[Event "GBR-ch"]
[Site "Scarborough"]
[Date "2001.08.08"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Gallagher, Joseph G"]
[Black "Shaw, John K"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Annotator "Martin,A (game of the day)"]
[BlackElo "2478"]
[ECO "B31"]
[EventDate "2001.07.30"]
[PlyCount "103"]
[WhiteElo "2516"]

1. e4 { Notes by IM Andrew Martin } 1... c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 dxc6 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Nf6 7. Nc3 Nd7 8. Be3 e5 9. Qd2 Qe7 10. Bh6 f6 ( { RR } 10... Bxh6 11. Qxh6 f6 12. Nh2 Nf8 13. f4 exf4 14. Qxf4 Ne6 15. Qd2 Nd4 16. O-O O-O 17. Nd1 Bd7 18. Ne3 b6 19. c3 Ne6 20. Nhg4 h5 21. Nh2 Rad8 22. Rad1 Bc8 23. h4 Qc7 24. Qf2 Ng7 25. Nf3 { Bologan,V-Damljanovic,B/Igalo 1994/EXT 2000/[Glatman]/0-1 (40) } ) 11. Bxg7 Qxg7 12. Qe3 ( { RR } 12. O-O Nf8 13. a3 Ne6 14. b4 Nd4 15. Ne1 cxb4 16. axb4 g5 17. Ne2 Nxe2+ 18. Qxe2 h5 19. Qe3 a6 20. d4 exd4 21. Qxd4 Be6 22. Nd3 Rd8 23. Qc3 Qf7 24. Ra5 Kf8 25. Rxg5 fxg5 26. Qxh8+ Ke7 { Melamed,T-Matjushina,Z/Alushta 1999/EXT 2000/1-0 (37) } ) 12... b6 $146 ( { RR } 12... Qe7 13. Nd2 ( { RR } 13. O-O Nf8 14. Ne2 Ne6 15. c3 O-O 16. Rfe1 Bd7 17. a3 a5 18. Rad1 Rad8 19. d4 cxd4 20. cxd4 exd4 21. Nexd4 Nxd4 22. Rxd4 Be6 23. Qc3 Qc7 24. b4 axb4 25. axb4 Qe7 26. Red1 Kg7 27. Qe3 Rfe8 { Gipslis,A-Odendahl,R/Germany 1996/GER/1/2-1/2 (44) } ) 13... Nf8 14. f4 exf4 15. Qxf4 Ne6 16. Qh6 Nd4 17. O-O-O Be6 18. Rhf1 O-O-O 19. Rde1 Rhf8 20. g4 Rf7 21. Rf2 Qc7 22. Ref1 Qe5 23. Rf4 Rdf8 24. Nb3 Nxb3+ 25. axb3 Kd7 { 1/2-1/2 Nevednichy,V-Spasov,V/Nis 1996/EXT 99 (25) } ) 13. a3 $1 $16 { Whi
te's opening is an accumulation of small trumps. At present he has the better
pawn structure and the pawn break f2-f4. With 13 a3! he adds the possibility
of b2-b4 to his arsenal.. Enough to keep Shaw thinking. Essentially this is
an unsuccessful position for Black.He has to sit and wait,not everyone's cup
of tea. } 13... a5 14. O-O O-O 15. Nh2 $1 { An excellent square for the Knight,
preparing to come to g4 at the right moment,threatening f2-f4 and in general
keeping Shaw guessing. } 15... Bb7 16. f4 Rae8 17. fxe5 Nxe5 18. Rf2 Qd7 19. Raf1 { The first phase is over. Black is passive. In the second phase we
see an unhurried Gallagher,building up the tension,keeping Shaw guessing as to
where he will strike. } 19... Kg7 20. Ne2 Qd8 21. Qd2 Qd6 22. Qc3 Ba6 { There isn't much that Shaw can do. He has to shuffle the pack,hoping that
things don't get worse. } 23. b3 { Cutting any thoughts of ...c5-c4 right out of Black's head. } 23... Rf7 24. Rb1 Rd8 25. Nf1 Qe7 26. Rd1 Bc8 27. Ne3 Ba6 28. Nf4 Re8 29. Rb1 Qd6 30. Ne2 Ree7 31. b4 $1 { The second phase is over and Gallgher gets active with both
players running into time-trouble.. he bias of the position leans towards
White. Shaw's Bishop is particularly grotty. } 31... cxb4 32. axb4 axb4 33. Rxb4 b5 ( 33... c5 34. Rb1 b5 $13 ) 34. Rb1 Bc8 35. d4 $16 Nd7 36. Ng3 { The threat of Nf5 hangs over Black's head. } 36... Nb6 ( { It may have been possible to defend entirely passively with } 36... Nf8 37. Rbf1 b4 38. Qd3 { Nevertheless,White is clearly for choice. } ) 37. Rf3 Kg8 38. Rd1 Ra7 39. e5 $1 $40 { Gallagher understands exactly when to take action - that is
what makes this such a fine game. Coming up to move 40 Shaw is under the
cosh. Even he cannot beat back the White attack. } 39... Ra3 40. Qb2 Na4 41. Qc1 Qf8 42. exf6 b4 43. Rdf1 Nc3 ( 43... Qd8 44. Qd2 c5 45. Rf4 $1 Nb6 46. R1f2 $18 { Look at the redundant Black Bishop ! } ) ( 43... c5 44. d5 Nc3 45. Nc4 Ra6 46. Qg5 $18 ) 44. Nc4 $18 Ba6 45. Nxa3 Bxf1 46. Qxf1 bxa3 47. Rxc3 a2 48. Qa1 Ra7 49. Rf3 Qf7 50. Ne4 Qd5 51. f7+ Kf8 52. Nf6 { In view of the building
pressure on the players ,one of the very best games of the tournament so far. } 1-0