1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 c6 3. e4 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Nc5 Qb6 #The reason why I played this move was because I saw it recommended by Karpov as the simplest way to equalize. Its drawback is that I have to develop a queen too early. It can be justified though, as 1) the queen cannot be easliy harrassed from b6 2) it makes it harder for White to develop pieces and the queen puts pressure on b2 and d4 However, if White manages to develop without any time loss, my position should be worse. 6. Nf3 Nf6 6... e6 was obligatory. I preferred the text move because I thought that I could possibly get a chance to play e7-e5 in one move. This is a very superficial approach to position 7. Ne5 (7. Nb3 Nd7 8. Bd3 Bg6 9. O-O Ngf6=) 7... Bxc5 (7... Nf6 8. Nc4 Qc7 9. g3 Nd5 10. Bg2 Bxc5 11. dxc5 O-O 12. O-O= Rublevsky-Luther, 1992 ) 8. dxc5 Qxc5 9. Nc4 7. Bd3 Bxd3 8. Nxd3 e6 9. O-O Be7 10. Be3

10... Qd8 The queen returned, and White has a firm control over e5 and c5. 11. Re1 O-O 12. Qe2 Alex has spent more time than me in the opening and this paid back: I did not realize how dangerous this passive position can be for me, and gradually allowed White to gain a nearly decisive advantage 12... Nbd7 13. Rad1 Rc8 14. c4 a6 I decided to prepare b7-b5 in order to fight for the d5 square 15. Nde5 Here I sank into thought, because after 15...Qc7 16. Bf4 Nxe5 White has several reasonable choice and I was scared of all of them 15... Qc7 15... Nxe5 16. dxe5 Nd7 appealed to me less 16. Bf4 Nxe5 17. Nxe5 I traded off another pair of pieces, but White's remaining pieces are more and more active. 17. Bxe5 17. dxe5 17... Qd8 18. Rd3 Nd7 19. Nxd7? I was thinking that I would lose after 19. Rh3 This seemed to be a natural follow-up to White's previous move 19... Nxe5 20. Qh5! h6 21. Bxh6 Ng6 I think I did not even consider this move, as I did not see 22...Bh4 ( and here I only saw 21... g6 22. Qxe5 Bf6 23. Qf4 and I hoped that I could hang on in this position 23... Qxd4 (23... Re8 does not help: 24. Rf3!) 24. Qxd4 Bxd4 25. Bxf8 Rxf8) 22. Bxg7 Bh4 23. Bxf8 Kxf8 24. Rf3 19... Qxd7 20. d5 cxd5 21. cxd5 Bb4 22. Bd2 When playing d4-d5 my opponent missed that after 22. dxe6 I can play 22... Qxe6= 22... Bxd2 23. Qxd2 exd5 24. Rxd5 Qc6 #around this moment we both had about 5 minutes left and I offered a draw, thinking that 1) my disappointed opponent would take it as largest part of his advantage is gone 2) objectively position should be drawn, even if White has a small initiative 25. Rd7 Rc7 26. Rd6 Qc5 27. b4 Qf5 28. Rd8 Rc8 29. Rxf8+ Rxf8 30. g3 Qf6 31. Qe3 g6 32. Qe7 Qc6 33. Qe4 Rc8 34. a4 Qxe4 35. Rxe4 Kf8 36. Kg2 Rc7?! 36... Rc3 37. g4 h6 38. a5 Rb3 37. Kf3 f6?! 37... Rc3+ 38. h4 Kf7 39. Ke3 Rd7 In time trouble I did not even seriously consider transposing into a pawn endgame 39... Re7!? 40. Rxe7+ Kxe7 41. Kd4 Kd6 this is a critical position, Black seems to have a draw here with careful play 42. a5 (42. g4 b6 43. h5 gxh5 44. gxh5 Kc6 45. f4 (45. Ke4 b5 46. a5 Kd6 47. Kf5 Ke7 48. h6 Kf7 49. Ke4 Ke6 50. f3 Kd6=) 45... Kd6 46. f5 Kc6 47. h6 Kd6 48. b5 a5) 42... f5 43. f3 h6 44. g4 fxg4 45. fxg4 g5 46. h5 Kc6 47. Ke5 Kb5 48. Kf6 Kxb4 49. Kg6 Kxa5 50. Kxh6 b5 51. Kxg5 b4 52. h6 b3 53. h7 b2 54. h8=Q b1=Q 55. Qe5+ Ka4 with a likely draw 40. Rd4 Rc7 40... Re7+ 41. Kd3 Ke8 42. Rd6 Rd7 41. Rd6 Ke7 42. Rb6 Rd7 43. Ke4 Kf7 44. g4 Here I started to get really worried, for the first time after my opponent did not play 19.Rh3. White has a more active king and rook, he can now try to push his kingside pawns in several ways 44... Ke7 45. g5 Another plan was 45. f4 45... fxg5 46. hxg5 Ke8 46... Kd8 I had planned to transfer the king to c7, but when actually getting to this position decided to keep king in the center 47. Ke5 Ke7 47... Kd8? 48. Rd6! and the pawn ending seems to be lost for Black 48... Ke7 49. Rxd7+ Kxd7 50. Kd5 ( or 50. Kf6!) 50... b6 (50... Kc7 51. Ke6) 51. b5 48. Re6+ Kf7 49. Rd6 Rc7 50. Rd8 50. a5 Ke7 50... Re7+ 50... Ke7?? 51. Rh8 51. Kd6 Re6+! 51... Re4 52. Rd7+ Ke8 53. Rxb7 Rg4 54. b5 axb5 55. axb5 Rxg5 56. b6 Rf5 57. Ke6 Kf8 58. Rxh7 Rxf2 59. b7 Rb2 60. b8=Q+ 52. Kc7 52. Kc5 Re5+ (52... Rc6+ 53. Kd5 Rb6 54. Rd7+ Ke8 55. Rxh7 Rxb4 56. a5 Rf4 57. Rxb7 Rxf2 58. Ke6 Kd8 59. Rg7 Rf5 60. Rxg6 Rxa5 61. Rg8+ Kc7 62. g6 Rg5 63. g7 a5 64. Ra8 Rxg7 65. Ra7+ Kb6 66. Rxg7 Kc5 67. Rg4 Kb5 68. Kd5 a4 69. Kd4 Kb4 70. Kd3+ Kb3 71. Rg8 a3 72. Rb8+ Ka2 73. Kc2 Ka1 74. Rg8 Ka2 75. Rd8 Ka1 76. Kb3 a2 77. Rd1#) 53. Kb6 Rxg5 54. Rd7+ Ke6 55. Rxb7 h5 56. Kxa6 h4 57. b5 h3 58. Rh7 (58. Rc7 h2 59. Rc1 Rg1) 58... Rh5 59. Rxh5 gxh5 60. b6 h2 61. b7 h1=Q 62. b8=Q Qc6+ with a likely draw 52... Re4

I had a hole in my calculation: Only here did I realize that the intended 52... Re7+?? loses to 53. Rd7 53. b5 axb5 53... Rxa4 54. b6 Rg4 55. Kxb7 a5 56. Ka7 Rxg5 57. b7 Rb5 58. Rd7+ Ke6 59. Rxh7 54. axb5 Re5 55. b6 Rxg5 56. Rd7+ 56. Kxb7 Rf5 57. Rd2! (57. Kc7 Rxf2 58. Rd7+ Ke6 (58... Ke8 59. Rxh7 g5 60. b7 Rc2+ 61. Kb8 g4 62. Rc7 Rb2 63. Kc8 g3 64. b8=Q Rxb8+ 65. Kxb8 g2 66. Rc1) 59. Rd6+ Ke5 60. b7 Rf7+ (60... Rb2 61. Rb6) 61. Rd7 Rf8 62. Rxh7 g5 63. Kc6 (63. b8=Q Rxb8 64. Kxb8 Kf4) 63... g4 64. Rc7 Rb8=) 56... Ke6! 57. Rxh7 Rf5 58. Rh2 58. Kxb7 Rxf2 59. Kc7 Rc2+ 60. Kd8 Rb2 61. b7 g5 62. Kc7 Kf5 63. b8=Q Rxb8 64. Kxb8 g4 65. Kc7 Ke4 66. Kd6 g3 67. Rg7 Kf3 68. Ke5 g2 69. Kd4 Kf2= 58... Rf7+ 59. Kb8 g5 60. Rh8 Rxf2 61. Re8+ Kf7 61... Kf5?? 62. Rf8+ 62. Re1 Kg6 63. Kxb7 g4 64. Kc7 Rb2 65. b7 Rxb7+ DRAW according to tablebases 65... Kf5!? 65... g3 66. Re6+ (66. b8=Q Rxb8 67. Kxb8 Kf5= and Black has saved a couple of tempos compared to the game ) 66... Kf5 67. Rb6 Rxb6 68. Kxb6 g2 69. b8=Q g1=Q+= 66. Kxb7 Kf5 I did not have time to calculate exactly if I had enough tempi, but intuitively it seemed to me that I have a draw, as the White king cannot come to block the pawn 67. Kc6 Kf4 68. Kd5 g3 69. Kd4 g2 70. Kd3 Kf3 71. Kd2 Kf2 72. Re2+ Kf3 73. Re1 Kf2 74. Re2+ Kf3 75. Re3+ Kf2 76. Re2+ Kf3 77. Rxg2 Kxg2 1/2-1/2

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. Bf4 Bc5 9... g5 10. Be3 g4 11. Nfd2 10. Nbd2 10. c3 10... O-O 11. Nxe4 dxe4 12. Ng5 Bxb3 13. cxb3 Qxd1 14. Rfxd1 Bd4?! 14... Bb6! 15. Nxe4 (15. Rac1 Nb4 16. Nxe4 Nxa2=) (15. Rdc1 Nd4) (15. e6 fxe6 16. Nxe6 Rf6 17. Nxc7 Raf8) 15... Rfe8 16. Nc3 (16. Rd5 Ne7 17. Rd7 Ng6 18. Bg3 Nxe5) 16... Nxe5 17. Nd5 Kf8 18. Nxb6 cxb6 19. Rac1 15. e6 15. Rac1 Bxe5 16. Bxe5 (16. Nxe4 Bxf4 17. Rxc6 also seemed fine for Black ) 16... Nxe5 17. Rxc7 f5 was one line I looked at 18. Ne6 Rf7 15... fxe6 16. Nxe6 Bxf2+? 17. Kxf2 Rf6 18. Nxc7 Rxf4+ 19. Kg3 Raf8 20. Ne6 R4f6 21. Nxf8 Kxf8 22. Re1 Rg6+ 23. Kf2 Re6 24. Rad1 Ke7 25. Re3 Ne5 26. Rxe4 Nd3+ 27. Rxd3 27. Ke3? Rxe4+ 28. Kxd3 Re6 should be likely a draw 27... Rxe4 28. Re3 Rxe3 28... Re6 29. Kf3 Kf6 30. Rxe6+ Kxe6 31. Ke4 29. Kxe3 a5 30. a3 Kd7 31. Kd3 Kc7 32. a4 32. Kc3 g6 33. b4 a4 34. b3 axb3 35. Kxb3 32... b4 32... Kc6 33. axb5+ (33. Kd4 b4 34. Kc4) 33... Kxb5 34. Kc3 Kc5= 33. Ke4 Kc6 2007: 33... Kd6 34. h4 Ke6 35. Kd4 Kd6 36. Kc4 Kc6 37. g4 g6 38. g5 34. g4 Kd6

35. Kd4? back in 2004, I thought that g5 wins as well, but now (2007) it looks like that's not the case: 35. g5 Ke6 36. h3 h6 (36... g6 37. h4 Kd6 38. Kd4) 37. Kd4 hxg5 38. Kc5 Ke5 39. Kb6

39... Kf4 ( as found by fritz in 2007 - this position is actually a draw!! 39... Kd5! 40. Kxa5 Kc5 41. Ka6 Kc6 42. a5 g6 43. Ka7 Kc7 44. a6 g4! 45. hxg4 g5 black managed to waste another tempo! 46. Ka8 Kc8=) 40. Kxa5 Kg3 41. Kxb4 Kxh3 42. a5 g4 43. a6 g3 44. a7 g2 45. a8=Q g1=Q 46. Qh8+ Kg2 47. Qxg7+ Fritz 7, 2007: the right winning move was 35. h3! h6 36. Kf5 Ke7 37. Ke5 g6 38. Kd5 g5 39. Kc4 35... g5= 36. Ke4 Ke6 37. h3 1/2-1/2

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7 5. Ng5 Ngf6 6. Bd3 e6 7. N1f3 Bd6 8. O-O h6 9. Ne4 Nxe4 10. Bxe4 Nf6 RR 10... Qc7 11. Re1 b6 12. b3 Bb7 13. Bb2 O-O-O 14. Qe2 Kb8 15. Bd3 c5 16. dxc5 Nxc5 17. Rad1 f6 18. Bc4 e5 19. Nh4 Ne4 20. Bd3 Nxf2 21. Qxf2 Bc5 22. Re3 e4 23. Be2 Rxd1+ 24. Bxd1 Rd8 0-1 Emms,J-Speelman,J/England 1996/EXT 99/[Speelman,J] (33) 11. Bd3 O-O 12. Qe2 b6 RR 12... Qc7 13. c4 ( RR 13. c3 c5 ( RR 13... Rd8 14. Ne5 Bd7 15. Bf4 Be8 16. Bg3 c5 17. Rac1 Rac8 18. dxc5 Qxc5 19. b4 Qc7 20. a3 a5 21. c4 axb4 22. axb4 Nd7 23. Nxd7 Rxd7 24. Rfd1 1/2-1/2 Dworakowska,J-Koneru,H/Calcutta 2001/CBM 82 (35) ) 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. Ne5 b6 16. Bf4 Bd6 17. Rad1 Bb7 18. Rfe1 Rad8 19. Bg3 Ba8 20. Bb1 Qb7 21. f3 Bc5+ 22. Kh1 Przewoznik,J-Tomaszewski,R/Naleczow 1988/EXT 97/1-0 (54) ) 13... c5 14. dxc5 Bxc5 15. b3 b6 16. Bb2 Bb7 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Be4 Bxe4 19. Qxe4 f5 20. Qh4 Kg7 21. Kh1 Be7 22. Qh3 Bf6 23. Rad1 1-0 Kuparadze,G-Benidze,D/Batumi 2003/CBM 95 ext (51) 13. Ne5 Bb7 14. Bf4 c5 14... Qc7 15. Rae1 c5 16. Qd2 cxd4 17. Bxh6 Bxe5 18. Bxg7 Bxh2+ 19. Kh1 Bf4 0-1 Stefansson,H-Olsen,H/ 1989/EXT 97 (19). 15. dxc5 Bxc5 16. Rad1 white said:"draw is fine with me" 16... Qe7 we transposed into a position that has occurred before 17. Bb5 This move is the first true novelty; 3 other moves have been tried before 17. c3 Rfd8 18. Rd2 Bd6 19. Rfd1 Rac8 20. Ba6 Bxa6 21. Qxa6 Ne4 22. Rd4 17. a3 17. Bg3 17... a6 18. Ba4 b5 19. Bb3 Rfd8 20. a4 Nd5 21. Bg3 Nc7 21... b4 22. Bc4 Qf6= 22. Qh5 Rxd1 22... Nd5 23. Qe2= 23. Rxd1 Nd5 24. c3 Bb6 25. Qe2 Qe8 26. axb5 axb5 27. Bc2 Rd8 28. h3 Bc7 28... b4 29. c4 Nf6 30. Bh4 29. Ra1 29. Qe4 f5 30. Qe2 29... Nf6

30. Ra7 Bxe5 31. Bxe5 31. Qxe5! Qc6 32. f3 Rd2? 33. Qb8+ 31... Qc6 32. f3 32. Rxb7 Qxb7 33. Bxf6 gxf6 34. Qg4+ Kf8 35. Qb4+ Qe7 32... Qc5+ 33. Qf2 33. Bd4 Rxd4 34. cxd4 When taking on e5 with the bishop I missed that here Black can play. 34... Qxa7 33... Qxf2+ 33... Qxe5 34. Rxb7 g6 34. Kxf2 Rd2+ 35. Ke3 35. Ke1 Rxc2 36. Rxb7= Rxb2 37. c4 Rxg2 38. cxb5 does white ahve any advantage here? 38... Rg1+ 39. Ke2 Rb1 40. b6 (40. Kd3 Nd5 41. Kc2 Re1 42. Bd6 Re2+ 43. Kd3 Re3+ 44. Kd4 Rxf3 and Black just takes all my pawns and later gives up the N for the b pawn ) 40... Nd5 41. Rb8+ Kh7 42. b7 f6 43. Bd6 Kg6 44. Kd3 e5 45. Kc2 Rb6 46. Bc5 Rb5 47. Bd6 Kg5 and Black is fine 35... Rxc2 36. Bxf6 36. Rxb7 Nd5+ 37. Kd3 Rxb2 and I do not have c2-c4 here 36... gxf6 36... Bd5! 37. Be5 Rxg2 38. b4 f6 39. Bd6 e5 threatening Rg3 40. Rd7 Bc4 37. Rxb7 Rxb2 38. g4 Kg7 black offered a draw 39. h4 f5 40. gxf5 exf5 41. Rb6 41. Kf4 Kg6 42. Rb6+ Kh5 43. Kxf5 Rc2 44. Kf6 Kxh4 45. Rxb5 Rxc3 46. Kxf7 Kg3 47. Kg6 Kxf3 48. Kxh6= 41... Rb3 42. Kd4 h5 43. f4 f6 44. Rb7+ Kg6 45. Rb8 Kg7 46. Rb7+ Kg6 47. Rb6 Kf7 48. Rb7+ Kg6 49. Rb8 Kh6 50. c4 bxc4 51. Rxb3 cxb3 52. Kc3 Kg7= 53. Kxb3 Kf7 54. Kc4 Ke6 55. Kc5 Ke7 56. Kc6 Ke6 57. Kc5= 1/2-1/2 [Roman Jiganchine]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Be3 5. Ne2 e6 6. Nd2 Nge7 7. Nf3 Nf5 8. g3 cxd4 9. cxd4 Bb4+ 10. Bd2 5... Nh6 this is the most logical move here as I don't want to shut down my bishop with e7-e6, and at the same time can't put the knight on f6. 6. Bxh6 gxh6 7. Bb5 RR 7. dxc5 Nxe5 8. Nf3 Nc6 9. Bb5 Bg7 10. O-O a6 11. Ba4 Kf8 12. Bxc6 bxc6 13. Nd4 Qc7 14. f4 Rg8 15. Kh1 e5 16. fxe5 Bxe5 17. Qh5 Rg6 18. Nd2 Bg4 19. Qxg4 Rxg4 20. Ne6+ Ke7 21. Nxc7 Bxc7 Van Nies,P-Van Pelt,E/Groningen 2003/CBM 097 ext/1-0 (31) RR 7. Ne2 Bg4 8. f3 Bf5 9. f4 Qb6 10. Qd2 e6 11. Ng3 Bxb1 12. Rxb1 cxd4 13. Bd3 O-O-O 14. a3 dxc3 15. bxc3 Qc5 Biro,A-Baranyi,K/Hungary 1998/EXT 99/0-1 (47) 7... Qb6 8. Bxc6+ bxc6 9. Qd2 Rg8 10. f4 Rb8 11. b3 cxd4 Taking on d4 lets out Nb1 to c3, so it is not very logical if not followed up by Rg2 12. cxd4 Bf5 I probably realized a bit too late that ttaking on g2 is more risky than I had initially thought 12... Rxg2 13. Qxg2 Qxd4 14. Qc2 Qxa1 15. Nf3 Bg4 16. Kf2 (16. O-O Bxf3 17. Nc3 Be4 18. Qd2 Qxf1+ 19. Kxf1) 16... Bxf3 17. Rd1 MOST CRAZY MOVE THAT ONLY COMPUTER CAN SUGGEST - but it forces perpetual by destracting Bf3 fromd5 (17. Kxf3 Qd4) 17... Bxd1 (17... Bg4 18. Qxc6+ Bd7 19. Qxd5 Bb5 20. Qd2) 18. Qxc6+ Kd8 19. Qxd5+ 13. Nf3 e6 14. O-O c5 15. Kh1 Be4 16. dxc5 Bxc5 17. Qe2? 17. Nc3 Bb4 18. a3 Bxc3 19. Qxc3 Qxb3 20. Qc6+ Kd8 21. Rac1 Qb6 22. Qc3 Qb2 23. Qc7+ Ke8 24. Rg1 d4 25. Rce1 Bxf3 26. gxf3 Rg6 27. Qxa7 Qb3 28. Rgf1 Qb2 29. Rg1 Qb3= 17... Bd4 18. Nbd2 Bxf3 19. Nxf3 Bxa1 20. Rxa1 Rc8 21. Rd1 Rc7 22. Nd4 a6 23. f5 Rg5 24. h4 Rg3 25. Qf2 walking into a pin was probably not the best idea 25. fxe6 fxe6 26. Qh5+ Rg6 25. Qh5 exf5 26. Nxf5 Rg6 27. Nd6+ Kf8 28. Qf3 Qb4 29. Qxd5 Qxh4+ 30. Kg1 Rd7 31. Qa8+ Rd8 32. Qf3 Rd7= 25... Rg4 26. fxe6 fxe6 27. Rf1? this sacrifice does not work out 27... Rxd4 27... Qxd4?? 28. Qf8+ Kd7 29. Qd6+ Kc8 30. Qxa6+ Kd7 31. Rf7+ Ke8 32. Qxe6+ Re7 33. Qxe7# 28. Qf8+ Kd7 0-1