In our lifetime we will be witnesses of the end of postal chess. But that will not be the end of correspondence chess. Email is the modern manifestation of the post card. The fun of playing email chess is the same as the fun of playing postal chess. You can play it wherever you want, and you can play it whenever you want. Reflection time is measured in days. So you can think about your position when you are travelling to or from your work, when you are gardening, shopping, cleaning your home, visiting the toilet or the hairdresser. You can analyse your position almost as long as you wish. You can use books and computers to help you to find your move. You hardly will lose a game due to a blunder or due to time pressure. And it's always a tense moment when you look in your email box: will there be an answer from one of your opponents, and will he have seen what your threats are?

As email chess will be the game of the future, the International Correspondence Chess Federation (ICCF) started the first Email Chess World Championship in 1999. In 14 Semifinal groups 154 players from 49 countries started to play. Th first Email Chess World Championship is sponsored by the Dutch chess magazine New in Chess.

Together with another sponsor the Dutch Correspondence Chess Federation (NBC) organises another important email chess tournament. It is called the Millennium Email Chess Tournament. The official starting date is the 1st of January 2000. As email chess will be the new manifestation of correspondence chess, the name Millennium Email Chess Tournament was a rather easy choice. Could this tournament be an important platform to show the chess world this old form of chess in a new fashion, then a strong field of players was required. So the organizers aimed for a tournament with only players from the top ten of the correspondence rating list, and one or two FIDE Grandmasters. And they succeeded. The participants of the Millennium Email Chess Tournament are: Ulf Andersson (SVE, 2805), Gert Timmerman (NLD, 2738), Joop van Oosterom (NLD, 2684), Hans-Marcus Elwert (GER, 2681), Harald Tarnowiecki (OST, 2676) and Erik Bang (DEN, 2661). The tournament is an all-play-all tournament, with two games at a time between all players: a White and a Black game.

When the organizers started they also invited Victor Korchnoj to participate in the tournament. That might have been very interesting. But unfortunately they did not succeed. Korchnoj wrote them back: "Once in my life, about 40 years ago, I have played a single correspondence game, and I failed to finish it. Since then, I would prefer to be fetched into a tournament hall on a stretcher, rather than to use mail."

Over-the-board Grandmaster Ulf Andersson started to play top correspondence chess a few years ago. He won the tournament '50 years Norwegian Postal Chess Federation', with a fabulous score of 111/2 out of 14 games (9 wins, 5 draws). This victory gave him by far the highest rating ever: 2805. Until then the highest rated player was Hans Berliner (USA), who was the 5th World Champion from 1967 until 1971. At that time his rating was 2765.

So it will be very interesting to see Ulf Andersson playing by email against five of his most strongest colleagues on the rating list. His expected score in this field is 6,6 points out of 10 games. So if he doesn't want to lose rating points he must at least have an overscore of 4 wins.

The complete scheme of the expected scores is:

Andersson: 6,6, Timmerman: 5,5, Van Oosterom: 4,6, Elwert: 4,6, Tarnowiecki: 4,5 and Bang: 4,2

Most of the players have already played postal games against each other in the past. Except the Austrian player Harald Tarnowiecki. All his opponents are new for him. The other five players have played together 16 games (6 wins, 10 draws). Andersson has the best score (3 out of 4). Timmerman is the only other player with a positive score (51/2 out of 9). The other three have a negative score: Van Oosterom 4 points out of 9 games, Elwert 2 out of 5 and Bang 11/2 out of 5. It's remarkable that Andersson had the Black pieces in all these 4 games with his future opponents. Van Oosterom and Timmerman have played 5 mutual games, the first one almost 20 years ago, in the 10th Dutch Championship.It's remarkable that Timmerman won his both Black games against Van Oosterom, while his three White games all ended as a draw.

White: Erik Bang (DEN 2680)
Black: Ulf Andersson (SVE 2620)

ECO: D25

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 4.e3 Bg4 5.Bxc4 e6 6.h3 Bh5 7.Nc3 Nbd7 8.0-0 Be7 (8... Bd6 is the main line nowadays.) 9.e4 (9.Be2 is preferred in ECO but this is also supposed to be good. Black's position is generally reckoned to be passive but Andersson goes his own way.) 9... 0-0 10.Be3 c6 (Andersson deviates from the ECO note 10... Bg6 11.Bd3 c6 12.a3 Rc8 13.Re1 Bh5 14.Rc1 a5 15.Be2 Bg6 ± Larsen-Spassky, Santa Monica 1966, Informator 2/481.) 11.a3 Qc7 12.Rc1 Rad8 13.Be2 Qb8 14.Qc2 Bg6 15.Nh4 c5 16.Nxg6 hxg6 17.d5?! (White avoids symmetry but this pawn later becomes weak.) 17... exd5 18.exd5 a6 19.Rcd1 Rfe8 20.a4 Bd6 21.Bg5 Bh2+ 22.Kh1 Bf4 23.Bxf6 (Perhaps White felt he had already lost the initiative and hoped to reach a drawn endgame with opposite coloured bishops? He also exchanged a piece that cannot defend the d-pawn for one that can attack it. Nevertheless, exchanging bishops looks more naturel.) 23... Nxf6 24.Bf3 Bd6 25.Rfe1 c4 26.Ne4 Nxe4 27.Rxe4 Rxe4 28.Bxe4 Qc7 29.g3 b5 30.axb5 axb5 31.Kg2 Ra8 32.b3 (To clarify the queenside situation.) 32... c3 33.h4 Qe7 34.Bf3 b4 35.h5 gxh5 36.Bxh5 Qg5 37.Bf3 g6 38.Re1 (38.Rd4 would probably be preferred by many players despite 38... Ra1.) 38... Kg7 39.Qb1 Bc5 40.d6 (With or without this pawn, White's bishop is clearly the inferior minor piece.) 40... Rh8 41.Qd3 Qh6 42.Kf1 Rd8 43.Qe4-+ (This leads to a lost endgame. White might have created complications by giving up his d-pawn at once: 43.Qd5 Bxd6 44.Qd4+ Kf8 45.Qf6) 43... Qh3+ 44.Ke2 Qf5 45.Qxf5 gxf5 46.Rd1 Bxd6 (The besieged pawn falls at last.) 47.Bc6 Kf6 48.Rd3 Ke6 49.Kd1 Rh8 50.Re3+ Kf6 51.Re2 Bc5 52.f4 Bg1 53.Rg2 Bh2 54.Bb5 Rh3 55.Bf1 Bxg3 56.Rg1 Bf2 57.Bxh3 Bxg1 58.Bf1 Bh2 59.Bd3 Bxf4 60.Ke2 Kg5 61.Kf3 Bd6 62.Bc2 f4 0-1 (Lars Grahn cites the following possible continuation in SSKK Bulletinen 4/96: 63... Bd3 Kh4 64.Bc2 (64.Kg2 Kg4 65.Be2+ f3+! 66. Bxf3+ Kf4 67.Bd1 Ke3) 64... Kh3 65.Bd3 Kh2 66.Kf2 Bc5+ 67.Kf3 Be3 68.Bc2 Kg1 69.Bd3 f6! 70.Ke2 Kg2 71.Be4+ Kg3 72.Kd3 (72.Bc2 f3+ 73.Kxe3 f2 74.Bd3 c2 etc) 72... f3 73.Kxe3 f2 74. Ke2 c2 75.Bxc2 Kg2 76.Be4+ Kg1) [Comments from Chess Mail]

White: Erik Bang (DEN 2680)
Black: Hans-Marcus Elwert (GER 2625)

ECO: D48

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 c6 3.c4 e6 4.e3 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.d5 Qc7 11.0-0 Bb7 12.dxe6 fxe6 13.Bc2 c4 14.Ng5 Nc5 15.Qe2 h6 16.Nh3 Bd6 17.f4 e5 18.a4 Nd3 19.axb5 Nxc1 20.Raxc1 axb5 21.Kh1 Qc5 22.Nd5 0-0 23.b4 Qa7 24.fxe5 Bxe5 25.Ne7+ Kh7 26.Nf4 Rf7 27.Nfd5 Raf8 28.Rf5 Qd4 29.Rcf1 Qb2 30.h4 Ra8 31.Rxf6 gxf6 32.Qh5 Rg7 33.Qf5+ Kh8 34.Ng6+ Rxg6 35.Qxg6 Ra1 36.Qe8+ 1/2-1/2

White: Erik Bang (DEN 2680)
Black: Joop van Oosterom (NLD 2650)

ECO: E15

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb7 6.Bg2 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 a5 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qc2 d6 10.Nc3 Nbd7 11.Rad1 Qb8 12.Bh3!? d5 13.cxd5 Bxc3 14.Bxc3 Nxd5 15.Bd2 N5f6 16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Nd5 18.e4 Nb4 19.Bxb4 axb4 20.Rd7 Rfd8 21.Qxc7 Qxc7 22.Rxc7 Bxe4 23.Bg2 Bxg2 24.Kxg2 Rd2 25.Re1 g5 26.Re3 Rdxa2 27.Rc4 h5 28.Rxb4 R8a6 29.h3 Rc2 30.Rbd4 Raa2 1/2-1/2

White: Erik Bang (DEN 2680)
Black: Gert Timmerman (NLD 2710)

ECO: E92

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Bg5 c6 10-Nxe5 Re8 11.0-0-0 Na6 12.Nf3 Bg4 13.e5 Nd7 14.Be3 Bxe5 15.h3 Bxf3 16.Bxf3 Nb6 17.Be2 Bxc3 18.bxc3 Nc5 19.Rhe1 Nba4 20.Kc2 Re6 21.Bf3 Rae8 22.Re2 f5 23.Rde1 h5 24.Bd4 Rxe2+ 25.Rxe2 Rxe2+ 26.Bxe2 Kf7 27.h4 a6 28.f3 Ne6 29.g4 Nac5 30.g5 Nc7 31.Kd2 1/2-1/2

White: Hans-Marcus Elwert (GER 2625)
Black: Ulf Andersson (SVE 2620)

ECO: B85

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.Be2 Qc7 8.a4 Nc6 9.0-0 Be7 10.f4 0-0 11.Kh1 Re8 12.Bf3 Nxd4 13.Qxd4 e5 14.Qd2 exf4 15.Bxf4 Be6 16.Rfd1 Rad8 17.h3 h6 18.a5 Nh7 19.Nd5 Bxd5 20.Qxd5 Ng5 21.c3 Nxf3 22.gxf3 Bf8 23.Rd3 Re6 24.Rad1 Rde8 25.Kh2 Re5 26.Bxe5 Rxe5 27.Qd4 d5 28.Qb6 Qb8 29.Qf2 Rf5+ 30.e5 Qxe5+ 31.Kh1 Qf6 32.Re1 Kh7 33.Qd4 Qd6 34.f4 g6 35.Rf3 Qd7 36.Kg2 Bg7 37.Qb4 Bf6 38.Rd1 Qe6 39.Rd2 Qe1 40.Rdf2 1/2-1/2

White: Hans-Marcus Elwert (GER 2625)
Black: Joop van Oosterom (NLD 2650)

ECO: D41

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.d4 0-0 9.e4 Nxc3 10.bxc3 b6 11.d5 Na5 12.Bf4 exd5 13.exd5 Bd6 14.Bxd6 Qxd6 15.Qd3 Qf6 16.Rfe1 Bf5 17.Qe3 Nc4 18.Qf4 Nd6 19.Re3 Rfe8 20.Rae1 Rxe3 21.Rxe3 Bd7 22.Qxf6 gxf6 23.Nd2 Kg7 24.f4 f5 25.Kf2 Rc8 26.c4 Rc7 27.Ra3 Kf8 28.Bf1 Ke8

29.Bd3 Kd8 30.Bc2 Kc8 31.Ke2 Kb7 32.Re3 b5 33.Bd3 a5 34.Kd1 a4 35.cxb5 c4 36.Bc2 Bxb5 37.Nb1 Kb6 38.a3 Kc5 39.Nc3 Kd4 40.Kd2 Ba6 41.Re1 Rb7 42.Rd1 Bb5 43.Rb1 Ba6 44.Rxb7 Bxb7 45.Bxa4 Bxd5 46.Nxd5 Kxd5 47.Ke3 Kc5 48.Bc2 h6 49.a4 c3 50.Kd3 Ne4 51.a5 Kb5 52.Kd4 h5 53.Bxe4 1/2-1/2

White: Hans-Marcus Elwert (GER 2670)
Black: Joop van Oosterom (NLD 2670)

ECO: E97

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.Nc3 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 Nh5 10.Qb3 h6 11.a4 Nf4 12.Nd2 f5 13.f3 Nxe2+ 14.Nxe2 g5 15.c5 f4 16.Ba3 Ng6 17.b5 Rf7 18.b6 dxc5 19.bxc7 Qxc7 20.Nc3 Bf8 21.Bb2 g4 22.Nb5 Qd8 23.fxg4 Bxg4 24.Kh1 a6 25.Nc3 Rc8 26.a5 c4 27.Qc2 Bb4 28.Qa4 Bc5 29.Nf3 Bd4 30.Qb4 Bxf3 31.gxf3 Rg7 32.Na4 c3 0-1

White: Joop van Oosterom (NLD 2670)
Black: Ulf Andersson (SVE 2620)

ECO: B27

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.d5 d6 (The game has now changed from a Sicilian to a Benoni structure. White's goal was probably to leave the opening books as soon as possible.) 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0-0 0-0 (6...c4 was an interesting possibility, according to Ulf Andersson.) 7.Re1 e6 8.c4 exd5 9.cxd5 Bg4 10.Nbd2 Nbd7 11.h3 Ne5 12.Bf1 Bxf3 13.Nxf3 Nxf3+ 14.Qxf3 Nd7 15.Qb3 Rb8 16.a4 a6 17.Bd2 Re8 18.Bc3 Bxc3 (Black thought a long time about 18...g5, which would have given a though fight for the black squares at the King's side.) 19.Qxc3 Qf6 (At an explanation in Norrköping Andersson spoke about the move 19... g5 with the idea ...Ne5, ...Qf6, ...Kg7 and eventually ...h5. But in stead of that he decided to exchange the Queens. "Maybe I was a bit too craven.") 20.Qxf6 Nxf6 21.f3 g5 22.Reb1 Nd7 (Now Black can bring his King quickly to f6, in order to have a better control over e5 and f4.) 23.b4 Rec8 24.h4 (If Black takes the pawn, then the White King can move to h4. And moreover Black will then lose the control over f4 and indirectly over e5. That's a long-term point of the move in the game.) 24... h6 25.hxg5 hxg5 26.a5 cxb4 27.Rxb4 Rc2 28.Rab1 Nc5 29.Rb6 Rd8 30.R6b2 Rc3 (After an exchange of the rooks, the game is a simple draw.) 31.Rxb7! (White has a rather subtil plan to make a draw. After the move 24.h4 the square h3 is at the Bishop's disposal! With the Bishop on h3 and the King on g3 it will not be possible for Black to break open the position, despite his material advantage. The luck of White to be able to keep the balance with a sly manoeuvre might be related to his treatment of the opening, where no-one got an advantage.) 31... Nxb7 32.Rxb7 Rc5 33.Bxa6 Rxa5 34.Bb5 Ra1+ 35.Kh2 Rb1 36.Rd7 (The only move. 36.Bc6? Rxb7 37.Bxb7 and the Bishop can't go to h3.) 36... Ra8 37.Bc6 Ra2 38.Rd8+ (White doesn't have time to take the pawn: 38.Rxd6? Rbb2 and the Biship misses g3.) 38...Kg7 39.Bd7 Rbb2 40.Bh3 g4!? 41.Bxg4 (41.fxg4 was dangerous. Black covers the pawn on d6 and then his King comes forward.) 41...Rxg2+ 42.Kh3 Kf6 43.Kh4 (Not 43.Rxd6?? Ke5 and checkmate or the loss of the rook.) 43...Ra6 44.Rd7 Ra8 45.Rxd6+ Ke5 46.Rh6 Rh2+ 1/2-1/2 (White's next move is 47.Bh3 and not 47.Kg5?? Rg8+ with checkmate.) [Comments by Lars Grahn in SSKK bulletinen 257, after an explanation by Andersson at a Swedish correspondence chess meeting in Norrköping.]

White: Joop van Oosterom (NLD)
Black: Gert Timmerman (NLD)

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.d4 exd4 5.Nd5 Nxe4 6.Qe2 f5 7.Bf4 d6 8.0-0-0 Ne7 9.Nxe7 Bxe7 10.Nxd4 0-0 11.f3 Bg5 12.Bxg5 Qxg5+ 13.Kb1 Nc5 14.Qf2 Bd7 15.Bc4+ Kh8 16.h4 Qh6 17.Rhe1 Rae8 18.Nb5 Bxb5 19.Bxb5 c6 20.Bc4 Qf4 21.Bf7 Ne4 22.Qg1 Rxf7 23.fxe4 Rxe4 24.Qxa7 h6 25.Rf1 Qe5 26.Qb8+ Kh7 27.a3 d5 28.Qxe5 Rxe5 29.Rd3 Kg6 30.g3 Rfe7 31.Kc1 Kh5 0-1

White: Joop van Oosterom (NLD 2655)
Black: Gert Timmerman (NLD 2725)

ECO: E99

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Be3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 13.a4 a5 14.Nd3 b6 15.b4 axb4 16.Nxb4 Nf6 17.Nc6 Nxc6 18.dxc6 Qe8 19.Nd5 Rf7 20. a5 bxa5 21.Qa4 g4 22.Qb5 Nxd5 23.cxd5 g3 24.hxg3 fxg3 25.Bxg3 Bh6 26.Kf2 Qe7 27.Rh1 Qg5 28.Rxh6 Qxh6 29.Rxa5 Rxa5 30.Qxa5 Kh8 31.Qa3 Qg6 32.Qa8 Rf8 33.Bh4 Qh6 34.g3 Bf5 35.Qa4 Bg6 36.Qc2 Kg8 37.Bd3 Bh5 38.Be2 Bg6 39.Bd3 Rb8 40.Be2 Qf8 41.Bg5 Rb4 42.Kg2 Qb8 43.Bh6 Rb2 44.Qc4 Qa7 45.Bc1 Ra2 46.Be3 Qa5 47.Bh6 Kf7 48.g4 Ra1 49.Bf1 Qa7 50.Qd3 Ra3 51.Qc4 Ra2+ 52.Be2 Qa5 53.Bc1 Kg7 54.Kf2 Ra1 55.Bf1 Qb6+ 56.Be3 Qb1 57.Kg2 h5 58.gxh5 Bxh5 59.Bf2 Kf7 60.Qd3 Qxf1+ 61.Qxf1 Rxf1 62.Kxf1 Bxf3 63.Be1 Ke8 64.Ba5 Kd8 0-1

White: Gert Timmerman (NLD 2725)
Black: Ulf Andersson (SVE 2620)

ECO: B81

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.g4 h6 7.h4 Nc6 8.Rg1 d5 (In his first correspondence chess tournament Andersson wants to play a move which he has never played before.) 9.Bb5 Bd7 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 exd5 12.Be3 (This move has been recommended by Karpov,) 12... Be7 13.Qd2 0-0 (Remember the game Karpov - Spassky, Tilburg, 1980. Spassky played 13... Bxh4? and was overplayed. Krnic commented the game in Informator 30. He gave 13... 0-0 a question mark and continued with: 14.Nf5 Bxf5 (14... Bf6 15.Nxh6+ gxh6 16.g5 with a decisive attack) 15.gxf5 Kh7 16.0-0-0 with advantage for White. This judgement has uncritically been followed in many publications. When I met Jonny Hector and Stellan Brynell in a pub and showed them this correspondence game, they both did know the game Karpov - Spassky, as all people do who lost themselves in the Keres attack.) 14.Nf5 d4! (This is the move which Krnic - and many others together with him - missed. It's once again a superb example of Andersson's unbiased vision on the existing theory. At once the game opens new avenues.) 15.Bxh6!? (The best try. The attack of White doesn't look undangerous. Two inferior alternatives are: [1] 15.Nxe7+ Qxe7 16.0-0-0 (16.Bxc6? dxe3 17.Qxd7 Qb4+ 18.Kf1 Qxb2 19.Rd1 Qf6 20.Qf5 Qxc6 and Black has a clear advantage.) 16... Ne5 17.Bxd4 Nf3 with material profit; [2] 15.Bxd4 (15.Nxd4? Nxd4 and White loses a piece.) 15... Nxd4 16.Nxd4 Bxb5 17.Nxb5 Qb6 18.c4 Rad8 19.Qc2 Bxh4 and one can't be jealous of White's position.) 15... Bb4! (Opens the attack on White's King. Capturing at h6 isn't good. After 15... gxh6?? 16.Qxh6 Bf6 17.g5 White's attack is decisive, e.g. 17... Re8+ 18.Kf1 Be5 19.g6 and Black will be mated.) 16.c3 dxc3 17.bxc3 Ne5 (A family check at f3 must be parried. It's really a matter of attack and contra-attack .) 18.Be2 (Tries to control the square f3, as 18.Rg3 fails at 18... Bxb5 19.cxb4 (after exchanging the queens at d8 the Bishop at h6 gets lost, e.g. 19.Qxd8 Raxd8 20.Bxg7? Rfe8 and Black wins.) 19... Nd3+.) 18... Re8 (Again the threat at f3.) 19.Kf1 Bf8 (The Bishop has fulfilled it's duty at the Queen's side, White has lost his right of castling, and therefore the Bishop goes back in his defending role. Now the challenging Bishop at h6 also has to retire.) 20.Bf4 Qa5 21.Rg3 Rad8 22.Nd4 Ba4 23.h5 (Gives Black the opportunity of an advantageous exchange at d4. The alternative was to move the Queen out of the reach of the Black rook: 23.Qb2 and now e.g. 23... Qd5 24.Kg1 Bc5 25.Be3 b6, with small advantage for Black.) 23... Nc6 24.Be3 (There is no other way: after 24.Nxc6 Bxc6 25.Rd3 Rxe2! Black wins easily, e.g. 26.Qxe2 Bb5 27.Rad1 Qa6, or 26.Kxe2 Qa6 27.c4 (27.Rd1 Rxd3 28.Qd3 Bb5) 27... Qxc4 28.Rd1 Rxd3 29.Qxd3 Qxf4 etc.) 24... Nxd4 25.Bxd4 Re4 26. Qb2 Bc5 27.Rb1 Bxd4 28.cxd4 Bc6 29.Rd1 Rf4 30.d5?! (White tries to achieve exchanges of pieces. The move 30.Qd2 has the same purpose. After 30... Qxd2 31.Rxd2 Rfxd4 32.Rxd4 Rxd4 Black surely has a better position, but will it be enough to win the game? After 30... Qg5 the threat is ...Ba4 and if the rook leaves the square d1 then Black can play ...Rxf2+ as well as Rdxd4. But White could better play 31.Bc4 with the possibility to go to b3 and also putting pressure on f7, e.g. 31... Qf6 32.g5! Qxd4 33.Qxd4 Rdxd4 34.Rxd4 Rxd4 and White's Bishop is much more active than in the above variation. After 31... Bd5 32.Bxd5 Rxd5 33.Re1 the Black King is in danger and after 31... Rfxd4? 32.Qxg5 Rxd1+ 33.Ke2 the White King is ready to support White's attack.) 30... Rxd5 Rgd3 Qc5 32.f3 Rxd3 33.Rxd3 Qg5 (Threatening ...Qxg4. White's pawns at the King's side were meant to be an offensive weapon. But now they are White's problem. And if the Black Queen is able to come behind them, then the game is over.) 34.Ke1 Rc4 35.Kf2 (The hunt on the White King.has started. 35.Kd1 Ba4+ 36.Ke1 Rc2 37.Qd4 Qh4+ is worse for White. That's why the King returns to the kings side.) 35... Qh4+ Ke3 (Not 36.Kg2?? Qxg4+ and checkmate.) 36... Rc5 37.Rd1 Qg3 (Constricting. Black's threat is 38... Re5+, followed by ...Bxf3.) 38.Rd8+ Kh7 39.Bd3+ f5! (An attrackting move.) 40.Qd4 (40.Bxf5+ fails on 40... Rxf5 41.gxf5 Qg5+ and 42... Qxd8.) 40... Qxf3+ 41.Kd2 Qg2+ 42.Ke3 (After 42.Be2 Rd5 43.Rxd5 Qxd5 44.Qxd5 Bxd5 Black has a winning Bishop's endgame.) 42... Qg3+ 43.Kd2 Qh2+ 44.Be2 (Not 44.Ke3? Re5+. But the move in the game is also hopeless. The end can be forced.) 44... Re5 45.Qc4 Bf3 (This wins a piece, so the game could have been ended here. What rests is a series of checks. The irony is that the pawns on g4 and h5, meant to attack the Black King, now function as his shield.) 46.Qg8+ Kh6 47.Qh8+ Kg5 48.Qxg7+ Kh4 49.Qf6+ Kh3 0-1 [Comments by Lars Grahn in SSKK bulletinen 254]

White: Gert Timmerman (NLD 2725)
Black: Erik Bang (DEN 2675)

ECO: C92

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d6 9.h3 Nd7 10.d4 Bf6 11.a4 Bb7 12.Na3 exd4 13.cxd4 Rfe8 14.Bf4 Na5 15.Bc2 b4 16.Nb1 c5 17.Nbd2 Nf8 18.e5 dxe5 19.dxe5 Be7 20.Qe2 Qb6 21.Bd3 Ne6 22.Be3 Rad8 23.Nc4 Nxc4 24.Bxc4 Qc6 25.b3 h6 26.Qc2!? Qc8 27.Rad1! Qc6 28.Qf5 Bg5?? (Bang: "I had planned to play Rxd1 with only a tiny advantage for White, but suddenly, after a nice party and a few hours before leaving for a holiday trip to Rome, I found that Bg5 was very promising for Black and I played it without much thinking. After my return from Rome I found the decisive move in my mailbox:") 29.Rd6! Rxd6 30.exd6 Qxd6 31.Bxg5 1-0

White: Gert Timmerman (NLD 2710)
Black: Hans-Marcus Elwert (GER 2625)

ECO: C18

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 0-0 8.Bd3 f5 9.exf6 Rxf6 10.Bg5 Rf7 11.Qh5 g6 12.Qd1 Nbc6 13.Nf3 Qa5 14.Bd2 Bd7 15.h4 c4 16.Be2 Raf8 17.h5 gxh5 18.Rxh5 Ng6 19.Kf1 Nf4 20.Rh4 Ng6 21.Rh5 Nf4 22.Rh4 Ng6 23.Rh6 Nf4 24.Ng5 Rg7 25.Bxf4 Rxf4 26.Qd2 Qc7 27.Nxe6 Bxe6 28.Rxe6 Rh4 29.Rh6 Qh2 30.Rxh4 Qxg2+ 31.Ke1 Qg1+ 32.Bf1 Re7+ 33.Qe2 Rxe2+ 34.Kxe2 Qg6 35.Rh3 Qxc2+ 36.Ke1 Qb2 37.Rd1 Qxa3 38.Bg2 Ne7 39.Kf1 Qa5 40.Re1 Ng6 41.Kg1 Qd8 42.Rh5 Nf4 43.Rhe5 Qd7 44.R1e3 Kf7 45.Rg3 Nxg2 46.Kxg2 Qd6 47.Reg5 Qh6 48.Rxd5 Qc6 49.Rf3+ Ke7 50.Re3+ Kf7 51.Rf3+ Ke7 52.Re5+ Kd7 53.Rg5 Qe4 54.Kg3 h5 55.Rf7+ Ke6 56.Rf4 Qc2 57.Rf3 b6 58.Kg2 Kd6 59.Rg7 Qe4 60.Rxa7 Qg4+ 61.Rg3 Qe4+ 62.Rf3 Qg4+ 63.Rg3 Qe4+ 64.Kh2 h4 65.Rgg7 Qf4+ 66.Kg2 Qe4+ 67.Kh2 Qf4+ 68.Kg2 1/2-1/2

White: Gert Timmerman (NLD)
Black: Joop van Oosterom (NLD)

ECO: C84

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.d4 exd4 7.Re1 0-0 8.e5 Ne8 9.Bf4 b5 10.Bb3 d5 11.c3!? Bg4! 12.h3 Bh5 13.g4!? (In the game Etmans - Timmerman, 12th Dutch Correspondence Championship 1983/4, White introduced the new move 13.a4 which brought White remarkable results in later championships: [1] 13...b4 14.a5!? bxc3 15.bxc3 dxc3 16.Qxd5 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Nd4 18.Be3 c5 19.Kg2 Nc2 20.Nxc3 Nxe1+ 21.Rxe1 Rb8?! 22.e6! Qxd5! 23.Nxd5 Rxb3 24.Nxe7+ Kh8 25.Bxc5 Rb5! 26.Ng6+ hxg6 27.Bxf8 Kg8 28.exf7+ Kxf7 29.Be7 Rxa5 30.Bb4 1/2-1/2; [2] 13... Na5 14.cxd4 Nxb3 15.Qxb3 as used in later games: [2a] 15... c6 16.Nbd2 Nc7 and now: [2a1] 17. axb5 cxb5 18. Qc3 Ne6 19.Be3 a5 20.Qc6 Rb8 21.Nh2 Bb4 22.Nhf1 Rb6 23.Qc2 f5 24.f3 f4 25.Bf2 Bg6 26.Qb3 Bf5 27.Rec1 Kh8 28.Nb1 Bxh3 29.gxh3 Ng5 30.Nfd2 Nxh3+ 31.Kf1 Rg6 32.Be1 Ng1 33.Bf2 Qg5 34.Nc3 Qg2+ 35.Ke1 Nh3 36.Bh4 Rh6 37.Qxd5 Rxh4 38.Kd1 Ng5 39.Qxb5 Qg1+ 40.Kc2 Qxd4 41. Rh1 Rxh1 42.Rxh1 Rc8 43.Rd1 Bxc3 44.Nc4 Qf2+ 45.Kxc3 Qxf3+ 46.Rd3 Ne4+ 47.Kd4 Rd8+ 48.Nd6 Nxd6 49.exd6 Rxd6+ 0-1 Etmans - Van der Zwan, 12th Dutch Correspondence Championship 1983/4; or: [2a2] 17.Rec1 Ne6 18.Be3 Qd7 19.Qc3 Rfc8 20.axb5 cxb5 21.Qb3 Rxc1+ 22.Rxc1 a5 23.Ne1 a4 24.Qa2 Bg6 25.f4 Bb4 26.Nef3 Bd3 27.Nf1 Be4 28.N3d2 Bd3 29.Nf3 Ra6 30.Rd1 Be2 31.Rc1 Bxf3 32.gxf3 Nf8 33.Kh2 Ng6 34.Ng3 Nh4 35.f5 Nxf3+ 36.Kg2 Ne1+ 37.Kh1 h5 38.Qb1 Nf3 39.Kg2 Nh4+ 40.Kh2 g6 41.Rf1 1-0 Etmans - Van der Zwan 16th Dutch Correspondence Championship 1987; [2b] 15... bxa4 16.Rxa4 Rb8 17.Qe3 Bxf3 18.Qxf3 Rb6 19.Nc3 c6 20.Qg3 Rxb2 21.Nd1 Rb6 22.Bd2 Qd7 23.Qd3 Qb7 24.Ne3 Bg5 25.Bc3 Bxe3 26.Qxe3 Nc7 27.f4 Rb8 28.Raa1 Rb3 29.Qd2 Nb5 30.Bb4 Re8 31.Bc5 Nc3 32.f5 Ne4 33.Qf4 Nxc5 34.dxc5 Rb4 35.Qg3 Qe7 36.f6 Qxc5+ 37.Kh1 Qf8 38.Rxa6 Rc4 39.Ra7 Kh8 40.e6 gxf6 41.exf7 Rxe1+ 42.Qxe1 Re4 43.Qf2 Re6 44.Qf4 c5 45.Re7 1-0 Etmans - De Boer, 16th Dutch Correspondence Championship 1987) Bg6 14.cxd4 (The move 14.Nxd4 is weaker, as can be seen in the game Etmans - Van Oosterom, 8th Dutch Correspondence Championship 1980/1, which continued: 14... Nxd4 15.cxd4 f5 16.Nc3 c6 17.Qd2 fxg4 18.hxg4 Nc7 19.Be3 b4 20.Ne2 Qd7 21.g5 Qg4+ 22.Ng3 Rf3 23.Bc2 Ne6 24.Kg2 Raf8 25.Bxg6 hxg6 26.Qc2 Bxg5 27.Bxg5 Qxg5 28.Rad1 Qg4 0-1) Nb4! 15.Bg3 (In the game Laverne - Poleshchuk, correspondence 1981/2, the move 15.Nc3!? was played. There followed: 15... Nd3 16.Nxd5 Nxe1 17.Qxe1 c5 18.dxc5! Bxc5 19.Rd1 Kh8 20.Nf6 Qc7 21.Nd7 Rg8 22.Nh4! Rc8 23.Nxg6+ hxg6 24.Nxc5 Qxc5 25.Rc1 Qd4 26.Rxc8 Qxf4 27.Qe3 1-0) a5! 16.a3 Nd3! 17.Re2 a4! (A new move, according to the analyses of the US-Master Ghizdavu: 17... c5 18.dxc5 Nc7 and now: [1] 19.Rd2 Nxc5 20.Bxd5 Nxd5 21.Rxd5 Qb6 with compensation, or: [2] 19.c6!? and now: [2a] 19... Ra6 20.Nd4 and White stands slightly better according to Ghizdavu; [2b] 19...Ne6, which was played in the game Ronnqvist - Olli, correspondence Finland 1990: 20.Rd2 Nef4 21.Kh2 b4 22.Nd4 Qc8 23.axb4 Bxb4 24.Bxf4 Nxf4 25.Nc3 Qc7 26.Nf3 Bxc3 27.bxc3 Qxc6 28.Kg3 Ne6 29.Bxd5 Qxc3 30.Bxa8 Rxa8 31.Qc1 Rc8 32.Qxc3 1-0) 18.Ba2 b4 19.axb4 Nxb4 20.Nc3 a3 21.bxa3 Rxa3 22.Bb3 Rxa1 23.Qxa1 c6 (23... c5? is too early because White gets chances against the d5 pawn, e.g. 24.dxc5 Bxc5 25.Rd2! Nc7 26.Qa5!, or 24... d4 25.Rd2! d3 26.Qa7! with advantage.) 24.Na2!? Qa5 25.Bh4!? (The game P. Ramaekers - Timmerman, 12th Dutch Correspondence Championship continued with: 25.Qc3 Qb5 26.Rd2 Nc7 27.Bh4 Nxa2 28.Rxa2 Bxh4 29.Nxh4 Ne6 30.Nf5 Bxf5 31.gxf5 Nxd4! 32.Qxd4 Qxb3 33.Ra6 Qxh3 34.Rxc6 Qxf5 35.Qxd5 h5 36.Rd6 Re8 37.e6 Qg4+ 38.Kh2 Rxe6 39.Rxe6 Qxe6 40.Qxh5 Qh6 0-1) Bxh4 26.Nxh4 Qb5 (White threatened 27.Qc3 Qb5 27.Nxb4!? Qxe2 28.Nxc6) 27.Qd1! Nxa2 (27... Bd3 28.Rd2 Nxa2 29.Rxd3! Nb4 30.Rc3 activates the White pieces.) 28.Rxa2 Nc7 29.Nf5! Ne6 30.Ra4! Bxf5 31.gxf5 Nf4 32.Qf3! Nd3 33.Bc2 Ne1 34.Qd1! (the only move: 34.Qb3 Qe2! 35.Bd1 Qe4! And Black has a decisive advantage.) Qb2! 35.Be4!! (This saves the position for White. 35.Qxe1 loses a pawn and 35.Bb1 fails to 35... Qc3!.) Qc3! 36.Bg2 h6 37.f6! Nd3 38.Qg4! g5 (38... g6 would have given chances to White. 39.Bf1! Qe1 40.Qf3 Nb4 (or 40... Nc1) 41.Qe3 with a better endgame for White, because he doesn't have the weak d4 pawn and because the f6 pawn ties Black. Or 39... Qc2 40.Bxd3 Qxa4 41.e6!) 39.Qh5 Qe1+ 40.Kh2 Qxf2 41.Qxh6 1/2-1/2 (Black has perpetual check.) [Comments by Timmerman (shortened) from the tournament book]

White: Gert Timmerman (NLD 2615)
Black: Joop van Oosterom (NLD 2565)

ECO: B82

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 e6 7.Qf3 Qb6 8.Nb3 Qc7 9.g4 b5 10.Bd3 Bb7 11.g5 Nfd7 12.Be3 Nc5 13.a3 Nc6 14.Qf2 Be7 15.0-0? h6! (An important new move, which causes troubles for White. It's an imporvement of 15... Nxb3 16.cxb3 0-0 17.h4 Rfe8 18.b4 Bf8 19.Rad1, and White stands slightly better, Mestel - Polugakevsky, Reykjavik 1990; Van der Tak in the tournament book) 16.Nxc5 dxc5 17.gxh6 Rxh6 18.Bxc5 Ne5! 19.Bxe7 (19.Bb6 Nxd3) Ng4! 20.Qc5! Qxe7 21.Qxe7+ Kxe7 22.Be2! (The only move.) Rh4 (22... Nxh2? Rf2) 23.h3! Nf6 (23... Rxh3 24.Kg2! Rh4 25.Kg3) 24..e5 Nh5 25.Bg4 f5 26.exf6+ gxf6 27.Kf2! Rg8 28.Ne2 f5 29.Bxh5 Rg2+ 30.Ke3 Rxh5 31.Rg1 Rxh3+ 32.Kd2 Rg4 33.Rxg4 fxg4 34.Rg1 Rh4 33.Rxg4 fxg4 34.Rg1 Rh4 35.b3 Kf6 36.Rg3 Bd5 37.Ke3 Kg6 38.Kd4 Bf3 39.Ng1 Bd1 40.c4 bxc4 41.bxc4 Kf5 42.Rd3 Ba4 43.Ne2 Rh2 44.Re3 Rf2 45.Kc5 Bd1 46.Re5+ Kf6 47.Nd4 Rxf4 48.Rxe6+ Kf7 49.Re1 Bf3 50.Nxf3 1/2-1/2 (This high level game, in which White continually found the only move to save the game, was very important for the tournament victory.)

White: Gert Timmerman (NLD 2710)
Black: Joop van Oosterom (NLD 2670)

ECO: C93