[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.03.06"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Cook, P."]
[Black "Parsons, M."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A10"]
[Annotator "Matthew Parsons"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2017.03.08"]

1. c4 {This was always going to be a difficult game, especially given the
tournament situation. I really wanted to win, but to win with Black, against a
player who in my opinion, seems to be very solid in his play, was going to be
a challenge, especially when that player only needed to draw.} b6 2. Nc3 Bb7 3.
e4 e6 4. Bd3 {This move I felt was a bit strange. I appreciate there are lines
in openings where a bishop is placed in front of a pawn that wants to advance,
but I'm not sure it's really correct here. I had expected d3 which is a move
that would have been more typical I believe of Phil's style.} f5 {I spent 5
mins or so over this move checking variations after 5.exf5 Qg5. It seemed
promising, and I doubted it was the type of position that White would want to
enter into. If White can't or won't take on f5, then it should generally be a
good move for Black.} 5. Nf3 fxe4 6. Bxe4 Bxe4 7. Nxe4 Nf6 8. Qe2 Be7 9. O-O
O-O 10. d4 Qc8 {All this has seemed very logical and correct. I took a bit of
time to find this move. It's difficult to find something that keeps decent
potential position in the position whilst at the same time not being stupid!}
11. Bg5 Qb7 12. Nxf6+ Bxf6 13. Rad1 Na6 {It was around this time that I
started to think about the ending that might arise as I predicting that White
was most likely going to look to exchange pieces in a 'safe' manner. I like
grinds in chess. It's one of my main strengths and I achieved it successfully
in round 3. I was annoyed with myself in round 4 for not doing this when I
went 'off plan.'} 14. b3 Rae8 15. Rd2 c6 16. Qe4 d5 17. Qh4 Qe7 18. Bxf6 Qxf6
19. Qxf6 gxf6 {I was quite content when we got to this position. Objectively I
don't think White has any concerns, however there is plently of play and
possibility. I felt I had reached a position where I had equalised, had no
concerns to lose, and could now try and actively look to win.} 20. Re1 Kf7 21.
Rde2 Nb4 22. g3 Rg8 23. Kf1 a5 24. a3 Na6 {So, whilst my knight has been
forced back, I've been able to play a5 which is important for the pawn
structure I was trying to achieve. You will note as the game advances, that
Black is able to push his pawn majority, whereas White does nothing with his.}
25. Rc1 c5 26. cxd5 exd5 27. Rd2 Rd8 28. h3 Rd7 29. Rc3 Rc8 30. Ke2 Rcc7 31.
Rdc2 Rd6 {These recent moves might give the impression that neither side has
achieved much. However Black has placed his rooks on squares that maintain the
centre, and very importantly, allow his knight to maneouve to a much better
and far move active square. Given that it's clear White was never going to
exchange on c5, I had to work out how to try and push c4 in the most optimal
circumstances. I was already thinking about taking over the d5 square. It's
worth noting at this point that I don't necessarily consider Black to be
better in this position, it's just that I felt optimistic as I felt that I was
directing the play.} 32. Rd2 Nb8 33. Kd1 Nd7 34. Ke2 c4 35. a4 Nf8 36. Rdc2
Rdc6 37. bxc4 dxc4 38. Kd2 Ke6 {So begins the march of my king to a secure
location where it won't be hassled.} 39. Rb2 Ng6 40. Rb5 Rd6 41. Re3+ Kd7 42.
Rh5 Kc8 43. Kc2 Kb7 44. Re8 Rdd7 45. Re3 {I had expected Re6 here from White
which seems better. At this point we were both approaching only 5 mins left on
the clock and it was becoming very difficult to maintain accuaracy.} Ne7 46.
Re2 Nd5 47. Re8 c3 {White resigned after thinking for about 5 minutes and with
only about 1 minute left on his clock. He's forced to play Rxd5 to give up the
exchange but he has no chances of holding the position after this. This was a
very tough game. I don't think White did too much wrong, just probably he
needed to play a bit more actively at the right times. That's easier said than
done of course. Well done to Phil for his tournament victory.} 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.03.06"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Hunter, I."]
[Black "Leonard, P."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A17"]
[WhiteElo "174"]
[BlackElo "154"]
[Annotator "Leonard,Pete"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. c4 b6 {So much for my hopes of "floating down" this round: another opponent
graded well above my strength! Curiously, on Board 1 alongside us, Phil and
Matthew made the same pair of half moves as we had done. That was the last
resemblance between our two games.} 2. Nf3 Bb7 3. Nc3 e6 4. g3 {It's drilled
into exponents of the English Opening - at least it is in the book that I have
- that a fianchetto of the king's bishop is a key part of White's strategy;
the English Defence (1...b6) aims to pre-empt this.} Nf6 5. Bg2 d5 {Of 917
games in Fritz 14's database, Black plays 5...c5 in 771 and 5...d5 in only 4!
Hm; my inclination is always to stake my own claim in the centre, whereas the
preferred move aims to prevent White's d2-d4. I should probably take note.} 6.
Ne5 Bd6 7. d4 O-O 8. O-O Nbd7 {I quite fancied putting more pressure on
White's advanced knight, by 8...c6 and 9...Qc7. However, as just noted, my
instinct is to play moves such as c7-c5, so I didn't want to "waste" a move.
Fritz prefers 8...Ne4, though it's not clear whether the intention is to
follow up with 9...f6, kicking White's knight.} 9. Nxd7 {I'm not sure why he
gives up his advanced knight so willingly.} Qxd7 10. Bg5 Ne4 11. Nxe4 dxe4 12.
Qc2 h6 13. Be3 f5 14. c5 {We've both played, more or less, Fritz's preferred
moves for most of the game. This only gives Black the tiniest advantage, but
again, I wasn't sure of its object. Unless he can play c5-c6, White has just
presented Black with a lovely square for his queen's bishop on d5.} Be7 15.
Rac1 Bd5 16. Bf4 bxc5 {My main concern was him opening the c file, which this
prevents; his "backwards" d pawn isn't such, as it can easily be protected by
e3, though this does rather shut both his bishops off from the queen's side.
i've actually achieved =+!} 17. dxc5 Bf6 {That diagonal is mine; I'm not
having him play Be5.} 18. Rfd1 g5 {This loses most of my advantage, in Fritz's
opinion. I wanted my queen off the d file and it occurred to me that her
weight could usefully be added to the long black diagonal. In addition, this
move stops his bishop attacking my c pawn or, if it moves, claiming d6. Fritz
prefers} (18... Qc6 {e.g.} 19. Be3 (19. b4 Rfb8 20. Rb1 a5 21. b5 Rxb5 22. Rxb5
Qxb5 23. Bxc7 a4 24. Rb1 Qc4 25. Qxc4 Bxc4 $17) 19... Rfb8 20. b3 a5 21. Bd4
Bxd4 22. Rxd4 Rb4 $15) 19. Be3 Qg7 {Fritz still prefers 19...Qb4, even though
this allows White to challenge for the diagonal with 20.Bd4.} 20. b3 a5 21. Bd2
a4 {I wondered, during this part of the game, whether I should switch my
attentions to the king's side. The queen's side seemed to be going quite well
for me, and my thoughts centred on f5-f4. Fritz here considers 21...h5, but
nevertheless prefers my move.} 22. b4 {Better to have taken the pawn:} (22.
bxa4 Rfb8 23. Rb1 Bb2 24. Bc1 Bxc1 25. Rdxc1 Rxb1 26. Rxb1 Qd4 $17 {Black will
get his pawn back, but White is not too bad.}) 22... Bb2 {This wins the
exchange, if I'd taken it; however, I was most interested in his a pawn.} 23.
Qb1 {Fritz prefers} (23. Rb1 a3 24. Bc1 Bxa2 25. Rxb2 axb2 26. Bxb2 $15 {White
has the long diagonal and his queen's side majority as compensation for the
exchange, not to mention Black's draughty king.}) 23... a3 {I should just have
taken the exchange, and not been afraid of him dominating the long diagonal. I
thought my bishop was worth more than his rook; it probably was, then, but in
the long run...} (23... Bxc1 24. Rxc1 a3 25. Bc3 e5 $17 {Fritz has several
moves for White here - 26.Rc2, 26.e3 and 26.Qa1 - and rates them all about
equal at -1.25 or worse.}) 24. Rc2 c6 {Either 24...Rfd8 or the even more
obvious 24...Rab8 keeps White well tied up.} 25. Bc1 Bc3 $6 {Now I start to
lose my way; maybe the lack of chess for a month was beginning to tell. How
could I not see that, after...} (25... Bxc1 26. Qxc1 (26. Rcxc1 Rfb8 27. e3 Ra4
28. Rd4 Qb7 $19) (26. Rdxc1 Rfb8 {followed by 27...Ra4-+.}) 26... Rfb8 27. Qd2
Ra4 28. Rb1 Qb7 {...his b pawn is lost?}) 26. b5 Rfb8 $6 {Again, just take it!}
(26... cxb5 27. Bd2 (27. Qxb5 $4 Rfb8 {loses his queen.}) 27... Bb2 28. Bf1
Rfb8 $19) 27. b6 Ra5 28. Bd2 Rb5 $2 {For the third time, take the offered
material! What was wrong with me, my play is usually more materialistic than
this.} (28... Rxc5 29. Bxc3 (29. Rdc1 Bxd2 30. Rxd2 (30. Rxc5 Bxc1 31. Qxc1 Qb2
$19) 30... Rb5 31. Qc2 Rb2 32. Qd1 R8xb6 $19) (29. Qc1 Bb2 30. Rxc5 Bxc1 31.
Bxc1 $19 {As in the game, White sacrifices queen for rook and bishop, but here
he hasn't got those two passed pawns.})) 29. Qxb5 $1 {After being behind for
so many moves, White now has the tiniest plus.} cxb5 30. Bxc3 Qb7 31. Be5 {
Fritz prefers 31.Bb4, blocking my b pawn, though this may have caused me to
find the "correct" piece, namely my rook, for activity elsewhere.} Rc8 $11 {(0.
00)} 32. Bc7 $2 {Giving me the opportunity to regain some advantage, most
simply by 32...Rxc7 33.bxc7 Qxc7. Now Black may become the one with the
dangerous passed pawn, while White has to co-ordinate his pieces.} Qa8 $6 {I'd
been getting steadily more concerned about my clock, which took part of my
mind off my game. From move 28 on, I played a series of inferior or bad moves
that turned a probably winning position into a totally lost one.} 33. e3 Qa4 $2
{I was fixated on somehow winning his a pawn; to keep equality, I simply
needed to created my own passed pawn. My rook is useless against his pawns;
the bishop needs the help of queen and/or king.} (33... b4 34. Ra1 Qa4 35. Rac1
b3 36. axb3 Qxb3 $17 {and suddenly Black is better again.}) 34. Rdc1 Bc6 35.
Bf1 Kf7 36. Rc3 Ke7 $6 {My idea was somehow to reach b7 with the king;
hopeless, I fear.} (36... Qb4 {keeps his rooks "honest" and gives my king time
to come to the queen's side; e.g.} 37. Be2 Ke7 38. Bd6+ Kd7 39. Rd1 Qb2 40. Kf1
f4 41. gxf4 gxf4 42. Be5+ Bd5 43. exf4 Kc6 {White is better but Black is still
fighting.}) 37. Rb1 (37. Bd6+ $1 {and if} Kd7 38. Rb3 Rd8 39. Rcb1 Kc8 40. Bxb5
Bxb5 41. Rxb5 Kb7 42. R5b3 Ra8 43. Rc3 Qc6 44. Rd1 $18 {The rook, bishop and
passed pawns are too much for Black's queen.}) 37... Kd7 $2 (37... Rxc7 38.
bxc7 Kd7 39. Rcb3 Kxc7 40. Bxb5 Bxb5 41. Rxb5 Qc2 42. Rb7+ Kc8 (42... Kc6 43.
R1b6+ Kd5 (43... Kxc5 $4 44. Rc7+ $18) 44. Rd7+ Ke5 45. c6 Qxa2 46. c7 Qc2 47.
Ra6 f4 48. exf4+ (48. Rxa3 $4 Qc1+ 49. Kg2 f3+ (49... Qxa3 $4 50. c8=Q $18) 50.
Kh3 h5 {and it's White who'll be mated!}) 48... gxf4 49. gxf4+ Kf6 50. Rxa3
Qc1+ 51. Kg2 e3 52. Rdd3 (52. Rh7 Kg6 53. Re7 (53. c8=Q Qxc8 54. Rha7 exf2 55.
Kxf2 Qc2+ {and it's hard to see how White can escape the checks.}) 53... Kf6)
52... exf2 53. Kxf2 Qc2+ {followed by 54...Qxc7 and again perpetual check
seems the most likely outcome.})) 38. Rcb3 $2 {Giving me another chance to
play 38...Rxc7; best was} (38. Be5 {threatening 39.b7 Bxb7 40.Bxb5+ winning
the queen.} b4 39. Rc4 Qa8 40. Rcxb4 Qb7 41. Rd1+ Ke7 42. Bb5 Be8 43. Bxe8 Kxe8
44. Rc1 Rc6 45. Ra4 {and the threat of 46.Ra7 is fatal.}) 38... b4 $2 39. Bd6 (
39. Rxb4 Qc2 40. Bd6 Bb7 41. Bb5+ Rc6 42. Ba4 Qxa2 43. Be5 {is even nastier.})
39... Rg8 $2 {With some desperate idea of creating something against his king;
far too late for that!} 40. b7 (40. Rxb4 Qc2 41. b7 {wins my rook for the pawn.
}) 40... Bxb7 $6 {The game's up, whatever I do.} 41. Rxb4 Qc2 $6 {"Better" was}
(41... Qxb4 42. Rxb4 Bc6 $18) 42. Rxb7+ Kc6 {I'd used up quite a lot of my 15
minutes, trying and failing to find a way out. Now I was just playing quickly,
though no way was I playing to the back rank and losing my rook. Actually,
it's worse than that; either 42...Kc8 or 42...Ke8 is mate in two!} 43. R1b6+
Kd5 44. Rb4 f4 $4 {Throwing in the towel; I could at least have tried 44...e5
to give my king a way out.} 45. Rd4+ Kc6 {I hold to the opinion that, when my
opponent has totally outplayed me, it's unsporting to resign, the move before
mate.} 46. Rc7# {Very pretty, which is more than can be said of my play after
move 25. Concentration requires practice! Still, we both agreed that it had
been a cracking game.} 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.03.06"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Syrett, M."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C05"]
[Annotator "Dave Shapland"]
[PlyCount "108"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2017.03.07"]

1. e4 e6 {Deploying the Frog! This is not a regular visitor to my opening
repertoire of course. I've played Martin many times and have been happy to
take on either his King's Gambit (I think he played the Bishop's Opening once
too) or his Grand Prix Attack, but on this occasion I decided to go for
something a bit different.} 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 {This is the reason for my opening
choice. I knew I'd get a Tarrasch which is the system I play myself with White.
I'm familiar with the ideas and feel confident playing this variation with
both colours.} Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Ngf3 {Usually White will play c3, Bd3 or f4
in this position. Nothing wrong with this move either which can transpose into
some other lines. I had expected Martin to play this way.} c5 6. c3 Nc6 {So
far so good until...} 7. Nb3 $6 {Martin, as always chooses his own path. 7.Bd3
would have been a more orthodox selection. This certainly succeeds in getting
me out of book and it worked in this game because I played a succession of
inaccurate moves after this and landed up in a desperate situation straight
out of the opening.} Qc7 $6 {Returning the inaccurcay. I was caught in two
minds about how to proceed after Martin's last. I was really keen not to close
the centre but if I refuse to do that then I have to factor in the possibility
of White playing dxc5 or Nxc5. I didn't want to play Be7 as that would mean
White would gain a tempo in taking on c5. All that said, closing the centre
looks like the engine's choice.} (7... c4 8. Nbd2 Be7 {... and Black is fine.})
8. Be2 Be7 {Still 8...c4 was better} 9. O-O cxd4 {... and again.} 10. cxd4 O-O
{I was blithely expecting to follow Black's regular plan here which is to
break open the centre with f6. If I wanted to play that I had to play it
immediately. I just hadn't seen Martin's next coming at all.} 11. Ng5 {The
engine prefers 11.Bf4 here but this move suceeded in completely taking the
wind out of my sails. Of course the point is that Black can't now play f6
because he pawn on e6 hangs with a knight fork to boot!} h6 {Played after a
bit of a think. Fritz does think this is relatively best. Black can't abide
the knight on g5 indefinitely. There didn't seem to be anything else for it.}
12. Nh3 {Martin sensibly chooses to retreat the knight to h3 so that he can
now prepare to advance with f4-f5. My intended strategy is now completely
redundent and I have set myself up to play f6 which currently doesn't look
like a great idea as 12...f6 immediately will be met by 13.f4. That said, it's
hard to find another plan for Black because White's king's side attack will
come quickly and looks dangerous.} Nb6 {After the game Andy Leatherbarrow
suggested 12...a5 instead. That does indeed look like a good idea and it is
also Fritz's choice. I did look at it but wasn't convinced. As mentioned above
mainly because White's play on the other flank looks much faster and more
threatening. Instead I played this 'nothing' move.} 13. Bf4 $6 {It turns out
that this move is a mistake. I can understand why Martin played it. He just
wants to get his pieces developed and get his queen's rook to c1. Maybe play
one bishop to g3 and the other to d3 before pushing the f-pawn. The engine
advocates 13.Bd3 and assesses the position as '='.} Nd7 {Very provocative! The
idea I had was that, now White can't play f4 in response to f6 I was going to
revert to my original idea. It's a stupid choice because White will h\ve
gained a couple of tempi in the meantime! Instead proceeding with something
consequent to my last move would have been much more sensible.} (13... Nc4 {
And then maybe...} 14. Rc1 b5 15. Qd3 a5 {... with a small advantage for Black.
}) 14. Rc1 {After this White is better again and my position quickly
deteriorates.} Qb6 15. Bd3 f6 $2 {Really a dreadful decision. Black's position
is all gummed up and he's creating weaknesses in front of his king. Martin
must have been rubbing his hands with glee. I would have been!} 16. Qg4 {As
soon as Martin played this a cold chill ran down my spine! Why didn't I see
this? White now has four pieces in the attack and Black's king looks pretty
much dead. In fact Martin had an even better move in the form of an immediate
sacrifice on h6.} (16. Bxh6 $1 gxh6 17. Qg4+ Kh8 18. Qg6 f5 19. Qxh6+ {Two
pawns for the piece and a huge attack. Black is now compelled to give back the
material to stay alive.} Kg8 20. Qg6+ Kh8 21. Nf4 Ncxe5 22. Qh6+ Kg8 23. dxe5
Nxe5 24. Ng6 {Materials is level again but Black is positionally lost.} Nxg6
25. Qxg6+ Kh8 26. Rfe1 {White is winning at a canter.}) 16... f5 {Forced.} 17.
Qg6 Nxd4 $6 {After a longish think I decided to give up the h-pawn, grab this
one in the centre and hope I could defend. Fingers crossed!} (17... Rf7 {In
fact this is the only defence and it seems sufficient for Black to keep
White's advantage to the minimum. Amazingly! For example...} 18. Be2 {
Threatening 19.Bh5 so...} Nf8 19. Qg3 g5 20. Bh5 Rg7 21. Bd2 {... and Black is
hanging on. Fritz suggests this position is level though for a human it still
looks quite scary for Black.}) 18. Bxh6 {It's feels hard to criticize Martin
for playing the move that he'd been building up to with his attack and one
which looks so natural and optically Black looks in great danger after this.
However, the fact is Martin missed a clear cut win by tactical means in this
position.} (18. Nxd4 Qxd4 19. Qxe6+ {I'd seen all of this but couldn't really
calculate everything that comes next and I guess Martin couldn't either.} Rf7
20. Rxc8+ $1 {This is the move I had overlooked in my calculations.} Rxc8 21.
Qxd7 Rd8 22. Qb5 {White has a bishop and knight for his rook but, equally
important, Black's position is riddled with structural weaknesses for White to
pick at. This should be winning.}) 18... Rf7 {Incredibly, Black is absolutely
fine after this. Nf8 will come next driving back the queen after which Black
should be able to breath a little more easily.} 19. Bf4 Nf8 20. Qh5 g6 {20...
Nxb3 first was probably a bit more accurate but we end up in the same position
which was the one I had envisaged when I played 18... Rf7} 21. Qd1 Nxb3 22.
axb3 {I hadn't expected Martin to want the queens exchanged! Nevertheless, he
might have considered it now that his attack has been repulsed.} Bd7 {This
seemed the most sensible choice. I wanted to put the bishop on c6. From this
vantage it could help in an attack on the king after ...d4. The engine instead
prefers...} (22... Nd7 {I didn't even consider this as I wanted the knight to
keep an eye on g6 for the moment and had anyway imagined that I might play Nh7
to support ...g5 at some moment. Fritz gives this continuation as best but
it's a very 'computerish' line that requires pin-point accuracy by Black after.
..} 23. Rc3 Qb4 24. Qc2 Nc5 {... and White is a bit better. This doesn't look
very appetising to me though. Black's position looks a bit fragile.}) 23. Ng5
Bxg5 24. Bxg5 Nh7 25. Bh6 Qd4 $6 {According to the all seeing eye this is
evidently this is not a great move. however I was quite pleased with it and it
comes with a couple of clear ideas. First of all the threat to the e5 pawn and
second the concept of swinging the queen to h4, hitting the bishop and
possibly preparing Rg7, g5 and or f4. It's certainly an interesting and active
continuation so of course I was going to play it!} 26. Rc3 $6 {Martin returns
the favour with an imprecise move in a complicated position. The engine of
course shines a light here...} (26. Qe2 {At the board I had intended to reply
to this move with...} Qh4 {When there might follow something along the lines
of...} (26... Bc6 {... is better says Fritz.}) 27. Be3 f4 28. g3 Qg5 29. Bd2 f3
30. Qe3 Qh5 {... with a very messy position! Of course Fritz has ice in it's
veins and just says White is much better to winning here. Fair enough,
provided he can defend and simplify as Black does have structural weaknesses
and a ropey bishop.}) 26... Bc6 {I was now happy that I managed to consolidate
my position somewhat and had some active chances too.} 27. Re1 Qh4 28. Bc1 Ng5
{This seemed fine to me but the engine is in it's element here and almost
every one of our moves in this difficult position could have been improved
upon it would seem. Instead...} (28... d4 29. g3 Qd8 30. Rc5 Rc8 {... is about
equal.}) 29. Bxg5 {Again this is perfectly natural but better was...} (29. Qd2
$1 {... and the tables could very well turn again after...} Ne4 30. Bxe4 fxe4
31. Rh3 Qe7 32. Qh6 {... with big advnatage to White.}) 29... Qxg5 30. Bf1 {
The threat was d4 of course.} f4 {I wanted to prevent ...Rg3.} 31. Qc1 {It
looks like 31.Qd4 would have been more acurate but, to be honest, it's almost
pointless quoting the engine lines as this position is just difficult for a
mortal to play so pretty much every move could be improved on by the silicon
God.} Rh7 {Pretty much provoking the exchange sacrifice that follows.} 32. Rxc6
$1 {The best move in the position and I think Id' have played it too. For an
active player like Martin it looks perfectly sensible to give up the exchange
in order to develop some threats by inserting his queen into the action again.
At first the engine even thinks this is better for White but after a pretty
decent think it finds defences for Black and says '='.} bxc6 33. Qxc6 Rd8 34.
Qxe6+ {All given as 'best' by Fritz. The momentum has swung back in Whites
favour but can he make it count this time. Materially, Martin has enough for
the pawn. The big question is, can he activate his bishop and rook. To his
credit Martin finds a way.} Rf7 $2 {Again, it seems hard to criticise and the
engine is streets ahead in this melee. Black is only holding after...} (34...
Kf8 35. Qc6 Re7 36. Qc5 d4 {... and it's 'level'.}) 35. Rc1 (35. Bd3 Kf8 {It
seems that getting the rook to e7 is critical to the defence.} 36. Qc6 (36.
Bxg6 Re7 37. Qf5+ Qxf5 38. Bxf5 Rb8 {... is evidently enough to hold for Black
despite the material deficit.}) 36... Re7) 35... Qf5 36. Qa6 Kg7 37. Rc6 $1 {
Martin finds a way to build the pressure. Now Bd3 is a big threat.} Qxe5 38.
Rxg6+ Kf8 {At the end of a long hard battle it's really very difficult to
calculate all the forcing lines precisely. Black's king once again seems
vulnerable but logic told me that my heavy pieces should be enough to keep his
majesty safe. I hoped I hadn't missed something.} 39. Qa5 Qc7 40. Qb4+ Qe7 41.
Qd4 {According the Fritz White is better again at this point. To be honest
though I think Martin and I were both feeling a bit like punch-drunk boxers
after 11 rounds of toe-to-toe blow trading! One of us was going to make a
decisive mistake at some point it seemed and the assessment of the position
looked like it could be turned on its head from one move to another.} Qe4 42.
Qh8+ {Driving the king out into the open. It looks like Qc5+ might have been a
bit better though.} Ke7 43. Qh4+ Kd7 44. Bb5+ {It's amazing that this move
actually loses White all of his advantage although it looks the most natural
thing in the world to re-deploy his last piece to the attack with check. I'd
have done the same as I suspect would most readers.} (44. Qh5 {Appears to give
White the best chances after something like...} Kc8 45. h4 f3 46. g3 {It's
still terribly complicated but at least now the white king has luft so maybe
the bishop can come into the game again.}) 44... Kc8 45. Rc6+ Rc7 {After I
played this my blood turned to ice because I thought I'd allowed Martin 46.
Ba6+ Kb8 47.Qxd8 mate! Of course I hadn't because 46.Ba6+is well met by ...Kd7
but this gives you an idea as to the state I think we were both in by this
point.} 46. Qg4+ Kb7 47. Rxc7+ Kxc7 {Finally a little bit of simplification.
The engine still says this is 'level' and I guess the prospects of White
getting a perpetual check of some sort are going up if he can keep the queens
on.} 48. h3 Qe5 49. Qg6 Rd6 50. Qf7+ Kb6 51. Qe8 $4 {Finally, after an
absolutely fraught and exhausting contest, Martin makes the decisive mistake.
He just hadn't seen that I'm forcing a win after the queen's come off via some
quite pretty geometry which prevent his bishop from defending against the
passed d-pawn.} Qxe8 52. Bxe8 d4 $1 {Without this tactical shot White is
probably totally fine. The problem he has is that, incredibly, the passed
d-pawn is too fast. I guess he might have overlooked that the bishop can't
come to g6.} 53. Kf1 {Also losing was...} (53. Bh5 d3 54. g3 fxg3 55. fxg3 d2
56. Bd1 Re6 57. Kf2 Re1) 53... d3 54. Ke1 (54. Bh5 d2 55. Bd1 Re6 {... is the
same as above.}) 54... Re6+ {I feel I've been really lucky (if you believe in
luck in chess) in this year's championship. I've had losing positions in three
of my five games and have managed somehow to turn them around. It's certainly
been a street fight from start to finish for me but I was obvioulsy delighted
to finish second on tie breaks although it was clear that others on the same
score as me had played a higher standard of chess during the competition.} 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.03.08"]
[Round "5.4"]
[White "Bedford, R."]
[Black "Dawson, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D70"]
[PlyCount "47"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nf6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Be3 Nbd7 8.
Qd2 e5 9. d5 O-O 10. Nge2 Re8 11. g4 h6 12. Ng3 b6 13. Bb5 Kh7 14. O-O-O a6 15.
Bc6 Rb8 16. h4 Bb7 17. Bxb7 Rxb7 18. g5 Ng8 19. h5 Nf8 20. hxg6+ fxg6 21. Qh2
h5 22. Nxh5 Bh8 23. Nf6+ Kg7 24. Qxh8+ 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.03.06"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "Allan, J."]
[Black "Harrington, S."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B34"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Be2 O-O 8.
O-O d5 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. Nxd5 Qxd5 11. Bf3 Qd7 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. c3 Qc7 14. Qa4
Bd7 15. Rad1 Rfd8 16. Rxd7 Rxd7 17. Bxc6 Rad8 18. Bxd7 Qxd7 19. Qxa7 Qxa7 20.
Bxa7 Ra8 21. Bc5 Rxa2 22. Rb1 e6 23. g3 f5 24. Kg2 Kf7 25. Kf3 e5 26. Ke2 e4
27. Kd1 Ra5 28. Be3 Ke6 29. Kc2 Kd5 30. Rd1+ Ke6 31. h4 Rd5 32. Ra1 Rd7 33.
Ra6+ Rd6 34. Rxd6+ Kxd6 35. Kb3 Kc6 36. Kc4 h5 37. b4 Bf8 38. b5+ Kb7 39. Kd5
1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.03.06"]
[Round "5.6"]
[White "Barnett, M."]
[Black "Gornall, S."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E67"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d6 5. d4 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Nc3 Re8 8. Qb3
c6 9. Qc2 e5 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. Rd1 Qc7 12. Ng5 Nf8 13. Nge4 Bf5 14. Nxf6+ Bxf6
15. e4 Bg4 16. f3 Bd7 17. Be3 Rad8 18. Na4 b6 19. c5 b5 20. Nc3 Bc8 21. b4
Rxd1+ 22. Rxd1 Rd8 23. a4 a6 24. axb5 axb5 25. Rxd8 Qxd8 26. Qd2 Qxd2 27. Bxd2
Be6 28. f4 Bc4 29. Bh3 Ne6 30. Nd1 Nd4 31. Kf2 Be6 32. Bxe6 1/2-1/2

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.03.06"]
[Round "5.7"]
[White "Leatherbarrow, A."]
[Black "Porter, R."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A21"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 d6 3. e3 f5 4. d4 e4 5. b3 Nf6 6. Bb2 Be7 7. Nge2 O-O 8. g3 Be6
9. Nf4 Bf7 10. h4 c6 11. Be2 g6 12. a3 Na6 13. b4 c5 14. b5 cxd4 15. Qxd4 Nc5
16. Ncd5 Bxd5 17. Nxd5 Nb3 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. Qd5+ Kh8 20. Bxf6+ Qxf6 21. Rd1
Qc3+ 22. Kf1 Rad8 23. h5 g5 24. h6 f4 25. gxf4 gxf4 26. exf4 Rxf4 27. Rh5 Qf6
28. Qg5 Rxf2+ 29. Ke1 Rg8 30. Qxf6+ Rxf6 31. Rh1 Rgg6 32. Rb1 0-1

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.03.06"]
[Round "5.9"]
[White "Webster, V."]
[Black "Moss, P."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E90"]
[PlyCount "34"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 g6 4. e4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Bd3 Nbd7 7. O-O Re8 8. Re1
e5 9. Bg5 h6 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nxe5 hxg5 12. Nf3 g4 13. Nd2 Nh5 14. Rc1 g3 15.
fxg3 Bd4+ 16. Kh1 Kg7 17. Nf3 Nxg3+ 0-1

