[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.02.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Burke, M."]
[Black "Ursal, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Shapland,David"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 O-O 6. Be3 c5 7. Nge2 Nc6 8. Qd2
Nd7 9. d5 Na5 10. Nc1 a6 11. Bh6 Ne5 12. Bxg7 Kxg7 13. b3 f5 14. Nd3 Nxd3+ 15.
Bxd3 Bd7 16. O-O Rb8 17. Rfe1 fxe4 18. Rxe4 Rf7 19. Rh4 Kg8 20. Ne4 b5 21. Ng5
Rg7 22. Qf4 Qf8 23. Qd2 bxc4 24. Rf4 Qd8 25. bxc4 Rb4 26. Qe1 Nb7 27. h4 Qe8
28. h5 gxh5 29. Ne6 Bxe6 30. Qxe6+ Kh8 31. Qh6 Kg8 32. Re1 Rb6 33. Rf5 Nd8 34.
Rxh5 Nf7 35. Qe6 Rb7 36. Bf5 Kh8 37. Bg6 Kg8 38. Bd3 Kh8 39. Qh3 h6 40. Re6 Kg8
41. Bg6 Qa4 42. Bxf7+ Kxf7 43. Qf5+ Ke8 44. Rhxh6 Qd1+ 45. Kh2 Rg8 46. Re3 (46.
Reg6 $1 {This was the winning continuation that Darwin overlooked in
time-trouble. Surely he'd have found it if he'd had a bit longer to think.
THis move forces mate, for example} Rf8 (46... Kd8 {is the longest black can
survive for after} 47. Rxg8+ Kc7 48. Ra8 Kb6 49. Qc8 Qd2 50. Qd8+ Rc7 51. Rb8+
Ka5 52. Qxc7+ Ka4 53. Qc6+ Ka5 54. Rb5+ Ka4 55. Qxa6+ Qa5 56. Qxa5#) 47. Qc8+
Kf7 48. Rf6+ exf6 49. Qxb7+ Ke8 50. Rh7) 46... Qd2 47. Qc8+ Kf7 48. Qe6+ Kf8
49. Re2 Qg5 50. Qc8+ Kg7 51. Rh7+ Kxh7 52. Qxb7 Qh4+ 53. Kg1 Qd4+ 54. Kf1 Qd1+
55. Re1 1/2-1/2

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.02.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Gonzalez, A."]
[Black "Webster, T."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A06"]
[WhiteElo "134"]
[BlackElo "137"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. Nf3 Nc6 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2 d4 4. e4 e5 5. Bb5 Bd6 6. Na3 Be6 7. d3 Bb4+ 8. Nd2
Qg5 9. Rg1 Bg4 10. Qc1 Nge7 11. c3 Bc5 12. b4 Bb6 13. Ndc4 Qf6 14. Nxb6 cxb6
15. Nc4 O-O 16. Ba4 Rad8 17. b5 dxc3 18. Bxc3 Nd4 19. f3 Be6 20. Nb2 Qh4+ 21.
Kf1 Qxh2 22. Qe3 Ng6 23. Kf2 Bh3 24. Qg5 f6 25. Qg3 Qxg3+ 26. Kxg3 Ne2+ 27.
Kxh3 Ngf4+ 28. Kh2 Nxg1 29. Rxg1 Ne2 30. Bb4 Nxg1 31. Bb3+ Kh8 32. Kxg1 Rg8 33.
Bxg8 Kxg8 34. Kf2 Rc8 35. Nc4 g5 36. Ke3 Kg7 37. g3 h5 38. Be1 Rd8 39. a4 Kf7
40. Bb4 Ke6 41. a5 bxa5 42. Bxa5 b6 43. Bb4 Rh8 44. Kf2 Rd8 45. Ke3 f5 46.
exf5+ Kxf5 47. g4+ hxg4 48. fxg4+ Ke6 49. Bc3 Rd5 50. Ke4 Rxb5 51. Nxe5 Rb3 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.02.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Leatherbarrow, A."]
[Black "Dawson, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B25"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 d6 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. d3 g6 6. Nge2 Bg7 7. h3 a6 8. Be3
Rb8 9. O-O Bd7 10. Qd2 O-O 11. f4 Qc8 12. Kh2 b5 13. a3 b4 14. axb4 Nxb4 15. e5
Ne8 16. d4 cxd4 17. Bxd4 Bc6 18. Ne4 dxe5 19. fxe5 Qb7 20. N2c3 Nc7 21. Nc5 Qc8
22. N3e4 Rd8 23. Qf2 Bd5 24. c3 Nc6 25. Ng5 Nxe5 26. Bxd5 Nxd5 27. Bxe5 Bxe5
28. Qxf7+ 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.02.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Shapland, D."]
[Black "Kerrane, J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D45"]
[Annotator "Shapland,David"]
[PlyCount "41"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. d4 {When I was considering who I might face in round 4 I realised there was
a strong possibility it would be John. After brief reflection I realised that
I wasn't filled with joy by the prospect of facing his 3...c5 line against my
French Tarrasch Variation. That's not because I think there is anything wrong
with White's set up, it's just that I envisaged having to toil away for a
considerable period of time against a solid system with only a minimal
advantage. All well and good against a player with a similar or higher rating
to yourself but not what you necessarily want against a lower rated player who
you know is familiar with the system and capable of playing it to a level that
is higher than his grade. So, I wondered "What if I play 1.d4?"} d5 2. c4 e6 {
It wasn't hard to see from John's previous games that he'd probably aim for a
Queen's Gambit Declined and then go for the Cambridge Springs Variation. This
was when I realised that I could probably force him into a Semi-Slav instead
by playing} 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 {So now if White plays 5.Bg5 then we could
get a Cambridge Springs or a Botvinnik Semi-Slav if Black responds with 5...
dxc4. My idea was to push for a Meran Sytem now with} 5. e3 Nbd7 {And now we
have a Meran Variation. Now if White continues with 6.Bd3 (the mainline) I
thought John would go for 6...Bd6 which is not a line I am all that familiar
with but of course it's very playable for both sides. Instead of this I had
something more edgy in mind.} 6. Qc2 Bd6 7. g4 $5 {This move has become
associated with one of my chess heroes, Alexei Shirov. I was first introduced
to it many years ago when I purchased Peter Wells' seminal but now surely
out-dated book on the Semi-Slav and then later I became more familiar with it
when I got hold of the first part of Shirov's autobiography "Fire on board" in
which he annotates his game with Thorallasson, one of the stem games for the
variation. I must say that I'm not really at all familiar with the theory of
this line, it's advanced considerably since Shirov introduced it and I
understand Black has found good ways to meet it. However, I thought it highly
unlikely John would know much about it and I felt it would take the game into
territory I would be more comfortable with than John, i.e. tactical and
complex.} e5 $2 {This has to be considered a mistake but it must be said that,
if it is, it is an understandable one. What would you do if you were faced
with this aggressive thrust over the board for the first time and were coming
to the position cold? Somewhat surprisingly, my Chessbase database has 9 games
in it which continued with 7...e5. Instead of this Black has several choices
here that have been tried and tested and I've added some sample games below
which illustrate that this opening is a frequent visitor at the very top table
of the elite game.} (7... O-O $6 {This is certainly not the best choice in the
position but do bear in mind there was no theory at all on this line when this
game was played and White's seventh move must have come as a terrible shock.}
8. g5 Nh5 9. Bd2 f5 10. gxf6 Nhxf6 11. Ng5 Qe8 12. O-O-O h6 13. h4 Bb4 14. Bd3
Bxc3 15. Bxc3 hxg5 16. hxg5 Ne4 17. Bxe4 dxe4 18. Qxe4 Rf5 19. Qh4 Qg6 20. Qh8+
Kf7 21. f4 Nf8 22. Qh4 Ke8 23. e4 Rf7 24. Rhe1 Kd8 25. d5 cxd5 26. cxd5 Bd7 27.
f5 exf5 28. e5 f4 29. e6 Ba4 30. Rd2 Rf5 31. Qf2 f3 32. Re4 Rxg5 33. Rxa4 Rg1+
34. Rd1 Rg2 35. Qh4+ Ke8 36. Re4 Rc8 37. d6 Rd8 38. Qe7# {was the game of my
inspiration Shirov - Thorhallsson, Reykjavik 1992}) (7... dxc4 8. Bxc4 Nd5 9.
Ne4 Be7 10. Bd2 b6 11. Ng3 O-O 12. e4 Nb4 13. Qb3 c5 14. Bxb4 cxb4 15. O-O a6
16. Qe3 b5 17. Bd3 {was played in Aronian - Kramnik, Yerevan 2007 and White
went on to win that game.}) (7... Nxg4 8. Rg1 Qf6 9. Rxg4 Qxf3 10. Rxg7 Nf6 11.
h3 Qf5 {it seems that Anand had not yet learnt young Magnus' predisposition
for the endgame. Observe how the structural weaknesses suddenly appear in
Black's position} 12. Qxf5 exf5 13. cxd5 cxd5 14. Nb5 Bb4+ 15. Bd2 Bxd2+ 16.
Kxd2 Ke7 17. Bd3 Be6 {was Carlsen - Anand, Linares 2009. This turned out to be
one of the wins Carlsen would inflict on the then World Champion prior to
their title clash last year.}) (7... h6 8. h3 dxc4 9. e4 e5 10. Bxc4 exd4 11.
Nxd4 Ne5 12. Be2 Ng6 13. Be3 Bf4 14. Bxf4 Nxf4 15. O-O-O Qa5 16. Qd2 g5 17. h4
Bxg4 18. Bxg4 Nxg4 19. Nxc6 $1 {Very nice! This neat tactic seals it. White
went on to win.} bxc6 20. Qd7+ Kf8 21. Qxg4 {happened in Morozevich - Gelfand,
2008 Russian Championship}) (7... Bb4 8. Bd2 Qe7 9. Bd3 Bxc3 10. Bxc3 dxc4 11.
Bxc4 b5 12. Bd3 Bb7 13. e4 a6 14. b4 Nb6 15. Rg1 Nfd7 16. Bd2 O-O-O 17. a4 {
It's interesting to see how quickly Black gets into trouble on the queen's
side. Karjakin must have overlooked or underestimated Radjabov's next move}
Nxa4 18. Rxa4 {a very strong exchange sacrifice because} bxa4 19. Bxa6 {White
also wins this pawn as the bishop is taboo.} Nb8 20. Bd3 {and White went on to
win in Radjabov - Karjakin, Benidorm, 2003}) 8. g5 {Logical and consistent.
White follows up with the threat that he played his seventh move to initiate.
Black's development is going to become rather difficult to complete after this.
} Nh5 {Once I'd figured out that} (8... exd4 $2 9. gxf6 dxc3 10. fxg7 Rg8 11.
Rg1 {was good for me I realised that the g5 advance was the way to meet e5.})
9. dxe5 {This was the move I had decided upon when I was analysing the
position at the board after John played 7...e5. It felt quite good and also
appeared to be forcing so I saw no reason to consider anything else really.} (
9. cxd5 $1 {I must admit that I didn't really give this move much
consideration although it turns out to be the best and was played in both the
database games that got this far.} cxd5 {Opening the centre is much more to
White's advantage than it is to Black's. For example} (9... exd4 10. Qe4+ Qe7
11. Nxd4 {is also very strong for White}) 10. Nxd5 Qa5+ 11. Nc3 exd4 12. Qe4+
Kd8 13. Qxd4 {and White is winning comfortably.}) 9... Nxe5 10. Nxe5 Bxe5 11.
f4 {In fact Fritz only thinks White has a very modest advantage following this
little forcing sequence.} Bxc3+ {Black can hardly avoid this exchange because
after} (11... Bc7 12. cxd5 cxd5 13. Be2 g6 14. O-O {White's advantage is
significant and Black's position very vulnerable.}) 12. Qxc3 Rg8 $2 {This
seemingly natural and innocuous looking move is infact a mistake. Instead John
could have maintained the balance with} (12... h6 13. Qe5+ Qe7 14. cxd5 cxd5
15. Bb5+ Kf8 16. Qxe7+ Kxe7 17. O-O {and White's advantage is restricted but
still apparent.}) 13. Be2 g6 14. Bd2 {Fritz doesn't rate this move. Naturally
I wanted to complete development and get my pieces to their optimum squares as
quickly as possible. My queen's bishop would like to land on e5 and then I'd
like my king's bishop on either d3 or f3. From these outposts they'll dominate
the position. Instead Fritz preferred methods of simplification} (14. Qe5+ {I
did consider this move but wasn't sure I liked the continuation} Qe7 15. cxd5 {
I didn't give this move serious consideration at all but Fritz likes it} (15.
Qxe7+ Kxe7 16. Bd2) 15... Qxe5 16. fxe5 cxd5 {To human eyes White seems to
have needlessly allowed a weakening of his pawn structure but I guess the
computer sees the potential of the two bishops here. I'm still not conviced...}
17. Bd2 Bd7 18. Rc1 Bc6 19. O-O) 14... Ng7 {This is the nature of John's
disadvantage. He has to take two tempi to get his knight back into the game on
f5. I can mkae good use of these to build an attack.} 15. O-O-O Be6 16. Qb3 {
Following an old principle that if you have a development advantage you sould
create threats to try and compromise your opponents position to the fullest
extent. Force him to create weaknesses. Of course there were lots of othe
candidtae moves. White could put his king on b1 and then get his rooks onto
the c and d or d and e files. He could go for Bf3 and Rhe1 followed by
breaking with e4. My idea was simply to clear the c3 square for my bishop in
order to get it to e5 as quickly as possible.} Qc7 17. Bc3 O-O-O {As I'd
expected. The Black king is vulnerable oin the centre, but it isn't completely
safe here either.} (17... Qb6 {Fritz would like to exploit the temporary
weakness on e3 which is why it advocates this second successive queen move.
Such expediency would be hard for a human to take seriously but it is
tactically justified after} 18. Bd4 Qxb3 19. axb3 Nf5 20. Kc2 Nxd4+ 21. Rxd4 {
and White's advantage is gone}) 18. Be5 Qb6 {This time, because the queen
protects e3 she can step away from the invitation to exchange with her
counterpart.} 19. Qa3 {Introducing several oblique threats. Immediately Black
has to worry about Bd4 and the attack on a7. I also fancied Rd3-Rb3 or Rhd1 at
some point.} c5 {After the game I told John that I thought this was the
decisive mistake and that instead he should have defended the d4 square with
19...Nf5. However, there is a problem with that idea. Can you see it? Based on
the tactic below c5 is actually a playable option for Black although 19...a5
was the best move according to Fritz} (19... Nf5 {After this the Black queen
gets trapped with} 20. c5 $1 {A most unexpected turn of events! I like to
think I'd have spotted this if John had played Nf5 but who knows.}) 20. Rd3 $1
{Best. The threat of 21.Rb3 is very strong.} Nf5 {This loses but already there
was very little Black could do to stay alive. If} (20... dxc4 {then} 21. Rxd8+
Kxd8 22. Rd1+ Ke7 {Not} (22... Kc8 23. Rd6 $3 {is terminal}) 23. Bf6+ Kf8 24.
Rd8+ Ne8 25. Bf3 {is clearly execerable}) (20... a5 {Probably the 'best' of a
bad bunch of options. It's horribly weakening} 21. Rhd1 Qb4 22. cxd5 Qxa3 23.
bxa3 Bf5 24. Rc3 b6 25. Ba6+ {White's rooks and bishops are beautifully
coordinated here and the passed d-pawn a game winner.}) 21. Rb3 {After a
decent think John decided to resign here. This might seem premature but the
prognosis for Black is pretty grim.} (21. Rb3 {Neither of the two queen moves
look much fun for Black after} Qa6 (21... Qc6 {is no better} 22. Qxa7 dxc4 23.
Qa8+ Kd7 24. Rd1+ Bd5 25. Rxd5+ $1 Qxd5 26. Qxb7+ Qxb7 27. Rxb7+ Kc8 28. Rc7+
Kb8 29. Rxf7+ {and White has more than enough for the exchange}) 22. Qxc5+ Qc6
23. Qxa7 dxc4 24. Bf3 $3 {is a nice idea} Qxf3 25. Qa8+ Kd7 26. Rxb7+ Ke8 27.
Re7+ $1 {This is the point of 24.Bf3} Kxe7 28. Qxf3) 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.02.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Bamford, N."]
[Black "Barnett, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B08"]
[Annotator "Shapland,David"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2014.02.12"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 g6 3. Nf3 Bg7 4. Bc4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nxe4 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Nxe4 Rf8
8. c3 Kg8 9. Qb3+ Kh8 10. h4 d5 11. Ng3 e6 12. h5 Qe8 13. hxg6 Qxg6 14. Be3 Nc6
15. Nh4 Qf7 16. Qc2 Kg8 17. O-O-O e5 18. Nf3 e4 19. Ng5 Qg6 20. Nxh7 Rf7 21.
Ng5 Rf8 22. f3 {The rest of the score sheet was illegible but White went on to
win having done much of the hard work by this stage already.} 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.02.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Sutcliffe, R."]
[Black "Allan, J."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D00"]
[Annotator "Shapland,David"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bf5 5. f3 Nbd7 6. Bc4 e3 7. Nge2 e6 8.
Ng3 Bg6 9. O-O Be7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Bxe3 Nb6 12. Bb3 Nbd5 13. Nxd5 Nxd5 14. Bf2
a5 15. c4 Nb4 16. Ne4 c5 17. a3 Na6 18. dxc5 Bxe4 19. fxe4 Nxc5 20. Qf3 Qc7 21.
Bc2 a4 22. Qc3 Rfd8 23. e5 Nd7 24. Rad1 Ra5 25. Kh1 Nxe5 26. Qg3 Qxc4 (26...
Qxc4 27. Rxd8+ Bxd8 28. b4 axb3 29. Bxb3 Qc7 30. a4 Nc6 31. Qxc7 Bxc7 {leaves
White comfortably in control despite a two pawn deficit.}) 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.02.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Milton, D."]
[Black "Joyce, B."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A82"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. d4 f5 2. e4 fxe4 3. Nc3 d5 4. Qh5+ g6 5. Qxd5 Nf6 6. Qxd8+ Kxd8 7. Be3 c6 8.
O-O-O Bf5 9. Nge2 Nbd7 10. Ng3 Nd5 11. Ncxe4 Nxe3 12. fxe3 Be6 13. Ng5 Bxa2 14.
b3 Ke8 15. Kb2 Bxb3 16. cxb3 Nf6 17. Ne6 Rc8 18. Nxf8 Rxf8 19. Be2 Nd5 20. Bg4
Rf2+ 21. Kc1 Rd8 22. Rd2 Rf6 23. Re1 b5 24. Bf3 Nb4 25. Ne4 Re6 26. Nc5 Rf6 27.
Kb2 a5 28. Rc1 Nd5 29. Bxd5 cxd5 30. Rcc2 Ra8 31. Rf2 Rb6 32. Rf1 a4 33. b4
Rbb8 34. Rcf2 a3+ 35. Ka2 Kd8 36. Rf8+ Kc7 37. Rxb8 Kxb8 38. Rf8+ Ka7 39. Rxa8+
Kxa8 40. Kxa3 Ka7 41. Kb3 Kb6 42. Kc3 Kc6 43. Kd3 Kd6 44. Ke2 e5 45. dxe5+ Kxe5
46. Kd3 Kf5 47. Kd4 h5 48. Kxd5 Kg4 49. e4 h4 50. e5 h3 51. gxh3+ Kxh3 52. e6
1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "King's Indian Defence"]
[Date "2014.02.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Leatherbarrow, H."]
[Black "Dickinson, K."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C55"]
[PlyCount "153"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2014.03.07"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 d6 5. Nc3 Bg4 6. Bg5 Nd4 7. h3 Be6 8. Be3
d5 9. Nxd4 exd4 10. Bxd4 dxc4 11. dxc4 Bxc4 12. e5 Nd7 13. b3 Be6 14. O-O c5
15. Nb5 cxd4 16. Nd6+ Bxd6 17. exd6 Nf6 18. Qxd4 O-O 19. a4 Nd5 20. Qc5 b6 21.
Qc6 Rc8 22. Qb7 Ra8 23. d7 Bxd7 24. Qxd5 Re8 25. Rad1 Re2 26. Qd3 Re7 27. Rfe1
h6 28. Re3 a5 29. Rde1 Re6 30. R1e2 Qe8 31. Qd4 Rc8 32. c4 Bc6 33. Qxb6 Ra8 34.
c5 Qd7 35. b4 Qd1+ 36. Re1 Qxa4 37. bxa5 Rxa5 38. Qb8+ Kh7 39. Qb1+ Kg8 40.
Qb8+ Be8 41. Re5 Raa6 42. Rxe6 fxe6 43. Rc1 Qd7 44. Qe5 Qd2 45. Qe3 Qb2 46. Re1
Bf7 47. Qe4 Ra1 48. c6 Qc3 49. Rxa1 Qxa1+ 50. Kh2 Qc3 51. Qf3 Qc4 52. c7 Qxc7+
53. g3 Qa7 54. Qc6 Qxf2+ 55. Kh1 Qa7 56. Qc8+ Kh7 57. Qc2+ g6 58. Qe4 Qb6 59.
Kh2 Be8 60. Qf4 Qb2+ 61. Kg1 Qb1+ 62. Kh2 Qb2+ 63. Kg1 e5 64. Qf6 h5 65. Qe7+
Kh6 66. Qxe8 Qa1+ 67. Kf2 Qd4+ 68. Kf3 Qc3+ 69. Kf2 Qd4+ 70. Kf3 Qd5+ 71. Ke3
Qd4+ 72. Kf3 Qd5+ 73. Ke3 Qd4+ 74. Kf3 Qd5+ 75. Kf2 e4 76. Qf8+ Kg5 77. Qf4#
1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.02.10"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Leonard, P."]
[Black "Parsons, M."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B26"]
[WhiteElo "159"]
[BlackElo "175"]
[Annotator "Leonard,Pete"]
[PlyCount "138"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. d3 d6 6. Be3 Rb8 {The sages had
told me I'd have White, against either Mitchell or Matthew. I'd revised some
of the Closed Sicilian; unfortunately not this line!} 7. Qd2 b5 8. a3 $6 {
Already an inferior move. Black is in a headlong rush to attack on the queen's
side. I should "keep my powder dry"; this move leaves a hole on b3 that deters
a later c2-c3. Another time I'll know to try} (8. Nge2 {blocking neither f2-f4
nor Bh6,} Nd4 9. O-O {then both knights can "reculer pour mieux sauter" to d1
and c1. His knight is then safely driven off by c2-c3, without Nb3 forking
queen and rook, and White can start operations on the king's side. Of course,
Black isn't completely idle during all this time!}) 8... a5 {Interestingly,
Fritz 14 prefers either of 8...Qa5 or 8...Nf6.} 9. f4 Nd4 10. Nf3 {According
to Fritz, Matthew's play hasn't been the most accurate, either, and this is
now the better square for my king's knight.} e6 11. O-O {Missing} (11. e5 dxe5
12. fxe5 Ne7 (12... Nxf3+ 13. Bxf3 Bxe5 14. Bxc5 {and Black is in some
difficulty, e.g.} Ne7 15. Ba7 Bb7 16. Bxb8 Qxb8 (16... Bxf3 17. Bxe5 $18) 17.
O-O Nf5 18. Rae1 Bd4+ 19. Kh1 O-O 20. Nd1 $14 {Black has the two bishops,
though one is likely to be exchanged and the other driven back, and a pawn for
the exchange.}) 13. Ne4 {which looks much more active than the moves I chose.})
11... Ne7 12. Rae1 $6 {Not wanting to leave my queen's rook out of it after
Nd1.12.e5 is still Fritz's choice, though I was looking at 13.f5, followed by
14.Bh6. In order to avoid 14...Bxh6 15.Qxh6 Nxc2, I should have played 12.Rf2
instead; as it happens, this would also have placed the rook out of the line
of fire after ...Ba6.} O-O 13. Nd1 {Fritz still wants either 13.e5 or the rook
to return to b1.} f5 {Fritz prefers 13...Nxf3+, followed by 14... b4. I'm not
sure that I'd want to give up my well-placed knight, though this does open up
Black's bishop's long diagonal.} 14. c3 (14. Bxd4 cxd4 15. exf5 {would have
given Black a tricky choice of recaptures. 14...exf5 looks worst, leaving him
with doubled isolated pawns. Fritz prefers} gxf5 16. Ng5 Rf6 17. Qf2 Qb6 18.
Re2 h6 19. Nf3 Rf7 {I'm not sure I don't prefer Black here; White is rather
cramped, and attempts to break out could open up lines for Black's bishops.})
14... Nxf3+ 15. Bxf3 Ba6 16. Bf2 {Aiming to open up the king's file, but too
slow. I never considered} (16. b4 cxb4 (16... axb4 17. axb4 cxb4 18. Qa2 Bc8
19. cxb4 Qd7 20. Qb3 Nc6 {or}) 17. cxb4 axb4 18. axb4 Qd7 19. Nc3 {which are
both about equal and certainly don't leave White so cramped.}) 16... b4 {Fritz
prefers first} (16... fxe4 17. Bxe4 b4 {As this leaves him with a potentially
weak pawn on an open file, I'm not sure I can see why.}) 17. axb4 axb4 18. exf5
exf5 19. Re6 {Interesting; Fritz nows scores us on exactly 0.00, so Matthew
has let me back into the game, which opportunity I wasted over the next few
moves.} Bc8 20. Re2 Bb7 21. Bxb7 Rxb7 22. d4 bxc3 23. bxc3 c4 24. Qa2 d5 25.
Rfe1 Nc8 {Still 0.00, despite my bad bishop. Now I start to go wrong.} 26. Re6
(26. Qa6 Rb6 27. Qa5 {leaves me much more actively placed than in the game.})
26... Nd6 27. R1e2 (27. Qa6 {was better} Rd7 (27... Rb6 28. Qa5 Rb5 29. Qa6 $11
) 28. R1e2 Ne4 29. Be1 Qa8 30. Nf2 Ra7 31. Qc6 Qxc6 32. Rxc6 {when White's
position looks much more defensible.}) 27... Ne4 28. Rb2 Qb8 29. Be1 {I must
try} (29. Rxb7 Qxb7 30. Ra6 Qb3 31. Qe2 Re8 32. Ra2 Kf7 33. Qc2 {when again my
position is cramped but defensible.}) 29... Rxb2 30. Nxb2 Qb7 {Fritz gives} (
30... g5 {which does look nasty, e.g.} 31. Na4 {or} (31. fxg5 Nxg5 32. Re7 f4
33. Nd1 (33. Nxc4 dxc4 34. gxf4 Qxf4 35. Qxc4+ Kh8 36. Qe2 Nf3+ 37. Kh1 Nxe1 {
and} 38. Qxe1 {loses to} Qf3+ 39. Kg1 Rg8) 33... Qd6 34. Qa7 Nf3+ 35. Kh1 Qh6
36. Qa2 Bf6 37. Qg2 (37. Re2 Qh3 38. Rg2 Nxe1 {is even worse, if that were
possible.}) 37... Bxe7 38. Qxf3 Qe6 $19) 31... gxf4 32. Nb6 Qb7 33. Qa4 f3 $19)
31. Nd1 $2 {My last chance, had I but realised it, to save the rook, though
it's too late:} (31. Ra6 Rb8 32. Nd1 Qb1 33. Qa4 (33. Qe2 $2 Qc1 34. Ra5 Rb1 {
and White loses a piece.}) 33... Qd3 34. Ra8 Rf8 35. Qa1 g5 36. Nf2 Qe3 37.
fxg5 Nxg5 38. Kf1 Nf3 39. h4 f4 40. gxf4 h5 41. Rxf8+ Bxf8 42. Qd1 Be7 {and
White is hog-tied.}) 31... Ra8 32. Qc2 Kf7 {One of those pleasing "quiet
moves", particularly when made with the king. Interestingly,} (32... Ra1 {is
even better, as the rook cannot escape:} 33. Kf1 Kf7 34. Rxe4 fxe4 35. Qd2 Qb1
36. Nf2 Bf8 {and the bishop helps to finish White off.}) 33. Rxe4 {I could
have resigned here and saved a lot of fruitless effort.} fxe4 34. Ne3 Ra1 35.
Qe2 Qb1 36. Kf1 {"Better" was} (36. Ng2 Bxd4+ 37. cxd4 c3 38. Qg4 Qb7 39. Qe2
Qb4 40. h3 Qa4 41. Ne3 Rb1 {and it's pretty well all over.}) 36... Ke6 {
Missing (or was he just toying with me? He was winning anyway)} (36... Ra2 37.
Qd1 Qb2 38. Qg4 h5 39. Qd7+ Kg8 40. Qxd5+ Kh7 41. Qxc4 Qxh2 {and White must
give up the queen to avoid mate.}) 37. Qg4+ {I for my part didn't see that} (
37. Nc2 Ra8 (37... Ra2 38. Qg4+ Kd6 39. Qh4 {and now the queen must retreat to
avoid perpetual check:} Qxc2 40. Qd8+ Ke6 {or} (40... Kc6 41. Qc8+ Kb5 42. Qb7+
{and there's no way out, as 42...Ka4?? is mate in one!}) 41. Qc8+ Ke7 42. Qc7+
Ke8 43. Qc8+ Kf7 44. Qd7+ Kg8 45. Qxd5+ Kf8 {etc., as 45...Kh8?? is mate in
two.}) 38. Nb4 {holds him off for a bit. I was try ing to find some way of
checking him and didn't see that 37.Nc2 gave me the chance to buy a little
time.}) 37... Kd6 38. Ng2 {I've no time for 38.Qh4.} Qd3+ 39. Kf2 Ra2+ {Even
more devastating were} (39... Bxd4+ 40. cxd4 e3+ 41. Kg1 (41. Nxe3 Ra2+ {is
mate in eight, according to Fritz.}) 41... Qd2 {42.Qf3 is apparently mate in
25, 42.Kh1 in 28, whereas 42.Kf1 is mate in just 2 moves.} 42. h4 {This too is
apparently mate in 28, starting with} Rxe1+ 43. Nxe1 Qxe1+ 44. Kh2 Qf2+ 45. Kh3
e2 46. Qg5 e1=Q 47. Qd8+ Ke6 48. Qg8+ Ke7 49. Qxh7+ Kd6 50. Qxg6+ Qe6+ {I
can't be bothered with any more; it's now mate in 7! Alternatively,}) (39...
e3+ 40. Kg1 Rxe1+ 41. Nxe1 Qd2 42. Nf3 Qd1+ 43. Kg2 e2 44. h3 Qf1+ 45. Kh2 Qf2+
46. Kh1 {and now 46...Bf6 is mate in 10, 46...Kc7 mate in 11 and even 46...
Bxd4 is mate in 23!}) 40. Kg1 Qf3 (40... Bxd4+ 41. cxd4 Qxd4+ 42. Kf1 Qd3+ 43.
Kg1 Qc2 44. Qh3 c3 {followed by 45...Qb2 or 45...Qe2, according to White's
move, and then 46...c2.}) 41. Qxf3 exf3 42. Nh4 {Winning a pawn, hurrah!} Bf6 (
42... f2+ 43. Bxf2 Ra1+ 44. Kg2 Rc1 {and I haven't won a pawn after all.}) 43.
Nxf3 Ke6 44. g4 {I didn't feel I had a choice; surely I must keep his king out
of e4 and d3?} h5 {Fritz's preferred line is} (44... Rc2 {when} 45. Ng5+ Bxg5
46. fxg5 {is a nice way of excluding his king (which I hadn't noticed); the
trouble is that I can't move my bisho[ without losing my c pawn, Kh1 loses the
bishop and Kf1 the h pawn. I suppose I can park that on h4, but he simply
marches his king, on white squares, to b3, and then plays ...Rxc3, as he did
in the game.}) 45. h3 hxg4 46. hxg4 Rb2 47. Kf1 Rc2 48. Ng1 (48. Bd2 {would
have given my king a chance of escaping from the first rank:} Be7 49. Ke2 Kf7
50. Ne5+ Kg7 51. Kd1 Ra2 52. Nf3 Ra1+ 53. Ke2 {53.Kc2 leaves the king's side
vulnerable.} Rh1 54. Be1 Bd6 55. Ke3 Bc7 56. Bd2 Ra1 {and Black is struggling
to make progress.}) 48... Bd8 49. Ne2 Bc7 50. Bg3 {Maybe he'll miss 51.f5+!}
Kf7 51. Be1 Rb2 52. Bh4 Ba5 53. Be1 (53. Ke1 Rb1+ 54. Kd2 {and my king helps
out. Now if he tries the king's side:} Rh1 55. Bg3 Bd8 56. Bf2 Bh4 57. Be3 Rh2
58. Bg1 Rh3 59. Be3 Kf6 {and White must move the knight:} 60. Ng1 Rh2+ 61. Ne2
Rg2 62. Bg1 Rxg4 {Now the king can get in and Black will surely win.}) 53...
Rc2 54. Kf2 Bd8 55. Kf3 Ra2 56. f5 {Losing patience with being cooped up, but
actually this is Fritz's preferred move.} gxf5 57. gxf5 {Better was} (57. Nf4
fxg4+ 58. Kxg4 Ra5 59. Kf5 Bc7 60. Ne6 Bh2 {and I'm making him work harder for
his point.}) 57... Bg5 58. Nf4 Ra1 59. Bf2 {This is the last move I recorded,
having less than five minutes on my clock. After the game Matthew made an
interesting suggestion:} (59. Nxd5 {aiming to eliminate all Black's pawns.
Assuming that all White's pawns "go West" too, rook and bishop against knight
is a theoretical win, Matthew told me, though I'd've lost on time long before
this. Actually, I can't take that last pawn:} Rxe1 60. Nb6 Re3+ 61. Kg4 Rxc3
62. Kxg5 Rg3+ 63. Kf4 c3 {and I can't stop the pawn.}) 59... Bxf4 60. Kxf4 Rf1
61. Ke3 {I may have mis-remembered some of the remaining moves, but they were
pretty starightforward.} Kf6 62. Bh4+ Kxf5 63. Bd8 {I have a nasty feeling I
played 63.Be7; if so, we both missed 63...Re1+!} Rh1 64. Ba5 Rh3+ 65. Kd2 Ke4
66. Bb4 Rh2+ 67. Kc1 Kd3 68. Ba5 Rc2+ 69. Kb1 Rxc3 {I finally resigned, only
36 moves late. A rather spineless performance on my part. I struggled
valiantly in a losing position; wouldn't it be better not to get into losing
positions?} 0-1

