[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.11.21"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Parsons, M."]
[Black "Ursal, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D02"]
[Annotator "Matthew Parsons"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2016.11.23"]
[WhiteTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Halifax 'A'"]

1. d4 {So, last time I played Darwin I beat him by playing 1.e4 and playing an
unorthodox Sicilian. In this game I decided to go back to my trusted opening.}
Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 {Already a surprise. Darwin has played g6 systems against me I
believe in every previous encounter, be it classical, rapid or blitz.} 3. e3 d5
4. Nd2 Bd6 5. Bg3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ngf3 O-O 8. Bd3 Re8 {Re8 is generally a bad
move. When black gets obsessed with 'proving' that he can force through e5, it
just normally plays into whites hands.} 9. Ne5 Qc7 10. f4 Qb6 {So, this is a
bit odd. Using two tempos to go from c7, to b6 should be a waste that I can
make use of somehow. I wonder if I should have gone for Qb3 here instead of
Rb1 (the normal move when black plays Qb6 in one move) arguing that the ending
is better for white, with the dropped tempos.} 11. Rb1 cxd4 {In my opinion
this is the move black makes when he has run out of ideas.} 12. exd4 g6 13. O-O
{So, this is an error, I should just play Bh4 here, which is the move I would
make 9 times out of 10, and I've had this type of position time and time again.
I feel I let black off the hook here for his wasted moves earlier by playing
my opponent too much, instead of playing the board. I was taking care to try
and limit 'tricky Darwin,' instead of just playing the moves I know to be
correct.} Nh5 14. Kh1 {Here I wasted too much time looking at Nf7, with f5 to
follow. I really felt like this could be winning, I also felt like it might be
totally losing... Either way it was wasted time, which I paid for later.} Ne7
15. Ndf3 Nf5 16. Bxf5 exf5 17. Qa4 Be6 18. Ng5 h6 19. Nxe6 Rxe6 {I felt I had
lost control of the position. I put this down to the moves 0-0 and Kh1 on
moves 13 and 14. Well, they aren't bad as such, it's just not how I normally
play these positions, and as such, I ended up using too much time by being in
an unfamiliar setting.} 20. Qd1 Rae8 21. Bh4 Nxf4 {This move really shocked me
when I came back to the board having been away looking at the other games. I
just think that 1: it's unnecessary and 2: it's unsound.} 22. Rxf4 g5 23. Rxf5
Bxe5 24. dxe5 gxh4 25. Qxd5 {I was confident I was better here, but I was also
starting to run very short on time, and had to be aware of any back-rank
tricks.} R8e7 26. Rbf1 Qc6 27. Qd4 {I lost any advantage here when I became
defensive and too short of time. I was only able to defend the position.
Though I'm pleased I could find defensive resources with the time I had.} Rg6
28. Qf2 h3 29. Rg1 hxg2+ 30. Rxg2 Rd7 31. Qe2 Rd1+ 32. Rf1 Qe4 33. Qf2 {
Aaahhhhh! Ok so I had about 10 seconds left, but still I'm kicking myself over
this error.} (33. Rxd1 {Is the move Matthew is frustrated at having missed. In
fairness, Darwin would almost certainly not have played this had he not also
been desperately short of time. - Ed.} Qxe2 34. Rxe2) 33... Rxf1+ 34. Qxf1 Qxe5
35. Rxg6+ fxg6 36. Qg2 {and I offered a draw having reached the time control.}
1/2-1/2

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.11.21"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Shapland, D."]
[Black "Somerset, W."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B89"]
[Annotator "Shapland,Dave"]
[PlyCount "35"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2016.11.22"]
[WhiteTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Halifax 'A'"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 {Deciding not to play 2.a3!? as I have in a few games recently.
This decision was based on two factors. First of all, I was confident that
Bill would be perfectly happy to engage with me in a theorectical battle 
(which he cheerfully confirmed to me after the game - a man after my own
heart!) and secondly, I knew he played the Classical Variation and wanted very
much to have the opportunity to essay the Velimirovic Attck which I have
virtually never had the chance to play over the board but have enjoyed hacking
about with online.} d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bc4 {Here it is
then. The Sozin Variation from which the Velimirovic Attack springs. The main
unknown here was, how far down the theoretical rabbit hole would Bill be
prepared to go. I soon found out...} e6 7. Be3 Be7 8. Qe2 {This is the
Velimirovic. White plans to castle long and play g4. Black can take this idea
on by castling at once and going toe-to-toe, or he can delay castling himself
and try not to give White a target. The approach you take all depends on your
appetite to take a risk.} O-O {Bill was obviously happy to indulge and merrily
rips the lid off Pandora's box. Later in the evening Nick Sykes suggested to
me that it's much safer for Black to delay castling and get on with his play
on the queen's side. I have no doubt that he's right but the line below
demonstrates that White can still stir up a hornet's nest if he is inclined to
do so...} (8... a6 9. Bb3 Qc7 10. O-O-O Na5 11. g4 b5 12. g5 Nxb3+ 13. axb3 Nd7
14. Nf5 $5 {... is another one of Velimirovic's original ideas - this time
with the aim of opening up the centre.} exf5 15. Nd5 Qd8 16. exf5 Bb7 17. f6
gxf6 18. gxf6 Bxd5 19. Rxd5 Nxf6 20. Rf5 Rg8 21. Re1 Rb8 22. Bd4 Kd7 23. Qf3
Rg6 24. c3 Kc7 25. Kc2 {and White went on to win in Zapata vs Becerra, Havana
1994 and is just an example of how the game can develop with a slow burning
attack for White.}) 9. O-O-O a6 10. Rhg1 {Trying to take full advantage of the
move order Black has played by reserving the right to retreat the bishop to d3
in some lines - for example if Black plays Na5 the bishop can go to d3 instead
of b3. If instead...} (10. Bb3 Qc7 11. g4 {This is another critical branch of
the variation where White launches g4 before having put his rook on g1. In
this position Black can play...} Nxd4 {And now the theorticians say that White
has to recapture with the rook...} 12. Rxd4 (12. Bxd4 {Loses White a pawn
after the sequence...} e5 13. Be3 Bxg4 14. f3 Be6 {... although I'd say that
the open g-file should, at the very least, give White compensation for the
missing pawn.}) 12... Nd7 13. g5 Nc5 {... and the game is poised. One idea
White has is to sacrifice the e-pawn with e5 in order to get his rook to h4.})
10... Qc7 11. Bb3 Nxd4 {This move surprised me a little because, with his rook
on g1 and the g-pawn not having advanced yet, White is fine to take with his
bishop this time. Instead, Black more commonly plays...} (11... Nd7 {... and
now...} 12. g4 b5 13. Nf5 $5 {... is the move I was going to play and leads to
vast and chaotic complications that I consider to be much easier for White to
play than Black.} (13. Nxc6 {... is much less ambitious but the move from the
game I'd used as my justification for essaying this whole variation which was
Snape vs. Somerset, 4NCL, 2014 which ended in a draw.})) 12. Bxd4 {From here
on in I was playing the game myself rather than 'from the book' and was
perfectly happy to be doing so with a position that I considered to be
promising.} b5 13. g4 b4 (13... Nd7 14. g5 b4 {... would have arrived at the
same point via transposition.}) 14. g5 Nd7 {The moment of truth has come.
Should White move the knight on c3 or leave it there in order to gain a tempo
for his attack? I remember reading a comment in a newspaper chess column a
long time ago which, paraphrased into this situation, said something like:
"For White's next move, looking at the board is no help. One either has the
courage to play (Qh5), or one does not." The point being that it's impossible
to calculate everything accurately here, you simply play this move because it
feels right.} 15. Qh5 $6 {This move is completely thematic. White would like
to play Rg3-h3 or Rg4-h4 or Rd3-h3 and attack the Black king in the crudest of
fashions! The 'dubious' mark is attached to this move purely to indicate the
'truth' of the engine's assessment. Naturally, the silicone mind doesn't like
this move and navigates swiftly to a point where White's bravado is proven to
be balderdash. That isn't the point. Over the board it's pretty much
impossible to figure out how it all works and in fact, once the engine has
been left thinking for a few minutes, it's assessment changes from a clear win
for Black to a marginal advantage for Black So it clearly isn't that straight
forward! Nevertheless, 'best' according to Fritz was...} (15. Na4 {... with a
tiny pull to White after...} Nc5 16. f4 Nxa4 {Or...} (16... Nxb3+ 17. axb3) 17.
Bxa4 e5 18. fxe5 dxe5 19. Be3 Be6) 15... Nc5 {Bill played this after a long
think and obviously decided that grabbing the knight was too dangerous. After
it's (in computer terms at least) lengthy cogitations, the engine decides that
it is safe to capture the knight and gives...} (15... bxc3 16. Rd3 Qb7 $1 {
This is the key defensive resource. Black will cover h7 by capturing the
e-pawn.} 17. Rh3 Qxe4 18. g6 $1 h6 19. gxf7+ Rxf7 20. Qxh6 {Forcing Black to
find and resort to...} Qe1+ $1 21. Rxe1 gxh6 22. Bxe6 cxb2+ 23. Kxb2 Ne5 24.
Bxf7+ Kxf7 25. Rxh6 {... and after this lengthy forcing line, Black must be a
little bit better but is it enough to win with so few pawns left on the board?}
) 16. Bf6 $6 {Again, the 'dubious' mark reflects the engine's assessment. At
the board I was terribly pleased with this move. The main idea was to prevent
Black from defending laterally along the seventh rank by preventing f6 or f5.
The secondary idea was to raise the threat of 17.Qh6!! However, there was
another (less spectacular) option available which the engine does think works
effectively which is the immediate...} (16. Qh6 $1 {The queen is taboo so
Black is forced to play...} e5 {... which in turn allows White's knight to
land on d5.} 17. Nd5 gxh6 18. gxh6+ Kh8 19. Nxc7 Ra7 20. Bxc5 dxc5 21. Nd5 {...
and White is much better here.}) 16... Nxb3+ {Bill thought for a long time
here before deciding that he may as well capture one of my attackers with
check before revealing how he planned to parry my attack. The cold hard
calculations of Fritz reveal that the correct response was...} (16... Re8 {
Giving room for the king and allowing Black to meet...} 17. Qh6 {...with} (17.
Na4 {Given the variation below this might be White's best move here.} Nxe4 18.
Bxe7 Rxe7 {... leaves the game still in the balance.}) 17... Bf8 $1 {Not...} (
17... gxh6 18. gxh6+ Kf8 19. Bg7+ Kg8 20. Bf6+ {... which lets White escape
with a perpetual check.}) 18. Na4 Qc6 19. Nxc5 dxc5) (16... Kh8 {... was
another possible defence that I had considered when I planned to play...} 17.
Rg4 {... which wins for White as opposed to...} (17. Qh6 $4 Bxf6 {... which
definitely does not!})) 17. axb3 bxc3 $4 18. Qh6 $1 {Bill had simply
overlooked this possibility and resigned after a only a few moment's
reflection. He said that he had thought my idea here was...} (18. Rg4 {when
his defensive plan should be sufficient to win the game for Black after...} Qa5
{Black's mate threat comes first so White has to play...} 19. Kb1 {and now
simply...} Bxf6 {when the g-pawn is pinned to the queen. An enjoyable romp
with a picturesque finish. A nice way to reach a live rating of 160 for the
first time ever!}) 1-0

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.11.21"]
[Round "5.4"]
[White "Leonard, P."]
[Black "Morgan, J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B00"]
[WhiteElo "154"]
[BlackElo "169"]
[Annotator "Leonard,Pete"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Halifax 'A'"]

1. e4 a6 {The St George Defence, apparently.} 2. d4 {White should continue
developing as normal, e.g.} (2. Nf3 b5 3. d4 Bb7 4. Bd3 e6 5. a4 $14) 2... b5
3. c4 {John said, afterwards, that this isn't usually played, but isn't bad.}
e6 {The Three Pawns Attack or St George Gambit.} 4. cxb5 axb5 5. Bxb5 {
Grabbing material and trying to hang on to it is my usual style.} Bb7 6. Nc3 f5
{Fritz 14 prefers} (6... Bb4 7. Qe2 (7. Qc2 Nf6 8. f3 c5 9. Nge2 Qb6 10. Qd3
cxd4 11. Nxd4 O-O {is rated as equal by Fritz; I can see that the a7-g1
diagonal may cause White some discomfort.}) 7... f5 8. Nf3 fxe4 9. Ng5 c6 10.
Bc4 d5 {is also rated as just slightly better for Black, though his king's
position looks a bit insecure after} 11. Nxe6 Qe7 12. Qh5+ Kd7 (12... g6 $2 13.
Qe5 $16) 13. Be2 Nf6 (13... Qxe6 $4 14. Bg4 $18) 14. Nc5+ Bxc5 15. Qh3+ Ke8 16.
dxc5 d4 $15 (16... Qxc5 $2 17. Be3 Qd6 (17... d4 $2 18. Bxd4 Qxd4 $4 19. Qe6+
$18) 18. O-O $16)) 7. Bd3 $6 {Better was} (7. d5 exd5 8. exd5 Nf6 9. Nf3 $16)
7... Bb4 8. Qe2 $6 {I should have chosen 8.Qc2; I had hopes of opening the e
file, but the queen prevents Nge2 and is needed on c2 to protect c3.} Nf6 9. f3
{I could see that he was going to get his pawn back, but at least this
obstructs his bishop's line to g2.} Bxc3+ {Interestingly, Fritz prefers} (9...
Nc6 10. Be3 O-O 11. Nh3 fxe4 12. fxe4 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 $15) 10. bxc3 fxe4 11.
fxe4 Nxe4 12. Nf3 $6 {At least this developing, preventing Qh4+ and blocking
that diagonal, but Fritz prefers} (12. Bf4 {which obstructs his queen's line
from h4 to e4; White keeps an edge after} d5 13. Qh5+ g6 14. Qh6 {I certainly
didn't fancy}) (12. Bxe4 $2 Qh4+ 13. Kd1 Qxe4 14. Qxe4 Bxe4 $17) 12... Nxc3 13.
Qe5 $2 (13. Qc2 {aiming at his king, never occurred to me:} Bxf3 14. O-O O-O
15. Rxf3 Rxf3 16. gxf3 Nd5 17. Bxh7+ Kh8 18. Be4 {Black is still better,
despite two bishops versus two knights. All of White's pawns are isolated and
potentially weak. I only comsidered}) (13. Qb2 Bxf3 14. gxf3 {Slightly better
is} (14. O-O Na4 15. Qc2 Qh4 16. gxf3 Qxd4+ 17. Kh1 Nc6 $17) 14... Qh4+ {and
didn't like the look of this; even after} 15. Qf2 Qxf2+ 16. Kxf2 Nc6 $19 {
Black's a pawn up, to boot, and White's a pawn doesn't look long for this
world.}) 13... Qf6 $17 {Even better is} (13... O-O 14. O-O Bxf3 15. Rxf3 Rxf3
16. gxf3 Qh4 $17) 14. O-O {Given the complexity of the position, I am pleased
to see that Fritz approves my choice. I did consider (and John said afterwards
that he thought I'd play)} (14. Qxc7 Bxf3 15. Rf1 {Sadly,} (15. O-O $2 Qxd4+
16. Kh1 Qxd3 $19 {doesn't work.}) 15... Nc6 16. Rxf3 Qxd4 17. Qf4 Ne2 18. Qxd4
(18. Qf7+ Kd8 19. Bg5+ Kc7 20. Rd1 Ng1 $19) 18... Ncxd4 19. Bxe2 Nc2+ 20. Kd2
Nxa1 21. Ba3 {Can Black's knight escape? The answer appears to be "Yes".} d6
22. Bxd6 Rxa2+ 23. Kd1 Kd7 24. Bf8 Nc2 $17 {Needless to say, I didn't see this
far, or anything like it, but Black does appear to be better in all lines.})
14... Qxe5 15. Nxe5 Rxa2 $2 {John said, afterwards, I expect that Fritz will
show that you made four blunders and I made five. This is the point at which
the game turns round; I did feel some relief that he hadn't played} (15... Nc6
{when the best White can do is} 16. Bd2 Nxe5 17. dxe5 Ra3 $15 {Black is still
that pawn up; however, Fritz finds an even better move for Black in}) (15...
Ba6 16. Bxa6 Rxa6 $17) 16. Rxa2 Nxa2 17. Bg5 $2 {Most uncharacteristically,
I'm two pawns down and happy with my position! I felt that this offered more
opportunities of embarrassing his king, but should have stuck with the obvious}
(17. Bd2 {trapping his knight. Now Fritz gives} Bd5 18. Rf7 g5 (18... d6 $2 19.
Rxc7 O-O (19... Kd8 $2 20. Ba5 dxe5 21. Bb5 Nc6 22. Bxc6 Bxc6 23. Rxc6+ Kd7 24.
Rc7+ Kd6 25. dxe5+ Kxe5 26. Rc2 $18) 20. Ng4 $18 {threatening 21.Bh6, when 21..
.gxh6?? is mate in two.} Rf7 {loses the exchange, or worse, to} 21. Bxh7+ $18)
19. Bxg5 Rg8 20. h4 Rxg5 (20... h6 $2 21. Re7+ Kf8 22. Bf6 Rxg2+ 23. Kf1 {and
Black's being mated.}) 21. hxg5 d6 22. Rxc7 dxe5 23. Rc8+ $16) 17... Nc6 {What
17.Bg5 did achieve was to cause John to use almost all his remaining time 
(he'd had a long think before taking my a pawn). This time, Fritz says that
this is the right move...} 18. Rb1 Bc8 $2 {...but this isn't! He should have
gone for} (18... Nxe5 19. dxe5 {though I was thinking of the inferior} (19.
Rxb7 Nxd3 20. Rb8+ Kf7 21. Rxh8 Nc3 {which rates as minutely better for White.}
) 19... Bc8 20. Rb8 O-O 21. Be7 Re8 22. Ba3 Kf7 {(else 23.Ba6)} 23. Rb3 c5 24.
Bxh7 Nb4 25. Rf3+ Ke7 26. Bc1 Kd8 $14 {White still has an edge, as his pieces
are more active, and Black won't keep his extra pawn for long.}) 19. Nxc6 dxc6
20. Bd2 e5 {He could also have gone for} (20... O-O 21. Bc4 Rd8 22. Bxa2 Rxd4
23. Be3 $18 {Black may have three pawns for the piece, but they're awful pawns!
}) 21. Rb8 {Interesting! I thought this was a good idea, tying him up on his
back rank, and Matthew Parsons singled this out as an important move. Would
you believe it? It isn't even in Fritz's top three! (It's the third best move
according to my version of Fritz! Sometimes the best move isn't the most
practical choice however. Human tend to want clarity in complex positions
whereas computers don't have to worry about miscalculating no matter how
complex the game becomes. - Ed.) Number 1 is} (21. Rb2 exd4 22. Rxa2 {and
Fritz reckons White's advantage is a whole point better than after the move I
chose.}) 21... Ke7 22. Bc4 {I spent some time, trying to determine whether I
had time for} (22. dxe5 {Fritz says I did, and that the best Black could have
was} h6 23. Bf5 Rd8 24. Rxc8 Rxd2 25. e6 Re2 26. Rxc7+ Kf8 (26... Ke8 $4 27.
Bg6+ Kd8 28. Rd7+ Kc8 29. Rxg7) 27. Rf7+ Ke8 28. Rxg7 Kf8 29. Rf7+ Ke8 30. Ra7
Nc3 31. Bg6+ Kd8 32. Rd7+ Kc8 33. Bf5 {and the threat of 34.e7 is winning for
White.}) 22... exd4 23. Bxa2 Re8 24. Bb4+ Kf6 {By this stage, John had only a
few minutes left on his clock. He's obviously used to this, as he kept a much
clearer head than I should have done.} 25. Bc4 {I was concerned to prevent his
pawn's advance, or an incursion by his rook on e2, but either 25.Kf2 or 25.Ba5
was better than this.} Bd7 26. Rxe8 {Happy to get the rooks off.} Bxe8 {
Somewhere hereabouts, John offered a draw. I replied that, in view of the
state of the match (a win, loss and draw each, with Board 1 likely to be drawn
too), I thought that I should try to win this. Some of what follows shows I'd
underestimated my task.} 27. Ba5 $6 (27. Kf2 Ke5 28. Ke2 {makes sure of
getting in front of his pawns; still at least there's now one fewer of them.})
27... Ke5 $6 {Again interesting! Fritz prefers} (27... Bf7 28. Ba6 (28. Bxf7
Kxf7 29. Kf2 Ke6 30. Ke2 c5 31. Bxc7 c4 {which leaves White with the tiniest
edge; the pawns form a barrier to White's king, who had better not go too far
away or one of them might queen!}) 28... c5 29. Bxc7 c4 30. Kf2 Kf5 31. Ke2 Ke4
$14 {White is going to have to work hard to win this.}) 28. Bxc7+ Ke4 29. Kf2
Bh5 30. Be2 $2 {This was a misjudgement, fortunately by both of us; I should
have kept the bishop pair, by} (30. Bg8 h6 31. Bd6 {Restraining his c pawn,
which makes a considerable difference to the line after his 27th move.} Be8 32.
Ke2 {Most humans would have grabbed the pawn:} (32. Bf8 g6 33. Bxh6 {though
White must be careful after} Kd3 (33... c5 $2 34. Bf8 {loses the pawn
immediately.}) 34. Bf8 $18 {Aha! He can't advance the c pawn; the merit of
keeping both bishops.}) 32... h5 33. Bc4 g5 34. Bc7 g4 35. g3 Bd7 36. Bf7 Bf5
37. Bd6 Bd7 38. Bc5 Bf5 39. Bb6 {and White will finally be able to take the h
pawn without allowing the c pawn to advance; the task is a long way from over
though!}) 30... Bf7 $2 (30... Bxe2 31. Kxe2 Kd5 32. Kd2 c5 {and Black will
create the same blockade on c4 and d4.}) 31. Bf3+ {I did find some of the
right moves! 32...Be8 would at least have defended the c pawn; the only
indication that John's game was affected by his lack of time.} Kd3 32. Bxc6 Kc2
33. Ba4+ {Better was} (33. Be5 {How on earth did I miss this fork?} g6 (33...
d3 34. Bxg7 d2 35. Be4+ {The difference a move can make; this is +7.5 for
White, whereas the more obvious} (35. Ba4+ $4 Bb3 36. Bxb3+ Kxb3 37. Ke2 Kc2 {
wins for Black!}) 35... Kc1 36. Bh6 Bg8 (36... Bc4 37. Bxh7 {and White simply
advances his h pawn.}) (36... Bh5 37. Bxh7 Bg4 38. h4 {is similar.}) 37. Ke2
Bc4+ 38. Bd3 Bxd3+ 39. Kxd3 {and the d pawn is next.}) 34. Bxd4 $18 {The
bishops will exclude Blacks's king, while White's travels on the black squares
to gobble his pawns.}) 33... Kc3 34. Be5 {Too late now! Better was} (34. Bb5
Kb4 (34... d3 35. Ke3 Bg6 36. Ba5+ Kc2 37. g4 h6 38. Bd7 Bf7 (38... Bh7 39. Bf5
{and now, if Black exchanges, his h pawn will shortly be blocked, forcing him
to move his king away and losing the d pawn. After this, the g pawn will be
next to go, followed by White queening his (now) f pawn.}) 39. Bf5 Bc4 40. Bb4
h5 41. gxh5 Bf7 42. Bxd3+ Kb3 43. Bg6 Bxg6 44. hxg6 Kxb4 45. Kd4 {and now the
h pawn simply advances.}) 35. Bd3 h6 36. Bb1 {and that pawn's going nowhere.})
34... g6 35. Bb5 {Tying up his king and pawn.} Bd5 36. g4 Be6 37. Kf3 Bd5+ 38.
Kf4 {Comfortable that my bishops are holding his pawn, I was wondering about
pawn-grabbing with my king.} Kb4 39. Bd3 Kc3 40. Ba6 h5 41. h3 {Simply} (41.
gxh5 gxh5 42. h4 {would have been sufficient; I needn't be afraid of a rook's
pawn, as a) I have the "right coloured bishop" (and its partner) and b) his
king is too far away.} Be6 {loses the d pawn, whereas} (42... Bc6 43. Be2 Be8
44. Kg5 {and my king and white-squared bishop will combine to keep his bishop
from sacrificing itself; I remember that "edge" pawns can be better than
central ones.} Bd7 45. Bxh5 Ba4 46. Bg4 Be8 47. Bf5 {followed by Bg6 and the
pawn queens.}) 43. Ke4 {and 44.Bxd4(+).}) 41... hxg4 42. hxg4 Bb3 43. Bb7 {If
I want to win his d pawn, now's my chance!} (43. Ke4 Bc2+ 44. Kd5 Bb3+ 45. Kc5)
43... Bd1 44. Be4 {By this stage I'd caught up with John on the clock, and
passed him; I suppose that's likely when you're trying not to blow a winning
position.} Kc4 45. Bxg6 d3 46. Bf7+ Kb4 47. g5 Be2 48. Ke3 {Five "best" moves
in a row; wow! About this point, with only a few minutes left on my clock, I
stopped recording the moves, so cannot be completely certain of John's next.
It must have been with his king, though may have been 48...Kc5 instead.} Kb5
49. g6 Bh5 50. Kxd3 {Missing, if his king was on b5 and not c5, the chance to
queen my pawn:} (50. Be8+ Kc5 51. g7) 50... Bxg6+ 51. Bxg6 {Fritz gives this
as mate in 6 (I'm not sure what is going wrong with Pete's engine. My version
of Fritz starts out saying that Black will be mated in 33 moves and then
revises it's assessment after a few seconds to #26! - Ed.), wherever Black
moves; this is a total fabrication, as each of the top three lines takes at
least a dozen moves! I shouldn't think it took me more than double that number
to do the job, with a massive 38 seconds remaining on my clock. Here's one
possible line, which I make no claim to be the shortest, and which certainly
isn't the way the game went, as I know I mated him on a1:51...Kc5 52.Be4 Kb5
53.Bd6 Ka4 54.Kc4 Ka5 55.Be5 Kb6 56.Bf4 Ka7 57.Kc5 Ka6 58.Bd2 Ka7 59.Kc6 Kb8
60.Ba5 Ka7 61.Bf5 Ka6 62.Bd2 Ka7 63.Kc7 Ka6 64.Bd3+ Ka7 65.Be3+ Ka8 66.Be4#
Clearly, Fritz's "mate in so many moves" is not to be trusted; surely Fritz
"knows" how to mate with two bishops! A fascinating game, and one in which I
probably made more errors than in Round 1 of the Calderdale Individual. A
strange game is chess: on that occasion, I lost, to someone graded
substantially below me.} 1-0

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "Ruy Lopez"]
[Date "2016.11.21"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "Sykes, N."]
[Black "Velosa, C."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C65"]
[Annotator "Nick Sykes"]
[PlyCount "54"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Halifax 'A'"]

1. e4 e5 $1 {Carlos ditches 1...b6, he has played this against me twice before
and on both occasions has had dreadful positions out of the opening} 2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5 {I have been toying with playing the Scotch with} (3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 {
maybe I'll play it next game}) 3... Nf6 {The Berlin Defence} (3... a6 {is the
most common move here, when Black can choose from a whole range of ways to play
}) 4. d3 (4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 {Gives
us the infamous Berlin endgame!}) 4... d6 (4... Bc5 {is also an option and a
little more popular}) 5. c3 Be7 {Black can also consider} (5... g6) 6. Nbd2 O-O
7. Nf1 a6 8. Ba4 b5 9. Bc2 {All this is pretty common and has been seen many
times before.} Nd7 $6 {I don't understand this move?} (9... d5 $1 {is by far
the most common move here, when White usually plays} 10. Qe2) 10. Ng3 (10. Ne3
{maybe more accurate}) 10... Nc5 $6 {again I don't understand this move} 11. d4
Nd7 12. O-O Bf6 13. Be3 Na5 14. a4 {I also considered} (14. b3) 14... c5 15.
axb5 cxd4 16. cxd4 Nc4 17. Qd3 Nxe3 18. fxe3 {White has played pretty well up
to now and I was happy with how I played. Here White has a clear advantage.
However from now on my play seriously goes downhill and I make a series of not
terrible, but sloppy, tired and lazy moves that were not calculated nearly
well enough.} Qb6 19. Rfb1 $6 {The first inaccuracy} (19. Nd2 {gives White
close to a winning advantage, the knight is heading to the very strong c4
square}) 19... Bb7 20. bxa6 Rxa6 21. Rxa6 (21. Nf5 $16) 21... Bxa6 22. Qd2 $6 (
22. Qb3 {We both discussed this move as a better option after the game, HIARCS
seems to agree}) 22... Rb8 23. Bd3 Bxd3 24. Qxd3 exd4 25. exd4 $6 (25. Nxd4 Ne5
26. Qe2 {White keeps his pawn, but has no real advantage}) 25... Ne5 26. Nxe5
dxe5 27. Kf1 Qxd4 {Here Carlos offered a draw. I realised my advantage had
gone and also that I was not really inspired to play on. Even though I was
confident I could easily draw the position if we had played on, as I reckoned
the position was about level (HIARCS agrees). Probably the least inspired and
most disappointing game I've played all season. Based on some sloppy moves
late in the game I was happy enough not to lose. Hopefully that's my bad game
out of the way for the rest of the season!!} (27... exd4 {and Black is a bit
better according to the computer, but I felt I could easily draw this game here
}) 1/2-1/2

