D31: Queen's Gambit Declined: Semi-Slav without ...Nf6 (+ Marshall Gambit and Noteboom) and Exchange Variation lines without ...Nf6

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. e4 wlc-As I don't play 1.d4 d5 variations, I have very few references on this line. I have mainly Big Database 2002 and MCO #14. 4... dxe4 5. Nxe4 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 wlc-6.Nc3 c5 7.a3 transposing into a Nimzo-indian line is possible. 6... Qxd4 7. Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8. Be2 Na6 wlc-Nick de Firmian gives 8....Qxg2 as risky, though doesn't give any other analysis. He does give 8...c5 9.Bxc5 Qxg2 as a possibilty and sights the following game. 8... c5 9. Bxc5 Qxg2 10. Bf3 Qg5 11. Bd6 Ne7 12. Ne2 Nbc6 13. Rg1 Qa5+ 14. Nc3 Nf5 wlc-This Is Hjartarson-Werf, Reykavik 1996, which Nick de Firmian gives as =. 9. Bc3 Ne7 10. Bxg7 Rg8 11. Bf6 Qf4 12. Bc3 12. Bxe7 Kxe7 13. g3 Qe5 14. Qb1 b6 15. Nf3 Qf6 16. O-O Bb7 wlc-Nick de Firmirian gives this as = sighting a game by Sherbakov-Novikov, St. Petersbug, 1995. 12... Rxg2 13. Nf3 Nf5 !Nick de Firmian gives this an exclamation mark, sighting slight advantage for black. 14. Be5 Qh6 15. Qd2 Qxd2+ 16. Nxd2 Rg6 16... Nb4 wlc-This might be a better idea. 17. Ne4 Nc2+ 18. Kf1 Rg6 19. Rd1 Ke7 20. h4 f6 21. h5 Rh6 22. Bf4 e5 23. Bxh6 Nxh6 wlc-Fritz only gives this +(.56) 17. Ne4 Ke7 18. h4 c5 ? wlc-Fritz 8.0 doesn't like this move. 18... Nb8 wlc-Fritz likes this better, followed by 18...h5 19. h5 Rg8 20. Bf6+ Ke8 21. O-O-O Nd7 +(0.87) for white-Fritz 8.0 19. h5 Rh6 19... Rg8 wlc-This isn't much better. It saves the loss of the exchange, but results in other problems. 20. O-O-O Nd4 21. Bd6+ Kd7 22. Bxc5 Nxc5 23. Rxd4+ Kc6 24. Nf6 Rh8 25. Rhd1 (+1.78) for white, according to Fritz 8.0 20. Bf4 Bd7 21. f3 Bc6 22. Kf2 e5 23. Bxh6 Nxh6 24. Rhg1 Bxe4 25. fxe4 Nc7 26. Rad1 Ne6 27. Bf1 Nd4 28. Bh3 Ng8 29. Rg5 Kd6 30. Rg7 Ke7 31. h6 Nxh6 32. Rxh7 Ng8 33. Rh8 Rf8 34. Ke3 Nc2+ 35. Kd3 Nd4 36. Rg1 Nf6 37. Rxf8 Kxf8 38. Rg5 Nc6 39. a3 Nh7 40. Rh5 Nf6 41. Rh8+ Ke7 42. Bc8 Nd8 42... b6 wlc-This might be a little better. 43. Bb7 Nd4 44. b4 Ne6 +(1.22) Fritz 8.0 43. b4 cxb4 44. axb4 b6 45. Bf5 Ne8 46. c5 Nc7 47. Rh6 bxc5 48. bxc5 Nb7 48... Nde6 wlc-This isn't much better 49. Bxe6 Nxe6 50. Kc4 Nc7 51. Rc6 Kd7 52. Rd6+ Ke7 53. Rd3 Ne6 54. Ra3 +-(3.37) for white, according to Fritz 8.0 49. Kc4 Na5+ 50. Kb4 Nb7 51. Bc8 Nd8 52. Rd6 Nde6 53. Bxe6 Nxe6 54. Kc4 Nc7 55. Rd1 Black resigns +-(3.09) by Fritz 8.0 There might follow 55...Ne6 56.c6 Nd4 57. Kd5 f6 58.Rb1 a6 winning. 1-0

C78: Ruy Lopez: Archangelsk and Moeller Defences

wlc-This is one of the few games in the FIDE section that I was able to watch part of the game in progess. It has an exciting finish. Anna may well be a future USA women's champion once she get's established in the USA, after her move to Bowling Green, Ohio from the Ukraine.

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bb7 7. Re1 Bc5 8. c3 d6 9. d3 O-O 10. Nbd2 A typical Ruy Lopez position. 10... Ng4 11. Re2 Bb6 12. Nf1 Na5 13. Bg5 Qd7 14. h3 Nxb3 15. axb3 h6 16. Bh4 g5 17. hxg4 gxh4 18. Nxh4 Qxg4 19. Nf5 Kh7 20. Nh2 Qg6 21. Nf3 Rg8 22. N3h4 Qf6 23. Kh2 Rg4 24. g3 Rag8 25. Qf1 Bc8 26. Qh3 d5 27. Rh1 dxe4 28. dxe4 wlc-At this point Fritz 8.0 says black has a slight advantage (-.53) 28... R4g5 28... Bb7 wlc-Fritz 8.0 likes this move better, putting pressure back on e4, and discouraging the later 30.Kg2 29. Qg2 a5 30. f3 R4g5 31. Qf1 Bc8 32. Kg2 Be6 (-1.00) Fritz 8.0 29. Nf3 R5g6 ?! wlc-29....Rxf5 30.exf5 Bxf5 maybe better. 29... Rxf5 30. exf5 Bxf5 31. Qh4 Qxh4+ 32. Nxh4 Bc8 wlc- = according to Fritz 30. Kg2 Re8 31. Qh5 a5 32. N3h4 Bxf5 33. Nxf5 Rd8 34. Rc2 Bc5 35. Qe2 Qc6 35... c6 wlc-Better 36. Ra1 Qe6 37. Rxa5 Qxb3 38. Rc1 (0.72) 36. b4 Rf6 37. Rh5 Bb6 ? A mistake. The bishop should move to f8 for defensive purposes. Also, not a good move would be 37...axb4 38.cxb4 and the bishop is pinned. 37... Bf8 38. bxa5 Qa8 39. b4 c5 40. f3 Qa6 41. Ne3 wlc-Advantage to white +-(1.94), but better than the game. 38. bxa5 Bxa5 39. Rc1 ?! 39. Qg4 ! wlc- This is a much better move. It wins right away as there is not an adequate defensive move, including the logical appearing 39... Rg8 in response to this. 39... Rg8 (39... Rxf5 40. Qxf5+ Qg6 41. Qxg6+ fxg6 42. Rxe5 Bb6 43. Rxb5) (39... Rg6 wlc-This also doesn't work 40. Rxh6+ Kg8 (40... Rxh6 41. Qg7#) 41. Rxg6+ fxg6 42. Ne7+) 40. Qxg8+ Kxg8 41. Ne7+ Kh7 42. Nxc6 Rxc6 43. Rxe5 Bb6 44. Rxb5 winning +-(4.03) 39... Qc4 40. Qe3 Rdd6 41. Rch1 Qc6 42. R1h4 Rde6 ? Actually 42...Rxf5 right away is better. 42... Rxf5 43. Rxf5 Kg7 44. Rxe5 Rf6 45. Qd3 +-(3.78) Fritz 8.0 43. Qg5 Rxf5 44. Qxf5+ Kg7 45. Rg4+ Kf8 46. Qh7 Rf6 ? 46... Ke7 47. Rg7 Kd7 48. Rxf7+ Kc8 49. Rf8+ Kb7 wlc-The king escapes to live a little longer 47. Rxe5 Black resigns +-(17.00) Fritz 8.0 1-0

C06: French Tarrasch: 3...Nf6 4 e5 Nfd7 5 Bd3 main lines

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ne2 cxd4 8. cxd4 f6 wlc-I have played this position over 30 times from the white side either in OTB, Internet, or Postal games, but I always play 9.exf6, not the speculative 9.Nf4. The game presents some interesting complications. White actually comes out of the opening with an advantage, but loses when he makes mistakes in the middle game. 9. Nf4 Nxd4 10. Qh5+ Ke7 11. exf6+ Nxf6 12. Ng6+ hxg6 13. Qxh8 Kf7 14. b3 Qc7 15. Bb2 Nc2+ wlc-Actually white has an advantage here (0.84) Fritz 8.0 16. Kd1 16. Bxc2 Qxc2 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Rd1 Bg7 19. Qd8 wlc-An equal position according to Fritz. 16. Ke2 wlc-The best move according to Fritz 8.0 16... Nxa1 17. Nf3 Nc2 18. Ne5+ Ke8 19. Nxg6 Qc5 20. Nxf8 Qxf8 21. Qxf8+ Kxf8 22. Bxc2 wlc-Here white still has the advantage (1.06) 16... Nxa1 17. Nf3 Ne4 18. Ne5+ Ke8 19. Nxg6 Qc5 20. Nxf8 Qxf8 21. Qh5+ 21. Qxf8+ wlc-Better 21... Kxf8 22. Bxe4 Nxb3 23. axb3 dxe4 24. Kd2 e5 25. Ke3 b5 26. Bxe5 Be6 27. b4 wlc-Minimal advantage to white 21... Qf7 22. Bb5+ Kf8 23. Qh8+ Ke7 ? wlc-A bad move in a complicated position. 23... Qg8 24. Ba3+ (24. Qh4 g5 25. Qh6+ Ke7 26. Ba3+ Kd8 wlc-And Fritz 8.0 actually says black has a slight advantage here.) 24... Kf7 25. Qh5+ g6 26. Qf3+ Nf6 wlc-An equal position (Fritz 8.0) 24. Ba3+ Nd6 25. Qh4+ Qf6 26. Qb4 ? Black misses the winning move 26. Bxd6+ ! Winning 26... Kxd6 27. Qb4+ Ke5 28. Re1+ Kf5 29. Bd3+ Kg5 30. h4+ Kh6 31. Qd2+ g5 32. hxg5+ Qxg5 33. Rh1+ Kg7 34. Qxg5+ Kf7 35. Rh7+ Ke8 36. Qe7# 26... e5 27. f3 ?! 27. Qc5 wlc-Slightly better 27... Bg4+ 28. Be2 Rc8 29. Qxd6+ Qxd6 30. Bxd6+ Kxd6 31. Bxg4 Rc2 32. h4 Rxa2 33. Rh3 27... Bf5 28. Bd3 28. Qc3 wlc-This is slightly better. 28... Rc8 29. Qxa1 Kf7 (-2.00) Fritz 8.0 28... Rd8 29. Bxf5 ? Another bad move as noted by F Berry in his analysis. 29. Qxb7+ wlc-A better choice according to Fritz 8.0 29... Ke8 30. Qc6+ Kf7 31. Bxf5 Nxf5 32. Qxf6+ gxf6 33. Kd2 Rg8 34. g3 Nd4 35. Rxa1 Nxf3+ 36. Ke2 Nxh2 37. Rh1 Rc8 38. Bb4 Rc2+ 39. Bd2 Nf3 40. Kxf3 Rxd2 41. Rh7+ Ke6 42. Rxa7 wlc-An interesting rook and pawn endgame with advantage to black (-1.91) 29... Qxf5 30. Qxb7+ Ke6 31. Qb4 ?! A minor mistake 31. Bxd6 wlc- Better 31... Qb1+ 32. Ke2 Qc2+ 33. Kf1 Rxd6 34. Qb4 wlc-But, still losing 31... Nc2 32. Qa5 Qd3+ 33. Kc1 Nxa3 34. Qxa3 Rc8+ 35. Kb2 Nc4+ White resigns wlc-Actually 35....Rc2+ is a little better, but they both work. 35...Nc4+36. bxc4 Rb1+ 37. Qb3 (forced) Rxb3 axb3 with a queen (black) against a rook (white) endgame that is very hopeless for white. 0-1

B12: Caro-Kann: Advance Variation

Darius e-mailed this game to me on 1/7/ 2003 as a representation of his best game in the tourney. He comes up with a simple plan in the middle game and continues it to its conclusion in the end game. He does make a mistake along the way on black's move #35 , but Charles Davis returns the favor on the very next white move.

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 wlc-This is the Short variation in the Caro-Kann advance, made popular by Nigel Short. 4... e6 5. Bd3 wlc-This is a deviation from the normal plan in this variation. More normal is 5.Be2 I did find 5.Bd3 in my Dig Database 2002 186 times, so 5.Bd3 has been played a number of times at the Grandmaster level. 5... Bxd3 6. Qxd3 Nd7 7. O-O Ne7 8. b3 wlc- I only found this move once in my Big Database 2002. 8... Qc7 9. Nc3 a6 10. a4 wlc-Out of any reference I have. The only game I could find up until move 9....a6 continued with 10.Ba3 with the idea of exchanging dark-squared bishops if black were to move his knight on e7. 10... Rc8 11. Ne2 c5 12. c3 Nc6 13. Bd2 Be7 14. Rac1 Na5 Darius-I am looking to post my knight on b3 or c4. 15. Qb1 c4 16. b4 Nb3 Darius-I got what I wanted. However, I saw most of his pawns are on dark squares and I can exchange my well-posted knight for his dark-squared bishop. Should I do this or not? 17. Rc2 Nxd2 Darius-I do the exchange and now I am hoping to exchange all the major pieces and go immediately to the endgame, with my bishop (dark-squared) still on the board, of course. 18. Rxd2 O-O 19. Ng3 Qc6 20. a5 b6 21. Ra2 Rb8 22. Qc2 h6 Darius-A precautionary move. 23. Qe2 bxa5 24. Rxa5 Rb5 25. Rfa1 Rxa5 26. Rxa5 Ra8 27. Qa2 Qb6 Darius-trying to provoke 28.b5 28. b5 Darius-which my opponent doesn't hesitate to do 28... Nb8 29. bxa6 Rxa6 30. Rxa6 Qxa6 31. Qxa6 Nxa6 Darius-This is the type of endgame position I was wishing for when I exchanged my knight for his (dark-squared) bishop on move #17. 32. Ne1 Nc7 33. Nc2 Nb5 34. Ne2 Bd8 35. Kf1 f5 ? Darius-A error. I saw a better move immediately right after making this move. 36. f3 ? Darius-Charles errors back. He could have leveled the position with 36.Ke1, although black still has a slight advantage. wlc-Fritz 8.0 agrees with this assessment. 36... Ba5 37. Nb4 Nxc3 38. Nc6 Nxe2 39. Kxe2 wlc-Not 39.Nxa5?, because 39...Nxd4 39... Bc3 40. Kd1 Kf8 41. Kc2 Be1 42. Kd1 Bf2 43. Ke2 Bg1 44. h3 Ke8 45. Kf1 Kd7 46. Nb4 wlc-No better is 46.Kxg1 Kxc6 with a lost king and pawn endgame for white. 46... Bxd4 47. f4 g5 48. Nc2 Bc3 49. g3 gxf4 50. gxf4 Bd2 51. Nd4 Bxf4 White resigns in a hopeless position 0-1

B71: Sicilian Dragon: 6 f4

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. f4 wlc- The Levenfish variation by white 6... Nc6 7. Nxc6 wlc-Also pla yed is 7.Bb5 Bd7 8.Bxc6 Bxc6 9. e5 dxe5 10. fxe5 Ne4 11.Nxe4 Bxe4 12.0-0 and black is ok.Chris Ward's "Winning with the Dragon", Ed.#1 7... bxc6 8. Bd3 !? A rare move. More typical of this variation is 8.e5 Nd7! 9.exd6 exd6 and then follwed with either 10.Qd4 Nf6 or 10.Be3Nf6 8... Bg7 8... Qb6 wlc-Another possibility 9. b3 Bg7 10. Na4 Qb4+ 11. c3 Golubev in "Easy Guide to the Dragon" sites Karasev-Savchenko, Leninfgrad 1989 as unclear here. 9. O-O O-O 10. Qe1 d5 11. exd5 cxd5 12. f5 Qb6+ 13. Kh1 d4 14. Ne4 ? A mistake. Better is either 14.Ne2 or 14.Nd1 14. Ne2 Bxf5 15. Bxf5 gxf5 16. Rxf5 Rac8 17. c3 Qe6 18. Qf1 dxc3 19. Nxc3 =(0.00) 14. Nd1 Bxf5 15. Bxf5 gxf5 16. Rxf5 Rad8 17. c3 e6 =(-0.12) 14... Bxf5 15. Nxf6+ Qxf6 16. Bd2 16. g4 ?( Doesn't work because of check 16....Qc6+) 16... Qc6+ 17. Kg1 Bxd3 18. cxd3 e5 -+(-1.50) 16... e5 17. Bxf5 ?! 17. Be4 wlc-May be slightly better. 17... Rab8 18. Rb1 Qe6 (-1.03) 17... gxf5 18. Qf2 wlc-18.c3 right away may be better 18... f4 19. c3 d3 20. Qf3 Qg6 21. Rae1 Rfe8 22. Re4 ?! wlc-This plan is ok as long as white plays 23.g4 on the next move. Otherwise, it loses tempos when black plays 24...f5! and the rook simply has to move again. 22... Rad8 23. g3 23. g4 wlc-With 23....f5 coming, this is better 23... Re6 24. c4 Qg5 (-1.06) 23... f5 ! 24. Ree1 fxg3 25. Rg1 e4 26. Qe3 26. Qxg3 wlc-Slightly better, though black is still winning 26... Qxg3 27. Rxg3 Kh8 28. Rg2 Be5 29. Rg5 Rf8 (-2.44) 26... Be5 27. hxg3 Bc7 28. Qf2 Bb6 29. Be3 ? 29.Re3 is better. 29... d2 ! wlc-Winning quickly. 30. Rd1 Qh5+ White resigns. If 31.Kg2 Qf3+ 32.Qxf3 exf3 + 33.Kxf3 Rxe3+, winning the important dark-squared bishop. Another victory for the Dragon in a chessgame! 0-1

1. Nf3 wlc-This game appears on pages 34 and 35 in Chess Life, April 2003. For Donaldson's comments on the game read the Chess Life article on the Lindsborg Rotary Tournament. 1... Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. d4 d5 4. g3 c6 5. Bg2 wlc-The Catalan Opening 5... Nbd7 6. O-O Bd6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Nd2 Be7 9. e4 Nb6 10. b3 c5 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. e5 Ne8 13. Bb2 Nc7 14. Qc2 Qe7 15. Rac1 Bd7 ? 15... dxc4 wlc-A better move 16. Nce4 Bb4 17. a3 Bxd2 18. Nxd2 Rd8 16. cxd5 exd5 17. Nce4 Ba3 ? This loses right away. 17... Bb4 wlc-A better move 18. Qxc7 Rab8 19. Bc3 dxe4 20. Bxb4 Qxb4 21. Nxe4 Bc6 22. Nd6 Bxg2 23. Kxg2 Qa5 +-(1.59) but better than the game line 18. Bxa3 Qxa3 19. Ng5 Black resigns wlc-He is going to lose a piece without compensation. 1-0

B43: Sicilian: Kan Variation: 5 Nc3

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 wlc-This is the third time I have played the white side against Neil Andrews Sicilian Kan defense. The first time, I went for 5.c4 at this point in the game and got beaten badly. The next time I went with this present variation( 5.Nc3 and 6.Bd3) and almost won. In that game I made a mistake in the middle game under time pressure. This time the game ends up in a tricky "rook and pawn endgame", and Neil again manages to win again! One of these days I am going to win a tournament chess game from him! 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Bd3 wlc-Copying the last game I played against him 6... Bb4 wlc-Neil deviates at this move, and we have a very different type of game as a result. 7. Bd2 Nf6 8. O-O O-O 9. a3 Bc5 10. Nb3 Be7 11. Kh1 b6 12. f4 d6 13. Qe2 Nbd7 14. h3 Bb7 15. Rae1 wlc-This rook is probably better on d1. 15... e5 16. Nd5 ? wlc- A flawed plan, based on 20.Qh5. 16. Rd1 wlc-This is better. There is no need to take on e5 16... Rfe8 17. f5 Nc5 18. Nxc5 dxc5 19. a4 wlc-Equal according to Fritz 8.0 16... Nxd5 17. exd5 Bxd5 18. Bc3 Bb7 18... Bf6 wlc-This is what I was counting on, but it doesn't work 19. Bxh7+ Kxh7 20. Qd3+ e4 21. Qxd5 Bxc3 22. bxc3 Nf6 23. Qf5+ Kg8 24. Re3 Rac8 25. Rg3 Qd8 26. Qg5 Ne8 wlc-Black still has a slight advantage here 19. fxe5 dxe5 20. Qh5 g6 21. Bxe5 ? A mistake, which Neil doesn't take advantage of. 21... Nxe5 ? 21... Qc6 ! wlc-Winning 22. Qg4 h5 23. Qg3 Bh4 24. Qh2 Bxe1 25. Rxe1 Nxe5 26. Rxe5 Rae8 27. Rxe8 Rxe8 -+ (-2.78) wlc-And black should win this with the exchange up. 22. Qxe5 Qxe5 23. Rxe5 Bd6 24. Re2 Rae8 25. Rfe1 Rxe2 26. Rxe2 Rc8 27. Nd2 b5 28. Ne4 Be5 29. c3 f5 30. Ng5 Bf6 31. Nf3 Rd8 32. Bc2 Bd5 33. Nd2 Kf7 34. Bb3 wlc-Glad to get rid of one of these bishops. 34... Bg5 35. Bxd5+ Rxd5 36. Nf3 Bf4 37. Nd4 ?! A positional mistake that results in an isolated 'd' pawn. I was concerned about mate threats along the back rank, unnecessarily so, as postgame analysis shows. 37. Kg1 wlc-Removing some threats. 37... Bg3 38. Nd4 f4 = (-.0.03) 37... Be5 38. Rd2 38. Nf3 wlc-A better move. 38... Rd1+ 39. Re1 Rxe1+ 40. Nxe1 Kf6 41. Nd3 Bd6 42. Kg1 g5 43. Kf2 (-0.41) 38... Bxd4 39. cxd4 f4 40. Kg1 Kf6 41. Kf2 Kf5 42. Kf3 g5 43. g3 ?! wlc-Maybe not the best move. 43. b4 h5 44. g4+ fxg3 45. Kxg3 Ke4 46. Re2+ Kxd4 47. Re6 Kc4 48. Rxa6 Rd3+ 49. Kg2 h4 50. Ra8 Rg3+ 51. Kh2 Rf3 52. Kg2 Rc3 53. Ra7 (-0.41) 43... fxg3 44. Ke3 ? wlc-The losing move. The course of this rook and pawn endgame is unclear if I play correctly. There is a constant fear of a possible Zugswang for white because of black's superior king position at this time in the game. 44. Kxg3 wlc-Not the best either 44... Ke4 45. Re2+ (45. Kg4 ? wlc-This loses 45... Rxd4 46. Rh2 h6 47. Kh5 Rd6 48. h4 gxh4 49. Rxh4+ Kd3 50. b4 Kc3 51. Rg4 Kb2 52. Rg3 Rc6 wlc-Winning) 45... Kxd4 46. Re6 a5 47. Kg4 Kc4 48. Re3 b4 49. Re4+ Kb3 50. axb4 axb4 51. Kh5 Rc5 52. Kh6 Rc4 53. Re2 Ka2 54. Kxh7 b3 55. Kg6 Rc2 56. Re1 Rxb2 57. Kxg5 Rg2+ 58. Kf6 b2 wlc-Winning 44. b4 ! wlc-The best move, winning the black 'a' pawn for the white 'd' pawn. 44... h5 45. Kxg3 Ke4 46. Re2+ Kxd4 47. Re6 Kc4 48. Rxa6 Kb3 49. Ra5 Rd3+ 50. Kg2 Kc4 wlc-A difficult endgame for black to win, and the best line for white. 44... h5 45. Rg2 h4 46. Rc2 Rd6 47. Rc5+ Kf6 48. Re5 ? Making black's job easy 48... Re6 ! White resigns 0-1