Game #1: NM Jim West - GM Roman Dzindzichasvili, New Jersey Open 1992
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.O-O d6 7.c4 g6 8.Nc3 Bg7 9.Be3 O-O 10.Rc1 b6
11.Qe2
Better tries are 11.b4 Bb7 12.f4 e5 13.fxe5 dxe5 14.Nc2 Ng4 15.Qxg4 Qxd3 16.Nd5, Spassky-Najdorf, Buenos Aires 1979 and 11.f3 Bb7 12.Qd2 Qc7 13.Rfd1 Nbd7 14.Qf2 Rac8 15.Bf1, Musil-Karpov, Portoroz 1975.
11...Bb7 12.Rfd1 Nbd7 13.f3 Rc8 14.b3 Re8 15.Qf2 d5 16.exd5 exd5 17.Nxd5 Bxd5 18.cxd5 Nxd5 19.Bxa6 Rxc1 20.Bxc1 Nc3 21.Rd2 Bh6 22.Rc2 Nd1 23.Qg3 Nb8 24.Nc6 Nxc6 25.Bxh6 b5 26.Rd2 Qb6+ 27.Kf1 Nc3 28.Qh4 Qxa6 29.Qf6 b4+ 30.Kf2 Qb6+ 31.Kg3 Qc7+ 32.Rd6 Qxd6+ 33.Qxd6 Nd4 34.Qxb4 Nf5+ 35.Kh3 Ne2
36.Qb5
Bad for White is 36.Bd2? Ng1+ 37.Kg4 f6 with the threat of 38...h5+ 39.Kf4 Ne2#.
36...Ng1+ 37.Kg4 Rd8 38.Qb6 Nxh6+ 39.Kg5 Rd5+ 40.Kf6 Rf5+ 41.Ke7 Re5+ 42.Kd7 Re1 43.a4 Nf5 44.a5 Ne2 45.a6 Ned4 46.a7 Re7+ 47.Kc8 Re8+ 48.Kb7 Nb5
49.Qxb5?!
White misses a win by 49.Ka6 Nfd6 50.Qb8!.
49...Nd6+ 50.Kc6 Nxb5 51.Kxb5 f5 52.b4 Kf7 53.Kc6 Re6+ 54.Kb7 Re7+ 55.Ka6 Re6+ 56.Kb7 Re7+ 57.Ka6 Re6+ 58.Ka5? (58.Kb7=) Re1 59.b5
59...Ke6?
Now it is Black's turn to overlook a winning opportunity by 59...Ra1+ 60.Kb6 Ke6 61.h4 Kd5 62.Kb7 Kc5 63.b6 Kb5 64.Kc7 Ra6 65.b7 Rxa7 66.Kc8 Rxb7 67.Kxb7 Kc5 68.Kc7 Kd4 69.Kd6 Ke3 70.Ke5 Kf2 71.h5 Kxg2 72.h6 Kxf3 73.Kf6 g5! 74.Kxg5 f4 75.Kf6 Kg4 76.Kg7 f3 77.Kxh7 f2 78.Kg8 f1=Q 79.h7 Qc4+ 80.Kg7 Qc7+ 81.Kg8 Kg5 82.h8=Q Kg6!.
60.b6 Kd6 61.b7?!
White throws away another win by 61.Kb5 Rb1+ 62.Kc4!.
61...Kc5 62.Ka4 Kc4 63.Ka3 Kc3 64.Ka2 Re2+ 65.Ka3 Re1, draw.
Game #2: NM Jim West - GM Michael Rohde, Marshall Chess Club 1995, Game/30
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5 a6 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Na3 f5
11.Bc4
The move 11.Qh5 led to perpetual check in Fischer-Seidler, Buenos Aires 1971 following 11...d5 12.O-O-O Bxa3 13.bxa3 fxe4 14.Rxd5 Qe7 15.Nxe4 Qxa3+ 16.Kd1 Be6 17.Nd6+ Ke7 18.Qg5+ Kf8 19.Qh6+ Ke7 20.Qg5+ Kf8 21.Qh6+ Ke7 22.Qg5+, draw.
11...Ra7
This is an improvement upon 11...Bg7 12.Qh5 O-O 13.exf5 Nd4 14.Bd3 f6 15.Be4 Rb8 16.Nd5 Qa5+ 17.c3 Rf7 18.g4 Bd7 19.O-O Ne2+ 20.Kh1 Bc6 21.Rad1 Nf4 22.Nxf4 Bxe4+ 23.f3 Bc6 24.Ne6 d5 25.g5 Be8 26.g6, 1-0, Fischer-Soltis, Manhattan Chess Club Blitz Tournament 1971.
12.Qh5 b5 13.Bd5 Nd4 14.Ne2 Nxe2 15.Qxe2 Bg7 16.O-O O-O 17.c4 fxe4 18.cxb5 Kh8 19.Qxe4 f5 20.Qe3 Re7 21.b6 e4 22.Qb3 Bb7 23.Rad1 f4 24.Nc4 f3 25.g3 Qc8 26.Bxb7 Qh3 27.Ne3 Re6
28.Bc8 Rxc8 29.b7 Rb8 30.Rc1 Bd4?
Both players were in time trouble by this point which explains why Black misses 30...Rh6! 31.Rc8+ Bf8 32.Qc3+ Kg8 33.Qc4+ when White must take the perpetual check.
31.Rc8+ Kg7 32.Rxb8 Bxe3 33.Rg8+ Kf7 34.Rf8+ Kg7
35.Rg8+
With more time on the clock, I might have found the winning line 35.Qc3+ Kg6 36.Rxf3! exf3 37.Qc2+ Kh6 38.fxe3 Re8 39.Rxf3.
35...Kf7 36.Rf8+ Kg7, draw.
{This article originally appeared in the Winter 2002 issue of Empire Chess}
