Thursday 7 September 2017
White: K. Nevols (157) - Black: K. French (98)
And so we begin again. My third season since my 'comeback' after twenty years of inactivity. And I had a shiny new grade to protect - my highest ever.
Our two previous games had seen a win and a draw for me but my opponent was known as a good defender so I resolved to play carefully and casually to try to build up small advantages.
1. e4 e6
2. Qe2
This is an anti-French system I am trying out. The idea is that if Black plays 2. .. d5 (as French players usually do) then after 3. exd5 Black has to recapture with the queen leaving the pawn stuck on e6.
Experiments in blitz games had resulted in games often becoming like closed Sicilians where I have a good record.
2. .... d6
3. Nc3 b6
Now White could strike for the centre with 4. d4 but I have the d3 square in mind for that pawn. After 4. d4 Black has the interesting 4. .. Ba6 5. Qd1 Bxf1 6. Kxf1 delaying White development but leaving the Black queenside a bit open. Instead I stay with the Closed Sicilian idea.
4. f4 Bb7
5. Nf3 Nf6
6. d3 Nbd7
6. .. Nc6 is more active with possible plans to come to b4 or d4. From the d7 square, this knight can not do so much. I guessed that Black was thinking along the lines of a d5 break and did not want to block the bishop.
I now gave some thought to 7. Rg1. I was keen to get active as soon as possible and the plan was both to take the rook off the long diagonal and also to intend 8. g4. Black's best might be to play 7. .. d5 8. e5 Ng4 9. h3 Nh6 10. g4 Be7. Black looks solid enough and White is not yet developed.
The problem with the Qe2 anti-French system is that the queen gets in the way of the kings bishop. I could play 7. Qd1 and Be2 which is probably OK, but instead I decide to continue development before rushing in with g4.
7. g3 a6
8. Bg2 Qc8?!
Presumably this is to defend the bishop but it does limit the queen's role and take her slightly further away from where the action might be, as well as making queenside castling more difficult.
9. O-O Be7
Now what shall I do with the queens bishop? Sticking to my plan of quiet development, I rejected Be3 as I did not want to block the e-file.
10. Bd2 O-O
Now that I knew where his king was, it was time to think of a plan, and the move e5 came to me to gain the initiative in the centre. I also considered 11. Rae1, because it develops a piece and I wanted Black to show more of what he was intending, but instead I decided to push on with the attack.
11. e5 Ne8
I had calculated that 11. .. Bxf3 could be ruled out because of 12. Bxf3 Nd5 13. Nxd5 winning a pawn. Also that 11 .. dxe5 12. fxe5 was good for me as it opens up a route for the queens bishop towards the kingside.
If 11 .. Nd5 I considered 12. exd6 cxd6 with the intention of weakening the queenside but rejected that on the basis that my pawn on e5 was quite good where it is. So after 11. .. Nd5 my intention was to beef up the e-file with 12. Rae1.
Instead Black drops the knight back, which I was happy with.
Now I gave some thought to 12. Nd4 intending a pawn sacrifice after 12. .. Bxg2 13. Qxg2!? dxe5 14. Nc6. I went on with 14. .. Bc5+ 15. Kh1 exf4 16. Bxf4. For the pawn, White has a very well-placed knight and the potential for a kingside attack.
However, Black is not forced to take the bishop on g2 (an advantage of the queen being on c8 which I criticised earlier). And can answer 12. Nd4 with 12. . c5 or just 12. .. dxe5 13. fxe5 where it looks silly.
12. Rae1 d5
Black has now closed the centre and I gave some thought to another pawn sacrifice with 13. f5. My idea was 13. .. exf5 14. e6 fxe6 15. Qxe6+ Rf7. I did not see that now 16. Nxd5 gets the pawn back, nor that 16. Ng5 is quite good.
Again though I was assuming the willingness of my opponent. After 13. .. exf5 14. e6 Black could just play 14. .. Ndf6. After 15. exf7+ Rxf7 I could get some pressure with 16. Ne5 or 16. Ng5 - or play 15. Ng5 straight away (15. .. Bc5+ 16. Kh1 Nd6 or 16. Be3 Bxe3 17. Qxe3 Nd6), but is it enough for a pawn?
The computer's recommendation is 13. Nd4, clearing a path for the queen to move to the kingside, but I had rejected this as I still could not see anything after 13. .. c5 14. Nb3 which places the knight far away from where I want it to be.
Instead I decided to prepare an f5 push.
13. Bh3
At this stage, I went off to the bar to replenish my drink. Playing with the position in my head, the defence g6 came to me. Thinking this looked quite solid, I rushed back to the board to analyse it, only to discover it had already been played.
13. ... g6
14. g4 Ng7
The attack has now ground to a halt and I began to get concerned about the spaces around my king, a Black queenside pawn advance, the possibility of Black bishops on b7 and c5, and a shortage of time - now 33 minutes left for 21 moves.
I decide to move the queen to a more active position - and opposite the enemy king is always a good idea.
15. Qf2 c5
If 15. .. Bc5 I had intended 16. d4 but this might have been unwise as Black could exploit the far off white squared White bishop by making trouble with a later a6 and Ba6. 16. Be3 would be better.
Now the computer recommends 16. f5 offering to sacrifice a pawn in return for opening the g-file (16. .. exf5 17. gxf5 gxf5 18. Bh6 Qc6!). I kept to my activate-queen plan.
16. Qg3 b5?
White can now force material gain. Better would be 16. ... d4 17. Ne4 Qc7 or 16. .. f5! 17. exf6 Nxf6 with an equal position.
17. f5
If now 17. .. exf5 18. gxf5 Nh5 19. Qg4 or 17. .. gxf5?? 18. gxf5 Kh8 (18. .. exf5 19. Bh6) 19. f6 (19. .. Rg8 20. Ng5).
17. ... Bd8
18. f6 Ne8
I can now win the exchange - but I gave some thought. Do I want to? The bishop will be very good. I worked out some lines involving Black sacrificing a piece for the e5 and f6 pawns, playing the bishop to b6, and advancing the centre pawns.
However, I would be a rook for two pawns up, so if I was going to be under pressure, at least I would have some extra material I could offload if necessary.
19. Bh6 b4
20. Nd1
I decided against 20. Ne2 as it blocks the rook's defence of the e5 pawn.
20. .. Qc6
21. Bxf8 Nxf8
Now I should have played 22. b3 and remain a solid exchange up. However in aiming to consolidate, I completely overlooked Black's next move.
22. Bg2 Qa4
D'oh! Black gets one pawn back. I decide the a-pawn is the best one to lose.
23. b3 Qd7?!
This surprised me - Black decides not to take the pawn. I assumed that he could see further than me and did not wish to get the queen trapped, but it seems he can get away with it. 24. Ne3 Qa5 is simple enough. I tried to see if I could get anywhere with a Nf5 sacrifice but there is nothing- those two knights on the back rank are good defenders.
24. Ne3 Bb6
This was the counter attack that had concerned me.
25. Kh1 a5
If I throw pieces at the kingside it might be a useful distraction.
26. Qh4 a4
27. Ng5
My plan now was to uplift the rook over to the h-file and pile up on h7.
27. ... Nc7?
27. ... Bc7 would have been better. This just gives me a tempo to improve the position of the queen.
28. Qh6
However I missed 28. Nc4! Black cannot allow the knight to come into d6 and so has to play 28. .. dxc4 29. Bxb7 Ra7 30. Qh6 Ne8 31. Be4.
28. .. Ne8
29. Nd1
This is to dull the threat of a tactic revolving around d4. I need to get a rook to join in the attack.
29. .... Bc6
30. Rf3 d4
31. Rh3
Now we are happy. The attack is irresistible.
31. .... Bxg2+
32. Kxg2 Qd5+
33. Re4 Bd8
34. Nxh7
And Black resigned. If 34..... Nd7 35. Ng5. A good start to the season.
