Game 30 - Swale Club Championship 2015-16 - Final Group - Round Five

Swale Club Championship - Final Group - Round Five
Thursday 26 May 2016
White: A. Gillard (106) - Black: K. Nevols (132)

The last game of the season. I needed to win to be sure of a third place in the championship - which would not be bad for my debut season after 20 years away.

1. e4 d5

Back to the ever reliable Scandinavian Defence. The grades are misleading here - my opponent is stronger than it appears - and I had held a fortunate draw earlier in the season - so I went for my standard safe defence against superior players.

2. exd5 Qxd5
3. Nc3 Qa5
4. d4 Nf6
5. Bd2 c6

My regular response to an early Bd2. 5. .. Qb6 could be worth considering. After 6. Nf3 Black can't take the pawn because of 6. ... Qxb2 7. Rb1 Qa3 8. Nb5 but 6. .. Bg4 and Black is already under some pressure.

6. Nf3 Bf5

Many players prefer 6. .. Bg4 but I prefer this position of the bishop.

7. Ne4

A discovered attack which is perfectly safe for Black.

7. ... Qc7
8. Nxf6+ exf6
9. Bc4 Be7

White has an edge because Black is behind in development. I think 10. O-O might be best here but White decides to go after the bishop.

10. Nh4 Bg6

Now if 11. Qg4 Black can't castle because of 11. .. O-O 12. Nxg6 hxg6 13. Qxg6. So 11. .. Qd7 would be a sound defensive move.

11. Nxg6 hxg6



The square of pawns looks odd but I have played it before and it is a great defensive barrier. Not only that but now the h8 rook can develop down the h-file - so it may have been better for White to wait for Black to castle before going after the bishop.

12. g3

To defend the h2 pawn, although 12. h3 might have been more accurate.

12. ...   Nd7
13. Qe2

White prepares to castle queenside and also stops Black from castling because of the loose bishop. I gave some thought to 13. .. Nb6 here with 14. Bb3 a5 but my king safety remained a concern so I came up with a move which I thought was quite novel.

13. ... Kf8!?

As I have the h-file to develop my rook then castling is not necessary. White has the advantage in space and the two bishops, and the computer rates his position as best by two thirds of a pawn. Having said that, I would say that Black's position is not too bad - there are (yet) no obvious weaknesses.

14. O-O-O

Now I wanted to go on the counter attack and came back to the idea of Nb6 or even b5.I looked at 14. .. b5 15. Bb3 a5 16. a4 or 15. Bd3 a5 but instinct told me that this was wrong. Instead I decided to continue to develop and advance in the centre.

14. ..  Nb6
15. Bb3 Rh5

A great square for the rook while I think about what to do with it next.

16. f4

This surprised me. It blocks in the dark squared bishop. I now try to sort out my centre while also aiming to block the diagonal of the other bishop.

16. ...  Nd5
17. Rhe1 Qd7
18. Kb1 Re8
19. Qg2 Nb4



White has 32 minutes for 16 moves. Black has 27 minutes. I was now becoming concerned over White's pressure in the centre and seemed to be running out of things to do. I now expected 20. c3

20. Be3 Bd8

Making use of the opportunity offered by the closure of the e-file to redeploy the bishop.

21. Re2 Bb6
22. Rde1 Nd5

Now White needs to play 23. Bg1 Rxe2 24. Rxe2. Maybe Black can then try 24. .. g5.

23. Qf2?

However this drops a pawn.

23. .. Nxe3
24. Rxe3 Rxe3
25. Qxe3

if 25. Rxe3 then simply Bxd4.

25. ...  Rxh2
26. c3 Bc7

Now back to the g5 plan. With a 4 v 2 (sort of) majority, it was time to advance on that side of the board.

27. Ka1 Rh3
28. Qf3 g5!



I was very pleased to find this move. Now if 29. Qg2 Black should only play 29. ... gxf4 if he is prepared to sacrifice his queen as White has the dazzling 30. Be6!?! Then 30. .. Qxe6 (30. ... fxe6? 31. Qxh3) 31. Rxe6 Rxg3 32. Qh2 fxe6 leaving Black with a rook, knight and three pawns against a queen. The computer says that Black should win this but I cannot say it is an ending I would like to pay.

29. fxg5 Rxg3
30. Qf1 Rxg5

Another pawn picked up.

31. Qc4 Rh5

I was very concerned about a white rook arriving on the h-file so decided to get there first.

32. Qe2 Rh2
33. Qc4 b5?

Poor. An unnecessary weakening of the queenside. Why not just get on with it with f5?

34. Qd3 f5
35. Bc2 f4

At last, Black finds the correct plan and, for the first time, I felt I had serious winning chances.

36. Qf3!!

Wow! White sacrifices a bishop to get the h-file. This is an amazingly imaginative move.



The line I saw was 36. ... Rxc2 37. Qh5 Kg8 38. Rh1 and this is looking nasty.

My subsequent analysis reveals:

(a) 38. ... f6 39. Qh7+ picks up the rook on c2.
(b) 38 ... Kf8 then 39. Qh8+ Ke7 40. Re1+ Kf6 41. Qh4+ g5 (if Kf5 then Qh3+ wins the queen - if Kg6 then Rg1+ Kf5; Qh3+) 42. Qh6+ Kf5 - and either 43. Qh7+ or 43. Qh3+ g4 44. Qd3+ also picks up the rook.
(c) Finally there is 38. ... f5 39. Qh7+ and:
(c1) either Kf7 40. Rg1 or
(c2) 39. .. Kf8 40. 40. Qh8+ Kf7 41. Rg1 Kf6 42. Qh4+ Ke6 43. Re1+ Kd5 44. Qh1+ Kd6 and White can now bully the rook with 45. Kb1!! Rf2 (45. .. Rd2 46. Qh4! Kd5 47. Qh1+ Kd6 48. Qh4 and a draw) 46. Qg1 Rd2 (46. .. Rf3 47. Qg6+ Kd5 48. Qg2) 47. Kc1 Rd3 48. Qf1 Rg3/e3 49. Qxf4+.

So the bishop sacrifice is perfectly sound. If White follows through correctly, he has very good chances of a draw or even a win.

I don't know how much of the above my opponent saw, and I certainly didn't see any of it, but, with my clock ticking, my instincts told me that to take the bishop would be a mistake. I am winning anyway so why take risks?

36. ... Rh3!
37. Qf1 g5

Just push pawns and see what happens.

38. Be4 g4
39. a3 f5
40. Bg2 Rh2
41. Qg1

This loses a piece but then 41. Bh1 f3 is not much fun either.

41. ... f3
42. Bxf3 gxf3
43. Qg6

Now I just need to guard against any perpetuals or swindles and it should be a home run.

43. ....... f2



44. Qf6+ Qf7
45. Re8+

An interesting try but the position is lost.

45. ....  Kxe8
46. Qxc6+ Kf8

Everything is guarded and White now resigned. A fascinating and interesting game.

Game 29 - Swale Club Championship 2015-16 - Final Group - Round Four

Swale Club Championship - Final Group - Round Four
Thursday 19 May 2016
White: K. Nevols (132) - Black: I. Lappin (132)

I calculated that I needed to win my last two games to be sure of third place. In the first round of games, I was fortunate to defeat my opponent in a crazy game and so resolved to play more calmly and positionally this time.

1. e4 g6
2. d4 b6

Not sure what this is called. Perhaps the double fianchetto. I just decide to calmly develop keeping things defended in the centre.

3. Be3 a6
4. Nf3 Bb7
5. Nbd2 Nf6
6. Bd3 h6

I have to confess to being unfamiliar with the system that Black is using. It's a sort of Indian defence, where Black allows White to set up a centre and intends to undermine it. The addition of the moves a6 and h6 might be leaning towards a sort of hedgehog set-up.

7. h3

To prevent any ideas of Ng4 after Bg7.

7. ...  e6
8. O-O c5
9. c3 d6



So I am ahead in development and I have the centre so I must now think of a plan. Placing the queen opposite his undeveloped king seemed an interesting plan. 10. a4 is the computer's suggestion aiming at queenside play.

10. Qe2 Nbd7

Although this keeps the diagonal open for the queen's bishop, I felt it lacked ambition and that Nc6 would have been better for Black. With nothing happening much on d4, and the possibility of a central attack against the un-castled king, I decide to redeploy my Bishop to a better diagonal.

11. Bf4 Nh5
12. Bh2 Bg7?

Was this a pawn sacrifice or a mistake? I gave it careful thought. The lines I could see for Black after Bxd6 involved an attempt to trap the bishop and play in the centre with e5 and Nf4.

Although Bxd6 is the obvious move, a far better move for White would be 13. Nc4! to take the pawn with the knight. Then 13. .. O-O 14. Nxd6 and Black's a-pawn is about to go as well. (If 14. .. Qc7 then 15. g4! Nhf6 16. Nxf7).

However I did not see that option and after assessing if I could eat up the pawn thought ..  well, why not?

13. Bxd6 e5
14. Qe3

This was the move I had foreseen. If 14. dxe5 then I thought Black would win a piece with 14. ...  Nf4 15. Qe3 Nxd3 16. Qxd3 Nxe5 17. Nxe5 Bxe5. But I had overlooked that 18. Nc4 (perhaps followed by moving a rook to d1) would save the day.

14. ....  Nf4
15. Bc2 g5
16. dxe5

The computer thinks taking with the knight is better but I was concerned about the bishop getting cut off and wanted to exchange it and keep the pressure in the centre.

16. ...  Ng6
17. Rad1 Ngxe5
18. Bxe5 Bxe5
19. Nxe5 Nxe5
20. Nc4 Qc7
21. Nxe5 Qxe5
22. f4!



This was the position I had envisaged at move 16. I am a pawn up with my heavy pieces in the centre of the board aiming at his uncastled king. After the game we spent some time looking at this position as to whether Black could hold. We looked at 22. ... Qf6. 23. e5 Qc6 (24. Rd2 seems to hold meeting 24. .. Rg8 with 25. f5) and 22. ... Qg7 (where 23. Rd6 is a good move).

The view of the computer is that Black played the best move - and that his mistake comes later.

22. ...    gxf4
23. Qxf4 Qe6?

The computer thinks this is the mistake. Better would be 23. ... Qxf4 24. Rxf4 Ke7 25. Rdf1 Raf8. After 26. Rf6 White is still much better although the text allows White to finish quicker by winning a pawn and getting the bishop in.

24. Rd6 Qe7
25. Rxb6 Bc8
26. Ba4+ Bd7
27. Bxd7 Qxd7
28. Qe5+

Of course if 27. .. Kxd7 then 28. Rb7+. Now Black will lose a rook and so decided to resign.

Game 28 - Swale Club Championship 2015-16 - Final Group - Round Three

Swale Club Championship - Final Group - Round Three
Thursday 12 May 2016
White: K. Nevols (132) - Black: T. Owens (170)

Another tough opponent - and the leader of the championship. But I was slightly optimistic after securing a good draw in my last game.

1. e4 e6

The French defence. I had been researching to find a way to play against this popular defence for Black and decided to try the Tarrasch 3. Nd2.

2. d4 d5
3. Nd2 Nf6
4. e5 Nfd7
5. Ngf3

5. Bd3 is usual here with c3 and Ne2, or 5. c3 with f4 and Ndf3 to try to keep the e5 pawn. But I could not see anything wrong with my plan.

5. ....  c5

Now 6. dxc5 is recommended. If 6. .. Bxc5 7. Nb3 Bb6 8. Bf4 or Nbd4 or even a4 - or 7. .. Be7 8. Bf4. If 6. .. Nxc5 then 7.Nb3. Maybe best is 6. ... Nc6 with 7. Nb3 Ncxe5.

Instead my move concedes the initiative at an early stage.

6. c3 Nc6
7. Nb3 cxd4

7. .. c4 8. Nbd2 f6 is interesting.

8. cxd4 f6!

A standard break in the French and a sign that Black is already better.

9. exf6 Qxf6



Now I make a mistake. White needs to get the kings' bishop developed and castled. So Be2, Bd3 or Bb5 are options here. Instead I notice the opportunity to develop while hitting the queen and completely overlook a check.

10. Bg5? Bb4+

And White should now just admit the mistake and play 11. Bd2 where Black could follow up with Qg6 or Bd6.

11. Nbd2 Qg6

White is considerably tied up and has to break the bind. I wanted to get my queen to the d3 square where it could add to the defence. I gave some thought to 12. a3 and also to 12. Qe2 where Black has the interesting 12. .. h6 13. Bh4 Qc2! (14. Qxe6+ Kf8 15. Qxd5 Qxb2 16. Rd1 g5 17. Bg3 Nf6).

Instead I chose a move which was visually pleasing. But 12. a3 was probably better.

12. Qb1 Qh5
13. Qd3 O-O
14. Be2?

After the game my initial thought was that I should have played 14. Be3 to withdraw the bishop out of harm's way. Black can then choose between 14. .. e5 or 14. .. Nf6. However the best move appears to be 14. O-O-O which breaks the pin, stops the Rxf3 trick, and gets the king out of the centre. Even then Black still has active plans with ides such as Bd6 and/or Nf6.

14. ... Rxf3!
15. Bxf3 Qxg5

Two pieces for the rook. The computer states that Black has now won - well, I am not finished yet.

16. Qe3 Qf6

Gobbling up a pawn.

17. O-O Bxd2
18. Qxd2 Nxd4
19. Bd1 Ne5!

Exploiting the fact that I can't take the knight on d4 because of Nf3+.



Now the game is resignable. Black has two formidable knights and a dangerous passed d-pawn. The only thing I can try to do is to hold off the immediate threats and get the rooks into the game.

20. b3

To prevent Nc4.

20. ...   Bd7
21. Be2 a6
22. Rfe1 Rf8
23. f3 Ng6

The knights continue to circle like vultures. Another idea would have been 23.. Bb5. (24. Bxb5 Ndxf3+! or 24. Bd1 Nd3).

24. Rad1 e5
25. Qa5

Hoping to get the chance to infiltrate.

25. ...  Bc6
26. Bd3 Nf4
27. Bf1 Nh3+!

Visually impressive and now finishing off in fine style.



28. gxh3 Nxf3+
29. Kh1 Qf4
30. Re2 d4
31. Rg2 Nh4

All Whites' moves are forced.

32. Qe1 Qxf1+
33. Qxf1 Rxf1+
34. Rxf1 Bg2+
35. Kg1 Bxf1
36. Resigns

A very impressive game from Black. Meanwhile, for me, it is back to the books to find out how to play against the French defence.