Magazines Games 2008-2018 2013

1.e4 I didn't know that Mike played 1.e4 and was expecting a Queen's Gambit  1...e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4

5.Nf3 I hadn't played this position before, but had at one stage looked at the lines after 5...Bc5. I didn't trust myself to remember these lines, and thought Mike would be well prepared in any case - so I played something different.  5...Nc6 6.Qe2 As with his previous moves, Mike played this instantly. I was still worried I was walking into his preparation.  6...Bf5 But now Mike went into a long think.  7.d3 I was happy to see this move. It resembles the 5.d3 line, but with the difference that Qe2 and Bf5 have been played, which I didn't think favoured White.  7...Nxc3 8.bxc3 d4 9.Rb1 Bc5 With the idea of trapping the rook with Bb6 if he takes the b-pawn.  10.Bd2 O-O 11.Qf2 Re8 12.Be2 Nxe5 I've won a pawn and he can't castle due to Ng4 followed by dxc3. I was walking around the room while Mike was thinking, hoping that he'd play 13.Rb5 and then I'd reply Nxd3. My final thought was what if he played 13.Kd1? Then I saw him move and quickly returned to the board. I had to hold back from moving straight away.  13.Rb5 Bxd3 After some thought I realised that taking with the Bishop is even better.  14.Rxc5 Nxf3+ 15.Qxf3 Bxe2 16.Qg3 Qf6 17.Bf4 Qb6 With idea of Qxc5 or Qb1+  18.Be5 f6 19.Rxc7 g6 This works, but the moment I played it I noticed I could have played Bg4 which is a much nicer way to win.  20.Bxd4 Qb1+ 21.Kf2 Qxh1 22.Qd6 Qf1+ 23.Kg3 Rad8 0-1

1.e4 d6 2.d4

2...Nf6 A small surprise! I thought Anthony would more likely play the Modern (2...g6) for the simple reason that he played this way in our last two encounters. I actually believed I had caused Anthony to change his openings, but Anthony can be persistent!  3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Qd4 A common battleground for us - this is the 8th time we've played this position over the past couple of years.  7...dxc5 8.Qc4 O-O 9.e5 Be6 10.Qa4 Qxa4 11.Nxa4 Nfd7 12.Be3 Nc6 A new move (for us). Twice before Anthony had played 12...b6  13.Bb5 Rac8 14.O-O-O Bh6 15.Rhe1 a6 Not the best, but Anthony didn't see my reply.  16.Bc4! Bxc4 17.Rxd7 b5 18.Nxc5 Nb4 19.g3 Nxa2+ 20.Kb1 Nb4 21.b3 After this ve I was very pleased. It leads to a position that I could play for a win without any risk.  21...Bd5 22.c3 Bxf3 23.cxb4 This is the position I was referring to in my last comment. I thought I should be able to win the a-pawn without Anthony generating any counter play.  23...e6 24.Kb2 Rc6 25.Rf1 Bg2 26.Rfd1 Bd5 27.Ra7 Rfc8 28.Ra1 Bf8 29.R1xa6 Rxa6 30.Rxa6 Be7 31.Ra7 Kf8 32.Nd7+ Ke8 33.Bc5 Rd8 34.Nb6 Bxc5 35.bxc5 Be4 36.Kc3 Rd1 37.Kb4 Rb1 38.Nc8 Bd5 39.Nd6+ Kf8 40.Ra3 Rb2 41.Kxb5 Bxb3 42.Nc4 There might be quicker ways to win, but I liked the idea of simplifying to a rook and pawn endgame with a passed c pawn and black's king cut off. Surely not even I could mess this up!  42...Bxc4+ 43.Kxc4 Rxh2 44.c6 Ke7 45.Rd3 h5 46.Kb5 Rb2+ 47.Kc5 Rc2+ 48.Kb6 Rb2+ 49.Kc7 Rb4 50.Rd7+ Ke8 51.Rd8+ Ke7 52.Rb8 Rc4 53.Rb6 Rc3 54.Kb8 Kd8 55.Kb7 Rc1 56.Rb3 Rc2 57.Rd3+ Ke7 58.Ra3 Rb2+ 59.Kc8 Rc2 60.Ra7+ Ke8 61.c7 Rc3 62.Kb8 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 a6 5.h3 Nc6 6.Qe3 g6 7.c4 Bg7 8.Be2 Nf6 9.Nc3 O-O 10.O-O Nd7 11.Rb1 a5 12.b3 Nc5 13.Bb2 f5 14.exf5 Bxf5 15.Rbd1 a4 16.Ba3 Qa5 17.Nb5 axb3

18.axb3 Gawain bravely sacrifices his queen for two pieces and active piece play  18...Qxa3 19.Nxa3 Rxa3 20.Nd2 Bd4 21.Qg3 Be5 22.f4 Bf6 23.Bg4 Nd4 24.Kh1 Bc2 25.Rde1 Kh8 26.Re3 h5 27.b4 h4 (27...Nd3! Was a good attempt to complicate and confuse ) 28.Qf2 Nd3 29.Qg1 Nf5 30.Bxf5 gxf5 31.Nf3 Rc3 32.c5 Bb3 33.Ne1 Bd4 34.Nxd3 dxc5 35.Qf2 Rf7 36.Rc1 cxb4 37.Rxc3 bxc3 38.Qe1 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dxc4 6.Qxc4 O-O 7.e4 Na6 8.Be2 c5 9.d5 e6 10.O-O exd5 11.exd5 Re8 12.Rd1 Qb6 13.d6 Be6 14.Qh4 Qb4 15.Bg5 Nd7 16.Be7 Qxh4 17.Bxh4 Nb4 18.Rd2 a6 19.Ng5 Nd5 20.Rxd5 Bxd5 21.Nxd5 Rxe2 22.Ne7+ Rxe7 23.dxe7 Re8 24.Ne4 f6 25.Re1 Rxe7 26.Nxf6+ Bxf6 27.Rxe7 Bxe7 28.Bxe7 Kf7 29.Bg5 Ne5 30.Kf1 Nd3 31.b3 Nb4 32.a4 Ke6 33.Ke2 Kd5 34.Kd2 c4 35.Kc3 cxb3 36.Kxb3 Nd3 37.Be3 Ne1 38.g3 b5 39.axb5 axb5 40.Bb6 Kc6 41.Ba7 Nf3 42.h4 Ne5 43.Kb4 Ng4 44.Bc5 Nf6 45.Bd4 Nd5+ 46.Ka5 Nc7 47.Kb4 Na6+ 48.Ka5 Nc5 49.Kb4 Nd3+ 50.Kc3 Ne1 51.Ba7 Nf3 52.Kb3 h6 53.Be3 h5 54.Ba7 Ne5 55.Kb4 Ng4 56.Bc5 Kd5 57.Kxb5 Ke4 58.Kc6 Kf3 59.Kd5 Nxf2 60.Ke6 Ne4

61.Be7 PAUSE  61...Kg4 62.Bd8 Nxg3 63.Kf7 Kf5 64.Kg7 Ne4 65.Kh6 Nc5 66.Bg5 Ne6 67.Be7 Nd4 68.Bg5 Nc6 69.Kg7 Nd4 70.Kh6 Nf3 71.Bd8 Ne5 72.Kg7 Nf3 73.Kh6 Kg4 74.Kxg6 Nxh4+ 75.Kh6 Nf3 76.Bf6 Nd2 77.Kg6 Nc4 78.Kh6 Nd6 79.Kg6 h4 80.Bxh4 Kxh4 1/2-1/2

1.Nf3 c5

2.b3 A transposition device that leads Gawain out of his repertoire.  2...d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bb2 e6 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.c4 b6 9.Nc3 Bb7 10.cxd5 exd5 11.d4 Ne4 12.dxc5 Nxc3 13.Bxc3 bxc5 In the press conference Kramnik explained that black is fine in comparable normal Reti positions because then he has a knight on f6 (protecting key points) rather than c6 (getting in the way). As a result Black is already in a spot of bother. Subtle!  14.Qe2 In the VIP room an approving Nigel Short told us that Spassky once told him "e2 is always a great square for the queen". Presumably there are exceptions : -) but this is not one of them.  14...Re8 15.Rfd1 Bf8 16.Qb5 Qb6 17.Qxb6 axb6 18.Rxd5 Nd4 19.Nxd4 Bxd5 20.Bxd5 cxd4 21.Bxd4 Magnus was on duty in the VIP room and when this position was anticipated a few moves back by the commentary team he had no interest in looking further - "This position is nothing but endless torture for black". So it transpires.  21...Ra5 22.e4 Bc5 23.Bc3 Ra3 24.Bb2 Ra7 25.a4 Rc7 26.Ra2 h6 27.Kg2 Kh7 28.f4 f6 29.Kf3 Rd7 30.a5 bxa5 31.Rxa5 Rc8 32.Rb5 Rd6 33.Rb7 Rb6 34.Rf7 Rf8 35.Rc7 Bd6 36.Rd7 Ra6 37.Bd4 Bb8 38.Bc5 Re8 39.Kg4 Ra2 40.h4 Rc8 41.b4 Ra3 42.h5 Rc3 The beautiful bishop pair is very aesthetic throughout.  43.Bd4 R3c7 44.Rxc7 Bxc7 45.Kf5 Bd6 46.b5 Rc1 47.b6 Bb8 48.Ke6 Rh1 49.Bc5 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bb5 Nd4 6.Bd3 e6 7.Nxd4 cxd4 8.Nb5 d6 9.c3 dxc3 10.dxc3 Ne7

11.Nxd6+ Kf8 12.Bc4 Bd7 13.O-O b5 14.Bb3 Qb6+ 15.Kh1 Rd8 16.f5 Be8 17.f6 Bxf6 18.Rxf6 Qxd6 19.Bh6+ Kg8 20.Qf3 Nc6 21.Rxe6 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Bc4 d6 7.O-O Nf6 8.Qe2 Be7 9.Rd1 Bd7 10.Bf4 e5 11.Be3 O-O 12.a3 a6 13.b4 Rc8 14.Rac1 b5 15.Bb3 Be6 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.Qa2 Qd7 18.Ng5 Nd8 19.Bb6 h6 20.Bxd8 hxg5 21.Bxe7 Qxe7 22.Qd2

22...Ne8 Has black covered everything?  23.Nd5! No  23...Qb7 24.Rxc8 exd5 25.Qxd5+ 1-0

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.c4 d6 4.Nc3 Nd7 5.Nf3 c5 6.Be3 Ngf6 7.h3 O-O 8.Be2 Rb8 9.O-O a6 10.a4 Qc7

11.d5 Ne8 12.Qd2 f5 13.exf5 Rxf5 14.Ng5 Nf8 15.f4 h6 16.Nge4 Kh7 17.Bd3 Rf7 18.Ng3 Bd4 19.Kh2 e5 20.Bxd4 cxd4 21.Nce4 Bf5 22.fxe5 dxe5 23.c5 b6 24.d6 Qc8 25.Rac1 Ne6 26.c6 N8g7 27.c7 Ra8 28.Nxf5 gxf5 29.Ng3 Qb7 30.Bc4 f4 31.Ne4 Kh8 32.Qe2 Rf5 33.Bxa6 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Nf3 e6 6.Bc4 d6 7.O-O Nf6 8.Qe2 Be7 9.Rd1 Bd7 10.Bf4 e5 11.Be3 O-O 12.a3 a6 13.b4 Rc8 14.Rac1 b5 15.Bb3 Be6 16.Bxe6 fxe6 17.Qa2 Qd7 18.Ng5 Nd8 19.Bb6 h6 20.Bxd8 hxg5 21.Bxe7 Qxe7 22.Qd2

22...Ne8 Has black covered everything?  23.Nd5! No  23...Qb7 24.Rxc8 exd5 25.Qxd5+ 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.Qe2 Be7 3.b3 d5 4.Bb2 d4 5.Nf3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.e5 f6 8.Na3 a6 9.g3 dxc3 10.dxc3 fxe5 11.Bg2 Bf6? 12.Rd1 Qc7 13.Nc4 Nge7 14.Nd6+ Kf8 15.O-O Nf5 16.Ne4 Kf7 17.Nxc5 b6 18.Ne4

18...Rd8 If you ask an engine about this position you will find that White actually has many ways of winning material here  19.g4! This is just one of them  19...Nh4 20.Nxh4 Bxh4 21.g5 Rxd1 22.Rxd1 Bb7 23.Qh5+ Kg8 24.Qxh4 Rd8 25.Qg4 Rxd1+ 26.Qxd1 Ne7 27.Qd6 Qxd6 28.Nxd6 Bxg2 29.Kxg2 b5 30.Kf3 h6 31.gxh6 gxh6 32.Ke4 Nc6 33.c4 bxc4 34.bxc4 Kg7 35.Bxe5+ Kg6 36.c5 h5 37.Bg3 Kg5 38.Ne8 h4 39.Bf4+ Kg4 40.Ng7 Nd8 41.Bc7 Nb7 42.Nxe6 Kh3 43.c6 Na5 44.Bxa5 Kxh2 45.Bc7+ 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 d3 4.Bxd3 Nc6 5.f4 e6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.h3 d5 8.e5 Nd7 9.Nf3 Bc5 10.Bxc5 Nxc5

11.O-O Qb6 12.Rf2 Nxd3 13.Qxd3 a5 14.Na3 O-O 15.Nb5 a4 16.Rd1 f5 17.Rd2 Bd7 18.Nd6 Ra5 19.Kh2 Rb8 20.g4 Rf8 21.gxf5 exf5 22.Rg2 Nd8 23.Nd4 Kh8 24.Rxg7 Kxg7 25.Qg3+ 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 d4 4.Ne2 c5

5.Ng3 Now we have transposed to a reversed Tango. In that opening the Steadman prescription is to keep the e pawn back on e3, Bruce follows this plan in the reverse situation blunting the Bishop that will come to c4 with the e6 pawn.  5...Nc6 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.a3 Be7 8.d3 Qc7 9.c3 O-O 10.cxd4 b5 11.Ba2 cxd4 12.O-O Bb7 13.Ng5 h6 14.Nh3 This idea is similar to Moskalenko's in the Dutch. Try to weaken the Kingside and send the pawns forward.  14...Rfc8 15.f4 b4 16.e5 Nh7 17.Bd2 Qb6 18.f5 Nxe5 19.fxe6 f6 Black has messed up and White is much better here. The e6 pawn is massive.  20.Nf5 Bc5 21.Nf4 Kh8 22.Re1 Nf8 23.Nxh6 Flashy and should win, but now White needs to see the attack through. Investing a lot of material means any slip will likely be fatal. ( Simpler was 23.e7 Nfd7 24.axb4 Bxb4 25.Bxb4 Qxb4 26.Qh5 Black has to give up material to stave off mates. ) 23...gxh6 24.Qh5 b3 25.Rxe5 fxe5 26.Qxe5+ Kg8 27.Nh5 Qc7 28.Qf5 bxa2 Black just keeps taking things, he has no choice. Good thing they are the best moves.  29.Bf4? The fatal slip. (29.Bxh6 Re8 30.Qg5+ Kh8 31.Bg7+ Kh7 32.Qh6+ Kg8 33.Qh8# ) 29...Bd6! 30.Qg4+ Kh8 31.Bxh6 Be5 32.Re1 a1=Q 33.Rxa1 Qh7 34.Bg5 Rc2 35.Nf4 Ng6 36.Bf6+ Bxf6 37.Nxg6+ Kg7 38.Ne5+ Kf8 39.Nd7+ Ke7 40.Nxf6 Kxf6 The game finished shortly after. White has run out of resources. A sad turning point for Ben. 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 Bxa6 6.Nc3 g6 7.e4 Bxf1 8.Kxf1 d6 9.g3 Bg7 10.Kg2 O-O

11.h4? The best you can say for this move is it is the kind of move that might frighten a junior - but it is just bad on a lot of levels - in particular g4 is horribly weakened once f4 is played, which is essential for White to get e5 in.  11...Nbd7 12.f4 Qa5 13.Qc2 Rfb8 14.Nf3 Qb4 15.Rb1 Ng4 And here we see the consequence of the terrible h4. Black is better and has easy compensation for the pawn.  16.Bd2? Bxc3! The best mo ve and hard to play. It takes a lot for these Benko and Benoni boys to give up their pride and joy. But in this case, the house falls.  17.bxc3 Qc4 18.Rxb8+ Rxb8? Wrong piece. (18...Nxb8 19.Re1 Rxa2 20.Qc1 Qd3 White is in zugzwang and lost! ) 19.Bc1? Mistakes follow mistakes. (19.Re1 Ra8 20.Qb3 Qa6 21.e5 White has play and is in the game. ) 19...Ra8 20.Nd2 Qe2+ 21.Kh3 Ne3 22.Nc4 Nxc2 Time to stop the clocks - a nice Benko demolition. 0-1

1.d4 Nc6 This is something GM Nunn used to play in his day, I had played it a few times but found it a bit ropey. Ben is going to see why :-).  2.d5 Ne5 3.f4 Ng6 4.e4 e6 5.dxe6 fxe6 6.Nc3 d5 7.e5 Bc5 8.Bd3

8...Nh6 This is not a normal type of position in this line. The d5 idea has it's advantages and disadvantages. As you can see the Knight on h6 is a bit offside and can easily be an extra target of a big Kingside pawn push. White's dark square inconvenience is only temporary. A lot of the time White castles Queenside and pawn storms Black's knights and King.  9.Nf3 Bd7 10.Qe2 O-O 11.g3 b5 Ben is starting to see what is before him. White was just going to castle Queenside and shove the pawns down the board. He would be much faster than Black. Ben tries to mix it up, a sign of desperation, but maybe OK in rapid.  12.Nxb5 Ne7 13.c3 Rb8 14.Nbd4 Bb6 15.O-O ( Tempting is 15.Bxh7+ Kxh7 16.Ng5+ Kg8 17.Ndxe6 Qe8 18.Nxf8 Kxf8 I didn't see enough in this line, and decided to play simple chess instead. ) 15...Nef5 16.Kg2 c5 17.Nxf5 Nxf5 18.h3 Bc6 19.Qe1 Qd7 20.g4 Nh6 21.Kg3 c4 22.Bc2 d4 23.Be4 (23.cxd4 Bxf3 24.Rxf3 Bxd4 25.Qe4 g6 26.Rb1 White is a cold pawn up and with the two Bishops, another easy way to win. ) 23...Rfd8 24.cxd4 Bxd4 25.Nxd4 Bxe4 26.Qxe4 Qxd4 27.Qxd4 Rxd4 28.Rf3 Nf7 29.h4 h5 (29...Rd1 This move must be better, Black has to pursue activity.  30.g5 Rbd8 ) 30.Rc3 hxg4 31.b3 Nh6 32.bxc4 Rc8 33.c5 Nf5+ 34.Kxg4 Rxc5? Nearly brilliant  35.Rxc5 Rd3 36.Be3 Now if White didn't have this resource available the combination would have been superb, but...  36...Nxe3+ 37.Kf3 Nf5+ 38.Ke2 White is a cold Exchange ahead and the game did not last much longer. 1-0

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bg5 c6 4.c3 Bf5 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 Ne4 8.Bf4 Qb6

9.b4? Creating a nasty weakness  9...a5! Immediately highlighting the problem  10.a3 e6 11.Nbd2 Nxd2 12.Nxd2 axb4 13.cxb4 Bxb4 14.Rb1? Losing a second pawn  14...Rxa3! 15.Qc2 Bxd2+ 16.Kxd2 Qa5+ 17.Ke2 Ra2 18.Rb2 Rxb2 19.Qxb2 Qa6+ 20.Kf3 O-O 21.Ra1 Qb6 22.Qxb6 Nxb6 23.Rb1 It's annoying when opponents lose pawns and then get compensation due to the resulting open lines!  23...Nc4 24.Rxb7 Rc8 25.Ke2 h6 26.h4 f6 27.Bc7 Kh7 28.h5 e5 29.Kd3 Ra8! Seizing the opportunity to get active, black takes control again, permanently this time.  30.dxe5 fxe5 31.f4? Ra3+ 32.Ke2 Rxe3+ 33.Kf2 exf4 34.Bxf4 Re6 35.g4 Ne5 36.Kg3 Nd3 37.Rd7 Nxf4 38.Kxf4 Rf6+ 39.Ke5 Rf1 40.Rd6 Rc1 41.Rd7 Rc4 This arrangement of two pawns and rook is ideal for enforcing a slow steady advance  42.Kf5 d4 43.Ke4 d3+? 44.Kf5 Rc3 45.Ke4 Kg8 46.Ke3 c5 47.Rd8+ Kf7 48.Rd7+? Kf8 49.Rd5? c4 50.g5 hxg5 51.Rxg5 Rc2 Back to the ideal setup  52.Rd5 Re2+ 53.Kd4 Rc2 54.Ke3 Ke7 55.Rg5 Kf7 56.Rd5 Rh2 57.Rd4 d2! Forcing an easily winning pawn ending  58.Rxd2 Rxd2 59.Kxd2 Kf6 60.Kc3 Kg5 61.Kxc4 Kxh5 62.Kd3 Kg4 63.Ke4 g5 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 c5 6.d5 O-O 7.Nf3 e6 8.Be2 exd5 9.cxd5 a6 10.a4 Bg4

11.O-O Nbd7 12.Be3 Re8 13.Qc2 Qc7 14.h3 Bxf3 15.Rxf3 c4 16.Bd4 Nc5 17.Re3 Ng4 18.Bxg7 Nxe3 19.Qd2 Kxg7 20.Qxe3 Nb3 21.Re1 Rac8 22.Kh1 Qc5 23.Qg3 b5 24.axb5 axb5 25.e5 dxe5 26.fxe5 b4 27.Ne4 Qxd5 28.Nd6 Qxe5 29.Nxe8+ (29.Qxe5+ Rxe5 30.Nxc8 c3 -+ ) 29...Rxe8 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bf4 d5 4.f3 Nf6 5.e4 dxe4 6.Nc3 exf3 7.Nxf3 c6 8.Bc4 Bf5 9.Ne5 e6 10.O-O Be7 11.Nxf7!

Not a piece sacrifice but a nice trick  11...Kxf7 12.Bxb8 Bxc2! (12...Rxb8 13.Rxf5 is the basic idea ) 13.Qg4? Now it really is a piece sacrifice, and it's not quite sound (13.Qe2! Qxd4+ 14.Kh1 Raxb8 15.Bxe6+ Kf8 16.Qxc2 and white has more than enough compensation for a pawn ) 13...Rxb8 14.Qxe6+ Ke8 15.Qf7+ Kd7 16.d5!? This certainly looks logical opening lines but Black's control of the d1 square is an important factor, and he consolidates  16...Qf8 17.dxc6+ bxc6 18.Qe6+ Kc7 19.Rac1 Bg6 20.Qe5+ Kb7 21.Na4 Bd6 22.Qa5 Ka8 Black's king finally castles manually and it's now looking very much as if Black is simply a piece up.  23.Qa6 Qc8 24.Qa5 Qc7 25.Qa6 Rhf8 26.Be2 Russell wraps up with an attractive combination  26...Bxh2+ 27.Kh1 Ne4 28.Bf3 Ng3+! 29.Kxh2 Nxf1+ 30.Kg1 Qh2+ ( Russell's intended finish was 30...Qh2+ 31.Kxf1 Rxf3+ 32.gxf3 Qh1+ 33.Kf2 Qxc1 ) 0-1

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 d4 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 e5 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O Nf6 7.Nbd2 O-O 8.h3 Re8 9.a3 a5 10.b3 h6 11.Ne1 Bf5 12.Rb1 Bd6 13.Qc2 Qe7 14.Ra1

14...e4! Black has a powerfully centralised position and and a clear advantage  15.dxe4 Nxe4 16.Nxe4 Bxe4 17.Bxe4 Qxe4 18.Ra2! An important resource  18...f5? Understandable, but a mistake nevertheless (18...Qxc2 19.Rxc2 d3 20.Nxd3 Nd4 winning back either the a,b or e pawn retains an advantage ) 19.c5 Be5?? I feel a grinch for giving this two question marks, superficially the move looks no worse than the alternatives, and it is rather remarkable that it actually loses outright from what was so recently a really promising situation  20.Qc4+ Kh7 21.f3! Qb1 22.Rb2 Qa1 23.Nc2 A really remarkable concluding sequence and an unlikely final position. 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.f4 c5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Nbd2 Nf6 6.Ne5 Qc7 7.Nxc6 Qxc6 8.e5 Ng8 9.Nf3 Ne7 10.d4 Nf5 11.a4 a6!? 12.Bb5 axb5 13.axb5 Rxa1 14.bxc6 cxd4

Black has sacrificed queen for rook and bishop and an unusual positional bind.   15.Kf2 There is no obvious way of unwinding. ( for example 15.O-O? Ne3! ) 15...Bc5 16.Nd2? Hoping to be able to play Nb3  16...d3+! 17.Kf3 Nd4+ 18.Kg4 dxc2 19.Qe1 O-O 20.cxb7 Bxb7 21.Qe3 Ba6! With the winning plan of Be2+ and Bd1 winning the c1 bishop, White is curiouslyhelpless  22.Nb3 Nxb3 23.Qxb3 Be2+ 24.Kh3 Bd1 25.f5 Rxc1 26.f6 g6 27.Kh4 Ra1 28.Qxc2 Bxc2 29.Rxa1 d4 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 d4 4.Ne2 c5 5.Ng3 (5.c3 ) 5...Nc6 6.a3 e5 (6...h5!? ) 7.Bc4 Be7 8.d3 Nf6 9.h3 O-O 10.O-O a6 11.Nf5 Bxf5 12.exf5 Qd7 13.g4 Nd5 14.Re1 f6 15.Nh4 Kh8 16.Qf3 Rad8?

(16...Rfd8 avoids White's Ng6 tactic, as in the game ) 17.Ng6+!! Kg8 a shame (17...hxg6 18.fxg6 Qe6 19.g5 Rfe8 20.Qh5+ Kg8 21.f4 !  21...f5 (21...Kf8 22.fxe5 Rd7 (22...b5 23.Bd2 bxc4 24.exf6 Nxf6 25.gxf6 Bxf6 26.Rxe6 Rxe6 27.Qxc5+ Rdd6 28.Qxc4 Ke7 29.Qxa6 +- ) (22...Nxe5 23.Rxe5 fxe5 24.Bd2 Bf6 25.gxf6 Qxf6 26.Bg5 Qxg5+ 27.Qxg5 +- ) (22...Qg8 23.Bd2 b6 24.gxf6 Bxf6 25.exf6 Rxe1+ 26.Rxe1 Nxf6 27.Rf1 Qf7 28.Qh8+ Ke7 29.Re1+ Kd7 30.Qxd8+ Nxd8 31.gxf7 +- ) 23.Bd2 (23.Qh8+ Qg8 24.Qxg8+ Kxg8 25.exf6 Kf8 26.fxe7+ Rexe7 27.Rf1+ Ke8 28.Bxd5 Rxd5 29.h4 Rd8 30.Bf4 b5 31.Bg3 Rd5 32.Rae1 +5.50 ) (23.gxf6? Bxf6 24.Bf4 Nxf4 25.Qh8+ Ke7 26.Bxe6 Rxh8 27.exf6+ Kd6 28.Bxd7 Kxd7 29.fxg7 Rg8 30.Rf1 Nxg6 31.Rf7+ Nge7 32.Re1 Ke8 = ) 23...f5 24.Rf1 Bd8 25.Qh8+ Qg8 26.Rxf5+ Ke7 27.Qxg8 Rxg8 28.Rf7+ Ke6 29.Rxd7 Kxd7 30.Bxd5 +- ) 22.Qh7+ Kf8 23.fxe5 Qg8 (23...Bd6 24.Qh8+ Qg8 25.Qxg8+ Kxg8 26.Bxd5+ Kf8 27.Bxc6 bxc6 28.Bf4 Bc7 29.h4 +- ) (23...Rd7 24.Rf1 Bd8 25.Qh8+ Qg8 26.Rxf5+ Ke7 27.Qxg8 Rxg8 28.Rf7+ Ke6 29.Rxd7 Kxd7 30.Bxd5 Rf8 31.Bd2 Nxe5 32.Rf1 Rxf1+ 33.Kxf1 Nxg6 34.Bxb7 a5 35.Ke2 +- ) 24.e6 Bd6 25.Bxd5 Ke7 26.Kg2 Rc8 27.Re2 Qxh7 28.gxh7 g6 29.h4 Rh8 30.h5 Rxh7 31.h6 Rc7 32.Bf3 Rh8 33.Bd2 Ne5 34.Bf4 Nxf3 35.Bxd6+ Kxd6 36.Kxf3 +- ) 18.Nxf8 Kxf8 19.Qxd5 Qxd5 20.Bxd5 Rxd5 21.f4 Rd7 22.Kf2 b5 23.fxe5 fxe5 24.g5 Bd6 25.Rf1 Rf7 26.Kg2 b4 27.Bd2 a5 28.g6 hxg6 29.fxg6 Rxf1 30.Rxf1+ Kg8 31.Bg5 bxa3 32.bxa3 c4 33.Rb1 Bxa3 34.Rb6 [Black resigns] 1-0