[Event "Boxing Day Master Match"] [Site "Singapore"] [Date "2014.12.26"] [Round "1.1"] [White "FM Terekhov, Andrey"] [Black "IM Hsu, Li Yang"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D00"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/5k1p/8/2ppp3/7P/1P2R1PK/P7/6r1 b - - 0 42"] [PlyCount "18"] [EventDate "2014.12.26"] [EventType "blitz"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "SIN"] [SourceDate "2014.12.28"] [WhiteTeam "ROW"] [BlackTeam "Raffles Alumni"] 42... e4 43. g4 Ke6 44. g5 Ke5 45. Kh2 Rg4 46. Rg3 Rxg3 47. Kxg3 Kf5 $2 { Terekhov, despite the obvious tension etched on his face, conducts the endgame accurately.} (47... c4 $1 {creates two runners and White cannot stop both.} 48. bxc4 dxc4 49. Kf2 Kf4 50. Ke2 c3 51. h5 e3 $1 52. g6 c2 53. gxh7 c1=Q 54. h8=Q Qd2+ 55. Kf1 Qf2#) 48. a4 d4 49. a5 e3 $4 {The wrong pawn!} (49... d3 50. Kf2 Kf4 51. a6 e3+ 52. Ke1 Kf3 53. a7 d2+ 54. Kd1 Kf2 55. a8=Q e2+ 56. Kxd2 e1=Q+ { with a draw by perpetual check.}) 50. Kf3 Ke5 51. a6 {And Terekhov with a double fist victory gesture, claims the game and sets in motion a 3-0 whitewash of the Raffles team.} 1-0

[Event "Boxing Day Master Match"] [Site "Singapore"] [Date "2014.12.26"] [Round "2.1"] [White "IM Lim, Yee-Weng"] [Black "IM Hsu, Li Yang"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D02"] [PlyCount "68"] [EventDate "2014.12.26"] [EventType "blitz"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "SIN"] [SourceDate "2014.12.28"] [WhiteTeam "ROW"] [BlackTeam "Raffles Alumni"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. Nbd2 {White prefers to postpone the tussle until the middlegame. Li Yang has no issue with that and we see all bishops fianchettoed.} b6 7. c4 Bb7 8. b3 c5 9. Bb2 dxc4 10. Nxc4 Na6 $146 11. Rc1 Rc8 12. Qd2 $5 cxd4 ({Yee Weng's idea is to vacate the d-file for the king rook after} 12... Ne4 13. Qe3) 13. Qxd4 Qxd4 14. Bxd4 {These 'boring' positions are the type that Li Yang excels in. Olimpiu Urcan describes the doctor's style best - 'Smooth with all calm, clear moves and suddenly, the carpet below your feet breaks into pieces'. This is exactly what happens in the game.} Be4 15. Nfe5 Bxg2 16. Kxg2 Rfd8 17. e3 $6 {It is hard to see that this weakening of the d3-square from this calm position will be the result of White's downfall.} Ne4 $1 $15 {With this, Black claims a slight positional edge.} 18. Na3 $6 (18. f3 Nec5 $15) 18... Nac5 {Establishing control over the d3-square, especially when the Ne5 not that secure.} (18... Nb4 $1 {is even stronger as it will be very tough to guard the a2-pawn and still prevent Black from infiltrating down the central files.}) 19. b4 $6 { This overanxious move will cost White the game as Li Yang's knight foray plan takes fruit.} (19. Rfd1 {is mandatory.}) 19... Bxe5 $1 20. Bxe5 ({White also goes a pawn down after} 20. bxc5 Bxd4 21. exd4 bxc5 22. dxc5 Rxc5 23. Rxc5 Nxc5 $17) 20... Nd3 {Black gains time with this fork and the b-pawn is untenable.} 21. Rxc8 Rxc8 22. Bd4 Nxb4 23. Nb5 a6 24. Na7 (24. Rb1 Nd3 25. Na3 b5 {is also gloomy for White.}) 24... Rc2 25. Bxb6 Rxa2 26. Nc8 Nd5 27. Bd4 e5 $1 {Since the e-pawn is inedible due to ...Nxe3+, Black gains tempi to activate his king too.} 28. Ba7 (28. Bxe5 Nxe3+) 28... f5 29. h4 Kf7 30. Rb1 {There is no use trying to hold on to the f2-pawn since Black will just march the a-pawn home.} Ke6 31. Nb6 {and Black finishes with a flourish.} Rxf2+ 32. Kg1 Nxe3 33. Nc8 Rg2+ 34. Kh1 Nxg3# 0-1

[Event "Boxing Day Master Match"] [Site "Singapore"] [Date "2014.12.26"] [Round "2.1"] [White "FM Terekhov, Andrey"] [Black "FM Ong, Chong Ghee"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D11"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "6k1/p1b2pp1/8/2p4p/4p1qP/1PQ1P1P1/PB3P2/6K1 w - - 0 30"] [PlyCount "41"] [EventDate "2014.12.26"] [EventType "blitz"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "SIN"] [SourceDate "2014.12.28"] [WhiteTeam "ROW"] [BlackTeam "Raffles Alumni"] 30. Qxc5 {Here, Black plays the logical piece sacrifice} Bxg3 31. fxg3 Qd1+ 32. Kg2 Qe2+ 33. Kg1 {and Terekhov offered the draw as Ghee cannot do better than perpetual check. However, in view of the match situation (Raffles was 0-3 already after Round 1), Ghee had to try on and even though Andrey was living on borrowed time, having his clock go precariously down to 2 or 1 second before he gets the extra 2 secods, he successfully navigated the incremental time control to win after} Qd1+ 34. Kg2 Qf3+ 35. Kg1 Qxg3+ 36. Kf1 Qf3+ 37. Ke1 Qh1+ 38. Kd2 Qg2+ 39. Kc3 Qg4 40. Qg5 Qc8+ 41. Kd2 Qd7+ 42. Kc1 Qc6+ 43. Kb1 f6 44. Qxh5 Qd7 45. Qe2 a5 46. Qc4+ Kh8 47. Qxe4 Qd1+ 48. Bc1 Qd7 49. h5 Qc7 50. Qg6 1-0

[Event "Boxing Day Master Match"] [Site "Singapore"] [Date "2014.12.26"] [Round "2.2"] [White "FM Ong, Chong Ghee"] [Black "FM Terekhov, Andrey"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A08"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2014.12.26"] [EventType "blitz"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "SIN"] [SourceDate "2014.12.28"] [WhiteTeam "Raffles Alumni"] [BlackTeam "ROW"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d3 {Back in his heyday, the King's Indian Attack was a potent weapon in Ghee's hands, beating GM Reefat and IM Terry Toh with it (as well as drawing GM Nelson Mariano).} g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. O-O Nge7 7. c3 d5 8. Qe2 Qc7 9. Re1 h6 {Black does not commit the king to the kingside yet and plays a waiting game...for White to play e4-e5 so that he can counterattack it with ...g5! followed by ...Ng6 or ...g4.} 10. h4 {Nixing the aforementioned plan.} Bd7 $5 {This is quite an unusual placement for the bishop.} (10... O-O 11. e5 b5 12. Bf4 Kh7 13. Nbd2 {was played in Ivanov,A (2503)-Ajrapetian,G (2361)/Belgorod 2009. I like the White side, thanks to Fishcher's exquisite play in such positions (pawn wedge on e5 and then drumming up of an irresistable kingside assault just before Black's queenside play hits home).}) 11. Na3 a6 12. exd5 $5 Nxd5 ({White has a sneaky idea after } 12... exd5 13. Be3 b6 14. d4 $1 c4 15. Nxc4 $3 dxc4 16. d5 {with the idea of Bxb6, uncovering the e-file battery.}) 13. Nc4 O-O 14. a4 b5 15. Ne3 $6 (15. Nce5 {keeps a slight pull.}) 15... bxa4 $6 (15... b4 $11) 16. Nc4 {White has established a firm edge with solid central control. He is now poised to make use of his space advantage to try inducing more kingside weaknesses.} Rab8 17. h5 $5 {Typical Ghee. He does not miss an opportunity to start a bonfire.} g5 ({ Not} 17... gxh5 18. Nh4 {when the chronic kingside weaknesses will soon tell.}) 18. Nxg5 {Boom! This is going to be difficult to defend in blitz.} hxg5 19. Bxg5 f6 {Terekhov is going to defend from the 7th rank.} 20. Bd2 Rf7 21. h6 Bf8 $6 ({Maybe the bishop is better deployed with} 21... Bh8 22. Qh5 Ne5 23. Nxe5 fxe5) 22. Qh5 $1 $16 {Here comes the calvary.} Nce7 23. Be4 Be8 ({The problem with} 23... f5 {is} 24. Bxd5 Nxd5 25. Qg6+ {wins a rook after} Bg7 26. h7+ Kh8 (26... Kf8 27. Bh6 {is even worse for Black.}) 27. Qxf7) 24. Qh3 $6 (24. Qg4+ { justifies the whole attacking plan with} Kh8 25. Qxe6 Rd8 26. Rxa4 {and White not only has the initiative but has plucked enough pawns already.}) 24... f5 ({ Perhaps} 24... Nb6 25. Qxe6 Nxc4 26. Qxc4 Rxb2 {is better.}) 25. Bf3 (25. Bxd5 Nxd5 (25... exd5 $2 26. Bf4 $16) 26. Rxe6 $14) 25... Rh7 $4 {A time trouble error. Now White plucks the 6th rank pawns and is in charge.} (25... Rf6 {is necessary.}) 26. Rxe6 $18 Bf7 27. Rxa6 Qb7 28. R1xa4 Qd7 29. Rd6 $4 {Gifting a whole rook in the spirit of the Christmas season.} Qxa4 30. Qh4 Ng6 $4 {Black returns the favour.} (30... Kh8 {nullifies spells the end of all the tricks.} 31. Bg5 Ng8 {and White's attack is spent.}) 31. Rxg6+ $1 {Suddenly, White is winning again!} Bxg6 32. Bxd5+ Bf7 33. Qg5+ Kh8 34. Bxf7 $2 {Now it's touch and go with both sides in time trouble.} ({It's over after} 34. Qf6+ Kg8 35. Qg6+ Kh8 36. Bxf7) 34... Rxf7 35. Qg6 Rbb7 36. Bf4 $1 Qd1+ 37. Kg2 Rbe7 $4 38. Ne5 $1 $18 {White is on top again with this knight lunge!} Rh7 $1 {The only defence! Terekhov forces Ghee to find forced moves.} 39. Qf6+ ({It is too much to expect an accurate finish with seconds left by playing} 39. Bg5 $1 Qb3 40. Bf6+ Bg7 41. hxg7+ Rhxg7 42. Qh6+ Kg8 43. Ng6 Qd5+ 44. Kh2 Rxg6 45. Qxg6+ Kf8 46. Qh6+ Ke8 47. Bxe7 Kxe7 {and White will win the endgame.}) 39... Kg8 40. Qg6+ Kh8 $4 ({Last chance saloon...} 40... Bg7 $1 41. Nc6 Rf7 42. Qe6 Qxd3 43. Ne7+ Kf8 44. Ng6+ Kg8 45. Ne7+ $11) 41. Qxf5 Qe2 $4 42. Ng6+ ({Missing} 42. Qxf8#) 42... Kg8 43. Qxf8# 1-0

[Event "Boxing Day - Raffles vs ROW blitz match"] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.12.26"] [Round "?"] [White "CM Olimpiu Urcan"] [Black "FM Jarred Neubronner"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A45"] [Annotator "Junior Tay"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2014.12.26"] [SourceDate "2014.12.26"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 c5 3. d5 Qb6 4. Nc3 {Inviting Jarred to pluck the Vaganian Gambit.} Qxb2 {The principled continuation. Otherwise, why play ...Qb6?} 5. Bd2 Qb6 6. e4 d6 7. f4 Nfd7 $5 {A rare move, with only 4 games in the Megabase database. Black wishes to restrain e4-e5 without getting this Nf6 kicked around.} 8. Rb1 {Olimpiu plays the recommended idea versus 7...e6 given in IM Richard Pert's Playing the Trompovsky (Quality Chess 2013).} Qd8 9. Nf3 g6 10. e5 $1 {White has to commit this central break before ...Bg7 or his initiative might fizzle out} Bg7 $6 (10... a6 $5 {Preventing Bb5/Nb5 tricks should be considered.}) 11. e6 $1 {In for a penny, in for a pound.} fxe6 12. Ng5 {There is a running joke among my chess pals in the 90s. Whenever one of us weakens the positions by creating outposts for the opponents, we would say...'That's a strong hole' (pun on 'stronghold' - get it?) and the rejoinder would be 'where even the holes are strong'. White exploits the light square weaknesses caused immediately.} Nf6 $1 {This is virtually forced.} ({Vaganian already showed 40 years ago that after} 12... Nf8 {, White has an enduring initiative} 13. Bb5+ Bd7 14. dxe6 Bxb5 15. Nxb5 Qc8 16. O-O a6 17. Bc3 $1 axb5 18. Bxg7 Rg8 { Vaganian,R (2540)-Jansa,V (2535)/Kragujevac 1974 and now} 19. f5 $3 {is decisive after} Rxg7 20. f6 $1 exf6 21. Rxf6 {and the devastating Qf3 cannot be fended off.}) 13. Bb5+ Kf8 14. dxe6 a6 15. Bd3 Nc6 16. O-O {White's compensation is evident. All his pieces are developed, f4-f5 is imminent and Black's pieces are still clogged up.} Qe8 {Trying to cover the g6 weakness after White's impending f4-f5.} 17. f5 Ne5 18. Bf4 $1 {Removing Black's most active piece.} h6 ({After} 18... Nxd3 19. Qxd3 gxf5 {and now} 20. Rbe1 $1 { keeps a firm grip on the position.} ({instead of} 20. Qxf5 Qg6 {when Black has survival chances,})) 19. Bxe5 ({Stronger is} 19. Nf7 $1 {with the idea of prising open the f-file with} Nxf7 20. exf7 {followed by fxg6.}) 19... hxg5 20. Bxf6 Bxf6 21. Nd5 Bd4+ $2 {Jarred is setting up a dardstardly trap...} ({ Black's only resource lie in the surprising} 21... Qa4 22. Nxf6 Qd4+ 23. Rf2 exf6 24. fxg6 Kg7 {though White still has a strong pull.}) 22. Kh1 Kg7 23. Qf3 {Too bad for Jarred, Olimpiu spotted the cheapo! Now the f-file opening ceremony proceeds with fanfare.} ({Jarred's con is} 23. fxg6 $4 Rxh2+ $3 {and the tables are overturned due to} 24. Kxh2 Qh8+ 25. Kg3 Qh4+ 26. Kf3 Bxe6 {and White is forced to part with the knight due to the threat of ...Bg4+.} 27. Ke2 Bxd5 {and Black has an overwhelming position.}) 23... Qf8 24. Rbe1 Ra7 25. c3 Be5 ({Also pointless is} 25... Bf6 26. Qg3 Qe8 27. fxg6 b5 28. Rxf6 exf6 29. e7 ) 26. Rxe5 $3 {A beauty. White crashes through like a ten-tonner truck.} dxe5 27. Qe4 Rh6 28. Qxe5+ Kg8 29. f6 b5 30. fxe7 Qe8 31. Nf6+ {A great example of a sustained non-stop attack following gambit play.} 1-0

[Event "Boxing Day Master Match"] [Site "Singapore"] [Date "2014.12.26"] [Round "3.1"] [White "FM Terekhov, Andrey"] [Black "FM Neubronner, Jarred"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A70"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r1b1r1k1/1pqn1pbp/p2p1np1/3P4/P1p1PB2/2N2N1P/1PB2PP1/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 14"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "2014.12.26"] [EventType "blitz"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "SIN"] [SourceDate "2014.12.28"] [WhiteTeam "ROW"] [BlackTeam "Raffles Alumni"] 14. Re1 {This is still theory but Jarred's careless next move gives White the desired central break.} Nc5 $4 ({Theory recommends} 14... Rb8) ({or} 14... Nh5) 15. e5 $1 {After this blow, Black is almost lost but Jarred proves extremely difficult to put away.} dxe5 16. Bxe5 Qd8 17. Qd4 $1 Nb3 $2 18. Bxb3 cxb3 19. Ne4 $1 {A powerful move, forcing Black to relinquish the pride of the Benoni player, the dark-squared bishop.} Nxe4 20. Bxg7 Nd6 21. Bf6 Qa5 22. Bh8 $1 f6 23. Qxf6 Qc7 {How come Black is still alive? There is no concrete finishing shot here.} 24. Ng5 Bf5 25. Qd4 Rac8 26. Be5 Qd7 27. Qb4 {A regrouping to put the queen in front of the bishop on the long black diagonal.} Nc4 {Denying White's queen access to d4.} 28. Bc3 Bc2 29. d6 $5 {The idea is to deflect the knight away from c4.} (29. Rxe8+ $1 Qxe8 30. Qxb7 {and Black cannot prevent mate.}) 29... a5 $1 {Even though this loses with best play, Terekhov is already in time trouble so...} (29... Nxd6 $4 30. Qd4) (29... Qxd6 $4 30. Qxb7) 30. Qb5 $2 {After this, Black is out of the woods as the queens get traded off. } Qxb5 31. axb5 Nxd6 32. Rxe8+ Rxe8 33. Rxa5 h6 {The worst is over for Black who eventually eked out a win.} 0-1

[Event "Boxing Day Master Match"] [Site "Singapore"] [Date "2014.12.26"] [Round "3.2"] [White "IM Hsu, Li Yang"] [Black "CM Urcan, Olimpiu G"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A81"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/p5k1/1p1p4/4N3/2PpB2n/1P6/P4P2/5K2 b - - 0 37"] [PlyCount "28"] [EventDate "2014.12.26"] [EventType "blitz"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "SIN"] [SourceDate "2014.12.28"] [WhiteTeam "ROW"] [BlackTeam "Raffles Alumni"] {Another interesting ending. Here, both parties demonstrated accuracy.} 37... dxe5 38. Ke2 Kf6 39. b4 {Preparing c4-c5.} Nf5 40. Bxf5 Kxf5 41. f3 {Stopping the threat of ...e4 cold. Now the game is a draw unless one of them messes up big time.} (41. Kd3 Kf4 42. c5 bxc5 43. bxc5 Kf5 44. Kc4 Ke6 45. f4 exf4 46. Kxd4 f3 {is also another draw but Li Yang's way is clearer.}) 41... Kf4 42. c5 bxc5 43. bxc5 Kf5 44. Kd3 Ke6 45. Ke4 Kd7 46. f4 exf4 47. Kxd4 Kc6 48. Ke4 Kxc5 49. Kxf4 Kb4 50. Ke3 Kc3 51. Ke2 {There is no need for them to play out the whole sequence as mutual respect is shown.} (51. Ke2 a5 52. a4 Kc2 53. Ke3 Kb3 54. Kd4 Kxa4 55. Kc4 Ka3 56. Kc3 Ka2 57. Kc2 a4 58. Kc1 a3 59. Kc2 {and Black will get stalemated.}) 1/2-1/2

[Event "Boxing Day Master Match"] [Site "Singapore"] [Date "2014.12.26"] [Round "3.2"] [White "FM Ong, Chong Ghee"] [Black "IM Lim, Yee-Weng"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A00"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r2q1rk1/1b2ppb1/3p1n1p/1B4p1/p2PP3/N2Q2B1/5PPP/R4RK1 w - - 0 21"] [PlyCount "30"] [EventDate "2014.12.26"] [EventType "blitz"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "SIN"] [SourceDate "2014.12.28"] [WhiteTeam "Raffles Alumni"] [BlackTeam "ROW"] 21. Rfe1 {Black has emerged out of the opening with the upper hand due to his central pressure as well as the passed a-pawn. At the time being, it is blockaded so Yee Weng starts to press hard on the queenside.} Qa5 $1 22. Rab1 Ba6 $1 {Simple and logical, removing the obstacles to the a-pawn's advance one by one.} 23. h4 Bxb5 24. Nxb5 Rfb8 25. hxg5 hxg5 26. e5 Nh5 $5 {Setting a devious trap for Ghee.} 27. Bh2 $4 ({It will be too far-fetched to expect White in blitz time control to play} 27. exd6 $1 Nxg3 28. dxe7 $1 Nh5 29. Nd6 $1 Rxb1 30. Rxb1 Nf6 31. Qc4 {with a strong attack.}) 27... a3 $1 {Thanks to the Bh2 blocking the king's 'luft', Yee Weng's a-pawn cannot be stopped.} 28. Nxa3 Rxb1 29. Rxb1 Qxa3 $1 {Ouch! White's desperado rook deflection move cannot be played.} 30. Qf5 (30. Rb8+ {can be met by} Rxb8 31. Qxa3 Rb1+ {and White gets mated.}) 30... Qa2 31. exd6 exd6 32. Bxd6 Bxd4 33. Qxg5+ Ng7 34. Rf1 Qe2 35. Qd5 {and now the coupe de grace...} Bxf2+ $1 {Ghee shook his head and resigned.} 0-1

[Event "Setia Alam"] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.??.??"] [Round "7"] [White "Sumant Subramaniam"] [Black "IM Mok Tze Meng"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A43"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "2014.??.??"] 1. d4 g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. g3 c5 4. d5 d6 5. Bg2 e6 6. c4 Ne7 $5 {Taking the game out of the theoretical Modern Benoni highway. Apart from forcing White to find his 'own' moves henceforth, this move allows the Benoni bishop to keep the long Black diagonal open.} 7. O-O exd5 8. cxd5 O-O 9. Nc3 a6 10. a4 Bg4 $6 {A psychological gamble. Mok plays on the notion that White will keep things safe and uncomplicated, given his half point lead in the final round. The crux is that this move weakens the b7-pawn and if White gets to do the standard Benoni knight's tour (Nd2-c4) to hit the b6-square and especially the d6-pawn, Mok would have to defend it passively with ...Nc8 and the g4 bishop and queen knight would both be fighting for the same d7-square when White plays h2-h3.} ( 10... Nd7 11. e4 {gives White an easy game.}) 11. Bf4 (11. Nd2 $1 Nc8 12. Qb3 Ra7 13. e4 {accords White a strong game. Given the rapid time control, perhaps Mok might take his chances with} b5 $5 14. axb5 Rb7 {in Benko gambit fashion.}) 11... h6 {More psychology. Mok wants to boot the f4-bishop off its powerful h2-b8 diagonal and dares White to play the 'weakening' h2-h4.} (11... Bxf3 { White would be pleased to get} 12. Bxf3 {when} Nc8 13. Ne4 {is only fun for White.}) 12. Qb3 (12. h4 $1 {keeps the dark-squared bishop on its excellent diagonal.}) 12... b6 13. Nd2 g5 $1 14. Bxd6 $6 {White insists on keeping the initiative, even at the cost of a piece for a pawn.} (14. Be3 {After} Nf5 {, Black has justified the placing of the Ne7 as it can now help gain the bishop pair by removing the Be3.} 15. h3 Nxe3 16. fxe3 Bh5) 14... Qxd6 15. Nc4 Qd8 16. d6 (16. Nxb6 $5 {White also has insufficient compensation after} Ra7 17. a5 Nc8 {but at least there is still some complexity left in the position.}) 16... Nec6 17. Qxb6 $6 {Mok loves technical positions, even more so with extra material. After this, it is safe to say that Mok is confident of taking home the full point, as the endgame is his forte.} Qxb6 18. Nxb6 Ra7 19. e3 Ne5 20. f3 Be6 21. Rfd1 Nbd7 22. Ncd5 Nxb6 23. Nxb6 Nd7 {Mok welcomes trades of course, bringing him closer to the finish line.} 24. Nxd7 Rxd7 25. Rac1 c4 0-1

[Event "1st Kastam WPKL"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.??.??"] [Round "6"] [White "IM Mok Tze Meng"] [Black "NM Kamal Abdullah"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B30"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nd4 $5 {Bologan considers this knight hop inferior to the Ruy Lopez Bird's Defence (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nd4). This didn't stop GMs like Ricardi, Wang Zili and Matjushin from playing this.} 4. Nxd4 cxd4 5. O-O g6 6. c3 $1 {Undermining Black's advanced pawn immediately. If Black is not careful, White will end up with a strong pawn centre.} Bg7 7. cxd4 Bxd4 8. Nc3 Bg7 $6 (8... a6 9. Ba4 b5 10. Bb3 Bb7 {. Zarnicki,P (2493)-Ricardi,P (2544) /Pinamar 2002 gives Black more central play.}) 9. d4 {Black is not only behind in development, but also gifts White a strong centre.} a6 10. Bc4 d6 $6 (10... e6 11. e5 $1 {. Real de Azua,E (2320)-Obregon,C (2268)/Buenos Aires 2003, also looks good for White.}) 11. Qf3 {Of course Kamal, an ex-Olympian and Asian Teams representative, is not going to miss a one mover. This however, forces Black to weaken some dark squares and gains time for Mok to play his next move. } (11. Qa4+ $5 {Even stronger is} Bd7 (11... b5 12. Bxb5+) 12. Qb3 e6 13. Qxb7 {nets a clean pawn as after} Bxd4 14. Rd1 Bc5 15. e5 $1 d5 16. Nxd5 $1 Ra7 17. Qb3 exd5 18. Bxd5 {White has a devastating attack.}) 11... e6 12. Rd1 Ne7 13. Bg5 O-O 14. e5 $1 {Creating chronic dark-square weaknesses.} d5 (14... dxe5 15. dxe5 Qc7 16. Bf6 $1 Nf5 17. Bd3 Bxf6 18. exf6 Qe5 19. Ne4 {and White is still in control.}) 15. Bd3 {It's very difficult already to suggest an unravelling method for Black, especially against Mok who loves these squeeze-type positions.} Re8 16. Bf6 Bf8 17. h4 {This battering ram is going to weaken the Black kingside irretrievably.} Qb6 18. Rab1 Bd7 19. h5 Nc6 20. Ne2 Rec8 21. a3 (21. Qg4 $1 Be8 22. hxg6 hxg6 23. Nf4) 21... Be7 22. Bxe7 $6 {Too casual. Mok just wants to win technically and does not play for mate.} (22. hxg6 fxg6 23. Qg4 Be8 24. Nf4 {gives White an unstoppable kingside breakthrough after a imminent sacrifice on g6.}) 22... Nxe7 23. Qf6 Qd8 24. h6 {Mok aims for a plus minus position where Black's queen is stuck on f8 forever to defend the g7-mating square as well as the back rank.} Qf8 25. g4 Ba4 26. Rdc1 Nc6 27. g5 Na5 28. Rxc8 Rxc8 29. Rc1 Rxc1+ 30. Nxc1 Bb3 31. Kg2 Bc4 32. b4 Bxd3 $4 {Black finally falters and this allows Mok to push the queen off f8 after} 33. Nxd3 Nb3 (33... Nc6 34. Nc5 Nb8 {would allow Mok to win flashily after} 35. a4 b6 36. Nxe6 fxe6 37. Qxe6+ Kh8 38. Qxd5 Qe7 39. e6 Kg8 40. b5 a5 41. f4 Kf8 42. Qe5 {winning}) 34. Nc5 Nxd4 35. Nd7 {and Black's queen cannot move and thus he has to resign.} 1-0

[Event "S'pore Masters Blitz 2015"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.03.01"] [Round "4"] [White "FM Olay, Edgar Reggie"] [Black "FM Chan, Timothy"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E33"] [Annotator "Junior Tay"] [PlyCount "115"] [EventDate "2015.03.02"] [SourceDate "2015.03.03"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 Nc6 {The Zurich variation prizes piece play above structural considerations.} 5. Nf3 d6 6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. Qxc3 O-O ({ Personally, I prefer to flick in} 7... a5 {first to prevent White from expanding on the queenside so easily}) 8. b4 Qe7 {A relatively rare continuation, as Black tends to play either the ...e5 pawn sacrifice or ...Re8 here.} (8... e5 $5 9. dxe5 (9. Bb2 {is preferred by GMs Ding Liren and Volkov.} ) 9... Nxe5 10. Nxe5 dxe5 11. Qxe5 Re8 12. Qb2 a5 13. Bg5 axb4 14. axb4 Rxa1+ 15. Qxa1 Qd3 $1 16. f3 (16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. e3 Qb3 {and White is suffering.}) 16... Qxc4 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Qb2 {and Black has regained the pawn with the initiative, Peng,Z (2443)-Plasman,H (2217)/Hoogeveen 2001}) 9. Bb2 Re8 10. g3 $5 $146 e5 11. d5 ({After} 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. Bg2 Nd4 {, White walked into a devious trap with} 13. e3 $4 Bh3 $1 14. Bxh3 Ne4 $1 15. Qd3 Nxf3+ 16. Ke2 Nfg5 {The point of the combination, Black cannot hold on to the bishop with ...Rad8 and ...Rd2+ looming.} 17. Rad1 {Fick,R (2110)-Eggleston,D (2399)/Bad Wiessee 2013 and now} (17. Bg2 Rad8 18. Qc2 Rd2+ 19. Qxd2 Nxd2 20. Kxd2 {and Black is winning.}) 17... Rad8 18. Qb1 Qf6 $1 19. f4 Qc6 $1 {Hitting the c4-pawn and the h3-bishop simultaneously} 20. fxg5 Nxg5 {with a winning position.}) 11... Nb8 12. Bg2 c6 {Chipping away at the White centre.} (12... b5 $5 {is an attempt to decimate White's centre but White resisted temptation with} 13. Nd2 Bb7 14. O-O Nbd7 15. a4 bxc4 16. e4 c6 17. dxc6 Bxc6 18. Qxc4 Rac8 19. Rfc1 Bb7 20. Qb3 {to keep a slight structural edge, Kishnev,S (2488)-Koch,T (2416)/ Belgium 2003}) 13. dxc6 $1 Nxc6 ({Reggie probably planned to meet} 13... bxc6 { with} 14. c5 $1) 14. O-O Be6 15. Rfd1 Rac8 16. Rac1 Red8 17. h3 h6 18. e3 Bf5 ( 18... e4 $5 {with the idea of meeting} 19. Nd2 Ne5 {can be countered by the dangerous exchange sacrifice} 20. Qd4 $1 Nd3 21. Nxe4 Nxc1 22. Rxc1 {when it's easier to play White especially in blitz.}) 19. Nh4 $1 {The tempi earned allows White to make inroads on the queenside.} Bh7 20. b5 ({White can undermine the centre with} 20. c5 $5 dxc5 21. b5 {and he will pick off the e5-pawn with a durable bishop pair edge.}) 20... Nb8 21. a4 b6 22. Ba3 { Attacks the backward pawn on d6} Ne8 ({Stockfish suggests the 'inhuman'} 22... g5 23. Nf3 Ne4 24. Qa1 Qf6 {with approximate equality but humans tend to bother more about structural consideration.}) 23. Qd2 {Starting to massage the position and apply pressure on d6.} (23. e4 {gives White a solid edge too.}) 23... Qe6 {Targeting the c4-pawn.} 24. Kh2 $5 {Reggie dares Tim to pluck the c4-weakie...} Rxc4 $2 {I'm not sure if Tim missed the bishop poke from d5 but the resulting unbalanced piece setup gave Reggie winning chances.} 25. Bd5 $1 $18 Rxc1 26. Bxe6 Rxd1 27. Bxf7+ $1 Kxf7 28. Qxd1 Ke7 29. Qd5 Nd7 30. Qb7 Rb8 31. Qxa7 $4 {White's play following the massive exchanges has bee geared towards pilfering the queenside. However, at this juncture, both sides did not realise that the queen could be trapped!} Kd8 $4 (31... Be4 $3 {shuts the door on the queen!} 32. a5 Ra8 {and White will regret munching on a7.}) 32. a5 $4 ( 32. f3 {is necessary to blot out the ...Be4 idea.}) 32... bxa5 $4 {Now the queen gets out of jail.} (32... Be4) 33. Qxa5+ $18 Rb6 34. Nf3 Be4 35. Nd2 Bd5 {With Black driven into a defensive shell, Reggie exploits Tim's dilemna with a general pawn advance.} 36. e4 Be6 37. f4 exf4 38. gxf4 Nc7 39. Qc3 $1 { Reggie is not adverse to part with his b-pawn to remove one of Black's knights as Black's kingside has been irretrievably weakened.} Nxb5 40. Qg3 Nxa3 41. Qxa3 Nc5 42. f5 $1 {The prelude to a powerful denoument.} Bb3 43. e5 $1 { Crushing! Removing the knight's pawn support and thus wrecking the Black pieces' coordination totally.} Kc7 44. exd6+ Kc6 45. h4 Bd5 46. Qa7 ({A faster way to convert would be} 46. d7 Nxd7 47. Qc3+ Kb5 48. Qxg7 $18) 46... Rb7 {Tim is really making it very tough for Reggie to make inroads.} 47. Qa3 Kxd6 48. Qg3+ $18 Kc6 49. Qc3 Kd6 50. Qg3+ Kc6 51. Qe5 $1 {The winning plan. Reggie prepares f5-f6 to trade off the g7-pawn, thus removing the support for the hapless h6-pawn.} Nd3 52. Qc3+ Nc5 53. f6 $1 gxf6 54. Qxf6+ Be6 55. Qxh6 Rb2 56. Kg1 Kd7 $4 {Tim blunders his rook away, but there is no stopping the h-pawn anyway.} 57. Qg7+ Kd6 58. Qxb2 1-0

[Event "Singapore Blitz Masters "] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.03.01"] [Round "?"] [White "Junior Tay"] [Black "FM Andrean Susilodinata"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B23"] [Annotator "Tay,Junior"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r4bk1/1bq2p1p/pp4p1/2n1Pp2/P1Bp4/1P4Q1/2P2NPP/R4RK1 b - - 0 21"] [PlyCount "6"] [EventDate "2015.03.03"] 21... Re8 {In this position, White is exchange for a pawn up but the isolated e-pawn is poised to drop as White cannot defend it sufficiently. Once it falls, Black surely is better with his powerful bishop pair and dominance in the centre. I spotted an ultra-dirty cheapo here...} 22. Rae1 {Meekly defending the e-pawn or so it seems.} ({I was also considering} 22. Ng4 $5 {but after} Ne4 $1 23. Qh4 Bg7 24. Nf6+ Nxf6 25. exf6 Re4 $1 {, White is in serious trouble.}) 22... Bg7 $4 {Totally missing the cheapo...} (22... Re7 $1 {first would have avoided all the trouble.}) 23. e6 $3 {All of a sudden, Black is forced to lose a rook as ...exf7+ threatens to win the whole house!} Nxe6 ( 23... Qxg3 24. exf7+ {and Black gets mated after fxe8=Q.}) 24. Rxe6 $1 {The Black queen is left en-prise and ...Qxg3 loses to Rxe8 check(!) and White converted the extra rook advantage later.} 1-0

[Event "S'pore Masters Blitz 2015"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.03.01"] [Round "3"] [White "Susilodinata, Andrean"] [Black "Olay, Edgar Reggie"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B75"] [Annotator "Tay,Junior"] [PlyCount "38"] [EventDate "2015.03.02"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 a6 8. Qd2 h5 $5 {A typical motif in the Dragondorf. The main point is White is 'robbed' of his natural Bh6, h4-h5 attacking setup and also the standard g2-g4 bayonet spike has been upended.} 9. O-O-O ({Watch how the irrepressible GM Jobava handle this opening} 9. Bc4 Nbd7 10. O-O-O b5 11. Bb3 Bb7 12. Kb1 Rc8 13. h3 Ne5 14. Rhe1 Nc4 15. Bxc4 Rxc4 16. Nb3 Qc7 17. Bd4 O-O {Here, it looks like conditions are ripe for a central break...} 18. e5 $6 dxe5 19. Bxe5 Ne4 $1 { Ouch! Suddenly, the tables are turned and White is forced on the defensive.} 20. Bxc7 (20. Rxe4 Bxe5 21. Nd5 Bxd5 22. Qxd5 Bf6) 20... Nxd2+ 21. Rxd2 Bxc3 22. bxc3 Rxc7 {and Jobava has secured an edge in this ending, Areshchenko,A (2720)-Jobava,B (2695)/Warsaw 2013.}) 9... Nbd7 10. f4 Qc7 {This position requires some care.} ({After} 10... b5 11. Bd3 Bb7 $2 {White has the powerful break} 12. e5 dxe5 $2 (12... b4 13. Na4 dxe5 14. Ne6) 13. Ne6 $3 fxe6 $2 (13... Qa5 14. fxe5 Nxe5 15. Nxg7+ Kf8 16. Nf5 $16) 14. Bxg6+ Kf8 15. fxe5 Qa5 16. exf6 Nxf6 17. Rhf1 {Tchoupine,V-Vuckovic,A (2338)/Ditzingen 2002, with a huge position for White,}) 11. f5 Ne5 12. fxg6 fxg6 13. Bg5 $5 {A typical idea, with the intention to trade on f6 and dive in with Nd5. The natural reaction here would be to move the queen away from the Nd5 hit with ...Qa5 but Reggie simply ignores the threat!} O-O $5 14. Bxf6 exf6 $1 {An odd looking recapture, weakening the d-pawn irretrievably but this move is well motivated for the sake of keeping the initiative.} ({After} 14... Bxf6 15. Nd5 Qc5 16. Be2 Bd7 17. Rhf1 {, Black's Dragondorf has lost its vitality.}) 15. Nb3 Re8 $5 {Very enterprising play. Reggie refused to be tied down to defending the d-pawn and instead gave it up nonchalantly to carry on his development.} 16. Nd5 {Andrean cautiously declined the pawn offer but his position soon deteriorated.} ({After } 16. Qxd6 Qf7 17. Be2 Be6 18. Kb1 Rac8 19. Rhf1 Rc6 20. Qd2 Rec8 {there is strong counterplay for Black.}) 16... Qf7 17. Kb1 b5 18. Nd4 $6 {Instead of taking over central squares, White needs to focus on development.} Bb7 19. Nf4 $2 Bxe4 $19 {Reggie had nabbed an important pawn and converted the win in another 25 moves.} 0-1

[Event "S'pore Masters Blitz 2015"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.03.01"] [Round "8"] [White "Susilodinata, Andrean"] [Black "Neubronner, Jarred"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B42"] [Annotator "Junior Tay"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2015.03.02"] [SourceDate "2015.03.02"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. c4 d6 8. O-O Nf6 9. Be3 O-O 10. Nc3 b6 11. f4 Nbd7 {All these are pretty standard in the Sicilian Kan though Black usually delays castling until necessary.} 12. g4 $5 { According to my database, this bayonet stab was first played by Polish GM Jacek Tomscak in 2009.} (12. Qf3 {is the main line.}) 12... Bb7 $2 {A natural reaction to complete development. The way Andrean brutally conducted the attack showed that this move which completes development is the key to Black's problems!} ({The age old adage - meeting a flank attack with action in the centre applies here. Black cannot allow White to fully concentrate on the kingside attack unimpeded.} 12... Nc5 $1 13. Nxc5 (13. Bc2 Nxb3 14. axb3 Bb7 15. g5 Nd7 16. Qh5 g6 17. Qh6 Re8 18. Rf3 Bf8 19. Qh4 Bg7 20. Rd1 Qc7 21. Rh3 Nf8 {and Black is holding firm, Miranda Rodriguez,T (2167)-Borges Feria,Y (2406)/Havana 2011.}) (13. g5 Nfd7 14. Bc2 {was Lhotka,J (2082)-Suchomel,A (2044)/Prague 2012. Now,} e5 $1 {looks like an appropriate counter as} 15. Nd5 $6 exf4 16. Bxf4 Ne5 {gives Black good play.}) 13... dxc5 14. h3 (14. g5 $6 { is met by} Ng4) 14... Bb7 15. e5 Nd7 16. Qc2 g6 17. Be4 Qc7 {and the action has been transferred to the centre, Tomczak,J (2465)-Miton,K (2595)/Chotowa 2009}) (12... e5 {, jabbing at the centre, is another move to consider.}) 13. g5 Ne8 14. Qh5 $1 {White goes for the jugular.} g6 15. Qh6 Ng7 16. f5 $1 ({ Another demolition job follows} 16. Rf3 $1 Re8 17. Rh3 Nh5 18. Rxh5 gxh5 19. Qxh5 {when resistance is futile. For example,} Nf8 20. f5 $1 {followed by Rf1 and f5-f6 wins hands down.}) 16... Nh5 (16... exf5 17. exf5 Nxf5 {and after} 18. Rxf5 {, the rook cannot be taken.}) 17. Be2 $1 ({Black gets a good chance to hold out, especially in blitz after} 17. f6 Nhxf6 18. gxf6 Bxf6) 17... Re8 { Seeking to trap the queen with ...Bf8 but Andrean had everything worked out.} 18. fxg6 hxg6 19. Rxf7 $3 {This hammer blow ends all discussion. The band can start playing 'Bohemian Rhapsody' and start 'calling momma!'. The rest do not require annotation as White just picks off copious amount of material and more. ..} Kxf7 20. Bxh5 Rg8 21. Qh7+ Rg7 22. Bxg6+ Kf8 23. Qh8+ Rg8 24. Qh6+ Rg7 25. Qh8+ Rg8 26. Rf1+ Bf6 27. Qh6+ Rg7 28. gxf6 Nxf6 29. Bg5 Kg8 30. Bxf6 Qf8 31. Bxg7 Qxg7 32. Qxg7+ Kxg7 33. Rf7+ Kxg6 34. Rxb7 Rc8 35. Rxb6 Rxc4 36. Rxd6 Kf6 1-0

[Event "S'pore Masters Blitz 2015"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.03.01"] [Round "10"] [White "Goh, Wei Ming"] [Black "Suelo, Robert Jr"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B40"] [Annotator "Junior Tay"] [PlyCount "123"] [EventDate "2015.03.02"] [SourceDate "2015.03.02"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Bg5 $5 {The scumbag opening - Aussie Attack.} Qb6 ({In bullet or blitz play, a common move would be} 4... a6 $4 5. Bxd8 { followed by an opponent disconnect or a litany of profanity...}) ({Personally, I find} 4... Nf6 {to be the hardest to meet.}) 5. Qxd4 Qxd4 6. Nxd4 a6 7. Nd2 $1 {Already, White is eyeing the juicy b6-square for the knight.} Nc6 8. Nxc6 dxc6 9. a4 {Clamping down on Black's ...b5.} ({I've always preferred} 9. Nc4 Bc5 10. O-O-O {in online blitz.}) 9... Nf6 10. f3 Bc5 11. c3 h6 $6 {Wei Ming is more than happy to see this move as he seeks to remove Black's only active piece- the dark-squared bishop.} 12. Bh4 g5 13. Bf2 Bxf2+ 14. Kxf2 Ke7 15. Nc4 {White starts to pull his weight on the queenside dark squares.} Bd7 16. Nb6 Rad8 17. b4 Bc8 18. Ke3 Nd7 19. Nc4 f6 20. Be2 Ne5 21. Nb6 Nd7 22. Nc4 Ne5 23. Na5 $1 {No repetition!} Rd7 24. Rhd1 {It would seem strange to trade a pair of rooks but once Black doubles rooks on the d-file, he can play for ...f5-f4 with a ...Rd2 invasion.} ({Opening another front with} 24. h4 {looks good also. }) 24... Rhd8 25. Rxd7+ Rxd7 {I like the reorganising that Wei Ming embarks on. He first gives himself more options with his knight and kingside pawns.} 26. Nb3 Rd8 27. g3 Nd7 28. b5 $5 {Finally, a commital move.} axb5 29. axb5 cxb5 30. Bxb5 e5 {Black seems to have almost unravelled from the squeeze but the position still requires accuracy.} 31. c4 b6 $6 {Finally, a concession. Perhaps Suelo was concerned about Ra7 followed by Na5 hitting the b7-pawn.} ({ The Black king belongs on c7 but that's very hard to see in blitz.} 31... Kd6 32. c5+ Kc7 {and Black is ok after ...Nb8-c6 or ...Nf8-e6.}) 32. Ra7 {After the patient manouvering, Wei Ming finally has a clear weakness to latch onto, the 7th rank.} Kd6 33. Nc1 $1 {Re-routing the knight to d5 where it hits the b6- and f6-pawns.} Rh8 $2 ({Black must not remain passive and he has to try for activity with} 33... Nc5 {and now} 34. Rh7 Be6 35. Rxh6 Ra8 {, Black gets sufficient counterplay. It's easy to see this of course, with an engine in the background but over the board, it's only natural to cover the weakness (the h6-pawn).}) 34. Nd3 h5 {Suelo is systematically trying to eradicate his h-pawn weakness.} 35. Nb4 h4 (35... Nc5 36. Nd5 f5 37. Ra8 $1 $18 {and Black is in zugzwang.}) 36. g4 (36. Nd5 {is also very strong.}) 36... Rf8 {Now he covers his f-pawn. Black's plan is just to hold firm and ...hope White does not have a tactical breakthrough, as the kingside is closed up and everything seems guarded staunchly.} 37. Nd5 Rd8 38. Ra8 $1 {Well, it only took Wei Ming 1 move to set up a tactical solution. It dawned on Black that White will just set up Bxd7 and trade the whole house leading to a winning king and pawns ending for White.} Nc5 {There is no choice but to give up the b-pawn.} (38... Rf8 39. Bxd7 Kxd7 40. Nxb6+ Kc7 41. Rxc8+ Rxc8 42. Nxc8 Kxc8 43. c5 Kc7 44. Kd3 Kd7 45. Kc4 Kc6 46. h3 {and White will invade into the Black camp.}) 39. Nxb6 Kc7 40. Nd5+ ({Most definitely not a minor piece ending with} 40. Rxc8+ $2 Rxc8 41. Nxc8 Kxc8 {as White's king cannot get in once the Black king sits on the d6-square.} ) 40... Kb7 41. Ra1 Rd6 ({Also futile is} 41... Be6 42. Rb1 Bxd5 43. exd5 Kc7 44. Bc6) 42. Rb1 {Wicked! Now Black now has to worry about the plight of his king as well.} Ka7 43. Ra1+ Kb7 44. Be8 Bd7 45. Rb1+ Ka7 46. Bxd7 Nxd7 47. Rb5 $1 {Supporting the c4-c5 push.} Ka6 $2 {This allows White to win more quickly but Suelo must have been worn out by the big squeeze.} ({In any case,} 47... Ra6 48. Nb4 Ra3+ 49. Kd2 $1 Rxf3 50. c5 $1 {wins.}) 48. Nb4+ Ka7 49. c5 Rd1 50. c6 Nb6 51. Nd5 Nc8 52. Rb7+ Ka6 53. Nxf6 Rc1 54. Rc7 Nd6 55. Nd5 Nc4+ 56. Ke2 Nd6 $4 57. Rd7 Nb5 58. Re7 Rxc6 {Walking into a fork. However, the game has already been lost for quite a while.} 59. Nb4+ Kb6 60. Nxc6 Kxc6 61. Rxe5 Kb6 62. Rxg5 1-0

[Event "S'pore Masters Blitz 2015"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.03.01"] [Round "8"] [White "Foo, Benjamin"] [Black "Mariano, Nelson III"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [Annotator "Junior Tay"] [PlyCount "85"] [EventDate "2015.03.02"] [SourceDate "2015.03.02"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Nc6 $5 {The ...Nc6 Centre counter is a specialty of American IM Alexander Reprintsev. Other experts in this line are French GM Etienne Bacrot and ...the Mariano family! Both brother GM Nelson Mariano II and sister WIM Cristine have utilized this line frequently too with success.} 6. Bd2 $1 (6. d5 Nb4 7. Bb5+ c6 8. dxc6 Nxc6 9. Ne5 Bd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. O-O e6 12. Re1 Be7 13. Bf4 Nf6 14. a3 O-O 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Qf3 Rac8 17. Rad1 Qf5 18. h4 Nd5 19. Nxd5 cxd5 {and Mariano's elder sibling has gained the edge, Chong,C (2127)-Mariano,N (2466)/Kuala Lumpur 2005} ) ({The theoretical continuation is supposed to be} 6. Bb5 {but that doesn't faze Nelson.} Nd5 7. a4 Nxc3 8. bxc3 a6 9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. O-O Bg4 11. Qd3 Bf5 12. Qd2 e6 13. Ne5 Bd6 $1 14. Ba3 Bxe5 15. dxe5 c5 16. Rfd1 O-O {and the future World Junior Champion agreed to a draw against Nelson, Lu,S (2538) -Mariano,N (2292)/Kuala Lumpur 2013.}) 6... a6 ({I've studied many years ago that} 6... Bg4 7. Nb5 Qb6 8. c4 Bxf3 9. Qxf3 Nxd4 10. Nxd4 Qxd4 11. Qxb7 Qe4+ 12. Qxe4 Nxe4 13. Be3 {gives White a big plus in the ending.}) 7. Bc4 Qh5 { Black's plan is to put as much pressure as possible on the d4-pawn with ...Bg4 and ...0-0-0.} 8. O-O Bg4 9. Be2 O-O-O 10. h3 $1 {With natural moves, White has seized the edge and Black has no time to threaten the d4-weakie.} Bxf3 11. Bxf3 Qf5 12. Bxc6 {The point of White's trade. He gets to damage the Black queenside and the tempo to defend the d4-pawn.} bxc6 {This position has been encountered by Nelson in tournament praxis!} 13. Qe2 $1 {Gaining more time to set up his own offensive plan.} (13. Ne2 e6 14. c4 Qd3 $1 15. Rc1 Ne4 16. Be3 Qxd1 17. Rfxd1 Bd6 18. a3 Rhg8 {White has a structural edge though Nelson eventuallly ecked out a win, Dela Cruz,N (2371) -Mariano,N (2251)/Manila 2013}) 13... Kb7 14. Be3 e6 $146 {This is Nelson's improvement over a prior game.} ({ Black has attempted to straighten his pawns after} 14... Nd5 $2 15. Nxd5 cxd5 { but this gave White time to pummel down the queenside with} 16. c4 $1 e6 17. c5 Ra8 18. Rfc1 c6 19. Rc3 Be7 20. Rb3+ Kc7 21. Qd2 Rhc8 22. Bf4+ Kd7 23. Rb7+ $18 {Fomichenko,E (2492)-Scheblykin,S (2348)/Anapa 2008}) 15. b4 $3 {Benjamin gives him no rest and demonstrates the sustained initiative play that has earned him scalps over IMs in recent months.} Bd6 16. Rfb1 {Bringing the whole chain gang into the attack.} e5 {Black meets the flank action with central activity but it's too little too late.} ({After} 16... Nd5 17. Nxd5 exd5 18. a4 {is also daunting for Black.}) 17. b5 $3 {The king's cover is blown away just like that.} cxb5 18. Nxb5 $1 axb5 19. Rxb5+ ({Even more incisive is} 19. Qxb5+ Kc8 20. c4 {with the idea of c5-c6.}) 19... Kc8 20. dxe5 {The Rb5 also helps to set up a horizontal pin.} Bxe5 21. f4 Rhe8 $2 ({Black must bail out into an ending a pawn down with} 21... Rd5 $5 22. Rxd5 Nxd5 23. fxe5 Nxe3 24. Qxe3) 22. fxe5 $18 {The rest is a clinical mop-up by Ben and he never relinquished his sustained initiative thanks to the floundering Black king.} Rxe5 23. Rxe5 Qxe5 24. Qa6+ Kd7 25. Rd1+ Ke7 26. Qa3+ Ke8 27. Qa4+ Rd7 28. Re1 Kf8 29. Qa8+ Ke7 30. Bf2 Qxe1+ 31. Bxe1 Nd5 32. Qc6 Rd6 33. Qc5 Kd7 34. Bg3 Re6 35. Qxd5+ Kc8 36. a4 c6 37. Qb3 Kd7 38. a5 c5 39. a6 Re8 40. a7 Kc6 41. Bb8 Re1+ 42. Kf2 Re6 43. a8=Q+ 1-0

[Event "NTU Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.05.26"] [Round "?"] [White "Dennis Wongso"] [Black "FM Jarred Neubronner"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B30"] [Annotator "Junior Tay"] [PlyCount "70"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c4 {Taking Jarred out of his theory. This move had been played successfully by GMs Yermolinsky, Arkell and Oll. If permitted, White will play d2-d4 next, with a Maroczy Bind type structure.} e5 {No bind. Now, instead, Jarred opts for a Botvinnik system structure, where the c5,d6,e5 structure accords Black the flexibility to play both ....b5 and ...f5 breaks while clamping on the d4-square. White's Nf3 is not flexibly placed, as a result. However, Black cedes the d5-square.} 4. d3 Nc6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Nd5 h6 ( 6... Bg7 7. h4 h6 8. h5 g5 9. Be2 Nge7 10. Ne3 a6 11. Nd2 Nd4 12. Bg4 Be6 13. Rb1 b5 14. b3 O-O 15. Bb2 Qd7 16. Ndf1 Nc2+ 17. Qxc2 Bxg4 18. Nxg4 Qxg4 19. Ne3 Qd7 20. Bc3 b4 21. Bb2 {Ivanov,I (2495)-Masculo,J (2225)/USA 1/2-1/2 (35)}) ({ Unthinkable is} 6... Nge7 $4 7. Nf6#) 7. a3 a5 {Not giving White a free hand on the queenside. White will need to give up the a-file if he intends to push b2-b4 through.} 8. Rb1 Bg7 9. Bd2 (9. b4 axb4 10. axb4 b6 $11) 9... a4 $6 { This pawn is kind of loose.} 10. Be2 $6 ({White can win the a4-pawn with} 10. Nc3 {though Black gets some compensation after} Nd4 11. Nxd4 cxd4 12. Nxa4 Bd7 13. b3 b5 14. cxb5 Bxb5) 10... Nge7 11. b4 axb3 12. Rxb3 Nxd5 13. cxd5 Ne7 14. h3 O-O 15. Qc1 Kh7 16. Nh2 ({After} 16. g4 {, Black can simply play} f5 {, not fearing} 17. gxf5 gxf5 18. Rg1 Ng6 {when White doesn't have enough firepower to attack the black king.}) 16... f5 17. f4 $2 {Too loosening. Jarred is quick to exploit the weakness of e4.} (17. Nf1 {with the idea of Ne3 is better.}) 17... fxe4 18. dxe4 exf4 19. Bxf4 Ra4 $1 $19 {The stinger. This is a good example of how a rook can hit from the rank (other than the usual 2nd/7th rank press).} 20. Bf3 $2 {Missing Jarred's idea.} ({Since there's no good way to save the e-pawn, White might as well use it to put pressure on g6 with} 20. O-O Rxe4 21. Bd3) 20... Nxd5 $1 {The e-pawn is pinned down as the Bf4 hangs after pawn is deflected.} 21. Bxd6 (21. exd5 Raxf4 $19) 21... Qxd6 22. exd5 Qg3+ 23. Kf1 Re4 {Black's extra pawn and huge lead in development give him winning chances. Jarred noted that he did not find the most efficient way of finishing this off though.} 24. Ng4 Bxg4 (24... b6 $1 25. Nf2 Ba6+ 26. Kg1 Bd4 27. Qd2 Re2 $1) 25. hxg4 Rxg4 26. Qd2 h5 27. Rd3 (27. Rh3 Qd6 28. Kg1 Bd4+ 29. Kh1 Rg3 $19) 27... c4 28. Re3 Rd4 (28... Bd4 $5 {is also very strong.}) 29. Qe1 Qg5 30. Kg1 Rd3 $5 {The computer does not like this move but I feel that it shows the depth of calculation Jarred had engaged in.} 31. Rxd3 cxd3 32. Qe4 {The d3-pawn seems to be lost since White threatens the dardstardly Rxh5, banking on the pin of the g6-pawn. Jarred thus unleashed the deflecting} Bd4+ $3 {, nullifying the h-file pressure totally and rendering the h1-rook a useless piece.} 33. Qxd4 Rxf3 {White cannot resist further.} 34. Kh2 Rf4 (34... Qg3+ 35. Kg1 Rf4 {is IM Terry Toh's preferred sequence, leading to a kill after} 36. Qc5 (36. Qc3 Qf2+ 37. Kh2 Rh4#) 36... Qe1+ 37. Kh2 Rh4#) 35. Qc3 Rh4+ (35... Rh4+ 36. Kg1 Qe3+ 37. Kf1 Rxh1#) 0-1

[Event "NTU Open Rd 6"] [Site "?"] [Date "2015.05.24"] [Round "?"] [White "Hu Zhen"] [Black "Melvin Chin"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E77"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2015.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f4 O-O 6. Nf3 c5 7. d5 e6 8. dxe6 { This relatively rare trade has been played by Ponomariov and especially Moskalenko. Of course, most Kaspy followers would remember the Christiansen-Kasparov game.} ({Incidentally, we had a brief session before that round and he wanted to test his KID. And coincidentally, I tried the 4 Pawns attack too.} 8. Be2 exd5 9. e5 dxe5 (9... Ng4 $6 10. cxd5 dxe5 11. h3 e4 12. hxg4 exf3 13. gxf3 Re8 14. f5 $1 {Vaisser,A (2385)-Kasparov,G (2630)/ Moscow 1981}) 10. fxe5 Ng4 ({The simplest way out is} 10... Ne4 $1 11. cxd5 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bg4 13. O-O Bxf3 14. Rxf3 Nd7 15. e6 Ne5 16. exf7+ Kh8 17. Rf1 Rxf7 18. Bf4 c4 19. Bxe5 Rxf1+ 20. Qxf1 Bxe5 21. Bxc4 Qd6 22. g3 {1/2-1/2 Kaidanov,G (2405)-Vasiukov,E (2480)/Moscow 1986}) 11. Bg5 Qa5 12. cxd5 Nxe5 13. O-O Nxf3+ 14. Bxf3 Bf5 15. Be7 Re8 16. d6 Nc6 17. Nd5 Rac8 $6 18. Bg4 $1 $16 { Jr Tay-Melvin Chin, Training 2015.}) 8... Bxe6 (8... fxe6 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. O-O Nd4 11. Ng5 e5 12. f5 h6 13. Nh3 gxf5 14. exf5 b5 15. Be3 bxc4 16. Bxc4+ Kh8 17. Bxd4 cxd4 18. Nd5 Ba6 19. Nxf6 Bxc4 20. Nh5 Bxf1 21. Qg4 Qd7 22. Rxf1 d3 23. Qf3 d2 24. g4 Rac8 25. Qd3 Qa4 26. Nf2 Qd4 27. Qxd4 exd4 28. Nf4 Rfe8 29. Ne6 Rc1 30. Nd1 Bf6 31. Kf2 Bg5 32. Ke2 Rc5 33. Kd3 Re5 34. Nxg5 hxg5 35. Rf2 Re4 36. h3 Re3+ 37. Kxd4 R8e4+ 38. Kd5 Re2 39. Rf3 Re1 40. f6 Rf4 {0-1 Christiansen,L (2575)-Kasparov,G (2675)/Moscow 1982}) 9. Be2 $6 (9. Bd3 {is the principled continuation. defending the e4-pawn and with f4-f5 ideas in the future.} Nc6 10. O-O Na5 $1 11. Qe2 Re8 $11 {Turov,M (2634)-Berg,E (2608)/ Maastricht 2011}) 9... Nc6 10. O-O Bg4 (10... Re8 11. h3 Nd4 12. Bd3 Bd7 13. Re1 Bc6 14. Rb1 a6 15. Be3 Nxe4 $1 16. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 17. Nxd4 Nxc3 18. bxc3 cxd4 19. cxd4 Qf6 20. Rxe8+ Rxe8 21. d5 Bd7 22. Rxb7 $4 Qd4+ 23. Kh1 $4 Bf5 24. Rb3 Re3 {0-1 Genov,P (2425)-Minasian,A (2540)/Berlin 1996}) 11. Kh1 $146 {An unnecessary loss of a tempo.} (11. Be3 Re8 12. Bd3 (12. h3 Nxe4 $1) 12... Nb4 13. h3 Bf5 $1 $15) (11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Nd4 $11 {Saralegui Cassan,M-Curi,G/ Uruguay 1987/1/2-1/2 (27)}) (11. Bd3 Nd4 $11) 11... Re8 12. Qd3 $4 (12. Bd3 { admitting the folly of her 9th move is still better.}) ({or} 12. h3 Bd7 13. Bd3 $15) 12... Nb4 $3 {A fascinating continuation. This looks like a wasted tempi, as the knight might end up going back to c6 after a2-a3. However Black goes on a deep forcing sequence which exploits White's lack of development and weakened pawn centre.} ({Personally, I would have played} 12... Qe7 {to win the e-pawn simply.}) 13. Qb1 d5 $3 {Very pleased with Melvin. Before the game, he was quite tentative about playing this Chinese opponent who had bashed the NTU No 2 player yesterday. I told him to play his forte, tactical and combinative play, noting that he gives me more trouble in training simul or blitz sessions with tactical play than positional fights. He mentioned that he remembered what I said during the game and thus played for tactical complications.} 14. cxd5 (14. Nxd5 $4 Nxe4 {and Black's powerful developmental lead will tell soon enough.} 15. Ne3 Bxf3 16. Bxf3 Qd4 17. g3 Rad8 {with ... Nd3 to follow.}) 14... Nfxd5 $6 {Although this isn't totally accurate, it suits him to a T. The point is, he feels like a fish in the water in tactical complications..} ({I saw} 14... Nxe4 $3 15. Nxe4 Qxd5 {with a won position. One particularly beautiful variation is} 16. Nc3 Bxc3 17. bxc3 Rxe2 18. cxb4 Bxf3 $1 19. gxf3 Qh5 {with mate to follow.}) 15. Nxd5 ({The point is} 15. exd5 $4 Bf5 {wins the queen.}) 15... Nxd5 16. Rd1 $6 {White thought she got Melvin with this pin. However, Melvin saw a little further.} ({Both sides missed} 16. Bb5 $1 Bxf3 17. gxf3 Nb4 18. Bxe8 Qxe8 $14 {[%csl Gd3][%cal Ge8b5] and Black has some compensation for the exchange.}) 16... Qa5 $1 $11 17. Rxd5 $2 { Falling into a deep trick!} (17. h3 $1 Bxf3 18. Bxf3 Ne7 {is probably best with an unclear position.}) 17... Bxf3 {Threatening back rank mate.} 18. Bd2 { White was relying on this to rescue her extra piece. Black has a nice retort} ( {Most definitely not} 18. gxf3 Qe1+ 19. Kg2 Qxe2+) ({or} 18. Bxf3 Qe1#) 18... Bxe4 $1 {The whole point of the combination, Black wins a pawn after the massive exchanges..} 19. Qxe4 $2 ({Better is} 19. Bxa5 $5 Bxb1 20. Bb5 Be4 21. Rd2 Re7 {though Black remains a solid pawn up.}) 19... Rxe4 20. Bxa5 Rxe2 21. Bc3 Bxc3 22. bxc3 Rae8 23. h3 b6 24. f5 Kg7 25. fxg6 hxg6 26. Rd7 R8e7 27. Rad1 $2 Re1+ 28. Rxe1 Rxd7 29. Re2 Kf6 30. Kg1 b5 31. Rb2 Rb7 32. Kf2 Ke5 33. Ke3 Kd5 34. a4 b4 35. cxb4 Rxb4 36. Rf2 f5 {and Black later won the ending.} 0-1

[Event "41st World Chess Olympiad"] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.08.11"] [Round "9"] [White "Goh Wei Ming, Kevin"] [Black "Farid Firman Syah"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C55"] [WhiteElo "2433"] [BlackElo "2400"] [Annotator "Goh,Wei Ming, Kevin"] [PlyCount "92"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 {The Italian has worked well for me so far and I didn't see a need to find another opening against 1...e5. However, that came to haunt me in the Qatar Masters when I lost 3 painful games with it.....} Nf6 4. d3 (4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Na5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. dxc6 bxc6 8. Bd3 {is another fashionable line that I have played from time to time.}) 4... Be7 (4... Bc5 { is the other big main move here.}) 5. O-O O-O 6. Bb3 d6 7. c3 Be6 ({My blog had also covered an important game that continued} 7... h6 8. Nbd2 Nh7 9. Nc4 Bg4 {½-½ (64) Goh Wei Ming, Kevin (2426)-Harikrishna Pentala (2693) Asian Nations Cup 2012.}) 8. Nbd2 Qd7 ({A common question that I've asked myself many times is what happens if Black exchanges the important light square bishop. A rather vague and general middlegame theory is that the side with less space should be trying to exchange pieces in order to gain more room for manoeuvring. However, what is equally important is determining the right piece to exchange. Here, exchange on b3 helps White to gain a tempo (by attacking b7) , increase his control over the important d5 square, and gives White the easy plan of re-routing the knight to the e3 square and playing for d3-d4.} 8... Bxb3 9. Qxb3 Qc8 10. Nc4 Nd8 $5 {[%cal Gd8e6,Gc7c6]} 11. Ne3 Ne6 12. Nf5 Re8 13. Ng5 {with a nagging initiative.}) (8... d5 {is also perfectly viable but White retains play on the light squares after} 9. Re1 dxe4 10. dxe4 Qd7 11. Qe2 ) 9. Re1 Kh8 $6 {Black appears to be struggling for ideas although it is hard to suggest anything constructive.} ({Perhaps, the computer suggestion of} 9... a5 {, beginning some kind of queenside operation makes sense.}) 10. d4 exd4 11. Nxd4 $6 {A rather counter-intuitive move.} ({Of course,} 11. cxd4 {is natural and a better move. White should keep pieces in view of his space advantage.}) 11... Nxd4 12. cxd4 d5 $2 {Rather cooperative play by Black.} (12... c6 {, retaining some control over d5 and e5 is more sensible.}) 13. e5 Ng8 14. Bc2 { Now, if White ever manages to play f4 and g4, Black would be in serious trouble.} Bg4 15. f3 Bh5 16. Nf1 Rae8 ({I had also intended} 16... c5 17. dxc5 Bxc5+ 18. Be3 d4 19. Bf2 {with a pleasant edge.}) 17. g4 Bg6 18. Ng3 Bb4 (18... c5 19. Be3 c4 $5) 19. Bxg6 hxg6 20. Rf1 {Here, I was already feeling rather confident of my position. The plan to play f4-f5 is a simple and natural plan and I hadn't seen how Black could defend against this plan. Unfortunately, I had already spent a lot of time to reach this position and that would cost me tremendously.} f6 21. f4 fxe5 22. dxe5 Bc5+ 23. Kg2 g5 $2 {Black basically gets a lost position after this.} 24. f5 (24. Ne4 $1 Be7 25. f5 {is probably even more effective.}) 24... Rxe5 25. Bxg5 Nh6 26. Bf4 Ree8 27. Qf3 Bd6 28. Rae1 $2 {This move is played completely against the spirit of the position. White should be trying to attack and attack fast!!} (28. Bxd6 $1 Qxd6 29. g5 Nf7 30. Qh5+ Kg8 31. f6 {would have inspired resignation. There is no way to defend against White's surging attack.} Qe5) 28... Bxf4 29. Qxf4 Kg8 $2 (29... Rxe1 30. Rxe1 d4 {was Black's best chance.}) 30. Rxe8 Rxe8 31. h3 $4 { Sometimes, we all make decisions that we fail to comprehend during the aftermath. This is one of those.} ({I had seen the very strong and logical} 31. g5 Nf7 32. g6 Nh6 33. f6 {which again wins on the spot. How I failed to play this out remains an unsolved mystery to date.}) 31... d4 32. g5 Nf7 33. g6 Nh6 34. Kh2 $2 {The final blunder that throws away a direct win.} (34. f6 $1 Qc6+ 35. Kh2 Qc2+ 36. Rf2 Qxg6 37. Qxc7 $3 {continues to give Black problems to solve. That last move in the sequence was particularly hard to find for me personally.}) 34... Qd6 35. Qxd6 cxd6 36. Rd1 (36. f6 gxf6 37. Rxf6 d5 38. Rd6 Re5) 36... Re5 37. Rxd4 Nxf5 38. Nxf5 Rxf5 39. Rxd6 Kf8 40. Kg3 Rg5+ 41. Kf4 Rg2 42. Rd7 Rxb2 43. h4 Rxa2 44. Rf7+ Kg8 45. Rxb7 Ra4+ 46. Kf5 Ra5+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "41st World Chess Olympiad"] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.08.12"] [Round "10"] [White "Emilio Cordova"] [Black "Goh Wei Ming, Kevin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A15"] [WhiteElo "2629"] [BlackElo "2433"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "rn1qr1k1/1p3p1p/p1pb1np1/P2p4/NPPP2b1/1Q2PB2/1B1N2PP/2R2RK1 b - - 0 17"] [PlyCount "48"] {I had played reasonable from an innocuous opening and had managed to obtain a dynamic position which suited my needs just fine. However, I again failed to appreciate the spirit of the position. Here, I played} 17... Nbd7 $2 {which is a normal developmental move but again, I should have played something more direct and try to pose immediate problems for White to solve.} ({With this in mind, I should have at least tried to calculate} 17... Qc7 18. h3 Bh2+ 19. Kh1 Nh5 $1 {Here, White has the resource} 20. Rf2 $1 (20. Bxg4 Ng3+ 21. Kxh2 Nxf1+ $19) 20... Bg3 21. Bxg4 (21. Re2 $2 Bxf3 22. Nxf3 dxc4 23. Rxc4 Nd7 {is fine for Black.}) (21. Rff1 Bh2 22. Rf2 Bg3 {repeats}) 21... Bxf2 22. Bxh5 Bxe3 $1 23. Re1 Nd7 $1 24. Rxe3 Qf4 {with a complex position.}) 18. h3 Bf5 19. cxd5 cxd5 20. Nc5 Nxc5 21. dxc5 Be5 22. Bxe5 Rxe5 23. c6 bxc6 (23... Qe7 24. cxb7 Qxb7) 24. Rxc6 Qe7 25. Qc3 {The position is roughly equal here, with the weaknesses on e3 and a6 cancelling out each other. However, White's position is slightly the more pleasant in view of his control over the c-file which at this point is more important and also the slightly weakened Black kingside. Black had to tread with extreme caution to maintain equilibrum and I was sadly not up to the task.} Re6 $2 (25... Ne8 $1 {, threatening to capture on e3 was best. Here,} 26. Qc5 (26. Kf2 Nd6 {is dangerous for White.}) 26... Bd3 27. Qxe7 Rxe7 28. Rfc1 Bb5 29. Rb6 Rxe3 30. Bxd5 Rd8 {and Black has solved most of his problems.}) 26. Rxe6 Qxe6 27. Nb3 $1 {From here, it is excruciating pain all the way to the finish.....} Re8 28. Nc5 Qd6 (28... Qxe3+ 29. Qxe3 Rxe3 30. Rd1 Bc8 31. Bxd5) 29. Qd4 Ne4 $2 30. Bxe4 Bxe4 31. Qf6 Qc7 32. Nxa6 Qa7 33. Nc5 Rb8 34. h4 h5 35. Qe5 Bf5 36. Rxf5 gxf5 37. Nd7 Rd8 38. Nf6+ Kf8 39. Nxh5 d4 40. Qh8+ Ke7 41. Qf6+ 1-0

[Event "Kecskemet GM Tournament"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.01.16"] [Round "6"] [White "Attila Groszpeter"] [Black "Goh Wei Ming, Kevin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C18"] [WhiteElo "2444"] [BlackElo "2430"] [Annotator "Wei Ming"] [PlyCount "59"] {Before this round, I had a score of 3.5/5 and I needed a score of 3 out of the next 4 games in order to secure my final GM norm. With 3 blacks in the next 4 games, securing such a score is easier said than done and I was forced to play the most aggressive and risky lines.} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 { The French Winawer is one of the lines where Black can play fully for the win if White chooses the most principled variations. Fortunately, I was aware that my opponent, a solid and very experienced Grandmaster always chooses the absolute mainlines and I was therefore assured of a full blooded fight.} 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. h4 $5 {This move, one that my opponent had never played and had prepared specially for this game, came as a nasty surprise. I had checked several lines of the Winawer but had carelessly omitted the h4 lines in my preparation. Fortunately, I had played and won a very important game in the 2012 Istanbul Olympiad which I already analysed elsewhere on this blog.} Nbc6 8. h5 (8. Nf3 f6 $1 {was played in Steel - Goh, Istanbul 2012 as mentioned in the above note.}) 8... cxd4 9. cxd4 Qa5+ 10. Bd2 Qa4 11. h6 $5 { This is rare.} (11. Nf3 Nxd4 12. Bd3 Nef5 13. Kf1 {is the mainline.}) 11... Qxd4 {I was obviously on my own from this juncture as I was not able to remember any of my old preparation.} 12. Nf3 Qe4+ 13. Be2 Nxe5 14. Bc3 f6 15. Nxe5 fxe5 16. Qd2 $2 {Over-ambitious.} ({I had calculated that} 16. hxg7 $1 Rg8 17. Qd3 Qxd3 18. Bxd3 d4 19. Bb2 Rxg7 20. Rxh7 Rxh7 21. Bxh7 $11 {was White's best option and this was quickly verified with the engine.}) 16... g6 {This stablises Black's position on the kingside and asks White where the compensation for the missing 2 pawns is. Now, my opponent went for a direct approach which was easily parried} 17. Qg5 $2 (17. f3 Qf5 18. Bd3 Qf6 19. Qe2 $1 {This forces} d4 {after which} 20. Bd2 Bd7 21. O-O {gives White decent compensation in view of the bishop pair, strong light square control and Black's weak and doubled e-pawns.}) 17... Nc6 {I had seen that 18.Qf6 now is useless due to 18...Rg8! and Black covers all the critical entry points. Black has a clearly preferable position and I was just 2 moves away from consolidating my position with ..0-0 and Bd7 for instance. I started allowing myself to "drift", congratulated myself for a job well done and even started thinking about my opening choice for the next round. What I should have done is to remain focused, identify any potential threats and finish the game accurately before thinking about anything else. After a long think, my opponent went} 18. Rh3 $5 {....with the threat of 19.Re3, or so it seems. With a time advantage of 40 minutes to 3 minutes, I had more than sufficient time to check this position carefully but instead only took 4 minutes to play the horrendous} d4 $4 {, completely overlooking White's key idea in this previous move.} ({Of course, the easy} 18... O-O $19 19. Re3 (19. Bb4 Rf5) 19... Qf4 $1 (19... Qxc2 $1 20. Bxe5 Rf5 $1 {was also pretty convincing.}) 20. Qxf4 exf4 21. Rd3 b6 $19 {would have won quite easily.}) 19. Rf3 $1 {I had completely forgot this simple but terribly strong manoeuvre and it is safe to say that I had never felt as shocked and devastated after a single move. White's idea of Qg5-f6-f7 was simple and yet so effective that I had immediately rendered my position as "hopeless". I spent the next 30 minutes (in complete and utter misery) checking some lines superficially and wallowing in self pity, and kicking myself for not playing 18...0-0. I was literally in total despair and at some stage was even on the verge of tears. Of course, had I read Edouard's book before the round, I would have read one of his rules which states that "....you should never look behind and that you should always force your opponent to be as precise as possible. The situation had changed badly? Adapt yourself. Play according to the new position and to the new parameters... .."} b6 $4 {The second and decisive blunder.} ({I had seen that after} 19... Rf8 20. Rxf8+ Kxf8 21. Qf6+ Ke8 22. Qh8+ (22. Bd2 $1 b6 23. f3 Qf5 24. Qh8+ Qf8 25. Qxh7 Qf7 26. Qh8+ Qf8 27. Qxf8+ Kxf8 28. Bd3 Kf7 29. Kf2 {was the computer's first choice and this was rather difficult illogical to see from a human point of view.}) 22... Kd7 23. Qxh7+ (23. Bd2 b6 24. Qxh7+ Kd6 {[%cal Gc8a6]} 25. Kf1 Qxc2 {is extremely unclear.}) 23... Kd6 24. Qg8 ({An incredibly beautiful line could be seen after} 24. O-O-O Qxe2 25. Qg8 Kc7 $3 26. h7 Rb8 $3 27. h8=Q Bd7 $1 $14 {with a skewer on the last rank against 2 queens. This could quite likely be the only game in history that Black gets to skewer 2 queens on the last rank with the developing move, ...Bd7!}) 24... dxc3 25. h7 Nd4 26. Kf1 Qxe2+ 27. Kg1 {, there is no way for Black to stop White from promoting a second queen after which he would completely annihilate the Black king. Of course, had I not felt so sorry for myself, I might have seen the improbable} Nf3+ $3 {which continues the fight.} 28. Kh1 (28. gxf3 Qxf3 29. Qd8+ Bd7 30. Qxa8 Qg4+ {and White could not prevent the perpetual.}) 28... Ne1 $1 {and here, White has a choice:} 29. Qf8+ (29. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 30. Kh2 Qxf2 31. h8=Q Qf4+ 32. Kh3 Qf5+ 33. g4 Qf1+ 34. Kh4 Qf2+ 35. Kg5 Qf4+ 36. Kxg6 Qxg4+ 37. Kf7 (37. Kh6) 37... Qf5+ 38. Qf6 b6 $1 {and Black should hold this.}) 29... Kc7 (29... Kc6 30. Kg1 Qe4 31. Rxe1 Qxe1+ 32. Kh2 b6 33. Qe8+ Kb7 34. h8=Q $18) 30. Kg1 Nf3+ $3 31. gxf3 Bd7 $1 32. Qxa8 Qxf3 33. Qb8+ $3 Kxb8 34. h8=Q+ Kc7 35. Qxe5+ Kc8 $14 {and White retains some winning chances.}) 20. Qf6 Ba6 21. Qxh8+ Kd7 22. Qg7+ Kd6 23. Rd3 (23. Re3 {was more brutal but there are many ways to skin a cat.}) 23... Bxd3 24. cxd3 Qxg2 25. Bd2 e4 26. Bf4+ e5 27. Qf6+ Kd5 28. Rc1 Rc8 29. Rxc6 $1 {A nice finish with aplomb.} Qh1+ 30. Bf1 1-0

[Event "Xtracon Chess Open"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.07.30"] [Round "9"] [White "Sebastien Maze"] [Black "Goh Wei Ming, Kevin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C18"] [WhiteElo "2628"] [BlackElo "2435"] [Annotator "Wei Ming"] [PlyCount "109"] {This was an extremely important game in the tournament as a win would mean a GM norm and a draw followed by a win in the last round would have given me very good chances for a 10 game norm. Just like any other sport, it is important to come to a chess game and focus all your energy on the game but if there's a good time to really use everything in the tank, this would be it. Unfortunately, I started my pre-game preparation by doing something I really shouldn't have done - I played in the festival's blitz tournament the night before! The tournament ended around midnight and I was completely exhausted at the end. I could have put the 3-4 hrs to good use by checking my lines and catch a good night sleep. I tried to justify my decision by thinking that I should play the blitz despite the importance of the next day's game as I have already paid the entry fees. This was irrational and I was merely trying to come up with excuses to make myself feel better on making a bad decision. The result may or may not have been different but the blitz definitely broke my momentum somewhat and I heavily regretted playing it especially after this game.} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 $6 {As already mentioned, a win would grant me a 9 game GM norm, and that a draw in this round, followed by a win in the last round might also be sufficient for a 10 game norm. As such, given that a win is not particular vital at this point, I understood the importance of playing solidly especially when I knew that my opponent would probably play seriously for the win. In this respect, it can be argued that the French Winawer, an opening known for its huge complexity and aggressiveness is not the best opening choice for this particular round. It is therefore quite important to be flexible in your opening preparation especially when you may need to face very strong opposition. You should always have a very solid line and a line where you can play for a win although that normally comes in exchange for some risk. In my opinion, this flexibility in your repertoire is even more important when you are having the Black pieces.} 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 {This particular move order is played to avoid some of White's options.} ({For instance,} 6... Qc7 7. Qg4 Ne7 8. Bd3 {is a line that is not that dangerous but it requires a fair amount of study.}) (6... Qa5 {is probably a more "solid" line that I mentioned earlier and it has recently become very fashionable mainly thanks to the efforts of GM Kovalenko who has scored many wins with it recently.}) 7. h4 $1 {My opponent played this very quickly and has obviously prepped this. I smelt a rat but decided to continue with the mainline in my notes anyway.} (7. Qg4 cxd4 8. Qxg7 ({Comparing with my note to Black's 6th,} 8. Bd3 {can now be met with} Qa5 $1 {although there are complications there that have to be worked out. The young Indian star Parimajan Negi had recommended this approach in his 1.e4 GM Repertoire series.} ) 8... Rg8 9. Qxh7 Qc7 {is the traditional Winawer Poisoned Pawn, one of my favourite openings of all time. In round 4, my game with Daniel Naroditsky continued} 10. Ne2 Nbc6 11. f4 dxc3 {and now, the young American talent continued with the trendy} 12. h4 $5 {and had very good chances to obtain a significant opening edge. The game eventually ended in a wild draw.}) 7... Nbc6 {A slightly different move order that was designed to confuse. I had already played 2 games with this move and it was slightly naive of me to repeat the line despite knowing that my opponent must have prepped seriously against this. On the other hand, I didn't have a back-up to what I usually play and this cost me dearly in this game.} ({After what transpired in the game, perhaps the classical move order with} 7... Qa5 8. Bd2 Qa4 {should be considered.} 9. h5 { and now, a recent game of the French expert Emmanuel Berg continued} b6 (9... h6 $5) 10. h6 gxh6 11. Nf3 Ba6 12. Bxa6 Nxa6 13. Bxh6 cxd4 14. Nxd4 (14. cxd4 Rc8 15. Rc1 Rg8 {is fine for Black according to Berg.}) 14... Rc8 15. Qf3 Nc5 16. Bg7 Rg8 17. Rxh7 {and now in Smirin,I (2644)-Berg,E (2549) Minsk 2014,} Nc6 $3 $17 {with the idea of defending f7 with ...Rc7 if the need arises gives Black a significant advantage.}) 8. h5 $1 ({After the innocuous} 8. Nf3 {,} f6 $1 $132 {leads to interesting play where I believe Black is able to generate a fair amount of counterplay. This has been analysed in Steel - Goh, Istanbul Olympiad 2012 elsewhere on the blog.}) 8... Qa5 9. Bd2 cxd4 $6 {Again, naively following a previous game of mine and continuing to walk into my opponent's prep. Against a 2600+ GM who is known to be well versed with high level engines, this is almost a suicidal approach. However, I was unable to find a satisfactory alternative and if White indeeds gets an opening edge by force, the entire move order with 7...Nbc6?! may no longer be playable.} (9... Qa4 10. h6 gxh6 {is a line although I think} 11. Rb1 $1 {gives White some initiative.}) ({I was also not entirely satisfied with Black's position after} 9... h6 10. Qg4 Nf5 11. Bd3 O-O 12. Nf3 {when Black seems to be passively placed.}) (9... Bd7 {is the old mainline that was favored by the famous French expert, Germany's Wolfgang Uhlmann.}) 10. cxd4 Qa4 11. h6 $1 {White continues to blitz out the opening moves. Here, I was starting to feel more and more intimidated.} ({The famous stem game Kasparov - Anand continued} 11. Nf3 Nxd4 12. Bd3 { but this line has been largely diffused recently.}) ({The position arising after} 11. c3 Qxd1+ 12. Rxd1 h6 {is also known to be completely fine for Black despite White's having the bishop pair as Black would gain sufficient counterplay down the c-file and playing on the light squares with ...Bd7, ... Na5 & ...Rc8.}) 11... Qxd4 12. Nf3 Qe4+ 13. Be2 Nxe5 14. Bc3 $1 {The principled option.} ({Both} 14. Kf1 Nxf3 15. Bxf3 Qc4+ 16. Be2 Qd4 {and}) (14. hxg7 Rg8 15. Kf1 Nxf3 16. Bxf3 Qd4 {are fine for Black.}) 14... f6 15. hxg7 ({ A recent game of mine that was in the database continued} 15. Nxe5 fxe5 16. Qd2 $2 g6 $1 {and Black was much better although I eventually suffered a horribly painful defeat. This was covered in another article elsewhere on this blog. This fact that this game is on the database has not slipped my mind and at this juncture, I was certain that I was walking into some high level opening preparation. In such sharp lines, it is entirely possible to lose immediately from the opening with deep analysis and I became worried.}) 15... Rg8 16. Qd2 $1 $146 {The big novelty that my opponent had prepped.} ({The mainline in my notes continued} 16. Nxe5 fxe5 17. Qd3 Qxd3 18. Bxd3 d4 19. Bb4 Rxg7 20. Rxh7 Rxh7 21. Bxh7 {and in ½-½ (62) Miton,K (2383)-Shabalov,A (2620) Stratton Mountain 1999, White has sufficient compensation for the pawn deficit in view of his powerful bishops.}) 16... Rxg7 17. O-O-O $1 {Energetic follow up from my opponent. White is a couple of pawns down so he had to continue his active play and not allow Black to consolidate his forcces easily. Specifically, it was essential for him to stop Black from castling long.} ({For example,} 17. Nxe5 fxe5 18. f3 Qf5 19. Bd3 Qf6 20. Rh6 (20. Bxh7 $6 {gives Black time to do what he wants with} Bd7 21. Rh6 Qf8 $1 {with the idea} 22. Bxe5 Rxg2 $1) 20... Ng6 {followed by ...Bd7}) 17... N7c6 {Played after 30 mins of thought. Black's idea was simply to strengthen e5, and at some point, ...Rc7 may be a possibility.} ({My opponent had analysed} 17... Bd7 18. Nxe5 fxe5 19. Bh5+ $1) ({and} 17... N7g6 18. Nxe5 Nxe5 19. Bh5+ $1 {both leading to a large edge for White. There is no need to go into any deep variations here but it just goes to show how detailed my opponent's preparation was. Fortunately, my opponent had not analysed the move played in the game.}) {At this point, my opponent had 1 hr 35 mins on the clock while I was already down to 55 mins. This is a significant time advantage and also in practical terms, I had already invested too much energy just to stay alive from the opening. In this respect, it is clear that White's opening choice was a tremendous success.} 18. Nxe5 {The first independent move that my opponent had to make and he immediately makes an inaccuracy! Still, the position remained very tricky and complex.} ({ As my good friends on a particular Facebook group chat soon discovered,} 18. Nd4 $3 {is an incredibly strong move. The point is to immediately weaken the e5 knight indirectly, and at the same time, open up the possibility of nasty Bh5 checks, creating ideas of f3 or f4, followed by Rde1. For example,} Nxd4 19. Bxd4 Rxg2 20. Rde1 Qf5 21. Rh5 $1 {is already almost close to winning for White. With this in mind, it can be said that the entire line may well be lost and Black can do better by investigating the options at move 9 or 7 (but not the first move. The French is a great opening!).}) 18... fxe5 19. Qh6 { Strong practical chess. White introduces a series of nasty threats into the position.} Re7 $1 {The most solid, defensive move.} ({I rejected} 19... Qxg2 { simply because of} 20. Rdg1 $1 Qxg1+ 21. Rxg1 Rxg1+ 22. Kb2 {as White has at least a perpetual check and that it would be extremely difficult to fend off White's powerful pieces. In a practical game, there is no need to calculate further - this conclusion should already be enough reason for you to hunt for alternatives.}) ({I also considered} 19... Rxg2 {but again, I did not see any sense in opening up another avenue for White to continue the attack. In particular, I did not like Black after} 20. Qf6 $1 Qf4+ 21. Qxf4 exf4 22. Rxh7 {. Black may have some kind of a defence here but it is clear that it would take many moves before Black manages to coordinate his queenside.}) 20. Bh5+ Kd7 21. Rhe1 Qf4+ $1 {Not the engine's first choice, but I felt this was the most practical move.} ({The machine suggested} 21... Qf5 {and claims that Black can ride out the storm but it is obvious that Black would be subjected to a lot of pressure after the simple} 22. Re3 $5 d4 (22... Qf4 23. Qxf4 exf4 24. Ree1) 23. Kb1 $5 {. I really wanted to get rid of the queens even at the expense of some material.}) 22. Qxf4 exf4 23. Bf6 {winning the exchange but Black has decent compensation as we shall soon see.} Kd6 24. Bxe7+ Nxe7 25. c4 Bd7 26. cxd5 Nxd5 $2 {Played without hesitation, bearing in mind that I was already experiencing mild time trouble at this point.} ({Thomas Luther pointed out that the dynamic} 26... e5 $1 {would have been very strong. White's d5-pawn shields the Black king perfectly and Black's plans are simple enough. Go for ...Nf5-d4, or ...Rg8 and ...Bf5 and White almost invariably loses the d5 pawn. Some sample lines:} 27. Kb2 (27. Rh1 Rg8 28. Bf3 Bf5 $44) (27. Bf3 Bf5 ) 27... Rg8 28. Bf3 Bg4 29. Rh1 Bxf3 30. gxf3 Nf5 31. Rxh7 Rg2 32. Rd2 Nd4 33. Rxb7 Nxf3 {and Black has sufficient counterplay. In many of these lines, White can very easily find himself in a lot of trouble with a couple of imprecise moves which makes this variation even more appealing.}) 27. Bf3 {Now, White has an edge as all his pieces now make a lot of sense and he has a simple plan of ganging up on the h-pawn before continuing the squeeze.} Rc8+ {I wanted to defend my h-pawn from the c7 square.} (27... Bc6 28. Rh1 {would transpose to the note on White's 29th after} Rc8 29. Kb2) 28. Kb2 Bc6 $5 {This sets a little "trick".} 29. Rxe6+ $6 {Walking into the trap although White should have still gained an edge after it!} (29. Rh1 $1 {with the idea} Rc7 30. Rh4 { was considerably stronger.}) 29... Kxe6 30. Bg4+ Ke5 31. Bxc8 Nb6 $1 32. Bh3 Nc4+ {The point. White loses the a3 pawn almost by force and this was the end of my calculation. However, I had missed a very important detail.} 33. Kc3 (33. Kb3 Ba4+ $1 {was what I was praying for and Black even turns the tables!}) (33. Ka2 Bd5 {leaves the White king in an inactive position and my opponent made the correct decision to choose activity over material.}) 33... Nxa3 34. Re1+ $6 {White decides logically, to go for my h-pawn without waiting.} ({Here, I froze when I saw White could have played} 34. Bd7 $1 {which would have posed a lot more questions for Black to solve. For instance,} Nb5+ (34... Bxg2 35. Kb3 {, trapping the knight was the whole point although here Black could have gone} h5 36. Kxa3 h4 37. Rd3 {and the amazing move} b6 $3 {, continuing the fight according to the computer! I did not analyse this too deeply as I am certain that White would be winning with normal moves.}) 35. Kb4 Nd4 36. Bxc6 Nxc6+ 37. Kc5 Ke4 38. Rd7 Ne5 39. f3+ Nxf3 40. Re7+ $1 (40. gxf3+ Kxf3 41. Kd4 h5 42. Rh7 {was also winning but there was no need to analyse the resulting pawn vs rook endings with Re7+.})) 34... Kd6 {The next few moves do not require any comments.} 35. Re6+ Kc5 36. Re5+ Kd6 37. Rh5 b5 38. Rxh7 a5 39. Rh6+ Kc5 { Black has clear compensation with his connected passies on the queenside and was already very close to a draw at this juncture.} 40. Rh5+ Kd6 $2 { Unfortunately, I made an inaccuracy on the infamous 40th move. I was obsessed with keeping my pawns that I had not even considered the other king move.} ({ The paradoxical} 40... Kb6 $3 {, moving away from the defence of the f4 pawn was very strong. The point is that the Black king would help to support the passed pawns and it would be very difficult for White to make any kind of progress. For example,} 41. Rf5 b4+ 42. Kb2 Nc4+ 43. Kb3 Nd6 $1 44. Rxf4 Bd5+ 45. Kb2 Kc5 {(Black's pieces are coordinating beautifully)} 46. Bd7 {(stopping ...a4)} Nc4+ 47. Ka1 Nb6 48. Be8 Bxg2 {and Black should hold this comfortably. Again, the quality of the remaining pieces on the board matter a lot more than material itself.}) 41. Kd3 $1 {A nice move, almost putting Black in zugzwang.} Bd5 ({Black has to be careful not to push his queenside pawns too fast as he would risk losing them one after the other.} 41... a4 $2 42. Kc3 Nc4 43. Kb4 { and White soon collects the pawns.}) 42. Rh6+ Kc5 43. Rh5 Kd6 {A repetition of moves that did not in any way means that White was ready to offer a draw. This is simply a demonstration of power during the game and is a common technique among strong players. One shouldn't overdo it though, for instance, repeating moves in your opponent's time trouble and giving him extra time and moves to reach the time control. At this point, White found the only move to test Black in this position.} 44. Bg4 $1 {An extremely high class move. White only has 2 remaining pawns and he did not shy away from giving away one of them. White's threat was obviously Bf3 and I did not spend too much time over my next decision.} Bxg2 ({As it turns out, White had a very difficult win after} 44... b4 $5 45. Bf3 Bxf3 46. gxf3 a4 47. Rf5 $3 {Another paradoxical move.} ({ After the forcing sequence,} 47. Ra5 b3 48. Kc3 Nb1+ 49. Kb2 Nd2 50. Rxa4 Ke5 51. Rb4 Nxf3 52. Rxb3 (52. Kxb3 Ng1 $1 53. Kc2 Nh3 54. f3 Ng1 55. Rb3 Kd4 56. Kd2 Nh3) 52... Nd2 {, Black has arrived at a theoretical draw. This was not so easy to determine over the board but Thomas Luther promptly took out his old copy of Encyclopedia of Chess Endings and pointed out that this sort of endgame was already analyzed by Averbakh in 1962!} 53. Rc3 Ne4 54. Rc2 Kf5 $11 (54... f3 55. Kc1 Kf4 56. Kd1 Kf5 57. Ke1 Kf4 58. Rc8 Kf5 59. Rf8+ Kg4 60. Rf7 Ng5 61. Rf6 Ne4 62. Rf8) 55. Kb3 Kg4 (55... Kg5)) 47... b3 48. Kc3 Nb1+ 49. Kb2 Nd2 50. Rxf4 {and now without the f-pawn, Black has no more chances left.}) 45. Kd4 $1 {Threatening the powerful threat of Rh6+. Black's reply was almost forced.} Nc2+ 46. Kc3 Na3 47. Kb3 {To my horror, I realised I was about to lose my precious queenside pawns. During the game, I remembered feeling very disappointed and that my position was already lost here. Not so! Chess is a game full of wondrous possibilities and it is important to fight till the bitter death, even when all hope appears to have gone.} Nc4 (47... Nb1 48. Rxb5 Bd5+ 49. Kb2 Nd2 50. Kc3 Ne4+ 51. Kd4 Bc6 52. Rb6 $1 Ng5 $3 53. Ra6 a4 { also retained some drawing chances.}) 48. Rxb5 Ne5 $2 ({I had actually seen the little trick} 48... a4+ $3 {but I had brushed this possibility off after calculating} 49. Kc3 a3 50. Rb4 {, thinking that I would probably lose the a-pawn very quickly. However, after} Bd5 51. Be2 a2 $1 52. Ra4 Ne5 53. Kb2 f3 $1 {, Black would have saved his position by going after the f2-pawn. This would have been the cleanest way to force an immediate draw with no complications or deviations along the way.}) 49. Bf5 $1 {A good square for the bishop, covering both the g4 and d3 squares.} a4+ 50. Kc3 Bc6 (50... Bd5 51. Ra5 Bb3 {was a possible defence but it was clear that White retains very good winning chances.}) 51. Ra5 Be8 $2 {Collapsing in time trouble but Black's position was already very difficult.} 52. Be4 Ng4 53. f3 Ne5 54. Ra6+ Kd7 55. Kd4 1-0

[Event "42nd Baku Olympiad"] [Site "?"] [Date "2016.09.09"] [Round "7"] [White "Utegaliyev Azamat"] [Black "Goh Wei Ming, Kevin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C03"] [WhiteElo "2513"] [BlackElo "2444"] [Annotator "Wei Ming"] [PlyCount "278"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 4. Bd3 c5 5. dxc5 ({In yesterday's Inter-Professional games, IM Terry Toh continued with} 5. Ngf3 Nf6 6. exd5 { which is a quiet alternative to the main lines. Here, I went} exd5 $6 {hoping to enter a similar position to this game but White's specific move order prevented this possibility.} (6... Qxd5 $1 {is the mainline}) 7. dxc5 $1 a5 8. O-O O-O 9. a4 $1 Na6 10. Nb3 Bg4 $6 (10... Nxc5 {is probably fine for Black although its a little dull.}) 11. Be3 {and here, I blundered terribly with} Nd7 $4 12. Bxa6 Rxa6 13. Qxd5 {and White was clearly better in Terry Toh - Goh Wei Ming, Kevin, Inter-Pro Games 2016 although I somehow managed to win eventually. }) 5... Nf6 6. Qe2 O-O 7. Ngf3 a5 8. O-O Na6 9. exd5 {This allows a comfortable IQP for Black.} (9. e5 Nd7 10. c3 Naxc5 11. Bc2 b6 {was analysed in Sax - Goh, 2011 elsewhere on this blog.}) 9... exd5 10. Nb3 ({After the natural} 10. Re1 {, I had remembered John Watson's comment in Play the French 4 that} Re8 $1 {is the move, insisting on taking c5 with the knight and ensuring an active game.}) 10... a4 $1 {In my opinion, words are not able to describe just how important this move is to justify the viability of Black's set-up but I would try.} ({I had reached this position in a previous game with Sergei Tiviakov and was slowly but surely grounded after} 10... Nxc5 $2 11. Be3 Nce4 12. Nbd4 Bc5 13. h3 Re8 14. c3 Qb6 (14... a4 $1 {was probably Black's best chance.}) 15. Rfe1 h6 16. Bb5 Re7 17. a4 $1 $14 {and White had gotten everything he could possibly want from the opening. After the game, I asked the Dutch super GM where I went wrong and he simply replied that in this particular pawn structure, it is very important not to allow White to achieve the set-up with Bb5-a4. In this particular position, it is clear that: 1) Black has no satisfactory way of developing his light square bishop and a move like ...Bd7 is only helping White who generally wants to exchange pieces in an IQP position; 2) Black's typical counterplay on the queenside is absolutely stymied. The b2 pawn is always safe and there is no a5-a4-a3, breaking up the queenside pawn structure. For what it's worth, I will show the rest of the game with light comments.} Qc7 (17... Nd6 18. Qd3 $1 Nxb5 19. Qxb5 Qxb5 20. axb5 $14) (17... Bd7 $6 18. Bxd7 Nxd7 19. Nf5 $1 $14 {illustrates the dangers of leaving the light squares unattended. The traditionally bad French bishop does cover important squares as well.}) 18. Nd2 Bd7 {I didn't see any other way to connect my rooks.} 19. Bxd7 Qxd7 20. N2b3 b6 21. Qb5 Qc7 22. Nf5 Re5 23. Nxc5 Nxc5 24. Nd4 $1 {At this stage, I was already feeling that I was on the way to becoming a victim of yet another of Tivi's positional masterclass.} Rae8 25. b4 $5 Ncd7 26. Qc6 Qxc6 27. Nxc6 R5e6 28. Nd4 Re4 29. bxa5 bxa5 30. Nb3 Nb6 31. Nd2 $1 R4e6 32. Reb1 $1 {Beautiful piece co-ordination. Black could only watch and wait for the execution that is to come.} Nfd7 33. Rb5 Rc8 34. Bd4 $1 $16 Re2 35. Nb3 Re6 36. Rxa5 Ra8 37. Rxa8+ Nxa8 38. Nc5 Nxc5 39. Bxc5 Ra6 40. Kf1 Nc7 41. a5 Nb5 42. Bb4 d4 43. c4 Na7 44. Bc5 Nc6 45. Bb6 Kf8 46. Ke2 Ke7 47. Kd3 Nb4+ 48. Ke4 Ke6 49. Ra4 Nc6 50. Bxd4 f5+ 51. Kd3 g5 52. Bb6 Kd6 53. Kc3 Ne5 54. Ra2 Nd7 55. Kb4 Kc6 56. Re2 {1-0 (56) Tiviakov,S (2644)-Goh,W (2441) Petaling Jaya 2013}) 11. Nbd4 Nxc5 {Now a move like Bb5 no longer makes any sense as it will be loose on that square. Black has fully equalised at this stage and has active counterplay.} 12. h3 (12. Nf5 $2 {looks attractive but I had seen that after} Bxf5 13. Bxf5 a3 $1 14. b3 Nfe4 {followed by ...Re8 and ...Bf6, Black gets very nice counterplay.}) (12. Be3 Nfe4 13. a3 Bf6 14. Rad1 {and here, both} Nd6 ({or} 14... Bd7 {look fine for Black.})) 12... Nfe4 13. Be3 Bf6 14. a3 Re8 15. Bb5 Bd7 16. Rad1 ({The exchange of light square bishops is fine now as after} 16. Bxd7 Qxd7 {, Black has ideas such as ... Ne4-d6-c4, where it cannot be chased away without compromising the White pawn structure.}) 16... Nd6 $1 {An all-purpose and rather thematic move. Black covers all the critical light squares such as b5, c4 and f5, opens up the e-file and allows possibilities such as Nce4.} 17. c3 {I am not certain whether White has seen my next few moves at this point but I would be very surprised if he had allowed me to weaken his pawn structure voluntarily. Having said that, I couldn't see anything better than this natural move.} Bxb5 18. Nxb5 Nf5 $1 $15 {White has no way to avoid ...Nxe3 fe3 which weakens his structure in the kingside substantially. Black's dark square bishop could prove to be an important piece and Black's knight was about to hop to the useful e4 square, eyeing the g3 square.} 19. Nfd4 Nxe3 20. fxe3 Bg5 $6 { A human but inaccurate move.} (20... Ne4 21. Rf3 Be5 $1 $17 {was more to the point}) 21. Nf5 $2 (21. Nc2 $1 {is a surprising defensive resource. White continues with Rf3 and Nbd4 and suddenly White's position is ultra solid.}) 21... Re5 $2 (21... Ne4 $1 {prevents the note to White's next move, and threatens ...g6 followed by ...Ng3.}) 22. Qg4 $2 {This is an exceptionally tempting move as it keeps ideas such as h4 or Nxg7 but in fact Black seizes the advantage by force.} (22. Nbd6 $1 {with the idea} g6 23. Nh6+ $3 Bxh6 24. Nxf7 Bxe3+ 25. Kh1 Qe7 26. Nxe5 Qxe5 27. Rde1 Re8 28. Qf3 $1 {is ridiculously complicated. Black may have won 2 pieces for the rook but I don't see a convenient way for Black to untangle himself.}) 22... Ne4 $1 {I took a long time to find this important move but it was worth it as Black had now seized a clear edge. My immediate threat was ...g6 followed by h5 when White's position simply collapses.} 23. Nbd4 g6 24. h4 gxf5 $1 {It looks ridiculous to open up the g-file but I had calculated that Black holds in all lines.} 25. Rxf5 h5 $1 26. Qf3 Rxf5 27. Nxf5 Bxh4 28. Rf1 Bg5 29. Qxh5 {I had navigated safely through the first set of chaos but now in severe time trouble, I played an absolute howler.} Qb6 $4 ({In a moment of madness, I had thought that after} 29... Ra6 $1 30. Rf3 Rg6 31. Rh3 Bf6 32. Qh7+ Kf8 33. Qh8+ Bxh8 34. Rxh8+ { was mate but of course Black could simply play} Rg8 {and it would have been all over.}) 30. Ne7+ $1 {I would have surely seen this had I given more thought to my previous move. Now White has at least a draw.} Bxe7 31. Qxf7+ Kh8 32. Qh5+ Kg8 33. Qxd5+ Kh8 34. Qxe4 Bf6 35. Rf3 Kg7 36. Qg4+ Kf7 $4 (36... Kf8 $1 37. Qg6 Ra6 38. g4 Qd6 $1 39. g5 Qd1+ 40. Kg2 Qe2+ 41. Rf2 Qg4+ {would have forced a draw.}) 37. Qd7+ $4 {The position is incredibly complex and almost impossible to navigate in time trouble.} (37. Qh5+ $1 Ke7 38. Qh7+ Ke6 39. Rxf6+ $1 $18 {would have won immediately.}) 37... Kg6 $4 (37... Kg8 $1 $11) 38. Rg3+ $4 (38. Qg4+ $1 $18) 38... Bg5 39. Qd3+ Kf6 40. Rf3+ Kg7 41. Qd7+ Kh8 { Time control reached and both players get some time to catch their breath. Incredibly, Black had somehow stayed alive despite the vulnerability of the Black king and 42.Rh3+ can now be met with 42...Bh6. I took a while to come to terms with the position and realised that there is no clear way for White to continue the attack.} 42. Kh1 {White took a long time to make this move and my guess was this was more out of desperation than anything. White probably wasn't able to find anything useful.} Bxe3 43. Qd5 Re8 44. Qd7 Ra8 45. Qd5 { White is content with a draw but I had no intention of finishing the game this early.} Re8 46. Qd7 Rd8 $1 {No draw!} 47. Qxa4 Bh6 48. Rh3 Qe6 $1 {Black's pieces are slowly but surely getting coordinated.} 49. Rh5 Qg6 50. Rh3 Kh7 51. Qf4 Qe6 52. Qh4 Rd2 53. b4 Re2 ({GM Bong suggested} 53... b5 $1 {, locking up White's queenside majority before searching for a concrete breakthrough.}) 54. Kh2 Re4 55. Qh5 Qf6 56. Qf3 Qe5+ {Now both sides were back in time trouble and my opponent showed remarkable resilience not to collapse in this tricky position.} 57. Qg3 Qe6 58. Qc7+ Kg6 59. Qg3+ Rg4 60. Qd3+ Kg7 61. Qd1 Qe5+ 62. g3 Re4 {I felt I was almost winning here but annoyingly, White continued to find only moves. I have to say I was very impressed with my opponent's resourcefulness.} 63. Qd7+ Kg6 64. Qd3 $1 Qf5 65. Kg2 $1 Be3 66. Qc2 Bg5 67. Rh1 $1 {I somehow managed to get myself in a mess down the b1-g6 diagonal and Black was now forced to change queens.} Re3 68. Qxf5+ Kxf5 69. Rh7 {The infamous rook bishop vs rook ending!} Rxc3 70. Rxb7 Rxa3 71. Kh3 Bf6 72. Rb8 Rb3 73. b5 Be5 74. Rf8+ Ke4 75. Rg8 Rxb5 76. Kh4 Kf5 77. g4+ $6 {This doesn't throw away the draw but it makes life more difficult.} ({It was better to keep the pawn on g3 when I was not sure how I could even win the pawn successfully. } 77. Kh3) 77... Kf6 78. Rf8+ Kg6 79. Rf5 Bf6+ 80. Kg3 Rb4 81. Kf3 Bg5 82. Kg3 Rb3+ 83. Rf3 Bh4+ 84. Kg2 Rb2+ 85. Kh3 Be7 86. Rd3 Kg5 87. Rd5+ Kf4 88. Rf5+ Ke4 89. Rf1 Rb3+ 90. Kg2 Bd6 91. Re1+ Kf4 92. Rf1+ Kxg4 {This is of course a drawn ending but I didn't play 5.5 hours with the intention of giving away easy draws. There is no need to give any specific details on how to play this endgame as my opponent actually managed to demonstrate the 2 theoretical drawing methods. This will be clearer in the coming moves.} 93. Rf2 Bc5 94. Rf7 Rb2+ 95. Kf1 Be3 96. Ke1 Bf4 97. Rd7 Kf3 98. Kd1 Rh2 99. Rd3+ Be3 100. Rd8 Rg2 101. Rd7 Ke4 102. Ke1 Bd4 {We have reached the first critical position and here, the guiding principle is that the defending side should move his king towards the corner with the square with the opposite color of the bishop. In this case, White should keep his king on e1 and be ready to block with his rook on f1.} 103. Kf1 $4 {A huge huge error and a great opportunity for me to finally finish the game off. Unfortunately, I did not grasp this lifeline....} (103. Rf7 {, or other rook moves would have been drawn.}) 103... Rf2+ $1 104. Ke1 Ke3 105. Rd8 (105. Rxd4 Rh2 {was a little trap but one I did not expect my opponent to fall into.}) 105... Rf3 106. Kd1 Kd3 107. Ke1 Rg3 $4 {Yet another time trouble howler.} ({I had not realised that White was virtually in zugzwang here and he had to keep his rook on the d-file to prevent ...Bc3+ and mate. Hence, the simple} 107... Rf7 108. Rd6 ({or} 108. Rd5 Re7+ 109. Kd1 Rg7 $19) 108... Rg7 $1 {would have forced instant resignation.}) 108. Rf8 $1 Rg1+ 109. Rf1 Rg2 110. Rf8 Rg7 111. Rf5 Ra7 112. Kf1 Rg7 113. Ke1 Ke3 114. Kd1 Rg2 115. Rf8 Kd3 116. Ke1 Rg1+ 117. Rf1 Rg8 118. Rf7 Be3 119. Rd7+ Ke4 120. Ke2 Rg2+ 121. Kd1 Ra2 122. Rd8 $4 ({As mentioned earlier, it is important to keep the king on the e1 square.} 122. Ke1 $1) 122... Bd4 123. Ke1 Ke3 $4 {Throwing away the win a 2nd time.} (123... Kd3 $1 124. Kf1 Rf2+ 125. Ke1 Rf7 { transposes to the win above.}) 124. Kf1 Rf2+ 125. Kg1 Rd2 126. Rf8 Be5 127. Re8 Kf4 128. Kf1 Ra2 129. Rf8+ Ke4 130. Rf2 Ra1+ 131. Kg2 Bd4 132. Re2+ Be3 133. Kg3 Ra8 134. Rg2 Rg8+ 135. Kh3 {The Cochrane, or 7th rank defence is the most straight forward way to defend this ending and here I was finally resigned to the draw.} Bg5 136. Kg3 Bf4+ 137. Kh3 Ra8 138. Kg4 Rg8+ 139. Kh3 Rxg2 1/2-1/2

[Event "Dresden ol (Men) 38th"] [Site "Dresden"] [Date "2008.11.17"] [Round "5"] [White "Leko, Peter"] [Black "Ivanchuk, Vassily"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B42"] [WhiteElo "2747"] [BlackElo "2786"] [Annotator "KGWm8"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "8/8/7R/6k1/6b1/8/r7/6K1 w - - 0 119"] [PlyCount "18"] [EventDate "2008.11.13"] [EventType "team-swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "GER"] [SourceTitle "CBM 128"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2009.01.28"] [WhiteTeam "Hungary"] [BlackTeam "Ukraine"] [WhiteTeamCountry "HUN"] [BlackTeamCountry "UKR"] 119. Rh2 $1 {The Cochrane or 7th rank defence!} Ra1+ 120. Kf2 Kf4 121. Rh8 Ra2+ 122. Ke1 Re2+ 123. Kf1 Kg3 124. Rd8 $4 ({This position is actually very similar to my game and it was easy for me to find} 124. Rf8 $3 Re3 125. Kg1 $1 {which would have held.}) 124... Re3 125. Rg8 {This is mre or less the same position as my game and Chucky demonstrated the win nicely.} Re7 $1 126. Rg5 Rh7 $1 127. Ke1 Rd7 $1 0-1

[Event "Olympiad Women 2016"] [Site "Baku AZE"] [Date "2016.09.03"] [Round "2.14"] [White "Tin, Ruiqi"] [Black "Hakimifard, G."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B40"] [WhiteElo "1892"] [BlackElo "2308"] [Annotator "Wei Ming"] [PlyCount "250"] [EventDate "2016.09.02"] [EventType "team"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "AZE"] [SourceTitle "The Week in Chess 1139"] [Source "Mark Crowther"] [SourceDate "2016.09.05"] [WhiteTeam "Singapore"] [BlackTeam "Iran"] [WhiteTeamCountry "SIN"] [BlackTeamCountry "IRI"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. c3 d5 4. exd5 exd5 5. d4 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bd6 7. O-O Nge7 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Nb3 Bd6 11. h3 Bf5 12. Be3 Bg6 13. Qd2 Qc7 14. Rad1 Rad8 15. Nbd4 {White has gotten a standard French Tarrasch/c3 Sicilian IQP position and she is slightly better. Generally in these positions, the e7 knight is a lot better on the f6 square where it eyes the e4 square and it doesn't get in the way of its counterpart on c6. Still, there is a lot of play in the position.} Na5 16. b3 Nac6 17. Bd3 a6 18. Bxg6 Nxg6 $6 {Strangely allowing White's next move.} 19. Nf5 Nce5 20. N3d4 ({I do not really see an immediate refutation if White goes} 20. Qxd5 $5 {, plucking a pawn.} Bb4 (20... Qxc3 $4 21. Nxd6 $18) 21. Qe4 Bxc3 (21... Qxc3 22. Nxe5 Qxe5 23. Qxb4 (23. Nh6+ $5) 23... Qxf5 24. Qxb7 $16) 22. Rc1 {and Black is caught in an unpleasant pin. }) 20... Rfe8 21. Nxd6 $1 {Each exchange increases White's advantage and Ruiqi has an additional idea as shown in the next few moves.} Qxd6 22. Rfe1 f6 23. f4 $1 Nc6 24. f5 $1 Nf8 25. Bf4 Qd7 26. g4 $1 {I like White's handling of the middlegame so far. Black's f8 knight is a very poor beast and White has a straightforward plan of playing in the centre by doubling rooks, or prepare an attack with g4-g5. White was also not afraid of throwing her kingside pawns forward even though this exposes her king somewhat. At the same time, it is also extremely important to consider black's potential counterplay from the position and it is clear that her only chance lies in putting a piece on the e4 square. White has to be careful and prevent this at any cost.} Ne5 27. Kg2 { A safe move, but not especially essential. Also, the King might be safer on h2 or h1, allowing White to use the g-file for her rooks at some point.} (27. Re3 $1 {, seems strong. White can continue with Rde1, or Qf2-g3, attacking Black's stronghold on the e5 square. At the same time, it is also nice to provide additional cover on the f3-square, further ruling out any potential cheapos.}) 27... b5 28. Re2 {A good solid move.} ({The direct} 28. g5 $1 {also looks very good.} Nc6 (28... Nf7 29. gxf6 gxf6 30. Rg1 {with a big attack.}) 29. Rxe8 Rxe8 (29... Qxe8 30. Re1 Qd7 31. Ne6 Re8 32. Nc5 Qf7 33. Rxe8 Qxe8 34. Qxd5+ $18) 30. Nxc6 Qxc6 31. Qxd5+ Qxd5+ 32. Rxd5 Re2+ 33. Kf3 Rxa2 34. Rd8 $1 {wins the knight. Still, I can understand the reluctance to weaker her king even further as these lines were not that easy to calculate.}) 28... Qb7 29. Rde1 Nfd7 { Here, alarm bells should already be ringing. The knight is heading for e4!} 30. Kg3 $2 {I believe Ruiqi had overlooked the danger to her position. As happens very often in chess, 1 bad move could turn the position around drastically.} ({ White would have liked to go} 30. Ne6 $2 {but it is clear now that the King is on a bad square after} d4+ $1) ({Perhaps, White was forced to go} 30. g5 $1 { when} Nc5 31. Bxe5 fxe5 32. Rxe5 Ne4 33. Qf4 Rxe5 34. Qxe5 $16 Nxg5 $2 35. f6 Ne4 36. fxg7 $18 {wins.}) 30... Nc5 31. Kg2 {I believe the next few moves were time trouble induced.} Ne4 32. Qe3 Rc8 33. Rc2 Re7 34. Kh2 Rec7 (34... b4 $5 35. cxb4 $2 Rxc2+ 36. Nxc2 Rc7 37. Re2 $2 Rc3 $1 $19) 35. Rec1 Qb6 36. Kg2 Qa5 37. b4 $6 ({Don't give away more squares especially in time trouble if you can help it!} 37. Ne2 $1 {Defending passively and preparing Ng3 when the opportunity arises is good.}) 37... Qb6 38. Kh2 Nc4 (38... Qxd4 $3 {is a beautiful shot.} 39. cxd4 Rxc2+ 40. Rxc2 Rxc2+ 41. Kg1 Rc3 42. Qe2 Nf3+ 43. Kf1 g5 (43... Nxd4 $2 44. Qd1) 44. fxg6 hxg6 {and White is hopelessly tied up.}) 39. Qd3 Re7 40. Re2 Rd7 41. Ne6 Qb7 42. Rd1 Nb6 43. Rc2 Na4 44. Rdc1 Rc4 45. Be3 Qb8+ (45... Naxc3) 46. Bf4 Qc8 47. Bd2 Qc6 48. Be1 Re7 49. Nd4 Qd6+ 50. Kg2 Rec7 51. Ne2 Qe5 52. Bg3 Nxg3 53. Qxg3 Qe4+ 54. Qf3 Kf7 55. Kf2 g6 56. fxg6+ hxg6 57. Qxe4 dxe4 58. Ke3 Rc8 59. a3 f5 60. gxf5 gxf5 61. Kf4 Kf6 {The dust has settled and after missing several wins earlier, Black is now only a little better. White's king is very well placed, blocking the connected passed pawns and the weak a6 pawn promises White sufficient counterplay.} 62. Rd1 Nxc3 63. Nxc3 {A natural but inaccurate move.} ({The difficult} 63. Rd6+ $1 Ke7 64. Ke5 $11 {is very strong. Keeping both rooks enhances White's counterplay and Black can no longer hold on to both central passed pawns.}) 63... Rxc3 64. Rxc3 Rxc3 65. Rd6+ Ke7 66. Rxa6 Rf3+ 67. Ke5 Kf7 68. Kd4 Rd3+ 69. Ke5 e3 70. Kxf5 Rd5+ $2 (70... Rd7 $3 {with the idea} 71. Rf6+ Ke8 $1 {would have won cleanly. Now, White has a lifeline and she went for it.}) 71. Ke4 e2 72. Kxd5 e1=Q 73. Kc5 Qe5+ 74. Kb6 Ke6 75. Ra5 Qb8+ 76. Kc5 Ke5 77. Kc6 Qe8+ 78. Kc5 Qb8 79. Kc6 Qe8+ 80. Kc5 Qd7 81. Kb6 Kd4 82. Rxb5 Qd8+ 83. Kb7 Qd7+ 84. Kb6 Qd6+ 85. Kb7 Kc4 86. Ra5 {We've finally arrived at the most instructive part of the game. A few fundamental things that we can quickly establish: 1) h3 pawn would be lost sooner or later; 2) White's rook has to remain on the a5 square where it is safely protected and guards the critical a3 pawn; 3) In order to win, Black has to force White's King into the corner, placing White in zugzwang and forcing the rook to leave its anchor on a5. Ben and I were following the game live in our hotel room and we were initially not able to achieve point 3. However, it is now quite clear that Black can place the White king in a series of small zugzwangs and then it is only a matter of time before the rook is forced to leave the a5 square. Ben then pointed out that White can always go Ra6, and goes back to a5 everytime the king is placed in zugzwang. He is right of course, and the position is drawn.} Qd7+ 87. Kb6 Kb3 88. h4 Qd6+ 89. Kb7 Qe7+ 90. Kb6 Qxh4 91. Kc6 Qf6+ 92. Kc7 Qe7+ 93. Kc6 Qe6+ 94. Kc7 Qc4+ 95. Kb6 ( 95. Kb7 Qf7+ (95... Qd4 96. Kc7 Qg7+ 97. Kc6 (97. Kb6 Qd7 $1 98. Ra6 $1) 97... Qf6+ 98. Kc7 Qe7+ 99. Kc6 Qd8 100. Kb7 Qd7+ 101. Kb8 Qc6) 96. Kc8 Qf8+ 97. Kc7 Qe8 98. Kb6 ({For the sake of argument,} 98. b5 {also draws but with very little time, I would be nervous to push any of these pawns as they might all disappear in a jiffy!} Kc4 99. b6 {and there is no way to win the a5 rook.}) 98... Qd7 99. Ra6 Qc8 100. Ra5 Qb8+ 101. Kc6 Kc4 102. Rc5+ Kd4 103. Ra5 { and Black has not made any progress.}) 95... Qc8 {Zugzwang! Now White has a critical decision to make and in time trouble, it is perfectly understandable that she made the wrong choice here.} 96. Ka7 $2 (96. Ra6 $1 {is the only move, and Black has no way of making progress. For example,} Qb8+ 97. Kc6 Kc4 98. Ra5 $11) (96. Ra7 $2 Qb8+ 97. Rb7 Qd6+ $19 {Black gets all the pawns eventually.}) (96. Kb5 Qc7 $1 {Another zugzwang!} 97. Ra6 Qb7+ 98. Rb6 Qd5+ $19) (96. b5 Qd8+ 97. Ka6 Kc4 98. b6 (98. Ra4+ Kc5) 98... Qa8# {is a pictureresque mate}) 96... Qc7+ 97. Ka8 Qb6 $1 {Point 3 achieved and now there is no respite.} 98. Ra7 Kc4 99. Ra5 Kd4 100. Ra7 Kd5 101. Rd7+ Kc6 102. Rh7 Qa6+ 103. Kb8 Qxa3 104. Rh6+ Kb5 105. Kb7 Kxb4 106. Rh4+ Kc5 107. Rh5+ Kd6 108. Rh6+ Ke5 109. Rh5+ Kf4 110. Rb5 Qd6 111. Ra5 Ke4 112. Ra4+ Kd5 113. Ra5+ Kc4 114. Ra6 Qd7+ 115. Kb6 Kb4 116. Ra7 Qd6+ 117. Kb7 Kb5 118. Kc8 Qf8+ 119. Kb7 Qd8 120. Ra1 Qe7+ 121. Kc8 Qe8+ 122. Kb7 Qe4+ 123. Kc8 Qc4+ 124. Kb7 Qf7+ 125. Kc8 Qg8+ 0-1

[Event "27th SEA Games Rapid"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.12.18"] [Round "2"] [White "Farid Firman Syah"] [Black "Goh Wei Ming, Kevin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A40"] [Annotator "Wei Ming"] [PlyCount "76"] 1. d4 Nc6 $5 {I have decided to utilise my primary school repertoire for the SEA Games, hoping that my experience with this line would be useful against my younger and faster opponents. In fact, I managed to play this 3 times during the Rapid event and arguably could have scored 3/3 as you shall soon see....} 2. d5 Ne5 3. Nf3 {A small surprise. I've played countless games with 1...Nc6 and this was the first time I ever had to face this move.} Nxf3+ 4. gxf3 e5 5. e4 Bc5 6. f4 ({I was expecting} 6. Rg1 {which is certainly more logical as it makes use of the half open g-file immediately. I intended} Qh4 7. Qe2 Ne7 { with unclear play.}) 6... Qh4 {Hoping for a swift end to the game but unfortunately, my opponent defended my not-so-obvious threat easily....} 7. Qf3 Nf6 8. Nc3 Ng4 9. Nd1 exf4 10. Bxf4 d6 {I have achieved an ideal position with decent chances of playing for an attack plus a time advantage to boot.} 11. Bb5+ c6 $1 ({The computer suggests} 11... Kf8 {but I was always going to sacrifice a pawn for the sake of development.}) 12. dxc6 O-O 13. Rg1 f5 $5 { Played to open lines at all cost.} (13... bxc6 14. Bxc6 Rb8 {was another idea.} ) 14. exf5 Bxf5 15. cxb7 Rab8 16. Kd2 Nxh2 $1 17. Qg3 Qxg3 18. Rxg3 Rxb7 19. Bc6 $2 {A serious blunder which presented me with a golden opportunity.} ({I was expecting} 19. Bc4+ Kh8 20. Be3 Rc7 {with a tangible endgame edge. My passed h-pawn will likely be able to create some problems in the foreseeable future.}) 19... Nf1+ $2 ({The unexpected} 19... Rb4 $1 {with the dual threats of ...Nf1 and ...Rxf4 wins by force.} 20. Bd5+ Kh8) 20. Ke1 Nxg3 21. Bxb7 Be4 $1 {An important move that maintains the advantage.} 22. fxg3 Bxb7 23. Nc3 { During the game, I assessed the position as slightly better for Black in view of the bishop pair but actually, Black had a significant advantage at this juncture. The key factor is Black's kingside majority and White's slightly awkward pieces which means that Black could continue to generate threats despite the reduced material.} g5 $2 {A complete misassessment of the position and allowing White to alleviate the pressure.} ({Instead,} 23... h5 $1 {is the move, when the idea of simply pushing the h-pawn down is extremely difficult to meet. For example,} 24. Na4 h4 25. Nxc5 dxc5 26. Bd6 h3 27. g4 Rf6 {with excellent winning chances.}) 24. Bxg5 Rf2 25. Rd1 Rxc2 26. Rd2 {White has consolidated and the game soon petered out to a draw.} Rc1+ 27. Rd1 Rc2 28. Rd2 Rc1+ 29. Ke2 Rg1 30. Bf4 Kf7 31. a3 d5 32. b4 Bb6 33. Na4 Rg2+ 34. Ke1 Rg1+ 35. Ke2 Rg2+ 36. Kd3 Rxd2+ 37. Kxd2 Ke6 38. Nxb6 axb6 1/2-1/2

[Event "27th SEA Games Rapid"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.12.18"] [Round "3"] [White "Megaranto Susanto"] [Black "Goh Wei Ming, Kevin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D02"] [Annotator "Wei Ming"] [PlyCount "48"] 1. d4 Nc6 {A second 1...Nc6 in a row!} 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bf4 Bg4 4. e3 e6 5. Be2 Nf6 6. O-O Bd6 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. Bg5 Be7 9. c4 Ne4 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. cxd5 exd5 12. h3 Bh5 {White had played tamely and it was clear that I had gotten a comfortable position from the opening. In addition, I had a significant time advantage on the clock as I didn't have much to think about in the opening moves.} 13. Rc1 Rfd8 14. Nxe4 dxe4 15. Nd2 Bxe2 16. Qxe2 Nb4 $1 17. Qc4 (17. Rc5 Nd3 $1 (17... Nd5 18. Qg4 {forces Black to make a concession with} b6 19. Rc6 Re8) 18. Rc3 Nb4 19. Qg4 Re8 {seems fine for Black}) 17... Nd5 18. Qb3 c6 19. Nc4 Kh8 20. Na5 Rab8 21. a3 h6 22. Nc4 Qe6 23. Ne5 f6 24. Nc4 Rd7 {After here, the game seemed to go on for ages with both sides manoeuvring their rooks everywhere. Eventually, all the pieces were traded off and the game was drawn.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "27th SEA Games Rapid"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.12.18"] [Round "4"] [White "Goh Wei Ming, Kevin"] [Black "Wong Jianwen"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B01"] [Annotator "Wei Ming"] [PlyCount "73"] 1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nf3 $5 {As I was facing a Malaysian, I thought it would be polite to follow the repertoire of one of the best Malaysian players of all time, IM Mas Hafizul!} Nc6 4. d4 ({Almost immediately, I regretted not playing} 4. Nc3 Qa5 5. Bb5 {which I believe is the mainline here.}) 4... e5 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. Bxc3 e4 8. Ne5 Nxe5 9. dxe5 Ne7 10. Qh5 Bf5 (10... Be6 { was probably more accurate. My idea here was to play} 11. Qg5 {but after} h6 12. Qxg7 O-O-O {, Black has enormous compensation and is having all the fun.}) 11. Rd1 Qe6 ({I've intended} 11... Qxa2 12. Qg5 {but} h6 $1 13. Qxg7 Rg8 14. Qf6 Rg6 15. Qh8+ Rg8 16. Qxh6 Bg4 $1 {is problematic for White.}) 12. Qg5 O-O 13. b3 h6 14. Qg3 Qc6 $2 {Virtually the decisive error.} ({Black would have been completely fine after a normal move like} 14... Rad8) 15. e6 Bg6 16. exf7+ Kh7 17. Bc4 Nf5 18. Qe5 e3 19. O-O e2 20. Bxe2 Rxf7 21. Bc4 (21. Bb5 $1 Qb6 22. Rd7 Rxd7 23. Bxd7 {would have forced immediate resignation.}) 21... Re7 22. Qd5 Qxd5 23. Rxd5 Nd6 24. Bb4 Bxc2 25. Bxd6 cxd6 26. Rxd6 Bg6 27. h4 {This is a technically winning position. White's main ideas is to put his kingside pawns on light squares and further restricting the Black King, swapping rooks before making inroads with his king.} b6 28. Rfd1 Rf8 29. f3 Rf4 30. R1d4 Rxd4 31. Rxd4 Re1+ 32. Kf2 Ra1 {It is normal to seek activity with your rook in endgames but in this situation, it was better to keep the rook on a defensive stance.} 33. a4 Ra2+ 34. Kg3 {Now the threat is simply Rd7. The Black rook should have been on e7 to guard against this.} Rb2 35. Rd8 h5 36. Bg8+ Kh6 $2 37. Rd6 {and in view of the unstoppable threat of Bf7, Black resigns here.} 1-0

[Event "27th SEA Games Rapid"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.12.18"] [Round "5"] [White "Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son"] [Black "Goh Wei Ming, Kevin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [Annotator "Wei Ming"] [PlyCount "111"] 1. d4 Nf6 $1 {I thought a triple dose of 1...Nc6 poison in consecutive Black games may be a bit too much for me to take and so the Grunfeld was thrown into action.} 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Qb3 {A small surprise, as Truong Son has seldom employed the Russian system against the Grunfeld in his previous games.} dxc4 5. Qxc4 Bg7 6. e4 ({I once had a game with Jason Goh where after} 6. Bf4 {, the gambit} Bf5 $5 7. Qxc7 Nc6 8. Qxd8+ Rxd8 9. e3 Nb4 {led to very interesting play.}) 6... O-O 7. Be2 Na6 8. Nf3 c5 9. d5 e6 10. O-O exd5 11. exd5 Bf5 12. Rd1 Re8 13. Be3 (13. d6 h6 14. Bf4 Nd7 $1 {is the main continuation according to my notes.}) 13... Nd7 $6 {This isn't a bad move in itself but I accidentally mixed up my theory.} (13... Qb6 14. d6 h6 15. Rd2 Ne4 16. d7 Re6 17. Nxe4 Rxe4 {is supposedly fine for Black. White's passed d-pawn will not be allowed to be promoted.}) 14. Rd2 (14. g4 $5 Nb6 15. Qf4 Bd7 16. Ng5 Qf6 17. Qxf6 Bxf6 18. Nge4 {looks like a promising way for White to proceed }) 14... Rc8 15. a3 Nb6 16. Qf4 c4 $1 {Here, I was very optimistic about my position and the plan of ...Na6 - c5 - d3 was obvious but yet awkward to defend.} 17. Bd4 Nc5 18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Nd4 (19. Bxc4 Ne4 $1 {was my sneaky trap. Admittedly, this was a bit too obvious for a 2650 GM.}) 19... Bd3 $1 20. Bg4 $2 {Provoking my next move, but the tempo move turned out to be a pretty useful one.} (20. Bf3 {was better although Black retains the initiative and the advantage with} Qf6) 20... f5 21. Bf3 Qf6 {Preparing ...g5. Black had completely taken over the initiative and was the one playing for the win now.} 22. h4 Nbd7 ({The direct} 22... h6 $1 {is surprisingly annoying to face. However, such harmless looking moves are the most difficult to make over the board.}) 23. Rdd1 Be4 $2 {A silly slip, after which I was lucky not to be simply lost. I was eager to put a knight on the d3 square but this was completely missing the point.} ({The natural and very intuitive} 23... Qe5 $1 24. Qxe5+ Nxe5 {would have been very strong for Black.}) 24. Ne6+ $1 {I have completely missed this.} Nxe6 25. dxe6 Nc5 26. Bxe4 $2 ({After the game, Truong Son told me he had calculated} 26. Rd7+ $1 Re7 27. Bxe4 fxe4 $2 (27... Nxd7 28. exd7 Rd8 29. Bxb7 Rexd7 30. Bf3 {was much better for White.}) 28. Qxf6+ Kxf6 29. Nd5+ {and wins. For someone who is as calm and composed as him in quick time controls, such errors are really rare.}) 26... fxe4 27. Qxf6+ Kxf6 28. Rd5 Kxe6 {Somehow, I have emerged with an extra pawn and with roughly equal time, Black is pushing for the win!} 29. Re1 (29. Rd4 Kf7 30. Rxc4) 29... Kf7 $2 {....and yet almost immediately, I made a critical slip.} (29... Red8 $1 30. Rxd8 (30. Rg5 Rd4) 30... Rxd8 31. Nxe4 Nd3 32. Re2 Kd5 $1 {was necessary to maintain the edge. Black would continue by charging his queenside pawns up the board and his more active king and pieces are certain to play a critical role in the next few moves.}) ({Alternatively, even the calm} 29... a6 $1 {, preparing ...b5 is pretty good.}) 30. Rd4 Re5 $2 {A moment of chess blindness, completely forgetting that c4 was en prise. Truong Son didn't wait for an invitation card.} 31. Rxc4 b5 $5 32. Rd4 a6 33. Re2 Rce8 34. b4 e3 35. Rxe3 ( 35. f4 $1 Nb3 36. Rd7+ (36. fxe5 Nxd4 37. Rxe3) 36... R5e7 37. Rxe7+ Rxe7 38. Nd5 {was Truong Son's idea but here I had} Rd7 39. Nxe3 Rd3 {with strong counter play although admittedly, anything could happen.}) 35... Rxe3 36. fxe3 Rxe3 37. Nd5 Ne6 $1 38. Nxe3 Nxd4 39. Nd5 Nc2 40. Nc7 Nxa3 41. Nxa6 Ke6 42. Kf2 Ke5 43. Ke3 Nc4+ 44. Kd3 Nd6 45. Nc7 Nf5 46. g3 h5 47. Nxb5 Nxg3 48. Nd4 {I've managed to simplify my way to a ridiculously easy draw and with 1 minute to go, should really have finished the game off pretty easily. However, what transpired instead was an inexplicable error of judgement that probably qualifies for Singapore's costliest blunder of the year award...} Nf5 $4 49. Nxf5 gxf5 50. Ke3 Kd5 51. Kf4 Kc4 52. Kxf5 Kxb4 53. Kg5 Kc5 54. Kxh5 Kd6 55. Kg6 Ke7 56. Kg7 {To my utter dismay, I was not able to bring my king back to f8 which was what I calculated. I had to muster all the energy I had left to prevent myself from eliciting an anguished howl....} 1-0