Magazines Games 2008-2018 2012

1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c6 4.Nf3 Bd6

5.O-O Now's the time to choose. I can still play a Dutch with f5, but it is a completely different game without d4. Thought that was what Pengyu and his coach had worked on. Thought I'd play like a Slav - I mean, how hard could it be :-)  5...Nf6 6.b3 Qe7 7.Bb2 e5 8.d4 e4 I was pretty happy with my position here, Black has a small advantage, more importantly my game is easier to play. Exactly the kind of position you want these juniors in, making things up is not their strength.  9.Ne5 Nbd7 10.Nxd7 (10.f4 h5 11.Nc3 h4 12.gxh4 Rxh4 13.Qe1 I think White had to try this type of line and keep the Black pieces out. ) 10...Bxd7 11.Nc3 h5 12.Bc1? Qe6 13.f3 h4 14.fxe4 hxg3 15.hxg3 (15.e5 Rxh2 16.Rxf6 Rxg2+ 17.Kxg2 Qh3+ 18.Kf3 Bxe5 19.dxe5 gxf6 20.Bf4 O-O-O Black has heaps for the piece, the White King will never find peace. ) 15...Bxg3 16.Qd3 Qg4 17.exd5 Bh2+ 18.Kh1 Qh4 (18...O-O-O 19.Rf3 Bd6+ 20.Kg1 Rh2 21.Kf1 Qxg2+ ) 19.Rf3 Ng4? (19...Bg4 20.Bb2 Bxf3 21.Qxf3 Ng4 22.Ne4 Bf4+ 23.Kg1 Be3+ ) 20.Be3 (20.Ne4 Qe1+ 21.Rf1 Bc7+ 22.Kg1 Qh4 23.Rf3 O-O-O 24.d6 Qh2+ 25.Kf1 Bxd6 Black is still better, but still a long way to go, slip-up. ) 20...O-O-O 21.Ne4 Bf4+ 22.Rh3 Qxh3+ 23.Bxh3 Rxh3+ 24.Kg1 Rxe3 25.Qc2 Re8 26.Nc5 Rg3+ 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5

The point with this variation is it becomes a different position for the Grunfeld players (they don't get to take on c3 and get normal pressure). Of course, you have to be ready to play the Samisch. (3...e5 4.dxe5 Nh5 5.Nh3 Nc6 6.Bg5 Be7 7.Bxe7 Qxe7 8.Nc3 Qxe5 9.Qd2 This is about equal. ) 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.a4 (7.Nc3 O-O 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.O-O-O f5 10.h4 fxe4 11.h5 gxh5 12.d5 Ne5 13.Bh6 Nec4 14.Qg5 Rf7 This is the main line - but I wanted to try and make him think for himself. ) 7...e5 8.d5 Bd7!? I thought this wasn't the best, the Knights need d7.  9.Qb3 a5 10.Nc3 (10.d6! I missed this opportunity  10...Bxa4 11.dxc7 Qh4+ 12.g3 Bxb3 13.cxb8=Q+ Rxb8 14.Bb5+ Nd7 15.gxh4 Black could safely resign. ) 10...O-O 11.h4 h6 12.d6 Not quite as strong as before  12...Nc8 13.Qxb7 Bc6 14.dxc7 Bxb7 15.cxd8=Q Rxd8 Now I just need to unwind some and make the pawn count.  16.Bc4 Nc6 17.Rd1 Nd4 18.Kf2 Nb6 19.Bd3 Rac8 20.Nge2 Nc4 21.Bc1 Bf8 22.Nxd4 exd4 23.Ne2 Ne5 24.Bb5 Rc2 25.Rd2 OK, but not the best, could have got the Bishop out first. (25.Bf4 Nc4 26.Rc1 Rxb2 27.Rxc4 d3 28.Rd1 Rxe2+ 29.Kf1 Rb2 30.Rc7 ) 25...d3 26.Rxc2 dxc2 27.Nc3 Bb4 28.Ke2 Bc6 29.Bxc6 Nxc6 30.Nd5 Kh7 31.Be3 Ne5 32.Rc1 Rc8 33.Bd4 Nc6 34.Bc3 f5 35.Kd3 fxe4+ 36.fxe4 Bxc3 37.bxc3 Ne5+ 38.Kxc2 Rc4 39.Rb1 Rxa4 40.Rb7+ Kg8 41.Re7 Rxe4? End of the time control, mistakes often occur. Wouldn't have effected the result however.  42.Nf6+ Kf8 43.Rxe5 Rxh4 44.Re4 Rh2 45.Rg4 Kf7 46.Nd5 g5 47.Ne3 Kg6 48.c4 h5 49.Rd4 h4 50.Rd6+ Kh5 51.Rh6+ Kxh6 52.Ng4+ Kh5 53.Nxh2 g4 1-0

1.d4 e6 2.c4 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 c6

5.Nh3? This is a mistake that is regularly played. The reason is that it is only good once Black has played d5. If White wants to play this type of line, he needs to play Nd2 or Qc2 to waste a move and only after Black plays d5 does he play Nh3.  5...d6 6.O-O Be7 7.Nc3 Qc7 8.e4 e5 9.dxe5 All my other opponents in this line had played d5, Black gets a comfortable game. This way is not much better for White.  9...dxe5 10.exf5 Bxf5 11.Ng5 O-O 12.Be3 Na6 At first sight you might think that White is better, Black has an isolated King pawn, but in fact Black is better, his position is easier to play and when the knights protect each other on c3 and e4, they don't actually perform effectively.  13.Nge4 Ng4 14.Qe2 Nxe3 15.fxe3 Bb4 16.c5 Qe7 17.Rxf5? This came as a complete shock, Black is better, maybe he decided to mix it up, but I couldn't see the compensation.  17...Rxf5 18.Na4 Rd8 19.a3 Ba5 20.Nd6 Rff8 21.b4 Bb6 22.Nxb7 Qxb7 23.cxb6 axb6 24.b5 Nc7 25.Bxc6 Qa7 So he has a pawn for his exchange, but with 2 open files Black is better. Just a question of swapping bits into an endgame and Black should win.  26.Nc3 Ne8 27.Ne4 h6 28.Qg4 Qf7 29.Qe2 Qb3 (29...Nf6 30.Nxf6+ Qxf6 31.e4 Rd6 32.Bd5+ Kh8 33.Kg2 Qe7 34.Rf1 Rdd8 35.Rxf8+ Rxf8 ) 30.Nf2 Nf6 31.a4 Qc3 32.Ra2 Nd5 33.Bxd5+ Rxd5 34.Kg2 Rfd8 35.Rc2 Qb4 36.Rc4 Qd2 37.Kf1 Qxe2+ 38.Kxe2 OK, so stage one complete, now to invade with the rooks and win stuff!  38...Rd2+ 39.Ke1 Ra2 40.Ne4 Rxh2 41.Nf2 Rf8 42.Rc2 Rf3 43.a5 bxa5 44.Rb2 Rxe3+ 45.Kf1 Rf3 46.b6 This looks scary, but I had seen a line coming that gets me into a won rook and pawn ending, looking good.  46...Rhxf2+ 47.Rxf2 Rb3 48.Ra2 Rxb6 49.Rxa5 Rf6+ 50.Ke2 Re6 51.Ke3 Kf7 52.Ke4 Kf6 53.Ra7 Rd6 54.Kf3 g6 55.Rh7 h5 56.g4 hxg4+ 57.Kxg4 Rd4+ 58.Kf3 Rf4+ 59.Ke3 Kg5 60.Re7 Rf5 61.Re6 Kh5 62.Ke4 The key here is the Knight pawn is all you need to win once the King is cut off. So jettison the other pawn as it is just confusing us :-)  62...Rf1 63.Rxe5+ Kg4 64.Kd3 g5 65.Ra5 Re1 66.Kd2 Re8 67.Ra1 Kf3 68.Ra3+ Kf2 69.Ra4 Rd8+ 70.Kc2 Rg8 71.Kd3 g4 72.Ke4 g3 73.Ra2+ Kg1 74.Kf3 g2 75.Ra7 Rb8 76.Ke2 Rh8 0-1

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nbd2 Nbd7 6.Bd3 b6 7.O-O Be7 8.Ne5 Bb7 9.cxd5 Nxe5 10.dxe5 Nxd5 11.Bc4 b5 12.Be2 O-O 13.Qb3 a6 14.f4 Qb6 15.Rf3 c5 16.Nf1 Rad8 17.a3 f6 18.exf6 Rxf6 19.Qc2 c4 20.Kh1 Rdf8 21.Rh3 g6 22.Bf3 Bc5 23.Bd2 Bc8 24.Re1 R6f7 25.Rg3 Bb7 26.h4 Ne7 27.Bxb7 Qxb7 28.h5 Qd5 29.hxg6 hxg6 30.e4 Rh7+ 31.Nh2 Qd7 32.Bc1 Qa7 33.Rd1 Bf2 34.Rf3 Bd4 35.g3 e5 36.Kg2 Nc6 37.f5 gxf5 38.exf5 Qd7 39.Qe4 Ne7 40.g4 Qc6 41.Qxc6 Nxc6 42.Re1 Rd8 43.Nf1 Kg7 44.Rh3 Rxh3 45.Kxh3 Rh8+ 46.Kg2 Na5 47.Re2 Rc8 48.Bd2 Nb3 49.Bc3 Rd8 50.Ng3 Nc1 51.Rd2 Nd3 52.Kf3 Rh8 53.Bxd4 exd4 54.Ke4 Nc5+ 55.Kf4 d3 56.Ne4 Nxe4 57.Kxe4 Re8+ 58.Kf3 Kf6 59.Rh2 Ke5 60.Ke3 Kd5+ 61.Kd2 Rg8 62.Rg2 Ke5 63.Ke3 Re8 64.Rf2 Kf6+ 65.Kf4 Re2 66.g5+ Kg7 67.Kf3

67...Rxb2?? This looks like it wins, and I was fooled. Afterwards Tao showed us the win for White.  68.Rxb2 c3 69.f6+ Kg8 70.Rxb5?? (70.f7+ This was the move to see, you need to set up the mating net or drag Black's King to the f file so Rf2 and King to e3 is with check which gets the pawns.  70...Kf8 (70...Kxf7 71.Rb1 Kg6 72.Ke3 d2 73.Kd3 Kxg5 74.Kxc3 ) 71.Rh2 c2 (71...Kxf7 72.Rh7+ Kg6 73.Rc7 c2 74.Ke3 Kxg5 75.Kxd3 ) 72.g6 c1=Q 73.Rh8+ Ke7 74.f8=Q+ ) 70...c2 71.Rb8+ Kf7 72.Rc8 d2 73.Rxc2 d1=Q+ 74.Re2 Qd5+ 75.Kf4 Kg6 76.Re5 Qd6 77.a4 Qd4+ 0-1

1.d4 c5 2.d5 Nf6 3.c4 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.Nf3 d6 8.g3 Bg7 9.Bg2 Nbd7 10.O-O O-O 11.Ne1 This was the line I had looked at. The idea is to get the Knight to e3, it protects d5 and c4 is a jump square on occasion.  11...Ne8 12.Nc2 Nc7 13.Ne3 Nb5 14.Bd2 This is not best, the position is about equal, the Knight needs to be swapped. (14.Nxb5 Bxb5 15.Qc2 Qa5 16.Nd1 Rfb8 17.Nc3 Ba6 18.Bd2 Qb4 19.b3 ) 14...Nd4 15.Re1 Qc7 16.b3 Rfb8 17.Rb1 Nb6 18.h3 The position is even. White can't do anything, I was relying on Herman's natural instinct to try and win.  18...Bc8 19.Nc2 Bd7 20.Ne3 Qc8 21.Kh2 h5 22.Nf1 Bf6 23.e3 Nb5 24.Ne4 Bg7 25.a4 Nc7 26.Bc3 Nbxd5 27.Bxg7 Kxg7 28.Nxd6 exd6 29.Bxd5 Nxd5 30.Qxd5 Ra6 31.h4 Be6 32.Qd3 Rb4 33.Nd2 Qa8 So I had managed to swap some pieces and still keep the pawn. Now to break up the central pawns.  34.e4 Kg8 35.Qc3 Rab6 36.e5 Bf5 37.Rbc1 Qb8 38.exd6 (38.Nc4! Rxb3 39.Qa5 R6b4 40.Nxd6 Rb2 41.Qxc5 Bd7 ) 38...Rxd6 39.Re3 Be6 40.Ne4 Rdd4 41.Nxc5 Bd5 42.Kg1 Qc8 43.Kf1 Bc4+?

44.Nd3?? This could have lost me the title - after a surprise, concrete calculation is needed.  44...Qh3+? (44...Rxd3 45.Rxd3 Bxd3+ 46.Kg1 Qxc3 47.Rxc3 Black is going to round up the pawns and then win. Both Herman and I forgot the golden rule - reverse the combination and see if it works. ) (44...Bxd3+ 45.Rxd3 Qxc3 46.Rcxc3 This was the variation we both looked at and we were convinced won - mutual blindness. ) 45.Ke1 Ba6 46.Rd1 Qd7?? (46...Qg2 47.Qc5 Bxd3 48.Rdxd3 Rxd3 49.Rxd3 ) 47.Qxb4 1-0

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 c6 5.Bf4 Nf6 6.e3 Nh5 7.Bg3 Nd7 8.Bd3 Qa5 9.a3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Nxg3

11.hxg3 b5 12.Bd3 g6 13.e4 a6 14.Ke2 Qb6 15.b4 a5 16.Qb3 e5 17.d5 Bb7 18.dxc6 Bxc6 19.Nd5 Qb7 20.Nxe7 a4 21.Qa2 Kxe7 22.Ng5 Raf8 23.Nxh7 Bxe4 24.Nxf8 Bxd3+ 25.Kxd3 Qxg2 26.Rhe1 Rxf8 27.Re3 Nb6 28.Rxe5+ Kf6 29.Qe2 Rd8+ 30.Kc3 Rc8+ 31.Rc5 Rxc5+ 32.bxc5 Nc4 33.Kb4 Qa8 34.Kc3 Qg2 35.Qd3 Kg7 36.Qd4+ Kg8 37.Rd1 Qf3+ 38.Rd3 Qe2 39.Kb4 Qf1 40.c6 Qe1+ 41.Kxb5 1-0

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 c5 5.O-O g6 I'd half expected a double Fianchetto instead of Klaus' usual Hedgehog,hence I was able to peel off a bit of preparation. I'd half expected a double fianchetto instead of Klaus' "usual"Hedgehog.Hence I was able to reel off some preparation. (5...e6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 d6 etc. ) 6.d4 cxd4 7.Qxd4 Bg7 8.Nc3 d6 9.Be3 Nbd7 10.Rfd1 Rc8 11.Rac1 O-O 12.Qh4 Re8 13.b3 a6 14.Bh3!? I saw it in some Kramnik games;something may land on e6! However,white is working hereabouts with a tiny edge.  14...Rc7 15.Bh6 Bxh6 (15...Bxf3 16.exf3 Rc5 ) 16.Qxh6 Bxf3 17.exf3 Rc5 18.Qe3 Qb8 19.f4

To be honest, I was content to draw with my "housemate" here; my tournament situation allowed it, I respected my opponent's ability, and I wanted an easy afternoon for a change. However, the 30 move draw rule didn't permit this, and who knows, maybe Klaus is ambitious? In any case, white's position is simple enough, such that I can just, "play".  19...e6 20.Qd4 b5?! (20...d5! = ) 21.Qxd6 += bxc4 22.bxc4 Rxc4 23.Qxa6 Rec8 I spent a bit of time here, pinching myself; yes I have an extra pawn, no my opponent has no magical tactic.  24.Ne2 Rc2? Black now has to HOLD the draw. (24...Rxc1 25.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 26.Nxc1 Qb2 is better, but the bonus pawn remains. ) 25.Rxc2 Rxc2 26.Nd4 Rc7 27.Qe2!? (27.Bg2 ) 27...Qb4 28.Qd2 Qa4 29.Bg2 Ra7

30.Bc6?! Here the "ha ppy to draw", thing reared its ugly head. I wanted to have safe torture, rather than hard work. (30.Nc6! Ra6 31.Ne5 Nf8 32.Qd8 +/- for example. ) 30...Qxa2 31.Qxa2 Rxa2 32.Nxe6 fxe6?! I expected, as a matter of course, 32.....Ra7. (32...Nf8 33.Nd8!? ) (32...Ra7 ) 33.Bxd7 Nxd7 34.Rxd7 Ra1+ 35.Kg2 This 4 vs 3 is drawn,especially if the e6 pawn can be traded. Drawing "drawn" endings is no simple task, however.  35...Re1 36.g4 h5?!

(36...e5 37.Re7 (37.f5!? ) ) 37.gxh5!? The chess engines want other moves. But the practical human has a different bent.  37...gxh5 38.Re7 Kf8 39.Rh7 e5 40.Rxh5 exf4 41.Kf3 Rf1 42.Rh4 Kg7 43.Rxf4 A drawn ending. As the late John Hanks said to me circa 1978; "It's all in the books"! (i.e.it was a draw) when I adjourned a rook and four vs rook and three ending against him in Perth (he lost). An ignoramus, who apparently "moderates" on "Chess Chat", mentioned this as a drawn position. (Imputing in a context,that I was somehow lucky to win.) Ah the armchair warrior!! "Surrounded" by Fritz/Rybka/Firebird/Houdini etc etc. and under no competitive pressure, can make bold pronunciations regarding people, games and positions, about which they wouldn't have a chance in hell of handling with any aplomb, were they in the situation of the person concerned.  43...Ra1 44.Rb4 Kg6 45.Rb5 Rh1 46.Kg2 Ra1

So it's a draw....But how does one (a) try to win with white? and (b) hold the draw with black? I first had the chance to analyse this ending when the late Greg Hjorth tried to win it against the late Terrey Shaw, in the 1981-82 Australian Championships in Melbourne. (Too many good people are late of recent.) To win; the rook pawn is a decoy; you will try to win with a favourable rook and bishop pawn vs.rook ending. To defend; the defensive King stays in front of the bishop pawn; the rook goes long, working from the rear. This, however, is a broad description of how things "should" look.  47.h4 Rc1 48.f3 Ra1 49.Rc5 Rb1 50.Ra5 Rc1 51.Kg3 Rb1? (51...Rc4 Why not! ) 52.Kg4 Rg1+ 53.Kf4 Rf1 (53...Rh1 54.Ra6+ Kf7 55.Kg5 Rg1+ 56.Kf5 Rh1 57.Ra7+ ) 54.Ra6+ Kf7 55.h5 Rb1 56.Kg4 Rb4+ 57.f4 Rb5 58.h6 Rc5 59.Ra7+ Kg6 60.h7

Now it is lost. May the warriors figure out where black went wrong.  60...Rc8 61.f5+ Kh6 (61...Kf6 62.Kh5 Kxf5 63.Rg7 ) 62.Kf4 Re8 63.Rd7 Ra8 64.Ke5 Ra5+ 65.Kd6 Ra6+ 66.Kc5 Ra8 67.f6 Kg6 68.Rg7+ Kh6 69.Rg8 Ra5+ 70.Kb4 Kxh7

71.f7! (71.Rg7+?? Kh8 = ) 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O

6.Bg5 The Averbakh.After whipping out some quick moves,my opponent ground her thumbs into her temples and then stared into space,as if she was trying to remember what the "refutation" of this system was.I gathered this was not expected....good!  6...h6 7.Be3 Nbd7 8.Qd2 c5 (8...e5 9.d5 Nc5 10.f3 a5?! (10...Ne8!? 11.b4 Na6 12.a3 f5 ) 11.O-O-O Kh7 (11...h5 ) 12.g4 followed,if allowed by h4-h5,is so passive for black. ) 9.d5 Kh7 10.Nf3 b5!? Like a Benko;here it's not a bad idea.  11.cxb5 a6 12.h3? (12.O-O axb5 13.Bxb5 Ng4 14.Bf4 += ) (12.a4 Is normal in similar positions. ) 12...Qa5 Now I grimaced internally;my finesse on the previous move was just feeble!  13.bxa6 (13.a4 axb5 14.Bxb5 Nxe4! 15.Nxe4 Qxb5 ) 13...Bxa6 My calculations after 12.h3 had me castling here.  14.Bxa6 (14.O-O? Nxe4 Works because of the loose bishop on e2. ) 14...Qxa6 15.Qe2 Taking on the "Benko" ending was not what I envisaged a few moves ago.Here I needed to emulate the best efforts of the famous master Grovelstein.  15...Rfb8 16.Qxa6 Rxa6 17.Bc1 (17.O-O-O!? Nb6 worried me. ) 17...Nb6 18.Nd2 Na4 19.Kd1 Nxb2+ 20.Bxb2 Rxb2 21.Kc1 Rb4 22.Kc2 Nd7 (22...Ra3 Looks even stronger. ) 23.a3 Bxc3! 24.Kxc3 Rba4 25.Nc4 Nb6 26.Nxb6 Rxb6 Some dust has cleared;true, the pawn has been returned for some simplification,but even with only two rooks each black retains some pressure.  27.Rhe1 Kg7 28.e5!? I didn't believe that passive defence would suffice. (28.f3 g5 29.Re2 Kf6 -/+ ) 28...dxe5!? (28...Kf8 ) 29.Rxe5 Kf6 30.Re3 g5 31.Rf3+ Ke5!? After a slowish opening,time-wise,my opponent had played some quick moves,and this was one ofthem! (31...Kg6 ) 32.Rxf7 I thought,"gobble up the pawns and hope(!) there is no win.  32...Kxd5 33.Rxe7 Rc4+ 34.Kd2 Rb2+ 35.Ke1 Rcc2 36.Rf7 c4 37.Rd1+ Kc6 I once adjourned with a double rook ending against Mihai Ghinda,at the Olympiad in Luzern in 1982.. Analysis of the position I had ,taught me a simple truth;the superior side (ie better passed pawn,king placement,etc),wants to trade a set of rooks!  38.Rf5! This good move,making difficult the black king's entry,probably shouldn't have saved the day.  38...c3 39.a4 Bizarre thing happened.After 38.Rf5, Ms.Gu, with about 25 minutes on her clock chewed up nearly all of her time looking for the (non-existent) forced win.  39...Re2+ 40.Kf1 Rec2? A hurried move,but a lemon. (40...c2 41.Rc1 Re4 42.Rf3?! (42.Rb5!? Ra2 43.Rb3 (43.Rb8 Is tougher. ) ) 42...Kc5 43.Rc3+ Rc4 44.Rxc4+ Kxc4 45.Ke2 Kc3 -+ No forced wins,but long-term wins. ) (40...Rbd2 -/+ ) 41.g3! Breathing space! Notice how white avoids weakening the f4 square. (41.g4?! Rb4 intending ....Rf4. ) 41...Ra2 42.Rd4 Not only has the danger for white passed,but black has to now think about drawing the position.  42...Ra3 43.Kg2 Rc1?! (43...Rca2 44.Rc4+ Kd6 45.Rfc5 Rxa4 46.Rxa4 Rxa4 47.Rxc3 h5 +/- ) 44.a5 Rc2? She's in limbo;my opponent's confident demeanour had completely vanished.  45.h4 gxh4? 46.Rxh4 +- Rd2 47.Rxh6+ Rd6 48.Rh4 Rd5 49.Rc4+ Kd6 50.Rf6+ Ke5 51.Rf3! Raxa5 52.Rcxc3 Rdb5 53.Ra3 "Checkmating" a rook!  53...Rxa3 54.Rxa3 Ke4 55.Rf3 Rb8 56.g4 Rb1 57.Rf5 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 b6 5.Qg4 Bf8 6.Nf3 Ne7 7.Bg5 Ba6

(7...h6?! as has been played in some games is bad because of  8.Bxe7! Qxe7 (8...Kxe7 is maybe better but is really ugly ) 9.Nxd5 ) 8.Bxa6 Nxa6 9.h4 Starting my favorite setup against the blocked French structure  9...Nb4 10.O-O-O h6 11.Bf4 (11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.h5 is quite in the spirit of what I like ) 11...Qd7 12.a3 Nbc6 (12...h5!? is for sure an option to be considered for Black. After  13.Qh3 Nbc6 14.Kb1 Nf5 15.Rd3 White's position is more flexible though ) 13.h5 Hans Kmoch in his excellent Pawn Power in Chess (My Tartan Books edition dates from 1975; the original is from 1959) calls this (e5 and h5 against e6 and h6 with the other White's pawns coming to f4 and g4) the Quartgrip. It gives the more advanced formation many effective break possibilities. Of course the Quartgrip - as Kmoch himself states - serves perfectly against a minority when Black has only three pawns (e6, h6 and f7 or g7) as will happen in this game. The Quartgrip is probably the strategic feature with which I have collected most points. The great majority occur on the Kingside in the French and in the Caro-Kann. In the latter mostly with an open d file.  13...O-O-O 14.Kb1 White star ts a rearrangement of its pieces by unoccupying the congested g and f files. c1 is an ideal spot for the Bishop at the same time defending an eventual counter-attack at the Queenside as supporting White's Pawn phalanx on the Kingside.  14...Kb7 15.Bc1 Rc8 16.Qf4 Nd8 17.g4 a6 18.Rh3 A flexible resource. The rook on the third rank makes Black's c5 break more difficult and is ready to double with the other rook on either file it's needed  18...Nec6 19.Ne1 Black is hesitating to break so White has all the time to make thisrearrangemen t  19...Be7 20.Qd2 f6 My opponent senses that he will be overrun and tries to anticipate things  21.f4 fxe5 22.dxe5 White has achieved his goal. A dangerous and maybe winning Pawn structure on the Kingside. Both f5 and g5 breaks are very dangerous for Black  22...Nf7 23.Qe2 Rhd8 24.Rhd3 Qe8 25.Nf3 White completes its development. Black has the difficult task to be ready for both f and g ruptures  25...Bf8 26.g5 Now the natural break  26...hxg5 27.fxg5 Rd7 28.g6! Nh6 29.Nh2?! (29.Bxh6 gxh6 30.Ne4! dxe4 31.Rxd7 exf3 32.Qxf3 is winning. I saw this position but it wasn't that clear in my mind ) 29...Nf5 30.Ne4?? (30.Ng4 and White's advantage is clear. I always quote to my pupils (and surely it has been said before): there is no Strategy so good that it can resist bad Tactics! ) 30...Nxe5 Grabbing the pawn, defending his own Rook and therefore threatening at the same time my Rook and my Knight!  31.Nc5+ I was very lucky to have this check!  31...Bxc5 32.Qxe5 Bd6 33.Qe2 Ng3 34.Qg4 Ne4 35.Qg2 Qh8 36.Rh3 Bxh2?! (36...Rf8 looks much better ) 37.Rxh2 Nd6 38.Qe2 Qg8 Here my opponent offered a draw. I rejected on the basis that my coming up g passed Pawn would give me reasonable chances  39.Qe5 Rf8 40.Re1 Re7 41.Qg5 Nf5 42.Rhe2 Ree8 43.Qg2 Nh4 44.Qg4 Nf3 45.Rh1 e5 46.h6 gxh6 47.Rxh6 Rf6 48.Rg2 Qe6 Its quite comprehensible that Black doesn't want his Queen as the blocking piece of Pawn g7 but after swapping the Queens White is becoming comfortable again  49.Qxe6 Rfxe6 50.g7 Rxh6 51.Bxh6 Rg8 52.Rg6 And white has the edge  52...Nh2 ( Stopping Rf6 because of 53...Ng4 52...Nd4 53.Rf6 Nc6 54.Rf7! and the White Bishop is ready to come to f6.  54...e4 fails because of  55.Bf4 ) 53.c3 c6?? Black's turn to blunder! But life is not easy for him now. The king's path as follows will force e4 and many weaknesses will appear: e.g. (53...c5 54.Kc2 a5 55.Kd1 a4 56.Ke2 e4 Now forced because of the 57.Rg2 threat 57.Ke3 end the King comes in ) 54.Rf6 and black resigned (54.Rf6 Ng4 55.Rf7+ etc. ) 1-0

1.e4 g6 I have a few main defences to 1.e4: The Dragon - in its many different forms, a couple of Spanishes and occasional Caro Kanns but Irene seemed well booked up on all those lines. Having lost the previous game I really wanted to bounce back and so the Modern seemed a decent choice; definitely risky but with good winning chances too.  2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Bg5!?

I'd never seen this move before and so I was on my own. It looked strange to me as the bishop is firing into open space but I now sunk into thought attempting to find a plan.  4...h6 (4...Nf6 would transpose to a more theoretical position and one where I thought the bishop achieved more. I've actually played this way myself as White and think it's quite a dangerous line.  ) 5.Bh4 ( On the final night Anthony Ker, who has won the New Zealand Championships more than anyone else, suggested 5.Be3 as an interesting alternative. White argues that the pawn on h6 could be a weakness and certainly following Qd2 it might be tricky to castle. ) 5...c5!? Possibly to o ambitious. I tried to exploit the bishop on h4 being a little offside and transpose the position to a Dragon setup where I have a lot of experience.  6.dxc5! The critical response. (6.Nf3 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nc6 looks like a comfortable Dragon as the bishop is misplaced on h4. As it cannot come to d4 White will lose further time moving the attacked knight on d4. ) (6.d5!? is the other possible structure but here I hoped to exploit White'svulnerabilit y along the a1-h8 diagonal. ) 6...Qa5 (6...dxc5 7.Qxd8+ Kxd8 looked pretty unpleasant. Not only will White gain a development advantage thanks to my vulnerable king but he also has a positional advantage thanks to his light square control, in particular d5. Were Black's pawn back on c6 he would have fewer holes and thus fewer problems. ) 7.Bb5+ Actually when I decided to go into this line I had forgotten that this check gives the White king the f1 square. Another long think and a feeling of dread, I didn't want to have to defend another passive position against a player rated over 300 points below, these Open tournaments can be very cruel!  7...Nc6 (7...Bd7 was the other sensible way to defend against the check but  8.Bxd7+ Nxd7 9.cxd6 Bxc3+ (  Actually I had sort of looked at this line before ...c5 and then I hoped that 9...Qb4?! might be tricky to defend against. Black threatens both the b2 pawn and ...Bxc3+ followed by taking on e4 when th bishop on h4 hangs. However  10.Ne2 Qxb2 11.O-O keeps everything under control. Sure I can temporarily pick up a piece with  11...Bxc3 but  12.Rb1 Qa3 13.Rb3 regains the piece and leaves White with a strong initiative. ) 10.bxc3 Qxc3+ 11.Kf1 felt a little unpleasant to me, even if the computer tells me Black's more or less ok with  11...Rc8 It seems unlikely that Black will have many winning chances though. ) 8.Ne2 Sensibly giving back the pawn. (8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.cxd6 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Qxc3+ 11.Kf1 Ba6+ 12.Ne2 Rd8 will likely regain the pawn with advantage. ) 8...dxc5 9.Qd5 This might be the start of White's problems. Irene is playing aggressively and hoping to completely refute my opening play, a strategy that almost paid off but is of course risky. (9.O-O was safer when I thought White had a small advantage but Black's position isn't bad either. ) (9.Bxc6+ bxc6 is of course also possible and important to assess to work out who it favours. Doubled isolated pawns are of course generally very weak and White can hope to exploit them in the long term, perhaps by rerouting a knight round to c4. However that it's at all easy to achieve and Black has his trumps too. For starters the pawns aren't as weak as they look; they would be much more vulnerable if they were on an open file. They also protect the important central squares of d4 and d5 - a typical weak spot in the Dragon. The exchange has also given Black counterplay down the b file and along the a8-f1 diagonal. A typical fight between static and dynamic play, I prefer the dynamism of Black's position. ) 9...Qb6 ( I couldn't see a direct refutation of 9...Bd7 but I felt uneasy about it. I really didn't want to lose quickly and thought the game continuation was safer. The pawn on c5 is defended indirectly as  10.Qxc5 a6 wins back material. However it's not totally clear even here as White has  11.b4 when  11...Qxb4 12.Qxb4 Nxb4 13.Bxd7+ Kxd7 14.Rb1 looks better for White. ) 10.a4 I have to confess that I missed this move - a sign that my form wasn't there for much of Queenstown. Irene threatens a4-a5 forcing the queen away and thus winning the c5 pawn. 10...a5 is possible to defend but then White must be better thanks to her eternal control of the b5 square. Luckily I found the following strong idea.  10...a6 11.a5?! It's harsh to give this move as dubious but in fact White seems to be in a lot of trouble once she has won the queen.  11...axb5! The whole point. In return for the queen I'll pick up rook and bishop and an initiative. ( There was no time for cold feet 11...Qc7 12.Ba4! and there's no way to defend c5. The pins keep Black completely bound up. ) 12.axb6 Rxa1+ 13.Nd1 g5! It's important to play as actively as possible. Should White get time to castle then she'll have a clear advantage.  14.Bg3 Nf6 15.Qxc5 Nxe4 16.Qxb5?! During the game I was really surprised by this move. ( I felt 16.Qe3 was much safer but still I quite liked my dynamic potential. I was planning something like  16...Bf5 17.O-O b4!? to keep the White knights from using c3 and therefore she would still have problems coordinating her pieces. ) 16...O-O Now it was Irene's turn for a long think. She has a material advantage, queen and pawn for the rook and bishop, but ...Rd8 is a big threat. After the game I was very happy as my calculation around here was all sound.  17.Bc7!? Taking control of d8 but allowing a different tactic. (17.O-O was of course the most logical and the move I needed something against when I sacrificed my queen. Here I was planning  17...Nd2! ( The immediate 17...Rd8 is also possible but  18.Ndc3 Ra5 19.Qxa5 Nxa5 20.Nxe4 allows White to play on. ) 18.Re1 Rd8 White is completely tied up. There's the threat of moving the knight when there's no defence of the d1 knight and it can't get out of the way as e1 is undefended - one of the points behind ... Nd2. The other threat is somehow more hidden as it requires a retreating move: ...Ra5 actually traps the queen! During the game I thought the only defence to both threats was  19.Bc7 Rd7 For a moment Black's pieces look uncoordinated but the two threats still stand.  (19...Ra5? does still trap the queen but he gets two rooks for it with  20.Qxa5 Nxa5 21.Bxd8 ) 20.Ng3 The knight gets out of the way leaving e2 for the queen and defending against back rank ideas as the knight can drop back to f1. ( Trying to run the queen with 20.Qf5 loses to  20...Nf3+ 21.gxf3 (21.Qxf3 Rdxd1 wins everything. ) 21...Raxd1 The other rook this time, and White loses at least a rook. ) 20...Nd4! Followed by ...N4f3+ winning at least the exchange and a pawn. ) 17...Rxd1+! Now f2 isn't defended this tactic works.  18.Kxd1 Nxf2+ 19.Ke1 (  During the game I thought 19.Kd2 was her last chance, so that there wouldn't be any back rank problems for White and so she could actually pick up the trapped knight. However  19...Nxh1 20.Qc5 Bxb2 21.Qg1 Bf5 22.Qxh1 Ra8 is still much better for Black. Material is roughly balanced: queen versus rook, bishop and pawn but the bishop pair are very strong and the White king rather exposed. ) 19...Nxh1 20.c3 Irene plays sensibly and controls the d4 square. (  Playing the same way as in the previous variation with 20.Qc5 no longer wins the knight as  20...Bg4 21.Qg1 Ra8 threatens ...Ra1+  22.Kd2 Bxb2 and the knight still can't be taken as  23.Qxh1 Ra1 traps the queen. ) (20.Kf1 Slowly plodding the king into the corner doesn't manage to pick up the piece either as the rook quickly activates on the a file., i.e.  20...Bg4 21.Kg1 Ra8 and Black's in time. ) 20...Bd7 With rook, bishop and knight against queen Black should be winning but there are a couple of things Black has to be aware of. First of all, while White can't actually win the cornered knight it's not easy to bring it back into the game. Secondly White has some tricks utilising the advanced b6 pawn.  21.Qd5 Be6 22.Qe4 (22.Qf3 was Sue's suggestion and looks more accurate. White threatens Qf1 but again  22...Ra8 defends more than adequately. ) 22...Ra8 23.Nc1 Ra5!? I was very at finding this move. Black has ideas of ...Rf5 and ...Nf2 to bring the knight out. The rook also controls the d5 square and can now react to the Qxc6 ideas with ...Rb5. (23...Ra1 felt rather risky to me but the computer has no fear  24.Kd2 (24.Qxc6 only loses a pawn here after  24...bxc6 25.b7 Rxc1+ 26.Kd2 Rg1 27.b8=Q+ Kh7 ) 24...Na5 would actually be very similar to the game. ) 24.Nd3 Bd5 25.Qg4 Ra1+ 26.Kd2 Be6 27.Qf3 Bc8 Cutting out Qxc6 tricks once and for all. ( Initially I had planned 27...Na5 but  28.Nc5 didn't seem so clear. ) 28.Nc1 Na5 But now her knight has gone passive I can activate mine.  29.b3 Both rook and knight are actually trapped in corners but I was pleased I managed to calculate the final course of the game. (  White still doesn't have enough time to win the entrapped knight: 29.g3 Nc4+ and White lacks a good square for his king as I have lots of interesting forks available.  30.Kc2 (30.Kd1 Bg4! ) 30...Bf5+! 31.Qxf5 Ne3+ ) (  Objectively 29.g4 was best although here I would have the tricky  29...Rb1 (29...Nc4+ 30.Kd3 Nxb2+ 31.Kc2 Ra3 32.Ne2 Na4 33.Qxh1 Ra2+ would also be decisive. ) 30.Kc2 Nc4! 31.Nd3 Bxg4! continuing to use the knight forks ) 29...Bd7 30.Kc2 Bc6 31.Qe3 (31.Qd3 Nf2 would allow the knight to escape. ) (31.Qf1 Be4+ 32.Kb2 (32.Kd2 Nxb3+ ) 32...Rb1+ 33.Ka3 Bxc3 is also hopeless. ) 31...Nf2! It seems strange to put the knight en-prise but the tactics work for me.  32.Qxf2 (32.Kb2 Nd1+ was the point and so Irene had no time to capture the rook.  ) 32...Be4+ 33.Kd2 (33.Kb2 Rb1+ 34.Ka3 Bxc3 is completely winning; a nice point is that  35.Qe3 Rxb3+! 36.Nxb3 Nc4+ again picks up the queen. ) 33...Nxb3+ 34.Ke3 (34.Nxb3 Ra2+ 35.Ke3 Rxf2 36.Kxf2 Bxc3 leaves Black in a trivially winning endgame with his extra two pawns. ) 34...Rxc1 35.Kxe4 Rxc3 On the surface it looks like White has made progress. He has regained some material and is nominally only slightly down - rook, knight and two pawns for the queen. However the big issue is that the king on e4 is actually in very real danger.  36.Qa2 (  In the post-mortem we had a quick look at 36.Kd5 but Black has at least  36...Rc6 followed by ...e7-e6+ and ...Rc6-c3 creating the same mating net. ) (36.Be5 Nc5+ 37.Kd5 Bxe5 is no good either as  38.Kxe5 Nd3+ wins the queen. ) 36...e6! And Irene resigned as there's no way to prevent either ...f7-f5mate or . ..Nb3-c5mate. A picturesque final position. 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.O-O Bd6 6.c3 c5 7.Na3 Ne7 8.Nc4 Ng6 9.d4 Qe7 10.dxe5 Nxe5

11.Nfxe5 Bxe5 12.Qh5 Bd6 13.e5 Qe6 14.exd6 Qxc4 15.Re1+ Kf8 16.dxc7 Be6 17.Be3 b6 18.Rad1 Ke7 19.Qg5+ 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 a6 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.g4 b5 10.Nc6 Qc7

11.Nxe7 Bb7 12.Ned5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.Qxd5 O-O 15.Rd1 Bxb2 16.Qxd6 Qxc2 17.Qd3 Bc3+ 18.Bd2 Bxd2+ 19.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 20.Rxd2 Ne5 21.Be2 g5 22.Kf2 Rfd8 23.Rhd1 Rxd2 24.Rxd2 Rc8 25.Rd6 Rc6 26.Rxc6 Nxc6 27.Bd3 f6 28.Ke3 h6 29.f4 Kf7 30.Bc2 gxf4+ 31.Kxf4 Nd4 32.Bd1 Ke6 33.h4 a5 34.e5 fxe5+ 35.Ke4 a4 36.g5 hxg5 37.hxg5 a3 38.g6 b4 39.g7 Kf7 40.Kxe5 b3 41.Kxd4 bxa2 42.Bb3+ Kxg7 43.Bxa2 1/2-1/2

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.e5 Ng4 8.Bxd7+ Qxd7 9.d5 dxe5 10.h3 e4

11.hxg4 exf3 12.Qxf3 Na6 13.Bd2 Nb4 14.O-O-O O-O-O 15.Ne4 Qa4 16.Bxb4 Qxb4 17.c3 Qc4 18.Ng5 Rd7 19.f5 gxf5 20.gxf5 h6 21.Nxf7 Rh7 22.Ng5 Rh8 23.Ne6 Bf6 24.Kb1 Rd6 25.Qe3 Rxd5 26.Rxd5 Qxd5 27.Qxc5+ Qxc5 28.Nxc5 h5 29.Ne4 Be5 30.g3 Kd7 31.Kc2 Rh7 32.g4 h4 33.Rh3 b6 34.Kd3 Rh8 35.Ke3 e6 36.f6 Ke8 37.Kf3 Kf7 38.g5 Kg6 39.Kg4 Rd8 40.Rxh4 Rd1 41.Rh6+ Kf7 42.Rh7+ Kg8 43.Rxa7 Re1 44.Kh5 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 b5 6.Qc2 bxc4 7.bxc4 Bb7 8.Qb2 Bxf3 9.exf3 c5 10.Be3 cxd4

11.Bxd4 Nc6 12.Be3 Rb8 13.Qc2 Qa5+ 14.Nd2 Bc5 15.Bg2 Bxe3 16.fxe3 Qe5 17.Kf2 Rb2 18.Qc1 Nb4 19.Bf1 Nc2 20.Rb1 Qxe3+ 21.Kg2 Ne1+ 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Ne2 Nc6 5.a3 Ba5 6.Be3 Nge7 7.g3 e5 8.Bg2 Bg4 9.b4 Bb6 10.Nxd5 Nxd5

11.exd5 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Bxd4 13.Rb1 Bc3+ 14.Kf1 Qf6 15.Qd3 Bxe2+ 16.Kxe2 Bd4 17.Qf3 Qg5 18.Qd3 Qf6 19.Qf3 Qh6 20.h4 O-O 21.c3 e4 22.Qf4 Qa6+ 23.b5 Qxa3 24.Bxe4 Rae8 25.Kf3 f5 26.Bd3 Qxc3 27.Rhd1 Bb6 28.Qc4 Qf6 29.Re1 f4 30.Qxf4 Rxe1 31.Rxe1 Qc3 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 c5 5.O-O Nc6 6.c4 b6 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.e4 Nf6 10.Qxd8+ Kxd8

11.Nc3 Ba6 12.Rd1+ Ke7 13.e5 Nd7 14.a3 b5 15.b4 Bb6 16.a4 Rac8 17.axb5 Nxb4 18.Ba3 Ba5 19.Na2 Bxb5 20.Bxb4+ Bxb4 21.Nxb4 Be2 22.Re1 Bxf3 23.Bxf3 Rc4 24.Nc6+ 1-0

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 cxd4 5.Nxd4 d5 6.O-O Nc6 7.c4 Bc5 8.Nb3 Be7 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Nc3 Be6

11.Nd4 Nxd4 12.Qxd4 O-O 13.b3 Qd7 14.Rd1 Rfd8 15.Bb2 b6 16.e3 Rac8 17.Qd3 Bc5 18.Ne2 Bf5 19.Qa6 Qe7 20.Nd4 Bg4 21.Re1 h6 22.a3 Bxd4 23.Bxd4 Rc2 24.Rec1 Be2 25.Qa4 Rdc8 26.Rxc2 Rxc2 27.b4 Bd3 28.Rd1 Bg6 29.Bf3 Qe6 30.Qxa7 Kh7 31.Qa6 Qf5 32.Be2 Ne4 33.Rf1 Rc1 34.f3 Rxf1+ 35.Kxf1 Ng5 36.g4 Qb1+ 37.Kg2 Qe1 38.Bxb6 h5 39.h3 h4 40.Bc7 Ne4 1/2-1/2

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.O-O Bg4 7.Be3 Nc6 8.Qd2 e5 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.Rad1 Qc8

11.Qc1 Rd8 12.Rxd8+ Nxd8 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 c6 15.Rd1 Ne6 16.Ne2 Qc7 17.c3 a5 18.a4 Bf8 19.Qc2 Bc5 20.Bxc5 Nxc5 21.Ng3 Rd8 22.Rxd8+ Qxd8 23.Be2 h5 24.f3 Qb6 25.Kh2 Ne6 26.Bc4 Nf4 27.Qd2 Qc5 28.Bb3 Kg7 29.Nf1 h4 30.Ba2 Ne8 31.Ne3 Nd6 32.Qf2 Kf8 33.Qd2 Ke7 34.Ng4 b5 35.axb5 cxb5 36.Ne3 Nc4 37.Bxc4 bxc4 38.g3 hxg3+ 39.Kxg3 a4 40.Kh2 Qb5 41.Kg3 f6 42.Kh2 Qb6 43.Qf2 Kf7 44.Qd2 Ke7 45.Qf2 Qb5 46.Qd2 Qb3 47.Kg3 Qb6 48.Kh2 Qe6 49.Ng4 Nd3 50.Ne3 Kf7 51.Nd5 Qc8 52.Qh6 Qf8 53.Qe3 Qb8 54.Nb6 Nxb2 55.Qc5 a3 56.Nc8 Kg7 57.Qe7+ Kh6 58.Qf8+ Kh7 59.Qf7+ Kh6 60.Ne7 Kg5 61.Kg3 1-0

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 c5 3.c4 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bd7 7.Qb3 Qc7 8.Bg2 Bc6 9.d4 e6 10.O-O cxd4

11.cxd4 Bd6 12.Bb2 Qe7 13.d5 Bxd5 14.Qc3 f6 15.e4 Bc6 16.e5 Bb4 17.Qb3 f5 18.Nd4 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Kf7 20.Nxf5 Qg5 21.Qxb4 1-0

1.Nf3 d6 2.d4 Bg4 3.Nbd2 Nf6 4.e4 e6 5.c3 Be7 6.Be2 O-O 7.O-O c6 8.e5 dxe5 9.Nxe5 Bxe2 10.Qxe2 Nbd7

11.Ndf3 Rc8 12.Be3 Nd5 13.Bd2 Bd6 14.Rad1 Qc7 15.c4 N5f6 16.Bg5 Rce8 17.Rfe1 Nh5 18.Nxd7 Qxd7 19.Ne5 Qc7 20.Qxh5 f6 21.Bxf6 gxf6 22.Ng4 Qg7 23.Nh6+ Kh8 24.Nf5 Qc7 25.Nxd6 Qxd6 26.Re3 Re7 27.Qh6 Qd8 28.Rde1 e5 29.f4 Ref7 30.dxe5 fxe5 31.fxe5 Qd2 32.h3 Rf2 33.R1e2 Rf1+ 34.Kh2 Qb4 35.b3 Qc5 36.Qd6 Qb6 37.e6 Qd8 38.Qe5+ Qf6 39.Qxf6+ R1xf6 40.e7 Re8 41.Rd3 Kg7 42.Rd7 Kf7 43.Rxb7 a5 44.Ra7 Rf5 45.Ra6 Rxe7 46.Rxe7+ Kxe7 47.Rxc6 1-0

1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 g6 4.e5 h5 5.f4 Bf5 6.Be3 Nd7 7.Nf3 e6 8.Qd2 Bb4 9.Be2 Rc8 10.O-O Nh6

11.a3 Be7 12.h3 c5 13.Nb5 a6 14.Nd6+ Bxd6 15.exd6 c4 16.Ne5 f6 17.g4 hxg4 18.hxg4 fxe5 19.fxe5 Qh4 20.Bf2 Qh3 21.Qg5 Ng8 22.Bh4 Rxh4 23.Kf2 Qh2+ 24.Ke3 Qg3+ 25.Rf3 Qxg4 26.Rxf5 Qxd4+ 27.Kf3 Qe4+ 28.Kg3 Qxf5 29.Kxh4 Nxe5 30.Qg3 Qe4+ 31.Kh3 Qxe2 32.Re1 Qh5+ 33.Kg2 Qg4 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 6.O-O g6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg7 9.Be3 Nf6 10.f3 Nxd4

11.Bxd4 O-O 12.Nc3 Rfc8 13.b3 a6 14.Na4 Nh5 15.Bxg7 Nxg7 16.Nb6 Qc6 17.Nxa8 e5 18.Qd5 Rxa8 19.Qxc6 bxc6 20.Rfd1 Rd8 21.Rd2 Ne6 22.Rad1 Nd4 23.Rxd4 exd4 24.Rxd4 Kf8 25.c5 d5 26.exd5 cxd5 27.Kf2 Ke7 28.Ke3 Ke6 29.Ra4 Ra8 30.Kd4 1-0

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 g6 5.c4 Bg7 6.O-O O-O 7.d5 Ne4 8.Qc2 f5 9.Nbd2 Nd6 10.Nb3 c6

11.c5 Ne4 12.cxb6 axb6 13.dxc6 Nxc6 14.Ng5 Nd6 15.Be3 Nb4 16.Qd2 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 Ra4 18.Rfd1 Nc4 19.Qxd7 Qxd7 20.Rxd7 Nxe3+ 21.fxe3 Bxb2 22.Rb1 Bf6 23.Ne6 Rc8 24.Nbd4 Nc2 25.Kf3 Rxa2 26.Rxb6 Ne1+ 27.Kf2 Nd3+ 28.Kg2 Ne1+ 29.Kf1 Nc2 30.Kf2 Kf7 31.Rbb7 Nxd4 32.Nxd4 Rd2 33.Nb5 Rxd7 34.Rxd7 Ke6 35.Rd2 Kf7 36.Ra2 Rc5 37.Nd4 Rc3 38.Rd2 Rc5 39.Nf3 Rc7 40.Ra2 Rc4 41.Nd2 Rc3 42.Nf3 1/2-1/2

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.d4 exd4 5.O-O Bd6 6.e5 Bc5 7.c3 Na5 8.Bxf7+ Kxf7 9.b4 Qe7 10.bxc5 Qxc5

11.cxd4 Qb6 12.Nc3 Nc4 13.Qd3 Qc6 14.d5 Qa6 15.e6+ dxe6 16.Qxc4 Qxc4 17.Ne5+ Ke8 18.Nxc4 exd5 19.Nxd5 1-0

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.e3 Nf6 5.d4 cxd4 6.exd4 e4 7.Ne5 Qa5 8.c5 d6 9.Nc4 Qd8 10.d5 Nb8

11.Bg5 h6 12.Bxf6 gxf6 13.Nxe4 dxc5 14.Qa4+ Nd7 15.O-O-O Bg7 16.Ncd6+ Kf8 17.Qc2 Nb6 18.Nxc8 Rxc8 19.Ng3 f5 20.Nxf5 Bf6 21.Bc4 Qd7 22.g4 h5 23.h3 Na4 24.d6 Bxb2+ 25.Kb1 Bf6 26.g5 Nc3+ 27.Ka1 Ne4+ 28.gxf6 Qxf5 29.Rhe1 Qxf6+ 30.Qb2 Qxb2+ 31.Kxb2 Nxf2 32.Rd5 Nxh3 33.Rf5 Kg7 34.Rxf7+ Kg6 35.Rf3 Ng5 36.Bd3+ Kh6 37.Rf6+ Kg7 38.Rg6+ Kf7 39.Re7+ Kf8 40.Rf6+ 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 d6 5.Nc3 exd5 6.cxd5 g6 7.e4 a6 8.Bf4 b5 9.Qe2 b4 10.e5 bxc3

11.exf6+ Kd7 12.Qc4 cxb2 13.Rb1 Qxf6 14.Bg5 Qg7 15.Qa4+ Kc7 16.Qa5+ Kb7 17.Bc1 Bf5 18.Rxb2+ Kc8 19.Rxb8+ Rxb8 20.Bxa6+ Kd7 21.Bb5+ Rxb5 22.Qxb5+ Kd8 23.O-O f6 24.Re1 Bd7 25.Qb8+ Bc8 26.Qb6+ Kd7 27.Qc6+ Kd8 28.Re8# 1-0

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.O-O Nf6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Re1 O-O 8.e4 d6 9.d4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Qc8

11.Be3 a6 12.Rc1 Nbd7 13.f4 g6 14.f5 gxf5 15.exf5 Bxg2 16.fxe6 fxe6 17.Kxg2 Ne5 18.Bf4 Qxc4 19.Bxe5 dxe5 20.Rxe5 Rad8 21.Nd5 Qxd5+ 22.Rxd5 Rxd5 23.Qa4 b5 24.Qxa6 Rxd4 25.Qxe6+ Rf7 26.Rc2 Kg7 27.Rf2 Rd6 28.Qe3 Rd5 29.Rc2 Bd6 30.a3 Re7 31.Qf3 Rde5 32.Rd2 R7e6 33.Qb7+ Kg6 34.Qf3 h5 35.Qd3+ Kg7 36.Kh3 Ne4 37.Rc2 Rf6 38.Re2 Rfe6 39.Rc2 Rf5 40.Kg2 h4 41.Qd4+ Kh7 42.Rc8 h3+ 43.Kxh3 Ng5+ 44.Kg4 Rfe5 45.Qd3+ Re4+ 46.Kh5 Be7 0-1

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 a6 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.Qe2 O-O 7.e5 Ne8 8.Bg5 dxe5 9.dxe5 c6 10.h4 Bg4

11.h5 Qc7 12.hxg6 hxg6 13.e6 f5 14.O-O-O Nd6 15.Bxe7 Nxc4 16.Bxf8 Qf4+ 17.Kb1 Bxf3 18.Bxg7 Bxe2 19.Bf6 1-0

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Qd3 Nf6 6.e4 g6 7.Nc3 Bg7 8.f3 O-O 9.O-O-O Be6 10.g4 a5

11.a3 Nd7 12.Nb5 Nc5 13.Qe3 Ne5 14.g5 Qe7 15.h3 f5 16.f4 Nc6 17.e5 dxe5 18.fxe5 f4 19.Qe2 Qxg5 20.Nf3 Qe7 21.Rg1 Rad8 22.Rxd8 Rxd8 23.Ng5 Bxb3 24.cxb3 Nxb3+ 25.Kc2 Rd2+ 26.Kxb3 Rxe2 27.Bxe2 a4+ 28.Kxa4 Bxe5 29.Bc4+ Kg7 30.Ne6+ Kh6 31.Bc1 Qf6 32.Rg4 Qf5 33.Rh4+ Qh5 34.Bxf4+ Bxf4 35.Rxh5+ Kxh5 36.Nxf4+ Kh4 37.Be6 Nd8 38.Nxc7 g5 39.Ng2+ Kg3 40.Ne3 h5 41.Kb5 Kf4 42.Nf1 Kf3 43.a4 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d3 d5 4.Nbd2 Nc6 5.g3 Bd6 6.Bg2 Nge7 7.O-O O-O 8.Re1 Qc7 9.c3 Bd7 10.Qe2 f6 11.a3 a5 12.a4 Rae8 13.Nf1 d4 14.N1d2 e5 15.Nc4 Nc8 16.Nfd2 Be7 17.Qf1 Rd8 18.f4 Be6 19.f5 Bf7 20.Qf3 Nd6 21.Nxd6 Rxd6 22.c4 Nb4 23.Re2 Nc2 24.Rb1 Ne3 25.Nf1 Qd7 26.b3 Nd1 27.Re1 Nc3 28.Rb2 Rb6 29.Qg4 Ra8 30.Bf3 Raa6 31.Bd1 Rb4 32.Rg2 Nxd1 33.Qxd1 Rab6

34.Nd2 (with the threat of 35.Ba3)  34...Ra6 35.g4 h6 36.h4 Kf8 37.Kf2 Ke8 38.Reg1 Kd8 39.Ba3 Rbb6 40.Nf3 Rc6 41.Bc1 Rc8 42.Bd2 Kc7 43.Qe1 b6 44.Ke2 Raa8 45.Qg3 Bd6 46.g5 Rg8 47.Qf2 Rh8 48.Qg3 Rag8 49.gxh6 gxh6 50.Qxg8 Rxg8 51.Rxg8 Bxg8 52.Rxg8 Qf7 53.Rg6 h5 54.Nh2 Bf8 55.Nf1 Qh7 56.Rxf6 Be7 57.Rh6 Qg8 58.Rg6 Qh7 59.Bg5 Bxg5 60.Rxg5 Kd8 61.Ng3 b5 62.axb5 a4 63.bxa4 Qa7 64.Rg8+ Kd7 65.Rg7+ Kd6 (a good stalemate try)  66.Rg6+ Kd7 67.Ra6 Qb8 68.f6 Qg8 69.Ra7+ Ke6 70.Rg7 Qh8 71.Nf5 Kxf6 72.b6 Qe8 73.b7 Qxa4 74.b8=Q Qc2+ 75.Ke1 Qc1+ 76.Kf2 Qd2+ 77.Kg1 Qe1+ 78.Kh2 Qf2+ 79.Rg2 Qf4+ 80.Ng3 1-0

1.d4 This game was played in the 7th round of the Queenstown Classic, just as things were hotting up. Bob Smith, playing Black, is well known on the Australasian chess scene. A FM with oodles of experience from countless NZ championships and Olympiads he is a tough and very unforgiving opponent. Playing White is 12 year old Australian Junior Karl Zelesco, unknown to me and probably to Bob before the Queenstown event. Rated less than 2000 he would be up against it.  1...Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e5 4.Nc3 d6

5.e4 Bob's choice of opening, the Schmidt Benoni, is a good one. It is strategically complex, offers lots of play and should enable Bob to generate an unbalanced position where his extra experience and strength will bring him the full point.  5...Be7 6.g3 O-O 7.Bg2 Na6 8.Nf3 Nc7 9.h3 a6 As always in this opening White enjoys a slight edge due to his extra space and easier coordination. Even so both sides have a range of plans. Black is aiming for the b5 and f5 breaks, the latter perhaps preceded by g6, while White is interested in the mirror-image plans of b4 and f4. Sometimes White expands on the kingside with g4 making the f5 break harder to achieve and to increase his stranglehold on his space advantage. The g4 plan doesn't quite fit so well with the fianchettoed bishop as White would like to have ready access to the g file with one of his rooks.  10.a4 Rb8 11.a5 b5 12.axb6 Rxb6 As in the Modern Benoni when the b5 break is made after White has advanced his a pawn to a5 the queenside structure causes problems for both players. A weak a pawn vs a weak b pawn.  13.O-O Nfe8 14.Ne1 f5 (14...Bg5 is the logical continuation for a number of reasons. Firstly, the black squared bishop is Black's problem piece and so exchanging it makes perfect sense. Secondly, the opposing bishop plays an important defensive role protecting the backward b pawn, and thirdly, just on general considerations, when your position is cramped exchanging one pair of minor pieces can give your other pieces a bit more air. To prevent the exchange White may continue  15.f4 exf4 16.gxf4 Bf6 17.Nf3 Bxc3 18.bxc3 which leads to a sharp position which would probably suit the more experienced player ) 15.Nd3 Nf6 16.Kh2 (16.exf5 Bxf5 17.f4 Nd7 looks like a more energetic approach for White. By playing f5 without the preparatory g6 Black has been forced to recapture on f5 with a piece and this leaves White access to the e4 square and removes some of the dynamism from Black's position. Even so it is a matter of taste ) 16...fxe4 17.Nxe4 Bf5 18.Qe2 Qe8 White retains just a minimal edge because of his control of e4 and easier play. The black knight on c7, while doing a sterling job at defending a6, is not well placed and this piece is often a problem for Black in these types of pawn structure.  19.g4 Bxe4 20.Bxe4 Nxe4 21.Qxe4 Qg6?! This move is very committal, and if Black was wanting to create active counterchances this doesn't seem the best way to do it. The doubled g pawns are of no particular concern at present but they represent a long term weakness that will be difficult to eliminate.  22.Qxg6 hxg6 23.Bd2 e4!? Perhaps this was the move that Black was relying on to bring his position alive. It clears the way for the bishop to take up residence on the important a1-h8 diagonal, forces the white knight from its dominant position on d3 and prevents White from advancing his f pawn. Against a young and inexperienced opponent the plan looks to be a good one. The reason I have chosen this game is because of the mature coolness with which Karl plays the remainder of the game.  24.Ba5 Rb7 25.Rfe1! This looks very dangerous but it is exactly the right move. It seems that Black penetrates to the seventh rank and wins a pawn but the gains are illusory and it is White who gains a positional advantage. Well-played by the youngster!  25...exd3 26.Rxe7 Rxf2+ 27.Kg3 Rf7 28.Rxf7 Kxf7 29.Bc3 White is a pawn down and it will be some time before he regains it but his position is dominant because of the superiority of his minor piece, activity of his king, and the weakness of the black pawns.  29...g5 30.Kf3 Rb8 31.Ke3 Rh8 32.Rf1+ Kg6 33.Rf3 A nice finesse. White's advantage is growing. While Black lacks a solid plan White can look to pressurise the weak Black pawns. But having said that would I expect a 12 year old ranked less than 2000 to have the skill to defeat a 2250 player in this position? To be honest my feeling at the time was no.  33...Ne8 34.Ba5 Nf6 35.Bc7 d2 36.Kxd2 Rc8 37.Ba5 Re8 38.Re3 Black is squirming and trying to get active but now the rooks will come off and the dominance of the bishop over the knight becomes even more pronounced. Black is now in hot water.  38...Kf7 39.Rxe8 Kxe8 40.Kd3 Nd7 41.b4 (41.Bc3 g6 42.Ke4 Kf8 is an alternative that keeps Black tied down, but the breakthough is still some time away. White's choice aims to generate a passed pawn as quickly as possible and give the bishop even more scope for its operations ) 41...cxb4 42.Bxb4 Ke7 43.Kd4 Black' defence is now very tricky. The bishop has a range of squares from which to target the weak pawns on d6 and g5, and Black is busy protecting the pawns and trying to prevent White from making the c5 advance.  43...Nf6?! 44.Bd2 Nh7 I can't quite convince myself that placing the knight on h7 to protect the g5 pawn is the right plan. The knight does a fine job on d7 controlling e5 and c5 and perhaps the king was better placed to lend support to g5. Without the doubled g pawns Black would probably hold this ending without too much trouble, but the extra weakness is one too many.  45.Ke4 g6 46.Kd4 Kd7 47.c5 dxc5+ 48.Kxc5 Nf6 49.Kd4 Kd6 50.Bb4+ Kd7 51.Ke5 White is playing very precisely. He has created the passed pawn and brought his king to a dominant square to support its advance and target the kingside pawns.  51...Nh7 52.Ba5 Ke7 53.Bb4+ Kd7 54.d6 ( At the time I thought that finally Karl had thrown away the win. I fancied placing Black in zugzwang as follows in order to force the retreat of the Black king and the penetration of its opposite. But after 54.Ba3 a5 55.Bc5 Ke8 56.Kd6 a4 it's not clear how White makes further progress. The Black knight always seems to be able to return to f6 and d7 at the right moment ) 54...Nf8 While the pawn advance has seemingly compromised White's control of the white squares on c6 and e6 (and prevented the bishop from covering f8) the key is that Black cannot prevent the white king penetrating to the kingside pawns.  55.Kf6 Ne6 56.Kxg6 Nf4+ 57.Kxg5 Nxh3+ 58.Kf5 a5 59.Ba3 What an mature positional display by the young Australian! I am very impressed. And in case you thought this might be a once only performance, two rounds later, in the final round, Karl defeated another kiwi international, Stephen Lukey. 1-0