1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 {Black kicks the bishop back.} 6.Bb3 Bc5 {He then develops,only for the bishop to be hit with d4.} 7.c3
d6 8.d4 {Black couldn’t prevent this.} exd4 {Black has to take, otherwise White’s center is too strong.} 9.cxd4 Bb6 10.Bg5 Bg4 {A mistake. Browne finds the hole by saying “No, <i>I</i> will retain the initiative!”} 11.Bd5 {Black should play 11…Nxd4, with some compensation for the lost exchange.} Qd7 {This decides the game by losing a piece.} 12.Bxf6 gxf6
13.Qc1 {A subtle move that Lawless likely overlooked.} Ne7 14.Bxa8 Rg8 {Instead of this, perhaps 14…Bxf3, and if White takes back, he is mated by 15…Rg8+ 16. Kh1 Qh3.} 15.Qf4 Bh3 {Black has enough play to win an exchange back.} 16.g3 Bxf1 17.Kxf1 c6 {The White bishop is trapped!}18.d5 {No, it escapes. 1-0.}
1-0
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 {If White takes, the pawn can be recovered.} 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 {White reinforces d5.} exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nf3 g6 7.Bf4 {White puts pressure on d6.}
Bg7 {Black uses the long diagonal.} 8.e3 O-O 9.Bc4 {Defending the pawn despite the bishop’s inactivity.} Nh5 {This looks like a waste of time, but it is justified by the weakness of White’s dark squares.} 10.Bg5 f6 11.Bh4 g5 {Likewise, this seems like a loss of a pawn, but Black has compensation in the form of White’s uncastled king.} 12.Nd2 gxh4 13.Qxh5
f5 14.g3 {White defends against 14…f4.} Nd7 {The Black knight prepares an incursion into the White position.} 15.gxh4 Ne5 {Nf6 tempo-ed the queen, but didn’t lead to much after that.} 16.Rg1 {White occupies the opened file.}Kh8 {Browne unpins the bishop.} 17.h3 {Defending against a knight move to g4.} Bd7 {Black prepares b5.} 18.f4 {Black plays into Black’s hands.} Nc4
19.Nxc4 Qe7 {Pressuring e3.} 20.a4 Bxc3+ {Black removes a defender of b5.} 21.bxc3 b5 {And the e3 pawn falls. 0-1.}0-1
In both games, Browne justifies unusual ideas with powerful play. Thank you for leaving us your games, Walter.
