Is the tide turning for the Berlin?

In terms of opening re-inventions over the last 25 years, the rise of the Berlin Defence to the Ruy Lopez probably runs second only the Kasparov's use of the Evans Gambit in the mid 1990's. And since Kramnik turned it into a solid system for Black, it has been a regular feature of the Super GM events. However I've recently seen a few games at least which shows that White still has a chance to breach the Berlin Wall.
In the current Norway event, Carlsen scores a reasonably direct win over Lev Aronian, after the later went wrong in a Berlin middlegame. Aronian probably underestimated Whites space advantage (with the pawn on d5), and only made it worse by exchanging dark squared bishops. As a result he had very little counterplay, and after being forced to shuffle his pieces, eventually made a fatal blunder.
As a result Carlsen leads the event with 2 wins and a draw, while everyone else has either drawn, or in the case of Caruana and Aronian, lost to Carlsen.


Carlsen,Magnus (2843) - Aronian,Levon (2764) [C67]
6th Norway Chess 2018 Stavanger NOR (3.1), 30.05.2018

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. O-O Nxe4 5. Re1 Nd6 6. Nxe5 Be7 7. Bf1 Nxe5 8. Rxe5 O-O 9. d4 Bf6 10. Re1 Nf5 11. d5 Re8 12. Rxe8+ Qxe8 13. Qd3 d6 14. Nd2 Bg5 15. Nf3 Bxc1 16. Rxc1 Bd7 17. Re1 Qd8 18. Qc4 g6 19. h3 Ng7 20. Re3 a5 21. a4 Ne8 22. Qd4 Ng7 23. g4 c6 24. c4 Ne8 25. Qf4 Kg7 26. Rb3 Rb8 27. Ng5 Nf6 28. Rf3 h6 29. Ne4 Nxe4 30. Qxf7+ Kh8 31. Qxg6 1-0

The Bh6, h4 hack

The kingside hack against fianchettoed bishop is a bit of a double edged sword. On the surface it looks appealing, but it can back fire. I had the chance to successfully play it last night, but when looking up the theory on it, the position after White's 9th move only scores around 40%. In my game I was certainly helped by 9... Qa5 but if my opponent had chosen something like 9...Bxh6 instead, then I would have had a lot more work to do.


Press,Shaun - Hosking,Ian [B26]
Autumn Leaves, 29.05.2018

1. Nc3 c5 2. e4 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. Be3 e5 7. Qd2 Nge7 8. Bh6 O-O 9. h4 Qa5 10. h5 b5 11. hxg6 Nxg6 12. Bxg7 Kxg7 13. Qh6+ Kf6 14. f4 Nd4 15. O-O-O Ke7 16. f5 Nh8 17. Nd5+ Ke8 18. Qxd6 f6 19. Qe7# 1-0

Old chess software

Accessing old chess programs, and indeed any old games, without payment is a bit of a grey area. 'Abandonware' is the term used for software no longer being sold or supported, and there are a number of sites on the net that allow you to download or run these programs. I suspect that the copyright on these programs is still in effect, but on the other hand, how can you pay for such programs if there is no one to pay.
Having got that out of the way, I did come across a site that had a number of old, and historic pieces of chess software. https://www.myabandonware.com/browse/theme/chess-d/ has around 75 chess (or chess type) programs listed, and can either be downloaded, or played inside a browser. Various versions of Battlechess are there, as are early copies of Chessmaster. Of course these games are the MS-DOS versions of everything, so the graphics (and strength) aren't that great. The earliest program listed was MicroChess (1978) which ran on the Apple II (so you'll need an Apple II emulator to play it). The earliest DOS program listed was simply called Chess (1981), but you can play that in a web browser (NB on the easiest level I checkmated on move 5)
If you do a bit of extra searching you can probably find more programs that weren't tagged correctly, as well as non-chess games you probably never thought you'd play again!

And the assist goes to the goalie

When I was very young, I spent a season of soccer playing goalie. I kind of fell into it, as no one else was keen to take on the role, although it took me a while to work out why. As far as I can remember I was pretty good at it, especially when diving at the feet of over eager centre forwards trying to go round me. However in the final game of the Port Moresby Under 10's I did concede the vital goal that gave the title to Korobosea Primary, instead of my team. After that I gave up goalkeeping (mainly due to a move to a new team in Australia), and for the next few seasons scored goals rather than conceding them.
Of course accidents happen, even to seasoned professionals. The Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Liverpool is the current example, with Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius, having a bit of a shocker. But even seasoned GM's can get it wrong at the board, especially if they miscount captures. GM Deep Sengupta did exactly that in the Kolkatta Open, when he assumed that recaptures would only happen one way. Instead he realised at move 10 that his opponent could capture in a different way (11. cxd7+ Nxd7!) and whatever happened next, he was dropping a piece.


Sengupta,Deep - Narayanan,Srinath [D00]
Kolkatta, 05.2018

1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 d5 3. e3 c6 4. Bd3 Bg4 5. Ne2 Nbd7 6. f3 Bh5 7. O-O Bg6 8. c4 e6 9. cxd5 Bxd3 10. dxc6 Bxe2 0-1

In praise of trash

I've never got out of my habit of playing 'coffee house' openings, especially when I'm actually playing in a 'coffee house' type event. And so it was today, where I played a couple of terrible games, interspersed with a few 'coffee house' wins. And in true coffee house style, I was helped by my opponent getting somewhat confused with what I was doing. Here is Exhibit A


Press,Shaun - Dude, A [C21]
Pub Chess, May 2018

1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Bc4 Bb4 5. bxc3 Ba5 6. Qd5 Bxc3+ 7. Nxc3 Qf6 8. e5 Qe6 9. Nf3 c6 10. Qe4 d5 11. exd6 Qxe4+ 12. Nxe4 f6 13. Bf4 b5 14. Bb3 Bb7 15. O-O-O Nd7 16. Rhe1 O-O-O 17. Nd4 g5 18. Bg3 h5 19. h3 h4 20. Bh2 Nh6 21. Ne6 Rde8 22. N4c5 Nf5 23. Nxd7 Nxd6 24. Rxd6 Rh7 25. Red1 1-0

And the bottom seed is ... Anand!

I've just had a look at the upcoming Altibox tournament in Norway, and noticed that the *bottom* seed in this 10 player event is Viswanathan Anand. He is in good company though, as the 9th seed is Lev Aronian a mere 4 rating points ahead of him.
At the other end of the event, Carlsen, Caruana, and Mamedyarov are the 2800+ players, with the rest of the field squeezed in between them. The first round of play is on Monday 28th May, although there are other events leading into, including a simul by Wesley So.
Also interesting is the format for the open event running alongside the main event. Although it is a 7 round event, the first 3 rounds are rapidplay games (15m+10s), played on the Friday evening. Saturday and Sunday see four 90m+30s (2 on each day), to round out the event. The entry fees are quite pricey, at what would be $150 Australian, although pretty much everything in Norway is pricey!
With such a strong field lined up, it is very difficult to pick a winner. I generally do well at this by picking Carlsen in whichever event he is playing in, but I'd love to see Anand win, as it isn't every day that the bottom seed wins a high level RR.

Making my life easier

I spent today running a small interschool competition in Canberra. As the field wasn't very large, the rounds tended to finish quite quickly. To make sure we stuck to some sort of sensible schedule, I used the time in between rounds to do a bit of coaching.
The first lesson I gave was on the 'Electric Fence' checkmate (Mate with Q+R or R+R). Fortunately for me the players were quite attentive, as it seemed that the lesson sunk in. Over the next few rounds, this became the 'go to' method of winning the game, especially by players who had never checkmated this way before. As a result, there were very few games that were dragged out by kings being unsuccessfully chased around the board. This meant the rounds finished even quicker(!), giving me more time to do even more coaching.
So if you are running a school event, showing a few basic checkmating ideas (Electric Fence, K+Q v K) might make the event run a little more smoothly.

The Chess Club

When is a chess club not a chess club? When is it The Chess Club.
The club I am referring to is the Chess Club in London, which is a private members club located in Mayfair. It has a bar, restaurant and lounge areas, and indeed some chess sets, but I assume its main function is as a club, rather than somewhere to play chess. If you want to check out the interiors before visiting, https://martynwhitedesigns.com/blogs/interiors/chess-club-london covers it nicely. If you are interested in visiting or joining, the clubs own website https://www.chessclublondon.com/ has all the details.

Memorising endgames

Chess players learn/memorise openings, but don't really do the same for endings. This kind of makes sense, as there is no guarantee you will ever see a particular ending, but there are some that are common enough that committing them to memory would not hurt.
One classic example is the Rook and Pawn ending from the final game of the Capablanca-Alekhine World Championship Match (1927). It is a good example of how you convert and ending where you have an outside passed pawn on the queenside, while there are equal pawns on the kingside.
The key ideas are to put your rook behind the passer, forcing your opponents rook to blockade. Then bring your king towards the queenside, forcing your opponents king to try and keep your king out. Then shift your king to the kingside to attack the pawns. Finally, break up the pawns on the kingside with a pawn push of your own, before picking them off and winning!
While it takes a little time to complete, the general method is usually enough to collect the point. I've even had the need to use it recently, when playing some casual games at Street Chess.

Alekhine,Alexander - Capablanca,Jose Raul [D51]
World-ch12 Alekhine-Capablanca +6-3=25 Buenos Aires (34), 26.11.1927

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Nbd7 5. e3 c6 6. a3 Be7 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Bd3 dxc4 9. Bxc4 Nd5 10. Bxe7 Qxe7 11. Ne4 N5f6 12. Ng3 c5 13. O-O Nb6 14. Ba2 cxd4 15. Nxd4 g6 16. Rc1 Bd7 17. Qe2 Rac8 18. e4 e5 19. Nf3 Kg7 20. h3 h6 21. Qd2 Be6 22. Bxe6 Qxe6 23. Qa5 Nc4 24. Qxa7 Nxb2 25. Rxc8 Rxc8 26. Qxb7 Nc4 27. Qb4 Ra8 28. Ra1 Qc6 29. a4 Nxe4 30. Nxe5 Qd6 31. Qxc4 Qxe5 32. Re1 Nd6 33. Qc1 Qf6 34. Ne4 Nxe4 35. Rxe4 Rb8 36. Re2 Ra8 37. Ra2 Ra5 38. Qc7 Qa6 39. Qc3+ Kh7 40. Rd2 Qb6 41. Rd7 Qb1+ 42. Kh2 Qb8+ 43. g3 Rf5 44. Qd4 Qe8 45. Rd5 Rf3 46. h4 Qh8 47. Qb6 Qa1 48. Kg2 Rf6 49. Qd4 Qxd4 50. Rxd4 Kg7 51. a5 Ra6 52. Rd5 Rf6 53. Rd4 Ra6 54. Ra4 Kf6 55. Kf3 Ke5 56. Ke3 h5 57. Kd3 Kd5 58. Kc3 Kc5 59. Ra2 Kb5 60. Kb3 Kc5 61. Kc3 Kb5 62. Kd4 Rd6+ 63. Ke5 Re6+ 64. Kf4 Ka6 65. Kg5 Re5+ 66. Kh6 Rf5 67. f4 Rc5 68. Ra3 Rc7 69. Kg7 Rd7 70. f5 gxf5 71. Kh6 f4 72. gxf4 Rd5 73. Kg7 Rf5 74. Ra4 Kb5 75. Re4 Ka6 76. Kh6 Rxa5 77. Re5 Ra1 78. Kxh5 Rg1 79. Rg5 Rh1 80. Rf5 Kb6 81. Rxf7 Kc6 82. Re7 1-0

Fast start, gentle finish

GM Wenjun Ju is the new Women's World Champion, winning her match against Zhongyi Tan 5.5-4.5. After a pretty violent start to the match (games 2-6 were all decisive), the game finished with 4 draws.
This of course was what Bobby Fischer had predicted was likely to happen in fixed length matches, with on player taking a lead, and then drawing their way to victory. Nonetheless, his proposed solution (first to 10 wins, but the challenger requiring a 2 win margin for the title) was never adopted, except in his 1992 match against Boris Spassky, The other solution, which was the first to 6 wins, was tried after 1972, but fell out of favour after the Karpov v Kasparov match that was aborted after 48 games. Since then World Championship matches have become shorter and shorter, making Fischer's prediction more likely to be correct.

An easy chess engine example

If you are interested in how chess engines work (and can read/understand Javascript). then 'A step-by-step guide to building a simple chess AI' might be worth a read. It is a simple explanation/tutorial about how chess engines are coded.
It  mainly looks at the evaluation and search functions, using the existing chess.js library for move generation and validation. As it is a very basic implementation, it is missing a few things that makes a chess program really strong. There is no quiescence search (a search extension which follows capture sequences beyond the specified search depth), no transposition table, and no move ordering.
However, if you are interested in tinkering with a chess program, the source is free and downloadable from the above links, and if you are feeling energetic, you can probably add those features yourself.

Two Famous Actors

While flicking through 365 Chess Master Lessons by Andrew Soltis, I came across a game between two famous actors, Michael Redgrave and John Steadman. Looking a the date it was played (2007) and the venue (Sydney) I immediately figured something wasn't quite right, as Sir Michael Redgrave had died in 1985, and John Steadman passed away in 1993.
It turned out that the surnames of the players had been transposed, and the two participants were in fact Michael Steadman (NZ) and John Redgrave (AUS) who had met in the first round of the 2007 Sydney International Open. Soltis features the game as part of a lesson on when is the optimal time to play a move. In the game, 9.Nd5 was strong, and made even stronger by 9...Bb7??, although 9.a4 was even stronger, as it sets up some extra tactics for White. After Steadman found the knockout blow with 10.Ne6! there wasn't much left for Black.


Steadman,Michael - Redgrave,John [B94]
SIO, 2007

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. f4 b5 8. Bxf6 gxf6 9. Nd5 Bb7 10. Ne6 Qa5+ 11. b4 1-0

It just went horribly wrong

Trying to bluff your opponent in OTB chess is a risky proposition, doing so in Correspondence Chess is complete foolishness. Here I tried a bluff against my opponent, hoping he wouldn't find 9.Nh7!, or realise it had been played in a similar position previously (9...Qe8 is better). Of course he did find it, and after that, my game just disintegrated (aided in part by other horrible moves from me)


Schreuders,Arjo - Press,Shaun [C57]
Australia v Netherlands, 05.03.2018

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 Bc5 5. Bxf7+ Ke7 6. Bc4 Rf8 7. O-O d6 8. Nc3 h6 9. Nh7 Rh8 10. Nxf6 gxf6 11. Nd5+ Kf8 12. Qh5 Kg7 13. Nb6 Qe7 14. Nxa8 Nd4 15. c3 Ne6 16. d4 exd4 17. b4 1-0

The strongest player you've never heard of

While doing some research on the 1876 Steinitz - Blackburne Match, I came across mention of a player I'm not sure I've ever really been aware of, John Wisker. According to the Chessmetrics website, he was the 4th ranked player in the world at that time, with an historical rating of 2623.  This high ranking was probably based on his two victories in the British Championship, in 1870 and 1872 (the last Championship until 1904 btw). However his career was cut short in 1876 when he contracted tuberculosis, which resulted in a move to Australia (and possibly making him Australia's highest ranked OTB player ever!). I'm not sure if he played any chess while living here (I cannot find any games), but he wrote a chess column for the Australasian, before passing away in 1884 in Melbourne.


Wisker,John - Zukertort,Johannes Hermann [C80]
Zukertort 1st game in ENGWestminsterCC London, 22.06.1872

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. Re1 Nc5 7. Bxc6 dxc6 8. d4 Ne6 9. Nxe5 Be7 10. Be3 O-O 11. Nc3 f6 12. Nf3 f5 13. Qd3 f4 14. Bd2 Bd6 15. Ne4 Kh8 16. c4 b5 17. b3 Bb7 18. Bc3 Qd7 19. Rad1 Qf7 20. Qe2 Rfe8 21. c5 Be7 22. Ne5 Qf5 23. Rd3 Rad8 24. g4 Qf8 25. Rh3 Kg8 26. Qd3 g6 27. b4 Bf6 28. Nf3 Bc8 29. d5 Bg7 30. d6 cxd6 31. cxd6 Nc7 32. Rxh7 Kxh7 33. Nfg5+ Kg8 34. Qh3 Bh6 35. Nf6+ Qxf6 36. Rxe8+ Nxe8 37. Bxf6 Bxg5 38. Bxg5 1-0

Not playing doesn't just hurt yourself

A quick comment in the recent selections for the Australian Olympiad team (NB I am not revealing my selections, or who has been selected as there is still a chance of appeals by non selected players)

For the last few Olympiads I've been one of the selectors for the Australian teams. This year I was on the selection panel for the Open and Women's teams. One issue that arose for me was the geographical advantage/disadvantage some players suffered from. For a couple of players, the access to strong players was somewhat limited, making it harder for me to rank them highly. When they did play similar events to other players (ie international FIDE rated events), the results were quite comparable, but it was in their 'home' tournaments where they fell behind.
It wasn't because they scored badly, but simply because there wasn't enough strong players to test themselves against. And as playing in the Olympiad requires you to play against strong players, a 80% score against a field of 1700's isn't as impressive as a 50% score against 2100's.
Sadly, in at least a couple of cases, it isn't because there are no strong players close by, but that there aren't enough 'active' strong players close by. Now there are many reasons for choosing not to play (especially if you are a strong player), but it is becoming clear to me, that this has a knock on effect for other players. And I would hate to think that this would contribute to a cascading effect of discouraging the next level down from playing as well.

Chess and Meditation

Every now and then I get sent free stuff as a result of this blog. Usually it is books to review, but occasionally it is software. My latest review copy is a program called "Zen Chess: Mate in One", which is available on Steam.
At first I wasn't sure what the program was intended to be. It presents you with a succession of mate in 1 problems, and when you solve one, you move to the next one. It doesn't keep score (as far as I can find), and the problems don't seem to get harder the further you go.
But on a second visit I realised that the clue is in the name. It isn't so much a training program as it is a meditation tool. The program comes with a soothing soundtrack which gently plays while you solve the puzzles. The colours are very light, and the slow fade in and out of positions, is quite relaxing.
I've solved the first 60 positions so far, out of the 100 it is supposed to contain. I don't know the punishment for suggesting the wrong answer, as even in a relaxed state, I still have a competitive instinct.
The minimalist approach to the program seems to have carried over to the price, as it listed at 99c (US) on the steam website.
If you are looking for a tactics trainer, then this isn't going to be it. But if you just want to solve easy problems while imaging yourself floating in a tropical lagoon, the the cost won't kill you.

Value for money

Despite the low profile of the current Women's World Championship Match, spectators are certainly getting value for money. After the first game was drawn, the next 4 games were decisive with Wenjun Ju leading Zhongyi Tan 3.5-1.5. Ju won games 2,3 and 5, while Tan picked up the point in game 4.
The players are having a short break while the tournament moves to the second venue (Chongqing), with the match recommencing on the 12th.

Ju,Wenjun (2571) - Tan,Zhongyi (2522) [E04]
WCh Women 2018 Chongqing/Shanghai CHN (3), 06.05.2018

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. O-O Rb8 7. Nc3 b5 8. Ne5 Nxe5 9. dxe5 Nd7 10. Qc2 Bb7 11. Bxb7 Rxb7 12. Rd1 Be7 13. Qe4 Qc8 14. Qg4 g5 15. Qh5 Nc5 16. Bxg5 c6 17. Rd4 Rd7 18. Bxe7 Kxe7 19. Qh4+ Ke8 20. Rad1 Qd8 21. Qf4 Rxd4 22. Rxd4 Qb6 23. Rd6 Rf8 24. Ne4 Nxe4 25. Qxe4 Qb7 26. Rxc6 Kd7 27. Qd4+ 1-0

4NCL News

(Disclaimer: I am an occasional sponsor of the White Rose team)

The 4NCL season has finished in the UK, with Guildford once again running away with the trophy. Generally fielding a team of all GM's (or as close to it as possible), they won all their matches comfortably, and score 45.5/56 game points. Second place was shared between Cheddleton and White Rose on 10 points, with Cheddleton having the better tie break. White Rose had a tough final weekend, but managed to score 4 points from 6, to reach the podium.
In good news for Australian chess, IM Justin Tan scored his final GM norm playing for the Oxford team. He now needs to get his rating above 2500 for FIDE to approve the title. Unfortunately this result has come to late to assist his application for the Australian Olympiad team, as according to unofficial sources he was not selected.

Short throws his hat into the ring

GM Nigel Short has become the third candidate for FIDE President, with the official announcement that he is running. At this stage he hasn't revealed the rest of his ticket, although I assume this will take place shortly.
With a three cornered contest in play (assuming no one drops out), the electoral dynamics change. According to the FIDE electoral regulations, if one of the candidates receives 50%+1 on the first ballot, they win there and then. But if no candidate receives a majority, then there is a second vote, and the candidate receiving the most votes is elected (even without a majority).
So one path for victory for Short, or indeed each of the candidates, is to hope that it goes to a second vote, and to pick up enough defectors to get the most votes. In such circumstances it may even be an advantage to run 3rd on the first vote, and hope the ticket that runs second then prefers to vote against the first place finisher!
Of course FIDE politics being what it is, privilege over principle is the rule rather than the exception, so any calculations like this need to take into account the inevitable horse trading that will occur.

Play chess, live longer

A newly released study shows that playing chess may contribute to a longer lifespan. The three study authors (including GM David Smerdon) compared the life span of Grandmasters, with Olympic medallists from the same countries (to account for environmental factors). 

The study found that GM's and athletes had a similar lifespan, and that both groups lived longer than the general population. While physical activity and longevity seems plausible, the extra lifespan for extra thinking is a little more surprising. The paper does not come to a firm conclusion on why this is so, but it does suggest that the higher social status that comes with being a GM is an asset in some countries (eg Eastern Europe).

You can read about the study at http://theconversation.com/checkmate-top-chess-players-live-longer-96019 and it is open for comment, if you want to add your 2 cents.

Blink or you'll miss it

To make up for the monster Nakamura game I'm offering a much shorter game, from today's Street Chess event. Both players seem keen to sacrifice something, but in the end White gave away a little too much, relied too much on his queen, and got mated quite quickly.


McPherson,Eric - Forace,Lee [C40]
Street Chess 05.05.2018

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d5 3. Nxe5 Bd6 4. Nxf7 Kxf7 5. Qh5+ g6 6. Qxd5+ Be6 7. Qd4 Nf6 8. e5 Re8 9. Bc4 Nc6 10. Bxe6+ Rxe6 11. Qc4 Nxe5 12. Qc3 Nd3+ 13. Kd1 Nxf2# 0-1

2018 Women's World Championship

The Women's World Championship matches have always been a little low-key, compared to the main show, and the 2018 event is no different. Harking back to the USSR days, the match is between two players from the same country, only this time it is China. Ju Wenjun and Tan Zhongyi are playing the 10 game match to decide the new champion.
One interesting aspect of the match is the 'home and away' format, with the home cities of each player hosting 5 games each. The first half of the match is in Shanghai, before moving to Chongqing for the second half.
The first game of the match was drawn, but the second game (which has just finished) was a win for Ju Wenjun. With a rest day after every 2nd game, Zhongyi has a day to regroup, before trying to even the score.
The tournament website is at http://china2018.fide.com/ while chess 24 (and other sites) are broadcasting the games.

If you have the time ...

This is possibly the longest game I will ever post on this blog. It was from a 3 minute game between Hikaru Nakamura and Rybka around 10 years ago, and goes for an amazing 271 moves.
I came across it today via a video post on chess.com by IM Kostya Kavutkiy, who is starting a feature on some of the funniest games played.
This one certainly qualifies, as Nakamura exploited Rybka's refusal to agree to a draw by repetition of the 50 move rule, forcing the engine to sacrifice pawns to avoid such an outcome. Even the end is quite amusing, as Nakamura underpromotes to 6 bishops, although a nicer touch could have been to promote to the piece belonging to the file (which has happened is at least one arranged game).
Any way, get your clicking finger warmed up, if you want to play through the whole thing.


Rybka (computer) - Nakamura,Hikaru (2697) [A00]
2008

1. g4 d5 2. h3 h5 3. g5 g6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Nc3 c6 6. Nf3 Bf5 7. Nh4 e6 8. Nxf5 exf5 9. Bf4 Ne7 10. e3 O-O 11. Qd2 Nd7 12. O-O-O Re8 13. Bg2 Nf8 14. Be5 Ne6 15. f4 Nc8 16. Kb1 Nd6 17. Bf1 Qd7 18. a4 b6 19. Ba6 Nc7 20. Be2 a6 21. Bd3 b5 22. h4 Ne6 23. Ne2 Re7 24. Ka1 Ree8 25. Qa5 Nb7 26. Qd2 Nd6 27. Rh2 Bf8 28. Rf2 Ng7 29. a5 Nb7 30. Ng1 Qd8 31. b4 Qd7 32. Nf3 Nd6 33. Bxd6 Bxd6 34. Ne5 Qb7 35. Kb2 Rac8 36. c3 Re7 37. Be2 Ree8 38. Bf3 Re7 39. Qc2 Rd8 40. Rfd2 Bb8 41. Be2 Re6 42. Bd3 Re7 43. Rf2 Re6 44. Qd2 Re7 45. Rg1 Re6 46. Rff1 Re7 47. Qd1 Re6 48. Rg2 Re7 49. Qc2 Re6 50. Rfg1 Re7 51. Rf2 Re6 52. Qe2 Re7 53. Qf3 Re6 54. Rd2 Re7 55. Rgd1 Re6 56. Qg3 Re7 57. Kb1 Re6 58. Bc2 Re7 59. Nd3 Re6 60. Nc5 Qc8 61. Nxe6 Qxe6 62. Kb2 Re8 63. Re1 Qd7 64. Qf3 Re7 65. Bd3 Re8 66. Rg2 Re7 67. Kb3 Re8 68. Ra2 Re7 69. Rc1 Re8 70. Rca1 Re7 71. Rg1 Re8 72. Rh2 Re7 73. Qg3 Re8 74. Ka3 Re7 75. Rb1 Re8 76. Rd2 Re7 77. Kb3 Re8 78. Ra1 Re7 79. Kb2 Re8 80. Re2 Re7 81. Ree1 Re6 82. Qf3 Qe7 83. Qf2 Qe8 84. Be2 Qe7 85. Bd1 Qe8 86. Bf3 Qe7 87. Qd2 Qe8 88. Kb3 Qe7 89. Kc2 Qe8 90. Kb2 Qe7 91. Rab1 Kf8 92. Qf2 Ke8 93. Be2 Kd8 94. Bd3 Qe8 95. Qf3 Ke7 96. Kb3 Kf8 97. Ra1 Qe7 98. Bc2 Kg8 99. Kb2 Qe8 100. Qf2 Qe7 101. Qd2 Qe8 102. Bd3 Qe7 103. Be2 Qe8 104. Rad1 Qe7 105. Rc1 Qe8 106. Bf3 Qe7 107. Qf2 Qe8 108. Rcd1 Qe7 109. Be2 Re4 110. Bd3 Qe6 111. Bxe4 fxe4 112. Ra1 Nf5 113. Kb3 Kf8 114. Rh1 Ke8 115. Rh2 Kd7 116. Qe1 Kd8 117. Rd1 Kd7 118. Rc2 Kd8 119. Qf2 Nd6 120. Ka2 Qf5 121. Rh1 Kd7 122. Qg3 Ke6 123. Qh3 Ke7 124. Qxf5 Nxf5 125. Rh3 Ke6 126. Kb3 Bc7 127. Re2 Bb8 128. Re1 Bc7 129. Ra1 Bb8 130. Rd1 Bc7 131. Re1 Bb8 132. Re2 Bc7 133. Rg2 Bb8 134. Rg1 Bc7 135. Rb1 Bb8 136. Rbh1 Bc7 137. Rg1 Bb8 138. Kb2 Bc7 139. Kc2 Bb8 140. Kd2 Bc7 141. Rh2 Bb8 142. Rc1 Bc7 143. Ra1 Bb8 144. Ke2 Bc7 145. Rg1 Bb8 146. Rhh1 Bc7 147. Kd2 Bb8 148. Rc1 Bc7 149. Rh3 Bb8 150. Ra1 Bc7 151. Rhh1 Bb8 152. Rae1 Bc7 153. Rh2 Bb8 154. Rh3 Bc7 155. Ra1 Bb8 156. Kc2 Bc7 157. Rf1 Bb8 158. Kb3 Bc7 159. Rf2 Bb8 160. Kc2 Bc7 161. Rg2 Bb8 162. Kd2 Bc7 163. Rh1 Bb8 164. Rf2 Bc7 165. Rfh2 Bb8 166. Rd1 Bc7 167. Rf1 Bb8 168. Re1 Bc7 169. Ke2 Bb8 170. Rh3 Bc7 171. Kd2 Bb8 172. Kc2 Bc7 173. Rb1 Bb8 174. c4 dxc4 175. Kb2 Bd6 176. Ka3 Ne7 177. Rb2 Nd5 178. Rg3 Kf5 179. Rb1 Be7 180. Rh3 Bd6 181. Kb2 Be7 182. Re1 Bxb4 183. Re2 Bxa5 184. Kc1 Bb6 185. Kc2 a5 186. Rh1 a4 187. Kc1 a3 188. Rc2 Ba5 189. Rh3 Bb4 190. Re2 Bd6 191. Re1 b4 192. Kb1 b3 193. Rh2 c3 194. Rc2 Bb4 195. Ka1 bxc2 196. Ka2 Nxe3 197. Kb3 Kxf4 198. Rc1 c5 199. dxc5 Bxc5 200. Rh1 Kg3 201. Ra1 Kxh4 202. Rc1 Kxg5 203. Rg1+ Kf4 204. Rh1 g5 205. Ra1 h4 206. Rc1 h3 207. Kxc3 g4 208. Kb3 g3 209. Ka4 g2 210. Kb5 Bd4 211. Ka6 Bb2 212. Ka7 Bxc1 213. Kb7 Bb2 214. Kb8 h2 215. Kb7 f5 216. Kb6 Ke5 217. Kc6 f4 218. Kb5 f3 219. Kb6 a2 220. Kb7 f2 221. Kc8 f1B 222. Kb7 g1B 223. Kb8 h1B 224. Kb7 c1N 225. Kc6 a1B 226. Kd7 Nd5 227. Ke8 Ne7 228. Kxe7 Nd3 229. Kf7 Nc5 230. Ke7 Nd7 231. Kxd7 e3 232. Kd8 e2 233. Kc7 e1B 234. Kd8 Ba5+ 235. Ke8 Bd8 236. Kf8 Be7+ 237. Kxe7 Bb5 238. Kf8 Bd5 239. Ke7 Bb6 240. Kf8 Bd8 241. Kg7 Ba3 242. Kh6 Bf8+ 243. Kh5 Bf7+ 244. Kg4 Bf1 245. Kg3 Bd4 246. Kg4 Bf2 247. Kf3 Be1 248. Kg4 Bg6 249. Kf3 Bh5+ 250. Ke3 Bh3 251. Kd3 Bg6+ 252. Kc4 Bd7 253. Kb3 Bb5 254. Ka2 Bda5 255. Kb2 Bfb4 256. Ka2 Bec3 257. Kb3 Bbd3 258. Ka4 Bc2+ 259. Kb5 Be8+ 260. Ka6 Bc6 261. Ka7 Bd3 262. Kb8 Bdb5 263. Kc8 Kd6 264. Kb8 Bf6 265. Kc8 Kd5 266. Kb8 Bd6+ 267. Kc8 Bd7+ 268. Kb7 Bd4 269. Ka8 Bac7 270. Kb7 Bdb6 271. Ka8 Bbc6# 0-1