[Event "BCCC2026"]
[Site "Ballarat Chess Club"]
[Date "2026-05-07"]
[White "Scott Stewart"]
[Black "Kevin Perrin"]
[WhiteElo "0"]
[BlackElo "0"]
[Result "1-0"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 
{ d4 declines the gambit and steers the game into less messy terrain. I mostly see this line in blitz, but like all good gambits it can be dangerous. I play the Nf6 idea myself with similar ideas of taking on d5 in the Alapin Sicilian and against Grand Prix type games where Nc3 is omitted, e.g. 1.e4 c5 2.f4 d5 3.Nf6. }

3... Nxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bg4 6. f3 Bf5 7. Be3 
{ Best here is to play g4, h4 and g5. But not being familiar with the position, throwing one's pawns forward can lead to grief. }

7... e6 8. Bd3 Bxd3 9. Qxd3 Be7 10. Nge2 c6 11. Rd1 
{ My c4 pawn is holding the d5 square and I would like a light-squared pawn chain to complement my dark-squared bishop, but playing d5 trades off all the centre pawns and removes any tension in the position. The only reason to do so would be to catch the Black king in the centre, but it is just one move away from castling. }

11... O-O 12. O-O Nbd7 13. Ng3 Qa5 14. a3 Rfd8 15. Qc2 Nb6 16. Nce4 Qa6 17. b3 Nbd7 18. Bc1 Bxa3 

19. Bxa3 
{ White would have been better after Bf4, which grabs the initiative. Black would need to solve the looming pin after Ra1, probably retreating the bishop to e7. But I played Bxa3 with the idea that the queen would have trouble getting back into the game after my desire to play c5 and land a knight on d6. But Kevin played Qb4! }

(19. Bf4 Nxe4 20. Nxe4 h6?? 
{ Just for visualisation purposes. }
(20... e5 21. dxe5 $16)
21. Ra1 
{ Deadly. })

19... Qxa3 20. c5 Qb4! $17 
{ This is a very active square for the queen and she blocks White from playing b4 to support the c5 square. The desirable Ra1-a4 is not possible because the d4 pawn would hang. }

21. Nd6 
{ The knight looks nice, but the strong queen on b4 and the knight coming to d5 overshadows anything White has achieved. }

21... Nd5 22. Rfe1 N7f6 23. Nge4 h6 
{ b6 needs to be considered here to undermine the d4-c5 pawns and open some lines on the queenside to support the Black queen. }

(23... b6)

24. Qc4 b5?! $10 
{ b6 was the strongest choice here as it hits my pawn chain. }

(24... Qxc4? 25. bxc4 Nxe4 26. fxe4 Nb4 27. Nxb7 Rd7 28. Na5 $10)

(24... b6 25. Nxf6+ gxf6 $17 26. Qc2)

25. Nxf6+ 
{ Weakens the kingside as the knight cannot recapture because it is holding the queen. }

25... gxf6 26. Qd3 Kg7 

(26... Rxd6 27. cxd6 Qxd6 
{ A beautiful exchange sacrifice. The knight on d5 is a beast that cannot be disturbed. Given Black has two pawns for it as well, I'd say Black is to be preferred here. })

27. Nxf7!! 
{ I played this move with 3 minutes left on my clock. I did not have time to fully calculate everything, but I could see I had a lasting initiative and likely more, as the e6 pawn is a target and the king is exposed. }

27... Rg8 28. Nd6 Kh8 29. Re4 Rg6 30. Rh4 
{ Given I was down to 2 minutes here, Rh4 was a great move worthy of the position, creating difficulties for Kevin. }

30... Rag8 31. g3 
{ Crazy double-edged looking position. Not the computer-approved plan, but it is posing big questions with both players getting very low on time. }

31... Kg7 32. Ra1 a5 33. Qe4 
{ The final opportunity for Black in the game. f5 here and Kevin would have been better again, although realising that with minutes left on the clock is very difficult. Qxe6 is a big threat here. The intermezzo Qc3 was also much stronger. }

33... a4 

(33... Qc3)

(33... f5)

34. Qxe6 Qc3 35. Qd7+ 
{ Now a forced mate is on the board. What an exciting game. The complexity of the position meant there were some wild swings throughout. }

35... Kh8 36. Nf7+ 1-0