[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.07.07"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Position"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3r2k1/5pp1/pp1r4/2npq2p/1Q1R4/P3P1PB/1P3P1P/R5K1 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]

{Diagram #}  *

[Event "2008 Olympiad"]
[Site "Dresden GER"]
[Date "2008.11.17"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Peter Leko"]
[Black "Vassily Ivanchuk"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B42"]
[WhiteElo "2747"]
[BlackElo "2786"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "254"]
[EventDate "2008.11.13"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. Qg4 Bf6 8.
Qg3 Nc6 9. Nc3 Nge7 10. O-O O-O 11. Bg5 Bxg5 12. Qxg5 d6 13. f4 b5 14. f5 Ne5
15. Rad1 Qb6+ 16. Kh1 f6 17. Qg3 Kh8 18. fxe6 Bxe6 19. Be2 b4 20. Nd4 Bd7 21.
Nd5 Nxd5 22. exd5 Rac8 23. a3 a5 24. axb4 Qxb4 25. b3 Rc3 26. Qf4 Rfc8 27. Rd2
a4 28. bxa4 Bxa4 29. Qf5 Bd7 30. Ne6 Qb2 31. Bd3 Nxd3 32. Rxd3 Qxc2 33. Rxc3
Qxc3 34. Qg4 Rg8 35. Ng5 Be8 36. Ne4 Qc4 37. Qf5 Qa6 38. Qf4 Bf7 39. Nxd6 Bxd5
40. Nf5 Qe2 41. Rf2 Qd1+ 42. Rf1 Qd3 43. Kg1 Be6 44. h3 Qd7 45. Kh2 Rd8 46. Rf2
Kg8 47. Rf3 Kh8 48. Rf2 Qf7 49. Rf3 Qa7 50. Rf1 Qb8 51. Qxb8 Rxb8 52. Nd4 Bd5
53. Rf2 h6 54. Re2 Rb6 55. Nf5 Be6 56. Nd4 Bd7 57. g4 Rb4 58. Rd2 Kh7 59. Nc2
Rb7 60. Ne3 Be6 61. Rd6 Bf7 62. Rd3 h5 63. Kg3 Bg6 64. Rc3 Rb1 65. Kh4 Rb4 66.
Kg3 Re4 67. Ra3 Kh6 68. Rc3 Bh7 69. Ra3 Bg6 70. Rc3 Re5 71. Ng2 Be4 72. Ne3 Kg5
73. h4+ Kg6 74. gxh5+ Rxh5 75. Rc7 Ra5 76. Rc4 Re5 77. Ng4 Re7 78. Rc5 Kh7 79.
h5 Rf7 80. Kf4 Bd3 81. Nf2 Be2 82. Ne4 Ra7 83. Rc6 Rf7 84. Ng3 Bb5 85. Rb6 Ba4
86. Ra6 Bb3 87. Rb6 Ba2 88. Ra6 Bc4 89. Rc6 Bd5 90. Rd6 Bg2 91. Rd2 Bb7 92. Rc2
Re7 93. Rc4 Bd5 94. Rc5 Rd7 95. Rb5 Bc4 96. Rc5 Rd4+ 97. Ke3 Rd3+ 98. Kf4 Bd5
99. Nf5 Be6 100. Ng3 Rd4+ 101. Ke3 Rg4 102. Kf3 Ra4 103. Ke3 Kh6 104. Kf3 Rh4
105. Rc7 Rb4 106. Rc5 Ra4 107. Rb5 Rh4 108. Rb8 Kh7 109. Rb5 Kh6 110. Rb8 Bg4+
111. Ke3 Rh3 112. Kf2 Rh2+ 113. Kg1 Ra2 114. Rh8+ Kg5 115. h6 gxh6 116. Ne4+
Kf5 117. Nxf6 Kxf6 118. Rxh6+ Kg5 119. Rh2 Ra1+ 120. Kf2 Kf4 121. Rh8 Ra2+ 122.
Ke1 Re2+ 123. Kf1 Kg3 {Diagram #} 124. Rd8 (124. Rf8) 124... Re3 125. Rg8 Re7
126. Rg5 Rh7 127. Ke1 Rd7 0-1

[Event "2008 Olympiad"]
[Site "Dresden GER"]
[Date "2008.11.21"]
[Round "8"]
[White "K Belzo"]
[Black "E Iturrizaga"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "E05"]
[WhiteElo "1993"]
[BlackElo "2538"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "240"]
[EventDate "2008.11.13"]

1. g3 Nf6 2. Bg2 d5 3. c4 e6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 dxc4 7. Qc2 a6 8. a4
Qd5 9. Nbd2 Nc6 10. Qxc4 Rd8 11. Qxd5 exd5 12. Nb3 Ne4 13. Bf4 Bd6 14. Rfc1 a5
15. Ne5 Ne7 16. Nc5 Nf6 17. Ned3 Nf5 18. e3 c6 19. Bxd6 Nxd6 20. b4 Bf5 21.
bxa5 Rxa5 22. Nb3 Ra7 23. Nb4 Nc4 24. a5 Rda8 25. a6 bxa6 26. Nxc6 Rc7 27. Nb4
Be6 28. Nxa6 Rca7 29. Nac5 Ra2 30. Rxa2 Rxa2 31. Ra1 Rxa1+ 32. Nxa1 Kf8 33. Nc2
Ke7 34. f3 Bf5 35. e4 Bg6 36. Kf2 dxe4 37. fxe4 Ng4+ 38. Ke2 Nxh2 39. Nb4 f6
40. Nd5+ Kd6 41. Nf4 Bf7 42. Bh3 g5 43. Be6 Bxe6 44. Nfxe6 h6 45. Ng7 Ng4 46.
Nf5+ Kc6 47. Ne6 Kd7 48. Nc5+ Kc6 49. Ne6 Kd7 50. Nc5+ Ke8 51. Kf3 Nh2+ 52. Kg2
Ng4 53. Kf3 h5 54. Ng7+ Kf7 55. Nxh5 Nge3 56. g4 Nc2 57. d5 Ne5+ 58. Kg3 Ne3
59. d6 N3xg4 60. d7 Ke7 61. d8=Q+ Kxd8 62. Nxf6 Nxf6 63. Ne6+ Ke7 64. Nxg5 Ng6
65. Kf3 Kd6 66. Ke3 Kc5 67. Nf7 Ng4+ 68. Kf3 Nh2+ 69. Kg2 Ng4 70. Kf3 Nf6 71.
Ke3 Nd7 72. Kd3 Nf4+ 73. Ke3 Ne6 74. Kd3 Kb4 75. Nd6 Ne5+ 76. Ke3 Kc5 77. Nf5
Nc4+ 78. Kf3 Kb4 79. Ne3 Nd2+ 80. Kg4 Nxe4 {Diagram #} 81. Kf5 N4c5 82. Ke5 Kb5
83. Nd5 Nd8 84. Kd4 Nc6+ 85. Ke3 Kc4 86. Nb6+ Kc3 87. Nd5+ Kb3 88. Nb6 Nb7 89.
Ke4 Kb4 90. Kd5 Kb5 91. Nc8 Nb4+ 92. Kd4 Na5 93. Nd6+ Kc6 94. Nc4 Nb7 95. Ne5+
Kd6 96. Nc4+ Ke6 97. Ne3 Nc6+ 98. Kc4 Ke5 99. Kb5 Nd4+ 100. Kc4 Ke4 101. Nd1
Na5+ 102. Kb4 Nac6+ 103. Kc5 Ne5 104. Nc3+ Kd3 105. Nb5 Nb3+ 106. Kd5 Ng4 107.
Nd6 Nd4 108. Nb7 Ne3+ 109. Ke5 Nf3+ 110. Kf4 Ke2 111. Nc5 Nd5+ 112. Ke4 Ne3
113. Ne6 Nd2+ 114. Kd4 Nc2+ 115. Ke5 Ke3 116. Kd5 Ne4 117. Nc5 Ng5 118. Nb3
Nb4+ 119. Ke5 Nf3+ 120. Kf5 Nd3 1/2-1/2

[Event "2008 Olympiad"]
[Site "Dresden GER"]
[Date "2008.11.21"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Peter Leko"]
[Black "Fabiano Caruana"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B66"]
[WhiteElo "2747"]
[BlackElo "2640"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "185"]
[EventDate "2008.11.13"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Bg5 e6 7. Qd2 a6 8.
O-O-O Bd7 9. f3 h6 10. Be3 b5 11. Nxc6 Bxc6 12. Ne2 Qc7 13. Kb1 Be7 14. h4 Bb7
15. Rh3 h5 16. Bg5 Rd8 17. Rh1 g6 18. Nf4 e5 19. Bxf6 Bxf6 20. Nd5 Bxd5 21.
Qxd5 Qc5 22. c3 Kf8 23. a4 bxa4 24. Qxc5 dxc5 25. Rxd8+ Bxd8 26. Bxa6 g5 27.
hxg5 Bxg5 28. Bb5 Ke7 29. Bxa4 h4 30. Bb3 Rd8 31. Rh3 Rd3 32. Ka2 Rd2 33. g3
Rg2 34. gxh4 Bc1 35. Bc2 Rxc2 36. Kb1 Rxb2+ 37. Kxc1 Rf2 38. h5 Kf8 39. h6 Kg8
40. h7+ Kh8 41. c4 Ra2 42. Rh5 Ra4 43. Rf5 Rxc4+ 44. Kd2 Rd4+ 45. Ke3 Rd7 46.
Rxe5 Rc7 47. Rh5 c4 48. Rh2 c3 49. Kd3 c2 50. Rxc2 Rd7+ 51. Ke3 Kxh7 52. Rg2
Ra7 53. Kf4 Ra5 54. Rg5 Ra3 55. Rg3 Ra5 56. Ke3 Ra4 57. Rg1 Ra3+ 58. Kf4 Ra5
59. Rg2 Rb5 60. Rg5 Rb3 61. Rg3 Rb5 62. Ke3 Rb4 63. Rg4 Ra4 64. Rg2 Rb4 65. f4
Ra4 66. e5 f6 67. Kf3 fxe5 68. fxe5 Rb4 69. Ke3 Ra4 70. Kd3 Rb4 71. e6 Rb6 72.
Re2 Rb8 73. e7 Re8 74. Kd4 Kg6 75. Kd5 Kf7 76. Kd6 Ra8 77. Rf2+ Kg7 78. Ra2
Rxa2 79. e8=Q {Diagram #} Rd2+ 80. Kc5 Kf6 81. Qe4 Rd7 82. Qc6+ Ke7 83. Qg6
Rc7+ 84. Kd5 Kd7 85. Qf7+ Kd8 86. Qf8+ Kd7 87. Qf4 Rb7 88. Qf7+ Kc8 89. Qe8+
Kc7 90. Kc5 Ra7 91. Qe7+ Kb8 92. Qd8+ Kb7 93. Kb5 1-0

[Event "2008 Olympiad"]
[Site "Dresden GER"]
[Date "2008.11.19"]
[Round "6"]
[White "G Annurudha"]
[Black "K Daniel"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C06"]
[WhiteElo "2212"]
[BlackElo "2001"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "281"]
[EventDate "2008.11.13"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Nc6 8. Ne2
f6 9. exf6 Nxf6 10. O-O Bd6 11. Nf3 Qc7 12. Nc3 a6 13. Re1 O-O 14. Bg5 Ng4 15.
h3 Bh2+ 16. Kf1 Nxf2 17. Bxh7+ Kxh7 18. Qc2+ Kg8 19. Qxf2 Bd7 20. Re2 Rf7 21.
Qe3 Raf8 22. Ke1 Qg3+ 23. Rf2 Nxd4 24. Qxd4 Rxf3 25. gxf3 Bg1 26. f4 Qxh3 27.
Rd1 Bc6 28. Qd3 Bxf2+ 29. Kxf2 Qh2+ 30. Ke1 d4 31. Qxd4 Bf3 32. Rd3 Qh1+ 33.
Kd2 Rc8 34. Qf2 Bd5 35. Rxd5 exd5 36. Qd4 Qh2+ 37. Kc1 Re8 38. Qxd5+ Kh8 39.
Qd2 Qh1+ 40. Kc2 b5 41. a3 Qc6 42. Qd5 Qb6 43. Qf7 Qe6 44. Qxe6 Rxe6 45. Kb3
Kg8 46. Kb4 Kf7 47. Kc5 Ke8 48. Kd5 Re1 49. f5 Rf1 50. Ke5 Rf2 51. b4 Rc2 52.
Nd5 Kf7 53. Be3 Ra2 54. Bb6 Rxa3 55. Nc7 Rc3 56. Bc5 Ra3 57. Bb6 Rc3 58. Ne6
Ra3 59. Nc7 Rc3 60. Ne6 Ra3 61. Nc5 Ra2 62. Ne4 Re2 63. Bd4 Rc2 64. Kd5 Rc1 65.
Ng5+ Kg8 66. Ne6 Rc4 67. Bc5 Kf7 68. Ke5 Rc1 69. Ng5+ Ke8 70. Ne4 Re1 71. Kd5
Re2 72. Nd6+ Kd7 73. Bd4 Rd2 74. Ne4 Rg2 75. Nc5+ Ke7 76. Nxa6 Rg5 77. Ke4 Rg4+
78. Ke5 Kf7 79. Nc7 g6 80. fxg6+ Rxg6 81. Bc5 Rg5+ 82. Kd6 Rg6+ 83. Kd7 Rg2 84.
Kc6 Rb2 85. Kxb5 Kg6 86. Kc6 Kf5 87. b5 Ke4 88. b6 Rxb6+ 89. Bxb6 {Diagram #}
Ke5 90. Nb5 Ke4 91. Bd4 Kf5 92. Kd5 Kf4 93. Nc3 Kf3 94. Ke5 Kg4 95. Be3 Kf3 96.
Kd4 Kg4 97. Ke4 Kg3 98. Ne2+ Kg2 99. Bd4 Kf1 100. Kf3 Ke1 101. Bc3+ Kf1 102.
Nf4 Kg1 103. Kg3 Kh1 104. Be5 Kg1 105. Nh3+ Kh1 106. Nf2+ Kg1 107. Kf3 Kf1 108.
Bh2 Ke1 109. Bf4 Kf1 110. Nh3 Ke1 111. Be3 Kd1 112. Nf4 Kc2 113. Ke2 Kc3 114.
Kf3 Kc4 115. Ke4 Kc3 116. Ne2+ Kc4 117. Bd4 Kb5 118. Kd5 Ka6 119. Kc6 Ka5 120.
Bc5 Ka4 121. Nd4 Ka5 122. Ne6 Ka4 123. Bf2 Kb4 124. Kd5 Kc3 125. Nd4 Kd3 126.
Bg1 Kd2 127. Bf2 Kd3 128. Bg1 Kd2 129. Ke4 Kc3 130. Kd5 Kd3 131. Bf2 Kc3 132.
Kc5 Kd3 133. Kd5 Kc3 134. Be1+ Kd3 135. Bf2 Kc3 136. Be3 Kd3 137. Bg5 Kc3 138.
Bc1 Kd3 139. Bg5 Kc3 140. Nf3 Kd3 141. Ng1 1/2-1/2

[Event "World Cup"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2009.11.21"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Viktor Bologan"]
[Black "Ahmed Adly"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B90"]
[WhiteElo "2692"]
[BlackElo "2583"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2009.11.21"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Be3 Ng4 7. Bg5 h6 8. Bh4
g5 9. Bg3 Bg7 10. h3 Ne5 11. Nf5 Bxf5 12. exf5 Nbc6 13. Nd5 e6 14. fxe6 fxe6
15. Ne3 O-O 16. Be2 d5 17. O-O Ng6 18. c4 Nd4 19. cxd5 exd5 20. Bg4 Nf4 21. Rc1
Qa5 22. Nc2 Nxc2 23. Rxc2 Rae8 24. Bf3 Rd8 25. Bxf4 Rxf4 26. Re1 Bf6 27. Rce2
Kg7 28. Qb1 d4 29. Be4 Qc7 30. Qd3 Be7 31. a3 Bf8 32. Bf5 Rd5 33. Be6 Rd6 34.
Ba2 Rdf6 35. Bb1 Kg8 36. Re7 Bxe7 37. Qh7+ Kf8 38. Qh8+ Kf7 39. Ba2+ Kg6 40.
Qe8+ Rf7 41. Qg8+ Rg7 42. Bb1+ d3 43. Bxd3+ Kh5 44. Qxg7 Rxf2 45. Rxe7 Qc5 {
Diagram #} 46. Qxh6+ 1-0

[Event "World Cup"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2009.11.26"]
[Round "2.6"]
[White "Sergei Rublevsky"]
[Black "Alexander Areshchenko"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B74"]
[WhiteElo "2697"]
[BlackElo "2664"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "156"]
[EventDate "2009.11.21"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Nc6 7. Be3 Nf6 8. Be2
O-O 9. Nb3 Be6 10. O-O Na5 11. f5 Bd7 12. Kh1 Qc7 13. Bd4 Bc6 14. Bd3 Nxb3 15.
axb3 Nd7 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Rf3 Ne5 18. Rh3 f6 19. Qd2 g5 20. Bc4 Rh8 21. Be6 h5
22. Rg3 h4 23. Re3 Ng4 24. Rh3 b5 25. Qe2 Ne5 26. Nd5 Bxd5 27. Bxd5 Rac8 28. c3
b4 29. Qa6 Ng4 30. Rf3 Ne5 31. Re3 Ng4 32. Rf3 Ne5 33. Rh3 Ng4 34. Qe2 Ne5 35.
Ra6 Rb8 36. Qe1 Rb6 37. Ra4 Rhb8 38. c4 a6 39. Re3 Qc5 40. h3 a5 41. Qd2 Ra6
42. Re1 Nd7 43. Qe2 Rh8 44. Be6 Ne5 45. Rd1 Qc7 46. Rd5 Qa7 47. Rb5 Kh6 48. Qd2
Rb8 49. Rd5 Qb6 50. Qe2 Rf8 51. Ra1 Ra7 52. Rg1 a4 53. Rb5 Qc7 54. Rxb4 axb3
55. Rxb3 Rb8 56. Rxb8 Qxb8 57. g3 hxg3 58. Rxg3 Ra1+ 59. Rg1 Rxg1+ 60. Kxg1 Qb3
61. Kh2 Nf3+ 62. Kg2 Nh4+ 63. Kh2 Qb6 64. Bd5 Qd4 65. b4 Qe5+ 66. Kh1 Qg3 67.
e5 Qxh3+ 68. Qh2 Qf1+ 69. Qg1 Qxf5 70. exd6 exd6 71. b5 Qh3+ 72. Qh2 Qb3 73.
Qxd6 Qb1+ 74. Kh2 Qb2+ 75. Kh3 Ng6 76. Qh2 {Diagram #} Nf4+ 77. Kg3+ Nh5+ 78.
Kh3 g4+ 0-1

[Event "World Cup"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2009.11.21"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Ivan Morovic-Fernandez"]
[Black "Sergei Rublevsky"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D20"]
[WhiteElo "2562"]
[BlackElo "2697"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2009.11.21"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5 4. Nf3 Bb4+ 5. Nc3 exd4 6. Nxd4 Ne7 7. Bxc4 Nbc6
8. Be3 O-O 9. a3 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Na5 11. Be2 f5 12. Qa4 b6 13. Rd1 Bd7 14. Bb5
Bxb5 15. Qxb5 Qd6 16. Nxf5 Qxa3 17. Nxe7+ Qxe7 18. Rd7 Qxe4 19. O-O c6 20. Qe2
Rf7 21. Rxf7 Kxf7 22. Rd1 Kg8 23. h3 Qe6 24. Rd4 c5 25. Rg4 Re8 26. c4 Nc6 27.
Qb2 Qe5 28. Qb5 Re6 29. Qa6 Qc7 30. Qa1 Qe7 31. Qa6 Qd7 32. Qa1 Rg6 33. Rh4 Rd6
34. Kh2 Rd1 35. Qb2 Nd4 36. Re4 Qd6+ 37. Bf4 Qg6 38. Re3 Rd3 39. Re1 {Diagram #
} Rxh3+ 0-1

[Event "World Cup"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2009.11.21"]
[Round "1.1"]
[White "Varuzhan Akobian"]
[Black "Pavel Tregubov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A80"]
[WhiteElo "2624"]
[BlackElo "2642"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2009.11.21"]

1. d4 f5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 d5 4. Bxf6 exf6 5. e3 Be6 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Nge2 Qd7 8.
a3 O-O-O 9. Na4 g6 10. b4 Ne5 11. Nc5 Nxd3+ 12. Qxd3 Qe8 13. a4 Kb8 14. O-O Bc8
15. Rfb1 h5 16. a5 Rh7 17. c4 dxc4 18. Qxc4 h4 19. h3 g5 20. b5 Rd6 21. d5 Qf7
22. Nd4 Qxd5 23. Na6+ Ka8 24. Nxc7+ Rxc7 25. Qxc7 Rd8 26. a6 Qd7 {Diagram #}
27. axb7+ 1-0

[Event "World Cup"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2009.11.25"]
[Round "2.2"]
[White "Baadur Jobava"]
[Black "E Iturrizaga"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E12"]
[WhiteElo "2696"]
[BlackElo "2605"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "59"]
[EventDate "2009.11.21"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 b6 4. a3 Ba6 5. Qc2 Bb7 6. Nc3 c5 7. e4 cxd4 8. Nxd4
Nc6 9. Nxc6 Bxc6 10. Bf4 Nh5 11. Bd2 Qc7 12. Nd5 Qb7 13. Bd3 Bd6 14. O-O Qb8
15. g3 exd5 16. exd5 Bb7 17. Rfe1+ Kd8 18. Bc3 Nf6 19. b4 Qc7 20. Qb2 Kc8 21.
Bxf6 gxf6 22. Qxf6 Rd8 23. Rac1 Bf8 24. c5 bxc5 25. bxc5 a5 26. c6 dxc6 27.
dxc6 Ba6 {Diagram #} 28. Bf5+ Kb8 29. Qxd8+ Qxd8 30. c7+ 1-0

[Event "World Cup"]
[Site "Khanty-Mansiysk RUS"]
[Date "2009.11.22"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Yannick Pelletier"]
[Black "Bu Xiangzhi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D85"]
[WhiteElo "2589"]
[BlackElo "2682"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2009.11.21"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 c5 8.
Rb1 O-O 9. Be2 Nc6 10. d5 Ne5 11. Nxe5 Bxe5 12. Qd2 e6 13. f4 Bc7 14. O-O exd5
15. exd5 Ba5 16. d6 b6 17. Bf3 Rb8 18. Bb2 Bf5 19. Rbe1 b5 20. g4 Be6 21. f5
Bc4 22. Re7 Qb6 23. f6 Kh8 {Diagram #} 24. Be4 Rg8 25. Rf3 Bd3 26. Qh6 c4+ 27.
Kg2 Bxe4 28. Rxe4 1-0

[Event "Gorky"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1950.06.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "R.Nezhemetdinov"]
[Black "M.Kamishov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B11"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2010.06.20"]
[SourceDate "2010.06.20"]

1. e4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Ne4 5. Ne2 Qb6 {Diagram #} 6. d4 c5 7. dxc5
Qxc5 8. Ned4 Nc6 9. Bb5 Bd7 10. O-O Nxe5 11. Nxe5 Bxb5 12. Nxb5 Qxb5 13. Re1
Nf6 14. Bg5 e6 15. c4 Qa5 16. Bxf6 gxf6 17. Nxf7 Kxf7 18. Qh5+ Ke7 19. cxd5 e5
20. f4 Qxd5 21. fxe5 f5 22. e6 Kf6 23. h4 Bc5+ 24. Kh1 Qxe6 25. Qh6+ {Diagram #
} 1-0

[Event "ABC-213-August-2010"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 1"]
[Black "Mating net"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4k3/5p2/4p3/2q5/4n3/3P1N2/2P5/3QK3 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2010.06.20"]
[SourceDate "2010.06.20"]

{Diagram #}  0-1

[Event "ABC-213-August-2010"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 2"]
[Black "Discovery"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/5pk1/2p1q3/1p1n4/4n3/1QP5/1P2P3/3RKB2 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2010.06.20"]
[SourceDate "2010.06.20"]

{Diagram #}  0-1

[Event "ABC-213-August-2010"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 3"]
[Black "Trapping"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "6k1/p1r3p1/Qp6/5b2/4p3/P1n5/5P2/4KR2 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2010.06.20"]
[SourceDate "2010.06.20"]

{Diagram #}  0-1

[Event "ABC-213-August-2010"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 4"]
[Black "Pin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "4r1k1/3q1pp1/8/1p2N3/3Pn3/1Q6/4P3/4KR2 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2010.06.20"]
[SourceDate "2010.06.20"]

{Diagram #}  0-1

[Event "ABC-213-August-2010"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 5"]
[Black "Discovery"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3qr1k1/5p2/6p1/8/1P1Qn3/4P3/8/4KB1R b K - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2010.06.20"]
[SourceDate "2010.06.20"]

{Diagram #}  0-1

[Event "ABC-213-August-2010"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem 6"]
[Black "Skewer"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Annotator "Pandolfini,Bruce"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2q5/R3r1k1/2p5/8/5P2/4QK2/8/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "0"]
[EventDate "2010.06.20"]
[SourceDate "2010.06.20"]

{Diagram #}  0-1

[Event "HS Nationals"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.04.18"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Mo, Kevin"]
[Black "Zhang, Kevin"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[WhiteElo "2032"]
[BlackElo "2204"]
[PlyCount "129"]
[EventDate "2010.04.17"]
[SourceDate "2010.04.17"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nd2 e6 5. Nb3 Nd7 6. Nf3 Ne7 7. Be2 Qc7 {
This is a rare subvariation of the topical line in the Caro-Kann defence} ({
with} 7... Nc8 {
as a preferred move by such players as Ivanchuk, Topalov and Karpov.}) 8. Be3 (
{GM Alex Shabalov played} 8. O-O f6 9. Bf4 {
against GMs Bareev and Ehlvest last year and won both games}) 8... Nc8 9. O-O
Be7 10. Ne1 a5 11. f4 h6 12. g4 Bh7 13. a4 Ncb6 14. Nd2 f6 15. b3 Rc8 16. Bd3
c5 17. Bxh7 Rxh7 18. Ndf3 Nf8 19. Rf2 Nbd7 20. Nd3 c4 21. Nde1 g5 22. fxg5 fxg5
23. Nd2 cxb3 24. cxb3 Qc3 25. Nf1 Qb4 26. Nd3 Qb6 27. Rc1 Rc6 28. Rxc6 bxc6 29.
Qc2 Rf7 30. Ng3 Rxf2 31. Kxf2 Qc7 32. Qc3 Ng6 33. Ne2 {***DIAGRAM*** The game
is even at this point, but here black commits a serious inaccuracy.} Kd8 $2 {
The King takes away the square from Bishop and white ends up winning the a5
pawn.} ({Instead,} 33... c5 {
would have forced white to make some decisions. For example, the game move} 34.
Bd2 {is comfortably met by} (34. dxc5 Ndxe5 $1) 34... Qb6) 34. Bd2 c5 35. Qxa5
Qxa5 36. Bxa5+ Kc8 37. Bc3 cxd4 38. Bxd4 Bf8 39. Ng1 {
white's conversion of the extra material is good} Kb7 40. Nf3 Nb8 41. Bc5 Nc6
42. Ke3 Kc7 43. Bxf8 Nxf8 44. h4 gxh4 45. Nxh4 Kd7 46. b4 Ke7 47. b5 Na5 48.
Nc5 Kd8 49. Ng2 Ng6 50. Kd4 Nc4 51. Nxe6+ Ke7 52. Nef4 Ngxe5 53. Nxd5+ Kd6 54.
Nge3 Na5 55. Nf5+ Ke6 56. Ng7+ Kd6 57. Ne8+ Kd7 58. Kxe5 Kxe8 59. Kf6 Kd7 60.
Kg6 Kd6 61. Kxh6 Kxd5 62. g5 Nc4 63. g6 Nd6 64. g7 Nf5+ 65. Kh7 1-0

[Event "HS Nationals"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.04.18"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Auger, Michael"]
[Black "Wang, Eigen"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C00"]
[WhiteElo "2145"]
[BlackElo "2163"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2r1r1k1/p4ppp/3Pb3/1QPn4/3P4/2q2N2/P3BPPP/R4K1R w - - 0 22"]
[PlyCount "14"]
[EventDate "2010.04.17"]
[SourceDate "2010.04.17"]

{Last round was full of tension, with many players hoping to become
co-champions in case the leader loses. This, rather naturally, made for some
uncompromising chess and inevitable mistakes that turned the tables around.
***DIAGRAM*** White is winning, but needs to exercise some caution.} 22. Rb1 $2
(22. Re1 $1 {is a good way to consolidate and bring the point home}) 22... Nf4
$3 {but now, quite suddenly, black gets terrific counterplay!} 23. Ng5 $2 {
white's first mistake gave away the advantage and his second error leads to
hopeless position} (23. d7 Bxd7 24. Qxd7 Nxe2 25. Ne5 {
is equal according to Rybka and... this is the best white has now!}) 23... Nxe2
24. Nxe6 Rxe6 25. d5 Nd4 26. Qa6 Qxc5 27. Qa4 Qc1+ 28. Qd1 Qc4+ 0-1

[Event "HS Nationals"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.04.18"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Meekins, Kris"]
[Black "Ong, William"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B35"]
[WhiteElo "2224"]
[BlackElo "2176"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2010.04.17"]
[SourceDate "2010.04.17"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8.
Bb3 a5 9. f3 d5 10. Bxd5 Nxd5 11. exd5 Nb4 12. Nde2 Bf5 13. Rc1 {***DIAGRAM***}
Rc8 $6 {Not the best decision by black.} ({
In this theoretical position GM games usually revolve around} 13... b5 14. a3
Nxc2+ 15. Rxc2 Bxc2 16. Qxc2 b4 17. Na4 Qxd5 18. Nb6 Qe6 19. Kf2 ({
black stands well after} 19. Nxa8 Qxe3 20. Nc7 Rc8 21. Nd5 Rxc2 22. Nxe3 Rxb2)
19... Rab8 {and most games end in a draw. White's minor pieces are balanced
out by black's active play on the Q-side}) 14. a3 Nxc2+ 15. Rxc2 Bxc2 16. Qxc2
Qxd5 17. Qa4 (17. Qxg6 $5 {
is suggested by Rybka, but the game move gives white the upper hand as well})
17... Qd3 18. Kf2 Qa6 {White's play is a lost faster than in the 13...b5 line}
19. Rd1 Rc4 $2 (19... Rcd8 $1 {and black is definitely in the game, even if
his position is not too much fun to play}) 20. Qd7 $1 {
All white pieces participate in the game now.} b5 21. Qxe7 b4 22. Rd6 Qc8 23.
Nd5 Rc2 24. Qe4 Qc4 25. Qxc4 Rxc4 26. axb4 Be5 27. Rc6 Rh4 28. bxa5 {
and white converted the overwhelming advantage} 1-0

[Event "HS Nationals"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.04.18"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Uesugi, Shinsaku"]
[Black "Meekins, Kris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E09"]
[WhiteElo "2370"]
[BlackElo "2224"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2010.04.17"]
[SourceDate "2010.04.17"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 e6 4. O-O Be7 5. d4 O-O 6. c4 c6 7. Nbd2 Nbd7 8. Qc2
b6 {By transposition, the players arrived at a well-known position of the
closed system of the Catalan. This system (and the opening in general) is so
rich in complicated nuances that even GMs don't always find the right path.} 9.
e4 {***DIAGRAM***PLEASE INSERT***} dxe4 $6 ({Far more popular is} 9... Bb7 {
not fearing} 10. e5 {because after} Ne8 {the N is headed to the Q-side. This
may look like an excellent attacking position for white, but this assessment
is a bit simplistic. In order for white to attack the black King here, the B
needs to be transferred to the b1-h7 diagonal and white can accomplish this
only by trading pawns on d5. This in turn would give black play on the c-file.}
) ({Interestingly, it is possible that} 9... dxc4 $5 {
is not a bad way of handling this position as well} 10. Nxc4 Bb7 11. Rd1 c5 {
black accomplishes the freeing move and there is no obvious way for whtie to
claim any advantage}) 10. Nxe4 Nxe4 11. Qxe4 Bb7 {
Now black's position is quite passive and not easy to handle.} 12. Rd1 Qc8 ({
The natural-looking} 12... Nf6 13. Qc2 Qc8 {runs into} 14. c5 {when white's
space advantage in conjuction with the passive B on b7 is not compensated by
black's outpost on d5}) 13. Bf4 Re8 ({Perhaps the thematic} 13... c5 {
has to be tried, but after} 14. d5 Re8 15. Qc2 exd5 16. cxd5 Bf6 17. Rd2 Nf8
18. Rad1 {black is certainly not equal as the d-pawn is much too strong. There
are lines in Queen's Indian Defence where white sacrifices a pawn to get such
a pawn, but here he has it "free of charge".}) 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. Bxe5 {
***DIAGRAM*** depsite trading all four Knights, black is far away from
equality: the B on b7 is a very unhappy piece indeed. White has virtually an
ideal position for this variation.} Rd8 ({
black falls short of one tempo in this line:} 15... a5 16. Rac1 Ra7 17. c5 $1 {
right when black is ready to free up with c5, white plays the move himself.
This positional bind will remain for the rest ofthegame!}) 16. h4 Bd6 ({
again, after} 16... Rd7 {setting up c6-c5, white has} 17. Qg4 Bf8 18. c5 {
with advantage}) 17. h5 Bxe5 18. dxe5 h6 19. Rd6 $1 Rxd6 20. exd6 Qe8 21. Rd1
Rd8 22. b4 f5 23. Qe5 Bc8 24. Bf3 Bd7 25. c5 bxc5 26. bxc5 {
white converts this pleasant position into a full point without any problems}
Rb8 27. Rd4 Qf7 28. g4 Qf6 29. Qxf6 gxf6 30. gxf5 exf5 31. Ra4 Kf7 32. Ra6 Rc8
33. Rxa7 Ke6 34. a4 Rg8+ 35. Kf1 f4 36. Be2 Rg7 37. Bf3 Rg5 38. Ra5 Ke5 39. Ke2
Kd4 40. Ra7 Rg7 41. Bxc6 Bg4+ 42. f3 Rxa7 43. fxg4 Rh7 44. Be8 Kxc5 45. d7 Re7+
46. Kf2 1-0

[Event "2010 JH Nationals"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Fauman, Jacob"]
[Black "Bu, Kevin"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D63"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2010.04.10"]
[SourceDate "2010.04.10"]

{The winner of this game had a chance to become a co-champion and the players
chose a classical opening as their field of battle.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3
Be7 {Queen's Gambit Declined (QGD) is not a common guest in American Swisses
and even less in scholastic events. It is, however, known as the opening of
the World Championship matches!} 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 Nbd7 (5... h6 {
gives rise the ultrasolid Tartakower system, but on has to be familiar with the
} 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 {line, when after} 7. e3 O-O 8. Rc1 c6 9. Bd3 Nd7 10. O-O dxc4
11. Bxc4 e5 {Garry Kasparov introduced} 12. h3 $5 {against Ana toly Karpov in
the World Championship match in 1985. Eventually black found ways to equalize,
but Karpov had a hard time in several games.}) 6. e3 c6 7. Rc1 O-O 8. a3 b6 9.
Bd3 Bb7 10. O-O c5 {
Having completed his development, black opens up the position.} 11. Re1 Re8 {
Both Rook moves are a little out of place here, but they do not change the
general picture of the game.} 12. h3 Rc8 13. cxd5 Nxd5 14. Bxe7 {Diagram #}
Nxe7 ({Black's most important problem in the QGD is the placement of the Queen.
Therefore, more thematic is} 14... Qxe7 15. Nxd5 (15. e4 {is often met by} Nf4
$5) 15... Bxd5 16. Ba6 Rb8 {with a rich, interesting position as a result}) 15.
Nb5 (15. Qe2 $5 {might pose more problems for black}) 15... cxd4 16. Nfxd4 Rxc1
17. Qxc1 Nc5 18. Bb1 Qb8 {
Now that black found a nice spot for the Queen, position is level.} 19. Qd1 Ng6
20. Qh5 Ne4 21. Rc1 Rc8 22. Rxc8+ Qxc8 23. Qd1 Qb8 24. Nf3 a6 25. Nbd4 Qd6 26.
Qb3 Nc5 27. Qd1 $2 {white blunders badly in time trouble and loses the game.}
e5 28. b4 Ne6 {and black won} 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Michael Thaler"]
[Black "Zachary Adams"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B27"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "43"]
[EventDate "2010.06.14"]
[SourceDate "2010.06.14"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Qxd4 Nf6 5. e5 Nc6 6. Qa4 Nd5 7. Qe4 Nb6 (7...
Nc7) 8. Nc3 Bg7 9. Bf4 O-O 10. O-O-O Re8 11. Qe3 f6 12. Bh6 Bh8 13. h4 d5 14.
h5 Bf5 15. g4 Bxg4 16. hxg6 hxg6 17. Bd3 f5 18. Qg5 Kf7 19. Qxg4 Nxe5 (19...
fxg4 20. Ng5+ Kg8 21. Bxg6 {Diagram #} Bg7 (21... Bxe5 22. Bf7+ Kh8 23. Bf8+)
22. Bf7+ Kf8 23. Bxg7+ Kxg7 24. Rh7+ Kf8 25. Ne6#) 20. Ng5+ Kg8 (20... Kf6 21.
Qd4) 21. Bxf5 Nxg4 (21... gxf5 22. Qxf5) 22. Be6# 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Emanuel Lasker"]
[Black "Johann Hermann Bauer"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A03"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2010.06.14"]
[SourceDate "2010.06.14"]

1. f4 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. b3 e6 4. Bb2 Be7 5. Bd3 b6 6. Nf3 Bb7 7. Nc3 Nbd7 8. O-O
O-O 9. Ne2 c5 10. Ng3 Qc7 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. Bxe5 Qc6 13. Qe2 a6 {Diagram #} 14.
Nh5 Nxh5 15. Bxh7+ Kxh7 16. Qxh5+ Kg8 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Qg4+ Kh7 19. Rf3 e5 20.
Rh3+ Qh6 21. Rxh6+ Kxh6 22. Qd7 Bf6 23. Qxb7 Kg7 24. Rf1 Rab8 25. Qd7 Rfd8 26.
Qg4+ Kf8 27. fxe5 Bg7 28. e6 Rb7 29. Qg6 f6 30. Rxf6+ Bxf6 31. Qxf6+ Ke8 32.
Qh8+ Ke7 33. Qg7+ Kxe6 34. Qxb7 Rd6 35. Qxa6 d4 36. exd4 cxd4 37. h4 d3 38.
Qxd3 0-1

[Event "Philadelphia Open"]
[Site "Philadelphia United States"]
[Date "2010.04.01"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Alec Getz"]
[Black "S Ravichandran"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "2239"]
[BlackElo "2458"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2010.03.31"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 4. d4 Nf6 5. Bc4 Bg4 6. Nge2 e6 7. O-O Be7 8.
f3 Bf5 9. Ng3 Bg6 10. f4 Bf5 11. Nxf5 exf5 12. Kh1 g6 13. Qf3 c6 14. Be3 O-O
15. Rad1 Bd6 16. d5 c5 17. Nb5 a6 18. Nxd6 Qxd6 {Diagram #} 19. b4 cxb4 20. Bd4
Nbd7 21. Rfe1 Rfe8 22. Re6 fxe6 (22... Qc7) 23. dxe6 Nb6 24. Bxf6 Qc6 25. Bb3
Qxf3 26. gxf3 (26. e7+ Qxb3) 26... Kf8 27. Rd6 Nc8 28. Rd7 Re7 29. Rd8+ Re8 30.
Bg7+ Kxg7 31. Rxe8 Kf6 32. Rf8+ Ke7 33. Rf7+ Kd6 34. Rd7+ Kc5 35. Rd8 Nb6 36.
e7 1-0

[Event "ch-USA Playoff"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2010.05.25"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Shulman, Y."]
[Black "Kamsky, G."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D94"]
[WhiteElo "2613"]
[BlackElo "2702"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "132"]
[EventDate "2010.05.25"]

1. d4 {Yury is an extremely well prepared player.When he's playing white he
can be especially tough.} d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 g6 {Ever since he came
out of retirement, Gata has shown a preference for non theoretical openings.
Here he chooses the Slav.Black's position is solid,but lack's active prospects.
Gata has also played 4...a6 here with solid results.} (4... a6) 5. Nc3 Bg7 6.
Be2 O-O 7. O-O Qb6 8. b3 Bg4 9. Ba3 Re8 10. Rc1 e6 11. h3 Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Nbd7 {
Diagram #} 13. Bd6 $5 {both Yury and Gata liked this bishop maneuver.The
bishop covers the b8 square,which can be very important when the queenside
opens up.} Bf8 14. Bg3 a5 15. Qc2 Qa7 {
as we can see,black must play a waiting game} 16. Rfd1 Nb6 17. Be2 Nc8 18. c5 {
after this move white is threatening the simple a3 followed by b4 and b5.
black must do something to prevent this.} b6 (18... b5 $1 {
this is the correct moment for this} 19. cxb6 {
if white declines this capture,the position will be too locked} Nxb6 20. Na4
Nxa4 21. bxa4 Rec8 {idea c5 getting rid of the backward pawn}) 19. Na4 $1 {
this move forces open the q-side} Ne4 (19... b5 $5 20. Nc3 (20. Nb6 {
i believe that white's best chance for an advantage is to open up the queenside
} Nxb6 21. cxb6 Qxb6 22. Qxc6 Qxc6 23. Rxc6 Ne4 24. Bxb5 Nxg3 25. fxg3 {
despite being a pawn down black has good drawing chances}) 20... Ne7 $1 {
white's only break will be e3-e4 and black will be prepared for it}) 20. Be5 b5
21. Nb6 Nxb6 22. cxb6 Qxb6 23. f3 Nd6 24. Qxc6 {with the board now open white
can claim an advantage. finding these tough moves has burned Yury's time
advantage} Reb8 25. Qxb6 Rxb6 26. Kf2 Ne8 $6 ({It was time for Gata to try
something active.opening the A-file with some counterplay was better} 26... a4
$5) 27. Rc2 Ba3 28. e4 Kf8 29. g4 h6 30. h4 {
white takes space,while black waits} Rd8 31. Bf4 Kg7 32. Be3 Nd6 {Diagram #}
33. exd5 $5 {Diagram # most likely the most crucial moment of the game.Yuri
wins a pawn, but Gata's pieces finally gain activity.} (33. e5 $1 {given the ti
me control i prefer this.white keeps the tension puts black under heavy
pressure} Ne8 {the only thing saving black here is the Ba3.It prevents white
from doubling on the c-file} 34. h5 $5 {
at this point white has several promising tries,all involving king-side action}
(34. f4) 34... g5 35. f4 gxf4 36. Bxf4 {
with the idea of g5,when white gets a passed pawn supported by the bishop pair}
Be7 37. Rdc1 Ba3 38. Rg1) 33... exd5 34. Rc5 Ne8 (34... Bxc5 $4 35. dxc5 Rc6
36. cxd6 {white's bishops will mop up}) 35. Rxb5 Rxb5 36. Bxb5 Nc7 37. Bd3 Ne6
38. f4 Be7 39. Rh1 (39. Kg3 $5 {
holds the pawn,but both players were battling serious time pressure}) 39... Bf6
40. h5 gxh5 41. Rxh5 Bxd4 42. Bxd4+ Nxd4 43. Ke3 Nc6 44. Bb5 (44. a3 $5 Re8+
45. Kd2 Rb8 $6 (45... Rd8 {keeps black hanging on}) 46. Rxd5 Rxb3 47. Rc5 Rb6 (
47... Nd4 48. Rxa5 Nf3+ 49. Ke2 Nd4+ 50. Ke3 Nc2+ 51. Ke4 Nxa3) 48. Kc3 {
white has a won position here,black is completely tied up.}) 44... Nb4 45. Kd4
Rb8 46. a4 Rc8 47. Re5 Kf6 48. Rf5+ Kg6 49. Re5 Kf6 50. g5+ {
white retains winning chances,but material is dwindling} hxg5 51. fxg5+ Kg6 52.
Re7 Ra8 53. Be8 $2 {Mike Klein told me that Yuri considered a serious error.} (
53. Kc5 $5 {white has chances to win the a5 pawn}) 53... Kxg5 54. Kc5 f5 {
Diagram # black has 2 passed pawns while white has none.It's clear with draw
odds Gata willbetheUSChampion} 55. Rg7+ Kf6 56. Rg6+ Ke7 57. Bb5 f4 58. Rg4 f3
59. Kb6 f2 60. Rf4 Rf8 61. Rxf8 Kxf8 62. Kxa5 Nc6+ $1 {
securing the draw and the title} 63. Kb6 Nd4 64. Bf1 Nxb3 65. Kb5 Ke7 66. Kb4 {
The game ended after 66 kb4} Nd4 {
when black's N is in good position to sac itself for white's last pawn.}
1/2-1/2

[Event "ch-USA Quads"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2010.05.23"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Black "Shulman, Y."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C18"]
[WhiteElo "2733"]
[BlackElo "2613"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2010.05.22"]
[EventType "tourn"]
[EventRounds "3"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[EventCategory "18"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2010.05.24"]

{Round 2 of the quad began in the situation when all 4 players were still tied
for 1st. This game was Hikaru's last White game and I knew he would put all
his efforts to win it. I was thinking  about which strategy he might choose,
but was absolutely sure that Hikaru would do his preparation searching for my
weak spots. I do not have such a wide opening repertoire and felt that Hikaru
might prepare some forcing line. But the question was where? After 1.e4 or 1.
d4 or somewhere else?} 1. e4 {OK, it is 1.e4 So it will be my 4th French of
the tournament. The previous score 2,5 out of 3 was much better than in the
World Team Championship in Bursa (2010), where I had 0 out of 2 and the whole
US team was hoping not to see French anymore. Hikaru was among my teammates
and probably felt the same :)} e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 {I knew that Hikaru could
surprise me in this game since he implemented Blumenfeld in our previous game
as well as he always tries to bring some fresh blood on the board. I prepared 
lots of different lines before the game, and 3.Nc3 against my favorite French
was among them. I felt that Hikaru might throughtly analyze Poisoned Pawn
variation and wanted to surprise him a little myself.} Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+
6. bxc3 Qa5 $5 ({It was not too hard to realize that Hikaru probalby spent his
entire preparation on} 6... Ne7 7. Qg4 cxd4 8. Qxg7 Rg8 9. Qxh7 Qc7 10. Ne2
Nbc6 11. f4 {there was some sense to try a little side step. I already played
6...Qa5 couple of times and had some perspective positions.}) 7. Bd2 Qa4 8. Nf3
{This move was prepared least - most of the attention was spent on 8.Qb1 and 8.
Qg4, since I felt that they are more in Hikaru's style - one of them ends up
in absolutely locked position, which Hikaru strives for often, especially with
Black, another one is highly tactical, which I also felt was a strong point of
my opponent. Meanwhile Hikaru felt that he wanted to try something in between.}
(8. Qg4) (8. Qb1) {Here I went to a deep thought trying to recall our analysis
with Gata, which we had prepared for his match against Topalov. Gata
implemented French couple of times, including two games against Topalov and
had really promising positions, but the score in his first 4 French games was
really tough for him 0-4 (!). I was able to recall all the variations during
my blitz play-off against Savchenko in Khanty-Mansiysk 2009, but 90 minutes
plus 30 seconds increment was enough for me in this game :). Hikaru and most
of the spectators probably felt that I do not have any clue about the position,
it is just that I was trying to recall what was the most precise move order in
order to get to the position after 12...h6!} 8... Nc6 (8... b6 9. h4 Ba6 10. h5
Bxf1 11. Kxf1 {also can be tried}) 9. h4 (9. dxc5 {
was a valuable option for White:} f6 10. Nd4 (10. Be3) 10... Nxd4 11. cxd4 Qxd4
12. Bb5+ Kf7 13. O-O {and arising position is not without venom.}) 9... cxd4 (
9... Nge7 10. h5 h6 11. Rh4 c4 12. Rg4 (12. Rf4 Bd7 {happened in two of my
games against Aleksander Khalifman in our World Cup match in 2005.} {
White tried} 13. Nh4 {in one of them and 13. Be3 in another. I probably had
reasonable positons, but was not in the mood to give two tempis so easily -
usually White needs to play Qd1-b1-d1 in order to force c4.})) 10. cxd4 (10. h5
{seems fine for Black} Nge7 11. Rh4 Nf5 12. Rg4 b6 {
with inevitable trade of c8-Bishop was fine for Black}) 10... Nge7 (10... Nxd4
{was another move order in attempt to get to the line which happened in the
game, but White had more attractive option:} 11. Bb4 $5 Nxf3+ 12. Qxf3 Ne7 13.
Bd3 {with compensation}) 11. h5 Nxd4 12. Bd3 h6 $1 {We felt with Gata that
after this move White should already think about equality. Hikaru probably
felt at first that since Anand did not play this move, it might not be the
best option, but the deeper he looked into position, the more he understood 
advantages of it. Black gave away his dark-square Bishop and it was important
for him to stop weakening of g7-square. Since White does not have time for
Rh4?? because of Nxf3, Black can just take care about his d4 Knight one move
later. Also Black has an option of castling Kingside, which he never had when
White pawn was able to make to h6. If Black is able to castle, then put his
Knight to f5 and tried light-square Bishops (what a dream :) - then he will be
in great shape! White need to act right away!} (12... Nec6 {
was the main line for a while} 13. Kf1 Nxf3 (13... Nf5 14. h6 g6 15. Bg5 {
with good compensation for the sacrificed pawn}) 14. Qxf3 Qd4 (14... b6 {
was played by V. Anand, but probably not lots of French players would wish to
repeat the following line:} 15. h6 Ba6 16. hxg7 Rg8 17. Bxa6 Qxa6+ 18. Kg1 Rxg7
19. Qf6 Rg8 20. Rxh7 Qb7 21. Bg5 {with huge advantage for White as in the game
of two World Champions Kasparov-Anand 1992}) 15. c3 Qxe5 16. Re1 (16. h6 g6)
16... Qf6 (16... Qd6 17. h6 g6 18. Qf6 Rg8 19. Bg5 {
and the position is full of opportunities for White}) 17. Qxd5 e5 {
and probably Black is still OK.}) 13. Kf1 (13. Bb4 {was another move to
analayze, with ideas to prevent Black's dream position, but it seems that
Black is fine in both cases when he retreats with his d4-Knight, after 13...
Ndf5 or 13...Ndc6. White should seriously consider plans with castling himself,
but then it is not so easy for him to open the position, and Black might keep
his extra pawn in that case.} Ndc6) 13... Nxf3 14. Qxf3 b6 15. Qg3 ({
I felt that Hikaru was about to play} 15. Qe2 {
but could not find anything attractive after:} Bd7 16. Rh3 Nf5 {
where White needs to fight for the equality}) 15... Ba6 ({
Black also tried to protect a pawn after} 15... Rg8 16. Rh4 d4 17. Rg4 Bb7 18.
Rxg7 {he was even able to win a game, but his position is close to hopeless at
this point.}) 16. Qxg7 Bxd3+ ({I could also try to set a funny trick:} 16...
Rg8 17. Qh7 $2 Qxc2 {but could not imagine that Hikaru can miss something like
that, otherwise we would get the same position as in the game.}) 17. cxd3 Rg8
18. Qxh6 Qd4 19. Re1 {This move is the novelty.} ({White only tried} 19. Rc1 {
before and after:} Qxd3+ 20. Kg1 Qe4 $1 {the position probably remains equal.}
(20... Nf5 $6 21. Qf4 {and White establishes full control with his Queen.}) 21.
g3 (21. Bg5 Qxe5 ({Black can also continue the game by} 21... d4 $5 {
but his chances are probably close to even anyway.}) 22. Bf6 Qe4 23. g3 Nf5 24.
Qh7 Rxg3+ 25. fxg3 Qe3+ 26. Kg2 Qxg3+ 27. Kf1 Qf3+ 28. Kg1 {
with perpetual check}) 21... Qxe5 22. Qf4 Qxf4 23. Bxf4 f6 {
with probably an even endgame}) 19... Qxd3+ 20. Kg1 Rc8 (20... d4 {was another
option, but I felt that Rc8 cannot be bad - I develop my final piece and
should not have any troubles, meanwhile White should not rely heavily on his
"h"-pawn since his King is not safe yet and the pieces are not well
coordinated.}) (20... Qf3 21. Rh2 {probably just a wastege of time.}) 21. Bg5
$2 {This is the first real mistake of the game, although Hikaru would later
say that picking the French in this game was his first mistake :)} ({
Both of us seriously considered} 21. Qe3 {and if Black keeps the Queens on the
board then comparably to the game White at least was able to improve his Queen
position or after Queen trade the advantages of one side are approximately
compensated by advantages of another:} Qxe3 (21... Qh7 22. Qh6 (22. Qb3 {
probaly requires Black to search for Queen trade anyway after 22...Qc2, since}
Rc4 23. Qb5+ (23. h6) 23... Nc6 24. h6 {
and this position although with mutual chances seems good for White} (24. Qa6
$2 Qd3 $1 {with inevitable Rxg2+ and Rg4 discovery})) 22... Qc2) 22. Bxe3 Nf5
23. Rc1 {is still full of life, but probably game should end peacefully.})
21... Qf5 22. f4 Rc2 {
Now Black threatens no less than 23...Qxf4! 24.Bxf4 Rgxg2+ 25.Kf1 Rcf2#} (22...
d4 {
was another nice option, but it should lead to the same type of endgame after}
23. Qf6 Qxf6 24. exf6 Nf5 {where Black passed "d" and "b" pawns are more
dangerous then White's h-pawn. White problem is that when he brings it to h7,
he still cannot make any improvement - his Bishop is so poorly placed on g5
and f6 is occupied by the pawn! Black in return can slowly roll his pawns.})
23. Rh2 $4 (23. Qf6 {was the only defence, but it was not the reason to play
21.Bg5. Here is a good point to recall Gregory Kaidanov's lecture: "How
important ot say "I am sorry", where he mentiones that when one makes a
mistake, it is very important to admit it on-time and in some case even return
a piece on its starting point. It might costs two tempis, but it would be
least of two evils!} Qxf6 24. exf6 Nf5 {
and although the game is annoying for White, he has chances to defend it.})
23... Qd3 {Hikaru did not spend much time on his previous move, leaving
himself with around 50 minutes on the clock against mine 7, he kept on
thinking searching for any possible chances in this position. It turned out
that 23. Rh2 was so bad that when I tried to search for White's any chances,
the best I could find was a pawn endgame Queen down :)} 24. Qf6 Rxg5 {
Hikaru missed this idea. He analyzed it only after Qd4+, where the game would
still be going on.} (24... Nc6 {was also winning, but I played 24...Rxg5 not
because it looks more impressive, but because it was simpler - probably
Capablanca who was always in favor of simplicity in chess would choose the
same option :)}) (24... Qd4+ 25. Kh1 Rxg5 26. fxg5 Nf5 27. Rh3 Qg4 28. Rg1 Rxg2
29. Rxg2 Qxh3+ 30. Kg1 Ne3 {although in addition to a perpetual check options,
Black probably can play for win here as well.}) 25. Qxg5 (25. fxg5 {
trying to include Queen into defence, would not help as well:} Nf5 $1 26. h6
Qd4+ 27. Kh1 Ng3# $1) 25... Qd4+ 26. Kh1 Qe3 $1 (26... Qe3 {
Hikaru resigned in view of} 27. Rd1 (27. Qh4 Rc1) 27... Rc1 28. Qg4 Qe1+ {
with a cute checkmate. What a game! Some of us might think that this was a
brilliant performance by Black, some of us might say that Hikaru simply made
two mistakes which led to his King being trapped, some of beginning chess
players might say that this was the game between two beginners as well: Black
moved his Queen twice in the opening before developing his pieces, then White
pushed his h-pawn twice, both sides never castled and White missed back-rank
checkmate :) Of course - this game is an example how modern chess changed,
nowadays it is almost impossible to beat strong players by simple means and
from the first moves each side tries to prevent opponents' ideas so much that
sometimes violates opening rules. When we finished our game, I started waiting
for the result of the game between Gata and Alex. Alex declined a draw offer
and lost, which meant thateverything would be decided in the next game between
me in Gata. That game ended in a draw and we had to play an Armageddon game.
Lots of chessplayers told me that it was an unfair system - I would say that
at that point we could almost toss a coin already :) Gata and myself were able
to pass such a strong tournament with the same score, but only one could be
called the Champion. It was my fault and not the system, that after playing a
great Armageddon game - I missed a simple Bf6 winning my extra pawn back. I am
still proud of myself that I was able to find further fighting chances, but we
should not forget that Gata is absolutely amazing in protecting worsepositions.
He definitely deserved to be a Champion again after 19 years(!) of waiting
period. I would like to say couple of words about the tournament itself. The
organization of it was absolutely amazing! Saint Louis Chess Club made all
posible to make sure that all the participants feel comfortably and do not
need to worry about anyhting, but the games! We were provided with healthy
snacks, drinks as well as with dinner after the game at the tournament hall.
The VIP room would allow participants to analyze their games and communicate
with each other, which is one of the main parts why we are playing chess! The
media coverage of the match was a real surprize to me! BBC, Fox, local
channels were covering our US Chess Championship! Chicago Tribune usually
which traditionally was not much into chess, but were happy to highlight it
and hopefully will do it in the future. The spectators were taken care of -
they could watch the games live or go downstairs and listen to absolutely
entertaining commentary by Morris and Jennifer. Through their comments one
could feel intencity of the game as well the depth of Grandmaster thought. I
am really happy that the next US Championship will take place in Saint Louis
again. Hopefully all qualification events will also be held there. I am sure
even the players who already qualified for the next US Championship might
consider to take part in such nicely organized tournaments. I am really proud
to see a positive trend in chess development in the United States - the US
Championship in Saint Louis, Copper State, National open, tournaments at Texas
Tech are organized on a highly professional level. I hope we will see more of
such events in the future!}) 0-1

[Event "US Championships"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2010.05.23"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Alexander Shabalov"]
[Black "Alexander Stripunsky"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B42"]
[WhiteElo "2585"]
[BlackElo "2570"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "2010.05.14"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Bc5 (5... Qc7 6. O-O Nf6 7. Qe2
d6 8. c4 g6 9. Nc3 Bg7) 6. Nb3 Be7 (6... Ba7 7. Qe2 Nc6 8. Be3 d6 9. N1d2 Nf6
10. O-O-O Bxe3 11. Qxe3 Qc7 12. f4 O-O 13. Rhg1) 7. Be3 {Diagram #} d6 8. N1d2
Nf6 9. f4 Nc6 (9... b6 10. Qe2 Bb7 11. O-O-O Qc7 12. g4) 10. c3 (10. Qe2 Nb4
11. O-O O-O 12. a4 Bd7 13. a5 Rc8 14. Bb6 Qe8 15. Nf3 Bb5) 10... b6 (10... e5
11. f5 d5 (11... g6 12. Nc4 (12. Qe2 gxf5 13. exf5 d5 14. O-O-O Rg8 15. h3)
12... gxf5 13. exf5 d5 14. Bb6 Qd7 15. Ne3 Bd8 16. Bxd8 Qxd8 17. Bc2) 12. Qf3
g6 (12... dxe4 13. Bxe4 Nxe4 14. Nxe4 Qd3 15. Rd1 Qc2 16. O-O Qxb2 17. f6 gxf6
18. Rf2 Qa3 19. Nxf6+ Bxf6 20. Qxf6 Qf8 21. Bc5) 13. O-O-O gxf5 14. exf5 Rg8
15. Bc2 Qc7) 11. Qf3 Qc7 12. O-O Bb7 13. a4 O-O 14. Nd4 Nd7 15. Qh3 Rae8 16.
Rf3 Nc5 17. Bc2 e5 18. Nf5 Bc8 19. Qh5 Bxf5 20. exf5 e4 21. Rh3 h6 22. Bxc5
bxc5 23. Nxe4 Qd8 {Diagram #} 24. f6 Bxf6 25. Qf5 Rxe4 26. Qxe4 g6 27. Qxc6 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.07.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "GM Larry Christiansen"]
[Black "GM Hikaru Nakamura"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C06"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "144"]
[EventDate "2010.07.01"]
[SourceDate "2010.07.01"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Be7 4. Ngf3 Nf6 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bd3 c5 7. c3 Nc6 8. O-O
g5 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. Bb5 h6 11. Nb3 Bd7 12. Nxc5 Bxc5 13. Qe2 Bb6 14. Be3 a6 15.
Bxc6 bxc6 16. Bxb6 Qxb6 17. b4 c5 18. Qe3 Rc8 19. Rfc1 Qc7 20. h3 Rg8 21. bxc5
Qxc5 22. Nd4 Rg6 23. Rab1 Bb5 24. Rb4 Kf8 25. Qd2 Kg8 26. a4 Be8 27. Ne2 f6 28.
Qd4 fxe5 29. Qxe5 Qc7 30. Qd4 a5 31. Rb6 Bxa4 32. Ra1 Bc2 33. Rxa5 Bd1 {
Diagram #} 34. Ng3 (34. Rxd5 Bxe2 (34... exd5 35. Rxg6+ Kh7 36. Qf6) 35. Rd7
Qc4 36. Qe5 (36. Qd6 Qf4 37. Rd8+ Rxd8 38. Qxd8+ Kh7) 36... Qf4 37. Qxe2) 34...
Qxc3 35. Rxd5 Qxd4 36. Rxd4 Bc2 37. Rd7 Rf6 38. Nh5 Rf7 39. Rxf7 Kxf7 40. Rb7+
Kf8 41. Nf6 Bg6 42. Nd7+ Kg8 43. Ne5 Bh5 44. Re7 Re8 45. Rc7 Rb8 46. Nd7 Rb1+
47. Kh2 Bf7 48. Nf6+ Kg7 49. Ng4 Rb5 50. Nxh6 Kxh6 51. Rxf7 Kg6 52. Rf8 Rb4 53.
Kg3 Ra4 54. Rf3 Rb4 55. Re3 Kf5 56. Kf3 Rf4+ 57. Ke2 Ra4 58. g4+ Kf6 59. Kf3 e5
60. Rb3 Kg6 61. Rb6+ Kf7 62. Rh6 Rf4+ 63. Kg3 Ra4 64. f3 Rb4 65. Rh5 Kf6 66.
Rh6+ Kf7 67. h4 gxh4+ 68. Rxh4 Ra4 69. Rh6 Rb4 70. g5 Rf4 71. Ra6 Rf5 72. g6+
Kg7 1/2-1/2

[Event "ch-USA"]
[Site "Saint Louis USA"]
[Date "2010.05.19"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Christiansen, L."]
[Black "Krush, I."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B20"]
[WhiteElo "2578"]
[BlackElo "2455"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2010.05.14"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "9"]
[EventCountry "USA"]
[Source "Mark Crowther"]
[SourceDate "2010.05.24"]

{My criteria in selecting this game for annotation clearly wasn't to choose my
'best' effort in Saint Louis. Instead, I thought it'd be interesting to show a
game I felt I'd learned the most from, and this one against Big L hit the mark
on both the chess and  psychological aspects.} 1. e4 c5 2. b3 $5 {You can surpr
ise even someone who expects to be surprised. This little move (at least on
move two!) never appeared in my hours of preparation. I thought for a while,
and found a solid scheme of development.} d6 {It makes sense to control the e5
square, and prepare the knight's arrival on f6.} 3. Bb2 Nf6 {What I liked
about this setup is that it puts the question to the e4 pawn early.} 4. Bb5+ {
Not something I predicted, but who can understand the Bb5 move in the Sicilian,
anyway? :) I suppose White has a slight problem with their light squared
bishop with the pawn on b3, so they try to trade it off.} Nbd7 {Just like in
regular Bb5+ Sicilians, ...Bd7 was completely possible too. I just wanted to
keep the game more complicated and preferred to get that bishop for a knight.}
5. Qe2 e6 {
I could have started with 5...a6 immediately, since on 6.Bd3 Black has ...Ne5.}
(5... a6 6. Bd3 Ne5) 6. f4 a6 7. Bxd7+ {White could also hold on to their
bishop with 7.Bd3, but then Black expands on the queenside with ...b5.} (7. Bd3
b5) 7... Bxd7 8. Nc3 Bc6 9. Nf3 Be7 10. O-O O-O 11. Rae1 b5 12. d3 {By this poi
nt, both sides have pretty much completed their standard piece development and
can now think about their middlegame plans.} Qc7 {
A flexible choice, connecting the rooks.} ({I considered the concrete} 12... d5
{but rejected it because White has the powerful f5! resource at the end:} 13.
exd5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 Qxd5 (14... Bxd5 15. f5) 15. f5 $1) ({
I also thought about expansion on the queenside with} 12... b4 13. Nd1 (13. Nb1
{is equally possible.}) 13... a5 14. Ne3 a4 {but somehow I just didn't feel
comfortable with chasing White's knight to a good position in the center,
while searching for play on the a-file.}) 13. e5 Nd5 (13... dxe5 $5 {I pretty m
uch rejected this capture on principle, not wanting to hand over the f-file to
White on a silver plate. But even with this gift, Black's position is very
resilient and it isn't easy for White to muster up a real attack.} 14. fxe5 Nd7
15. Ne4 h6 16. Qf2 (16. g4 $5 {Now that I thought of this move, it strikes me
as the kind of thing Larry would play..}) 16... c4 17. Qg3 cxd3 18. cxd3 Bxe4
19. Rxe4 Qc2 20. Rg4 Qxb2 21. Rxg7+ Kh8 {
and in this variation, White's attack lead to nowhere.}) 14. Nxd5 Bxd5 15. c4 {
Here came one of the first dividing paths in the game.} Bb7 {Stubbornly
on to the bishop. I foresaw some danger for Black in this continuation, ie, in
allowing the Nf3 to stay alive, and had to decide if the coming danger was
worth parting with the bishop pair. So I did examine 15...Bxf3, but my heart
wasn't in it. I think playing 15...Bxf3 is like admitting your position is
slightly worse, cause it can't handle the risk of actually making the decision
you want to make. But I had faith in my position.} (15... Bxf3 {
is what you'd expect: not as bad as it seems, and not as good as you'd want.}
16. Rxf3 dxe5 17. Bxe5 Bd6 {this move ensures that White doesn't have time to
create the attack they're hoping for, and the game can continue} 18. f5 exf5
19. Bxd6 Qxd6 20. Rxf5 {and still White has some pressure in this major piece
endgame due to their more active pieces.}) (15... Bxf3 16. Rxf3 dxe5 17. Bxe5
Bd6) 16. exd6 Bxd6 {This position was one of the key moments in the game, and
Larry spent a long time here, probably calculating the same thing I was.} 17.
Ne5 {I was happy to see this, as I knew Black had nothing to worry about now.}
({I was quite afraid of} 17. Ng5 $5 {
Diagram # and was busy constructing some lines of defense for Black.} Bxf4 {
Now I considered three moves for White, two of which simply fail but one which
can justify the pawn sac.} 18. Qh5 $1 (18. Qg4 Bxh2+ 19. Kh1 Qg3 $1 $19 {
I was happy when I spotted this effective queen move.}) (18. Bxg7 {
had me concerned for a while too, but Black has the same defense:} Kxg7 ({
I still hadn't combined the ideas from the lines I was studying, so I didn't
realize that I had this defense based on ...Qg3, and tried to build a defense
around} 18... Bxg5 19. Bxf8 Rxf8 (19... Kxf8 20. Qxe6 Rd8 {
is another non-losing continuation, but Black can do a lot better than this.})
20. Qg4 h6 21. h4 f5 {which works too.}) 19. Qg4 Bxh2+ 20. Kh1 Qg3 $19 ({
During the game, I only saw} 20... f5 21. Nxe6+ Kh8 22. Nxc7 fxg4 23. Nxa8 $18)
) 18... h6 (18... Bxg5 19. Qxg5 {
is just bad for Black since he has to give away the f-pawn to stop mate.}) 19.
Ne4 {Diagram # It's actually quite surprising that after giving up the
important f-pawn, White's strongest continuation lies in this line, which
includes a calm retreat by the knight. So what does White have for the pawn?
Well, the f-file has been opened and all of White's pieces are pointed at
Black's king. The c5 pawn is hanging, but most importantly, sacrifices loom on
f6 and particularly on g7. And Black now has to decide between a "safe" move
which forces White to sacrifice more material to make a draw, or, if they have
doubts about White's compensation, a "show me what you've got" move.} f5 {
Very safe. Now the main line goes 20.Nf6 gxf6 (20...Kh8? 21.Rxe6) 21.Rxf4 Qxf4
(21...Qg7 22.Rf2 leaves White with better chances) 22.Qg6+ Kh8 23.Bxf6+ Rxf6
24.Qxf6+ Kg8 25.Qxe6+ Kh8 26.Qf6+ Kg8=.} (19... Rac8 {Let's call this the
other main option. (19...Bxe4 20.Rxe4 doesn't lead to anywhere good for Black.)
Now White has to continue actively with 20.Bxg7, and....after some crazy stuff,
we'll get an equal position too. I'll let you explore this on your own if
you're interested; for now I just wanted to bring your attention to all the
great attacking/defensive ideas the position holds.} 20. Bxg7) (19... Bxe4 20.
Rxe4) 20. Nf6+ gxf6 (20... Kh8 21. Rxe6) 21. Rxf4 Qxf4 (21... Qg7 22. Rf2) 22.
Qg6+ Kh8 23. Bxf6+ Rxf6 24. Qxf6+ Kg8 25. Qxe6+ Kh8 26. Qf6+ Kg8) 17... f6 18.
Ng4 Rae8 {Black is very solid here, and it's hard for White to improve beyond
what he has. The question is, can Black improve, and how?} (18... Bxf4 {
looks risky, and appearances aren't deceiving in this case:} 19. Nxf6+ {
lands immediately} gxf6 (19... Rxf6 20. Bxf6 gxf6 21. Qg4+ Bg5 22. h4 $18) 20.
Qg4+ Bg5 (20... Kh8 21. Rxf4) 21. Bxf6 Rxf6 22. Rxf6 Qg7 23. Qxe6+ Kh8 24. Qe8+
$1 Rxe8 25. Rxe8+ Qg8 26. Rxg8+ Kxg8 27. Rb6 $18 {the bishop is lost.}) 19. Qf2
Kh8 ({You don't want to fall for a trap like} 19... Qf7 $2 20. Bxf6 $1 h5 (
20... gxf6 21. Nh6+ $18) 21. Be5) 20. Re3 Qf7 21. Qe2 Re7 (21... Qh5 $5 {
sets a trap:} 22. Rxe6 $4 Bc8 $1 $19) 22. Rf2 Ree8 23. Rh3 Qg6 24. Rg3 Qh5 {
I thought the position was about equal, and White's best would be to repeat
moves with Rh3-g3. But Larry keeps the game going with the not verypositionally
desirable h3 (it takes away all of White's attacking ideas on the h-file.)} 25.
h3 Qf7 {Transferring the queen back to c7.} (25... Qf5 $4 26. Ne3 $18) 26. Qd2
Qc7 27. Qe3 {Diagram # The second critical moment in the game. Somehow, I hit
upon the high risk/high reward idea of kicking White's knight away with ...h5.
High reward, because if White retreats to h2, then ....e5 seemed strong to me.
High risk, because obviously ...h5 weakens Black's king quite a lot, and
allows White a dangerous knight sac on f6, followed by Rg6. I became so
fixated on this idea that I spent the majority of my remaining time trying to
make it work, and in the meantime was basically blinded to any other plans for
Black . There is, though, an interesting psychological context for my fixation
on ...h5: a few months back, I had used this exact move against Vinay Bhat in
Gibraltar, and it had really been the star move of the game (just like here,
the idea was to kick away a knight on g4). So I had very fond memories of this
idea, and I guess they prevented me from evaluating its merits objectively.
It's not that it doesn't deserve to be considered, but it is quite apparent
(even to me, at the time) that it's a very risky option, and why would you
commit yourself to such a course when your opponent, in fact, threatens
nothing at all?    Thus, my irrepressible inner desire to recreate a pleasant
memory leads me to destroy a perfectly good position within two moves. I'll
try not to repeat this :)} Re7 $2 {A positive interpretation of this move
would be that I am "bolstering" the seventh rank in anticipation of Nxf6 on a
future ...h5. But really this awkward rook move takes away the Bd6's retreat
squares and interferes with my ability to operate on the seventh with the
queen.} (27... h5 28. Nxf6 {and now the correct recapture is} Rxf6 $1 (28...
gxf6 29. Rg6 {and Black is in trouble:} Rf7 (29... Qf7 30. f5 $1 e5 (30... exf5
31. Bxf6+ Qxf6 32. Qh6#) 31. Rh6+ Kg7 32. Bc1 $1 {threatening Qg3 mate} e4 33.
Rg6+ Kh8 34. Bb2 $1 Be7 35. Qg5 $18) 30. Bxf6+ Rxf6 31. Rxf6 Kg7 32. Rxe6) 29.
Bxf6 gxf6 30. Rg6 {
this looked dangerous to me during the game, but Black can defend with} Qf7 31.
f5 (31. Qg3 $4 {actually loses to} Kh7) 31... Be5 $1 {and Black is holding on.}
) ({If I'd remembered that the board consists of more than one square, I might
have found} 27... Bc6 $5 {preparing play on the queenside with a6-a5-a4. (and
h4 by White can always be met with ...Qf7, and the pawn can't advance further).
}) ({If I'd wanted to put a rook on the seventh to prepare ...h5, then I
should have tried} 27... Rf7 $5 {although after} 28. h4 h5 {
White will still continue with} 29. Nxf6 gxf6 {and now either 30.Rg6 or 30.Qe2
where he has enough play for the piece, but Black should defend.}) (27... Bc6)
(27... Rf7 28. h4 h5 29. Nxf6 gxf6 30. Rg6 (30. Qe2)) 28. h4 {Now White is
threatening to seriously improve his position with h5, forcing me to weaken my
kingside with ...h6. Note how I can't play ...Qf7 anymore. Thus I felt
compelled to play ...h5 myself, despite still being worried about the piece
sac on f6.} h5 $2 (28... Ree8 29. h5 h6 30. Nxf6 gxf6 31. Rg6 {is an example
of what could happen to Black if he doesn't deal with White's growing
initiative.}) (28... Ref7 {
,keeping f6 well guarded, would have been a better way to defend:} 29. h5 h6
30. Nxh6 gxh6 31. Rg6 Qe7) 29. Ne5 $1 {Diagram # A devastating incursion
courteously set up by Black with his two prior moves. Incidentally, 29.Nxf6
was still possible; it just isn't relevant when White has something like 29.
Ne5.} (29. Nxf6) 29... Bxe5 ({The knight is immune to capture by the pawn:} 
29... fxe5 30. fxe5 Rxf2 31. exd6 Qxd6 32. Qh6+ Kg8 33. Rxg7+ $18) 30. fxe5 f5
31. Qg5 {What's that pawn doing on h5? :)} Kg8 32. Rf4 $1 {
Killing my hopes of counterplay after 32.Qxh5 f4.} (32. Qxh5 f4) 32... Rd7 33.
Qxh5 Rfd8 {Not very resistant; I was pretty gloomy about my defensive
prospects here in view of White's simple but dangerous plan Qg6-h5-h6.} (33...
Qa5 34. Qg6 Re7 35. h5 Qd2 (35... Qxa2 36. h6 Rff7 37. Rh4 Qxb2 38. Qh7+ $1 {
a nice mating motif} Kxh7 39. hxg7+ Kg8 40. Rh8#) 36. Rf2 (36. h6 Qxf4 37. hxg7
Rd8 38. Rh3 Rxg7 39. Qxe6+ Rf7 40. Qg6+ Rg7 (40... Kf8 41. e6 $18) 41. Qe6+ $11
) (36. Rh4 $2 f4 37. Rgg4 f3 38. h6 f2+ 39. Kh2 f1=N+ 40. Kg1 Qf2+ 41. Kh1
Bxg2+ 42. Rxg2 Qxh4+ 43. Kg1 Ne3 $19) 36... Qe1+ 37. Rf1 Qe2 38. h6 Rff7 (38...
Qxb2 39. hxg7 Rff7 40. Qh7+ Kxh7 41. g8=Q+ Kh6 42. Qg6#) 39. Bc1 Qxe5 40. Bf4
Qd4+ 41. Kh2 bxc4 42. Bg5 Rd7 (42... Re8 43. h7+ Kh8 44. Qxf7 $18) 43. hxg7
Qxg7 44. Qxe6 $18) 34. Qg6 Rxd3 35. Qxe6+ Qf7 36. Qxf7+ Kxf7 37. e6+ $1 {
the final bit of accuracy} (37. Rxf5+ Ke6 38. Rfg5 Rxg3 39. Rxg3 Rd2 {
and I still have some counterplay.}) 37... Kxe6 38. Rg6+ Kd7 39. Rxg7+ Kc8 40.
Rxf5 {A big thanks to the Wildcard Selection Committee for giving me the
opportunity to compete in this incredible event. I had my highs and lows in
Saint Louis, but overall...it was one of those experiences you live for. And
it did end on a high.} 1-0

[Event "Corus Wijk aan Zee"]
[Site "0:38:32-0:01:51"]
[Date "2006.01.25"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Veselin Topalov"]
[Black "Levon Aronian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2006.??.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 c6 8. Bc3
d5 9. Ne5 Nfd7 10. Nxd7 Nxd7 11. Nd2 O-O 12. O-O Nf6 13. e4 b5 14. exd5 exd5
15. Re1 Rb8 16. c5 Bc8 17. Nf3 Ne4 {Diagram #} 18. Rxe4 (18. Ne5 Nxc3 19. Qd3
Qc7 20. Qxc3 Re8) (18. Bb2 Bf6 19. b4 a5 20. a3 Bg4) 18... dxe4 19. Ne5 Qd5 20.
Qe1 Bf5 21. g4 Bg6 22. f3 b4 23. fxe4 Qe6 24. Bb2 Bf6 25. Nxc6 Qxc6 26. e5 Qa6
27. exf6 Rfe8 28. Qf1 Qe2 29. Qf2 Qxg4 30. h3 Qg5 31. Bc1 Qh5 32. Bf4 Rbd8 33.
c6 Be4 34. c7 Rc8 35. Re1 Qg6 36. Rxe4 Rxe4 37. d5 Rce8 38. d6 Re1+ 39. Kh2 Qf5
40. Qg3 g6 41. Qg5 Qxg5 42. Bxg5 Rd1 43. Bc6 Re2+ 44. Kg3 1-0

[Event "Moscow, 2006"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Alexander Grischuk"]
[Black "Alesei Shirov"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b1k2r/2qp2pp/p2bp3/2p1R3/5B2/2N1Q3/PPP2PPP/R5K1 w kq - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "4"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]

{Diagram #} 1. Rd1 (1. Re4 O-O 2. Bxd6 Qxd6 3. Rd1) (1. Nd5 Qc6 (1... Qb8 2.
Rf5 Bxf4 3. Rxf4 Qxb2 4. Re1) 2. Rg5 h6 3. Bxd6 hxg5 (3... Qxd6 4. Rd1) 4. Rd1
Rh6 5. Ne7 Qa4 6. Qf3 Bb7 7. Qxb7 Rd8 8. Ng8 Rh8 9. Qf3 Rxg8 10. Qh5+) (1. Qg3)
1... O-O 2. Rxd6 Qxd6 1-0

[Event "XIII Dos Hermanas"]
[Site "Dos Hermanas ESP"]
[Date "2005.04.04"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Miguel Illescas-Cordoba"]
[Black "Teimour Radjabov"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A62"]
[WhiteElo "2633"]
[BlackElo "2673"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "88"]
[EventDate "2005.04.01"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nc3 c5 6. d5 d6 7. Nf3 e6 8. O-O
exd5 9. cxd5 Re8 10. Bf4 h6 11. Rc1 Nh5 12. Bd2 Nd7 13. Re1 a6 14. a4 Nhf6 15.
b3 g5 16. h4 g4 17. Nh2 Ne5 18. Qc2 Nh5 19. e3 Qf6 20. Ne2 Bf5 21. e4 Bd7 22.
Nf4 Nxf4 23. Bxf4 b5 24. Nf1 Rec8 25. Qd1 h5 26. Ne3 Bh6 27. Bxh6 Qxh6 28. axb5
axb5 29. Ra1 Qf6 30. Nc2 b4 31. Qd2 Kg7 32. Rxa8 Rxa8 33. Ra1 Rxa1+ 34. Nxa1 {
Diagram #} c4 (34... Nf3+ 35. Bxf3 Qxa1+ 36. Bd1) (34... Bb5 35. Nc2) 35. bxc4
(35. Qxb4 Nf3+ 36. Bxf3 Qxa1+) 35... Nxc4 36. Qc1 Qc3 37. Qxc3+ (37. Qg5+ Kf8
38. Qd8+ Be8) 37... bxc3 38. f3 Ba4 39. Bf1 Ne5 40. f4 Nf3+ 41. Kf2 c2 42. Nxc2
Bxc2 43. Ke3 Bxe4 44. Kxe4 Nd2+ 0-1

[Event "ECC"]
[Site "Halkidiki GRE"]
[Date "2002.09.28"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Alexander Motylev"]
[Black "Judit Polgar"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B33"]
[WhiteElo "2634"]
[BlackElo "2681"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2002.09.22"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 5. Nb3 Nf6 6. Nc3 e6 7. Qe2 Bb4 8.
Bd2 O-O 9. a3 Be7 10. O-O-O d5 11. exd5 Nxd5 12. Nxd5 exd5 13. Bc3 Be6 14. Qf3
Rac8 15. Qg3 g6 16. h4 Rfd8 17. h5 d4 18. hxg6 hxg6 19. Nxd4 Nxd4 20. Rxd4 {
Diagram #} Rxc3 (20... Rxd4 21. Qe5 Bg5+ 22. Qxg5 Rxc3 23. bxc3 Qd8 24. Rh8+
Kxh8 25. Qe5+ Kh7 26. cxd4) (20... Bf6 21. Rxd8+ Qxd8 22. Bxf6 Qxf6 23. Bd3)
21. bxc3 (21. Qe5 Bf6 22. Qxf6 Rxc2+ 23. Kxc2) 21... Rxd4 22. cxd4 Qxd4 23. c3
Qc5 24. Kd2 Bg5+ 25. Kc2 Kg7 26. Bd3 Bf6 27. Rb1 Qxc3+ 28. Kd1 Bg5 29. Ke2 Bg4+
30. Kf1 Bf4 0-1

[Event "Capablanca Chess Club 1985"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ramon, Vivian"]
[Black "Hernandez-Meilan, Orlando"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2010.05.22"]

1. g3 c5 2. Bg2 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. O-O e6 {Diagram #} 5. d4 d5 6. c3 Be7 {
Diagram #} (6... Bd6) 7. b3 O-O 8. Bb2 Re8 9. Nbd2 Bd6 10. c4 {Diagram #} cxd4
(10... Nxd4 11. Nxd4 cxd4 12. cxd5 e5) 11. cxd5 exd5 12. Nxd4 {Diagram #} Bg4
13. N2f3 Rc8 14. h3 Bd7 15. Rc1 Ne5 {Diagram #} 16. Qd2 Ne4 17. Rxc8 Qxc8 18.
Qa5 {Diagram #} Bxh3 19. Qxd5 Bxg2 20. Kxg2 Ng4 {Diagram #} 21. Ng5 (21. Nf5
Bf8 22. Rc1 Qe6 23. Qxe6 fxe6 24. N5d4 Nexf2 25. Rc7 Re7 26. Rxe7 Bxe7 27. Nxe6
g6) (21. Rc1 Qd7 22. Nf5 Ngf6 23. Bxf6 Nxf6 24. Qd3 Bb8 25. Qxd7 Nxd7) 21...
Nxg5 22. Qxg5 Re5 {Diagram #} 23. Rc1 Qd7 24. Qd2 Rh5 {Diagram #} 25. Nf3 Ne3+
{Diagram #} 26. fxe3 (26. Kg1 Rh1+ 27. Kxh1 Qh3+ 28. Nh2 (28. Kg1 Qg2#)) (26.
Qxe3 Qh3+ 27. Kg1 Qh1#) 26... Qh3+ 0-1

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Only a misprint"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/3Kp3/8/3p3R/k3p3/8/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "15"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]

{Diagram #} 1... e2 2. Re4 d3 3. Kc5 d2 4. Re3+ Ka4 5. Re4+ Ka5 6. Rxe2 d1=Q 7.
Ra2+ Qa4 8. Rxa4+ Kxa4 1/2-1/2

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "H. Rinck - Version by P. Benko"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/4KR2/8/8/3p4/k3p3/8/8 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "16"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]

{Diagram #} 1. Kd6 e2 2. Re7 d3 3. Kc5 d2 4. Re3+ Ka4 5. Re4+ Ka5 6. Rxe2 d1=Q
7. Ra2+ Qa4 8. Rxa4+ Kxa4 *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Rook sac"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5K2/8/P3PpR1/1k6/8/8/8/4r2r w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "7"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]

{Diagram #} 1. a7 Ra1 (1... Rh8+ 2. Rg8 Rxg8+ 3. Kxg8 Rg1+ 4. Kf8 Rh1 5. Kg8
Rg1+ 6. Kf8 (6. Kf7 Ra1) 6... Rh1) 2. e7 Rhe1 3. Rg1 Rxg1 4. e8=Q+ *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "H. Rinck - Version by P. Benko"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "5K2/8/P3P3/2k2pR1/8/8/8/2r4r w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "23"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2010.06.15"]

{Diagram #} 1. e7 Rhe1 2. a7 Ra1 3. Rg1 Rxa7 (3... Rxg1 4. e8=Q Rh1 5. Qb8) 4.
Rxe1 Ra8+ 5. e8=Q Rxe8+ 6. Kxe8 Kd4 7. Rf1 Ke4 8. Kf7 f4 9. Kg6 f3 10. Kg5 Ke3
11. Kg4 f2 12. Kg3 *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Start later"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "1Q6/8/5bpq/6kp/6P1/8/6RK/8 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "13"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]

{Diagram #} 1. Qb5+ Kh4 2. g5 Bxg5 3. Rxg5 Qxg5 4. Qb4+ Qg4 5. Qe7+ Qg5 6. Qe4+
Qg4 7. Qe3 *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ancient problem"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/4N3/7k/8/8/5r1r/4N1K1 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "11"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]

{Diagram #} 1. Nf4+ Kg4 2. Nfg2 Kg3 (2... Rhxg2+ 3. Nxg2 Kf3) 3. Ne3 Rh8 4.
Nf1+ Rxf1+ 5. Kxf1 Rh2 6. Nd3 *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.07.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Arabic scriptures"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "7R/kn6/2K5/8/8/8/8/8 b - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "12"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]

{Diagram #} 1... Na5+ 2. Kb5 Nb7 3. Rf8 Nd6+ 4. Kc6 Nc4 5. Rd8 Na5+ 6. Kb5 Nb7
7. Rd7 1-0

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.07.07"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ancient problem - B"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "8/8/8/8/1P6/5k2/5rN1/6K1 w - - 0 4"]
[PlyCount "3"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]

{Diagram #} 4. Nh4+ Kg3 5. b5 1/2-1/2

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Down sizing"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "3k4/8/4K3/8/4N3/r6r/P2B4/8 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "9"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]

{Diagram #} 1. Nd6 Rxa2 2. Ba5+ Rxa5 3. Nb7+ Kc7 (3... Ke8 4. Nxa5 Rh6+ 5. Kd5
Rh5+) 4. Nxa5 Rc3 5. Kd5 1/2-1/2

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "H. Rinck - Version by P. Benko"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r3k3/8/3K4/8/3N4/7r/4B3/8 w q - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "7"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]

{Diagram #} 1. Ne6 Rh6 (1... Ra5 2. Bb5+ Rxb5 3. Nc7+) 2. Bh5+ Rxh5 3. Nc7+ (3.
Ng7+ Kd8 4. Nxh5 Ra6+ 5. Ke5 Ra5+) 3... Kd8 4. Nxa8 *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem I"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "2K5/3n3k/2b5/6R1/8/8/5b2/8 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "11"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]

{Diagram #} 1. Rf5 Nb6+ 2. Kc7 Nd5+ 3. Kd6 Bg3+ 4. Kc5 Ne3 5. Rh5+ Kg6 6. Rh3 *

[Event "?"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.06.15"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Problem II"]
[Black "?"]
[Result "*"]
[Annotator "Kantor, Alan"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "k7/8/8/1N6/B1N1r3/8/5K2/8 w - - 0 1"]
[PlyCount "13"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]

{Diagram #} 1. Nb6+ Kb8 2. Nd7+ Ka8 3. Bb3 Rf4+ 4. Kg3 Rf5 5. Bc4 Rg5+ 6. Kf4
Rh5 7. Kg4 *

