A rather peculiar opening line - one that is strange to me at anyrate - has led to a species of Benoni Defence. With this move, Black has obtained a mobile pawn majority on the Q-side, but White has a good lead in development, and the break move e3-e4 coming up. 8....f6 would have driven back the knight, but that f-pawn would have had to move again sooner or later, leaving a bit of a hole at e5.

The move chosen makes a lot of sense, confronting White with the decision to exchange his advanced knight for Black's "bad" bishop (certainly the dark-square bishop is much the more valuable to Black right now), or to move the queen. 9...Ke7 is not a move that springs to mind in this situation. Black's K would much rather be tucked up in bed at g8...

The idea behind it is good, but it does underestimate the effect of the half-pin on a6. Check out the "Clearly...rooks aren't everything" game for a variation on this theme.

Pin, not half-pin.

It is worth mentioning here what happens if Black takes on d7 (11...Nxd7): 12.Nc7ch Ke7?? (hoping to limit the damage to an Exchange, rook for knight) 13.Qa3ch Kf6 14.Qd6ch Kf5 15.g4ch Ke4 16.f3# or else 12...Kf8 13.Nxa8 winning a whole rook.

Indeed. That's the reason I preferred to play 11...axb5. Although the situation for Black is still quite futureless.

There was a great deal to be said for trading queens at once. The exchange plus pawn ought to be a winning material advantage, and for the moment Black still has a large chunk of his army underemployed. On the other hand, the move chosen is objectively best, in all likelihood: Black's Q-side pawn couple is left hanging; QWhite has a 2-0 central pawn preponderance, and White's will complete his development in a move or two.

Black's play in tha last few moves has been impressive. He's mobilised his reserves without allowing White time to make much progress. I think I would have preferred the 14.Kf1 retreat as being less costly in time. True, mobilising the h-rook would have taken a bit ... All this doesn't alter the fact that White has a big edge here.

I don't understand, what do you mean with 14.Kf1? White could not play 14.Kf1 because of the bishop on f1. Or do you mean: 14.Ke2 and then 15.Kf3?

A courageous decision...

23. Qe2 ?? was the loosing move, the correct move is 23. Qc3 which forces the exchange and white has a smooth game ahead.

I think I'd go for the 23.Qd1 line (23...Nc6 24.d5 Nxd5) but it still looks very dangerous for White. Here is a possible line: 25.a3!? Nd4ch!?! 26.Qxd4 Nb4ch 27.Kc3 Bg7 28.Qxg7ch! Kxg7 29.Kxb4 ... (not 29.axb4 Qd3#) 29...Qd2ch? 30.Kxb5 (30.Ka3?? Qa5#). Maybe White can escape the checks and mobilise his superior force. More than likely Black has better (if less spectacular) continations than the knight sac. Interesting position (unless you are playing the White pieces!)

Himu, very well seen. I agree with you. Then instead of 22... Qb4, 22... Qxd8 would be better, with still having an attack on the white queen. 23.dxe5 is bad because of 23...Qd2 with check. 23.Qd1 would cost a pawn because of 23...Nc6. And I think 23.Qc3 is not very powerful (23...b4. 24.Qxb4, Qxd4, is not easy for white. Or 23...Ne4 or Nd5 would be other options). Probably 23.Qh3 is the best choice, but is also not totally safe after 23...Qxd4. (if white plays 24.Qxh6, black can play Qe4 with check and put white under pressure) or black can also play 23...Nf-g4 while white remains in a situation with imprisoned rooks and knight. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ionadowman, nice combinations! However, when I would be White, I would not play 24.d5 because the pawn is already lost. Maybe White can try to escape his bishop and block the Black bishop by playing 24.g3 and later f4?

It's worthwhile looking into the possible defences here. The immediate threat is 25...Qc3ch 26.Kd1 Qxa1ch 27.Kc2 Qc1# . Naturally, 25.Qxe4 Qd2 and mate next. 25.Rb1 Qc3ch 26.Kd1 Nef2ch 27.Qxf2 Nxf2ch 28.Ke2 Qe3#. 25.Ba5 looks like a desperate try that doesn't change enough to help. But maybe White can sac his queen? 25.Qxd3 cxd3ch 26.Kxd3 (White would love to play Bxd3, but it's then mate in 2) 26...Nxf2ch 27.Ke2 Qd2ch 28.Kf3 Qe3#. Nope. Frank Marshall used to call this kind of turnaround a "swindle". Rather than seeing it as a pejorative, I'm quite fond of the term. This here is a pretty high class "swindle" at that.

Thank you very much for your comments.

Ja Blok, heerlijk, heerlijk om zo te winnen. Doet me denken aan die beroemde partijen uit de 19e eeuw. Die torens van hem konden net zo goed naast het bord staan, eigenlijk stond je materiaal voor