Two more games

RMD-ALD, 12/23/2006

1.Nc3 Nf6 2.e4 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.d4 {5.O-O O-O 6.d3 (C49)} Nxe4 6.Bxc6 {6.Qd3, Paulsen Louis - Morphy Paul, New York 1857; 6.O-O Bxc3 (6...Nxc3 7.bxc3 Bxc3, Smejkalova Martina - Simlova Jana, Czech Republic 2001) 7.bxc3 a6, Pearson Alexandra - Sakthivel Gaya, Sydney 2002} dxc6 7.Nxe5 O-O 8.O-O Nxc3 9.bxc3 Bd6 10.Qd3 Qh4 11.Nf3 Qf6 12.Ng5 Qh6 13.g3 Bh3 14.Nxh3 Qxh3 15.Re1 Rfe8 16.Bd2 Re7 17.Rxe7 Bxe7 18.Re1 Qd7 19.Kg2 Re8 20.h3 Bd6 21.Re4 Rxe4 22.Qxe4 Be7 23.Qf4 Qd5+ 24.Kh2 Bd6 25.Qg4 h5 26.Qc8+ Kh7 27.Qxb7 h4 28.Bf4 Bxf4 29.gxf4 Qxa2 30.Qb3 Qxb3 31.cxb3 Kg6 32.Kg2 Kf5 33.Kf3 f6 34.Ke3 g5 35.fxg5 fxg5 36.f3 a6? {36...a5!=} 37.b4 c5 38.d5? {38.dxc5! +/-} cxb4 39.cxb4 Ke5 40.Kd3 Kf4 41.Kd4 Kxf3 42.Kc5 g4 43.Kc6 gxh3 44.Kxc7 h2 45.d6 h1Q 46.d7 Qc1+ 47.Kb7 {47.Kd6} Qd2 48.Kc8 Qxd7+ 49.Kxd7 h3 0-1

RMD-ALD, 12/26/2006

1.e4 c5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nf3 e6 4.O-O d6 5.d3 Nf6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Be3 O-O 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bd7 10.b3 Ne5 11.Be2 Rc8 12.Qd2 d5 13.exd5 exd5 14.a4 Ne4 15.Nxe4 dxe4 16.a5 Bc6 17.a6 b6 18.c4 Bc5 19.Rfc1 Ba8 20.b4 Bxd4 21.Qxd4 Qxd4 22.Bxd4 Nc6 23.Bc3 Rfd8 24.h3 Nd4 25.Bg4 f5 26.Bxd4 fxg4 27.Be3 gxh3 28.Kh2 hxg2 29.Kxg2 Bc6 30.b5 Be8 31.Kg3 Rd3 32.Kf4 Bg6 33.c5 bxc5 34.Rxc5 Rf8+ 35.Ke5 Rf5+ 36.Ke6 Rxc5? {36...Rf6+! -/+} 37.Bxc5 Rc3 38.Bxa7 Rc7 39.b6 Bf7+ 40.Ke5 Re7+ 41.Kf4 Bd5 42.b7 Bxb7 43.Bc5 Rf7+ 44.Ke3 Bxa6 45.Rxa6 g6 46.Ra8+ Kg7 47.Ra7 Rxa7 48.Bxa7 Kf6 49.Kxe4 g5 50.Kf3 h5 51.Bb6 Kf5 52.Bd8 g4+ 53.Kg3 Kg6 54.Kh4 Kh6 55.Bg5+ Kg6 56.Be3 Kf5 57.Kxh5 1-0

One of my games

Haven't posted one in a while. In fact, it's been exactly one year since my last post.

RMD-ALD, 12/23/2006

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 Bb4+ {3...c5 (A46/4); 3...d5 (D02/16)} 4.c3 Be7 5.e3 {5.Nbd2} O-O 6.Bd3 c5 7.O-O Nc6 8.Ne5 Nd5 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.Bg3 cxd4 11.cxd4 Qb6 12.b3 Nb4 13.Nc3 Nxd3 14.Qxd3 Rd8 15.Na4 Qa5 16.Qc3 Qxc3 17.Nxc3 d5 18.f3 c5 19.Nb5 cxd4 20.Nxd4 Bf6 21.Rfd1 Ba6 22.Rac1 Rac8 23.Nc6 Re8 24.Nxa7 Ra8 25.Nc6 Bb5 26.Nb4 Be7 27.Nxd5 exd5 28.Rxd5 Ba6 29.a4 Bf6 30.e4 h6 31.e5 Be7 32.f4 Rab8 33.Rb1 Rec8 34.Be1 Bc5+ 35.Bf2 Bxf2+ 36.Kxf2 Bc4 37.Rd2 Bxb3? {37...Rxb3} 38.Rdb2 Rc3 39.a5 Ra8 40.Ra1 Rc2+ 41.Rxc2 Bxc2 42.g3 Kf8 43.Ke3 Ke7 44.Kd4 Ke6 45.Kc5 Kf5 46.Kb6 Kg4 47.Kb7 Be4+ 48.Kb6 Kh3 49.Ra2 Bg2 50.a6 Kxh2 51.g4 Kg3 52.f5 Bd5 53.Ra4 Kh4 54.Kc5 Bf3 55.e6 fxe6 56.fxe6 Bxg4 57.e7 Kg5 58.Kd6 Bh5 59.a7 Be8 60.Ra5+ Kf6 61.Kc7 Kxe7 62.Kb7 Rd8 63.a8Q Rxa8 64.Rxa8 Bf7 65.Kb6 Kf6 66.Kc5 g5 67.Ra1 g4 68.Rf1+ Kg6 69.Kd4 h5 70.Ke3 Bd5 71.Kf2? {71.Kf4!=} Kg5 72.Kg1 h4 73.Kh2 Be6 74.Rf8 g3+ 75.Kg2 Kg4 76.Rf6 h3+ 77.Kg1 Bd5? {I thought there was a win here as I was playing the game, but I couldn't find it. The winning move was 77...h2+! 78.Kg2 (78.Kh1? Bd5+ 79.Rf3 Bxf3#) Bd5+ 79.Kf1 h1Q+ with mate to follow. - ALD} 78.Rg6+ Kf3 79.Rf6+ Ke2 80.Rh6 {Of course not 80.Rf5?? h2# or 80.Rg6?? h2#} h2+ 81.Rxh2+ gxh2+ 82.Kxh2 Draw

Two wins by Black

RMD-ALD, 12/23/2005 [B53]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 Bd7 6.Qc4 {6.Bxc6 (B53 / 5-7) is the only move played with any regularity here.} a6 {6...Rc8, Uhlarova-Havlickova, Zilina 1997; 6...Nf6, Fisher-Croft, USA 1992} 7.Bxc6 {7.Ng5, Marabaoglu-Steinmann, Altenholz 1994} Bxc6 8.Nc3 Nf6 9.O-O g6 10.Ng5 e6 11.f4 Qb6+ 12.Kh1 Ng4 13.Qe2 h5 14.f5 gxf5 15.Nxe6? {I don't see the point.} fxe6 16.exf5 e5 -+ 17.a3 O-O-O 18.f6 Bh6 19.b4 Bxc1 20.Raxc1 Ne3 21.Rf2 Rdg8 22.Rg1 Nxg2 23.Rfxg2 Bxg2+ {23...Rxg2!} 24.Rxg2 Qc6 25.Ne4 Rxg2 26.Kxg2 d5 27.Ng5 Qxf6 28.h4 Qf4 29.Qe1Rg8 30.Qg3 Qxg3+ 31.Kxg3 e4 32.Kf4 Kd7 33.Ke5 Rxg5+! {It's all over.} 34.hxg5 e3 35.g6 e2 36.g7 e1Q+ 37.Kf6 Qc3+ 38.Kg6 Qxg7+ 39.Kxg7 h4 0-1

ALD-RMD, 12/23/2005 [D06]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.e4 Nf6 5.Nc3 h5 {Pointless; 5...e5 is relatively best.} 6.Bc4 Bd7 7.Nf3 e6 8.Bf4 {Creating a very classical looking center, but probably not best; 8.e5 seems better.} Bb4! 9.O-O {9.Bg5 keeps more of White's advantage.} Bxc3 10.bxc3 Nxe4 11.Qd3 Bc6 12.Ne5= {12.Rfe1! Nd6 13.Rxe6+ fxe6 14.Qg6+ Nf7 15.Qxe6+ Qe7 16.Qc8+ Qd8 17.Bxf7+Kxf7 18.Ne5+ Ke8 19.Qxd8+ Kxd8 20.Nf7+ Ke7 21.Nxh8 +/-} Nd6 13.Nxc6 Nxc6 14.Rab1 Qf6 15.Bxd6 cxd6 16.Rxb7 O-O 17.Bb3 d5 18.Bc2 g6 19.Rfb1 Na5 20.R7b5 Nc4 21.Bb3? Na3! -/+ 22.Bc2 Nxb5 23.Rxb5 a6 24.Rb6 a5 25.Qb5 Qe7 26.Qb1 a4 27.Bxg6!? Qg5 {27...fxg6 28.Qxg6+ Qg7 29.Qxe6+ Qf7 held no dangers for Black, but my wife refused my attempt to complicate matters.} 28.Bc2 h4 29.h3 Kg7 30.Qe1 a3 31.c4 {Risky.} Rfb8 32.Rxb8 Rxb8 33.cxd5 Qxd5 34.Qe5+? {Trading queens leaves White with absolutely no hope.} Qxe5 35.dxe5 Kh6 36.f4 Rb2 37.Bb3 Kg6 0-1 {38.Bc4 Kf5 39.Kf1 Kxf4 40.Kg1 Kxe5}

Two games

I haven't posted any of the games between my and my wife in a while. Here's a couple of recent ones.

RMD-ALD, 10/23/2005 [C50]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Nc3 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.a3 Bg4 8.Be3 Bxe3 9.fxe3 Qd7 10.Qe1 {10.Qd2, Mazziotti Irigoyen Gabriel 2139 - Martinez Daniel 2193, Buenos Aires 2001} Ne7 11.Nd5 Nexd5 12.exd5 e4 13.Nd4 exd3 14.Bxd3? Rae8? {14...Nxd5} 15.Bb5! Qe7 16.Bxe8 Rxe8 17.c4 Qxe3+ 18.Qxe3 Rxe3 19.Nb5 Rb3 {I don't know why I left the c7 pawn undisturbed for so many moves. - ALD} 20.Rf2 Ne4 21.Rf4 Nf6 22.Rb1 a6 23.Nc3 {23.Nxc7 +/-} Bh5 24.Rf2 Ng4 25.Rd2 Ne5 26.Rd4 {26.Re1!} Bg6 27.Ne4?{27.Rc1} Re3! -/+ {Black handles the remainder of the game very well. - ALD} 28.Nf6+ gxf6 29.Rf1 Kg7 30.Rf2 Re1+ 31.Rf1 Rxf1+ 32.Kxf1 Bd3+ 33.Kf2 Bxc4 34.g3 Bd3 35.b3 Bf5 36.Kg2 Kf8 37.h3 Ke7 38.g4 Bc8 39.Kg3 c6 40.Kf4 Ng6+ 41.Kg3 cxd5 42.Rxd5 Be6 43.Rd3 Ne5 44.Rc3 Kd7 45.b4 b5 0-1 {My wife doesn't usually resign until the win is obvious, but in this case she decided she did not want to play on in this hopeless position. - ALD}

RMD-ALD, 12/11/2005 [C50]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Ng5 O-O 6.Qf3 d6 7.Nc3 Nd4 {7...Re8, Egold-Dietzel, Verden 2002; 7...Bg4, Mueller-Friess, Hassloch 1997; 7...Bb4, Strasser-Brehm, Bad Duerkheim 1993} 8.Qd1 {8.Qg3, Thomas-Thomas, Sebnitz 1998} Bg4 9.Nf3 Nxf3+ 10.gxf3 Bh5 11.Be3 Bb4 12.Qd2 Bxf3 13.Rg1 Ng4 14.h3 Nxe3 15.fxe3 Qh4+ 16.Qf2 Bxc3+ 17.bxc3 Qxh3 18.Kd2 Bg4 19.d4 exd4 20.cxd4 Rae8 21.Kd3 c6 22.Rg3 Qh4 23.Qf4 Be2+? 24.Kxe2 Qxf4 25.exf4 Rxe4+ 26.Kd3 Rxf4 27.d5 c5 28.Re3 a6 29.Re7? b5! 30.Bb3 {forced} c4+ 31.Kc3 cxb3 32.axb3 Ra8 33.Rd7 Rf6 34.Rc7 g6 35.Kb4 Rf5 36.c4 bxc4 37.bxc4 Rf2 38.Rc6 a5+ 39.Kb5 Rb2+ 40.Ka4 Rb4+ 41.Ka3 Kf8 42.Re1 Re8 43.Rc1 Re3+ 44.Ka2 a4 {44...Ke7} 45.Rxd6 a3 46.Rc2 Reb3 47.Rd8+ Ke7 48.Rc8 Rb6?= {This turns a game with very good winning chances into a dead draw; 48...Rd3! -/+. - ALD} 49.c5 R6b5 50.Rc7+ Kd8 51.d6 Rb2+ 52.Rxb2 axb2 53.Kb1 h5 54.c6 Rb8? {And this turns a dead draw into a lost endgame; 54...Rb6=. - ALD} 55.Rxf7 Ke8 56.Rb7 Rd8 57.Re7+ Kf8 58.Rd7 {58.Re6!} Rc8 {58...Ke8} 59.Rc7 Ra8 60.Rb7 61.d7+ Kd8 62.Kxb2 h4 63.Kc3? {63.c7+! +-} g5 64.Kd4 h3 65.Ke5 h2? {65...Ke7 with (slim) drawing chances. - ALD} 66.Kd6! 1-0 {66...Rc8 67.Rb8 h1Q 68.dxc8Q#}

An interesting draw

RMD-ALD, 9/11/2005 [D00]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Bf4 Bf5 4.Nb5 Na6 5.e3 c6 6.Nc3 Nb4 {6...Nc7, Van Vliet - Schippers, Hengelo 2002} 7.Bd3 Nxd3+ 8.cxd3 e6 9.Nf3 Bb4 10.Ne5 O-O 11.Qb3 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Qa5 13.O-O Ng4 14.c4 Nxe5 15.Bxe5 dxc4 16.dxc4 b6 17.a3 Rfd8 18.Qb4 Qxb4 19.axb4 f6 20.Bg3 Rd7 21.c5 bxc5 22.bxc5 Rb7 23.Bd6 a5 24.f3 Rb2 25.e4 Bg6 26.Rf2 Rxf2 27.Kxf2 a4 28.g4 Kf7 29.h4 h5 30.g5 fxg5 31.hxg5 Ke8 32.Kg3 Kd7 33.Be5 a3 34.Bxg7 a2 35.Be5 Ra3 36.Kf4 Ra4 37.Ke3 Ra3+ 38.Kf2 Kc8 39.Bg3 Kb7 40.Ke2 Ka6 41.Kd2 Kb5 42.Be1 {42.Bf2 and the two saved tempos make all the difference and the position is a draw. Now Black gets (very slim) winning chances. - ALD} Kc4 43.Bf2 Kb3 {43...Rxf3! 44.Ke2 Rxf2+ 45.Kxf2 Kb3 -/+} 44.Kc1 {44.d5} Kc3 {44...Ra4! -/+} 45.d5 exd5 46.exd5 cxd5 47.c6 Rb3 {Ending any remaining winning chances. Better is 47.Ra4. - ALD} 48.Be1+ Kd4 49.Rxa2 Rb1+?! {Very weak. Correct was 49...Ke3=. Now it is actually White that has winning chances. - ALD]} 50.Kd2 Rb8 51.Ra6?! {51.c7! +/-} Rb2+ 52.Kd1 Rb1+ Draw {My wife was almost out of time, 0:29 - 0:25 (G/30 time limit), but gets a draw. We both played the endgame very weakly, but at least this game was free of any major blunders. - ALD}

Two more games

ALD-RMD, 7/7/2005 [D07]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Qa4 {Not best according to the book, but I've never learned the book well enough to get an advantage against her pet Chigorin Defense. So I decided to improvise.} Nf6 4.Nf3 {4.e3, Andersson Johan 2148 - Aijala Jouko 2155, Lahti 1996} Bd7 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Qb3 Nb6 7.Ng5 e6 8.Nf3 Bd6 9.Bg5? {9.e4} f6 {9...Nxd4! 10.Bxd8 (10.Nxd4 Qxg5-/+) Nxb3 11.axb3 Rxd8-/+} 10.Bh4 Qe7 11.e4!? {11.e3} e5 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 Qxe5 {13...Bxe5} 14.Nd2 O-O-O 15.Rc1 {15.Bg3} Ba4! 16.Qc3 Qxc3 17.Rxc3 Bb4! 18.Rd3 {Better is 18.Bg3 Bxc3 19.bxc3 Bc6 20.f3} Bc2 {18...Rxd3 19.Bxd3 Rd8-+} 19.Rg3? {19.Rc3} Bxd2+ 20.Ke2 g5! 21.Bxg5 Bxg5 22.Kf3 Rhe8 23.Bb5 Rxe4 24.Rc1 Rf4+ 25.Ke2 Bg6 26.Rgc3 Kb8 {26...Rb4!} 27.Rxc7 Rb4! 28.a4 Rxb2+ 0-1

RMD-ALD, 7/3/2005 [C55]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.Nd5 Nxe4 6.O-O Nxf2!? 7.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 8.Kxf2 O-O? {8...d6} 9.d3 {9.d4!} d6 10.Be3 Bg4 11.c3 Ne7? 12.h3 {12.Bg5!} Be6 13.Qb3? c6 {13...Bxd5! 14.Bxd5 c6!} 14.Nxe7+ Qxe7 15.d4!? {15.Bg5=} Bxc4 16.Qxc4 d5 17.Qa4 {17.Qc5!} e4 18.Nd2 f5 19.Ke2? {19.g3} f4! 20.Bg1 f3+ 21.Kf1 fxg2+ 22.Kxg2 Qg5+ 23.Kh1 Qxd2 24.Qb3? Rf3! 0-1

Two Games

ALD-RMD [D21], 2005.5.21

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bf4 Bg4 5.e3 Nf6 {5...e5 6.dxe5 Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1 O-O-O+ 8.Kc1 b5 9.a4 Na5 10.Nfd2 Bb4 11.axb5 Bxd2+12.Nxd2 Nb3+ 0-1, Zsifkovits Robert 2121 - Kosztolanczi Gyula 2202, Zalakaros 2001} 6.Bxc4 e6 7.O-O Bd6 8.Bxd6 cxd6 9.Be2 O-O 10.Nc3 Qa5 11.Qb3 b6 12.Nb5 d5 13.Rfe1 Ne4 14.Nh4 Bxe2 15.Rxe2 Rac8 16.Na3 Nb4 17.Nc2? {17.Nf3} Rc4? {17...Qa6! 18.Rae1 Nxa2} 18.Nxb4 Rxb4 19.Qd3 Rc8 20.a3 Rbc4 21.h3 Rc1+ 22.Rxc1 Rxc1+23.Kh2 g6 24.f3 Nd6 25.g4 Nc4 26.Ng2 b5 27.Rc2 Qc7+ 28.f4 Rxc2 29.Qxc2 Qd6 30.Qe2 a5 31.Ne1 f6 32.Nf3 a4 33.Kg3? {33.Nd2} g5? {33...b4! 34.axb4 Qxb4} 34.Qf2 {34.Ne1} b4 {34...gxf4+ 35.exf4 b4} 35.axb4 Qxb4?{35...gxf4+! 36.exf4 Qxb4} 36.fxg5 Qxb2 37.Qxb2 Nxb2 38.gxf6 Kf7 39.g5 a3 40.Nd2? {40.Ne1!} a2? {40...Nc4!} 41.Nb3 Nd1 42.Kf4 Nf2 43.h4 Nd3+ 44.Kf3 Nc145.Na1 Nd3 {Elapsed times 0:27-0:21} 46.e4 Kg6 47.exd5 exd5 48.Ke3 Ne1 49.Kf4 Nd3+ 50.Ke3 Nb4 {At this point I was too short of time to continue writing the moves. Even though Black has sufficient counterplay to draw despite White's extra pawn, I eventually won this endgame. My wife played a great game as usual, but the endgame remains her weakness.} 1-0

RMD-ALD [B51], 2005.5.12

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.Nc3 Bd7 5.d3 Nf6 6.O-O g6 7.Bc4 {An odd way to lose a tempo. - ALD; 7.Bg5} Bg7 8.Nd5 e69.Nxf6+ Bxf6 10.c3 Ne5 11.h3 b5 12.Bb3 O-O 13.c4 b4 14.Bf4 Nxf3+15.Qxf3 Bxb2 16.Bxd6 Bxa1 17.Rxa1! Qb6 {To prevent 18.Bxc5. - ALD}18.Be5 {The bishop is too valuable to part with by playing 18.Bxf8. - RMD; An interesting exchange sacrifice. With my dark-squared bishop gone, my wife's bishop on e5 remained a thorn on my side for the rest of the game. - ALD} f5 {18...f6} 19.exf5 exf5 {19...Bc6} 20.a3 a5? 21.axb4 Qxb4? {Here I had been about to play 21....axb4 when I realized that this would leave my rook en prise. However, this is just as bad. Better is 21....Qe6. - ALD} 22.Qd5+ Rf7 {22...Be6 23.Qxe6+ Rf7} 23.Qxa8+ Rf824.Qd5+ Rf7 25.Rb1! a4? {Better is 25...Qb6 not that my game could be saved in any event. - ALD} 26.Bc2 1-0

Two Old Games

ALD-RMD [D55]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 d5 3.Nc3 e6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.e3 = Nc6 {My wife often plays this in this kind of position. I personally don't like it because it closes off the possibility of playing ...c5.} 7.Bd3 h6 8.Bxf6 {Better is 8.Bh4 since this bishop should not be traded off in the QGD.} Bxf6 9.cxd5 {Like my eighth move, this is a move which could have been ruled out on general principles without calculation. In the QGD White does not play cxd5; better is 9.O-O.} exd5 = 10.Qc2 {10.O-O -0.15 CAP} Nb4 11.Qd2 {11.Bh7+!? Kh8 12.Qb3 Nxa2 13.Qxa2 Kxh7 14.Nxd5 Bg4 -0.10d14 Tiger 2004} Bg4 12.Be2 Bf5 13.O-O Qd6 {13...Qd7} 14.Nb5 Qe7 15.Nxc7 Rac8 {15...Qxc7 16.Qxb4} 16.Nb5? {16.Rfc1 hangs on to the extra pawn.} Rc2 17.Qd1 Rxb2 {17...Rxe2 18.Qxe2 Bd3 19.Qd2 Bxb5} 18.a3 Nc6 {Too passive; 18...Nc2!?} 19.Bd3? {It wasn't immediately obvious to me, but this loses a piece. My wife saw it almost instantly; 19.Nc3} Bxd3 20.Qxd3 Qe4 21.Qxe4 dxe4 22.Ne5 {22.Rfb1 Rxb1+23.Rxb1 exf3 24.gxf3} Rxb5 23.Nxc6 {Why trade another piece when I'm already down? This made no sense; 23.a4} bxc6 24.Rfc1 Rb6 {24...c5!} 25.a4 a5 26.Rc5 Ra627.Rac1 Rc8 {27...Rb8! defends the pawn indirectly.} 28.g3 Be7 29.Re5 Ba3 30.Rc3 Bb4 31.Rc4 Kf8 32.Rxe4 Ra7 33.Kg2 Re7 34.Rxe7 Kxe7 35.d5 {Premature; 35.Kf3} Kd6 36.dxc6 Rxc6 37.Rf4 f6 38.Rg4 g5 39.Rd4+ Kc5 40.h3 Rd6 0-1 {Maybe I resigned just a bit too soon, but Black's win is a matter of simple technique. 41.Re4 Rd2 42.Re7 Ra2 43.Rf7 Bc3 44.h4 Kb4 45.h5 Kxa4 -4.22/d14 Tiger 2004}

RMD-ALD [C68]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bc4 Nf6 = 5.Nc3 {5.O-O} Bc5 6.d3 O-O 7.O-O d6 8.h3 {8.Bg5; 8.Nd5=} b5 9.Bb3 {-0.52 CAP} Bb7 {9...Na5 is probably best here; 9...h6 is the most commonly played move.} 10.Ng5 Qd7 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.Bxd5 h6 13.Nxf7?! {My wife loves to make this exchange whenever she has the opportunity, but seldom manages to achieve an advantage with it.} Rxf7 14.Bxf7+ Qxf7 15.Qg4 {15.Be3} Rf8! {Correctly calculating that there is nothing to fear from 16.Bxh6.} 16.Bxh6 Kh7? {A complete waste of time. Better to continue my own plans with 16....Bc8.} 17.Bg5 {17.Be3 is still best.} Qg6 {17...Bxf2+} 18.Kh2 Rxf2? {This exposes Black to an extremely deep winning combination by White, which fortunately for me my wife did not find. That is hardly surprising since even in analysis, it took me a very long time to work through all the complications.} 19.Qh4+ {19.Rxf2! Bxf2 20.Rf1! Qf7 (if the bishop retreats, then 21.Rf8 wins instantly for White) 21.Kh1! (to get the White King out of reach of the dark-squared bishop) Nd4 after which Black has no saving move, for example 22.Bh4 Qe6 23.Qh5+ Qh6 24.Qxh6+ gxh6 25.Bxf2 +-} Kg8 20.Rxf2 Bxf2 21.Qxf2 Qxg5 22.Rf1 Qe7 23.h4 Nd4 24.h5 Ne6 25.Qa7 {An odd move, taking the White queen away from the main action.} Qh4+ 26.Kg1 Nf4? {26...Bc8 27.Qa8 Qd8} 27.Qxb7??? {27.Rxf4! exf4 28.Qxb7 =} Ne2#

Two Games

RMD-ALD, 2/12/2005 [B20]

1.e4 c5 2.e5 Nc6 3.Nf3 e6 4.Bb5 Qc7 5.Qe2 {5.Bxc6 Qxc6 6.O-O ...1/2-1/2, Koc Przemyslaw 2330 - Bus Mariusz 2370, Wisla 1998} d6 {5...Nge7 ...1-0, Kuindzhi Alexander - Keogh Eamon, Hague 1961} 6.d4!? cxd4 7.Nxd4 dxe5 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Ba4 {9.Qf3!?} Qa5+ {9...Bc5} 10.Nc3 Nf6?? 11.Bxc6+ Ke7 {I might as well just have resigned at this point.} 12.Bxa8 g6 13.O-O? {13.Bd2 Qb6 14.O-O-O} Ba6 14.Qf3 Bxf1 15.Bg5 {A very good in-between move, so White can recapture Rxf1 instead of Kxf1. However, 15.Qb7+ was even stronger.} Bg7 16.Rxf1 {16.Qb7+} h6 17.Bh4 g5 18.Bg3 Rd8 19.h4 e4 20.Bxe4 Nxe4 21.Qxe4 Bxc3 22.bxc3 Qxc3 23.Qh7 {23.Be5!} Rh8 24.Qd3Qc6?? {Of course, trading queens loses. However, not trading queens loses even faster.} 25.Qa3+! 1-0 {25...Kf6 26.Qb2+ Ke7 27.Qxh8 Qd5 28.Qxh6 g4}

ALD-RMD, 4/24/2005, [D06]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 {My wife's standard response to the Queen's Gambit, but not altogether satisfactory.} 3.Nc3 Bf5 {3...dxc4} 4.Bg5 Ne4 {4...e6} 5.Nxe4 Bxe4 6.f3 {As I played this, I had second thoughts about whether this was best. However, post-mortem analysis seems to indicate that this was ok after all.} Bg6 7.e3 {7.Qb3 ...1-0, Suabedissen R - Fischer Jakob, Wewelsburg 1996} Nc6 8.Bd3 {8.Qb3} Qd6 {8...dxc4 9.Bxc4 f6 =} 9.Qb3 {I couldn't see this at the time, but this move unleashes a quasi-forced sequence that leads to the loss of pawn; 9.c5!} Qb4+ 10.Qxb4 Nxb4 11.Bxg6 hxg6 12.Kd2 {My wife criticized this move, but analysis bears it out. This is the strongest way to prevent ...Nc7. However, now White goes down a pawn with no compensation.} dxc4 13.Nh3 {Right after I played this I spotted the stronger 13.e4.} f6 14.Bf4 {14.a3 Nd3 15.Bf4 c5} Nd5 {14...O-O-O} 15.Rac1 b5 16.e4 Nb4!? {16...Rxh3! 17.exd5 (17.gxh3? Nxf4) Rh5 18.Bxc7 Rxd5 but not 16...Nxf4? 17.Nxf4} 17.a3? {17.Bxc7 is the only reasonable move here.} Nd3 18.Rc2? e5? {18...Rxh3 19.gxh3 Nxf4} 19.dxe5? {19.Be3 O-O-O 20.d5} fxe5? {19...Rxh3 20.gxh3 Nxf4 21.exf6 gxf6} 20.Bg3 O-O-O 21.Ke2 Bc5 {21...Be7} 22.Rd1 {22.Ng5} Bd4 23.Rb1 Rh5 {A very odd position for the rook; 23...a6} 24.f4 {24.b3 g5 =} a6 {24...exf4! 25.Nxf4 Nxf4+ 26.Bxf4 Rf8} 25.fxe5 Nxe5 {25...Bxe5! 26.Bxe5 Rxe5} 26.Nf4 Rh6 {An even odder move than 23....Rh5 since the pawn is already defended by the knight; 26...Rhh8} 27.Ne6 Ng4 {Black has dissipated her advantage. Now despite the extra pawn, this position is equal or even microscopically in White's favor; 27...Rd6} 28.Nxd8 Kxd8 29.Rd2 c5 30.h3 {I worried about this move after making it, but analysis confirmed my over-the-board instinct.} Ne3? {30...Nf6} 31.Kf3? {31.Bf4 Nxg2 32.Bxh6 gxh6} Ke7? 32.Bf4 c3 33.bxc3 Bxc3 34.Bxe3 {34.Rd3 is even stronger.} Bxd2 35.Bxd2 {The rest of the game is just a matter of technique.} Rh8 36.Bg5+ Ke6 37.Kf4 {37.Rd1} Rf8+ 38.Ke3 Rc8 39.Rd1 a5 40.Bf4 Rc6 41.Kd3 b4 42.axb4 cxb4! {42...axb4? 43.Kc4! letting the king in next to the pawns, so in this case the general principle of recapturing towards the center has to be violated. - RMD} 43.Rc1 Kd7? {43...Ra6! not just avoiding the exchange of rooks but placing the rook on a strong square behind the passed pawn.} 44.Rxc6 Kxc6 45.Kc4 Kd7 46.Be5 Ke6 47.Bxg7 Kd7 48.h4 Ke6 49.g4 Kf7 50.Bd4 Ke6 51.h5 Kf7 52.hxg6+? {Prolongs the game unnecessarily; 52.h6!} Kxg6 {With my next move I embarked on a totally wrong strategic plan, leaving my king to deal with Black's two passed pawns while the bishop tried to help my own pawns advance. This is completely backwards. I should have played 53.e5 and prepared to move my king forward to help the pawn queen while my bishop dealt with the Black pawns.} 53.Be3 Kf6 54.Bf4 Ke6 55.g5 Kf7 56.Bc7 Kg6 57.Bd8 {57.Bxa5 was a quicker win.} Kh5 58.e5 Kg6 59.Kb3 {59.e6! and the pawn cannot be stopped.} Kf5 60.Bf6 Ke6 61.Ka4 {I don't understand why I was playing such a slow game. This game could probably have been won in 15 moves fewer than it took me; 61.g6} Kf7 62.Kxa5 b3 63.Kb4 b2 64.e6+ Kxe6 65.Bxb2 {Black should have resigned here.} Kf7 66.Bf6 Kg6 67.Kc5 Kf5 68.Kd6 Kg6 69.Ke7 Kf5 {White: 0:37, Black: 0:41} 70.Kf7 1-0

January Tournament Games Analysis

My original off-the-cuff analysis written the day after the tournament can be found here. The following is slightly more thorough (but not necessarily more accurate) analysis, performed with the help of Tiger 2004.

Round 1: Ananya Roy (1018) - ALD (1499), Giuoco Piano [C50]

1.e4 e5 {I pondered whether to play my usual 1. ... c5, but decided that a kid learning the game now would probably be much more up on all the latest Sicilian theory than I could hope to be, so I decided on 1. ... e5 instead. Of course, this could have backfired if my opponent had taken me down obscure Ruy Lopez variations.} 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 {Boy, did I luck out. My wife and I play the Giuoco often. I felt like cheering when I saw this.} Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Bg5 {5.c3, 5.Nc3 and 5.O-O are all more common, but the text move is OK too. However, it turned out to be more successful for White than she had any right to expect simply because I failed to notice that anything unusual had happenedand that the line we were in was very different from what you usually see inthe Giuoco. Two thoughts: (1) I know I am out of practice and that's why I hadproblems navigating through this opening correctly, but (2) back in my day a1000 rated player could not have successfully done so either. The times, they are a-changing.} O-O {This is incorrect and is the cause of Black's future problems. The correct plan is 5.... d6 followed by 6.... Be6 and later ...Qe7, preserving the option to castle queenside depending on how things develop. Also 5. ... h6 is very playable.} 6.Nc3 {Not just the natural move, but clearly the strongest move in this position, with the strong threat of 7. Nd5.} Bb4 {The best might be 6. ... Be7 relieving the pin. I didn't want to pull the bishop back, but moving it again this way is no good either, especially since White is obviously just going to castle so that the problem of Nd5 is still not solved. Either 6. ... d6 or 6. ... h6 is also still good.} 7.O-O Bxc3 {The bishop has had to move three times to prevent Nd5. A wonderful illustration of Nimzowitsch's chess principle that the threat is stronger than the execution. White never got to play Nd5, yet Black's position is already somewhat inferior.} 8.bxc3 d6 9.d4 {Not the strongest move here, it allows Black to equalize.} Bg4 {9...h6 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 11.d5 Ne7 12.Rb1 a6 13.a4 b6 -0.08/d16 Tiger 2004} 10.Bb5 {10.d5} Bxf3 {Not best; not only does it bring the queen to bear on f6, but it leaves Blackwith two bad knights against White's two good bishops. 10....h6 is still the move.} 11.Qxf3 exd4 12.Bxc6 bxc6 13.Bxf6 gxf6!? {13. ... Qxf6 is objectively better and I even thought so at the time, but I thought that keeping the queens on the board gave me better practical chances. Elapsed times at this point were White 0:12 and Black 0:15.} 14.Qg4+ Kh8 15.cxd4 Rg8 16.Qf5 Rg5 17.Qf3 Qe7 18.h4 Rg619.h5 Rg5 20.Rfe1 c5 21.e5 Rag8 22.exf6 Rxg2+ 23.Kh1 Qd8 {By this point something interesting psychologically had happened. I had been under pressure for so long that I failed to realize that I had managed to equalize and was maybe even microscopically better now. Elapsed times at this point were White 0:23 and Black 0:32.}24.Re7?? R8g5?? {24...R2g4!! with the threat of 25....Rh4+, which can only be stopped by 25.Qxg4 Rxg4, and Black wins instantly.} 25.Rae1 Qg8 26.Re8 Rg1+ 27.Kh2 R5g2+ {Elapsed times at this point were White 0:30 and Black 0:40.} 28.Kh3 Black Resigns??? {Of course all I had to do is play 28....Rxe1 29.Rxg8+ Rxg8! (all I had seen was 29....Kxg8?? 30.Qa8+ Re8 31.Qxe8#) with approximate equality. Because of the disheveled pawn structure the queen might be slightly stronger than the two rooks, but there is still everything for me to play for. If only I had played one more move before resigning, I would surely have seen 29....Rxg8. Ouch!}

Round 2: ALD (1499) - Christopher Roberts (893), QGD Semi-Slav Defense [D43]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 e6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bf4 {5.Bg5} Nbd7 6.e3 Qa5 {6...Be7} 7.a3 {7.Nd2} c5 {This move is inaccurate.} 8.Bd3 {But this fails to take advantage of it. 8.dxc5! Qxc5? (8...dxc4!) ...1-0, Jackova Jana 2331 - Decka Eliska 2069, Chrudim 1993} cxd4 9.exd4 Nb6? {9...dxc4 10.Bxc4 Ne4} 10.b4 Qa6? {White: 0:06, Black: 0:07. 10...Bxb4 11.axb4 Qxb4 is actually the lesser evil here.} 11.c5? {I thought this won the queen; I overlooked Black's strong (but in hindsight obvious) reply. The rust continues to show. 11.Nb5!! with the threat Nc7 wins immediately.} Nc4 12.Qb3 {12.O-O} b5 13.cxb6 {Continuing to dissipate my advantage. This was a very strong pawn, which in addition to being passed is cramping Black's queenside. Correct was still 13.O-O.} axb6 14.O-O Be7 15.Rfd1 b5 16.Ne5 O-O 17.Be2 Bb7 18.a4 bxa4 {White: 0:22, Black: 0:21} 19.Rxa4 Qb6 20.Rxa8 {20.Nxc4 dxc4 21.Bxc4 doesn't work because after 21....Rfd8 White can't hold on to the extra pawn.} Rxa8 21.Nxc4 dxc4 22.Bxc4 Qc6? {Now Black is down a pawn for nothing. 22...Qxb4.} 23.d5exd5 24.Bxd5 Nxd5 25.Nxd5 Bf8 {White: 0:31, Black: 0:26. 25...Bxb4 26.Be5 (26.Nxb4?? Qxg2#; 26.Qxb4?? Qxd5!) Bf8 27.Qg3 Qg6 =} 26.h3 Rd8 27.Ne3 Bxb4?? {First the in-between move 27...Rxd1+ 28.Qxd1 and only then 28....Bxb4.} 28.Rxd8+ Bf8 29.Qd5 {29.Qa3 is a much faster win.} Qb6 30.Qd4 Qe6? {This allows a textbook finish, but due to the material deficit Black is lost in any event.} 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.Qd8+ Qe8 {White: 0:37, Black: 0:35} 33.Bd6+ 1-0 {33...Kg8 34.Qxe8#}

Round 3: Harrison Ling (1116) - ALD (1499), Sicilian [B45]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Bd3?? Be7?? 7.O-O?? O-O?? 8.Re1?? d6?? 9.Be3 {Finally! The knight on e4 has been hanging for 3 moves. That's what happens when you play the opening by rote (both of us).} Bd7 10.Qf3 Rc8 11.Nxc6 Rxc6 {11...Bxc6} 12.Bxa7? {This pawn is poisoned. 12.Nb5 Ra6 13.a4 (13.Nxa7 Ra5) Qb8} b6 13.Bb5 {13.Nb5 is still better.} Rc5 {13...Rxc3! 14.Qxc3 Bxb5} 14.Bxd7? {14.Bxb6! Qxb6 15.Bxd7 Nxd7 16.Na4 Qb7 17.Nxc5 Nxc5 =} Nxd7 15.Qe3 {This position is deceptively complex. Navigating the thicket with the help of Tiger 2004, I found the following: 15.a4 Ne5 [15...Ra5 16.Nb5 Qa8 17.Qe3 Rxa7 18.Nxa7 Qxa7; 15...Qc7 16.Nb5 Qb7 17.Qe2 Ra8 18.b4 Rxb5 (18...Rcc8 19.a5 Rxa7 20.Nxa7 Qxa7) 19.axb5 Rxa7 (19...Bf6 20.Ra6 Bc3 21.Rb1 Rxa7); 15....Qa8 16.Nb5 transposes to the previous line] 16.Qe2 Ra5 17.Nb5 Nc6 18.c3 Bf6 (18...Nxa7? 19.b4 Ra6 20.Nxd6!) 19.b4 Rxa7 20.Nxa7 Nxa7 21.Ra3 Qc7 so that in all lines I ended up with B+N for R+P. A downright fascinating position!} Qa8 16.Na4 {16.b4} Ra5 {White: 0:05, Black: 0:10} 17.Nxb6 Qxa7 18.Nc4 Rxa2?? {18...Qxe3 19.Rxe3 Rc5} 19.Rxa2?? {19.Qxa7 Rxa7 20.Rxa7} Qxa2 20.Qc3 Rc8 21.b3 Qa6 22.Ra1 Qb7 23.f3? {23.Qe3} Bf6! {It's all over; or 23...d5! 24.exd5 exd5 25.Qe1 Bc5+ 26.Ne3 Re8} 24.Qe1 Bxa1 25.Qxa1 Ra8 26.Qb2 Qa7+ 27.Kf1 Qa1+ 28.Qxa1 Rxa1+29.Ke2 Ra2 30.Kd3 Nc5+ 31.Kc3 Nb7 32.Kb4 {32.b4} Kf8 {Not best (32...Rxc2!), but this is irrelevant. (White: 0:14, Black: 0:21)} 0-1

Round 4: ALD (1499) - Will Lugar (1115), QGD Slav Defense [D15]

{Going into round 4, I had 2 points and no other player in the Under-1500 category had more than that. So if I could win the last game, I would be assured of at least a portion of the prize.} 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 a6 5.Bg5 Nbd7 6.e3 e6 7.Bd3 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Qc2 h6 10.Bh4 Re8 11.Rac1 b5 {11...dxc4} 12.c5 Qc7 {White: 0:06, Black: 0:07} 13.Bg3 {This wasted a tempo. Where is the queen threatening to go? a5! So why just push it along in that direction? Better to just lock up the queenside with 13. b4.} Qa5 14.a3 Qd8 15.b4 a5 16.Ra1 a4 {White: 0:13, Black: 0:15} 17.Rfe1 Bb7 18.e4!? {18.h3} dxe4 {18...Nxe4 19.Bxe4 dxe4 20.Nxe4 Nf6} 19.Nxe4 Nd5 {19...Nxe4 20.Rxe4 Nf6 21.Re2 Qc8} 20.Bd6 Bf6 {20...N7f6 21.Bxe7 Rxe7} 21.Nc3 Nxc3 22.Qxc3 Be7 23.Bf4 Nf6 {White has had a small but definite advantage all game. At this point, I pretty much thought I had the game strategically won. I was now headed to the hole at d6 with my knight, but the move I selected was absolutely horrible tactically.} 24.Nd2?? Nd5! 25.Bh7+ {This bishop is less valuable than the other one.} Kxh7 26.Qd3+ Kg8 {White: 0:26, Black: 0:26} 27.Be3? {Duh! I played 25.Bh7+ in order to preserve this bishop. Why allow it to be traded now? Better is 27.Be5! not that the game can be saved in any event.} Nxe3 28.fxe3 Bf6 {28...e5!} 29.Ne4 e5 {29...Be5} 30.Nd6 {30.d5!} Re7 31.Re2? {31.Rf1} exd4 32.exd4? {The end; 32.Rf1 dxe3 33.Rxe3 Rxe3 34.Qxe3 held out longer.} Rxe2 33.Qxe2 Bxd4+ {White: 0:35, Black: 0:35.} 1-0 {And that was that. No prize for me.}

January 2005 G/45 Championship

General Comments

I did more poorly than I was expecting (2 wins, 2 losses). But much more important than that is the fact that I quite simply did not have any fun. Not even a little bit. I played only children - the oldest of my opponents was no more than 12, the youngest around 6. I HATE playing children. If I win, I feel like Kramer in the Seinfeld karate episode. If I lose, I feel like a complete idiot. I'm not sure which feeling is worse, but I am sure that win, lose or draw - I definitely enjoy myself much better when I play adults. I understand and accept that in my rating class, some games with children are unavoidable ... but four out of four, come on now!

In addition to my personal feelings, playing with kids has the additional disadvantage that they are always mis-rated. They generally play mostly other scholastic players, so that their ratings are skewed and not representative of their actual results. Furthermore, they are generally improving so fast that their ratings are always lagging their current playing strength, sometimes by quite a bit.

An additional consideration that decreased my enjoyment of the tournament was the playing site. Scottdale is a poor location; Anthony's Pizza was closed, so the nearest food was further than a 10 minute drive away. Furthermore, the playing area was too small.

To end my bitch session on a positive note, I will give well-earned kudos to the TD and organizer - all rounds were paired on time and without error, rounds started and ended flawlessly, and the entire event went off without a hitch. A nice plus was that the boards and pieces were provided by the club, which made the start of rounds very easy - all you had to do was set your clock and shake hands.

Without further prelude, here are the four games with some off-the-cuff commentary. Note that the comments below are either superficial ideas that just occurred to me or variations that I analyzed during the game. I will update this post once I get a chance to analyze the games in detail.

Round 1

Ananya Roy (1018) - ALD (1499)
Giuoco Piano [C50]
Lost

1. e4 e5 [I pondered whether to play my usual 1. ... c5, but decided that a kid learning the game now would probably be much more up on all the latest Sicilian theory than I could hope to be, so I decided on 1. ... e5 instead. Of course, this could have backfired if my opponent had taken me down obscure Ruy Lopez variations.] 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 [Boy, did I luck out. I felt like cheering when I saw this.] Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Bg5 [5. c3, 5. Nc3 and 5. O-O are all more common, but the text move is OK too. However, it turned out to be more successful for White than she had any right to expect simply because I failed to notice that anything unusual had happened and that the line we were in was very different from what you usually see in the Giuoco Piano. Two thoughts: (1) I know I am out of practice and that's why I had problems navigating through this opening correctly, but (2) back in my day a 1000 rated player could not have successfully done so either. The times, they are a-changing.] O-O [This is incorrect and is the cause of Black's future problems. The correct plan is ... d6, ... Be6, and ... Qe7, preserving the option to castle queen side depending on how things develop. Also 5. ... h6 is very playable.] 6. Nc3 [Not just the natural move, but clearly the strongest move in this position, with the strong threat of 7. Nd5.] Bb4 [The best might be 6. ... Be7 relieving the pin (Van der Zande - Beers, 2001). I didn't want to pull the bishop back, but moving it again this way is no good either, especially since White is obviously just going to castle so that the problem of Nd5 is still not solved. Either 6. ... d6 or 6. ... h6 is still very good.] 7. O-O Bxc3 [The bishop has had to move three times to prevent Nd5. A wonderful illustration of Nimzowitsch's chess principle that the threat is stronger than the execution. White never got to play Nd5, yet Black's position is already somewhat inferior.] 8. bxc3 d6 9. d4 [9. Rb1] Bg4 [9. ... h6] 10. Bb5 Bxf3 [Not best; brings the queen to bear on f6.] 11. Qxf3 exd4 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Bxf6 gxf6 [12. ... Qxf6 is objectively better and I knew that at the time, but I thought that keeping the queens on the board gave me better practical chances. White: 0:12, Black: 0:15] 14. Qg4+ Kh1 15. cxd4 Rg8 [15. ... Qe7] 16. Qf5 Rg5 17. Qf3 Qe7 [17. ... f5] 18. h4 Rg6 19. h5 Rg5 20. Rfe1 c5 21. e5 Rag8 22. exf6 Rxg2+ 23. Kh1 Qd8 24. Re7?? [24. Qxg2 was necessary.] R8g5?? [Missing 24. ... R2g4! The elapsed times at this point were: White: 0:23, Black: 0:32] 25. Rae1 Qg8 26. Re8 Rg1+ 27. Kh2 R8g2+ 28. Kh3 Black resigns???? [DUH! There's 28. ... Rxe1 29. Rxg8 Rxg8 (Not 29....Kxg8??? Qa8+, which was the only thing I had seen.), when because of the disheveled pawn structure the queen might be slightly stronger than the two rooks, but there is still everything for me to play for. If only I had played one more move before resigning, I would surely have seen 29....Rxg8. Ouch! Elapsed times: White: 0:30, Black: 0:40]

Round 2

ALD (1499) - Christopher Roberts (893)
QGD Semi-Slav Defense [D43]
Won

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 e6 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bf4 [5. e3, 5. Bg5] Nbd7 6. e3 Qa5 [6. ... Be7] 7. a3 [7. Nd2] c5 [Black's last two moves have not been the most accurate.] 8. Bd3 cxd4 9. exd4 Nb6 10. b4 Qa6 [White: 0:06, Black: 0:07]11. c5 [I thought this won the queen; I overlooked Black's strong (but in hindsight obvious) reply. The rust continues to show.] Nc4 12. Qb3 b5 13. cxb6ep axb6 14. O-O Be7 15. Rfd1 b5 16. Ne5 O-O 17. Be2 Bb7 18. a4 bxa4 [White: 0:22, Black: 0:21]19. Rxa4 Qb6 20. Rxa8 Rxa8 21. Nxc4 dxc4 22. Bxc4 Qc6 23. d5 exd5 24. Bxd5 Nxd5 25. Nxd5 Bf8? [Too timid. Black could have won a piece here. White: 0:31, Black: 0:26] 26. h3 Rd8 27. Ne3 Bxb4? 28. Rxd8 Bf8 29. Qd5 Qb6 30. Qd4 Qe6? [This allows a textbook finish, but due to the material deficit Black is lost in any event.] 31. Rxf8+ Kxf8 32. Qd8+ Qe8 33. Bd6+ Black resigns [White: 0:37, Black: 0:35]

Round 3

Harrison Ling (1116) - ALD (1499)
Sicilian [B33]
Won

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. Bd3?? Be7?? [Rust!] 7. O-O?? O-O?? 8. Re1 d6 9. Be3 Bd7 10. Qf3 Rc8 11. Nxc6 Rxc6 12. Bxa7?! [This pawn is poisoned.] b6 13. Bb5 Rc5 14. Bxd7 Nxd7 15. Qe3 Qa8 16. Na4 Ra5 [White: 0:05, Black: 0:10] 17. Nxb6 Qxa7 18. Nc4 Rxa2 19. Rxa2 Qxa2 20. Qc3 Rc8 21. b3 Qa6 22. Ra1 Qb7 23. f3 Bf6 24. Qe1 Bxa1 25. Qxa1 Ra8 26. Qb2 Qa7+ 27. Kf1 Qa1+ 28. Qxa1 Rxa1+ 29. Ke2 Ra2 30. Kd3 Nc5+ 31. Kc3 Nb7 32. Kb4 Kf8 [Not best, but irrelevant.] White resigns [White: 0:14, Black: 0:21]

Going into round 4, I had 2 points and no other player in the Under-1500 category had more than that. So if I could win the last game, I would be assured of at least a portion of the prize (which had been increased from the advertised $50 to $64 because there were more entries than expected).

Round 4

ALD (1499) - Will Lugar (1115)
QGD Slav Defense [D15]
Lost

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 a6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 e6 7. Bd3 [This was played in Janssen-Ginzburg, 2001. More usual (and better) is 7. cxd5.] Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Qc2 h6 10. Bh4 Re8 11. Rac1 b5 12. c5 Qc7 [White: 0:06, Black: 0:07] 13. Bg3 [This was just dumb. Where is the queen threatening to go? a5! So why just push it along in that direction. Better to just lock up the queen side with 13. b5.] Qa5 14. a3 Qd8 15. b4 a5 16. Ra1 a4 [White: 0:13, Black: 0:15] 17. Rfe1 Bb7 18. e4 dxe4 19. Nxe4 Nd5 20. Bd6 Bf6 21. Nc3 Nxc3 22. Qxc3 Be7 23. Bf4 Nf6 [White has had the advantage all game. At this point, I pretty much thought I had the game strategically won. I was now headed to the hole at d6 with my knight, but the move I selected was absolutely horrible tactically. So it's a clean sweep - all four of my games show clear evidence of rust. Ah, well, what could I expect.] 24. Nd2?? Nd5! 25. Bh7+ [This bishop is less valuable than the other one.] Kxh7 26. Qd3+ Kg8 [White: 0:26, Black: 0:26] 27. Be3 Nxe3 28. fxe3 Bf6 29. Ne4 e5 30. Nd6 Re7 31. Re2?? [The end.] exd4 32. exd4 Rxe2 33. Qxe2 Bxd4+ White resigns [White: 0:35, Black: 0:35. And that was that. No prize for me.]

Additional analysis of all four games is here.

Two Speed Chess Games

RMD-ALD [C55], 1/6/2005

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bc5 5.O-O O-O 6.Nd5? {Loses a pawn for no compensation. Correct is 6.d3=.} Nxe4 7.d3 Nf6 8.Bg5 Be7 9.Bxf6 {9.Nxe7+ Qxe7 10.Re1 (10.Qd2 d6 ...0-1, Cebasek Jaka 1700 - Panic Veljko 1605, Tomo Zupan 1994) d6 ...0-1, Rosebrook G - Hawley T, Ann Arbor 1991} Bxf610.c3 d6 11.d4 exd4 12.Nxd4 Nxd4 13.Nxf6+ Qxf6 14.cxd4 {14.Qxd4 Qxd4 15.cxd4} Re8 15.b3 Bf5 16.f3 Re7 {Tiger recommends (and during the game I looked at) 16...d5 17.Bxd5 Rad8 18.Bc4 Rxd4 but I did not want to solve White's isolani for her.} 17.g4 {At this point it seemed to me that due to the slowly increasing pressure White was having trouble finding good moves. 17.Qd2 is better.} Be6 18.Rc1 {18.Bxe6 (the in-between move) Rxe6 and only then 19.Rc1 prevents what would have been a strong reply from Black (18....d5!).} Bxc4 19.Rxc4 d5 20.Rb4 {Better is 20.Rc2 since the rook is very poorly placed on b4.} c6 21.Qd2? {21.Ra4} Rae8 {21...b5! would really point out the ridiculous situation of the rook.} 22.Qc3 Re2 23.Rxb7? {This allows a mate in three.} {23.f4!} Rxa2? {Allowing White to set matters straight and settle in for a long drawn-out endgame. The move was 23...Qh4!} 24.Rc7? {24.Re1} Qh4! 0-1

ALD-RMD [C54], 1/6/2005

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.O-O {5.d3=} Nxe4 6.d4 exd4 7.cxd4 Bb6 {7...d5!} 8.Re1 Qe7? 9.Ng5? {9.Bxf7+! Qxf7 (9...Kf8 10.Bd5) 10.Rxe4+ Ne7 11.Bg5 O-O 12.Rxe7 winning a piece in all variations.} Nxd4? {9...f5 is the best defense, although Black already stands worse.} 10.Nxe4? {Again missing 10.Bxf7+ Kf8 11.Rxe4} O-O 11.Bg5 {11.Nbc3 continuing my development was stronger.} Qb4 12.Ned2? {12.b3 was the obvious move. Now White goes from a winning position to an inferior position.} Qxb2 13.Bxf7+? {13.Na3 was the best of a lot of bad choices.} Rxf7 14.Re8+? {14.Na3 still} Rf8 15.Qh5? {Wow! Mistake is just following mistake. Although White is lost in any event, better is 15.Rxf8+ Kxf8 16.Na3 Qxa3} d6 16.Be7 Be6 17.Bxf8? {17.Rxf8+ Rxf818.Bxf8 Kxf8 19.h3} Rxe8 18.Qxe8? {This allows a mate in three.} h6? {Black gives back some of her advantage with this move. 18...Qc1+! 19.Nf1 Ne2+ 20.Kh1 Qxf1#} 19.Nb3? {Better is 19.Bxd6+ and I have no idea why I didn't play this, since it's what I had in mind when I played 18.Qxe8. Now Black is in control again.} Nxb3 20.Qxe6+Kxf8 21.Qf5+ Kg8 {This is a subtle mistake, giving White additional chances. In a thicket of almost indistinguishable variations, it is very easy for Black to go astray and allow White to deliver perpetual check. 21...Ke7!} 22.Qh3?? {Not only does this not try for the draw by perpetual check, but it actually allows mate in one. 22.Qe6+! Kf8! (22...Kh7?? 23.Qf5+ g6 (23...Kh8 24.Qf8+ Draw; 23...Kg8 24.Qe6+ Kh7 25.Qe4+ Kh8 (25...g6 26.Qe7+ Draw) 26.Qe8+ Draw) 24.Qf7+ Kh8 (24...Qg7?? loses) 25.Qf8+ Draw) 23.Qf5+ Ke7 24.Qe4+ Kd8 and there are no more checks.} Qxa1? {Missing the obvious 22...Qc1#} 23.Qxb3+ Kh8 0-1

Two games

RMD - ALD, 12/30/2004 [B20]

1. e4 c5 2. Bc4 e6 3. Nf3 Be7 4. e5 [An odd move. Valentin-Murara, 2004, went 3. ... d6 4. e5, and the ancient game Cochrane-Staunton, 1842, went 3. ... Nc6 4. e5. I don't think this move can be considered good. The natural 4. Nc3 is much better.] Nc6 5. Nc3 d6 6. d4?! [6. exd6 Qxd6 7. O-O Nf6 =] cxd4 7. Nxd4 [This loses a pawn with insufficient compensation. The ultra-complicated line 7. exd6 dxc3 8. dxe7 Qxd1+ 9. Kxd1 Ngxe7 10. Re1 cxb2 11. Bxb2 O-O was best, but in any event the advantage has switched to Black.] Nxe5 8. Bb5+ [8. Be2] Bd7 9. Bf4 [9. O-O] Ng3 10. Bg3 [10. Be3] Nf6 11. Qd3 a6 12. Ba4 [12. Bxd7+] b5 13. Bb3 Rc8 14. Nde2 Bc6 [14. ... Qb6] 15. O-O [Finally!] O-O [15. ... b4!] 16. Rad1 [16. Nd4] d5 17. Qd4 [17. Nf4] b4 18. Na4 [The unfortunate 18. Nb1 was best, although I can see why my wife didn't want to play that.] Bxa4 [Prematurely releasing the pressure. Correct was 18. ... Ne4!] 19. Bxa4 a5 20. c3 Rc4 [20. ... Ne4 was still indicated. This move allows White to play 21. Qxc4! dxc4 22. Rxd8 Rxd8 23. Bb5! with a nearly even position.] 21. Qa7 Bc5 22. Qb7 [22. Qa6] bxc3 23. Nxc3 [23. Bb5!?] Rb4 [This move is OK, even if 23. ... Nh5 is a little better. However, I played it too fast and did not properly consider White's reply 24. Qc6.] 24. Qc6 Rc4 25. Qb5 Qb6 [Elapsed times at this point were White 0:14 Black 0:16. I was concerned that we might be playing a bit too fast, but we now got bogged down in complicated positions and ended up needing all the time on our clocks.] 26. Rc1 Qxb5 27. Bxb5 Rb4 28. Nxd5 Rxb5 [Better is 28. ... Nxd5 29. Rxc5 Rxb2.] 29. Nc7 [White is too anxious to recover the piece. Much stronger was 29. Nxf6+ gxf6 30. a4 Rxb2 31. Rxc5.] Bxf2+ [Missing the chance for an extra pawn with 29. ... Rxb2 30. Rxc5 Rxa2.] 30. Rxf2 Rb6 [Too timid; 30. ... Rg5.] 31. Rfc2 Rc8 [31. ... a4] 32. b3 h6 [Despite Black's extra pawn, this position is drawish now.] 33. Rc5 Ne4 34. Rxa5 Nxg3 [34. ... Rb7] 35. hxg3 Rb7 [35. ... Ne7] 36. Rac5 Rd8 37. R1c3 [37. Nb5] Rd2 [37. ... Rd1+, which I considered and discarded, is a little better. 37. ... Rd7, which I also considered, is cleary inferior.] 38. a4 Ne7 [38. ... Rb2] 39. Ne8 [The point of the maneuver on this move and the next is just too obvious to work. Better to go with the straightforward 39. a5.] Nd5 40. Rc8 Kh7 41. Rf3 Rb2 42. Rc4 [42. Nd6] R2xb3 43. Nd6 Rxf3 [White's desire to simplify is understandable, but now White's pawns are no longer doubled and more importantly Black's e pawn is no longer passed; 43. ... Rb1+. - RMD] 44. gxf3 Rb1+ 45. Kh2 [45. Kf2] f6 46. a5 Ra1 47. Nb7 [47. Rc5] Ne3 [Elapsed times at this point were White 0:29 Black 0:35.] 48. Rc6 [48. Re4 doesn't actually win a pawn after 48. ... Ra2+ 49. Kg1 Nf5 50. g4 Nh4, but it was worth considering as well as the move in the game.] Ra2+ 49. Kh3?? [Correct is 49. Kg1. As soon as I saw this, just looking at the White King trapped like a rat on the side of the board, I absolutely knew that my wife had made a terrible move. However, I looked and I looked, and I couldn't find a forced win anywhere. I explored 49. ... Ra1 threatening 50. ... Rh1#, but after 50. g4 there's no forcing continuation. In the post mortem, I found the mating move 49. ... Nf1!! threatening 50. ... Rf2#. 50. g4 no longer works, and 50. Kg4 runs into 50. ... f4+ and 51. ... g4#. Ah, well...] e5? 50. a6? Nc2? [50. ... Nf1! is still there when White's only salvation lies in giving up the rook with 51. Kg4 g6 52. Rc7+ Kg8 53. Rc8+ Kf7 54. Nd6+ Ke7 55. f4 Kxd6.] 51. Nc5 [51. Rb6] Nb4 [51. ... Nd4!] 52. Rb6 Nxa6?! [I'm always a bit too anxious to throw away pieces for passed pawns. I have got to learn to put up a more stubborn defense.] 53. Rxa6 Rxa6 54. Nxa6 Kg6 [54. ... g5] 55. Kg4 [55. Nc5] f5+ 56. Kh4 h5 [I did not have enough time to calculate accurately, so I had to take a guess. It turns out that 56. ... e4 is better, although it probably doesn't make any practical difference.] 57. Nc5 Kh6 58. Nd7 [58. Ne6 was probably the last chance to try for a win.] g5+ 59. Kh3 g4+ 60. Kg2 e4 [60. ... f4] 61. fxe4 [61. f4] fxe4 [Now the position is 100% drawn.] 62. Ne5 [Over the board I thought 62. Nc5 was stronger, but post mortem analysis shows this is not the case.] Kg5 63. Nc4 Kf5 64. Kf2 [Still trying to win, but the position simply won't allow that.] Kg5 65. Nd2 e3+? [Duh! I didn't like 65. ... h4 66. Ne4+, but this move doesn't actually prevent that; it just gives the pawn away for nothing. However, even this blunder can not alter the result.] 66. Kxe3 h4 67. Ne4+ Kh5 68. Nf6+ Kg5 69. Ne4+ Kh5 70. Nf6+ Kg5 71. gxh4+ [Finally acceding to the draw.] Kxh4 72. Nxg4 Kxg4 Draw [Elapsed times were White 0:41 Black 0:42.]

ALD - RMD, 1/2/2005 [D06]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nf3 Ne4 [WTH?] 4. cxd5 Qxd5 5. Nc3 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Nc6 [6. ... Bf5] 7. Bf4 Qd7 8. e4 e6 9. Bb5 Bd6 10. Bxd6 [10. Ne5] cxd6? [Loses a piece.] 11. d5! exd5 12. exd5 Qe7+ 13. Kf1 a6 14. a6 [This does not save the piece. I still had 14. Qa4! But alas...] 14. Bxc6+? bxc6 15. dxc6 O-O 16. Nd4 [16. Qd3] Qe5 17. Qd2 Rb8 18. Re1 Qc5 19. Re7 [Overly ambitious. Better to work on "artificial castling" with 19. Kg1.] Qb6 [Missing the much stronger 19. ... Rb1+ 20. Re1 Qc4+ 21. Kg1 Qxa2!!] 20. Qc2 Qb1+ 21. Qxb1 Rxb1+ 22. Re1 Rb2 23. Re2 [23. a4] Rb6 24. f3 Be6 25. Kf2 [I also considered 25. Nxe6, but (correctly) concluded that this was stronger.] Bd5 26. c7 g6 27. Rhe1 Bb7 [27. ... Rc8?? loses to 28. Re8+.] 28. Re8 [Over the last several moves, White has made very strong moves and built up an incredible amount of pressure.] Bc8? [Relatively best was 28. ... Rb2+. This allows White a winning maneuver.] 29. Nb3? [Which I missed. Instantly winning was 29. Rd8! Kg7 30. Ree8.] d5? [Failing to take advantage of the escape opportunity.] 30. R1e7? [Failing to land the winning blow a second time.] Re6 [30. ... Rc6!] 31. Rxf8+ [31. Rxe6 fxe6 32. Rd8!] Kxf8 32. Rxe6 fxe6 33. Ke3 Ke7 34. Nc5 [34. Kf4 Kd6 35. Kg5 was the last chance to play for a win.] Kd6 35. Nd3 Kxc7 36. Kd4 Kc6 37. Ne5+ [37. Ke5] Kb5 38. c4+ dxc4 39. Nxc4 Kb4 40. Nb6 Bb7 41. Ke5 Kc5 [41. ... a5 42. Kxe6 Ka3 is good enough for the draw.] 42. Na4+ [42. Nd7+] Kb4 43. Nb6 Kc5 44. Na4+ Kb4 45. Nb6 Draw by repetition [Elapsed times were White 0:27 Black 0:23.]

My heart simply wasn't in this game. I played too fast, and I didn't really concentrate hard enough to find strong moves in superior positions. It's a good thing this wasn't a tournament game. I need to play much better if I hope to do well on Saturday.

Another game (new time limit)

I have entered a tournament in January with a G/45 time limit. In order for my wife and me (she might play too) to get some training in before the tournament, we decided to change the time limit of the games we've been playing from G/10 (3 sec delay) to G/45 (5 sec delay). Perhaps this will result in increased quality in our games, although I wouldn't necessarily bet on this. Hopefully, it will at least reduce the number of blunders.

RMD - ALD, 12/28/2004 [B31]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 d6 4. Bb5 Bd7 5. O-O Nf6 6. d3 [This was played in Matulovic-Velimirovic, 1973; more common are 6. d4 and 6. Re1.] g6 7. Bf4 Bg7 8. Bxc6 Bxc6 [=] 9. h3 [I don't really see the point of this move.] Qd7 10. Bg3 [10. Re1] O-O 11. Qe2 b5! 12. d4!? [12. Qe3] b4 13. e5 [13. d5] dxe5 [13. ... Nh5] 14. dxe5 [14. Nxe5] Nh5 15. Ne4 Nxg3 16. fxg3 Bxe4 [16. ... Qd5! with some advantage.] 17. Qxe4 e6 18. Rad1 Qc7 19. Rd6 Rac8 [19. ... Qa5] 20. b3 [20. Rfd1] Rfd8 21. Rfd1 Bf8 22. R6d3 Rxd3 23. cxd3 [This leaves the pawn backward as a target on the semi-open file. Better is 23. Qxd3.] Rd8 24. Rf1 [24. Rd2] Be7 [24. ... Rd5] 25. g4 a5 26. h4 [26. Nd2] Bf8 [26. ... Qa7 - RMD] 27. Ng5 Rd7 28. Rf4!? Rd4 [28. ... Bh6!] 29. Qe3 Rxf4 30. Qxf4 Bg7 31. Nf3 Qc6 32. Kh2 [32. h5 - RMD] Qd5 33. Qe3 Kf8 [Too timid. I gave serious consideration to 33. ... a4!? 34. bxa4 Qxa2 but ruled it out as too risky. But as it turns out after 35. Qxc5 Qxa4 36. Kg3 b3 the advantage lies with Black.] 34. Kh3 h6 35. g5 [Over the board I considered this move inferior, but post-mortem analysis reveals it to be correct.] h5 36. g4 hxg4+ 37. Kxg4 Qc6 [The elapsed times at this point were White 0:30 Black 0:35.] 38. h5 gxh5+ 39. Kxh5 Qc7 40. Qe4 Kg8 41. g6 fxg6+ 42. Qxg6 Qf7 [Best was 42. ... Qc6 43. Kg4 Kf8 =; now White has an edge.] 43. Ng5 Qxg6+ 44. Kxg6 Bxe5 45. Nxe6 Bd6 46. Nd8 [46. Kf6] Bc7 [46. ... Kf8] 47. Nc6 [47. Nb7] Kf8 48. Kf6 Ke8 49. Ke6 Bb6 [49. ... Kf8 50. Kd7 Bf4 51. Nxa5 Kf7 52. Nb7 Be3 53. Kc6 Ke7 54. Nxc5 Bd2 is likewise insufficient to hold the draw.] 50. Kd5? [This allows the Black King in. 50. Kd6 Kf7 51. Ne5+ Ke8 52. Nc4 Bd8 53. Kxc5 gave White the best winning chance.] Kd7 51. Ne5+ Kc7 52. Kc4 [52. Nc4!] Kd6 53. Nf7+ [The last chance was 53. Kb5 but after 53. ... Bc7 54. Nc4+ Kd5 55. Nxa5 Bh2 56. Nc4 Bg1 57. Nb6+ Kd4 58. Nd7 Kd5, White has won a pawn but the position is drawn with best play.] Kc6 [I offered a draw here, but my wife wanted to play on. The rest of the game doesn't really warrant any comment.] 54. Ne5+ Kd6 55. Nf3 Kc6 56. Ng5 Bd8 57. Nf7 Be7 58. d4 cxd4 59. Kxd4 Bc5+ 60. Kc4 Be7 61. Ne5+ Kb6 62. Nd7+ Kc6 63. Nb8+ Kb6 64. Nd7+ Kc6 65. Ne5+ Kb6 66. Ng6 [Avoiding the three-fold repetition although at this point nothing can prevent the draw.] Bd6 67. Kd5 Bh2 68. Ne7 Kb5 69. Nc8 a4 70. Nd6+ Ka5 71. Nc4+ Kb5 72. bxa4+ Kxa4 73. Kc5 Bg1+ 74. Kc6 Bd4 75. Kd5 Bg7 [Here my wife offered a draw, which I accepted. The elapsed times were White 0:39 Black 0:41.]

Two Games

RMD - ALD, 12/26/2004 [C50]

1. Nf3 Nc6 2. e4 e5 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Bd5 [6. d3] Re8 7. d3 d6 [7. ... Nd4] 8. Ng5 [8. Bg5] Nxd5 9. Nxd5 [=] Ne7? [A mistake; 9. ... h6 is correct. - RMD] 10. Qh5! [I had only seen 10. Qf3. Had I seen this I would not have played 9. ... Ne7.] f6??? [10. ... Nxd5 does not work, but 10. ... Ng6 hangs on although White is obviously much better.] 11. Qxh7+? [Misses a mate in three with 11. Nxe7+! Rxe7 12. Qxh7+ Kf8 13. Qh8#.] Kf8 12. Qh8+? [Missing the much stronger 12. Nxf6! when Black's best is 12. ... d5 (to free up the square d6 for the King's escape) 13. Qh8+ Ng8 14. Qxg8+ Ke7 15. Qxg7+ Kd6 16. exd5 with a strong attack.] Ng8 13. Nf3 [13. b4!? was worth considering.] c6 14. Nc3 [White has won a pawn, but the attack has dissipated.] Bg4 15. Nh4 Kf7 16. Qh7 [16. Nf5] Ne7 17. Nf5? [Now this is a mistake; 17. Bh6!] Bxf5 18. exf5? Rh8! White resigns

As my wife and I occasionally do, we agreed to re-play this game from White's 15th move since my wife was not happy with 15. Nh4, although I did not see anything wrong with it.

RMD - ALD, 12/26/2004 [C50]

1. Nf3 Nc6 2. e4 e5 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. Nc3 O-O 6. Bd5 Re8 7. d3 d6 8. Ng5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 Ne7 10. Qh5 f6 11. Qxh7+ Kf8 12. Qh8+ Ng8 13. Nf3 c6 14. Nc3 Bg4 15. h3 [I think the original 15. Nh4 was better.] Bxf3 16. gxf3 Kf7 [16. ... d5] 17. Qh4 [17. Qh5+ Kf8 18. f4] Ne7 18. Qg3 Rh8 19. Na4 [I thought my wife was shifting her attention to the queenside, but she did not follow up this move. She didn't even trade the knight for my bishop. I think continuing on the kingside with 19. f4 was better.] Qd7 20. Kg2 Rh7 21. Be3 Bxe3 22. fxe3 Rah8 [22. ... Rh6] 23. Rh1 Ng6 24. Rh2? [24. Rag1] Nh4+ [Missing 24. ... Rh5! (threatening ...Rg5) 25. h4 Nxh4+ winning back the pawn with the better position.] 25. Kf2 f5 [25. ... Rh6 - RMD] 26. Rah1 [26. Nc3] Kf6 27. f4 [27. Rg1] exf4 28. exf4 Re8 29. Qg5+ Kf7 30. Nc3 g6 [30. ... Qc7] 31. a4 [Another move which does not follow from or lead to anything else in the game.] Rh5 32. Qg3 Re6 [Wasted move; 32. ... Qd8.] 33. Re1 Re8 [33. ... fxe4 34. dxe4 d5] 34. Rhh1 b6 35. e5!? [35. Rhg1] dxe5 36. Rxe5 [36. Qe3] Qd4+ [36. ... Rxe5 37. fxe5 f4] 37. Qe3 Qxe3+ 38. Rxe3 Rxe3 39. Kxe3 Ng2+ [39. ... g5!?] 40. Kf3 Nh4+ 41. Kg3 Kf6 42. d4 [42. Ne2] g5 43. Ne2 [43. fxg5+] gxf4+ [43. ... Ng6] 44. Kxf4 [44. Nxf4] Ng6+ 45. Kf3 Rh8 46. Nf4 [46. b4] Nxf4 47. Kxf4 Rh4+48. Ke3 Re4+ 49. Kd3 Kg5 50. Kc4 [50. c4] Kh4 [50. ... f4!] 51. c3 [51. Rf1 to take advantage of the fact that I did not push the f pawn.] Re3 52. Rf1 Kxh3 [This was the pivotal decision of the game; I believe 52. ... Kg5 was stronger. - RMD] 53. Rxf5 Re7 54. b4 [54. a5!?] Kg4 55. Rf8 Kg5 [55. ... Rc7] 56. a5 bxa5 57. bxa5 Rc7 58. a6 Rh7 59. Rc8 Kf5 60. Rxc6 Ke4 61. d5 Rd7 [Chessmaster suggests 61. ... Kf5, but after 62. Re6 Black's chances in the endgame aren't any better than in the actual game.] 62. d6 Ke5 63. Kc5 Ke6 [63. ... Rd8] 64. c4 Ke6 [64. ... Rg7] 65. Kb4? [65. Kc7 Rxd6 66. Re7+ Re6 67. Rxe6+ Kxe6 68. Kc6 and White wins.] Kd4? [I was scared to trade rooks, but the only drawing chance lay in 65. ... Rxd6 66. Rxd6 Kxd6. Now White's win is just a matter of (very simple) technique.] 66. c5 Kd5 67. Rc7 Rd8 68. Rxa7 Kc6 [68. ... Rf8] 69. Rb7 [69. Kc4] Rf8 70. Rc7+ Kd5 71. a7 Ra8 72. Kb5 [72. d7] Ke6 73. Kc6 Rd8 74. Kb7 0-1

Four Games

ALD - RMD, 12/5/2004 [C42]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 Nxe4 4. Qe2 d5 [4. ... Qe7 or 4. ... d6] 5. d3 Qf6? [5. ... Qe7] 6. Nxf7? [Way to throw an opportunity away. After the natural 6. Nf3, I would have won the Knight. Now the position is even.] Qxf7? [With 6. ... Qxf2+!, Black would even have recovered the pawn.] 7. dxe4 d4 8. Qb5+ Nc6 9. Bc4 Qd7 [9. ... Qg6] 10. Bg5 [10. O-O] Qg4 [10. ... Bd6] 11. Qd5 Qd7 [Qf7+ isn't really a worrisome threat; 11. ... Ne7.] 12. Qxd7+ Bxd7 13. O-O Be7 [13. ... h6] 14. Bf4 [14. Bxe7 Kxe7 15. f4] O-O-O 15. c3 [15. Nd2] Bc5 [15. ... Bf6 16. cxd4 Bxd4 is more accurate.] 16. Rd1 [Because of Black's slight inaccuracy on the last move, White now has 16. b4 Bb6 17. b5 Na5 18. Be2. Otherwise, 16. cxd4 Bxd4 is also an OK way to proceed. The move I selected is a non sequitor.] Bg4 17. Rd2 Rhf8 [Black's pressure provides sufficient compensation for the pawn deficit, so the position is basically even.] 18. Bg3 a6 [18. ... Rfe8] 19. Rd3 [I was trying to set up f3, but this move doesn't actually help make that possible; 19. Bd5.] Be2 20. Be6+ Kb8 21. Rd2 Bb5? [21. ... d3!] 22. c4 Rfe8 [22. ... Ba4 23. b3 d3 gave Black more counterplay than this.] 23. Bd5? [Duh! Of course 23. cxb5 since if 23. ... Rxe6, 24. bxc6. Now Black has a chance to escape.] Bxc4? [23. ... Nb4! 24. Na3 (24. cxb5? Nxd5!) Ba4 25. b3 Bd7 =] 24. Bxc4 Rxe4 25. Re2 [25. Rd1] Rxe2 26. Bxe2 d3 27. Bd1 Nb4 [27. ... d2] 28. Nc3 Bd4 29. Rc1 [29. Bb3!] Bxc3 [29. ... d2! 30. Ra1 Bxc3! (removing a defender of d1) 31. bxc3 Re8! (threatening mate) with strong winning chances.] 30. Rxc3 Nxa2? [30. ... Rd7] 31. Bxc7+ Kc8 [31. ... Ka7 is better, but Black is lost in any event.] 32. Bxd8+? [32. Bg4+! Rd7 33. Rxd3! with an immediate win.] Nxc3 33. bxc3 Kxd8 34. Kf1 b5 35. Ke1 Kc7 36. Kd2 a5 37. c4 [37. Kxd3] Kb6 [37. ... bxc4] 38. cxb5 Kxb5 39. Kxd3 Kb4 40. Ke4 a4 41. Bxa4 Kxa4 42. f4 [It's all over now. Even I couldn't screw this position up.] Kb4 43. g4 Kc5 44. Ke5 g6 45. h4 Kc6 46. Ke6 Kc7 47. f5 gxf5 48. gxf5 Kd8 49. Kf7 h5 50. Kg7 1-0

ALD - RMD, 12/23/2004 [D07]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nc6 [My wife loves this defense, yet I've never learned to play against it properly.] 3. Qa4 [While this move does make an occasional appearance in master play (3. Nf3 Bg4 4. Qa4 = appears as D07/1), I don't really like it. I regretted playing it the second I hit my clock. 3. Nf3, 3. Nc3, 3. cxd5 and 3. e3 are all more common, as well as more suited to my style.] Bd7? [This loses a pawn, although I overlooked it. Correct is 3. ... e6.] 4. Qb3? [I didn't play 4. cxd5 because I mistakenly thought Black could respond 4. ... Nxd4.] Nxd4 [4. ... dxc4] 5. Qd3 [On this square, the White Queen interferes with White's development. Better to abandon the bad strategy commenced on the third move by playing 5. Qd1.] e5 6. cxd5 Nf6 7. e4?! [7. Nc3] Bb4+ [Missing 7. ... Nxd5!? 8. exd5 Bf5 9. Qd2 Bb4 10. Nc3 Nc2+ 11. Kd1 Nxa1.] 8. Bd2 a5 [Chessmaster says 8. ... Nxd5!? is still playable, but I don't see it myself.] 9. a3 [It was time to continue developing with 9. Nc3; I don't know what kind of hypnosis I was under in this game.] Bc5 [Missing 9. ... Ba4! when White can't play 10. axb4 because of 10. ... Nc2+.] 10. Nc3 Nb3 11. Rd1 Ng4! 12. Be3 [12. Nh3] Bxe3 13. fxe3 a4 14. h3??? Nf6? [Missing the mate in three with 14. ... Qh4+!] 15. Nf3 [After all the back-and-forth swings, this position is esentially even.] Nc5 16. Qc2 Qe7 17. Bd3 O-O 18. Nb1 [I was planning Nb1-d2-c4 to put pressure on the e5 pawn, but this plan is absurdly slow. Much better was 18. O-O.] c6 19. dxc6 Bxc6 20. Nbd2 Rfd8 21. Nc4 [21. Be2 is better, although White is already worse off.] Nfxe4 [Or 21. ... Rxd3 22. Rxd3 Bxe4 23. Nfxe5 Nxd3+ 24. Nxd3 Rd8 with the edge for Black.] 22. Nfxe5? [22. O-O was way overdue! Now it's all over for White!] Qh4+! 23. Kf1 Ng3+ 24. Kg1 Nxd3 25. Rxd3 Be4 26. Rxd8+ Rxd8 27. Qf2?? [27. Nf3] Rd1+! 28. Kh2 Rxh1#

As a side note, this game reinforced the fact that my wife's opening repertoire is about 100 years out of style (although perfectly solid and playable nonetheless). Against 1. d4, she plays either the Queen's Gambit Accepted or the QGD Chigorin Defense as in this game. She never even thinks about any of the Indian Defenses. Against 1. e4, she responds 1. ... e5 - never the French or the Sicilian. With White it's 1. e4 almost 100% of the time, and if I respond 1. ... e5, she plays Giuoco Piano or the Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation. I am always torn between spending some time studying these openings or spending time studying variations I am more likely to see from other players in a tournament.

ALD - RMD, 12/26/2004 [D07]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 [At the time, I saw this move as unnecessarily giving up the center, but after the game a quick review of ECO demonstrated that this is quite playable.] 6. bxc3 g6 [6. ... e5 immediately.] 7. Bc4 [7. Nf3] e5 [As long as 6. ... g6 was played, this should be followed up with 7. ... Bg7.] 8. d5 Ne7 [The counter-intuitive 8. ... Nb8 is also worth considering, as happened in Ratner-Terpugov, USSR 1950 (without the intervening Bc4 g6).] 9. Bb3 [9. Nf3] b5 [Huh?] 10. Ne2 Bg4 11. f3 Bd7 12. O-O f5!? 13. a3 [13. a4!] Bg7 14. Bb2 Qb8 15. Qd2 Qb6+ 16. Kh1 f4 [Prematurely releases the pressure on White's center.] 17. c4 O-O-O? [The straightforward 17. ... bxc4 18. Bxc4 Rb8 is necessary.] 18. Nxf4 exf4 [18. ... Rhe8] 19. Bxg7 bxc4? [Trying to be too slick. The plain 19. ... Rhg8 is correct.] 20. Bxh8 [White had better with 20. Bxc4 Rhg8 21. Bd4 c5 22. Bxc5 Qxc5 23. Ba6+ Kb8 24. Rab1+ and a clear win.] cxb3 21. Bd4 c5? [In this line this is not playable; 21. ... Qb7.] 22. dxc6e.p.? [22. Bxc5! when Black has lost a pawn for nothing since 22. ... Qxc5? is not possible because of 23. Rac1!] Bxc6 [22. ... Be8] 23. Bxb6 [23. Rfd1] Rxd2 24. Ba5? [I didn't think so at the time, but there is time for White to play 24. Bxa7!] Re2 25. Rab1 Re3 [25. ... Ba4 is a better way to defend the pawn.] 26. Rfc1 Kb7 27. Rc3 [27. Bd8 Nc8 28. Rc4] Ba4 28. Rc7+ Ka6 29. Bd2 Black resigns

Neither my wife nor I are prone to premature resignation, but in this game I thought my wife could have fought on for at least a while longer. After 29. ... Nc8 30. Bxe3 fxe3, Black is down both exchanges but has two passed pawns as compensation. Of course, with best play I should win, but she should know better than to expect best play from me.

RMD - ALD, 12/26/2004 [C68]

1. Nf3 Nc6 2. e4 e5 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nxe5 Qd4 6. Nxf7? [My wife and I had reached this position once before on 11/27, and she played this move then too. I still don't understand the need for this desperation.] Qxe4+ 7. Qe2 Qxe2+ 8. Kxe2 Kxf7 9. d4 Nf6 10. f3 [The first deviation from our previous game, where my wife played 10. Bf4, which is better than the move in this game.] Bf5 11. c3 Bxb1 [11. ... Re8+] 12. Rxb1 Bd6 13. Kd3 Rhe8 14. b4 [14. Bg5] Nd5 [14. ... b5!? is a move I didn't even consider, but it's definitely worth looking at.] 15. a3 [15. a4] Nf4+ [15. ... Bf4] 16. Bxf4 Bxf4 17. g3 Bg5 [17. ... Re3+ was worth considering, but if not that then I should have played 17. ... Bd6. What I chose just allows White to play 18. f4 with gain of tempo.] 18. f4 Bf6 19. Rhf1 [19. g4] Rad8 20. g4 Kg8 [I considered this move as well as 20. ... Kg6. However, it turns out that 20. ... Be7 was best.] 21. g5 Be7 22. c4 [22. h4! At this point, I was thinking that White has the initiative but Black is definitely winning. I knew that as long as I didn't blunder it was in the bag.] b6 [The first inaccuracy. Better was 22. ... c5 23. d5 c6 stemming Black's initiative.] 23. Kc3 [23. Rbe1] c5 [A second inaccuracy. Now 24. dxc5 bxc5 25. b5 axb5 26. Rxb5 would give White an outside passed pawn.] 24. d5 [Not bad, but not fully capitalizing on Black's error.] cxb4+ [A third inaccuracy; 24. ... Bd6] 25. axb4 c6? [And now finally a downright error. I analyzed all sorts of replies to this but somehow missed the obvious 26. dxc6. I can't believe I was playing so badly that I made four consecutive bad moves. My wife's initiative was making me lose my cool.] 26. dxc6 Rc8 27. b5 axb5 [27. ... a5 - RMD] 28. cxb5 Bd6 [28. ... Rf8] 29. Rbd1 Re3+ [29. ... Rcd8] 30. Rd3 [30. Kc4] Rxd3+ 31. Kxd3 Kf7 [31. ... Ra8 to get some counterplay.] 32. h4 Kg6 [32. ... h5] 33. f5+ Kh5!? 34. Rh1 [34. f6] Bg3 [Despite Black's extra piece, the position is now actually dead even. With 34. ... Bc7 Black keeps some sort of edge.] 35. f6 gxf6 36. gxf6 Rf8 37. Rf1 [It's insanely difficult for the non-grandmasters among us to know if 37. Rf1 or 37. Rc1 is the correct move in this position. That is, which passed pawn should the rook get behind? Chessmaster suggests 37. Rc1, but since that passed pawn is supported and the King is closer to it, I like 37. Rf1 better myself. But what do I know?] Bxh4 38. c7 [38. Kd4! Kg6 39. Kd5 Kf7 40. c7 gave better chances, but I think this position was just too subtle for either one of us to really understand what was going on.] Bg3 [38. ... Rc8 39. Rc1 Kg6 and Black maintained a small advantage.] 39. Rh1+ Kg4 [I did not play 39. ... Kg6 because I was afraid of the pin 40. Rg1, but it turns out that Black's best practical winning chances lay here after 40. ... Rc8 41. Rxg3+ Kxf6 42. Rf3+ Kg7 43. Rg3+ Kh8 44. Re3 Rxc7, where Black now has an extra passed pawn. Now the position is drawn - if I don't screw it up.] 40. Rxh7 Bxc7 [Too soon. The Black King is too far away. Better is 40. ... Kf5 41. Rd7 Bxc7 42. Rxc7 Rxf6.] 41. Kc4?? Rxf6?? [I have no idea what hallucination affected both me and my wife here.] 42. Rxc7 [White's pieces are more active and the Black King is far away from the pawns, so all the winning chances are now with White.] Rf4+ [42. ... Rf5! - RMD] 43. Kd5 Rf5+ ["Patzer sees a check, patzer gives a check." I don't know what I was thinking; 43. ... Rf6!] 44. Kc6 Rf6+ 45. Kb7 Kf4 46. Rc6 Rf7+ 47. Kxb6 Ke5 48. Rc5+ Kd6 49. Rc6+ Kd5 [Chessmaster claims that the correct 49th move for White was 49. Rc2 and that 49. Rc6+ allowed Black to reach a theoretically drawn position with 49. ... Ke5. Some time spent with Comprehensive Chess Endings: Rook Endings confirmed that this is in fact not the case. White's endgame play was flawless. Once upon a time, I could count upon getting excellent chances of winning an even position or drawing an inferior position by going into the endgame. But no longer; now my wife is at least as good as I in the endgame. Ah, well...] 50. Ka5 Rb7 51. Rc8 [51. Ka6] Kd6 [51. ... Ra7+ - RMD] 52. b6 Kd7? [The losing move; 52. ... Rf7 held out some hope.] 53. Rc1 [The correct idea.] Kd6 54. Ka6 Rb8 55. Ka7 Re8 56. b7 Re7 57. Ka8 1-0

Two games

RMD - ALD, 11/27/2004 [C68]

1. e4 e4 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. Nxe5 Qd4 [=, ECO] 6. Nxf7? [There's no need for this desperation. After 6. Ng4, White's game is perfectly playable.] Qxe4+ 7. Qe2 [White should not trade queens down material; 7. Kf1.] Qxe2+ 8. Kxe2 Kxf7 9. d4 Nf6 10. Bf4 Bd6 11. Be5 [11. Bxd6] Bxe5 [11. ... Re8] 12. dxe5 Nd5 13. Nd2 [13. Re1] Re8 14. Nc4 b5 15. Ne3 Nxe3 16. fxe3 Rxe5 17. Rhf1+ Ke7 18. h3 Bd7 19. g4 [19. Rf3] Rf8 [19. ... h5] 20. Rfd1 c5 21. Kd3? Rd5+ [21. ... Rf3!] 22. Kc3 [22. Ke2] Rxd1 [22. ... b4+] 23. Rxd1 Rf3 24. Rd3 [24. Rh1] Rxh3 25. g5 Bf5 [25. ... c4] 26. Rd5 Rxe3+ 27. Kd2 Rf3 28. Rxc5 Rf2+ [Patzer sees a check, patzer gives a check; 28. ... Kd6.] 29. Ke3 Rxc2? [29. ... Kd6] 30. Rxf5 Rxb2 31. Re5+ Kd6 32. Rf5 Rxa2 33. Rf7 Ra3+ 34. Ke4 Ra4+ 35. Ke3 g6 36. Kf3 [36. Rxh7] Rh4 37. Kg3 [37. Rf6+] Rh5 38. Kg4 h6 [38. ... a5 ends all resistance.] 39. Rf6+ [39. gxh6] Ke7 [39. ... Ke5] 40. Rxg6? [White can't trade rooks; better to play 40. Rxa6, although the game is lost in any case.] Rxg5+ 41. Rxg5 hxg5 42. Kxg5 c4 0-1

ALD - RMD, 12/11/2004 [A20]

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 e4 4. Nd4 [4. Ng5] Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb4 6. a3 [6. d4] Bxc3 7. dxc3 b6 8. c5 O-O 9. cxb6 axb6 10. e3 [10. g3] d5 11. c4 Bg4 12. Be2 [12. Qc2] Be6 [12. ... Bxe2] 13. cxd5 Qxd5 14. Qxd5 Bxd5 15. Nd4 c5 16. Nf5 Ra4 [Odd.] 17. Ne7+ Kh8 18. Nxd5 Nxd5 19. O-O h6 20. Rd1 Rd8 21. b3 Ra7 22. Bc4 Rad7 23. Bxd5 [23. Ra2] Rxd5 24. Rxd5 Rxd5 25. Bb2 [25. Kf1] Rd3 26. b4 Kh7 [26. ... Rb3] 27. g3 [27. bxc5] c4 28. Rc1 b5 29. Rc3 [29. a4 or 29. Kf1 is better.] Nc6 [29. ... Rd2 30. Bc1 Ra2] 30. Kf1 f6 [30. ... Rd2] 31. Ke2 Kg8 [Black seems to have no plan; 31. ... Ne5.] 32. a4 bxa4 [32. ... Rxc3] 33. Rxc4 Rb3 34. Rxc6 [34. Bc1] Rxb2+ 35. Ke1 [35. Kf1] Rxb4 [35. ... a3!] 36. Ra6 Kh7 37. Kd1 h5 38. Kc2 Kg6 39. Kc3 Rb3+ 40. Kc2 Rb4 41. Kc3 [I would have been happy with a draw by repetition at this point, but my wife would have none of that.] Rb1 42. Rxa4 f5 43. h4 Rf1 44. Ra6+ Kh7 45. Ra2 Kh6 46. Kd4 g5 [46. ... Rc1, =] 47. hxg5+ [Fails to take advantage of Black's inaccuracy on the previous move; 47. Ke5!] Kxg5 48. Ke5 Kg4 49. Rd2 Kf3 50. Kxf5 Rxf2? [This loses the endgame; 50. ... Rh1!] 51. Rxf2+ Kxf2 52. Kf4 Kg2 53. g4 h4 [53. ... hxg4 likewise loses.] 54. g5 h3 55. g6 h2 56. g7 h1=Q 57. g8=Q+ [While playing this position, I was under the impression it was a draw. It turns out I had a win all along and didn't even know it. Because of the bad position of Black's king, there's a win (Comprehensive Chess Endings: Queen Endings section 2.41).] Kf2 58. Qg3+?? [Now it's a draw! White would win with 58. Qa2+! Kg1 59. Qb1+ Kh2 60. Qxh1+ Kxh1 61. Kxe4.] Ke2 59. Qg4+?? [Now it's a win for Black! After 59. Qg5, the position could have been abandoned as a certain draw. Two moves, two blunders. Wow!] Qf3+! 60. Qxf3+ exf3 61. e4 f2 62. e5 f1=Q+ 0-1

One game, twice

RMD - ALD, 12/11/2004 [D01]

1. Nc3 Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. Bg5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. e3 Bd6 6. Bd3 Bxd3 7. Qxd3 Nbd7 [=] 8. Nb5 [8. e4 is recommended in this type of position.] O-O 9. Nxd6 cxd6 10. O-O Qb6 11. Bxf6 [My wife second-guessed herself after playing this, but I don't see anything wrong with it.] Nxf6 12. Rab1 Rac8 13. Rfc1 Rc7 14. Nd2 Rfc8 15. c3 g6 [15. ... e5] 16. f3 Kg7 17. b3 Qa5 18. c4! dxc4 19. Nxc4?! [Setting a trap for Black.] Qxa2?? [The second I hit my clock I realized with horror the point of White's last move. I had fallen for the trap. The way to refute 19. Nxc4 is 19. ... Qa6 20. Re1 b5 21. Nd2 Qxa2 22. Ra1 Qb2 when the queen is able to escape with the extra pawn.] 20. Ra1 Black resigns

Given the interesting position and the idiotic nature of my loss, my wife and I decided to play the same position again.

RMD - ALD, 12/11/2004 [D01]

1. Nc3 Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. Bg5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. e3 Bd6 6. Bd3 Bxd3 7. Qxd3 Nbd7 8. Nb5 O-O 9. Nxd6 cxd6 10. O-O Qb6 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. Rab1 Rac8 13. Rfc1 Rc7 14. Nd2 Rfc8 15. c3 g6 16. f3 Kg7 17. b3 Qa5 18. c4 dxc4 19. Nxc4 Qb5 [My second chance at this position, and still I could not find the right move. 19. ... Qa6 is stronger, retaining an edge for Black. Now the position is even.] 20. e4? [20. Qd2] d5 21. e5 dxc4? [Duh! Because the White Knight is pinned, there's time for 21. ... Nd7, capturing on the next move.] 22. exf6+ Kxf6 23. Rxc4 [23. bxc4] Rxc4 24. bxc4 Qxc4 25. Qxc4 Rxc4 26. Rxb7 Rc1+ 27. Kf2 Rc2+ 28. Kg3 Rxa2 29. h4 a5 [Better to first put a stop to White's ambitions on the queen side with 29. ... h6.] 30. f4 [30. Rb6] a4 [30. ... Rd2] 31. Rb1 [31. Ra7, behind the pawn!] a3 32. Kf3 [32. Rb3] Rd2 [32. ... Rb2] 33. Ra1 [33. Rb4 a2 34. Ra4] a2 34. g3 Rd3+ 35. Kg4 [35. Ke4 since the pawn on g3 can not be taken.] h5+ 36. Kh3 Ra3 37. Kg2 Kf5 38. Kh3 [38. Kf1 also loses.] f6 [Thinking of 39. Kg2 Kg5 when it's all over. But 38. ... Ke4 was faster.] White resigns

Two games

ALD - RMD, 12/4/2004 [A34]

1. c4 c5 2. Nc3 e5 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. d3 Nf6 5.Bg5 Be7 6. g3 O-O 7. Bg2 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Bxe7 Ndxe7 10. O-O a6 [I could not find this specific position in the opening books, but it is a very typical position in this line of the English. Chances are even here.] 11. Na4 Qd6 [11. ... Qa5] 12. Rc1 Nb4 [12. ... Bg4] 13. Rxc5?! [13. a3] b5 14. Rxe5 [14. Nxe5 bxa4 15. d4] Bb7? [I don't understand why my wife didn't just grab the piece she had just won.] 15. Nc5 [15. Rxe7 Qxe7 16. Nc3 was better.] Bxf3 16. Bxf3 Qxe5 17. Bxa8? [Missing the intermediate 17. d4!] Rxa8? [17. ... Qxc5! 18. Bg2 Nxa2] 18. d4 Qd5 19. a3 Nbc6 20. e3 h6 21. Qd3 Qa2 [Odd.] 22. Qb3 Qxb3 23. Nxb3 a5 24. Rc1 a4 25. Nc5 g5 [25. ... Na5] 26. Nd7 Kg7 27. d5 Nb8 28. Nxb8 Rxb8 29. e4 Nc8 [29. ... Rc8] 30. f4 Nb6 31. Kf2 Nc4 32. Rc2 Kf6 [32. ... Rd8] 33. Kf3 [33. Ke2] h5 34. h3 Nd6?? [A blunder. Black had the cute 34. ... g4+ 35. hxg4 hxg4+ when White can not respond 36. Kxg4? because of Ne3+.] 35. e5+ Ke7 36. exd6+? [Missing the strong intermediate check 36. Rc7+!] Kxd6 37. fxg5 [It was essential to hang on to the strong passed pawn with 37. Ke4. The extra passed pawn in the center is generally a win (e.g., Rubinstein-Lasker, Saint Petersburg 1909, and Fischer-Ghitescu, Liepzig 1960). Now the position is drawish. ] Kxd5 38. Kf4 b4 39. Kf5 [This dissipates White's remaining advantage. Necessary was 39. Rc7.] bxa3 40. bxa3 Rb3 41. Rd2+ [Pretty much forced.] Kc4 42. g4 [42. Kf6] Rxa3 [With 42. ... h4 Black equalized; now White again has winning chances.] 43. gxh5 Rxg3 44. h6 a3 45. Kf6 Rd3 [Chessmaster recommends 45. ... Rh5, but I think a much stronger defense than either 45. ... Rd3 or 45. ... Rh5 is given by 45. ... Rg3.] 46. Ra2 [Otherwise 46. ... Kc3 with the threat of 47. ... Rd2.] Rf3+ 47. Kg7 Rg3 48. Rxa3? [Why? Now the position is a dead draw. After 48. Kxf7 Rxg5 49. Rxa3, White retains some winning chances.] Rxa3 49. h7 Rh3 50. h8=Q Rxh8 51. Kxh8 Kd5 52. Kg7 Ke6 53. Kf8 Kf5 54. Kxf7 Kxg5 1/2-1/2

RMD - ALD, 12/4/2004 [B45]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 e6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Be7 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Nc3 Qc7 8. O-O Nf6 [Another typical position in this line of the Sicilian. Chances are even.] 9. Qf3 [9. Re1] O-O 10. Be3 [10. Bf4] a5 [10. ... d5] 11. Rfe1 Ba6 12. Bb3 Bb4 13. Bg5 Qe5 14. h4 h6 15. Bxf6 Qxf6 16. Qxf6 gxf6 17. Re3 d5 18. Na4 [18. Rf3] d4 19. Rf3 Kg7 20. a3 Be7 21. Nb6 Ra7 22. Nc4 a4 23. Ba2 e5 24. c3 [24. Nd2] c5 25. Nb6 Rb7? [Chessmaster recommends 25. ... Rb8, but I prefer to save the pawn with 25. ... Bb7.] 26. Nxa4 Bb5 27. b3? [It's a subtle error, but this move gives back the extra pawn to 27. ... Ra8 28. cxd4 cxd4 29. Bb1 Bxa4 30. bxa4 Rb2 31. Ba2 Rxa4.] Bxa4? 28. bxa4 Ra7 29. Bb3 c4! 30. Bd1 d3 [=] 31. g4 [31. Rb1] Rb8 32. Kg2 Rb2 33. Rf5 Bc5 34. Kg3 Rd2 35. g5 hxg5 36. hxg5 Be7 [36. ... fxg5 37. Rxg5+ Kf8] 37. f4!? [37. Bh5] Rxd1? [Insufficient. Black had an edge; there was no reason to get "cute." The simple 37. ... exf4+ 38. Kxf4 fxg5+ 39. Ke3 Rh2 maintained the edge.] 38. Rxd1 Rxa4? [38. ... exf4+ was still correct. Now the advantage switches to White.] 39. gxf6+ Bxf6 40. fxe5 Be7 41. Rdf1 Bxa3? [41. ... Kf8] 42. Rxf7+ Kg8 43. e6 Ra6 [43. ... Ra8] 44. e7 Rg6+ 45. Kh3 Rh6+ 46. Kg4 Bxe7 47. Rxe7 [Time to resign.] Rd6 48. e5 Rd8 49. Re6 [Missing a mate in 7 with 49. Kh5 d2 50. Kg6 d1=Q 51. Rxd1 Kf8 52. Rf7+ Ke8 53. Rh1 Rd6+ 54. exd6 Kd8 55. Rh8#.] d2 50. Rd6 1-0 [50. ... Re8 51. Kg5 d1=Q 52. Rdxd1 Rc8 53. Rd6 Rc7 54. Rg6+ Kh8 55. Rh1+ Rh7 56. Rxh7+ Kxh7]

Two (very poor) games

ALD - RMD, 12/4/2004 [D07]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. Bg5 Ne4 6. Nxd5? [6. Nxe4] Nxf5 7. Nxg5 [7. Qb3] e6 8. Nxf7 [8. Nc3] Kxf7 9. Ne3??? [9. Nc3] Bb4+! White resigns

ALD - RMD, 12/4/2004 [D07]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. cxd5 [An improvement over the previous game.] Nxd5 6. e4 Bxf3 7. gxf3 Nf6 [7. ... Nxc3 (Ribli-Wittmann, Dubai Olympiad 1986) and 7. ... Nb6 (Keres-Terpugov, USSR Championship 1951) have been played before.] 8. d5 Ne5 9. Bf4 Ng6 10. Bg3 [10. Qa4+] e6 [10. ... e5] 11. Bb5+ Nd7 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. Bc4 [13. Qb3] e5 [13. ... Qe7] 14. Qd5 Qf6 15. Qxb7 Nb6? [15. ... Rb8] 16. Qxc7? [16. Nd5! would have demolished Black's position.] Nxc4 17. Qxc4 h5? [Pointless. 17. ... Rd8 put up some sort of defense.] 18. Qb5+! Kf7 [18. ... Kd8 is likewise insufficient.] 19. Qd5+ Black resigns