Category: Publications

As I mentioned in my post from earlier this week, I am more than happy to see August become a distant memory. As if my 9 wins during the month wasn’t bad enough, the stress of other things caused me to stop writing my recaps for the Sinquefield Cup mid-tournament. Fortunately, only six days into September and my record is already showing signs of recovery. So far, September has blessed me with 5 wins out of 7 games including an excellent victory last night that I will probably have to annotate for a future edition of Campfire Magazine since it put me back over the 1000 ELO mark for the first time since middle of the Summer.

[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2015.09.05”]
[White “1025”]
[Black “AmishHacker”]
[Result “0-1”]
[WhiteElo “1025”]
[BlackElo “1000”]
[TimeControl “15|10”]
[Termination “AmishHacker won by checkmate”]

1.d4 d5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bg5 e6 4.e4 Be7 5.Bxf6 Bxf6 6.e5 Bg5 7.Nf3 h6 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Bxd7+ Nxd7 10.O-O f6
11.Qd3 f5 12.Nb5 a6 13.Nc3 Qe7 14.a3 O-O 15.b4 Nb6 16.b5 a5 17.a4 f4 18.h3 h5 19.Qg6 Bh6 20.Qxh5 Nc4
21.Nh4 Qb4 22.Na2 Qxa4 23.Qg6 Qxb5 24.Qxe6+ Kh7 25.Qg6+ Kg8 26.Nc3 Qb2 27.Nxd5 Qxd4 28.Nxc7 Rae8 29.Nxe8 Nxe5 30.Qxg7+ Bxg7
31.Nc7 Qd8 32.Ne6 Qxh4 33.Nxf8 Bxf8 34.Rab1 f3 35.Kh2 Qg5 36.g3 Qd2 37.c4 Nxc4 38.Rbd1 Qe2 39.Rde1 Qc2 40.g4 Nd2
41.Rc1 Qe4 42.Rfe1 Qf4+ 43.Kh1 Bb4 44.Re8+ Bf8 45.Re6 Nb3 46.Rb1 Nd4 47.Rg6+ Kh7 48.Rbb6 Qc1+ 49.Kh2 Qf4+ 50.Kh1 Ne2
51.Rgf6 Qc1+ 52.Kh2 Qg1# 0-1
[/pgn]

I am also anxiously awaiting the worldwide release of Pawn Sacrifice in a couple of weeks and remaining hopeful that it will arrive at one of the many theaters here in San Antonio. If not, it might be worth driving to a nearby city to see it.

I am pleased to announce that the latest edition of Campfire Chess Magazine has been published here on the site! In last quarter’s edition I transitioned the magazine from its traditional PDF format to an HTML/JavaScript combination format that added interactivity and better scalability to the product as a whole. CM06 shows the refinements and advancements I have made to the format over the last few months including graphics improvements and support for Apple’s retina displays. In addition, this is one of the largest volumes of Campfire Chess Magazine ever published!

In addition to the articles and product review features, Campfire Chess Magazine features interactive chess boards with game commentary and PGN collections for three of the last major tournaments including:

• Tradewise Gibraltar Chess Festival
• Norway Chess 2015
• FIDE Women’s World Championship 2015

View Campfire Chess Magazine #6 here or visit the publications archive to view magazine back issues.

I am very excited that the Sinquefield Cup is in full swing at this very moment! It is one of my favorite tournaments throughout the year! Unfortunately, my own chess games have taken a dramatic turn for the worse in recent weeks. This accounts for my lack of blogging activity as I have largely returned to the books and to working on tactics puzzles to help me solve some of the problems I have been having. As you will see in the game below, I have struggled to maintain adherence to basic chess principles when faced with tough decisions over the board. This is something that takes time and practice. To help myself understand these difficulties a little better, I annotated the following game move-by-move to analyze what went wrong and what could have gone right.

[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2015.08.14”]
[Round “?”]
[White “1102”]
[Black “AmishHacker”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D30”]
[WhiteElo “1102”]
[BlackElo “1002”]
[Annotator “Surber,Wesley”]
[PlyCount “39”]
[EventDate “2015.??.??”]
[TimeControl “15”]

1. d4 {The Queen’s pawn opening is a very popular opening chess move, but I
tend to stick with the King’s pawn e4 opening. When faced with 1.d4, I prefer
to block the advancement with 1…d5.} d5 {Purely designed to establish a
blockade and prevent the d4 pawn from going any further without material loss.}
2. e3 {This move activates the f1 Bishop while adding defensive reinforcement
to the pawn on d4.} e6 {Mirroring White’s move and reinforcing my position in
the center. Not too concerned with the formation at this point. These moves
are pretty basic.} 3. c4 {White makes the first attacking move here. The d5
pawn is in a direct line of fire, but capturing it brings no material gain
after cxd5 Qxd5.} Nc6 {White is probably going to take the d5 pawn and attack
the Knight, but not advancing the Knight would likely cost me tempo, so I
decided to develop a piece before considering an attack on the c4 pawn.} 4.
cxd5 {White captures the d5 pawn as expected.} Qxd5 {The most reasonable
recapture idea, otherwise the King’s file is open and vulnerable.} 5. Nc3 {The
Knight on c3 launches a direct assault on my Queen and forces an immediate
retreat. I was worried about losing tempo at this point, but also liked the
idea of resetting my Queen and advancing in a different route.} Qd8 {
Retreating for a reset.} 6. Nf3 {White continues his piece development and has
a solid defence for the d4 pawn.} Nf6 {Putting more pressure on the center of
the board and trying to discourage movement to d5.} 7. Bb5 {The Bishop pins
the Knight to my King. This is a fairly typical maneuever which is often
answered with a6 to attack the Bishop. In this instance, I was simply not
paying attention and continued to mirror my opponent’s play.} Bb4 $4 {A
terrible move. Attacking the Knight is fruitless with the b2 pawn guarding it
closely.} 8. Bxc6+ {White exchanges the Knight for a Bishop.} bxc6 {Forced.} 9.
Bd2 $1 {The results of my horrible Bishop begin to manifest. Not only is the
King protected by White’s Bishop, but my Bishop is now threatened with no way
to easily obtain compensation if it were to be captured.} O-O {Moving my King
to safety given the perilous position of the Bishop.} 10. O-O {White follows
suit and moves his King to safety.} Nd5 {I decided to challenge the c3 Knight
and to simultaneously add a defence to the b4 Bishop.} 11. Nxd5 {White answers
the challenge by trading Knights.} Qxd5 $4 {Another terrible and careless move.
Yes, I earned back the material in this instance, but the b4 Bishop is
completely unprotected and done for.} 12. Bxb4 {White gobbles up the free
Bishop.} Ba6 {Realizing that my position is quickly collapsing, I placed my
Bishop on the edge of the board to engage the Rook on f1.} 13. Re1 {At this
point, the game is lost. I am down significant material and none of my moves
are fruitful enough to gain any equalization against White’s remaining pieces.}
f5 {Realizing that things will be over soon, I decided to experiment with pawn
advances and pushed my f7 pawn ahead to engage the kingside pawns.} 14. Bxf8 $3
{I had been focusing so much on the kingside pawns and advancing to obtain
some form of equalization that I missed this attack completely. White gains a
Rook for a Bishop and solidifies his victory. The rest is only about how far I
was willing to go before resigning.} Rxf8 {The only reasonable move.} 15. Qa4 {
White begins the final phase of his assault.} Bb5 $4 {Another foolish move!} (
15… Qb5 16. Qxb5 Bxb5 {would have been much better!}) 16. Qxa7 {With the
Queen in the midst of my own territory, the end is inevitable.} Qd6 {Defending
the c7 and c6 pawns simultaneously.} 17. a4 {White engages the Bishop and
pushes away another one of my defensive assets.} Bd3 {Merely moving the Bishop
to safety.} 18. Rac1 {White prepares to invade my territory further and to
reinforce his position with a Rook battery.} Qb4 $4 {This does NOTHING to help
my position. It attacks the Rook on e1, which is defended by the Rook on c1
and Knight on f3. No chance to convert anything here.} 19. Rxc6 {White has all
he needs to build the final assault battery.} Qxb2 {Gobbling up one last piece
of material in an attempt to infiltrate White’s territory.} 20. Rxc7 {And that
is it! White has built a powerful battery and is prepared to checkmate without
any chance of me being able to mount a defense. 1102 won by resignation} 1-0
[/pgn]

As you can see, there were many opportunities during the game for me to successfully convert sacrifices into gains but I was just not able to think that fast on my feet. Much of it has to do with mental exhaustion and distraction I have felt lately due to some work stress. Now that much of that is subsiding and I have spent some time in the books, I am hoping that things will start to return to the positive for me in my chess.

Next weekend marks the beginning of the 2015 Sinquefield Cup in Saint Louis! As you might recall, last year’s event was dominated by Fabiano Caruana in his 7-game winning streak that crushed his opponents, including World Champion Magnus Carlsen. This year’s event brings some changes to the playing field that should add some interesting dynamics to the competition.

• Magnus Carlsen (ELO 2863)
• Fabiano Caruana (ELO 2802)
• Hikaru Nakamura (ELO 2798)
• Veselin Topalov (ELO 2798)
• Alexander Grischuk (ELO 2794)
• Viswanathan Anand (ELO 2791)
• Anish Giri (ELO 2790)
• Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (ELO 2762)
• Levon Aronian (ELO 2770)
• Wesley So (ELO 2778)

It is very exciting that for the first time in history, the United States will have 3 players from the FIDE Top 10 represented! If you are in the Saint Louis area from August 22 to September 4, I highly encourage you to stop by the World Chess Hall of Fame and the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis to catch some of the greatest chess players of our time battling it out in what has become a highly prestigious American tournament. In the meantime, take a moment to enjoy the games from the 2014 Sinquefield Cup and relive the exciting battles before the players arrive in Saint Louis!

[pgn]
[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.27”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Aronian, Levon”]
[Black “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2787”]
[ECO “D19”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “79”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2805”]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O
Nbd7 9. Qe2 O-O 10. e4 Bg6 11. Bd3 Bh5 12. e5 Nd5 13. Nxd5 cxd5 14. Qe3 Re8 15.
Bd2 Qa5 16. Qe1 Bxd2 17. Qxd2 Qd8 18. Ng5 Bg6 19. Bxg6 fxg6 20. f4 Rc8 21. Rac1
Qb6 22. a5 Qa6 23. Qb4 h6 24. Nf3 b6 25. Qd6 Nf8 26. axb6 axb6 27. Qb4 Qd3 28.
Qd2 Qb3 29. Rfe1 Rxc1 30. Rxc1 Ra8 31. h4 Ra2 32. Rc2 Ra1+ 33. Kh2 Rb1 34. Kg3
Kh7 35. Rc8 Rxb2 36. Qc1 Qa2 37. Qh1 Qa3 38. Qc1 Qa2 39. Qh1 Qa3 40. Qc1
1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.27”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Topalov, Veselin”]
[Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “2801”]
[ECO “A34”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “69”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2772”]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Nc7 7. O-O e5 8. a3
Rb8 9. d3 Be7 10. Be3 O-O 11. Rc1 Bd7 12. Nd2 Nd4 13. Nc4 f6 14. f4 exf4 15.
Bxf4 Nde6 16. Bd2 b6 17. g4 Be8 18. Be1 b5 19. Ne3 Bd6 20. Ncd5 Nxd5 21. Bxd5
Bf7 22. Nf5 Be5 23. Qd2 Nd4 24. Bxf7+ Rxf7 25. Rd1 Nxf5 26. gxf5 Qd4+ 27. Bf2
Qg4+ 28. Kh1 c4 29. Qc2 Re8 30. dxc4 Qh5 31. h4 Qg4 32. Qd3 bxc4 33. Qe3 Rfe7
34. b3 Bb2 35. — 0-1

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.27”]
[Round “1”]
[White “Vachier Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2877”]
[ECO “C45”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “75”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2768”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Bc5 5. Nb3 Bb6 6. Nc3 Nf6 7. Qe2 a5 8. e5
O-O 9. exf6 a4 10. Nd5 Re8 11. Be3 axb3 12. Qg4 g6 13. Bc4 Nb4 14. Nxb4 d5 15.
Qf4 dxc4 16. O-O bxc2 17. Nd5 Re6 18. Qxc4 Bxe3 19. fxe3 b5 20. Qc5 Bb7 21.
Ne7+ Kh8 22. Qxc2 Raa6 23. Rac1 Rxf6 24. Rxf6 Rxf6 25. Qxc7 Qd2 26. Qb8+ Kg7
27. Qg8+ Kh6 28. Qf8+ Kh5 29. Rc5+ g5 30. Rxg5+ Kxg5 31. Qg7+ Rg6 32. Qe5+ f5
33. h4+ Kh5 34. Qxf5+ Kh6 35. Qf8+ Kh5 36. Qf5+ Kh6 37. Qf8+ Kh5 38. Qf5+
1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.28”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Aronian, Levon”]
[Black “Topalov, Veselin”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “2772”]
[ECO “D15”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “57”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2805”]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. e3 b5 6. c5 g6 7. Bd2 Bg7 8. b4 a5 9.
bxa5 Ne4 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Ng5 Qd5 12. f4 h6 13. Nh3 Bxh3 14. gxh3 Bxd4 15.
exd4 e3 16. Bxe3 Qxh1 17. Qd2 Na6 18. O-O-O Qd5 19. Bg2 Qc4+ 20. Kb1 Qe6 21. d5
Qf5+ 22. Kb2 O-O-O 23. d6 exd6 24. cxd6 Qf6+ 25. Kb1 Qf5+ 26. Kc1 Qf6 27. d7+
Kb7 28. Bd4 Qe6 29. Bxh8 1-0

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.28”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
[Black “Vachier Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “2768”]
[ECO “B12”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “59”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2801”]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 c5 6. Be3 Qb6 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. O-O
Qxb2 9. Qe1 cxd4 10. Bxd4 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 Bb4 12. Ndb5 Ba5 13. Rb1 Qxc2 14. Rc1
Qb2 15. g4 Bg6 16. f4 Be4 17. Rf2 Nh6 18. Bd3 Qb4 19. Rb1 Qc5 20. Nxe4 dxe4 21.
Qxa5 O-O 22. Be2 e3 23. Rff1 Rfc8 24. Qe1 Qd5 25. Rb2 f6 26. Qg3 fxe5 27. fxe5
Rf8 28. Rxf8+ Rxf8 29. Qxe3 Nf7 30. Nc3 1-0

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.28”]
[Round “2”]
[White “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2877”]
[ECO “C76”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “64”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2787”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 a6 6. Ba4 d6 7. d4 Bd7 8. d5 Nce7
9. Bxd7+ Qxd7 10. c4 h6 11. Nc3 f5 12. Nd2 Nf6 13. f3 O-O 14. b4 c6 15. dxc6
Nxc6 16. a3 Nd4 17. Bb2 Rac8 18. Ne2 Nh5 19. Nxd4 exd4 20. exf5 Nf4 21. f6 Bxf6
22. g3 Nh3+ 23. Kg2 Ng5 24. Qb1 Kh7 25. Qd3 Be5 26. Rae1 Bxg3 27. hxg3 Qh3+ 28.
Kg1 Qxg3+ 29. Kh1 Qh4+ 30. Kg2 Qh3+ 31. Kg1 Qg3+ 32. Kh1 Qh3+ 1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.29”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “2801”]
[ECO “C24”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “68”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2877”]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 c6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Bb3 Bb4+ 6. c3 Bd6 7. Bg5 dxe4 8. dxe4
h6 9. Bh4 Qe7 10. Nbd2 Nbd7 11. Bg3 Bc7 12. O-O Nh5 13. h3 Nxg3 14. fxg3 Nc5
15. Bxf7+ Kxf7 16. Nxe5+ Kg8 17. Ng6 Qg5 18. Rf8+ Kh7 19. Nxh8 Bg4 20. Qf1 Nd3
21. Qxd3 Rxf8 22. hxg4 Qxg4 23. Nf3 Qxg3 24. e5+ Kxh8 25. e6 Bb6+ 26. Kh1 Qg4
27. Qd6 Rd8 28. Qe5 Rd5 29. Qb8+ Kh7 30. e7 Qh5+ 31. Nh2 Rd1+ 32. Rxd1 Qxd1+
33. Nf1 Qxf1+ 34. Kh2 Qg1+ 0-1

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.29”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Topalov, Veselin”]
[Black “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “2787”]
[ECO “C78”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “73”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2772”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. a4 Rb8
9. h3 O-O 10. d4 Bb6 11. Re1 Bb7 12. axb5 axb5 13. Na3 exd4 14. cxd4 Na5 15.
Bc2 b4 16. Nb1 Re8 17. Nbd2 b3 18. Bb1 Qd7 19. e5 dxe5 20. dxe5 Nh5 21. Ng5 g6
22. e6 fxe6 23. Qg4 Nf6 24. Qh4 Rf8 25. Ndf3 Bd5 26. Ne5 Qg7 27. Bd2 Nc6 28.
Nxc6 Bxc6 29. Bc3 e5 30. Rxe5 Nd5 31. Qc4 Bxf2+ 32. Kh1 Rb4 33. Bxb4 Qxe5 34.
Be4 Rf6 35. Rd1 Kg7 36. Bxd5 Bxd5 37. Qxd5 1-0

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.29”]
[Round “3”]
[White “Vachier Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Black “Aronian, Levon”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “2805”]
[ECO “D78”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “71”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2768”]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 c6 5. O-O Nf6 6. Nbd2 O-O 7. c4 Be6 8. b3
Ne4 9. Bb2 Nxd2 10. Qxd2 dxc4 11. Ng5 cxb3 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Qe3 bxa2 14. Qxe6+
Kh8 15. Qxa2 Rf5 16. Rfb1 Qb6 17. e4 Rf8 18. Bc3 Qc7 19. Qb2 b6 20. d5 Bxc3 21.
Qxc3+ Kg8 22. e5 a5 23. dxc6 Na6 24. Qb3+ Kh8 25. Qxb6 Qxb6 26. Rxb6 Nc7 27.
Rb7 Rfc8 28. Ra4 Ra6 29. h4 Kg8 30. Rd4 a4 31. Rd7 a3 32. Rbxc7 Rxc7 33. Bd5+
Kf8 34. Rxc7 a2 35. Rc8+ Kg7 36. Rg8+ 1-0

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.30”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Black “Topalov, Veselin”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2772”]
[ECO “E21”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “125”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2877”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 b6 5. Bd2 Bb7 6. g3 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Bg2
O-O 9. O-O Be7 10. Bf4 Na6 11. Nb5 d5 12. Ne5 Nc5 13. Rc1 a6 14. Nc3 dxc4 15.
Bxb7 Nxb7 16. Qxd8 Raxd8 17. Nc6 Rde8 18. Rfd1 h6 19. e4 Bc5 20. e5 Nd5 21.
Nxd5 exd5 22. Rxd5 b5 23. Be3 Bxe3 24. fxe3 Re6 25. Nd4 Rb6 26. b3 Rc8 27. Kg2
Rc5 28. Rxc5 Nxc5 29. bxc4 bxc4 30. Rxc4 Nd3 31. Rc8+ Kh7 32. e6 fxe6 33. Kf3
Kg6 34. a4 e5 35. Nc6 Kf5 36. g4+ Ke6 37. a5 Rb5 38. Rd8 Nc5 39. h4 Rb1 40. Rg8
Kd6 41. Nb8 e4+ 42. Kg2 Rb2+ 43. Kf1 Rb5 44. Kf2 Ne6 45. Rc8 Rxa5 46. Rc6+ Kd5
47. Rxa6 Rxa6 48. Nxa6 Kc6 49. Nb4+ Kc5 50. Nc2 Kc4 51. Ke2 g5 52. hxg5 hxg5
53. Kd2 Nc5 54. Na3+ Kb4 55. Nc2+ Kc4 56. Na3+ Kd5 57. Nb5 Nd7 58. Nc3+ Ke5 59.
Nd1 Nf6 60. Nf2 Kd5 61. Nh3 Nxg4 62. Nxg5 Nxe3 63. Nxe4 1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.30”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
[Black “Aronian, Levon”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “2805”]
[ECO “C77”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “99”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2801”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. d3 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. Nc3
d6 9. a3 Na5 10. Ba2 Be6 11. Bxe6 fxe6 12. b4 Nc6 13. Bd2 d5 14. Re1 Qd6 15.
Na2 Nd7 16. Qe2 d4 17. Reb1 Nb6 18. Nc1 Na4 19. Nb3 Rf7 20. Rc1 Rd8 21. Ng5 Rf6
22. Qh5 h6 23. Nf3 Rdf8 24. Rf1 R8f7 25. Rae1 Bf8 26. h3 g6 27. Qh4 Qe7 28. Qg3
Bg7 29. Na5 Nxa5 30. Nxe5 Nb7 31. Nxg6 Qd8 32. e5 Rf5 33. f4 c5 34. Nh4 Rh5 35.
Nf3 Kh7 36. Qg4 Rhf5 37. Nh4 Kh8 38. Nxf5 Rxf5 39. Qg6 Qe7 40. g4 Rf8 41. f5
Qe8 42. Qxe8 Rxe8 43. f6 Bf8 44. f7 Re7 45. Rf6 Nb6 46. Bxh6 Nd7 47. Ref1 cxb4
48. axb4 Bxh6 49. Rxh6+ Kg7 50. Rh5 1-0

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.30”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Vachier Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Black “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2787”]
[ECO “C78”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “60”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2768”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Bc5 7. c3 d6 8. d4 Bb6
9. Be3 O-O 10. Nbd2 h6 11. h3 Bb7 12. Re1 exd4 13. cxd4 Na5 14. Bc2 Re8 15. Qb1
Nc4 16. Nxc4 bxc4 17. Nd2 Rb8 18. Nxc4 Bxe4 19. Bxe4 Rxe4 20. Qd3 Qe8 21. f3
Re6 22. Bf2 Nd5 23. Rxe6 Qxe6 24. Re1 Nf4 25. Qc2 Qd5 26. Re4 Ne6 27. Qc3 c5
28. Nxb6 Rxb6 29. dxc5 dxc5 30. b3 Rd6 1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.31”]
[Round “5”]
[White “Aronian, Levon”]
[Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “2877”]
[ECO “A50”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “140”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2805”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 b6 3. g3 Bb7 4. c4 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 e6 8. Nc3
Ne4 9. Nxe4 Bxe4 10. Bg5 Qe8 11. Qd2 d6 12. Bh6 Nd7 13. Rac1 Qe7 14. Bxg7 Kxg7
15. Bh3 Nf6 16. Nh4 Bb7 17. f3 c5 18. e4 cxd4 19. Qxd4 Rfd8 20. Ng2 Qc7 21. Ne3
Qc5 22. Qc3 a5 23. Red1 h5 24. Rd3 b5 25. b3 bxc4 26. bxc4 Bc6 27. Rcd1 Rd7 28.
Bg2 Rb8 29. Qd4 Qe5 30. f4 Qxd4 31. Rxd4 Rc7 32. R1d2 Ne8 33. Kf2 Kf8 34. c5
dxc5 35. Rc4 Bb5 36. Rc3 c4 37. e5 Rc5 38. Nc2 Nc7 39. Nd4 Nd5 40. Bxd5 Rxd5
41. Nf3 Rc5 42. Rb2 Rd8 43. Nd2 Bc6 44. Nb3 Rb8 45. Rcc2 c3 46. Rb1 Rcb5 47.
Rxc3 Bd5 48. Rbc1 Bxb3 49. Rxb3 Rxb3 50. axb3 Rxb3 51. Rc8+ Ke7 52. Kg2 a4 53.
Kh3 g5 54. fxg5 Rb4 55. Ra8 Rg4 56. Ra7+ Kf8 57. g6 fxg6 58. Kg2 g5 59. Kf3 Rb4
60. Ke3 Ke8 61. Kd3 h4 62. Kc3 hxg3 63. hxg3 Rg4 64. Kd3 a3 65. Ke3 Rxg3+ 66.
Kd4 g4 67. Ra8+ Kd7 68. Kc5 Rd3 69. Kc4 Rf3 70. Kc5 g3 0-1

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.31”]
[Round “5”]
[White “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “2801”]
[ECO “D11”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “134”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2787”]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nbd2 Bf5 5. Nh4 Be4 6. f3 Bg6 7. e3 e6 8. g3 Be7
9. a3 Nbd7 10. cxd5 cxd5 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. Bd3 e5 13. O-O O-O 14. Qb3 Qc8 15.
Nb1 exd4 16. exd4 Nb8 17. Nc3 Nc6 18. Be3 Qd7 19. Rad1 Rfd8 20. Rfe1 Ne8 21.
Bf2 Nc7 22. Bf1 Bf6 23. Qa2 g5 24. b4 g6 25. Qd2 Kg7 26. b5 Ne7 27. Be3 Ne6 28.
Bh3 Nf5 29. Bxf5 gxf5 30. f4 g4 31. Qd3 Rac8 32. Rc1 Rc4 33. Ne2 Nc7 34. Nc3
Rc8 35. h3 gxh3 36. Kh2 Nxb5 37. Nxb5 Qxb5 38. Kxh3 Qd7 39. Kg2 b5 40. Rb1 a6
41. Rbc1 Qe6 42. Bf2 Rxc1 43. Rxe6 fxe6 44. g4 fxg4 45. Qe2 Kf7 46. Qd3 R1c2
47. Qh7+ Ke8 48. f5 Bxd4 49. Qg6+ Kd8 50. Qxe6 Rxf2+ 51. Kg3 Rc3+ 52. Kxg4 Rg2+
53. Kf4 Rf2+ 54. Kg4 Kc7 55. Qe7+ Kb6 56. Qd8+ Rc7 57. Qxd5 Bc5 58. Qd8 Kb7 59.
f6 Bxa3 60. Qd5+ Kb6 61. Qd8 Bc5 62. Qb8+ Rb7 63. Qd8+ Ka7 64. Qd5 Bb6 65. Kg5
Rc7 66. Kg6 b4 67. Qe6 Bd4 0-1

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.08.31”]
[Round “5”]
[White “Topalov, Veselin”]
[Black “Vachier Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “2768”]
[ECO “B90”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “81”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2772”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. f3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3
Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O a5 11. a4 Na6 12. g4 Nb4 13. Kb1 Qc7 14. g5 Nh5 15.
Bb5 Rac8 16. Rhg1 f5 17. gxf6 Nxf6 18. Qg2 Nh5 19. Nc1 Bf6 20. Nd3 Nxd3 21.
Rxd3 Nf4 22. Bxf4 exf4 23. Nd5 Bxd5 24. Rxd5 Be5 25. c3 Rf6 26. Qf2 b6 27. Ba6
Rb8 28. Bd3 Kh8 29. Rb5 Rf7 30. h4 Qa7 31. Qc2 Rc7 32. Qb3 Rc5 33. Qe6 Rxb5 34.
Bxb5 Rf8 35. h5 Qc7 36. Ka2 Qd8 37. Qg4 Qc7 38. Kb3 Rc8 39. Qe6 Qc5 40. Rg5 Rb8
41. Rf5 1-0

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.02”]
[Round “6”]
[White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Black “Vachier Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2768”]
[ECO “B35”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “102”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2877”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 g6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Bg7 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bc4 O-O 8.
Bb3 Qa5 9. f3 e6 10. O-O d5 11. exd5 exd5 12. Qd2 Re8 13. Rad1 Bd7 14. Nxc6
bxc6 15. Nxd5 Qxd2 16. Nxf6+ Bxf6 17. Bxd2 Bxb2 18. Bc3 Bxc3 19. Rxd7 Rf8 20.
Rfd1 Kg7 21. Rb7 Ba5 22. Rdd7 Bb6+ 23. Kf1 Rad8 24. Rxd8 Rxd8 25. Rxf7+ Kh8 26.
Ke2 Re8+ 27. Kd3 Rd8+ 28. Kc3 Ba5+ 29. Kb2 Bb6 30. g4 Rd2 31. h4 Rh2 32. Ba4 h5
33. gxh5 Rxh4 34. Bxc6 gxh5 35. Be4 Rh1 36. f4 Rh3 37. c3 h4 38. f5 Re3 39. Re7
Ba5 40. c4 h3 41. Re6 h2 42. Bd5 Rxe6 43. fxe6 Bd8 44. Kb3 Kg7 45. Kb4 Kf6 46.
Kb5 h1=Q 47. Bxh1 Kxe6 48. c5 Kd7 49. Ka6 Kc7 50. Kxa7 Be7 51. c6 Bc5+ 1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.02”]
[Round “6”]
[White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
[Black “Topalov, Veselin”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “2772”]
[ECO “B46”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “61”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2801”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7. Bd3 d5 8.
O-O Nf6 9. Re1 Be7 10. e5 Nd7 11. Qg4 Kf8 12. Na4 Qa5 13. Re2 h5 14. Qf4 g5 15.
Bd2 Qc7 16. Qg3 h4 17. Qg4 Rg8 18. Rae1 c5 19. c4 dxc4 20. Bxc4 Bb7 21. h3 Rd8
22. Bc3 Nb8 23. Re3 Nc6 24. Bxe6 fxe6 25. Rf3+ Ke8 26. Qxe6 Rg7 27. Qh6 Nd4 28.
e6 Nxf3+ 29. gxf3 Bf8 30. Qh5+ Ke7 31. Bxg7 1-0

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.02”]
[Round “6”]
[White “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Black “Aronian, Levon”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2805”]
[ECO “C67”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “90”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2787”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8.
Rxe5 O-O 9. Nc3 Ne8 10. Nd5 Bd6 11. Re2 c6 12. Ne3 Be7 13. Qe1 Bf6 14. Nf5 d5
15. Ne7+ Kh8 16. Nxc8 Rxc8 17. g3 Qd7 18. d3 Nc7 19. Qa5 Rfe8 20. Qe1 Rxe2 21.
Qxe2 b5 22. c3 d4 23. c4 Re8 24. Qd1 bxc4 25. dxc4 Ne6 26. b4 d3 27. Rb1 Rd8
28. Bd2 Bg5 29. Rb2 Qd4 30. Rb3 Bxd2 31. Qxd2 Qxc4 32. Rxd3 Rxd3 33. Qxd3 Qxa2
34. Qd7 Kg8 35. Qxc6 g6 36. Bc4 Qb1+ 37. Kg2 Qxb4 38. Bxe6 fxe6 39. Qa8+ Qf8
40. Qxa7 h5 41. Qd7 Qf5 42. Qe8+ Kg7 43. Qe7+ Kg8 44. Qe8+ Kg7 45. Qe7+ Kg8
1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.03”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Black “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “2787”]
[ECO “D10”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “103”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2877”]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 dxc4 4. e3 b5 5. a4 b4 6. Ne4 Qd5 7. Nd2 c3 8. bxc3
bxc3 9. Nb1 Qa5 10. Qc2 e5 11. Nf3 Na6 12. Nxe5 Nb4 13. Qb3 Be6 14. Bc4 c2 15.
Bxe6 Nd3+ 16. Ke2 Nxe5 17. dxe5 fxe6 18. Qxe6+ Ne7 19. Nd2 Qd5 20. Qxd5 Nxd5
21. Ne4 Rb8 22. Bd2 Bb4 23. Rhc1 Bxd2 24. Nxd2 Nb4 25. Nf3 Ke7 26. Ne1 Rhd8 27.
f4 c5 28. Nxc2 Nd3 29. Rcb1 Nb2 30. Ra2 Nxa4 31. Rxb8 Nc3+ 32. Kf3 Nxa2 33. Rb5
Nb4 34. Nxb4 cxb4 35. Rxb4 Ra8 36. Ke4 a5 37. Ra4 Kf7 38. g4 Ke7 39. f5 h6 40.
h4 Kf7 41. e6+ Kf6 42. Rd4 Ke7 43. Rd7+ Kf8 44. e7+ Ke8 45. Rd8+ Rxd8 46.
exd8=Q+ Kxd8 47. Kd5 Ke7 48. g5 a4 49. Kc4 hxg5 50. hxg5 Kd6 51. e4 Ke5 52. Kb4
1-0

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.03”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Topalov, Veselin”]
[Black “Aronian, Levon”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2805”]
[ECO “D37”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “79”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2772”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Nbd7 5. g3 dxc4 6. Bg2 Rb8 7. a4 Bb4 8. O-O
O-O 9. Nd2 e5 10. Nxc4 exd4 11. Qxd4 Nc5 12. Qxd8 Rxd8 13. Bf4 Ne6 14. Be3 a6
15. Ne5 Bd6 16. Nc4 Bb4 17. Rfc1 Nd4 18. Bxd4 Rxd4 19. b3 c6 20. h3 Be6 21. e3
Rdd8 22. Ne2 g6 23. Nd4 Bd5 24. a5 h5 25. Ra4 Bc5 26. Bxd5 Rxd5 27. Ne2 Be7 28.
Nc3 Rb5 29. Nd2 Rb4 30. Rxb4 Bxb4 31. Nc4 Rd8 32. Na2 Be7 33. Nc3 Nd5 34. Na4
Nb4 35. Kf1 Rd3 36. Rb1 Na2 37. Ra1 Nb4 38. Rb1 Na2 39. Ra1 Nb4 40. Rb1
1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.03”]
[Round “7”]
[White “Vachier Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “2801”]
[ECO “D35”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “78”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2768”]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Bf4 Nf6 5. e3 O-O 6. Rc1 Nbd7 7. c5 Ne4 8. Bd3
f5 9. Nf3 c6 10. Ne5 Nxe5 11. Bxe5 Bf6 12. Bxf6 Qxf6 13. Ne2 e5 14. Qa4 Qh4 15.
g3 Qg4 16. Rf1 Ng5 17. Kd2 Nf3+ 18. Kc3 Nxh2 19. Rh1 Nf3 20. Qa5 Qg5 21. dxe5
Qe7 22. Nd4 Nxe5 23. b3 b6 24. cxb6 c5 25. Nb5 Bb7 26. bxa7 d4+ 27. exd4 Nxd3
28. Kxd3 Bxh1 29. Rxc5 Qe4+ 30. Kc4 Qe2+ 31. Kb4 Qd2+ 32. Rc3 Bc6 33. a4 Bxb5
34. Kxb5 Qxd4 35. Rc7 Rfd8 36. Qb6 Rd5+ 37. Ka6 Rd6 38. a5 Qd3+ 39. Kb7 Qd5+
0-1

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.04”]
[Round “8”]
[White “Aronian, Levon”]
[Black “Vachier Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2768”]
[ECO “C41”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “60”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2805”]

1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. e4 e5 5. g4 g6 6. g5 Nh5 7. Bh3 exd4 8. Nxd4
h6 9. Bxd7+ Bxd7 10. h4 Be7 11. gxh6 Bxh4 12. Be3 c6 13. Nf5 gxf5 14. Qxh5 Bf6
15. O-O-O Qe7 16. Bf4 O-O-O 17. Bxd6 Qe6 18. e5 Bxe5 19. Bxe5 Qxe5 20. h7 Rde8
21. Qxf7 Re7 22. Qg8+ Kc7 23. Rde1 Rexh7 24. Qxh7 Rxh7 25. Rxe5 Rxh1+ 26. Kd2
Kd6 27. Re3 Rh2 28. Ke1 Rh1+ 29. Kd2 Rh2 30. Ke1 Rh1+ 1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.04”]
[Round “8”]
[White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
[Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2877”]
[ECO “B36”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “83”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2801”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 g6 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nc3 d6 7. f3 Nxd4 8. Qxd4
Bg7 9. Be3 O-O 10. Qd2 a5 11. b3 a4 12. b4 Be6 13. Rc1 Nd7 14. Be2 Nb6 15. Nb5
a3 16. Nd4 Bd7 17. h4 h5 18. g4 hxg4 19. fxg4 e5 20. Nb3 Bc6 21. Bf3 f5 22.
gxf5 gxf5 23. Na5 f4 24. Bf2 Na4 25. Nxc6 bxc6 26. O-O c5 27. b5 Bf6 28. Kh1
Nb6 29. Rcd1 Kh8 30. Qxd6 Qxd6 31. Rxd6 Nxc4 32. Rd5 Ne3 33. Bxe3 fxe3 34. Be2
Bxh4 35. Rf5 Rxf5 36. exf5 Rd8 37. Rxd8+ Bxd8 38. Kg2 Kg7 39. Kf3 Kf6 40. Ke4
c4 41. Bxc4 Bb6 42. Bd3 1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.04”]
[Round “8”]
[White “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Black “Topalov, Veselin”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “2772”]
[ECO “C67”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “114”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2787”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8.
Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ke8 10. Nc3 Ne7 11. Ne4 Ng6 12. Re1 h6 13. Kh2 c5 14. c4 Be6
15. b3 b6 16. g4 h5 17. Kg3 Rd8 18. Neg5 Bc8 19. Bb2 Be7 20. Rad1 Rxd1 21. Rxd1
hxg4 22. hxg4 f6 23. exf6 gxf6 24. Re1 Kf8 25. Ne4 Kf7 26. Bc1 Rg8 27. Rh1 Bb7
28. Re1 Re8 29. Nfd2 Ne5 30. Bb2 Nd3 31. Rb1 Rg8 32. Kf3 Nxb2 33. Rxb2 Bc8 34.
g5 f5 35. Nf6 Rxg5 36. Nd5 Bb7 37. Rb1 Rg4 38. Rh1 Bd6 39. Ke2 Rd4 40. Rh7+ Kg6
41. Rd7 Bxd5 42. cxd5 Rxd5 43. Nc4 b5 44. Nxd6 cxd6 45. Rxa7 b4 46. a4 bxa3 47.
Rxa3 Re5+ 48. Kd3 Kg5 49. Ra6 Re1 50. Kd2 Re6 51. Rb6 Kg4 52. b4 cxb4 53. Rxb4+
Kf3 54. Kd1 f4 55. Rd4 Re4 56. Rd2 d5 57. Ra2 Kg2 0-1

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.05”]
[Round “9”]
[White “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Black “Aronian, Levon”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2805”]
[ECO “D56”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “168”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2877”]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 Ne4 8. Bxe7
Qxe7 9. Rc1 c6 10. Qc2 Nxc3 11. Qxc3 Nd7 12. Be2 dxc4 13. Qxc4 e5 14. O-O exd4
15. Nxd4 Nf6 16. b4 Bd7 17. Rfd1 Rfe8 18. Qc5 g6 19. a4 Qxc5 20. bxc5 a5 21.
Nb3 Re5 22. Rd4 Kf8 23. Kf1 Ke7 24. Bc4 g5 25. h3 b5 26. cxb6 Rb8 27. f4 Rxe3
28. Nc5 Rxb6 29. Kf2 gxf4 30. Rxf4 Re5 31. Rxf6 Be8 32. Rf4 Rxc5 33. Re4+ Kf8
34. Rxe8+ Kxe8 35. Bxf7+ Kxf7 36. Rxc5 Rb4 37. Rxa5 c5 38. Ke3 Rd4 39. Ra6 Kg7
40. a5 Ra4 41. g4 h5 42. gxh5 Ra3+ 43. Ke4 c4 44. Kd4 c3 45. Kd3 Kh7 46. h6 Rb3
47. Kc2 Rb5 48. Kxc3 Rf5 49. Ra8 Rb5 50. Kc4 Rf5 51. Kb4 Rf4+ 52. Kc5 Rf5+ 53.
Kd4 Rb5 54. Ke4 Rc5 55. Ra6 Rb5 56. h4 Rc5 57. Kd4 Rb5 58. Kc4 Rf5 59. Kb4 Rf4+
60. Kc5 Rf5+ 61. Kb6 Rf6+ 62. Kb7 Rf7+ 63. Kc8 Rf8+ 64. Kd7 Rf5 65. Ra8 Rd5+
66. Ke6 Rb5 67. Kf6 Rc5 68. Ra7+ Kxh6 69. Kf7 Rb5 70. a6 Rb6 71. Kg8 Rb8+ 72.
Kf7 Rb6 73. Ke7 Kg6 74. Kd7 Rf6 75. Ra8 Kg7 76. Kc7 Rf7+ 77. Kd6 Rf6+ 78. Ke5
Rb6 79. Ra7+ Kg6 80. h5+ Kh6 81. Kf5 Rc6 82. Re7 Rxa6 83. Re6+ Rxe6 84. Kxe6
Kxh5 1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.05”]
[Round “9”]
[White “Caruana, Fabiano”]
[Black “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2787”]
[ECO “C67”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “110”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2801”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8.
Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ke8 10. Nc3 h5 11. Bf4 Be7 12. Rad1 Be6 13. Ng5 Rh6 14. Rfe1
Bb4 15. g4 hxg4 16. hxg4 Ne7 17. Nxe6 Rxe6 18. Kg2 Rd8 19. Rxd8+ Kxd8 20. Rd1+
Kc8 21. Bg3 Bxc3 22. bxc3 Rg6 23. Rd4 f5 24. Bh4 c5 25. Rf4 Nd5 26. Rxf5 Rxg4+
27. Bg3 Kd8 28. Kh3 Rg6 29. c4 Ne7 30. Rf8+ Kd7 31. f4 Ke6 32. Bh4 Rh6 33. Re8
g5 34. fxg5 Rg6 35. Kg4 Kf7 36. Rh8 Ra6 37. Rh7+ Kf8 38. Rh6 Ng6 39. Kf5 Kg7
40. Bf2 Ne7+ 41. Ke4 Ra4 42. Re6 Nc6 43. Kf5 Rxc4 44. Rg6+ Kf8 45. Rf6+ Kg8 46.
g6 Rxc2 47. Be3 Nd4+ 48. Bxd4 cxd4 49. Rf7 d3 50. Rd7 Rf2+ 51. Kg5 Rg2+ 52. Kf6
Rf2+ 53. Kg5 Rg2+ 54. Kf6 Rf2+ 55. Kg5 Rg2+ 1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.05”]
[Round “9”]
[White “Vachier Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Black “Topalov, Veselin”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2772”]
[ECO “A07”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “81”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2768”]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. O-O e5 5. d3 Ne7 6. e4 O-O 7. exd5 Nxd5 8. Nc3
Nc6 9. Re1 Nde7 10. a4 h6 11. a5 a6 12. Be3 Re8 13. Qd2 Nf5 14. Bc5 Rb8 15. Ne4
b6 16. axb6 cxb6 17. Ba3 Ncd4 18. Nxd4 Nxd4 19. Qd1 Bb7 20. c3 Nb5 21. Qb3 Qd7
22. Re3 Kh7 23. Rae1 f5 24. Nd2 Bxg2 25. Kxg2 Re6 26. Nf3 Rbe8 27. Kg1 e4 28.
dxe4 Rxe4 29. Rxe4 Rxe4 30. Rd1 Qe8 31. Qd5 Nxa3 32. bxa3 Qe7 33. h4 Qc5 34. h5
Qxd5 35. hxg6+ Kxg6 36. Rxd5 Bxc3 37. Rd6+ Kf7 38. Rxb6 Ra4 39. Rxh6 Rxa3 40.
Nh4 Ra5 41. Rc6 1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.06”]
[Round “10”]
[White “Aronian, Levon”]
[Black “Caruana, Fabiano”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2801”]
[ECO “D41”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “60”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2805”]

1. Nf3 c5 2. c4 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. g3 d5 5. d4 e6 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. Bg2 cxd4 8.
Nxd4 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Nxd4 10. cxd4 Bb4+ 11. Kf1 O-O 12. Rb1 Bd6 13. h4 Rb8 14. h5
h6 15. e4 b6 16. Be3 e5 17. dxe5 Bxe5 18. f4 Qxd1+ 19. Rxd1 Bg4 20. Rd5 Bb2 21.
Rb5 Ba3 22. Bh3 Bxh3+ 23. Rxh3 Rbc8 24. Rh2 Rfd8 25. Rb3 Bc1 26. Re2 Bxe3 27.
Rbxe3 Kf8 28. e5 Rc5 29. Kg2 Ke7 30. Rb2 Rdc8 1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.06”]
[Round “10”]
[White “Nakamura, Hikaru”]
[Black “Vachier Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2768”]
[ECO “B90”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “93”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2787”]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. h3 e5 7. Nde2 h5 8. Bg5
Be6 9. Bxf6 Qxf6 10. Nd5 Qd8 11. Nec3 g6 12. Bc4 Bh6 13. O-O O-O 14. Bb3 Nc6
15. Qd3 Rc8 16. Rad1 Nd4 17. Ne2 Nxb3 18. Qxb3 b5 19. a4 b4 20. c3 bxc3 21.
Nexc3 Kg7 22. Qb7 a5 23. Qa6 Ra8 24. Qe2 Rc8 25. Qa6 Ra8 26. Qd3 Rc8 27. Nb5
Rc6 28. Qa3 Qd7 29. Rfe1 Bg5 30. Rd3 Rd8 31. Red1 Qb7 32. Rc3 Rd7 33. Rdd3 Bd8
34. Rxc6 Qxc6 35. Rc3 Qa8 36. Nbc7 Bxc7 37. Rxc7 Rxc7 38. Nxc7 Qc6 39. Nxe6+
fxe6 40. g3 Kf7 41. b4 Qxe4 42. b5 Qe1+ 43. Kg2 Qe4+ 44. Kh2 Qe2 45. Kg2 Qe4+
46. Kh2 Qe2 47. Kg2 1/2-1/2

[Event “Sinquefield Cup 2nd”]
[Site “Saint Louis”]
[Date “2014.09.06”]
[Round “10”]
[White “Topalov, Veselin”]
[Black “Carlsen, Magnus”]
[Result “1/2-1/2”]
[BlackElo “2877”]
[ECO “C67”]
[EventCategory “23”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
[EventDate “2014.08.27”]
[EventRounds “10”]
[EventType “tourn”]
[PlyCount “38”]
[Source “ChessBase”]
[SourceDate “2014.09.17”]
[WhiteElo “2772”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. d4 Nd6 6. Bxc6 dxc6 7. dxe5 Nf5 8.
Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. h3 Ke8 10. Nc3 b6 11. Bf4 Bb4 12. Ne4 Ba6 13. Rfc1 Be2 14. Nfd2
Bxd2 15. Nxd2 Nd4 16. Be3 Nf5 17. Bf4 Nd4 18. Be3 Nf5 19. Bf4 Nd4 1/2-1/
[/pgn]

In addition to the festivities of the Sinquefield Cup, the American premier of Pawn Sacrifice will take place at the Chase Park Plaza in Saint Louis on September 3rd with a private VIP party featuring the players immediately following the film’s premier. For details, check out the official event page.

This has been an incredible whirlwind of a week! Unfortunately, very little of the week involved chess because I was promoted this week and spend much of my time preparing for the ceremony honoring the event. However, I did manage to keep up occasionally with the Biel Chess Festival in Switzerland where GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won in elegant style against GM Richard Rapport.

[pgn]
[Event “48th Biel GM 2015”]
[Site “Biel SUI”]
[Date “2015.07.30”]
[Round “10.1”]
[White “Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Black “Rapport, Richard”]
[Result “1-0”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[WhiteElo “2731”]
[BlackElo “2671”]
[ECO “C41”]
[Opening “Philidor”]
[Variation “exchange variation”]
[WhiteFideId “623539”]
[BlackFideId “738590”]
[EventDate “2015.07.20”]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. g3 O-O 7. Bg2 Re8 8. O-O
Bf8 9. Bf4 Nbd7 10. Qd2 Ne5 11. Rad1 c6 12. h3 b5 13. b3 b4 14. Na4 c5 15. Nb5
d5 16. exd5 Bxh3 17. Bxe5 Rxe5 18. Bxh3 a6 19. Nbc3 bxc3 20. Nxc3 Bd6 21. Rfe1
Rxe1+ 22. Rxe1 Qc7 23. Ne4 Nxe4 24. Rxe4 Qb6 25. Qe3 g6 26. Bd7 Rd8 27. Be8 Qc7
28. Kg2 Rb8 29. Rh4 h5 30. Re4 Rb4 31. c4 Rb8 32. Qf3 Bf8 33. Qf6 a5 34. d6 Qb7
35. f3 Bg7 36. Qe7 Qxe7 37. Rxe7 Bf8 38. Bxf7+ Kg7 39. Ra7 Bxd6 40. Bd5+ Kf6 41.
Rxa5 Rb6 42. f4 g5 43. Kf3 h4 44. fxg5+ Kxg5 45. gxh4+ Kxh4 46. Ke4 Kg5 47. Rb5
Rb8 48. Rxb8 1-0
[/pgn]

Over the past few weeks I have stopped playing regular blitz on Chess.com and focused more on 15 minute standard games with 10-second increments. The results of these games have been much more fulfilling than the countless blitz games that I lost miserably or won through time troubles or fundamental mistakes by my opponents. In addition to focusing more on my standard time control chess, I have also been working on some projects to create a fully Mac chess experience. As I have written about numerous times in the past, finding good chess software for the OS X platform can be a daunting task. One such project is a distributable OS X edition of the Tarrasch Chess GUI.

This simple little program has been popular with Windows users for years and has been ported by other OS X and Linux users, according to the site’s development blog. My goal is to create a distributable package for OS X where users can download the file from Campfire Chess or other websites without having to go through the tedious process of installing a wine skinner, finding appropriate themes and settings, and hoping that everything works OK. I hope to have it available for download in the coming weeks.

The following game was played with standard 15|10 time controls on Chess.com in July. My opponent was rated about 100 points lower than me, but it was quite a struggle between the two of us. I chose Your Greed Will Find You as the headline for this game commentary because the endgame demonstrates the peril of always wanting to capture a piece that appears unguarded.

[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2015.07.21”]
[Round “?”]
[White “967”]
[Black “AmishHacker”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “1052”]
[ECO “B01”]
[WhiteElo “967”]

1. e4 { An extremely popular opening move in chess. It was a favorite of Bobby
Fischer and is something I use quite regularly unless I am facing a lower-rated
player who prefers to deviate from classical lines.} 1… d5 { When playing
with the Black pieces, I like to offer up my Queen’s pawn to show my opponent
how serious I am about controlling the center of the board.} 2. Nc3 { White
declines the gambit and adds a second attacking piece to my d5 pawn.} 2… Nf6
{ Not convinced that my opponent is really willing to go after the pawn after
declining the gambit, I decided to return the favor and add a second attacking
piece to the e4 pawn.} 3. d3 { The battle to control the center is shaping up
to be quite a fight. White adds a pawn on d3 to defend the e4 pawn while taking
control of the c4 square.} 3… e5 { I am not interesting in launching any
attacks at this point, so I decided to reinforce my position and make room for
my Bishop to activate.} 4. Be3 { White flexes some muscle, but has no real
threat at this point.} 4… d4 { It would be perilous for the Bishop to even
consider taking the pawn.} 5. Bd2 ( 5. Bxd4 exd4 { Is too easy.} ) ( 5. Bxd4
Qxd4 { Spells immediate doom for White.} ) 5… Nc6 { More standard
development. The c6 Knight protects both the d4 and e5 pawns.} 6. Nb5 { Wasn’t
exactly sure what White’s plan was here.} 6… Bc5 { Trying to make it hard
for the Knight to do whatever it was he was planning to do.} 7. f4 { The way
White has been playing this game, this was more of a developing move.} 7…
O-O { Taking time to secure the castle.} 8. f5 { White is trying to limit my
mobility by building a strong pawn chain.} 8… a6 { Forcing the Knight to act
or leave.} 9. Na3 { The Knight retreats and is practically worthless.} 9…
b5 { Advancing my own pawn storm.} 10. g4 { White adds another link to his
pawn chain.} 10… g5 $4 { This blunder could have handed everything to White,
but he did not see the move.} 11. Nf3 $4 { Instead of engaging the pawn and
winning material, White misses the opportunity and blunders with Nf3??} ( 11.
Bxg5 { This would have been a tragic loss of material after establishing such a
strong defense. Any movement of the Knight would sacrifice my Queen for
nothing.} ) 11… h6 { I wasted no time taking advantage of White’s missed
opportunity by adding a defensive pawn to the lonely g5 pawn.} 12. h4 { White
makes what could be the first truly attacking move of the game. Defense of the
g5 pawn will come at a price that I am not sure I am willing to accept.} 12…
Nxg4 { Black makes the first capture of the game and now threatens the heart of
White’s defenses.} 13. Qe2 $2 { White brings his Queen into the action, but it
has limited movement and influence due to the blocking d2 Bishop and f3
Knight.} 13… Nb4 { It might look like I am going after the c2 pawn, but
there’s no benefit to that move. This is purely developmental and psychological
to give White the feeling that the noose is closing around him.} 14. O-O-O $5
{ Its hard to argue with castling, but this move seems incredibly ill-timed. My
b4 Knight now has a move that it did not have before and can gobble up a pawn
and weaken the newly formed castle’s defenses.} 14… Nxa2+ $1 { A check to
demonstrate to White that his King is not safe anywhere.} 15. Kb1 { White’s
only defensive move is to threaten the Knight.} 15… Nb4 { An easy retreat
and the only sensible move.} 16. hxg5 { The g5 pawn finally falls. White is
threatening to launch an assault on my Kingside…} 16… hxg5 { Daring the
Bishop to retake.} 17. Bxg5 { The Bishop would make an appetizing meal for the
Queen, but it is guarded by the dubious f3 Knight.} 17… Qe8 { Side-stepping
to guard my Queen.} 18. Rh4 $2 { A rather obvious attempt to attack my
Knight.} 18… Ne3 $1 { Forking the Bishop and the Rook. The Bishop can take
my Knight, but risks re-capture by an advancing pawn. White is being wreckless
with his decisions at this point.} 19. Rc1 { Refusing to engage, White
retreats his Rook to safety and signals a willingness to part with his Bishop.}
19… f6 { Threatening the f5 Bishop while enticing the Rook to come down the
file.} 20. Bh6 { White continues to ignore the e3 Knight and makes a feeble
attack on my Rook.} 20… Rf7 { Safely out of harm’s way.} 21. Bh3 { Another
developmental move.} 21… Nxf5 { Threatening the h4 Rook and trying to
disrupt White’s growing contingent of pieces on my Kingside.} 22. Qg2+ { White
forces me to defend my King.} 22… Rg7 { An aggressive response, showing a
willingness to sacrifice major pieces for an advantage.} 23. Rg4 { White
establishes a battery staring straight at my King.} 23… Nxh6 { Breaking down
part of White’s assault. This prevents the Rook from doing any real damage if
it decides to advance on my King.} 24. Rxg7+ { White unleases his battery on
my King, but it is poorly executed and weak with my Knight and Queen defending
my position.} 24… Kh8 { The safest way out of trouble.} 25. Rxc7 $4 { Even
if that was a strategically important pawn (which it was not), attacking the
Bishop would be a suicide run for the Rook. Yet, the real threat comes with
checkmate in 1 move if White where to play Qf7, but…he did not.} 25… Bxh3
{ This was a huge gamble. If White moves to Qf7, it is all over for me.} 26.
Qxh3 $4 { White took the bait and his assault on my King is over.} 26… Qg6 {
Adding a defensive piece to my Knight.} 27. Nh4 { White counters by engaging
my Queen and trying to break a hole for the Queen to attack.} 27… Qh5 { At
this point, any coordinated offensive that White had planned is gone. The
Knight is pinned to defending the Queen and the Rook is helpless to do anything
about it.} 28. Rxc5 $4 { Instead of bringing his other Rook into the fold,
White chose to gobble up a Bishop trying to win back material from the pounding
he took during his failed assault. However, this move sets up the game’s
devastating ending.} 28… Qf7 $6 { When I made this move, I did not think
that I had a chance of pulling it off…} 29. Nf5 { White continues with his
greed and makes a play for my Knight and King combination. Howver, he missed
the mate in 1 move that I had prepared two moves earlier…} 29… Qa2# { And
it is all over for White.} 0-1
[/pgn]

In the last few weeks I have been working to clear out a lot of the clutter that I have accumulated in the last few years. Much of that clutter involves duplicate copies of chess books and magazines along with duplicated folders on my hard drives. I keep one database for annotating games for Campfire Chess Magazine and the new Campfire Stories column. I was surprised when I began sorting through the 2015 entries in that database and noticed a game labeled Perelshteyn – NN 0-1. The game itself is pretty dramatic and according to its PGN metadata was played in April of 2014. However, I was not able to find any reference to it in the Megabase or online. I checked 365 Chess and Chessgames.com, but there is no reference to it in any of those databases as well. Therefore, if anyone finds out who this game really belongs to, please let me know at wesley at campfire chess dot com.

[pgn]
[Event “?”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “2014.12.04”]
[Round “?”]
[White “Perelshteyn”]
[Black “NN”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “A90”]
[Annotator “Surber,Wesley”]
[PlyCount “84”]
[EventDate “2014.12.04”]

{I am not sure why this game was sitting in my annotated games database nor
can I find any reference to GM Perelshteyn playing a game like this on April
12, 2014. There are no references to the positions in this game on Chessbase
or other sites that I can find. If someone knows the details about this game,
please email them to me: wesley at campfire chess dot com.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6
3. Nf3 c6 4. g3 f5 5. Bg2 Bd6 6. c5 Bc7 7. O-O {White castles to safety and
the position is a fairly standard Dutch Defense. White is slightly ahead in
this position and black has to be careful or the position could open up
against him very quickly.} Nf6 8. Nc3 O-O 9. b4 Bd7 10. a4 Be8 11. a5 {At this
point in the game, both sides have managed to build quite a threatening
blockade in the center of the board. White still maintains a slight advantage,
but Black is making it increasingly harder for him to develop without engaging.
} Bh5 12. Re1 a6 13. Bg5 h6 14. Bxf6 Qxf6 15. Qd2 Nd7 16. e3 g5 {I have seen
positions like this in a few of my own games. Black is slowly gaining an
advantage by building up his pawn structure and White could be dead in the
water if he does not come up with an effective counterplay.} 17. Na4 Rae8 18.
Nb6 Nxb6 19. axb6 Bb8 20. Rac1 Rf7 21. Qd3 Rg7 22. Ra1 Bg6 {Black’s Bishop
continues to wreak havoc on White’s Queen and Knight combination. As long as
the Queen and Bishop are guarding the h8 and h7 diagonals, White does not have
many options for counterplay.} 23. Qd2 Bh5 24. Qb2 Bxf3 25. Bxf3 e5 26. Bh5 {
White thrusts at the heart of Black’s back row defenses.} Rf8 27. Rf1 f4 28.
Bg4 e4 29. Qc3 {Deep Fritz 14 does not like this position for White very much.
It looks like White is squandering opportunities by allowing Black to push his
pawns deeper into his territory.} Qg6 30. Bh3 h5 31. Ra5 g4 32. Bg2 f3 33. Bh1
{It looks like White is completely hopeless in this position, but in fact,
Black is just as immobilized.} h4 34. Ra2 Rh7 35. Qe1 Kf7 36. b5 axb5 37. Rd2
Rfh8 {Black has a massive battery bearing down on the trapped White King.
White needs to make his move now or risk a quick death.} 38. Rb2 Rh5 39. Rc2
R8h6 40. Rb2 Qh7 41. Rc2 hxg3 42. fxg3 Rxh2 {White loses any hope of escape
from the trap.} 0-1

[/pgn]

On most Sunday mornings throughout 2014 I posted a weekly update where I annotated some games and gave a brief overview of coming chess events or recaps of past events. These weekly updates accounted for a bulk of the material posted on the site throughout 2014 and also a large portion of the content in the 2014 Yearbook. After allowing the column to be defunct for much of the year, I have decided to resurrent the weekly update in the form of Campfire Stories. These posts will contain a variety of independent content, but also link up to the other ongoing projects such as the reformatting of Campfire Chess Magazine and the continuing growth of the downloads section. And now, for Campfire Stories #1:

A lot happened this week both in the professional world of chess and in my own isolated world of amateur chess. For me, the biggest heartbreak was having my chess crush Sopiko Guramishvili tie the knot with GM Anish Giri. I am curious if her column on Chess24 with Anna Rudolf will change from Miss Strategy vs. Miss Tactics to Miss Strategy vs. Mrs. Tactics…

In other news, I discarded a plan to terminate my Chess.com premium account in favor of downgrading the account from diamond to gold. The crux of this change is the simple fact that I no longer feel comfortable paying upwards of $100 a year to play chess online when alternatives such as the Internet Chess Club and the Free Internet Chess Server growing more competitive. I intend to maintain my premium account on Chess.com and to maintain some of the aggregated blog posts on the site as well.

The following game was played last night on Chess.com against a player rated 1097 at the time. He made some unusual moves in familiar places, so I have to wonder if he was distracted or trying out new ideas on me.

[pgn]
[Event “Live Chess”]
[Site “Chess.com”]
[Date “2015.07.18”]
[Round “?”]
[White “1082”]
[Black “AmishHacker”]
[Result “0-1”]
[ECO “D20”]
[WhiteElo “1082”]
[BlackElo “1050”]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 Be6 { Black thought for quite awhile at this point,
which worried me. I have fallen into traps on multiple occasions in this
position by trying to defend the c4 pawn from White’s trickery.} 4. Nd2 b5 5.
a4 c6 $1 { If White is willing to take the pawn, then I am willing to reinforce
defense of the c4 pawn in kind.} 6. axb5 cxb5 {White trades pawns and my
position remains largely in tact.} 7. Qf3 Nd7 8. b3 c3 9. Ne4 Bd5 {Pins the
Knight to defense of the Queen.} 10. Bxb5 Qb6 11. Ba4 $2 (11. Bxd7+ Kxd7 {
Would have eliminated any chance I had of finding sanctuary for my King.} )
11… Qb4 12. Kf1 {White senses the coming 13.c2 and moves his King to safety.}
12… Nf6 13. Qh3 Bxe4 14. Ne2 e6 15. f3 Bd3 16. Ba3 Qa5 17. Bxf8 Rxf8 $4 {I
can claim nerves on this move because I was in too much of a hurry to recapture
the Bishop before it ran to safety. However, after the move I noticed the
devastating variation: } 18. Kf2 { Fortunately, White went with the blundered
Kf2??} (18. Bxd7+ Nxd7 19. Rxa5 { and White has an incredible winning
position.} ) 18… Qb4 19. Nf4 Bf5 20. g4 Nxg4+ {Sacrificing the Knight to make
room for a Bishop’s escape.} 21. fxg4 Be4 22. Rhg1 c2 23. Rac1 Qd2+ 24. Kg3 f5
25. Nxe6 Qxe3+ {A nice skewer, but I am not ready to swap Queens at this time.}
26. Kh4 Qh6+ 27. Kg3 Qxe6 28. Qxh7 Qd6+ 29. Kh3 O-O-O {Counting on Qxg7??} 30.
Qxg7 $4 { White takes the bait and his Queen is lost.} 30… Rh8+ {The decisive
blow…White resigned. The continuation would have been Qxh8 Rxh8!!+.} 0-1
[/pgn]

Back in early June of this year I wrote an entry explaining that the quarterly edition of Campfire Chess Magazine was going to be delayed until July. Today is July 1st and true to my word, the completely redesigned and interactive spring (June 2015) edition of the magazine is now available. Regular readers will notice an immediate difference because I will no longer be publishing the magazine in PDF format. Instead, the magazine will now work to exploit the abilities of advanced web technologies like HTML5 and JavaScript to create a more user-friendly and interactive experience.

In addition, the way that Campfire Chess Magazine is published is also changing. Individual issues will still be available in the publication archives. Although the archives are not fully online as of this post, I am working to retool each of the previous magazine publications into the new HTML format for interactivity.

I hope that you enjoy the new Campfire Chess Magazine and if there is anyone out there wanting to contribute an article, product review, or game commentary, please email it to magazine at campfire chess.com.

Enjoy!

I make every effort to publish Campfire Chess Magazine four times a year: January, June, September, and December. The January 2014 edition was the first issue to bear the logo, style, and content of the site’s new namesake. Unfortunately, because this website and the magazine are part of my chess hobby, there is not always a guarantee that I will have the time and resources available to complete the magazine as I intended. I think that these times will be few and far between. In the case of the magazine’s spring edition, some life events caused me to fall behind both in maintaining the site and preparing to publish the quarterly magazine. The June 2015 edition of Campfire Chess Magazine will be released on July 1.

In the meantime, please consider visiting the publications page to browse through the complete magazine back-catalogue.