Actually went to a tournament

2.5/5...didn't play very well, but played well enough to win some points. the only "clean" win was my round 3 game...ahven't thrown them into fritz or looked at the book yet. the losses were against a master and an expert so i can't be disappointed in that. The VD game was weak but it was the 5th G/40 in a day and i haven't played a tournament since 2008 so i was tired by the end...

ZK(2252) - C [B12]
September Active London, ON (1), 17.09.2011

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be3 Nd7 6.Nbd2 Ne7 7.Nb3 c5 8.dxc5 Nc6 9.Nfd4 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Bg6 11.c6 bxc6 12.Nxc6 Qc7 13.Bb5 a6 14.Ba4 Be7 15.0-0 Kf8 16.Nxe7 Kxe7 17.f4 Nc5 18.Bxc5+ Qxc5+ 19.Kh1 h5 20.c3 h4 21.h3 Be4 22.Bc2 Qe3 [ 22...Bxc2 23.Qxc2] 23.Bxe4 Qxe4 24.Qe1 Qc4 [ 24...Qf5] 25.f5 g5 26.fxg6 fxg6 27.Qe3 Raf8 28.Qa7+ Ke8 29.Qb8+ Ke7 30.Qd6+ Ke8 31.Qxe6+ Kd8 32.Qd6+ Ke8 33.Qxg6+ Kd8 34.Qd6+ Ke8 35.Rfd1 1-0

C - LM (1402) [D26]
September Active London, ON (2), 17.09.2011

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 a6 6.0-0 b5 7.Bd3 [ 7.Bb3] 7...Bb7 8.Nbd2 c5 9.dxc5?? The "real" queen's gambit :) 9...Qxd3 10.Ne5 Qd8 11.b4 Nbd7 12.Bb2 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 Be7 14.Qe2 0-0 15.Rfd1 Qc8 16.Rac1 Qc6 17.Nf3 h6 18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.Rd6 Qe4 20.c6 Rac8 21.Nd2 Qxb4 22.Qd3 Ba8 23.Nb3 Be5 24.Rd4 Bxd4 25.Nxd4 Rfd8 26.Qe4 Rc7 27.h3 Rdc8 28.Qd3 Qd6 29.Qe4 Bxc6 30.Qg4 Bd5 31.Rd1 Qf8 32.Kh2 Rc1 33.Rd2 Ra1 34.e4 Bxa2 35.f4 Rcc1 36.Nf3 Rh1+ 37.Kg3 Bc4 38.Qh4 Ra3 39.Rd8 Qxd8 40.Qxd8+ Kh7 41.Qh4 Be2 42.Kf2 Bc4 43.Ne5 Ra2+ 44.Kg3 g5 45.fxg5 1-0

DA (1405) - C [A48]
September Active London, ON (3), 17.09.2011

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.Nbd2 d6 5.e4 0-0 6.Bc4 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 Nbd7 9.0-0-0 e5 10.c3 c6 11.h4 h6 12.Be3 b5 13.Bb3 a5 14.g4 a4 15.Bc2 h5 16.gxh5 Nxh5 17.Rdg1 Qa5 18.Bd1 a3 19.b4 Qd8 20.Qg2 Ndf6 21.Bb3 d5 22.exd5 Nxd5 23.Bg5 Qd6 24.Ne4 Qd7 25.Bd2 exd4 26.Nc5 Qf5 27.Bc2 Qc8 28.Bxg6 fxg6 29.Qxg6 Ndf6 30.Rg5 Qe8 31.Qd3 Rd8 32.cxd4 Rd5 33.Rhg1 Rxg5 34.Rxg5 -- 35.Rg2 Qf7 36.Kb1 Qd5 37.Bh6 Rf7 38.Rg5 Qh1+ 39.Kc2 Qa1 40.Bxg7 Qxa2+ 41.Kd1 Rxg7 42.Qf5 Qa1+ 43.Ke2 Qxd4 44.Ne6 Qe4+ 45.Qxe4 Nxe4 46.Rxh5 Re7 47.Re5 a2 48.Rxe4 a1Q 49.Rg4+ Kf7 0-1

i messed up third round game because i missed a move somewhere, but anyways...

RG (1625) - C [B14]
September Active London, ON (4), 17.09.2011

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nf3 Bb4 7.Qb3 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 0-0 9.Bd3 dxc4 10.Qxc4 b6 11.Bf4 Ba6 12.Qb3 Bxd3 13.Ne5 Ba6 14.Rd1 Bb7 15.0-0 Nbd7 16.Rfe1 Qc8 17.Re3 Nd5 18.Rf3 Nxf4 19.Rxf4 Bd5 20.Qc2 Qc7 21.Rh4 Nf6 22.g4 Be4 23.Qe2 Qe7 24.Qe3 [ 24.g5] 24...Bg6 25.Nxg6 fxg6 26.g5 Nd5 27.Qg3 Rf5 28.f4 Raf8 29.Rf1 Qc7 30.Qe1 Qd6 31.c4 Rxf4 32.Rfxf4 Rxf4?? [ 32...Nxf4] 33.cxd5 Rxh4 34.Qxh4 Qxd5 35.Qf4 Qd7 36.Qb8+ Kf7 37.Qf4+= Ke7 38.Qe5 Kd8 39.Qb8+ Ke7 40.Qe5 a5 41.Qxg7+ Kd6 42.Qe5+ Kc6 43.h4 Qd5 44.Qg7 Qd7 45.Qe5= 1/2-1/2

C - VD(1945) [D86]
September Active London, ON (5), 17.09.2011

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Be3 Qc7 9.Bb5+ [ 9.Rc1] 9...Bd7 10.Bxd7+ Nxd7 11.Ne2 0-0 12.0-0 Rad8 13.Rc1 Nf6 14.f3 e5 15.d5 Ne8 16.Qd2 Nd6 17.Bh6 Nc4 18.Qg5 f6 19.Qh4 Qa5 20.f4 Nd2 21.Rfe1 Bxh6 22.Qxh6 Nxe4 23.c4 Qd2 24.h4 Qe3+ 25.Kh2 Nf2 26.Rc3 Ng4+ 27.Kh1 Qxc3 28.Qxf8+ Kxf8 29.Nxc3 exf4 30.Ne4 Re8 31.Re2 Rxe4 0-1

20 minutes on the bike

K - C
G20 On The Bike Owen Sound (1), 05.03.2007
D85 - Grünfeld

I'm getting married :)

So as a training program me and Kirk decided to ride the bike for a G/20 in the morning. We used the Chessmaster program from Playstation. The problem I'm going to have is that it's always from White's POV. I could use that as an excuse but really I didn't look very hard this game at all. 1.d4 First surprise. 1...Nf6 2.Nf3 Second surprise. I go for a Grünfeld, but I'm not sure what I'm going to do in the future if he keeps this up 2...g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 c5 8.Bc4?! Spassky line isn't as strong with Nf3 as I can play Bg4 and put pressure on the d-pawn [8.Rb1] 8...Nc6 [8...0-0] 9.Be3 Bg4!? [9...0-0] 10.e5? [10.Bxf7+! Kxf7 11.Ng5+] 10...cxd4 [Maybe something like 10...Qc7 would have been better] 11.cxd4 0-0 12.0-0 Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Nxd4 14.Qxb7 Bxe5 15.Rfd1 Qb6?? [15...Qd6 16.f4 Bg7 17.Rac1 Rfd8 18.Rd2 Qa3 and I'm okay] 16.Qxe7? [16.Qxb6 axb6 17.Bxd4 just grabs a piece] 16...Bf6 17.Qe4 Rfe8 18.Qf4 Qc6?? [18...Rad8 was much better] 19.Bxd4 Not particularly well played by either. Better chess to come (I promise) 1-0

"Pretend It's For Fun"

All summer Bev Turner ran an unrated active "Grand Prix" with kids and adults. This was the last (I played in the first one as well). Before the tournament, a little girl started crying and said she just wanted to play for fun, not a tournament and my opponent said to her "Just pretend it's for fun". It made me chuckle.

KP - C
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (1), 23.09.2006
B12 - Caro-Kann : Advanced Variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.c3 e6 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 Ne7 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.Nbd2 c5 9.0-0 Nc6 10.Re1 Be7 11.Rb1 0-0 12.b4? cxd4 13.b5 Na5 14.cxd4 Rc8 15.Nb3 Nc4 16.Nfd2 Ndb6 17.Nxc4 dxc4 18.Qe4 cxb3 19.Rxb3 Nd5 [There's not much to be said about this game. I wanted to put the knight on d5 (best square on the board) but maybe I should've played 19...Qd5 if 20.Qxd5 (and if 20.Qg4 Rfd8 21.Bh6 g6 i'm just a piece up and maybe even more) 20...Nxd5 and I have the same positiona s the game except no queens] 20.Rh3 g6 21.Bh6 Re8 22.Rh5 Bf8 [22...gxh5 Of course! I missed that he couldn't check me on the g-file. The silliest things you miss. I need to focus] 23.Qf3 gxh5 24.Qg3+ Kh8 25.h4 Bxh6 0-1

C - K
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (2), 23.09.2006
D80 - Grünfeld : Stockholm Variation

I always hate playing K in tournaments. Luckily that was an unrated so we could "really" play (normally we just play like a Slav Exchange or a Zaitsev Ruy Lopez or a Larsen Alekhine and get a repetition of moves or a lifeless draw). This was not the greatest game by me, but I did win due to a huge blunder. K mentioned just before the game that he wanted this to be our next game of the match. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3?! [I can try and punish him for the funny move order with 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.Nf3 -- 5.e4 etc., but I was curious to see what he had in mind.] 3...g6 I was kinda surprised because he mentioned playing the King's Indian before. 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 Bg7 6.e3 [I couldn't have grabbed the pawn here as the king is still guarding the e-pawn 6.cxd5 Nxc3 7.bxc3 Qxd5 8.Nf3;
and 6.Nxd5 g5 is fine for Black] 6...c6 7.cxd5?! [A more natural plan would have been something like 7.Nge2 then f3 so i could kick the knight and (eventually) move my bishop off the d8-h4 diagonal as he has done his job there] 7...Qa5 8.Qc2 [Again 8.Nge2 was better] 8...Nxc3 9.bxc3 [9.Qxc3 was better, as if he avoids the queen trade 9...Qxd5 10.Nf3 Bg4 11.Bc4 and I get a tempo on his queen as well as I can develop 11...Qd6 (11...Qd7 12.Ne5!) 12.Qb3! of course all this is easier to see at home. Again I need to try and work harder over the board] 9...cxd5 10.Nf3 Bf5! I'm in a tough position here. I wanted to recapture on c4 with the bishop but I never was able to play c4 11.Bd3 [11.Qd2 was stronger allowing me to play c4 and if 11...-- 12.c4 Qxd2+ 13.Nxd2 allowing me to play f3 again. Going over this game has really opened my eyes to what I've been doing wrong in this line (v. blitz games and others where I don't analyze)] 11...Bxd3 12.Qxd3 Nd7 13.0-0 e5! I found this move to be strong...maybe at a higher level this would be weak, but I missed this altogether. Now, possibly, my bishop is the weakest piece on the board once he castles and he threatens e4. Also, a capture with the pawn would isolate my c-pawn, which will drop once the bishop gets involved. This is my reasoning for 14.e4 [Fritz likes 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.Rad1! of course! I missed that the d-pawn would be hanging and the "useless" (to paraphrase myself) bishop is guarding d8 so it's just a trade. I need to look deeper. 16...Bxc3 17.Qxd5 Qxd5 18.Rxd5] 14...0-0 15.Be7? I want him to make the first move in the center, but this "idea" by me is just horrible. My reasoning is that I want to get the bishop to a better diagonal, so my idea was to play Be7 then Bb4 "tempoing" his rook and queen. The main point was to tempo the queen as I didn't like defending that c-pawn. The problem with my idea is that it moves my bishop to a weaker square (what happens when he plays ...a5) *and* moves his rook and queen to more aggressive positions. Again, it was an active game, but I should have had enough time to figure that out [15.Nd2 dxe4 (15...f5 16.exd5 e4 17.Qe3) 16.Nxe4 with the idea of f3] 15...Rfe8 16.Bb4? Just brutal 16...dxe4! 17.Qxe4 Qc7 18.Nxe5 [What do I play here? 18.Rac1 maybe 18...a5 19.Ba3 exd4 (19...Nf6 20.Qc2) 20.cxd4 Qxc1 (20...Qxh2+ 21.Kxh2 Rxe4) 21.Qxe8+ Rxe8 22.Rxc1] 18...f6?? [18...Nxe5 19.dxe5 Bxe5 20.Qf3 and I lose something (h-pawn or c-pawn);
18...a5 19.Ba3 and the same sort of thing] 19.Qd5+ [and he resigns not allowing the smothered mate. 19.Qd5+ Kh8 20.Nf7+ Kg8 21.Nh6+ Kh8 22.Qg8+ Rxg8 23.Nf7# Not a strong game by me, I mixed it up where I shouldn't necessarily have and got a horrid position. But I learned a lot about playing the 4.Bg5 line in the Grünfeld so it was worth it.] 1-0

SP - C
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (3), 23.09.2006
B18 - Caro-Kann : Classical Variation

1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.Nf3 Nd7 7.Nh4 Ngf6 8.Nxg6 hxg6 9.Be3 e6 10.Bg5 Qb6 11.Bc1 Bd6 12.b3 Bxg3 [12...Bb4+ 13.Bd2 Qxd4] 13.fxg3 Ne4 14.Qd3 Qb4+ The reason why I did this was that I wanted to aim for some endgames this tournament... 15.Bd2 Nxd2 16.Qxd2 Qxd2+ 17.Kxd2 Nf6 18.Bd3 0-0-0 19.c3 Ng4 20.h3 Nf2 21.Rhf1 Nxd3 22.Kxd3 f6 23.Rae1 e5 24.Ke4 exd4 25.cxd4 Rhe8+ 26.Kd3 Rxe1 27.Rxe1 c5 28.Re4 f5 29.Re7 Rxd4+ 30.Kc3 Rd7 31.Re6 Kc7 32.Rxg6 b6 33.Rg5 Rf7 34.h4 Kd6 35.h5 Ke5 36.g4 Kf4?? [36...Ke6 37.gxf5+ (37.Rg6+ Ke5 38.g5) 37...Kf6 38.Rg6+ Kxf5] 37.Rg6? [37.Rxf5+! Rxf5 38.gxf5 Kxf5 39.Kc4 1-0] 37...fxg4 38.h6 gxh6 39.Rxh6 Rg7 40.Rf6+ Kg3 41.Kc4 Kxg2 42.Kb5 g3 43.Rh6 Kg1 44.Rf6 g2 45.Ka6 Rh7 46.a4 Kh1 47.b4 cxb4 What can I take from this game? I won but he absolutely blundered after I blundered. 0-1

JL - C
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (4), 23.09.2006
B10 - Caro-Kann : Hillbilly Variation

This was the other guy who was 3/3 at the tournament 1.e4 c6 2.Bc4 Hillbilly Variation 2...d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bb3 Nf6 5.d3 h6?! Not helping my development, but I wanted to end up protecting my d-pawn with ...e6, so i was hoping for something like [5...h6 6.Nf3 Bg4 7.-- e6;
Realistically I should've punished him for not playing d4 and just responded with 5...e5 ] 6.h3 Bf5 7.Qf3 Bg6 [Maybe 7...e6 instead?] 8.Bf4 e6 9.Ne2 Nc6 10.Nd2 Bd6 11.d4 Bxf4 12.Qxf4 0-0 13.c3 Rc8 Slowly improving my pieces. 14.g4 Ne4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.f3 Qh4+ 17.Kd2 Bg6 18.Qg3 Why trade? Look at his position? 18...Qe7 19.h4 e5 20.Rae1 Na5 [I totally "forgot" that the d-pawn was hanging. I should've just carried on with 20...Rfd8 After 20. ...Na5 I figured I would trade off the bishop or he'd have to play Be1 and his king is stuck in the middle of the board.] 21.Bxd5 Rcd8 22.Qxe5?? Qxe5?? [22...Nc4+! won on the spot. ] 23.dxe5 Rxd5+ 24.Nd4 Nc4+ 25.Kc1 Nxe5 26.h5 Nd3+ 27.Kd2 Nxe1 28.Rxe1 Bh7 29.Re7 Rb8 30.f4 Kf8 31.Rc7 Bb1 32.a3 a6 33.Kc1 Ba2? Again like I said in all the other games, I won but I didn't particularly play well 34.b3 Rxd4 35.cxd4 Bxb3 36.Rd7 Be6 37.Rd6 Bxg4 38.Rd5 Ke7 39.Kd2 Rd8 40.Re5+ Kf6 41.Ke3 Rd6 42.d5 b5 43.Kd4 Bf3 44.Kc5 Rd8 [44...Rxd5+ 45.Rxd5 Bxd5 46.Kxd5 Kf5 47.Kc6 Kxf4 48.Kb6 Kg5 49.Kxa6 f5 50.Kxb5 and I win the race] 45.d6 g6 46.hxg6 fxg6 47.Re7 h5 48.Ra7 Be2 49.Rxa6 h4 50.d7+ Kf5 51.Kd6 h3 52.Ke7 Rxd7+ 53.Kxd7 h2 and Black eventually won. 0-1

C - BT
September Grand Prix Owen Sound, ON (5), 23.09.2006
E33 - Nimzo-Indian : Classical

1.d4 [Kirk had White against him earlier in the tournament and played 1.e4 d6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 against him, so I was hoping for a King's Indian] 1...d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 [I realize that 4.Nf3 is the "mainline" but Qc2 is what I play v. Nimzo so I wanted to try and transpose if possible] 4...Nc6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.cxd5 Bxc3+ 7.Qxc3!? [I missed that he could tempo my queen with ...Nxd5 (I only saw he could tempo it from ...Ne4). If I was awake and saw ...Nxd5 I would've just played 7.bxc3 and got on with it. I guess the idea is that with the knight on d5 I can push e4 in one move with little preparation] 7...Nxd5 [7...Ne4 8.Qc2 exd5] 8.Qc2 Qd6 9.a3 [I was worried about 9.e4 Ndb4] 9...Bd7 10.e3?! 0-0-0 11.Bd3 h6 12.b4 e5? 13.b5! Nce7 14.Nxe5 Be6 15.0-0 f6 16.Ng6 Nxg6 17.Bxg6 h5 18.Bd2 h4 19.Bf5 g5 20.Rac1 b6 21.Bxe6+ Qxe6 22.e4 Rd7 23.exd5 Qxd5 24.Qc6 Qxc6 25.bxc6 [25.Rxc6] 25...Rxd4 26.Bc3 Rd6 27.Bb4 Rd3 28.Rfd1 Rhd8 29.Rxd3 Rxd3 30.Be7 h3 31.Bxf6 hxg2 32.Kxg2 Rxa3 33.Rd1



So I ended up with 5/5. I guess I need to work on tactics? 1-0

Sunday Afternoon G/60

NN - C.
Sunday Afternoon G/60 (1), 19.03.2006
D94 - Grünfeld, 5.e3

We threw a three-round tournament on the weekend. We had 17(!) people show up so it was a little crowded at the Farmer's Market. I shouldn't have gone into such a sharp position but I decided to regardless. We played this game between the first and second rounds because I had a bye the first game and his mother said they had to leave at 12:30 so we tried to get a game in between. 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 [Hoping for a Slav or something. Not sure why I didn't just play 2...b6 ] 3.e3 g6 4.c4 Transposing to a quiet Grünfeld 4...Bg7 [Another option is 4...c6 ] 5.Nc3 0-0 [I could've played 5...c6 here as well, but I wanted to get ...c5 in one move (thank you Jonathon Rowson)] 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.e4?! [So I'm in an exchange Grünfeld (which doesn't exactly make me feel warm and fuzzy) but a tempo up. 7.Bc4 may be better ] 7...Nxc3 8.bxc3 c5 9.Be2 Nc6 10.Be3 Bg4 11.e5 I've always wondered about pushing this pawn instead of the d-pawn in the Grünfeld. 11...cxd4[11...Qa5 was also playable, but after 12.Bd2 ah of course (Stronger is probably 12.0-0 Qxc3 13.Rc1 Qa3) 12...Rad8 , trying to take advantage of the fact he hasn't castled.] 12.cxd4 Rc8 13.0-0 b6? The beginning of a bad plan. I should have either tried to lever his pawn chain with [13...f6;
or allowed the rooks to be connected 13...Qd7 . My idea was that I wanted to get my knight to d5 for some reason] 14.h3 Bxf3? [Giving up the bishop pair. 14...Be6 was stronger, but I'm dogmatic and i don't like having my bishop in front of my pawns. I know, I know, if I'm dogmatic why am I playing the Grünfeld?] 15.Bxf3 e6 To allow my knight to get to d5 via e7 16.Qa4 This seemed strong to me 16...Na5? [16...b5! was a strong rejoinder because of 17.Qxb5 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 Qxd4 19.Rad1 Qxe5 20.Qxe5 Bxe5 and I'm up a clean pawn;
16...Qd7 was okay too] 17.Rfc1 Qe7 Not immediately losing, but setting up a tactic 18.Bd2 Rxc1+? [18...Qh4 may have been better, then i'm actually threatening something] 19.Rxc1 Rd8 20.Bb4 Qg5 21.Qa3 Rxd4? [I probably shouldn't have gone after the pawn and played 21...Bf8 22.Bxf8 Rxf8 instead, but my opinion is that if I can't see the immediate loss i'm taking the pawn so...] 22.Be7! Qxe5 23.Rc8+ Bf8 24.Rxf8+ [24.Bxf8! was better] 24...Kg7 25.Qe3? [25.Qe3? and I resigned even though 25...Qxe3 26.fxe3 Rd7 is playable, i do have 2 pawns for the piece and the e-pawn is hanging. Not a very good game by me.] 1-0

C - NN
Sunday Afternoon G/60 (2), 19.03.2006
E24 - Nimzo-Indian : Samisch Variation

1.d4 I had planned on playing 1.e4 before this tournament, but last time we had a tournament my opponent had this "how-to" openings book and it recommended a bad line against my f3 Nimzo, so I figured I'd try it against him. 1...d5!? A surprise already 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4!? Theoretically this is not as good as other moves because it transposes into a bad Samisch variation (as what I play). I realize that it was even played by Vallejo in Linares this year but I don't care for it 4.a3 [4.Nf3 would transpose to the Ragozin variation instead] 4...Bxc3+ 5.bxc3 Nf6 6.cxd5 [The Bacrot-Vallejo game continued 6.e3 0-0 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bd3 c5 9.Ne2 Bg4 10.f3 Bh5 11.Nf4 Bg6 12.Be2 Nc6 13.h4 h5 14.0-0 Ne7 15.dxc5 Qa5 16.Nxg6 fxg6 17.Rb1 Qxc5 18.c4 dxc4 = ½-½, but I found e3 to be a difficult development of the bishop, particularly with the pawn on a3. In my line I get the bishop pair and get rid of the doubled pawns;
6.f3 would transpose to my f3 line] 6...exd5 [6...Nxd5 7.Qc2 f5 looks interesting] 7.Bg5 [7.e3 again is playable] 7...0-0 [7...c5 was Botwinnik-Kotov in which Kotov had a nice finish 8.f3 h6 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.e3 0-0 11.Ne2 Re8 12.Kf2 Qe7 13.Qd2 Nd7 14.Nf4 Nf6 15.Bd3 Bd7 16.h3 Qd6 17.Rhb1 b6 18.Bf1 Re7 19.a4 Rae8 20.Re1 c4 21.g4 g5 22.Ne2 Rxe3 23.Ng3 Qxg3+ 24.Kxg3 Ne4+ 0-1. I decide to go on a mad hunt for a pawn which I probably should have been punished for] 8.e3 Bf5 9.Qb3 Trying to exploit the undefended b-pawn and the underdefended d-pawn. 9...b6 [9...Nbd7 10.Qxb7 c5 may be better, trying to take advantage of my lack of development] 10.Bxf6 Qxf6 [This loses a pawn but I wonder if 10...gxf6 was better? I doubt i] 11.Qxd5 So now I'm up a pawn but he is almost fully developed. If Fritz played Fritz it would probably be a draw, at club level pawn grabbing can pay off (I didn't learn my lesson from last game) 11...Nc6 [I wonder if kicking the queen with 11...c6 was better] 12.Bb5 Ne7! Gaining tempo on the queen 13.Qb3 a6 [Takign up space with 13...c5 may have been better] 14.Be2 Qg5 15.Bf3 This is still gonna be awkward development for me. 15...Bg4? [An unsound exchange sack. I wonder if tempoing my queen (again) with 15...Be6 16.Qc2 Rad8 would have been better] 16.Bxa8 Rxa8 17.Nf3! I was happy with this move 17...Qd5? [Terrible, down material and wanting to trade off queens. Better was 17...Bxf3 18.gxf3 Qh5 and I could've either tried 19.Ke2 (or 19.f4 . Being down material he has to try to keep as much wood on the board as possible) ] 18.Qxd5 Nxd5 19.Ne5 Bf5 I wouldn't figure out a way to get e4 in 20.c4 [20.g4 was something else I was thinking about, and as dangerous as his pieces got after c4, this was probably the better choice] 20...Nc3 21.Kd2 Ne4+ 22.Ke2 Nc3+ 23.Kf3?! Not as strong as going back to the back rank, but the idea of Kd2 in the first place was to unite my rooks...plus i'm up material ;) 23...Be4+ 24.Kg3 f5? I think he pushed the f-pawn one square too far, my knight is the best piece on the board easily. 25.f3 Rf8? [It's hard to suggest good moves here. 25...Bb7 may have been better, but I can understand why he didn't want to play passively] 26.fxe4 Nxe4+ 27.Kf3 g5 28.h3 [28.g4! was better] 28...h5 29.g4 h4 30.gxf5 Ng3 31.Kg4 Sure I'm running out of squres, but I'm up a whole rook so I can sack back the exchange and grab his pawn. 31...Rxf5 32.Ng6 [Too transparent a threat. Maybe 32.Rhg1 was better] 32...Kg7 33.Ne5 Kf6 34.Rhg1 Ne4 Now he's actually threatening something 35.Nd3 Nd2 36.c5 Kg6 37.Rad1 Nf3 38.Ne5+ Stopping the mating net. It's just mop up from here 38...Nxe5+ 39.dxe5 Rxe5 40.cxb6 cxb6 41.Rd6+ Kf7 42.Rxb6 Rxe3 43.Rxa6 Kg8 44.Rb1 Re7 45.Kxg5 Kh8 46.Rbb6 Rg7+ 47.Kxh4 Kg8 48.Rg6 So I ended up 1-1. Lost some points. Kirk scored 2/3 with his only loss v. FM Hans Jung so he was pretty satisfied. 1-0

maybe tomorrow i'll wanna settle down...

maybe tomorrow i'll just keep moving on

in any case tomorrow i'm starting up my "match"...wish me luck...i thikn i'm gonna play the grunny v. 1.c4 (1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5!?) a la Botwinnik and Smyslov. I was gonna try the Dutch but i decided against it...and really the grunny isn't that bad ;)