April 2013 Highlights
In this section, Scott Wastney annotates two games from the NZ Champs, Mike Steadman annotates his game with Ben Hague at the Auckland Chess Centre weekender, and Brian Nijman analyses a deep sacrifice from the North Island Champs.
Michael Steadman - Scott Wastney 120th New Zealand Championship 2013
1.e4 I didn't know that Mike played 1.e4 and was expecting a Queens Gambit 1...e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 4.fxe5 Nxe4 5.Nf3 I hadn't played this position before, but had at one stage looked at the lines after 5...Bc5. I didn't trust myself to remember these lines, and thought Mike would be well prepared in any case - so I played something different. 5...Nc6 6.Qe2 As with his previous moves, Mike played this instantly. I was still worried I was walking into his preparation. 6...Bf5 But now Mike went into a long think. 7.d3 I was happy to see this move. It resembles the 5.d3 line, but with the difference that Qe2 and Bf5 have been played, which I didnt think favoured White. 7...Nxc3 8.bxc3 d4 9.Rb1 Bc5 With the idea of trapping the rook with Bb6 if he takes the b-pawn. 10.Bd2 O-O 11.Qf2 Re8 12.Be2 Nxe5
Moves are clickable
I've won a pawn and he can't castle due to Ng4 followed by dxc3. I was walking around the room while Mike was thinking, hoping that he'd play 13.Rb5 and then I'd reply Nxd3. My final thought was what if he played 13.Kd1? Then I saw him move and quickly returned to the board. I had to hold back from moving straight away. 13.Rb5 Bxd3 After some thought I realised that taking with the Bishop is even better. 14.Rxc5 Nxf3+ 15.Qxf3 Bxe2 16.Qg3 Qf6 17.Bf4 Qb6 With idea of Qxc5 or Qb1+ 18.Be5 f6 19.Rxc7 g6
This works, but the moment I played it I noticed I could have played Bg4 which is a much nicer way to win. 20.Bxd4 Qb1+ 21.Kf2 Qxh1 22.Qd6 Qf1+ 23.Kg3 Rad8 0-1
Scott Wastney - Anthony Ker 120th New Zealand Championship 2013
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 A small surprise! I thought Anthony would more likely play the Modern (2...g6) for the simple reason that he played this way in our last two encounters. I actually believed I had caused Anthony to change his openings, but Anthony can be persistent! 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.dxc5 Qa5 7.Qd4 A common battleground for us - this is the 8th time we've played this position over the past couple of years. 7...dxc5 8.Qc4 O-O 9.e5 Be6 10.Qa4 Qxa4 11.Nxa4 Nfd7 12.Be3 Nc6 A new move (for us). Twice before Anthony had played 12...b6 13.Bb5 Rac8 14.O-O-O Bh6 15.Rhe1 a6
Moves are clickable
Not the best, but Anthony didn't see my reply. 16.Bc4! Bxc4 17.Rxd7 b5 18.Nxc5 Nb4 19.g3 Nxa2+ 20.Kb1 Nb4 21.b3 After this ve I was very pleased. It leads to a position that I could play for a win without any risk. 21...Bd5 22.c3 Bxf3 23.cxb4
This is the position I was referring to in my last comment. I thought I should be able to win the a-pawn without Anthony generating any counter play. 23...e6 24.Kb2 Rc6 25.Rf1 Bg2 26.Rfd1 Bd5 27.Ra7 Rfc8 28.Ra1 Bf8 29.R1xa6 Rxa6 30.Rxa6 Be7 31.Ra7 Kf8 32.Nd7+ Ke8 33.Bc5 Rd8 34.Nb6 Bxc5 35.bxc5 Be4 36.Kc3 Rd1 37.Kb4 Rb1 38.Nc8 Bd5 39.Nd6+ Kf8 40.Ra3 Rb2 41.Kxb5 Bxb3 42.Nc4 There might be quicker ways to win, but I liked the idea of simplifying to a rook and pawn endgame with a passed c pawn and blacks king cut off. Surely not even I could mess this up! 42...Bxc4+ 43.Kxc4 Rxh2 44.c6 Ke7 45.Rd3 h5 46.Kb5 Rb2+ 47.Kc5 Rc2+ 48.Kb6 Rb2+ 49.Kc7 Rb4 50.Rd7+ Ke8 51.Rd8+ Ke7 52.Rb8 Rc4 53.Rb6 Rc3 54.Kb8 Kd8 55.Kb7 Rc1 56.Rb3 Rc2 57.Rd3+ Ke7 58.Ra3 Rb2+ 59.Kc8 Rc2 60.Ra7+ Ke8 61.c7 Rc3 62.Kb8 1-0
Steadman, Mike - Hague, Ben March Weekender 2013
1.d4 Nc6 This is something GM Nunn used to play in his day, I had played it a few times but found it a bit ropey. Ben is going to see why :-). 2.d5 Ne5 3.f4 Ng6 4.e4 e6 5.dxe6 fxe6 6.Nc3 d5 7.e5 Bc5 8.Bd3 Nh6 This is not a normal type of position in this line. The d5 idea has it's advantages and disadvantages. As you can see the Knight on h6 is a bit offside and can easily be an extra target of a big Kingside pawn push. White's dark square inconvenience is only temporary. A lot of the time White castles Queenside and pawn storms Black's knights and King. 9.Nf3 Bd7 10.Qe2 O-O 11.g3 b5
Moves are clickable
Ben is starting to see what is before him. White was just going to castle Queenside and shove the pawns down the board. He would be much faster than Black. Ben tries to mix it up, a sign of desperation, but maybe OK in rapid. 12.Nxb5 Ne7 13.c3 Rb8 14.Nbd4 Bb6 15.O-O ( Tempting is 15.Bxh7+ Kxh7 16.Ng5+ Kg8 17.Ndxe6 Qe8 18.Nxf8 Kxf8 I didn't see enough in this line, and decided to play simple chess instead. ) 15...Nef5 16.Kg2 c5 17.Nxf5 Nxf5 18.h3 Bc6 19.Qe1 Qd7 20.g4 Nh6 21.Kg3 c4 22.Bc2 d4 23.Be4 ( 23.cxd4 Bxf3 24.Rxf3 Bxd4 25.Qe4 g6 26.Rb1 White is a cold pawn up and with the two Bishops, another easy way to win. ) 23...Rfd8 24.cxd4 Bxd4 25.Nxd4 Bxe4 26.Qxe4 Qxd4 27.Qxd4 Rxd4 28.Rf3 Nf7 29.h4 h5 ( 29...Rd1 This move must be better, Black has to pursue activity. 30.g5 Rbd8 ) 30.Rc3 hxg4 31.b3 Nh6 32.bxc4 Rc8 33.c5 Nf5+ 34.Kxg4 Rxc5? Nearly brilliant 35.Rxc5 Rd3 36.Be3 Now if White didn't have this resource available the combination would have been superb, but... 36...Nxe3+ 37.Kf3 Nf5+ 38.Ke2 White is a cold Exchange ahead and the game did not last much longer. 1-0
Nijman, Brian - Gold, Hamish North Island Championships 2013
1.e4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 d4 4.Ne2 c5 5.Ng3 ( 5.c3 ) 5...Nc6 6.a3 e5 ( 6...h5!? ) 7.Bc4 Be7 8.d3 Nf6 9.h3 O-O 10.O-O a6 11.Nf5 Bxf5 12.exf5 Qd7 13.g4 Nd5 14.Re1 f6 15.Nh4 Kh8 16.Qf3 Rad8? ( 16...Rfd8 avoids White's Ng6 tactic, as in the game ) 17.Ng6+!!
Moves are clickable
17...Kg8 a shame ( 17...hxg6 18.fxg6 Qe6 19.g5 Rfe8 20.Qh5+ Kg8 21.f4 ! 21...f5 ( 21...Kf8 22.fxe5 Rd7 ( 22...b5 23.Bd2 bxc4 24.exf6 Nxf6 25.gxf6 Bxf6 26.Rxe6 Rxe6 27.Qxc5+ Rdd6 28.Qxc4 Ke7 29.Qxa6 +- ) ( 22...Nxe5 23.Rxe5 fxe5 24.Bd2 Bf6 25.gxf6 Qxf6 26.Bg5 Qxg5+ 27.Qxg5 +- ) ( 22...Qg8 23.Bd2 b6 24.gxf6 Bxf6 25.exf6 Rxe1+ 26.Rxe1 Nxf6 27.Rf1 Qf7 28.Qh8+ Ke7 29.Re1+ Kd7 30.Qxd8+ Nxd8 31.gxf7 +- ) 23.Bd2 ( 23.Qh8+ Qg8 24.Qxg8+ Kxg8 25.exf6 Kf8 26.fxe7+ Rexe7 27.Rf1+ Ke8 28.Bxd5 Rxd5 29.h4 Rd8 30.Bf4 b5 31.Bg3 Rd5 32.Rae1 +5.50 ) ( 23.gxf6? Bxf6 24.Bf4 Nxf4 25.Qh8+ Ke7 26.Bxe6 Rxh8 27.exf6+ Kd6 28.Bxd7 Kxd7 29.fxg7 Rg8 30.Rf1 Nxg6 31.Rf7+ Nge7 32.Re1 Ke8 = ) 23...f5 24.Rf1 Bd8 25.Qh8+ Qg8 26.Rxf5+ Ke7 27.Qxg8 Rxg8 28.Rf7+ Ke6 29.Rxd7 Kxd7 30.Bxd5 +- ) 22.Qh7+ Kf8 23.fxe5 Qg8 ( 23...Bd6 24.Qh8+ Qg8 25.Qxg8+ Kxg8 26.Bxd5+ Kf8 27.Bxc6 bxc6 28.Bf4 Bc7 29.h4 +- ) ( 23...Rd7 24.Rf1 Bd8 25.Qh8+ Qg8 26.Rxf5+ Ke7 27.Qxg8 Rxg8 28.Rf7+ Ke6 29.Rxd7 Kxd7 30.Bxd5 Rf8 31.Bd2 Nxe5 32.Rf1 Rxf1+ 33.Kxf1 Nxg6 34.Bxb7 a5 35.Ke2 +- ) 24.e6 Bd6 25.Bxd5 Ke7 26.Kg2 Rc8 27.Re2 Qxh7 28.gxh7 g6 29.h4 Rh8 30.h5 Rxh7 31.h6 Rc7 32.Bf3 Rh8 33.Bd2 Ne5 34.Bf4 Nxf3 35.Bxd6+ Kxd6 36.Kxf3 +- ) 18.Nxf8 Kxf8 19.Qxd5 Qxd5 20.Bxd5 Rxd5 21.f4 Rd7 22.Kf2 b5 23.fxe5 fxe5 24.g5 Bd6 25.Rf1 Rf7 26.Kg2 b4 27.Bd2 a5 28.g6 hxg6 29.fxg6 Rxf1 30.Rxf1+ Kg8 31.Bg5 bxa3 32.bxa3 c4 33.Rb1 Bxa3 34.Rb6 [Black resigns] 1-0