[Event "Peninsular Cup Final"]
[White "Lyon, Keith"]
[Black "Cole, Steve"]
[Site ""]
[Round ""]
[Annotator "Steve Cole"]
[Result "0-1"]
[Date "2020.02.26"]
[PlyCount "76"]
{I
remember playing Keith a couple of years ago also in the Peninsula Cup Final,
We had a very close encounter but I allowed myself to get very short on time,
and eventually lost, this loss handed St Helens the cup. So hopefully this
time I could avoid the same fate} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be6 8. Be3 Nbd7 9. Qd2 Be7 10. f3 Rc8 11. g4 {The
Najdorf Sicilian - English attack, all book so far, the normal move here s 11..
..b5 and we have a double edged attack white throwing pawns down the kingside
black down the queenside} h6 12. h4 b5 13. a3 Bc4 14. Kf2 {This move came as a
complete surprise to me I had expected 14.0-0-0. It connects the rooks but
white now cannot open lines on the kingside with his king on that side.} Nb6 15. Na5 Nfd7 16. Kg3 Qc7 {the last few moves were all logical but I was
beginning to feel that I was losing control of the position. I felt that White
was clearly better here. 17.Nxc4 Nxc4 18.Bxc4 bxc4 and white establishes a
knight on d5 and black will have a very uncomfortable time defending.
Fortunately, White chooses a different path} 17. Rad1 Bxe2 18. Qxe2 0-0 {
A big sigh of relief. Black can safely castle as the white kings position
makes it unlikely that any assault on the kingside will work - I was feeling
much better about my position. The computer agrees the position is level} 19. Rd2 Nc5 20. Rhd1 Rfd8 21. b4 {White offered a draw here. If he had offered
a draw a move earlier I probably would have accepted but the move b4 weakens
whites queenside pawns I thought black has a slight edge now - the computer
confirms this view} Nca4 22. Bxb6 {forced} Nxb6 23. Nd5 Nxd5 24. exd5 Qc3 {
?! Time was now becoming a factor in the game - I rushed this move thinking my
queen would be blockaded by the knight jumping into c6. However although it
looks well placed on c6 the knight is not a problem. Black should play 24...
Rf8 and start breaking up the white defences on the kingside. Keith was now in
time trouble.} 25. Nc6 Re8 26. Qd3 Qxd3 27. Rxd3 Bf6 28. Rc1 {? A mistake in
time trouble. White has to stop black infiltrating down the e file with Re1} e4 29. fxe4 Rxe4 30. Rf3 Rce8 31. Rf4 {?? In time trouble white blunders, now
black wins comfortably} Bxh4+ 32. Kf3 Re3+ 33. Kg2 Re2+ 34. Kg1 Bg5 35. Rff1 R8e4 36. Rcd1 Rxg4+ 37. Kh1 Rh4+ 38. Kg1 {Not one of my better games, but in
the end time was ultimately white's downfall} Be3+ {White resigns} 0-1