[Event "GBR-ch"]
[Site "Scarborough"]
[Date "2001.07.30"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Hodgson, Julian M"]
[Black "Tan, Desmond"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Martin,A"]
[BlackElo "2253"]
[ECO "A45"]
[EventDate "2001.07.30"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[WhiteElo "2581"]

1. d4 { comments by IM Andrew Martin } 1... Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. e4 h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. c3 $146 { Hodgson's current favourite. The main point is to leave the f
pawn free for action. } ( 5. Nf3 ) ( 5. Nc3 ) ( 5. Qd2 ) ( { RR } 5. g3 Nc6 6. c3 e5 7. d5 Bc5 8. Qf3 Ne7 9. Qxf6 gxf6 10. b4 Bb6 11. Nd2 f5 12. Bc4 d6 13. exf5 Bxf5 14. a4 a5 15. Ne2 Bh3 16. bxa5 Bxa5 17. Nb3 Bg2 18. Kd2 Bxh1 19. Rxh1 Bb6 { Raptis,G-Arakhamia,K/Ano Liosia 1997/EXT 98/0-1 (53) } ) 5... d5 $1 { And this is
a good,solid reply. Compare the variation 5 Nf3 d5 6 e5 Qd8 7 c4! where White
is supposed to hold a small advantage although I have my doubts about that. } 6. e5 Qd8 7. Nf3 c5 { If White isn't careful,Black will get a very decent 'French'.
The soft spot at g7 is carefully protected and ...Qb6,Nc6 is the upcoming plan. } 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Bd3 Nc6 10. O-O Bd7 { Tan's idea seems to be to delat
castling as long as is humanly possible.He could only have been afraid of the
Bc2,Qd3 battery but perhaps that's not as dangerous as it seems : } ( 10... O-O 11. Bc2 f5 ( 11... f6 12. Qd3 Nxe5 13. Qh7+ Kf7 14. Nxe5+ fxe5 15. Qg6+ $11 ) ( 11... Qc7 12. Qd3 g6 13. Qd2 Kg7 14. Qf4 $36 ) 12. exf6 Qxf6 13. Qd3 Bd7 14. Nbd2 Rae8 $13 ) 11. Nbd2 Qc7 12. Qe2 Be7 $5 13. Rfe1 a6 14. Rac1 $14 { Initial de
velopment over for White,now what the heck to do with this position ? The
natural plan must be c3-c4! but Hodgson never gets around to playing it. } 14... Rc8 15. Nb3 $5 { Naturally White could be more direct but Black has chances eg } ( 15. c4 Nb4 $1 16. Bb1 dxc4 17. Rxc4 Bc6 { Decent enough } 18. Rec1 O-O ( 18... b5 $5 19. R4c3 Qd7 20. Be4 O-O ) 19. a3 Nd5 20. Qe4 ) 15... Qb6 16. Bb1 Na5 $1 { Hauls Tan back into the game. Black's next task is simply to connect the Rooks
if he can.This Hodgson fights to prevent. } 17. Nxa5 Qxa5 18. Nd4 Bg5 { A clever idea. } 19. Rcd1 Ba4 { And if 20 b3,Black has forced a weakness. } 20. Nb3 Qb6 21. Rd4 $1 { White is looking for a way to improve the position.His
Rook hits the fourth rank supporting pawn advances such as h4,g4 and attacking
the Bishop. } ( 21. Bc2 Qc7 ( 21... Bxb3 22. axb3 Be7 ) 22. Qf3 Bxb3 23. Bxb3 ( 23. axb3 O-O 24. Qd3 f5 ( 24... g6 25. Qg3 Kh7 26. h4 Be7 27. h5 $36 ) 25. exf6 Rxf6 26. g3 $1 $16 ) 23... O-O $11 ) 21... Bxb3 22. axb3 Be7 23. Bc2 g6 24. Ra1 h5 { Looks equal but why should it be ? White has two Rooks in play to Black'sone. } 25. h4 ( 25. Raa4 O-O 26. g4 h4 $8 { The resource that Hodsgon prevents. } 27. g5 Bxg5 28. Qg4 Bh6 29. Qxh4 Bg7 $13 ) 25... Qd8 ( 25... O-O 26. g4 $40 ) 26. Raa4 Bc5 27. Rf4 g5 $5 { Now it really starts to sharpen up.Tan goes up a gear and
announces that he will fight for the initiative. It's the correct decision! } 28. Rf6 Be7 29. hxg5 Bxf6 30. exf6 { Debate ensued in the commentary room about
the relative merits of each pawn capture. In the end we rejected } ( 30. gxf6 { due to } 30... h4 31. Qg4 Kd7 $1 { This is the key idea } 32. Rd4 Kc7 33. Qg7 Qf8 { Black defends. } ) 30... h4 31. Rb4 b5 32. Qe3 Qd6 33. g6 $40 { Tan keeps his
head now. Black's position appears almost finished,but this is not yet the
case. } 33... fxg6 34. Qa7 h3 $1 35. Qg7 Qf8 36. Qb7 Qc5 37. Bxg6+ Kd8 38. Qxa6 Rc6 $2 { It is truly difficult to play chess properly with the KIng so exposed.
Even if you can't see a win for the other guy,fear often gets the better of
you and a blunder results. This was Black's last chance-he had to create
counterplay with } ( 38... h2+ $1 { which seems to lead to perpetual or dangers for White eg } 39. Kh1 Rb8 ( 39... Qxb4 40. Qb6+ Kd7 41. Be8+ $3 Kxe8 42. Qxe6+ Kd8 43. Qxd5+ Ke8 44. Qe6+ Kd8 45. Qd5+ $11 ) 40. Qxe6 ( 40. Bd3 Qxf2 41. Qd6+ Kc8 42. Qxe6+ Kc7 43. Qf7+ Kc6 44. Bxb5+ Rxb5 45. Qe6+ Kc7 ( 45... Kc5 46. Qe7+ $11 ) 46. Qe7+ Kc6 $11 ) 40... Ra8 $1 $132 ) 39. Qa5+ Rc7 40. gxh3 $1 { Very strong.Now,with no threats to his King,White can march to victory. } ( 40. Rxb5 ) 40... Rg8 41. Rg4 Kd7 42. b4 Qc6 43. Bd3 { A messy game,where White had to fight every inch of the way. } 1-0