Missed opportunity at the Ulster Masters

The live coverage of the Ulster Championship Congress proved a great success. The Ulster Chess Union has brought out all the technology again for the Ulster Masters this weekend. After technical problems defeated coverage of Round 1 on Saturday morning, normal service was restored in the afternoon with six games online, plus webcam and results.

One of the pleasures of watching the live games is to put the moves into an engine and bask in "your" superiority to those playing the games by seeing something they missed!

[Event "Ulster Masters 2015"] [Site "Belfast"] [Date "2015.10.18"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Lavery, Robert"] [Black "Leitch, Calum"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B00"] [Annotator "McAlister"] [PlyCount "24"] [EventDate "2015.10.17"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "6"] [EventCountry "NIR"] [WhiteClock "1:12:12"] [BlackClock "0:51:11"] 1. e4 a6 {Looks like a beginner's move, but better than its appearance.} 2. d4 d5 ({The most common continuation here is} 2... b5 {as in the sensational win by the English No.1 over the World Champion at the 1980 European Team Championship:} 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. Bd3 Nf6 5. Qe2 e6 6. a4 c5 7. dxc5 Bxc5 8. Nbd2 b4 9. e5 Nd5 10. Ne4 Be7 11. O-O Nc6 12. Bd2 Qc7 13. c4 bxc3 14. Nxc3 Nxc3 15. Bxc3 Nb4 16. Bxb4 Bxb4 17. Rac1 Qb6 18. Be4 O-O 19. Ng5 h6 20. Bh7+ Kh8 21. Bb1 Be7 22. Ne4 Rac8 23. Qd3 Rxc1 24. Rxc1 Qxb2 25. Re1 Qxe5 26. Qxd7 Bb4 27. Re3 Qd5 28. Qxd5 Bxd5 29. Nc3 Rc8 30. Ne2 g5 31. h4 Kg7 32. hxg5 hxg5 33. Bd3 a5 34. Rg3 Kf6 35. Rg4 Bd6 36. Kf1 Be5 37. Ke1 Rh8 38. f4 gxf4 39. Nxf4 Bc6 40. Ne2 Rh1+ 41. Kd2 Rh2 42. g3 Bf3 43. Rg8 Rg2 44. Ke1 Bxe2 45. Bxe2 Rxg3 46. Ra8 Bc7 {0-1 Karpov,A-Miles,A: Skara 1980}) ({If you're looking for something really provocative, then try} 2... h6 {which another top English GM (and ironically a noted opening theoretician) tried out on his return to chess after retiring to an ordinary work-life:} 3. Bd3 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. Be3 Qc7 6. b4 Nc6 7. c3 d6 8. cxd6 Bxd6 9. Nf3 Nf6 10. h3 g5 11. a3 g4 12. Nd4 Ne5 13. Be2 Nxe4 14. hxg4 Bd7 15. g5 O-O-O 16. gxh6 Bc6 17. Nxc6 Qxc6 18. Qb3 Bc7 19. a4 Ng3 20. fxg3 Qxg2 21. Rf1 Nd3+ 22. Bxd3 Rxd3 {0-1 Van Oosterom,C-Sadler,M: Haarlem 2010}) 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. f3 exf3 5. Qxf3 ({Sacrificing not one but two pawns. I would have expected} 5. Nxf3 {which would be similar to a reasonably respectable gambit against the Caro-Kann: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.f3 exf3 5.Nf3}) 5... Qxd4 6. Be3 Qb4 7. O-O-O Bg4 {Oops! Looks like White is going to lose the exchange, but in fact Black's move should lose.} 8. a3 ({The players had been moving quickly up to here and in so doing missed a tactical shot. Counter-attacking the opposing queen is the right idea, but this is the wrong method. Correct was} 8. Nd5 $1 {threatening both Nc7 checkmate and the Black queen - plus Qxg4 winning the bishop if he loses the protection from his queen. The best try is} e6 {but then} 9. Nxc7+ Ke7 10. Qf2 $1 {(threatening Bc5+ forking king and queen)} Nd7 {and now} 11. Rd4 $1 {allowing White to capture the a8-rook.}) 8... Bxf3 9. axb4 Bxd1 10. Nd5 Kd7 11. Kxd1 e6 12. Nf4 Bxb4 { Black is the exchange and three pawns up and he went on to win without any further alarms.} 0-1