Magazines Games 2008-2018 2018

Recently I've been annoyed with myself. I seem to spend half my life on chess. Writing chess software. Editing chess magazines. Maintaining chess websites. Writing chess material to put on magazines and websites. Maybe chess is quite important to me, yet when do I ever sit down and just look at some chess? Just to enjoy and learn, not for any other reason? Well, basically never. So I stopped what I was doing, grabbed that chess software I spend all this time writing, and got it to show me some recent grandmaster games. Right away I saw some beautiful chess, material fit to convince that chess is as good a subject as any to waste your life on. Here's one of the games that made an impression on me. Apart from anything else, it convinced me that chess is evolving, it has changed a lot since I learned to play.  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bd2

This looks completely eccentric already. Beginners quickly learn that there is more to developing pieces than just moving them anywhere off the first rank. Bd2 (or d7) is usually just about the first not-very-developing move an improving player starts avoiding. Seeing this move here made me think about exactly why this should be the case, and I remembered that C.J.S. Purdy, the great chess teacher in this part of the world, addresses this very point in his classic "Guide to Good Chess". Purdy writes "By a few experiments, you can see that the d-file is opened far more often than the e-file; and this explains why Be2 (...Be7) is often good, whereas Bd2 (...Bd7) is usually bad." (Needless to say, White has a specific idea in mind, one that is less strange looking in the much more common move order 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bd2 Bg7 transposin g to the game after Black's 5th move. White postpones the immediate e4 (the main line) and plays 5.Bd2 instead judging that it's worth a tempo to be able to capture on c3 with the bishop instead of the b2 pawn. (Basically there are less queenside weaknesses and development problems that way) ) 4...Bg7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nb6 Evidently Black agrees with White's reasoning and avoids capturing on c3, even though exchanging minor pieces is helpful when defending against a space advantage. (6...Nxc3 Is also commonly played. Amusingly I have found one high level game (amongst hundreds) where White then recaptured with the pawn. It was a rapid game. Presumably he rushed it and got confused, or was drunk, or both. Having said that, White won. ) 7.Be3 White spends another tempo putting the bishop on a more sensible square, no doubt arguing that with Black's f6 knight displaced, he's saved the tempo often expended on h3 or f3 to secure a bishop on the ideal e3 square.  7...O-O

8.Bb5 I'm not sure what Purdy would have made of this. In his (wonderful and very lively for its time) book he spends a lot of space on the various ways you might go about developing bishops. Most of this discussion centres around the tendency of bishops to be 'biffed' as he puts it by annoying attacks (like the Nf6-g4 attack on a Be3 just discussed). Of course no bishop is going to biffed as much as a Bb5 bishop that's not attacking anything and facing unmoved pawns on a7 and c7! I need an expert to explain this (book) move to me. Maybe White is arguing that in this particular position neither a6 nor c6 are useful moves so he doesn't mind gifting those on the waytoe2  8...Be6 Both a6 and c6 are played here, but Black chooses to leave the bishop hanging instead.  9.Nf3 Nc4 10.Bxc4 Bxc4 11.Qa4 Ba6

An intriguing, unbalanced position. White has the centre, Black holds back and snipes from the corners. Importantly, the Ba6 deprives White of the opportunity of just playing quietly with O-O and so a full blooded, damn the torpedos approach is called for, hence  12.h4! h6?! We are now out of book. Black chooses one of the standard ways to parry an h-pawn thrust, but he will quickly regret his choice. Maybe he should have pushed the pawn two squares instead.  13.h5 g5

14.Nxg5! c5 (14...hxg5 15.h6 Bf6 16.e5 and Black will have to give the piece back. White is better ) 15.Nf3 b5 Black lashes out, he has to play very actively else he is just material down and lost  16.Qd1 b4 17.Ne2 Nc6 18.d5 Na5

Already we've reached the key moment of the game. It's basically White to play and win, but it's a positional puzzle not a tactical one. If you're an old bugger like me you've got no chance of finding the right move unless you can throw off the simple conventional wisdom you learned from Fred Reinfeld and company as a child.  19.b3! The engine immediately recommends this move. White thereby neutralises the pressure on his queenside and gets rid of Black's best minor piece. The cost is an exchange and an apparently exposed king in the centre. An exchange? Well the rook = 5, bishop = 3 arithmetic from days gone by seems to have been put aside in the modern era. A modern grandmaster apparently sacrifices exchanges as readily as club players of yore would carefully develop each piece in turn. As for a king in the centre, that's often okay too. "Let's push the g and h pawns, gain space on the kingside, maybe just for positional reasons. The king can chill on maybe f1. Connecting the rooks? Yeah, nah. Let them live their own lives for a while and maybe they can hook up later in the game. If we don't sacrifice an exchange first." My attempt at imagining the thoughts of a modern grandmaster. Clearly I am the wrong generation and completely out of my depth. ( No doubt a nervous nelly club player like me would have played something insipid like 19.Rb1 Nc4 20.b3 Nxe3 21.fxe3 Qa5 after which Black's raking bishop pair gives him full compensation ) 19...Bxe2 20.Kxe2 Bxa1 21.Qxa1

The engine appreciates immediately that Black is quite lost here. White's space advantage allows him to quickly bring all his pieces to bear on the sad king stuck in a corner with no friends. As an experiment I asked the engine for an opinion on the same position with the Black king on e8 instead (still losing, but not as badly) and the knight on h7 instead of a5 (still losing, but not as badly). As for Black's material advantage, as it happens Purdy addresses that elsewhere in his writings. He wrote that he often heard players complain that they had failed to convert the advantage of exchange for a pawn (it is one extra 'point' right?) but that personally he was never surprised, since really it's the smallest material advantage, more like half a pawn. I wish I could find the exact quote. White's positional advantage certainly dwarfs the half pawn here.  21...Qd6 22.Nh4 f6 23.Nf5 Qa6+ 24.Kf3 White continues to be creative when it comes to finding a nice safe home for his king  24...e6 25.Nxh6+ Kh7 26.g4 c4 27.Qb1 cxb3 28.axb3 Rac8

Black has been desperately seeking counterplay, and is only one tempo short of getting back into the game with Rc8-c3  29.e5+ f5 30.gxf5 exf5 31.Nxf5 Rc3 Too late  32.Rd1 Qc8 33.e6 Rc2

34.Kg4! A nice finishing touch. The king takes one more step forward, freeing the knight, with the decisive threat of Nd4. Black throws a few spite blows then resigns in the face of an already decisive material disadvantage being supplemented by a new queen.  34...Nxb3 35.Qxb3 Rc3 36.Qb1 Qc4+ 37.Nd4+ Kh8 38.Qe4 Rg8+ 39.Kh3 Rg5 40.e7 Qc8+ 41.Kh4

A very modern final position  1-0

This article is in part a response to the editor's request for more games, and also a tribute to Peter Stuart. It annotates my only ever victory over him in the long version of the game. It would be more normal to annotate a victory of his, but sadly there are far too many to choose from, so instead we will look at my only victory with the dark pieces. As you will read, it was mostly down to a large dollop of advice from an expert. But first, Peter. North Shore Chess Club lost part of it's fabric when Peter Stuart passed away in December 2017. Much has been said and written of Peter. I had occasion over almost 20 years to work with him on the club committee and can attest to his tremendous energy for all things chess related. He was an excellent organiser, as has been noted, however behind the scenes he put in a huge amount of effort running inter schools tournaments, inter club events, any manner of other chess related activities, and was the prime mover for our club's ever expanding junior chess group. A huge loss to our club, and a genuine legend of the game. He was also formidable over the board, especially for a journeyman club player, such as myself. Peter routinely beat me several times each year, but as my play slowly improved over the years, I was determined to beat him. The odd draw was managed, but that wasn't enough. The truth of it was that he was simply much stronger than I was, and my choice of Kings Indian when Black required a certain accuracy and energy that perhaps I never really had. After another demoralising loss I came across a book by Joe Gallagher "Play the Kings Indian" and it laid out several clear lines of play.  1.c4! well - no surprise with that first move  1...Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.e4 d6 4.d4 Peter's standard way of transposing into a Kings Indian  4...Bg7 5.Be2 O-O 6.Bg5 his standard Averbakh  6...Na6 7.h4 One of the standard options, and I was ready for this. From mempory I had suffered badly in this variation previously, but with the help of Mr Gallagher I was at least prepared this time  7...e5 8.d5 h6 Previously this move would have made me nervous due to the subsequent weakness along the h file, but Mr Gallagher insists it's all fine  9.Be3 Nc5 Black takes advantage of the fact that the dark squared bishop is valued more highly than this mere knight.  10.Qc2

10...c6 Standard practise - opening lines in the middle to counter the h4 action  11.h5 cxd5 12.cxd5 Qa5 White doesn't really want to play f3 due to the weakening of the black squares  13.Bd2 Bd7 14.hxg6 fxg6 15.Rb1 Qd8 (15...Qb6 16.Be3 a5 17.Nh3 Rac8 18.Qd2 a4 19.f3 Nh5 20.Bxh6 Ng3 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 22.Rh2 Rh8 and I'm told Black is fine ) 16.f3

16...Rc8 White's king is destined to remain in the middle, and black does not fear the loss of the h pawn because he will quickly gain control of the h file and expose the awkwardness of white's king side  17.Nh3 Tarrasch now gives this a 0.8 advantage to Black - thanks Mr Gallagher - I'll take it from here (Ed: I appreciate Neil mentioning my program - but sadly it is whatever engine Tarrasch is running that is able to make this assessment - the Tarrasch GUI is doesn't know or care)  17...Nh5 18.Nf2 Nf4 19.Bf1 a6 20.Be3 Qg5

21.Bxf4 exf4 Analysing this game almost 10 years later I clearly recall this moment - the opening of thelongdiagonal  22.Qd2 Qg3? 23.Ne2 an inaccuracy  23...Qg5 24.Nc3 Na4 25.Nfd1 Nc5 26.Nf2 and this is threefold repitition mised by both of us OTB but kindly pointed out by Tarrasch in 2018 - imagine my surprise (and dismay) to discover 10 years after one of my best games (?) that in fact it was flawed by this fact - sigh  26...Kh7 27.Nfd1 Rfe8 28.Nf2

White is stuck for a plan, so black slowly improves his position  28...Be5 29.Nd3 Nxd3+ 30.Bxd3 Bd4 31.g4 Be3 32.Qh2 Kg7 33.Qh4 White's best here was apparently (33.e5 Rxe5 34.Ne4 Rxe4 35.Bxe4 Re8 36.Qh4 Qxh4+ 37.Rxh4 g5 38.Rh2 Bxg4 with black still ahead - but I'm not claiming I saw any of that over the board ) 33...Rh8 34.Qxg5 hxg5 35.Ke2 (35.Rxh8 Rxh8 36.Kd1 Rh2 37.Be2 is just plain ugly for white ) 35...Bd4 36.Kd2

36...Rh4! Not a hard move to find - but significant in the outcome of the game  37.Rbe1 Rch8 38.Rxh4 (38.Rhf1 is probably better than the text but it's an ugly ending to play from white's perspective ) 38...gxh4 39.Rh1 g5 40.Nd1 The passed h pawn makes white's defence difficult  40...Kf6 41.Ke2 Ke5 42.Nf2 Rc8 43.Nh3 Kf6 44.Rb1 Be3 45.Ke1 Rc5 46.b3 Rc3 47.Ke2

47...Rxd3! (47...Bb5 48.Bxb5 axb5 49.Rb2 Rc1 is lethal, but I saw a simpler way to force the ending ) 48.Kxd3 Bb5+ 49.Kc3 Be2 50.Re1 Bxf3 51.Rxe3 a last desperate attempt  51...fxe3 52.Kd3 Bxg4 53.Ng1 h3 And Peter resigned for my first ever (and only) victory over him in the long version of the game - with thanks of course to Joe for the first 17 odd moves 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Bg7 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Ng8 9.Bd4 Nh6

10.e6 f6? There are variations beginning 9... Nh6, and 9... f6 but Anthony mis-remembered. Where the knight is sometimes developed to h6 after 9.. f6 it is only after White has played f4 . Anthony precipitately committed both moves and Jack ably set about destroying Anthony's position.  11.exd7+ Qxd7? (11...Bxd7 was less bad in Diez del Corral-Velimirovic, the Hague 1966 ) 12.Bc4 Nf5 13.Bc5 Nd6 14.Bb3 Ba6 15.Qd4

15...Nc4 (15...Rd8 was played in Varavin- Myrvold, Gausdal 1993. Black resigned six moves later ) 16.Qxd7+ Kxd7 17.O-O-O+ Ke8 18.Bxc4 Bxc4 19.Rhe1 Bf8 20.Ne4 Be6 21.Nxf6+ Kf7 22.Nd7 Bh6+ 23.Be3 Bg7 24.Nc5

The minus pawn is just one problem. Black's light squared bishop is dominated by the superb White knight. In fact the bishop soon drops off due to Black's understandable reluctance to retreat it to c8  24...Bd5 25.f3 a5 26.Bd4 Bh6+ 27.Be3 Bg7 28.Bd4 Bh6+ 29.Kb1 Rhd8 30.b3 Rdb8

31.c4! Winning more material  31...Bxc4 32.Nd7 Bxb3 33.axb3 Rxb3+ 34.Kc2 a4 35.Nb6 Rd8 36.Bc5 Rxd1 37.Rxd1 Rb5 38.Nxa4 Ra5 39.Kb3 Rb5+ 40.Kc4 Ra5 41.Nc3 Bg7 42.Bd4 Bh6 43.Re1 Bf4 44.h3 Bd6 45.Re2 h5 46.Ra2 Rf5 47.Ra6 Rg5 48.g4 hxg4 49.hxg4 Ke6 50.Rxc6 Ra5 51.Kd3 Kd7 52.Rb6 Ra3 53.Ke4

Black got some counterplay and a couple of pawns for his lost piece, but White has successfully neutralized the counterplay and won back the pawns, and only exchanged off one of his precious pawns. But Black can continue to resist  53...Ra1 (53...e5?? might look like a disruptive blow but it loses instantaneously  54.Rxd6+ Kxd6 55.Nb5+ ) 54.Rb1 Ra8 55.Nd5 Rf8 56.Rb7+ Ke6 57.Ra7 Rc8 58.Nf4+ Kf7 59.Nh3 Rc1 60.Ng5+ Ke8 61.Ra1 Rc8 62.Rh1 Kd7 63.Rh7 Rc4 64.Kd3 Ra4 65.Ne4 Ra3+ 66.Bc3 Ra6

White has played dominantly and the game is won game on both material and position. Black, a piece down, has been playing according to The theory of Infinite Resistance , just determinedly trying to play the least bad moves and avoid piece exchanges which would allow simplification. Of course it should be in vain but Anthony took his time over every move, did not leave the table once, and was a picture of determined concentration. White's simplest is to take the opportunity of exchanging the bishop here.  67.Rg7 Ba3 A minor frustration - did White miss the lateral defence ? Did this contribute to the mistake that follows?  68.Bb2? Jack reacted immediately after this move when he realised the rook was hanging at the end of the combination. Showing reaction was also a mistake - it alerted Anthony who hadn't yet noticed it.  68...Bxb2 69.Nc5+ Ke8

70.Nxa6? White could have taken the pawn first with check and played on a bit -the knight can return to the action.  70...Bxg7 71.Nc5 Kf7 72.Ke4 e6 73.f4 Ke7 74.Nxe6 Jack probably sensibly takes the opportunity to force immediate cessation of hostilities by eliminating both Black pawns.  74...Kxe6 1/2-1/2

1.b3 Nf6 2.Bb2 d5 3.e3 Bg4 4.Be2 Bxe2 5.Qxe2 e6 6.f4 c6 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.O-O Bc5 9.Nc3 Nf8 10.Na4 Bd6 11.c4 Ng6 12.c5 Bc7 13.Bd4 h5 14.Nb2 Ne7 15.Nh4 a5 16.Nd3 b6 17.Rf3 bxc5 18.Bxc5 Bb6 19.Rc1 Nd7 20.Rff1 Nxc5 21.Nxc5 d4 22.f5 e5 23.f6 gxf6 24.Nf5

24...Nxf5 25.Rxf5 Qd5 26.Na4 Bd8 27.e4 Qb5 28.d3 Be7 29.Rc4 O-O-O 30.Rxh5 Rhg8 31.Qc2 Kb7 32.Rf5 Rg6 33.Rf1 Rdg8 34.g3 Rc8 35.Rc1 Bb4 36.Nc5+ Bxc5 37.Rxc5 Qb6 38.Qc4 Rg7 39.Qa4 Qb4 40.Qxa5 Qxa5 41.Rxa5 Kb6 42.Rac5 Rg5

White has a won game - what can possibly go wrong? Black had been pursuing "Infinite Resistance" trying to keep a bad position closed but White had forced exchanges and now finally breaks through.  43.b4 Ra8 44.Rxc6+ Kb5 45.R1c2 Rg6 46.Rc7 Kxb4 47.Rb7+ Ka3

48.Rcc7? (48.Rb3+ Ka4 49.Rc4+ Ka5 50.Ra3+ wins ) 48...Kxa2 Alan said that he didn't even consider that the king could take the pawn. This demonstrates another chess truism - there is no limit to blindness.  49.Ra7+? White can protect the d pawn after Rc2+ and keep the rook on the b file to stop the king approach  49...Rxa7 50.Rxa7+ Kb2 51.Rc7 Rg8 52.Kf2 Rb8 53.h4 Rb3 54.Ke2 Rc3 55.Ra7 Rc2+ 56.Kd1? Drawing is difficult now. Kf3 and running with the h pawn is the best according to my computer  56...Rg2 57.Rc7 Rxg3 58.Rc2+ Kb3 59.Rh2 Kc3 60.h5 Kxd3 61.Rh1 Kxe4 62.h6 Rg8 63.h7 Rh8 64.Ke2 Kf5 65.Kf3 Kg6 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 Not another junior following in Carlsen's footsteps :-(. Guess my openings aren't anything classic, so who knows  2...e6 3.e3 b6 4.Nd2 Bb7 5.Ngf3 Be7 6.Bd3 Nh5 7.Bg3 g6 This all just looks a bit planless to me. Think Oliver forgot the h3 move so the bishop can hide on h2. But now he gets the centre as compensation for the bishops.  8.e4 d6 9.Qe2 Nd7 10.O-O-O c6 11.Rhe1 Nxg3 12.hxg3 Qc7 13.Kb1 O-O-O

All very boring and not the most aggressive system. This looks even, but think it is easier to play White  14.c3 Kb8 15.Bc2 h5 16.Nf1 c5 17.d5 e5 18.N3d2 Bg5 19.Ne3 Rdf8 20.Ndf1 Not sure what these grandmasters are up to. Manoeuvering like Karpov  20...Bc8 21.f3 Nf6 22.c4 Not sure about this move, puts another pawn on a white square. I guess it does allow for rook lifts.  22...Ng8 23.Ba4 f5 24.Nd2 f4 25.gxf4 exf4 26.Nc2 Bf6

Black must be better here, the dark squared bishop is a monster and should prove a winner.  27.Na3 Qe7 28.Qd3 Black needs to take stock here. White's play will be based around putting a bishop on c6 and trying to come up with an attack. He will get crushed on the kingside if he does not. With that in mind - improve your worst piece, get the knight to e5, defends c6 and supports a g5, g4 push.  28...Qe5 (28...Nh6 29.Qb3 Nf7 30.Bc6 Ne5 31.Nb5 Bb7 32.Bxb7 Kxb7 33.Qc2 a6 34.Nc3 g5 Black has pushed White back, closed down any attack and will proceed to get a passed pawn and win ) 29.Qb3 h4 30.Bc6 h3 31.gxh3 Rxh3 32.Nb5 g5 33.Nxa7 Kxa7 34.Qa3+ Ba6 35.Bb5 Kb8 36.Bxa6

Position is still equal, but White still has attacking options and Black has a knight and a rook not doing anything  36...g4 37.Bb5 Ne7? Black panics, time is creeping up and he has lost the thread (37...Rf7 38.Bc6 Ra7 39.Qb3 Kc7 40.Qc2 Ne7 41.Bb5 g3 Black is just winning here ) 38.Bd7 Rxf3 39.Nxf3 gxf3 40.Rd2 Bh4 41.Qa6 Bxe1 42.Qxb6+ Ka8 43.Bc6+ Nxc6 44.dxc6

44...Qe7?? Final blunder when a draw was at hand (44...Rf7 45.Qa6+ (45.Qd8+ Ka7 46.Qa5+ Kb8 47.Qd8+ ) 45...Kb8 46.Qb6+ Kc8 47.Qa6+ Kb8 ) 45.Rd3 Ba5 46.Qxa5+ Qa7 47.Qd2 Rg8 48.Ra3 Rg1+ 49.Kc2 Qxa3 50.bxa3 Rg2 51.Kd3 Rxd2+ 52.Kxd2 Black can calmly resign  52...Ka7 53.Ke1 Kb6 54.Kf2 Kxc6 55.Kxf3 Kb6 56.Kxf4 Ka5 57.Kf5 Ka4 58.Ke6 Kxa3 59.Kxd6 Kb4 60.Kd5 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qf3 d6 8.O-O-O Bd7 9.Qg3 Rc8 10.Kb1 Nf6 11.Bd3 Ne5 12.f4 Nxd3 13.cxd3

13...g6? It's never good to move this pawn in this type of position, Black had to just ignore and put in some threats of his own. (13...b5 14.Rc1 Qb7 15.Nce2 a5 16.e5 dxe5 17.fxe5 Nd5 18.Qf3 Qb6 19.Rxc8+ Bxc8 20.Bf2 Qa6 ) 14.Rc1 Qb8 15.e5 Nh5 16.Qf2

16...f5 (16...dxe5 17.fxe5 Qxe5 18.g4 Nf6 (18...Ng7 19.Ne4 Be7 20.Bf4 Qa5 21.Rxc8+ Bxc8 22.Bd6 f5 23.Bxe7 Kxe7 24.Qh4+ Kd7 25.Qf6 Ne8 26.Qxh8 fxe4 27.Qxh7+ ) 19.Rhf1 Bg7 20.g5 ) 17.Rhe1 Not the best, he needed to open up (17.exf6 Nxf6 18.Rhe1 Kf7 19.Nf3 Ng4 20.Ng5+ Kg8 21.Qf3 Nxe3 22.Rxe3 Qc7 23.Nxe6 Over, pawn up and Black's position is busted ) 17...dxe5 18.fxe5 Bb4 (18...Bg7 19.Nf3 O-O 20.Bc5 Rfe8 21.Bd6 Qa8 22.g4 Nf4 23.Qd2 fxg4 24.Ng5 Nd5 25.Qf2 Nxc3+ 26.bxc3 Rf8 27.Bxf8 Rxf8 28.Qd4 And White is winning - be wary of playing g6 in these types of positions, left holes all over. Poetic that White wins by jumping through these dark squares. ) 19.Bh6 Bxc3 20.bxc3 Kf7 21.g4 Ng7 22.Qh4

1-0

1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Bf4 a6 5.Nf3 Nd7 6.Qd2 c5? Not the way to play this, Black is not ready for this to open up. (6...b5 7.e5 Bb7 8.Be2 Nb6 ) 7.dxc5 Nxc5 8.e5! Bg4?! 9.exd6 Qb6?! 10.Ne5 Be6 11.O-O-O Black is bad here but I saw a line that offered hope. John had lots of options that still won, but some hope was better than resigning.  11...Rd8 12.Nd5 +/- (12.Nc4 Bxc4 13.Bxc4 e6 14.Qe3 Nf6 15.Be2 h5 16.Kb1 Ncd7 ) 12...Qxd6

13.Nxf7? This looks good, but is what I was hoping for. Black gets a winning attack if White takes the material, so surprisingly Black is already better (13.Qe3? Is another option that falls short  13...Bxd5 14.Bc4 Nf6 15.Nxg6 Ng4 16.Qg3 Qf6 17.Ne5 Nxe5 and Black wins ) (13.Bc4! Is the right way  13...Bxd5 (13...Bxe5? 14.Bxe5 Qxe5 15.Nf6+ Kf8 16.Qxd8+ Kg7 ) 14.Qxd5 Qxd5 15.Bxd5 Nh6 16.Rhe1 e6 17.Bf3 O-O 18.Rxd8 Rxd8 19.b4 Rd4 20.Be3 Bxe5 21.Bxd4 Bxd4 22.bxc5 Bxf2 23.Re2 Bxc5 24.Bxb7 and White should win ) 13...Qxd5 -/+ 14.Nxd8? Now White is lost, it was still possible to bail out. (14.Qxd5 Rxd5 15.Rxd5 Bxd5 16.Nxh8 Bxh8 -/+ But I still fancy Black's chances) ) 14...Qxa2

15.Qe2 White had expected to now play (15.Qb4 only to realise that Black could force mate  15...Nb3+ 16.cxb3 Qxb2# ) 15...Qxb2+ 16.Kd2 Qc3+ 17.Kc1 Nb3+ 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Nc6 7.e4 d6 8.Be3 b6 9.Bd3 Na5

They had played this line before in 2017 and Alphaeus tried a different approach, but same result  10.Nh3 ( The earlier game went 10.f4 O-O 11.e5 Ne8 12.Nf3 f5 13.g4? (13.O-O Ba6 14.Qe2 Rc8 15.Rac1 Qe7 16.Bf2 ) 13...fxg4 Ben played Ba6 and still won, but this is better.  14.Ng5 h6 15.Ne4 cxd4 16.cxd4 dxe5 17.dxe5 Bb7 18.O-O Bxe4 19.Bxe4 Qxd1 20.Raxd1 Rc8 Black is winning easy, 2 pawns up ) 10...Ba6 11.Qe2 Rc8 12.Rc1 O-O 13.O-O (13.e5 cxd4 14.cxd4 dxe5 15.dxe5 Nd7 16.f4 h6 17.Nf2 Nc5 18.Bxc5 Rxc5 Black is better, again White's "attack" has been neutralised and Black will just swap off and win all endgames. ) 13...Nd7 14.f4 cxd4 15.cxd4 f5 16.Ng5 Qe8

17.exf5 Too soon, never release the pressure unless there is a good reason. (17.Bf2 h6 18.exf5 hxg5 (18...exf5 19.Ne6 Rf6 20.d5 Nf8 21.Bh4 ) 19.fxe6 Nb8 20.fxg5 ) 17...exf5 18.d5 Nb3 19.Rc3 Nbc5 20.Bb1?

White has lost the thread and starts going downhill. (20.Re1 h6 21.Nf3 Nxd3 22.Qxd3 Qf7 23.Bd4 Rfe8 24.Rxe8+ Rxe8 25.Qc2 Re4 26.Qa4 Qe8 27.Kf1 (27.Qxa6 Rxd4 ) 27...Qc8 The position is equal. ) 20...h6 21.Nf3 Nf6 22.Bxf5 Nxd5 23.Bxc8 Nxc3 24.Qe1 Bxc4 Alphaeus could calmly resign here...but the kids don't resign.  25.Bg4 Ne2+ 26.Kh1 Qxe3 27.Nd2 Ba6 28.Rf3 Ng3+ 29.Qxg3 Qxd2 30.h4 Ne4 31.Be6+ Kh7 32.Qg4 Nf2+ 33.Rxf2 Qxf2 34.Bf5+ Kh8 35.Qg6 Qf1+ 36.Kh2 Qxf4+ 37.g3 Qxf5 38.Qxd6 Qf2+ 39.Kh3 Bf1+ 40.Kg4 Qf5# 0-1

1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Bd3 g6 4.b3 Nbd7 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Bb2 O-O 7.c4 c5 8.d5 Qc7 9.O-O Re8 10.Re1 e5 11.Nc3 a6 12.a4 b6 13.Qd2 Nh5 14.Ne2 Qd8 15.b4 cxb4 16.Qxb4 Nc5 17.Bc2 a5 18.Qd2 Bg4 19.Ra3 Bf6 20.Kh1 Nf4 21.Neg1 g5 22.g3 Nh5 23.h3 Bd7 24.g4 Nf4 25.Kh2 h5 26.gxh5 g4 27.hxg4 Bxg4 28.Ne2 Bg5 29.Nxg5 Qxg5 30.Nxf4 exf4 31.Rg1 Qxh5+ 32.Kg2

32...Qh6?? (32...f3+! ) 33.Rh1 Bh5 34.Rg3+ 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bd3 a6 8.Nb3 Qc7 9.O-O Be7 10.f4 O-O 11.Qf3 b5 12.g4 Bb7 13.g5 Nd7 14.Qh5

14...Rfe8 15.Rf3 Nb4 16.Rh3 Nf8 17.Rf1 Nxd3 18.cxd3 f6 19.Nd4 g6 20.Qh6 Bd8 21.gxf6 Qf7 22.e5 Bc7 23.Nf3 Bxf3 24.Rhxf3 d5

25.Nd1! White has time to bring the knight around with fatal effect  25...Nd7 26.Nf2 Kh8 27.Nh3 Qg8 28.Ng5 Rf8 29.Rh3 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Nb3 Nf6 8.Bd3 b5 9.f4 d6 10.O-O Be7 11.Qf3 Rb8 12.g4 O-O 13.g5 Nd7 14.Qh5

14...g6 15.Qh6 Re8 16.Rf3 Bf8 17.Qh4 f5 18.Rh3 Nb6 19.exf5 exf5 20.Bxb6 Qxb6+ 21.Kf1 Qa7 22.Nd5 Kh8 23.Nf6 Re7 24.Re1 Rbb7 25.Nd5

25...Rxe1+ 26.Qxe1! Threatening Qe8 forking the bishops and Qc3+ forking king and knight  26...Bd7 Good try but  27.Nf6 Threatening mate and...  27...h5 28.Nxd7 ...the queen fork again  28...Rxd7 29.Qc3+ Bg7 30.Qxc6 1-0

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.dxc5 Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 Qa5 6.Bd2 Qxc5 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.Bd3 d6 9.h3 Nf6 10.Qe2 O-O 11.O-O Qh5 12.Rfb1 a6 13.a4 Nd7 14.Nd4 Qxe2 15.Bxe2 Nc5 16.Nxc6 bxc6 17.f3 f5 18.Be3 Nd7 19.exf5 Rxf5 20.f4 Ra5?

This is not going to end well for this rook. White just rains down hammer blowsfromhere  21.Bf3 d5 22.c4 e6 23.cxd5 cxd5 24.c4 Kg7 25.cxd5 exd5 26.Bd4+ Kf7 27.Bc3 Rc5 28.Bb4 Bb7

29.Bxc5 Nxc5 30.Rxb7+ 1-0

1.b4 e5 2.Bb2 Bxb4 3.Bxe5 Nf6 4.Nf3 O-O 5.e3 Re8 6.c4 Nc6 7.Bb2 d5 8.Qb3 d4 9.Be2 dxe3 10.fxe3 Ng4 11.O-O

11...Bxd2!? 12.Nfxd2? Presumably White wants to exchange off the menacing knight, but capturing with the other knight was more naturalandbetter  12...Rxe3 13.Qd1 Qh4 14.Bxg4 Bxg4 15.Qc1 (15.Nf3 Bxf3 16.gxf3 Rae8 17.Nc3 Nd4 is fatal ) 15...Rae8 16.Na3 A funny looking move, but White has a specific idea  16...Re2 17.Qc3

White hopes this mate threat will signal a revival, but...  17...Rxg2+! Mate in four. Nice! 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Bd3 d5 5.Nxe5 Nd7 6.Nxd7 Bxd7 7.O-O Qf6 8.c4 Qxd4 9.cxd5 O-O-O 10.Nc3 Nc5 11.Bc2 Qxd1 12.Rxd1 Bd6 13.Be3 Kb8 14.Bd4 f6 15.a3 b6 16.Re1 Rde8 17.b4 Na6 18.Ne4 Be5 19.Bxe5 Rxe5 20.Nc3 g6 21.Rxe5 fxe5 22.Re1 Re8 23.Ne4 Kc8 24.Nf6 Re7 25.f4 c5 26.Nxd7 Kxd7 27.fxe5 cxb4

White's beautiful centre pawns should carry the day. If they advance to the sixth rank they're worth a rook  28.Ba4+! Kd8 29.d6! Re6 30.axb4? Oh no - this is not the time to pause for breath (30.Rf1! Wins everything here ) (30.Bb3 Is also more than sufficient, forcing the e pawn forward ) 30...Nxb4 31.Bb3 (31.Rf1! is still available ) 31...Nd3! Now Black has this annoying move   32.Bxe6 Nxe1 White is still winning, but some accuracy is now required, and Don's peaceful inclination takes over instead  33.Bc4 Kd7 34.Kf2 Nc2 35.Kf3 Nd4+ 36.Ke4 Ne6 37.Bb5+ Kd8 38.Kd5 Nf4+ 39.Kc6 Ne6 40.Kd5 Nf4+ 41.Kc6 1/2-1/2

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.c5 Nc6 7.Bb5 Be7 8.Nf3 O-O 9.O-O Qc7 10.Re1 a6 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Ne5 Nd7 13.Bf4 Nxe5 14.Bxe5 Qa7 15.b4 Bd7 16.Rb1 Rae8 17.Qc2 f6 18.Bg3 Bd8 19.Rb3 Bc7 20.Na4 Bxg3 21.hxg3 e5 22.Rbe3 e4 23.Nb6 Bc8 24.f3 f5 25.f4 Qc7 26.Ra3 Bb7 27.Qc1 Re6 28.Kf2 Rg6 29.Rh1 Qe7 30.Qe1 Rg4 31.Kg1 g5 32.fxg5 Qg7 33.Qe3 Rxg5

34.Rh4! ( Not 34.Nd7?? f4! wins ) 34...Kh8? Russell: "M y ugly bishop isn't a problem as long as White's knight isn't doing anything either. Unfortunately I let the knight back into the game"  35.Nd7! Rg8? (35...f4! is still best, although now just as a way to escape to a perpetual   36.Rxf4 Rxf4 37.Qxf4 Qxd4+ ) 36.Ne5 Qf6 (36...Rxg3?? 37.Qxg3 Qxg3 38.Nf7+ Kg7 39.Rxg3+ Kxf7 40.Rxh7+ ) 37.Qf4 R8g7 38.g4! Not so much a pawn break as a way to introduce the queen's rook  38...Kg8 39.Rah3

39...Qf8? Cracking, although White now has an absolute bind  40.Rxh7! Rxh7 41.Qxg5+ Rg7 42.Qh6 And Black can't even postpone Qh8 mate next 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nbd2 An interesting sideline, the third most important move in the position. Wikipedia has the intriguing comment that it is more popular with computers than people - my computer is a bit too feeble to confirm this theory. Anthony is really working on his openings - he only used to play those Guicco Piano positions that can arise by transposition from his preferred Scotch or Scotch Gambit. (7.Nc3 Nxe4 8.O-O Bxc3 9.d5 leads into both tactical madness and important theory ) (7.Bd2 competes to be the main line, and is quieter ) (7.Kf1 has a name (the "Krakow Variation") but has almost been abandoned ) 7...Nxe4 8.d5 Ne7 ( Nakamura (2799) - Giri (2776), Khanty-Mansiysk RUS 2015, quickly burned out to sterile equality 8...Nxd2 9.Bxd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 Ne7 11.d6 cxd6 12.O-O d5 13.Bxd5 O-O 14.Rad1 Nxd5 15.Qxd5 d6 16.Qxd6 Qxd6 17.Rxd6 1/2-1/2 in 31 moves ) 9.O-O Nxd2 10.Nxd2 avoiding too much simplification a la Nakamura-Giri  10...O-O 11.a3 Ba5 12.Nb3 Bb6

13.d6! Nf5 14.Qg4 Qh4 This looks sensible, forcing an exchange of queens in a cramped position and reducing White's attacking chances  15.Qxh4 Nxh4 16.Bf4 Ng6 17.Bg3

White retains positional pressure in the queenless middlegame. Black's only problem is that it takes a lot of moves to develop his queenside - but it's a big problem  17...cxd6 The engine wants to play ...c6 instead. It's understandable that Black wants to get rid of the bone in the throat pawn on d6 but the problem is that the bishop that now takes up residence is an even bigger and more irritating bone. (17...c6 18.a4 a5 19.Rae1 Kh8 20.Re2 Bd8 21.Rfe1 b6 is a computer line - Black is painfully unravelling but even here White has the tactic  22.Bxf7 so Black is not going to emerge with extra material. A painful tortuous path to equality is the best he can hopefor ) 18.Bxd6 Rd8 (18...Re8 19.Rfe1 forces the rook to d8 anyway ) 19.Rfe1 Nf8 20.Kf1 Ne6 21.f4 g6 22.g4 Ng7 23.Re7 Rf8

This looks horrible, but Black does threaten to entomb the rook with Ne6, so for the moment at least White has to fall back  24.Re2 Rd8 25.Rae1 a6 26.f5 Denying Black's knight the obstructing e6 square in future  26...Ba7

27.Nd2 Bringing the last piece around for the kill. It is striking how White plays calmly with no apparent hurry  27...gxf5 (27...Bd4 doesn't work  28.Nf3 Ba7 29.Ne5 ) ( Black wants to play 27...b5 but clearly it loses material, although after  28.Bd5 Rb8 White does best actually to spurn the exchange, eg  29.Re7 Rf8 30.f6 Ne6 31.Bxe6 fxe6 32.Rg7+ Kh8 33.Bxf8 ) 28.gxf5 Bd4 (28...Nxf5? 29.Rg2+ is ovewhelming ) 29.Rg2 Kh8

30.Be7? Sadly there's a flaw in an otherwise lovely game. It is hard to retain absolute control indefinitely (30.Nf3 is the move again,  30...Bf6 (30...Nxf5 31.Bc7 Rf8 32.Nxd4 Nxd4 33.Be5+ ) 31.Ne5 Bxe5 32.Bxe5 ) 30...Re8? Black returns the favour (30...d5! 31.Bxd8 Bxf5 with freedom and material equality ) 31.Bxf7 Rxe7 32.Rxe7 d6 33.Re8+ Mate next move 1-0

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5

This is something of a sequel to last issue's Botvinnik Semi-Slav article. It illustrates one of the practical problems of playing these very sharp theoretical openings without deep knowledge. I knew White was totally fine in this position, I could remember Cox recommended this line in his book. I also remembered that Cox said the position used to be considered dubious. I didn't understand that, "Looks like a perfectly sensible position, I'd play that, no problem" was the only thought I had glancing at the book. But now, studying the position seriously for the first time, I realised why you need some knowledge here. Black threatens ...b5 knocking away the support of the e4 pawn, and if Qc2 then ...g4 knocks away the support of the d4 pawn! I spent 20 minutes but could find no reasonable way to continue!.  9.e5? lashing out for want of something sensible to do ( White can play calmly 9.Be2! and if  9...b4 10.Na4 Nxe4 11.Be5 Nf6 12.Bxc4 with an interesting game ) 9...Nd5 10.h4 Qa5 11.Be2 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Qxc3+ 13.Kf1 I am obviously busted here, two pawns down with a poor position as well  13...Rg8? (13...g4! Would have firmly nailed me into a coffin ) 14.hxg5 hxg5 15.Rc1 Qa5 16.Qc2 Bb7 17.Rh5 Na6 18.Nxg5 Rg7 19.Ne4

I've won one of the pawns back and have active play. In fact surprisingly, I am better here  19...O-O-O 20.Nd6+? (20.Bh4! was the move, Nd6 will be a real problem if White prepares it properly with Bh4 and possibly Rh8 ) 20...Bxd6 21.exd6

I was playing for a cheap trick here. Ryan so nearly fell in with my plans. He reached for his knight once, twice, three times, eachtimewithdrawing his hand and reconsidering. I couldn't bear it and walked away.  21...Rxg3! Great move Ryan! It's far from obvious, but this is the only good move here. Ryan finishes the game off inrealstyle (21...Nb4? 22.Qxc4! with a massive position for White ) 22.fxg3 Qa3 23.Bf3 Nb4 24.Qd2 Qd3+ 25.Ke1 Qxd2+ 26.Kxd2 Rxd6 27.Ke3 Nxa2 28.Ra1 Nb4 29.Rxa7 Nc2+ 30.Kd2 Nxd4 31.Kc3

31...Kc7 32.Ra1 Nxf3 33.gxf3 Rd3+ 34.Kb4 Kb6 35.Ra3 c5+ 36.Rxc5 Rxa3 37.Rxb5+ Kc6 38.Rxb7 Rb3+ 0-1

1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Bf5 3.Bf4 Nf6 4.g3 e6 5.Bg2 a6 6.a3 c5 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Nge2 Be7 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bxf6 Nxf6 11.O-O b5 12.dxc5 Bxc5 13.Nd4 Bh7 14.Nce2 O-O 15.c3 Qb6 16.b4 Bd6 17.a4 Rfc8 18.a5 Qd8 19.Rc1 Ra7 20.Re1 Rac7 21.f3

Black's knight now goes on the rampage, almost winning the game by itself  21...Nd7 22.Qd2 Ne5 23.e4 Nc4 24.Qa2 Ne3 25.exd5 Nxd5 26.Kf2 Nxc3 27.Qb2 Nxe2 28.Nxe2 Rxc1 29.Rxc1 Rxc1 30.Nxc1 Qe7 31.Na2 Bd3 32.Bf1 Bxf1 33.Kxf1

One pawn is more than enough. Black's pieces have been better than their opposites throughout.  33...Qc7 34.Qd2 Kf8 35.Qd4 Be5 36.Qe4 Qc4+ 37.Qxc4 bxc4 38.Ke2 Ke7 39.Kd2 Kd6 40.b5 axb5 41.a6 Kc6 42.a7 Kb7 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 dxc4 5.Bg2 Nbd7 6.Qc2 c5 7.Qxc4 a6 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.O-O b5 10.Qb3 Bb7 11.Rd1 Qb6 12.e3 O-O 13.Bd2 Rfd8 14.Bb4 Nd5 15.Bxc5 Nxc5 16.Qc2 Rac8 17.Qe2 Ne4 18.Nbd2 Rc2 19.Nd4 Rxd2 20.Rxd2 Nxd2 21.Qxd2 e5 22.Nb3 Nf4 23.Qxd8+ Qxd8 24.Bxb7 Nh3+ 25.Kg2

25...Ng5?? 26.Rc1! 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.c3 e6 4.d4 d5 5.e5 Bd7 6.Be3 Qb6 7.Qb3 Qxb3 8.axb3 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Nc6 10.Nxc6 Bxc6 11.Be2 Ne7 12.O-O Nf5 13.Bb6 g5 14.g4 Nh4 15.Nd2 Bg7 16.Bd4 Ng6

17.Rfe1! This actually retains material equality. I spent a lot of time here and couldn't see the point  17...Bxe5 18.Bxe5 Nxe5 19.Bxa6 Nxg4?? I should have spent the time here instead of relying on long distance vision from the previous diagram  20.Be2!

Even now it took a while before the true nature of my dilemma penetrated my thick skull. I can't even get a second pawn for mypiece 1-0

1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 c5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Bb5 Bg4 6.d3 e6 7.Nbd2 Be7 8.Qe2 O-O 9.Bxc6 bxc6

White now forces a pawn weakness on the kingside and castles queenside.  10.h3 Bh5 11.g4 Bg6 12.Ne5 Qc7 13.Nxg6 hxg6 14.O-O-O Nd7 15.h4 Bf6 16.g5 Bxb2+ 17.Kxb2 e5 18.h5 Qd6 19.Qg4 f5 20.gxf6 Rxf6 21.Rdg1

White has made a lot of progress with his plan. Black decides to flee inward from the coastal regions.  21...Kf7 22.hxg6+ Ke7 23.Qh4 Rg8 24.f4 Kf8 25.f5 Qb8 26.e4 Qb4 27.c3 Qb5 28.Rg3 a5 29.Rgh3 Ke7 30.Re1 a4 31.exd5 cxd5 32.d4 cxd4 33.Qxd4 Rxf5 34.c4 Qc5 35.Qh4+ Nf6 36.cxd5 a3+ 37.Kb1 Rc8 38.Nc4 Qxd5 39.Rhe3 Qg2 40.R3e2 Qxg6 41.Ka1 Rc5

White has continued to hunt the king, and ultimately he is not to be denied.  42.Nxe5 Qh5 43.Qxh5 Rxh5 44.Nd3+ Kf7 45.Nxc5 Rxc5 46.Re7+ Kf8 47.Ra7 g5 48.Rf1 Kg8 49.Rxa3 Ne4 50.Kb2 Kg7 51.b4 Rb5 52.Rb3 Nd2 53.Rg1 Nxb3 54.Kxb3 Kf6 55.a4 Rb8 56.a5 Rg8 57.a6 Ke6 58.Ka4 Kd6 59.Kb5 g4 60.a7 Kc7 61.Rxg4 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 c5 6.d5 O-O 7.Nf3 e6 8.Be2 exd5 9.cxd5 Re8 10.e5 Nfd7 11.e6 Nf8 12.O-O fxe6 13.Bb5 Bd7 14.dxe6 Bxb5 15.Nxb5 d5 16.f5 gxf5 17.e7 Rxe7 18.Bg5 Nc6 19.Nh4 Qd7 20.Nxf5 Re6 21.Nxg7 Qxg7 22.Qxd5 Qe5 23.Rad1 Qxd5 24.Rxd5 Re5 25.Nc7 Rc8 26.Rxe5 Nxe5 27.Nd5 Nc6 28.Bh6 Ne6 29.Nf6+ Kf7 30.Nxh7+ Kg6 31.Rf6+ Kxh7 32.Rxe6 Nd4 33.Rf6 Re8 34.Bd2 b5 35.a3 Nb3 36.Bc3 a5 37.Rc6 b4 38.axb4 axb4 39.Bf6 Re2 40.h4 Kg6 41.Kh2 Kf5 42.Kh3 Nd4 43.Bxd4 cxd4 44.Rc4 Ke5 45.Rxb4 d3 46.Rb8 d2 47.Rd8 Ke4

An interesting ending. Black's advanced pawn and well placed pieces outweigh the two pawns, but White can draw easily enough  48.h5?? White misses Black's most dangerous idea (48.g3 blocking the threatened check makes fewest concessions  48...Ke3 49.h5 Re1 50.Kg4 d1=Q+ 51.Rxd1 Rxd1 52.h6 and White is in no danger. One logical way for Black to draw is  52...Rd5 cutting off the king  53.h7 Rd8 54.Kg5 and now Black checks endlessly from the side, if the white King tries to approach, the rook gets behind the pawn and Black wins  54...Rd5+ ) 48...Re3+ 49.Kg4 Rd3 50.Re8+ Kd4 51.Rd8+ Ke3 0-1