[Event "Bridestones Holme Brew Chess Challenge"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.08.05"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Shapland, D."]
[Black "Parsons, M."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B27"]
[Annotator "Shapland,David"]
[PlyCount "126"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2013.08.06"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 {So it is to be a Sniper! Of course this was what I'd been
preparing for. Earlier this season when I played Matthew in round 2 of the
Calderdale Individual Championship he opted for a more orthdox Sicilian} 3. d4
Bg7 4. dxc5 {This line is probably the most critical test of Black's move
order. It is possible to transpose into an Accellerated Dragon too with 3.Nc3}
Qa5+ {The standard plan for Black to regain the pawn} 5. c3 Qxc5 6. Na3 $5 {
Evidently this move was dreamed up by Rustam Kazimdzhanov. It's a very
interesting try for White and it puts Black under a fair amount of pressure to
be very accurate. Just the kind of opening I like! The idea is for White to
put his knight on b5 and hit the Black queen all over the place with Be3 and
sometimes Nfd4. There is the potential for Black to go badly wrong.} Nf6 $1 {
Already this is practically the only move for Black (my Chessbase appliction
shows it's the most popular choice and there are 120 examples). Other moves
have been tried and have largely failed} (6... Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 Qxc3+ 8. Qd2 Qxa1
9. Nb5 Na6 (9... Kd8 10. Nc3 Nc6 11. Bd3 Nb4 12. Bb1 b6 13. O-O Ba6 14. Rd1 Nf6
15. Bb2 Qxb1 16. Nxb1 {was played in N.Pert-Storey, British Chess Championship
2005}) 10. Bc4 Qg7 11. Bb2 f6 {"Looks good for White" according to Andrew
Martin}) (6... b6 7. Be3 Qc6 8. Bc4 Qb7 9. Qb3 e6 10. Nb5 Kf8 11. Nd6 Qc7 12.
O-O-O Nc6 13. Qa3 Nge7 14. Bb5 Kg8 15. Ng5 f5 16. Ngf7 Bf8 17. Ne8 Qb8 18. Nxh8
Nd5 19. Qa4 fxe4 20. Bxc6 dxc6 21. Qxc6 Kxh8 22. Rxd5 {is an illustration of
what can happen to Black if he's inaccurate in this line. Lane-Akshat, Sydney
Open, 2012}) 7. e5 {Not the most critical choice but if instead} (7. Nb5 {then}
b6 (7... Na6 8. Be3 Qc6) 8. e5 Ng4 9. Qd4 Nxe5 10. Qxc5 Nxf3+ 11. gxf3 bxc5 {
for example looks ok for Black}) (7. Be3 {also looks plausible but again,
Black may well be doing just fine after} Qa5 8. Nc4 Qc7 9. e5 Ng4 10. Bf4 b5
11. h3 {No better is} (11. Ne3 Nxe3 12. fxe3) 11... Nxf2 12. Kxf2 bxc4 {and
Black seems to be fine here.}) 7... Ng4 {This thrust is thematic for this
opening line and almost certainly best} (7... Nd5 8. Bc4 Nb6 9. Be3 Qa5 10. Be2
{looks good for White as the e-pawn is immune due to} Bxe5 $2 11. Nxe5 Qxe5 12.
Bd4) (7... Ne4 8. Be3 Qa5 9. Bd3 Nc5 10. Be2 {and White is much better here})
8. Qd4 {This was the line I'd prepared for 6...Nf6. I'd looked at it a little
bit with my engine at home before hand. Whilst not nearly as exciting for
White as some of the lines above after 6...Bxc3+ it seemed to offer a small
but stable edge based on creating a solid space advantage and stifling Black's
natural development} Qxd4 {Also possible was} (8... d6 9. Qxc5 dxc5 10. Nb5 Na6
11. Bf4 {But I think here White is slightly better off than in the game as he
can castle long after playing h3 to drive the Black knight away}) 9. cxd4 O-O
$6 {This perfectly natural move was criticised by Matthew after the game.
Indeed, often in the Sniper, Black is forced to play some odd looking moves 
(or very precise move orders) to keep himself in the game. On this occasion
the best way to continue was probably} (9... Nc6 {Giving the queen's rook the
b8 square and therefore reducing the power of the Nc7 threat} 10. Nb5 {and
only now} O-O {The main point is that because the Black queen's knight is on
c6 and not a6, Black can meet Bc4 with an immediate a6-b5. Now} 11. h3 Nh6 12.
Bf4 {Is similar to, but an improvement on what happened in the game. Black's
knight on c6 is more appropriately placed and White has yet to develop his
king's bishop. White's advantage is minimal}) 10. Nb5 Na6 {Again natural but
Black may have been a little bit better off playing either} (10... a6 11. Nc7
Ra7 {Though this too looks convincing for White. Or}) (10... Nc6 11. h3 Nh6 12.
d5 Nb4 {Not} (12... Nxe5 $2 13. Nxe5 Bxe5 14. Bxh6) 13. Nc7 Rb8 14. Kd1 {and
White a small advantage if it turns out he hasn't over-reached himself in the
centre}) 11. Bc4 {This was the key point behind my play. Often in the Sniper
Black likes to counter attack with f5. Here it won't be so easy for him to do
that and White can therefore exert some pressure on the Black pieces.} Nb4 {I
had a feeling Matthe wold go for this. Certainly Black has to play actively
here because if he doesn't try and stir up some trouble he's going to get
served. Another try for activity was a typical central break in the form of} (
11... d5 {and after} 12. exd6 exd6 13. O-O Rd8 14. Bf4 d5 {It looks like
White's advantage has been limited}) 12. O-O a6 13. Nc7 Rb8 {Fritz also liked
13...Ra7 but that looks a bit too awkward for most humans to fancy} 14. a3 {
The knight isn't really doing much of use on b4 so why drive it to another
square? I think I had wanted to vacate a2 for my bishop but with the benefit
of hindsight that is bobbins. More active would have been} (14. Bg5 Nc6 15.
Rfe1 b5 {and White has a comfortable and stable advantage}) 14... b5 15. Bb3 {
I did also consider the messy (in my view anyway)} (15. Bxf7+ $5 {which Fritz
gives as the best move. This just looked a bit too chaotic for me. Although I
like complications I do like to feel there is some sort of underlying order in
my games} Rxf7 16. axb4 Bb7 17. h3 Rc8 18. Nxa6 Bxf3 19. gxf3 Nh6 {and
although White may well have a good advantage here this looks like the kind of
position I would have liked to avoid against Matthew}) 15... Nc6 {This move
does actually come with a threat. Black is threatening to take on d4 and then
after 17.Nxd4 Bxd4 will win back the piece and gian him two pawns!} 16. h3 {On
the basis of the last move this is almost forced although positionally it also
desirable as the knight is forced to a pretty terrible location} Nh6 {The
capture on d4 doesn't work now because the g4 knight is under attack} (16...
Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Bxe5 18. hxg4 Bxc7) 17. g4 $5 {I spent quite a while deciding
whether or not I could play this. Of course the main motivation is to
seriously inhibit the knight on h6. It's only escpe route now involves the f7
or g8 squares and with the bishop on b3 staring down that diagonal the
desirable f5 break is currently out of the question. Can Black afford the time
it would take him to play Kh8 and then advance the f-pawn or put the knight
back on g8? Certainly not at the moment. The key question for me was whther or
not I was over extending myself in the longer term. In the end I judged not
because it will take some time for Black to organise his counter play and so I
have enough time to consolidate. Despite all this careful consideration it
seems Fritz still prefers to play 17.Bd2 and let the knight out on f5} Na5 18.
Ba2 {Determined to keep the bishop on this diagonal but infact it might have
been better to put it on e4 after 18.Bd5 e6 19.Be4} Bb7 19. Nd5 {Matthew was
threatening both the knight on f3 and the knight on c7 which would become
trapped after say 19.Ng5 e6 and then Rc8} Bxd5 {I was more than a little
surprised that Matthew elected to swap off what looked like his best piece so
acquiescently 19...e6 looked like a perfectly good way to play. After this
move my advantage, which had diminished significantly, re-ignites again.
Instead} (19... e6 20. Bxh6 Bxh6 21. Nf6+ Kh8 22. d5 {seems to be ok for Black.
White looks like he's a little bit overstretched}) 20. Bxd5 e6 21. Ba2 Nc6 22.
Bf4 b4 {Going for counter play on the queen's side. I wasn't too concerned
about that though. Was now the time to get on with getting the king's side
pieces back into the game with} (22... f5 23. g5 Nf7 {it looks slow but then,
White isn't exaclty able to take advantage at the moment}) 23. Rfc1 b3 24. Bb1
{Having done it's job on the queen's side the bishop is ready to relocate to
e4. I thought Matthew's advanced queen's side pawns might be weak in the
longer term} Ne7 25. Bd3 Nd5 26. Bd2 $1 {Played after a longish think. I think
this is a good move. There's no need to put the bishop on the passive g3
square and in some lines it is needed to protect c1 allowing all the rooks to
get swapped off there. I also realised that there might be a chance to get the
bishop into the Black position via b4 or a5. This move seemed to cause Matthew
at least some concern as he now had a very long think before playing} Kh8 {
After the game Matthew said he felt there "had to be something" for White in
this position. Admittedly, on seeing this move I felt pretty good for if Black
feels the need to play this his lot must indeed be an unhappy one. Other
options might include} (26... f5 27. g5 {I'd always intended to play this move
if Matthew played the f5 break but Fritz marginally prefers} (27. exf6 Rxf6 28.
Ne5 Rbf8 29. Be3) 27... Nf7 28. Bxa6 {Winning a pawn and maintaining the
strong bind on the king's side}) (26... Ra8 {Of course Black can try and hang
on to the pawn but I think it's futile (and evidently so did Matthew) after}
27. Be4 Rfc8 28. Rxc8+ Rxc8 29. Bd3 a5 30. Rc1 Rxc1+ 31. Bxc1 {Illustrating
why the bishop belonged on d2 and not g3 last move} Kf8 32. Bd2 {and the
bishops will wreak havoc on Black's queen's side whilst the bishop and knight
remain locked down on g7 and h6}) 27. Be4 {As in my game with Pete a few
rounds ago I'm guilty of over-elaborating here. I should simply have taken the
pawn. I remember thinking that if I could swap off his knight on d5 and
exchange the rooks then I had to be winning as his remaining pieces were so
awful. This assessment was probably correct but of course the method is not so
easy. Taking a pawn is the easiest way of preserving the advantage and keeping
up the pressure} (27. Bxa6 Ng8 28. a4 f6 29. a5 Nge7 30. Bc4 {with a huge
advantage in the form of the passed a-pawn and more active position.}) 27...
Nb6 {Not wanting to have his d-pawn doubled I suppose. Nevertheless after this
move Fritz scores White as +2.20. How on earth did I lose from here?!} 28. Bb4
{An interesting idea but again I'm trying to guild the lily. More straight
forward was} (28. Rc7 Rfc8 29. Rac1 Rxc7 30. Rxc7 Bf8 31. Bb7 a5 32. Bxa5 {and
White is absolutely on top}) 28... Rfe8 29. Bd6 Rbc8 30. Bb7 Rxc1+ 31. Rxc1 a5
{As far as I was concerned I was following my master plan through to it's
conclusion. The bishops are on the Black position, I own the c-file and
Black's king's side pieces are still out of the game} 32. Rc3 {Fritz likes} (
32. Bc7 Na4 33. Rb1 Ng8 34. Ng5 {after which Black looks pretty helpless})
32... a4 33. Nd2 f5 34. Bc5 Nd5 35. Bxd5 $2 {After the game Matthew said he
was happy to see this bishop come off the board because the structural damage
this exchange did to his position was defencible whilst I had diminshed my
hold on the position. A better move would have been} (35. Rc4 {and now, for
example} fxg4 36. hxg4 Nxg4 37. Bxd5 exd5 38. Rxa4 Rb8 39. Rb4 {is winning for
White. The passed a-pawn is a killer and the Black b-pawn is about to drop.
Black has very little prospect of counter play}) 35... exd5 36. g5 Nf7 37. f4 {
So this had always been my plan. Surely I carried it through consistently but
I have missed several opportunities as a result. In fact, Fritz now assesses
the position as being almost equal} Nd8 38. Kf2 Ne6 {Here is Matthew's point.
The e6 square is a fabulous defensive outpost for his knight and the doubled
pawns on the d-file can't easily be attacked. White will have to take time
bringing his knight into a more threatening post and this gives Black time to
organise counter play on the h-file} 39. Ke3 Kg8 40. Nf3 Kf7 {White looks like
he's still in control but, although he still holds a space advantage, he no
longer has the control of the position that he had earlier} 41. Ne1 {Aiming
for d3 and b4 or c5. I was in blinkers at this point though because I hadn't
fully appreciated what the real point of Matthew's king walk was} h6 {Of
course! Suddenly Black has counterplay on the king's side. He can open the
h-file and get his rook onto it. Realising that I had lost my bind on
proceedings I tried to calculate the best way of continuing to play for a win.
I wonder if Matthew would have taken a draw if I'd offered him one at this
juncture. Probably not. He's on a mission for a 100% score} 42. Nf3 Rh8 43. h4
hxg5 44. fxg5 {This is the correct way to capture according to the engine so
at least I got that bit right} Re8 45. Bb4 Rb8 46. Rc1 Ke8 {The last few moves
have just been manoeuvring really. Nothing has changed. Fritz assesses this
position as dead level so probably I should have just shuffled the pieces and
held firm knowing Black has no way to break through. I don't think I really
thought I was winning anymore but I couldn't accept that I'd frittered away my
advantage. Like a true gambling addict, having won big and then lost it all I
couldn't walk away. I picked up the dice again} 47. Ne1 Kf7 48. Ng2 {Having
stubbornly followed up on my plan earlier in the game when I'd have been beter
changing it to secure and advantage, this time I should have stuck with my
original plan of 48.Nd3 with Nf4 or Nc5 to follow. Chess is such a hard game!}
(48. Nd3 Rh8 49. Be1 Ra8 50. Nf4 Nxf4 51. Kxf4 {and White is better again here
because the rook now has points of entry on the c-file while the h-file is
totally secure. Of course Black may have some improvements in here}) 48... Rh8
49. Be1 {This way round the bishop just gets in my knight's way. White has
gone too passive} d6 {Matthew takes immediate advantage of the bishop's
departure from the a3-f8 diagonal} 50. Bg3 dxe5 51. Bxe5 {This move was
criticised after the game but it appears capturing with either the bishop or
the pawn is still level according to Fritz} Bxe5 {The useless Sniper bishop is
finally exchanged} 52. dxe5 d4+ 53. Kd3 {53.Ke2 or Kd2 would have been better}
Ke7 54. Rc4 f4 55. Rxa4 $4 {A tired blunder. Fritz still felt I could have
held the balance though I don't think I had the moral fortitude to do so by
this point of the game} (55. Ke2 d3+ 56. Kxd3 Rf8 57. Kd2 Rf5 58. Rxa4 f3 59.
Ne3 Rxe5 60. Rc4 f2 61. Rc1 Re4 62. Rf1 Rxh4 63. Rxf2 Nxg5 64. Re2 Ne4+ 65. Kd3
{is still level according to Fritz}) (55. Rb4 {After the game I said I thought
that this was the correct plan but Matthew quckly put me right by pointing out
that} f3 $3 {wins on the spot s} 56. Rb7+ Ke8 57. Rb8+ Kd7 $1 {the Black rook
is invulnerable as the f-pawn can't be stopped}) 55... Nc5+ {There's no need
to add anything else to the remaining moves} 56. Kxd4 Nxa4 57. Kc4 f3 58. Ne3
Rxh4+ 59. Kxb3 Nc5+ 60. Kc2 f2 61. b4 Re4 62. Nf1 Re1 63. Ng3 Ne4 {This game
marked a couple of firsts in this summer competition for me. My first defeat
at the Trades Club and my first failure to win with White. Matthew said this
was the toughest game he's had to play this summer. Well, I'm glad I put him
under pressure and gave him a stern test but I really feel I had this game and
let him off the hook. So, nice as it is to put such a strong player under
pressure and get into a position with very good winning chances, that just
makes it more disappointing to have lost. Now I have to look over my shoulder
at the other contestants and try and hold on to second place} 0-1

[Event "Bridestones Holme Brew Chess Challenge"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.07.29"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Sykes, N."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C86"]
[Annotator "Nick Sykes and Dave Shapland"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2013.07.30"]

1. e4 {"I told Dave the week before that I was going to play 1.e4.What more
can I do!" - Nick "Nick I perhaps too honest. He did indeed tell me what he
was going to play and although I believed him I also thought he might have a
change of heart and go for 1.c4 with which he was successful against me
earlier this year. In any case my preparations for 1.c4 or 1.Nf3 are not as
solid as they are against 1.e4 and so I decided to spend most of my limited
preparation time bolstering my repertoire there. Of course I did think about
and decide in advance how I was going to respond to a king's pawn opening as
well" - Dave} e5 {"I was expecting 1...c5 when I was happy to enter a Yugoslav
Attack against Dave's Dragon" - Nick "I think that, over the last few years I
have becoime much much harder to prepare for after 1.e4. I now play the Dragon
and the Sveshnikov in the Sicilian and I play the Bird's, the Classical and
the Open in the Spanish. This year I've also taken up the Pirc! This gives me
a good deal of flexibility in deciding what I'll play against whom after 1.e4.
On this occasion I'd decided to go for my most reliable weapon, the Spanish" -
Dave} 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 {"I really didn't expect this. I thought if Dave
was going to play 1...e5 I thought he would follow it up with 3...Bc5" - Nick
"I'm still having nightmares about my reverse against Paul Edwards who played
4.Nxe5 after I essayed the Classical against him. There are perfectly
reasonable ways to meet this move order but it was a traumatising experience
losing that game and I haven't yet re-built my confidence with that variation.
I did give serious consideration to Bird's Variation - 3...Nd4 but that is
primarily an excellent surprise weapon and Nick plays the Bird himself
sometimes so I decided that on this occasion I would offer Nick a mainline
discussion" - Dave} 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 {"The Worrall Attack this is the first
time I have played it over the board, but I have being playing it a lot in
correspondance recently. This avoids the Open Ruy Lopez which would have
occured after"} (5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 {- Nick "Of course
I'd anticipated the Worrall from Nick. I looked at three games in stem
variations as part of my prep so that I could decide how to proceed against it
having never faced it over the board myself" - Dave}) 5... b5 6. Bb3 Be7 (6...
Bc5 {"Is the so-called 'Anti-Worrall'" - Nick "One of the games I looked at
was in this line and I decided that I didn't like it. Whilst it looks
aggressive I think it offers White some pleasant ways of proceeding which
didn't suit the way I wanted to play the opening" - Dave}) 7. O-O O-O 8. c3 {
"This is a critical decision for White. He can also go for 8.d3 intending to
follow up at some point with the advance of his a-pawn and aim for queen's
side play. It's a quiet way to play and not particularly ambitious" - Dave} d5
{"This was the line I'd chosen having studied my three Worrall Attack games.
It's kind of akin to the Marshall Gambit but it also bears similarities to the
Open Spanish so it was a natural choice for me" - Dave} (8... d6 {"Is a the
Closed Worrall, Dave initiates the Open Worrall which is much more his style"
- Nick}) 9. d3 {"Most games in this variation continue in this way. After the
game I found almost 1,000 games on the Chessbase opening database I have on my
iPhone. 9.exd5 and 9.d4 are much less frequently seen and far less effective
as well. It suits White much better to maintain the central tension" - Dave}
Bb7 10. Nbd2 Re8 11. Rd1 {"A typical Worral ploy but I'm not sure this makes
the most sense in this position unless White is going to open the centre.
Other options are 11.Re1 and 11.a3. I'd guess that 11.a4 must also come into
consideration. After the game I think Matthew wanted Nick to play 11.Bc2. The
point is that there are lots of ways both sides can play and much of it comes
down to subjective decisions based on your individual prefeences rather than
solid assessments of one approahc being better than another. This is the
reason the Spanish is such a rich and complex opening. There really isn't a
'right' answer" - Dave} (11. a3 {"Is the best move here according to Andrew
Greet in 'Play the Ruy Lopez'" - Nick}) 11... Bf8 12. Nf1 Na5 {"Borrowing an
idea from the Chigorin Variation where Black also hits the bishop on b3 in
order to gain the time he needs to advance his c-pawn. A typical Spanish
manouvre and it turns out it is frequently seen in this line of thew Worrall
as well" - Dave} 13. Bc2 c5 14. Ng3 {"This is all book up to now but perhaps} (
14. Bg5 {is more accurate" - Nick "I'm not necessarily sure this is more
accurate. It's just another preference based decision. If White wants to try
and induce a strucutral weakness infront of Black's king by tempting him to
drive the bishop away with h6 then that's fine. If he doesn't want to do that
then 14.Bd2 right away is certainly playable as well" - Dave}) 14... d4 {"It's
only with this move that we get down to fairly unique territory. Up until now
the game has followed fairly well trodden theoretical lines. I could only find
one game on the Chessbase application I have. In all the other games Black
opted to develop his pieces further or take pre-emptive measures on the king's
side before pushing in the centre. Popular moves included 14...h6, g6 and Qb6.
All of which are perfectly reasonable. The main idea behind my (probably
premature advance) was to restrict the light squared White bishop's options.
In this game that turned out well but Nick could have improved his play in
this area" - Dave} 15. cxd4 cxd4 16. Bg5 {"The first new move of the game as
far as my Chessbase app is concerned. It's an interesting question whether or
not the subsequent advance of Black's h-pawn is a strength or a potential
weakness" - Dave} (16. Bd2 Rc8 17. Rdc1 {was played in Vlasak-Milos CZE Ch,
2010. The game ended in a draw.}) 16... h6 17. Bd2 Nc6 {"The trickiest aspect
of this kind of game is deciding which pieces you want to keep on the board
and which of your opponents you want to try and swap off. Wkith such a dynamic
structure (the centre is blocked right now but could easily open up later if
either player choses to break on the f-file. In this situation I decided that
I didn't want to give Nick the chance to exchange my knight for his bishop and
so i retreated. I could also have continued with} (17... Rc8 {which would have
led to a position more like the sample game given above. Would Nick have
exchanged on a5? Who knows?" - Dave}) 18. Nf5 Rc8 19. Rac1 Nb4 {"Played after
what I suspect was my longest think of the game. I couldn't decide what the
best way to play was. I considered advancing my queen's side pawns further 
(whic is a plan Fritz seems to like), and I also re-routing my king's knight 
(my least useful piece) to f4 via h5. The other prime candidate was 19...Qb6.
In the end I have to be honest and say that one of the reasons I played this
move was because I'd spotted a potential tactical opportunity if Nick played
the next move 'naturally'" - Dave} 20. Bb1 {"Nick quite correctly avoids} (20.
Bb3 $2 {which would have allowed the tactical shot} Nxd3 $1 21. Qxd3 Bxe4 22.
Qe2 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Bxf5 {and Black is two pawns up with an advantage that must
be winning as White has no real counter play and the passed d-pawn looks huge"
- Dave}) 20... Qb6 21. a3 {"This was the move that I had anticipated after 19..
.Nb4 and had wanted to figure out how I responded to that before I played that
ninteenth move. I'd decided that retreating the knight again and then
advancing my b-pawn was best" - Dave} Nc6 22. N3h4 {"Typical Spanish strategy
from Nick. The White knights start to infiltrate the Black king's position.
There is danger here as the White queen will soon join the attack and there
are potential sacrifices on h6 for me to be concerned about. At this point I
began to consider moves like 22...Ne7 to try and get one of the knights off
the board. In the end I decided that I could proceed with my plan on the
queen's side before taking counter measures on the other side of the board.
Nick could have opted to bring his bishop back into the game here with} (22.
Ba2 {after which I would have played} b4 {anyway. After this Fritz assess the
position as equal. There are still so many possible ways for both sides to
continue. The game is still young!" - Dave}) 22... b4 23. axb4 Nxb4 {"This was
my plan. To keep the light squared bishop locked in or force the exchange of
bishop for knight on b4. Fritz does now think that 24.Bxb4 is White's best
move" - Dave} 24. Qf3 {"This was the engine's second choice. Nick get's on
with creating counter threats on my king. Perfectly sensible and natural. It
did provoke a response from me though!" - Dave} g5 $5 {"Psychologically this
is a good move, and I didn't respond too well!" - Nick "A big decision.
Certainly this is an interesting move! Afterwards Matthew Parsons thought it
had to be incorrect and felt White should be winning after it. On the other
hand the engine gives this as Black's best move (!) but here's the real point..
. I thought this move would force Nick to consider the several different ways
he could sacrifice/lose a piece. I didn't think that would be a decision he
would be totally comfortable with. He isn't a sacrificial player by nature so
a big part of my decision was to take the game down a route that I felt would
suit me more than him" - Dave} 25. Bxb4 $6 {"This move surprised me. I hadn't
considered it at all. Immediately after the game both players thought that
this was the best move White had but the kibbitzing Matthew Parsons quickly
found a means for Black to win a piece here - so this move turns out to be a
mistake" - Dave "A poor move even though myself and Dave thought it was the
best move at the time. The problem is it loses a piece by force. White should
really take a draw with"} (25. Qg3 Nh5 26. Qg4 Nf6 27. Qg3 Nh5 {- Nick}) 25...
Qxb4 {"Black still stands better after this move but. .. much better was the
clever} (25... Rxc1 {It doesn't seem logical for Black to give up the c-file}
26. Rxc1 Qxb4 27. Nxh6+ Bxh6 28. Qxf6 Qd2 $1 {But here's the point. Black wins
a tempo because of the back rank threats and after White defends with} 29. Rf1
gxh4 {Black captures the knight and defends the bishop on h6 at the same time.
Very nice! I'd have been delighted to have found this at the board" - Dave
"This was the line spotted by Matthew quickly after the game. That's why
Matthew is a good 20+ points better than us!" - Nick}) 26. Nxh6+ Bxh6 27. Qxf6
Re6 {This move changes the evaluation of the position back to 'equal'. Black
could still have played} (27... Rxc1 28. Rxc1 Qd2 {etc}) 28. Rxc8+ Bxc8 29.
Qd8+ Kh7 $6 {Again, this seemed pretty much like the only move at the time and
after the game both players felt this was best. I did analyse the alternative
variation} (29... Qf8 {but considered that after} 30. Qxf8+ Bxf8 31. Rc1 {
White was doing fine if not a little better. However, if Black finds} (31. Nf3
{"White is marginally better after this" - Nick}) 31... gxh4 32. Rxc8 Rb6 33.
Rc2 Ba3 {Then he has nothing to fear}) 30. Qxc8 {Completely natural and
apparently perfectly acceptable. However, White could have exploited Black's
last with a clever trick} (30. Nf3 {Simply moving the knight rather than
exchanging it. Now White can better target the multiple Black pawn targets} Rc6
{This is what I planned to play if White moved his knight. However, if White
then finds} 31. Qd5 $1 Re6 32. Nxe5 {Then I think Black is in deep trouble.
Two pawns down and still with lots of structural weaknesses, this may well be
winning for White now}) (30. Nf5 {"After the game we all thought this move
gives White the best chance to win,.HIARCS agrees and gives this as a winning
advantage for White" - Nick}) 30... gxh4 31. Qc2 {"A bit passive and not
really going for it, White is a pawn up but Black's pieces are more active" -
Nick "Nick plays sensibly. He didn't think he had much in the way of winning
chances so he opted for safety first. This move consolidates White's position
and prevents Black's more active pieces from doing too much damage. After the
game we didn't think Nick had that many other good options as we both thought
that"} (31. Ba2 {was bad. It turns out this is actually White's best try for a
win because after the move we both felt would come next} Qa4 {It turns out
that Whitew has a very good reply in the form of} (31... Rf6 {Is probably
better and now White can play} 32. Qc2 {Black has to change his focus now and
try to cause trouble on the king's side} Qe7) 32. Ra1 {And holds onto an
advantage. He does have an extra pawn and the more secure king after all!" -
Dave}) 31... Rf6 {Not really sure why I played this! I think I thought I was
threatening 32...Rxf2 33.Qxf2 Be3 but of course White can capture with the
king and is then simply winning!} 32. h3 {I think offered me a draw here. It
was a hard decision to turn it down but I still felt, with the queens on, that
there was lots of play. However, in a moment, matters simplified and the game
was drawn anayway.} (32. Ba2 {Is still the best option for White}) 32... Rb6
33. Ba2 {"This move basically agrees a draw" - Nick "Ironically, the moment
Nick choses to re-activate the bishop is the moment this ceases to be his best
move! Instead Fritz thinks} (33. Qc7 {"Is the move to play if White want's to
play for a win" -Nick} Kg6 34. Qxe5 Qxb2 {and White maintains his pawn
advantage}) 33... Qxb2 {I thought I might get and advantage after the queens
came off if I could get the passed a-pawn motoring. I'd not calculated every
option though} 34. Qxb2 Rxb2 35. Bxf7 a5 36. Ra1 {This just snuffs out an hope
Black has of trying to win the game despite his mateial deficit. I'd only
really considered} (36. Be8 Ra2 {When I'm sure White can still draw but maybe
the a-pawn is a bit more dangerous}) 36... Bd2 {"The position is level, White
cannot really do much with the extra pawn" - Nick "Here I offered Nick the
draw back and he accepted. There is no way for White ot exploit his extra pawn.
Black has all his pawns on dark squares and White can't really get at any of
the weak pawns without allowing Black to make progress with his a-pawn. On
balance I'd say a draw was a fair result for a decent game by both players. As
always there were some missed opportunities but not that many and they weren't
so easy to find" - Dave} 1/2-1/2

