Yippee-ki-yay,

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 b5 {As I think I’ve mentioned previously, I marginally prefer this to Nf6 immediately, mostly because it eliminates any possibility of Bxc6.} 5. Bb3 Nf6 6. 0-0 d6 {This isn’t objectively wrong, but Be7 should be the move I stick with in the future, as Ng5 is more awkward to deal with than I had anticipated, and there’s no reason not to make the change.} 7. Ng5 d5 {d5 is, interestingly enough, the only response, as Be6 and Qe7 are both obvious failures. Had I played Be7, though, castling would have been the move.} 8. exd5 {Of course, Nxd5 would fall prey to 9. Nxf7 Kxf7 Qf3+, forking the king and knight (or Qf3 immediately, but it’s less good as Be6 is an admittedly poor defense.)} Nd4 9. Re1 Bd6 {Now, I’m not in a bad position by any means– the d5-pawn is exceedingly weak, and once it falls I’ll have the stronger center, which is fine compensation for being down material temporarily.} 10. f4 {White seeks to undermine this trade by weakening my central presence, blundering in the process.} Bg4 {I miss the best move, as it’s actually rather subtle: castling instead makes it exceedingly difficult to prevent Bg4 on the next move. I think one line finishes up looking quite neat, and so I’ll put it below marked ‘Position 1.’} 11. Nf3 {The only reply.} e4 {0-0 instead still got a much better position (for example, the line marked ‘Position 2,&rsquo but this hasty attempt at doing it immediately means Black’s king safety is just as precarious as White’s.} 12. d3 {White’s now in no danger at all, thanks to the queen’s escape route.} Qe7 13. dxe4 {Instead, it’s me who’s in trouble. The best response is Bxf3 gxf3 Nh5, when the d4-knight can’t be taken due to Bc5, pinning the queen. Unfortunately, I managed to miss the pin, leading me to choose a worse option…} Nxb3 14. axb3 {Which leaves me either to voluntarily pin my knight or be steamrolled by the White center.} Nxe4 15. Qd3 f5 16. Nc3 Bc5+ {Unnecessary– the best move was instead to castle and toss white the pawn in exchange for a degree of king safety.} 17. Kf1 {Be3 might be preferable– it develops, and White is already up material.} Bb4 {This is an oversight– I neglected to notice White’s retort.} 18. Rxa6 {Of course, on a recapture, Qxb5+ wins back the material and another pawn.} 0-0 19. Re6 Qf7 20. Nxe4 {This is a mistake, giving me a chance to redeem myself. Qxb5 was better, simply snatching more material.} Bxe1 {fxe4 is both much better and more obvious. After R(either)xe4, which is mandatory, Bf5 pins and wins the exchange, among other possibilities, such as Bxe1.} 21. Neg5 {Now, Black has essentially no counterplay. The remainder of the game consists of my (futile) attempts to stir up trouble.} Qd7 22. Rxe1 Rae8 23. Ne6 Rf6 24. Ne5 Qe7 25. Nxg4 fxg4 26. Bd2 g5 27. f5 Qf7 28. Re5 Qh5 29. Qg3 Ra8 30. Bxg5 Ra1+ 31. Ke2 Rxe6 32. fxe6 Qg6 {1-0.}

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0-0 11. fxe5 Bg4 12. Nf3 Bc5 13. Kh1 Bxf3 14. gxf3 Ng4 {Wins material, but just for fun let’s say White takes.} 15. fxg4 Nxb3 16. axb3 Qxd5+ 17. Re4 Qxe4+ 18. Qf3 Qxf3+ {0-1.}

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0-0 12. d3 Bxf3 13. gxf3 exf4 14. c3 Nxb3 15. axb3 Nxd5 {And Black is clearly better–better developed, more space, better king safety, etc.}

1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 {I love this opening mostly because it’s so simple– White loses a pawn, gains development. It’s a straightforward trade-off, despite its outward complexity.} Nf6 {Even if Black declines, though, there are still ways to mix it up.} 4. e5 Nd5 5. Nf3 e6 6. Bc4 {Avoids an isolated pawn, as if bxc3 7. Bxd5 leaves White with a huge advantage in development, even if down material.} Nb6 {d6 was an alternative, challenging the center more quickly.} 7. Bb3 {7. Bg5 first was a slightly better option, exchangjng the dark-squared bishops and highlighting Black’s weaknesses consequently.} Nc6 8. 0-0 {White is essentially fine with dxc3 at any time, as it develops the knight.} Be7 9. cxd4 {Since Black refuses to take, and White wants to develop the knight, he finally recaptures.} 0-0 10. Nc3 d6 11. Bc2 {Relocating to point at h7, but if White wants to avoid the isolated pawn, Qe2 is a move avoiding the queen trade and protecting e5 ahead of time.} dxe5 12. dxe5 Qc7 {Qxd1 is better, as the queen trade reduces the impact of White’s space advantage and developing attack. (Qe2 would have prevented this– instead I have to rely on Black to make the poor decision, which is never a good sign.)} 13. Qd3 {I decide to weaken Black’s kingside immediately.} g6 14. Bf4 {Qe2 removed any impact from Nb4.} Nb4 15. Qe2 Nxc2 16. Qxc2 Nd5 17. Bg5 {Playing too quickly, I tried to exchange off the bishops, either ignoring or not noticing that it lost a pawn (probably both.) Instead, Bh6 keeps the pawn and the initiative.} Bxg5 18. Nxg5 Qxe5 19. Nge4 Nxc3 20. Nxc3 Bd7 {At this point, enough material has been traded off that I’m just down a pawn. That being said, I did my best to hit back, attacking the queen to bring out my pieces.} 21. Rfe1 Qc7 22. h4 {If I don’t try anything, I’m just lost, so my best bet is opening up the kingside as best as I can.} Bc6 23. h5 Qf4 24. hxg6 hxg6 {Sadly, this hasn’t really changed anything, but I can try to put the pressure on, and maybe an opportunity for a sacrifice will present itself.} 25. Re3 Kg7 26. Ne2 Qf6 27. Rd1 Rac8 28. Qb3 {Qa4 immediately made more sense, but either way it’s misguided, sidelining my best piece. Qc3 was maybe the objectively best alternative, as it only leaves me down a pawn.} Bd5 29. Qa4 Qxb2 30. Qxa7 Rc2 31. Re1 {It’s just about over, so I try to set one last trap.} Bc4 32. Nd4 Rxf2 33. Rg3 {And despite several substandard moves, I’ve arrived at my intended position. If Black leaves the rook in the same place, Nf5+… doesn’t win the exchange, as Rxf5 just leaves Black with a won game. Black avoids the possibility entirely, however.} Rd2 34. Nf3 Re2 35. Rf1 Bd5 36. Qa4 Qb6+ 37. Kh2 Rh8+ {As a final element of irony, Black uses the h-file I’ve opened up for him.} 38. Nh4 Qd8 39. Qd4+ {At this point, I figured maybe checking the king might lead to a perpetual of some kind–} e5 {Nope. Anyway, I picked the world’s most easily rebuffed check. 0-1.}

1. d4 f5 {I decided to go with the Dutch– it’s plenty asymmetrical, and for once this tournament I wanted to attack, however possible.} 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. c4 Bb4+ 5. Nd2 0-0 6. a3 Bxd2+ {If Black retreats, White can play e4 right away, which would be disastrous.} 7. Bxd2 d6 {Instead, now Black can plan e5 with a little more leisure time.} 8. Nf3 Ne4 9. 0-0 {Having looked at it again I think Nxd2 (any)xd2 is the move, as it immediately controls the center.} Qe8 10. Bf4 Nd7 11. Nd2 {Instead, White dictates the exchange on his own terms, and keeps the bishop pair to boot.} Nxd2 12. Bxd2 e5 13. Qb3 {It’s not much of a threat, but I don’t think I needed to react to it so aggressively– waiting to take the pawn and damage my structure, instead playing something like Nf6, is maybe preferable.} exd4 14. Bxb7 {This is a minor mistake– 14. c5+ was the only move I was worried about, but in any case Rf7 15. Bd5 Nxc5 works out okay.} Nc5 15. Bd5+ Kh8 {Unnecessary– I should have seized the opportunity to both develop a piece and trade bishops with Be6.} 16. Qd1 Rb8 {Again, fine, but Bb7 is better for similar reasons.} 17. b4 Ne4 18. Be1 c5 {I was a little unsure of this move at the time, but I think it works– the pawn needs to be protected, and although the bishop gets d5, it can’t do much from there before being traded off.} 19. b5 {19. e3 is an alternative, hitting the center more directly.} Rf6 {Be6. trading off White’s best piece really should be the top priority.} 20. Qd3 Rh6 {It’s maybe not ideal, but at least I have a decent plan of gradually attacking the kingside. White, on the other hand, looks fairly aimless.} 21. f3 {e3 is better, removing the main reason for Black’s lack of space.} Qh5 {Now Black can commence the poking and prodding to open up weaknesses.} 22. h4 Nf6 23. Bd2 Rg6 24. Kh2 Nxd5 {Finally I decide to trade off the White bishop, weakening the pawn structure and freeing up squares for myself.} 25. cxd5 Bd7 26. a4 Rf8 {Instead, f4 is better, as after 27. Bxf4 Qxd5 Black eliminates a troublesome pawn and brings his bishop into the attack..} 27. Bf4 Rgf6 28. a5 h6 {Meaningless, and therefore a bad move, unless you’re about to be as stupid as I am.} 29. Kg2 g5 {Instead, it was best to just cut losses and reposition with Qf7. Now, there’s no avoiding any huge loss of material.} 30. hxg5 R6f7 31. Rh1 {1-0.}