Magazines Games 2008-2018 2008

I hadn't played Stephen before and,having spent some time paying through his games on my database ,I decided that he could play almost anything and the position might become random.Forewarned is foretold....  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Bb7 5.Nc3 g6

I don't play many Queen's Indians.Mind one, I didn't expect 3.Nf3 of my opponent as well.So this system,attributed to Oleg Romanishin in the book by Bogdan Lalic on the Queen's Indian seemed worth a try ,especially as I had just been preparing against it for white!  6.Bg5 (6.Qc2!? After which 6.....Bxf3 is the main idea. ) 6...Bg7 7.e3 O-O 8.Bd3 h6 9.Bh4 d6 10.O-O Nbd7 11.e4 g5 12.Bg3 Nh5 This idea ,collecting the dark-squared bishop King's Indian-style and thereafter utilizing the "flexible" pawn structure is the basis of black's interpretation.  13.e5?? Yeah well, you can only assume your opponent will play normal moves.White must've had a brain spasm.......  13...Nxg3 14.fxg3?! dxe5 15.d5 Consistent..........  15...f5 16.dxe6 Nc5 17.Bc2 Nxe6 18.Qe2 e4 19.Rad1 Qe8 20.Ne1 My opponent has thus far played incomprehensably:how the roles are reversed in the ensuing moves goes to the heart of chess psychology!  20...Nd4 21.Qe3 Qe5 22.Ba4 Rad8 23.Kh1 f4!? Black pushes,why not?  24.gxf4 gxf4 25.Qh3 Bc8? (25...e3 26.Rg1 e2 27.Rd3 f3 and it's "finita la musica" time ) 26.Qh4 Be6!? (26...Nf5 27.Qxf4 (27.Qxd8! ) 27...Qxf4 (27...Rxd1 28.Qxe5 Bxe5 29.Nxd1 Ng3+ ) 28.Rxf4 Ng3+ These sharp variations work,but it was only when the position arrived that I "saw" 27.Qxd8! ) 27.Nc2 Bxc4 (27...c5!? ) 28.Nxd4!? A plausible try.  28...Rxd4 (28...Bxf1 29.Nc6 Bxg2+! (29...Rxd1 30.Nxe5 Rc1 was the variation I'd become entranced by."It be no simple" , as the Yugoslav used to say. ) 30.Kxg2 f3+ 31.Kh1 Rxd1+ 32.Nxd1 Qe6! where black's pawns and active pieces will carry the day. ) 29.Rxd4 Qxd4 30.Rxf4 e3? Too clever by half! Now the black king has safety issues. (30...Rxf4 31.Qxf4 e3 32.Qxc7 Qd3 33.h3 e2 ) 31.Rxf8+ (31.Rxd4?? Rf1# ) 31...Kxf8 32.Qh3! So now Stephen begins to find serious tricks.But "so what ",I thought, as I ran as short of time as my opponent.  32...Ke7 33.Qc8 Be5? (33...Qd8 34.Qg4 Bxc3 35.Qxc4 Bd4 Was a safe idea that I'd seen;but with the win now getting further and further away,I wanted more... ) 34.Qe8+ = Kf6 35.Qf8+ Kg5 36.Qe7+ Bf6 37.Ne4+ Kf5 38.Nxf6 e2! Even though heavily into the increments,I was happy to have forseen this sharp shot.Black should be O.K.  (38...Qxf6 39.Bc2+ Kg5 40.h4+! +- ) 39.Bd7+ Kg6 40.Be8+ Kf5 41.Bd7+ Kg6 42.Be8+ Kf5 Surely a draw?! I once had a game in the first round of a tournament in Uzes,France,1988.My "local" opponent had capitalized on a massive blunder that I had made to gain an immediately drawn position.He checked once, then twice and after I'd gotten up from the board,he declared to the sundry denizens gathered around,"Je joue pour le gain".It needs no translation ;suffice to say,he'd soon lost!  43.g4+?? Having built up a little bank of time, via the repetitions,Stephen,like the Frenchman,"punts" on a positive outcome.This was an irrational bet.... (43.Bd7+ = ) 43...Kf4 Black is winning.In our pub post-mortem,the various checking sequences seemed unclear,but Fritz had found an elegant solution;would I have seen it ,with only a few minutes to play with ? Possiblynot!  44.Kg2? (44.Nh5+ Kf3 45.Qf8+ Bf7!! A clever idea,decoying the Queen onto the white squares.Even so, there was another way. (45...Ke3 46.Qxh6+ Kf2 47.Qf8+ Ke1 48.Qb4+ Kd1 49.Ba4+ Kc1 50.Qe1+ Kxb2 51.Qb4+ Ka1 52.Qe1+ Ka2 is also winning! ) 46.Qxf7+ Ke3 47.Qe7+ Kd2 ) 44...Bd5+ Like the blind chicken finding corn,I was able to ""peck"a winner.  45.Nxd5+ (45.Kh3 Qe3+ 46.Qxe3+ Kxe3 47.Nxd5+ Kd2 and wins. (47...Kf2?? 48.Nf4 ) ) 45...Qxd5+ 46.Kf2 Qf3+ 47.Ke1 Qf1+ 48.Kd2 Qd1+ 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 g6 5.Be3 Bg7 6.Nc3 d6 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.O-O-O Ng4 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.h4 h5 11.Kb1 Nxe3 12.fxe3 Ne5 13.Nf3 O-O 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.Bxd7 Qxd7 16.Nd5 e6

17.Nf4 (17.Nb4 Qa4 18.g4 hxg4 19.h5 a5 20.Nd3 Qxe4 21.Nxe5 dxe5 22.hxg6 Qxg6 23.Qh2 Qg7 24.Rd7

) 17...Qc6 18.Qd3 Qb6 19.Qb3 Qxb3 20.axb3 Rfc8 21.Rdg1 Kf8 22.g4 hxg4 23.Rxg4 Ke7 24.Nd3 Bf6 25.Rf1 Rf8 26.Rgf4 Bg7

27.Rg4 Rh8 28.Nf4 Bf6 29.Rh1 Rh6 30.Rf1 Rxh4 31.Rxh4 Bxh4 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 e6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb5 Ne7 6.O-O a6 7.Bxc6+ Nxc6 8.d3 Be7 9.e5 O-O 10.Ne2 b5 11.Be3 b4 12.g4 a5 13.Bf2 Bd7 14.Ng3 Qc7 15.c3 bxc3 16.bxc3 Rab8 17.Qc2 Rb7 18.Rab1 Rfb8 19.Rxb7 Qxb7 20.Nd2 Qb2 21.Rc1 a4 22.Ngf1 Qxc2 23.Rxc2 g5 24.Bg3 gxf4 25.Bxf4 Rb7 26.Kg2 Kg7 27.Nf3 Na5 28.Bc1 c4 29.d4

29...Nb3 30.Be3 a3 31.Kg3 Ba4 32.Re2 Na5 33.h4? Rb2! 34.Kf2 Bb3 35.Rxb2 axb2 0-1

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Be7 5.Be2 O-O 6.O-O d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.a3 Nxc3 9.bxc3 a6 10.d4 e4 11.Nd2 f5 12.f3 exf3 13.Bxf3 Rf6 14.e4?

14...Nxd4! 15.cxd4 Qxd4+ 16.Kh1 Qxa1 17.Qb3+ Be6 18.Qxb7 Rff8 19.exf5 Bf7 20.Bb2 Qa2 21.Ra1 Rab8 22.Rxa2 Rxb7 23.Bxb7 Bxa2 24.Bxa6 Rxf5 25.h3 Bd5 26.Bd4 Bxa3 27.Bd3 Rg5 28.Ne4 Bxe4 29.Bxe4 c5 30.Bc3 Bb4 31.Bb2 c4 32.Bd4 Ra5 33.Kg1 c3 34.Kf1 Ra1+ 35.Ke2 Ra2+ 36.Kd3 Rd2+ 37.Kc4 c2 38.Bb2 Ba5 39.Kb3 Rf2 40.Bc1 Bd2 41.Bd5+ Kh8 42.Kb2 Bxc1+ 43.Kxc1 g6 44.Be4 Kg7 45.g4 Rh2 46.Bxc2 Rxh3 47.Bd1 Kf6 48.Kd2 Kg5 0-1

I knew Antonio is a Benoni man, and although I have never felt completely in control against this, running scared would mean not playing d4. I had looked at something new for Antonio, him being the main Benoni man in Auckland. What better occasion to try this than in a rapid, so...  1.d4 c5 2.d5 e6 3.c4 Nf6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.Nf3 Maybe not the guttiest line, Taimanov's 7. f4 and Bb5+ are probably more threatening, but too much theory for my liking.  7...Bg4 7...Bg7 is the "main" line, but the early Bg4 does have the benefit of getting rid of the problematic Bishop. So much for my prep, I had prepared 8.h3, so Antonio pretty much left me to my own devices - bugger!  8.Be2 Bxf3 9.Bxf3 Bg7 10.O-O O-O 11.Bf4 a6 12.a4 Qe7 13.Qc2 I'd managed to find my way down the main line, but this was probably not the best - immediate h3 was an option, waiting to find the best square for the Queen. (13.h3 Nbd7 14.a5 Ne8 15.Qa4 Rb8 16.Rfe1 ) 13...Nbd7 14.h3 Ne5 15.Be2 Didn't think I had too much here, was not too excited about my position, but it's rapid, so anything could happen.  15...b6 16.Rfe1 Rfe8 17.Rab1 h6 18.b4 g5 19.Be3 Ng6 20.bxc5 bxc5 21.f3 Qe5 22.Rb3 Nh5 23.Nd1 Nhf4 24.Bf1?

Obvious mistake, I was getting really concerned about my position, his Knights were starting to jump all over me.  24...a5? Nxh3+ wins a pawn due to Qg3+ and wins exchange if White takes the Knight, real let-off, typical of rapid, sure Antonio would have seen and played this in normal time control chess.  25.Nb2? Nh4? 26.Qf2 Nh5 27.Nc4 Qe7 28.Reb1 Things have turned around some, the Kingside is a bit more secure and now the double rooks are threatening to invade, lucky escape.  28...Red8 29.g3 Ng6 30.Bg2 Be5 31.Nxe5 Qxe5 32.g4 Not the best, f4 was the other option. (32.f4 gxf4 33.gxf4 Nhxf4 (33...Qf6 34.Qf3 Ng7 35.Bh1 Kh7 36.Rb7 ) 34.Rf1 Qxe4 35.Bxf4 (35.Bxe4 Nxh3+ 36.Kh2 Nxf2 37.Rxf2 Rab8 38.Rxb8 Rxb8 39.Bxg6 fxg6 40.Rf6 Kg7 41.Rxd6 Rb4 42.Bxc5 Rxa4 43.Ra6 ) 35...Qxf4 36.Qxf4 Nxf4 37.Rxf4 ) 32...Nhf4 33.Bf1 Rd7 34.Bd2 Kh7 35.Bc3 Qe7 36.Qd2 Ne5 37.Kf2 c4 38.Rb5 Ned3+ 39.Kg3 h5 40.Bd4 Kg6 41.Rxa5 Rh8?? Antonio was in bad time trouble and this blunder was probably made because the Bishop couldn't "see"h8 a couple of moves ago, the Knight was in the way. In time trouble the Bishop was probably "hidden"in the middle of the board.  42.Bxh8 f6 43.Qc3 Rd8 44.Qxf6+ Qxf6 45.Bxf6 Kxf6 46.Bxd3 h4+ 47.Kf2 cxd3 48.Ke3 Nxh3 49.Kxd3 Ke5 Not a nice game to have in rapid - the thing about Antonio, once he has lost material he is actually more dangerous and resourceful, scary when time is ticking away.  50.Ra7 Nf4+ 51.Ke3 Ng2+ 52.Kf2 Nf4 53.Re7+ Kd4 54.a5 Rc8 55.Ra1 Nd3+ 56.Kg1 Rc2 57.a6 Ke3 58.a7 h3 59.Ra3 Rc8 Lucky escape for me, need to go back to the drawing board, early Bg4 wrecked my prep. 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 e4?! This dubious thrust has brought Sharon seriously good results in the past. (3...Bd6!? is the more tenacious procedure nowadays. ) 4.Qe2 Nf6 5.d3 Qxd5?! This regains the pawn only temporarily - but more importantly allows the central situation to be clarified ( to White's definite advantage ). Black needs to keep her ammunition dry... (5...Be7!? is Black's best chance of getting chances... ) 6.Nbd2! +/- Bf5? Now Helen was at the end of her preparation - but she could be fairly sure that Sharon was out ofbooktoo!  7.dxe4! +- Initiating a forcing sequence which leaves Black equal on material but in dire straits in every other respect. (7.Ng5!? wins a pawn - but exchanges fewer pieces and leaves the door open for"compensation". ) 7...Bxe4 8.Ng5! Qxg5 9.Nxe4 Qe5 10.Nxf6+ gxf6

11.Bf4! Qxe2+ 12.Bxe2 Two Bishops, better pawns, better development...isn't that enough?  12...c6?! 13.O-O-O Nd7 14.Bg4 O-O-O? (14...Ne5 is Black's last chance, hoping for an ending with R + opposite-coloured B's, a pawn down. Even that would be a semi-miracle. ) 15.Rxd7 Rxd7 16.Rd1 Black resigns 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.f5 b5 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Rb3 Qa5 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Be2 b4 15.O-O Bg7

16.Nd1 Thanks to Max Wigbout for his fixes to the published magazine on this and the next move!  16...O-O 17.Ne3 Qc5 18.Bc4 Nc6 19.Nxe6 Bxe6 20.Bxe6+ Kh8 21.Bd5 Rae8 22.Bxc6 Qxc6 23.Nf5 Rxe4 24.Rg3 Qb6+ 25.Kh1 Rg8 26.Nh6 Rf8 27.Qd5 Re7 28.Nf5 Ref7 29.h4 Qb5 30.Qf3 Rc7 31.Rd1 Rg8 32.Re1 Re8 33.Rxe8+ Qxe8 34.Kh2 a5 35.Qd5 Qf8 36.Qe6 d5 37.Qxd5 Qc8 38.Qxa5 Qb8 39.a3 bxa3 40.Qxa3 Rc4 41.Qe3 Bf8 42.Qe6 Rg4 43.Kh3 Rxg3+ 44.Nxg3 Qd6 45.Qxd6 Bxd6 46.Ne4 Be5 47.Kg4 Kg7 48.Kf5 1-0