[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.11.02"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Hamer, M."]
[Black "Bak, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A48"]
[WhiteElo "183"]
[BlackElo "173"]
[Annotator "Andrew Bak"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.06.30"]
[WhiteTeam "Todmorden 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. Nbd2 h6 5. Bh4 g5 (5... d6 {This might be
more precise to prevent Be5, this is at least what the top guys usually do.} 6.
c3 g5 7. Bg3 Nh5 8. e3 Nd7 9. Bd3 e6 10. O-O Qe7 11. a4 f5 12. Ne1 Ndf6 13. f4
Nxg3 14. hxg3 O-O 15. e4 c5 16. dxc5 d5 17. exf5 Qxc5+ 18. Kh1 exf5 19. Nb3 Qe3
20. Qf3 Qe8 21. Nc2 Ng4 22. Kg1 Qh5 23. Rfe1 Bd7 24. Qxd5+ Kh8 25. Qxd7 Qh2+
26. Kf1 Rad8 27. Qxb7 Qxg3 28. Re2 Rxd3 29. Nc5 Qxf4+ 30. Ke1 Qg3+ 31. Kf1 Qh4
32. g3 Rxg3 33. Ne6 Rg8 34. Nxg7 Nh2+ 35. Ke1 Nf3+ 36. Kf2 Rh3+ 37. Ke3 Qf4+
38. Kd3 Ne5# {0-1 (38) Short,N (2664)-Kasparov,G (2812) Saint Louis USA 2015})
6. Bg3 Nh5 7. c3 Nxg3 {I don't need to rush with this.} (7... d6 {Again, this
seems to be the way to go.}) 8. hxg3 d5 9. e4 dxe4 10. Nxe4 Qd5 $6 11. Nfd2 {
I didn't see this move at all.} b6 $2 $16 (11... Nc6 {I need to get developed
fast.}) 12. Bc4 Qf5 13. Qc2 e6 14. O-O-O (14. Nd6+ cxd6 15. Qxf5 exf5 16. Bd5 {
We both completely missed this one!}) 14... Bb7 15. Rde1 O-O {I was trying to
castle long, but I had to castle here really as Nd6 was threatened.} 16. g4 Qg6
(16... Qxg4 17. Nf6+ Bxf6 18. Rxh6 $18 {[%cal Gc2h7,Gh6f6]}) 17. Bd3 f5 18. Ng3
Bc8 19. Rxe6 Bxe6 20. gxf5 Qe8 21. fxe6 Nc6 22. Nf5 Rf6 23. Bb5 Rxe6 24. Bc4
Kh8 25. Bxe6 Qxe6 26. Nf3 Ne7 27. Nxg7 Kxg7 28. Re1 Qf6 29. Qe4 Re8 30. Qe5 $6
{Although White had more spectacular wins before, what he did was fine.
However he probably should have left the queens on, although White is probably
still winning even after this.} Qxe5 31. Rxe5 Kf6 32. Nd2 Rd8 33. Ne4+ Kf7 34.
g4 Ng6 35. Rf5+ Kg7 36. Ng3 Nf4 37. Nh5+ Nxh5 38. gxh5 Re8 39. Kd2 Re4 40. Re5
Rf4 41. Ke3 Kf7 42. Re4 Rf5 43. f3 Ra5 44. a3 Rb5 45. b4 Rf5 46. c4 a5 47. Re5
Rf4 48. bxa5 c5 49. axb6 cxd4+ 50. Ke2 d3+ 51. Kxd3 Rxf3+ 52. Ke2 1-0

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.11.02"]
[Round "4.2"]
[White "Cook, P."]
[Black "Leonard, P."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A34"]
[WhiteElo "178"]
[BlackElo "160"]
[Annotator "Leonard,Pete"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Todmorden 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]

1. c4 {As expected; I shall keep plugging away with the English Defence until
convinced otherwise.} b6 {Given a ? in Fritz 14's Openings Book, but that has
some very strange opinions.} 2. Nc3 Bb7 3. e4 {This isn't among Fritz's
favourites, but it seems to me a logical attempt to punish Black for not
contesting the centre.} c5 {Also given a ? in the Openings Book; it does have
the drawback of preventing ...Bb4, putting pressure on White's centre. Another
time, I may try 3...e5, which doesn't suffer from this defect, though it too
is given a ? by Fritz.} 4. g3 {Having said all that, Fritz rates the position
as 0.00.} f5 $6 $14 {Perhaps overambitious; I was tempted by the pin on the e
pawn.} 5. d3 {Is the e pawn pinned? I did give some thought to} (5. exf5 {
though, knowing what I do of Phil's style, I should have been astonisged if
he'd played this.} Bxh1 6. Qh5+ g6 7. fxg6 {Now, I'd only thought of} Nf6 {
whereas} (7... Bg7 8. gxh7+ Kf8 9. hxg8=Q+ Kxg8 $17 {followed by 10...Rxh2 is
better for Black.}) 8. g7+ Nxh5 9. gxh8=Q Nf6 $16 {and thought that he might
struggle to extricate his queen, during which time I might get at his king.
Fritz disagrees, and rates this better for White; I wonder whether I'd have
spotted 7...Bg7, when it came to it? Anyway, as expected, he didn't go for it.}
) 5... Nf6 6. Bg2 g6 7. Nge2 d6 $6 $16 {I should have made sure of} (7... fxe4
8. dxe4 Nc6 9. O-O Bg7 10. e5 Ng4 11. f4 O-O {Fritz rates this as slightly
better for White, though Black has problems on the white squares and it's hard
to see how to challenge White's centre without ending up with a weak d or e
pawn. It was to deter his e4-e5 that I played 7...d6; another argument in
favour of 3...e5.}) 8. O-O (8. Nf4 {highlights some of the holes in Black's
position. Fritz gives} Kf7 9. O-O Qc8 10. Ncd5 Nbd7 11. exf5 gxf5 12. Qe2 e5
13. Nh5 $16 {Now it's Black who has the imposing centre, but his king is more
than somewhat exposed.}) 8... Nc6 9. exf5 gxf5 10. Bg5 Bg7 11. Nf4 Qd7 12. Ncd5
{It's some reassurance to know that we've both mostly been choosing Fritz's
preferred moves. The engine now favours, and I'd expected} (12. Re1 {when it
appears that I must submit to} O-O {I'd thought that I must play} (12... e5 {
but it's much worse for Black:} 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Qh5+ Kd8 15. Nfd5 Be7 16. Nb5
Rb8 17. Qh6 Nd4 18. Nxd4 cxd4 19. f4 Bxd5 20. Bxd5 $18) 13. Ne6 Rf7 14. Qa4 Qc8
15. Nxg7 Kxg7 16. Nd5 Ng8 $14 {with a passive position.}) 12... O-O 13. Ne6 {
Clever! Fritz still favours} (13. Re1 Ne5 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. d4 cxd4 16. Nxf6+
Rxf6 17. Qxd4 Qc8 $14) 13... Rf7 {This seemed to me the only move; of course I
can't take the knight:} (13... Qxe6 $4 14. Nxf6+ Bxf6 15. Bd5 Qxd5 16. cxd5 Nd4
$16 {when I suppose Black has a little play, but nothing like enough for the
queen.}) 14. Nxg7 Kxg7 15. Bxf6+ exf6 16. Nf4 $6 {He's messed up my pawns,
exposed my king, and now I (and Fritz) expected him to take control of the
only open file, starting with 16.Re1.} Ne5 $6 {Giving him the advantage back.
I should have got my own rooks on to the e file, but was focussing on bringing
my knight across to shore up my shattered king's side. Curiously, Fritz rates}
(16... Nd4 $11 {best of all my moves; what does this gain over 16...Ne5? I
guess the differences are these: the knight doesn't block the e file, which my
rooks, being on separate ranks, are better placed to occupy; it can't be
chased away; it defends f5 and eyes f3. Fritz continues} 17. Qd2 Re8 18. Rae1
Bxg2 19. Kxg2 Rfe7 20. Re3 Qb7+ 21. Nd5 Re5 $11 {and there's not a lot to
choose between us.}) 17. Bd5 {Fritz still wants 17.Re1.} Bxd5 {I thought this
was essential, as I didn't fancy his bishop controlling the squares round my
king. Fritz has an alternative:} (17... b5 {because} 18. Bxf7 Nf3+ 19. Kh1 Qxf7
20. cxb5 Re8 {and Black's control of the white squares makes a draw certain.})
18. cxd5 $6 {It looks a nice idea, giving his knight an outpost on the sixth
rank. but he's got nothing with which to follow it up, and now he too has weak
pawns. 18.Nxd5 was better; this is where his knight needs to be, preventing my
rooks from doubling on the e file. My knight has some work to do to challenge
his.} Qb5 {Trying to generate some counterplay. Fritz wants me to be
consistent, by playing 18...Kh8, 18...Kg8 or 18...Ng6.} 19. b3 a5 20. a4 {
Fritz prefers} (20. Qh5 Nxd3 21. Qe2 c4 22. Ne6+ Kh8 23. bxc4 Qxc4 24. Rfd1 Ne5
25. Qxc4 Nxc4 26. Rdc1 $16 {White may be temporarily a pawn down, but that
won't last long. Here, his knight dominates from e6, and his rooks will make
hay with Black's pawns.}) 20... Qb4 21. Rb1 Ng6 {Now I should have played} (
21... Kg8 {the point being that} 22. Ne6 {is not with check, giving me time for
} Qg4 {or even the spectacular} (22... Qd2 23. d4 Qxd1 24. Rbxd1 Ng6) 23. f3
Qh5) 22. Ne6+ Kh8 23. f4 {This exposes his king; better was} (23. d4 f4 24. Rc1
$16 {when my queen will be sidelined by 25.Rc4 Qa3.}) 23... Nf8 24. Qf3 $2 {
Much better was the immediate} (24. Qh5 Nxe6 25. dxe6 {The obvious} (25. Qxf7 {
isn't so good:} Qd4+ 26. Kg2 (26. Rf2 $2 Nxf4 $1 27. gxf4 Rg8+ 28. Kh1 Qxf2 {
and White must take the draw by perpetual check.}) 26... Qxd5+ 27. Kg1 (27. Kf2
Rf8 28. Qe7 Qd4+ 29. Kg2 Qd5+ 30. Kh3 Rf7 31. Qe8+ Kg7 32. Rbe1 {seems to be
making some headway; he has to avoid}) (27. Kh3 $4 Nxf4+ {winning White's
queen.}) 27... Qd4+ {and Black can keep checking, thanks to 23.f4.}) 25... Qd4+
26. Rf2 Re7 27. Qxf5 Rae8 28. Re1 Kg7 29. Ree2 $16 {White will be able to
maintain the pawn on e6, and Black's task will be very difficult.}) 24... Re8
$6 {Curious. This seemed obvious to me, removing my rook from attack after an
exchange on e6. However} (24... Re7 {actually tilts the balance in Black's
favour. White has cut off any retreat by his knight, and play might continue}
25. Rfe1 (25. d4 Nxe6 26. dxe6 Qxd4+ 27. Kg2 Rae8 $15) 25... Rae8 $11) 25. Qh5
Rfe7 {This has come to the same thing; he can have my f5 pawn, but I eliminate
his knight, regain my pawn and control the e file; a good bargain!} 26. Qxf5 (
26. Nxf8 Qd4+ 27. Rf2 Rxf8 28. Qxf5 Re2 29. Rbf1 Re3 30. Rd1 Re2 {also leads
to a draw.}) 26... Nxe6 $15 {Finally, a score (-0.32) in Black's favour!} 27.
dxe6 Qd4+ 28. Kg2 Rxe6 29. Rf2 Re2 {Fritz prefers} (29... Re3 30. Rd1 Kg7 31.
Qg4+ Kf8 32. Qh5 R8e7 33. Qf5 {but it doesn't seem to be getting anywhere.})
30. Rbf1 R8e3 {Perhaps he'll do something silly and allow me to play 31...
Rxf2+ and 32.Rxd3.} 31. Qc8+ {I didn't think he would!} Re8 {31...Kg7?? 32.
Qg4+ wins a rook; I am pleased to say that I seem to be getting my chess mind
back, after my performance against Tod B and numerous blunders in club games.
I offered him a draw, which he accepted. A fair result, though we both had the
feeling that he could have made more of his position.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.11.02"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Clarkson, A A."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B55"]
[WhiteElo "2005"]
[BlackElo "1855"]
[Annotator "Clarkson,Andrew"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2015.11.02"]
[WhiteTeam "Todmorden 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]

{B5: Sicilian: 2...d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 f3} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Bd3 {I had decided before the game to see what Dave knew about
the Maroczy Bind, d3 is not the correct square for the Bishop, but unless
Black knows what he is doing it will not be of any disadvantage to White.} g6
6. c4 Bg7 7. Nc3 Nbd7 {Not the normal square for the Knight, but a valid move.}
({Here is a not very convincing example of the 'normal' move.} 7... Nc6 8. Nde2
O-O 9. b3 Ne5 10. Bc2 Bg4 11. O-O Bxe2 12. Qxe2 Rc8 13. Bb2 a6 14. Rac1 Bh6 15.
Rcd1 Qb6 16. Bb1 Qc7 17. f4 Ned7 18. Kh1 Bg7 19. Rde1 Nb6 20. Rd1 (20. e5 $1)
20... Nfd7 21. Rfe1 Rfe8 22. Rf1 $11 {Elters,A (2236)-Granara Barreto,S (2099)
Montevideo 2013 0-1 (37)}) 8. Be3 Nc5 9. f3 O-O (9... Nxd3+ 10. Qxd3 {was what
I had come prepared for.}) 10. Rc1 Nh5 {Really?} ({It was the last chance for} 
10... Nxd3+) 11. Be2 {I was not about to give Dave another chance to take this
Bishop, and he would now have to consider the consequences of me playing f4.}
a6 12. O-O Nf6 {White has the ideal Maroczy Bind set up and has lost nothing
with Bd3 and Be2.} 13. b4 Ne6 14. Nb3 Bd7 15. Qd2 Re8 {Handing White another
free move to tighten the bind. My confidence in the position was starting to
get out of control, and does indeed play a part in the final result.} ({I
expected} 15... Bc6 16. Nd5 $14) 16. Rfd1 ({I also considered} 16. f4 Bc6 {I
had mainly wondered about} 17. f5 {but suspected it was too obvious.} (17. Bf3
Nd7 18. Nd5 Rc8 19. Na5 {and Black is being strangled.})) 16... Qb8 17. Qe1 {
just keeping to the plan I had decided upon.} ({The direct} 17. g4 {would have
been extremely difficult for Dave to meet.}) 17... Rc8 18. Qf2 b5 {Dave sticks
to his intentions. As do I} 19. c5 ({I usually play Nd5 in this opening but
decided against it on a number of occasions in this game. It now appears to be
clearer, safer and stronger than I thought on the night. For example...} 19.
Nd5 Nxd5 20. cxd5 Nc7 21. Na5) 19... dxc5 20. Nxc5 Nxc5 21. Bxc5 {and I reach
the position I envisaged at move 16. How was Dave going to defend e7? But the
truth was I had missed some strong continuations and Black was close to being
equal.} Be6 {A good move. How far ahead had Dave seen, and how sure was he of
the outcome? Unfortunately for me I decided to take up the challenge, and now
made a dubious call on the position at move 28.} 22. Bxe7 {There is actually a
get out clause during this line which I declined to use.} ({After the game I
immediately knew} 22. f4 $1 {was much less forcing and kept Black under
pressure. Indeed Black might only have one good reply to this. Neither Dave
nor I could see it in the post mortem though. Fritz says 22...} a5 $1 {and we
have a game.}) 22... Rxc3 {naturally.} 23. Rxc3 Nxe4 {of course.} 24. fxe4 Bxc3
{Which one of us will have read the situation the best after White's 27th move?
} 25. Rd8+ {I now started to doubt my judgement at move 22, but felt that if
my Queen became active I would hold a small advantage at least.} ({I just
could not bring myself to change course with} 25. Bd6 $5 Qa7 26. Bc5 $11) ({Or
even} 25. Qc5 {although I thought long and hard about it.}) 25... Qxd8 26. Bxd8
Rxd8 27. Kf1 {best in a difficult situation, but I had not realised just how
perilous it was. I still believed activating my Queen would suffice.} Bc4 {Not
Fritz' choice but a very good practical move. Only one move can save White at
this point and I was oblivious to the threat Dave had set up.} ({I had been
counting on} 27... Bxb4 28. Qa7 Rc8 (28... Bxa2 $2 29. Qxa6 Be6 30. Qxb5 $11)
29. Qxa6 Rc1+ 30. Kf2 Bc5+ 31. Kg3 {with a game to be played. However I now
see Fritz is laughing at this as Black is better.}) 28. Qc5 $4 {Plausible but
losing. Full credit to Dave for instantly shattering my illusions.} ({The only
move that does not lose for White is} 28. Qe3 Bxe2+ ({Now if} 28... Rd1+ 29.
Kf2 Bd4 30. Bxd1 Bxe3+ 31. Kxe3 {this Bishop ending could have been a problem
for Black.}) 29. Kxe2 Bxb4 30. a3 {and I would trust myself to hold this
position.}) 28... Rd1+ {Ouch! I did consider resigning but it is difficult to
admit defeat when you have been 'winning' for most of the game. I played the
remaining moves in disbelief.} 29. Kf2 Bd4+ 30. Kf3 Bxe2+ 31. Kxe2 Bxc5 32.
Kxd1 Bxb4 33. Kc2 a5 34. Kb3 Kg7 {Having resigned several moves too late, I
immediately started to chastise myself for playing 22.Bxe7. Well done to Dave
for letting me hang myself on my 22nd move, and having the courage test it.}
0-1

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2015.11.02"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Clarkson, A."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B55"]
[Annotator "Shapland,Dave"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2015.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.11.03"]
[WhiteTeam "Todmorden 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Bd3 {This move came as a
considerable surprise. Andrew has never done anything other than offer to
discuss a sharp mainline variation with me in our previous six encounters.
Here he is aiming to play in a more positional style by transposing into a
Maroczy Bind type position. Nothing wrong with that of course but not the
approach I'd expected. I'd anticipated another Levenfish Variation or possibly
a Yugoslav Attack. My first reaction was to consider whether there was a way
to take advantage of White's move order.} g6 {I decided to see what Andrew had
in mind. It occured to me that he was aiming for a Maroczy position but part
of me didn't believe it yet! Besides I wondered if the bishop really belonged
on d3 in such positions. Regardless, the only move I could see to play
directly against White's move order was to go for...} (5... Nc6 {But now the
possibilities quickly grow and the position looks a bit weird. Not the sort of
thing I wantd to wade into unprepared.} 6. Nxc6 {I guess that 6.Be3 and 6.Bb5
were also possible.} bxc6 {... and Black must be absolutely fine here but I
guessed Andrew had at least given this line a bit of a look before hand.} 7.
Nc3) 6. c4 {Only now did I really believe that this was Andrew's plan. A smart
idea to play a tough positional variation against a player who likes to be
active I guess.} Bg7 7. Nc3 Nbd7 {I didn't fancy Nc6 which was also logical.
Basically I figured that, with his knight on d4 unprotected, there might be a
chance for me to attack it with tempo later. Simply letting White exchange it
off straight away didn't feel like maintaining the tension to me.} 8. Be3 Nc5 {
A decent square for the knight, though as Andrew said afterwards, Black needs
to be prepared to exchange the bishop on d3 for this knight if he's going to
play this move.} 9. f3 O-O {The most prinicpled continuation would have been...
} (9... Nxd3+ 10. Qxd3 O-O 11. O-O Bd7 12. Rac1 Rc8 13. b4 {... and White has
a space advantage but certainly nothing decisive yet.}) 10. Rc1 Nh5 {I'm not
really sure why I did this. Did I for some reason think that e5 and Qh4+ was
playable? No, I analysed that and realised it was not workable. Part of me
just wanted to try and change the dynamics of the position. Either way it
wasn't a very good choice.} 11. Be2 {By wasting a tempo I've given White the
chance to move his bishop back to the square it would normally be on in a
Maroczy and at the same time initiate a little threat to play f4.} a6 {A
natural move, if rather sedentary. The engine gives an outrageous line here in
the form of...} (11... e5 $5 {Very strange, though I did briefly analyse this
on the previous move with Qh4+ possibly coming next. It felt like an excellent
way to weaken my d-pawn terminally, but look what Fritz has next.} 12. Ndb5 Nf4
13. Kf1 $5 {Even stranger.} Nce6 14. g3 Nxe2 15. Nxe2 {... and the engine
suggests this is equal, not that there was ever much chance of this variation
getting played over the board.}) 12. O-O Nf6 {Admitting that Nh5 was a waste
of time. Lucky for me this wasn't a Yugoslav Attack where even one wasted
tempo is likely to be terminal let alone two!} 13. b4 {You don't need to be a
chess engine to see that White has a hefty plus now. It's fairly obvious to
see why. White has no weaknesses and plenty of space. How is Black to free his
game?} Ne6 14. Nb3 {Keeping the tension. There's no need to exchange the
knights and help Black unravel.} Bd7 15. Qd2 Re8 {Another slow move but I
didn't really want to allow the exchange of the bishops after Bh6.} 16. Rfd1 {
Nothing wrong with this though I'd expected maybe 16.f4. If I'd been playing
the White side of this variation I think I'd have gone for king's side play
but there is absolutely nothing wrong with playing on the queen's side either.
Black really is almost paralysed so White can take his time.} Qb8 {Played
after quite a long think if I rememebr rightly. Choosing a move that actually
did something useful and also didn't land me in further hot water wasn't that
easy to do. I decided that I had to engineer the b5 break so this move comes
and I thought I'd play Nc7 if needed as well.} 17. Qe1 Rc8 18. Qf2 {It was
also possible to play...} (18. Nd5 Nxd5 19. exd5 Nc7 20. c5 {... and Black's
position looks very grim indeed.}) 18... b5 19. c5 {Again 19.Nd5 was possible
and mayeb even stronger.} dxc5 20. Nxc5 Nxc5 21. Bxc5 {Now we've reached the
critical position in the game and I has another fairly long think here having
speeded up my play quite a bit over the last few moves as I was behind on the
clock. The nature of the position has changed a little bit. That's always hard
to handle for the player with the advantage in my view. If you've carefully
and patiently built up a positional bind then it can be hard to change your
mind set and remain objective when the position opens up. In this position I
considered playing 21...e6 but thought it looked miserable. The engine
suggests 21...e5 or Bh6 neither of which I assessed. I quickly decided that 21.
..Be6 would give me a hance to activate my game, even at the cost of material.
It was purely a practical considerdation, I didn't fancy grovelling about
anymore. Of course there are some complications here that were hard to assess,
but I decided I had nothing to lose and took the plunge.} Be6 {Using the
engine to help chart a course here is not always practical as sometimes the
best lines are very hard for a human to analyse and calculate. For example, in
this position, Fritz says that best is...} (21... Bh6 22. Rc2 Bf4 {This
strange bishop manoeuvre keeps Black afloat.} 23. g3 Be5 24. Nd5 Nxd5 25. Rxd5
Bc6 26. Rdd2 Qb7 {... and White is better, but not by much.}) 22. Bxe7 {Of
course the critical test of any gambit is to take it. There doesn't initially
appear t be any reason why not so it would be a cold-blooded animal who would
decide not to grab this hard-earned booty. However, there are some
complications coming up that are hard to calculate from a distance. After the
game with the benefit of hindsight we looked at...} (22. f4 $1 {The best move
as the pawn on e7 is not going anywhere and White can afford to increase the
pressure.} a5 23. e5 Ng4 24. Bxg4 Bxg4 {... and White is much better here
having kept some control over he position.}) 22... Rxc3 23. Rxc3 Nxe4 24. fxe4
Bxc3 25. Rd8+ Qxd8 26. Bxd8 Rxd8 {This was the position I had spent quite a
long time trying to assess at move 21. I couldn't figure out how Black was
doing here but it felt better than the alternatives. I'll almost always prefer
a murky but active position game over a clearly passive one!} 27. Kf1 Bc4 (
27... Bxb4 28. Qa7 Rc8 29. Qxa6 Rc1+ 30. Kf2 Bc5+ 31. Kg3 b4) 28. Qc5 $4 {In
fact only this move is a serious error because now Black can win a piece and
not just a pawn which is what happens after...} (28. Qe3 $1 Rd1+ $2 {In this
position it looks like this move is a mistake. 28... Bxb4 is actually better
than winning the queen back as the resulting bishop and pawn ending is
advantageous for White.} 29. Kf2 Bd4 30. Bxd1 {This is the point.} Bxe3+ 31.
Kxe3 Bxa2 (31... Be6 {Possession of this diagonal is actually worth more than
the extra pawn.}) 32. Bg4 {... and Fritz actually scores White with a
near-decisive advantage here despite him being a pawn down. He's going to
clean up the Black a-pawn whereupon his king is best placed.}) 28... Rd1+ 29.
Kf2 Bd4+ 30. Kf3 Bxe2+ 31. Kxe2 Bxc5 32. Kxd1 Bxb4 33. Kc2 a5 34. Kb3 Kg7 0-1

