Magazines Games 2008-2018 2008

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 The Mieses variation of the Scotch game.  8.c4 Ba6 9.b3 Qh4!? An incredibly sharp idea, introducing the possibility of both ...Bb4+ and ...Qd4, this was very popular in the late 1990's.  10.a3! White rips up the openings rule book to play an outwardly 'irrelevent' pawn move, but the reality is that it's worth expanding another tempo to rule out any ...Bb4 or ...Nb4 possibilities for Black.  10...Bc5 11.g3 Bxf2+! 12.Qxf2! Kxf2? Qd4+ is a less attractive way of losing the rook  12...Qe4+ 13.Kd1 Qxh1 14.Nd2

Black is an exchange and a pawn ahead but his queen is lacking squares and his two minor pieces have seen better days.  14...f5!? Probably best as 14... Nc3+ 15.Kc2 Ne4+ 16 Nxe4 Qxe4 17.Bd3 leads to a strong attack for White.  15.cxd5 Bxf1 16.Qxf1 Qxd5 17.Bb2 O-O 18.Kc2 Rae8 19.Rd1 Rf7 20.Kb1 h6 21.Ka2 Ref8 22.Nf3 Qc5? A mistake which lets White win an exchange.   23.e6! Re7 24.Ne5 d5 25.Nd7 Rxd7 26.exd7 Qd6 27.Qa6 To quickly ish a passed 'a' pawn. At the time I did not realise how fast it would be.  27...Qxd7 28.Qxa7 f4 29.Qd4 f3 30.Rf1 Qe7 31.a4 Rf7 32.Rf2 Qe4 33.a5 Re7 34.a6 Qe1 35.a7 Qa5+ 36.Qa4 Qxa4+ 37.bxa4 Re8 38.Bd4 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O d5 6.c4 c6 7.b3 Bf5 8.Bb2 Qc8 9.Re1 Nbd7 10.Nbd2 Ne4 11.Nh4 Ndf6 12.f3 Nxd2 13.Qxd2 Be6 14.Rac1 Qd7 15.e4 h6 16.cxd5 cxd5 17.e5 Nh7 18.f4 Rfc8 19.Rcd1

Filip prefers not to swap off one pair of rooks, which he may later live to regret !  19...Rc7 20.Bf1 Bg4 21.Bd3?! Nf8 22.Rf1?! White insists on sacrificing the exchange for a King's side launch.  22...Bxd1 23.Qxd1 Rac8 24.g4 Qc6 25.f5 g5 26.Nf3 Qb6 27.Qd2 Nd7 28.Kh1 Nb8 29.Bb1 Qa6 30.Rf2 Nc6 31.h4 f6 32.e6 Qb6 33.Qd3 Nb4 34.Qd1 Qd6 35.a3 Nc6 36.hxg5 fxg5 37.Qd3 Bf6 38.Rh2 Qg3 39.Rxh6

39...Nxd4 This is good, but ...Ne5! winning the house would have been even better.  40.Rg6+ Kf8 41.Rxf6+ exf6 42.e7+

42...Ke8 Again, this is winning but Rxe7! is even more convincing  43.Bxd4 Rc1+ 44.Bg1 Qh3+ 45.Nh2 Qxd3 46.Bxd3 R8c3 47.Bb5+ Kxe7 48.Kg2 Rxb3 49.a4 Rc2+ 50.Kh1 a6 51.Bf1 Ra3 52.a5 Kd6 53.Bd4 Filip temporarily stops the King's advance.  53...Ke7 54.Bb6 Ra1 55.Kg1 Rxh2 White's wriggling resistance is now effectively over.  56.Kxh2 Rxf1 57.Kg3 Re1 58.Kf2 Re4 59.Kf3 Kd7 60.Be3 Kc6 61.Bb6 Rb4 62.Bd8 A last chance!  62...Rf4+ 63.Kg3 d4 64.Bxf6 d3 65.Bc3 not Bxg5 d2, Bxf4 d1=Q etc  65...Rc4 66.Be1 Rc2 67.f6 d2 68.Bxd2 Rxd2 69.f7 Rd8 70.Kf3 Rf8 71.Ke4 Rxf7 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.c4 dxc4 4.Nc3 a6 5.a4 Bf5 6.Bg5 Nbd7 White's fourth and fifth moves are rarely played in combination and the only game I could find reaching the position after 6.Bg5 continued 6...e6 7.e3 Be7 8.Bxc4 Nc6 9. O-O O-O  7.e3 c5 8.Bxc4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bg6 10.O-O Qa5? Better was 10...e6 to develop the kingside  11.Bxf6 gxf6 11...Nxf6? 12.Qb3 Qc7 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.Bxd5 Rb8 15.Rfc1 is huge for White  12.f4 Rc8 13.Qe2?! Correct was 13.Ba2 Bh5 14.Qd3 with similar attacking ideas when 14...Bg6 can now be met with 15.f5  13...Bh5 14.Qd3 e6?

Best here was 14...Bg6! 15.e4 (15.f5 allows 15...Ne5 and Black is at least equal) 15...e6 and Black is okay. After the text move, however, punishment is swift.  15.Nxe6! fxe6 16.Bxe6 Qd8 16...Rd8 17.Nd5 Nb6 (17...Bf7 18.Qf5 winning; 17...Nc5 18.Nxf6+ Ke7 19.Qf5 and the attack wins) 18.Nc7+ Ke7 19.Qe4 and the threat of b2-b4 is just one of Black's worries  17.Rad1! Bxd1 18.Rxd1 Rc7 19.Qf5 It's all over now. Black's extra rook is useless and all the white pieces are swarming onto the attack.  19...Qe7 20.Nd5 Rc5 21.Bxd7+ Kd8 22.Nxe7 Rxf5 23.Nxf5 1-0

1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.b3 c5 7.Bb2 Nc6 8.e3 Bd7 9.Qe2 Rc8 10.Nc3 h6

11.Rfd1 Re8 12.h3 Bf8 13.cxd5 exd5 14.Rac1 Bf5 15.d4 Ne4 16.dxc5 Qa5 17.a3 Nxc3 18.Rxc3 Be4 19.b4 Qa4 20.Rcc1 a5 21.b5 Na7 22.Nd4 Bxg2 23.Kxg2 Rxc5 24.Kh2 Rec8 25.Rxc5 Rxc5 26.Rd2 Nxb5 27.Nf5 Nc3 28.Bxc3 Rxc3 29.Rxd5 Rxa3 30.Rd8 Qe4 31.Nxg7 Ra1 32.f3 Qb1 33.Qg2 Kxg7 34.Rd2 Qf1 35.f4 Qxg2+ 36.Kxg2 b5 0-1