Italian Progressive Chess

by Peter Wood
From Variant Chess, Volume 3, Issue 21, Autumn 1996, pages 7-9,
Issue 24, Summer 1997, pages 66-6,

Back to: Home Page On this page: Games from the Italian Postal Tournaments 1995 and 1996
See also English Progressive Chess

Progressive Chess Rules

For the sake of the few who are unfamiliar with the rules of Progressive Chess and its variants, the following has been culled from David Pritchard's Encyclopedia of Chess Variants. Those who know them can skip this and go directly to the tournament games below on Italian Progressive Chess or to the page on English Progressive Chess.

Basic Rules.
Orthodox board (8x8, normal array)

  1. White starts with one move; Black plays 2 consecutive moves, either with the same man or two different men: White then plays three moves and so on, the number of moves increasing by one each time the turn changes.
  2. A player's turn ends if he gives check, regardless of how many moves he may have made.
  3. A player may not expose his own king to check at any time during his turn.
  4. A player whose king is in check must get out of check with the first move of his turn otherwise it is mate.
  5. A player who has no legal move or who runs out of legal moves during his own turn is stalemated and the game is drawn.
  6. An e.p. capture is admissible on the first turn of a move only. Any pawn that made a two-step move during the previous turn sequence is liable to e.p. capture unless it was then moved again.

AISE additional rule

  1. A player giving check before the last move of his turn forfeits the game - see rule 2 above.

English version – as above plus:

  1. No man may be moved twice on a turn until every mobile man has been moved once.
  2. Similarly every man must move twice before any man moves three times, and so on.
  3. Castling counts as one move but both pieces are credited as having moved; and a pawn that has been promoted cannot then be classed as a piece and moved in the same series.
  4. The game is drawn if a player is unable to complete his turn, and it is permissible to block one's own men in order to do so, or to earn extra turns for other men.

Home Page  Rules Top of Page  1996 Results,   See also English Progressive Chess
The result of the Variant Chess postal Italian Progressive Chess tournament, which commenced in September 1995, is as follows:

1. Paul Byway 5 (out of 6)
2. Peter Coast 4
3. Ian Richardson 3
4. George Jelliss 0

Many congratulations to the winner who well deserved his victory. The quality of the games was higher than in the 1994 event.

The author is indebted to Patrick Donovan for correcting mistakes in analysis, and for putting forward several suggestions of his own which have been incorporated in the article.

Paul Byway - George Jelliss

1.e4
2.d5 d:e4 3.Qg4 Q:c8 Q:d8+
4.K:d8 e3 e2 e:f1(Q)+ (A line out of favour; because of White's series 5.)
5.K:f1 Nf3 Ke2 d4 d5 (Mario Leoncini has notched many victories with this continuation. It is a strong line.)
6.e5 e4 Nd7 Ne5 Ke7 e:f3+ (6.h5 h4 h3 h:g2 g:h1(Q) Q:f3+, played by David in 1987, is the line that once seemed to dispose of White's 5th., but the reply 7.K:f3 h4 h5 h6 h7 (after h:g7 g:h8(Q) Q:g8 White gets mated by 8.Nc6 Kd7 Bh6 R:g8 f5 .... Nd4#) h:g8(Q) Q:h8 is good. In the game Black fails to find an improvement.)

7.Ke3 Kd4 Kc5 Nd2 N:f3 Re1 R:e5 mate. (1-0) (N-d2:f3 was a way to make up the number of moves in the sequence. A nice Italian mate. It is dangerous to put your King in front of the diagonal of Bishop or Queen.)

Peter Coast - Paul Byway

1.e4
2.Nc6 d5 (A justly popular defence.)
3.Qg4 Q:c8 Q:d8+
4.K:d8 d:e4 h5 Nf6 (Leoncini's well-known series. There have been dozens of White replies to this, but no refutation has yet been found. Black gets a good tally of wins - but White gets results too, from promising new lines.)
5.d4 Bg5 Kd2 B:f6 B:e7+ (A new sequence.)
6. (?) B:e7 Bh4 B:f2 B:d4 Kd7 e3+ (Following this game I tried out Peter Coast's idea in a Ukranian tournament. My opponent played here 6.B:e7 Kd7 h4 h3 h:g2 g:h1(Q). The game is still in progress at present.)

7.Kd1 g4 g5 g6 g:f7 f8(Q) Bh3 mate. (1-0) (A surprising and pretty mate. This combination of Q+B needs watching. A similar idea occurred in a game Fierek v. Novak in 1989. In the following position White mated in 7: Bb5 h4 h5 h6 h:g7 g:h8(Q) Qf6#.)

Peter Coast - George Jelliss

1.e4
2.f5 f4 (George has played this a couple of times previously in tournaments. The points tally in this unusual defence is White 10, Black 3.)
3.d4 B:f4 Qh5+ (PC: 'White's development is good, his King has plenty of space - it must be good for him!')
4. (?) g6 g:h5 Bh6 B:f4
5.Nf3 Ng5 N:h7 Be2 B:h5 mate. (1-0) (Neat.)


Peter Coast - Ian Richardson
1.d4
2.g5 g4 (There was a certain vogue for this about 5 or 6 years ago. In 1994 Volosin, playing this as Black, won a 'marathon' 20-series game against Gadzinskij (both of Ukraine).)
3.h3 h:g4 Bf4 (White cannot take the Queen without being mated. Bf4 is a new move. Black thought the series good.)
4.d5 e5 f6 Kf7 (Good series. IR: 'It took ages to find this.')
5.B:e5 B:f6 B:d8 Kd2 Nf3
6.h5 h:g4 g:f3 R:h1 R:f1 R:d1+ (Making White lose a move by checking, which is an important motif in PC. Black is well ahead on material, has a safe King position, and the white pawns have a long distance to promote. Black should win; and does.)
7 .K:d1 Be7 B:f8 a4 Ra3 Nd2 R:f3+

8.Nf6 Bg4 B:f3 Nc6 Nb4 Nd3 Ng4 Ng:f2 mate. (0-1) (The danger of leaving a King hemmed in on the back rank. IR: 'At first I seem not to have enough moves for N or R mate, but Nf6 combats the check and moves the Knight one step to its goal.')

Paul Byway - Ian Richardson

1.d4
2.c5 c:d4 (A popular reply to 1.d4, especially of late.)
3.e4 e5 Na3 (A very common line.)
4.e6 Qg5 Q:c1 Q:d1+
5.R:d1 Bb5 Ke2 f4 f5

(The current analysis battle-ground in this variation. Another popular line is 5.K:d1 Ba6 B:b7 B:a8 Ke2. Patrick Donovan prefers R:d1 instead of K:d1 in this series.)
6. (?) e:f5 B:a3 Be7 a6 a:b5 d3+ (Rets (W) beat Gadzinskij after 6.a6 a:b5 e:f5 B:a3 Be7 f4 7.R:d4 Rd6 Re6 h4 Rh3 Rc3 R:c8#; but Salvadori's line looks useful: 6.e:f5 f6 f:e5 Kf7 B:a3 Bb4. An alternative plan is 6.a6 a:b5 R:a3 .... Re3+, but finding two other suitable moves is a problem: Black has many mates to avoid, and must expend time taking the newly created Queen if he allows White's f6 f:g7 g:h8(Q) Q:g8.)
7.R:d3 Rd6 Re6 h4 Rh3 Rc3 R:c8 mate. (1-0) (The same back-row mate of Rets mentioned in the previous annotation. Again there is the difficulty of a King left on the back rank. A Bishop or Knight placed in front of the King can interpose on either side - but further security is sometimes needed!)

Paul Byway - Peter Coast

1.d4 2.d5 e5 (Not so popular as against e4, but quite often played nonetheless.)
3.Bg5 B:d8 B:c7 (Nf3 often replaces B:c7 in this series. Other popular lines are 3.e4 Nf3 Bb5+ and 3.d:e5 Q:d5 Q:d8+.)
4.Bf5 B:c2 B:d1 Ba4 (Kd7, Bb4+ and f5 have been played as alternatives to Ba4 - admittedly with rather poor results. 4.Bg4 B:e2 B:d1 B:c2 should definitely be avoided, because of 5.B:b8 Bc7 Nc3 N:d5 Bb5#. A good choice is perhaps 4.Nc6 Bg4 Kd7 Bb4+.) 5.b3 b:a4 e4 Kd2 Bb5+
6.Nd7 Bd6 B:c7 Ke7 N8f6 N:e4+ (Black's problems with regard to King safety and development mean that White gets a good lead in material.)
7.Kc2 a5 a6 a:b7 b:a8(Q) Q:h8 Ne2

8.Nf8 Ng6 N:h8 Nc3 N:b5 Nc3 N:e2 N:d4+ (Leaving White two Rooks is not a good idea at this stage of the game. But what else is there? Eg: 8.h5 h4 h3 h:g2 g:h1(Q) Q:h2 Q:h8 Ke6, 9.d:e5 f4 Ng3 Na3 Rh1 R:h8 .... Re8#; (or e:d4 instead of Ke6): 9.f3 f:e4 e5 B:d7 Bb5 Na3 Rh1 R:h8 Re8#.)
9.Kd3 f4 Nd2 Rab1 Rhc1 f5 Ne4 Rb8 R:c7# (1-0)

George Jelliss - Paul Byway

1.e3 (The Jelliss or English opening.)
2.e5 d5 (A reply that has yielded good results.)
3.c4 c:d5 Bb5+ (A new series. It makes a change from taking the Queen either by Qg4 Q:c8 Q:d8+; or Qf3 Q:d5 Q:d8+.)
4.c6 c:b5 Bg4 B:d1
5.d4 d:e5 e6 e7 e:d8(Q)+ (This looks a ponderous way of taking Black's Queen, but it is not easy to take this piece satisfactorily, eg. 5.(?) d4 e4 Bg5 B:d8 K:d1 6.Nc6 N:d4 g6 Bh6 Rc8 Rc1#.)
6.K:d8 Ke7 Kf6 g5 Nd7 Bb4+ (A good series. It leaves White's 'a' pawn the only one that can promote. He fails to find an adequate defence.)
7.K:d1 a3 a:b4 R:a7 R:a8 h4 h:g5+

8.Ke5 K:d5 Kc4 Kd3 h6 h:g5 R:h1 R:g1 mate. (0-1) (In back row mates the King is often useful in guarding the defending King's forward escape squares.)

George Jelliss - Ian Richardson

1.e3
2.Nc6 d5
3.Ba6 B:b7 B:c6+ (This does not seem to improve on 3.Qg4 Q:c8 Q:d8+.)
4.Qd7 Q:c6 Q:c2 Q:d1+ (IR: 'Forced' but not disadvantageous.')
5.K:d1 Ke2 Nc3 N:d5 N:c7+ (IR: 'White has only moved two of his existing pieces.')
6.Kd8 e5 Bd6 B:c7 Ne7 Ba6+
7.d3 Bd2 Rc1 Rc6 R:a6 f3 Nh3 (IR: 'Inviting a double-rook attack.')
8.Ba5 Kd7 Rhc8 Rc1 Rac8 R8c2 (h5) R:d2 mate. (0-1) (It was not hard to construct this mate.)

George Jelliss - Peter Coast

1.e3
2.e5 d5
3.Qg4 Q:c8 Q:d8+
4.K:d8 Ba3 B:b2 B:a1
5. (? ) Bb2 B:a1 B:e5 B:g7 B:h8 (In a 1984 game Bellucci played against Gallozzi 5.d4 d:e5 e6 e:f7 f8(Q)+ and drew.)

6. (? ) b5 b4 b3 b:c2 Nc6 c:b1(Q)+ (The winner, Black, remarked that White's 5th move was a mistake as he can now get White's pieces tangled up; but he missed immediate mate by 6.d4 d3 Nc6 Nd4 d:c2 c1(Q)#, as well as a 2N - mate by 6.Nc6 Nd4 Nf6 Ne4 Nc3 N:c2# !)
7. (? ) Ke2 Kf3 Bb5 B:c6 B:a8 Nh3 R:b1 (White in turn overlooks mate: 7.Ke2 g4 g5 g6 g:f7 Bh3 f8(Q)# .)
8.h5 h4 f5 f4 f:e3 e2 e1(Q) Qe4 mate. (0-1)

Ian Richardson - George Jelliss

1.Nf3
2.e5 e4 (The most popular reply to 1.Nf3; but White is not impressed by it!)
3.e3 g3 Bb5 (A new reply.)
4.e:f3 Qh4 Q:h2 Q:h1+
5.Bf1 Q:f3 Q:h1 Q:b7 Q:c8+ (If White plays Q:a8 instead of Q:c8+, he gets mated. IR: 'My moves are almost forced by my opponent's series 2.')
6.Ke7 Nc6 R:c8 Kf6 Nb4 N:c2+ (IR: 'The King here on the 3rd rank is vulnerable to a pawn attack.' But Black has a bad game anyway.)
7.Kd1 Bd3 Bf5 g4 f4 Nc3 Nd5 mate. (1-0)

Ian Richardson - Paul Byway

1.Nf3
2.e5 Bb4 (According to 'PR Base', with this line Black has registered 13 wins to White's 1.)
3.c3 c:b4 g3
4.Qf6 Q:f3 Q:h1 Q:f1+ (Giancarlo Buccoliero and Vito Rallo both played 4.e4 e:f3 f:e2 e:d1(Q)+ on the other occasions when White's 3rd was ventured.)
5.K:f1 d4 e4 f3 Bg5 (Giving his King some air.)
6.d5 Bg4 B:f3 B:d1 Nc6 Kd7 (White seems to have a reasonable enough game, which would vindicate his choice of series 3. However, in this difficult position he goes astray and allows a mate. Has he anything better?)

7.Nc3 N:d5 N:c7 N:a8 R:d1 d5 d:c6+
8.K:c6 f5 f4 f3 Nf6 N:e4 Rd8 R:d1 mate. (0-1)

Ian Richardson - Peter Coast

1.Nf3
2.e5 Bb4
3.N:e5 Nd3 f3 (An original approach to Black's series 2.)
4.Qf6 Q:b2 Q:c1 Q:d1+
5.Kf2 N:b4 Nc3 R:d1 h4 (A good series, making it very difficult for Black. )
6. (?) a5 a:b4 b:c3 g5 g4 g3+
7. (?) K:g3 d:c3 Rb1 R:b7 R:b8 R:a8 R:c8+ (White had 7.K:g3 d4 d5 d6 Rd4 Rg4 R:g8#, an attractive Italian mate pointed out by Patrick Donovan. But White must be winning anyway.)
8.Ke7 Nh6 R:c8 Ra8 R:a2 Ra1 R:f1 R:h1

9. (?) Kf2 g4 g5 g:h6 Kg2 K:h1 Kg1 Kf2 Ke3 (White takes both Rook and Knight. But this line leads, by correct play, to a lost position. Winning is 9.Kf4 Ke4 g4 g5 g6 g7 g8(R) Rg1 R:h1 - the Rook is taboo to capture by the Knight.
Why not promote to a Queen? Because Black can win by 10.Nf5 N:h4 N:f3 Kd6 Kc6 .... Ng5# !)
10. Kd6 Kc5 Kc4 K:c3 K:c2 Kc3 Kc4 Kc5 Kd5 Ke6 (A good line for Black is 10.Kf6 Kg6 K:h6 Kh5 K:h4 Kg5 Kf5 Ke5 c5 d6, although he looks to be winning anyway.)
11.Kd3 Kc3 Kb3 Ka3 Kb3 Kc3 Kd3 e3 e4 f4 h5 (White cannot go for the 'c' pawn, for Black will be able to infiltrate on the kingside.)
12. Ke7 Ke6 Ke7 Ke6 Ke7 Ke6 Ke7 Ke6 Ke7 f6 f5 f:e4+ (12....... f5 d5 c5 f:e4+ is perhaps simpler.)
13. Kc4 Kb5 Ka6 Kb7 K:c7 Kb6 Kc5 Kd4 K:e4 Kd5 Ke5 f5 f6+
(White is lost. I did think that a saving line here was 13.Kc4 Kb5 Ka6 Kb7 K:c7 Kb6 Kc5 Kd4 K:e4 Kd5 Kd4 Kd3 Ke4,

believing that Black would be forced to play: 14.Kd6 Kc5 Kc4 Kc3 Kd2 Ke2 Kf2 Kg3 Kg4 K:h5 K:h6 Kg6 Kf6 Ke6 and draws. But Patrick Donovan (and the winner himself I later realised) pointed out that after series 13 White cannot improve his position, so that on series 14 and 16 Black needs only to play moves that keep the position exactly the same. On his series 18 he will have enough time to come round the back of White's position, grab the 'h' pawns, stop White from doing anything by posting the King at g6 or f6, and queen his own pawn at h1.)

14.Kf7 d5 d4 d3 d2 d1(Q) Qd2 Qd1 Qd2 Qd1 Qc1 Qd2 Q:h6 Q:f6+ White resigns. (0-1) (A most interesting endgame. But after his good early play White should not have lost this game.)

Home Page   Top of Page  1995 Results ,     Rules,  See also English Progressive Chess
Variant Chess Postal Tournament 1996

This tournament commenced in the Autumn of 1996. Final results:

1. Peter Wood 5pts
2. Ari Luiro (Finland) 4pts
3. Steve Boniface 2pts
4. Peter Coast 1pt

The notes are by Peter Wood, with extra comments by Patrick Donovan, Peter Coast and Steve Boniface.

Steve Boniface - Peter Coast

1. e4 | 2. Nc6 d5 | 3. Ba6 B:b7 B:c6† ( A common alternative to 3.Qg4 Q:c8 Q:d8 †.) 4. Qd7 Q:c6 Q:c2 Q:d1† 5. K:d1 Ke2 Nf3 d4 Rd1 ( A popular line of late is: 5.K:d1 Ke2 d4 e:d5 h4. White`s continuation is new, and works out well in this game. PD: But Black had 6. e5 Bb4 Nf6 N:e4 Bd2 Ba6 ‡) 6. d:e4 e3 e:f2 f1(R) R:d1 Re1† | 7. K:e1 b4 b5 b6 b7 b:a8(Q) Q:c8 ‡ (1-0) (PC: Not an impressive effort by me. )

Steve Boniface - Ari Luiro

1. e4 | 2. Nc6 d5 | 3. Ba6 B:b7 B:c6† | 4. Qd7 Q:c6 Q:c2 Q:d1† | 5. K:d1 d4 Nc3 N:d5 N:c7† ( Played about 8 or 9 years ago — with poor results for Black; replacing d4 by Kc2 or Ne2 have been played too. ) 6. Kd8 K:c7 Nf6 N:e4 Ng3 N:h1 ( A good continuation. Black`s King position is safer than White`s.)

7. Bg5 B:e7 B:f8 B:g7 B:h8 a4 Be5† | 8. Kc6 Kd5 Ke4 Kd3 Rb8 R:b2 R:f2 R:f1‡ (0-1) (SB: A lovely King-march to d3 which I ‘ almost enjoyed '.)

Peter Coast - Ari Luiro

1. e4 | 2. Nc6 d5 | 3. Qg4 Q:c8 Q:d8† | 4. K:d8 d:e4 Nf6 h5 (PC: I had expected this, and prepared the following reply. ) 5. Bb5 B:c6 Nf3 Ng5 N:f7† ( White`s continuation has been played a few times in the past; Luiro`s reply is new. ) 6. Kc8 b:c6 g5 h4 Rh7 R:f7

(PC: This turns out to be very strong, mainly because Black has two fairly active Rooks and passed pawns which I must neutralise. I thought for a long time that 7. g3 g:h4 h:g5 g6 g:f7 Nc3 Ke2 (or a variant) would be OK, but it fails to 8. e3 e:d2 d:c1(Q) Ng4 N:h2 Kb7 Rd8 Qd2 ‡ . I went through several permutations and ended up with.... 7. g3 g:h4 Rg1 R:g5 Rf5 R:f6 R:f7 ....unfortunately Luiro played.... ) 8. a5 a4 a3 a:b2 Ra3 Rd3 R:d2 b:c1(Q)‡ (0-1)

Peter Wood - Ari Luiro

1. e4 | 2. d5 Nc6 | 3. Qg4 Q:c8 Q:d8† | 4. K:d8 d:e4 Nf6 h5 | 5. Nc3 N:e4 d4 Bg5 B:f6 ( An attempted improvement for White in this ever-popular line. ) 6. e:f6 Kd7 h4 h3 h:g2 g:h1(Q) | 7. Bg2 B:h1 Ng5 N:f7 N:h8 Kd2 B:c6† ( I thought for a long time on this sequence. At the time I thought it not too bad, however, PD: White has 7. a4 a5 a6 a:b7 b:a8(Q) Q:f8 Nc5 ‡.) | 8. b:c6 Ba3 B:b2 B:a1 R:h8 R:h2 Rg2 R:g1 (PD: Black misses 8. K:c6 Kd5 K:d4 Re8 Re1 ....Bb4 ‡ . PW: But now a most interesting position has arisen. I thought my sequence 9 to be the only one that avoided loss; but after Black`s reply this is clearly not so. )

9. d5 d6 d:c7 c8(R) Rb8 Rb1 R:a1 R:g1 Ke1 ( I rejected R:g7 † instead of Ke1 because I thought Black`s continuation 10. Ke8 Kf8 K:g7 Kg6 Kf5 Ke4 Kd4 c5 c4 c3 ‡ would win, but, as Malcolm Horne has pointed out, White can himself win by 11. Ke2 Kf3 Kf4 Kf5 K:f6 Ke6 Kd6 Kc6 Kb5 Kb4 Kb3. On his sequence 13 White can win one of Black`s isolated pawns, with an easy victory. Has Black anything better?

He has. If Black (after taking the Rook and moving the King to d4) positions his pawns at a7 and c5, he saves the game. White`s best is 11. Ke2 Kf3 Kf4 Kf5 K:f6 Kf5 Kf4 Kf3 Ke2 Kd2 c3 † , when Black draws by: 12. Ke4 Kf3 K:f2 Kf3 Ke4 Kd5 Kc4 a5 a4 a3 Kb5 c4. Black can try to improve matters further by positioning his pawns at a5 and c4. Then, after White`s 11th sequence in the previous line, he can play 12. Kc5 Kb5 Ka4 Ka3 K:a2 Kb3 a4 a3 a2 a1(Q) Qf1 Qf2 † winning. However White can improve, and wins himself by 11. Kc1 Kb2 Ka3 Ka4 K:a5 Kb4 a4 a5 a6 a7 a8(Q).

If the pawns are on f3 and c5 Black can also draw. The best that White can do is 11. Ke1 Kf1 Kg1 Kh2 Kg3 K:f3 Ke2 Kd1 Kc1 Kb2 Kb3, after which Black takes the f2 pawn, brings the King back to b5, and plays a5 and c4 † , with an easy draw.

So R:g7 instead of Ke1 saves the game for White. With correct play a draw is the right result. ) 10. g5 g4 g3 Ke6 Kf5 Kg4 Kh3 Kh2 K:g1 g:f2†.

White Resigns. (0-1) ( White can do nothing to save the game with his 11 moves. )

Peter Wood - Peter Coast

1. e4 | 2. Nc6 d5 | 3. Qg4 Q:c8 Q:d8† | 4. K:d8 d:e4 Kd7 f5 ( In the M. Tal Memorial postal tournament organised in the Ukraine, both Anna and Andrej Neboca played something similar to this sequence — 4. K:d8 Kd7 f5 f:e4. Against Anna I found the sequence 5 I tried here. In passing I would point out that games against 4 Ukranian players were unfinished in this tournament, including one against the tournament director who has not answered any enquires regarding unsent moves, or as to the result of the tournament.) 5.Bb5 Nc3 N:e4 Ke2 Nc5† | 6. Ke8 Rd8 Rd5 R:c5 R:b5 Re5†

7. Kf3 g4 g:f5 f6 f:g7 g:h8(Q) Q:e5 ( If Kd3 instead of Kf3, Black can mate by 8.a5 a4 a3 a:b2 a:a1(Q) Q:e5 b5 Nb4 ‡) 8. Bg7 B:e5 B:b2 B:a1 Nf6 Ng4 N:f2 N:h1 ( My opponent said he spent a lot of time on this move. Regrettably for him, it was time spent in vain. ) 9. d4 d5 d:c6 c:b7 Ke4 Kf5 Ke6 a4 b8(Q)‡ (1-0)

Ari Luiro - Steve Boniface

1. e4 | 2. e5 Nh6 | 3. d4 Bg5 B:d8 | 4. Ng4 Ne3 N:d1 Bb4† ( It is more usual to take the Bishop (K:d8) than playing Bb4 † . Bb4 † looks a useful innovation. ) 5. Nc3 R:d1 Bf6 B:g7 B:h8 ( This allows Black to mate; it does not really test Black`s innovation. )

6. d5 Bg4 d:e4 e3 e2 e:d1(R)‡ (0-1)

Peter Wood - Steve Boniface

1. e4 | 2. e5 Nh6 | 3. d4 Bg5 B:d8 | 4. Ng4 N:f2 N:d1 K:d8 | 5. Ba6 B:b7 B:a8 K:d1 Kd2 ( Kd2 has been played by Roberto Cassano as an alternative to the rather more obvious Ke2. ) 6. e:d4 d3 d:c2 c:b1(Q) Ba6 Bb4† ( An improvement on Rolf Sicker`s sequence against Cassano: 6. Ba6 e:d4 c5 h5 Bd6 Bf4 †.) 7. Ke3 R:b1 Rc1 R:c7 Rb7 R:b4 R:b8† ( It is difficult for White. This was played after considerable thought. ) 8. Ke7 R:b8 R:b2 R:g2 R:g1 R:h1 R:h2 Rh6

( Instead of Rh6 in this sequence, Ke6 would win for Black. As played, White can mate. ) 9. e5 e6 e:d7 d8(R) Bc6 Ke4 Ke5 a4 Re8‡ (1-0)

Steve Boniface - Peter Wood

1. e4 | 2. d5 e5 | 3. d4 Bg5 B:d8 | 4. K:d8 Bg4 B:d1 e:d4 | 5 .Nc3 R:d1 R:d4 h4 R:d5† ( A popular sequence is 5. Ba6 B:b7 B:a8 K:d1 Ke2. It has been difficult for Black to find a satisfactory response to this. ) 6. Nd7 c6 c:d5 d4 d:c3 Nh6 | 7. g4 g5 g:h6 h:g7 g:h8(Q) b:c3 Ke2

( A dangerous place to leave the King! But if Kd2 (instead of Ke2) Black can mate by 8.b5 b4 b3 b2 b1(Q) Q:f1 Ne5 Nc4, as pointed out by my opponent. ) 8. Kc7 Kc6 Kc5 Kc4 Ne5 Rd8 a5 Rd2 Italian mate. (0-1)

Ari Luiro - Peter Wood

1. e4 | 2. d5 e5 | 3. d4 Bg5 B:d8 | 4. Bg4 B:d1 B:c2 Bb4† ( Rarely played. It has not really been tested. ) 5.Nc3 Kd2 K:c2 d:e5 e:d5 ( We are in unknown territory. ) 6.B:c3 B:b2 B:e5 B:a1 K:d8 Ke7

( This is good for Black. ) 7. h4 h5 h6 h:g7 g:h8(Q) Q:a1 R:h7 | 8. Na6 Nf6 N:h7 Rg8 R:g2 R:g1 R:f1 R:a1 ( Winning easily. ) W Resigns. (0-1)

Ari Luiro - Peter Coast

1. d4 | 2. e5 Ke7 (PC: This was an attempt to get out of the book. ) 3. d:e5 Nc3 Nd5† ( In fact the ‘ book ' shows that Black has a 100% record — one game: Mazza v Arno 1987. But both Mazza and Ari Luiro missed 3. e4 Qh5 Q:e5 ‡!) 4. Ke8 Qh4 Bc5 B:f2† (PC: It is difficult for Black to find any sequence that does not allow mate. ) 5. Kd2 Qe1 Q:f2 Q:h4 N:c7† (diagram) 6. Kf8 g5 g:h4 Na6 N:c7 Ne6 (PC: I missed Black`s next. Maybe f5

Kf7 Nh6 instead of Na6 N:c7 Ne6 in this sequence? ) 7. e4 Bb5 B:d7 Nf3 Ng5 Rf1 R:f7‡ (1-0)

Peter Coast - Steve Boniface

1. d4 | 2. d5 Nf6 | 3 .Bf4 B:c7 B:d8 ( 3. e4 e5 Bb5 † is the popular alternative. ) 4. Bf5 B:c2 B:d1 K:d8 ( 4. K:d8 Ne4 N:f2 N:d1 is a better way to take the Queen. But Black is not alone in choosing this sequence. PR Base gives 5 other instances — from which White only twice found the sequence-5 mate !) 5. g3 Bh3 Na3 Rc1 Rc8‡ (1-0) ( An alternative is: 5. Nc3 Na4 Nb6 Rc1 Rc8 ‡.)

Peter Coast - Peter Wood

1. d4 | 2. e5 e:d4 | 3. Bg5 B:d8 Q:d4 ( This is called the Kustrin Attack by Dipilato in his 1. d4 opening book — there have only been a handful of games with this sequence. Two popular alternatives are: 3. Bg5 B:d8 f4, and 3. e3 e:d4 Qe2 †.) 4. K:d8 c5 c:d4 Bb4† | 5. c3 c:b4 Nf3 Ng5 N:f7† | 6. Ke7 K:f7 b6 Bb7 B:g2 B:h1 ( Moving the King to c7 is a possibility, although 6.Kc7 d5 Bh3 B:g2 B:h1 b6 loses to 7.e4 Ba6 e5 e6 e7 e8(Q) Qc8 ‡) 7. Bg2 B:a8 Na3 000 R:h1 b3 Bd5†

8. Ke8 Ke7 Nh6 Rf8 R:f2 d3 d:e2 e1(Q) Italian mate. (0-1)

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