Dazed in May

In the following game I was bushwhacked by a player rated just over 1800, which was more than a hundred points below my rating. I had never played him before. He was a pleasant fellow who spoke with a British accent. The game attracted the attention of a Russian emigre, a certain 'Dr. Ponomarev' who said it was 'the best game of the tournament.' It is the kind of game chess players love to play over because it is short, violent, and bloody. My opponent played Black:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.Qb3 dc4 6.Qc4 O-O 7.e4 a6 (beginning to set an elaborate trap) 8.Qb3 b5 9.a4 c5 10.dc5 Be6 11.Qa3 b4! (about here I began to suspect something) 12.Qb4 Nc6 13.Qa3 Rb8 14.Bb5 ab5 15.ab5 Bc4! 16.bc6 Ne4! 17.Ne4 Rb3 18.Qa5 Qd3 (boom) 19.Ng3 Rb2! 20.Ra3 Re2 21.Kf1 Qd1 0-1

The CCI comments: Wow! The game was played in the '92 May Daze tournament. I would play this guy twice more (tap) in other Colorado tournaments but not at the DCC. In our last game I would finally eke out a draw. This fella's rating stayed around just over 1800 in spite of his brilliance and I suspect he might have been another 'Mark Saiki.'