Memorable Finish

MY performance at this year's Gibraltar congress was mostly memorable for all the wrong reasons.
I played in the U1900 morning tournaments, Amateurs A (Jan 22-26) and B (Jan 27-31).
My scores of +1=3-1 and +2=1-2 were enough to lose 18 and 24.6 Fide elo.
The following game, one of my three wins, was memorable for a better reason, at least for me. There are some instructive moments during the game, and a sudden finish that is well worth memorising if you have not seen the idea before.
Brian Izzard (1657) - Spanton (1888)
Gibraltar U1900 B (Rd 4), 2018
1.d4 d5 2.Bg5
The game starts as a Pseudo-Trompowsky ...
2...Nf6 3.e3 Nc6 4.Nf3
... morphs into a Torre Attack ...
4...Bg4
... and becomes, at least from Black's viewpoint, a Pseudo-Chigorin.
5.Be2 e6 6.Nbd2 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.h3 Bf5 9.Bb5
Black was threatening to win a pawn, which I thought explained this move. However, after ...
9...a6
... instead of playing Bxc6, Ba4 or Bd3, White chose ...
10.Be2?
The game continued ...
10...Nb4 11.0-0
11.Rc1? Nxa2 is no improvement.
11...Nxc2?
The wrong capture. Correct was 11...Bxc2, forcing White to spend a tempo moving his queen.
12.Rc1 Nb4

Position after Black's 12th move

I had seen that 13.Bg3 was simply met by 13...Nc6. However, it was only after moving that I saw White had ...
13.Qb3
Then came ...
13...Bd6
I played this partly to set a trap that White eventually falls into. The key point is that the bishop protects c7.
But better was 13...a5! and if 14.a3, then 14...a4 15.Qd1 Nd3.
It turns out that 13.Qb3 was not the best move. Instead, Stockfish8 gives 13.Ne5! getting ready to capture twice on c6 after Black's knight on b4 is forced to retreat.
14.Ne5 g5 15.Bg3 0-0
I could see nothing better than to give back the pawn.
16.f4
White is in no hurry to restore material equality. Instead, he hopes to open lines against Black's weakened king.
16...Ne4
Stockfish8 prefers 16...Rb8, but I did not have much faith in Black's resulting passivity.
17.Nxe4 Bxe4 18.a3 Nc6
White has two ways to regain the pawn.
In the post-mortem we looked at lines such as 19.Nxc6 bxc6 20.Rxc6 Rb8 21.Qc3 Rb6 22.Rxb6 cxb6 23.Bxa6, when Black has gone from a pawn up to a pawn down.
Stockfish8 prefers to go a pawn down by 20...Qd7 21.Rxa6 Rxa6 22.Bxa6 c5,when it reckons Black's activity and better piece-coordination give full compensation for the material deficit.
In the game, White chose ...
19.Qxb7??

Black to play and force immediate resignation

19...Na5 0-1

Battersea Update

THE new ECF grades are out, and I have taken a hit - down to 163 from 169 in July.
I have played three times for Battersea this month, losing, winning and drawing.
My updated stats:

Date..........Event..............Colour...Grade...Opponent's Grade...Result
14/9/17.....CLL................White.....169.........183............................L
26/10/17...CLL................White.....169.........197............................L
1/11/17.....LL...................Black.....169.........158............................W
2/11/17.....CLL (Div2).....White.....169.........158............................W
15/11/17...LL....................Black.....169........204............................L
16/11/17...CLL (Div2)......White....169.........203.............................L
14/12/17...CLL..................Black.....169........180............................L
19/12/17...Eastman Cup...Black.....169........199............................D
10/1/18.....CLL.................Black.....163.........172*..........................L
16/1/18.....CLL.................White.....163.........153...........................W
17/1/18.....LL (Div 3).......White.....163.........188...........................D
*Opponent has no official grade. Last published grade was 172 in 1997, which was pre-recalibration, and he was in the 180s before then.

Overall for Battersea, I am +3=2-6 for a grading performance of 168.

This month I also played for Sussex U180, losing to an Essex 166.

Perpetual Emotion

I HAVE played at Hastings every New Year since 1989/90, and I still enjoy it despite the typical weather conditions changing from cold but dry in the early years to mild but wet more recently.
This time, in the Masters, I scored +1=5-3 for a Fide rating gain of 30.8 elo. One oddity was that in consecutive rounds, three and four, my opponents bailed out by taking draws by perpetual check.
My most interesting game came in round seven, when I was on the end of some very enterprising play by my higher-rated opponent. We both miss clear-cut wins near the end.
Spanton (1880) - Batsaikhan Tserendorj (2066), Hastings 2017-18
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.d3
A semi-waiting move. I intended to play a Botvinnik set-up, which is generally considered best after Black has committed to playing ...e5.
5...Nc6 6.e4
Black is not forced to play ...e5 after his last move, but it would be a logical follow-up.
6...d6 7.Nge2 Bg4!?
Black intends exchanging this bishop, which cannot fight for the dark-square hole on d4, for one of my knights, which can.

White to play his eighth move

8.h3
A serious alternative was 8.f3, rebuffing Black's plan (not that I knew exchanging was definitely his idea).
Another major possibility was 8.0-0, not spending a tempo on encouraging Black to exchange. However, Black could change plans by playing 8...Qd7, intending to swop light-square bishops. 8...Bxe2 9.Nxe2 Nd7!?
Played to get a piece into d4 without blocking his remaining bishop by putting a black pawn on e5. 10.0-0
10.d4!? stops Black's idea.
But not 10.Be3 Bxb2 11.Rb1 Bg7 12.Rxb7? as White loses rook for knight after 12...Nb6.
10...Nd4 11.Be3 c5 12.Rb1 a5
Surprisingly, this seems to be a novelty.
Uzbeki grandmaster Saidali Iuldachev played 12...Nxe2+ in a 2002 game, but could only draw against a 2236.
13.a3 a4 14.Nc3 Qa5 15.f4 Ra7 16.Kh1 Rb8
This looks weird, but BT had a very interesting idea in mind.
17.g4
With Black's heavy pieces massed on the queenside, it seemed an ideal time to open up the kingside.

 

White's kingside pawn-advance looks menacing

17...b5!? 18.Bxd4 cxd4 19.Nxb5 Rxb5 20.cxb5 Nc5
Black will recover his pawn deficit easily enough, and he has a knight on c5 that cannot be challenged, but is that really enough for the exchange?
21.f5
Safety first.
I gave serious consideration to the analysis engines' choice of 21.e5!? with the idea of 21...dxe5 22.Bc6, but feared my king would be rather vulnerable after 22...exf4.
21...Qxb5 22.fxg6?!
A phrase of GM Nigel Davies - "king safety is the most important factor in chess" - is worth remembering. After the text, it is clear which king is the safer in this game.
Stockfish8 gives 22.g5! and if 22...Qxd3, then 23.f6 exf6 24.Qxd3 Nxd3 25.gxf6 Bf8 26.Rbd1, when White's king is no longer in danger and his extra exchange should be decisive.
22...hxg6 23.Rf3 Be5
Probably even stronger is 23...Bh6, intending ...Be3, and leaving e5 for possible occupation by the knight.
24.Qd2 Kg7 25.Rbf1 f6 26.g5 Rb7 27.gxf6+
Better was 27.Qf2! as 27...Qxb2 fails to 28.Qh4 with Qh6 and a strong kingside attack to come.
27...exf6 28.R1f2 Qe8 29.Qc2 Rc7 30.Rf1 Ne6 31.Qf2 Qe7 32.h4 g5 33.Bh3 Nf4 34.Rg1
Giving back the exchange with 34.Rxf4 Bxf4 35.Qxd4 might be enough for a draw, especially as 35...Rc2 was not as scary as I thought.
But best may be 34.Qg1 Kf8 35.hxg5 fxg5, and now White can contest the c file with 36.Rc1.
34...Kf8 35.Bf5 Qg7 36.Qd2 Qh6 37.Qf2 Ng6

Try to work out why I rejected 38.Bxg6.

38.Rh3??
I rejected 38.Bxg6 because of 38...Rc2 39.Qxc2 Qxh4+ 40.Kg2 Qh2+ 41.Kf1 Qxc2, which wins for Black. It was only after moving my rook that I saw that 39.Rxf6+ was almost certainly winning. So Black's 37th deserves double question-marks. Instead, he should have shuffled his queen around.
38...Nf4 39.hxg5 
I thought the text was winning, otherwise I would have played 39.Rf3.
39...Nxh3 40.gxh6 Nxf2+ 41.Kg2 Nxd3 42.Kf3??
The immediate 42.h7 draws.
42...Nxb2?? 
Missing 42...Bh2, when 43.Rg2, 43.Rg4 and 43.Rg6 lose to a knight fork, while 43.Rh1 runs into 43...Ne5+ 44.Kg2 Rc2+ 45.Kh3 Bf4, when attempting to force the h-pawn home with 46.Rg1 loses instantly to 46...Rh2#.
43.h7 Rxh7 44.Bxh7 d3
In my calculations at move 39, I'd missed how dangerous this pawn would be.
45.Ke3 Bf4+!?
A spectacular try, but the ending is drawn anyway.
46.Kxf4 d2 47.Kf5 Ke7 48.Rg7+ Kd8 49.Rg1 Ke7 50.Rg7+ Kd8 51.Rg1 d1Q 52.Rxd1 Nxd1 53.Kxf6 Ne3 54.Ke6 Kc7 55.Bg6 Nc4 56.Be8 1/2-1/2