[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.09.21"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Bak, A."]
[Black "Hunter, I."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B32"]
[WhiteElo "173"]
[BlackElo "169"]
[Annotator "Andrew Bak"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.06.30"]
[WhiteTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Belgrave"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {Ian had usually played the Dragon in the past so this
surprised me a bit, I was thinking he might be trying the Accelerated Dragon
but it's not really in his style.} 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5 {The Kalashnikov! I
don't mind playing against this as I have played the Sveshnikov a lot with
Black myself so I'm comfortable playing these structures with both colours.} 5.
Nb5 d6 6. N5c3 {A key difference between the Svesnikov and this is that the
b5-knight can come directly back into the game via c3 rather than going to
a3-c2-e3.} Nf6 7. Bg5 Be7 8. Bxf6 {The control of d5 is all-important.} Bxf6 9.
Nd5 Bg5 10. Bd3 $146 (10. g3 O-O 11. Bg2 b5 12. O-O Be6 13. c3 Ne7 14. Nxe7+
Qxe7 15. Na3 Rfd8 16. Nc2 {1/2-1/2 (16) Anand,V (2555)-Tiviakov,S (2490)
Oakham 1990}) 10... O-O 11. h4 {A typical Sveshnikov idea. White hasn't yet
decided where the king is going and can get some space on the kingside for
free.} Bh6 12. g4 g6 13. g5 Bg7 {The push of the g-pawn's primary function is
to make Black's typical ...f5 break much less effective. White sometimes
castles kingside so it's not necessarily going to be an attack on the kingside
yet.} 14. Qf3 Nd4 15. Qg3 Be6 16. Nbc3 Rc8 17. h5 {I decided to delay castling.
} b5 (17... Qxg5 {This trick doesn't quite work.} 18. Qxg5 Nf3+ 19. Ke2 Nxg5
20. Ne7+ Kh8 21. Nxc8 Rxc8 $16) (17... Bxd5 {Throwing this move in first was
quite testing. I wasn't sure how I was going to meet it.} 18. Nxd5 (18. exd5 $6
Qxg5 {Now this does work!} 19. Qxg5 Nf3+ 20. Ke2 Nxg5 $15) 18... Nxc2+ 19. Bxc2
(19. Ke2 Nxa1 20. Rxa1) 19... Rxc2 {I wasn't sure how to assess this but I
guess I would have had to have gone for it as all the other alternatives are
just bad. My knight on d5 is now untouchable and his bishop on g7 isn't great.
However I probably can't really attack anymore, my King won't get safe too
easily and I'm a pawn down.}) 18. O-O-O {This sacrifices a pawn if Black wants
it, but it is necessary because if I try to press ahead with an attack, the
king is simply too exposed on e1.} (18. hxg6 fxg6 {I have to constantly be
aware of something landing on f3 and/or ...Qxg5. For example here, I can't get
my queen to the h-file.}) 18... a5 {I thought this move was a bit slow. OK, it
threatens ...b4 without me being able to capture it but I'm not that bothered
about the knight on c3 anyway.} (18... Bxd5 19. Nxd5 Rxc2+ 20. Kb1 {While this
loses a pawn and slightly weakens my king, Black has lost two tempi and I felt
that this justified the sacrifice. Furthermore, he can no longer challenge my
d5-knight and my attack is faster than his.}) 19. hxg6 fxg6 20. Qh4 b4 {I
thought this was the most critical response.} (20... Nf3 $1 {I never really
considered this during the game but the computer says it's Black's best.} 21.
Nf6+ Rxf6 22. Qxh7+ Kf7 23. gxf6 Qxf6 {The whole point is that the knight
covers h2 and h4 so my queen is trapped. The best I have is} 24. Be2 Rh8 25.
Qxh8 Bxh8 26. Bxf3 {where the computer prefers Black.}) 21. f4 {I spent a lot
of time on these last few moves.} (21. Qxh7+ Kf7 22. Nf4 {This was another
option I analysed. My plan is to try and play Qxg6. If it works, this gains a
move on what I actually played as Black doesn't really have time to take on c3.
} Qxg5 {This rather spoils things. He's defending g6 and threatening to play ..
..Qxf4 with check.} (22... exf4 23. e5 {This looked a bit messy.})) (21. Nf6+
Kf7 (21... Rxf6 22. gxf6 {I saw that this won an exchange for a pawn but I
wasn't sure how good this was for me.}) 22. Ncd5 {I saw this and maybe this
was a good way to play. I just thought that my position, although it optically
looks quite nice is a bit blocked up and attacking might not be so easy.
However looking at it in the cold light of day, I probably should have gone
for this as it's much safer than what I did.}) 21... bxc3 (21... exf4 22. Qxh7+
Kf7 23. e5 {Again opening up the lines to g6.} Bf5 24. e6+ $1 Bxe6 (24... Nxe6
25. Bxf5 gxf5 26. g6+ Ke8 27. Rhe1 $18) 25. Bxg6#) (21... h6 {Both Ian and I
considered this during the game. Actually the computer indicates this is
Black's only defence.} 22. gxh6 Qxh4 23. Rxh4 Bf6 24. Nxf6+ Rxf6 25. Nd5 {I
assessed this endgame as better for me but it's probably nothing special.}) 22.
Qxh7+ Kf7 23. f5 (23. Rh6 $1 {I never saw this. I knew I had to infiltrate to
g6 somehow and I can't believe this didn't come to my mind!} Bxd5 24. exd5 Rg8
25. Qxg6+ Ke7 26. fxe5 $18 {All the lines are opening up, there's no defence.})
23... Qxg5+ {While this opens up lines to the king and puts the queen in
danger, it's probably necessary to get rid of the g5-pawn.} 24. Kb1 Bxd5 25.
fxg6+ Ke8 (25... Ke6 26. exd5+ Kxd5 27. Qxg7 {I'm not even material down now
and the attack is still going.}) 26. exd5 {I thought this was the correct
bishop to take as the light-squared bishop could be an awkward defender. Also,
when you're attacking, bishops of opposite-colour are normally good. In this
position, Black's dark-squared bishop isn't doing much while my light-squared
bishop has more potential.} (26. Qxg7 {Apparently this is necessary, although
I'm not better.} Be6 27. bxc3 $11) 26... Qe7 {This should also be enough to
defend.} (26... Rc7 {When we were analyzing after the game, we thought this
might defend for Black and the computer agrees. My pieces are badly placed and
I have one less knight than he does!}) 27. Rdf1 Nf3 28. Qh3 Nd2+ 29. Kc1 Nxf1
$4 (29... Rc7 30. Rxf8+ Kxf8 31. bxc3 e4 $19) 30. Qxc8+ Qd8 31. Bb5+ 1-0

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "Ruy Lopez"]
[Date "2015.09.21"]
[Round "12"]
[White "Sykes, N."]
[Black "Khan, K."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C88"]
[Annotator "Nick Sykes"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Belgrave"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {I used to have a rule of not playing the same
opening against the same player twice. Well forget that! I got burned against
John Cawston last year, after winning a lovely game in a QGD Tarrasch I
decided to abandon it next time we played a month later and lost in a Triangle
System (that I was was not match sharp in), so that rule has gone out of the
window and I repeated the opening we played in the same fixture last season} a6
4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. c3 Bg4 $5 (8... O-O 9. h3 {is
main line and was played in last years corresponding fixture between the same
two players, when White went on to win a nice game}) 9. d3 {The most common
response, although I didn't know this at the time} Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Nbd2 O-O
12. h3 Bh5 13. Nf1 Nc6 (13... Ne8 14. Ng3 Bg6 {has all been played a number of
time according to my database}) 14. Ng3 Bg6 15. Nh4 Nxe4 $4 {Played after a
lot of thought, but is a blunder that simply loses a piece} ({I would be
looking to play} 15... d5 $1 $10) 16. Nxg6 Nxf2 $4 {Black thought he was
getting two pawns for the piece and lot of activity, however} (16... fxg6 17.
dxe4 {is obviously losing but a bit better}) 17. Nxe7+ {Karim said he had
missed this zwischenzug (in-between move)} Qxe7 18. Kxf2 f5 {White has two
pieces for two pawns, a huge advantge. I felt I would win this position, but
for now Black has a lot more space and it is not that easy for White to use
his extra two pieces, although I was pretty sure I would eventually prevail}
19. Bb3+ Kh8 20. Bd5 Rac8 21. Bxc6 Rxc6 {I reckoned the less pieces there are
the easier it is for White to prevail} 22. Qf3 Rc7 23. Kg1 Qh4 24. Bd2 Rcf7 25.
Ne2 Rf6 26. Qf2 Qh5 27. Ng3 Qe8 28. Rf1 Qc8 29. a4 h6 30. axb5 axb5 31. Qf3 f4
32. Ne4 Rg6 33. Nf2 $6 {Not the best as it gives Black a slight sniff of an
attack} Rg3 34. Qh5 f3 35. Bxh6 $5 {Well time to give back a piece for
activity, practically I think this is a good move} Rxg2+ 36. Kh1 gxh6 (36...
Qf5 {is best but after} 37. Qxf5 Rxf5 38. Be3 {White maintains his two piece
advantage and with no queens, there is no chance for Black}) 37. Qxh6+ Kg8 38.
Ra7 Qf5 39. Rg1 {This is sufficient to win, however} (39. Ng4 $1 {is mate in
10!}) 1-0

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.09.21"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Shapland, D."]
[Black "Farrar, G."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C41"]
[Annotator "Shapland,Dave"]
[PlyCount "99"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.09.22"]
[WhiteTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Belgrave"]

1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 e5 {Gordon played this same line against me last
season so, although I hadn't expected to play him and hadn't prepare anyway, I
wasn't surprised by this choice.} 4. Nf3 exd4 5. Nxd4 Be7 6. Be2 {I think that
last year I replied with 6.Be3 and went for a Yugoslav attack type set up with
Be3-Bc4-f3-Qd2 and 0-0-0. I didn't really get anywhere despite my aggressive
intentions and so this time I decided to be more patient, apply positional
pressure and wait for Gordon to create structural weaknesses as it seemed
inevitable he would have to in order to free his game.} O-O 7. O-O c5 {Yes,
this was the break he made last year too. It's an active and space gaining
option but it comes at a positional price. The d6 pawn is left weak and there
is a big hole on d5 that White can aim at occupying. imagined that my
opponent's plan would be to try and eliminate his structrual weakness by
playing d5 at some stage and so I looked for good ways to prevent that from
happening.} 8. Nb3 {8.Nf3 was also an option but I wanted to leave myself the
option of playing f4 and also thought that Black might leave some outposts for
my knights onnthe queen's side when he advances his pawns. This turned out,
unusually for me, to be quite a good positional call.} Nc6 9. f4 {Simply
gaining space and restricting Black's activity by preventing Ne5.} a5 10. a4 {
Good. Now there is an outpost for me on b5 as well as d5. Black's light
squares look weak.} Nb4 {Black maintains his policy of playing actively.} 11.
Bf3 {It appeared to me that the point of Black's last move was primarily to
support the d5 break so I prevented it.} Be6 {Preparing the break again. I
couldn't decide whether or not I minded the prospect of Black playing Bxb3 and
doubling my b-pawns. After all, even though he gives up a bishop for a knight,
his own knight on b4 will be more secure after such an exchange.} 12. Be3 {Now
if Black plays d5 he'll leave c5 insufficiently protected.} Rc8 13. Nb5 {The
engine preferred 13...f5 here} d5 $2 {This felt like desperation at the time
and the enige seemd to agree. Gordon was obviously very keen to eliminate this
backward pawn weakness. However, his timing isn't great and most of my play
over the last few moves has been targetted at preventing this move from being
possible.} 14. e5 $1 {Avoiding the exchange and creating the poetnial for a
massive outpost on d6. Additionally, the a8-h1 diagonal looks like a
vulnerability for Black here.} Ne4 15. c3 Nc6 {I'd expected...} (15... Na6 {...
to keep the c-pawn protected although the knight isn't exactly well placed
here. Fritz now suggests...} 16. Qe2 f5 17. exf6 Nxf6 {... and White has a
good advantage.}) 16. Bxe4 dxe4 17. Nxc5 Bc4 {I'd anticipated this and was
already calculating ways of giving up the exchange in order to lock down the
position.} 18. Qxd8 {More precise was...} (18. Nxb7 Qxd1 19. Rfxd1 Bd3 20. N7d6
Rb8 {... and White has two extra pawns and a very powerful pair of knights.
This must be winning.}) 18... Nxd8 $1 {Stubborn defence from Gordon. The most
natural move would have led to a very difficult situation for Black after...} (
18... Rfxd8 19. Rfd1 Bxc5 20. Bxc5 Rxd1+ 21. Rxd1 {... and the White knight
will land on d6 if given the chance to do so. White is much better here.}) 19.
Nxe4 $1 {I wasn't afraid to give up the exchange as the bishop on c4 is
Black's best piece and besides that I now have a terrifying pair of knights,
one of which will occupy d6 on a long term basis.} Bxf1 20. Rxf1 $6 {I was
guilty of not looking hard enough for Black counterplay here. 20... Rc4 was/is
his threat and so the queen's rook should maintain protection of the a4 pawn
after...} (20. Kxf1 $1 {Black's pieces are hardly active enough to cause a
genuine threat to White's king.} Rc4 21. Ned6 Bxd6 22. Nxd6 Rc7 23. Ke2 {White
has two pawns for the exchange and a very dominant position. Bc5 is threatened,
picking up another pawn. It looks good.}) 20... Rc4 {This was the move I'd
missed. It looks odd to go on the attack when the rest of Black's pieces are
in a tangle, but clearly, Black must strive for counterplay anywhere he can
get it.} 21. Ned6 Rxa4 {Now the engine adjudges the position to be equal.} 22.
Nf5 $6 {I thought I'd found a devious way to trap the bishop but of course, I
was wrong!} Nc6 {After this, the only move to save the bishop, Black is
actually slightly better according to Fritz. Still, from a practical
perspective, Black still has some problems to solve and White's game is easier
to play.} (22... Re8 23. Nc7 {loses a piece.}) 23. Rd1 {When I played my last
move I thought that now...} (23. Nxe7+ {... would win material for me. Only
now did I see that after...} Nxe7 24. Bc5 Re8 25. Nc7 Rc8 {Black doesn't lose
material. I'd missed Rc8 in my calculations.}) 23... Rb8 {Black's pieces are
still somewhat entangled. He'll have a hard time liberating them. Even the
rook on a4, though activiated, is momentarily out of the action.} 24. Rd7 {I
thought that I had to play actively to try and take advantage of Black's
temporary lack of coordination. In fact the ewngine thinks that a more solid
approach was necessary in this instance.} (24. Rd2 Bf8 25. Kf2 Rd8 26. Nfd6 Rd7
27. g3 {White first consolidates his positional advantages and sets Black's
pieces in awkward positions. This maintains the balance but nothing more.})
24... Bf8 25. Nfd6 b6 {After this passive move Black is slightly worse again.
He had a more energetic way to cause difficulties for me with...} (25... Bxd6
26. Nxd6 Ra2 27. b3 b5 {This is equal at best for White.}) 26. Rxf7 {Winning a
second pawn again. Now I felt a bit more confident. It looked like Gordon's
pieces were still awkwardly placed and mine were much stronger.} Nd8 $6 {Again
Ra2 was a more active way to play.} 27. Rd7 {Ra7 intending Ra6 next move, was
stronger. Again though, I was seeking to drive home my advantage quickly
before Black coordinated himself. It looks like I was too impatient.} Ne6 {
Suddenly Black's knight is released from its corale and embarks on a stampede.}
28. f5 {Tempting. But I'd underestimated Gordon's reply.} Nc5 29. Rc7 {I was
loathe to exchange my bishop but the knight has become active and should have
been removed before it did damage. White is still better after...} (29. Bxc5
bxc5 30. e6 Ra1+ 31. Kf2 Rb1 32. c4 Rxb2+ 33. Kf3 a4 34. f6 gxf6 35. Ne4 {
White is threatening check mate so now...} Kh8 36. e7 Bxe7 37. Rxe7 {Seems to
be winning for White though there is still plenty to do to convert.}) 29... Nd3
{Too late, I saw the point. Ra1 mate is threatened and so I'm losing the
e-pawn.} 30. h3 Nxe5 31. Bd4 {'No matter', I thought, at least now my worst
piece has become active on a strong outpost. The struggle for the initiative
continues.} Nd3 {Gordon should have played the rook check straight away
instead of waiting for one more move.} (31... Ra1+ 32. Kh2 Re1 {... and Black
is a little better.}) 32. Ne4 $2 {Right idea, wrong move order. This time,
speed was of the essence and I missed a beat.} (32. f6 {...was best and now...}
gxf6 33. Ne4 Bg7 34. Nxf6+ Bxf6 35. Bxf6 {... and it is White who has the edge
now.}) 32... Ra1+ 33. Kh2 Re1 34. Nbd6 Nc5 {The last few moves have been
pretty forcing and a crisis has arrived. Sadly I only had a couple of minutes
on my clock and turned a difficult position into a losing one.} 35. f6 $2 {
Blundering to a completely losing position. I can't remember why I rejected
the only move...} (35. Bxc5 {... but even after this...} bxc5 36. f6 Bxd6+ 37.
Nxd6 gxf6 {... and Black is just an exchange up for nothing.}) 35... Nxe4 36.
f7+ {Cursing myself I used my last few seconds making this decision. It seemed
that my only hope at all was to box the Black king in and keep the f-pawn
rather than releasing the tension by exchanging on g7. At least I got this
decision right!} Kh8 37. Nf5 Nf6 {Ng5 was even better I think but there is
nothing wrong with the game move.} 38. Rc6 {Hoping for a blunder that would
allow Rxf6!!} Nd7 {Gordon is too good to fall for that!} 39. g4 Ne5 40. Rc7
Nf3+ {Forcing further simplification. I was preparing to resign at this point
but for some reason thought I should carry on a little while longer.} 41. Kg2
Nxd4 42. cxd4 Re2+ 43. Kf3 Rxb2 44. Ne7 {I spotted a few tricks after playing
this move and thought 'Well, you've nothing to lose. The game is already lost'.
Black can't take the knight as if the rook gets to e7 it will be White who
wins.} a4 45. h4 {Just charging. I'd also seen that I mate be able to play
Ng6+ in some lines and try to mate with my rook on the h-file. I was sure I
wouldn't get the chance to play that though.} a3 46. Ra7 a2 47. h5 {Of course
White is completely busted. However, there remain a few little wrinkles in the
position that Black needs to identify and take action to supress.} a1=Q {It's
hard to criticise this move because it allows Black to win the knight
whereupon surely White will resign. However, natural though it is this
variation requires that Black finds an accurate sequence to secure victory.
Possibly more straightforward was...} (47... b5 {It turn out that White is
pretty much in zugswang. The trappy idea of...} 48. Ng6+ {now fails to...} hxg6
49. hxg6 Rb3+ 50. Ke4 Ba3 $1 51. Re7 a1=Q 52. Re8+ Bf8 $1 {Very nice. It's
definitely all over now!}) 48. Rxa1 {Now White actually has a threat in this
position.} Bxe7 {Gordon clearly didn't like the look of allowing, after just
making any old move like...} (48... b5 {... and now...} 49. Ng6+ hxg6 50. hxg6
{Threatening mate so...} Rh2 51. Re1 {... and now threatening Re8, so Black
now has to find the accurate continuation...} Rh6 52. Re8 Rxg6 53. Rxb8 Rf6+
54. Ke4 Rxf7 {When Black is winning but this is hard to find.}) 49. Re1 {The
capture threat is deadly and Black can't defend the bishop from e8. Apparently
caught by surprise Gordon now took a tumble.} Rb7 $4 {Losing on the spot.
However, at the end of a lenghty and rather complicated evening's play it
would have been to Gordon's enormous credit had he been able to find the
refutation of my idea which was...} (49... Rf2+ $3 {A fine manoeuvre and very
hard to spot. If the White king goes to g3 then Black simply captures to
f-pawn and wins. But if...} 50. Kxf2 Bh4+ {... is the point, regaining the
material and securing victory.} 51. Ke2 Bxe1 52. Kxe1) 50. Rxe7 {Gordon
resigned here as he saw no way to prevent mate or at least a new queen
arriving. In fact he could have staved off the threats at the cost of a rook...
} (50. Rxe7 Rb3+ 51. Kf4 g5+ $1 {Giving his king some room and with tempo too.}
52. Kxg5 Kg7 53. Rxb7 {... but White keeps his f-pawn and Black is two pawns
down to boot. It must be hopeless but given what had gone before... who knows.}
) 1-0

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.09.21"]
[Round "1.4"]
[White "Leatherbarrow, A."]
[Black "Gonzalez, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A41"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Belgrave"]

1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 Nc6 3. g3 Bf5 4. Bg2 Rb8 5. Nbd2 d5 6. c3 h6 7. b3 e6 8. Bb2
Be7 9. Rc1 Nf6 10. h3 Ne4 11. Nf1 Ng5 12. Nxg5 Bxg5 13. e3 Be7 14. Nd2 O-O 15.
O-O e5 16. f4 Bd3 17. dxe5 Bxf1 18. Nxf1 Bc5 19. Qxd5 Qxd5 20. Bxd5 Ne7 21. Bf3
c6 22. b4 Bb6 23. c4 Rbd8 24. c5 Bc7 25. Bd4 Nf5 26. Bc3 g6 27. Kf2 Ng7 28. Nd2
b6 29. Bxc6 bxc5 30. bxc5 Rb8 31. Ne4 Ne6 32. Nf6+ Kg7 33. Nd7 Rfc8 34. Nxb8
Bxb8 35. Bd7 Rxc5 36. Bxe6 fxe6 37. Ke2 Kf7 38. Kd3 g5 39. Rb1 Rc8 40. Rb7+ Kg6
41. g4 h5 42. Bd4 a6 43. Ke4 hxg4 44. hxg4 Rf8 45. Rb6 Ba7 46. Rxe6+ 1-0

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.09.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Broadbent, R."]
[Black "Parsons, M."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B13"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.09.22"]
[WhiteTeam "Brighouse"]
[BlackTeam "Huddersfield"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Qc7 6. Na3 a6 7. Ne2 Bg4 8. f3
Bd7 9. Nc2 Nf6 10. Ne3 g6 11. O-O Bg7 12. Bd2 O-O 13. Ng3 e5 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15.
Be1 Nxd3 16. Qxd3 Bb5 17. Qd2 Bxf1 18. Ngxf1 Rad8 19. Nc2 Rfe8 20. Bf2 b5 21.
a4 Qb7 22. a5 Nd7 23. Nb4 Ne5 24. Re1 Nc4 25. Rxe8+ Rxe8 26. Qxd5 Qxd5 27. Nxd5
Nxa5 28. Nc7 Re2 29. b4 Nc4 30. Nxa6 Ra2 31. Nc7 Ra1 32. Nxb5 Nd2 33. g3 Rxf1+
34. Kg2 Rc1 35. Be3 Bxc3 0-1

