Magazines Games 2008-2018 2018

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Nf6 6.Bf4 Bg4 7.Qb3 Qd7 8.Nd2 e6 9.Ngf3 Bd6 10.Bxd6 Qxd6 11.O-O O-O 12.Rae1 Nd7 13.Qc2 h6 14.Re3 Rac8 15.a3 e5 16.dxe5 Ndxe5 17.Nxe5 Nxe5 18.Rfe1 Nc4 19.Nxc4 dxc4 20.Bh7+ Kh8 21.h3 Be6 22.Bf5 Bxf5 23.Qxf5 Rc5 24.Qg4 Rb5 25.R1e2 Qd5 26.Qf4 Rb6 27.Re4 Qd3 28.Kh2 Rf6 29.Qd2

Daniel went for the forcing line:  29...Rd8 30.Qxd3 cxd3 31.Rd2 Rxf2 32.Rxf2 d2 But from afar missed:  33.Rf1! He was hoping for (33.Rxd2 Rxd2 34.b4 Ra2 35.Re7 Rxa3 36.Rxb7 Rxc3 37.Rxa7 Rb3 38.Rxf7 Rxb4 with complete pawn annihilation and draw. ) 33...d1=Q 34.Rxd1 Rxd1 35.Re7 b5 36.Rxa7 Rb1 37.b4 Rb3 38.Rxf7 Rxc3 39.Rf3 Rc2 40.h4 g6 41.Kg3 h5 42.Kh2 Kg7 43.Rd3 Rc4 44.Rd5! Rc3 45.Rxb5 Rxa3 46.Rc5 Rb3 47.b5 Kf6 48.Rg5! Rb4 49.g3 Rb2+ 50.Kg1 Re2 51.Kf1 Re4 52.Kf2 Kg7 53.Kf3 Re1 54.Kf4 Kf6 55.Rc5 Re2 56.Rc6+ Kg7 57.b6 Rb2 58.Ke5 Rb3 59.Kd6 Rxg3 60.b7 1-0

1.e4 I was quite pleased to finally get a chance to play White after a run of five Blacks. That wasn't a deliberate ploy, just a combination of unfortunate pairings and other players having to take days off due to illness.  1...e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qd2 a6 I always get confused by the move orders in the Classical French, Black can play a6, 0-0, Qa5, b5 and either Be7 or Bxc5 in almost any order. I decided not to try to work out the most precise move orders and just develop.  9.dxc5 Nxc5 10.O-O-O Qa5 11.Kb1 b5 12.Bd3 Bb7

13.f5 Now I'm developed I felt I needed to do something and this is the most thematic way to play.  13...Rd8? (13...Nxd3 is the safest move, but White will be a little bit better. Presumably he wanted to keep some more tension in the position and try to out-play me.  14.Qxd3 (14.cxd3 exf5 15.Nxd5 Nb4 16.Nxb4 Bxb4 = ) 14...Rc8 15.Bd4 += ) (13...exf5 14.Bxf5 and the d pawn can't be defended ) 14.f6? (14.Bxc5 I had looked at this idea, but got my move orders wrong. For some reason I'd only looked at taking on e6 first, which allows Nxe6 and the idea of reversing the move order to eliminate that possibility escaped me.  14...Bxc5 15.fxe6 (15.Qg5 +- g6 16.Qf6 is possibly even better ) 15...fxe6 16.Ng5 Kd7 17.Nf7 +/- ) 14...gxf6 += 15.exf6 This is still a pretty good position though. The pawn on f6 is a real irritant for Black.  15...Bf8 (15...Bd6 16.Rhe1 Nxd3 17.Qxd3 += ) 16.Rhe1 (16.Qf2 The computer thinks this is better, but I wanted to get my last piece out, and having the rook on the same file as the Black king can't be bad.  16...b4 17.Ne2 +/- ) 16...Ne4??

(16...b4 should have been played first, when I have a nice attack, but there's plenty of play left.  17.Ne2 Ne4 +/- 18.Qc1 Nxf6 19.Bg5 Be7 20.Ned4 ) 17.Bxe4 +- (17.Nxe4 I was trying to make this work for a while, and once I realised I couldn't I started looking for other ideas. I thought the piece sac' looked too good to be true and didn't really believe it, but I couldn't see a refutation so decided to go for it.  17...dxe4 18.Qxa5 Nxa5 19.Bb6 Rxd3 20.Bxa5 Rxd1+ 21.Rxd1 Bd5 ) 17...dxe4 18.Qf2 exf3 ( he has to take the piece 18...b4 19.Nxe4 b3 20.axb3 Nb4 +- 21.Nc3 ) 19.Bb6 Rxd1+ 20.Rxd1 Qb4 21.Qxf3

I'd got this far when analysing earlier, and I couldn't see a comfortable way to stop Qxc6andRd8# (21.Qg3 This would've been a very computery move to play, but the threat of Qb8+ and Rd8# basically just wins on the spot. ) 21...Bd6 22.Ne4 Be5 (22...Nd4 is the only other move, but it loses quite simply.  23.Nxd6+ (23.Rxd4?! Qe1+ 24.Qd1 Qxd1+ 25.Rxd1 Bxe4 26.Rxd6 O-O +/- ) 23...Qxd6 24.Qxb7 +- ) 23.c3 Qa4 24.Nd6+ Kf8 (24...Bxd6 runs into  25.Rxd6 Kf8 26.Qxc6 Bxc6 27.Rd8+ Be8 28.Bc5+ Kg8 29.Rxe8# ) 25.Nxb7 Bxf6 (25...Qf4 26.Bc5+ Kg8 27.Qxc6 Qxf6 28.Nd6 +- ) 26.Nc5 (26.b3 Qh4 27.Qxc6 also wins, but I wanted to keep my pieces active ) 26...Qh4

27.Nd7+ (27.Qxc6 is an extra piece, but my pieces are a bit awkwardly placed. I wanted active pieces as well as the material. ) 27...Kg7 28.Nxf6 and I end up with an extra piece in all variations. (28.Nxf6 Qxf6 (28...Ne5 29.Nh5+ Kg6 30.Qg3+ ) 29.Qxc6 +- ) 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 d5 5.c3 Nc6 6.Nbd2 Bd6 7.Bg3 Qe7 8.Ne5 O-O 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nf3 a6 12.Bh4 f6 13.Bd3 Kh8 14.Bc2 b5 15.Qe2 cxd4 16.exd4 b4 17.c4 b3 18.Bxb3 Bb4+ 19.Kf1 Na5 20.g4 Nxc4 21.Bxc4 dxc4 22.Qxc4 Nb6 23.Qe2 Qb7 24.Rg1 e5 25.g5 e4 26.gxf6

26...exf3 27.fxg7+ Qxg7 28.Qe6 Qxd4 29.Rg8+

29...Rxg8 30.Bf6+ Qxf6 31.Qxf6+ Rg7 32.Rd1 Be7 33.Qxb6 Rag8 34.Qd4 h6 35.Rd3 Bc5 36.Qe5 Bb6 37.Rd6 Kh7 38.Qf5+ Rg6 39.Rxb6 1-0

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.Nf3 dxe5 6.Nxe5 N8d7 7.Nxf7

7...Kxf7 8.c5 and White has a huge advantage  8...g6 9.Nc3 Bg7 10.Be3 Rf8 11.Qb3+ e6 12.O-O-O c6 13.cxb6 Nxb6 14.h4 Nd5 15.h5 g5 16.h6 Bf6 17.Ne4 Be7 18.Rh5 Rg8 19.Be2 a5 20.Qd3 Nb4 21.Nxg5+ Bxg5 22.Qxh7+ Kf8 23.Bxg5 Rxg5 24.Qh8+ Rg8 25.Qe5 Kf7 26.h7 Rh8 27.Rf5+ Ke7 28.Qc5+ Qd6 29.Rf7+ Kxf7 30.Qxd6 Rxh7 31.a3 Nd5 32.Rd3 Rh1+ 33.Kd2 Nf6 34.Rf3 Rh6 35.Qf4 Kg7 36.g4 e5 37.dxe5 Ng8 38.Qf8+ Kh8 39.Bc4 Be6 40.Qxa8 Bxc4 41.Rf6 Rh7 42.f4 Bd5 43.f5 c5 44.e6 Rh2+ 45.Ke3 Rh3+ 46.Kf4 Rf3+ 1-0

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 e5 6.O-O Nge7 7.Ne1 O-O 8.Nc2 d6 9.Ne3 Be6 10.a3 Qd7 11.Re1 Bh3 12.Bh1 f5 13.d3 f4 14.Ned5 Rf7 15.Ne4 h6 16.Nxe7+ Nxe7 17.b4 Raf8 18.Bb2 b6 19.Qd2 Nf5 20.a4 Nd4 21.Bxd4 exd4 22.a5 Be5 23.axb6 axb6 24.Bf3 Kg7 25.Ra6 Bf5

Black has just dropped his bishop back from h3 to f5. He is giving a pawn while retreating an attacking piece. White should be wary! But Russell is careless-  26.Rxb6?? Bxe4 27.Bxe4 fxg3 28.fxg3 Bxg3! Only here he started to think, but it was too late.  29.Bg2 (29.hxg3 Qh3 30.Bg2 Qxg3 31.Kh1 Rf2 ) 29...Bxe1 30.Qxe1 Qe6 31.bxc5 Qe3+ 32.Kh1 dxc5 33.h4 h5 34.Rc6 Rf2 35.Qg1 Qg3 36.Rxg6+ Qxg6 0-1

1.e4 c6 2.c4 d5 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.exd5 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Bc4 Bg7 7.Qb3 O-O 8.Nf3 Nbd7 9.O-O Nb6 10.d3 Bg4 11.Ne5 Bf5 12.Re1 Ne8 13.Bf4 Nd6 14.Rac1 Rc8 15.Nb5 g5 16.Bg3 h5 17.h3 Nxb5 18.Qxb5 a6 19.Qb3 h4 20.Bh2 Nd7 21.d4 b5 22.Bf1 Rxc1 23.Rxc1 Nf6 24.Nc6 Qd7 25.Qe3 Nxd5 26.Qxg5 f6 27.Qxh4 Rc8 28.Qh5 Be6 29.Nb8 Qb7 30.Rxc8+ Qxc8 31.Qd1 Bf7 32.a4 e5 33.dxe5 fxe5 34.Nxa6 Qxa6 35.Bxb5 Qb6 36.Bc4 Qc5 37.b3 e4 38.Bg3 e3 39.fxe3 Qxe3+ 40.Kh2 Bd4 41.Qe1 Bc3 42.Qxe3 Nxe3 43.Bxf7+ Kxf7 44.Bd6 Ke6 45.Bc5 Nf1+ 46.Kg1 Nd2 47.b4 Ne4 48.Kf1 Kd5 49.Ke2 Be5 50.Kf3 Bc3

51.h4 Be1 52.h5 Bd2 53.Be7 Nc3 54.a5 Ke6 55.Bc5 Kd5 56.Be3 Be1 57.h6 Ne4 58.a6 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 exd5 5.d4 a6 6.Be3 c4 7.Be2 Bd6 8.O-O Ne7 9.Bg5 O-O 10.Nbd2 Nbc6 11.Re1 Qc7 12.Nf1 h6 13.Bh4 Nf5 14.Bg3 Nxg3 15.Nxg3 b5 16.a3 Be6 17.Nd2 Qd7 18.Bf3 Ne7 19.Ndf1 Rae8 20.Ne3 f5 21.Nef1 f4 22.Nh1 g6 23.Nd2 Kg7 24.Be2 Ng8 25.Nf3 Nf6 26.Ne5 Qc7 27.h3 h5 28.Bf1 Ne4 29.Be2 Bf5 30.Nf3 Qd7 31.Bf1 Kh6 32.Nd2 g5 33.f3 Nf6 34.Nf2 Re3 35.Be2 Rfe8 36.Nf1 R3e6 37.Nh2 Qe7 38.Kf1 Bg6 39.Qd2 Kg7 40.Qd1 Ng8 41.Qd2 Nh6 42.Rac1 Nf5 43.Nh1 Ng3+

44.Nxg3 fxg3 45.Ng4 hxg4 46.fxg4 Bf4 47.Rc2 Bxd2 48.Rxd2 Qf7+ 0-1

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 Nd7 8.Qd2 O-O 9.O-O-O Nc5 10.Kb1 c6 11.h4 Ne4 12.Qc1 d5 13.h5 Re8 14.c4 Bf6 15.cxd5 cxd5 16.Bc4 Be6 17.Bb5

17...Qa5! 18.Bxe8 d4 19.a3 dxe3 20.Bd7 e2 21.Rd3 Bc4 22.Re3 Nxf2 23.Nd2 Ba6 24.Re1 Bxb2 25.Kxb2 Qb6+ 26.Rb3 Qd4+ 27.Kb1 Qxd7 28.Nf3 h6 29.Qe3 Ng4 30.Qd4 Qe6 31.Qd2 Re8 32.Kc1 b6 33.Nd4 Qe5 34.Kb1 Rd8 35.Rb4 Ne3 36.c3 Nxg2 37.Rxe2 Bxe2 38.Qxe2 Qxe2 39.Nxe2 Rd2 40.Re4 f5 41.Re5 f4 42.Nd4 Kf7 43.a4 Ne3 44.a5 Rd3 45.a6 Rxc3 46.Re4 Nd5 47.Kb2 Re3 48.Rxe3 fxe3 49.Kc2 Nb4+ 50.Kc3 Nxa6 51.Kd3 Kf6 52.Kxe3 Nc5 53.Kf3 Kg5 54.Kg3 a5 55.Kf3 a4 56.Ke3 a3 57.Nc2 a2 58.Na1 Kxh5 59.Kf4 g5+ 60.Kf5 b5 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Bb3 a5 9.O-O d6 10.f3 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 Bd7 12.a4 Bc6 13.Re1 Nd7 14.Nd5 Nc5 15.Ra3 Rc8 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.c3 Kg8 18.Qd4 Re8 19.Bc2 Bxd5 20.exd5 Qc7 21.Bb3 Nd7 22.Ba2 Qc5 23.Rd1 Rc7 24.Rb3 Rec8 25.Rb5 Qxd4+ 26.Rxd4 b6 27.Kf2 Kf8 28.Ke2 Rc5 29.Bb1 Rxb5 30.axb5 Rc5 31.Bd3 Ne5 32.c4 Rc7 33.Kd2 Nd7 34.Rh4 Kg7 35.Re4 Nc5 36.Re1 e5 37.dxe6 fxe6 38.Bf1 g5 39.Bd3 Kf6 40.Bc2 h6 41.Re2 e5 42.Be4

42...Nb3+ 43.Kc3 Nd4 44.Re1 Nxb5+ 45.Kd3 Nd4 46.g3 Ne6 47.Bd5 Nc5+ 48.Kd2 Na4 49.Rb1 Nc5 50.Rh1 Na6 51.h4 Nb4 52.hxg5+ Kxg5 53.Be6 Nc6 54.f4+ Kg6 55.Bd5 Nd4 56.Kd3 Nb3 57.fxe5 dxe5 58.Ke4 Re7 59.Ke3 Nc5 60.Rb1 a4 61.Be4+ Kg5 62.Rd1 Rd7 63.Bd5 Rd6 64.Rh1 e4 65.Re1 Kg4 66.Rh1 Rf6 67.Kd4 Kxg3 68.Ke5 Rf8 69.Rxh6 Re8+ 70.Kd4 e3 71.Rg6+ Kf4 72.Rf6+ Kg5 73.Rf1 e2 74.Re1 Kg4 75.Kc3 Kg3 76.Kd2 Kf2 77.Bf7 Rd8+ 78.Bd5 Nb3+ 0-1

1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.c4 Bg7 5.Nf3 d6 6.Nc3 O-O 7.Rb1 Qe8 8.O-O e5 9.d5 h6 10.b4 Na6 11.Nd2 g5 12.c5 e4 13.cxd6

13...Ng4!? 14.h3 Nxf2! 15.Rxf2 Bxc3 16.Nf1?! (16.dxc7 Nxc7 leads to a complicated game but with chances for both sides ) 16...cxd6 17.Bb2 Bxb2 18.Rxb2 Qe5 19.Qb3 Bd7 20.Rc2 Rac8 21.e3 Rxc2 22.Rxc2 Bb5 23.Kh2

23...Bxf1 ( The bishop is much better than the Knight. Better was 23...Bd3 or ) (23...h5 ) 24.Bxf1 f4 25.exf4 gxf4 26.Bxa6 bxa6 27.gxf4 Qxf4+ 28.Qg3+ Qxg3+ 29.Kxg3 Kg7 30.Rc7+ Kf6 31.Kf4 Re8 32.Ke3 Ke5 33.Rxa7 Rg8 34.Rxa6 Rg3+ 35.Kf2 Rxh3 36.b5 Rc3 37.b6 Kf4 38.b7 Rc2+ 39.Kg1 Rb2 40.Rxd6 Rxb7 41.Rxh6

41...Ke3 (41...Ke5 42.d6 Rd7 is of course the easiest way to draw ) 42.d6 Kd2 43.Rh5 Rd7 44.Rd5+ Ke2 45.Kg2 e3 46.Kg3 Ke1 47.Kf3 e2 48.Ke3 Kf1 49.Rf5+ Ke1 50.Rh5 Kd1? (50...Kf1 51.Rf5+ Ke1 52.Rf2 Rxd6 53.Rxe2+ Kd1 54.Rh2 Ra6 55.Kd3 Ra3+ 56.Kc4 Ra8 57.Rb2 Kc1 58.Rh2 Rc8+ with an easy draw ( But not 58...Kb1 59.a4 Rxa4+ 60.Kb3 +- ) ) 51.Rd5+ Ke1 52.Rd2 Kf1 53.Rxe2 Rxd6 54.Rh2 Ra6 55.Kd3 Ke1 56.Kc4 Kd1 57.Kb5 Ra3 58.Kb4 Ra8 59.a4 Rb8+ 60.Kc5 Ra8 61.Ra2 Kc1 62.a5 Kb1 63.Ra4 Kb2 64.a6 Kb3 65.Ra1 Rh8 66.a7 Rh5+ 67.Kd6 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 d5 5.e3 O-O 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.Nf3 b6 8.O-O Bxc3 9.bxc3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Bb7 11.Bd3 h6 12.e4 Na5 13.Ba3 Re8 14.Ne5 Rc8 15.Rad1 c6 16.Qe2 Qc7 17.f4 c5 18.Rf3 cxd4 19.cxd4 Nc6 20.Nxc6 Bxc6 21.Rdf1 Qd7 22.Bb2 Qb7? 23.Ba6 Qa8 24.Bxc8 Rxc8

25.d5 exd5 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.Rg3+ Kh7 28.Qh5 Qb7 29.Qf5+ 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Bb5 Nd4 6.O-O e6 7.d3 f5 8.Kh1 Nf6 9.e5 Ng4 10.h3 h5 11.Kg1 a6 12.Bc4 b5 13.Bb3 Bb7 14.Ng5 Bh6 15.hxg4 hxg4 16.Be3 Bxg5 17.fxg5 g3 18.Ne4 fxe4 19.Qg4 Qe7 (19...Nf5 was clearly better ) 20.Bxd4 cxd4 21.dxe4 Rh5 22.Qxg3

22...Rxg5 This pawn is not so important. Better is (22...O-O-O ) 23.Qd3 Rxe5 24.Qxd4 Qc5 25.Qxc5 Rxc5 26.Rae1 Re5 27.Rf4 g5 28.Rg4 Ke7 29.c3 Rf8 30.Bc2 d5 31.Re2 Rf4 32.Rxf4 gxf4 33.Rf2 dxe4 34.Rxf4 e3 35.Kf1 Bd5 36.b3 e2+ 37.Ke1 Bxg2 38.Rf2 Bf1 39.Bd3 Re3 40.Bxe2 Bxe2 41.Rxe2 Rxc3 42.Kd2 Rc5 43.Rh2 Kd6 44.Rh8 b4 45.Kd3 Rg5

46.Rh2 (46.Rb8 Rb5 47.Rd8+ Ke5 48.Rh8 Rd5+ 49.Ke3 keeping the rook active is better ) 46...Kd5 47.Ke3 Rg1 48.Rd2+ Ke5 49.Rh2 Rg3+ 50.Kd2 Kd5 51.Kc2 e5 52.Rd2+ Ke4 53.Re2+ Kd4 54.Rd2+ Ke3 55.Rd3+ Kf4 56.Rd6 a5 57.Rf6+ Ke4 58.Ra6 Rg2+ 59.Kb1 Kd3 60.Rxa5 e4 61.Rd5+ Ke2 62.Rd4 e3 63.Rxb4 Ke1 (63...Kd3 64.Rb8 e2 and the king is already nearby the pawns ) 64.a4 e2 65.Re4 Kf1 66.b4 e1=Q+ 67.Rxe1+ Kxe1 68.b5 Kd2 69.b6 Rg4 70.a5 Ra4 71.b7 Rb4+ 72.Ka2 Rxb7 73.Ka3 Kc3 74.Ka4 Kc4 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.h3 O-O 6.Bg5 h6 7.Be3 e5 8.d5 Ne8 9.Qd2 Kh7 10.g4 a6 11.f3 c5 12.h4 Bd7 13.a3 b5 14.cxb5 axb5 15.Nxb5 Na6 16.Rb1 f5 17.h5! f4 18.hxg6+ Kxg6 19.Bf2 Bf6 20.Kd1 Rh8 21.Bc4 Nac7 22.Nxc7 Qxc7 23.Ne2 Bg5 24.Nc3 Nf6 25.Bh4 Qc8 26.Kc2 Qb7 27.Qe2 Rab8 28.Kd3 Qa7 29.Qc2 Qa5 30.Rbg1 Nh7 31.Be1 Qb6 32.b3 Be7 33.Rg2 Ng5 34.Ke2 Bc8 35.a4 Ba6 36.Nb5 Bxb5 37.Bxb5 c4 38.Bf2 cxb3 39.Qxb3 Qc7 40.Rgg1 Rhc8 41.Rc1

41...Qd8 (41...Qxc1 42.Rxc1 Rxc1 43.a5 Ra1 44.Bb6 is probably winning for White but offers more resistance ) 42.Qa3 Nf7 43.Qb4 Ra8 44.Bc6 Rcb8 45.Qc3 Ra6 46.Rb1 Qc8 47.Qd3 Rxb1 48.Rxb1 Nd8 49.Bb5 Ra8 50.Qd2 Rb8 51.Rc1 Qb7 52.Qa5 Ra8 53.Qc7 Rb8 54.Ba7 Nc6 55.Qxb7 Rxb7 56.dxc6 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 d6 7.c3 Na5 8.Bc2 c5 9.O-O g6 10.Re1 Bg7 11.Nbd2 O-O 12.Nf1 Nc6 13.Be3 Rb8 14.Qd2 b4 15.Rab1 Be6 16.c4 a5 17.Ba4 Na7 18.Bh6 Nh5 19.h3 Qc8 20.Bxg7 Kxg7 21.Kh2 h6 22.Ne3 Nf4 23.Ng1 Bd7 24.Bxd7 Qxd7 25.g3 Ne6 26.a3 Nc6 27.Nd5 Ncd4 28.axb4 Ng5 29.Re3 Qxh3+ 30.Nxh3 Ngf3+ 31.Kg2 Nxd2 32.Rd1 N2b3 33.b5 g5 34.g4 Ne6 35.Ng1 Nf4+ 36.Nxf4 gxf4 37.Rh3 Nd4 38.Nf3

38...Nxb5? White has a big advantage but this is despair  39.cxb5 Rxb5 40.Ra1 Ra8 41.Nh4 Rxb2 42.Nf5+ Kg6 43.Rxh6+ Kg5 44.Rah1 Kxg4 45.R1h4+ Kg5 46.Kf3 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.d4 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Bg7 7.Be3 d6 8.Be2 Nf6 9.O-O O-O 10.Qd2 Bd7 11.f3 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Bc6 13.Rfd1 Re8 14.Rac1 Qa5 15.Be3 Nd7 16.a3 Qd8 17.b4 b6 18.Qe1 a5 19.Qf2 axb4 20.axb4 Ra3 21.Nd5 Bxd5 22.cxd5 Qb8 23.Bb5 Rd8 24.Bxd7 Rxd7 25.Bxb6 (25.Rc6 ) 25...Bh6 26.Rc6 Rb7 27.Kf1 Qa8 28.Ba5 Be3 29.Qc2 (29.Qb2!? Rxa5 30.Qc3 Rc5 31.bxc5 Bxc5 32.g3 also with a big advantage ) 29...Rb8 30.Qc4 Qa7 31.Ra6 Qd7 32.Qc6

32...Rb7? 33.Ra8+ Kg7 34.Rd8 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 a6 6.Bb3 Ba7 7.Nbd2 d6 8.Nf1 h6 9.Ng3 Qe7 10.Qe2 g6 11.h3 Nd7 12.O-O Nc5 13.Bd5 Ne6 14.Re1 Ncd8 15.Be3 Nf4 16.Qd2 g5?! playing for a win with Black can be very complicated...  17.d4 Rg8 18.dxe5 dxe5 19.Bxa7 Rxa7 20.Nf5 Qf6 21.Rad1 Ra8

22.Bb3 ( White is much better and could go on with by example 22.Qe3 ) 22...Nc6 23.Bd5 Nd8 24.Bb3 Nc6 25.Bd5 1/2-1/2

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.h3 O-O 6.Bg5 Na6 7.Qd2 e5 8.d5 c6 9.g4 cxd5 10.cxd5 Nc5 11.f3 Bd7 12.h4 Qa5

13.h5?! probably too daring  13...Nb3 14.Qh2 Rfc8 ( Playing very aggressively has some points. Your opponent may see too much. Black had to go for 14...Nxa1 ) ( or 14...h6 ) 15.hxg6 hxg6 16.Rd1 Nd4 17.Qh4 Ne8 18.Bh6 f6? probably the decisive mistake  19.Bxg7 Nxg7 20.Qh7+ Kf7 21.Rh6 Rh8 22.Qxg6+ Kg8 23.Rxh8+ Kxh8 24.Rd2 Kg8 25.Rh2 Rf8 26.Rh7 Rf7 27.g5 fxg5 28.Qh6 Re7 29.Rh8+ Kf7 30.Qxg5 Qc5 31.Rh6 Nc2+ 32.Kd2 Qf2+ 33.Be2 Ba4 34.Nxa4 Qe1+ 35.Kxc2 Rc7+ 36.Nc3 b5 37.Qf6+ 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 dxe4 4.Bxe4 Nf6 5.Bf3 c5 6.Ne2 cxd4 7.Qxd4 Qxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Nb5 Na6 10.Nd2 (10.a3! ) 10...O-O (10...Nb4! ) 11.a3 Rb8 12.Nb3 Bb6 13.Be3 Bxe3 14.fxe3 Bd7 15.Nd6

15...Bc6 16.O-O-O Bd5 17.Na5 b6 18.Bxd5 Nxd5 19.Nc6 It is really interesting how the two White knights are paralysing Black's pieces.  19...Ra8 20.e4 Ndc7 21.b4

21...Nb8 Struggling for room Black allows a pretty checkmate  22.Ne7+ Kh8 23.Nxf7+ 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 Nf6 4.e5 Also an option is (4.exd5 exd5 5.Nf3 going into the exchange French, and just maybe you've tricked him out of the Bd6-Ne7-Bf5 set up. ) 4...Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Nf3 Be7 8.O-O g6 9.Be3 c4 10.Bc2 b5 11.g4 Nb6 12.a3 Qc7 13.Nbd2 Bd7 14.f5! O-O-O 15.Ng5

White is already clearly better.  15...Rdf8 16.fxg6 Bxg5 17.Bxg5 hxg6 18.Bf6 Rhg8 19.Nf3 Kb7 20.Ng5 a5 21.Qd2 Nc8 22.Rf2 Nb8 23.Raf1 Bc6

24.Nh7 Re8 25.Qh6 Nd7 26.Bh4 g5 27.Bxg5 Kb6 28.Rxf7 Na7 29.Nf6 Rh8 30.Nxe8 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 dxe4 4.Bxe4 Nf6 5.Bf3 c5 6.Ne2 Nc6 7.Be3 Nd5 It's not a good idea to go for the b2 pawn with (7...Qb6?! 8.Nbc3 Qxb2? 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.O-O Qa5 11.dxc5 and White has a clear advantage. Note that  11...Bxc5?? is not possible  12.Rb5 ) 8.Bxd5 Qxd5 9.Nbc3

9...Qh5? Trying to dodge the trap. The trap is meant be (9...Qxg2 10.Rg1 Qxh2 11.Bf4 Qh3 12.Nb5 No-one has played the strongest move against me  12...f6! 13.Nc7+ Kf7 14.Nxa8 cxd4

and even though a Rook down Black gets enough play according to Gustafsson. Looking at my old notes I have the same line (engine use is a great equaliser in opening preparation): My notes from around 2016: 11...Qh3 12.Nb5 f6! anything else is simply horrible for Black 13.Nc7+ Kf7 14. Nxa8 cxd4 Black has compensation for the rook sacrifice, but his position is very difficult to play. The most straight forward line  15.Nxd4 Bb4+! 16.c3 Bxc3+ 17.bxc3 Qxc3+ 18.Kf1 Nxd4 19.Rg3 Qc4+ 20.Rd3 e5 21.Rc1 Qd5! 22.Qh5+ g6 23.Rc7+ Bd7 24.Qh3 Ke7 25.Be3 Rxa8 26.Bxd4 exd4 27.Qxh7+ Kd8 28.Rxd7+ Qxd7 29.Qh8+ Kc7 30.Qxa8 Qb5 31.Ke2 and Black has perpetual check. White has other options to explore here, but this would be an impractical variation for Black to play without excellent preparation with the aim of walking a fine line to get a draw. ) 10.Nb5 Rb8 11.O-O Be7 12.d5 exd5 13.Bf4

13...O-O 14.Bxb8 Nxb8 15.Nf4 Qxd1 16.Raxd1 d4 17.Rfe1 Bd8 18.Nd6 Bg4 19.f3 Bc7 20.Nxb7 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Bxf4 22.Nxc5 Be3+ 23.Kg2 Rc8 24.c3 Nc6 25.Nb3 f5 26.Nxd4 Nxd4 27.Rxe3 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nc3 Qxd4? Even worse is (5...Qxg2?? 6.Be4! and the Queen is trapped. ) ( The best move is 5...Qd8 Here I will give one short game for inspiration  6.Bf4 Nf6 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Qf3 O-O 9.O-O-O Qa5 10.Nge2 Bd7 11.Rhg1 Bc6 12.Qh3 Nbd7 13.g4 e5 14.g5 exf4 15.gxf6 Nxf6 16.Rxg7+ Kxg7 17.Rg1+ Kh8 18.Qh6 1-0 Onischuk,V (2601)-Vusatiuk,V (2344) Lutsk UKR 2017. ) 6.Nb5 Qe5+ If (6...Qd8 7.Bf4 Na6 8.Qe2 +/- I once had a win against an IM playing internet blitz that went  8...Nf6 9.O-O-O Nd5?? 10.Be4! and Black loses a piece because of the threats of either c4 or Bxd5. ) 7.Ne2

Threatening Bf4. And g5 won't help as I'll play f4!  7...Na6 8.Bf4 Qf6 Also (8...Qxb2? has happened my internet Blitz games, but loses to  9.Rb1 Qf6 (9...Qxa2 10.Nec3 Qa5 11.Ra1 Qd8 12.Rxa6 bxa6 13.Nc7+ ) 10.Nd6+ Bxd6 11.Bb5+ Bd7 12.Bxd7+ Kxd7 13.Qxd6+ Ke8 14.Rxb7 ) 9.Nd6+ Ke7?? (9...Bxd6 10.Bxd6 +/- ) 10.Bb5! simply threatening Nxc8 followed by Qd7 mate  10...e5 11.Nxc8+ 1-0

Alternatively Black can play  1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 c5 4.exd5 exd5 claiming that they are reaching a position that could be reached in the exchange variation of the French. This was Tony Dowden's approach against me in the NZ Championship 2016. While it is true, to reach the exact position from the exchange variation requires both sides to play minor lines so in practice the position is quite specific to the 3.Bd3 variation.Whiteplays  5.Nf3 waiting for Black to move his f8 Bishop before taking on c5 giving a favourable isolated Queen's pawn position For example  5...Nc6 Black usually avoids the IQP position with (5...c4 6.Be2 Nf6 7.O-O Bd6 8.b3 cxb3 9.axb3 O-O 10.c4 Nc6 11.Nc3 which is a common position to reach from this opening. ) 6.O-O Nf6 7.Re1+ Be7 8.dxc5 O-O 9.a3 Bxc5 10.b4 Bd6 11.Bb2

and White is slightly better in Wastney,S (2345) - Dowden,A (2088) 123rd ch-NZL Open 2016 Auckland NZL (7.10), 08.01.2016 

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 dxe4 4.Bxe4 Nf6 5.Bf3 c5 6.Ne2 Nc6 7.Be3 e5 8.Bxc6+ bxc6 9.dxe5 Qxd1+ 10.Kxd1 Ng4 11.Nd2 Be7 12.h3 Nxe3+ 13.fxe3 O-O 14.Nf4 Rd8 15.Ke2 f6 16.Rad1 fxe5 17.Nd3 e4 18.Nxe4 c4 19.Ne5 Ba6

20.Nxc6 Re8 21.Nxe7+ Rxe7 22.Nc3 Rae8 23.e4 Bb7 24.Rd4 Bxe4 25.Rxe4 Rxe4+ 26.Nxe4 Rxe4+ 27.Kd2

27...Rf4 28.Re1 Kf7 29.Re3 Rf2+ 30.Re2 Rf6 31.Kc3 Rf4 32.a4 h5 33.a5 Rf5 34.Kb4 a6 35.Kxc4 Rxa5 36.Kd4 Ra1 37.c4 a5 38.c5 a4 39.c6 a3 40.bxa3 Rxa3 41.c7 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 dxe4 4.Bxe4 Nf6 5.Bf3 c5 6.Ne2 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Ne5 9.Nc3 Another option is 9.0-0 which was used successfully by Maxim Vachier Lagrave against Wesley So in the Norway Blitz 2017.  9...Be7 It's considered a mistake to play (9...Bb4 10.Nb5! ) 10.Qe2 (10.Ndb5!? is recommended by GM Angel Arribas and GM Pepe Cuenca. ) 10...O-O In my preparation I had looked at the following game (10...Nxf3+ 11.Qxf3 O-O 12.O-O-O Bd7 13.g4 Qa5 14.g5 Nd5 15.Nf5 Nxc3 16.Nxe7+ Kh8 17.Bd2 Nxa2+ 18.Kb1 Qd8 19.Bf4 Qxe7 20.Bd6 Qe8 21.Rhe1 Rg8 22.Rd4 Bc6 23.Qh5 f6 24.g6 h6 25.Bf4 e5 26.Bxh6 Bf3 27.Bxg7+ Kxg7 28.Qh7+ Kf8 29.Rd7 Qxd7 30.Qxd7 Rxg6 31.Qf5 1-0 Onischuk,V (2618)-Harika,D (2509) Abu Dhabi 2015 ) 11.O-O-O Qc7 12.Ndb5 Qa5 13.Bf4 Nxf3 14.Qxf3

White is slightly better, but now follow a couple of mutual mistakes.  14...e5? 15.Qe2? (15.Bxe5! Bg4 16.Qxb7 Bxd1 17.Qxe7 and White as a decisive advantage according to the engine. ) 15...a6 16.Qxe5 axb5 17.Qxe7

17...b4?? Losing on the spot. Better is (17...Re8 when Black is slighter better. ) 18.Bc7! b6 19.Rd8 Nd7 20.Bd6 Bb7 21.Bxb4 Qf5 22.Rxd7 Rfe8 23.Qd6 Bxg2 24.Rg1 Qxf2 25.Qd4 Qf5 26.Rd5 Qxd5 1-0

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Bd3 dxe4 4.Bxe4 Nf6 5.Bf3 c5 6.Ne2 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Ne5 9.Nc3 Be7 10.Qe2 Bd7 This was Chris's pregame preparation. It was a bit ridiculous of me to play the exact 10 moves from my game from last year.  11.O-O-O 11.Bxb7 is critical and of course Chris had studied this deeply with a computer engine.  11...Rc8 12.Bf4 Chris told me after the game that the computer hadn't given Bf4 as one of the main choices.  12...Nxf3 13.Qxf3

13...Rxc3 And in all his prepared lines this exchange sacrifice was a common theme.  14.bxc3 The price I have to pay for the exchange is the damaged pawn structure. Not (14.Qxc3?? Nd5 15.Qf3 Nxf4 16.Qxf4 Bg5 pinning the Queen. ) 14...Nd5 15.Bd2 Qb6 16.Nb3 Qa6 17.Kb1 O-O 18.c4 Qxc4 19.Qd3 Qxd3 20.cxd3 Bb5 21.d4 b6 22.Kb2 a5 23.a3 Bf6 24.Be3 Rd8 25.Nd2 Bd3 26.Nf3 Be4

After suffering in a clearly worse position for a long time, it now seems I am ok, but I quickly go wrong.  27.Bg5? Bxg5 28.Nxg5 Bxg2 29.Rhe1 (29.Rhg1 When playing 27.Bg5 I complete overlooked that here  29...Nf4! is winning ) 29...Nf4 30.Ne4?? And now the fight is over. Better was (30.Re3 though Black is better. ) 30...Bf3 With the idea of (30...Bf3 31.Rd2 Ng2 winning material ) 0-1

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Qxf3 Qxd4 6.Be3 Qb4

(6...Qg4 is better ) 7.O-O-O Bg4? This is the Halosar trap, discussed later  8.Nb5 Na6 9.Qxb7 Rb8 10.Qxb8+ Nxb8 11.Nxc7# 1-0

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nxe4 exd4 5.Bb5+ c6 6.Bc4 Be6 7.Qe2

7...Bxc4?? 8.Nf6# 1-0

1.d4 e5 2.Nf3 e4 3.Nfd2 d5 4.c3 Bd6 5.e3 Nf6 6.Be2 c6 7.O-O h5 8.f3

8...Bxh2+ 9.Kxh2 Ng4+ 10.fxg4 hxg4+ 11.Kg1 Rh1+ 12.Kxh1 Qh4+ 13.Kg1 g3 0-1

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Teichmann Defence:  5...Bg4 By pinning the knight on f3, Black intends to swap it off and undermine White's central control. White's best response is to attack the bishop immediatelywith  6.h3 when play often continues  6...Bxf3 (  If Black retreats the bishop with 6...Bh5 7.g4 Bg6 8.Ne5 a line which often transposes to the Gunderam Defence line 5...Bf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.g4 Bg6 after a subsequent h3-h4, as White's extra tempo with h3 is not particularly useful. ) 7.Qxf3 c6 (but not 7...Nc6, when 8.Bb5 is good for White). In this position, White can defend the attacked d-pawn with  8.Qf2 (the Ciesielski Variation), but this allows Black an easy game by preparing ...e7-e5, e.g. after ( Alternatively 8.Be3

is the Classical Variation, where White aims for a slow buildup to a kingside offensive. ) ( White's other main alternative is 8.g4!? the Seidel-Hall Attack, where White is happy to sacrifice the d-pawn in order to gain an increased initiative on the kingside, e.g. after  8...Qxd4 (  Black can decline the pawn, e.g. after 8...e6 9.g5 Nd5 10.Bd3

leading to sharp play. ) 9.Be3 Qe5 10.O-O-O e6 11.g5 ) 8...Nbd7 9.Bd3 e5

Variations After playing the opening moves  1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3

there are at several moves possible for Black. There is no definitive <->best' move here, and therefore that makes it all the more difficult for both sides to play the opening, as there are several alternatives at almost every move. The opening suits players who can think quickly over the board, like attacking, taking risks, and who desire short games, either winning or losing quickly! Gunderam Defence:  5...Bf5 The main response for White is  6.Ne5 intending to attack the Black bishop with an advance of the kingside pawns and weaken Black's kingside pawn structure with Ne5xBg6. Black can respond with (  An alternative response to the Gunderam defence is 6.Bd3 when play usually goes  6...Bxd3 7.Qxd3 c6 8.O-O e6 with about equal chances. ) 6...e6 when after  7.g4 Be4

leads to tremendous complications, e.g. after (7...Bg6 is more common and leads to quieter play, White's best response is probably  8.Bg2 c6 9.h4 with a sustained kingside initiative in return for the pawn ) 8.Nxe4 Nxe4 9.Qf3 Qxd4 10.Qxf7+ Kd8 11.Qf4

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 c6 8.Be3 e6 The Classical Variation of the Teichmann Defence.  9.Bd3 Be7 10.O-O Nbd7 11.g4 h6 12.Ne4 g5 13.Rf2 Qc7 14.Raf1 O-O-O 15.Nxf6 Nxf6 16.c4

16...Rdg8 Either 16...c5 or ...h5 give Black an edge. The move played is about equal.  17.Qg2 Qd8 18.b4 h5 19.b5 c5 20.Be4 Nxe4 21.Qxe4 hxg4 Black is on +1, but White keeps attacking.  22.Rxf7 Qd6 23.Qxg4 Rh4 24.Qg2 cxd4 25.Bf4

25...e5 (25...Qa3 better ) 26.Bg3 Rhh8 (26...Rh6 retains the initiative. ) 27.R1f5 d3 28.Qd2 g4 29.h4 Bxh4? (29...Rf8 leads to two rooks vs queen endgame, which Black should not lose. ) 30.Bxe5 Qc5+ 31.Kf1 (31.Kg2 leads to a forced win more quickly. ) 31...Be7 32.Bxh8 Qd6 33.Be5 Qa3 34.Rxe7 Qxe7 35.Qxd3 1-0

1.e4 Nf6 The Alekhine Defence.  2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 The BDG can be transposed from White opening with e4 and Black responding with the Scandinavian Defence d5. If you don't like playing against the Scandinavian Defence you can now play d4 and you will have a BDG, probably annoying your opponent, who may not have replied 1...d5 to 1.d4.  3...dxe4 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 Bg4 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 c6 8.Be3 e6 9.Bd3 Nbd7 10.O-O Be7 11.Ne4

11...O-O 12.c4 Nxe4 13.Qxe4 g6 14.Bh6 Re8 15.Rae1 Bg5 16.Bxg5 Qxg5 17.h4 Qe7 18.Qf4 Rad8 19.Re3

It's a good thing players don't have computer evaluations of their positions. Up to this point, Black has a +1 advantage. But he starts to lose it now with.  19...c5 20.d5 e5 21.Qg3 Nf8? (21...Kg7 keeps Black in the lead. but now White takes over the initiative. ) 22.h5 Qd6 23.Be4 Nd7 24.Ref3 Rf8 25.Qg5 Rde8 26.Rh3 Qe7 27.Qh6 f5 28.d6 Qg7 29.Bd5+ Kh8 30.hxg6 Nf6?

After this blunder, White could win swiftly with Qg5! However he doesn't see it.  31.Rxf5 Qxh6 32.Rxh6 Kg7 33.gxh7 Kxh6 34.h8=Q+ Rxh8 35.Rxf6+ Kg5 36.Rf7 b6 37.Rxa7 Rh6 38.Re7 Rhh8 39.Bc6 Rd8 40.Rxe5+ Kf4 41.Re4+ Kg5 42.d7 Kf5 43.a3 Rxd7 44.g4+ Kg5 45.Bxd7 Rd8 46.Re5+ Kf4 47.Rd5 1-0

Euwe Defence:  1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 e6 The 5...e6 line aims to reach a French Defence type position, but with Black having an extra pawn. Playusuallycontinues  6.Bg5 Be7 when White's most popular option is  7.Bd3 Black can attack the centre immediately with  7...c5!? here. Play can continue  8.dxc5 Qa5 9.O-O Qxc5+ 10.Kh1

. White has to play accurately to prove compensation for the pawn. Alternatively, on move 6, White can play Bd3, Be3, Bb5+ or a3. Each off these leads to numerous possibilities. 

Bogoljubov Defence:  1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 g6 By fianchettoing the king's bishop Black aims to gain increased pressure against the d4-pawn following a subsequent ...c5. White's most common response is the Studier Attack,  6.Bc4 ( An alternative approach is to castle queenside, play Bh6 and then launch the h-pawn against the Black kingside. The best way to carry out this approach is via 6.Bf4 e.g.  6...Bg7 7.Qd2 O-O 8.O-O-O c5

Now  9.d5 a6 10.d6! gives White good chances. ) 6...Bg7 7.O-O O-O 8.Qe1

, intending Qh4, Bh6 and piling pressure on the kingside, sacrificing pawns at d4 and c2 if appropriate. See WilliamLynn/ ^s third game below. However, after  8...Nc6 9.Qh4 Bg4! it is doubtful if White obtains enough compensation for the pawn against accurate play. 

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 g6 Bogoljubov Defence  6.Bc4 Bg7 7.O-O O-O 8.Qe1 Studier Attack  8...c5 9.dxc5 Qc7 10.Be3 Nbd7 11.Qh4 Nxc5 12.Rae1 Ne6 13.Bb3 Qa5 14.g4 Blow the trumpets, here he comes!  14...Nc5

15.Ng5 h5 16.Bxf7+ Rxf7 17.Nxf7 Nxg4 18.Qxe7 Nxe3 19.Qe8+ Kh7 20.Ng5+ Kh6 21.Qxe3 b6 22.Rf7 Nb7 23.Ne6+ g5 24.Nxg7 Qc5 25.Qxc5 Nxc5 26.Ne8 Bg4 27.Rf6+ Kh7 28.Re7+ Kg8 29.Rg7+ Kh8 30.Rh6# 1-0

Ziegler Defence:  1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 c6 Most modern authors recommend this as Black's best answer to the BDG. The old main line runs  6.Bc4 Bf5 7.O-O e6 8.Ne5

when Sheerer says Black should avoid  8...Bxc2?! ( But instead play 8...Bg6! when White ends up with very little to show for the lost pawn. For example, attempting a quick attack afterby  9.g4 can get White in trouble. E.g.  9...Nbd7 10.Nxg6 hxg6 11.g5 Qc7!

12.Bf4 Bd6 13.gxf6 Bxf4 14.fxg7 Be3+ and White resigned in Porrasmaa (2070) vs. Lobzhanidze (2428). (Porrasmaa, incidentally, beat former world champion Anatoly Karpov in 2013 with the BDG. It was a handicap game, with Karpov having 4 minutes and Porrasmaa 16 minutes. The BDG has taken down some highly ranked players!) ) 9.Nxf7! However, IM Kevin Denny gives 8...Bxc2 an exclamation mark because after 9.Nxf7 Kxf7 neither 10.Qxc2 nor 10.Qg4 lead to advantage for White. My own analysis is that Black is also OK after  9...Bxd1 10.Nxd8 Kxd8 11.Rxd1 Kd7 and Black holds on to the extra pawn and slowly develops. This line is likely to lead to a draw. (Ed: In this line though it seems though that White can play 12.Re1 and win the pawn back immediately with some advantage) 

Ziegler Defence continued:  1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Nxf3 c6 6.Bc4 ( An important alternative is 6.Bd3 , usually intending to sacrifice a second pawn after  6...Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Qxd4

leading to sharp complications. (Although Black can transpose back to the Classical Variation of the Teichmann Defence with 8...e6 , since White's only good response is  9.Be3 Black can prevent this 6.Bd3 possibility by using O'Kelly's move-order 4...c6. ) ) 6...Bf5 7.O-O ( White also has the dangerous, though probably objectively insufficient, second pawn sacrifice 7.g4 analysed extensively by Stefan Bücker ) (  Instead of 7.O-O Lev Gutman proposed the alternative 7.Bg5 e6 8.Nh4!? Bg6 9.Nxg6 hxg6 10.Qd3 intending to castle queenside and tie Black down to the f7-pawn, promising long-term positional compensation for the pawn. ) ) 7...e6 Earlier we looked at 8.Ne5. Another attacking move for White is  8.Ng5 the Alchemy Variation, where Black has to be careful not to fall for various sacrifices on e6 and f7, but White probably does not get enough compensation for the pawnafter  8...Bg6 9.Ne2 Bd6

Ryder Gambit:  1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 exf3 5.Qxf3 White can of fer a second pawn with 5.Qxf3, but he might have problems proving enough compensation for the sacrificed pawns after  5...Qxd4 6.Be3 Qg4 (  The Halosar Trap (named after Hermann Halosar) is 6...Qb4 7.O-O-O Bg4? If White moves the queen to <->save' it, he loses. But  8.Nb5! threatening mate with 9.Nxc7#. The line continues  8...Na6 (  The Black queen cannot capture the knight because 8...Qxb5 9.Bxb5+ is check, gaining time for the White queen to escape the threat from the bishop  ) ( Amusing was the miniature B Bart vs Jennen 1948 8...e5 9.Nxc7+ Ke7 10.Qxb7 Qxb7 11.Bc5#

) 9.Qxb7 Qe4

10.Qxa6 Qxe3+ (Worse is (10...Bxd1 11.Kxd1 Rd8+ 12.Bd2 and White is winning, for example   12...Ng4 13.Nxc7+ Kd7 14.Qxa7 ) 11.Kb1 Qc5 12.Nf3 ) 7.Qf2 e5

Black can also decline the pawn with 5...c6 or 5...e6, holding the position. 

O'Kelly Defence:  1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 c6

This is a way to transpose to the Ziegler Defence without allowing the 6.Bd3 option  5.Bc4 Other bishop moves allow Black to achieve superior versions of standard BDG variations (5.Nxe4 is a transposition into a harmless sideline in the Fantasy Variation of the Caro-Kann 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxe4 5.Nxe4 ) (5.fxe4 e5! is good for Black ) 5...exf3 (5...b5!? 6.Bb3 e6 has independent significance, see Short-Bareev ) 6.Nxf3 Bf5 is a transposition into the main line of the Ziegler Defence 

1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 dxe4 4.Bc4 Nf6 5.f3 The O'Kelly variation of the BDG by transposition.  5...b5!? 6.Bb3 e6 7.fxe4 b4 8.Nce2 Nxe4 9.Nf3 Ba6 10.O-O Bd6 11.c4 bxc3 12.bxc3 Nd7 13.Qc2 Nef6 14.c4 O-O

Black is a safe pawn up. White finds it hard to get adequate compensation.  15.c5 Bc7 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bh4 Qc8 18.Rfe1 Bxe2 19.Rxe2 Nd5 20.Rf1 Qa6 Stockfish gives this as =  21.Re4 Rae8 22.Rfe1 N7f6 23.Bxf6 Nxf6 24.Rh4 Qa5 25.Re2 Re7 26.g3 Rb8 27.Kg2 Rbe8 28.Qd3 Nd5 29.Ne5 Qc3 30.Qxc3 Nxc3 31.Rd2 Bxe5 32.dxe5 Nd5 33.Ra4 Rb8 34.Ra5 Kf8 35.Kf3 Reb7 36.h4 Ke7 37.Rd4 f6 38.exf6+ gxf6 39.Rda4 Nc3 40.Ra3 Nb5 41.R3a4 Rd7 42.Bc4 Nc3 43.Ra3 Nb1 44.R3a4 Nd2+ White is struggling badly from here on.  45.Ke3 Rg8 46.Be2 Rxg3+ 47.Kf2 Rc3 48.Rxa7 Ne4+ 49.Kg2 Nxc5 50.Rxd7+ Kxd7 51.Ra7+ Kd6 52.a4 Rc2 53.Kf1 Ke5 54.a5 Kf4 55.Rg7 Ne4 56.Bd3 Ra2 57.a6 Nd2+ 58.Kf2 Nf3+ 59.Be2 Nd4 60.Rg4+ Ke5 0-1

Vienna Defence:  1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 Bf5 This is considered by some to refute the BDG. White can play for compensation for a pawn with  5.fxe4 ( Alternatively 5.g4 aims to regain the pawn in most cases, e.g. after  5...Bg6 6.g5 (6.h4!? is a gambit option, which leads to sharp play and approximately equal chances. ) 6...Nd5 7.Nxe4 Nc6 8.Bb5 e6 9.Bxc6+ bxc6 10.Ne2 c5 11.dxc5 Nb4

when in a reversal of roles, White has an extra pawn but Black has a superior pawn structure plus the initiative. ) 5...Nxe4 6.Qf3 when both 6... Nxc3 and 6...Nd6 lead to complicated positions in which Black often tries to return a pawn on b7 in order to catch up on development, and in some cases secure a positional advantage. White often does best to continue with a gambit policy and simply continue developing. The main line runs  6...Nd6 7.Bf4 e6 8.O-O-O Here  8...c6 9.g4 Bg6 10.Qe3 Be7 when Black is solid, but White retains enough compensation for the pawn. For example Lynn-Sutton below 

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3 Bf5 5.fxe4 Nxe4 6.Qf3 Nd6 7.Bf4 e6 8.O-O-O c6 9.g4 Bg6 10.Qe3 Be7

11.Nf3 O-O 12.Ne5 Kh8? (12...Nd7 ) 13.h4 Offering a second pawn.  13...h5 14.Nxg6+ fxg6 15.Bd3 hxg4 16.h5 g5

17.h6! White offers a bishop to remove Black's pawn protection from his king.  17...Nf5 18.hxg7+ Kxg7 19.Qxe6 Richard Sutton was NZ Champion in 1963, 1971 and 1972. William notes that despite this sole loss, Richard successfully defended his NZ Championship in this tournament. The game appeared in several magazines in NZ at that time including one with approving annotations by Ortvin Sarapu. The game later appeared in several books on the BDG. "A well prepared line in that I used only one minute on the clock up to move 11 but several more minutes after that..." ( If 19.Qxe6 Rf6 20.Be5 ) ( If 19.Qxe6 Qd7 20.Be5+ ) ( If 19.Qxe6 gxf4 20.Bxf5 ) ( Or if 19.Qxe6 Nd7 20.Bxf5 ) 1-0

Langeheinicke Defence:  1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.f3

4...e3 This is somet imes used by strong players to avoid complications, but it is one of Black's weaker options against the BDG as returning the pawn in this way does not significantly slow down White's initiative, and thus Black struggles to fully equalize in this line. In most lines White must seek to place a knight on f4 (taking the sting out of ...Nd5) in order to secure an advantage. 

Lemberger Counter-Gambit:  1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 e5 This is an ve, where Black counterattacks against the d4-pawn instead of defending the attacked e4-pawn.  4.Nxe4 Is one way of keeping a lively and complicated position ( Unconvincing is 4.Qh5 Nc6! ) ( Similarly 4.Nge2 Nc6! ) (  It's possible to accept a drawish endgame with 4.dxe5 Qxd1+ 5.Kxd1 ( or 5.Nxd1 Nc6 6.Bf4

) 5...Nc6 6.Nxe4 Nxe5 with equality and few winning chances for either side. ) ( For 4.Be3 see next game ) 4...Qxd4 5.Bd3 ( or 5.Qe2 with complications and some compensation for the pawn in either case, but it is unclear if it is enough. )

1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 e5 4.Be3 Avoiding the exchange of queens  4...exd4 5.Bxd4 Nc6 6.Bb5 Qg5 7.Nge2 Qxg2 8.Rg1 Qxh2 9.Qd2 Bd7 10.O-O-O O-O-O 11.Nxe4 f6? This weak move shifted the initiative to White. Better was Nge7.  12.Bxa7 Nxa7 13.Bxd7+ Kb8 14.Qa5 Qe5 15.Qxe5 fxe5 16.Ng5

16...Nf6? This blunder loses the exchange. Bd6 holds the position.  17.Nf7 Rxd7 18.Rxd7 Nxd7 19.Nxh8 and White went on to win in 42 moves. Bravo William! 1-0

The natural-looking 3...Bf5 is well met by 4.f3, and if 4...exf3 then 5.Qxf3 attacking the bishop. See how William deals with this:  1.d4 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.Nc3 Bf5 There is no name for this variation as this is considered an inferior move.  4.f3 exf3 ( Black may be better off transposing to the Vienna Defence with 4...Nf6 ) 5.Qxf3 Qc8 6.Bc4 Be6 7.Bxe6 Qxe6+ 8.Nge2 c6 9.O-O Nf6 10.Nf4 Qd6

11.d5 This opens lines for White's pieces.  11...g6 12.Be3 Bg7 13.dxc6 bxc6 14.Rad1 Qb4 15.Ncd5

15...cxd5? (15...Qb7 is about equal.  ) 16.Nxd5 Qa5 17.Bb6! The winning move.  17...Qxa2 18.Nc7+ Kf8 19.Rd8+ Ne8 20.Rxe8# 1-0

1.d4 d5 2.e4 e6 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Bd3 cxd4 7.cxd4 Bd7 8.O-O Nxd4 9.Nxd4 Qxd4 10.Nc3 a6 11.Qe2 Ne7 12.Rd1 Qb6 13.Be3 Qd8 (13...Qc7 is better ) 14.f4 g6 (14...Rc8 is better ) 15.Rac1 Nf5? Stockfish still gives Black 0.4 lead after Bg7.  16.Bxf5 gxf5

17.Rxd5 William notes, "The rook sacrifice (Stockfish +0.5) was only decided after looking at Nxd5 (+2.2) first, but I could not find a suitable followup. Rxd5 was based on superior development and an intuitive assessment of the attacking possibilities, and I wanted to prevent Black from castling, so that mating ideas could develop."  17...exd5 18.Nxd5 Rc8? Stockfish gives Be7 or Bg7 as =  19.Nf6+ Ke7 20.Rd1 Rc7 21.Qd2 Qc8 22.Bb6 Rc6 23.Qb4+ Ke6 24.Qb3+ Rc4

25.Nxd7 Ke7 26.Qa3+ White mates in 6 or fewer moves whatever Black plays. William was given the nick-name "Wild Bill" for a few years after this game. 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 Bg7 5.e4 a6 6.a4 d6 7.Nf3 I actually k that all Black's opening issues disappear in these type of positions as soon as he can swap a minor piece, therefore h3 is in order.  7...Qb6 I felt that this move points out the issue with an early Bf4 and b4 is a great spot for the Queen.  8.Rb1 Bg4 9.Be2 Qb4 10.Nd2 Bxe2 11.Qxe2 Nh5 12.Bg5 h6 13.Be3 Nd7

Black is better here, the machine does not think so, but his game is easier to play.  14.O-O O-O 15.f4 Bd4 16.Kh1 Ng7 17.Nf3? (17.Bf2 Rab8 18.Qd3 Bxf2 19.Rxf2 Qd4 20.Qxd4 cxd4 21.Ne2 Nc5 22.Nxd4 Nxa4 ) 17...Bxc3 18.bxc3 Qxe4 19.Rxb7 Nf6

Material is equal, but Black is in control now.  20.Nd2 Qxc2 21.c4 Nf5 22.Re1 Rab8 23.Rxb8 Rxb8 24.Qd1?? A blunder in a lost position, just drops the Bishop on e3. Black is easily winning. 0-1

1.Nf3 e6 2.d4 f5 3.h3 A tricky line, I have learnt not to be greedy and take the pawn...  3...g6 4.g4 Bg7 5.Nc3 d5 6.Bf4 c6 7.e3 Qe7 We were both on our own here, but this is kind of a weird Stonewall, so I was pretty OK with it.  8.Bd3 Nd7 9.gxf5 exf5 10.Rg1 Ngf6

I thought Black was fine here. I was more concerned with variations where White played g5 and stopped the Nf6 moves...  11.Ne5 Ne4 12.Bxe4? (12.Nf3 Ndf6 13.Qc1 Be6 14.Ne2 O-O 15.c3 White is only a little worse as the White squared Bishop is stuck behind the pawns... ) 12...fxe4 Any French player knows that as soon as the White squared Bishop gets room, Black is better, here he owns the White squares...  13.Nxd7 Bxd7 14.Qd2 Bxh3

I just thought Black was winning, put the Bishop on f3 and push the h pawn to Queen...  15.O-O-O Bf5 16.f3 Desperation  16...exf3 17.e4 Bxe4 18.Nxe4 dxe4 19.Qh2 O-O-O 20.d5 White could calmly resign.  20...Rxd5 21.Rxd5 cxd5 22.Rd1 Rd8 23.Qf2 b6 24.Qf1 Kb7 25.Qb5 e3 26.Rxd5 e2 27.Rxd8 Qxd8 White resigned. 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nc6 This is a side line, nothing too testing, but good against a senior that may not have been keeping his openings up to date...   4.e5 (4.Nf3 Nf6 5.e5 Ne4 6.Bd3 Bb4 7.Bd2 (7.O-O Nxc3 8.bxc3 Bxc3 9.Rb1 h6 10.Ba3 a5 11.Rb3 Bb4 12.Bc1 The gambit approach if you want to spice things up ... ) 7...Bxc3 8.bxc3 b6 9.O-O Bb7 10.Re1 Nxd2 11.Nxd2 The position is even. This is the more common way to play. ) 4...f6 5.Nf3 (5.f4 fxe5 6.fxe5? Qh4+ 7.g3 Qxd4 Lots of people fall for this in 3 minute chess :-) ) 5...fxe5 6.dxe5 Bc5 (6...Nh6 7.Bd3 Nf7 8.Qe2 Bd7 ) 7.Bd3 Nge7!? 8.Bf4 (8.Na4 Bb6 9.c3 O-O 10.O-O White must be slightly better, Nge7 was too early. ) 8...h6 Everyone knows I love to throw the g pawn forward ...  9.h3 a6 After this I just felt Black had the easier game and I would slowly get an advantage...  10.a3 b5 11.Qe2 Bb7 12.O-O-O Rf8

13.Bh2 (13.Be3 Bxe3+ 14.fxe3 Qd7 15.Rhf1 O-O-O 16.h4 This is better, the Bishop on h2 has no life. ) 13...Qd7 14.Rhf1 O-O-O 15.a4? Can't be good, sends the Knight to a lifeless square.  15...b4 16.Na2 Nb8 17.b3 Qc6 18.Kb1 Qb6 19.Bg3 Nbc6 20.Nd2 Nd4 21.Qg4 Nef5 22.Rc1 a5 23.Rce1 Be7 24.h4 Ba6!

This is the key, this is the only White piece better than Black's and holds down the c2 square, Black is making headway now ...  25.Nc1 Bxd3 26.Nxd3 Qc6 27.Qd1 Bxh4 28.Bh2 Be7 29.Nf4 Bc5 (29...Nh4 30.g3 Bg5 31.Re3 Nhf5 32.Rd3 Bxf4 33.gxf4 The Bishop on h2 is not a pretty sight.  ) 30.Ng6 Rf7 31.g4 Ne7 32.Nxe7+ Bxe7 33.f4 Bh4 34.Re3 Qb6 35.Rh3 Be7 36.Bg1 Bc5 37.Rd3 Nc6 38.Bh2 Bd4 39.Nf3 Be3? (39...Bc3 40.Bg3 Kb7 41.Bf2 Qa6 42.Nd4 Nxd4 43.Bxd4 Bxd4 44.Rxd4 c5 45.Rd3 c4 ) 40.f5 d4 41.Nh4 (41.fxe6 Re7 42.Nh4 Rxe6 43.Nf5 ) 41...Ne7 42.f6 Nd5 43.Ng6 c5 44.Qe2 Kb7 45.Qg2 Qc6 46.fxg7 Rxg7 White resigned. (Ed: Black threatens Nc3+ and Qxg2 as well as the Knight on g6. White could try Nh4 but everything is hanging by a thread and more material will inevitably drop off). 0-1

I knew Jack plays a Slav against pretty much anything that is not e4, so decided a slow positional type line was the key.  1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 c6 = Jack offered a draw, I cheakily declined explaining I thought White was already better and trending to winning :-), Russell would agree with me ...  3.Bg2 d5 4.Nf3 Bf5 5.b3 e6 6.Bb2 Nbd7 7.O-O Be7 8.d3 h6 Moves must have been obvious, seems I had stumbled down the most popular path in this b3 type stuff. I thought I would win from here, looked like a position Jack would hate. ..  9.Nc3 O-O 10.Re1 Bh7 11.Qd2 Qc7 12.Rac1 Rad8 13.cxd5 exd5 14.Bh3 Qb8 15.Nd1 I just felt White was better, even a mini plan of putting the knight on f5 is better than Blacks which seems to have to active plan.  15...Ne8 16.Ne3 Bf6 17.Ba3 Nd6 18.Ng4 Be7

19.Bb2 (19.Nxh6+ gxh6 20.Qxh6 f5 21.Bb2 Nf6 I could not see any further than this when looking at this line. The computer loves it.  22.Qg5+ Kh8 23.e4 dxe4 24.dxe4 fxe4 25.Qh6 Rf7 26.Ng5 Rdf8 27.Rcd1 White is just owning Black everywhere. Instead the move played just keeps a simple plus. ) 19...f5 20.Nge5 Nxe5 21.Nxe5 g5 22.f4 g4 23.Bg2 h5 24.Qc3 Bf6 25.a4 Nf7 26.d4 Nd6 27.Ba3 Rfe8 Black needed to seal the Kingside by h4 and h3 and then he can hope to hold on on the Queenside.  28.Bxd6 Rxd6 29.b4 Bd8 30.Qb3 Kg7 31.e3 Bg8 32.Bf1 a6 33.Bd3 Be6 34.Qc2 Kf6 35.Kf2 Bb6 36.Rh1 From move 27 Black had chances to play the h4 plan, now it is too late and White gets a second point of entry.  36...Rdd8 37.h3 Rh8

38.Bxa6 (38.Rh2 gxh3 39.Rxh3 Rh6 40.Rch1 Rdh8 41.Qd1 Qe8 42.Bxf5 Bxf5 43.g4 This combination is what I missed. ) 38...bxa6 39.Nxc6? Couple of moves too early ... (39.hxg4 hxg4 40.a5 Bc7 41.Nxc6 Rxh1 42.Rxh1 Qc8 43.Nxd8 Bxd8 44.Qxc8 Bxc8 45.Rh6+ Ke7 46.b5 axb5 47.a6 Kd7 48.Rh7+ Be7 49.a7 Bb7 50.Ke2 ) 39...Qb7 40.Nxd8 Bxd8 41.Qb3 Be7 42.b5 axb5 43.axb5 Rc8? (43...Kf7 Just sitting and waiting is the key, once the Rook is swapped White invades down the h file at some stage. Now White is breaking through. ) 44.Rxc8 Bxc8 45.hxg4 hxg4 46.Ra1 Qd7 47.b6 Bb7 48.Ke2 Qc6 49.Kd2 Bd8 50.Rb1 Qe6 51.Qa3 Qe7 52.Qxe7+ Kxe7 53.Rh1 Ke6 54.Rh7 Be7 55.Kc3 Bc6 56.Rh6+ Kd7 57.Kb3 Bd8 58.Kb4 Be7+ 59.Ka5 Bb7 60.Kb5 Bc8 61.Rh7 Bb7 62.Rh8 Bd6 63.Rg8 Be7 64.Rb8 Bc6+ 65.Ka6 Bd8 66.Ka7 Bb5 67.Rxd8+ Kxd8 68.b7 Black Resigns. 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 The hardest move of the game! I didn't realise round 3 started at 9. 30am as opposed to 10am. When reality dawned it was a quick dash to the venue with some creative interpretations of the road rules. Made the move with less than a minute to go before forfeit!  2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 c5 To win as B lack you need to sharpen things up and give your opponent lots of decisions to make hence the inviation to a benoni.  5.Bg5 cxd4 6.Nxd4 Nc6 7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e4 Qa5 White's play looks suspicious so it's worth thinking about how to exploit it rather than routinely developing. Qa5 fits the bill with ideas of Rb8, sacs on b2, and Qe5.  9.Bd2 (9.Qd2 Rb8 10.Rc1 Rxb2 11.Qxb2 shows the sort of tactics Black is aiming for  11...Qxg5 ) 9...Rb8 10.Qc2 Qe5 !  11.Be2

11...d5 Castling first is safer but this is more fun!  12.cxd5 cxd5 13.Nxd5? (13.Qc1! very unnatural, but surprisingly strong! So a computer suggestion! The moves that follow ultimately lead to White being slightly better off in a very complicated position. Analysing the twists and turns in advance is basically impossible for most humans.  13...Nxe4 14.Bf4 Qf5 15.Nxe4 Bxb2 this is as far as I got with my analysis, I thought White was dead . .. I was wrong ...  16.Qc7 Bxa1 17.Qxb8 O-O 18.Ng3 Bc3+ 19.Kf1 Qf6 ) 13...Nxd5 14.exd5 Bf5 (14...Qxb2 is clearer and White is struggling ) 15.Qc6+ Bd7 16.Bc3 Qe4 17.f3 Qe3 18.Bd2 (18.Qc4 gives Black the pleasant choice between Bb5 and Rc8 with a dominating game in both cases ) 18...Qd4 19.Bc3 Qh4+ 20.g3 Bxc6 21.gxh4 Bxc3+ 22.bxc3 Bxd5

A simple glance at the position shows Black is well on top with White's scattered pawns making a particularly unaesthetic impression. From this point on however Andrew plays very well and I play averagely.  23.c4 Bc6 24.Rg1 h5? I wanted to stop Andrew from exchanging off his weakling on h4 but I lose time. e5, among others, was far better.  25.Rg5! Rd8 26.Rd1 Rxd1+ 27.Bxd1 Kd7 28.Ra5 Ra8 29.Kd2 Kc7 30.Kc3 Kb6 31.Re5 e6

32.Bc2?? Andrew blunders horribly to rob him of the fruits of his excellent defence. Black was still slightly better but the lack of entry squares means it's unclear exactly how, or if, White's sickly pawns can be exploited.  32...Bxf3 33.Bxg6 fxg6 34.Rxe6+ Bc6 0-1

1.d4 e6 2.Nf3 f5 3.c4 Nf6 4.a3 d5 5.e3 c6 6.Nc3 Bd6 7.b4 O-O 8.Be2 Qe7 9.O-O a5 10.b5 Ne4 11.Qb3 Nxc3 12.Qxc3 dxc4 13.Bxc4 cxb5 14.Bxb5 Bd7 15.Bxd7 Nxd7 16.a4 Nf6 17.Ba3 Rfc8 18.Bxd6 Qxd6 19.Qb3 Nd5 20.Ne5 Qb4 21.Qa2 Rc3 22.Rfb1 Rac8 23.Nd3 Qd6 24.Qe2 Qa6 25.Rb5 Rc2 26.Qd1 Qc6 27.Rxa5

27...Nxe3!! 28.d5 Qc3? This looks crushing but... (28...Nxd5 -/+ Black is a safe pawn up, all his pieces are better, he should win ) 29.Qe1! White wriggles free with this resource  29...Qxd3 30.Qxe3 Qxe3 31.fxe3 exd5 1/2-1/2

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.Bd2 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.Nf3 Nc6 9.a3 Be7 10.h4 dxc4 11.Bxc4 a6 12.Qc2 b5 13.Bd3 Bb7 14.Ne4 Rc8 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Bxh7+ Kh8 17.Bc3 b4 18.Rd1 Bxc3+ 19.bxc3 Qf6 20.Rd7 Na5 21.axb4 Rxc3 22.Qd1 Kxh7 23.Ng5+ Kg8 24.bxa5 Bxg2 25.Rg1 Bd5 26.Qb1 Qh6

Black is winning. However, despite a very loose structure, White's active pieces give him practical chances.  27.Kd2!? Activating another piece?!  27...Rb3 28.Qa1 Qxh4? (28...Rfb8! committing all of Black's pieces to the (counter?) attack ) 29.Ne4! Turning the tables  29...Rd3+! 30.Ke2! (30.Kxd3 Bxe4+ 31.Ke2 Qh5+ 32.Ke1 g6 and Black is fine (at least) ) 30...Qh5+

31.f3! (31.Kxd3 Bxe4+ 32.Kxe4 Qf5+ 33.Kd4 e5+ and Black wins ) 31...Qh2+ Now Black gets to chase the king around a little, but that's all  32.Kxd3 Bc4+ 33.Kxc4 Qe2+ 34.Kd4 e5+ 35.Kxe5 Re8+ 36.Kd4 Qxf3 37.Kc5 Qf5+ 38.Rd5 Qc8+ 39.Kd4 Qc6 40.Nc5 Qh6 41.e4 Qd2+ 42.Nd3 Rb8 43.Qe1 Qa2 44.Qg3 Qa4+ 45.Ke3 1-0

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.e3 c5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nf3 O-O 8.Be2 Nc6 9.a3 Re8 10.O-O a6 11.b4 Bd6 12.Bb2 Bg4 13.h3 Be6 14.Nd4 Qe7 15.b5 Ne5 16.Nf3 Red8 17.Nxe5 Bxe5 18.bxa6 bxa6 19.Na4 Bd6 20.Qd4 Bd7 21.Rfc1 Rab8 22.Rc2

22...Bb5? (22...Bxa4! wins a piece  23.Qxa4 Rxb2 24.Rxb2 Qe5 ) 23.Qh4? Be5? The same combo was on  24.Bxe5? My apologies to the players for all the question marks, it's easy with a computer. Now Black is winning again, he hastwothreats  24...Qxe5

25.Rac1 White takes care of the obvious one  25...g5!! Winning a piece  26.Qh6 Bxa4 27.Rc7 Ne8 28.Bd3 Qg7 29.Qxg7+ Kxg7 30.R7c5 Bb5 31.Bxb5 Rxb5 32.Rxb5 axb5 33.Rc5 Nf6 34.Rxb5 Ra8 35.Rb3 h5 36.f3 Ra4 37.Kf2 Rc4 38.Rb2 Kf8 39.Ke2 Ra4 40.Rb3 Ke7 41.Kd2 Nd7 42.g4 hxg4 43.hxg4 Ne5 44.Ke2 Nc4 45.f4 Rxa3 46.Rxa3 Nxa3 47.Kd3 Kd6 48.Kd4 Nb5+ 49.Kd3 f6 50.Ke2 Kc5 51.Kd3 Nd6 52.Ke2 Kc4 0-1

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 Qc7 7.Bd3 Be7 8.Qe2 d6 9.O-O O-O 10.Kh1 b6 11.f4 Nbd7 12.b3 Bb7 13.Bb2 Nc5 14.Bc2 Rad8 15.Rae1 Rfe8 16.Nf3

Black's position looks neat and compact, but White has massive firepower massed behind the pawn phalanx. The computer wants to play Nc5-d7-f8 presumably because there's some truth to the old saying that there's never a mate with a knight on f8  16...Bf8 Plausible but fatal as it turns out.  17.e5! Ng4 18.Bxh7+ Kxh7 19.Ng5+ Kg8 20.Qxg4 g6 21.Qh3 Bg7 22.Qh7+ Kf8

23.Nd5! Shock and awe  23...Qc6 24.exd6 e5 25.fxe5 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 Be7 7.N5c3 Nf6 8.Bd3 Nd7 9.Nd5 Nc5 10.O-O O-O 11.Nbc3 Bg5 12.Kh1 Bxc1 13.Rxc1 f5 14.exf5 Nxd3 15.Qxd3 Bxf5 16.Ne4 Qh4 17.f3 Nd4 18.Rce1 Kh8 19.Qd1 Rad8 20.Kg1 Be6 21.Nec3 Rf5 22.Re4 Qh6 23.Qc1 Rg5 24.f4 Rg4 25.g3 Bf5 26.Ree1 Bd3

27.Ne3? Losing touch with f4 (27.Rf2 holds ) 27...Rg6 28.Rf2 exf4 0-1

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.h3 O-O 6.Bg5 c5 7.d5 b5 An interes ting kind of Benko(ish) approach. The database stats don't look very encouraging though  8.cxb5 a6 9.a4 Qa5 10.Bd2 Qb4

This has all been played before, but clearly Black is playing with fire with his Queen in danger of running out of squares  11.Qc2 axb5 12.Bxb5 Ba6 13.f3 Nh5? (  The engine suggests 13...c4 making c5 available ) 14.Nd1 Qd4 15.Bc3 Bxb5 16.Bxd4 cxd4 Sometimes two pieces against a queen can be annoying for the queen, but not here  17.g4 Nf4 18.Ra3 Ba6 19.h4 Nd7 20.Qd2 Be5 21.Nh3 Nxh3 22.Rxh3 f5 23.gxf5 gxf5 24.f4 Bg7 25.Rhg3 Kh8

26.Rxg7 Kxg7 27.Qxd4+ Kh6 28.Rg3 Nf6 29.Ne3 Bc8 30.exf5 Bd7

It's now mate in four  31.Rg5! Rxa4 32.Qxf6+ Rxf6 33.Ng4# 1-0

1.b4 e5 2.a3 d5 3.Bb2 Qd6 4.Nf3 Nd7 5.e3 Ngf6 6.c4

6...dxc4? Creating problems on f7  7.Bxc4 Be7 8.Qb3 e4 9.Ng5 Ne5 10.Nxf7 Nxf7 11.Bxf7+ White banks the material, and continues to consolidate and enjoy a good position. It's apparently a routine win, but the final position has an intriguing twist  11...Kf8 12.Bc4 Bf5 13.Nc3 c6 14.Qc2 Rd8 15.Ne2 Nd5 16.Ng3 Qg6 17.Nxf5 Qxf5 18.d3 exd3 19.Bxd3 Qg5 20.O-O h5 21.Bd4 a6 22.Bc5 h4 23.Bxe7+ Nxe7 24.Be4 Rh6 25.Rfd1 Nd5 26.Rd4 h3 27.g3 Rhd6 28.Bxd5 Rxd5 29.Rh4 Qg6 30.Qe2 Qe6 31.Qf1 Rd2 32.Qxh3 Qe5 33.Rf1 Ra2 34.Rh8+ Ke7 35.Qh4+ Qf6 36.Qe4+

(36.Qe4+ This was the intriguing final position in the important final round game Capel-Browne. Black is two pawns down and his exposed king is under fire, but why resign now? Perhaps the reasoning is that  36...Kd7! is forced to avoid losing one rook or the other immediately but then the second White rook joins the attack with check, surely that's fatal? Actually it would have been fatal, *for White* and Black missed the opportunity to set a fabulous trap. White has various ways to continue and win on material with careful play, but the obvious move  37.Rd1+?? loses instantaneously  37...Kc7 and remarkably White suddenly faces multiple threats and has no useful check. In a way the d8 rook, apparently overwhelmed by a double attack from White's rooks is in fact forking those rooks! ) 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8

9.Nc3 h6 10.Bf4 Be6 11.h3 Be7 12.g4 Nh4 13.Nd4 Bd7 14.Rfd1 Kc8 15.Bg3 h5 16.Bxh4 Bxh4 17.Nf5 hxg4 18.hxg4 Bxf5 19.gxf5 Rh5

20.Rd4 Be7 21.Rf4 Kd7 22.Rd1+ Ke8 23.Ne4 Rd8 24.Rxd8+ Kxd8 25.Ng3 Rh6 26.Kg2 c5 27.Ra4 a6 28.Rg4 Bf8 29.Nf1 b5 30.c4 Kd7 31.Ne3

31...g6 32.fxg6 Rxg6 33.Rxg6 fxg6 34.f4 Ke6 35.Kf3 g5 36.Ke4 gxf4 37.Nd5 f3 38.Nf4+ Kd7 39.Kxf3 bxc4 40.Ke4 c6 41.Kf5 Bh6 42.Ne2 Ke7 43.Ke4 Ke6 44.Nf4+ Ke7 45.Kf5 a5 46.Ng6+ Ke8 47.Nf4

1/2-1/2

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.O-O Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 Bd7 10.Bf4 h6 11.Rad1 Kc8 12.h3

12...Ne7 13.Rd2 Be6 14.Nd4 Nd5 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Ne2 b5 17.Bg3 Bc5 18.Rc1 Kb7 19.c4 bxc4 20.Rxc4 Bb6 21.Rdc2 g5 22.a3 Ne7 23.Kf1 Rad8 24.Ke1 Rhf8 25.h4 Rd7 26.hxg5 hxg5 27.Ng1 Nf5 28.Nf3 Rd5

29.Rg4 Rg8 30.Rd2 Nxg3 31.Rxd5 cxd5 32.fxg3 Be3 33.Ke2 Bc1 34.Kd1 Be3 35.Ke2 Bc1 36.Ne1 Rh8 37.Nd3 Rh1 38.Rb4+ Kc6 39.Ra4 Rg1

40.Ra6+ Kd7 41.Nc5+ Kd8 42.Kf2 Rd1 43.Nxe6+ Ke7 44.Nxc7 Bxb2 45.e6 Be5 46.Nb5 Rb1 47.Nxa7

47...Bd4+ 48.Kf3 Bxa7 49.Rxa7+ Kxe6 50.a4 Rb4 51.a5 Ra4 52.a6 g4+ 53.Ke3 Ke5 54.Re7+ Kf6 55.Rh7 Kg6 56.Ra7 Kf6 57.Ra8 Ke5 58.Re8+ Kf6 59.Rh8 Ke5 60.Re8+ Kf6 61.Rh8 Ke5 62.Rh5+ Kf6 63.Rxd5 Rxa6 64.Ke4 Ra4+ 65.Rd4 Ra2 66.Kf4

66...Rxg2 67.Rd6+ Kg7 68.Kxg4 Rg1 69.Kf4 Rg2 70.g4 Ra2 71.Re6 Ra4+ 72.Kf5 Ra5+ 73.Kf4 Rb5 74.Kg3 Kf7 75.Ra6 Kg7 76.Kh4 Rc5 77.g5 Rc1 78.Ra7+ Kg6 79.Ra6+ Kg7 80.Kh5 Rh1+ 1/2-1/2

I've analysed my game against David Notley in the Oceania Zonal Championship from last year. The game, which was drawn, was awarded a special prize by Murray Chandler for the Best Fighting Game. Both kings were in danger; throughout the game both players continually avoided simplification, even when that would have been the advisable option. Here is the game, with Fritz-assisted analysis:  1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.Be3 Rb8 7.Qd2 b5 8.h4 h5 9.f4 Bd7 10.Nf3 Nd4

11.Nh2 White wants to drive the d4 knight away without exchanging pieces.  11...Nh6 12.O-O Qc8 13.Nd1 Bh3 14.c3 Bxg2 15.Kxg2 Nc6 16.Nf2 Qd7 17.Nf3 Ng4 18.Nxg4 Qxg4 Fritz thinks (18...hxg4 is slightly better, when White will play  19.Ng1 intending Ne2. ) 19.f5!?

This could be risky, but is a thematic Closed Sicilian-type move. Fritz prefers the central break 19.d4.  19...gxf5 20.Nh2 It's rare to see a White knight on h2 even once in a game, let alone twice.  20...Qg6 21.Rxf5?! (21.exf5 was better, e.g.  21...Qf6 22.Bg5 Qe5 23.f6 Qd5+ 24.Kg1 exf6 25.Bxf6 Bxf6 26.Rxf6 Rg8 27.Qg2 Qxg2+ 28.Kxg2 Ke7 29.Raf1 Rbf8 30.R6f5 Rh8 31.Nf3 when White may have a slight edge. ) 21...f6 (21...e6 looks better for Black after  22.Rg5 Qh7 or 22.Rf2 Ne5. ) 22.Kh1 Ne5 (22...e6 is also good ) 23.Qe2 The tactical (23.Bf4 is risky, e.g.  23...e6 24.Bxe5 exf5 25.Bxd6 Rd8 26.exf5 Qxf5 27.Qe3+ Kf7 28.Qe7+ Kg6 29.Bxc5 Rhe8 30.Qxa7 Rd7 with advantage to Black. ) 23...e6 24.Rff1 (24.Rf2 may be slightly better. ) 24...c4!

Undermining White's centre. Fritz considers that Black has a definite advantage here.  25.Bxa7 cxd3 26.Qg2 Rc8 (26...Rd8 immediately may be better, as Black later plays this anyway. ) 27.Bd4 Rg8 28.Rad1 Rd8 29.Rfe1 Fritz prefers (29.Bxe5 dxe5 30.Qf3 d2 31.Rf2 Bh6 32.Qxf6 Qxe4+ 33.Rf3 Qg6 34.Qxe5 Rd5 when the position is unclear and possibly about equal, although the d2 pawn is a problem for White. ) 29...Bh6 30.Be3 Bf8?! (30...Bxe3 31.Rxe3 Rd7 is in Black's favour; White can't play Nf3 because the g-pawn is then en prise. White has to sit tight and defend, e.g.  32.b3 Rc7 33.Qd2 ) 31.Bf4 Be7 32.Nf3 Ra8 33.a3 Ra4 34.Nd4 Kd7?! This leads to an advantage for White. According to Fritz, (34...Qg4 is at least equal for Black, e.g.  35.Qf1 Ra5 36.Nb3 Ra7 37.Bxe5 fxe5 38.Rxd3 Rf8 39.Qe2 Qh3+ 40.Kg1 Bd8 41.Re3 Rg8 42.Qh2 Qxh4 43.Qxh4 Bxh4 44.Kh2 ) 35.Nxb5 Qg4 (35...Ra5 was better:  36.a4 Rxa4 37.Bxe5 fxe5 38.Rxd3 Qg4 39.Red1 Ra6 but the advantage is still with White. ) 36.Bxe5 fxe5 37.Rxd3 Bxh4 Fritz prefers (37...Rb8 38.b3 Ra6 39.c4 Bxh4 40.Qe2 Be7 41.Qxg4 hxg4 42.a4 but this still greatly favours White. ) 38.Rxd6+? White gives away his advantage. Much stronger was (38.Nxd6! Ke7 39.Rf1 Bf6 40.Qf2 Rg6 41.Kh2 Kf8 42.Rf3 Qg5 43.Rxf6+ Rxf6 44.Qxf6+ Qxf6 45.Rxf6+ Ke7 46.Rf2 Kxd6 47.Re2 and White is two pawns up in the endgame and Black's pawns are weak. ) 38...Ke7 Fritz suggests (38...Kc8 as a safer destination for the king, with the further analysis  39.Re3 Bxg3 40.Qxg3 Qxg3 41.Rxg3 Rxg3 42.Rxe6 Rg5 43.b3 Ra5 44.c4 Kd7 45.Rd6+ Ke7 46.Rd5 Ra8 47.c5 Rag8 ) 39.Red1 Another possibility is (39.Rb6 e.g.  39...Bxg3 40.Rb7+ Ke8 41.Rb8+ Ke7 42.Rxg8 Qxg8 43.Qg1 Qg5 44.Qc5+ Kf7 45.Nd6+ Kg6 46.Re2 Qg4 47.Qe3 but this could be promising for Black after  47...h4 ) 39...Bxg3

Black misses the surprising resource (39...Rd4! when White's best option is  40.R1xd4 with the further likely play  40...exd4 41.Rxd4 e5 42.Rd3 Bxg3 43.Nd6 Qh4+ 44.Kg1 Bh2+ 45.Kf1 Qf4+ 46.Qf2 Rg1+ 47.Ke2 Qg4+ 48.Qf3 Rg2+ 49.Ke1 Bg3+ 50.Kf1 Rf2+ 51.Qxf2 Bxf2 52.Kxf2 Qf4+ 53.Ke2 Qh2+ 54.Kd1 Qxb2 55.c4 and the endgame is difficult to assess but may favour Black. ) 40.Rd7+ Kf6 41.Rf1+ Bf4 42.Qxg4 hxg4 43.Nd6 Rh8+ 44.Kg1 Rh3 (44...g3 may be better. ) 45.Ne8+ Kg5 46.Rg7+ Kh6 (46...Kh4 is drawn with best play:  47.Nf6 Be3+ 48.Kg2 Rg3+ 49.Kh2 Rh3+ 50.Kg2 ) 47.Rxg4 Rxe4

48.Nf6 (48.Rg8 is stronger:  48...Rd3 49.Nf6 Re2 50.Rg2 Rxg2+ 51.Kxg2 Kg6 52.Ne4 Kf5 53.Re1 with the better endgame for White. ) 48...Re2 49.Ng8+ White decides to force a draw by repetition of position, because the Black forces are gathering around his king.  49...Kh7 50.Nf6+ Kh6 51.Ng8+ 1/2-1/2