[Event "2012 Istanbul 40th Olympiad Open"]
[Site "Istanbul TUR"]
[Date "2012.08.29"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Dive, Russell"]
[Black "Hamal, Manish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A29"]
[WhiteElo "2334"]
[BlackElo "2118"]
[Annotator "Russell Dive"]
[PlyCount "156"]
[EventDate "2012.08.28"]
[WhiteTeam "New Zealand"]
[BlackTeam "Nepal"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NZL"]
[BlackTeamCountry "NEP"]

{A29: English Opening: Four Knights Variation with 4 g3} 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3.
cxd5 Nxd5 4. Bg2 e5 5. Nc3 Nb6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. a3 Be6 8. d3 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. b4
f6 11. Bb2 Qd7 12. Re1 (12. Ne4 a5 13. Nc5 Bxc5 14. bxc5 Nc8 $11) 12... Rad8 (
12... a5 13. b5 Nd4 14. Nxd4 exd4 15. Ne4 $15) 13. Rc1 (13. Ne4 $5 $11) 13...
a5 $15 14. b5 Nd4 15. Nxd4 exd4 16. Ne4 Qxb5 17. Rxc7 Nd5 18. Rc2 Rc8 19. Rxc8
Rxc8 20. Bxd4 Bxa3 {Black has two potentially dangerous passed pawns, so White
needs to do something quickly to contain or eliminate them.} 21. Qa1 Qb4 (21...
Bb4 $142 $5 22. Rb1 Qd7 $15) 22. Rb1 $14 Qe7 23. Nc3 Nxc3 24. Bxc3 b6 $2 (24...
Bb4 $142 $5 {and Black hangs on} 25. Bxb4 axb4 $14) 25. Rxb6 $16 a4 $2 (25...
Bb4 26. Bd4 $16) 26. Be4 (26. Rxe6 $142 {was better, then} Qxe6 27. Qxa3 Qxe2
28. Bb7 $18) 26... Bb3 27. Kg2 (27. Rb7 $5 Qd6 28. Bf3 $16) 27... Bc5 $16 28.
Rb7 Qe6 29. Rb5 (29. Qb2 $5 $16) 29... Qd7 $11 30. Rb7 Qe6 31. Rb5 Qd7 $11 32.
Ra5 Qc7 (32... a3 33. Kg1 Bf8 34. d4 $11) 33. Bd2 $16 Qb6 (33... Qd7 34. Be3
Bxe3 35. fxe3 $16) 34. Qc3 Be6 35. Rxa4 Bxf2 36. Qb4 Qxb4 37. Rxb4 Bc5 38. Rb7
Bd4 39. Bf3 Rc2 40. Bb4 Rc1 41. h3 Rg1+ 42. Kh2 Rb1 43. g4 g6 44. Bd2 Rb2 45.
Rxb2 Bxb2 46. Kg3 Kf7 47. Ba5 Bb3 48. Bb6 f5 (48... Be5+ $5 49. Kf2 f5 $16) 49.
gxf5 $18 gxf5 50. Kf4 Ke6 51. Kg5 Bg7 52. Bb7 Bd1 (52... Kf7 $142 $18) 53. e3
Bf6+ 54. Kh6 Kd7 55. Kxh7 Be2 56. Kg6 Be7 57. Ba6 Bf1 58. Kxf5 Bxh3+ 59. Ke5
Bd6+ 60. Kd5 Be6+ 61. Ke4 Bh3 62. Bb5+ Ke7 63. Kd4 Bg3 64. Bc4 Bc8 65. Bc5+ Kd7
66. Bd5 Ba6 67. Ke4 Bh2 68. d4 Bf1 69. Kf5 Bh3+ 70. Kf6 Bg1 71. e4 Bg2 72. Be6+
Kc6 73. e5 Bf2 74. Bb3 Bf3 75. e6 Bh5 76. Kg5 Be2 77. e7 Be3+ 78. Kg6 Bc1 1-0

[Event "2012 Istanbul 40th Olympiad Open"]
[Site "Istanbul TUR"]
[Date "2012.09.03"]
[Round "6.1"]
[White "Dive, Russell"]
[Black "Ziska, Helgi Dam"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A15"]
[WhiteElo "2334"]
[BlackElo "2469"]
[Annotator "Russell Dive"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2012.08.28"]
[WhiteTeam "New Zealand"]
[BlackTeam "Faroe Islands"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NZL"]
[BlackTeamCountry "FAI"]

{A15: English Opening: 1...Nf6} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. b4 Bg7 4. Bb2 O-O 5. g3
d6 6. Bg2 e5 7. d3 a5 8. a3 e4 9. dxe4 Nxe4 10. Bxg7 Kxg7 11. Qd4+ Qf6 12. Nbd2
Re8 13. b5 Nc5 14. e3 Nbd7 15. O-O h6 16. Rfe1 Nb6 17. h4 Be6 18. Bf1 a4 19.
Qxf6+ Kxf6 20. Nd4 g5 21. hxg5+ hxg5 22. Rac1 g4 (22... Bd7 23. Rc3 $15) 23.
Be2 Nbd7 24. Kg2 Ne5 25. Rh1 Rh8 26. Rxh8 Rxh8 27. Rh1 Rxh1 28. Kxh1 d5 (28...
Nb3 29. Ne4+ Ke7 30. Nxe6 Kxe6 31. Nc3 $17) 29. cxd5 Bxd5+ 30. Kg1 Nb3 31. Nb1
Na5 (31... Nc1 $5 32. Kf1 Ke7 $15) 32. Kf1 $11 Bb3 33. Ke1 c5 34. bxc6 bxc6 35.
Kd2 c5 36. Nxb3 axb3 {Although Black now has two connected passed pawns, the
active White King and the difficult to co-ordinate Black Knights, give White
the better chances.} ({Worse is} 36... Nxb3+ 37. Kc3 $16) 37. Kc3 Ke6 (37...
Ke7 $5 $11 {is interesting}) 38. Nd2 $14 c4 39. Kb4 Nec6+ $2 (39... b2 $14) 40.
Kc3 $4 {Missing a chance to be clearly better.} (40. Kb5 $142 c3 41. Nxb3 Nxb3
42. Bc4+ (42. Kxc6 $4 c2 $19) 42... Kd6 43. Bxb3 $18) 40... Ne5 $11 41. Kb4
Nec6+ $2 (41... b2 42. Nb1 (42. Kxa5 c3 43. Nb3 b1=Q $19) 42... Nb7 43. Bxc4+
Kd6 44. Be2 $14) 42. Kc3 $4 {You are down to playing 30 seconds a move against
a strong opponent, are playing matchpoint team chess and the team already has
two points on the board, what do you do? I wasn't sure about Kb5 and didn't
have time to fully analyse it, so I decided to repeat the position and take
the draw.} Ne5 $11 43. Kb4 Nec6+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "2012 Istanbul 40th Olympiad Open"]
[Site "Istanbul TUR"]
[Date "2012.09.04"]
[Round "7.1"]
[White "Khader, Sami"]
[Black "Dive, Russell"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E12"]
[WhiteElo "2392"]
[BlackElo "2334"]
[Annotator "Russell Dive"]
[PlyCount "136"]
[EventDate "2012.08.28"]
[WhiteTeam "Jordan"]
[BlackTeam "New Zealand"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "JOR"]
[BlackTeamCountry "NZL"]

{E12: Queen's Indian: Unusual White 4th moves, 4 a3, 4 Nc3 Bb7 5 a3 and 4 Nc3
Bb7} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. c4 e6 4. a3 Bb7 5. Nc3 d5 6. cxd5 exd5 7. Bf4 Bd6
8. Bxd6 Qxd6 9. Nb5 Qe7 10. Qc2 c6 11. Nc3 Nbd7 12. e3 O-O 13. Bd3 Rfe8 14. O-O
Ne4 15. Nd2 f5 16. Rae1 Qf6 17. Ndb1 Nf8 18. Ne2 Ne6 19. f3 {
After a lot of manoeuvring, white finally plays f3 with e4 to follow soon.} Nd6
20. Kh1 (20. Nbc3 g6 $15) 20... Kh8 (20... c5 21. dxc5 bxc5 22. Ng3 $17) 21. e4
(21. Nbc3 $5 $15) 21... Nxd4 $17 22. Nxd4 Qxd4 23. exf5 (23. exd5 Qxd5 24. Nc3
Qc5 $17) 23... c5 24. f6 $2 (24. Qc3 $142 Qf4 25. Qd2 Qxd2 26. Nxd2 $19) 24...
Qxf6 $19 25. Rxe8+ Rxe8 26. Bxh7 (26. b3 c4 $1 27. bxc4 dxc4 28. Be2 $19) 26...
Ba6 27. Bd3 c4 28. Bg6 Re6 29. Bh5 (29. Rd1 Qg5 (29... Qxg6 $143 30. Qxg6 Rxg6
31. Nc3 $19) 30. Bh7 Rh6 $19) 29... Qh4 30. Bg6 Re1 31. g3 Rxf1+ 32. Kg2 Qf6
33. Kxf1 Qxf3+ (33... d4 34. Kg2 d3 35. Bxd3 cxd3 36. Qd2 $19) 34. Kg1 (34. Qf2
{isn't any better} Qh1+ 35. Qg1 c3+ 36. Kf2 Qxg1+ 37. Kxg1 cxb2 $19) 34... d4 (
34... Qg4 $142 {makes things more secure} 35. h4 d4 36. h5 Qxg3+ 37. Qg2 Qe1+
38. Qf1 $19) 35. Qf2 Qf6 36. Qxf6 gxf6 37. Kf2 f5 38. a4 (38. Bh5 Bb5 39. Ke1
Kg7 $19) 38... Kg7 39. Bh5 Ne4+ 40. Ke1 Nc5 41. Be2 Nxa4 42. b3 Nb2 43. bxc4
Bxc4 44. Bf3 (44. Na3 Bxe2 45. Kxe2 a6 $19) 44... Nd3+ 45. Kd2 Ne5 46. Bd1 Ba6
47. Kc1 Ng4 48. h4 (48. h3 Ne3 $19) 48... Ne3 49. Nd2 (49. Na3 Kf6 $19 (49...
Nxd1 $6 50. Kxd1 d3 51. Kd2 $19)) 49... Nf1 50. Nb3 (50. Nxf1 Bxf1 51. Bf3 a5
$19) 50... d3 51. g4 (51. Nd4 Kf6 $19) 51... fxg4 52. Bxg4 Ne3 (52... Bc4 $142
{might be a quicker way to win} 53. Bh3 Bxb3 54. Bxf1 $19) 53. Bh3 Kh6 (53...
Nc4 $5 {makes it even easier for Black} 54. Bd7 $19) 54. Kd2 Nd5 (54... Nc4+ $5
55. Kxd3 Na5+ 56. Kc3 Nxb3 57. Kxb3 $19) 55. Nd4 Kh5 (55... Nf4 $142 {
would have kept the clear advantage} 56. Bf5 Bb7 $19) 56. Nc6 $15 Kxh4 57. Bf5
Nf4 58. Nxa7 Kg5 59. Bh7 Kf6 60. Ke3 Nd5+ 61. Kd2 Nb4 62. Kc3 Nd5+ 63. Kd2 Nf4
64. Ke3 Ng6 (64... Ke5 65. Nc6+ Kd6 66. Nb4 $15) 65. Bxg6 $11 Kxg6 66. Nc6 Kf5
67. Nb4 Bc4 68. Nxd3 Bxd3 {Definitely a win that got away.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "2012 Istanbul 40th Olympiad Open"]
[Site "Istanbul TUR"]
[Date "2012.09.06"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Dive, Russell"]
[Black "Domingos, Catarino"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A14"]
[WhiteElo "2334"]
[BlackElo "2280"]
[Annotator "Russell Dive"]
[PlyCount "163"]
[EventDate "2012.08.28"]
[WhiteTeam "New Zealand"]
[BlackTeam "Angola"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NZL"]
[BlackTeamCountry "ANG"]

{A14: English Opening: 1...e6 with b3 by White} 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 Nf6 4.
Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 c6 7. Bb2 a5 8. d3 Nbd7 9. Nbd2 Nc5 10. Qc2 Na6 11. a3
Bd7 (11... Nc5 12. Rac1 $16) 12. e4 (12. Ne5 h5 $16) 12... Be8 13. Rad1 Rc8 14.
Bh3 Rb8 15. Ne5 (15. d4 dxe4 16. Nxe4 b5 17. Nxf6+ Bxf6 $16) 15... Qb6 (15...
Nc5 16. exd5 cxd5 17. Bg2 $16) 16. Kh1 (16. Rfe1 $5 $16) 16... Rd8 17. f4 Nc5
18. Bg2 (18. f5 dxe4 19. d4 Nd3 $14) 18... dxe4 19. dxe4 (19. Nxe4 Qxb3 20.
Qxb3 Nxb3 $17) 19... Bd7 (19... h5 $5 $11) 20. Bd4 $14 Bc8 21. Bg1 (21. Qc3 Qc7
$16) 21... Qc7 $14 22. Rb1 (22. Qc3 b6 $11) 22... Na6 (22... Nfd7 23. Nxd7 Rxd7
24. Nf3 $11) 23. Ra1 $11 Nd7 24. Nef3 (24. Nxd7 Rxd7 25. Nf3 $11) 24... Ndc5 (
24... e5 25. fxe5 Ndc5 26. Bd4 $15) 25. Rfd1 (25. Bd4 f6 $14) 25... b6 (25...
Rd7 26. Ne5 Rdd8 27. Nef3 $11) 26. Nf1 Bb7 27. Ne3 Rxd1 28. Rxd1 Nd7 (28... Rd8
29. e5 $11) 29. Ra1 (29. e5 Rd8 30. Qb2 h6 $11) 29... c5 (29... Re8 30. e5 $11)
30. Re1 $14 Rd8 31. Nd1 Nab8 32. Nc3 Nc6 33. Nb5 Qb8 34. Rd1 (34. e5 Qa8 $14)
34... Na7 (34... e5 35. Be3 $11) 35. h3 (35. Nc3 $142 $5 $14 {
would keep a small edge}) 35... Nxb5 $15 36. cxb5 Qa8 37. Ne1 (37. Re1 $5 $15)
37... Nf6 38. Rxd8+ Qxd8 (38... Bxd8 $5 39. e5 Bxg2+ 40. Nxg2 Qe4 41. Qxe4 Nxe4
$17) 39. a4 Qd7 40. Kh2 Bd8 41. Qe2 Bc7 42. Nd3 Qe8 43. Nb2 $2 (43. e5 $142 {
this is definitely better than what happens} Bxg2 44. Kxg2 $11) 43... e5 $19 {
Now I saw why 43.Nb2 wasn't one of my better moves in this topsy-turvy game!}
44. f5 Qa8 45. Nc4 Bxe4 46. Bxe4 Qxe4 47. Qxe4 Nxe4 48. Kg2 Kf8 (48... g6 49.
g4 $17) 49. g4 Ke7 50. Be3 Nc3 51. Bg5+ f6 52. Bd2 Nd5 (52... Ne2 $5 53. Be3
Kd8 $19) 53. Kf3 $17 {I thought I might still be able to hold the game, given
my active pieces were better than blacks.} Kd7 54. Ke4 Ne7 55. h4 g6 56. Bh6
Ke8 57. Ne3 Ng8 58. Bg7 Kf7 59. Bh8 {This is the first time I can ever
remember of burying my bishop on h8. I trusted my calculations that I would be
able to get it out again!} gxf5+ 60. gxf5 h5 61. Nf1 Ne7 62. Ng3 Nc8 63. Nxh5
Nd6+ 64. Kd5 Nxf5 (64... e4 65. Nxf6 e3 66. Ne4 Nxf5 67. Kc4 $15) 65. Bxf6 (65.
Nxf6 $142 Bd8 66. Ne4 Nxh4 67. Bxe5 $18) 65... Nd4 $4 {With both players down
to their thirty second increments, no one has time to calculate all the
possibilities.} (65... Kg6 66. Kc6 Bb8 $11 (66... Kxh5 $4 {
Black cannot capture the knight} 67. Kxc7 Ne3 68. Bxe5 $18)) 66. Bxe5 $18 Bxe5
67. Kxe5 Nxb3 68. Nf4 c4 (68... Nd2 {does not improve anything} 69. Kd5 $18)
69. Nd5 Kg6 70. Nc3 Kh5 71. Kd5 Kxh4 72. Kxc4 Nc5 73. Kd5 Kg4 74. Kc6 Kf5 75.
Kxb6 Nb3 76. Kc6 Nd4+ 77. Kc7 Ke5 78. b6 Ne6+ 79. Kc8 Nc5 80. b7 Nxb7 81. Kxb7
Kd4 82. Kb6 {
This game see-sawed throughout and the result could have gone either way.} 1-0

[Event "2012 Istanbul 40th Olympiad Open"]
[Site "Istanbul TUR"]
[Date "2012.09.07"]
[Round "10.1"]
[White "Dervishi, Erald"]
[Black "Dive, Russell"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B04"]
[WhiteElo "2538"]
[BlackElo "2334"]
[Annotator "Russell Dive"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2012.08.28"]
[WhiteTeam "Albania"]
[BlackTeam "New Zealand"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "ALB"]
[BlackTeamCountry "NZL"]

{B04: Alekhine's Defence: 4 Nf3} 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. c4
Nb6 6. e6 fxe6 7. Nc3 g6 8. h4 Bg7 9. Be3 O-O 10. h5 e5 11. hxg6 hxg6 12. d5
Nd4 13. Nxd4 ({Inferior is} 13. Bxd4 exd4 14. Nxd4 e6 $15) 13... exd4 14. Bxd4
Bxd4 15. Qxd4 {White will get a strong attack if Black is not very careful.} e5
16. Qd3 Kg7 (16... Qg5 $5 $14 {is an interesting alternative}) 17. Qe3 Rh8 18.
Rxh8 Qxh8 19. c5 Nd7 (19... dxc5 20. Qxe5+ Kg8 21. Qe8+ (21. Qxc7 $143 Bg4 22.
Qe7 Qd4 $14) 21... Kh7 22. Qe7+ Qg7 23. Qxc5 $18) 20. cxd6 cxd6 21. Ne4 Nf6 22.
Nxd6 Qf8 (22... Ng4 23. Qc5 Bd7 24. Qc7 $18) 23. Qxe5 Bg4 24. Bb5 $4 {
This gives me some chance to get back into the game.} (24. Rc1 $142 {
and White keeps his decisive advantage} Rd8 25. Rc7+ Kg8 26. Re7 $18) 24... Rd8
$16 25. Ne4 (25. Ne8+ $142 $1 Rxe8 26. Bxe8 Qxe8 27. Qxe8 Nxe8 28. Rc1 $16)
25... Qb4+ $15 26. Nc3 (26. Kf1 Qxe4 (26... Qxb5+ $4 {
the bishop mustn't be touched} 27. Kg1 Rf8 28. Qe7+ Rf7 29. Qxf7+ Kxf7 30. Nd6+
Ke7 31. Nxb5 $18) 27. Qc7+ Bd7 28. Qxd8 Bxb5+ 29. Kg1 Nxd5 $15) 26... Rxd5 $17
{My grandmaster opponent was in serious time trouble and my pieces were
flooding into his position. Things couldn't be much better, or could they?} 27.
Qc7+ Kh6 28. Kf1 Rxb5 29. Nxb5 Qxb5+ 30. Kg1 Qxb2 31. Re1 Qb4 {
Qd2 is probably better} 32. Re7 Nd5 $4 {After unsuccessfully spending most of
my remaining valuable time trying to find the knock-out punch, I managed to
TKO myself.} (32... Nd7 $142 {the only saving move} 33. Rxd7 Qe1+ 34. Kh2 Bxd7
35. Qxd7 Qxf2 36. Qxb7 Qxa2 $15) 33. Rh7+ $18 Kg5 34. Qe5+ Bf5 35. Qxd5 Qe1+
36. Kh2 Qxf2 37. Qd6 (37. Qe5 {makes it even easier for White} Qf4+ {
otherwise White plays the devilish Rh3, Rg3+ manouevre and it's all over} 38.
Qxf4+ Kxf4 39. Rxb7 a6 $18) 37... a5 $2 (37... b5 38. Qe7+ Kg4 39. Qe5 Qf4+ 40.
Qxf4+ Kxf4 41. Rxa7 $18) 38. Qd8+ (38. Qe5 $142 {still wins} Qf4+ 39. Qxf4+
Kxf4 40. Rxb7 Bd3 $18) 38... Kg4 39. Qd1+ (39. Qxa5 Be4 40. Rh4+ Qxh4+ 41. Kg1
Qg3 $19) 39... Kg5 40. Qc1+ Kg4 41. Qc4+ Kg5 42. Rxb7 Qe3 43. Rb5 Qd2 44. Rd5
Qb2 45. Kg3 (45. Rxa5 $142 $5 Qh8+ 46. Kg3 Qb8+ 47. Kf3 Qb7+ 48. Rd5 Kf6 $18)
45... Qb8+ 46. Kf3 {A game I thought I might be chalking up a win, however I
made the last mistake and ended up paying for it dearly.} (46. Kf3 Kf6 47. Qd4+
Kf7 48. Rxa5 $18) 1-0

[Event "World Chess Olympiad (Open)"]
[Site "Istanbul"]
[Date "2012.08.31"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Khaled Hashem (Kuwait)"]
[Black "Nicolas Croad (New Zealand)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[BlackElo "2255"]
[Annotator "Nicolas Croad"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. O-O c5 6. Nc3 Be7 7. d4 cxd4 8. Nb5
{A rare side variation, though I was aware of it because I had spent roughly
the last two weeks reading the complete Hedgehog by Sergey Shipov. The idea is
to capture on d4 with a knight, without allowing the exchange of light squared
bishops, however the knight is better placed on c3 where it controls the key
b5 and d5 squares where a Black pawn break is likely to arrive.} (8. Qxd4 {
is the best variation at this moment, eventually White will probably try to
arrange e2-e4 and then Qd4-e3 and Nf3-d4.}) (8. Nxd4 Bxg2 9. Kxg2 Qc8 {
is considered mostly harmless, but Black must work quite hard to create decent
winning chances here.}) 8... a6 {On this move I realised I had a choice, it
was also possible to castle and then to kick the knight back.} ({
I decided not to castle as after} 8... O-O 9. Qxd4 d6 {
the pawn on d6 appeared a bit weak to me e.g} 10. Rd1 Ne8 (10... Nc6 11. Qf4 (
11. Qd3 Qc8 $10) 11... Ne8 {and soon a7-a6}) 11. Bf4 {
In fact the pawn is more hardy than it looks and even here Black has} Nc6 ({Not
} 11... e5 $2 12. Bxe5 $1 $18) 12. Qd2 e5 13. Be3 $16 {
White is very happy because of the chronic hole on d5.}) 9. Nbxd4 O-O 10. Be3
d6 11. Bh3 {This move brings some originality to the game. The idea can be to
create some kind of material imbalance with a capture on e6, though this
didn't occur in the game.} Nbd7 12. b4 ({Its too early for the capture on e6} 
12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Bxe6+ Kh8 14. Ng5 Ne5 $17) 12... Re8 13. b5 (13. Nxe6 $6 fxe6
14. Bxe6+ Kh8 ({The position felt uncomfortable after} 14... Kf8 {though there
was nothing clearly wrong, my intuition at the board was correct however and
White has full compensation after} 15. Nd4) 15. Ng5 Rf8 16. Nf7+ Rxf7 17. Bxf7
Ne5 18. Be6 Bc8 19. Bxc8 Rxc8 $15 {and Black is better.}) 13... Bf8 14. Nc6 $6
Qc7 15. Bg2 Ng4 {I didn't figure out the best plan yet, and was kind of
searching around for what to do in this position.} 16. Bd4 e5 17. h3 {
White wants to return the bishop to e3. This may not have been the best idea
however as Black has a very strong plan coming.} ({
After playing e5, I noticed the tricky idea} 17. Bb2 axb5 18. cxb5 Bxc6 19. Qc2
Nc5 20. Ng5 g6 $2 ({In fact Black is ok after} 20... e4 $1 21. bxc6 d5 $17 {
but Its probably still better to avoid these complications all together on
move 15.}) 21. Bxc6 $18 {so I didn't need to think long over my next move.})
17... Ngf6 18. Be3 axb5 {This was also the best plan on move 15} 19. cxb5 Bxc6
{I decided I could make this capture here and eventually round up the pawn on
c6. It was also possible to avoid this capture however, and Black has quite a
substantial advantage in this case thanks to the extra centre pawns.} (19... d5
20. Qc2 Bc5 $17) 20. bxc6 Nc5 21. Qc2 h6 22. Qf5 g6 {White was threatening Bxh6
} 23. Qc2 (23. Qxf6 $4 Be7 $19 {traps the errant queen.}) 23... d5 24. Rfd1
Qxc6 25. Nd2 Qa4 26. Nb3 Nxb3 27. axb3 Qxa1 $2 {A mistake which undoes most of
the progress made by Black already. Of course this wins material but played
this move quickly and when I stopped to think on move 29 it was clear that the
rooks were not well coordinated and that this was a problem.} ({
The strongest way to realise the advantage was with} 27... Qb5 {
after which Black's extra pawn should count eventually.}) 28. Rxa1 Rxa1+ 29.
Kh2 Raa8 30. Qc6 Bg7 31. Bxb6 $6 ({
White should have a pretty easy time making a draw after} 31. Bxh6 $1 Bxh6 (
31... Rab8 32. Bxg7 Kxg7 33. Bxd5 $10) 32. Qxf6 Re6 33. Qh4 g5 34. Qg4 e4 $10 {
would be quite dubious over the board as Black's position is accident prone.})
31... Rac8 32. Qb5 ({Not} 32. Qd6 $4 Re6 33. Qb4 Rb8 $19) 32... Rb8 33. Qc6 $4
(33. Qc5 $4 Nd7 34. Qxd5 Nxb6 $19) (33. Qa6 $4 Re6 34. Qa7 Rexb6 $19) ({
As was fairly obvious over the board the correct move was} 33. Qa5 Re6 34. Be3
Rxb3 35. Bxd5 Nxd5 36. Qxd5 Rb8 $15 {and the game could go on for a long time,
but objectively one expects White should be able to hold on here.}) 33... Re6
34. Qc7 Rexb6 35. Kg1 Rxb3 36. Qxe5 Rb1+ 37. Bf1 (37. Kh2 $4 Ng4+ 38. hxg4 Bxe5
$19) 37... Re8 ({It turns out that the bishop on f1 can't escape, and after} 
37... Ra8 38. Kg2 Raa1 $19 {it would be lost as well.}) 38. Qc7 Rxe2 $6 ({
There was still} 38... Ra8 39. Kg2 Raa1 $19) 39. Kg2 Rd2 40. Qd8+ Kh7 41. Qe7
Ne4 42. Qxf7 Rxf2+ 43. Qxf2 Nxf2 44. Kxf2 Be5 45. g4 Kg7 {and White resigned.}
({I guess he was praying for a miracle like} 45... g5 $4 46. Bd3+ Kg7 47. Bxb1
$10) 0-1

[Event "World Chess Olympiad (Open)"]
[Site "Istanbul"]
[Date "2012.09.03"]
[Round "6"]
[White "John Arni Nilssen (Faroe Islan"]
[Black "Nicolas Croad (New Zealand)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2372"]
[BlackElo "2255"]
[Annotator "Nicolas Croad"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 {This was a surprise. As far as I could
gather from the record White had almost always played, the Kasparov variation
of the Nimzo-Indian. From the course of this game I believe he selected the
Classical variation in order to play some improvement over a previous game.}
O-O 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 d6 {The main reason I think White was targeting a
previous game is that he started thinking about his moves around here.} 7. Bg5
Nbd7 8. e3 b6 9. Ne2 Ba6 $6 {In retrospect the bishop is missplaced here. Yes,
Black should put pressure on c4, but the bishop is not comfortable on a6, and
on b7 it makes development with Bd3 difficult.} ({
The position would be roughly level after} 9... Bb7 10. Qc2 c5 $10) 10. Qb3 c5
11. Rd1 Rc8 12. Qa4 Bb7 13. Nc3 ({Pawn looting simply loses of course} 13. Qxa7
$4 Bc6 $1 $19 {and there is nothing to be done about Ra8.}) 13... Bc6 14. Qc2 (
{The White queen is clearly missplaced after} 14. Qa6 cxd4 15. exd4 (15. Rxd4
$4 Nc5 16. Qxa7 Ra8 $19) 15... Qc7 $17) 14... cxd4 15. Rxd4 (15. exd4 d5 $15 {
Black has some positional advantages to play against.}) 15... Qc7 16. Qd1 Qb7
$6 {Of course Black wants to create another weakness before breaking in the
centre, however I missjudged the chances White gets in return.} (16... d5 17.
cxd5 Nxd5 18. Nxd5 Bxd5 19. e4 Bc6 $10) 17. f3 $6 ({
Black needs to make some kind of compromise after} 17. Rxd6 Bxg2 ({Or} 17... h6
18. Bxf6 Nxf6 19. f3 Qe7 20. Rd2 Nh5 $14 {and Black has some play for the
sacrificed pawn, but White has every reason to have confidence.}) 18. Rg1 Bxf1
19. Kxf1 {and Blacks king will come under a dangerous attack here.}) 17... d5
18. cxd5 Nxd5 19. Nxd5 Bxd5 20. e4 Bc6 21. b4 ({
White should restrain his ambitions to} 21. Be2 e5 22. Rd2 Nc5 $10 {
and the bishop pair offers White a tiny edge.}) 21... b5 22. Be2 Nb6 {
It was just by accident, but I didn't anticipate White's next move so I didn't
bother to oppose it.} ({Black clearly has equality after} 22... e5 23. Rd2 Nb6
$10) 23. e5 $2 {At the time it appeared that this offers White some initiative,
but in retrospect I think it creates too many holes in the White position.} Nd5
{Of course Black would love to exchange the light squared bishops, but its not
so simple to achieve this.} ({After} 23... Bd5 24. Bxb5 Bc4 25. Bxc4 Nxc4 $14 {
The position has lost so much structure, so exchanging the bishop loses its
point.}) 24. Qd2 Qc7 25. f4 Bb7 26. O-O ({Not} 26. Bxb5 $4 Qc1+ 27. Qxc1 (27.
Kf2 Qxh1 $19) 27... Rxc1+ 28. Rd1 Rxd1+ 29. Kxd1 Nc3+ $19) 26... a6 27. Bd3 Qc3
{Of course if Black can exchange the queens then its going to be hopeless for
White, he can't defend his weaknesses. Whites game depends on developing a
kingside initiative.} 28. Qf2 h6 $1 {Exactly the right moment to kick the
bishop. The unexpected opening had taken its toll and I was a bit short of
time here.} ({Black comes under a possibly deadly attack after} 28... Qxa3 29.
f5 $14 {
as the bishop is covering c1 here, preventing Black's main defensive idea.})
29. Bxh6 ({After} 29. Bh4 Qxa3 30. f5 {
is a much stronger prospect, as some rooks are exchanged after} Rc1 $17) ({
Its important that White can't leave the bishop in place with} 29. Qh4 $4 Qxd4+
30. Kh1 Qxd3 $19) ({Also quite harmless is} 29. h4 hxg5 30. hxg5 g6 $19) 29...
gxh6 30. f5 ({White would love to transfer the queen to the kingside, even at
the cost of a rook, but the problem is all the bits are dropping off with
check} 30. Qg3+ Kh8 31. Qh4 Qxd4+ 32. Kh1 (32. Rf2 Rc1+ 33. Bf1 Rxf1+ 34. Kxf1
Qd1#) 32... Qxd3 $19) 30... exf5 31. Qg3+ $2 ({Black is much better after} 31.
Qxf5 $1 Qxd4+ 32. Kh1 Qxd3 33. Qxd3 Rc3 $17 {
though the material imbalance offers White chances here.}) ({
During the game I spent a nervous moment looking at} 31. Rxd5 Bxd5 32. Qxf5
Qd4+ 33. Kh1 {as I had not noticed that its possible here to play} Rfd8 ({
I incorrectly evaluated the variation} 33... Qxd3 34. Qxd3 Rfd8 $18 {
and White just is winning.}) 34. Qh7+ Kf8 35. Qxh6+ Ke8 36. Qh8+ Kd7 $1 ({
Over the board it would have taken some guts to select anything other than} 
36... Ke7 37. Qf6+ Ke8 $10) 37. e6+ Ke7 $1 38. Qxd4 Bxg2+ 39. Kxg2 Rxd4 $19 {
and Black is winning.}) ({The White attack collapses after} 31. Bxf5 $4 Qe3 $19
{exchanging queens.}) 31... Kh8 32. Qh4 Rc6 $1 {While there were alternative
defensive moves here, this was very clearly the best way to resolve Blacks
difficulties, as the others tie up the Black pieces.} 33. Bxf5 (33. Rxd5 Rg6
34. Bxf5 {and the Black pieces come to life.} Rxg2+ 35. Kh1 (35. Kxg2 Bxd5+ 36.
Be4 Qc2+ $1 37. Kf3 Qd3+ $1 $19) 35... Qd2 $3 {
(suggested by Luke in our team post-mortem)} 36. Rxd2 Rg4+ $1 37. Rg2 Bxg2+ 38.
Kg1 Rxh4 $19) 33... Qe3+ $1 34. Kh1 Rc1 35. Rdd1 Rxd1 36. Rxd1 Qg5 {At this poi
nt White took a long forlorn look at his position. I think he was waiting for
some of the games beside us to be resolved. Eventually he held out his hand in
resignation.} 0-1

[Event "World Chess Olympiad (Open)"]
[Site "Istanbul"]
[Date "2012.09.04"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Nicolas Croad (New Zealand)"]
[Black "Bilal Samhouri (Jordan)"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "2255"]
[BlackElo "2244"]
[Annotator "Nicolas Croad"]
[PlyCount "138"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. f3 e6 6. e4 exd5 7. e5 {
This opening variation leads to a highly forced position.} Qe7 8. Qe2 Ng8 9.
Nc3 Bb7 10. Nh3 c4 11. Nf4 Qc5 12. Nfxd5 Bxd5 13. Be3 Qb4 14. a3 Qa5 15. Bd2
Be6 (15... Bb7 16. Nd5 Qd8 17. Qxc4 {Just leaves Black with fewer alternatives.
}) 16. Nd5 Qd8 17. Qxc4 Ra7 18. Rc1 Bxd5 (18... axb5 19. Nc7+ Rxc7 20. Qxc7 Nc6
21. Qxd8+ Kxd8 22. Bxb5 Nxe5 23. Ba5+ Ke7 24. Rc8 $16 {
1-0 Nakamura-Vaucher Lagrave,Cap d'Agde 2008 (41)}) 19. Qxd5 axb5 20. Bxb5 Ne7
21. Qe4 Nec6 {This move was not anticipated in my opening preparation. Since I
didn't see a point to hiding the fact that I was well prepared for this game,
my clock showed roughly 5 more minutes than I had started the game with.} (
21... Nbc6 22. a4 Qb8 23. f4 $16 {
was the conclusion of my preparation for this game.}) 22. a4 Be7 23. O-O O-O
24. f4 Re8 25. Be3 ({Stronger was} 25. b4 $16 {
not allowing the Black queen to develop on a5.}) 25... Rb7 26. Rfd1 Qa5 27. Qd5
Bb4 28. Kh1 Rc7 29. Qe4 Rb7 30. Rd5 Qa8 31. f5 (31. Bd3 g6 32. Bb5 Bf8 $14)
31... Bf8 32. Bc4 ({
The computer identifies interesting, but obscure tactical ideas like} 32. e6
dxe6 33. f6 g6 34. Rd3 Rc8 $10 {
however I didn't feel like taking risks at this moment in the game.}) 32...
Qxa4 $1 {After this Black is no longer at real risk of losing the game.} 33.
Rxd7 Rxd7 34. Bxf7+ Rxf7 35. Qxa4 Rxe5 36. Bf4 $1 Rexf5 37. g3 $1 {
Otherwise White would be in trouble.} R5f6 38. b4 Rxf4 39. gxf4 Nxb4 40. Rc8
N4c6 41. Qc4 ({It was more exact to play} 41. Qb3 {but really makes no odds.})
41... g6 42. Qb3 Kg7 43. Rxb8 Nxb8 44. Qxb8 Rf6 {Here I realised that despite
my best efforts I was losing the f4 pawn, and would have to defend a little.}
45. Qc7+ Kh6 46. Kg2 Rf5 47. h3 {I offered a draw, because I obviously didn't
want to defend. Of course Black can play on but a draw remains by far the most
likely result.} Bc5 48. Qd7 Be3 49. Qe7 Bxf4 50. Qh4+ Kg7 51. Qe7+ Rf7 52. Qd8
h5 53. Qd4+ Kh7 54. Qc4 Rf5 55. Qe6 Kh6 56. Qe7 Be5 57. Qd8 Bf6 58. Qf8+ Kg5
59. Qd6 Be5 60. Qd8+ Kh6 61. Qe7 Rg5+ 62. Kh1 h4 63. Qf8+ Kh5 64. Qf3+ ({
Actually I noticed} 64. Qh6+ $10 {
forces stalemate, but I wanted to see how far Black wanted to push his luck.})
64... Kh6 65. Qf8+ Kh7 66. Qe7+ ({Or} 66. Qh6+ $10 {again.}) 66... Kh6 67. Qf8+
Bg7 68. Qf4 Kh5 (68... Be5 69. Qf8+ {repeats the position.}) 69. Qf3+ Kh6
1/2-1/2

[Event "World Chess Olympiad (Open)"]
[Site "Istanbul"]
[Date "2012.09.05"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Noaman Omar (United Arab Emira"]
[Black "Nicolas Croad (New Zealand)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2322"]
[BlackElo "2255"]
[Annotator "Nicolas Croad"]
[PlyCount "128"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 {We played once previously in
the 12th rough of the 39th Olympiad. Fortunately this time White was out for a
little more than he got from our previous encounter.} (5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 c6
7. e3 Bf5 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. Qxd3 a5 11. e4 dxe4 12. Qxe4+ Qe7 13.
O-O-O O-O $10 {1/2-1/2 Omar - Croad, Olympiad Kanty Mansiysk 2010 (40) was our
previous game. Black has roughly equal chances here.}) 5... h6 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7.
e3 O-O 8. Rc1 c6 9. h4 {I was totally unprepared for this move, and White
managed to give me the impression it was totally unprepared. I suspect given
its pedigree he had prepared it however.} g6 10. h5 $6 ({
During the game I was more concerned about the possibility of} 10. g4 Nd7 (
10... Bg7 11. g5 h5 12. Ne5 {
Looks a bit dubious as eventually White can always organise a sacrifice on h5.}
) 11. g5 hxg5 12. hxg5 Bxg5 $10 {
when White has compensation for the sacrificed material.}) 10... g5 11. cxd5
exd5 12. Bd3 Re8 13. Qc2 Nd7 14. Bf5 Nb6 $1 {At this stage I was quite
satisfied with the opening. Black gets a knight to d6, and this piece is so
good in the queens gambit that there are really no more problems after this.}
15. O-O Bxf5 16. Qxf5 Nc4 {I tried to leave this knight on c4 as long as
possible. Its not possible to capture on b2 in almost any situation, but on c4
it prevents counterplay by attacking e3.} 17. Nh2 Bg7 18. Qc2 $6 ({The queen is
well placed on the kingside, and it should have stayed there to tie the Black
pieces up.} 18. Ng4 Nd6 19. Qf3 Re6 $15) 18... Qd7 19. Na4 f5 20. Rfe1 Qf7 {
At this moment Black's plan is clarified. The h5 pawn is weak and can't be
defended.} 21. Nf1 Nd6 22. Qd1 ({
White doesn't benefit from the weakened kingside pawns at all after} 22. Ng3 f4
23. exf4 gxf4 24. Nf1 Qxh5 $17) 22... g4 23. Nc5 Qxh5 24. Ng3 Qf7 25. Ne2 Bf8 {
This move looked a bit clumsy to me at the time. Maybe there is no real harm
done.} 26. g3 ({
I thought Black might have trouble re-locating the queen in the variation} 26.
Nd3 Ne4 27. Ne5 Qh7 28. Nf4 {
but its obvious Black has retained most of his advantages here.}) 26... Ne4 27.
Nxe4 Rxe4 28. Kg2 Bd6 {The bishop on d6 keeps the knight under control. I
didn't think White could offer to swap it, so it lacks good squares.} 29. Rh1
Re6 {Its fairly obvious Black should double rooks behind the h-pawn and
threaten h6-h5-h4.} 30. Qc2 Kg7 31. Rh2 Rh8 32. Rch1 h5 33. Kf1 Reh6 34. Qb3
Kg6 35. Ke1 R8h7 {At first I didn't see where to place the Black king, but it
still looks missplaced on the kingside, eventually I figured it out.} 36. Qd3
Kg7 37. Kd2 Kf8 38. Kc2 Ke8 39. a3 Kd8 40. Kb1 Kc8 41. Qc2 Kb8 42. Nc1 h4 $1 {
and now the break is prepared.} 43. Rxh4 Rxh4 44. gxh4 (44. Rxh4 Rxh4 45. gxh4
Be7 {is similar to the game.}) 44... Be7 45. Nd3 Rxh4 46. Rxh4 Bxh4 47. Ne5 Qe6
48. b4 ({A better try was} 48. f3 $1 {and here Black has a difficult choice.
Certanly the position is promising in all cases, but at the board it was not
clear which path was best and if it was good enough.} gxf3 (48... Bg3 49. f4
$17 (49. fxg4 fxg4 $19)) (48... g3 49. f4 $17) ({But not} 48... Bf6 $2 49. fxg4
Bxe5 (49... fxg4 $2 50. Qg6 $10) 50. gxf5 $15 {
when Black has lost almost all his advantage.}) 49. Qh2 f2 $1 50. Nd3+ (50.
Nxc6+ $2 Kc8 51. Qb8+ Kd7 52. Qxb7+ Kd6 $19) 50... Kc8 51. Nxf2 Bg5 $15) 48...
Be7 49. Kb2 Bd6 ({I noticed the impending sacrifice, but decided there was
really nothing which could be done about it} 49... Bd8 50. Qc5 Bc7 $4 51. Qf8+
Qc8 52. Nd7+ $18) 50. Nxc6+ {
It appeared quite likely White would try this sacrifice.} ({
There are few difficulties after} 50. f4 Bxe5 51. fxe5 Qg6 $19) 50... bxc6 51.
Qxc6 f4 {I allowed the sacrifice on c6 because this move allows Black to take
over the initiative.} 52. a4 (52. exf4 Qe2+ 53. Kb3 Qc4+ 54. Qxc4 dxc4+ 55.
Kxc4 Bxf4 $19) 52... fxe3 53. fxe3 (53. a5 exf2 54. a6 Qe2+ 55. Ka3 Bxb4+ $19)
53... Qf6 ({As it turns out Black's king escapes after} 53... g3 54. a5 g2 55.
a6 Qe7 56. Qb5+ Kc8 57. Qc6+ Kd8 $19) 54. a5 Be7 55. Qxd5 Qf2+ 56. Kb3 Qxe3+
57. Ka4 Qg5 58. Qd7 a6 $1 {Threatening Qb5+} 59. d5 g3 60. Qe8+ (60. Qc6 Qf6
61. Qe8+ Bd8 62. Qe2 Be7 $19) 60... Bd8 61. Qc6 g2 62. Qxa6 Qxd5 {
More accurate than immediately queening as it prevents further checks.} 63. Qg6
Qd1+ 64. Kb5 g1=Q {and since White has no decent checks he simply resigned.}
0-1

[Event "World Chess Olympiad (Open)"]
[Site "Istanbul"]
[Date "2012.09.06"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Joao Simoes (Angola)"]
[Black "Nicolas Croad (New Zealand)"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2275"]
[BlackElo "2255"]
[Annotator "Nicolas Croad"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 d5 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O c6 7. Qc2 b6 8. Nbd2
Nbd7 9. e4 Bb7 10. e5 Ne8 11. cxd5 cxd5 ({
Probably a better choice for this game would have been} 11... exd5 {
and Black can always get some counterplay with c6-c5.}) 12. Re1 {Reaching what
could be described as a dull position of the Closed Catalan. However this game
manages to get very, hot.} Rc8 13. Qd1 Nc7 ({
Ideally Black would just develop the queen on the c-file, but after} 13... Qc7
14. Qe2 ({I would have been satisfied with the book position} 14. Nf1 Qc2 15.
Qxc2 Rxc2 16. Ne3 Rc6 17. Bd2 $10) 14... Qc2 15. h4 Nb8 16. Qe3 $14 {The queens
are still on the board, White will finish developing and now the queen is
missplaced on c2.}) 14. Nf1 Na6 15. a3 Nab8 16. Bd2 Nc6 17. h4 Na5 18. Ng5 $1 {
At this moment, something about the look in my opponents eyes, or maybe the
course of Paul Garbetts game on board 3, something told me to be extremely
nervous about my kingside.} Nc4 19. Bc1 ({Here} 19. Qc2 $5 g6 20. Bc3 Bxg5 21.
hxg5 Qxg5 {offers lots of interesting compensation to White.}) 19... h6 $1 {
Otherwise white plays Qd3, forcing g7-g6 a worse kingside weakness.} 20. Nh3
Qe8 $1 {It turns out that the queen is very well placed here, in this position.
The main point is to play f7-f5 at some moment when the White queen is on h5,
avoiding en-passent capture.} 21. Nf4 (21. Qh5 $2 f5 $1 $15) 21... Nb8 22. Nh2
Nc6 23. Bf1 Kh8 24. b3 N4a5 25. Ng4 Rg8 ({In the game, I was concerned with
the impending assault on the kingside, and so I wanted to play} 25... Nxb3 {
however at this moment it seemed that after} 26. Nxh6 {
Black might just be lost,} ({Its obvious that Black is equal to better after} 
26. Qxb3 Nxd4 27. Qd3 Nc2 28. Bd2 Nxa1 29. Rxa1 $15) 26... gxh6 ({
Its too difficult to fathom positions like} 26... Ncxd4 27. Qh5) 27. Qh5 $10 {
Of course it would be foolish to enter this position as White definitely has
perpetual check already.}) 26. Be3 Nb8 27. b4 Nc4 28. Bc1 a5 29. bxa5 bxa5 30.
Bd3 Ba6 31. Bb1 {If white gets a queen to the b1-h7 diagonal, its game over.}
Nb6 {But fortunately this is not possible.} 32. Ra2 $1 {White is still playing
for the full point, and here he finds a use for the un-used rook which keeps
the attack going.} Na4 $1 33. Rc2 Nc3 34. Rxc3 Rxc3 35. Qd2 Rc8 ({I also consid
ered an immediate sacrifice of the exchange in return, but it was clear white
would be better} 35... Rxc1 36. Rxc1 Bxa3 37. Qc2 g6 38. Nf6 $18) 36. Nh5 (36.
Qxa5 $2 Qb5 $1 $17 {forces a queen exchange.}) 36... Qb5 $1 37. Bb2 ({
After the game Hilton asked me what happens after} 37. Nxh6 {
in fact I had noticed this shot} Qxb1 $1 38. Nxf7+ Kh7 $19) ({Or instead} 37.
Nxg7 Qxb1 $1 38. Nf6 Bxf6 39. exf6 Qg6 $19 {and Black is winning.}) 37... Bf8
38. Kh2 {I believed White was planning Re3-f3 here. I was beginning to feel in
control of the game here, but after my next move} Nd7 {he came up with} 39. Qf4
$1 {and I chickened out with} g6 $2 ({Black had to play} 39... Qxb2 40. Qxf7
Rc2 $1 {which I saw, however this position is completely in-calculable, and I
thought probably losing} 41. Nf4 (41. Qg6 Rxf2+ 42. Nxf2 Qxf2+ 43. Kh3 Bf1+ 44.
Rxf1 Qxf1+ 45. Kh2 $10) 41... Bb5 42. Ng6+ Kh7 43. Nf4 Kh8 $10) 40. Qxf7 Rg7 (
40... Bg7 $2 41. Nf4 $18) ({Equally hopeless now is} 40... Qxb2 41. Nf4 Qb7 42.
Nxg6+ Rxg6 43. Qxg6 Nb8 44. Qxe6 $18) 41. Nxg7 Bxg7 42. Qxg6 $2 ({
Now winning was} 42. Bc1 $3 Qxb1 43. Bxh6 $18 {
I guess this was a good point to Kh2, don't allow a capture on e1 with check.})
(42. Qxe6 Nf8 43. Qd6 h5 $1 $14) 42... Nf8 43. Qh5 Qxb2 44. Kg2 ({No good is} 
44. Nxh6 Qxf2+ 45. Kh3 Bf1+ 46. Rxf1 Qxf1+ 47. Kh2 Qxb1 $19) 44... Qd2 $1 {
and now its over, Black has everything defended.} 45. Nxh6 Qxh6 ({
I wanted to play} 45... Qxe1 {but noticed after} 46. Nf5+ Kg8 {Black is mated,
it turns out there was a defence, but actually I think its better not to allow
unnecessary complications here} (46... Nh7 $19) 47. Ne7#) 46. Qd1 Bb5 47. f4
Be8 48. Rf1 Bg6 49. g4 Bxb1 50. Qxb1 Ng6 51. h5 Nxf4+ 52. Kg3 Rc3+ 53. Kf2 Nh3+
54. Kg2 Qd2+ 55. Kh1 Rc2 {
and since there is no decent way to stop mate on h2, White resigned.} 0-1

[Event "40th Olympiad Open"]
[Site "Istanbul TUR"]
[Date "2012.09.04"]
[Round "7.43"]
[White "Li, Zuhao Luke"]
[Black "Aboudi, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D37"]
[WhiteElo "2227"]
[BlackElo "2160"]
[Annotator "Li, Luke"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2012.08.28"]
[WhiteTeam "New Zealand"]
[BlackTeam "Jordan"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Bf4 Nf6 5. e3 O-O 6. Nf3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8.
cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Bb4+ 11. Nd2 Nc6 12. O-O d4 13. e4 Bd6 14. Bxd6
Qxd6 15. Nc4 Qf4 16. Qc1 Qxc1 17. Raxc1 Rd8 18. f4 f6 19. a3 Be6 20. b4 Rac8
21. h3 Kf8 22. e5 Bxc4 23. Rxc4 fxe5 24. Bxh7 exf4 25. Bf5 Rb8 26. Rxf4 Ke7 27.
b5 d3 28. bxc6 d2 29. Rce4+ Kd6 30. Rd4+ Kc5 31. Rxd2 Rxd2 32. c7 Rf8 33. c8=R+
Kd5 1-0

[Event "40th Olympiad Open"]
[Site "Istanbul TUR"]
[Date "2012.08.31"]
[Round "4.55"]
[White "Li, Zuhao Luke"]
[Black "Al Awadhi, Waleed"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E24"]
[WhiteElo "2227"]
[Annotator "Li, Luke"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2012.08.28"]
[WhiteTeam "New Zealand"]
[BlackTeam "Kuwait"]
[BlackTeamCountry "KUW"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3+ 5. bxc3 b6 6. f3 Nc6 7. e4 Ba6 8. e5
Ng8 9. Nh3 Na5 10. Qa4 Qc8 11. Bd3 Ne7 12. Bg5 Nd5 {
I don't think this is very good.} 13. Nf2 h6 14. cxd5 Bxd3 15. Nxd3 hxg5 16.
dxe6 fxe6 17. Qc2 Qb7 18. O-O O-O-O 19. c4 g4 {
I don't think that I should have allowed this move to be played.} 20. Nf4 gxf3
21. Rxf3 g5 22. Ng6 Nc6 23. Qe4 Rh7 24. Raf1 {
I was feeling pretty confident in my position by this point.} Ne7 25. d5 d6 26.
exd6 Nxg6 27. Qxe6+ Kb8 28. Qxg6 cxd6 29. Rf8 Rhd7 30. Rxd8+ Rxd8 31. Qxg5 Qc7
32. Rc1 Qc5+ 33. Kh1 Kc7 34. Qg3 Re8 35. h3 b5 36. Qf4 Kb6 37. cxb5 Qxd5 38.
Rc6+ Kxb5 39. Rxd6 Qc5 40. a4+ Ka5 41. Qd2+ {
I win the Black Queen for my rook in all lines.} 1-0

[Event "40th Olympiad Open"]
[Site "Istanbul TUR"]
[Date "2012.09.05"]
[Round "8.39"]
[White "Khouri, I."]
[Black "Li, Zuhao Luke"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C84"]
[WhiteElo "2228"]
[BlackElo "2227"]
[Annotator "Li, Luke"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2012.08.28"]
[WhiteTeam "United Arab Emirates"]
[BlackTeam "New Zealand"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "UAE"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. d3 b5 {
This move is already inaccurate. d6 followed with a quick g6 was better.} 6.
Bb3 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. a4 Bb7 9. Nc3 b4 10. Ne2 d5 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Ng3 g6 {
This move was completly the wrong idea and my position starts falling apart.
Instead f6 is about equal.} 13. Re1 Bf6 14. Ne4 Bg7 15. Bg5 f6 16. Nc5 Bc8 17.
Nxe5 Nxe5 {Na5 was my best shot and is nearly equal, but I underestimated an
exchange sack.} 18. Rxe5 c6 19. Rxd5 cxd5 20. Bd2 a5 21. Qf3 Kh8 22. Qxd5 Bf5
23. c3 bxc3 24. Bxc3 Qb6 25. d4 Rfe8 26. Re1 Rxe1+ 27. Bxe1 Re8 28. Bc3 $16 Qc7
29. Qf7 Qc8 30. Bc4 Bc2 $2 31. Ne6 $18 Rg8 32. Nxg7 Rxg7 33. Qxf6 Qxc4 34. d5
1-0

[Event "2012 Istanbul 40th Olympiad Open"]
[Site "Istanbul TUR"]
[Date "2012.08.29"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Malakar, Prachanda"]
[Black "Steadman, Michael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Mike Steadman"]
[PlyCount "46"]
[EventDate "2012.08.28"]
[WhiteTeam "Nepal"]
[BlackTeam "New Zealand"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "NEP"]
[BlackTeamCountry "NZL"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 Nc6 {Here it is, if they play on autopilot, Black is cruising,
Nf3 is the move and it stops Black's plan and makes Nc6 a kind of awkward move
- we often need to play c5 to get play.} 3. Nc3 e5 4. d5 Ne7 5. Bg5 $2 {
This is a bad move, swapping the Knight is only good for Black. I'm sure he
had originally planned Ne4 to follow and realised at the last minute that
Black just takes the knight and after Bxd8, Bb4+ and Black is 2 pieces up.} Ng6
6. e4 (6. Ne4 Nxe4 7. Bxd8 Bb4+ 8. Qd2 Bxd2+ 9. Kd1 Kxd8 {
is the variation from the previous note}) 6... Bc5 7. Nf3 d6 8. Be2 h6 9. Bc1 {
White is in a bad way to have to play this move.} O-O 10. O-O Qe7 11. a3 a6 12.
b4 Ba7 {This position may look good for White, but in fact Black is coasting,
watch how the attack develops.} 13. h3 $2 {Never move pawns on the side your
opponent is stronger, Black goes on autopilot now. Note the Knight on c3 being
unprotected, allows the next move for Black.} Nh5 14. Bd3 Nhf4 15. Bc2 Qd7 (
15... Bxh3 16. gxh3 Qd7 17. Bxf4 Nxf4 18. Nh2 Qxh3 19. Qf3 Bd4 20. Na2 Bxa1 21.
Rxa1 {This didn't seem too convincing to me at the board. I thought he'd
defend badly against the move played.}) 16. Ne2 $2 Nxg2 17. Kxg2 Qxh3+ 18. Kg1
Qxf3 19. Qd3 Qg4+ 20. Kh1 f5 21. Ng1 (21. Bd1 Qh4+ 22. Kg1 fxe4 23. Qg3 Bh3 24.
c5 dxc5 25. Re1 cxb4 26. Be3 Bxe3 27. fxe3 Rf3 {
Five pawns up should be enough to win.}) 21... fxe4 22. Qxe4 Qh5+ 23. Kg2 Bf5 {
A good time to resign.} 0-1

[Event "2012 Istanbul 40th Olympiad Open"]
[Site "Istanbul TUR"]
[Date "2012.09.10"]
[Round "11"]
[White "Moyo, Dion"]
[Black "Steadman, Michael"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Mike Steadman"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2012.08.28"]

1. e4 e6 2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Ngf3 Bc5 {
Here is the tricky move, now White should transpose into a Tarrasch.} 5. g3 $2
{But this move just loses a pawn or the game.} dxe4 6. Ng5 (6. Nxe4 Nxe4 7.
dxe4 Qxd1+ 8. Kxd1 Bxf2) (6. dxe4 Ng4 7. Qe2 Bxf2+ 8. Kd1 Ne3+) 6... e3 7. fxe3
Bxe3 8. Ndf3 Bb6 9. Bf4 h6 10. Ne4 Nxe4 11. dxe4 Qxd1+ 12. Rxd1 Nc6 13. Bb5 Bd7
14. c3 g5 $2 (14... O-O-O 15. Ke2 f5) 15. Ne5 O-O-O 16. Nxf7 (16. Nxd7 Rxd7 17.
Rxd7 Kxd7 18. Be5 Rg8 19. Bf6 a6 20. Ba4 Bc5 21. Ke2 b5 22. Bc2 Bd6 23. Rd1 Ke8
{This would have been a pain had he seen it, g5 was a lazy move. Black will
unravel and win in the end, but not necessary.}) 16... gxf4 17. Nxd8 Rxd8 18.
gxf4 Rf8 19. Rf1 Be3 20. f5 exf5 21. Bxc6 bxc6 22. exf5 Rxf5 23. Ke2 Re5 24.
Rf8+ Kb7 25. Kf3 Be6 26. h4 Bc5 27. Rh8 h5 28. Rdd8 Bxa2 29. Rde8 Rf5+ 30. Ke4
Bb1# 0-1

[Event "2012 Istanbul 40th Olympiad Open"]
[Site "Istanbul TUR"]
[Date "2012.08.31"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Nasser, B."]
[Black "Garbett, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Paul Garbett"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2012.08.28"]
[WhiteTeam "Kuwait"]
[BlackTeam "New Zealand"]
[WhiteTeamCountry "KUW"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 {A recent experiment for me} 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 Bg4 {
And avoiding the heavily analysed lines with e6 followed by c5, where black
needs to be prepared for a range of whiteapproaches} 5. Bxc4 e6 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7.
h3 Bh5 8. Qb3 Bxf3 9. gxf3 Bd6 $5 {Very speculative - black offers a pawn in
exchange for speed in development. Much more common is 9/\ Nb6, while 9/\Rb8
also is playable} 10. e4 $5 {The only game that I was aware of went} (10. Qxb7
O-O 11. f4 c5 {and black developed sufficient play for the pawn. The move
chosen is much more ambitious and double-edged}) 10... Nh5 11. e5 Be7 12. Qxb7
c6 $1 {Black simply can't afford to allow the white queen to take up a
dominant position on e4, so a second pawn is sacrificed} 13. Qxc6 Rc8 14. Qa4 {
On balance} (14. Qa6 {seems better - one obscure line is} O-O 15. Be3 Nb6 16.
Bd3 Bb4 17. Rc1 Qh4 {thinking of Nf4 or Rc7 to double rooks. Is this sort of
thing worth the two pawns? I'm not sure.}) 14... O-O 15. Bd3 $2 {
I don't think it can be right to allow the following exchange - perhaps} (15.
Ba6 Nb6 16. Qd1 {is better}) 15... Nxe5 16. Bxh7+ Kxh7 17. dxe5 Qc7 18. Qe4+ g6
19. Bd2 Rb8 {Black has a strong initiative now} 20. Qe3 {
Hoping for an attack on black's king} Rfd8 $1 {
A key idea is to play Rxd2 at the right moment} 21. Rg1 Rxd2 22. Qxd2 Qxe5+ 23.
Qe3 Qa5 24. Rg4 $2 {White hopes to hide his king on g2/h1 but this is flawed.}
(24. O-O-O Bb4 {was also unpleasant for white}) 24... Rxb2 25. Kf1 Bc5 26. Rg5
Qa6+ {Winning on the spot - perhaps what white missed on move 24} 27. Nb5 Bxe3
{White resigns} 0-1

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "3.2"]
[White "Lane, Gary"]
[Black "Lukey, Stephen"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "63"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8.
Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c4 b4 12. Nc2 a5 13. g3 O-O 14. Bg2 g6 15.
Nxf6+ Qxf6 16. O-O Bb7 17. Qd3 Rad8 18. a3 bxa3 19. Rxa3 Rb8 20. Rfa1 Rfd8 21.
Qe3 Qe7 22. Rd3 Ba6 23. b3 Qc7 24. h4 a4 25. bxa4 Bxc4 26. Rc3 Ba6 27. Qg5 Bb7
28. Nb4 Qd7 $2 29. Nd5 Kg7 30. Qf6+ Kg8 31. h5 gxh5 32. Qh6 1-0

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Fraemohs, Peter"]
[Black "Johnson, Quentin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "103"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 c5 4. f3 Qa5+ 5. c3 Nf6 6. d5 e6 7. dxe6 fxe6 8.
Nd2 d5 9. e4 Be7 10. Nb3 Qb6 11. Qc2 Nc6 12. exd5 exd5 13. a4 a6 14. Ne2 O-O
15. Be3 d4 16. a5 Qd8 17. cxd4 cxd4 18. Qc4+ Kh8 19. Bxd4 Bb4+ 20. Bc3 Ne5 21.
Qd4 Nd3+ 22. Kd2 Be6 23. Qxd3 Bxc3+ 24. bxc3 Bxb3 25. Qxd8 Rfxd8+ 26. Nd4 Rac8
27. Rb1 Bd5 28. Bd3 Rc5 29. Ra1 Nh5 30. g3 Nf6 31. Rhe1 Re8 32. Rxe8+ Nxe8 33.
Re1 Nd6 34. Re5 Rxa5 35. Ke3 b6 36. Nf5 Nxf5+ 37. Bxf5 g6 38. Bd3 Kg7 39. c4
Bxc4 40. Rxa5 Bxd3 41. Rd5 Bc4 42. Rd6 a5 43. Rxb6 a4 44. Rb7+ Kg8 45. Ra7 Bb3
46. Kd4 g5 47. Ke5 Bd1 48. Kf6 Bxf3 49. Rxa4 g4 50. Rd4 h5 51. Kg6 Kf8 52. Kxh5
1-0

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Johansen, Darryl"]
[Black "Wansink, Robert"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[PlyCount "123"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 h6 7. Be3 Nbd7 8. Qd2
c5 9. d5 Kh7 10. Nf3 b5 11. cxb5 a6 12. O-O axb5 13. Bxb5 Qa5 14. Bc6 Rb8 15.
h3 Qb4 16. Qc2 Qxb2 17. Qxb2 Rxb2 18. Rab1 Rc2 19. Rfc1 Rxc1+ 20. Bxc1 Ba6 21.
Bb5 Bxb5 22. Rxb5 Rb8 23. Rxb8 Nxb8 24. Kf1 Nfd7 25. Nb5 Nb6 26. Nd2 Kg8 27.
Ke2 Kf8 28. Nc7 N8d7 29. Kd3 c4+ 30. Kc2 Nc5 31. f3 Nd3 32. Nxc4 Nxc1 33. Nxb6
Nxa2 34. Nd7+ Kg8 35. Nb5 Nb4+ 36. Kd2 h5 37. Nb8 Bf6 38. Nc6 Na6 39. f4 Nc5
40. Ke3 Nd7 41. g3 Kf8 42. Na3 Nb6 43. Kd3 Ke8 44. Nc4 Nd7 45. e5 dxe5 46. fxe5
Bg5 47. Kd4 Bc1 48. e6 fxe6 49. dxe6 Nf8 50. Kd5 Bg5 51. N6e5 Bf6 52. Nf7 g5
53. Nd2 Ng6 54. Ne4 h4 55. Nxf6+ exf6 56. gxh4 Nxh4 57. Nd6+ Kd8 58. Ne4 Ke7
59. Ng3 f5 60. Ke5 g4 61. Nxf5+ Nxf5 62. hxg4 1/2-1/2

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "4.6"]
[White "Koop, Thorben"]
[Black "Roberts, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "69"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Be7 4. Nf3 d6 5. c3 O-O 6. Nbd2 Nbd7 7. O-O c6 8. Bb3
Qc7 9. Re1 Nc5 10. Bc2 Rd8 11. Qe2 b5 12. Nf1 a5 13. Ng3 g6 14. Ng5 Ne6 15.
Nxe6 Bxe6 16. f4 Bg4 17. Qf2 Kh8 18. Be3 Rg8 19. h3 Bc8 20. Rad1 Ne8 21. d4 Bh4
22. fxe5 dxe5 23. Qf3 Bf6 24. d5 Bg7 25. Rf1 Nd6 26. dxc6 Be6 27. Bg5 Ne8 28.
Nf5 gxf5 29. exf5 f6 30. fxe6 fxg5 31. Qe4 Nf6 32. Rxf6 Bxf6 33. Rd7 Qb6+ 34.
Kh1 Rg6 35. Rxh7+ 1-0

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "3.4"]
[White "Gold, Hamish"]
[Black "Jackson, Ross"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "71"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Nbd7 5. Nbd2 c5 6. c3 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. O-O
Be7 9. Ne5 Nxe5 10. Bxe5 O-O 11. Qf3 g6 12. Rae1 Nd7 13. Bf4 Nf6 14. Bh6 Re8
15. h4 Ne4 16. Nxe4 dxe4 17. Bxe4 Bxe4 18. Qxe4 cxd4 19. exd4 Bxh4 20. Bd2 Bg5
21. f4 Bf6 22. Qf3 Qd7 23. g4 Qd5 24. Qh3 Qxa2 25. Re2 Bg7 26. Rh2 h6 27. f5 g5
28. f6 Bf8 29. Bxg5 Bd6 30. Qxh6 Bxh2+ 31. Kxh2 Qxb2+ 32. Bd2 Qxd2+ 33. Qxd2
Kh7 34. Rf3 Rh8 35. Qg5 Rag8 36. Rh3# 1-0

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Koop, Thorben"]
[Black "Chan, Peng Kong"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "38"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O Bf5 5. d3 e6 6. Nbd2 h6 7. Qe1 Bh7 8. e4
Be7 9. Qe2 O-O 10. b3 a5 11. a4 Na6 12. Ba3 Bxa3 13. Rxa3 Nb4 14. Ne1 dxe4 15.
dxe4 Qd4 16. e5 Nfd5 17. Bxd5 cxd5 18. Nb1 Qb2 19. Ng2 Rfc8 0-1

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "5.10"]
[White "Roberts, Michael"]
[Black "Gloistein, Bruce"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "69"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 Nbd7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. Rc1 c6 8. cxd5
Nxd5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Bd3 Nxc3 11. Rxc3 e5 12. Qc2 g6 13. O-O Re8 14. dxe5 Nxe5
15. Nxe5 Qxe5 16. Rc5 Qe7 17. b4 Bd7 18. Rc4 Rac8 19. h4 Qe5 20. Rc5 Qg7 21. h5
Re5 22. hxg6 hxg6 23. Rd1 Be6 24. a3 Re8 25. e4 Kh7 26. f4 Rxc5 27. Qxc5 Kg8
28. f5 b6 29. Qf2 gxf5 30. exf5 Bd5 31. Bf1 f6 32. Rd3 Re4 33. Be2 Kf8 $1 34.
Rg3 $2 Rxe2 35. Qf4 0-1

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Johansen, Darryl"]
[Black "Lukey, Stephen"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "113"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Bg5 Na6 7. Qd2 e5 8. d5
Nc5 9. f3 a5 10. g4 c6 11. h4 cxd5 12. cxd5 Bd7 13. Nh3 b5 14. Nf2 Qb6 15. h5
Rac8 16. Ncd1 b4 17. Ne3 Bb5 18. h6 Bh8 19. O-O Rc7 20. Rfc1 Rfc8 21. b3 Bxe2
22. Qxe2 Ne8 23. Nc4 Qa6 24. Nd3 Nxd3 25. Qxd3 Bf6 26. Be3 Rb7 27. g5 Bh8 ({
to stop} 27... -- 28. Nxe5 $1) 28. Nb2 Qa8 29. Rxc8 Qxc8 30. Rc1 Qd8 31. Qa6
Rb8 32. Nc4 f6 33. Nxa5 Ra8 34. Nc6 Rxa6 35. Nxd8 Rxa2 36. Rc8 Ra1+ 37. Kg2
Ra2+ 38. Kf1 fxg5 39. Rb8 Bf6 40. Ne6 Kf7 41. Rb7+ Kg8 42. Bxg5 Rh2 43. Bxf6
Nxf6 44. Rg7+ Kh8 45. Rf7 Ng8 46. Rd7 Rxh6 47. Kg2 g5 48. Rxd6 Rg6 49. Rd8 h5
50. Re8 g4 51. d6 gxf3+ 52. Kf2 Rg2+ 53. Kxf3 Rd2 54. Rd8 Kh7 55. Ke3 Ra2 56.
d7 Ra7 57. Rc8 1-0

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "6.7"]
[White "Johnson, Quentin"]
[Black "Gold, Hamish"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "67"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nc3 d6 6. Nf3 Nfd7 7. O-O e5 8. d5
a5 9. e4 Nc5 10. b3 h6 11. Nh4 Kh7 12. Qc2 Nbd7 13. Bb2 Nf6 14. a3 a4 15. b4
Nb3 16. Rad1 Nd4 17. Rxd4 $5 exd4 18. Nb5 Bd7 19. Nxd4 Qc8 20. f4 Bh3 21. f5 (
21. e5 $1) 21... Bxg2 22. fxg6+ fxg6 23. Nxg2 Ng4 24. Rxf8 Bxd4+ 25. Bxd4 Qxf8
26. Nf4 Ne5 27. Bxe5 dxe5 28. Ne6 Qf3 29. Qf2 Qxf2+ 30. Kxf2 Rc8 31. c5 Kg8 32.
d6 cxd6 33. cxd6 Rc2+ 34. Ke1 {Black resigns??} (34. Ke1 Rc1+ $10 {as} 35. Kd2
$2 Rc6 $1 $19) 1-0

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Lane, Gary"]
[Black "Wansink, Robert"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "103"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h5 5. c4 dxc4 6. Bxc4 e6 7. Nc3 Ne7 8. Bg5
Qb6 9. Qd2 Qb4 10. Bb3 a5 11. Nge2 a4 12. Bd1 a3 13. b3 Nd5 14. Rc1 Nxc3 15.
Nxc3 Nd7 16. O-O Nb6 17. Qf4 Qa5 18. Bc2 Bxc2 19. Rxc2 Nd5 20. Qg3 Nxc3 21.
Rxc3 Qd5 22. Qf4 Bb4 23. Rf3 Rf8 24. Rc1 b5 25. Qe3 Ra7 26. Qd3 Rh8 27. Rg3 Kf8
28. Rf3 Ke8 29. Rg3 Kf8 30. Qc2 Ra6 31. Bd2 Be7 32. Rc3 Qxd4 33. Be3 Qxe5 34.
Rxc6 Rxc6 35. Qxc6 g6 36. Qd7 Bf6 $2 (36... Qd6) 37. Rc7 Qa1+ 38. Bc1 Rh7 39.
Rc8+ Kg7 40. Qe8 Bc3 41. Qf8+ Kf6 42. Qd8+ Kg7 43. Qg8+ Kf6 44. Rxc3 Qxc3 45.
Bg5+ Kf5 46. Qxh7 f6 47. Be3 Qa1+ 48. Kh2 Qxa2 49. Qc7 g5 50. hxg5 fxg5 51. Bd4
Qxb3 52. f3 1-0

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "7.10"]
[White "Black, Ross"]
[Black "Nijman, Arie"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "51"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. Bc4 Bg4 5. d3 Nd4 6. Be3 Nxf3+ 7. gxf3 Bh5 8.
Qe2 c6 9. Qf1 Bxf3 10. Rg1 Bh5 11. Qh3 Bg6 12. O-O-O b5 13. Bb3 a5 14. Rxg6 $1
fxg6 15. Bxg8 Qd7 16. Be6 Qb7 17. Rg1 a4 18. Rxg6 b4 19. Nb1 b3 20. cxb3 d5 21.
Rg2 axb3 22. a3 d4 23. Bd2 Ra7 24. Qh5+ g6 25. Qxe5 Bg7 26. Bd7+ 1-0

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Smith, Robert"]
[Black "Lane, Gary"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Quentin Johnson"]
[PlyCount "58"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Bf4 e5 $5 {The Exchange Slav
Defence is not known for offering Black much scope for dynamic play. But with
this pawn sacrifice Lane manages to inject some life.} 6. Bxe5 Nxe5 7. dxe5 d4
8. Qa4+ $6 {Keeping the extra material is possibly overambitious and leads to
a big deficit in development for White. The more circumspect} (8. Ne4 {
has lead White to give back two pawns for development after} Qb6 9. Nf3 Qxb2
10. Rb1 Bb4+ 11. Ned2 Bxd2+ 12. Nxd2 Qxa2 {in a couple of grandmaster games.})
8... b5 9. Nxb5 Bd7 10. Qa6 Qb8 11. a4 ({Not} 11. Nxd4 $2 Qb4+ {
winning the knight.}) 11... Bb4+ 12. Kd1 Nh6 13. h3 {Although two pawns up,
White's queen is hemmed in and he has problems developing his pieces. The text
may be the best way to contain Black's threats while gradually unravelling his
kingside.} (13. Nf3 $2 Ng4 {is clearly bad}) (13. Nxd4 $2 Bc5 {too dangerous,})
({while} 13. Rc1 O-O 14. Nc7 $2 Ng4 15. Nh3 Be1 $1 {
shows that White can't take Black's threats lightly}) 13... O-O 14. Nf3 Rc8 $1
{The c-file is more important than defending the d-pawn, which White has no
time to take without exposing himself to attack.} 15. Rc1 Bc5 16. g4 $1 {
Restricting the black knight as well as creating potential threats down the
long diagonal, to which Black has to turn his immediate attention.} Be6 17. Bg2
Bd5 18. Rg1 Rc6 19. Qa5 {
Here White had a chance to simply matters by giving up his queen:} (19. Qxc6 $5
Bxc6 20. Rxc5 a6 21. Rxc6 axb5 22. Kc2 bxa4 23. Nxd4 Qxe5 {with full material
compensation for the queen and active pieces, though his exposed king makes it
less attractive.}) 19... Qb7 $1 {
Black achieves nothing with the immediate forcing line} (19... a6 $6 20. Nfxd4
Bxd4 21. Nxd4 Qxb2 22. Rxc6 Qxd4+ 23. Qd2 Qxf2 24. Qxd5 Qxg1+ 25. Kd2 {
so he improves his queen position and tightens the screws.}) 20. Ne1 $6 {
The release of tension on the long diagonal frees the Black pieces to attack
the white king, but White is so tied up he has few choices. Possibly the only
chance was the fiendishvariation} (20. Nfxd4 $1 Bxd4 21. Rxc6 Bxg2 $1 22. Rxh6
$5 ({or} 22. Rd6 Bb6 23. Qd2 Bxh3 24. f3 {trying to contain the black pieces})
22... gxh6 23. Nxd4 Qxb2 24. Nf5 $1 Qb1+ 25. Kd2 Qxg1 26. Nxh6+ Kh8 27. e6 $1
Qxf2 $1 28. Qg5 Qd4+ 29. Ke1 Qb4+ 30. Kf2 Qb6+ 31. Kxg2 Qxe6 {when Black
lously avoids having to administer perpetual check. White must then retain
queens for drawing chances as the ending after} 32. Qe5+ $5 Qxe5 33. Nxf7+ Kg7
34. Nxe5 Re8 35. Nc6 a6 $1 36. Kf3 Rc8 {
obtaining a passed a-pawn wins for Black.}) 20... Bxg2 21. Rxg2 a6 $1 22. Nd6
Qb3+ 23. Nc2 {Relaxing the defence of d3, but the slightly better} (23. Rc2 d3
$1 24. exd3 Bxd6 25. exd6 Rxc2 26. Nxc2 Qxd3+ {also wins material for Black as}
27. Kc1 Rc8 {with the double threat of mate and 28...Qf1+.}) 23... d3 $1 24.
exd3 Qxd3+ 25. Ke1 Bxd6 26. Rg3 {Now} ({Now} 26. exd6 $2 Re8+ {leads to mate.})
26... Qe4+ 27. Re3 Bb4+ 28. Qxb4 Qxb4+ 29. Nxb4 Rxc1+ 0-1

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "8.2"]
[White "Koop, Thorben"]
[Black "Johansen, Darryl"]
[Result "0-1"]
[PlyCount "121"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 a6 5. a4 d5 6. d3 f5 7. exd5 exd5 8. g3 Nf6
9. Bg2 Bd6 10. O-O O-O 11. Re1 Re8 12. Rxe8+ Qxe8 13. Bd2 h6 14. Nb1 Be6 15.
Na3 Bf7 16. h3 Qd7 17. c3 Bc7 18. b4 Bd6 19. Nc2 Re8 20. Qf1 Qc7 21. Qf2 b6 22.
a5 Nd7 23. axb6 Qxb6 24. Bf1 Qb7 25. d4 c4 26. Ne3 Be6 27. Ne5 Nf6 28. Bg2 Bxe5
29. dxe5 Ne4 30. Bxe4 dxe4 31. g4 Ne7 32. Ra5 Rd8 33. Rc5 Qd7 34. Be1 fxg4 35.
hxg4 Bxg4 36. Rxc4 Bf3 37. Rd4 Qe8 38. Rxd8 Qxd8 39. Qd2 Qc8 40. Bh4 Nf5 41.
Nxf5 Qxf5 42. Qh2 e3 43. Qg3 Qb1+ 44. Qe1 Qc2 45. Qf1 Bd5 46. Be1 Qe4 47. Kh2
h5 48. c4 Bxc4 49. Qg2 Qxf4+ 50. Bg3 Qd4 51. Qc6 Kh7 52. Qf3 Qd2+ 53. Kg1 Qc1+
54. Kh2 Qc2+ 55. Kg1 Qg6 56. Kh2 e2 57. Qe3 Qf5 58. Qf2 Qg4 59. Qe3 Bd5 60.
Qd3+ Be4 61. Qd8 0-1

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "8.4"]
[White "Wansink, Robert"]
[Black "Fraemohs, Peter"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "9"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nc6 3. d3 Na5 4. Bxf7+ $5 Ke7 $4 (4... Kxf7 5. Qh5+ Ke6 {
is unclear}) 5. Bxg8 1-0

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Lane, Gary"]
[Black "Dowden, Anthony"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "51"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 a6 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. O-O cxd4 8. cxd4
dxe4 9. Nxe4 Be7 10. a3 O-O 11. Be3 Bd7 12. Rc1 g6 13. Nc5 b5 14. Bh6 Re8 15.
h3 Bc8 16. Bb1 Qd6 17. Qd2 Nd5 18. Rfe1 Bf6 $2 19. Ne4 Qd7 20. Nxf6+ Nxf6 21.
Qg5 Nd5 22. Be4 Nce7 23. Ne5 Qd8 24. Ng4 Ra7 25. Bxd5 Nxd5 26. Qxd5 $1 1-0

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "9.2"]
[White "Johansen, Darryl"]
[Black "Milligan, Helen"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "75"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. d4 d6 5. e4 O-O 6. Be2 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. d5
Nc5 9. Qc2 a5 10. Bg5 h6 11. Be3 Ne8 12. Nd2 f5 13. exf5 gxf5 14. f4 e4 15. Nb3
Nxb3 16. axb3 Bd7 17. Qd2 b6 18. Nd1 Nf6 19. Bd4 Qe8 20. Ne3 Qg6 21. Rfd1 Kh7
22. Bc3 Rg8 23. Kh1 h5 24. Qe1 Qh6 25. Qh4 Raf8 26. Rf1 Kg6 27. b4 axb4 28.
Bxb4 Ne8 29. Bc3 Bxc3 30. bxc3 Rh8 31. Nc2 Kf7 32. Ra7 Kg6 33. Nd4 Rf6 34. Rfa1
Kf7 35. Rb7 Bc8 36. Rb8 Bd7 37. Raa8 Ke7 38. Rd8 1-0

[Event "2012 South Island Champs"]
[Site "Dunedin"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "9.7"]
[White "Jackson, Ross"]
[Black "Roberts, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "63"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 O-O 8.
Ne2 c5 9. Be3 Nc6 10. O-O cxd4 11. cxd4 Bg4 12. f3 Na5 13. Bd3 Be6 14. d5 Bxa1
15. Qxa1 Re8 16. h4 Bd7 17. h5 e5 18. dxe6 Bxe6 19. Rd1 Nc6 20. hxg6 fxg6 21.
Nf4 Qe7 22. Nxe6 Qxe6 23. Bc2 Qe5 24. Bb3+ Kg7 25. Rd7+ Kh8 26. Qxe5+ Rxe5 27.
Rxb7 Rc8 28. Bd5 Ree8 29. Bg5 Rf8 30. Bh6 Rg8 31. Bc1 Rge8 32. Bb2+ 1-0

