1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 g6 3. d4 Bg7 4. d5 Nf6 5. Nc3 In my younger days, I was always eager to "punish" opponents who allowed something like 5.e5. After more years of experience and learning (the hard way) what "over-extended" means, I have become more cautious. During this game, I would not allow myself to seriously consider 5.e5, though the urge was strong. 5... O-O 6. a4 Necessary to stop complications from ...b5 (if captured, ...Nxe4 and ...Qa5+). 6... d6 7. Be2 e6 8. O-O exd5 9. exd5 Bg4 In my early college years, we considered this to be a "better" Benoni since c4 is always available for a White Knight. The prescription was to meet 9... Bg4 with Nd2 to preserve the Knight, but in this position I wasn't satisfied with 10. Nd2 Bxe2 11. Qxe2 Re8 . Instead, I was hoping possession of the Bishop pair would limit Black's options, since any opening of the position might be dangerous for Black. 10. h3 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 a6 12. Bf4 Qc7 13. Qd2 Nbd7 14. Rfe1 Rfe8 15. Rxe8+ Rxe8 16. Re1 Qb6 17. Rxe8+ There was no reason to rush this. While I place his Knight on a worse square, his Bishop comes to life. 17... Nxe8 18. Nd1 Be5 White's b-pawn is indirectly defended since 18... Bxb2? 19. c3 Ba3 20. Qa2 traps the Bishop. 19. Be3 Since I am unwilling to trade Bishops, Black's grows in strength. Also I get a different lesson on "harmony". White's Knight may eventually come back in play to c4 via e3, so Black encourages White to place another piece there. I figured the logjam was temporary, but my real problem is playing without a plan. I have a vague notion of advancing my pawns (probably now on the King side) to either trade or gain space, but it is so notional as to be no plan at all. 19... h5 20. g4? Consistent with my vague plan, but Black demonstrates this has created an exploitable weakness. 20... hxg4 21. hxg4 Bd4 22. Bf4 Qd8 23. Bg5 Bf6 24. Be3 Qe7 25. b3 Bh4 Since every pawn move creates a weakness, I realized h4 could be visited by a Black piece when considering 20.g4. But even after he played the move, I couldn't imagine what good would come of it. Well, shame on me for lack of imagination! 26. Bf4 Sensibly covering dark squares around the White King, but once again getting in the way of the f-pawn, making the pawn on g4 look odd. 26... Ne5 27. Be2 Nf6 28. f3 Ever wonder why anyone would place all their pawns on the same color square as one of their Bishops? Now Black takes advantage of the weakened dark squares. 6k1/1p2qp2/p2p1np1/2pPn3/P4BPb/1P3P2/ 2PQB3/3N2K1 b - - 0 28 28... Be1! 28... Be1 29. Qxe1 Nxf3+ 30. Bxf3 Qxe1+ wins, or any Queen retreat drops the d-pawn. I thought for quite a while here, but realized how bad White's position is and remains. 0-1 [Ron Kensek]

1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 Nf6 3. d3 Bc5 4. Nc3 d6 5. Na4?! Lack of preparation led to lack of confidence, especially in openings, so I found myself trying junk like this to avoid main lines. Both of us were on our own, and started playing slowly (thoughtfully?). 5... Nbd7 6. Nxc5 Nxc5 7. f4 O-O 8. fxe5 On the more natural 8.Nf3, I was worried about Black opening up the position before White has castled with 8. Nf3 exf4 9. Bxf4 d5 . 8... dxe5 9. Nf3 Qd6 10. O-O Judging the position to be safe, this is the first move since the fifth move I made without a deliberate think session. I completely overlooked my opponent's next move. But the tactical gods smiled on me that day - otherwise White would be in serious trouble. 10... b5!? 11. Bb3 11. Bxb5 Qb6 is too strong with threats of ...Nb3+ and ...Qxb5. 11... a5 12. d4! Forced, and I was very lucky this was there. If White had to move the c-pawn ( 12. a3 Nxb3 13. cxb3 ), the d3-pawn would be a permanent weakness for the rest of the game. The threat of a pawn arriving on e5 keeps White in the game. 12... Ncxe4 Black is consuming enormous amounts of time for the next few moves, perhaps having difficulty accepting he cannot acquire a tangible advantage. 13. dxe5 Qb6+ 14. Qd4 c5 15. Qe3 Ng4 16. Bxf7+ Rxf7 17. Qxe4 c4+ 18. Kh1 Rb8 19. Qe2 Bb7 So Black has given up a pawn for a lot of fire-power aimed at White's Kingside. He probably should have tried to combine pressure on White's isolated e-pawn with the existing pressure on the defending Nf3, but instead tries for a knock-out. 20. h3 h5 Exciting in appearance, but the Black Knight is well redeployed to f5 from h6. The pawn move essentially gives White another tempo (ignoring any temptation to capture the Knight). 21. Bg5 Qg6 22. Bh4 Nh6 23. e6 Rf4?! Again, another exciting-looking move, but it makes the pawn on e6 a monster. Black doesn't have time to both break through and stop the monster. Time trouble is now playing a role. 24. Qe5 Rbf8? Wrong rook. 25. e7 Rxf3 26. exf8=Q+ Kxf8 1-0 [Ron Kensek]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3 b5 9. Be2 White is playing a 6.Be2 line with a later f3/Be3, but has succeeded in confusing Black, who thinks White has misplayed the English attack. 9... Nbd7 10. O-O Nb6 11. Bf2 This should be harmless, but provokes Black to "strike." 11... b4? I wanted to play 11...b4 and 12...d5, but was having trouble working out the details. So I played 11...b4 since I figured that had to be "right." The root cause of Black's problems is the failure to recognize Black is in no position to open up the position given his centralized King (aside from weakening the Queenside in its own right). Sadly, none of Black's next several moves addresses the root problem. 12. Nb1 Nc4 Trying to slam on the breaks by shielding the Queenside from the Be2. I have to admit giving in to "hope" chess, thinking I would gain time from the threat to b2 though it was supposed to be just a bluff. 13. a3 Nxb2? (Moan) Now Black will need to devote time to a rescue operation leaving the Kingside frozen as the Queenside gets mercilessly ripped open. Maybe I felt honor-bound to carry out the "threat" - partly since I couldn't find lines I actually liked. 14. Qe1 Qc7?! So now Black threatens to lose many tempi with the Queen! I find it hard to rationalize some of my choices here. White gladly accepts. 15. axb4 Qxc2 16. Bxa6! Threat of 17.Bb5+ and 18.Rxa8. 16... Rxa6 17. Rxa6 Qxb3 18. Ra8+ Kd7 19. Ra3 Qc4 20. Qd2 Nd3 21. Rxd3 Be7 22. Rc1 Qb5 23. Na3 Qa4 24. Nc4 Bxc4 25. Rxc4 Rb8 Now Black is behind in material, though he at least appears to have sensibly placed pieces. 26. Qc3 d5 Wow! Opening up the position is the last thing Black needs. I was trying to create counterplay... 27. Rc7+ Kd8 28. Ra7 Qxb4 29. Qc7+ Ke8 So, Black is now poised for a sudden back-rank mate if White gets carried away... 1r2k3/R1Q1bppp/5n2/3pp3/1q2P3/3R1P2/5BPP/6K1 w - - 0 30 30. Rb3!! Very nice! Defending the mate, overloading the Qb4 (...Qxb3 31. Qxe7#), and x-raying the Rb8 (...Qd6 31.Rxb8+). 1-0 [Ron Kensek]