1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.c4 Nf6 9.Nc3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Nbd7 11.h3 Nb6 12.Bb3 Nbd5 13.Re1 Re8 14.Ne5 Be6 15.Bg5 c6 16.Qd2 h6 17.Bh4 Qa5 18.a3 Bf8 19.Bc2 c5 20.Qd3 Nf4 21.Qf3 g5 22.dxc5 Qxc5 23.Bg3 N4d5 24.Nxd5 Bxd5 25.Qd3 Be6 26.Rac1 Rad8 27.Qf3 Qe7 28.Ba4 Bd5 29.Qf5 Qe6 30.Qb1 Re7

31.Nd3? (31.Ng6! wins ) 31...Qa6 32.Nc5? Rxe1+ 33.Rxe1 Bxc5 0-1

1.c4 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 c5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.e3 d6 6.Nge2 Bd7 7.O-O Qc8 8.Nf4 Nh6 9.b3 O-O 10.Bb2 Nf5 11.d3 Rb8 12.Qd2 Re8 13.Rac1 Nd8 14.Nce2 Ne6 15.Nd5 Nc7 16.Bxg7 Nxg7 17.Nef4 Nxd5 18.Nxd5 Bh3 19.f4 Bxg2 20.Qxg2 Qd8 21.Rc2 e6 22.Nc3 a6 Black has slowly but surely absorbed White's pressure and I now have diddly. I've never been very good at handling situations like this. "Sensible play" of some kind is required with a likely draw  23.g4?! Instead I insist on excitement  23...f5 24.e4 Qf6 25.gxf5 Qd4+ I have succeeded in provoking a certain amount of chaos. Ironically the quiet phase of the game was played slowly, but now the exciting phase is played with both players in time trouble.  26.Kh1 exf5 27.Nd5 Kh8 28.Re2 b5 29.cxb5 axb5 30.Re3 c4! Black starts firing some serious shots  31.Rd1 cxd3 32.Rexd3 Qxe4 33.R3d2 Qxg2+ 34.Kxg2 I am left to play a pawn down ending - still, it should be drawn....  34...Re6 35.Nc7 Re4 36.Rxd6 Nh5

37.Ne6?? Rxe6! 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 f5 4.d4 fxe4 5.Nxe5 Nf6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Bg5 Qe8 9.Bc4+ Kh8 10.Qd2 d6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Rae1 d5 13.Be2 Qg6 14.f3 Bf5 15.Bd1 Rae8 16.fxe4 dxe4 17.a3 Ng4 18.Bxg4 Bxg5 19.Bxf5 Rxf5 20.Qe2 e3 21.Rxf5 Qxf5 22.Rf1 Qe6 23.Qd3 Bh4 24.g3 Bf6 25.Ne2 Qd5 26.c3 Qb3 27.Qa6 Qxb2 28.Qxc6 Rg8 29.Qa6 Rf8 30.a4 Qb8 31.Qb5 Qd8 32.Qc5 Be7 33.Qh5 Rxf1+ 34.Kxf1 Qf8+ 35.Ke1 Qf2+ 36.Kd1 Kg8 37.Kc2 g6 38.Qd5+ Kf8 39.Kd3 Qxh2 40.Qf3+ Kg7 41.Qxe3 Bd6 42.Nf4 Bxf4 43.Qxf4 c6 44.Qe5+ Kh6 45.g4 Qxe5 46.dxe5 Kg5

47.Ke4? A strange move. What is the king doing here? Defending the e pawn? No, Black's king can't attack it! The alternatives  (47.Kd4 or ) (47.Kc4 get to the weak c pawn a tempo faster - the difference between likely victory and certain defeat! ) 47...h5 48.Kd4 hxg4 49.Kc5 g3 50.e6 g2 51.e7 g1=Q+ 52.Kd6 Qd1+ 53.Ke6 Qxa4 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O Bg4 6.d3 e5 7.Be3 Bd6 8.Nbd2 b6 9.c3 Nf6 10.Qc2 h6 11.d4 Qe7 12.dxe5 Bxe5 13.Nxe5 Qxe5 14.f4 Qc7 15.Rae1 O-O

16.f5! Winning a piece and the game  16...Bh5 17.h3 Rfe8 18.Bf4 Qa7 19.g4 Bxg4 20.hxg4 Nxg4 21.Nf3 b5 22.Nh2 c4+ 23.Kh1 Nf6 24.Qg2 Kh7 25.Ng4 Qe7 26.e5 Nxg4 27.Qxg4 Qf8 28.Re2 Rad8 29.Rh2 f6 30.Qg6+ 1-0

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 d6 8.Nxc6 Qb6 9.Nxe7 Kxe7 10.Qc2 Be6 11.b3 h5 12.Bg5 Kf8 13.Rd1 Bf5 14.Qd2 Rd8

White has already been kicking butt to reach this stupendously superior position  15.Bxf6! A winning combo  15...Bxf6 16.Nd5 Qc6 A desperate pin  17.O-O?? White is still winning after this, but really (17.e4! Is just asking to be played ) 17...Be5 18.Qg5 Qd7 19.Nf6 Qe6 20.Nd5 Kg7 21.Ne7? Bg4! 22.Bd5? Qf6 Black is now unexpectedly on top  23.f4 Bxe2 24.Qxf6+ Bxf6

White's formerly beautiful position is now en-prise  25.f5 Bxd1 26.Rxd1 Bxe7 27.fxg6 Kxg6 28.Bxb7 a5 29.Bd5 Bf6 30.Be4+ Kg7 31.Rd5 Rhe8 32.Bf3 Re5

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O b6 One problem with idea is that the Bc5 could well need the b6 square  5.d3 h6 6.Bb5 Bb7 7.Bxc6 Bxc6 8.Nxe5 Bb7 9.Nc3 Qe7 10.Nf3 Nf6 11.Nb5 d6 12.Re1 O-O 13.e5 Ng4

14.exd6?? Losing (14.d4 is obvious, essential and in fact winning because the bishop gets trapped ) 14...Bxf2+ 15.Kh1 Qd7 16.Nc3 Bxe1 17.Qxe1 Bxf3 18.gxf3 Qc6 19.Ne4 f5 20.fxg4 fxe4 21.Kg1 Qxd6 22.Qg3 Rf3 23.Qg2 Raf8 24.Bd2 Qc5+ 25.Kh1 e3 26.Bc3 Rf2 27.Qg1 Qd5+ 28.Qg2 Qxg2# A nice win for Beate, but a rather sad end to a potential picket fence for Josh 0-1

1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nc6 3.e3 Bf5 4.Nf3 Nb4 5.Bd3 Nxd3+ 6.cxd3 Nf6 7.h3

7...Qd6?? I wish I could add three, four or five more question marks. Anyone for suicide chess?  8.Bxd6 cxd6 9.Nc3 e6 10.Nb5 Rc8 11.Nxa7 Rc7 12.Rc1 Rxc1 13.Qxc1 Bxd3 14.Qc8+ Ke7 15.Qc7+ Ke8 16.Qb8+ Ke7 17.Qxb7+ Ke8 18.Qc8+ Ke7 19.Nc6# A picturesque mate 1-0

1.f4 e5 2.fxe5 d6 3.Nf3 dxe5 4.Nxe5 Bd6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.g3 Nf6 7.Bg2 c6 8.Nc3 O-O 9.b3 Re8 10.Bb2 Nbd7 11.O-O Qc7 12.Qe1 Rad8 13.Qf2 a6 14.Nd1 Ne4 15.Qe1 Bxf3 16.Rxf3 Ndf6 17.d3 Ng5 18.Rf5 Ne6 19.Qf2 Ng4 20.Qf3 Ne5 21.Qe4 Bc5+ 22.e3 Ng6 23.Qf3 Bd6 24.Nf2 Ne5 25.Qe4 Ng6 26.Qf3 Ne5 27.Bxe5 Bxe5 28.d4 Bxd4 29.exd4 Nxd4 30.Qg4 Nxc2 31.Rc1 Ne3 32.Qf4 Qxf4 33.Rxf4 Nxg2 34.Kxg2 Re2 35.a4 Rdd2 36.Kf1 Rb2 37.Rc3 Red2 38.Rcf3 f6 39.Rb4 Rd7

Black has a couple of pawns for his piece, but White should win  40.Rd3 Oh dear  40...Rxf2+! 41.Kxf2 Rxd3 42.Rxb7 Who knows the most about Rook endings ?  42...Rd2+ 43.Kg1 Rb2 44.Rb6 a5 45.Rxc6 Rxb3 46.Rc5 Rb2 47.Rxa5 Kf7 48.Ra7+ Kg6 49.a5 Ra2 50.a6 h5 51.Kh1 Kh6 52.Ra8 Kg5

Black is better here, because his rook is behind the passed pawn, White's king is poor and White has no rook checks as Black's king is well placed, advancing in front of his pawns. Often Black can save an ending like this even if he's a pawn down with White's king well placed to support the advanced pawn. The saving technique in that case is to give up the rook for the 'a' pawn at the last moment, whilst eating White's kingside with the king and rushing forward the kingside pawns with White's king offside. In this much improved situation Black has hopes of more than a draw   53.Ra7 g6 54.Ra8 Kg4 Black's advantage is already decisive   55.a7?? And now it should be routine  55...g5? Bruce, what are you thinking. ( There's never been a more obvious winning move 55...Kf3 56.h4 Kxg3 and mate follows ) 56.Kg1 Kh3? ( The winner is still 56...Kf3 57.h3 Kxg3 58.Kf1 Kxh3 etc ) 57.Rh8 Ra1+ 58.Kf2 Ra2+ 59.Kf3 Ra3+ 60.Ke4 Rxa7 61.Rxh5+ Kg4 62.Rh6 Ra4+ 63.Kd5 Ra5+ 64.Kd6 Ra6+ 65.Kc7 Ra5 Ian: A few moves missing here I think. Black lost on time on 77th move 1-0

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.O-O Nc6 7.Be3 e6 8.a3 Bd6 9.h3 Bxf3 10.gxf3 Qc7 11.c4 a6 12.b4 dxc4 13.Bxc4 b5 14.Ba2 Rc8 15.Nd2 Be7 16.Rc1 Qd7 17.Ne4 O-O 18.Nc5 Bxc5 19.bxc5 Nd5 20.Qd3 Rfd8 21.Bb1 g6 22.Qe4 Re8 23.Bh6 e5 24.Ba2 Nf6 25.Qh4 Nh5 26.d5 Nd4 27.Kg2 Nf5 28.Qg4 Nf6 29.Qg5 Nh5 30.Kh2 Nxh6 31.Qxh6 Qf5 32.d6

This position is certainly double-edged  32...Qxf3!? Bravely allowing the apparently devastating pawn fork  33.d7 Nf4! Good enough to salvage a perpetual, according to the comp  34.dxe8=Q+? Tempting but wrong. The perpetual line starts with the sac-back Bxf7+!  34...Rxe8 35.Bd5! The only way to keep the game going, White a rook up, is strangely powerless  35...Qxd5 36.f3? The fatal mistake (36.Qg5 or ) (36.Rg1 and Black is better but the game continues ) 36...Qd2+ 37.Kg3 Qg2+ 38.Kh4 Qxh3+ 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ne2 Be7 8.Nf3 f6 A thematic French move, but premature here  9.Nf4! Nb6 10.exf6 gxf6 11.Qe2 Qd7 12.O-O Nd8 13.Re1 c4 14.Bc2 Bd6 15.Nh5 Rf8 16.Ng3 Qe7 17.Bh6 Rg8 18.Qd2

Black has been grovelling for sometime  18...Kd7? A nice idea, if Black had time to evacuate to the queenside, it's conceivable he could emerge intact. But there's a tactical problem  19.Nf5! Qf7 20.Nxd6 Kxd6 21.Bf4+ Kc6 22.Bg3 Qg7 23.Qf4! e5 24.dxe5 Ne6 25.Qxf6 Qxf6 26.exf6 Bd7 27.Ne5+ Kc5 28.Nxd7+ 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.Bxd7+ Nxd7 8.O-O Bxc3 9.bxc3 Nf5 10.Bg5 Qc7 11.Re1 h6 12.Bc1 O-O 13.Ba3 Rfe8 14.Qe2 cxd4 15.cxd4 Rac8 16.Rab1 b6 17.Qb5 Qc6 18.Qa6 Rc7 19.Rec1 Qc4 20.Qb5 Qxb5 21.Rxb5 g6 22.h3 Rec8 23.Rb2 Rc3 24.Bb4 R3c4 25.c3 Nxd4 26.Nxd4 Rxd4 27.cxd4 Rxc1+ 28.Kh2 Nb8 29.Bd2 Rc4 30.Bxh6 Nc6 31.Bg5 Nxd4 32.Bf6 Nc6 33.a3 Rc3 34.a4 Kf8 35.f3 Rc4 36.Ra2 Ke8 37.Kg3 d4 38.Kf4 Rc5 39.Ke4 Kd7 40.g4 Rc3 41.Bg5 Rc5 42.Bf6 Rd5 43.Rd2 Ra5

An instructive illustration of the importance of passed pawns in endings. Here Black is a pawn up, the pawn being part of a healthy 2v1 majority on the queenside. I imagine Lawrence fancied his chances of converting this into a win. On the kingside it's 4v4, however it's very significant that the pawns aren't directly aligned, this means both sides can create a passed pawn. This isn't something that gets a lot of attention in the standard chess strategy books.  44.h4! White throws in a second pawn. The computer initially likes Black's extra material, but the more time you give it, the more it appreciates the looming crisis on the h file. It's possible White is winning here, even with best defence!  44...Rxa4 45.h5 gxh5 46.gxh5 Ra1 47.Rh2! Rg1? ( The only hope for Black is a desperate attack, starting with 47...Re1+ with some hope of engineering a perpetual ) 48.h6 Rg8 49.h7 Rf8 50.h8=Q Rxh8 51.Rxh8 a5 52.Rf8 a4 53.Rxf7+ Kc8 54.Kd3 a3 55.Kc2 b5 56.Be7 Nxe5 57.Rf8+ Kb7 58.Bxa3 Nc6 59.Bc5 e5 60.Rf7+ Kc8 61.f4 exf4 62.Rf6 Kd7 63.Rxf4 Ke6 64.Bxd4 Nb4+ 65.Kd2 Kd5 66.Bg7 Nc6 67.Kc3 Kc5 68.Rf5+ Kb6 69.Bd4+ Ka5 70.Bf6 Ka4 71.Rf4+ Ka5 72.Kb3 Ka6 73.Bc3 Kb7 74.Rf5 Kb6 75.Rf6 Kb7 76.Rf7+ Kb6 77.Rd7 Nb8 78.Rd6+ Kc5 79.Bb4# 1-0

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Bf5 5.cxd5 Short story: This is not good. Long story: I didn't want to do this ( but I worried that if I played the positionally desirable 5.b3 after  5...dxc4 6.bxc4 Black has the trick  6...e5?! because if   7.Nxe5?? Qd4! It turns out though that 7.Bb2 instead is good for White So I should have stopped obsessing and seeing ghosts and just played the move I wanted to play.. ) 5...cxd5 6.b3 e6 7.Bb2 h6 8.O-O Be7 9.d3 O-O 10.Nbd2 Nbd7 11.Rc1 Bh7 Black has secured easy equality.  12.Rc2 a5 13.Qa1 a4 14.Rfc1 axb3 15.Nxb3 Ra4

Approaching this position I thought I was doing okay because although my 'a' pawn is isolated on an open file I didn't think Black could attack it quickly, and his 'b' pawn is a balancing weakness. But I was surprised by Ra4 and only now did I realise Black can double on the 'a' file easily with the Queen in the rear (I didn't see Qa8 for Black even though I'd played Qa1 myself, unbelievable). He hits my weakness before I hit his, and my pieces tend to get in each others' way. It's funny how this happens when you play a stronger player.   16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.Bxe5 Qa8 I am devoting three major pieces to defending the 'a' pawn twice because my Rc1 isn't really in the game - I need a jumping rule so I can play Rc1-c7! The computer is unconcerned, just sac the 'a' pawn it says, but it hasn't lost to Russell as many times as I have! I spent an age here and surprisingly, found a good idea.   18.Rc7!? Rxa2 Russell played this quickly and his next slowly, that means he thought I was following the computer's advice and sacrificing the 'a' pawn, but actually I am surprising him with something quite different.  19.Rxe7! Rxa1 20.Rxa1 Qd8 The justification is that the queen is hemmed in quite badly.  21.Rxb7

I was very happy here. For a very modest material investment (after all a queen *is* a rook and a bishop right?) I have a position where I am going to get rooks doubled on the seventh, plus at least one, likely two, maybe even three very active minor pieces. And for the moment at least Black's pieces have restricted scope. The computer concedes full compensation for White, but nothing more. That is only because it can play very precisely, White will have more opportunities for sure.  21...Ng4! Russell can play very precisely too, just like the damn computer.   22.Rb8 Allowing this is the only downside to Ng4, by playing this way Black is acknowledging the soundness of the sac. ( Probably it would be more practical to spend a tempo on 22.Bd4 so as to continue the "exciting" plan of playing material down. ) 22...Qxb8 23.Bxb8 Rxb8

Clearly this should be a draw. However, I was already short of time, and I spent more here. I am wary of just playing passively, that will let Russell build a space advantage and torture me. I didn't feel he deserved that from the position, I should be able to organise my pieces in a way that denies him anything at all.   24.h3 Nf6 25.Bf3?? The amazing thing about this is that I had carefully confirmed that the possible trick ...Bxd3 didn't work against my previous move. There was absolutely nothing to gain from not addressing the attack on the knight immediately.   25...Bxd3! Of course. Russell is going to beat me 90 times out of 100 anyway. If I give him a free pawn it is going to be 99 out of a 100.  26.Nd4 Bc4 27.e3 Rb6 28.Kg2 g6 29.Ra8+ Kg7 30.Rc8 e5 31.Nc6 e4 32.Bg4 h5 33.Bd1 Ba6 34.Rc7 Ne8 35.Re7 (35.Ra7! Is a computer trick which would have served to at least keep the game going. ) 35...Kf8 36.Ba4 Bb7 0-1

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bd6 This looks ugly but it's a standard idea. basically a regrouping manoevre Bf8-d6-f8 (after O-O and Re8). It's very important in the four knights opening for example. When I get my database sorted out I will check whether Anthony is innovating by applying the idea against 1.b3  5.Ne2 O-O 6.Ng3 a6 7.Be2 Re8 8.O-O Bf8 9.c4 d5 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Rc1 Qd7 13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.Bg4 Be6 15.Bf3 Bd5 16.Bg4 Qe7 17.a3 g6 18.e4 Be6

Black's simple classicism has equalised (at least), after ...Bg7 and ...Red8 the grip on d4 will be annoying. Alan responds by randomising  19.f4?! exf4 20.Rxf4 Qg5! winning the exchange  21.d4?? Presumably some kind of hallucination. I am familiar with the annoying sensation of playing chess as if on drugs, without actually being on drugs.  21...Qxf4 22.Bxe6 fxe6 23.d5 Rad8 24.Qc2 exd5 25.Rf1 Qe3+ 26.Kh1 Bg7 27.exd5 Rxd5 28.Bxg7 Kxg7 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.g3 Bg7 6.Bg2 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.e3 Nd7 9.Ne2 O-O 10.O-O Rb8 11.Rb1 b6 12.Bb2 Ba6 13.Qd2 Bc4 14.Ba3 Qc7 15.Rfd1 Rfe8 16.Nf4 e6 17.Nd3 Rbd8 18.Qc2 Bd5 19.e4 Bb7 20.dxc5 Nxc5 21.Nf4 Bc6 22.Bxc5 bxc5 23.Nd3 Qa5 24.Nf4 Rxd1+ 25.Qxd1 Rd8 26.Qb3 Qxc3 27.Qxc3 Bxc3 28.Ne2 Bb4 29.Nf4 Rd2

White has been outplayed. I am sure if the roles were reversed Mike would resign here. The conclusion of this game might help persuade Mike his own early resignation policy is not the most practical at the sub 2000 level.   30.h4 Rxa2 31.Nd3 a5 32.Ne5 Bb5 33.Nf3 Re2?? Interestingly, even after this horrendous blunder Houdini thinks Black is still better, which is a good indication of how winning his position was until here.   34.Bf1 Rxe4 35.Bxb5 c4 36.Bc6 Rg4 37.Rc1 c3 38.Kf1 Rc4 39.Bb5 Rc7 40.Ke2 Kf8 41.Ba4 Ba3 42.Rc2 Bb2 43.Kd3 Rb7 44.Nd4 Rb4 45.Bc6 Rb6 46.Ba4 Rb4 47.Bc6 1/2-1/2

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.Nh4 e6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Be2 Bd6 10.Qd3 Qh4 11.Be3 Ngf6 12.O-O-O O-O-O 13.Nf1 Qe4 14.Qxe4 Nxe4 15.f3 Nef6 16.g3 Nd5 17.Bf2 Rh3 18.f4 N5f6 19.Bf3 c5 20.Bg2 Rhh8 21.Ne3 cxd4 22.Rxd4 Bc5 23.Rd2 Nb6 24.h3 Rxd2 25.Kxd2 Bxe3+ 26.Kxe3 Nc4+ 27.Ke2 Rd8 28.b3 Na3 29.c4 Nc2 30.Bxa7 Nh5 31.Bf2 Nb4 32.a3 Nd3 33.Be4 Nxf2 34.Kxf2 Rd2+ 35.Ke3 Rb2 36.Rb1 Rh2 37.g4 Rxh3+ 38.Bf3 Nf6 39.Kf2 Rh2+ 40.Kg3 Ra2 41.a4 Ra3 42.Rb2 Nd7

Layla has been actively throwing obstacles in Ross' was and has now fully recovered from a precarious situation. Ross doesn't adapt to the new situation and falls apart   43.Be2? Nc5 44.Kf2 Rxb3 45.Rxb3 Nxb3 46.Ke3 Kd7 47.Kd3 Kd6 (47...Nc1+! and the pawn ending is winning for Black ) 48.Ke3 Kc5 49.Kd3? Nc1+! Now it is 100% obvious that the pawn ending is winning for Black 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.f4 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.O-O Bd7 7.Bxc6 Bxc6 8.d3 e6 9.f5! Correct in principle, see commentary on Forster-Nyberg from Round 3   9...gxf5 10.exf5 Ne7 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Ng5

It looks like Black is in trouble here  12...Bd4+ 13.Kh1 Rg8 White's kingside attack is impressive, but Black hasn't actually committed his king to the kingside and Black sets about using the open lines on that side himself. A very double-edged situation develops from this unusual dynamic.  14.Qh5+ Kd7 15.Qf7? (15.Nce4! The computer really wants to play this move now or, (even better) on the previous move. It makes sense to obstruct the long diagonal attack which has obvious potential ) 15...Rg6 16.Nce4 Qg8 17.c3 Be5 18.Qxg8 Raxg8 Black has won the strategic battle and is now obviously better, White cannot actually defend g2  19.Nf3 ( After 19.Rf2 c4 20.d4 Black has a retreat square  20...Bh8! and g2 is falling ) 19...Rxg2 20.Nxe5+ dxe5 21.Nxc5+

White has restored material equality, but his king is in a coffin   21...Kc7 22.Ne4 Nf5 23.b3 Nd6 24.Ng3 R2xg3+ 0-1

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.h3 c5 7.Be3 Na6 8.Bxa6 bxa6 9.dxc5 Bb7 10.Qd3 Qa5 11.Nd2 dxc5 12.f3 Rad8 13.Qc4 Nd7 14.Nb3 Qc7 15.O-O-O Rc8 16.Nd5 Qe5 17.Nc3 Nb6 18.Qe2 f5 19.f4 Qc7 20.e5

Black's next surprised me but the comp approves  20...g5!? I wouldn't think of a pawn move on the kingside in this opposite castling situation, but undermining e5 is useful. Chaos now ensues  21.Nxc5?! Opening the c file for Black  21...gxf4 22.Ne6 Qxe5 23.Nxg7? Losing  23...fxe3 24.Nh5 f4 (24...Rxc3! 25.bxc3 Qxc3 mates ) 25.Qg4+ Kh8 26.Rhf1

Black is now dominating the whole board  26...Rxc3! 27.bxc3 e2 28.Rde1 exf1=Q 29.Rxf1 Bc8 30.Qf3 Na4 31.Ng3 Nxc3 32.Qc6 Qe3+ 33.Kb2 Qxg3 34.Rf3 Qxg2 35.Qxc3+ Qg7 36.Qxg7+ Kxg7 37.Rc3 f3 Nice game by Bob 0-1

1.c4 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 d6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 e5 6.d3 f5 7.e3 Be6 8.Qc2 Nf6 9.a3 h6 10.Rb1 Qd7 11.b4 O-O 12.O-O Rf7 13.Bb2 Raf8 14.Ne2 e4 15.Ne1 Ne5 16.Bxe5 dxe5 17.d4 f4 18.exf4 exd4

It's ironic isn't it. The hypermodern openings involve avoiding occupying the central squares with pawns, because their practitioners dream of a position like this, where they get to *REALLY* occupy the central squares with pawns.  19.Bxe4? But there's no need to panic to this extent.  19...Nxe4 20.Rd1 Bf5 21.Nd3 Bh3 22.Rfe1 Qg4 23.Ne5 Bxe5 24.Qxe4 Bxf4 25.Nxf4 Rxf4 26.Qd5+ R8f7? Giving White a chance.  27.Re8+? (27.Rxd4! Forces a draw unexpectedly ) 27...Kg7? 28.Qe5+? (28.Rxd4! Forces a draw again! ) 28...R4f6 29.Rxd4 Qf3 30.Qe4 Qxf2+ 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Be7 4.O-O d6 5.h3 Bd7 6.c3 Na5 7.Na3 a6 8.b4 Nxc4 9.Nxc4 f5 10.d3 f4 11.d4 Bf6 12.dxe5 dxe5 13.Ncxe5 Bb5 14.Qxd8+ Rxd8 15.Re1 Bxe5 16.Nxe5 Nf6 17.Bxf4 O-O 18.Bg5 Rd6 19.Rad1 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Nxe4 21.Be3 Nxc3 22.Rd2 Be8 23.Nd7 Rf5 24.Nc5 Bc6 25.Ne6 Rd5 26.Bd4 Rd7 27.Bxc3 Rxd2 28.Bxd2 Bd5 29.Nxc7 Bxa2 30.Na8 Kf7 31.Kf1 Ke7 32.Nb6 Kd6 33.Ke2 Kc6 34.Na4 Bd5 35.g4 Bc4+ 36.Ke3 Bf1 37.h4 Bh3 38.g5 g6 39.Nc3 b6 40.Ke4 Bf5+ 41.Ke5 Bc2 42.Kf6 a5 43.bxa5 bxa5 44.Kg7 a4

45.Nxa4? I like the idea of simplifying down to an easy win, but never-the-less this is an instructive mistake. Liquidating to an opposite coloured bishop ending with all pawns on one side unnecessarily gives Black hope! The right way to finish up is to use the bishop to stop the 'a' pawn, and use the knight to help the king win the game on the kingside. The reason is that even without an extra piece, a knight will outclass a bishop when all the pawns are on one side, especially when it's a bad bishop, there's an extra white pawn on that side, and White's king is already ideally placed. The extra bishop provides a huge margin of safety. Black can win the bishop by protecting a1 with his king, but only by taking his king massively offside which would mean no contest at all on the kingside.  45...Bxa4 46.Kxh7 Bc2 47.Kh6? In fact now the game should be drawn ( Necessary was 47.Kg7 heading for f6, to keep the black king away ) 47...Kd6 48.h5 gxh5 49.Kxh5 Ke7 50.g6 Kf8 51.Kh6 Bb3? The bishop must stay on the b1 to h7 diagonal where it stops White playing Kh7 and g7 (51...Ke7 is the only drawing move. Basically the drawing plan is to keep the king on e7-e6 and f6, and the bishop on the c2 to h7 diagonal. Surprisingly enough White cannot get through the blockade. f8 is a bad square for the king.. ) 52.Kh7 Bc2 53.Bb4+!

Keeping the king out of e7,e6 and f6 (It might have been a good idea to keep playing - it's still a little awkward eg 53.Bb4+ Ke8 54.Kh6 Bd3 55.Kg5 ( the obvious 55.g7?? is a horrible mistake  55...Kf7 and it is now clear White can make no progress. ) 55...Bc2 56.Kf6 Bd3 57.g7 Bh7 58.f4 Kd7 59.Kf7 ) 1-0

1.d4 e6 2.Bf4 d5 3.e3 Bd6 4.Bxd6 Qxd6 5.Qg4 Ne7 6.Qxg7 Rg8 7.Qxh7 Qb4+ 8.Nd2 Qxb2 An amusing debut. White eats Black's kingside and Black retalliates by eating White's queenside.  9.Rb1 Qxa2 10.Be2 Nd7 11.Ngf3 Nf6 12.Qh4 Ne4 13.O-O

13...Nc3! Setting White problems  14.Bb5+ c6 15.Ra1? ( After 15.Bd3! The computer feels White has adequate compensation for the exchange ) 15...Qxc2! After this simple move the bishop finds itself trapped, and White's comp also goes missing.  16.Bc4 Qg6 17.g3 dxc4 18.Ne5 Qg7 19.Ndxc4 Black is still basically a cold piece up, but developing his queenside is a challenge. In other words, as long as the extra piece is the lame Bc8, white will be in the game. White's open lines and well developed pieces ensure there are tactical opportunities and Mark is just the man to stir up trouble in such a situation.   19...Nf5 20.Qh5 Rh8 21.Qf3 Nh4? Wrong in principle because Black has some poorly placed pieces, he should be looking to improve them, not reposition this nice piece onto an unstable rim square. And wrong tactically because the attacked queen is driven along the newly open line to win the important pawn on f7!  22.Nd6+ Kf8 23.Qxf7+ Qxf7 24.Ndxf7 Rg8 25.Nd6 Nf5 26.Ndc4 Kg7? Missing Black's threat  27.Nb6 Rb8 28.Rxa7 Nb5 29.Raa1 Ne7 30.Kg2 Nd5 31.Nbc4 Rd8 32.h4 Nd6 33.Ra7 Nxc4 34.Nxc6?! Very tempting, but the computer thinks this revives Black's fast disappearing advantage  34...Bd7 35.Nxd8 Rxd8 36.Rxb7 Ndxe3+! This is a good chaos reducer,it liquidates down to an ending that offers Black decent winning chances.  37.fxe3 Nxe3+ 38.Kg1 Nxf1 39.Kxf1 Kg6 40.Kf2 Kf5 41.Rb4 Ke4 42.Rb2 Kxd4 43.Rd2+ Ke5 44.Ke3 Kf6 45.Kf4 e5+ 46.Ke3 Ke6 47.g4 Ra8 48.h5 Ra4 49.g5 Rg4 50.g6

50...Be8? A shame ( Black can win in a reasonably straightforward way with 50...Rg3+! 51.Kf2 ( Not 51.Ke4?? Bc6+ and mate ) 51...Rg5 and by winning another pawn and neutralising the dangerous phalanx Black finally establishes a situation where his extra piece guarantees a routine win ) 51.Rd8 Ke7 52.Rd5 Ke6 53.Rd8 Draw agreed 1/2-1/2

1.e4 c5 2.c3 e6 3.d4 a6 4.Nf3 d5 5.e5 Bd7 6.Na3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bb4+ 8.Bd2 Qa5 9.Bd3 Nc6 10.Nc2 Bxd2+ 11.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 12.Nxd2 Nge7 13.Nb3 Nf5 14.g4 Nh4 15.Ke2 Ke7 16.Nc5 Ra7 17.b4 Rha8 18.a4 Nb8 19.Rhc1 b6 20.Nxd7 Kxd7 21.b5 a5 22.Ne3 Ng6 23.Kf3 Rb7 24.Kg3 Raa7 25.Ra3 Rc7 26.Rf1 Ke8 27.f4 Nf8 28.f5 Rc8 29.Ng2 Rac7 30.Nf4 Rc3 31.Rxc3 Rxc3 32.Rf3 Ke7 33.Nh5 g6 34.Nf6 Nbd7 35.fxg6 fxg6 36.g5

Black's problem is that his knights have no squares, and in fact no prospects of getting squares. Seriously try and find a way to route a knight to an attractive spot, say f5 via g7. It's impossible, only the three squares b8, d7 and f8 are available for two knights! Consequently, it is basically impossible to resist the temptation to play Nd7xf6 at some stage, with a consequent protected advanced passed pawn that will continue to hog-tie Black   36...Ra3 37.Bc2 Rxf3+ 38.Kxf3 Nxf6 39.exf6+ Kd6 40.Kf4 Nd7 41.h4 e5+ 42.dxe5+ Nxe5 43.h5 d4 44.hxg6 hxg6 45.Ke4 Nf7 46.Kxd4 Nxg5 47.Bxg6 Ne6+ 48.Ke3 Ke5 49.f7 Kf6 50.Bh5 Kg5 51.Bd1 Kf6 52.Ke4 Kxf7 53.Kd5 Nd8 54.Kd6 Nb7+ 55.Kc7 Nc5 56.Kxb6 Nd7+ 57.Kc7 1-0

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 3.b3 Nf6 4.Bb2 h6?! That's a weird looking move  5.Qc2 Nbd7 6.g3 e6 7.Bg2 Bd6 8.d4 O-O 9.O-O Re8 10.Nc3 Qe7 11.Rad1 b6 12.e4 dxe4 13.Nxe4 Nxe4 14.Qxe4 Bb7 15.Rfe1 Nf6 16.Qc2 a5 17.Ne5 Qc7 18.c5 bxc5 19.dxc5 Be7 20.Bd4 Nd5 21.Nc4 Bf6 22.Nd6 Red8 23.Bxf6 Nxf6 24.Qc3 Nd5 25.Qe5 Bc8 26.Bh3 Qa7 27.Qd4 Rb8 28.Bf1 Ba6 29.Bxa6 Qxa6 30.Re4 Nf6 31.Rf4 Rb4 32.Qe5 Rxf4 33.Qxf4 Qa7 34.Rc1 Nd5 35.Qf3 Rb8 36.Rc4 Rb4 37.a3

37...Rxc4? Walking into an attractive finishing sequence. It would have been better to apologise, retreat and continue to try to sit tight, but it's very understandable that this course of action was unpalatable.  38.bxc4 Qxc5 39.Qxf7+ Kh7 40.cxd5 Qxd6 41.dxe6 Qd1+ 42.Kg2 Qd5+ 43.Kh3 c5 44.f4! Played instantly, and illustrative of the class gap between the top players and the honest triers. It wasn't obvious to me as a spectator how White should finish off, but to Houdini and Deep Dive it's very simple.  44...Qc4 45.Qf5+ Kh8 46.e7 Qf1+ 47.Kh4 g5+ 48.Kh5 Qe2+ 49.Kg6 Better than Kxh6...  49...Qa6+ 50.Qf6+ ...because it supports this standard idea - bring the checks to an end by organising a queen interpose that is itself a check. 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 Varying from previous Pomeroy-Forster encounters because I have had some unhappy experiences with my accelerated dragon against Arthur - he has book knowledge of the Pseudo Yugoslav attack lines that are very challenging to Black   3.c4 g6 4.d4 cxd4 Heading back into the accelerated dragon - but now as a Maroczy which is a completely different system to the more brutal Yugo lines.  ( In retrospect 4...Bg7 leading to a possible Benoni/Benko or Kings Indian might have been a good way of directing the game into fresh territory for both of us ) 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.Be3 d6 8.Be2 Nf6 9.f3 O-O 10.O-O Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Be6 12.Rc1 Qa5 13.b3 Rfc8 I have adapted my setup from a slightly different system, where White hasn't captured on d4 with a bishop. I am not sure if it is appropriate here.  14.a4! A good move clamping down on the thematic break I was now finally threatening. If White has the patience to focus on restricting Black before trying anything active himself, life can be awkward and cramped for Black. (14.-- b5 15.cxb5 axb5 16.Bxb5 Rxc3 ) 14...Nd7 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 Black is not averse to this exchange. If White were now to play the attractive looking Nd5, Black would exchange Be6xd5 and achieve one of his strategic goals in this opening - the only minor piece white has left is a potentially quite bad bishop. Unfortunately White isn't compelled to play Nd5, and in the meantime the Be6 just sits there waiting hopefully.   16.Kh1 Rc5 Already anticipating a future f5, this is another thematic black move that might not actually fit the specific circumstances.  17.f4 Kg8 18.Qd4

18...Qb4?? All it takes is one hasty move. I was unnecessarily worried about White playing b4, but I've taken my eye off f5. Failure to think about my opponent's possible combinations is a chronic problem  19.f5! Winning outright. A precautionary f6 would have given my bishop a retreat from which it could continue to guard d5. Being compelled to capture here is immediately fatal  19...gxf5 20.exf5 Bxf5 21.Rxf5 Rxf5 22.Qg4+ Kh8 23.Qxf5 Nf6 24.Ne4 Nxe4 25.Qxe4 Qd2 26.Rd1 Qg5 27.Bd3 Qh5 28.Rf1 Rg8 29.Qf5 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Bc4 e6 6.Nf3 a6 7.O-O Bc5 8.e5 b5 9.Bb3 d5 10.exd6 Qxd6 11.Qe2 Nf6 12.Rd1 Qc7 13.Bg5 Be7 14.Rac1 Bb7

15.Bxf6 gxf6 ( not 15...Bxf6 16.Nd5 ) 16.Ne4 Rg8

White plays vigorously, in the spirit of his Smith-Morra gambit opening throughout  17.Bxe6! fxe6 18.Nxf6+ Kf7 19.Nxg8 Rxg8 20.Qc2 Rg7 21.g3 Qa5? Inviting invasion (21...Qf4! Initiates a good counterattack ) 22.Rd7! Nb4? 23.Ne5+ Kg8 24.Qd2 Bd5 25.Rc8+ Bf8 The final position is a tragicomedy of irrelevant Black pieces. 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bf4 d5 4.f3 Nd6 5.Nc3 Nf5 6.e4 dxe4 7.Nb5 Na6 8.fxe4 Nh4 9.Nf3 Bg4 10.Bg3 Nxf3+ 11.gxf3 Bh5 12.Nc3 e6

A recurring challenge for chess players appears. To capture on a6 (or a3) or not. Beginners will do it every time. Look its 3 points versus 3 points and I create 3 isolated pawns and a set of doubled pawns in one go! And black has to capture away from the centre! Woo hoo! Real players know that giving up the bishop pair, relieving black from possession of a sidelined piece and opening a useful file makes this capture distinctly double edged. Brian is a real player and I bet he spent time here.  13.Bxa6 bxa6 14.Qd3 Bd6 15.O-O-O Qg5+ 16.Kb1 Qa5 17.Rhg1 O-O 18.h4 f6 19.Bxd6 cxd6 20.Rg3 Rab8 21.Rdg1 Rf7 22.Ne2 e5 23.d5 Qb5 24.Qxb5 axb5 25.R1g2 Rbb7 This might look mysterious, but it liberates the other rook and hence prepares f5. The computer points out that Black could actually play f5 first ( as if 25...f5 26.exf5 Rbb7 the f5 pawn can't be defended ) 26.Nc1 f5! Suddenly Black's position blossoms, white has real issues defending the e pawn  27.b4? Fiddling while Rome burns  27...fxe4 28.fxe4 Bf3 A few deft strokes and White's position is falling apart.  29.Rd2 Rbc7 30.Kb2 Rc4 31.a3 Rxe4 32.h5 The bishop is keeping Rg3 out of the game, so in desperation White tries to lure it away  32...Rh4 So Russell pockets the second pawn without moving the bishop!  33.Nb3 Rxh5 34.Rd3 e4 35.Rc3 Rxd5 36.Na5 g5 37.Nc6 g4 38.Nd8 Re7 0-1

Notes by Arthur Pomeroy  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 O-O 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Nge2 a6 8.Nc1 Re8 9.Be2 e5 10.Nb3 exd4 11.Nxd4 Ne5 12.O-O c6 13.h3 Qc7 14.Rc1 Be6 15.Nxe6 Rxe6 16.Nd5 Nxd5 17.cxd5 Ree8 18.dxc6 bxc6 19.Qc2 Black has not played the opening very accurately and is left with hanging pawns. However White needs to keep an eye on the Black squares and his queenside, so (19.b3 is more accurate ) 19...a5 20.Bb5 Pseudo-activity  20...Rab8 21.a4 Qb7 With more than adequate counter play, but missing the tactical solution (21...Qe7! 22.Be2 ( not 22.Bxc6? Rec8 ) 22...Rxb2! 23.Qd1 and black is much better ( if 23.Qxb2? Nxf3+ ) ) 22.Bxc6 Nxc6 23.Qxc6 Qxc6 24.Rxc6 d5 25.Rc5 dxe4 26.Rxa5 exf3 27.Bc1 Bd4+ 28.Kh1 f2 29.g3 Re1 30.Kg2 Rxf1 31.Kxf1

31...Re8? Missing my chance, the position is now quite level. (31...Rb3! wins because of the threat Rd3 and Rd1. It's a nice geometrical pattern that's hard to see. A sample line goes   32.Bh6 f6 33.Rd5 Rd3 34.Be3 A tricky double pin that doesn't quite work (34.Rxd4 is a hopeless ending ) 34...Rd1+ 35.Kxf2 Bxe3+ winning the rook ) 32.Bd2 1/2-1/2

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bf5 6.Bc4 e6 7.Bd2 c6 8.Ne5 Bb4 9.g4 Be4

10.f3? This dissipates White's initiative. (10.Nxe4! Nxe4 11.c3 Be7 (forced)  12.Qf3 Nd6 13.Bb3 with an attractive attacking position would be right up Anthony's alley ) 10...Bd5 11.g5 Nfd7 12.Nxd5 Bxd2+ 13.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 14.Kxd2 Nxe5 15.Nc7+ Kd7 16.dxe5 Kxc7 17.f4 Nd7 18.Be2 Rad8 19.Ke3 Nb6 20.c4 c5 21.Rad1 Nc8 22.Bf3 Rxd1 23.Rxd1 h6 24.g6 fxg6 25.Rg1 Ne7 26.Be4 g5 27.fxg5 hxg5 28.Rxg5 g6 29.Rg2 Rh6 30.b3 b6 31.Kf4 Rh4+ 32.Kf3 Rh6 33.Kg4 Rh5 34.Kf4 Rh4+ 35.Kf3 Rh6 1/2-1/2

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.O-O O-O 5.c4 c6 6.b3 Ne4 7.d4 d5 8.Bb2 Nd7 9.Ne1? This is a horrible mistake. I've noticed a lot of times playing the Dutch against Russell Dive that he often responds to Ne4 with Ne1-d3 and good things seem to happen (for him). But this is not a Dutch and I bet Russell would take into account whether he was allowing ...e5 for free! An interesting question for the readers (are there any?). This position has occurred many times in master praxis. White normally develops with Nc3 or Nbd2. But the great player Bent Larsen once played Qc1 here, a move that is Critter's first choice and Houdini's second. I don't understand the point of Qc1. If you do please email and I will update!  9...e5! Of course. Naturally after thinking about Ne1 for a while I only noticed this problem the instant I dropped the knight on e1. If god exists he has a sense of humour.  10.cxd5 cxd5 11.Nc3 Nxc3 12.Bxc3 e4 13.f4 I thought this was a way to get a playable position with just a slight disadvantage. Black has a one time opportunity to capture en-passant, which would lead to a completely different, unbalanced and lively position, not a bad result after a terrible early setback. I avoided f3 because capturing f3xe4 seemed less attractive for me than Black's e4xf3 option.   13...f5 14.e3 (14.Bb4 with the idea of Bd6-e5 liquidating the bad bishop fails to   14...Qb6 15.Bxf8 Qxd4+ ) 14...Nf6 15.Rf2 The quickest way to double on the c file  15...b6 ( I could live with 15...Ng4 16.Re2 because I can then kick the knight away and resume my plan ) 16.Rc2 Ba6 17.Bb4 Re8 18.Rac1 The c file idea has been sufficient to equalise  18...Qd7? Unnecessarily accelerating the c file play  19.Rc7 Qb5 20.Bd6 heading to e5  20...Ng4 21.R1c3 Qe2 22.Qxe2 Bxe2 23.Be5 ( I avoided 23.h3 Nxe3 because of  24.Rxe3 ( I didn't notice 24.Rxg7+! ) 24...Bxd4 ) 23...Nxe5 24.dxe5 I captured this way because my accursed knight now gets a nice square that's only two moves away.  24...Bf8 25.Nc2 Bd3 26.Nd4 Bc5?

27.Bf1? (27.Rxd3! wins. Annoying as I noticed the idea earlier and forgot it when the opportunity was real ) 27...Bxf1 28.Kxf1 White is better because he has a better minor piece and for now black cannot challenge on the c file  28...Rec8?? I must admit I was hoping for this ( I'd also noted that 28...Re7? is bad too  29.R3xc5 bxc5 30.Rxe7 cxd4 31.exd4 ) 29.Rxc8+ Rxc8 30.b4 a5 31.bxc5 bxc5 32.Ne6 Rb8 33.Nxc5 Rb1+ 34.Kg2 Rb2+ 35.Kh3 Rxa2 36.Nd7 a4 37.e6 h6 38.Rc8+ Kg7 39.e7 g5 sneaky  40.fxg5 (40.e8=Q?? g4+ 41.Kh4 Rxh2# would have been slightly disappointing ) 40...hxg5 41.e8=Q 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.Bc4 O-O 5.O-O d5 6.Bb3 b6 7.Bd2 Ba6 8.Re1 c5 9.dxc5 Ne4 10.Bc3 Nxc3 11.Nxc3 e6 12.cxb6 axb6 13.Nd4 Nd7 14.Ba4 Nc5 15.Bc6 Rc8 16.b4 e5 17.Nde2 Bxe2 18.Nxe2 Rxc6 19.bxc5 bxc5 20.Rb1 d4 21.e4 Qa5 22.Nc1 c4 23.Re2 Rd8 24.g3 Bh6 25.Qe1 Qa3

White has been steadily outplayed, Black's positional advantage is enormous and continues to grow.   26.f4 exf4 27.gxf4 Bxf4 28.e5 Qf3 29.e6 fxe6 30.Rg2 Be3+ 31.Kh1 Rf8 32.Ne2 d3 33.cxd3 cxd3 34.Ng3 d2 35.Qd1 Rc1 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d5 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.e4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Bg4 6.Be2 Bxe2 7.Ngxe2 e6 8.O-O Be7 9.f3 a6 10.Be3 Nbd7 11.Rc1 Rc8 12.Qb3 Rb8 13.e5 Ng8 14.f4

Black's has neglected his development  14...c6 One feeble move too many (14...Nh6 was mandatory, but escaping the opening intact remains a big challenge ) 15.f5! Setting insoluble problems  15...Qb6 16.fxe6 fxe6 17.Qxe6 Nh6 18.Bxh6 gxh6 19.Rf7 Qd8 20.Ne4 Completing a brutal finish 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.O-O Nge7 7.c3 O-O 8.Be3 d6 9.Qc1 Bd7 10.Bh6 f5 11.Bxg7 Kxg7 12.h4 Ng8 13.Nbd2 Nf6 14.Re1 Qc7 15.a3 a5 16.a4 Rac8 17.exf5 exf5 18.Nc4 Rfe8 19.Qf4 Rxe1+ 20.Rxe1 d5 21.Qxc7 Rxc7 22.Nb6 d4 23.Ng5 h6 24.Nxd7 Rxd7 25.Ne6+ Kf7 26.Nxc5 Rc7 27.cxd4 Nxd4 28.Nxb7 Nb3 29.Nd6+ Kg7 30.Nc4 Rd7 31.Rd1 Rd4 32.Bc6 Nd5 33.Bxd5 Rxd5 34.Kf1 Nc5 35.Nxa5 Nxa4 36.Nc4 Nc5 37.Ke2 Kf6 38.d4 Ne6 39.Ke3 g5 40.hxg5+ hxg5 41.f4 gxf4+ 42.gxf4 Nc5 43.Rd2 Ne4 44.Rd3 Ke6 45.b3 Rb5 46.Na3 Rb4 47.d5+ Kd7 48.Nc4 Nc5 49.Ne5+ Ke8 50.Rc3 Rxb3 51.Rxb3 Nxb3 52.d6 Nc5 53.Nc4 Kd7 54.Kd4

54...Ne6+? (54...Kc6! 55.Ke5 Nb7 56.Kxf5 (56.Ke6 Kc5 ) 56...Kc5 ) 55.Ke5 Ng7 56.Kf6 Ne8+ 57.Kxf5 Nxd6+ 58.Nxd6 Kxd6 59.Kf6 Kd7 60.Kf7 Kd6 61.f5 Kd7 62.f6 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Ne2 c5 9.O-O Nc6 10.Be3 cxd4 11.cxd4 Bg4 12.f3 Na5 13.Bd3 Be6 14.Rc1 Bxa2 15.Qa4 Bb3 16.Qb4 b6 17.d5 Qd6 18.Qxd6 exd6 19.Rc7 Rfc8 20.Rfc1 Rxc7 21.Rxc7 Ba4 22.Nd4 Bf6 23.Ba6 Bd8 24.Rc1 Kf8 25.Bb5 Bxb5 26.Nxb5 Ke7 27.Bf4 Kd7 28.Nd4 Be7 29.Kf2 Rc8 30.Rxc8 Kxc8 31.Nb5 a6 32.Nxd6+ Bxd6 33.Bxd6 Nc4 34.Bb4 a5 35.Bc3 b5 36.Ke2 b4 37.Bd4 b3 38.Kd1 a4 39.Kc1 a3 40.Bc3 Kd7 41.g3 Kd6 42.g4 g5 43.h3 Kc5

A nice Zugzwang  44.Bf6 b2+ 45.Kb1 Nd2+ 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nd4!?

I remember trying this ancient trap against Martin Sims (of Wellington, not Palmerston North) at Congress in Christchurch 2001-2002. Martin was personally offended that I thought he might fall into it!  4.Nxe5? Remarkably, this loses material.  4...Qg5! The problem for White is that in this situation with a knight on d4, Qxg2 is more damaging than normal  5.Bxf7+ ( One comical line is 5.Nd3? Qxg2 6.Rf1 Qxe4+ 7.Qe2 Qxe2# ) 5...Kd8 6.Qh5 Qxg2 7.d3 Qxh1+ 8.Kd2 Nf6 9.Qg5 d6 10.c3 Qxh2 11.cxd4 Qxf2+ 12.Kc3 h6 13.Qg6 dxe5 14.dxe5 Qc5+ 15.Kd2 Qxe5 16.Nc3 Qh2+ 17.Ke1 Qh4+ 18.Kd2 Qf2+ 19.Ne2 Bg4 20.Kc3 Qxe2 21.Bxh6 Rxh6 22.Qg5 Rh2 23.Rg1 Qxb2+ 24.Kc4 Rc2# 0-1

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Bc4 e6 4.Nc3 d6 5.Nf3 a6 6.a3 Ne7 7.Bg5 h6 8.Be3 Nd7 9.Qe2 c5 10.d5 e5 11.Nd2 f5 12.f3 f4 13.Bf2 O-O 14.a4 Qa5 15.O-O g5 16.h3 Qd8 17.Bb3 Rf7 18.Nc4 Nf6 19.a5 h5 20.Na4 g4 21.hxg4 hxg4 22.Bh4 gxf3 23.gxf3 Ng6 24.Qh2 Bf8 25.Kf2 Nxh4 26.Rg1+ Rg7 27.Rxg7+ Bxg7 28.Rh1 Ng6 29.Nab6 Rb8 30.Ba4 Kf7 31.Qg2

31...Nh4! nice  32.Rxh4? Nxe4+! 33.fxe4 Qxh4+ 34.Kg1 Bh3 35.Nxd6+ Kg8 36.Qf2 Qg4+ 37.Kh2 Kh7? (37...Qh5! ) 38.Bd7! Qg6 39.Nf5? (39.Qh4+! ) 39...Qh5 40.Nxg7 Kxg7 41.Bxh3 Rh8 42.Qg2+ Kf7 43.d6 f3 44.Qf1

44...Qh6?? (44...Qg4! 45.d7 Qf4+ 46.Kg1 Qg3+ 47.Bg2 Qh2+ 48.Kf2 fxg2 49.Qxg2 Ke7 wins ) 45.Qc4+?? (45.Qxf3+ ) 45...Ke8 46.d7+ Kd8 47.Qf7 Qxh3+ 0-1

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.c5 a6 8.Nf3 Be7 9.a3 O-O 10.Bd3 Bd7 11.O-O b6 12.b4 b5 13.Bc2 Qc7 14.Qd3 g6 15.Rfe1 Rfe8 16.Rad1 Nh5 17.Bh6 Qd8 18.Ne5 Bf6 19.Nxd7 Qxd7 20.g4 Ng7 21.Qf3

21...Bxd4? 22.Rxd4! Nxd4 23.Qf6 Nf3+ 24.Kh1 Nf5 25.gxf5 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.Nc3 d6 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bxf6 Qxf6 9.Nd5 Qd8 10.c3 Na5 11.b4 c6 12.bxc5 cxd5 13.Bxd5 dxc5 14.Nxe5 Qf6 15.d4 cxd4 16.cxd4 Rb8 17.Re1 Qd8 18.Nf3 Bg4 19.Qd3 Bxf3 20.Qxf3 Qe7 21.Rab1 b6 22.Red1 Nb7 23.Rb3 Nd6 24.e5 Rfe8 25.h3 Nb7 26.Ra3 a5 27.Rb3 Nd8 28.Rdb1 Qa7 29.Qe3 Kf8 30.Rb5 Kg8 31.f4 Kh8 32.Kh1 f6 33.Qb3 a4 34.Qb4

Total domination  34...Nc6 35.Bxc6 Re6 36.Rxb6 Rxc6 37.Rxb8+ Kh7 38.exf6 Rxf6 39.g3 Qa6 40.Rb6 Qa8+ 41.Kh2 Rxb6 42.Qxb6 Qf3 43.Rb2 a3 44.Rd2 Qe3 45.Qa5 Qe1 46.d5 Qe4 47.d6 Qb7 48.d7 Qxd7 49.Rxd7 Kh8 50.Qf5 g6 51.Qxg6 h5 52.Qg7# 1-0

1.Nf3 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c5 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Nc2 g6 7.e4 Bg7 8.Be2 O-O 9.Be3

This is a position normally reached from the Accelerated Dragon, Maroczy bind variation. A rather unusual position in a Dive-Ker clash given that Dive doesn't play e4 and Ker doesn't play the Sicilian.  9...b6 Already a slightly unusual plan  10.O-O Bb7 11.Qd2 Rc8 12.b3 Re8 13.Rac1 Qd7 14.f3 Red8 15.Rfd1 I imagine Russell would be happier here. He loves sitting on people's chests, crushing them to death (metaphorically speaking of course).  15...e6 16.Bg5 Qe8 17.Ne3 h6 18.Bh4 g5 19.Bf2 Nh5 20.Bf1 Nf4 21.Kh1 Ne5 22.Nb5 d5 23.cxd5 Rxc1 24.Qxc1 Ned3 25.Rxd3 Qxb5 26.Rd1 Qe8 27.dxe6 Nxe6

Black has freed his position, but it's cost him a healthy extra pawn and created weaknesses.  28.Nf5 Bf8 29.Bc4 Rxd1+ 30.Qxd1 g4 31.Be3 gxf3 32.gxf3 Ng5 33.Bxg5 hxg5 34.Qd2! Simple chess, those weaknesses come home to roost, big time.  34...Be7 35.Qd4 Qf8 36.Qd7 1-0

Notes by Arthur Pomeroy. B12: Caro-Kann: Advance Variation  1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 I suspect we were both out of book by move 4 and calculating madly. White gained an edge but Black had equalized by move 16 when he optimistically tried for more and should have been in real trouble. A blunder by White, forgetting the e-pawn, then leveled things out again.  5.dxc5 Bg4 6.Be2 e6 7.Be3 Nh6 8.Nd4 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Nf5 10.Nxf5 exf5 11.O-O (11.c3 d4 12.cxd4 Nxd4 13.Qc4 Bxc5 14.Qxc5 Rc8 is a very messy line suggested by the computer ) 11...d4 12.Rd1 Bxc5 13.c3 Qb6 14.Bxd4 Bxd4 15.cxd4 Nxd4 16.Qc4 Rd8?! (16...Nc6 is totally level ) 17.Nc3 Ne6 (17...Qxb2 18.Nd5 Ne6 19.Rab1 Qxe5 20.Qb5+ Kf8 21.Qb4+ Qd6 22.Qxb7 ) 18.Rxd8+ Qxd8 19.Rd1 Qc7 20.Qa4+ Qc6 21.Qxa7 O-O 22.Qe3 h6 23.h3 Re8 24.Rd6 Qc4 25.g3 Qb4

26.Rb6 (26.Qb6 Qxb6 27.Rxb6 Nd8 is simplest: by exchanging Queens White kills Black's counterplay ) 26...Qa5 27.Rxb7 Rd8 28.Qa7? (28.a3 is perhaps the best here; the problem is that Queen and Knight are very active attackers and White's pieces are offside  ) 28...Qxe5 29.Qe3 Qf6 30.Rb6 I offered a draw and Brian accepted because we were both starting to run short of time. The position is actually fairly balanced and most lines seem to end in perpetuals delivered by either Black or White. The extra Queenside pawns are pretty irrelevant unless Queens are swapped.  1/2-1/2

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 e6 5.g4 Bg6 6.Nge2 c5 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Qd2 Rc8 9.O-O-O Nge7 10.f4 Nb4 11.f5 exf5 12.Nf4 fxg4 13.Nxg6 Nxg6 14.Bb5+ Nc6 15.dxc5 Be7 16.Nxd5 O-O 17.Qc3 Qa5 18.Qb3 a6 19.Bxc6 bxc6 20.Nxe7+ Nxe7 21.Rd7 Nd5 22.Rb7 Nxe3 23.Qxe3 Qxa2 24.Rg1 Qa1+ 25.Kd2 Rcd8+ 26.Ke2 Qa4 27.b3 Qd4 28.e6 Qxe3+ 29.Kxe3 fxe6 30.Rxg4 g6 31.Rb6

White is clearly better with active rooks, a better king and fewer weaknesses  31...Rc8 The computer doesn't condemn this move, but it seems wrong in principle. In rook and pawn endings getting rook and king active is all important, doubly so in double rook endings. Rooks are great attackers but clumsy defenders.  32.Rxa6 Rf5 33.b4 Re5+? Either losing a pawn or swapping off Black's better rook.  34.Re4 Rh5 35.h4? (35.Rxe6! Rxh2 eg  36.Rexc6 Rxc6 37.Rxc6 Rxc2 38.b5 and white wins easily ) 35...Kf7 36.Rf4+ Rf5 37.Ra7+ Kg8 38.Re4 Rf6? Again passive defence with a rook  39.Re7 h6 40.R7xe6 Rxe6 41.Rxe6 Kf7 42.Rd6 White's advantage is now overwhelming  42...Kg7 43.Kf4 Rf8+ 44.Ke5 Rf2 45.Rxc6 Rxc2 46.Rc7+ Kf8 47.Kf6 1-0

1.c4 d6 2.Nc3 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 c5 5.Bg2 Nc6 6.O-O Rb8 A standard idea; Black tries to take advantage of the fact that his bishop isn't yet impeded by a f6 knight to get accelerated queenside play. This amounts to trying to take advantage of being undeveloped, not surprisingly, this is dangerous.   7.d3 a6 8.a4 b6 9.Re1 Maybe he intends e4?  9...e6 In that case I won't put a knight on f6 at all.  10.e4 Awesome, now both my knights can head to the hole at d4  10...Nge7 11.Be3 Nd4 Another standard idea, sink the knight into this square only when a bishop comes to e3, so that White can't take with the knight, on account of the resulting pawn fork.  12.Rb1 What is he doing?  12...Nec6 I'll just continue with my plan  13.Ne2 Now I understand, he was defending the b pawn, so he could retreat and challenge with his other knight. It is good to see White just parrying me, without active ideas of his own.  13...Nxf3+ Avoiding a mass liquidation on d4, and hoping that the undefended and slightly awkward bishop will help me down the line.  14.Bxf3 b5 I did notice the idea (14...Bxb2 15.Rxb2 Qf6 but I am only temporarily winning a pawn and it is crazy to give up my best minor piece for basically nothing  16.Qb1 Qxf3 17.Rxb6 Rxb6 18.Qxb6 O-O 19.Qxc6? e5! winning is a nice computer variation, but actually White is better unless he co-operates like this  ) 15.d4 Objectively not good, but introducing the idea of opening the position whilst my king is in the centre, which ultimately decides the game in White's favour!  15...bxc4! 16.e5 ( The idea behind 15...bxc4 was that if 16.dxc5 Ne5! hitting the undefended bishop and with Nd3 coming Black is better ) 16...d5 17.dxc5

This is basically the turning point for me. I have won the initial strategic battle, but unfortunately in chess, tactics trumps strategy. Most sensible now would be castling, that way I keeping my positional trumps without risk. The rook on e1 is a brooding presence that should have given me pause.  17...Nxe5 Objectively speaking this is good, but it introduces random tactical chaos I didn't want or need.  18.Nd4! The only move, but not a difficult one to find, d4 is a good outpost square and Nc6 is now a potential problem for Black  18...Nd3? A tactical error ( Simply 18...O-O is good, I thought  19.Bf4 pinning was a problem but after  19...Nxf3+ 20.Nxf3 Rxb2 Black is two solid pawns up. ) 19.Nc6 Unfortunately, I basically force White to play the best moves!  19...Qc7 20.Nxb8 Nxe1 I could see the problem looming up (22.Bxd5!) but didn't know what to do about it. ( The computer claims that 20...d4 keeps the balance, but it's hard for a human to both forgo castling and sac the exchange  21.Bc6+ Kf8 22.Bf4 Nxf4 23.gxf4 Qxb8 with an unusual, messy but interesting position ) 21.Qxe1 Qxb8? After this I am in real trouble.  ( I wanted to play 21...O-O! but after  22.Qb4 I didn't see the resource  22...Be5! and black emerges in reasonable shape ) 22.Bxd5! There it is  22...O-O 23.Bxc4 Bb7 24.b4! The most annoying thing about this position is that after this move the previously defensive Rb1 becomes a powerhouse and my formerly formidable Bg7 is now firing at nothing but air. White is only a pawn up, but his pieces are now ideally placed to support his 3 to 1 majority on the queenside. Ian isn't going to make a new queen in a distant endgame, he's going to do it right away! One of my (many) chess weaknesses is highlighted - an inability to muddy the waters and resist strongly in a lost position.  24...Rd8 25.b5 axb5 26.axb5 Bd5 27.Bxd5 Rxd5 28.b6 Qb7 29.c6 Qxc6 30.b7 Be5 31.Bf4 Bxf4 32.gxf4 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.f3 c5 7.a3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 O-O 9.Ne2 d6 10.O-O Nc6 11.Ng3 Qc7 12.Bb1 Rad8 13.Qd3 g6 14.e4 cxd4 15.cxd4 e5 16.Bg5 Qe7

White has a winning shot available  17.f4! Very nice, the problem for Black is that he has no defence to the dual threats of fxe5 and Nh5, with resulting devastation on the g5-d8 diagonal AND/OR the b1-h7 diagonal AND/OR the f file.  17...exd4 18.Nh5! gxh5 19.e5 dxe5 20.Bxf6 1-0

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Ne5 e6 6.Qb3 Qc7 7.Bg5 Bf5 8.Rc1 h6 9.Bd2 Bd6 10.h3 O-O 11.g4 Be4 12.f3 Bh7 13.g5 hxg5 14.Bxg5 Bxe5 15.dxe5 Qxe5 16.Bxf6 Qg3+ 17.Kd1 dxc4 18.Qxc4 gxf6 19.Ne4 Qe5 20.Nd2 Rd8 21.Rc3 Na6 22.Kc1 White's game is beyond salvation. John Cook starts delivering hammer blows  22...Rd4! 23.Qb3 Nc5 24.Qa3

24...Rad8! 25.Rxc5 Rxd2 26.e4 ( Of course not 26.Rxe5 Rd1# ) 26...Qf4! Another classy move from John  27.Kb1 Rd1+ 28.Kc2 Qd2+ 29.Kb3 Qe3+ 30.Kb4 Qd4+ 31.Kb3 Rxf1 Kicking the king around is fun, but it's time to seal the deal by winning material  32.Rxf1 Qd3+ 33.Kb4? whoops, walking into a mate instead  33...Rd4+ 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7 7.f4 O-O 8.Nf3 c5 9.Nb5 Nb6 10.b3 cxd4 11.Nbxd4 Nc6 12.Nb5 f6 13.Be2 Qb4+ 14.Qd2 Qxd2+ 15.Kxd2 fxe5 16.fxe5 Bd7 17.Rhf1 Nc8 18.Rae1 N8e7 19.Bd3 Nb4 20.Nfd4 Nxd3 21.Kxd3 Nf5 22.Nc7 Nxd4 23.Nxa8 Rxa8 24.Kxd4 b5 25.Rc1 Rc8 26.Rf3 b4 27.c4 bxc3 28.Rcxc3 Rxc3 29.Kxc3 Be8 30.Kd4 Bh5 31.Rf2 Bg6 32.a4 Bf5 33.a5 h5 34.Kc5 Kf7 35.b4 Ke7 36.Kc6 d4 37.Kb7 Kd7 38.Kxa7 Kc6

Obviously this is totally winning for White. But I am sympathetic to Ken as his constricted king is annoyingly in the way, making it tricky to make progress.   39.b5+? The first misstep ( One good plan is 39.a6 when  39...Kb5 looks annoying until you see  40.Rxf5! ( Not 40.Kb7? Be4+ and white has made no progress  ) ) 39...Kxb5 40.a6 d3 41.Rb2+ Ka5 42.Rb6 g5 43.Kb7? (43.Rd6! Efficiently finishes the game, White can put the king on b8 and advance the pawn and the Black d pawn is defused ) 43...d2 44.Rd6 Be4+ 45.Ka7?? But this is a disaster, don't block the a pawn!  45...Bd5 46.Kb8 d1=Q 0-1

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 h5 3.d4 e6 4.Nc3 h4 5.e4 g6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Be3 Qb6 8.b3 Rh5 9.Be2 cxd4 10.Bxd4 Qa6 11.h3 d5 12.cxd5 Qa5 13.O-O Bc5 14.Ne5 Rg5

You've got to love this guy, the plan h5-h4-Rh8-h5-g5 attacking on the g file out of the opening as Black is either insanity or genius. You decide  15.Nc4 Qd8 16.Bxc5 exd5 17.Nd6+ Kd7 18.Nxf7 Kc7 19.Nxd8 Bxh3 20.Ne6+ Bxe6 21.Be3 Re5 22.Bf4 Kd6 23.Nb5+ Kc5 24.Bxe5 Nc6 25.Rc1+ Kb6 26.Bc7+ Ka6 27.Nd6+ b5 28.Bxb5# Okay, clearly it's insanity but it is entertaining. 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nf3 e6 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 d6 7.Bc4 Nc6 8.O-O Be7 9.Qe2 O-O 10.Nc3 dxe5 11.dxe5 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Qa5 13.Qe4 Qa4 14.Qe2 Qa5 15.Bd3 Rd8 16.Rd1 Bd7 17.Rb1 Qc7 18.Qe4 g6 19.h4 Na5 20.Ng5 Bc6 21.Qf4

The computer defends for black, but only by the very unnatural method of exchanging Be7 for Ng5  21...Bf8 This human move (not conceding the two bishops, and retaining a defender of the weakened black squares) loses routinely  22.h5 Bg7 23.hxg6 hxg6 24.Qh4 Bxe5 25.Qh7+ Kf8 26.Nxe6+ fxe6 27.Ba3+ Bd6 28.Qxc7 1-0

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 e5 5.Bg2 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5 7.O-O Qd7 8.Nbd2 Be7 9.a3 a5 10.Qa4 Ra6

Black's play is imaginative, he has clamped down on b4, and I suppose he hopes the rook might participate in a future kingside attack (particularly if white is tempted by g4, creating weaknesses)  11.Qb5 Nf6 Watching next door, I didn't understand the unlikely looking 11.Qb5, sure white's game seems a little restricted, but isn't this an implicit draw offer? ( No, because after 11...Rb6 white has the shot  12.Nxe5! and after something like  12...Rxb5 13.Nxd7 Rg5 14.Bxc6 bxc6 15.Nf3 Rg6 16.Nde5 Re6 white has a big material and posititional advantage ) (11...f6! is best, eliminating Nxe5 ideas ) 12.Qxb7 Rb6 13.Qa8+ Rb8 (13...Qd8 limits the damage somewhat, but white retains both a material and positional advantage ) 14.Nxe5! Now even stronger than in the earlier note  14...Rxa8 15.Bxc6 White is simply two pawns up ( Importantly 15.Bxc6 Qxc6 16.Nxc6 Bxe2? Doesn't get a pawn or two back because the e file situation will cost black a piece ) 1-0

1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 Nf6 3.e3 Bf5 4.Nf3 g6 5.Be2 Bg7 6.O-O O-O 7.d3 c5 8.Nbd2 Nc6 9.Nh4 Bd7 10.f4 Re8 11.Ndf3

11...Ng4! This knight is heading to e3 where it takes up residence as the proverbial "bone in the throat" and makes white's lot a misery  12.Bxg7 Kxg7 13.Qd2 d4! Unfortunately for white he hasn't time to push away the intruder on g4 and play e4  14.exd4 cxd4 15.Ne5 Ncxe5 16.fxe5 Ne3 17.Rf4 Rc8 18.Rc1 Qb6 19.Nf3 Bc6 20.h3 Bxf3 21.Bxf3 Rc3 22.Qf2 f6 23.exf6+ exf6 24.Re4 Rxe4 25.Bxe4 Qc7 26.Qf3 b6 27.Ba8 Rxc2 28.Rxc2 Nxc2 29.Qe4 Nb4 30.Kh1 A puzzling move presumably played to avoid a queen exchange. But after (30.Qxd4 Qc5 31.Qxc5 bxc5 White has escaped into an ending a pawn down which compared to his strangled middlegame is luxury ) 30...Nxa2 31.Qxd4 Nc3 32.b4 Nb5 33.Qe4 Nd6 34.Qe1 a5 35.bxa5 bxa5 36.Bd5 Nf5 37.Bc4 Qe5 38.Qb1 Ng3+ 39.Kg1 Ne2+ 40.Kf2 Nd4 41.Qb7+ Kh6 42.Qe4 a4 43.Qxe5 fxe5 The outside passed pawn makes this more than just a pawn up ending for black  44.Ke3 Kg5 45.Ke4 Kf6 46.g4 g5 47.Bg8 h6 (47...Ne6! would have been cute, but Black has the situation under control ) 48.Bc4 Ne2 49.Kf3 Nc3 50.Ke3 a3 51.Kd2 a2 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.f4 Nc6 4.Nf3 g6 5.Bb5 Bg7 6.O-O a6 7.Bxc6+ bxc6 8.d3 Nf6 9.Qe1 O-O 10.Qh4 Rb8

I thought I had a dream Grand Prix position, but the computer prefers Black (just). Go figure  11.f5 When Gawain Jones (the world expert on this line!) coached me, he always emphasised that White has to be prepared to make this move as a sacrifice in these positions.  11...h5 Clearly Borg doesn't agree with the comp either, else he wouldn't make such a serious concession.  12.fxg6 fxg6 13.Rb1 I couldn't quite see a way through so I made a precautionary move first, so I could later move the bishop without worry.  13...Nh7 I didn't see the point of this move, assumed it was just random grovelling, and spent a lot of time just thinking only about what I was trying to achieve. A classic beginner's mistake.  14.Qg3? If I had just followed the old rule of looking at all checks and captures I could have avoided this embarrassing mistake  14...Bg4 cautious (14...Bxc3 15.Bh6 Bg7?? (15...Rxf3 16.Qxg6+ Kh8 17.gxf3 and black is better ) 16.Qxg6 Rf7 17.Ne5! winning would have unjustly rewarded me for my oversight  ) 15.Kh1?? Still dreaming about glory - I was planning to play h3 then gxf3 and use the g file.  15...Bxc3! There's only one word for it. Bugger.  16.h3 Be5! A nice move to avoid all swindling chances 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 d5 3.Bd3 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nd2 e5 6.dxe5 Ng4 7.Ngf3 Ngxe5 8.Bb5 Bd7 9.O-O a6 10.Be2 Bd6 11.Qb3 Na5 12.Qc2 Nac6 13.Qb3 Na5 14.Qc2 Nxf3+ 15.Nxf3 O-O 16.e4 dxe4 17.Qxe4 Re8 18.Qc2 Rxe2 19.Qxe2 Bb5 20.Qc2 Bxf1 21.Kxf1 h6 22.b3 c4 23.b4 Nc6 24.Be3 Qc7 25.g3 Ne5 26.Nxe5 Bxe5 27.Rd1 Rd8 28.Rxd8+ Qxd8 29.Qd2 Qxd2 30.Bxd2 f5 31.Ke2 Kf7 32.Be1 Ke6 33.Kd2 g5 34.Kc2 b5 35.Kd2 h5 36.h3 Kd5 37.f3 g4 38.hxg4 hxg4

39.fxg4? An instructive mistake. White had to sit tight. He needs the f3 pawn to keep Black's king out of e4, or failing that he needs f3 for his king (to keep Black's king out of e4)....  39...fxg4 40.Ke3 Bc7 41.Bf2 Ke5 42.Be1 Bb6+ ...because e3 is not permanently available. White is completely helpless.  43.Ke2 Ke4 44.Bd2 Bc7 45.Be1 Be5 These sort of situations would be tenable if there was no concept of Zugzwang in chess. White has one tempo move, but black can always waste a move with his bishop before returning it to e5 when White's bishop is on e1.  46.Kd2 ( eg 46.a3 Bh8 47.Bd2 Bg7 48.Be1 Be5 exhausts the tempo move ) 46...Kf3 47.Kc2 Bxg3 48.Bd2 Bf2 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 g6 4.e4 Bg7 5.h3 c6 6.Be3 Qa5 7.Qd2 Nbd7 8.Nf3 a6 9.a3 Qc7 10.Bd3 h6 11.Rc1 g5 12.b4 g4 13.hxg4 Nxg4 14.Bf4 e5 15.dxe5 Ndxe5 16.Nxe5 Bxe5 17.Bxe5 Nxe5 18.Be2 Be6 19.Rxh6 O-O-O 20.Nd5 Rxh6 21.Qxh6 Qb8

22.f4! Ng6 (22...Ng4 is very interesting, after  23.Bxg4 Bxg4 24.Nb6+ Kc7 25.c5 White wins because Black cannot usefully stop Qf6 and Qe7+ forcing something onto d7 and allowing Qd6+ ) 23.f5 simply winning material  23...Rh8 24.Qg7 Rh1+ 25.Kd2 Rxc1 26.Qg8+ very precise  26...Kd7 27.fxe6+ 1-0

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 e6 6.Bf4 Nge7 7.Nf3 Ng6 8.Bg3 Be7 9.Nbd2 O-O 10.Qe2 Bd7 11.Ne5 Ncxe5 12.dxe5 Qb6 13.Nf3 Rac8 14.O-O f5 15.exf6 Bxf6 16.Bxg6 hxg6 17.Qd2 Be7 18.Ne5 Be8 19.Nf3 Bd6 20.Bxd6 Qxd6 21.Rfe1 Rf5 22.Qe3

22...Kf7 23.Ng5+ Rxg5 24.Qxg5 Bc6 25.Qe5 Qxe5 26.Rxe5 Rh8 27.Rae1 Bd7 28.R5e2 Re8 29.Rd2 Rc8 30.Rd4 Rc4 31.Rxc4 dxc4 32.Re4 b5 33.f3 Bc6 34.Rd4 Bd5 35.Kf2 e5 36.Rxd5 1-0

1.e4 g6 2.Bc4 Bg7 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 a6 5.c3 Nc6 6.O-O e5 7.d5 Nce7 8.Re1 f5 9.Nbd2 h6 10.Nh4 f4 11.Rf1 Nf6 12.g3 g5 13.Nhf3 Ng6 14.Bd3 Bh3 15.Re1 g4 16.Nh4 Nxh4 17.gxh4 Nh5 18.f3 g3 19.Bf1 Qxh4 20.Re2 Bf6 21.Bxh3 Qxh3 22.Qf1 gxh2+ 23.Rxh2 Rg8+ 24.Rg2 Kd7 25.b3 Ng3 26.Qe1 Qh1+ 27.Kf2

27...Nxe4+ boom!  28.Ke2 Rxg2+ 29.Kd1 Nxc3+ 0-1

1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 b5 6.e5 Nd5 7.a3 Bf5 8.Nh4 Nxc3 9.bxc3 Be6 10.Be2 Bd5 11.Nf5 Nd7 12.O-O Nb6 13.f4 Qd7 14.Ne3 Be4 15.Bg4 e6 16.f5 Nd5 17.fxe6 fxe6 18.Qe1 Be7 19.Qg3 Rf8 20.Bd2 Rxf1+ 21.Nxf1 Kf7 22.Qh3 Nc7 23.Ng3 Bg6 24.Nh5 Kg8 25.Nf4 Bf5 26.Bxf5 exf5 27.Qg3 Ne6 28.a4 a5 29.axb5 Nxf4 30.Qxf4 cxb5 31.Qf3 Ra7 32.d5 Bc5+ 33.Kh1 g6 34.d6

White threatens Qd5+ with devastating results  34...Qe6? (34...Qb7! is the only move to keep the balance ) 35.Qc6! The problem with Black's last is that it allows this alternative penetration which is almost as strong as Qd5 would have been  35...Qxe5 Black doesn't have any good moves  36.d7! Game over  36...Rxd7 37.Qxd7 Bd6 38.Qd8+ Kf7 39.Qh4 Qe2 40.Qxh7+ Kf6 41.Qh8+ Kf7 42.Qd4 Bf8 43.Re1 Qh5 44.Qd5+ Kg7 45.Qd7+ Kh8 46.Be3 Qh4 47.Bd4+ Kg8 48.Qe6+ Kh7 49.Qf7+ 1-0

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.O-O Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Bxf3 Nc6 9.Bg5 h6 10.Be3 e5 11.dxe5 dxe5 12.Be2 Qc8 13.Qc1 Kh7 14.Bc5 Rd8 15.Bc4 b6 16.Be3 Rd7 17.Rd1 Na5 18.Be2 c6 19.b4 Nb7 20.Ba6 Rxd1+ 21.Qxd1 Qc7 22.Bxb7 Qxb7 23.Qd6 Ne8 24.Qd3 Qe7 25.a3 Rd8 26.Qe2 Nc7 27.Rd1 Ne6 28.Rxd8 Qxd8 29.Qd3 Qxd3 30.cxd3 Nf4 31.b5 cxb5 32.Nxb5 Nxd3 33.Nxa7 Bf8 34.Bxb6 Bxa3 35.Nc6 Kg7 36.Kf1 Kf6 37.Be3 Bc5 38.Bxc5 Nxc5 39.f3 h5 40.h4 Ke6 41.Nd8+ Ke7 42.Nc6+ Kd6 43.Nd8 Ke7 44.Nc6+ Kd6 45.Nd8 f5 46.exf5 gxf5 47.Nf7+ Kd5 48.Ng5 e4 49.fxe4+ fxe4 50.Ke2 Kd4 51.g3 Nd7 52.Ne6+ Ke5 53.Nf4 Nf6 54.Ke3 Nd5+ 55.Nxd5 Kxd5

56.Ke2? (56.g4! saves the half point  56...hxg4 57.h5 Ke5 58.h6 Kf6 59.Kxe4 ) 56...Kd4 57.Kd2 e3+ 58.Ke2 Ke4 59.Kf1 Kf3 60.Ke1 e2 61.g4 hxg4 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nf3 g6 7.g3 Bg7 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O a6 10.a4 Re8 11.Nd2 Nbd7 12.Nc4 Nb6 13.Nxb6 Qxb6 14.Qc2 Bd7 15.Bd2 Qc7 16.a5 b5 17.axb6 Qxb6 18.e4 Reb8 19.Rfb1 Qb3 20.Qxb3 Rxb3 21.f4 Ne8 22.Bf1 Bd4+ 23.Kg2 Rab8

Black has a rather beautiful Benoni position  24.Kf3 Now Black has a forced win ( The computer recommends grovelling with 24.Nd1 which is a surefire indication that White is in a world of pain ) 24...Rxb2 25.Rxb2 Rxb2 26.Be1 Rxh2 27.Rxa6

27...h5! Playing for mate. Very nice  28.e5 dxe5 29.fxe5 Bxe5 30.Bb5 Nc7! A fine finishing touch  31.Rb6 Nxb5 32.Nxb5 Rb2 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Nd5 9.Nxd5 cxd5 10.O-O Bc5 11.Kh1 O-O 12.Bd3 f5 13.f4 Bb7 14.Qd2 d4 15.b4 Bb6 16.a4 a5 17.Ba3 Re8 18.b5 Rc8 19.Qf2 Bd5 20.Bb2 d6 21.Bxd4 Bxd4 22.Qxd4 dxe5 23.Qxe5 Rc5 24.Qe3 Qb6 25.Qf2 Rec8 26.Rae1 Qd6 27.Re5 R5c7 28.Qe1 Bc4 29.Bxc4 Rxc4 30.Rxe6 Qd7 31.Qe5 Re4 32.Rd6 Qc7 33.Qd5+ Kh8 34.Rc6 Qb7 35.Rd1 Rce8 36.h3 Qb8 37.g3 Qa7 38.Qc5 Qf7 39.Rc8

39...Qh5? 40.Qf8+! 1-0

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O d6 6.Bf4 Nc6 7.Nc3 a6 8.Qd2 Rb8 9.Bh6 e5 10.d5 Bxh6 11.Qxh6 Ng4 12.Qd2 Ne7 13.h3 Nf6 14.e4 Kg7 15.Rad1 h6 16.Nh2 Nh5 17.Ne2 f5 18.f4 fxe4 19.Qc3 Nf6 20.fxe5 dxe5 21.Qxe5 Qd6 22.Qxd6 cxd6 23.Nc3 b5 24.g4 Bb7 25.Nxe4 Nxe4 26.Bxe4 Rbc8 27.c3 Rxf1+ 28.Nxf1 Kf6 29.Ne3 Ke5 30.Bg2 Rc5 31.Rd3 a5

White lost on time 0-1

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.d3 Bc5 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.a3 O-O 9.O-O Bg4 10.Bg5 d4 11.Ne4 Be7 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Rc1 Rfe8 15.Nd2 Rab8 16.Ne4 Qh6 17.Re1 Bh3 18.Bh1 f5 19.Nd2 f4 20.Ne4 fxg3 21.hxg3 Rf8 22.Qd2 Qg6 23.Rc5 Qf5 24.Qg5 Qf7 25.Qd2 Bf5 26.Rf1 Qe6 27.Qc2 Ne7 28.Ng5 Qf6 29.Qb3+ Kh8 30.Ne4 Bxe4 31.Bxe4 Ng6 32.Qc2 Rfe8 33.Rc1 Qe6 34.Qc4 Qg4 35.Bf3 Qh3 36.Bg2 Qf5 37.Qc2 h5 38.Be4 Qf7 39.Rc7

White has absorbed a lot of Black kingside activity and now fires his first shot in anger  39...Re7?? And Black immediately collapses  40.Bxg6 Rxc7 41.Qxc7 Qf8 42.Bxh5 Rd8 43.Kg2! Starting a very efficient and lethal mopping up sequence. Well played Matt.  43...Qf6 44.Bf3 Rf8 45.Rh1+ Kg8 46.Bd5+ Rf7 47.Qc8+ 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bc4 Bg7 5.a3 e6 6.d3 Nge7 7.h4 h5 8.Bf4 d5 9.Ba2 d4

10.Nb5?? No doubt anticipating good times on c7 or d6  10...Qa5+! Yeah, nah.  11.b4 An interesting philosophical question for chess players is whether to resign in situations like this. As a child I noted that the masters I admired in the books always resigned after losing a piece and so I started following suit. This would be in games between players rated perhaps 1100 generously. There's a technical term for this, it's called "congenital stupidity". In today's ever more competitive world I note that often even high level contests will continue. Masters making a precarious living in Open tournaments know that even strong opponents make mistakes and those mistakes might undo their own lapse and by so doing help feed hungry mouths.   11...Qxb5 12.bxc5 Qxc5 13.O-O Ne5 14.Ng5 O-O 15.f3 N7c6 16.g4 Qe7 17.gxh5 gxh5 18.Bg3 Bh6 19.Nh3 Kh7 20.f4 Ng4 21.Qf3 f5 22.exf5 exf5 23.Rfe1 Qg7 24.Rab1 Ne3 25.Ng5+ Bxg5 26.hxg5 Kg6 27.c3 Ng4 28.Qd5

28...Rd8 Looks reasonable but...  29.Re6+! Ups the ante to a whole rook but forces Black to make some precise moves. I feel sorry for Andrew because it is actually easier to play White in situations like this - you can try desperate ideas like this because you haven't got anything to lose.  29...Bxe6 30.Qxe6+ Kh7 31.Qxf5+ Qg6?? (31...Kh8 32.g6 dxc3 33.Qxh5+ Nh6 ) 32.Rxb7+ Kh8 33.Qxg6 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nc6 5.exd5 exd5 6.dxc5 Bxc5 7.Nb3 Bd6 8.Bd3 Nge7 9.O-O h6 10.c3 O-O 11.Re1 Bg4 12.Bc2 Ng6 13.Qd3 Bxf3 14.Qxf3 Nce7 15.Nd4 Ne5 16.Qe2 N5g6 17.Qd3 Re8 18.Be3 a6 19.Rad1 Nc6 20.Nf5 Bc7 21.Ng3

21...Nge7?? 22.Nf5? (22.Qh7+ wins easily ) 22...Qd7? Picking up the wrong piece perhaps? Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Lawrence doesn't get a third chance.  23.Nxe7+ Nxe7 24.Qh7+ and wins as before, although Ken made hard work of winning with the extra piece the result was never really in doubt.  24...Kf8 25.Qh8+ Ng8 26.Bh7 Ke7 27.Qxg7 Kd8 28.Bxg8 Be5 29.Bb6+ Bc7 30.Bxc7+ Kxc7 31.Qg3+ Kc6 32.Bh7 Re7 33.Rxe7 Qxe7 34.h3 Re8 35.Bc2 Qe2 36.Qd3 Qxd3 37.Bxd3 b5 38.g4 Re5 39.Kg2 Kd6 40.Kf3 f6 41.b4 Kc6 42.Bf5 h5 43.Rd2 hxg4+ 44.hxg4 Re1 45.Bc8 Rc1 46.Rd3 Rc2 47.Be6 d4 48.cxd4 Kd6 49.d5 Rxa2 50.Ke3 Ra4 51.Rd4 a5 52.bxa5 Rxa5 53.Kf4 Ra3 54.f3 Rb3 55.Ke4 Rb1 56.Kf5 Rf1 57.f4 Kc5 58.Rd2 Kd6 59.Bc8 b4 60.g5 fxg5 61.Kxg5 b3 62.Rb2 Kxd5 63.Rxb3 Rg1+ 64.Bg4 Kd6 65.Re3 Ra1 66.f5 Ra8 67.Bh5 Rg8+ 68.Kf6 Rf8+ 69.Bf7 Kd7 70.Kg7 Rb8 71.Be6+ Kd6 72.f6 Rb1 73.Kf8 Rb8+ 74.Kg7 Rd8 75.Rd3+ 1-0

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.g3 Nc6 4.d4 e6 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.b3 d5 8.Bb2 Qc7 9.Nc3 a6 10.e3 b6 11.cxd5 exd5 12.dxc5 Bg4 13.cxb6 Qxb6 14.Nxd5 Nxd5 15.Qxd5 Rad8 16.Qc4 Be6 17.Qe2 Bg4

White has won two pawns and should win. But...  18.h3 Bh5 19.g4 Bg6 Threatening to win the exchange.  20.Ne5? Only apparently addressing the threat  20...Nxe5 21.Bxe5 Bd3 Okay this is a shame, but with two pawns for the exchange and a pair of bishops I imagine Kramnik for example would consider White to still be winning. But....  22.Bd4?? This reminds me of Andreas Theodosiou. Incidentally where are you Andreas? Sometimes you have to take your punishment and resist the temptation to throw in a counter threat instead.  22...Rxd4! Now Black has a piece instead of an exchange  23.Qb2 Rd6 24.Rad1? And after this third mysterious lapse Black has a rook instead of a piece.  24...Bxf1 25.Rxd6 Qxd6 26.Bxf1 Rd8 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nc5 6.d4 Qe7+ 7.Be3 Ne6 8.Be2 h6 9.O-O Ng5 10.Re1 Nxf3+ 11.Bxf3

Black has spent far too many moves hopping his king knight around the board, only to exchange it off. He is now way behind in development and in deep trouble with his two tallest pieces on an open file White has already occupied with a rook.  11...Qd7? (11...Kd8 was mandatory ) 12.Bxh6+ (12.Bg5+ Would actually win way more material, but it doesn't matter John shows he knows how to convert a winning position. ) 12...Kd8 13.Bf4 Nc6 14.Qd2 Ne7 15.Re3 c6 16.Ne4 Ng6 17.Bg3 b6 18.c4 a5 19.b4 Nh4 20.Be2 Nf5 21.Bg4 Qc7 22.Bxf5 Bxf5 23.a4 Qd7 24.b5 c5 25.Rd1 Bxe4 26.Rxe4 Rh6 27.dxc5 Ra7 28.c6 Qc7 29.Qg5+ f6 30.Qd5 Qb8 31.Bxd6 Bxd6 32.Qxd6+ Qxd6 33.Rxd6+ Kc8 34.Re8+ Kc7 35.Rd7# 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 Bd6 5.dxe5 Bxe5 6.Nxe5 Nxe5 7.Bg5 O-O 8.Nd5 d6 9.Nxf6+ gxf6 10.Bf4 Ng6 11.Qd2 Re8 12.Bd3 f5 13.Qe3 c5 14.c4 Qa5+ 15.Ke2 Qb6

Faced with the same problem as Sknar Snr (king and queen lined up against an enemy rook) Sknar Jnr decides to venture forward instead of back. Is his king made of iron?...  16.Kf3?! fxe4+ 17.Bxe4 Nh4+! 18.Kg3 Nf5+! ...ah, no. Nice play by Beate.  19.Bxf5 Rxe3+ 20.fxe3 Bxf5 21.Kf3 Qc6+ 22.e4 Qxe4+ 23.Kg3 Qd3+ 24.Kh4 Kh8 25.Kg5 Rg8+ 26.Kf6 Rg6+ 27.Kxf7 Be6+ 28.Ke7 Qf5 29.Kxd6 Qxf4+ 30.Kxc5 Qxc4+ 31.Kd6 Qd5+ 32.Kc7 Rg7+ 33.Kb8 Qd8+ 34.Kxa7 Qd4+ 35.Kb8 Qd6+ 36.Ka8 Qa6+ 37.Kb8 Rg8+ 38.Kc7 Qc6# 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.a3 a5 7.b3 Nc6 8.Be2 Be7 9.O-O f6 10.Be3 a4 11.dxc5

11...Qxb3?? the queen gets trapped  12.Qc1! d4 13.cxd4 Na5 14.Nfd2 Qd5 15.Bf3 Nb3 16.Qb2 1-0

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 d6 6.O-O Nf6 7.d3 O-O 8.a3 d5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Bd2 e6 11.Rb1 Re8 12.Qc2 Qe7 13.Rfc1 Bd7 14.b4 cxb4 15.Nxd5 exd5 16.axb4 Bg4 17.e3 d4 18.e4 Rac8 19.Qa4 Qf6 20.Bg5 Qe6 21.b5 Bxf3 22.bxc6 Bxg2

now comes a nice Zwichenzug to win material  23.cxb7! Rb8 (23...Rxc1+ 24.Bxc1! keeps the queening threat alive ) 24.Kxg2 f5 25.Bf4 Be5 26.Rc6 Qe7 27.Qc4+ Kh8 28.Bxe5+ Qxe5 29.Rb5 Qg7 30.Rc7 Qf6 31.Rf7 1-0

B22: Sicilian: 2 c3  1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Na3 Nc6 (4...d6 is played less often, but is also good ) 5.Qf3 (5.Nf3 is the most common move ) 5...e6 6.Qg3 a6 7.Nc4 (7.Nf3 d6 = ) 7...h6?! (7...b5!? is an interesting alternative  8.Ne3 Nb6 = ) 8.Nf3 += b5 (8...g6 9.a4 += ) 9.Nd6+ Bxd6 10.Qxg7 Bxe5 11.Nxe5 Qf6 12.Qxf6 Nxf6 13.Nxc6 dxc6 14.d3

White has the better endgame, since he has the bishop pair and fewer pawn islands  14...Bb7 (14...Ke7 15.Be2 += ) 15.Be3 Nd7 16.O-O-O O-O-O 17.h4 f5 (17...b4 18.Rh3 +/- ) 18.Be2 e5 19.Kc2 f4 20.Bc1 Rhg8 (20...b4 21.g3 +/- ) 21.Rhg1 (21.g3 fxg3 22.Bxh6 gxf2 +/- ) 21...Nf6 (21...Kc7 22.g3 +/- ) 22.g3 Nd5 23.gxf4 (23.c4 Nb4+ 24.Kb1 f3 25.Bxf3 Nxd3 26.Bxh6 bxc4 27.Be3 +/- ) 23...Nxf4 += 24.Bxf4 exf4 25.Rg4 Rdf8 (25...Rxg4 26.Bxg4+ Kc7 27.Re1 += ) 26.Rdg1 +/- Rxg4 27.Rxg4 Rf6 (27...f3 28.Bd1 +/- ) 28.Bf3 Kd8 29.Kd2?! (29.Rg8+ Kc7 +/- ) 29...a5 (29...Bc8 30.Rg8+ Kc7 31.Rh8 += ) 30.Ke2 (30.Rg8+ Kc7 +/- ) 30...b4 (30...Bc8 31.Rg7 += ) 31.Be4 (31.Rg7! Bc8 32.Ra7 bxc3 33.bxc3 a4 34.Rxa4 Kc7 35.Re4 Be6 36.a4 Bd5 37.Re8 Kd7 38.Bh5 +/- ) 31...Bc8 32.Rg8+ Kc7 33.Kf3 h5 (33...Be6 34.Ra8 += ) 34.Rg6 Bg4+ 35.Kg2 Rxg6 36.Bxg6 a4?! (36...bxc3!? 37.bxc3 Kd6 (37...Kb6 38.f3 Be6 39.c4 Kc7 40.Kf2 Kd6 41.Ke2 Ke5 42.Bxh5 Bf5 43.Kd2 Kd4 44.Be8 Bxd3 45.h5 +- ) 38.f3 (38.a3 Ke5 39.f3 (39.Be8 Be2 40.Bxc6 Bxd3 41.Be8 Be4+ 42.f3 Bd5 43.Bxh5 Kf6 44.Bg4 Bc4 = ) 39...Bf5 40.Bxh5 Kf6 (40...Bxd3 41.Kh3 Kf5 42.Bg4+ Kf6 43.Bc8 Bf5+ 44.Bxf5 Kxf5 45.c4 +- ) 41.d4 (41.Bg4 Bxd3 42.Bd7 (42.Bc8 Be2 = ) 42...Ke7 (42...Bb5? 43.Kh3 ) 43.Bxc6 Kf6 44.Bd7 (44.Kh3 Bf5+ 45.Kg2 ) 44...Be2 45.Bg4 Bb5 46.Kf2 Bd3 47.Ke1 Bc4 48.Kd2 Kg6 = ) 41...cxd4 42.cxd4 Be6 43.Kf2 Bc4 44.Bg4 Bd5 45.Bc8 (45.Ke2 Bc4+ 46.Kd2 Bd5 47.Kc3 Kg6 ) 45...Kg6 46.Ba6 Kh5 47.Bd3 Kxh4 48.Be4 Kg5 = ) (38.Be4 Be6 39.a3 Bd5 = ) 38...Be6 39.a3 Ke5 40.Kf2 Bf5 41.d4+ (41.Bxf5 Kxf5 42.Ke2 (42.a4 Ke5 43.Ke2 Kd5 44.Kd2 c4 = ) 42...a4 = ) 41...cxd4 42.cxd4+ Ke6 43.Bxh5 Kd5 44.Bg4 Bd3 45.Bd7 Kxd4 46.Bxc6 Bg6 = ) 37.a3 +- Kb6 38.f3 Be6 39.Kf2 Kb5 40.Ke2 bxa3 41.bxa3 c4 42.d4 Kb6 43.Bxh5 Bf5 (43...Kc7? 44.Bg6 +- ) 44.Bf7 Bd3+ 45.Kf2 Kc7 46.h5 Kd8 47.Kg2 Ke7 48.Bg6 Kf6 49.Bxd3 cxd3 50.Kf2 Kg5 51.c4 Kxh5 52.d5 cxd5 53.c5 Kh4 54.c6 d2 55.Ke2 Kg3 56.c7 d1=Q+ 57.Kxd1 Kxf3 58.c8=Q d4 59.Qc6+ Ke3 60.Qxa4 f3 61.Qb3+ d3 62.Qb6+ 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 The O'Kelly variation - I didn't want a repeat of my debacle in the Rapid!  3.d4 I was pleased to see this as a normal open Sicilian doesn't really work against the O'Kelly  3...cxd4 4.c3 Annoying. Unfortunately for me White still has this option to get a reasonable opening - transposition to the Smith Morra. It has a poor reputation at elite level but is a good club chess weapon  4...dxc3 5.Nxc3 d6 6.Bc4 e6 7.O-O Be7 8.Qe2 Nc6 9.Bf4 Nf6 10.Rad1 The wrong rook - the thematic setup is rooks on c1 and d1  10...Qc7 11.e5

11...d5? My original intention was to simply capture after which Black is solid with good chances of emerging a solid extra pawn up. But at the last moment I saw this tricky move leading to complex and interesting play ( Amusingly black's best is another tricky move with tactical justification 11...Nh5! allowing the capture on d6 because after   12.exd6 Nxf4 both queens are attacked. I missed that one entirely ) 12.exf6 Qxf4 13.Bxd5 gxf6 14.g3 Qc7 15.Rfe1 Bd7 16.Bc4 O-O-O 17.a3 Ne5 18.Nxe5 fxe5 19.Rc1 Kb8 20.b4 h5 21.Bd3 Qb6 22.Qxe5+ Bd6 23.Qe3 Qxe3 24.Rxe3 h4 25.Ne4 Bc7 26.Nc5 Bc6

27.Bxa6 clever but (27.Nxa6+! is much better because then black cannot decline  ) 27...hxg3 28.fxg3 Rd2

(I saw 28...Rxh2 29.Kxh2 Rh8+ 30.Kg1 Rh1+ 31.Kf2 Rxc1 with advantage, but thought (wrongly) I deserved more! ) 29.Re2? I hadn't noticed white could do this, but my annoyance was misplaced because it's a mistake.  29...Rd4? 30.Re3 Rd2 31.Re2? I was hoping for this - I am not settling for a draw, I've belatedly seen how to refute Re2  31...Rxe2 32.Bxe2 Bxg3! And the h pawn is going as well, after which, with an extra pawn, two bishops, and a passed and connected pawn duo I have good chances of crushing my enemies, seeing them driven before me, and hearing the lamentation of their women. (Conan the Barbarian quote, courtesy of my colleague Jaron Peek).   33.Nd3? Not very resilient  33...Rxh2 Now avoiding mate will cost white a lot more material 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nd5 Nf6 5.Nxb4 Nxb4 6.c3 Nc6 7.Qc2 O-O 8.Bc4 d6 9.h3 h6 10.O-O Qe7 11.Re1 Be6 12.Bxe6 fxe6 13.d4 Nh5 14.d5 Nd8 15.Be3 Nf4 16.Bxf4 Rxf4 17.Rad1 exd5 18.exd5 Nf7 19.Nd4 Ng5 20.Nf5 Qf6 21.Ng3 Qf7 22.Rd2 Rf8 23.Ne4 Nxe4 24.Rxe4 Qf5 25.Rxf4 Qxf4 26.g3 Qf6 27.Qe4 g5 28.Qg4 Qf5 29.Qxf5 Rxf5 30.Kg2 h5 31.f3 Kg7 32.Re2 Kf7 33.Re4 Kg6 34.a4 Rf7 35.a5 Kf5 36.Kf2 Rh7 37.Rb4 b6 38.Ke3 Rh8 39.Rc4 Rh7 40.Re4 Rg7 41.g4+ hxg4 42.hxg4+ Kf6 43.b4 Rh7 44.c4 Ke7 45.c5 Kd7 46.axb6 axb6 47.cxb6 cxb6 48.Rc4 Rh1 49.Ke2 Rb1 50.Re4 Rb3 51.Rc4 b5 52.Rc1 Rxb4 53.Rh1 Rd4 54.Rh7+ Kc8 55.Rg7 Rxd5 56.Rxg5 Rd4 57.Rh5 b4 58.Rh1 b3 59.g5

59...Rb4?? (59...Kd7 60.Rh7+ Ke6 61.Rb7 Kf5 62.Rxb3 Kxg5 etc ) 60.g6 Kd7 61.g7 Rb8 62.Rh8 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be3 O-O 8.Rc1 c5 9.Nf3 Qa5 10.Qd2 cxd4 11.cxd4 Qxd2+ 12.Kxd2 Nc6 13.Bb5 Na5 14.Ke2 a6 15.Bd3 Bd7 16.Rc7 Rfd8 17.d5 b5 18.Nd2 Be5 19.Rc2 Rdc8 20.Rhc1 Rxc2 21.Rxc2 Rc8 22.Rxc8+ Bxc8 23.f4 Bc7 24.g3 e6 25.Bc5 exd5 26.exd5 Nb7 27.Be7 f5 28.Nf3 Bd6 29.Bxd6 Nxd6 30.Ke3 Kf8 31.Kd4 Ke7 32.Ne5 Nb7 33.Nf3 Kd6 34.Ng5 h5 35.Nf7+ Ke7 36.Ne5 Kf6 37.Nc6 Nd6 38.Kc5 Ne4+

39.Kb6! Decisive penetration into the heart of Black's position  39...Bd7 40.Kc7 Nc5 41.Bc2 Be8 42.Ne5 g5 43.Kd8! Continuing the theme  43...gxf4 44.gxf4 Bf7 45.Nxf7 Kxf7 46.Bxf5 a5 47.d6 b4 48.d7 a4 49.Kc8 Nxd7 50.Kxd7 Kf6 51.Bb1 b3 52.axb3 axb3 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 O-O 5.a3 Be7 6.e4 d6 7.Bd3 e5 8.Nge2 exd4 9.Nxd4 Nbd7 10.O-O Ne5 11.f4 Nxd3 12.Qxd3 Nd7 13.b4 Re8 14.Nd5 Bf8 15.Bb2 c6 16.Ne3 Nf6 17.Nef5 Nxe4 18.Qe2 Bxf5 19.Nxf5 f6 20.Qg4 Kh8 21.Qh4 g6 22.Rae1 gxf5 23.Rxe4 Bg7 24.Rxe8+ Qxe8 25.Re1 Qf7 26.Qh3 Re8 27.Rxe8+ Qxe8

28.Qxf5?? Qe1# 0-1

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 e6 7.Bd3 Bxd3 8.Qxd3 Nf6 9.O-O Nbd7 10.Re1 Be7 11.Bg5 O-O 12.Rad1 h6 13.Be3 Bd6 14.Ne4 Nxe4 15.Qxe4 Nf6 16.Qh4 Nd5 17.Qg4 Nf6 18.Qh4 Nd5 19.Qh3 Nxe3 20.Rxe3 Qc7 21.Rde1 Qb6 22.Rb3 Qc7 23.Ne5 Bxe5 24.dxe5 Rad8 25.Qg4 Rd5 26.Rg3

26...Qxe5?? This would be okay if there was a back rank mate but it's an illusion 1-0

1.d4 e6 2.e3 Nf6 3.Bd3 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nd2 b6 6.f4 Bb7 7.Ngf3 Qc7 8.O-O Rc8 9.Ne5 d6 10.Nef3 Be7 11.Ng5 Na5 12.Qe2 O-O 13.Ngf3 Nc6 14.Nc4 b5 15.Ncd2 c4 16.Bc2 e5 17.fxe5 dxe5 18.e4 Rfd8 19.d5 Bc5+ 20.Kh1 Ne7 21.Ng5 Qd6 22.Ndf3 Ng6 23.Be3 h6 24.Nh3 Rc7 25.Bxc5 Qxc5 26.Rac1 Re7 27.Qe1 Bc8 28.Nf2 Rd6 29.b4 Qb6 30.a4 a6 31.a5 Qa7 32.Nd1 Nf4!? 33.Nxe5 Nxg2 34.Nc6 Nxe1 35.Nxa7 Rxa7 36.Rxe1 Re7 37.Nf2 Re5 38.Bd1

An unusual position - rooks are unlikely blockaders  38...Ne8 (38...Nxd5 ) ( or 38...Rdxd5 ) 39.Bf3 Rf6 40.Re3 Nd6 41.Rce1 Rf4 42.R1e2 g5 43.Bg2 Kf8 44.Rf3 Rxf3 45.Bxf3 Ke7 46.h3 Bd7 47.Kh2 Kf6 48.Kg3 Kg6 49.Kg2 1/2-1/2

1.f4 d5 2.b3 Nf6 3.Bb2 Bg4 4.Nf3 Bxf3 5.exf3 e6 6.Bd3 Bc5 7.Qe2 Qe7 8.g3 Nbd7 9.a4 O-O 10.Qg2 e5 11.Kd1 Rfe8 12.Re1 e4 13.fxe4 dxe4 14.Nc3 Bd4 15.Ra2 Bxc3 16.Bxc3 Rad8 17.g4 Qd6

}   18.g5? exd3 19.gxf6 Nxf6 20.Bxf6 Rxe1+ 21.Kxe1 Qxf6 22.cxd3 Qh4+ 23.Qg3 Qxg3+ 24.hxg3 Rxd3 25.Rc2 c6 26.Rc3 Rxc3 27.dxc3 f5 28.Ke2 Kf7 29.Ke3 Ke6 30.c4 c5 31.Kd3 h6 32.Kc3 g5 33.fxg5 hxg5 34.b4 Kd6 35.Kd3 f4 36.g4 b6 0-1

1.e4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.f4 d6 4.Nf3 a6 5.Bc4 e6 6.O-O b5 7.Bb3 Bb7 8.d3 c5 9.Qe1 Ne7 10.a4 b4 11.Nd1 O-O 12.Qg3 d5 13.e5 Nf5 14.Qf2 Qc7 15.Ne3 c4 16.Nxf5 gxf5 17.Ba2 Nd7 18.Bb1 a5 19.Be3 c3 20.bxc3 Qxc3 21.Bd4 Qc7 22.Ba2 f6 23.Rfe1 Rae8 24.Bb3 Rf7 25.Re2 Bf8 26.Rae1

26...Nc5? 27.exf6 Nxb3 28.cxb3 Bc8 29.Ng5 Bd6 30.Nxf7 Kxf7 31.Be5 Bxe5 32.fxe5 Qc3 33.Qa7+ Kf8 34.Qg7# 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Bb5+ Bd7 5.a4 Bxb5 6.axb5 Nd7 7.O-O Ne7 8.d3 Ng6 9.Re1 Qc7 10.c4 d4 11.b3 Ndxe5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.h3 (13.b6! ) 13...Ng6 14.g3 Bd6 15.Qg4 Qd7 16.f4 O-O 17.Kh2 Rfe8 18.h4 Nf8

19.Ra2! This is one of my favourite manoevres, I like it when the low graders do more than just push wood.  19...h6 20.Rf2 Nh7 21.Rfe2 Nf6 22.Qf3 b6 23.g4 Nh7 24.Kg2 Rac8 25.g5 hxg5 26.hxg5 g6 27.Rh1 Kg7 28.Qh3 Rh8 29.Qh6+ Kg8 30.Nd2 Bf8 31.Qh4 Bg7 32.Ne4 Kf8 33.Qg3 Ke7 34.Kg1 Rcg8 35.Reh2 Nf8