Lewisham vs Swale - Harvey Cup - Board One
Sunday 22 April 2018
White: M. Stewart (166) - Black: K. Nevols (157)
This was the semi-final of the Harvey Cup, and a Sunday afternoon trip to Lewisham. Playing Black against a better opponent, and a good team, I would have been content with a draw. So it was an outing for the Scandinavian.
This was the semi-final of the Harvey Cup, and a Sunday afternoon trip to Lewisham. Playing Black against a better opponent, and a good team, I would have been content with a draw. So it was an outing for the Scandinavian.
1. e4 d5
2. exd5 Qxd5
3. Qf3
Unusual. I did not like 3. .. Qxf3 4. Nxf3 and decided to seek a queen exchange without loss of tempo.
3. ... Qe5+
Next time I might try 3. ... Nf6.
4. Qe3 Qxe3
5. dxe3 Nc6
Aiming for that c2 point.
6. Nc3 Nb4
7. Bd3 Nxd3+
8. cxd3 Bd7
To prevent Nb5 and prepare castling.
9. Nf3 O-O-O
10. O-O
Now it was time to think of a plan, as the position is dead even. 10. .. Nf6 is the most sensible, but I decide to try to create an initiative. Also I was concerned about the vulnerability of the f7 point and did not want to play Nh6 with the pawn on h7.
10. .... h5?!
As I played this I regretted it. White has time to complete development and I should have done likewise.
11. d4 Nh6
12. b3!
White sensibly decides to utilise his main plus - the half open c-file.
12. .. g6
13. Ba3 Re8
To protect the e7 pawn and allow Bg7.
14. Rac1 Kb8
15. Rc2 c6
An ugly move that I did not like but I was struggling to see how I could take the initiative.
16. Rfc1 Bg7
17. h3 Nf5
18. Na4?!
18. Ne4 is better which would have prevented my next move.
18. .... Nd6
19. Nc5 Bf5
Now with a grip on the e4 square, I felt more comfortable and thought I could see a way to force some exchanges.
20. Rd2 Ne4
21. Nxe4 Bxe4
22. Ng5 Bd5
White could now play 23. e4. The reply 23. ... Be6 24. Nxe6 fxe6 looks ugly but hold-able. Or Black could try 23. .. Bh6 24. h4 Bxg5 25. hxg5 Bxe4 26. Re2 Bf5 27. Bxe7 with an even position but White having a slight edge.
Another idea would be 23. f4 and then Ng5-f3-e5.
23. h4 Bf6
I decided I wanted this knight to go. Now 24. e4 Bxg5 transposes to the above variation.
The computer recommends 23. .. f6 24. Nh3 e5 with some energy.
24. f3 Bxg5
25. hxg5 f5
To keep an eye on the e4 square, give the bishop a square to drop back to, and hopefully move the backward e-pawn.
26. gxf6 exf6
27. e4 Bf7
28. Bd6+ Ka8
White's plus is the majority in the centre and he now seeks to get that going.
29. d5 cxd5
30. exd5
30. Rc7! is the best move upsetting Black's defensive lines and giving White a clear advantage.
30. ... Be6 31. exd5 Bc8 32. Be7! or 30. ... Bg8 31. exd5 and White is better.
30. ..... Rd8
Now 31. Rc7 can be met by 31. .. Rxd6 32. Rxf7 Rhd8 and everything is in place.
31. Be7 Rxd5
32. Rxd5 Bxd5
33. Bxf6 Re8
34. Kf2 a6
Defending the back rank and placing the last pawn on a white square.
35. Rd1
With this move White offered a draw, with an even position and opposite coloured bishops, which I accepted.
The match was very close and went all the way to a tie. However we lost on board count as they won on boards 3 and 5 to our 4 and 6.
Lewisham v Swale
Martin Stewart (166) 1/2-1/2 Keith Nevols (157)
David Brown (152) 1/2-1/2 Rob Woolacott (130)
Gokhan Kizilay (139) 1-0 Vytautas Gedminas (130)
David Moss (99) 0-1 Tyrone Jefferies (116)
Angelo Jara Nata (100) 1-0 Andrew Gillard (107)
Cristiano Marchettini (92) 0-1 Barry Sawyer (83)
Lewisham 3-3 Swale (Lewisham win on board count)
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