[Event "2012 Australian Chess Championship"]
[Site "Geelong, VIC AUS"]
[Date "2011.12.29"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Chen, Pengyu"]
[Black "Steadman, Michael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2011.??.??"]

1. c4 e6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. Nf3 Bd6 5. O-O {Now's the time to choose. I can
still play a Dutch with f5, but it is a completely different game without d4.
Thought that was what Pengyu and his coach had worked on. Thought I'd play
like a Slav - I mean, how hard could it be :-)} Nf6 6. b3 Qe7 7. Bb2 e5 8. d4
e4 {I was pretty happy with my position here, Black has a small advantage,
more importantly my game is easier to play. Exactly the kind of position you
want these juniors in, making things up is not their strength.} 9. Ne5 Nbd7 10.
Nxd7 (10. f4 h5 11. Nc3 h4 12. gxh4 Rxh4 13. Qe1 {
I think White had to try this type of line and keep the Black pieces out.})
10... Bxd7 11. Nc3 h5 12. Bc1 $2 Qe6 13. f3 h4 14. fxe4 hxg3 15. hxg3 (15. e5
Rxh2 16. Rxf6 Rxg2+ 17. Kxg2 Qh3+ 18. Kf3 Bxe5 19. dxe5 gxf6 20. Bf4 O-O-O {
Black has heaps for the piece, the White King will never find peace.}) 15...
Bxg3 16. Qd3 Qg4 17. exd5 Bh2+ 18. Kh1 Qh4 (18... O-O-O 19. Rf3 Bd6+ 20. Kg1
Rh2 21. Kf1 Qxg2+) 19. Rf3 Ng4 $2 (19... Bg4 20. Bb2 Bxf3 21. Qxf3 Ng4 22. Ne4
Bf4+ 23. Kg1 Be3+) 20. Be3 (20. Ne4 Qe1+ 21. Rf1 Bc7+ 22. Kg1 Qh4 23. Rf3 O-O-O
24. d6 Qh2+ 25. Kf1 Bxd6 {
Black is still better, but still a long way to go, slip-up.}) 20... O-O-O 21.
Ne4 Bf4+ 22. Rh3 Qxh3+ 23. Bxh3 Rxh3+ 24. Kg1 Rxe3 25. Qc2 Re8 26. Nc5 Rg3+ 0-1

[Event "2012 Australian Chess Championship"]
[Site "Geelong, VIC AUS"]
[Date "2011.12.28"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Steadman, Michael"]
[Black "Zulfic, Fedja"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2011.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 d5 {The point with this variation is it becomes a
different position for the Grunfeld players (they don't get to take on c3 and
get normal pressure). Of course, you have to be ready to play the Samisch.} (
3... e5 4. dxe5 Nh5 5. Nh3 Nc6 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Bxe7 Qxe7 8. Nc3 Qxe5 9. Qd2 {
This is about equal.}) 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nb6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. a4 (7. Nc3 O-O 8.
Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O f5 10. h4 fxe4 11. h5 gxh5 12. d5 Ne5 13. Bh6 Nec4 14. Qg5 Rf7
{This is the main line - but I wanted to try and make him think for himself.})
7... e5 8. d5 Bd7 $5 {I thought this wasn't the best, the Knights need d7.} 9.
Qb3 a5 10. Nc3 (10. d6 $1 {I missed this opportunity} Bxa4 11. dxc7 Qh4+ 12. g3
Bxb3 13. cxb8=Q+ Rxb8 14. Bb5+ Nd7 15. gxh4 {Black could safely resign.}) 10...
O-O 11. h4 h6 12. d6 {Not quite as strong as before} Nc8 13. Qxb7 Bc6 14. dxc7
Bxb7 15. cxd8=Q Rxd8 {Now I just need to unwind some and make the pawn count.}
16. Bc4 Nc6 17. Rd1 Nd4 18. Kf2 Nb6 19. Bd3 Rac8 20. Nge2 Nc4 21. Bc1 Bf8 22.
Nxd4 exd4 23. Ne2 Ne5 24. Bb5 Rc2 25. Rd2 {
OK, but not the best, could have got the Bishop out first.} (25. Bf4 Nc4 26.
Rc1 Rxb2 27. Rxc4 d3 28. Rd1 Rxe2+ 29. Kf1 Rb2 30. Rc7) 25... d3 26. Rxc2 dxc2
27. Nc3 Bb4 28. Ke2 Bc6 29. Bxc6 Nxc6 30. Nd5 Kh7 31. Be3 Ne5 32. Rc1 Rc8 33.
Bd4 Nc6 34. Bc3 f5 35. Kd3 fxe4+ 36. fxe4 Bxc3 37. bxc3 Ne5+ 38. Kxc2 Rc4 39.
Rb1 Rxa4 40. Rb7+ Kg8 41. Re7 Rxe4 $2 {End of the time control, mistakes often
occur. Wouldn't have effected the result however.} 42. Nf6+ Kf8 43. Rxe5 Rxh4
44. Re4 Rh2 45. Rg4 Kf7 46. Nd5 g5 47. Ne3 Kg6 48. c4 h5 49. Rd4 h4 50. Rd6+
Kh5 51. Rh6+ Kxh6 52. Ng4+ Kh5 53. Nxh2 g4 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown, New Zealand"]
[Date "2012.01.22"]
[Round "8.14"]
[White "Haznedaroglu, Kivanc"]
[Black "Steadman, Michael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A91"]
[WhiteElo "2447"]
[BlackElo "2258"]
[PlyCount "152"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 f5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 c6 5. Nh3 $2 {This is a mistake that is
regularly played. The reason is that it is only good once Black has played d5.
If White wants to play this type of line, he needs to play Nd2 or Qc2 to waste
a move and only after Black plays d5 does he play Nh3.} d6 6. O-O Be7 7. Nc3
Qc7 8. e4 e5 9. dxe5 {All my other opponents in this line had played d5, Black
gets a comfortable game. This way is not much better for White.} dxe5 10. exf5
Bxf5 11. Ng5 O-O 12. Be3 Na6 {At first sight you might think that White is
better, Black has an isolated King pawn, but in fact Black is better, his
position is easier to play and when the knights protect each other on c3 and
e4, they don't actually perform effectively.} 13. Nge4 Ng4 14. Qe2 Nxe3 15.
fxe3 Bb4 16. c5 Qe7 17. Rxf5 $2 {This came as a complete shock, Black is
better, maybe he decided to mix it up, but I couldn't see the compensation.}
Rxf5 18. Na4 Rd8 19. a3 Ba5 20. Nd6 Rff8 21. b4 Bb6 22. Nxb7 Qxb7 23. cxb6 axb6
24. b5 Nc7 25. Bxc6 Qa7 {So he has a pawn for his exchange, but with 2 open
files Black is better. Just a question of swapping bits into an endgame and
Black should win.} 26. Nc3 Ne8 27. Ne4 h6 28. Qg4 Qf7 29. Qe2 Qb3 (29... Nf6
30. Nxf6+ Qxf6 31. e4 Rd6 32. Bd5+ Kh8 33. Kg2 Qe7 34. Rf1 Rdd8 35. Rxf8+ Rxf8)
30. Nf2 Nf6 31. a4 Qc3 32. Ra2 Nd5 33. Bxd5+ Rxd5 34. Kg2 Rfd8 35. Rc2 Qb4 36.
Rc4 Qd2 37. Kf1 Qxe2+ 38. Kxe2 {
OK, so stage one complete, now to invade with the rooks and win stuff!} Rd2+
39. Ke1 Ra2 40. Ne4 Rxh2 41. Nf2 Rf8 42. Rc2 Rf3 43. a5 bxa5 44. Rb2 Rxe3+ 45.
Kf1 Rf3 46. b6 {This looks scary, but I had seen a line coming that gets me
into a won rook and pawn ending, looking good.} Rhxf2+ 47. Rxf2 Rb3 48. Ra2
Rxb6 49. Rxa5 Rf6+ 50. Ke2 Re6 51. Ke3 Kf7 52. Ke4 Kf6 53. Ra7 Rd6 54. Kf3 g6
55. Rh7 h5 56. g4 hxg4+ 57. Kxg4 Rd4+ 58. Kf3 Rf4+ 59. Ke3 Kg5 60. Re7 Rf5 61.
Re6 Kh5 62. Ke4 {The key here is the Knight pawn is all you need to win once
the King is cut off. So jettison the other pawn as it is just confusing us :-)}
Rf1 63. Rxe5+ Kg4 64. Kd3 g5 65. Ra5 Re1 66. Kd2 Re8 67. Ra1 Kf3 68. Ra3+ Kf2
69. Ra4 Rd8+ 70. Kc2 Rg8 71. Kd3 g4 72. Ke4 g3 73. Ra2+ Kg1 74. Kf3 g2 75. Ra7
Rb8 76. Ke2 Rh8 0-1

[Event "Queenstown"]
[Site "Classic"]
[Date "2012.01.18"]
[Round "4.22"]
[White "Steadman, Michael"]
[Black "Safarian, Alek"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D30"]
[WhiteElo "2258"]
[BlackElo "2036"]
[PlyCount "154"]
[EventDate "2012.01.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Nbd2 Nbd7 6. Bd3 b6 7. O-O Be7 8. Ne5
Bb7 9. cxd5 Nxe5 10. dxe5 Nxd5 11. Bc4 b5 12. Be2 O-O 13. Qb3 a6 14. f4 Qb6 15.
Rf3 c5 16. Nf1 Rad8 17. a3 f6 18. exf6 Rxf6 19. Qc2 c4 20. Kh1 Rdf8 21. Rh3 g6
22. Bf3 Bc5 23. Bd2 Bc8 24. Re1 R6f7 25. Rg3 Bb7 26. h4 Ne7 27. Bxb7 Qxb7 28.
h5 Qd5 29. hxg6 hxg6 30. e4 Rh7+ 31. Nh2 Qd7 32. Bc1 Qa7 33. Rd1 Bf2 34. Rf3
Bd4 35. g3 e5 36. Kg2 Nc6 37. f5 gxf5 38. exf5 Qd7 39. Qe4 Ne7 40. g4 Qc6 41.
Qxc6 Nxc6 42. Re1 Rd8 43. Nf1 Kg7 44. Rh3 Rxh3 45. Kxh3 Rh8+ 46. Kg2 Na5 47.
Re2 Rc8 48. Bd2 Nb3 49. Bc3 Rd8 50. Ng3 Nc1 51. Rd2 Nd3 52. Kf3 Rh8 53. Bxd4
exd4 54. Ke4 Nc5+ 55. Kf4 d3 56. Ne4 Nxe4 57. Kxe4 Re8+ 58. Kf3 Kf6 59. Rh2 Ke5
60. Ke3 Kd5+ 61. Kd2 Rg8 62. Rg2 Ke5 63. Ke3 Re8 64. Rf2 Kf6+ 65. Kf4 Re2 66.
g5+ Kg7 67. Kf3 Rxb2 $4 {This looks like it wins, and I was fooled. Afterwards
Tao showed us the win for White.} 68. Rxb2 c3 69. f6+ Kg8 70. Rxb5 $4 (70. f7+
{This was the move to see, you need to set up the mating net or drag Black's
King to the f file so Rf2 and King to e3 is with check which gets the pawns.}
Kf8 (70... Kxf7 71. Rb1 Kg6 72. Ke3 d2 73. Kd3 Kxg5 74. Kxc3) 71. Rh2 c2 (71...
Kxf7 72. Rh7+ Kg6 73. Rc7 c2 74. Ke3 Kxg5 75. Kxd3) 72. g6 c1=Q 73. Rh8+ Ke7
74. f8=Q+) 70... c2 71. Rb8+ Kf7 72. Rc8 d2 73. Rxc2 d1=Q+ 74. Re2 Qd5+ 75. Kf4
Kg6 76. Re5 Qd6 77. a4 Qd4+ 0-1

[Event "Queenstown"]
[Site "Classic"]
[Date "2012.01.23"]
[Round "9.8"]
[White "Steadman, Michael"]
[Black "Van Riemsdijk, Herman C"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A58"]
[WhiteElo "2275"]
[BlackElo "2401"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2012.01.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. d4 c5 2. d5 Nf6 3. c4 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. Nf3 d6 8. g3
Bg7 9. Bg2 Nbd7 10. O-O O-O 11. Ne1 {This was the line I had looked at. The
idea is to get the Knight to e3, it protects d5 and c4 is a jump square on
occasion.} Ne8 12. Nc2 Nc7 13. Ne3 Nb5 14. Bd2 {
This is not best, the position is about equal, the Knight needs to be swapped.}
(14. Nxb5 Bxb5 15. Qc2 Qa5 16. Nd1 Rfb8 17. Nc3 Ba6 18. Bd2 Qb4 19. b3) 14...
Nd4 15. Re1 Qc7 16. b3 Rfb8 17. Rb1 Nb6 18. h3 {The position is even. White
can't do anything, I was relying on Herman's natural instinct to try and win.}
Bc8 19. Nc2 Bd7 20. Ne3 Qc8 21. Kh2 h5 22. Nf1 Bf6 23. e3 Nb5 24. Ne4 Bg7 25.
a4 Nc7 26. Bc3 Nbxd5 27. Bxg7 Kxg7 28. Nxd6 exd6 29. Bxd5 Nxd5 30. Qxd5 Ra6 31.
h4 Be6 32. Qd3 Rb4 33. Nd2 Qa8 {So I had managed to swap some pieces and still
keep the pawn. Now to break up the central pawns.} 34. e4 Kg8 35. Qc3 Rab6 36.
e5 Bf5 37. Rbc1 Qb8 38. exd6 (38. Nc4 $1 Rxb3 39. Qa5 R6b4 40. Nxd6 Rb2 41.
Qxc5 Bd7) 38... Rxd6 39. Re3 Be6 40. Ne4 Rdd4 41. Nxc5 Bd5 42. Kg1 Qc8 43. Kf1
Bc4+ $2 {Diagram #} 44. Nd3 $4 {This could have lost me the title - after a
surprise, concrete calculation is needed.} Qh3+ $2 (44... Rxd3 45. Rxd3 Bxd3+
46. Kg1 Qxc3 47. Rxc3 {Black is going to round up the pawns and then win. Both
Herman and I forgot the golden rule - reverse the combination and see if it
works.}) (44... Bxd3+ 45. Rxd3 Qxc3 46. Rcxc3 {This was the variation we both
looked at and we were convinced won - mutual blindness.}) 45. Ke1 Ba6 46. Rd1
Qd7 $4 (46... Qg2 47. Qc5 Bxd3 48. Rdxd3 Rxd3 49. Rxd3) 47. Qxb4 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown, New Zealand"]
[Date "2012.01.16"]
[Round "2.31"]
[White "Steadman, Michael VR"]
[Black "Koerber, Matthias"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2258"]
[BlackElo "1916"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 c6 5. Bf4 Nf6 6. e3 Nh5 7. Bg3 Nd7 8. Bd3
Qa5 9. a3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nxg3 11. hxg3 b5 12. Bd3 g6 13. e4 a6 14. Ke2 Qb6 15.
b4 a5 16. Qb3 e5 17. d5 Bb7 18. dxc6 Bxc6 19. Nd5 Qb7 20. Nxe7 a4 21. Qa2 Kxe7
22. Ng5 Raf8 23. Nxh7 Bxe4 24. Nxf8 Bxd3+ 25. Kxd3 Qxg2 26. Rhe1 Rxf8 27. Re3
Nb6 28. Rxe5+ Kf6 29. Qe2 Rd8+ 30. Kc3 Rc8+ 31. Rc5 Rxc5+ 32. bxc5 Nc4 33. Kb4
Qa8 34. Kc3 Qg2 35. Qd3 Kg7 36. Qd4+ Kg8 37. Rd1 Qf3+ 38. Rd3 Qe2 39. Kb4 Qf1
40. c6 Qe1+ 41. Kxb5 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown NZL"]
[Date "2012.01.19"]
[Round "5.6"]
[White "Johansen, Darryl K"]
[Black "Bischoff, Klaus"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "2403"]
[BlackElo "2537"]
[PlyCount "141"]
[EventDate "2012.01.15"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2012.01.30"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 c5 5. O-O g6 {I'd half expected a double
Fianchetto instead of Klaus' usual Hedgehog,hence I was able to peel off a bit
of preparation. I'd half expected a double fianchetto instead of Klaus'
"usual"Hedgehog.Hence I was able to reel off some preparation.} (5... e6 6. Nc3
Be7 7. d4 cxd4 8. Qxd4 d6 {etc.}) 6. d4 cxd4 7. Qxd4 Bg7 8. Nc3 d6 9. Be3 Nbd7
10. Rfd1 Rc8 11. Rac1 O-O 12. Qh4 Re8 13. b3 a6 14. Bh3 $5 {I saw it in some
Kramnik games;something may land on e6! However,white is working hereabouts
with a tiny edge.} Rc7 15. Bh6 Bxh6 (15... Bxf3 16. exf3 Rc5) 16. Qxh6 Bxf3 17.
exf3 Rc5 18. Qe3 Qb8 19. f4 {Diagram # To be honest, I was content to draw
with my "housemate" here; my tournament situation allowed it, I respected my
opponent's ability, and I wanted an easy afternoon for a change. However, the
30 move draw rule didn't permit this, and who knows, maybe Klaus is ambitious?
In any case, white's position  is simple enough, such that I can just, "play".}
e6 20. Qd4 b5 $6 (20... d5 $1 $11) 21. Qxd6 $14 bxc4 22. bxc4 Rxc4 23. Qxa6
Rec8 {I spent a bit of time here, pinching myself; yes I have an extra pawn,
no my opponent has no magical tactic.} 24. Ne2 Rc2 $2 {
Black now has to HOLD the draw.} (24... Rxc1 25. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 26. Nxc1 Qb2 {
is better, but the bonus pawn remains.}) 25. Rxc2 Rxc2 26. Nd4 Rc7 27. Qe2 $5 (
27. Bg2) 27... Qb4 28. Qd2 Qa4 29. Bg2 Ra7 {Diagram #} 30. Bc6 $6 {Here the "ha
ppy to draw", thing reared its ugly head. I wanted to have safe torture,
rather than hard work.} (30. Nc6 $1 Ra6 31. Ne5 Nf8 32. Qd8 $16 {for example.})
30... Qxa2 31. Qxa2 Rxa2 32. Nxe6 fxe6 $6 {
I expected, as a matter of course, 32.....Ra7.} (32... Nf8 33. Nd8 $5) (32...
Ra7) 33. Bxd7 Nxd7 34. Rxd7 Ra1+ 35. Kg2 {This 4 vs 3 is drawn,especially if
the e6 pawn can be traded. Drawing "drawn" endings is no simple task, however.}
Re1 36. g4 h5 $6 {Diagram #} (36... e5 37. Re7 (37. f5 $5)) 37. gxh5 $5 {
The chess engines want other moves. But the practical human has a different
bent.} gxh5 38. Re7 Kf8 39. Rh7 e5 40. Rxh5 exf4 41. Kf3 Rf1 42. Rh4 Kg7 43.
Rxf4 {A drawn ending. As the late John Hanks said to me circa 1978; "It's all
in the books"! (i.e.it was a draw) when I adjourned a rook and four vs rook
and three ending against him in Perth (he lost). An ignoramus, who apparently
"moderates" on "Chess Chat", mentioned this as a drawn position. (Imputing in
a context,that I was somehow lucky to win.)  Ah the armchair warrior!!
"Surrounded" by Fritz/Rybka/Firebird/Houdini etc etc. and under no competitive
pressure, can make bold pronunciations regarding people, games and positions,
about which they wouldn't have a chance in hell of handling with any aplomb,
were they in the situation of the person concerned.} Ra1 44. Rb4 Kg6 45. Rb5
Rh1 46. Kg2 Ra1 {Diagram # So it's a draw....But how does one (a) try to win
with white? and (b) hold the draw with black? I first had the chance to
analyse this ending when the late Greg Hjorth tried to win it against the late
Terrey Shaw, in the 1981-82 Australian Championships in Melbourne. (Too many
good people are late of recent.) To win; the rook pawn is a decoy; you will
try to win with a favourable rook and bishop pawn vs.rook ending. To defend;
the defensive King stays in front of the bishop pawn; the rook goes long,
working from the rear. This, however, is a broad description of how things
"should" look.} 47. h4 Rc1 48. f3 Ra1 49. Rc5 Rb1 50. Ra5 Rc1 51. Kg3 Rb1 $2 (
51... Rc4 {Why not!}) 52. Kg4 Rg1+ 53. Kf4 Rf1 (53... Rh1 54. Ra6+ Kf7 55. Kg5
Rg1+ 56. Kf5 Rh1 57. Ra7+) 54. Ra6+ Kf7 55. h5 Rb1 56. Kg4 Rb4+ 57. f4 Rb5 58.
h6 Rc5 59. Ra7+ Kg6 60. h7 {
Diagram # Now it is lost. May the warriors figure out where black went wrong.}
Rc8 61. f5+ Kh6 (61... Kf6 62. Kh5 Kxf5 63. Rg7) 62. Kf4 Re8 63. Rd7 Ra8 64.
Ke5 Ra5+ 65. Kd6 Ra6+ 66. Kc5 Ra8 67. f6 Kg6 68. Rg7+ Kh6 69. Rg8 Ra5+ 70. Kb4
Kxh7 {Diagram #} 71. f7 $1 (71. Rg7+ $4 Kh8 $11) 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown NZL"]
[Date "2012.01.22"]
[Round "8.6"]
[White "Johansen, D."]
[Black "Gu Xiaobing"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E73"]
[WhiteElo "2403"]
[BlackElo "2244"]
[PlyCount "113"]
[EventDate "2012.01.15"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2012.01.30"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 {The Averbakh.After
whipping out some quick moves,my opponent ground her thumbs into her temples
and then stared into space,as if she was trying to remember what the
"refutation" of this system was.I gathered this was not expected....good!} h6
7. Be3 Nbd7 8. Qd2 c5 (8... e5 9. d5 Nc5 10. f3 a5 $6 (10... Ne8 $5 11. b4 Na6
12. a3 f5) 11. O-O-O Kh7 (11... h5) 12. g4 {
followed,if allowed by h4-h5,is so passive for black.}) 9. d5 Kh7 10. Nf3 b5 $5
{Like a Benko;here it's not a bad idea.} 11. cxb5 a6 12. h3 $2 (12. O-O axb5
13. Bxb5 Ng4 14. Bf4 $14) (12. a4 {Is normal in similar positions.}) 12... Qa5
{Now I grimaced internally;my finesse on the previous move was just feeble!}
13. bxa6 (13. a4 axb5 14. Bxb5 Nxe4 $1 15. Nxe4 Qxb5) 13... Bxa6 {
My calculations after 12.h3 had me castling here.} 14. Bxa6 (14. O-O $2 Nxe4 {
Works because of the loose bishop on e2.}) 14... Qxa6 15. Qe2 {Taking on the
"Benko" ending was not what I envisaged a few moves ago.Here I needed to
emulate the best efforts of the famous master Grovelstein.} Rfb8 16. Qxa6 Rxa6
17. Bc1 (17. O-O-O $5 Nb6 {worried me.}) 17... Nb6 18. Nd2 Na4 19. Kd1 Nxb2+
20. Bxb2 Rxb2 21. Kc1 Rb4 22. Kc2 Nd7 (22... Ra3 {Looks even stronger.}) 23. a3
Bxc3 $1 24. Kxc3 Rba4 25. Nc4 Nb6 26. Nxb6 Rxb6 {Some dust has cleared;true,
the pawn has been returned for some simplification,but even with only two
rooks each black retains some pressure.} 27. Rhe1 Kg7 28. e5 $5 {
I didn't believe that passive defence would suffice.} (28. f3 g5 29. Re2 Kf6
$17) 28... dxe5 $5 (28... Kf8) 29. Rxe5 Kf6 30. Re3 g5 31. Rf3+ Ke5 $5 {
After a slowish opening,time-wise,my opponent had played some quick moves,and
this was one ofthem!} (31... Kg6) 32. Rxf7 {
I thought,"gobble up the pawns and hope(!) there is no win.} Kxd5 33. Rxe7 Rc4+
34. Kd2 Rb2+ 35. Ke1 Rcc2 36. Rf7 c4 37. Rd1+ Kc6 {I once adjourned with a
double rook ending against Mihai Ghinda,at the Olympiad in Luzern in 1982..
Analysis of the position I had ,taught me a simple truth;the superior side (ie
better passed pawn,king placement,etc),wants to trade a set of rooks!} 38. Rf5
$1 {This good move,making difficult the black king's entry,probably shouldn't
have saved the day.} c3 39. a4 {Bizarre thing happened.After 38.Rf5, Ms.Gu,
with about 25 minutes on her clock chewed up nearly all of her time looking
for the (non-existent) forced win.} Re2+ 40. Kf1 Rec2 $2 {
A hurried move,but a lemon.} (40... c2 41. Rc1 Re4 42. Rf3 $6 (42. Rb5 $5 Ra2
43. Rb3 (43. Rb8 {Is tougher.})) 42... Kc5 43. Rc3+ Rc4 44. Rxc4+ Kxc4 45. Ke2
Kc3 $19 {No forced wins,but long-term wins.}) (40... Rbd2 $17) 41. g3 $1 {
Breathing space! Notice how white avoids weakening the f4 square.} (41. g4 $6
Rb4 {intending ....Rf4.}) 41... Ra2 42. Rd4 {Not only has the danger for white
passed,but black has to now think about drawing the position.} Ra3 43. Kg2 Rc1
$6 (43... Rca2 44. Rc4+ Kd6 45. Rfc5 Rxa4 46. Rxa4 Rxa4 47. Rxc3 h5 $16) 44. a5
Rc2 $2 {
She's in limbo;my opponent's confident demeanour had completely vanished.} 45.
h4 gxh4 $2 46. Rxh4 $18 Rd2 47. Rxh6+ Rd6 48. Rh4 Rd5 49. Rc4+ Kd6 50. Rf6+ Ke5
51. Rf3 $1 Raxa5 52. Rcxc3 Rdb5 53. Ra3 {"Checkmating" a rook!} Rxa3 54. Rxa3
Ke4 55. Rf3 Rb8 56. g4 Rb1 57. Rf5 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown, New Zealand"]
[Date "2012.03.14"]
[Round "8.15"]
[White "Herman van Riemsdijk"]
[Black "Matthew Drummond"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C16"]
[WhiteElo "2401"]
[BlackElo "2227"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 b6 5. Qg4 Bf8 6. Nf3 Ne7 7. Bg5 Ba6 (7... h6
$6 {as has been played in some games is bad because of} 8. Bxe7 $1 Qxe7 (8...
Kxe7 {is maybe better but is really ugly}) 9. Nxd5) 8. Bxa6 Nxa6 9. h4 {
Starting my favorite setup against the blocked French structure} Nb4 10. O-O-O
h6 11. Bf4 (11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. h5 {is quite in the spirit of what I like}) 11...
Qd7 12. a3 Nbc6 (12... h5 $5 {
is for sure an option to be considered for Black. After} 13. Qh3 Nbc6 14. Kb1
Nf5 15. Rd3 {White's position is more flexible though}) 13. h5 {Hans Kmoch in
his excellent Pawn Power in Chess (My Tartan Books edition dates from 1975;
the original is from 1959) calls this (e5 and h5 against e6 and h6 with the
other White's pawns coming to f4 and g4) the Quartgrip. It gives the more
advanced formation many effective break possibilities. Of course the Quartgrip
- as Kmoch himself states - serves perfectly against a minority when Black has
only three pawns (e6, h6 and f7 or g7) as will happen in this game. The
Quartgrip is probably the strategic feature with which I have collected most
points. The great majority occur on the Kingside in the French and in the
Caro-Kann. In the latter mostly with an open d file.} O-O-O 14. Kb1 {White star
ts a rearrangement of its pieces by unoccupying the congested g and f files.
c1 is an ideal spot for the Bishop at the same time defending an eventual
counter-attack at the Queenside as supporting White's Pawn phalanx on the
Kingside.} Kb7 15. Bc1 Rc8 16. Qf4 Nd8 17. g4 a6 18. Rh3 {A flexible resource.
The rook on the third rank makes Black's c5 break more difficult and is ready
to double with the other rook on either file it's needed} Nec6 19. Ne1 {
Black is hesitating to break so White has all the time to make thisrearrangemen
t} Be7 20. Qd2 f6 {
My opponent senses that he will be overrun and tries to anticipate things} 21.
f4 fxe5 22. dxe5 {White has achieved his goal. A dangerous and maybe winning
Pawn structure on the Kingside. Both f5 and g5 breaks are very dangerous for
Black} Nf7 23. Qe2 Rhd8 24. Rhd3 Qe8 25. Nf3 {White completes its development.
Black has the difficult task to be ready for both f and g ruptures} Bf8 26. g5
{Now the natural break} hxg5 27. fxg5 Rd7 28. g6 $1 Nh6 29. Nh2 $6 (29. Bxh6
gxh6 30. Ne4 $1 dxe4 31. Rxd7 exf3 32. Qxf3 {
is winning. I saw this position but it wasn't that clear in my mind}) 29...
Nf5 30. Ne4 $4 (30. Ng4 {and White's advantage is clear. I always quote to my
pupils (and surely it has been said before): there is no Strategy so good that
it can resist bad Tactics!}) 30... Nxe5 {Grabbing the pawn, defending his own
Rook and therefore threatening at the same time my Rook and my Knight!} 31.
Nc5+ {I was very lucky to have this check!} Bxc5 32. Qxe5 Bd6 33. Qe2 Ng3 34.
Qg4 Ne4 35. Qg2 Qh8 36. Rh3 Bxh2 $6 (36... Rf8 {looks much better}) 37. Rxh2
Nd6 38. Qe2 Qg8 {Here my opponent offered a draw. I rejected on the basis that
my coming up g passed Pawn would give me reasonable chances} 39. Qe5 Rf8 40.
Re1 Re7 41. Qg5 Nf5 42. Rhe2 Ree8 43. Qg2 Nh4 44. Qg4 Nf3 45. Rh1 e5 46. h6
gxh6 47. Rxh6 Rf6 48. Rg2 Qe6 {Its quite comprehensible that Black doesn't
want his Queen as the blocking piece of Pawn g7 but after swapping the Queens
White is becoming comfortable again} 49. Qxe6 Rfxe6 50. g7 Rxh6 51. Bxh6 Rg8
52. Rg6 {And white has the edge} Nh2 ({Stopping  Rf6  because of 53...Ng4} 
52... Nd4 53. Rf6 Nc6 54. Rf7 $1 {and the White Bishop is ready to come to f6.}
e4 {fails because of} 55. Bf4) 53. c3 c6 $4 {Black's turn to blunder! But life
is not easy for him now. The king's path as follows will force e4 and many
weaknesses will appear: e.g.} (53... c5 54. Kc2 a5 55. Kd1 a4 56. Ke2 e4 {
Now forced because of the 57.Rg2 threat 57.Ke3 end the King comes in}) 54. Rf6
{and black resigned} (54. Rf6 Ng4 55. Rf7+ {etc.}) 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Sheffield ENG"]
[Date "2012.01.20"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Sukandar, Irine Kharisma"]
[Black "Jones, Gawain"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B06"]
[WhiteElo "2325"]
[BlackElo "2653"]
[Annotator "GJ"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2011.07.25"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

1. e4 g6 {I have a few main defences to 1.e4: The Dragon - in its many
different forms, a couple of Spanishes and occasional Caro Kanns but Irene
seemed well booked up on all those lines. Having lost the previous game I
really wanted to bounce back and so the Modern seemed a decent choice;
definitely risky but with good winning chances too.} 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. Bg5
$5 {I'd never seen this move before and so I was on my own. It looked strange
to me as the bishop is firing into open space but I now sunk into thought
attempting to find a plan.} h6 (4... Nf6 {would transpose to a more
theoretical position and one where I thought the bishop achieved more. I've
actually played this way myself as White and think it's quite a dangerous line.
}) 5. Bh4 ({On the final night Anthony Ker, who has won the New Zealand
Championships more than anyone else, suggested} 5. Be3 {as an interesting
alternative. White argues that the pawn on h6 could be a weakness and
certainly following Qd2 it might be tricky to castle.}) 5... c5 $5 {Possibly to
o ambitious. I tried to exploit the bishop on h4 being a little offside and
transpose the position to a Dragon setup where I have a lot of experience.} 6.
dxc5 $1 {The critical response.} (6. Nf3 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Nc6 {looks like a
comfortable Dragon as the bishop is misplaced on h4. As it cannot come to d4
White will lose further time moving the attacked knight on d4.}) (6. d5 $5 {
is the other possible structure but here I hoped to exploit White'svulnerabilit
y along the a1-h8 diagonal.}) 6... Qa5 (6... dxc5 7. Qxd8+ Kxd8 {looked pretty
unpleasant. Not only will White gain a development advantage thanks to my
vulnerable king but he also has a positional advantage thanks to his light
square control, in particular d5. Were Black's pawn back on c6 he would have
fewer holes and thus fewer problems.}) 7. Bb5+ {Actually when I decided to go
into this line I had forgotten that this check gives the White king the f1
square. Another long think and a feeling of dread, I didn't want to have to
defend another passive position against a player rated over 300 points below,
these Open tournaments can be very cruel!} Nc6 (7... Bd7 {
was the other sensible way to defend against the check but} 8. Bxd7+ Nxd7 9.
cxd6 Bxc3+ ({
Actually I had sort of looked at this line before ...c5 and then I hoped that} 
9... Qb4 $6 {might be tricky to defend against. Black threatens both the b2
pawn and ...Bxc3+ followed by taking on e4 when th bishop on h4 hangs. However}
10. Nge2 Qxb2 11. O-O {
keeps everything under control. Sure I can temporarily pick up a piece with}
Bxc3 {but} 12. Rb1 Qa3 13. Rb3 {
regains the piece and leaves White with a strong initiative.}) 10. bxc3 Qxc3+
11. Kf1 {felt a little unpleasant to me, even if the computer tells me Black's
more or less ok with} Rc8 {
It seems unlikely that Black will have many winning chances though.}) 8. Nge2 {
Sensibly giving back the pawn.} (8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. cxd6 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Qxc3+ 11.
Kf1 Ba6+ 12. Ne2 Rd8 {will likely regain the pawn with advantage.}) 8... dxc5
9. Qd5 {This might be the start of White's problems. Irene is playing
aggressively and hoping to completely refute my opening play, a strategy that
almost paid off but is of course risky.} (9. O-O {was safer when I thought
White had a small advantage but Black's position isn't bad either.}) (9. Bxc6+
bxc6 {is of course also possible and important to assess to work out who it
favours. Doubled isolated pawns are of course generally very weak and White
can hope to exploit them in the long term, perhaps by rerouting a knight round
to c4. However that it's at all easy to achieve and Black has his trumps too.
For starters the pawns aren't as weak as they look; they would be much more
vulnerable if they were on an open file. They also protect the important
central squares of d4 and d5 - a typical weak spot in the Dragon. The exchange
has also given Black counterplay down the b file and along the a8-f1 diagonal.
A typical fight between static and dynamic play, I prefer the dynamism of
Black's position.}) 9... Qb6 ({I couldn't see a direct refutation of} 9... Bd7
{but I felt uneasy about it. I really didn't want to lose quickly and thought
the game continuation was safer. The pawn on c5 is defended indirectly as} 10.
Qxc5 a6 {
wins back material. However it's not totally clear even here as White has} 11.
b4 {when} Qxb4 12. Qxb4 Nxb4 13. Bxd7+ Kxd7 14. Rb1 {looks better for White.})
10. a4 {I have to confess that I missed this move - a sign that my form wasn't
there for much of Queenstown. Irene threatens a4-a5 forcing the queen away and
thus winning the c5 pawn. 10...a5 is possible to defend but then White must be
better thanks to her eternal control of the b5 square. Luckily I found the
following strong idea.} a6 11. a5 $6 {It's harsh to give this move as dubious
but in fact White seems to be in a lot of trouble once she has won the queen.}
axb5 $1 {The whole point. In return for the queen I'll pick up rook and bishop
and an initiative.} ({There was no time for cold feet} 11... Qc7 12. Ba4 $1 {
and there's no way to defend c5. The pins keep Black completely bound up.}) 12.
axb6 Rxa1+ 13. Nd1 g5 $1 {It's important to play as actively as possible.
Should White get time to castle then she'll have a clear advantage.} 14. Bg3
Nf6 15. Qxc5 Nxe4 16. Qxb5 $6 {
During the game I was really surprised by this move.} ({I felt} 16. Qe3 {
was much safer but still I quite liked my dynamic potential. I was planning
something like} Bf5 17. O-O b4 $5 {to keep the White knights from using c3 and
therefore she would still have problems coordinating her pieces.}) 16... O-O {
Now it was Irene's turn for a long think. She has a material advantage, queen
and pawn for the rook and bishop, but ...Rd8 is a big threat. After the game I
was very happy as my calculation around here was all sound.} 17. Bc7 $5 {
Taking control of d8 but allowing a different tactic.} (17. O-O {was of course
the most logical and the move I needed something against when I sacrificed my
queen. Here I was planning} Nd2 $1 ({The immediate} 17... Rd8 {
is also possible but} 18. Ndc3 Ra5 19. Qxa5 Nxa5 20. Nxe4 {
allows White to play on.}) 18. Re1 Rd8 {White is completely tied up. There's
the threat of moving the knight when there's no defence of the d1 knight and
it can't get out of the way as e1 is undefended - one of the points behind ...
Nd2. The other threat is somehow more hidden as it requires a retreating move:
...Ra5 actually traps the queen! During the game I thought the only defence to
both threats was} 19. Bc7 Rd7 {
For a moment Black's pieces look uncoordinated but the two threats still stand.
} (19... Ra5 $2 {does still trap the queen but he gets two rooks for it with}
20. Qxa5 Nxa5 21. Bxd8) 20. Ng3 {The knight gets out of the way leaving e2 for
the queen and defending against back rank ideas as the knight can drop back to
f1.} ({Trying to run the queen with} 20. Qf5 {loses to} Nf3+ 21. gxf3 (21. Qxf3
Rdxd1 {wins everything.}) 21... Raxd1 {
The other rook this time, and White loses at least a rook.}) 20... Nd4 $1 {
Followed by ...N4f3+ winning at least the exchange and a pawn.}) 17... Rxd1+ $1
{Now f2 isn't defended this tactic works.} 18. Kxd1 Nxf2+ 19. Ke1 ({
During the game I thought} 19. Kd2 {was her last chance, so that there
wouldn't be any back rank problems for White and so she could actually pick up
the trapped knight. However} Nxh1 20. Qc5 Bxb2 21. Qg1 Bf5 22. Qxh1 Ra8 {
is still much better for Black. Material is roughly balanced: queen versus
rook, bishop and pawn but the bishop pair are very strong and the White king
rather exposed.}) 19... Nxh1 20. c3 {
Irene plays sensibly and controls the d4 square.} ({
Playing the same way as in the previous variation with} 20. Qc5 {
no longer wins the knight as} Bg4 21. Qg1 Ra8 {threatens ...Ra1+} 22. Kd2 Bxb2
{and the knight still can't be taken as} 23. Qxh1 Ra1 {traps the queen.}) (20.
Kf1 {Slowly plodding the king into the corner doesn't manage to pick up the
piece either as the rook quickly activates on the a file., i.e.} Bg4 21. Kg1
Ra8 {and Black's in time.}) 20... Bd7 {With rook, bishop and knight against
queen Black should be winning but there are a couple of things Black has to be
aware of. First of all, while White can't actually win the cornered knight
it's not easy to bring it back into the game. Secondly White has some tricks
utilising the advanced b6 pawn.} 21. Qd5 Be6 22. Qe4 (22. Qf3 {
was Sue's suggestion and looks more accurate. White threatens Qf1 but again}
Ra8 {defends more than adequately.}) 22... Ra8 23. Nc1 Ra5 $5 {I was very
at finding this move. Black has ideas of ...Rf5 and ...Nf2 to bring the knight
out. The rook also controls the d5 square and can now react to the Qxc6 ideas
with ...Rb5.} (23... Ra1 {felt rather risky to me but the computer has no fear}
24. Kd2 (24. Qxc6 {only loses a pawn here after} bxc6 25. b7 Rxc1+ 26. Kd2 Rg1
27. b8=Q+ Kh7) 24... Na5 {would actually be very similar to the game.}) 24. Nd3
Bd5 25. Qg4 Ra1+ 26. Kd2 Be6 27. Qf3 Bc8 {
Cutting out Qxc6 tricks once and for all.} ({Initially I had planned} 27... Na5
{but} 28. Nc5 {didn't seem so clear.}) 28. Nc1 Na5 {
But now her knight has gone passive I can activate mine.} 29. b3 {Both rook and
knight are actually trapped in corners but I was pleased I managed to
calculate the final course of the game.} ({
White still doesn't have enough time to win the entrapped knight:} 29. g3 Nc4+
{and White lacks a good square for his king as I have lots of interesting
forks available.} 30. Kc2 (30. Kd1 Bg4 $1) 30... Bf5+ $1 31. Qxf5 Ne3+) ({
Objectively} 29. g4 {was best although here I would have the tricky} Rb1 (29...
Nc4+ 30. Kd3 Nxb2+ 31. Kc2 Ra3 32. Ne2 Na4 33. Qxh1 Ra2+ {
would also be decisive.}) 30. Kc2 Nc4 $1 31. Nd3 Bxg4 $1 {
continuing to use the knight forks}) 29... Bd7 30. Kc2 Bc6 31. Qe3 (31. Qd3 Nf2
{would allow the knight to escape.}) (31. Qf1 Be4+ 32. Kb2 (32. Kd2 Nxb3+)
32... Rb1+ 33. Ka3 Bxc3 {is also hopeless.}) 31... Nf2 $1 {
It seems strange to put the knight en-prise but the tactics work for me.} 32.
Qxf2 (32. Kb2 Nd1+ {was the point and so Irene had no time to capture the rook.
}) 32... Be4+ 33. Kd2 (33. Kb2 Rb1+ 34. Ka3 Bxc3 {
is completely winning; a nice point is that} 35. Qe3 Rxb3+ $1 36. Nxb3 Nc4+ {
again picks up the queen.}) 33... Nxb3+ 34. Ke3 (34. Nxb3 Ra2+ 35. Ke3 Rxf2 36.
Kxf2 Bxc3 {
leaves Black in a trivially winning endgame with his extra two pawns.}) 34...
Rxc1 35. Kxe4 Rxc3 {On the surface it looks like White has made progress. He
has regained some material and is nominally only slightly down - rook, knight
and two pawns for the queen. However the big issue is that the king on e4 is
actually in very real danger.} 36. Qa2 ({
In the post-mortem we had a quick look at} 36. Kd5 {but Black has at least} Rc6
{followed by ...e7-e6+ and ...Rc6-c3 creating the same mating net.}) (36. Be5
Nc5+ 37. Kd5 Bxe5 {is no good either as} 38. Kxe5 Nd3+ {wins the queen.}) 36...
e6 $1 {And Irene resigned as there's no way to prevent either ...f7-f5mate or .
..Nb3-c5mate. A picturesque final position.} 0-1

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.15"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Rozentalis, Eduardas"]
[Black "Milligan, Helen"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C68"]
[WhiteElo "2592"]
[BlackElo "1979"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. O-O Bd6 6. c3 c5 7. Na3 Ne7 8.
Nc4 Ng6 9. d4 Qe7 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nfxe5 Bxe5 12. Qh5 Bd6 13. e5 Qe6 14. exd6
Qxc4 15. Re1+ Kf8 16. dxc7 Be6 17. Be3 b6 18. Rad1 Ke7 19. Qg5+ 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.15"]
[Round "1.18"]
[White "Solomon, Stephen J"]
[Black "Gao, Hans"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B75"]
[WhiteElo "2375"]
[BlackElo "1924"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 a6 8. Qd2
Nbd7 9. g4 b5 10. Nc6 Qc7 11. Nxe7 Bb7 12. Ned5 Nxd5 13. Nxd5 Bxd5 14. Qxd5 O-O
15. Rd1 Bxb2 16. Qxd6 Qxc2 17. Qd3 Bc3+ 18. Bd2 Bxd2+ 19. Qxd2 Qxd2+ 20. Rxd2
Ne5 21. Be2 g5 22. Kf2 Rfd8 23. Rhd1 Rxd2 24. Rxd2 Rc8 25. Rd6 Rc6 26. Rxc6
Nxc6 27. Bd3 f6 28. Ke3 h6 29. f4 Kf7 30. Bc2 gxf4+ 31. Kxf4 Nd4 32. Bd1 Ke6
33. h4 a5 34. e5 fxe5+ 35. Ke4 a4 36. g5 hxg5 37. hxg5 a3 38. g6 b4 39. g7 Kf7
40. Kxe5 b3 41. Kxd4 bxa2 42. Bb3+ Kxg7 43. Bxa2 1/2-1/2

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.16"]
[Round "2.19"]
[White "Dordevic, Ivan"]
[Black "Ker, Anthony F"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B09"]
[WhiteElo "2060"]
[BlackElo "2359"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 c5 6. Bb5+ Bd7 7. e5 Ng4 8. Bxd7+
Qxd7 9. d5 dxe5 10. h3 e4 11. hxg4 exf3 12. Qxf3 Na6 13. Bd2 Nb4 14. O-O-O
O-O-O 15. Ne4 Qa4 16. Bxb4 Qxb4 17. c3 Qc4 18. Ng5 Rd7 19. f5 gxf5 20. gxf5 h6
21. Nxf7 Rh7 22. Ng5 Rh8 23. Ne6 Bf6 24. Kb1 Rd6 25. Qe3 Rxd5 26. Rxd5 Qxd5 27.
Qxc5+ Qxc5 28. Nxc5 h5 29. Ne4 Be5 30. g3 Kd7 31. Kc2 Rh7 32. g4 h4 33. Rh3 b6
34. Kd3 Rh8 35. Ke3 e6 36. f6 Ke8 37. Kf3 Kf7 38. g5 Kg6 39. Kg4 Rd8 40. Rxh4
Rd1 41. Rh6+ Kf7 42. Rh7+ Kg8 43. Rxa7 Re1 44. Kh5 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.16"]
[Round "2.21"]
[White "Lauterbach, Ingrid"]
[Black "Ikeda, Junta"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2053"]
[BlackElo "2349"]
[PlyCount "42"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 b5 6. Qc2 bxc4 7. bxc4 Bb7 8. Qb2
Bxf3 9. exf3 c5 10. Be3 cxd4 11. Bxd4 Nc6 12. Be3 Rb8 13. Qc2 Qa5+ 14. Nd2 Bc5
15. Bg2 Bxe3 16. fxe3 Qe5 17. Kf2 Rb2 18. Qc1 Nb4 19. Bf1 Nc2 20. Rb1 Qxe3+ 21.
Kg2 Ne1+ 0-1

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.17"]
[Round "3.24"]
[White "King, Mathew J"]
[Black "Lukey, Stephen G"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C15"]
[WhiteElo "1961"]
[BlackElo "2261"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nge2 Nc6 5. a3 Ba5 6. Be3 Nge7 7. g3 e5 8. Bg2
Bg4 9. b4 Bb6 10. Nxd5 Nxd5 11. exd5 Nxd4 12. Bxd4 Bxd4 13. Rb1 Bc3+ 14. Kf1
Qf6 15. Qd3 Bxe2+ 16. Kxe2 Bd4 17. Qf3 Qg5 18. Qd3 Qf6 19. Qf3 Qh6 20. h4 O-O
21. c3 e4 22. Qf4 Qa6+ 23. b5 Qxa3 24. Bxe4 Rae8 25. Kf3 f5 26. Bd3 Qxc3 27.
Rhd1 Bb6 28. Qc4 Qf6 29. Re1 f4 30. Qxf4 Rxe1 31. Rxe1 Qc3 0-1

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.17"]
[Round "3.37"]
[White "Duneas, John"]
[Black "Brockway, Andrew"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E01"]
[WhiteElo "2087"]
[BlackElo "1848"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 c5 5. O-O Nc6 6. c4 b6 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. dxc5
Bxc5 9. e4 Nf6 10. Qxd8+ Kxd8 11. Nc3 Ba6 12. Rd1+ Ke7 13. e5 Nd7 14. a3 b5 15.
b4 Bb6 16. a4 Rac8 17. axb5 Nxb4 18. Ba3 Ba5 19. Na2 Bxb5 20. Bxb4+ Bxb4 21.
Nxb4 Be2 22. Re1 Bxf3 23. Bxf3 Rc4 24. Nc6+ 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.18"]
[Round "4.12"]
[White "Haznedaroglu, Kivanc"]
[Black "Li, Zuhao Luke"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E01"]
[WhiteElo "2455"]
[BlackElo "2165"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 c5 4. Bg2 cxd4 5. Nxd4 d5 6. O-O Nc6 7. c4 Bc5 8. Nb3
Be7 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Nc3 Be6 11. Nd4 Nxd4 12. Qxd4 O-O 13. b3 Qd7 14. Rd1 Rfd8
15. Bb2 b6 16. e3 Rac8 17. Qd3 Bc5 18. Ne2 Bf5 19. Qa6 Qe7 20. Nd4 Bg4 21. Re1
h6 22. a3 Bxd4 23. Bxd4 Rc2 24. Rec1 Be2 25. Qa4 Rdc8 26. Rxc2 Rxc2 27. b4 Bd3
28. Rd1 Bg6 29. Bf3 Qe6 30. Qxa7 Kh7 31. Qa6 Qf5 32. Be2 Ne4 33. Rf1 Rc1 34. f3
Rxf1+ 35. Kxf1 Ng5 36. g4 Qb1+ 37. Kg2 Qe1 38. Bxb6 h5 39. h3 h4 40. Bc7 Ne4
1/2-1/2

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.18"]
[Round "4.32"]
[White "Milligan, Helen"]
[Black "Ker, Anthony F"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B08"]
[WhiteElo "1979"]
[BlackElo "2359"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Be2 O-O 6. O-O Bg4 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Qd2
e5 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Rad1 Qc8 11. Qc1 Rd8 12. Rxd8+ Nxd8 13. h3 Bxf3 14. Bxf3 c6
15. Rd1 Ne6 16. Ne2 Qc7 17. c3 a5 18. a4 Bf8 19. Qc2 Bc5 20. Bxc5 Nxc5 21. Ng3
Rd8 22. Rxd8+ Qxd8 23. Be2 h5 24. f3 Qb6 25. Kh2 Ne6 26. Bc4 Nf4 27. Qd2 Qc5
28. Bb3 Kg7 29. Nf1 h4 30. Ba2 Ne8 31. Ne3 Nd6 32. Qf2 Kf8 33. Qd2 Ke7 34. Ng4
b5 35. axb5 cxb5 36. Ne3 Nc4 37. Bxc4 bxc4 38. g3 hxg3+ 39. Kxg3 a4 40. Kh2 Qb5
41. Kg3 f6 42. Kh2 Qb6 43. Qf2 Kf7 44. Qd2 Ke7 45. Qf2 Qb5 46. Qd2 Qb3 47. Kg3
Qb6 48. Kh2 Qe6 49. Ng4 Nd3 50. Ne3 Kf7 51. Nd5 Qc8 52. Qh6 Qf8 53. Qe3 Qb8 54.
Nb6 Nxb2 55. Qc5 a3 56. Nc8 Kg7 57. Qe7+ Kh6 58. Qf8+ Kh7 59. Qf7+ Kh6 60. Ne7
Kg5 61. Kg3 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.19"]
[Round "5.56"]
[White "Davis, Justin M"]
[Black "Holdaway, Stewart"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A34"]
[WhiteElo "1985"]
[BlackElo "1746"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c5 3. c4 Nf6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bd7 7. Qb3 Qc7 8.
Bg2 Bc6 9. d4 e6 10. O-O cxd4 11. cxd4 Bd6 12. Bb2 Qe7 13. d5 Bxd5 14. Qc3 f6
15. e4 Bc6 16. e5 Bb4 17. Qb3 f5 18. Nd4 Bxg2 19. Kxg2 Kf7 20. Nxf5 Qg5 21.
Qxb4 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.19"]
[Round "5.58"]
[White "Benson, Christopher"]
[Black "Mitchell, Robert S"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A41"]
[WhiteElo "1924"]
[BlackElo "1672"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 Bg4 3. Nbd2 Nf6 4. e4 e6 5. c3 Be7 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O c6 8. e5
dxe5 9. Nxe5 Bxe2 10. Qxe2 Nbd7 11. Ndf3 Rc8 12. Be3 Nd5 13. Bd2 Bd6 14. Rad1
Qc7 15. c4 N5f6 16. Bg5 Rce8 17. Rfe1 Nh5 18. Nxd7 Qxd7 19. Ne5 Qc7 20. Qxh5 f6
21. Bxf6 gxf6 22. Ng4 Qg7 23. Nh6+ Kh8 24. Nf5 Qc7 25. Nxd6 Qxd6 26. Re3 Re7
27. Qh6 Qd8 28. Rde1 e5 29. f4 Ref7 30. dxe5 fxe5 31. fxe5 Qd2 32. h3 Rf2 33.
R1e2 Rf1+ 34. Kh2 Qb4 35. b3 Qc5 36. Qd6 Qb6 37. e6 Qd8 38. Qe5+ Qf6 39. Qxf6+
R1xf6 40. e7 Re8 41. Rd3 Kg7 42. Rd7 Kf7 43. Rxb7 a5 44. Ra7 Rf5 45. Ra6 Rxe7
46. Rxe7+ Kxe7 47. Rxc6 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.20"]
[Round "6.9"]
[White "Morris, James"]
[Black "Tao, Trevor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B15"]
[WhiteElo "2354"]
[BlackElo "2422"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. d4 g6 4. e5 h5 5. f4 Bf5 6. Be3 Nd7 7. Nf3 e6 8. Qd2 Bb4
9. Be2 Rc8 10. O-O Nh6 11. a3 Be7 12. h3 c5 13. Nb5 a6 14. Nd6+ Bxd6 15. exd6
c4 16. Ne5 f6 17. g4 hxg4 18. hxg4 fxe5 19. fxe5 Qh4 20. Bf2 Qh3 21. Qg5 Ng8
22. Bh4 Rxh4 23. Kf2 Qh2+ 24. Ke3 Qg3+ 25. Rf3 Qxg4 26. Rxf5 Qxd4+ 27. Kf3 Qe4+
28. Kg3 Qxf5 29. Kxh4 Nxe5 30. Qg3 Qe4+ 31. Kh3 Qxe2 32. Re1 Qh5+ 33. Kg2 Qg4
0-1

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.20"]
[Round "6.17"]
[White "Smith, Robert W"]
[Black "Chen, Pengyu"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B52"]
[WhiteElo "2273"]
[BlackElo "2056"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bxd7+ Qxd7 5. c4 Nc6 6. O-O g6 7. d4 cxd4 8.
Nxd4 Bg7 9. Be3 Nf6 10. f3 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 O-O 12. Nc3 Rfc8 13. b3 a6 14. Na4 Nh5
15. Bxg7 Nxg7 16. Nb6 Qc6 17. Nxa8 e5 18. Qd5 Rxa8 19. Qxc6 bxc6 20. Rfd1 Rd8
21. Rd2 Ne6 22. Rad1 Nd4 23. Rxd4 exd4 24. Rxd4 Kf8 25. c5 d5 26. exd5 cxd5 27.
Kf2 Ke7 28. Ke3 Ke6 29. Ra4 Ra8 30. Kd4 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.21"]
[Round "7.24"]
[White "West, Guy"]
[Black "Maroroa, Sue Y"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A50"]
[WhiteElo "2323"]
[BlackElo "2020"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. Bg2 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. d5 Ne4 8. Qc2
f5 9. Nbd2 Nd6 10. Nb3 c6 11. c5 Ne4 12. cxb6 axb6 13. dxc6 Nxc6 14. Ng5 Nd6
15. Be3 Nb4 16. Qd2 Bxg2 17. Kxg2 Ra4 18. Rfd1 Nc4 19. Qxd7 Qxd7 20. Rxd7 Nxe3+
21. fxe3 Bxb2 22. Rb1 Bf6 23. Ne6 Rc8 24. Nbd4 Nc2 25. Kf3 Rxa2 26. Rxb6 Ne1+
27. Kf2 Nd3+ 28. Kg2 Ne1+ 29. Kf1 Nc2 30. Kf2 Kf7 31. Rbb7 Nxd4 32. Nxd4 Rd2
33. Nb5 Rxd7 34. Rxd7 Ke6 35. Rd2 Kf7 36. Ra2 Rc5 37. Nd4 Rc3 38. Rd2 Rc5 39.
Nf3 Rc7 40. Ra2 Rc4 41. Nd2 Rc3 42. Nf3 1/2-1/2

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.21"]
[Round "7.43"]
[White "Setiabudi, Allen"]
[Black "Clarkson, Robert"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]
[WhiteElo "1966"]
[BlackElo "1529"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 h6 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O Bd6 6. e5 Bc5 7. c3 Na5 8.
Bxf7+ Kxf7 9. b4 Qe7 10. bxc5 Qxc5 11. cxd4 Qb6 12. Nc3 Nc4 13. Qd3 Qc6 14. d5
Qa6 15. e6+ dxe6 16. Qxc4 Qxc4 17. Ne5+ Ke8 18. Nxc4 exd5 19. Nxd5 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.22"]
[Round "8.13"]
[White "Bird, Andrew"]
[Black "Xie, George Wendi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A34"]
[WhiteElo "2216"]
[BlackElo "2459"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 e5 4. e3 Nf6 5. d4 cxd4 6. exd4 e4 7. Ne5 Qa5 8. c5
d6 9. Nc4 Qd8 10. d5 Nb8 11. Bg5 h6 12. Bxf6 gxf6 13. Nxe4 dxc5 14. Qa4+ Nd7
15. O-O-O Bg7 16. Ncd6+ Kf8 17. Qc2 Nb6 18. Nxc8 Rxc8 19. Ng3 f5 20. Nxf5 Bf6
21. Bc4 Qd7 22. g4 h5 23. h3 Na4 24. d6 Bxb2+ 25. Kb1 Bf6 26. g5 Nc3+ 27. Ka1
Ne4+ 28. gxf6 Qxf5 29. Rhe1 Qxf6+ 30. Qb2 Qxb2+ 31. Kxb2 Nxf2 32. Rd5 Nxh3 33.
Rf5 Kg7 34. Rxf7+ Kg6 35. Rf3 Ng5 36. Bd3+ Kh6 37. Rf6+ Kg7 38. Rg6+ Kf7 39.
Re7+ Kf8 40. Rf6+ 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.22"]
[Round "8.23"]
[White "Lukey, Stephen G"]
[Black "Chen, Pengyu"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A70"]
[WhiteElo "2261"]
[BlackElo "2056"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 d6 5. Nc3 exd5 6. cxd5 g6 7. e4 a6 8. Bf4 b5
9. Qe2 b4 10. e5 bxc3 11. exf6+ Kd7 12. Qc4 cxb2 13. Rb1 Qxf6 14. Bg5 Qg7 15.
Qa4+ Kc7 16. Qa5+ Kb7 17. Bc1 Bf5 18. Rxb2+ Kc8 19. Rxb8+ Rxb8 20. Bxa6+ Kd7
21. Bb5+ Rxb5 22. Qxb5+ Kd8 23. O-O f6 24. Re1 Bd7 25. Qb8+ Bc8 26. Qb6+ Kd7
27. Qc6+ Kd8 28. Re8# 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.23"]
[Round "9.10"]
[White "Schon, Eugene"]
[Black "Ikeda, Junta"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A30"]
[WhiteElo "2188"]
[BlackElo "2349"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. O-O Nf6 6. Nc3 Be7 7. Re1 O-O 8. e4
d6 9. d4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Qc8 11. Be3 a6 12. Rc1 Nbd7 13. f4 g6 14. f5 gxf5 15.
exf5 Bxg2 16. fxe6 fxe6 17. Kxg2 Ne5 18. Bf4 Qxc4 19. Bxe5 dxe5 20. Rxe5 Rad8
21. Nd5 Qxd5+ 22. Rxd5 Rxd5 23. Qa4 b5 24. Qxa6 Rxd4 25. Qxe6+ Rf7 26. Rc2 Kg7
27. Rf2 Rd6 28. Qe3 Rd5 29. Rc2 Bd6 30. a3 Re7 31. Qf3 Rde5 32. Rd2 R7e6 33.
Qb7+ Kg6 34. Qf3 h5 35. Qd3+ Kg7 36. Kh3 Ne4 37. Rc2 Rf6 38. Re2 Rfe6 39. Rc2
Rf5 40. Kg2 h4 41. Qd4+ Kh7 42. Rc8 h3+ 43. Kxh3 Ng5+ 44. Kg4 Rfe5 45. Qd3+
Re4+ 46. Kh5 Be7 0-1

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.23"]
[Round "9.19"]
[White "Stojic, Dusan"]
[Black "Bennett, Hilton P"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B06"]
[WhiteElo "2294"]
[BlackElo "1965"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. Nf3 a6 5. Bc4 Nf6 6. Qe2 O-O 7. e5 Ne8 8. Bg5
dxe5 9. dxe5 c6 10. h4 Bg4 11. h5 Qc7 12. hxg6 hxg6 13. e6 f5 14. O-O-O Nd6 15.
Bxe7 Nxc4 16. Bxf8 Qf4+ 17. Kb1 Bxf3 18. Bxg7 Bxe2 19. Bf6 1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.23"]
[Round "9.35"]
[White "Goodhue, Nathan"]
[Black "McDonald, John A"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A01"]
[WhiteElo "1945"]
[BlackElo "2068"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. b3 e5 2. Bb2 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Qd3 Nf6 6. e4 g6 7. Nc3 Bg7 8. f3
O-O 9. O-O-O Be6 10. g4 a5 11. a3 Nd7 12. Nb5 Nc5 13. Qe3 Ne5 14. g5 Qe7 15. h3
f5 16. f4 Nc6 17. e5 dxe5 18. fxe5 f4 19. Qe2 Qxg5 20. Nf3 Qe7 21. Rg1 Rad8 22.
Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Ng5 Bxb3 24. cxb3 Nxb3+ 25. Kc2 Rd2+ 26. Kxb3 Rxe2 27. Bxe2 a4+
28. Kxa4 Bxe5 29. Bc4+ Kg7 30. Ne6+ Kh6 31. Bc1 Qf6 32. Rg4 Qf5 33. Rh4+ Qh5
34. Bxf4+ Bxf4 35. Rxh5+ Kxh5 36. Nxf4+ Kh4 37. Be6 Nd8 38. Nxc7 g5 39. Ng2+
Kg3 40. Ne3 h5 41. Kb5 Kf4 42. Nf1 Kf3 43. a4 1-0

[Event "USSR Chess Championships"]
[Site "USSR"]
[Date "1957.01.26"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Gurgenidze"]
[Black "Khasin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "159"]
[EventDate "1957.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d3 d5 4. Nbd2 Nc6 5. g3 Bd6 6. Bg2 Nge7 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1
Qc7 9. c3 Bd7 10. Qe2 f6 11. a3 a5 12. a4 Rae8 13. Nf1 d4 14. N1d2 e5 15. Nc4
Nc8 16. Nfd2 Be7 17. Qf1 Rd8 18. f4 Be6 19. f5 Bf7 20. Qf3 Nd6 21. Nxd6 Rxd6
22. c4 Nb4 23. Re2 Nc2 24. Rb1 Ne3 25. Nf1 Qd7 26. b3 Nd1 27. Re1 Nc3 28. Rb2
Rb6 29. Qg4 Ra8 30. Bf3 Raa6 31. Bd1 Rb4 32. Rg2 Nxd1 33. Qxd1 Rab6 34. Nd2 {
(with the threat of 35.Ba3)} Ra6 35. g4 h6 36. h4 Kf8 37. Kf2 Ke8 38. Reg1 Kd8
39. Ba3 Rbb6 40. Nf3 Rc6 41. Bc1 Rc8 42. Bd2 Kc7 43. Qe1 b6 44. Ke2 Raa8 45.
Qg3 Bd6 46. g5 Rg8 47. Qf2 Rh8 48. Qg3 Rag8 49. gxh6 gxh6 50. Qxg8 Rxg8 51.
Rxg8 Bxg8 52. Rxg8 Qf7 53. Rg6 h5 54. Nh2 Bf8 55. Nf1 Qh7 56. Rxf6 Be7 57. Rh6
Qg8 58. Rg6 Qh7 59. Bg5 Bxg5 60. Rxg5 Kd8 61. Ng3 b5 62. axb5 a4 63. bxa4 Qa7
64. Rg8+ Kd7 65. Rg7+ Kd6 {(a good stalemate try)} 66. Rg6+ Kd7 67. Ra6 Qb8 68.
f6 Qg8 69. Ra7+ Ke6 70. Rg7 Qh8 71. Nf5 Kxf6 72. b6 Qe8 73. b7 Qxa4 74. b8=Q
Qc2+ 75. Ke1 Qc1+ 76. Kf2 Qd2+ 77. Kg1 Qe1+ 78. Kh2 Qf2+ 79. Rg2 Qf4+ 80. Ng3
1-0

[Event "Queenstown Classic"]
[Site "Queenstown"]
[Date "2012.01.21"]
[Round "7.17"]
[White "Zelesco, Karl"]
[Black "Smith, Robert W"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A56"]
[WhiteElo "1990"]
[BlackElo "2273"]
[PlyCount "117"]
[EventDate "2012.01.23"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NZL"]

1. d4 {This game was played in the 7th round of the Queenstown Classic, just
as things were hotting up. Bob Smith, playing Black, is well known on the
Australasian chess scene. A FM with oodles of experience from countless NZ
championships and Olympiads he is a tough and very unforgiving opponent.
Playing White is 12 year old Australian Junior Karl Zelesco, unknown to me and
probably to Bob before the Queenstown event. Rated less than 2000 he would be
up against it.} Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e5 4. Nc3 d6 5. e4 {Bob's choice of opening,
the Schmidt Benoni, is a good one. It is strategically complex, offers lots of
play and should enable Bob to generate an unbalanced position where his extra
experience and strength will bring him the full point.} Be7 6. g3 O-O 7. Bg2
Na6 8. Nf3 Nc7 9. h3 a6 {As always in this opening White enjoys a slight edge
due to his extra space and easier coordination. Even so both sides have a
range of plans. Black is aiming for the b5 and f5 breaks, the latter perhaps
preceded by g6, while White is interested in the mirror-image plans of b4 and
f4. Sometimes White expands on the kingside with g4 making the f5 break harder
to achieve and to increase his stranglehold on his space advantage. The g4
plan doesn't quite fit so well with the fianchettoed bishop as White would
like to have ready access to the g file with one of his rooks.} 10. a4 Rb8 11.
a5 b5 12. axb6 Rxb6 {As in the Modern Benoni when the b5 break is made after
White has advanced his a pawn to a5 the queenside structure causes problems
for both players. A weak a pawn vs a weak b pawn.} 13. O-O Nfe8 14. Ne1 f5 (
14... Bg5 {is the logical continuation for a number of reasons. Firstly, the
black squared bishop is Black's problem piece and so exchanging it makes
perfect sense. Secondly, the opposing bishop plays an important defensive role
protecting the backward b pawn, and thirdly, just on general considerations,
when your position is cramped exchanging one pair of minor pieces can give
your other pieces a bit more air. To prevent the exchange White may continue}
15. f4 exf4 16. gxf4 Bf6 17. Nf3 Bxc3 18. bxc3 {which leads to a sharp
position which would probably suit the more experienced player}) 15. Nd3 Nf6
16. Kh2 (16. exf5 Bxf5 17. f4 Nd7 {looks like a more energetic approach for
White. By playing f5 without the preparatory g6 Black has been forced to
recapture on f5 with a piece and this leaves White access to the e4 square and
removes some of the dynamism from Black's position. Even so it is a matter of
taste}) 16... fxe4 17. Nxe4 Bf5 18. Qe2 Qe8 {White retains just a minimal edge
because of his control of e4 and easier play. The black knight on c7, while
doing a sterling job at defending a6, is not well placed and this piece is
often a problem for Black in these types of pawn structure.} 19. g4 Bxe4 20.
Bxe4 Nxe4 21. Qxe4 Qg6 $6 {This move is very committal, and if Black was
wanting to create active counterchances this doesn't seem the best way to do
it. The doubled g pawns are of no particular concern at present but they
represent a long term weakness that will be difficult to eliminate.} 22. Qxg6
hxg6 23. Bd2 e4 $5 {Perhaps this was the move that Black was relying on to
bring his position alive. It clears the way for the bishop to take up
residence on the important a1-h8 diagonal, forces the white knight from its
dominant position on d3 and prevents White from advancing his f pawn. Against
a young and inexperienced opponent the plan looks to be a good one. The reason
I have chosen this game is because of the mature coolness with which Karl
plays the remainder of the game.} 24. Ba5 Rb7 25. Rfe1 $1 {This looks very
dangerous but it is exactly the right move. It seems that Black penetrates to
the seventh rank and wins a pawn but the gains are illusory and it is White
who gains a positional advantage. Well-played by the youngster!} exd3 26. Rxe7
Rxf2+ 27. Kg3 Rf7 28. Rxf7 Kxf7 29. Bc3 {White is a pawn down and it will be
some time before he regains it but his position is dominant because of the
superiority of his minor piece, activity of his king, and the weakness of the
black pawns.} g5 30. Kf3 Rb8 31. Ke3 Rh8 32. Rf1+ Kg6 33. Rf3 {A nice finesse.
White's advantage is growing. While Black lacks a solid plan White can look to
pressurise the weak Black pawns. But having said that would I expect a 12 year
old ranked less than 2000 to have the skill to defeat a 2250 player in this
position? To be honest my feeling at the time was no.} Ne8 34. Ba5 Nf6 35. Bc7
d2 36. Kxd2 Rc8 37. Ba5 Re8 38. Re3 {Black is squirming and trying to get
active but now the rooks will come off and the dominance of the bishop over
the knight becomes even more pronounced. Black is now in hot water.} Kf7 39.
Rxe8 Kxe8 40. Kd3 Nd7 41. b4 (41. Bc3 g6 42. Ke4 Kf8 {is an alternative that
keeps Black tied down, but the breakthough is still some time away. White's
choice aims to generate a passed pawn as quickly as possible and give the
bishop even more scope for its operations}) 41... cxb4 42. Bxb4 Ke7 43. Kd4 {
Black' defence is now very tricky. The bishop has a range of squares from
which to target the weak pawns on d6 and g5, and Black is busy protecting the
pawns and trying to prevent White from making the c5 advance.} Nf6 $6 44. Bd2
Nh7 {I can't quite convince myself that placing the knight on h7 to protect
the g5 pawn is the right plan. The knight does a fine job on d7 controlling e5
and c5 and perhaps the king was better placed to lend support to g5. Without
the doubled g pawns Black would probably hold this ending without too much
trouble, but the extra weakness is one too many.} 45. Ke4 g6 46. Kd4 Kd7 47. c5
dxc5+ 48. Kxc5 Nf6 49. Kd4 Kd6 50. Bb4+ Kd7 51. Ke5 {White is playing very
precisely. He has created the passed pawn and brought his king to a dominant
square to support its advance and target the kingside pawns.} Nh7 52. Ba5 Ke7
53. Bb4+ Kd7 54. d6 ({At the time I thought that finally Karl had thrown away
the win. I fancied placing Black in zugzwang as follows in order to force the
retreat of the Black king and the penetration of its opposite. But after} 54.
Ba3 a5 55. Bc5 Ke8 56. Kd6 a4 {it's not clear how White makes further progress.
The Black knight always seems to be able to return to f6 and d7 at the right
moment}) 54... Nf8 {While the pawn advance has seemingly compromised White's
control of the white squares on c6 and e6 (and prevented the bishop from
covering f8) the key is that Black cannot prevent the white king penetrating
to the kingside pawns.} 55. Kf6 Ne6 56. Kxg6 Nf4+ 57. Kxg5 Nxh3+ 58. Kf5 a5 59.
Ba3 {What an mature positional display by the young Australian! I am very
impressed. And in case you thought this might be a once only performance, two
rounds later, in the final round, Karl defeated another kiwi international,
Stephen Lukey.} 1-0

