[Event "Cuadrangular UNAM 2012"]
[Site "Mexico City MEX"]
[Date "2012.11.25"]
[Round "2.1"]
[White "Carlsen, M."]
[Black "Polgar, Ju"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E90"]
[WhiteElo "2848"]
[BlackElo "2705"]
[Annotator "Shaw,John"]
[PlyCount "100"]
[EventDate "2012.11.24"]
[EventType "k.o. (rapid)"]
[EventRounds "2"]
[EventCountry "MEX"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. d4 O-O {The King's Indian has been
one of Judit's favourite openings since 1988. As Judit mentions in "How I Beat
Fischer's Record", she started studying it with the great opening expert
Laszlo Hazai.} 6. h3 e5 7. d5 Na6 8. Be3 ({Also frequently seen is} 8. Bg5 {
with the idea that if} h6 9. Be3 {White might gain a tempo attacking h6. On
the other hand, if Black plays 8...Qe8 then play may be similar to the game.
In fact, several games with 8.Bg5 follow our game with the bishop dropping
back to e3, leaving White a full tempo down on Carlsen's play.}) 8... Qe8 9. g4
Nc5 10. Nd2 a5 11. Be2 c6 12. Rg1 {A new move.} ({Known was} 12. g5 Nfd7 {as
in Loxine (2399) - E. Paehtz,(2461), Dresden 2012. I am no expert on the KID,
but instead of the game's subtle 13.Qc2 I would be reaching out to play the
direct} 13. h4) 12... Kh8 13. h4 Ng8 14. Qc2 Bd7 15. O-O-O cxd5 16. Nxd5 Ne6
17. h5 g5 {It is all looking great for White. The KID bishop is dead, while
the d5-knight is dominant. Nothing can possibly go wrong...} 18. Kb1 Ba4 19. b3
Bc6 20. Nb6 Rd8 21. Qc3 Nf4 22. Bf1 h6 23. Qxa5 f5 24. gxf5 ({It makes sense
to avoid} 24. exf5 e4 {when the g7-bishop is resurrected.}) 24... Qxh5 25. Re1
Nf6 26. Nd5 Ra8 27. Qb4 Rfd8 28. f3 $4 {Everything turns - from winning to
lost - on one natural-looking move.} (28. Nxf6 Bxf6 29. f3 {would keep total
control.}) 28... Qh4 $1 {The queen hits the e1-rook but that threat can easily
be met, so what's the big idea? In fact, Black has a second threat of taking
twice on d5, exploiting a well-hidden potential pin between h4 and b4. I found
this difficult to spot (there are so many pieces in between!) but Judit is
exactly the sort of razor-sharp player who sees this in an instant.} 29. Rc1
Bxd5 (29... N6xd5 30. cxd5 Nxd5 {looks an even better option.}) 30. cxd5 (30.
Bxf4 {was a chance to lessen the damage, but Black is still very happy after}
Qxf4 31. cxd5 Nxd5 32. Qc4 Ne3) 30... N4xd5 31. Bxg5 Qxg5 $1 (31... hxg5 {
loses most of Black's advantage after} 32. Qxb7 $1) 32. Rxg5 Nxb4 33. Rg2 d5 {
Now Black simply has an extra piece; Judit finished efficiently.} 34. exd5
Nfxd5 35. Ne4 Ne3 36. f6 Bf8 37. Rh2 Rac8 38. Bc4 Nxc4 39. bxc4 Kg8 40. Rb2 Rc7
41. c5 Nd3 42. Rd2 Rcd7 43. c6 bxc6 44. Rxc6 Kf7 45. Rb6 Nc5 46. Rxd7+ Rxd7 47.
Nf2 h5 48. Rc6 Rd2 49. Nh3 Ne6 50. a4 Rh2 {British football commentators have
an annoying habit of saying "It's like a game of chess out there" when the
match they are watching is bogged down in a midfield "stalemate". Well, this
was like a game of football: White had all the possession, but Black took her
only chance and buried it in the back of the net.} 0-1

[Event "72nd ch-ITA 2012"]
[Site "Torino ITA"]
[Date "2012.11.02"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Brunello, S."]
[Black "Garcia Palermo, C."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D36"]
[WhiteElo "2591"]
[BlackElo "2481"]
[Annotator "Ntirlis,Nikos"]
[PlyCount "141"]
[EventDate "2012.10.30"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 (5... c6 {This is a move
order suggested by IM Cox in his QDG book and may well be indeed the most
accurate here. Schandorff in his book advocates the move order with 6.Qc2, but
there may be a potential important new idea for Black here} 6. Qc2 (6. e3 {
allows the "Short-Spassky endgame" after} Bf5 7. Qf3 Bg6 8. Bxf6 Qxf6 9. Qxf6
gxf6 {I think that a nice way to play against it with White is the well known}
10. Nf3 Nd7 11. Nh4 Be7 12. g3 Nb6 13. f3 a5 {(13...Nc8 may be better, but in
this case the move ...a5 by Black can be met by b3! and this fact may be
relevant)} 14. Kf2 a4 15. Rc1 (15. Rd1 $146 {may be a serious idea here. The
main point is that after[%cal Gf1d3]} Nc8 16. Bd3 Nd6 {White can play} 17. e4 {
followed by Rhe1. If this is really better for him requires deep analysis to
figure it out, but to me it looks at least slightly uncomfortable for Black
[%cal Gh1e1]}) 15... Nc8 16. Be2 Nd6 17. Rhd1 O-O (17... b5 $5 {has been
played in a high-level corr game and I would be a liar if I say that I really
understand what is going on...}) 18. Bd3 {we are following Van Wely- Short,
Corus 2005. White won this game in a nice style although at this point lots of
people (including Cox) have suggested that Black's best is} Bxd3 19. Rxd3 f5 {
with a close to equal game. I think that indeed Black is fine, so probably
special attention should be given in the suggested improvement 15.Rd1}) 6... h6
$5 7. Bh4 Be6 $1 8. e3 Nbd7 $1 9. Bd3 g5 10. Bg3 Nh5 $1 {was suggested by the
Greek IM Frentzas in the chesspub forum as perfectly acceptable and equal for
Black. The only "over the board game" I have in my database (I have several
recent corr games here as well) continued} 11. Nf3 Nxg3 12. hxg3 Bg7 13. Rb1
Qe7 14. b4 Rc8 15. Ne2 h5 16. Bf5 Bf6 17. Kf1 Kf8 18. a3 Kg7 19. Nd2 b6 20. Bd3
c5 {and Black had taken over the initiative in Arencibia Rodriguez,W (2548)
-Campora,D (2506)/Cali 2001. Certainly food for thought....}) 6. e3 c6 7. Qc2
Nbd7 8. Bd3 Nf8 9. Nge2 Ne6 10. Bh4 g6 11. O-O {You'll find this line analysed
briefly by Schandorff in page 21 of his "Playing the Queen's Gambit" book, but}
Nh5 {was not mentioned. You cannot blame the author though. This move is rare
as well as weak. Let's see how Sabino deals with it} 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. e4 $1
$146 dxe4 14. Bxe4 {Excellent. White's idea is simply to play d5[%cal Gd4d5]}
Nf6 15. d5 $1 {which he does! Black is certainly at least slightly worse after
this and it gets more frightening soon...} Ng5 16. Ng3 Ngxe4 17. Ngxe4 Nxe4 18.
Nxe4 Bf5 $6 {You cannot blame Black for trying to castle queenside.
Unfortunately for him this idea simply doesn't work} (18... cxd5 {of course is
bad due to} 19. Qc3 {but better would have been}) (18... O-O {although after
both} 19. d6 {and} (19. dxc6 {Black's position is unpleasant and those weak
dark squares "smell" like disaster in the near future. The computer cannot see
one coming very soon, but a human player correctly cannot feel safe in the
long term.[%csl Gf6,Gg7,Gh6]})) 19. Qc3 $1 O-O-O 20. Ng3 Bd7 21. Rfe1 Qd6 22.
Ne4 Qxd5 23. Rad1 Qxa2 24. Qe5 $16 (24. Ra1 Qd5 25. Rxa7 {was much quicker})
24... Be6 25. Nd6+ Rxd6 26. Qxh8+ Kc7 27. Rxd6 Kxd6 28. Qb8+ Ke7 29. Qxb7+ {
Sabino will win the exchange up endgame. It required some patience, but the
result was never in doubt. Especialy as there are pawns on both sides of the
board.} Kf6 30. Qb8 Qa5 31. Qh8+ Kf5 32. Rc1 h5 33. Qd4 Bd5 34. h4 Ke6 35. Rc3
Qb6 36. Re3+ Kd7 37. Qc3 a5 38. Rd3 Qb4 39. Qxb4 axb4 40. Rd4 b3 41. f3 Ke6 42.
Kf2 f6 43. Ke3 g5 44. g3 Ke5 45. Rb4 Kf5 46. Rb8 gxh4 47. gxh4 Be6 48. Rh8 Bf7
49. Kd4 Kg6 50. Ke4 Bd5+ 51. Kf4 Be6 52. Rd8 Bc4 53. Rc8 Bd5 54. Rc7 Kh6 55.
Kf5 Bxf3 56. Kxf6 Bd5 57. Rg7 Be4 58. Rg3 Bd5 59. Rg6+ Kh7 60. Rg5 Kh6 61. Re5
Bg8 62. Re8 Kh7 63. Re7+ Kh6 64. Rc7 Bd5 65. Rc8 Kh7 66. Kg5 Bf3 67. Rc7+ Kg8
68. Kg6 Be4+ 69. Kxh5 Kf8 70. Kg5 Ke8 71. Kf4 1-0

[Event "72nd ch-ITA 2012"]
[Site "Torino ITA"]
[Date "2012.11.07"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Brunello, S."]
[Black "Altini, N."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D17"]
[WhiteElo "2591"]
[BlackElo "2354"]
[Annotator "Ntirlis,Nikos"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2012.10.30"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. Ne5 Nbd7 7. Nxc4 Nb6 8.
Ne5 a5 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bh4 e6 11. e4 Bh7 12. f3 Be7 13. Bf2 O-O 14. Be2 Nfd7 15.
Nd3 Rc8 16. O-O c5 {So far everything went well; we are still in preparation!}
17. dxc5 $6 {but now we underestimated a resource from Black which Schandorff
warned us about in his book} (17. Nb5 $1 cxd4 18. Nxd4 $1 {This is what
Schandorff recommends instead in page 132 of his QG book. Indeed, this line
looks better for White.}) 17... Nxc5 18. Nxc5 Bxc5 19. Bxc5 Rxc5 20. Qxd8 Rxd8
21. Rfd1 Rcc8 22. Rab1 {We had in mind this pleasant endgame which was seen in
Gelfand- Felgaer, 2005. It looks grim for Black, doesn't it? What is he going
to do about his Bishop at h7? The next move solves the problem in a very
effective way:[%csl Ge4,Gf3,Gh7][%cal Gh7e4]} f5 $1 {Schandorff had this move,
originally played by GM Kuzubov two years after the Gelfand game, mentioned in
his book. Black solves his problems.} 23. Rxd8+ Rxd8 24. b4 fxe4 25. bxa5 exf3
26. Rxb6 fxe2 27. Rxe6 Bd3 28. Nxe2 Ra8 29. Nf4 Bc4 30. Re5 Bb3 31. Nd5 Bxa4
32. Nb6 Re8 33. Rc5 Bc6 34. Kf2 Rf8+ 35. Kg3 Rf6 36. Nd5 Rg6+ 37. Kf2 Kh7 38.
Ne3 Rd6 39. Ke2 Be4 40. Nf5 Re6 41. Nd4 Rd6 42. Nf5 Re6 43. Nd4 Rd6 44. Nf5
1/2-1/2

[Event "72nd ch-ITA 2012"]
[Site "Torino ITA"]
[Date "2012.10.31"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Brunello, S."]
[Black "Godena, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D20"]
[WhiteElo "2591"]
[BlackElo "2526"]
[Annotator "Ntirlis,Nikos"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2012.10.30"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 Nf6 4. e5 Nd5 5. Bxc4 Nb6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Be3 {
Following Schandorff!} (7. Ne2 {After the text game, Sabino decided to play
another line when faced again with the same defensive system in order to avoid
possible preparation from his opponent. Schandorff also mentions the 7.Ne2
move in his book, so by following this game and some comments you can also add
this line in your repertoire with a bit of extra work.} Bg4 8. f3 Be6 9. Nbc3
Qd7 10. Ne4 Bd5 11. Nc5 Qc8 {I have pleasant memories of this line. In the
recent Olympiad, the Danish team faced Georgia in the important last round and
one of the Georgian players fell victim of the well prepared GM AS Rasmussen
and quickly had a totally lost position with White after the opening.} 12. Bd2
$5 {"I'll not lose my Queen today", said Sabino just before the game.} (12. a3
e6 13. Qc2 Bxc5 14. Qxc5 Qd7 15. O-O a6 $1 {A sneaky move!} (15... Nc4 16. Bxc4
b6 17. Qb5 {wins for White but now the b5 square is covered, so the Knight
jump is threatened}) 16. Bg5 $4 (16. Qc3 {is what White is usually advised to
play here. Black has a solid position though.}) 16... Nc4 17. Bxc4 b6 {Oups!
Now the Queen is lost.} 18. Bxd5 bxc5 19. Be4 Nxd4 20. Bxa8 Nxe2+ 21. Kh1 c6
22. Rfd1 Nd4 23. Rac1 Qa7 24. Rxd4 cxd4 25. Bxc6+ Kf8 26. f4 Qb8 27. b4 f6 28.
Bh4 Kf7 29. Be4 Rc8 {Nice and instructive play by Black here. It happens very
often such positions in club level to be played very passively and not won at
the end. Look how the Grandmaster makes sure that all his pieces will play so
that his material advantage will tell at the end.} 30. Rd1 fxe5 31. fxe5 Qxe5
32. Re1 Qf4 33. g3 Qf2 34. Rg1 Qe3 35. Bb7 Rc1 {0-1 Sanikidze,T (2585)
-Rasmussen,A (2496)/Istanbul TUR 2012. Good game and a nice convincing win for
Denmark in the last round who finished 18th (sadly a bit behind Sweden but
still got a silver medal in the relevant group)}) 12... e6 13. Rc1 Nd7 (13...
Bxc5 {Seems obligatory, but Black is in bad shape after} 14. Rxc5 Qd7 15. b4 $5
Ne7 (15... Qe7 16. O-O Nd7 17. Rxd5 exd5 18. b5 Nd8 19. Qb3 c6 20. f4 {and
White seems to be having excellent compensation for his exchange[%cal Gf4f5]})
16. Qc2 c6 17. a4 {and White is pressing all over the board}) 14. Ne4 Nb4 15.
Bb1 Bc6 16. O-O a5 17. Qe1 Qb8 18. a3 Nd5 19. f4 g6 20. Bxa5 {in Brunello,S 
(2591)-Jonkman,H (2421)/Wijk aan Zee NED 2012 White had already won a pawn and
still had all the other good things in his position he had before winning the
material. He won that game without too many problems.}) 7... Nb4 8. Be4 f5 9.
exf6 exf6 10. Nc3 f5 11. Bb1 N4d5 12. Nf3 Nxe3 {Godena finds a line that
Sabino couldn't find in Schandorff's book because it is simply not there! You
cannot blame the Italian GM. This move has a fantastic score in the database
based on very few games played. But is it sound? I doubt it. Sabino, once
again shows the correct way} 13. fxe3 Qe7 14. O-O Be6 (14... Qxe3+ $2 15. Kh1 {
would be really bad for Black[%cal Gf1e1]}) 15. a4 $1 a5 $146 (15... Nc4 {was
seen in Tikkanen,H (2570)-Stevic,H (2614)/Istanbul TUR 2012 but Godena was
probably right not to follow this example. After the Houdini suggested line:}
16. Qd3 {[%cal Gb1a2]} Nd6 17. d5 Bd7 18. Qd4 {Black is certainly worse.}) 16.
e4 fxe4 17. Bxe4 O-O-O 18. Ne5 {White is better after this and Godena's
opening experiment proved to be a failure. Sabino offered another great game
for Schandorff's third edition of his well received QG book!} Qb4 $6 {Black
needs an improvement here in order to be able to use this line in future games
but I am not sure if there is a really satisfactory one for him.} 19. Nb5 $1
Kb8 20. Qc2 Bd6 21. Bxb7 Bxe5 22. dxe5 Qc4 23. Qf2 Rhf8 24. Bf3 {Sabino is
just a huge pawn up here and totally winning.} Qb4 25. Qc2 Bc4 26. Rfd1 Qc5+
27. Kh1 Qxe5 28. b3 Bxb5 29. axb5 Rxd1+ 30. Rxd1 Re8 31. h3 Qxb5 32. Qxh7 Qxb3
33. Qg6 Qa4 34. Rb1 Re7 35. Qd3 Kc8 36. Bg4+ Kb7 37. Qd5+ Ka7 38. Qc5 Rf7 39.
Be6 Rf4 1-0

[Event "Cultural Village 2012"]
[Site "Wijk aan Zee NED"]
[Date "2012.11.22"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Brunello, S."]
[Black "Van der Lende, I."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E46"]
[WhiteElo "2591"]
[BlackElo "2169"]
[Annotator "Ntirlis,Nikos"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[EventDate "2012.11.19"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 $5 {Following Schandorff once again} O-O (
4... d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 c6 {Was seen in another recent game of Sabino
against a very solid GM.} 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Bd3 b6 9. cxd5 cxd5 10. Qe2 Bb7 11. Bb2
{we started as a Nimzo, but ended up as a QGD, so the owners of the "Indian
Defences" book by Schandorff will not find this line in his second book, but
in the first one (The "Queen's Gambit" one) at page 310.} Qc8 {[%cal Gb7a6]} (
11... Nc6 12. O-O Na5 13. Nd2 $14 {Schandorff}) 12. c4 $6 {a bit too rushed} (
12. Rc1 Ba6 13. c4 $14 {is given by Schandorff}) (12. a4 {is another solution
offered by Sokolov in his "Strategic Nimzo" book. The point is that after the
intended} Ba6 {White plays} 13. Bb5 {an idea also known from some variations
of the French Defense}) 12... dxc4 13. Bxc4 Ba6 14. Bxa6 Qxa6 15. Qxa6 Nxa6 16.
Ke2 Rfc8 17. Rhc1 Ne4 18. Ne5 f6 19. Nd3 Kf7 20. a4 Nd6 21. Rxc8 Rxc8 22. Rc1
Rxc1 23. Nxc1 e5 24. dxe5 Nc4 25. Bc3 Nxe5 26. Nb3 Nc7 27. f4 Nd5 28. Bd2 {1/
2-1/2 Brunello,S (2591)-Rozentalis,E (2592)/Wijk aan Zee NED 2012}) 5. Nge2 c5
6. a3 Bxc3+ 7. Nxc3 b6 {Another line not mentioned by Schandorff for the
simple reason that White's set-up is designed to make those lines bad for
Black. Once again I should say that an author simply cannot put everything in
a book and we are lucky that we can follow Sabino once again!} 8. d5 {Very
typical. Black is playing a bad Benoni.} d6 9. Be2 exd5 10. cxd5 (10. Nxd5 Bb7
11. Nf4 {was probably better}) 10... Ba6 11. O-O Re8 12. e4 Bxe2 13. Qxe2 b5 $2
{This creates some tactical problems for Black} (13... Nbd7 {was better, but
after} 14. f3 {White has a bit more comfortable game, although nothing
decisive can happen soon[%cal Gc1e3,Ga3a4,Gb2b4]}) 14. Qxb5 Nxe4 15. Re1 a6 16.
Qa4 Nf6 17. Bf4 Nbd7 18. Qc6 Ne5 19. Bxe5 dxe5 20. Rad1 Qc8 21. Na4 Qxc6 22.
dxc6 Rac8 23. Rd6 Re7 24. Nxc5 Ne8 25. Rd7 Kf8 26. Nxa6 Rxc6 27. Rxe7 Kxe7 28.
Nb4 {A typical "GM vs Amateur" game. Now only decent technique is required and
a 2600 GM like Sabino will never face problems winning here.} Re6 29. a4 Nc7
30. a5 f6 31. Rc1 Kd7 32. Nd3 Rc6 33. Rd1 Rd6 34. Kf1 Na6 35. Ke2 Kc6 36. f4
exf4 37. Nxf4 Rxd1 38. Kxd1 Kb5 39. Nh5 Kxa5 40. Nxg7 Nc7 41. Nh5 Nd5 42. Ke2
Kb4 43. Kd3 Kc5 44. g4 Kd6 45. Ke4 h6 46. Ng7 Nb6 47. Nf5+ Kc5 48. Nxh6 Nc4 49.
Kf5 1-0

[Event "22nd WSCC Open"]
[Site "Kamena Vourla"]
[Date "2012.11.17"]
[Round "5.2"]
[White "Sveshnikov, Evgeny"]
[Black "Kristiansen, Jens"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "2507"]
[BlackElo "2429"]
[Annotator "Aagaard,Jacob"]
[PlyCount "57"]
[EventDate "2012.11.13"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

1. e4 Nf6 (1... c5 2. c3 Nf6 3. e5 Nd5 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nf3 e6 6. cxd4 d6 7. Nc3
Nxc3 8. bxc3) 2. e5 Nd5 3. c4 Nb6 4. c5 Nd5 5. Nc3 e6 6. d4 d6 7. cxd6 cxd6 8.
Nf3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Qc7 10. Qb3 Nc6 11. Bf4 d5 $5 (11... dxe5 12. Bxe5 Nxe5 13.
Nxe5 a6 14. Qa4+ Bd7 15. Qxd7+ Qxd7 16. Nxd7 Kxd7 $11) 12. Bd3 Bd7 13. O-O h6
14. a4 Na5 15. Qc2 Be7 16. Rfc1 Nc4 17. Nd2 Nxd2 18. Qxd2 Bc6 19. Qe2 Qd7 20.
Be3 a6 21. Bc2 b5 22. Qg4 g6 23. h4 h5 24. Qg3 bxa4 25. Bg5 Bxg5 26. Qxg5 Qe7
27. Bxa4 Bxa4 28. Rxa4 Qxg5 29. hxg5 1/2-1/2

[Event "22nd WSCC Open"]
[Site "Kamena Vourla"]
[Date "2012.11.18"]
[Round "6.4"]
[White "Kristiansen, Jens"]
[Black "Zhelnin, Vladimir V"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[WhiteElo "2429"]
[BlackElo "2459"]
[Annotator "Aagaard,Jacob"]
[PlyCount "107"]
[EventDate "2012.11.13"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

1. d4 d6 2. e4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Be3 Bg7 5. Qd2 Ng4 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 c6 8. h3
Nf6 9. Nf3 d5 10. Bd3 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Bxe4 $14 Nd7 13. O-O Nf6 14. Bd3
g5 $6 (14... O-O $14) 15. Bg3 Nh5 16. Be5 Bxe5 17. Nxe5 Nf4 18. Bc4 Be6 19.
Bxe6 Nxe6 20. c3 (20. Rad1 $14 Qd5 $2 21. c4 $16) 20... Qd5 21. Qc2 $1 Nf4 22.
f3 f6 23. Ng6 Nxg6 24. Qxg6+ Qf7 25. Qf5 Qd5 26. Qg6+ Qf7 27. Qe4 Qd5 (27...
O-O-O $5 $14) 28. Qe3 Kf7 29. Rae1 Rae8 30. b3 (30. f4 $14) 30... a6 (30... e5
$1 31. dxe5 Qxe5 32. Qxa7 Qxe1 33. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 34. Kh2 Re7 $13) 31. f4 $1 gxf4
$2 (31... Rhg8 $14) 32. Rxf4 h5 33. c4 Qd6 34. Qf3 Rd8 35. Kh1 Rd7 36. Rh4 Kf8
37. Ree4 $18 Rg8 38. Qxh5 e5 39. Qf5 Rdg7 40. c5 $6 (40. Rh6 Rf7 41. Qc8+ Kg7
42. Rg4+ $18) 40... Qd8 41. Rh6 Rf7 42. Rg4 $6 $16 (42. Qf2 $1 $18) 42... Rxg4
43. Qxg4 Qxd4 44. Qc8+ Ke7 45. Qxb7+ Qd7 46. Qxa6 e4 47. Rh4 (47. Rh8 $5) 47...
Qd5 48. Qe2 $2 (48. Qb7+ Ke6 49. Qc8+ Ke7 50. Rh8 $18) 48... f5 49. Qe3 Qe5 50.
Qf4 Qxc5 $2 (50... Qxf4 51. Rxf4 Ke6 52. g4 e3 $3 (52... Ke5 53. Rxf5+ Rxf5 54.
gxf5 Kd4 55. f6 e3 56. f7 e2 57. f8=Q e1=Q+ 58. Kg2 $18) 53. Kg1 (53. Kg2 fxg4
54. Re4+ Kd5 55. Rxe3 gxh3+ $11) 53... Rh7 54. Rf3 f4 55. Rxf4 Ke5 56. Rf5+ Kd4
57. Kg2 Rxh3 $1 58. Rf4+ Kd3 59. Rf6 Rh4 $132 60. Rd6+ $1 (60. Kg3 Rh1 $11)
60... Ke4 61. Rxc6 Rxg4+ 62. Kf1 Rf4+ 63. Ke1 Rh4) 51. Rh6 Qd4 52. Qc7+ Kf8 53.
Qc8+ Ke7 54. Re6# 1-0

[Event "22nd WSCC Open"]
[Site "Kamena Vourla"]
[Date "2012.11.19"]
[Round "7.2"]
[White "Balashov, Yuri S"]
[Black "Kristiansen, Jens"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A90"]
[WhiteElo "2475"]
[BlackElo "2429"]
[Annotator "Aagaard,Jacob"]
[PlyCount "72"]
[EventDate "2012.11.13"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. Nf3 d5 5. O-O Bd6 6. c4 c6 7. b3 Qe7 8. Nc3 O-O
9. e3 Nbd7 10. Ne2 b6 11. Bb2 Ba6 $11 12. Rc1 Rac8 13. Nf4 Ne4 14. Ne5 $1 Bxe5
$6 (14... Nxe5 15. dxe5 Bc5 16. a3 $1 $14) (14... Bb7 $1 $13) 15. dxe5 Rfd8 16.
Qc2 $14 b5 17. cxd5 cxd5 18. Qe2 Ndc5 19. b4 Na4 20. Bd4 Rc4 21. Nd3 $5 (21. f3
$1 Nec3 22. Qd2 Rdc8 23. Nd3 $14) 21... Rdc8 22. f3 Nec3 (22... Rxc1 23. Rxc1
Rxc1+ 24. Nxc1 Nec3 25. Qc2 Qxb4 26. Nb3 $44) 23. Qd2 R8c6 24. h4 $6 (24. Rfe1
$1 Qc7 25. Bf1 $16) 24... Qc7 25. Kh2 (25. Rfe1 Ne2+ 26. Rxe2 Rxc1+ 27. Nxc1
Rxc1+ 28. Bf1 Bc8 $13) 25... Bc8 26. a3 h6 27. Bh3 $2 Nb1 $5 (27... Ne4 $1 28.
Qd1 Rxc1 29. Nxc1 Rc2+ 30. Bg2 Rd2 31. Qb3 Nec3 $19) 28. Qe1 Rxc1 29. Nxc1 Rc2+
$6 (29... Nd2 $1 $19) 30. Ne2 Nxa3 $17 31. Rf2 Nc4 32. Bg2 Nxe5 33. Nf4 Rxf2
34. Qxf2 Nc6 35. e4 Qd6 36. e5 Qxb4 0-1

[Event "22nd WSCC Open"]
[Site "Kamena Vourla"]
[Date "2012.11.21"]
[Round "8.1"]
[White "Kristiansen, Jens"]
[Black "Okhotnik, Vladimir"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "2429"]
[BlackElo "2433"]
[Annotator "Aagaard,Jacob"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2012.11.13"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bf5 6. Bd2 c6 7. Ne4 Qd8 $6 (
7... Qc7) 8. Nxf6+ gxf6 9. Be2 e6 10. O-O Bd6 11. Re1 Nd7 12. c4 O-O 13. d5 $5
(13. Nh4 Bg6 14. Qb3 Qc7 15. g3 $14) 13... cxd5 (13... Qc7 $14) 14. cxd5 e5 $2
(14... Nc5 15. dxe6 fxe6 16. Bh6 Rf7 17. Nd4 $18) 15. Nh4 Bg6 16. Bg4 Re8 17.
Nf5 $16 Bf8 18. Qf3 e4 $5 19. Rxe4 Rxe4 $2 (19... Ne5 20. Qb3 Nxg4 21. Rxg4 Qd7
22. Qf3 Rad8 23. Ne3 f5 24. Rc4 Re4 25. Rac1 $16) 20. Qxe4 Nb6 21. d6 $5 (21.
Bc3 Qxd5 (21... Nxd5 22. Rd1 $18) 22. Ne7+ Bxe7 23. Qxe7 $18) 21... Bxd6 (21...
Nc8 $16) 22. Bc3 h5 $2 23. Bxh5 $1 Be5 (23... Bxh5 24. Qh4 $18) 24. Bxe5 Bxh5
25. Qh4 fxe5 26. Qxh5 Qf6 27. Rd1 Rc8 28. h3 Rc6 29. Rd3 (29. Qg4+ $1 Kf8 30.
Qg7+ Qxg7 31. Rd8#) 29... Re6 30. Qg4+ Kf8 31. Qb4+ Ke8 32. Nd6+ Rxd6 33. Qxd6
Qxd6 34. Rxd6 Ke7 35. Rxb6 1-0

[Event "22nd WSCC Open"]
[Site "Kamena Vourla"]
[Date "2012.11.22"]
[Round "9.1"]
[White "Vaisser, Anatoly"]
[Black "Kristiansen, Jens"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A53"]
[WhiteElo "2540"]
[BlackElo "2429"]
[Annotator "Aagaard,Jacob"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2012.11.13"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. e4 e5 5. d5 g6 6. Bg5 Bg7 7. f3 h6 8. Be3 Nh5
9. Nge2 f5 10. Qd2 Qh4+ 11. Bf2 Qe7 12. Ng3 Ndf6 13. Nxh5 Nxh5 14. O-O-O $14
O-O 15. Kb1 (15. exf5 gxf5 16. Kb1) 15... a6 16. c5 Nf6 17. cxd6 cxd6 18. Bd3
b5 19. Be3 b4 20. Na4 fxe4 21. Bxe4 (21. fxe4 Ng4 22. Nb6 $14) 21... Nxe4 22.
fxe4 Rb8 $2 (22... Qh4 $1 $11) 23. Nb6 Qh4 24. Qd3 Bf6 $2 (24... a5 25. Rc1 $14
) 25. Rc1 $1 Bg5 26. Rc6 $16 a5 27. Bxg5 Qxg5 28. Qg3 $2 (28. Rhc1 $1 Bg4 (
28... Bb7 29. Nd7 $18) 29. h3 Qd8 30. Qe3 $18) 28... Bg4 $6 (28... Qxg3 29.
hxg3 Kg7 $16) 29. Rxd6 Rf4 30. h4 $4 (30. Nd7 Rd8 31. h4 Qh5 32. Qxf4 exf4 33.
Nf6+ Kf7 34. Nxh5 Rxd6 35. Nxf4 Rf6 36. g3 $18) 30... Qh5 $13 31. Rc6 (31. Nd7
Bxd7 $1) 31... Rxe4 32. d6 Rd4 33. Rhc1 Qf5+ 34. Ka1 Qf6 35. Nc4 Bd7 $2 36.
Qxe5 $2 (36. Rc7 Bf5 37. Qe3 $16) 36... Rf8 37. Qxf6 Rxf6 38. Rc7 Be6 39. Nxa5
Rxd6 40. R7c6 Rxc6 41. Nxc6 b3 42. Nd4 Bd5 43. Nxb3 Bxg2 44. Nc5 Kf7 45. b4 g5
46. hxg5 hxg5 47. b5 g4 48. Rg1 Rf1+ 49. Rxf1+ Bxf1 50. b6 Bg2 51. Nd3 Ke7 52.
a4 Kd6 53. a5 Bb7 1/2-1/2

[Event "22nd WSCC Open"]
[Site "Kamena Vourla"]
[Date "2012.11.23"]
[Round "10.1"]
[White "Kristiansen, Jens"]
[Black "Jansa, Vlastimil"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D94"]
[WhiteElo "2429"]
[BlackElo "2451"]
[Annotator "Aagaard,Jacob"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2012.11.13"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d5 5. e3 O-O 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bc4 Nb6 8.
Bb3 c5 9. O-O cxd4 10. exd4 Bg4 11. d5 N8d7 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 Rc8 14. Bg5 h6
15. Bh4 Nf6 16. Rfe1 Nc4 17. Bxc4 Rxc4 18. Bg3 b5 19. Rad1 b4 20. Qd3 Rc8 21.
Ne4 $14 Qd7 22. Nxf6+ Bxf6 23. Be5 Bxe5 24. Rxe5 Rfd8 25. Qe3 $1 e6 26. Qxh6
exd5 27. Rd4 Rc4 28. Rd3 Qc7 29. f4 Qb6+ (29... Re4 $1 $11) 30. Kh2 Qf6 $2 (
30... Re4 31. Rh5 Qf6 32. f5 $1 Qg7 33. Qxg7+ (33. Qg5 $5) 33... Kxg7 34. fxg6
fxg6 35. Rhxd5 Rxd5 36. Rxd5 Re2 $14) 31. Rdxd5 $16 1-0

[Event "22nd WSCC Open"]
[Site "Kamena Vourla"]
[Date "2012.11.24"]
[Round "11.1"]
[White "Cebalo, Miso"]
[Black "Kristiansen, Jens"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A26"]
[WhiteElo "2403"]
[BlackElo "2429"]
[Annotator "Aagaard,Jacob"]
[PlyCount "44"]
[EventDate "2012.11.13"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 d6 3. Bg2 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. d3 f5 6. e4 Nc6 7. Nge2 Nh6 8. h4 Ng4
9. Bg5 Qd7 10. f3 Nf6 11. Qd2 Nh5 12. Bh6 (12. O-O-O h6 13. Be3 Nxg3 14. Nxg3
f4 15. Bxf4 exf4 16. Nge2 O-O 17. Nd5 $14) 12... O-O 13. O-O-O Nd4 14. Nxd4 $6
(14. Bxg7 Qxg7 15. exf5 gxf5 16. Qg5 Nxe2+ 17. Nxe2 $14) 14... exd4 15. Ne2 $6
(15. Bxg7 Qxg7 16. Ne2 fxe4 17. dxe4 c5 $11) 15... fxe4 16. dxe4 (16. Bxg7 e3
$17) 16... d3 $1 17. Nc3 (17. Bxg7 dxe2 $17) 17... Nxg3 18. Rhe1 Ne2+ (18...
Nh5 $1 $15) 19. Nxe2 dxe2 20. Rxe2 Bxh6 21. Qxh6 Qg7 22. Qxg7+ Kxg7 1/2-1/2

[Event "TCh-BEL 2012-13"]
[Site "Belgium BEL"]
[Date "2012.11.18"]
[Round "4.3"]
[White "Roos, Ad"]
[Black "Zaragatski, I."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A41"]
[WhiteElo "2199"]
[BlackElo "2471"]
[Annotator "Shaw,John"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2012.09.23"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "BEL"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]
[WhiteTeam "Zottegem"]
[BlackTeam "Amay"]

1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Bg4 {The Wade variation.} 3. c4 Bxf3 4. exf3 g6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6.
Be3 Nd7 7. Qd2 c6 8. Be2 Ngf6 9. g4 {The line recommended by GM Boris Avrukh
in 'GM Repertoire 2'.} Qa5 $146 10. O-O-O O-O 11. Kb1 Rab8 12. h4 {Playing to
open the h-file is the natural plan.} ({Another standard method with a similar
aim is} 12. g5 {planning h2-h4-h5 if the knight retreats. The key question is
if instead} Nh5 {is a solid blockade? After} 13. f4 $1 {the answer is that the
blockade is very shaky indeed.}) 12... Rfc8 13. h5 b5 14. hxg6 hxg6 15. Bh6 Bh8
16. Bg5 Bg7 17. Bh6 Bh8 {A draw is on offer. Since White is heavily-outrated,
this might already be considered a successful test, but White's position is
much too strong to just stop here.} 18. Nd5 {Rightly playing on, but with the
wrong move.} (18. Qg5 $1 {pins the b5-pawn and creates a deadly kingside
attack. It can lead to some fun lines. For example:} Qb4 {Trying to open the
b-file to create threats on b2.} ({If the d7-knight moves, then White has a
standard anti-Dragon trick.} 18... Nb6 $2 19. Bf8 $1 Rxf8 20. Rxh8+ Kxh8 21.
Qh6+ Kg8 22. Rh1 Nh5 23. gxh5 $18) 19. cxb5 $1 (19. c5 $5 Nxc5 20. Bf8 Rxf8 21.
Rxh8+ Kxh8 22. Qh6+ Kg8 23. dxc5 $1 $40 (23. Rh1 $2 Nh5 {is just a draw after
24.Rxh5 as instead} 24. gxh5 $2 {allows a "lucky" defence:} Qxd4 25. hxg6 Qg7))
19... Nd5 (19... cxb5 20. Bd3 $1 Rxc3 21. Bxg6 $18) 20. Qxd5 $1 Qxc3 $8 (20...
cxd5 21. Nxd5 Qa5 22. Nxe7+ Kh7 23. Bf8#) 21. Qg5 $1 $18 {White's attack gets
there first. e.g.} Qb4 22. a3 $1 (22. Qh4 Bxd4 {would threaten mate and slow
things down just a move.}) 22... Qb3 23. Qh4 Bf6 24. Bg5 Kf8 25. Bxf6 Nxf6 26.
Qh8+ Ng8 27. Rh7) 18... Qd8 $8 19. Nf4 {Now it's a real mess.} bxc4 $6 20. Bxc4
d5 21. Bd3 Qb6 (21... Qe8 {was essential but White is doing well after either}
22. Bf5 $5 ({or} 22. Rde1)) 22. Bxg6 $1 fxg6 23. Nxg6 {Not bad but not best.} (
23. Qc2 $1 {forces} Qxb2+ 24. Qxb2 {when White will have an extra exchange,
and should win.}) 23... Kf7 24. Ne5+ (24. Rde1 $5) 24... Nxe5 25. dxe5 Nd7 {
The game swung back and forwards a few more time in fine entertaining style. I
will not try to cover every twist:} 26. f4 Nc5 27. f3 Na4 28. b3 Qb4 29. Qc2
Nc3+ 30. Ka1 Nxd1 31. Qh7+ Ke8 32. Qxh8+ Kd7 33. e6+ Kc7 34. Qe5+ Kb7 35. Rxd1
a5 36. f5 a4 37. Bd2 Qb5 38. Qg7 axb3 $2 (38... Qe2 $1) 39. Qxe7+ Rc7 40. Qb4
Qxb4 41. Bxb4 Ra8 42. Kb2 (42. e7 $18) 42... c5 $1 43. Kxb3 cxb4 44. Rxd5 Kc6
45. Rd4 $2 (45. Rd1 {and who knows what happens next. Maybe it's a draw?})
45... Ra3+ 46. Kc4 Rxf3 47. Kxb4 Rb7+ 48. Kc4 Ra7 49. Kb4 Rfa3 50. Rc4+ Kb6 51.
Rc2 R7a4# {A sad end for White, but the opening was a great success.} 0-1

[Event "16th Unive Open"]
[Site "Hoogeveen NED"]
[Date "2012.10.25"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Grant, J."]
[Black "Potze, R."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A25"]
[WhiteElo "2217"]
[BlackElo "2124"]
[Annotator "Shaw,John"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5r1r/1p6/3p2kp/p1p3pN/qnPpP1P1/3P3R/1Q1K4/7R w - - 0 37"]
[PlyCount "17"]
[EventDate "2012.10.19"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "NED"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

{White to play and still be dead lost.   When should one resign? White in this
game is Jonathan Grant, a former non-playing captain of the Scottish Olympiad
team. Jonathan is noted in Scotland for not resigning just because everything
seems hopeless - he usually plays to the bitter end. The following game shows
he is right - once in a long while this will pay off.} 37. Ke2 {As good or bad
as anything else. White is three pawns down with an exposed king.   Which
moves win for Black? Almost anything, but most to the point is doubling on the
f-file, so  37...Rf7 or 37...Rh7. In either case, the engines say "minus nine".
Instead, Black sees a forking tactic:} Rf2+ $4 38. Kxf2 {Clearly the idea was
38...Nxd3+ but there is a defending rook hidden on h3. Black has my sympathy:
I once did something similar in a winning position against Sasikiran, who
later told me he was going to resign against any sensible move.} Rf8+ 39. Kg2
Qd7 40. Qe2 a4 41. Ng3 Rh8 42. Nf5 h5 43. Rxh5 Rxh5 44. Rxh5 Kf6 45. Rh6+ {And
the lesson is: It's better to resign too late 50 times, than too early once.
Or as Jason Nesmith would say "Never give up. Never surrender."} 1-0

[Event "American Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2012.11.25"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Yankovsky, Roman"]
[Black "Kretchetov, Alexandre"]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2474"]
[BlackElo "2306"]
[Annotator "Aagaard,Jacob"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1bqk2r/1pp2p2/p1np3p/2b1p1pn/2B1P3/2PP1NB1/PP1N1PPP/R2QK2R w KQkq - 0 10"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2012.11.22"]
[EventRounds "8"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

{White to play and get a clear advantage}  *

[Event "American Open"]
[Site "Los Angeles"]
[Date "2012.11.25"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Yankovsky, Roman"]
[Black "Kretchetov, Alexandre"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C54"]
[WhiteElo "2474"]
[BlackElo "2306"]
[Annotator "Aagaard,Jacob"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1bqk2r/1pp2p2/p1np3p/2b1p1pn/2B1P3/2PP1NB1/PP1N1PPP/R2QK2R w KQkq - 0 10"]
[PlyCount "19"]
[EventDate "2012.11.22"]
[EventRounds "8"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]

10. Nxe5 $1 Nxg3 11. Bxf7+ Kf8 12. Ng6+ Kg7 (12... Kxf7 13. Nxh8+ Qxh8 14. hxg3
$16) 13. hxg3 Rh7 14. Qf3 Qf6 15. Be8 Qxf3 16. gxf3 Kf6 17. f4 Bg4 18. fxg5+
Kxg5 19. Bxc6 1-0

[Event "4NCL 2012-13"]
[Site "Sunningdale ENG"]
[Date "2012.11.03"]
[Round "1.155"]
[White "Mason, D."]
[Black "Smerdon, D."]
[Result "*"]
[ECO "A56"]
[WhiteElo "2222"]
[BlackElo "2498"]
[Annotator "Shaw,John"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5rk1/4RNb1/1q1p2p1/3Pp2p/4P3/6P1/1r2b1BP/2Q2R1K w - - 0 29"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2012.11.03"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]
[WhiteTeam "Warwickshire Select 1"]
[BlackTeam "Guildford 1"]

{White to play and win}  *

[Event "4NCL 2012-13"]
[Site "Sunningdale ENG"]
[Date "2012.11.03"]
[Round "1.155"]
[White "Mason, D."]
[Black "Smerdon, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A56"]
[WhiteElo "2222"]
[BlackElo "2498"]
[Annotator "Shaw,John"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5rk1/4RNb1/1q1p2p1/3Pp2p/4P3/6P1/1r2b1BP/2Q2R1K w - - 0 29"]
[PlyCount "2"]
[EventDate "2012.11.03"]
[EventType "team"]
[EventRounds "11"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[Source "Chess Today"]
[SourceDate "2012.11.26"]
[WhiteTeam "Warwickshire Select 1"]
[BlackTeam "Guildford 1"]

29. Nh6+ $4 (29. Qh6 $3 $18 Bxf1 {Inviting White to show his threat.} ({
Obviously the queen cannot be taken:} 29... Bxh6 30. Nxh6+ Kh8 31. Rxf8#) 30.
Qh8+ $1 Bxh8 31. Nh6#) 29... Bxh6 ({After} 29... Bxh6 {it all falls apart:} 30.
Qxh6 Rxf1+ 31. Bxf1 Bf3+ 32. Bg2 Bxg2#) 0-1

