1. e4 e5 Damn, I played that without thinking. He sometimes plays the Vienna. 2. Nf3 Nc6 Maybe I'll get a chance to play the Blackburne Shilling trap? 3. Bb5 What to do? He probably knows this better than I do, so play Bird's variation. 3... Nd4 4. Bc4 No idea what to do now, so swap off and see what happens. 4... Nxf3+ 5. Qxf3 hmm...f7 looks a bit vulnerable. 5... Qf6 6. Qg3 He doesn't want to swap queens. I may be able to use that later. 6... Bc5 7. Nc3 c6 8. O-O d6 9. d3 Ne7 10. Be3 This made me think a bit. I'll have to settle for doubled pawns. If I take his bishop, he gets a bit of an attack. 10... O-O 7 minutes each. 11. Bxc5 dxc5 They say doubled pawns are bad, but getting a rook on a half-open file is good, so I might still be ok in a bit. 12. Ne2 At this point I taunted Don about going backwards. 12... b5 13. Bb3 Be6 I reckon those two moves gained a tempo, but I don't really understabd such things. 14. Bxe6 Qxe6 15. f4 I was expecting that, and I have a cunning plan. 15... exf4 16. Nxf4 Qe5 The idea is he can't move his knight without swapping queens, which he didn't want to do, and I'm also hitting his pawn on b2. 17. c3 Ng6 (Editors Note. This, and White's reply, deserve a ? or ??. White should reply Nxg6 which wins a piece, because there is the intermezzo check, Ne7+!, if Black replies QxQ). 18. Ne2 Taunting time again. 18... Qxg3 19. Nxg3 Rad8 20. Rad1 Ne5 I reckon I'm ok now. W 33 mins, B 18. 21. d4 cxd4 22. cxd4 Nc4 23. Rf2 Rd7 24. b3 Ne3 25. Rd3 Ng4 26. Rfd2 Nf6 This was all planned.If he pushes the e-pawn I go Nd5, blocking everything. If the d-pawn, pawn swaps, and I can blockade the isolated pawn. 27. Kf2 This should be at least a draw now. I could drive his king back or win a pawn by Ng5, but I was worried about getting my N trapped if he played Kf3 or Ke3. 27... Re8 28. Kf3 Rde7 29. Re2 This should be drawn, surely? But what to do? I know, I'll push his N away, then he'll have to bring his rook to defend the e pawn, and I can then threaten the d pawn! Should lead to a repetition. 29... h5 30. e5 I looked at every way to save my pawn, but there isn't one. Oh well, a pawn down dosn't mean it's over. 30... Nd5 W 60 mins (out of 90), Black 38. 31. Nxh5 g6 He can't fork my K and R because .....NxN, PxN RxR 32. Nf4 Rd8 33. Nxd5 Rxd5 I offered a draw here 34. Ree3 Re6 Everything blockaded, what can he do? 35. g4 Kg7 36. Ke4 Try to get the king in play. 36... Kh6 37. h4 So much for that idea. 37... Kg7 38. Rc3 I thought he was going for the K side. OK, drop back. I've got time to cover. 38... Rd8 39. Rc5 In hindsight, I think I should've played Rc8, but I couldn't resist this 'brilliant' move. 39... Rdd6 Perfectly safe, because he can't take with the pawn because it's check. If he moves the K to f-file, I get the d-pawn. If he goes Kd3, he can't double rooks on c file. 40. Rec3 I'm in the mire now. Only one thing for it, lash out. If after my next, we go gxf5, gxf5, Kxf5, then Rxd4, and I'm still only a pawn down. 40... f5+ 41. gxf5 Whoops! I now realise that after that sequence, my rook on e6 is en prise to his king. I must lose a rook, so Resign. After the game, Graham Wyle, who is one of those lovely people who tell you where you went wrong after the game, showed me that I could save the rook by Re8, which made me feel even worse for resigning prematurely. But he can win another pawn to go 3 up, and I think it's lost anyway. 1-0