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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 After the game Mark called this a mouse slip. Usually in over-the-board games Mark plays Philidors Defence or reverse Philidors (so here I expected 3.d3) but I am guessing he plays a wider variety of openings in correspondence chess.  3...exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nxc6 bxc6 This move has some history for me. Last year I had been saving it up for an important game to play against Anthony Ker because I noticed that in three games Anthony had played 6.Bc4?! and won quickly with White. But 6.Bc4 is dubious because of 6...Qh5!, a move that none of Anthony's opponent's played. Eventually I had my chance at the 2015 Wellington Club championship, but then Anthony played the stronger move 6.Bd3.  6.Bc4?! But at last my preparation will be useful, if only I can remember any of it!  6...Qh4!

At first sight it looks like a childish attempt at scholar's mate. But it defends against White's immediate threat (which was Bxf7 followed by Qh5+). Also the equally childish reponse 7.Qf3 can be effectively met with 7...d5! due to the pin against the e-pawn.  7.O-O Nf6 8.g3 Qh3 9.Qf3 In time to meet Ng4 with Qg2  9...O-O 10.Nc3 d5 11.exd5 Bg4 12.Qg2 Qh5 13.h4 Bf3 14.Qh3 cxd5 15.Bd3 I remembered this as a positon from my preparation. My first inclination was to play Ng4 stopping Qf4 exchanging Queens, but after some playing around with the computer engine I settled on the move Rae8.  15...Rae8 You may wonder why I bring the a-Rook and not the f-Rook to the e-file? A similar position occurs in the Marshall Attack where the general advice is to double Rooks on the e-file, but first use the a-rook to keep open ideas of a f7-f5-f4 push.  16.Na4 16.Qf5 Qxf5 17.Bxf5 Nh5 works out well for Black. And that was about all I remember from my preparation from more than 6 months ago. In my last annotated game for NZ Chess I introduced my use of the zugzwang symbol, which I use just for my own game notes to signify when my opening preparation finishes (and usually where my bad moves begin). But if I was to use it here, then this is the spot.  16...Bd6 17.Qf5 Qxf5 18.Bxf5

18...Be2! Exploiting the loose knight on a4 to punish White's lack of development.  19.Re1 Bb5 20.Rxe8 Rxe8 21.Nc3 Re1+ 22.Kg2 Black has a decisive advantage here. The computer demonstrates that 22...Bf1+ is the strongest move here, but I found the line I played more direct and easier to calculate.  22...Bc6 23.f3 Nh5 Good enough, but again the computers second choice - it prefers 23...d4  24.f4 I had calculated 24.g4 Nf4+ 25.Kf2 Rh1 and evaluated this position as winning for Black.  24...d4+ 25.Kf2 Rxc1 26.Rxc1 dxc3

The g3 pawn is also going to drop because of Bc5+. Mark gives up even more pawns, I guess in the hope for some activity.  27.b4 Bxb4 28.Rb1 Bc5+ 29.Ke1 g6 30.Bd3 Nxg3 31.f5 Nxf5 32.Bxf5 gxf5 33.Rb3 Bb6 The rest of the game wasn't recorded but Black's material advantage wins quite simply. There was only one further amusing moment in the game. At one point I moved and pressed the clock next to me. But it was the wrong clock! Russell looked at me angrily for interfering with his game while Mark claimed illegal move. I'm not sure if Mark was serious or just joking (I can never tell), but I apologised and pushed the correct clock and we continued. 0-1

Before this last round game I was the clear leader on 5/5 and Mark Noble and Russell Dive were a point behind. All three of us were due to play white, and Russell was the one unlucky enough to get four blacks.  1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 h6

This is a line that's been generally considered bad since Kasparov lost to Deep Blue in the last game of their match in 1996. Russell said he tried it because he didn't want to be stuck trying to win a typical slightly worse Caro-Kann position. He certainly achieved his goal of avoiding a drawish position, but I'd be surprised if he was willing to repeat this line.  8.Nxe6 Qe7 (8...fxe6 9.Bg6+ Ke7 10.O-O There are some strong players who've been trying to make this work, but to me it seems like black is walking a tight-rope, and unsurprisingly he generally falls off. ) 9.O-O fxe6 10.Bg6+ Kd8 11.Bf4 b6 ( The Kasparov v Deep Blue game went 11...b5 12.a4 Bb7 13.Re1 Nd5 14.Bg3 Kc8 15.axb5 cxb5 16.Qd3 Bc6 17.Bf5 exf5 18.Rxe7 Bxe7 19.c4 1-0 (19) Comp Deep Blue-Kasparov,G (2785) New York 1997 ) 12.Re1 Ba6 13.d5! Nxd5 14.Nd4

14...Bb7!? (14...Nxf4 15.Nxc6+ Kc7 16.Nxe7 Bxe7 17.Be4 +/- This is the bailout option. White's comfortably better, but Black has reasonable chances of hanging on for a draw. However, once you start rolling the dice you might as well keep rolling them. ) 15.Rxe6 +/- ( There are an awful lot of crazy tactics in this game, but what impressed me the most was often the computer would play a seemingly quiet move which was better than the forcing moves I was considering. This is a case in point that while my move was perfectly good, this was better 15.Nxe6+ Kc8 because of  16.c4 Nxf4 17.Nxf4 and black has to give the queen up under much less favourable circumstances, e.g.  17...Qf6 18.Re8+ Kc7 19.Ne6+ Qxe6 20.Rxe6 +- ) 15...Nxf4 16.Rxe7 Bxe7 17.Bf5 Nd5 (17...Rf8!? ) 18.Bxd7 Kxd7 19.Qg4+ Kc7 20.Ne6+ Kc8 21.c4 Nf6 22.Qxg7 Rh7 23.Qg3 Kd7

So far both players have handled the complications OK, but now I started to lose the thread.  24.Qe5?! (24.Qc7+ Kxe6 25.Re1+ Kf5 26.Qg3! was the quiet move I'd missed. The threat of Re5# forces the knight to move and then Qd3+ picks up the rook. ) 24...Rc8 25.Rd1+ Ke8 26.Qf5 c5 27.Qg6+ Rf7 28.Ng7+?! (28.Qxh6 Looked like a pointless pawn capture to me, but after  28...Bf8 (else Ng7+)  29.Qh8 Bc6 30.Re1 Blacks position is oddly helpless, e.g.  30...Kd7 31.Qh3 Kd6 32.Qd3+ Ke7 33.Ng5+ +- ) 28...Kf8 29.Nf5

(29.Ne6+ This is an diate draw, and that would have been enough to win the tournament but it seemed a shame to give up on such an interesting position, especially when I saw the tactics around Rd7. ) 29...Ng8 30.Rd7 Be4 31.Rxe7 Rxe7 (31...Nxe7 lets me win some material back after  32.Qxh6+ Kg8 33.Nd6 Rc6 (33...Rd8 34.Qe6 ) 34.Qd2 Bb1 35.Nxf7 Kxf7 which feels like it should be better for white, and much easier to play practically as black will have try to co-ordinate his forces while avoiding tricks, while white can just push pawns. ) 32.Qxg8+ A fun move to play, the knight is bouncing around happily, munching pieces as it goes.  32...Kxg8 33.Nxe7+ Kf7 34.Nxc8 Ke6 35.Nxa7 Bd3 36.b3 (36.Nc8 Bxc4 37.b3 is a nice little zwischenzug  37...Bd3 38.Nxb6 is a much easier win. ) 36...Bb1 37.Nc8 Bxa2 38.Nxb6 Bxb3 39.Kf1 Kd6

It was only here that I realised that I'd embarassingly miscounted and my king wasn't on e2, but f1 so that I wasn't going to be able to meet Kc7(6) with Kc3. This meant a certain amount of re-evaluation had to be done.  40.Ke1 Kc6 41.Nd5 Bxc4 42.Ne3 Be6 43.Kd2?! (43.g4 Kd6 44.f4 blocking the king was better. I wanted to avoid any other nasty surprises by getting the c-pawn under secure control, but this does give him a chance. ) 43...Kd6 44.f4

44...Ke7? (44...h5! This is the difference, it's much harder to push the kingside now. E.g.  45.Kd3 Ba2 46.g3 Bb1+ 47.Kd2 Be4 48.h3 Bf3 49.g4 hxg4 50.hxg4 Ke6 51.g5 Bc6 52.Kc3 Bb5 and I don't see how to make further progress. ) 45.g4 Kf6 46.Kd3 h5 (46...Bxg4 47.Nxg4+ Kf5 48.Nxh6+ Kxf4 49.Kc4 Kg5 50.Nf7+ Kh4 51.Ne5 Kh3 52.Nf3 Kg4 53.h4 +- ) 47.g5+ Kg6 48.h4 c4+ 49.Kd4 (49.Nxc4 Kf5 = ) 49...Bg8 50.f5+ Kg7 51.Nxc4 1-0

This was played in round 4. I'd made it to 3/3 reasonably straightforwardly, with only the game against Mathew McNabb involving a bit of luck, which meant that a win here would give me an excellent chance of one of the prizes, while a loss would leave me struggling for a minor place.  1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.Be2 Nc6 5.d4 O-O-O 6.Be3 e5 7.c4 Qa5+ 8.Bd2 Bb4 9.d5 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Nd4 11.Nc3 Qa6

Hopefully Scott won't mind me pinching his idea of using the zugzwang symbol for the first moment when I have to think, rather than remember.  12.b3 (12.Be2 This is the other move here, and may be more precise as after b3 it's hard to get in a3. Probably doesn't make a lot of difference though. ) 12...Qa5 13.Rc1 Nf6 14.O-O Kb8 15.Re1 (  I've completed development, and now need to find a plan. 15.a3!? Qxa3 16.Nb5 Nxb5 17.Ra1 was rejected because of  17...Qxa1 18.Qxa1 Bxd2 19.cxb5 e4 20.Be2 Rxd5 when the queen is struggling to find targets, while black has a few ways to improve his position. It may be objectively best though, as it's still roughly equal. I can't move most of my pieces because of Nxf3+ and I have to recapture with the g-pawn, so I decided to re-route the bishop. ) (15.Be1 Rhe8 16.Qd3 is the computer's suggestion, but it looks artificial. ) 15...Rhe8 16.Be4 h6 17.Bb1 g5 18.Re3 c6!? =+

Around here it's getting quite uncomfortable for white. My center is disintegrating so I need to get some counterplay.  19.Rh3 (19.dxc6 Nxc6 20.Qe1 is just a safe edge for black. ) 19...cxd5 20.Rxh6 Ng8 (20...Ne4! This looks risky, and does let me free my position, but the computer likes it and it does seem to work, e.g.  21.Nxe4 ( or 21.Bxe4 dxe4 22.Qe1 f5 =+ ) 21...dxe4 22.Bxb4 Qxb4 23.Bxe4 Nf5 24.Bxf5 Rxd1+ 25.Rxd1 =+ ) 21.Rh7?! (21.Rh3 is the defensive alternative but then white is clearly worse, if not by much. I wanted to keep attacking, as I hadn't seen the refutation. ) 21...dxc4 22.Rxf7

22...Bxc3? (22...Re7! Wins, but the reason why is quite well hidden.  23.Rxe7 Nxe7 24.bxc4 Nb5!! This is the star move.  25.Nxb5 Bxd2 26.Rc2 a6 27.Na3 Bb4 and black wins a piece. Not really surprised that neither of us saw all this. ) 23.Bxc3 Qd5 24.Rg7 cxb3 25.axb3 Nxb3?! (25...Nf6 26.Bxd4 exd4 27.Bd3 keeps the game roughly level. Black grabs a pawn, but the bishops are very strong here. ) 26.Qxd5 Rxd5 27.Re1 Rc5 28.Bb2 Nd2 29.Bg6

Now the bishops can do their thing, and the knights are almost helpless.  29...Rec8 30.Bf5 Re8 31.Bd7 Rd8 32.Bxe5+ Ka8 33.Bd6 Rd5 34.Bc7 Now black loses material   34...Nf6 (34...Rf8 35.Rf7! ) 35.Bxd8 Nxd7 36.Bxg5 a5 37.Re8+ Ka7 38.Rd8

I thought this was game over, but he finds a way to stagger on.  38...Rb5 39.h4 Rb1+ 40.Kh2 Nf1+ 41.Kh3 Nc5 42.Rd5 Kb6 (42...Ne4 I thought this might have been worth a try to see if I was still alert, but  43.Rxa5+ (43.Be3+? Nxe3 44.fxe3 Rh1+ 45.Kg4 Nf6+ ) (43.Re5?? Nxf2# ) 43...Kb6 44.Ra2 is fairly obvious ) 43.Rg6+ Kb5 44.Be7 b6 45.Bxc5 bxc5 46.Rgg5 Rc1 47.h5 a4 48.h6 Nd2 49.Rxd2 (49.Rxc5+ Rxc5 50.Rxc5+ Kxc5 51.h7 a3 52.h8=Q is objectively better, but it had been a long game and I didn't want to have to think any more. ) 49...Rh1+ 50.Kg3 Rxh6 51.Rb2+ Kc4 52.Rc2+ Kb3 53.Rgxc5 a3 54.f4 a2 55.Rxa2 The rook and pawn ending with black's king cut off on the wrong side of the board is as easy as it gets. Not all rook and pawn endings are drawn! 1-0

Walter Muir was a strong correspondence IM, and was regarded by many as the founding father of American correspondence chess and the single most influential figure in its development. His career in correspondence chess spanned around 70 years, and he was still playing until shortly before his death in 1999 at the age of 94. At the time of this game he was 80 years old and still a formidable opponent. The game itself is not, alas, a masterpiece, but it has moments of interest, sprinkled here and there with mistakes. It was lucky for me that Walter made the last one. Even when this game was played, in the days before strong chess software, in correspondence chess it was still in theory possible to analyse everything in advance (though in 1985 this was regarded as cheating). But in the real world, people still had to eat, sleep and go to work, so there were times when I did not foresee early enough what my opponent would play. What a difficult game chess is.  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.exf6 Nxf6 10.O-O Bd6 11.Nf3 Qb6 A system leading to complex positions, in which both sides try to gain the initiative. I played it as Black three times in this tournament. The main alternative is 11...Qc7.  12.Nc3 My other two opponents chose 12. Nf4 and 12. Bf4, in each case offering a sacrifice of the b2 pawn. Muir himself won a brevity with 12. Nc3.  12...O-O 13.Be3 Strengthening the defence of the d4 pawn and setting up a masked attack on the Black queen, so creating the possibility of a later Ne5 while discouraging Black from freeing his position with ...e5. White hopes to use his greater command of space to set up a dark-square bind and keep Black permanently cramped. He has no need to worry about the b2 pawn - it's far too hot to take.  13...Bd7 14.a3 Kh8 There are several possibilities here. 14...Rae8, preparing a later ...e5 has been played many times, and the immediate 14...Be8 was played twice in the tournament. 14...Kh8 looks like merely a waiting move, but has the additional point that a future capture of the d4 pawn can no longer be met with a bishop check on h7.  15.b4

Writing in the tournament book, CC IM Erik Osbun suggested that this might be a new move, but in fact it had been played several times before. It has the obvious merit of gaining space while relieving White of any worry about a capture on b2. White might also have considered 15. h3, 15. Re1, 15 Na4 or 15. Nb5. ( Ree-van der Wiel Hilversum 1985 continued 15.Re1 Be8 16.Ng5 Bh5 17.Qb1 Nxd4 18.h3 e5 19.Bxh7 e4 20.Qa2? Nxh7 21.Nxh7 Rf5 22.Ng5 Bb8 23.Rac1 Rxg5 24.Bxg5 and 0-1 in 46 ) 15...Be8 Black aims for ...Bh5, which would give him reasonable play, and in some variations enable him to snatch the d4 pawn. This move had been tried in the1985 Dutch championship by Hans Ree against John van der Wiel in a similar position (White having played Re1 rather than b4). That game continuation (see above) gave Black had plenty of play. But there are manifold choices here, including 15...a6, 15...Rae8, 15...Rac8, 15... Ne7 and 15...Ng4, all of which have been played.  16.Ng5 A multi-purpose move. White has hopes of an attack against Black's king, avoids the ... Bh5 pin, and takes aim at the e6 pawn at the very moment that Black's bishop has relinquished its protection.  16...Bf7? Black chickens out. Osbun commented that this move looked tame, and it is. As in the similar position from the van der Wiel-Ree game, I should have embraced the complications arising from (16...Bh5 but I suspected that Muir knew that game and had prepared an antidote. After  17.Qb1 Nxd4 18.h3 e5 19.Bxh7 e4 Osbun suggested that, rather than van der Wiel's 20 Qa2, White should play  20.Bf5 But instead of Osbun's 20...Be5, Black now has  20...Bb8 after which  21.Ne6 can be answered by  21...Qd6 and the mate threat enables Black to avoid loss of material and emerge with a good position. The variations are complex but seem OK for Black. ) 17.f4 I'm not sure now whether this is the strongest move here, though it looked scary at the time. White's best plan seems to be to increase the pressure on h7 and (17.Nxf7+ Rxf7 18.Qf3 followed by Qh3 would have kept his advantage intact. The move chosen appears to rule out ... e5 for good and also prevents Black tactics based on Bxh2+, but the removal of the e3 bishop's protection creates fresh tactical chances for Black. Even so, White still has the advantage. ) 17...Bg8 Apart from preserving the bishop, h7 needs additional protection. Now that the h2-b8 diagonal is blocked, 17... Bh5 looks less good, as the Houdini-style escapes which could have helped Black after 16...Bh5 are no longer available.  18.Nb5?! These were, of course, the days when we still used postcards and stamps for correspondence chess, and the interval between moves in international games could be weeks. I can recall my feeling of relief when I arrived home after work one day to find Walter's card with this move - I had been expecting (18.Na4 after which the best line seems to be  18...Qc7 19.Qf3 Rae8 20.Qh3 when Black, though not without counterchances, has difficult problems to solve. Now, by omitting to drive the queen off the g1-a7 diagonal, White gives Black cause for cautious optimism. ) 18...Bb8 The development of the bishops on b8 and g8 creates an optically unusual position. Given the opportunity, Black intends to play ...a6 and ...Ba7, increasing the pressure on d4, though whether there is time for this is another matter...  19.Rc1?

It's not clear what White's plan was here, but perhaps he just overlooked Black's next move. (19.Qf3 was a possibility, but it's probably then safe for Black to play  19...a6 20.Nc3 Nxd4 21.Qh3 Ba7 when White seems to have no way of taking advantage of the pin. The best choice was probably to admit the error on the last move by 19. Nc3, since it's not clear that Black can do better than repeating the position with 19...Bd6, giving White another bite at the Na4 cherry. Now Black grabs the chance to free his position, and suddenly it's White who has problems. ) 19...e5! (Ed: The exclam is courtesy of Stockfish 7, rather than our too modest author)  20.fxe5 This leads to further complications which are ultimately better for Black, but it's not clear that there is a better choice. For example, after 20. Nc3, Black has a choice between 20 ...e4, ...exd4 or ...exf4, with the last being perhaps the best.  20...Nxe5 21.Kh1 Of course, 21. dxe5 just loses a pawn after 21...Qxe3+ 22. Kh1. But (21.Rc5 was possible; though after  21...Nxd3 22.Qxd3 h6 23.Nf3 a6 24.Nc3 Bh7 Black's bishops come to life and White is forced to defend. ) 21...Nxd3 It was a toss-up whether to play this or the possibly stronger (21...Nc4 22.Bxc4 dxc4 23.Nc3 when play might go  23...a5 24.Nge4 axb4 25.axb4 Bc7 and Black is about to resurrect his bishops with the preferable position ) (  On the other hand 21...Neg4?? meets the crushing  22.Qxg4! and if  22...Nxg4 23.Rxf8 g6 24.Rcc8 Kg7 25.Rxg8+ and Black gets mated or suffers ruinous loss of material. ) 22.Qxd3 h6 23.Nf3 Bh7 As White has to keep the Nb5 protected, the reply is forced.  24.Qe2 Re8

With the unsubtle threats of 25...Rxe3 26. Qxe3 Qxb5 and 25...Ng4 winning a piece.  25.Nc3 (25.Ne5 Bxe5 26.dxe5 Rxe5 27.Bxb6 Rxe2 28.Nxa7 would have kept White's problems to a minimum, though in most lines Black finishes with an extra pawn. ) 25...Ng4 26.Ne5? White initiates a forcing line which leads to self-destruction. There was no need for desperation: after (26.Nxd5! Qe6 27.Ne5 Nxe5 the zweischenzug  28.Nf4 allows him to stay in the game. A sample line is  28...Qf7 29.dxe5 Bxe5 30.Qf2 g5 31.Ne2 Qxf2 32.Bxf2 when White does not have an easy task defending against the Black bishops, but material is even and it is by no means clear that Black can win. Even the passive 26. Nd1, though probably losing eventually, is better than the text. Now it's all downhill, though for the next eight or ten moves things look pretty hairy for Black. ) 26...Nxe3 27.Nxd5 (27.Qxe3 loses material after  27...Bxe5 28.Nxd5 Qb5 ) 27...Qxd4 28.Nf7+ Kg8 29.Ne7+

Black's next move looks dangerous but the nasty-looking discovered check proves to be harmless. (29.Nxe3 would be met by  29...Bd3 ( and not 29...Rxe3?? 30.Rc8+ ) ) 29...Kf8 ( Not 29...Rxe7 30.Rc8+ ) 30.Ng5+ Kxe7 Forced:  (30...Nxf1 31.Rxf1+ followed by 32. Ne6+ would be curtains for Black, so he must take a deep breath and expose his king even more. ) 31.Rf7+ Kd8

32.Qb5 There is no time for (32.Nxh7 in view of  32...Qd6 33.g3 Qd5+ 34.Rf3 Bd6 35.Rc3 Ng4 when the attack is over and Black remains a piece up, while the h7 knight is trapped. ) 32...Bc2! White threatened 33. Rc8+ Kxc8 34. Qxe8+ Qd8 35. Qe6+ and mate. (32...Qg4 would have won too, but this move, blocking the c-file and avoiding the h7 capture, wins more quickly. ) 33.Rf8 The excitement isn't over yet. White still has a few tries left, and Black has to be careful. This threatens a fork on e6.  33...Qd7 34.Nf7+ Ke7 35.Qc5+ Bd6 36.Rxe8+ (36.Nxd6 loses after  36...Kxf8 37.Nxe8+ Qe7! 38.Nxg7 Qxc5 39.Ne6+ Kf7 40.Nxc5 b6 and White is simply a piece down. ) 36...Kxf7 37.Qh5+ Bg6 With both queen and rook under attack, White has finally run out of ammunition.   38.Qxg6+ Kxg6 39.Rxa8 Qg4 Now mate is unavoidable after (39...Qg4 40.g3 Qf3+ or ) (39...Qg4 40.Rg1 Qh4 so... ) 0-1

1.Nf3 e6 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.O-O Be7 5.c4 O-O 6.d4 c6 7.b3 Nbd7 8.Bb2 b6 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Nc3 Rc8 11.e4 c5 12.e5 Ng4 13.cxd5 cxd4 14.Nxd4 Bxd5 15.Bxd5 exd5 16.e6 Ndf6 17.Qe2 Nh6 18.Rad1 Re8 19.exf7+ Nxf7

20.Ne6 Qd7 21.Nxg7! Qh3 (21...Kxg7 22.Nxd5 leaves Black helpless ) 22.Nxe8 Rxe8 23.Nxd5 Nh5 1-0

1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 f5 This is the so call Dzindzi-Indian, which can be a lot of fun, and certainly was on this occasion  6.Qc2 Nf6 7.g3 d6 8.Bg2 Qa5 9.f3? Nbd7 10.e3 Nb6 11.Bf1 e5 12.h3 Bd7 13.Kf2

A rather comical position, Black's offbeat opening has been a huge success.  13...e4 14.f4 Ba4 15.Qb2 Qa6 16.Qe2 Bb3

And now the game is effectively over  17.axb3 Qxa1 18.Qc2 a5 19.Ne2 a4 20.Bg2 axb3 21.Qxb3 Nfd7 22.Rd1 Qa4 23.Qxa4 Rxa4 24.g4 Nxc4 25.gxf5 gxf5 26.h4 Nf6 27.Bh3 Rg8 28.Bxf5 Ng4+ 29.Bxg4 Rxg4 30.Rh1 Ra1 31.Rh3 b5 32.Ke1 Nb2 33.Kd2 Nd3 34.Rh2 Ra2+ 35.Kd1

35...Nxc1 36.Kxc1 Rg1+ 37.Nxg1 Rxh2 Winning the doomed g1 Knight will complete the rout 0-1

1.Nf3 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.d4 b6 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bf4 Bb7 6.e3 g6 7.dxc5 Nxc5 8.Be5 f6 9.Bg3 Bg7 10.Nbd2 O-O 11.Qc2 e5 12.h4 d5 13.h5 g5 14.h6 Bh8 15.b4 Ne6 16.e4 Rf7 17.exd5 Bxd5 18.Bd3 Nc6 19.Rd1 Rc8 20.Qb1 Ne7 21.c4 Bxf3 22.Nxf3 Qe8 23.O-O Qc6 24.Rfe1 Nf8

25.c5! bxc5 26.Bc4 cxb4 (26...Ne6? 27.Qb3 ) 27.Bxf7+ Kxf7 28.Bxe5 fxe5 29.Nxg5+ Kg8 30.Qxb4

30...Nfg6? 31.Qb3+ Qc4 32.Rd8+ Nf8 33.Rxc8 Qxb3 34.Rxf8+ Kxf8 35.axb3 Nf5 36.Ra1 Nxh6 37.Rxa7 Nf5 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.d4 cxd4 3.c3 dxc3 4.Nxc3 Nc6 5.Bc4 Nf6 6.Nf3 d6 7.e5! dxe5? 8.Qxd8+ Nxd8 9.Nb5 Rb8 10.Nxe5 e6 11.Nc7+ Ke7 12.Be3 Nd7

13.Nxd7 Kxd7? 14.O-O-O+! Kxc7 15.Bf4+ Kb6 16.Rxd8 Ra8

White's has a small development advantage :)  17.Bd6 The practical and pragmatic option (  The computer wants White to delay cashing in with 17.Rhd1! emphasising Black's embarrassment ) 17...Bxd6 18.Rxh8 h6 19.Rd1 Kc7 20.Kb1 b6 21.Rc1 Bf4 22.Rc2 Bb7 23.Bd5+ Kd6 24.Rxa8 Bxd5 25.Rxa7 Two Bishops are nice but not really a match for two Rooks  25...Be4 26.Rxf7 g5 27.g3 Bd2 28.b3 1-0

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.O-O e6 6.e4 Nge7 7.d3 O-O 8.Nc3 d6 9.a3 Rb8 10.Be3 Nd4 11.Bxd4 cxd4 12.Nb5 Nc6 13.a4 e5 14.Ne1 a6 15.Na3 Bd7 16.b3 Qa5 17.Nac2 Qc3 18.Qb1 a5 19.Na3 Nb4 20.Nb5 Bxb5 21.axb5 b6 22.Ra4 Bh6 23.Bf3 f5 24.Be2 Bd2 25.f3

White's queenside has been colonised by that most annoying invasive pest species - the lesser black squared termite. Unfortunately such an infestation is normally fatal to the unfortunate host - and so it proves to be here  25...fxe4 26.dxe4 Qe3+ 27.Rf2 Bxe1 28.Qxe1 Nd3 29.Qf1 Nxf2 30.Qxf2 Qxb3 31.Ra1 d3 32.Bd1 Qxc4 33.Rb1 Kg7 34.Bb3 Qc5 35.Bd5 Rxf3 36.Qxc5 dxc5 0-1

1.Nf3 c5 2.g3 Nc6 3.Bg2 g6 4.d3 Bg7 5.O-O Nf6 6.c3 O-O 7.Re1 d5 8.Qa4 e5 Already it seems that the players have swapped colours and White is the one playing a rather unpromising hippo setup  9.Bg5 h6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.Nfd2 Rd8 12.Nb3 Bf8 13.Qb5

13...a5!! An ugly looking move, but concealing much evil intent. White is already in a lot of trouble.  14.e4? This doesn't address the issues White faces (14.c4! creating an eventual retreat path for the White queen on the a5 to e1 diagonal is in fact the only way to keep the game going ) 14...Na7 Now there is no escape  15.Qxa5 b6 16.Qa4 Bd7 17.Qa6 Bb5 18.Qb7 Rdb8

19.Qxa8 ( If 19.Qxd5 Bc6 20.Qc4 b5 wonderful play by White ) 19...Rxa8 20.exd5 Bxd3 21.N1d2 Nb5 22.Ne4 Bxe4 23.Bxe4 c4 24.Nd2 Bc5 25.Rf1 Nd6 26.Bg2 Qf5 27.a3 Qc2 28.Nf3 Qxb2 29.Nxe5 Qxc3 30.Nc6 Rxa3 31.Rae1 Ra2 0-1

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Bb5+ Nbd7 4.d4 Nxd5 5.Nf3 c6 6.Be2 Qc7 7.O-O e6 8.c4 Nf4 9.Nc3 Be7 10.Re1 O-O 11.Bf1 Ng6 12.Qc2 e5 13.Bd3 exd4 14.Bxg6 hxg6 15.Rxe7 dxc3 16.Bg5 Qa5 17.Rae1 Nf6 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Nh4 Qg5 20.g3 cxb2 21.Qxb2 Be6 22.Nf3 ( For what it's worth the computer assesses 22.R1xe6! fxe6 23.Qxb7 Qh6 24.Qxc6 as a completely winning bind ) 22...Qh5 23.Qxf6 Bxc4

24.R1e5? Missing a relatively simple winning tactic (24.R1e4! threatening both the bishop and R-h4-h8 is an instant winner ) 24...Qh8 Black is now more than okay  25.Qg5 Rad8 26.Nh4 Rd6 27.Rxb7 Rd5

28.Nxg6?! This looks promising but unfortunately for White it's flawed  28...Rd1+ 29.Kg2 Bf1+ 30.Kf3 fxg6+ Now this capture comes with check and it's all over  31.Ke3 Qxe5+ 32.Qxe5 Re1+ (  It might have been worth playing on for a move to make sure that after 32...Re1+ 33.Kd4 Black plays  33...Rd8+ first which is a lot better than taking the Queen right away ) 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.d4 Bf5 6.Be3 e6 7.dxc5 This seems an unwise pawn grab, Black gets a lot of comp  7...Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 O-O-O+ 9.Nbd2 Nf6 10.b4 Nd5 11.Rc1 Be7 12.Bb5 Bf6 13.Bxc6 bxc6 14.Nd4

Black recovers the pawn and retains the initiative to the end of the game  14...Nxc3+ 15.Rxc3 Bxd4 16.Ra3 Bxe3 17.fxe3 Rd3 18.Rxd3 Bxd3 19.Kc1 Kc7 20.Nf3 Rb8 21.a3 a5 22.Rd1 Bg6 23.Rd4 axb4 24.axb4 f6 25.Kb2 e5 26.Rh4 Rd8 27.Rc4 Bf7 28.Rc1 Rb8 29.Kc3 Ra8 30.Ne1 Ra3+ 31.Kd2 Rb3 32.Ra1 Kb7 33.Ra4 Bc4 34.Nc2 Rd3+ 35.Kc1 Bb3 36.Ra5

36...Bxc2 Swapping into a winning Rook and Pawn ending  37.Kxc2 Rxe3 38.b5 cxb5 39.Kd2 Rb3 40.Kc2 Rb4 41.c6+ Kxc6 42.Ra7 Rg4 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.f3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Qd2 O-O 9.O-O-O Nd7 10.g4 Nde5 11.Qg2 Nb4

12.Bd2? White's proble ms start with this timid and passive move, in a race situation where time is of the essence  12...Nec6 13.Ndb5 a5 14.h4 a4 15.Na3 b5 16.Naxb5 Nd4 17.Na3 Be6 18.Qg3 Rb8 19.Rg1 Qc7 20.Bh3

Black's attack has been overwhelming for a while now, and the finish is absolutely brutal  20...Ne2+ 21.Nxe2 Qxc2+ A quicker and more elegant mate is available but who doesn't love a Queen sac? (21...Nd3+ 22.Kb1 Rxb2+ 23.Ka1 Rxa2+ 24.Kb1 Ra1# ) 22.Nxc2 Nd3+ 23.Kb1 Rxb2+ 24.Ka1 Rxa2+ 25.Kb1 Rb8+ 26.Nb4 Rb2+ 27.Ka1 Nxb4 28.Bxb4 R8xb4 0-1

1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nh3 c6 5.c4 d6 6.d5 Bg7 7.Nf4 e5 8.dxe6 Na6 9.h4 Ng4 10.O-O Nc5 11.e4 Bxe6 12.Nxe6 Nxe6 13.exf5 gxf5 14.Qe2 Qd7 15.Re1 Kf7 16.Nd2 Rae8 17.Nf3

17...Nd4! Leading to a complete take over  18.Qd1 Rxe1+ 19.Nxe1 Qe6 20.Nd3 Re8 21.Be3 Nxe3 22.Qh5+ Qg6 23.Qxg6+ hxg6 24.fxe3 Rxe3 0-1

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nxd5 4.d4 Bf5 5.Nh4 Qd7 6.Nxf5 Qxf5 7.Bd3 Qe6+ 8.Be2 Qf6 9.Bf3 Qe6+ 10.Qe2 Qxe2+ 11.Kxe2 c6 12.c4 Nb6 13.b3 g6 14.Be3 Bg7 15.Nc3 Na6 16.Rac1 Rd8 17.Rhd1 Nc7 18.a4 O-O 19.a5 Nc8 20.Na4 e5 21.dxe5 Bxe5 22.Nc5

White has all the trumps and will soon win material  22...Nd6 23.Nd3 Bf6 24.Bxa7 Ne6 25.Kf1 Ra8 26.Bc5 Rfd8 27.Bb6 Re8 28.Nc5 Nxc5 29.Bxc5 Nf5 30.b4 Red8 31.Bb6 Rxd1+ 32.Rxd1 Bc3 33.b5 Ne7 34.Rd7 Nf5 35.bxc6 Re8 36.Rd8 Rxd8 37.Bxd8 bxc6 38.Bxc6 1-0

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.d4 d5 4.Qb3 e6 5.g3 Bd6 6.Bg2 Nbd7 7.O-O O-O 8.Nc3 Re8 9.Rd1 Qe7 10.Nh4 dxc4 11.Qxc4 Nb6 12.Qd3 e5 13.Bg5 exd4 14.Bxf6 Qxf6 15.Ne4 Qe7 16.Nxd6 Qxd6 17.Qxd4 Qxd4 18.Rxd4

18...g5! 19.Nf3 g4 20.Nd2 Rxe2 21.Kf1 Re7 22.Ne4 Kg7 23.b3 f5 24.Nd6 Rb8 25.Rc1 Kf6 26.Rf4 Re5 27.h3 h5 28.f3?

28...Nd5! 29.fxg4 ( White has to give the exchange or face a nasty preponderance of force around his King, eg 29.Ra4 Ne3+ 30.Kf2 Nxg2 31.Kxg2 Be6 32.hxg4 hxg4 33.Rh1 Re2+ 34.Kf1 gxf3 ) 29...Nxf4 30.gxf4 Ra5 31.g5+ Ke7 32.Nxc8+ Rxc8 33.a4 h4 34.Re1+ Kf7 35.Bf3 Rc7 36.Bh5+ Kg7 37.Re6 Rd5 38.Rg6+ Kh8 39.Be2 b5 40.Bf3 Rd4 41.Bxc6 bxa4 42.bxa4 Rxf4+ 43.Ke2 Rc4 44.Bb5 Rc2+ 45.Ke3 Re7+ 46.Kd3 Rh2 47.Rh6+ Rh7 48.Rf6 Rxh3+ 49.Kd4 Rg3 50.g6 Re7 51.Rxf5 Rxg6 52.Bc4 Rg4+ 53.Kd5 h3 54.Kd6 Re3 55.Rf8+ Kh7 56.Rf7+ Kg6 57.Bd5 Rd3

Jack kept his nerve well and scores a nice scalp 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 O-O 6.Nf3 c5 7.d5 e6 8.Be2 exd5 9.cxd5 Re8 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Ng4 12.Bg5 Qb6

It looks as if White's centre is collapsing and the computer claims a big Black advantage. However this position has been reached hundreds of times, with a more than respectable 55% plus score for White. A key point is that O-O is possible now and indeed is almost invariably played.  13.Qd2?! ( After 13.O-O! White doesn't need to worry about  13...c4+ 14.Kh1 Nf2+ because after  15.Rxf2! Qxf2 16.Ne4 Qb6 17.Nd6 White's compensation is more than enough. This has happened a few times usually with grisly results for Black. ) 13...Nxe5 14.O-O-O?! Better to play with a safe king on the other side of the board I think. Bob quickly opens up the shaky queenside protection  14...Nbd7 15.d6 Qa5 16.Nd5 Qxa2 17.Nc7 Nxf3 18.Bxf3 Qa1+ 19.Kc2 Qxb2+ 20.Kd3 Qb3+ 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Bc4 Bb4 This move is a normal part of this system, but it seems to be an inaccuracy in this specificcase  8.O-O O-O 9.Nd5 Be7 10.Be3 d6 11.Nb6 (11.Bb6 looks better, now Black equalises ) 11...Rb8 12.Nxc8 Rxc8 13.Nd2 Qc7 (13...d5! ) 14.Qf3 Nd8 15.Bb3 Ne6 16.Rad1 Qc6 17.Rfe1 Nc5 18.Bxc5 Qxc5 19.Nc4 b5 20.Ne3

20...Rfd8? (20...g6! is prudent ) 21.Nf5 Bf8 22.Nh6+ gxh6 23.Qxf6 Rd7 24.Re3 And Black must give up the Queen to avoid mate 1-0

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.b4 d5 Planning to take advantage of the 'b' pawn. A Kings Indian Defence is also good   3.Bb2 e6 4.a3 a5 5.bxa5 Rxa5? Faulty exposure leading to difficulty as the opening progresses (5...Nc6 followed by  6.-- Nxa5 would be excellent ) 6.e3 Bd6 7.c4 O-O 8.d4 c5 9.Nbd2 cxd4 10.exd4 Nc6 11.Bd3 White has the better position  11...Qe7 12.Nb3 Ra8 13.c5 Bc7 14.O-O Nh5

But for this continuation Black's game would be positively inferior  15.Ne5? Better would be (15.Re1 Nf4 16.Bc2 or ) (15.Qc2 f5 ) 15...Nf4 16.g3 Weakening, therefore Qf3 is preferable (16.Bc2 allows  16...Nxe5 17.dxe5 Qg5 ) ( Ed: The computer is unimpressed by 16.Qf3 due to the line  16...f6 17.Qxf4 fxe5 18.Qd2 e4 ) 16...Nxd3 17.Qxd3 f6 18.Nf3 Qf7 Black now has the advantage with two bishops and the potential expansion e5, White must keep his f2 guarded  19.Rae1 Bd7 20.Re3 Rae8 21.Bc3 Kh8 22.Qe2 Triggers Black's Hydrogen bomb (22.Kg2 would hold it for another move (Ed: again I will reluctantly note that modern technology indicates that Kg2 would be even more encouraging to  22...e5 ) 22...e5

23.dxe5 fxe5 24.Nxe5 Nxe5 25.Bxe5 Bxe5 26.Rxe5 Rxe5 27.Qxe5 Bh3 28.f4 Re8 29.Qb2 Bxf1 30.Kxf1 Qh5 31.Nd4 Qh3+ The dust has cleared but the radioactivity takes a long time to finish the job. Black mistook this move for a conclusive one. (31...Qd1+ 32.Kg2 h5 would save a lot of trouble ) 32.Qg2 Qxg2+ 33.Kxg2 Re3 34.Nb5 Kg8 35.a4 Re2+ 36.Kf3 Rxh2 37.Nd6 Rb2 38.a5 Rb3+ 39.Kf2 Kf8 The King must free the rook  40.g4 g6 41.g5 Ke7 42.Ke2 Kd7 43.Kd2 Kc6 44.f5 gxf5 45.Kc2 Rf3 46.Kb2 f4 0-1