1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.a3 Nge7 7.b4 cxd4 8. cxd4 Nf5 9.Be3 Be7 10.Be2 O-O 11.O-O f6 12.b5 Nxe3 13.fxe3

and Black eventually won - rest of game not recorded. 0-1

Dowden, Tony - Bonham, Kevin (French two knights line)
(Notes by both players as indicated)

1.e4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.d4 c5 6.dxc5 Bxc5 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.Bf4 f6 9.exf6 Nxf6 10.0-0 0-0 11.Ne5 Bd6 {...Bd7 is commonly played here, also Watson suggests ...Qe8 or ...a6 - KB}. 12.Re1 {12.Qe2 is more common here and probably stronger.-KB} 12...Ne4 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Bxd6 Nxd6 {The key to the struggle is control of the central dark squares. White has managed to swap off the dark squared bishops but he is in real danger of losing the critical e5 square.-TD} 15.Qh5 Nf5 16.Re5 g6 17.Qg4 Qf6 {Better is 17…Nh6! planning …Nf7 and …e5 As long as black prevents a sacrifice on g6 he will be better. -TD} 18.Rae1 Nd6 19.Qd4 c5? {An unsound attempt to complicate. 19...Kg7! preparing ...Nf7 in view of the threat of Rxd5! 20.Qc5 Nf7 21.R5e3 e5 is about equal - KB} 20.Qxc5 Ne4 21.Qd4?! {21.Nxd5!! wins two pawns, eg 21...exd5 22.Qxd5+ Rf7 23.Qxe4 Qxf2+ 24.Kh1 Bb7 25.Qg4+- - KB} 21...Nxc3? {Black rejected 21...Qxf2+! 22.Qxf2 Nxf2 in view of 23.Be2 but missed 23...Rb8! intending ...Rb4 to extract the knight after which Black is worse but very much alive. - KB} 22.bxc3 Qf4 23.g3! Qf3 24.Be2 Qf6 25.Rb1 Bd7 {White takes control of the open b-file. The win is no longer in doubt. -TD} 26.f4 a5 27.c4 Bc6 28.Rb6 Rac8 29.cxd5 exd5 30.Bb5 Qd6 31.c4 Qd7 32.Bxc6 Rxc6 {White chooses the right moment to simplify into a won ending -TD} 33.Rxc6 Qxc6 34.Qxd5+ Qxd5 35.cxd5 Rc8 White is clearly winning and Black especially is very short of time but the winning method should be instructive for juniors: 36.Re2 Rd8 37.Rd2 Kf7 38.Kf2 Kf6 39.Ke3 Ke7 40.Kd4 Kd6 41.Rb2 Re8 42.Rb6+ Kc7 43.Re6 Rb8 44.Ra6 Rb2 45.Rxa5 Kb6 46.Ra8 Rxh2 47.Rc8 {cutting Black’s king off and guaranteeing the advance of the d-pawn - TD} 47…Rd2+ 48.Ke5 Re2+ 49.Kf6 Rxa2 50.d6 Rd2 51.Ke7 Re2+ 52.Kd8 h6 53.Rc3 g5 54.fxg5 hxg5 55.d7 1-0

Bonham, Kevin - Dyer, Alastair {English} {Notes: Bonham}

1.g3 e5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Bg2 Bc5 4.Nc3 d6 5.Na4 Bb6 6.Nxb6 axb6 7.d3 f5 8.e4 Nf6 9.Ne2 0-0 10.0-0 Rb8 11.Nc3 Nd4 12.f4 fxe4 13.Nxe4 Bf5 14.Nxf6+ Qxf6 15.Be3 Qg6! 16.fxe5 dxe5 17.Bxd4 exd4 18.Rf4 b5!? {Objectively unsound but the complications produced wasted several minutes on White's clock - and he still doesn't find the right reply!} 19.Qb3? {19.cxb5! wins a pawn as if 19...Bxd3 20.Rxd4 Qb6? 21.Qxd3 Rbd8 22.Qc4+ Kh8 23.Rad1 Rxd4 24.Rxd4 Rd8 25.Bd5+-} 19...Bxd3 20.cxb5+ Kh8 21.Rxf8+ {White has used up the queen check resource prematurely so 21.Rxd4? Qb6 22.Qxd3 Rbd8 23.Rd1 Rxd4 24.Qxd4 Rd8 25.Qxb6 Rxd1+ 26.Kf2 cxb6 leaves White struggling to draw.} 21...Rxf8 22.Qb4 Rd8 23.Bxb7 Be2 24.Qd2 d3 25.Bc6 Qd6 26.a4 Qc5+ 27.Kh1 Qc2 28.Qg5 Rg8! 29.Rc1?? {Played in time trouble in the false impression that White was already dead lost. 29.Qe5 apparently holds, eg 29...Bg4 30.Qe4 Qxb2 31.Rg1 Qe2 32.h3 Qxe4+ 33.Bxe4 Be2=} 29...Qxb2? {Black misses a quick free rook with 29...d2! ...} 30.a5 d2 31.Rg1 d1Q 32.Rxd1 Bxd1 33.a6 Rf8 34.Bg2 {...but finds a neat mate with less than two minutes on his clock} 34...Rf1+! 35.Bxf1 Bf3+ 36.Kg1 Qd4+ 0-1

Dowden, Tony – Rezaie, Ramin {Spanish}

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.Qe1 Bd6 8.d4! Qe7 9.Nxe5 Bxe5 10.dxe5 Qxe5 11.Nc3 0-0 12.f3 {White has a comfortable advantage} 12…Be6 13.Be3 Rad8 14.f4 Qh5 15.f5 Ng4 16.Bf4 Bc4? 17.Rf3 {threatening to win the Q with Rh3 so Black has no time to rescue his bishop} 17…f6 18.b3 Rd7 19.bxc4 Rfd8 20.h3 Ne5 21.Bxe5 fxe5 22.Rd1 Qf7 23.Rfd3 h6 24.Qd2 Rd4 25.Ne2 R4d6 25.Ne2 R4d6 26.c5 Rxd3 27.cxd3 b5 28.Nc1 Qd7 29.Qc3 Qd4+ 30.Qxd4 Rxd4 {the rook and pawn ending with an extra knight is an easy win for White} 31.Kf2 Kf7 32.g4 Kf6 33.h4 Rb4 34.Rd2 a5 35.Nb3 Ra4 36.Ke3 Ke7 37.g5 hxg5 38.hxg5 Ra3 39.Nc1 Rc3 {Black wins an pawn but his rook loses its mobility} 40.Ne2 Rxc3 41.a3 b4 axb4 axb4 43.Rb2 Rb5 44.Nc1 c5 45.Nb3 Kd6 46.Ra2 Rb6 47.Ra5 Rc6 48.Rxc5! {a typical simplifying combination} 48…Rxc5 49.Nxc5 Kxc5 50.f6 gxf6 51.g6 b3 52.Kd2 Kd4 53. g7 b2 54.g8{Q} b1{Q} {Accepting his fate but 54…b1{N}+ fails to change matters} 55.Qd5# 1-0

Dowden, Tony – Malejewicz, Alexander {Scandinavian}

1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 Ne4!? {Yet another surprise from the Scandinavian bag of tricks} 6.Bd3 Nxc3 7.bxc3 g6 {Black declines the pawn offer in favour of pressure on the centre} 8.Bd2 Bg7 9.0-0 0-0 10.h3 c5 11.c4 Qc7 12.c3 {Black can be very pleased with the result of the opening} 12…cxd4?! {An unnecessary release of the tension} 13.cxd4 Nc6 14.d5! {Suddenly White has assumed the initiative} 14…Bxa1 15.Qxa1 Nb8 16.Bh6 f6 17.c5!? {White wants to open more lines} 17…Nd7 {Not 17…Qxc5? 18.Bxf8 Kxf8 19.Rc1 and 20.Rxc8+} 18.c6 bxc6 19.Bc4 Rf7 20.dxc6 Qxc6 21.Rc1 Qb6 {Here Black offered a draw but I had seen an interesting idea. After using up nearly all of my remaining time – alas, there was no increment – I calculated I had at least a forced draw} 22.Ng5 Ne5 {Not 22…fxg5?? 23.Qg7 mate} 23.Qxe5!? {Apparently a tremendous shock to my opponent} 23…fxe5 24.Bxf7+ Kh8 25.Bd5 e6?? {Black panics and throws the game away. In the game I calculated 25…Bb7! 26.Be6! followed by perpetual check. After the game I found some intriguing lines but no win.} 26.Bxa8 Bb7 27.Bxb7 Qxb7 28. Rd1! Qe7 29.Rd8+! 1-0 {29…Qxd8 30.Nf7+}

NB Fritz confirms that the position after 25.Bd5 is a draw if either player wants it. - KB.

Report above and full crosstable and pairings now available at the TCA website at http://members.trump.net.au/taschess/

The TCA website has been in transition for a few months but is now in full swing again with Phil Donnelly having taken over as webmaster.

- Kevin Bonham

Australia Day Weekender (NSW): I don't have full results for this event, but I believe the top scores were:

Bird, 6.5; Xie, Hu, O'Chee 6; Smirnov, Tian, Illingworth, Wright, Dunn, Atzmon-Simon, Bolens, Chek 5.

The tournament was a disappointment for the highly rated Igor Bjelobrk, who lost to juniors Max Illingworth and Kevin O'Chee.

Kuan-Kuan Tian    --    Slavko Trkulja
Australia Day Weekender    Sydney
1-0     A45f

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 Bb4 4.Bd3 d5 5.e5 Ne4 6.Ne2 c5 7.f3 c4 8.Bxe4 dxe4 9.fxe4 Qh4+ 10.Ng3 Bd7 11.O-O O-O 12.Rf4 Qe7 13.a3 Ba5 14.Qe2 b5 15. Nh5 Bb6 16.Be3 Nc6 17.Qg4 g6 18.Nf6+ Kg7 19.Qh3 Rh8 20.Qh6+!!

( 20.Qh6+ Kxh6 21.Rh4+ Kg7 22.Bh6# )

Rosario, Amiel    --    Rej, Tomek
0-1     D45m

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.g4 dxc4 8. Bxc4 Nd5 9.a3 Nxc3 10.Qxc3 Nf6 11.Bd2 b5 12.Bd3 Bb7 13.e4 a6 14.Qc2 c5 15. dxc5 Bxc5 16.Bc3

16. Qxc5 Qxd3 17. Bb4 Qxe4+ 18. Kf1 Nd5

Tomek had the idea of 23. Rg2 Qxg2+ 24. Kxg2 Rxg5+ 25. Kf1 Ke7 26. Qd2 Rh5 but it seems to me that White is better.

25. Bxe4 Bxe4 26. Ke1! is the move I missed Qh1+ 27. Kd2 Rd8+ 28. Kc1 Rxd1+ 29. Qxd1 Qxh3

Illingworth, Max    --    Bjelobrk, Igor
1-0     A43h

1.d4 e6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 d6 4.Nc3 Ne7 5.e4 exd5 6.cxd5 Ng6 7.Nf3 Be7 8. Bd3 O-O 9.h3 Nd7 10.O-O a6 11.a4 Bf6 12.Nd2 Nf4 13.Nc4 Nxd3 14.Qxd3 Ne5 15.Nxe5 Bxe5 16.f4 Bf6 17.e5!? dxe5 18.f5! b6 19.Be3 Bb7 20.Rad1 Rc8 21. Ne4 Kh8 22.g4 Be7 23.f6! gxf6 24.Rf5! Rg8 25.Ng3 c4 26.Qe4 c3 27.bxc3 Rxc3 28.Rh5 Rg6 29.Nf5 Bf8 30.g5! Qc8 31.Qh4 h6 32.Nxh6 Bxh6 33.Rxh6+ Rxh6 34. Qxh6+ Kg8 35.gxf6 Qf8 36.Qg5+ Kh8 37.Qh5+ Kg8 38.d6! Rc2 39.Qg5+ Kh8 40.d7 !

Nicely played

Simultaneous Blindfold Chess Exhibition: Former New Zealand Champion FM Dr Jonathan Sarfati will play a simultaneous blindfold exhibition at Croydon Chess on Saturday, 11 February 2006 at 4pm. If time permits this will be followed by a regular simul.

Venue: Croydon Christian Church (industrial estate near the corner of 2 / 34 Research Drive Eastfield Road and Dorset Road)
South Croydon Victoria 3136
For further information please see the Croydon Chess website at www.croydonchess.com

Olympiad selections:

37th FIDE Chess Olympiads., Torino, Italy, May 20 - June 4 2006.

The following have been appointed as selectors for this Olympiad:

IM Guy West, FM Tim Reilly, FM Geoff Saw, Ian Rout (these four for both teams), Ingela Eriksson (Women's team), IA Dr Charles Zworestine (Open team).

- Kevin Bonham
ACF Selections Co-ordinator (Senior Events)

Olympiad captaincies

Expressions of interest are now open for the following positions:

* Non-playing Captain, Australian Open Team
* Non-playing Captain, Australian Women's Team

for the 37th Chess Olympiads to be held in Torino, Italy from May 20- June 4th 2006. (Event website: http://www.chessolympiad-torino2006.org/eng/index.php )

Applications will remain open until Wednesday, 22 February to give unsuccessful applicants for playing positions on the two teams some time to apply should they wish to do so.

Applicants may submit any supporting comments they wish to be passed on to either the players or the members of ACF Council. The positions are filled by Council after taking into account the players' stated preferences. Applicants are also free to contact the players and/or the Council regarding their applications as and whenever they wish. For more detail see item 13 of the ACF Selections procedures by-law at http://www.auschess.org.au/constitution/Selection_Procedures_By-law.txt

Expressions of interest can be sent by email to k_bonham@tassie.net.au, or call 0421 428 775 if it is necessary to arrange another method, or if an email application has not been acknowledged within three days.

Summary of dates
22 Dec Applications Open
22 Jan Applications Close
5 Feb Deadline for Corrections / Material to Selectors
19 Feb Deadline for Selectors' Votes - results advised ASAP to all applicants and published in next available newsletter.

- Kevin Bonham
ACF Olympiad Selections Co-Ordinator.

Bids invited for 2007 Australian Open Championships

The Australian Chess Federation (ACF) at its 06 January Council meeting decided to call for fresh bids for the Australian Open Championships, in accordance with the ACF's procedures for allocating ACF tournaments.

These rules are viewable at http://www.auschess.org.au/constitution/Proc_for_Allocatg_ACF_Tourns.txt. Potential bidders are advised to refer to these rules and the general by-law for Australian championship events at http://www.auschess.org.au/constitution/By-laws_for_ACF_Tournaments.txt, which also applies to the events concerned. In addition, there are by-laws that apply to the Australian Open Championships ( http://www.auschess.org.au/constitution/By-laws_for_ACF_Tournaments.txt ref clause 7) comprising: Australian Open Championship, Australian Open Rapid-play Championship, Australian Open Lightning Championship, and incorporating the Australian Women’s Open Championships ( http://www.auschess.org.au/constitution/By-law2.txt)

The deadline for submission of the bids is cob 21 February 2006. Pls send your bid for the Australian Open Championships by email to jeydh4@hotmail.com.

Bids from persons other than State Associations should be made through, and with the consent of, the relevant State Association. Your State Association representative will have a copy of the application form that will need to be used when submitting a bid.

If you have any queries, please contact the ACF President, Denis Jessop on (02) 6288 1935 or mobile 0418 278324

- Jey Hoole
ACF Secretary

Letters

Chess pedagogical training and further education at the FIDE Trainer Course in Berlin:

Dear FIDE chess friends,
Here is a new article from the FIDE Trainer's Academy, that may be interesting for you to read!?

Thanks,
International Master, FIDE Senior Trainer
Jovan Petronic
http://www.jovanpetronic.com

Anand, Topalov win Corus, Wijk Aan Zee: Anand and Topalov were worthy co-winners in one of the strongest events of the year. The junior Karjakin did extraordinarily well, despite losing his last round game, and Adams convincingly returned to form. Kramnik pulled out before the event, complaining of joint pains. There was a big upset in round 6 when Kamsky, who hass just returned to top-flight chess, beat the then-leader Anand. The lead changed hands often in Group B. Carlsen grabbed the sole lead after a very lucky win against Naiditsch, but Motylev beat him to take over in round 11, and then Almasi beat Motylev to grab the lead in round 12 - but Almasi's loss next round left Motylev first on tiebreak from Carlsen. In the C-division, Suat Atalik won easily.

Final standings after 13 rounds: 1. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2792 9.0; 2. Topalov, Veselin g BUL 2801 9.0; 3. Adams, Michael g ENG 2707 7.5; 4. Ivanchuk, Vassily g UKR 2729 7.5; 5. Gelfand, Boris g ISR 2723 7.0; 6. Karjakin, Sergey g UKR 2660 7.0; 7. Tiviakov, Sergei g NED 2669 6.5; 8. Leko, Peter g HUN 2740 6.5; 9. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2752 6.5; 10. Van Wely, Loek g NED 2647 6.0; 11. Bacrot, Etienne g FRA 2717 5.5; 12. Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar g AZE 2709 4.5; 13. Kamsky, Gata g USA 2686 4.5; 14. Sokolov, Ivan g NED 2689 4.0.

Group B: 1. Motylev, Alexander g RUS 2638 9.0; 2. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2625 9.0; 3. Almasi, Zoltan g HUN 2646 8.5; 4. Jobava, Baadur g GEO 2614 8.0; 5. Navara, David g CZE 2660 7.5; 6. Cheparinov, Ivan g BUL 2625 7.0; 7. L'Ami, Erwin m NED 2550 7.0; 8. Naiditsch, Arkadij g GER 2657 7.0; 9. Beliavsky, Alexander G g SLO 2626 6.5; 10. Vescovi, Giovanni g BRA 2633 6.0; 11. Koneru, Humpy g IND 2537 6.0; 12. Smeets, Jan g NED 2550 4.0; 13. Stellwagen, Daniel g NED 2573 3.0; 14. Lahno, Kateryna m UKR 2500 2.5.

Group C: 1. Atalik, Suat g TUR 2618 10.0; 2. Werle, Jan m NED 2514 8.5; 3. Marcelin, Cyril g FRA 2441 8.0; 4. Van der Wiel, John g NED 2505 7.5; 5. Li Shilong g CHN 2543 6.5; 6. Visser, Yge m NED 2485 6.0; 7. Bischoff, Klaus g GER 2560 6.0; 8. Van der Weide, Karel g NED 2466 5.5; 9. Jonkman, Harmen g NED 2470 5.5; 10. Adly, Ahmed g EGY 2473 4.5; 11. Hopman, Pieter NED 2332 4.5; 12. Atalik, Ekaterina wg TUR 2399 4.5; 13. Bensdorp, Marlies wm NED 2230 3.5; 14. Afek, Yochanan m ISR 2370 3.5.

Site : View games A : View games B : View games C

Moscow Open: Players incllude Alexandrov, Belov, Bocharov, Khismatullin, Amonatov etc.
Site

Gibtelecom Masters: Players include Akopian, Short and Bologan. Leading Round 7 Standings: Georgiev 6.0; Akopian, Arizmendi Martinez, Gurevich, Gyimesi, Volkov 5.5.
Site : View games

Nicholas Speck (AUS 2371) is seeded 45th in Gibraltar. Speck has scored well (3.5/5) losing to GM Z.Gyimesi (HUN 2602) in round 1 but defeating GM S.Ganguly (IND 2579) in round 5. - Peter Parr

Gyimesi, Z (2624)    --    Speck, N (2371)
Gibtelecom Masters  (1)   Gibraltar HUN
2006.01.24     1-0     E94

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Nbd7 8. Be3 Qe7 9.Qc2 c6 10.Rad1 h6 11.d5 c5 12.Ne1 Nh7 13.g3 f5 14.Ng2 Ng5 15. exf5 gxf5 16.f4 exf4 17.Bxf4 Ne5 18.Kh1 Bd7 19.Nh4 Qf6 20.Bxe5!? dxe5 21. Bg4!?

Otherwise black loses a pawn and his position is wrecked

( 26...Bc6?! 27.Qxg4 )

( 30.Rxd7?? Rf1+ 31.Kg2 R7f2# )

Speck, N (2371)    --    Helin, M (1970)
Gibtelecom Masters  (2)   Gibraltar HUN
2006.01.25     1-0     B46

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 a6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.Bd3 Qc7 8.O-O Nf6 9.Qf3 Bd6 10.Qh3 h5 11.f4 Ng4 12.e5 Bc5+ 13.Kh1 d5 14.exd6 Bxd6 15.Ne4 Be7 16.Bd2 Bb7 17.f5 O-O-O 18.fxe6 f6 19.b4 Rd5 20.Bf4 Qb6 21.c4 Rd4 22.c5 Qxb4 23.Rab1 Rxe4 24.Rxb4 Rxb4 25.Bd6 Bxd6 26.cxd6 Rd4 27.Qg3 Kb8 28.d7+ Ka8 29.Bxa6 Bxa6 30.Qa3 Kb7 31.Qb2+ Kc7 32.Qxd4 Bxf1 33.e7 1-0

Morchiashvili, B (2370)    --    Jobava, Be (2401)
65th ch-GEO  (2)   Tbilisi GEO
2006.01.23     0-1     E94

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 O-O 6.Be2 e5 7.O-O Na6 8.d5 Nc5 9.Qc2 a5 10.Bg5 h6 11.Be3 Nfd7 12.Nd2 f5 13.exf5 gxf5 14.f4 e4 15.Kh1 Nf6 16.Nb3 b6 17.Rad1 h5 18.Bd4 a4 19.Nc1 Ng4 20.Bxg4 hxg4 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 22.b4 axb3 23.axb3 Rh8 24.g3 Qf6 25.b4

( 37...gxh2+ 38.Rxh2 Rg6+ )

Games

Some highlights from Corus:

Kamsky, G (2686)    --    Van Wely, L (2647)
Corus A  (11)   Wijk aan Zee NED
2006.01.27     1-0     B85

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 a6 7.O-O Be7 8. a4 Nc6 9.Be3 O-O 10.f4 Qc7 11.Kh1 Re8 12.Qe1 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 e5 14.Be3 exf4 15.Bxf4 Be6 16.a5 Nd7 17.Qg3 Ne5 18.Be3 Bf8 19.Bb6 Qc6 20.Bd3 g6 21.Ne2 Bg7 22.Nd4 Qd7 23.Rad1 Rac8 24.b3 Bg4 25.Rd2 Nxd3 26.Qxd3 d5 27.h3 dxe4 28.Qe3 Be6 29.c4 h5

( 49...Kg8 50.Qb8+ mates )

Ivanchuk, V (2729)    --    Topalov, V (2801)
Corus A  (11)   Wijk aan Zee NED
2006.01.27     1/2-1/2     E20

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 5.g3 O-O 6.Bg2 cxd4 7.Nxd4 d5 8. Qb3 Bxc3+ 9.Qxc3 e5 10.Nb3 Nc6 11.Bg5 d4 12.Qf3 Be6 13.Rc1 Rc8 14.O-O b6 15.Nd2 h6 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Qxf6 gxf6 18.Ne4 f5 19.Nd6 Rc7 20.Nb5 Rcc8 21. Nd6 Rc7 22.Nb5 Rcc8 23.b3

Threatening Bxc6 and Nxa7

( 26...bxc5 27.Nb7 )

27.f4 Nb4 28.Nb7!? Rb8 29.c6 Nxa2 30.Bf3 Nxc1 31.Rxc1 Bxb3 32.c7 Rbe8 33. Nd6 Be6 34.Bb7 Bc8

35.Nxc8 Rxc8 36.Bxa6!

Although white is an exchange and pawns down, black is tied up and white gets the material back

Ivanchuk, V (2729)    --    Karjakin, Sergey (2660)
Corus A  (13)   Wijk aan Zee NED
2006.01.29     1-0     A28

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e3 Bb4 5.Qc2 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 Qe7 7.a3 d5 8.d4 exd4 9.Nxd4 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 c5 11.Qh4 Be6 12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Qxe7+ Nxe7 14. Bb5+ Bd7 15.Be2! f6 16.e4 Kf7 17.Be3 Rhc8 18.f3 Be6 19.Rc1 b6 20.Ba6! Rd8 21.b4! cxb4 22.axb4 Bc8 23.Be2 Be6 24.Kf2 Rac8 25.Ra1 Nc6 26.Ba6 Rb8 27. Bb5 Nxb4 28.Rxa7+ Kg8 29.Re7 Bf7 30.Ra1 Ra8 31.Rd7 Rdc8

( 31...Be8 32.Rxd8 Rxd8 33.Bxb6 Rb8 34.Bc4+ )

( 40.Bxe5 g5+ )

Aronian, L (2752)    --    Sokolov, Iv (2689)
Corus A  (13)   Wijk aan Zee NED
2006.01.29     1-0     D17

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Qc7 8.g3 e5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Bf4 Nfd7 11.Bg2 f6 12.O-O Nc5 13.Ne3 Bg6 14.b4 Ne6 15.Qb3 Bf7 16.Qb1 Nxf4 17.gxf4 Ng6 18.b5 Qxf4 19.Rd1 Bd6 20.Rxd6!? Qxd6 21.bxc6 O-O

( 21...bxc6 22.Nf5 )

( 28...Qxa4 29.Nbd6 is crushing )

29.Qxb8!! Rxb8 30.Rc8+ Qd8

( 30...Be8 31.Rxb8 Kf8 32.Nfd6 )

( 35.Nec6 Bxd5 36.Nxd8 Nd7 37.Ndc6! )

Anand, V (2792)    --    Gelfand, B (2723)
Corus A  (13)   Wijk aan Zee NED
2006.01.29     1-0     B90

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 e5 7.Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 Nbd7 9.Qd2 b5 10.O-O-O Nb6 11.Qf2 Nc4 12.Bxc4 bxc4 13.Na5! Qd7

( 13...Qxa5 14.Bb6 Qb4 15.a3 traps the queen )

14.Rd2 Be7 15.Rhd1 Rb8 16.Bc5 Qc7

17.Rxd6!! Qxa5

( 17...Bxd6 18.Bxd6 Qxa5 19.Bxb8 leaves white on top )

( The beautiful point is that 19...Kxe7 loses to 20.Qa7+ )

And now black is trapped in the centre, while white has only made the minimal sacrifice of a rook for minor + pawn

Motylev, A (2638)    --    Carlsen, M (2625)
Corus B  (11)   Wijk aan Zee NED
2006.01.27     1-0     B90

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 Nbd7 7.g4 g6 8. Be3 Bg7 9.h4 h5 10.g5 Nh7 11.Qd2 b5 12.f4 Bb7 13.f5 Ne5 14.O-O-O O-O 15. Nd5!? Bc8?! 16.Nf4! Bb7?! 17.fxg6 fxg6 18.Nde6 Qc8 19.Nxf8 Nxf8 20.Nd5 Qd8 21.Bb6 Qd7 22.Qg2 Rc8 23.Bd4 Qd8 24.Kb1 Ne6 25.Bxe5 Bxe5 26.Qf2 Bxd5 27. exd5 Nc5 28.Bh3 Rc7 29.Rhf1 Bg7 30.Be6+ Kh7 31.Bf7 Qd7 32.Bxg6+!! Kxg6 33. Qf7+ Kh7 34.Qxh5+

( 34.Qxh5+ Kg8 35.g6 )

L'Ami, E (2550)    --    Naiditsch, A (2657)
Corus B  (11)   Wijk aan Zee NED
2006.01.27     0-1     E20

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 c5 5.g3 cxd4 6.Nxd4 O-O 7.Bg2 d5 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9.Qb3 Qb6 10.Bxd5 exd5 11.Be3 Bh3 12.g4 Na6 13.Nf5 Qa5 14.Bd4 Nc5 15.Qxd5 Rfd8 16.Qf3

( 17.Nxd4 Bg2!! 18.Qxg2 Bxc3+ 19.bxc3 Qxc3+ -+ )

Amazingly, material is even!

and now black will round up h4 and then the other pawns

Vescovi, G (2633)    --    L'Ami, E (2550)
Corus B  (12)   Wijk aan Zee NED
2006.01.28     0-1     C92

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8. c3 O-O 9.h3 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Ng5 Rf8 12.Nf3 Re8 13.Nbd2 Bf8 14.a4 h6 15. Bc2 exd4 16.cxd4 Nb4 17.Bb1 c5 18.d5 Nd7 19.Ra3 c4 20.axb5 axb5 21.Nd4 Qb6 22.Nf5 Ne5 23.Rg3 g6 24.Nf1 Nbd3 25.Be3 Qd8 26.f4 Nxb2 27.Qd2 Ned3 28.Bd4 Qa5 29.Bc3 Qb6+ 30.Kh2 Na4 31.Bxd3 cxd3 32.N1e3 Nxc3 33.Qxc3 h5 34.Qxd3 Ra4 35.Qd1 Kh7 36.Rg5 Raxe4 37.Rxh5+ Kg8 38.Ng4!!

Threatening Nf6 mate

( 40...Rxd1 41.Nef6+ Kf8 42.Rh8+ Ke7 43.Re8# )

( 49.Qh6+ Kg8 50.Qg5+ Kf8 51.Qd8+ Re8 52.Qd6+ Re7 53.Qd8+ should draw )

( 51.Qh2 Bxd5 )

No stopping Re5+

Naiditsch, A (2657)    --    Smeets, J (2550)
Corus B  (12)   Wijk aan Zee NED
2006.01.28     1-0     B97

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8. Nb3 Nbd7 9.Qf3 Be7 10.O-O-O Qc7 11.Qh3 h6 12.f5 Ne5 13.Nd4 Nfg4 14.Bf4 Nf2 15.Qg3 Neg4 16.fxe6 fxe6 17.Be2 O-O 18.Bxg4 Nxg4 19.Bxd6 Bxd6 20.Qxg4 Bxh2 21.Kb1 Be5

( 35.Rh6 R7f6 36.e5 )

Cheparinov, I (2625)    --    Almasi, Z (2646)
Corus B  (13)   Wijk aan Zee NED
2006.01.29     1-0     C88

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8. h3 Bb7 9.d3 d6 10.a3 Qd7 11.Nbd2 Rae8 12.a4 Na5 13.Ba2 b4 14.c3 bxc3 15. bxc3 c5 16.Nc4 Nxc4 17.Bxc4 h6 18.a5 Bd8 19.Be3 Kh7 20.Qb3 Bc8 21.Nd2 Qb7 22.Reb1 Re7 23.Qc2 Qa8 24.d4 cxd4 25.cxd4 Rb7 26.Rxb7 Qxb7 27.Bd3 exd4 28. Bxd4 Kg8 29.Nc4 Qc6 30.Nb6 Qxc2 31.Bxc2 Bb7 32.f3 Re8 33.Rb1 Re7 34.Nc4 Rc7 35.Bb3 Be7 36.Ne3 Bc8 37.Bc4 Nd7 38.Rc1 Bd8 39.Nd5 Rc6

( 40.Ne7+ Bxe7 41.Bxf7+ Kxf7 42.Rxc6 Bb7 43.Rc7 Nc5 44. Bxc5 dxc5 45.Rxb7 a beautiful combination )

Motylev, A (2638)    --    Koneru, H (2537)
Corus B  (13)   Wijk aan Zee NED
2006.01.29     1-0     C42

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.d4 Be7 7.Bg5 O-O 8.Qd2 c6 9.Bd3 Na6 10.a3 Nc7 11.O-O-O Bg4 12.h3 Bxf3 13.gxf3 Ne6 14.h4 Nh5 15.Rdg1 d5??

and wins a piece!

Grand Prix tournaments:

Full details at the 2006 Grand Prix site

Launceston Aussie Weekender; Tasmania; Jan 28-29; Cat 1 ACF GP; Launceston Chess Club; Adult Education Centre, 8 High Street Launceston; 7 round Swiss; 60 min per player. Entry fee $50/$45/$35. Special rate Under 12: $20. Entries close Wednesday 25th January 2006. Late entries close Saturday at 10:15am sharp and will attract $5.00 Surcharge. 1st Place: 40%, 2nd Place 20%, Third Place:10%. Rating: U1700, U1500--$75.00 (minimum) (Subject to minimum of three entries per division.) Junior (U18) 10%. Player are eligible only one prize. Encouragement Trophy: For best U12 Years old. (Trophy donated by the Launceston Chess Club.) Prize pool amount equals: entry fees less venue hire, running costs, ACF and TCA levies. For further information, please contact: Leo Minol 6344 7472 E-mail: leominol@hotkey.net.au

Australia Day Weekender; Jan 28-29; Category 2 Grand Prix; Norths, 12 Abbott St, Cammeray, Sydney. Seven rounds. Details Trent Parker 0419 469 764. http://www.nswca.org.au/

Toukley Open: Class 1 GP; Toukley RSL Club, Holmes Avenue, Toukley; Feb 11-12; Registration 9.30am Sat; Estimated prizes: Open $300/$200/$150; $150/$100 in three ratings divisions; Under 16 $50, Under 14 $50, Under 12 $50; Unrated $50. Entry fees: $45/$30. Cash only. Contact Gary Losh (02) 4390 8176 (most evenings, not Mondays). http://www.whiteknights.centralcoastchess.com/UpcomingEvent.htm http://www.nswca.org.au/06ToukleyAd.htm

Other events:

Newcastle Open: Cardiff Panthers Club; 7 rounds; 4th and 5th February. Directed by George Lithgow.

Gold Coast Tin Cup 2006 for players rated under 1750. Organised by Outreach Chess/Gold Coast Chess Club. February 18-19 at Somerset Sports Pavilion (300 metres West of Somerset College), Somerset Dr, Mudgeeraba. Organiser: Peter Bender 07 5556 0434. Entry forms available from email: outreachchess@bigpond.com

Croydon Chess - 2006 Maroondah Festival Chess Championship (19/2/2006 at 1PM)
This year's Maroondah Festival Chess Championship is coming up on Sunday, 19th February 2006. 1pm start, 15 mins/game, 5 round Allegro. We'll be out in the open air, so start praying NOW for good weather! We had a blast last year and everyone really enjoyed the event, so come and join us. Intent is to have 10 junior boards and 10 adult boards (i.e. 20 juniors and 20 adults). We may vary that depending on entries on the day. Oh, by the way, did I mention that entry is free, so no excuse not to play! Further details on the club's website at www.croydonchess.com

Hakoah Club events, 61 Hall Street Bondi, NSW
January 30th - Lightning Tournament. Entry fee - $10.00 5 min. each on the clock. Starts 7.30 pm
February 6th - Henry Greenfield Cup - 2006 starts. This 9 round Swiss event will be held on consecutive Monday evenings. Starts 7.30 p.m. Enquiries: To Vladimir Feldman 0414798503 or visit Hakoah Chess Club web page: http://hakoahchessclub.freeservers.com

International events:

The International Chess Festival "M. Sadoveanu" 20th Edition, Jassy 20 - 26.08.2005; home.dntis.ro ; Manole Vasile: phone nr. 0040740/277850 ; Fax: 0040232/204454. e-mail: iasitel@yahoo.com . Ungureanu Vlad: phone nr. 0040741/665384 e-mail: iasitel@yahoo.com

Penang International Open: Website

Czech Tour - International Chess Festivals Series - http://www.czechtour.net

6th Bangkok Chess Club Open: April 11-16; Century Park Hotel; www.bangkokchess.com; Email: Kai Tuorila

Singapore Masters: For more details, click here.

4th Parsvnath International Open: New Delhi, 14-23 January 2006; Enter by 1 January. Email: delhichess64@yahoo.com, Web site: www.delhichess.com

Correspondence chess players over the board: July 1-9; Karviná, Silesian University, Czech Republic; Preliminary applications to: Ing. Petr BUCHNÍCEK, Svážná 22, CZ-634 00 Brno, Czech Republic. Phone: 605 578 666. Email: buchnicek@skscr.cz

Best wishes till next time
- Paul Broekhuyse
broekhuysep@bigpond.com
19 Gill Avenue, Avoca Beach, NSW 2251
02 4382 4525
0408 824525

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