Game 33 - Swale Club Championship 2016-17 - Round Three

Swale Club Championship 2016-17 - Round Three
Thursday 29 September 2016
White: K. Nevols (134) - Black: K. Hyde (167)

Another game against one of the top two and hoping to improve on my record of half out of four.

Having got nowhere with the Closed Sicilian in our last encounter, I decided to return to d4 for a change.

1. d4 Nf6
2. c4 g6
3. Nc3 d5

The Grunfeld Defence. I decide again to enter the Exchange Nf3+Rb1 variation.

4. cxd5 exd5
5. e4 Nxc3
6. bxc3 Bg7
7. Nf3 O-O

Usual is 7. .. c5 for Black so that he has the option of Nc6 straight away afterwards.

8. Rb1

The computer prefers 8. Bc4 and then castling. The purpose of Rb1 is to take the rook off the diagonal and also to hold up Blacks' development of his queen bishop by the attack on the b pawn.

8. ...   c5



Now the main line of the system (which I forgot at the time) is 9. Be2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qa5+ 11. Bd2 Qxa2 12. O-O. White sacrifices a pawn in order to get active play around d5. Black's best is now considered to be 12. .. Bg4 when White plays 13. Be3 Nc6 14. d5 or 13. Bg5.

9. Be3 cxd4
10. cxd4 Qa5+

The problem now is that if 11. Bd2 Qxa2 White does not have the option of castling and has wasted a tempo. But I was not going to sacrifice a pawn against such a dangerous opponent anyway.

11. Qd2 Qxd2+
12. Kxd2?!

However, without queens, the King is quite safe in the centre (or so I thought!) Although a waste of time, 12. Bxd2 might have been wiser.

12. .... Nc6
13. Bc4

An immediate 13. d5 is better. If then 13. .. Rd8 then 14. Bd3 completes White's development.

13. ...  Rd8
14. d5 e6

Black begins to undermine White's centre in Grunfeld style. I was now trying to think of how I can get the other rook into the game, and move the king into safety, without losing a pawn.

15. Ke2?

And this is a mistake. 15. Bg5 should be played. If 15. .. f6 the diagonal from c4 to Black's king is weakened and White could play 16. Bf4 with an idea of coming to c7, and 15. .. Rd7 just looks ugly.

15.  ...  Na5



Now I knew the game was up and had a long think. I am going to lose a pawn but how can I get a lot of play over it? I looked at 16. Bb3 Nxb3 17. Rxb3 exd5 18. exd5 Rxd5 19. Rc1 but then after 19 .. b6 with the threat of Ba6+, it is Black who has the strong position.

The computer suggests 16. Bd3 exd5 17. exd5 Rxd5 18. Be4 Rd8 19. Rfc1 and then Be6 20. Bxb7 Nxb7 21. Rxb7 Bxa2 22. Rxa7 Bd5. This equalises the material but Black has strong bishops and White's king is in the centre.

I did not see the 18. Be4 option. Instead I thought I saw a way to get counterplay by bringing the rook to the seventh rank with Ng5.

16. Rhc1 Nxc4
17. Rxc4

White now has 46 minutes left to get to move 35 and Black has 39 minutes. The time was not a problem in this game.

17. ....  exd5
18. exd5

This was the position that had been in my head. Now 18. .. Rxd5 19. Rc7 with Ng5 had been the plan. I now saw the possibility of 19. Bxa7 but then that loses to 19. .. Bf5.

However, Black opts to delay taking the pawn and finish the queenside development.

18. ....  b6

I looked at 19. Rc7 but I was concerned about 19. .. Ba6+ which would have trapped the king in the centre.

19. Ra4 Bf5
20. Rc1 Rxd5
21. Bxb6

Material is now equal but with the rampant bishops and the king in the centre, Black is a long way ahead. I must try to exchange off one of the enemy bishops.

21. ...  Re8+
22. Be3 a5

Now Black is much better with very active rooks and bishops and my king in the centre. I have to think of a defence. Trying to make the king safe and unpin the bishop seems to be a good idea.



23. Kf1?

But a better move would have been 23. Rd1. My opponent pointed out afterwards that it was a mistake to allow the rooks to double up on the d-file.

The move I was now concerned about was 23. .. Bd7 when my rook is beginning to run out of squares.

23.  ....Red8

But this also looks strong. Bd3 and then Bb5 looks like game over. I considered 24. h3 but was not sure if I could get the king over there. I was also concerned about the defence of the d-file, especially the d1 square after I moved my rook down the c-file.

However, 24. Bb6 is now an interesting move, just to be unsettling while 24. g4!? is a curiosity with 24. ... Bd7 25. Re4 Bb5+ 26. Kg2. Black is still much better but the king would be tucked away.

24. Ke1?

However, this is a clear mistake.

24. ....  Bb2

I simply did not see this move.

25. Rc5

But I was relieved that I can now exchange off one rook - the intention of Ke1.

25 .   Rxc5
26. Bxc5 Bc3+
27. Ke2

If 27. Kf1 then Bd3+ 28. Kg1 Bb5 and White has to give up the exchange.

27. ... Bd3+
28. Ke3 Bb5

Now White's only final hope is 29. Re4 and Black can choose between Rc8, Bc6 or Rd3+. However, White now allows Black to mop up by forcing a king march.



29. Ra3 Bb2
30. Rxa5 Bc1+
31. Ke4 Bc6+
32. Ke5 Rd5+
33. Kf6 Bb2+

Only 34. Bd4 stops an immediate mate. If 34. Ke7 then 34. ... Rd7+ 35. Ke8 and Black can choose between picking up the rook with 35. .. Ra7+ or forcing mate with 35. .. Kf6 so I resigned.

Game 32 - Swale Club Championship 2016-17 - Round Two

Swale Club Championship 2016-17 - Round Two
Thursday 15 September 2016
White: K. French (95) - Black: K. Nevols (134)

Another opponent who is better than the grade suggests. I knew that he was a master of defence - as I discovered last year (Game 9) where he found opportunities after I went wrong in my attack, so I knew I should be on my guard and not try anything too clever.

1. d4 Nf6

As I said, I have been looking at the Kings Indian Defence, although struggling a bit with the lack of space it sometimes allows. However, I did not do too badly with the opening last time so it was worth another shot.

2. c4 g6
3. Nc3 Bg7
4. e4 d6
5. Nf3 O-O
6. Be2 e5
7. d5

White goes into the classical line - the Petrosian system. The idea is to follow with Bg5 to stall Black's kingside play and build up the White attack on the queenside.

7. .... a5

The standard Black counter. The plan is to plant a knight on the c5 square where it won't be molested by pawns.

8. O-O Na6
9. a3

9. Bg5 is considered more accurate, but White decides to get moving on the queenside.

9. ... Nc5
10. Bd3 a4?!

Poor. The idea is simple - to hold up White's pawn advances. However, this pawn is out on a limb and Black now spends most of the game defending it. Keeping it on a5 - with b6 if necessary - was far better.



11. Bc2!

White jumps on Black's self-inflicted weakness.

11. ...  Bd7
12. Be3 Qe8

I felt this was forced and was already regretting my mistake. I spent some time looking at 12. .. Qe7 and sacrificing the a-pawn. Of course it is not a sacrifice at all. After 12. .. Qe7 13. Bxc5 Nxc5 14. Nxa4 then simply 14. .. Nxe4 and with ideas of f5 to come Black is better.

The main drawback I always find when I play the Kings Indian Defence is the lack of space with which to move my pieces. Already I feel boxed in.

13. Bxc5?!

This is well known to be dubious in the Kings Indian systems. It looks good for White to break up Black's pawns in this way. However, the loss of the black-squared bishop weakens White considerably. Black's counterpart bishop now has no opposition along the c1-h6 diagonal.

13. ..  dxc5
14. Re1

Defending the e-pawn and releasing the queen's knight for action. Now Black should play 14. .. Ra6! (This move does come along but not until much later). This would hold up any White plans based around d6 and in the log term prepare to swing across to the kingside..

14. ...  Nh5?



This is a mistake. The plan is to come to the f4 square and, with Bh6, start to think about how I can use the Black squares.

And while White was thinking I saw 15. d6! and immediately started thinking how to deal with it. 15. .. cxd6 16. Qxd6 just looked too horrible (16. ... Qe6 17. Rad1 and the pressure builds) whereas 15. .. Qd8 16. dxc7 Qxc7 just loses the a-pawn and White has Nd5 coming in.

The computer mentions the line 15. d6 cxd6 16. Qxd6 Bg4 17. Qxc5 Nf4 and then if 18. Qb4 then Bxf3 19. gxf3 Qd8 20. Ne2 (20. Kg1?? Qd2)  Qg5+ 21. Ng3 h5 and Black gets a strong attack so 18. Qe3 is better. Black might still have compensation for his pawn but the long term does not look good.

15. Ne2?

To my relief, White decides to retreat, and this now gives me the time to start an attack going.

15. .....  Qe7

Black should play 15. .. Ra6 as White can now just go back with 16. Nc3 Qe8 and then has a second opportunity to push the pawn to d6.

16. Ng3

In my opinion, not a good square for the knight. It does not do anything and becomes a target for the h-pawn.

16. ...  Nf4
17. Nd2 h5!

White retreated his knight presumably to prevent Bg4 but Black can now advance.

18. Re3 Bh6
19. Rc3 h4
20. Ne2

Black now wins a pawn. The alternative was 20. Ngf1 Qg5 21. g3 Nh3+ 22. Kg2 hxg3 23. hxg3 Qf6 with an attack.

20 ...  Nxg2

The drawback of winning the pawn is the exchange of queens but being unable to see a clear win - I resign myself to that consequence. (The computer confirms this fact).

21. Kxg2 Qg5+
22. Kh1 Qxd2
23. Qxd2 Bxd2
24. Rd3 Bh6



So where are we now? I am a pawn up, I have a good unopposed black-squared bishop, and good long term possibilities. On the minus side, I am still lumbered with that pawn on a4 which forces a defence and restricts the movement of my rook and the other bishop. So the plan - to try to exploit those weak areas around his king - and I did not see the chances of attacking the queenside.

Now White should play 25. Nc3 to improve the position of his knight, keep hitting a4, and hold up Black's queenside play.

25. f3 Ra6

At last! This should have been played ages ago. However Black could have improved with 25. .. b5! If 26. cxb5 Bxb5 wins material. So 26. b3 and then 26. .. Rfb8! is strong.

26. Nc3 g5

Better would be 26. .. f5.

27. R3d1 Rfa8

The simple purpose is to overprotect the a4 pawn in order to free the other rook for action. Not for the first time, I was cursing my earlier move of a4.

28. Rg1 Rg6
29. Raf1 Kh8

White consistently rejects the Nb5 move - perhaps as he did not like the prospect of Bxb5. Black now shuffles his rooks around and tries to find something to do.

30. Rd1 Rb6
31. Rb1 Rf6
32. Bd1 Rg6
33. Bc2 g4



Getting impatient I decide I might as well get on with it. The plan was 34. fxg4 Bxg4 35. Bd1 and then think about whether I want to exchange bishops or not.

34. Bd1?

A considerable surprise. White does not take the chance to exchange his weak f-pawn and allows me to advance and get a passed pawn.

34. ..  g3
35. hxg3 hxg3
36. Kg2 Bf4
37. Rh1+ Kg7

This was presumably White's plan. Black's advance is held up and he gets the h-file.

38. Bc2 Raa6

My logic is that if I can get rid of the rooks, and he swaps his knight for the bishop on f4 with the reply exf4, I should have a won bishop ending.

39. Ne2 Rh6
40. Nxf4 exf4



Now I saw that White has the chance to play 41. e5, freeing his bishop and counter playing in the centre. Black could play 41. .. Rxh1 42. Rxh1 Rb8 or I could stick to the plan with 42. .. Rh6 43. Rxh6 Kxh6 then move the king towards the centre and try to get b5 in.

41. Rbe1 Rxh1
42. Rxh1 Rh6
43. Rxh6 Kxh6

OK, the rooks are now gone. White now has another chance to consider e5.

44. b3

But I was glad to see this. A chance to get rid of that pawn which had been plaguing me the whole game and a gain of time to get my king in the centre.

44. ...  axb3
45. Bxb3 Kg5
46. Bc2 Kf6

That puts an end to e5 and now the win must be simple. Advance the king and pick up the pawns.

47. a4 b6
48. Bd1 Ke5



49. Be2

White jettisons a second pawn in order to task the bishop with the job of patrolling the g2 square and freeing up the king.

49. ...  Bxa4
50. Bf1 Kd4
51. Kh3 Bd7+
52. Kh4 f6
53. Kh5 b5
54. cxb5 Bxb5

The second passed pawn and now the game is over.

55. Bg2 c4
56. Kg4 Ke5
57. Kh3 c3
58. Kh4 c2
59. Kh5 c1 (Q)
60. Kg6 Qc5
61. Kh6 Qf8+
62. Kh5 Qh8+
63. Kg6 Be8++

I was glad to win this game - a tough battle - and the moves a4 (bad) and Ra6 (good) were noted in my kings defence memory bank.

Game 31 - Swale Club Championship 2016-17 - Round One

Swale Club Championship 2016-17 - Round One
Thursday 8 September 2016
White: A. Gillard (113) - Black: K. Nevols (134)

And so we begin a new season and a new club championship, and a difficult first game. As I mentioned previously, my opponent is stronger than the grade suggests and I knew a tough fight was ahead.

1. d4

In our last game, 1. e4 was played. As luck would have it, I had recently been looking at the Kings Indian Defence, a opening I decided to abandon after a bad defeat last season but, as yet, have yet to find a decent alternative.

Many years ago, the Benko Gambit was a regular part of my repertoire. A revival might be an idea for another day. But, for now, the old KID gets another outing.

1. ...  Nf6
2. c4 g6
3. Nc3 Bg7
4. e4 d6

5. f4

Unfortunately my current examination of the Kings Indian Defence had not yet got to the bit where White unleashes the Four Pawns Attack, so already I was on my own against a possibly prepared offensive.

The idea behind the Four Pawns Attack is quite simple - to ground Black down with a pawn offensive through the centre, and use the extra space gained. Black, on the other hand, will hope to undermine the centre with pawn breaks.

5. ....   O-O

The main line, although 5 .. c5 is sometimes seen, either transposing to the main line with 6. d5 O-O or meeting 6. dxc5 with 6. ... Qa5!? and getting the pawn back with 7. Qd2 Qxc5 or, if White feels brave, 7. exd6 Nxe4!

6. e5

Unusual. The main line is 6. Nf3 c5 7. d5 and Black can think about 7. .. e6 or 7 ... Bg4. In this game, White delays castling to build up the offensive.

6. ....  dxe5?!

Already a mistake. Black breaks up his own pawn centre and does nothing to stop White. That pawn on f4 was doing a good job at blocking White's queen bishop.

7. fxe5 Nfd7

I gave some thought to Ne8 but, despite blocking the bishop, moving to d7 looked more natural to support the c5 counter attack. However White himself could now play 8. c5 and Black begins to look uncomfortable already (8. ... Nf6 9. Be3 - 8. .. b6 9. Qf3!). I had also considered whether White could sacrifice a pawn with 8. e6 but saw no danger there.

8. Bg5

Instead White goes for a fascinating plan by using piece play to attack the e7 point.

8. ....  c5

The logical step after the last move. Attempting to dissolve White's centre in Indian opening tradition.

9. Nf3

White continues development. Now I gave a lot of thought to two moves. I was strongly tempted to play 9 .. Nc6 developing and continuing the pressure in the centre. My initial concerns over 9 .. cxd4 revolved around 10. Qxd4 until I saw that 10.  ... Nxe5 would win a pawn. Then I moved on to my other concern about 9. .. cxd4 - which was about bringing both his knights into the centre and possibly ending up on b5 and d5 - which looked rather scary.



After devising a plan to deal with this, I decided to bag the pawn.

9. ...  cxd4
10. Nd5 Nc6
11. Nxd4

The computer now recommends 11. .. Re8. It thinks I was too worried about the e7 point and says that 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Nxe7 (or 13. Bxe7) is nothing to worry about. 13. .. Rxe7 14. Bxe7 Qxe7. White has a rook and a pawn for a knight and a bishop - but the white king is still in the centre and the pawn on e5 will soon be on its way.

11. ...   Ndxe5

But I'll take the pawn anyway.

12. Nb5 f6

I had to do something to push back White's pieces but was not happy with this move which blocks in the bishop. Indeed, this bishop never again sees the light of day. 12. ... h6 13. Be3 Bg4 (13. Bh4 g5) and then e6 would have been a much better plan.

13. Be3

Now looking at the a7 square and also the prospect of squashing the rook. I had to get some space.

13. ...  Bf5

A good square for the bishop but adding further to the restriction imposed to the other bishop.

The line I had looked at was now 14. Ndc7 Rc8 15. Qxd8 Rfxd8 16. Nxa7 Nxa7 17. Bxa7 and then if 17. ... Rxc7 18. Bb6 and after 18. .. Rcd7 19. Bxd8 Rxd8 Black has two pieces for the rook. The computer says this is an easy win for Black but I was not so sure.

I then considered 14. Ndc7 Nb4! and this is indeed a strong move which after 15. Be2 gives Black the choice of Nc2+ or Nbd3+. As I was further examining these lines, and went off to buy another Diet Coke, White played something else.

14. Be2

Preparing to castle and perhaps thinking of g4 one day.

Now another big think as I took a close look at 14. .. e6. The move 15. Ndc7 leads to the same sequence as above although White might, as he did later, opt for 15. Ng4.

However, this is a better move to the one I played. I was concerned about the bishop coming to c5, and also to the diagonal towards a7 and so decided to block both these possibilities.

14. ....  b6

The time control was 35 moves in 75 minutes and then 15 minutes for all the others. By now, White has 40 minutes left for 21 moves and I had 36 minutes left.



I now saw 15. c5 and thought it won straight away. 15. .. bxc5 16. Bxc5 and White has astonishing pressure in the centre as well as, long term, a 2 v1 advantage on the queenside.

But Black has the crafty 16. .. Nd3+! and after 17. Bxd3 Qxd5 all is in order. (18. Nc7?? Qe5+).

15. O-O Rc8

Finally putting an end to Nc7 worries and glancing at that pawn on c4.

16. Qe1!

A neat sidestep with the ideas of putting a rook on d1 (which I saw) and moving the queen into an attack (which I did not).

16. ... e6
17. Nf4 Qe7

Now I was feeling happier. I am still a pawn up and everything seems in order. If only I could exchange a few pieces.

18. Rd1 Rfd8
19. Qg3

This surprised me, as I had expected g4 at some point. I glanced at moves like a sacrifice on g6, or h4-h5 and thought I could hold.

19. ..  Nb4
20. Nd4



I was not afraid of Nxf5 exf5 which I thought looked safe, and decided to bag another pawn.

20. ....  Nxc4

White now tries a sequence of moves with the sacrifice on g6 in mind. I had given this no further thought.

21. Nxf5 exf5
22. Rxd8 Qxd8
23. Bxc4 Rxc4

So I am now two pawns up and seemingly cruising.

24. h3

I had assumed this was to give his king some air. Instead it had been intended to prevent my playing Rg4 after Nxg6 - something else I did not see.

24. ...  Rc2

White now plays his card.

25. Nxg6?! hxg6
26. Qxg6

I now come up with the astonishingly bad plan of seeking to defend with the rook and attack with the queen instead of the other way round.

26. ...  Re2
27. Bh6

After the game I tried out various things from this position but White has an astonishing amount of play.



One line is 27. ... Qe7 28. Rxf5 Re1+ (Kh8?? 29. Bxg7 Qxg7 30. Qh5+) 29. Kh2 Qc7+ 30. Bf4
or my favourite was 27. .. Qc7 (to stop Rxf5) 28. Bf4 Qc5+ 29. Kh1 Nd5 30. Rc1 Qxc1!? 31. Bxc1 Re1+ 32. Kh2 Rxc1 where Black has three pieces for the queen - a very curious ending.

27. ...   Qd4+
28. Kh1 Re7???

28. ... Qd7 simply keeps the advantage. It is premature to say it is definitely winning but at least it keeps those chances.

Although I was unhappy at having, what I considered, to have thrown away a win - hence my blame of 27. .. Qd4+ - in actual fact, the subsequent rook move, I was astonished afterwards to discover, had thrown away a draw too.

29. Bxg7 Rxg7
30. Qe8+ Kh7
31. Qh5+ Kg8



32. Qe8+

and offers a draw (???) which was agreed.

32. Re1! - intending a journey to the e8 square - wins. Black plays 32. .. Qd6 33. Re8+ Qf8 34. Rxf8+ Kxf8 35. Qxf5 and White has a queen and a pawn for a rook and a knight with no chances at all for a fortress.

As expected a tough battle for the first game - and my initial sense of anger and disappointment is replaced by a feeling of relief.