ODT081021

=**Visitors triumph at NZ Masters**=


 * Problem:** White to play and mate in 3.

The George Trundle NZ Masters 2008 was held in Auckland earlier in the month and once again repeated its successful formula of six aspiring locals pitted against four foreign titled players. The format allows any of the local players to achieve an International Master norm if they reach the required score of 6½ /9. However, in a closely fought contest no-one managed to achieve that score this year.

The top seeds IM Stephen Solomon and GM Darryl Johansen of Australia duly finished first equal on 6 points, followed by Hungarian IM Andras Toth on 5½, but they hardly had things all their own way. In round three FM Stephen Lukey of Christchurch produced a crushing game to beat Johansen, while the next round saw promising Wellington junior Daniel Baider (14) beat Solomon with some brilliant play. The top New Zealand performer was FM Nic Croad of Wellington, who kept up with the leaders for most of the tournament, but lost to Lukey in the final round to finish fourth on 5 points.

Today's game is GM Johansen's smooth win in the final round over Auckland's Michael Steadman, which allowed him to catch up with Solomon. Johansen is playing with the white pieces. media type="custom" key="26493234" The opening has transposed into the Averbakh Kings Indian Defence, where White threatens to castle queenside and launch a kingside pawnstorm unless Black takes active queenside countermeasures. Note the trap 6... e5? 7 dxe5 dxe5 8 Qxd8 Rxd8 9 Nd5 winning a pawn. A new idea in a well known position, gaining central space at the expense of a slightly weakened kingside. Previously Black has played 10 ... Qb4, 10 ... axb5 and 10 ... Nbd7. Immediately fingering the soft spot in the Black setup - the e6 square. Black's novelty has left him with his queenside pieces undeveloped. White emphasises the weakness of the Black king by exchanging off a key defender with gain of tempo and clearing a way for his queen to reach h3. White's infiltration to e6 had the sense of inevitability about it – and he finds a powerful sacrifice to bust open the black king position. Black could have tried 21 ... Be5 blocking the e-file, but White's attack is still too strong: 22 Qh3 h5 23 Bxh5! gxh5 24 Qxh5 Bxh2+ 25 Kh1! Qd7 26 Re6! and the mate threats will cost Black dearly. Taking the knight is fatal: 22 ... Kxh7 23 Qh3+ Kg7 (or 23 ...Kg8 24 Be6+ Rf7 25 Bxf7+ Kxf7 26 Qh7+ Bg7 27 Bh6 Qf8 28 Bxg7 Qxg7 29 Re7+ winning the house) 24 Qh6+ Kf7 25 Qh7+ Bg7 26 Bh6 Rg8 27 Re6! and to avoid mate Black must play Qxe6 28 Bxe6+ Kxe6 29 Qxg8+ etc. Black is losing his queen and that is just for starters...
 * 1. c4 g6**
 * 2. d4 Bg7**
 * 3. e4 d6**
 * 4. Nc3 Nf6**
 * 5. Be2 O-O**
 * 6. Bg5 c5**
 * 7. d5 b5**
 * 8. cxb5 a6**
 * 9. a4 Qa5**
 * 10. Bd2 e6?!**
 * 11. dxe6 fxe6**
 * 12. Nf3 Qc7**
 * 13. O-O Bb7**
 * 14. Ng5! ---**
 * 14 --- Qe7**
 * 15. Qb3 d5**
 * 16. exd5 exd5**
 * 17. Rae1 Qd6**
 * 18. Nce4! ---**
 * 18 --- Nxe4**
 * 19. Nxe4 Qc7**
 * 20. Ng5 Qd6**
 * 21. Bg4! Bf6**
 * 22. Nxh7!! Rd8**
 * 23. Re6 Resigns**


 * 1-0**


 * Solution:** 1 Rxc8+ Kf7 2 Rf8+! Nxf8 3 Nd8#.