Game 21 - club match. Swale vs Rainham

Swale vs Rainham - Board One
Thursday 25 February 2016
White: D. Barnes (153) Black: K. Nevols (132)

After a bad defeat last week, and now three losses in the last four, I felt low in confidence. So I was not too pleased to find myself as Black against a player graded 153. As we waited for the game to start, I decided my tactics - to play casually and carefully, no sacrificial heroics, calm positional chess - to meet e4 with the Scandinavian d5 - and to meet d4 with the solid d5.

1. c4

Well, there goes that theory. The English Opening.

1. .... e5?!

Now this move is not dubious in itself. But I enter an aggressive line against the English - a mistake having just decided to play calmly and positionally. Looking back I should have played 1. .. c5 and aim to play symmetrically.

2. g3 d6
3. Bg2 f5

This is it - the system is similar to the Dutch where Black has already played e5. The first few moves are straight forward and the plan is for Black to get some aggression on the kingside.

4. Nc3 Nf6
5. d3 Nc6
6. e4

Blocking the diagonal. 6. Nf3 might be a better way to play for an advantage.

6. ....  Be7
7. Nge2 O-O
8. O-O



So now for a plan. As I said, this system for Black demands aggression and so I head my queen off in that direction.

8. ....  Qe8
9. Nd5 Bd8

If 9. ... Nxd5 10. cxd5 Nb8 11. Qb3 is annoying. However White will have to do something about the second d-pawn so might consider 11. d4 with some complications in the middle.
Or 9. ... Nxd5 10. exd5 Nb8 11. Nc3 and White is better.
Of course Black does not have to drop the knight back to b8 and could go for Nb4 or Nd4.
With complications not on my agenda, I decided on some passive defence - as well as freeing up the e7 square for the knight - and the computer agrees that Bd8 is the best move.

10. Rb1

I didn't really understand this. Presumably preparing b4 but Bd2 might be a better way to seek that objective.

10 ....  Qg6

A probe towards the king and threatening to win a pawn on e4 - although exchanging pawns beforehand to clear the bishop diagonal might have been better.  10 ... fxe4 11. Nxf6+ Bxf6 12. Bxe4 Bg4 or 11. dxe4 Qg6.

If now 11. N2c3 I was considering 11. ... Nd4.

11. f3

Solid but slightly loosening and making me think of sacrificial ideas around the king but everything is covered. Here 11 .. f4 is nothing. 12. gxf4 Bh3 13. Rf2 or 12. g4 h5 13. h3. And it is not too late to take on e4 with 11. .. fxe4 12. dxe4 Be6 or 12. fxe4 Bg4.

11. ...  Ne7?!

Instead I decide that it is about time that knight on d5 was evicted. The problem with this move is that it blocks the bishop's defence of the knight on f6 and hence the White knight will have to be retaken with the rook.

12. Be3!

A good move - developing the bishop towards the queenside, blocking any ideas of c6 and Bb6,  and giving an option of an initiative with Rc1 and c5.

12. ...  c6
13. Nxf6+ Rxf6
14. d4 Rf8

A bit of reorganising but I thought 14. ... Bb6 might have been better where the bishop takes a more active square and Black could think about putting a rook on the d-file.

(The computer points out that 14. ... Bb6? is a mistake. It gives the line 15. c4 exd4 (15. ... Bc7 16. cxd6 Bxd6 17. dxe5 Bxe5 18. Qd8+ Kf7 19. f4 with a strong initiative - in this line, that Rb1 move has come in very useful) 16. Bxd4 Bxc5 17. Bxc5 dxc5 18. Qd8+ Kf7 19. e5! Re6 20. Nf4. It thinks 14. ... Be6 is an improvement - although my move 14. .. Rf8 is not the end of the world).

15. Qd2 Be6

Wanting to close the centre but giving White some initiative. Maybe grovelling with 15. .. Bc7.

16. d5 Bd7

White now has 50 minutes for 19 more moves and I have 31. The time control was the usual 35 moves in 75 minutes and then 15 minutes for the rest - a fast control which I seem to struggle with.



17. dxc6?!

Interestingly, our electronic friend thinks this gives up White's advantage - it prefers either 17. Qb4 or keeping things very complicated with 17. f4.

17. ....  Nxc6?!

And it thinks I return the favour - preferring 17. ... Bxc6 - but I wanted to get the knight into the game.

18. c5 Be7?

A mistake. 18. ... Be6, activating the bishop by countering against the a-pawn is better. After 19. a3 or b3 then dxc5 20. Bxc5 Bb6 and a rook is coming to the d-file.

19. Rbd1!

A good move which I had overlooked. White builds up pressure on the d-file.

19. ...   fxe4
20. cxd6 Bd8
21. fxe4 Ba5

Taking up a more active position. I now have 20 minutes left for 14 moves.

22. Nc3! Bg4
23. Rxf8+ Rxf8
24. Rf1 Rd8

I felt I was defending quite well here. I am surrounding the d-pawn - his bishop on g2 is not doing anything - and my pieces are seeing some activity.

25. Bc5 Nd4?

But now I start to go wrong. The upcoming knight manoeuvre completely escaped me. The move I glanced at was 25. .. Bc7 which I rejected because of 26. Nb5 Bb8 - not seeing the simple fact that White wins at once with 26. dxc7! (26. .. Rxd2 27. Rf8 mate). 25. .. Bb6 would be better.

26. Qf2! b6??

Afterwards we looked at 26. .. Bxc3 27. bxc3 Ne6 but White still gets a huge advantage with 28. Bxa7. 26. ... Be6 is another possibility but again 27. Bxa7. Maybe Black is already lost here - but my move loses a lot quicker.



27. Nd5!

Crunch!! Didn't see that. It's all over. The knight is coming to e7 with deadly force. I play a few more moves but the end is inevitable.

27. ...  Ne2+
28. Kh1

28. ... Qe8 would have at least extended the game by a few moves. 29. Ba3 then 29. ... Be2 30. d7! or 29. ... b5 30. h3 picking up the knight or 29. .. Nd4 30. b4. But in any event I was now resigned to resigning.

28. . ...  Nxg3+
29. Qxg3 Qe6
30. Ba3 Bd2
31. Qf2 Resigns

White is coming out of this a piece up and, with my clock reaching the last minute, I decided it was time to call it a day.

Game 20 - club match. Swale vs Maidstone

Swale vs Hastings - Board Two
Thursday 18 February 2016
White: K. Nevols (132) - Black: B. Lane (148)

I did not feel too good for this game. As soon as I sat down, I felt cold and began shaking. Not sure why.

1. e4 c6

The Caro-Kann Defence.

2. d4 d5

I recall one system which went 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. c5!? and played it against a computer a few times - but I kept getting knocked back by counterplay in the centre - so instead I go for simplicity.

3. Nc3 dxe4
4. Nxe4 Nf6
5. Nxf6 gxf6!?

So much for simplicity. This is the 'Bronstein-Larsen' variation. Raymond Keene once did an 'Audio Chess' cassette on this variation many years ago. Black accepts a broken pawn structure but gets active play using the open g-file, and gets the sort of odd position that I can imagine Bent Larsen would like.

How should White play? No idea. But development is always a good plan. And castling queenside - as putting the king in front of an open file did not look sensible.

6. Nf3 Bg4

The computer now recommends (and keeps recommending) an immediate h3 here.

7. Be2 e6
8. Be3 Bd6

8. ... Qb6 might have been better - just to be annoying.
Now White should play 9. Nd2! to ask the bishop what it wants to do, and relocate the knight to either c4 or e4. One possible line is 9. Nd2 Bf5 10. h4 e5 (10. ... h6 11. g4 Bh7 12. c3 Bf8 13. Qb3) 11. Nc4 with initiative.
This move never occurred to me - I am still just thinking of getting castled.

9. Qd2 Nbd7
10. O-O-O Qc7
11. h3 Bh5



OK, so far so good. All the pieces are now doing a job but what next? Black is looking at playing c5 or e5. 12. Kb1 might be sensible, with ideas of c4, but instead I decide to chase the bishop - which ends up in a good position.

12. g4 Bg6
13. Nh4 O-O-O
14. Nxg6?!

I regretted this move as soon as I made it.  His well-placed bishop goes for the knight, but now the h-file is open and, without making a single move, the rook on h8 is now an active piece against the backward pawn on h3. 14. Kb1 might have been better to improve the king safety and avoid any tactical ideas Black may have over the f4-c1 diagonal.

14. ... hxg6

I now had a long think and came up with a bad move. For some reason I was very concerned about Black playing e5, although I could simply play d5 in reply. Other moves I looked at were Bf3 or h4. And of course Kb1 is still there. Instead I stop the move e5 by placing the bishop on the wrong diagonal where it soon falls out of play.

(The computer gives a fascinating long line around 15. h4 with 15. ... f5 16. gxf5 exf5 17. d5 cxd5 18. Qxd5 Nb6 19. Qb3 Bf4 20. h5!? Bxe3+ 21. fxe3 Rxd1+ 22. Bxd1 Kb8 23. h6 Qc6! 24. Rh3 Qg2 25. Qc3! Rd8 26. Rh4 g5 27. h7! gxh4 28. h8 (=Q) Rxh8 29. Qe5+ Kc8 30. Qxh8+ Kc7 31. Qxh4 =)

15. Bc4?

I now have 33 minutes left for the next 20 moves. Immediately I saw 15. ... Bh2!? for Black and thought the h-pawn is a goner, but of course there is 16. f4 Bg3. Instead Black uses the loose bishop to improve the position of his knight.

15. ... Nb6
16. Bb3 Nd5

Now the f4 square is weak. 17. Bxd5 cxd5 18. Kb1 would swap the now poor bishop for the active knight and might result in 18. .. e5 19. dxe5 fxe5 20. Qxd5 Be7 21. Qf3 (defending h3). Instead I play another poor move blocking the bishop, and the knight gets exchanged for the other one.

17. c4? Nxe3

I saw 17. .. Nf4 which looked nasty overlooking that White has 18. c5. But Black now has 17. .. Bb4! 18. Qe2 Nxe3 19. Qxe3 Bd6 then bringing the bishop to f4 and taking a good position on g5.

18. fxe3 c5

Making his move.

19. Qf2

With 25 minutes left for 16 moves, and looking for something to do (and not liking 19. d5 Be5) I decide hitting the f-pawn and relocating the queen is something.

19. ...  f5
20. Kb1

At last! Better late than never perhaps.

20. ...  Rh7

Now building up on the h-file.

21. gxf5 exf5
22. Bc2 Rdh8
23. Qf3?



Better was 23. Qg2 as Black now has 23. ... Bh2! picking up the h-pawn straight away.
I don't know if Black missed this odd looking move but he came up with another good one anyway.

23. .....  Rh4!

The simple threat is cxd4 making the f-pawn passed and visually the rook makes an impact in the centre.

Still feeling unwell, running very low on time, and with no desire to be squashed flat - I go for a Hail Mary - sacrificing the bishop for two pawns and an attack - but Black defends well.

But there is no need to panic. The correct move is 24. Qg2 to admit the previous oversight and prevent the Bh2 trick. Black then has 24. .. cxd4 25. exd4 Qxc4 (25. ... Kb8 26. c5) 26. Bxf5! Kb8 27. Bg4 f5 28. Bf3 b6 - Black has an edge but still some work to do.

24. dxc5? Bxc5
25. Bxf5+?? gxf5
26. Qxf5 Kb8

The game is simply lost now.

27. Rd7 Qc6
28. Qe5+ Kc8
29. Rd5 b6
30. Rhd1 Re8
31. Rxc5? bxc5
32. Qf5+ Kb8
33. Qxf7 Rhe4
34. Rd7 Rxe3
35. Qf4+ Ka8
36. Resigns

This game was lost as a result of lacking a middle game plan, worrying too much about the opponent's initiative, and then panicking once he had the initiative. A poor show.

Game 19 - club match. Weald of Kent vs Swale

Weald of Kent vs Swale - Board One
Monday 8 February 2016
White: K. Nevols (132) - Black: D. Warrick (123)

Now I was wearing my proud first grade for January 2016 - 132 - which was more or less what I had expected. This was based on nine games from 2015, and my terrible start had been saved by two wins over grades 149 and 143 (Games 10 and 12).

For this game we were in Cranbrook Library, a few miles south of Maidstone and quite a pleasant location. One of those lovely small libraries that they are always trying to close down.

1. e4 e5
2. Nf3 Nc6
3. Bb5

Once more into the Ruy Lopez.

3. .... d6

This is known as the Steinitz Defence - named after the great 19th century world champion. 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Bd7 6. Bxc6 seems to be good for White. But, after another poor run of results, I again wanted to play simply.

4. O-O Nf6
5. Re1 Bd7
6. c3 a6
7. Ba4 b5
8. Bb3 h6

Perhaps a pre-emptive defence against Bg5 but I was more concerned about Black playing Bg4 so I put a stop to that.

9. h3 Be7
10. d3?!

My plan was to secure the centre and them play a slow build up. I did not yet know where Black planned to put his king but this move gave me the option of Nd2-f1 if I need it. But d3 is far too slow. 10. d4 at once was better.



10 ...  Qc8

And Black shows his hand. He wants to attack my kingside while I am still under-developed.

11. Kh2 Nh7

Planning a surge forward with g5 and maybe f5, so I had better get on with it. The computer here recommends 11. ... O-O and 12. ... Na5 to punish White's timewasting of d3 and Kh2.

12. d4 g5

I now noticed the weakness at f7 and along the d5-a8 diagonal and thought I had a sequence to get an advantage.

13. dxe5 Nxe5
14. Nxe5 dxe5
15. Qd5?!

15. Qh5 is far better grabbing a quick pawn either on h6 or f7 - my move is based on an oversight. By attacking e5 and f7 the only way to defend both (I thought) was by f6 when Qf7+ dislodges his king. Then I saw I could not take on e5 anyway because Black has the pin with Bd6. So Black could now play 15. ... Be6 where I had 16. Qc6+ which would force 16. ... Kf8 then 17. Bxe6 fxe6 and I could think about 18. Re3 or 18. Be3.

15. ....  O-O

A complete surprise as I had forgotten this move was still legal. Back to the drawing board.

16. Nd2

With the intention of adding to the defence of the king.

16. ... Nf6
17. Qd3 Bd6

I was not too worried about 17. .. g4 18. hxg4 Nxg4+ 19. Kg1 Bh4 20. g3 but now I see that Black could try 20. ... Kh8!? with the plan 21. gxh4 Rg8 22. Kf1 Nh2+ 23. Ke2 Bg4+ with one line being 24. f3 Bxf3+ 25. Nxf3 Rg2+ 26. Kd1 Qg4 and White is very uncomfortable. Or 24. Ke3 Bh5 25. Nf1 Ng4+ 26. Kd2 Rd8 or Nxf2.

After 20. .. Kh8!? if White takes the pawn there is 21. Bxf7 Rg7 22. Bd5 Qf8. Or instead of 20. g3 White could instead stick with 20. Re2. But 17. .. g4 could still give a nasty attack.

The computer instead recommends 17. .. c5 18. Qg3 Qc7 as the way forward.

18. Nf1 c5
19. Qf3 Kg7
20. Ng3 g4



Instead g4 is played too late (again 20 ... c4 would have been better). White has some defences in order. Now here my first thought was simply 21. hxg4 and then either 21. ... Bxg4 22. Qe3 or 21. Nxg4+ 22. Kg1 when I saw a tactic. The first move was OK and won a pawn but then I saw the second move and leant forward with interest.

The tactic seemed to turn the tide by forcing the win of material - but could it work? What have I overlooked? I went off to the kitchen to grab a biscuit while pondering it in my mind. Could it work? I came back, sat down, gave one more run through the possibilities and played the moves.

21. Bxh6+! Kg6
22. Qe3!

The point! Not only does White threaten the rook but he also threatens an immediate mate in two.

22. ...  Nh7

The only move.

23. Bxf8 Bxf8
24. hxg4 Bxg4
25. f3 Bd7

Satisfied! I am now the exchange and a pawn up. I surveyed the board to see where Black might have counterplay and saw the possibility of c4 and Bc5 so I decided to move that bishop before it gets cut off.

26. Bd5 Rb8

OK, so he could think about c4 and Bc5. I decide to improve the position of my knight.

27. Nf5 Bxf5?

I was pleased to see this. Black's could get counterplay chances with both the bishops working together.

28. exf5+ Qxf5???

But I was even more pleased to see this. The game comes to an immediate halt.

29. Be4 Resigns

Game 18 - club match. Maidstone vs Swale

Maidstone vs Swale - Board Three
Friday 3 February 2016
White: B. Beavis (151) - Black: K. Nevols

Back to Maidstone and tucked away once again in a small room. The venue was a sports centre and the smell of the swimming pool bought back some horrible memories of school.

Again I found myself facing a highly graded formidable opponent.

1. d4 Nf6
2. c4

I gave a few moments thought to 2. ... c5. I had refreshed on the Benko Gambit and was keen to give it a go but decided in a team game it would not be on to sacrifice a pawn as Black against a 151 opponent - I ought to aim for at least a draw. I now regret this as it could not have been worse than what did happen - and I ended up sac-ing a pawn anyway.

2. .... g6

So instead it is a Kings Indian - but I have now decided to give this opening up as I am never happy with what I get.

3. Nc3 Bg7
4. e4 d6
5. Bg5 O-O

Maybe 5. ... e5 is better.

6. f4 c5
7. d5

Now you can see the reason for my disenchantment with this opening. Just seven moves in and I am already very restricted in space.

(The computer disagrees and comes up with the imaginative 7. ... Ng4! 8. Qd2 Bd4 hitting the weakened e3 and f2 squares. Indeed 9. Nf3 f6 10. Bh4 Be3 wins a pawn. I did not see this at all!)



7. ... Qa5

To threaten Nxe4

8. Qd2 Nbd7
9. Nf3 h6
10. Bh4 Re8
11. Bd3 a6

White is set up very nicely and can take his time castling and advancing in the centre. I decide the only way I can get counterplay is with a b5 advance and sacrifice.

12. a4 b5!?




This is best played before White castles and while the queen's rook is undefended.

13. cxb5 Nb6
14. bxa6 Bxa6

This was the plan. In return for the pawn I get some space and some play. I am now thinking of c4 and then Nfd7-c5-d3. A better plan may have been Reb8-b4.

15. O-O c4?

Fatally giving away control of the d4 square. Although I saw the possiblity of Nd4, I did not think there was a lot that White could do with it. A better line might have been 15. ... Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Nh5. Then 17. g3 cuts out the bishop while 17. Nd2 and Black might get some play with 17. ... Bd4+.

16. Be2 Nfd7
17. Nd4

Now the knight has arrived, I realised that c4 had been a mistake. The immediate threat is Nc6 Qc5; Bf2. So I had to give up the bishop. Best now might be 17. ... Bb7.

17. ... Bxd4
18. Qxd4 Nc5

My knights were beginning to get active and I had high hopes of getting the pawn back.

19. Rb1 Nb3
20. Qe3 Nxa4
21. Nxa4 Qxa4

The queenside seems to be holding together ... but ...



22. f5!

Completely overlooked. White exploits the absence of the bishop to launch the final attack.

22. .    Kh7

If 22....  Kg7 I was concerned about 23. Qc3+ f6 24. fxg6 but this would have been preferable to what happened.

23. fxg6+ fxg6
24. Rf7+ Kg8
25. Qxh6!

White finished in fine style.

25. ... Kxf7
26. Rf1+

My only consolation is that I saw a mate in two (26. Qh7+ Kf8 27. Rf1) and White did not.

26. .... Kg8
27. Qxg6+ Kh8
28. Rf7 Resigns

A shocker! One of those games you like to forget.