[Event "Barrow Club Championship 23-24"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2024.02.19"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Bunter, Rachel"]
[Black "Mackenzie, Matthew"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D02"]
[WhiteElo "1492"]
[BlackElo "2124"]
[Annotator "Mackenzie,Matt"]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "2024.02.25"]
[SourceVersionDate "2024.02.25"]
1. d4 d5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 g6 4. c3 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O {Rachel has played her
trusted London System, and I deploy my usual response to QP games other than
the Queen's Gambit} 6. Nbd2 b6 7. Be2 Bb7 8. O-O Nbd7 9. h3 Ne4 {9....c5 is
more often played and probably a bit better, but this is perfectly OK and
contains a little trap} 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Ng5 $2 {played instantly, 11 Ne5 is
correct and probably about equal, though White's resultant e5 pawn after
exchanging can become a bit of a target} h6 {obviously, but as we now see
White gets some play for the piece} 12. Nxf7 {making the best of a bad job}
Kxf7 {not 12....Rf7? 13 Bc4 and White will win the exchange back whilst having
messed up Black's pawn structure} 13. Qb3+ e6 14. Bc4 Kg8 {the computer says
Black can try to hold the e6 pawn with moves like 14...Re8 or 14....Qe7 and
still emerge better, but this is what many people might play, giving up
another pawn to get the K into relative safety again} 15. Bxe6+ Kh7 16. Bd5 {
White seems to have real pressure here, and may well have been hoping to get a
third pawn for the piece, however Black has a strong reply} Nc5 $3 17. dxc5
Qxd5 {17...Bd5 may be even better, but I was worried about that piece
subsequently getting pinned} 18. Qxd5 Bxd5 19. Bxc7 {or 19 cb6 cb6 and White's
material deficit remains} bxc5 20. Bd6 Rfc8 21. Rfd1 Bc4 22. Bh2 {a passive
looking square even if it remains a very annoying piece even here} Bd3 23. f3
c4 24. fxe4 Bxe4 25. Rd7 {and now Be5 is a very annoying threat} Rd8 26. Rad1
Bd3 27. Rb7 Kg8 {slowly, Black is unfreeing his position, after which the
material advantage is likely to tell} 28. Re1 Be4 29. Re7 Re8 30. Rc7 Bd3 31.
Bd6 Re6 32. Bc5 a5 33. Bd4 {the best try, it now occurred to me that the two
united central pawns could prove to be strong quite quickly, fortunately
Black can go to direct attack - especially upon White's weak spot on g2} Bxd4
34. cxd4 Rb6 {White's other long term weak spot on b2 is finally assaulted now}
35. e4 Rxb2 36. e5 Rf8 37. Kh2 Rff2 38. e6 $2 {White now gets mated, but both
the superior alternatives 38 Kg3 and 38 Rg1 were ultimately unavailing} Rxg2+
39. Kh1 Rh2+ 40. Kg1 Rbg2# {despite ultimately losing, Rachel certainly showed
her ability in this game - a good prospect for the future} 0-1