[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "London System"]
[Date "2014.03.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Parsons, M."]
[Black "Sykes, N."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A45"]
[Annotator "Nick Sykes"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 {Although Matthew has varied his White repertiore this season,
there was no way Matthew was going to play any other move! He certainley
wasn't going to risk 1.d4 2.c4 again. Also Matthew wouldn't risk 1.e4 with so
much at stake. So the London system was a no brainer really, not to hard to
predict.} g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. Nf3 O-O 5. Be2 d6 6. O-O Nbd7 7. h3 c5 8. c3 b6 9.
Nbd2 Bb7 10. a4 a6 11. Bh2 {All the main line of the Anti-King's Indian-London
System, played very quickly by Matthew. Not so much by myself as I had no idea
at the time this was the big main line} Re8 (11... Qc7 {is what Matthew said
he faces the most. However}) (11... Ra7 {[%emt 0:00:11] is the best move
accoridng to Avrukh in GM Rep}) 12. Re1 Nf8 {This plan was criticised by
Alastair Wright after the game, he might be right.} 13. Qb3 Ne6 14. Bf1 cxd4
15. exd4 Bd5 {I was a little afraid of White playing moves like Bc4 and Ng5}
16. Bc4 Bxc4 17. Nxc4 Nd7 18. Ncd2 Qc7 19. Rxe6 $1 {Matthew always looks to
create unbalance and this is a very strong move which gives him good play.}
fxe6 20. Qxe6+ Kh8 21. Ng5 h6 $1 {Better than} (21... Bf6 {suggested by
Alastair Wright after the game as the best move} 22. Nf7+ Kg7 23. Bf4 Nf8 24.
Qd5 {is really nice for White}) 22. Nge4 (22. Ngf3 {is maybe a little more
accurate}) 22... Nf6 23. Nxf6 (23. Qf7 Nxe4 24. Nxe4 Rf8 25. Qxg6 {gives White
2 pawns for the exchange and a better position}) 23... exf6 24. Qxd6 Qxd6 25.
Bxd6 b5 26. a5 Re6 27. Bf4 g5 28. Be3 f5 29. g3 Kg8 30. Nb3 Bf8 {After than
last 10 moves or so Black has eroded all white's advantage and has achieved a
level position} 31. Nc5 Bxc5 32. dxc5 Rd8 $1 33. Kf1 Kf7 34. Bd4 Rd5 (34... b4
$1 {and Black is doing well}) 35. b4 $10 Ke8 36. Ra2 Kd7 37. Rc2 Kc6 {Against
most other players I was pretty sure I wouldn't lose this position, but
Matthew was a desperate man, Darwin Ursal was winning and he had to win in
order win the tournament} 38. Kg2 Rd8 39. Kf3 {if anything HIARCS gives Black
a slight edge} Rd5 40. g4 f4 41. Rc1 Rd8 {I was happy enogh with my position
and was hoping Matthew was going to overpress and make errors.} 42. Rd1 Rd7 43.
h4 $1 {[%emt 0:00:30] This gives Matthew the best chance of complicating the
position and making me go wrong. I was aware that I had around 10 mins to make
all my remaining moves, where Matthew had about} Rd5 44. hxg5 hxg5 45. Rh1 Rd8
46. Rh5 Rg8 47. Rh7 Kd5 48. Rd7+ Kc6 49. Rf7 Rgg6 $2 (49... Kd5 $10 {and White
has nothing}) 50. Rf5 Kd7 51. Be5 Kc6 52. Ke4 Re8 $4 {Game Over} (52... Re7 {
prevents White next move and makes White work a bit harder}) 53. Rf7 Rge6 54.
Rc7# 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.03.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Velosa, C."]
[Black "Leonard, P."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C30"]
[WhiteElo "145"]
[BlackElo "158"]
[Annotator "Leonard,Pete"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. f4 {I think that Danny Crampton, or the luck of the draw, has it in for me:
having played Darwin Ursal and Matthew Parsons (eventual second-placed and
winner, respectively), I was now drawn to play the top-graded Mitchell Burke!
I spent half an hour waiting in vain for Mitchell to arrive and was unprepared
to be re-paired against Carlos. I don't know about him, but I played this game
on auto-pilot!} e5 2. fxe5 d6 3. Nf3 {"I don't play From's Gambit," Carlos
said, after the game. Surprising that he opens 1.f4, then!} dxe5 4. e4 Bc5 {I
already like my position; he's going to have trouble on the black squares.} 5.
d3 Nc6 6. Nc3 a6 {Not Fritz 14's preferred move. I don't know whether he was
intending 7.Na4, but I wanted to keep my bishop on its diagonal.} 7. Bd2 Nf6 {
Now I felt this was OK, as he'll have to waste a move, as I did with 6...a6,
if he wants to pin the knight.} 8. Bg5 Qd6 9. Bxf6 {Now I really own the black
squares. However, I was looking at 9...Ng4 with an eye on f2 or e3, and 9.h3
would further weaken the black squares in his position.} gxf6 {I preferred
this to} (9... Qxf6 {because of} 10. Nd5 {but Fritz gives simply} Qd6 11. Qd2
Be6 12. Nc3 (12. c4 $4 Bxd5 {wins a piece, due to the threat of 13... Bb4.})
12... Nd4 13. O-O-O O-O 14. Kb1 Bb4 15. a3 Ba5 $19) 10. a3 Bg4 {10.Be6,
preventing Nd5, was a little better.} 11. Be2 O-O-O 12. Qd2 {Intending 13.
O-O-O, which I wanted to prevent.} f5 13. Ng5 {Better was} (13. Nh4 Qf6 14. g3
Bxe2 15. Qxe2 Nd4 16. Qg2 f4 17. O-O-O $11) 13... Qg6 {I spent a lot of time,
not properly analysing} (13... Bxe2 14. Nxe2 (14. Nxf7 $2 {simply loses a
piece:} Qg6 15. Qxe2 (15. Nxd8 Qxg2 16. Qxe2 Qxh1+ 17. Qf1 Qxf1+ 18. Kxf1 Kxd8
$19) 15... Qxf7) 14... Qg6 {which isn't much good; Fritz prefers:} (14... Rhg8
15. Rf1 (15. Nxf7 Qg6 16. Nxd8 Bf2+ {Would I have seen this? I think not,
given my lack of focus.} 17. Kd1 (17. Kxf2 Qxg2+ {and mate in six, apparently.}
) 17... Qxg2 18. Rg1 Bxg1 19. Nxc6 bxc6 $19) 15... Rd7 16. Rxf5 f6 17. Nf3 Rxg2
18. Qh6 Bf2+ 19. Kd1 (19. Kd2 $2 Nd4 20. Nfxd4 exd4 21. Rxf2 Rxf2 $19) 19...
Rg6 $15) 15. exf5 Qxf5 $2 16. Rf1 {and White is better.}) 14. Nf3 {I was happy
with} (14. Bxg4 fxg4 {when his knight has no retreat:} 15. O-O-O h6 16. Nxf7
Qxf7 17. Rdf1 Qg7 $19 {I was more concerned about}) (14. exf5 Bxf5 15. g4 Bd7
16. O-O-O {though Black is still better.}) 14... f4 {Now he can't castle,
which was my objective. I didn't fancy capturing on e4, which seems a good
square for his knight, but Fritz actually prefers} (14... fxe4 15. Nxe4 Be7 {
when, of course, I can play f7-f5, driving the knight away and opening up the
centre.}) 15. Nd5 Be6 {Again, I spent more time examining 15...Rxd5; no point
till he's castled. This actually is Fritz's preferred move and does at least
win a pawn.} 16. Qc3 Qxg2 17. Rf1 Bxd5 $2 {As soon as I played this, I
realised that} (17... Rxd5 {was much better, as the rook guards the
black-squared bishop. Now} 18. exd5 Nd4 19. Qd2 (19. Nxd4 Bxd4 20. Qd2 (20.
Qxd4 exd4 21. dxe6 Re8 {and White can only save the bishop by losing his king.}
) 20... Bxd5 21. Bh5 Qh3 22. Qe2 Rg8 23. Bf3 Bxb2 24. Bxd5 Bxa1 25. Kd2 Bd4 26.
Bxf7 Rg7 27. Bd5 c6 28. Be4 Qh6 29. Kd1 Qd6 {and Black's control of the black
squares outweighs White's of the white.}) 19... Bxd5 20. Nxd4 Bxd4 {transposes.
}) 18. Qxc5 Be6 {We were both now very short of time; Carlos even worse than
me.} 19. Rg1 Qh3 20. O-O-O f6 21. Qf2 {I was more concerned by 21.Rg7,
invading my position.} Rhg8 22. Kb1 {Carlos offered a draw, but I did think I
should be able to win this.} Bg4 23. Rdf1 Rg6 {Better was} (23... Bxf3 24. Qxf3
(24. Rxg8 Rxg8 25. Bxf3 Nd4 26. Bh1 Rg4) (24. Bxf3 Nd4 25. Bd1 Kb8 26. Kc1 Rg6
27. Rxg6 hxg6 28. Rg1 g5 29. Bg4 Qh7 {and my knight is better than his bishop;
after due preparation, my pawns will advance.}) 24... Qxh2 25. Rh1 Qg2 26. Rxh7
Nd4 27. Qxg2 Rxg2 28. Bd1 b5 29. Rh6 Rd6 30. Rfh1 Kb7 $19) 24. Re1 {We had
both stopped recording and, I later realised, counting moves, so I can't
remember what he played here. The game then went something like} Qh5 25. Ref1
Rdg8 26. Rg2 {From more or less this position, I played} Nd4 $2 {and now it
really is a draw; I should have played:} (26... Bxf3 27. Rxg6 hxg6 28. Bxf3 Qh3
29. Rg1 Kb8 30. Bg4 Qh7 {If we'd been counting, we had now reached the time
control; I should have been able to get those pawns rolling, given the extra
15 minutes.}) 27. Nxd4 exd4 28. Bxg4+ Rxg4 29. Rxg4 Rxg4 {We agreed a draw;
how would we have known when the time control had been reached, apart from
other considerations? An unsatisfactory game in the end; I should have been
much more focussed.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.03.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Shapland, D."]
[Black "Leatherbarrow, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[Annotator "Shapland,David"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2014.03.11"]

1. e4 {Even though I was a few minutes late I took some time to consider what
my first move should be. The fact is that Andy was about the last person I'd
expected to play but the fact that both Pete Mulleady and John Allan were
missing had thrown us together. "At least", I thought "I have White". Then
came the quandry. I'd prepared extensively for Andy's Scandinavian last summer
for the Bridestones Holme Brew tournament but I couldn't remember much (if
any!) of that prep and hadn't had the chance to use it anyway as he had played
1...e5 and I ended up winning from a Philidor's Defence. Once I'd cleared my
head I decided that 1.d4, the only other opening move I'd ever seriously
consider playing, would be of no use to me as I hadn't the vaguest idea how to
meet any of the lines I can remember Andy playing. So, it had to be 1.e4 and
then have a serious think about what to do against his Scandinavian if he
played it.} d5 {In the same boat as I was, but probably having had a little
bit longer before the game started to consider how he'd proceed in the opening,
Andy made the best decision. Stick to what you know best when preparation
isn't possible. Afterall, Andy is very familair with the Scandinavian and has
a decent record with it. Why shouldn't he play it?} 2. exd5 Qxd5 {I was happy
enough to see this move. I hadn't given much thought to what I'd play against
2...Nf6} 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. Bc4 {I think this is the trendy move of the moment
although, according to my Chessbase app, the traditional 3.d4 is still by far
the most popular move here. I used to automatically play 4.d4 in this position
but I've become more aware of the plans involving White developing pieces
rapidly and reserving the right to delay the d-pawn advance until he can
decide whether or not it belongs on d3 or d4. I admit it though, I was making
this up as I went along. It's relevant to mention here too that I also spent a
few minutes considering 4.b4! But more of that later.} Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 {Andy
said afterwards that he'd picked the most active line where Black opts for
swift piece development. Indeed, Black does get his pieces into the game
quickly and oddly, both sides have opted not to stake a claim in the centre
with their remaining d and e pawns. This sets the tone for a game that turns
out to be all about the pieces! The game move is slightly more popular than 5..
.Bf5 according to the Chessbase app with 818 games as opposed to 528 games
where 5... Bf5 was played.} 6. h3 {6.d4 is also playable of course. There are
opportunities to transpose back to d4 lines at almost every point in the
opening here. I was reserving judgement still as to whether or not I'd play d4
or go for d3. For the moment I decided that I wanted to resolve the pin on my
king's knight so...} Bh5 7. g4 {This is fairly commital but I decided to go
for it. My intention at this point was to castle queen's side and possibly
advance my pawn to g5.} Bg6 8. Qe2 $5 {Offering a pawn sacrifice. We're now
down to just 13 games on my Chessbase app so I guess you could say we are
venturing into fairly obscure territory.} Nc6 {Again Andy choses the most
active line aiming to get his own pieces develop quickly too. Other moves that
would have been considered would be 8...c6 and 8...e6. Both of these are
thematic Scandinavian moves which aim to keep White's pieces at bay and
prepare for Black to complete his development. Of course there was also the
matter of the hanging c-pawn. Can Black afford to grab this?} (8... Bxc2 {
Fritz seems to think not and awards White a significant advantage after} 9. d3
Ba4 {and now the silicone mind recommends going after the Black queen with a
line like} 10. g5 $1 Nfd7 11. Bd2 {and her Royal Highness is beginning to look
very exposed.}) 9. Bb5 {After the game was over Alastair Wright asked me why I
hadn't played} (9. a3 {aiming to trap the queen with b4 and Na4. I did briefly
consider this move but when Alistair asked me about it afterwards I couldn't
remember why I had rejected the idea. Now I remember... Black can castle
anyway without any fear of having her maj trapped as} O-O-O 10. b4 $2 Nxb4 {
and the White a-pawn is unfortunately pinned. When I considered this variation
with 9.a3 I wasn't looking at trapping the queen only at preventing the Black
knight from getting to b4 from which outpost the c2 square looks very tasty. I
soon realised that a3 didn't stop this move at all and that the only way to
prevent the knight advancing to b4 was to pin it immediately. This train of
thought brought me to the game move which Andy told me afterwards is book.})
9... O-O-O {In fact the Chessbase app only has one game where this position
was reached so maybe Andy had his ideas mixed up. I wonder if usually White
has played 8.d3 instead of 8.Qe2 when Black castles long. It turns out to be
an important difference. All I know is that I was very happy to swap off the
bishop for knight and damage the pawn structure in front of the Black king.}
10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. b4 $5 {This idea was probably inspired by the earlier
thought I'd had right at the beginning of the game when I mentioned I had
considered playing the gambit line 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.b4!? I'd
watched as Richard Boylan beat Andy with that variation in the Huddersfield vs.
Hebden Bridge 'A' match last season. Someone afterwards said Nakamura's played
it a few times before. I'd say it was an interesting way to shake things up
but no more than that. In this position the move has extra bite because of
White's threat to open the b-file to get at the Black king. It probably should
be mentinoned that Fritz preferred another approach here with} (11. Ne5 Qb6 12.
a4 a6 13. Ra3 $1 {is a very unusual and interesting rook lift. Typical
computer move I suppose. This does look dangerous for Black but it's a very
quirky position.}) 11... Qb6 {Once again Andy declines to accept the pawn
offering. Once again he was almost certainly correct to do so. After} (11...
Qxb4 {Fritz gives a long forcing sequence} 12. Ne5 (12. Rb1 {This was the move
I had planned to play. It also seems to give White an edge. One possible line
might be} Qa5 13. Ne5 Be4 14. Nc4 Qc5 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Rb3 {Preparing Ba3.})
12... Rd4 13. Qa6+ Qb7 14. Qxb7+ Kxb7 15. Rb1+ Kc8 16. Nxc6 Be4 17. Nxe4 Rxe4+
18. Kd1 {and White stands a little better.}) 12. Ne5 e6 13. b5 $6 {I was
filled with the lust for battle by this stage of the game and thought this
move would keep Andy on the back foot. It turned out alright but it's not
sound.} cxb5 {This time Andy takes the pawn and even though White can win this
one back Black can now also grab the c2 pawn so it's a genuine pawn offer.
Once more he made the correct decision.} 14. Rb1 {This isn't sound. I had a
particular idea and was fortunate that Andy fell in with it. The best
continuation for White was} (14. Nxb5 {and now Black should continue with} Bxc2
$1 {Initiating an important threat ...Bd3!} 15. a4 a6 16. Nc3 Bg6 17. O-O {And
Black is a pawn up. It's very doubtful White has enough compensation for it.
Fritz certainly doesn't think so.}) 14... a6 {This is fine but even better was}
(14... b4 $1 {The best way to refute White's play. I suppose it's not the most
natural move considering the position of the Black King and Queen.} 15. Rb2 {
This is the kind of position computers love and humans are poor at. The game
is very concrete and rather obscure. Often the best move is not the natural
one. It makes for interesting but not necessarily high quality chess.} Nd7 16.
Nxg6 hxg6 17. a3 a5 {and White is really struggling to complete his
development. This factor now trumps the optical weakness of the Black king.})
15. Nxb5 $5 {Thus begins the phase of the game in which the White knights take
the starring role. First of all the queen's knight offers himself up to open
the b-file. This was the main idea behind my last two moves. If Black can take
the piece then the concept is unsound. I assumed that the computer would find
the correct path to defend but I felt I was going to get a strong attack if
Andy took the piece.} Bxc2 {Andy chooses to grab a pawn rather than the knight.
This is an understandable decision as taking the knight and opening the b-file
looks very scary indeed. However, Fritz of course finds that Black can have
his cake and eat it after} (15... axb5 16. Rxb5 Qd6 17. Ra5 {This was as far
as I'd analysed the sacrifice line and I felt I had good chances here. Just
look at some of the lines Black will have to navigate in order to secure his
booty.} Nd7 18. Ra8+ Nb8 19. Qb5 (19. Ba3 Qb6 20. O-O Bxa3 21. Rxa3 Nc6 {and
White's initiative is over}) 19... Qb6 20. Qa4 Kb7 21. Nc4 Qb4 22. Qa7+ Kc8 {
isn't enough for the piece but it still looks pretty frightening for Black.})
16. Rb2 Bd3 {This was Andy's idea. He's won a pawn and will now be able to
exchange off a piece to try and reduce the pressure on his king. Perhaps he
undersestimated the strength and influence my remaining knight will have or
thought that this was the only line he had for salvation. In any case it
appears that he could still have gone for} (16... axb5 {This doesn't win a
piece any more but after} 17. Rxc2 Rd4 18. d3 Bb4+ 19. Kf1 {Black has an edge
and is getting some momentum. White is a pawn down and doesn't have enough
compensation. In particular he'll have real problems getting his king's bishop
into the game.}) 17. Nxd3 axb5 18. Ne5 {The knight simply returns to e5 from
where it will be able to wreak havoc on an increasingly powerful set of
outposts. First and foremost it will create weaknesses in Black's centre and
open another line of attack on the Black king.} Rd5 {The only way to meet the
dual threat of 19.Rxb5 and19.Nxf7 forking the rooks.} 19. Nxf7 Rg8 {It was
also possible to interject an intermezzo in the form of} (19... Nd7 {Now 20.
Nxh8 is well met by Re5 so White must castle} 20. O-O Rg8 {But the question is
whether the knight is better placed on d7 than it was on f6. Who knows?}) 20.
O-O $1 {Finally, on move 20, time to castle. The point is that White can't
hope to put Black under any more pressure without completing his development.
The knight, queen and rook can't do all the work on their own.} g5 $2 {I
noticed Andy played this move in slightly exasperated fashion. Black's task is
certainly complicated and his game is rather less easy to play than White's.
There was a good deal of calculation for me to do but the plan seemed simple
enough - attack before Black has time to re-group! Looking back at the game
now I think that this move was an important mistake. Andy's right to try and
seek some counter play by opening up the king's side but perhaps he should
complete his development first with for example} (20... Bc5 $1 {A very nice
trick. White can't capture on b5 because of the response Bxf2+. We now get
another tricky and complex forcing line} 21. Rb3 {Preparing Ba3} Rf8 22. Ng5 $1
{Now it's White's turn to run the gauntlet. The knight is taboo because 22...
Rxg5 runs into 23.d4!} h5 23. Qxe6+ {and I suppose you could call the game
balanced though it's in chaos!}) 21. d4 $1 {Development seems to be all that
matters. I also considered playing d3 but then my queen's line of site to the
Black b-pawn is obscured and I didn't want to release either of the two
defenders Andy had tied to it's defence. On d4 this pawn is not as vulnerable
as it looks because the Black rook protects b5 and the queen protects e6 so
neither can move to capture on d4 without concession. Black's weak pawns are a
problem and they seem to lead to the king.} h5 {Consistent at least. Black is
taking a can opener to the king's side. Now the final phase of the game has
arrived with a foot race to see who can reach the enemy king first.} 22. Bd2 {
My idea was to try and over work the queen. e3 didn't feel like the right
square to develop the bishop to because I wanted to keep the e-file open for
my queen. Fritz suggests that this move, and the idea behind it, is a mistake.
However, once again, the refutation is pretty difficult to find and so from a
practical perspective at least, the game move has to be a reasonable selection.
} hxg4 23. Ba5 $1 Qa6 {Once again Andy declines my generous offer! He could
very well have accepted it but would probably have ended up at least giving
back the piece. We'll see why in a moment.} 24. Rc1 {More accurate would have
been the other rook move I considered} (24. Rc2 $1 {Pretty much compelling
Black to take the bishop as c7 is just too vulnerable.} Qxa5 25. Qxe6+ Kb8 $1
26. Qxf6 Qb6 27. Qxb6+ cxb6 28. Re1 {What a strange position! Black has two
sets of doubled pawns and White has four isolated pawns. Critically though
White's rooks are better positioned than Black's and that bishop on f8 still
hasn't moved. Nevertheless Fritz considers this position to be level.}) 24...
Qxa5 {Andy couldn't be expected to resist temptation for ever. Perhaps he felt
he had no alternative. Certainly with still 12 moves left before time control
both of us were down to a couple of minutes on the clock and the position was
still monstrously complicated. Perhaps Andy's best bet was to keep it that way
and hope I overstepped the time limit or blundered before getting to it.} 25.
Qxe6+ Rd7 {Probably no better now was} (25... Kb8 26. Qxf6 Ba3 27. Ne5 {
Threatening a deadly fork on c6.} Qb6 28. Qf7 {and all four rooks are under
attack!}) 26. Ne5 $5 {Electing not to take the piece back in favour of playing
for mate. Sound? Barely. Fun? Most definitely! I was proposing to land my
superhero knight on c6 from which outpost it completely dominates the position.
The natural (and easy move) would have been} (26. Qxf6 {winning back the
material. White still maintains a strong attack after this with} Ba3 27. Qe6
gxh3 28. Nd6+ $1 {There are pins and skewers everywhere.} Bxd6 29. Qxg8+ {
should be winning but it's still terribly complicated due to that passed
h-pawn of Black's}) 26... Rgg7 {Trying to untangle the thicket of king's side
pieces. I'd also spent some of my precious remaining minutes analyzing what I
considered to be the most direct effort to refute my idea} (26... Ba3 {This
move leads to incredible complications but the line is actually fairly forcing}
27. Nc6 Qb6 28. Rxb5 $1 {One of the key ideas behind landing the knight to c6.
The b-pawn can be taken and if Black recaptures there is a fork on a7. In this
line Black probably does best to give up the queen for as much material as he
can get his hands on.} Qxb5 29. Na7+ Kb7 30. Rxc7+ $1 {The rook is lost anyway
so White sets up one more forking formation on c7 and a3.} Rxc7 31. Nxb5 Rc1+
32. Kg2 {White will win back the knight or the bishop.} Rc6 33. Qf7+ Ka6 34.
Nxa3 {and it's all over bar the shouting. Black's king and pieces are too
exposed in this position and the White queen is all powerful. She has so many
targets to go for.}) 27. Nc6 Qa3 $2 {Time pressure was beginning to tell for
Andy as well by now and neither of us had sufficient time to calculate the
spiralling vortex of variations. I was instinctively most concerned about} (
27... Rge7 {which is the computer's recommendation as it happens and might
just save the day. Now White is compelled to restore material parity and we go
off on another odyssian forcing line which I should emphasise I did not
analyse during the game. This one is all Fritz.} 28. Qxf6 Re1+ 29. Kg2 $1 {
White can afford to step away. Remember the Black queen is enprise! Now so is
the White rook on c1.} gxh3+ $1 30. Kxh3 Qa3+ {Black scrambles to get all his
pieces to safe squares and keep the White king on the ropes.} 31. Rb3 Rh7+ 32.
Kg2 Rh2+ $1 {That queen was enprise again and so too the Black rook on e1.
Black manages to deflect the White king to another square where it can be
checked by his queen. Beautiful!} 33. Kxh2 Qd6+ {The point. Phew! Black gets
the queens off the board.} 34. Qxd6 Bxd6+ {and with this check he wins back
his missing rook.} 35. Kg2 Rxc1 {Now Black is going to be "just" a pawn down.}
36. Na7+ Kd7 37. Nxb5 {A very pretty line full of twists and turns. The likely
outcome after all of that? Probably a draw. Well, it would have been a fitting
result if both players had found all those moves!}) 28. Rcb1 {Simple and very
strong. The mating threats on the b-file now are irresistable Black's extra
piece is irrelevant.} b4 {What else was there?} 29. Nxb4 {Perhaps it's worth
documenting the journey taken by this workaholic knight during the course of
the last 29 moves. Nf3-e5-d3-e5-f7-e5-c6-b4 and he's heading back to c6 again
if he doesn't get captured.} gxh3 {A last throw of the dice to try and cause
confusion. I'm glad Andy took the aesthete's path and didn't take the knight
as it would have robbed it of seeing out the game and taking it's
well-deserved standing ovation. Grabbing the knight doesn't change the outcome
in any case.} (29... Bxb4 30. Rxb4 Qxb4 31. Rxb4 {and even I could have made 5
sensible moves to get to time-control with a winning advantage from this
position.}) 30. Nc6 {He's back! Having made almost one third of all the White
moves so far in the game.} h2+ 31. Kxh2 Bd6+ {Let's just be clear that none of
the multiple checks Black has at his disposal are of any salvation to him. I
think the eager kibbitzers tried all of them afterwards! Here we go then, one
at a time} (31... Qd6+ 32. Kg1 $1 {White can give up the queen and it's still
mate on b8.}) (31... Rh7+ 32. Kg1 Rh1+ 33. Kxh1 {and h3 is covered by the
White queen.}) (31... Ng4+ 32. Kg1 {and once more the g1 square is the White
king's refuge.}) 32. Kg2 {Just to be different. Kg1 also works. It's forced
mate now and so Andy resigned. This was a real monster of a game with neither
player backing down from the melee. I guess that games like this are the
reason I both love and play chess. The year or so one has between contests of
this nature are just practice :)} 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.03.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Webster, T."]
[Black "Brown, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D06"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2014.03.12"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 Bf5 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bf4 Bd6 6. Qa4+ c6 7. Bxd6 Qxd6 8.
c5 Qc7 9. e3 a6 10. Be2 O-O 11. Ne5 Nbd7 12. Bd3 Bxd3 13. Nxd3 b5 14. Qc2 Rab8
15. a3 a5 16. b4 a4 17. f4 Ng4 18. Qe2 Ngf6 19. O-O Rfe8 20. Ne5 Re7 21. Rf3
Ne4 22. Nxe4 dxe4 23. Rh3 Nf8 24. Rf1 f6 25. Ng4 Rf7 26. f5 Re7 27. Rg3 Kh8 28.
Rf4 h5 29. Rh3 g6 30. Nxf6 Nh7 31. fxg6 Nxf6 32. Rxf6 Kg7 33. Rf4 Rh8 34. Rxh5
Rxh5 35. Qxh5 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.03.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Kerrane, J."]
[Black "Leggett, D."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A15"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. c4 e6 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Bd6 4. Nc3 O-O 5. e4 Be5 6. Nf3 d6 7. d4 Nc6 8. dxe5
Nxe5 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. O-O b6 11. f4 Nd7 12. Be3 c5 13. Qe2 f6 14. Rad1 Qc7 15.
Nb5 Qb8 16. Nd6 Qc7 17. Bh3 f5 18. exf5 exf5 19. Bxf5 Qc6 20. Be4 Qc7 21. Bxa8
Rf6 22. Qd3 e4 23. Bxe4 Rh6 24. Nxc8 Qxc8 25. Qxd7 Qf8 26. Qd8 Re6 27. Qxf8+
Kxf8 28. Rd8+ Re8 29. Rfd1 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.03.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Dawson, A."]
[Black "Blinkhorn, J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A09"]
[Annotator "Adrian Dawson"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 d4 3. e3 c5 {Black could have chosen} (3... dxe3 4. fxe3 {and
White could castle king's side, opening the f-file for his rook}) 4. b4 {The
opening now turns into a reversed Benko Gambit} Qc7 $6 5. bxc5 Nc6 6. exd4 Nxd4
7. Bb2 Nxf3+ 8. Qxf3 Qxc5 9. Be2 Nf6 10. O-O e5 11. Ba3 $1 Qd4 12. Bxf8 Kxf8
13. Qc3 Qc5 14. Na3 Ne4 15. Qd3 Nd6 {Blocking the threat of Qd8 mate} 16. Bf3
e4 $4 17. Bxe4 Nxe4 18. Qd8# 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.03.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Barnett, M."]
[Black "Joyce, B."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A41"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. Nf3 Nc6 2. c4 e5 3. Nc3 d6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Nxd4 6. Qxd4 Qf6 7. Qe4+ Be7
8. Nd5 Qe5 9. Qxe5 dxe5 10. Nxc7+ Kd7 11. Nxa8 Bb4+ 12. Bd2 Bxd2+ 13. Kxd2 Nf6
14. Rd1 Kc6 15. g3 Ne4+ 16. Ke3 Bf5 17. Bg2 Rxa8 18. Bxe4+ Bxe4 19. Kxe4 f6 20.
Rd5 b6 21. Rhd1 Rc8 22. Rd6+ Kb7 23. Rd7+ Ka6 24. b3 Rg8 25. Rf7 h6 26. Rdd7
Rc8 27. Rxa7# 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.03.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Deravairere, R."]
[Black "Leatherbarrow, H."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C46"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Bc5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. a3 d6 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. d3 a6 7. Bc4 Nf6 8. Bg5
h6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. Nd5 Qd8 11. b4 Bg4 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 Nd4 14. Qd1 c6 15.
Ne3 b5 16. Ba2 Bb6 17. c3 Ne6 18. Bxe6 fxe6 19. Qg4 Bxe3 20. Qxe6+ Kf8 21. fxe3
c5 22. Rf1+ Qf6 23. Rxf6+ gxf6 24. Qxf6+ Kg8 25. Kd2 Kh7 26. Qxd6 Rhg8 27. g4
h5 28. Qd7+ Kh6 29. Qe6+ Rg6 30. Qf5 hxg4 31. hxg4 Rg5 32. Rh1+ Kg7 33. Qxg5+
Kf7 34. Rh7+ Ke6 35. Rh6+ Kd7 36. Qg7+ 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.03.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Dickinson, K."]
[Black "Dearden, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C70"]
[Annotator "Shapland,David"]
[PlyCount "39"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5 5. Bb3 Nf6 6. Ng5 h6 7. Nxf7 Qe7 8.
Nxh8 Nd8 9. Ng6 Qc5 10. Nxf8 Qxf8 11. O-O Nxe4 12. Qh5+ Nf7 13. Re1 Bb7 14. d3
Nf6 15. Rxe5+ Kd8 16. Qf5 Nxe5 17. Qxe5 Ng4 18. Qd4 c5 19. Qxg4 Rc8 20. Qh4+ {
The rest of the scoresheet is illegible but White somehow wen on to lose this
game!} 0-1

