Home - Tony Palmer

12/10/2011

Spring Lake's Joshua Vander Meulen (left) digs in against Holland's Joshua Posthuma.
Photo Courtesy of David Posthuma

Spring Lake hosted a fun and friendly practice match against Holland on Saturday December 10 at Jeffers Elementary. Everybody had a great time and showed good sportsmanship. The Spring Lake team was Joshua Vander Meulen, Barrett Hoag, Ryan Ross, Kyle Coon and Ben Kitchel. The Holland players were Joshua Posthuma, Kaleb Packard, Raina Ravial, Trisha Pal and Dhiraj Akkala. Holland scored well on the top two boards while Spring Lake dominated the lower three boards. Thanks to Kathy Vander Meulen and Andy Catlin from Spring Lake for arranging the match and providing snacks for the players. All participants received a copy of the latest Lake Effect Chess Newsletter to read and study.

Here are some puzzles from the match:

1) White to Play

Diagram 1

2) Black to Play

Diagram 2

3) White to Play

Diagram 3

4) Black to Play

Diagram 4

5) White to Play

Diagram 5

SOLUTIONS:

1) 1. Bg5

2) 1 ... Qf2#

3) 1. Bxc6 dxc6 2. Rxe5

4) 1 ... Qb6+ & 2 ... Qxb5

5) 1. Bxf7+! Rxf7 2. Nxf7 Kxf7 3. e5

Posted at 11:30 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

11/14/2011

West Michigan's Top Juniors

RANK	USCF ID	NAME	RATING	PREVIOUS	ACTIVITY
1	13405236	Michael Chen	2083	1	Oct 11
2	13405242	Peter Chen	1947	2	Oct 11
3	12834950	Will Brooks	1825	2	Apr 11
4	12842583	Bethel McGrew	1794	4	Aug 11
5	12871543	Isaac Zylstra	1697	5	Oct 11
6	13465634	Anirudh Ghantasala	1590	7	Sep 11
7	13377446	Clara McGrew	1578	6	Nov 11
8	13856778	Joshua Posthuma	1484	9	Oct 11
9	14073628	Michael Pappas	1342	10	Mar 11
10	12930274	Subhodh Kotekal	1257	11	Sep 11
11	12859682	Nishant Jain	1217	12	Feb 11
12	13686238	David Meyer	1189	14	Sep 11
13	14670824	Andrew Schremser	1176	X	Oct 11
14	12928115	Mayank Patke	1104	16	Feb 11
15	13711364	Jack Emaus	1081	13	Aug 11
16	13745477	Matthew Zhao	1072	17	Jun 10
17	12884385	Bennario Chapman	1071	15	Aug 11
18	14578247	Joel Buhrer	1065	18	Mar 11
19	12936787	Nicholas Bos	1024	20	Nov 10
20	14425288	Seth Strout	1011	21	Jul 11
21	13834056	Veronica Gawarecki	1007	22	Jul 11
22	14073441	Haotian Jiang	1004	23	Sep 10
23	13924110	Nicholas Zepf	976	24	Jun 11
24	13923378	Malachi Keener	974	29	Oct 11
25	13432634	Ivan Keener	959	27	Jun 11
26	13040277	Thierry Laurens	957	28	Apr 11
27	14212621	Leah Ziegler	943	26	Oct 11
28	13670802	Saano Murembya	914	30	Sep 11
29	13144916	Oliver Vandenberg	911	33	Mar 11
30	13124646	Jeffrey Xiao	896	34	Mar 11
31	13858582	Josh VanderMeulen	862	43	Oct 11
32	13671716	Mario Arnson	847	36	Dec 10
33	13670838	Tuan Hoang	845	37	Jun 11
34	14472852	Benjamin Beach	836	40	Sep 11
35	13342208	Haiden Kerrington	830	38	Mar 11
36	13798094	Mac Vanrenterghem	821	40	Mar 11
37	13380194	Anjan Kotekal	808	58	Sep 11
38	13854311	Connor Linn	777	49	Oct 11
39	14146427	Josh Virk	764	46	Mar 11
40	13370966	Zachary Lewis	761	47	Mar 11
41	13310903	Kartikeya Kandula	759	48	Mar 11
42	14692007	Karthik Vuyyuru	729	X	Oct 11
43	14224452	Noah Spungen	727	50	Feb 11
44	14146344	Daniel Gorelik	698	53	Jun 11
44	13855418	Ishan Patke	698	53	Mar 11
46	14598900	Dakshesh Daruri	685	X	Oct 11
47	13934693	Aditya Kandula	653	60	Mar 11
48	14580060	Chirag Rudrangi	594	52	Oct 11
49	13539112	Freddie Noe	593	62	Aug 10
50	13565867	Nathan Peterson	582	63	Jun 11
51	14578232	Paul Buhrer	580	64	Mar 11
52	14087408	Will Gadbois	570	65	Mar 11
53	14685786	Malachi Jobin	567	X	Nov 11
54	13924104	Jason Knox	529	68	Mar 11
55	13858561	Mrinnal Muralidhar	526	69	Mar 11
56	14368768	Advaith Vuppula	506	71	Mar 11
57	14735843	Preston Johnson	462	X	Oct 11
58	14637601	Trenton Hildenbrand	432	73	Mar 11
59	14146626	Zal Chinoy	426	74	Feb 11
60	14578253	Patrick Brott	424	75	Mar 11
60	14150068	Ben Hylen	424	75	Feb 11
62	14150074	Andrew Hylen	400	77	Feb 11
63	14340141	Cam Grogan	396	78	Mar 11
64	14652483	Eunjin Han	370	X	Sep 11
65	14267333	Victor Hao	348	79	Apr 11

Posted at 10:00 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

11/3/2011

Top 40 Active West Michigan Players

RANK	USCF ID	NAME	RATING	PREVIOUS	ACTIVITY
1	12838750	Seth Homa	2354	1	Oct 11
2	10275831	Eric Fischvogt	2208	3	Oct 11
3	10302307	Kevin Czuhai	2200	2	Oct 11
3	10299128	Kevin Noren	2200	3	Jul 11
5	12541033	Tim McGrew	2174	7	Aug 11
6	12630415	Eugene Brumley	2166	5	Oct 11
7	10286891	Jim Marfia	2157	6	Oct 11
8	12796057	Alisher Sanetullaev	2150	8	Jun 11
9	13229944	Ratko Bojanovic	2129	10	Oct 11
10	12753902	Tony Nichols	2107	11	Oct 11
11	12402046	Tony Palmer	2103	9	Sep 11
12	13405236	Michael Chen	2083	12	Oct 11
13	12442662	Andy Catlin	2039	13	Oct 11
14	10372852	John Drexel	2003	15	Jun 11
15	12897660	Benjamin Brandt	1970	17	Oct 11
16	13405242	Peter Chen	1947	16	Oct 11
16	12928026	Ian Edgerle	1947	18	Jun 11
18	12900488	Allen Wickering	1944	29	Oct 11
19	10302994	Greg Bailey	1938	22	Oct 11
20	12483610	Duane Croel	1907	24	Sep 11
21	12708030	Jacob Fortuna	1903	21	Jun 11
22	12230660	Stan Jarosz	1901	19	Sep 11
23	12862296	Ashley Carter	1893	25	Jan 11
23	13837207	Joel Halloran	1893	25	Jul 11
25	10299446	Gary Kitts	1890	20	Oct 11
26	10280559	William Eckert	1889	27	Mar 11
26	12907426	Dan Hronchek	1889	27	May 11
28	12405964	James Abbott	1859	23	Oct 11
29	11453431	Ray Garrison	1857	30	Aug 11
30	12706517	Adam Masek	1852	31	Mar 11
31	12834950	Will Brooks	1825	32	Apr 11
32	12842583	Bethel McGrew	1794	33	Aug 11
33	13776533	William Green	1757	35	Dec 10
34	20032704	Joe Meyer	1748	36	May 11
35	12745409	Kevin Jackson	1742	39	Oct 11
36	10300240	Stan Beckwith	1702	37	Sep 11
37	12751188	Michael Brooks	1698	40	Jan 11
38	12871543	Isaac Zylstra	1697	38	Oct 11
39	12654071	Chris Irwin	1688	X	Jul 11
40	12557862	Glen Schmiege	1675	X	May 11

Posted at 10:00 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

10/29/2011

Scholastic Chess Training 102 - Session 1

RULES

1) Light square right corner

2) White 1/Black 8

3) Can't Castle

a) Out of check

b) Through check

c) King or Rook have moved

4) En Passant

OPENINGS

1) Seven principles

a) Control the center

b) Pawn in the center

c) Knights Before Bishops

d) Avoid extra Pawn moves

e) Don't move the same piece twice

f) Don't develop the Queen early

g) Castle early - King safety

2) 1. e4 e5 openings

a) Vienna 2. Nc3

b) Bishop's 2. Bc4

c) Four Knights 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6

d) Scotch 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4

e) Petrov 2. Nf3 Nf6

3) Opening miniatures

a) Fool's Mate

b) Scholar's Mate

TACTICS

1) Fork = Double Attack

2) Discovered Check

3) Exchange = R for N, R for B

STRATEGY

1) Points - P 1, N 3, B 3, R 5, Q 9

2) Minor pieces = BN, major pieces = RQ

3) Weak squares

a) f2/f7 before 0-0

b) h2/h7 after 0-0

4) Knights on the rim are grim

Posted at 5:00 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

8/3/2011

West Michigan's Top Juniors

RANK	USCF ID	NAME	RATING	PREVIOUS	ACTIVITY
1	13405236	Michael Chen	2079	1	Jul 11
2	13405242	Peter Chen	1984	2	Jun 11
3	12834950	Will Brooks	1825	3	Apr 11
4	12842583	Bethel McGrew	1791	4	May 11
5	12871543	Isaac Zylstra	1713	5	Jul 11
6	13377446	Clara McGrew	1556	8	Jul 11
7	13465634	Anirudh Ghantasala	1535	6	Jul 11
8	12863652	Benjamin Ploehn	1429	7	Jan 10
9	13856778	Joshua Posthuma	1385	9	Jul 11
10	14073628	Michael Pappas	1342	10	Mar 11
11	12930274	Subhodh Kotekal	1218	12	Jun 11
12	12859682	Nishant Jain	1217	11	Feb 11
13	13711364	Jack Emaus	1134	13	Apr 11
14	13686238	David Meyer	1126	17	Jul 11
15	12884385	Bennario Chapman	1114	18	Jun 11
16	12928115	Mayank Patke	1104	14	Feb 11
17	13745477	Matthew Zhao	1072	15	Jun 10
18	14578247	Joel Buhrer	1065	16	Mar 11
19	13144723	Nathan Berman	1043	19	Mar 10
20	12936787	Nicholas Bos	1024	20	Nov 10
21	14425288	Seth Strout	1011	57	Jul 11
22	13834056	Veronica Gawarecki	1007	25	Jul 11
23	14073441	Haotian Jiang	1004	22	Sep 10
24	13924110	Nicholas Zepf	976	42	Jun 11
25	12829484	Alex Baker	974	23	Feb 10
26	14212621	Leah Ziegler	968	32	Jul 11
27	13432634	Ivan Keener	959	34	Jun 11
28	13040277	Thierry Laurens	957	24	Apr 11
29	13923378	Malachi Keener	947	33	Jun 11
30	13670802	Saano Murembya	941	21	Jun 11
31	13144985	Jack Yang	927	26	Feb 10
32	13370595	Connor Goulet	920	27	Mar 10
33	13144916	Oliver Vandenberg	911	28	Mar 11
34	13124646	Jeffrey Xiao	896	29	Mar 11
35	12936780	Raphael Wieland	887	31	Mar 10
36	13671716	Mario Arnson	847	30	Dec 10
37	13670838	Tuan Hoang	845	36	Jun 11
38	13342208	Haiden Kerrington	830	37	Mar 11
39	14212642	Reuben Niewenhuis	828	38	Apr 10
40	14472852	Benjamin Beach	821	35	Jul 11
40	13798094	Mac Vanrenterghem	821	39	Mar 11
42	13124536	Paul Han	811	40	Feb 10
43	13858582	Josh Vander Meulen	788	59	Jul 11
44	14150843	Ben Oudsema	785	42	Feb 10
45	12903126	Benji Liu	771	43	Feb 10
46	14146427	Josh Virk	764	44	Mar 11
47	13370966	Zachary Lewis	761	45	Mar 11
48	13310903	Kartikeya Kandula	759	46	Mar 11
49	13854311	Connor Linn	758	41	Jul 11
50	14224452	Noah Spungen	727	47	Feb 11
51	14150837	Justin James	712	48	Mar 10
52	14580060	Chirag Rudrangi	707	71	Jul 11
53	14146344	Daniel Gorelik	698	49	Jun 11
53	13855418	Ishan Patke	698	50	Mar 11
55	12984852	Sean Anderson	684	51	Apr 10
56	13670850	Jeremy Horn	678	52	Feb 10
57	14230915	Prince Dhanoa	665	53	Apr 10
58	13380194	Anjan Kotekal	659	54	Oct 10
59	14035001	Charlotte Deimel	654	55	Jun 10
60	13934693	Aditya Kandula	653	56	Mar 11
61	13934651	Aiden Matzmaker	648	58	Feb 10
62	13539112	Freddie Noe	593	60	Aug 10
63	13565867	Nathan Peterson	582	62	Jun 11
64	14578232	Paul Buhrer	580	61	Mar 11
65	14087408	Will Gadbois	570	63	Mar 11
66	13310972	Coulton Theuer	556	64	Feb 10
67	13121887	Sreeman Kota	543	65	Jan 10
68	13924104	Jason Knox	529	66	Mar 11
69	13858561	Mrinnal Muralidhar	526	67	Mar 11
70	14150341	Devin Dine	517	68	Feb 10
71	14368768	Advaith Vuppula	506	69	Mar 11
72	14146433	James Gorman	504	70	Feb 10
73	14637601	Trenton Hildenbrand	432	72	Mar 11
74	14146626	Zal Chinoy	427	73	Feb 11
75	14578253	Patrick Brott	424	74	Mar 11
75	14150068	Ben Hylen	424	74	Feb 11
77	14150074	Andrew Hylen	400	76	Feb 11
78	14340141	Cam Grogan	396	77	Mar 11
79	14267333	Victor Hao	348	78	Apr 11
80	14368417	Ryan Ross	344	80	Feb 11

Posted at 9:00 PM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

7/31/2011

Top 40 Active West Michigan Players

RANK	USCF ID	NAME	RATING	PREVIOUS	ACTIVITY
1	12838750	Seth Homa	2321	1	Jul-11
2	10302307	Kevin Czuhai	2204	2	Jul-11
3	10275831	Eric Fischvogt	2200	2	Jun-11
3	10299128	Kevin Noren	2200	X	Jul-11
5	12630415	Eugene Brumley	2184	6	Jul-11
6	10286891	Jim Marfia	2177	X	May-11
7	12541033	Tim McGrew	2163	4	May-11
8	12796057	Alisher Sanetullaev	2150	5	Jun-11
9	12402046	Tony Palmer	2126	7	Sep-10
10	13229944	Ratko Bojanovic	2093	10	Jul-11
11	12753902	Tony Nichols	2084	8	Jul-11
12	13405236	Michael Chen	2079	9	Jul-11
13	12442662	Andy Catlin	2073	13	Jul-11
14	12392910	William Fuller	2033	11	Dec-10
15	10372852	John Drexel	2003	12	Jun-11
16	13405242	Peter Chen	1984	16	Jun-11
17	12897660	Benjamin Brandt	1961	X	May-11
18	12928026	Ian Edgerle	1947	20	Jun-11
19	12230660	Stan Jarosz	1933	15	Jul-11
20	10299446	Gary Kitts	1909	19	Sep-10
21	12708030	Jacob Fortuna	1903	17	Jun-11
22	10302994	Greg Bailey	1900	14	Jul-11
23	12405964	James Abbott	1899	18	Jul-11
24	12483610	Duane Croel	1897	21	Mar-11
25	12862296	Ashley Carter	1893	23	Jan-11
25	13837207	Joel Halloran	1893	33	Jul-11
27	10280559	William Eckert	1889	24	Mar-11
27	12907426	Dan Hronchek	1889	29	May-11
29	12900488	Allen Wickering	1881	27	Jul-11
30	11453431	Ray Garrison	1877	X	May-11
31	12706517	Adam Masek	1852	26	Mar-11
32	12834950	Will Brooks	1825	28	Apr-11
33	12842583	Bethel McGrew	1791	30	May-11
34	12545842	Kent Quander	1768	31	Jun-10
35	13776533	William Green	1757	32	Dec-10
36	20032704	Joe Meyer	1748	36	May-11
37	10300240	Stan Beckwith	1720	34	Jan-11
38	12871543	Isaac Zylstra	1713	40	Jul-11
39	12745409	Kevin Jackson	1711	35	Apr-11
40	12751188	Michael Brooks	1698	37	Jan-11

Posted at 11:30 AM by Tony Palmer, MD | Category: Improvement | Permalink | Email this Post | Comments (0)

6/4/2011

Sicilian Sveshnikov - 13. h4

Tony Palmer

Reviewing our Main Line, the Sicilian Sveshnikov begins with 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 (6. Nb3?! Bb4 scores very well for Black – over 60% wins) d6 where Black accepts two long-term positional drawbacks: a backward Pd6 and the hole at d5. After 7. Bg5 Black continues 7 … a6 8. Na3 b5 gaining Queenside space plus the crude fork threat 9 … b4 winning a piece. So White plays 9. Nd5 Be7 (9 … Qa5+ 10. Bd2 Qd8 11. Bg5 Qa5+ is a handy draw line, although White can go for more with 11. Bd3) 10. Bxf6 (White keeps the centralized Nd5 around) Bxf6 (10 … gxf6 is an important sideline for Black, intending … f5 to liquidate the doubled Pawn) 11. c3 (11. Nxf6+!? Qxf6 also scores very well for Black – over 75% wins) 0-0 12. Nc2 Bg5 reaching a well known stock position. Note Black's last two moves are interchangeable.

Diagram 1

The chessgames.com database has 531 games with this Main Line continuation, where White has two main tries for an advantage:

1) 13. a4 (78%) is by far the most popular choice and was covered last time.

2) 13. h4 (6%) hits the Bg5 and gains space on the Kingside, with the obvious trap 13 … Bxh4?! 14. Qh5 and the Bishop is pinned against the mate threat on h7; 14 … g5 15. g3 wins a piece and White is better.

3) All other options (13. Be2 9%, 13. g3 3%, 13. Nce3 3%) score better for Black, indicating the Sveshnikov set-up contains real bite.

After 13. h4, Black typically retreats 13 … Bh6 to keep the Bishop on the c1-h6 diagonal and potentially trade off a Ne3. White often follows up with 14. g4 intending 15. g5 trapping the Bishop; here Black can either create an escape square with 14 … g6, or else occupy the new hole at f4 with 14 … Bf4. Two Fritz lines lead to equality: 15. Qf3 Be6 16. Nxf4 Qf6 (an in-between move to avoid losing a Pawn) 17. g5 Qxf4 18. Qxf4 exf4, or 15. g5 Be6 16. Nxf4 exf4 17. Qf3 Qa5 18. Qxf4 b4 where Black gambits a Pawn for the initiative. Another idea is 14. g3 planning to fianchetto the Bishop while retaining the option for a later g3-g4 advance. These five reference games all feature 13. h4:

Iordachescu-Chuchelov (Istanbul, 2003): 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 0-0 12. Nc2 Bg5 13. h4 Bh6 14. g4 Bf4 (Again Black occupies the hole at f4) 15. Qf3 Rb8 16. a3 a5 17. g5 Be6 18. Bd3 Qd7 19. Rg1 (If 19. Nxf4 Black has 19 … Bg4 20. Qg2 exf4 with a slight edge) Rfe8 20. Nce3 Ne7 21. h5 b4 22. axb4 (Fritz 7 prefers 22. cxb4 axb4 23. a4) axb4 23. c4 Nc6 24. h6 Ra8 25. Rb1 (25. Rxa8 Rxa8 26. hxg7 Ra1+ 27. Nd1 +- per Fritz) Nd4 26. Qh1 Bxe3 (26 … Qd8 improves) 27. fxe3 Bxd5 28. cxd5 Nb3 29. hxg7 Kxg7?! (29 … Nc5 works better; 30. Bc4 Ra7) 30. Qh6+ Kh8 31. Rh1 f6 32. Bb5! Qe7 (32 … Qxb5? 33. Qxh7#) 33. Qxf6+ (33. Bxe8 is even better – maybe an incorrect gamescore) Kg8 1-0.

Volokitin-Jelen (Ljubljana, 2002): 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 0-0 12. Nc2 Bg5 13. h4 Bh6 14. g4 Bf4 15. Qf3 Be6 16. Bd3 (Last book move) Re8 17. g5 Bxd5 18. exd5 e4!? (An interesting Discovered Check tactic, although Black ultimately loses the far advanced Pawn) 19. Qxf4 exd3+ 20. Ne3 Ne5 (White must beware Knight fork ideas) 21. 0-0-0!? (Castling Queenside is distinctly uncommon against the Sveshnikov) a5 22. Qd4 b4 23. f4 d2+ 24. Qxd2 (24. Rxd2? Nf3) bxc3 25. bxc3 (25. Qxc3? Rc8) Nd7 (25 … Ng6 might improve) 26. Qd4 Qb6 27. Nf5 Qxd4 (The mate threat on g7 induces a Queen trade, yet White is up a Pawn) 28. Rxd4 Ra6 29. Rc4 g6 30. Nh6+ Kf8 31. Rc7 Rd8 32. Kc2 Rb6 33. h5 Rb5 34. hxg6 hxg6 35. Ng4 Kg7 36. Re1 Kf8 37. Ra7 Re8 38. Rh1 Re2+ 39. Kd3 1-0. (39 … Re8 40. Rh8+ Ke7 41. Rxd7+! Kxd7 42. Nf6+ wins a piece)

Luther-Lampe (Gladenbach, 1997): 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 Bg5 12. Nc2 0-0 13. h4 Bh6 14. g3 Ne7 15. Ncb4 Be6 16. Qd3 Nc8 (Fritz 7 gives 16 … Nxd5 17. Nxd5 Rc8 18. a4 =) 17. Rd1 Qd7 18. Bg2 Kh8 19. a3 Ra7 20. Bf3 a5 21. Nc2 Rb7 22. Nce3 Rd8 (Consider 22 … Bxe3 23. Nxe3 Rd8) 23. Nf5 Bxd5 24. Qxd5 (White wants the d5 hole left open) Ne7 25. Qxf7 Nxf5 26. Qxf5 Qe7 27. Bg4 b4 28. Qe6 bxc3 29. bxc3 Qxe6 30. Bxe6 Rb2 31. g4 g6 32. Rh3 (32. g5 first; 32 … Bf8 33. Rh3) Rf8 33. f3 Bf4 34. g5 Rfb8 35. h5 gxh5 36. Rxh5 Rg2 37. Kf1 Rbb2 38. Rxd6 Rbf2+ 39. Ke1 Bd2+ (Black doesn't have time for the tempting 39 … Rb2 due to 40. Rd8+ Kg7 41. Rg8#) 40. Kd1 Rf1+ 41. Kc2 Bxg5+ 42. Kb3 h6 43. Bg4 Rb1+ 44. Kc4 Rb7 45. Kd5 Rd2+ 46. Kc6 Rb3 47. c4 Rc2 48. c5 Rxa3 49. Rd5 Rac3 50. Rxe5 Kg7 51. Rd5 Rc1 52. f4 Bxf4 53. Rhf5 Be3 54. Bh5 Bxc5 55. Rf7+ Kg8 56. Rd8+ Bf8+ 57. Kb7 1-0.

Korneev-Vega Gutierrez (Malaga, 2001): 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 0-0 12. Nc2 Bg5 13. h4 Bh6 14. g3 (White avoids 14. g4 with the resulting hole at f4) Be6 15. Bh3 Bxd5 16. Qxd5 Ne7 17. Qd3 d5 18. Rd1 dxe4 19. Qxe4 Qc7 20. Rd7 Qc6 (Black forces a Queen trade into a level endgame) 21. Qxc6 Nxc6 22. Bg2 e4 23. 0-0 (23. Bxe4? Rae8 24. f3 f5 wins a piece) f5 24. f4 g6 25. Rfd1 Rfd8 26. Bf1 Bf8 27. b4 Rdc8 (27 … Rxd7 28. Rxd7 Ra7 is better) 28. Ne3 (An ideal blockading square for the Knight) Rd8 29. a3 Bg7 30. R7d6 Rxd6 31. Rxd6 Rc8 32. Nd5 Kf8 33. c4 bxc4 34. Bxc4 (White's pieces are very nicely centralized) a5 35. b5 Nd4 36. b6!? (White sacrifices a piece for the passed Pawn, yet Black has a way out) Rxc4 37. b7 Rc1+?! (37 … Nf3+ 38. Kg2 Rc2+ 39. Kf1 Rc1+ 40. Kg2 Rg1+ 41. Kf2 Bd4+ 42. Ne3 Rb1 gets behind the passed Pawn) 38. Kg2 Rc2+ 39. Kh3 1-0.

Palmer-Yao (FICS, 2006): 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 9. Nd5 Be7 10. Bxf6 Bxf6 11. c3 0-0 12. Nc2 Bg5 13. h4 Bh6 14. g3 Ne7 15. Nxe7+ (15. Ncb4 is better, reinforcing the Nd5) Qxe7 16. Bg2 Bb7 17. 0-0 (One advantage of 14. g3 over 14. g4: White's Kingside is safer) g6 18. Qd3 Rac8 19. Rad1 Rfd8 20. Nb4 Bf8 21. Nd5 Bxd5 22. Qxd5 Rc5 23. Qd3 Qc7 24. Kh2 h5!? (Weakening Black's Kingside) 25. f4 exf4 26. gxf4 Be7 27. Qg3 Kh7 (27 … Bf6 is possible) 28. f5 Bf6?? (Black wanted to pin the White Queen, but missed a tactic) 29. fxg6+ (Discovery) fxg6 (29 … Kg7 30. gxf7+) 30. Rxf6 1-0.