In this game my central pawns marched through with devastating power and forced the win of a piece for two pawns. Sadly it was marred by a time trouble blunder by my opponent but as Peter conceded after the game the end was nigh soon.

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qc7 7. Qg4 f6 8. exf6? Nxf6 9. Qg3 Qa5!

First played in M. Heidenfeld -v- T. Clarke, 0-1, Irish Championship 1996. I honestly believe that 8.exf6 is a mistake because of 9...Qa5. Certainly previous theory shows that after 9.. . Qxg3 White has a very comfortable position and Black could do well to draw. However 9...Qa5 gives Black a vital tempo and forces White to consider various problems:- (1) It indirectly attacks c3 if White decides to take the poisoned pawn on g7. (2) Black can 0-0 safely after any defensive move by White e.g. 10. Bd2. (3) The immediate threat of losing a pawn by cxd4 and or Ne4 hitting f2, c3 and the White Queen on g3. (4) Black's easy advantage in development and last and by no means least... (5) Black's option to either open up the position with e6-e5 or close it with c5-c4.

10. Bd2 O-O 11. f3 Nc6 12. Ne2 Qa4 13. dxc5 e5 14. Nc1 e4 15. Nb3 d4 16. Qh4 e3 17. Bc1 e2 18. Bxe2 Re8 19. Qf2 d3 20. cxd3 Qxb3 21. O-O Qxc3 22. Bf4 Bf5 23. Rac1 Qd4 24. Bd6 Rxe2

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