[Event "4NCL Division 3 North"] [Site "Bolton, ENG"] [Date "2022.02.12"] [Round "3.25"] [White "Grobler, David"] [Black "Thompson, Keith"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C02"] [WhiteElo "1658"] [BlackElo "1944"] [Annotator "Gardiner,Eric"] [PlyCount "78"] [EventDate "2022.02.12"] [WhiteTeam "Bradford DCA Knights B"] [BlackTeam "Hull & East Riding Tigers"] {[%evp 0,78,19,38,30,51,38,33,13,1,7,6,-13,3,9,-8,3,1,7,28,9,18,17,21,20,6,11, 8,44,18,18,0,33,34,36,7,27,2,-5,-2,51,40,55,54,33,-1,63,32,6,-37,-43,-43,-33, -25,-25,-16,-28,-30,-54,-96,-79,-96,-96,-96,0,0,-21,-178,-198,-193,-204,-330, -331,-344,-226,-246,-247,-253,-207,-262,-249]} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Qb6 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. a3 {A popular line in the Advance French. This is strategically complicated as many plans are available to both sides and both sides can play for a win.} Nh6 {Black can also aim for the the f5-square via 6. ..Nge7 ruling out the Bxh6 capture. Other plans include: preventing White's intended b2-b4 by 6...a5 or by 6...c4; rapid queenside development with 6... Bd7 and ...Rc8 and; the undermining 6...f6.} 7. b4 ({In these Advance French positions, both sides have to check whether} 7. Bxh6 {is playable: in this position it isn't as Black can play} Qxb2 {and his queen won't get trapped after} 8. Be3 Qxa1) 7... cxd4 8. cxd4 ({But here} 8. Bxh6 {can be played as an intermezzo if White wishes.}) 8... Nf5 9. Bb2 (9. Be3 {is the other way to defend d4 although a bit less popular than 9.Bb2 in my database.}) 9... Bd7 10. g4 {The most popular move.} ({In my own games from the White side of this position, I've found 10.g4 too weakening and have tried} 10. Be2 Be7 11. Qd3 { with the idea of a Nbd2-d3 follow up while maintaining the queen's defence of the d4-pawn.}) 10... Nfe7 11. Nc3 Ng6 12. Na4 Qd8 ({At first sight} 12... Qc7 { keeping the queen "developed" might look more natural but White's rook will be coming to c1.}) 13. Rc1 Be7 14. Nc5 Bxc5 15. dxc5 {[%CAl Gb2e5] Illustrating one advantage of the bishop's development to b2: it now gains in scope and deters the typical ...f6 break in the French. Nevertheless, Black has other options.} Nh4 16. b5 {This looks aggressive but Black has enough free squares and the advanced white pawns become targets very soon.} ({In the one game in my database to get this far, White played the natural} 16. Nxh4) 16... Nxf3+ 17. Qxf3 Ne7 18. h4 Qa5+ 19. Qc3 Qa4 20. Qb4 Qxb4+ 21. axb4 {With the queens now exchanged, White won't be setting up a kingside mate.} O-O 22. h5 $6 { This would make more sense with queens still on the board.} ({White should prefer to get his rook active with} 22. Rh3) 22... a6 $6 (22... a5 {was playable and would transpose to the game after} 23. bxa6) 23. bxa6 ({Here David missed the interesting possibility of} 23. c6 {and if} bxc6 {then} 24. bxa6 {when the passed a-pawn is annoying for Black}) 23... bxa6 24. Ra1 Rfb8 25. Bc3 Nc6 26. Rxa6 Rxa6 27. Bxa6 Nxb4 28. Be2 {David presumably wanted to retain his bishops but this loses time. White's main trump is his passed c-pawn rather than the bishop pair as the fixed central pawns impede their mobility.} (28. Bxb4 Rxb4 29. Kd2 {was an attempt to gain an endgame initiative by offering material in a different way to White's 29th. Play could continue} Rxg4 30. Rb1 Kf8 31. Rb6 {and it seems from a very quick check with an engine that Black will have to give up his bishop for the passed c-pawn but will pick up enough pawns to draw}) 28... Na6 29. Bxa6 {I'm assuming this was an exchange sacrifice where White was relying on his passed c-pawn but missed a defensive resource for Keith rather than a blunder!} (29. O-O {allows Black to capture the pawn with} Nxc5 {when White will have to play for a draw by exchanging as many pawns as possible.}) (29. Bd4 {defending the pawn fails to} Rb1+ 30. Bd1 Rb4) 29... Rb1+ 30. Kd2 Rxh1 31. Bb7 Rg1 32. f3 (32. c6 {does win Black's last minor piece but the rook looks stronger than the bishops and the pawns after} Bxc6 33. Bxc6 Rxg4) 32... Rf1 33. Ke2 ({Alternatively} 33. Ke3 Bb5 34. c6 Rd1 35. c7 Rd3+ 36. Kf2 Rxc3 37. c8=Q+ Rxc8 38. Bxc8 Kf8 {isn't a lot of fun for White. Bad French bishops become good if you are patient!}) 33... Bb5+ $1 {Did White miss this when he played 29.Bxa6?} 34. Ke3 Rd1 35. Bb2 ({ The rook is just in time to come back to the defence after} 35. c6 Rd3+ 36. Kf4 Rxc3) 35... Rd3+ 36. Kf4 Rd2 37. Bc3 Rc2 38. Bd4 h6 39. Ke3 Kf8 {White could play on for a little bit here but with an extra 50 minutes added to the clock at move 40 in the 4NCL league time control the chances of saving the game are very slight. An interesting French from Keith where the bad French bishop eventually found activity and contributed to the win on the b5-square!} 0-1 [Event "4NCL Division 3 North"] [Site "Bolton, ENG"] [Date "2022.02.12"] [Round "3.26"] [White "Varley, Joe"] [Black "Connor, Michael I"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B04"] [WhiteElo "1969"] [BlackElo "1588"] [Annotator "Gardiner,Eric"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2022.02.12"] [WhiteTeam "Hull & East Riding Tigers"] [BlackTeam "Bradford DCA Knights B"] {[%evp 0,57,19,38,89,89,79,48,44,44,63,18,36,5,21,-9,-12,-18,5,-43,2,23,16,28, 34,8,91,57,64,44,48,45,76,149,157,139,177,175,329,308,333,374,354,354,348,359, 361,382,389,356,437,448,456,491,507,479,494,537,526,568]} 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 {Along with 4.c4, this is one of the main continuations against Alekhine's Defence.} g6 5. Bd3 $6 {5.Bc4 and 5.Be2 are more common here. The main drawback with Joe's move is that it blocks the d-file. Also White will need to take measures against a later ...Nb4. In fact, 5.Bd3 scores very poorly for White in my database although Joe's game will help White's scoring percentage if it gets onto the main databases!} Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 Nc6 8. h3 ({In view of Black's positional threat of ...dxe5 there is an argument for} 8. exd6 {here. After Black's last move, White won't be able to avoid ending up with a pawn on e5 if Black plays ...dxe5. I would prefer to avoid this as White as the pawn structure is then symmetrical and the e5-pawn might become a weakness later.}) 8... Re8 $6 {This looks a bit odd as the e-file won't open for Black unless White obliges with exd6.} ({Here I think Black should play} 8... dxe5 {when White has to play} 9. dxe5 (9. Nxe5 { can be met by} Nxd4) {Then after} 9... Ndb4 {Black will gain the bishop pair}) 9. Bf1 $5 {I'm not sure why Joe played this but perhaps he wanted to tempt Black's next move anticipating the game continuation?} (9. c4 $2 Ndb4 {is a typical move in the Alekhine that White needs to watch out for}) ({I would prefer} 9. a3 {followed by a pawn expansion on the queenside rather than the kingside where White has already castled. However Black can again free his position somewhat with} dxe5) 9... Bf5 {Time for a tactics exercise!} ({ It was still not too late for} 9... dxe5) 10. g4 $6 ({Joe's move is OK and a natural follow up but switching on my engine shows that White had the stronger continuation} 10. e6 $1 {here with the tactical points} fxe6 ({Alternatively} 10... Bxe6 {also loses material after} 11. c4 Nb6 12. d5 {although} Bxh3 13. gxh3 Ne5 {[%csl Yb2,Yc4,Yh3][%CAl Gg7a1] gives Black two pawns for his piece and some compensation as some of White's remaining pawns are weak}) {and only now} 11. g4 {trapping the bishop!}) 10... Bd7 11. c4 Nb6 {In typical fashion for the Alekhine, Black's minor pieces are pushed back. Is he well set up for counterbreaks against the White pawns? The ideal break looks to be ...c7-c5 but this will take some moves to achieve. The bishop on d7 is a problem as it gets in the way of Black's other pieces. In the Alekhine, Black often plays his light-squared bishop to g4 so that if nothing else it can be exchanged for the knight on f3, improving his cramped position.} 12. Nc3 h6 {This move is unnecessary.} 13. Bf4 dxe5 14. Nxe5 Nxe5 15. Bxe5 {Now exchanges are fine for White as the e-file is half-open (i.e. open for White) so that he has pressure against the e7-pawn.} f6 $2 ({I would prefer} 15... Bxe5 {when although White has pressure after} 16. Rxe5 {he isn't winning any material immediately. It's still unpleasant for Black though as his minor pieces aren't well-placed (compare this position with one where the knight was on f6, Black had played .. .b6 and his bishop was on b7).}) 16. Bg3 e6 (16... e5 {frees Black's position more but illustrates one of the drawbacks of ...f6 after for example} 17. dxe5 fxe5 18. c5 Nc8 19. Qd5+ {[%csl Yb7][%CAl Gd5g8,Gd5b7]}) 17. Qb3 Kh7 {[%csl Yb7][%CAl Gc4c5] It looks like Mick overlooked Joe's threat here. Black's queenside now disappears into the sea.} (17... c6 {defends against the threat of c5 and Qxb7 but the position is more pleasant to play for White in view of his space advantage. However there are chances to go wrong (e.g. if White advances his kingisde pawns in a careless manner and exposes his own king to a counterattack).}) 18. c5 $1 Nc8 19. Qxb7 Ne7 20. Bxc7 Qc8 21. Bg2 Qxb7 22. Bxb7 Rab8 23. Bxb8 Rxb8 {Black will regain one pawn but has no counterplay after that (...f6 didn't help the dark-squared bishop!) and so the win is quite easy now for White.} 24. Bf3 Rxb2 25. Rab1 Rxb1 26. Rxb1 Bc6 27. Bxc6 Nxc6 28. d5 exd5 29. Nxd5 {I think Joe was the first to finish - a good start for the team in this match!} 1-0 [Event "4NCL Division 3 North"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.02.13"] [Round "4"] [White "Crocker, Philip J"] [Black "Ciuravin, Andrei"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A90"] [WhiteElo "2093"] [BlackElo "2064"] [Annotator "Eric Gardiner"] [PlyCount "140"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Spirit of Atticus"] [BlackTeam "Hull and East Riding Tigers"] {[%evp 0,140,21,34,62,49,71,67,63,65,48,32,75,73,73,76,66,66,60,61,46,0,93,70, 62,63,35,34,41,19,42,-2,-3,10,1,-9,33,-2,-5,-52,-41,-41,11,-22,-25,-80,-80,-93, -103,-100,-100,-94,-52,-73,-76,-61,-48,-55,-52,-73,-51,-57,-43,-49,-26,-73,-56, -86,-101,-110,-90,-106,-101,-113,-88,-80,-88,-89,-82,-96,-102,-113,-100,-116, -121,-129,-139,-134,-139,-139,-139,-188,-130,-110,-110,-107,-92,-114,-100,-102, -35,-19,-26,-250,-274,-262,-263,-289,-289,-301,-297,-297,-289,-297,-277,-299, -294,-312,-265,-312,-312,-305,-329,-315,-315,-315,-503,-686,-547,-686,-686, -746,-939,-1012,-1022,-2374,-29968,-29969,-29970,-29971,-29972,-29973,-29974]} 1. d4 f5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 e6 4. Nf3 d5 5. O-O Bd6 6. c4 c6 {[%csl Gb7,Gc6,Gd5, Ge6,Gf5] The Dutch Stonewall Defence. Like Marmite and perhaps the Colle you either love it or hate it!} 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Qc2 Qe7 9. Bg5 h6 10. Bf4 Ne4 11. Bxd6 Qxd6 12. c5 {I've found one previous game in my database that reached this position via a different move order. As Black's pawns are on light squares and White will be putting more pawns on dark squares, at first sight the exchange of dark-squared bishops would favour White. However, Black has gained central space with ...d5 and ...f5 and will gain control of the centre if he gets the ...e6-e5 break in. As often happens in the French Defence, Black's light-squared bishop starts off bad but improves in the middlegame or the endgame!} Qc7 13. e3 $6 {This looks too slow and ...g5 followed by ...f4 can't be prevented anyway in the long run. As the game continuation shows, White would do better to exchange off his f3-knight and play Ne5 before Black can play ...Nd7.} ({Philip might have rejected the immediate} 13. Ne5 {because of} Nxc5 {but after} 14. Nxd5 (14. dxc5 $2 Qxe5 {wins a pawn}) 14... cxd5 15. Qxc5 Qxc5 16. dxc5 {[%CAl Gb2b4,Ga2a4] the endgame looks nice to play for White }) ({With the aid of an engine, the strongest continuation is apparently} 13. Nxe4 fxe4 {and now} 14. Nh4 $1 {(rather than the natural move to the centre of the board)} (14. Ne5 Nd7 15. Nxd7 Bxd7 {is also assessed as equal by the engine. White can relieve the pressure against f2 with the break} 16. f3) { If Black responds} 14... Nd7 {then the break} (14... g5 {is ineffective since after} 15. Ng6 Rf6 {White does go to the centre with} 16. Ne5 {and now the natural} Nd7 {is strongly met by} 17. Ng4) 15. f3 {is stronger than in the 14. Ne5 line (White hasn't helped Black's development with Ne5xd7)}) ({In the one other game to reach this position, White played} 13. b4 {This game, also between players in the 2000-2200 rating range, was also won by Black.}) 13... Nd7 14. b4 e5 15. dxe5 ({If now} 15. Nxe5 {then after} Nxe5 16. dxe5 Qxe5 { Black gets a strong centralised queen rather than a strong second knight. For example} 17. Rfc1 ({White could again try} 17. Nxe4 fxe4 18. a4 {solving the a-file problem for now but Black's central control and extra space must mean his chances are preferable. From here, play could continue} Bd7 19. Ra2 Rf7 20. Qb2 {although I think White should hold the endgame if Black exchanges queens}) 17... Bd7 18. Ne2 a5 {and now the positionally desirable} 19. a3 {[%CAl Ya8a1, Ge5a1] is unplayable because of the insufficiently defended rook on a1}) 15... Nxe5 16. Nd4 Bd7 17. Nce2 Nc4 18. Nf4 {Again, White's play with the Nc3-e2-f4 manoeuvre looks too slow. The knights are aesthetically pleasing placed in a row but of course Black's are on White's side of the board and therefore more aggressively placed. The c5-pawn in theory supports a knight on d6 but White can't get a knight to this square.} Rae8 19. Rad1 a5 $1 {Another thematic break.} 20. b5 Rf6 21. b6 {Once again, White's extra space on the queenside counts for less than Black's in the centre and the base of this small pawn chain (c5) is easier to attack and harder to defend than Black's base on b7 or his pawn on a5.} Qe5 22. Nd3 Qe7 23. Rc1 Nxc5 {Winning a pawn for now, although Philip might have planned the exchange sacrifice that follows a few moves later around this point.} 24. Nb2 Nxb2 25. Qxc5 Qxc5 26. Rxc5 Ra8 $6 ({ Here Black could simply defend the a5-pawn with} 26... Nc4 {when the sacrifice played in the game works less well as after} 27. Rxd5 cxd5 28. Bxd5+ Kh7 29. Bxc4 {Black has} Rxb6) 27. Rb1 Nc4 ({Black does not have to allow White's sacrifice and could play} 27... Na4 {here although after} 28. Rcc1 {the knight has no squares to move to for the moment.}) 28. Rxd5 {I'd guess that both players saw this coming a couple of moves in advance. Philip frees his position somewhat and possibly Andrei was confident he could win the endgame so allowed the sequence to happen.} cxd5 29. Bxd5+ Kh7 30. Bxc4 {So White ends up with a pawn for the exchange and a stable central knight as compensation. Andrei's excellent technique from now on though means his 5-point rook beats the 4-point knight plus pawn combination.} a4 31. a3 Rd6 32. Rb4 Rf8 33. Bb5 Bxb5 34. Rxb5 g6 35. Ra5 Rxb6 36. Rxa4 {Exchanging all queenside pawns will improve White's drawing chances but unfortunately won't be sufficient.} Rf7 37. Rc4 Kg7 38. h4 Kf6 39. a4 Re7 40. Kg2 Rb2 {[%csl Ye3] Illustrating that White's pawn chain isn't as strong as it first looks.} 41. Kf3 g5 {Good technique, gaining space on the kingside. If White could exchange all but one pawn to get down to N+P vs R+P on the kingside with Black's last pawn not too far advanced he would reach a theoretical draw (these situations are covered in, for example, Dvoretsky's Endgame Manual). Andrei prevents this situation from arising by advancing his g-pawn.} 42. hxg5+ hxg5 43. Rc5 g4+ $1 {Another key move. Although exact calculation to the finish is impossible, Andrei might well have anticipated the manner in which the game finished at this point.} 44. Kg2 Re5 45. Rc8 Ra2 (45... Rxe3 {was already playable here. However as Black has a stable advantage and White has no source of counterplay, there is no need to hurry. The combination of Andrei's quickly played moves but lack of haste in trying to win the position must have been difficult for Philip to deal with.}) 46. Rf8+ Kg6 47. Rg8+ Kf7 48. Rb8 Rb2 49. Nb5 Rxe3 50. Nd6+ Kf6 51. Rxb7 (51. Nxb7 {loses immediately to} Rf3 {[%emt 0:00:06] and it's mate in 6.}) 51... Rxb7 52. Nxb7 Ra3 53. a5 Ra1 {Thanks to the space gained with ... g5-g4, Black can just simply win the a-pawn, bring his king round through the centre and eventually sacrifice his rook for the knight to get a winning king and pawn ending.} 54. Nd6 ({If White tries to retain his pawn with} 54. Kh2 { then Black can continue} Ke5 55. Kg2 Kd5 (55... Ke4 {is less accurate as} 56. Nd6+ {forks f5 and the king and forces Black to retreat with} Ke5) 56. Kh2 { and now the king and rook work together to trap the knight after} Rb1 57. Nd8 ( {or} 57. a6 Ra1) 57... Rb8 58. Nf7 Rg8) 54... Rxa5 55. Nc4 ({If} 55. f4 { then the quickest finish is to trap the knight again with} Rc5 {for example} 56. Nb7 Rd5 {[%CAl Rb7d6,Rb7d8,Rb7c5,Rb7a5]}) ({If} 55. f3 {Black can simply play} Ra2+ 56. Kg1 gxf3) 55... Ra2 56. Ne3 Ra1 57. Nc2 Rc1 58. Ne3 Kg5 (58... Ke5 {is quicker here but as on move 45 there's no need for Black to hurry with his plan.}) 59. Nf1 Kf6 60. Ne3 Ke5 61. Nf1 Ke4 62. Nd2+ Kd3 63. Nf1 Re1 64. Nh2 Re8 65. Nf1 Ke2 66. Nh2 Ke1 67. f4 (67. Nf1 {is of course met by} Re2) 67... Re2+ 68. Kg1 Rxh2 69. Kxh2 Kf2 70. Kh1 Kxg3 {Very instructive play from Andrei on how to win a rook vs knight plus extra pawn endgame. Sitting next to him, I was amazed to see that with the added 50 minutes at move 40 to the 1 hour 40 minutes assigned at the beginning of the game his clock read over 2 hours' time left at the end of the game!} 0-1