[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "Queen's Indian Defence"]
[Date "2015.05.22"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Buckell, N."]
[Black "Sykes, N."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E14"]
[Annotator "Nick Sykes"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. d4 e6 4. e3 {Ultra solid! More usual is} (4. g3 {when
Black has the option of} Ba6 {or} (4... Bb7)) (4. a3 {Again Black has to
choose between} Bb7 {and} (4... Ba6)) (4. Nc3 {Here Black can transpose into a
Nimzo-Indian with} Bb4 {or keep in Queen's Indian waters with} (4... Bb7)) 4...
Bb7 5. Bd3 d5 6. O-O Be7 {I should have played} (6... Bd6 {then one line goes}
7. Nc3 O-O 8. b3 Nbd7 9. Bb2 a6) 7. b3 O-O 8. Bb2 Nbd7 9. Nc3 c5 10. Qe2 cxd4 (
10... Rc8) 11. exd4 Re8 12. Rad1 Rc8 13. Ne5 Bd6 14. f4 dxc4 15. bxc4 (15. Bxc4
{is not as good}) 15... Qe7 16. Rc1 Nb8 {The knight is not going anywhere on
d7 so time to re-route} 17. Ne4 (17. Nb5 $1 Nc6 18. g4 {Gives White a
promising initative}) 17... Nxe4 18. Bxe4 Bxe4 19. Qxe4 Bxe5 $6 {better is} (
19... f5 20. Qf3 Bxe5 21. fxe5) 20. fxe5 Qb4 21. Qe2 Nc6 22. Qf2 Qe7 $6 {White
has a better position according to the computer, indeed Black seems to be a
bit passive} (22... Rf8 $14) 23. Rc3 Qd7 24. Rf3 (24. Rg3 {looks dangerous too!
}) 24... Nd8 25. Qe2 Qa4 26. Rc3 Re7 27. Ba3 Rec7 {White is pressing but Black
is defending reasonably well and White has only a small edge here} 28. c5 $2 {
Just a blunder!} (28. Qg4 $14 {And White may be a bit better due to his space
advantage}) 28... Qxd4+ 29. Re3 bxc5 30. Rd1 Qa4 31. Red3 Qe8 (31... Nb7 {is
better}) 32. Qd2 Nb7 {better is} (32... Nc6 33. Bxc5 Nxe5) 33. Rd7 $6 h6 34.
Qd3 c4 $1 35. Qd4 c3 (35... Rxd7 $1 36. Qxd7 Qxd7 37. Rxd7 Nc5 {wins}) 36. Rxc7
Rxc7 37. Bd6 Nxd6 38. exd6 Rd7 $2 {Much better is} (38... Rc6 $1 39. Qxa7 c2
40. Rc1 Qd8) 39. Qxc3 Qd8 40. Qd4 $2 (40. Qd2 {and Black is better for sure
but will have to work hard to win!}) 40... Qb6 41. Kf2 (41. Qxb6 axb6 {makes
life a little tougher for Black, but Black should still win in this position
easily enough}) 41... Qxd4+ (41... Rxd6 42. Qxb6 Rxb6 {was spotted by Matthew
Parsons, but what was played is good enough}) 42. Rxd4 e5 43. Rd2 f6 44. Ke3
Kf7 45. Ke4 Ke6 46. h4 f5+ {A win is a win, but not a great game, White had an
advantage most of the game until he finally blundered when overpressing} 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "Grunfeld Defence"]
[Date "2015.05.23"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Sykes, N."]
[Black "Connor, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D97"]
[Annotator "Nick Sykes"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. Nf3 {Avoiding Mick's Alekhine Defence} Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 {Here I had a
long think, back in the early noughties where I played 1.Nf3 most of the time
with White I rarely allowed the Grunfeld usually keeping the game in English
channels, however I couldn't remember any of the plans or ideas so I
reluctantly opted to take on Mick's Grunfeld!} 4. d4 (4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Qa4+ Bd7
6. Qh4 Nxc3 7. dxc3 {was the sort of thing I used to be ready for back in the
day. However with my move order my opponents always ended up transposing into
a King's Indian}) 4... Bg7 5. Qb3 {The Russian System, I do have a games
experience in this against my HB teammate Pete Leonard.} dxc4 6. Qxc4 O-O 7. e4
c6 {Mmm....this has been played before but I don't rate it very highly. I
thought Black's aim is to play either a quick ...c5 or ...Nc6 this move does
neither} (7... Na6 {This is the Prins Variation}) (7... a6 {The Hungarian
System}) (7... Bg4 {The Smyslov Variation... and the currently popular move...}
) (7... Nc6 {are all much more popular}) (7... Nbd7 {was played by Pete
Leonard against me last year, but I also think this move is not so great!} 8.
Be2 Nb6 {when I commented then that I thought the wrong knight was on b6!} 9.
Qb3 c6 10. O-O Be6 11. Qd1 {White went on to win in 40 moves}) 8. Be2 Bg4 {
Normally this move is designed to undermine d4 but this is where c6 makes no
sense! If he had a knight on c6 or could play for c5 then Bg4 would have more
of a purpose} 9. Be3 Nbd7 10. O-O e6 11. h3 Bxf3 {Giving me the bishop pair
for nothing IMHO} 12. Bxf3 a6 {This seems so slow to me in fact HIARCS gives
White a clear advantage already!} 13. Rfd1 Rc8 14. Qb3 b5 15. Rac1 Nb6 {I find
Black's play pretty uninsipred here. I am surprised as Mick is a very active
player and would have thought he would have had enough experience to have
honed his Grunfeld into a weapon with a bit more bite!} 16. Be2 {preventing Nc4
} a5 17. a3 {preventing ...b4} Nfd7 18. d5 $1 {The time has come! White has
all his pieces well co-ordinated and you could argue all White's pieces are on
their best squares. I don't think the same could be said for Black. My main
reason for playing this was that opening up the position would favour the two
bishops} exd5 19. exd5 a4 20. Qa2 cxd5 {worse for Black is} (20... Nxd5 21.
Nxd5 cxd5 22. Qxd5 Nf6 23. Qxb5) (20... Bxc3 $2 21. dxc6 $1 Bg7 22. Bxb5 Qh4
23. cxd7 Rxc1 24. Rxc1) 21. Nxb5 {Better is} (21. Nxd5 Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Nc4 23.
Bxc4 bxc4 24. Qxc4 $18) 21... Qe7 (21... Rxc1 22. Rxc1 Qh4 23. Rd1 {Still
gives White a much better game}) 22. Qb1 $6 Rxc1 23. Qxc1 Rc8 24. Qd2 {White's
play has not been quite so accurate the last few moves and White hasn't got as
big of an advantage as he should have had} Nc5 $6 25. Qa5 (25. Qb4 {is even
better}) 25... Nbd7 $2 (25... Ncd7 {is better} 26. Nd4 Qd6 27. Bb5 Ra8 28. Qc3
Ne5 29. Bf4 Qf8 {is a line given by the computer. I think White is having all
the fun here}) 26. Rxd5 Bxb2 27. Bg4 f5 28. Bd1 (28. Bf3 {is even stronger})
28... Qe4 $2 {However after} (28... f4 29. Bd2 Ne4 30. Bb4 Qf7 31. Nd6 Nxd6 32.
Rxd6 {White is still much better}) 29. Bf3 Qc2 30. Nd6 {Black is completely
busted now according to HIARCS} Bc3 31. Qa7 Qb1+ 32. Rd1 Qb8 33. Nxc8 Qxc8 34.
Rc1 {is good enough} (34. Bxc5 {even better is} Nxc5 35. Qe7) 34... Bb2 35.
Rxc5 Nxc5 36. Qxc5 {Black could easily resign now as his best move is to swap
queens, but this is a very simple win then for White with his extra bishop} Qd8
{now it's forced mate} 37. Bd5+ Kg7 38. Qa7+ Kf6 39. Qf7+ {Boo! If your not
going to resign after Bd5+ then at least allow me to mate you!!} 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "Sicilian Kan"]
[Date "2015.05.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Sykes, N."]
[Black "May, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B43"]
[Annotator "Nick Sykes"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. e4 {My opponent had already beaten my HB team mates Pete Leonard and Dave
Shapland in rounds 1 & 2, could he make it a hat-trick?} c5 2. Nf3 a6 3. Nc3 {
after the normal} (3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 $1 {Now White doesn't have
the option of Nb5 and also the Black bishop has the option of coming to b4.
This is why 3.d4 is not considered to as accurate, according to some sources})
3... e6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 {This is now a standard Sicilian Kan} b6 $5 (5... b5
{or}) (5... Qc7 {are more common}) 6. Bd3 Qc7 7. Be3 Nf6 8. f4 d6 9. Qf3 Bb7
10. Qg3 {White has a conventional attacking set up against Black's 'little
centre'} Nbd7 11. Nb3 d5 $5 12. exd5 (12. e5 {is also an option then} Ne4 13.
Bxe4 dxe4 14. O-O $16) 12... Nxd5 13. Nxd5 Bxd5 14. O-O (14. O-O-O {is also
okay for White}) 14... Nf6 15. Qe1 $6 (15. c4 Bxc4 16. Bxc4 Qxc4 17. f5 {
trying to take advantage of Black's lack of development} Be7 18. Rac1 Qg4 19.
Qc7 {looks a bit uncomfortable for Black}) 15... Bd6 {Black's bishops look
menacing!} 16. h3 {Preventing ...Ng4 and ...Bxh2 after f5} Nh5 17. Qh4 g6 18.
Qf2 b5 19. g4 {Very risky, but I was slightly concerned with tactics with Bh2+
and Ng3} Ng7 (19... g5 $5 {is also an option according to HIARCS} 20. fxg5 (20.
gxh5 $2 gxf4 21. Bxf4 Rg8+ {and White is probabaly lost!}) 20... Ng3 21. Bb6
Qe7 22. Bd4 Rf8 23. Rfe1 Qxg5 {HIARCS assesses this as a bit better for White
but the position looks complex}) 20. Bd4 $6 Rg8 $6 (20... O-O $15) 21. Rae1 h5
$1 22. Be5 (22. Bf6 {is possibly stronger} Nf5 23. Be4 (23. gxf5 {looks to
risky for White} gxf5+ 24. Bg5 Qe7 25. h4 f6 {and Black is much better})) 22...
hxg4 23. hxg4 f5 24. Qd4 $6 {The first of a couple of dodgy moves, but I think
regardless of what the computer says I think White's position is difficult to
play here} (24. Bxd6 Qxd6 25. Qc5 $10) 24... O-O-O $1 25. Bxd6 $6 (25. Qc3 {is
White's best accoridng to the computer when Black is better but no more}) 25...
Rxd6 26. Qe5 Rh8 (26... fxg4 $1 27. Bxg6 Rh8 28. Nd4 Qd8 $19) 27. Nd4 (27. g5 {
offer more resistance}) 27... Rh1+ 28. Kf2 Rh2+ 29. Kg3 $4 (29. Ke3 fxg4 30.
Bxg6 {and White is worse for sure but Black is not winning yet}) 29... Rg2+ 30.
Kh4 Qe7+ {I expected} (30... Qd8+ 31. g5 Qh8#) 31. g5 Rd8 32. Nxf5 gxf5 {An
interesting game and one well played by my opponent who did indeed make it a
hat-trick and eventaully won the tournament} 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "Sicilian Defence"]
[Date "2015.05.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Shapland, D."]
[Black "Sykes, N."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B20"]
[Annotator "Nick Sykes"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. e4 {Myself and Dave had been told we were to play each other the night
before, both of us on a score of 2/3. We both know each others game very, very
well having played together at the same club for around a decade. In this time
we have had many, many friendly games as well as half a dozen or so standard
games. In our standard games the player playing White has never lost, so the
omens looked good for Dave!     I expected this. I didn't think Dave would
risk playing anything else has he wouldn't necessarily know what he was getting
} c5 {Okay time to explain my opening choice. I am not so keen on playing 1...
e5 against Dave as he plays very forcing variations such as} (1... e5 2. Nf3
Nc6 3. Bc4 {in the Two Knights} Nf6 ({in the Giuoco Piano} 3... Bc5 4. c3 Nf6
5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Nxe4 8. O-O Bxc3 9. d5 Ne5) 4. d4 exd4 5. O-O
Nxe4 6. Re1 d5 7. Bxd5 Qxd5 8. Nc3 Qh5 9. Nxe4 Be6 {both of these sorts of
position Dave has far more experience with than I do and am not keen on
playing forcing variations that go down such a narrow path}) (1... e6 {Dave
said he was expecting the French. Indeed in our latest friendly games I have
prefered this move, when I have been happy to take on Dave's pet line} 2. d4 d5
3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ne2 cxd4 8. cxd4 f6 9. Nf4 Nxd4
10. Qh5+ Ke7 11. exf6+ Nxf6 12. Ng6+ hxg6 13. Qxh8 Kf7 {when Dave has played
both} 14. Qh4 {and} (14. O-O {against me. But again this is a very forcing
variation that goes doen a narrow path})) 2. a3 {I said to Dave after that I
saw this as a sign of respect for my opening play. The last outing we had when
I played Black I played a Classical Sicilian and obtained a far superior
position only to make a horrendous blunder and lose in the ending!} (2. Nf3 {
I was planning to take on Dave in the Dragon} Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3
{I was pretty sure Dave was not going to play 5.c4} Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O
8. Bb3 d6 {This takes play back into the Dragon and after the standard moves
that I was expecting Dave to play} (8... a5 {is the normal Acc Dragon route})
9. f3 Bd7 10. Qd2 (10. h4 {is better here then Black should really transpose
back into a Soltis with} h5 11. Qd2 Rc8 12. O-O-O Ne5 {etc}) 10... Nxd4 (10...
Rc8 11. O-O-O Ne5 {etc would be the more traditional way to play as Black, but
playing an early Bb3 gives Black this extra option}) 11. Bxd4 b5 12. h4 a5 13.
h5 a4 {Not a typical Dragon position Dave would have wanted and one that
scores well for Black on my database. It would have been interesting had this
position arisen at the board, but hey never mind I didn't actually do any real
prep on this. Good job as it would have been a waste of time!!}) 2... g6 {Now
all prep is out of the window and it is just going to be a game of chess!} 3.
h4 {Dave knows me well and knows I am strong in well rehersed opening
positions and figured he would play someting I would likely have not seen
before. Fair play Dave you were spot on!} Bg7 4. h5 {I felt really nervous
here I didn't have a clue what to do and figured Dave had a well rehershed plan
} d5 (4... Nc6 {maybe better}) 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Nc3 Qe5+ 7. Qe2 (7. Be2 Nc6 8.
Nf3 Qc7 $10) 7... Qxe2+ 8. Bxe2 Bf5 $6 {maybe not the best due to White's next
move} (8... Nc6 9. Nf3 Bg4 10. hxg6 hxg6 11. Rxh8 Bxh8 $10) 9. Nd5 {Time for
the king to go walkies} Kd8 (9... Kd7 {is suggested by HIARCS}) 10. Ne3 Be4 {
I wanted the bishop on the a8-h1 diagonal} (10... Bd7 {was suggested by Dave})
11. f3 Bc6 12. Bc4 {this is why Dave was delaying d3} e6 13. Ne2 b5 $5 {my
plan after this was to prevent White playing d4} 14. Ba2 c4 15. d3 cxd3 16.
cxd3 Nd7 17. Ng4 (17. Nf4 {was mentioned by Dave hitting e6} Ke7 {we looked at
possible sacrifices on e6 but Black was ok in all cases}) 17... gxh5 {this is
the right time for taking as White was threatening to play h6} 18. Rxh5 Ngf6
19. Nxf6 (19. Bg5 Kc7 20. Nxf6 Nxf6 {gives White less than nothing}) 19... Bxf6
(19... Nxf6 {is also possible, but I didn't feel it was quite as accurate}) 20.
Bg5 Ke7 (20... a6 {maybe the best move}) (20... Rg8 21. Bxf6+ Nxf6 22. Rc5 Bd5
23. Bxd5 Nxd5 24. g4 a6 {and White is a little better but no more}) 21. Nd4
Rac8 22. Rc1 ({I had also analysed} 22. Bxf6+ Nxf6 23. Nxc6+ Rxc6 24. Rxb5 {
now I figured that butting my rook on the 7th would be compensation for the
pawn, one lines which is good for Black goes} Rc2 25. Kf1 (25. Rb7+ {is better
than 25.Kf1} Nd7 26. d4 Rb8 27. Rxb8 Nxb8 28. d5 exd5 29. Bxd5 Rxg2 30. O-O-O {
when all 3 results are possible}) 25... Rg8 26. g4 h5 27. gxh5 Rgg2) 22... Bxg5
$1 23. Nxc6+ (23. Rxg5 $1 h6 24. Rh5 Kd6 25. Kd2 a6 26. Rch1 Rhg8 27. R1h2 {
and White is a bit better}) 23... Kf6 {my idea after Bxg5} 24. Rc2 (24. Rc3 {
is better when the rook is protected}) 24... Ne5 (24... Nb8 {and now Black is
a bit better} 25. Nd4 Rxc2 26. Nxc2 Kg6 27. g4 Nd7 28. Nd4 a6) 25. Rxg5 $1 {
the only move} Kxg5 26. f4+ Kxf4 27. Rf2+ Ke3 $2 {This is a mistake and should
have been punished} (27... Kg3 $1 28. Nxe5 Rc1+ 29. Kd2 Kxf2 30. Kxc1 Rc8+ 31.
Kb1 Rc7 {and Black is just a clear pawn up}) 28. Re2+ Kxd3 $6 {another dodgy
move} 29. Nxe5+ Kd4 30. Nxf7 {White is a lot better now but Black plays a
series of accurate moves to make life difficult for White} Rc1+ $1 31. Kf2 Rf8
$1 32. Bxe6 $6 (32. Rd2+ Kc5 33. Bxe6 {is a more accurate way of playing for
White}) 32... Rc7 $1 33. Rd2+ Ke4 $2 {After 3 very good moves Black now makes
a poor decision} (33... Kc5 34. Rc2+ Kb6 35. Rxc7 Kxc7 {and White is better
for sure but I think this would be quite hard to win for White}) 34. Re2+ (34.
Bd5+ {is the right plan} Kf4 35. g3+ Kf5 36. Nd6+ Ke5+ 37. Bf3 {not an easy
sequence to spot OTB}) 34... Kd4 35. Rd2+ Ke4 {I offered a draw here I would
have been glad to accept} 36. g4 $6 Rcxf7+ 37. Bxf7 Rxf7+ $10 {The position is
dead level and I now felt I was not going to lose here} 38. Kg2 Ke3 39. Rc2 Rd7
40. Kg3 Rd2 41. Rxd2 $4 {This should have cost Dave the game!!} (41. Rc7 $1
Rxb2 42. Rxa7 h6 43. Rh7 Rb3 44. Rxh6 Rxa3 45. Rb6 Kd2+ $10) 41... Kxd2 42. b4
Kc3 43. Kf4 Kb3 44. Kg5 Kxa3 45. Kh6 Kxb4 46. Kxh7 a5 $4 {Oh dear I was
playing way too fast here and had simply counted my pawn would queen one move
after White's however after} (46... Kc5 $1 {the game is over for White} 47. g5
b4 48. g6 b3 49. g7 b2 50. g8=Q b1=Q+ {Ouch, the point I queen with check!} 51.
Kh8 (51. Kg7 Qg1+) 51... Qh1+ 52. Kg7 Qg1+ 53. Kf8 Qxg8+ 54. Kxg8 a5 {and I am
sure Dave would have resigned here (or possibly a few moves earlier)}) 47. g5
a4 48. g6 a3 49. g7 a2 50. g8=Q a1=Q {Black is a pawn up but it means nothing!
The position is a dead draw} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "Dutch Defence"]
[Date "2015.05.24"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Sykes, N."]
[Black "Sugden, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A04"]
[Annotator "Nick Sykes"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. Nf3 {This is the fourth time I have played Dave and after winning easily in
the first game the next two have been drawn. Dave was having a good Calderdale
Congress and was at the time on 3/4 having won 2 and drawn 2 (one against the
would be winner Paul May). I have never won a last round Congress game, by the
last round I am running low on energy and usually have nothing to play for.
This time was no different and pretty much played for a draw from the start,
hence my pretty uninspired play in the game. I really should learn a line
against the Petroff! Saying that my only win against Dave was against his
Petroff where I managed to win fairly easily. However Dave is a former club
college and he has taken me down in friendlies playing the Petroff.} f5 {I
find it odd that Dave plays this move as it doesn't really fit the rest of his
repertiore} 2. c4 Nc6 $5 (2... Nf6 {is far more common, however I knew Dave
was aiming for a very quick ...e5}) 3. d4 d6 {looking to play ...e5 at some
point} 4. Nc3 e6 5. Bg5 {Safe} (5. d5 {[%emt 0:00:01] Maybe I would have
played this if it were Round} Ne5 6. e4 {this poses Black more problems}) 5...
Be7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. e3 Nf6 8. Bd3 {There is absolutely nothing wrong with
White's play but it is possibly not very ambitious} e5 9. dxe5 $6 (9. Be2 {
discouraging ...e4} O-O 10. O-O $14) 9... dxe5 10. Be2 O-O 11. O-O {White
hasn't got much from the opening, but I have no weakneses whatsoever and I'm
certainly not worse. Contrary to my previous 4 games I had played the opening
very quickly} Be6 12. a3 {Again pretty insipid, preventing Nb4 so I can play
Qc2 after the inevitable Rd8} (12. Qb3 {is more active}) 12... Rad8 13. Qc2 Rd7
14. Rad1 Rfd8 15. Rxd7 Rxd7 16. Ng5 Kh8 17. Nxe6 Qxe6 18. Rd1 {All these moves
were played at a very quick rate by White. I just wanted to go home!} e4 19.
Nb5 a6 20. Nd4 Nxd4 21. Rxd4 c5 (21... Rxd4 22. exd4 e3 23. Bf3 f4 {mixes it
up a bit but it's still pretty level}) 22. Rd2 Rd6 23. Qd1 Rxd2 24. Qxd2 Qd7
25. Qxd7 Nxd7 26. Kf1 a5 27. Ke1 Kg8 28. Kd2 Kf8 29. Kc3 {Possibly one of the
most unispired, flat games I have played for some time. Nothing really
interesting happened, and the computer never really gave either player any
sort of advantage at any time. I offered the draw at which Dave said 'Well it
is a dead draw' HIARCS assesses the position as 0.00 so I would say he is
right. Well played Dave the draw assured him of 2nd place!} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.22"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Shapland, D."]
[Black "Wicks, K."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2015.04.20"]
[SourceDate "2015.05.29"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 Qb6 5. g4 Bxc2 6. Qxc2 Qxd4 7. Qf5 e6 8. Qf4
Bb4+ 9. Ke2 Qc5 10. Be3 Qb5+ 11. Kf3 Qxf1 12. Qxb4 b6 13. Qd2 Nd7 14. Bf4 Qc4
15. Qe2 Qd4 16. Nc3 Ne7 17. Rd1 Qb4 18. a3 Qc5 19. Kg2 Ng6 20. Be3 Qe7 21. Nf3
Ngxe5 22. Nxe5 Nxe5 23. Bd4 Ng6 24. Be5 Nxh4+ 25. Kg3 Ng6 26. Bxg7 Qd6+ 27. Kf3
Rg8 28. Rxh7 Kd7 29. Qe3 Rae8 30. Ne4 dxe4+ 31. Ke2 Qd3+ 32. Rxd3+ exd3+ 33.
Qxd3+ Ke7 34. Qa6 Rd8 35. Qb7+ Rd7 36. Bf6+ Kd6 37. Qa6 Nf4+ 38. Kf3 Nd5 39.
Bh4 c5 40. Qc4 e5 41. Rh5 Re8 42. Ke4 Kc7 43. Rxe5 Nf6+ 44. Bxf6 Rd4+ 45. Qxd4
1-0

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.23"]
[Round "2"]
[White "May, P."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D08"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Nbd2 Bb4 6. a3 Bxd2+ 7. Bxd2 Nge7 8.
Bg5 h6 9. Bxe7 Kxe7 10. Qb3 Re8 11. e3 Kf8 12. O-O-O Na5 13. Qc2 c5 14. Qh7 Be6
15. Qh8+ Ke7 16. Qxg7 Qb6 17. Qf6+ Kf8 18. Qxh6+ Ke7 19. Qf6+ Kf8 20. Nh4 Kg8
21. Nf5 Bxf5 22. Qxf5 dxe3 23. Qg5+ Qg6 24. Qxe3 Rxe5 25. Qc3 Nc6 26. Bd3 Qh6+
27. Kb1 Nd4 28. Rde1 Rg5 29. Qd2 Qg7 30. Be4 Re8 31. Re3 Rxe4 32. Rxe4 Qg6 33.
f3 Rxg2 34. Qxg2 Qxg2 35. Rg4+ Qxg4 36. fxg4 f5 37. g5 f4 38. h4 f3 39. Kc1 Kh7
40. h5 Nf5 41. Rf1 Ng3 42. Rxf3 Nxh5 43. Rf7+ Kg6 44. Rxb7 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Aspinall, D."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C44"]
[PlyCount "86"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bc5 6. Bxf7+ Kxf7 7. Qd5+ Kf8
8. Qxc5+ Qe7 9. Qxe7+ Ngxe7 10. Nxc3 d6 11. h3 Be6 12. O-O a6 13. a3 h6 14. Re1
Rd8 15. Bf4 Ng6 16. Bg3 Nce5 17. Nxe5 Nxe5 18. f4 Nd3 19. Re2 Kf7 20. Rd1 Nc5
21. b4 Nd7 22. Rd4 Nb6 23. f5 Bd7 24. Red2 Rde8 25. Bxd6 cxd6 26. Rxd6 Bc6 27.
Re2 Re5 28. Kf2 Rhe8 29. g4 Nc4 30. Rd4 Nxa3 31. Kf3 Nb5 32. Nxb5 Rxb5 33. Kf4
Rbe5 34. h4 R5e7 35. e5 g5+ 36. fxg6+ Kxg6 37. h5+ Kg7 38. Rd6 Rf7+ 39. Kg3
Rf3+ 40. Kh4 Rb3 41. e6 Rf8 42. e7 Rff3 43. g5 Rxb4+ 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Shapland, D."]
[Black "Sykes, N."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B20"]
[Annotator "Shapland,Dave"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. a3 $5 {I've played Nick on four occasions prior to this game.
Interestingly we've alternated colours on every occasion that we've played
each other so this was my third game with White in the sequence of games.
Previously I'd won both the White games and lost and drawn with Black. What
had I learnt from these games? Well, I'd not managed to get any sort of
advantage from the opening whatsoever in any of those previous encounters and
my conclusion therefore was that I should avoid a heavy theorectical
discussion and go for something offbeat aiming to just 'play chess'. So the
decision became, 'what should I play against the Siclian?' I'd been watching a
series of interesting videos by Simon Williams on Chess.com and in one of them
he explained the ideas behind this interesting system. I'd been trying it out
a bit in blitz chess and so I decided that I would play it against Nick that
morning.} g6 {Nick told me afterwards that he'd intended to play the Dragon
against me via an Accellerated Dragon move order. What a cheek! In fact the
line he had planned was an interesting one and I think I might have struggled
to meet it over the board. So, I made the right decision about my opening
choice. Already after my second move I could see that Nick was somewhat
uncomfortable. He must have wondered what I had prepared. The answer was...
very little I just wanted to play an interesting game. Nick's move choice here
probably reflected his misgivings. The game move is a sound and solid choice
where Black is not trying to directly refute White's play but instead develop
soundly. If Nick had played 2... e6 or 2... Nc6 then I would have played 3.b4
which is the main idea in this variation. It's a sort of improved 'Wing
Gambit'.} 3. h4 $5 {"In for a penny..." This is the move Williams recommends.
It's pretty whacky. White can play in more circumspect fashion with 3.Nc3 if
he likes. Nothing wrong with that but the game move is more interesting... and
a good deal more risky.} Bg7 {Fritz likes 3... Nc6 intending to meet h5 with 4.
..Nf6. there is nothing wrong with the game move either of course.} 4. h5 {The
position has already become 'obscure' which was absolutely my intention. What
is White doing rushing his pawn up the board like this? Simply, he wants to
make it difficult for Black to develop his king's side and get castled. The
point is that if Black now plays Nf6 then h6! will be a real pain. On the
otherhand gxh5 is not really an enticing prospect and so the position on the
king's side becomes rather tense. Can Black find a way to take advantage of
White's eccentric set up?} d5 {An interesting response from Nick. He opens the
centre possibly with the intention of getting some pieces off early and
avoiding any 'tricks'. Again, there's nothing wrong with this approach but I'm
prettty sure that Black can't hope to exploit White's set up by playing this.
a move like 4... d6 or 4... Nc6 developing and maintaining tension in the
centre seems more likely to cause White problems.} 5. exd5 Qxd5 6. Nc3 {I
quickly convinced myself that an early exchange of queens would be no problem
for me if Nick went in for such a line. For example, after this move Black can
hardly play 6... Bxc3 7.dxc3 Qxd1+ 8.Kxd1 as White will stand quite well. He
can hope to damage Black king's side pawns and play against the structural
weaknesses. Of course Nick had no intention of entering this line. Asking the
question: 'do you want to exchange queens?' I decided that I did because I
felt it would help me to develop the rest of my pieces. I had a pretty long
think here and I realised that, even with the queens off the board there would
be some chances for me to cause Black some difficulties.} Qe5+ 7. Qe2 Qxe2+ 8.
Bxe2 Bf5 $6 {Nick was critical of this move after the game. In fact it's
absolutely fine but it does allow me to generate more abnormalities. I was
going to take refuge in obscurity.} 9. Nd5 {I think Nick had overlooked this
move. He'd seen that if I played 9.Nb5 he could respond with Na6 because the
knight can't be captured by the White bishop. The problem here of course is
that 9... Na6 loses to 10.Bxa6 bxa6 11.Nc7+. This move forces Black to move
his king.} Kd8 {Probably 9... Kd7 was a better move as with a queenless middle
game ahead, Black is already starting to connect his rooks. The game move
gives White a little bit of an edge.} 10. Ne3 {Engines can handy in these
really bizarre types of positions. Here Fritz likes...} (10. d3 {Which I did
consider but felt was a little bit slow.} Nc6 11. Nf3 Be6 12. Nf4 Bf5 13. Be3 {
and White intends to castle long. This looks fine for White but the advantage
must only by tiny and based on Black's awkwardly placed king.}) 10... Be4 {
Nick was keen to reposition his bishop to the c6 square. I was happy to see
this as I thought these extra moves with the bishop might give me a chance to
get developed quickly. Fritz preferred the line...} (10... Nh6 11. Nf3 Nc6 12.
Bc4 e6 {... and the game is level but rather interesting.}) 11. f3 {Played
after a pretty long think. I also considered 11.Nf3 and 11.Bf3. The main
consideration at this point was visuallising where the ideal squares for my
pieces were. Eventually I decided that the king's knight should head for f4 or
g5 via h3 and the king's bishop should go to c4 with gain of tempo. Once I'd
figured that out this move was the natural consequence.} (11. Nf3 {This is
Fritz's favourite and it's a natural move. The engine now thinks that Black
does best to play...} Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Nc6 13. c3 {This was another of my
objectives in the game position. With this move White can prepare to break
open the queen's side with b4 or d4 at the right moment.} Nf6 14. h6 {The
engine doesn't have a problem with retreating the bishop. Most humans would
though I think.} Bf8 15. b4 Rc8 16. Rb1 {... and White seems to be doing quite
well here.}) 11... Bc6 12. Bc4 {12.Nh3 was the other candidate move. This is
one of those awkward positions where the moves are pretty much self-evident
but the best move order is very hard to get right.} e6 13. Ne2 {Having earlier
decided that I wanted to play Nh3 I here realised that I'd just cleared the e2
square so why not deploy the knight here from where it might also support an
eventual d4? Possibly this wasn't the right decision as now I have ruled out
the option of Nh3-g5 which looks like an aggressive option.} b5 $5 {This move
took me a little bit by surprise because I thought Nick might aim to get one
of his knights developed before trying anything like this. that said I think
that 'active' defence here was a good idea. We've already observed what the
consequences of Black playing Nf6 would be so he would perhaps need to
consider playing 13... Nh6 or Nd7 instead here. With this move Nick is aiming
to gain space on the queen's side and drive my king's bishop to a more passive
square. Not at all a bad idea.} 14. Ba2 {I didn't much fancy 14.Bd3 c4 15.Be4
Bxe4 16.fxe4 so this move was the only alternative.} c4 15. d3 {I wasn't too
concerned about damaging my pawn structure here. Black's will also be
compromised. Both players are fighting for the intiative in this position and
so activity is more important than structure... at least, that was how I
assessed the position. I could also have played a4, intending to meet a6 with
Bb1. That seemed a little bit slow to me though.} cxd3 16. cxd3 Nd7 17. Ng4 {
Again this move was played after a long think. This time it was mainly because
I was looking at a potential sacrifice and trying to figure out of it could
work.} (17. Bxe6 $2 {We looked at this after the game and decided that it
really didn't work. The idea I'd seen was that after...} fxe6 18. Nf4 {Black
really has to play the awkward looking...} Nf8 {... because the alternative...}
(18... Ke7 {... allows...} 19. hxg6 Nf8 20. gxh7 Rxh7 21. Rxh7 Nxh7 {... and
Black must be winning but it's still a bit tricky.}) 19. Ng4 Rc8 20. h6 Bf6 {
... and Black is just a piece for a pawn up and will eventually coordinate
himself. Thankfully I talked myself out of such a rash decision and played a
more sensible move.}) 17... gxh5 {This was pretty much forced. Again, Nick
played the most practical move and indeed he played the game pragmatically.
After his intitial uncertainty he played the game very well in my view.} 18.
Rxh5 {An interesting way to develop the rook! I already had plans to swing it
across the fifth rank in certain circumstances.} Ngf6 19. Nxf6 Bxf6 {If
instead...} (19... Nxf6 {... then...} 20. Rc5 {... and now...} Kd7 21. Be3 {...
and White has a pleasant edge but nothing more.}) 20. Bg5 {Fritz likes 20.d4
intending Bf4 next.} Ke7 {I must admit that I didn't really consider this
rather obvious response. It's no problem for White but it does seem strange
that I missed it.} 21. Nd4 {I could see that Nick had some weaknesses on the
queen's side that I could try to exploit. His plan earlier on of re-deploying
his bishop to c6 and then pushing his b and c-pawns has left his bishop and
b-pawn a little bit vulnerable. This move looked like the best way to try and
exploit that. The game starts to get very complicated at this stage.} Rac8 22.
Rc1 Bxg5 23. Nxc6+ $2 {Once again I'd overlooked Nick's response to this move.
Had I seen it I would almost certainly have played the only other candidate
move that I was considering...} (23. Rxg5 {... and now Black can't avoid the
loss of a pawn...} Bb7 24. Rxc8 Rxc8 25. Rxb5 Ba6 26. Ra5 Bxd3 27. Rxa7 {...
and those connected passed a and b-pawns look like they will be fast and very
dangerous for Black. However, the White bishop is sickly on a2 and can't
easily be retrieved from this situation very easily.}) 23... Kf6 $1 {A brave
and correct king advance. Now the pin on my knight becomes a significant
problem. White's pieces are uncoordinated for a moment and Nick takes full
advantage.} 24. Rc2 {Instinctively I felt that I needed to give my rook the
opportunity to switch flanks and so this square seemed better than the
alternative...} (24. Rc3 {... but Fritz demonstrates that this was better. now
the pin is disarmed and White also protects his d-pawn. The game is pretty
much dead-level here but there is still plenty of play as both sides have
strucutral weaknesses to pick at.} a6 25. g3 Kg6 {Black has to give the bishop
a flight square in case White plays 26.f4.} 26. g4 Rce8 27. d4 Bf4 {... and
the game remains balanced but dynamic. White must urgently re-deploy his
bishop via b1 or b3 and he also needs to remove his king from the e-file, so
maybe Black can at least claim to have the initiative.}) 24... Ne5 25. Rxg5 $1
{This is the only move and I was pleased with myself for finding the idea. The
problem of course was that it was only now that I realised my intended...} (25.
Nd4 $2 {... would just lead me into a lost end game after...} Rxc2 26. Nxc2
Nxd3+ 27. Kf1 Rc8 {... and White is getting crushed.}) 25... Kxg5 26. f4+ $5 {
This is the point. The Black is lured to f4 when I can give check with my rook
and unpin the knight.} Kxf4 27. Rf2+ Ke3 $2 {This was the mistake that I'd
been hoping for when I played 25.Rxg5. It looks like the king will be terribly
active here, there are even back rank mate threats in some lines, but in fact
Black's best chance of getting a win comes after the move I had feared the
most...} (27... Kg3 $1 {... and Black can force simplification to a rook
versus knight and bishop ending where his king is fabulously active and ready
to gobble up White pawns.} 28. Nxe5 Rc1+ 29. Kd2 Kxf2 30. Kxc1 Rf8 {I'd got
this far in my analysis at move 25 and although I thought that move gave me
the best chance of holding, I didn't much like my chances if Nick had found
this as Black is going to capture the g-pawn after which his h-pawn will be
very hard to stop. White's bishop is truly miserable.}) 28. Re2+ Kxd3 {Now
that the brave Black monarch has come this far, he may as well grab the d-pawn.
I can't think of any other game I've played where one side has had a king so
much further into enemy territory than all his pawns and pieces. Usually the
king only gets up here in a king and pawn ending!} 29. Nxe5+ Kd4 30. Nxf7 {In
this position I felt satisfied that I had managed to wriggle off the hook and
possibly even had some winning chances. Fritz does indeed assess White as
being better but with so few pawns left on the board, the Black rooks are
almost bound to get active and find some counter play.} Rc1+ 31. Kf2 {After
the game someone (it might even have been Nick himself) asked why I didn't go
to d2 with my king. Well, the reason was that I'd seen...} (31. Kd2 $2 Rhc8 {
Threatening mate!} 32. Bb3 Rb1 {... and now White's pawns begin to drop...} 33.
Bc2 Rxb2 34. Kc1 Ra2 35. Ng5 {This can only be level at best for White.}) 31...
Rf8 32. Bxe6 {It would have been slightly more precise to firs play...} (32.
Rd2+ {... because now the Black king really must go back to c5. If he stays on
the fourth rank, then comes...} Ke4 33. Bxe6 Rc7 34. Bd5+ Kf4 {... and Black
actually has to be careful not to be mated in some situations.}) 32... Rc7 {I
hadn't anticpated this rook retreat at all. Of course the idea is simply to
give back the rook for two pieces. This must be sensible but I guess I just
hadn't expected my opponent to give up the initiative like that.} 33. Rd2+ Ke4
$6 {This move means that the Black king is still swmming about in hot water.
He could have removed himself from the firing line with...} (33... Kc5 34. Rc2+
Kb6 35. Rxc7 Kxc7 36. g4 a5 37. Kf3 {... and White remains in command but
practically, I think this end game would still be hard for him to win. Black
could even give up his rook for White's last pawn and ask his opponent to mate
him with knight and bishop!}) 34. Re2+ Kd4 35. Rd2+ Ke4 {There was no time
control in this competition, it was just 1 hour and 45 minutes for all moves.
So this little repetition of moves was just about assessing whether or not my
opponent would settle for a draw.} 36. g4 {Rather optimistically hoping for
Black to allow Bd5+ and then Rd4 mate! Now the game is level again. White's
only hope according to Fritz was...} (36. Bd5+ Kf4 37. Rd3 Kf5 38. Rf3+ Kg6 39.
Be4+ Kg7 40. Nd6 Rxf3+ 41. Kxf3 {... and White preserves his winning chances
but I'd say that the knight and bishop vs king ending is almost inevitable.})
36... Rfxf7+ {Nick trys to cut out anymore nonsense and heads for equality.}
37. Bxf7 Rxf7+ 38. Kg2 {The position is dead equal... but, as I often do, I
saw no reason to setlle for a draw. There was still play here and my opponent
might yet make a mistake. Besides, a draw wouldn't have helped either of us to
catch the runaway tournament leader.} Ke3 39. Rc2 Rd7 40. Kg3 Rd2 {I had
anticipated this move and calculated that I could queen a pawn first after the
rooks had come off. Unfortunately I'd counted incorrectly because I hadn't
appreciated that Black would queen immediately afterwards himself. Furthermore,
it turned out I'd missed a nasty twist that could have cost me the whole point.
} 41. Rxd2 $2 {Instead of this White maintains equality and takes another step
towards a dead draw with...} (41. Rc7 Rxb2 42. Rxh7 a5 43. g5 Rb1 44. Rh2 b4
45. axb4 Rg1+ 46. Rg2 Rxg2+ 47. Kxg2 axb4 48. g6 b3 49. g7 b2 50. g8=Q b1=Q)
41... Kxd2 42. b4 {I thought myself terribly clever for playing this because
it means Black must take an extra move to clear up my queen's side pawns. I
must have been tired at this point because I failed to appreciate that, by
playing this move, I'd also added one move to my itinerary!} Kc3 43. Kf4 {The
race begins.} Kb3 44. Kg5 Kxa3 45. Kh6 Kxb4 46. Kxh7 a5 {I can't mark this
move as a mistake and yet, Nick missed the same diabolical trick that I did.
If he had instead played the equally natural...} (46... Kc5 47. g5 b4 48. g6 b3
49. g7 b2 50. g8=Q b1=Q+ {What I'd overlooked was that, after this check,
Black can force the exchange of queens...} 51. Kh8 Qh1+ 52. Kg7 Qg2+ 53. Kf7
Qxg8+ 54. Kxg8 a5 {... and Black wins with his a-pawn!}) 47. g5 a4 48. g6 a3
49. g7 a2 50. g8=Q a1=Q {now it isn't check and so White can escape with a
draw. Nick could have played on but I don't think either of us believed he
could win from here.} 51. Qf8+ {I offered a draw and Nick accepted. A full
blooded battle full of twists and turns and I think both of us played
reasonably well. I must remember to think one move or two moves further when
counting those pawn races in future!} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.24"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Connor, M."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D09"]
[PlyCount "116"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. g3 f6 6. exf6 Nxf6 7. Bg2 Bf5 8. O-O
Qd7 9. a3 h5 10. h4 O-O-O 11. Nbd2 Bh3 12. b4 Bxg2 13. Kxg2 g5 14. Nxg5 Ne5 15.
Ndf3 Nfg4 16. Qc2 Be7 17. Rd1 Qc6 18. b5 Qf6 19. Bf4 d3 20. exd3 Nxd3 21. Nh3
Ndxf2 22. Nxf2 Qxf4 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. Qe4 Ne3+ 25. Kh2 Qxe4 26. Nxe4 Nxc4 27.
a4 Rd3 28. Nfg5 Ne5 29. Rc1 Ng4+ 30. Kg2 Ra3 31. Nc3 Bd6 32. Nge4 Be5 33. Kf3
Kd8 34. Ke2 Ke7 35. Kd3 Bxc3 36. Nxc3 Kd6 37. Kc4 Ne5+ 38. Kd4 Nf3+ 39. Kd3 Rb3
40. Rf1 Ne5+ 41. Kc2 Rb4 42. Rf5 Rg4 43. Rxh5 Ke6 44. Rh6+ Kf7 45. Rh7+ Rg7 46.
Rxg7+ Kxg7 47. Kb3 c6 48. Kb4 cxb5 49. Kxb5 Nf7 50. Ne4 Kg6 51. Kc5 Nd8 52. Kd6
Kf5 53. Nf2 Ne6 54. g4+ Kf6 55. Ne4+ Kf7 56. Ng5+ Nxg5 57. hxg5 a6 58. Kc7 b5
0-1

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Open)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.22"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Parsons, M."]
[Black "Desmedt, R."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D00"]
[BlackElo "1850"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 Bd6 4. Bxd6 Qxd6 5. Qg4 g6 6. Nd2 Nf6 7. Qg3 Qxg3 8.
hxg3 b6 9. Ngf3 Ba6 10. c4 dxc4 11. Nxc4 Bxc4 12. Bxc4 Nbd7 13. b4 c5 14. bxc5
bxc5 15. Rb1 cxd4 16. Nxd4 Rc8 17. Ba6 Rc5 18. O-O O-O 19. a4 Nb6 20. Nb3 Rd5
21. a5 Nbd7 22. Bc4 Rd6 23. Be2 Rc8 24. Rfc1 Rdc6 25. Rxc6 Rxc6 26. Nd4 Rc7 27.
a6 Nb6 28. Nb5 Rd7 29. Nxa7 Rxa7 30. Rxb6 Nd5 31. Rb7 Ra8 32. e4 Nc3 33. Bd3
Kg7 34. f3 Na4 35. Rc7 h5 36. a7 Nb6 37. Bb5 Nc8 38. Rxc8 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Open)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.23"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Whitehead, M."]
[Black "Parsons, M."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B08"]
[WhiteElo "1998"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. c3 d5 4. Nd2 Nf6 5. Bd3 O-O 6. Ngf3 dxe4 7. Nxe4 Nxe4 8.
Bxe4 c6 9. O-O Nd7 10. Re1 Qc7 11. g3 Nf6 12. Bd3 Bg4 13. Be2 Nd7 14. Bf4 Qb6
15. Ne5 Nxe5 16. Bxe5 Bxe2 17. Qxe2 Bxe5 18. dxe5 Rad8 19. e6 Rd5 20. exf7+
Rxf7 21. Qc2 Qa5 22. Re2 e5 23. Rae1 Rf5 24. Qb3 Qb6 25. Qxb6 axb6 26. g4 Rf4
27. h3 Ra5 28. a3 Rb5 29. Kg2 Kf7 30. Rd1 Ke6 31. Rd8 Rf7 32. Re8+ Kf6 33. h4
Re7 34. Rxe7 Kxe7 35. f4 Rd5 36. Kf3 Kd6 37. a4 Rd3+ 38. Re3 Rxe3+ 39. Kxe3 Ke6
40. Ke4 exf4 41. Kxf4 h6 42. Ke4 Kf6 43. Kd4 Ke6 44. b4 Kd6 45. Ke4 b5 46. axb5
cxb5 47. Kd4 g5 48. hxg5 hxg5 49. Ke4 Ke6 50. Kd4 Kd6 51. Ke4 Ke6 52. Kd4 Kd6
53. Ke4 Ke6 1/2-1/2

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Open)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Parsons, M."]
[Black "Porter, R."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A46"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c6 4. c4 Qc7 5. e3 Nbd7 6. h3 e5 7. Bh2 Be7 8. Be2
O-O 9. Nc3 Re8 10. O-O h6 11. b4 Bf8 12. Qc2 b6 13. Rfc1 Bb7 14. Qd1 Rac8 15.
a4 c5 16. bxc5 bxc5 17. d5 Nb8 18. a5 Na6 19. Qa4 g6 20. Rab1 Nb4 21. Ne1 a6
22. Nc2 Nxc2 23. Rxc2 Rb8 24. Rcb2 Ba8 25. Rb6 Be7 26. Qb3 Nd7 27. f4 exf4 28.
Bxf4 g5 29. Bg3 Nxb6 30. axb6 Qd8 31. Ne4 Bb7 32. Bg4 Bf8 33. Qd3 Bg7 34. Nxd6
Rxe3 35. Qf5 Rxg3 36. Qxf7+ Kh8 37. Nxb7 Qf6 38. Qxf6 Bxf6 39. Na5 Bd8 40. Bf3
Rxb6 41. Rxb6 Bxb6 42. Nb7 Kg7 43. Nd6 a5 44. Nf5+ 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Open)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Reed, J."]
[Black "Parsons, M."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A43"]
[WhiteElo "1974"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. d4 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c5 4. d5 d6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Be2 O-O 7. O-O Na6 8. Bg5
Nc7 9. a4 b6 10. Nd2 a6 11. f4 Rb8 12. Qe1 h6 13. Bh4 b5 14. axb5 axb5 15. h3
b4 16. Nd1 Nb5 17. Ne3 Nd7 18. Nec4 Nd4 19. Bd3 b3 20. c3 Nc2 21. Bxc2 bxc2 22.
Qc1 Nb6 23. Qxc2 Re8 24. Ra7 Nxc4 25. Nxc4 Bb7 26. Rfa1 Kf8 27. Qa4 Qc7 28. Na5
Qb6 29. Nxb7 Rxb7 30. Rxb7 Qxb7 31. Ra2 Qc8 32. Qb5 Qc7 33. Qc6 Qb8 34. Kh2 Kg8
35. Qd7 Bf8 36. Qa7 1/2-1/2

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Open)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.24"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Parsons, M."]
[Black "Surtees, M."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A40"]
[BlackElo "2149"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. d4 c6 2. Nf3 h6 3. c4 d6 4. Nc3 a6 5. e4 g5 6. Qc2 Qc7 7. Be3 Bg7 8. h4 g4
9. Ng1 h5 10. Nge2 e5 11. f4 gxf3 12. gxf3 Nd7 13. O-O-O Nf8 14. c5 dxc5 15. d5
b6 16. dxc6 Qxc6 17. Nd5 Be6 18. Nec3 Ng6 19. Nb5 Bxd5 20. exd5 Qd7 21. a4 Bh6
22. Bxh6 Nxh6 23. Nc3 Nf4 24. Ne4 Kf8 25. d6 Nf5 26. Nf6 Qe6 27. Ne4 Ne3 28.
Ng5 Qa2 29. Nh7+ Rxh7 30. Qxh7 Qa1+ 31. Kd2 Qxd1+ 32. Kxe3 Qd4# 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.22"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Leonard, P."]
[Black "May, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B40"]
[WhiteElo "131"]
[BlackElo "146"]
[Annotator "Leonard,Pete"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 a6 {An unusual line; later I wondered whether I should have
played 3.a4, to counter his coming b7-b5. Fritz 14 thinks not, but does keep
my KB on the f1-a6 diagonal, rather than fianchettoing it. However, John Emms,
in Attacking with 1.e4, continues as planned, but then also plays f2-f4.} 3. g3
{Fritz gives} (3. Nf3 b5 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 b4 6. Na4 Qa5 7. c3 {White's
development is better, and Black is helping him to create a 2-1 queen's side
majority.}) 3... b5 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. d3 e6 6. Nf3 {Emms would have played} (6. f4
{If} b4 7. Nce2 {Black can try to win a pawn by} f5 8. Nf3 fxe4 9. Ng5 Qb6 10.
Bxe4 {with an interesting position; will Black's advanced queen's side pawns
be an asset or a liability?}) 6... d6 7. O-O Nf6 8. Re1 Nbd7 9. e5 {Fritz
slightly prefers 9.Qe2.} dxe5 10. Nxe5 Bxg2 11. Kxg2 (11. Nxd7 Qxd7 12. Kxg2 {
avoids exposing my rook on e5.}) 11... Bd6 12. Bf4 {Fritz suggests} (12. Nxd7
Qxd7 13. Qf3 O-O 14. Bg5 Be7 15. Bf4) 12... Nxe5 13. Bxe5 Bxe5 14. Rxe5 Qd4 15.
Qf3 O-O {Black now has an edge, due to his strongly placed queen.} 16. Rae1 {
Retreating the rook was better; I'm never going to achieve anything on the e
file. My move does allow me to play Nd1 without putting the QR out of play.}
Rfd8 17. R5e3 {Still trying to achieve Nd1 and then perhaps c2-c3; I'm
struggling to free my position, which doesn't say a lot for my opening
strategy.} Rab8 18. h3 {To prevent ...Ng4.} Qb4 19. Rb1 (19. Nd1 $2 Qa4 {wins
a pawn, which suggests that my QR should have been left on a1 and the KR
retreated to e1. Then I could have challenged his queen with Qe3.}) 19... Nd5 {
I was more concerned about} (19... Qa5 20. a3 b4 21. Ne4 (21. axb4 cxb4 22. Ne4
Nxe4 23. dxe4 Qa2 24. Ree1 {(where it should have been) and Black is more
active.}) 21... Nxe4 22. dxe4 Rd2 {and White's pieces are in a bit of a tangle.
}) 20. Nxd5 Rxd5 21. Re4 Qd2 22. Qf4 {I was happy to force the queens off; I
appear to have wriggled out of my worst difficulties.} Qxf4 23. Rxf4 f5 $6 {
That's my "dubious"; I should immediately have anchored the e pawn with 24.Re1.
} 24. h4 Re5 25. Kf1 {Now it's harder to get at his e pawn and I should have
made use of the position of my rook on the fourth rank, by} (25. a4 Kf7 26.
axb5 axb5 27. b4) 25... Kf7 26. d4 {Any of 26.Rc1, 26.b3 or 26.a4 was better.}
cxd4 (26... Rd5 27. dxc5 Rxc5 28. c3 Rd8 {and his rooks are better coordinated
than mine.}) 27. Rxd4 Rc8 28. c3 {Finally, 0.00!} Rec5 29. Rbd1 {Now our
positions are reversed and my rooks have the open file. However, apart from
his backwards e pawn, he doesn't have many weaknesses.} R8c7 30. f4 {Trying to
pin down "his one weakness".} Ke7 31. Kf2 Rc4 32. Ke3 Rxd4 33. Rxd4 Rd7 $2 {
His backward e pawn, my more advanced king and my queen's side pawn majority
should all have told him "Don't swap rooks!" White should now win this game.}
34. Rxd7+ Kxd7 35. Kd4 Kd6 {Here and until I actually see it, Fritz is
demanding that White play h4-h5 and, if appropriate, h5-h6.} 36. b3 a5 37. c4
b4 38. c5+ {38.h5 was still the best way.} Kc6 39. Kc4 g6 {He should have
forestalled me with his own 39...h5.} 40. h5 {At last I saw it! Left untaken,
the pawn advances to h6, after which my king has an easy walk down the long
diagonal to take his pawn on h7, while his king is delayed by capturing my c
pawn.} gxh5 41. Kd4 h6 {A clever idea, the point of which will become apparent.
} 42. Ke5 Kxc5 43. Kxe6 Kd4 44. Kxf5 Kc3 {Now, if} (44... Ke3 {it might be
tempting to go after his h pawns, with} 45. Kg6 {Having seen the first part of
this, though not the second, I planned to play} (45. Ke5 {and then run the f
pawn. He saw it too, which is why his king headed for my queen's side. This
worked well for him!}) 45... h4 46. gxh4 Kxf4 47. h5 Ke5 48. Kxh6 Kf6 {and my
king can't get out, without letting the h pawn go. However, Fritz spots the
win:} 49. Kh7 Kf7 50. h6 Kf8 51. Kg6 Kg8 52. Kf6 Kh7 53. Ke5 Kxh6 54. Kd5) 45.
Ke4 Kb2 46. Kd3 $4 {At a stroke turning a win into a loss. Fritz's score is
now -4.55; before I moved it was 14.05 and rising. A beginner would simply
have pushed the f pawn; "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing."} Kxa2 47.
Kc2 $2 a4 {Only now did I see that I've helped him to queen. A disaster on a
par with my leaving mate in one on against Nick Sykes, in the Calderdale
Individual, a couple of years ago; it must be my age!} 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.23"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Hartley, D."]
[Black "Leonard, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D00"]
[WhiteElo "146"]
[BlackElo "131"]
[Annotator "Leonard,Pete"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 $2 {Fritz 14's Openings Book gives this a ? with
which I agree, as the London System requires a c pawn that is able to move.} d5
{Preventing 4.e4.} 4. Bf4 Bg7 5. e3 O-O 6. Ne5 {No ? this time, but I can't
see the point of this move.} Nh5 $15 7. Bg3 c5 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Nf3 $6 {
Confirming that his sixth move was a waste of time. As the knight is on e5,
Fritz would continue with} (9. O-O-O Nxg3 10. hxg3 cxd4 11. exd4 Nxe5 12. dxe5
e6 $15) 9... cxd4 $17 {I didn't want to have him play dxc5 at an inconvenient
moment.} 10. exd4 Bf5 $6 $15 {More logical was} (10... Bg4 11. Be5 Bxf3 12.
Bxg7 Nxg7 13. gxf3 Nf5 14. Ne2 e6 $17 {Now White's king's side pawns are a
mess.}) 11. Be2 $6 $17 e6 {Again not the best. I wanted to consolidate my
centre, while having some concerns about my QB. I certainly considered} (11...
Qb6 {but for some reason thought that his queen's knight could cause trouble.
Neither} 12. Na4 {nor} (12. Nxd5 Qxb2 13. Qc1 Qxc2 $19) (12. O-O {is Fritz's
preference:} Nxg3 13. hxg3 Qxb2 14. Rfc1 Qa3 15. Rab1 Rab8 16. Rb3 Qd6 17. Rcb1
b6 $17 {Black has an extra pawn and the bishop pair.}) 12... Qb4 13. Qxb4 Nxb4
14. O-O Nxg3 15. hxg3 Nxc2 16. Rad1 Be4 $19 {is any good for White.}) 12. Be5
f6 $6 $15 {Weakens e6, as well as blocking my KB's diagonal; I had better be
able to play e6-e5 soon! Better was 12...Nf6 followed by Ne4, bringing this
piece back into the game. He's wasted time to-ing and fro-ing with this bishop
and his KN.} 13. Bg3 Nb4 {Consistent was} (13... e5 14. O-O-O (14. dxe5 d4 15.
Na4 fxe5 $17) 14... Nxg3 15. hxg3 e4 $15) 14. Rc1 g5 {I wanted to prevent Nh4,
but was aware that this is an ugly looking move.} 15. a3 Nxg3 {I thought I
should do this eventually, though knew I'd need to be careful of the half-open
h file.} 16. hxg3 Nc6 17. Bd3 {Eyeing h7.} Ne7 $6 (17... Bxd3 18. Qxd3 f5 {was
actually OK. He can't immediately play Ne5, and if he does so after Qe3, I can
capture, forcing dxe5, blocking the hole and covering my backward e pawn. After
} 19. Ne2 {(19...g4 was threatened, winning the d pawn)} g4 20. Nd2 Qb6 {I
prefer Black, with a good-looking centre, powerful bishop and possibilities of
attacking White's uncastled king. At least, having moved his QN, White at last
may be able to play c2-c3.}) 18. g4 {Fritz prefers} (18. Bxf5 Nxf5 19. g4 Nh6 {
which looks a bit uncomfortable for Black, but actually Qxh7+ is an empty
threat and the h file may prove of more use to Black than White. In this
position, I may even have realised the desirability of f6-f5; opening the e
file is likely to favour Black.}) 18... Bg6 $6 {I was too scared of his attack
on h7:} (18... Bxg4 19. Bxh7+ Kf7 20. Qe2 Bf5 21. Bxf5 Nxf5 22. g4 Nd6 {
followed by Nc4, looks better for Black.}) 19. Qe3 Qd7 20. Nd2 $2 {Enabling my
reply.} e5 21. dxe5 $2 {Any of 21.Qg3, 21.O-O or 21.Nb3 was better.} Qxg4 $6 {
What made me think that I couldn't play} (21... d4 22. e6 dxe3 23. exd7 exd2+
24. Kxd2 Rad8 $19) 22. Be2 $2 {This game is becoming a comedy of errors, by
both of us!} (22. exf6 Bxf6 23. O-O Rae8 24. Rce1 Bd4 25. Qe6+ Qxe6 26. Rxe6
Bf7 {is just a little bit better for Black.}) 22... Qd7 $6 {I wanted to renew
the threat of d5-d4, though I did consider} (22... Qe6 {Play might continue}
23. Nf3 (23. exf6 Qxe3 24. fxe3 Bxf6 $17 {The bishop pair and White's weaker
pawn structure and vulnerable king give Black the advantage.}) 23... fxe5 24.
Nxg5 Qf6 25. Nxd5 (25. Na4 Nf5 26. Qd2 Qc6 27. Nc3 d4 28. Nd1 e4 $19)) 23. e6
Qd6 24. Nb5 Qe5 25. Qb3 $6 {He's clearly an attacking player, but exchanging
queens was his best option.} a6 26. Nf3 $2 {Missing my reply.} Qf4 27. O-O axb5
{At last! Something to show for my efforts.} 28. Bxb5 Be4 29. Nh2 g4 {Even
better was} (29... f5 {opening up the long diagonal, though 30...Be5 would be
answered by 31.g3.} 30. Bd3 Qe5 $19) 30. Qb4 g3 31. fxg3 (31. Qxe7 $2 gxf2+ 32.
Rxf2 (32. Kh1 f5 {and there are too many threats to counter.}) 32... Qxc1+ 33.
Nf1 Qxb2 $19) 31... Qe3+ 32. Kh1 Nf5 33. Rxf5 (33. Nf3 Nxg3+ 34. Kh2 Nxf1+ 35.
Rxf1 f5 {is just as bad} 36. e7 Rf6 37. e8=Q+ Rxe8 {and mate is coming.}) 33...
Qxc1+ 34. Rf1 Qxc2 35. Nf3 Qc7 {I thought that I should deal with that e pawn;
a rook up, I can afford to give the exchange back. However, Fritz still prefers
} (35... f5 36. e7 Rf6 37. e8=Q+ Rxe8 38. Bxe8 $4 Bxf3 39. gxf3 Rh6+ 40. Qh4
Rxh4+ 41. gxh4 Be5 {(or 41...Qe2, forking rook and bishop) which Fritz reckons
is mate in 13.}) 36. e7 Rfe8 37. Bxe8 Rxe8 38. Qa4 Rxe7 {Slightly worrying
that I paid no attention to his next move, beyond being aware that my king had
a bolthole on f7.} 39. Qa8+ {Fritz rightly prefers 38... Bf8. I now saw 38...
Kf7 39.Ng5+, but reckoned there was no danger. There was more nuisance, and 38.
..Bf8 carries the threat of 39...Qxg3 and 40...Rg7.} Kf7 40. Ng5+ Kg6 41. Nh3
Bh6 $6 {Why on earth was I messing around with this, instead of the simple} (
41... Qxg3 42. Nf4+ Kf7 {and now 43...Bh6 is a serious threat.}) 42. Qg8+ Rg7
43. Qe6 Qe7 {43...Qe5 was more active.} 44. Qb6 {Obviously he doesn't want to
exchange!} Kf7 {I didn't see 44...Be3, which can't be captured, because of 45..
.Bxg2+, preventing his queen from returning to the defence.} 45. Qb3 Qc7 {Good
enough, as he was focussed on exploiting the pin on my d pawn.} 46. Re1 Rxg3
47. Rxe4 $4 {He said that he'd not noticed that I was attacking his queen, but
the threat of 48...Rxh3+ was going to finish him off, pretty soon, if he'd
moved his queen.} Rxb3 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.23"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Leonard, P."]
[Black "Sugden, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C24"]
[WhiteElo "131"]
[BlackElo "129"]
[Annotator "Leonard,Pete"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. Nxe5 $4 {What was I thinking of?
Clearly not thinking, just playing by rote. That's twice in two days that I've
made blunders that a beginner would have avoided.} Qa5+ {I could have resigned
at once, but played on, in case he had a brainstorm.} 6. Bd2 Qxe5 7. O-O O-O 8.
Bc3 Qh5 {He does a nice job of simplification; exchanges are in his favour,
but what can my queen usefully do?} 9. Nd2 Qxd1 10. Raxd1 d5 11. exd5 Nxd5 12.
Bd4 Bf6 13. Bc5 Re8 14. Rfe1 Rxe1+ 15. Rxe1 Be6 16. Ne4 Nd7 17. Nxf6+ N7xf6 18.
a4 b6 19. Bd6 Re8 20. h3 Bd7 21. Ra1 Re2 22. Bb3 {I don't suppose he'll oblige
by playing 22...Be6?? 23.Kf1 and I'm back in front.} h6 {No!} 23. Kf1 Re8 24.
c4 Ne7 25. a5 Nf5 26. Bc7 Nd4 27. Bd1 b5 28. a6 Bf5 {Not only am I losing a
couple of pawns, but my bishop on d1 is at risk.} 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.24"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Leonard, P."]
[Black "Buckell, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A53"]
[WhiteElo "131"]
[BlackElo "146"]
[Annotator "Leonard,Pete"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. e4 c6 2. c4 e5 {Fritz 14's Opening Book gives this a ?; he'd perhaps not
seen this approach to the Caro Kann. According to Wikipedia's List of Chess
Openings, the game becomes an Old Indian.} 3. Nf3 d6 4. Nc3 {Fritz prefers an
immediate} (4. d4 exd4 5. Qxd4) 4... Nf6 5. d4 Bg4 6. Be2 Nbd7 7. O-O Be7 8.
Be3 O-O 9. h3 Bh5 10. Qc2 {With a view to opposing his queen on d8 with a rook,
but he gets it out of the way. Fritz rates my move, 10.g4 and 10.Nh4 about
eqaully.} Qc7 11. Rfd1 {Which rook? On which side will play develop? Thinking
that the queen's side was more likely, I chose the king's rook; as things
turned out, the other may have been better.} a6 12. Na4 $6 {I was aiming at
the hole he'd created, and wanted to discourage b7-b5. Fritz prefers} (12. g4
Bg6 13. Nh4 {in order to exchange on g6, rather than play Nf5. I'd focussed on
that, and didn't much like either of the recaptures after ...Bxf5.}) 12... Bg6
13. Bd3 h6 {Now he could actually play} (13... b5 14. cxb5 axb5 {as} 15. Bxb5
$2 {loses to} Bxe4 16. Bd3 (16. Qc3 Qb8 {and I'm losing either knight or
bishop.}) 16... Bxd3 17. Rxd3 e4 $19) 14. dxe5 dxe5 15. c5 {Achieving what I'd
set out to do with 12.Na4; now I've a nice potential outpost on d6, if I can
work out how to occupy it.} Bh5 16. g4 {Loosening my king's side, but I didn't
fancy him doubling my pawns and} (16. Be2 Bg6 17. Bd3 {is getting me nowhere.
I can't play Nc3, as I'll lose my c pawn and} (17. Nd2 Nd5 18. Qb3 Nxe3 19.
Qxe3 Bg5 20. Qc3 {looks somewhat better for Black.})) 16... Bg6 17. b4 Rad8 {
Fritz prefers - and for quite a long while - a counter-attack with} (17... a5
18. a3 Ra7 19. Nb6 axb4 20. Nxd7 Nxd7 21. axb4 Rxa1 22. Rxa1 Rd8 $11) 18. a3 {
Fritz prefers 18.Nb2, en route to c4 and d6. I did consider this, but felt
that he had d6 too well protected. Fritz has also spotted (which I hadn't) the
trick (after ...Nb8) of ...Rxd3 followed by ... Bxe4. Having my knight on b2
saves a possible loss of the exchange in return, but my king's side would be a
bit draughty! Perhaps because of this sort of thing and the possibilities of
a6-a5, Fritz rates the position as equal, whereas I felt I was on top.} Rfe8
19. Nc3 {The knight was out of play on a4 - Fritz always thought so - and the
pawn on e4 is important for me.} Bf8 $6 {This surprised me; I'd expected, as
had Fritz, Nd7-f8-e6-f4, and was exercised by thinking what, if anything to do
about it. It now occurred to me that he'd left f7 rather vulnerable; a good
job I'd brought my knight back to c3!} 20. Bc4 Nb8 $6 {This seems very passive;
Fritz wants either 20...b5 (even though it loses the pawn on a6), 20...a5 or
20...Be7, returning the bishop to where it should be.} 21. Nh4 Bh7 22. f3 $6 {
Overly concerned about my e pawn. I thought, after I'd moved, that I should
have played} (22. g5 hxg5 23. Bxg5 {However, the f2 pawn prevents an immediate
follow-up with Qg2, and Black has} Rd4 24. Bd3 Qd7 {which is a little
uncomfortable. Fritz wants me to play}) (22. Nf5 Bxf5 23. exf5 {even though
this risks opening up central squares and lines for Black. I'm pretty sure I'd
have taken with the g pawn, but he then has Nf6-h5-f4, all of which explains
my reluctance to play Nf5.} Rd7 24. Qb3 Red8 25. Rxd7 Rxd7 26. Rd1 Rxd1+ 27.
Qxd1 a5 28. h4 $16 {White has an edge, due to that bishop on c4. Play might
continue} axb4 29. axb4 Qd7 30. Qf3 Na6 31. g5 e4 32. Nxe4 Nxe4 33. Qxe4 Nxb4
34. gxh6 {threatening 35.f6} Nd5 (34... gxh6 35. Bd4 {threatening 36.Qe5; the
bishop pair are working well!} Nd5 36. Qe5 f6 37. Qxf6 Bg7 38. Bxd5+ cxd5 39.
Qg6 {threatening 40.f6} Qf7 40. Bxg7 Qxg7 41. h5 {What a strange position! Now,
Fritz's diagram suggests that White is threatning 42.f6 but, if Black plays} d4
42. f6 $4 (42. Kg2 {instead wins it for White} d3 43. Kf3 {43...Qxg6 44.fxg6
is clearly hopeless. As soon as Black's king moves, White will exchange queens,
and now White has too many pawns for Black.} Kf8 44. Qxg7+ Kxg7 45. Ke3 d2 46.
Kxd2 Kf6 47. Ke3 Kxf5 48. f4 Kg4 49. Ke4 Kxh5 50. Kf5 Kh4 51. Ke5 h5 52. f5 Kg5
53. f6 Kg6 54. Ke6 {and White queens in plenty of time. According to Fritz,
it's mate in nine from this point.}) 42... Qxg6+ 43. hxg6 h5 {and Black's
separated passed pawns will win it for him.}) 35. Bd4 Nf6 36. Qf4 Qd8 37. Qe5
Qd7 (37... b5 38. Bxf7+ Kh7 39. hxg7 Bxg7 40. Qd6 Qxd6 41. cxd6 {and now the
best Fritz can suggest for Black is} c5 42. Bxc5 Nd7 43. Be3 Bf6 44. Bg5 Kg7
45. Be6 Ne5 46. Bxf6+ Kxf6 47. h5 $18)) 22... Rxd1+ {I wasn't sure what he was
up to; do I want the rooks off or not? Fritz still prefers 22...a5, 22...Be7
or even 22...g6, though most humans would prefer not to incarcerate their
bishop like this! I thought he could stymie me with} (22... g5 {but Fritz
thinks this is better for White:} 23. Ng2 Qe7 24. Ne1 Bg7 25. Qh2 Nfd7 26. h4
gxh4 27. Ng2 Bf6 28. Bxh6 Nf8 29. g5 Bxg5 30. Bxg5 Qxg5 31. Qxh4 Qxh4 32. Nxh4
$14 {The c4 bishop and prospects of invading with knights on f5 and d6 give
White an edge.}) 23. Rxd1 Rd8 24. Rxd8 {Fritz agrees with this, but not with
my next move!} Qxd8 25. g5 $2 $17 (25. Nf5 {threatening 26.Bxf7+, e.g.} g6 26.
Bxf7+ Kxf7 27. Qa2+ Nd5 (27... Ke8 28. Qe6+ Be7 29. Nd6+ {wins.}) 28. Ng3 Bg8
29. exd5 cxd5 30. Qxd5+ Qxd5 31. Nxd5 Ke6 32. Nb6 $16 {White's pawn advantage
and good squares for the knights outweigh Black's bishop pair and centralised
king.}) 25... hxg5 26. Nf5 {Fortunately I noticed 26.Bxg5?? Qd4+ winning the
c4 bishop, but now he's a point ahead.} Bxf5 $6 {Returning much of his
advantage; my white square dominance should have won me the game.} (26... Nh5
27. Qd2 Qxd2 28. Bxd2 Nf4 {looks comfortable for Black, who will exchange
White's knight on f5, play ... Be7 and ...Ke8, finally freeing the f7 pawn.})
27. exf5 Nh5 $6 {and this should have returned the advantage to me though I
didn't play Fritz's best line. Fritz is still pleading for a6-a5.} 28. Ne4 $11
(28. Qb3 Qe8 (28... Qd7 29. Ne4 Qxf5 30. Nxg5 Nf4 31. Nxf7 Kh7 {and there's
not a lot in it. I'm trying to see why Fritz prefers 28.Qb3 Qe8 to 28.Qa2 
(which I should have thought better, as it keeps the second rank available) ...
Qd7. The answer appears to lie in the fact that the queen on b3 makes Bd3,
pinning Black's queen, a threat.}) 29. Ne4 Be7 30. Bxg5 Nd7 31. Qd3 Nf4 32.
Bxf4 exf4 33. Qd4 $11) 28... Nf4 29. Kh2 {Fritz's preferred} (29. Bxf4 exf4 (
29... gxf4 30. f6 Nd7 31. Qd3 {threatening 32.Ng5} Qe8 32. Ng5 e4 33. Qxe4 Qxe4
34. Bxf7+ Kh8 35. Nxe4 Nxf6 36. Nxf6 {Extraordinary! One would have thought
bishops of opposite colour would mean a draw. Black's queen's side pawns are
vulnerable; let's see;} gxf6 37. Kf1 Be7 38. Be6 Bd8 39. Bc8 b6 40. cxb6 Bxb6
41. Bxa6 c5 42. b5 {and now I can see how White's a, b and h pawns could be
decisive.}) 30. Kg2 {puts my king on g2, where I should have liked it to be in
the game.}) 29... Be7 30. Bxf4 gxf4 $2 {Now I should have won it.} (30... exf4
31. f6 {(I saw this move, but not all its possibilities)} Bxf6 (31... gxf6 $2
32. Nd6 Qf8 (32... Bxd6 $4 33. Qg6+ Kh8 34. Qh6+ Kg8 35. Bd3 {and Fritz
reckons it's mate in 17!} f5 36. Bxf5 Qe8 {guarding f7 while allowing the king
a bolthole on e7.} 37. Qh7+ Kf8 38. Qh8+ Ke7 39. cxd6+ {winning the queen.
Very clever; I didn't see any of this!})) 32. Nd6 Qe7 33. Nxf7 Qe1 34. Nxg5+
Kf8 35. Ne4 {preventing ... Qg3+} Bd4 36. Qg2 Qc1 {and now, if White tries too
hard for mate on the white squares, Black will get a perpetual, or even a mate
on the black squares. Black's bishop makes all the difference.}) 31. Qa2 $6 (
31. f6 $1 Bxf6 32. Nd6 Kf8 33. Bxf7 e4 34. Ba2 Nd7 35. Qb3 Ne5 {and Black's
control of the black squares seems to balance White's of the white. Fritz
still gives White a powerful advantage:} 36. fxe4 b6 (36... Ke7 37. Qe6+ Kf8
38. Kg2 f3+ 39. Kf1 f2 40. Kg2 {This is far too deep for me! Black's in
zugwang, I suppose, and White doesn't want to release him by} (40. Kxf2 b5 41.
cxb6 Qxb6+ 42. Ke2 {though the mate threats force the queen back to d8.}) 40...
g6 41. Qg8+ Ke7 42. Qh7+ Kf8 43. Be6 {and Black has no defence to 44.Qg8+ Ke7
45.Nc8+.}) 37. Qg8+ Ke7 38. Qe6+ Kf8 39. cxb6 Nf3+ 40. Kh1 Ng5 41. Qg8+ Ke7 42.
e5 Qxg8 43. exf6+ Kxd6 44. Bxg8 gxf6 45. h4 Ne4 46. Kg2 c5 47. Bd5 $1 {That's
a real computer's move!} Kxd5 (47... Nc3 48. bxc5+ Kxc5 49. b7) 48. b7 {and
queens.}) 31... Qd1 {He believes in active defence! I'd expected either} (31...
Qe8 32. f6 {(I think I should have managed this now)} gxf6 (32... Bxf6 $2 33.
Nd6 Qf8 34. Bxf7+ Kh8 35. Qe6 {threatening Qf5-h5#. Black is completely
overwhelmed on the white squares and will lose one or both of his minor pieces.
}) 33. Qg2+ Kh8 34. Qg4 {which is leading to no more than a draw; or}) (31...
Qf8 32. Qd2 Kh8 {(or 32...Qe8 33.f6, as above)} 33. Qa2 (33. Qb2 $6 Nd7 34. Qd2
Nf6 {has allowed his knight to join in.}) 33... Kg8 {and White's getting
nowhere.}) 32. Bxf7+ Kh7 $4 {He must keep in contact with the bishop, but even
32...Kh8 was better than this.} (32... Kf8 33. Kg2 (33. Bg8 Ke8 {and the king
escapes; 34.Qg2 keeps White a small edge. I'd been thinking of}) (33. Bh5 {I
wonder whether I should have noticed in time that} Qd5 {holds everything for
Black.}) 33... Nd7 34. Bg8 Ke8 35. Be6 Nf6 $11 {and Black is safe. White's
best is to exchange queens:} 36. Qd2 Qxd2+ 37. Nxd2 Kd8 38. Nc4 e4 39. Ne5 e3
40. Ng6 Nd7 (40... Nh5 41. Nxe7 Kxe7 42. Bc8 $16 Ng3 43. f6+ Kxf6 44. Bxb7 Ke5
45. Bxc6 Nh1 46. Kf1 Ng3+ 47. Ke1 Nf5 48. Bb7 Nd4 49. Kd1 Ke6 50. a4 e2+ 51.
Ke1 Nc2+ 52. Kxe2 Nxb4 53. Kd2 a5 54. Kc3 Nd5+ 55. Kc4 Nc7 56. Bc8+ Ke7 57. h4
Kd8 58. Bg4 Ke7 59. h5 Kd8 60. c6 Ne8 61. Kc5 Kc7 62. Bf5 Nf6 63. Bg6 Ng8 64.
Kd5 Nh6 (64... Nf6+ 65. Ke6 Kxc6 66. h6 gxh6 67. Kxf6 Kc5 68. Ke5 Kb4 69. Kxf4
Kxa4 70. Ke5 Kb4 71. f4 a4 72. Be4 a3 73. Bd5 {and now the f pawn will queen
in four moves, unlike my game in Round 1 of the Congress, when I failed to do
this, and turned a win into a loss!}) 65. Be4) 41. Bxd7 Kxd7 42. Nxf4 a5 (42...
Bf6 43. Kf1 a5 44. bxa5 Be7 45. Nd3 Bf6 46. Nb4 Bd4 47. a6 bxa6 48. Nxa6 Bb2
49. Ke2 Bxa3 50. h4 $18 {Who among us wouldn't have taken the e pawn to make
sure of it?} (50. Kxe3 $2 Kc8 $19 {and the knight is trapped} 51. h4 Kb7 52.
Nb4 Bxb4 53. Kd4 Ba3 54. Kc4 Bb2 {and Black wins!}) 50... Bb2 (50... Kc8 $2 51.
f6 gxf6 52. h5 f5 53. h6 Bb2 54. h7 Bg7 55. Nb4 {The knight has escaped and
White wins.}) 51. Kxe3 Bf6 52. h5 Bg5+ (52... Kc8 53. Ke4 Kd7 (53... Bc3 $2 54.
Nb4 Bxb4 $4 55. f6 gxf6 56. h6 f5+ 57. Kd4 Ba3 58. Kc3 Bxc5 59. h7 {and the
pawn can't be stopped!}) 54. Nb4 Be7 55. Nd3 Kc7 56. Ne5 Bxc5 57. Ng6 {The
knight covers f8 and e7, the king covers d4, 58.f6 comes next, forcing ...gxf6,
then 59.h6 and again the pawn can't be stopped.}) 53. Ke4 Be7 54. f4 Bf6 55.
Nb4 Be7 56. Nd3 Ke8 57. Ke5 Kd7 58. Kd4 Bf6+ 59. Ne5+ Kc7 60. Ke4 Be7 61. Ng4
Bxc5 62. f6 gxf6 (62... Bf8 63. fxg7 Bxg7 64. f5 Kd6 65. f6 Bf8 66. h6 Bxh6 67.
Nxh6 Ke6 68. f7 Ke7 69. Ke5 {and wins.})) 43. Nd3 axb4 {(43...Bf6 44.bxa5 is
similar to the previous lines)} 44. Ne5+ Kd8 45. axb4 Bf6 46. f4 Bh4 47. Kf1
Bg3 48. Ke2 Bxf4 49. Nc4 Bg3 50. Nxe3 Ke7 51. Ng4 Kf7 52. Kd3 Be1 53. Kc4 Bh4
54. b5 Bg3 55. bxc6 bxc6 56. Kd4 Ke7 57. Ke4 Ke8 {and it looks as though Black
can hold out. If White's king attempts to infiltrate via the a file, the
bishop can prevent this from a1. Ne5 is met by Bf2 and an exchange of c pawns,
after which Black's king and bishop can combine to protect g7.}) 33. Qg2 $6 {
Only Fritz's fourth choice, but I thought that it won at once. The move that
does that is} (33. Qe6 $1 {The knight is sufficient to safeguard White's king:}
Qe2+ 34. Kg1 Qxf3 (34... Qe1+ 35. Kg2 Qh4 36. Bg6+ Kh8 (36... Kh6 37. Qg8) 37.
Qc8+ Bd8 38. f6 gxf6 39. Qxd8+ Kg7 40. Bf7 Kxf7 41. Nd6+ Kg7 (41... Kg6 42.
Qg8+ Kh5 43. Qh7+ Kg5 44. Ne4#) (41... Ke6 42. Qg8+ Kd7 43. Qe8+ Kc7 44. Qc8#)
42. Nf5+) 35. Bg6+ Kh6 (35... Kh8 $4 36. Qc8+ Bf8 37. Qxf8#) 36. Bh5+ $1 Kxh5
37. Qf7+ Kh4 38. Qxe7+ Kxh3 39. Nf2+ Qxf2+ (39... Kg3 40. Qg5+ Qg4 41. Qxg4#)
40. Kxf2 {wins. Also better than my choice were}) (33. Bg6+ Kh8 (33... Kh6 34.
Qg8 Qe2+ 35. Kg1 Qe3+ 36. Kg2 Qe2+ 37. Nf2 e4 {To provide a bolthole for the
king and avoid 38.Qh7+ Kg5 39.Qh5+ Kf6 40.Qh4#.} 38. fxe4 Qd2 (38... Nd7 39.
Qh7+ Kg5 40. Qxg7 f3+ (40... Bf8 41. Qxd7 {and the mating net is still in
place:} Kh6 42. h4 Bg7 43. f6 $1 {wins.}) 41. Kg3 {and 41...Qxf2+ is the only
way to prevent 42.h4#.}) 39. Qh7+ Kg5 40. Qh5+ Kf6 41. e5+ Kxe5 42. f6+ Kd4 {
On either 42...Kxf6 or 42...Ke6, 43.Qf5#.} 43. fxe7 {Two queens should be
enough! A final winning approach was})) (33. f6 $1 {Clearing the g file.} Bxf6
{If either} (33... Bf8 34. Qf2 gxf6 35. Qg2 {mates or wins the queen; or}) (
33... gxf6 34. Qg2 {with the same outcome.})) 33... g5 {I thought this was
forced, but Fritz can see an alternative way of losing:} (33... Kh8 34. f6 Bxf6
(34... Bf8 35. fxg7+ Bxg7 36. Qg4 Qe2+ 37. Kg1 Qd1+ 38. Kg2 Qc2+ (38... Qe2+
39. Nf2 {and Black can't avoid mate; e.g.} Qc2 40. Qh4+ Qh7 41. Qd8+ Bf8 42.
Qxf8+ Qg8+ 43. Qxg8#) 39. Nf2 {and the threat of 40.Qh4+ is winning:} Nd7 (
39... Kh7 40. Be6 {followed by 41.Qh5+ Bh6 42.Qf7+ Bg7 43.Bf5+ winning the
queen. Even if Black's queen were on e2, say, 43...Kh8 44.Qe8+ wins the bishop,
and probably the knight too.}) 40. Qxd7) 35. Nxf6 Qd4 36. Nh5 {and White is
winning comfortably.}) 34. Qg4 $2 {Missing his manoeuvre; the easiest way to
win was} (34. h4 Qe1 35. hxg5 Qh4+ 36. Qh3 {and, although Black isn't mated,
the passed pawns will be overwhelming. I only looked at}) (34. fxg6+ Kg7 {
which also should have been good enough to win:} 35. h4 Nd7 (35... Bxh4 $2 {
allows the knight to reach d6:} 36. Nd6 Bg3+ 37. Kh3 {Never mind the b pawn,
White's g pawn will be decisive, e.g.} Nd7 38. Nf5+ Kf6 39. g7 Kxf7 40. Qa2+
Qd5 41. g8=Q+ $1 Kxg8 42. Ne7+ {wins; very clever. I wish I'd seen a fraction
of all this!}) 36. h5 Qe1 37. Bc4 {threatening 38.h6+ and 39.g7} Qh4+ 38. Qh3
Qxh3+ 39. Kxh3 Nf6 40. Nd6 Nxh5 {Three passed pawns will be too much, after} (
40... Bxd6 41. cxd6 Kh6 42. Kh4 Nd7 43. Be6 Nf8 44. Bf5) 41. Nxb7 Kxg6 42. Na5
{and White's queen's side will win it, instead.}) 34... Qe2+ 35. Kg1 Qe1+ 36.
Kg2 Qh4 37. Be6 a5 38. Nd6 $2 {The final nail in the coffin of my ambitions.
Either of} (38. f6 Qxg4+ 39. fxg4 Bd8 40. bxa5 Na6 (40... Kg6 41. h4 gxh4 (
41... Bxf6 42. h5+ Kg7 43. Nxf6 Kxf6 44. Bc8) 42. Bf5+ Kf7 43. g5 Kf8 44. g6
Bxf6 45. Nxf6 Na6 46. Ne4) 41. Bf5+ Kg8 42. Bc8 Bxa5 43. Bxb7 {followed by 44.
Ng5; or}) (38. bxa5 Bd8 39. f6 Qxg4+ 40. fxg4 {(I hope that I should have had
the courage to recapture with this and not the h pawn. Although this gives him
a pair of passed pawns, they are nicely blockaded and mine - especially if his
g pawn goes - are much more dangerous.)} Na6 {is the same as above.}) 38...
axb4 39. axb4 Na6 40. Nxb7 {Fritz now scores the position as 0.00, but I could
have retained a small advantage by} (40. Ne4 {renewing the threat of f5-f6; e.
g.} Nxb4 41. f6 Qxg4+ {or my queen "escapes" with Qf5+ and his king's in
trouble again.} 42. fxg4 {(42.hxg4 is 0.00)} Bd8 43. h4 gxh4 44. Kh3 Nd5 45.
Bf5+ Kg8 46. g5 Bxf6 {Only a computer would calculate this as Black's best
move!} (46... b6 $2 {is premature; after} 47. cxb6 {one of Black's minor
pieces must recapture on b6 and White is free to play g6. Black can sacrifice
a piece for the f pawn but, even if he manages to give up the other for
White's remaining pawn, bishop and knight are sufficient to mate.} Nxb6 (47...
Bxb6 48. g6 Nc7 49. g7 {threatening 50.Ng5 and 51.Bh7#. Black now can't stop
the g pawn from queening.} Kf7 50. Bh7) 48. g6 Bxf6 49. Nxf6+ Kf8 50. Nh5 Nd5
51. g7+ Kf7 52. Be6+ $1 {and Black's knight doesn't make it to e7 in time. A
human being is more likely to play either}) (46... f3 47. Kxh4 b6 {(now this
can be played, as Black's pawn on f2 keeps White's knight busy)} 48. Bd7 (48.
cxb6 Bxb6 49. g6 Nf4 50. g7 {threatening 51.Ng5 and 52.Bh7#; it would require
a cool head to play this, with that pawn on f3!} Bd8 51. Kg5 Bxf6+ 52. Kxf6
Nh5+ {and White's last pawn goes. Fritz prefers 52...Nd5+; presumably it's
trying to win for Black! Alternatively})) (46... Kf8 47. Kxh4 {doesn't look so
good for Black; White's king may be able to help advance the pawns.} b5 48.
cxb6 Bxb6 49. Bg4 Bd8 (49... c5 50. Kh5 Bd8 51. Be6 Nc7 52. Bc4 Ne8 53. Kg6 {
Counterintuitive, getting in the way of the g pawn, but now Black is getting
short of moves.} f3 54. Nxc5 {threatening 55.Nd7#} Nxf6 55. gxf6 Bxf6 {Mate
was still threatened, e.g.} (55... Bb6 56. Ne6+ Kg8 (56... Ke8 57. Bb5#) 57.
f7+ Kh8 58. f8=R# {(if you want to be flashy!)}) 56. Kxf6 {and now's the time
for people to demonstrate that the can remember how to mate with bishop and
knight!})) 47. gxf6 Kf7 48. Kxh4 Nxf6 49. Nd6+ Ke7 50. Nxb7 e4 51. Na5 Nd7 52.
Nxc6+ Ke8 53. Kg4 (53. Bxd7+ {doesn't work:} Kxd7 54. Nd4 (54. Ne5+ Ke6 55. c6
Kd6 56. Kg4 e3 57. Kf3 Kc7 {White's king needs the knight's help with Black's
pawns; when the knight moves, Black will take the c pawn.}) 54... e3 55. Kg4 e2
56. Nxe2 Kc6 {and White's last pawn goes.}) 53... e3 54. Bg6+ Kf8 55. Bd3 {
White will mop up Black's pawns, but Black will take White's and I'd like to
see B&N win against N!}) 40... Nxb4 41. Bc4 $6 {Fritz now scores Black as
better, but I was getting concerned about his knight's possible antics. I
could still have "equalised" by} (41. Nd6 Bf6 42. Ne4 Kg7 {and no-one is going
anywhere.}) 41... Nc2 (41... Kh6 {would have forced} 42. Qxh4+ gxh4 {else his
queen could escape to e1, while mine is stuck on g4.}) 42. Qxh4+ gxh4 43. Kf2 (
43. f6 {forces his knight to an inferior square:} Ne3+ 44. Kf2 Bxf6 45. Be6 Kg6
46. Bd7 Kf7 47. Nd6+ Ke7 48. Bxc6 Ke6 {is drawn. My bishop must stay on c6, to
keep his king away from the c pawn. After ...Be7, Ne4 doesn't protect the pawn
as Black can play ...Bxc5! as Nxc5 Kd6 regains the piece.}) 43... Kg7 $15 {
After all this time, Black has an edge!} 44. Nd6 Nd4 45. Ne8+ $2 {This should
have lost. Simply 45.Bd3 holds things together, but what an ignominious role
for my once poewerful bishop.} Kf8 46. Nd6 Kg7 $2 {Thankfully giving me a
reprieve.} (46... Bxd6 47. cxd6 Nxf5 48. d7 Ke7 49. Be6 Nd6 {would have given
me a terribly hard, if not impossible, struggle to save the game.}) 47. Bd3 {
Redeeming myself, I offered a draw, which I'm glad to say he accepted. 47...
Nb3 could have give me some trouble; he wins my c pawn while I can't easily
win his. After all that excitement, the game "fizzled out", as games tend to
do when the attacker fails to find the best moves. One of the most interesting
games that I can remember, and it's taken me several days to analyse, even
partially, with Fritz's help.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Calderdale Congress (Major)"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.05.24"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Leonard, P."]
[Black "Desmedt, R."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "131"]
[BlackElo "157"]
[Annotator "Leonard,Pete"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]

1. e4 {This was a "scratch" game, due to people withdrawing from both the Open
and the Major. Rather than giving each of us a bye, the organiser very
sensibly offered us a graded game that would naturally have no effect on
either section. Each of us had had two consecutive Whites, so we tossed a coin
and I won. I chose White, not least because the organiser told me that he
played the Scandinavian, against which I've been doing pretty well.} d5 2. exd5
Nf6 3. Bb5+ Nbd7 {John Emms, in Attacking with 1.e4, doesn't think much of
this move, calling it "slightly passive". An odd choice, given that I'd been
told my opponent went in for very sharp play. Not in this game he didn't;
perhaps he was tired after four preceding rounds.} 4. d4 a6 5. Be2 $14 Nxd5 6.
Nf3 g6 {Fritz 14 wants Black to play c7-c5, or later e7-e5, either of which
makes sense with the knight on d7.} 7. c4 N5b6 {Presumably with ...c5; dxc5
Nxc5 in mind, Fritz prefers 7...N5f6.} 8. Be3 {Not Fritz's preference - 8.a4
or 8.Nc3 - but I was taking a leaf out of the 150 Attack approach to the Pirc,
Modern and as used against Black's fianchetto in the Closed Sicilian.} Bg7 9.
Qd2 {Going on with my plan; Fritz prefers 9.Nc3, 9.O-O or 9.h3.} O-O 10. Bh6
Nf6 {Fritz thinks he should have shown up my poor strategy by} (10... e5 11.
Bxg7 Kxg7 12. c5 {Neither} (12. dxe5 Qe7 {nor}) (12. Nxe5 Re8 {allows me to
retain my pawn and leaves me behind in development.}) 12... e4 13. Ng5 e3 14.
Qxe3 Nd5 15. Qd2 Re8 {looks like the sort of position my opponent would enjoy;
I can't castle, due to 16...Rxe2 17.Qxe2 Qxg5, and} 16. Nc3 Nxc3 17. bxc3 b5 {
gives Black equality, despite the pawn deficit.}) 11. Bxg7 Kxg7 12. Nc3 (12.
Qe3 {restrains both c7-c5 and e7-e5 and frees d1 for a rook. I was concerned
not to be left behind with my development; as it happened, he continued to
play passively.} Bg4 {or} (12... Ng4 13. Qc3 {gives my queen a nice diagonal
and} Na4 14. Qb4 Nb6 {hasn't gained him anything, while} (14... Bd7 15. b3 Nb6
{has helped me to bolster my centre, and}) (14... b5 15. O-O Nb6 (15... c6 16.
c5 {traps his knight} e5 17. b3 e4 18. Ne1 Nb2 19. Qc3 Nd3 20. Bxd3 exd3 21.
Nxd3 {has extricated it, but again at the cost of a pawn}) 16. cxb5 {appears
simply to win White a pawn})) 13. Nbd2 {makes sure that d4 will remain well
protected.}) 12... Bg4 13. b3 {Otherwise 13...Bxf3 will force me to double my
pawns or lose my c pawn.} c6 {Again Fritz prefers 13...c5; if I'd not been
told, I wouldn't describe him as liking sharp play!} 14. O-O {I thought it was
about time, but Fritz would have delayed longer:} (14. Rd1 Bxf3 15. Bxf3 {and
only now castling.}) 14... Qc7 $6 (14... Bxf3 15. Bxf3 e5 {takes advantage of
the fact that the d pawn is pinned, and equalises.}) 15. Ne5 Bxe2 {I was
equally happy if his bishop retreated to e6; the exchanged suited me too, as
it takes my queen off the d file, protects e5 and anyway my bishop seemed to
have less scope than his.} 16. Qxe2 Rad8 17. Rad1 Nbd7 18. Rfe1 Nxe5 19. dxe5
Ng8 {This may look awful, but} (19... Nh5 20. g3 {sidelines his knight for a
while; and on}) (19... Nd7 {I had intended} 20. e6 Nf6 21. Rxd8 Qxd8 {At the
very least, he's saddled with an isolated pawn on my open file.}) 20. Kh1 {I
want to play f4 to support my e pawn, without being harrassed by checks on the
a7-g1 diagonal. However, Fritz wants me to play g4, with or without h3. I'm
not sure what this is about, unless it then plans f4 and a pawn storm.} e6 {
Again, surprisingly passive; Fritz rates each of 20...Rxd1, 20...Qa5, 20...Nh6
and 20. ..h5 as 0.00.} 21. f4 {Fritz still prefers} (21. g4 {This does take f5
from his knight; let's see what Fritz has in mind:} Ne7 22. Qe3 h6 23. f4 {So
it is to be the pawn storm. Either f6 or d6 are nice squares for my knight,
and White is going to have to move the king back to g1.}) 21... Ne7 {Fritz
would have exchanged all the heavy pieces, by} (21... Rxd1 22. Rxd1 Rd8 23. Ne4
Rxd1+ 24. Qxd1 Qa5 25. Qd2 Qxd2 26. Nxd2 {This is going to be hard for either
of us to win: no obvious weaknesses and no clear way into the opponent's
position, in view of the large number of pawns. White has more space, but is
this enough? Play might continue} f5 27. Nf3 {threatening 28.Ng5} h6 28. Nd4
Kf7 29. b4 g5 30. g3 gxf4 31. gxf4 Ne7 32. Kg2 b5 33. c5 Nd5 {Several of
Black's moves have been "only"; here for example} (33... Ke8 34. Nxe6 Nd5 35.
Ng7+ Kd7 36. a3 Nxf4+ 37. Kf3 Nd3 38. e6+ Ke7 39. Nxf5+ Kxe6 40. Nxh6 {is much
worse for Black than the "main" line.}) 34. Nxc6 Nxf4+ 35. Kg3 Ng6 {(0.00) The
knight keeps White's king out; if White's knight moves, ...Nxe5 gives Black
connected passed pawns.}) 22. Ne4 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 Rd8 {Trying to exchange the
other pair of rooks, which I prevented, but not in the most effective way.} 24.
Nd6 $6 (24. Rd6 $1 c5 (24... Nf5 $2 25. Qd2 Nxd6 $2 26. exd6 Qc8 27. Qd4+ e5 {
Anything else leads to mate:} (27... Kh6 28. g4 f6 29. Nxf6 Qc7 30. Ng8+ Rxg8
31. g5+ Kh5 32. Qd1+ Kh4 33. Qf3 {followed by 34.Qg3+ Kh5 35.Qh3#; or}) (27...
Kg8 28. Nf6+ Kf8 29. Nd5 Ke8 30. Qf6 Qc7 31. d7+ Kxd7 32. Qe7+ Kc8 33. Qxc7#)
28. fxe5 c5 29. Nxc5 Kg8 30. h3 g5 (30... h5 31. d7 Qc6 32. e6 fxe6 33. Qf6
Rxd7 34. Nxd7 Qxd7 35. Qxg6+ Kf8 36. Qxh5 {should be winning for White, in
view of two extra pawns and Black's exposed king.}) 31. Qd5 Qf5 32. Nxb7 Rd7 (
32... Qf1+ 33. Kh2 Qf4+ 34. g3 Qf2+ 35. Qg2 {forces the exchange of queens,
after which White's knight and pawns will be far too much for the rook to
handle.}) 33. c5 Rxb7 34. Qxb7 {is hopeless for Black; e.g.} Qf1+ 35. Kh2 Qf4+
36. g3 Qd4 37. Qg2 Qxc5 38. d7 {and the pawn can't be stopped} Qf8 39. Qc6 {40.
Qc8 is next, unless Black plays 39...Kg7 40.Qf6+ Kg8 41.d8Q.}) 25. Qd1 Nc6 26.
Nxc5 Qa5 27. Nxb7 Rxd6 28. Nxd6 Qxa2 29. Kg1 $14 Qb2 {This is now a strange
position for the computer: it gives 30.g3, 30.h3 and 30.Ne8+ modest pluses for
White, but examine any of them and those advantages seep away into the sand.
Suffice it to say that 24.Rd6 was correct in principle; it would probably work
OTB, too.} (29... Na5 $2 30. Ne8+ Kf8 31. Nf6 {and White's knight has reached
its optimum square.})) 24... Nc8 {With a view to perhaps transferring the rook
to h3.} 25. Rd3 Kg8 {Avoiding tricks with Nf5+.} 26. Ne4 Ne7 27. Nf6+ {Where
the knight wanted to be.} Kg7 {Counterintuitively, Fritz prefers} (27... Kf8
28. Nxh7+ Kg7 29. Nf6 Qa5 30. Rd6 Nf5 31. b4 Rh8 32. bxa5 Ng3+ 33. Kg1 Nxe2+
34. Kf1 Nxf4 35. g3 Nh3 36. Kg2 Ng5 37. a4 {Slightly better than} (37. Rd7 Nh7
38. Ne4 Nf8 39. Rxb7 Rh5 40. Nd6 Rxe5 41. Rxf7+ Kg8 42. Rc7 Rxa5 43. Rxc6 Rxa2+
44. Kf3 a5 45. Ra6) 37... Rb8 (37... Nh7 38. Ne4 Nf8 39. g4 g5 40. Nxg5 Ng6 41.
Nf3 c5 42. Kg3 $18) 38. Nd7 Re8 39. Nc5 Re7 40. h4 Nh7 41. g4 $18) 28. Rh3 $2 {
I spotted the possibilities of a knight fork on e8 after Rd3-h3xh7+. What a
pity I din't see the same was true of} (28. Rd6 $1 c5 (28... Rxd6 $2 29. Ne8+ {
wins}) 29. Qd2 Nc6 30. Rxd8 Qxd8 31. Qxd8 Nxd8 32. Nd7 b5 33. cxb5 axb5 34.
Nxc5 b4 35. Nd3 Nc6 $16 {Perhaps White can make something of that extra pawn;
Fritz seems to think so.}) 28... h5 $11 {Giving up the d file was a mistake,
unless I had gained considerable compensation.} 29. g4 Qa5 30. Ne4 $2 $17 {I
was made nervous by the prospect of 30...Rd2. Better was} (30. a4 Rd2 31. Qe3
Rd1+ 32. Kg2 b5 33. gxh5 bxa4 34. h6+ Kh8 35. Rf3 Qd2+ 36. Qxd2 Rxd2+ 37. Kh3
a3 38. b4 a2 39. Ra3 Ng8 40. Nxg8 Kxg8 41. Rxa6 Kh7 42. b5 $11 {The two passed
pawns on the queen's side cancel one another out.}) 30... hxg4 31. Rh4 Nf5 $2 {
His turn to miss his best chance of a win:} (31... Qa3 32. Rxg4 Qc1+ 33. Rg1
Qxf4 34. Nd6 Nf5 35. Rf1 Qh4 36. Qf2 Qxf2 37. Rxf2 Nxd6 38. Rd2 c5 $19 {After
exd6, White's d pawn will be unsustainable and then Black's e, f and g pawns
will prove too much for White.}) 32. Rxg4 Qa3 {Too late!} (32... b5 33. Rg1 Rd4
34. Rf1 bxc4 35. bxc4 Qb4 36. Rc1 Qa3 37. Re1 Qh3 $19 {and now White cannot
defend everything.}) 33. Rg1 Qe7 {He offered a draw, which I was relieved to
accept. I think that neither of us wanted to play out a long and complicated
endgame.} 1/2-1/2

