. If you were black how would you try to get your rooks into the game?  27.Bg5 1-0

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Bg5 Bg7 5.Qd2 Nbd7 6.Bh6 Bxh6 7.Qxh6 c5 Don't send in email complaints. I haven't made a mistake this is Ker-van der Hoorn not van der Hoorn-Ker  8.Nf3 Qb6 9.O-O-O cxd4 10.Nxd4 Ne5 11.h3 Bd7 12.Qd2 Nc6 13.Nb3 Be6 14.g4 d5 15.exd5 Rd8 16.Bg2 Nb4 17.Qg5

17...Nfxd5! Defying the arithmetic that says you can't take something when you attack it four times and it's defended four times  18.Bxd5 Bxd5 19.Nxd5 Rxd5 20.Rxd5 Qc6! A skewer at the end is black's justification   21.Rd8+ Kxd8 22.Rd1+ Kc8 23.Qd2 Sadly despite his tactical wizardry, Black still ends up with a bad position  23...Na6 24.Qd4 Re8 25.Qxa7 e5 26.Na5 Qb5 27.a4 Qb4

28.Nc6! Qf4+ 29.Rd2 Re6 30.Qa8+ Kc7 31.Na5! Decisively threatening Qd8+ and Qxb7+  31...Rd6 32.Qxb7+ Kd8 33.Nc6+ (33.Nc6+ Ke8 34.Qe7# ) 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Be2 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Nb3 d6 I need to check my opening books - I didn't think it was possible for White to deny Black the option of playing a dragon that had some kind of distinct accelerated dragon character - but that is what has happened here. This is bad news for me as I don't know anything about the regular dragon - whereas Scott (of course) has a well thought out system.  8.O-O Be6 9.f4 Rc8 10.f5

Forced to effectively make something up I decided to delay castling and try to get quick play on the queenside. Afterwards Scott told me my approach was unorthodox and he decided to punish me. The good news is that at least that creates an unfamiliar situation for Scott too, so at least I won't just lose routinely due to inferior knowledge.   10...Bd7 11.Bf4 Ne5 12.Bxe5 dxe5 Houdini actually likes my position and I was kind of fond of it as well. I figured the two e pawns control a lot of squares, that white's one remaining bishop is quite bad, and that my bishop pair might be a factor later in the game.  13.Bd3 Ruminating on this position, I suddenly was seized by the concept of trying to attack on the kingside. I am cursed by a tendency to choose 'interesting' ahead of 'good'.  13...g5!? 14.Qf3 Qb6+ I had spotted an amusing trap a few moves ahead...  15.Kh1 g4 16.Qg3 Rc6 ...I played this quickly and wandered away with my fingers crossed.  17.Nd5 ( Hoping for 17.Qxe5 Nh5 18.Qb5 or anywhere else  18...Ng3+ 19.hxg3 Rh6# Afterward Scott told me that it was rather silly to hope he would fall into this obvious trap:-) Amusingly, as I put this line into the computer it turns out that 17...Nh5 is a blunder because 18.f6 would win for White! ) 17...Nxd5 18.exd5 Rh6 19.Qxg4 Bf6 I have given up a pawn but united and activated my rooks in an unorthodox way without making a king move. I hoped my king would be just as safe behind a central wall as a more normal side wall. Of course I also need to get more pieces into the attack to justify the sac. As I say, it was 'interesting'.  20.Be4 Rh4 21.Qe2 Rg8 22.Nd2 Rgg4 23.Bf3 Bb5

At this stage I was very optimistic, Black has a lot of activity. I thought the computer might later find a win, but instead it suggests Black is just a little better.  24.Qd1 Bxf1 ( I didn't see that I could force a draw or I certainly would have taken that option! 24...Rxh2+ 25.Kxh2 Rh4+ 26.Kg3 Bxf1 27.Qxf1 (27.Nxf1? Rh1! wins ) 27...Qe3 28.Qe2 Rg4+ with a perpetual check ) 25.Bxg4 Qd4 26.Bf3 Ba6 27.g3 Rh6 28.Ne4 Qxb2 29.Qc1 Qxc1+ 30.Rxc1 I've got my pawn back, but the attack is over and the ending looks favourable to White. I had run out of time as well, while Scott still had a nice buffer. Surprisingly, I basically hold the balance for quite a while  30...Bg7 31.c4 Rb6 32.c5 Rb2 33.a4 Bh6 34.Rc3 Rb1+ 35.Kg2 Rb2+ 36.Kg1 Rb1+ 37.Kf2 Rb2+ 38.Ke1 Rxh2 39.c6 bxc6 40.dxc6 Bc8 41.g4 Bf4 42.Kd1 Kd8 43.c7+ Kd7 44.Nc5+

Scott was now almost down to his increment as well, and with the computer eval at 0.00 I was almost on even terms again  44...Kxc7? ( It never occured to me to play the correct 44...Kd6 because I didn't see what was wrong with grabbing the dangerous looking pawn. ) 45.Ne6+ Only now did I realise that White's formerly anaemic bishop has been transformed into an attacking monster and I am in danger of being mated  45...Kd7 In fact now I am being mated, but avoiding mate involved fatal loss of material  46.Rd3+ Ke8 47.Rd8# 1-0

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.dxc6 Nxc6 5.Nf3 e5 6.d3 Bc5 7.Be2 Qb6 8.Nc3 Bxf2+ 9.Kf1 Bd4 10.Nb5 O-O 11.Nbxd4 Nxd4 12.Rb1 Nxe2 13.Qxe2 Re8 14.Be3 Qa6 15.a3 e4 16.Nd4 Bg4 17.Qc2 exd3 18.Qxd3 Rad8 19.h3 Bh5 20.Qb3 Ne4 21.Rh2

Classical play from black and mysterious play from white has leads to an ugly position for white, and a simple winning shot for black  21...Rxd4 (21...Rxd4 22.Bxd4 Nd2+ ) 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O d5 6.Bf4 Nc6 7.c3 Re8 8.Nbd2 Nh5 9.Bg5 h6 10.Be3 e5 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Rxe5 13.Nf3 Re8 14.Qd2 Kh7 15.Rad1 c6 16.h3 Nf6 17.g4 Qa5 18.b4 Qb5 19.Nd4 Qc4 20.g5 hxg5 21.Bxg5 Ne4 22.Bxe4 Rxe4 23.f3 Bxd4+ 24.cxd4

24...Rxe2 25.Qf4 A critical position. Black has spoiled White's structure, won a pawn and posted a rook on the seventh. However having abandoned the black squares around his own king he must now tread very carefully....  25...Re6? This looks like a simple losing blunder, and I suppose it is, but in fact black only has one good move available (25...Kg8! for example  26.Qf6 Qxa2 and black's counter attack defeats white's attack. Black cannot use the e2 rook for defence, the only way to indirectly defend the kingside dark squares is to use the e2 rook for counterattack ) 26.Qxf7+ 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 O-O 6.f3 d6 7.e4 e5 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.Ne2 b6 10.O-O Bb7 11.Be3 Ne7 12.Ng3 Ng6 13.Nf5 Nh5 14.g3 Nf6 15.d5 Qd7 16.f4 Rfe8 17.Qf3 Ba6 18.Nh4 Nxh4 19.gxh4 Qg4+ 20.Qxg4 Nxg4 21.Bd2 exf4 22.Bxf4

22...Ne5 ( Better to route this knight to the ideal c5 square eg 22...Nf6 23.Rfe1 Nd7 24.Bf1 f6 25.a4 Nc5 ) 23.Bxe5 Rxe5 24.Rf4 Rae8 25.Raf1 f6 26.Kg2 Rc8 27.Kh1 Kh8 28.Rg1 Rce8 29.Rfg4 R8e7 30.Rf4 Bb7 31.Rc1 c6 32.Kg1 Rc7 33.Rd1 Ba6 34.Rdf1 c5 35.Kh1 Rce7 36.Kg1 1/2-1/2

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.c3 e6 5.Nf3 Nd7 6.Bd3 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 Ne7 8.O-O Ng6 9.Re1 c5 10.h3 Qb6 11.Nbd2 cxd4 12.cxd4 Be7 13.Nb3 O-O 14.Be3 Rac8 15.Nh2 Qd8 16.Rac1 Nb6 17.Qb5 a6 18.Rxc8 Nxc8 19.Qxb7 Qb6 20.Qxb6 Nxb6 21.Nc5 Nc4 22.b4 Ra8 23.Nf3 Bd8 24.Nd2 Na3 25.Rc1 a5 26.bxa5 Bxa5 27.Ncb3 Bb4 28.Rc7 Nb5 29.Rb7 Bxd2 30.Bxd2 Na3 31.g3 h6 32.h4 Nc4 33.Be3 Rxa2 34.Nc5 Ra8 35.Nd7 Kh7 36.Nc5 Nxe3 37.fxe3

37...Nh8 In a distant galaxy there is probably an alien civilisation that plays a game similar to chess in which this would be a good move  38.h5 g6 The previous comment applies here too.  39.Nxe6 gxh5 40.Nf4 Ra5 41.Nxh5 Kg6 42.Nf4+ Kf5 43.Rb6 Ke4 44.Ng2 Ra8 45.Rxh6 Ng6 46.Nh4 Ne7 1-0