To play the games, just click on the moves in the score in the right hand side. Moves in black are the ones actually played in the game, and moves in color are variations and analysis. You can also click on these moves to see the position on the board. Or you can use the control panel under the board to step through each move manually, or the game can be played automatically. In autoplay mode, you have the option of stepping into the analysis variations or bypassing them completely.
Select games by scrolling in the right hand panel, or use the drop down list under the board. The interface is quite natural and easy to get used to. We hope you find it useful and enjoyable.
Carl Bolm - Rick Lange [B21]
McHenry Area Chess Championship/]
(1) 2004
Cliff Adams - Carl Bolm [C63]
McHenry Area Chess Championship (2) 2004
Carl Bolm - Bob Cairone [C54]
McHenry Area Chess Championship (3) 2004
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O h6 This move is weak. Normal piece development would have been the better approach, and if the position transposes into a Guicco Piano, that should be fine.
5. c3 d6 6. d4 exd4 7. cxd4 Bb6 8. Nc3 Bg4 9. Be3 Nf6 10. b4! A good move. Black cannot take it, since that allows White to bring out his queen either to a4 or b3 with multiple attacks. Refusing the pawn allows White an increased advantage in space, but that is the lesser of the available evils.
10... O-O 11. a3 Qe7 12. Qd3 Rae8 13. Nd2 Nh7 Black is feeling uncomfortable with his position and is looking for ways to break out of the doldrums. He's willing to allow White 14. Nd5 if it gives him chances for counterplay.
14. Rae1 Qh4 15. f4 Qf6 Then Black should have put the queen here immediately. The better move was
15... Ne7
16. e5 Qd8 17. Nd5 Nb8 18. Nxb6 axb6 19. Nf3 c6 20. Bc1 Nd7 21. f5 This move is premature and undoes much of White's advantage. A better plan would have been to put the light squared bishop behind the queen and attack the Black kingside along the diagonal, throwing whatever other material necessary into opening up lines. The pawn on e5 does a nice job of threatening an en passant capture preventing Black from playing a defensive f5 to close the diagonal.
21... Bxf3 22. e6? this allows Black enough time to complete his defensive posture. Better would have been an immediate capture o the Black bishop, either with the rook or the queen. Now the White center pawns are fragmented and less able to pry open the Black kingside.
22... d5 23. Qxf3 fxe6 23... dxc4
was better. The White bishop is a stronger piece than the Black knight and it would be well to take it off the board and preclude it's use in future attacks.
24. Bd3 exf5 25. Qh5 Rxe1 26. Rxe1 Qf6 27. Be3 Ng5 28. Rf1 Ne4 Finally blocking White's attack. Black can now start to breath easier. And although White has a nice advantage in possessing the bishop pair, Black is fully two pawns up (from moves 23 and 24). Since White doesn't seem to have any pressing attacks that can threaten mate in the near future, that leaves Black with the better game.
29. g4 Qf7 30. Rxf5 Qxh5 31. Rxh5? A significant error, which allows the Black rook to activate against the two unsupported bishops (that the bishop pair cannot defend each other is an underappreciated weakness of these pieces). Better would have been
31. Rxf8+ Kxf8 32. gxh5 Ndf6 33. Be2
minimizing his disadvantage and making it difficult for Black to bring the endgame to a wining conclusion.
31... Rf3 32. Bxe4 Rxe3 33. Bg6 Rxa3 Black is not happy that his king is so immobile, but has determined there is time to munch on the White pawns before White can get his rook into a mating opportunity. The knight does an adequate job of defending the only currently available mating square and preventing the rook from seeking out another one. Also, from here the Black rook can quickly cover the back rank.
34. Rf5 Nf6 35. Re5 Kf8 To keep the rook away from e7 where it can attack the Black pawns.
36. Kg2 Ra2+ 37. Kh1 37. Kg3 is playable but is countered by 37... Ra8
However, White wanted to keep the pawns unencumbered.
37... Rd2 38. h4 Rxd4 and White realizes that now 39. g5 is met by 39... Rxh4+ 40. Kg2 hxg5. However, even in alternate lines, Black's pawn advantage is large enough that the knight can be sacrifices, and the recapture creates a flight square for the king, giving Black an ending that is still strongly in his favor.
0-1
Gary Barker - Carl Bolm [C40]
McHenry Area Chess (4) 2004
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