1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. f4 Nc6 10. Be3 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 12. e5 dxe5 13. fxe5 Nd7 14. Ne4! Definitely the best move. Rustic attacks on the Black kingside will not work here as White's minor pieces are poorly placed and the e5 pawn is very weak. One very old game of minewent 14. Qh5? Nc5 15. Rad1 Nxb3 16. axb3 Bb7 17. Rd3 b4 18. Bf2 Qc7 and White was already losing, D. Finnie - N.Noden, Scottish Open 1991. 14... Bb7 15. Nd6 Bxd6 16. exd6 Qg5 17. Qe2 My teammates reckoned I was already in trouble here (see match report) but in fact this is still theory. This line is certainly double-edged, and Black has to keep a close eye on the d6 pawn, but I was perfectly happy with my position. 17... e5 18. Bc3! This was the first new move of the game, and a good one. Another ancient game of mine had gone 18. Be3?! Qg6 19. Rad1 Kh8 20. Bc1 f5 21. Bd5 Bxd5 22. Rxd5 f4 23. Qd3 e4 24. Qh3 e3 25. Kh1 and now 25... Qxc2 would have been winning, G. Del Rio - N.Noden, World U-18 1993. 18... Qg6 19. Rad1 Kh8 20. Rf2 f5 21. Bd5 Bxd5 22. Rxd5 Rae8 23. a4 Qe6 24. Qd3 bxa4 25. Ra5 f4 26. Qxa6 Qg4? Missing White's next, which brings the queen back into the fray with gain of time. Pushing the pawns runs into 26... e4 27. Rg5! Rf7 28. Rxf4 but 26... Rc8 looks promising, with the idea of Nc5-e4. 27. Qe2! Qe6 28. Qd3 e4 29. Qd4 Qg6 30. Ra7 e3 31. Rxf4? Perhaps White should try 31. Qxg7+ Qxg7 32. Bxg7+ Kxg7 33. Rxd7+ Kg6 34. Re2 Re6 although it's not clear whether his extra pawn will be enough to win. Round about this point the game degenerated into a complete mess, with both sides suffering from weak back ranks, loose pieces and chronic time trouble - all subsequent annotations should be accompanied by the caveat that even after analysing the game I still don't have much idea what's going on. 31... Rxf4? 31... e2 32. Rxf8+ Rxf8 33. g3 Qf7 appears to be winning. Of course appearances can be deceptive. 32. Qxf4 Qxc2 33. Rxd7? 33. Qxe3 Qd1+ 34. Be1 Qxe1+ 35. Qxe1 Rxe1+ 36. Kf2 wins. I think. 33... Qd1+ 34. Qf1 e2 35. Qe1 Rf8! 36. h3 h6 37. Rxg7? This definitely loses. Understandably, the remaining 30 seconds at White's disposal were not sufficient to spotthat 37. Kh2! Rf1 38. Rxg7!! draws. Probably 37... Qxe1+ 38. Bxe1 Kxg7 39. d7 Rd8 40. Kf2 Rxd7 With the t ime control safely reached, I took a moment to work out how I could win this. In fact it turns out to be surprisingly simple - the rook goes to b3 to pressure the b-pawn and control the third rank, then the king advances to deal with the kingside pawns. White cannot meet this plan with Bc3 at any point because then simply ...Rxc3 lets the a-pawn through. The rest is simply a matter of technique... 41. Kxe2 Kg6 42. g4 Rb7 43. Bc3 Kg5 44. Kf2 Rb3 45. Bd2+ Kg6 46. h4 Rxb2 47. Ke1 a3 48. h5+ Kh7 49. g5 Rxd2 50. g6+ Kg7 51. Kxd2 a2 0-1