I had an interesting game for Sandhurst against our league rivals, Crowthorne, the other day. I was faced against Ian Thompson, 190 ECF. The opening was one of my personal favourites and I was allowed to play a very pleasant knight dance.                         

1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 A lot of players tend to play 3…Be7 here as it stops the line 3…Nf6 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bg5 Be7 6 e3 c6 7 Bd3 Nbd7 8 Nge2! which is a bit better for White. I preferred to keep some tension in the position though. 4 Nf3 c6 5 Bg5 The most aggressive choice which often leads to an interesting encounter. 5…h6 6 Bh4 dxc4 7 e4 g5 8 Bg3 b5

This is one of my favourite openings, White has sacrificed a pawn but in exchange he has a strong centre and good attacking chances later on. Black’s king will never be completely happy as both …b5 and ..g5 have weakened the kingside and queenside. 9 Be2 Bb7 10 e5!?

Most top players play 10 Ne5 which has nearly been analysed to death. 10 e5 was pointed out to me by Nick Pert and leaves White with plenty of attacking chances. It is also good to avoid mountains of theory! 10…Nd5 The best square for Black’s knight.

11 Nd2! A good plan the White knight moves to e4 and White’s light squared bishop on e2 can sometimes jump out to h5, which is in fact what happened in the game! Watch this knight do its dance of death! 11…Nd7 12 Nde4 Be7 13 a4 Trying to open up another front on the queenside. 13…Nxc3 14 bxc3 Nb6 15 a5 Nd5

Another idea was 15…Na4 when I was planning to lose some points by playing 16 Rxa4!? bxa4 17 Qxa4 with good compensation for the exchange. 16 Bh5 Targeting f7 and Black’s king. 16…a6 Black stops me from playing a6 which is rather annoying. 17 Qg4 Qd7 18 h4

A critical position. One mistake here and either side can lose quickly. Black should now play 18…Rf8! when things are unclear, for example, 19 hxg5 hxg5 20 Nxg5 (20 Bxf7+ was my plan but it doesn’t seem to work 20…Rxf7 21 Rh8+ Rf8 22 Qh5+ Kd8 23 Nf6 Rxh8! the move I missed 24 Qxh8+ Kc7 and Black is winning) 20…Bxg5 21 Qxg5 Nxc3 with a mess. 18…Rh7? A bad square for the rook 19 hxg5 0-0-0 20 g6 Rg7

I now spotted a nice finish. 21 Nf6! There goes that knight again! 21…Qc7 Capturing the knight loses, for example, 21…Nxf6 22 exf6 Bxf6 24 Qf4! winning a piece.

Can the white knight create more chaos? 22 Ne8! Yes! White forces Black to capture the knight but in doing so he moves his rook to e8 were it it exposed to some nasty tactics. 22…Rxe8 23 gxf7! The point. White is winning now. The game finished 23…Rxf7 24 Bxf7 Rd8 25 Bxe6+ Kb8 26 Bxd5 Rxd5 27 Rxh6 Ka7 28 Rh7 b4 29 Qg7 Rxa5 30 Rxa5 Qxa5 31 Qxe7 Qa1+ 32 Ke2 Qb2+ 33 Kf3 Qxc3+ 34 Kg4 Qxg4+ 35 Bf4 and Black will shortly run out of checks.