[Event "Richmond WCN North America m"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.06.10"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Charbonneau, Pascal"]
[Black "Christiansen, Larry"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C30"]
[WhiteElo "2405"]
[BlackElo "2578"]
[Annotator "Charbonneau,P"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. e4 e5 2. f4 {I was criticized for trying this again, but one can't blame my
loss in this game on the opening, as I obtained a great position.} Bc5 {One of
the oldest lines against the King's Gambit.} 3. Nf3 (3. Qh5 {I remember being
amused, many years ago, to see this primitive move analyzed in New In Chess.
While it is interesting, it is not theoretically threatening to black.}) 3...
d6 4. c3 Nf6 (4... f5 {Is the most complicated variation.}) 5. d4 exd4 6. cxd4
Bb4+ 7. Bd2 Bxd2+ 8. Nbxd2 Qe7 9. Bd3 {White has a very strong center, so
black must act quickly. However, it seems as though black is already in some
difficulties and should look for improvements earlier.} Nxe4 10. Nxe4 d5 11.
O-O dxe4 12. Bxe4 O-O {After this forcing sequence, I went into a deep thought.
It is obvious white has a big lead in development, and a strong initiative.
With precise move, white can probably finish off black. In fact, I think had
Larry been white, he would have shown us the way.} 13. Qd3 ({This may have
been the best way:} 13. Bc2 {for example} Nd7 14. Qd3 Nf6 15. Ng5 {to induce a
weakness.} h6 $2 (15... g6 {is tougher.}) 16. Nh7) 13... h6 14. Ne5 Nd7 15.
Nxd7 $4 {A very hard to explain blunder, based on a basic oversight: I had
imagined somehow that Bxd7 could be met by f5, and missed the simple move
f7-f6 (only considered ..Qf6 Bxb7! which is good for white)} (15. Bf3 Nf6 16.
g4 {Keeps the initiative in the white camp.}) 15... Bxd7 16. Bxb7 {Now in a
must-win situation, I was very disappointed to see this type of position
happen, where black is slightly better and has practically no chances of
losing. I went down without much of a fight, as this is psychologically very
difficult.} (16. f5 f6 {is at least equal for black.}) 16... Rab8 17. Ba6 Rxb2
$15 {The pawn on f4 weakens the white's king position severly (with the pawn
on f2 it would be dead even). This makes for a very annoying defense, as the
g2-pawn and a7-g1 diagonal are always weak.} 18. Qc3 Rfb8 19. Rfc1 Qe4 20. Bf1
Qxf4 21. Qxc7 Qxd4+ 22. Kh1 Be6 23. Rd1 Qf2 24. a4 Kh7 25. Qc6 Rc8 26. Qe4+ g6
27. Qd4 Qxd4 28. Rxd4 Rc5 29. Kg1 Bd5 30. Rad1 Bc6 31. R1d2 Rxd2 32. Rxd2 Rc1 {
A tough game, as I let go of a very good position!} 0-1

[Event "Richmond WCN North America m"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.06.10"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Christiansen, Larry"]
[Black "Charbonneau, Pascal"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B51"]
[WhiteElo "2578"]
[BlackElo "2405"]
[Annotator "Charbonneau,P"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ {Hardly a surprise. Larry has tried so many opening
variations that I could only expect my preparation to be futile!} Nd7 {The
favored move to give some flavor to this line. 3...Bd7 is the most solid (see
the interesting game Kasparov vs the World)} 4. d4 Ngf6 5. O-O cxd4 (5... Nxe4
{doesn't lose by force, but is not the type of position one wants against an
attacking player like Larry!} 6. Qe2 $1 Nef6 7. dxc5 {with lots of play.}) 6.
Qxd4 e5 7. Qd3 h6 8. c4 Be7 9. Nc3 O-O 10. Bxd7 {A forced exchange, before
black plays ...Nc5 and ...a6} Bxd7 11. a4 Bc6 $5 {with dreams of 12...Nxe4 13.
Nxe4 f5!} 12. Re1 {Dream ends!:)} a5 13. b3 Qb6 14. h3 {The position is level.
Black has nice squares for his pieces, but it is hard to imagine him breaking
through on the kingside with ...f5 anytime soon. White has a target on d6, and
a nice d5-square to work with.} Nd7 15. Be3 Nc5 16. Bxc5 Qxc5 17. Rad1 g6 18.
Nd5 Bd8 $1 {This bishop will only ever be happy if he reaches the b6 square!}
19. Re3 Kg7 20. Qc3 Kh7 21. Qc2 $6 {Not a catastrophe, but the more the lines
open, the more the bishops will be a force. And also, all black is looking for
pawn breaks to diminish the white bind.} b5 $1 22. axb5 Bxb5 23. Nf6+ {A move
that looks stronger than it is.} Bxf6 24. Rd5 Qc6 25. Rxb5 Rfc8 {with the idea
a4!} 26. Rc3 Bd8 27. h4 Bb6 28. g3 {A blunder which costs white the game.
However, black has a very good position, since a5-a4 will be very hard to stop.
} Bd4 $3 {An easy to miss tactic: if 29.Nxd4 exd4 30.Rd3 Qxb5! picks up a
whole rook.} 29. Rd5 Bxc3 30. Qxc3 a4 31. bxa4 Qxc4 32. Qxc4 Rxc4 {Now it is a
matter of technique, and I was very happy to be able to win it. One always has
to be careful, as Larry is one of the most resourceful guys in America.} 33.
Rxd6 Ra5 34. h5 g5 35. Rd7 Kg7 36. Nh2 Rxe4 37. Nf1 Rexa4 38. Ne3 Ra7 39. Rd8
R7a6 40. Re8 Re6 41. Rd8 e4 42. Rd5 Rf6 43. Nf5+ Kh7 44. g4 e3 $1 {A famous
player (whose name I forget) once said that being up an exchange is great,
because you can sac it back! Here black can play Rff4 and Rxg4+, then picking
up the h-pawn, obtaining a winning R+P ending.} 45. Nxe3 Rff4 46. Rd7 Ra1+ 47.
Kg2 Ra2 48. Nd5 Raxf2+ 49. Kg1 Rf1+ 50. Kg2 R4f2+ 51. Kg3 Rf3+ 52. Kg2 R1f2+
53. Kg1 Rb2 0-1

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Linsky, Oleg"]
[Black "Robichaud, Louis"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E61"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{The 2002 Canadian open was combined with the quebec open to produce the best
attended tournement in many years on Canadian soil. Three hundred  and twenty
six    hopeful chessplayers descended on Montreal from jul13-21 .Many of the
younger players had played in the recently completed cycc and generally they
had very good results.        The open drew 4 gm's ,Nogueiras from   Cuba,
Barsov from Uzbekistan,DeGraeve from France and Legky from Ukraine.There were
also 6 i.m.'s.Charbanneau[can]Hebert[que],Burnett[u.s.a.] Schlieffer[can duong
[can] and Bluvshtein[can can].         In the end a trio of francophones
prevailed. Our young national champion P.Charbanneau[Can],Degraeve  [fra] and
Que] all scored 8-2 to share first place.The group of seven at 7.5 included
Legky ,Barsov ,Nogueras,Bluvshtein,Linski,Chokshi,Ibrahim     The tournement
had several unique aspects.The tournement was held at the CEGEP de vieux
Montreal.Cegep is the last step before university for students in Quebec.The
site was right down town .The Montreal "just for Laughs festival was on
literally right beside the tournement so there was no shortage of
entertainment between rounds.        Round one had a number of big upsets and
I think we should starttour games coverage there.Oleg Linski is one of
Canada's highest rated players.To date he has two i.m.norms and is sure to
receive the title soon.Round one was more difficult than usual because of the
accelerated pairings and here Linski gets surprised by Quebec expert Louis
Robichaud.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 {The
Smyslov system.} c6 7. Be2 a6 8. O-O {Normal enough but  Smyslov always played
Nd2 here.} b5 9. a3 bxc4 10. Bxc4 Nbd7 11. Qe2 Nb6 $6 12. Bd3 Nfd7 13. e4 f6
14. Be3 Bb7 15. Rfd1 $14 {Black has made severallstrange moves and White is
doing well at this point.} a5 16. d5 c5 17. Bb5 Qb8 18. a4 $6 (18. Nh4 $1 {
intending f4 or 18 Bc6 look more consistent.}) 18... Qc7 19. Rac1 Nb8 20. Nb1
Na6 21. Nd4 $1 Bc8 22. Nc6 Nb4 23. Bf4 f5 24. Rxc5 g5 25. exf5 (25. Rcc1 $1 $18
) 25... gxf4 26. Nxe7+ Qxe7 27. Qxe7 dxc5 28. Qc7 N4xd5 29. Qxc5 Bb7 30. Bd3
Bxb2 31. Be4 $2 {Diagram [#]} (31. Bc4 $1 Rf7 32. Bb3 {Should be good enough.}
Rc8 33. Qxa5) 31... Rac8 32. Qd6 Rfd8 {Suddenly Black is perfectly
co-ordinated.} 33. Qe6+ Kh8 34. Nd2 Rc6 (34... Nxa4 $1) 35. Qf7 Rc7 36. Qe6 Re7
37. Qh6 Bg7 38. Qh4 Nf6 39. Bxb7 Rxd2 $1 $19 40. Rb1 Rxb7 41. Qxf4 Nbd5 0-1

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Bluvstein, Mark"]
[Black "Panjwani, Raja"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E20"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Here is a game between our newly crowned u12 and u14 champ.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4
e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 Nh5 5. g3 f5 6. e4 O-O 7. Bg2 g6 $6 {d6 or c5 look like
better trys.} 8. a3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 b6 10. Nh3 Bb7 (10... Ba6 $5) 11. Bh6 Ng7 12.
O-O c5 13. d5 Ba6 14. Qa4 e5 15. f4 $1 {Blowing it open for the bishops while
black is completly uncoordinated.} d6 16. fxe5 dxe5 17. Ng5 Bc8 18. Ne6 Nxe6 {
There were other defenses that would have lasted longer but they wouldn't
change the result.} 19. dxe6 Bb7 20. Bxf8 Qxf8 21. exf5 Bxg2 22. Kxg2 gxf5 23.
Qc2 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Feoktistov, Dmitri"]
[Black "Ochkoos, Yura"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D31"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Ochkoos plays a fine game but makes a horrible blunder.I am guessing time
trouble must be involved.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Qc2 g6
6. e3 Bf5 7. Bd3 Bxd3 8. Qxd3 Nf6 9. Nge2 Bg7 10. O-O O-O 11. b4 a6 12. a4 Nbd7
13. Ba3 Re8 14. b5 axb5 15. axb5 Nb6 16. bxc6 bxc6 17. Rfb1 Nc4 18. Bc5 Rxa1
19. Rxa1 Bf8 20. Bxf8 Kxf8 21. Qb1 Qd6 22. Ra7 Ng4 23. g3 Qf6 24. Nd1 Qf3 25.
Ra2 Rxe3 26. Qb4+ Kg7 27. Qe1 Re8 28. h3 Nf6 29. Qc3 Qf5 30. Kh2 h5 31. Nf4 h4
32. Qd3 hxg3+ 33. fxg3 Qd7 34. Re2 Rxe2+ 35. Qxe2 Qa7 36. Qf2 Qa1 37. Ne3 Qxd4
$4 {Diagram [#]} 38. Nf5+ 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Charbonneau, Pascal"]
[Black "Meng, Fanhao"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{This miniature must have been sweet for our national champ as he exacts some
revenge for a loss to Meng in the Paul Keres.} 1. c4 c6 2. e4 e6 $6 {A strange
move.D5 or e5 are for more common.} 3. d4 d5 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. e5 Nc6 6. Nc3 {In
the French advance this would not normally be possible because there would be
a pawn on c3.Black suffers fro mlack of space and has few possibilities for
counterplay.} Bd7 7. Nf3 f6 8. Bd3 $1 fxe5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. dxe5 g6 11. O-O Ne7
12. Bg5 Qb6 13. Qe2 Bg7 14. h4 {It looks like a good idea to try to break up
black's structure o nthe kingside but i really wonder what Pascal had in mind
after Nc6.} (14. Kh1 Nc6 15. f4 O-O 16. Nb5 {looks more sensible .}) 14... Qd4
$2 {Diagram [#]} (14... Nc6 $5 15. Bf4 (15. Bf6 Bxf6 16. exf6 O-O) (15. Bb5 O-O
) (15. h5 $5 {I am guessing this was PAscal's idea.} O-O 16. hxg6 hxg6 17. Bxg6
Nxe5 18. Bc2 {The position looks very unclear.Black might wish his king had
better pawn cover on the other hand if White doesn't find a convincing
continuation the centre pawns are always nice.The only thing i am really sure
about is black should have tried this.}) 15... O-O 16. Bg3) 15. Rfe1 h6 16.
Rad1 $1 Qb4 17. Bf6 $1 {Now white is too fast.} Kf7 18. a3 Qc5 19. Qf3 Rhf8 20.
h5 Kg8 21. hxg6 Kh8 22. g4 Be8 23. Qh3 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Lipnowski, Michael"]
[Black "Abreu, Jose"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D13"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "119"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{This is a very nice win by Winnipeg's Michael Lipnowski against a much higher
rated player.} 1. d4 c6 2. c4 d5 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Bf4 Nc6 5. Nc3 a6 6. e3 e6 $2
{This move is hard to understand from a player with a near 2200 rating.For no
reason Black condems the c8 bishop to total passivity.} 7. Bd3 Bd6 8. Bg3 Nf6
9. Nf3 O-O 10. O-O Re8 11. Rc1 Bxg3 12. hxg3 e5 $5 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. dxe5 Rxe5
15. Be2 $5 {So a week dpawn  instead of a bad bishop.} Bd7 16. Qd4 Qe7 17. Bf3
Bc6 18. Rfd1 Re8 19. b4 b5 $2 {A weak dpawn and a bad bishop!} 20. a3 Bb7 21.
Ne2 $1 {This knight will have a pleasent choice betwee nd4 and f4.The move
also clears the cfile for an invasion by Whites heavy pieces.} Qd6 22. Qc5 Qb8
23. Qc7 Qa8 24. Nd4 R5e7 (24... Ne4 $5) 25. Qb6 Rc8 26. Nf5 Re6 27. Nd6 $1 {
Diagram [#]} Rb8 $4 (27... Rxc1 28. Rxc1 Qf8 29. Qxb7 Rxd6 30. Rc8 Rd8 31. Rxd8
Qxd8 32. Qxa6 $18) (27... Rd8 $1 28. Qxb7 Rexd6 29. Qxa8 Rxa8 {was the only
chance.}) 28. Qc7 Rxd6 29. Qxd6 Rd8 30. Qb6 Ne8 31. Qd4 Rd6 32. Rc5 Qd8 33.
Rdc1 g6 34. Bg4 $1 {Luring the pawns forward to create more weakness'in the
black position.} f5 35. Bf3 h5 36. Bd1 Re6 37. Bb3 Rd6 38. a4 Nf6 39. axb5 axb5
40. Rxb5 Ba6 41. Rbc5 Kf8 42. Rc7 Bc4 43. Qa7 Ne8 44. Rh7 Qf6 45. Bxc4 dxc4 46.
Rxc4 Kg8 47. Rc8 Kf8 48. Qa8 Re6 49. Rd7 h4 50. gxh4 Qxh4 51. Rdd8 Qe4 52.
Rxe8+ Rxe8 53. Rxe8+ Qxe8 54. Qxe8+ Kxe8 55. Kf1 Kd7 56. Ke2 Kc6 57. Kd3 Kb5
58. Kc3 g5 59. f4 g4 60. g3 {A really nice win.} 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Fernandez, Lautaro"]
[Black "Mikanovic, Goran"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B44"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Here is one of the bigger upsets this round.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4.
Nxd4 Nc6 5. Nb5 d6 6. c4 Nf6 7. N1c3 a6 8. Na3 Be7 9. Be2 O-O 10. O-O Qc7 11.
Be3 b6 12. f4 Bb7 13. Bf3 Rac8 14. g4 Na5 15. g5 Nd7 16. Rc1 Qb8 17. Qe2 Rfe8
18. Bg2 Bf8 19. Rf3 g6 20. Rh3 Bg7 21. Bf2 d5 22. cxd5 exd5 (22... Qxf4 $5) 23.
e5 Nc4 24. Nxd5 Ndxe5 25. fxe5 Rxe5 26. Ne7+ {Diagram [#] I can only assume
Black missed this in his calculations.} Kf8 27. Qg4 Rxe7 28. Rxc4 b5 29. Bxb7
Rxc4 30. Nxc4 Rc7 31. Na5 Rc1+ 32. Kg2 Rc2 33. Re3 Bxb2 34. Qe4 Qc7 35. Qb4+
Kg7 36. Re8 Rxf2+ 37. Kxf2 Qxh2+ 38. Bg2 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Degraeve, Jean Marc"]
[Black "Hebert, Jean"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C06"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "67"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Round three featured this interesting battle between two of the eventual
winners.} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Ngf3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Bd3
cxd4 {I tried 8..g5!? against Plaskett at Hastings last winter.g5 is very
commital and the problem is if you ever make even one second best move you get
crushed.After I studied this position more deeply I discovered 8..a5 seems to
give black the best results but it may be because there aren't many games yet.
Hebert 's reacton is certainly reasonable.} 8. cxd4 Nb6 9. a3 a5 10. b3 {White
plays to restrain the black knights on the queen side.} Be7 11. O-O f5 {This
is an attempt to improve on Degraeve -Apicella 1992 ,which continued Bd7 and
was eventually drawn.} 12. exf6 $1 Bxf6 13. Bb2 O-O 14. Ne5 g6 15. f4 Bd7 16.
Ndf3 $14 {White has a nice outpost on e5 so Hebert's reaction is
understandable.The resulting weakening of the black sqaures around the king
doesn't look serious now but watc hwhat happens over the next ten moves.} Bxe5
$2 (16... Bg7 $5) 17. fxe5 a4 18. b4 Na7 19. Bc1 $1 Nc4 (19... Bb5 20. Bh6 Rf7
21. Ng5 Rxf1+ 22. Bxf1 $1 $16) 20. Ra2 $1 Qb6 21. Raf2 Nc6 (21... Nb5 $5 22.
Bh6) 22. Bxc4 dxc4 23. Bh6 Rf5 24. g4 Rf7 25. Ne1 $1 {Diagram [#] This funny
move seels black's fate.} Rxf2 26. Rxf2 Qd8 (26... Qxd4 $2 27. Qxd4 Nxd4 28.
Rd2 $18) 27. d5 $1 {Jus tlike that Black is completly busted.A very nice game
by Degraeve.} Nxe5 28. dxe6 Bxe6 29. Rf8+ $1 Qxf8 30. Bxf8 Bxg4 31. Qd5+ Nf7
32. Bc5 Re8 33. Nc2 Re2 34. Ne3 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Nogueiras, Jesus"]
[Black "Bluvstein, Mark"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A07"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O Bg4 5. d3 Nbd7 6. Nbd2 e6 7. h3 Bh5 8. e4
dxe4 9. dxe4 Ne5 {This is relatively obscure.} 10. Qe2 (10. g4 $5) 10... Be7
11. g4 Nxf3+ 12. Nxf3 Bg6 13. Ne5 O-O 14. Bf4 Qa5 15. Bg3 Rfd8 16. h4 Qd2 17.
Rae1 Qxe2 18. Rxe2 Bd6 19. Bf3 Bxe5 20. Bxe5 Nd7 21. Bc7 Rdc8 22. Bg3 f6 {Mark
will have to defend a difficult ending.} 23. h5 (23. Rd1 $5) 23... Be8 24. Rd2
Ne5 25. Be2 Rd8 26. Rfd1 Rxd2 27. Rxd2 Nf7 {The black minor pieces are
controling all the entry points on the dfile.} 28. f3 e5 29. Bf2 g6 30. hxg6
hxg6 31. a4 c5 $1 32. Bxc5 Bxa4 33. b3 Bc6 34. b4 b6 35. Be7 Kg7 36. b5 Be8 37.
Bb4 {Blac khas little to fear after Ng5-e6.I can't help feeling White didn't
press black properly here.Mark just didn't suffer the way one usually does
against a strong G.M. who posses the bishops in the endgame.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Ivanov, Igor"]
[Black "Lawson, Eric"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E18"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Here Canada's newest F.M. gets positionally taken apart by I.M. Ivanov.The
thing I enjoy about games like this are the apparent ease at which White
exploits each fresh weakness.} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. g3 b6 4. Bg2 Bb7 5. d4
Be7 6. Nc3 Ne4 7. Nxe4 Bxe4 8. Nh4 Bxg2 9. Nxg2 f5 $2 (9... d5) 10. O-O O-O 11.
b3 Bf6 12. Bb2 Qe7 13. Qc2 d6 $2 (13... c5 $16) 14. e4 $1 fxe4 15. Qxe4 Nd7 16.
Rae1 Rfe8 $2 (16... Rae8 $14) 17. Nf4 Nf8 18. Nh5 c5 19. Nxf6+ Qxf6 20. f4 Rad8
21. Rf2 Qf7 22. Rfe2 d5 $4 23. cxd5 cxd4 24. Qxd4 Qc7 25. Re5 Rd7 26. f5 Qb7
27. fxe6 Rc7 28. Rf5 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Barsov, Alexei"]
[Black "Voskanyan, Vahagn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D36"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{This round saw the last of the perfect scores disappear as Degraeve drew
quickly with Ivanov ,who had the white pieces and was peacefully inclined.This
next game looks like a product of fine opening preperation on Barsov's part.} 
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Be7 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Bd3 O-O 8.
Nge2 Re8 9. O-O c6 10. Qc2 Nf8 11. f3 Nh5 12. Bxe7 Qxe7 13. e4 dxe4 14. fxe4 {
White scores an incredible 84% from this position on the online data base.
Voskanyan soon gets into big trouble.} Qg5 15. e5 Be6 16. Ne4 $1 Qe3+ 17. Kh1
Ng6 $2 {Black's pieces are tripping over each other in contrast to the harmany
found in the White camp.} (17... Re7 $1) 18. Nd6 Re7 19. Nf5 $1 {Diagram [#]}
Bxf5 20. Bxf5 {There is no adequate defense to g4 so the game is basically
over.} Nf8 21. g4 g6 22. gxh5 gxf5 23. Rf4 $1 Ne6 24. Rg1+ Kf8 25. Rg3 Nxd4 26.
Rxd4 Qxe5 27. Rg2 Rae8 28. Qd2 Qf6 29. Rd3 Re4 30. Rdg3 Rg4 31. Rxg4 fxg4 32.
Qb4+ Qe7 33. Qxg4 Qe6 34. b3 h6 35. Qg8+ Ke7 36. Qg7 a6 37. Ng1 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Lawson, Eric"]
[Black "Buscar, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D00"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "77"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. Bg5 Nf6 3. Bxf6 exf6 4. e3 c6 5. Nd2 Be6 6. g3 Be7 7. Bg2 Nd7 8.
Ne2 Qb6 9. Rb1 O-O 10. Nf4 Rfe8 11. O-O Bf8 12. a3 Qa6 13. Re1 f5 14. c3 b5 15.
Qc2 Rac8 16. h4 Qb7 17. Nf3 Qb8 18. Ng5 g6 19. h5 Bh6 20. Ngxe6 fxe6 21. hxg6
hxg6 22. Nxg6 Kf7 23. Nf4 Bxf4 24. exf4 Rh8 25. Re2 Rh6 26. Rbe1 Qd6 27. a4 a6
28. axb5 axb5 29. Ra1 Rch8 30. Ra7 Kf6 31. b3 Qe7 32. g4 fxg4 33. f5 Kg5 34.
Re5 Nxe5 35. Rxe7 Nf3+ 36. Bxf3 gxf3 37. Qd2+ Kg4 38. Rg7+ Kxf5 39. Qg5+ 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Charbonneau, Pascal"]
[Black "Bannon, Eric"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B45"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{After a well played opening an interesting endgame ensue's that seems about
even.Pascal starts to press and a nice tactical move causes black to caugh up
a piece.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Nxc6 bxc6 7.
e5 Nd5 8. Ne4 Qc7 9. f4 Qb6 10. Bd3 Ba6 11. Qe2 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 Be7 13. c4 Nb4
14. Qd1 Qd4 15. Qxd4 Nc2+ 16. Kf2 Nxd4 17. Rd1 Nf5 18. g4 Nh6 19. h3 f5 20.
exf6 gxf6 21. f5 Nf7 22. Bf4 h5 23. Kg3 hxg4 24. fxe6 dxe6 25. hxg4 Rd8 26.
Rxd8+ Kxd8 27. c5 Kc8 28. Re1 e5 29. Bd2 Kd7 30. Re3 Rb8 31. b4 Ke6 32. Ra3 Rb7
33. Kf3 Nd8 34. Ng3 Kd5 35. Rd3+ Kc4 36. Ke4 Ne6 37. Nf5 a5 38. Rd6 $1 {
Diagram [#]} Nd8 $4 (38... Nd4 $8 39. Nxe7 Rxe7 40. bxa5 $16) 39. Nxe7 Rxe7 40.
Rxd8 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Degraeve, Jean Marc"]
[Black "Bluvstein, Mark"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C01"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "110"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Round five saw Our young national champion break away from the pack at 4.5/5.
Here Canada's youngest I.M. makes a draw with the eventual tournement winner
wit hthe black pieces.A fine accomplishment .} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4.
exd5 exd5 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. a3 Be7 {First played by David Bronstein in 1955.There
are many examples of Bxc3 and white always seems a touch better though of
course black is o.k.} 7. Nce2 Bg4 $5 {This is Mark's improvement on a Degraeve
game played in 2001 at the euro team championships.} 8. c3 Qd7 9. Qc2 Bd6 10.
Ng3 Nge7 11. h3 Bxg3 12. hxg4 Bd6 13. f3 Ng6 14. Ne2 Qe7 $5 15. Kf1 $1 (15.
Bxg6 $5 fxg6 16. Qxg6+ hxg6 17. Rxh8+ Kf7 18. Rxa8 Qh4+ 19. Kf1 Qh1+ 20. Ng1
Ne5 $1 21. Bg5 Nd3 {Looks a little scary but should be good for white.}) 15...
O-O-O 16. Rh5 Kb8 17. Bd2 Nf8 18. Re1 Ne6 19. Rxd5 h5 20. g5 Bh2 21. Rxd8+ Qxd8
22. Be4 Nxg5 23. Bxc6 bxc6 24. Qb3+ Kc8 25. Qa4 Ne4 $5 {Mark is doing his best
to complicate in a bad position.} 26. Be3 Ng3+ 27. Nxg3 Bxg3 28. Re2 Qd5 {This
is the moment of truth.After the text black is never in any real danger.} 29.
c4 {What would have happened if White grabbed the pawn?} (29. Qxa7 $5 Kd7 30.
Qa4 h4 31. c4 Qf5 32. Qc2 Qh5 33. Bf2 Bf4 $1 {I can't find anything clear for
white here.presumably d5 or qe4 would have to be tried but neither is
convincing after h3.}) 29... Qf5 30. Qc2 Qxc2 31. Rxc2 Re8 32. Bf2 Bxf2 33.
Kxf2 Kd7 34. b4 g5 35. Rd2 f5 36. d5 f4 37. dxc6+ Kxc6 38. Rd5 g4 $1 {Diagram 
[#]} 39. fxg4 hxg4 40. Rg5 g3+ 41. Kf3 Re3+ 42. Kxf4 Rxa3 43. Rxg3 Ra4 44. b5+
Kc5 45. Rc3 Kd4 46. Rc1 Kd3 47. g4 Kd2 48. Rb1 Rxc4+ 49. Kf5 c6 50. bxc6 Rc5+
51. Kg6 Rxc6+ 52. Kh5 a5 53. g5 a4 54. Rg1 Ra6 55. g6 Ra7 1/2-1/2

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Burnett, Ronald"]
[Black "Ivanov, Igor"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B30"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "45"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Igor missplays the opening and Burnett crushes him with some good tactics.} 1.
e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 e6 4. c3 a6 5. Ba4 b5 6. Bc2 Bb7 7. O-O Rc8 8. Re1 Qc7
9. a4 b4 10. d4 bxc3 11. d5 cxb2 12. Bxb2 Nd4 13. Nbd2 Nxc2 14. Qxc2 {White
has a huge lead in development for a pawn.} c4 15. Rab1 Ba8 16. d6 Qc5 17. Bd4
Qxd6 18. Nxc4 Qc7 19. Qb2 Nf6 $2 (19... f6) 20. Nb6 Rb8 $4 (20... Rd8 21. Bxf6
gxf6 22. Qxf6 Rg8 23. Rec1 $16) 21. Nd5 $1 {Diagram [#]} Rxb2 22. Nxc7+ Kd8 23.
Nxa8 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Meng, Fanhao"]
[Black "Hebert, Jean"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B22"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Meng recently finished 3rd in the c.y.c.c. in the under 14.Here he holds
eventual equal first place finisher I.M. Hebert to a draw with a strange
opening.} 1. e4 c5 2. c3 e6 3. e5 {Certainly no better than d4 or Nf3} d5 4.
exd6 Nc6 5. d7+ Bxd7 6. Nf3 Nf6 7. d4 Qb6 8. Na3 cxd4 9. Nc4 Qc7 10. cxd4 Bb4+
11. Bd2 O-O 12. Bd3 b5 13. Ne3 Qb6 14. O-O Rfd8 15. Rc1 Bxd2 16. Qxd2 Ne7 $1 {
Now the dpawn isn't going anywhere and black certainly has no worries but it
is hard to win positions like this .} 17. Rfd1 Be8 18. Ne5 Ng6 19. Bxg6 hxg6
20. b4 Rd6 21. Rc5 Rad8 22. f3 a5 23. a3 Qa7 24. Qb2 Ra8 25. a4 bxa4 26. b5 Rb8
27. N5c4 Rdd8 28. b6 Qe7 29. Rxa5 Nd5 30. Rc5 Qb7 31. Rb1 Nxe3 32. Nxe3 Qd7 33.
Rc4 (33. d5 $1 {White might have some hopes of a small advantage with d5 .
After the text the game burns out into a draw.}) 33... Qd6 34. Qb4 Qxb4 35.
Rcxb4 Rd6 36. Nc2 Bc6 37. Kf2 Bd5 38. Rxa4 Rdxb6 39. Rxb6 Rxb6 40. Rb4 Ra6 41.
Rb8+ Kh7 42. Nb4 1/2-1/2

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Mayo, Alvah"]
[Black "Lawson, Eric"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A15"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "119"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Alvah Mayo upset F.M. Eric Lawson in a seemingly equal endgame when Eric hung
a piece.} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. b3 g6 3. Bb2 Bg7 4. c4 d6 5. g3 e5 6. d3 O-O 7. Bg2 Nh5
8. Qc2 $6 {This is way to early to commit the queen.} Nc6 9. Nc3 f5 10. O-O f4
11. Nd5 g5 12. Nd2 g4 (12... Nd4 $1) 13. Ne4 Nd4 14. Bxd4 exd4 15. Nxf4 Nxf4
16. gxf4 Rxf4 17. Rae1 Be5 (17... Qh4 $5) 18. e3 Rf8 19. exd4 Bxd4 20. Qd2 Kh8
21. Qg5 Bf5 22. Qxd8 Raxd8 $15 {It's hard to beleive Black loses this position.
} 23. Rd1 c6 24. Ng3 Bg6 25. Be4 Bxe4 $2 {A big mistake.Now the weak dpawn
disapears and with it Black's advantage.} 26. dxe4 Bc5 27. Rd2 Kg7 28. Kg2 Kf6
29. f4 $1 gxf3+ 30. Rxf3+ Ke5 31. Rf5+ Rxf5 32. exf5 d5 33. Kf3 Rf8 34. Rc2 b6
35. Rd2 a5 36. a4 Bb4 37. Re2+ Kd4 38. cxd5 cxd5 39. Re6 Kc3 40. Rxb6 Kxb3 41.
Rb7 {Diagram [#]} d4 $2 {This is simply horrible.Black was fine after the
obvious Ka4.} (41... Kxa4 $1 42. Rd7 {or Rh7 it looks like white will have big
trouble with the apawn.} Kb3 43. Rxd5 a4) 42. Ke4 Kc4 43. Rc7+ Bc5 44. Kf4 Kb4
$4 45. Ne4 $18 d3 46. Rxc5 Rd8 47. Rc1 Kxa4 48. Ke3 Kb4 49. f6 a4 50. f7 a3 51.
Kd2 a2 52. Nd6 Kb3 53. Ne8 Rc8 54. Rf1 Rc2+ 55. Kxd3 Rf2 56. Rxf2 a1=Q 57. f8=Q
Qc3+ 58. Ke2 Qc2+ 59. Kf1 Qd1+ 60. Kg2 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Phillips, Ray"]
[Black "Charbonneau, Pascal"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B24"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "90"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Pascal moved into clear first with this mathodical win over F.M. Phillip's of
Montreal.The standings at the top were Charbanneau 4.5,Degraeve 4,Barsov 4,
Legky 4,Bluvshtein 4,Nogeuras 4etc} 1. Nc3 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. e4 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5.
Bg2 e6 6. O-O Nge7 7. d3 O-O 8. Bg5 d6 9. Qd2 e5 10. Bh6 f5 11. Bxg7 Kxg7 12.
exf5 gxf5 13. Nh4 f4 14. Ne4 Ng6 15. Nf3 Bg4 16. h3 Bf5 17. c3 Qe7 18. g4 Bxe4
19. dxe4 Rad8 20. b4 cxb4 21. cxb4 Nh4 22. Nxh4 Qxh4 23. f3 Nd4 24. Qf2 Qxf2+
25. Kxf2 Rc8 26. Rfc1 Nc2 27. Rab1 Rc7 28. Bf1 Rfc8 29. a4 Nd4 30. Rxc7+ Rxc7
31. Rb2 Rc3 32. Be2 b6 33. Ra2 Kf6 34. h4 h6 35. b5 Ke6 36. Kg2 d5 37. exd5+
Kxd5 38. a5 e4 39. axb6 axb6 40. fxe4+ Kxe4 41. Bd1 Ke3 42. Ra8 f3+ 43. Bxf3
Nxf3 44. Rb8 Kf4 45. Kf1 Rc2 0-1

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Hua, Lefong"]
[Black "Degraeve, Jean Marc"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A68"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "106"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 d6 4. Nc3 g6 5. e4 Bg7 6. f4 O-O 7. Nf3 e6 8. Be2 exd5
9. cxd5 {Black has chosen an unusual path to steer the game into Benoni
channels. With this particular move order, he has bypassed lines with an early
Bb5+ (e.g. 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 and
now 8.Bb5+ is annoying for Black to meet).} Bg4 {Also playable here is 9.. .
Re8. With the text move, Black is at some point going to be unloading his B/
g4, probably for the N/f3 but sometimes for the B/e2. Here is a good spot to
see an example of the term "piece capacity" and its influence on planning: due
to his relative lack of space, it is in Black's interest, in general, to make
a few minor piece trades. Simply put, he doesn't have enough space for so many
pieces. Therefore, he trades a couple of them off, if he can, which gives him
room to manoeuvre the other pieces to good squares.} 10. O-O {Lefong had this
position versus Jean Hebert back in the Quebec active chess championship back
in 1997. In that game he played 10.Nd2, but eventually lost after:} (10. Nd2
Bxe2 11. Qxe2 Re8 12. O-O a6 13. a4 Nbd7 14. Qf3 Qc7 15. Nc4 Nb6 16. Nxb6 Qxb6
17. a5 Qc7 18. Re1 Nd7 19. Bd2 {And 0-1 in 46.Notice how here Black has
managed to swap off two sets of minor pieces and most of the rest of his army
is ready to prevent the advance of White's big centre.}) 10... Nbd7 11. h3 Bxf3
12. Bxf3 Re8 13. a4 Qa5 {Played to temporarily prevent the advance of the
a-pawn and subsequent attacks on the soon-to-be extended c-pawn. In the game
Hua versus Marc-Andre Fortier, from 2000 there instead occured:  White has
some play against the P/a6, while still maintaining his proud centre.} (13...
c4 14. Be3 a6 15. a5 Qc7 16. Ra4 b5 17. axb6 Nxb6 18. Ra5 Nfd7 19. Qa1 $14) 14.
Bd2 c4 {Clearing the c5-square for its eventual occupation by the N/d7.} 15.
Kh1 a6 16. Qc2 Qc7 17. Be3 Rac8 18. Rfe1 Qb8 19. a5 {Preventing any visions
Black may have had of expanding on the Q-side with ...b5.} Nc5 20. Bxc5 $6 {It
seems to me that if White has to trade off pieces in this way (helping relieve
Black's congestion and surrendering his 2 Bs) then White cannot claim any
advantage whatsoever.} Rxc5 21. Qa4 h5 22. Qb4 Nd7 23. Na4 Rb5 24. Qxc4 Rxa5
25. Qb4 Rb5 26. Qd2 Nb6 27. Nxb6 Rxb6 28. Rab1 Qd8 29. b4 Qf6 30. Qe3 Qd4 31.
Qxd4 Bxd4 32. Rb3 h4 $1 {After so many exchanges, the relative activity of the
two Bs is accentuated. The text move is strong because it not only helps to
keep the White K entombed in the corner but also potentially weakens the P/f4,
which no longer can count on defence by his comrade the P/g2.} 33. Rd1 Bf2 34.
e5 {Diagram # The alternative was the relatively passive 34.f5:  White has
more weaknesses and a much less active K.} (34. f5 gxf5 35. exf5 Kg7) 34...
dxe5 35. d6 exf4 36. d7 Rd8 37. Rc3 Kf8 {Black can't get too greedy:  This
looks rather unclear.} (37... Rxb4 38. Rc8 Bb6 39. Rxd8+ Bxd8 40. Re1 Kg7 41.
Re8) 38. Rc7 Rxb4 39. Rxb7 a5 40. Rxb4 axb4 41. Bc6 Ke7 42. Ba4 {Black is
winning, but he needs to use some care. First, he does not want the White K to
escape. Second, he has to make sure that he can win the opposite B endings,
should one arise.} f6 43. Rb1 Rb8 {It seems that Black should first play 43...
Bc5 before committing his R to b8. After the text, White has some play.} 44.
Rc1 {With the threat of 45.Rc8.} Kd8 45. Rc4 {Now we see the problem. The R is
intending to head into e8, and trade itself off. For example:} f5 {Even though
the resulting position might still be winning for Black, it does seem like an
unnecessary complication, to say the least. Instead, Black is looking for
something similar, but where the White K is stuck in the corner.} (45... g5 46.
Re4 Ba7 (46... Kc7 47. Rc4+ Kd8 48. Re4) 47. Re8+ Kc7 48. Rxb8 Bxb8 49. Kg1)
46. Kh2 {46.Rxf4 looks like the only hope here.} g5 47. Kh1 Be3 48. Kh2 Bb6 49.
Rc6 (49. Rxb4 Bg1+ 50. Kxg1 Rxb4) 49... Ra8 50. Bb5 Bf2 51. Rc1 Be3 52. Rc6 Rb8
53. Ba4 Kxd7 (53... Kxd7 54. Rb6+ (54. Rf6+ Ke7 55. Rxf5 b3 56. Rxg5 b2 57. Bc2
b1=Q 58. Bxb1 Rxb1 {intending ...B/e3-f2-g3}) 54... Kc7 55. Rxb8 Kxb8 $19 {and
Black just uses his K to escort the b-pawn up the board.}) 0-1

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Fernandez, Lautaro"]
[Black "Linsky, Oleg"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B33"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Qb6 5. Nb3 Nf6 6. Nc3 e6 7. Bd3 d6 8.
Be3 Qc7 9. O-O ({There are many ways to play this position. In Zoltan Almasi -
Alexander Morozevich, 2000 the game took a different course, as White tossed
his Kside pawns up and then went Qside:} 9. f4 a6 10. g4 b5 11. g5 Nd7 12. Qd2
Nc5 13. Nxc5 dxc5 14. Qf2 Bb7 15. O-O-O O-O-O 16. Rhf1 Nd4 {The position looks
slightly better for White, though Black did eventually win in 52 moves.}) 9...
a6 10. a4 b6 11. f4 Bb7 12. Kh1 Be7 13. Qf3 Nd7 14. Qh3 $6 {Presumably played
to discourage Black from playing ...0-0 due to potential disaster on the
h7-square.} Nb4 15. Rae1 Bf6 16. Nd4 ({Also possible was:} 16. f5 Ne5 (16... e5
{looks possible, too}) 17. fxe6 Nbxd3 18. cxd3 Nxd3 19. Re2 {Black's two Bs
help balance White's central control.}) 16... Nc5 17. Bg1 O-O-O 18. e5 $2 {
Diagram # Though this meets with a cool refutation, you have to hand it to
White for coming up with such a carnivorous approach here.} dxe5 19. fxe5 Bxe5
20. Ndb5 axb5 21. Nxb5 Nbxd3 $1 {Pretty much forced, but good.} 22. Nxc7 ({
Tricky was:} 22. cxd3 Rxd3 23. Nxc7 ({A decent try is} 23. Qh5 Bxg2+ 24. Kxg2
Qb7+ 25. Rf3) 23... Rxh3 24. Rxe5 Nd7 ({but definitely not} 24... Kxc7 $2 25.
Bxc5 bxc5 26. Rxf7+ Kd6 27. Rxb7) 25. Rb5 Kxc7 26. Bxb6+ Nxb6 27. Rxf7+ Nd7 28.
Rxb7+ Kxb7 29. gxh3 Kc6 $19) 22... Nxe1 {Not only taking the R, but
threatening 23...Bxg2+.} 23. Rxe1 Bxc7 {Black emerges with a B, N and R for a
lone Q, White speeds up his demise over the next few moves, but the result is
no longer in doubt.} 24. Be3 Rd5 25. Qh4 Rhd8 26. Bf4 g5 27. Bxg5 Rg8 28. Bf4
Rd4 {A very pretty game by Oleg.} 0-1

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Roussel Roozmon, Thomas"]
[Black "Barsov, Alexei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D59"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 b6 8. cxd5
Nxd5 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Rc1 Bb7 11. Nxd5 {White waited only until now to capture
on d5, because Black has already committed his bishop to b7. If White had
taken before the B went to b7, then Black could recapture with the e-pawn, and
post his B on e6, as seen in many games.} Bxd5 12. Be2 c5 (12... Bxa2 $2 13. b3
Qb4+ 14. Nd2 {traps the B/a2 for later consumption}) (12... Rc8 13. O-O c5 14.
dxc5 Rxc5 15. Rxc5 Qxc5 16. Qa4 {scores well for White in praxis, though it is
hard to believe that this is more than +/=.}) 13. dxc5 Rd8 $1 {A nice finesse
to drive the Q to a less optimal square.} 14. Qc2 ({It seems str ange to put
the Q on the c-file, but the immediate 14.Qa4 does not impress.} 14. Qa4 Nd7
15. e4 (15. O-O Nxc5 16. Qa3 a5 {looked slightly better for Black in Sybolt
Strating - Alexei Barsov (!), Gent open 1993, though drawn in 26 moves.}) 15...
Nxc5 16. Rxc5 Qxc5 17. exd5 Qc1+ 18. Bd1 Rxd5 19. O-O Qxb2 {was slightly
better for Black in the game Victor Korchnoi - Nigel Short, Hoogovens 1990.})
14... Rc8 15. O-O Nd7 16. e4 {16.Qd2 has been tried here, too, but it didn't
lead to much after 16...Nxc5 17.b4 Ne4 in Gert Jan De Boer - Paul Van Der
Sterren, Hilversium 1990.} Rxc5 17. Qb1 Bb7 {Black has man aged to get his
army out efficiently without creating any pawn weaknesses. He looks fully
equal here, and maybe even a tad better.} 18. b4 Rxc1 19. Rxc1 Nf6 20. Bd3 {20.
e5 was probably better, but the position still favours Black.} Rd8 21. e5 $2 {
White's position has been sliding slowly downhill, but this move really speeds
things up. Barsov now initiates a tactical sequence to grab a structural (and
therefore hopefully more tangible) advantage.} Bxf3 22. exf6 Qxf6 23. Bh7+ ({
White is pretty much obligated to play this move, as capturing on f3 leads to
a dismal ending.} 23. gxf3 Rxd3 24. Qxd3 (24. Rc8+ Rd8 {also wins a pawn})
24... Qg5+ 25. Kf1 Qxc1+ 26. Kg2 {wins a clear pawn}) 23... Kh8 24. gxf3 g6 25.
Bxg6 Rg8 26. Kf1 Rxg6 27. Qe4 Kg7 28. h4 Qb2 29. Rc2 Qa1+ 30. Qe1 $2 {White is
still in the game after 30.Ke2, though of course Black is better (safer K,
better P structure). Instead, White blunders his Q.} Rg1+ 0-1

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Degraeve, Jean Marc"]
[Black "Charbonneau, Pascal"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B30"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Two of the ultimate co-winners face off in an exciting struggle.} 1. e4 c5 2.
Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 e6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. O-O a6 6. Bd3 {This position scores well for
White in praxis, though it is hard to believe that Black can be suffering more
than the normal disadvantage of moving second.} Ne7 7. Nxd4 cxd4 8. Ne2 Nc6 9.
c3 d5 (9... Bc5 10. b4 Ba7 11. cxd4 Nxd4 12. Bb2 Nxe2+ 13. Qxe2 O-O 14. e5 Qh4
15. a4 Rd8 16. Rfc1 Qh6 ({eschewing the very risky pawn grab} 16... Qxb4) 17.
Rc4 d5 18. exd6 Rxd6 19. Bxg7 Bxf2+ 20. Qxf2 Qxg7 21. Rac1 Rxd3 22. Rxc8+ Rd8
23. R8c7 {and White's more active pieces proved decisive in Mark Tseitlin -
Igor Khenkin, Israel Championship 1994 (1-0 in 41).}) 10. cxd4 dxe4 11. Bxe4
Be7 (11... Nxd4 12. Qa4+ Nb5 {looks awkward for Black, but may be playable.})
12. Bxc6+ $1 bxc6 13. d3 O-O 14. Be3 {If White did not have the P/d3, Black
might be tempted at some point to play ...c6-c5, liquidating off each side's
weakness, and trying to make use of the extra B. But here, liquidating off
these pawns gives White a Qside majority, while Black gets ... very little.}
Rb8 15. b3 Bd6 16. Rc1 Qc7 17. h3 f5 $5 {Trying to mix it up a bit. The
immediate threat is to keep shoving the f-pawn.} 18. f4 Qa5 {Thanks to the
inclusion of 18.f4 (no possibility of f2-f3 now) it is risky to take on c6 and
let the B/c8 find a nice home on the long diagonal.} 19. Nc3 c5 {Black cannot
allow 20.Na4 followed by a complete bind on the dark squares.} 20. dxc5 Bxc5
21. Bxc5 Qxc5+ 22. Kh2 Qd6 23. Na4 Rd8 24. Nc5 Rb4 25. Qd2 Rd4 26. Qe3 Rd5 27.
Rfe1 Kf7 28. Rc4 a5 {Black continues with the plan of keeping his pieces
active, if at all possible, and waiting to see what White is going to do.} 29.
Rec1 e5 {Seizing the chance to try and grab the initiative.} 30. fxe5 Rxe5 31.
Qg3 g5 32. Ne4 $2 {Diagram # A cool idea, and certainly the sort of freaker
move one would like to play in a time scramble (if indeed this was one) , but
objectively this gives back much of White's advantage. The minor piece trade
that happens now can only be good for Black.} fxe4 33. Rc6 (33. Rxc8 Rxc8 34.
Rxc8 exd3 {is better for Black}) 33... Qe7 34. Rxc8 Rxd3 35. Qf2+ Kg6 $2 {In
this very complicated position, Black makes a fatal error. Necessary seems to
be:} (35... Kg7 36. R1c7 Rd7 37. Rxd7 Qxd7 38. Qf8+ Kg6 {White looks to have
various ways to make a draw, but not more than that, as far as I can see.}) 36.
R1c6+ $2 {White errs in turn. Winning was} (36. R1c7 Qe6 (36... Rd7 37. Rxd7
Qxd7 38. Rg8+ $18) 37. Qf8 {and now 37...Rd7 loses immediately to 38.Rc6})
36... Rd6 37. Qd4 Ree6 38. Rxd6 Qxd6+ 39. Qxd6 Rxd6 40. Rc5 a4 41. bxa4 {The
rook ending is totally drawn. A close call for Black, but a good example of
the Canadian Champion's ceaseless quest for the initiative, even when on the
defensive.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Legky, Nikolay"]
[Black "Phillips, Ray"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A40"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "27"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. d4 Nc6 2. d5 Ne5 3. e4 e6 4. dxe6 fxe6 $6 {More enterprising than 4...dxe6,
but more risky as well.} 5. Nc3 ({Deviating fr om the game Roland Chabot -
Michael Schleifer, played during last year's Quebec Open. In that game play
continued:} 5. f4 Ng6 6. Nf3 Bc5 7. Nc3 N8e7 8. Bd3 O-O 9. g3 d5 10. e5 a6 11.
Qe2 Ba7 {with a complex struggle, that Black eventually won in 29 moves.}) 5...
Ng6 $6 6. Nf3 Bc5 7. h4 $5 {This kind of thing happens a lot in both this
opening, and its relative the Nimzovitch Defense (1.e4 Nc6) in the lines where
the Black N finds itself on g6. The idea behind h4 is to gain time kicking the
N, which will find it tough to locate a stable square for quite a few moves.
Meanwhile, White is going to try to get the P to h6 eventually, and create
weaknesses in the Black Kside.} Qf6 $2 {The idea associated with this move
turns out very badly. Perhaps 7...d6, though Black's position doesn't look so
great there, either.} 8. Bg5 Qf7 9. Qd2 d6 10. h5 Nf8 11. Na4 ({Also possible
was the immediate leap:} 11. Ne5 Qxf2+ 12. Qxf2 Bxf2+ 13. Kxf2 dxe5 14. Nb5 {
and Black is in big trouble.}) 11... Bb6 12. Nxb6 {12...cxb6 at least avoided
White's next, but after 13.Qxd6 he would still be dead.} axb6 13. Ne5 $1 dxe5
14. Qd8# 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Hebert, Jean"]
[Black "Laptos, Chris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A53"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "87"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. c4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bf5 4. Nf3 c6 5. Nh4 Bd7 6. e4 e5 7. Nf3 Qe7 {This
move looks a bit awkward compared to the more natural-looking 7...Qc7. An
example of this is:} (7... Qc7 8. Be2 g6 $5 (8... Be7 {is possible too}) 9. O-O
Bg7 10. b3 exd4 11. Nxd4 O-O 12. Bf4 Re8 13. Bf3 Na6 {with some small
advantage for White as in Giorgi Giorgadze - Elizbar Ubilava, 1997 (drawn in
20 moves).}) 8. Be2 g6 9. O-O Bg7 10. d5 {After this, the position assumes a
very strong resemblance to the KID. But not a particularly appealing one for
Black, I think.} O-O 11. Ne1 $1 cxd5 $2 {This seems to me to be the wrong
positional idea. Surely Black has to try to generate play on the Kside, and
opening Qside lines does not help to that end. Perhaps simply ...Ne8 or ...
Kh8 and then ...Ng8 followed in either case by ...f5 is more in the spirit of
the position.} 12. cxd5 Na6 13. Be3 Rfc8 14. f3 Nh5 15. Nd3 b5 16. a3 Qe8 17.
Qd2 {Things have gone quite well for White over the last few moves. The play
is located solely on the Qside, where the central pawn, according to Silman's
"pawn-pointing rule", White should have a ready made advantage (his central
pawns are pointing in the direction of the Qside). Meanwhile, the B/g7 and N/
h5 in particular will have trouble influencing that sector of the board. To
that end, Black was probably trying to make the pawn sac ...Nf4 work at
various moments, but Jean was careful not to allow any excitement of that type.
} Nc5 18. Nxc5 dxc5 19. a4 $1 {Diagram # Opening up some Qside lines in order
to find employment for the White Rs and the B/e2.} bxa4 (19... b4 $5 20. Nb5
Bf8 {trying to prevent Nb5-d6-c4 and then later attacks on the P/c5} 21. d6 $16
) ({Black would like to play} 19... a6 $2 {but this hangs the c-pawn} 20. axb5
axb5 21. Rxa8 Rxa8 22. Bxc5) 20. Ba6 Rc7 $6 {Although this loses the Exchange,
the alternatives 20...Rd8 and 20...Rcb8 both lost the c-pawn, leaving White
with a protected passer and targets on the a-file.} 21. d6 Rc6 22. Bb7 Rd8 23.
Bxc6 Bxc6 24. g3 Bf8 25. Bxc5 Qe6 26. Rad1 Qc4 27. Ba3 Ng7 28. Qd3 Qb3 29. Qa6
Bd7 30. Qa5 Rc8 31. Qxe5 Ne6 32. Qa5 Bg7 33. Nd5 Rc2 34. Qb4 Qxb4 35. Nxb4 Re2
36. Rf2 {Probably the easiest way of ensuring victory. Now White merely has to
convert his effective two-pawn majority without tactical hassles.} Bd4 37. Rxd4
Nxd4 38. Rxe2 Nxe2+ 39. Kf2 Nd4 40. Nd5 Kg7 41. Bb4 Nb5 42. e5 Nd4 43. Bc3 Ne6
44. Nf6 (44. Nf6 Bc6 (44... Nf8 45. Nxd7 Nxd7 46. e6+) 45. d7 Kf8 46. Bb4+ Kg7
47. Ba5 {and promotes}) 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Charbonneau, Pascal"]
[Black "Voskanyan, Vahagn"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B81"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "46"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. g4 Be7 {Black
has a lot of possibilities for defense. Most popular are preventing the
g-pawn's advance with 7...h6, and playing the very provocative 7...e5!?, which
can lead to a highly theoretical piece sac:} (7... e5 $5 8. Nf5 g6 9. g5 gxf5
10. exf5 d5 11. Qf3 d4 12. O-O-O Nbd7 13. Bd2 Qc7 14. gxf6 dxc3 15. Bxc3 Qc6
16. Qg3 Bh6+ 17. Kb1 Bf4 18. Qd3 Rg8 19. Bh3 Kd8 20. Bb4 Qxf6 21. Qc4 Rg5 22.
Rd6 Qg7 23. f6 Rg1+ 24. Bf1 {1-0 as in Alexei Shirov - Veselin Topalov, Wijk
aan Zee 2001} (24. Bf1 Qg2 25. Rxg1 Qxg1 26. Ba5+ b6 27. Bxb6+ Ke8 28. Re6+
fxe6 29. Qxe6+ Kf8 30. Bc5+ Nxc5 31. Qe7+ Kg8 32. Qe8# {is one variation given
by Ftacnik})) 8. g5 Nfd7 9. h4 Nc6 10. h5 $5 {Normally this move is first
prepared with stuff like Qd2 and 0-0-0.} g6 (10... Bxg5 $5 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12.
Bxg5 Qxg5 13. Qxd6 Qc5 {looks playable}) 11. Qe2 Rg8 12. O-O-O Qc7 13. f4 Nxd4
14. Bxd4 b5 15. Bh3 b4 16. Nd5 $5 {Diagram # Our champion is certainly a brave
man. For the piece, White gets play down the e-file and the Black K is not
very safe.} exd5 17. exd5 Kd8 18. Rde1 Re8 19. Bf6 Nc5 $2 ({A defensive lapse,
but an understandable one. It appears the Black must keep the h-file closed so
as to prevent infiltration by the R/h1:} 19... Nf8 20. Bxc8 Rxc8 21. hxg6 fxg6
22. Rh3 Qb7 23. Re3 Rc7 $17) 20. Bxc8 Rxc8 21. Rh3 $2 (21. hxg6 {Our good
friend the silicon monster came up with:} hxg6 22. Bxe7+ Qxe7 23. Qxe7+ Rxe7
24. Rh8+ Kd7 25. Rxe7+ Kxe7 26. Rxc8 {hence the comment about keeping the
h-file closed in the previous note.}) 21... Ne6 $1 22. Re3 Nxf4 23. Rxe7 Nxe2+
({Forcing a draw, as in the line:} 23... Nxe2+ 24. R7xe2+ Kd7 (24... Re7 $2 25.
Bxe7+ Kd7 26. Bf6 {and the threat of 27.Re7+ is too much for Black}) 25. Re7+
Rxe7 26. Rxe7+ Kd8 27. Re2+ Kd7 28. Re7+ $11) 1/2-1/2

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Bluvstein, Mark"]
[Black "Demmery, Steve"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D06"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "29"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 Bf5 3. cxd5 Bxb1 4. Qa4+ c6 5. Rxb1 Qxd5 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. e3 e6 8.
b4 Ngf6 9. Qc2 a6 10. Bd3 Qh5 11. h3 Be7 12. Bd2 h6 {A deceptive position. All
looks fairly quiet, but the Q/h5 is in big trouble. White comes up with a very
clever idea to capitalize on this.} 13. Ke2 $1 {Diagram # Reminiscent of
Karpov's idea in one line of the Caro-Kann: 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d6 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4
Nd7 5.Ng5 Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 7.N1f3 Bd6 8.Qe2 h6 9.Ne4 Nxe4 10.Qxe4 Nf6 11.Qh4?!
Ke7! with the idea of ...g7-g5 later.} Nb6 (13... Qd5 14. e4 Qd6 15. e5) (13...
Nf8 14. e4 N6d7 15. e5 {is life, Jim, but not as we know it. At least here the
g6-square is guarded so that Black can move his f-pawn and retreat the Q back.
Still, it is pretty grim.}) 14. e4 Nfd7 15. e5 {And 16.g4 is next.} 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Burnett, Ronald"]
[Black "Hebert, Jean"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A29"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Nc3 Nb6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8.
a4 {A similar idea used to be fairly popular in the Sicilian Classical Dragon.
The idea is to provoke 8...a5, else White gets to motor the a-pawn up the
board with a5-a6, undermining the protection of the N/c6.} a5 {Preventing the
aforementioned advance, but weakening the b5-square. Still, this is not really
very dangerous for Black. White's Qside is as inflexible as Black's, and there
is no chance of White mobilizing his Qside with b2-b4.} 9. Nb5 $6 (9. d4 exd4
10. Nb5 O-O (10... Bf6 11. Bf4 Nd5 12. Nfxd4 Nxd4 13. Bxd5 O-O 14. Bg2 c6 15.
Nxd4 Qxd4 16. Rb1 Bf5 $11 {as in Valentin Kron - Alexander Baburin, 1989}) 11.
Nfxd4 Nxd4 12. Nxd4 c6 13. e3 Bf6 {Black looks fine here and indeed in the
game Julian Hodgson - Evgeny Bareev, Black scored a crushing victory.} 14. Qh5
Qe7 15. Bd2 Rd8 16. Rfc1 Nd5 17. Rc4 g6 18. Qf3 c5 19. Nb3 b6 20. e4 Ba6 21.
Rcc1 Nb4 22. e5 Bxe5 23. Re1 Nd3 24. Qe3 Bb7 25. Bf1 Nxe1 26. Rxe1 Qf6 {as 26.
Qxe5 gets mated after 26...Qf3}) 9... Bf6 {Preparing to meet the freeing 10.d4
with 10...exd4.} 10. e4 $6 {White should have played 10.d4, transposing back
to the above Kron - Baburin game.} Bg4 11. d4 {11...exd4!?} Nxd4 12. Nbxd4 exd4
13. e5 Be7 14. Qxd4 Qxd4 15. Nxd4 O-O-O {Black has emerged from the central
excitement with a very comfortable position, with generally more active pieces,
and the P/e5 is as much exposed target, blocking the path of the B/c1, as it
is an asset.} 16. h3 $2 {This loses a pawn for not much compensation.} Rxd4 17.
hxg4 Rxa4 18. Bd2 Rxa1 19. Rxa1 Bb4 $1 {Diagram # Perhaps White missed this
resource when he embarked on the adventure begun with 16.h3?} 20. Bxb4 axb4 {
Black is cl early better here and Jean is more than capable of winning with
advantages smaller than this one.} 21. Bd5 Re8 22. Bxf7 Rxe5 23. Kg2 h6 24. Rd1
Re7 25. Bg8 c5 26. b3 Kc7 27. f4 Nd7 28. Kf3 b5 29. f5 Ne5+ 30. Kf4 Nf7 31.
Bxf7 Rxf7 32. g5 hxg5+ 33. Kxg5 Kc6 34. Rc1 Kd5 35. Kf4 c4 36. g4 Kd4 37. Rb1
Kc3 38. bxc4 bxc4 39. Rc1+ Kd3 0-1

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "9"]
[White "Cuartas, Carlos"]
[Black "Charbonneau, Pascal"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6 {Already a surprising choice!} 3. Bf4 Bg4 4. Nbd2 Qd7 5. e3
f6 6. h3 Bh5 7. c4 e5 $6 {Perhaps the more restrained 7...e6 is better.} 8.
dxe5 Bxf3 9. e6 $1 {Guaranteeing White at least a small, safe edge. Black
would have liked to have been able to play ...fxe5, of course, since then he
gets more central control, plus clears the f6-square for the N/g8.} Qxe6 (9...
Bxd1 10. exd7+ Kxd7 11. Rxd1 {is clearly better for White}) 10. Qxf3 Bb4 11.
Qxd5 $16 Qe7 12. O-O-O Rd8 13. Qh5+ g6 14. Qf3 Rxd2 15. Rxd2 Bxd2+ 16. Kxd2
Qb4+ 17. Kc1 Qe1+ 18. Qd1 (18. Kc2 $5) 18... Qxf2 19. Qe2 Qxe2 20. Bxe2 {A
very interesting position. If the P/e3 were on say f2, this would be a very,
very good position for White. As it stands, however, the P is on e3, and
therefore Black has potential central squares on the e-file where he can post
his Ns without fear of them being chased away by pawns. Even so, White is
better: the 2Bs are the2Bs!} Ne5 21. Rd1 Ne7 22. Kc2 N7c6 23. Kc3 Ke7 24. b4
Rd8 25. Rd5 $6 {In retrospect, maybe White should try to keep the centre clear
of his own pawns, which only serve to obstruct one bishop or the other. To
that end 25.Rxd8 suggests itself, when White is still better.} Rxd5 26. cxd5
Nd8 27. Kd4 Kd6 {Black has set up a rather effective central blockade on the
dark squares. To some extent, thanks to the P/d5, the B/e2 is a bit of a
spectator. Of course, on the other hand, it is hard for Black to undertake
anything constructive - "constructive" in this context probably means allowing
the pawns to be exchanged and the position to open up which is a definite
no-no when dealing with the 2Bs.} 28. Bf3 b6 29. a3 $6 {Diagram # Overlooking
Black's next. 29.Bh2 (preserving the B) looks better.} c5+ 30. dxc6 $2 {30.
bxc5+ bxc5+ 31.Kc3, when I prefer Black, but it is still a fight.} Ne6+ 31. Ke4
$4 (31. Kc3 Nxf4 32. exf4 Nxf3 33. gxf3 Kxc6 34. Kc4 {looks drawn, though
maybe Black has some way to try and win this. Instead, White walks into ...})
31... f5# {From his games, I sense that one of Pascal's greatest strengths is
the optimistic way he plays all positions, no matter their objective merit. In
praxis this reveals itself in his games by his constant searching for chances
to set tough decisions for his opponents. Some results will appear "lucky"
when really they are simply a byproduct of this opportunism. We can all learn
from such positivism.} 0-1

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Khassanov, Marat"]
[Black "Degraeve, Jean Marc"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B36"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. e4 c5 2. Ne2 Nc6 3. c4 d6 4. Nbc3 g6 5. d4 cxd4 6. Nxd4 Nf6 7. f3 Nxd4 8.
Qxd4 Bg7 9. Be3 O-O 10. Qd2 {Considering that Black needed a win here to claim
a share of first, it is shocking that he would choose such a setup. Not that
this is bad, but rather that White has a rather large margin of error to keep
this in the "draw zone".} Qa5 11. Be2 (11. Rc1 $5) (11. Nb5 $5) 11... Be6 12.
O-O (12. Nd5 Qxd2+ 13. Kxd2 Nxd5 14. cxd5 Bd7 15. Rac1 Rfc8 16. Rxc8+ Rxc8 17.
Rc1 Rxc1 18. Kxc1 {was soon drawn in Yuri Averbakh - Tamas Georgadze, 1976.
The text is an attempt to keep some life in the position.}) 12... Rfc8 13. Rac1
(13. Rfc1 Kf8 14. b3 a6 15. Rab1 Rab8 16. Bf1 Rc6 17. b4 Qd8 18. Nd5 {with a
slight advantage for White, as in Valeri Yandemirov - Evgeny Vorobiov, Moscow
1998.}) 13... Nd7 14. Rfd1 a6 15. a3 Kf8 16. Nd5 Qxd2 17. Rxd2 Bxd5 18. exd5 {
Both players now have reason to be happy. White has a slight advantage (more
space, 2Bs), while Black has managed to avoid the sterile pawn structures that
would result in the event of White recapturing on d5 with the c-pawn.} a5 19.
b3 b5 20. b4 $2 {Diagram #} (20. Rb1 bxc4 21. bxc4 Nc5 22. Rb5 {looks quite
reasonable for White, who can gain control of the b-file with an eventual R/
d2-d1-b1. After the text, White's b-pawn is a potential target and his pieces
are not very well co-ordinated.}) 20... axb4 21. axb4 bxc4 22. Rdc2 ({The
choices were no better:} 22. Rxc4 Rxc4 23. Bxc4 Bc3 24. Rc2 Bxb4 $17) (22. Bxc4
Ra4 23. Rdc2 Rxb4 $17) 22... c3 23. f4 f5 24. Bb5 Nf6 25. Bc6 ({For the next
two moves, the P/c3 is taboo due to a tactic. First:} 25. Rxc3 $4 Rxc3 26. Rxc3
Nxd5 27. Bc6 Ra1+ 28. Rc1 Nxe3 $19) 25... Ra3 26. Kf1 (26. Rxc3 $4 Rxc3 27.
Rxc3 Nxd5 $19) 26... e6 27. Rd1 Rb3 28. b5 Nxd5 29. Bxd5 exd5 30. Rxd5 Rb2 {
Black's extra pawn and more active pieces are enough to easily win this.} 31.
Rc1 Re8 32. Bd4 Bxd4 33. Rxd4 Ree2 34. g3 Rxh2 35. Kg1 Rbg2+ 36. Kf1 Rxg3 37.
Rc4 Rh1+ 38. Kf2 Rxc1 39. Kxg3 c2 40. Kh2 {The threat was 40...Rg1+ and 41...
c1=Q} d5 41. Rc8+ Kg7 42. b6 d4 {43.b7 Rb1 is no better.} 43. Rc7+ Kh6 44. b7
Rb1 45. Rxc2 Rxb7 46. Rc8 Rd7 0-1

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Charbonneau, Pascal"]
[Black "Feoktistov, Dmitri"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B12"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nc3 e6 5. g4 Bg6 6. Nge2 h6 7. Be3 {A solid
move , preparing to play 0-0-0 while keeping the d-pawn, and by extension the
c5-square, protected.} Qb6 $5 8. Qd2 {Taking Black up on his challenge: come
take the pawn!} Nd7 {Black could have tested White's idea:} (8... Qxb2 9. Rb1
Qxc2 10. Rxb7 Qxd2+ 11. Kxd2 Nd7 {White certainly has compensation for his
pawn, but does he have more than that?}) 9. O-O-O O-O-O 10. f4 {White has
managed to get his pieces developed and his K castled without losing control
of the centre. His opening can be said to have been a success.} h5 11. f5 $1 {
A thematic tactic in this opening. For the pawn, White gets the use of the
f4-square, plus the Black light-squared B has trouble finding anything useful
to do. Besides, he can pretty much pick off that pawn whenever he wants to.}
exf5 12. g5 Bb4 13. a3 Bxc3 14. Qxc3 Nf8 {Logically making use of the
now-vacated e6-square.} 15. h4 Ne6 16. Bh3 Ne7 17. Rhf1 Rhf8 18. Ng3 {
Recovering the pawn. White's position is still very pleasant.} Rde8 19. Nxf5
Bxf5 20. Bxf5 Nxf5 21. Rxf5 g6 22. Rf6 Ng7 23. Rdf1 Nf5 24. R1xf5 $1 {Diagram
# As long as the files stay blocked, the Black Rs are useless. For the
Exchange, White is going to win one pawn immediately and have targets on f7
and h5.} gxf5 25. Qd3 Qc7 26. Qxf5+ Qd7 27. Qf3 Kb8 $2 (27... Re6 28. Qxh5 Rxf6
29. gxf6 {is better than the text, but the Black rook still can't find an open
file, and is certainly no better than the White B.}) 28. g6 Rh8 29. gxf7 Ref8
30. e6 Qe7 31. Bg5 Rh7 32. Qf5 Rfxf7 33. Rxf7 1-0

[Event "Montreal CA op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "10"]
[White "Bolduc, Steve"]
[Black "Nogueiras, Jesus"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A40"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "58"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 {Needing a win to pick up a prize, Nogueiras abandons his
normally safe opening repertoire for something a bit more daring.} 3. a3 Bb7 4.
Nc3 f5 5. d5 Nf6 6. g3 a5 {Preparing the outpost on c5 for the N/b8.} 7. Bg2
Na6 8. Nh3 Bd6 (8... Qc8 $6 {with the idea of guarding the B/b7 in case of a
later dxe6} 9. O-O Be7 10. e4 fxe4 11. Nxe4 O-O {and White looks a bit better
as in Dorian Rogozenko - Pavel Blatny, Istanbul Olympiad 2000.}) 9. Bf4 $6 e5 (
9... Bxf4 $5 10. Nxf4 e5 11. d6 $5 {(else Black will play ...d6 himself)}) 10.
Bd2 Nc5 11. b4 $6 {Initiating a long sequence of reasonably forcing moves.}
axb4 12. axb4 Rxa1 13. Qxa1 Nb3 14. Qa7 $5 (14. Qb2 $2 Nxd2 15. Kxd2 (15. Qxd2
Bxb4 {simply wins a pawn}) 15... O-O {and White's K looks a bit unsafe in the
centre}) 14... Qc8 15. Nb5 Nxd2 16. Nxd6+ cxd6 17. Kxd2 Qxc4 {Diagram #} 18.
Qxb7 Qxb4+ {Since Black has at least a draw by perpetual check, the crisis
White provoked back on move 11 was surely a poor practical decision.} 19. Kc2
Qc4+ 20. Kb1 (20. Kb2 Qxe2+) (20. Kd2 $5) 20... Qb3+ (20... Ke7 $1 21. Qxb6 (
21. Rc1 Qb3+ 22. Ka1 Qa3+ 23. Kb1 Ra8 $19) 21... Ne4 {This is the key idea. It
allows Black to get his N into the game and because of the configuration of
the K/b1 and R/h1, it is immune from capture.}) 21. Ka1 (21. Kc1 Qc3+ 22. Kb1
Ke7 23. Qxb6 Ra8 24. Qb2) 21... Qc3+ 22. Ka2 Qc4+ 23. Kb1 Ke7 $1 24. Rc1 (24.
Qxb6 Ne4 {is decisive, just as before}) 24... Qb3+ {Manoeuvring the Q so as to
protect the R/h8 when it heads to the Qside.} 25. Ka1 Qa4+ 26. Kb2 Ra8 27. Rb1
Qb4+ 28. Kc1 Qc3+ 29. Kd1 Ra2 0-1

[Event "Montreal CYCC B18"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Lawson, Eric"]
[Black "Tomb, Maroun"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A01"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{The CYCC was held in Montreal July 9-12 .162 of Canada's top juniors showed
up for a chance to claim one of three spots to represent Canada at the world
championships later this year in Greece.The tournement was run in groups
determined by age.The girls under 10 and 12 were comined as were the girls
under 12 -14  and 16-18.     Many parents felt this format was somewhat
problematic as it meant a wide disparity of opposition from one round to the
next.This had the effect of making it hard for the younger players as they
were playing much physically larger children which can be a little
intimidating for the under 10 girls.The under 12 girls found it hard to find a
rythem playing some players 5 hundred points lower rated.       The site
itself was on top of a huge hill on Mcgill university.The view was great but
far more work to get to than many were prepared for.The tournement room was in
the  cafateria .This proved to be very problamatic as there was far to much
noise .The site was generally very "kid freindly"as there was a common room
with games and a big screen t.v. close by but not so great for adults.Despite
whatever problems there were there was some great chess played and
congratulations and bes twishes to all our representitives at the worlds.     
Here is a list of the winners group by group and then i will look at the
action round by round.Mixed under 10,1st,Shiyam Thavandaran,7 ,2end Kevin Me 6.
5 ,3rd Harris Kaufmann 6.In the girls under 10, 1st was Alina Sviradovitch 7.5,
2end Amanda Wang 5,Yuanling yuan 4.5 . In the Mixed under 12 ,1st- Raja
Panjwani 7.5 ,Trevor Vincent 6 -3rd Justin Macdonald ,5.5 .The girls u12
finished with Tiffany Tang 1st and 6.5,Silvi Qako 2end ,6 and Gabreille NAdeau
at 6.      The boys u14,Mark Bluvshtein 1st 8-0!2end ,Tomas Krnan ,6,3rd
Fanhoa Meng 6 .Girls u14.1st Anastasia Kasakovitch 4.5,2end Valentina Goutar 4,
Alexandra Bengawan ,4.       The boys u16 1st Igor Diviljan 6.5,Dmitri
Feokistov and 3rd went to Ashton Anderson who won a playoff at 5-3.The girls
under 16 was won by Dinara Khaziyava 7,2end Dina KAgramonov 6.5.3rd  was Yamei
Wang ,5.        The girls under 18 was won by Anne- Marie Charbanneau with 5.5
followed by Nataliya Rodina with 4.5 .                 The tournement featured
two fide titled players for the first time i can remember.I.M. Mark Bluvshtein
and F.M. Eric Lawson .Mark ran away with the under 14 and scored a perfect 8/8.
Eric finished second at 5.5 to Warrick Rolfe who had the tournement of his
life and finished with 7.5 .This should make Warrick Canada's newest chess
master .Congrats,Warrick.To give people an idea of how hard this group was in
the first round Eric already faced an opponent with a near 2200 fide rating .
Here is the game.} 1. b3 c5 2. Bb2 Nc6 3. e3 d5 4. Bb5 Qb6 5. a4 {This is
already very obscure .} (5. c4 $5) 5... a6 6. a5 $5 Qc7 (6... Qxb5 $2 7. Nc3
Qb4 8. Nxd5 $18 {or Ra4}) 7. Bxc6+ Qxc6 8. Nf3 Bg4 9. h3 Bh5 10. g4 Bg6 11. Ne5
Qc7 (11... Qd6 $5) 12. d3 f6 $5 13. Nxg6 hxg6 14. f4 e6 15. Qf3 Ne7 16. c4 $2 {
White is lagging in developement.This is mistimed but black plays to slowly to
prove it.} Nc6 $6 (16... O-O-O $1 $15) 17. Bc3 $2 (17. cxd5 Nb4 (17... exd5 18.
Qxd5 Qe7 19. Ke2 Nb4 20. Qe4 O-O-O 21. Qxe7 Bxe7 22. d4 Nd5 {White has a pawn
but black is very active.}) 18. Ke2 $1 O-O-O 19. dxe6 $13) 17... d4 (17...
O-O-O $17) 18. exd4 cxd4 19. Bd2 Bb4 20. Bxb4 Nxb4 21. O-O Kf7 $6 (21... O-O-O
{is better with a nice black advantage.White is nowhere near ready to attack
e6 and g6}) 22. Nd2 Rad8 $2 {This completely pointless move allows white to
get back to an equal footing.} (22... Rh6 23. Ne4 Rah8 24. Nf2 f5 $15) 23. Ne4
Rhe8 $2 24. Ra4 $1 Nc6 25. b4 Kg8 26. Rb1 f5 $2 27. Ng5 e5 $2 {This is
completely mistimed and white is winning after this.} 28. gxf5 gxf5 29. Qh5 g6
30. Qxg6+ Qg7 31. Qxg7+ Kxg7 32. b5 axb5 33. cxb5 Nb8 34. Rc1 Nd7 35. Rcc4 b6
36. a6 Nc5 37. Rxc5 bxc5 38. b6 {and black resigned shortly.} 1-0

[Event "Montreal CYCC B18"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "McAlpin, John Francis"]
[Black "Miller, Evgeni"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D56"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{The following was the first upset of the tournement .} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3.
Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 O-O 7. e3 {This is inexplicable from a
master strength player.b6 and c6 are the moves here .The text just accelerates
whites development.} dxc4 $6 8. Bxc4 a6 9. a4 c5 10. O-O Nc6 11. Ne5 $2 (11.
dxc5 $14) 11... Qb6 12. Nxc6 Qxc6 13. dxc5 Qxc5 14. Qb3 Qc7 (14... Qb4 15. Qxb4
Bxb4 16. Bxf6 gxf6 $14 {Would be one slightly drastic solution to the problem
of the "wandering queen"}) 15. Rfd1 (15. Rac1 $1) 15... b6 16. Bg3 Qc6 17. Be2
$1 Bb7 18. Bf3 Qc8 19. Qxb6 Bxf3 20. gxf3 {Black doesnt have anywhere near
enough for the pawn though the position remains tense.} Nh5 21. Qc7 Nxg3 22.
Qxe7 {Simpler seems} (22. Qxc8 Rfxc8 23. fxg3 Rab8 24. Rd2 {but white is too
tied up to have serious winning chances.}) 22... Nf5 23. Qd7 Qb8 $6 (23... Qc5
$1) 24. Qd2 $2 Nh4 $1 25. Qe2 Qb7 26. e4 Qe7 $6 27. f4 Qf6 28. Qg4 Ng6 29. f5
Ne5 30. Qh5 $2 (30. Qg3 $1) 30... Rab8 31. Rab1 Nc4 32. Qe2 Rfc8 33. fxe6 fxe6
(33... Qxe6 $44) 34. Rd3 $1 Rf8 35. Rg3 Ne5 36. Kg2 $2 {a big advantage was to
be had with} (36. Qxa6 $1 Qxf2+ 37. Kh1 Rb6 (37... Nf3 $2 38. Qxe6+ Kh8 39. Rg2
) 38. Qe2) 36... Ng6 $2 (36... a5 $1) 37. Kh1 $1 Kh7 38. Rbg1 Nf4 39. Qc2 $2 (
39. Rxg7+ Qxg7 40. Rxg7+ Kxg7 41. Qxa6 Rxb2 42. Qd6 {is very good for white
but perhaps too scary to play with little time on the clock}) 39... g5 40. Rf3
Kh8 41. Re1 g4 (41... Qd4 $1) 42. e5 $4 Qh4 $4 {Diagram [#]} (42... Qf5 $1 {
And suddenly black gets all the winning chances.}) 43. Rg3 Rf5 44. f3 gxf3 (
44... Nd3 $3 $19) 45. Re4 Rh5 $4 (45... Rg5 $19) 46. Rxf3 Rf8 47. Qd2 {
Suddenly black is losing material.} Rhf5 48. Ne2 Rd8 49. Nd4 Rxe5 50. Rxe5 Nh3
51. Rxe6 Ng5 52. Qc3 Qxd4 53. Re8+ Kh7 54. Rxd8 Qxd8 55. Qd3+ 1-0

[Event "Montreal CYCC B16"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Clyde, Jordan"]
[Black "Buscar, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A07"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "96"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{The under 16 boys section had one c.f.c. master in it.Toronto's Igor Divilian
.Igor told me he was not use to being ranked number one and didn't
particularly enjoy the added presure of being the one every body was trying to
take down.This sentiment was echoed by Eric Lawson .Igor must have felt some
of the tension lift when second ranked Michael Buscar of Oakville was upset in
the first round by Montreal's Jordan Clyde.} 1. Nf3 d5 2. b3 Nf6 3. g3 e6 4.
Bg2 Bd6 5. Bb2 O-O 6. O-O Qe7 7. Ne5 {This clears the diagonal of the g2
bishop but black equalises effortlessly.} Nbd7 8. Nxd7 Bxd7 9. d3 e5 10. Nd2 c6
11. e4 d4 12. Nc4 b5 13. Nxd6 Qxd6 14. Bc1 Ng4 $2 {What is the point of this
move?Black should be playing for c5-c4 as fast as possible.} 15. h3 Nf6 16. f4
Rac8 17. f5 (17. fxe5 Qxe5 18. Bf4 $14) 17... Ne8 18. g4 f6 19. Rf3 c5 20. Bf1
Qa6 21. Rg3 Nd6 (21... Kf7) 22. g5 fxg5 23. Bxg5 Nf7 {Black seems unaware
there is a race going on .Now white wins more or less by force.} (23... c4) 24.
Be7 Rfe8 25. f6 g6 $4 (25... Rxe7 26. Rxg7+ (26. fxe7 Qf6 {And at least black
can continue the struggle.}) 26... Kf8 27. Qf3 Ree8 28. Rxf7+ Kxf7 29. Qh5+ Ke6
30. f7 Kd6 31. fxe8=N+ Rxe8 $15) 26. Qh5 $1 $18 Rxe7 27. Rxg6+ Kh8 28. Rg7 Ng5
29. Qxg5 Qxf6 30. Qxf6 Rxg7+ 31. Kh2 Re8 32. Be2 Re6 33. Qd8+ Re8 34. Qc7 Bxh3
35. Qxg7+ Kxg7 36. Kxh3 Re6 37. Rg1+ Kf8 38. Rg5 h6 39. Bg4 Ra6 40. Rxe5 c4 41.
Rxb5 Rxa2 42. bxc4 Rxc2 43. Ra5 Rd2 44. Ra3 a5 45. e5 Ke7 46. Bf5 a4 47. Rxa4
Rf2 48. Ra7+ Ke8 1-0

[Event "Montreal CYCC G10-12"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Qako, Silvi"]
[Black "Sviridovitch, Alina"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B40"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{As luck would have it round one saw the heavy favorite in the girls under 10
hook up with last years second place finisher now in the under 12.} 1. e4 c5 2.
Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 a6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Qxd4 {Silvi Doesn't know any theory which is a
shame because after the opening she usually stands worse and then outplays her
opponents.On the bright side she has become  a very good defender.} Nc6 6. Qd1
d6 7. Be2 Nf6 8. O-O Be7 9. Re1 O-O 10. Nd4 Qc7 11. Nxc6 Qxc6 $2 (11... bxc6 $1
{would give black a very nice position.There is the open bfile for a rook to
use and an extra center pawn.}) 12. Bf3 Qc7 13. Qe2 Nd7 14. Bf4 Bf6 15. Rad1
Ne5 16. Bxe5 $2 {The first serious mistake.Now black stands better but Silvi's
defensive skills save her.} Bxe5 17. Rd3 b5 18. g3 Bb7 19. Bg2 Rac8 20. f4 Bxc3
$2 {Somebody should tell the girls that bishops shouldn't be traded for
knights unless there is a very good reason.} (20... Bf6 $1) 21. Rxc3 Qa5 22.
Ra3 Qb4 23. c3 Qc5+ 24. Qf2 Rfd8 25. Qxc5 dxc5 26. Re2 Rd1+ 27. Kf2 Rcd8 28. e5
$1 Bc8 $2 {A big mistake.It is obvious which of these bishops is stronger.
Generally it is unwise to avoid a trade if it results in the other person
gaining the advantage.} 29. Rb3 $2 {Missing her chance!} (29. c4 $1 {Gives
white a big advantage and would have left Alina wishing she had traded.}) 29...
c4 30. Rb4 $2 {This loses the exchange but white does ge ta bishop and a fa
radvanced pass pawn so all is not lost.} (30. Ra3 $1) 30... Bd7 31. a4 a5 32.
Rxb5 Bxb5 33. axb5 Rb8 34. Bc6 h6 35. g4 g5 36. f5 Kg7 37. Re4 Rd2+ 38. Re2 Rd1
39. Kg2 Kh7 40. Kg3 Rd3+ 41. Kf2 Rd1 42. Kg2 Kg7 43. f6+ {Here the game was
agreed drawn.A great start for Silvi and probably a wake up call for Alina.}
1/2-1/2

[Event "Montreal CYCC B18"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Laframboise, Marc Andre"]
[Black "Lawson, Eric"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E20"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{The last upsets from the first round included Aaron Rodriguez holding Bobby
Meng to a draw in the boys u-14 and Graham still defeatign Mihn Ly Nguyen in
the mixed under 10.         Round 2 had many upsets.F.M.Eric Lawson lost the
following cool game.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 Nh5 5. Nh3 f5 6. g3
b6 7. e4 O-O 8. Bg2 Bb7 9. O-O fxe4 $2 10. Nxe4 $2 {Hard to see why black
captured and very hard to see why white chose to recapture with a piece
instead of pawn.} (10. fxe4 $1 Rxf1+ 11. Qxf1 Qf6 12. e5 Qxf1+ 13. Kxf1 Bxg2+
14. Kxg2 Bxc3 15. bxc3 g6 16. g4 Ng7 17. Bh6 Nc6 18. Ng5 Rf8 19. Ne4 $16) 10...
Nf6 11. Bg5 Be7 12. Qd2 a5 13. a3 Na6 $6 (13... Nc6) 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. f4 $6 (
15. Rae1) 15... Bxe4 $1 {this allows black to attack the center and eventually
all the black pieces find decent squares.} 16. Bxe4 d5 17. cxd5 exd5 18. Bg2
Qd6 19. Rad1 c6 20. Nf2 Rad8 $6 (20... Rae8 $1) 21. Ng4 c5 22. Nxf6+ Rxf6 23.
Rfe1 Nc7 24. Re5 Re6 25. Rde1 Rde8 26. Bh3 Rxe5 27. dxe5 Qh6 28. Bd7 Re7 29.
Bc8 Qc6 30. Bh3 d4 $1 31. Bg2 Qe6 32. Qd3 g6 33. b3 Nd5 34. Qc4 Nc3 35. Bf1 Kf8
36. Qxe6 Rxe6 37. a4 Re8 38. Kf2 Rd8 39. Bd3 {This ending is probably winning
for white as the black pawns can't advance but the white ones can.} Ke7 {Now
was the time for desperation.} 40. Kf3 Nd5 $2 {Diagram [#] After this its a
slaughter.} (40... c4 $1 41. bxc4 (41. Bxc4 $2 d3 42. Rf1 d2 43. Be2 d1=Q 44.
Bxd1 Rd3+ 45. Kg4 Nxd1 $17) 41... Nxa4 42. Rb1 Nc5 43. Ke2) 41. g4 Nb4 42. Bc4
Rf8 43. Re2 h5 44. h3 Nc6 45. Ke4 d3 46. Rd2 Nb4 47. f5 hxg4 48. hxg4 gxf5+ 49.
gxf5 Rd8 50. f6+ Ke8 51. e6 Rd4+ 52. Kf5 Nd5 53. Rxd3 Rxd3 54. Bxd3 c4 55. Bxc4
1-0

[Event "Montreal CYCC G16-18"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Kazakevich, Anastasia"]
[Black "Khaziyeva, Dinara"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "E70"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{here is a game between one of the top u14's and top u16 girls.} 1. d4 Nf6 2.
c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. f3 Nbd7 6. Bd3 e5 7. d5 O-O 8. Nge2 a5 9. a4 $2 {
The pawn structure dictates white should be playing for c5 to open lines on
the queen side.After this whites only pawn break is b4.This gives black a free
hand to attack on the kingside because white is very slow in initiating any
play.Be3 was a big improvement.} Nc5 10. O-O Nfd7 11. Be3 f5 12. Qc2 f4 13. Bf2
g5 14. Kh1 b6 15. Nc1 Nf6 16. Nb3 Nxb3 17. Qxb3 Qe8 18. Nb5 Qe7 19. Qc2 Rf7 20.
Be1 Bf8 {Black has wasted alot of time over the last 10 moves .Her kingside
attack has not progressed at all and now was the time for white to try
something rather than just waiting around and hope to "get lucky"} 21. Bc3 $2 (
21. b4 $1 axb4 22. Bxb4 g4 23. a5 {And both sides have chances.}) 21... g4 $1
22. Rg1 Rg7 23. Qe2 Nh5 24. Be1 Qg5 25. fxg4 Bxg4 26. Qf1 $2 (26. Qd2) 26...
Ng3+ {Diagram [#]} 27. Bxg3 fxg3 28. h3 Qh4 29. Be2 Bc8 30. Ra3 $1 {White does
her bes tto construc ta defense but it's too late} Qxe4 31. Bf3 $2 (31. Rf3 $1)
31... Qh4 32. Re3 Rf7 33. Nc3 Bh6 34. Re4 Qg5 35. Re2 Bd7 36. Ne4 Qh4 37. Re1
Raf8 38. Re2 Kh8 39. Re1 Rxf3 40. gxf3 Bxh3 41. Rg2 Bxg2+ 0-1

[Event "Montreal CYCC G10-12"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Harper, Laura"]
[Black "Nadeau, Gabreille"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A05"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "89"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{This is a cool game with a neat story.Laura Harper is the daughter of B.C.
Master Bruce Harper .Bruce is apparently working on a book on Suttles and has
had Laura looking it over.Its clear from this game she learned something.This
might be the best strategic game of the tournement in the girls under 12.} 1.
g3 e5 2. d3 Nc6 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nf3 d6 5. O-O Be6 6. Nc3 Qd7 7. Ng5 $1 h6 $2 {It
would be better to keep this bishop in the game.Black's central pawns stand on
black squares.That means the light squared bishop is needed to gaurd the white
squares.} 8. Nxe6 Qxe6 9. Nb1 $6 {This is not a great move but White does have
an idea and it works out very well!} (9. Nb5 $1 Qd7 10. d4 Be7 11. c4 {Would
be another way to attack the center.}) 9... Qd7 $2 (9... d5 $1 10. Nd2 Bc5 11.
c4 dxc4 12. Nxc4 O-O) 10. c4 $1 a6 11. Nc3 Be7 12. Rb1 O-O 13. b4 Rab8 14. a4
d5 15. Nxd5 $1 Nxd5 16. Bxd5 (16. cxd5 $5 Nxb4 17. Bb2 Qd6 18. e4 {White ca
nbreak with d4 or /and f4 here and has a big positional advantage.}) 16... Nxb4
17. Bg2 Nc6 18. Bd2 Qg4 19. h3 Qg6 20. Bc3 f5 $2 (20... Rfd8 $14) 21. Kh2 f4
22. Bxc6 {This does lead to a wi nof a pawn but this piece might well be worth
more than the pawn.} (22. Be4) 22... fxg3+ 23. fxg3 Qxc6 24. Bxe5 Rxf1 25. Qxf1
Rf8 $2 26. Qg2 $1 {After this white gets control of the game and never lets
back.A really well played game with good endgame technique to close it out.}
Qc5 27. Qd5+ $1 Qxd5 28. cxd5 Rf2+ 29. Kh1 Bd6 30. Bxd6 cxd6 31. e4 $1 Ra2 (
31... Rf3) 32. Rxb7 Rxa4 33. Kg2 Ra3 34. Rb6 Kf7 35. Rxd6 Ke7 36. Re6+ Kd7 37.
Kf3 Rxd3+ 38. Kf4 a5 39. Ra6 Ra3 40. e5 Ra4+ 41. Kf5 Ra1 42. e6+ Kd8 43. d6
Rf1+ 44. Kg4 Rf6 45. Ra8# 1-0

[Event "Montreal CYCC G10-12"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Tang, Tiffany"]
[Black "Harper, Laura"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B06"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "49"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Here is a fine game by our new under 12 girls champion.} 1. e4 g6 2. d4 d6 3.
Nc3 Bg7 4. Be3 c6 5. Qd2 Nd7 6. f3 b5 7. O-O-O b4 8. Nce2 a5 9. g4 Nb6 10. Ng3
d5 11. Be2 Nc4 $2 {Diagram [#]} (11... dxe4 $1 12. fxe4 (12. Nxe4) 12... Bxg4
$1 13. Bxg4 Nc4 14. Qe2 Nxe3 {was very good for black.}) 12. Bxc4 dxc4 13. N1e2
Qd6 14. c3 Qb8 15. d5 cxd5 $2 16. Qxd5 Be6 17. Qd2 bxc3 18. Nxc3 Qd8 19. Qc2
Qc7 20. Nd5 Qb7 (20... Bxd5 $5 21. Rxd5 Rb8) 21. Nb6 Rd8 $4 {This is the cause
of black's defeat.White gets a huge attack and doesn't have to sacrifice
anything for it.} 22. Rxd8+ Kxd8 23. Rd1+ Ke8 24. Qa4+ $1 Bd7 25. Rxd7 1-0

[Event "Montreal CYCC G16-18"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Charbonneau, Anne Marie"]
[Black "Kagramanov, Dina"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D45"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Round three saw Warrick emerge from the pack as the only 3/3 in the boys u18.
At the start of this round there were three perfect scores in the u14boys but
only one at the end,Bluvshtein.Thavandiran gave up his firs tdraw to
Saskachewan's Kevin Me who would finish the tournement in second place.      
In the girls groups no clear favorite has emerged  as there were still many
perfect scores.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 e6 4. e3 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Qc2 O-O 7.
b3 Re8 8. Bd3 Nbd7 9. O-O Nf8 10. e4 dxe4 11. Nxe4 Nxe4 12. Bxe4 f5 13. Bd3 Bf6
14. Bb2 Ng6 15. Rfe1 Nh4 16. Nxh4 Bxh4 17. Rad1 {Black has played aimlessly
and stands very poorly here.} Bf6 18. Re3 Bd7 19. Rde1 Qc7 20. Qd2 $2 {I
assume this is just a blunder but the funny thing is that it produces a very
interesting situation where white has lots of compensation for the exchange
because of black's weekend dark squares.} Bg5 21. Qd1 Bxe3 22. Rxe3 Rf8 23. d5
$2 (23. Re5 $1 {is not clear at all.}) 23... cxd5 24. cxd5 Rae8 (24... exd5 $1)
25. Be5 Qa5 26. d6 Rd8 $2 (26... Qxa2 $1) 27. Qa1 $1 {Diagram [#]} Rf7 28. Rg3
g6 29. h4 Qd2 30. h5 Rc8 31. Bc4 g5 32. Bc3 Qf4 {The game has become very
unclear.} 33. Qe1 $1 {would give white good compensation for the exchange.
Black's pieces are unco-ordinated    and the king is somewhat exposed also.}
1/2-1/2

[Event "Montreal CYCC G16-18"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Khaziyeva, Dinara"]
[Black "Rodina, Nataliya"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D30"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "93"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. b3 c6 4. Bb2 f5 {This weekens the e5 square} 5. d4 (5. g3
$1 Nf6 6. Bg2 {intending 0-0,d3,nbd2 followed by e4 would give white a strong
initiative.}) 5... Nf6 6. e3 Bd6 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. Bd3 Ne4 9. O-O Nd7 10. Ne5 Nxd2
$2 {Trading away black's best piece.} 11. Qxd2 Qc7 12. f4 $14 Nf6 13. Rac1 (13.
a4 $5 a5 14. Ba3 {Trading away black's dark squared bishop would give white a
strong grip on the dark squares.}) 13... Bd7 14. Rf3 Ne4 15. Qe1 Be8 16. Rh3
Qe7 {Stoping qh4} 17. Qe2 Nf6 18. Kh1 c5 $2 19. dxc5 Bxc5 20. Bd4 $1 Bxd4 21.
exd4 Rc8 22. Re1 Ne4 23. Kg1 Qf6 24. Re3 (24. c5 $1) 24... Rd8 25. Qb2 Bf7 26.
g3 Be8 27. c5 Rc8 28. b4 a6 29. Ra1 Bc6 30. a4 {White has a clear plan here .
Advance the queenside majority.Black is helpless here.} Ra8 31. b5 axb5 32.
axb5 Rxa1+ 33. Qxa1 Be8 34. Qa7 $18 g5 35. Rf3 Bh5 36. Rf1 Nd2 37. Rf2 Ne4 38.
Rg2 Rf7 39. c6 bxc6 40. Nxf7 Bxf7 41. Bxe4 fxe4 42. bxc6 Be8 43. c7 Bd7 44. Rb2
Bc8 45. Rb8 gxf4 46. Rxc8+ Kg7 47. Rg8+ 1-0

[Event "Montreal CYCC B16"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Divljan, Igor"]
[Black "Buscar, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D34"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "52"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{The top two ranked players met in round 5 of the u16.} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3.
Nc3 c5 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. g3 Nf6 7. Bg2 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. Bg5 c4 10.
Ne5 Be6 11. b3 Qa5 12. Na4 Rfc8 $2 {This is a big mistake.Much better is rac8
as played by G.M.Grischuk in April at the Aeroflot tourny in Moscow against
Jobava.After Michaels move there is a danger the a8 rook won't play in this
game.} 13. bxc4 dxc4 14. Nxc6 bxc6 15. Bxf6 gxf6 $2 {Michael is confusing
variations here.} (15... Bxf6 {is nothing special for white.}) 16. e4 Rd8 $1
17. f4 f5 18. g4 $4 {The game has become very sharp and Igor completly loses
his way.} fxe4 19. f5 Bd5 20. f6 Bf8 21. Rf5 Re8 $2 {This should be good
enough but e3 has winning easily.} (21... e3 $1 $19 {I have no idea what to
suggest for white here.}) 22. Qc2 Qd8 (22... Bb4 $1 {is a very hard move to
find.The idea is to set u pa defense involving h6 and Bd2.This stops the queen
and the night from entering the battle.}) 23. Qf2 $2 Qd6 $2 (23... e3 $1 24.
Qf4 e2 $19) 24. Rg5+ Kh8 25. Rh5 e3 $4 (25... h6 $1 26. Re1 $1 {This position
is not clear at all.The only thing for sure is white has some very dangerous
threats now and black needs to be very accurate.The last moves make me think
this was a big time scramble.} (26. Qh4 $2 Qf4 $1) 26... Kg8 27. Nc3 e3 28. Qh4
Qf4 29. Nxd5 cxd5 30. Rf5 $1 Qxd4 31. Rxd5 Qb2 32. Rg5+ $1 hxg5 33. Qxg5+ Kh7
34. Qf5+ {with a perp is one possibility but by no means forced.}) 26. Qh4 h6 {
Diagram [#] Mate i n three.} 1-0

[Event "Montreal CYCC B10"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Rozybakiyev, Iichin"]
[Black "Thavandiran, Shiyam"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C02"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Here is a game from our under 10 champion.His oponent is only 7years old yet
had played himself all the way to board one.IIchin was the highest rated grade
one in Quebec this year.} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6.
Be2 Qb6 7. O-O cxd4 8. cxd4 Nge7 9. Na3 {both players play the opening clearly.
The knight heads to c2 to gaurd the central pawn chain.} Nf5 10. Nc2 Be7 11. b3
Rc8 12. Bb2 O-O 13. h3 $2 {I imagine this is as far as Iichin's preperation
went.From here on Shiyam slowly takes over.} (13. Bd3 $1) 13... Kh8 14. Re1 Nb4
$1 15. Nxb4 Bxb4 16. Rf1 Bc3 17. Bxc3 Rxc3 18. g4 $2 Ne7 19. Rc1 Rxc1 20. Qxc1
Rc8 21. Qf4 Ng6 22. Qe3 Qc7 23. Qd2 Qc3 24. Rd1 b6 25. Qxc3 $4 (25. Kg2) 25...
Rxc3 26. Bd3 Nf4 {Black wins a pawn and then paralyses white.} 27. Ne1 Nxh3+
28. Kg2 Nf4+ 29. Kf3 g5 30. Ke3 Kg7 31. Rd2 Bb5 32. f3 Bxd3 33. Nxd3 h5 34.
gxh5 Kh6 35. Rd1 Kxh5 36. Rh1+ Kg6 37. Rd1 Kf5 38. Rd2 b5 39. Rd1 b4 40. Rd2 g4
41. fxg4+ Kxg4 42. Rd1 Rxd3+ 43. Rxd3 Nxd3 44. Kxd3 Kf3 45. Kd2 Ke4 46. Ke2
Kxd4 0-1

[Event "Montreal CYCC G16-18"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Xia, Angel"]
[Black "Kagramanov, Dina"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B42"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "51"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{This game has one of the best combinations at the end of some interesting
tactical play.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. Nc3 d6
7. Be3 Be7 8. f4 O-O 9. Qf3 Nbd7 10. O-O Re8 11. Rad1 Bf8 12. f5 Ne5 13. Qh3
Nfg4 14. fxe6 fxe6 15. Bc1 Nxd3 16. Qxd3 (16. cxd3 $5 e5 17. Nf5 Qb6+ 18. d4
Nf6 19. Qf3 $14 {was interesting to.}) 16... e5 17. Nf5 Bxf5 18. Rxf5 Qb6+ 19.
Kf1 Nxh2+ $2 (19... g6 $1) 20. Ke2 Ng4 21. Qh3 Nf6 22. Rh1 h5 23. g4 {Diagram 
[#]} (23. Nd5 $1 Qb5+ 24. Kd1 Be7 25. Nxf6+ Bxf6 26. Rxf6 $1 $18) 23... hxg4 $4
(23... Qd4 $1 24. Rxf6 $1 gxf6 25. Qxh5 Bg7 26. Qh7+ Kf8 27. Bh6 Qc4+ 28. Ke1
Qg8 29. Qf5 Re7 30. Nd5 $18) 24. Qh8+ Kf7 25. Rxf6+ gxf6 26. Rh7+ {It is rare
to find such fine attacking play in the girls games.} 1-0

[Event "Montreal CYCC B12"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "7"]
[White "Smith, Hazel"]
[Black "Vincent, Trevor"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B22"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "74"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Hazel Smith was last years under 10 champion in the girls division.This year
she was one of two girls to opt for playing with the boys [Mihn Ly Nguyen
being the other].Both girls shared the same fate .They made it to last round
games where a qualification spot was on the line  but lost long hard struggles.
This game is against Manitoba's Trevor Vincent who played some fine chess to
finish in second place.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c3 g6 {This is far less common
than d5 which attacks whites center immediatly.} 4. d4 cxd4 $2 {White gets a
fine position after this .D5 was esswential to contest the middle.} (4... d5 5.
dxc5 (5. exd5 Qxd5) 5... dxe4 6. Qxd8+ Nxd8 7. Bb5+ Bd7 8. Bxd7+ Kxd7 9. Ne5+
Ke8 10. O-O Bg7 11. Nc4 Ne6 $14) 5. cxd4 Bg7 6. Nc3 d6 7. Be3 Nf6 8. Bd3 $6 {
This seems a little slow.} (8. d5 $1) 8... O-O (8... Ng4 $5) 9. h3 $1 {No
second chances.White has imerged from the opening with a space advantage.} a6
10. O-O b5 11. a3 (11. Qd2 $1) 11... Bb7 12. Rc1 Rc8 13. b4 h6 14. Qd2 Kh7 15.
Rfd1 {By no means a bad move however d5 would have added t othe cramp in
black's game.} (15. d5 Nb8 16. Nd4 Nbd7 {And now either Nb3 or a4 are pleasent
for white.}) 15... e6 16. Nh2 Nd7 17. Bb1 $2 {One building move too many.It
was time to try something.} (17. Ne2 Qe7 18. Ng4 $14) 17... Nb6 $1 {Black has
found teh one weekness in Whites position!} 18. Ba2 d5 19. e5 $2 (19. Ng4 h5
20. Nh2 Ne7 21. Nf3 $11) 19... Ne7 $1 20. f4 $2 Nc4 $1 21. Bxc4 dxc4 22. Nf1
Nd5 23. Bf2 Qc7 24. Nxd5 Bxd5 25. Ne3 Qb7 26. Nxd5 Qxd5 27. Rc3 Rfd8 28. a4 {
This accelerates White's defeat but the position is ver ybad in any case
because of teh poor Bf2 and the weekened light squares.} Bf8 29. Qb2 a5 $1 30.
bxa5 b4 31. Rcc1 Qxa5 32. Ra1 Qd5 33. Be1 c3 34. Qc1 Qc4 35. Qc2 b3 36. Qxc3
Qxc3 37. Bxc3 Rxc3 $19 {.And black won.A very impresive display from Trevor
once he got hold of the game.} 0-1

[Event "Montreal CYCC B14"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Krnan, Tomas"]
[Black "Meng, Fanhao"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C99"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Here is an interesting last round battle between the number two and three
place finishers in the boys under 14.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6
5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. Re1 d6 8. c3 O-O 9. h3 Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. d4 Qc7 12.
Nbd2 cxd4 13. cxd4 Bb7 14. Nf1 {This is the most common move but White has had
more success with d5.} Rfc8 15. Re2 Nc6 16. Ng3 Bf8 17. Bg5 Nd7 18. Rc1 Nb6 19.
Bb3 Qd7 20. Be3 $2 (20. dxe5 $1 Nxe5 (20... dxe5 $2 21. Rd2 $16) 21. Rec2 Rxc2
22. Rxc2 Rc8 23. Be3 Nxf3+ 24. Qxf3 Rxc2 25. Bxc2 Nc4 $1 26. Bd4 $14) 20...
exd4 $1 21. Nxd4 Na5 22. Ndf5 $6 (22. Rxc8 Rxc8 23. Bc2 Nac4 24. Bc1 Na4 $1 25.
Bxa4 bxa4 26. Ndf5 $11) 22... Rxc1 23. Qxc1 Nbc4 24. Bd4 Nxb3 25. axb3 Ne5 26.
Qf4 f6 27. Qe3 Re8 $1 {Now black is better.} 28. f4 Nf7 $6 (28... Ng6 $1 {d5
is coming.}) 29. Qf3 g6 $4 30. Qg4 $2 (30. Nh5 $1 Re6 31. Qg4 Qd8 32. Nh4 {
With a dangerous attack.}) 30... Qe6 31. Nh5 Ne5 $1 {Diagram [#]} 32. fxe5 dxe5
33. Rf2 Kh8 34. Nxf6 Qxf6 35. Nh6 Qg7 36. Be3 $2 (36. Nf7+ $1 Kg8 37. Be3 {
White is still better.}) 36... Bc8 $1 37. Qg3 Be6 38. Ng4 Bxg4 39. Qxg4 Bb4 40.
Kh2 Rf8 $2 (40... a5 $1) 41. Qe6 $1 Rxf2 42. Bxf2 Be7 43. Qxa6 $4 (43. Bg3 $1
$18) 43... Qf6 44. Qxf6+ Bxf6 45. Kg3 Kg7 46. Kf3 Kf7 47. Ke3 Ke6 48. Kd3 Be7
49. Kc3 Kd7 50. Bg3 Ke6 51. Bf2 {A seriously flawed but interesting battle.}
1/2-1/2

[Event "Montreal CYCC B18"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Lawson, Eric"]
[Black "Lentini, Joseph"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D00"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "98"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{This last round battle was for either second or third .Warrick had already
won the group with a round to go!} 1. d4 d5 2. Bg5 {Eric continues to do well
with this move which is frankly a mystery to me because i don't think its very
good.} c6 3. Nf3 Bg4 4. Nbd2 Nd7 5. h3 Bxf3 {it seems strange to surrender the
bishop for a knight volunterily but the game is blocked up so I guess Joseph
felt the knight was going to be the stronger piece.} (5... Bh5) 6. Nxf3 Ngf6 7.
e3 e6 8. Bd3 c5 $2 (8... Bd6) 9. c3 Be7 10. Bf4 O-O 11. O-O Re8 12. Rc1 a6 13.
Bb1 Rc8 14. Qc2 Nf8 $6 (14... b5) 15. Ne5 Ng6 16. Ng4 $4 Nxg4 $2 (16... cxd4 $1
$19) 17. hxg4 Bg5 18. Bxg5 Qxg5 19. Qd1 e5 $2 20. Bf5 $1 Rcd8 21. dxe5 Nh4 22.
f4 Qh6 23. g5 Qb6 24. Bxh7+ $1 {Diagram [#] This gives white a lasting
advantage in either an ending or a middle game.} Kxh7 25. Qh5+ Kg8 26. Qxh4
Qxb2 27. Qf2 Qxf2+ 28. Kxf2 Rd7 29. Rfd1 Red8 30. Rd2 b5 31. Rcd1 a5 32. a3 $2
(32. g6 $1 fxg6 33. e6 $16) 32... Kf8 33. f5 Ke7 34. Kf3 g6 35. g4 b4 36. axb4
axb4 37. cxb4 cxb4 38. Rd4 Rb7 39. Rb1 b3 40. Rd3 gxf5 41. gxf5 Rg8 42. Rdxb3
Rxb3 43. Rxb3 Rxg5 44. Rb7+ Ke8 45. Kf4 Rg1 46. Rb5 f6 47. Rxd5 Rf1+ 48. Ke4
Ke7 49. e6 Ra1 1-0

[Event "Montreal CYCC B12"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "8"]
[White "McDonald, Justin"]
[Black "Davies, Noam"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B40"]
[Annotator "Ross,D"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{Here is Justin McDonald's last round win over Noam Davies.Noam gets caught in
an unfamiliar opening and drops a pawn early.He manages to put his pieces on
active squares but Justin is just too careful.        There is a huge gap
between our national champions and the runners up in most sections so by round
8 only The boys under 16 was undecided.A win by Dijanljan coupled by a draw
between Buscar and Keoktistov propelled Igor into the winners circle.} 1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 e6 3. Nc3 a6 4. Be2 Nc6 5. O-O d5 6. exd5 exd5 7. d4 Nf6 8. Bg5 cxd4 9.
Nxd4 Be7 10. Re1 O-O 11. Qd2 Be6 $2 (11... Qb6) 12. Nxe6 fxe6 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14.
Bg4 Bd4 15. Bxe6+ Kh8 16. Rf1 Qd6 17. Bg4 $2 (17. Bxd5 $1 Rad8 18. Rad1) 17...
Qg6 $5 ({First of all I want to make clear there were many games I wanted to
include in this report and i couldn't because I just was incapable of decoding
the scoresheets.The last round game between Minh Ly Nguyen -and Harris
Kaufmann was a wonderful battle wit hthe advantage changing many times.Finally
in a drawish endgame  position Harris made a wonderful piece sacrifice to
break through.I also wanted to include the draw between Kevin Me and Our under
10 champion Shiyam Thavandiran.} 17... Qb4) 18. Be2 Rf7 $6 (18... Rae8) 19. Bd3
Qd6 20. Rae1 Raf8 21. Nd1 Be5 22. h3 Bf4 23. Qe2 Nd4 24. Qg4 Qb6 $4 (24... Nf5)
25. c3 Nb5 26. Re6 Qd8 27. Qh5 Bh6 28. Bxb5 axb5 29. Rfe1 Rf6 30. Rxf6 Qxf6 31.
Qxd5 Qb6 32. Qd7 Rf5 {This was the 3rd cycc I have been to and i have some
observations.The level of play was much better this year than the other years.
This is especially true in the girls under 10- 12.For the first time I can
remember we are sending not less than four very strong representatives.Alina,
Mark ,Raja and Shiyam all have excellent chances of top 10 finishes.I wish
everyone who goes the best of luck.} 1-0

[Event "Vancouver active"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "De Vries, Peter"]
[Black "Meng, Fanhao"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C86"]
[Annotator "Craver,L"]
[PlyCount "91"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

{This game has special interest primarily because it shows the tournament
winner being held to a draw on the very next day following his win over IM
Pascal Charbonneau at the Keres Memorial. These events bring to mind the 1998
Keres Memorial where Samani defeated Alexandre Lesiege only to achieve a
difficult draw on the following night at UBC against another up and coming
junior!} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. Qe2 b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. c3 d6
8. d3 O-O 9. O-O Na5 10. Bc2 c5 11. Rd1 Qc7 12. Nbd2 Nc6 13. Nf1 Ne8 14. Ng3 g6
15. Ng5 Ng7 16. f4 Qd8 17. Bb3 exf4 18. Nxf7 Rxf7 19. Bxf7+ Kxf7 20. Bxf4 Bg5
21. Rf1 Kg8 22. Rf2 Be6 23. a3 Ne5 24. Qd2 Bxf4 25. Rxf4 Qe7 26. Raf1 c4 27. d4
Nd3 28. Rf6 Ne8 29. Rf8+ Qxf8 30. Rxf8+ Kxf8 31. Qh6+ Kg8 32. e5 d5 33. Nh5 Bg4
34. Nf6+ Nxf6 35. exf6 Ra7 36. Qe3 Kf7 37. h3 Be6 38. Qf3 Nxb2 39. g4 g5 40.
Qe3 h6 41. Qe5 Rb7 42. Qd6 Kxf6 43. Qf8+ Kg6 44. Qe8+ Kf6 45. Qf8+ Kg6 46. Qe8+
{Fritz considers the final position as won for Black, but the players agreed
that playing for the full point would entail great risk for Black, who would
have to allow White's queen to munch on his kingside pawns in order to escape
the perpetual check.} 1/2-1/2

[Event "Ottawa op"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2002.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Laurin, Marcel"]
[Black "Leimanis, Andris"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D13"]
[WhiteElo "1837"]
[BlackElo "1945"]
[PlyCount "79"]
[EventDate "2002.??.??"]
[Source "CFC"]
[SourceDate "2002.08.??"]

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. cxd5 cxd5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. a3 a6 7. Bf4 Bd6 8. Qd2
b5 9. Bxd6 Qxd6 10. Ne5 O-O 11. Rc1 Bb7 12. f3 Nbd7 13. Qf4 b4 14. axb4 Qxb4
15. Nd3 Qa5 16. Kf2 Rac8 17. g4 Qb6 18. e3 Ne8 19. Be2 Qd8 20. h4 f6 21. Qg3
Qe7 22. b4 Nd6 23. Nc5 Nb6 24. Bxa6 Bxa6 25. Nxa6 Ndc4 26. Nc5 Ra8 27. Ra1 e5
28. Rxa8 Rxa8 29. dxe5 fxe5 30. Re1 Ra3 31. Nb5 Ra2+ 32. Re2 Rxe2+ 33. Kxe2 d4
34. exd4 exd4+ 35. Ne4 h6 36. Nbd6 Ne5 37. Kf1 Qe6 38. g5 h5 39. Nf6+ Kh8 40.
Qxe5 1-0

