[Event "Calderdale League 2"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.02.17"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Dickinson, K."]
[Black "Corbett, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B02"]
[Annotator "Shapland,Dave"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Hebden Bridge 'D'"]
[BlackTeam "Belgrave"]

1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. Bc4 Nb6 4. Bb3 d5 5. a4 a5 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. h3 Bxf3 8. gxf3
{There's absolutely no reason why Kyle couldn't have recaptured with the queen
here.} e6 9. d4 c5 10. Be3 cxd4 (10... c4 11. Ba2 Nxa4 {... was even better,
but I expect Malcolm just wanted to develop his pieces and give himself the
best chance at landing a killer blow as quickly as possible.}) 11. Bxd4 Nc6 {
Black is simply rather better here.} 12. Be3 Nxe5 13. f4 Nec4 14. Bxc4 Nxc4 15.
Bd4 Qh4 {Black is a pawn up and appears to be cruising to victory as his
pieces are springing to life. Karl however, as other ideas.} 16. b3 Nd6 {This
can hardly be classed as a mistake but Black did miss the chance to land a
killer blow at once as he can leave the knight where it is for now with...} (
16... Qxf4 {... and the knight is taboo on account of...} 17. bxc4 Qe4+ {...
picking up the rook on h1.}) 17. Rg1 f6 {Not the best way to defend g7.17...
Nf5 was preferable but Black is still better after the game move though.} 18.
Qe2 Qxh3 19. Nc3 Rc8 20. Nb5 Ne4 {Why not just 20...Nxb5? Even after 21.Qxb5+
Kf7 Black should be fine.} 21. O-O-O {Over the last few moves Karl has at
least managed to complete his development and complicate Black's task.
Meanwhile, Malcolm seems to have drifted somewhat and, whilst he still holds
the advantage, he now has to play more precisely to seal the deal.} Bb4 $2 {
Hubris? Black appears to be about to mount a final assault. He thinks he has
time to give White the g-pawn but he's in for a nasty surprise. He really
needed to play 21...Kf7 to keep everything locked down before mounting his
attack.} 22. Rxg7 {22.f3 was the best move as the third rank is now blocked to
Black's queen and the Black knight's options are severely restricted. The game
move is ok too though and has the benefit of making Black think his opponent
is falling in with his plans.} Qxb3 $2 {Forgetting I suspect, that he can no
longer play g6 to block the check on h5!} 23. Qh5+ {Well spotted by Karl who
makes sure he doesn't put a foot wrong to snatch a heroic win from the jaws of
defeat.} Kd8 24. Bb6+ Rc7 25. Bxc7+ Kc8 26. cxb3 {Who needs 26.Na7# when you
can win your opponent's queen? Except that 26.Na7# would have been a rather
unusual and extraordinarily beautiful end to this game.} 1-0

[Event "Calderdale Individual Championship"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.03.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Shapland, D."]
[Black "Leatherbarrow, A."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[Annotator "Shapland,David"]
[PlyCount "63"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2014.03.11"]

1. e4 {Even though I was a few minutes late I took some time to consider what
my first move should be. The fact is that Andy was about the last person I'd
expected to play that evening, but as two other players on the same score as
us decided to miss the last round, we had been thrown together. "At least", I
thought "I have White". Then came the quandry. I'd prepared extensively for
Andy's Scandinavian for a club tournament we'd played in over the previous
summer but I couldn't remember much (if any!) of that prep and hadn't had the
chance to use it anyway as he had played 1...e5 and I ended up winning from a
Philidor's Defence. Once I'd cleared my head I decided that 1.d4, the only
other opening move I'd ever seriously consider playing, would be of no use to
me as I hadn't the vaguest idea how to meet any of the lines I can remember
Andy playing. So, it had to be 1.e4 and then have a serious think about what
to do against his Scandinavian if he played it.} d5 {In the same boat as I was,
but probably having had a little bit longer before the game started to
consider how he'd proceed in the opening, Andy made the best decision. Stick
to what you know best when preparation isn't possible. Afterall, Andy is very
familiar with the Scandinavian and has a decent record with it. Why shouldn't
he play it?} 2. exd5 Qxd5 {I was happy enough to see this move. I hadn't given
much thought to what I'd play against 2...Nf6} 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. Bc4 {I think this
is the trendy move of the moment although, according to my Chessbase app, the
traditional 3.d4 is still by far the most popular move here. I used to
automatically play 4.d4 in this position but I've become more aware of the
plans involving White developing pieces rapidly and reserving the right to
delay the d-pawn advance until he can decide whether or not it belongs on d3
or d4. I admit it though, I was making this up as I went along. It's relevant
to mention here too that I also spent a few minutes considering 4.b4! But more
of that later.} Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 {Andy said afterwards that he'd picked the most
active line where Black opts for swift piece development. Indeed, Black does
get his pieces into the game quickly and oddly, both sides have opted not to
stake a claim in the centre with their remaining d and e pawns. This sets the
tone for a game that turns out to be all about the pieces! The game move is
slightly more popular than 5.. .Bf5 according to the Chessbase app with 818
games as opposed to 528 games where 5... Bf5 was played.} 6. h3 {6.d4 is also
playable of course. There are opportunities to transpose back to d4 lines at
almost every point in the opening here. I was reserving judgement still as to
whether or not I'd play d4 or go for d3. For the moment I decided that I
wanted to resolve the pin on my king's knight so...} Bh5 7. g4 {This is fairly
commital but I decided to go for it. My intention at this point was to castle
queen's side and possibly advance my pawn to g5.} Bg6 8. Qe2 $5 {Offering a
pawn sacrifice. We're now down to just 13 games on my Chessbase app so I guess
you could say we are venturing into fairly obscure territory.} Nc6 {Again Andy
choses the most active line aiming to get his own pieces develop quickly too.
Other moves that would have been considered would be 8...c6 and 8...e6. Both
of these are thematic Scandinavian moves which aim to keep White's pieces at
bay and prepare for Black to complete his development. Of course there was
also the matter of the hanging c-pawn. Can Black afford to grab this?} (8...
Bxc2 {Fritz seems to think not and awards White a significant advantage after}
9. d3 Ba4 {and now the silicone mind recommends going after the Black queen
with a line like} 10. g5 $1 Nfd7 11. Bd2 {and her Royal Highness is beginning
to look very exposed.}) 9. Bb5 {After the game was over someone asked me why I
hadn't played...} (9. a3 {aiming to trap the queen with b4 and Na4. I did
briefly consider this move but when I was asked about it afterwards I couldn't
remember why I had rejected the idea. Now I remember... Black can castle
anyway without any fear of having her maj trapped as...} O-O-O 10. b4 $2 Nxb4 {
and the White a-pawn is unfortunately pinned. When I considered this variation
with 9.a3 I wasn't looking at trapping the queen only at preventing the Black
knight from getting to b4 from which outpost the c2 square looks very tasty. I
soon realised that a3 didn't stop this move at all and that the only way to
prevent the knight advancing to b4 was to pin it immediately. This train of
thought brought me to the game move which Andy told me afterwards is book.})
9... O-O-O {In fact the Chessbase app only has one game where this position
was reached so maybe Andy had his ideas mixed up. I wonder if usually White
has played 8.d3 instead of 8.Qe2 when Black castles long. It turns out to be
an important difference. All I know is that I was very happy to swap off the
bishop for knight and damage the pawn structure in front of the Black king.}
10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. b4 $5 {This idea was probably inspired by the earlier
thought I'd had right at the beginning of the game when I mentioned I had
considered playing the gambit line 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.b4!? I'd
watched as Richard Boylan beat Andy with that variation in the Huddersfield vs.
Hebden Bridge 'A' match in 2012. Someone afterwards said Nakamura's played it
a few times before. I'd say it was an interesting way to shake things up but
no more than that. In this position the move has extra bite because of White's
threat to open the b-file to get at the Black king. It probably should be
mentinoned that Fritz preferred another approach here with...} (11. Ne5 Qb6 12.
a4 a6 13. Ra3 $1 {is a very unusual and interesting rook lift. Typical
computer move I suppose. This does look dangerous for Black but it's a very
quirky position.}) 11... Qb6 {Once again Andy declines to accept the pawn
offering. Once again he was almost certainly correct to do so. After...} (11...
Qxb4 {Fritz gives a long forcing sequence} 12. Ne5 (12. Rb1 {This was the move
I had planned to play. It also seems to give White an edge. One possible line
might be} Qa5 13. Ne5 Be4 14. Nc4 Qc5 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Rb3 {Preparing Ba3.})
12... Rd4 13. Qa6+ Qb7 14. Qxb7+ Kxb7 15. Rb1+ Kc8 16. Nxc6 Be4 17. Nxe4 Rxe4+
18. Kd1 {and White stands a little better.}) 12. Ne5 (12. O-O Bxc2 13. Ne5 Bg6
14. d3 {was played in Shapland vs Batonyi, Bradford League 2017 and White went
on to win after a similar set of adventures to this game.}) 12... e6 13. b5 $6
{I was filled with the lust for battle by this stage of the game and thought
this move would keep Andy on the back foot. It turned out alright but it's not
sound.} cxb5 {This time Andy takes the pawn and even though White can win this
one back, Black can now also grab the c2 pawn so it's a genuine pawn offer.
Once more he made the correct decision.} 14. Rb1 {This isn't sound. I had a
particular idea and was fortunate that Andy fell in with it. The best
continuation for White was...} (14. Nxb5 {and now Black should continue with}
Bxc2 $1 {Initiating an important threat ...Bd3!} 15. a4 a6 16. Nc3 Bg6 17. O-O
{And Black is a pawn up. It's very doubtful White has enough compensation for
it. Fritz certainly doesn't think so but the position is a total mess.}) 14...
a6 {This is fine but even better was...} (14... b4 $1 {The best way to refute
White's play. I suppose it's not the most natural move considering the
position of the Black King and Queen.} 15. Rb2 {This is the kind of position
computers love and humans are poor at. The game is very concrete and rather
obscure. Often the best move is not the natural one. It makes for interesting
but not necessarily high quality chess.} Nd7 16. Nxg6 hxg6 17. a3 a5 {and
White is really struggling to complete his development. This factor now trumps
the optical weakness of the Black king.}) 15. Nxb5 $5 {Thus begins the phase
of the game in which the White knights take the starring role. First of all
the queen's knight offers himself up to open the b-file. This was the main
idea behind my last two moves. If Black can take the piece then the concept is
unsound. I assumed that the computer would find the correct path to defend but
I felt I was going to get a strong attack if Andy took the piece.} Bxc2 {Andy
chooses to grab a pawn rather than the knight. This is an understandable
decision as taking the knight and opening the b-file looks very scary indeed.
However, Fritz of course finds that Black can have his cake and eat it after...
} (15... axb5 16. Rxb5 Qd6 17. Ra5 {This was as far as I'd analysed the
sacrifice line and I felt I had good chances here. Just look at some of the
lines Black will have to navigate in order to secure his booty.} Nd7 18. Ra8+
Nb8 19. Qb5 (19. Ba3 Qb6 20. O-O Bxa3 21. Rxa3 Nc6 {and White's initiative is
over}) 19... Qb6 20. Qa4 Kb7 21. Nc4 Qb4 22. Qa7+ Kc8 {isn't enough for the
piece but it still looks pretty frightening for Black.}) 16. Rb2 Bd3 {This was
Andy's idea. He's won a pawn and will now be able to exchange off a piece to
try and reduce the pressure on his king. Perhaps he undersestimated the
strength and influence my remaining knight will have or thought that this was
the only line he had for salvation. In any case it appears that he could still
have gone for...} (16... axb5 {This doesn't win a piece any more but after} 17.
Rxc2 Rd4 18. d3 Bb4+ 19. Kf1 {Black has an edge and is getting some momentum.
White is a pawn down and doesn't have enough compensation. In particular he'll
have real problems getting his king's bishop into the game.}) 17. Nxd3 axb5 18.
Ne5 {The knight simply returns to e5 with tempo, from where it will be able to
wreak havoc from an increasingly powerful set of outposts. First and foremost
it will create weaknesses in Black's centre and open another line of attack on
the Black king.} Rd5 {The only way to meet the dual threat of 19.Rxb5 and19.
Nxf7 forking the rooks.} 19. Nxf7 Rg8 {It was also possible to interject an
intermezzo in the form of...} (19... Nd7 {Now 20. Nxh8 is well met by Re5 so
White must castle} 20. O-O Rg8 {But the question is whether the knight is
better placed on d7 than it was on f6. Who knows?}) 20. O-O $1 {Finally, on
move 20, time to castle. The point is that White can't hope to put Black under
any more pressure without completing his development. The knight, queen and
rook can't do all the work on their own.} g5 $2 {I noticed Andy played this
move in slightly exasperated fashion. Black's task is certainly complicated
and his game is rather less easy to play than White's. There was a good deal
of calculation for me to do but the plan seemed simple enough - attack before
Black has time to re-group! Looking back at the game now I think that this
move was an important mistake. Andy's right to try and seek some counter play
by opening up the king's side but perhaps he should complete his development
first with for example} (20... Bc5 $1 {A very nice trick. White can't capture
on b5 because of the response Bxf2+. We now get another tricky and complex
forcing line} 21. Rb3 {Preparing Ba3} Rf8 22. Ng5 $1 {Now it's White's turn to
run the gauntlet. The knight is taboo because 22... Rxg5 runs into 23.d4! with
a discovered attack on the rook to win a piece.} h5 23. Qxe6+ {and I suppose
you could call the game balanced though it's in chaos!}) 21. d4 $1 {
Development seems to be all that matters. I also considered playing d3 but
then my queen's line of sight to the Black b-pawn is obscured and I didn't
want to release either of the two defenders Andy had tied to it's defence. On
d4 this pawn is not as vulnerable as it looks because the Black rook protects
b5 and the queen protects e6, so neither can move to capture on d4 without
concession. Black's weak pawns are a problem and they seem to lead to the king.
} h5 {Consistent at least. Black is taking a can opener to the king's side.
Now the final phase of the game has arrived with a foot race to see who can
reach the enemy king first.} 22. Bd2 {My idea was to try and over work the
queen. e3 didn't feel like the right square to develop the bishop to because I
wanted to keep the e-file open for my queen. Fritz suggests that this move,
and the idea behind it, is a mistake. However, once again, the refutation is
pretty difficult to find and so from a practical perspective at least, the
game move has to be a reasonable selection.} hxg4 23. Ba5 $1 Qa6 {Once again
Andy declines my generous offer! He could very well have accepted it but would
probably have ended up at least giving back the piece. We'll see why in a
moment.} 24. Rc1 {More accurate would have been the other rook move I
considered} (24. Rc2 $1 {Pretty much compelling Black to take the bishop as c7
is just too vulnerable.} Qxa5 25. Qxe6+ Kb8 $1 26. Qxf6 Qb6 27. Qxb6+ cxb6 28.
Re1 {What a strange position! Black has two sets of doubled pawns and White
has four isolated pawns. Critically though White's rooks are better positioned
than Black's and that bishop on f8 still hasn't moved. Nevertheless Fritz
considers this position to be level.}) 24... Qxa5 {Andy couldn't be expected
to resist temptation for ever. Perhaps he felt he had no alternative.
Certainly with still 12 moves left before time control both of us were down to
a couple of minutes on the clock and the position was still monstrously
complicated. Perhaps Andy's best bet was to keep it that way and hope I
overstepped the time limit or blundered before getting to it.} 25. Qxe6+ Rd7 {
Probably no better now was} (25... Kb8 26. Qxf6 Ba3 27. Ne5 {Threatening a
deadly fork on c6.} Qb6 28. Qf7 {and all four rooks are under attack!}) 26. Ne5
$5 {Electing not to take the piece back in favour of playing for mate. Sound?
Barely. Fun? Most definitely! I was proposing to land my superhero knight on
c6 from which outpost it completely dominates the position. The natural (and
easy move) would have been} (26. Qxf6 {winning back the material. White still
maintains a strong attack after this with} Ba3 27. Qe6 gxh3 28. Nd6+ $1 {There
are pins and skewers everywhere.} Bxd6 29. Qxg8+ {should be winning but it's
still terribly complicated due to that passed h-pawn of Black's}) 26... Rgg7 {
Trying to untangle the thicket of king's side pieces. I'd also spent some of
my precious remaining minutes analyzing what I considered to be the most
direct effort to refute my idea...} (26... Ba3 {This move leads to incredible
complications but the line is actually fairly forcing} 27. Nc6 Qb6 28. Rxb5 $1
{One of the key ideas behind landing the knight to c6. The b-pawn can be taken
and if Black recaptures there is a fork on a7. In this line Black probably
does best to give up the queen for as much material as he can get his hands on.
} Qxb5 29. Na7+ Kb7 30. Rxc7+ $1 {The rook is lost anyway so White sets up one
more forking formation on c7 and a3.} Rxc7 31. Nxb5 Rc1+ 32. Kg2 {White will
win back the knight or the bishop.} Rc6 33. Qf7+ Ka6 34. Nxa3 {and it's all
over bar the shouting. Black's king and pieces are too exposed in this
position and the White queen is all powerful. She has so many targets to go
for.}) 27. Nc6 Qa3 $2 {Time pressure was beginning to tell for Andy as well by
now and neither of us had sufficient time to calculate the spiralling vortex
of variations. I was instinctively most concerned about...} (27... Rge7 {which
is the computer's recommendation as it happens and might just save the day.
Now White is compelled to restore material parity and we go off on another
odyssian forcing line which I should emphasise I did not analyse during the
game. This one is all Fritz.} 28. Qxf6 Re1+ 29. Kg2 $1 {White can afford to
step away. Remember the Black queen is enprise! Now so is the White rook on c1.
} gxh3+ $1 30. Kxh3 Qa3+ {Black scrambles to get all his pieces to safe
squares and keep the White king on the ropes.} 31. Rb3 Rh7+ 32. Kg2 Rh2+ $1 {
That queen was enprise again and so too the Black rook on e1. Black manages to
deflect the White king to another square where it can be checked by his queen.
Beautiful!} 33. Kxh2 Qd6+ {The point. Phew! Black gets the queens off the
board.} 34. Qxd6 Bxd6+ {and with this check he wins back his missing rook.} 35.
Kg2 Rxc1 {Now Black is going to be "just" a pawn down.} 36. Na7+ Kd7 37. Nxb5 {
A very pretty line full of twists and turns. The likely outcome after all of
that? Probably a draw. Well, it would have been a fitting result if both
players had found all those moves!}) 28. Rcb1 {Simple and very strong. The
mating threats on the b-file now are irresistable Black's extra piece is
irrelevant.} b4 {What else was there?} 29. Nxb4 {Perhaps it's worth
documenting the journey taken by this workaholic knight during the course of
the last 29 moves. Nf3-e5-d3-e5-f7-e5-c6-b4 and he's heading back to c6 again
if he doesn't get captured.} gxh3 {A last throw of the dice to try and cause
confusion. I'm glad Andy took the aesthete's path and didn't take the knight
as it would have robbed it of seeing out the game and taking it's
well-deserved standing ovation. Grabbing the knight doesn't change the outcome
in any case...} (29... Bxb4 30. Rxb4 Qxb4 31. Rxb4 {and even I could have made
5 sensible moves to get to time-control with a winning advantage from this
position.}) 30. Nc6 {He's back! Having made almost one third of all the White
moves so far in the game.} h2+ 31. Kxh2 Bd6+ {Let's just be clear that none of
the multiple checks Black has at his disposal are of any salvation to him. I
think the eager kibitzers tried all of them afterwards! Here we go then, one
at a time...} (31... Qd6+ 32. Kg1 $1 {White can give up the queen and it's
still mate on b8.}) (31... Rh7+ 32. Kg1 Rh1+ 33. Kxh1 {and h3 is covered by
the White queen.}) (31... Ng4+ 32. Kg1 {and once more the g1 square is the
White king's refuge.}) 32. Kg2 {Just to be different. Kg1 also works. It's
forced mate now and so Andy resigned. This was a real monster of a game with
neither player backing down from the melee. I guess that games like this are
the reason I both love and play chess. The year or two you might have between
contests of this nature are just for practice!} 1-0

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.04.14"]
[Round "14"]
[White "Syrett, M."]
[Black "Webster, T."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C35"]
[Annotator "Shapland,Dave"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2014.04.15"]
[WhiteTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Todmorden 'B'"]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 {Everyone knows that Martin has a prediliction for the Kings
Gambit...} exf4 {... but not everyone choses to take the pawn and try to
refute the opening directly.} 3. Nf3 Be7 {Cunningham's Variation represents a
pretty straightforward effort to occupy h4 with the queen and disrupt White's
development. Both players need nerves of steel to run this particular gauntlet.
} 4. Bc4 Bh4+ 5. g3 {5.Kf1 looks like it is the most frequently played move.
It also looks more sensible than the game move, which does appear from time to
time and leads to a crazy position.} fxg3 6. O-O gxh2+ 7. Kh1 {Here we are
then. White has sacrificed three pawns to turbo charge his development. It
remains to be seen whether or not allowing Black's e-pawn all the way to h2
and hiding his kingbehind it is a particularly good idea or not. It's
certainly brave!} Qe7 $6 {It looks like this may be the origin of Tom's
troubles in this game. It's hard to imagine that he would have prepared for
this opening variation so it's not that surprising he takes the wrong turn in
the labyrinth. It looks like the best path for Black is to strike back
aggressively in the centre in order to get his own development speeded up.
Play can continue as follows:} (7... d5 8. Bxd5 Nf6 9. Bxf7+ Kxf7 10. Nxh4 Re8
11. d3 {... and according to the engines, Black if much better here now that
he can tuck his king safely onto g8 and has a knight and rook developed. He
only has one extra pawn now but White is hardly going to volunteer to capture
on h2 at the moment so king safety is likely to be a decisive factor.}) 8. Nc3
Nh6 $6 {Another dubious looking move. It's logical to want to get the knight
to g4 I guess but going via f6 seems more sensible. The other factor of course
is that White is lining up on f7. Sure, Black defends f7 from here but on f6
he puts another piece in the way of White's attack.} 9. d3 O-O {Sticking to
general principles when precise calcaultion was needed. This allows White to
build a huge attack.} 10. Nd5 {Even better was...} (10. Bxh6 {... and now if
Black recaptures then...} gxh6 11. Nd5 Qd8 12. Qd2 {... is pretty much a done
deal.}) 10... Qd8 11. Bxh6 gxh6 12. Nxh4 Qxh4 13. Nxc7 {Nothing wrong with
grabbing the booty immediately. 13.Rf4 may well have been even stronger.} Nc6
14. Nxa8 Ne5 15. Bd5 Kh8 16. Qe2 d6 17. Qxh2 {Finally, White can scoop up the
h-pawn secure in the knowledge that he's in total control. There are still a
few nice touches to come though.} Bh3 18. Be6 $3 {A lovely finishing touch!
The f-pawn is pinned of course. Tom trys to stack another piece into the pile
but it's a futile endeavour.} Ng4 19. Bxg4 Qxg4 20. Rf4 Bg2+ 21. Kg1 Qg5 22.
Kf2 $1 {Another pretty motif. Giving back a piece, Martin calmly trots his
king back towards the centre, stepping out of the discovered check threat and
setting up the deadly 23.Rg1!} Rxa8 23. Rg1 Qc5+ 24. Kxg2 Qxc2+ 25. Kh1 {Very
amusing! The king goes back to h1 almost as if to rub salt into Black's wounds.
} Qxd3 26. Qxh6 Rg8 27. Qf6+ {Martin has the luxury of choosing which
checkmate he finds most appealing. My taste would probably have instead been
for...} (27. Qxh7+ Kxh7 28. Rh4#) 1-0

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2014.09.22"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Bak, A."]
[Black "Eagleton, G."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B97"]
[WhiteElo "174"]
[BlackElo "179"]
[Annotator "Andy Bak"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Huddersfield"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2
Qxb2 9. Rb1 Qa3 10. e5 h6 (10... Nfd7 {Paul Keres demolished this move order 
(note the lack of ...h6 Bh4)} 11. f5 Nxe5 12. fxe6 fxe6 13. Be2 Nbc6 14. Nxc6
bxc6 15. Ne4 d5 16. O-O Qa4 17. Bh5+ Kd7 18. Rxf8 {1-0 (18) Keres,P-Fuderer,A
Gothenburg 1955}) 11. Bh4 Nfd7 (11... dxe5 12. fxe5 Nfd7 {I remembered this
being the main line, so when he didn't take on e5, I tried to figure out what
the significant difference was.} 13. Ne4 Qxa2 14. Rd1 Qd5 15. Qe3 Qxe5 {This
is one of the main lines, so Black has won a couple of extra pawns but has
lost a couple of tempi for development compared to the game.}) 12. exd6 (12. f5
{Might be how Keres would have responded to this move.} Nxe5 13. fxe6 fxe6 {In
most of these Poisoned Pawn lines, the computer is pretty consistently giving
Black a -1.2 edge or so, but in this line even the computer starts to drift
towards 0.0, indicating that White has some very serious play for his pawn.}) (
12. Ncb5 {This was the only other game I could find on the database with 11...
Nfd7.} axb5 13. Nxb5 Qc5 14. exd6 Na6 15. Be2 Nf6 16. Bf3 Nd5 17. Bf2 Qc4 18.
Bd4 Bd7 19. Be2 Qc6 20. O-O Bxd6 21. c4 Bb4 22. Qd1 Nf6 23. Rxb4 Nxb4 24. a3
Nbd5 25. cxd5 exd5 26. Rf3 Ne4 27. Bxg7 Rg8 28. Be5 Ra5 29. Rb3 f6 30. Bd4 Ke7
31. Qe1 Ra4 32. Bd3 Rc8 33. Na7 Rxa7 34. Bxa7 Qa4 35. Rxb7 Qxa3 36. Bf1 Rc1 37.
Qe2 Kd8 38. Bd4 Qa4 39. Bb2 Rd1 40. Rb6 Rb1 41. Bxf6+ Kc7 42. Ra6 Qc4 43. Be5+
Kb7 44. Qxc4 dxc4 45. Ra1 Rxa1 46. Bxa1 Nd2 47. Be2 Bf5 48. Kf2 Kc6 49. Ke3 Nb3
50. Bg7 Kc5 51. g4 Bb1 52. Bc3 Kd5 53. Bf3+ Kc5 54. Be4 Ba2 55. g5 hxg5 56.
fxg5 Nc1 57. g6 {1-0 (57) Csiba,D (2169)-Pagerka,M (1998) Slovakia 2009}) 12...
Qxd6 13. Ne4 (13. Bc4 Nc6 {This was the move that worried me most, as I'd have
to play Bf2 to avoid the exchange of queens, although this might be a decent
line as Black's development is a bit bottled up.} (13... Nb6 14. Ne4 Qc7 15.
Be2) 14. Bf2) 13... Qd5 14. Qe3 {I felt that this had to be OK for me as I had
similar play to the main line, just with two extra pawns.} Nc6 (14... Bc5 {
Although I thought ...Nc6 was strong, I was also considering that he might
play this.} 15. Nxc5 Nxc5 {Threatening ...Qe4.} 16. Be2 {and I didn't look
much further than this, thinking that if he chose to play it, then I'd just
have to start calculating!}) 15. Rd1 Nxd4 (15... Bc5 {This again was possible.}
16. Nxc5 (16. Nxe6 Qxd1+ (16... Bxe3 17. Nc7+ Kf8 18. Nxd5) 17. Kxd1 Bxe3 18.
Nc7+ Kf8 19. Nxa8 Bxf4 {I thought that this was pretty bad, Black is still a
pawn up, White's pieces are uncoordinated and the queens have come off.}) 16...
Qxc5 17. Be2 {and Black can continue to exchange pieces if he wishes.}) 16.
Rxd4 Qa5+ 17. Rd2 {This is a move that occurs in some of the main lines of
this variation and it seemed to make sense here as it prevents ...Bc5.} (17. c3
{This is the "normal" move, but I felt that after} Bc5 18. Nxc5 Qxc5 {that
White's initiative was not as good as Black has managed to exchange some
pieces, although if I had seen Black's response in the game, I might have
still gone for this.} (18... Nxc5 19. Rd8+ Qxd8 20. Bxd8 Kxd8 21. Qxc5) 19. Be2
O-O 20. O-O b5 {etc}) 17... Ba3 {For some reason I had overlooked this and it
completely caught me by surprise. Having said that I wasn't too worried as
although I'm losing the exchange, my initiative is still pretty strong.} (17...
Bc5 18. Nxc5 Nxc5 19. Qxc5 Qxc5 20. Rd8#) (17... Bb4 18. c3) 18. Qg3 (18. Qd4
O-O {The computer thinks Black is safe after this.}) 18... g5 (18... Bc1 19.
Qxg7 Bxd2+ 20. Kd1 {and the threats of taking on h8 and Nd6# are too much to
handle.}) (18... O-O $1 19. c3 f5 20. Nf2 e5 {The computer finds the best
defence, playing actively against White's vulnerable king and misplaced pieces.
}) 19. fxg5 Bc1 20. Nd6+ {This was based on a miscalculation.} (20. Be2) (20.
Bd3 Bxd2+ 21. Nxd2 Qe5+ {I wanted to avoid trading queens at all costs.}) (20.
Kd1 Bxd2 21. Nxd2 {Is similar to the game except Black's queen is on a5
instead of d5, an difference which is probably in White's benefit.}) (20. g6 {
I saw this move during the game but I didn't want the queen exchange after.}
Bxd2+ 21. Nxd2 Qe5+ 22. Qxe5 Nxe5 {The following moves are all from the
computer trying to allow White to bail out to a slightly worse endgame.} 23. g7
Rg8 24. Ne4 f5 (24... Rxg7 25. Bf6 Rg4 26. Nd6+ Kd7 27. Bxe5) 25. Nf6+ Kf7 26.
Nxg8 Kxg8 27. Bf6 Ng4 28. Bb2) 20... Kf8 21. Nc4 (21. Qf2 {This was my
intention, intending to meet ...Bxd2 with Kd1, however} Qxd2+ {I forgot that
Black could take this way as the knight is no longer covering d2.} 22. Qxd2
Bxd2+ 23. Kxd2 {and Black is a rook up.}) (21. Bd3 Qxd2+ 22. Kf1 Qf4+) 21...
Bxd2+ 22. Kd1 (22. Nxd2 Qe5+) 22... Qd5 23. Nxd2 b5 (23... hxg5 {This is what
I was expecting and the computer agrees that this is a superior move.} 24. Bxg5
{when one of my attacking units has been swapped off.}) 24. Bd3 {White does
have some compensation for the material deficit but it is long lasting and it
is hard to analyse each line to a conclusion, particularly as the engine
evaluations keep changing as you go deeper into the lines. Having said that,
it seems as if 24.g6 might have been my best try.} (24. Be2 {This cuts off the
escape square for my king along the 2nd rank.} Qe5 25. Qf3 Qa1+ 26. Nb1 Qxb1+
27. Kd2 Qxh1 28. Qxa8 Nb6 29. Qc6 Qg1) (24. c4 {This might have been worth a
try, but I didn't really consider it too much as I felt that I needed to
develop the rest of my pieces.} Qe5 25. Qf3 Qa1+ 26. Ke2 Ra7 27. g6 f6 {and
White is still struggling to develop and there is no immediate breakthrough.})
(24. g6 {This move is probably the most accurate.} Qh5+ (24... Rg8 25. Qa3+ Nc5
(25... Kg7 26. gxf7 {This causes Black problems as he can't play ...Kxf7 due
to Qe7+} Rf8 27. Qg3+ Kxf7 28. Bd3 {and all White's pieces are involved in a
decisive attack.}) 26. Bf2 Rxg6 27. Qxc5+ Qxc5 28. Bxc5+ {with probably a
level endgame.}) 25. Kc1 Qxg6 26. Qd6+ Kg7 27. Bd3 Qg4 28. Qe7 {The computer
assesses this position as +0.00 as it thinks White's pressure is adequate
compensation.} Re8 {This is how Houdini wants to diffuse the attack.} 29. Qxe8
Qxh4 30. Be4 Rb8 $11) 24... Nc5 $2 {After this, apparently White is winning.} (
24... hxg5 {Once again the computer thinks this is best.} 25. Be4 gxh4 26. Qa3+
Qc5 27. Qxc5+ Nxc5 28. Bxa8 $17) 25. g6 $1 {Forcing weaknesses in Black's camp.
} Rg8 {I thought this was forced, but apparently ...Qd4 is also a move but not
any better than the game continuation.} (25... fxg6 {Opening up the king leads
to forced mate.}) 26. Rf1 {After this, Black is on top again. Black's 24th and
this move made the computer evaluation swing by about 7 points each.} (26. Qf4
$1 {I was looking at this move in other lines so I'm disappointed that I
missed this move here, attack both h6 and f7.}) 26... f5 27. Rf3 Bd7 {At this
point I was really stuck for a decent plan as Black is controlling the centre
really well. I had seen the plan I eventually chose some moves ago but I
didn't really believe that it would be particularly effective, but I didn't
see anything better.} (27... Bb7 {This is what I had expected but the text
looks more safe.}) 28. Qf4 {I spent 6 minutes on this move leaving myself with
about 1 minute remaining for the last 8 moves. Greg wasn't in much better
shape with a little over 2 minutes. With both of us getting so short on time,
I wanted to force my opponent to meet as many concrete threats as I could.} (
28. c4 {Again this looks like an interesting alternative.} Qd4 {This neat
sidestep creates threats and doesn't allow the bishop to get active.}) (28. Bf6
{I looked at this at the computer thinks this is best, but I couldn't really
make a decisive breakthrough work.} Bc6 {Black's pieces control the centre
very well and it's difficult for either side to do anything.}) 28... Rxg6 29.
g4 Kg8 30. gxf5 exf5 31. Rg3 {Just trying to exchange off some defenders to
open lines.} Rxg3 32. Qxg3+ Kf7 33. Qe3 {Attacking h6 and e7. Both of us were
just playing moves to try and get to time control.} Qh1+ 34. Bf1 Qd5 35. Qe7+
Kg8 36. Bf6 {At this point either one or both flags had fallen and we decided
to agree a draw as it was unclear what had happened in the time scramble. A
crazy game!} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Calderdale League 1"]
[Site "King's Indian Defence"]
[Date "2014.10.06"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Sykes, N."]
[Black "Clegg, R."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E97"]
[Annotator "Sykes,Nick"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2014.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Hebden Bridge 'A'"]
[BlackTeam "Courier 'A'"]

1. c4 {Robert said after this move. "Shame I was hoping for a French". I bet
he was! There was no chance I was going to play 1.e4 against Robert, he knows
he French Defence FAR too well. This has been shown with his games in the
Closed Tarrasch against Dave Shapland and an impressive win in the Winawer
against formed HB player Dave Wedge} Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 {This move order
prevents Black from playing the Grunfeld.} d6 4. d4 Bg7 {Much better!! A
King's Indian, I felt like I was at least on an equal footing with respect to
opening knowledge having lots of experience playing this with White and also
playing this opening with Black} 5. Nf3 {I flirted with the Saemisch...} (5. f3
{for a season, but I have more experience with the move played}) 5... O-O 6.
Be2 e5 7. O-O (7. d5 {is the popular Petrosian Variation, this is line I face
most often playing Black}) 7... Nc6 (7... Na6 {is a trendy line but Robert
likes the big main lines}) 8. d5 Ne7 9. b4 {The Bayonet Attack. I have played
this many times with White and feel pretty comforable in these sort of
positions.} (9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Be3 f5 11. f3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 {is what most King's
Indian players are aiming for with a king's side attack!}) (9. Nd2 {is the
other main choice} a5 10. a3 Bd7 11. b3 c6 {is one line}) 9... a5 {This is not
the most popular but is still a big main line, the most popular move is} (9...
Nh5 {when play can continue with...} 10. Re1 f5 11. Ng5 Nf6 12. Bf3 c6 13. Be3
h6 14. Ne6 Bxe6 15. dxe6 fxe4 16. Nxe4 Nxe4 17. Bxe4 d5 18. cxd5 cxd5 19. Bc2)
10. bxa5 (10. Ba3 axb4 11. Bxb4 Nd7 12. a4 {is main line and similar to the
game}) 10... Rxa5 11. a4 Nd7 12. Nd2 $5 {I figured that Black was going to
play ...f5 so I wanted to bolster e4 by playing f3. The knight is heading for
b3 from where it attacks the rook and supports the c5 pawn advance which is
thematic in this line of the Kings Indian.} (12. Ba3 {is the main line}) 12...
b6 {Preventing c5.} 13. Nb3 Ra8 14. Be3 f5 15. f3 f4 16. Bf2 g5 {Black is
playing in typical King's Indian fashion as in the 9.Ne1 lines. However, in
this instance, White's queen's side play is faster.} 17. a5 $1 {this move
simply is aims to force c5} bxa5 18. c5 Rf7 $6 {The whole Rf7/Bf8 idea that
Black often plays in the Kings Indian is way too slow here in my opinion. That
said, my HIARCS engine already assesses the position as being very difficult
for Black.} 19. Rxa5 Rxa5 20. Nxa5 Bf8 $2 {Thematic but far too slow! This is
more apt when the position is closed but it is about to open up! Robert
obviously didn't fancy...} (20... Nxc5 21. Bxc5 dxc5 22. Qb3 {which is
probabaly Black's best try, although White is still much better.}) 21. cxd6
cxd6 22. Nc6 $1 {It's this move Robert said he underestimated, but Black is
really struggling anyway. As far as I can see Black is going to lose a pawn
and remain in a much worse position.} Qe8 ({after} 22... Nxc6 {this loses the
exchange and probabaly the game} 23. dxc6 Nf6 24. Bc4) 23. Nb5 {Black needs to
be careful as his Queen is running out of squares and he needs to prevent Nc7.}
Nxc6 24. dxc6 {The c-pawn is now a monster!} Nb8 (24... Nf6 25. Nxd6 Qxc6 26.
Nxf7 Kxf7 {leaves White up an exchange but may have been a more resiliant try.}
) 25. Nxd6 Bxd6 26. Qxd6 Ba6 (26... Nxc6 27. Bc4) 27. Bxa6 (27. Rb1 $1 {is
even stronger} Nxc6 {obviously not...} (27... Bxe2 28. Rxb8 {wins the Queen!})
28. Bxa6 {wins a piece}) 27... Nxa6 28. Rc1 Nc7 29. Bb6 Qe7 30. Rd1 {Also
winning is...} (30. Qd7 Qf8 (30... Na8 31. Qxe7 Rxe7 32. Bd8 Re8 33. c7 Nxc7
34. Bxc7) 31. Bxc7 Rxd7 32. cxd7) 30... Qxd6 31. Rxd6 Na8 {No better is...} (
31... Na6 32. Rd5 h6 33. Rxe5) 32. Rd8+ Rf8 33. Ba5 {Robert had had enough and
threw in the towel at this point!} 1-0

