1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4!? Big bad Mike likes sacrificing material and running over the top of people himself, so this gambit could well be a shrewd psychological approach.  4...cxb4 5.a3 Nc6 6.axb4 Bxb4 7.c3 Be7 8.d4 a6 9.Bd3 Rb8 10.h4 h5 11.Ng5 g6 12.Qf3 Bxg5 13.Bxg5 Nce7 14.Rh3 Qc7 15.Nd2 Bd7 16.c4

16...dxc4? Mike wants to activate his bishop, but pays too high a price.  17.Nxc4 Bc6 18.Qg3 Nf5 19.Bxf5 gxf5 20.Nd6+ Kf8 21.Qa3! Ne7 22.Rg3 Rh7 23.Bf6 Rd8 24.Rc1 Rd7 25.f4

A picturesque position. The threat of d5 and then Nxf5 if e6xd5 is too strong, so 1-0

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Be2 To avoid the Portuguese Gambit 3. d4 Bg4  3...Qxd5 4.Nc3? A rather dubious gambit  4...Qxg2 5.Bf3 Qg6 6.Nge2 Qf5 Fritz gives 6...Nc6 -1.32  7.Bg2 e5 8.d4 Bd6 Preparing to castle queenside is safer as the h1-a8 diagonal is less dangerous for black than the g-file  9.Be3 So white has the g-file and a slight lead in development for the pawn but objectively it's not enough  9...Nc6 10.Qd2 Nxd4 11.Nxd4 exd4 12.Bxd4 O-O 13.O-O-O Be6 (13...Bf4 swapping off one of white's attacking pieces is better ) 14.Kb1 Bb4 15.Rhg1 c5?

(15...g6 Fritz ) 16.Bh3! Qxh3 (16...cxd4 17.Bxf5 dxc3 18.Qg5 wins ) 17.Rxg7+ Kh8

(17...Kxg7 18.Qg5+ ) 18.Rg8+! Rxg8 (18...Kxg8 19.Qg5+ ) 19.Bxf6+ Rg7 20.Qd8+ 1-0

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Nxe4 The Open Spanish is not particularly popular at the top level these days but it is still one of the great classical chess openings, and it will be played as long as people continue to enjoy our game.  6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5

8.Nc3! The exclam is a tip of the hat to Herman. I don't think he'd claim it is actually the strongest move in the position, but it has certainly served him well as a pet sideline - 'The Van Riemsdijk Variation' has scored +16 =3 -3 for Herman in his own game collection, and scores well in the wider database as well. I think this move is a very practical one to employ. Black can (of course) hold the balance, but he has to play precisely in (presumably) unfamiliar positions. ( Tal - Korchnoi, Riga 1955, is one of many clashes between all time greats we could use to illustrate more conventional play, which starts with 8.dxe5 which is overwhelmingly the most popular move  8...Be6 9.c3 Be7 10.Nbd2 O-O 11.Qe2 Nxd2 12.Bxd2 Na5 13.Bc2 c5 14.Qd3 g6 15.Bh6 Re8 16.Qd2 Nc4

The clash of styles - Tal loves to give material to pursue the attack, Korchnoi loves to grab that material and cling to it. This was the first decisive game these chess giants played together and set the tone for the rest - Korchnoi 'had the wood' on Tal.  17.Qf4 Nxb2 18.Bg5 d4 19.cxd4 cxd4 20.Be4 Bd5 21.Bxd5 Qxd5 22.Bxe7 Rxe7 23.Qh4 Rae8 24.Ng5 h5

White's attack flags, he grabs a little material back (or does Korchnoi give it to him?) but Black's mighty 'd' pawn wins theday  25.Ne4 Qxe5 26.Nf6+ Kg7 27.Nxe8+ Rxe8 28.f4 Qf6 29.Qf2 d3 30.Rfe1 Rd8 31.Qd2 Qd4+ 32.Kf1 Nc4 33.Qd1 d2 0-1 From Korchnoi's autobiography - "Ten years ago I drew up the following circle: Tal beats Portisch, Portisch beats Keres, Keres beats me, I beat Tal, Tal beats Portisch etc. ". ) 8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 e4 10.Ng5

White's plan is clear, open lines and attack the King!  10...Be6 (  White threatens Nxf7 so clearly 10...h6?? is a terrible error  11.Nxf7 Kxf7 12.Qh5+ g6 13.Qxd5+ and wins ) ( Herman points out that even 10...Be7? doesn't defend at all  11.Nxf7 Kxf7 12.Qh5+ Ke6 13.Re1 and Black is not going to make it ) ( The computer likes 10...Bf5 but it has n't seen Van Riemsdijk (2350) - Hegeler (2240), Dieren 1989 in which Herman pursued the same plan as the game and prevailed even faster  11.f3 e3 12.f4 Be7? (12...Na5 ) 13.Qf3 e2 14.Re1 Be6 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.Qxe2 Qd7 17.Qxe6 O-O-O 18.Bxd5 ) 11.f3 e3 (11...exf3 has been seen more often, Rocha (2419) - Magnusson (2245), Dos Hermanas 2003 is another nice White win,  12.Qxf3 Qd7 13.a4 b4 14.a5 Nd8 15.c4 c6 16.Nxe6 fxe6 17.cxd5 cxd5 18.Ba4 Nc6 19.Bxc6 Qxc6 20.Qf7+ Kd8 21.Bg5+ Kc8 22.c3 bxc3 23.Rab1 Rb8

24.Qxf8+ Rxf8 25.Rxf8+ Kd7 26.Rfxb8 c2 27.R1b7+ Kd6 28.Rd8+ Qd7 29.Rdxd7+ Kc6 30.Rdc7+ 1-0 ) 12.f4! The e pawn can be picked up later and White wants to get the Queen into the game quickly  12...Ne7 13.Qf3 c6 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.Qxe3 Qd7 16.f5! More line opening  16...exf5 17.a4 You know it  17...Rc8 You know White is winning when the best the computer can come up with is (17...O-O-O castling long just as the a-file is being opened ) 18.axb5 axb5 19.Ba3! The Bishop never wanted to capture on e3  19...Kf7 20.Bc5 Rc7 21.Qe5!

Dominating the position, menacing f5, and threatening yet another line opening break, 22.g4  21...Rg8 To counter g4 with g6  22.Bd6 Rb7 23.Ra6! Attacking and winning c6, which will in turn bring the Bishop on b3 to life, which will win the game forWhite  23...g6 24.Bxe7 Bxe7? (24...Qxe7 25.Rxc6 Qxe5 26.dxe5 the d pawn falls and Black has to grovel into the corner, but this is actually the best Black can do ) 25.Rxc6

And Black's position collapses entirely  25...Rd8 26.Ra6 Kg8 27.Ra8! Herman:The final blow!  27...Bf6 Herman: Black resigned not waiting for (27...Bf6 28.Rxd8+ Qxd8 (28...Bxd8 29.Bxd5+ Kf8 30.Bxb7 Qxb7 31.Qh8+ ) 29.Qxd5+ Qxd5 30.Bxd5+ Rf7 31.Rb1 ) 1-0