[Event "Soton League vs Fareham"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.11.12"] [Round "?"] [White "Melling, Hugo"] [Black "Ursell, Richard"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E11"] [Annotator "Annotated by Hugo with extra notes by Peter"] [PlyCount "110"] [EventDate "2025.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2019.03.01"] {[%evp 0,110,25,25,28,-18,-11,-11,30,30,56,40,40,40,38,38,46,38,48,28,33,32,27,20,23,22,22,6,22,5,5,-10,31,8,43,53,50,41,49,46,49,30,23,15,88,25,31,25,25,-4,48,39,36,36,36,35,35,21,21,17,27,-13,33,31,33,33,34,34,26,34,49,47,66,52,61,59,127,54,100,41,66,32,40,2,0,0,29,24,45,52,67,-101,-101,-109,-101,-124,0,0,0,0,2,0,0,0,0,-114,-43,-90,-91,-148,-85,-120,-71]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 Bb4+ {The Bogo-Indian, a viable option} (3... d5 {Is more common, transposing to a QGD}) 4. Bd2 Qe7 5. Qc2 Bxd2+ 6. Nbxd2 Nc6 7. e3 (7. e4 {taking the whole centre in one go, is also a good option but the engine evaluates them both similarly}) 7... b6 8. a3 Bb7 9. Be2 d6 10. O-O O-O 11. Rfe1 {looking to support the e4 push in the future} h6 12. Rad1 Rfe8 13. Nb3 {not quite the right square for the knight. The engine prefers 13. Nb1 to c3 supporting the centre and preparing d5. (Peter: White will probably want to play b4 at some stage and the knight gets in the way on b3. As we will see, the knight also prevents White from being able to respond effectively to a5 by Black)..} Nd7 14. e4 {White finally grabs the centre and looks to play d5 with tempo} a5 {taking space on the queenside and looking to kick out the misplaced knight on b3 (Peter: Black should be aiming to play a4 so that if White plays b4 it can always be met my axb3 leaving White with a vulnerable a-pawn. Black's pawn on a4 could be defended by Nc5 and if needs be Bc8 and Bd7. Therefore White would like to be able to respond now by playing b3 but cannot as the knight is on that sqiare)} 15. Bf1 (15. d5 $11 {Immediately was better}) 15... f6 $14 {Black could have got an advantage with e5 either immediately or after with a4 chucked in first. (Peter: Instead, playing f6 weakens g6 and allows White to play Nh4. On this and many subsequent moves, Black should have taken the opportunity to play a4 as per the note to the previous move)} (15... e5 $15 {is likely to transpose to 15...a4}) (15... a4 $1 16. Nc1 e5 17. d5 Nd8 $15 {although this evaluation doesn't seem obvious as nearly all of both sides' pieces seem clumsily placed (Peter: Perhaps the most natural rearrangement of the black pieces is Bc8, Nb7, Nbc5. I suspect the engines score this better for Black because his bishop is better than White's and because of the good knight outpost on c5. However, imagine same position with the black pawn on a5 and the white pawn on b3. White would then clearly stand better, possibly much better, with a ready made plan of playing b4 and c5 at the right moment)}) 16. Qc3 e5 (16... a4 $11 {Still best}) 17. d5 Nd8 {the centre is finally clarified} 18. Nh4 {aiming at the weak light squares towards black's king} Bc8 19. Nf5 (19. Rd3 {with the idea of Rg3 is more challenging}) 19... Qf7 20. Qg3 {threatening Nxh6+ winning the queen} Kh7 {Although both of White's previous two moves seem natural White lacks a decent follow up. 19. or 20. Rd3 bringing the rooks into the attack would have been better} 21. Nd2 Nf8 (21... a4 $11) 22. Nh4 (22. b4 $14) 22... Ng6 (22... a4 $15) 23. Nxg6 Qxg6 24. Qh4 {The strong knight is kicked off of its square and traded, Black tries to trade as much material as possible taking the sting out of any remaining attack} (24. b3 $11) (24. Qxg6+ Kxg6 25. b3 $11) 24... Nf7 (24... a4 $15) 25. Be2 Qg5 26. Qxg5 Nxg5 (26... hxg5 {(Peter: This looks more combative, aiming to target the h2 pawn)}) 27. h4 Nf7 28. b3 {(Peter: at last! Black has missed his opportunity to play a4. Now b4 and c5 is always on the cards for White)} Bd7 {the queens are traded and we now enter a roughly equal endgame} 29. Bd3 Rg8 30. f4 {putting pressure on Black's centre (Peter: this is a trappy move but concedes e5 or allows Black to open lines in front of the White king)} g5 {Better options were 30...Bg4, 30...g6 and 30...h5} (30... exf4 $2 31. e5+ Kh8 32. e6 {winning a piece}) (30... g6 31. fxe5 (31. g3 Bg4 32. Rb1 exf4 33. gxf4 Kh8 $1 $15 {Intending g5}) (31. Rf1 exf4 32. Rxf4 Ne5 $15) 31... Nxe5 $15) 31. hxg5 hxg5 (31... Bg4 32. Rb1 fxg5 33. f5 $11) 32. f5 $14 {(Peter: White always has the b4 c5 plan here so ought to be slightly better but in the absence of dark squared bishops Black should be able to defend against that OK as long as his pieces can reach the queenside OK).} Kg7 33. Kf2 Rh8 34. Rh1 Nh6 35. Be2 Be8 $16 36. Ra1 Bf7 37. b4 Rh7 $18 {(Peter: Black has spent the last few moves misplacing his pieces and can no longer defend the queenside if White strikes quickly)} 38. g3 (38. c5 $18 {(Peter: This natural break is very strong and the resulitng positions are easy to play for White e.g).} bxc5 (38... Rhh8 39. cxb6 cxb6 40. Nc4) 39. bxc5 dxc5 (39... Rb8 40. Rab1 Rhh8 41. cxd6 cxd6 42. Nc4 Rhd8 43. Rxb8 Rxb8 44. Nxd6) 40. Rab1 Rhh8 41. Rhc1 Rhb8 (41... Rhc8 42. Rxc5) 42. Rxc5 $18) 38... Rhh8 39. Kg2 (39. c5 {is still strong}) 39... Be8 40. Nb3 {(Peter: Hugo was very short of time at this point and presumably just missed Black's reply. This loses nearly all of White's advantage - the knight should have been heading towards c4 after White has played c5. Hereafter there are quite a ot of errors from both sides as they try to navigate a fiddly position with little time).} (40. Rhc1 $16) (40. c5 $16) 40... Ba4 41. Nc1 Bc2 $11 42. Bd3 Bxd3 43. Nxd3 axb4 (43... Nf7 $11) 44. axb4 Ng4 45. Rxh8 Rxa1 46. Rc8 Ra2+ {some shuffling and simplification due to time pressure} 47. Kf1 (47. Kg1 $11) 47... Ne3+ (47... Nh2+ 48. Kg1 Nf3+ 49. Kf1 Nd2+ {picking up the e4 pawn and Black is much better}) 48. Ke1 Ra7 49. c5 Nc2+ 50. Kd2 Nd4 51. cxd6 cxd6 52. Kc1 {another time-induced mistake in what was a drawn endgame} (52. Ne1 $11) (52. Nf2 $11) 52... Ne2+ (52... Ra1+ 53. Kd2 Ra2+ 54. Kd1 Rg2 {is advantageous for Black}) 53. Kd2 (53. Kb2 {kept the game close, stopping any infiltration of the rook but as the game went White was in trouble} Nxg3 54. Nf2) 53... Nxg3 54. Ke3 Kf7 (54... g4 $19) (54... Ra3 $19) 55. Rc6 (55. Kf3 $11) 55... Ke7 {Not the right idea (it leaves the position drawn after 56.Kf3). A topsy-turvy game with all 3 results possible at various points and a time pressured endgame} (55... g4 $19 {is the correct option and Black will follow up with Ra2 e.g.} 56. Rxb6 Ra2 57. Nc1 (57. Nf2 Re2+) 57... Nf1+ 58. Kd3 g3 59. Rb7+ Kg8 60. Ne2 Rd2+) 1/2-1/2