Swale Club Championship - Final Group - Round Four
Thursday 21 June 2018
White: D. Page (135) - Black: K. Nevols (161)
The final game of the championship. Essentially this was a dead rubber as I had finished second, and my opponent had got third. But we had never met before in a classical game.
1. e4 d5
2. exd5 Qxd5
3. Nc3 Qa5
4. d4 Nf6
5. Nf3 Bf5
6. Bd3
The Bd3 variation. Bc4 is more aggressive.
6. ....... e6
7. O-O Bg4
A wasted tempo but I thought I would give it a try. The idea is to encourage the White kingside pawns forward and think about a kingside attack with the king castled queenside.
8. h3 Bh5
9. Ne4 Nbd7
10. Ng3
10. c3! gives White an advantage with an idea of Qb3. I am still setting up my standard Scandinavian defence.
10. .... Bg6
11. Re1 c6
12. Bf4 Nd5
12. ... Be7 is a move to which I gave some thought, but instead decided to give the bishop a kick.
13. Bd2 Qc7
14. Bxg6 hxg6
Nothing much has happened so far, which I was fine with, so White now tries to create an initiative.
15. Qe2 O-O-O
16. c4 Nf4
16. ... N5f6 is probably better, but I like putting the knight on this square.
17. Qe4 Nh5
18. Nxh5 Rxh5
It is difficult for White to create an advantage in this position - Black is very solid. Equally, it was not easy to see how Black could counter attack.
19. Bf4 Bd6
20. Bxd6 Qxd6
21. Rad1 Nf6
The computer now rates this as completely equal.
22. Qe3 Kb8
Protecting the a-pawn and tucking the king away.
23. Ne5 Qc7
24. b4
24. g4! is dangerous, after 24. ... Rhh8 25. g5 Nh5 26. Qf3 Rhf8 27. Re3 and White is gaining space, or 25. ... Ne8 26. c5 putting together a queenside initiative with b4.
24. .... Rdh8
25. Kf1
Moving towards an escape hole to avoid ideas of tactics based around Rh1+. I have to confess that I was running out of things to do. The idea of g5-g4 was kept in reserve.
25. ... Qe7
26. Qg3 Ka8
27. a3 Rd8
28. Qe3 Nd7
I would not have taken the knight on e5 as, after dxe5, White has a good square on d6 if he gets the chance to use it. But I was surprised when White decided to relinquish this good knight.
29. Nxd7?! Rxd7
30. Qf3 Rf5
31. Qe3 Qf6
32. f3?
I had expected 32. Re2 or Rd2 to meet 32. .. Rf4 with doubling the rooks on the d-file, as my next move forces the d-pawn to advance and I can mop it up.
32. .... Rf4
33. d5 exd5
34. Qxf4
Nice way to exchange queens.
34. .... Qxf4
35. Re8+ Qb8
36. Rxb8+ Kxb8
37. cxd5 cxd5?!
I now think 37. .. Rxd5 would have been better. I thought having a passed pawn would be a great asset but it is quite easy for White to block.
38. Ke2 Kc7
39. Kd3 Kd6
40. f4 Re7
41. Rc1 Re4
42. g3 f5?!
At this stage I was beginning to feel confident. The doubled g-pawns negate the advantage somewhat so ... f6 preparing g5 may have been more accurate. Re8 would also have prevented the upcoming infiltration.
43. Rc8! Re1
44. Rd8+ Kc6
45. Rc8+ Kd7
Now White could get the pawn back by 46. Rg8 Re7 47. Kd4 Ke6 48. Rd8.
46. Rc3?! Rd1+
47. Ke2 Rh1
48. h4 Rh2+
49. Kd3 Rg2
50. Kd4 Kd6
51. Rd3 Re2
It was now late at night and I offered the draw which was accepted. Black could have played on by advancing the queenside pawns but with the weak g-pawns it is unclear if the position is winning.
Thus ended the 2017-2018 Swale Chess Club Championship and I had finished second.
