Magazines Games 2008-2018 2010

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.e3 Bg4 5.Qb3 Qb6 6.Ne5 Bf5 7.c5 In such a w ell trodden opening we have had a succession of less often played alternatives and are now in virgin territory according to my database.  7...Qc7 8.Nc3 Nbd7 9.Nxd7 Nxd7 10.e4 An enterprising pawn sac  10...dxe4 11.Bc4 e6 12.g3 Be7 13.Bf4 Qc8 14.g4 Bg6 15.h4 h5 16.gxh5 Rxh5 17.O-O-O e5 18.Bg3 exd4 19.Nxe4 Nxc5 20.Nxc5 Rxc5 21.h5 Be4 22.Rhe1

The engines are unimpressed and consider black's material advantage as more important than white's development advantage and open lines, but for a human it is easier to play white.  22...Qg4 ...Bd5 or ...f5 hold things together better.  23.Rxd4 Bg5+ 24.f4 Bxf4+ 25.Bxf4 Qxf4+ 26.Kd1

26...Re5? ( Black stands on the brink of a precipice. Black's position collapses if he allows either Rxe4 or Qxb7. If he were made of silicon he would see that he can avoid both, surviving (and indeed prospering) by 26...Qg4+ 27.Kd2 Qg2+ 28.Re2 Qg5+ 29.Kc3 b5 simultaneously securing b7 and winning the Bc4 in exchange for the Be4 ) 27.Qxb7 Qg4+ 28.Kd2 Qf4+ 29.Re3 Qh2+ 30.Re2 Qf4+ 31.Kc3 Qg3+ 32.Rd3

1-0. White threatens Qxf7#, Qxa8+ and Rxg3 and black has no checks. Clearly  32...Bxd3 is the only chance but it is not hard to see that Black is then cut to pieces. For example  33.Qxa8+ Ke7 34.Qxa7+ Kf6 35.Qxf7+ Kg5 36.Rg2! prettily winning the queen. 0-1

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O Nc6 6.Nc3 Rb8 7.d4 e6 8.e4 d5 9.e5 Ne4 10.Qe2 Nxc3

11.bxc3 Ne7 12.Rd1 c6 13.Ba3 Re8 14.Bd6 Ra8 15.c5 Nf5 16.Rab1 Qa5 17.Rb3 Nxd6 18.cxd6 b6 19.Qb2 b5 20.Ne1 f6 21.Nd3 fxe5 22.dxe5 Qb6 23.a4 a6 24.Ra1 Bd7 25.Qa3 Rec8 26.Qc5 Qd8 27.f4 Qf8 28.Qd4 Qf7 29.Nc5 Be8 30.Bh3 Bd7 31.Rba3 bxa4 32.Rxa4 Rcb8 33.Qd2 Rb5 34.Nxa6 Bc8 35.Nb4 Rab8 36.Bf1 R5b6 37.Ra7 R8b7 38.Ra8 Rb8 39.Rxb8 Rxb8 40.Nxc6 Rb6 41.Ne7+ 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Qe7 5.e3 Ne4 6.Bd3 Nxd2 7.Nbxd2 Nc6 8.O-O Bxd2 9.Qxd2 d6 10.b4 e5 11.Be4 O-O 12.b5 Nb8 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.Rad1 Nd7 15.Bxb7 Bxb7 16.Qxd7 Qc5 17.Qg4 Rae8 18.Nd2 Re6 19.Qe2 Rg6 20.f3 f5 21.Nb3 Qe7 22.c5 h5 23.Rd2 h4 24.c6 Bc8 25.f4 Be6 26.Rfd1 Rg4 27.h3 Rg3 28.Rd7 Bxd7 29.Rxd7 Qe8 30.Rxc7 Qg6 31.Kh2 exf4 32.exf4 Re8 33.Qf2 Re4 34.Nd2 Rxf4 35.Nf3

An exciting and unbalanced struggle is approaching its climax. I have whipped up an attack, but it needs to bear tangible fruit, since all endings are winning for white. There were five moves to make before the time control. An entertaining mistake fest ensues.  35...Qd6? A natural move creating the potential for a devastating discovery  36.Rd7! Necessary but sufficient  36...Rfxf3 As I waited confidently for 37.gxf3 I realised to my horror that simply 37.Qxf3 forces one of those lost endgames I was talking about.  37.gxf3?? Phew! now black is winning again. Now we can see why Qd6 was a mistake, I should have reversed my last two moves.  37...Qf4? This was my idea but it has a big flaw that could have been avoided with Qe5 instead. I wanted to prevent f4 but I should have been encouraging it as it leads to a beautiful mate; (37...Qe5 38.f4 Qa1 39.c7 Rxh3+ 40.Kxh3 Qh1+ 41.Qh2 Qf3+ 42.Kxh4 Qg4# ) 38.c7? ( Instead 38.Rd8+ Kh7 39.Rd4 wins for white ) 38...Rxf3+ 39.Kg1 Rxf2? I should have played Qc1+ and taken the queen with check, but luckily I am still winning  40.c8=Q+ Kh7 41.Rxg7+ Kxg7 42.Qd7+ Kf6

For a few moves now I was expecting victory. But now with the time control met, I thought for 15 minutes and then offered a draw, for entirely bogus reasons, in this winning position. I had been assuming there would be no perpetual, since normally an unobstructed king can escape from a corner when attacked by a lone queen. But annoyingly here all escape paths take my king through e5, when White picks up Rf2 with Qc5+. Most of my 15 minutes were spent looking at bad possible K+P endings after that. When I showed this game to Gawain Jones, who is coaching me at the moment, he took no more than 2 seconds to realise that my 15 minutes were a complete waste of time, since White doesn't get to play Qc5+ at all. If now Qc6+ then black plays Kg5!! a move I never considered because it is not normally part of black's plan of escaping from the corner. But in that particular position Kg5 wins on the spot because white has no follow up check. Such is the nature of talent in chess. Two seconds of a grandmaster's time outweighs 15 minutes of a patzer's. If the key insight had occured to me the game might have continued  43.Qd8+ Ke5 44.Qe7+ Kd5 45.Qf7+ Ke4 46.Qc4+ Ke3 47.Qc3+ Ke2 48.Qc2+ Ke1 49.Qb1+ Kd2 50.Qb2+ Kd3 White is about to run out of checks so  51.Qxf2 Qg3+ 52.Qxg3+ hxg3 This is a much better K+P ending than the ones I looked at. With the black king now dominant the advanced connected passers outweigh the outside pawns and black wins. 1/2-1/2

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.O-O Nc6 6.Nc3 Rb8 The first indic ation that I am actually playing a tailender. He made a few puzzling moves, but no outright mistakes, so I had to play my best chess to win.  7.d4 e6 8.e4 d5 9.e5 Ne4 10.Qe2 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Ne7 12.Rd1 c6 This move invites my bad bishop into d6, where it is transformed into a source of strength  13.Ba3 Re8 14.Bd6 Ra8 15.c5 Intending to retain a presence on d6 for the rest of the game. The idea is to permanently cramp black  15...Nf5 16.Rab1 Qa5 17.Rb3 Nxd6 18.cxd6 b6 19.Qb2 b5 20.Ne1 f6 21.Nd3 fxe5 22.dxe5 Qb6 23.a4 a6 24.Ra1 Bd7 25.Qa3 Rec8 26.Qc5 Qd8 27.f4 Qf8 28.Qd4 Qf7 29.Nc5 Be8 30.Bh3 Bd7

This is one of the more successful outcomes of the "Russell Dive lite" style of play I have been cultivating recently. For more than ten years I've been watching Russell obtain crushing positions like this against lower rated opposition at the Wellington Chess Club. Inevitably Russell proceeds to painlessly (for Russell) dispatch the hapless victim. Can I manage something similar, just foronce?  31.Rba3 bxa4 32.Rxa4 Rcb8 I thought I could hear a voice communicating with me on some kind of astral channel. I think it was Russell. "You are in control, don't take the a pawn, it's not going anywhere, don't allow counterplay"  33.Qd2 Rb5 34.Nxa6 Bc8 35.Nb4 Rab8 36.Bf1 "Use all your pieces" said the voice  36...R5b6 37.Ra7 R8b7 38.Ra8 Rb8

"It is okay to take the material if you retain absolute control" said the voice.  39.Rxb8 Rxb8 40.Nxc6 "That actually wins at least an exchange as well as the second pawn. If you still need me there's absolutely no hope for you, so over and out" said the voice.  40...Rb6 (40...Rb7 41.Nd8 is a little better ) 41.Ne7+ 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.cxd4 d6 7.Bc4 Nb6 8.Bb3 dxe5 9.d5 Na5 10.Nc3 Nxb3

11.Qxb3 e6 12.Nxe5 a6 13.O-O Bd6 14.Bf4 O-O 15.Rad1 exd5 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Qxd5 Bc7 18.Qc5 Bb6 19.Qb4 Qf6 20.Bg3 a5 21.Qb5 a4 22.Nf3 Qc6 23.Qxc6 bxc6 24.Ne5 Ba6 25.Rfe1 Ba5 26.Re4 Rfd8 27.Rxd8+ Rxd8 28.h3 Bb5 29.Nf3 Bb6 30.Be5 Re8 31.Re1 f6 32.Bc3 Rxe1+ 33.Nxe1 Bc4 34.a3 Kf7 35.Nc2 Ke6 36.Nd4+ Kd5 37.Nf5 Bb5 38.g4 g6 39.Ne3+ Ke6 40.Kg2 f5 41.gxf5+ gxf5 42.Kf3 Bd3 43.Kf4 h6 44.Kg3 Bc7+ 45.f4 Bb6 46.Kf3 Kf7 47.Be5 Kg6 48.Nd1 Kh5 49.Bf6 Bc2 50.Nc3 Kg6 51.Be5 Kf7 52.Ke2 Bb3 53.Kd3 Ba5 54.Ne2 Bb6 55.Nd4 Bxd4 1/2-1/2

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 c6 5.h3 Nbd7 6.a4 b6 7.f4 Bg7 8.g4 Bb7 9.Bg2 Qc7 10.Nge2 a6

11.Ng3 h6 12.Nce2 e5 13.c3 c5 14.O-O O-O 15.Qd2 cxd4 16.cxd4 exd4 17.Bxd4 Rae8 18.Rac1 Qb8 19.Nc3 Nc5 20.Qd1 a5 21.Re1 Rd8 22.h4 Ba6 23.g5 hxg5 24.hxg5 Nfd7 25.Bxg7 Kxg7 26.Qd4+ f6 27.gxf6+ Nxf6 28.Rcd1 Ne6 29.Qd2 Qc8 30.f5 Qc5+ 31.Qe3 Ng4 32.Qxc5 Nxc5 33.Nd5 Nd3 34.Rxd3 Bxd3 35.Nf4 Bc4 36.Bf1 Bb3 37.Nxg6 Rg8 38.Bh3 Ne5 39.Re3 Bxa4 40.Ne7 Rh8 41.Ne2 Kf7 42.Nd5 Rdg8+ 43.Kf2 Bc6 44.Ndf4 b5 45.Nd4 Bd7 46.Rc3 Rc8 47.Rg3 Rhg8 48.Ra3 a4 49.Bf1 b4 50.Rh3 Rh8 51.Rg3 Rh2+ 52.Bg2 Rg8 53.Rxg8 Kxg8 54.Nd5 b3 55.Kg3 Rh8 56.Bf1 Kf7 57.Nb6 Rb8 58.Nc4 Rb4 59.Nxd6+ Ke7 60.N4b5 Bxb5 61.Nxb5 Rxb5 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 g6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Na3 cxd4 7.Bc4 Qe4+ 8.Be3 Nh6 9.Nb5 O-O 10.Bd3 Qe6

11.cxd4 Na6 12.O-O Nf5 13.Bg5 Bf6 14.Re1 Qb6 15.Bxf6 Qxf6 16.Qd2 Rd8 17.Rac1 Be6 18.a3 Bd5 19.Qf4 Nd6 20.Qxf6 exf6 21.Nxd6 Rxd6 22.Be4 Rad8 23.Bxd5 Rxd5 24.Re7 R5d7 25.Rxd7 Rxd7 26.Rc8+ Kg7 27.Kf1 Nc7 28.Ke2 h5 29.Nd2 Ne6 30.Nb3 Nf4+ 31.Kf3 Nd3 32.Nc5 Nxc5 33.dxc5 Rd3+ 34.Ke4 Rb3 35.Rb8 f5+ 36.Kd4 Rxb2 37.c6 Rd2+ 38.Kc3 Rd6 39.cxb7 Rb6 40.a4 a5 41.Kc4 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.d5 b5 4.c4 Bb7 5.Qc2 bxc4 6.e4 e6 7.Nc3 exd5 8.exd5 Nxd5 9.Bxc4 Nb6 10.Bb5 Be7

11.O-O O-O 12.Rd1 d5 13.Ne4 N8d7 14.Ng3 g6 15.Bf4 a6 16.Bf1 Re8 17.a4 Nf8 18.a5 Ne6 19.Bd2 Nd7 20.b4 Bf6 21.Rab1 c4 22.Be3 Qc7 23.Ne2 Ne5 24.Nxe5 Bxe5 25.g3 d4 26.Nxd4 Bxd4 27.Bxd4 Ng5 28.f4 Be4 29.Qc3 Nf3+ 30.Kf2 Nxd4 31.Qxd4 Bxb1 32.Rxb1 c3 33.Rc1 c2 34.Bg2 Rad8 35.Qc5 Rd2+ 36.Kf1 Qxc5 37.bxc5 Rd1+ 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.a3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bb5 8.Bxb5+ Qxb5 9.Nc3 Qa6 10.Be3 Nd7

11.Qe2 Rc8 12.Qxa6 bxa6 13.Na4 Nh6 14.Ke2 Be7 15.Rhc1 O-O 16.b4 Nb8 17.Nc5 Nf5 18.g4 Bxc5 19.Rxc5 Ne7 20.Rac1 Rc6 21.Bg5 Rxc5 22.bxc5 f6 23.exf6 gxf6 24.Bf4 Nec6 25.Bd6 Rf7 26.Rb1 Nd7 27.Rb7 Nf8 28.Rb1 Ng6 29.h4 e5 30.h5 e4 31.hxg6 exf3+ 32.Kxf3 hxg6 33.Ke3 Kg7 34.Kd3 Rd7 35.Kc3 Kf7 36.Rh1 Kg7 37.f4 Rb7 38.Re1 Kf7 39.Rh1 Kg7 40.Re1 Kf7 41.g5 f5 42.Rh1 Kg8 43.Rh6 Kg7 44.Be5+ Nxe5 45.dxe5 Rb1 46.Rh2 Kf7 47.Rh7+ Ke6 48.Rxa7 d4+ 49.Kxd4 Rd1+ 50.Ke3 Re1+ 51.Kf3 Rf1+ 52.Kg3 Kd5 53.Rxa6 Rc1 54.Rxg6 Rxc5 55.Rf6 Ke4 56.g6 Rc3+ 57.Kh4 Kxf4 58.g7 Rc1 59.Kh5 Rg1 60.Kh6 Kxe5 61.Rf8 1-0