1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 Nf6 3.e3 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nd2 Bf5 6.Qb3 Qd7 7.Ngf3 c4 8.Qd1 e6 9.Nh4 b5 10.f3 Bg6 11.a4 b4 12.e4 Nh5 13.Be3 Be7 14.Nxg6 hxg6 15.Bf2 g5 16.g3 g6 17.Bg2 Kf8 18.O-O Kg7 19.f4 gxf4 20.g4 Nf6 21.e5 Nh7 22.h4 g5 23.Qf3 Rac8 24.a5 b3 25.Bg3 gxh4 26.Bxf4 Ng5 27.Qe3 Kg6

I Like the way Black's king is an active actor in his own defence - very unusual in the middlegame  28.Bxg5? This is where Black really starts to get a grip on the position  28...Bxg5 29.Rf6+ If White retreats the queen the black h pawn's advance is annoying, nevertheless that was likely a better option than this unsound sac  29...Bxf6 30.exf6 Kxf6 31.Rf1+ Ke7 32.Qg5+ Ke8 33.Qg7 Rf8 Necessary but also sufficient, as a mathematician might say  34.Rf6 Qe7 35.Nf3 Kd7 36.Ng5 Rg8 37.Qh6 Rh8 38.Qg7 Rcg8 39.Qxf7 Rxg5 Ashes to ashes, dust to dust 0-1

1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.e5 Ng4 8.e6 Bxb5 9.exf7+ Kd7 Ian: Rybka prefers ...Kf8 (Bill: Houdini does too, Kd7 is the traditional main move in this position, but several GMs have tried Kf8 recently - maybe they are just playing the comp move. There's a chapter on ...Kf8 in the book "Dangerous Weapons - Pirc", I pointed it out to Anthony at the Congress bookstall and I remember thinking I hope he doesn't waste all my prep in this line by using it against me) (9...Kf8 ) 10.Nxb5 Qa5+ 11.Nc3 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Bxd4 13.Qxd4 Nc6 14.Qc4 Qb6 15.Qe2 h5 16.h3 Nh6 17.Qd3

Bill: Varying from two recent Forster-Ker games, I played Bd2 and managed one draw and one exciting loss. Ian seems intent on sacc'ing a whole rook! He certainly makes it work.  17...Nf5 18.Bd2 ( Ian: 18.Nd5 Qd4 19.Qb3 Qe4+ 20.Kf2 Qd4+ 21.Be3 Nxe3 22.Qxb7+ Ke6 23.Nxe3 Qxf4+ 24.Ke2 etc is rather interesting, chances for both sides ) 18...Nb4 19.Qe4 Ng3 20.Qxg6 Nxh1 21.O-O-O Nf2 22.Re1 d5 23.Qf5+ e6 24.Qg6 Qc6 ( Ian: 24...e5 25.Qf5+ Qe6 26.Qxe6+ Kxe6 27.Re2 ) 25.a3 Na6 Bill: From here on in Ian is right on top despite his rook minus. A brilliant win!  26.f5 Nc5 27.fxe6+ Nxe6 28.Re5 d4 29.Nd5 Rac8 30.Nb4 Qb6 31.Nd5 Qd6 32.Nf6+ Kc6 33.Qf5 Ng7 34.Qf3+ Kc7 35.Bf4 Kb8 36.Re4 Nxe4 37.Nxe4 Qxf4+ 38.Qxf4+ Ka8 39.Nd6 Rcd8 40.Qf6 1-0

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.f4 Qa5 5.Bd3 e5 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.O-O Be7 8.Kh1 O-O 9.Qe1 Nh5?! A dubious defensive idea  10.dxe5 dxe5 11.f5 Qc7 12.g4 Nf4

Only after playing this did I realise that my ...Qc7 doesn't prevent Nxe5! winning a safe extra pawn  13.g5 Clearly Andrew is not a materialist  13...f6 14.Bc4+ Kh8 15.Qh4 b5 16.g6 h6 17.Bf7 Bc5? This is nonsense. For some reason I was worried about Rg1 followed by Qxh6+ and g7+ but my basic arithmetic is flawed - this only makes sense if black cannot recapture the new queen after g7xRf8  18.Ne2! I hadn't seen this idea, the knight is obviously immune because Black must block the c1-h6 diagonal and prevent Bc1xh6 at all costs.  18...Rxf7 As Andrew pointed out after the game, it made more sense to try to undo the previous mistake and put the bishop on d6 to try to hold the f4 point as long as possible  19.Nxf4 Nf8 20.gxf7 exf4 21.Bxf4 Qxf7 Do I have survival chances an exchange down?  22.b3 Bd7 23.Rad1 Re8 24.Bd6 Bb6 25.Qf4 Bc8 26.e5 c5 27.e6 Qb7 28.c4 Qc6 29.Bxf8 Rxf8 According to Dr Tarrasch two bishops are basically worth a rook and knight, so I have material equality. Unfortunately Dr Tarrasch has been dead for 80 years or I could show him this position as an ideal counterexample. I am of course completely dead.  30.Qd6 Qxf3+ Especially after this final grievous miscalculation (30...Qxf3+ 31.Rxf3 Rd8 32.Qb8 (32.Qxd8+ Bxd8 33.Rxd8+ Kh7 34.Rxc8 ) 32...Rxd1+ would leave me with two bishops fighting a queen, but after playing my move I realised the variation above, leaving my opponent two rooks ahead was slightly stronger! ) 1-0

Notes by Brian Nijman  1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.c4 Bb4+ 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Qc2 O-O 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.Qxc3 a5 8.b3 d6 (8...b6 ) 9.Bb2 Nbd7 10.g3 b5 11.Bg2 (11.cxb5 Nb6 ) 11...Nb6 12.c5 Nbd5 13.Qc2 Ba6 14.O-O b4 15.Rfe1 bxa3 (15...Qd7 = ) 16.Bxa3 Bb7?! 17.Qb2 (17.Ng5 Re8 18.e4 fxe4 19.Nxe4 ) 17...Nb4 18.Rac1 Be4 19.Bf1 Qe8 20.Nd2 Qh5 21.f3

21...Bd5 22.Bg2 f4 23.Nf1 g5 24.Qd2 g4 25.Rc3 dxc5?! (25...Qg6 = ) 26.Rxc5 fxg3 27.Nxg3 Qh4 28.e4 +/- Bb7 (28...Bxb3 29.f4 +/- ) 29.Qg5+ Qxg5 30.Rxg5+ Kh8 31.Bxb4 (31.fxg4 is better ) 31...axb4 32.Rb5 Ba6 33.Rxb4 gxf3 34.Bxf3 Rad8?! (34...Nd7 += ) 35.Kg2 c5?! 36.Rb6 (36.Ra4 +/- ) 36...Bc8 37.dxc5 Nd7 38.Rd6?! (38.Rb5 Ne5 += ) 38...Nxc5 39.Rxd8 Rxd8 40.Rd1 Rf8 41.b4 Nd7 42.b5 Ne5 43.Be2 Bb7 44.Rd6 Rf6?? (44...Bc8 +/- ) 45.b6? (45.Rd8+ Kg7 46.Nh5+ +- ) 45...Kg8 46.Rd8+ Rf8 47.Rxf8+? (47.Rd2 Rc8 += [the wrong coloured [h-file] corner for the White bishop, and the possibility of Black drawing with K + B vs K + R + h-pawn make this a tricky ending to win if White can't push his b-pawn through] ) 47...Kxf8 48.Kf2 Nd7 49.Bc4 Ke7 50.Bd3 [draw agreed] 1/2-1/2

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 Nc6 10.d5 Na5 11.Bxc5 Qc7 12.Bb4 Bg4 13.c4 Rfd8 14.h3 Nc6 15.Bd2 Bxf3 16.Qxf3 Nd4 17.Qa3 e5 18.Bd3 Bf8 19.Qa4 Ne6 20.O-O Nc5 21.Qc2 Rd6 22.f4 Ra6 23.fxe5 Nxd3 24.Qxd3 Rxa2 25.Bf4 Bc5+ 26.Kh1 Qa5 27.d6 Qd8 28.Qd5 b6

Typically, Mike Roberts resigns at the earliest possible point. He obviously realised how devastating e6 or Bh6 would be at this point, although I admit it took more than a glance from me 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 d5 3.e3 c5 4.Bxf6 exf6 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.Nd2 O-O 7.Ngf3 Nc6 8.Nb3 Bb6 9.c3 Re8 10.Be2 Qd6 11.Qc2 Bg4 12.Rd1 Qe6 13.Nbd4 Qc8 14.O-O Ne5 15.h3 Bxh3?!

This is brave but unsound  16.gxh3 Nxf3+ 17.Bxf3 Qxh3 18.Qf5 Qh6 19.Kg2? Loses the extra piece, leaving Black in front  19...Re5! 20.Qh3 Rg5+ 21.Bg4 Qg6 22.f3? (22.Kf3 Is a typical computer resource, it would limit the damage somewhat ) 22...f5 Now Black runs rampant  23.Nxf5 Qxf5 24.Kf2 Qc2+ 25.Ke1 Bxe3 26.f4 Re8 0-1

1.Nf3 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 a6 5.e4 Bg4 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Be2 e5 8.d5 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Nd4 10.Qd2 c5 11.dxc6 bxc6 12.Be2 Ne7 13.O-O h6 14.Rad1 f5 15.f4 fxe4 16.Nxe4 Nef5 17.Bf2 O-O 18.Bg4 Qc7 19.Bxf5 Rxf5 20.fxe5 dxe5 21.Bxd4 Rxf1+ 22.Rxf1 exd4 After a manoeuvring, strategic start, the rest of the game is dominated by tactical opportunities  23.Nf6+ Kh8 24.Qd3 Qf7

25.Ng4 (25.Nh5! Qe8 26.Nxg7 Kxg7 27.Qxd4+ with a big advantage for white ) 25...Qe6 26.Nf2 Kh7 27.Ne4 Re8 28.Re1 Qf5 29.Re2 Re6? 30.b4? ( once 30.Ng5+! hxg5 31.Qxf5 gxf5 32.Rxe6 ) 30...Qf7? 31.c5? ( twice 31.Ng5+! hxg5 32.Qh3+ Kg8 33.Qxe6 ) 31...Qe7? 32.a3? ( three times  32.Ng5+! ) 32...Kh8! 33.Kf1 Re5 34.Kg1 Qe6 35.Qf3 Qf5 36.Qd3 Qf4 37.g3 Qf5 38.Kg2 h5

39.Kg1 (39.Qxd4 is okay now ) 39...h4 40.Qxd4? But not now  40...h3 (40...Rd5! Wins on the spot ) 41.Qd8+ Bf8 42.Qh4+ (42.Rf2! wins for white now ) 42...Kg7 43.Qf4 Qe6

44.Ng5! Finally the telling blow  44...Qd5 45.Qxe5+ Qxe5 46.Rxe5 Kf6 47.Re6+ 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Ngf3 Nc6 6.Bb5 Bd6 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.O-O Ne7 9.Nb3 Bd6 10.Re1 O-O 11.Bg5 Bg4 12.Bh4 f6 13.Bg3 Ne5 14.Be2 Qc7 15.Nxe5 Bxe2 16.Qxe2 fxe5 17.Bxe5 Rfe8 18.Bxd6 Qxd6 19.Qe6+ Qxe6 20.Rxe6 Kf7 21.Rae1 Rac8 22.Nd4 a6 23.f4 g6 24.Kf2 Rcd8 25.g4 h6 26.c3 Rd7 27.f5 Rg8 28.fxg6+ Nxg6 29.Kg3 Kg7 30.Rf1 Rf8 31.Rxf8 Nxf8 32.Nf5+ Kf7 33.Rxh6 Rd8 34.Rb6 Rd7

35.Rxb7 Greed is good! Don's strategy in this game seemed to be, keep gobbling pawns, it works out rather well.  35...Ke6 36.Rxd7 Nxd7 37.Kf4 Ne5 38.Nd4+ Kd6 39.Kf5 Nd3 40.b3 Nf2 41.h4 Ne4 42.g5 Nxc3 43.g6 Ke7 44.h5 Kf8 45.h6 Kg8 46.a4 Ne4 47.Ke5 a5 48.Nc6 Kh8 49.Nxa5 Ng3 50.Nc6 Ne4 51.a5 Kg8 52.a6 Nc5 53.a7 Nd7+ 54.Kxd5 Nb6+ 55.Kd6 Na8 56.Ne7+

The ultimate vindication of the pawn gobbling plan 1-0

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qd8 4.d4 g6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bc4 Bg7 7.O-O O-O 8.Be3 Bg4 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 Nc6 11.Rad1 h6 12.a3 Qd7 13.Ba2 Na5 14.Rfe1 b6 15.Nd5 Nh5 16.Bf4 c6 17.Rxe7 Qd8

The scene is set for a sparkling combination  18.Bc7 Qc8 19.Rxf7! Rxf7 20.Ne7+ Kh7 21.Qxf7 Qxc7 22.Qxg6+ Kh8 23.Qf7 Kh7

24.Qg6+ A pity ( A nice finish was 24.Qf5+ Kh8 25.Ng6+ Kh7 26.Nf8+ Kh8 27.Qh7# ) 24...Kh8 25.Qxh5 Qxe7 Now white has to win the game a second time  26.c3 b5 27.a4 a6 28.axb5 axb5 29.d5 Qc7 30.dxc6 Qxc6 31.Bd5 Qc5 32.b4 Qxc3 33.Bxa8 Qxb4 34.Rd8+ Bf8 35.Qxh6+ Kg8 36.Bd5# 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bc5 5.O-O Ng4 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.h3 Nh6 8.d3

Get ready for a surprising move  8...Rg8?! Presumably the father knows how the son thinks  9.Bxh6?? No! Just don't do it! With this move Rg8 makes sense. Without this move Rg8 makes no sense  9...gxh6 10.Na4 Bxh3!? 11.Nxc5?? (11.Kh2! Far from obvious, but the only good move ) 11...Bxg2 Game over  12.Re1 Bxf3+ 13.Kf1 Rg1+! A nice finishing touch, ignoring the free queen  14.Kxg1 Qg5+ 15.Kh2 Qg2# 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.c3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.cxd4 d5 5.Nc3 dxe4 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 e6 8.d5 exd5 9.Nxd5 Nxd5 10.Bxd5 Qc7 Houdini judges a whole bunch of Queen moves to be about equally best, including both this and ...Qe7. Go figure  11.Bd2 Bg7 12.Rc1 Nc6 13.Bb4 Mark is right, the engine only gives white about half a pawn in comp, but I imagine it was easier to play White!  13...Qd7 14.Ba3 Nd4 15.Qc4 Qf5 16.Qc7 Bd7 17.Qxb7 Rd8 18.Bxe4 Qe6 19.Qd5 Qa6 20.Qc5 Bf6 21.Qd6 Qa5+ 22.Bb4 Qg5

Even though White has gone from material inferiority to superiority, it is only after ...Qg5 that Houdini prefers White.  23.f4 Houdini has this as first choice, the only move to retain a significant advantage  23...Qb5 24.a3 As Mark suspects, the engine thinks this is the mistake, relinquishing the advantage  24...Bh4+ 25.g3 Bf5 26.Bc6+? ( But now the resourceful engine finds a tricky path to retain the balance, which Anthony misses 26.Qxd4! Rxd4 27.Bc6+ Qxc6 28.Rxc6 Rxb4 29.axb4 Be4 30.Rc4 Bxh1 31.gxh4 ) 26...Nxc6 27.Qxc6+ Qxc6 28.Rxc6 Be4 29.Rc3 Bxh1 30.gxh4 And now Black is basically an exchange up and wins fairly smoothly.  30...Kd7 31.Nf3 Bxf3 32.Rxf3 Rhe8+ 33.Kf2 Ke6 34.h5 Rd5 35.hxg6 hxg6 36.Rc3 Rd2+ 37.Kg3 Rxb2 38.Rc7 f5 39.Rxa7 Kd5 40.Ra5+ Ke4 41.Ra6 Rb3+ 42.Kf2 Kxf4 43.Rxg6 Rb2+ 44.Kf1 Rc8 45.Be1 Rc1 46.h4 Rh2 47.Re6 Kf3 48.Kg1 Re2 0-1

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Nxf6+ gxf6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.Be2 Qc7 8.Nh4 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Nd7 10.O-O O-O-O 11.g3 e6 12.c4 Rg8 13.d5 Bc5 14.Be3 Rde8 15.Bxc5 Nxc5 16.Qe3 Qb6 17.dxc6 Qxc6 18.b4 Nd7 19.Nf3 Kb8 20.c5 Rg4 21.Rfd1

Black to play and lose  21...Rxb4? At first sight this looks completely sensible  22.Qd2! I think queens get far too little respect as forking pieces. Sure knights are specialists but queens are no slouches. The game is now effectively over.  22...Qxf3 23.Qxb4 Ne5 24.Rab1 Qc6 25.Rd6 Nf3+ 26.Kh1 Qc7 27.Qb5 Re7 28.Rbd1 1-0

1.d4 c5 2.e3 g6 3.dxc5 Bg7 4.a3 Na6 I thought Qc7 was likely best, making a3 seem a bit silly, but completely chessed out after Easter, I hoped to sacrifice and have fun.  5.Ra2

I couldn't help a smirk here, and with a straight face Brian replied out loud that his move is the logical follow up to a3. I suppose it is actually, the two moves together prepare b4. I am not even going to bother checking the database, I am absolutely confident after 4.5 complete moves we have a position unique in the history of chess.  5...Nxc5 6.b4 Ne6 7.c4 Nf6 8.Bb2 I think it is more logical to play Rd2 first! Brian almost succeeds in getting a sensible setup, but he neglects a few opportunities to activate the a2 rook.  8...O-O 9.Nf3 b6 10.Nbd2 Bb7 11.Be2 Rc8 12.O-O Qc7 13.Nd4 Nxd4 14.Bxd4 e5 15.Ba1 d5 I combat Brian's fantasy with a classical approach  16.Qb1 Qe7 17.Rc1 Now once white plays Rac2 his position will make sense. The only trouble is he doesn't get time for that.   17...Rfd8 18.Nf3 dxc4 19.Nxe5? overlooking  19...Be4! Black is now winning  20.Qb2 b5? something more incisive, like c3 immediately was better  21.f3 Bb7 22.Ng4

22...Ne8? I am content to win a pawn but (22...c3! a move I didn't even consider as far as I remember, now wins the house ) 23.Qb1 h5 24.Bxg7 Nxg7 25.Nf2 Qxe3 26.Bf1 Ne6? Played to block the e file, but as soon as I released the knight I realised it did no such thing as a later Rxe6 will likely be good because Qxg6+ will then be a good follow up.  27.Re1 Qb6 So I have to use my strongest piece to defend the knight  28.Kh1 Ng5 ( Not for the first time, or the last time 28...c3 is a logical, aggressive, sensible winning move that I never considered. Sigh. The point is not only to generate threats (queening a pawn being one of them) but to get both rooks really working efficiently ) 29.f4 Ne6 30.Nh3 Qd4 Forgetting the point I made earlier  31.Rxe6! fxe6 32.Qxg6+ Qg7 33.Qxh5 It's still not too late to win the game with c3, but by this time my brain was fibrillating in time trouble (I know in theory only hearts go into fibrillation, but my brain is an exception)  33...Rd5 34.Qe2 e5 35.Ng5 Qf6 36.Qg4 Qg7 37.Qe6+ Kh8 38.Nf7+ Kh7 39.Ng5+ Kh8 40.Nf7+ Kh7 41.Ng5+ Kh8 1/2-1/2

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.d4 cxd4 6.cxd4 Nc6 7.Nc3 Nxc3 8.bxc3 d6 9.Bd3 dxe5 10.dxe5 Qa5 11.O-O Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.Re1 Qc7 14.Rb1 Bd7 15.Qg4 O-O-O 16.Be3 e5 17.Qg3 Kb8 18.Be4

This is a treacherous position for black. The open lines and active pieces pointing at Black's king mandate precise defence.  18...Bc6? leads to trouble  19.Bxc6 Qxc6 20.Qxe5+ Ka8? leads to double trouble  21.Qa5 a6 22.Qxd8+ 1-0

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Nf3 e6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Bxe7 Ncxe7 10.Bd3 Nf4 11.O-O Nxd3 12.Qxd3 Nd5 13.Rac1 O-O 14.Ne5 a6 15.Rfd1 f6 16.Nf3 b5 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 18.b3 Bb7 19.Ne1 Rac8 20.f3 Rfd8 21.Rc5 Qd7 22.Rxc8 Qxc8 23.Nc2 Qc7 24.Qe2 Qb6 25.Kh1 b4 26.Re1 Bd5 27.Qd2 a5 28.Qe2 Kf7 29.Qd3 h6 30.Rd1 Rc8 31.Ne3 Rc3 32.Qd2 Qc6 33.h3 Qc7 34.Qe2 Qb7 35.Re1 Qd7 36.Rd1 Bc6 37.Nc4 Qd5 38.Qe4

38...Qxc4! A nice manoevre to swap into a winning endgame  39.bxc4 Bxe4 40.fxe4 Rxc4 41.Rd2 Ke7 42.Kg1 a4 43.Kf1 b3 44.axb3 axb3 45.Ke2 Rb4 46.Rb2 Rxd4 47.Ke3 Rb4 48.Kd3 Kd6 49.Kc3 Rb6 50.Rd2+ Ke5 51.Re2 b2 0-1

This is a real shame. Matt Veldhuizen has just been gifted a rook. It's hard to see any compensation for White after a sensible move like ...Qg7  35...Nf4+? Oh dear, now this would be a great move, forking king and queen, except...  36.gxf4 ...for the fact that White can just take it.  36...Qe3+ 37.Qg3 ( Maybe the idea was 37.Kg2 Rg8 winning the queen but then  38.Nf7# mate winning the king would have been a little bit embarrassing ) 37...Qe6+ 38.Qg4 Qh6+ 39.Kg3 Okay, so maybe the queen winning thing is now on again?  39...Rg8?? 40.Nf7+ Nope. This is not mate this time but, Houdini suggests it is +26.94 pawns or something which in practice is pretty much just as good as mate!  40...Kh7 41.Qxg8+ Kxg8 42.Nxh6+ 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.O-O O-O 8.Be3 Nc6 9.f4 Bd7 10.Nb3 Rc8 11.Kh1 a6 12.a4 Na5 13.e5 Ne8?

Allowing a combinative finish.  14.Nxa5 Qxa5 15.Nd5 Black cannot avoid an exchange loss...  15...Nc7 (  ...because 15...Qd8 runs into  16.Bb6 ) 16.Nxe7+ Kh8 17.Nxc8 Rxc8 18.Qxd6 1-0

Most players are familiar with that sinking feeling you get when a good position against a strong player starts going south. I had some initiative earlier but I have been beaten back and Black's pieces are taking up good positions. The rooks have been a bit awkward but now look likely to find useful roles on the files that have opened up. For me one pawn is likely to be insufficient compensation for the exchange in any endgame, or once black's rooks get to work in the middlegame.  35.Qe1 I have played enough endings against Anthony to know I needed to avoid trying to compete in that phase with a material disadvantage.  35...Rb7 On the one hand this is bad news from the perspective that I might soon be facing a raging attack down the b and c files. But on the other hand I realised this took away a flight square from the king creating a mating idea on d8.  36.b3 Rhg7 It's tricky to defend the g pawn, so I decided I may as well try and confuse things by unleashing the tactical idea I had spotted a couple of moves earlier   37.Nc4! Qa6 (37...dxc4? 38.Ba5 and wins ) 38.Ba5! A nice combination of attack (against d8) and defence (blocking the a file). I was now out of time completely but at least I've avoided the total passivity and slow decline I was fearing a few moves earlier.   38...Rbe7! ( On Anthony's time I realised that 38...Rxg2? the move I assumed he would play I have  39.Rxd5! setting the board on fire and likely winning the game even with only 30 seconds a move. Unfortunately Anthony is a brilliant player and if I see something like this it is dollars to donuts he will too. ) 39.Qc3 I was happy with this natural move. Now I can move the bishop because I've got a1 covered, and hopefully Anthony's king is feeling heat down the c file. I assumed (correctly as it turned out) that my knight was still immune because then Rd8+ is very strong even though it is no longer mate.  39...Rc7 Played very quickly  40.Qf6? Throwing more wood on the fire, but missing my chance to get out of this alive ( After 40.Bxc7 Rxc7 I have the simple  41.Qa5! trick, and then even I should be able to hold the endgame after  41...Qxa5 42.Nxa5 (White is a pawn up but in practice I would have no chance of winning this one against Anthony). ) 40...dxc4 41.Qf8+ I was somehow imagining a perpetual since I thought the king couldn't hide on a8  41...Kb7 42.Qb4+ Ka8! Bugger, now I realised black can safely interpose on c8. Oh well, I still thought I had a chance....  43.Bxc7 Qa1+ 44.Kd2

...because I am now threatening mate and the queen. That's got to be a good thing right?  44...Rd7+ 45.Bd6 I was hoping this was an extraordinary and brilliant resource...  45...Rxd6+ 46.Qxd6 ...because I am still threatening the queen and I will be an exchange up if he recaptures. This is typical of my notoriously incoherent thought processes in these blitz finishes. The rational part of my brain did recognise that Anthony was playing his moves instantly now, and that this almost certainly meant "I've got this all worked out". Indeed the conclusion from move 41 is in fact Houdini's main line.  46...Qxd1+! 47.Kxd1 Nxd6 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.dxe5 d5 5.Bd3 Bg4 6.Bxe4 dxe4 7.Qxd8+ Kxd8 8.Ng5

8...Nc6 Sacrificing unsoundly. From now on Andrew plays impeccably, first grabbing the material then taking over the initiative himself  9.Nxf7+ Ke8 10.Nxh8 Nd4 11.h3 Be6 12.Kd1 Rd8 13.Nd2 e3 14.fxe3 Nf5 15.Re1 Bc5 16.Ke2 Nxe3 17.Ne4! Bc4+ 18.Kf2 Nxc2+ 19.Nxc5 Nxa1 20.Bg5 Rd5 21.Ne6 Kd7 22.Nxg7! With the simple idea of e6-e7-e8 1-0

Notes by Brian Nijman  1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.e4 b5 6.Qc2 Bb7 7.Bf4 e6 8.Be2 Bb4 9.O-O Bxc3 10.bxc3 c5 11.d5 ?! (11.Qb2 !?  11...a6 12.a4 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Nbd7 14.axb5 e5 15.Nc6 Qc7 16.Qb4 Bxc6 17.bxc6 Qxc6 18.Be3 [White is slightly better] ) 11...exd5 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Rad1 Qf6 ? (13...Nd7 [Black is better] ) 14.Bg5 Qg6 15.Rxd5 Bxd5 16.Qd2 Qe4 ? (16...Qe6 17.Rd1 f6 18.Be3 Nd7 19.Qxd5 Qxd5 20.Rxd5 Rc8 [White is slightly better] ) 17.Nh4 h6 18.Bf3 Qd3 19.Bxd5 hxg5 20.Qxg5

Computer evaluation is now +5.50  20...Qxc3 21.Bxa8 (21.Nf5 !  ) 21...O-O 22.Qxc5 (22.Ng6 !  22...fxg6 23.Bd5+ Rf7 24.Qd8+ ) 22...Qb2 23.Be4 (23.Ng6 !  23...Re8 24.Ne7+ Kf8 (24...Kh7 25.Qh5# ) 25.Re1 ) 23...a5 24.Rb1 (24.Ng6 !  24...Re8 25.Qh5 fxg6 26.Bd5+ Kf8 27.Qh8+ Ke7 28.Re1+ ) (24.Bh7+ ! ) 24...Qf6 25.Nf3 c3 26.Qxb5 Qf4 27.Qf5 Qxf5 28.Bxf5 Nc6 29.Rc1 Nb4 30.a3 Nd5 31.Kf1 Rb8 32.Be4 Nf6 33.Bc2 Rb2 34.Ke2 Ra2 35.a4 Nd5 36.Kd3 Nf4+ 37.Ke3 Nxg2+ 38.Ke4 Rb2 39.Nd4 Rb4 40.Rb1 f5+ 41.Kd3 Nf4+ 42.Kxc3 Nd5+ 43.Kd3 Nf4+ 44.Ke3 (44.Kd2 Rxd4+ 45.Ke3 Ne6 (45...Rb4 46.Rxb4 Nd5+ 47.Kd4 Nxb4 48.Bxf5 Kf7 49.Kc5 Kf6 50.Be4 +- ) 46.Bxf5 Rd6 47.Rb5 +- ) 44...Nd5+ 45.Kd3 Nf4+ [draw agreed] 1/2-1/2

1.c4 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 d6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.e3 e5 6.Nge2 h5 7.d3 h4 8.a3 Bg4 9.Qc2 h3 10.Bf1 Bf3 11.Rg1 Nf6 12.Bd2 Ng4

13.Nc1 Nxh2 14.Be2 Bg2 15.Qd1 Ng4 16.Bxg4 h2 17.Ke2 h1=Q 18.Rxh1 Rxh1 19.Be1 Qg5 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bd7 8.O-O Nxd4 9.Nbd2 Nxf3+ 10.Nxf3 Bb5 11.Bxb5+ Qxb5 12.Nd4 Qd7 13.Qb3 Ne7 14.Be3 Nc6 15.f4 Be7 16.Rac1 O-O 17.Qd1 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 b6 19.Bc3 Rac8 20.Rf3 Rc4 21.b3 Rc7 22.Rd3 Qb5 23.a4 Qd7 24.Qh5 Rfc8 25.g4 g6 26.Qh6 Bf8 27.Qh4

27...d4! Winning more material  28.Rh3 (28.Rxd4 Bc5 ) 28...h6 29.f5 Rxc3 30.Rcxc3 Rxc3 31.fxg6 fxg6 32.Kf2 Rc2+ 33.Ke1 Qd5 34.Kd1 Qg2 35.Re3 Qd2# 0-1

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bh5 7.Bf4 Qb6 8.Nbd2 Nc6 9.Nb3 e6 10.c3 Be7 11.Qe2 Bg6 12.Bb5 a6 13.Bd3 Ne4 14.Ne5 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 Bd6 16.Bxg7 Rg8 17.Bh6 Qc7 18.Bd2 O-O-O 19.c4 Nxd2 20.Nxd2 Bxd3 21.Qxd3 Rxg2 22.cxd5 Bb4

23.Ke2 Threatening either rook to c1 (23.dxe6 Qf4! ) 23...Bxd2 24.Qxd2 Qc4+ 25.Kd1 Qxd5 26.Rc1+ Kb8 27.Rc2 Qf3+ 28.Ke1 Qe4+ This is more than good enough, although ( The computer finds the surprising combinative solution 28...Rg4! ) 29.Qe2 Qxd4 30.Rd2 Allowing a liquidation to a 2 extra pawn rook ending which Black wins easily  30...Qxd2+ 31.Qxd2 Rxd2 32.Kxd2 Rxf2+ 33.Kc3 Kc7 34.Rg1 h5 35.Rg3 e5 36.Rd3 e4 37.Rd4 f5 38.Rc4+ Kd6 39.Rd4+ Ke5 40.Rd7 Rf3+ 41.Kd2 Rd3+ 42.Rxd3 exd3 43.Kxd3 Kf4 44.Ke2 Kg3 45.Ke3 f4+ 46.Ke2 Kg2 0-1

1.e4 c6 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4

White clearly is not concerned with positional niceties, but his daughter is a strong natural positional player and shows how to exploit the self-imposed weaknesses.  4...Nc6 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Bd3 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 e6 8.Nf3 Nf6 9.Be3 Qa5 10.Qb5 Qxb5 11.Nxb5 Rc8 12.Rc1 Bb4+ 13.c3 Be7 14.a4 a6 15.Na3 Bxa3 16.bxa3 Na5 17.O-O Ne4 18.Bd2 Nb3 19.Rc2 Nexd2 20.Nxd2 Nxd2 21.Rxd2 Rxc3 22.Rb1 Rxa3 23.Rxb7 O-O 24.Rc2 Rxa4 25.g3 Rxd4 26.Rc6 a5 27.Kg2 h6 0-1

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 c5 6.O-O a5 7.Na3 e5 8.Ng5 Nc6 9.Ne4 Qe7 10.Nb5 Nf6 11.Nbd6+ Kf8 12.Nxc8 Rxc8 13.f4 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 f5 15.fxe5 Bxe5 16.Bh6+ Ke8 17.Bg2 Qf6 18.Qd2 Kd7 19.Kh1 b6 20.Rab1 Rhg8 21.Bd5

21...g5! Trapping the bishop  22.Bxg8 Rxg8 23.e4 Qxh6 24.Rxf5 Bxg3! Now exploiting a pin  25.Qg2 Bf4? Walking into a pin  26.Rxf4! Ne5 27.Qg3? (27.Rf5! ) 27...Nxd3? The wrong order (27...gxf4 28.Qxg8 Nxd3 = ) 28.Rf7+! Ke8 29.Rbf1 The knight is doomed because of the mate threat on b8 1-0

1.e4 d5 2.e5 Nc6 3.d4 Bd7 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 Bxf3 6.Bxf3 e6 7.Be3 Qd7 8.O-O O-O-O 9.b3 b6 10.c4 Nge7 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Bg4 f5 13.exf6 Nf5 14.Qf3 Qd6 15.Bxf5+ Kb8 16.fxg7 Bxg7 17.Qg3 Nxd4 18.Qxg7 Nf3+ 19.gxf3 Rhg8 20.Bd4 Qe7 21.Kh1 Rxg7 22.Bxg7 Qxg7 23.Nd2 d4 24.Be4 d3 25.Rg1 Qd4 26.Raf1 a5 27.Bxh7 Qc3 28.Rd1 Rh8 29.Rg8+ Rxg8 30.Bxg8 Qc2 31.Rg1 Qxd2 32.Rg2 Qe1+ 33.Rg1

33...Qxg1+! Nice!  34.Kxg1 d2 35.Kg2 d1=Q 36.h4 Qd7 37.Kg3 Qg7+ 38.Kf4 Qxg8 39.Ke5 Qf8 40.f4 Qe7+ 41.Kd5 c6+ 42.Kxc6 Qe6+ 43.Kb5 Qd7+ 44.Kxb6 Qc7+ 45.Kb5 Kb7 46.h5 Qc6+ 47.Kxa5 Qc5+ 48.Ka4 Qxh5 49.b4 Kb6 50.Kb3 Qf3+ 51.Kc4 Qxf4+ 52.Kb3 Kb5 53.a4+ Ka6 54.b5+ Kb6 55.Ka3 Ka5 56.Kb3 Qxa4+ 57.Kc3 Qb4+ 58.Kd3 Qxb5+ 59.Ke4 Qe2+ 0-1

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.g3 e5 5.Nc3 Nd7 6.dxe5 dxe5 7.Bg2 Ngf6 8.O-O O-O 9.Bg5 h6 10.Be3 c6 11.h3 Qe7 12.Qd2 Nb6 13.b3 Rd8 14.Qc1 Kh7 15.Nh4 Nh5 16.Ne4

White's pieces are already slightly muddled and black has a shot to further confuse them.  16...Nf4! 17.Bxf4? Removing the invader without making structural concessions is tempting, but white's position cannot actually sustain this. It was necessary to grovel in a bad position  17...exf4 18.Rb1 g5 19.Nf3 Bf5 The two bishops on adjacent beautiful diagonals ensure material gains for Black. Amusingly exactly the same theme on the same diagonals appeared this week in both Whittle-Nyberg and Forster-Brockway. White managed to survive (just) in only one of these games.  20.c5 Bxe4 21.cxb6 fxg3 22.fxg3 a6 23.Qc4 Bxb1 24.Rxb1 White resigned shortly 0-1

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 h6 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bd3 c5 9.Nge2 c4 10.Bc2 Be6 11.Nf4 O-O 12.Qf3 Nc6 13.O-O Nb4 14.Bb1 Bg5 15.Nh5 g6 16.Ng3 f5 17.Nge2 Qd6 18.g3 Rad8 19.h4 Be7 20.a3 Nc6 21.Nf4 Bf7

A very unbalanced and interesting position has arrived on the board. White has been trying to 'soften up' Black's kingside, and certainly there are now weaknesses there. But levering open lines is clearly going to be very double-edged...  22.g4?! It seems this has been the point of White's play. I noticed that when 'looking' at the diagrammed position Houdini briefly declares 22.g4 as its first choice but then quickly changes its mind. Clearly it sees something nasty hidden in the future...  22...Bxh4 23.gxf5 Bg5! Black has a narrow path to tread and Scott finds it unerringly. White has tactical problems based on f file pins and the fact that the e3 pawn is overloaded, defending both d4 and f4.  24.fxg6 Be6 25.Nce2 Bxf4

26.exf4 ( Houdini insists the only way for White to keep the game going is to play 26.Qh5 Bg5 27.f4 Bf6 28.Qxh6 with 2 pawns, some space and an attack for the piece. This doesn't look an attractive option to human eyes. ) 26...Nxd4! Decisive  27.Nxd4 Rxf4 28.Qh5 Rxd4 ( A nice computer finish is 28...Rg4+ 29.Kh1 Qf4 with the unstoppable threat  30.-- Rh4+ ) 29.Qxh6 Rg4+ 30.Kh1 Qe7! 31.Qh7+ Kf8! A classy final touch  32.g7+ Allows an attractive finish but (32.Qh8+ Bg8 33.g7+ Qxg7 34.Qxg7+ Rxg7 35.Rg1 Re8 36.Bf5 Re2 is a hopeless endgame ) 32...Qxg7 33.Qh2 Kf7 34.Qh5+ Ke7 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Ne2 c5 6.c3 c4 7.d4 cxd3 8.Ned4 Nc6

9.Qa4? This leads to difficulties  9...Nc5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Qd4 ( Of course not 11.Qxc6+ Bd7 trapping the queen ) 11...Ba6 12.Nd2 Nd7 13.Nb3 Qb6 14.Be3 c5 15.Qf4 Qb8 16.O-O-O c4 17.Nd4 Qb7 18.Kb1 Ba3 19.Bc1 Nc5

Black's position is rather beautiful  20.b4 An understandable attempt to break the shackles  20...Bxb4! Just like last week, Mark grabs the opportunity to sac a piece to strengthen his attack even more  21.cxb4 Qxb4+ 22.Ka1 Rb8 23.Nb3 Nxb3+ 24.axb3 Qxb3 And now mate in three 0-1

1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 e6 6.d3 Bd6 7.g4 Qb6 8.a3 Nd7 9.Bg2 d4 10.Nd1 h6 11.h4 Ne5 12.Qe2 Ng6 13.Qf3 Ne5 14.Qe2 Ng6 15.Qf3 Qc7 16.c3 c5 17.cxd4 cxd4 18.Bd2 Ne5 19.Qe2 Qc2 20.Rh3 Ne7 21.Rc1 Qb3 22.f4 N5c6 23.e5 Bc7 24.Be4 Nd5 25.Qf3 O-O-O 26.Rc5 Bb6 27.Bxd5 exd5 28.Rc1 Kb8 29.Rh2 Rhe8 30.Re2 Rc8 31.Kf1 Ba5 32.Be1 Bxe1 33.Kxe1 Na5 34.Rxc8+ Rxc8 35.Rd2 Qb5 36.Qe2 Nb3 37.Rc2 Nc5 38.Nf2 Qb3

White must be careful  39.Qd2? Nxd3+! winning on the spot  40.Qxd3 White lost on time 0-1

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Be2 dxc4 6.Bxc4 b5 7.Be2 a6 8.O-O Nbd7 9.Nbd2 Bb7 10.b3 c5 11.Bb2 Bd6 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.a4 b4 14.Rc1 Rc8 15.Nc4 O-O 16.Nd6 Bxd6 17.Qxd6 Qa5 18.Qg3 Bd5 19.Ne5 g6 20.Nc4 Qd8 21.Qf4 a5 22.Qd4 h5

23.Ne5! (23.Ne5 Nxe5 24.Rxc8! Qxc8 25.Qxe5 ) (23.Ne5 Qb6 24.Nxd7 Qxd4 25.Nxf6+! Qxf6 26.Bxf6 ) 1-0

1.d4 b5 2.e4 Ba6 3.Nf3 e6 4.a4 b4 5.c4 Nf6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bd3 h6 8.Bh4 d6 9.b3 Nbd7 10.Nbd2 c5 11.d5 e5 12.Nf1 Nh5 13.Bxe7 Qxe7 14.Ne3 Nf4 15.g3 Nxd3+ 16.Qxd3 Bc8 17.Nh4 g6 18.Rf1 a5 19.Nhg2 Nf6 20.f4 Bh3 21.f5 g5 22.Rf2 Kd7 23.Kd2 Kc7 24.Ne1 Rad8 25.Nf3 Rdg8 26.Ng1 g4 27.Nd1 h5 28.Nxh3 gxh3 29.Re2

29...h4 30.Nf2 hxg3 31.hxg3 h2 32.Rh1 Nh5 33.Re3 Qg5 34.Nh3 Qg4 35.Nf2 Qg5 36.Rxh2 Nxg3 37.Rxh8 Rxh8 38.Kc2 Rh2 39.Rxg3 Rxf2+ 40.Kb1 Qf4? A pity, this is the only poor move in the attack. Q to the h file is an obvious immediate win due to the lawnmower mate threat.  41.Rg7? Returning the favour, White could battle on with Qe3 but now it's all over (again)  41...Rf1+ 42.Qxf1 Qxf1+ 43.Kc2 Qe2+ 44.Kc1 Qe3+ 45.Kb2 Qc3+ 46.Ka2 Qc2+ 47.Ka1 Qxb3 48.Rxf7+ Kd8 Or something like that. Black won in a few more moves 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 c5 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Be2 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Be3 a6 9.a3 d6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Qd2 Rb8 12.Rab1 e5 13.Rfd1 Qc7 14.Bg5 Rd8 15.Kh1 h6 16.Be3

16...d5! An important Sicilian theme. In this game the Sicilian central majority dominates the board. White cannot afford insipid play in the Open Sicilian  17.exd5 cxd5 18.Bxh6 Desperation already  18...gxh6 19.Qxh6 Bf5 20.Qg5+ Bg6 21.Rd3 Ne4! Very nice  22.Qe3 d4 23.Qf3 Nxc3 24.Rxc3 dxc3 25.b3 Rb6 26.Qg3 Kf8 27.Qh3 Bf6 28.Re1 Rd2 29.Qh6+ Bg7 0-1

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 e6 4.d4 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.Nbd2 Nbd7 7.c4 c6 8.Qc2 dxc4 9.Nxc4 Nb6 10.Nce5 Qc7 11.e4 Nbd7 12.Bf4 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 Qd7 14.Rad1 Rd8 15.h4 Qe8 16.Rfe1 Ng4 17.Bc7 Rd7 18.Bf4 Bd6 19.Bxd6 Rxd6

White's position belongs in an art gallery  20.e5 Rd8 21.Bh3 f5 22.Bxg4 fxg4 23.Ng5 Qg6 24.Qxg6 hxg6 25.Re4 Rd5 26.Rxg4 Bd7 27.Rf4 Rf8 28.Re4 Bc8 29.Kf1 Rfd8 30.Rf4 Rf8 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.Ke2 Ke7 33.b4 b6 34.Ke3 c5 35.bxc5 bxc5 36.f4 cxd4+ 37.Rxd4 Rxd4 38.Kxd4

The extra pawn, the broken Black pawns, and the superiority of the knight make this ending an easy win. White wraps up nicely.  38...Ba6 39.a4 Be2 40.Kc5 Bd3 41.a5 a6 42.Nf3 Kd7 43.Nd4 Be4 44.Kb6 Bd3 45.Nc6 Bb5 46.Nb8+ Kc8 47.Nxa6 Bxa6 48.Kxa6 Kb8 49.Kb6 Ka8 50.Kc6 1-0

1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e5 3.Bg2 Bc5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.d3 h6 7.a3 Be6 8.O-O O-O 9.b4 Bb6 10.Na4 Qc8 11.Nxb6 axb6 12.Re1 Re8 13.Bb2 e4 14.Nd2 e3

15.Bxf6? An instructive mistake. To avoid mistakes like this (Matt I'm talking to you, I know you read these reports) think about all the (re)captures available to your opponent. In this position you are apparently offering him a choice of two...  15...exd2! But actually by capturing this way first he gets to take both your pieces at the cost of one of his!  16.Qxd2 gxf6 17.Qxh6 White has two pawns for the piece and Black's structure doesn't look good, but Black actually cruises home very comfortably  17...Qd8 18.e3 Bf5 19.d4 Be4 20.f3 Bg6 21.Bh3 Re7 22.Red1 Qf8 23.Qf4 Kg7 24.e4 Qh8 25.Bg2 Qh6 26.Qxh6+ Kxh6 27.g4 Kg5 28.Kf2 Kf4 29.h4 Ree8 30.h5 Bh7 31.d5? Matt insists on putting all his pawns on the same coloured square as his bishop and invites the knight into a dominant outpost!  31...Ne5 32.Rd4 Ra4 33.Rdd1 Rea8 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 e5 4.Bc4 Be7 5.Bd5 Nf6 6.Bxc6 bxc6 7.Nxe5 O-O 8.O-O Qc7 9.f4 Ba6 10.d3 d5 11.Qf3 Rad8 12.Ng4 dxe4 13.Nxf6+ Bxf6 14.Nxe4 Be7 15.b3 Qb6 16.Kh1 h6 17.Bb2 c4 18.Qg4 f6 19.Qe6+ Rf7 20.dxc4 Bc8 21.c5 Bxc5 22.Qc4 Be7

23.Rad1? Ba6! 24.Rxd8+ Bxd8 25.Qe6 Bxf1 26.Qe8+ Rf8 27.Qe6+ Kh8 28.Ba3 Rg8 29.Nd6 Qa5 30.Nf7+ Kh7 31.Qe4+ f5 0-1

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.d3 Bg7 5.Nc3 O-O 6.O-O c6 7.e4 d4 8.Ne2 c5 9.Bg5 Nc6 10.Qc1 Re8 11.Rd1 e5 12.Nh4 Qd6 13.a3 a5 14.Bh6 Nh5 15.Bxg7 Nxg7 16.Rf1 f5 17.exf5 Nxf5 18.Nxf5 Bxf5 19.f3 Re7 20.g4 Bd7 21.Ng3 Rf7 22.Ne4 Qe7 23.Qg5 Qxg5 24.Nxg5 Rff8 25.Ne4 Rf7 26.Nxc5 Bc8 27.Rf2 b6 28.Ne4 Be6 29.Ng5 Rf6 30.Nxe6 Rxe6 31.f4 exf4 32.Bd5 Re8 33.Re1 Nd8 34.Rxf4 Kg7 35.Bxe6 Rxe6 36.Rxe6 Nxe6 37.Re4 Kf6 38.Kf2 g5 39.Kg3 Ke7 40.h4 Kf6

41.Rxe6+! The computer hates this move but to me it is very instructive and a great example for lower rated players to keep in mind. White is winning easily but the best way of killing the game immediately is to eliminate Black's only piece and liquidate to a pawn ending that offers Black no possibilities at all. This week also saw Ian Sellen winning an ending elegantly with a very logical endgame pseudo-sacrifice  41...Kxe6 42.hxg5 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 Bg7 4.Nc3 d6 5.e4 O-O 6.Bd3 e5 7.d5 c6 8.Be3 Re8 9.Qd2 Nh5 10.Nge2 Qh4+ 11.Bf2 Qe7 12.O-O Na6 13.Ng3 Nf4 14.Be3 Qg5 15.Nce2 Nxe2+ 16.Nxe2 Qe7 17.b4 Bd7 18.dxc6 bxc6 19.c5 Nc7 20.cxd6 Qxd6 21.Bc5 Qe6 22.Rac1 Qf6 23.Bc4 Be6 24.Qe3 Bxc4 25.Rxc4 Ne6 26.Bxa7 Nf4 27.Nxf4 Bh6 28.g3 exf4 29.Qb6 fxg3 30.hxg3 Qd6 31.Kg2 Qd2+ 32.Rf2 Qe1 33.Qxc6 Rec8 34.Qb7 Rd8 35.Rc7

35...Rd1?! Strictly speaking I should use ?? as in fact Black has a win on the board with a quite different move, but I salute Andreas' brave sacrifice. (35...Rxa7!! 36.Qxa7 Be3 ) 36.Qxa8+ Bf8 37.Kh3 Qh1+ 38.Rh2 I am sure Andreas had calculated the alternative to a win :-) (38.Kg4 Qh5+ 39.Kf4 Qh6+ 40.Kg4 f5+ 41.exf5 Qh5+ 42.Kf4 Qxf5+ 43.Ke3 Qd3+ 44.Kf4 Qd6+ 45.Ke3 Qxc7 ) 38...Qf1+ 39.Kg4! h5+! 40.Kh4? ( The computer finds an advantage for White in 40.Rxh5 gxh5+ 41.Kf4 hiding from all checks ) 40...Qxf3! 41.Rf2? Missing mate on the move. But congratulations to both players for a very exciting conclusion. ( The computer keeps the game going only by the miraculous sequence 41.Qxf8+ Kxf8 42.Rxf7+ Kxf7 43.Rf2 Qxf2 44.Bxf2 with advantage to Black.  ) 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3 e6 6.cxd4 d6 7.Bc4 Nc6 8.O-O Be7 9.Qe2 O-O 10.Qe4 Qc7 11.Re1 Bd7 12.Ng5 Bxg5 13.Bxg5 Nce7 14.Na3 a6 15.Bd3 Ng6 16.Nc4 dxe5 17.Nxe5 f5 18.Qf3 Nxe5 19.Rxe5 Nb4 20.Rc1 Qb6 21.Bc4 Qxd4 22.Bxe6+ Bxe6 23.Rxe6 Rae8 24.Qb3 Rxe6 25.Qxe6+ Kh8 26.Qxf5 Rg8 27.h4 Nc6 28.Qc2 h6 29.Qg6

An exciting battle is nearing its climax. White is a pawn up, is attacking, and black's rook is entirely passive. However the computer evaluation is that black has several moves to hold the balance. Of course taking the bishop immediately is impossible because of Qh5 mate  29...Ne5 This is a decent option, but perhaps more logical is (29...Qg4! h5 is protected, and the bishop is now pinned. Furthermore after the forced sequence  30.f3 Qd4+ 31.Kf1 Rf8 the mate on h5 is gone and curiously there is no safe square for the bishop so  32.Bxh6 gxh6 33.Qxh6+ and there is no perpetual although white has rough material equality and all three results remain possible ) 30.Qh5 (30.Bf6 Qxf2+ 31.Kxf2 Nxg6 32.Bd4 = is another option ) 30...Ng4! counter attacking  31.Qf7 forced  31...hxg5 (31...Qxb2 might be better ) 32.Qh5+ Nh6 33.hxg5 Qd2 ( again 33...Qxb2 might be better as  34.Rc7?? Qa1+ loses to  35.Kh2 Qe5+ ) 34.Rd1 Qf4 (34...Qa5 pinning is more resilient ) 35.gxh6 gxh6 36.g3! White has neutralised all black's tricks and emerges with the extra pawn intact, a strengthening attack and now no counterplay for black  36...Qf6 37.Rd7 Rf8 38.Qe2 Rf7 39.Qe8+ ( After say 39.Qe8+ Rf8 40.Qe3 b5 black can grovel on but it won't be a lot of fun against renowned endgame maestro Ker ) 1-0

1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.exd5 Nxd5 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 Nc6 6.Nxd5 Qxd5 7.d3 e5 8.O-O Be7 9.Re1 h6? Losing a pawn cold  10.Nxe5! Bxe2 11.Qxe2 Nd4?! 12.Qd1 a safe response ( but 12.Qg4! +/- was greedy but good ) 12...O-O 13.c3 Ne6 14.Qg4 Bf6 15.d4 c5 16.Be3 (16.Bxh6 was interesting and playable, of course computers don't have fear ) 16...cxd4 17.Bxd4 Rfd8

18.Nc6! Well played Marany, a second unpleasant tactical surprise for Russell before move 20  18...h5! A resourceful response  19.Bxf6 hxg4 20.Ne7+ Kf8 21.Nxd5 Rxd5 22.Bh4? This sidelines the bishop (22.Be5! is better with c4 to follow controlling b2 with the bishop  22...f6? 23.Bxf6! is not a problem for white ) 22...Rd2 Now black is getting sufficient counterplay  23.Rab1 Re8 24.Bg3 Red8 25.Kf1 g5 26.Re2 Nc5 27.Ke1 R2d5 28.f3 gxf3 29.gxf3 Rf5 30.Kf2 Rd3 31.Re3 g4 32.f4 Rd2+ 33.Re2 Nd3+ It's almost surprising that this rather dramatic incursion of black's forces leads to no more than restoration of material equality  34.Ke3 Rxe2+ 35.Kxe2 Nxf4+ 36.Bxf4 Rxf4 37.Rd1 Re4+ 38.Kf2 Ra4 39.a3 This ending looks to be about equal. I am a little surprised Russell didn't try to make something out of nothing. 1/2-1/2

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 b5 5.Bb3 Be7 6.a4 Bb7 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.d3 O-O 9.O-O b4 10.Nd5 d6 11.a5 Nd4 12.Nxd4 Nxd5 13.exd5 exd4 14.Bd2 c5 15.dxc6 Bxc6 16.Bxb4 Rb8 17.Bd2 Bg5 18.f4 Bh6 19.Qh5 Rb5 20.Qh3 Bd7 21.Qg3 Rf5 22.Bc4 Qa8 23.Qf2 Rf6 24.Qxd4 Rg6 25.Bd5 Bc6 26.Bxc6 Qxc6 27.Rf2 Qxc2

28.f5! Winning outright because it simultaneously threatens the rook and a discovered attack on the queen through Bxh6  28...Bxd2 29.fxg6 hxg6 30.Qe4 Rc8 31.Qe2 Qxb2 32.Rd1 Rc2 33.Rxd2 Rc1+ 34.Rf1 Qd4+ 35.Kh1 Rc3 36.Qe8+ Kh7 37.Qxf7 Qe3 38.Rdf2 Rc5 39.Rf3 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Bd3 Bb7 6.Nf3 O-O 7.O-O c5 8.Bd2 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Nc6 10.Ne4 Be7 11.Nb5 Ne5 12.Nxf6+ Bxf6 13.Bc3 d5 14.Bxe5 Bxe5

15.Bxh7+! A nice mini combination  15...Kxh7 16.Qh5+ Kg8 17.Qxe5 dxc4 18.Nd6 Ba6 19.Rac1? Black's next move means that it would have been better to move the king's rook  19...c3! 20.Rfd1 cxb2 21.Qxb2 Qg5 22.Rc2 (22.Rc7! is natural and good ) 22...Rfd8 23.Rdd2? A second rather ungainly rook move  23...Qe7 24.Rc6

The players now exchange serious errors  24...Qd7? This should lose  25.Rdc2?? But instead it wins (25.Nf5!! ) 25...Bb7! 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 O-O 7.e4 d6 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.Ne2 b6 10.O-O e5 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bh4 Bb7 13.d5 Na5 14.f4 exf4

15.Nxf4!! This is an impressive, entirely computer approved piece sacrifice  15...g5 16.Nh5 Nxh5 17.Qxh5 Kg7 It was probably better to grab the piece when white has to work hard to justify the sac ( But after say 17...gxh4 18.Qxh6 f5 19.Qg6+ Kh8 20.Rxf5 Rxf5 21.Qh6+ Kg8 22.exf5 white's material minus is small and more importantly black still can't mobilise reinforcements quickly so all of white's pieces together make black's king easy meat. ) 18.e5 dxe5 19.Rf5! The only correct follow-up according to Houdini, which initially awards white a score of +24 pawns (that's a win incidentally) then amends it to mate in 13 (also a win)  19...Bc8 20.Bxg5 hxg5 21.Rxg5+ Kf6 22.Rxe5 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Bd3 c5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Ne2 a6 7.Bf4 c4 8.Bc2 b5 9.Nd2 Nge7 10.Nf3 Ng6 11.Bg5 f6 12.Be3 Bd6 13.h4 Be6 14.h5 Nge7 15.Nf4 Bf5 16.Bxf5 Nxf5 17.Nxd5 Bg3 18.fxg3 Qxd5 19.Bf2 O-O 20.O-O Rfe8 21.Re1 Nh6 22.Nd2 Rxe1+ 23.Qxe1 f5 24.Qe2 Ng4 25.Re1 Rc8 26.b3 cxb3 27.Nxb3 Nf6 28.Nc5 Re8 29.Qf3 Rxe1+ 30.Bxe1 a5 31.Qe2 b4 32.Qa6 Ne7 33.Qxa5 bxc3 34.Bxc3 Nxh5 35.Qc7 Kf7 36.Nb3 Nf6 37.Bb4 Ng8 38.Bc5 Qe4 39.Qa5 Qb1+ 40.Kf2 Nf6 41.Bxe7 Ng4+ 42.Ke2 Qe4+

43.Kd1?? (43.Kd2 = ) 43...Ne3+! Neatly wins the king or queen 0-1

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 Qa5 5.Bd2 Nbd7 6.Be2 Qc7 7.O-O e5 8.h3 Be7 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.Re1 O-O 11.Bc4 Nc5 12.b4 Ne6 13.Bxe6 Bxe6 14.a3 Bc4 15.Bg5 Rad8 16.Qb1 Nh5 17.Bxe7 Qxe7 18.Qb2 Nf4 19.Na4 f6 20.Nc3 Qf7 21.Kh2 Qh5

22.Qc1 ( Black has a model Philidor position and white cannot reasonably avoid material loss, eg 22.Re3 Be6 23.Ng1 Rd2 would be devastating ) 22...Nxh3! 23.gxh3 Qxf3 24.Qe3 Qxe3 25.Rxe3 Rd2 The rest is, as they say a matter of technique. Lawrence fought to the end and I must say I greatly enjoyed slowly strangling him to death. Does that make me a bad person?  26.Kg3 Rfd8 27.Rc1 Kf7 28.Kg2 g5 29.Ree1 h5 30.Nd1 Be6 31.Ne3 R2d4 32.Nf1 Rc4 33.Ng3 h4 34.Nf5 Bxf5 35.exf5 Ke7 36.Re3 Rd2 37.c3 Rf4 38.Rf3 Re4 39.a4 Ree2 40.Kg1 e4 41.Re3 Rxe3 42.fxe3 Re2 43.Rd1 Rxe3 44.Rd4 Rxh3 45.Rxe4+ Kf7 46.Rd4 Ke7 47.c4 Re3 48.Rd2 Re5 49.Rf2 Kf7 50.Rd2 Rxf5 51.Rd7+ Kg6 52.Rxb7 Rf4 53.Rxa7 Rxc4 54.Rb7 c5 55.a5 cxb4 56.a6 Rc6 57.a7 Ra6 58.Rxb4 Rxa7 59.Kg2 Ra3 60.Rb2 Kh5 61.Rb8 Ra2+ 62.Kg1 f5 63.Rh8+ Kg4 64.Rg8 f4 65.Rb8 Kg3 66.Rb1 f3 67.Kh1 Rh2+ 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.Ngf3 Nf6 7.Bc4 Qc6 8.Qe2 Nbd7 9.O-O a6 10.Nb3 Ba7 11.Bd3 b5 12.Be3 Bb7 13.Bxa7 Rxa7 14.Na5 Qc5 15.Nxb7 Rxb7 16.Rfe1 Nd5 17.Be4 N7f6 18.Bxd5 Nxd5 19.c3 O-O 20.Rad1 Rd7 21.Ne5 Rd6 22.Qf3 Qc7 23.Nd3 Rfd8 24.Nc1 Nf4 25.Rxd6 Qxd6 26.g3

26...Qd2! Black establishes a positional advantage for the endgame and makes it tell in convincing fashion  27.Qe3 Qxe3 28.fxe3 Nh3+ 29.Kg2 Ng5 30.Nb3 Ne4 31.Kf3 f5 32.Ke2 Kf7 33.Rd1 Rxd1 34.Kxd1 g5 35.Nd2 Nxd2 36.Kxd2 Kf6 37.Kd3 Ke5 38.b3 h5 39.a3 Kd5 40.h3 e5 41.h4 g4 42.a4 bxa4 43.bxa4 a5

44.c4+ Kc5 45.Kc3 f4!! The thematic winning move  46.exf4 exf4 47.gxf4 g3 48.f5 g2 0-1

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.c4 d6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.Be2 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.a4 e5 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.Qc2 Qc7 11.Be3 Ng4 12.Bg5 Nc5 13.h3 Nf6 14.Rfd1 Ne8

15.Bd8! Qb8 Black is rather fortunate to have this square  16.Be7 Winning the exchange, Mike never lets up from here and converts handily  16...Nd7 17.b4 f5 18.Bxf8 Nxf8 19.c5 Kh8 20.Bc4 h6 21.Rd8 Nf6 22.Be6 Qc7 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Bxc8 Qxc8 25.Nd2 f4 26.Nc4 Ne8 27.Qd3 Bf6 28.Rd1 Qc7 29.Nd6 Ng7 30.Qc4 Nfe6 31.Ne8 Qe7 32.Nxf6 Qxf6 33.Rd7 Nd8 34.Qd3 Nge6 35.Qd6 g5

36.Nd5! Very nice  36...cxd5 37.exd5 e4 38.dxe6 Qa1+ 39.Kh2 Nc6 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Be2 O-O 8.g4 Qa5? (8...d5! In one move llustratess the single most important idea in the accerated dragon  ) 9.Nb3 Qd8 10.g5 Ne8 11.h4 d6 12.h5 f6 13.hxg6 hxg6 14.Bc4+ e6 15.Qg4 Qd7 16.O-O-O Ne5 17.Qe2 Nxc4 18.Qxc4 b6 19.Rh2 Bb7 20.Nd4 Kf7 21.Rh7 Rh8 22.Rdh1 Rxh7 23.Rxh7 Nc7 24.gxf6 Kxf6

25.f4 (25.Nxe6!! To vacate d4 for a deadly bishop check. Of course it is easy to find this stuff when you are using an analysis engine! ) 25...Kf7 26.f5 d5 27.Qf1 exf5 28.exf5 Kg8 29.fxg6 Rf8 30.Qd3 Ba6 31.Qd2 Rf6 32.Bh6 Rxg6 33.Rxg7+ Rxg7 34.Bxg7 Qxg7 35.Nf5 Qg1+ 36.Nd1 Qc5 37.Qg5+ Kf8

38.Qf6+ (38.b4! Qxb4 39.Qg7+ Ke8 40.Qxc7 and wins. But see previous note ) 38...Ke8 39.Qg6+ Kd7 40.Qg7+ Kc8 41.Qg5 Kb7 42.Nc3 Qf2 43.Nd1 Qf1 44.Ne3 Qf7 45.Nf5 Qe6 46.Nd4 Qe8 47.Qg2 Qe7 48.Nc3 Qd7 49.b4 Bc4 50.a4 Qe7 51.Qd2 Qxb4 After hanging in there bravely the whole game, Andrew finally has some fun.  52.Kd1 Qa3 53.Ncb5 Qa1+ 54.Qc1 Qxc1+ 55.Kxc1 Nxb5 56.Nxb5 Bxb5 57.axb5 a6 58.bxa6+ Kxa6 59.Kd2 Kb5 60.Kd3 Kc5 61.c3 Kd6 62.Kd4 b5 63.Kd3 Kc5

Get ready for an instructive mistake  64.Kc2? (64.Kd2! Kc4 65.Kc2 draw ) 64...Kc4! The opposition is all important  65.Kd2 d4 66.cxd4 Kxd4 67.Kc2 Kc4 68.Kb2 Kb4 69.Kc2 Ka3 70.Kb1 b4 71.Ka1 b3 72.Kb1 b2 0-1

1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Qd4 Ross has obviously noted the way Scott has been battering Anthony's Pirc with this sideline for a couple of years now.  7...O-O  ( At Congress Anthony played 7...dxc5 and lost ) 8.cxd6 Nxe4!? Houdini quite likes this attempt - has Anthony done some work on this line? ( Previous Wastney-Ker games have seen 8...Nc6 in this position ) 9.Qxe4 Bxc3+

10.Bd2 Houdini wants white to sac the exchange but Ross is made of blood, bone and (in this situation I'm sure) sweat. However the two high level games I have in my database from this position, did see white recapturing on c3 and winning brilliantly soon after.  10...Bxd2+ 11.Nxd2 exd6 12.Kd1? Black was obviously doing well, but this ugly move is unlikely to be a good idea.   12...Nc6 13.Nb3 Qc7 14.Bd3 Bg4+ 15.Kd2 Rfe8 16.Qa4 Qb6! 17.Rhf1 ( The problem is 17.Rae1 fails to   17...Qf2+ winning a rook which leaves white without a viable method of holding his position together. Now carnage ensues. ) 17...Qe3+ 18.Kc3 b5 19.Qxb5 Rab8 20.Rae1 Rxb5 21.Rxe3 Rxe3 22.Kd2 Rxd3+ 23.Kxd3 Nb4+ 24.Kc4 Be2+ 0-1

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.Nc3 g6 5.Qb3 c6 6.e4 Nb6 7.a4 Be6 8.Qc2 a5 9.Ng5 Qc8 10.b3 Bg7 11.Bb2

11...h6? The loose piece on g7 means that this is a fatal indulgence  12.Nxe6 Qxe6 13.Nb5 cxb5 14.Bxg7 Rh7 15.Bxb5+ N8d7 16.Bc3 Kf8 17.O-O Nf6 18.Rae1 h5 19.d4 h4 20.d5 Qc8 21.Qd2 Nbd7 22.e5 #White has only won a single pawn, but the positional gains are extraordinary. White's position wouldn't look out of place in an art gallery.  22...Ng4 23.h3 Nh6 24.e6 fxe6 25.Rxe6 Nc5 26.Rxg6 Qf5 27.Rxh6 Ne4 28.Qe3 Nxc3 29.Rxh7 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.a3 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 b6 6.Nf3 Ba6 7.e4 Nxe4 8.Qc2 f5 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.h4 O-O 11.Ng5 Nxg5 12.Bxg5 Qe8 13.O-O-O Bxg2 14.Rhg1 Bf3 15.Rde1 Qh5 16.Re3 Nc6 17.Bf4 Be4 18.Bxe4 fxe4 19.Qxe4 Qf5 20.Bh6 Rf7 21.Qh1 Qf6 22.Bg5 Qxf2 23.Reg3 Raf8 24.Qe4 Qa2

25.Bf4? After this Scott realises his material advantage without problems. ( After a dodgy opening Peter could have gotten back into the game with the nice shot 25.Bf6! which forces white to give queen for rook and bishop ) 25...Qxa3+ 26.Kd2 Kh8 27.d5 Rxf4 28.Qxf4 Rxf4 29.Rxg7 Ne7 30.Ke3 Nf5+ 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.Nf3 d6 6.O-O c5 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.e3 Rb8 9.Qe2 b6 10.Bd2 a6 11.a4 Bb7 12.d5 Re8 13.e4 e6 14.dxe6 Rxe6 15.Ng5 Re8 16.f4 h6 17.Nh3 Nxe4 18.Nxe4 f5 19.Bc3 Bxe4 20.Bxg7 Kxg7 21.Rad1 Nf6 22.b4 Bxg2 23.Qxg2 Ne4 24.g4 Kf7 25.gxf5 gxf5

Black has a nice positional and material advantage, an upset seemed on the cards  26.Rd5!? Setting a nice trap   26...Rg8? Falling into it, black imagines he is winning material due to the g file pin.  27.Ng5+! The key move ( The obvious 27.Rxf5+ allows the black's knight to survive ) 27...hxg5 28.Rxf5+ Ke6? not the best, but black is already much worse  29.Qxe4+ Kd7 30.Rf7+ Kc8 31.Qe6+ with mate next move 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 O-O 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Nge2 a6 8.g4 b5 9.Qd2 e5 10.d5 Na5 11.Ng3 Bd7 12.cxb5 axb5 13.Nxb5

Black has a simple winning shot available  13...Qb8? Nope  14.a4? Missing the opportunity to escape  14...Nb3! Not missing the opportunity a second time 0-1

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 e6 5.O-O Be7 6.d4 O-O 7.Qc2 Nbd7 8.b3 c5 9.Nc3 cxd4 10.Nxd4 dxc4 11.bxc4 Nb6

White's c pawn looks weak but the dynamic factors favour White  12.Rd1! Setting a nice trap  12...Nfd7! ( I was looking forward to 12...Qc7 13.Ndb5 Qxc4 14.Rd4 Qc5 15.Ba3 winning the queen for rook and bishop, but Layla worked that all out and instead hunkers down ) 13.Rb1 e5 14.Nf5 Bc5 15.Be3 Qf6 16.Nd5 Nxd5 17.cxd5 Bxe3 18.Nxe3 I have a decent, but less than overwhelming advantage, and I've spent an awful lot of time without killing the game off.  18...Nb6 19.a4? With only 10 minutes on my clock I play my first rushed move, and immediately it's a mistake  19...Bd7! Layla can now untangle  20.Rb4 Rac8 21.Qb3 Rc5 22.Nc4 Nxc4 23.Rxc4 Rxc4 24.Qxc4 Rc8 25.Qb3 Qa6 26.Rb1 b6 27.Qb2 f6 28.d6 Qxa4 29.Bd5+ Kh8 30.Ra1 Qd4 31.Qxd4 exd4 32.Rxa7 Bh3 33.Ra8 Rxa8 34.Bxa8 This is a really interesting, unbalanced, dynamically equal endgame. In such positions one really needs some time to think, but it must be said that Layla plays much better than me in the complications and fully exploits my lack of time. In the past endgame play hasn't been her strength, but on this showing I think those days are over!  34...Bd7 35.Bd5 g5 36.Kg2 Kg7 37.Kf3 f5! Embarrassing my king  38.Kg2? Retreating like this is hopeless, I had to accept I wasn't going to own the centre with my king, it wasn't too late to at least claim a share of the centre though.  38...Kf6 39.Kf1 Ke5 40.Bg8 h6 41.Ke1 Kxd6 42.Kd2 Kc5 43.f4 gxf4 44.gxf4 b5 45.Bb3 Bc6 46.e3 dxe3+ 47.Kxe3 Be4 48.Kd2 Kd4 49.Bd1 Bd5 50.Bc2 Be4 51.Bd1 b4 52.h4 Bd3 53.Bb3 Ke4 54.Be6 Bb5 55.Kc2 Ba4+ Well played Layla 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 d3 4.Bxd3 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.O-O Nf6 7.Re1 e5 8.Be3 Be7 9.Nbd2 O-O 10.Qc2 h6 11.Rad1 Qc7 12.h3 Be6 13.b3 Rac8 14.Qc1 Qa5 15.Qb2 d5 16.exd5 Nxd5 17.b4 Qc7 18.Ne4 Nxe3 19.Rxe3 f5 20.Nc5 Bxc5 21.bxc5 e4 22.Nd4 Nxd4 23.cxd4 Bd5 24.Bb1 Qc6 25.a3 f4 26.Rc3 f3 27.Ba2 Kh8 28.Bxd5 Qxd5 29.Qb3 Qh5 30.Re1 Qg6 31.g3 Rcd8 32.d5 Qf5 33.Kh2 Rxd5 34.Qc2 Rd3 35.Rc4

Pat Cunningham pulled off a second huge upset, but it must be said that the circumstances this time were completely different. Brendan played a nice positional game, slowly pushing Pat back. In this position a winning breakthrough with ...e3 looks imminent...  35...e3?? But not right now! (35...Qd5! Prepares ...e3 and is decisive ) 36.Rf4! Winning outright  36...Qxf4 37.gxf4 Rd2 38.Qe4 Rxf2+ 39.Kg3 Rd8 40.Qxe3 Rdd2 41.Qxf2 1-0

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Nb6 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.O-O O-O 8.Rb1 c5 9.d3 Nc6 10.Be3 Nd4 11.Qd2 Bg4 12.Ng5 Rb8 13.h3 Bf5 14.Nge4 c4 15.Bxd4 Bxd4 16.Nb5 a6 17.Nxd4 Qxd4 18.Qc3 Rfd8 19.Rfd1 cxd3 20.Qxd4 Rxd4 21.exd3 Nd7 22.Rbc1 Ne5 23.Nc5 Nxd3 24.Nxd3 Rxd3 25.Rxd3 Bxd3 26.Rc7 Kf8 27.Rxb7 Rc8 28.Rb6 Rc2 29.Bb7 a5 30.Kg2 Bc4 31.a3 a4 32.Bc6

32...Bb3 with a threat  33.Ra6?? Rxc6! 0-1

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 e6 5.g4 Bg6 6.Nge2 c5 7.Be3 Nc6 8.h4 Nb4 9.Rc1 Qa5 10.a3 Nc6 11.Bg2 h6 12.O-O cxd4 13.Bxd4 Qc7 14.Nf4 Bh7

Andrew Stone made a brave speculative sacrifice and was richly rewarded  15.Nfxd5 exd5 16.Nxd5 Qd7 17.Re1 The computer likes black, but White's position is brimful of energy  17...O-O-O? Not one of the playable moves  18.Bb6 (18.Bxa7 immediately is a little more forcing ) 18...Re8? Saving the exchange is equivalent to laying a mousetrap in the garden whilst a large bull is rampaging in the china room.  19.Bxa7 Qd8 20.Nb6+ Kc7 21.Bxc6 bxc6 22.Qf3 Qxh4 23.Rcd1 Re7 24.Rd6 1-0

White has built a nice attack, with a dominant minor piece and a growing space advantage  28.f6! This breakthrough should be decisive  28...Qc7 29.Ne7+? Anthony uncharacteristically gives his opponent a chance to get back in the game (29.g5! was the killer blow, simultaneously destroying the Black king's pawn cover and opening quick access to the h file for queen and rook ) 29...Kh8? Lawrence returns the favour. Taking this knight was mandatory and should have been automatic. For a modest material investment of exchange for pawn black holds his position together and insists on a lot more work from Anthony. Amusingly Houdini's third choice (after capturing the knight with each rook) is capturing the knight with the queen! Now abject slaughter ensues  30.fxg7+ Rxg7 31.Rf8+ Rxf8 32.Rxf8+ 1-0

Matt has played well and Marany has no objective advantage - the d5 knight looks a lot more impressive than the b8 knight but black can neutralise this in time by exchanging knights or playing Nd4 himself.  29.Rd2 So white makes a little threat  29...Nc6? Whoops. I wonder how much time Matt spent on this move?  30.Nxf6+! We all know that sinking feeling when something like this arrives unexpectedly on the board  30...Rxf6 31.Rxd6 Rfxd6 32.g5 Maranyi finishes the game with brutal efficiency,  32...Rd3 33.Qf2 hxg5 34.Qf7+ Kh7 35.Rf6 Nd4 36.Qg6+ Kg8 37.Rf7 Ne2+ 38.Kf2 R8d7 Unlike Lawrence, Matt recognises there is no shame in being mated when that is the logical conclusion of the game.  39.Qxg7# 1-0

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 f5

I had to rub my eyes when looking at this position, it looks very much like Russell Dive v Somebody Else. I've never seen a game where Russell has pushed e and f pawns two squares each without touching his c or d pawns. Maybe Russell has been learning new tricks during his layoff ?  5.e3 e4 6.Nd4 Nf6 7.f3 c6 8.d3 exd3 9.Qxd3 Na6 10.Bg2 Nc5 11.Qe2 a5 12.O-O O-O 13.Rb1 Re8 14.Nc2 b6 15.e4 fxe4 16.Nxe4

Black to play and win.  16...d5 17.cxd5 Ba6 0-1

After many previous adventures, Black can win simply by ...h2+ and ...Kg4 with the unanswerable threat of ...Kh3 and ...g2 mate. Not seeing this (presumably in time trouble by this stage) Andrew draws with a perpetual.  57...Rg2+?? (57...h2+ 58.Kh1 Kg4 59.Rb4+ Kh3 60.Rh4+ Kxh4 61.b7 Ra1+ 62.Kg2 h1=Q# ) 58.Kh1 Rh2+ 59.Kg1 Rg2+ = 1/2-1/2

Hamish has battled superbly in a pawn down rook ending, and now even has the better of it. I don't think white has any winning chances at all, but he definitely has the draw in hand.  49.Kg2! Necessary. This is a standard pattern. The only inherently safe squares for the king on the kingside are g2 and h2. On the third rank and beyond the king is vulnerable to a winning rook check, and on other second rank squares, well we will see...   49...Kg6 50.Kf2?? ...Oh no!  50...Rh1! This is one of the "Top 10 endgame tricks everyone should know(tm)". I don't think Hamish will forget this lesson.  51.Rxb2 Rh2+ 52.Ke3 Rxb2 53.Ke4 Rb5 54.Ke3 Kf5 55.Kf2 Ke4 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.Ng5? Puzzling play from white.  5...O-O 6.d4? Doubling down on the previous mistake  6...exd4 7.cxd4 Bxd4 8.Nf3 Bb6 9.Bg5?

9...Bxf2+!! Well played, black shows he can do more than just punish obvious mistakes  10.Kxf2 Nxe4+ 11.Kg1 Nxg5 Black has the pawns and the compensation, and allows his opponent no chance at all  12.Nc3 Nxf3+ 13.Qxf3 Ne5! Another knight fork  14.Qf1 Nxc4 15.Qxc4 d6 16.Re1 Be6 17.Qe4 c6 18.h4 Qb6+ 19.Kf1 Rfe8 20.Qc2 Bc4+ 21.Ne2 Qb5 22.Kf2 Qc5+ 23.Kg3 Re3+ 24.Kh2 Qe5+ 0-1

White has been out-manoevred but can keep the game going by playing the unnatural Kf1   27.Kh1? Qf2! Winning  28.Rg1 Bxf4 29.Qb1 Bxh2 (29...Bxh2 30.Qe1 Bxg1 31.Qxg1 Qh4+ 32.Qh2 Qe1+ 33.Qg1 Qd2 winning more material is an elegant computer variation ) 0-1