Ben Gradsky submitted his games from the recent Bomberault Memorial, and two other games. I took a lot of time annotating his game against Jim Booth, which was challenging, and so only part of this collection is ready for the March issue; the other games will have to wait until May. [[This article was actually printed in the May issue.]] I im deeply indebted to Ben for his own notes to Booth-Gradsky, which I have incorporated into mine. White: Ben Gradsky Black: Rich Lewis Abel Bomberault Memorial, round 1 December 4, 1999 Queen's Gambit Declined 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Nbd7 5 Nf3 c6 6 e3 Bb4 7 Bd3? 7 Qc2 or 7 Nd2 was necessary. 7 ... dxc4? 7 ... Qa5 would win decisive material. If 8 Qc2 Ne4 9 Bxe4 dxe4, and now 10 Nd2 Qxg5, or 11 Qxe4 Bxc3+. Also in this variation, if 9 Rc1 Nxg5 10 Nxg5 dxc4 wins a whole piece. 8 Bxc4 Nb6? Even now 8 ... Qa5 would be interesting. After 9 Qc2 Ne4 10 Qxe4 Bxc3+ 11 Ke2 Bxb2 12 Rab1 (12 Bxe6 Nf6 13 Bxf6 Bxe6 doesn't pan out for White), White may find some compensation for the pawn. Alternatively, 9 ... Bxc3+ 10 Qxc3 Qxc3+ 11 bxc3 Ne4 12 Rc1 Nxg5 looks about equal; in this variation 10 bxc3 Ne4 11 Qxe4 Qxc3+ 12 Nd2 Qxa1+ 13 Ke2 Qc3 14 Bxe6 Nf6 once again isn't good enough for White. 9 Bd3 Nbd5 10 Rc1 Black's plan has backfired. White will soon play e4 with a huge advantage. Black can force the exchange of two pieces by an elaborate tactic: 10 ... Qa5 11 Qc2 Nxc3 12 bxc3 Ba3 13 Rb1 Nd5 14 Rb3 Be7; but I am not sure this is enough to hold. 10 ... Bd7 11 O-O Bd6 12 e4 Bf4 Loses material, but 12 ... Nxc3 13 bxc3 Be7 was clearly a dreary and hopeless defense. 13 Nxd5 Bxc1 14 Nxf6+ gxf6 15 Bxc1 e5 16 dxe5 Bg4 17 h3 Bxf3 18 Qxf3 fxe5 19 Bc4 Qe7 20 Bg5! Qxg5 (20 ... Qc7 21 Qf6, 22 Rd1, 23 Rd6) 21 Qxf7+ Kd8 22 Rd1+ Resigns White: Jim Booth Black: Ben Gradsky Abel Bomberault Memorial, round 2 December 4, 1999 Closed Sicilian 1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 d3 e6 6 Be3 d6 7 Qd2 Rb8 8 Nge2 Nge7?! 8 ... Nd4 is safer. 9 Bh6 O-O 10 h4 d5?! A well-known defensive maneuver is 10 ... Bxh6 11 Qxh6 f6, so as to answer 12 h5? with 12 ... g5, 13 ... Kh8, and 14 ... Ng8. 11 Bxg7 Kxg7 12 h5 Rh8 13 h6+ 13 hxg6 hxg6 14 Rxh8 Kxh8 15 O-O-O would win at least a pawn, because the thread of 16 Rh1+ and 17 Qh6 could only be met by 15 ... Qf8, losing the d-pawn. But after 13 ... fxg6, I don't see a decisive breakthrough. Best may be 13 exd5 Nxd5 (13 ... exd5 14 hxg6 fxg6 15 Nf4) 14 O-O-O, maintaining the tension. The text move, cutting off Black's rook, is tempting, but Black is out of immediate danger. 13 ... Kf8 14 Qg5 14 exd5 is still correct. White's queen knight is now forced to a bad square, while the queen accomplishes nothing on the kingside. 14 ... d4! 15 Nd1 Perhaps 15 Nb1, planning to relocate to d2, was a better choice. White's attack is only a memory now, while Black has excellent potential on the queenside. 15 ... b6 16 Qf6 Rg8 17 O-O In the long run the h-pawn is now a goner. But it's not easy to suggest what White should do with his king. Untangling with 17 f4 and 18 Nf2 was less committal. 17 ... g5!? Simply 17 ... Bb7 and 18 ... Nc8 looks fine, but Black decides to sacrifice a pawn for an iron grip on e5. 18 f4 Ng6 19 fxg5 White should probably decline, by 19 Qxd8+ Nxd8. But this doesn't get him off the hook; for instance, 20 Nf2?! gxf4 21 gxf4? Nh4. 19 ... Qxf6 20 gxf6 Nge5 21 Nf2 Rg6 This turns out OK, but it is somewhat unnatural to pick off these useless pawns, especially since the rook cannot get back into play. Instead, 21 ... c4 looks logical. 22 c3 dxc3 It might have been better to ignore this, and continue with the plan of capturing the kingside pawns (Gradsky). 23 bxc3 Ba6 24 Nf4 Rxf6?! Gradsky suggests the plan of ... Rxh6, ... Rxf6, and ... h5, giving back the pawn to reactivate the rook via ... Rh6 and ... Rh8. This lengthy sequence only underlines the drawbacks of 21 ... Rg6. White is now able to break out of the bind, by means of some unusual tactics, getting an endgame that may be tenable. Diagram: 1rb2k2/p4p1p/1pn1prP/2p1n3/4PN2/2PP2P1/P4NB1/R4RK1 25 Rfd1 Rd8 26 a4 Rxh6 27 Ra2 Ke7 28 a5 b5 29 Rad2 Rf6 30 d4 Nc4 31 e5 Rxf4 32 gxf4 Nxd2 33 Bxc6 Nb3 34 d5 exd5 35 Bxd5 Nxa5 On 35 ... c4, White could force a draw with 36 Ne4 Bb7 37 Nd6 Bxd5 38 Rxd5 a6 39 Nf5+ Ke8 40 Ng7+. But now 36 Ne4 Bb7 37 Nd6 Bxd5 38 Rxd5 loses to 38 ... Nb7. 36 Ra1 Rxd5 37 Rxa5 Bc8 38 Rxb5 Kd7 39 Ra5 Kc6 39 ... a6 40 Ne4 Kc6 41 Nd6 is fine for White. 40 Rxa7 Be6 41 Ne4!? This is very sharp. I think that White can hold by immediately centralizing his king: 41 Kg2 (not 41 Kf1 Rd2) 41 ... Kb5 42 Kf3 Kc4 43 Ra3 Rd2 44 Ke3 Rc2 45 Ne4 and 46 Nd6+, etc. 41 ... Rd3 Gradsky suggests 41 ... Kb6!? to safeguard the c-pawn. Diagram: 8/R4p1p/2k1b3/2p1P3/4NP2/2Pr4/8/6K1 42 Ra5? This turns out badly. Also 42 Kf2 does not look promising after 42 ... Bd5 43 Ng5 Rxc3. But 42 Ng5 is better. After 42 ... Bd5 43 Nxf7, Black can't play 43 ... Rg3+ 44 Kf2 Rg7?? because 45 Nd8 is check, and 43 ... Rf3 44 Ng5 ought to be OK for White. Similarly 42 ... Rxc3 43 Nxf7 looks fine for White due to the threat of 44 Nd8+. Instead Black can try 42 ... Kd5, after which 43 Nxf7 is doubtful because of 43 ... Rg3+ and 44 ... Rg7 -- White can squirm quite a lot but I think he always ends up at least a pawn down with a bad game. But 43 Nxe6 Kxe6 (43 ... fxe6? 44 Rd7+ Kc4 45 Rxd3 Kxd3 46 f5) 44 Ra6+ looks good. Again, 44 ... Kd5 is refuted by 45 Rd7+, so 45 ... Ke7 is necessary, after which 46 Ra7+ Ke6 is a repetition, or 46 ... Kf8 47 f5 threatening 48 f6. 42 ... Rf3 On 42 ... Re3, White may be able to survive by 43 Nxc5 Kb6 44 Nxe6! Kxa5 45 Ng5. 43 Rxc5+ Kb6 44 Ng5? Forced is 44 c4 Rxf4 45 Rb5+ Kc6 and 46 ... Bxc4, with an extra pawn for Black (Gradsky). 44 ... Rg3+ 45 Kf2 Rxg5 46 fxg5 Kxc5 and Black won in a few more moves.