East Devon Congress, Open Section, 2007

Four games and no wins is so-so, but the blunder count was reassuringly low, and I had a good attempt at winning a couple of games, including the one against Helbig, who was the strongest player I faced. So, progress of sorts.

{Wretchedly got a bye in the first round. }

Click on [...] to see games list.

[Event "East Devon"]
[Site "Exeter"]
[Date "2007.02.24"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Regis, D."]
[Black "Cordner, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C01"]
[PlyCount "82"]

{Wretchedly got a bye in the first round.  Both players were careless of their
pawns in this game!.} 1. c4 (1. e4 e6 2. d4 (2. d3 d5 3. Nd2 (3. Qe2 dxe4 4.
dxe4 b6 (4... e5 5. Nf3 Nd7 6. Nbd2 c6 7. b3 Qc7 8. Bb2 a5 9. g3 Nh6 10. Bh3 f6
11. a4 Bb4 12. O-O O-O 13. Nc4 Nf7 14. Ne1 Re8 15. Nd3 Bf8 16. Bc3 b6 17. Bd2
Nd6 18. Nxd6 Bxd6 19. Be3 Nf8 20. Bxc8 Raxc8 21. c3 Ne6 22. Rfd1 Rb8 23. b4
axb4 24. Nxb4) 5. Nd2 Ba6 6. Nc4 Nf6 7. Nf3 Nc6 8. c3 Be7 9. e5 Nd7 10. Qe4 Bb7
11. Qg4 g6 12. Bh6 b5 13. Ne3 Ndxe5 14. Nxe5 Nxe5 15. Bxb5+ c6 16. Qe4 Qc7 17.
Be2 f5 18. Qa4 Nf7 19. Bf4 e5 20. Bg3 f4 21. Nd5 Qd6 22. O-O-O fxg3 23. Nf4 Qf6
24. Nd5 Qd6 25. Nf4 Qb8 26. Ne6 Ng5 27. Bc4 Nxe6 28. Bxe6 gxh2 29. Rxh2 Bd6 30.
f4 e4 31. g3 Qc7 32. Qd4 Rf8 33. Qxe4 Qe7 34. Rxh7 Qxh7 35. Rxd6 Qc7 36. Bf7+
Kxf7 37. Qxg6+ {1-0 Morozevich,A-Lputian,S/Corus 2000/The Week in Chess 273})
3... Nf6 4. Ngf3 Nc6 (4... b6 5. g3 Ba6 6. e5 Nfd7 7. Bg2 Be7 8. O-O c5 9. Re1
Nc6 10. Nf1 b5 11. h3 h6 12. h5 Qb6 13. Bf4 Bb7 14. Ne3 O-O-O 15. a4 b4 16. c3
a5 17. c4 d4 18. Nd5 exd5 19. cxd5 Ncxe5 20. Nxe5 Nxe5 21. Bxe5 Bxd5 22. Bxd5
Rxd5 23. Bxg7 Re8 24. Qf3 Rdd8 25. Qxf7 Qc6 26. Rxe7 {1-0 Morozevich,A-Bareev,
E/Intel Qualifier, Moscow RUS 1995}) 5. c3 a5 6. Be2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Re1 e5
9. Bf1 Bg4 (9... dxe4 10. dxe4 Be6 11. Qc2 Nd7 12. Nc4 a4 13. Rd1 f6 14. Ne3
Qe8 15. Nd5 Bd6 16. Be3 Ra5 17. b4 axb3 18. axb3 Rxa1 19. Rxa1 Kh8 20. Rd1 Ne7
21. c4 Nxd5 22. cxd5 Bg4 23. Be2 f5 24. h3 Bxf3 25. Bxf3 f4 26. Bd2 h5 27. Rf1
g5 28. g4 fxg3 29. fxg3) 10. Qc2 dxe4 11. dxe4 Bc5 12. h3 Bh5 13. Rb1 Qe7 14.
Nh3 Rfd8 15. Nf5 Qf8 16. Nc4 Nd7 17. Nce3 Bxe3 18. Bxe3 Nc5 19. b4 axb4 20.
cxb4 Ne6 21. b5 Ncd4) 2... d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. Nf3 (4. Bd3 Nc6 (4... Nf6 5. Bg5
Be7 6. Nf3 Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 8. c3 Ne4 9. Be3 Nd7 10. Qc2 Bxf3 11. gxf3 Ng5 12. Nd2
Ne6 13. Rg1 c6 14. O-O-O Qc7 15. Rg2 O-O-O 16. Rdg1 g6 17. Kb1 Nf6 18. a3 Nh5
19. c4 Nhf4 20. Rg3 Nxd3 21. Qxd3 Bd6 22. R3g2 Nf4 (22... Bf4) 23. Bxf4 Bxf4
24. c5 {Kruse,W-Regis,D/cambs. minor 1979/1/2-1/2 (45)} (24. c5 Rhe8 25. h3 Re6
26. h5 Rde8 27. Rh1 Qe7 28. Rgg1 Re2 (28... Qf6 29. Ka2 Bxd2 30. Qxd2 g5 (30...
Re2 31. Qc3 Rxf2 32. Re1 Rxe1 33. Qxe1 Rxf3) (30... Qxf3 31. hxg6 hxg6 32. Re1
Re2 (32... Kd7 33. Rxe6 Rxe6 34. Re1 Rxe1 35. Qxe1 Qe4) 33. Rxe2 Rxe2 34. Rh8+
Kd7 35. Qg5) 31. Qxg5 Qxd4) 29. Ne4)) 5. Nf3 (5. c3 Bd6 6. Nf3 Nge7 7. O-O Bf5
(7... O-O $1 8. Bxh7+ $2 Kxh7 9. Ng5+ Kg8 10. Qh5 Bf5) 8. Bxf5 Nxf5 9. Re1+
Nfe7 10. Bg5 O-O 11. Bxe7 Nxe7 12. Nbd2 c6 13. Nf1 Nf5 14. Qd3 Qf6 15. Re2 Rae8
16. Rae1 Rxe2 17. Rxe2 h5 18. Ne3 Nh3 19. Nxh3 Qxh3 20. Nf1 Qg5 {1/2-1/2
Littlejohns,D-Regis,D/Devon vs. Somerset 2004}) 5... Bd6 6. Bg5 f6 7. Bh3 Qe7+
8. Be2 Nh6 9. Nc3 Be6 10. Bg3 Bxg3 11. hxg3 O-O-O 12. Qd2 Nf5 13. O-O-O g5 14.
Bb5 Qd6 15. g4 Nfe7 16. Nh2 h5 17. gxh5 Rxh5 18. Nf3 Rdh8 19. Rxh5 Rxh5 20. Re1
g4 (20... Bg4) 21. Ng1 Nf5 22. Nge2 Bf7 23. Bxc6 Qxc6 24. Nf4 Rh2 25. Qd3 Qd7
26. Nd1 Nh3 (26... Nd6) 27. Qg3 Nxg2 28. Nxg2 Rh3 29. Qf4 {1-0 Hutchings,
P-Regis,D/East Devon 2005}) 4... Bg4 (4... Nc6 5. Bb5 Bd6 6. c4 dxc4 7. d5 a6
8. Ba4 b5 9. dxc6 bxa4 10. O-O Ne7 11. Qxa4 O-O 12. Qxc4 Be6 13. Qc2 Bf5 14.
Qa4 Bd3 15. Re1 Bb5 16. Qc2 Nxc6 17. a3 Qd7 18. Nc3 Bd3 19. Qa4 Rfe8 20. Be3
Ne5 21. Qxd7 Nxd7 22. Rad1 Bg6 23. Nd5 Ne5 24. Nxe5 {Kasparov,G-Bareev,E/Paris
1991/1-0 (46)}) (4... Nf6 5. Bd3 c5 (5... Be7 6. h3 O-O 7. O-O Re8 8. Re1 Bf8
9. Bg5 Rxe1+ 10. Qxe1 Qe8 11. Nc3 Qxe1+ 12. Rxe1 Be6 13. Bxf6 gxf6 14. Ne2 Bd6
15. Ng3 Bxg3 16. fxg3 Nc6 17. c3 Ne7 18. g4 h6 19. Kf2 Nc8 20. Nd2 Nd6 21. Nf1
f5 22. gxf5 Nxf5 23. Bxf5 Bxf5 24. Re5 Be6 25. Ng3 {Kasparov,G-Rubinetti,J/
Buenos Aires 1992/1/2-1/2 (47)}) (5... Bg4 6. O-O Be7 7. Bg5 Nbd7 8. Re1 O-O 9.
Nbd2 Re8 10. c3 c6 11. Qc2 Bxf3 12. Nxf3 g6 13. c4 dxc4 14. Bxc4 Nb6 15. Bb3
Nfd5 16. Bh6 a5 17. a3 a4 18. Ba2 Nc7 19. Re4 Nbd5 20. Rae1 Bf6 21. h3 Rxe4 22.
Rxe4 Ne6 23. h5 Ng7 24. hxg6 hxg6 25. Bd2 Nf5 26. Rg4 Bg7 27. Bc3 Qd7 28. Ne5
Qe6 29. Re4 Nd6 30. Re2 {1/2-1/2 Kasparov,G-Panno,O/Buenos Aires 1992}) 6. O-O
c4 7. Re1+ Be7 8. Bf1 O-O 9. Bg5 Bg4 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Qxf3 Nc6 12. c3 Qd7 13.
Nd2 Rae8 14. b3 b5 15. bxc4 bxc4 16. Rab1 Bd8 17. h3 Rxe1 18. Rxe1 Re8 19. Rb1
h6 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. g3 Ne7 22. Qd1 g5 23. hxg5 hxg5 24. Bg2 {Kasparov,
G-Kortschnoj,V/Tilburg 1991/1-0 (45)}) (4... Bd6 5. c4 c6 6. Nc3 Ne7 7. Bd3 O-O
(7... dxc4 8. Bxc4 O-O 9. h3 (9. O-O Nd7 10. Re1 Nb6 11. Bb3 Bf5 12. Bg5 Kh8
13. Nh3 f6 14. Bd2 Qd7 15. Nxf5 Nxf5 16. Be6 {1-0 Plaskett,J-Webster,A/London
1989}) (9. Ng5 h6 10. Nge4 Bf5 11. Be3 Bc7 12. Qb3 Nd7 13. g4 Bxg4 14. Rg1 h5
15. h3 Bf5 16. O-O-O b5 17. Bd3 Be6 18. Qc2 b4 19. Na4 b3 20. axb3 Nd5 21. Ng5
Nb4 22. Nxe6 fxe6 23. Bh7+ Kh8 24. Qg6 Qe7 25. Qxh5 Nf6 26. Qh3 Nfd5 27. Bg5
Bf4+ 28. Kb1 {1-0 Rundqvist Patrick-Lahlum Hans Olav/ 1995}) 9... Nd7 10. O-O
Nb6 11. Bb3 Ned5 (11... Bc7 12. Bg5 Kh8 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Re1 Qd8 15. Ne5 Nd5
16. Nxd5 cxd5 17. Qh5 Be6 18. Bc2 h6 19. Rad1 Rc8 20. Bb1 Kg8 21. Re3 Bxe5 22.
dxe5 Re8 23. Rg3 Kf8 24. f4 Bd7 25. Kh2 Rc5 26. b4 Rc4 27. Rxd5 Qc7 28. Rd6
Rxf4 29. Rxg7 Qxd6 30. Rxf7+ Rxf7 31. exd6 Re6 32. Qc5 b6 33. Qc7 Be8 34. Qb8
Kg7 35. Bc2 Bc6 36. d7 Bxd7 37. Bb3 Rf8 38. Qxa7 Rd6 39. Qc7 Rf3 40. Be6 {1-0
Malisauskas Vidmantas (LTU)-Djurhuus Rune (NOR)/It, Oslo (Norway) 1992}) 12.
Bc2 Bf4 13. Qd3 g6 14. Bxf4 Nxf4 15. Qe3 Nbd5 16. Nxd5 Nxd5 17. Qh6 Qf6 18.
Rae1 Qg7 19. Qh3 Bd7 20. Bb3 Rfe8 21. Re5 Rxe5 22. dxe5 Be6 23. Re1 h6 24. Nd2
Qf8 25. Ne4 Qb4 26. Re3 Kg7 27. Bxd5 cxd5 28. Qf6+ Kg8 29. Nd6 Qb6 30. Rg3 Kh7
31. Nxf7 Rg8 32. Rxg6 {1-0 Bologan,V-Ruzhiale,D/URS-chTJ 1989}) (7... Bg4 8.
O-O h6 9. h3 Bh5 10. Re1 O-O 11. Qe2 dxc4 12. Bxc4 Nd5 13. Nxd5 cxd5 14. Bxd5
Bh2+ 15. Kxh2 Qxd5 16. Qe4 Bxf3 17. gxf3 Qd7 18. Rg1 f5 19. Qh3 Kh7 20. Bf4 Nc6
21. Rad1 Qf7 22. d5 Ne7 23. Bd6 Rfe8 24. Bxe7 Rxe7 25. Rd2 Rd7 26. Qc4 Rad8 27.
Rgd1 Rd6 28. b3 Qh5 29. Qf4 Qf7 30. Qe5 R8d7 31. f4 Qh5 32. Rd3 Qf7 33. Rg3 Qf6
34. Qxf6 Rxf6 35. Re3 Rfd6 36. Re5 Kg6 37. Kg3 Kf6 38. h3 g6 39. Kf3 Rc7 40.
Rde1 Rcd7 41. Re6+ Rxe6 42. Rxe6+ Kf7 43. Re5 Kf6 44. Ke3 Rd6 45. Kd4 Ra6 46.
Re2 Rd6 47. Kc5 Rd8 48. d6 Rd7 49. Kd5 Kf7 50. Rc2 Ke8 51. Rc8+ {1-0 Mahdy,
K-Schmid,M/Zurich 1991}) (7... h6 8. O-O (8. h3 Be6 9. c5 Bc7 10. b4 a6 11. Bd2
Nd7 12. Qe2 Qb8 13. a4 Bf4 14. Rb1 Bxd2+ 15. Qxd2 O-O 16. O-O Bf5 17. b5 Bxd3
18. Qxd3 Qc7 19. Rfe1 Ng6 20. Qf5 axb5 21. axb5 Ra3 22. Re3 Rfa8 23. bxc6 bxc6
24. Rbe1 Nf6 25. Ne5 Ne7 26. Qf3 Ra1 27. g4 Rxe1+) 8... Nd7 9. cxd5 cxd5 10.
Qb3 Nf6 11. Bb5+ Bd7 12. Ne5 Bc6 13. Re1 O-O 14. Bd3 Qa5 15. Bf4 Qb4 16. Qd1
Be8 17. Qf3 Qxd4 18. Rad1 Qb6 19. Bxh6 Bxe5 20. Rxe5 Ng6 21. Bxg6 fxg6 22. Be3
Qxb2 23. Bd4 Qc2 24. Re2 Qf5 25. Qxf5 gxf5 26. Bxf6 Rxf6 27. Nxd5 Rf7 28. Re5
Ba4 29. Rd4 Re8 30. f4 Bc6 31. Rxe8+ Bxe8 32. Ne3 Bc6 33. Rd8+ Kh7 34. Kf2 {1/
2-1/2 Varga Zalan (HUN)-Szelenyi Norbert (HUN)/It (open), Harkany (Hungary)
1993}) 8. O-O (8. Bxh7+ $5 {(no-one else had the courage to play this either!)}
Kxh7 9. Ng5+ Kg6 {I analysed everything here except...} 10. h3 (10. Qf3) (10.
Qd3+) 10... Bf5 11. Qf3 Re8 (11... Qe8 12. h5+ Kf6 13. g4 Rh8 14. cxd5 cxd5 15.
Kf1) 12. g4 Qa5 13. h5+ Kf6 14. O-O g6 15. gxf5 Nxf5 16. h6 Rh8 17. cxd5 Ke7) (
8. c5 Bc7 9. O-O Bf5 10. Re1 (10. Bg5 f6 11. Bh3 Nd7 12. Bg3 Re8 13. Nh3 Bxd3
14. Qxd3 Nf8 15. Rae1 Qd7 16. Bxc7 Qxc7 {1/2-1/2 Nadyrhanov S. (UZB)-Vakhidov
Tahir (UZB)/Ch Uzbekistan, Tashkent (Uzbek 1993}) 10... Bxd3 11. Qxd3 Ng6 12.
g3 Nd7 13. Bg5 f6 14. Bd2 Re8 15. b4 a6 16. a4 b5 17. cxb6 Nxb6 18. b5 axb5 19.
axb5 Rxe1+ 20. Rxe1 Qd7 21. bxc6 Qxc6 22. Qb5 Qxb5 23. Nxb5 Bb8 24. Bb4 Kf7 25.
Nc3 Nf8 26. Re7+ Kg8 27. Re8 Ba7) (8. h3 Bf5 9. Bxf5 Nxf5 10. cxd5 Re8+ 11. Kf1
cxd5 12. Nxd5 Nc6 13. g4 Bf8 14. Nc3 Nfxd4 15. Be3 Nxf3 16. Qxf3 Ne5 17. Qxb7
Nc4 18. Bf4 Qf6 19. Bg3 Bd6 20. Bxd6 Qxd6 21. Rd1 Qg6 22. Kg2 h5 23. Rd4 Rab8
24. Qd5 Nxb2 25. Qxh5 Qc2 26. Nd5 Nc4 27. Qg5 Re5) 8... Nd7 (8... h6 9. Qe2 (9.
h3 Be6 10. c5 Bc7 11. Qc2 Qc8 12. Re1 Re8 13. Bd2 Nd7 14. Re2 Nf8 15. Rae1 Neg6
16. Qc1 Rd8 17. Qc2 Bxh3 18. g3 Qg4 19. Nh2 Qxd4 20. Bf5 Bxf5 21. Qxf5 Qxc5 22.
Ng4 Bxg3 23. Ne4 Nh3 24. Nxh6+ Kh8 25. Nxf7+ Kg8 26. Nh6+ Kh8 27. Qf7 Nf3+ 28.
Kh1 gxh6 29. Nxc5 Nxe1 30. Re7 Be5 31. Rxe5 {1-0 Kengis E (LAT)-Rohde M A (USA)
/It (play-off,, Tilburg 1992}) (9. Qb3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Nd7 11. Ne4 Nb6 12. Bd3
Be6 13. Qc2 Nbd5 14. a3 b6 15. Ne5 Rc8 16. Re1 Bb8 17. Ng3 c5 18. Bxh6 cxd4 19.
Qd2 Ne3 20. Bxe3 Bxe5 21. Bg5 f6 22. Qe2 Bf7 23. f4 Bg6 24. fxe5 fxg5 25. Rad1
Qc7 26. Bxg6 Nxg6 27. Qe4 Qc2 28. e6 Qxe4) (9. Re1 Nd7 10. Ne5 dxc4 11. Bxc4
Nxe5 12. dxe5 Bc7 13. Qe2 Be6 14. Bf4 Qd4 {1/2-1/2 Thesing Matthias (GER)
-Kleeschaetzky Rainer (GE/It (open), Berlin (Germany) 1993}) 9... dxc4 10. Bxc4
Bf5 11. Bd3 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 Nd7 13. Be3 Nf6 14. Rad1 Ned5 15. a3 a5 16. Ne5 Qb6
17. Nxd5 cxd5 18. Rd2 Rfc8 19. Qf5 Qd8 20. Re1 Rc7 21. Rd3 Qc8 22. Qf3 Ne4 23.
Rb3 Qe6 24. Rb5 Ra6 25. Rd1 Nf6 26. Bf4 a4 27. h3 Qe8 28. Qd3 Qc8 29. Ng6 fxg6
30. Bxh6 Qf5 31. Be3 Qxd3 32. Rxd3 Kf7 {0-1 Barahona V-Rechi Perez F/Ol, Dubai
1986}) (8... dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nd7 (9... Bg4 10. h3 (10. Bg5 h6 11. Bh3 Qc7 12. h3
Bf5 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Re1 Qc7 15. Ne5 Nd7 16. Nxf7 Rxf7 17. Bxf7+ Kxf7 18. Qf3
Bh2+ 19. Kh1 Qf4 20. Re3 Nf6 21. g3 Bxg3 22. fxg3 Qxf3+ 23. Rxf3 Bxh3 24. d5
Bd7 25. Ne4 cxd5 26. Nxf6 gxf6 27. Raf1 f5 28. g4 Kf6 29. gxf5 Rg8) 10... Bh5
11. g4 Bg6 12. Ne5 b5 13. Bb3 Bxe5 14. dxe5 Bd3 15. Re1 c5 16. Bg5 c4 17. Nxb5
Nbc6 18. Ba4 Qb8 19. Bxe7 Nxe7 20. b3 Ng6 21. Nd6 Nxe5 22. Nxc4 Bxc4 23. bxc4
Qc7 24. Qd5 Ng6 25. Rad1 Nf4 26. Qf3 g5 27. h3 h6 28. hxg5 hxg5 29. Qc6 Qa5 30.
Qb5 Nh3+ 31. Kg2 Qc3 32. Re3 Nf4+ 33. Kg1 Qg7 34. Qe5 f6 35. Qe4 Rad8 36. c5
Rxd1+ 37. Bxd1 {1-0 Arencibia Walter (CUB)-Hergott Deen (CAN)/Memorial J.
Capablanca (b), Mat 1993}) 10. Bg5 (10. Re1 Nb6 11. Bb3 Nbd5 12. Ne5 Be6 13.
Ne4 Bb4 14. Bd2 Bxd2 15. Qxd2 Nc7 16. Bc2 f6 17. Nf3 Bf7 18. Nh3 Ncd5 19. Nc5
Qc8 20. h3 b6 21. Ne4 Qd7 22. Ng3 Rfe8 23. a3 Rad8 24. Rac1 Nc7 25. Qd3 g6 26.
Ne4 Ned5 27. Nf3 Kg7 28. Ba4 Re6 29. Nc3 Rxe1+ 30. Rxe1 Nxc3 31. Qxc3 Nb5 32.
Bxb5 cxb5 33. Rd1 Bd5 34. Nh2 Rc8 35. Qd2 Bb3 36. Re1 Rc2 37. Qe3 Bf7 38. Ng4
Qd6 39. b4 h5 40. Nh6 Rc7 41. g4 hxg4 42. hxg4 Qd5 43. Nxf7 Rxf7 44. Qe4 Qxe4
45. Rxe4 Rc7 46. Kg2 Kf7 47. Kf3 a5 48. d5 Rd7 49. Re6 Rxd5 50. Rxb6 Rd3+ 51.
Ke4 Rxa3 52. Rb7+ Ke6 53. Rb6+ Kf7 54. Rxb5 Ra4 55. Rxa5 Rxb4+ {1/2-1/2
Vaisser Anatoli (FRA)-Matamoros Franco Carlos S/It (open), Las Palmas (Spain)
1995}) 10... Nb6 (10... h6 11. Bh3 Nb6 12. Bd3 Qc7 13. Bxe7 Bxe7 14. Qe2 Bf6 {
1/2-1/2 Nevednichy Vladislav (ROM)-Istratescu Andrei (R/Memorial V. Ciocaltea,
Buchare 1995}) 11. Bb3 h6 (11... Bg4 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 Qd7 14. Rfe1 Rae8 15.
Ne4 Ned5 16. a3 Be7 17. Nc5 Qc7 18. Bd2 Bf6 19. Re4 Rxe4 20. Qxe4 Nd7 21. Bc2
g6 22. b4 Bg7 23. Re1 N7f6 24. Qe5 Qc8 25. Qd6 Re8 26. Be3 a6 27. Bd3 Bf8 28.
Qg3 Bg7 29. Qd6 Bf8 30. Qg3 Bg7 31. Rc1) 12. Bh3 Qc7 13. Bxe7 Qxe7 14. Re1 Qd8
15. Qd3 a5 16. Ne5 Bxe5 17. Rxe5 Nd7 18. Re3 Nf6 19. Rae1 b5 20. h3 Ra7 21. a4
b4 22. Ne4 Ba6 23. Qc2 Nxe4 24. Rxe4 Rd7 25. Qc5 Bd3 26. Re7 Rxe7 27. Rxe7 Bg6
28. Re5) 9. Ng5 Nf6 10. c5 Bc7 11. Re1 h6 12. Nf3 Bg4 13. h3 Bh5 14. g4 Bg6 15.
Ne5 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Bxe5 (16... Nd7) 17. dxe5 Nh7 (17... Nd7 18. b4 b6 19. Na4)
18. Bf4 b6 19. b4 Ng6 20. Bg3 bxc5 21. bxc5 Qd7 $2 {losing!} (21... Ng5 22. Kh2
Ne6 23. Na4 Qa5 24. Qc2 {with a big plus for Black}) 22. e6 Qc8 23. Bd6 Re8 24.
exf7+ Kxf7 25. Rxe8 Qxe8 26. Nxd5 Kg8 $2 {losing the Rook rather than the
exchange} (26... cxd5 27. Qxd5+ Qe6 (27... Kf6 28. Qf5#) 28. Qxa8 (28. Qb7+ Kf6
29. Qxa8 Ng5 30. Kh2 Qe2 31. Bg3 Ne5 32. Qf8+) 28... Ng5 29. Kh2 Nh3 30. Qxa7+
Kg6 31. Qa6) 27. Nc7 Ne5 28. Qb3+ Qf7 29. Nxa8 Ng5 30. Bxe5 {1-0 Regis,D-Pope,
S/Exeter Club Ch'p 1999}) 5. h3 Bh5 6. Qe2+ Qe7 7. Be3 Nc6 8. Nc3 O-O-O 9. g4
Bg6 10. O-O-O f6 11. a3 Qd7 12. Nd2 f5 13. Nb3 Nf6 14. f3 Bd6 15. Qd2 Rhe8 16.
Bg5 fxg4 17. hxg4 Qf7 18. Nb5 Kb8 19. Nxd6 cxd6 20. Bd3 Bxd3 {Kasparov
Gary-Short Nigel D/It, Tilburg (Netherlands) 1991/1/2-1/2 (58)}) 1... e6 2. e4
d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 (5. Nc3 Be7 (5... Bb4 6. Bd3 (6. Qb3 Nc6 7.
Be3 O-O 8. Nf3 h6 9. Bd3 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Bd6 11. Qc2 Ne7 12. Ne5 Bf5 13. Qb3 Bxe5
14. dxe5 Ng4 15. Rd1 Qc8 16. Bc5 Qe8 17. O-O Nxe5 18. Rfe1 N5g6 19. Nd5 Be6 20.
Nxe7+ Nxe7 21. Bxe6 fxe6 22. Rxe6 Kh8 23. Rxe7 Qh5 24. Bd4 Rg8 25. Rde1 Rad8
26. Qc3 Qg4 27. f4 Rd6 28. h3 Qg6 29. f5 Qg5 30. Rxc7 b5 31. Ree7 Rgd8 32. Rxg7
Qf4 33. Rg4+ Qxd4+ 34. Rxd4 {1-0 Staunton,H-Williams,E/London 1851}) 6... c5 7.
Nge2 Nc6 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. dxc5 Bg4 10. O-O Bxc3 11. bxc3 Nxc3 12. Qc2 Bxe2 13.
Re1 Qd4 14. Bb2 O-O-O 15. Bf5+ Kc7 16. Bxc3 Bd3 17. Qc1 Qc4 18. Re4 Nd4 19.
Qf4+ Kc6 20. Bxd4 Rd5 21. Bxg7 Qxc5 22. Rc1 {1-0 Ashley,M-Shabalov,A/New York
1993}) 6. cxd5 (6. Bd3 O-O 7. Nge2 dxc4 8. Bxc4 Nbd7 9. O-O Nb6 10. Bb3 h6 11.
Re1 Bd6 12. Ng3 Bg4 13. Qd3 Qd7 14. h3 Be6 15. Bc2 Bc4 16. Qf3 Nh7 17. Nf5 Be6
18. Nxd6 Qxd6 19. Bf4 Qxd4 20. Bxc7 Rac8 21. Be5 Qh3 22. Qxb7 Nc4 23. Bg3 Qf6
24. Rad1 Ng5 25. Ne4 Qxb2 26. Bb3 Nxe4 27. Qxe4 Qf6 28. Qd4 Qxd4 29. Rxd4 Na5
30. Bxe6 fxe6 31. Rxe6 Rf7 32. Ra4 Nc6 33. Rc4 Ne7 34. Rxc8+ Nxc8 35. Re8+ Rf8
36. Rxf8+ Kxf8 37. Kf1 Kf7 38. Ke2 Ke6 39. Kd3 Kd5 40. f3 Ne7 41. Bf2 h5 42.
Bxa7 Nc6 43. Bf2 Ne5+ 44. Kc3 Nc6 45. a4 g6 46. Bb6 Ne7 47. Kb4 Nf5 48. Kb5
Nd6+ {1-0 Wolff P-Dzindzichashvili Roman/Wall Street Blitz 2- 1993}) 6... Nxd5
7. Bd3 Nc6 8. Nf3 Bg4 (8... O-O 9. O-O Be6 10. Re1 Re8 11. a3 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bf6
13. Rb1 Rb8 14. Bf4 Qd7 15. h3 a6 16. Ng5 Bxg5 17. Bxg5 b5 18. Qc2 h6 19. Bf4
Ne7 20. Re5 Nd5 21. Bd2 Nf6 22. Rbe1 Qc6 23. Qc1 Bc4 24. Bb1 Rxe5 25. Rxe5 Nd7
26. Rh5 Re8 27. Qc2 Nf8 28. Rh3 {Okhotnik,V-Kononenko,T/19th Open 2004/1-0 (68)
}) 9. O-O O-O 10. h3 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Bh5 12. Rb1 b6 13. Be4 Bg6 14. Bxg6 hxg6 15.
Bf4 Qd7 16. Qd3 Bd6 17. Bd2 Rfe8 18. Rfe1 Qf5 19. Qc4 Na5 20. Qa4 Rxe1+ 21.
Rxe1 Bf4 22. g4 Qf6 23. Re8+ Rxe8 24. Qxe8+ Kh7 25. Bxf4 Qxf4 26. Ne5 Qc1+ 27.
Kg2 Qxc3 28. Qxf7 Qc2 29. Nf3 Nc4 30. Ng5+ Kh6 31. Ne6 {1-0 Okhotnik,V-Valette,
C/Victor Syre Open 2004}) 5... Bb4+ (5... Be7 6. Nc3 O-O {[#]} 7. Be2 (7. Bg5
Be6 8. c5 b6 9. b4 Re8 10. Bxf6 ({He was anxious about ...Ne4 e.g.} 10. Be2 Ne4
11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Nxe4 dxe4 13. Ne5) 10... Bxf6 11. Be2 {[#] Big Think.} a5 12.
a3 $2 (12. cxb6 axb4 13. bxc7 Qxc7 14. Nb1 (14. Nb5 Qb6 15. O-O Bd7) 14... Nc6
15. O-O Qb6) 12... axb4 13. axb4 Rxa1 14. Qxa1 Nc6 15. Nb5 $1 Nxb4 16. Qc3 $1
bxc5 17. Qxc5 Qe7 18. Qxc7 Bd7 19. O-O $1 {[#] I couldn't believe White was
getting away with this.} Bg4 (19... Qxe2 20. Qxd7 Rd8 21. Qb7 Nc2 {with some
greater Black activity but nothing concrete}) (19... Bxb5 20. Qxe7 Rxe7 21.
Bxb5 Rb7 22. Rc1 g6 23. Be2 Ra7) 20. Qxe7 Rxe7 21. Ra1 g6 22. Kf1 Rb7 {1/2-1/2
Horner,R-Regis,D/WECU Congress 1999} (22... Rb7 23. Ra8+ Kg7 24. Nd6 Rb6 25.
Ne8+ Kh6 26. Nxf6 Rxf6 27. Rb8 {=})) (7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Bd3 (8. Bc4 {was what
Black suggested after the game}) 8... Nc6 (8... Nxc3 9. bxc3 c5 10. O-O Nd7 11.
Re1 cxd4 12. cxd4 Nf6 13. Qb3 b6 14. Bc4 Bb7 15. Bg5 Rc8 16. Ne5 Bd5 17. Bxf6
gxf6 18. Bxd5 fxe5 19. dxe5 Rc5 20. Rad1 Qc7 21. Qh3 Rd8 22. Be4 Qxe5 23. Qxh7+
Kf8 24. Qh6+ {1-0 Russek,G-Herrera,M/Mexico 1991}) (8... Be6 9. O-O Nd7 10. a3
Re8 11. Qc2 Nf8 12. Bd2 c6 13. Ne4 Bf5 14. Nc5 Bxd3 15. Qxd3 Qc7 16. b4 Rad8
17. Qb3 Bf6 18. Rfe1 Qc8 19. Rac1 Nc7 20. Rxe8 Rxe8 21. Bg5 Bxg5 22. Nxg5 Nfe6
23. Ngxe6 Nxe6 24. Nxe6 Qxe6 25. Qxe6 fxe6 26. f4 Rd8 27. Rc4 Rf8 28. g3) (8...
Bg4 9. O-O Nc6 (9... c6 10. Bc2 Na6 11. Qd3 g6 12. Bb3 Nac7 13. Ne5 Be6 14. Qf3
Nxc3 15. bxc3 Bxb3 16. axb3 Qd5 17. Qg3 Ne6 18. Bh6 Rfe8 19. f4 Ng7 20. f5 Bd6
21. Bxg7 Kxg7 22. f6+ Kg8 23. Rae1 c5 24. Qh3 cxd4 25. cxd4 Rad8 26. Re3 Bf8
27. Rf4 Qa5 28. h3 Qd2 29. Ref3 Rd5 30. Kh2 Qd1 31. Nxf7 Re1 32. Ne5 Rh1+ 33.
Kg3 Qe1+ 34. Rf2 Qe3+ 35. R4f3 Qxd4 36. f7+ {1-0 Klinger,J-Leuba,D/SWZ-GP 1991}
) 10. h3 Be6 11. Ne4 Bf5 12. Re1 Bg6 13. Bb5 Nb8 14. Nc3 Bf6 15. Ne5 c5 16. Qf3
Nxc3 17. bxc3 Qb6 18. Nxg6 hxg6 19. Rb1 cxd4 20. Bd3 Qc5 21. cxd4 Qa5 22. Qe4
Nc6 23. Rxb7 Rad8 24. Rb5 Rxd4 25. Rxa5 Rxe4 26. Rxe4 Nxa5 27. Be3 Rd8 28. Bb5
Nb7 29. Ra4 Rd1+ 30. Kh2 Nd6 31. Be2 Re1 32. Bd3 Rd1 33. Bc2 Ra1 34. Rxa7 Nc4
35. Bf4 Rf1 36. Bd3 Rxf2 37. Bg3 {1-0 Klinger,J-Landenbergue,C/Zurich 1990}) (
8... Re8 9. O-O Bg4 10. h3 Be6 11. Ne4 Nd7 12. Neg5 Nf8 13. Qc2 h6 14. Bh7+ Kh8
15. Nxe6 Nxe6 16. Ne5 Rf8 17. Qe4 Qd6 18. Bf5 Kg8 19. Re1 Nf6 20. Nxf7 Nxe4 21.
Nxd6 Nxd4 22. Bxe4 Bxd6 23. Be3 Nf5 24. Bxb7 Nxe3 25. Rxe3 Rab8 26. Bd5+ Kh8
27. Re2 Rf5 28. Bb3 Re5 29. Rc2 Rbe8 30. Kf1 Kh7 31. g3 Kg6 32. Rd1 Kf6 33. Rd3
R8e7 34. Rc4 Re2 35. Rf3+ Kg6 36. Bc2+ {1-0 Klinger Josef (AUT)-Moor Rogers 
(SUI)/It (open), Zurich (Switzerland 1993}) 9. O-O h6 10. Re1 Bf6 11. Bb1 Nde7
12. Be3 Nf5 13. d5 Nxe3 14. fxe3 Ne5 15. Be4 Re8 16. Nxe5 Bxe5 17. Bf3 Qd6 18.
g3 Qb6 19. Qb3 Bd7 20. Qxb6 axb6 21. Rac1 Ra5 22. a3 Rc5 23. Ne4 Rxc1 24. Rxc1
Kf8 25. Kf2 Ke7 26. Nc3 Ra8) 7... dxc4 8. Bxc4 Nbd7 9. O-O Nb6 10. Bb3 Bg4 (
10... h6 11. Re1 Bg4 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 c6 (13... Qxd4 14. Rxe7) 14. Bf4 a5
15. a3 a4 16. Bc2 Ra5 {Cheeky, but Black has no follow-up, and is soon facing
direct threats.} 17. Rad1 Bd6 18. Be5 Be7 19. Qd3 {Now White has real
attacking chances.} (19. Qf5) 19... g6 20. Re3 {Also cheeky!} Kh7 21. Rg3 Rg8
22. Qf3 Kg7 23. Rg4 Rf8 24. Qg3 {[#] Black suddenly risks everything on a
flawed Queen sacrifice.  At the time I was relieved and bewildered, but on
reflection, this is much worse for Black than I realised at the time.} (24. Qf5
) 24... Rxe5 (24... Rg8 25. Bc7) (24... Qd7 25. Rxg6+ fxg6 26. Qxg6+ Kh8 27.
Qh7#) (24... Qe8 25. Bxf6+ Bxf6 26. Qc7 Qd8 (26... Ra6 27. Rxg6+ Kh7) 27. Rxg6+
) (24... Rh8 25. Bxg6) 25. dxe5 Qxd1+ 26. Bxd1 Nxg4 27. Qxg4 Rd8 {White now
gives a fine demonstration of poor finishing-off technique.} 28. Ne4 (28. Nxa4
Nxa4 29. Bxa4 Rd2 30. Qc4 Rd5 31. f4) 28... Rd4 29. Qf3 Nc4 {oops} 30. Bxa4 (
30. Bc2) 30... Nxe5 31. Qe3 Rd5 32. Bb3 (32. f4) 32... Rd3 33. Qf4 f6 34. Bc2
Rd4 35. Qe3 c5 36. f4 Nc4 37. Qb3 f5 38. Qxb7 Kf8 39. Nxc5 Rd2 40. Qc8+ Kg7 41.
Ne6+ Kf6 42. Qxc4 {1-0 Regis,D-Evans,D/Exeter Premier 2000}) 11. h3 Bh5 12. Re1
Re8 13. g4 Bg6 14. Ne5 c5 15. Be3 Rc8 16. dxc5 Qxd1 17. Raxd1 Bxc5 18. Bxc5
Rxc5 19. f4 Kf8 20. Re3 h6 21. Rde1 Rd8 22. f5 Bh7 23. Nxf7 Rd2 24. Ne5 Rc8 25.
Nd3 Bg8 26. Nb1 Bxb3 27. Nxd2 Bxa2 28. Nf4 Nbd5 29. Ng6+ Kg8 30. Ra3 Rc2 31.
Rxa2 Rxd2 32. Rxa7 {1-0 Harikrishna,P-Flear,G/Premier 2003}) 6. Nc3 O-O (6...
Ne4 7. Qb3 Qe7 8. Be3 Nc6 9. cxd5 Na5 10. Qc2 Bf5 11. Bd3 O-O 12. O-O Bxc3 13.
bxc3 Bg6 14. Ne5 Nd6 15. Nxg6 fxg6 16. Rae1 Nac4 17. Bf4 Qf7 18. Bxd6 Nxd6 19.
c4 Nf5 20. Bxf5 gxf5 21. Re5 Rad8 22. Rfe1 c6 23. Re7 Rde8 24. d6 Rxe7 25. Rxe7
Qf6 26. c5 {Alekhine A-Schwartz/Montreal 1923/1-0 (38)}) 7. Be2 (7. Bd3 Re8+ 8.
Be3 Nc6 9. O-O h6 10. c5 Bxc3 11. bxc3 Bg4 12. h3 Bh5 13. Rb1 Rb8 14. Re1 Ne4
15. Qc2 Bxf3 16. gxf3 Ng5 17. Kg2 Na5 18. Qd2 Qf6 19. Bxg5 hxg5 20. Rxe8+ Rxe8
21. Rb5 Nc6 22. Rxb7 Nd8 23. Rb8 g6 24. h3 gxh3 25. Qh6 Re1 26. f4 h3+ 27. Kh2
Rd1 28. Bxg6 fxg6 29. Qg5 Kf7 30. Rxd8 Qxg5 31. fxg5 Rd2 32. Rxd5 Rxf2+ 33.
Kxh3 Ke6 34. Re5+ Kd7 35. c6+ Kd6 36. c4 Rf3+ 37. Kg2 Rd3 38. Re4 Rc3 39. d5 {
1-0 Okhotnik,V-Gofshtein,L/Ukraine 1986}) (7. Bg5 Re8+ 8. Be2 Qe7 9. Ne5 Nbd7
10. f4 h6 11. Bh3 g5 12. fxg5 Ne4 13. O-O Nxe5 14. Nxd5 Qd6 15. Rf6 Be6 16.
dxe5 Bc5+ 17. Kh1 Qxe5 18. Rxh6 Bd6 19. Be1 Kg7 20. Bd3 Bxd5 21. cxd5 Qxg5 22.
Rh5 Qg6 23. Qf3 Re7 24. Bh3 f6 25. Bxe4 Rxe4 26. Bxf6+ Kf7 27. Be5+ Ke7 28.
Bxd6+ Kxd6 29. Rf1 Rae8 30. Rf5 Kd7 31. h3 Re2 32. Rf7+ Kd8 33. Rf2 Qb1+ 34.
Kh2 Qxb2 35. Rxe2 Qxe2 36. Qf6+ Kc8 37. Qf5+ Kd8 38. Qd7# {1-0 Spanton,T-Tan,H/
27th Open 2001}) 7... Be6 (7... dxc4 8. Bxc4 (8. O-O Nc6 9. a3 Be7 10. Bxc4 Bg4
11. d5 Ne5 12. Be2 Nxf3+ 13. Bxf3 Bxf3 14. Qxf3 Ne8 15. Bf4 Bd6 16. Rac1 Qd7
17. Rc2 Rc8 18. Rfc1 Bxf4 19. Qxf4 Nf6 20. h3 c6 21. dxc6 Rxc6 22. Rd2 Qe6 23.
Rcd1 Rc4 24. Qf3 Qe7 25. Nd5 Nxd5 26. Rxd5 Re4 27. g3 Re1+ {Guerreiro,R-Cleto,
F/POR-chT 1993/TD 93\10/1-0 (61)}) 8... Bg4 9. Be3 Nbd7 10. h3 Bh5 11. Bb3 c6
12. O-O Nb6 13. Bg5 Be7 14. Re1 Re8 15. Qd3 Bg6 16. Qd2 Nfd5 17. Bxe7 Rxe7 18.
Ne5 Qd6 19. Re2 Rae8 20. Rae1 Kf8 21. Nxd5 Nxd5 22. Qa5 a6 23. Nc4 Qc7 24. Qc5
Kg8 25. Re5 Rxe5 26. dxe5 b6 27. Qd4 Rd8 28. Rd1 h6 29. Nxb6 {1-0 Klinger,
J-Knoedler,D/Biel op 1992/EXP 31}) (7... Nc6 8. O-O Bg4 9. a3 Bxc3 10. bxc3 Na5
11. cxd5 Nxd5 12. Bd2 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 c6 14. Rb1 Qc7 15. Qc2 Nc4 16. Bc1 Rfe8 17.
Qd3 Na5 18. c4 Nf4 19. Qc2 Re7 20. Be3 Ng6 21. g3 f5 22. Bg5 Rf7 23. Bh5 Qd6
24. Qc3 b6 25. c5 Qc7 26. Rfc1 Rd7 27. Qb4 b5 28. a4 bxa4 29. Qxa4 Re8 30. Bxg6
hxg6 31. Bf4 Qd8 32. Rb8 {1-0 Bolt,G-Boyce,N/Devon vs. Glos 2003}) 8. cxd5 (8.
Qb3 c5 9. O-O Nc6 10. dxc5 d4 11. Rd1 Bxc5 12. Bg5 b6 13. a3 h6 14. Bh3 Qe7 15.
Nd5 Bxd5 16. cxd5 Qxe2 17. dxc6 g5 18. Bg3 Rac8 19. Re1 Qa6 20. c7 Qb7 21. Qd3
Nh5 22. Be5 Qd5 23. Qf5 Ng7 24. Qf6 Qxe5 25. Nxe5 {1-0 Vidmar,M-Tartakower,S/
Carlsbad 1907}) 8... Nxd5 9. Bd2 Re8 10. O-O Nd7 11. Nxd5 Bxd2 12. Nxc7 Qxc7
13. Qxd2 Nf6 14. Rac1 (14. Ne5) (14. Rfe1) 14... Qd6 15. Bc4 Bg4 16. Ng5 Bh5
17. f3 Rad8 18. Rcd1 (18. Rfd1) 18... h6 19. Nh3 g5 20. Nf2 (20. g4 Bg6 21. Qf2
) 20... Re7 21. Rfe1 Rxe1+ (21... Qxd4 22. Rxe7 Qxd2 23. Rxd2 Rxd2 24. Rxb7 a5
25. a4 Rc2 26. Bf1 Nd5 27. Rb5 Ne3 28. Re5) 22. Qxe1 Qf4 23. Qd2 (23. Qe5 Qxe5
24. dxe5 Rxd1+ 25. Nxd1 Nd7 26. e6 Nf6 27. e7) 23... Qxd2 24. Rxd2 Bg6 25. Ng4
Nxg4 26. fxg4 Kf8 27. Kf2 Ke7 28. Ke3 Kd6 29. Rf2 Rf8 30. Bd3 (30. Rf6+ Ke7 31.
Rf3) 30... Re8+ 31. Kd2 Kd5 32. Bxg6 (32. Rf6 $1 Kxd4 (32... Bxd3 33. Kxd3 Re4
34. Rf5+) 33. Bxg6 fxg6 34. Rxg6 Re4 35. h3) 32... fxg6 33. Rf7 Re4 34. Rd7+
Kc6 35. Rg7 Rxd4+ 36. Kc3 Rxg4 37. Rxg6+ Kc5 38. g3 Rc4+ 39. Kd3 Rd4+ 40. Ke3
Ra4 41. a3 Kc4 (41... Kc4 42. Rxh6 Kb3 43. Rh5 Kxb2 44. Rxg5 Rxa3+ 45. Kd2 Kb3
46. h3 Kc4) 1/2-1/2

[Event "East Devon"]
[Site "Exeter"]
[Date "2007.02.24"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Dilleigh, S."]
[Black "Regis, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A40"]
[PlyCount "72"]

{Characteristically careful play by Steve secured a winning advantage, but in
the major piece ending he let the cat out of the bag.} 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. e4
Bb7 4. Bd3 Bb4+ 5. Bd2 (5. Kf1 Bf8 (5... Be7 6. Nc3 Bg5 (6... d6 7. Qg4 (7. Nf3
Nf6 8. b3 (8. h3 c5 9. d5 e5 10. g3 O-O 11. Kg2 Na6 12. a3 Bc8 13. Be3 Ne8 14.
Qc2 Bd7 15. Raf1 Rb8 16. Ng1 Nec7 17. f4 f6 18. Nf3 b5 19. fxe5 fxe5 20. cxb5
Nxb5 21. Nxb5 Bxb5 22. Bxb5 Rxb5 23. Nxe5 dxe5 24. d6 Kh8 25. dxe7 Qxe7 26.
Rxf8+ Qxf8 27. Rf1 Qb8 28. Bc1 h6 29. Rf5 Rb6 30. Qa4 Nc7 31. Qd7 Ne6 32. Qd5
Nd4 33. Rf2 Ne6 34. Rf7 Rd6 35. Rb7 Qd8 36. Qxe5 Rd2+ 37. Bxd2 Qxd2+ 38. Kf3
Nd4+ {0-1 Caprano,J-Bebersdorf,C/corr BdF 1986}) 8... Nc6 9. a3 Nd7 10. Bb2 O-O
11. Qc2 g6 12. Rd1 f5 13. e5 dxe5 14. dxe5 Qe8 15. Na4 Nc5 16. b4 Nxd3 17. Rxd3
Rd8 18. Rxd8 Nxd8 19. c5 bxc5 20. Nxc5 Bxc5 21. Qxc5 {1-0 Talal,F-Diaz Reyes,M/
(7) 1991}) 7... Bf6 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Be3 e5 10. dxe5 h5 11. Qg3 h3 12. Qh3 Bc8 13.
g4 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 dxe5 15. Rd1 c6 16. c5 Qc7 17. Qf3 Be6 18. h3 Rd8 19. Kg2 Be7
20. cxb6 axb6 21. Qe2 b5 22. a4 b4 23. Nb1 Nf6 24. Bc4 Rxd1 25. Rxd1 Qc8 26.
Nd2 {Danner,G-Barle,J/Ljubljana 1981/1-0 (47)}) 7. f4 Bh6 8. Nf3 g6 9. Kf2 Ne7
10. Re1 d5 11. exd5 exd5 12. f5 Bxc1 13. f6 Bxb2 14. Rxe7+ Qxe7 15. fxe7 Bxc3
16. Rc1 Ba5 17. cxd5 b5 18. Bxb5+ Kxe7 19. Bc6 Nxc6 20. dxc6 Bc8 21. Qe2+ Be6
22. d5 Rad8 23. dxe6 fxe6 24. Rd1 Rxd1 25. Qxd1 Rd8 26. Qc1 Rd5 27. Qh6 Kd6 28.
Qxh7 Kxc6 29. Qxg6 Kd6 30. h3 c5 31. Ng5 Re5 32. Nf7+ {1-0 Damjanovic,
D-Kovacevic,R/18th Belgrade Trophy 2005}) (5... Qf6 6. Nf3 g6 7. Qe2 Be7 8. Nc3
a5 9. Bd2 Qg7 10. g4 g5 11. Rg1 h6 12. a3 Nc6 13. Nb5 Bd8 14. d5 Na7 15. Bc3
Nf6 16. Nbd4 Nc8 17. Re1 O-O 18. h3 Re8 19. hxg5 hxg5 20. Qd2 Qh6 21. Rg2 d6
22. e5 dxe5 23. Rxe5 {1-0 Busch-Herzog/corr Bundes-ch 1929}) 6. Nc3 d6 (6... g6
7. h3 Bg7 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Bg5 Qc8 10. e5 Nce7 11. h5 gxh5 12. Rxh5 h6 13. Bf4 Rb8
14. Nd2 b5 15. Nxb5 a6 16. Qg4 Bf8 17. Nc3 Nc6 18. d5 Nb4 19. Be4 a5 20. Rh3
Na6 21. Be3 {1-0 Ulibin,M-Pluemer,D/MTO 2004}) 7. d5 e5 8. Be3 Nf6 9. g4 g6 10.
h3 Bc8 11. f3 h5 12. g5 Nh7 13. b4 Be7 14. c5 dxc5 15. bxc5 Bxc5 16. Bxc5 bxc5
17. Qa4+ Kf8 18. Qa5 Kg7 19. Qxc5 Na6 20. Qa3 Qd6 21. Qxd6 cxd6 22. Nge2 Nc5
23. Bb5 Rb8 24. Kf2 f6 {Janssen,R-Rogers,I/Wijk aan Zee Sonnevanck 1996/0-1 
(46)}) (5. Nc3 f5 (5... Nf6 6. Qc2 (6. f3 c5 7. d5 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 d6 9. Ne2 Nbd7
10. f4 O-O 11. O-O Ba6 12. Kh1 exd5 13. exd5 Re8 14. Ng3 Nf8 15. Qa4 Bb7 16.
Bd2 a6 17. Rae1 {1/2-1/2 Link-Rink,C/Bad Neustad 1991}) 6... c5 7. d5 Qe7 8.
Nge2 d6 9. O-O Bxc3 10. Nxc3 e5 11. f4 Nbd7 12. f5 h6 13. Kh1 Nh7 14. Be3 Ndf6
15. a3 Ng4 16. Bg1 h5 17. b4 Nhf6 18. bxc5 dxc5 19. a4 a5 20. Be2 Nd7 21. Qd1
Ngf6 22. Nb5 Kf8 23. d6 Qd8 24. Nc7 Bxe4 25. Ne6+ {Hellegaard,C-Pedersen,B/
Karsten Kold Gistrup DEN 1997/0-1 (43)}) (5... Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 d6 7. Ne2 Nd7 8.
O-O Ne7 9. Ng3 O-O 10. Qg4 Nf6 11. Qe2 e5 12. f4 Nd7 13. Nh5 Kh8 14. Qg4 g6 15.
Ng3 Ng8 16. Be3 c5 17. Rad1 Qe7 18. Rfe1 Rad8 19. Bc2 Bc6 20. Bf2 Rfe8 21. Nf1
Ndf6 22. Qh3 Rc8 23. Nd2 Nd7 24. Qg3 Ngf6 25. Qf3 {Bronstein,D-Miles,A/
Teesside 1975/0-1 (72)}) (5... d5 6. Qa4+ Nc6 7. Nge2 Nge7 8. O-O O-O 9. cxd5
exd5 10. e5 Ba5 11. a3 a6 12. Qc2 b5 13. Bxh7+ Kh8 14. Bd3 Bb6 15. Be3 Nxe5 16.
dxe5 d4 17. Bxd4 Bxd4 18. Nxd4 Qxd4 19. Rfe1 g6 20. Re3 Rae8 21. Ne2 Qb6 22.
Qd2 Kg7 23. Nf4 Rh8 24. e6 {1-0 Kaiser,J-Keck,K/corr BdF 1986}) 6. Qh5+ (6. Qc2
Nf6 7. Bg5 fxe4 8. Be2 O-O 9. O-O-O Qe8 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Nh3 Qg6 12. Kb1 Kh8
13. Rhg1 Bd6 14. g3 a5 15. Rge1 Na6 16. a3 e5 17. d5 Nc5 18. Bf1 f5 19. Ng1 c6
20. f3 exf3 21. Nxf3 Qf6 22. Nh3 e4 23. dxc6 dxc6 24. Nxf5 Be5 25. Ne3 Bxc3 26.
bxc3 Rae8 27. Rd4 Qh6 28. Ng4 Qg5 29. Nf2 Bc8 30. Nh3 Qh6 31. Nf4 Bf5 32. Kb2
a4 33. Qg2 Rg8 34. Qf2 Rgf8 35. Re3 Ne6 36. Rd1 Rd8 37. Rxd8 Rxd8 38. Re2 Rd1
39. Qxb6 Qf6 40. Qf2 Rb1+ {0-1 Saldern,V-Conquest,S/Guernsey 1991}) (6. d5 fxe4
7. Bxe4 Nf6 8. Bf3 exd5 9. cxd5 Na6 10. Nge2 Nc5 11. O-O Ba6 12. Qd4 Bxc3 13.
bxc3 O-O 14. c4 Rf7 15. Bb2 Qf8 16. Rac1 Re8 17. Ng3 d6 18. h3 Bc8 19. Rce1
Rxe1 20. Rxe1 Re7 21. Rxe7 Qxe7 22. Kh2 Kf8 23. Bd1 Nce4 24. Ne2 Nc5 25. Ng3
Nce4 {Minasian,A-Tratar,M/Cannes op 1995/EXP 46/1-0 (57)}) 6... g6 7. Qe2 Nf6
8. f3 fxe4 9. fxe4 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Nxe4 11. Nf3 Nxc3 12. Qe5 O-O 13. d5 Qf6 14.
Qxc7 Na6 15. Qe5 Nc5 16. Qxf6 Nxd3+ 17. Kd2 Ne4+ 18. Kxd3 Nxf6 19. Ba3 Rfc8 20.
d6 Bxf3 21. gxf3 Rc6 22. Rac1 Rf8 23. Rhd1 Nh5 24. Ke3 Rf5 {Taranenko,
O-Karasev,V/White Nights 2001/0-1 (62)}) (5. Nd2 Nc6 (5... Ne7 6. a3 Bxd2+ 7.
Bxd2 O-O 8. Nf3 f5 9. d5 fxe4 10. Bxe4 Nf5 11. Bc3 a5 12. O-O Na6 13. b4 axb4
14. axb4 Nd6 15. Qd4 Rf7 16. dxe6 Re7 17. Bxh7+ Kxh7 18. Qh3+ Kg6 19. Qg5+ Kh7
20. Qh5+ {1-0 Galby,V-Breton,Y/2nd Open 2003}) 6. Ngf3 Qf6 7. e5 Qf4 8. g3 Qh6
9. O-O f6 10. Qe2 O-O-O 11. a3 Qh3 12. Be4 Nh6 13. Rd1 Ng4 14. Nf1 Qh6 15. Nh3
g5 16. Ng2 Qh3 17. f3 Nh6 18. Bxg5 d5 19. cxd5 exd5 20. exf6 Rhf8 21. Bc2 Rde8
22. f4 Re4 23. Qd3 Nxd4 24. Re1 Nhf5 {Danner,G-Miezis,N/34th Olympiad 2000/1/
2-1/2 (44)}) 5... Bxd2+ (5... a5 6. Nc3 f5 7. Nge2 Qh3 8. Qc2 fxe4 9. Bxe4 Nc6
10. Bf3 O-O-O 11. a3 Be7 12. Ne4 Rf8 13. O-O-O d5 14. cxd5 exd5 15. N4g3 Nxd4
16. Nxd4 Qxd4 17. Be3 Qc4 18. Rd2 Nh6 19. Re1 Bf6 20. Kb1 Rd8 21. Bxh6 Qxc2+
22. Rxc2 gxh6 23. Re6 Bd4 24. Nf5 Bc5 25. b4 axb4 26. axb4 Bxb4 27. Rxb6 Ba5
28. Rb5 Be1 29. Bg4 Bc6 30. Nd6# {1-0 Saarinen,T-Kalsi,J/Tampere We HervS 1996}
) (5... Qe7 6. Nf3 (6. a3 Bxd2+ 7. Nxd2 Qg5 8. Ngf3 Qxg2 9. Rg1 Qh3 10. Rxg7
Qh6 11. Rg3 Nc6 12. d5 Nce7 13. Qa4 Ng6 14. O-O-O N8e7 15. Kb1 a6 16. Qb4 a5
17. Qa4 Qf4 18. Bc2 Ba6 19. h3 h5 20. Ng5 e5 21. d6 Nc6 22. dxc7 Qxh3 23. c5
Qf4 24. cxb6 h3 25. Rc3 Be2 26. b7 O-O 27. bxa8=Q Rxa8 28. Nh3 Qf6 29. Re1 Bg4
30. Nc4 Rc8 31. Nb6 Rxc7 32. Nd5 Qd8 33. Nxc7 Qxc7 34. Ng5 Qb7 35. Qc4 Nh8 36.
Rg1 {1-0 Pinter,J-Forintos,G/Hungary ch 1979}) (6. Nc3 Bxc3 (6... f5 7. Nge2
fxe4 8. Bxe4 Bxe4 9. Nxe4 Nf6 10. N2g3 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 Qh3 12. Ng3 Bd6 13. Qh5+
Qxh5 14. Nxh5 O-O 15. Ng3 Nc6 16. Be3 Nb4 17. Kd2 Bf4 18. Rhc1 Rae8 19. Bxf4
Rxf4 20. Ke3 Rh3 21. h3 d5 22. c5 b5 23. c6 e5 24. a3 Na6 25. dxe5 Rxe5+ 26.
Kd3 {Horvath,J-Gulko,B/2nd op, Nova Gorica SLO 1997/1/2-1/2 (48)}) 7. Bxc3 f5
8. Qe2 (8. Qh5+ g6 9. Qe2 Nf6 10. d5 Na6 11. f3 fxe4 12. fxe4 O-O 13. O-O-O Nc5
14. Nf3 exd5 15. exd5 Qxe2 16. Bxe2 Nce4 17. Bd4 c5 18. dxc6 dxc6 19. Rhe1 c5 {
1/2-1/2 Poltl-Horvath,T/Gleisdorf 1989}) 8... Nf6 9. f3 fxe4 10. Bc2 (10. fxe4
Nxe4 11. Nf3 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Nc6 13. O-O O-O-O 14. c5 d6 {1/2-1/2 Popovic,
J-Kovacevic,R/28th ch-YUG Youth Women 2002}) 10... d5 11. fxe4 Nxe4 12. Bxe4
Qh3+ 13. g3 Qxe4 14. Qxe4 dxe4 15. Ke2 O-O 16. Nh3 Nd7 17. Rhf1 Rxf1 18. Rxf1
h6 19. Nf4 Re8 20. Nh5 Re7 21. Ke3 Rf7 22. Rxf7 Kxf7 23. g4 Nf6 {1/2-1/2
Loeffler,W-Fabig,H/corr BdF 1987}) (6. Bxb4 Qxb4+ 7. Nc3 Qxb2 8. Nge2 Qb4 9. c5
Qa5 10. Rb1 Ba6 11. Bxa6 Qxa6 12. Nb5 Qa5+ 13. Nec3 bxc5 14. Qa4 Qxa4 15. Nxa4
Kd8 16. Nxc5 d6 17. Nb7+ Kd7 18. e5 a6 19. Nc3 Ne7 20. exd6 cxd6 21. Ne4 Nbc6
22. Nexd6 Rhb8 23. Nxf7 Kc7 24. Nfd6 Ra7 25. Kd2 Nc8 {Hollis-Forintos/corr
Heilimo mem 1982/1/2-1/2 (58)}) (6. Ne2 Bxd2+ (6... f5 7. Nbc3 (7. exf5 Bxg2 8.
Rg1 Bb7 9. Nbc3 Nc6 10. fxe6 dxe6 11. a3 Bxc3 12. Bxc3 Nf6 13. Qc2 O-O-O 14.
O-O-O Kb8 15. Qd2 g6 16. Qe3 Qf7 17. Nf4 Rhe8 18. Rde1 Bc8 19. Bc2 e5 20. dxe5
Qxc4 21. Qf3 Qa2 22. Bb1 Qa1 23. e6 Nd4 24. Qe3 Bxe6 25. Bxd4 Bf5 26. Qc3 Qxb1+
27. Kd2 Ne4+ 28. Rxe4 Qxe4 {0-1 Vasiliev,R-Lempert,I/Moscow 1990}) 7... fxe4 8.
Bxe4 Bxe4 9. Nxe4 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 Nf6 11. Nxf6+ Qxf6 12. O-O O-O 13. d5 e5 14.
d6 Qxd6 15. Qxd6 cxd6 16. Rad1 Rf6 17. Nc3 Nc6 18. Ne4 Rf4 19. f3 Nd4 20. Nxd6
Raf8 21. Rfe1 R8f6 22. Nc8 Rf8 23. Nxa7 Ra8 24. Nb5 Nxb5 25. cxb5 Rxa2 26. Rxe5
Rf7 27. Rd6 Rxb2 28. Rxb6 h6 29. f4 Rb4 30. f5 Rd4 31. Rg6 Kf8 {1/2-1/2
Khurtsidze,N-Grabuzova,T/2nd ch-EUR Women 2001}) (6... Nf6 7. Nbc3 d6 8. Qa4+
Nc6 9. d5 exd5 10. exd5 Bxc3 11. Bxc3 O-O 12. dxc6 Bc8 13. O-O Ng4 14. Qc2 Qh3
15. h3 Ne5 16. Bxe5 dxe5 17. Ng3 g6 18. Rfe1 f5 19. Rxe5 f4 20. Nf1 f3 21. Bxg6
fxg2 22. Ng3 Bxh3 23. Bxh7+ Kh8 24. Rh5 Qg4 25. Bf5+ {1-0 Wilson,J-Blackburn,J/
4NCL-9899B SWD-NID 1999}) 7. Qxd2 Nh6 8. Nbc3 O-O 9. O-O d6 10. f4 Nd7 11. d5
e5 12. f5 f6 13. b4 Nf7 14. Bc2 Kh8 15. Ba4 a6 16. Rab1 Rg8 17. Rb2 Nf8 18. Qe3
a5 19. a3 axb4 20. axb4 g6 21. Ng3 Bc8 22. Bc6 Ra3 23. Qc1 gxf5 24. exf5 Ng5
25. Ba4 Bd7 {Avrukh,B-Speelman,J/ol 1998/1-0 (40)}) 6... Nf6 (6... f5 7. e5 (7.
exf5 exf5+ 8. Kf1 Nf6 9. Bxb4 Qxb4 10. Qd2 Qe7 11. Nc3 Bxf3 12. gxf3 O-O 13.
Re1 Qb4 14. a3 Qb3 15. Kg2 Nc6 16. Bb1 Na5 17. Ba2 {1-0 Iskusnyh,S-Lahiri,A/
ch-Commonwealth 2004}) 7... Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 Nh6 9. Qe2 Nc6 10. O-O g5 11. d5 Nb4
12. a3 Nxd3 13. Qxd3 Nf7 14. Rfe1 c5 15. Nb1 O-O 16. Nc3 Kh8 17. Rad1 g4 18.
Nd2 Rg8 19. Nb5 Rg6 20. Nf1 Ng5 21. Ng3 Rf8 22. Nd6 Ba8 23. b4 Rh6 24. bxc5 f4
25. Ngf5 exf5 26. Nxf5 Rxf5 27. Qxf5 f3 28. h3 gxh3 29. g3 h2+ 30. Kh1 Rg6 31.
c6 Rg7 32. cxd7 Qxd7 33. Qxd7 Rxd7 34. e6 {1-0 Berkvens,J-Heemskerk,W/Dutch
Open 2002}) 7. Qc2 (7. a3 Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 d6 9. O-O e5 10. d5 O-O 11. b4 Nbd7
12. Qc2 Rfc8 13. Rfc1 c6 14. dxc6 Bxc6 15. Nf1 Nf8 16. Ne3 Qb7 17. Nd2 Ne6 18.
f3 b5 19. Kh1 Nd4 20. Qb2 a6 21. Nb3 Nxb3 22. Qxb3 Bd7 23. Bf1 Be6 24. Qd3 bxc4
25. Qxd6 Nxe4 26. fxe4 Qxe4 27. Qd2 Rc7 28. Rc3 Qd4 29. Qc2 f5 30. Rd1 Qf4 31.
Nxc4 {1-0 Malishauskas,V-Litus,V/Katowice 1991}) 7... Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 d6 9. O-O
e5 10. c5 O-O 11. a3 Rc8 12. Rac1 g6 13. Bb5 bxc5 14. dxc5 dxc5 15. Rfe1 Nbd7
16. Nb3 Rab8 17. a4 Kg7 18. Nfd2 Rd8 19. Na5 Nf8 20. Ndb3 Ne6 21. Nxb7 Rxb7 22.
Na5 Nd4 23. Qxc5 Qxc5 24. Rxc5 Rbb8 25. Rxe5 {Provotorov,I-Sevian,A/8th Open
2004/1-0 (42)}) (5... Nc6 6. Ne2 (6. Nf3 Qf6 (6... Bxd2+ 7. Qxd2 (7. Nbxd2 Qf6
8. e5 Qf4 9. g3 Qh6 10. O-O f5 11. d5 Nce7 12. Re1 exd5 13. cxd5 Bxd5 14. Rc1
Nc6 15. Bxf5 Nge7 16. Be4 Bf7 17. h3 O-O 18. Ng5 Bg6 19. Bg2 Kh8 20. e6 d5 21.
Bxd5 Nxd5 22. Rxc6 Bh5 23. Qb3 Qf6 24. Nde4 Qf5 25. Rc2 h6 26. e7 Nxe7 27. Ne6
{1/2-1/2 Nogueiras,J-Velez,N/Cienfuegos 1983}) 7... Nge7 8. d5 Nb8 9. Nc3 a5
10. d6 cxd6 11. Rd1 Nbc6 12. Bb1 Nc8 13. O-O O-O 14. b3 Qe7 15. Rfe1 Rd8 16. a3
Ne5 17. Nd4 Na7 18. Na4 Nc8 19. Qc2 Ng6 20. f4 Nxf4 21. e5 Ng6 22. Nxb6 Nxb6
23. exd6 Qg5 24. Rf1 Rf8 25. Nf3 Qe3+ 26. Kh1 {Yeremenko,A-Polyakov,M/Glassy
Stream Open 2004/0-1 (40)}) 7. d5 (7. e5 Qf4 8. Nc3 Qg4 9. d5 Nce7 10. dxe6
dxe6 11. Qa4+ Nc6 12. O-O-O O-O-O 13. h3 Qxg2 14. Be4 Bxc3 15. Rh2 Qxh2 16.
Nxh2 Bxd2+ 17. Kb1 {1/2-1/2 Haugen,A-Endresen,C/Randaberg 1993}) 7... Bxd2+ 8.
Qxd2 Nce7 9. Nc3 a6 10. O-O Qh6 11. Qc2 Nf6 12. e5 Nh5 13. Be4 O-O 14. dxe6
Bxe4 15. exf7+ Rxf7 16. Qxe4 Raf8 17. Nd4 Qd2 18. Nde2 Nf4 19. Rad1 Qxb2 20.
Rxd7 Nxe2+ 21. Qxe2 Qxc3 22. e6 Rf5 23. Rxe7 Qf6 24. Rxc7 Re5 25. Qb2 Rxe6 {
Dautov,R-Speelman,J/10th It 2000/1/2-1/2 (50)}) (6. d5 Bxd2+ 7. Qxd2 Ne5 8. Nc3
Nh6 9. f4 Nxd3+ 10. Qxd3 f5 11. e5 g5 12. Nge2 Qe7 13. O-O-O O-O-O 14. Nb5 exd5
15. cxd5 Qc5+ 16. Kb1 Ba6 17. Nd6+ cxd6 18. Qxa6+ Kb8 19. Nc3 Qc8 20. Qa3 Qc5
21. Qa6 Qc8 22. Qa4 a6 23. Qa3 Nf7 24. e6 dxe6 25. dxe6 Qxe6 26. Qxa6 d5 27.
Rhe1 Qc6 28. Re7 Nd6 29. Qa7+ Kc8 30. Nxd5 {1-0 Boden,S-Owen,J/London 1858})
6... Qf6 7. Bxb4 (7. e5 Bxd2+ 8. Qxd2 Qh6 9. Qxh6 Nxh6 10. Be4 O-O-O 11. Nbc3
d6 12. exd6 cxd6 13. O-O Ne7 14. Rac1 Bxe4 15. Nxe4 Kb7 16. Rfd1 d5 17. cxd5
Nxd5 18. N2c3 Nf5 19. Ng5 Nxc3 20. bxc3 Rd7 21. a4 h6 22. Nf3 Rc8 23. Ne5 Rdc7
24. Rd3 Nd6 25. f3 a5 26. Kf2 Nc4 27. f4 Nb2 28. Rd2 Nxa4 29. c4 f6 30. Nd3
Rxc4 31. Rxc4 Rxc4 32. Ke3 Nc3 33. Nb2 Nd5+ 34. Ke4 Rc3 35. Nd1 Rc1 36. f5 Rxd1
37. Rxd1 Nc3+ 38. Kf4 Nxd1 39. fxe6 Kc6 {0-1 Ippolito,D-Speelman,J/Oz.com
qualifier blitz 2000}) 7... Nxb4 8. Nbc3 Nxd3+ 9. Qxd3 a6 10. O-O Ne7 11. f4
Qg6 12. f5 exf5 13. Nf4 Qg5 14. exf5 O-O-O 15. Ne4 Qh6 16. Ng3 d5 17. Rac1 g5
18. f6 gxf4 19. fxe7 Rd7 20. Nf5 dxc4 21. Qd2 Qg6 22. Rxf4 b5 23. b3 cxb3 24.
axb3 Re8 25. Rc5 Bd5 26. Qc2 Kb7 27. b4 c6 28. h3 Be6 29. Qc3 Bd5 30. Qc2 Be6
31. Qc3 {1/2-1/2 Neverov,V-Short,N/2nd IECC 2001}) 6. Nxd2 (6. Qxd2 f5 (6...
Ne7 7. Nc3 Nbc6 8. Nf3 d5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. O-O O-O 12. Rfe1 Nf6
13. Rac1 Nxd4 14. Nxd4 Qd6 15. Ne4 Qxd4 16. Nxf6+ Qxf6 17. Rxc7 Rab8 18. Ree7
g6 19. Rxb7 Rxb7 20. Rxb7 Rd8 21. Qc2 Qe6 22. Qc7 Rf8 23. Bf1 Qxa2 24. Rxa7
Qxb2 25. Rb7 Qa1 26. h3 {Foord,A-Serwatowski,F/Flint ch-MI S 1992/1-0 (38)}) 7.
Nc3 Nf6 8. f3 fxe4 9. fxe4 d6 10. Nf3 Nbd7 11. O-O Qe7 12. Rae1 O-O-O 13. b4 e5
14. d5 Nh5 15. Bc2 h6 16. Ba4 g5 17. g3 Nf8 18. Bc6 Ng6 19. Qd1 Bxc6 20. dxc6
Qe6 21. Nd2 Ngf4 22. gxf4 Nxf4 23. Kh1 Rdf8 24. Qa4 Qh3 25. Rxf4 Rxf4 26. Qxa7
Kd8 27. Nd5 Rf7 28. Qb8+ Qc8 29. Qxc8+ Kxc8 30. Kg2 g4 31. Ne3 Rhf8 32. Nf5 h5
33. a4 h3 34. Nf1 Kb8 35. N1e3 g3 36. hxg3 hxg3 37. Kxg3 Rg8+ 38. Kf3 Rh7 39.
Ra1 Rh2 40. a5 bxa5 41. Rxa5 Rgh8 42. Rb5+ Kc8 43. Nd5 {1-0 Kaufman,L-Mouzon,H/
Atlantic op Washington DC USA 1997}) 6... f5 (6... d6 7. Ne2 (7. Ngf3 Nd7 8.
Qe2 e5 9. O-O Ne7 10. Rad1 Ng6 11. g3 Qf6 12. Qe3 O-O 13. d5 Nc5 14. Be2 a5 15.
b3 Bc8 16. Qg5 Qxg5 17. Nxg5 h6 18. Ngf3 f5 19. exf5 Bxf5 20. Rfe1 Rf7 21. Nf1
Raf8 22. N3d2 Ne7 23. Ne3 Bd3 24. f3 g5 25. Bxd3 Nxd3 26. Re2 Nf5 27. Nxf5 Rxf5
28. Rf1 Nb4 29. Ra1 Kg7 30. Kg2 Kg6 31. a4 Nc2 32. Rf1 h5 33. h3 Nd4 34. Re3
R5f7 35. Re4 Nf5 36. f4 gxf4 37. gxf4 Nh3+ 38. Kg3 Nf5+ 39. Kg2 Nh3+ 40. Kg3
Nf5+ 41. Kg2 {1/2-1/2 Omolo,K-Antoniou,A/34th Olympiad 2000}) 7... e5 8. d5 Ne7
9. O-O Nd7 10. b4 a5 11. a3 Ng6 12. Nb3 Nf4 13. Nxf4 exf4 14. Qd2 a4 15. Nd4
Ne5 16. Be2 Qf6 17. Rac1 O-O 18. f3 Ba6 19. Kh1 Rfe8 20. c5 bxc5 21. bxc5 Reb8
22. Rc2 h6 23. Rfc1 Bxe2 24. Qxe2 Rb7 25. c6 Rb6 26. Nb5 {Van der Vliet,F-Ree,
H/Arnheim 1983/1/2-1/2 (75)}) (6... Qg5 7. Ngf3 Qh6 8. Qa4 Ne7 9. Qa3 d6 10.
O-O Nd7 11. Rad1 g5 12. Bc2 g4 13. Ne1 e5 14. d5 O-O 15. Qg3 Qg7 16. f3 gxf3
17. Rxf3 Qxg3 18. Rxg3+ Kh8 19. Nf1 f5 20. exf5 Nxf5 21. Rh3 Rf7 22. Nf3 Rg8
23. Rh5 Nd4 24. Nxd4 exd4 25. Rxd4 Ne5 26. Ng3 {Bagirov,V-Ermenkov,E/Riga 1981/
1-0 (56)}) (6... Ne7 7. Ne2 d6 8. O-O e5 9. Nf3 Nd7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Ng3 Ng6 12.
Bf1 Nf4 13. Qd2 Qf6 14. dxe5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 dxe5 16. Qe3 Rad8 17. Rad1 c5 18.
Qa3 a5 19. Qb3 h5 20. h3 g6 21. Qb5 Rb8 22. Rd2 Qxh3 23. Qxb6 Qg5 24. Re3 h3
25. Ne2 Nxg2 26. Bxg2 Bxe4 {0-1 Islam,K-Rahman,Z/Open 2004}) (6... Nh6 7. Ne2 (
7. Qh5 Qf6 8. e5 (8. Ngf3 Nc6 9. e5 Qf4 10. g3 Qg4 11. Qxg4 Nxg4 12. O-O f6 13.
h3 Nh6 14. exf6 gxf6 15. a3 Nf7 16. b4 O-O-O 17. Rfe1 Ng5 18. Nxg5 fxg5 19. d5
exd5 20. cxd5 Nb8 21. d6 Rde8 22. Bxh7 Re6 23. Rxe6 dxe6 24. Be4 Bd5 25. dxc7
Kxc7 26. Bxd5 exd5 27. Nf3 Rxh3 {Petursson,M-Wauthier,P/San Bernardino 1991/
1-0 (41)}) 8... Qf4 9. Ne2 Qg4 10. Qxg4 Nxg4 11. f3 Nh6 12. g4 Nc6 13. O-O-O
O-O-O 14. Rhg1 d6 15. g5 Ng8 16. exd6 Rxd6 17. Rg4 Ne5 18. dxe5 Rxd3 19. Rf4
Ne7 20. Rxf7 Nf5 21. Nf4 Rd7 22. Rxd7 Kxd7 23. Ne4+ Ke7 24. Rd3 Ba6 25. b3 c5
26. Kd2 Rf8 {Flear,G-Wauthier,P/San Bernardino 1991/1-0 (39)}) (7. Ngf3 Nc6 (
7... d6 8. b4 (8. O-O Nd7 9. b4 O-O 10. a4 e5 11. a5 bxa5 12. bxa5 Ba6 13. Qc2
c5 14. dxe5 dxe5 15. Qc3 f6 16. Bc2 Rc8 17. Rfd1 Nb8 18. Ba4 Qe7 19. Nf1 {1/
2-1/2 Dreev,A-Speelman,J/Gibraltar Masters 2005}) 8... Nd7 9. Qc2 c5 10. bxc5
dxc5 11. d5 e5 12. Nf1 f6 13. Ne3 Nf7 14. h3 g6 15. h5 Qe7 16. Nh3 Rg8 17. Qa4
Nd6 18. Be2 Kd8 19. Bg4 Nf8 20. Qc2 Kc7 21. a4 {1/2-1/2 Ulibin,M-Sharif,M/ADCF
Masters 2001}) (7... O-O 8. O-O f6 {1/2-1/2 Hoang Thanh Trang-Turov,M/28th
Elekes Mem GM 2003} (8... f6 9. b4 (9. Re1 Nf7 10. Nf1 Nc6 11. Rc1 Ne7 12. Ng3
Ng6 13. Qd2 c5 14. Bf1 Qc7 15. Red1 d6 16. d5 e5 17. Ne1 Bc8 18. Nd3 Nh6 19.
Re1 Bd7 20. Be2 a5 21. f4 exf4 22. Nxf4 Nxf4 23. Qxf4 Rae8 24. Bd3 Re5 25. Rf1
Qd8 26. Rc2 Qe7 27. Rcf2 Be8 28. Qd2 Bg6 {Ellers,H-Bischoff,K/Petermaennchen
GM 1999/0-1 (40)}) 9... Nc6 10. Qb3 Ne7 11. d5 e5 12. c5 d6 13. Rfc1 g5 14.
cxd6 cxd6 15. Bb5 Bc8 16. Bc6 Rb8 17. b5 Ng6 18. Qa3 Qe7 19. Rc4 Bg4 20. Ne1
Rbd8 21. h3 Bc8 {1/2-1/2 Kishnev,S-Bischoff,K/Bundesliga 2000-1 2001})) 8. a3
O-O 9. Qc2 f6 10. O-O Ne7 11. b4 (11. Rfe1 c5 12. d5 e5 13. b4 d6 14. bxc5 dxc5
15. a4 a5 16. Nh3 Bc8 17. g3 Nf7 18. Nb1 Bd7 19. Nc3 Qc7 20. f3 Nc8 21. Kh1
Ncd6 22. Rab1 Rab8 23. f4 Rb7 24. Qd2 Qd8 25. Qg2 Ne8 26. Nf3 Bg4 27. Nh3 Bd7
28. h3 Qb8 29. Rf1 Nc7 30. Be2 Qc8 {Dautov,R-Bischoff,K/71st ch-GER 1999/1/2-1/
2 (60)}) 11... Ng6 12. g3 f5 13. exf5 Nxf5 14. Be4 Bxe4 15. Qxe4 Qf6 16. Ne5
Rad8 17. f4 d5 18. cxd5 Rxd5 19. Ndf3 Nxe5 20. dxe5 Qd8 21. g4 Nd4 22. Ng5 g6
23. Kh1 Qe7 24. Rad1 c5 25. h3 Rfd8 26. Kg2 c4 {Wells,P-Rahman,Z/ch-GBR 2003/1/
2-1/2 (38)}) 7... d6 (7... O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. a3 f5 10. Qc2 Kh8 11. Rad1 f4 12.
Nf3 Nf7 13. Kh1 e5 14. d5 Ne7 15. c5 d6 16. cxd6 Qxd6 17. Rc1 c6 18. dxc6 Nxc6
19. Bc4 Rac8 20. Qa4 Nfd8 21. Rfd1 Qe7 22. Bd5 a6 23. b4 Rc7 24. Rc3 Nb8 25.
Rcd3 Bxd5 26. Rxd5 b5 27. Qb3 {Lautier,J-Sharif,M/National I 2003/1-0 (54)}) 8.
O-O c5 9. f4 cxd4 10. Nxd4 O-O 11. Qe2 Nd7 12. Nb5 Qe7 13. Nc3 f6 14. Rad1 Nf7
15. Kh1 {1/2-1/2 San Segundo Carrillo,P-Speelman,J/15th ETC 2005}) 7. Ngf3 (7.
Qh5+ g6 8. Qe2 Nh6 (8... Nc6 9. Ngf3 Qf6 10. e5 Qg7 11. d5 exd5 12. cxd5 Nb4
13. d6 Nxd3+ 14. Qxd3 c5 15. b4 cxb4 16. Rc1 Nh6 17. Rc7 Bc6 18. Qc4 b5 19.
Qxc6 {1-0 Jankovic,A-Matic,Z/ch-CRO 2002}) 9. Ngf3 Qf6 10. O-O-O Nc6 11. e5 Qe7
12. a3 Na5 13. h3 c5 14. Rhe1 O-O 15. Kb1 Rac8 16. g3 Kg7 17. Ka2 Rc7 18. Rc1
Rfc8 19. dxc5 bxc5 20. Qe3 Bc6 21. Bc2 Rb7 22. Qc3 Qd8 23. Rb1 Rcb8 24. Ng1 Rb6
25. Ne2 Ba8 26. Nc1 Nc6 {Forintos,G-Chetverik,M/Zalakaros op 1996/EXP 52/1-0 
(43)}) 7... fxe4 (7... Nh6 8. O-O O-O 9. a3 (9. Qe2 Nc6 10. Rad1 Qf6 11. Bb1
Rae8 12. Rfe1 Re7 13. Nf1 g5 14. Qd2 f4 15. e5 Qg7 16. Qc3 g4 17. N3d2 d6 18.
exd6 cxd6 19. Ne4 Nf5 20. d5 Ne5 21. Nxd6 Nxd6 22. Rxe5 Nxc4 23. d6 Rd7 24.
Rxe6 Qxc3 25. bxc3 Rfd8 26. Rd4 Rxd6 27. Rexd6 Nxd6 28. Rxf4 Bc8 29. Rd4 Kg7
30. Ne3 h5 31. Bf5 Ba6 32. Ra4 Nxf5 33. Nxf5+ Kf6 34. Ne3 Be2 35. Rxa7 Rd2 36.
h3 gxh3 37. gxh3 Bf3 38. h3 Rb2 39. Kh2 Rb1 40. Kg3 Bc6 41. Rc7 Ba8 42. Rh7 Ke5
43. Rxh5+ Ke4 44. Rh8 Bc6 45. Rh6 Ba8 46. Rh8 Bc6 47. Rc8 Rg1+ 48. Kh2 Rg6 49.
h5 Rh6 50. Kg3 Bb7 51. Rb8 Ba6 52. Ng4 Rc6 53. f3+ Kd5 54. h6 Bd3 55. Rd8+ {
1-0 Li Wenliang-Burnett,R/FSGM February 2000}) 9... Nc6 10. d5 Ne7 11. Qb3 Kh8
12. dxe6 dxe6 13. Ng5 c5 14. Nxe6 Qd6 15. Nxf8 Ng4 16. Nf3 fxe4 17. Bxe4 Bxe4
18. Rfe1 Qc6 19. Nxh7 Bxh7 20. Rxe7 {1-0 Miton,K-Reefat,S/Continental Open 2000
}) 8. Nxe4 Nf6 9. Qe2 (9. Qc2 Nc6 10. Neg5 Qe7 11. Bxh7 Qb4+ 12. Kf1 O-O-O 13.
Bg6 Rdf8 14. Nf7 Rhg8 15. Kg1 Ne7 16. a3 Qa5 17. N7g5 Nxg6 18. Qxg6 Qa4 19. Qd3
Nh5 20. b3 Nf4 21. Qc2 Qc6 22. Re1 Rf5 23. Ne4 Nh3+ 24. Kf1 Rgf8 25. Re3 g5 26.
d5 exd5 27. Nd4 Nxf2 28. Nxc6 Nxh1+ {Lenz,T-Maurer,E/corr Tch-GER 1991/0-1 (52)
}) 9... O-O 10. O-O Nc6 (10... Nxe4 11. Bxe4 Bxe4 12. Qxe4 Nc6 13. d5 exd5 14.
Qxd5+ Kh8 15. Ng5 Qf6 16. Qxd7 Ne5 17. Qd5 Rae8 (17... Qxg5 18. f4) 18. Ne4 Qg6
19. Ng3 c6 20. Qd4) 11. a3 a5 (11... Nh5 12. g3 Nf6 13. Rfe1 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 (14.
Qxe4 g6) 14... d5 15. Bc2 Qf6 16. cxd5 exd5 17. Qd3 g6 18. Re3 Rae8) 12. Rfe1
g6 (12... a4) 13. Rad1 Nxe4 (13... Nh5) 14. Bxe4 Qc8 15. d5 Nd8 16. dxe6 dxe6
17. Bxb7 Qxb7 18. Rd7 Qc6 19. Red1 Nf7 20. Ne5 Nxe5 21. Qxe5 Rf7 22. Rxf7 (22.
Rd8+ Rxd8 23. Rxd8+ Rf8 24. Rxf8+ Kxf8 25. Qh8+ Kf7 (25... Ke7 26. Qxh7+ Kd6
27. Qh3) 26. Qxh7+ Kf6 27. Qh8+ Kf7 28. Qd4) 22... Kxf7 23. Rd4 Re8 24. Rf4+
Kg8 25. Qf6 Qd7 26. Rd4 Qe7 27. Qe5 Rf8 28. g3 Rf5 29. Qe4 c5 30. Rd2 Qf6 31.
Qb7 Qe5 32. Rd8+ Rf8 33. Rxf8+ Kxf8 34. Qxb6 Qe1+ 35. Kg2 Qe4+ 36. Kg1 Qe1+
1/2-1/2

[Event "East Devon"]
[Site "Exeter"]
[Date "2007.02.25"]
[Round "5"]
[White "White, E."]
[Black "Regis, D."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[PlyCount "81"]

{I haven't had a proper game in this line for a while: I was outplayed, not
really understanding what I was supposed to be doing.  I don't often feel that
way playing the French: more study required I fear.} 1. e4 {Neil McDonald Knaak
} e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. a3 {is rather less effective as
Black hasn't committed his queen to b6.} (6. Be2) 6... f6 (6... c4 {This
begins Black's standard piece deployment in this variation which aims to at
least tie down a white knight to the defence of the b3 square, or even better
infiltrate with the bishop via a4 and c2. Afek,Y-McDonald,N/Millennium Masters
2000. Line Advance 6 a3-/ChessPub Guide 2005/[Neil McDonald] (7) Neil McDonald}
) 7. Bd3 (7. b4 fxe5 8. Nxe5 (8. bxc5 e4 9. Ng5 Nf6 $15) (8. dxc5 Nf6 9. Bb5 e4
) 8... Nxe5 9. dxe5 Qc7 10. f4 Ne7 11. Bd3 g6 $1 12. O-O O-O-O $1 $15 13. bxc5
$6 (13. Be3 $6 d4 $1 14. cxd4 (14. Bf2 Nd5 {][ Pf4}) 14... Nd5 15. Bf2 (15. Qe2
Nxe3 16. Qxe3 cxd4 $17) 15... Nxf4 16. bxc5 Bc6 $17) (13. Kh1 $5) 13... Nf5 14.
Bxf5 $6 Bxc5+ 15. Kh1 gxf5 $19 {][ Pg2, ^^} 16. Qe2 Bc6 17. Be3 d4 $1 18. cxd4
Bxd4 19. Bxd4 Rxd4 20. Nd2 Rg8 21. Rad1 (21. Nf3 Rxf4 $19) (21. Rac1 Rxg2 22.
Qxg2 Bxg2+ 23. Kxg2 Rxd2+ 24. Kg3 Rc2 $19) 21... Qd7 22. Qf2 Kb8 {(0.53/0.43)
0-1 Krajnc,A-Furlan,M/Bled op 1992/[Knaak]} (22... Kb8 23. Rg1 Rd8 $19) (22...
Rxg2 $19)) 7... c4 (7... fxe5 8. dxe5 Qc7 9. O-O O-O-O {or}) (7... Qc7 8. O-O
O-O-O {are the right ways to play, apparently.}) 8. Bc2 fxe5 9. dxe5 Qc7 10.
Bf4 Bc5 {I quite liked this idea.} 11. O-O Nge7 12. Nbd2 O-O-O 13. b4 Bb6 (
13... cxb3 14. Nxb3 Bb6 15. Nbd4 Rdf8 16. Nb5 Qd8) 14. a4 a5 15. b5 Na7 16. Bg5
Rde8 17. Qe2 Kb8 18. Nd4 h6 19. Bh3 Nac8 (19... g5 $5 20. Bg3 h5 21. f4 h3 22.
Be1 gxf4) 20. Bg3 Ka8 21. Kh1 Bc5 22. f4 g6 23. N2f3 Nf5 24. Bf2 h5 (24... Nb6
25. Nxf5 gxf5 26. Bxc5 Qxc5 27. Nd4 Reg8 28. Qe3) 25. Rab1 Nb6 {I was
beginning to feel a bit more positive now.} 26. Ng5 Re7 27. Nxf5 (27. Nc6 $1
$18 {would have dispelled any complacency.}) 27... gxf5 28. g3 Bc8 (28... Be8
$5) (28... h3 $1 29. gxh3 Rg7 30. Rg1) 29. h3 {Black's not doing wonderfully
well here after the King's-side is blockaded but I think should survive.} Nd7 {
That allows White unnecessary chances.} (29... Bd7 30. Be3 Ba3 (30... Be8 31.
Qf2 Bxe3 32. Qxe3) 31. Qf2) 30. Bxc5 (30. Nxe6 Rxe6 31. Bxf5 Ree8 32. Bg6 $2
Reg8 33. Bxh5 $2 Bxf2) 30... Nxc5 (30... Qxc5 31. b6 Qa3 (31... Nxb6 32. Rb5
Qc7 33. Rxa5+ Kb8 34. Rb5 Bd7 35. Rb4 Bc6 36. Kh2) 32. Qd2 (32. Rb5 Qxc3 33.
Rf3 Qa1+ 34. Rb1 Qd4 35. Qe1 Nb8 36. Qxa5+ Na6) 32... Nb8 33. Rb5 Nc6 34. Rfb1)
31. b6 Qc6 32. Kh2 {Now I think Black is in trouble here (Rb5!), but I should
have anticipated the looming disaster after} Nxa4 $2 {Asking for trouble!} 33.
Ra1 (33. Bxa4 Qxa4 34. Ra1 Qb5 35. Rfb1 Qa6 36. Qa2 Rhe8 37. Qxa5 Qxa5 38.
Rxa5+ Kb8 39. Rba1 Bd7 40. Ra8#) 33... Nxb6 34. Rxa5+ Kb8 35. Qe3 Nd7 36. Rb1
b6 37. Ba4 Qc7 38. Bxd7 Qxd7 39. Rxb6+ Bb7 40. Rd6 Qc8 41. Qa7+ {I made it all
too easy for White.} 1-0

[Event "East Devon"]
[Site "Exeter"]
[Date "2007.02.25"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Regis, D."]
[Black "Helbig, P."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A42"]
[PlyCount "87"]

{Unusually, I had a look at the draw, and found I was playing a chap who I had
observed playing an old favourite variation of mine.  And I knew that in the
main line, Black has to allow a draw by 'perpetual attack' or concede an
advantage.  In the game, Black conceded the advantage although I didn't do
much with it.  Having made a pass at the King's-side I decided I could do
better on the Queen's-side, and was happy to offer an exchange to help that
along.  The sacrifice was initially declined, but I was just about to extract
the Rook when he took it!  Then Black played a central break where in mutual
time trouble I saw the winning move but 'safely' took back my piece, which
should have lost.} 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. c4 d6 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. d5 Nd4 6. Be3 c5
7. Nge2 Nxe2 (7... Qb6 8. Nxd4 (8. Qd2 {keeps the game alive}) 8... cxd4 (8...
Bxd4 9. Bxd4 cxd4 10. Nb5 a6 11. Qxd4) 9. Na4 Qa5+ 10. b4 Qxb4+ 11. Bd2 Qa3 12.
Bc1 Qb4+ 13. Bd2) 8. Bxe2 Nf6 9. O-O O-O 10. f4 Ne8 11. Qd2 Nc7 12. f5 a6 13.
Bh6 (13. fxg6) 13... Bd7 14. a4 (14. Bxg7 Kxg7 15. Qf4) 14... b5 $5 (14... Bd4+
15. Kh1 Re8 16. fxg6 hxg6 17. Qf4 Bf6 18. g4) 15. axb5 (15. Bxg7 Kxg7 16. axb5
axb5) 15... axb5 16. Bxg7 (16. Rxa8 Qxa8 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Nxb5) 16... Rxa1 17.
Rxa1 Kxg7 18. Nxb5 Nxb5 19. cxb5 Qb8 20. fxg6 hxg6 21. Qc3+ f6 22. Ra5 Rc8 23.
Bc4 Rc7 24. Qa3 Rb7 25. Ra8 Qc7 {The pawn is less relevant than the bind.} 26.
Ra5 Qb8 27. Ra8 Qc7 28. Qa6 Kf7 29. Qa3 Qb6 30. Ra6 Qc7 31. Rc6 {Offering the
Exchange.} Qb8 32. Qa6 Kg7 33. Qa4 Bxc6 34. dxc6 Ra7 35. Qb3 Ra1+ 36. Kf2 Qb6
37. Qh3 Qa5 38. Qc3 (38. Qe6 Qd2+ 39. Kf3 Ra8 40. Qxe7+ Kh6 41. Qxf6 Qe1 $18)
38... Qc7 39. Qh3 (39. Bd5 $1 Qb6 40. Bc4 Ra5 41. Qb3 Ra1 42. Qd3 Ra5 43. Qd5
$18) 39... d5 $5 40. Bxd5 (40. Qg3 $5 {should have won: I saw it but had a
failure of nerve.} Qxg3+ 41. hxg3 dxc4 (41... Ra8 42. b6 $18) 42. b6 Ra8 (42...
c3 43. bxc3 Rb1 44. c7 $18) 43. b7 ({or} 43. c7 Rc8 44. b7 Rxc7 45. b8=Q Rd7
46. Ke2 $18) 43... Rb8 44. c7 Rxb7 45. c8=Q Rxb2+ 46. Ke3 c3 47. Qxc5 Rxg2 (
47... c2 48. Qxe7+ Kg8 49. Kd2 $1 $18) 48. Qxe7+ Kg8 49. Qe6+ Kg7 50. Kf3 $18)
40... Qf4+ 41. Qf3 Qd2+ 42. Kg3 (42. Qe2 $1) 42... Qg5+ (42... Qxb2 $1 $19 {
wins:} 43. Kh3 Qxb5) 43. Qg4 Qe3+ 44. Qf3 1/2-1/2

East Devon Congress, 2008

I think Harry and Laura were down again.

East Devon Congress, Open Section, 2009

A much better score, even though this may prove nothing more than the workings of chance. The first game did feature an absolutely wretched series of oversights, but the rest was quite heartening. In reality, I don't know that I was playing that much better; I was just present at the scene when Ponter had a brainfart and Helbig was visibly impatient to get the game over, with the usual consequence.

Click on [...] to see games list.

[Event "East Devon Open"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2009.03.06"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Regis"]
[Black "Ward, Ieuan"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A14"]
[Annotator "Regis,Dave"]
[PlyCount "60"]

{Not sure whether to be encouraged or discouraged by this one!  After dropping
a pawn early on, I persuaded Ieuan to avoid various Knight endings because of
my potentially active King, and so worked my Queen into a position where I had
some play.  But I overlooked a simple perpetual then lost a piece...} 1. c4 e6
2. Nf3 d5 3. b3 Nf6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O b6 7. Bb2 Bb7 8. cxd5 Bxd5 9.
Nc3 Bb7 10. Rc1 a6 11. Re1 Nbd7 12. d4 c5 13. e4 Qb8 14. d5 (14. e5 Nd5 15.
dxc5 Nxc5 16. Nxd5 Bxd5 17. b4 Nd7 18. a3 Qb7) 14... exd5 15. Nxd5 (15. exd5
Re8 16. Nh3 Bd6 17. Rxe8+ Qxe8 18. Nf5 Qf8 19. Ne4) 15... Nxd5 16. exd5 Bf6 17.
Bxf6 (17. Rc2 $1 Rd8 18. Bc1 $1) 17... Nxf6 18. Rc2 Rd8 19. Ne5 Bxd5 20. Rd2
Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Qc7 22. Rxd8+ Rxd8 23. Qf3 h6 (23... Re8 $1) 24. h3 b5 25. Nc6
Re8 26. Rxe8+ Nxe8 27. Qd5 Qb6 (27... Qd6 $5 28. Qxd6 Nxd6 29. Nb8 a5 30. Nc6
c4 31. bxc4 bxc4 32. Nxa5 c3 33. Nb3 Nb5 34. Kf3 c2 35. Ke3 Nc3 36. a3 Na2 37.
Kd2) 28. Qd7 Nf6 (28... Kf8 29. Qe7+) 29. Ne7+ (29. Qc8+ Kh7 30. Qf5+ {draws})
29... Kf8 30. Nc8 $4 (30. Qc6 Qxc6+ 31. Nxc6) 30... Nxd7 0-1

[Event "East Devon Open"]
[Site "Exeter"]
[Date "2009.03.07"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Regis, D."]
[Black "Ponter, I."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A14"]
[PlyCount "61"]

{I decided it was time I stopped losing to this guy... Solid opening play
yielded a typical White advantage.  Black naturally tried to break, and I
allowed it because I thought (a) probably it's not possible to stop in the
long term and (b) in the short term might even work out well for White.  We
were just working out which of us was right when he played an 'exchange
sacrifice' that failed to secure the compensating piece...} 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 c6
3. Nf3 d5 4. b3 e6 5. Bg2 Be7 6. O-O O-O 7. Bb2 a5 8. e3 Nbd7 9. Nc3 Re8 10. d4
Rb8 11. a4 Nb6 12. Qe2 Bb4 13. Rfd1 Bd7 14. c5 Bxc3 15. Bxc3 Nc8 16. Qe1 Ra8
17. Ne5 Ne7 18. Rdb1 Bc8 19. b4 axb4 20. Bxb4 Nd7 21. Nd3 Ng6 22. h3 (22. f4 f6
23. e4 dxe4 24. Bxe4 e5 25. f5 Ngf8 26. dxe5 fxe5 (26... Nxe5 27. Nxe5 Qd4+))
22... e5 23. h5 Ngf8 24. dxe5 Nxe5 25. Nxe5 Rxe5 26. h6 Ne6 27. hxg7 d4 28. Rd1
Qe8 29. e4 Nxc5 $2 30. f4 Na6 $2 31. fxe5 1-0

[Event "East Devon Open"]
[Site "Exeter"]
[Date "2009.03.07"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Hutchings, R."]
[Black "Regis, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C01"]
[PlyCount "81"]

{Roger and I have contested a couple of games 10 years ago, when I had the
distinct impression he was better than me, but he's had a few years off and
comes to the board with a real bandit grade (122).  I felt comfortable with
this game although several moves called for some serious thinking.  At the end
I thought I was winning simply, but it is not so simple in analysis!} 1. e4 e6
2. c4 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Bg5 Be7 6. Nc3 c6 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Be2 dxc4 9.
Bxc4 Bg4 10. O-O Nbd7 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Qxf3 Nb6 13. Bb3 Qxd4 {So, two Bishops
against a pawn.  Of course this takes some risks, but it's also the most
straightforward way to try and win for both sides.} 14. Rfe1 Rae8 15. a4 {Slow.
..} Qb4 16. Bc2 Nbd5 (16... Nfd5) 17. Qd3 {White's threats are starting to gel;
the normal ...g6 loses to Bh6, so I had to come up with something else.} Nf4
18. Qf3 Ng6 19. h4 Qc5 20. Qd3 Rd8 21. Qe2 Nd5 22. Ne4 Qb4 23. h5 Ngf4 24. Qf3
Bxg5 25. Nxg5 h6 26. Ne4 Qxb2 27. Rac1 {[#] I now tried to force the issue,
expecting to secure some exchanges by returning a pawn.} f5 28. Ng3 Rde8 29.
Bxf5 Qb4 30. Red1 Qxa4 (30... Re5 $5) (30... Rxf5 $1 31. Nxf5 Ne2+ 32. Kh1 Nxc1
33. Rxc1 Re5) 31. Ra1 Qb4 32. Rxa7 Re1+ (32... Nc3 $1) 33. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 34. Kh2
Qe7 35. Qb3 Qg5 {Threat ...Rxf5.} 36. Be4 Qh4+ 37. Kg1 Ne2+ 38. Nxe2 Qxf2+ 39.
Kh2 Qh4+ (39... Qxa7) 40. Kg1 Qxe4 {With, I thought, overwhelming pressure.}
41. Ng3 $4 {and resigns (...Qd4+).} (41. Qa2 $1 {and I would have played} Qe3+
({best is} 41... Rf5 $1 42. Ra3 Rxh5 43. Rf3 Re5 44. Nf4 b5 45. Qa8+ Kh7) (
41... Rf7 42. Ra8+ Kh7 43. Ra4 Qf5 44. Ng3 Qd3 45. Kh2 b5 46. Ra3 Qd1 47. Rc3
Rf6 {is another path to victory}) 42. Kh2 Rf2 43. Ra8+ Kf7 44. Qb1 Qe5+ (44...
Rxg2+ 45. Kxg2 Qxe2+ 46. Kg3 Qe5+ 47. Kg2 Qg5+ 48. Kf2 Qh3+ 49. Kg1 Qxh5 50.
Qxb7+) 45. Kg1 Rxe2 $2 (45... Rxg2+) (45... Rf6 46. Qxb7+ Ne7 47. Qb3+ Re6 48.
Qf3+ Qf5 49. Nf4) 46. Qg6+ Ke7 47. Re8+) 0-1

[Event "East Devon Open"]
[Site "Exeter"]
[Date "2009.03.08"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Richmond, J."]
[Black "Regis, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C12"]
[PlyCount "86"]

{Another opponent I have lost to in the past.  I was happy to have another
opportunity to rehearse the MacCutcheon (I usually get about one a year, but
here is my fourth this season), although I wasn't happy to be grovelling
around facing a massive initiative with what felt like 'only move's.  In the
end, White chose a moment to try and win which allowed more than sufficient
counterplay.} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7.
bxc3 Ne4 8. Qg4 g6 9. Bd3 Nxd2 10. Kxd2 c5 11. h3 Nc6 12. Nf3 Qa5 13. Qf4 cxd4
14. Nxd4 Nxd4 15. Qxd4 Bd7 16. Rab1 Bc6 (16... b6) 17. h5 g5 18. g3 O-O-O 19.
Rb4 Rhe8 20. Rhb1 Re7 21. Bb5 Bxb5 22. Rxb5 Qa6 23. Rc5+ Rc7 24. Rbb5 b6 25.
Rxc7+ Kxc7 26. a4 Rd7 27. Qb4 Qb7 28. a5 Qc6 29. Qa4 Kb7 30. a6+ Kb8 31. Rb4
Qc7 32. f4 gxf4 33. Rxf4 Re7 34. Qd4 Qc8 35. Rf6 Qxa6 36. Rxh6 Qf1 37. Rf6 Qh3
38. Qh3 Qg2+ 39. Kc1 Rc7 40. Qg5 Rxc3 41. Qg8+ Rc8 42. Qh7 Qg1+ 43. Kb2 Qd4+
1/2-1/2

[Event "East Devon Open"]
[Site "Exeter"]
[Date "2009.03.08"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Regis, D."]
[Black "Helbig, P."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A45"]
[Annotator "Dell"]
[PlyCount "109"]

{I was happy to repeat our game from last year, but starting with the d-pawn
led to a position I haven't played seriously for 25 years!  Some improvisation
at the board took me into the relatively safe territory of a variation against
the Pirc which I have played several times.  It's theoretically nothing
special for White, and Black played one of the recommended equalising lines,
but made a couple of mistakes large enough to lose.  Perhaps his real mistake
was to spend less time looking at our game than (a) his watch and (b) the
last-round top-board game where IM Jack Rudd tripped over Bob Eames.} 1. d4 Nf6
{Oops.  Now what?  I know nothing about the King's Indian.} 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7
4. e4 {Heading for a Pirc.} d6 5. Ne2 O-O 6. O-O e5 7. h3 Re8 {That's a
plausible move but perhaps too early: d4-d5 will leave it misplaced.} 8. Nbc3
c6 9. a4 Na6 10. Be3 Nb4 {aiming for ...d5} 11. Qd2 (11. a5 $5) 11... a5 12.
Rad1 exd4 13. Bxd4 {I'd just had an enormous carvery lunch so offered a draw
here in the hope of getting some kip.} d5 14. exd5 Nbxd5 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Bxg7
Kxg7 17. c4 Qe7 18. cxd5 Qxe2 19. dxc6 (19. Qc3+) 19... Qxd2 20. Rxd2 bxc6 $2 {
It seems obvious that I should take the pawn, but I thought myself out of it
because of ...Bxh3, attacking the Rook.  I just couldn't see  that I could
move to d1 and that ...Bg4 wasn't an issue.} (20... Re7) 21. Rc1 (21. Bxc6 $1
Bxh3 22. Rfd1 $1 (22. Ra1 Rad8 $1) 22... Be6 (22... Bg4 23. f3) 23. Bxa8 Rxa8
24. Rd8 Ra7 25. Rb8 Bd7 26. Ra1 Kf6 27. b4 Ke5 28. b5 Be6 29. b6 Rd7 30. b7 Kf6
31. Rb1 Bd5 32. Rb6+ Kg5 33. Rb5 f5 34. Rxd5 Rxd5 35. Ra8) 21... Ra7 22. Bxc6 {
White's b-pawn is not a great candidate.} Rc7 23. Rdc2 Re5 24. Kg2 Bf5 25. Rc3
Re2 26. g4 Be6 27. Bb5 Rxc3 28. bxc3 {a better candidate....} Re5 29. c4 Rc5 {
Whereupon Black offered a draw.} 30. Kf3 Kf6 31. Ke3 Ke5 32. f4+ Kd6 33. Rd1+
Kc7 34. Kd4 Kb6 $2 (34... Kd6 $1 35. Re1 h5 $1 36. Re5 (36. g5 $5 Bxh3 37. Re5
Rxe5 38. fxe5+ Kc7 39. c5 h3 {and White is shown to have been bluffing}) 36...
Rxe5 37. fxe5+ Ke7 38. gxh5 gxh5 39. h3) 35. Rb1 $1 {Breaking the blockade.}
Rc7 36. Bd7+ Ka7 37. Bxe6 fxe6 38. Rb5 Ka6 39. c5 Rd7+ 40. Ke5 {Game over.}
Rd5+ 41. Kxe6 Rd4 42. Rb6+ Ka7 43. f5 gxf5 44. gxf5 Rxa4 45. f6 Re4+ 46. Kd7
Rf4 47. Ke7 a4 48. f7 a3 49. Rb3 ({I spent too long trying to 'solve'} 49. Rf6
Rxf6 50. Kxf6 a2 51. f8=Q a1=Q+ {, knowing all the while I wasn't going to
play it}) 49... Re4+ 50. Kf6 Rf4+ 51. Ke6 a2 (51... Re4+ 52. Kf5) 52. Ra3+ Kb7
53. Rxa2 Rf1 54. Re2 Kc6 55. Ke7 1-0

East Devon Congress, 2010

I think Harry and Laura were down again.

East Devon Congress, 2011

Young Theo Slade was staying with me, and I didn't want to be playing when he was ready to go home.

East Devon Congress, Open Section, 2012

Young Theo Slade was staying with me again, and I didn't want to miss the chance of playing again! http://www.chessdevon.co.uk/P1000141.jpg As usual, only one splash of colour in the room, and it's me... I had a good season last year and this one has been going better; I expect my weekly sessions trying to keep up with Theo have something to do with it. So, no longer content to draw with 160+ players, I made a good start, but that was the best of it. Woodruff's improvised opening wasn't hard to cope with, but I didn't make much of it, and although I played OK for the first part of the game against Mackle, the rest was pretty lame. The Wensley game was awful, and although I had some ideas against Stephens, I just missed the chance to pick up material and immediately blew up, thrashing around trying to make something happen. It all felt unbalanced and chaotic; bleah

Click on [...] to see games list.

[Event "East Devon"]
[Site "Palm Handheld"]
[Date "2012.03.02"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Regis, D."]
[Black "Page, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A14"]
[PlyCount "105"]

{White against a lower-rated player, I just kept playing in the hope that
something would turn up, and it did.  There were several crisper lines towards
the end, but I was pretty confident by then that I would win.} 1. c4 e6 2. g3
d5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. b3 c5 7. d3 $2 {I guess this shows that
I don't study openings as much as people think I do!  Or at least, I'm
interested in too many openings, so while my scope is as wide as the ocean,
it's also as shallow as a gnat's bidet.} (7. Bb2 $1 d4 8. e3 $1 Nc6 9. exd4
cxd4 10. Re1 $1 Ne8 (10... Re8)) 7... Nc6 8. e3 b6 9. Bb2 Bb7 10. Nbd2 Qc7 {
Not sure the Queen belongs on that square, but the major pieces are difficult
to place well in  this line.  I changed the pawn structure here, no real
reason.} 11. cxd5 exd5 12. a3 Rad8 13. Rc1 {I guess White can claim not to be
worse here.} Qd7 14. Qc2 Ba8 15. d4 h6 16. Rfd1 Rc8 17. Qd3 Rfd8 18. dxc5 bxc5
{A second change, this one more purposeful.  The hanging pawns confer space
and possibilities of an attack, but Black was showing no signs of aggression
and if he wanted an endgame that was fine by me.} 19. Qb1 Qe6 20. Qa1 Nb8 21.
Ne5 {Black may wish to swap off this well-posted piece, but I don't think
exchanges are in his interest.} Nbd7 22. Nxd7 Rxd7 23. Nf3 Rb7 24. Nd2 Rb6 25.
Be5 Ne8 26. Rc2 Bf6 {Black is tempted to further exhanges.} 27. Bxf6 Nxf6 28.
Rdc1 Nd7 29. b4 $5 c4 {Black's passed pawn I thought less important than the
weak dark squares and bad Bishop.} 30. Nf3 Qg6 31. Rd2 Rcb8 32. Ne5 Nxe5 33.
Qxe5 {The d5 point is tender} Qe6 34. Qd4 Rb5 $2 (34... Rd6 $2 35. Qxa7) (34...
Rd8 $2 35. Rxc4) (34... a5 $1 $11 {Normal moves concede a pawn, Black must get
counterplay or die.} 35. bxa5 Rb5 36. e4 dxe4 37. Qxc4 Qxc4 38. Rxc4 Rxa5 39.
Rb4 Rc8 40. a4 Rc1+ 41. Bf1 Ra1) 35. Qxa7 R5b6 36. Qc7 Rc8 37. Qf4 Ra6 38. Rc3
Bc6 39. b5 $5 Bxb5 40. Bxd5 Qe7 41. Rd4 (41. Qf5 $1 $18) 41... Rf8 (41... Ra4)
42. Re4 Qa7 43. Bxc4 Bxc4 44. Rcxc4 Rxa3 45. Rc7 Ra1+ 46. Kg2 Qa6 47. Rec4 Qa3
48. Rc8 $1 Rd1 49. Rxf8+ {Sloppy.} (49. R4c7 $1 Qb3 50. Rxf8+ Kxf8 51. Qe4 $1
$18) 49... Qxf8 50. Rc7 Rd6 $2 51. Rxf7 $1 Qa8+ 52. e4 Rd4 53. Re7 $2 (53.
Rxg7+ $1) 1-0

[Event "East Devon"]
[Site "Palm Handheld"]
[Date "2012.03.03"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Woodruff, A."]
[Black "Regis, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C12"]
[PlyCount "69"]

{It's funny how emotions affect you during a game.  I was so depressed by the
disappearance of my attack on moves 15-25 that I spent moves 25-35 feeling
that I was worse and that the best I could do now was draw.  Only listening to
Adam during the post-mortem did I realise that the positive points of my
position might have been worth pursuing for a third result.} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5
3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 {Adam played the opening very slowly; I think he
had prepared the Alekhin-Chatard Gambit but didn't have anything in mind
against the Mac.} h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. Bxc3 {The first inaccuracy.} (7. bxc3) 7...
Ne4 8. Bb4 c5 9. Bxc5 (9. dxc5 $2 {is a well-known trap, but Adam had to work
it out for himself:} Nxf2 $1 $17) 9... Nxc5 10. dxc5 Qa5+ $6 (10... Nd7 $1 {
Psakhis}) 11. Qd2 Qxc5 12. O-O-O Nc6 13. f4 Bd7 14. Kb1 Rc8 15. Nf3 {So far so
logical, but now how is Black to make progress on the Queen's-side?} Qa5 (15...
Nb4) (15... Na5) (15... b5) (15... a5) 16. c3 b5 17. Nd4 Nxd4 18. Qxd4 O-O 19.
g4 Rc7 20. Bd3 Rb8 21. a3 Qb6 {Black has to regroup to get any further.} 22.
Be2 a5 23. Qxb6 Rxb6 24. Rd4 b4 $1 25. cxb4 axb4 26. axb4 Rcb7 27. Rhd1 Rxb4
28. R1d2 f6 29. exf6 gxf6 30. h3 Kf7 31. Bf3 Ke7 32. h3 Rb8 33. Bd1 Bc6 34. Bf3
Bd7 {Acceding to the draw, but there were some ways to improve Black's
position without worrying about White doing anything much.} (34... Rxd4 35.
Rxd4 e5 36. Rd2 Kd6 37. fxe5+ fxe5) (34... Kd6) 35. Bd1 1/2-1/2

[Event "East Devon"]
[Site "Palm Handheld"]
[Date "2012.03.04"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Wensley, O."]
[Black "Regis, D."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C01"]
[Annotator "Regis,Dr.Dave"]
[PlyCount "115"]

{In a do-nothing opening I got a big decision wrong... All credit to my
opponent for making something out of nothing, but I was cross with myself at
the time.} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 {Yawn.} exd5 {I guess there's still 30
pieces on the board and chances to show who can handle them better.  Today, it
wasn't me... In fact, Oliver went on to tie for first place.} 4. Nf3 Nf6 (4...
Bg4 5. h3 Bh5 6. Qe2+ Be7 7. Qb5+ {is for a do-or-die game.}) (4... Bd6 5. c4 (
{A recent game Savic (2520)-Ulibin, M (2538), Paracin SRB 2011 went} 5. Bd3 Ne7
6. O-O Bg4 {(Its always nice to take advantage of Nf3 with ...Bg4 otherwise
you feel that White has gotten in this good move for free)} 7. Re1 Nbc6 {This
is equivalent to a line I recommend in Play the French, i.e., 4 Bd3 Nc6 5 Nf3
Bd6 6 0-0 Bg4 7 Re1 Nge7.} 8. c3 Qd7 9. Nbd2 O-O-O 10. Nf1 f6 11. h3 (11. b4)
11... Bf5 (11... Bh5) 12. Ne3 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 g5 14. Ng4 (14. b4 $5 {- It's
awkward to stop Black on the kingside so perhaps a pawn race will reward White
better}) 14... Ng8 15. Ne3 Nge7 16. Ng4 {(Is this the old
'I'm-playing-the-Exchange-Variation-to-draw-as-White' syndrome?)} Ng8 17. Ne3
Nce7 $1 {(trying to win)} 18. c4 dxc4 19. Qxc4 {Now Black played 19...Nh6, but
19..h5 was also interesting: [the game continuation:]} Nh6 $5 {To mix things
up. One path to equality was} (19... h5 20. d5 (20. b4 $6 g4 21. Nh3 gxh3 22.
g3 Nh6) (20. h3 g4 21. Nd2 f5 22. Nb3 f4 23. Nf1 Nf6 24. Nc5 Qf5 {'='} 25. Ne6
Rd7 26. Nc5 Rdd8 $11) 20... g4 21. hxg4 hxg4 22. Qxg4 Qxg4 23. Nxg4 Nxd5 $11 {
, with chances to play for a win.}) 20. d5 (20. Bd2 Rhg8 $5 (20... Nhf5) 21.
Qb3 g4 22. hxg4 Nxg4 23. Nc4 Nf5 $13) 20... Nhf5 21. Kf1 Kb8 {and: (b) the
game went} 22. Bd2 $6 ({(a)} 22. Nxf5 Qxf5 23. Rd1 Be5 $5 24. Nxe5 Qxe5 25. f4
Qd6 (25... Qf5 $5) 26. fxg5 fxg5 (26... Rhg8 $5 27. Bf4 Nxd5 $1 28. Bxd6 Ne3+
29. Kg1 Nxc4 30. Bf4 $11) (26... Nxd5 27. Kg1 c6) 27. Bxg5 Rhg8 28. Bxe7 Qxe7
29. d6 cxd6 30. Kg1 $11) 22... h5 $1 23. Nxf5 Qxf5 24. Rad1 g4 25. Nd4 Qxd5 26.
Qxd5 Nxd5 27. Nf5 Be5 $17 {and Black went on to win.}) 5... Nf6 {In Play the
French I have recommended simply 5...c6, but this move is now the main way to
meet 4 Nf3 Bd6 5 c4, and has been used by several top GMs.} ({John Watson
suggests} 5... c6 $5 {when the sequence} 6. Nc3 Ne7 7. Bd3 dxc4 8. Bxc4 O-O 9.
O-O Nd7 {planning ...Nb6 is solid enough for Black.}) 6. Nc3 ({For} 6. c5 {and}
) (6. Bg5 {, see Zatonskih-Savchenko in the Archives.}) (6. c5 Be7 7. Bd3 b6 $1
8. cxb6 (8. b4 $2 a5 9. cxb6 axb4 (9... Bxb4+ 10. Bd2 cxb6 11. O-O $15) 10.
bxc7 Qxc7 $15) 8... axb6 9. O-O O-O 10. Bg5 (10. Nc3 $11) 10... c5 (10... Ba6
11. Nc3 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 {only gives White a nice lead in development.}) 11. b3 $2
{This ends up hurting White because the dark squares on the queenside are
weakened.} (11. Nc3 Nc6 $5 (11... Bb7 $11) 12. dxc5 (12. Bb5 Bb7 13. dxc5 bxc5
14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Qxd5 Qb6 $1) 12... bxc5 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. Nxd5 Bxb2 15. Rb1
Bd4) 11... h6 12. Bh3 g5 (12... Nc6 {is also good}) 13. Bg3 Ne4 $1 14. Bxb8 $5
{It's hard to find a good move. Zatonskih, a brilliant French player, seems to
have fallen into the typically negative mode that White often does in the
Exchange Variation.} ({The long diagonal attack with ...Bf6 hurts White in
several variations:} 14. Re1 Nxg3 15. hxg3 Nc6 16. Nc3 Bf6) (14. Ne5 cxd4 15.
Qh5 Kg7) (14. Nbd2 Nxg3 15. hxg3 Nc6 16. dxc5 bxc5 17. Re1 Nb4 {and ...Bf6})
14... Rxb8 15. Qc2 f5 ({or} 15... Bf6) 16. Nc3 Bb7 17. dxc5 Bf6 $5 ({Or} 17...
Bxc5) 18. c6 Bxc6 19. Bxe4 fxe4 20. Rad1 Bxc3 21. Qxc3 Bb5 22. Rfe1 $2 {
Desperate. White could still try} (22. Qe5 exf3 23. Rxd5 Bxf1 $5 (23... Bd7 24.
Qd4 Rf7 25. Rd6 Qe7 26. Rxh6 Rg7 27. gxf3 $15) 24. Qe6+ Rf7 25. Qg6+ Rg7 26.
Qe6+ Kh7 27. Qf5+ Kh8 28. Rxd8+ Rxd8 29. Qxf3 (29. Qf6 Rd1 $1 {and there's no
perpetual.}) 29... Ba6 30. h3) 22... exf3 23. Re6 Qd7 24. Qe5 Rbe8 25. Rg6+ Kh7
26. Qd6 Qxd6 27. Rxd6 Be2 28. R1xd5 Rc8 29. Rd7+ Kg8 30. h3 Rc1+ 31. Kh2 fxg2 {
0-1 Zatonskih,A-Savchenko,B/Politiken Cup 2011/[John Watson]}) ({Yet another
Ulibin game from this month:} 6. Bg5 dxc4 ({I'd prefer ...0-0, since} 6... O-O
7. c5 Be7 {really doesn't look very good for White}) 7. Bxc4 O-O 8. O-O h6 9.
Bh3 Nc6 10. Nc3 Bg4 11. h3 Bxf3 (11... Bh5 $2 12. g4 Bg6 13. Nd5) 12. Qxf3 g5
$1 13. Ne4 $5 Nxe4 14. Qxe4 Kg7 (14... gxh3 $4 15. Qg6+ Kh8 16. Qxh6+ Kg8 17.
Bd3 f5 18. Bc4+ Rf7 19. Qg6+) 15. d5 f5 16. Qc2 Nd4 $1 17. Qd3 Qf6 18. Rad1 Bc5
(18... b5 $1 {forces} 19. Bg3 bxc4 20. Qxd4 Qxd4 21. Rxd4 f4 22. Bh2 Rab8 {
with an obvious advantage}) 19. Bg3 f4 20. Bh2 a5 21. Kh1 Rae8 22. g3 $5 f3 23.
g4 Re7 24. Rde1 Ne2 $17 {Perman, E (2149) -Ulibin, M (2538), Biel SUI 2011.})
6... O-O {I also discussed this pawn sacrifice in the Archives within
Zatonskih-Savchenko (briefly), and within Roitzsch-Graf (at length). Although
the game before you is from late September, it still bears notice, and I'll
review earlier comments to put everything in context.} (6... c6 7. Bg5 {A very
interesting move. The pin sets Black problems by indirectly threatening d5.
Polgar has no wish to concede the centre directly with 7...dxc4 8 Bxc4: she
would like White to waste a move with Bd3 or Be2 first and only then play ...
dxc4 when after Bxc4 she has gained a tempo. Instead Polgar comes up with a
fine response. She simply ignores the threat to d5! In view of his lack of
success in the opening, Kramnik was later critical of his bishop move and in
Informator 67 recommended} (7. c5 {or}) (7. cxd5 {as preferable.}) 7... O-O $1
{This pawn sacrifice should solve Black's opening problems.} 8. cxd5 h6 9. Bh3
$6 {White should try} (9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. Be2 Rd8 11. dxc6 Nxc6 12. O-O {-Kramnik
} Nxd4 $1 {Fritz} 13. Nxd4 Be5 14. Ncb5 Bxd4 15. Nxd4 Rxd4 16. Qe1 Be6 17. Qa5
b6 18. Qh5 Rd2) 9... Qb6 10. Qd2 Nxd5 11. Bg3 Bxg3 12. hxg3 Bg4 13. Bd3 Re8+
14. Kf1 Nd7 15. Nxd5 cxd5 16. Rh3 Bxf3 $2 {Black gives up bishop for knight
and strengthens White's kingside. Better was} (16... Be6 $1 17. Re1 Nf8 {with
equality-Kramnik.}) 17. gxf3 Nf8 18. Kg2 Ng6 19. Rh5 Qxd4 $2 {Black
understandably thinks that the liquidation of the centre pawns will reduce the
danger. Indeed it seems incredible that Black can be in serious trouble here,
when White no longer has any pawn advances to increase the pressure. But
Kramnik has looked very deeply into the position. Here he points out that
Black should be satisfied with the defensive} (19... Rad8) 20. Rd1 $1 Rad8 $2 {
This leads to a gruesome endgame.} ({Better was} 20... Qb6 {though} 21. Rxd5 {
leaves White with several small advantages-more active pieces, safer king and
better minor piece, which all build into a dangerous initiative.}) 21. Bxg6
Qxd2 22. Bxf7+ $1 Kxf7 23. Rxd2 {The dust has settled, and Black's d5 pawn is
doomed. An extremely instructive phase begins as Kramnik tries to exploit the
advantage of the extra doubled pawn.} d4 24. Rh3 d3 25. Rf4+ Kg6 26. Re4 $1 h5
({If} 26... Rxe4 27. fxe4 {when White puts his king on e3 and wins the d pawn
anyway.}) 27. Rxe8 Rxe8 28. Rxd3 Re2 29. Rb3 b6 30. Rb5 Kh6 31. g4 g6 $6 {
Black has no wish to undouble White's pawns with} (31... hxg4 32. fxg4 {but
according to Kramnik this was the best fighting chance. As played, White is
able to create connected passed pawns.}) 32. g5+ Kg7 33. f4 Rc2 34. Kg3 Rd2 35.
f3 Rc2 36. Rb3 Kf7 37. Ra3 Rxb2 38. Rxa7+ Kg8 39. f5 $1 {The winning
breakthrough. Now Black cannot prevent White gaining connected passed pawns as
39...gxf5 40 Kf4 Rb5 41 g6 planning Kg5 and Kf6 would soon be fatal for the
black king's health.} Rb5 {A clever riposte, but White can make sure that the
pawn leaves f5 with check.} 40. Ra8+ Kf7 {or} (40... Kg7 41. f6+) 41. fxg6+
Kxg6 42. f4 {The white pawns are now unstoppable. It just requires a little
accuracy from Kramnik.} Rb1 43. Rg8+ Kf5 44. Rf8+ Ke4 45. Re8+ Kf5 46. Re5+ Kg6
47. Re6+ Kf5 48. Rf6+ Ke4 49. g6 b5 50. Kh3 Rh1+ 51. Kg5 h3 52. Re6+ Kf3 53. g7
Rg1+ 54. Kf6 h3 55. Re8 {as if 55...h2 56 Rh8 wins. An excellent example of
Kramnik's relentless technique. Polgar was slowly ground down after her
initial opening activity. 1-0 Kramnik,V-Polgar,J/It 1996/[Neil McDonald]}) (
6... dxc4 7. Bxc4 O-O 8. O-O Nc6 9. h3 {(versus ...Bg4)} h6 10. a3 Bf5 11. b4
a6 12. Bb2 Re8 $11 {Andrijevic, M (2365)-Ulibin, M (2538), Paracin SRB 2011.})
7. cxd5 (7. c5 Be7 8. Be2 b6 9. cxb6 axb6 10. O-O c5) 7... Nbd7 8. Be2 ({I
mentioned} 8. Bc4 Re8+ 9. Be3 Ng4 $5 {, as well as}) (8. Bg5 h6 9. Bh3 Nb6 10.
Be2 Be7 11. O-O Nfxd5 {, which could also come from the next note.}) 8... h6 {
Without ...Re8, Black gets to the d-pawn in time and can afford this tempo to
prevent Bg5.} (8... Nb6 {is also fine:} 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh3 g5 11. Bg3 Nbxd5 12.
O-O Nf4 $11 (12... Be6 $11) 13. Bc4 Be6 14. Bxe6 Nxe6) ({But} 8... Re8 9. O-O
h6 $6 {is a bit slow, as indicated in Roitzsch-Graf.}) 9. O-O Nb6 10. Ne5 Nfxd5
11. Nxd5 (11. Bd3 {has ideas of Bb1 and Qd3.}) 11... Nxd5 12. Bc4 Nb6 (12... c6
$11) 13. Bb3 Qf6 14. Re1 Be6 15. Bc2 Bf5 16. Ng4 $1 Bxg4 $5 (16... Qg6 $1 17.
Bxf5 Qxf5 18. Bxh6 $1 Rae8 {yields some compensation, perhaps a tad less than
enough following} 19. h3 Rxe1+ 20. Qxe1 Qd5 21. Qe3 $1 Nc4 22. Qc3 Re8 23. Ne3
Nxe3 24. Bxe3 c6 $14) 17. Qxg4 Rfe8 18. Bd2 Bf8 19. Re4 c6 20. h3 $1 Nd5 21.
Rae1 Red8 22. Re5 (22. Qe2 c5 $5) 22... Qd6 23. Qg3 Nf6 $6 (23... Rab8 24. Qd3
Nf6) 24. Bxh6 Qxd4 25. Bg5 ({Or} 25. Rg5) 25... Rd6 26. R5e2 Qc5 27. Bf4 $5 (
27. Qb3) 27... Nh5 $1 28. Bxd6 $2 {An unusual mistake from such a strong
player. Now we reach equality by force. Better} (28. Qg5 Qxg5 29. Bxg5 $14)
28... Nxg3 29. Bxc5 Nxe2+ 30. Rxe2 Bxc5 31. Rd2 Re8 32. Kf1 Bb4 33. Rd1 g6 34.
a3 Ba5 35. b4 Bb6 36. Rd7 Rd8 37. Rxd8+ Bxd8 38. g3 Bf6 {1/2-1/2 Bologan,
V-Socko,B/FIDE World Cup 2011 2011/[John Watson]}) 5. Bd3 Bg4 6. h3 Bh5 7. Bg5
Be7 8. Nbd2 Nbd7 9. c3 c6 10. Qc2 Qc7 11. O-O-O O-O-O 12. Rde1 Rde8 13. Ne5 $1
{Black's next is important.  I analysed some long complicated lines but not
some simple short ones.} Ne4 $2 (13... Nxe5 $5 14. dxe5 Ne4 (14... Nd7 15. Bxe7
Rxe7 16. f4 Rhe8 17. g4 Bg6 18. f5) 15. Bxe7 Rxe7 16. Nxe4 (16. f4 $1 Bg6 17.
Nxe4 Bxe4 18. Bxe4 dxe4 19. Rxe4) 16... dxe4 17. Rxe4 Rxe5 $1 (17... Bg6 $5 {
Fritz}) 18. Rxe5 Qxe5 $11 19. Bxh7 $2 g6 $1 20. g4 Rxh7 21. gxh5 Rxh5 $17 {I
saw all that then played something which had much more obvious flaws.}) (13...
Bd6 $5 14. Nxd7 (14. Ndf3 Bg6 15. Nxg6 hxg6) (14. Bf4 Bg6 15. Nxg6 hxg6 16.
Bxd6 Qxd6) 14... Nxd7 15. Bxh7 {and now clearly ...g6 doesn't work}) 14. Bxe7
Rxe7 15. Nxd7 Qxd7 16. Nxe4 dxe4 17. Rxe4 Bg6 18. Rxe7 Qxe7 19. Bf5+ Kc7 20.
Bxg6 hxg6 21. Qd2 Re8 22. Rd1 Qe6 {I don't think either side covered
themselves in glory during the rest of the game; for example, I was happier to
see a Rook endgame emerge than any of the other options.} 23. d5 cxd5 24. Qxd5
Qxd5 25. Rxd5 Kc6 26. Rd2 Re1+ 27. Kc2 Rg1 28. g3 $6 {White gives Black
unnecessary hope.} (28. f3 $1 {creates half as many weaknesses!}) 28... g5 $1
29. g4 Rh1 30. Rd3 Rf1 31. Rf3 f6 32. b4 b5 33. Kd3 Kd6 (33... Ra1 $1 {seems
obvious enough.}) 34. Ke4 Ke6 35. Kd4 Kd6 36. Rd3 a6 (36... Rxf2 $4 37. Ke3+) (
36... Ra1 $1 {Still no idea why I didn't play this.} 37. Rd2) 37. c4 bxc4 38.
Kxc4+ Kc6 39. f3 Rc1+ 40. Rc3 Rd1 (40... Rh1) 41. a4 Rb1 42. Kd4+ Kd6 43. Rc4
Re1 44. b5 axb5 45. axb5 Rd1+ 46. Kc3 Rb1 (46... Kd5) 47. Rb4 Rc1+ (47... Rf1
48. b6) 48. Kd4 Rd1+ 49. Ke4 Kc5 50. Rb2 Kb6 51. Rb3 g6 52. f4 gxf4 (52... Re1+
53. Re3) 53. Kxf4 Rd4+ 54. Kg3 g5 55. Rf3 Rd6 56. Rf5 Re6 (56... Rd3+ {was my
intention when it was my opponent's move... in time trouble, I snatched at a
move under my nose and paid the usual price.} 57. Kg2 Rd6 58. h3 gxh3 (58...
Rd2+ 59. Kf3 gxh3 60. Rxf6+ Kxb5 61. Rh6 Kc5 62. Rxh3 Kd5 63. Rh8 Ke6 64. Rf8)
59. Kh3) 57. h3 Re3+ $4 {Not so good now.} 58. Kf2 1-0

[Event "East Devon"]
[Site "Palm Handheld"]
[Date "2012.03.04"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Regis, D."]
[Black "Stephens, J."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A25"]
[PlyCount "72"]

{A peculiar game where both players were content with their assets, but had
their pieces poorly placed.  In the end, I lost control of my nerves and the
position, and paid the usual penalty for either.} 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 Nf6
4. Nc3 Bb4 {I lost a terrible game playing this system as Black against Chris
Bellers, many years ago.  The details are mercifully forgotten, but it may
have led to me playing with more confidence than was justified by the position.
} 5. Nd5 Bc5 6. e3 O-O 7. Ne2 Re8 (7... a6 8. O-O d6 9. b3 (9. a3 Bd7 10. b4
Ba7 11. Bb2 Rb8 12. f4 Nxd5 13. cxd5 Ne7 14. fxe5 dxe5 15. Bxe5 Bb5 16. Nf4 $5
(16. a4 $1 Bd3 (16... Bxe2 17. Qxe2 Nxd5 18. Qc4) 17. Ra3 Bc4 18. Rc3 b5 19.
Nf4 Bxf1 20. Bxc7) 16... Bxf1 17. Qxf1 Ng6 18. Bc3 Qg5 19. Kh1 Rfe8 20. Nxg6
hxg6 21. Qc4 Re7 22. Rf1 Rd8 23. Ba1 Rd6 24. Qc3 f6 25. a4 Qg4 26. Bf3 Qh3 27.
Qc4 Qd7 28. Qb3 Kh8 29. Bc3 c6 30. dxc6 bxc6 31. Qc4 Bxe3 32. dxe3 Rxe3 33. Bb2
Qe7 {Makarov,M-Semeniuk,A/Novosibirsk 1989/1-0 (50)}) 9... Ba7 10. Bb2 Nxd5 11.
cxd5 Ne7 12. d4 f6 13. Rc1 Bd7 14. Qd2 Ng6 15. Rc2 Bb6 16. h3 Qe7 17. dxe5 fxe5
18. Nc3 Bf5 19. Ne4 h6 20. Rc4 Rf7 21. Bc3 Bd7 22. a4 a5 23. Rc1 Nf8 24. Ra1
Nh7 25. b4 axb4 26. Rxb4 Nf6 27. a5 Rxa5 28. Rxa5 Bxa5 29. Rxb7 Bxc3 30. Nxc3
Bc8 31. Rb8 Rf8 32. Qc2 Ba6 33. Rxf8+ Qxf8 34. Ne4 Nxe4 35. Bxe4 Qb8 36. Bf5
Bc8 37. Bxc8 Qxc8 38. Qg6 Qd7 39. e4 c5 40. dxc6 Qxc6 41. Kg2 Qd7 42. h5 d5 43.
exd5 Qxd5+ 44. f3 Qd2+ 45. Kh3 Qd7+ 46. g4 Qe7 47. Kg3 Qc5 48. Qe8+ Kh7 49.
Qg6+ Kh8 50. Qe8+ Kh7 51. Qg6+ Kh8 52. Qe8+ Kh7 53. Qg6+ Kh8 54. Qe8+ {1/2-1/2
Ruck,R-Dautov,R/Vienna op I 1996}) 8. O-O a6 9. a3 {This is Kosten's
recommended treatment.} (9. b3 $14 {is given by Marin.}) (9. d4 {is also
natural, but, I believe, equal.}) 9... d6 10. b4 Ba7 {Now White should play
Bb2 and f4, as the Queen's-side play leads to little.} 11. b5 axb5 12. cxb5 Na5
13. Bb2 Nxd5 14. Bxd5 c6 15. bxc6 bxc6 16. Bg2 d5 17. f4 Nc4 18. Bxe5 Nxe5 19.
fxe5 Rxe5 20. Qc2 Ba6 21. Rf2 {I have seen games where White sacrifices the
Exchange by moving the Knight, but no need, I think.} Rc8 22. Qa4 Qb6 23. Qf4
Qc7 {No doubt if the Bishops were centralised on d6 and e6, Black would be
winning, but they are marooned on the Queen's-side and don't co-ordinate with
anything.  Meanwhile, White's minor pieces are hardly faring any better.} 24.
Rc1 Re7 25. Nd4 Qxf4 26. Rxf4 Bb7 27. Nf5 Rd7 28. Bh3 {Fritz assesses White's
advantage as worth a pawn.} Rcc7 {Black's position has a strange symmetry
about it, much like my game against Alan Brusey at Torbay a while ago.} 29. Nd4
$2 (29. Rg4 $1 f6 (29... g6 30. Nh6+ Kg7 31. Ra4) 30. Nh6+ Kf8 31. Ra4 $1 $16 {
I saw all the ideas, but not how to put them together.} Bc8 32. Bxd7 Bxd7 33.
Ng4 d4 34. Nf2 dxe3 35. dxe3 Bxe3 36. Re1 Bb6) 29... Re7 30. Nf5 Re5 31. Ra4 $2
{This is not the right moment!} Bc8 32. d4 $2 {Another lemon, and this time
it's fatal.} Bxf5 33. dxe5 Bxe3+ 34. Kg2 Bxc1 35. Bxf5 g6 36. Bd3 Bb2 0-1

[Event "East Devon"]
[Site "Palm Handheld"]
[Date "2012.03.04"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Regis, D."]
[Black "Mackle, D."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A20"]
[PlyCount "73"]

{I was congratulated many times for this win against the highest-graded player
in the tournament, but there was no savour in it.  I was not the winner of
this game, but a mere eye-witness to my opponent's self-destruction.} 1. c4 e5
2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 h6 (3... c6 4. d4) 4. a3 c6 5. d4 exd4 6. Qxd4 d5 7. cxd5 cxd5
8. Nf3 {By now, Black had used 30-40 minutes of the 100 allocated for the
first 40 moves.  Such poor time management shouts of lost confidence.} Nc6 {
This is a well-known position, without the moves of the Rook's pawns.} 9. Qd1 (
9. Qa4 {is the approach recommended by Kosten, but during the game I saw merit
in other Queen moves.}) (9. Qd3) 9... Bc5 10. O-O O-O 11. b4 {Natural in some
ways, but it does concede the c4 point.} Bb6 12. Bb2 a6 13. Nbd2 Re8 14. Nb3
Bg4 15. h3 {For all my lecturing of juniors on Dreadful Little Rook's Pawn
Moves, here we have managed to display the full set.   This move makes a
target out of g3, but I thought I was always able to blockade on d4.} Bf5 16.
Rc1 (16. Nfd4 $1 Be4 17. Nxc6 bxc6 18. Bd4 $1 {looks obvious now.}) 16... Qd6 {
Black is starting to demonstrate some threats.} 17. Nfd4 (17. e3) 17... Be4 {
Some important decisions coming up.  Black was still consuming huge gobbets of
time.} 18. Nc5 Ne5 19. Bxe4 (19. Nxb7 $5 {was tempting, but I wanted to keep
control of the position.  Oh, the irony...}) 19... Nxe4 $14 20. Kg2 $2 $15 (20.
Nf5 $1 {was my original intention, but I then realised the now the Nf6 has
moved, Black has ...Qg6.  What I didn't realise was that ...Qg6 hung the
d-pawn...  I was shorter of time myself now, Dominic's nerves were infectious!}
Qg6 (20... Qd8 21. Nxe4 dxe4 22. Nd6) 21. Qxd5 Qxf5 22. Qxe4) 20... Nc4 $2 $16
21. Nxe4 $2 $17 (21. Nf5 $1 {is still correct, but it looked too loose.  Again,
I have lectured too often on the subject of loose pieces...} Qg6 22. Qxd5 Nxb2
23. Nxe4 Rad8 24. Ned6 Rxe2 25. Rc2 Rxc2 26. Ne7+) 21... Rxe4 22. Ba1 Qd7 $6 (
22... Bxd4 $1 23. Bxd4 Nxa3 $17) 23. Qd3 Rae8 24. e3 h5 {Black had less than 5
minutes left now, just as the game was getting critical.} 25. Nf3 $4 {Stupid...
I saw ...Nxe3, knew Black didn't have time to analyse it, hoped he didn't have
the bottle to play it.  Not good thinking!} (25. Rfd1 $14 h3) 25... Qf5 $2 (
25... Nxe3+ $1 $19) 26. Bd4 $14 {White has cobbled together a defence of sorts.
} Bd8 27. Rfd1 h3 28. g4 $4 {Again, provoking a combination, and this time
Black was up for it.} (28. Nd2 Nxd2 29. Rxd2 hxg3 30. f3 $1 Rxd4 31. Qxd4 (31.
Qxf5 $5 Rxd2+ 32. Kxg3)) 28... Rxg4+ $1 29. hxg4 Qxg4+ 30. Kf1 Qxf3 31. Bc5 h3
$2 32. Qxd5 $1 $16 Nxe3+ $4 33. Bxe3 Qg4 (33... Rxe3 34. Qxf3 $1) 34. Rd4 Qg6
35. Rc8 h2 36. Rxd8 Qb1+ 37. Rd1 $4 {Ridiculously, White's final move allowed
a draw, just as Black's flag fell.} (37. Rd1 $4 Qxd1+ $1 38. Qxd1 h1=Q+ 39. Ke2
Qh5+ 40. Kf1 Qh1+ $11) (37. Ke2 $1 h1=Q 38. Rxe8+ Kh7 39. Qxh1+ Qxh1 40. Re7 {
and as long as White retains a pawn, he should win.} (40. Ree4 Qa1 41. Rh3+ Kg6
42. Rd6+ f6 43. Rg4+ Kf5 44. Rxg7 Qxa3 45. Rxb7 Qa2+ 46. Kf3 Qc4)) 1-0