draw v. a SIM

C - NN
D14
Slovenia's 15 years of ICCF (2) 2010

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 is going to an exchange slav here so bad? unfortunately i can't get any of the Bb5 lines where there is play, but I am outrated by 400 points.



5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Bf4 Nc6 7.Rc1 [A finesse because if 7.e3 Bg4 actually works] 7...Bf5 8.e3 Rc8 9.Be2 e6 10.0-0 Bd6 11.Bxd6 Qxd6 12.Na4 0-0 13.Nc5 Rc7 14.Qb3 Qe7 15.Rc3 Bg4 16.Rfc1



i wonder if i shouldn't have played sharper. i was going for equality and trying to follow Khenkin vs Karjakin, 2008 Khenkin ended up drawing.

16...e5 17.dxe5 Nxe5 18.Nxe5 Bxe2 19.Na4 Rfc8 20.Rxc7 Rxc7 21.Rxc7 Qxc7 22.Qc3 Bc4 23.Nxc4 dxc4



transforming the IQP into a 3 v. 2 on the queenside. i thought if his king was a little closer he'd have some winning chances. luckily i was wrong :)

24.Qd4 Nd7 25.Nc3 b5 26.b3 = and i offered a draw which he took ½-½ not a real glorious game but hey it was a titled player. it's a very strong tournament where i'm outrated by almost 400 points in every game...we'll see if i surprise some people. ir is cowardly to play the slav exchange, but hey if he just would've played a semi-slav the best i could've had was the QGD Exchange :)

November London Open

EH - CS
November Open London, ON (1), 25.11.2006
B03 - Alekhine : Four Pawns Attack

Not the greatest game for me. My excuse is that I was tired from the "long drive" but realistically I spent too much time going through books and not enough time doing tactics 1.e4 Nf6 [I had played the Caro against this guy at a previous tournament but I noticed in a later round he had the Caro and played 1...c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bd3?! I tried the Alekhine for a few reasons. One, it always gives an interesting game. Two, Kirk wasn't there and he's the arch-duke of the Alekhine. Three, Hans said that I needed a couple of "must-win" lines so I decided that the Alekhine would be that. Ironically, Kirk pointed out that when I really needed a win in the third round I played the Caro] 2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 d6 5.f4 dxe5 6.fxe5 Bf5 [A line that me and Kirk (and others on chessgames.com) had looked at previously was 6...c5 7.d5 g6 I wasn't too sure, and the mainline gives Black good play;
6...Nc6 is the main line so if 7.Nf3 , 7...Bg4 can be played in one move] 7.Nc3 Nc6 [I ended up transposing back to the mainline but 7...e6 was playable as well] 8.Nf3 [8.Be3 is the normal move] 8...e6 [I was worried about getting developed, so I didn't even look at the strong 8...Nb4! This puts him in a tough spot, but I wonder if it's worth it without any development 9.Kf2 Nc2 10.Rb1 Nb4 11.Ra1 e6 and I always have the perpetual if I want it] 9.Be3 Be7 10.Bd3!? [10.Be2 is the mainline] 10...Bg4 [I had 10...Nb4 again 11.Bxf5 Nxc4! with the same idea as Hans' below] 11.Qe2? Qd7 [11...Nxd4! wins a pawn. My excuse is that I didn't want to go pawn grabbing and wanted to castle, but really I missed it;
11...Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Qxd3 14.Bxb6 Qxf3 15.gxf3 axb6 was also good for me] 12.h3 Bh4+! I was happy with this after all the junk, so I decided to (finally) grab a pawn 13.Bf2 Nxd4 14.Qe3



14. ... Bxf2+?! [I'm so better here. I need to take a closer look at this position here 14...Bxf3 15.gxf3 Nxc4 16.Qe4 (16.Bxc4 Nc2+) 16...Nxe5 17.Qxe5 (17.Rd1 0-0-0) 17...Nxf3+] 15.Qxf2 Bxf3 Very strong line by Hans. I think that I overestimated the strength of the knight on d4 - ["In the first game I would have rubbed him out with 15...Nxf3+ 16.gxf3 Qxd3 17.hxg4 Nxc4 but even so what you probably missed is the effects of Ne4 and you got confused." (HJ)] 16.gxf3 c5? [Why not 16...0-0-0 first? Now I'm just a pawn up.] 17.0-0-0 0-0-0 18.Ne4 Nf5 ["But even so 18...Qa4! and the queen and two knights should do well against the white king position. " (HJ);
18...Kb8 19.Nxc5 Qc7 20.Ne4 Qxe5 and I'm fine. My opponent did a nice finish] 19.Nxc5 Qc6?? [19...Qc7 20.Be4 Qxe5 21.Bxb7+ Kb8] 20.Be4 Qc7 21.Bxb7+ Not a strong performance practically, but I did have a great position. Maybe I won't bury the Alekhine 1-0

CS - KG
November Open London, ON (2), 25.11.2006
A22 - English Opening

I wanted to try the English before the game because I wanted to avoid the QGD for some reason. Plus I wanted to try something different 1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3?! [3.Nf3 is the strongest move, which I wanted to avoid because of 3...e4 but afterwards I took a look and 4.Ng5! seems okay to me because he can't protect the pawn with 4...d5 (I was flipping through Simon Webb's "Chess for Tigers" at the World's Biggest Bookstore in Toronto this weekend and noticed the gambit 4...b5 as played by Polugayevsky-Esteves-Morales as an example of mixing up the position v. a stronger player ) ] 3...Bc5 [3.g3 isn't that strong because of 3...c6! ] 4.Bg2 0-0 5.d3 [5.e3;
5.Nf3 were also options] 5...Ng4? 6.Ne4 Bb6 7.c5 f5 8.cxb6 fxe4 9.Nh3 [9.bxc7 was better 9...Qxc7 10.Nh3 and so forth] 9...axb6 10.0-0 [10.Qb3+] 10...exd3 11.Qxd3 Nf6 12.Bg5 d6 13.f4 Nc6 14.Bxf6 Rxf6 15.Ng5 i have threats too ;) 15...Bf5? [15...g6 16.Qc4+ Kg7 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.Qxc6] 16.Qc4+ Kh8 [16...Kf8 17.Bxc6 bxc6 18.fxe5+-] 17.Nf7+ Rxf7 18.Qxf7 Nd4 19.e3 [19.fxe5 Be6] 19...Nc2? [19...Bg6! and i have to fight for equality as all his things he had previously are still there] 20.Qxf5 Nxe3 21.Qe4 [21.Qf7 Nxf1 22.Rxf1] 21...Nxf1 22.Bxf1 exf4 23.Qxf4 d5 24.a3 [to try and free up my rook but I probably should have took immediate action 24.Re1 ] 24...d4 25.Bd3 c5 26.Qe4 g6 [26...Qg8 27.Qxb7 Rb8 28.Qc7] 27.Qxb7? [I missed a mate 27.Qe5+ Kg8 28.Bc4+ Kf8 29.Rf1+] 27...Rb8 28.Qe4 b5 29.Qe5+ Kg8 30.Qxc5 [The idea is to get his king to the f-file...I missed this idea again with 30.Be4! ] 30...Qb6 31.Qxb6 Rxb6 32.b4 Kf7 33.Re1 Ra6 34.Bxb5 Rxa3 35.Rd1 Ke6 36.Rxd4 Ke5 37.Rd3 Ra1+ 38.Kg2 Rb1 I missed this actually 39.Be8 Rxb4 40.Rd7 Rb8 41.Rd1 Kf6 42.Rf1+ Kg5 43.h4+ Kh6 44.Bc6 Rb2+ 45.Kh3 Rb3 46.Kg4 Rb4+ 47.Rf4 Rxf4+ 48.Kxf4 [48.gxf4] 48...Kh5 49.g4+?! Kh6 [49...Kxh4 50.g5 and i just go get him] 50.Bf3 Kg7 51.Ke5 Kh6? 52.Kf6! g5 53.hxg5# Again not a great game, but I took what he gave me. Before the tournament I wanted to take things slow, but I think I took things *too* slow this game 1-0

CL - CS
November Open London, ON (3), 25.11.2006
B10 - Caro-Kann : Breyer Variation

An interesting game, probably the best one I played at this tournament. I had a little extra incentive here, me and Chris both drove down together and he was rated lower than me. My tournament was going not so great because of the first round, so in order to get a tough matchup the last round I had to win. I mentioned to the TD that we were from the same club could he change the pairings (there were many people there) and he said something along the lines of "it works for the computer". I just assumed he was a moron and went from there 1.e4 c6 [THe night before the game I was going through some of his books and he had the Voronezh line highlighted v. the Alekhine which is strong 1...Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.exd6 cxd6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Rc1 etc. I couldn't remember what he played against the Caro-Kann, so I figured I'd trot out the old reliable] 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 e5 4.Ngf3 Bg4 5.g3 [McClelland-C.Sadler 2005 went 5.c3 Nf6 6.Qb3 Qc7 but Christian wanted to play it closer to a King's Indian Attack than a Colle] 5...Nd7 6.Bg2 Ngf6 7.0-0 Bd6 [7...dxe4 8.Nxe4 Nxe4 9.dxe4] 8.b3?! [8.h3 trying me to get away from the pin instead of trying to move the bishop on the other diagonal] 8...0-0 9.Bb2 Re8 [I could've played 9...d4 but I didn't want to encourage him to play c3] 10.Qe1 a5 I wanted to play d4 and keep him from trying to outflank me with a b-pawn push if i tried something like ...d4, ...c5 11.a4 d4 12.c3 c5 13.c4 [I wasn't so sure about my move after I made it becae of 13.Nc4 but he avoided that 13...Nb6 14.Nfd2 (14.Nxd6 Qxd6 and his bishop is not the strongest) ] 13...Nb8 Aiming for b4 14.Nh4 Qd7 15.f4 [15.f3] 15...Nc6 16.Ba3 Prophylactic as he will be happy to trade off his crappy bishop for my strong knight on b4 (if i put it there) 16...b6?! [I had to play 16...exf4 here] 17.f5! I didn't see how strong this was until he played it 17...Be7 18.h3 Bh5 [18...Bxh3 19.Bxh3 g5! 20.Nhf3 (20.fxg6 Qxh3) 20...g4] 19.Bf3? [This move lets me out 19.g4 Bxg4 20.hxg4 Nxg4 would have been stronger for him] 19...Bxf3 20.Ndxf3 Bd8 I can't remember what the idea was here. Probably to let the rook cover the e-pawn. 21.g4 h6 22.Qg3 Nh7 23.Ng6? Not a good sacrifice. Just drops material in my opinion 23...fxg6 24.fxg6 Ng5 [24...Nf8 just grabbed the pawn. I don't know why I just didn't play that. I guess i missed that the h4 was guarded by the bishop 25.Nh4 Bxh4] 25.Nh4 Ne6 26.Rf7? [He missed the tactic. The line he played traded material. Probably something like 26.Bc1 would have been better] 26...Bxh4 27.Qxh4 [27.Rxd7?? Bxg3] 27...Re7 28.Raf1 Rf8 [The computer liked 28...Nf4! disconnecting the rooks, attacking g6 and d3] 29.R7f5 Nf4 Better late than never ;) 30.Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Bc1 Kg8 [31...Qd6 32.Qh5 Kg8] 32.Bxf4 exf4 33.Rxf4= he offered a draw. I couldn't in good conscience take it, even though we're friends and he gave me a ride down. His pawns are weak and I'm up material. He is going to drop the g-pawn and likely the d-pawn as well. Once his d-pawn falls the game is over 33...Nb4 34.Rf3 Qe8 35.Qh5 Re6 [35...Re5 36.Qh4 Qxg6 But i wanted to tie up all loose ends and defend the b-pawn] 36.Qh4 Qxg6 37.Qg3 Rf6! 38.Qb8+ Kh7 39.Rf5 Nxd3 It's tough now 40.Rd5 Qxe4 41.Qg3 Qe1+ [41...Rf3 42.Qxf3 or mate] 42.Qxe1 Nxe1 43.Rf5?! Funny decision trading off rooks 43...Nf3+ 44.Kf2 Rxf5 45.gxf5 Nd2 46.Ke2 Nxb3 47.h4 Kg8 48.h5 Kf7 49.Kd3 Kf6 50.Kc2 at this point i don't care about the knight 50...Kxf5 51.Kxb3 Kg5 52.Kc2 Kxh5 The most interesting game I played all tournament 0-1

CS - HO
November Open London, ON (4), 25.11.2006
D15 - Slav Defense

And now for my worst game of the tournament. I can give the usual excuses, but once again, I just missed something obvious. Tactical training is what I need 1.c4 c6 2.d4 [For about two seconds I thought about going for the Panov after 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 but really if I wanted to play 1.e4 i should've played it on the first move] 2...d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 b6?! NEver seen this before. It doesn't make much sense with the pawn on c6 unless he goes to a6. Was he worried about me playing cxd? 5.Bg5 e6 [5...dxc4 6.e4 b5] 6.e3 Be7 [6...Ba6 was interesting here] 7.Bd3 dxc4 8.Bxc4 Ba6 9.Bxa6 Nxa6 I'm very happy with my position here. I could always tempo the knight, but there was no need to make him move to a better square. There was always the threat of a double attack as well 10.0-0 0-0 11.Rc1 Rc8? 12.a3? Missing a free pawn. [12.Qa4 Nb8 13.Qxa7;
12.Bxf6 Bxf6 13.Qa4 Nc7 14.Qxc6] 12...c5 13.Qe2 [13.Qa4 may have been more to the point] 13...Nb8 14.dxc5 Rxc5 15.Rfd1 Qc7 16.Nb5 [16.Bf4] 16...Qb7 17.Rxc5 Bxc5 18.Bxf6 gxf6 Now again I have a better position. Notice that the only thing I have to worry about it mate on g2 19.Nbd4 ["Interestingly in the last game you also had the queen and two knights and your opponents weakened king position. Instead of 19.Nbd4 quite quickly I came up with 19.Qc4 with the idea of first swinging the queen over to the h or g file and then after b4 the rook to d4 and h4. It makes me wonder if you are still doing problems (this is what problems do for you - help you zero in on the target - in this position the BC5 and the weakened black kingside are targets;
A positional player would concentrate on owning the c-file with perhaps 19.Rc1 first, and then pawn to b4 to kick the bishop but the queen is much more active on c4" (HJ);
I wasthinking about maybe 19.Nd6 Bxd6 20.Rxd6 and again his knight is not the best piece on the board] 19...Kh8 20.b4 Be7 21.Qb2 Rg8 The threat now is ...e5. White to play and lose



22.Ne2?? [Probably even 22.Kh1 would have been sufficient] 22...Qxf3 A poor ending to an indifferent tournament 0-1

i did relearn a lesson this tournament - if they go out of theory, normally it's not theory for a tactical reason. i need to look harder all the way through, but just as much once they go out of theory as any. also i need to look at the board (see games 1 and 4)

October 4th 2-0

CL - C
October G30 Owen Sound (1), 04.10.2006
A01 - Nimzo-Larsen

First game v. Chris at my place. He will be coming by a couple of times per month for games. My goal is to have him beat me 2/3 so I can get stronger :) 1.b3 e5 [Normally I would play 1...f5 but he said he would play 2.e4 the other day so I bite the bullet and play] 2.e4 f5!? 3.f3?? Just terrible 3...fxe4 4.fxe4 Qh4+ 5.g3 Qxe4+ 6.Qe2 Qxh1 7.Nf3 [He can try and take the pawn but 7.Qxe5+ Ne7 8.Ne2 Nbc6 is tough] 7...d6 8.Bb2 Bg4! 9.Kf2 Forced 9...Qxf3+ 10.Qxf3 Bxf3 11.Kxf3 Nf6 12.Bc4 d5 13.Bf1 Nbd7 14.Bh3 e4+ 15.Ke2 Bc5 16.Nc3 c6 17.Rd1 0-0 18.a3 Rae8 19.Bc1 Ne5 20.Na4 Bd6 21.d3? exd3+ 22.cxd3 Neg4+ 23.Kd2 Nxh2 24.Nc3 d4 25.Ne2? Nf3+ Not much to say. I was basically better throughout 0-1

C - CL
October G30 Owen Sound (2), 04.10.2006
D15 - Slav

Second game (we're gonna try and play two actives a night). I was gonna try some anti-Sicilian, but I thought why not see what he has v. the Slav 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Bf5?! 5.Qb3! is the strongest in positions like this or after [5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Qb3] 5...Qd7? an inaccuracy [5...Qb6;
or even the pedestrian 5...b6 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Bf4] 6.Bg5? [6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Ne5 Qc7 8.Bf4 is strong] 6...dxc4 7.Qxc4 b5 8.Qb3 Ne4? Too ambitious when he's undeveloped. 9.Nxe4 [9.Ne5! was better 9...Qe6 (9...Qc8 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 11.Qxf7+) 10.Qxe6 fxe6 (10...Bxe6 11.Nxe4) 11.Nxe4 Bxe4 12.f3] 9...Bxe4 10.Ne5 Not as strong now 10...Qd5 11.Qxd5 cxd5? [11...Bxd5 and I'm better but he's fine 12.Nd3 e6 13.f3] 12.Rc1 Na6? [12...Nd7 was better, but he didn't want to corrupt his king position. The truth is that he's underveloped and the kings are off] 13.e3 Rb8? 14.Bxb5+ Kd8 15.Nxf7# a nice finish by me, terrible by him 1-0

Cdn Open 2006 Rounds 7-9

CS - DM
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (7), 21.07.2006
D67 - QGD : Orthodox, 8.Bd3

Before this tournament I told myself that how well (or how poorly) I was doing, every round i would be playing someone who was doing as well (as poorly) as I was. This isn't necessarily the case in a local tournament, but in a section with 80 people it definitely is. My opponent lived in Sault Ste. Marie and this was his yearly tournament. 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Nbd7 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Rc1 c6 8.Bd3 [Who says that an old dog can't learn new tricks? I analyzed my previous White game and learned what the main line was so I went for it here. 8.cxd5 exd5 was the previous game] 8...dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.0-0 N7f6 12.Bd3 Nxc3 13.Rxc3= And I offered a draw here. He declined it. For some reason I thought the "mainline" included a ...h6 and a Bh4 by me so I thought I was a tempo up on the mainline. ;) 13...Nd5 14.Rc1 Rd8 15.a3 I wanted to take b4 away from his knight, but more importantly his queen. Also I threatened expansion. I could get away with this because I have a huge advantage in development. 15...a5 16.Ne5 [Of course after 16.e4 Nf4 is strong.;
Maybe keeping on both the c-file and h7 with 16.Qc2 was better? It's unclear. I decided to play for e4 again.] 16...Bd7 17.Qb3 Be8 18.h3 I couldn't figure out how I wanted to continue, so I decided to go for some luft. 18...f6 19.Nf3 [Maybe 19.Nc4 was better and allow me to play on the queenside, but I was itching to go at his king] 19...Bf7 20.Qc2! I was happy with this move, forcing more weaknesses on the kingside 20...g6 [Maybe 20...h6 is more bearable, but my light square battery looks strong there] 21.Rfe1 e5 22.e4 Nf4 23.Bc4 exd4 24.Rcd1 c5 25.Bxf7+ Kxf7 26.e5!=



The exclam isn't for the quality of the move as much as it is for increasing the sharpness of the position. At this level in particular a little bit of pressure can do wonders. I offered a draw here on his time and he said "the position sure is tense" and then played... 26...Kf8? [A much tougher move would have been 26...f5 and there's no easy way for me to proceed. 27.Qc1 Nd5 28.Nd2 b6 29.Nc4 and I'm just down a pawn;
26...fxe5 Gives me a free shot at his queen but can I do anything with is the question 27.Nxe5+ Kg7 is forced as most moves to a dark square win the queen and(27...Kg8 28.Nxg6 is strong) ] 27.exf6 Qxf6 [27...Qd6 28.Re5 b6 29.Qe4 Qxf6 30.Ng5 Kg8 looks strong but I don't see a mate 31.g3 Nh5 32.Nxh7 Kxh7 33.Rxh5+] 28.Qxc5+ Qd6 29.Qxd6+ Rxd6= Of course here he says "I'll take that draw" but I'm substantially better and have all the winning chances. 30.Rxd4 Rxd4 31.Nxd4 Rd8? I would have thought that he would be trying to avoid any trade 32.Ne6+ Nxe6 33.Rxe6 Rd7 34.Rb6 Ke8 35.Rb5 Winning a pawn 35...Rd1+ 36.Kh2 Rd2 37.Kg3 Rd4 38.Rxb7 [I figured taking the b-pawn would keep defending my b-pawn and let me made a passer easier than 38.Rxa5 Kd7 39.Rb5 Kc6] 38...h5 39.h4 Rg4+ 40.Kh3 Kd8 41.b4 Rd4 42.Rb5 Rd3+ 43.f3 axb4 44.Rxb4 [Probably I should have just played 44.axb4 and then played 44...-- 45.Rg5 and tried to pick off the g-pawn and if not get behind the b-pawn instead of in front of it like in the game 45...Rd6 46.b5 Rb6 47.g4 Rf6 48.gxh5 gxh5 49.Rxh5 Rxf3+ 50.Kg4] 44...Rd6 [44...Rxa3 45.Rb6 is tough] 45.Ra4 [Perhaps 45.Rb5 to get at the g-pawn was better 45...Ra6 46.Rg5 Ke7 47.a4 Kf6 48.a5] 45...Ke7 46.Kg3 Ke8 47.Ra7 Kf8 48.a4 Ke8 49.a5 Kf8 50.a6 Kg8 51.Ra8+? Probably better is to go after the g-pawn with my king and keep his king from going to the 7th [51.Kf4 Kf8 (51...Rd5 52.Rb7 Ra5 53.a7 Rf5+ 54.Ke4 Ra5 55.Rb8+ Kf7 56.a8Q Rxa8 57.Rxa8) 52.Kg5 and it's almost over] 51...Kh7 52.a7 Ra6 53.Kf4 Trying to get an active king. Now I couldn't figure out how to win this. 53...Ra5 54.g4 hxg4 55.fxg4 g5+ 56.hxg5 Kg7 57.Kg3 Ra3+ 58.Kh4 Ra2 59.g6 Ra3 60.Kg5 Ra5+ 61.Kf4 Ra6 62.Ke5 Ra5+ 63.Kd6 Ra6+ 64.Kc7 Ra2 65.Kc6 Rc2+ 66.Kd5 I couldn't see a way to avoid the checks (he had too many squares to move vertically with his rook) so I decided to try and win it over here 66...Ra2 67.Ke4 Ra4+ 68.Kf5 Ra5+ 69.Kf4 Ra4+ 70.Kg3 Ra3+ 71.Kh4 Ra2 72.Rd8 Rxa7 73.Rd6 Ra5 74.Kg3 Ra3+ 75.Kh4 Ra5 76.Re6 Rb5 77.g5 Rb1 78.Kg4 Rg1+ 79.Kh5 Kg8? I'm not sure why he played this 80.Re7 Rb1 81.g7 Rh1+ 82.Kg6 This was all I could hope for 82...Rh6+ 83.Kf5 [83.gxh6 stalemate;
83.Kxh6 stalemate] 83...Rh1 84.Ra7? [84.Kf6! Rf1+ (84...Rh6+ 85.gxh6 Kh7 wins) 85.Kg6 Re1 86.Rf7 Rf1 87.Rf8+ similar to the game] 84...Rf1+ 85.Kg6 Ra1 86.Rf7 Ra6+ 87.Rf6 Rb6



88.Kh5?? [I have no idea why I didn't see this. After the game of course it's obvious 88.Kh6! ] 88...Rb1 89.Re6 I was drained and upset that I had spoiled a perfectly won endgame. 89...Kxg7 90.Re4 Rh1+ 91.Rh4 Rxh4+ 92.Kxh4 Kg6 93.Kg4 Kg7 94.Kf5 Kf7 95.g6+ Kg7 96.Kg5 Kg8 97.Kf6 Kf8 Not the greatest game, but I consoled myself by the fact that it would've been the same result if he had taken the draw on move 13 or move 26 ½-½

CS - KC
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (8), 22.07.2006
D18 - Slav : Dutch Variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.e3 [I have previous tried 6.Nh4 but it is painful to the eyes] 6...e6 7.Bxc4 Bb4 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qb3 [Theory (D19) is 9.Qe2 my friend Armando Valdizon told me that the only opening theory he knew was memorizing the ECO codes. It sort of made me laugh at the time, but I would've gotten a better position this game if I knew that Qe2 was the move for D19 ;);
Kirk plays the Slav but I had never actually gotten this deep. I wanted to play 9.Nh4 but I saw ghosts and wanted to protect the "c-pawn" after the exchange with my queen and also threaten the b-pawn behind the bishop etc. 9...Bxc3 10.bxc3 Ne4 11.Nxf5 exf5] 9...a5?! [9...Qe7;
or 9...Qb6 are better] 10.Nh4 Bg6 [10...Bg4 11.f3 Bh5] 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Ne2 [I wondered if I could win a pawn here with 12.Na2 Na6 (I was worried about something like 12...Bd6 giving up the pawn but leaving my knight stuck on a2 for a while) 13.Nxb4 Nxb4 14.Bd2 holds the pawn but makes thing unpleasant for him 14...Qd6 ] 12...Qc7 Playing for development here and to connect my rooks 13.Rd1 Nbd7 14.Bd2 Bd6 15.Ng3 PLaying for e4 like every 1.d4 game I play it seems ;) 15...Nd5? [15...Rfd8] 16.e4 Nb4 17.e5 I had to go for it now 17...Be7



18.Bxe6= I offered a draw here, and since he was like 200 points higher he refused it. He also saw my horrible play the previous game (buddy of the guy I drew) so I figured he would play on to mate hoping I'd mess up 18...Nxe5? [18...fxe6 19.Qxe6+ Rf7 (19...Kh7 20.Qxe7) 20.Qxg6 Nf8 21.Qg4 and it's going to be an interesting middlegame] 19.dxe5 Qxe5? Thinking he can pick off my piece regardless [19...fxe6 20.Qxe6+ Rf7 was better] 20.Re1 Qd6 21.Bxb4 axb4 22.Rad1 Qc5 23.Bg4 and I'm ujp a healthy piece for a pawn and he has some weak pawns 23...Bh4 24.Bf3 Rac8 25.Rc1 Qb6 26.Rc4 Winning something 26...c5?? and he drops a piece. The rest is uneventful and he just played on, not because he is a poor sport but because he thought I'd play as poorly as I did the previous round 27.Rxh4 c4 28.Rxc4 Rce8 29.Rcc1 Qd4 30.h3 Qd2 31.Red1 Qg5 32.Qxb4 Re5 33.Qxb7 Rfe8 34.b4 Qf4 35.a5 R5e7 36.Qc6 Qxb4 37.Qc3 Qf4 38.Re1 Kh7 39.Rxe7 Rxe7 40.a6 Ra7 41.Ra1 f5 42.Bb7 I was particularly happy with the position here 42...Qd6 43.Qc6 Qd4 44.Qc1 Qe5 45.Ra3 f4 46.Qc3 Qd6 47.Qd3 Qc5 48.Ne4 Qc1+ 49.Kh2 Qc7 50.f3 Kh6 51.Rc3 Qe5 52.Rc8 Kh7 53.Qd8 g5 54.Qxg5 Qxg5 55.Nxg5+ Kg6 56.Ne6 Kf5 57.Nxg7+ Ke5 58.Rf8 Kd4 59.Ne6+ Ke3 60.Nxf4 Kf2 61.Nd5 Ke2 62.Nb4 Ke3 63.Nc6 1-0

If i had my druthers I would've been able to refuse his resignation and promote all my pawns to queens and checkmate him, but unfortunately that is not in the rules.

KS - CS
Canadian Open U2000 Kitchener (9), 23.07.2006
B20 - Sicilian

Last round of a long tournament. This was a nice guy from Toronto who was in the family prize with his dad, who Kirk took on earlier in the tournament. 1.e4 Nf6 I lost every game I played with the Caro, the opening had nothing to do with it, but I needed a change regardless. Since my brother is the archduke of the Alekhine and he dropped out of the tournament I thought I would keep his tournament alive, so to speak, and play an Alekhine 2.d3 Drats. I decided to go into a Closed Sicilian 2...d6 3.Nf3 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 c5 Equality after 6 moves, just like every other game ;) 7.Re1 [Better to develop 7.Nc3 ] 7...Nc6 8.c3 Qb6 Maybe this wasn't best, but I wanted to make his development as difficult as possible, and try my best to stop the d4 push 9.Nbd2 Bg4 10.h3 Bd7? [Not paying attention to his possibilities. Although 10...Be6 blocks the e-pawn, it shuts down his options with his knight] 11.Nc4! Qc7 12.Ne3 [I thought he was going to start the assault on my position with something like 12.e5 ] 12...Rac8 13.Nh2 b5 Trying to make some aggressive intentions on the queenside. 14.Nd5 Because of this, 11. ...Qd8 was probably better 14...Qd8 15.Nxf6+ Bxf6 16.Bh6 Bg7 17.Qd2 e6 18.Ng4 Ne5 [A tough move to make, but I didn't like the look of 18...e5 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Qh6+ Kh8 even though it was probably better] 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.Qh6+ [Paraphrasing Lasker annotating Morphy-Count Isouard, I'm more of a butcher than an artist. (He was talking about the position after 1.e4 e5 2.nf3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.dxe5 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 dxe5 6.Bc4 Nf6 7.Qb3 Qe7 saying that 8.Qxb7 would be the butcher's method) I would've played 20.Nxe5 dxe5 here and then something like 21.Rad1] 20...Kh8 [The way the game ended up 20...Kg8 would have been much better, but I wanted to get my queen to g7 and trade off. I offered a draw somewhere before this and he mentioned that he would have taken the draw, but he had to play to the end as him and his dad had an 'outside shot' at the family prize] 21.d4 [21.Nxe5 I believe 21...dxe5 22.Rad1 is preferable] 21...Nxg4 22.hxg4 Qf6? aiming for g7 [Taking control of the c-file with 22...cxd4 23.cxd4 Rc2 was better I think] 23.e5 dxe5 24.Bb7 Rc7?? [He sat for a long time thinking about this move. I didn't want to play 24...Rb8 and wanted to threaten something, missing that the only thing defending my rook was the rook. Another moment of blindness this one resulting in mate] 25.Qxf8# An appropriate finish to an uneven tournament 1-0

so i learned a few things. one, bring a sweater...those hotels were air conditioned so powerfully that i found myself literally shivering and had to go outside to warm myself up. two, play more slow chess before hand. i wasn't used to being able to think for 30 minutes for a move. this sounds like it would be an advantage, but unfortunately i found myself antsy and making instinctive and reactive moves. and three, i made a whole whack of one move blunders. i don't know if playing more slow games will help that, but if i did a better "idiot check" before i move i could've scored a few more points relatively easily. i really enjoyed myself, the tournament site was the best i've been in, and i'm going back next year. rumor has it, it's gonna be in kitchener again, but i imagine they'll announce that in the near future

out like a lamb

C - K
March Match Internet Chess Club (5), 31.03.2006
D17 - Slav : Czech Variation


I wasn't really into the mood to play, but I needed to be. It reminds me of the quote from Geller - "When a player is not in a good mood and loses it means his technique is not on a high level". i fancy that my technique is at a passable level, but this game shows otherwise 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Nh4!?



But the reason I decided to play (and avoid the Slav Exchange) was this move here. I saw this move in Onischuk-Shirov and thought that it would be a nice try v. the Slav 6...e6 [The strongest theoretical move was 6...Bd7! but I didn't think that (never having seen this before) Kirk would play a retreating move like that. In Kirk's favor, SHirov also played ...e6] 7.Nxf5 exf5 8.e3 Bb4 9.Bxc4 0-0 10.0-0 Nbd7 11.Qb3?! [The Onischuk-Shirov game continued 11.Qc2 g6 12.f3 Rc8 13.Rd1 Qe7 14.e4 fxe4 15.Nxe4 Nxe4 16.fxe4 and a plan like this with f3 and trying to get e4 in would have been better for me 16...c5 17.d5 Qd6 18.a5 a6 19.Rf1 Rce8 20.Bh6 Ne5 21.g3 f6 22.Bxf8 Rxf8 23.Rf4 Kg7 24.Kh1 Rf7 25.b3 Qd8 26.Be2 h5 27.Qc1 Bxa5 28.Qxc5 Bc7 29.Rc1 Bd6 30.Qe3 a5 31.Rff1 b6 32.Rfd1 Ba3 33.Rc6 Nxc6 34.dxc6 Qc7 35.Bb5 Qe5 36.Bc4 Re7 37.Qf4 Rc7 38.Bb5 Kf7 39.Rd5 Qxf4 40.gxf4 Ke6 41.f5+ gxf5 42.Rxf5 Bb2 43.Rxh5 Be5 44.Rh8 Kd6 45.Rd8+ Kc5 46.Rd5+ Kb4 47.Ba4 Rh7 48.Kg2 Rxh2+ 49.Kf3 Ka3 50.Rd7 b5 51.Bxb5 Kxb3 52.Rb7 Rh3+ 53.Kg4 Rc3 54.Kf5 a4 55.c7 Rxc7 56.Rxc7 Bxc7 57.Bxa4+ Kxa4 58.Kxf6 ½-½ Even though he got a worse position in the opening/middlegame Shirov's strength showed] 11...a5 12.Ne2?! [Not the best plan. Kirk's idea with ...a5 was to lock up my dark squared bishop. I could have either tried something like 12.Na2 Bd6 13.Qxb7 etc.;
or 12.Qc2 attacking the f-pawn 12...g6 13.b3 (or 13.Bd2 ) ] 12...Nb6 13.Bd3 Ne4 14.Ng3 [One of Fritz's recommendations was 14.f3 Nd6 15.Qc2 Re8 16.e4 but i'm not so sure about it. I guess it's good enough. His bishop is just a big pawn over there] 14...Nxg3 15.hxg3 Now I wanted to come up the h-file and try and checkmate him 15...f4! A creative move allowing *him* to come in and attack me on the kingside and also mobilize his pawns 16.gxf4 I had to take 16...Qh4 17.Qd1 [I was hoping for something like 17.g3 -- 18.Kg2 -- 19.Rh1 but of course 17.g3 is answered by 17. ...Qh3. so i had to work around that] 17...f5! He blocks the diagonal to h7, threatens to double up on the h-file and mate me, and my pieces are still out of play. I was worried about falling into a losing position really quick here. So I decided to try and exchange queens and make my extra pawn count 18.Qf3 Rae8 19.Qg3?! [Fritz preferred 19.Qh3 Qxh3 20.gxh3 I guess my king is good on h2 and I can use the g-file to attack. My move gave equality] 19...Qxg3 20.fxg3 Nd5 21.Bc4 [21.Kf2 was another option. ] 21...Kh8 22.Bxd5? Giving up the bishop pair with no compensation. Actually I did have some compensation...getting rid of his queenside majority and giving him an isolated pawn. I doubt it was worth it though. 22...cxd5 23.Kf2 Rc8 [23...Re4 24.-- Rfe8 may have ben better] 24.b3? Should have been losing. My prior idea of playing b3, Ba3 Bxa3, Rxa3 may have been workable 10 moves ago but not now. This gave his rooks dominance 24...Rc2+ 25.Kf3 Rfc8 26.Ba3 Bxa3? [26...Bd2! and then get a rook to the third rank and it's impossibly tough for me. I know I wouldn' thave been able to defend] 27.Rxa3 Rb2 [27...Re8 working on the e-pawn may have been better. In any case my a3-rook is the worst piece on the board bar none] 28.Rf2 Rcc2 29.Rxc2 Rxc2 30.b4!



I was very happy with this move (hence the diagram), it actually gave me winning chances. He cannot make a passed pawn while I can. Also if he doesn't want to give back the pawns *he* will be the one with the passive rook. 30...axb4 31.Rb3 Rc4 32.g4 g6 33.gxf5 gxf5 34.g4 and the game should take care of itself from here on in. 34...Kg7 35.g5? [I have no idea what I was thinking 35.gxf5 Kf6 36.Kg4 and I'm much better. He will be in zugzwang eventually] 35...b6 36.Kg3 [I wonder if trying to go on the queenside was better. 36.Ke2 ] 36...Kg6 37.Kh4 h6 38.gxh6 Kxh6 39.Rb2 Kg6 40.Kg3 Kh5 41.Rh2+= Kg6 42.Rb2 Game drawn by mutual agreement Not the greatest game by me (my technique needs some work) but I was creatively happy with it, and I got a chance to unleash my opening idea I've been sitting on for two weeks, which for someone with ADD like me, seems like forever ;) March final score - Craig 3½ - Kirk 1½ ½-½

January Match (1)

C-K
January Match Internet Chess Club (1), 05.01.2006
D15 - Slav : Geller Gambit

First game of the New Year. Happy new year to everybody. 1.d4 I was sick of playing Najdorfs and I had a little bit of preparation here 1...d5 This was unexpected. He almost never plays 1.d4 d5 or 1.d4 Nf6 because he wants to avoid the Colle and the Tromp respectively. I was counting on him playing the Slav so I was hoping for [1...c6 . I had looked at 2.e4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 e6 5.g4 Bg6 6.Nge2 c5 7.h4 but it was wild. On the other hand, Kirk likely isn't comfortable in these types of positions (as Black). It's irrelevant though because he played the 1.d4 d5 move order] 2.c4 When I played this I had a horrible feeling that he would play the QGA (which I hadn't looked at for weeks and weeks) but he played the expected 2...c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 I think he was a little surprised that I didn't play the Slav exchange. 5.e4!? This is my preparation. I was thinking about trying [5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 e6 7.f3 but he had actually got that line before, and I don't imagine he got the Geller Gambit] 5...b5 6.e5 Nd5 7.a4 e6 8.Be2!? All theory up to here. The "mainline" is either [8.axb5;
or 8.Ng5 -- with the idea of 9.Nge4 . The line I was following was one of the first Geller gambits by Geller himself ] 8...Bb4!?



A novelty according to Chessgames.com but not the Megabase. [The mainline is developing with 8...Bb7 and then playing for opening the diagonal was ...c5 etc.] 9.0-0? Playing in gambit style but losing. [9.Bd2 was playable;
or even 9.Qc2 as in Annakov-Dolinskij, Moscow Open 1995 9...Qa5 10.Bd2 Bxc3 11.bxc3 Bb7 12.0-0 Qc7 13.Ng5 Nd7 14.Nxh7 a6 15.Ng5 N7b6 (15...Nxe5 16.dxe5 Qxe5 17.Nf3 -+) 16.Ne4 0-0-0 17.Nc5 1-0] 9...Bxc3 10.bxc3 Nxc3 11.Qc2 Nxa4?? [Horrible blunder. I have little/no compensation for my troubles after 11...Nxe2+ 12.Qxe2] 12.Bxc4 He obviously overlooked this. His queenside is going to fall apart pretty quickly. Even if I didn't pick up a pawn there, he can't be happy with his position. Sure he's got a couple pawns, but look at his development, and all the lines are open to his king 12...0-0 [12...bxc4 13.Rxa4 may have been better. The text leaves his crappy knight on the rim away from the action] 13.Bd3 h6 [If 13...g6 I was going to try 14.h4] 14.Be3 Fritz didn't like this particularly, but I'm happy enough, freeing up the knight from defending the d-pawn. The trouble is that how are my rooks going to come into the attack? The third rank is pretty clogged, so i was going to move the knight (not sure where yet) and then push f4 and come in that way. [14.Ba3 Re8 15.Bd6 was Fritz's idea. I guess this guards the d-pawn by blocking the queen's access to it.] 14...Bb7 15.Rfb1 c5? [Maybe even 15...Nb6 was stronger, now that the c-pawn was defended. I have to prove my attack is worth two pawns. Maybe his position holds up tactically etc, but he should be worried about developing and not forcing the issue with moves like c5 for now.] 16.Bxb5 Bxf3!? [16...cxd4 17.Nxd4 Nb6 was stronger. Sure the a-pawn will possibly fall, but my e-pawn is weak, and after 18.-- N8d7 i think his position is good] 17.Rxa4! I found out where my rook is going to invade, along the fourth rank 17...cxd4?! [17...Bc6 was stronger I think. Maybe not, his position is just about ready to fall apart.] 18.Rxd4 Bd5 19.Rg4 Nd7? 20.Bxd7? [Kirk resigned but the immediate 20.Bxh6 was better 20...Kh8 (20...g6 21.Rxg6+) 21.Bxg7+ Kg8 22.Bf6#;
20.Bxd7 Apparently after 20...h5 21.Rg3 h4 22.Rg4 Qxd7 23.Bh6 f5 the position is defendable but 24.Rxg7+ Qxg7 25.Bxg7 Kxg7 looks better for White to me.

Anyways I was glad to get some preparation in and get a good aggressive gambit. Of course if he would've played properly after 9.O-O? it would have been a different story. Oh well, maybe next time] 1-0

3½/5 for Kirk

Sadler,K (1507) - Lachapelle,C
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (1), 27.11.2005
B38 : Accelerated Dragon, Maroczy Bind, 6.Be3

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Be2 e5 9.Ndb5 a6 10.Nd6 Ne8 11.0-0 b6 12.c5 Nd4 13.Nd5 bxc5 14.Nxc8 Nxe2+ 15.Qxe2 Qxc8 16.Ne7+ Kh8 17.Nxc8 1-0

Sadler,C (1547) - Sadler,K (1507)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (2), 27.11.2005
D14 : Slav Exchange, 6.Bf4 Bf5

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Bf4 e6 7.e3 a6 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nc6 10.0-0 Be7 11.h3 0-0 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.a3 Na5 14.Nd2 Nc4 15.Nxc4 dxc4 16.Qd1 Nd5 17.Bg3 b5 18.e4 Nf6 19.Be5 Nd7 20.Bg3 Nf6 21.Bh4 Re8 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.e5 Be7 24.f4 Qb6 25.Kh1 Red8 26.d5 exd5 27.Nxd5 Qc5 28.Nxe7+ Qxe7 29.Qf3 Rd3 30.Qg4 Rcd8 31.Rcd1 g6 32.Rxd3 Rxd3 33.Qc8+ Kg7 34.Qxa6 Qh4 35.Kh2 Qg3+ 36.Kh1 Qh4 37.Qxb5 1/2-1/2

Van Aalst,K (1235) - Sadler,K (1507)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (3), 27.11.2005
A40 - Queen's Pawn

1.d4 e6 2.e3 c5 3.c3 cxd4 4.cxd4 Nf6 5.Bd3 Be7 6.Nc3 b6 7.Nf3 Bb7 8.0-0 d6 9.h3 Nbd7 10.Re1 0-0 11.e4 e5 12.Bc4 Rc8 13.Bb3 exd4 14.Nxd4 Nc5 15.Bc2 a6 16.Qf3 b5 17.a3 Qb6 18.Nf5 Rfe8 19.Qg3 Nh5 20.Nxe7+ Rxe7 21.Qh4 Nf6 22.Bg5 Re6 23.Bxf6 Rxf6 24.e5 Rh6 25.Qg4 Re8 26.exd6 Rhe6 27.Rxe6 Rxe6 28.Bf5 Rxd6 29.Re1 Ne6 30.Qh4 g6 31.Be4 Kg7 32.Bxb7 Qxb7 33.Ne4 g5?? 34.Nxg5 Nxg5 35.Qxg5+ Rg6 36.Qe5+ f6 37.Qe7+ Qxe7 38.Rxe7+ Kh6 39.Ra7 f5 40.b4 Re6 41.Rd7 Kg6 42.Rd8 Re5 0-1

Sadler,K (1507) - Both,A (1618)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (4), 27.11.2005
B42 - Sicilian : Kan

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0-0 Qc7 7.c4 Bc5 8.Nb3 Be7 9.Be3 d6 10.N1d2 b6 11.f4 Nbd7 12.Rc1 Bb7 13.Nd4 Nc5 14.Be2 Ncxe4 15.Bf3 0-0 16.Qc2 Nc5 17.b4 Ncd7 18.f5 e5 19.Ne2 Rac8 20.Qb2 e4 0-1

Sadler,K (1507) - Cook,E (1256)
OS Winter Active Owen Sound, Ontario (5), 27.11.2005
C79 - Ruy Lopez : Steinitz Defense Deferred

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bd7 5.0-0 a6 6.Ba4 Nf6 7.Re1 h6 8.c3 Bg4 9.Nbd2 exd4 10.cxd4 b5 11.Qc2 Nb4 12.Qc3 bxa4 13.Qxb4 Bd7 14.e5 dxe5 15.Rxe5+ Be6 16.Qxa4+ Nd7 17.d5 Bd6 18.dxe6 fxe6 19.Rxe6+ Kf7 20.Nd4 Ne5 21.Ne4 Qh4 22.Nf5 Nf3+ 23.gxf3 Qxh2+ 24.Kf1 Qh3+ 25.Ke2 Kxe6 26.Nxg7+ Kf7 27.Qc4+ Kxg7 28.Qd4+ Kg6 29.Qf6+ Kh7 30.Qf7# 1-0

4½/5 ain't bad

I just got back from the Owen Sound Winter Active. I scored 4½/5 securing first place...the opposition wasn't top notch, only gained approximately 20 points, but still. my only draw was v. kirk. here are the games.



Drimmie,J - Sadler,C (1547)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON(1), 27.11.2005
B40 - Sicilian Defense

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.Bc4 b5 5.Be2 Nc6 6.0-0 Qc7 7.d3 Nf6 8.Bg5 Be7 9.Qd2 0-0 10.Rfe1 Bb7 11.d4 b4 12.e5 bxc3 13.Qxc3 Nd5 14.Qd3 Nxd4 15.Bxe7 Nxf3+ 16.Bxf3 Nxe7 17.Bxb7 Qxb7 18.Red1 Rfd8 19.Re1 Qd5 20.Qa3 Nf5 21.Rad1 Qc6 22.Qd3 Nh4 23.Qg3 Nf5 24.Re3 Nxg3 25.Rxg3 d5 26.Re3 d4 27.Ree1 c4 28.Kf1 Rab8 29.b3 cxb3 30.axb3 Qxc2 31.Rc1 Qxc1 32.Rxc1 Rxb3 33.Rc4 h6 34.Ke2 a5 35.Kd2 Ra8 36.Kc2 Rc3+ 37.Kb2 Rxc4 38.h3 d3 39.Kb3 Rac8 40.h4 d2 41.Ka3 d1Q 42.g4 Rb8 0-1

Sadler,C (1547) - Sadler,K (1507)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (2), 27.11.2005
D14 - Slav : Exchange 6.Bf4 Bf5

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Bf4 e6 7.e3 a6 8.Bd3 Bxd3 9.Qxd3 Nc6 10.0-0 Be7 11.h3 0-0 12.Rac1 Rc8 13.a3 Na5 14.Nd2 Nc4 15.Nxc4 dxc4 16.Qd1 Nd5 17.Bg3 b5 18.e4 Nf6 19.Be5 Nd7 20.Bg3= Nf6 21.Bh4 Re8 22.Bxf6 Bxf6 23.e5 Be7 24.f4 Qb6 25.Kh1 Red8 26.d5 exd5 27.Nxd5 Qc5 28.Nxe7+ Qxe7 29.Qf3 Rd3 30.Qg4 Rcd8 31.Rcd1 g6 32.Rxd3 Rxd3 33.Qc8+ Kg7 34.Qxa6 Qh4 35.Kh2 Qg3+ 36.Kh1 Qh4 37.Qxb5= ½-½

yes i know i missed 30.Qxd3

Cook,E (1256) - Sadler,C (1547)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (3), 27.11.2005
B34 - Sicilian : Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Qd2 0-0 8.Nxc6 dxc6 9.Bd3 Ng4 10.0-0 Nxe3 11.Qxe3 Bd4 12.Qc1 Qa5 13.Ne2 Bb6 14.Bc4 Qe5 15.Ng3 Be6 16.Bd3 Rad8 17.Kh1 Qc5 18.a3 Bc4 19.b4 Qb5 20.Bxc4 Qxc4 21.Rb1 h5 22.f3 Rd7 23.Rd1 Rxd1+ 24.Qxd1 Rd8 25.Qc1 h4 26.Nf1 Qe2 27.h3 Qf2 28.Nh2 Rd2 29.Qg1 Qxg1+ 30.Rxg1 Bxg1 31.Kxg1 Rxc2 32.Nf1 Rc3 33.a4 Rc4 34.b5 cxb5 35.axb5 Rb4 0-1

Sadler,C (1547) - Pucak,S (1011)
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (4), 27.11.2005
D13 - Slav : Exchange Variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Nf3 Nc6 5.Bf4 h6 6.e3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nh5 8.Ne2 Nxf4 9.Nxf4 Bg4 10.Be2 Bxf3 11.Bxf3 e5 12.dxe5 Bb4+ 13.Ke2 Nxe5 14.Qa4+ Nc6 15.Bxd5 0-0 16.Bxc6 Qd2+ 17.Kf3 bxc6 18.Rhd1 c5 19.Rxd2 Bxd2 20.Rd1 Bb4 21.Nd5 a5 22.a3 Rfc8 23.Ne7+ Kh7 24.Nxc8 1-0

Both,A (1618) - Sadler,C (1547) [B21]
Winter Active Owen Sound, ON (5), 27.11.2005
B21 : Sicilian : Grand Prix attack

1.e4 c5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Qd8 6.Bc4 e6 7.b3 Bd6 8.0-0 Bxf4 9.Bb2 0-0 10.Nh4 Qxd2 11.Qf3 Qe3+ 12.Kh1 Qxf3 13.Rxf3 Be5 14.Re1 Nc6 15.Bb5 Bd4 16.Rd3 Ng4 17.Rd2 Nf2+ 18.Rxf2 Bxf2 19.Re4 Bxh4 20.Rxh4 Nd4 21.Bd3 h6 22.Ne4 e5 23.g4 Nf3 24.Rh3 Bxg4 25.Rxh6 gxh6 26.Nf6+ Kg7 27.Nxg4 f6 28.Bc1 Rh8 29.Be4 Nd4 30.Ne3 Rab8 31.c3 Ne6 32.Nf5+ Kf7 33.b4 cxb4 34.cxb4 Nf4 35.b5 Rhd8 36.Bf3 Rd3 37.Nh4 Rg8 38.Bxf4 exf4 0-1

new old ideas in the slav

so i am thinking about taking up the slav exchange as a winning (!) attempt because people psychologically think of it as drawish, but there are some lines where white can play for an advantage. an example is 9.g4 as played in the following game



Alekhine-Euwe, 1938 Amsterdam

i know, i know. you're thinking, if you want to play g4 v. the slav, why not play the shirov-shabalov gambit. it's easier to get to the slav, and i proved to myself that white can play for a win. obviously, it's nice to have a draw in hand, but i think i might try it.