[Event "Koelle A 2026"]
[Site "Ballarat"]
[Date "2026-10-15"]
[White "Stickland, Peter"]
[Black "Laffey, Julian"]
[WhiteElo "0"]
[BlackElo "0"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 { Blocks in the LSB, but gets black to kingside castle faster. } 4. Nb5 { Puts pressure on c7 that must be addressed. } 4... Bd6 (4... Na6 { Not keen having a knight on the edge. }) 5. Nxd6+ cxd6 { Not an ideal pawn structure for black, but not the end of the world. } 6. h3 { Wastes a tempo? } 6... Nc6 { Done before castling in case of Nxd4 Qxd4 e5 fork tricks in future. } 7. e3 O-O { Black's development superior to white's. } 8. Nf3 Re8 { Preparing to push in the centre and delay white's castling. } 9. Be2 { Was Bb5 better? } 9... e5 { Going on the offence while black has the initiative.. } 10. Bh2 { Was this the point of h3 on move 6? } 10... e4 { Probably a mistake. While it's fun to harass white and take space in the centre, the d6 pawn will be a 'forever' weakness, and white's LSB has limited mobility. } 11. Nd2 (11. Ng5 h6 { White knight is trapped. }) 11... h6 { Questionable move. Why not develop the bishop? This move designed to allow Nh7 Ng5. } 12. O-O { White completes development and all minor pieces are off the home rank. Black can't claim the same. } 12... Nh7 { Still the LSB is undeveloped! But black is considering sacrificial shenanigans after Ng5. } 13. c4 { White strikes at black's weak pawn centre. } 13... Ng5 { Black continues attack on king side regardless. } 14. cxd5 Nxh3+ { Fun, but suicidal. White is under no obligation to cooperate with black's plan of gxh3 Bxh3. } 15. Kh1 { A lovely move. Black now must lose one knight. Also black will have trouble getting to the white king even after gxh3, given how well defended f3 currently is. } 15... Nb4 { If white must lose a knight, it would be better to damage the white king's protection. } 16. gxh3 Bxh3 17. Rg1 { White's king is quite safe. } 17... Nd3 { Aggressive, but why not grab back the pawn with Nxd5? } 18. Bxd3 exd3 { Black has wasted material on a bone-headed sacrifice and doesn't have enough left to do anything useful. Black limps along for another 17 moves to defeat. } 19. Rg3 Qd7 20. e4 Rac8 21. Qf3 Rc2 22. Qxd3 Rec8 23. Rxh3 Rxd2 24. Qxd2 Qxh3 25. Qe3 Qh4 26. Kg2 Rc2 27. Bxd6 Rxb2 28. Bg3 Qg4 29. Qf3 Qg5 30. e5 Rd2 31. Qf4 Qxf4 32. Bxf4 Rxd4 33. d6 Rxf4 34. Rd1 Re4 35. d7 { Black resigns. } 1-0