[Event "Mikhail Tal Memorial (2300+)"] [Site "SchemingMind.com"] [Date "2019.12.27"] [Round "-"] [White "Robert Bruce"] [Black "William Lindberg"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D03b"] [WhiteCountry "SCO"] [BlackCountry "USA"] [WhiteElo "2421"] [WhiteRD "68"] [BlackElo "2464"] [BlackRD "63"] [GameID "449517"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bg5 Ne4 4. c4 Nxg5 5. Nxg5 e5 6. Nf3 { William Lindberg: Happy New Year! } 6... exd4 { Robert Bruce: Happy new year to you and Anna,less than 5 hours to go here but probably not stay up for the bells but trying my best to shift a few moves anyway } 7. Nxd4 { William Lindberg: Happy New Year to you and Mandy. Not midnight yet, but Anna has already called it a night. I'll finish a few games and read in bed for a while. Really exciting! } 7... Bb4+ { Robert Bruce: I hit the sack about !!.20.So we are all looking forward to a good new year.Got the Nederlands sorted for 20 Jan. Got Malta sorted for !st week in October.Thinking about my Greek Holiday but waiting for you and Anna to make a move as there,s no point you coming to Redcar if we are away.No pressure you have about 3 months to decide } 8. Nc3 { William Lindberg: We are looking at August, so you should be ok for Greece. } 8... O-O 9. cxd5 Bxc3+ 10. bxc3 Qxd5 11. Qb3 Qe5 12. e3 Nd7 13. Rd1 c5 14. Nb5 Nf6 15. Be2 Be6 16. c4 Rad8 17. O-O a6 18. Qc3 Qb8 19. Na3 { William Lindberg: sent email } 19... h6 { Robert Bruce: replied } 20. Rxd8 { William Lindberg: got it } 20... Rxd8 { Robert Bruce: Me and Matty have both signed up for that Fedapven tourney.He was very keen but in 2018 I came last so i have room for improvement } 21. f3 Qc7 { William Lindberg: Fedapven where is this tourney? } { Robert Bruce: Its an ICCF tourney in Venezuela!I played in 2018 and got my donkey(ass?) kicked and finished last } 22. Nc2 Nd7 23. e4 Nb6 { William Lindberg: Ok I remember getting an email about it. } { Robert Bruce: I had to help Matty sign up as he was keen to join.I,m not very tecno-savvy but thought I,d join as well(and live to regret it) } 24. Qa5 f5 { William Lindberg: I'm trying to remember if I played in that tournament one year. Maybe not that one but one like it. } { Robert Bruce: It was Jaspers 6th birthday 2 days ago.I bought him a glass chess set.He was very impressed( his mother wasnt) "Which of you 2 guys is 6 today?" } 25. Rb1 { William Lindberg: Ouch! That hurt. Tell her you will keep it for him until he's 7. } 25... Rd6 { Robert Bruce: It is a nice set.I said next time I,ll just get him a book (Chess openings for kids!) } 26. e5 { William Lindberg: You can start a small chess library for him. } 26... Rc6 { Robert Bruce: He,s already got a large chess library.Once we finish his school spellings we do half an hour on Nimzovitch "My System" } 27. Qc3 Qf7 { William Lindberg: Really? } 28. Na3 { Robert Bruce: Sure!,no bull he is working on knight forks which he thinks is brill.When you come over you can play him head to head on his glass chess set } 28... f4 { William Lindberg: I would like that, but tell him to go easy on me. } { Robert Bruce: Its really weird Bill,we talk chess moves then suddenly "Sorry Bobby got to go,Power Rangers are on TV" I,ve created a monster! } 29. Qd2 Nd7 { William Lindberg: I think they're all like that. My grandsons are busy watching YOUTUBE videos about cars, are cartoons. } 30. Bd3 Nxe5 31. Be4 Rc8 { William Lindberg: I have 28 active games and I'm starting to look for another tournament. } 32. Bxb7 Re8 { Robert Bruce: Just started an ICCF WS tourney with 14 games.Also signed up for that Venezuela thing due to start next week,probably same number of games.So give me a couple of weeks and I will think about a tourney.Off to the Nederlands monday "god willing" Mandy said "what book are you taking?" I might find one in my chess library } 33. Qd6 Qf6 { William Lindberg: Enjoy your holiday. } { Robert Bruce: It will be ok once we are on the move.Taxi at 4.00 am to the coach pick-up point then down to Kent for the Euro-tunnel,across Belgium getting to the Nederlands about 8.00pm } 34. Be4 { William Lindberg: That sounds interesting, motoring across France and Belgium. } 34... Bf7 { Robert Bruce: It is a bit weird.We are only in France for about 20 miles then NW to SE across Belgium,the 1st bit is the Flemish speaking area,then the French speaking bit (Wallonia) then over the border into the Nederlands(Dutch) Service stations are interesting as its pot luck which language to use! } 35. Qxf6 { William Lindberg: Are you fluent in all of them? } 35... gxf6 { Robert Bruce: I wish! I do French and Greek.Mandy does Spanish and German.You might of heard the phrase "speaking double Dutch".It is a lot like "geordie" the slang dialect from back home,a lot of dutch phrases come up .But all Dutch people English.And dont worry when you come over we will translate into any language you want } 36. Kf2 { William Lindberg: We might need help with English. } 36... Rd8 { William Lindberg: It's funny, in school I learned Spanish and Italian. In college I took some French. Forgot it all. } { Robert Bruce: I needed a foreign language pass to go to a Scottish University all those years ago.Mandy was the only English person I met in Stirling and her major was in German } 37. Ke1 Nd3+ { William Lindberg: I learned Italian because my mom was Italian. In high school they didn't teach Italian so I took Spanish. Teacher passed me out of pity. At college I thought I would try French and sucked at it. That's why I was a history / English major. } { Robert Bruce: Greek I learned it "on the hoof" I picked it up as I went along so I cant write in Greek. } 38. Bxd3 Rxd3 39. Rb3 Bg6 40. Ke2 Rd6 41. g3 h5 42. gxf4 h4 { Robert Bruce: Almost in "holiday lock down mode" after Harry forgot his passport last year!Mandy has everything packed.I deal with the essentials Tickets,Passports Money } 43. Nb1 { William Lindberg: we are already making lists of things that have to be done for our trip. Travel agent was helpful. } 43... Bc2 { Robert Bruce: Send me an email with your provisional itinary.I finally got our Greek flights sorted(our travel agent wanted £480.00 each I got them on the internet for £280.00 each) same flight same airline } 44. Rb8+ Kg7 { William Lindberg: ok } 45. Rb7+ Kg6 46. Nc3 Bd3+ 47. Ke3 Bxc4 48. Ne4 Rd3+ { Robert Bruce: Just back after a 14 hour coach journey( thats standard and to be expected .unfortunately our luggage went on a different holiday.It was in Paris we were in Maastricht.Story to follow } 49. Kf2 { William Lindberg: Welcome back, I thought you would be on holiday longer. I assume your luggage is enjoying itself in Paris. } 49... Kf5 50. Rb6 Kxf4 { Robert Bruce: Mandy and Harry are laughing about it now that we are back in "dear old Blighty".Got to catch up on my chess and you and Anna can also have a laugh when I find time to give the details } 51. Rxf6+ { William Lindberg: Looking forward to your exploits. } 51... Ke5 52. Rh6 Bd5 53. Rxh4 c4 { William Lindberg: I'm looking at a couple of tournaments. I know you have a lot of games, so I might go solo. } { Robert Bruce: Never dare an idiot. Let me know what tourneys and I might give it a go .Matty might join us as well } 54. Ke2 Ra3 { William Lindberg: ok I'll email you. } 55. Nd2 Rxa2 { Robert Bruce: Kings G nd Alekhine look ok } 56. Ke3 { William Lindberg: ok I'm joining both. Also moved up to round 2 in the knockout. Should I win my next opponent is Statler. } 56... Ra3+ { Robert Bruce: I will join both but probably leave for a week to shift a few games( doing about 50 moves a day,didnt work that hard when I was in paid employment) } 57. Ke2 c3 { William Lindberg: I think you're playing a lot more games than me right now. } { Robert Bruce: Quite a few more but I stagger them about half at the 40/50 move stage so should finish soon } 58. Nc4+ Bxc4+ { William Lindberg: I'm going to skip Class 1 #159. PoD is in it. Might look for another mini tournament. Don't rush your games. } 59. Rxc4 Kd5 60. Rf4 Ra2+ 61. Kd3 Rxh2 { Robert Bruce: The great computer of the universe(Hal) has deemed this a draw on 6 piece table base } 62. Kxc3= { William Lindberg: Sort of looks that way. } 1/2-1/2