Bulletins June 2020

Alexei Kulashko "AK_NZ", Auckland Chess Centre vs Bob Smith "BobWS", Bay of Plenty  1.e4 c5 2.c3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.cxd4 d5 5.e5 Bg7 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Bb5 Bg4 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.h3 Bxf3 10.Qxf3 Qa5+ 11.Nc3 Qa6 12.Qe2 Qxe2+ 13.Kxe2 e6 14.Na4 Ne7 15.b3 Nc8 16.Ba3 Nb6 17.Nc5 Bf8 18.Rac1 Bxc5 19.Rxc5 Kd7 20.Rhc1 Rhc8 21.Ra5 a6 22.Bc5 Kc7 23.Bd6+ Kb7 24.Ke3 Nd7 25.g4 f6 26.f4 f5 27.gxf5 gxf5 28.Rg1 Rg8 29.Kf2 Rxg1 30.Kxg1 Rg8+ 31.Kf2 h5 32.Ra4 h4 33.Rb4+ Kc8 34.Be7 Rg3 35.Bxh4 Rxh3 36.Bg3 Rh1 37.Ra4 Kb7

White to play and lose  38.Rb4+? Master sees check, master gives check  38...Nb6! Self pin and win! The White rook has no squares and will have to give its life for a mere knight after ...a5, after which Black's rook versus White's bad bishop will not be a fair fight.  39.Kg2 Rd1 0-1

Nicolas Croad "SouthernChessPlayer", Wellington Chess Club vs Francois-xavier Podvin "saganista", New Plymouth Chess Club  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.e4 Bxf1 8.Kxf1 d6 9.Nf3 Bg7 10.g3 O-O 11.Kg2 Nbd7 12.a4 Qb6 13.Qc2 Rfb8 14.Ra3 Ne8 15.Nb5 Nc7 16.Nxc7 Qxc7

This looks like a normal Benko position. White can maintain a plus by continuing to diligently defend his structure and keep control ... but  17.Bg5?! I suspect this just an oversight, but sharpening things up works out well after some adventures  17...Rxb2 18.Qc1 Rb4 19.Bxe7 Bb2 20.Qh6 Black is still doing well according to the engine, but storms are gathering that are hard to control at Blitz pace.  20...Rxe4? (20...Bxa3?? Loses instantaneously  21.Ng5 Nf8 22.Bf6 forces mate ) (20...f6! Controlling the knight is necessary ) 21.Ng5 Rxe7 22.Qxh7+ Kf8 23.Rf3! Boom (23.Re1! also works ) 23...Bf6 24.Re1 Ke8 25.Qxf7+ Kd8 26.Rxe7 Bxe7 27.Ne6+ Kc8 28.Nxc7 1-0

Evan Capel "WHINGFOOFANG", NZCF vs Noel Pinic "Chelz2020", Bay of Plenty  1.d4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bf4 e6 6.e3 Be7 7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O a6 9.a3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 b5 11.Bd3 c5 12.Rc1 cxd4 13.Nxd4 Bb7 14.Bg3 Nc5 15.Bb1 Qb6 16.b4 Nce4 17.Nxe4 Bxe4 18.Bxe4 Nxe4 19.Rc6 Qd8 20.Qc2 Nxg3 21.hxg3 Bf6 22.Rd1 Rc8 23.Kf1 e5 24.Rxc8 Qxc8 25.Qxc8 Rxc8 26.Ne2 Rc6 27.Ke1 g6 28.Kd2 Kf8 29.Rb1 Ke7 30.e4 Rc4 31.f3 Bg5+ 32.f4 Bf6 33.Nc3 exf4 34.Nd5+ Ke6 35.Nxf4+ Ke5 36.Nd3+ Kxe4 37.Re1+ Kd4 38.Re8 Bg5+ 39.Nf4 Rc7 40.Ra8 Rc6 41.Ra7 Bxf4+ 42.gxf4 Rf6 43.g3 h5 44.Rc7 Ke4 45.Ke2 h4 46.Re7+ Kf5 47.Kf3

Can Black convert this pawn up rook and pawn ending?  47...hxg3?? 48.Re5# Not on this occasion 1-0

Evan Capel "WHINGFOOFANG", NZCF vs Scott Wastney "Scott_Wastney", Wellington Chess Club  1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 c6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Be2 O-O 9.O-O Re8 10.Rc1 Nf8 11.a3 a5 12.Na4 Ng6 13.Nc5 Bd6 14.b4 axb4 15.axb4 h6 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.b5 Ra2 18.Bd3 Bg4 19.Bxg6 Qxg6 20.Kh1 Qh5 21.h3

21...Bxh3 22.Ne5 Bg4+ 0-1

Ben Hague "wtfai", Auckland Chess Centre vs Bob Smith "BobWS", Bay of Plenty  1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 g6 4.cxd4 d5 5.exd5 Nf6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Nge2 Nbd7 9.O-O Nb6 10.Qb3 a5 11.a4 Bf5 12.Nf4 Rc8 13.Bb5 Ne4 14.Re1 Nd6 15.Be3 Nxb5 16.Qxb5 Nc4 17.Rac1 Bd7 18.Qb3 Qb6 19.Nb5 Nxe3 20.fxe3 Bxb5 21.axb5 Bh6 22.Kf2 Bxf4 23.exf4 Qxd4+ 24.Kf3 a4 25.Qa2

25...Rxc1 26.Rxc1 Qd3+ 27.Kg4 Qe2+ 28.Kh4 h5 29.h3 Qf2+ 30.g3 g5+ 31.fxg5 Qd4+ 32.g4 Qf2+ 33.Kxh5 Kg7 34.h4 Rh8# 0-1

Ben Hague "wtfai", Auckland Chess Centre vs Michael Sole "michaelsole", Wellington Chess Club  1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bc4 a6 7.O-O Nf6 8.Bf4 e5 9.Ng5 exf4 10.Nxf7 Qd7 11.Nxh8 Ne5 12.Be2 Be7 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.Qxd5 Qe6 15.Rac1 Qxd5 16.exd5 Bf5 17.Rc7 b5 18.Rfc1 Kf8 19.f3

White has pushed his luck a little  19...Bd8! 20.Rb7 Kg8 (20...Bc8! Is an amusing way to catch the rook ) 21.g4 fxg3 (21...Bc8! was still available ) 22.hxg3 Kxh8 23.f4 Nd7? Jumping into the pot  24.g4 Be4 (24...Nc5! holds ) 25.Rxd7 And now White has a material advantage and went on to win  25...Bxd5 26.Rxd6 Bf7 27.Bf3 Rb8 28.Kg2 Kg8 29.a3 Bc7 30.Rd4 Bb6 31.Rd7 Re8 32.Rc6 Be3 33.Rxa6 Bxf4 34.Raa7 Rf8 35.Rxf7 Rxf7 36.Bd5 Be5 37.Ra8+ Bb8 Allowing your opponent to mate is a classy thing to do  38.Rxb8# 1-0

Evan Capel "WHINGFOOFANG", NZCF vs Daniel Gong "DHgong", Auckland Chess Centre  1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.b4 Bg7 4.Bb2 c5 5.a3 a5 6.b5 b6 7.e3 Bb7 8.c4 e6 9.Nc3 Ne7 10.Be2 O-O 11.O-O Nd7 12.Qc2 Rc8 13.Rad1 cxd4 14.Nxd4 Nc5 15.Na4 Nxa4 16.Qxa4 Qc7 17.Rd2 d5 18.cxd5 Nxd5 19.Bf3 Rfd8 20.Rfd1 Qb8 21.h3 Ne7 22.Bxb7 Qxb7 23.Nc6 Rxd2 24.Rxd2 Bxb2 25.Nxe7+ Qxe7 26.Rxb2 Rc1+ 27.Kh2 Qd6+ 28.g3

Black to play and win  28...Qd5 29.e4 Qd3 30.Kg2 Qf1+ 31.Kf3 Rc3+ 32.Kg4 Rc4 33.Qb3 Rxe4+ 34.f4 h5+ 35.Kh4 Rxf4+ 36.gxf4 Qxf4# 0-1

Ryan Winter "RyanWelly", Wellington Chess Club vs Ben Hague "wtfai", Auckland Chess Centre  1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Bc4 Be7 5.d3 d6 6.O-O Nf6 7.Ng5 O-O 8.f4 Bg4 9.Qe1 exf4 10.Bxf4 Nd4 11.Qd2 Qd7 12.a4 h6 13.Nf3 Bxf3 14.gxf3 Qh3 15.Qf2 Nh5 16.Bg3 Nxg3 17.hxg3 Bf6 18.Nd5 Bd8 19.f4 Kh8 20.c3 Ne6 21.Ne3 Bf6

22.Qf3! Nc7 23.f5! White intends to round up the Black queen.  23...Be5 24.Kf2 d5 25.exd5 Rae8 26.Rae1 Bd6 27.Rh1 Bxg3+ The stranded Queen costs a bishop  28.Qxg3 Rxe3 29.Rxh3 Rxg3 30.Rxg3 1-0

Stephen Lukey "flukeyNZ", Canterbury Chess Club vs Alan Ansell "anonyrat", New Plymouth Chess Club  1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 O-O 5.Bg5 d6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 c5 8.d5 a6 9.a4 Qa5 10.Nd2 Nbd7 11.Be2 g5 12.Bg3 Ne5 13.O-O Qb6 14.Qc2 Ng6 15.f4 g4 16.f5 Ne5 17.Rf2 h5 18.Bh4 Bh6 19.Bxf6 exf6 20.Nde4 Kg7 21.Qd2 Bd7 22.Raf1 Qc7 23.Ng3 h4 24.Nh5+ Kh8 25.Nxf6 b5 26.cxb5 axb5 27.Bxg4 Nc4 28.Qe2 Nxe3 29.Kh1 b4 30.Nce4 Bxa4 31.Qf3 Bb5 32.Qh3 Bxf1 33.Qxh4 Kg7 34.Nh5+ Kh7

White is winning, but  35.f6?? is no good, White can force mate but he has no time for quiet moves, immediate checks and brutality are the right way to go (35.Nhf6+ Kg7 36.Ne8+ Rfxe8 37.f6+ Kg6 38.Qh5+ Kh7 39.Ng5+ Kg8 40.Qxh6 and mates ) (35.f6?? Tragically Black lost on time  35...Ra1! And Bxg2 double check is going to be too strong ) 1-0

Alan Ansell "anonyrat", New Plymouth Chess Club vs Richard Zajkowski "Richard_Zajkowski", NZCF  1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.Nf3 e5 6.dxe6 fxe6 7.e4 Nc6 8.Be2 Nge7 9.Bf4 e5 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bh4 g5 12.Bg3 Nd4 13.Nxd4 cxd4 14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.cxd5 Qa5+ 16.Qd2 Qxd2+ 17.Kxd2 O-O 18.Rac1 a6 19.Rc7 Rf7 20.Rhc1 Rxc7 21.Rxc7 b5 22.f3 Bf6 23.Kc2 Bd8 24.Rc6 Be7 25.Be1 Kf8 26.Kb3 Bb7 27.Rc7 Rb8 28.Bb4 Ke8 29.a4 Kd8 30.Ba5 bxa4+ 31.Kxa4 Ke8 32.b4 Bc8 33.Ka3 Bd7 34.Bxa6 Bd8 35.Rb7 Ra8 36.Bb5

Black has been suffering the whole game, but there is a hiddent opportunity here  36...Bxa5? (36...Bxb5! 37.Rxb5 d3! 38.Kb2 Rc8 and the pawn queens ) 37.Bxd7+ To the casual observer White never missed a beat  37...Kd8 38.bxa5 Rxa5+ 39.Kb4 Ra1 40.Bb5 Rd1 41.Rd7+ Kc8 42.Rxd6 d3 43.Rc6+ Kd8 44.Kc3 d2 45.Kc2 Rg1 46.Kxd2 Rxg2+ 47.Kc3 Rxh2 48.Re6 h5 49.d6 h4 50.Re8# 1-0

Nicolas Croad "SouthernChessPlayer", Wellington Chess Club vs Gino Thornton "GinoNZ", NZCF  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Nbd2 O-O 7.O-O d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Ne5 Nbd7 10.Ndf3 Ne4 11.Qa4 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Bd6 13.Nd3 c5 14.dxc5 bxc5 15.Bf4 Qc7 16.Bxd6 Nxd6 17.Rfd1 Rac8 18.Rac1 Qb6 19.b3 Rfd8 20.Nf4 d4 21.Bd5 Bxd5 22.Nxd5 Qb7 23.Nf4 Ne4 24.Re1 Nc3 25.Qa3 Qe4 26.e3

26...d3! Winning material  27.Rxc3 d2 28.Rd1 Qf3 29.Rcc1 dxc1=Q 30.Rxc1 Rd2 31.Nh3 Rcd8 32.Rf1 Rd1 33.Qa6 Rxf1+ 34.Kxf1 Rd1# 0-1