1.d4 Nf6 2.Bf4 g6 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 Bg7 5.e4 a6 6.a4 d6 7.Nf3 I actually think 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 Black 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 has two threats  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 interesting 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