As usual, I got the irritating opponent. This one had a habit of analysing by wandering his fingers in the air over the board, and then NEARLY grasping a piece, then finally taking hold of another one, and trying it on various squares before he finally let go.

1. d4 c5 I play this in the hope of getting the trap dxc e6, b4 a5, c3 axb, cxb Qf6 winning a rook. The only time I managed to play it though, I eventually lost the game! 2. c3 If he's not taking, I will. 2... cxd4 3. cxd4 d5 At least I'm equal so far. 4. e3 Nf6 5. Bd3 Bg4 6. f3 Bh5 7. Nh3 If he's determined to swap the bishop, I don't think I can save it, so ignore the threat. 7... e6 8. Nf4 Bg6 9. Nxg6 hxg6 Always capture towards the centre. The half-open rooks file plays quite an important part in the game. 10. Qe2 Bd6 His rook's pawn is threatened. Time so far me 5 mins - opponent 10 mins. 11. g3 Bxg3+ His first blunder. This is where the wandering hands started. It irritated me because I couldn't do my usual trick of walking around and watching the other games. I had to stay and watch in case he touched one piece and then moved another. 12. Kd1 Bd6 13. Nc3 a6 I don't want that Knight coming in. I don't like opponents knights. 14. Qg2 Qc7 RP under threat again. 15. f4 This stops immediate threats, but makes his e-pawn weak. I spend a lot of time from now on looking at the effects of various central pawn advances. 15... Nc6 16. Rg1 I can't see what this achieves. 16... O-O-O 17. Bd2 Kb8 To prevent awkward pins by Rc1. 18. Rc1 Qb6 I was a bit nervous about this, in case my Q gets trapped, but I thought it was ok, as it proved. 19. Be1 Rc8 This is both to oppose his rook and to give an emergency exit for the Q on d8. 20. Na4 I had seen this coming. On the previous move I'd thought about Qa5. I am now starting to think about saccing against either the d or f pawn. 20... Qc7 This move was to put extra pressure on f4, though I have to be careful. Bg3 can be nasty if I take with the bishop first. 21. Rc2 Nh5 22. b4 By this time, my opponent was muttering under his breath as well as the other shenanigins. I heard him say "Ah what the hell." so I took it that he thought I was winning. 22... Nxf4 23. exf4 Bxf4 I think this is won now. 3 pawns for a piece. If everything's swapped off, can one piece stop 3 pawns? Unlikely. 24. Bg3 Bxg3 My opponent said "I hadn't seen that". Which surprised me. 25. hxg3 Qd6 He's got 3 pawns en prise. 1 should fall at least? 26. a3 Nxd4 Again, he "hadn't seen that" 27. Rxc8+ Rxc8 28. Nc5 I did think about taking this immediately with the R, but didn't think it quite worked. Long term plan is Ka7 then b7, but I never get the time to do that. 28... Qc6 This is so that if I shift his Knight, I ve got a chance of mate. 29. Qb2 DId a bit of analysis before this next move. It worked out more or less as planned. 29... Nf5 30. g4 Ne3+ Me 32 mins Opponent 40 mins Clocks back 15 mins 31. Kc1 I thought about Qa4, but it doesn't seem to lead to much. It's just a nice trick he can't take with the Knight because of check. 31... Nc4 32. Bxc4 dxc4 33. Qxg7 Qf3 At last! Freedom for my Queen. Shouldn't be long now. 34. Qd4 Qxa3+ My opponent picked up his Queen, and put it on b2 (without letting go). He then picked it up and went to try it somewhere else. I pointed out that the only Queen move that stopped the check was Qb2, so he played it. A couple of moves earlier, he had said that he hoped I didn't mind his habits because some people found them irritating., I just said "Do they really?" 35. Qb2 Qe3+ 36. Kc2 I would've liked to keep checking, but hey! a rook's a rook. 36... Qxg1 37. Nxa6+ bxa6 38. Qe5+ Presumably he's after a perpetual. I can see that he won't get one. 38... Rc7 39. Qh8+ Kb7 40. Qc3 He very nearly left his Queen on d4, where I would get it for nothing. 40... Qf2+ 41. Kb1 Qf1+ 42. Ka2 Qd3 Opponent resigned. 0-1