Richard McMaster sadly died in 2011.  Richard was one of Portsmouth Chess Club's strongest players for many years and is greatly missed by the club.  This page is dedicated to the chess games of Richard. 

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Richard McMaster vs Mark Broom
24th September 2011 - Fareham Congress
(Notes by Mark Broom)

This game was one of the very last played by Richard, who sadly died shortly afterwards, at the Spectrum Congress in Fareham on 24 September 2011. As we see, I was lucky to escape with a draw.

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 Nf3 a6 5 c5 Nd7 6 Bf4 Nh5
A well trodden path in the a6 Slav
7 e3
A good alternative to the more common 7 Bd2
7 ... Nf4 8 ef b6 9 b4
This slightly unusual but perfectly sound move from Richard elicits a blunder
9... a5? 10 b5!
A natural and strong reply
10 ... cb
( Bb7 is better; now Black is in some trouble)
11 c6
( Bb5 is possibly even stronger)
11 ... Nf6 12 Bb5 Qc7 13 Qb3 e6 14 Ne5 Bb4 15 0-0 0-0 16 a3 Bd6 17 Rab1
White's position is strong so it is time for desperate measures rather than waiting to be squashed
17 ... Ne4 18 Ne4 de 19 g3 g5 20 fg Be5 21 de Qe5 22 Qe3
A strong calm move holding everything together
22 ... Ba6 23 Ba6 Ra6 24 Rb6 Rb6 25 Qb6 Rb8 26 Qe3 Rc8 27 Rc1 Rc7 28 Qf4 Qf4 29 gf Kf8 30 Kf1 Ke7 31 Rc5 Kd6 32 Ra5 Kc6
(Rc6 allows Rc7)
33 Ke2 Kd7 34 Ke3 Rc4 35 Ra8 Ke7 36 Rh8
This is a mistake. Instead a4 will win as the pawn runs to a7 followed by a kingside advance
36 ... Ra4 37 Rh7 Kf8 38 Rh8+ Kg7 39 Rd8
(Rh6 is better and should still be enough to win. Now Black can draw)
Ra3+ 40 Ke4 Rh3 41 f5 ef+ 42 Kf5 Rf3+ 43 Kg4 Rf2 44 h4 Ra2 45 h5 Ra4+ 46 Kf5 Ra5+ 47 Kf4 Ra4+ 48 Ke5 Ra5+ 49 Rd5 Ra1 50 h6+ Kg6 51 Kf4 Rf1+ 52 Kg4 f6 1/2-1/2

Position after 22.Qe3