[Event "WDCL Div 1"]
[White "Johnson, Iain"]
[Black "Hill, Dave"]
[Site ""]
[Round ""]
[Annotator "Damian"]
[Result "1-0"]
[Date "2019.10.09"]
[PlyCount "47"]
{This was the board three game where Iain Johnson
was paired against Dave Hill. Dave is an extremely experienced player with a
huge amount of knowledge about the game of chess. I always find when I hear
him analyse chess games that I learn something new about the game. In this
game however Iain doesn't give poor Dave a moments respite to demonstrate his
ability, Iain sets about in Gambit style from the word go and quickly gets a
winning position!} 1. e4 c5 2. b4 cxb4 3. a3 e5 {This setup is recommended
by Roman Dzindzichashvili as a good way of nullifying Whites wing gambit play,
basically Black will seek to play an e4-e5 style game where he has grabbed an
extra pawn. Systems with d5 are equally promising for Black also but at these
short time controls a wing gambit can still provide plenty of chances for
white due to the dynamic nature of the position.} 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bc4 bxa3 6. 0-0 Bc5 {This would seem to be a perfectly natural developing move but in fact it
may be a serious error and the start of black's problems in this game. The
problem is that white will now be able to commit to an easy plan of c3-d4
which will now come with gain of tempo.} 7. c3 Qb6 {Trying to stop white's d4
but this is only a temporary solution as white will be able to shift the queen
from this square with a timely Rb1, so you can argue that this is a 2nd tempo
thrown away by black in the first 7 moves! Despite his moves seemingly being
logical.} 8. Nxa3 Nge7 9. d4 {He plays it anyway! Excellent play by Johnson
who is all to familiar with the tactical themes of these sort of positions,
White must keep playing dynamically to prove compensation.} exd4 10. Rb1 Qd8 11. cxd4 {White is much better, he has taken total control of the centre and
all of his pieces are active. Black is yet to castle, no centre to speak of
undeveloped pieces and is having to waste more time with the bishop. All of
this for the cost of a mere pawn!} Bd6 (11... Bxa3 {not a nice move to have to
play as the dark squares look terminally weak but perhaps this was the best
try to hang in the game.} 12. Bxa3 0-0 13. e5 d5 14. exd6 Nf5 15. d7 {this
still looks pretty dreadful for black however} )12. e5 (12. Ng5 0-0 13. Qh5 h6 14. Nxf7 Rxf7 15. Qxf7+ Kh8 16. Rb3 {also looks very scary} )Bb8 13. Nb5 d5 14. exd6 Bxd6 15. Ng5 0-0 {Trying to get to safety on the kingside but now
Iain begins his attack exploiting the freedom his pieces enjoy} 16. Qh5 Bf5 17. Nxf7 Rxf7 18. Qxf7+ Kh8 19. Rb3 Na5 20. Nxd6 {White cashes in as black knight
on e7 (the only defender of f5) is overloaded.} (20. Bh6 {was also good enough} )Qxd6 21. Ba3 Qxd4 22. Bxe7 Nxc4 23. Qxf5 Nd2 24. Rd3 {At this point
black decided too much material had been lost and called it a day. A terrific
attacking game by Iain played in typical style.} 1-0