It is not always that solid

I spent the weekend writing a couple of articles covering my trip to the UK, and in them I made the observation that UK chess is a lot more solid and positional than Australian chess. While in the UK I also made this observation, remarking that a lot of games sin Australia start with players just throwing pieces out there, and then looking for whatever tactics may arise.
There are of course exceptions in both directions, as I saw at the 4NCL weekender. In the game below I'm not convinced either side was looking for a positional edge, especially after 8.d5 set fire to the position. White then decided to throw more wood onto the fire with 11.Nxg6 with the idea of keeping the kin in the centre. But it wasn't until Black passed on 15. ... Nd3+ that White could begin to breath easier, and a few move later it was a full on king hunt, ending in Black getting mated.


Eagleton,Greg T (2055) - Hand,Freddie (2205)
4NCL Division 2b Northampton, ENG (4.72), 15.01.2017

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bg5 Ne4 4. Bf4 c5 5. e3 Qb6 6. Nbd2 Nc6 7. Nxe4 dxe4 8. d5 Nb4 9. Ne5 f6 10. Qh5+ g6 11. Nxg6 hxg6 12. Qxg6+ Kd8 13. Qxe4 Rh5 14. Qc4 Qa5 15. Be2 Rxd5 16. O-O b5 17. Qe4 f5 18. Qf3 Bb7 19. Rad1 e6 20. c4 Rxd1 21. Rxd1+ Kc8 22. Qh5 Bc6 23. Qf7 Na6 24. Qxf8+ Kb7 25. Qe7+ Kc8 26. cxb5 Bxb5 27. Qxe6+ Kb7 28. Bf3+ Bc6 29. Qxc6# 1-0