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Michael Cook played a great game during the Free Quad Entry Swiss (held 2/6/10), scoring a hard-fought draw against a much higher-rated opponent (2150-rated Eric C. Johnson).

He missed a chance to win the game on move 35 -- see if you can spot the combo that Michael missed.  (Solution after the game).

Michael Cook -- Eric C. Johnson: Sicilian Defense, Rossolimo Variation: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. 0-0 Ne7 6. b3 f6 7. c4 e5 8. Ba3 Ng6 9. Nc3 d6 10. h3 Nf4 11. Nh4 Be7 12. Nf5 g6 13. Ne3 a5 14. Kh2 0-0 15. Rh1 f5 16. g3 Nd3 17. Qe2 fxe4 18. Nxe4 Nb4 19. d3 d5 20. Nd2 d4 21. Ng4 Nc2 22. Bc1 Bxg4 23. hxg4 Nxa1 24. Ne4 g5 25. Rh5 axb3 26. axb3 Nxb3 27. axb3 Nxb3 28. Bxg5 Ra7 29. Bh6 Bf6 30. g5 Bg7 31. Qg4 Bxh6 32. gxh6+ Kh8 33. Rxe5 Raf7 34. Rf5 Qd7 35. Nf6 Qxf5 36. Qxf5 Rxf6 37. Qe5 Nc1 38. Qg5 Rxf2+ 39. Kh3 R2f7 40. Qxc1 Rf5 41. g4 Rf3+ 42. Kh4 Re3 43. Qb1 Re6 44. Qc1 Rg6 45. g5 Rf5 46. Qd2 Kg8 47. Qh2 Rfxg5 48. Qb8+ 1/2-1/2

Solution.....

34. ... Qd7? 35. Qg7+!! Rxg7 36. Rxf8+ Rg8 37. Rxg8+ Kxg8 and now the Kg8 and Qd7 are on very unfortunate squares after 38. Nf6+ regaining the queen with the better ending.

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Cody Fisher annotates his round two win over Larry Noone from the first USCF-rated event of the year in Allentown.   Let's encourage everyone to submit annotated games for the blog in 2010!

White: Cody Fisher

Black: Larry Noone

Random Pairings Swiss, January 2, 2010

Nimzowitch Defense

(Annotations by Cody Fisher)

1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. Be3 (The most common move here is 4. Bb5) Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. a4 e5 7. d5!? (7. Be2) Ne7 8. Be2 (now that the c4 square is useless, breaking the pin seemed the most logical option for the bishop) h6?! (I thought this was a waste of time; instead, I expected black to challenge the center immediately with 8...c6 before I am able to move my knight and meet that move with c4; 8...Ng6 also seems fine for Black)

9. h3 Bxf3?! (I don't see why Black should trade off his good bishop; retreating to d7 or possibly h5 makes more sense) 10. Bxf3 (I seriously considered gxf3, opening the g-file and preparing a quick f3-f4, but I didn't like White's structure after the response 10...Ng6, impeding f4 and leaving white with a weak kingside) Ng6 (eying the f4 and h4 squares) 11. Ne2! (with the idea of gaining further control of f4, and more importantly, making way for the c-pawn to advance and gain space on the queenside; it does allow Black to trade knight for Bishop, but the light-squared bishop is not so important for White here) Be7

12. a5 (taking the time to fix Black's queenside weaknesses for good) Nh4 13. Ng3! (there is no longer a need to aim the knight at f4, so White takes the opportunity to set his sights on the f5 square, and at the same time opens up the possibility for the queen to recapture on f3) Nxf3 14. Qxf3 (I considered capturing with the pawn, but in the end decided to avoid creating any weakness and instead play to mount pressure on both sides of the board) g6?! (perhaps 14...c6, challenging White's center is a better option) 15. c4 h5?! 16. b4 h4 17. Ne2 Nh5?! (Black plans 18...Bg5 when a trade of dark-squared bishops would be great for him; moves like 18. Bd2 or 18. Bc1, intending to meet ...Bg5 by transferring the bishop to the a1-h8 diagonal seem pointless since the White bishop becomes less active and Black's suddenly enjoys the c1-h6 diagonal; however, White has a strong reply)

18. g4! (I considered this my best move of the game. If black does not take the pawn, White just enjoys the extra space on the kingside and might play for f2-f4. However, taking the pawn helps White as well.) hxg3 19. fxg3 (This was the idea of 18. g4. Now upon ...Bg5, the bishop can retreat to f2 or g1 where it still supports the c4-c5 advance. In addition, the h-pawn is opened up to advance to h4 if necessary to expel Black's bishop from the g5 square) Bg5 20. Rf1! (This in-between move ensures the coordination of the white forces by avoiding blocking in the h1 rook with the bishop retreat) Rf8 (20...0-0 looks very risky for Black)

21. Bg1! (leaving black hopelessly passive; White is ready to push back the Black pieces on the kingside with h3-h4 followed by g3-g4-g5, when he will then be in position to finally push c4-c5) Qd7 (21...f5!?) 22. h4 Bh6?! (22...Be7?!) 23. g4!? (This move allows black to trade off a piece, which generally should help him. However, it will leave him with only a terrible bishop on g7 and no good counterplay) Nf4 (23...Ng7?? 24. g5) 24. g5 Nxe2 (Of course, I looked at the possibilities of replying with 25. gxh6, but they don't seem to lead anywhere for White) 25. Qxe2!? (25. Kxe2 appears more natural, leaving the queen on the f-file and bringing the king further into the center. However, this queen recapture was part of my idea with 18. g4, since I thought it would be helpful to take away the f1-a6 diagonal for the Black queen after c4-c5) Bg7

26. c5? (an incredibly careless move, after such careful preparation; psychologically, I felt like the hard part on the kingside was finally over and I could relax and turn my attention to the pawn break I had been engineering the whole game. Unfortunately, this overlooks Black's reply, which gives him plenty of counterplay.) Qh3! 27. Qh2?? (Flustered, white fails to collect himself and find the best continuation. After 27. cxd6 cxd6 28. Qe3 Qxh4+ 29. Bf2 Qg4, play looks roughly equal, with White perhaps holding a small plus due to Black's g7 bishop. Instead, after the game continuation, Black's queen single-handedly attains a material advantage.) Qc3+ 28. Kf2 f5! (White suddenly finds his king under siege.)

29. Kg2 (desperately attempting to flee the line of fire) Qc2+ 30. Kh1 Qxe4+ 31. Qg2 Qxh4+ 32. Bh2 e4!? (After the simple 32...Qxb4, Black should win easily.) 33. Rf4 Qxf4!? (Black should probably opt instead for 33...Qh5 when White has no way to take advantage of the Queen's position.) 34. Bxf4 Bxa1 (Black still holds a significant advantage, but at least now White can try to use his queen to create some counterplay.) 35. cxd6 Rh8+ 36. Kg1 0-0-0?! (Black was worried about the position of his king, but after the simple 36...cxd6 37. Bxd6 Kd7!, it is difficult to see how White can put the Black king in any danger at all.) 37. dxc7!? (37. Qd2) Rxd5?! (After this move, White gains some activity. Instead, Black should prefer 37...Bd4+ 38. Kf1 Rd7, when he is still better.)

38. Qa2! (White takes aim at the Black bishop and rook, with hopes of a nasty check on e6 in the future. Black must be careful here.) Rd1+? (After this move, Black loses most if not all of his advantage. At the board, I thought Black's best try was 38...Bd4+! 39. Kg2 Rd7 when he still has an edge.) 39. Kg2 (Thanks to the nice position of the bishop on f4, the d2 and h2 squares are covered, preventing the rooks from drumming up any counterplay whatsoever. At this point I thought White was winning, and further analysis does not show anything that poses much of a challenge to that assessment, although White must still wrap up the game accurately.) 39...b6?? (Black only chance was the clever 39...e3!, threatening a nasty check on d2, with the idea of 40. Bxe3 Re8! = However, White can end all hope with the strong response 40. Qe6+!, when a possible line goes Rd7 41. b5! e2 42. bxa6 e1=N+ 43. Qxe1 bxa6 44. Qxa1) 40. Qe6+ Rd7 41. Qxb6 Rd1 42. Qe6+ Kb7 43. b5?! (43. c8=Q+ Rxc8 44. Qb6+ Ka8 45. Qxa6#) Bd4 44. Qxa6 mate 1-0

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Six players tied for the $60 prize fund available to 3-0 scores in the Random Pairings Swiss, held January 2nd.

The club's first winners of 2010 were:

Joe Mucerino

Michael Turcotte

Kevin Santo

Chris Lett

Ken Smith

Laverne Gildner

These folks cashed in by winning all of their (randomly paired) games.  A total of 23 players participated.

Jack Mongilutz is the 2009 Quad Champion -- he won his first round game at the December quads and that was all he needed to take the title when his nearest (only) rival failed to sweep his section.

Mongilutz entered the day with a two point lead.

Runner-up Tom Volkert lost a tough first-round game to Joe Weber after spurning a clear draw by perpetual check.  Minutes later, Mongilutz came back from a piece-down deficit vs. Rich Blank to turn a possible loss into a full point.  That was all it took for Mongilutz to clinch the title.

Quad winners were:

Quad 1  Ron Raush

Quad 2  Steven Leverich

Quad 3  Mark Knerr

Quad 4  Jim Strobel, Joe Weber (tie)

Please join us for the trophy presentation at the JANUARY Second Saturday Quads on Jan. 9th.

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Michael Turcotte won the "Save the Rhino" Swiss, held Dec. 5th.  Turcotte scored 3.5/4 (and probably should have had a clean sweep as he made a draw in a winning position in round 2).  He claimed the $30 first prize with a last round victory over Lee Stanley.

Ben Lu won the U1600 prize with a 2.5/4 score, including a hard-fought last-round draw (!) vs. Jack Mongilutz.  Lu won $30 and also carried off the nifty toy rhinoceros.

Lu and his family will be heading back to China this month -- what a great send-off for the young player!

The event raised $30 for the International Rhino Foundation (see separate tab). 

Jim Strobel was brave enough to play the Rhino Opening in the first round.  His 2. Qd3 encouraged the second player to set up a Stonewall formation where the white queen is misplaced. 

Strobel's provocative play taunted his opponent to win a piece with 13. .. g5!?  The material grab was OK, but completing development first might have led to a smoother first round game.

Black should have recaptured with his d-pawn (15. ... dxe4 rather than 15. ... fxe4), because White could have made things very interesting with 16. f5!?, clearing the way for the queen to reach the h6-square. 

Strobel could have kept the balance with 18. Rg2!? with the idea that after 18. ..Nd7 19. Rhg1 Nxe5 20. dxe5 Rf7 21. Qh6 the play is unclear.  Doubling (or tripling) on the file as quickly as possible had to be his top priority.

Instead, 19. e3 c5 20. Rg2 Nc6! led to a clearly winning position for Black.  The second player set up a winning shot on the 28th move (28. ... Nxd4!), but inexplicably failed to play it (and also on several subsequent moves).  Perhaps he was a bit rattled after realizing that the piece wasn't totally free on move 13.

James Strobel -- Eric C. Johnson:  Dutch Defense: 1. d4 f5 2. Qd3 (Rhino) d5 3. g3 Nf6 4. Bg2 c6 5. Bf4 e6 6. Nd2 Be7 7. Ngf3 0-0 8. 0-0-0 Qe8 9. Ne5 Qe8 10. Ndf3 Ba6 11. Qd2 Ne4 12. Qe3 Bb7 13. Nd2 g5 14. Bxe4 gxf4 15. gxf4 fxe4 16. Rdg1+ Kh8 17. Qh3 Rf6 18. Qg4 Qf8 19. e3 c5 20. Rg2 Nc6 21. Nd7 Qf7 22. Nxf6 Bxf6 23. c3 Rg8 24. Qh3 Rxg2 25. Qxg2 Ba6 26. h4 cxd4 27. exd4 Bd3 28. h5 b5 29. h6 b4 30. Rg1 bxc3 31. bxc3 Ne7 32. Nb3 Nf5 33. Qh3 Qf8 34. Rh1 Bc4 35. Kb2 Bh4 36. Qg2 Be2 37. Nc5 Bf3 38. Nxe6 Qb8+ 0-1

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Four players cashed out in the Random Pairings Swiss, held November 28th.  In a field of 24 (with 2 sections but 1 prize fund), Jack Mongilutz, Rich Blank, Donahue Scott and Laverne Gildner finished 3-0 to share the $60 prize pool.

Cody Fisher played some strong moves in his round 3 game vs. Jack Mongilutz -- a game Mongilutz had to win to cash out.

White chose a solid (passive) opening to test his young opponent.  His 11. c5 ?! didn't look right -- why give the second player a free hand in the center?  Before you take the pressure off the center, you have to be sure that you are gaining more than just one move -- it has to be a bind, or a wing majority, or something substantial.

The exception would be something like Mackenzie vs. Tarrasch (1885), a game that started 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. c4 Bd6?! and now Tarrasch considered his opponent's 5. c5! to be the winning move -- because it makes e6-e5 very hard to achieve.

In our game this week -- Black had all of the play.  Unlike Tarrasch, he got in e6-e5 very easily and he might have stood his ground with 22. ...Bc7 to see how his higher-rated opponent planned to proceed.

His 22. Bxg3!? idea was correct -- he gets R+3 pawns vs. 2 pieces -- but it carried the "obligation" of finding sharp moves.

Fisher was up to the task until 29. ... Be4?!, a clunker that helped organize the white pieces.  Remember -- when you have pawns for pieces, you aim for the ending.  When you have pieces (in this case B+N vs. R+3P), you must ATTACK.  Thus, 29. ... Qe3+ trading queens (here or earlier) was correct).

Perhaps he was lured into attacking by the lack of pawn cover for the white king.  But he had piece cover!

Mongilutz could have made his young opponent suffer sooner with 32. Qg3!, showing just how well his pieces were coordinated.  The game wasn't over until Black tossed it away with the "aggressive" 33. ... Re2 (?).  Instead, 33. ... Rf8 keeps the play alive.

White hit hard with 35. Rxg7+! but missed the cute follow-up 36. Nf7+ (making him accept the gift).

An amazingly hard-fought game for the money round!

Jack Mongilutz-Cody Fisher: English Opening: 1. c4 c6 2. Nf3 d5 3. b3 Nf6 4. Bb2 Bf5 5. d3 e6 6. Nbd2 Nbd7 7. g3 Bd6 8. Bg2 Qe7 9. 0-0 0-0 10. d4 Rac8 11. c5 Bb8 12. b4 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Nd4 Bg6 15. h3 Rfe8 16. Qb3 a6 17. Rac1 h6 18. a4 Ned7 19. Ba3 Ne4 20. N2f3 Ne5 21. Nxe5 Bxe5 22. Nf3 Bxg3 23. fxg3 Nxg3 24. Rfe1 Nxe2+ 25. Rxe2 Qxe2 26. Nd4 Qd2 27. Qc3 Qf4 28. Rf1 Qe5 29. Bb2 Be4 30. Bxe4 Qxe4 31. Nf5 f6 32. Nd6 Qg6+ 33. Kh1 Re2  34. Rg1 Qh5 35. Rxg7+ Kh8 36. Rg3 d4 37. Qxd4 Re1+ 38. Kh2 Re2+ 39. Kg1 Re1+ 40. Kg2 Re2+ 41. Re5 42. Nxc8 Qe2+ 43. Kg1 Qe1+ 44. Kh2 Qe2+ 45. Rg2 Qf3 46. Qd8+ 1-0

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Jim Strobel chose the aggressive Four Pawns Attack against his opponent's Alekhine's Defense in this week's game.

Taking a full center with 5. f4!? carries certain obligations -- for example, the need to defend it.  Such a space advantage carries a "use it or lose it" burden. The main line goes 5. f4 dxe5 6. fxe5 Nc6 7. Be3 Bf5 8. Nc3 e6 9. Nf3 (note that this move is delayed as long as possible) and now Black has many moves, but the two most reliable ones are 9. ... Be7 (allowing d4-d5) and 9. ... Bg4 (trying to stop it).

Strobel's 8. Nf3?! could have been met with 8. ... Nb4!, forcing 9. Na3 when the wayward knight removes any chance for a quick d4-d5 push.  Instead, his opponent chose 8. ...e6 with the idea of testing the main line.

9. a3!? was unusual  and signaled that White planned to develop the Nb1 to the d2 square.  This made it easier to defend his center but harder to actually use it, as again the d4-d5 push had less support.

Black tried to tear down the center with 12. ... f6, under the belief that he would just be a move ahead of the normal 9. ... Be7 main line.

But his tempting 9. ... Bf5-g4 manuever -- so useful when White has played Nc3 -- meant that his opponent could mix things up with a timely Nd2-e4.

Play would have been very sharp after 13. exf6 Bxf6 14. Ne4!? Bxf3 15. Nxf6+ Rxf6 16. Bxf3 and now Nxc4 (snatching a pawn) virtually forces White to follow with 17. Bg5.  Black would get some very active knights to compensate for the exchange after 17 ... Nxd4, leading to a wild position for a short time-control game.

Instead, 13. h3 Bf5 routed the bishop back to its normal position.

14. Nb3?! dropped a pawn and was the losing move -- Black is always happy to trade down in these Alekhine positions as the exposed white pawns are targets.  Having an extra pawn just gave extra impetus to this idea.

The key shot in the game was 18. ... Nd2 (!), a crushing move that lived up to the Allentown club's t-shirt claims (see below).

The liquidation led to a winning game for Black -- note that if 23. Bc4 then 23. ...Kh8 sidesteps any dangers and keeps a solid plus.

Jim Strobel -- Eric C. Johnson: Alekhine's Defense: 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. c4 Nb6 5. f4 dxe5 6. fxe5 Nc6 7. Be3 Bf5 8. Nf3 e6 9. a3 Bg4 10. Nbd2 Be7 11. Be2 0-0 12. 0-0 f6 13. h3 Bf5 14. Nb3 fxe5 15. dxe5 Qxd1 16. Bxd1 Nxc4 17. Bd4 Rad8 18. Be2 Nd2 19. Nbxd2 Nxd4 20. Nxd4 Rxd4 21. Nf3 Rd7 22. b4 Rfd8 23. Rad1 Rxd1 24. Rxd1 Rxd1+ 25. Bxd1 a5 26. g4 Be4 27. Nd2 Bd5 28. bxa5 Bc5+ 29. Kh2 Bxa3 30. Nb3 Bb2 0-1

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Jack Mongilutz took over the top spot in the 2009 Quad Championship race with a 2.5/3 performance at the November Quads.  He now holds the lead with 20.0 pts.

Tom Volkert fell to second place with 18.0 pts.

With just one month to go (3 rounds), these are the only two players still in the running for the 2009 title.

Quad winners were:

Q1 Jack Mongilutz

Q2 Jim Drasher, Richard Neal, LaMont Rouse (tie)

Q3 David Sherman

Q4 Jim Strobel

Q5 Mark Moretti

Honorable mention goes to Jim Strobel for his clutch 3-0 sweep in quad 4, but his 16.0 pts were not enough to stay close to the leaders.

Who will join our list of Quad Champions?  Catch the action at the December quads on 12/12.

Will Jack Mongilutz (left) defend his 2008 quad title?

Or will Tom Volkert come thru to take the crown?

This week's game is relatively short (22 moves) but it contains some subtle opening points.

In a sideline of the Dutch Defense, Black faces a fundamental question:  should he clamp down on the e4-square (with d7-d5)?  If yes, then he offers up his e5-square to the opponent.  If no, then he must always be ready for a center-opening break.

The move order with 2. Nf3 and 3. Nc3 seems to be relatively unexplored.  Many opening works treat the position as a variant of the 2. Nc3 sideline -- the main line of which is 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 d5! 4. Bxf6 exf6 5. e3 Be6!  In this line, White keeps the f3-square free for the queen (i.e. 6. Qf3) and routes the Ng1 to the f4-square.

Thus, games with both Nf3 and Nc3 played are fairly rare.

If White plays his Bf4 idea too soon (i.e. 1. d4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4?!) the poor piece can get harrassed with Leningrad-like ideas of d7-d6 and e7-e5.

But after Black is committed to d7-d5, the bishop can rest comfortably on f4.

The opening inaccuracy in this week's game seems to be 6. Be2 -- White's pieces lack energy after this move.  Far better would be 6. Bd3, allowing the Nc3 to re-position itself with Nc3-e2 and freeing the c-pawn for a timely c2-c4! 

This c2-c4 plan can be very strong if preceded by an early Bg5-Bxf6, damaging the second player's pawn structure.  However, in Bf4 positions, Black's pawns are intact and he can react to c2-c4 with a timely c6-c5 of his own. 

In the game, White's Nc3 had little to do and no place to go.

White tried to open lines on the kingside with 9. g4!?  but the second player correctly ignored it.  The key moment came when Black decided to trade off White's only active piece (13. ... Bd6!), leaving the opponent's kingside a bit drafty in all resulting positions.  15. f4?? was a blunder.

Larry Noone -- Eric C. Johnson: Dutch Defense:  1. d4 f5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 c6 5. e3 e6 6. Be2 Be7 7. h3 0-0 8. Ne5 Nbd7 9. g4 Ne4 10. Nxe4 fxe4 11. Nxd7 Bxd7 12. 0-0 Be8 13. c4 Bd6 14. Bxd6 Qxd6 15. f4 exf3 16. Rxf3 Rxf3 17. Bxf3 Qg3+ 18. Bg2 Qxe3+ 19. Kh1 Bg6 20. cxd5 exd5 21. Rc1 Re8 22. Rc3 Qf2 0-1

A comparison with the following game from the 2000 Russian Championship is interesting -- all the same themes appear (after the inaccurate 7. Be2):

A. Sidarov (2339) - V. Popov (2534): Dutch Defense: 1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 f5 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Bf4 c6 5. e3 e6 6. a3 Be7 7. Be2 0-0 8. Ne5 Nbd7 9. g4 Nxe5 10. Bxe5 Nd7 11. Bg3 a5 12. h4 b5 13. g5 Bb7 14. Na2 Qb6 15. Bf4 b4 16. a4 c5 17. 0-0 Rac8 18. Nc1 Rfd8 19. Bb5 Ba6 20. Bxa6 Qxa6 21. Re1 Bd6 22. Ne2 Nf8 23. Bxd6 Qxd6 1/2-1/2 in 49 moves.

Before everyone starts playing 2. Nf3 and 3. Nc3...let me caution you:  Black is perfectly fine after the flexible 3. ... e6. 

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Joe Mucerino and Greg Nolan powered their way to 3-0 scores and a split of the $60 prize fund for the Random Pairings Swiss, held 10/24/09.

Michael Cook played a nice game against Michael Turcotte in round 1 -- as so often happens, just as he achieved a winning position he went astray and lost.

First, a bit of background on the Queen's Gambit...

In the Orthodox Queen's Gambit Declined, Pillsbury's 4. Bg5 idea is designed to stop black from playing c7-c5.  A typical line would be 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e3 0-0 6. Nf3 Nbd7 7. Rc1 c6 8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nd5 (Capablanca's freeing maneuver) 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. 0-0 Nxc3 12. Rxc3 when Black can try to free his game with 12. ...e5.  Anyone who plays the Queen's Gambit (with either color) should be familiar with this maneuver.

When White doesn't play Bg5 (such after 5. Bf4) then Black should aim for greater activity with c7-c5. 

Back to the game...

Cook's 5. ...c6 and 10. ... Nd5 give the impression he was following the Capablanca recipe (which is less effective against 5. Bf4).

White might have played more ambitiously with either 7. a3!? or 10. e4!?   Note that after 7. a3!? Qxb2? is impossible as 8. Na4 snares material (a common theme).

On move 15, White had a variety of interesting moves (15. Be5!?; 15. Rd1!?), so his 15. h3 makes an odd impression.  The key point is the position of the Bg3 -- he really would like it back on the c1-h6 diagonal.  With 17. f3, White tried to put his central pawn mass to work, but he soon found that his dark-squared bishop would have been better placed on its home square.

By analogy to a Nimzo-Indian position:  1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 d5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 0-0 7. cxd5 exd5 8. e3 c5 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. Ne2 Re8 11. 0-0 White can hope for success here because 1) his central pawns give flexibility, 2) his Bc1 covers any dark-square weaknesses when the pawns advance, 3) his Bc1 is unopposed, 4) he can aim to advance in the center with e3-e4 or play on the wing with g2-g4 and Ra2-g2.

Iin the game, White had a similar structure but had to take care as the opponent's dark-squared bishop was still on the board.  Once the bishops were traded (19. ...Bd6!), the holes in White's center became critical and his pawns could not advance.

Black's rook lift (25. ... Rf6-g6) pinpointed the weak g2-square.  The logical conclusion of the game would have been 27. ... Rxg2! (with the idea of 28. Kxg2 Nxc3+, snaring the queen).  Instead, the ill-timed 27. ... Nxf4?! left Black vulnerable to a counter-tactic.   The last chance was 30. .... Kh8 (instead of 30....Kh7 losing instantly).

All in all, it was just the sort of battle you can expect in club chess.

Michael Turcotte -- Michael Cook:  Queen's Gambit Declined: 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. d4 Be7 5. Bf4 c6 6. e3 Qb6 7. Qc2 0-0 8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bc4 Nbd7 10. 0-0 Nd5 11. Bg3 N7f6 12. a3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 c5 14. Rfb1 Qd8 15. h3 b6 16. Ne5 Bb7 17. f3 Rac8 18. Qe2 Nd5 19. Rbc1 Bd6 20. Bh2 Qc7 21. Bd3 f6 22. Ng4 h5 23. Bxd6 Qxd6 24. Nf2 f5 25. a4 Rf6 26. a5 Rg6 27. f4 Nxf4 28. exf4 Rxg2+ 29. Kf1 Qxf4 30. Qxe6+ Kh7 31. Qxf5+ Qxf5 32. Bxf5+ 1-0

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