The decisive game

In Australian Rules Football, the third quarter of the game is known as the 'Premiership Quarter'. This is where titles are won and lost, at least in theory, and every Grand Final this phrase makes an appearance.
The logic behind this is that if you take the lead at this stage, your opponent only has a limited time to catch up. This is also true in chess, although I suspect it is easier to blow a lead in chess than it is in football. In a nine round event Game 7 can often be the key game (especially in a large field) where a win on the top board puts a player out in front, and every one else scrambling to catch up. It is often the last round where the closest challengers play, leaving the leader with a slightly easier set of games to finish.
This was certainly the case in this years Doeberl Cup when James Morris sat down against GM Hrant Melkumyan. By winning this game Morris took a clear lead in the tournament, and pulled ahead of the top seeds. Having played most of them already, he had a slightly easier run home, and the 1.5/2 finish was enough for outright first.


Melkumyan,Hrant - Morris,James [E07]
O2C Doeberl Cup Open Canberra (7.1), 27.03.2016

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. g3 Be7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O c6 7. Nc3 Nbd7 8. Qd3 b6 9. Rd1 Ba6 10. b3 Rc8 11. a4 Bb4 12. Bb2 Qe7 13. Nd2 e5 14. e3 e4 15. Qc2 h5 16. Ne2 Ng4 17. h3 Nh6 18. a5 b5 19. Rdc1 h4 20. cxd5 cxd5 21. Qd1 hxg3 22. fxg3 Nf5 23. Nf1 Bd6 24. Rxc8 Rxc8 25. Rc1 Rxc1 26. Bxc1 b4 27. g4 Nh4 28. Neg3 Nf6 29. Qc2 Qc7 30. Qxc7 Bxc7 31. Bd2 Bxa5 32. Be1 g5 33. Nf5 Nxf5 34. gxf5 Bc8 35. Ng3 Bc7 36. Bf1 a5 37. Be2 Bxg3 38. Bxg3 a4 39. bxa4 b3 40. Bd1 b2 41. Bc2 Ba6 42. Bb1 Bd3 43. Ba2 b1Q+ 44. Bxb1 Bxb1 45. Kf2 Bd3 46. Bc7 Ne8 47. Bd8 f6 48. Kg3 Kf7 49. h4 gxh4+ 50. Kxh4 Nd6 51. Kg4 Be2+ 52. Kf4 Ne8 0-1