[Event "PC2 12/7/11 23:45"]  [Site "Palm Handheld"]  [Date "2011.07.12"]  [Round "2"]  [White "Southall, Chris"]  [Black "NN"]  [Result "*"]  [SetUp "1"]  [FEN "r1bq1rk1/2pn1pbp/1p1p1np1/pP2p3/2P5/2N1PN2/PB1PBPPP/R2Q1RK1 w - - 0 10"]  [PlyCount "26"]  1.. d4 {Chris says: "Move 10 was where I wasn't sure what to do. I had  developed my minor pieces and felt like I needed to challenge black's solid  setup and open lines for my bishop which is somewhat blunted. I was also wary  of black's knight getting into c5. I also had an eye on the c6 square as black  had considerably weakend the square after playing 9...b6. After 10...e4 the  next few moves are pretty obvious, developing and attacking the e4 pawn. Then  I am not sure again how to proceed. The only plan looks to be to try and push  with c5 but I felt like the moves 13. Na4 and 14. Nb3 were pretty obvious as  to what I was going to do. Fortunately my opponent helped me out by playing 14.  c5. I felt like I had a good position after 17...Bf8 but for some reason was  still focused on the c5 push and the weak black d6 pawn instead of the obvious  d5 push. This led to my blunder and I was fortunate to get away with a draw."}  (10. Ba3 {does stop ...d5 for one move, if Black was thinking about playing ...  d5.  Not worth it!} 10... Re8) (10. d3 {is a Dave Regis move, preserving  options and hoping to slow down e5-e4.  A bit of analysis is not encouraging:}  10... Re8 (10... Nh5 {or}) (10... Ne8 {with the idea of ...f5}) 11. Qc2 Bb7 12.  Nd2 12... Re7 {and Qe8} (12... Qe7 13. e4 (13. Bf3))) 10... e4 {  Now the pawns have engaged, the scrum can push.} 11. Nd2 Re8 12. Qc2 Bb7 13.  Na4 (13. f4 exf3) 13... h6 14. Nb3 c5 15. bxc6 Bxc6 16. Nc3 Bb7 17. Nb5 Bf8 18.  a4 (18. d5 Nc5 (18... Ne5) 19. Bxf6 (19. N3d4) 19... Qxf6 20. Nc7) 18... d5 19.  Ba3 Bxa3 20. Rxa3 Nf8 21. c5 Rc8 22. Nd6 (22. Qd2) (22. Rc1 bxc5 23. Nxc5 Ba8  24. Rc3) 22... Qxd6 {I think our verdict was that d4, provoking ...e4, was a  very appropriate plan, and the follow-up to push c5 was also good.} *  

  [Event "?"]  [Site "?"]  [Date "2011.??.??"]  [Round "?"]  [White "NN"]  [Black "Southall, Chris"]  [Result "*"]  [SetUp "1"]  [FEN "r2qkb1r/1b1p1ppp/p1n1pn2/1pp5/3P4/2P1PN2/PP1NBPPP/R1BQR1K1 b kq - 0 8"]  [PlyCount "27"]  8... Qb6 {"To be honest, I was in a dilemma after white's 7th move. He played  a solid opening and I wondered whether to play d5 as my defence isn't really  effective against white's setup. It is probably my own lack of knowledge of  the defence but I'm sure I read in the book that if white doesn't take the  centre I should! It's not my natural game and didn't want to play into white's  hands. So I stuck with what I know! I'm not sure why I played 8...Qb6. it was  probably the point where I wasn't sure what to do. White helped me out with 10.  b4 and i felt after the exchanges I had a decent enough position. I was happy  with 12...f5 controlling the e4 square but after 13. c4 I should have taken  the pawn follwed by Bf6 and ganging up on the weak d4 pawn and possibly a  kingside attack with ...g5. Instead I allowed white to gain the advantage and  I was reduced to laying a cheap threat of checkmate on g2!"} (8... cxd4 9. cxd4  {with an open c-file.} (9. exd4 {looks more natural to me} 9... Be7 10. a4 {  White gets a chance to poke at Black's exposed pawns.} 10... b4 11. c4 O-O 12.  b3)) (8... Be7 {accepting a loss of tempo, if White will lose a central pawn.}  9. dxc5 Bxc5 10. e4 (10. a4 Qb6 11. axb5 axb5 12. Rxa8+ Bxa8 13. Qb3 b4 (13...  Na7) 14. Nc4 14... Qb8 {Black is under pressure but hanging on.}) 10... Qb6 {  looks fine for Black}) (8... c4 $6 {I usually think this sort of move helps  White, because there is no pressure on d4 and not so many options to think  about when preparing e3-e4.}) (8... d5 $5 {is a typical computer move; it's  probably fine but I no longer understand what Black is supposed to be doing!  In this sort of position I don't want the Bc8 to go to b7.}) 9. a3 (9. a4 {  is our earlier theme} 9... bxa4 (9... Be7) (9... Rc8 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. axb5  axb5 12. Qb3 Na7)) 9... Be7 10. b4 cxd4 11. exd4 Nd5 12. Bb2 f5 13. c4 Nf4 (  13... bxc4 {and White has instant opportunities:} 14. Nxc4 14... Qc7 $6 (14...  Qa7) 15. Rc1 O-O 16. Na5) 14. c5 14... Qc7 {The pawn structure has become  fixed, and it's not bad for Black.  White might make something of e5 but the  Bb2 doesn't look happy.} 15. Qc2 Nxe2+ 16. Rxe2 O-O 17. Rae1 Nd8 18. Bc3 Qc6  19. Qd3 g5 20. d5 $2 {Handing over a pawn.} (20. Nb3 $1 20... g4 21. Na5 Qc7  22. Ne5 Bd5) 20... Qxd5 21. Qxd5 21... Bxd5 {I think our verdict was that ...  Qb6 was a reasonable move, but that this was quite a difficult position to  handle.  Be2 wasn't at all correct by White, but even so, it was hard to  develop comfortably while dealing with moves like a4.} *  

  [Event "PC2 12/7/11 23:45"]  [Site "Palm Handheld"]  [Date "2011.07.12"]  [Round "2"]  [White "Southall, Chris"]  [Black "NN"]  [Result "*"]  1. b4 Nf6 2. Bb2 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. c4 O-O 5. Nf3 d6 6. Be2 e5 7. O-O a5 8. b5  Nbd7 9. Nc3 b6 10. d4 e4 11. Nd2 Re8 12. Qc2 Bb7 13. Na4 h6 14. Nb3 c5 15. bxc6  Bxc6 16. Nc3 Bb7 17. Nb5 Bf8 18. a4 (18. d5 Nc5 19. N3d4) 18... d5 19. Ba3 Bxa3  20. Rxa3 Nf8 21. c5 Rc8 22. Nd6 (22. Qd2) 22... Qxd6 23. Qb2 Qe6 24. Nxa5 bxa5  25. Qxb7 Rb8 26. Qc7 Ra8 27. Rb1 Qd7 28. Qf4 Kg7 29. Bb5 Reb8 30. h3 Qe7  31. Rc3 Ne6 32. Qe5 Qc7 33. Rd1 Rd8 34. g4 Qxe5 35. dxe5 Ng8 36. Bc6 Rac8  37. Bxd5 Ne7 38. Bb3 Rxd1+ 39. Bxd1 Rxc5 40. Rxc5 Nxc5 41. Kf1 Nc6 42. Ke2 Nxe5  43. Kd2 Kf6 44. Kc3 Ncd3 45. f4 exf3 46. Bxf3 Nxf3 47. Kxd3 Ke6 48. Kc4 Kd6  49. Kb5 Kc7 50. Kxa5 Kb7 51. Kb5 g5 52. Kc5 Ng1 53. Kd5 Nxh3 54. Ke4 Nf2+  55. Kf3 Nd3 56. Ke4 Nc5+ 57. Kf5 Nd7 58. e4 Nc5 59. e5 *  

  [Event "PC2 12/7/11 23:52"]  [Site "Palm Handheld"]  [Date "2011.07.12"]  [Round "3"]  [White "Southall, Chris"]  [Black "NN"]  [Result "*"]  1. b4 a5 2. b5 b6 3. Bb2 Bb7 4. e3 Nf6 5. Nf3 d6 6. c4 e6 7. Be2 Be7 8. O-O O-O  9. Nc3 Nbd7 10. Nd4 Nc5 11. Nc6 Bxc6 12. bxc6 d5 13. d4 Na6 14. cxd5 Nxd5  15. Nxd5 Qxd5 16. Bf3 Qd6 17. a3 Rad8 18. Qd3 (18. Qc2) (18. Qe2 Nb8 19. Rfc1)  18... Nb8 19. Rac1 (19. a4) 19... e5 20. Qb5 (20. Qb3 exd4 21. exd4) 20... exd4  21. Bxd4 Qxa3 22. Bxb6 cxb6 23. Qxb6 Nxc6 24. Rxc6 Qb4 25. Rb1 Qxb6 26. Rcxb6  Bb4 27. g3 Rd2 28. Rd1 Rxd1+ 29. Bxd1 *  

  [Event "PC2 12/7/11 23:55"]  [Site "Palm Handheld"]  [Date "2011.07.12"]  [Round "4"]  [White "NN"]  [Black "Southall, Chris"]  [Result "*"]  1. d4 b5 2. Nf3 Bb7 3. e3 a6 4. Nbd2 e6 5. Be2 c5 6. c3 Nf6 7. O-O Nc6 8. Re1  Qb6 9. a3 Be7 10. b4 cxd4 11. exd4 Nd5 12. Bb2 f5 13. c4 Nf4 14. c5 Qc7 15. Qc2  Nxe2+ 16. Rxe2 O-O 17. Rae1 Nd8 18. Bc3 Qc6 19. Qd3 g5 20. d5 Qxd5 21. Qxd5  Bxd5 22. Ne5 Ra7 23. Bd4 Nc6 24. Nxc6 Bxc6 25. Rc1 Bf6 26. Be5 Bxe5 27. Rxe5 {  Drawn, but...} *