[Event "Bedfordshire County Championship"]
[Site "Bedford"]
[Date "1988.09.27"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Perkins, Andrew"]
[Black "Ledger, Stephen"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B30"]
[WhiteElo "2103"]
[BlackElo "2200"]
[Annotator "Andrew Perkins"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventType "team"]
[SourceVersionDate "2022.04.18"]
{This particular year it was a very close finals. Paul Habershon won the title with three wins and a draw. I came second with two wins and two draws. Steve Ledger came third with two wins and two losses. One of his wins was against his brother Andrew who came fourth with two losses, one win and a draw. The draw incidentally was with myself. In fifth place was a young player B Wiggington with four losses. Habershon's main strength was that kept his never under tension in the finals. Steve Ledger at this time was quite successful, winning in money at major events. In this event he was let down with a weakness playing black. Andrew Ledger had won it twice consecutively the previous two years but he wasn't so consistent this year. Time control was thirty six moves in ninety minutes, then twenty four moves per hour thereafter. Steve Ledger and I had scored two our three up to our match below.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Nf6 4. Nc3 Nd4 5. e5 Nxb5 6. Nxb5 Nd5 7. O-O a6 8. c4 Nb4 {Whether we knew it or not, this followed a game that Jim Plaskett played against Jiri Lechtynsky at the Banja Luka International Tournament in Yugoslavia 1985. The event was won by the women's world champion Maya Chiburdanidze of the Soviet Union.} ({Lechtynsky played} 8... Nc7 {and won Plaskett in 28 moves after} 9. Nxc7+ Qxc7 10. d4 {The main reason Black lost was because his Kingside was slow in development. Ledger's 8th was an improvement but he was later to have similar difficulty in Kingside development.}) 9. Nc3 d6 10. exd6 Qxd6 11. d4 cxd4 12. Nxd4 e5 13. a3 {I noticed he was using more time, so I kept the game complicated.} Qxd4 ({If he had played} 13... exd4 {then} 14. Ne4 {attacking the Queen and the Knight.}) 14. axb4 Qxd1 15. Rxd1 Be6 ({He didn't like} 15... Bxb4 16. Nd5) 16. c5 {Defending two pawns with one move.} Rd8 17. Be3 Bb3 {I think this is an error; it gives White a temp.} 18. Rxd8+ Kxd8 19. b5 axb5 20. Nxb5 Kd7 21. Ra8 {This is shows Black's Kingside difficulties.} g6 22. Rb8 Bd5 ({If} 22... Kc6 23. Nd6) 23. Nc3 Bc6 24. b4 Kc7 {Rescuing the Bishop.} 25. Ra8 Bg7 26. Ra3 e4 27. b5 Bd7 ({If} 27... Bxc3 {We have} 28. Bf4+) 28. Nd5+ Kd8 29. Ra8+ Bc8 30. Nb6 Ke7 31. Rxc8 Rxc8 32. Nxc8+ Ke6 33. Nd6 b6 34. cxb6 Kxd6 35. Bf4+ {Black resigned and lost on time.} 1-0