Ulster Chess Chronicle

Pullinger,S - McMaster,R Norwich League, 2002 [A01]
[Annotations by Richard McMaster]

White I think plays very poorly here.
1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6
A simple and effective way to meet the Larsen.
3.e3 d6 4.Bb5 Bd7 5.Nf3 a6
Taking the two bishops and starting to sort out the middlegame strategy.
6.Bxc6 Bxc6
In the moves that follow it might seem better to take with the pawn but the loss of a tempo, I think, far outweighs the weakening of a possibly castled king.
7.d4?!
White should probably castle first. He might not want to fix the pawn structure.
7...e4 8.Nfd2 Qg5!
Menacing the kingside for the rest of the game.
9.0-0 f5 10.c4 Nf6 11.d5 Bd7 12.Nc3 Be7
The opening is over, but white still doesn't know which way black will castle. White does however have slightly more space and a big square on d4. But also white sees the coming threat of ...f4 and tries to do something about it.

13.f4?
But this is a mistake. After 13.f3! black's best seems to be 13...Qxe3+ 14.Kh1 0-0 15.fxe4 fxe4 16.Re1 Qh6 17.Ndxe4 Nxe4 18.Nxe4 Rf7! with chances perhaps for both sides - white has more space, black has two bishops and a more active queen.
13...Qh6
After this move white struggles to defend his king.
14.h3 Rg8
Castling long.
15.Ne2 g5 16.fxg5 Rxg5
Putting the heavy pieces on both the h and g files.
17.Nf4 0-0-0 18.Bxf6
White is struggling for moves but this I think doesn't help. 18.Rc1 perhaps.
18...Bxf6 19.Rc1 Rdg8 20.Kh2?
There is no need to put the king on the bishop's diagonal. 20.Rc2! covers all the immediate problems, black still having all the play though.
20...Be5 21.Qe2 Be8
At this point I hadn't seen a final breakthrough but throwing this piece into the fray was surely bound to do something. It did.
22.c5?
Ironically the losing move but white has little else. He should of course stonewall but few people have the temperament or the patience.
22...Bh5 23.Qf2 Qg7! 24.Rg1
What else. 24...Bxf4+! Starting a forcing winning line.
25.exf4 e3 26.Qxe3 Rxg2+ 27.Kh1 Bf7!
And now the lack of defence for d5 tells.
28.cxd6 Bxd5! 29.d7+! 0-1

29.d7+ is not a bad try but his digital flag fell here so I didn't have to find 29...Kd8! (29...Qxd7? allows white to struggle on with 30.Nf3!) when white's best, as it is on move 29, is 30.Nf3 but sadly for white this loses too, to 30...Rxg1+ 31.Rxg1 Qxg1+ 32.Qxg1 Rxg1+ 33.Kxg1 Bxf3 - quite a nice finish.]

A game I probably should have lost but once I got my position sorted white started to struggle
1.d4 f5 2.g3 d6 3.Nf3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.0-0 Nf6
5...e5 may be interesting - one reason for playing the opening this way but I decided not to try it - we couldn't afford to throw points away by losing to an unseen flaw.
6.c4 0-0 7.Nc3 Qe8 8.d5 Na6
All standard fare so far.
9.Rb1
A good way to play this line.
9...c5
My preferred choice keeping the position simple.
10.dxc6 bxc6 11.b4
All of which leaves the play about equal.
11...Nc7?
However, this move leaves me in trouble for about 14 moves - translating into maybe 5 ways of winning. 11...Rb8! is much better with a fairly unclear situation. In my defence all I can say is I was worried about a nicely timed Qa4, either trapping the knight or picking up the a-pawn.
12.Nd4 Bd7 13.b5!
Thematic and good.
13...c5!
Black's only try.

14.Nc2?!
This is not a bad move in itself but I think Nf3 is better, allowing Qa4 once the knight on c3 is adequately defended. Of course I had to be prepared for Nc6 which looks to be best. I was intending to play around it but a4 and a queenside storm looks like a comfortable win. So much for 11...Nc7?
14.Bxa8 cxd4 15.Bd5+ e6! is good for black (probably) but I must admit I hadn't seen this at move 13 and was prepared to play either 15...Nfxd5 or 14...Qxa8, although if I'd checked I'd probably have seen it.
14...Rb8 15.a4?!
15.Ne3 followed by either knight to d5 and Qa4 looks very comfortable too. The move played solves a lot of black's problems.
15...Ng4 16.Nd5 Nxd5 17.Bxd5+ e6!
Keeping the king on g8 was crucial later on but at the time I wasn't sure. Getting some central play though looks like a good idea.
18.Bg2
18.Bf3 followed by Bxg4 is interesting.
18...Qe7 19.f4!
Threatening e4 and e5.
19...Nf6
Preventing e4 for a while.
20.Qd3 Bc8 21.Rd1 Rd8 22.Bd2!?
22.Be3 is also interesting, threatening to take on c5, but 22...Qc7 looks to be OK.
22...Qc7!
It is important to keep the bishop out of a5, for example 22...Bb7? 23.Ba5 Rd7 24.Bc6! winning.
23.Bc3 Bb7 24.Bxf6 Bxf6 25.Ne1?!
Probably white's last chance for an advantage. 25.e4 is consistent. Also it seems to be better for white to exchange bishops rather than the other way round. it looks like it uncoordinates black's pieces.
25...Bxg2 26.Kxg2 d5!
And suddenly black is taking over.
27.Qe3 Kf7
The value of not moving the king before.
28.cxd5 exd5 29.Rbc1 c4 30.Nc2 Rd7!
Sorting out the rooks.
31.Nd4 Re8 32.Qf3 Qc5 33.Nb3!?
A try that doesn't work.
33...Qe3 34.Rxc4 Qxe2+ 35.Qxe2 Rxe2+ 36.Kh3?
A blunder but 36.Kh1 Rb2 37.Nc5 Re7 also looks good for black.
36...h6! 37.a5?
Missing the point of 36...h6!
37...g5!

38.fxg5 hxg5 39.g4
To avoid 39...g4 mate.
39...Re3+ 0-1
Black wins a piece and should have a fairly easy endgame win.

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7
My preferred line but I went wrong somewhere.
4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.0-0 e6 6.c3 Nc6 7.d4 Nf6 8.Re1 Be7 9.Bg5 cxd4
Not a nice concession but there were too many central breaks, e.g. 9...0-0 10.Bxf6 Bxf6 11.dxc5 winning a pawn.
10.cxd4 0-0 11.Nc3 a6 12.Qe2
White appears not to have a coherent plan but has at least two to choose from. a queenside advance with Na4-b6 or a kingside charge. Both of these require a central push and since black cannot afford to exchange either of these pawns it seems to make sense to play...
12...Ne8!
although even here had white played correctly he would have had a good game.
13.Bxe7 Nxe7 14.Rad1 b5
Ruling out any knight invasion.

15.d5?
This is the wrong one. 15.e5! gives white a strong kingside game.
15...e5 16.Qd3 Ng6
Black obviously wants to play ...f5 but he wants to play it at his most favourable opportunity.
17.Ne2 Nf6 18.Rc1 Qg4 19.Ng3 Nf4 20.Qf1 Ne8!?
This might look a little odd but black is slowly getting the better of it. ...f5 is coming and the rook is deprived of c7.
21.h3!? Qd7
I give 21.h3 as interesting since the line 21...Nxh3+ 22.gxh3 Qxf3 23.Re3 Qf6 24.Qg2 gives white some play although he said after the game he hadn't seen it. Instead I have.
22.Rc6 g6 23.Rec1 f5
At last. 24.Ng5 h6 25.Ne6?!
Not good. The pawn to the good is a safe one.
25...Nxe6 26.dxe6 Qxe6 27.Qd3
27.exf5 gxf5 is no better for white.
27...f4 28.Nf1 Qxa2?!
Probably not a good idea even if I had looked further, which I hadn't.
29.b3! Ra7
Avoiding any Qd5 nasties.
30.Nh2 Qb2 31.Nf3 Kg7 32.R1c2 Qa1+
Trying to get the queen back over to the kingside for a fairly easy win.
33.Kh2?!
A mistake. Keeping control of the first rank is more important although it is not so easy to foresee the course of the game. 33.Rc1 is better.
33...Qa5 34.Qd5
Keeping up the pressure.
34...Re7
A difficult decision but 34...Qd8 35.Nxe5 Qg5 36.Nf3 may get the queen back into the game but at too high a price. 36...Qxd5 37.exd5 and Nd4 looks too strong. The text covers all the necessary squares but still the black queen is out of play.
35.Nd2 Qa1!?
Black has seen something!
36.Nf3
Recovering the d4 square but black has other ideas.
36...g5! 37.b4
Still concentrating on the queen and missing the bigger picture.
37...Qf1!
The idea. I would prefer to give 37...Qf1!! but after 38.Qd2! Qb1! 39.Ne1 black's only try is 39...h5
38.Rxa6
missing...
38...g4 winning, amazingly.

39.Ng1
Losing, but there are some rather nice other lines here.
The idea of 39.Qd2 to trap the black queen fails to 39...gxf3 40.gxf3 Qb1! winning.;
Also 39.hxg4 loses to 39...Nf6! and the queen has nowhere to go, for example 40.Qxd6 Nxg4+ 41.Kh3 Qh1+ 42.Kxg4 Qxg2+ 43.Kh4 (43.Kh5 Qxf3+) 43...Qh1+! (43...Qxf3?? 44.Qxh6+ winning for white) 44.Kg4 h5+ 45.Kg5 Qg2+ 46.Kxh5 (46.Kh4 Qg4#) 46...Rh8+ winning.;
Also all other Knight moves, e.g. 39.Nd2 lose to 39...g3+ 40.fxg3 fxg3+ 41.Kxg3 Qf4#]
Rather good!
39...f3
I nearly played 39...gxh3? which is defensible after 40.f3! (and not losing to the incredible 40.Nxh3 Nf6!! winning the queen or mating on g4.)
40.gxf3 gxf3 41.Nxf3 Rxf3 0-1