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(1) Schmaltz,R (2530) - Atalik,S (2599) [B56] Athens Acropolis GM (4), 2003 [Easy] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.f4 e5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.Bd3 0-0 9.0-0 exf4 10.Kh1 Bg4 11.Bxf4 Bh5 12.Qd2 Bg6 13.Rae1 Qd7 14.Nd5 Bd8 15.Bg5 Ng4 16.Bb5 Re8 17.h3 Bxg5 18.Qxg5 Nge5 19.Nh4 Qd8 20.Qg3 Qa5 21.a4 a6 22.b4 Qd8 23.Bd3 a5 24.bxa5 Rxa5 25.Bb5 Rf8 26.Nf5 Na7 27.Nde7+ Kh8 28.Rd1 Nxb5 29.axb5 Qc7 30.Rxd6 Rxb5 31.Nd5 Rxd5 32.Rxd5 f6 33.Rfd1 h6 34.Qa3 Rb8 35.Qd6 Rc8 Diagram – White to play Internet blitz king Roland Schmalz, a.k.a. "Hawkeye", is the exchange up and on the road to victory. How did he end the game with a lightning bolt? 36.Rxe5 [ 36.Rxe5 fxe5 37.Qxg6 ] 1-0

(2) Atalik,S (2599) - Tzermiadianos,A (2418) [D15] Athens Acropolis GM (7), 2003 [Easy] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 a6 5.c5 Nbd7 6.h3 Qc7 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 Nh5 9.g4 g5 10.gxh5 gxh4 11.e3 e5 12.Nxh4 exd4 13.exd4 Qf4 14.Ng2 Qf6 15.Qe2+ Kd8 16.0-0-0 Bg7 17.f4 Re8 18.Qd2 Nf8 19.Ne2 Bf5 20.Ne3 Bh7 21.h4 Ne6 22.Bh3 a5 23.f5 Diagram – Black to play Turkish/Bosnian GM Suat Atalik, a pawn up, has just played 23.Pf4-f5 to force the black knight into a humiliating retreat. But his Greek opponent suprised him with a move that won back the pawn and ultimately the game. 23...Nxc5 24.Nxd5 [ After 24.dxc5 Rxe3 White cannot recapture because of 25.Qxe3 Qxb2# ] 24...cxd5 25.dxc5 Qxb2+ 26.Qxb2 Bxb2+ 27.Kxb2 Rxe2+ 28.Kc3 Kc7 29.Rxd5 Rg8 30.Rd6 Rf2 31.Kd4 Re8 32.Rf6 Re7 33.Rg1 Rf4+ 34.Kd5 Rxh4 35.Rg7 Rxh3 36.Rfxf7 Rd3+ 37.Kc4 Rxf7 38.Rxf7+ Rd7 39.Rf8 Rg7 40.f6 Rg4+ 41.Kb5 Bf5 42.c6 bxc6+ 43.Kxa5 Bd7 44.Ra8 Rf4 0-1

(3) Parligras,M (2525) - Vouldis,A (2539) [B90] Athens Acropolis GM (9), 2003 [Easy] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 e6 7.Be3 Be7 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 0-0 10.g4 Nxd4 11.Qxd4 b5 12.h4 Rb8 13.Kb1 b4 14.Ne2 a5 15.h5 Nd7 16.Qd2 Ba6 17.Nd4 Qc8 18.Bxa6 Qxa6 19.g5 b3 20.cxb3 a4 21.b4 Ne5 22.a3 d5 23.exd5 Nc4 24.Qc3 Rbc8 25.h6 e5 26.Nc6 Rfe8 27.hxg7 e4 Diagram – White to play Romanian GM Mircea Parligras, who finished the tournament equal second, has a comfortable three-pawn advantage in this position. How did he finish the game with a few bold strokes? 28.Rxh7 Kxh7 29.Rh1+ Kg6 30.g8Q+ 1-0

(4) Alexiou,A (1320) - Stavropoulou,E (1830) [C55] Athens Acropolis WGM (3), 2003 [Easy] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.d3 0-0 6.Be3 d6 7.h3 Na5 8.Bb3 Nxb3 9.axb3 d5 10.exd5 Nxd5 11.Nxe5 Bf6 12.d4 Re8 13.Nxd5 Qxd5 14.Nf3 Bf5 15.c4 Qc6 16.0-0 Be4 17.d5 Qd6 18.Ra2 a6 19.Re1 Rad8 20.Ng5 Bxg5 21.Bxg5 f6 22.Bh4 Diagram – Black to play White is a pawn up but has neglected something no player should ever neglect. How can Black best cash in on White's weakness? 22...Bc2 23.Rxe8+ Rxe8 24.Qc1 Oops, White cannot recapture, because of [ 24.Qxc2 Re1# ] 24...Bxb3 25.Ra3 Bxc4 26.Re3 Rxe3 27.Qxe3 Bxd5 28.Bg3 Qd7 29.Qf4 c6 30.Qb4 Kf7 31.f3 b5 32.Kf1 Bc4+ 33.Kg1 Qd4+ 34.Kh2 c5 35.Qa5 Qxb2 36.Qc7+ Kg6 37.Qc6 Qe2 38.Qxa6 Bd5 39.Qc8 Bxf3 40.Bf2 Qxf2 0-1

(5) Sideris,T (2069) - Patriarheas,G (2088) [C15] Athens Acropolis Open (5), 2003 [Easy] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nge2 Nf6 5.e5 Nfd7 6.a3 Be7 7.b4 a5 8.b5 c5 9.bxc6 bxc6 10.Nf4 Ba6 11.Qg4 g6 12.Bxa6 Rxa6 13.Nd3 c5 14.dxc5 Nxc5 15.Nxc5 Bxc5 16.Bg5 Be7 17.Bxe7 Qxe7 18.0-0 Nc6 Diagram – White to play Black has just moved his knight from b8 to c6, attacking the undefended pawn on e5. How did White defend against the threat? 19.Nxd5 Nxe5 [ 19...exd5 20.Qc8+ Nd8 21.Qxa6 ] 20.Qa4+ 1-0

(6) Kotrotsos,V (2225) - Delithanasis,D (2259) [B28] Athens Acropolis Open (7), 2003 [Easy] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 a6 3.c3 e6 4.d4 d5 5.exd5 exd5 6.g3 Nc6 7.Bg2 Bd6 8.0-0 Nge7 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.Nb3 Ba7 12.Re1 Nf5 13.Bg5 f6 14.Bf4 g5 15.Bc1 Kg7 16.Nfd4 Ncxd4 17.Nxd4 Nxd4 18.cxd4 Qd6 19.b3 b5 20.Bb2 Bf5 21.Rc1 Rfe8 22.Qd2 Bb6 23.Re3 Rxe3 24.Qxe3 Bg6 25.Qc3 Re8 26.Re1 Diagram – Black to play White is determined to fight for the e-file and has just played 26.Rc1-e1. Why was this move terrible mistake? 26...Bxd4 27.Qxd4 Rxe1+ 28.Bf1 Qe5 29.Qd2 Qe4 30.Qxg5 d4 0-1

(7) Johannessen,L (2525) - Vouldis,A (2539) [E99] Athens Acropolis GM (1), 2003 [Medium] 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 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.Be1 h5 16.b4 axb4 17.Nb5 g4 18.Bxb4 g3 19.h3 Nc5 20.Re1 Ng6 21.Bf1 Nh4 22.a5 Qe7 23.Ra3 Kh7 24.Qe2 Bh6 25.Rea1 Nxd3 26.Qxd3 Bxh3 27.gxh3 g2 28.Bxg2 Rg8 29.R3a2 Qd7 30.Be1 Qxh3 31.Bxh4 Qxh4 32.axb6 Diagram Black to play Leif Erlend, a piece up and with a fairly comfortably win, played 32.Pa5xPb6. A terrible blunder that immediately cost him the game. How exactly? 32...Rxg2+ [ 32...Rxg2+ 33.Rxg2 ( 33.Kxg2 Rg8+ 34.Kf1 Qh1+ 35.Ke2 Rg2# ) 33...Rxa1+ 34.Qf1 Rxf1+ 35.Kxf1 Qh1+ 36.Kf2 cxb6 ] 0-1

(8) Makropoulou,M (2225) - Makka,E (2078) [C10] Athens Acropolis WGM (3), 2003 [Medium] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Bd3 Ngf6 6.Qe2 Be7 7.Nf3 Nxe4 8.Bxe4 0-0 9.c3 c5 10.0-0 cxd4 11.Nxd4 a6 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Qd3 Nf8 14.Bf4 f6 15.Qg3 Bc5 16.Rad1 Qe7 17.Rfe1 Qf7 18.Bb3 Qg6 19.Qf3 Kh8 20.Bc2 Qf7 21.Nb3 Bb6 22.Bd6 Bc7 23.Bxc7 Qxc7 24.Rd4 e5 25.Rh4 Be6 26.Be4 Rab8 27.Nd2 Rbd8 28.Nf1 Rd7 Diagram – White to play Here White played a classical combination that nets him at least two pawns (and the game). Can you work it all out in your head? 29.Bxh7 g5 [ 29...Nxh7 30.Rxh7+ Kxh7 31.Qh5+ Kg8 32.Qxe8+ Kh7 33.Qxe6 ] 30.Qxf6+ Rg7 31.Bg6+ gxh4 32.Bxe8 Qe7 33.Bh5 Bxa2 34.Re4 h3 35.Rh4 Bd5 36.Qxe7 Rxe7 37.gxh3 Rh7 38.Ng3 Bf3 39.Bxf3 Rxh4 40.Bxb7 a5 41.Nf5 Rxh3 42.Ne3 Rh7 43.Bd5 Rd7 44.Kg2 Ng6 45.Kf3 Nf4 46.Bc4 Rd2 47.b3 Nd3 48.Ng4 Nb2 49.Nxe5 Nxc4 50.Nxc4 Rd3+ 51.Ke4 Rxc3 52.Nxa5 Rh3 53.b4 Rxh2 54.f4 Kg7 55.Nc6 Kf6 56.Nd4 Rb2 57.b5 Ke7 58.Kd5 Rf2 59.f5 Kf6 60.b6 Rb2 61.Kc6 Ke5 62.b7 Kxd4 63.f6 Rc2+ 64.Kd6 Rb2 65.f7 Rb6+ 66.Kc7 Rf6 67.b8Q Rxf7+ 68.Kc6 Rf6+ 69.Kb5 Rd6 1-0

(9) Kaza,P (2149) - Stiri,A (2172) [B42] Athens Acropolis WGM (5), 2003 [Medium] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Be7 7.Nc3 d6 8.0-0 Nd7 9.f4 Ngf6 10.Qf3 Qc7 11.Bd2 b6 12.Rae1 Bb7 13.Qg3 h5 14.h3 h4 15.Qf3 Nh5 16.Nd4 Ng3 17.Rf2 g6 18.Qe3 0-0-0 19.Nce2 e5 20.Nb3 f5 21.Nxg3 hxg3 22.Rff1 g5 23.fxg5 f4 24.Qe2 Nc5 25.Bb4 a5 26.Nxc5 dxc5 27.Bc3 Kb8 28.Bc4 Bxg5 29.Qg4 Qe7 30.Qf5 Bf6 Diagram – White to play Black has invested a lot into her attack, but White finds an elegant way to defuse it. How would you proceed in the above position? 31.Rxf4 Rdf8 [ Taking the offer is even worse: 31...exf4 32.Bxf6 Qf8 33.Qxf4+ Ka7 34.Qf3 and both black rooks are still forked by the white bishop.] 32.Rff1 Bc8 33.Qf3 Bh4 34.Qd3 Rd8 35.Bd5 Rdf8 36.Qb5 Ka7 37.Rd1 Ba6 1-0

(10) Ikonomopoulou,M (1610) - Kasioura,F (2007) [B40] Athens Acropolis WGM (7), 2003 [Medium] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.b3 b6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bb7 6.Nb5 Na6 7.N1c3 d6 8.Bc4 Nc5 9.Bf4 a6 10.Bxd6 Bxd6 11.Nxd6+ Ke7 12.e5 Qc7 13.Qg4 g6 14.Rd1 b5 15.Qf4 Rf8 16.Be2 Bxg2 17.Rg1 Ba8 18.h4 Nd7 19.Qb4 Qc5 Diagram – White to play The Greek amateur, 400 points weaker than her opponent, played an elegant combination to take the full point. Would you have spotted the moves that win decisive material by force? 20.Nf5+ exf5 21.Rxd7+ Kxd7 22.Qxc5 Rc8 23.Qd6+ Ke8 24.Nxb5 Ne7 25.Nc7+ Kf8 26.Bxa6 Rxc7 27.Qxc7 Nd5 28.Qd6+ Kg7 29.Bc4 Nc3 30.Qf6+ Kh6 31.Qxh8 1-0

(11) Makka,I (2275) - Stiri,A (2172) [B40] Athens Acropolis WGM (8), 2003 [Medium] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.b3 b6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 a6 6.Bd3 Bc5 7.Bb2 Qf6 8.c3 Nc6 9.Bc2 Bb7 10.0-0 Nge7 11.a3 b5 12.Nf3 d5 13.exd5 Nxd5 14.Nbd2 Ne5 15.Nxe5 Qxe5 16.Qe1 Qh5 17.Be4 Bd6 18.g3 Be5 19.Bf3 Qf5 20.Be4 Qh5 21.Rc1 0-0 22.Ba1 Rab8 23.Bf3 Qf5 24.Be4 Qh5 25.Qd1 Qh6 26.Qc2 Rfd8 27.Nf3 Bf6 28.Qe2 Be7 29.c4 bxc4 30.bxc4 Bxa3 31.Rcd1 f5 32.Bb1 Nc7 33.Ne5 Bc5 34.h4 f4 35.Nd7 fxg3 36.Nxc5 Qxh4 37.f3 Diagram – Black to play White, a nineteen-year-old Greek player, has moved her pawn from f2 to f3, hoping to relieve the tremendous pressure she is under. Unfortunately the move was a deadly error, which Black punished severely. 37...Rxd1 38.Rxd1 Bxf3 The move that White overlooked? 39.Qxf3 Qh2+ 40.Kf1 g2+ 41.Qxg2 Rf8+ 42.Ke1 Qxg2 0-1

(12) Khurtsidze,N (2440) - Krivec,J (2268) [D27] Athens Acropolis WGM (9), 2003 [Medium] 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 dxc4 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 a6 7.a4 Nc6 8.Qe2 cxd4 9.Rd1 Be7 10.exd4 0-0 11.Nc3 Nb4 12.Ne5 b6 13.Ne4 Bb7 14.Nxf6+ Bxf6 15.Ra3 Rc8 16.Rh3 g6 17.Ng4 h5 18.Ne5 Bd5 19.b3 Qc7 20.Bf4 Bxc4 21.bxc4 Bxe5 22.Bxe5 Qxc4 23.Qe3 Kh7 24.Qe4 Kg8 25.Qg4 Nc6 26.Bf6 Qd5 27.Qf4 Kh7 28.g4 Diagram – Black to play A pawn up and in no short-term trouble, Black could play some non-committal move (28...Nb8 would have been perfectly acceptable). Instead the 23-year-old Slovenian Jana Krivec played the fatal 28...Pe6-e5 in the above position. Why "fatal"? 28...e5 29.Rxh5+ leads to a forced mate in three! 29...gxh5 The fatal move 28...e5 unguarded the f5 square, so that White can mate with 30.Qf5+ [ 30.Qf5+ Kg8 31.Qg5+ Kh7 32.Qg7# ] 1-0

(13) Dobrov,V (2469) - Mihailidis,A (2206) [D45] Athens Acropolis Open (2), 2003 [Medium] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 e5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.Nb5 Bb8 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Bxe5 13.Bd2 a6 14.Nd4 Be6 15.Bc3 Rc8 16.Qb3 Ng4 17.f4 Bxd4 18.Bxd4 Nxe3 19.Bxe3 d4 20.Qxb7 dxe3 21.Qe4 g6 22.Qxe3 Re8 23.Qg3 Qd4+ 24.Kh1 Bd5 25.Rad1 Re3 26.Bf5 Diagram – Black to play In the above position White has just played the brutal 26.Bd3-f5, simultaneously attacking a black queen and rook. Good enough to win? What is the instant refutation? 26...Rc1 27.Qxe3 Rxd1 28.Qxd4 Rxf1+ 29.Qg1 Rxg1+ 30.Kxg1 gxf5 31.b3 Kf8 32.Kf2 Ke7 33.h3 h5 34.g3 Kd6 35.Ke3 Kc5 36.Kd3 Kb4 37.Kd4 Bg2 38.h4 Ka3 39.Ke5 Bh3 0-1

(14) Sismanis,A (2085) - Pantazopoulos,S (2076) [A59] Athens Acropolis Open (3), 2003 [Medium] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 g6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.e4 Bxf1 8.Kxf1 d6 9.g3 Bg7 10.Kg2 0-0 11.Nf3 Nbd7 12.h3 Ra6 13.Re1 Qa8 14.Bg5 Rb8 15.Qc2 e6 16.dxe6 fxe6 17.Bf4 Nh5 18.Bd2 Nb6 19.b3 c4 20.Rab1 Bxc3 21.Qxc3 Rxa2 22.Bh6 e5 23.bxc4 Nf6 24.c5 Ra3 25.Rb3 Rxb3 26.Qxb3+ Nbd5 Diagram – White to play Black has just moved his knight from b6 to d5, with a discovered attack on the white queen. How should White best ward off the threat? (The position reminds us of a famous game between Capablanca and George Thomas). 27.Ra1 Rxb3 [ 27...Qxa1 28.Qxb8+ Kf7 29.Qf8+ Ke6 30.Qc8+ Nd7 31.Qe8+ Ne7 32.Ng5+ Kf6 33.Qf7# ] 28.Rxa8+ Kf7 29.exd5 1-0

(15) Abatzidis,S (2083) - Poteas,I (2152) [C10] Athens Acropolis Open (7), 2003 [Medium] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Nf3 Be7 6.Bd3 b6 7.Ne5 Nxe5 8.dxe5 Qd5 9.f4 Bb7 10.Qe2 0-0-0 11.Bd2 Bh4+ 12.g3 f5 13.Nf2 Be7 14.Bc4 Qd7 15.Rf1 Bd5 16.0-0-0 Qa4 17.Bxd5 Rxd5 18.Kb1 Nh6 19.Be3 Ra5 20.a3 Rb5 21.Ka2 Diagram – Black to play White has just moved his king from b1 to a2. That, it turns out, was a fatal error, allowing Black a quick win. Can you work out the line that leads to a forced mate? 21...Rxb2+ 22.Kxb2 Bxa3+ [ 22...Bxa3+ 23.Ka1 ( 23.Kb1 Qb4+ 24.Ka1 Qb2# ; 23.Kc3 Qb4+ 24.Kd3 Rd8+ 25.Bd4 Qxd4# ) 23...Bb4+ 24.Kb2 Qa3+ 25.Kb1 Bc3 and mate in three.] 0-1

(16) Koukoufikis,A (2158) - Kofidis,A (2434) [B07] Athens Acropolis Open (7), 2003 [Medium] 1.e4 d6 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.d3 e5 6.h3 0-0 7.Be3 c6 8.Qd2 d5 9.Bg5 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.dxe4 Qxd2+ 12.Bxd2 Be6 13.0-0-0 Nd7 14.Ne2 Rfd8 15.Be3 Bf8 16.Kb1 b6 17.Rd2 Bc5 18.Bxc5 Nxc5 19.Rhd1 Rxd2 20.Rxd2 Kf8 21.f4 Ke7 22.b3 a5 23.Kc1 f6 24.Nc3 Ra7 25.Nd1 b5 26.Nf2 b4 27.Nd3 Nxd3+ 28.Rxd3 c5 29.c4 exf4 30.gxf4 a4 31.Kb2 a3+ 32.Kc2 Rd7 33.Bf1 g5 34.f5 Rxd3 35.Kxd3 Bd7 36.Ke3 Diagram – Black to play How about a tactical endgame? Black has good winning chances, but there is one line, which was found by Kofidis, that clinched the full point very quickly. What would you play in this position? 36...Ba4 37.e5 [ 37.bxa4 b3 38.axb3 a2 39.Bd3 a1Q ] 37...Bxb3 0-1