(1) Keith Farrell - Neil Clark [C40]
Coast Teams 2007 EttA-GosB Gosford, 15.05.2007
[notes by Keith]

all moves in 90 minutes we were both playing board 4 Neil for Gosford B team and myseflf for Ettalong A team - at the time both our teams were on seven points from eight games played 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.Bc4 d6 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Nc3 0-0 6.d3 h6 7.h3 Nc6 8.Kh1 Bxh3!? 9.gxh3 Qd7 10.Kh2 g5 clearly black has soething in mind - an attack of some kind 11.Rg1 Bxf2 12.Rg2 g4 13.Nd5? [ 13.Rxf2 gxh3 14.Rf1 would have been much better] 13...g3+ 14.Kh1 a rushed move 14...Qxh3+ 15.Nh2 Diagram

a rather amusing position !! 15...Nxd5 16.Bxd5 Ne7 17.Qg4+ Qxg4 18.Nxg4 Ng6 19.Nxf2 gxf2 20.Rxf2 Kg7 21.Bd2 c6 22.Bb3 Rac8 23.Raf1 Rc7 24.Rf6 Rd7 25.R6f2 d5 26.exd5 cxd5 27.c4 dxc4 28.Bxc4 Rc7 29.Bb4 Re8 30.Rxf7+ Rxf7 31.Rxf7+ Kh8 32.Rxb7 e4 33.Bc3+ Ne5 34.Rb5 Kh7 35.Rxe5 Rxe5 36.Bxe5 exd3 37.Bxd3+ black resigns Gosford won the match 2.5 against 1.5 1-0

(2) Clark,N - Farrell,K [C24]
Gosford District 2007 Gosford (1), 12.06.2007
[notes by Keith]

revenge !!! time control 40/60 and 20/30 and then 15 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 h6 4.Be3 c6 5.Nf3 d5 6.exd5 cxd5 7.Bb5+ Bd7 8.a4 Bxb5 9.axb5 d4 10.Bd2 Bd6 W 53 B 50 11.0-0 0-0 12.Qc1 Kh7 13.Re1 Nbd7 14.c3 dxc3 15.Nxc3 Nc5?! 16.Qc2! the import of which I missed entirely 16...Re8?? W 47 B 40 17.d4+ e4?! 18.dxc5 Bxc5 19.Nxe4! Nxe4 20.Rxe4 Rxe4 21.Qxe4+ Kg8 22.Bc3 Qd7 [ 22...Qb6 would at least been a little more positive] 23.Qc4 b6 24.Ne5 Qf5 25.Rf1 Rc8 W 31 B 33 26.Qg4!! Qxg4 27.Nxg4 f6 28.Rd1 Rc7 29.g3 Kh7 30.Kg2 Kg6 31.Ne3 Re7 32.Rd2 Bxe3 33.fxe3 Rxe3 but then what ? what are the chances of getting rid of all pawns ? very little indeed 34.Rd7 Re4 I was trying, with much futility, to somehow snatch the b-pawn 35.Rxa7 f5?? 36.Rxg7+ black resigns W 18 B 16 1-0

(3) Donnet,M - Bassett,D [C60]
Gosford District 2007 Gosford (1), 12.06.2007
[notes by Keith Farrell]

By move 15 Matt had built quite a strong position out of the exchange variation of the Ruy Lopez but then made a few searching forays in the middlegame which led to some drifting. Still, it wasn't till the 21st move when he made a positional sin which led to the fatal weakness of his King. Even so Duncan made heavy work of the final moments - perhaps relaxing and finding the 'easy' but sure moves. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nge7 4.0-0 a6 5.Bxc6 Nxc6 6.d3 h6 7.a3 Bc5 8.Be3 Nd4 9.Bxd4 exd4 10.c3 dxc3 11.bxc3 d6 12.Nbd2 Bg4 13.Rb1 Ba7 14.e5!? a note to those new to reading notation - those in [ ] are variations that may have been played instead [ simply a tactical miss, but the played pawn push may open the position a little too early 14.Rxb7 that 'may' have continued 14...0-0 15.h3 Bd7 16.Nd4] 14...b5 Diagram

15.Nb3 -- these 2 moves are 'fillers' 16.Na5 Qd7?! a fairly even position [ 16...Bb6 17.Nc6 Qd7] 17.d4 Bb6 18.Nb3 0-0 19.Nbd2 dxe5 20.Ne4 Qf5 21.Qc2? [ 21.Re1 Bxf3 22.Qxf3 Qxf3 23.gxf3 or; 21.Ng3 Qf4 22.dxe5 Rad8 23.Rb4 Bxf3 24.Qxf3 Qxf3 25.gxf3] 21...Bxf3 22.gxf3 Qxf3 23.dxe5 Rfe8 24.Nd2 Qh3 25.Rbe1 correctly identifying the danger or Rg8+ which would otherwise lead quickly to mate [ 25.Qe4 or; 25.Rfe1 were more playable] 25...Re6 26.Re3? but having not noticed the lurking Bishop 26...Bxe3 27.fxe3 Qxe3+ 28.Rf2 Rg6+ 29.Kf1 Qxe5 30.Qf5 Qxc3 31.Ne4 Qd3+ 32.Ke1 Qe3+ 33.Kf1 Qc1+ 34.Ke2 Qc4+ 35.Ke1 Rg1+ 36.Kd2 Qc1+ [ 36...Rd8+ Not only a sensible 'activating move' but one which initiates a forced mate in 8 moves 37.Nd6 the 1st of many 'computer' moves (those only made to extend the mate) 37...Rxd6+ 38.Ke3 Qb3+ 39.Kf4 g5+ 40.Qxg5+ hxg5+ 41.Ke4 f5+ 42.Rxf5 Re1#] 37.Ke2 Qd1+ 38.Ke3 Re1+ 39.Kf4 Qc1+ 40.Nd2 Rae8 41.Kg3 Rg1+ 42.Kh4 f6 43.Nf3 Qc4+ 44.Kh3 g6 45.Qxf6 Qg4# 0-1

(4) Farrell,K - Dorhauer,P [B47]
Ettalong Autumn 2007, 21.04.2007
[notes by keith]

I was pleased during this game, playing for once with discipline and not indulging in my usual tactical forays. Dissappointingly I did let slip a tactical chink as Chess Engines were quick to point out. I would put it up there with a recent loss against John Nutter as a fairly well managed campaign. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 I've been playing the Open Sicilian the last couple of years - though much needed homework is clear. 2...Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be2 a6 7.0-0 Nf6 8.Bg5 Be7 9.Kh1?! Diagram

you will see this rather silly, fearful move in a later game (against Neil Clark) for a very different reason, here it is as a reminder to myself not to fall for the weak and usually fatal diagonal I have been allowing myself to fall into - I have in the past pushed a pawn to f4 and lost whatever was on d4.9...b5 10.Bf3 with Fritz 8 & 9 preferring an immediate 10.f4 [ while Junior 8's preference is 10.a3 Bb7 11.f4 Junior gives a value of 0.19 depth 18; 10.Nxc6 which quite soon became Junior's 2nd choice, Crafty's main choice 0.13 - Crafty being the only one to mention my choice - as a second choice - correction since Ruffian 1 calced it as a 2nd choice before replacing it with the immediate f4 10...dxc6 11.f4 says Rybka 1 Beta with a value that fluctuates between -0.02 and 0.10 at a depth of 15 half-moves] 10...b4 11.Nxc6 dxc6 12.Ne2 0-0! 13.Qd4 Rd8 14.Qe3 e5 15.Rad1 Bb7 16.Ng3 g6 17.Rd3 Rxd3 18.cxd3 Qa5?! 19.Ra1!? [ >=19.Bd1 Rd8 ( 19...Qxa2?? 20.Qb6 Nd7 ( 20...Bc8 21.Qxc6 Rb8 22.Qc7) 21.Qxb7) ] 19...b3 20.a3 Bc8 21.Rc1! Bd7 22.h4 Qd8 23.d4! exd4 24.Qxd4 c5? Diagram

Peter's only rushed move - up till now he had mostly been taking 2-3 minutes per move while this one took him less than 30 seconds to decide upon25.Rxc5!? [ 25.Qd1 or; 25.Qe5 were more certain, particularly as the knight was not as trapped as I thought] 25...Bxc5 26.Qxc5 Rc8? [ 26...h6! saved the Knight and dragged te game back to even territory - at least tactically 27.Bxh6 Bg4 28.Qe3 Bxf3 29.Qxf3] 27.Qd4 Be6 28.Qxd8+ Rxd8 29.Bxf6 Rd2 30.Be2! a5 31.Bb5? [ 31.Bc3; 31.f4; 31.Kg1] 31...Rxf2 32.Bc3 f5 33.Bxa5? I paniced under the ghost of time pressure [ while 33.exf5 was the sensible choice] 33...Rxb2 34.Bc3?? Rc2! 35.Bf6 [ 35.Bd4 b2 36.Bxb2 Rxb2] 35...fxe4 36.Nxe4 b2 37.Bxb2 Rxb2 38.a4 Bd5?? 39.Nf6+ black resigns 1-0

(5) Farrell,K - Dorhauer,P [B22]
CC teams 2007 GosA-EttA, 21.04.2007
[notes by keith]

And Peter's revenge. time control - G90 1.e4 c5 2.c3 drifting back to my 'old' defense against a Sicilian 2...Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 Nc6 6.Nf3 d6 7.Bb5? played too rashly 7...Qa5+! 8.Nc3 Nxc3 9.Bxc6+ bxc6? 10.bxc3 [ 10.Qd2 a poor alternative - being left just as far behind 10...dxe5 11.bxc3 Ba6-/+] 10...Qxc3+ 11.Bd2 Qa3 times W - 1.20 B - 1.03 12.h3 [ 12.0-0! Be6 13.exd6 Qxd6=] 12...Ba6 13.Qc2 c5 14.Rb1?! as Peter's chess engine pointed out Qe4 instead could well have changed fortunes [ 14.Qe4 Rc8] 14...Bd3 15.Rb3 [ or simply 15.Qb3 Qxb3 16.Rxb3] 15...Bxc2 16.Rxa3 dxe5 17.dxe5 the wrong pawn [ 17.dxc5 Be4 18.Nxe5 Bxg2 19.Rg1] 17...e6 times W 1.16 B 42 18.0-0 c4 19.Ra6? Bd3 20.Be3 Bxf1 21.Kxf1 Be7 22.Ke2 0-0 23.Rc6 Rfc8! 24.Rxc8+ Rxc8 25.Kd2 Bb4+ 26.Kc2 a5 27.Nd4 Kf8 28.f4 g6 29.g4 Bc5 30.Kc3 Ke7 31.f5 Bxd4+ 32.Bxd4 gxf5 33.gxf5 exf5 34.a4 Ke6 white resgns times W 55 B 21 0-1

(6) Polgar,J (2727) - Bareev,E (2643) [B11]
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (5), 01.06.2007

To force the match to tie-break Judit NEEDS to win the last TWO games 1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 e6 6.Be2 Nd7 7.d3 g6 8.0-0 Bg7 9.Bf4 Qb6 10.Nd1 Ngf6 11.a4 a5 12.g4 e5 13.Bd2 Nc5 14.g5 dxe4 15.dxe4 Nfd7 16.Bc4 0-0 17.h4 Ne6 18.Bxe6 fxe6 19.Qh3 Qd4 20.Nc3 Qxd2 21.Rad1 Qxc2 22.Rxd7 Qxb2 23.h5 gxh5 24.Qxe6+ Kh8 25.Rxg7 Kxg7 26.Qh6+ Kg8 27.g6 hxg6 Diagram

28.Qxg6+ Kh8 29.Kh1 Rf4 30.Qxh5+ Kg8 31.Rg1+ Kf8 32.Qh8+ Kf7 33.Qg7+ 1-0

(7) Bareev,E (2643) - Polgar,J (2727) [A46]
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (6), 02.06.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 b5 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 c5 6.c3 Na6 7.Bg5 Be7 8.Nbd2 0-0 9.Qb3 Qb6 10.a4 b4 11.Nc4 Qd8 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Qxb4 Rb8 14.Qa5 Qxa5 15.Nxa5 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Rxb2 17.Rfd1 Rc8 18.Be3 Kf8 19.Bd4 Rc2 20.Nb7 Nb3 21.Rab1 Nxd4 22.cxd4 d5 23.a5 g5 24.h3 h5 25.g4 hxg4 26.hxg4 R8c4 27.e3 Nd7 28.Kf1 Ra4 29.Rdc1 Rb4 30.a6 Nb6 31.Be2 Rxc1+ 32.Rxc1 Nc4 33.Bxc4 dxc4 34.Na5 Ra4 35.Nxc4 Rxa6 36.Ne5 Bd6 37.Rc8+ Ke7 38.Nc4 Bb4 39.Rc7+ Ke8 40.Rb7 Be7 41.Ke2 Ra2+ 42.Kd3 Rxf2 43.Rb8+ Kd7 44.Rb7+ Ke8 45.Rb8+ Kd7 46.Rb7+ Ke8 1/2-1/2

(8) Carlsen,M (2693) - Aronian,L (2759) [E12]
WCh Candidates s/f Elista RUS (5), 01.06.2007

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3 Bb7 5.Nc3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Qc2 Be7 8.e4 Nxc3 9.bxc3 0-0 10.Bd3 c5 11.0-0 Qc7 12.Qe2 Nd7 13.Bb2 c4 14.Bc2 b5 15.Bc1 a5 16.Rb1 Ba6 17.e5 b4 18.axb4 axb4 19.Bg5 Nb6 20.Qe4 g6 21.Qh4 Ra7 22.Bf6 Bxf6 23.exf6 Nd5 24.Be4 Qf4 25.Bxd5 Qxh4 26.Nxh4 exd5 27.Rxb4 Bc8 28.Rb6 Ra3 29.Rc1 Be6 30.Nf3 Rfa8 31.h4 h6 32.Ne5 Ra1 33.Rxa1 Rxa1+ 34.Kh2 Ra3 35.Rb8+ Kh7 36.f4 Rxc3 37.h5 gxh5 38.Rf8 Ra3 39.f5 Bxf5 40.Rxf7+ Kg8 41.Rg7+ Kf8 42.Rb7 Ra8 43.Kg3 Rd8 44.Kf4 Be4 45.g3 c3 46.Rf7+ Kg8 47.Rg7+ Kf8 48.Nd7+ Rxd7 49.Rxd7 1-0

(9) Farrell Keith - Losh Gary [B90]
Central Coast Teams 2007 Gosford, 22.05.2007
[notes by Keith]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bd3 e6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Be3 0-0 9.Qe2 Qc7 10.Rad1 Nc6 11.f4 ? 11...b5 ? [ 11...Nxd4 12.Bxd4 e5 13.fxe5 dxe5 14.Rxf6 Bxf6 15.Bf2 Be6] 12.Nxc6 Qxc6 13.e5 dxe5 14.fxe5 Nd5 15.Qf3 Bc5 16.Bxc5 Qxc5+ 17.Kh1 Nxc3 18.bxc3 Rb8 19.Qg3 ?! 19...Bb7 20.Rf4 ! 20...g6 21.Rf6 !? 21...Rbd8 22.Rdf1 Qxc3 23.h4-/+ Qd2 Diagram

and here - to show you something of what I was trying either follow the following variation OR glance at the finish Judit Polgar managed in her World Championship-Candidates game 5 - when she had white against Bereev. 24.Bxg6 ?? 24...Bxg2+ ? [ 24...fxg6 25.R1f2 -5.12|d16 Shredder 9.11 ( 25.Rxg6+ hxg6 26.Qxg6+ was what I had in mind to draw - I just didn't like this position AT ALL] - but it peters out in actuality , I just didn't look beyond this position, missing that Black's Queen controlled h6 - thus 27.Qh6+ not possible 26...Kh8 27.Qh5+ Kg7 28.Qg4+ Kh6 29.Rxf8 Rxf8 30.Qxe6+ ?? allows mate-in-6 30...Kh5 31.Qh3 Rf2 32.a3 Bxg2+ 33.Qxg2 Rxg2) ] 25.Kg1 Fritz 7 -4.63 depth 13/33, Fritz 8 -5.97 depth 12/43 Junior 8 -7.21 depth 16 25...hxg6 26.Rxg6+ with a belated, and nervous, offer of a draw, Gary thought that he 'would have to see what happened' [ 26.R1f2 26...Qe1+ -2.02|d15 Shredder 9.11] 26...Kh7 ?? but still survivable 27.Rg7+ Kh6 ?? [ 27...Kh8 28.Rf2 Qc1+ 29.Kxg2 Rd1 30.Kf3 Rc8] 28.Rf6+ Kh5 29.Qg4# 1-0