[Event "V4 Int Open ch-SVK 2013"]
[Site "Banska Stiavnica SVK"]
[Date "2013.07.08"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Oszczanowski, Witold"]
[Black "Krnan, Tomas"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "1936"]
[BlackElo "2411"]
[Annotator "Tomas Krnan"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2013.07.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "SVK"]

{Due to the accelerated pairing system used in the first two rounds, many
higher seeds were paired against lower rated opponents in round 3. My opponent
however performed well above his rating in the tournament and this game was
far from easy.} 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. Bb5+ Bd7 4. Bc4 {Diagram [#]} b5 $5 {
The sharpest continuation.} (4... Bg4 5. f3 Bf5 {(5. ... Bc8 is also possible)
is a more common and objectively better line. And while White can continue
with sharp 6.g4, he can also calmly develop and keep a slight advantage, for
example} 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7. Nge2 Nb6 8. Bb3 Nfxd5 9. Nxd5 Nxd5 10. Ng3 Bg6 11. d4
e6 12. O-O {. I was looking for a more active game straight from the opening,
although in which case I should have at least reviewed the critical lines
before the game if I was going to play 4. ... b5.}) 5. Bb3 a5 6. a3 {Diagram 
[#]} (6. a4 bxa4 7. Bc4 {is also good, but I wasn't going to mind the position
after} c6 8. dxc6 Bxc6 9. Nf3 e6 10. d4 Nbd7 11. O-O Bd6 {White has some
advantage, but the position remains very complicated. The bishops and the
half-open queenside files provide counterplay for the doubled a-pawns, which
are not that easy to get to.}) 6... Bc8 $2 {An awful mixup of move order! The
bishop does belong on a6, but correct is 6. ... Bg4 7.f3 and only then 7. ...
Bc8, so that the f3 square is taken away from the knight or the queen. I knew
about the idea since ...Bg4 is common in many variations in this type of
Scandinavian, but for some reason I forgot to play it. Untolerable, even
without preparation!} (6... Bg4 7. f3 Bc8 8. Nc3 Ba6 9. Nge2 g6 {Diagram [#]}
10. d3 (10. Nd4 $6 {(to attack b5 and prevent c6)} Qd7 11. Qe2 a4 12. Ba2 b4
13. Ncb5 Bg7 $1 14. axb4 O-O 15. Qc4 (15. c4 $2 Nxd5 $1 16. cxd5 Bxd4 17. Bc4
Bxb5 18. Bxb5 Qxd5 $15) 15... Ne8 $1 {with excellent compensation for the two
pawns.}) 10... Bg7 11. O-O O-O 12. Be3 c6 (12... Nbd7 $2 {with the idea of ...
Nb6 and retaking on d5 is not good due to} 13. Nd4 Nb6 14. Nc6 $1 {followed by
15.Re1 and the e7 pawn will become a big weakness.}) 13. dxc6 Nxc6 {with
compensation for the pawn. One can make his own assessment about the extent
and sufficiency of this compensation. From a practical point, the assessment
is relative to the types of positions one prefers, and I wouldn't be
completely displeased here with the result of the opening.}) 7. Nc3 Ba6 {
Diagram [#]} 8. Qf3 {Simply 8.Nf3 is also strong. Now finishing development is
too slow for Black, for example:} (8. Nf3 g6 9. O-O (9. Nd4 $5 Qd7 10. Qf3 {
(otherwise 10. ... c5)} c5 $1 11. dxc6 Qxd4 12. c7 (12. O-O Qg4 $13) 12... Qe5+
13. Kd1 Qxc7 14. Qxa8 Bg7 {followed by ...0-0 and despite the material deficit
the game remains complicated with practical chances for sufficient
compensation.}) 9... Bg7 (9... b4 10. Ba4+ Nfd7 (10... Nbd7 $2 {loses
immediately due to} 11. Ne5 $3 bxc3 ({or} 11... Bxf1 12. Ne4 $1 $18) 12. Qf3 $1
$18 {(Xd7 Xf7)}) 11. Ne2 Bg7 12. axb4 axb4 13. Bb5 O-O 14. Bxa6 Nb6 15. c4 $16
{and White seems to keep the extra pawn.}) 10. Re1 O-O 11. d4 b4 12. Ne4 $16 {
, since 12. ... Nxd5 13. Nc5 leads to big positional advantage for White.}) ({
After} 8. Nf3 {Black's best try might be} a4 9. Ba2 c6 10. dxc6 Nxc6 {, but
after} 11. O-O $1 e6 (11... b4 12. Re1 $1 bxc3 13. Ng5 e6 14. Nxf7 Kxf7 15.
Rxe6 g6 16. Rd6+ Kg7 17. Rxd8 Rxd8 18. bxc3 {and White's material advantage
should be decisive.}) 12. Re1 {White remains a healthy pawn up and with the
knight on f3, instead of the pawn, Black's counterplay is much more limited.})
8... Nbd7 9. d4 g6 10. Bg5 Bg7 11. Nge2 O-O 12. O-O Nb6 {Diagram [#] Despite a
big inaccuracy on the sixth move, Black has manged to develop his pieces in
time to standard squares. White's setup was also logical but perhaps too slow;
I felt like he could have gained more. Now White has to always consider ...b4
and my opponent decided to exchange the bishop to try and keep the d5 pawn.}
13. Bxf6 (13. Rfe1 b4 $5 14. Na4 {would have led to tactical complications
where Black seems to be hanging on:} bxa3 15. Nxb6 (15. Rxa3 Nc4 16. Bxc4 (16.
Ra2 {leads to nothing after} Qxd5 17. Qxd5 Nxd5 18. Nc5 Bb5) 16... Bxc4 17.
Bxf6 Bxf6 18. Nac3 a4 $1 {Otherwise 19. b3} 19. Rea1 Qb8 $1 20. Rxa4 (20. b3 $2
axb3 $1 21. Rxa8 b2 22. Rxb8 bxa1=Q+ 23. Rb1 Bxe2 24. Qe3 Qa5 25. Nxe2 Qxd5 {
and suddenly it's Black with a more pleasant position.}) 20... Rxa4 21. Rxa4
Bxe2 22. Qxe2 Qxb2 {and Black seems active enough to be able to equalize.})
15... cxb6 16. Rxa3 b5 {Otherwise 17. c4} 17. Nf4 a4 18. Ba2 Rc8 19. c3 Bb7 20.
Qe2 Qb6 {and Black would have at least complicated things without
deteriorating his position.}) 13... exf6 14. Ne4 b4 15. axb4 axb4 {Diagram [#]}
16. Rfe1 $2 ({When I played 14. ... b4 I considered the following forced
sequence to be a threat to equalize, while also keeping prospects to play for
potential advantage. Therefore, this move is simply a loss of tempo. Better
was direct} 16. Nc5 {, although after} Bb5 {White's advantage seems to be
fading.}) 16... Bxe2 17. Qxe2 Rxa1 18. Rxa1 f5 19. Nc5 Bxd4 20. Nd3 {Diagram 
[#]} Qf6 ({I was relieved to finally equalize. Now} 20... Nxd5 21. Bxd5 Qxd5
22. Nxb4 Qd6 23. c3 {seems to be the most solid continuation with equality. I
decided to play a different 'equal' variation but without further piece
exchanges. I found a few strategic aspects of the postion that I could try to
exploit...}) 21. Nxb4 Bxb2 22. Rd1 Bc3 23. Nc6 {Diagram [#] This is the
position I had in mind when I played 14. ... b4. Objectively the position is
completely equal, but Black has some strategic pluses. First, Black's bishop
is superior to his opposite color's rival, which is blocked by his own pawns.
Second, the bishop on c3 is also controling most of White knight's manoeuvring
squares (and dark squares in general). And thirdly, Black's knight can easily
transfer to d6 where it can allow Black to gain the 'e' file and also jump to
the excellent e4 square. These points are not enough to claim any advantage,
as White has no real weaknesses, but it's certainly enough to keep playing and
fight for one.} Kg7 24. Qf3 {Voluntarily gives up the 'e' file with the aim of
forcing the bishop out of c3. There was however a more clever way to do this
with 24. Na7!, followed by Nb5 (while also preventing 24. ... Nc8). The knight
on c6 looks very good, but in fact is not doing much.} Re8 25. g3 Nc8 26. Rd3
Re1+ 27. Kg2 Bb2 28. Re3 Rc1 {Diagram [#] Black has managed to take control of
the first rank and is quickly threating to use the dark squares and double on
the first rank with a clever ...Ba3 followed by ...Qa1. This doesn't come
without risk, however, as the given up 'e' file can now be used by White to
create threats of his own. My opponent plays a strong move to activate his
pieces and create counterplay.} 29. d6 $1 (29. Re8 Nd6 30. Re7 {was also
strong.} {So I would have to settle for a draw with:} Ba3 ({After a closer
look I would probably reject my original idea:} 30... Ne4 $5 31. d6 $1 (31.
Rxc7 $2 Rf1 $3) 31... Nxd6 32. Rxc7 {and now it's White who will play on.}) 31.
Qf4 Qa1 32. Qe5+ Qxe5 33. Nxe5 Re1 34. Nc6 (34. f4 $6 Re2+ 35. Kf1 (35. Kh3 $4
g5 $1 36. fxg5 Bb2 37. Nc6 Ne4 38. g4 f4 $19) 35... Rxh2 36. Rxc7 Ne4 37. Rxf7+
Kh6 {and White is risking more.}) 34... Rxe7 35. Nxe7 {with a draw.}) 29...
Nxd6 ({Or} 29... Qxd6 30. Rd3 {followed by 31. Rd7}) 30. Re7 Ba3 31. Rxc7 Qa1 {
Diagram [#]  Critical Position   Black has fully maximized the potential of
his pieces and with concrete threats he gives White a chance to go wrong. The
coordination of Black's pieces is excellent - they are defending one another
and each one is on a perfect square. The rook taking control of the first rank,
the queen doubling on the first rank while also defending the a1-h8 diagonal,
the bishop maneuvring to a3 to clear path for the queen and defend the knight
on d6, and finally the knight protecting the key weakness on f7. All of it
done using the weak black squares - a real strategic triumph for Black.} 32.
Qe2 $4 {And White does make a huge error!   White had to threaten the exchange
of the queens on the long diagonal. Therefore White had to play:} (32. Qd5 Rg1+
33. Kf3 Qc3+ 34. Qd3 Qe1 35. Qd4+ Kh6 36. h4 $11) ({Or,} 32. Qe3 Rg1+ 33. Kf3
Bb2 (33... Qd1+ 34. Qe2 $11) 34. Nd8 Qf1 35. Nxf7 Qg2+ 36. Ke2 Qf1+ $11) 32...
Re1 $2 {In time trouble I decided to repeat moves and give myself more time to
find the winning continuation, as I did not see it right away. This could have
made things a lot more difficult if White realized that his previous move was
a big mistake...} 33. Qd3 Rd1 34. Qe2 {I'll spare the question marks during
the repetition, but correct was 34. Qe3! Now, because the d4 square is
defended and thus there is no exchange of queens, things are not excatly the
same as in the comments for White's 32nd move. There is one line that
apperently wins for Black, according to an engine:} (34. Qe3 Ne4 $1 35. Rxf7+
Kh8 36. Bc4 $1 {(To protect a check on f1.)} Rg1+ 37. Kh3 Qd1 $3 38. Be2 Qd6 $1
{(Threatening ...Bc5)} 39. Qh6 Nxf2+ 40. Kh4 Qxg3+ $1 41. hxg3 Rh1+ 42. Kg5
Ne4+ 43. Kf4 Rxh6 $19 {as g3 will also fall shortly. What makes this beautiful
and ridiculous line even more apalling is that it is entirely made up of 'only
moves'. I don't consider myself a bad tactician, but I have to admit that I
wouldn't see this in time trouble.}) 34... Re1 35. Qd3 Rd1 36. Qe2 Rg1+ 37. Kh3
Qc1 $1 38. f4 {Diagram [#] Forced, but now Black king can hide on h6 and there
is no longer a potential for perpetual or an exchange of queens. And even more
importantly, the e3 square is weakened...} Re1 $1 39. Qf3 Re3 $1 {Very precise.
} 40. Qg2 Qd1 {Time control has been reached and White is defenceless against
Black's mating threats.} 41. Qd5 Qh5+ 42. Kg2 {Diagram [#]} Qe2+ (42... Re2+
43. Kf1 Rxh2 {would also result in a checkmate soon, since} 44. Rxf7+ Nxf7 45.
Qxf7+ Kh6 {is safe as Black's bishop defends the f8. A nice illustration of
the importance of the bishop on a3, which has not moved in a while but was
nonetheless a key piece in defence.}) 43. Kh3 Kh6 {To eliminate any potential
counter chances with sacrifice on f7. Practical decision not to risk
miscalculating in a winning position.} 44. Ne5 Qh5+ (44... Ne4 45. Nxf7+ Kh5
46. Bc4 Qg4+ 47. Kg2 Qf3+ 48. Kh3 Nf2# {was a quicker way to win.}) 45. Kg2
Re2+ 46. Kf1 Rxh2 47. Qf3 Qh3+ 48. Kg1 {Diagram [#] Now it's time for the
bishop, which has been standing on a3 since move 30, to make a winning
manoeuvre.} Bb2 $1 {Both defences against ...Bd4+ -- 49. c3 or 49. Nc6 --
prevent the rook from coming to c3.} 49. c3 Bc1 $1 {Now the idea of 48. ...
Bb2 becomes clear: White has no defence against ...Be3+.} 50. Bd5 {Diagram [#]
Critical Position} Rh1+ $1 51. Qxh1 Be3# {An elegant finish! A very fine
balance of strategic and tactical ideas in what seemed to be a very equal
middlegame.} 0-1

[Event "V4 Int Open ch-SVK 2013"]
[Site "Banska Stiavnica SVK"]
[Date "2013.07.10"]
[Round "5.6"]
[White "Repkova, Eva"]
[Black "Krnan, Tomas"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "2374"]
[BlackElo "2411"]
[Annotator "Tomas Krnan"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2013.07.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "SVK"]

{It would be unfair if I didn't mention the impact my good friend IM Stefan
Macak had on the following game. As was the case with most evenings, we were
sitting in our favorite local pub, having a few drinks after we both missed
relatively easy wins earlier in the day. I told him who my opponent was for
the next game. After a short thought he said that she plays French with 2.b3.
I smiled and told him I've never played French before, but he quickly told me
the first four moves. The last move interested me a lot due to its originality,
and it was then that I decided to play it.   I asked him about his opponent as
well, thinking that maybe I can give him some hint as well. With his usual wit,
Stefan replied: "Ahh, I'll just play 1. ... Nc6 on whatever!" Our preparation
has ended before we even expected it to start, and we ordered another round of
drinks...} 1. e4 e6 {And so for the first time in a tournament game I move the
'e' pawn by only one square as my opening move...} 2. b3 d5 3. Bb2 Nf6 (3...
dxe4 4. Nc3 Nf6 5. Qe2 Bb4 6. O-O-O {is the main line, but I was not intending
to play this.}) 4. e5 Ng8 $5 {Diagram [#] Stefan's recommendation! At a quick
glance this idea looks very wierd, as Black has just 'wasted' two of his first
four moves, while returning a piece to its original suare on successive moves.
But a deeper look reveals that the only thing White got in return for these
tempi is a queenside fianchetto, the usefulness of which is arguable at best.
My view was that it didn't really fit the position, and it was based on this
observation that I decided to follow my friend's idea. 4. ... Nd7 is more
common, but we both liked the idea of playing h5 and transfering the knight to
f5 more.} 5. f4 c5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. Bd3 {White obviously doesn't want to play 7.
d4 with his bishop on b2, as this would weaken e3. Black would follow the same
plan of transfering the knight to f5, and the exchange on d4 or c5 would only
help Black anyway.} h5 8. g3 Nh6 9. Nh4 $6 {Diagram [#] This move only gives
Black more options without preventing anything. But already it is not simple
for White to finish development and establish a plan - perhaps something like
9. Na3 and c4 was preferrable. Black's position is just easier to play - his
pieces look to be placed more logically and he has very realistic potential to
launch initiative on either wing.  Now came another valuable advice from
Stefan very handy. He told me that my opponent likes to play attacking,
unbalanced positions even when they may not be as sound. When my opponent
played 8. g3 I considered 9. Nh4 as a follow-up, but figured that 9. ... Nf5
was still strong, for example 10. Nxf5 exf5 11. h4 Be6 with a slight advantage
to Black. But then I saw an opportunity to give my opponent a chance to
sacrifice a piece for three pawns. I considered this sacrifice to be
strategically very favourable to Black, but I sensed that White might go for
it anyway, given her playing style.} g6 $1 ({It's worth noting that} 9... Be7
10. Qxh5 Bxh4 11. gxh4 Nb4 {is also significantly better for Black as he will
easily recapture the missing pawn and White will be left with very noticable
weaknesses. 10. Nf3 would probably have to be played, which makes 9. Nh4 very
dubious at best.}) 10. Nxg6 $2 {Played almost instantly! My intuition was spot
on - White goes for a position with equal but unbalanced material, but
misjudges the ensuing position.} ({Taking with the bishop would have lost
immediately after:} 10. Bxg6 $4 Be7 $1 11. Bxf7+ ({or} 11. Qxh5 Bxh4 12. gxh4
fxg6 13. Qxg6+ Nf7 $19) 11... Nxf7 12. Ng6 Rh6 $19) 10... fxg6 11. Bxg6+ Kd7
12. Bxh5 (12. Qxh5 Be7 13. Nc3 Kc7 14. O-O-O a6 $17 {Black will follow with ...
Qg8 and none of White's pieces seem to have any prospects. Black completely
dominates on the queenside and the three pawns on the kingside have a long way
before any of them can be pushed forward.}) 12... Nf5 $17 {Diagram [#] Dream
result of the opening, preparation could not have been any better. Despite
having three pawns for a piece, White's problem lies in lack of development
and bad placement of pieces. Not a single White piece stands well and it's not
easy to find squares to improve them. Meanwhile, Black has no weaknesses, he
is preventing White's kingside pawns from advancing and is prepared to launch
strong initiative on the queenside.} 13. Na3 Qa5 14. c3 b5 $1 15. Bf3 Ba6 16.
Nc2 Qb6 {With some precise moves, Black has quickly built up strong pressure
on the queenside. White has done well to somewhat solidify her pieces, but
Black's advantage is still great. Incredibly, with a board full of pieces,
White is not too far from zugzwang! An immediate 16. ... b4? would be bad due
to 17. c4!} 17. Qe2 $1 {Diagram [#] With only a few reasonable moves in the
position, White finds the most interesting one. Despite moving into a
discovered attack from the bishop on a6, White can again reply with 18. c4 on
17. ... b4. Now Black has to chose between at least three reasonable
continuations.} b4 ({Tempting and most direct.   I also considered 17. ... c4,
but I could not find a continuation that would satisfy me after 18. b4:} 17...
c4 18. b4 Bb7 (18... d4 $6 19. cxd4 Nfxd4 20. Nxd4 Nxd4 21. Bxd4 Qxd4 22. Qe4
$1 Qxe4+ 23. Bxe4 Rd8 24. a3 {and White has good chances to hold the endgame.})
19. d4 cxd3 20. Qxd3 {followed by 21. 0-0-0 and Black has not achieved much.})
({17. ... Kc7 also makes sense to improve king's position and open 'd' file
for the rook before comitting with either pawn advance. But after 18. d3 White
will achieve pawn blockade} 17... Kc7 18. d3 c4 (18... b4 19. c4) (18... Bb7
19. Qf2 a5 20. O-O {is also nothing concrete, although Black remains
undoubtedly better.}) 19. b4 cxd3 20. Qxd3 Rxh2 21. O-O-O $1 Rxh1 22. Rxh1 Rd8
23. g4 $13 {is very unclear.}) 18. c4 dxc4 19. bxc4 Rd8 20. Be4 {Diagram [#]}
Nfd4 $2 ({Black's first mistake gives away most of the advantage.   20. ...
Kc7 was fairly obvious and strong and I was deciding between this and the text
move. For some reason I felt it might be dangerous to give up the d5 square
after an exchange on f5, but this was only an illusion:} 20... Kc7 21. Bxf5
exf5 22. d3 (22. Ne3 $2 Nd4 23. Bxd4 cxd4 $19) 22... Bb7 {and Black is
dominating. If White doesn't take on f5, then Black just plays 21. ... Bb7 and
22. ... Ncd4, but will end up recapturing on d4 with the rook at the end of
exchanges. I overestimated the position in the game and chose the wrong path.})
21. Nxd4 cxd4 22. d3 Bc5 {I figured I'll just play Ne7, Bb7, a5, a4 and break
through on the queenside, perhaps exchanging the light-squared bishops at a
convenient time. White's extra pawns on the kingside, however, can now start
moving as well...} 23. h4 Ne7 24. g4 Bb7 {Diagram [#]} 25. O-O-O $2 ({White
errs as well, just when the position became dynamically equal! Her King was
the safest in the middle, at least for now. 25. h5 was the best, for example:} 
25. h5 Bxe4 (25... Rdg8 26. Bxb7 Qxb7 27. Kf2 {followed by Qf3}) 26. Qxe4 Rdg8
27. Qf3 a5 28. Ke2 a4 29. Bc1 $13 {The position after 25. h5 would be very
unclear and while I would still prefer to play it as Black, I think he is no
longer better.}) 25... b3 $1 26. axb3 {Diagram [#]} Qxb3 $6 (26... Bxe4 $1 27.
Qxe4 Qxb3 $19 {was a much better move order, since} 28. Bxd4 {loses to} Nc6 $1)
27. f5 $2 ({Loses quickly. The only move was} 27. Qc2 {, although the endgame
after} Qxc2+ (27... Qb6 {is also possible}) 28. Kxc2 Bxe4 29. dxe4 Nc6 {should
be winning for Black, but it's not as straighforward as the game continuation.}
) 27... Bxe4 $1 $19 28. Qxe4 Rb8 29. Rd2 Kc7 {White is defenseless against
threats ...Bb4 or ...Nc6. The rest is simple.} 30. fxe6 Bb4 31. Rc2 Bc3 32. Qg2
Nc6 33. Rf1 Nxe5 34. Rd1 Bxb2+ 35. Rxb2 Qc3+ 36. Rc2 Nxd3+ 37. Rxd3 Qxd3 38.
Qh2+ Kc8 39. Qg2 Qa3+ 40. Kd2 Qe3+ 0-1

[Event "V4 Int Open ch-SVK 2013"]
[Site "Banska Stiavnica SVK"]
[Date "2013.07.12"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Krnan, Tomas"]
[Black "Petrik, Tomas"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C19"]
[WhiteElo "2411"]
[BlackElo "2512"]
[Annotator "Tomas Krnan"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2013.07.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "SVK"]

{The following was the last afternoon game, although it felt like a morning
game. I remember the night before playing doubles blitz games to early morning
hours against various oposition, with Stefan as my teammate. Amongst one of
our opposing teams was also my opponent, and I still recall certain highlights
of those games to a fair detail. A long night of entertainment meant a shorter
preparation...} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Ne7 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c5
7. h4 {Diagram [#] My opponent has played French almost exclusively and I
figured I would need better preparation to go into the main lines after 7. Qg4.
I found a couple of games where White had some success with 7. h4 against my
opponent, and decided to try this myself.} Qc7 8. Nf3 b6 9. Bb5+ (9. h5 h6 10.
Bb5+ {is the more common move order and it is what I was intending to play:}
Bd7 11. Bd3 Nbc6 12. Rh4 $5 Nf5 13. Rg4 $13 {like my opponent has played
before. I unpurposely switched the move order due to line being new to me.})
9... Bd7 10. Bd3 {Diagram [#]} c4 ({A less common continuation, and one that I
looked briefly at best, if at all. I concentrated my shortened preparation on
10. ... Nbc6. In case of} 10... Nbc6 {, I would have to realize the effect of
a different move order and a possibility for Black to follow} 11. h5 {with}
cxd4 $5 12. cxd4 Nxd4 13. Bb2 Nxf3+ 14. Qxf3 h6 {. And while White has
compensation for the pawn and does not stand worse, I would likely not risk
going into it (given I would find it). I would probably choose 11. 0-0 and
forget about the preparation, all as a result of mixed move order.}) 11. Be2
Ba4 {Logical follow-up - Black fixes the weakness on c2.} 12. h5 h6 13. Nh4
Nbc6 {Diagram [#]} 14. f4 $6 ({The idea of playing f4-f5 makes sense,
especially since the Black bishop is not on d7 anymore. But it is not as
straightforward as I thought it would be. White still has to prepare this
advance and in certain cases has to be careful about Black playing f7-f5
himself and limiting White's play (as will be seen). Much more flexible was
first} 14. Bg4 {, for example:} O-O-O 15. O-O Kb7 16. Ra2 Qd7 17. Qf3 ({or} 17.
Bh3 g5 18. hxg6 fxg6 19. Nf3 Nf5 20. Nh2 {followed by Ng4 and in both cases a
long maneouvring battle would ensue in a position of rough equality.}) 17...
Rdf8 18. Qh3 Nd8 19. Re1 g5 20. Nf3 Nf5) 14... O-O-O 15. Bg4 Qd7 16. Bh3 Kb7
17. O-O g6 {Diagram [#]} 18. g4 $6 {That's the setup I had in mind when I
played 14.f4 and was quite pleased with the outcome - White has prepared the
f4-f5 advance after which his pieces (especially the bishops) will gain in
power. Unfortunately Black has a forced way to put White out of his illusions.
18.hxg5 fxg6 was necessary, but now one can see why the 'f' pawn would be
better on f2: not only the bishop on c1 is blocked, but many kingside squares
are weakend, especially g3 and g4. Nf5 therefore becomes more unpleasant, and
while White is not yet worse, Black's position is easier to play and holds
bigger potential for advantage.} gxh5 $1 19. gxh5 Ka6 {?!?} ({?!? Played after
a long thought. An exclamation mark for originality, one question mark to
cancel the emphasis of an exclamation mark and the other question mark to
assess the move as a mistake.} 19... f5 $1 {was a very powerful move, the
strength of which I completely underestimated: this move totally refutes the
basis of White's scheme and immediately seizes advantage. Now White has to
choose a lesser evil:} 20. exf6 Nf5 {Analysis Diagram [#]} 21. Ng6 (21. Nxf5
exf5 22. Re1 Rhg8+ 23. Kh2 Qf7 24. Be3 (24. Bxf5 $4 Qxf6 25. Bh3 Qh4 26. Rg1
Bxc2 $1 $19) 24... Qxf6 25. Bf2 Rde8 26. Bg2 Re4 $1 {and Black has excellent
play as White's weaknesses will become difficult to defend (} 27. Bxe4 {is no
consolation:} fxe4 28. Rg1 (28. Bg3 $2 Ne7 {and ...Nf5 -+}) 28... Qxf4+ 29. Bg3
Qf5 {and the h5 pawn will soon fall as well, and Black retains all the chances.
}) 21... Rhg8 22. Bxf5 exf5 23. Be3 Qf7 {followed by 24. ... Qxf6 and Black
will also keep a solid advantage due to White's exposed king and weak white
squares.     If White doesn't take 20.exf6 (and plays for example 20.Kh2), he
will be left in defensive mode without any potential for initiative. Because
of this, Black can manouver around and try and expose White's weaknesses:
doubling the rooks on 'g' file, using Qf7-Be8 battery to attack the h5 pawn,
or shifting to queenside weaknesses at an opportune time with ...Nb5. The
position would be very unpleasant to play for White, especially after finding
himself in such a position so unexpectedly.  In this case precise calculation
was necessary and the plan should not have been executed based only on
intuitive assessment.  My opponent did not consider the f4-f5 advance to be
particularly effective due to White's exposed king, and thought that
prophylactically 'improving' the king was sound.}) 20. Be3 ({I considered
immediate} 20. f5 {but thought that} Rdg8+ 21. Kh2 Nxf5 22. Nxf5 exf5 23. Rxf5
Qe7 24. Qf3 Rh7 {would be too dangerous since 25.Qxd5? runs into 25. ... Qh4
26.Qf3 Nxd4! 27.cxd4 Qxd4. But after} 25. Rf4 $1 {White is better, as Black
has difficulty defending d5 and White's bishops become very powerful, for
example} Nxe5 $5 26. dxe5 Qxe5 27. Be3 Bxc2 28. Bd4 $16 {Such lines are
difficult to play at the board however and it was clear to me that by playing
19. ... Ka6 after a long thought, Black was not intending to play f7-f5
himself. I thought it would be best to prepare the f4-f5 advance by improving
all my queenside pieces and perhaps even exchanging a pair of rooks.}) 20...
Rdg8+ {It's worth mentioning that 20. ... f5 is not good at this point since
after taking 21.exf6 White is in time to defend the f6 pawn with Bf2-h4.} 21.
Kh2 {Diagram [#]} Rh7 $6 (21... Nf5 22. Nxf5 exf5 {is an interesting
possibility where Black tears his pawn structure but prevents the f4-f5
advance and the pawns themselves are not easily attackable. I considered this
and thought I would follow with Bf2-h4, Qe2, Rg1 and Bf6 etc. with sizable
advantage, but such evaluation would be too optimistic. White also has
weaknesses on the queenside  and his advantage is only small. Therefore 21. ...
Nf5 may have been preferred to the text move, but my opponent was also
satisfied with his position.}) 22. Qd2 {22. f5 was again possible and quite
strong, but my plan was to exchange a pair of rooks first as I wanted to
minimize Black's counterplay before opening the position. But yes, I have to
agree that 22.f5 should have been played:} (22. f5 Nxf5 23. Nxf5 exf5 24. Bxf5
Qd8 25. Qf3 Rhg7 26. Rg1 $16) 22... Rhg7 23. Rg1 Qe8 $2 {23. ... Nf5 had to
come, and Black has been given enough chances to play it.} 24. Rxg7 Rxg7 25.
Rf1 $1 $16 (25. f5 {now would be premature due to} Nxf5 26. Nxf5 exf5 27. Bxh6
(27. Bxf5 $2 Nxe5 $1) 27... Rg8 28. Rg1 Rh8 $1 {with unclear complications.})
25... Qg8 26. Qf2 {Diagram [#] Played in the spirit of White's plan - final
preparation for the advance of 'f' pawn. White has achieved, with some help
from Black, exactly what he planned - he exchanged a pair of rooks and
concentrated all of his remaining piecese for the support of f4-f5 advance.
White's last move is supported by precise calculation.   26.f5, a move that an
engine was crying for since move 20, was also strong.} Rg4 $1 {Black's only
try for counterplay, which I considered as best when playing 26.Qf2.} 27. f5 $1
({I had no interest in gaining an exchange with} 27. Ng6 {and evaluating the
extent of counterplay after} Nxg6 28. Bxg4 Ngxe5 29. fxe5 Qxg4 30. Qf3 {or 27.
... Rxg6 28.hxg6 fxg6.}) 27... Bxc2 $1 ({Only move;} 27... Nxf5 28. Nxf5 exf5
29. Qxf5 Re4 30. Rf3 Bxc2 (30... Ne7 31. Qf6 $18) 31. Qd7 {should be hopeless
for Black.}) 28. f6 $1 {Diagram [#]} Nc8 $2 ({More stubborn was} 28... Nf5 {
but after} 29. Nxf5 Bxf5 30. Rg1 $1 Rxg1 31. Qxg1 Qf8 (31... Qxg1+ 32. Bxg1 Bh7
33. Bxe6 $1 $18 {or 31. ... Qh7 32.Qg7 +-}) 32. Bxf5 exf5 33. Bc1 {it's hard
to believe Black will be able to survive. This is what I calculated when
playing 26.Qf2 and at that time viewed it as sufficient.}) 29. Bxh6 $18 Bd3 30.
Rg1 Rxg1 31. Qxg1 Qh7 {Diagram [#]} 32. Qe3 (32. Qg7 {was the most precise way
but it would be impractical to give Black counterplay with} Qe4 {, especially
in time trouble. And the win is far from obvious:} 33. Ng2 Nxe5 34. dxe5 Qxe5+
35. Kg1 Qxh5 36. Bg4 $1 Qg6 37. Bxe6 $1 $18) 32... b5 33. Qf4 {Played in
mutual time trouble. White threatens 34.Bxe6, but Black's reply would follow
anyway. Better was 34.Bg4 followed by Bg7 and h6.} Nb6 34. Bg4 Nb8 {34. ...
Bc2 to follow 35.Nf3 with 35. ... Bd1 would have given Black more chances.} 35.
Nf3 Na4 {Diagram [#]} 36. Bg7 ({White has a forced win with} 36. Ng5 $3 Qxh6
37. Nxe6 Qh7 38. Nc7+ Kb7 39. e6 fxe6 40. f7 Nd7 41. Nxe6 {and 42.Qc7+ +-. Of
course, such lines are impossible to play with a minute on the clock.}) 36...
Bb1 37. Qd2 $1 Nd7 ({Losing. The only last try was} 37... Qe4 $1 38. Kg3 Bd3 $1
{when the tempting} 39. Ng5 $2 Qh1 40. Nxf7 Nxc3 $1 41. Qxc3 Qg1+ 42. Kh4 Qf2+
43. Kg5 Qe3+ {leads to perpetual!}) 38. Ng5 Qd3 39. Qxd3 cxd3 40. Nf3 $1 {The
simplest. Time control has been reached and White is winning as Black is
unable to protect the f7 pawn.} d2 41. Nxd2 Bc2 42. h6 Nxc3 {Or 42. ... Bg6 43.
Bh5} 43. Bh5 1-0

[Event "V4 Int Open ch-SVK 2013"]
[Site "Banska Stiavnica SVK"]
[Date "2013.07.14"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Krnan, Tomas"]
[Black "Michalik, Peter"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B19"]
[WhiteElo "2411"]
[BlackElo "2579"]
[Annotator "Tomas Krnan"]
[PlyCount "149"]
[EventDate "2013.07.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "SVK"]

{The last round - a draw would secure at least a second place.} 1. e4 c6 2. d4
d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. h4 h6 7. h5 Bh7 8. Nf3 Nd7 9. Bd3 Bxd3
10. Qxd3 e6 11. Bd2 Ngf6 12. O-O-O Be7 13. Kb1 O-O 14. Ne4 Nxe4 15. Qxe4 Nf6
16. Qd3 {Diagram [#] One of the main lines of Caro-Kann appeared. I was going
to be satisfied with a draw and opted for a solid and rather unambitious line.
16.Qe2 is more common and after 16. ... Qd5 17.Be3 White can choose to keep
the queens on the board. White's last move however gives Black a choice
between a solid positional and a sharp tactical continuation. I wanted to see
in which direction Black decides to take the game...} Qd5 ({Black opts for the
more solid continuation. The sharp option was} 16... c5 $5 17. g4 $1 Nxg4 18.
Rhg1 f5 (18... Nxf2 $6 19. Qe2 Nxd1 20. Bxh6 Kh7 (20... Bf6 $4 21. Bxg7 $1 Bxg7
22. h6 {followed by hxg7 and Qh2 +-.}) 21. Bxg7 Rg8 22. h6 Nc3+ 23. bxc3 Qb6+
24. Ka1 {and White clearly has more than enough compensation for the exchange.}
) 19. Qe2 Qb6 20. Ne5 Nxe5 21. dxe5 Kh8 22. Rg6 {followed by Rdg1 and White is
pressing without risking anything.}) 17. c4 ({Played with a drawing goal in
mind.} 17. Ne5 {is possible, but it doesn't promise much after} Rad8 18. Be3 b5
19. g4 Nd7 {and Black is completely fine, for example} 20. f4 Nxe5 21. fxe5 c5
$1 22. Qxb5 cxd4 (22... Qf3 $5 23. Qd3 cxd4 24. Bxd4 Qxg4 {is an interesting
and decent attempt to keep the tension in the position.}) 23. Qxd5 Rxd5 {and
while the endgame looks equal, I would prefer to play it as Black after either}
24. Bxd4 Rfd8 25. c3 Bc5 {or 24.Rxd4 Rxe5.}) 17... Qe4 18. Qxe4 Nxe4 19. Be3 f5
20. Nd2 {I offered a draw here, but due to the tournament situation I was
almost certain my opponent would refuse it.} Nf6 21. f3 Bd6 {Diagram [#] A
very balanced endgame developed and it seems that either side can draw easily,
barring any blunders. But even in such positions it is important to formulate
a correct strategic plan.} 22. Kc2 {Black's only realistic hopes of achieving
something lie in the e6-e5 advance, opening the central files for the rooks
and taking advantage of the h1 rook being tied to the defence of the h5 pawn.
With this in mind, White can easily identify the best square for his knight:
d3. From here it would control the e5 square, assist in the potential exchange
of the the bishops on f4 and also be closer to the defence of the h5 pawn.
Instead, White starts a dubious manoeuvre of bringing the knight to c3, where
it will be less flexible.} (22. Nb3 Rfe8 (22... b5 $6 23. Na5 Rac8 24. a3 $14)
23. Bf2 b6 {(to prevent Na5)} 24. Nc1 e5 25. dxe5 Bxe5 26. Bd4 $11) 22... Rfe8
23. Nb1 $6 {23.Nb3 was still perfectly fine, as Black would need to play b6
first, otherwise 23. ... e5 would be met by 24.Na5.} e5 24. dxe5 Bxe5 25. Rd3 {
Diagram [#]} b6 (25... b5 $1 {was a strong alternative. White's pieces are
placed slightly awkwardly, which Black can use for gaining a bit more space:}
26. Nd2 (26. b3 bxc4 27. bxc4 Rab8 28. Rb3 a5 29. Bd2 Kf7) 26... a5 {and in
both cases Black's space advantage and better piece placement make the endgame
at least uncomfortable for White. After the text move White is able to
complete his knight manouvre and the position seems very equal again.}) 26. Nc3
Re7 27. Bd4 Rae8 28. b4 (28. Bxe5 Rxe5 29. Rd6 c5 30. Rh4 $11 {The f5 pawn is
also weak and neither side can make much progress.}) 28... Kf7 29. a3 Rd7 30.
Bxe5 Rxe5 31. Rxd7+ Nxd7 {Diagram [#]} 32. Kd2 {A useful move, the idea of
which is to protect the e1 square and allow the rook to transfer along the 4th
rank via h4. 33.Ne2 followed by Bf4 is also 'threatened'.   Another good and
probably more direct move was 32.a4 followed by b5, for example:} (32. a4 Nf6
33. b5 c5 34. a5 f4 35. axb6 axb6 36. Na4 Nd7 37. Nc3 Rg5 38. Rh2 $11) 32...
Re8 33. Rh4 Ne5 {Diagram [#]} 34. Rf4 $2 (34. Rd4 $1 {was the only way to
eliminate Black's attempts for advantage:} c5 (34... Re6 {(with the idea of
Rd6)} 35. c5 b5 36. a4 Nc4+ 37. Kd3 Re3+ 38. Kc2 a6 39. Rd7+ Re7 $11) 35. bxc5
bxc5 36. Rd5 Nxc4+ 37. Kd3 Ne3 (37... Ne5+ 38. Kc2 c4 $6 39. Ra5 Re7 40. Nb5 {
and only White can be better due to his outside 'a' pawn.}) 38. Rxc5 $11) 34...
g5 ({The correct idea, but it was better first to take away the d4 square for
the rook:} 34... Rd8+ $1 35. Kc2 g5 $1 36. hxg6+ (36. Rxf5+ $4 Ke6 37. g4 Nxc4
{and the rook is trapped! -+}) 36... Kxg6 {Diagram [#]Analysis Diagram} 37. Ne2
(37. g4 $6 Rf8 $1 38. c5 bxc5 (38... Kg5 {is less precise:} 39. Ne2 bxc5 (39...
b5 $5 {is an interesting attempt at zugzwang, but the king saves White:} 40.
Kc3 $1 Rf7 41. gxf5 h5 (41... Rxf5 42. Rxf5+ Kxf5 43. f4 $11) 42. Kd4 $1 Nc4
43. Re4 Nxa3 $6 44. Kd3 Rxf5 45. f4+ Kg6 (45... Kg4 46. Re6) 46. Nd4 Rf6 47.
f5+ Kg5 48. Re2 {and suddenly it's Black who has to be careful as 49.Ke4 will
come.}) 40. bxc5 Rf7 41. gxf5 Rxf5 42. Rxf5+ Kxf5 43. Nd4+ Kf4 44. Kd1 $1 Ke3 {
Otherwise 45.Ke2} 45. Nf5+ Kxf3 46. Nxh6 Ke4 47. Kc2 {and although Black will
get the c5 pawn, White should be able to draw rather comfortably.}) 39. bxc5 ({
Better is} 39. Ne4 {, but Black keeps excellent practical winning chances after
} cxb4 40. axb4 Rf7 41. Nd6 Rf6 42. Nxf5 Kg5 43. Re4 Nxf3) 39... Rf7 $1 $17 {
Black threatens 40. ... fxg4, and with his knight still on c3 White is not in
time to find salvation in knight endgame as} 40. gxf5+ Rxf5 41. Rxf5 Kxf5 42.
Ne2 Nxf3 {should lose.}) 37... c5 $1 38. bxc5 bxc5 39. Ng3 Rf8 40. Rh4 Rb8 {
and despite material balance, White's position is very difficult to hold due
to him being close to zugzwang. White's rook is tied to the defence of the
weak c4 pawn and the knight is necessary at g3 to meet Kg5 with Rh5+. White is
basically in the 'only move territory', and such positions provide excellent
practical chances for the attacking side.}) 35. hxg6+ Kxg6 {Diagram [#]} 36.
Kc2 ({I calculated a forced continuation into a knight endgame which I
intuitively considered to be drawn with best play, but was far from certain
about my evaluation. I now fully realized the difficulty of White's position
and thought that was the best continuation that I had at my disposal. I missed
the strength of 36.Rd4! (thus the note to Black's 34th move):} 36. Rd4 $1 c5
37. bxc5 bxc5 38. Rd6+ Kg5 39. Ra6 Nxc4+ 40. Kd3 Ne5+ 41. Kc2 $1 {and White
will regain the pawn, since 41. ... Re7?? loses to 42.f4+! For example:} Kh4
42. Rxh6+ Kg3 43. Rf6 Nc4 44. Nd1 f4 45. Rg6+ Kh2 46. Rg4 Nxa3+ 47. Kb3 Re1 48.
Kxa3 Rxd1 49. Rxf4 Kxg2 50. Rc4 $11) 36... Kg5 37. Rd4 c5 38. bxc5 bxc5 39. Rd5
Nxc4 40. Rxc5 Ne3+ 41. Kd3 Nxg2 42. Ne4+ Kf4 43. Rxf5+ Kxf5 44. Nd6+ {Diagram 
[#]} Kf4 (44... Ke5 45. Nxe8 Nf4+ 46. Ke3 Ne6 {is a creative way of cutting
off the knight on e8, but now the material is even and with the f-pawn White
will create sufficient counterplay while Black tries to gain the a3 pawn:} 47.
Kf2 a5 48. Kg3 Nd4 49. f4+ (49. Nc7 $2 {is imprecise due to} Kd6 50. Ne8+ Kc6
$1 {Diagram [#] and White has to find study-like resources not to lose:} 51.
Ng7 $1 (51. f4 $2 Nb5 52. a4 Nc3 53. f5 Nxa4 54. f6 Nc5 55. f7 Ne6 56. Ng7 Nf8
57. Nf5 a4 $19) (51. a4 $2 Ne2+ $1 52. Kf2 Nc3 $19) 51... a4 (51... Nb5 52. a4
Nc3 53. Ne6 $1 Nxa4 (53... Kd5 54. Nd8 {and 55.Nb7}) 54. Nd4+ Kb6 55. Nb3 {and
56.Nxa5=}) (51... Kd5 52. f4 Nb5 53. f5 Ke5 (53... Nxa3 54. f6 Kd6 55. Nf5+ Ke6
56. Nxh6 Kxf6 57. Kf3 a4 58. Ng4+ Ke6 59. Ne3 {and White is in time =}) 54. a4
$1 Nc3 55. Ne6 $1 Nxa4 56. Nd8 $1 $11) 52. f4 Kd7 (52... Nb5 53. f5 Nxa3 54. f6
Kd6 55. f7 Ke7 56. Ne6 $1 Kxf7 57. Nc5 $11) 53. f5 Ke7 54. Nh5 $1 Nxf5+ (54...
Nb5 $2 55. Nf4 Nxa3 56. Nd5+ {and 57.Nc3=}) 55. Kf3 Nd4+ 56. Kg4 Nc2 57. Nf4
Kd6 58. Nd3 {and White barely holds. The above lines perfectly illustrate the
need for precision even in the most simplified endgames, as subtle nuances are
sometimes all that is needed to change the evaluation of the position.}) 49...
Ke6 50. Nc7+ Kd6 51. Ne8+ Kc6 52. Ng7 $11 {White has an extra tempo in
comparison to the above variations, which secures him a much easier draw.}) 45.
Nxe8 Kxf3 {Diagram [#] This is the endgame I had in mind when I played 36.Kc2.
At first glance it appears that White's task will be fairly easy - all he has
to do is hold the 'h' pawn with the knight, even sacrificing it at an
opportune moment and marching the king towards the a7 pawn. But such
evaluation would be amateurish, since White has to realize a very important
characteristic of this endgame: both of Black's pawns are side pawns.
Generally, these are easier to defend against in all types of endgames...
except the knight endgames! The knight has the most difficulty dealing with a
side passed pawn since it can only attack it from one side.   Even if my
intuition about the ability to draw this was correct, I knew that high
precision will be necessary.} 46. Ng7 {46.Nf6 is also good, but on g7 the
knight is further from being attacked. Plus, it would most likely end up on g7
anyway via h5, after Black's potential Ne3-g4 manoeuvre.} Nh4 47. a4 $1 {This
pawn advance is beneficial for several reasons. First, it gives White
potential in the future to gain the a7 pawn by force (Nc6-a6-Nb8-a5-Nc6 type
of sequence, where Black cannot push the pawn further to a4). Second, the a4/
a5 blockade makes some pawn endgames that could arise theoretically drawn. In
contrast, if Black was to advance his pawn to a4, then the a3/a4 blockade
makes all pawn endgames arising after any knight exchange lost for White.} Kf4
{Diagram [#]} 48. Ne6+ $6 (48. a5 $1 Nf5 (48... Ke5 49. Kc4) 49. Ne8 h5 50. Ke2
h4 51. Kf2 h3 52. Nf6 {and White should hold, for example} Nh4 (52... Ne3 53.
Nh5+ Kg4 54. Nf6+ Kh4 55. Kg1 Kg3 56. Ne4+ {and Black can't make any progress.}
) 53. Kg1 Nf3+ 54. Kh1 Kf5 55. Nd5 Ke5 56. a6 $1) 48... Kg4 $6 (48... Ke5 $1
49. Nd4 a6 $1 (49... Kd5 $2 50. Nb5 a5 51. Nd4 Kc5 52. Kc3 $1 {followed by 53.
Nb3+ Kb6 54.Kd3= as White is in time to catch the 'h' pawn with his king.}) 50.
Nc2 Kd6 $1 {and there is no way to get to the a6 pawn. This position might
already by winning for Black, as he is now closer to the a4 pawn whereas White
is further away from the h6 pawn. Because of this, any exchange of these pawns
would most likely lead to a theoretical win for Black. For example:} 51. Ke4 (
51. Ne3 Kc5 52. Ng4 Nf5 53. Ke4 h5 54. Nf2 Ng7 55. Nd3+ Kc4 $19) 51... Kc5 52.
Kf4 Ng6+ ({or} 52... Kc4 53. Kg4 Ng2 54. Kh5 a5 $1 55. Kxh6 Kc3 $1 $19) 53. Kf5
Ne7+ 54. Kf6 Ng8+ 55. Kg7 a5 $1 56. Kxg8 h5 $19) 49. Ng7 Nf5 50. Ne8 $1 Kg5 (
50... h5 $2 51. Nf6+ Kg5 52. Nxh5 $1 Kxh5 53. Kc4 $11) 51. Ke4 h5 {Diagram [#]}
52. Nc7 $2 (52. Kf3 $1 {made much more sense to not let the 'h' pawn  get too
far:} h4 53. Kg2 Ne3+ 54. Kh3 Nd5 55. Nd6 Nf4+ 56. Kh2 Kg4 57. a5 {and White
should draw without any further difficulties. Now with opposition Black
prevents White king from easily reaching the passed pawn.}) 52... Kg4 53. Nd5
Ng3+ ({Black could use another opposition to advance his pawn all the way to
h3, but it's most likely not enough to win:} 53... Nd6+ 54. Ke3 Kg3 55. Nf6
Nc4+ 56. Ke2 h4 57. Nh5+ Kg4 (57... Kh2 58. Kf3 Ne5+ 59. Ke4 Nd7 60. Kf3 $11)
58. Nf6+ Kf5 59. Nd5 Ke5 60. Ne7 h3 {Diagram [#]Analysis Diagram} 61. Kf2 $1 (
61. Kf3 $4 Ke6 $1 {and and the knight gets trapped due to the fork on e5:} 62.
Nc8 (62. Ng8 h2 $1 63. Kg2 Ne3+ $1 64. Kxh2 Kf7 65. Nh6+ Kg7 66. Kg3 Kxh6 67.
Kf3 Nd5 $19) 62... a5 63. Na7 (63. Kg3 Kd7 64. Na7 Nd6 $1 $19) 63... Kd5 64.
Nb5 Nb6 65. Kg3 Nxa4 66. Kxh3 Kc5 67. Na3 Nc3 68. Nc2 a4 69. Kg3 Nb5 70. Kf2
Nd4 71. Na3 Kb4 72. Nb1 Nb5 {followed by Nc3. White's king is too far and
Black will promote his pawn; -+.}) 61... Kf4 62. Nd5+ Kg4 63. Nf6+ Kh4 64. Ne4
a5 65. Kg1 {and White appears to be holding.}) 54. Ke3 h4 55. Kf2 {Diagram [#]}
Nf5 {Instead of trying to promote the 'h' pawn, Black smartly leaves it on h4
and shifts the efforts over to the a4 pawn, hoping to reach a position where
White's king will be far away and/or White's knight misplaced to stop Black's
last pawn.} (55... h3 56. Kg1 $1 ({Not} 56. Ne3+ $2 Kf4 57. Nd5+ Ke5 $1 58. Ne3
Ne4+ 59. Kf3 Ng5+ 60. Kg3 Kd4 {and Black defends his h3 pawn from behind and
White has to spend too much time to get it:} 61. Nf1 a5 62. Kg4 Ne4 63. Kxh3
Nc5 64. Kg3 Kd3 $19) 56... a5 57. Kh2 {and White holds.}) 56. Kg2 a5 57. Nf6+
Kf4 {Diagram [#]} 58. Kh3 (58. Nd7 $1 $11 {was a lot more precise, preventing
Black's plan of going after the 'a' pawn. 59.Nc5 and 60.Nb3 is threatened,
therefore Black has to protect his a5 pawn with the knight, forcing the king
to stay on the kingside and protect the h4 pawn.}) 58... Ke5 59. Nh5 Kd4 60.
Kg4 Ne3+ 61. Kxh4 {Diagram [#] White has managed to take the pawn without
Black's pieces being close enough to the a4 pawn, making it a theoretical draw.
As will be seen, however, precision is still necessary, due to the knight's
special difficulties dealing with a side passed pawn.} Nd5 62. Kg3 Nc3 63. Kf2
Kd3 64. Nf4+ Kd2 65. Kf3 Nxa4 66. Nd5 Kd3 67. Kf2 Kc4 {Diagram [#]Critical
Position} 68. Ne3+ $4 ({And right when the draw was within reach, White errs
terribly! 68.Nf4 and 68.Nc7 both draw, as Black can prevent the White king
from reaching the queenside only by engaging his own king, at which point the
white knight will prevent the pawn's further advance:} 68. Nf4 Kc3 69. Ke1 Kc2
70. Nd5 $8 Nc3 71. Nb6 $8 $11) 68... Kb3 $4 ({And Black in return misses a
chance for a study-like win:} 68... Kd4 $8 {Preventing Nd5 and attacking the
knight on e3 at the same time.} 69. Ke2 Nc3+ $1 70. Kd2 Ne4+ $1 71. Ke2 {Now
it becomes clear why the knight is badly placed on e3: the king has to defend
it and as a result must stay outside of the square of the pawn. With a strong
knight maneouvre, Black clears the path for his pawn while cutting off the
White's king.} (71. Kc2 Kxe3 72. Kb3 Nc5+ 73. Kc4 a4 $19) 71... a4 72. Nc2+ Kc3
73. Kd1 Kb2 $1 74. Ne3 Nd6 75. Nc2 (75. Kd2 a3 76. Nd1+ Kb3 77. Nc3 Ne4+ $1 $19
) 75... Nc4 76. Nb4 a3 77. Ke2 Kb3 78. Nd3 Kc3 79. Nc1 Kc2 80. Na2 (80. Nd3 Nb2
81. Nb4+ Kb3 $19) 80... Ne5 $1 81. Ke3 Kb2 82. Nb4 Kb3 $19 {A beautiful
illustration of just how difficult it can be to stop a side pawn in a knight
endgame! It's puzzling to note that White is defenceless after 69.Ke2, despite
both his king and his knight being inside the square of the pawn, which has
not even crossed his side of the board!  After the text move, White draws
easily.}) 69. Ke2 $11 Nc3+ 70. Kd3 Na2 71. Kd2 a4 72. Nc2 Kb2 73. Ne3 Nb4 74.
Nc4+ $8 Kb1 (74... Kb3 75. Na5+ $11) 75. Kc3 {And so, with some luck, I
managed to hold a very tough endgame against a highly skilled player that my
opponent no doubt is. With the other top boards ending in a draw as well, I
managed to come out in clear first place.  After the game, GM Sergei Movsesian
joked that there is probably an easier way to draw from the White side of a
Caro-Kann than the one I'd found. I had to agree with that, knowing I escaped.
But looking back now, I got the result in the end and without those mid-game
inaccuracies, we wouldn't have reached such an instructive endgame!} 1/2-1/2

[Event "World Junior Chess Championships"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.08.08"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Valsecchi, Alessio"]
[Black "Hambleton, Aman"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C03"]
[WhiteElo "2427"]
[BlackElo "2244"]
[Annotator "Aman Hambleton"]
[PlyCount "84"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]

{My important round 7 game against Italian IM Alessio Valsecchi. Fresh off of
a victory last round, I was hoping to keep the streak going. I was optimistic
because so far in the tournament I was having much more success with the Black
pieces.} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 h6 $5 {Diagram [#] This is an uncommon way
to play the French Tarrasch, although certainly not a novelty. I think it's
fair to say that most people don't know the best way to handle it, and often
opt for a safe isolated pawn position.} 4. Bd3 (4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bd3
c5 7. c3 Nc6 8. O-O g5 $1 $13 {is one of the main points of the move h6.
Usually ...Be7 is played to support the g5 advance, but here it has a
dangerous option of going to g7.}) 4... Nc6 5. Ngf3 (5. c3 dxe4 6. Nxe4 e5 $1
$11 {breaks open the center very quickly, and White needs to be accurate.})
5... Nb4 6. Be2 c5 7. c3 Nc6 {Diagram [#] My little Knight dance was done to
include the move c5. Plans like ...Ngf6, e5 Nd7 intending ...f6 do not work
well because the move h6 has already been played.} 8. exd5 exd5 9. dxc5 $6 {
It's possible that White should already allow a symmetrical isolated pawn
position, because it's never optimal to take on c5 before my Bishop has moved.}
Bxc5 10. Nb3 Bb6 11. O-O Nf6 12. Qd3 {Diagram [#] I don't like this move very
much. It feels awkward and I think simply Nbd4 followed by Bf4 or Be3 was
preferred. His plan is to play Be3 but it loses a lot of tempi as we will see
from the game.} (12. Nbd4 $142 O-O 13. Be3 Re8 14. Re1) 12... O-O 13. Be3 Bxe3
14. Qxe3 {And now I can develop and gain time, always a pleasure.} Re8 15. Qd2
Ne4 16. Qc2 Bf5 {Diagram [#] At this point, I've gained 3 moves for free and
despite having an isolated pawn and no dark-squared Bishop, I think Black has
emerged from the opening with no problems.} 17. Nfd4 (17. Bd3 Rc8 18. a3 Qb6
19. Nbd4 {taking control of the dark squares seems to follow White's standard
plan a bit better than the game.}) 17... Bg6 18. Nxc6 ({At this point White
has an uncomfortable choice, because} 18. Bd3 {is well met by} Rc8 {after
which Black intends ...Nb4 or ...Ne5. All the pieces are working well together
and White would much prefer to have played Nbd4 than Nfd4.}) 18... bxc6 19. Bd3
a5 {Diagram [#]} 20. Nd2 (20. f3 {was the final chance to liquidate the
position, intending} Qb6+ 21. Kh1 Nf2+ 22. Qxf2 Qxf2 23. Rxf2 Bxd3 24. Nd4 $15
{where the endgame is not preferable but it should be enough to hold.}) 20...
Qb6 21. Rad1 Rab8 22. b3 Qc5 23. Nxe4 dxe4 {Diagram [#] I think both my
opponent and I evaluated this position as a little better for Black, although
the computer seems to feel it is equal. It goes to show how much of a role
psychology has: I was pressuring for the last 10 moves and we both felt it had
to amount to something.} 24. Bc4 e3 25. Qxg6 Qxc4 26. bxc4 (26. Qc2 Qc5 27. Rd3
$11 {is the only way to maintain the balance, and it's admittedly a very
strange way to deal with the situation. Instead my opponent chose a rook
endgame, but it may already be too tough to hold.}) 26... fxg6 27. fxe3 Rxe3
28. Rd6 Rxc3 29. Rxc6 {Diagram [#]} g5 $1 {This is such an important resource
in the position. Having g-pawns on g7 and g5 achieves two things. First, my
King is safe from bank rank business, and second, Rg6 does not defend g2.
Coupled with White's bank rank problems himself, there is no way to prevent my
invasion.} 30. Rc7 Rb2 31. h3 {Diagram [#]  Critical Position} (31. Rf2 {(or
Rff7)} Rc1+ 32. Rf1 Rcc2 $19) 31... Kh7 $1 {I was quite proud of this move,
because although it lets White occupy the 7th rank before I occupy the 2nd, my
King reaches a safe haven on h5 and then White's King is helpless.} ({The
clumsy} 31... Rcc2 32. Rff7 Rxg2+ {leads to nothing since the g5 pawn blocks
defense of g7. After} 33. Kf1 {there is nothing better than a draw.  editor -}
Rgd2 {threatening mate and trying to block the checks on the d-file doesn't
work:} 34. Rxg7+ Kf8 35. Rgf7+ Ke8 36. Ke1 Rxa2 37. Rh7 $11) 32. Rff7 ({Again} 
32. Rf2 {fails to the standard trick} Rc1+ 33. Rf1 Rcc2 $19) 32... Kg6 33.
Rxg7+ Kh5 34. Rgf7 Rcc2 35. Rc6 Rxg2+ 36. Kf1 Rh2 37. Kg1 {Diagram [#] And now
I get to have a little fun pushing his King around before finally taking all
the pawns and winning the game.} Rbg2+ 38. Kf1 Rxa2 39. Kg1 Rag2+ 40. Kf1 Rc2
41. Kg1 Rxh3 42. Ra7 Ra3 {And here my opponent resigned. There were too many
pawns lost, as well as the checkmate threats to worry about. It's not often
that an isolated pawn position from the French Defense goes this well!} 0-1

[Event "SPICE Cup Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.10.16"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Hambleton, Aman"]
[Black "Ramirez, Alejandro"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A59"]
[WhiteElo "2348"]
[BlackElo "2551"]
[Annotator "Aman Hambleton"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

{In the first round of the SPICE Cup in St. Louis I was paired up against GM
Alejandro Ramirez from the United States. My goal going into the tournament
was an IM norm, so being paired up against a GM in round 1 was a challenge I
welcomed.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 {Diagram [#] I didn't know anything
about my opponent's repertoire before this game since there was no time to
prepare. Otherwise this may not have been quite a surprise, since Alejandro
released a ChessBase DVD on the Benko Gambit very recently.} 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6
g6 (5... Bxa6 $143 6. b3 g6 7. Bb2 Bg7 8. g3) 6. Nc3 (6. b3 Bg7 7. Bb2 Nxa6 8.
g3 Bb7 9. Bg2 O-O) 6... Bxa6 7. e4 Bxf1 8. Kxf1 d6 9. Nf3 Bg7 10. g3 {Diagram 
[#] I used to play with h3 and Kg1-h2 but my results weren't convincing. This
was one of my first attempts at hiding the King on g2.} O-O 11. Kg2 Nbd7 12.
Re1 Qb6 13. Re2 $1 {Diagram [#] I give this move an exclamation mark because
of the very effective idea which may not be obvious if you do not play the
Benko from either side. Re1-e2-c2 is a standard defensive idea to protect b2
and c3, the fragile squares in White's camp.} Ng4 14. Rc2 {This idea does not
work well when Black delays Nbd7, because ...Na6-b4 gains time. I played
Re2-c2 because I knew it would be safe there. So far Black is just developing
his pieces normally and taking control of the important e5 square.} Rfb8 15.
Ne1 $1 {I'm proud of finding this move over the board. Usually White plays Nd2
followed by Nc4 but I noticed how important it would be to control d3 in the
resulting position.} (15. Nd2 Ngf6 16. Nc4 Qa6 17. Qe2 Rb4 18. b3 Nb6) 15...
Nge5 16. b3 (16. f4 Nc4 17. b3 Na3 18. Bxa3 Rxa3) 16... c4 {Diagram [#] It is
important to know when it is OK to allow Black to play c4. Although it
cripples our Queenside it also makes the extra pawn more clear. I have to play
a bit passively for the next few moves, but once the pressure stops, f2-f4
will come with tempo.} 17. Rb1 cxb3 18. axb3 Qb4 $2 {Diagram [#] Strangely,
this natural move is a major blunder. This was part of the baited trap I set
with Ne1 many moves ago. Usually ...Qb4 should be played to pressure e4, c3,
and prevent b4. However, Black did not account for the positioning of my N 
(not on d2) because here I will gain time with f4 followed by Nd3.} (18... Nc5
$142 19. b4 Ncd7 20. Be3 Qb7 21. Bd4) 19. f4 Ng4 20. Nd3 (20. Qxg4 Bxc3) 20...
Qd4 21. Qe2 $1 {Leaving the N en prise on g4 is the way to go. The N is not
dangerous, and instead I decide to safeguard my central Knights and kick the
Ng4 with h3.} Rc8 22. Bd2 f5 23. exf5 gxf5 {Diagram [#]} 24. Re1 (24. h3 $5 {
I couldn't be sure about the complications after} Rxc3 25. Bxc3 Qxd5+ 26. Kg1
Bxc3 27. hxg4 Nf6 $44 {so I decided to play it safe.}) 24... Kh8 25. h3 Nh6 26.
Be3 Qf6 27. Nb5 $18 {Diagram [#] In this position I have a very big advantage,
but unfortunately I had used a great deal of the clock to achieve it. I was
really unfamiliar with the tactics in the position while my opponent had seen
them before. The next couple of moves start a downhill trend leading up to
time control.} Rxc2 28. Qxc2 Qf7 29. Nb4 Nf6 30. Bd4 Rg8 31. Qd3 Nh5 {Diagram 
[#]} 32. Bxg7+ $2 {Bf2 was much better, but the pressure on f4 and the g-file
had me seeing ghosts. Now the game could go in any direction. There is real
danger for my King but on the other hand Black's pieces are all on the f, g,
and h-files... and I have a dangerous passed b-pawn!} (32. Bf2 $14 {There is
no useful discovery by the Bg7:} Nxf4+ 33. gxf4 Bc3+ 34. Kf1 Bxb4 {and, among
other good moves,} 35. Qd4+ {wins back the piece on b4.}) 32... Rxg7 33. Kf2 (
33. Kh2 {holds the balance according to the computer, but I think it's
understandable to want to remove the King as far as possible from the danger.})
33... Nxg3 34. Nc3 Qh5 35. Rg1 Qxh3 36. Ke1 Qh4 37. Qd4 Ng4 38. Kd1 Qh2 39. Kc1
Nf2 40. Re1 Nfe4 41. Nc2 {Diagram [#]} Kg8 (41... Qh4 {targeting f4 was the
right plan e.g.} 42. b4 Qxf4+ 43. Kb2 Qe5 $19) 42. b4 Rg4 43. Kb2 Rxf4 44. Nxe4
{Diagram [#]} fxe4 $2 {My opponent returns the favour, finding himself in time
trouble as well now. The time control was 90 minutes plus 30 seconds for the
entire game. ...Rxe4 is the right move, forcing an exchange and then bringing
the N to a better square.} (44... Rxe4 45. Rxe4 Nxe4 {heading to c5 or even d6
after ...Qe5. The h-pawn is the real monster here.}) 45. b5 $14 Nf5 $4 {Now
the game is over.} 46. Qg1+ $8 Qxg1 47. Rxg1+ Ng7 48. Nd4 {Black needs the
resource ...Rf8-b8 but with White's N coming to e6 this is not possible. There
is no way to stop the runner on b5!} Rf2+ (48... e3 49. Rxg7+ $18) 49. Kc3 {My
opponent resigned what turned out to be a really close game. I never thought
it would get this crazy from my dominant position in the middlegame, but I
scared myself while low on time. The tournament was off to a great start, and
this gave me great confidence going for my IM norm.} 1-0

[Event "UNAM Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.11.23"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Hambleton, Aman"]
[Black "Gonzalez Zamora, Juan Carlos"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "2404"]
[BlackElo "2542"]
[Annotator "Aman Hambleton"]
[PlyCount "161"]
[EventDate "2012.11.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "MEX"]

{After a great start to the tournament, I found myself paired against the
local favourite GM Juan Carlos Zamora from Mexico. In my preparation I noticed
he was playing the Dutch quite often, especially against lower rated players.
I decided to prepare something specific.} 1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 {I like to avoid the
main lines of the Dutch because I think there are a lot of unexplored ways to
play against ...f5 as a structural weakness. In the main line Black completes
development normally but I always try to prevent this.} Nf6 3. Bg5 d5 4. Bxf6
exf6 5. e3 {Diagram [#] So far we are following lesser known theory. The idea
of a quick Bg5 is to cripple the structure and play positionally against the
doubled pawns and on the light squares.} c6 6. Bd3 Be6 (6... Qa5 7. Qf3 g6 8.
a3 Na6 9. Ra2 $1 $14 {was mentioned to me by FM Vladimir Pechenkin after our
game in this same variation. The odd rook move stops ...Nb4 altogether and
makes the Na6 look misplaced.}) 7. Nge2 g6 8. h4 h5 {Diagram [#] I was happy
to see this move, but it is one that Black needed to make. If I am allowed to
play h5 myself, the pressure on f5 and g6 will be too much after Nf4 and Qf3
followed by a possible g4 break.} 9. Nf4 Bf7 10. Qd2 Bd6 11. O-O (11. O-O-O Nd7
12. Kb1 Qc7 13. g3 O-O-O $11) 11... Nd7 {Black's position certainly doesn't
look optimal with the light-squared Bishop locked in and the pawn structure
fixed with many weaknesses. However, he is completing development and has the
long-term edge of the two Bishops and dark square control.} 12. Nce2 Nb6 13. b3
Rg8 14. a4 {Diagram [#] This move is not so much to poke the Nb6, which does
not have many squares available anyway, but to continue with a6 afterwards and
break the strong pawn chain at the base. My opponent naturally needs to
prevent this.} a6 15. Rfc1 Nc8 16. c4 {I achieve the pawn break in the center,
but my opponent is wisely in time with ...Ne7 to defend d5 and prepare to
recapture with a piece. It is important he does not end up with a weak
isolated pawn on d5. My two Knights and light-squared Bishop can put immense
pressure on such a weakness.} Ne7 17. b4 (17. c5 Bc7 18. Ng3 $14 {Ng3 is a
difficult move to see since it doesn't necessarily improve the positioning of
my piece, but it does prevent g5 altogether because of the weak f5 and h5
pawns thereafter. This gives me the time I need to play b4-b5 on the Queenside.
}) 17... g5 $1 {Diagram [#] My opponent timed this move very well. The Pb4
requires my Queen's attention and c4 requires my Bishop and Rook, which
doesn't leave many pieces able to help on the Kingside.} 18. Nh3 (18. hxg5 fxg5
19. c5 $1 {The intermezzo I missed in my calculation. It is essential to see
this move because otherwise Nh3 can be met with ...dxc4 and Black brings a
piece to d5 and controls the light squares in the center.} Bb8 20. Nh3 $11)
18... Qd7 (18... dxc4 19. Bxc4 Bxc4 20. Rxc4 Nd5 $15 {seemed very easy to spot
over the board. I'm not sure why my opponent did not go for what seems like a
comfortable positional edge.}) 19. c5 Bc7 20. Kf1 (20. hxg5 fxg5 21. b5 $14 {
needed to be played for activity. Black's King is still in the center and it's
clear that it will not be going to the Queenside anytime soon. I delayed this
break far too long in the game.}) 20... f4 $1 21. exf4 gxh4 22. Neg1 Be6 23.
Re1 Kf7 24. Ra3 {Diagram [#] A useful Rook lift. The last few moves have been
very strange regroupings on my part. Kg1-f1, Ne2-g1, and Ra1-a3 all look
strange but somehow find synergy together. Black should be trying to play ...
Bf5xd3 and play a position with a better structure based on the light square
control.} Bg4 25. Bc2 Nf5 (25... a5 {takes advantage of my last move. If b5 is
not possible, then ...a5 is a favourable way to activate the a8 rook and
remove the potential counterplay I would have with a b5 break later on.}) 26.
Nf3 a5 (26... Bxh3 27. gxh3 {is actually a great position for me, despite the
open file to my King and doubled and isolated f-pawns. The Ra3 defends
laterally very well, and it is also important that the g4 square is controlled.
}) 27. Bxf5 Bxf5 28. Nxh4 {Diagram [#] My opponent maybe did not think I would
be greedy and take this pawn at the expense of my valuable light-squared
Bishop. However, I realized Black's Bc7 is out of play and the Ra3 is doing an
excellent defensive job.} Rae8 (28... axb4 29. Rae3 $14) 29. Nxf5 Qxf5 30. bxa5
{Now a forced sequence arises because my threat is Rb3xb7 which is very
annoying to defend against. Black is already much worse because he is forced
into an endgame while down a pawn.} Rxe1+ 31. Qxe1 Qe4 32. Qxe4 dxe4 33. f5 $1
{Diagram [#] Fixing the structure favourably based on his Bishop colour. Also,
this move stops Black's King from reaching d5 and possibly playing for a win.
This move was important to see before entering this forced variation.} Rd8 34.
Rb3 Bxa5 35. Rxb7+ Ke8 36. Ke2 Rxd4 37. Nf4 Rxa4 38. Nxh5 Bc3 39. Ng7+ Kf8 40.
Ne6+ Ke8 41. Ke3 {Diagram [#] Time control has been reached and now we enter
what should be a technically winning endgame, although my opponent put up
tremendous resistance. It was tougher than I imagined, especially looking at
the Black King position.} Be5 42. Rg7 (42. g3 Rc4 43. Rh7 Bb2 44. Rh8+ Ke7 45.
Rc8 $18 {was a quicker way to win another pawn.}) 42... Bb2 43. Rg4 Bc1+ 44.
Ke2 Kd7 45. Kd1 {Leaving my R on the 7th means I cannot win the e4 pawn, and
with his B on c1 I also cannot arrange the ideal position. I have to re-route
my pieces.} Bb2 46. Kc2 Be5 47. Kb3 e3 $1 {Diagram [#] This move deserves an
exclamation mark based on the nice idea behind it, but it is not a move I
overlooked at all. I thought Kb3 was a nice simplification in the end.} 48.
Rg7+ (48. Kxa4 exf2 49. Rg7+ Kc8 50. Rg8+ Kb7 51. Rg7+ Ka6 $19 {is the point.
White cannot stop the pawn from Queening.}) 48... Kc8 49. fxe3 Re4 50. g4 Rxe3+
51. Ka4 Re1 52. Ka5 Rb1 53. Ka6 Rb4 {Diagram [#]} 54. Rg8+ Kd7 55. Rd8+ Ke7 56.
Rd3 Rb8 57. Ka7 Rb5 58. Ra3 Kd7 59. Ra6 Bc7 60. Ra3 {Diagram [#] I tried to
make the King invasion work, coupled with pressure on c6 with my Rook. I was
under the impression that I could always undo my attempt and choose another
plan, so I felt a bit of freedom in this endgame...} Be5 ({...but I was wrong!
} 60... Kc8 $1 $11 {This move keeps my King cornered and secures a draw with
continued correct play. What I thought was an 'active' King in the endgame
turns into a problem because I'm running out of squares. There are also
checkmate threats I need to be careful of.} 61. g5 Rb7+ 62. Ka6 Rb8 $1 63. Nxc7
Kxc7 64. Ka7 Rb7+ {Draw.}) 61. Rd3+ Ke7 62. Ka6 Rb8 63. Re3 {Diagram [#]
Finally I found the right plan, which was a timely g5 push. Here there is
pressure on the Be5 as well as the discovery that follows. Something has to
give.} Bb2 64. Nf4+ (64. Rh3 Rb4 65. Rh7+ Ke8 66. Rc7 $18) (64. Nd4+ Kd7 65.
Re7+ Kxe7 66. Nxc6+ Kd7 67. Nxb8+ {is a fancy way to liquidate, but it
actually blunders away the game into a draw after} Kc7 $8 68. Ka7 Be5 $8 69.
Na6+ Kc6 $8 $11) 64... Kd7 65. Re6 Be5 66. Ng6 Bc7 (66... Bd4 $1 {is the key
move. There were so many chances missed for both sides in this complicated
endgame. Here the idea is based on my poorly placed Ka6; e.g.:} 67. Rd6+ Kc7
68. Rxd4 Ra8#) 67. Rxf6 Rb5 68. Rf7+ {Diagram [#]} Kd8 (68... Kc8 69. Ne7+ Kd7
70. Nxc6+ Kxc6 71. Rxc7+ Kxc7 72. Kxb5 $18) 69. Nf8 $2 (69. g5 {is simple and
strong, winning the game instantly. Instead I gave the game right back to my
opponent as the time pressure had caught up to me and I was nervous in such a
back and forth endgame!}) 69... Kc8 70. Rxc7+ {Forced because of the checkmate
threat on a5.} Kxc7 71. g5 {Diagram [#]Critical Position} Kd8 (71... Rb8 $1 {
is the only move to save a draw, and my opponent missed it. I think he
underestimated the power of my connected passed pawns together with my Knight.}
72. Ne6+ Kd7 73. g6 Ke7 74. g7 Kf7 $11) 72. f6 {Now the game is winning again,
and this time I don't let it slip away.} Ke8 73. Ne6 Kf7 74. Nd8+ Kg6 {Diagram
[#]} 75. f7 $8 Kg7 76. g6 $8 Rxc5 77. Ne6+ $8 Kxg6 78. f8=Q Re5 79. Qg7+ Kf5
80. Nd4+ Ke4 81. Nxc6 {After 81 moves and a very tense endgame I managed to
win in front of at least 100 fans who were watching the game live behind a
roped off area. It was a really nervous experience for me; many times in the
endgame I let a win slip away. However, my opponent made the last mistake and
that's what matters. I won and continued strong in the tournament en route to
my first GM norm!} 1-0

[Event "Panama Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.12.01"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Cordova, Emilio"]
[Black "Hambleton, Aman"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A47"]
[WhiteElo "2568"]
[BlackElo "2404"]
[Annotator "Aman Hambleton"]
[PlyCount "133"]
[EventDate "2012.??.??"]

{Going into the 8th round of the Panama Open I had real chances for a GM norm.
In the previous rounds I managed two wins with White against GMs and now there
was a tough task ahead of me to survive with Black.} 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bg5
Be7 4. e3 {This is not what my opponent usually plays, and after the game he
told me that he thought my wins in the tournament so far had been from doing
well in theory. His idea was to play non-theoretical and try to outplay me.} b6
5. Bd3 Bb7 6. Nbd2 c5 {It is necessary to break at some point with this move,
and I always prefer to do it sooner rather than later.} 7. c3 O-O {In
hindsight, this was not necessary so soon. It reveals a lot about my
intentions and I could have easily waited with a move such as h6. If Bh4 then
I could castle... but then again I could never have expected what my opponent
was planning!} 8. h4 $5 {Diagram [#] This caught me by surprise. I did not
even play h6 yet and already my opponent started to go all out on the Kingside.
Now I knew White was planning to play 0-0-0 and possibly g4 at some point. The
Queenside is quite safe after all, so I have to either drum up counterplay in
the center or trade the pieces off.} h6 (8... Nc6 9. Qe2 d5 10. O-O-O c4 11.
Bc2 b5 {appears to be a much simpler response in hindsight. Playing h4 while I
have not committed h6 was strange but I did not bother to punish it. Instead I
should have just ignored the ghost threats and continued in the center.}) 9.
Rh3 cxd4 10. exd4 Ng4 $1 {Diagram [#] Finally some much needed liquidation. My
opponent really surprised me by going so aggressive with h4 and Rh3,
especially because he did not need to win this game for any reason in the
tournament. ...Ng4 forces some pieces off the board and can also remain on
this square in the future since White has committed h4 already.} 11. Bxe7 Qxe7
12. Qe2 Nc6 13. O-O-O f5 {This move is very weakening, but I was unsure of a
plan for Black here. Ideally d6 followed by ...Rac8 and an eventual e5 should
work, but I didn't like how quickly White can move the Nf3 and continue with
g4.} (13... d6 14. Ne1 Nf6 15. g4 $40) 14. h5 Qd6 {Diagram [#] I knew my
position was strategically worse at this point but I also knew that my
opponent would continue to play as aggressively as he has so far. I expected
things to get wild very shortly. The text move frees up the e7 square for a N
and eyes the f4 square.} 15. Kb1 Qc7 16. Nh4 Ne7 17. f3 {White has not had
much choice the last few moves. h5, Nh4, and f3 are very fluid together, but
since White is completely committed to the attack he is starting to make
positional concessions of his own.} Nf6 18. g4 {Diagram [#]} Nfd5 $1 {This is
the correct counterattack. The dark squares in White's position are very weak
and ...Nf4 cannot be stopped.} (18... fxg4 19. fxg4 Nfd5 20. g5 Nf4 21. Qh2
hxg5 22. Ng6 {creates a lot of pressure near my King. Definitely not a good
practical position.}) 19. gxf5 Nf4 20. Qh2 Rac8 {Diagram [#] Qh2 was the only
move, but after ...Rac8 I win an exchange by force because of the fork on h3
and d3. I knew there would be a lot of compensation, but at this point I was
confident I had the advantage.} 21. Bc2 Nxh3 (21... exf5 {was more precise.
White cannot save his Rook because the only way to do that is to allow a Q
exchange down a pawn e.g. Rg3 Nxh5. I should have recaptured on f5 instead of
going for the material. Now the compensation is more than I expected.}) 22.
Qxh3 Nxf5 23. Bxf5 exf5 24. Nxf5 {Diagram [#]} Kh7 (24... Rcd8 {is the
computer's idea, removing the R from the e7 fork and preparing Qf4. The tactic}
25. Qg4 d6 26. Nxh6+ {fails to} Kh8 27. Nf5 Bc8 $19) 25. Qg4 d5 26. Rg1 Rf6 {
Diagram [#] This is an important defensive resource. Stubbornly defending the
pawn on g7 leaves me far too passive. ...Rf6 defends the crucial g6 square} 27.
Re1 ({If White were to play} 27. Qxg7+ Qxg7 28. Rxg7+ Kh8 29. Rxb7 Rxf5 {and ..
.Rxh5 with a dangerous passed pawn.}) 27... Qd7 28. Nxh6 Rd8 29. Qxd7 Rxd7 30.
Ng4 Rf5 {Diagram [#] I had calculated this far, and realized White can
liquidate the Kingside pawns with h6. This is really important because
otherwise I think Black is preferable. After h5-h6, objectively I am better
but I did not feel this way over the board. The Knights are so dangerous!} 31.
h6 gxh6 32. Re6 Kg7 33. Rxh6 Re7 34. Rh2 Re1+ 35. Kc2 Rg5 36. Ne5 Bc8 {Diagram
[#] Heading to the f5 square. I think the position is really unclear,
especially because White is so solid and Black doesn't have any passed pawns.
I would have been content with a draw at this point, especially considering my
GM norm and tournament situation.} 37. f4 Rg3 38. Kb3 Rc1 (38... Ba6 $1 {
intending ...Re2 was the right continuation. I should have realized that
White's control of the 2nd rank was the glue in his position, but I was
already very committed to the idea of placing the Bishop on f5.} 39. Nc6 Re2
40. Rxe2 Bxe2 41. Nxa7 Kf6 $13) 39. Nc6 a5 40. Rf2 Bf5 {Diagram [#]} 41. Nf3 (
41. Ne7 $1 Bc2+ 42. Ka3 b5 43. Nxd5 b4+ 44. Nxb4 axb4+ 45. Kxb4 $11 {is a
completely bizarre position which should actually be equal but I think most
players would prefer to have the 5 pawns! I was very scared of allowing a
continuation like this.}) 41... Kf6 42. Nfe5 Ke6 43. Ka4 Ra1 44. a3 Rb1 45. Rh2
Kd6 {Diagram [#] I have been playing the correct moves so far, but practically
speaking I think White's position is so much easier to play with the Knights.
I felt like I would be happy with a draw, so I evaluated the position as a a
little worse for me. The right plan is to wait with Kc7/Kd6 but I had not
stumbled across this in time.} 46. Kb3 Be4 (46... Rh3 47. Rg2 Be4 {finally
forces the White rook off any open files because after} 48. Rg8 a4+ $1 $11 {
liquidates the pawns and the draw becomes easier to see.}) 47. Ka4 Ke6 $2 {
Going in the wrong direction. Kd6/c7 was where I needed to stay, otherwise
playing with the rooks. Understanding this position and what the plan is for
Black was very difficult for me.} 48. Rh6+ Kf5 49. Ne7+ Kxf4 50. Rf6+ {Diagram
[#]} Kg5 {Again, ...Ke3 is probably a little better. At this point I was short
on time and I already felt the game was slipping away. The Knights remain a
nuisance and White's King is in no danger.} (50... Ke3 51. Rxb6 Rg2 52. Rb5
Rgxb2 53. Nxd5+ Bxd5 54. Rxd5 $14 {would once again lead to an interesting
endgame where only White has the winning chances. This game was one of the
most difficult cases of imbalanced material that I've had to evaluate!}) 51.
Rxb6 Kf4 52. Kxa5 Rg2 53. Rb5 Ke3 (53... Rgxb2 54. Rxb2 Rxb2 55. Nxd5+ $18 {is
winning, based on the fork Nd3+. The pawns are too much to handle and the Rook
is not the right piece against two tricky Knights.}) 54. Nxd5+ Kd2 55. Nb6 Kc2
56. Nbc4 {Diagram [#] Now White reaches a final fortress and in the end I
never managed to take a single Queenside pawn! The game is resignable here but
with mutual time trouble I decided to play on to see if I could harass the
pawns from behind.} Rg7 57. a4 Rh1 58. Na3+ Kc1 59. b3 Kb2 60. Kb4 Ka2 61. Nec4
Rh3 62. Rb8 Rc7 63. Nb5 Re7 64. Rf8 Rh2 65. Na5 Kb2 66. c4 Rd7 67. d5 {Nice
technique by my opponent. The pawns and Knights coordinate so well together
that my Rooks do not have an impact. With this result I lost my GM norm, and I
was reminded the importance of playing practical chess!} 1-0

[Event "UNAM Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.11.22"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Hambleton, Aman"]
[Black "Macieja, Bartlomiej"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E32"]
[WhiteElo "2404"]
[BlackElo "2609"]
[Annotator "Aman Hambleton"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2012.11.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventCountry "MEX"]

{I was paired as White against the top seed in the tournament on board 1. I
had time to look at his games overnight, and came to be board both excited and
prepared.} 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 {Not the move I was expecting. I don't think he
has ever played this move before, though it easily transposes to other systems.
} 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 {Diagram [#] Already out of theory, I played the position
with the same moves I use against the Nimzo-Indian. I hoped to reach a similar
structure and return to familiar territory.} Bb7 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. Qxc3 f5 (6...
Nf6 7. Bg5 O-O {would have transposed to a main line of the Nimzo, something I
would have welcomed since my preparation would be useful.}) 7. Nf3 Nf6 {The
structure has been decided for the rest of the game. The struggle revolves
around controlling the e4 square and whether or not Black can use his knights
more actively than my Bishops. In the long run, my Bishops are an advantage.}
8. g3 c5 9. dxc5 bxc5 10. Bg2 O-O {Diagram [#]} 11. O-O {Both players
logically castle their Kings to safety before proceeding in the center.} (11.
b4 {The only way to stop my opponent's idea on the next move is to do this
before castling. Black should obtain a reasonable position though, after} d6
12. O-O Nbd7 13. Rd1 Ne4 14. Qc2 Qc7 15. Bb2 Rab8 $11) 11... a5 $1 (11... Nc6
12. b4 Ne4 13. Qb3 d6 14. Bb2 Qb6 {is solid for Black. The x-ray pressure on
the f2 pawn coupled with the strong Ne4 gives Black the more active position.
Neither of my Bishops are doing anything useful.}) 12. Bf4 a4 {A principled
maneouvre. Black fixes White's queenside pawn majority and aims for ...Nc6-a5,
...Ba6, and eventually to control the b-file. White has to be active in the
centre or face positional inferiority in any endgame.} 13. Rfd1 Qa5 {Diagram 
[#]} 14. Qxa5 (14. Qe3 $1 Rc8 15. Rxd7 $5 Nbxd7 16. Qxe6+ Kh8 17. Ng5 Rf8 18.
Bxb7 Rae8 19. Nf7+ Kg8 20. Nh6+ Kh8 21. Nf7+ Kg8 22. Nh6+ {is an interesting
draw. I didn't think too hard about keeping the Queens on the board but I
probably should have. I was misevaluating the position, giving Black too much
credit for his curious piece placement.}) 14... Rxa5 15. Bc7 {An inferior move,
already headed towards a draw. It's difficult to find an advantage for White,
since Black's structure is so solid, but...} (15. Rd6 {is a better try e.g.}
Ra6 16. Rxa6 Nxa6 17. Rd1 Rc8 18. Bd6 Ne8 19. Ne5 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 $14 {with
advantage to White.}) 15... Ra6 16. Ne5 {The following liquidating sequence is
more or less forced.} Bxg2 17. Kxg2 d5 18. cxd5 exd5 19. Bxb8 Rxb8 20. Nd3 {
Diagram [#] The idea of this move is to target the c5 pawn while constantly
daring it to move forward. If Black were to play ...c4, White's N would move
to b4 where it stops Black's b-file counterplay and also targets another weak
Black pawn on d5.} Rb5 {Black correctly decides to defend the hanging pawn
with his pieces.} ({If for example} 20... c4 {then} 21. Nb4 Rd6 22. Rac1 Rc8
23. Rd4 {is comfortable and pressuring for White, although not winning.}) 21.
Rac1 {Again, tempting the c5 pawn forward.} Rc6 22. Rc2 g5 23. e3 Kf8 24. Ne5
Rcb6 25. Nd3 Rc6 {Diagram [#] The position is difficult to find an advantage
for either side. Also, if I'm not careful the Black King will advance to the
centre and aid in the protection of his pawns. This would free his pieces and
allow him to create pressure. We decided to repeat the position.} 26. Ne5 Rcb6
27. Nd3 Rc6 28. Ne5 {... and a draw was agreed. Macieja was the tournament
leader at the time, and went on to win the tournament with a decisive 8.5/9. I
remained the only player to take any points off him!} 1/2-1/2

[Event "2013 Aurora Fall Open"]
[Site "Aurora"]
[Date "2013.10.19"]
[Round "1.3"]
[White "Perelman, Leon"]
[Black "Plotkin, Victor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A18"]
[WhiteElo "2142"]
[BlackElo "2393"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e6 3. e4 d5 4. e5 d4 5. exf6 dxc3 6. bxc3 Qxf6 7. Nf3 c5 8. d4
cxd4 9. Bg5 Qf5 {Diagram [#]} 10. Bd3 $2 {This gambit looks like it "ought to"
work: White will be fully developed and Black will be more than three tempi
away from connecting his Rs. That would be a fair trade according to old intro
books, but I can't find a convincing way for White to equalize. On its own
that wouldn't be enough to merit a "?", but White has an alternative that
keeps an advantage.} ({White's usual way to play is to try to convert his
development advantage into queenside or central pressure, without sacking a
pawn.} 10. cxd4 Bb4+ 11. Bd2 Qa5 12. Bd3 Nc6 (12... Nd7 13. Rb1 Bxd2+ 14. Qxd2
Qc7 15. O-O O-O 16. Rfc1 $16 {0-1 (44) Cvitan,O (2550)-Zelcic,R (2547) Stari
Mikanovci, 2010.}) 13. Rb1 Bxd2+ 14. Qxd2 Rb8 $5 (14... Qxd2+ 15. Kxd2 $32) 15.
Be4 Bd7 16. Ne5 (16. d5 $146) 16... Qxd2+ 17. Kxd2 Na5 (17... Nxd4 18. Kd3 Nf5
19. Bxf5 exf5 20. Rhe1 Be6 21. Nc6 $1 $16 Rc8 22. Rxb7 Rxc6 23. Rb8+ Kd7 24.
Rxh8 Bxc4+ $16) 18. Rb4 f6 19. Nxd7 Kxd7 20. Rhb1 b6 21. c5 $14 {1/2-1/2 (77)
Reinderman,D (2573)-Naiditsch,A (2687) Wijk aan Zee, 2010.}) 10... Qa5 $15 {
Safetys the Q, wins the Pc3, and keeps an eye on d8.} 11. O-O dxc3 12. Qc2 {
Diagram [#]} h6 (12... Bd7 $5 13. Bxh7 $140 Ba4 14. Qb1 Nd7 15. Qxb7 Rb8 16.
Qe4 Bd6 {/\...Qc7, ...Bc6/...Nc5; Black has returned the P, but completed
development with advantage}) 13. Bf4 Nc6 14. Rfb1 ({Straightforward attempts
to win back the Pc3 don't work:} 14. Rfc1 Ba3) (14. a3 g5 15. Be3 Bg7) 14... a6
15. Be4 Ba3 16. Bxc6+ $1 bxc6 {Diagram [#]} 17. Qe4 $2 (17. Be5 $1 $132 Bb2
$140 $6 (17... O-O 18. Bxc3 Qf5 (18... Qc7 19. Bxg7) 19. Qa4 $11) 18. Bxg7 Rg8
19. Qh7 $1 Rxg7 $8 20. Qxg7 Qa3 (20... Bxa1 $2 21. Ne5 $18 {Black has to give
up the Q to avoid mate.}) 21. c5 (21. Ne5 $5) 21... Qxc5 22. Rxb2 $16 {Black
has too many loose pawns to hold them all.}) 17... O-O $1 18. Qxc6 $6 (18. Rb3
Bb2 19. Re1 Qxa2 20. Qc2 {(/\Rxc3)} e5 $1 (20... Qa5 $17) 21. Nxe5 Bf5 22. Rxb2
cxb2 23. Qxf5 a5 {I thought White had comp here, but Houdini shows that it's
not enough: e.g.} 24. Bxh6 Qa1 $8 $19) 18... Ra7 $17 19. Rb8 Bd7 20. Rxf8+ Bxf8
21. Qe4 Ba4 $19 22. Ne5 c2 {Diagram [#]Black's pieces are all on the edge of
the board, which is usually a bad thing... but one of them is the (extra) Pc2.}
23. Qe3 Rb7 24. Rc1 Rb1 25. g4 g5 26. Bg3 Bc5 $1 27. Qf3 Rxc1+ 28. Kg2 Qc7 29.
Nd3 Bc6 $1 30. Bxc7 Bxf3+ 31. Kxf3 Rd1 0-1

[Event "2013 Aurora Fall Open"]
[Site "Aurora"]
[Date "2013.10.19"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Noritsyn, Nikolay"]
[Black "Nicholson, Matthew"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B10"]
[WhiteElo "2625"]
[BlackElo "2286"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. c4 c6 2. e4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. cxd5 Nf6 5. Qa4+ {Diagram [#] The so-called
"Pseudo-Panov": White keeps hold of the Pd5 as long as possible to make it
hard for Black to develop.} Nbd7 (5... Bd7 {is supposed to be bad (as it
definitely would be against 5.Bb5+) because it makes Black's development
awkward after} 6. Qb3 {but Black still seems OK here:} {Even} Qb6 {isn't so
stupid, since after} (6... Na6 7. Nc3 (7. Qxb7 $2 Nc5 8. Qb4 $8 e6 $1 $36) 7...
Nc5 8. Qd1 g6 9. Bc4 Rc8 10. Nge2 Bg7 11. O-O O-O 12. a4 {(1-0, 62) Seirawan,Y
(2585)-Dreev,A (2650) Wijk aan Zee, 1995, when Black should have considered
cycling his Nc5 to d6 when White could keep his extra Pd5, but also has a
second tall pawn on c4.}) ({Black has even continued in gambit-style, e.g.} 
6... Qc7 7. Nc3 e6 8. Nf3 (8. dxe6 Bxe6 $44) 8... Be7 9. d4 (9. Bc4 $1) 9...
O-O 10. Bg5 Nxd5 $1 (10... exd5 $143 11. Bd3 Nc6 12. O-O Bg4 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14.
Nxd5 $14 {1/2-1/2 (29) Strzemiecki,Z (2429)-Volovikov,A (2305) Lvov, 2013.})
11. Nxd5 $140 exd5 12. Bxe7 Re8 $36) 7. Qxb6 axb6 {Black can get the pawn back
with ...Na6-b4 and keep a development advantage.}) 6. Nc3 g6 7. Bc4 Bg7 8. d3
O-O 9. Nf3 a6 {Diagram [#]} 10. Qa3 (10. O-O $4 b5 11. Bxb5 Nb6 $19 {defends
the Ra8 with tempo.}) 10... Nb6 (10... b6 11. O-O Bb7 12. Re1 Re8 13. Ng5 {
This is in Houska's book "Play the Caro-Kann"} Rc8 {Houska} 14. Be3 (14. d6 e6
$15 {1/2-1/2 (35) Socko,B (2637)-Laznicka,V (2598) Ostrava, 2009.}) 14... Ne5
15. Rad1 h6 $5 {Houska's line} 16. Nge4 Nxe4 17. Nxe4 Nxc4 18. dxc4 Rxc4 19.
Qd3 $2 {Falling for a cheap trick.} Qxd5 $1 20. Qxd5 Bxd5 21. Rxd5 Rxe4 $17 {
Houska} 22. b3 Rc8 {1/2-1/2 (49) Rasmussen,K (2449)-Aagaard,J (2447) Aalborg,
2006.}) (10... Rb8 $2 11. Bf4 $14) 11. Qb3 Bg4 (11... Nxc4 12. dxc4 e6 (12...
b5 $5 {see: Schandorff's 2008 book "Playing the Caro-Kann"}) 13. O-O b5 14.
cxb5 Nxd5 15. Nxd5 exd5 16. Rd1 axb5 17. Be3 $11 Bg4 18. Bd4 Qc7 19. Rac1 Qf4
20. Bxg7 $11 (20. Rc3 $11) 20... Kxg7 21. a3 (21. Qxd5 $11) 21... Rac8 22. Rxc8
Rxc8 23. Qxb5 d4 24. h3 Bxf3 25. gxf3 $11 {0-1 (25) Marinkovic,M (2220)
-Gerzhoy,L (2618) Toronto, 2010.}) 12. Ne5 (12. Ng5 h6 13. Nge4 Nxe4 14. Nxe4
Rc8 15. h3 Bf5 16. Ng3 Bd7 $15 {1/2-1/2 (22) Jansa,V (2521)-Meduna,E (2460)
Czechia, 2006.}) 12... Bf5 (12... Qc7 13. O-O (13. Nxf7 $2 Nxc4 $19 14. Nh6+
Bxh6 15. Bxh6 Qe5+ $8 $19) 13... Nxc4 14. Nxc4 Bf5 15. Ne3 Bxd3 16. Rd1 Bb5 17.
Nxb5 axb5 18. Qxb5 $14) 13. O-O Qd6 14. Re1 Rad8 15. Bg5 {Diagram [#]} Rfe8 $6
(15... Nfxd5 $142 $11 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. Bxe7 $6 (17. Bxd5 $2 Qxd5 18. Qxd5 Rxd5
$17 {Xe5 Xd3}) 17... Nxe7 (17... Qxe7 18. Bxd5 Bxe5 19. d4 $8 Bxh2+ 20. Kxh2
Qd6+ 21. Re5 Kg7 22. Qxb7 Rd7 23. Qc6 Qxc6 24. Bxc6 Rxd4 {and the better
player can still win.}) 18. Nxf7 Rxf7 19. Bxf7+ Kf8 $15) 16. Bh4 Nfxd5 (16...
Nfd7 17. Nxd7 Rxd7 18. Bg3 Qc5 19. Rac1 $14 (19. d6 $140 e5 $1)) 17. Nxd5 Nxd5
{Diagram [#]Critical Position  What happens on 18.Bg3 b5?} 18. Bg3 $1 b5 (18...
Qc5 $142) 19. Nxf7 $8 $18 bxc4 20. dxc4 Qb4 21. Nxd8 $8 $18 Qxb3 22. axb3 Nb4
23. Nb7 (23. Ne6 $1 Nc2 24. Nxg7 Kxg7 25. f3 $18) 23... Nc2 24. Nd6 Rf8 25.
Nxf5 gxf5 26. Kf1 f4 27. Bh4 Rb8 28. Rxa6 Nxe1 29. Kxe1 {Diagram [#]} Bxb2 ({
Taking on b2 with the R gives Black a few more tactical resources, but Black
is still lost:} 29... Rxb3 30. Bxe7 Rxb2 31. c5 Bc3+ 32. Kd1 Kf7 (32... Rd2+
33. Kc1 Rxf2 34. Bd6) 33. Bd6 Rxf2 34. c6 Rd2+ 35. Kc1 Rxd6 36. c7 Rxa6 37.
c8=Q Ra1+ 38. Kc2 Bf6 39. Qc4+ {(there's probably a "cleaner" way to win this
for White).}) 30. c5 Rxb3 31. Rb6 Bc3+ 32. Ke2 Ra3 33. c6 Be5 34. Bxe7 Rc3 35.
Rb5 {Diagram [#]} f3+ 36. gxf3 Bxh2 37. Rc5 Rxc5 38. Bxc5 Kf7 39. Ke3 Bc7 40.
f4 h5 41. Bd4 Ke7 42. Be5 Bd6 43. Kf3 1-0

[Event "2013 Aurora Fall Open"]
[Site "Aurora"]
[Date "2013.10.20"]
[Round "4.1"]
[White "Plotkin, Victor"]
[Black "Preotu, Razvan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "2393"]
[BlackElo "2478"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. e4 c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bc4 {Diagram [#]} e6 ({
White has a lot of experience with the main line:} 6... Nb6 7. Bb3 d5 8. exd6
Qxd6 {Diagram [#]} 9. O-O (9. Nxd4 Nxd4 (9... e5 10. Nxc6 Qxd1+ 11. Bxd1 bxc6
$11 {1/2-1/2 (40) Plotkin,V (2399)-Song,M (2217) Toronto, 2012.}) 10. cxd4 g6 (
10... e6 11. Nc3 Bd7 12. O-O Bc6 13. Bg5 Be7 14. Bxe7 Kxe7 15. Qg4 Rhd8 16.
Qh4+ Kf8 17. Qxh7 Qxd4 $11 {1-0 (37) Plotkin,V (2424)-Qin,Z (2329) Ottawa,
2010.}) 11. Qf3 Be6 12. Qxb7 Bg7 13. O-O Bxd4 14. Nc3 Bd7 15. Qf3 $14 (15. Rd1
$1 Bc6 $140 16. Ne4 $1 Bxf2+ 17. Kxf2 Bxb7 18. Nxd6+ exd6 19. Rxd6 $16) 15...
Qf6 16. Qxf6 Bxf6 17. Be3 Bc6 18. Rfd1 O-O $11 {0-1 (59) Plotkin,V (2215)
-Nakamura,H (2701) Toronto, 2009.}) 9... Be6 $1 (9... g6 10. Ng5 Nd8 11. Qf3
Qf6 12. Qxf6 exf6 13. Ne4 Be7 14. Re1 Be6 15. cxd4 $14 {1/2-1/2 (47) Gerzhoy,L
(2469)-Corrales Jimenez,F (2604) Wheeling, 2013.}) 10. Na3 $5 (10. Bxe6 Qxe6
11. Nxd4 Qd7 (11... Nxd4 12. Qxd4 Rd8 13. Qf4 g6 14. Na3 Bg7 15. Qc7 Qd5 16.
Be3 Be5 17. Qc5 Qxc5 18. Bxc5 Na4 19. Bxa7 Nxb2 $15 {0-1 (43) O'Donnell,T 
(2514)-Tukmakov,V (2590) Edmonton, 1989.}) 12. Be3 e6 13. Nd2 Nd5 14. Nc4 Be7
15. Nxc6 Qxc6 16. Qe2 Nxe3 {1/2-1/2 Rozentalis,E (2588)-Lesiege,A (2564)
Montreal, 2001.}) 10... Bxb3 11. Qxb3 Qd7 (11... dxc3 $2 12. Nb5 Qb8 13. Ng5 e6
14. Nxe6 $18) 12. Bf4 e6 $13 {0-1 (35) Herbold,M (2091)-Hansen,E (2577)
Ortisei, 2013.}) 7. cxd4 d6 8. O-O Be7 {Diagram [#]} 9. Nbd2 {Plotkin - "As
usual, pretty bad opening for me, even in a well-known line. I should capture
on d6 myself to avoid playing with a  weak e5 pawn."} (9. Qe2 O-O 10. Nc3 $14)
(9. exd6 Qxd6 10. Nc3 Nxc3 $5 $14 11. bxc3 b6 12. Ng5 $1 Bb7 13. Qg4 (13. Re1
$1 $14) (13. d5 $5 $36) 13... h5 $1 14. Qf3 Bxg5 15. Bxg5 Na5 16. Bb5+ Kf8 17.
Bf4 $1 (17. Qe2 $2 Bxg2 $1 $17) 17... Qd5 18. Qxd5 Bxd5 19. Rfc1 Bc4 $11 {0-1 
(35) Plotkin,V (2409)-So,W (2667) Hamilton, 2011.}) 9... dxe5 10. dxe5 O-O (
10... Nb6 $6 11. Bb3 Qc7 12. Qe2 Bd7 13. Ne4 a5 (13... Nxe5 $6 14. Bf4 Nxf3+
15. Qxf3 Qd8 16. Nd6+ $36 (16. Qg3 $1)) 14. Bf4 a4 15. Nd6+ $16 {1-0 (41)
Plotkin,V (2245)-Sharevich,A (2378) Philadelphia, 2011.}) 11. Qe2 Nf4 $146 (
11... Na5 12. Bxd5 Qxd5 13. Ne4 b6 14. Rd1 Ba6 15. Qe1 Qb5 16. Bd2 Rfd8 17. b4
Nc4 18. a4 Qe8 $15 {0-1 (44) Vlassov,N (2471)-Yagupov,I (2491) Kotov Memorial,
Tula, 2008.}) 12. Qe4 Ng6 13. Bd3 Qd5 $1 {A really good move: Black take on an
IQP but his pieces are so active that White's Pe5 is in mortal danger.} ({It's
almost a shame that Black has an even better move:} 13... Ncxe5 $1 14. Nxe5 f5
15. Qe3 (15. Nc6 $2 fxe4 16. Nxd8 exd3 {the Nd8 is trapped.}) 15... Nxe5 16.
Qxe5 Qxd3 $17) 14. Qxd5 exd5 15. Re1 Re8 $15 16. a3 {Diagram [#]} Bd8 $1 17. b4
$5 {Interesting: White chooses to try to hold the position a pawn down, rather
than against the B-pair.} (17. Bxg6 hxg6 18. b4 g5 19. h3 g4 20. hxg4 Bxg4 21.
Bb2 a6 22. Rac1 Bc7 $15 {Black has the B-pair and pressure on e5.}) 17... Ncxe5
18. Nxe5 (18. Bxg6 $2 Nxf3+ 19. Nxf3 Rxe1+ 20. Nxe1 hxg6 $17) 18... Rxe5 19.
Bb2 Rxe1+ 20. Rxe1 Bd7 $1 (20... Be6 {is automatic, and weaker, since after}
21. Nb3 {Black will probably have to concede the B-pair.}) 21. g3 Bb6 22. Nf3
Nf8 23. Ne5 Re8 24. Rd1 {Diagram [#]} Be6 $6 {All White's pawns are on dark
squares, so it makes sense to use the B to probe some of the light squares.} (
24... Ba4 $1 25. Rc1 f6 26. Nf3 Ne6 27. Re1 Kf7 $15 {(/\...Nd4)} 28. Bxh7 $140
$4 g6 29. Nh4 Nf8 $19) 25. Bb5 Rd8 26. Nd3 Bd7 $6 ({As in the previous note,} 
26... Bg4 $1 {to perpetrate some evil on the light squares.} 27. Rd2 Ne6 28.
Kg2 Ng5 $17 29. Ne5 $140 $2 Bh3+ 30. Kg1 f6 $19) 27. Bxd7 Rxd7 28. Nf4 d4 29.
Kg2 {Diagram [#]Black's still up a P, but the blockade on d3 makes the
position a lot harder to win.} f5 (29... Ne6 30. Nxe6 fxe6 31. f4 $1 $11) 30.
Nd3 Ne6 31. Re1 Rd6 32. a4 a6 33. Ba3 Kf7 34. b5 Rd5 35. bxa6 bxa6 36. Rb1 Bc7
37. Rb7 Kf6 38. Bb4 {Diagram [#]} g5 (38... Bd6 $4 39. Rd7 $18) 39. Ra7 a5 40.
Bd2 h5 41. Ra6 Ke7 42. Ra8 Rd8 (42... g4 43. Ra7 $1 {White keeps Black too
tied down to make progress.}) 43. Ra7 $1 {Wins the Pa5.} Kf6 44. Bxa5 Bxa5 45.
Rxa5 Rc8 46. Kf1 Rc2 47. Ke1 {Diagram [#]} Nc7 {Plotkin - "Razvan offered a
draw. It happens with kids (even with the strongest of them) - to offer draw
after very bad move. Clearly, after this move only White can win because of
very strong a-pawn."} 48. Rc5 Rxc5 49. Nxc5 Ke5 50. Kd2 Kd5 51. Nd7 Ke4 $6 (
51... h4) 52. Nf6+ Kf3 53. Nxh5 Kxf2 {Diagram [#]} 54. h4 $6 (54. Kd3 {seems
to win, but the variations are long and tricky and way beyond OTB skills.} Ne6
(54... Kg2 55. Kxd4 Kxh2 56. Ke5 $8 $18 (56. a5 Kh3 $1 $11)) 55. a5 Kf3 56. Nf6
Nd8 57. a6 Nc6 58. Nd5 g4 59. Kc4 (59. Ne7 $2 Nb4+ 60. Kxd4 Nxa6 61. Nxf5 Kg2
$11) 59... Ke4 (59... Kg2 60. Kb5 Na7+ 61. Kb6 Nc8+ 62. Kc7 Na7 63. Kb8 Nb5 64.
Nc7 $1 $18) 60. Nf4 Ke5 61. Kc5 {Diagram [#] The point of this K excursion
isn't to win the N for the a-pawn (at best, that would only draw), but to
force Black's N to blockade the Pa6 from the less effective c8 square, and
then bring the K back to win the Pd4.} Na7 62. Kb6 $18 (62. Kc4 $2 Nc6 $8 $11)
62... Nc8+ 63. Kb7 Nd6+ 64. Kc6 Nc8 {(the next moves won't make any sense
until you compare this position to the one after move 70)} 65. Kc7 Nd6 66. Kd7
Nb5 67. Kc6 Na7+ 68. Kb7 Nb5 69. Kb6 Nd6 70. Kc5 {Diagram [#]} Nc8 {Now it's
White's move and the K can come to c4, preventing the Pd4 from advancing and
freeing the Nf4 to win it.} (70... Ne4+ 71. Kc6 $18) 71. Kc4 Ke4 (71... Na7 72.
Ne2 $18) 72. Ne6 d3 73. Nc5+ Kf3 (73... Ke5 74. Nxd3+ $18) 74. Kxd3 Kg2 75. Ke3
Kxh2 76. Kf4 $8 $18 (76. Kf2 $2 f4 77. Ne4 $8 $11)) 54... gxh4 $2 (54... g4
$142 55. a5 (55. Ng7 $4 f4 $19 {Black's g-pawn promotes.}) (55. Nf4 $4 Kxg3 56.
h5 Kxf4 57. h6 g3 $19 {ditto.}) 55... Na6 $8 (55... Kf3 $2 56. Ke1 $3 $18 Na6 (
56... d3 57. Kd2 Ke4 58. Nf4 Kd4 59. h5 $18) (56... f4 $140 57. Nxf4 Kxg3 58.
h5 $18)) 56. Kd3 Nb4+ 57. Kxd4 Nc6+ 58. Kd5 Nxa5 59. Ke5 Kf3 60. Kxf5 Nc4 $1
61. Nf6 Ne3+ 62. Kg5 Kxg3 63. h5 Kf3 $1 $11) 55. gxh4 {Diagram [#]} Nd5 $2 (
55... Kf3 $1 $11 56. Nf6 (56. Ng7 Kg4 $1 57. h5 (57. Nxf5 Kxf5 58. Kd3 Kg4 59.
Kxd4 Kxh4 $11 60. Kc5 Kg4 61. Kb6 Nd5+ 62. Kc6 Nb4+ 63. Kb5 Kf5 (63... Nd5 $11)
64. Kxb4 Ke6 $11 {Black's K gets to c8.}) 57... Kg5 58. h6 Kxh6 59. Nxf5+ Kg5
60. Nxd4 $11) 56... Kf4 57. a5 Na6 58. Kd3 Nb8 $8 $11 (58... Nb4+ 59. Kc4 $1
Nc6 (59... d3 60. Kxb4 d2 61. Nd5+ $18) 60. a6 $18) 59. Kc4 Ke5 60. Ng8 f4 $11)
56. a5 ({Black's K can't catch either of the pawns, and Ns can never cope with
two rook pawns, so:} 56. Nf4 $1 {gaining a tempo while clearing the route for
the h-pawn is a spectacular way to win.}) 56... Kf3 57. a6 Nc7 58. Nf6 $1 {
Diagram [#] Now it's like an endgame study: the N and Black's Pf5 prevent his
K from stopping White's h-pawn.  Plotkin - " I am pretty happy I calculated
line with 58. Nf6 (spent almost all my time with this possible pawn ending)."}
Kf4 (58... Nxa6 59. h5 Nc5 60. h6 Ne4+ 61. Nxe4 fxe4 62. h7 e3+ 63. Ke1 $8 $18)
59. a7 Ke5 60. Ne8 $1 Na8 61. h5 (61. h5 Ke6 62. h6 Kf7 63. h7 {and the K
can't get any closer.}) 1-0

[Event "2013 Aurora Fall Open"]
[Site "Aurora"]
[Date "2013.10.20"]
[Round "5.1"]
[White "Cheng, Bindi"]
[Black "Plotkin, Victor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A14"]
[WhiteElo "2548"]
[BlackElo "2393"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "138"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d5 4. Bg2 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 d4 7. e3 c5 8. exd4
cxd4 9. Re1 Nc6 10. Bb2 Bc5 11. d3 {Diagram [#] A revered Benoni.   Bindi
plays the Benoni as Black (see Sept CCN: Sarkar-Cheng), and while his next
manouver looks like it would have given Capablanca coniptions, it's a standard
way to generate kingside play in the Benoni.} Qc7 (11... Re8 12. a3 a5 13. Ne5
$11 {gives White a reversed Benoni where Black's B should be on f5.}) 12. a3 a5
13. Nbd2 e5 14. Nh4 (14. Ng5 Bg4 15. Bf3 Bf5 16. Nde4 Nd7 17. g4 Bg6 18. Ng3
Be7 19. N5e4 Nc5 20. Nxc5 Bxc5 21. h4 h6 22. h5 Bh7 $13 {1/2-1/2 (29) Bricard,
E (2385)-Lukacs,P (2460) Budapest, 1990.}) 14... Bg4 15. Bf3 Bd7 16. g4 Kh8 17.
Kh1 Ng8 18. Ne4 Be7 19. Nf5 Bxf5 20. gxf5 Qd7 21. Ng3 $13 {Diagram [#]} Bg5 ({
The Pf5 is surpisingly robust, and Black gets in trouble if he plays directly
to win it:} 21... Bh4 22. Be4 Nce7 $140 23. Qg4 Bxg3 24. Rg1 $1 $36 g6 25. Qxg3
$1 $16) 22. Bc1 Bxc1 23. Qxc1 f6 24. Be4 Nh6 25. Qd1 Ne7 26. Qh5 {Diagram [#]}
Nc8 $6 {This lets White improve his B.} (26... Rac8 $142 {/\...b5 to open a
line for the Rs.}) 27. Bd5 Nd6 28. Be6 Qc6+ 29. Kg1 Qc5 30. Reb1 Qb6 31. h4 {
I don't know what this does.} Ne8 32. Bd5 Nc7 33. Be4 Na6 {Diagram [#]} 34. b4
$1 {A temporary pawn sac: keeps the N off c5, and (ultimately) trades off the
a and b pawns to leave White with a passed Pc4.} axb4 35. axb4 Nxb4 36. Rxa8
Rxa8 37. Qd1 {There's no way to defend both Nb4 and Pb7.} Qd6 38. Bxb7 $14 {
Diagram [#]Critical Position  White's queenside dark sqaures are weak, can
White defend after ...Ra3 and ...Na2?} Ra3 $4 {Answer: White doesn't need to
defend the dark squares, since Black's back rank is even weaker.} (38... Rb8
39. Be4 $14) 39. Be4 $2 (39. Qh5 $1 $18 {Maybe "hard to see" because the Q
just came from h5.} Rxd3 {shows White's threat} (39... Qf8 40. Rxb4 $18 {
transposes.}) 40. Qe8+ Ng8 41. Rxb4 Qxb4 42. Bd5 Rxg3+ 43. Kh2 $8 $18) 39...
Na2 $2 {Gives White another chance...} (39... Qf8 $142) 40. c5 $1 {Diagram [#]
... which he takes!} Qd8 (40... Qxc5 41. Rb8+ Ng8 42. Qh5 Ra7 43. Rxg8+ Kxg8
44. Qe8+ Qf8 45. Bd5+ $18) 41. Ra1 $2 {White underestimates Black's nimble Ns 
(not for the last time).} (41. Ne2 $1 Nc3 42. Nxc3 Rxc3 43. c6 Nf7 44. Qa4 $18
{The passed P and Black's weak back rank should be enough to win.}) 41... Nc3
42. Rxa3 Nxd1 43. Ra8 Qxa8 44. Bxa8 Nc3 $8 45. Bb7 Kg8 $1 46. c6 Nd5 $1 47. Bc8
Kf8 $11 48. Be6 Nc7 49. Nh5 Ng8 {Diagram [#]} 50. f4 $6 ({I'd guess White was
playing for a win, since the simple} 50. Bxg8 Kxg8 51. f4 {gives White no real
winning chances.}) 50... Ne7 51. Bd7 Ned5 52. fxe5 fxe5 53. Kf2 g6 (53... Nf6
54. Nxf6 gxf6 55. Be6 Ke7 56. Bg8 h6 57. Kg3 Ne8 58. Kg4 Ng7 {fortress.}) ({
Black could try for more here:} 53... Kf7 $5 {/\...Nf6 without allowing the B
to go after the Ph7 as in the previous variation.}) 54. fxg6 hxg6 55. Ng3 Nf4
56. Kf3 Nxd3 57. Ke4 Nc5+ 58. Kxe5 Nxd7+ {Diagram [#]} 59. Kd6 (59. cxd7 Ke7
$11) 59... Nf6 60. Kxc7 d3 61. Nf1 Ke7 62. Nd2 Ke6 $11 63. Nc4 Nd5+ 64. Kb7 Kf6
65. Ka7 Kg7 66. Kb7 Kh6 {Diagram [#]} 67. Ne3 $4 {White has eight different
moves which draw, but this isn't one of them.} (67. c7 Nxc7 68. Kxc7 Kh5 69.
Kd6 Kxh4 70. Ke5 g5 71. Ke4 $11 {White's K wins one pawn and the N gets the
other.}) 67... Nxe3 68. c7 Nf5 $8 $19 69. Kc6 (69. Kb8 Nd6 $19) 69... d2 (69...
d2 70. c8=Q Ne7+ $19) 0-1

[Event "BC ch 98th"]
[Site "Vancouver"]
[Date "2013.10.14"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Villavieja, Butch"]
[Black "Sohal, Tanraj"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "2229"]
[BlackElo "2260"]
[Annotator "Stephen Wright"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Qb6 5. a3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Nh6 7. b4 cxd4 8. cxd4
Nf5 9. Bb2 Bd7 10. g4 {Diagram [#]} Nfe7 ({The other major move is} 10... Nh6 {
.}) 11. Nc3 h5 ({A relatively rare option, although it has been employed by
Kramnik and Korchnoi. More usual is immediate piece-play on the queenside with
} 11... Na5 {, e.g.,} 12. Nd2 Rc8 13. Rc1 h5 14. Rc2 Nc4 {1/2-1/2 (50)
Ivanchuk - Bareev, Dubai 2002.}) 12. Na4 Qd8 13. Nc5 Rb8 14. g5 g6 ({
Solidifying the kingside, but depriving Black of potential counterplay.
Piece-play with} 14... Ng6 {or 14...Nf5 seems better, holding the pawn break
f7-f6 in reserve.}) 15. Rc1 {Diagram [#]} Nf5 $146 ({Apparently a novelty.} 
15... b6 16. Na6 (16. Nxd7 $1 Qxd7 17. Qa4 $16) 16... Rc8 17. Bd3 Nb8 18. Nxb8
Rxc1 19. Qxc1 Qxb8 20. b5 Nf5 21. Ke2 {was the course of Jeff Reeve - Martin
Robichaud, 2006 Alberta Open (drawn in 40 moves).}) 16. Bd3 Nce7 ({Better is} 
16... Be7 {- the text condemns the B to a passive existence for quite some
time.}) 17. b5 Bg7 18. a4 O-O 19. Bc3 (19. Qd2 {followed by castles.}) 19...
Bc8 20. Bb4 Re8 21. O-O Bf8 22. Nb3 b6 23. Qd2 {Diagram [#]} Ng7 ({A
tempo-costly attempt to trade the dark-squared bishops, but really this is a
piece Black should try to retain. The straight-forward} 23... Bb7 {would allow
Black to contest the c-file.}) 24. Bd6 Rb7 25. Qc3 (25. Rc3 {intending Rfc1.})
25... Nef5 26. Bc7 Qd7 (26... Qe7 $142) 27. a5 Bb4 ({Best -} 27... bxa5 28.
Qxa5 {leaves White in control.}) 28. Qc2 (28. Qxb4 $142 Rxc7 29. Rc6 Rxc6 30.
bxc6 {is even stronger.}) 28... Bxa5 29. Nxa5 bxa5 30. Bxa5 Qe7 {Diagram [#]}
31. Qd2 $6 ({White has a space advantage and strong pressure on the queenside,
but this momentray lapse give Black the time necessary to start targeting
White's b-pawn. A plan such as} 31. Qa4 {followed by Ba5-b4-c5 would maintain
the advantage.}) 31... Bd7 32. Bb4 ({editor -} 32. Rc7 $142) 32... Qd8 33. Rc5
Qb8 34. Ra1 Bxb5 35. Bxb5 Rxb5 36. Rxb5 Qxb5 37. Rxa7 Rb8 $36 {Diagram [#]} 38.
Bd6 $2 ({White has managed to maintain material equality at the expense of
Black's pieces getting active, but the text is far too optimistic and only
serves to deprive White's king of much-needed defenders.} 38. Bc3 {was called
for, followed by major grovelling.}) 38... Qb1+ 39. Kg2 ({White is lost -} 39.
Ne1 Rb2 {or 39.Qe1 Nh4.}) 39... Rb3 (39... Qe4 {is stronger but the text is
quite sufficient.}) 40. Qf4 Qd1 41. Ra8+ Kh7 42. Nd2 Rd3 43. Nf1 Rxd4 44. Ne3
Nxe3+ 0-1

[Event "BC ch 98th"]
[Site "Vancouver"]
[Date "2013.10.11"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Cao, Jason"]
[Black "Pechisker, Alfred"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2309"]
[BlackElo "2285"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "94"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 Qc7 {Diagram [#]} 7.
f3 ({Here's an unusal version of the Nb5 sac:} 7. Qd2 e6 8. f3 h5 $5 9. O-O-O
Nbd7 10. Kb1 Be7 (10... b5 $5) 11. Be2 Rb8 12. Ndb5 $5 {White gets two pawns
for the N and shuts the Rh8 out for a while.} axb5 13. Nxb5 Qc6 14. Na7 Qc7 $8
15. Nb5 Qc6 16. Nxd6+ Kf8 (16... Bxd6 17. Qxd6 Qxd6 18. Rxd6 $13) 17. Bb5 Qc7
18. c4 $13 {1/2-1/2 (29) Hracek,Z (2615)-Jaracz,P (2548) Czechia, 2013.}) 7...
b5 8. Qd2 Bb7 9. a3 Nc6 10. g4 (10. Nxc6 Bxc6 11. Nd5 Nxd5 12. exd5 Bd7 (12...
Bb7 $143 13. a4 $1) 13. Be2 {Black will have to take hanging pawns to finish
developing.} (13. c4 $5)) 10... e6 11. g5 Nd7 12. Nxc6 Bxc6 13. O-O-O Be7 14.
h4 Qa5 $6 {Diagram [#] I think Black was hoping to exchange Qs and play the
endgame against his young opponent.  ...b4 isn't really a threat, since White
has Nc3-a2, pinning the Pb4, and Black might have to retreat the Q to get out
of the standard Nc3-d5xe7check trick after Kb1.} 15. Bd4 $5 e5 $5 ({Computers
prefer} 15... O-O {the Pa3 gives Black a lever, but I think White's pawns get
there first.} 16. Kb1 {(White's threat of Nd5 makes ...Qa5 look like a wasted
tempo)} (16. h5 b4 $132 17. axb4 (17. Na2 $2 Bxg5) 17... Qxb4 18. Rg1) 16...
Qc7 17. h5 Ne5 (17... Rab8 18. g6 $1 {Tal-style} h6 $8 (18... hxg6 $2 19. h6 $1
$18) 19. gxf7+ Rxf7 20. Bh3 $36) 18. Rh3 $5 {White's probably bettter, but
it's still a typically unbalanced Sicilian.}) 16. Be3 Rb8 17. Nd5 {Not bad,
but it feels like this lets Black off too easily for leaving his K in the
center. One slight improvement might be Rh2, to double Rs on the d-file after .
..Qxd2.} (17. Kb1 Nb6 (17... b4 $140 $2 18. Na2 $1 $18)) 17... Qxd2+ 18. Rxd2
Bxd5 19. Rxd5 Nb6 20. Rd1 Kd7 21. Rh2 Nc4 {Diagram [#]} 22. Bxc4 {In principle
White ought to keep the B pair: the N isn't going anywhere, and one of the
good things about Bs is that it's usually possible to force off a N whenever
you want -- ideally after inducing some concessions.  But keeping the B-pair
takes time, and the question is whether the side with the N can generate any
play in the meantime.   In this case White might have been worried about
Black's play after ...h6. But it turns out White can keep control, though it
might not be so easy to see.} (22. Ba7 Rb7 23. Bg1 h6 24. b3 Nb6 25. Rg2 (25.
gxh6 Rxh6 26. a4 $14 {activating the Bs - Houdini}) 25... hxg5 26. hxg5 Rh5 27.
Be3 $14 (27. g6 $5 $14)) 22... bxc4 23. f4 f6 $1 24. f5 (24. fxe5 fxe5 {Black
has the bad B, but I don't see how to take advantange of that.} 25. Rd5 {(/
\Xa5)} Rhf8 26. Rf2 Rxf2 27. Bxf2 Rf8 28. Be1 h6 29. gxh6 gxh6 30. Ra5 Rf4 $15)
24... Rb5 25. gxf6 gxf6 26. Rg2 Rhb8 27. c3 Bf8 28. h5 Kc6 29. a4 {Diagram [#]}
Ra5 $6 {Wins a P, but it's going to take Black a lot of moves to get this R
back into the game.} (29... R5b7 $14) 30. Kc2 $1 Rxa4 $2 (30... d5 $142) 31.
Rg8 $1 $18 Ra2 {Diagram [#]} (31... Kc7 32. h6 $18 {/\Rh8xh7}) 32. Rb1 $2 {
Overlooking Black's next move.} (32. Bc1 $142 $1 $18 {Defends the Pb2 and
creates two threats:    1) Kb1 ending Black's activity by kicking away the Ra2
and so enabling Bh6;  2) if Black brings his K to defend his R or B, then
White has the simple Rh8xh7.}) 32... d5 $1 $11 {Freeing d6 lets Black escape
the back-rank pin; this would have cost Black a pawn if White's R was still on
d1.} 33. Rh8 (33. Bh6 Bd6 $8 $11) (33. h6 dxe4 34. Rh8 a5 35. Rxh7 Ba3 36. Bc1
e3 $15 {is similar to the game.}) 33... dxe4 34. h6 a5 $132 35. Rxh7 a4 (35...
Ba3 $1 {transposing to the previous note.}) 36. Rf7 a3 37. Bc1 $6 {Diagram [#]
Critical Position} (37. h7 $13 Raxb2+ 38. Rxb2 Rxb2+ 39. Kc1 Rh2 40. Rxf8 a2
41. Ra8 Rxh7 42. Rxa2 Rh3 $44) 37... axb2 (37... e3 $1 38. Rxf6+ Kd5 $17 39.
Bxe3 Rbxb2+ 40. Rxb2 Rxb2+ 41. Kc1 Rb3 $1 $19 42. Rxf8 a2 43. Ra8 Rb1+ $19 {
White's pawns aren't going anywhere and Back will be up an exchange while his
K walks though on the light squares.}) 38. Rxb2 $2 (38. Be3 $1 $14) 38...
Raxb2+ $2 (38... Rbxb2+ $8 $19 39. Bxb2 Ba3 40. Rxf6+ (40. h7 Rxb2+ 41. Kd1 Rh2
$19) 40... Kb5 $1 (40... Kd5 $2 41. Rb6 $16) 41. Re6 Rxb2+ 42. Kd1 Rh2 43.
Rxe5+ Bc5 $19 {It's a draw only if all the pawns are gone.}) 39. Bxb2 e3 40.
Bc1 Bc5 41. Kd1 Kd5 42. Ke2 Ke4 {Diagram [#]} 43. Rxf6 $2 (43. h7 Ra8 44. Rb7
$13 (44. Rc7 $2 Ra2+ $19 45. Ke1 Rh2 $8 46. Rxc5 $140 Kf3 47. Bxe3 Kxe3 $19))
43... Ra8 $8 $19 44. Rc6 (44. Bxe3) 44... Ra2+ 45. Ke1 Be7 $2 (45... Kf3 $1 46.
Rxc5 Ra1 $19) 46. f6 Bd8 $2 (46... Bf8 $142) 47. f7 $2 (47. Rxc4+ $8 $11 Kf3 (
47... Kd3 48. Rc6 $8 $13) 48. Rh4 $1 Bxf6 49. Rh3+ Kg4 $1 50. Rxe3 $8 (50. Rh1
$2 e4 $19) 50... Rh2 $11) 47... Bh4+ $1 {Black promotes with checks, so it's
mate in four.} 0-1

[Event "BC ch 98th"]
[Site "Vancouver"]
[Date "2013.10.11"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Yoos, John C"]
[Black "Cheng, Jack"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C33"]
[WhiteElo "2381"]
[BlackElo "2266"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "37"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 {Diagram [#]} 3. Bc4 {The King's Bishop Gambit has been
played a few times at high level in just the past three months. If John Shaw's
new near-700 page book on the King's Gambit is correct, we might never see it
at high levels again.} ({The King's Gambit can hardly have been a surprise to
Black, since Yoos had played it aginst him earlier this year in the Keres
Memorial:} 3. Nf3 d6 4. Bc4 g5 5. h4 g4 6. Ng5 Nh6 7. d4 Bg7 (7... f6 8. Bxf4
Nc6 9. O-O $16 Qe7 10. Nc3 Qg7 11. Ne6 Bxe6 12. Bxe6 Ke7 13. Nd5+ $1 Kxe6 14.
Bxh6 Qxh6 15. Qxg4+ $18 {1-0 (24) Morphy,P-Tilghman,B London 1859}) 8. Bxf4 Nc6
9. c3 Qe7 10. O-O Bd7 11. Na3 Na5 (11... f6 12. Qe2 $1 $36) 12. Bd3 (12. e5 $5
dxe5 13. Bxe5 $1 Bxe5 (13... f6 14. Bxc7 $18) 14. Bxf7+ $16) 12... f6 13. Qd2
Ng8 14. Rae1 O-O-O 15. e5 $1 $18 {1-0 (38) Yoos,J (2382)-Cheng,J (2237)
Richmond, 2013.}) 3... d6 ({Here is a taste of Chapter 15 of John Shaw's "The
King's Gambit": "The Refutation of 3.Bc4?!".} 3... Nc6 $1 {"I claim that 3...
Nc6! refutes the Bishop's Gambit. Yes, you read that correctly - refutes. (In
this context I define the term "refutation" as Black being better in all
variations, not winning by force.)" - John Shaw, The King's Gambit (Quality,
2013).  Rather than spill all of his beans, here is the start of some of his
analysis, which makes up a full 34 page chapter.} 4. Nf3 (4. d4 Nf6 5. e5 (5.
Nc3 Bb4 $1 6. Qd3 (6. Nge2 f3 $1 7. gxf3 d5 $1 {Black gets a better structure.}
) 6... O-O 7. Nge2 d5 8. exd5 f3 $1 $146 (8... Nxd5 $143 9. O-O $11 {0-1 (37)
Blackburne,J-Steinitz,W Hastings, 1895.}) 9. Qxf3 (9. gxf3 Nxd5 $15) 9... Bg4
$1 $36 10. Qf4 Bxe2 11. Kxe2 Re8+ $17 {etc.}) 5... d5 6. Bb3 Ne4 7. Bxf4 a5 $1
8. a4 Be6 9. Ne2 (9. Nf3 g5 $1) 9... Qh4+ $1 10. g3 Qh5 11. Nd2 (11. Nbc3 g5 $1
) 11... O-O-O 12. Be3 (12. c3 Bg4 $15) 12... Bg4 13. c3 Nc5 $1 $15 14. Bc2 (14.
dxc5 Nxe5 $17) 14... f6 $1 $36 {with much more analysis.}) 4... g5 5. d4 Bg7 6.
c3 (6. Nc3 d6 (6... g4 $143 7. Bxf4 $1 gxf3 8. Qxf3 d6 9. O-O-O $36) 7. h4 h6
8. hxg5 (8. Ne2 f5 $5 $146) 8... hxg5 9. Rxh8 Bxh8 10. Qd3 (10. Nd5 $5 g4 $1
11. Bxf4 gxf3 12. gxf3 Be6 $1 {with much analysis, concluding that White might
be able to hold an inferior ending.}) 10... Nb4 $1 11. Bxf7+ Kxf7 12. Qc4+ Be6
13. d5 $5 Bd7 $5 (13... Nxc2+ $1 $19) 14. Qxb4 g4 15. Ng1 Qh4+ 16. Kf1 f3 $1
$19 {0-1 (26) Anderssen,A-Neumann,G Berlin, 1865.}) 6... d6 7. O-O h6 8. Qa4 (
8. g3 $6 Bh3 $1) (8. h4 g4 9. Ne1 f3 $1 (9... Qxh4 10. Bxf4 $13 {1/2-1/2 (19)
Nakamura,H (2733)-Ivanchuk,V (2754) Cap d'Agde, 2010.}) 10. gxf3 Qxh4 $15) 8...
Bd7 $1 9. Qb3 Na5 $1 10. Bxf7+ Kf8 11. Qa3 (11. Qd5 $5 Ne7 $1) 11... Kxf7 12.
Qxa5 {Paraphrasing Shaw: Black has the B pair, a lead in development, his K
will be safe on g6, and Black has more than one way to keep an advantage.} Ne7
$5 (12... c5 $143 13. Qa3 Qb6 $6 14. Nbd2 $13 {0-1 (41) Zvjaginsev,V (2642)
-Akopian,V (2678) Rijeka, 2010.}) (12... Kg6 $5)) ({But just in case Shaw's
analysis isn't a Bust to the King's (Bishop) Gambit, these recent GM games
might turn out to be more than just historical footnotes:} 3... d5 4. Bxd5 Nf6
5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Nf3 (6. Bb3 $6 Bxc3 7. bxc3 Nxe4 8. Nf3 O-O 9. O-O Nc6 10. Re1
Bf5 11. Bb2 Na5 $2 (11... Qf6 $1 12. d3 Nxc3 13. Qd2 Ne2+ 14. Rxe2 Qxb2 $15)
12. d3 Nf6 13. Qd2 Qd6 14. Nd4 $2 (14. c4 $142) 14... Bg6 15. Nb5 $4 (15. c4
$142 $14) 15... Qb6+ 16. Nd4 c5 17. Nf3 c4+ $19 {0-1 (23) Naiditsch,A (2724)
-Fridman,D (2602) Bastia FRA (rapid), 2013.}) 6... O-O 7. O-O c6 8. Bc4 b5 9.
Bb3 a5 10. a4 Nbd7 11. axb5 cxb5 12. Nd5 Nxd5 13. Bxd5 Ra6 14. d3 (14. d4 $5
Nf6 15. Ba2 Nxe4 16. Qd3 {Black has no comp for White's central control.})
14... Nf6 15. Ba2 Nh5 16. c3 Bc5+ 17. d4 Ba7 18. Ne5 Qh4 19. Qd3 $18 {1-0 (55)
Shimanov,A (2655)-Kamsky,G (2741) Tromso, 2013.}) 4. d4 Qh4+ 5. Kf1 Be6 6. Qd3
{Diagram [#]} Bxc4 (6... Nd7 $5 7. Nf3 Qf6 {looks comfortable for Black,
though a King's Gambit fan ought to be comfortable with White here too.}) (6...
Nf6 7. Nf3 Qg4 8. Nc3 Be7 9. h3 Qg6 10. Bxf4 O-O 11. Re1 (11. d5 $5) 11... Nh5
12. Bh2 Ng3+ 13. Bxg3 Qxg3 14. Ne2 Qg6 15. Nf4 Qh6 16. g3 $14 {White's center
and Black's oddly-placed Q ought to be worth +/=; (1-0, 28) Ivanchuk,V (2716)
-Nikolic,P (2648) Antalya, 2004.}) 7. Qxc4 Qe7 {The Q clogs Black's
development; maybe he should try 7...c6!?.} 8. Nc3 c6 9. Qe2 {Diagram [#]} g5
$6 {...g5 is usually not a good idea in the King's Gambit unless Black can
answer h4 with ...g4, gaining a tempo on the Nf3. Black may have reasoned that
he was giving back a pawn to break up White's center and finish developing;
but White's Pg5 will make completing his development.} 10. h4 $1 Bg7 11. hxg5
Bxd4 12. Bxf4 Be5 (12... Bxc3 $6 13. bxc3 d5 $140 $2 (13... Nd7 14. Rd1 $16)
14. Qd3 $1 {Black gets murdered on the dark squares.}) 13. Bxe5 dxe5 14. Qg4
Qd7 {Diagram [#]} 15. Qg3 ({Given that White offers a Q exchange in two moves,
he might have done so here with:} 15. Qf5 $1) 15... Qe6 16. Nf3 Nd7 17. Qh3 $5
Qc4+ 18. Kf2 Ne7 $4 19. Qxd7+ 1-0

[Event "BC ch 98th"]
[Site "Vancouver"]
[Date "2013.10.14"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Yoos, John C"]
[Black "Wu, Howard"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B38"]
[WhiteElo "2381"]
[BlackElo "2252"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "7"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8.
Be2 {Diagram [#]} b6 ({The main line continues} 8... d6 9. O-O Nxd4 10. Bxd4
Bd7 11. Qd2 Bc6 12. f3 a5 13. b3 Nd7 14. Be3 Nc5 15. Rab1 Qb6 16. Rfc1 Rfc8 {
Diagram [#] And although White has more space and so a wider choice of moves,
it's not clear how to turn that into something tangible.} 17. Rc2 (17. Kh1 Qb4
18. Qe1 a4 19. a3 $2 (19. Bd2) 19... Qxa3 20. b4 $2 Nb3 21. Rc2 Qxb4 {0-1
Gelfand,B (2738)-Le Quang,L (2693) Astana (blitz), 2012.}) 17... Qd8 (17... h5
18. Bf1 Kh7 19. g3 Qd8 20. Bh3 e6 21. Rd1 $14 {1/2-1/2 (35) Navara,D (2706)
-Svidler,P (2741) Prague 2012}) 18. Kh1 h5 19. a3 Kh7 20. Bf1 Be5 21. Nd5 e6
22. Nc3 Qh4 $13 {0-1 (56) Le Quang,L (2693)-Carlsen,M (2837) Astana (blitz),
2012.}) 9. Nc2 Bb7 10. O-O Rc8 11. Na3 (11. f3 d6 12. Qd2 {1/2-1/2 (12) Munoz
Pantoja,M (2503)-Cuartas,J (2522) Mollet, 2011.}) 11... d6 12. Qd2 Ne5 13. f3
Re8 14. Rfd1 Qc7 15. Rac1 Qb8 16. b3 {Diagram [#]Critical Position  If Black
plays ...e6 should White take the Pd6?} e6 (16... Ba8 $142) 17. Qxd6 $1 {The
game line is best play, and shows that White can and should take the Pe6.} Qxd6
18. Rxd6 Bf8 19. Nab5 {To recapture on d6 with a fork that would regain the
exchange and keep the extra pawn.} (19. Ncb5 {is the wrong N, since it leaves
the one on a3 loose:} a6 20. Rxb6 axb5 21. Nxb5 {White gets "only" three Ps
for the N.}) 19... a6 20. Rxb6 axb5 (20... Bxe4 $2 {not a good desperado,} 21.
Rxa6 Bb7 22. Rd6 $1 $18) 21. Rxb7 bxc4 22. Bd4 $1 {White is spoiled for choice:
} (22. bxc4 $1) (22. b4 $1) 22... Ned7 (22... Nfd7 23. b4 {Black is left
defending a horribly misfired Benko-like ending.}) 23. Bxc4 1-0

[Event "National Capital Open"]
[Site "Ottawa"]
[Date "2013.10.19"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Doubleday, William"]
[Black "Kalra, Agastya"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A57"]
[WhiteElo "2143"]
[BlackElo "2117"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "42"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. Nf3 Bb7 {Diagram [#]} 5. Nfd2 {Black has played
the Benko gambit several times against White, who decided to try somthing
different. Successfully, as Black tells me he was now out of book.  Much more
common are 5.Qc2, 5.Nbd2, and the most common move here: 5.a4, as in this game
from March, with Canadian IM Aman Hambleton as Black:} (5. a4 Qa5+ {
(deflecting the Bc1 away from its ideal diagonal on b2)} 6. Bd2 (6. Nbd2 $6
bxc4) 6... b4 7. Bg5 d6 8. Nbd2 Nbd7 9. g3 $146 g6 10. Bh3 Bg7 11. e4 Qc7 12.
O-O a5 13. Ne1 O-O $11 14. f4 h6 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 $15 16. Nd3 Bd4+ 17. Kh1 Rae8
18. f5 g5 $1 19. Nf3 Bg7 20. Qd2 Nf6 21. Nf2 e6 $1 $36 22. Rae1 (22. fxe6 $142)
22... exd5 $17 {(><Bh3)} 23. exd5 b3 24. Ng4 Ba6 25. Qd3 Rxe1 26. Rxe1 Rb8 27.
Ne3 Qd7 28. Ra1 Rb4 29. Nd2 Rxa4 $17 {0-1 (38) Iotov,V (2578)-Hambleton,A 
(2463) Richardson-UTD Open, 2013,}) 5... bxc4 (5... d6 {leads to a sort of
Benko-non-gambit: Black keeps his a-pawn, but has only one half-open Queenside
file.} 6. e4 g6 7. Nc3 bxc4 8. Bxc4 Bg7 9. O-O O-O {0-1 (22) Feller,S (2570)
-Vuckovic,B (2600) Novi Sad, 2009.}) 6. e4 e6 7. dxe6 fxe6 {This looks like
the natural move to me, turning the game into a kind of Blumenfeld gambit
where White's Nd2 is slowing him down.} ({But Black actually has an excellent
score after the less dyamic-looking:} 7... dxe6 {when Black has an outpost on
d4 and much faster and easier development; for example:} 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Bxc4 Be7
10. O-O O-O $15 11. Be2 Qc7 12. Nc4 Rfd8 13. Qa4 Nd4 14. f3 a5 15. Bd3 Ba6 $17
16. Qd1 $2 Nc6 $1 $19 {Black wins material and White still hasn't developed
his queenside.} 17. Qe2 Rxd3 18. Qxd3 Ne5 {0-1 (33) Fyllingen,R (2405)-Lie,K 
(2516) Oslo, 2006.}) 8. e5 Nd5 9. Nxc4 {Diagram [#]} Be7 $6 (9... Qh4 $5 10.
Na5 (10. Bd3 Nb6 $15 {Xc4 Xg2}) 10... Qe4+ 11. Qe2 Qb4+ 12. Qd2 Qe4+ 13. Qe2
Qb4+ 14. Qd2 Qe4+ {1/2-1/2 Nickoloff,B (2430)-Hartman,B (2360) Toronto, 1992.})
10. Bd3 Nb4 11. Bg5 $2 (11. Qh5+ $142 Kf8 12. Bg6 $1 {a cute move which
defends c2 and keeps the pressure on Black.} Bxg2 $2 (12... N8c6 13. O-O $16)
13. Rg1 Bd5 14. Rg4 $1 $18 Bxc4 15. Bh6 $3 $18 (15. Rf4+ $18 Bf6 16. exf6)
15... hxg6 $140 16. Bxg7+ {#5}) 11... Nxd3+ (11... Bxg5 $1 12. Nd6+ Ke7 13.
Nxb7 Qc7 (13... Nxd3+ $15) 14. Be4 (14. Nd6 N8c6 $19 {Xe5}) 14... Qxe5 $1 $17
15. Nc3 $8 d5 16. a3 N4c6 17. Nxd5+ exd5 18. Qxd5 Qxd5 19. Bxd5 {Is a bit of a
mess: White gets a third pawn for the piece, but neither of them is passed;
computers rate Black as better.}) (11... O-O 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. O-O Qg5 $36 14.
f3 $8 Rf4 $1 $36 {/\...Rd4}) 12. Qxd3 {Diagram [#]} O-O 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. O-O
Qg5 15. Qg3 $11 Qh5 16. Nba3 $6 (16. Na5 $1 {to push the B off the /^a8-h1.})
16... Nc6 {Diagram [#]Critical Position  rate the following moves:  17.Nd6  17.
Nb5  17.Qe3} 17. Qe3 $2 {Answer: of the three moves listed, only Nb5 (fighting
for d4) does not lose.} (17. Nd6 $2 Nd4 $19 18. Qe3 Nf3+ $1 (18... Bd5 19. f3
Bxf3 20. gxf3 Rxf3 21. Rxf3 (21. Qe4 Raf8 22. Rad1) 21... Nxf3+ 22. Kg2 Rf8 23.
Rh1 Nh4+ 24. Kg1 Qd1+) 19. gxf3 Qg6+ 20. Kh1 Bxf3+ $19) (17. Nb5 $1 Ba6 $1 (
17... a6 $5) 18. a4 (18. Nbd6 $143 Nd4 19. Kh1 Nf5 20. Nxf5 Rxf5 21. b3 Bxc4
22. bxc4 Rxe5 $17) (18. Ncd6 $143 Bxb5 19. Nxb5 Rab8 $17) 18... Bxb5 19. axb5
Nd4 $15 {Some of White's loose pawns are about to drop off, but there's a lot
more play left.}) 17... Nd4 $8 $19 {Diagram [#]} 18. f3 (18. Rfe1 Rf3 $1 19.
Qd2 (19. Nd6) (19. gxf3 Nxf3+ 20. Kf1 Nxh2+ 21. Kg1 {White has an extra R, but
the light-squares around his K are so weak that Black has lots of ways to win,
including the "quiet"} Rf8 $19) 19... Rxa3 (19... Rh3 $1 $19) 20. bxa3 (20.
Nxa3 Nf3+ 21. gxf3 Qg6+ 22. Kf1 Bxf3 $19) 20... Qg4 (20... Nf3+ $19) 21. Ne3
Nf3+ 22. Kh1 Qf4 $19) (18. f4 {doesn't block the Bb7} Ne2+ 19. Kh1 Qg4 {(Xg2)}
20. Rf2 (20. Qf2 Rxf4 $19) 20... Nxf4 $19) 18... Bxf3 $3 {Best.} ({piling on
with} 18... Rf5 {is also strong.}) 19. gxf3 (19. Rf2 Bc6 {Black is up a pawn
and a huge initiative.}) (19. Rxf3 Rxf3 20. gxf3 Nxf3+ 21. Kf2 Rf8 $19 {
White's Na3 and Ra1 are too far away to even be called "spectators".}) 19...
Rxf3 20. Qe4 (20. Qe1 Raf8 $19) 20... Raf8 $1 21. Ne3 Ne2+ $1 (21... Ne2+ 22.
Kg2 (22. Kh1 Ng3+ {wins the Qe4.}) 22... Qh3+ 23. Kh1 Rxf1+ 24. Rxf1 Rxf1+ 25.
Nxf1 Qxf1#) 0-1

[Event "National Capital Open"]
[Site "Ottawa"]
[Date "2013.10.20"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Keller, Ben"]
[Black "Barlow-Wilkes, Curtis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D47"]
[WhiteElo "1639"]
[BlackElo "1814"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 c6 4. c4 e6 5. Nc3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 b5 {
Diagram [#]} 8. Bb3 ({Mainline:} 8. Bd3 Bb7 (8... Bd6 9. O-O O-O {Aronian,L 
(2802)-Anand,V (2772) Wijk aan Zee, 2013. - next month.}) 9. O-O a6 10. e4 c5
11. d5 Qc7 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. Bc2 Bd6 $13 {0-1 (37) Laznicka,V (2683)-Shirov,A 
(2706) Novy Bor, 2012.}) 8... b4 9. Ne2 c5 10. O-O Bb7 (10... Bd6 11. d5 exd5
12. Bxd5 Nxd5 13. Qxd5 Nb6 14. Qh5 (14. Qc6+ Qd7 15. Qxd7+ Bxd7) 14... g6 15.
Qh6 Bf8 16. Qf4 Bg7 $15 {1/2 (41)-1/2 (41) Gulko,B (2532)-Kaidanov,G (2586)
Rockville, 2012.}) 11. Nf4 Bd6 {Diagram [#]} 12. dxc5 $6 {Black's position was
already everything anyone could want in the Meran, but after giving up his
toe-hold in the center White will never be better than slightly worse.} (12.
Ng5 Bxf4 13. exf4 O-O 14. Be3 Qe7 15. Rc1 h6 16. dxc5 Rac8 17. c6 {1/2-1/2 (17)
Sokolov,I (2580)-Hort,V (2580) Dortmund 1989}) 12... Nxc5 13. Bc2 O-O 14. b3
Qe7 15. Bb2 Rfd8 16. Qb1 (16. Qe2 $2 Ba6 $19) 16... e5 $17 17. Ne2 e4 {Diagram
[#]} 18. Bxf6 $1 (18. Nfd4 $2 Bxh2+ $1 $19 19. Kxh2 Ng4+ 20. Kg3 Qg5 21. f4 Qg6
$19) 18... Qxf6 19. Nfd4 Qe5 20. g3 f5 21. a3 bxa3 22. Rxa3 Nd3 23. Ra1 {
Diagram [#]} Nb4 $1 {The Bc2 is burried alive, but it has the Qb1 and Ra1 to
keep it company.} (23... f4 $6 24. exf4 (24. gxf4 $1 {looks awful, but
computers rate it best.}) 24... Qh5 25. Bxd3 exd3 26. Qxd3 Bc5 (26... Qh3 27.
Nc6 $1 {checks allow White to block the diagonal.} Kh8 28. Qb5 Rab8 29. Rxa7
Ba8 30. Rxa8 $1 $18) 27. Qf5 Qxf5 28. Nxf5 Rd2 $44) 24. Rc1 a5 25. Bd1 Nd3 26.
Nc6 Bxc6 27. Rxc6 Bb4 28. Rc2 Ne1 $1 {Diagram [#]} 29. Qb2 $6 (29. Rc6 Qe8 (
29... Nf3+) 30. Rc1 Nf3+) 29... Qxb2 {Good enough, but Black had better.} (
29... Qd6 $142 {Threating ...Qxd1 and keeping White's majors vulnerable to
Black's minors} 30. Nd4 (30. Rcc1 Nd3 $19) (30. Rc4 Nd3 31. Qc2 Be1 $1 {Xf2 - 
an easy-to-overlook attacking move; see: Sokolov-Hansen, post-mortem in August
CCN.}) 30... Nxc2 31. Bxc2 $19) 30. Rxb2 Rac8 31. Rbb1 Rd2 {Diagram [#]
Critical Position  Find White's best defence.} 32. Rc1 $2 ({If White just
oscilates with the K} 32. Kf1 Nd3 {now White's N can't move without losing the
Pf2, and the only moves which don't lose material are Ra1-a4-a1, and pointless
K moves. Black just has to find a winning plan.  Here's one: put the K on b6,
the Bc5, then advance his kingside pawns and break open one file on the
kingside with ...f5-f4 or ...h5-h4.  White will have to do something.}) (32.
Nf4 $2 g5 33. Ne6 Nd3 34. Nxg5 Nxf2 {and in addition to making the second rank
"longer" by dropping the Pf2 White has another weakness on e3.}) (32. Nd4 $1
Nd3 33. Be2 $1 {defends f2 and prevents ...Be1.} Bc3 {More sane, and probably
enough for a draw is to go for the R ending:} 34. Ra4 (34. Rc1 $6 {looks like
a ??, but the pin on the c-file makes it surprisingly hard to refute:} Nxc1 35.
Rxc1 g6 36. Kf1 (36. Bc4+ $2 Rxc4 37. bxc4 Bb2 {Black's pawn will promote, and
White's will not:} 38. c5 Bxc1 39. c6 Ba3 40. c7 Rd1+ $8 41. Kg2 Rc1 $19) 36...
a4 $1 (36... Ra2 $143 37. Ba6 (37. Bc4+ Rxc4 38. bxc4 Ra1 $1 $17) 37... Rc5 38.
Ne6 $13 Rc6 39. Bb7 $11) 37. bxa4 Ra2 38. Kg2 $17 {Preventing the R exchange
after ...Ra1. Black is definitely better, but still has to play well to win; e.
g.} Rxa4 $2 (38... Rc5 $6 39. Ne6 $1) 39. Nb5 $16) 34... Bxd4 (34... g6 $5 {
trying to keep the bind.}) 35. Bxd3 exd3 36. exd4 (36. Rxd4 Kf7 37. Rd5 Ke6 38.
Rxa5 Rcc2 39. Rf1) 36... Rcc2 37. Rf1 Ra2 (37... Re2 38. Rxa5 d2 39. Raa1 $8 g5
(39... f4 $5 40. Kg2 $2 (40. gxf4) 40... Re3 $3 41. gxf4 (41. fxe3 $4 d1=Q+ $19
) 41... Rxb3) 40. Rfd1 f4 41. gxf4 gxf4 42. Kg2 Re4 43. Rab1 $11) 38. Rxa2 Rxa2
39. Rd1 Ra3 40. Rxd3 a4 $36 41. Re3 axb3 (41... Rxb3 42. Re7 {draws.}) 42. Kg2
Kf7 43. Re5 g6 44. h4 b2 45. Rb5 Ra2 46. Kf3 {looks like a draw too.}) 32...
Rxc1 33. Rxc1 Nd3 {Black wins the R or the B.} (33... Nd3 34. Ra1 Nb2) 0-1

[Event "National Capital Open"]
[Site "Ottawa"]
[Date "2013.10.20"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Sambuev, Bator"]
[Black "Gelblum, Robert"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E14"]
[WhiteElo "2666"]
[BlackElo "2230"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. e3 b6 4. Bd3 Bb7 5. O-O Be7 {5...c5 - see see
Sambuev-Hamilton, CCN 2013.09.} 6. c4 O-O 7. Nc3 d5 8. b3 c5 9. Bb2 Nc6 {
Diagram [#]A good position to know, since it can arise from a lot of different
move orders. Although it's nearly symmetrical, there's a lot of tension in the
center: any of the four pawn captures will produce a different type of middle
game, so it's strategically rich. Also, since White has two Bs pointing at
Black's K, there are some important sacrificial lines.} 10. Rc1 (10. Qe2 cxd4
11. exd4 dxc4 ({or} 11... Rc8 {possibly transposing into the 10...Rc1 line.})
12. bxc4 Nb4 (12... Nxd4 $4 {Loses a piece.} 13. Nxd4 Qxd4 14. Nd5 $1 Qc5 15.
Bxf6 $1 Bxf6 (15... gxf6 16. Qg4+ Kh8 17. Qh4 $18) 16. Qe4 $18) 13. Bb1 Bxf3 {
Diagram [#] Critical Position  What happens after 14.Qxf3 Qxd4 15.a3?} 14. gxf3
{is like the main game, only worse with the rook stuck on a1.  Black has
several options. Perhaps safest is 14...Re8, eliminating the Bxh7+ sac as seen
in the Grigorian-Karpov game, and preparing to relocate the B to g7.} (14. Qxf3
$2 Qxd4 15. a3 Na6 16. Qb7 {forking two undefended pieces looks like it wins
for White, but after} Bd6 $1 {Black saves the pieces with a much better game,
since} 17. Qxa6 (17. Rd1 Bxh2+ $8 $19) 17... Bxh2+ 18. Kxh2 Qh4+ 19. Kg1 Ng4 {
gives Black a winning attack:} 20. Rc1 Qxf2+ 21. Kh1 Qh4+ 22. Kg1 Qh2+ 23. Kf1
Qh1+ 24. Ke2 Qxg2+ 25. Kd3 Rad8+ 26. Nd5 Qxb2 {0-1 Straeter,T (2310)-Van den
Doel,E (2607) Germany, 2002.}) 14... Rc8 {would transpose the the main game,
with the difference that here White's R is much less active on a1 than c1.} (
14... Qxd4 $6 15. Ne4 Qd8 16. Rd1 Qc7 17. Nxf6+ Bxf6 18. Bxh7+ $1 (18. Bxf6
gxf6 19. Bxh7+ $6 {tempting, but not best} (19. Qe4 $13) 19... Kg7 $1 (19...
Kxh7 $4 20. Qe4+ $18 f5 21. Qh4+ Kg8 22. Qg5+ Kh7 23. Kh1 Rg8 24. Qh4+ Kg7 25.
Rg1+ Kf8 26. Rxg8+ Kxg8 27. Qh6 $18 {and Rg1 wins.}) 20. Rd4 Rh8 $1 21. Rg4+
Kf8 22. Qb2 Rxh7 (22... a5 $1) 23. Qxb4+ Qc5 24. Qd2 Rc8 $17 {With a clear
structural advantage that Karpov managed to turn into a win in  Grigorian,
K-Karpov,A, Moscow, 1976. (0-1, 40)}) 18... Kh8 $8 19. Be4 $40 Bxb2 20. Qxb2
Nc6 21. Qb5 Ne5 $8 22. f4 $16 {Bondarevsky, quoted by Kasparov in MGP v2.}) 15.
Ne4 g6 16. Rd1 Nh5 17. a3 Nc6 $6 18. d5 $1 $36 Na5 19. dxe6 Qc7 $2 20. Rd7 $18
Qxc4 21. Qd1 $18 (21. exf7+ $1) 21... Qxe6 22. Ba2 Nc4 23. Qd4 f5 24. Rxe7 Qxe7
25. Bxc4+ {1-0 Krasenkow,M (2636)-Spoelman,W (2424) Wijk aan Zee, 2008.}) 10...
cxd4 11. exd4 Rc8 {Diagram [#]} 12. Qe2 (12. Re1 Nb4 {with the Pc4 attacked
twice, if White wants to keep the B he has to take it off the /^b1-h7, and so
Black gets control of e4.} (12... Re8 13. cxd5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 Qxd5 15. Be4 Qd6
16. d5 exd5 17. Qxd5 Qxd5 18. Bxd5 $14 {with the kind of small advantage
position I'd expect the stronger technical player to score around 70% as White:
e.g. Spraggett beats O'Donnell at the 1994 Canadian Championship, but Artur
Yusupov gets held to a draw by Ulf Anderson at the 1998 Elista Olympiad.}) 13.
Bf1 Ne4 14. a3 Nxc3 15. Rxc3 Nc6 16. Ne5 {?!, but it was round 24, and Keres
had to win this game, "and this explains his attempt to attack at all costs" -
Smyslov "My Best Games of Chess" (Dover, 1958).} Nxe5 17. Rxe5 Bf6 18. Rh5 g6
$1 19. Rch3 dxc4 $1 (19... gxh5 $5 20. Qxh5 Re8 21. a4 $1 {Bronstein; /\Ba3}
Qd6 22. Qh6 $1 {Kasparov} Bg7 23. Qxh7+ Kf8 24. Rg3 Bf6 25. c5 $1 $40 {(/
\c5-c6, then Ba3)} Qxg3 $1 26. hxg3 bxc5 27. Qh6+ Bg7 28. Qd2 $16) 20. Rxh7 $2
(20. Qg4 $142 c3 21. Bxc3 Rxc3 22. Rxc3 Qxd4 $13) 20... c3 $1 21. Qc1 Qxd4 $1 (
21... cxb2 $2 22. Qh6 $18) 22. Qh6 Rfd8 $1 23. Bc1 Bg7 24. Qg5 Qf6 25. Qg4 c2
26. Be2 Rd4 27. f4 Rd1+ 28. Bxd1 Qd4+ {0-1 Keres,P-Smyslov,V (Zurich, 1953).})
12... Nb4 13. Bb1 dxc4 14. bxc4 Bxf3 {Diagram [#]} 15. gxf3 $1 {Bob and I
reviewed the game right after it was over. We were both surprised that Bator
went in for this -- which shows that neither Bob nor I were familiar with the
classics or had done our homework (see above).   We thought Black should be
fine if he could keep control over f4. That turns out to be correct, but
neither of us saw the best way to do it.} (15. Qxf3 $2 {Clearly White had not
done his homework either, since 10 years earlier this had been shown to be a
bad way to play in  Czebe,A (2491)-Koneru,H (2484) Budapest, 2001.} Rxc4 16. d5
Nbxd5 17. Nxd5 Qxd5 18. Rxc4 Qxc4 $17 {0-1 (41) Bruno,F (2436)-Rozentalis,E 
(2588) Cento, 2011.}) 15... Qd6 (15... Qxd4 {looks dangerous, but according to
Kasparov, after} 16. Ne4 (16. Nd5 {doesn't win like it did in the note to move
10.Qe2, since after} Qc5 $13 17. Bxf6 gxf6 $8 $15 {White doesn't have ...Qg4+})
16... Qd8 17. Rfd1 Qc7 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. Qe4 Rfe8 20. Qxh7+ Kf8 {"Black's
chances are even slightly better." - Kasparov (MGP v2, p.329)}) ({There's a
better way to fight for f4:} 15... Bd6 $1 {Immediately attacks f4 and clears
the /^d8-h4 for the Q; Black wins if he gets in ..Nh5, ...Qh4.} 16. Ne4 (16.
Kh1 Nh5 17. Qe4 g6 $1 $17 (17... f5 $143 $5 18. Qxe6+ Kh8 19. Bxf5 Rc6 $13 {1/
2-1/2 (45) Gretarsson,H (2563)-Salmensuu,O (2458) Reykjavik, 2000.})) 16... Bf4
17. Rcd1 (17. Rc3 Nc6 $15) 17... Nxe4 $1 18. fxe4 $8 (18. Qxe4 $4 Qg5+ 19. Kh1
Qh4 $19) 18... Qh4 19. f3 $8 Rxc4 $1 20. a3 Nc2 $3 (20... Nc6 21. Rf2 Na5 22.
Ba2 Rc6 23. Rg2 Rd6 24. e5 $1 Rd7 25. d5 $1 $13 {1-0 (68) Frog,I (2295)
-Malakhov,V (2510) Elista, 1995.}) 21. Bxc2 Qxh2+ $1 $19) 16. Kh1 Qf4 17. Rg1 {
Diagram [#]} Bd6 (17... g6 {is probably better: Black will almost certainly
have to play it eventually, and keeping the B on e7 defends f6 and won't block
Black's R if he plays to restrain White's center with ...Rfd8.}) 18. Rg2 Bb8 (
18... Nh5 19. Nb5 Bb8 $13 20. Rcg1 (20. Ba3 a6 $1) 20... g6 21. Ba3 Nc6 (21...
a5) 22. Bxf8 Kxf8 $13) 19. Ne4 $14 Nh5 20. Ng3 {Diagram [#]} Qh4 $2 (20... Nf6
$142 $14) 21. Nxh5 Qxh5 22. d5 $1 e5 23. Rcg1 $18 g6 24. Rg5 Qh4 (24... Qh6 25.
Qd2 {(XNb4 XQh6)} Na6 26. Rxg6+ $18) 25. R1g4 $1 {Diagram [#]} Qh3 (25... Qh6
26. f4 $1 exf4 27. Qe7 $8 $18 Rfe8 (27... f6 28. Rxg6+ $18) 28. Qf6 Re1+ (28...
Kf8 29. d6 $18) 29. Rg1 $8 $18) 26. Bf5 $1 {Threatening both the Rc8 and two
R-captures on g6 winning the Qh3 and two pawns for the Rs.} Qh6 27. Bxc8 e4 28.
Rg2 Rxc8 29. fxe4 Bxh2 30. Rh5 $1 {Attacks and defends; very neat.} 1-0

[Event "National Capital Open"]
[Site "Ottawa"]
[Date "2013.10.20"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Djerkovic, Miladin"]
[Black "Sambuev, Bator"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "2265"]
[BlackElo "2666"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2013.10.??"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. e4 d6 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nge2 Nc6 4. d4 g6 5. Be3 Bg7 6. Qd2 Nf6 7. f3 O-O 8.
O-O-O {Diagram [#]} Nd7 (8... d5 9. dxe5 Nxe5 10. Nf4 $1 c6 11. exd5 Qa5 12.
Kb1 Bf5 13. Ne4 $5 (13. Be2 $1 $16) 13... Qxd2 14. Nxf6+ Bxf6 15. Bxd2 Rfd8 16.
Bc3 g5 $6 17. Nh5 $1 Bh8 18. d6 $16 {1-0 (68) Spasov,V (2525)-Benjamin,J (2610)
Moscow, 1994.}) 9. h4 Nb6 10. b3 d5 {Compared with the Spassov-Benjamin game 
(above), White has gained time with h2-h4, but not necessarily benefitted from
b2-b3.     The computer rates this as a serious mistake. Even if it's right
about that, proving it OTB by finding 30 good moves under tournament time
constraints is something hardly anyone in the U2700 section can do.} 11. dxe5
Nxe5 12. Nxd5 Qd6 13. Qb4 $1 {Diagram [#] Forces off the Qs, but there are too
many pieces on to call this an "endgame" or for White's K to feel safe just
yet.} Qxb4 14. Nxb4 a5 15. Nd5 (15. Nd3 $5 {looks risky, because it seems to
accelerate Black's play on the a-file and long diagonal, but White can cope:}
Nxd3+ 16. Rxd3 a4 (16... f5 17. Nc3 $1) 17. Bd4 axb3 18. axb3 Bxd4 19. Rxd4
Ra1+ 20. Kb2 Re1 21. Ng3 {defends the Rh1 and frees the Bf1.}) (15. Bxb6 axb4 (
15... cxb6 $143 16. Nd5 $16) 16. Bc5 Re8 17. Bxb4 Rxa2 18. Kb1 Ra7 19. Bc3 $16
{it's hard to believe Black has enough comp for a pawn.}) 15... Nxd5 16. exd5
a4 17. Bd4 axb3 18. axb3 Rd8 {Diagram [#]} 19. Nf4 (19. Bb2 c6 20. dxc6 Bh6+
21. f4 Rxd1+ 22. Kxd1 Nxc6 23. g3 Bg4 24. Rh2 Nb4 25. Bh3 (25. Kc1 Re8 26. Kd2
Rd8+ $13) 25... Ra2 26. Kc1 Bxh3 27. Rxh3 Bg7 {Black wins the pawn back with a
continuing initiative.}) 19... c6 20. c4 cxd5 21. Nxd5 {Diagram [#]During the
game I saw this position and thought: 'Bator's sac'ed a pawn for active piece
play and a slightly loose opponent's K, and White's Bf1 is junk'; so I thought
Bator would win because almost everyone he plays (including Morozevich in game
1 of the World Cup) collapses in that kind of pressure.    But looking at it
now with the computer evaluation (Houdini 3 +0.21/18 ply in this position; +1.
1 after 10...d5) it's easy to think "White's better. How could he not win this.
..?"    I think that's one of the hazards of letting the silicon do the
analysis for you: it makes the game look much easier than it is. In fact, for
most of this game, White plays the computer's first or second choice of move,
and does so when every other reasonable-looking move loses the advantage or
even loses the game.} Be6 22. Nc7 $1 (22. Ne3 $2 Bh6 $1 $36) (22. Kb2 $4 Bxd5
23. cxd5 Rxd5 24. Be2 (24. f4 Ng4 $19) 24... Rxd4 25. Rxd4 Nc6 $19) 22... Ra2
23. Kb1 Ra3 24. Kb2 Ra5 {Diagram [#] Black's little R mini-invasion has left
the Rd1 undefended, and so created a pin on the Bd4.} 25. b4 $1 (25. Be2 $2
Rxd4 $19 26. Rxd4 Nc6 $19) (25. Nb5 $2 Nc6 $19) 25... Ra7 (25... Nxc4+ 26. Bxc4
Bxd4+ (26... Rxd4 27. Rxd4 Bxd4+ 28. Kb3 Ra1 29. Rxa1 Bxa1 (29... Bxc4+ $2 30.
Kxc4 Bxa1 31. Kc5 $18) 30. Bxe6 fxe6 31. Nxe6 $16) 27. Rxd4 Rxd4 28. Nxe6 Rxc4
29. bxa5 fxe6 {White's structure is a bit better and his K is a little more
active, but that shouldn't be enough to win.}) 26. Nxe6 fxe6 27. Bxa7 Rxd1 28.
Kc2 {White expells the invading R from his backfield.} Re1 29. Bf2 $1 Ra1 30.
Bd4 $1 Ra8 {Diagram [#]Critical Position  White is up a pawn and has the
B-pair against the Canadian Champion, what should he play?} (30... Re1 31. Bc3
Re3 32. Kd2 Nxc4+ 33. Bxc4 Rxc3 34. Bxe6+ Kf8 35. Bd5 $14) 31. Be2 $2 {This
exposes the Rh1 to skewers along the back rank, so Black wins back the pawn
and keeps the initiative.} (31. c5 $142 Nc6 32. Bxg7 Kxg7 33. Kc3 Ra1 (33...
Ra3+ 34. Kb2 (34. Kc4 $143 Ra1 35. b5 Rc1+ $11) 34... Ra4 35. b5 Ne7 (35... Na7
36. Be2 Nxb5 $2 37. Kb3 $18) (35... Nd4 36. Kc3 $1 $18) 36. Bd3 $18) 34. b5 Ne5
35. Kb2 Re1 36. c6 bxc6 37. f4 Nd7 (37... Nc4+ $2 38. Bxc4 Rxh1 39. bxc6 $18)
38. bxc6 Nb6 $1 $14 {White's better, but it will still take several moves to
free the B and R.}) (31. Bxe5 $5 {looks very compliant, but sac'ing a pawn is
a decent way to finish his develpment, and it gets him to a much easier to
play position with chances to play for the win because of his better developed
K. One continuation Black has to avoid is this:} Bxe5 32. Bd3 Ra2+ 33. Kb3 Rb2+
(33... Rxg2 34. c5 Rd2 35. Be4 Rd7 36. Kc4 {White is close to winning.}) 34.
Ka4 Rxg2 35. c5 $16 Rb2 36. Kb5 Bc3 37. Rb1 $18) 31... Ra2+ $1 $15 32. Kd1 (32.
Bb2 $2 Nc6 33. Rb1 Nd4+ $19 {All White's pieces are on exactly the wrong
squares.}) 32... Nc6 $1 33. Bxg7 Kxg7 34. Re1 (34. Ke1 Nd4 $1 (34... Nxb4 35.
Kf2) (34... Ra1+ 35. Bd1 Nxb4) 35. Bf1 (35. Bd1 Rxg2 $17) 35... Kf6 {White is
almost out of moves, and Black threatens to bring his K up or win the Pb4 with
...Nc2+.}) 34... Nxb4 35. f4 $4 (35. Bf1 $142 Kf6 $15) 35... Nc2 {There are no
safe squares for the R on the first rank, so Black wins the exchange.} 0-1

[Event "2013 Battle of Alberta"]
[Site "Red Deer"]
[Date "2013.09.07"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Porper, Edward"]
[Black "Yam, Alex"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A70"]
[WhiteElo "2496"]
[BlackElo "2338"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[EventDate "2013.09.07"]
[EventType "team-match"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. c4 d6 5. Nc3 exd5 6. cxd5 g6 7. h3 Bg7 8. e4
O-O 9. Bd3 b5 {Diagram [#]} 10. O-O {"If White wants to avoid a theoretical
discussion, he could do worse than consider 10.0-0..." - Richard Palliser,
"Chess Developments: The Modern Benoni".} (10. Bxb5 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 Qa5+ 12. Nfd2
Qxb5 13. Nxd6 Qa6 14. N2c4 Nd7 15. O-O Ne5 $1 {"...first seen in 1990, but
only in recent years have its merits become fully apparent. I would even go so
far as to say that it closes down 10.Bxb5 as a serious winning try for White."
- Palliser.} 16. Nxc8 Raxc8 17. Nxe5 Bxe5 $44 {1/2-1/2 (56) Shimanov,A (2655)
-Jones,G (2645) Tromso, 2013.}) (10. Nxb5 {can lead to some wild complications,
definitely not in White's style.} Re8 (10... Nxe4 $6 11. Bxe4 Re8 12. Ng5 $1
Qa5+ 13. Nc3 h6 $5 {is wild, but probably better for White.}) 11. O-O (11. Nd2
Nxd5 12. Nc4 Re6 $1 $13) 11... Nxe4 12. Re1 a6 13. Nc3 $5 Nxc3 14. bxc3 Bxc3
15. Rxe8+ Qxe8 16. Rb1 Nd7 17. Qa4 $44 {1/2-1/2 (55) Navara,D (2710)-Jones,G 
(2632) Caleta, 2013.}) 10... b4 (10... a6 11. a3 {scores well for White.}) 11.
Nb1 c4 12. Bxc4 Nxe4 {Diagram [#] "should be okay for Black" - Palliser.} 13.
Qe1 (13. Re1 Re8 14. a3 Ba6 15. Be2 (15. Nbd2 $142) 15... Qa5 16. Nbd2 Nf6 17.
Bc4 $1 Rxe1+ 18. Qxe1 $11 {1/2-1/2 (28) Karpov,A (2692)-Andres Mendez,M (2373)
Buenos Aires (simul), 2001.}) 13... Re8 14. Qxb4 Na6 15. Qa3 Qb6 16. Nc3 Rb8
17. Be3 Qxb2 18. Qxb2 (18. Qa4 $5) 18... Rxb2 19. Nb5 Nb4 20. Rab1 Rxb1 21.
Rxb1 a5 22. a3 Na6 23. Bf4 Bf8 24. Na7 Nac5 25. Rb8 Bd7 26. Rxe8 Bxe8 27. Nd2 {
Diagram [#]} Nxd2 ({White's Nd2 isn't going anywhere, but Black's Nc3 can
inconvenience White.} 27... Nc3 $142 28. Nc8 Nb7 29. Ba6 $140 $2 Nxd5) 28. Bxd2
a4 29. Bb4 f5 30. Kf1 {Diagram [#]} Be7 $4 (30... g5 $14) 31. Ke2 $2 {Too
focused on the endgame?} (31. Bxc5 dxc5 32. d6+ $18) 31... Kf8 32. Nc8 Bd7 33.
Nxe7 Kxe7 34. h4 {Diagram [#]} Be8 $6 {With pawns on both sides of the board,
BB vs NB is a significant advantage. Add to that the extremely limite scope of
Black's B and White is nearly winning here.} (34... Bc8 $142 {(hoping to
exchange it with ...Ba6)} 35. Ke3 Ba6 36. Kd4 Bxc4 37. Kxc4 Ne4 38. f3 Nf6 39.
Bc3 Nh5 40. Bd2 (40. g4 Ng3 $16) 40... Kd7 41. Kb4 Nf6 $16 42. Kxa4 Nxd5 43.
Kb5 $16 {This might still be winning for White, but it's not as simple as the
game line.}) 35. Ke3 Nd7 36. Kd4 Nb6 37. Be2 Bf7 38. Bf3 Nd7 39. Bd2 Nc5 40.
Kc4 Kd7 41. Bd1 Kc7 42. f3 Kb7 43. Be3 Nb3 {Diagram [#] A B three ranks or
files away from a N dominates it by attacking four of the squares that N can
move to. When the N is on the edge of the board the B attacks every square the
N can move to and that N is often lost. White has that arrangement here: the
Be3 dominates the Nb3.} 44. Bc2 Kc7 45. h5 Kb7 46. h6 Kc7 47. g4 $1 fxg4 48.
fxg4 Kb7 49. Kb4 Be8 50. Bd3 {Diagram [#]Critical Position  Does White have a
threat?} (50. Bxb3 $2 axb3 51. Kxb3 {Black has good drawing chances.}) 50...
Kc7 {"What is the threat?" is the wrong question.   As author Dan Heisman
repeats, the question to ask is "what are all the things my opponent's move
does?".} ({White has two threats: to win the Pa4 and then to win the trapped N.
Black can't stop the first threat, but he can save the N if he makes a run for
it N right now.} 50... Na1 $5 51. Bf2 $1 (51. Bb5 $2 Nc2+ 52. Kc3 Nxe3 53. Bxe8
Nxd5+ $17) (51. Bd4 Nb3 52. Bc3 Nc5) 51... Nb3 52. Bb5 Bxb5 53. Kxb5 Nd2 54.
Kxa4 Ne4 55. Bd4 $8 $18 {preventing Nf6 keeps the horse in the corral.}) 51.
Bb5 $1 $18 Bxb5 52. Kxb5 ({The N is trapped and the only way to save it goes
into a lost pawn ending:} 52. Kxb5 Kd7 53. Kxa4 Nc5+ (53... Na1 54. Bf2 {
dominates the N if it goes to c2, and White wins the Na1 with Kb4-c3-b2.}) 54.
Bxc5 dxc5 55. Kb5 Kd6 56. Kc4 $22) 1-0

[Event "2013 Battle of Alberta"]
[Site "Red Deer"]
[Date "2013.09.07"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Kazmaier, Daniel"]
[Black "Wang, Richard"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D23"]
[WhiteElo "2292"]
[BlackElo "2492"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2013.09.07"]
[EventType "team-match"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Qb3 dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bg4 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7. e4 Bxf3 8.
gxf3 e5 $1 {Diagram [#]  Reccommended in James Vigus's "Play the Slav" 
(Everyman, 2008), which says:   "The exchange ...Bxf3 enabled a dark-square
strategy: White now has less control of the central squares d4 and e5, and
Black will aim at the f4-square with ...Bd6 and ...Qc7, and possibly ...Ne5-g6.
White, of course, has potentially strong play on the half-open g-file, and the
few games that have reached this position have generally featured sharp play
with castling on opposite sides."} 9. Be3 (9. dxe5 $5 Nxe5 10. Qe2 $13 {White
hopes to roll his e and f pawns forward.}) 9... Qc7 10. Bh3 Bd6 11. Bxd7+ Nxd7
12. Rg1 (12. O-O-O b5 $1 $36 {, but:}) (12. d5 {looks like a sensible way to
play against Black's minors, and would make more sense of White's choice to
give up the B-pair with Bxd7.}) 12... exd4 13. Bxd4 {Diagram [#]} Be5 (13...
Nb6 $1 14. Bxb6 (14. Qe2 Bxh2 15. Bxg7 Rg8 16. Rg4 O-O-O {White's K is still
in the center, so Black might be a little better.}) 14... axb6 (14... Qxb6 15.
Rxg7 $36 {Xf7}) 15. Rxg7 $13) (13... Bxh2 14. Bxg7 Bxg1 15. Bxh8 O-O-O 16. Bd4
$11) 14. f4 (14. O-O-O $142) 14... Bxd4 15. Qxd4 Qxf4 16. Qxg7 O-O-O 17. Qg3
Qh6 {Keeping the White K in the center.} 18. Rd1 (18. f4 {trying to castle
long, but Black has} Rhg8 $1 {since two Rs for the Q is a good deal for Black
here, since White has so many loose pawns.}) 18... Rhe8 19. Ke2 f5 20. Qe3 f4
21. Qxa7 Qxh2 22. Rg7 f3+ 23. Kd3 Qh6 {Diagram [#]Whose K is safer?  White's
position looks critical: the Rg7 is hanging and his K is exposed to all sorts
of threats.} 24. Rdg1 $1 {White's play depends on the Rg7+Qa7, and his Kd3 is
safer than it looks.} Qd6+ $1 {A good move in what must have been a very
frustrating position.} ({Black's N has six possible moves, each of which comes
with a discovered check, but none of them are any good: apart from the Kd3 all
White's pieces are on dark squares (so there's no possible N attack) and any
move by the Nd7 will soon require Black to defend b7:} 24... Ne5+ $2 25. Kc2
Qd2+ 26. Kb3 Nd7 27. Rd1 $18) (24... Nc5+ $2 25. Kc2 Qd2+ 26. Kb1 $18) (24...
Nb6+ $6 25. Nd5 $3 (25. Kc2 Rd7 $8 (25... Rd2+ 26. Kb1 $8 $18) 26. R7g5 (26.
Rxd7 Nxd7 27. Rg3 $16) 26... Kc7 $8 27. Qa5 $36) 25... Rd7 $8 26. Rxd7 Nxd7 27.
Qa8+ $1 Nb8 28. Ne7+ Rxe7 $8 (28... Kc7 29. Qa5+ $18) 29. Rg8+ Kd7 30. Qxb8
Qd6+ $1 31. Qxd6+ Kxd6 32. Rf8 $18) 25. Kc2 Re7 26. Rxe7 (26. Rd1 $142 Qxd1+ (
26... Qe5 27. Qa8+ Kc7 28. Rxe7 Qxe7 29. Qa5+ Kb8 30. Qf5 $16 {White will win
the f or h pawn.}) (26... Qe6 $5 27. Rg5 $1 $40 {(Bringing the R to the
queenside creates a lot of tactical threats; e.g. /\...Rc5 then Nd5)}) 27. Nxd1
Rxg7 28. Ne3 $16 {White threatens to bring his N to d6; Black is in serious
trouble.}) 26... Qxe7 27. b4 Ne5 (27... Qxb4 $4 28. Rb1 $18) 28. b5 $36 {
Diagram [#]Critical Position} Qc7 $2 (28... Nd3 $1 {(/\...Nb4)} 29. a3 cxb5 $8
30. Qa8+ Kc7 31. Nd5+ Rxd5 $8 32. Qa5+ Kd7 $8 33. exd5 Qc5+ $1 $13 34. Kxd3
$140 Qxd5+ $11 {Black has a perpetual.}) 29. b6 $8 $18 Qb8 (29... Qd6 30. Rd1
$18 Nd3 31. Qa8+ Kd7 32. Qxd8+ Kxd8 33. Rxd3 $18) 30. Rg7 $1 Nd7 (30... Qxa7
31. bxa7 {and the P promotes}) 31. Rxh7 {(see photos)} Qd6 32. a4 $1 {All
Black can do is move his Q back and forth, so White pries open the a-file.} Rg8
33. a5 $1 (33. Qa8+ {wins too} Qb8 (33... Nb8 34. Qxb7+ Kd8 35. Qc7+ $18) 34.
Qxb8+ Nxb8 35. Rc7+ Kd8 36. Rxb7 Nd7 37. a5 $18) 33... Rg2 34. Rh8+ Nf8 35.
Rxf8+ 1-0

[Event "2013 Battle of Alberta"]
[Site "Red Deer"]
[Date "2013.09.07"]
[Round "2.3"]
[White "Pechenkin, Vladimir"]
[Black "Haessel, Dale"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A05"]
[WhiteElo "2392"]
[BlackElo "2307"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2013.09.07"]
[EventType "team-match"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 O-O 5. Bg2 c5 6. c4 Nc6 7. O-O d5 8. cxd5
Nxd5 9. Bxg7 Kxg7 10. d4 {Diagram [#]} Qb6 (10... cxd4 11. Nxd4 Nxd4 (11...
Ndb4 12. Nxc6 Nxc6 13. Bxc6 $5 bxc6 {and it seems Magnus Carlsen isn't the
only player who thinks he can turn this sort of slighty better pawn structure
into a win against a strong GM:  (1-0, 57) Granda Zuniga,J (2665)-Salgado
Lopez,I (2624) Camarinas, 2013.}) 12. Qxd4+ Nf6 13. Qe5 $32 {White is ahead in
development, but with the possible exception of b7 Black doesn't have any
weaknesses; and in the following game, Black demonstrated an interesting way
to try to catch up:} a5 $5 14. Nc3 Ra6 15. Rfd1 Re6 16. Qf4 (16. Qxe6 $5) (16.
Qb8 $5) 16... Qb6 17. Rac1 Rd8 18. Rxd8 Qxd8 19. Rd1 Qb6 $13 {0-1 (63)
Markowski,T (2625)-Nedilko,V (2413) Warsaw, 2010.}) 11. e4 Nf6 12. d5 Nd4 $146
13. Nxd4 cxd4 14. Na3 {Diagram [#]Critical Position  White is planning to
surround and win the Pd4, what should Black do?} e5 $2 {Black has a difficult
position, and is worse no matter what he does, but other options seem a bit
tougher:} (14... Qb4 $2 15. Nc2 {forks the Q and Pd4.}) (14... Qc5 15. Qc1 $1 (
15. Nc2 $140 Bg4 $1 16. Qd2 (16. f3 $4 d3+ $19) 16... Qc3 $1 17. Qxd4 Qxc2 18.
e5 Nxd5 $14) 15... b6 16. Qb2 $1 e5 17. b4 Qe7 18. f4 $16) (14... e6 $5 15. Rc1
exd5 16. exd5 {Whte's advanced d-pawn will be stronger than Black's.} Rd8 (
16... Nxd5 $4 17. Bxd5 Qa5 18. Qxd4+ $18 {the check saves the hanging pieces.})
17. Nc4 Qc5 18. Nb2 $1 Qb6 (18... Qa3 $5) 19. Na4 Qb4 20. Rc4 Qd6 21. Rxd4 $16)
15. Nc4 $1 Qc7 16. a4 (16. f4 $1 {immediately, is even stronger; e.g.} Nd7 17.
Rc1 Qb8 18. Nxe5 Nxe5 19. Qxd4 $18) 16... Nh5 $2 ({Black has to support the
e5-d4 pawn chain.} 16... Nd7 $142 17. f4 f6 $16 18. fxe5 fxe5 19. Rxf8 Nxf8 $8
$16 {White is clearly better, but this is still a better position than Black
gets in the game.}) 17. f4 $1 $18 {Diagram [#] Both players played the next
moves optimally; unfortunately for Black, he's doing so from a position that's
already losing.} exf4 (17... f6 18. fxe5 fxe5 19. Rxf8 Kxf8 20. Qf3+ Kg7 21.
Rf1 Qe7 (21... Bd7 22. Qf7+ Kh6 23. d6 $18 (23. Bh3 $18)) 22. Nxe5 $18 Qxe5
$140 23. Qf8#) 18. Qxd4+ f6 19. d6 $1 Qd7 20. gxf4 Qg4 21. e5 Be6 22. Ne3 Qh4
23. Rac1 Bxb3 24. Bxb7 Rad8 25. Ng2 fxe5 26. Qxa7 1-0

[Event "2013 Battle of Alberta"]
[Site "Red Deer"]
[Date "2013.09.07"]
[Round "1.8"]
[White "Hughey, Micah"]
[Black "Booker, Brad"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B13"]
[WhiteElo "2118"]
[BlackElo "2192"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2013.09.07"]
[EventType "team-match"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nf3 Be6 7. c5 g6 8. Bb5
Bg7 9. Ne5 Bd7 10. O-O O-O 11. Bf4 Nh5 12. Nxd7 Qxd7 13. Be5 f6 (13... Bxe5 $1
14. dxe5 d4 15. Ne2 (15. Ne4 Qd5 $17) 15... Rad8 $15) 14. Bg3 Nxg3 15. hxg3 f5
{Can Black force through ...e5?} 16. Qd2 Rad8 17. Rad1 e6 18. Rfe1 Qf7 19. Bxc6
bxc6 20. f4 Rb8 21. Ne2 a5 22. Qc3 Rb5 23. Kf1 Rfb8 24. Rd2 Rb4 25. Ng1 h6 26.
Nf3 Kh7 27. Rde2 Qb7 28. Rxe6 Rxb2 29. Re7 Qa6+ 30. Kg1 Rxa2 $4 {Diagram [#]
Critical Position} (30... R2b7 $142) 31. Rxg7+ $1 Kxg7 32. Re7+ $2 {This gives
Black two drawing moves, both of which depend on a deflection tactic shown in
the next note.} (32. Qe3 $8 $18 Qb7 (32... Qa7 33. Qe5+ Kf7 34. Qe6+ Kg7 35.
Ne5 Rbb2 36. Qxg6+ Kf8 37. Qxf5+ Kg8 38. Qe6+ Kg7 39. Ng4 $1 $18 {prevents a
perpetual by defending h2, and keeps White's attack going.}) 33. Qe5+ $8 Kg8 (
33... Kh7 34. Qf6 $18 {/\Re7}) (33... Kf7 34. Qe6+ Kg7 35. Ne5 $18) 34. Qd6 Qb2
$5 {White can't force mate, but can win Black's kingside pawns while saving
all his own, to be down an exchange with a winning position:} 35. Qxg6+ $8 Kh8
36. Qxh6+ Kg8 37. Qe6+ Kh8 (37... Kh7 $2 38. Ng5+ {#3}) 38. Qe5+ {(defending
the Re1 and Pd4)} Kg8 39. Nh4 $18) 32... Kg8 $2 (32... Kf8 $1 $11 33. Qe3 (33.
Qe1 Ra1 $8 34. Qxa1 Kxe7 35. Qe1+ $8 {White can force a draw whichever way the
Black K tries to run.}) 33... Ra1+ 34. Ne1 $8 (34. Kh2 $2 Qf1 35. Kh3 Qh1+ 36.
Nh2 Ra2 $19) 34... Qc8 (34... Rxe1+ 35. Qxe1 Rb1 $11) 35. Qe5 $8 (35. Kh2 $2
Qd8 $8 36. Rh7 Qf6 $1 $19)) (32... Kf6 $1 $11 33. Qe3 Rb1+ $8 34. Ne1 (34. Kh2
$2 Rxg2+ $19) 34... Rxe1+ 35. Qxe1 Ra1 $11) 33. Qe1 $1 $18 (33. Qe3 Rb1+ 34.
Ne1 $8 $18 {Unlike the above variations, Black isn't attacking the Re7, so he
can't bail out with ...Rxe1+ and a ....Ra1 deflection.} (34. Kh2 $4 Rxg2+ $1
$19 {#2}) 34... Qc8 35. Kh2 (35. Re8+ {transposes}) 35... Raa1 (35... Kf8 36.
Qe5 {#3}) 36. Re8+ Qxe8 37. Qxe8+ Kg7 38. g4 (38. Nf3 $4 Rh1#) 38... Rxe1 39.
Qd7+ $18 {Black's K and pawns are so loose that White's Pc5 should beat
Black's Pa5.}) 33... Qc8 34. Qe5 Qf8 35. Qe6+ Kh8 36. Nh4 Qxe7 37. Qxe7 (37.
Nxg6+ $18) 37... Rb1+ 38. Kh2 Raa1 39. Nxg6+ Kg8 40. Qf8+ 1-0

[Event "2013 Battle of Alberta"]
[Site "Red Deer"]
[Date "2013.09.07"]
[Round "2.9"]
[White "Miller, David"]
[Black "Tam, Erik"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C64"]
[WhiteElo "2147"]
[BlackElo "2204"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "36"]
[EventDate "2013.09.07"]
[EventType "team-match"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. Nxe5 {Diagram [#]I suppose a properly
respectable annotator would attach a "?!" to White's last move, and write
something like: 'with his last move White gives up any hope for an advantage'.
But I'm not going to write that because I don't know a way for White to get
more of an advantage through normal moves (4.00, 4.c3) than White gets in this
line.  Ivan Sokolov's "The Ruy Lopez Revisited" (New in Chess, 2009), has 60
pages dedicated to the Classical Variation (3...Bc5), and despite the fact
that it's written from Black's point of view, it  doesn't even mention 4.Nxe5.
FWIW at 20 ply, Houdini rates this position as insignificantly better for
White after either 4...Qe7 or 4...Nxe5.} Qg5 {Developing with tempo and
keeping the pieces on is the most fighting response.} (4... Nxe5 5. d4 c6 6.
Be2 Bd6 (6... Bb4+ $5 7. c3 Bd6) 7. dxe5 Bxe5 8. Nd2 (8. f4 $5 Bc7 9. Nc3 d6 {
with a more space and easier development.}) 8... Bc7 9. Nf3 $11 {0-1 (53)
Magem Badals,J (2528)-Timman,J (2650) Pamplona, 1999.}) 5. Ng4 h5 $5 (5...
Bxf2+ 6. Nxf2 Qxb5 7. Nc3 Qa5 $14) (5... Qg6 6. O-O d6 7. Ne3 Bxe3 8. fxe3 Nf6
9. d3 Bg4 10. Qe1 $16 {1-0 (31) Magem Badals,J (2505)-Carretero Ortiz,F Spain,
1993.}) 6. d4 $2 (6. Bxc6 $142 dxc6 7. d4 Bxg4 (7... Qxg4 8. Qxg4 $8 Bxg4 (8...
Bb4+ 9. c3 $14) 9. dxc5 O-O-O 10. O-O Nf6 11. Nc3 Rhe8 12. f3 Be6 13. Be3 $16 {
1-0 (62) Afanasyeva,A-Zakurina,M EU Girls U10 Championship, Budva, 2013.}) 8.
Bxg5 Bxd1 9. dxc5 (9. Nc3 Bxd4) 9... Bxc2 10. Nc3 $14 {looks like White has a
very good version of the Berlin Endgame.}) 6... Bb4+ $1 7. c3 Qxb5 $15 {
Diagram [#]} 8. cxb4 $2 (8. a4 $8 {White has only one pawn for the piece, but
has a big lead in development and tactical chances against Black's off-side Q:}
Qa6 $1 (8... Qa5 9. Ne3 Bf8 $1 (9... Be7 $2 10. Nd5 $1 $14 Nf6 (10... Bd8 11.
b4 $16) 11. b4 Nxb4 12. Nxe7 Kxe7 13. Ba3 $36) 10. Nd5 Nf6 $8 (10... Kd8 11.
Bf4 d6 12. b4 $18) 11. b4 Nxb4 $8 12. cxb4 Bxb4+ 13. Nxb4 Qxb4+ 14. Qd2 Qxd2+
15. Nxd2 $15 {White's center is some comp, but not enough.}) 9. cxb4 Nxb4 $1 (
9... hxg4 10. b5 $13) 10. Ne5 $8 d6 11. Qb3 (11. Nxf7 Nd3+ $15) 11... dxe5 12.
Qxb4 Ne7 $15) 8... hxg4 $19 {Black is up a piece for a pawn and the rest is
suffering for White. The remaining moves are probably explained by the fact
that nobody likes to resign early in a team event.} 9. Qxg4 Nxd4 10. Nc3 Qd3
11. Bd2 (11. Qxg7 Nc2#) 11... Kf8 12. Qg5 Ne6 13. Qf5 Ne7 14. Qg4 d6 15. h4 Nd4
16. Qf4 Nc2+ 17. Kd1 Nxa1 18. Kc1 {Both FIDE and the CFC allow assissted
suicide.} Qc2# 0-1

[Event "2013 Battle of Alberta"]
[Site "Red Deer"]
[Date "2013.09.07"]
[Round "2.10"]
[White "Shi, Diwen"]
[Black "Ottosen, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C14"]
[WhiteElo "2140"]
[BlackElo "2067"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2013.09.07"]
[EventType "team-match"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. h4 {Diagram [#]The
Alekhine-Chatrad attack.   If you're familiar with only the classic games, you
might be surprised by how many different moves world-class players have tried
here. In addition to the two most common moves (...a6 and ...Bxg5) there are: .
..c5, ...h6, ...00, and the currently hottest ...Nc6.} a6 (6... h6 $5 7. Be3 c5
8. Qg4 g6 (8... Rg8 $5 9. Bxh6 cxd4 10. Nb5 Nxe5 11. Qg3 Nbc6 12. O-O-O) 9.
O-O-O Nc6 10. Nf3 cxd4 11. Bxd4 a6 12. Bd3 Nxd4 13. Qxd4 Nc5 $11 {0-1 (42)
Baghdasaryan,V (2414)-Gleizerov,E (2567) Riga 2013}) ({Quality Chess's
forthcoming "Playing the French" gives this analysis:} 6... c5 $1 7. Bxe7 $1
Kxe7 $1 8. Qg4 (8. dxc5 Nxe5 $1 9. Qe2 $1 Nbc6 10. O-O-O Qa5 $1 11. Kb1 Kf8 12.
f4 Nc4 $1 $132 {[%csl Rb2][%cal Rc4b2]}) 8... Nc6 $1 9. dxc5 Kf8 $1 10. Nf3
Ndxe5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Qg3 Nd7 $1) 7. Qg4 f5 (7... Bxg5 8. hxg5 c5 9. g6 f5
10. Qf4 (10. Qg3 h6 $13 {1-0 (57) Khalifman,A (2515)-Gurevich,M (2540) Moscow,
1987.}) 10... h6 11. Nce2 Nc6 12. Nf3 O-O 13. c3 $14 b5 $2 {(undefends the Nc6)
} 14. Rxh6 $3 gxh6 15. Qxh6 Qe7 16. g7 $1 Qxg7 17. Qxe6+ Kh8 18. Qxc6 Rb8 19.
dxc5 $18 {1-0 (36) Kotainy,J (2413)-Feygin,M (2538) Germany, 2013.}) (7... h5
$5 8. Qg3 g6 $14 9. Nf3 c5 10. dxc5 Nc6 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Bd3 $14 {1-0 (46)
Vorobiov,E (2540)-Sambuev,B (2489) Moscow 2006}) 8. Qg3 (8. Qh5+ $142 $1 g6 9.
Qh6 Bxg5 (9... c5 10. Qg7 $18) (9... Bf8 10. Bxd8 Bxh6 11. Bxc7 $18) 10. hxg5
Qe7 11. Nh3 Qf8 12. Qh4 $1 c5 13. Nf4 $1 $16 Qf7 $2 (13... Qg8 $142) 14. O-O-O
cxd4 15. Ncxd5 $3 $18 exd5 16. e6 Qg8 17. Nxd5 Kd8 18. exd7 (18. Qf4 $142)
18... Qxd5 19. Rxd4 Qxa2 20. Ra4 Qe6 21. Qd4 $4 (21. dxc8=Q+ $18) 21... Qe1+ {
0-1 (21) Fischer,R-Bone,E Houston (simul), 1964.}) 8... c5 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. dxc5
Nxc5 11. Be2 b5 12. a3 Qc7 13. Bf4 {Diagram [#]} Kf8 $2 (13... O-O $1 {Of
course this looks dangerous (and it is), but it's better than leaving burrying
the Rh8.} {White's most direct attempt} 14. Bh6 {fails:} Rf7 (14... Bd8 $1) 15.
O-O-O (15. Ng5 $4 f4 16. Qg4 Nxe5 $19) 15... b4 $1 16. axb4 Ne4 $1 17. Nxe4
fxe4 18. Ng5 Bxg5+ 19. Bxg5 Nxb4 $17) 14. Rd1 Ne4 15. Nxe4 dxe4 16. Ng5 Nd8 (
16... h6 17. Nh3 g5 $2 {looks crazy (and is), but who would find the
refutation?} 18. hxg5 hxg5 19. Rh2 $3 $40 {(defending the R and threatening g5)
} (19. Bxg5 Qxe5) 19... gxf4 $140 20. Nxf4 Rxh2 (20... Rg8 21. Ng6+ Ke8 22. Bh5
$18) 21. Qxh2 $18 {White has a winning attack -- if necessary, he will even
have time for Kd2 then Rh1.}) 17. Rd2 Nf7 18. Bh5 g6 $2 {Diagram [#]Black's
bad dreams about a kingside mating attack are about to come true...} (18...
Nxg5 $142 {White is a bit better on either recapture.}) 19. Nxh7+ $1 $18 Rxh7
20. Qxg6 Rxh5 (20... Rg7 21. Bh6 Nxh6 22. Qe8#) 21. Qxh5 Bb7 22. Qg6 (22. Rh3
$1) 22... Qc6 23. h5 Rd8 24. Bh6+ Nxh6 25. Qxh6+ Kf7 26. Qh7+ Ke8 27. Qg8+ Bf8
28. Qg6+ 1-0

[Event "KW Labour Day Open 2013"]
[Site "Kitchener"]
[Date "2013.09.01"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Sambuev, Bator"]
[Black "Filipovich, David"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B06"]
[WhiteElo "2637"]
[BlackElo "2245"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2013.09.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. d4 g6 2. g3 Bg7 3. Bg2 d6 4. e4 Nd7 5. Ne2 e5 6. O-O Ne7 7. Nbc3 O-O 8. Be3
exd4 9. Bxd4 Ne5 10. h3 {Diagram [#]} a6 (10... N7c6 11. Be3 g5 (11... Nc4 12.
Bc1) 12. f4 Nc4 13. Bc1 gxf4 14. gxf4 Qh4 15. f5 Be5 16. Qd3 Nb6 $13 {and if
Nb5, Black has Nb4-a6; (1-0, 59) Nechepurenko,R (2402)-Papin,V (2440) Satka,
2005.}) 11. f4 c5 12. Bf2 N5c6 13. Qd2 Qc7 (13... b6 $5 14. Rad1 Ra7 15. g4 $14
(15. Qxd6 $140 $4 Rd7 $19)) 14. Rad1 Rd8 {Black has the wrong R on d8.} 15. g4
f5 16. gxf5 gxf5 {Diagram [#]} 17. Nd5 (17. Ng3 $5 {heading for h5 and keeping
more pieces on.}) 17... Nxd5 18. exd5 (18. Qxd5+ Qf7 (18... Kh8 19. Bh4 $1 (19.
exf5 $6 Ne7 $1)) 19. Qxf7+ Kxf7 20. Bh4 Rd7 $14) 18... Ne7 19. Ng3 Bd7 20. Nh5
Bh8 21. Bh4 Kf7 {Strange looking, but it's Black's best.} (21... Be8 22. Nf6+
Bxf6 $8 (22... Kg7 $2 23. Qc3 $18) 23. Bxf6 {I'd expect Black to get mated
here.}) 22. Bxe7 {That surprised me, but looking back at the game, it becomes
clear that White is playing to win the light squares, and this is a way to
trade a light square defender.} Kxe7 23. Rfe1+ Kf8 24. Re6 $1 {Diagram [#]A
really nice positional exchange sac, particularly so because White's offering
to let Black trade off a B which has no active prostpects. But as someone said:
"Bad Bs defend good pawns"...} Be8 ({There's no outright refutation if Black
takes the R, but it's a positional sac that eliminates a light-square defender
and makes it very likely Black will lose the Pf5.} 24... Bxe6 25. dxe6 Ke7 26.
Ng3 $36 (26. Qd5 $143 Rg8 27. Qxf5 (27. Kh2 $2 Qc6 $1 $17) 27... Rae8 28. Qxh7+
Kd8 $13 {Black's pieces are much more active than they were.}) (26. Kh2 $5 Kxe6
$2 27. Qd5+ Ke7 28. Qxf5 $18 {(/\Re1 and Qxh7)}) 26... Rf8 $140 27. Qd5 $16)
25. Ng3 Bg6 26. h4 $1 Qf7 27. Qe2 h6 (27... Bxb2 $2 28. h5 {traps the Bg6.})
28. c3 Re8 $6 29. h5 $1 $18 Bh7 {Diagram [#]} 30. Qf3 $1 (30. Bh3 $1 {Black's
Bs are barely more powerful than pawns. White can triple on the e-file and win
the Pf5 at leisure.}) 30... Rad8 (30... Rxe6 $2 31. dxe6 Qxe6 32. Qxb7 $18 {
Xa8 Xh7}) 31. Rxh6 Bf6 32. Bh3 Qg7 33. Rxh7 {Another light square defender
gone.} Qxh7 34. Bxf5 $18 {And a third light square defender is gone.} Qe7 35.
Be6 {Diagram [#]} Qh7 36. Kh1 Kg7 37. Ne4 Rf8 38. Rg1+ Kh8 39. Rg6 Be5 40. f5 (
40. f5 b5 41. Ng5 Qc7 42. Rh6+ Kg7 43. Rh7+ Kf6 44. Ne4# {Diagram [#]
Completing the theme: all White's mating pieces are attacking from light
squares!}) 1-0

[Event "KW Labour Day Open 2013"]
[Site "Kitchener"]
[Date "2013.09.03"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Sambuev, Bator"]
[Black "Pace, Christopher"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E35"]
[WhiteElo "2637"]
[BlackElo "2126"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2013.09.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. cxd5 exd5 6. e3 c6 7. Qc2 h6 8. Bh4
{Diagram [#]} O-O (8... Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 b6 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. Ne2 Nbd7 12. O-O g5
13. Bg3 Qe7 14. a4 a5 15. Rab1 O-O-O $4 16. c4 $1 $18 h5 17. cxd5 Nxd5 18. Rfc1
{Diagram [#]Critical Position} Nb4 19. Rxb4 axb4 20. Qxc6+ Bxc6 21. Ba6# {just
like in the tactics books.  Southam,Todd - Nock,D Ontario-Ch, 1993.}) 9. Bd3
Re8 10. Nge2 Nbd7 11. a3 Bd6 (11... Be7 12. O-O Nf8 13. b4 Ne4 14. Bxe7 Qxe7
15. Bxe4 dxe4 16. d5 Bd7 $1 17. Nd4 Rac8 18. dxc6 Bxc6 19. Rfc1 a6 $11 {1/2-1/
2 (33) Capablanca,J-Castillo,J Pinar del Rio, 1941.}) 12. g4 $5 g5 13. Bg3 Nf8
14. h3 Kg7 15. Qd2 $5 ({Why not simply} 15. O-O-O $14) 15... Ng6 16. Bxg6 fxg6
17. f3 Bxg3+ 18. Nxg3 Qd6 19. Kf2 Rf8 20. Kg2 $13 {Diagram [#] I don't think
White's creative kingside play has given him an advantage, and maybe ...Bd7
and ...c5 (/\...Bc6) would be good for Black.} Bd7 21. Rae1 Rae8 22. b4 h5 $1 {
[%csl Gh4][%cal Gh5h4,Rh4g3]} 23. Rhf1 hxg4 (23... h4 24. Nge2 Rf7 {there's a
hole on g3 and Black is ready for anything White can do in the center.} (24...
a5 $5)) 24. fxg4 Bxg4 $2 25. hxg4 Nxg4 26. Nd1 (26. e4 $142 $1 $16 dxe4 $140
27. Qxg5 Qxd4 28. Rxf8 Rxf8 29. Ncxe4 $18) 26... Rxf1 27. Nxf1 Rh8 28. Kg1 Rh2
$4 {Diagram [#]Critical Position  Black has just played 28 ...Rh2. What
happens if 29.Nxh2 Qg3+ !?} 29. Nxh2 Qg3+ 30. Kh1 (30. Kh1 Nxh2 {the only try}
31. Qf2 $8 $18 (31. Qxh2 $2 Qxe1+ 32. Qg1 Qe2 $44) (31. Rg1 $4 Qxg1+ $19)) 1-0

[Event "KW Labour Day Open 2013"]
[Site "Kitchener"]
[Date "2013.09.03"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Pace, Christopher"]
[Black "Jung, Hans"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[WhiteElo "2126"]
[BlackElo "2292"]
[Annotator "John Upper"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2013.09.??"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "CAN"]

1. e4 d5 2. Nc3 d4 3. Nce2 e5 4. d3 (4. Ng3 {is the main move, keeping open
the option of developing the Bf1 somewhere useful. White seems to be aiming
for a true reversed King's Indian, which can hardly be bad when you're a full
tempo up.}) 4... Bd6 5. g3 g5 $5 {Diagram [#] Black takes radical steps to
discourage a typical King's Indian (reversed) break with the f-pawn.} 6. Bg2 c5
7. h3 h6 8. Nf3 Be6 9. Nd2 Nc6 10. Nc4 Bc7 11. a4 b6 12. h4 g4 $13 {Diagram [#]
} 13. h5 {I don't undersand this move; it's not as though White can surround
and win the Pg4.} a6 14. Bd2 b5 15. axb5 axb5 16. Rxa8 Qxa8 17. Na3 Qa6 18. f4
gxf3 19. Bxf3 c4 $1 20. O-O c3 $1 21. Bc1 {Diagram [#]} b4 (21... Bd6 $1 {
(threatening ...cxb2)} 22. Nb1 b4 $1 $19 {and although White's Nb1 won't be
playing any more in this game, at least it's already set up for the next one.})
22. Nc4 Bxc4 23. dxc4 Qxc4 24. bxc3 bxc3 25. Bg4 Rh7 26. Kh2 Rg7 27. Ng1 {
Diagram [#]In principle, Black ought to be better since he has a space
advantage, but it's a difficult position to come up with a plan. Neither side
has any weak points which can be atttacked more than they can be defended, and
I don't see any feasible pawn breaks. Maybe Black can lock the kingside with ..
.f6 and swing his R to the a-file!?} Rxg4 {I think this move could fairly be
given any of the usual chess punctuation marks: !!, !, !?, ?!, ?, or ??.    It
looks really strong: Houdini rates it as winning for Black... until it gets up
to 20 ply, when it rates it as =/+. But as far as I can tell (not very far,
even with computers) White just has enough activity to stay afloat.     The
down-side is practical: while both sides have to play really precisely to keep
the balance, White's moves (Q checks and forks) are easier to choose than
Black's.} 28. Qxg4 Qxf1 29. Qxg8+ Ke7 $6 (29... Kd7 $142 30. Qg4+ $1 $13 (30.
Bf4) (30. Bxh6 $2 Nb4 $19) 30... f5 $13) 30. Bxh6 (30. Qc8 $1 Qxc1 31. Qxc7+
Kf8 32. Qxc6 Qxc2+ 33. Kh3 $11 {Black can try to promote, but can't escape
White's checks.}) 30... Qf2+ 31. Kh1 {Diagram [#]Critical Position (hard) 
What follows below is mostly a lot of computer-checked variations with not
many words.   Personally, I prefer words: a concise verbal summary of the
essence of a position is much easier to understand than a mass of variations.
If there is a verbal explanation that adequately conveys the truth about this
complex position, unfortunately, I haven't found it.} Qxc2 $2 {The game shows
why ...Qxc2 loses.} (31... d3 $2 32. Qc8 $8 Bd8 33. Qb7+ $8 (33. Qxc6 $2 d2 $11
) 33... Kd6 34. Bf8+ Be7 (34... Ne7 35. Qd5+ Kc7 36. Qxd3 $18) 35. Bxe7+ Nxe7
36. Qa6+ Kc7 37. Qxd3 (37. Qc4+ $5 {may be an improvement: trying to force the
Black K further away.}) 37... Qd2 38. Ne2 Qxd3 39. cxd3 c2 $16 {White is close
to winning, but it's a N ending with a passed rook pawn.... :(}) (31... Bb6 $1
{keeps the Pf7 defended while making space for the Ke7 to get out of the
crossfire, and threatens ...d3.} 32. Bf8+ Kd7 33. Qg4+ Kd8 (33... Ke8 {this
cute move tries to avoid the tricky endgame lines below, but it doesn't seem
to work:} 34. Qg8 (34. h6 d3 35. Nh3 Qe1+ 36. Kg2 Qe2+ 37. Qxe2 dxe2 $19) 34...
Ne7 $5 35. Bxe7+ Kxe7 36. Qb8 $8 (36. Qg5+ Qf6 $19) 36... Qf6 (36... d3 $2 37.
Qxe5+ $11) 37. Kg2 d3 38. cxd3 Qf2+ 39. Kh3 Bd4 (39... Qf1+ 40. Kg4 $8 $11) (
39... Qxg1 40. Qxe5+ $11) 40. Qc7+ Ke6 (40... Kf8 $4 41. Qd8+ Kg7 42. Qg5+ Kf8
43. h6 $18) 41. Qc6+ $11) (33... Kc7 34. Qf3 $1 d3 35. Qxf2 Bxf2 36. cxd3 c2 {
Diagram [#]} 37. Ne2 $1 (37. Ba3 $2 {White needs the B to support Ph5-h6.} Be3
38. Ne2 Nd4 39. Nc1 Kd7 40. Kg2 Ke6 ({or} 40... Bh6 41. Kf1 Ke6 42. Ke1 Kf6 $19
) 41. Kf1 Bxc1 42. Bxc1 Nb3 $19 {the Black K is inside the square of the P.})
37... Be3 38. h6 $11 Nd4 39. h7 $8 Nxe2 40. Ba3 $8 Bc1 41. h8=Q $8 Bxa3 42.
Qxe5+ $11) 34. Qf3 {Diagram [#]} (34. Qd1 d3 35. Qxd3+ Ke8 36. Nh3 Qe1+ 37. Kg2
Qd2+ $19) 34... Qxf3+ {(simpler than the lines above, possbily because pulling
the N to f3 makes harder for White to fight for c1.)} (34... d3 35. Qxf2 Bxf2
36. cxd3 c2 37. Ne2 (37. Ba3 Be3 $19) (37. Bh6 Nd4 38. Bc1 Ke7 $1 $19 (38...
Bxg3 $2 39. h6 Bh4 40. h7 Bf6 41. Bg5 $3 $11)) 37... Nd4 38. Nc1 Be3 39. h6
Bxc1 40. h7 Bg5 $8 (40... Be3 $4 41. Ba3 $18) 41. h8=Q c1=Q+ $19 42. Kg2 Qc2+
43. Kh3 Qxd3 44. Bh6+ Kd7 45. Bxg5 Qf1+ 46. Kg4 Qf3+ 47. Kh3 Qh1+ $19 {I
wonder if Hans is kicking himself for not seeing this.}) 35. Nxf3 Ke8 36. Ba3 (
36. Bg7 d3 $1 37. cxd3 c2 38. Bh6 Ba5 39. Kg2 Bc3 40. Kf2 Bb2 41. Ke2 c1=Q 42.
Bxc1 Bxc1 $19) 36... d3 37. cxd3 Be3 38. g4 f6 $1 $19) 32. Bf8+ $1 $18 Kd7 33.
Qg4+ $1 Ke8 34. h6 $1 {Diagram [#]} Kxf8 ({If both sides race to promote,
Black gets mated:} 34... d3 35. h7 d2 36. h8=Q Qd1 37. Bc5#) (34... Bd8 {is
tougher, but still inadequate:} 35. Bc5 $1 (35. h7 $2 Bf6 $8 36. Bg7 Bxg7 37.
Qxg7 Qxe4+ 38. Kh2 Qc2+ $8 39. Kh3 Qf5+ 40. Kh4 Kd7 41. h8=Q Ne7 $1 {...Ng6+
will cost White a Q, but after} 42. Nf3 $1 $11 {Black's K is too exposed to
win.}) 35... Qb1 36. Qg8+ $8 Kd7 37. Qxf7+ Kc8 38. Qe6+ Kb7 39. Qd7+ Bc7 40. h7
$8 $18 (40. Bd6 $2 Qxe4+ $11) 40... Qxe4+ 41. Kh2 c2 42. h8=Q c1=Q 43. Qhc8#)
35. h7 d3 36. h8=Q+ {White has faster ways to win, but he gets the job done.}
Ke7 37. Qg5+ Kd7 38. Qf5+ Kd6 39. Qf8+ Ne7 40. Qf6+ Kc5 41. Q8xe7+ Kd4 42. Qb4+
Ke3 43. Qg5+ Kf2 44. Qc5+ 1-0

