Magazines Games 2008-2018 2013

1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.O-O Nc6 8.h3 Nb4 9.a3 Nxd3 10.Qxd3 c6 11.Ne2 Qc7 12.Bf4 Bd6 13.Be5

13...Ne4 =  14.b3 Re8 15.c4 f6 16.Bh2? Bf5 17.Qd1 Ng5 !  18.Bxd6 Nxf3+ 19.gxf3 Qxd6 20.Kg2 dxc4 21.bxc4 Qe6 22.Nf4 Qxc4 23.Rc1 Qf7 24.Rc5 Bd7 25.h4 b6 26.Rc3 Kh8 27.Qd2 g5 28.hxg5 Rg8 29.g6 Rxg6+ With checkmate to follow: 30.Nxg6 Qxg6 31.Kh3 Qh5 32.Kg3 Rg8 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.d4 c5 6.dxc5 Bxc5 7.Bf4 a6 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.a3 b5 10.O-O Bb7

11.Re1 Until so far all according to preparation (with help from Mike). Now black didn't fall for 11....0-0 allowing a Greek gift on h7.  11...h6 12.h3 Rc8 13.Qe2 Nd4 14.Nxd4 Bxd4 15.Nd1 Nc5 16.Rb1 Qb6 17.Qg4 Nxd3 18.cxd3 g5 19.Bg3 Bc5 20.Nc3 Be7 21.Rbc1 O-O 22.h4 Kh7 23.d4 Rg8 24.Qh5 Rg7 25.Ne2 Rcg8 26.hxg5 Bxg5 27.Rcd1 b4 28.Rd3 a5 29.Bf4 Ba6? The moment we could have won this match immediately! 30.Rh3 almost ends the game in white's favor. Instead of this Natasha choses a losing continuation.  30.Bxg5? Rxg5 31.Qxf7+ R8g7 32.Qf3 Rxg2+ 33.Kh1 Bxd3 34.Qxd3+ Kg8 35.Qe3 Qd8?? Returning the favour, R2g4 would have won.  36.Ng3 R2xg3 37.fxg3 Qg5 38.Kg2 h5 39.axb4 axb4 40.Qxg5 Rxg5 This rook endgame should be a draw, starting with 41.Rh1  41.Kf3 Rg4 42.Rd1 Re4 43.Rd3 Kf7 44.b3 Kg6 45.Kg2 Kg5 46.Kh3? The final mistake, the white king is now not able to defend the centre anymore  46...Rg4 47.Kh2 Kf5 48.Rf3+ Ke4 49.Rf6 Kxd4 50.Rxe6 Re4 51.Rb6 Kc5 52.Re6 d4 53.Kg2 Kd5 54.Rb6 Kc5 55.Re6 Re3 56.Kf2 Rxb3 57.Rh6 Re3 58.Rxh5 b3 59.g4 b2 60.e6+ Kc4 0-1

I'm annotating this particular game because I think it set the seal on my Olympiad performance this year. Round one was chaos, with a painfully long wait outside then a confusing delay indoors. Round two was for me a hard struggle to draw. In round three I had the disappointment of being dropped. So this game, in round four, really needed to go well for me to get back on my feet!  1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6

3.Bc4 This should have been a big surprise to me, since in previous games (many previous games!) she had played Bc4 on move 2 with the intention of playing a Vienna-like system, or d4 on move 3 for a Scotch. Sometimes she also essays a King's Gambit. However, there were no games in the database with the Two Knights. Here I suspect a bit of targeted preparation - the Two Knights is not something I have a particularly good score with (OK let's admit it I have a rotten record with it!). In fact, knowing what happens at Olympiads, I had expected she might try this, and had prepared - but not well enough, as we shall see.  3...Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 Na5 6.Bb5+ c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Bd3 Sadly, I hadn't looked at this line (to be fair, I had spent most of my preparation time looking at Viennas, Scotches and King's Gambits, naturally enough). I vaguely remembered some stuff - but that's not really good enough, especially as I was now aware that she had spent several hours preparing this just for me! Sometimes opening preparation works on two levels - you get a good position and you destroy your opponent's confidence...  8...h6 Although this is an obvious move and often played, it is already a slight error, as the knight is just being pushed where it wants to go. Better to leave it there and get on right away with activating the black pieces.  9.Ne4 Nd5 It's important not to swap anything, at least until we've won back the stray pawn!  10.O-O Be7 Having let the knight take up residence on e4, I might be better advised to play ...g6 and put the bishop on g7, since its natural squares (d6 or c5) are out of bounds.  11.Re1 O-O 12.Nbc3 We leave theory! Apparently Fressinet-Bacrot 2011 reached the position after move 11 but Fressinet now played 12.Ng3 (and won).  12...Nf4 13.Bf1 Qc7 14.d3 f5 15.Ng3 Nb7 Not a very good move. The knight on f4 is more of a liability than an active piece and should probably have been retreated.  16.d4! Exploiting the position of my knight. This is not how the Two Knights is supposed to go - it should be Black who has easy developmentandactivepieces!  16...Bd6 17.dxe5 Bxe5 18.Qf3 Ng6 19.Bc4+ Kh7 20.Bd2 Nd6 I'm trying very hard to get things back into the action, but with so many of my pieces undeveloped or offside, it is not looking healthy for Black.  21.Bd3 It might be better on b3. I think she is looking at winning material rather than winning the game.   21...Rb8 22.Rab1 Bd7 23.b3 Moving the rook and the pawn? That has to be slowing White down...  23...Rbe8 24.Nf1 Another backward move, and this one really is bad. All Black's pieces are in the centre now and all we have to do is forget we're a pawn down and go for the throat.  24...Rf6 ...but this is not the best way to do it! Better is (24...Ne4 25.Bxe4 fxe4 26.Qe3 Bf5 += ) 25.Na4 This doesn't really make sense either. Another tempo to the good guys...  25...Ne4 26.g3 Really not good! Over the last few moves White has just played uncoordinated and random moves, without a plan so far as I can see. Meanwhile I do have a plan, which is to threaten as many things as possible.  26...c5 27.Be3 Bxa4? Unfortunately I was now getting very nervous. This was played with the intention of (effectively) getting my pawn back by wrecking hers. But that is a very unambitious, scaredy-cat plan. Two moves that continue to threaten are (27...Bc6 or ) (27...c4 ) 28.bxa4 Bc3 29.Bb5 We're still doing fine here but it takes a bit of positional understanding to appreciate that the rook should stay on the e-file. ...Re7 would have been good.  29...Rd8 30.Red1 Ne5 31.Qg2 Bd4 32.Re1 Nc3 33.Rb3 Ng4 Not a good idea. Keep up the threats! Better would have been (33...c4 with a possible continuation then being  34.Bxd4 cxb3 35.Bxe5 Qxe5! Yes, I did consider this, but didn't look carefully enough at what my c-pawn was doing!  36.Rxe5 bxc2 37.Qb7 c1=Q 38.Re7 = ) 34.Bxd4 cxd4 35.Bd3 Ne5 36.Rb7 If I'd put the rook on e7 then this would not be possible...  36...Qc5 I'm really starting to lose the thread now. Not so much time pressure, but definitely a bit of tiredness compounded by a lack of confidence - with that rook on b7 I was thinking I'd really messed it up.  37.Nd2 Nxd3 38.cxd3 Rb6?? And a blunder. The f-pawn needed to keep its protector. (38...Nd5 += ) 39.Ree7 Rg8 40.Qf3 Ra6?? Black can grovel onwards with (40...Rxb7 41.Qxb7 +/- but it's not looking good! ) 41.Rbc7 Now it's just catastrophic.  41...Qa5 42.Nc4 Qxa4 43.Qxf5+ Kh8 44.Ne5 So, in the end a bad loss, and a thoroughly discouraging start to the event. The pattern of being out-manoeuvred in preparation, and therefore psyched out, and therefore playing insufficiently aggressively, then continued for the rest of the event! 1-0

1.c4 Surprise, surprise...not the London! :D  1...Nf6 2.Nc3 d6 3.g3 e5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.d3 Nbd7

6.Rb1 With the plan of a pawn storm on the queenside.  6...a5 7.a3 O-O 8.Nf3 Ne8 9.O-O c6 10.b4 axb4 11.axb4 f5 12.e3 g5 13.b5 Qc7 I like my position here. It was under control as she couldn't break open in the centre.  14.Re1 The knight manoeuvre Nf3-e1-c2-b4 may have been a better plan. It puts pressure on c6 and if she plays c5, I get the d5 square.  14...Ng7 15.Bb2 g4 16.Nd2 Nc5 17.Qe2 Bf6 18.bxc6 bxc6 19.Ba1?! I wanted to open the file for my rook but this was too passive and slow. 19.d4 straight away would have been better.  19...Re8 20.Nb3 Nce6 21.Qd2 Bg5 22.Qd1?! Hmmm...my queen went in a triangle. I don't know why I played that. I guess I wanted to encourage Bg5 to get it off the long diagonal.  22...h5? She gave me the opportunity to open my game up with d4!  23.d4 f4 24.dxe5 dxe5 25.Nb5 cxb5 (25...Qb6 26.Nd6 fxe3 27.fxe3 Bxe3+ 28.Kh1 Rd8 29.Bxe5 +/- ) 26.Bxa8 bxc4 27.exf4 exf4 28.Nd4 fxg3 29.hxg3 Rd8 30.Nxe6 Bxe6 31.Qa4 c3 32.Rb7 Qc5? 33.Rb5 Qf8? 34.Rxg5 Rxa8 35.Qd4 35. Qc6 would have been an easier win, forking the rook and bishop.  35...Qe7 36.Rg6 Qf7 37.Rg5 (37.Rexe6 Rxa1+ 38.Kh2 +- ) 37...Qe7 38.Rg6 Qf7 39.Rg5 Yes, it's three-fold repetition...and no, it was not intended! I was short on time and went into panic mode! Otherwise, 39. Rexe6 would be winning. 1/2-1/2

1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c3 e6 4.Bg5 d5 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Nbd2 Bd6 7.Bd3 b6 8.Qa4 Bb7 9.Ne5 O-O 10.f4 a6 11.Qc2 Qe8 12.O-O-O Ne4 13.Nxd7 Qxd7 14.Bh4 c5 15.Rdf1 b5 16.g4?

16...Rfc8 [16... cxd4 17. exd4 b4 18. Nxe4 fxe4 19. Be2 bxc3 -1.92|d14 Rybka4]  17.gxf5 exf5 18.Bxe4 dxe4 19.Nb3 Bd5 20.Rhg1 Kh8 [20... cxd4 21. Nxd4 b4 22. Bf6 g6 23. Nb3 Qf7 24. Rd1 Qxf6 25. Rxd5 bxc3 26. Kb1 Be7 27. Rc1 Rab8 28. Qe2 cxb2 29. Qxb2 -1.84|d18 Rybka4]  21.dxc5 Bxb3 22.axb3 Bxc5 23.Qd2 Qa7 24.Rg3 Be7? [24... b4 25. Kb1 bxc3 26. Qxc3 Bf8 27. Qd4 Qf7 28. Rd1 Rab8 29. Qd5 Qxd5 30. Rxd5 Rxb3 31. Rxf5 Rcb8 32. Kc1 Bb4 33. Rfg5 Rc8 34. Kb1 Be1 35. Rxg7 Bc3 -1.33|d15 Rybka4]  25.Bxe7 [25. Rxg7 Kxg7 26. Rg1 Kh8 27. c4 Bg5 28. Rxg5 h6 29. Rxf5 bxc4 30. b4 Kh7 31. Re5 Rc7 32. Rxe4 Qb7 33. Qc2 Kg8 34. Rd4 Rf8 35. Bd8 +0.51|d14 Rybka4]  25...Qxe7 =+ 26.Qd5 Qf6 27.Qd4 Qe7 28.Rfg1 Rg8 29.Qd5 g6 = 30.Qd4+ Qg7 31.h4 Rad8 32.Qb6 Rd3 33.h5 Time to force the draw before the captain's nerves break  33...Rxc3+ 34.bxc3 Qxc3+ 35.Kd1 Qxb3+ 36.Ke1 Qb1+ 37.Kf2 Qc2+ 38.Ke1 Qc1+ 39.Ke2 Qc2+ 40.Kf1 Qd1+ 41.Kf2 Qd2+ 42.Kf1 Qd1+ 43.Kf2 Qd2+ 1/2-1/2

1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 c6 4.Be3 Nf6 5.f3 Nbd7 6.Qd2 b5

7.g4 Mike's strategy!  7...Nb6 8.h4 h5 9.g5 Nfd7 10.f4 Bb7 11.Nf3 Bg7 12.Bd3 b4 13.Ne2 c5 14.c3 bxc3 15.bxc3 Qc7 16.O-O c4 17.Bc2 e6 After this inaccuracy white gets a clear advantage. Better would have been: [17... d5 18. exd5 Bxd5 19. f5 gxf5 20. Bxf5 Qc6 21. Kg2 Rd8 22. Qe1 Nc8 23. Bf4 Nd6 24. Ng3 Nf8 25. Bxd6 Rxd6 26. Bh3 Be6 27. Nf5 +0.22|d16 Rybka4]  18.f5! exf5 19.exf5 gxf5 20.Ng3 O-O-O 21.Nxf5 Bf8 22.Bf4 Nd5 23.Bg3 Rg8 24.Rae1 N7b6 25.Re2 Ne7 26.Kh2 Nbd5 27.Ng1 [27. Nxd6! Rxd6 28. Ne5 f5 29. Nf7 f4 30. Rxf4 Rb6 31. Rf1 Qd7 32. Bh7 +1.91|d15 Rybka4]  27...Ng6 28.Nh3 Qa5 29.Be4 Rd7 30.Rb1 Nb6 31.Bxb7+ Kxb7 +/- 32.Ne3 [32. Qc2 Rh8 33. Re8 Kc7 34. Nf4 Nxf4 35. Bxf4 Qd5 36. Ne3 Qc6 37. Qf5 Bg7 38. Rxh8 Bxh8 39. Qh7 Qf3 40. Rf1 +1. 67|d13 Rybka4]  32...Qa4? 33.Rb4 Qa6 34.Nxc4 [34. Nd5 Be7 35. Nhf4 Bd8 36. Nxh5 Kc8 37. Ndf6 Rh8 38. Qc2 Qb7 39. Qf5 Ne7 40. Qxd7 Nxd7 41. Rxb7 Kxb7 42. Nxd7 Rxh5 43. Rf2 Kc6 44. Nb8 Kd5 45. Rxf7 Rh8 46. Na6 Ng6 47. Kh3 Ke6 48. Rxa7 Bxg5 49. Nc7 +2. 60|d14 Rybka4]  34...d5 35.Nxb6 axb6 36.Rb1 Bd6 37.Bxd6 Rxd6 38.Rf2 Kc6 39.Re1 [39. Rxf7 Nxh4 40. c4 dxc4 41. d5 Rxd5 42. Rf6 Kc5 43. Qb4 ]  39...Nxh4 40.Qf4? [40. c4 dxc4 41. d5 Kb7 42. Qf4 Rd7 43. Qxh4 b5 44. Qxh5 Qd6 45. Nf4 Qc7 46. Qg4 Rxd5 47. Qf3 Rgxg5 48. Rd2 +2.02|d13Rybka4]  40...Ng6 41.Qf5 Ra8 42.Nf4 [42. c4 dxc4 43. d5 Rxd5 44. Qxf7+/-]  42...Nxf4 43.Qxf4 Ra7 44. c4 Rad7 (dxc4 45. Qe4 winning) 45. c5 bxc5 46. dxc5 Re6 47. Rxe6 fxe6 48. Qe5 Qc4 49. Qxe6 Kxc5 50. Qxd7 Qh4 51. Kg1 Qxg5 52. Kf1 Qc1 +2.75|d12 Rybka4 1/2-1/2

1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.d4 c5 6.dxc5 Bxc5 7.Bf4 a6 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.a3 b5 10.O-O Bb7

11.Re1 Until so far all according to preparation (with help from Mike). Now black didn't fall for 11....0-0 allowing a Greek gift on h7.  11...h6 12.h3 Rc8 13.Qe2 Nd4 14.Nxd4 Bxd4 15.Nd1 Nc5 16.Rb1 Qb6 17.Qg4 Nxd3 18.cxd3 g5 19.Bg3 Bc5 20.Nc3 Be7 21.Rbc1 O-O 22.h4 Kh7 23.d4 Rg8 24.Qh5 Rg7 25.Ne2 Rcg8 26.hxg5 Bxg5 27.Rcd1 b4 28.Rd3 a5 29.Bf4 Ba6? The moment we could have won this match immediately! 30.Rh3 almost ends the game in white's favor. Instead of this Natasha choses a losing continuation.  30.Bxg5? Rxg5 31.Qxf7+ R8g7 32.Qf3 Rxg2+ 33.Kh1 Bxd3 34.Qxd3+ Kg8 35.Qe3 Qd8?? Returning the favour, R2g4 would have won.  36.Ng3 R2xg3 37.fxg3 Qg5 38.Kg2 h5 39.axb4 axb4 40.Qxg5 Rxg5 This rook endgame should be a draw, starting with 41.Rh1  41.Kf3 Rg4 42.Rd1 Re4 43.Rd3 Kf7 44.b3 Kg6 45.Kg2 Kg5 46.Kh3? The final mistake, the white king is now not able to defend the centre anymore  46...Rg4 47.Kh2 Kf5 48.Rf3+ Ke4 49.Rf6 Kxd4 50.Rxe6 Re4 51.Rb6 Kc5 52.Re6 d4 53.Kg2 Kd5 54.Rb6 Kc5 55.Re6 Re3 56.Kf2 Rxb3 57.Rh6 Re3 58.Rxh5 b3 59.g4 b2 60.e6+ Kc4 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Qb6 5.Nf3

5...Bd7 I tried the same thing against Anthony Ker last time I played him. I lost in the end, but for a while I was doing ok. The idea is to exchange the rubbish white squared bishop  6.a3 Ne7 7.b4 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb5 9.Bxb5+ Qxb5 10.Nc3 Qd7 11.O-O Nbc6 12.Bb2 Nc8 13.Na4 Nb6 14.Nc5 (14.Nxb6 is better, weakening black's pawns and exchanging off black's potentially powerful knight  14...axb6 15.Qd3 etc ) 14...Bxc5 15.dxc5 Nc4 16.Qb3 O-O 17.Rad1 Qc7 18.Rfe1 a5! 19.Nd2 leaves white a pawn down already (19.b5 Ne7 leaves white struggling to defend c5 ) (19.Bc3 may be better ) 19...Nxb2 20.Qxb2 axb4 21.axb4 Ra4! 22.b5 Rb4! Brian consistently finds the best moves!  23.Qc3 Rxb5 24.Nb3 Na5 25.Nxa5 Rxc5 26.Qb4 Qxa5 27.Qxb7 Rc2 28.Rc1?? A blunder! Completely missing black's next move (28.g3 keeps white in the game, a pawn down ) 28...Qd2! 0-1

1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.e3 d5

4.Ne2?! White gets an uncomfortable position out of this unusual opening play  4...Be6 5.d4 f6 6.Nd2 Nh6 7.Ng3 Bd6 8.Bb5 O-O 9.Bxc6 bxc6 10.dxe5 fxe5 11.f3 e4 12.f4? black can now exploit white's terrible weaknesses  12...Bg4 13.Qc1 Bc5 14.Ba3? (14.Ndf1 is grovelling, but better - white didn't see black's excellent next move ) 14...Bxe3! bishops to die for!  15.Bxf8 Qxf8 16.Rf1 Qf6 (16...Bxf4 17.Ne2 Bxe2 18.Kxe2 Qf5 is better ) 17.c3 Qh4?! 18.Nf3! good defending by Nathan  18...Bxf3 (18...exf3 19.Qxe3 fxg2 20.Rg1 Nf5 21.Qe6+ Kh8 22.Kd2 -/+ ) 19.Qxe3 Ng4 (19...Bxg2 20.Rg1 Bf3 21.Qd4 ) 20.Qg1 Nxh2 21.gxf3 Nxf3+ 22.Rxf3 exf3 23.O-O-O Qxf4+ Black has emerged from the complications with four pawns for the knight, but the one on f3 looks particularly strong  24.Kb2 f2 25.Qg2 Re8 26.Rf1 Re3 27.Nh5 Re2+ 28.Ka3 Qd6+ 29.b4 Qe5 30.Qh3 h6 the queen is overworked defending c3 and h5, the knight has to be sacrificed  31.Nxg7 at least white gets a few checks out of this  31...Kxg7 32.Qd7+ Kf6 33.Qxc6+ Kg5 34.Qc5 Kg4 (34...Qe6! 35.Qxc7 (35.Rxf2? Qa6+ 36.Qa5 Qxa5+ 37.bxa5 Rxf2 ) 35...Qa6+ 36.Qa5 Qxa5+ 37.bxa5 Kg4 wins ) 35.Rxf2 Rxf2 36.Qxf2 Qxc3+ 37.Ka4 d4 38.Qg2+ Kf4 39.Qf2+ Ke4 40.Qe2+ Qe3 41.Qg2+ Kd3 42.Kb3 Qe2 43.Qg6+ Kd2 44.Qc2+ Ke1 45.Qxc7 Qe3+ 46.Kb2 d3 47.Qc3+?? Qd2+ 0-1

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.e3 b6 5.Nbd2 Bb7 6.Bd3 Be7 7.h3 c5 8.g4!? Ne4 (8...fxg4 9.hxg4 Nxg4 10.Bg6+ Kf8 11.Ne4 looks interesting ) 9.Rg1

9...g6 10.gxf5 exf5 11.Ne5 cxd4 12.Nxe4 fxe4 13.Bc4 Rf8 14.Qxd4 Bc5 15.Qc3 Nc6 16.O-O-O Nxe5 17.Qxe5+ Qe7 18.Qc7 Bc6? (18...d6 19.Bb5+ Kf7 20.Bxd6 Bxd6 21.Qxd6 Qxd6 22.Rxd6 Rad8 ) 19.Rg5! Qd8 20.Re5+ Be7 21.Qd6 Rf5 22.Rxf5! An absolutely sound queen sacrifice!  22...Bxd6 23.Bxd6 Black resigned, as to avoid mate on f8 black has to give up a heap of material, or if  23...gxf5 24.Rg1 1-0

1.Nf3 d5 2.b3 c5 3.Bb2 Nc6 4.e3 Bg4 5.h3 Bh5 6.Be2 Nf6 7.d4 Bxf3 8.Bxf3 cxd4 9.exd4 e6 10.O-O Bd6 11.c4 O-O 12.Nc3 dxc4 13.d5 exd5 14.Nxd5 Ne5 15.Nxf6+ Qxf6 16.Bxb7 Rab8 17.Bd5 Rfd8 18.Qe2 Qf4 19.g3 Qf5 20.bxc4 Nd3 21.Bd4

21...Nf4?! you can see how this would have been tempting, but in actual fact it is not enough, and Bill now keeps calm and defends superbly  22.gxf4 Qxf4 23.Rfd1 Qh2+ 24.Kf1 Bc5 (24...Qxh3+ 25.Bg2 leads to nothing ) 25.Qf3 ( of course not 25.Bxc5? Rxd5! ) 25...Bxd4 26.Rxd4 Qe5 27.Rad1 (  white can also play 27.Bxf7+ Kh8 28.Rxd8+ Rxd8 29.Re1 Qc7 30.Qd5 etc, although it's a bit scarier ) 27...Kh8 28.Re4 Qg5 29.Rg4 Qe5 30.Re1 Qb2 31.Rf4 Qxa2 32.Rxf7 Qc2 33.Qg3 ( or, slightly hard to spot, 33.Rxg7! Kxg7 34.Re7+ Kh6 35.Qf4+ Kg6 36.Re6+ Kg7 37.Qf6+ Kg8 38.Re8# ) 33...Qb2 34.Ree7 Qa1+ 35.Kg2 Rg8 36.Rxa7 Qd4 37.Rfe7 Rbe8 38.Bxg8 Rxe7 39.Rxe7 Qd8 Mark opts for hara kiri  40.Qxg7# 1-0

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nh3 Nf6 8.Nf4 Bh7 9.Bc4 e6 10.O-O Nd5 11.Re1 Nxf4 12.Bxf4 Qxh4 13.Nh5! Bg6 (13...Nd7 14.d5 Bc5 15.Nxg7+ Kf8 16.Nxe6+ fxe6 17.g3 an interesting line dreamt up by the computer ) 14.d5!

Black is going to regret having his king still in the centre  14...Bxh5 15.dxe6! Brilliant and absolutely sound.  15...Be7 ( Taking the queen also loses 15...Bxd1 16.exf7+ Kd7 17.Raxd1+ Bd6 (17...Kc8 18.Re8+ ) 18.Rxd6+ Kc7 19.Rxh6+! Qxf4 20.Rxh8 Nd7 21.Rxa8 Qxc4 22.Re7! and the pawn queens ) 16.exf7+ Bxf7 17.Bd6 ( The computer finds 17.g3 Qf6 18.Bd6 Bxc4 19.Bxe7 Qxe7 20.Qg4! threatening Qxc4 and Qc8, and the queen of course ) 17...Bxc4 18.Rxe7+ Qxe7 19.Bxe7 Kxe7 20.Qd4 [Ed. This reminds me of the famous double bishop sacrifice game Lasker-Bauer from the 19th century. Black breaks the attack by giving up the queen for apparently sufficient material, only for a queen fork to reap much more material for White]  20...Nd7 21.Qxc4 Nb6 22.Re1+ Kd7 23.Qf7+ 1-0

1.e4 e5

2.Ne2?! This has surprise value, if nothing else  2...Nf6 3.f4 d6 4.Nbc3 Nc6 5.d4 Be7 6.d5 Nb8 7.f5 c6 8.Ng3 Nbd7 9.Be2 Nb6 10.O-O Bd7 11.a4 a5 12.Be3 Rc8 13.Nh5 Nxh5 14.Bxh5 Nc4 15.Bc1 Bf6 16.Kh1 c5?! I would hav e thought it was better to retain the opportunity to break up the pawn chain. White now keeps a firm grip on the centre  17.Qe2 Nb6 18.Bd2 Ra8 19.b3 Nc8 20.Qf2 Na7 21.Be2 h6 22.Bd3 Bg5 23.Be1 Bf6 24.Qe2 Kf8?! Black's cramped position makes it difficult to come up with a good plan, this doesn't seem to be the right answer.  25.Nd1 Qe8 26.Bxa5 Bd8 27.Bc3 Kg8 28.Ne3 Nc8 29.Bb5 Kh7 30.Bd2 Bg5 31.Bxd7 Qxd7 32.f6! g6 33.Rf3 b5 34.Nf5! Flashy and quite good  34...gxf5 (34...Bxd2? 35.Qxd2 g5 36.Nxh6! Kxh6 37.Rh3+ etc ) 35.Bxg5 fxe4? (35...Kg8 36.Rh3 Kf8 is more resilient ) 36.Rg3 Qf5 37.Qh5 Qg6 38.Bh4! Illustrating the point of White's combination  38...Qxh5? But black was lost anyway  39.Rg7# 1-0

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.e4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.Be3 c6 6.Qd2 b5 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.h3 O-O 9.a4 b4 10.Ne2 Rb8 11.O-O Qc7 12.c3 bxc3 13.bxc3 c5 14.Ng3 e6 15.Rfe1 Re8 16.Bh6 Bh8 17.h4 Qa5 18.e5 Nd5 (18...dxe5 19.dxe5 Ng4 20.Bg5 c4! 21.Bxc4 Ngxe5 gets black out of his difficulties ) 19.Qg5?!

(19.exd6 Qxc3 20.Qxc3 Nxc3 21.Ne5 cxd4 22.Nc6 is rather an interesting position ) 19...Qxc3 20.Rad1 dxe5 21.dxe5 c4 (21...Nxe5 22.Nxe5 Bf6! Recovering the piece is an interesting computer resource ) 22.Bxg6!? Not necessarily sound, but very difficult to defend against. Anthony makes a living successfully eating sacrifices in these Pirc positions, but not today.  22...hxg6 Maybe it is better to take with f pawn (22...fxg6 23.Ne4 Qb4 24.h5 Qe7 25.Qg4 Nf8 unclear ) 23.h5 Nf8 24.Ne4 Qb4 25.hxg6 Nxg6 26.Rxd5! Qe7 (26...exd5 27.Nf6+ Bxf6 28.Qxf6 Qf8 29.Bxf8 white has enough to win ) 27.Nf6+ Bxf6 28.exf6 Qb4 29.Rde5 c3 black is utterly lost now  30.R5e4 Qd6 31.Ne5 Kh7 32.Rh4 ( faster is 32.Nxg6 fxg6 33.Bf8 and mate follows shortly ) 32...Rb4 33.Nxg6 fxg6 34.Bf8+ 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a4 e6 7.Be2 Be7 8.O-O Nc6 9.f4 O-O 10.Be3 Qc7 11.Qe1 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 e5 13.Be3 exf4 14.Bxf4 Be6 15.Qg3 Rfd8 16.Rad1 Rac8 17.Kh1 Qb6 18.Be3 Qa5 (18...Qxb2 19.Bd4 Qxc2 20.Rxf6! Rxc3! looks ok for black ) 19.Bd4

19...Ne8 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.exd5 Rxc2?! seems to be a mistake, because of white's next move  22.Bd3 Rcc8? not easy to spot, but (22...Rc7 better, to keep an eye on f7 ) 23.Rde1 (23.Bxh7+! Kxh7 (23...Kf8 24.Bxg7+! Nxg7 25.Rxf7+!! Kxf7 26.Qg6+ Kf8 27.Rf1+ would have been a spectacular finish! ) 24.Rxf7 Bf6 25.Bxf6 Rc7 26.Rxc7 Qxc7 27.Qh4+ Kg8 28.Bxd8 ) 23...Qxd5 24.Rxe7 Qxd4 25.Rexf7 Nc7 26.Qh3! 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 Nf6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e5 Ne4 7.Bxe7 Qxe7 8.a3 f5 9.exf6 Qxf6 10.Qd3 Nd6 11.O-O-O Bd7 12.Qd2 a6 13.Ne5 Nf5 14.Nxc6 Bxc6 15.g3 O-O-O 16.f4 Kb8 17.Bh3 Nd6 18.Rhe1 Nc4 19.Qf2 Rd6 20.Bf1 Nb6 21.Qe3 Be8 22.Bd3 h6 23.h4 Bh5 24.Rd2 Bg4 25.Rf2 Rf8 26.Ref1 Nd7 27.Ne2 c5 28.c3 Rc6 29.dxc5 Bxe2 30.Rxe2 e5 31.Kb1

31...e4?! This looks good, but actually leaves weakened pawns as a target  32.Bc2 Nxc5 33.Rd1! Rd8 34.Red2 Qf5 35.b4 Nd3 (35...Ne6 36.Bxe4 Qxe4+ 37.Qxe4 dxe4 38.Rxd8+ Nxd8 39.Rxd8+ Kc7 40.Rg8 slight advantage to white ) 36.Bxd3 Rxc3?? A hallucination presumably!  37.Bxe4! 1-0

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 dxc4 4.e4 b5 5.a4 b4 6.Nce2 e6 7.Nf3 Nf6 8.Ng3 Ba6 9.Bg5 Qa5 10.Rc1 c3 (10...b3+ 11.Bd2 Qxa4 12.Ra1 Qb5 13.Rc1 Qa4 14.Ra1 is a draw by repetition! ) 11.Bxa6

11...Qxa6 White's position looks precarious, but it all holds together  12.bxc3 bxc3 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.Ne2 Ba3 15.Rc2 Qxa4 16.O-O (16.Nxc3 Bb4 17.O-O Bxc3 18.Rxc3 Qxd1 19.Rxd1 is also playable ) 16...Bb4 17.Qc1 a5 18.Nxc3 Qa3 (18...Bxc3 19.Rxc3 Nd7 20.Rxc6 O-O better for white ) (18...Qb3 19.d5! ) 19.Qb1! Bxc3 20.Qb7 O-O 21.Qxa8 Qb3 22.Rfc1 Bb2? (22...Bb4 keeps himself in the game, just ) 23.Nd2! winning the bishop 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Bd3 Nf6 8.O-O Ne5 9.f4 Neg4 10.Bd2

10...Bc5 Black's play is logical and thematic, it seems he is getting great pressure down the weakened a7-g1 dark diagonal. However I suspect some Steadman home cooking because appearances can be deceptive.  11.Ne2 In my TWIC recent games database, this position has been reached 16 times, and each time Black has played to win a piece with the logical  11...e5 12.fxe5 Fifteen times this was the reply, and Black managed to grovel a draw in only three of those games!  12...Qxe5 Threatening mate as well as the pinned Nd4  13.Bf4 Bxd4+ 14.Kh1! White's idea begins to be revealed  14...Qc5 15.Nxd4 Qxd4 16.e5! Recovering most of the material in a very advantageous way.  16...Nf2+ 17.Rxf2 Qxf2 18.exf6 Black is nominally an exchange up but his only developed piece is an exposed queen, and his king is caught in the centre by White's well developed and co-ordinated forces. The game is already decided  18...d5 (18...Qxf4 19.fxg7 Rg8 20.Qe1+ Kd8 21.Qa5+ is a very effective illustration of Black's problems ) 19.fxg7 Rg8 20.Be5 Qh4 21.Qf3 Be6 22.Qe3 Qh5 23.Re1 Qh4 24.Rf1 Qh5 25.Bf6 d4 26.Qxd4 Qd5 27.Qb4 1-0

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.e3 b6 5.Be2 Bb7 6.Nbd2 Be7 7.h3 O-O 8.c3 Ne4 9.g4

Repeating the anti-Dutch scheme previously employed against Mike Steadman. Ben Hague enjoys his no holds barred king side attacks, but in this position Black has extra tactical resources.  9...Nxd2 10.Qxd2 (10.Kxd2!? Is the computers suggestion, avoiding material losses ) 10...g5! Winning material due to the combination of f file and long diagonal pressure...   11.gxf5!? ..Or at least forcing White to sacrifice something.  11...gxf4 12.O-O-O Black has to defend for a while but basically he is a piece up for not that much.  12...Kh8 13.Rhg1 exf5 14.Rg2 d6 ( A nice winning simplification is 14...fxe3 15.Qxe3 Bd6 16.Rdg1 Qf6 17.Rg6! f4! -+ ) 15.Rdg1 Nd7 16.d5 Nc5 17.Qd4+ Bf6 18.Qxf4 Qe7 ( Why not 18...Bxd5 ? ) 19.Qxf5 Rg8 20.Nd4 Rxg2 21.Rxg2 Rg8 (21...Rf8! 22.Qh5 Bxd4 23.cxd4 Ne4 white's pawns will start dropping ) 22.Rxg8+ Kxg8 23.b4 Bxd4 24.cxd4 Ne4 25.Bf3 Ng5 26.Bh5 Ba6 27.a4 Bc4 28.h4 Nf7 29.Qc8+ Nd8 30.Qg4+ Qg7 31.Qc8 Qf6 32.Qg4+ (32.Qxc7 Bxd5 33.Be2 Nc6 34.b5 Qd8! is an amusing line ) 32...Kf8 33.Qe4 Nf7 34.f3 Qe7 35.Qf4 Bxd5 finally!  36.e4 Be6 37.Kd2 d5 38.Ke3 Qxb4 39.Qxc7 Qe1+ 40.Kd3 Qxh4 41.Bxf7 Bxf7 42.exd5 Bg6+ 43.Kc4 Qe7 44.Qf4+ Kg7 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.a3 c4 7.Nbd2 Na5 8.g3 Bd7 9.h4 f5 10.exf6 gxf6 11.Bh3 O-O-O 12.O-O Nh6 13.Qe2 Nf7 14.Re1 Re8 15.Rb1 Bd6 16.Kg2 Rhg8 17.Nf1 Qc7 18.N3h2 f5 19.Qh5 Rg7 20.Bh6 Rg6 21.Bd2 Rg7 22.Re2 f4 23.Qf3 Nb3 24.Rbe1 Nxd2 25.Rxd2 fxg3 26.fxg3 Reg8 27.Re3 Bf4

(27...Nh6! Is even stronger, the knight heads to f5, White will have to capture it, leaving all of Black's pieces bearing down on his king, including two unopposed bishops and a new mobile f pawn threatening a devestating advance to f4 ) 28.Rde2 Bxe3 29.Rxe3 Qd6 30.Ng4 Rxg4? (30...Rf8! Was a better way to keep the knight out of e5 ) 31.Bxg4 Nh6 32.Bh3 Nf5 33.Bxf5 exf5 This is much less effective now the supporting two bishops and two rooks are gone. White has weathered the storm.  34.Re5 Qb6 35.Kg1 Qxb2 36.Qxd5 Rd8 37.Qxc4+ Now White is taking over  37...Kb8 38.d5 Qxa3 39.Qf4 Ka8 40.c4 Qc5+ 41.Kh2 Rc8 42.Ne3 a5 43.d6 Qb4 44.Nd5 Qb2+ 45.Kh3 Qa1 Excitement plus, both sides are threatening various mates  46.Nb6+ Ka7! Black is lost, but this is still better than (46...Kb8 47.Nxd7+ Ka8 48.Qc1 elegantly defusing Black's mate threat and reinforcing White's ) 47.Nxc8+ Bxc8 48.Kg2 Qb2+ 49.Qf2+ A cute finishing touch  49...Qxf2+ 50.Kxf2 Kb6 51.Ke3 Kc6 52.c5 a4 53.Kd4 Bd7 54.Kc4 b6 55.cxb6 Kxb6 56.Re7 Kc6 57.Rxh7 Kxd6 58.Kb4 Be6 59.h5 Ke5 60.Rh6 Bb3 61.Rg6 Bc2 62.h6 f4 63.h7 Bxg6 64.h8=Q+ 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bg5 c5 8.Rc1 O-O 9.Nf3 Bg4 10.d5 Nd7 11.Be2 Re8 12.O-O Nf6 13.Qc2 Qc7 14.Ne1 Bxe2 15.Qxe2 e6? 16.Bxf6

(16.d6! And the pawn is immune because of the fork e5. In this way White gains enough time to play e5 next move. ) 16...Bxf6 17.Qd2 exd5 18.exd5 c4 19.Nf3 Rad8 Black takes over the game by hammering away at the weakened White centre. Thematic Grunfeld play!  20.Rfe1 Rxe1+ 21.Rxe1 Qa5 22.Rd1 Qxc3 23.Rc1 Qxd2 24.Nxd2 Bg5! More material is dropping off. 0-1