Games from

THE 1997 ANTIGONISH OPEN

Chess Tournament

Wandyln Inn, Antigonish, Nova Scotia

January 3, 4, 5, 1997


[Event "Antigonish Open 1997"]
[Site "Antigonish, Nova Scotia"]
[Date "1997.01.04"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Hayward, Jim"]
[Black "Cedric, Davies"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Cedric, Davies"]
[ECO "E43"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 b6 5. Bd3 Bb7 6. f3 d6

{I don't know much theory but I think I should have taken the knight first, if I intended d6. That way I have compensation in the form of doubled pawns against losing the bishop pair.}

7.Ne2 O-O 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.Nxc3 N8d7 10.O-O Qe7 11.e4?

{Hayward didn't like this move afterwards either. The d4 pawn is a little loose and now the d3 bishop is a big giant pawn. Remember I want things closed because of my knights which influences my further play. Believe it or not, I was now already having fantasies about a light-squared bishop ending.}

11...c5 12.Be3 Rac8 13.Qe2 Rfd8 14. Rad1 a5

{ Hayward said he didn't like this move, but it is simply a prophylactic measure against a possible b4, plus gaining space and putting another pawn of mine on a dark square.}

15.Qf2 e5

{This is the move which closes up the position (remember knights) and I think I should have played it earlier. While analyzing with Rob at the club he made the repeated suggestion that white play f4 before black got in e5.}

16.d5 Nf8 7.f4?

{This loses his good Bishop, I was expecting a move like h3. After this I have a clear edge where before it was hard to tell if either of us did.} 17 . . . Ng4 18. Qg3 Nxe3 19. Qxe3 exf4 20. Rxf4 Ng6 21.Rf5 Rf8 {I reposition my forces before occupying the important strong point e5. I think that might be a mistake, Rob pointed out the possibility of white sacking a pawn with e5 to open up the line for his Bishop.}

22. R1f1 Rce8 23. Re1 Bc8 24. Rf2 Bd7 25. b3 Qd8 {I decided on occupation with a rook rather than the knight. I thought that I could then swing over my rook and maybe attach white's kingside.}

26. Qg3 Re5 27.R1f1 Qg5

{An emotional reaction, not based on logic but on the ticking clock. In hindsight I think it would have been better to keep the queens on and have a possible attack. Qe7 is good threatening Rg5.}

28. Ne2 Bg4 29. Nf4

{White could try 29. Rf5!? again another suggestion of Rob's. This hadn't even entered my mind in the game and we would have been in for some messy complications.}

29. . . Nxf4 30.Rxf4 Bh5 31. Qxg5

{Here I was offered a draw but I wanted to play on to see what would happen. I had been studying my BCE earlier, but what good would that be if I always accepted draws!?}

31. . . Rxg5 32. Re1 Re5 33. g4?!

{I'm still not sure about this move. I think I would give it a question mark but it's only on intuition. The bad points is that it puts another pawn on a light square and the weaker side shouldn't be pushing pawns.}

33. . . Bg6 34. Kf2 R8e8 35.Kf3 R8e7 36.Re2 Kf8

{Here I looked hard for a way in which I would break through while Hayward was thinking. I was ready to offer a draw when he played h4 which I didn't think was such a hot move, so I played on.}

37. h4 f6 38.h5 Be8 39.Rf5 Bd7 40. Rxe5 fxe5 41.Rg2 Rf7+ 42.Ke3 Rf4 43. Be2 Ke7

{I wanted to play a4 but was concerned about him playing his rook to the b-file (after bxa4 Bxa4 Bd3) winning the b6 pawn and having a passed a pawn. After Ke7 I now threaten a4 where in some lines I can protect b6 with my king.}

44.Rf2

{Here I thought Hayward should have played a4 and ruled out the possible play for me on the queenside. He can wait a turn to offer the rook trade.}

44. . . Rxf2 45.Kxf2 Kf6

{Now I should play a4 on this or the next move and have my light squared bishop come in and feast on White's pawns. I played them both rather hastily and realized too late.}

46. Kg3 Kg5 47.a4

{There that finally ends that nasty a4 business. Even though all of his pawns are on light squares the position, though far from easy, is drawn because of the lack of entry squares. My plan is to trade the kingside pawns where I get my Bishop on h5 and force a favorable trade of Bishops or enter his position. Now we have come to an interesting ending of which I spent considerable time analyzing.}

47. . . Be8 48. Bf3 g6 49. hxg6 Bxg6 50.Bg2 h5 51.Bh1!

{This is the point which should give White the draw. If I take the pawn he can just move his Bishop between h1 and g2 and there is no way I can enter his position.}

51. . . h4+?

{Although it is still drawn, Be8 which I thought from analysis on Sunday morning won, but found out later with Rob that it still only drew, is a better try.}

52.Kf3??

{This is the losing blunder. Hayward did play this rather quickly, after 5 hours of tough play, which demonstrates only too tragically that the work of hours can be gone in an instant by a moment of inattention or oversight. Now the win is easy. With Kh3 he could have drawn. A possible winning attempt by me going 53. . . Be8 54. Bg2! - Bf3 goes in to winning lines which I analyze later - Bd7 55.Bf3 Kf4 the only winning try 56.Bd1 Kxe4 57.Kxh4 Kd3 58.g5 e4 59. g6 Be8 60.Bh5 whites resource; and he is the one who wins.}

53 . . . Be8 53. Bg2 Bd7 54. Bh3 Bc8 55.Kf2 Bxg4 56.Bxg4 Kxg4

{White resigns. Later I thought that if I had played 51. _. Be8 I would have won by forcing Bf3. These are the winning line I mentioned above, going something like this. 52. _. h4+ 53. Kh3 Kf4 (Now my Bishop stops the pawn better by being on the e8-h5 diagonal) 54. Bd1 Kxe4 55.Kxh4 Kf4! (To stop a kingmarch through the g5 square) 56. g5 e4 57. Bh5 e3! And wins My assumption was wrong however, because 51. _ Be8 does not force Bf3. Instead 52. Bg2! (Notice he can never take my h-pawn while I can retake with the Bishop) Bd7 53. gxh5 Kxh5 54. Bh3! (Although simple this is what I hadn't considered until Rob pointed it out. If I take the Bishop he retakes and gains the opposition.) DRAW

I've tried other things with triangulation ect. but nothings seems to work, if you find anything interesting e-mail me. I'd like to thank Rob Villeneuve and Antoni Wysocki for helping me analyze at the club. As usual I enjoy strategic plans rather that combative attacks and so I trust thoughts rather than long pieces of analysis, which is why I had very little in my annotations.}


[Event "Antigonish Open 1997"]
[Site "Antigonish, Nova Scotia"]
[Date "1997.01.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Saunders, Steve"]
[Black "Mayo, Alvah"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Saunders, Steve and Fritz 4.01"]
[ECO "E81"]

1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.e4 d6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 Na6 7.Qd2 c5 8.Nge2 Qa5 9.d5 Nc7 10.Nc1 a6 11.Nb3 Qb6= 12.Be2 Bd7 13.0-0 Qa7 (13...Nfe8=) 14.a4= (14.e5 Nfe8 15.exd6 exd6 16.Ne4) 14...b6 (14...Nfe8=) 15.Nc1= (15.e5 Nfe8 (15...dxe5 16.a5 Rfe8 17.axb6 Qxb6 18.Nxc5) 16.exd6 exd6 17.Rfe1=) 15...Qb7 16.Nd3 b5 (16...Rad8=) 17.e5 Nfe8± (17...b4 18.Na2 Nfe8²) 18.axb5= (18.axb5!? axb5 19.exd6 exd6 20.Nxc5 dxc5 21.Bxc5²) 18...axb5² (18...axb5 19.exd6 exd6 20.Nxc5 dxc5 21.Bxc5 b4) 19.Rxa8 (19.exd6 exd6 20.Rxa8 Nxa8 21.cxb5=) 19...Qxa8 (19...Nxa8 20.exd6 exd6 21.Nxc5 dxc5 22.Bxc5 bxc4 23.Bxf8 Bxf8 24.Bxc4 Qc7=) 20.exd6 (20.exd6 exd6 21.Nxc5 dxc5 22.Bxc5) 20...exd6 21.Nf2= (21.Nxc5 dxc5 22.Bxc5²) 21...b4 22.Ncd1 Qa2 23.Nd3 Nf6 (23...Qxc4? 24.Nxc5 Qxc5 25.Bxc5 dxc5 26.Bc4+-)

24.Nxc5 (24.Bf4!? Qxc4 25.Bxd6 Ncxd5? (25...Qd4+ 26.Rf2) 26.Nxc5 (26.Bxf8?! Qd4+ 27.N1f2 Bxf8) 26...Qa2 27.Bxf8 Bxf8 28.Nxd7 Nxd7 29.Re1+-;) 24...dxc5= (24...dxc5 25.Bxc5 Rb8=) 25.Bxc5 Re8 26.Bxb4 Nfxd5 (26...Na6 27.Bc3 Nc5=) 27.cxd5 Nxd5 (27...Qxd5 28.Bd3 Qd4+ 29.Rf2 Nd5) 28.Nc3??-+ {gives the Alvah new chances! Better 28.Ba3 is the best chance, both our flags were hanging here} 28...Nxc3??= {Black could have won here with} ( 28...Qa7+ 29.Kh1 Nxb4-+) 29.Bxc3 Bxc3 30.Qxd7 Rxe2 31.Qc8+ Kg7 32.Qxc3+ Kh6 33.Qc1+ Kg7 34.Qc3+ f6± (34...Kh6!?= ) 35.Qc7+ Kh6 36.Qf4+= (36.Qc1+ Kg7 37.Rd1 Qa7+ (37...Qxb2?? {A poison bait which should not be taken} 38.Rd7+ Re7 39.Rxe7+ Kf8 40.Qxb2 Kxe7 41.Qb7+ Ke6 42.Qxh7+-; 37...Rxb2?? {that pawn is deadly bait and will cause Black grave problems} 38.Rd7+ Kh8 39.Qc8+ Qg8 40.Rd8 Rb1+ 41.Kf2 Rb2+ 42.Kg3 Qxd8 43.Qxd8+ Kg7 44.Qe7+ Kg8 45.Qxf6+-) 38.Kh1±) 36...Kg7 37.Qc7+ Kh6 38.Qf4+= (38.Qc1+ Kg7 39.Rd1 Qa7+ (39...Qxb2?? {Black will choke on that pawn} 40.Rd7+ Re7 41.Rxe7+ Kf8 42.Qxb2 Kxe7 43.Qb7+ Ke6 44.Qxh7+-; 39...Rxb2?? {the pawn is safe and cannot be captured without dire consequences} 40.Rd7+ Kh8 41.Qc8+ Qg8 42.Rd8 Rb1+ 43.Kf2 Rb2+ 44.Kg3 Qxd8 45.Qxd8+ Kg7 46.Qe7+ Kg8 47.Qxf6+-) 40.Kh1±) 38...Kg7 39.Qc7+ ½-½


[Event "Antigonish Open 1997"]
[Site "Antigonish, Nova Scotia"]
[Date "1997.01.03"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Hanson, John"]
[Black "Cashin, Ken"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Hanson, John"]
[ECO "B07"]

1. e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.f3 g6 4.Be3 Bg7 5.Nc3 O-O 6.Qd2 c6 7. O-O-O Bd7 {Black makes some opening innaccuracies which I manage to exploit. 7... Bd7 causes serious problems as he now has difficulty developing and coordinating his pieces.} 8. e5 dxe5 9. dxe5 Ne8 10.f4 Qc7 11.Bc4 b5 12. Bb3 a5 13.a4

13...b4 {13...b4, which locked the queenside pawns, relieved lots of tension and pretty well killed all of his chances for counterplay.} 14.Ne4 Bf5 15.Nc5 Bh8 16.e6 Nd6 17.exf7+ Nxf7 18.Ne6 Be6 19.Be6 Bf6 20.g4 Na6 21.Nf3 Rfd8 22.Qe2 Kf8 23.Bxf7 Rxd1+ 24.Rxd1 Kxf7 25. Qc4+ Kf8 26.f5 b3 27. Bh6+ Bg7 28. Bxg7+ Kxg7 29. Qd4+ Kg8 30. Qc4+ Kg7 31. Ng5 Qe5 32. Ne6+ Kf6 33. g5+ Kf7 34. Nd8+ 1-0


[Event "?"]
[Site "Antigonish Open 1997 Antigonish, Nova Scotia (2)"]
[Date "1997.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bernard, Gilbert"]
[Black "Hanson, John"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Hanson, John"]
[PlyCount "52"]

{In this game, Gilbert makes an opening error with Ng5 which he is used to playing vs Nd7.I was obtaining a nice lead in development when I blundered it away with 11..0-0-0.Gilbert showed his skill with the pieces as he then put the screws to me .However, he foolishly accepted a free bishop, 24...Bg2!, and I perped him.Watch out for this guy. If he can learn to control himself at the board a little better he'll take off. } 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Ng5 h6 6. N5f3 Bf5 7. Bc4 Qc7 8. Ne5 e6 9. Ngf3 Bd6 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Re1 O-O-O 12. Nxf7 g5 13. Nxd8 Kxd8 14. Ne5 Kc8 15. Qe2 Ne4 16. Bxe6 Bxe6 17. Qxe4 Bd5 18. Qf5 Bxe5 19. Rxe5 Rf8 20. Qh3 Qd6 21. Bd2 g4 22. Qxh6 Rf6 23. Re8+ Kc7 24. Qg5

Bxg2 25. Kxg2 Rxf2+ 26. Kxf2 Qxh2+ 1/2-1/2


[Event "Antigonish Open 1997"]
[Site "Antigonish, Nova Scotia"]
[Date "1997.01.05"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Poulette,Bradley"]
[Black "Hanson, John"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Hanson, John"]
[ECO"B15"]

{In my final game I must admit I was rushed due to looming weather conditions .I must also admit to not taking my opponent serious enough.He played very well in all phases of the game and deserved the win.I may even try his unique opening system myself.} 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 c6 3. Nf3 Nd7 4. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Ngf6 6. Qe2 Nxe4 7. Qxe4 Nf6 8.Qe5 e6 9. Bg5 Bd6 10. Qe3 Qa5+ 11. c3 Nd5 12. Qd2 O-O 13. Bd3 Qc7 14. O-O Bf4 15. Bxf4 Qxf4 16.Qxf4 Nxf4 17. Bc4 b6 18. Ne5 Bb7 19.f3 Rfd8 20. Rad1 Rac8 21. Rfe1 g6 22.Re4 Nd5 23. Kf2 Nf6 24.Re2 c5 25. Red2 cxd4 26. Rxd4 Rxd4 27. Rxd4 Bd5 28. Ke3 Bxc4 29.Rxc4 Rxc4 30. Nxc4 Nd5+ 31. Kd4 Ne7 32. Ke5 Kg7 33.Kd6 Kf6 34.Kc7 Nd5+ 35. Kb7 Nf4 36.g3 Nd5 37. Kxa7 b5 38. Nd6 b4 39. cxb4 Nxb4 40. a4 Ke7 41. Nc4 Kd7 42. Kb7 1-0


[Event "Antigonish Open 1997"]
[Site "Antigonish, Nova Scotia"]
[Date "1997.01.04"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Clair, Joe"]
[Black "Mayo, Alvah"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Mayo, Alvah"]
[WhiteELO "1741"]
[BlackELO "1972"]
[ECO"B20"]

1 e4 c5 2 Bc4 Nc6 3 c3 {a rather slow opening system for white, somewhat similar to Lawrence Day's Big Clamp. I felt obliged to defend agressively} Nf6 4 d3 d6 5 Bg5 Qb6 {keeping an eye on d4 and hitting the point white just left undefended} 6 Qd2 Ne5 {moving the same piece twice in the opening but it's good here in my opinion, looking to win the B pair} 7 Bb3 c4! {now white is faced with real difficulties-d3, b3 and e4 are all tender spots, and he can't defend all the threats adequately. Perhaps best here is 8 dxc4 trying to hold material, when 8...Nxe4 gives black a better position in my opinion. Instead, white freaks and misses an in between move} 8 Bxf6? Nxd3+! 9 Kf1 gxf6 10 Ba4+ Bd7 11 Bxd7+ Kxd7 12 Na3 Qc5 13 b4 Qc6 14 f3 h5 15 Ne2 Bh6 16 Qc2 Qa6 {forcing the white N to undevelop first since the immediate Qb6 is bad} 17 Nb1 Qb6 18 Nd4 Nxb4 {taking advantage of the overworked c3 pawn} 19 Qa4+ Nc6 20 Na3? {a mistake in that black gets to keep his second pawn and trade queens at the same time} 20...Qa5 21 Qxa5 Nxa5 22 Kf2 a6 23 Rab1 b5 24 Rhd1 Rab8 25 Nac2 {heading to b4 to attack a6 but this just forces my knight to redeploy to a better square} 25... Nb7 26 Nb4 Nc5 27 Nf5 Bf8 28 Nd5 Nd3+ {back to this lovely square where the N is almost worth a rook, also blocking any tricks on the d file} 29 Kf1 Kd8 30 Nd4 Kd7 31 Ne3 Bh6 32 Nd5 Rb7 33 Nf5 Bf8 34 g3 {now I spy a pretty combo that undoubles my f pawns, gets rid of his N outposts at d5 and f5, and trades a set of minors} 34...e6! 35 Nxf6+ Kc8 {the move that helps the combo work-now Ne3 no longer threatens to clip the c4 pawn because the pin on the b5 pawn has been lifted} 36 Ne3 Bg7 37 e5 Bxf6 38 exf6 Rh6 39 f4 Rxf6 40 Kg2 d5 41 Nc2 Rg6?! {I thought at the time that anything would win, and it pretty much does, but more accurate would have been 41...e5!? winning on the spot} 42 Rf1 Kd8 43 a4 Ke8 44 f5 Rg5 45 f6 {more a nuisance than anything if white plays with any caution} 45...Rb6?! 46 axb5 axb5 47 Ra1 Rb8 48 Ra7 Nc5 49 Re7 Kf8 50 Rc7 Ne4 {black is still totally winning here-even if white tries to double rooks on the seventh rank black simply plays Kg8 and Rf8 where white has nothing and black can proceed with his kingside attack with h4. However black loses his sense of danger} 51 Nd4 Ra8?? {as soon as I played this I saw the forced move which puts paid to this blunder. I figured that this rook would help finish off white in a mating attack..unfortunately there's a tactical refutation}

52 Ra1!! {psychologically crushing- black has just handed white 2 free tempi as well as some dangerous looking counterplay.Of course the rook cannot be taken thanks to the back rank weakness. I thought I was just lost here, even though later analysis by Maritime Junior Champion Justin Gulati and others showed that black is still winning. I proceeded to fold faster than Superman on laundry day} 52...Re8 53 Ra7 Nxc3?? {here's the actual losing move-53...Rg6 is much better} 54 Rxf7+ Kg8 55 Rh7 Kf8 56 f7+ Black resigns 1-0 (5:58-6:43)


[Event "Antigonish Open 1997"]
[Site "Antigonish, Nova Scotia"]
[Date "1997.01.04"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Hanson, John"]
[Black "Saunders, Steve"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Saunders, Steve and Fritz 4.01"]
[ECO"A04"]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d3 Nc6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.0-0 e6 7.Re1 Nge7 8.Nbd2 0-0 9.a4 Rb8 10.c3 a6 11.Nh4 b5 12.axb5 axb5 13.f4 b4 14.e5 dxe5 15.Nc4?-+ (15.Ne4!? {and White hangs on}) 15...bxc3 16.fxe5 cxb2 17.Bxb2 (17.Nxb2 Nxe5 18.Ra4-+) 17...Rxb2 18.Nxb2 Qd4+ 19.Kh1 Qxb2 20.Rb1 Qa3 21.Ra1 Qb4 22.Rb1 (22.Nf3-+) 22...Qa5 23.Nf3 (23.Ra1 Qb5 24.Nf3-+) 23...Rd8 24.Qc2 (24.Ra1 Qb5 25.Qc1-+) 24...Nb4 0-1


[Event "Antigonish Open 1997"]
[Site "Antigonish, Nova Scotia"]
[Date "1997.01.05"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Bernard, Gilbert"]
[Black "Alvah, Mayo"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Alvah, Mayo"] [ECO"B23"]

{Closed Sicilian}
1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Bc4 g6 {Gilbert plays my own opening against me-the f4 Sicilian otherwise known as the Grand Prix Attack. An interesting opening choice to say the least} 4 Nge2 Bg7 5 a3 d6 6 O-O Bd7 7 d3 e6 8 Be3 Nf6 9 f4 O-O 10 Rb1 {Gilbert has been playing this opening very slowly as white, with moves like a3 and Rb1. I decided to continue with thematic queenside expansion} a6 11 Qd2 Ng4 {moving the same piece twice but winning the dark squared bishop-I think black already has a slight advantage} 12 Kh1 Nxe3 13 Qxe3 b5 14 Ba2 Nd4 15 Qd2 Rc8 16 Nxd4 Bxd4 17 Ne2 Bg7 18 Ng3 h5!? {I had used 5 minutes total before using 2 thinking about this move. I felt that Gilbert had played so passively that I wanted to steal the kingside play to go along with my queenside advantage. Sticking a B on c6 and playing for h4-h3 is just one of many ideas that come to mind. Also, it gives white a constant h4 deflection threat to worry about} 19 c3 Bh6 {pressuring the f4 pawn with the threat of 20...e5. Now Qf2 or Ne2 is forced, but Gilbert apparently decides to sacrifice} 20 Qe2?? {I asked Gilbert after the game about this move and he said it was a planned sacrifice, but I consider this the losing blunder. There are neither sufficient open lines around the black king nor are white's pieces well placed for attack-the a2 bishop for example} 20...h4! {exploiting the lack of retreat squares for the N on g3} 21 Nh5 gxh5 22 Qxh5 Qf6 23 Rf3 c4!? {making absolutely sure that his bishop will not be able to join the attack along the a2-g8 diagonal as well as clearing the c5 square for the c8 rook} 24 g4 hxg3 25 Rxg3+ {white finally has an open file, but in the process he has further exposed his king along the h1-a8 diagonal. In addition,g8 g7 and g6 are all well covered} 25... Kh7 26 Rbg1 cxd3!? {"sacrificing" the queen as I promised Gilbert I would before the start of the game, but of course white can't accept, since 27 Rg7+ Qxg7 28 Rxg7+ Kxg7 is totally lost for white} 27 Bb1 Rg8 {time to simplify} 28 Bxd3 Bc6!? {completely freezing white's hopes for e5, leaving white paralyzed} 29 h3 Rxg3 30 Rxg3 Rg8 31 Kh2 Qxf4 {another pin, also taking all the venom out of e5} 32 e5+ Kh8 {and after 56 minutes of thought white resigned} 0-1 {6:06-5:09}


[Event "Antigonish Open 1997"]
[Site "Antigonish, Nova Scotia"]
[Date "1997.01.04"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Alvah, Mayo"]
[Black "Fleury, Bruce"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Alvah, Mayo"]
[ECO"B23"]

{Closed Sicilian}
1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 f4 e6 4 Nf3 d6 5 Bc4 a6 6 a4 {swiping aside black's attempt at queenside counterplay, a4 is pretty well automatic in this opening when black plays a6} 6...Be7 7 O-O Nf6 8 d3 Qc7 {Bruce is playing his usual stay solid approach. While this has the advantage of avoiding a quick crush, black will always have problems in finding counterplay} 9 h3 b6 10 Be3 Bb7 11 Qd2 {black has just about run out of waiting moves. If he castles queenside white will play Rfb1 and begin to open lines. Black decides to castle kingside} 11...O-O 12 Rae1 Rad8 {I decided here that black had to be punished for his passive opening play. Of course white's position looks threatening but how to proceed? Knowing Bruce's penchant for long thinks and chronic time trouble, I decided to aim for maximum complications where Bruce could easily lose his way, rather than just clamp down on black and win that way. So I essayed the hyper-aggressive yet objectively dubious move} 13 Ng5?!? d5 14 f5 {this was the idea when I played Ng5-a pure piece sacrifice to denude the black king. Black has played all the best moves since 13 Ng5 but has been burning alot of clock time} 14...dxc4 15 fxe6 Ne5? {Bruce finally cracks under the pressure. Much better is 15...Qc8!? where e6 is covered and black has an edge though there are still significant complications} 16 exf7+ Nxf7 17 Ne6 Qc6 {Bruce has 21 minutes to make move 30} 18 Nxd8 Rxd8 19 Bf4 {uncovering the e1 rook where the bishop on e7 is undefended} 19...cxd3 20 Nd5!? {giving Bruce something else to think about. White has a better ending after 20...Nxd5 21 exd5 Qd7 22 c4!? where white has a protected passed pawn and the d3 pawn is free for the picking} 20...Nxd5 21 exd5 Rxd5?? {with 10 minutes left to time control Bruce loses his way totally, and it only gets worse} 22 Rxe7 h6?? 23 Rc7 dxc2 24 Qxc2 Qf6 25 Rxb7 Qd4+ 26 Kh1 g5?? {now white has two ways to win instantly-the one I didn't use starts with 27 Rxf7} 27 Qg6+ Qg7 28 Qxg7+ Kxg7 29 Bh2 {winning yet another piece and black resigns before his flag can fall.} 1-0 {5:38-5:59}



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