Magazines Games 2008-2018 2016

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 e6 3.e3 Nf6 4.c4 Be7 5.Nc3 O-O 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 a6 8.a4 c5 9.O-O Nc6 10.d5 exd5

11.Nxd5 Nxd5 12.Qxd5 Qxd5 13.Bxd5 Nb4 14.Be4 f5 15.Bb1 Bf6 16.Bd2 Bxb2 17.Bxb4 cxb4 18.Ba2+ Kh8 19.Rad1 Bf6 20.Rd6 a5 21.Bc4 Rd8 22.Rfd1 Rxd6 23.Rxd6 Be7 24.Rd2 g6 25.Ne5 Kg7 26.Nd7 b5 27.Bxb5 Ra7 28.g3 Rc7 29.Nb6 Bb7 30.Nc4 Bf6 31.f4 b3 32.Kf2 Be4 33.Ke2 Bc3 34.Nd6 Bxd2 0-1

1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.e3 g6 4.Bd3 Bg7 5.Nbd2 O-O 6.O-O c5 7.c3 b6 8.Qe2 Bb7 9.Rd1 Qc8 10.dxc5 bxc5 11.e4 e6 12.Bc2 Nc6 13.Nb3 Nxe4 14.Bxe4 dxe4 15.Ng5 Ne5 16.Nxe4 c4 17.Nbc5 Bd5 18.Be3 Nd3 19.Bd4 e5 20.Be3 f5 21.Nd6 Qc6 22.Nxd3 cxd3 23.Qxd3 Bxg2 24.Qc4+ Kh8 25.Nf7+ Rxf7 26.Qxf7 f4 27.Rd7 Rg8 28.Bc5 Bh3 29.Rd5

29...Be6? (29...Qc8! 30.f3 Be6 wins ) 30.Rd6! Qxc5 31.Qxe6 e4 32.Rd5 Qc4 33.Rad1 e3 34.fxe3 f3 35.Qh3 Qe2 36.Qf1 Qxe3+ 37.Qf2 Qe4 38.Rd8 Bf6 39.Rxg8+ Kxg8 40.Rf1 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Qd2 O-O 10.Be2 Ndxe5 11.Nxc6 Bxe3 12.Nxd8 Bxd2+ 13.Kxd2 Nc4+ 14.Bxc4 dxc4 15.Nxf7 Rxf7 16.Rhf1 Bd7 17.g3 Bc6 18.Rae1 Rd8+ 19.Kc1 Rd6 20.Re5 Rfd7 21.Rd1 Kf7

22.Rxd6 Rxd6 23.Rc5 Rd4 24.Ne2 Re4 25.Kd2 e5 26.Nc3 Rd4+ 27.Ke3 Rd6 28.Rxe5 Rh6 29.h4 Rg6 30.Ne2 Bg2 31.Rc5 Ra6 32.Rc7+ Kf8 33.f5 Rxa2 34.Nf4 Bc6 35.Ne6+ Ke8 36.Nxg7+ Kf8 37.Ne6+ Ke8 38.f6 Bd7 39.Rxd7 1-0

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bb4 4.Bg2 O-O 5.Nf3 Re8 6.O-O c6 7.d3 h6 8.Qb3 Bf8 9.Qc2 d5 10.Rb1 d4 11.Na4 c5 12.Bd2 Nc6 13.a3 a5 14.e4 dxe3 15.Bxe3 Nd4 16.Nxd4 cxd4 17.Bd2 Qc7 18.f4 Ng4 19.Rbe1 Ne3

20.Rxe3?! dxe3 21.Bxe3 exf4 22.Bxf4 Bd6 23.Bd2 Bg4 24.Nc3 Bc5+ 25.Kh1 Qd7 26.Ne4 Bf8 27.Nf2 Bf5 28.Bc3 Rad8 29.Ne4 a4 30.Qf2 Bxe4 31.Bxe4 Bd6 32.Bd5

32...Rf8 33.Qd4 1-0

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 O-O 5.Nf3 d6 6.d4 Nbd7 7.O-O e5 8.h3 Re8 9.Be3 exd4 10.Bxd4 a6 11.Rc1 Nf8 12.b3 c5 13.Be3 Ne6 14.Qd2 Qc7 15.g4 Rb8 16.Rcd1 Rd8 17.g5 Nh5 18.Nd5 Qd7 19.Nh2 Nd4 20.Ng4 Nf5 21.Bf4 Qe6 22.Bh2 Bd7 23.Nc7 Qe7 24.Nd5 Qf8 25.Be4 Be6 26.Nc7 Qe7 27.Nd5 Bxd5 28.Bxd5 b5 29.e4 Nd4 30.f4 bxc4 31.bxc4 Rb6 32.e5 Rdb8 33.Nf6+ Bxf6 34.gxf6 Qd7 35.f5 Rb2 36.Qg5 Nxf5

37.e6 (37.Rde1! Preparing first seems to be the key to this position if  37...dxe5 38.Bxe5 is overwhelming ) 37...fxe6 38.Rxf5 exd5 39.f7+ Kg7 40.Rdf1 Rf8 41.Qc1 Rxh2 42.Kxh2 gxf5 43.Qg5+ Kh8 44.Qxh5 d4 45.Rxf5 Qe6 46.Qf3 Kg7 47.Qg4+ Kh8 48.Qf3 Qg6 49.Rf6 Qc2+ 50.Kg3 Qxc4 51.Qf4 Qd3+ 52.Kh4 Qe3 53.Qxd6 Kg7

54.Rf4! Qe1+ 55.Kh5 Rxf7 56.Qh6+?? (56.Rg4+ Kh8 57.Qd8+ and mate ) 56...Kg8 57.Qg5+ Kf8 58.Qxc5+ Qe7 59.Qc8+ Qe8 60.Qc5+ Kg8 61.Qd5 Qe2+? 62.Kh6? (62.Rg4+! Kf8 63.Qd8+ Qe8 64.Rg8+ wins ) 62...Qe7 63.Qa8+ Qf8+ 64.Qxf8+ Kxf8 65.Rxd4 Ra7 66.Rd8+ Ke7 67.Rh8 Kf6 68.Rxh7 Ra8 69.Kh5 a5 70.Kg4 Ke5 71.Re7+ Kd4 72.h4 Rg8+ 73.Kf5 Rg2 74.h5 Rxa2 75.h6 Rh2 1/2-1/2

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ne2 cxd4 8.cxd4 f6 9.Nf4 Nxd4 10.Qh5+ Ke7 11.Ng6+ hxg6 12.exf6+ Nxf6 13.Qxh8 Kf7 14.O-O e5 15.Nf3 Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 Bf5 17.Rd1 Qd7 18.Bf1 Nh5 19.Be3 Rd8 20.Qh7 Be7 21.Rac1 Qa4 22.b3 Qb4 23.Rc7 Nf6 24.Rxe7+ Qxe7 25.Qh4 d4 26.Bg5 d3 27.Be3 b6 28.Qc4+ Qe6 29.Qa6 Qd7 30.a4 Qd5

31.Qxa7+? Rd7 32.Qxb6 Qxf3 33.Rd2 Be4 0-1

1.c4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.b3 Nbd7 6.Bb2 Bd6 7.d4 O-O 8.Bd3 Qe7 9.O-O b6 10.e4 dxc4 11.Bxc4 e5 12.d5 c5 13.Nd2 a6 14.a4 g6 15.Re1 Nh5 16.Bf1 Rb8 17.Nc4 Ng7 18.Bc1 f6 19.Bh6 Rd8 20.g3 Nf8 21.Bg2 g5 22.Qe2 Ng6 23.Bxg7 Kxg7 24.Ne3 Qf7 25.Qh5 Ne7 26.Qxf7+ Kxf7 27.Bf3 Kg6 28.Kg2 h5 29.h3 Bd7 30.Be2 Bc8 31.Bd3 Bb7 32.Nc4 Bc7 33.Red1 Nc8 34.Rac1 Nd6 35.Ne3 Kf7 36.Ne2 Rd7 37.f3 Bd8 38.Nc3 Be7 39.Na2 Rc8 40.Rc2 Rdc7 41.Rdc1 Bd8 42.b4 Ke7 43.b5 axb5 44.Bxb5 Ra8 45.Nc3 Rcc8 46.Nc4 Bc7 47.Nd1 Nxb5 48.axb5 Ra4

49.d6+ Bxd6 50.Nxb6 Rca8 51.Nxa8 Bxa8 52.Ne3 g4 53.Rc4 Ra3 54.R1c3 Ra2+ 55.Rc2 Ra3 56.R4c3 Ra4 57.hxg4 hxg4 58.Rc4 Ra3 59.Nxg4 f5 60.Nf2 Rb3 61.Ra2 Bb7 62.Ra7 Rxb5 63.exf5 Rb2

64.Ra3 (64.Rh4! ) 64...Bd5 65.Rc1 c4 66.Rd1?? Bxa3 67.Rxd5 c3 68.Rxe5+ Kd6 69.Re1 Bc5 70.Kh3 Bxf2 71.Rc1 c2 72.g4 Be3 0-1

After the first day I had 4 out of 4 and was due to face Anthony with White the next day. Great, I thought! Anthony is predictable with his opening choices, so there was an opportunity to study until move 20 with a reasonable chance of reaching the position on the board. I decided it wise to relax that evening and watch the latest episode of Vikings, get a good night's sleep then have an hour to prepare in the morning. A sensible enough plan, but I had a sleepless night (do other players have insomnia problems during chess events?). Getting out of the bed at the last possible moment left no time for any preparation at all. Yesterday morning I felt positive, but 24 hours later I now felt pessimistic. How am I going to get through the day so tired!  1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 I have played both 6.Bb5+ and 6.cxd4 Qa5 7.Qd4! against Anthony's Pirc.  6.Bb5+ Bd7 7.e5 Ng4 8.Bxd7+ Qxd7 9.h3 cxd4 10.Qxd4 With nothing else prepared, I played the same moves that we played at this year's NZ Open.  10...Nh6 (10...Nc6 11.Qe4 Nh6 12.g4 O-O-O 13.Bd2 d5 14.Qa4 d4 15.Ne2 Nxe5 16.Qxd7+ Nxd7 17.Nexd4 Nb6 18.c3 Nc4 19.O-O-O Nxd2 20.Rxd2 and after 54 moves it ended in a draw in Wastney - Ker, NZ Open 2016. ) 11.g4 f5

The rule is that this symbol applies to the moment that you are out of book during the game (even if subsequently you remember that you shouldn't have been). In blitz games I have discovered that following book stops between move 9 to 12 in the vast majority of games and have wondered how this compares to others.  12.exf6 Bxf6 13.Qc4 Actually this position is not new for us (though I didn't remember at the time). We reached this position in the Wellington Club Rapid Championship in 2010 where Anthony played 13...Qc6. In my repertoire database I suggest the move 13.Qd3 here (and would have known this if I had looked that morning).  13...Na6 Amusingly Anthony develops both knights to the rim, but this is a good move here. Here I thought for a while, but to be honest most of the time was breaking the rule "Don't waste time thinking about earlier choices and only focus on the current position". I was trying to work out if it would have been better to have put the Queen on d3 instead of c4 last move. Ragnar (the Viking king) from last nights episode had summed it up nicely when speaking to his sons as they were sailing from their village to raid Paris: "Don't look back...you are not going that way".  14.Nd5 I still thought White is slightly better here  14...Bg7 15.Qe2 O-O-O 16.Be3 e6 17.Qc4+ Kb8 18.Nb4 Nxb4 19.Qxb4

19...Qc6! This strong move I underestimated.  20.O-O Reluctantly this seemed necessary. I am just not in time to castle queenside.  20...e5? Black should solve his problem with his knight on h6. (20...Nf7! = ) 21.fxe5 dxe5 22.Ng5 Rhf8 23.Rxf8 Bxf8

24.Qa5 +/- Winning a pawn  24...b6 25.Qxe5+ Bd6 26.Qe4 Qxe4 27.Nxe4 Re8 28.Bxh6 Rxe4 29.Kf2 Kc7 30.Rd1 Ra4 Black, quite reasonably, aims to fix White's pawn majority from advancing easily.  31.a3 Be5 32.c3 Rc4 33.Rd3 a5 34.Ke3 a4 The past sequence of moves makes sense. White has improved his pieces, while Black has focussed on blocking white's future intention of advancing his pawn majority.  35.Rd5 Bh2

36.Rd4! +- Self skewering. Black can't profit from the skewer and the blockade is broken.  36...Bg1+ 37.Kd3 Rxd4+ 38.cxd4 The goal of creating a passed pawn from the pawn majority has been realised.  38...Kc6 39.Ke4 Bf2 40.d5+ Kd6 41.Bf4+ Kc5 42.Ke5 b5 43.Ke6 Kc4 44.d6 With one round to go I had Black against Nic Croad. Nic misplayed the opening losing a pawn. In my pestimistic state of mind I thought it wise to offer a draw, which he couldn't reasonably decline. The final game I didn't need to assign the zugswang sign (those are the easiest games to play!). Somehow I survived the day and won the tournament. 1-0

It was pleasing to see a good size and strength field for the Wellington Easter. Some strong Aucklander players made the trip, and even some of the juniors. Auckland juniors usually don't venture this far south, so I hope they enjoyed the experience and this is the start of a new trend. I had a chance to talk and play some friendly games against the young and talented Sravan Renjith. He seemed a very pleasant and talkative boy. At one point he asked if FM's were better than IM's. I had to explain that was only true in Wellington, and elsewhere IM's are stronger than FM's. In the first round I played another talented junior Kate Song. She seemed very nervous and intense and played very quickly. This may have been first round nerves, since later on she seemed more relaxed during the tournament. As I write this I am reflecting on a comment Murray Chandler made in his book "A White Pawn in Europe" 1976. "One striking difference to New Zealand Chess (from that in the UK) that I noticed and benefited from, was that top players were very active." He continues: "When was the last time we had any number of the top Auckland players at a weekend tournament in Wellington? Two ways of attracting top players from other areas would be to issue special invitations and offer sufficient prize money to make it attractive for these players to participate. " On the last page of Murray's book he gives the details of the Wellington Easter tournament in 1976 - exactly 40 years ago. The "A" grade entry fee was $10 and 1st prize $200. Accomodation available B&B $6.50 per night. Fast forward to 2016 and the entry fee was $60 and 1st Prize $250. I'm not sure what the accomodation rate for this event, but I'm pretty sure it's a bit more than $6.50. How things have changed- apart from the prize fund of course! This was the morning round on the second day. I had an good nights sleep and was feeling optimistic, or at least looking forward to playing chess that day.  1.e4 c5 Brian turned up late, as is his usual habit. He used to choose the Caro-Kann or French against me, but recently has been favouring the Sicilian.  2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 No surprises here. He played the Kalashnikov variation twice against me in 2015.  6.N1c3 a6 7.Na3 b5 8.Nd5 Nce7 9.c4 Nxd5 10.exd5 bxc4 11.Nxc4 Nf6 12.Be3 Rb8

All this was played quickly. Here I paused to remember the move order in this line 13.Be2 Be7 14.a4 or 14.a4 Be7 15.Be2. The former stops 13...Rb5, but even so 13.Be2 Rb5 14.a4 looked too risky to take on d5.13.a4 allows 13...Ng4 but the simple reply 14.Bd2 and 14... Qf6 or 14... Qh4 don't seem to work for Black. So in short it seemed either move order was fine.  13.a4 a5 For those that know their chess symbols, you will notice I use the zugzwang symbol here. I adapted this symbol to denote "the first move out of my book knowledge" when I annotate my own games. Unfortunately I can't find a way to add new symbols in ChessBase13, so just modified this (otherwise unused) symbol for the job. It seems to me that this is always a significant moment in a chess game, and is useful to recognise it in some way. The way you think in a game will radically change from this point onwards.  14.Be2 Be7 15.O-O O-O 16.Bd2! The drawback of 13...a5 is that it becomes a target  16...Ra8 17.Qe1 Bb7 (17...Nxd5 18.Bf3 is an awkward pin ) 18.Bxa5 Qb8 19.Nb6 Ra7 (  The exchange doesn't work 19...Rxa5 20.Qxa5 Bd8 White can just step out of the pin  21.Qb5 ) 20.b4

In earlier times I used to find it hard to predict Brian's moves, but now it seems I have the hang of it. I was pretty sure he was going to sacrifice the exchange here.  20...Nxd5? The problem is that it isn't very good.  21.Nd7 Qa8 22.Nxf8 Nf4 23.f3 +- Simple and strong. Black's pieces are just not active enough to support the attack, particularly the Rook on a7 and Bishop on e7.  23...Kxf8 24.Bb5 Bd5 25.Rd1 Bc6 26.Kh1 g5 27.Bxc6 Qxc6 28.Qe4 Qxa4 29.Qxh7 Bf6 After the g ame Brian initiated post game analysis with 29...Ng6 here instead. But even if retreating this knight from its active post defends against immediate loss, it is still going to be a lost position simply by material deficit - so it didn't seem much point analysing further here and Black needs to go further back to find an improvement.  30.Qh6+ Bg7 ( If 30...Ke7 then  31.Bd8+ ) 31.Qxd6+ Kg8 32.Qb8+ Kh7 33.Qxa7 1-0

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Nb6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.d3 Be7 8.O-O g5!?

A Steadman special. He used the same idea against a slightly different set-up of Peter Stuart's and won a fine game.  9.Nd2 My idea is to rearrange my pieces slightly with Nc4, Ne4 and Be3  9...Be6 10.b3 to support the knight on c4, also to give the black squared bishop another option for  10...h5 11.Nc4 ( the computer recommends 11.Bxc6+ bxc6 12.Qc2 but this looks extremely risky after  12...h4 ) 11...Qd7 12.Ne4 f6 13.Be3 (13.Ba3 h4 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Qd2 may have been better ) 13...Nd4 14.Rc1 h4

15.Bxg5!? I decided this was preferable to getting steamrollered. The computer actually seems to think this is the best move under the circumstances.  15...fxg5 16.Nxe5 2 pawns compensation, and a third on the way  16...Qd8 17.Ng6 (17.e3 Nf5 18.Bf3 is better, black should now move the knight back to g7 now to defend h5. ) 17...Rh6 18.Nxe7 Qxe7 19.e3 Nb5 Now Bf3 does not work because black can castle queenside  20.Nc5 Bd5 21.Nxb7 a third pawn for the sacrificed piece  21...hxg3 22.hxg3 Qh7 23.Bxd5 Nxd5 24.Qf3

24...c6 ( missing the killer 24...Nbc3! Now not  25.Rc2? Ke7! and the death blow will be delivered on the h file. ) 25.Nc5 O-O-O 26.Qe4 Qf7 27.Kg2 Rdh8 28.Rh1 Rxh1 29.Rxh1 Rxh1 30.Kxh1 Qxf2 31.Qe8+ Kc7 32.Qd7+ (32.b4! Qe1+ (32...Nxb4 33.Qe7+ Kb6 34.Nd7+ Ka5 35.Qd8+ Ka4 36.Nc5+ Ka3 37.Qa5+ Kb2 38.Qxb4+ Ka1 39.Ne4 is, surprisingly, a draw ) 33.Kh2 Nxb4 34.d4 ) 32...Kb6 33.d4 Qf3+ 34.Kh2

34...Nxe3?? ( Allowing mate in 3! 34...g4 should win ) 35.Qb7+?? And now the black king escapes. Nic Croad, who was watching the last moves, said quietly after the game "You may want to look at Qd8". (35.Qd8+ Nc7 36.Qb8+ Ka5 37.b4# ) 35...Ka5 the rest is painful.  36.Qa6+ Kb4 37.Nd3+ Kc3 38.Ne1 Qe2+ 39.Kh3 Qh5# 0-1

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nc3 Nb6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.a3 g5

9.d3 g4 10.Nd2 h5 11.Nc4 h4 12.b4 Be6 13.Nxb6 axb6 14.Bb2 f5 15.e3 Bf6 16.Ne2 Qe7 17.Qc2 O-O-O 18.Rfd1 Qf7 19.Rd2 Bb3 20.Qb1 hxg3 21.hxg3 Bd5 22.e4 fxe4 23.dxe4 Bc4 24.Qe1 Rdf8 25.Nc1 Qh5 26.Nd3 Bg5 27.Rdd1

27...Qh2+ 28.Kf1 Qxg3 29.f3 Rxf3+ 0-1

In the last round I was once again against a higher rater player but one I had a reasonable chance against.  1.d4 d5 2.Bf4 c6 3.c4 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Qb3 Qb6 6.c5 Qa5+ 7.Nc3 b5 8.h3 e6 9.g4 Be4 10.f3 Bg6

I prepped a bit for the opening but he played something different and we ended up in a messy position with White better developed but not a huge advantage. We both had bishops cutting though the position and Queens stuck to the side but it would be hard for me to develop my pieces. I was going to have to work hard at getting them out into good positions.  11.h4 h5 12.g5 Ng8 13.Nh3 Ne7 14.Bg3 Na6 15.Qa3 Qxa3 16.bxa3 Nf5 17.Bf2 Rb8 18.e4 dxe4 19.fxe4 Ne7 20.Bg3 Rb7 21.Nf4 e5 22.Nxg6 Nxg6 23.d5

After some swaps White ended up charging though my centre with lots of threats. I spent a lot of time looking at this position working out what to do. White has the Bishop ready to take the pawn on b5 and offer check, possibly grab the Knight or pin the Rook. While the Knight can also attack the Rook. And the pawns can even promote. I ended up giving up the exchange for a pawn but promptly lost a pawn when White castled and took on f7.  23...Nxc5 24.dxc6 Rc7 25.Nd5 Kd8 26.Nxc7 Kxc7 27.Bg2 Kxc6 28.O-O Nd3 29.Rxf7 Bc5+ 30.Kh2 Ngf4 31.Rd1 Nf2 32.Rc1? Ng4+ 33.Kh1

33...Ne2! Threatening not only the loose rook on c1 but Nxg3 with a pretty mate.  34.Rxc5+ Kxc5 35.Be1 Rd8 36.Rc7+ Kd4 Blocking my own Rook (36...Kb6! giving myself a tempo to move my rook to d1. This would have probably picked up another exchange and should have been enough for thewin  37.Rf7 Rd1 38.Rf1 Ne3 ) 37.Bf3 Ke3 38.Bxg4 hxg4 39.Kg2 Rd1 40.Bf2+ Kxe4 41.Bxa7 Nf4+ 42.Kf2 Rd2+ 43.Ke1 Rxa2 44.Rxg7 Nd3+ 45.Kd1 g3 46.Rf7 g2 47.g6

I just have to put a piece on f2 to block the bishop from the queening square g1..  47...g1=Q+?? (47...Nf2+ 48.Bxf2 Rxf2 49.Rxf2 g1=Q+ leaves me a Queen vs a rook and I can take the pawn on g6 straight away. But instead I got Chess Blindness and just swapped the pawn for the Bishop. I then tried to mate (or perpetual check) the King instead of trying to stop the pawns ) 48.Bxg1 Ra1+ 49.Kc2 Rxg1 50.h5 Ke3 ( the computer says 50...Nf4 is just in time ) 51.g7 Rc1+ 52.Kb3 Rb1+ 53.Ka2 Rb2+ 54.Ka1 Rb3 55.g8=Q Rxa3+ 56.Kb1 Rb3+ 57.Ka2 Rb2+ 58.Ka3 b4+ 59.Ka4 1-0

1.d4 c5 2.e3 d5 3.b3 Nf6 4.Bb2 Nc6 5.Nd2 Bf5 6.a3 Qa5 7.dxc5 Qxc5 8.Bd3 Bg6 9.Bxg6 hxg6 10.Ngf3 Qd6 11.c4 e5 12.cxd5 Qxd5 13.Nc4 Qe4 14.O-O Rd8 15.Qe2 Bc5 16.Rad1 O-O 17.b4 Bd4 18.Ng5 Qh4 19.exd4 Qxg5 20.dxe5 Nd5 21.Qe4 Nf4 22.Kh1 Qg4 23.Nd6 Rfe8 24.g3 Qh3 25.Qxf4 Qe6 26.Nxe8 Rxe8 27.Rfe1 Ne7

I started watching at this point. Obviously White is completely winning and with slightly stronger players resignation would be in order. But White was almost out of time and strangely nervous. This is something I am intimately familiar with, a totally winning position but nerves brought on by the need to play moves every 30 seconds or so.  28.Rd6 Qb3 29.Qd4 Nf5 30.Qc3 Qa4 31.e6!

Opening the way to g7 and seemingly ending the game. Note that White threatens g4 dislodging the defending Knight. White's moves have been great but his time management has been poor in this phase. Each of these moves took time, and were made nervously. Meanwhile Jesse has been moving quickly and confidently somehow putting psychological pressure on Stephen despite the latter's overwhelmingly superior position  31...f6 32.g4?? Executing the threat that no longer exists. I wish I could add another '?' The worst thing about this move is that this was the first White move I saw that was played instantly. Maybe the secret to practical chess is to know which moves to play instantly and when to pause forthought?  32...Nxd6 This move was made in about 2 milliseconds, if I had to offer an approximate timing.  33.g5 Rc8 34.Qd4 Qc6+ 35.Kg1 Stephen took a comparitive age to make this move, even though it is obviously forced  35...Nf5 36.Qd7 Nh4 37.Qxc6 bxc6 38.gxf6 Nf3+ 39.Kf1 Nxe1 40.f7+ Kf8 And now no doubt in complete shock, White simply let his time evaporate and lost on time. It's pretty obvious there are no tactics here - just grab the knight and get on with the game which is still (somewhat) in the balance. 0-1

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 e6 8.Bf4 Nb6 9.e3 Bb4 10.Qb3 Nbd5 11.O-O-O O-O 12.Bg5 Bxc3 13.bxc3 Qc7 14.f3 h6 15.Bxf6 Nxf6 16.Bd3 Bxd3 17.Rxd3 c5 18.Kd2 cxd4 19.cxd4 Rac8 20.Rc3 Nd5 21.Rc2 Rfd8 22.g3 Rb8 23.Rhc1 a6 24.a5 Qe7 25.Nb6 Qf6 26.Ke2 Qg5 27.Nxd5 Rxd5 28.Rc8+ Rxc8 29.Rxc8+ Kh7 30.Qc2+ g6 31.Rc5 Qd8 32.Qc4 Rd7 33.Qb4 Kg7

34.Qb6 Qxb6 35.axb6 Rd6 36.e4 Rxb6 37.Ke3 Rb3+ 38.Kf4 g5+ 39.Kg4 Kg6 40.f4 h5+ 41.Kh3 gxf4 42.Kh4 f3 43.d5 f2 44.Rc1 exd5 45.exd5 Rb2 46.g4 hxg4 47.Kxg4 Rd2 48.Rf1 b5 49.Ra1 a5 50.Kf3 a4 51.d6 b4 0-1

1.Nf3 d6 2.c4 Nd7 3.Nc3 c6 4.g3 e5 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O Ngf6 7.d4 Qc7 8.e4 O-O 9.Rb1 Re8 10.h3 Bf8 11.d5 cxd5 12.cxd5 a6 13.Be3 b5 14.Nd2 Nb6 15.Qb3 Rb8 16.Rfc1 Qb7 17.a4 Nxa4 18.Nxa4 bxa4 19.Qxa4 Bd7 20.Qa5 Rec8 21.Bf1 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Qxb2 23.Rb1 Qxb1 24.Nxb1 Rxb1 25.Qa2 Rxf1+ 26.Kxf1 Bb5+ 27.Kg2 Nxe4 28.f4 exf4 29.Bxf4 Nf6 30.Bg5 Ne8 31.Bd8 g6 32.Qc2 Bg7 33.g4 h6 34.Qc8 Be5 35.h4 Kg7 36.g5 h5 37.Kf3 Bd4 38.Ba5 Be5 39.Ke3 Ba1 40.Qd8 Kf8 41.Qc8 Be5 42.Kd2 Ke7 43.Bd8+ Kf8 44.Bf6 Bg3 45.Qh3 Bf4+ 46.Kc2 Kg8 47.Kb3 Nxf6 48.gxf6 Bh6 49.Qc8+ Bf8 50.Kb4 Bd3 51.Ka5 Be2 52.Kb6 Bf1 53.Kc7 Bd3 54.Qe8 Bb5 55.Qe4 Bf1

56.Qe7? Bb5? (56...Bxe7 57.fxe7 Bb5 58.Kxd6 Kg7! wins ) 57.Kxd6 a5 58.Kc7 a4 59.d6 a3 60.d7 Bxd7 61.Qxd7 g5 62.hxg5 h4 63.Kd8 a2 64.Ke8 1-0

1.d4 c5 2.d5 e5 3.c4 d6 4.e4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Be7 6.Be2 Nbd7 7.Nf3 O-O 8.O-O Ne8 9.Rb1 g6 10.Bh6 Ng7 11.Qd2 Nf6 12.Ne1 Kh8 13.Nd3 Ng8 14.Be3 f5 15.f4 exf4 16.Bxf4 fxe4 17.Nxe4 Nf6 18.Ng5 Bf5 19.b4

19...Nxd5!? 20.cxd5 c4 21.Be3 ( Black wins his material back 21.Nb2? Bxb1 22.Rxb1 Rxf4 was the idea ( but 22...c3! 23.Qxc3 Bxg5 wins is even better ) ) 21...cxd3 22.Bxd3 Qd7? Missing a tactic  23.Bxf5 Rxf5 24.Nf7+ (24.Nf7+ Kg8 25.Nh6+ ) 1-0

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.cxd5 exd5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 Nbd7 7.Qc2 O-O 8.Bd3 Re8 9.Nge2 c6 10.f3 Nf8 11.O-O g6 12.Rad1 Ne6 13.Bh4 b5 14.Bf2 Bb7 15.h3 a5 16.e4 b4 17.Na4 Ba6 18.e5 Bxd3 19.Rxd3 Nh5 20.Be3 Rc8 21.g4 Nhg7 22.f4 f5 23.exf6 Bxf6 24.Ng3 Nf8 25.Qf2 Bh4 26.Qf3 Bxg3 27.Qxg3 Qd6 28.Qg2 Nd7 29.f5 Re4 30.Bf2 Rf8 31.Bg3 Qe7 32.fxg6 Rxf1+ 33.Qxf1 hxg6 34.Rd2

34...Ne6! Completely taking over the position  35.Bf2 Nf4 36.b3 Ne2+ 37.Kg2 Qe6 38.Kh1 Nxd4 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.Nxd4 exd4

6.e5? d5! This classic manoevre works particularly well here  7.Bb5+ Nd7 8.O-O c6 9.Bd3 Nxe5 10.Re1 Qf6 11.Be2 Be7 (=) Draw Agreed 1/2-1/2

This game was played in the inaugural Anglo-Pacific Invitational CC Championship, which began in 1985. (Though I use the word <->inaugural', I'm not sure whether another one ever took place.) The late Tom van Dijk and I were the NZ representatives. My opponent here, the American Steve Tennant, was a strong CC IM I'd encountered once before. I played the King's Indian as Black then and was lucky to escape with a draw from a very difficult position. This time I hoped to do better. As it turned out, Tennant later withdrew from the tournament and his games were cancelled, but not before this one had been completed.  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 White announces his intention to take over the centre. Black must proceed actively to obtain enough counterplay.  5...c6 6.Be3 a6 The start of a system of development which Smyslov introduced without success in his 1958 world championship match against Botvinnik. Black delays central action in favour of expansion on the wing. In this form, his plan is probably too slow. It was for some years championed by the US grandmasters Robert Byrne and Larry Evans, but never became very popular and is seldom seen now.  7.Bd3 White has some choices here. 7 c5 and 7 a4, trying to interfere with Black's planned queenside expansion, were once quite popular, but lack sting. At the Varna Olympiad in 1962, Spassky, typically, went for 7 Qd2 and 8 O-O-O against Evans, leading to a crushing kingside attack. But that plan is double-edged and perhaps less reliable in correspondence play. I chose to continue developing, intending to postpone the main action to the middle-game.  7...Nbd7 8.Nge2 b5 9.O-O O-O 10.Qd2 bxc4 Hoping to neutralise White's central occupation by following Smyslov's plan from the 1958 game but (10...Rb8 as played in Botvinnik-Larsen, Leiden 1970, seems preferable. That game continued  11.cxb5 axb5 12.b4 Nb6 13.a4 bxa4 14.Nxa4 Nxa4 15.Rxa4 Bd7 16.Ra5 Qb6 17.Rb1 Rfc8 18.Nc3 Qd8 with a playable position for Black. ) 11.Bxc4

11...d5 12.Bb3 Of course, (12.exd5 is met by 12...Nb6. ) 12...dxe4 13.fxe4 e5?! Obvious, and at least consistent, but is there a better alternative? With the text move, Black deprives himself of the possibility of a later ...e6 and also accentuates the weakness of the dark squares and f7. Annotating the game in the tournament book, IM Erik Osbun suggestedthat (13...Ng4 was better but still better for White. At the time, that line looked to me like a sensible choice, taking advantage of the lack of a good square for White's dark-squared bishop; after say  14.Bg5 h6 15.Bh4 Nc5 Black has reasonable play. White now prevents this possibility. ) 14.h3 Bb7 Black hopes to give this bishop some scope after a later ...c5, but this will be possible only after a pawn exchange on d4 or e5, after which Black's dark-square problems will be even more obvious.  15.Rad1 Qe7 The apparent simplicity of the position is deceptive, and the possibilities hereabouts become increasingly complex. I used to record all my analysis, but several house moves, a busy professional life and the passage of 30 years have all conspired to put my notes beyond recovery. In the interests of avoiding brain meltdown, I make no attempt to give the variations. 15...exd4, 15...a5 and 15.. .Qa5 were all possible, although White seems to retain an advantage in each case.  16.dxe5 Qxe5? Osbun thought that (16...Nxe5 - which I was expecting - was ruled out by the pinning  17.Bg5 when - in his words - 'something has to give'. But after  17...Rad8 it seems to me that White loses most of his advantage. Instead, I intended to play 17 Qd6 as in the game. The text move hardly looks like a serious mistake at first sight, but it lands Black in a lost position. Even so, it is curious that the game lasts only another five moves. ) 17.Qd6

Giving Black a severe headache.  17...Rfe8 (17...Rae8 18.Qxe5 wins material after  18...Rxe5 (18...Nxe5 19.Bc5 ) 19.Bf4 Ra5 20.Bd6 Re8 (other rook moves are no better)  21.Bc7 Rg5 22.Rxd7 Nxd7 23.Bxf7+ while ) (17...Qxd6 18.Rxd6 immobilises both Black's knights and leaves him no good defence to the threat of 19 Bg5 or Bd4. ) 18.Qxe5 Nxe5 (18...Rxe5 loses to  19.Rxd7 Nxd7 20.Rxf7 with a decisive win of material. ) 19.Bg5 Nfd7 Resulting in immediate loss of material. Black could have tried thegruesome-loo king (19...Nh5 20.g4 h6 21.gxh5 hxg5 22.hxg6 leading to a complicated - but probably lost - ending, where in most lines White has two extra pawns and is certainly having much more fun than Black. ) 20.Rxf7 Kh8 21.Rfxd7 With a deficit of two pieces and a pawn for a rook, Black is justified in resigning. 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.a4 Nbc6 8.Nf3 Qa5 9.Bd2 Bd7 10.Be2 f6 11.Rb1 Qc7 12.Bf4 Ng6 13.Bg3 fxe5 14.O-O cxd4 15.cxd4 O-O 16.Bb5 Rac8 17.Re1 a6 18.Bd3 Nf4 19.Bxf4 Rxf4 20.g3

20...Rxf3! 21.Qxf3 Nxd4 22.Qe3 Rf8 23.f4 Bxa4 24.c3 Nc2 25.Qxe5 Qc5+ 26.Kh1 Nxe1 27.Rxb7

The scene is set for Volker Jeschonnek's favourite move of the tournament. Can you spot the fantastic resource Roger has prepared?  27...Qg1+!! 28.Kxg1 Nf3+ 29.Kg2 Nxe5 30.fxe5 d4! The threat of Bc6+ means Black keeps a precious extra passed pawn for the ending  31.Rc7 dxc3 32.Rxc3 Bb5 33.Bxb5 axb5 34.Rb3 Rb8 35.Rb4 Kf7 36.Kf3 Ke8 37.Ke3 Ke7 38.Rg4 g6 39.Rh4 h5 40.Rb4 g5 41.h4 Kf7 42.g4 hxg4 43.hxg5 g3 44.Rg4 Kg6 45.Rxg3 b4 46.Rg2 b3 47.Rb2 Kxg5 48.Kd4 Kf4 49.Rf2+ Kg3 50.Rb2 Kf3 51.Kc5 Ke3 52.Kd6

52...Ke4! An instructive move  53.Rb1 (53.Kxe6? Rb6+ 54.Kd7 Kxe5 and White's king is fatally cut off ) 53...b2 54.Kc7 Rb4 55.Kd6 Kf5 56.Kc5 Rb8 57.Kd4 Kf4 58.Rf1+ Kg3 59.Rb1 Kf2 60.Kc5 Ke3 61.Kd6 Rb6+ 62.Kc5 Rb3 63.Kd6 Ke4 64.Re1+ Kd4 65.Rd1+ Kc4 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Qc7 7.Qg4 f5 8.Qg3 cxd4 9.cxd4 Ne7 10.c3 O-O 11.a4 Nbc6 12.Nh3 Ng6 13.Be2 f4 14.Qd3! (14.Nxf4 Nxf4 15.Bxf4 Nxd4! 16.cxd4 Rxf4 17.Qxf4 Qc3+ = ) 14...Bd7 15.O-O Rac8 16.Ba3 Nce7 17.Bh5 Rf7 18.Rfc1 Qc4 19.Qb1 b6

"Black is in a bad way. However, White still had 26 moves to make quickly, so there was still some practical hope" (Purdy)  20.Bxe7 Rxe7 21.Bxg6 hxg6 22.Qxg6 Be8 23.Qg5 Rf7 24.Nxf4 Rf5 25.Qg3 Bf7 26.h3 Qb3 27.Qe3 g5 28.Ne2 Bg6 29.g4 Rf7 30.Qxg5 Rg7 31.Qf6 Rf8 32.Qxe6+ Bf7 33.Qh6 Rg6 34.Qe3 Qc4 35.Ng3 Be6 36.Nh5 Qc8 37.f3 Qd8 38.Nf6+ Rfxf6 39.exf6 Qxf6 40.Ra2 Qh4 41.Kg2 Rh6 42.Rh1

"White still had a minute or more and only three moves to make, and no problems, so that 'Resigns' was sound" (Purdy) 1-0