Magazines Games 2008-2018 2015

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Ne2 c5 6.dxc5 Qc7 7.a3 Bxc5 8.Ng3 Nc6 9.Be2 Rd8 10.O-O d5 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Bd2 Qe7 13.b4 d4 14.exd4 Bxd4 15.Rc1 Be6 16.Qe1 Rac8 17.Na4 Qd7 18.Bf4 Nd5 19.Bg5 f6 20.Bd2 Ncxb4? 21.Rxc8 Rxc8 22.Bxb4 Qxa4

23.Bb5! 1-0

Komodo took aim at the Stockfish kingside and broke through in fine style, winning material in a flurry of action to obtain the win.  1.Nc3 e5 2.e4 Nc6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Be2 Bd6 5.O-O O-O 6.Bc4 Bc5 7.d3 h6 8.a3 d6 9.Na4 Bb6 10.b4 Ne7 11.Bb3 Ng6 12.h3 Bd7 13.Nxb6 axb6 14.Re1 Qc8 15.Nd2 Rd8 16.Qf3 Be6 17.c4 c6 18.Bb2 c5 19.b5 Nf4 20.Nf1 g5 21.Kh1 Kg7 22.Qg3 Rg8 23.Bc1 Kh7 24.Bd1 Rg6 25.a4 g4 26.h4 N6h5 27.Qe3 Qd7 28.Ra2 Rf8 29.Rd2 Ng7 30.g3 Nh3 31.Rb2 f5 32.exf5 Nxf5 33.Qe4 Ng7 34.Be3 d5 35.Qxe5 Rf5 36.Qb8 Qe7 37.Nd2

37...Rxf2 38.Bxf2 Nxf2+ 39.Kg1 Nxd3 40.Re2 Nxb2 41.Bc2 d4 42.h5 Nxh5 43.Bxg6+ Kxg6 44.Qe5 Ng7 45.Qe4+ Kf7 46.Rf2+ Kg8 47.Qc2 Qc7 48.Kh2 Nxc4 49.Nxc4 h5 50.Qd3 h4 51.Rf4 Bf5 52.Qb3 Kh7 53.Kg1 hxg3 54.Rf1 Qf7 55.Nd2 Qxb3 56.Nxb3 Be6 57.Nc1 Kg6 58.a5 bxa5 59.Rf8 Nh5 60.Kg2 Bd5+ 61.Kg1 c4 62.Ne2

0-1

Stockfish completes the double in this opening line with a truly magnificent win. Firstly, it sacs a piece for two pawns to begin a decisive kingside attack, then follows up with a second piece sac to drive the dagger home.  1.e4 c5 2.Bc4 e6 3.Qe2 a6 4.d3 b5 5.Bb3 Nc6 6.c3 Bb7 7.Nf3 Nf6 8.O-O h6 9.e5 Nh7 10.Be3 Qc7 11.d4 Be7 12.a4 b4 13.Nbd2 O-O 14.Rfc1 bxc3 15.bxc3 Na5 16.Bc2 c4 17.Bf4 Bd5 18.Rab1 Rab8 19.Ne1 Ba3 20.Rxb8 Rxb8 21.Rd1 f5 22.Nf1 Ba8 23.Ne3 Qc8 24.d5 Kh8 25.Nf3 Rb2 26.Nd4 Rb6

27.Ndxf5 exf5 28.Nxf5 Rb2 29.Qg4 Bf8 30.Be4 Qe8

31.Nxh6 gxh6 32.Qf5 Qe7 33.d6 Bxe4 34.dxe7 Bxf5 35.e8=Q Nc6 36.Bxh6 Rb8 37.Qh5 Be6 38.Bg5 Bg7 39.f4 Kg8 40.f5 Bf7 41.Qh4 Nxe5 42.Qg3 Rb6 43.Be3 Rc6 44.Rb1 Ng6 45.fxg6 Rxg6 46.Rb8+ Nf8 47.Qf4 Re6 48.Bd4 Re1+ 49.Kf2 Re6 50.Qg4 Rg6 51.Qxd7 Bh6 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 a6 This was very annoying at the time! In my preparation I was engrossed in the variations arising from (4...Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Bg5 e6 9.O-O-O leading to a sharp position with opposite side castling. This occupied a good 90% of my preparation time. When it come to 4...a6, I dismissed this very quickly thinking it would be a Maroczy Bind type position leading to a positional style of game that I could work out during the game. My attitude was (+)she/ ^ll be right, and let's get back to the sharper stuff after 4...Nc6[+]. Was this a mistake? My initial conclusion was that it was. But later I changed my mind and decided that understanding these positional type of games takes more time and it would be best to study a wider range of pawn structures during general chess study, and not leave it to just before the game. If there is limited time available before a game, then it is logical to spend the time concentrating on the sharper variations. I leave this as something for the reader to think about. ) 5.h3 Nc6 6.Qe3 g6 7.Be2 Bg7 8.O-O Nf6 9.Rd1 A tempting move order, since 9...0-0 can be met by 10.e5!? But in hindsight I would have preferred 9.c4 0-0 10.Nc3 Nd7 11.Rb1 since now 11...Nc5? can now be met with 12.b4 and when white is better. This line (11.Rb1) is the mainline, which for example occurred in Magnus Carlsen - Gawain Jones, LondonInternationa l 2012.  9...O-O 10.c4 Upon arriving here I wasn't satisfied with my original intention as 10.e5 Ne8 didn't seem to lead to much after-all.  10...Nd7 This is th e main move in this opening line. I can sum up Black's idea by quoting something from FIDE trainer's syllabus from a course I recently attended. Grandmaster Adrian Mikhalchishin talking about trainer's common mistakes gives a story about poor opening choices: (+)Recently I've been preparing a girl for the Junior World Championship, who plays the notorious <->Accelerated Dragon'. Remembering my own junior experience (I also misused that opening), I wondered what she would play against the Maroczy Bind. As an answer I heard such nonsense that really shocked me. She had no preparation at all (actually I fought the desire to prohibit her to play that variation forever) so I had to show her the easiest and most comprehensive scheme of counter-play, which deals with the destabilization of the centre after ...f5. The best plan for the Black here is to play on the dark squares, but even the pedagogical skill of Pestalozzi wouldn't be able to explain that to a ten-year old girl.[+] Also during this FIDE Trainers course someone kindly give me a book of Bent Larsen's games. Bent Larsen was a famous grandmaster from the past who liked playing the Maroczy Bind structure, usually arising from the Accelerated Dragon. Not such a coincidence you say? But the books original owner's name was written on the inside cover - Arthur Pomeroy!  11.Nc3 Nc5 And because of my move order (putting my Rook d1 instead of Rook to b1) I am no longer ready to meet 11...Nc5 with 12.b4.  12.Bd2

12...Rb8 This is the first new move according to my database, and perfectly reasonable. 12...f5 13.exf5 Bxf5 has happened in a couple games, but so have 12...b6, 12...a5, 12...Bd7, 12... Be6 and 12...e5. To illustrate what type of position this is, I ran a chess engine for a while. The result: there are 16 Black moves that Houdini 4 still assesses the position as equal, and even another 11 Black moves when the assessment would only be slightly better for White. Conclusion: this is a position where plans matter more than individual moves.  13.Rac1 Bd7 14.b3 f5 15.exf5 Rxf5?! Here I think Black should play 15...Bxf5, but Arthur presumably couldn't bring himself to lose a tempo with moving the Bishop again.  16.Nd5 Rh5? In the last couple of moves Arthur has gone a bit a crazy with this rook lift.  17.Ng5!

Now White is clearly better. The game continued  17...Bd4 18.Nxe7+ Qxe7 19.Qxe7 Nxe7 20.Bxh5 gxh5 21.Bf4 Bf6 22.Rxd6 Rf8 23.b4 Nf5 24.bxc5 Nxd6 25.cxd6 Bb2 26.Rb1 Rxf4 27.Rxb2 Rd4 28.c5 Bc6 29.Rc2 a5 30.Ne6 Rd5 31.Nd8 Kf8 32.Re2 Bb5 33.Re7 b6 34.Ne6+ Kg8 35.cxb6 Rxd6 36.b7 Rb6 37.Rg7+ Kh8 38.Rc7 Be8 39.Nc5 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Bg5 e6 9.O-O-O Be7 10.Qd3 O-O 11.Nd4 Qa5 12.f4 Bd7? 13.Nb3 Qd8 14.e5 Ne8 15.Bxe7 Qxe7

16.exd6 +/- Winning a pawn.  16...Qf6 17.Rhf1 Rd8 18.Nc5 Bc6 19.d7 Nc7 20.Qd6 Nd5 21.Nxd5 Bxd5 22.g3 b6 23.Nd3 a5 24.Ne5 b5 25.Kb1 b4 26.f5 Qh6 27.f6 g6 28.Qe7 Qxh2 29.Nxf7 Rxd7 30.Qxd7 Rxf7 31.Qd8+ Rf8 32.f7+ Kg7 33.Qf6+ Kh6 34.Rd4 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 Nc6 5.Bb5 Bd7 6.Bxc6 Bxc6 7.Nc3 Nf6 8.Bg5 e6 9.O-O-O Be7 10.Qd3 O-O

11.Nd4 Qa5 12.h4 Rfc8 13.f4 Bd7? 14.Nb3 Qb4 15.a3 Qc4 16.e5 Nd5 17.Nxd5 (17.Bxe7 +/- ) 17...exd5 18.Bxe7 Qxf4+ 19.Rd2 Bf5 20.Bg5 Qg4 21.Qxd5 (21.Qf3 +/- ) 21...Be4 22.Qd4 Bxc2 23.Qxg4 Bf5+ 24.Rc2 (24.Kd1 +/- ) 24...Rxc2+ 25.Kd1 Bxg4+ 26.Kxc2 dxe5 27.Rc1 f6 28.Be3 b6 29.Kd2 Rd8+ 30.Ke1 h6 31.Nd2 Kf7 32.Kf2 Rc8 33.Nc4 Ke6 34.a4 g5 35.hxg5 hxg5 36.a5 bxa5 37.b3 a4 38.b4 a6 39.Bc5 Rd8 40.Ra1 Bd1 41.Nb2 Rd2+ 42.Ke1 Rxb2 43.Kxd1 Rxg2 44.Rxa4 f5 45.Rxa6+ Kd5 46.Rd6+ 1/2-1/2

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Qxd4 Nc6 6.Bb5 Bd7 7.Bxc6 Bxc6 8.Bg5 e6 9.O-O-O Be7 10.Qd3 O-O 11.Nd4 Qa5 12.h4 Rfc8 13.f4 b5?? 14.e5

Opening up lines to h7, meaning Black can never play Bxg5 and therefore will lose material.  14...b4 (14...dxe5 15.fxe5 Nd5 16.Nxc6 Rxc6 17.Nxd5 Bxg5+ 18.hxg5 exd5 19.Qxh7+ +- ) 15.Nxc6 (15.Nb3! Qb6 (15...Qc7 16.exf6 bxc3 17.fxe7 f6 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Qxc3 ) 16.exf6 gxf6 (16...bxc3 17.fxe7 f6 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Rhe1 ) 17.Bh6 Kh8 18.Ne4 ) 15...Rxc6 16.exf6 gxf6? (16...bxc3! 17.fxe7 f6 ) 17.Ne4?! Clearer is (17.Bh6! Qh5 18.Qg3+ Qg6 19.Ne4 ) 17...fxg5? (17...Kg7 18.Ng3 ) 18.hxg5 White's attack was decisive  18...b3 19.Nc3 Kf8 20.Rxh7 Ke8 21.axb3 Qa1+ 22.Nb1 Rac8 23.Rd2 Qa5 24.g3 d5 25.g6 fxg6 26.Qxg6+ Kd7 27.c3 Qb4 28.f5 Qe4 29.Rxe7+ 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Qxd4 a6 5.c4 Nc6 6.Qe3 Nf6 7.h3 g6 8.Be2 Bg7 9.O-O O-O 10.Nc3 Nd7 11.Rb1

11...Nc5?! This is the move that White's last move was aimed to prevent.  12.b4 Bxc3 13.Qxc3 Nxe4 This is a common idea in this opening: Often White is prepared to sacrifice his e pawn in return for Black exchanging his dark squared bishop for the knight on c3.  14.Qe3 Nf6 15.Bb2 Bf5 16.Rbd1 Nxb4 17.g4 Bd7 18.g5 Nh5 19.Qc3 Winning material  19...e5 20.Rxd6 Nc6 21.Nxe5 Qxg5+ 22.Ng4 f6 23.Bc1 Nf4 24.Bxf4 Qxf4 25.Rxd7 h5 26.Qe3 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

11...a5 In the next few moves you'll see how Magnus finishes his development and then coordinates his pieces at just the moment it looks like Black's activity is becoming dangerous.  12.b3 Nc5 13.Bb2 f5 14.exf5 Bxf5 15.Rbd1 White has achieved the development he was after  15...a4 16.Ba3 In particular, this is the move I really like: the knight on c3 is no longer pinned, and White gains a tempo with the threat to the knight on c5.  16...Qa5 17.Nb5 axb3 18.axb3 And like magic, Black's entire army pointing at the Queenside is left not doing much at all. But Gawain is a creative player.  18...Qxa3!? This sort of Queen sacrifice can be very hard to meet in a practical game. Bill Forster told me an incredible story when he arrived back from spending time with Gawain Jones at this tournament. I hope I recall it correctly - it's a good story, so I hope it is true. (Ed: Yes it's basically true). After the game Magnus commented that at this point in the game he saw that his Queen could drop back to g1 at the right moment and everything would be in order. Feel free to work it out for yourself before reading on.  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 28.Qf2 Nd3 29.Qg1 Yes - the queen has the g1 square available!  29...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.Nf3 Nf6 2.b3 e6 3.Bb2 Bc5 4.d4 Bb6 5.e3 d5 6.Bd3 O-O 7.Nbd2 c5 8.O-O cxd4 9.Nxd4 e5 10.Nb5 a6 11.Na3 Nc6 12.Be2 Bf5 13.c4 d4 14.exd4 Bxd4 15.Bxd4 exd4 16.Re1 Qa5 17.Qc1 Nb4 18.Qb2

Black has outplayed his opponent completely, he now took his time and found an elegant winning shot.  18...Nc2! Winning a piece.  19.b4?? Missing an ideal opportunity to resign with dignity either immediately or after allowing Black to demonstrate the logical continuation (19.Nxc2 Qxd2 20.Rac1 d3 Instead I choose the hyper-accelerated-meltdown variation. ) 19...Qxa3 20.Rab1?? Qxb2 Now I noticed a rook is falling off as well. 0-1

1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 c6 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Qc2 Bd6 6.b3 Nbd7 7.Bb2 Qe7 8.Rg1 e5 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Ne4 Ba3 11.Bxa3 Qxa3 12.Bc4 Qe7 13.g4 Nb4 14.Qc3 a5 15.Nfg5 Nd5 16.Qc2 h6 17.Nf3 N7b6 18.a3 O-O 19.g5 hxg5 20.Nexg5 f5 21.h4 Nxc4 22.Qxc4 Rf6 23.a4 e4 24.Nd4 Qb4 25.Rc1 Qxc4 26.Rxc4 Nb4 27.Kf1 b6 28.Kg2 Ba6 29.Rcc1 c5 30.Nde6 Bd3 31.Nf4 Bc2 32.Nd5 Nxd5 33.Rxc2 Nb4 34.Rb2 Rd8 35.f3 Rfd6

An interesting conclusion from round 2. Black's position looks more harmonious. Visiting French FM Brice Le Roy reacts by abandoning his queenside and staking everything on a kingside attack.  36.fxe4 Rxd2+ 37.Rxd2 Rxd2+ 38.Kf3 fxe4+ 39.Kxe4 Rb2 40.Ne6 Rxb3 41.Rxg7+ Kh8 42.h5 Nc2 43.Rg3 Ra3 44.Nd8 Rxa4+ 45.Kf5 Ra1 46.Nf7+ Kh7 47.h6 Rf1+ 48.Ke6

The threat of Rg7# decides.  48...Rxf7 49.Kxf7 Kxh6 50.e4 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.e3 Bb7 5.Bd3 d5 6.O-O Bd6 7.b3 O-O 8.Nc3 Nbd7 9.Bb2 a6 10.Qe2 Ne4 11.Nd2 f5 12.f4 Qf6 13.Nf3 Qh6 14.cxd5 exd5 15.Ne5 Nxe5 16.fxe5 Be7 17.Rf3 b5 18.Raf1 Qe6 19.Nb1 g6 20.Rc1 Qb6 21.Ba3 b4 22.Bb2 Rac8 23.Rff1 Bg5 24.Kh1 Bc6 25.Rc2 Bb5 26.Nd2 Bxd3 27.Qxd3 Qb5 28.Qxb5 axb5 29.Re1 Nf2+ 30.Kg1 Nd3 31.Re2 c5 32.Nf3 Bh6 33.dxc5 Nxb2 34.Rxb2 Rxc5 35.Kf2 Kf7 36.Nd4 Bg7 37.e6+ Ke7 38.Rbc2 Rfc8 39.Rxc5 Rxc5 40.Kf3 Be5 41.g4 fxg4+ 42.Kxg4 Rc1 43.Kg5 Bg7 44.Kg4 Rg1+ 45.Kf4 Rf1+ 46.Kg5 Rg1+ 47.Kf4 Bf6 48.Nxb5 Rf1+ 49.Kg3 Kxe6 50.Nc7+ Kd6 51.Ne8+ Ke5 52.Nxf6 Rxf6 53.Rd2 Ke4 54.Rd4+ Kxe3 55.Rxd5 Rf3+ 56.Kg4 Rf2 57.h3 Rg2+ 58.Kh4 Rxa2 59.Rb5 Kf3

Danger lurks for White  60.Rxb4? Ra5! 0-1

A nice game from new NZ Champ Leonard McLaren. In my notes I called this game "Capablanca-esque" which maybe a little over the top., but I was struck by the simple way every move seems to flow naturally from the requirements of the position - and I am sure even the humblest player will be deceived into feeling "Hey - I could play chess like that" after playing through it.  1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.g4 h6 7.g5 hxg5 8.Bxg5 Nc6 9.h4 Be7 10.Qd2 a6 11.Be2 Qb6 12.O-O-O Nxd4 13.Qxd4 Qxd4 14.Rxd4 Bd7 15.h5 Bc6 16.Bf3 Nxe4 17.Nxe4 Bxe4 18.Bxe4 Bxg5+ 19.Kd1 d5 20.Bf3 Bf6 21.Rb4 b5 22.Ke2

22...Rc8 23.c3 Rc4 24.Rxc4 bxc4 25.Kd2 Ke7 26.Kc2 Kd6 27.Be2 a5 28.b3 cxb3+ 29.axb3 Rc8 30.Rh3 e5 31.h6 gxh6 32.Rxh6 Ke7 33.c4 e4 34.Kd1 d4

One of the fundamental Sicilian ideas is that it makes sense to cultivate your centre pawns.  35.Rh5 d3 36.Bg4 Rg8 37.f3 e3 38.Rxa5 e2+ 0-1

1.c4 e6 2.g3 f5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.d3 Be7 5.Nc3 O-O 6.e4 fxe4 7.dxe4 e5 8.Be3 Bb4 9.Rc1 d6 10.a3 Bxc3+ 11.Rxc3 Ng4 12.f3 Nxe3 13.Rxe3 Be6 14.b3 Nc6 15.Ne2 a5 16.Rc3 Qf6 17.O-O Nd4 18.Nxd4 exd4 19.Rc2 a4 20.Qd3 c5 21.b4 b5 22.cxb5

Now Black forces White to make a favourable exchange sacrifice  22...c4?! 23.Rxc4! Bxc4 24.Qxc4+ Kh8 25.Bh3 Qh6 26.Kg2 Qd2+ 27.Rf2 Qe3 28.Bd7 Qxa3 29.Qxd4 Qb3 30.Bc6 Rab8 31.Bd5 Qb1 32.b6 a3 33.b7 Qc1 34.Qd2 Qb1 35.Rf1 Qb2 36.Qxb2 axb2 37.Rb1 g5 38.Rxb2

The culmination of White's strategy, Black is quite helpless.  38...Kg7 39.Rc2 Kf6 40.Kf2 Ke5 41.Ke3 h5 42.Rc7 Rbe8 43.Bc6 Rb8 44.Bd5 Rbe8 45.h4 gxh4 46.f4+ Kf6 47.gxh4 Rd8 48.Kd4 Rfe8 49.Rf7+ Kg6 50.f5+ Kh6 51.Be6 Rb8 52.Kd5 Red8 53.Rc7 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Nd3 f5 11.Bd2 c5 12.a3 Nf6 13.f3 b6 14.b4 Ne8 15.a4 Bd7 16.Qb3 Rb8 17.Rfb1 cxb4 18.Nxb4 Qc8 19.Nd3 fxe4 20.fxe4 Nf6 21.Qb4 Qc7 22.Nb5 Bxb5 23.cxb5 Rfc8 24.Rc1 Qd7 25.h3 h5 26.Be3 Kh7 27.Bg5

Black tries an interesting but dubious piece sacrifice to obtain a powerful centralduo  27...Nexd5?! 28.exd5 Nxd5 29.Qb3 Qf5 30.Bd2 Ne7 31.Nb4 d5 32.Na6 Rxc1+ 33.Rxc1 Rd8 34.Bb4 Ng8 35.Nc7 e4 36.Rd1 d4 37.Ne6 d3

The pawns are looking scary but White should prevail easily  38.Nxd8? (38.Bxh5! Qxh5 39.Nxd8 ) 38...dxe2 Black is a rook down but pressure on the d4 and f1 squares secures a draw  39.Re1 Bd4+ 40.Kh2 Be5+ 41.Kg1 Bd4+ 42.Kh2 Be5+ 1/2-1/2

1.d4 g6 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.c4 Qd8 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Nf3 c5 7.d5 e5 8.Be2 Ne7 9.O-O Nf5 10.Re1 O-O 11.Bf1 f6 12.Ne4 Na6 13.b4 Nxb4 14.Nxc5 b6 15.Ne4 Nd6 16.Nxd6 Qxd6 17.Ba3 a5 18.Qb3 f5 19.Nxe5 Bxe5

White has a resource sufficient to blow Black away  20.Rxe5! Qxe5 21.Bb2 Qd6 22.Qc3 Kf7 23.Qg7+ Ke8 24.Re1+ Kd8 25.Be5 Qc5 26.Bc7+! A nice finishing touch, with mate in three 1-0

1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 3.Nf3 e4 4.Ng5 f5 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Nh3 c6 7.g3 Nf6 8.Bg2 Nbd7 9.O-O Nb6 10.b3 d5 11.c5 Nbd7 12.Rb1 Nf8 13.b4 Ne6 14.Nf4 Qd7 15.h4 O-O 16.b5 Bd8 17.Bh3 g6 18.Nxe6 Qxe6 19.Bf4 Ne8 20.bxc6 bxc6 21.Qa4 Bc7 22.Bxc7 Nxc7 23.Rb2 Ba6 24.Qa5 Qe7 25.f4 exf3 26.Rxf3 Rab8 27.Qa3 Rfe8 28.e3 Rxb2 29.Qxb2 Qd8 30.Bf1 Bxf1 31.Kxf1 Qb8 32.Qxb8 Rxb8 33.Rf2 Ne8 34.Ke2 Nf6 35.Kd3 Kf7 36.Rg2 Ke6 37.Kc2 Ng4 38.Re2 Kf6 39.Kd3 h6 40.Rc2 g5 41.hxg5+ hxg5 42.Nd1 Rb1 43.Rd2 Kg6 44.Ke2 Nf6 45.Rb2 Ra1 46.Nc3 Kh5 47.Kf3 Ne4

White is under pressure  48.Nxe4? fxe4+ 49.Kg2 Kg4

Black now has a winning plan - advance the a pawn to a3 and force a rook exchange with Rb2. White is curiouslyhelpless  50.Re2 a5 51.Rb2 a4 52.Re2 a3 53.Rc2 Rb1 54.Re2 Rb2 55.Rf2 Rxf2+ 56.Kxf2 Kh3 57.g4 Kh2 0-1

Notes by Herman van Riemsdijk  1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Qc7 7.Qg4 f5 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Qd1 Bd7 10.Nf3 Ba4 11.Rb1

An interesting idea trying to stop 11...cxd4  11...cxd4 12.Rb4! Qxc3+ Heading into trouble. 12...Bd7 would be more sensible  13.Bd2 Qxa3 14.Nxd4 Nc6 15.Bb5! Bxb5 16.Nxb5 Qa2 17.Nd6+ Kf8 18.Rxb7 Nce7 (18...Nge7 19.Bh6+ Kg8 20.O-O +/- ) 19.O-O h6 20.Qe2 (20.Bc3 is better ) 20...Rh7 21.h4 Kg7 22.g3 Kh8 23.Rfb1 Qxc2 24.Rc1 Qa4 25.Rcc7 a5 26.Bf4 Qa1+ 27.Kg2

(Ed: A position only a French addict could love)  27...g5?! (27...Qd4 and white has still to do a lot of work ) 28.hxg5 hxg5 29.Rc1 Qd4 30.Bxg5 Qg4 31.Qxg4 fxg4 32.Rcc7 a4 33.Bf6+ Nxf6 34.exf6 a3 35.fxe7 a2 36.e8=Q+ Rxe8 37.Rxh7+ Kg8 38.Rbg7+ Kf8 39.Rxg4 1-0

Notes by Herman van Riemsdijk  1.c4 e6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.b3 a5 7.Nc3 c6 8.d4 Nbd7 9.Qc2 Re8 10.Rd1 Bf8 11.Bf4 Nh5 12.Bg5 f6 13.Bd2 f5 14.cxd5 exd5 15.Qxf5 g6 16.Qd3 Bg7 17.Bg5 Nhf6 18.Qd2 Qe7 19.Re1 Qf8 20.Bxf6 Nxf6 21.Ne5 Bf5 22.e3 Ne4 23.Nxe4 dxe4 24.Nc4 c5 25.Rad1 cxd4 26.exd4 a4 27.Ne3 axb3 28.axb3 Rad8 29.Qc3 Qd6 30.Qc4+ Be6 31.d5 Bf7 32.Bxe4 Rc8 33.Qd3 Rc3 34.Qb1 Qb4 35.Nc2 Qxb3 36.Qxb3 Rxb3 37.Nd4 Rb6 38.Ne6 Bf6 39.Re3 Rd6 40.Bc2 Rc8 41.Bb3 Bxe6 42.Rxe6 Rcd8 43.Rc1 Rxe6 44.dxe6 Re8 45.Rc7 Re7 46.Bd5 Kg7 47.Rc4 g5 48.Kg2 Be5 49.h4 h6 50.Kf3 Kf6 51.hxg5+ hxg5 52.Kg4 Bd6 53.Rc3 Ke5 54.Bb3 Rg7 55.Rd3 Be7 56.Rd5+

56...Kxe6! 57.Rxg5+ Kf6 58.Rxg7 Kxg7 59.Kf5 b5 The 'b' pawn makes no difference at all. Without it, the position is still a draw  60.f4 Bc5 61.Ke5 Bf2 62.g4 Bb6 63.g5 Bc7+ 64.Kf5 Bd6 65.Ke4 Bc7 66.f5 Bd8 Having two ccessible squares for the bishop on the h4-d8 diagonal is the essential knowledge needed to play 56...Kxe6 1/2-1/2

1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Be3 a6 5.Qd2 Nd7 6.h4 h6 7.f3 b5 8.g4 Bb7 9.Nh3 c5 10.d5 Ne5 11.Be2 Nf6 12.Nf2 h5 13.g5 Nfd7 14.f4 Nc4 15.Bxc4 bxc4 16.Rf1 Rb8 17.Ncd1 Qc7 18.Nh3 Bc8 19.c3 Ne5 20.fxe5 Bxh3 21.Rh1 Bd7 22.exd6 exd6 23.Nf2 Be5 24.O-O-O Qa5 25.a3 Rb3 26.Qc2 Ba4 27.Bd2 Rxa3 28.Qb1 Rb3 29.Rh3 O-O 30.Rf1 Rfb8

This is close to the ultimate fantasy position for a modern defence player.  31.Nd1 R3b7 32.Qa1 Qb5 33.Rhf3 Qb3 34.Qb1 Qa3 35.Rxf7 Rxf7 36.Rxf7 Kxf7 0-1

1.d4 d6 2.c4 e5 3.Nf3 e4 4.Nfd2 f5 5.e3 Nf6 6.Nc3 g6 7.f3 exf3 8.Nxf3 Bg7 9.Bd3 O-O 10.O-O c6 11.Bd2 Re8 12.Qc2 Qe7 13.Rae1 Ne4 14.Re2 Nd7 15.b4 Ndf6 16.a4 Bd7 17.c5 Nxd2 18.Nxd2 d5 19.Nd1 Bh6 20.Rf3 Qg7 21.Nf1 Ng4 22.Qa2

The scene is set for some bewildering complications  22...Nxe3!? This looks to be decisive as Black gets two pawns immediately and seems to get the piece back as well.  23.Ndxe3 Qxd4 24.Qc2 (  The computer keeps the piece cleverly, keeping White in the game 24.Qb2! Qxd3 25.Ng4 winning back a piece since if  25...Qxe2?? 26.Nxh6+ Kf8 27.Qf6# mate! ) 24...f4 25.Bxg6 hxg6 26.Qxg6+

26...Bg7? This lets White back into the game ( Again the silicon oracle reveals how to keep material safely via tactical wizardry. After 26...Qg7! 27.Qd3 Qh7 (  not 27...fxe3? 28.Rg3 ) 28.Nxd5 Qxd3 29.Rxe8+ Bxe8! 30.Nf6+ Kf7 31.Rxd3 Kxf6 Black emerges a safe piece up ) 27.Qd6! Rxe3 28.Nxe3 fxe3 29.Qxd7 Qd1+ 30.Rf1 Qxe2

Surely the dust has settled and Black is a sound piece up?  31.Qe6+ No, White has a perpetual in hand  31...Kh7 32.Qh3+ Bh6? Which Black unwisely tries to avoid  33.Rf7+! Kg8 34.Qe6! Now even checks are met by a devastating discovered check  34...Qd3 35.Re7+ 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 Bg7 6.e4 Nb6 7.Be3 O-O 8.a4 a5 9.g4 Nc6 10.Nb5 Nb4 11.Rc1 c6 12.Nc3 f5 13.gxf5 gxf5 14.Nh3 fxe4 15.Rg1 Bxh3 16.Bxh3 Nd3+ 17.Kf1

Another complicated position full of interest  17...Nd5? Allowing White to hit first ( Natural and strong is 17...Nxf2 18.Bxf2 e3 ) 18.Be6+ Kh8 19.Nxd5 cxd5 20.Qg4 Rxf2+ Trying to keep active, but this costs too much material  21.Bxf2 Qf8 22.Rc2 Bh6 ( if 22...e3 23.Qxg7+! Qxg7 24.Rxg7 Kxg7 25.Bxe3 and there is no more excitement, just a piece extra for White in the ending ) 23.Qf5 Qe8 24.Rg8+ Qxg8 25.Bxg8 Rxg8 26.Bg3 Rf8 Is this a miracle comeback?  27.Rc8 No 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Bxf6 Bxf6 6.e5 Be7 7.Qg4 g6 8.Bd3 c5 9.dxc5 Nc6 10.Nf3 Qa5 11.h4 h5 12.Qf4 Qxc5 13.O-O-O Qb4 14.Qd2 Bd7 15.a3 Qa5 16.Qf4 Bxa3 17.Qf6 Rf8 18.Nb5 Be7 19.Nd6+ Bxd6 20.exd6 Qc5 21.Bxg6 fxg6 22.Qxg6+ Kd8 23.Ng5 Re8 24.Qxh5 Kc8 25.Qg6 Qxd6 26.h5 Qf4+ 27.Kb1 Ne7 28.Qg7 Rg8 29.Qc3+ Nc6 30.Nf3 Kc7 31.h6 Rh8 32.Rh4 Qf7 33.Rdh1 Raf8 34.h7 Qf6 35.Qe3 Rf7 36.Rh6 Qf4

White has played much of the middlegame with a piece deficit but a compelling plan. Promote the 'h' pawn!  37.Ng5?! This pushes his luck a little far  37...Qxe3 38.Nxf7 Qd2 39.Nxh8 Nb4! Black gets to fire some shots, just in time  40.Ng6 Qxc2+ 41.Ka1 Qa4+ 42.Kb1

Is White happy to draw?  42...e5! No! This settles matters by blocking any new Queen from defence of b2  43.Rc1+ Nc6?? Of course 42...e5 also threatened to add the bishop to the attack and Black doesn't want to give up on that. Nevertheless (43...Bc6! was the rig ht move [it doesn't lose a tempo because moving the Rook to c1 costs White an equivalent tempo since its unfortunate location means White is now threatened by immediate mate] and the Queen and Knight will give mate. eg  44.Rch1 Qc2+ 45.Ka1 Nd3 46.Rb1 Qa4# ) 44.Ne7! Now Black only has the queen left to attack with, just enough to draw.  44...Qe4+ 45.Ka1 Qa4+ 46.Kb1 Qe4+ 1/2-1/2

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 O-O 6.Be3 e5 7.Nge2 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Qd2 c6 10.Nc1 cxd5 11.cxd5 Ne8 12.Be2 f5 13.O-O f4 14.Bf2 g5 15.Kh1 Ng6 16.Nd3 h5 17.Qd1 Nf6 18.Nb5 g4 19.Nxd6 g3 20.Bc5 b6 21.Bb4 Nh7 22.Nxc8 Qh4 23.h3 Ng5

A classic Kings Indian battle is approaching its climax. White has followed the traditional recipe of eliminating Black's light squared bishop. The computer in turn awards White a big plus - initially. However give it a while and it appreciates that Black has other pieces that can make winning sacrificial breakthroughs....  24.Ne7+ Nxe7 25.Bxe7 Bf6! Without this resource Black would be lost, but now White has to give back all his material plus interest in order to avoid Nxh3 followed by mate.  26.Bxf6 Rxf6 27.Nf2 gxf2 28.Rxf2 Qxf2 29.Rc1 Nf7 30.Rc2 Qg3 31.Bf1 Kh8 32.Qc1 Rg8 33.Rc7 Ng5 34.Qc3 Qf2 0-1

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nf6 6.Nf3 h6 7.Bc4 c6 8.O-O Be7 9.h3 b5 10.Bd3 a6 11.Be3 Nbd7 12.Qc2 Bb7 13.e5 Nd5 14.Nxd5 cxd5 15.Nh2 Nb6 16.f4 Nc4 17.Bf2 Rc8 18.Qe2 g6 19.b3 Nb6 20.Qg4 h5 21.Qg3 b4 22.Bxg6 Rg8 23.Bxf7+ Kxf7 24.Qf3 Ke8 25.f5 exf5 26.Qxh5+ Kd7 27.Rac1 Bc6 28.Qxf5+ Kc7 29.Ng4 Kb7 30.Be3 Bd7 31.e6 Bb5 32.Rfe1 Rf8 33.Qh7 Rh8 34.Qb1 Bh4 35.Bf2 Bxf2+ 36.Nxf2 Rxc1 37.Qxc1 Qf6 38.Qe3 Re8 39.Ng4 Qg6 40.Qe5

40...Bd7!? Seems reasonable - the pawn is pinned right?  41.exd7?! Perhaps, but the White decides he doesn't really need his Queen.  41...Rxe5 42.Nxe5 Qd6 43.Rf1 Na8 Initiating a too-slow regrouping. This move illustrates nicely Black's problem - objectively he is okay, but his pieces are stepping on each other's toes while White's smaller force is beautifully co-ordinated and he has an obvious plan. (43...Nc4 is a clever computer resource that would throw something of a spanner in the works ) 44.h4! Nc7 45.Rf7 Already Black's position is beyond salvation.  45...Kb6 46.h5 Ne6 47.h6 Nd8

48.h7! Anyway!  48...Nxf7 49.Nxf7 Qxd7 50.h8=Q Qxf7 51.Qb8+ White gets to go first, and together with his extra pawn this is more than sufficient.  51...Ka5 52.Qd6 Qb7 53.Qc5+ Qb5 54.Qxb5+ Kxb5 55.Kf2 Kc6 56.Kf3 Kd6 57.Kf4 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 O-O 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Qd2 a6 8.Bd3 e5 9.d5 Ne7 10.Bh6 Ne8 11.h4 f5 12.h5 f4 13.Bxg7 Nxg7 14.hxg6 hxg6 15.Qf2 Nh5 16.Qh4 Kg7 17.Nge2 Rh8 18.O-O-O Bd7 19.Rh2 Nf6 20.Qxh8+ Qxh8 21.Rxh8 Rxh8 22.Rg1 g5 23.g3 Kf7 24.Kd2 Rh3 25.Nd1 Nh5 26.Nf2 Rh2 27.Ke1 Ng6 28.b4 fxg3 29.Nxg3 Nh4 30.Be2

Black wins a piece in an unusual way  30...Rg2 31.Rxg2 Nxg2+ 32.Kf1 Ne3+ 33.Kg1 Nxg3 34.Bd3 Nh5 35.c5 Nf4 36.c6 bxc6 37.dxc6 Bc8 38.a4 Nxd3 39.Nxd3 Nc2 40.Kf2 Nd4 41.b5 axb5 42.axb5 Nxb5 43.Nb4 g4 44.fxg4 Bxg4 45.Nd5 Ke6 46.Ke3 Bd1 47.Kd3 Bb3 48.Nb4 d5 49.exd5+ Bxd5 50.Ke3 Kd6 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 Ne4 5.Qc2 f5 6.Bd3 d5 7.Nf3 O-O 8.O-O b6 9.Ne5 Bb7 10.f3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Bd6 12.cxd5 Bxe5 13.dxe5 Qxd5 14.Ba3 c5 15.e4 Qxe5 16.Rae1 f4 17.Bb2 c4 18.Be2 Qc5+ 19.Kh1 Na6 20.Qa4 b5 21.Qc2 e5 22.a4 Bc6 23.axb5 Bxb5 24.Ra1 Qc6

The next phase of this game features an amazingly comprehensive infiltration by Black  25.Ba3 Ba4 26.Qa2 Bb3 27.Qd2 Rfd8 28.Qe1 Nc7 29.Bd1 a5 30.Rb1 a4 31.Qf2 Nb5 32.Bb4 h6 33.Re1 Rd3 34.Be2 Re3 35.Rec1 a3 36.Ra1 Kh7 37.Qf1 a2 38.g3 Rd8 39.Qe1 Qd7 40.Kg1 Qd2 41.Kf1 Qb2 42.Bc5

42...Rxe2! A nice finishing touch  43.Qxe2 Rd2 44.Qe1 Rxh2 45.Bf2 fxg3 0-1

1.e4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bd3 f5?! Nigel Davies in "Gambiteer 1": "If 3...e6 was quite a good move, and 3...Nf6 bad, then this one is the ugly". Davies gives the move a ? and claims essentially a forced win for White. However another point of view is that this sort of thing is great fun and isn't what the game should be about at amateur level? I think Nigel Cooper deserves credit for playing a variety of interesting openings in this tournament.  4.exf5 Bxg2 5.Qh5+ g6 6.fxg6 Bg7 7.gxh7+ The most common and according to the computer the best move (  Davies claims the obscure 7.Qf5 is winning and quotes Jansen-Salil Correspondence 1990 ) 7...Kf8 8.hxg8=Q+ Also the most common move, although now the computer recommends (8.Nf3! as winning, and this move does indeed score very heavily in the database ) 8...Kxg8 9.Qg4 Bxh1 10.h3 The first new move  10...e6 11.Bg5 Qf8 12.f4 Nc6

A charmingly chaotic situation  13.f5? Premature, Black now takes over completely  13...exf5 14.Bc4+? d5 15.Qg3 dxc4 16.Nc3 Re8+ 17.Kd2 Nxd4 18.Nd5 Bxd5 19.Rd1 Qd6 20.Bf4 Qb4+ 21.Qc3 Qxc3+ 22.bxc3 Nb5 23.Kc1 Nxc3 24.Rd2 Nxa2+ 25.Kb1 Nc3+ 26.Kc1 Re1+ 27.Kb2 Ne4+ 28.c3 Bxc3+ 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 Bc5!? The Wilkes-Barre or Traxler Variation, a minefield for the unwary.  5.Bxf7+ Both captures on f7 are possible  5...Ke7 6.Bd5 d6 7.h3!? (7.c3! Has scored very well in this positon ) 7...Rf8 8.f4 Nxd5 9.exd5 Nb4 10.d4 Bb6 11.Ne6 Bxe6 12.dxe6 exd4 13.f5 Rxf5 14.Qg4 Qf8 15.Bg5+

15...Kxe6! Black's king is the hero of this game  16.Kd1 h5 17.Re1+ Kd7 18.Re7+ Qxe7 19.Qxf5+ Qe6 20.Qb5+ Nc6 21.Qf1 Re8 22.Nd2 Nb4 23.a4 Nd5 24.Ra3 Ne3+

Centralisation wins the day  25.Bxe3 dxe3 26.Ne4 Qxe4 27.Qf7+ Re7 0-1

1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.e4 Bg7 5.O-O Nf6 6.d3 O-O 7.Nbd2 d6 8.Re1 Bd7 9.Nf1 Ng4 10.h3 Nf6 11.Bf4 e5 12.Bg5 h6 13.Be3 Kh7 14.N1h2 Ne8 15.Qd2 Nd4 16.c3 Nxf3+ 17.Nxf3 Qc8 18.Kh2 f5 19.exf5 gxf5 20.Nh4 Nf6 21.f4 Qc7 22.fxe5 dxe5 23.Qf2 f4 24.gxf4 exf4 25.Kg1 fxe3 26.Rxe3 Ng4

Black should win  27.Be4+ Kg8 28.Bd5+ Kh7? (  There is no need to fear 28...Kh8! 29.Ng6+ Kh7 30.Nxf8+ Rxf8 and Black is still winning material ) 29.Be4+ Kg8 1/2-1/2

1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 d6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 Bf5 5.Be2 e6 6.Nf3 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.d5 Nbd7 9.Nd4 Bg4 10.Bxg4 Nxg4 11.Qxg4 Nf6 12.Qh3 exd5 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.b3 Qc7 15.Bb2 Qc8 16.Qf3 Qc5 17.Rac1 Rac8 18.Qf5 g6 19.Qf3 b6 20.Rfd1 Rfe8 21.Qh3 Rc7

Papatoetoe stalwart John McRae has a field day with his knights  22.Ncb5! wins a rook  22...Qb4 23.Nxc7 Rf8 24.Nc6 wins a bishop  24...Qe4 25.Rd4 Qf5 26.Nxe7+ wins a queen  26...Kg7 27.Nxf5+ Kg8 28.Nh6+ Kg7 29.Rxd5 Rd8 30.Ng4 Rf8 31.Bxf6+ 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Qa5 7.Bd2 Qa4 8.Qg4 Kf8 9.Qd1 b6 10.dxc5 bxc5 11.Nf3 Ne7 12.Rb1 Ba6 13.Bxa6 Qxa6 14.Qe2 c4 15.O-O Nbc6 16.Nd4 Nxd4 17.cxd4 Nf5 18.Bb4+ Kg8 19.Bc5 h5 20.Rb4 Qa5 21.Rfb1 Qd8 22.f4 a6 23.Rb7 Qh4 24.Qf2 Qg4 25.Qf3 Qh4 26.Rd7 Rh6 27.Qf2 Rg6 28.Qxh4 Nxh4 29.g3 Nf5 30.Rbb7

Sometimes blind pigs are not enough. At first sight this position looks promising for White, but in fact the superb Black knight ensures complete security despite the seventh rank rooks  30...h4 31.Rxf7 hxg3 32.h3? Understandable but completely fatal  32...Nh4! And White has no good defence to Nf3+ g2 and g1=Q 0-1

The young Australian Karl Zelesco had a great tournament, cutting a swathe through the great and the good of NZ chess.  1.e4 c5 2.a3!? An early departure from routine  2...Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.Nc3 Nxc3 5.dxc3 d5 6.exd6 Qxd6 7.Qe2 e6 8.g3 Bd7 9.Bf4 Qb6 10.O-O-O

Signalling aggressive intent. Queenside castling usually signals a race, a surprisingly one-sided one on this occasion  10...Bc6 11.Nf3 Be7 12.h4 Nd7 13.Bh3 O-O 14.h5 Rad8 15.Rhe1 Nf6 16.Rxd8 Rxd8 17.Ne5 Be8 18.g4 Having established a firm grip on the centre, White's pawns advance with gain of time - on the other wing Black never gets close to firing a shot  18...h6 19.g5 hxg5 20.Bxg5 Qd6 21.Rg1 Nd7 22.Bxe7 Qxe7 23.Nxd7 Qxd7 24.h6!

The decisive breach  24...Qd5 (24...g6? allows  25.Rxg6+! and wins ) 25.Rxg7+ Kh8 26.Rg1 Bc6 27.f4 Qe4 28.Qg4 Qh7 29.Qg5 1-0

1.d4 f5 2.g3 e6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.c4 c6 5.Nf3 d5 6.b3 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bd6 8.Nc3 O-O 9.O-O Ne4 10.Qc2 Nxd2 11.Nxd2 Nd7 12.a3 Nf6 13.b4 Ne4 14.Ndxe4 fxe4 15.c5 Bc7 16.f3 exf3 17.Rxf3 Rxf3 18.Bxf3 e5 19.Qd2 exd4 20.Qxd4 Qg5 21.e4 Be5 22.Qd3 Qf6 23.Rc1 Bh3 24.exd5 Rf8 25.dxc6 bxc6 26.Kf2 Rd8 27.Qc4+ Be6 28.Qe2 Bxc3 29.Rxc3 Qxc3 30.Qxe6+ Kh8 31.Qe7 Rd2+ 32.Be2 Qf6+ 33.Qxf6 gxf6

Black has won exchange for pawn and seems to be in fine shape for the ending, but all is not as it seems  34.Ke3 Ra2 35.b5! Rxa3+ 36.Kd4 cxb5? ( Black can and should take a draw 36...Ra4+ 37.Ke3 Ra3+ with a repetition ) 37.Bxb5 That old familiar sinking feeling - how do I stop this pawn? Sadly you don't  37...Ra2 38.c6 Rd2+ 39.Bd3! Rd1 40.c7 1-0

1.e4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.f4 d6 4.Nf3 e5 5.fxe5 dxe5 6.Bc4 Be6 7.Bxe6 fxe6 8.d3 h6 9.Be3 Nc6 10.O-O Nd4

11.Nxd4! Black presumably thought this would cost a piece, but...  11...exd4 12.Qg4! ...squelches that hope - White generates a series of stronger threats that render the fork irrelevant.  12...Ne7 13.Qxe6 Rh7 14.Nd5 Qd6 15.Qf7+ Kd7 16.Bf4!

A final precise move, for a second time removing a piece from the fork with tempo - Black is now faced with ruinous material losses 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.Qg4 cxd4 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Bd3 Qc7 7.Qg3 Nb4 8.O-O Nxc2 9.Bxc2 Qxc2 10.Nxd4 Qg6 11.Qc3 a6 12.Qc7 Be7 13.Nc6!

An unusual move creating an unusual position. Black is almost paralysed, and White threatens the bizarre follow-up Nb8! winning material  13...Qe4! Meeting the threat  14.Nb8? Unfortunately this is now a fatal error  14...Qc4 And instead it is Black that wins material!  15.Nxa6 Rxa6 16.Qb8 Qc6 17.Be3 Qd7 18.Nc3 Nh6 19.Nb5 O-O 20.Na7 b6 21.Nc6 Qxc6 22.Rfc1 Ra8 23.Qxb6 Qxb6 24.Bxb6 Rb8 25.Bc5 Bxc5 26.Rxc5 Rxb2 27.a4 Rb8 28.Rc6 Ra8 29.a5 Ba6 30.f3 Rfc8 31.Rb6 d4 32.Kf2 d3 33.Ke3 Rd8 34.Kd2 Rdc8 35.Rab1 g6 36.g4 Rc2+ 37.Kd1 Ra2 38.Rd6 Rxa5 39.Rc1 Ra2 40.h4 Rb8 41.g5 Nf5 0-1

1.Nf3 d6 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.O-O Qc7 5.d3 Nbd7 6.e4 e5 7.Nbd2 Be7 8.b3 O-O 9.Bb2 b6 10.Nh4 Bb7 11.f4 exf4 12.Rxf4 g5 13.Nf5 gxf4 14.Nxe7+ Kh8 15.Qg4 fxg3

16.Qxd7! gxh2+ 17.Kxh2 Kg7 18.Bxf6+ Kxf6 19.Qxc7 Rab8 20.Qxd6+ Kg7 21.Nf5+ Kh8 22.Qf6+ 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.f4 Bg7 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bb5 Nd4 6.O-O Nxb5 7.Nxb5 d5 8.exd5 a6 9.Nc3 Nf6 10.d3 Nxd5 11.Bd2 O-O 12.Rb1 b5 13.Qe2 Bb7 14.Ne4 Qc7 15.Nfg5 h6 16.Nh3 e6 17.Kh1 Rfe8 18.Qe1 f5 19.Ng3 Qc6 20.Rf2 e5 21.Re2 exf4 22.Nxf4 Nxf4 23.Bxf4 Rxe2 24.Qxe2 Re8 25.Qf1 Qe6 26.c4 g5 27.Bd2 f4 28.Ne4 Bxe4 29.dxe4 Qxc4 30.Qxc4+ bxc4 31.e5 Rxe5 32.Bc3 Re2 33.Bxg7 Kxg7 34.Kg1 Kf6 35.Rc1 Rxb2 36.Rxc4 Rxa2 37.Rxc5 Kg6 38.g4 fxg3 39.hxg3 Kh5 40.Rc6 a5 41.Rc4 a4 42.Kh1 a3 43.Ra4 Kg6 44.Ra6+ Kf5 45.Ra4 h5 46.Kg1 Ra1+ 47.Kg2 a2 48.Kh2 g4 49.Kg2 h4 50.gxh4 g3 51.h5 Kg5 52.h6 Kxh6

Illustrating one of Dr Tarrasch's dictums "All rook endings are drawn". A slight exaggeration perhaps, but in this case Black keeps both pawns but can make no progress. Andrew insists he had been knowingly heading to this book draw.  53.Ra5 Kg6 54.Ra8 Kf5 55.Ra4 Ke5 56.Ra8 Kd4 1/2-1/2

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6 6.c3 Nge7 7.Bc4 b6 8.a3 Ne5 9.Nd2 Nxc4 10.Nxc4 Ba6 11.Nd2 Nc6 12.b4 Bxd4 13.cxd4 Nxd4 14.Rc1 Ne6 15.Nc4 Bb7 16.f3 O-O 17.Qxd7 Rfd8 18.Qb5 Nd4 19.Qe5 Qxe5 20.Nxe5 Rac8 21.Kf2 f6 22.Bxd4 Rxd4 23.Nc6 Bxc6 24.Rxc6 Rd2+ 25.Kg3 Ra2 26.Rhc1 Rxa3 27.Rxc7 Rxc7 28.Rxc7 a5 29.bxa5 bxa5 30.Ra7 Ra2 31.f4 a4 32.h3 a3 33.Kf3 Ra1 34.Ke2 h5 35.Kf2 a2 36.e5 fxe5 37.fxe5 Kf8 38.e6 g6 39.Kg3 Ke8 40.Kf2 h4 41.e7 g5 42.Ra8+ Kxe7 43.Ra7+ Kd6 44.Ra6+ Kc5 45.Ra8 g4 46.hxg4

This position from later in the tournament is a nice counterpoint to the previous position. A key idea in these positions is that g2 and h2 are inherently safe squares for the White king. On other ranks Black gets a rook check giving time to queen. And on f2,e2 or d2 Black has a skewer trick as demonstrated by Helen here.  46...h3 Worth a crack  47.gxh3? (47.Kg3! heading for the safe squares, with a draw ) 47...Rh1! winning  48.Ra5+ Kb6 49.Rxa2 Rh2+ 50.Kg3 Rxa2 51.Kh4 Kc6 52.Kh5 Kd6 53.g5 Ke7 54.h4 Kf7 55.Kh6 Kg8 56.Kg6 Ra6+ 57.Kf5 Kg7 58.h5 Ra5+ 59.Kg4 Kf7 60.Kf4 Ke6 61.h6 Ra4+ 62.Kg3 Kf5 63.h7 Ra8 64.Kh4 Rh8 65.Kh5 Rxh7# 0-1

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.Nf3 Bg4 6.Be2 Nc6 7.b3 dxe5 8.dxe5 Bxf3 9.Qxd8+ Rxd8 10.Bxf3 Nxe5 11.Bxb7 e6 12.O-O f6 13.Be3 Kf7 14.Nc3 Rb8 15.Be4 a6 16.h3 f5 17.Bc2 h5 18.Ne2 Be7 19.Rad1 Nc6 20.Nd4 Nb4 21.Bb1 c5 22.Nf3 Nc6 23.Rfe1 Rhe8 24.Bf4 Rbc8 25.Ne5+ Nxe5 26.Bxe5 g5 27.Rd3 Red8 28.Red1 Rxd3 29.Rxd3 Rd8 30.Rxd8 Bxd8 31.a3 Nd7 32.Bc3 Bf6 33.Bd2 Kg6 34.Be3 Bb2 35.a4 Bc3 36.Kf1 Bb4 37.f4 gxf4 38.Bxf4 e5 39.Bc1 e4 40.Bf4 Nf8 41.g4 hxg4 42.hxg4 Ne6 43.gxf5+ Kxf5 44.Be3 Nd4 45.Ba2 Ke5 46.Kf2 Nc6 47.Bb1 Nd4 48.Ba2 Nc2 49.Bb1 Na1 50.Ba2 Nc2 51.Bb1 Nd4 52.Ba2 Ba5 53.Kf1 Kf5 54.Kf2 Bc7 55.b4 Bb6 56.bxc5 Bxc5 57.Bb1 Ke5 58.Ke1 Bb4+ 59.Kd1 Nf5 60.Ke2 Bc3 61.Bg1 Nd4+ 62.Kf2 Nf3 63.Kg2 Kf4 64.c5 e3 65.c6 Ba5 66.Ba2 e2 67.Bf2 e1=Q 68.Bxe1 Nxe1+ 69.Kf1 Nd3 70.Bc4 Nc5 71.Ke2 Ke4 72.Bxa6 Nxa6 73.Kf2 Kd5 74.Ke3 Kxc6 75.Kd4 Nc5 76.Kc4 Nxa4 77.Kd4 Nb2 78.Ke4 Bb6 79.Ke5 Kc5 80.Ke4 Kc4 81.Ke5 Bc5 82.Ke4 Nd3 83.Kf5 Kd4 84.Kg4 Ke4 85.Kg5 Bd4 86.Kg6 Ne5+ 87.Kf6 Kd5 88.Kf5 Nd3 89.Kg4 Ke4 90.Kg3 Ne5 91.Kg2 Kf4 92.Kf1 Ke3 93.Kg2 Nd3 94.Kf1 Be5 95.Kg2 Ke2 96.Kh1 Kf3 97.Kg1 Bg3 98.Kf1 Nf4 99.Kg1 Ne2+ 100.Kf1 Bf4 101.Ke1 Nd4 102.Kf1 Be3 103.Ke1 Nf5 104.Kf1 Ng3+ 105.Ke1 Ke4 106.Kd1 Kd3 107.Ke1 Kc3 108.Kd1 Bf2 109.Kc1 Ne4 110.Kd1 Kd3 111.Kc1 Bd4 112.Kd1 Bc3 113.Kc1 Nf2 114.Kb1

The concluding stages of a great struggle, Black has to mate on his 126th move or earlier to avoid a 50 move rule draw  114...Be5 115.Ka2 Kc4 116.Ka3 Nd3 117.Ka4 Bc3 118.Ka3 Bb4+ 119.Ka2 ( Not the tempting 119.Ka4? Nb2#! ) 119...Kc3 120.Ka1 Kb3 121.Kb1 Ba3 122.Ka1 Nb4 123.Kb1 Nd5 124.Ka1 Bb2+ (124...Bb2+ 125.Kb1 Nc3# One spare move in reserve! Allen earned GM Chandler's praise for his skill and Fred earned both praise and a book prize for the good sportsmanship he displayed in congratulating his opponent warmly. Incidentally the regular upset and novelty book-prizes were a nice feature of the tournament. Most memorable perhaps was Gary Judkins' prize for innovative attempted castling (he used his queen instead of his king) [this was in the rapid] and a joint award to 12 year old sisters Sarah and Caroline Yan for the neatest scoresheets. The person who mocked this latter prize on the internet has probably never suffered through an attempt to decipher a Ross Jackson (to name just one serial offender) scoresheet. Amazingly enough the fundamental bishop and knight mate came up twice in the tournament. On the second occasion the possessor of the pieces did not seem to know that it was necessary to drive the bare king to a corner of the same colour as his bishop. So the game inevitably ended in a draw. According to Wikipedia (so you can definitely take this to the bank) about one in five thousand games ends this way, so twice in five hundred games is rather remarkable. ) 0-1

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 Nd4 5.Bg2 Nxf3+ 6.Bxf3 Bb4 7.d4 A rather rare move, Qb3 is much more common.  7...Qe7 8.dxe5 Qxe5 9.O-O!? Bxc3 10.bxc3 Qxc3?! The first step down a perilous path  11.Bf4 Qxc4 Black fear lessly grabs everything on offer but White gets a huge development lead  12.Rc1 Qxa2

13.Rxc7 O-O 14.Bd6 Re8 15.Qd4 a5 The optimism of youth - Black only needs another 5 moves to make a second queen! Admittedly it is hard to suggest a better plan.  16.e4 h5 17.e5 Ng4 18.h3 Nh6 19.Bd5 Qe2 20.Rfc1

A rather striking picture. Fortunately for Black's morale at this stage, he had no way of knowing that White has been reeling off a string of first choice computer moves throughout the middlegame! (amazingly this streak continues to the very end of the game!) For some time now the computer has been signalling a winning advantage for White  20...a4 21.R7c2 Qa6 22.g4 hxg4 23.hxg4 b5 24.g5 Nf5

Another diagram please!  25.g6! The concluding phase begins with a Queen sacrifice (that can't be accepted)  25...Re6 26.gxf7+ Kxf7 27.Qf4 Kg6 28.Be4 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.Nbd2 c5 6.Bg2 Nc6 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.O-O O-O 9.b3 d5 10.Bb2 Rc8 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Bh3 Rc7 13.a3 Ne4 14.b4 Be7 15.Re1 Bf6 16.Qb3 Nxd2 17.Nxd2 Nd4 18.Bxd4 Bxd4 19.Rad1 Bc3 20.b5 Bb7 21.Bg2 Ba5 22.Rf1 Qe7 23.Nb1 Qxe2 24.Bxd5 Bxd5 25.Rxd5 g6 26.Kg2 Re8 27.Qf3 Rc2 28.Rd7 Qxf3+ 29.Kxf3 Re5 30.Rxa7

30...Be1! A nice manoeuvre to win material -the knight is surrounded and cut off  31.Rd7 Rc1 32.Kf4 Re6 33.Nc3 Rxc3 34.Rd1 Bxf2 0-1

1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.f4 Nf6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Bd3 Na6 7.O-O c5 8.h3 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Qb6 10.Be3 Qxb2 11.Qd2 Qb4 12.Rab1 Qa5 13.f5 Nc5 14.Rb5 Qc7 15.fxg6 hxg6 16.Nf3 Nxd3 17.cxd3 Bd7 18.Rb3 Be6 19.Rb4 Rfc8 20.Rc1 Qd7 21.d4 Bc4 22.e5 Ne8 23.Rcb1 b6 24.Ne4 b5 25.Qf2 a5 26.R4b2 Bd3 27.Nfg5

White has sacrificed for the attack  27...Qf5? 28.Qh4! Now the sacrifice is fully justified  28...Bxb1 29.Rxb1 dxe5 30.Rf1 Winning the Queen and eventually the game.  30...Qxf1+ 31.Kxf1 Nf6 32.dxe5 Nxe4 33.Qxe4 e6 34.Qb7 Rf8 35.Bc5 Rab8 36.Qf3 Bxe5 37.Bxf8 Rxf8 38.Qe2 Bf4 39.Qxb5 Rd8 40.Qxa5 Rd1+ 41.Ke2 Rd5 42.Qa8+ Kg7 43.Nf3 Rc5 44.a4 Rc2+ 45.Kd3 Rxg2 46.Ke4 Bc7 47.Qa7 Rc2 48.Kd3 Rc1 49.a5 Bf4 50.a6 e5 51.Qb7 1-0

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 O-O 6.Nf3 h6 7.Bh4 b6 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.O-O Nbd7 11.Rc1 c5 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Bb1 Re8 14.Nd4 Nfe4 15.Bxe7 Qxe7 16.Qg4 Nd2 17.Rfd1 Nxb1 18.Rxb1 Rad8 19.Rbc1 Ne4 20.Nf5 Qf6 21.Nxe4 Rxe4 22.f4 Bc8 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Nxh6+ Qxh6 25.Qxc8+ Kh7 26.Qf5+ Qg6 27.Qxg6+ Kxg6 28.Kf2 Rb4 29.b3 Rb5 30.Kf3 f5 31.h3 Kf6 32.g4 g6 33.gxf5 Kxf5

White to play and win  34.Rxd5+! Rxd5 35.e4+ Ke6 36.exd5+ Kxd5 37.Ke3 Ke6 38.Ke4 a5 39.a4 Ke7 40.Ke5 Kf7 41.h4 Ke7 42.f5 gxf5 43.Kxf5 Kf7 44.Ke5 Ke7 45.Kd5 Kd7 46.h5 Ke8 47.Kc6 Kf7 48.Kxb6 Kg7 49.Kxa5 Kh6 50.Kb6 Kxh5 51.a5 Kg6 52.a6 Kf7 53.a7 Ke6 54.a8=Q Kd7 55.Qc6+ Ke7 56.Qg6 Kd7 57.Qf6 Ke8 58.Qg7 Kd8 59.Kc6 Ke8 60.Kd6 Kd8 61.Qd7# 1-0

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.g3 Qa5+ 6.Nc3 Ne4 7.Nb3 Nxc3 8.Qd2 Qb4 9.Qxc3 Qxc3+ 10.bxc3 b6 11.Bg2 Ba6 12.c5 g6 13.Be3 Bg7 14.Rc1 O-O 15.Rc2 Rab8 16.O-O Ne5 17.Rd1 Rfc8 18.Bf4 bxc5 19.Bxe5 Bxe5 20.Rxd7 c4 21.Nd2 Rc7 22.Rxc7 Bxc7 23.Bd5 Rd8 24.Bf3 Ba5 25.Ne4 Rd1+ 26.Kg2 Kg7 27.e3 Rd8 28.Nc5 Bc8 29.Nb7 Bxb7 30.Bxb7 Rd6 31.Bf3 Kf6 32.Be2 Rc6 33.Rd2 e5 34.Rd7 Bxc3 35.Bf3 Rc5 36.Bd5

A catastrophic mistake from the tournament favourite  36...Bb2? (36...e4! = ) 37.Rxf7+ Kg5 38.h4+ Kh6 39.Be4! Sealing off any possible escape  39...c3 40.g4 c2 Black sportingly plays on to allow While to demonstrate the logical conclusion  41.g5+ Kh5 42.Rxh7+ Kg4 43.f3# 1-0

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 c5 3.c4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 b6 5.f3 Bb7 6.e4 d6 7.Nc3 e6 8.Be2 Be7 9.O-O O-O 10.Kh1 Nbd7 11.Nc2 a6 12.b3 Rc8 13.Bb2 Qc7 14.Rc1 Kh8 15.Qd2 Rg8 16.Ne3 Qb8 17.Bd3 Ne5 18.Bb1 g5 19.Ncd1 Rcd8 20.Nf2 Nh5 21.Qb4 f6 22.Qxb6 Nf4 23.b4

The scene is set for one of the most striking moves of the tournament   23...Nxf3!! Impressively (or is it disturbingly), Houdini finds this brilliant shot more or less instantaneously. Russell vividly described the unpleasant feeling of being hit by a move like 23...Nxf3!! with less than 3 minutes (until move 40) on the clock! He didn't panic and quickly recognised two key points. 1) The impudent knight is not attacking anything. 2) White still has material equality because he was previously a pawn up.  24.c5! ( If 24.gxf3 Bxe4 wins material because eg  25.Qxb8? Bxf3+ 26.Kg1? Ne2# is mate  ) 24...dxc5 Opening the b8-h2 diagonal means the knight on f3 now is threatening something....  25.bxc5? After playing this move Russell noticed he had missed something big and had to practise his poker face (25.Nfg4! Combining defence and attack keeps White afloat ) 25...Nd2? (  Relief for Russell, Black misses the simple 25...Nd5! winning the queen cold ) 26.Rfd1 Nxb1 27.Rxb1 Qa8 28.Qc7 (28.Qxb7! is a clever computer tactic ) 28...Bxe4? 29.Nxe4 1-0

1.d4 d6 2.c4 f5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.h4 e6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 O-O 7.Qc2 h6 8.Bxf6 Bxf6 9.Nf3 Nc6 10.O-O-O a5 11.a3 Bd7 12.d5 Ne7 13.dxe6 Bxe6 14.g3 Qe8 15.Nd4 Bd7 16.Bg2 c6 17.Nde2 Be6 18.Rxd6 Nc8 19.Rd2 Bxc4 20.Ne4 Bxe2 21.Nxf6+ Rxf6 22.Rxe2 Qe6 23.Rd1 Nb6 24.Red2 Qa2 25.Rd8+ Rf8 26.Rxa8 Rxa8 27.Bf1 Rf8 28.Rd3 a4 29.Rd4 Rf6 30.Rb4 c5 31.Bc4+ Nxc4 32.Qxc4+ Qxc4+ 33.Rxc4 Rc6 34.Rxa4 Kf7 35.Kc2 Ke6 36.Ra8 Kd5 37.Re8 b6 38.h5 g6 39.f4 Rf6 40.Re5+ Kd6 41.hxg6 Rxg6 42.Rxf5 Rxg3 43.e4 Rg6 44.a4 Kc6 45.e5 Kd5 46.b3 Rg2+ 47.Kc3 Rg3+ 48.Kb2 Rg2+ 49.Ka3 Rg3 50.Rf6 c4 51.Rxb6 c3 52.Rxh6

White has three extra pawns but Black's ideally placed units provide good practicalchances  52...Rg1 53.Rh2 Kc5 54.Ka2 Rd1 55.Rc2? After this White can only draw (55.Rh8! It's easy if you have a computer to do the heavy lifting ) 55...Kb4 56.e6 Rd2 57.Kb1? Now White is even losing (57.Rxd2 cxd2 58.e7 d1=Q 59.e8=Q Qc2+ draw ) 57...Kxb3 58.Rxc3+ Kxc3 59.f5 Re2 Stopping White achieving two abreast passers on the sixth, which beat a rook.  60.a5 Re1+ 61.Ka2

Now Tim sank into thought with about 5 minutes available to find a win. I must admit as I watched this play out I somehow imagined White was still the side with winning chances.  61...Re2+ ( GM Chandler was also watching and of course he very quickly worked out the win for Black. 61...Re5! Simply capturing the f pawn - the rook can cope with two advanced passers if they are not connected  62.a6 Rxf5 63.e7 Ra5+ 64.Kb1 Rb5+ 65.Ka2 Rb8 66.a7 Ra8 ) 62.Kb1 Re1+ 63.Ka2 Re2+ 1/2-1/2

1.e4 d6 Herman seeks a sharp battle, on the basis that this approach will give him better practical chances than a long term positional game, especially with the Black pieces. The Pirc defence is Herman's third system, but he plays 1...e5 and 1...c5 much more often so this way he hopes to avoid his opponent's preparation.  2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Qd4 O-O 8.Bd2 In NZ Chess January 2014, Scott Wastney presents an article on this 7.Qd4 variation which he calls 'The Pirc Buster'. Scott considers 8.cxd6 to be the main move here, he does mention 8.Bd2, and awards it a !? without further analysis.  8...dxc5 9.Qg1! Interestingly, Herman reveals that he noticed the computer recommending this strong novelty in his preparation. David spent approximately 15 minutes on the move, so presumably it was an over the board inspiration in his case  9...Nc6 10.e5 Nd7 11.h4 Rd8 12.O-O-O Nf8 13.Bc4 Nd4 14.h5

14...b5? A blunder (  Unfortunately Herman talked himself out of 14...Be6! a much better move. White is better, but with David already down to 1 minute 30 Black would have good practical chances ) 15.Nxd4 Rxd4 ( Black also loses material after 15...cxd4 16.Nd5 Qa6 17.Nxe7+ Kh8 18.Bxf7 ) 16.Nxb5 Qa4 17.Nxd4 Qxc4 18.Nc6 Ne6 19.Kb1 Kf8 20.Bc3 Qe4 21.Qxc5 ( A nice concluding touch 21.Qxc5 Nxc5 22.Rd8# ) 1-0

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.O-O Be7 6.b3 O-O 7.Bb2 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.d4 Nd7 10.e4 ( Normally White plays 10.Nbd2 here ) 10...N5f6 11.e5 Nd5 12.Nbd2 c5 13.Nc4 b5 14.Nd6 Bxd6 15.exd6 c4 16.bxc4 bxc4 17.Ne5 N7b6 18.Ba3

Play has become very sharp.  18...Nc3 19.Qe1 Bxg2 20.Kxg2 Nb5 21.Bc5 Nxd6 22.Qb4 Nf5 23.Bxf8 Qd5+ 24.Nf3 Nxd4 25.Qc3

Black can restore approximate material equality with ...Qxf3+  25...e5 ...but prefers to keep things complex whilst playing a rook down for the forseeable  26.Rfe1 Na4 27.Qa3 c3 28.Re3 Rxf8 29.Qxa4 g5 30.h3 h5 31.Rxc3 Now Black does get a piece back (31.g4! and White should win ) 31...g4 32.Qc4 gxf3+ 33.Kh2 Qxc4 34.Rxc4 Rb8 35.Rc7 Rb2 36.Kg1 Ne2+ 37.Kf1 h4 38.gxh4 Nf4 39.Rac1 Nd3 40.R7c2 Rb6 41.Rd1 e4 42.h5 Kg7 43.Kg1 Rb5

Black has never stopped attacking, and the octopus on d3 ensures full equality  44.Kh2 Rxh5 45.Rxd3 exd3 46.Rd2 Rg5 47.h4 Rg2+ 48.Kh3 Kg6 49.a3 f5 50.Rxd3 Rxf2 51.Kg3 Rg2+ 52.Kxf3 Rg4 53.Rd6+ 1/2-1/2