Some South Island Championship Highlights

1.Nf3 f5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.e3 b6 5.Be2 Bb7 6.O-O c5 7.Ne5 d6 8.Bf3 Qc7 9.Nd3 Nbd7

10.Nf4! Kf7 11.d5 e5 12.Ne6 Qc8 13.Nc3 e4 14.Be2 Ne5 15.b3 Be7 16.f3 exf3 17.Bxf3 Kg8 18.Qc2 g6 19.e4 fxe4 20.Bxe4 Qd7 21.Bh6 Ne8 22.Rf4 Bf6 23.Raf1 Qe7 24.Bf8 Qd8 1-0

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd5 5.g3 d6 6.exd6 Bxd6 7.Bg2 Bd7 8.d4 Bc6 9.O-O O-O 10.Nbd2 Nb6 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Nb3 Be7 13.Nbd4 Bd5 14.b3 Bf6 15.Ba3 Re8 16.Rc1 Nc6 17.Nb5 Be7 18.Bxe7 Rxe7 19.c4 Be4 20.Re1 Rd7 21.Qe2 Bd3 22.Qe3 Qf6 23.Rcd1 Bg6 24.Rxd7 Nxd7 25.Rd1 Nf8 26.Nfd4 Nxd4 27.Qxd4 e5 28.Qd6 Ne6 29.Re1 Rd8 30.Qb4 a6 31.Nc3 Ng5 32.Nd5 Nf3+ 33.Bxf3 Qxf3 34.Qe7 Rf8 35.Qxe5 Bh5 36.Qd6 f6

37.Ne7+! Kf7 (37...Kh8 38.Ng6+ ) 38.Qe6+ Ke8 39.Nd5+ Kd8 40.Qe7+ Kc8 41.Qc7# 1-0

Ross does a 'Botvinnik - Capablanca, AVRO 1938' tribute, an impressive game.  1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.f3 d5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.e3 Qa5 8.Bd2 O-O 9.Bd3 Re8 10.cxd5 exd5 11.Ne2 c4 12.Bc2 Nc6 13.O-O Qc7 14.Ng3 h5 15.Re1 h4 16.Nf5 Bxf5 17.Bxf5 Na5 18.Bc2 Re7 19.Rb1 Rae8 20.Re2 Qd6 21.Bc1 Qe6 22.Qe1 h3 23.g3 Nh7 24.g4 Ng5 25.Qg3 Qf6 26.Rf2 g6

27.e4! The thematic break  27...Nb3 28.e5 Nxc1! 29.Rxc1 (29.exf6 Re1+ 30.Rf1 Ne2+ ) 29...Qa6 30.a4 Qa5 31.Qh4 Ne6 32.Bb1 Qxa4 33.Qxh3 Qa3 34.Qf1 Nf4

35.g5? This was more than a little careless, but Ross demonstrates that White's positional virtues are sufficient to provide real compensation   35...Nh3+ 36.Kg2 Nxf2 37.Kxf2 Qb2+ 38.Rc2 Qb6 39.f4 Kg7 40.Kg3 Rh8 41.Rf2 Rh5 42.h4 Qb3 43.Qe1 b5 44.Bc2 Qa3 45.Rf3 Qb2 46.Qf2 a5 Diagram  47.f5! Ross is back on track with a another winning thematic breakthrough  47...gxf5 48.Rxf5 Qxc3+ 49.Rf3 Qb2 50.e6! And a third and final one  50...fxe6 51.Rf6 Rg6 is a winning threat ( For example 51.Rf6 e5 52.Rg6+ Kh7 53.Ra6+ Kg8 54.Ra8+ Kg7 55.Qf6# ) 1-0

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Qc7 6.Ne2 Bg4 7.f3 Bd7 8.Bf4 e5! 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Bc2 Bd6 11.Ba4

11...O-O-O!? This whole line has something of a NZ pedigree, this is more of a fun approach than ( Smith (2281) - Bakker (2233), Queenstown NZL 2009, 1/2-1/2 in 27 moves 11...Nf6 12.Bxd7+ Nfxd7 13.Qxd5 O-O 14.O-O Nb6 15.Qd1 Rad8 16.Nd4 Nc6 17.Bxd6 Qxd6 18.Na3 Nxd4 19.cxd4 Qxd4+ 20.Qxd4 Rxd4 21.Rfe1 Rfd8 22.Nb5 Rb4 23.Nd6 Rxb2 24.Nxb7 Rb8 25.Na5 Kf8 26.Nc6 Rc8 27.Nd4 ) 12.Bxd7+ Rxd7 13.O-O Ne7 The only predecessor I have saw Nic Croad playing ...g5 immediately as a sac instead ( Smith (2333) - Croad (2313), Auckland NZL 2008, 1-0 in 27 moves 13...g5 14.Bxg5 Ng6 15.g3 f6 16.Be3 N8e7 17.Bf2 Rg8 18.Nd4 Bc5 19.Na3 Nf4 20.Kh1 Nh3 21.Ne6 Nxf2+ 22.Rxf2 Qb6 23.Nxc5 Qxc5 24.Re2 Nf5 25.Nc2 Rxg3 26.Re8+ Kc7 27.Nd4 ) 14.Nd4 Rg8 15.a4 g5 16.Bg3 a6 17.Na3 h5 18.b4 h4 19.Bf2 Nc4 20.h3 Bg3 21.b5 Bxf2+ 22.Rxf2 a5 23.Qe2 Nb6 24.Qc2 Kb8 25.Re1 Ng6 26.Re3 Nf4 27.Rf1 Rc8 28.Rfe1 Qc5 29.Qb3 Ka7 30.Kh1 Rcc7 31.Nf5 d4 32.Nxd4 Nfd5 33.Re5 Qxc3 34.Qxc3 Rxc3 35.Nb1 Rc4 36.Nb3 Nf4 37.Rxg5 Rxa4 38.Nc5 Nd3 39.Nxa4 Nxe1 40.Nbc3 Nxa4 41.Nxa4 Rd1 42.Kh2 Rd2 43.Kg1 Ra2 44.Nc3 Ra3 45.Ne4 a4 46.Kf2 Nd3+ 47.Ke2 Nf4+ 48.Kd1 Ra2 49.Nd2 a3 50.Rg4

50...Rxd2+! 51.Kxd2 a2 52.Rxf4 a1=Q 53.Ke3 Qg1+ 54.Ke4 Qxg2 55.Rxh4 Qe2+ 56.Kf4 Qxb5 57.Rg4 f6 58.Kg3 Qe5+ 59.Kg2 b5 60.h4 f5 61.Rg5 b4 62.h5 b3 63.Kh3 b2 64.Rg1 Qf4 65.Rf1 Qc1 0-1

1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.Nh3 d6 5.Nf4 c6 6.c4 e5 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nd3 Bd6 10.O-O Ke7 11.Nc3 e4 12.Ne1 Be6 13.f3 Bxc4 14.fxe4 fxe4 15.Bg5 Nd7 16.Bxe4 h6 17.Bxf6+ Nxf6 18.Bf3 Rad8 19.Kh1 Be5 20.Nc2 Rd2 21.Ne3 Be6 22.Rab1 Bd4

23.Ng2 g5 24.e3 Be5 25.Bd1 Bh3 26.Rg1 Bxc3 27.bxc3 Ne4 28.Rxb7+ Kd6 29.Rf7 Bxg2+ 30.Rxg2 Rxd1+ 31.Rg1 Rxg1+ 32.Kxg1 Nxc3 33.Rxa7 Re8 34.Rh7 Re6 35.a3 c5 36.Kf1 Nd5 37.a4 Nxe3+ 38.Ke2 Nc4+ 39.Kf3 Ne5+ 40.Ke4 Ng4+ 41.Kd3 Nxh2 42.Kc4 Re4+ 43.Kb5 Rb4+ 44.Ka5 Ng4 45.Rh8 Rb7 46.Ka6 Rc7 47.Kb6 c4 48.Rd8+ Rd7 49.Rc8 Kd5 50.a5 Rd6+ 51.Kb5 Ne5 52.a6 Nc6 53.Rc7 c3 54.a7 Nxa7+ 55.Rxa7 Kd4 56.Rc7 Kd3 57.Kb4 c2 58.Kb3 Rb6+ 59.Ka2 Rb1 60.Rd7+ Ke4 61.g4 Rd1 62.Re7+ Kf4 0-1

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.exd5 exd5 5.Bd3 Ne7 6.Qh5 Nbc6 7.Be3 Be6 8.Nf3 Qd7 9.a3 Bxc3+ 10.bxc3 Bf5 11.Rb1 Bxd3 12.cxd3 b6 13.Nh4 Na5 14.O-O O-O 15.f4 g6 16.Qf3 Nf5 17.Nxf5 Qxf5 18.Bd2 h5 19.h3 f6 20.g4 hxg4 21.hxg4 Qd7 22.Kg2 Kg7 23.f5 g5 24.Be1 Rh8 25.Bg3 c6 26.Rh1 Rae8 27.Rxh8 Rxh8 28.Qe3 Re8

29.Be5!! Qe7 (29...Kg8 is the only move ) 30.Qxg5+ Kf8 31.Qxf6+ Qxf6 32.Bxf6 Re2+ 33.Kf3 Rh2 34.g5 Nb7 35.Re1 Rh3+ 36.Kg4 Rxd3 37.g6 Rxc3 38.g7+ Kf7

39.Re7+! A nice finish  39...Kxf6 40.g8=N# 1-0