[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "Ruy Lopez"]
[Date "2016.12.05"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Syrett, M."]
[Black "Cook, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B00"]
[PlyCount "42"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.07"]

1. e4 Nc6 2. d4 e5 3. d5 Nce7 4. Nf3 Ng6 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. c4 Bc5 7. Bg5 O-O 8. Qd2
h6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. b4 Be7 11. a3 d6 12. h3 Nf4 13. Bf1 Qg6 14. Nc3 Nxg2+ 15.
Kd1 Nf4 16. Kc2 f5 17. Bd3 Qh5 18. Qd1 Nxd3 19. Kxd3 fxe4+ 20. Kxe4 Qf5+ 21.
Ke3 Qf4+ 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.12.05"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Barnett, M."]
[Black "Allan, J."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D41"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 c5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 Be7 8.
Nxd5 exd5 9. d4 O-O 10. Bf4 Be6 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. Rc1 Be7 13. Nd4 Rc8 14. e4
Nxd4 15. Qxd4 dxe4 16. Qxe4 Rxc1 17. Rxc1 Bg5 18. Bxg5 Qxg5 19. Qe1 Qb5 20. Qd2
Qb6 21. b4 h6 22. a3 Rd8 23. Qe1 Qa6 24. Rc3 Qa4 25. Bf3 Qd7 26. Qc1 Rc8 27.
Rxc8+ Qxc8 28. Qxc8+ Bxc8 29. Kf1 1/2-1/2

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "Ruy Lopez"]
[Date "2016.12.05"]
[Round "2.4"]
[White "Brooke, J."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D09"]
[Annotator "Shapland,Dave"]
[PlyCount "76"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2016.12.06"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. g3 Nge7 6. Bg2 Bg4 {Against the
same opponent in the Bradford League last October I had played 6...Ng6 and the
game continued 7.Bg5 f6!? 8.exf6 gxf6 9.Bd2 Bf5 and I ended up winning fairly
comfortably with a check mate on move 30 and most of White's queen's side
pieces still in their beds. This time I chose to develop my queen's bishop
before putting my knight on g6.} 7. O-O Ng6 8. Qa4 Qd7 {Up until now White has
played perfectly sensible moves and the engine assesses the position in his
favour. To be honest though, where the Albin Counter Gambit is concerned, the
engine assessment means very little as no White player is going to be able to
play like an engine.} 9. Bg5 $6 {This is the first move of the game that
doesn't make an appearance on my Chessbase Online database and there is a
reason for that. John's idea is clear. He wants to hamper my ability to castle
long although I must say I think this has dubious merits as an objective.
Normally White would want to encourage Black to go long in order to provide
him with a target. There were other options available that would probably have
been better for White here.} (9. Nbd2 {Preparing for either Nb3 or Ne4.}) (9.
Rd1 {Putting a bit more pressure on the Black d-pawn. After this move Black is
pretty much compelled to castle long or at least to play Rd8.}) (9. a3 {A
thematic move preparing for an advance on the queen's side with b4-c5 or b4-b5.
}) 9... h6 {Normally Black would like to play Bh3 and then go h5 in one go in
this line but there seemed to be some merit in putting the question to the
White bishop at once. I quickly realised that 10.Bh4 was not really an option
so that just leaves c1, d2 and f4 all of which have positional drawbacks.} 10.
Bf4 {I was pleased to see this move although, as I mentioned above...} (10. Bh4
{... is not really an option due to the continuation...} Bxf3 11. Bxf3 Ncxe5
12. Qxd7+ Kxd7 {... and Black stand well. He's regained his pawn deficit and
has two wonderfully positioned knights ready to wreak havoc.}) (10. Bc1 {Is an
admission of guilt but if 10.Bd2 then the bishop occupies the square White's
queen's knight would like to be on.} Ngxe5 {Regains the pawn and acheives
complete equality with a promising platform to build on.}) 10... Be7 $6 {This
isn't the most accurate move and opens the door for White to re-assert himself.
The engine liked 10...0-0-0 or Nxf4 at once but I figured that it would do no
harm to develop another piece and keep my opponent guessing about which side I
would castle.} 11. Nbd2 {A natural move to be sure but John missed the best
chance he would have in this game to secure an advantge by playing...} (11. Rd1
$1 O-O-O 12. Nc3 {This is the point!} Kb8 13. Nd5 {... and maybe White is only
a fraction better but it still looks better then the game.}) 11... Rd8 {I
wanted the rook on d8 to prevent some tricks for White in a few variations
which could end with him capturing on d4 with my knight on c6 pinned to my
king. The question was, should I castle or play Rd8. I made the wrong choice I
think although the move played is not bad. I should have had more faith in my
position and castled long. There was also a part of me that wanted to keep my
opponent guessing about where I was going to locate my king. At this point in
proceedings I had decided that I'd put him on f8!} 12. a3 {This completely
justifies my last move. It is a bit too slow now that Black has decided not to
castle long. Instead White should have improved his pieces with...} (12. Nb3 {
Black is back on the defensive again after this as the pressure on the d-pawn
mounts.} O-O 13. Qb5 Qc8 14. Rfd1 Bd7 15. Qd5 Bf5 {... is equal.}) 12... Nxf4
13. gxf4 g5 $5 {A key moment in the game. Objectively I don't think this is
the best move by any stretch of the imagination but it does have the practical
benefit of continuing to pose White some unusual problems and it keeps the
initiative. The idea is to open either the g or the h file depending on how
play progresses. Instead of this though, better was...} (13... Qf5 $1 {Simply
attacking White's new weakness and causing all kinds of difficulties.} 14. e3
O-O 15. b4 Qg6 16. Kh1 a6 {... leaves Black with a comfortable position where
he is slightly better with a solid structure and active pieces.}) 14. Kh1 {
This move makes a lot of sense. It looks like Black is going to open the
g-file for his attack and so stepping out of the firing line and vacating g1
for his rook seems sensible. However, the engine thinks that...} (14. b4 {...
offered White better chances to hold the balance after...} d3 15. exd3 Qxd3 16.
b5 Nd4 17. Nxd4 Qxd4 18. Nb3 Qxf4 {... and the gasme is roughly equal.}) 14...
Bh3 $2 {This turns out to be a mistake but it was well intentioned. Before
taking on f4 I wanted to remove the potential hazard of an attack on the long
White diagonal. Maybe I was seeing ghosts but it seemed good from both an
attacking and defensive point of view to get rid of the White king's bishop.} (
14... gxf4 {Is more accurate and now the game might continue...} 15. Rg1 Kf8
16. Rad1 d3 17. exd3 Qxd3 {... and Black is slightly better but it's pretty
messy.}) 15. Bxh3 Qxh3 16. Ng1 $2 {This is too negative. I must admit I'd
expected maybe 16.Rg1 instead. White doesn't need to worry too much about the
queen just yet. Fritz demonstrates how John could have capitalised on my last
inaccurate move.} (16. b4 {Active not passive defence is best on this occasion.
Black has no threats at the moment so the time is right for White to take up
the initiative with...} d3 17. e3 gxf4 18. b5 fxe3 19. fxe3 Nb8 20. Qxa7 {...
and Black's position is an uncoordinated mess.}) 16... Qf5 {Simple and
effective. Having pulled a White knight into a defensive outpost, the queen
returns to the centre of the board to exert her full influence.} 17. Rac1 {If
this relatively sensible and natural move is as bad as the engine suggests
then White must already be in a pretty bad way. It's hard to know what to
recommend.} Qxf4 18. Rfd1 O-O $1 {Now that White has committed all but one of
his pieces to the queen's side Black can certainly afford to castle king's
side and consolidate his positional advantage. In days gone by I might have
played something reckless and agressive here. Not today. I realised there was
no hurry. Just improve the position.} 19. Nh3 $6 {In the same spirit, White
should be continuing to try and improve his pieces. This should involve
getting his queen back into the action. Qc2 or Qb3 or even Qb5 might have been
more suitable choices.} Qg4 {I realised that John had miscalculated what would
happen after he played...} 20. Qb3 $2 {Now Black can simply cut the connection
between the queen and knight, winning a piece.} d3 21. exd3 Qxh3 22. d4 {White
only has a pawn for his piece. Worse still, his king looks vulnerable. For
this reason, I decided not to acquiesce to a queen exchange.} Qf5 {Her majesty
has visited h3 twice. Now she comes back to f5 for the second time,} 23. Nf3 g4
24. Rg1 Kh8 {The knight is genuinely under attack now and Black stands ready
to challenge for the g-file.} 25. d5 $2 {It took me a while to figure out that
this was a mistake. But I got there in the end.} Na5 26. Qe3 Qxf3+ {Because
the queen captures with check, Black has now won a second piece!} 27. Rg2 Qxe3
28. fxe3 {The rest of the game needs little accompanyment.} Rg8 29. Rc3 b6 30.
b4 Nb7 31. c5 bxc5 32. bxc5 Bxc5 33. Rb3 Bb6 34. e4 {It's hit and hope stuff
for White now.} Nc5 35. Re3 Rg5 36. Reg3 Nxe4 37. h4 Nxg3+ 38. Kh2 {Fritz
announces mate in 10 here.} Nf1+ 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.12.05"]
[Round "2.5"]
[White "Sykes, N."]
[Black "Moss, P."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A31"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. d4 O-O 6. Be2 Nbd7 7. O-O c5 8. Be3
cxd4 9. Nxd4 Qc7 10. Rc1 b6 11. f3 Bb7 12. Qd2 h5 13. Nd5 Qd8 14. Rfd1 Rc8 15.
b3 e6 16. Nxf6+ Nxf6 17. Nb5 d5 18. cxd5 Rxc1 19. Qxc1 exd5 20. exd5 Nxd5 21.
Bc4 Qa8 22. Bxd5 Bxd5 23. Nc7 Qb7 24. Nxd5 Rc8 25. Qxc8+ 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.12.05"]
[Round "2.8"]
[White "Buchan, O."]
[Black "Eagleton, G."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B50"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Qc2 Bg4 5. e5 Bxf3 6. exf6 Bc6 7. fxe7 Bxe7 8.
d4 Nd7 9. b4 cxd4 10. b5 Bd5 11. cxd4 Rc8 12. Nc3 Nf6 13. Qd3 Bc4 14. Qf3 Bxf1
15. Rxf1 O-O 16. Nd5 Re8 17. Be3 Qa5+ 18. Kd1 Qa4+ 19. Kd2 Rc2+ 20. Ke1 Bd8 21.
Nxf6+ Bxf6 22. Qf4 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.12.05"]
[Round "2.11"]
[White "Porter, R."]
[Black "Joyce, B."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D35"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 Bf5 7. Qb3 b6 8.
Bxf6 Bxf6 9. Qxd5 Qxd5 10. Nxd5 Bd8 11. Rc1 c6 12. Nb4 Bd7 13. Nf3 O-O 14. Be2
b5 15. O-O a5 16. Nd3 f6 17. Nc5 Bg4 18. h3 Bf5 19. e4 Re8 20. Bd3 Bc8 21. Rfe1
Nd7 22. Nxd7 Bxd7 23. d5 cxd5 24. exd5 Rxe1+ 25. Rxe1 Bc7 26. Nd4 b4 27. Re7
Re8 28. Rxd7 Re1+ 29. Bf1 Be5 30. Nf3 Ra1 31. Nxe5 fxe5 32. Ra7 Rxa2 33. Bc4
Kf8 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.12.05"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Leonard, P."]
[Black "Curry, L."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C30"]
[WhiteElo "154"]
[BlackElo "77"]
[Annotator "Leonard,Pete"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Nc6 {Not very ambitious, but how ambitious would I
be, playing against someone at double my grade?} 4. f4 {John Emms, in
Attacking with 1.e4, chooses 4.Nc3, "keeping White's options open regarding
the f2-f4 thrust". It would also prevent Black from playing d7-d5.} d6 {Rather
passive, and justifying my over-active approach. Fritz 14 rates any of 4...Bc5,
4...exf4 and 4...Bb4+ as being better for Black.} 5. Nf3 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Be3
$6 {I'm not sure exactly what my thinking was, though enticing his knight
rather than is bishop to g4 was in my mind. Fritz marks either 7.Nc3 or 7.Bb3
as equal, but now gives Black an edge again.} Ng4 {I was more concerned about
7...d5, which I've failed to prevent. Fritz in fact rates any of 7...exf4, 7...
d5 or 7...Na5 as equal, with Black slightly better.} 8. Bd2 Bd7 $6 {I
suspected that Luca had no clear plan, but was waiting to react to whatever I
did. Fritz prefers} (8... exf4 9. Bxf4 Be6 {when, if 10.Be6 fxe6 and Black has
equalised, with no danger of doubled e pawns.}) 9. Nc3 {About time too! We're
dead level again.} Be6 $2 $18 {But now we're not; he should have played either
9...Na5, exchanging my bishop, or 9...exf4 10.Bxf4 Nce5 and start some play on
the queen's side.} 10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. Ng5 Bxg5 12. Qxg4 $2 {Back to equality
again; how did I miss that his advanced knight was in danger, after} (12. fxg5
Rxf1+ 13. Qxf1 {followed by 14.h3 or 14.Qd1, winning a piece.} (13. Kxf1 $4
Qf8+ 14. Kg1 Qf2+ 15. Kh1 Qh4 {and Black mates or wins the queen.})) 12... exf4
13. Qxe6+ Kh8 14. Qg4 $6 {And now Black is a tiny bit better. I was overly
concerned about ...Nd4, and wanted to start putting pressure on his advanced f
pawn. Fritz prefers} (14. Nd5 Nd4 15. Qg4 {which is still entirely level, after
} c6 16. Nxf4 Bxf4 17. Rxf4 Rxf4 18. Bxf4 Nxc2 {At least I had the sense to
avoid}) (14. Ne2 $4 f3 {and Black is much better; e.g.} 15. Qg4 (15. Bxg5 Qxg5
16. Ng3 f2+ 17. Rxf2 Rxf2 18. Kxf2 Qc5+ 19. Kf1 {19.Ke2? allows 19... Qxc2+,
19.Kd1?? loses the rook to 19...Qg1+ and 19.Kf3? Rf8+ looks like a recipe for
being mated.} Rf8+ 20. Nf5 g6 21. Qc4 Qxc4 22. dxc4 gxf5 23. exf5 Rxf5+ {and
Black is winning easily.}) 15... Bxd2 16. Rxf3 Rxf3 17. Qxf3 Qg8 $19) 14... Qe7
$2 {This gives my knight a free ride to d5; better was} (14... Ne5 15. Qh5 {I
was thinking of 15.Qe2, but that's where my knight wants to be.} g6 16. Qd1 c6
{and again Black is slightly better.}) 15. Nd5 $16 Qe5 {Fritz prefers} (15...
Ne5 16. Qh3 Qd8 17. Bxf4 $16 {though White has won a pawn.}) 16. Bc3 $18 Nd4
17. Kh1 {Threatening 18.Bxd4 Qxd4 19.Qxg5; I am pleased to see that this is
Fritz's choice too.} c6 18. Bxd4 $2 {How on earth did I miss} (18. Nc7 {
winning the exchange, for if} Rac8 19. Bxd4 Qxd4 20. Ne6 {wins a piece instead.
}) 18... Qxd4 19. Qxg5 $2 {Restoring equality; 19.Nc7 still works.} cxd5 20.
Qxd5 $11 {Still, I felt my pawn structure was better than his...} Qf6 $2 {...
so he should have done something about this.} (20... Qxb2 21. Rab1 Qxc2 22.
Rxb7 {is dead level again; Black's f pawn is more of a threat than White's
rook on the seventh.}) 21. c3 Rad8 22. Rf3 {Fritz marginally prefers 22.Rf2,
but I wanted to remove any possibility of counterplay by f4-f3.} Qg6 {With his
eye on my king, but taking his eye off the ball; Fritz prefers} (22... Qe5 {
when he'd be much happier if I'd exchange queens, giving his f pawn valuable
support. White's still better after} 23. Raf1 Qxd5 24. exd5 g5 25. g3 Rf5 26.
c4 Rdf8 27. Kg2 $16) 23. Raf1 Qg4 {He's definitely after my king!} 24. Qxb7 {
"Money in the bank!"} Rd7 $2 25. Qd5 {Missing a third tactical trick; I was
not in sparkling form!} (25. Rxf4 $1 {I saw the possibilities of this move,
shortly, but too late!} Rg8 (25... Qxf4 26. Rxf4 {and it's mate if he takes
either of my major pieces.}) 26. Qd5 {and Black must give up his queen to
prevent 27.Qxg8+! with mate next move.}) 25... Rdf7 26. Qxd6 {Greedy, I know,
but why not? My pawns are now ready to roll.} h6 27. e5 Qd7 $6 {Three pawns up,
I'm more than happy to exchange queens.} 28. Qxd7 Rxd7 29. d4 {"No, you're not
having any of my pawns!"} g5 30. g3 g4 $2 {He saw his mistake immediately - I
know the feeling - but he's losing anyway.} 31. Rxf4 Rxf4 32. Rxf4 {My e and d
pawns are close to becoming self-sufficient (on the sixth, when I wouldn't
even need my rook). I felt sorry for Luca, who has suffered under not one but
two colds. If I'd not been only just past the worst of my cold in round 1, I'd
have (perhaps) not blundered away a pawn, immediately followed by a piece.
Then Luca wouldn't have been saddled with playing me. Poor lad: he had a cold
that seemed even worse than mine had been; he defended extremely tenaciously,
under such a handicap.} 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.12.05"]
[Round "2.13"]
[White "Hughes, G."]
[Black "Sutcliffe, R."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B20"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Bc4 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. O-O g6 6. c3 dxc3 7. Nxc3 a6 8. Ne5
Nxe5 9. Qd4 f6 10. Bf4 Nxc4 11. Qxc4 b5 12. Qd4 Bg7 13. e5 Bb7 14. Ne4 Bxe4 15.
Qxe4 f5 16. Qf3 Ne7 17. Bg5 Bxe5 18. Bxe7 Kxe7 19. Qa3+ Kf7 20. Rfe1 Bf6 21. g3
Qb6 22. Red1 d5 23. b4 Rac8 24. Rac1 Rc4 25. Qe3 d4 26. Qb3 Rhc8 {Black won
the game on move 35 but the rest of the score sheet is illegible.} 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.12.05"]
[Round "2.15"]
[White "Hadari, B.J."]
[Black "Bamford, N."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C00"]
[PlyCount "38"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bc4 Nxe4 5. O-O d5 6. Bd3 Nf6 7. Ne5 Bd6 8.
Qe2 Nbd7 9. Qf3 Nxe5 10. Qf4 Nxd3 11. cxd3 Bxf4 12. Nc3 Qd6 13. Re1 Bxh2+ 14.
Kf1 Qf4 15. Ne2 Qf5 16. Nd4 Qxd3+ 17. Ne2 Ne4 18. b3 e5 19. Bb2 Nxd2# 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.12.05"]
[Round "2.16"]
[White "Dawson, A."]
[Black "Hadari, J."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C78"]
[PlyCount "27"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Bc5 5. c3 Nf6 6. O-O O-O 7. d4 Bd6 8. Bc2
exd4 9. cxd4 Re8 10. e5 Be7 11. Qd3 d5 12. exf6 gxf6 13. Qxh7+ Kf8 14. Bh6# 1-0

