Scottish Annotated Games

Last updated 11 July 2001

Cumming, D R (2087) - Macmillen, A N (2089) [A40]
SCCA Championship 1999-00
[Notes by David Cumming]

1.d4 b5 2.e4 Bb7 3.e5 e6 4.Nf3 a6 5.c4! [Believe it or not, this was an original idea of mine, developed in a series of OTB games over the past couple of years between myself and local friend George McRobert. Much later during this game I was to discover that this opening sequence of moves had indeed been played before by a number of English GMs from the early 1980s onwards. My own experience with this opening led me to believe that this was a very strong sequence for White to play, and it actually caused George McRobert to discard the St George from his repertoire, so overwhelming was my score against him with it!]

5...Bb4+ [5... bxc4 is normal here, but 5... Bb4+ serves as an in-between move. A GM game that I found ran as follows: 5... bxc4 6.Bxc4 Ne7 7.Nc3 d5 8.exd6 cxd6 9.d5 e5 10.Qb3 Qd7 11.a4 Ng6 12.a5 Qc7 13.0-0 Nd7 14.Be3 Rb8 15.Rfc1 Bc8 16.Qa4 Be7 17.Nb5 axb5 18.Bxb5 Qd8 19.Bb6 Rxb6 20.axb6 0-0 21.Rxc8 Qxc8 22.Bxd7 Qc5 23.b7 Qxd5 24.Bc8 e4 25.b8=Q exf3 26.Qb7 Qg5 27.g3 1-0, J Hodgson v K Arkell, BCF Ch 1989. To illustrate my own ideas for this type of game, I list the following: 5... bxc4 6.Bxc4 d5 7.Bd3 c5 8.Be3 cxd4 (8... Nc6! 9.dxc5 d4! 10.Bf4 was Cumming v Teunisse, unfinished friendly game) 9.Bxd4 Nc6 10.Be3 Nb4 11.0-0 Nxd3 12.Qxd3 Ne7 13.Bc5! Rc8 14.Bd6 Qb6 15.Nbd2! Ng6 16.Bxf8 Nxf8 17.Rfc1 Rxc1+ 18.Rxc1 Ng6 19.Qa3! h6 20.Qd6!! Qxd6 21.exd6 0-0 22.Rc7 Rc8 23.d7! Rb8 24.Rxb7 Rxb7 1-0 D Cumming v G McRobert, friendly, 1998.]

6.Nc3 bxc4 7.Bxc4 d6 [Black wishes to test the soundness of my opening system.]

8.Qe2 Nd7 [Threatening 9... Bxf3 which would either double my f-pawns or win a pawn, liquidating the White centre in the process, so...]

9.Bf4 d5 10.Bd3 c5 [So what we have is effectively a Winawer French Defence, with the difference being that Black has exchanged his b-pawn for White's c-pawn and fianchettoed his QB, so now ... Bxc3 isn't really much of a threat because White doesn't get doubled c-pawns and bxc3 further supports the White centre, so White would have no objection to this course of events.]

11.Be3 cxd4 12.Bxd4 Ne7 13.a3 Bc5 14.0-0?! [14.Rc1 should have been preferred here.]

14...Bxd4 15.Nxd4 0-0?! [Letting White off the hook, and simply transposing the game back to what it should have been, had I played the correct 14.Rc1. The correct move for Black here was the immediate 15... Nc5! and the bishop cannot go to b1 as it would block the rook, so White would have to play 16.Bc2, slowing down his game a fair bit from what actually occurred! There was no urgency for either side to castle!]

16.Rac1 Nc5 17.Bb1 Ng6 18.b4! Nd7 19.f4 Qb6 20.Qe3 Rac8 21.Na4! Qa7!? [21... Qd8 would have been answered with exactly the same move!]

22.Nc5! Nb6? [This is a strategic error. Black should have played 22... Nxc5 23.bxc5 with queenside play for White. To be fair to Black, he had his own ideas of exchanging off his knight for my bishop, and in the process opening up the long diagonal for his QB, but I refuted this in the following manner...]

23.Bd3 Qa8 24.f5!! exf5 25.e6! Nc4 26.exf7+ Rxf7 27.Qg5! Nd6! [The best move that Black could have made in the given position. The contemptible 27... Nxa3 would have witnessed my main idea, 28.Bxf5 attacking the Rc8 and also threatening 29.Be6. On a3, the Black knight is on the edge of the board, far away from where it would be needed, attacking, defending and influencing nothing on a3 - therefore a waste of a move!]

28.Nxf5 Ne4 29.Bxe4 dxe4 30.Nd6 [Winning material. Note the change of emphasis; originally e6 was the focal square for the White knight - now it is d6!]

30...Rxf1+ 31.Rxf1 Rxc5 32.bxc5! Bc6? [32... Bd5 was correct here, when 33.h4 could have been answered with 33... e3! 34.h5 e2 35.Re1 Qc6! (now that the White rook no longer controls the f-file, it is safe for the Black queen to move off the back rank.) 36.Qd8+ Nf8 37.Rxe2 Qa4!! and Black sacrifices his bishop on g2 with check if necessary, but in return gains at least perpetual check! So, it was my renewed intention, in the event that Black played 32... Bd5, to answer 33.Rd1. However, with the bishop now having been played to c6, the Black queen now no longer has this important transit square, so it was now perfectly safe and strong for White to play...]

33.h4! Nf8? 34.Qe7 Ng6 35.Qf7+ [This is a perfectly good, strong winning move and continuation. However, I missed a forced mate here, which ran as follows: 35.Qe6+ Kh8 36.Nf7+ Kg8 37.Nd8+ Kh8 38.Rf8+ Nxf8 39.Nf7+ Kg8 40.Nh6+ Kh8 41.Qg8++]

35...Kh8 36.h5 Bd5 37.hxg6!! Bxf7 38.gxf7 Qf8 39.Nxe4 g6 40.Nd6 Kg7 41.Re1 Qb8 42.Re8 Qb1+ 43.Kh2 Qf1 44.Rg8+ Kh6 45.f8Q+ Qxf8 46.Rxf8 [From the final position, White leaves the knight where it is, places the rook on f7, then pushes the c-pawn all the way to glory, and there's absolutely nothing that Black can do about it!] 1-0