[Event "4NCL Division 1a"]
[Site "Hinckley Island ENG"]
[Date "2014.02.15"]
[Round "5.143"]
[White "Grund, Holger"]
[Black "Greet, Andrew N"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C19"]
[WhiteElo "2428"]
[BlackElo "2423"]
[Annotator "Saunders,John"]
[PlyCount "138"]
[EventDate "2014.02.15"]
[WhiteTeam "Grantham Sharks 1"]
[BlackTeam "Wood Green HK 2"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. a4 Nbc6 8. Nf3
Qa5 9. Qd2 Bd7 10. Bd3 f6 11. exf6 gxf6 12. O-O c4 13. Be2 Nf5 14. Ba3 O-O-O
15. Rfb1 Kb8 16. Bc5 (16. Qf4+ Qc7 17. Qxc7+ Kxc7 {led to a draw in the game
Saravanan-Levitt, Goodricke 1997.}) 16... Bc8 17. Bf1 Rdg8 18. Rb5 Qc7 19. a5
Rg6 20. Rab1 Ka8  ({If} 20... Nxa5 {, there's no immediate
bone-crusher but} 21. Ra1 Nc6 22. Bxa7+ $1 Nxa7 23. Rba5 {could be the next
best thing as White regains the piece and opens up the a-file.}) 21. Bb6 $5 {
Possible a bluff.} Qg7 ({After} 21... axb6 22. axb6 Qd6 23. Ra1+ Kb8 24. Rb2
Bd7 {, Black may be wriggling out of danger after 25...Kc8 and (if necessary)
26...Nb8.}) 22. Kh1 $2 ({It's not easy to admit you're wrong but it may be
best to go back with} 22. Bc5 {here. Black now gains some significant tempi,
by the end of which he is well on top.}) 22... Rg8 23. Ne1 Nd6 24. R5b2 Ne4 25.
Qe3 Qh6 {Black has time to exchange the queens before securing a material
advantage.} 26. Qxh6 Rxh6 {With a bishop and two pawns en prise, White is in
desperate straits.} 27. f3 Nd2 28. Bc7 e5 ({Simply} 28... Nxf1 {looks good
enough.}) 29. Kg1 Nxb1 30. Rxb1 Bf5 31. Rb5 Rc8 32. Bd6 Rd8 33. Bc5 Rg6 34. Kf2
{White is the exchange down for nothing but can justify playing on because the
black rooks have yet to establish a way into his position.} Rgg8 35. g3 h5 36.
Rb2 Nxa5 37. Be7 Rde8 38. Bxf6 Nc6 39. Rb5 {[diag] Why is it that tricky
positions always occur around the time control? Black has loosend the pawn
structure, which seemed like a good idea, but it is not clear.} exd4 $2 ({Too
much of a concession. Black needs to harass the black bishop first, for example
} 39... Rgf8 {or 29...Rg6.}) 40. Rxd5 {Suddenly the c4, c5 and h5 pawns are in
danger.} Be6 41. Rxh5 Rgf8 42. Bxd4 Nxd4 43. cxd4 Rd8 44. c3 Bd5 45. f4 Rh8 46.
Rxh8 Rxh8 47. h3 b5 48. Ke3 a5 {Now you sense those queenside pawns are going
to do the job but the computer is not yet convinced. This feels like a very
tense, complex game. More of a cup tie than a league match.} 49. Nc2 Kb7 50. f5
Re8+ 51. Kd2 Be4 52. Na3 $1 (52. g4 Bxc2 53. Kxc2 Re1 54. Bg2+ Kc7 55. Bd5 Kd6
{seems to favour Black. Keeping the knight on is more resilient.}) 52... Kc6
53. g4 Rh8 54. f6 $1  ({A pass move like} 54. Ke3 {is tempting but then
} Bd3 $1 55. Bg2+ Kb6 {and now} 56. Bd5 {is forced otherwise 56...b4 would win
a piece. Black's winning plan now is} Re8+ $1 57. Kf3 b4 $1 {when a black pawn
comes to c3 and wins. If 57 Kd2 instead, Black plays 57...Re2+ and then rounds
up the knight. After 54 f6, the position becomes horribly difficult to assess
and it's probably not surprising that both players make mistake.}) 54... Bd3 $2
({Keeping an eye on things with} 54... Bd5 {meets with silicon approval but
the position remains very tricky.}) 55. Bxd3 cxd3 56. g5 (56. Kxd3 b4 57. Nc4
Rxh3+ 58. Ke4 bxc3 59. f7 Rh8 60. Kd3 $1 {and White wins.}) 56... Kd5 57. Nxb5
Ke6 ({Possibly a mistake.} 57... Rxh3 58. f7 Rh8 {and it's still unclear.}) 58.
Kxd3 Rxh3+ 59. Kc4 Rg3 $2  (59... Rh8 {keeps Black in the game.}) 60.
Nc7+ $2 ({A golden chance goes begging. After} 60. d5+ $1 Kf7 61. d6 $1 Rxg5 (
61... Ke6 62. Nd4+ $1 {also wins.}) 62. d7 $1 Rg8 63. Nd4 Kxf6 64. Nc6 {wraps
up the win for White.}) 60... Kf7 61. d5 Rxg5 62. Kb5 Kxf6 63. c4 Rg4 64. d6 a4
 65. c5 $4 ({White seemingly can't lose, e.g.} 65. Kxa4 {with a drawn
endgame, but he unaccountably lets the a-pawn slip past him.}) 65... a3 66. d7
Ke7 67. c6 (67. Nd5+ Kd8 68. Nc3 Rg2 {wins.}) 67... Rd4 (67... a2 68. Ne6 Rg8 {
is equally effective.}) 68. Kc5 Rxd7 69. cxd7 Kxd7 0-1

[Event "4NCL Division 1a"]
[Site "Hinckley Island ENG"]
[Date "2014.02.15"]
[Round "5.122"]
[White "Zaragatski, Ilja"]
[Black "Ledger, Andrew J"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A49"]
[WhiteElo "2478"]
[BlackElo "2391"]
[Annotator "Saunders,John"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2014.02.15"]
[WhiteTeam "Cheddleton 1"]
[BlackTeam "Blackthorne Russia"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. b3 Bg7 4. Bb2 O-O 5. Bg2 d6 6. d4 Nbd7 7. O-O e5 8. dxe5
Ng4 9. Qc1 Ngxe5 10. c4 Nxf3+ 11. Bxf3 Ne5 12. Bg2 c6 13. Nc3 Qc7 14. Qd2 Be6
15. Rac1 Rad8 16. Nd5 Qb8 17. Nf4 Bc8 18. Rfd1 Rfe8 19. a4 Qc7 20. Bd4 a6 21.
b4 Ng4 22. b5 Bxd4 23. Qxd4 Ne5 24. h4 Qa5 25. h5 Qxa4 26. bxc6 bxc6 27. h6 f6
28. Rb1 Qa5 29. Rb8 Qc7 30. Ra8 c5 31. Nd5 cxd4 32. Nxc7 Rf8 33. Rxd4 Ng4 34.
c5 Nxh6 35. Rxd6 Rxd6 36. cxd6 Nf5 {[diag] White to play and find a winning
combination:} 37. Bd5+ $1 Kg7 (37... Kh8 38. d7 {is all over.}) 38. Rxc8 $1
Rxc8 39. d7 $1 {and it's all over. Black tried} Rb8 40. d8=Q Rxd8 41. Ne6+ Kf7
42. Nxd8+ {when White was a piece for a pawn up and won in another 14 moves.}
1-0

[Event "4NCL Division 1b"]
[Site "Hinckley Island ENG"]
[Date "2014.02.15"]
[Round "5.163"]
[White "Ferguson, Mark"]
[Black "Mladenov, Plamen"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C55"]
[WhiteElo "2417"]
[BlackElo "2375"]
[Annotator "Saunders,John"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4r3/2p3k1/2Pp3R/3P2p1/1PP2pP1/8/8/5K2 w - - 0 48"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[EventDate "2014.02.15"]
[WhiteTeam "Barbican 4NCL 1"]
[BlackTeam "e2e4.org.uk 1"]

{[diag] White is a pawn up and can grind out a win the long way but the short
cut proves to be risk-free:} 48. Rxd6 $1 cxd6 49. b5 {The pawns are arranged
in an attractive diamond formation and cannot be stopped. White would still be
winning if the c4 pawn were to be spirited away from the board but the d5 pawn
has a key function in supporting the c6 pawn; in its absence, ...Rc8 would
simply immobilise the two passed pawns.} Kf6 50. b6 Ke5 51. b7 Rb8 52. c7 Rxb7
53. c8=Q Rb3 54. Qf5+ Kd4 55. Qxg5 Ke4 56. Qf5+ Kf3 57. Qc2 1-0

[Event "4NCL Division 1b"]
[Site "Hinckley Island ENG"]
[Date "2014.02.15"]
[Round "5.164"]
[White "Sowray, Peter J"]
[Black "Franklin, Samuel GA"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E81"]
[WhiteElo "2355"]
[BlackElo "2309"]
[Annotator "Saunders,John"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "7k/6b1/pnn1q2p/4p2Q/2P1N3/8/P5PP/5RK1 b - - 0 30"]
[PlyCount "4"]
[EventDate "2014.02.15"]
[WhiteTeam "e2e4.org.uk 1"]
[BlackTeam "Barbican 4NCL 1"]

{Black must have been concerned about the vulnerability of his king, or
perhaps 31.Ng5 and 32.Nf7+, so he played} 30... Kg8 $4 {, only to have Black
answer} 31. Nf6+ $1 {and it is game over.} Kf8 (31... Bxf6 32. Qg6+ Kh8 33.
Rxf6 {also wins.}) 32. Qg6 {and Black resigned. Going back to the diagram
position, it seems that Black was seeing ghosts. His king was perfectly safe
on h8 and he could safely take the c-pawn with 30...Qxc4.} 1-0

[Event "4NCL Division 1b"]
[Site "Hinckley Island ENG"]
[Date "2014.02.15"]
[Round "5.165"]
[White "Dorrington, Chris J"]
[Black "Crouch, Colin S"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D45"]
[WhiteElo "2324"]
[BlackElo "2333"]
[Annotator "Saunders,John"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "2014.02.15"]
[WhiteTeam "Barbican 4NCL 1"]
[BlackTeam "e2e4.org.uk 1"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 c6 3. c4 Nf6 4. Nc3 e6 5. e3 a6 {I realise that it is
circumstantial evidence but Kasparov played 5...a6 against Huzman in 2003 -
and lost; Aronian played it against Ding Liren last year - and lost; and Anand
played it against Gelfand in their 2012 world title match - and lost. Maybe
the main line of the Semi-Slav, 5...Nbd7, is a safer bet.} 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. f4 c5
8. cxd5 exd5 9. Qf3 {A new move, which looks good, putting pressure on the d5
pawn.} cxd4 10. exd4 Bb4 11. Bd3 O-O 12. O-O Nb6 13. g4  Ne8 $6 ({When
your opponent is bearing down on your kingside, it often turns out to be later
than you think and here Black doesn't really have time for this manoeuvre.
Hiarcs suggests} 13... Bxc3 14. bxc3 Ne4 $5 {, one point being that} 15. Bxe4
$6 dxe4 16. Qxe4 f6 17. Nd3 Re8 18. Qf3 Bd7 {offers Black some compensation
for the sacrificed pawn. However, 15.c4!? retains a plus for White.}) 14. f5
Nc7 ({If} 14... f6 {, White plays} 15. Ng6 $1 {when the capture of the knight
would lead to a routine mate on h7, while} Rf7 16. Nf4 {leads to a
considerable edge for White. Still, it is probably better than the text.}) 15.
f6 $1 g6 ({After} 15... gxf6 {or 15...Qxf6} 16. Qh3 {is curtains, of course.})
16. Bh6 Re8 ({The end comes quickly after this. The computer opts for grim
defence the exchange down after} 16... Nc4 17. Bxf8 Nxe5 18. dxe5 Qxf8 {,
which must look better to the engine than it does to me.}) 17. Nxg6 $1 hxg6 (
17... fxg6 18. f7+ Kh8 {and mate follows swiftly.}) 18. Bxg6 (18. Qh3 Ne6 {and
now} 19. Bxg6 {also does the trick.}) 18... Nd7 ({Black probably knew he was
lost and allowed White an attractive finish. After} 18... fxg6 19. f7+ Kh7 {,
the most forcing line is} 20. Qh3 Bxg4 21. Qxg4 Kxh6 22. fxe8=Q Qxe8 23. Qf4+
g5 24. Qxc7 {with a routine win.}) 19. Bh7+ $1 Kxh7 20. Qf5+ Kh8 21. Bg7+ Kg8
22. Qh5 1-0

[Event "4NCL Division 1a"]
[Site "Hinckley Island ENG"]
[Date "2014.02.16"]
[Round "6.112"]
[White "Jones, Gawain CB"]
[Black "Eggleston, David J"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2648"]
[BlackElo "2423"]
[Annotator "Saunders,John"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4r3/4P2R/p4rk1/7R/b2N1p2/2p5/5P1P/7K b - - 0 47"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2014.02.16"]
[WhiteTeam "Guildford 1"]
[BlackTeam "Cheddleton 1"]

 47... c2 $2 ({A mistake.} 47... Rxe7 $1 {is playable, producing a
sort of stand-off between the two pairs of rooks after} 48. R5h6+ Kg5 {(where}
49. h4+ $2 {would only serve to make White's game worse after} Kg4 {).}) 48.
R5h6+ Kg5 49. Rh5+ Kg6 50. R5h6+ Kg5 {Take the draw or risk all on a chance of
victory?} 51. h4+ $1 {Gawain, like the Arthurian knight of the same name, is a
brave man.} Kg4 52. Rxf6 c1=Q+ 53. Kh2 f3 {The only way to stave off the twin
mate threats of 54.Rg6 and 54.f3.} 54. Rg7+ Kh5 (54... Kxh4 {leads to an easy
mate after} 55. Nxf3+ Kh5 56. Rh7+ {, etc, but it's far from obvious how to
proceed after the text.}) 55. Nxf3 ({Weaving a mating net round the king but
the computer finds the even more devilish} 55. Ne2 $1 {when} fxe2 56. Rh7+ Kg4
57. f3# {mate is the primary threat.}) 55... Bc2 56. Kg3 Be4 57. Rg5+ Qxg5+ 58.
hxg5 $2 ({This could, and probably should, have cost White the win.} 58. Nxg5
$1 {wins, e.g.} Rxe7 59. Ne6 {with the killing threat of Nf4 mate, which Black
can only avert at ruinous material cost.}) 58... Bxf3 59. Kf4 $1 {Preparing
another mating threat...} Kh4 $1 {... which Black neatly sidesteps. I wonder
if Gawain overlooked this possibility when he captured with the pawn on move
58.} 60. g6 Rxe7 61. Rf7 (61. Kxf3 Kg5 62. Rxa6 {should only draw with best
play.}) 61... Re8 $4 ({"Just when I think I'm out, they pull me back in!" Al
Pacino's famous line from The Godfather seems to encapsulate the agony of
Black's plight. Simply} 61... Re6 62. g7 (62. Rh7+ Bh5 63. g7 Rg6 {is much the
same}) 62... Rg6 63. Kxf3 Kg5 {and the draw is not far away.}) 62. Rh7+ Bh5 63.
g7 Rg8 64. Kf5 {The key difference between the black rook being on g8 rather
than g6 is that now the white king can cross the sixth rank and join in the
battle to promote the g-pawn.} a5 65. Kf6 a4 (65... Rb8 66. Rh8 Rb6+ 67. Ke5 {
and the checks soon run out.}) 66. Rh8 Rxg7 67. Kxg7 Kg4 (67... a3 68. Ra8 Kg4
69. Rxa3 {wins.}) 68. f3+ Kh4 69. f4 a3 70. Kf6 Kg4 71. f5 Kh4 72. Ra8 Bg4 73.
Rxa3 Kh5 74. Rg3 Be2 75. Kg7 Kh4 76. Rg6 1-0

[Event "4NCL Division 1a"]
[Site "Hinckley Island ENG"]
[Date "2014.02.16"]
[Round "6.124"]
[White "Morrison, Graham"]
[Black "Shaw, John K"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2354"]
[BlackElo "2427"]
[Annotator "Saunders,John"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2014.02.16"]
[WhiteTeam "Barbican 4NCL 2"]
[BlackTeam "Wood Green HK 2"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O
O-O 9. Qe2 Bg6 10. Ne5 Nbd7 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. Rd1 Qa5 13. Na2 $5 {A
speculative pawn sacrifice, known to theory.} Qxa4 14. e4 Qa5 15. e5 Nd5 16. h4
Rfe8 17. h5 gxh5 18. Qxh5 g6 19. Qg4 Bf8 20. Bd2 {Finally, White plays a new
move.} Qb6 21. Nc3 Nxc3 {This feels a bit committal.} 22. bxc3 a5 23. Bd3 Bg7
24. g3 {The precursor to moving the king out of the rook's path to h1. Not a
subtle plan but it's hard to know what to suggest in response.} a4 25. Kg2 a3
26. Qh4 a2 {Black seems to be trying to distract White with his passed a-pawn
but White doesn't seem overly impressed.} 27. Rh1 Nxe5 (27... -- {White's
threat is} 28. Bh6 Qd8 29. Bg5 Qa5 30. Bc4 $1 Qxc3 31. Bf6 {and mate cannot be
averted.}) 28. dxe5 Qd8 29. Qh7+ Kf8 30. Bh6 Qd5+ 31. f3 Bxh6 (31... Qxe5 32.
Qh8+ Ke7 33. Qxg7 {wins.}) 32. Qxh6+ Ke7 33. Qg5+ Kd7 34. Rhd1 Kc7 35. Qf6 Qb3
36. Qxf7+ Kb6 37. Qf4 (37. Rab1 axb1=Q 38. Rxb1 Ra2+ 39. Kf1 Rb2 40. Rxb2 Qxb2
41. Qxe8 {would be good enough but looks a bit untidy to the human eye.}) 37...
Red8 38. Qd2 Ra3 39. Rdb1 $1 axb1=Q 40. Rxb1 Qxb1 41. Qe3+ 1-0

[Event "4NCL Division 1a"]
[Site "Hinckley Island ENG"]
[Date "2014.02.16"]
[Round "6.131"]
[White "Wallace, John Paul"]
[Black "Gormally, Daniel W"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "2391"]
[BlackElo "2506"]
[Annotator "Saunders,John"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2014.02.16"]
[WhiteTeam "Kings Head 1"]
[BlackTeam "Blackthorne Russia"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. f3 Nc6 {A provocative way to reach a sort of King's
Indian / Benoni hybrid position.} 4. d5 Ne5 5. e4 d6 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. f4 Ned7 8.
Nh3 O-O 9. Be2 c6 10. Be3 cxd5 11. cxd5 b5 12. a3 a6 13. O-O Nb6 14. Nf2 e6 15.
dxe6 Bxe6 16. Bd4 Rc8 17. g4 $5 Bc4 ({After} 17... h6 {, a move such as} 18. g5
$6 hxg5 19. fxg5 Nfd7 {would leave White dangerously overextended.}) 18. g5
Bxe2 19. Nxe2 Nh5 20. Bxg7 Nxg7 21. Ng4 Nc4 22. Qb3 h5 23. Nf6+ {This looks
like a mighty square for the horse but it might still be tenable for Black
with careful play.} Kh8 24. Rad1 Qb6+ 25. Rf2 Qa7 26. Rd3 Ne6 27. Rh3 Nd4 (
27... Kg7 {is still hard to break down. The text allows a big tactic; however,
White missed his chance.}) 28. Qd1 (28. Rxh5+ $3 {is a classic computer tactic,
but it might not not be out of range of a GM:} gxh5 29. Qh3 $1 Nxe2+ (29... Kg7
30. Nxh5+ $1 Kg6 31. f5+ Nxf5 32. Qxf5+ Kxh5 33. Ng3+ Kh4 34. Qh7+ Kxg5 35.
Qh5# {mate}) 30. Kh1 {and mate duly follows.}) 28... Nxe2+ 29. Qxe2 Kg7 30. b3
$2 (30. b3 {Black now resigned but he has a path to safety with} Nxa3 $1 {when}
31. Qb2 {fails to} Qxf2+ $3 {and Black will regain his queen after} 32. Qxf2
Rc1+ 33. Kg2 Rc2 {, when White only has a token advantage.}) ({White would
have rather more of an advantage after} 30. Rd3 $1 {, when the threat of b3 is
a real one.}) 1-0

