[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.11.18"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Williams, W."]
[Black "Parsons, M."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A00"]
[PlyCount "150"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.25"]
[WhiteTeam "Halifax 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]

1. c3 c5 2. f4 d5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 Nf6 5. Bg2 Bf5 6. O-O e6 7. d3 Qb6 8. Kh1
Be7 9. Nh4 Rd8 10. Qe1 O-O 11. e4 dxe4 12. dxe4 Bg4 13. Nd2 Qa6 14. Rf2 Nh5 15.
Bf1 Qa4 16. b3 Qa5 17. Nc4 Qc7 18. Ne3 f5 19. Bc4 Bxh4 20. Bxe6+ Kh8 21. gxh4
Qe7 22. exf5 Bxf5 23. Nxf5 Rxf5 24. Bd2 Rff8 25. Rf3 Rxd2 26. Qxd2 Qxe6 27. Rg1
Qe4 28. Qg2 Ne5 29. Rff1 Qxg2+ 30. Rxg2 h6 31. f5 Rd8 32. Re2 Nc6 33. Kg2 Nf6
34. Kf3 Rd3+ 35. Re3 Rd5 36. Ke2 Kh7 37. Rd3 Re5+ 38. Re3 Kg8 39. Rxe5 Nxe5 40.
Ke3 Kf7 41. Kf4 Ned7 42. Rd1 Nb6 43. Ke5 Ke7 44. Rg1 Nbd7+ 45. Kf4 Kf7 46. c4
h5 47. h3 a6 48. Rd1 Ke7 49. Re1+ Kf7 50. Kg5 Nb8 51. Re6 Nc6 52. Kf4 Nd7 53.
Re2 Nd4 54. Rg2 Nf6 55. Rf2 Ke7 56. Rg2 Kf7 57. Rb2 Nd7 58. b4 Kf6 59. bxc5
Nxc5 60. Rd2 Nxf5 61. Rd5 Ne6+ 62. Ke4 g6 63. Rd1 Nxh4 64. Rb1 Nf5 65. Rb6 Ne7
66. a4 Nc6 67. Kd5 Ned8 68. c5 Ke7 69. Rb1 Kd7 70. Rg1 Ne7+ 71. Kc4 Ndc6 72.
Rd1+ Kc7 73. Rg1 Nf5 74. Re1 h4 75. Rg1 Ng3 0-1

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.11.18"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Somerset, B."]
[Black "Leonard, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "180"]
[BlackElo "153"]
[Annotator "Leonard,Pete"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Halifax 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "HebdenBridge 'A'"]

1. Nf3 {"You'll be playing Bill and he usually opens 1.c4"; to be fair, in
another conversation he was also said to use 1.Nf3, so I'm not complaining
about the quality of my information!} d5 2. d4 g6 3. c4 Nf6 {From a Reti, we
seem to have found our way into a Grunfeld; OK by me, in principle, though I
clearly don't know it well enough.} 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. e4 Nxc3 7. bxc3
O-O {More normal is} (7... c5 8. Rb1 {and we find ourselves in what Yelena
Dembo, in Play the Grunfeld, calls "the critical 8.Rb1."}) 8. Be2 c5 9. Rb1 {
And here we are, by transposition, in that line.} Qa5 {As Bill said afterwards,
more accurate is} (9... cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 (11. Qd2 Nc6) 11... Qxa2)
10. O-O cxd4 {I'm going to take one of the offered pawns, but which? I decided
on the a2 pawn, but first removed my potentially vulnerable c pawn from the
equation. These appears to be the third best option; Fritz 12 prefers} (10...
Qxc3 11. Bd2 (11. Bg5 cxd4 12. Bxe7 Re8 13. Bb4 Qc6 {is actually slightly
better for Black, despite the lagging development.}) 11... Qa3 12. Qc2 Bd7 13.
Rxb7 cxd4 {OK, I have a passed d pawn, but my queen's side is still difficult
to develop, and I don't like his rook on b7.}) 11. cxd4 Qxa2 {Yelena says this
line "is quite unappetizing for Black" and "the pawn just isn't worth taking!"
I'll know better, another time.} 12. Bg5 Qe6 {Fritz prefers} (12... h6 13. Bxe7
Re8 14. Rc1 Nc6 15. Bc5 Rxe4 {though} 16. Bc4 Qa5 17. Qb3 {looks quite
uncomfortable for Black.}) 13. Qd3 b6 14. d5 Qd6 15. Qe3 Ba6 {I was keen to
exchange his white-squared bishop; too keen, as} (15... Nd7 16. Rfc1 Nc5 {also
supports Ba6, with a much-improved position for the knight.}) 16. Rbc1 Bxe2 17.
Qxe2 h6 {Now, in contrast to two moves earlier, Nd7 is going to allow his rook
into c6. I knew that h6 was potentially weakening, but wanted to make him
choose between attacking e7 and pressuring the queen's side.} 18. Be3 Nd7 19.
Rc6 Qb4 {I had no appetite at all for 19...Qb8, when my position seems
horribly passive.} 20. Rc4 Qb5 {I thought that the pin might slow him up; my
main concern was that he get all his major pieces on to the c file and into my
position.} 21. Rfc1 $6 {Better to have broken the pin, with 21.Qc2 or 21.Qa2.}
a5 $2 {Missing my chance of opposing him on the c file, by} (21... Rac8 22. Nd4
Bxd4 23. Bxd4 a5 {followed by a double exchange on c4 and Black is actually
marginally better, thanks to the extra pawn.}) 22. Qd2 Kh7 {Better was} (22...
Nc5 {when he can have his pawn back, by} 23. Bxc5 Rfc8 24. Qe3 Rxc5 25. Rxc5
bxc5 26. Rxc5 Qb4 $19 {but Black's bishop is now going to prove its worth and
Fritz scores black well ahead.}) 23. Nd4 Qa6 24. f4 $6 {This surprisingly sows
the seeds of his downfall, though it serves the dual purpose of denying e5 to
my knight and preparing to attack my king. Fritz prefers} (24. Rc7 Nc5 25. Rxe7
Bf6 26. Rc7 Nxe4 27. Qc2 Nc5 28. Ne6 Nxe6 29. dxe6 $16 {or}) (24. Nc6 a4 25.
Nxe7 a3 26. Qa2 Ne5 $15) 24... Rfc8 $6 {Better to seize my chance of excluding
his rooks, by} (24... Nc5 25. Qc2 {(so he can move his knight without losing
the exchange to Nb3)} Bxd4 26. Bxd4 a4 27. Bxc5 bxc5 28. Rxc5 a3 29. Qa2 (29.
Ra1 Rfb8 30. Rc6 Qa7+ 31. Qf2 a2 32. Rcc1 Rb2 33. Qxa7 Rxa7 $19) 29... Rfb8 30.
R5c2 (30. d6 Qxd6 31. Qxf7+ Kh8 32. Qa2 Kg7 $19) 30... Qf6 $19) 25. Nc6 Bf8 $2
{I didn't like taking my bishop off its diagonal, but thought I had to defend
the e pawn. I was wrong; better was either} (25... e6 26. dxe6 Nc5 27. Qd6 Qb7
28. Ne5 Rd8 29. Qc6 Qxc6 30. Nxc6 Rd6 31. Ne5 Bxe5 32. fxe5 Rxe6 33. Bxc5 bxc5
34. Rxc5 a4 {and Black's passed pawn, plus White's weak e pawns, gives an edge.
}) (25... a4 26. e5 a3 27. Qa2 Qb7 28. R4c3 e6 29. Rxa3 Rxa3 30. Qxa3 exd5 31.
Nd4 Bf8 32. Qb2 Rxc1+ 33. Qxc1 Bc5 $17) 26. f5 b5 {This seemed like the only
thing to do, though White seems better. However, he had used a lot of time on
the last half dozen moves, and I wanted to give him something more to think
about. For my part, pushing pawns didn't take too much thought!} 27. R4c2 b4
28. Bd4 b3 29. Rc3 a4 30. Rf1 $6 {Another chink in his armour, though I was
only dimly aware that my queen was eyeing f1. Fritz prefers} (30. Qf2 {though,
after such as} Nf6 31. Ra1 Qb5 32. Rc5 Qd3 33. Re1 Bg7 {Black seems OK.}) 30...
Nf6 31. fxg6+ fxg6 32. Qf4 $2 {Better to move the rook to either f3 or h3.} Bg7
{I now missed} (32... b2 33. Ra3 Qe2 34. Rb1 e5 35. Qxf6 exd4 36. Rg3 Qxe4 37.
Rxb2 Rc7 $19) 33. Nxe7 $2 {This should have lost him a piece; better to bring
the other rook across, or play} (33. Qe5 Rf8 34. Rcf3 Rae8 {though Black's
defences are holding and there's still the a and b pawns to consider.}) 33...
Rxc3 34. Bxc3 Rf8 $2 {Giving him a chance, which fortunately he missed. Simply}
(34... Qa7+ 35. Kh1 Qxe7 {is won for Black.}) 35. Qg3 $4 (35. Nxg6 Rc8 36. Ba1
Qb6+ 37. Kh1 b2 38. Bxb2 Qxb2 39. Ne7 Rd8 40. Qf5+ {draws by perpetual check.})
35... Nxe4 36. Rf6 {Avoiding losing on time, but it's hopeless for White. He
can avoid mate by} (36. Rxf8 Nxg3 37. hxg3 Bxf8 $19 {or}) (36. Qxg6+ Qxg6 37.
Nxg6 Rxf1+ 38. Kxf1 Bxc3 {but at too great a cost.}) 36... Nxg3 {If 37.Rxa6
Rf1#, though I'd missed seeing another mate in one and was thinking of 37...
Ne2+ first. An interesting game; to my surprise, Fritz suggests that my
position, for the most part, wasn't as desperate as I'd thought after the game.
17...h6 actually played an important part as, with my king on h7, either Nxe7
nor Rxf8 was with check.} 0-1

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "King's Indian Defence"]
[Date "2013.11.18"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Ursal, D."]
[Black "Sykes, N."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E67"]
[Annotator "Nick Sykes"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Halifax 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]

1. d4 {Well I had a tough task, Darwin has been the Division 1 leading scorer
for the last two years, and that was playing Board 1 & 2. Now he is playing
board 3. Even so I am always confident I can get a result playing Darwin.} Nf6
2. c4 g6 (2... e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Nbd2 Qe7 {was played in the same fixture last
year were I equalised easily but blundered in time trouble later on.}) 3. Nc3
Bg7 4. Nf3 {Well I had prepared for the Saemisch which involves White playing
f3.} O-O 5. g3 {The Fianchetto Variation, one of White best set ups against
the King's Indian} d6 6. Bg2 Nbd7 {This is the first major repertiore decision
Black has to make when facing the Fianchetto Variation. This is the Classical
variation} (6... Nc6 {the Panno variation, is the other major variation in the
fianchetto system. I seriously considered playing this, however I considered
the Classical more solid and a tougher nut to crack.}) 7. O-O e5 8. dxe5 {This
is a rare sideline and shouldn't really present Black with any problems.} (8.
e4 c6 9. h3 Qb6 {is the main tabiya for the Classical Fianchetto variation})
8... dxe5 9. Qc2 {this is a logical follow up to White's last move paving the
way for the rook to come to d1} c6 10. Rd1 Qc7 (10... Qe7 {is the main line.
However I had not prepped for this and have not really looked seriously at any
concrete lines in this variation, and was 'on my own' after move 8!}) 11. b3
Re8 12. Ng5 {This position is similar to a main line but with the Black queen
on e7} Nc5 (12... Nf8 {is also possible}) 13. b4 Ne6 14. Nxe6 Bxe6 {Black is
fully developed and has equalised. However against Darwin that counts for
nothing!} 15. c5 Rad8 16. Bg5 Rxd1+ (16... h6 {is possibly more accurate}) 17.
Rxd1 Bf5 $6 {What an utter waste of time. Driving White's queen to a better
square. Whilst not a blunder and inaccuracy like this is not going to do the
job against a strong player like Darwin} (17... h6 18. Bxf6 Bxf6 19. Ne4 Be7 {
was mentioned by both players as being far better for Black. HIARCS agrees and
asesses the position as dead level}) 18. Qd2 Nd7 19. Ne4 Be6 (19... Bxe4 20.
Qxd7 Qxd7 21. Rxd7 Bxg2 22. Kxg2 f6 23. Bc1 Rb8 {was dismissed by both players
after the game as Black is very passive.}) 20. Nd6 Rf8 21. Be7 Ra8 22. Ne4 a5
$2 (22... f6 {Frustratingly I had considered this, but for reasons I cannot
recall I dismissed it! After this the position is only marginally better for
White}) 23. Ng5 {Yeah now White is much better, I had lost concentration and
overlooked this obvious move!} Nf8 24. Bxf8 Rxf8 25. Nxe6 fxe6 26. a3 (26. bxa5
{is even better for White}) 26... axb4 27. axb4 Qf7 28. e3 Qf5 29. e4 Qf7 30.
Qa2 {White is simply going after Black's weak e6 pawn} h5 31. Rd6 Re8 $2 {The
final error, White's position is now winning} (31... Kh7 {and things are not
so clear for example} 32. Rxe6 Rd8 {is only a little bit better for White}) 32.
Bh3 Qf3 33. Bxe6+ Kh7 $2 (33... Kh8 34. Bf7 Rf8 35. Bxg6 h4 36. Bf5 {is still
winning for White}) 34. Bf7 g5 $4 {Too preoccupied with protecting my g6 pawn,
I forgot my rook was en-prise!!} 35. Bxe8 {Darwin played another good game. I
didn't really make a bad blunder until the end, but lots of small inaccuracies
mount up. As in my game with Darwin last year I failed to put him under any
real pressure. Maybe next time!!} 1-0

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2013.11.18"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Gornall, S."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B08"]
[Annotator "Dave Shapland"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2013.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2013.11.19"]
[WhiteTeam "Halifax 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]

1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. e4 Bg7 5. Be3 c6 6. Qd2 Qa5 7. Bd3 b5 8. h3
O-O 9. O-O Na6 {Plausible but pretty misguided. I can't believe I overlooked a
typical tactic from the Dragon in this position. Perhaps it's less surprising
that Scott missed it because he isn't usually a Dragon player but he could
have made a real mess of my structure after} 10. Bh6 (10. Nd5 $1 Qd8 {not of
course} (10... Qxd2 11. Nxe7+ Kh8 12. Bxd2 Bb7 13. e5) 11. Nxf6+ exf6 12. a4 b4
13. a5 {and White holds a significant positional advantage here}) 10... b4 11.
Bxg7 Kxg7 12. Ne2 c5 13. a3 Qb6 14. e5 Nd5 15. c4 bxc3 16. bxc3 cxd4 17. cxd4
Be6 18. Rab1 Qc6 19. Qa5 Nac7 20. Rfc1 Qd7 21. Rb7 {It's safe to say that this
opening has not gone well for me. I suspect that I was too impatient with 10...
b4 before I've finished my development. Anyway, I felt I was in big big
trouble here and so I resorted to desperate measures.} Bxh3 $6 {The only value
of this move was that Scott was totally taken by surprise and there is more to
it than meets the eye. I felt that 'normal' continuations would have been bad.
For example} (21... Rfc8 22. Be4 {White's threatening to take twice on d5 so}
Qd8 23. Ng5 Rab8 24. Rxa7 {and although White still has much to do his passed
a-pawn is a huge weapon in any end game}) 22. Qxd5 {In a complicated position
Scott choses the wrong path, best was} (22. Rcxc7 Nxc7 23. Rxc7 Qg4 24. Ne1
Rfc8 25. Rxe7 Qg5 26. Rb7 Be6 {and White is doing much better with two knights
for the rook and plenty of weaknesses to pick at. The other continutation that
I'd had to calculate involved White's acceptance of the sacrifice which I was
expecting Scott would play. I thought I would likely be losing after}) (22.
gxh3 Qxh3 23. Ng3 {and White will defend himself with 24.Bf1 when Black is
simply a piece for two pawns in arrears} h5 {Might be the best way forward but
Surely White is winning here with a few more accurate defensive moves.} (23...
Ne3 {looks clever but White can still play 24.Bf1 and Black must now exchange
on f1 when he'll probably lose his knight on c7 as well.})) 22... Qg4 {In my
desperation to hold the balance I miscalculated the variation that should have
garnered me a decent advantage} (22... Nxd5 {I spent quite a while on this
variation and for some reason thought that I ws going to lose my bishop as
well as well as a knight for the rook but of course that is faulty thinking as
after} 23. Rxd7 Bxd7 {the bishop has moved and Black is simply a pawn and the
exchange up.} 24. Be4 Be6 25. Rc6 Rfd8 26. Ra6 dxe5 27. Nxe5 Nc7 28. Ra4 Bb3
29. Ra5 Bd5 {Is still complicated but Black should be winning here.}) 23. Nh2 {
This is now the only move and Black is at least equal again after this.} Nxd5
24. Nxg4 Bxg4 25. Be4 {It was in this position that I got myself into a bit of
a mess. Having breathed a sigh of relief at having escaped from my previous
predicament I now spent too long trying to settle on the right plan and
calculate the best variation. I want to try and keep my extra pawn if possible
and also get one of White's active rooks off the board. In the end I played a
poor move as I realised that my time to get to move 36 was fast eroding.} Bc8
$6 {This was ill-advised. Naturally the engine finds the best route for both
players to follow and it maintains near equality.} (25... Be6 26. Bxd5 Bxd5 27.
Rxe7 dxe5 28. Rc5 Kf6 29. Rec7 Rfd8 {Ultimately White will regain his pawn as
his rooks are just too active not to win some material back in the very near
future.}) 26. Bxd5 {Bravely, and with notn a huge amount of time left himself,
Scott makes the principled decision to give up his rook for two pieces. This
gives him an edge in a dynamically balanced endgame, which in fairness was
what I'd been trying to acheive when I played my last move but I'd over
estimated my chances. White could have played a more drawish line by
continuing with} (26. Rb5 e6 27. Bxd5 exd5 28. Rxd5 dxe5 29. dxe5 {and this
looks pretty turgid.}) 26... Bxb7 27. Bxb7 Rab8 28. Rb1 $6 {By now we were
both playing in haste to reach move 36 so some inaccuracy is to be expected
perhaps. This however was the wrong square for the rook. More active and
better for White was} (28. Rc7 dxe5 29. dxe5 Rfd8 30. Rxe7 Kf8 31. Rc7 Re8 32.
f4 {when White retains a significant plus. Black is very passive.}) 28... dxe5
{Now I was able to arrange further simplification and take the oppportunity to
tie Scott's pieces up.} 29. dxe5 Rfd8 30. Nc3 Rd3 31. Be4 Rxb1+ 32. Nxb1 Rd1+
33. Kh2 Re1 34. f3 {The last few moves have all been pretty much forced and
now there were just a few more moves to make to reach the safe haven of the
time control. The problem White has is that his pieces are actually dominated
by that active Black rook. This was about as good a situation as I could have
hoped for after gambling on disrupting the material balance of the game.} f5 {
Fritz preferred} (34... Re2 35. Kg3 Rb2 36. f4 f6 37. exf6+ Kxf6 {but this
doesn't really lead to anything better for Black. this game should now be
drawn with best play, though niether player has shown much form in the 'best
play' department in this game!}) 35. exf6+ exf6 36. g4 Re2+ 37. Kg3 g5 {With
holding the draw in mind I decided to put all my pawns on dark squares. Of
course if I was playing for a win I should probably be doing the oposite to
restrict the White bishops chances of staying active as I'm also fixing
White's pawns on light squares which he can defend passively for ever and ever.
} 38. Nc3 Re3 39. Nb1 Rb3 40. Bc2 Rb2 41. Be4 h6 42. Bf5 Kf7 43. Nc3 Rb3 44.
Nb1 Ke7 45. Be4 Kd6 46. Nd2 Rc3 {Of course Scott's point is that I can't take
the a-pawn without allowing a knight fork on c4.} 47. Nb1 Rc1 48. Kf2 Kc5 49.
Ke3 a5 50. Kd2 Rh1 51. Ke3 Kc4 {I've suceeded in improving the position of my
king and continue to keep White's pieces under the cosh. However, it still
isn't enough I don't think.} 52. Nd2+ {I think it was about here that Scott
offered me a draw. At that point the game on board 1 was still going on and
Andy had just given back his pawn advantage on board 4 so I felt I had to play
on. Almost as soon as I had Matthew completed his victory on board 1 so I knew
I was only in need of a half point to secure the match result.} Kc3 53. Nb1+
Kb3 54. Kd2 Rh2+ {At this point I offered a draw back to Scott as we were both
down to a mintue left to complete the game and I wasn't going to jeopardise
blundering our winning match situation to a draw. If I had wanted to continue
then the way to play would have been something like} (54... h5 55. gxh5 Rxh5
56. Kd3 Rh1 57. Nd2+ Kxa3 58. Kc3 {Although, despite having won a second pawn,
Fritz assesses that Black is now better as now his king is boxed in on the
a-file. A draw still seems inevitable and I think that was probably a fair
result}) 1/2-1/2

