1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c5 4. e3 I don't like blocking my bishop but I need a pawn on d4. 4... Nf6 5. Nf3 Nc6 I always see this move as weakening h7. As white, my glass is now half-full. 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 I've tried in other games to avoid this loss of tempo, but with 3. ...c5 there's a solid chance my e-file will open. Hence the only show in town. 7... Be7 8. O-O cxd4 Result. This frees my bishop AND rook. 9. exd4 O-O 10. Re1 a6 Now I waste about half an hour looking at sacrifices on e6. It's the sort of thing you might do when lacking confidence about being able to beat an opponent by `normal' means. I don't bite however. 11. Bg5 b5 12. Bb3 Not sure if this is right, but I don't now have time to be pedantic. I need to push d5 to discard the isolated pawn,and the bishop is now the correct side of my queen if I want to line up against h7. That shouldn't work of course. 12... Bb7 13. Bxf6 I would rather wait to be pushed into this, but I can't find anything else that takes my fancy. I haven't really got a developmental advantage to be sacrificing a pawn - just a rook on the e-file. I am consistent at least; the capture allows the d5 push I wanted, and it leaves h7 temporarily naked. 13... Bxf6 14. d5 exd5 The usual guesswork. But Bxc3 is surely better for black, replacing my isolated pawn with two others. If he really wants to keep that bishop, he'll now have to waste two moves rearranging it. 15. Nxd5 Bxb2 I was pleased with this confirmation that he had no better ideas. Scared too though. A pawn down, I had to win now, or I'd... er... lose. 16. Rb1 Bf6 17. Qd3 Qd6 It's a bit awkward for him, and I get back some time here. I would expect Na5, and having to kiss my mega-knight goodbye. My plan is simple, but I don't expect it to work against g6 or Na5. Qd6 however gives me the time to inhibit g6 for the duration. 18. Qf5 Ne7? Black needs to stay calm but rushes into this. Nb4 seems to survive. I had looked at Ne7 assuming I would win, so pause here if a problemist. 19. Nxf6+ gxf6 20. Rxe7! This seemed to surprise my opponent. I should explain that he was 30 points my senior. He recaptured as if unconvinced by the position. 20... Qxe7 21. Bc2 He didn't resign straight away either. This was the first time I'd beaten a 150 player and it seemed to have been too easy.What I couldn't factor in at the time was the carelessness a stronger player can show when they see a number on a bit of paper. Now I'm a stronger lad myself, I can sympathise just a little. 1-0