[Event "GBR-ch 101st"] [Site "Aberystwyth"] [Date "2014.07.21"] [Round "3"] [White "Ward, Christopher"] [Black "Hebden, Mark"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A65"] [WhiteElo "2422"] [BlackElo "2554"] [Annotator "Llewellyn,Alan"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2014.07.19"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "WLS"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "2014.08.29"] {Christopher Ward has been a bit of an under the radar type of Grandmaster, he is English and has the esteemed title but here he sets the World alight with a tremendously conclusive victory against the World famous English Grandmaster Mark Hebden. He won the Alexander Best Game Prize at the British Championships 2014 held in Aberystwyth, Wales.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Nge2 O-O 6. Ng3 c5 7. d5 e6 8. Be2 {The opening transposes from a Kings Indian Defence to a Modern Benoni.} exd5 9. cxd5 Na6 $6 {this line has a poor reputation, I am surprised someone of Marks reputation would try it, probably he felt over confidence.} (9... a6) 10. O-O Nc7 11. a4 Na6 $14 {Moving a piece backwards and forwards may seem bizare but the aim is the weak b4 square.} 12. Bg5 h6 13. Be3 Re8 14. Qd2 h5 {other moves such as Kh7 lead to a weakened king structure, with the blocked centre that would prove inviting for Chris.} 15. Bg5 Qc7 $2 $16 (15... Nb4) 16. f4 Nh7 $6 $16 (16... c4 $1 {the point of this move is to give a better square for the Knight than b4 namely c5. b4 may appear more advanced but its bitting at cherries, ie it has no immediate threats there.}) 17. Bh4 $5 {Chris does not want his Bishop whopped off, because the position would be unclear if it happened, spending time to avoid a negative exchange of pieces is important in such positions and highly instructive. It shows what a monster Bishop Chris has compared to the slightly passive Knight on h7.} Bh6 $6 {slight innacuracies are creeping into Marks game, while Bh6 looked good there were better moves.} (17... c4 $1 $16) 18. Bc4 $1 {stopping the c4 move once and for all, whether this was deliberate on Chris' part I don't know but the Bishop looks good on that square anyway.} Nb4 19. Rae1 Bd7 20. Qf2 a6 {Marks position is now totally passive and Chris has taken the opportunity to gather his pieces for an attack on the Kingside, the position is won in theory but how does he achieve it in practice?} 21. e5 $3 Bxa4 22. exd6 (22. Nxa4 b5 23. exd6 Qxd6 24. Ne4 Qxf4 25. Qxf4 Bxf4 26. Rxf4 f5 27. d6+ bxc4 28. Nexc5 Rxe1+ 29. Bxe1 Nc6 30. d7 $18 {Chris would have been cruising there.}) 22... Qa5 (22... Qxd6 23. Nge4 Qf8 24. Nxa4 b5 25. d6 $18) 23. Ra1 $1 b5 24. d7 $1 Red8 25. Qxc5 $5 Bf8 26. d6 $5 Rxd7 27. Rxa4 $3 Bxd6 28. Qxd6 $1 bxa4 $6 (28... Rxd6 29. Bxf7+ Kxf7 30. Rxa5 $18) 29. Qxg6+ $1 Kh8 30. Bf6+ $5 Nxf6 31. Qxf6+ Kh7 32. Nf5 $1 {If 32...Rg8-to avoid Qg7# then 33. Qh6#. What an amazing game, accurately played and totally English participants just a few years ago. It shows the effect of Bobby Fischer on the standards of Chess particularly in Britain where he had an even greater effect on a chess boom than in his home country of USA.} 1-0