1. d4 d5

This is the first time I had met Kevin - I had played a couple of times up at Gosford and had invited them down in some sort of effort to inject some life into Ettalong. Kevin and I were on board 3 while Dawn Jones was their Gosford's board 4. They were introduced as people who had just turned up a week before and the Jones' led us to believe they were inexperienced, in fact Kevin said as much to me. So I took it 'easy' on him (well - playing cautiously and not wanting to be too 'serious' ), by the time I realized this guy knew what he was doing on the chessboard I was well into the mode of not playing strongest (if that would have helped anyway - I had only been playing a couple of years in a club, had played in only one weekender thus far and had too big of an idea of myself than warranted.

2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bg5 Bg4 4. e3 e6 5. c4 h6 6. Bf4 Bb4+ 7. Nc3 Ne4 8. Rc1 Nc6 9. Be2 Na5?!

what was I thinking ???

10. cxd5 exd5 11. O-O Nxc3 12. bxc3 Bd6 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Qa4+ Nc6 15. Rfe1 O-O 16. Qb3 Rad8 17. c4 Na5 18. Qa4?! b6 19. c5 Qg6 20. cxb6 cxb6? 21. Ne5 Qg5 22. Bxg4 f6?

I used to make my blunders in clusters in those days - still do really.

23. Be6+ Kh8 24. Nf7+ Rxf7 25. Bxf7

black resigns

1-0

1. e4 e5

OK I thought, this guy knows what he is doing - and I am no good at maintaining a position while waiting for my opponent to go this way or that. At the end of the previous game Kevin became a little arrogant and opened up a little telling me had run chess clubs in the past - so I knew he was not so new to it as he had said before the first game. I still thought he was quite a nice chap, if a little gruff, but I was a little mystified(and disgruntled) as to why both he acted the way they had before.

2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. O-O Bc5 5. c3 O-O 6. Re1 d5 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Nxe5?

b4 would have been stronger

8... Nxe5 9. Rxe5 Be6 10. d4

missing ...Bxf2+ Kxf2 Qh4+ Kg1 Qxc4

10... Bd6 11. Re4 Bf5 12. Bxd5 Bxe4 13. Bxe4 Qh4 14. Nd2? Qxh2+ 15. Kf1 Qh1+ 16. Ke2 Qh5+ 17. Bf3 Rfe8+

and the King goes for a wander

18. Kd3 Qf5+ 19. Be4 Qxf2 20. Qf1 Qg3+ 21. Kc2 Qg4 22. Bxb7 Rab8 23. Bd5 Qg6+ 24. Kd1 Qg4+ 25. Nf3 Bg3 26. Bd2 Rbd8 27. Bc4 Re7 28. Kc1 Bf4 29. Kc2 Bxd2 30. Kxd2 Qf4+ 31. Kc2 Qe4+ 32. Bd3 Qf4 33. Qh1 h6 34. Rg1 Rde8 35. g3 Re3??

??

36. gxf4

black resigns - and I've never seen a guy move so fast. Kevin got up and told his wife that they were leaving and within seconds they were gone.

1-0

1. d4 d5

Kevin was by now President of Gosford Chess Club - having been at the AGM, stating his organizational history and starting the reform of the club by running regular competitions. This Championship (a Round Robin) turned out to be extremely long - at the same time the long (eventually cancelled ) World Championship match between Karpov and Kasparov was running - I wondered which competition would finish first. During the championship I deferred a few rounds due to playing in Campbelltown and caught up with them by going to player's house etc.

2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6

Kevin had been talking to us before about game preparation and how it had helped him in the past - how he had spent a week or so studying the Queen's Gambit for a certain opponent and got to know it really well - perhaps a certain variation I can't specifically remember now. And so it was with a bit of trepidation I recognised that I was faced with a Queen's Gambit (I didn't know enough to vary into anything else anyway).

4. cxd5 cxd5 5. e3 e6 6. Bd3 Bb4 7. Qc2 O-O 8. Nge2 Nc6 9. a3 Ba5 10. O-O Bd7

white time 7 mins; black 6.5

11. Bd2 Rc8 12. Rac1 Qc7 13. f3 e5 14. Kh1

Kevin started to take a long time over moves - 13 minutes over move 13 I think I noted down somewhere.

14... exd4 15. Nb5 Qb6 16. Bxa5 Qxa5 17. Qb3 dxe3 18. Nbd4 Nxd4 19. Nxd4 b6 20. Nc2 Ba4

white time 55 mins; black 19

21. Qa2 Bxc2 22. Bxc2 e2 23. Rfe1 Rxc2 24. Qb1 Rxc1 25. Qxc1 Re8 26. h3 Qc5 27. Qd2 Qf2 28. Qc1 Nh5 29. Kh2 Qg3+ 30. Kg1 Nf4 31. Rxe2 Nxe2+

white resigns

0-1

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 e6 5. Bd2 Bb4 6. a3 Bxc3 7. Bxc3 Qd5 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Be2 Nf6 10. O-O O-O 11. Re1 Re8 12. Bd3 a6 13. Ne5 b5 14. Qd2 Bb7 15. Qf4? Nxe5 16. f3 Nxd3 17. cxd3 Qd6 18. Qh4 Bd5 19. Bd2 c6 20. Bg5 Qe7 21. Re5 h6 22. Bxh6 gxh6 23. Qxh6 Nh7 24. Rae1 Qf6 25. Qh5 Qg6 26. Qh4 Kh8 27. Rg5?? Qf6? 28. Re3?? Qxg5

white resigns

0-1

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. c3 Nf6 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4 Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 O-O 9. O-O d6 10. h3 a6 11. Rc1 d5 12. exd5 Nxd5 13. Re1 Be6 14. Bb3 Nf4 15. Nc4 Qd5?!

Certainly an active plan, willing to risk quite a bit.

16. Nb6 Nxh3+ 17. gxh3 Qf5 18. Bxe6

taking the Rook was just simpler

18... Qg6+ 19. Kf1 fxe6 20. Nxa8 Rxa8 21. Ne5 Qf5 22. Qg4

The old "when in front - swap off" principle.

22... Nxe5 23. Qxf5 exf5 24. dxe5 c6 25. e6 Re8 26. Rcd1 h6 27. Rd7 Kh7 28. e7 c5 29. Rd8 Kg6 30. Rxe8 Kg5 31. Rg8 g6 32. e8=Q Kf4 33. Qe3+

1-0

1. e4

Thelma was a long-time Treasurer of the club, eventually a made a life-member. Thelma did not seem to garner strong overall toirnament results, but was always a player you had to work hard to beat - and would almost regularly come up with a good result against leading players - for example a win against Eddie Mari, long-time champion of Gosford.

1... e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bc4 Qe7?! 4. c3 h6 5. O-O Be6 6. Bxe6 Qxe6 7. d4 Nf6 8. d5 Qd7 9. c4? Nxe4 10. Re1 Nc5 11. Bf4?! Be7 12. Bg3 O-O 13. Nc3 a6 14. b4 e4 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Rxe4 Bf6 17. Rc1 c5 18. bxc5 dxc5 19. Ne5 Bxe5 20. Bxe5 Qf5 21. Qg4 Qxg4 22. Rxg4 f6 23. Bc3 Nd7 24. Re1 Rae8 25. Rxe8?!

White has frittered away his small plus over the last dozen moves to an game, to a small plus for black.

25... Rxe8 26. h3 Kf7 27. Rf4 Re2 28. a3

Here is Thelma consolidating he lead.

28... Ne5?!

but it doesn't take much to hand the advantage over - better was ...Rc2 or ...Ra2

29. Kf1 Nd3? 30. Rxf6+ gxf6 31. Kxe2 Nc1+ 32. Kd2 Nb3+??

...Na2 was the only way to 'save' the Knight.

33. Kc2 Nd4+ 34. Bxd4 cxd4 35. Kd3 Ke7 36. Kxd4 b6 37. f4 f5 38. Ke5 a5 39. Kxf5 Kd6 40. g4

black resigns

1-0

1. e4 e5

This was my first competition game against Thelma, which certainly put me in my place if I ever had thoughts of being the "roving chess player, snapping up good results here and there".

2. Bc4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6 4. d4 d5?!

something like ...Bb4 would have been much more useful.

5. exd5 cxd5 6. Bb5+ Nc6 7. dxe5 Qe7 8. Nf3 Bd7

This only confirms white's lead.

9. O-O O-O-O?? 10. exf6 Qxf6 11. Qxd5?

Missing Bg5 and after taking the Rook THEN Qxd5

11... Bh3 12. Qh5 Bf5 13. Bxc6 Qxc6?? 14. Qxf5+ Kb8 15. Ne5 Qc7 16. Nxf7 Bb4 17. Nxh8 Bxc3??

And yet another fumble, looking back I'm wondering how the heck I played on - all I can think of is that I just could not see anything at all of the position - not enough to realize how many pieces I was behind.

18. Bf4

black resigns - and about time too.

1-0

1. e4 e6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Bg5 h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. e5 Qd8 6. Nf3 Be7 7. Be2 d5 8. O-O Nc6 9. c4 Na5 10. c5 b6 11. b4 Nc4 12. Bxc4 dxc4 13. Qc2

Qa4+ may have been more active though I would've wanted to 'provoke' ...b5 in my then-view of 'fixing' a better pawn structure in place for white.

13... b5 14. Nc3 Bb7 15. Nd2?! a6 16. a4 O-O 17. axb5 Qxd4 18. Rfe1 Qg4?

handing the initiative back to white

19. f3? Qd4+ 20. Kh1 c6?! 21. Ne2

b6 would have been more secure

21... Qd3 22. Qxd3 cxd3 23. bxc6 Bxc6 24. Nc3?! Rfd8 25. Ra3 Bg5 26. Nb3 Bd2?? 27. Nxd2 g5 28. Kg1 Kg7 29. Kf2 Kg6 30. b5?!

In an effort to 'win' the d-pawn I allow black too much counterplay. There was better to be had than forcing the exchange, the pawns would have been more useful together - rather than isolating another while throwing a pawn away. A better alternative being Ke3 ...Kf5 Nc4 heading for d6

30... axb5 31. Rxa8 Rxa8 32. Ke3 Kf5 33. Kxd3 Rd8+ 34. Kc2 f6 35. g4+ Kg6 36. Na2 f5 37. Nb4 Rc8 38. Nxc6 Rxc6 39. Nb3 b4 40. Rd1 Rc8 41. Rd6 Re8 42. c6 f4 43. c7 Rc8 44. Rd7 h5 45. h3 hxg4 46. hxg4 Kh6 47. Kd3 Kg6 48. Kc4 Kh6 49. Kb5 Kg6

black resigns

1-0

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. O-O O-O 6. Nd5 Re8 7. d3 Bc5 8. Ng5 h6? 9. Nxc7?

Nxc6+ would have been _much_ more accurate

9... Qxc7 10. Bxf7+ Kf8 11. Bxe8 Kxe8 12. Nf3 d5 13. Nh4? Qf7 14. Be3 d4 15. Bd2 Be7 16. Nf5 Qg6 17. h3 Be6 18. Qf3 Kd7 19. c3 Rf8 20. Nxe7 Kxe7 21. Qg3 Qh7 22. a3 g6 23. c4 Nh5 24. Qh4+ Rf6 25. f3 Qg7 26. b4 Nf4 27. Bxf4 exf4 28. b5 Ne5 29. Rae1?

of course Rad1 was necessary

29... g5 30. Qh5?? Bf7 31. Qxf7+ Rxf7 32. Rd1 h5 33. Kf2 g4

black clearly wants to exchange off quickly now that he is a majior piece to the good

34. h4 g3+ 35. Ke2 Qf8 36. Ra1 Kd7 37. Rfb1 Qe7 38. a4 Qxh4 39. Rh1 Qg5 40. Rab1 Rh7 41. c5 Qe7 42. Rbc1 Kc7 43. Rc4 Nxc4 44. dxc4 Qxc5 45. Kd3 Kb6 46. Rh4 Qd6 47. Rh1 Ka5 48. Rd1 h4 49. Ke2 h3 50. gxh3 Rxh3 51. Kd3 g2 52. Rg1 Rxf3+ 53. Ke2

white resigns I got QxP as black's last move, not check but obviously wrong

0-1

1. e4

In our encounters over 15 years till 1999 we only played 2 games of less than 40 moves where tactics resulted from an early slip - this is one of them.

1... e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Bc5 5. d3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. a3 Bg4?!

pushing my King's Bishop around is time-consuming and not all that productive.

8. b4 Bb6 9. Qd2?!

the open g-file doesn't look like enough compensation to me, black looks as if it can attack quicker than white can defend, and handing black the initiative would certainly be uncomfortable in the short term - and perhaps in the long.

9... Bxf3 10. gxf3 Nd4! 11. Qd1 Qd7

gearing up for the "big attack"

12. Kh1??

now things get very difficult, playing Kg2 at first and nullifying the black knight on d4 was necessary before putting activity down the g-file.

12... Qh3 13. Rg1 Nxf3 14. Rg2 Ng4 15. Qe2

Here I had put in a ? in a past comment - though this is only because of the coming storm, while according to the Fritz playing engine since 12 Kh1 white had been playing the best (the only practical) available choices, as too had black..

15... Ngxh2 16. Rxg7+

A last throw of the dice - though this allows a mate-in-4 (if black can see it).

16... Kxg7

time: white 28 black 11

17. Bh6+ Qxh6 18. Rg1+ Nxg1 19. Kxg1 Qh3 20. Nd5

white resigns

0-1

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6

The first time we played this position (or any Ruy in fact), we played this position one other time, in the same year - well in the remaining 3 games (in '87; '91 & '99) Thelma has had white. The position after 3. Nf6 has been a 'happy hunting ground' for me with 12 wins; 3 draws and 2 losses, although this probably has more to do with the worth of black's third move, as well as only 2 players over 1550 have opted for it (a win & a loss), than my own "supremacy". Further on with that thought about my success or otherwise with the Ruy, as white - and the following stats are based on all standard-length games till Sept 2001. My results as White with the Ruy - all rated games 43 wins 5 draws and 33 losses, against players less than 1550 : 40 wins 3 draws and 17 losses. Although the 'big plus' mainly comes against players less than 1250, against those around my level about 50-50 and against those above 1550 then 3 wins 19 losses and a couple of draws - performance in all these groups is around 1400.

4. d3

In later Ruys I would play the more active and more logical 0-0.

4... a6 5. Ba4 Bc5 6. c3 Ng4 7. d4 exd4 8. cxd4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Qe7 10. O-O O-O 11. Re1 Bxd2 12. Nbxd2 d6 13. Rc1 Bd7 14. h3?! Nf6 15. e5 dxe5 16. Bxc6 Bxc6 17. Nxe5 Qd6 18. Nxc6 bxc6 19. Nc4 Qd8 20. Na5

Ne5 would have been much sounder, I'm not sure what this knight is doing on the edge of the board - one suspects very little.

20... Re8 21. Nxc6 Rxe1+ 22. Qxe1 Qe8 23. Ne7+!? Kf8 24. Rxc7? Nd5! 25. Rb7 Nxe7 26. Qb4

! - is my orig inal note - although it is simply the least self-harmful white could make, hoping to generate counterplay

26... Rc8

?! Rd8 may well have been preferable, blocking white's counterplay

27. d5 Rc1+?!

It may look aggressive, but removing a defender is favours white more than it does black.

28. Kh2 Rc8 29. d6 Nd5 30. Qa3?

Chicken - the alternative being 30. d7+ Nxb4 31 dxe8Q+ Rxe8 32 Rxb4 Re2 33 Kg3Qe7 was needed instead

30... Qe5+ 31. g3 Rd8 32. d7+ Kg8?

Qe7 was needed instead

33. Qxa6? Nf6 34. Qc6 Qe7 35. a4 Nxd7

I would have felt more comfortable with taking with the Rook first.

36. a5 Ne5 37. Qb5?? Nf3+! 38. Kg2 Ne1+?!

black still has a good edge

39. Kf1 Nc2?? 40. Rxe7 Kf8 41. Qc5 Rd1+

not that it matters ... well it might seeing as how the great advantage in this game has swung about so wildly, but this allows white a mate-in-3

42. Kg2 Ne1+ 43. Rxe1+

black resigns, and I can't remember whether I saw the mate-in-3. Thlema certainly should have won this game, certainly retaining the edge even without white's weak 37th move.

1-0

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Bxc6 bxc6?! 7. Nxe5 Be7 8. d4 Bb7?! 9. Nc3?! O-O 10. Qg4

!?

10... Bc8 11. Bh6

!?

11... Bf6 12. Bf4 Rb8 13. b3 Rb4 14. Rad1 a5

black's position is slowly slipping bit by little bit, but it looks very hard for white to break through

15. a3 Rb6 16. Qg3 Nf5 17. Qd3 d6 18. Nf3 Qd7 19. Ne4 Qd8 20. Neg5 h6

time : white - 17; black - 45

21. Ne4 Rb8 22. h3 Be6 23. c4 d5? 24. Nxf6+ Qxf6 25. c5?!

I probably did not rate snatching the c-pawn that highly - being doubled and all, preferring to block the position, although I could have achieved both with 25. Bxc7 Ra8 26. Be5 Qg6 27. c5

25... Nh4! 26. Nxh4

draw offer by white before move

26... Qxh4

? the bishop was more dangerous

27. Bxc7 Ra8 28. Re3 Qe7? 29. Bd6 Qd8 30. Bxf8 Qxf8 31. Rg3 f6 32. Qg6! Bf7

not seeing the pin of the NP after 44.P-B3

33. Qxh6 g6 34. Qf4 Re8?! 35. Qxf6 Qg7? 36. Qxg7+

Taken the simple way out, I must have been confident I wasn't going to blunder OR I thought I would get the Queens off to reduce the effect of any blunder on my part. An alternative was to take the c-pawn and then push the b-pawn.

36... Kxg7 37. Re3 Re4 38. Kh2 g5 39. Kg3 Be6 40. Rdd3 g4 41. Rxe4 dxe4 42. Re3 Bf5 43. hxg4 Bg6 44. f3

black resigns

1-0

Australian Championship (Reserves)

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bf4 Nbd7 5. e3 e6 6. Nc3 b6 7. a3 c5 8. Be2 Bb7 9. O-O Be7 10. Nb5 O-O 11. Qc2 a6 12. Nc3 dxc4 13. Rad1 Re8 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. Ne5 Qe7 16. Nxd7 Nxd7 17. Ne4 b5 18. Nxc5 Nxc5 19. f3 e5 20. Bg3 Nd7 21. Qc3 Nf6 22. e4 Nh5 23. Ra1

?! wasted tempo?

23... Nxg3 24. hxg3 Rad8 25. Rad1

confirms that the previous R move WAS a wasted tempo OR that Thelma wasn't afraid to switch plans midstream

25... Rxd1 26. Rxd1 Qc5+ 27. Kf1 Bc6 28. g4 Re6 29. Qd2 Be8 30. Qd5 Qa7 31. g5 h6 32. Qd2 hxg5 33. g4 f6 34. Kg2 Re7 35. Rh1 Rd7 36. Qc3 Qc5 37. b4 Qd4

draw offer by white (half joke) this whole tournament I had been using up more time, now I had used 117 mins ( 3 mins) to time control, Thelma had used 110 mins

38. Qc1 Qd2 39. Qxd2 Rxd2 40. Kf2 Ra2 41. Ra1

This is clearly a typo, I must look at the orignal scoresheet to confirm

41... Rxa3 42. Rb1 Rb3 43. Ra1 Rxb4

white was not pressing her clock - clearly had given up

44. Rxa6 c3 45. Ke1?? Rb1+! 46. Kf2 c2 47. Bd3 c1=Q 48. Bxb1 Qxb1

white resigns

0-1

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Be2 Be7 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. b3 O-O 8. O-O Qc7 9. g3 e5 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Qxe5 12. Qd4 Qc7 13. Bb2 Rd8 14. Rad1 Bh3 15. Rfe1 c5 16. Qh4 Bf5 17. Qf4 Qxf4 18. exf4 d4 19. Nb5 a6 20. Na3 Rd7 21. Bd3 Bg4 22. Rd2 Re8 23. Kg2 Kf8?! 24. Nc2?! Rdd8 25. a3 Bd6 26. Rxe8+ Nxe8 27. f3 Bd7 28. Bxh7 g6 29. b4 b6 30. h4 Kg7 31. Bxg6 fxg6 32. Kg1?

missing the Nxd4 line

32... Be6 33. Rg2 Bxc4 34. h5 Kh6 35. Bc1 gxh5 36. Rh2 Kg6 37. f5+ Kxf5 38. Rxh5+ Kg6 39. g4 Nf6 40. Rg5+ Kf7 41. Ne1 Bg3 42. Ng2 d3 43. Bd2 Rd5 44. bxc5 bxc5 45. Rxd5 Bxd5 46. g5 Nh5 47. f4 Bxg2 48. Kxg2 Bxf4

white resigns

0-1

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6

?!

5. Be2

?

5... Bxf4 6. exf4 Qd6 7. O-O

!?

7... Qxf4 8. c4 c6 9. Nc3 O-O 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Qc2 Nc6 12. Rad1 Bd7 13. a3 Rac8 14. Qb3 b6 15. Bb5 Na5 16. Qa4 Bxb5 17. Qxb5 Nc4 18. Rfe1 Ng4 19. Ne2 Qd6 20. Ng3 g6 21. h3 Nf6 22. Ne5 Ne8 23. Ng4 Nc7 24. Qb3 Qf4 25. Qc2 Nb5 26. Qe2

?

26... Nxd4 27. Nh6+ Kg7 28. Qg4 Qxg4 29. Nxg4 Nb5 30. Rc1 Nbd6 31. Ne3 Nxb2 32. Rxc8 Rxc8 33. h4

I took this as 'fiddling while Rome burns, I grew to regret letting the pawn slip through as far as it would do.

33... Rc3 34. Ne2

?

34... Rxa3 35. Ng3 Nbc4 36. Ng4 a5 37. h5 a4 38. h6+ Kh8 39. Kh2 Rb3

ready to puxsh the pawn

40. f3 a3 41. Nf6

white need s too many moves to mate with the other knight (on f2) - apart from every entry square being controlled.

41... a2 42. Ra1

forced since

42... Rb2 43. Nf1

stopping ..Ne3 followed by ..Nc2

43... Na3 44. Ne3 Nac4

I considered the pawn push but I guess I was just being conservative

45. Nxc4 Nxc4 46. Kg3 Na3 47. Ng4 Nc2 48. Rd1 a1=Q

white resigned

0-1