73rd Hampstead U2200 Concluded

ROUND five this afternoon saw me draw with a 1740/154 junior in a game in which I was winning out of the opening, soon went wrong in the early middlegame, and carried on pushing much too long in an ending which, it seems from inputting the game into ChessBase, I was completely losing.
I finally could see no way of making progress, so when my apparently draw-focussed opponent, for the third time, offered a draw while my clock was running, I accepted.
I have much to look at and think over from this weekend's games, but whichever way I look at it my tournament score of +1=3-1 saw me lose 14.6 Fide elo.

Woes Continue

LOST last night for Battersea against a 173 from Hackney in division one of the London League.
The game followed the same pattern as a lot of my recent efforts - I got a sizeable advantage out of the opening but proceeded to miss a series of one-move tactical shots and simple positional themes, losing horribly.
Usually, it is said, short-term tactical errors are a sign of tiredness, and there may be some truth in this, but that does not explain the feeble positional mistakes.
I think part of the problem could be a glass-half-empty approach to chess, ie my feelings after a draw are much closer to my feelings after a loss than after a win.
Instead of trying to win every game at all costs, I should strive more to avoid defeat (while hopefully not turning passive, which is a sure way to lose in the long run even if quick losses become less common).
In any event I feel I need to fundamentally change my approach.
My updated Battersea statistics for 2018-19
Event...Colour...Grade...Opponent's Grade...Result
CLL........B..........167...….........196...............…D
LL...…….B...…...167...………..159...………….D
CLL...…..B...…...167...………..161...………….W
CLL...…..B...…...167...………..190...………….D
LL...…….W...…..167...………..161...….………W
CLL...…..W...…..167...………..148...………….D
CLL...…..W...…..167...………..165...………….W
CLL...…..W...…..167...………..160...………….D
CLL...…..W...…..167...………..159...………….D
LL...…….B...…...167...………..168...………….D
LL...…….W...…..171...………..159...………….W
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..198...……….….L
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..169...…………..L
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..196...…………..L
LL...…….B...…...171...………..182...…………..D
CLL...…..W...…..171...………..189...…………..L
LL...…….B...…...171...………..178...…………..L
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..164...…………..D
LL...…….B...…...171...………..188...………….W
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..200...…………..L
LL...…….B...…...171...………..169...…………..L
CLL...…..W...…..171...………..186...…………..D
CLL...…..B...…...171...………..153...…………..D
LL...……W...…...171...………..188...…………..L
LL...……W...…...171...………..159...…………..L
LL...……W...…...171...………..153...…………..L
CLL...…..B...…...171...…….….172...……….....D
LL............B.........171................139..................W
LL...….….B...…..171...…….….214...……....….L
LL...……..B...…..171...………..173...……….….L
Overall this season for Battersea I have scored +6=12-12 for a grading performance of 163.
In season 2017-18 I scored +10=8-9 for a grading performance of 175.

Play The Board, Not The Man

TURNING down a draw offer when your position is slightly inferior can sometimes be justified.
But playing on when you think you are much worse requires exceptional optimism or massive arrogance, or an unhealthy combination of both.
But then I have always been a glass-half-empty person when it comes to draws, regarding them as closer to losses than to wins.
This is true in most football leagues and a few chess tournaments, where it is 3pts for a win and 1pt for a draw, but it is certainly not the case at the Jersey Open.

White has just played 16.Qc2-b3 and offered a draw in Victor Rumsey (1858) - Spanton (1914), round five

The game continued:
16...g5?
I am pretty sure it was Bronstein who said that to lose one's objectivity at the board was to almost invariably lose the game.
17.Bb1 g4 18.Ne5 Qd6 19.Nd3 Qd7 20.Ne2 a5?
If I had seriously asked myself, 'Whose king is in greater danger?', I would have surely played 20...Qd5, which would have forced queens off thanks to Black's threats along the long light-square diagonal.
21.Ne5 Qd6 22.bxa5 Nax5 23.Qxb5 Ba6?
Again it was better to get queens off, even though a pawn down.
24.Qxa5 Bxe2 25.Rd2 Ba6??
A blunder in an already-lost position.
26.Rc6 (1-0, 42 moves)

Shambles

WHAT is worse than drawing with a player graded 12ECF lower?
No prizes for working out that the answer is losing to a player graded 12ECF lower.
This is what happened to me playing for Battersea 2 against Newham in division three of the London League last night.
I spurned a forced draw by repetition, horribly misplayed an ending and duly lost.

Four Juniors And A German (part two)

IN round two of the 69th Hampstead U2200 I got down to a minor-piece ending on move 31.
A long manoeuvring game ensued, eventually reaching the following position:

White to make his 55th move in Spanton (1906/171) - Anum Sheikh (1573/161)

*****
*****
*****
*****
*****
*****
*****
*****
55.Bd7?
White has serious winning chances after 55...a4 56.cxb3 Bxb5 as White's three pawn islands are much easier to defend than Black's four.
55...Bf8?
Black should have diffused the queenside threat with 55...cxb3, although after 56.axb3 White's more homogeneous pawns give him a slight edge.
56.Nc2?
Again the thrust a4 was strong.
56...Nd3?
Unprotecting d5 is a mistake. The best solution was probably still ...cxb3.
57.Bf5?
Correct was 57.Ne3, forcing 57...Nf4, and then 58.a4.
57...Nf4 58.Ne1
Now 57.a4?? is a losing blunder because of the simple 57...cxb3.
58...Kc6 59.Nf3 Bg7 60.Ne5+?
I had run out of ideas by now and went back to my old sin of  trying too hard.
60...Kc7?
Black seems to be winning in all lines after 60...Bxe5 61.dxe5 b4, eg 62.cxb4 axb4 63.bxc4 dxc4 64.Be4+ Kc5 65.Bf5 Ke5, or 62.Kc2 Kc5 63.Bh7 bxc3 64.Kxc3 d4+ 65.Kc2 cxb3+ 66.Kxb3 Kd5 (main analysis by Komodo9 and Stockfish 10).
61.Nd7?!
Both 61.Ng6 and 61.bxc4 look safe enough, but the text is bordering on losing.
61...Ng2
White faces a tricky choice after 61...b4! Best appears to be 62.Nc5! bxc3+ 63.Kxc3 Ne2+ 64.Kd2 Nxd4, when Black has won a pawn, but it seems to me White saves the game by  forcing knights off with 65.Ne6+ Nxe6 66.Bxe6. The engines believe Black has the upper hand after 66...c3+ 67.Kc3 Kd6 68.Bf7 d4, but I can see no way for Black to make progress in this opposite-coloured bishops ending.
62.Nc5 Nf4?!
62...cxb3 was safer. The text allows White one more try.

White has one last try

*****
*****
*****
*****
*****
63.Bd7
The try was 63.a4 bxa4 64.bxc4, but after 64...a3 65.Kc2 Kc6 66.Be6 Kd6 67.Bf7 Ne2 68.Nb3 Black seems to hold with 68...a4. White can try 69.Nc1 but 69...Nxc1 70.Kxc1 dxc4 is a drawn ending of opposite-coloured bishops. That leaves 69.Na1 but it can apparently be met by the spectacular 69...Bxd4!! 70.cxd4 dxc4 71.Bxc4 Nxd4+ 72.Kd3 Nf3 with a position the engines reckon is dead drawn.
63...Kb6 64.Be8 cxb3 65.axb3 b4 66.Na4+ Kc7 67.Bf7 bxc3+ 68.Nxc3 Kc6 69.Ke3 ½–½

Endgame Escape

ESCAPED with a draw against a junior in round three of the Hastings Masters after trying too hard in a drawn position.

Black has just played 37...Rb7-b4 in Spanton (1954) - Cassie Graham (1889)

Thirteen moves earlier I had turned down a draw offer in a dead-equal position. Over the next few moves I gained a tiny edge, more cosmetic than anything, but then missed an initiative-gaining idea for my opponent.
In the diagram position, Black threatens ...d5 followed by a fork on ...d4.
I rejected 45.Rc4 because of 45...Rxc4 46.bxc4, but it turns out White's queenside pawns are much easier to defend than I thought.
Instead I chose …
45.Nf4?
… but after …
45...Nxf4 46.gxf4
… I was definitely on the back foot.
46...Ke6 47.Rd3 d5 48.Rd1 f6?!
A bit of a non-move that seems to throw away much of Black's advantage by, believe it or not, weakening Black's kingside. More on this later.
Definitely mistaken was 48...d4+? as White is fine after 49.Kd3, eg 49...Kf5 50.Re1, when 50...Kxf4?! allows dangerous counterplay with 51.Re7, so safest is probably 50...Rb7, when 51.Re4 holds.
My main analysis engines, Komodo9 and Stockfish9, reckon Black keeps the upper hand after 48...Kd6.
49.Re1?
Taking pressure off d5. Instead I should have tried the engines' 49.h5!?, which gives decent drawing chances, eg 49...gxh5 50.Rh1, or 49...c4 50.hxg6 hxg6 51.Rd4. Another line runs 49...g5 50.fxg5 fxg5 51.Re1, when 51...Rh4 52.Kd3+ Kd6 53.Re8 Rxh5 54.Ra8 seems to give sufficient counterplay.
Note that after 49.Kd6, the move 49...h5 is much less effective as an exchange on g6 does not leave Black with a weak g pawn.
49...Kd6?!
Almost certainly not aggressive enough. I feared 49...Kf5, when there does not seem any way for White to save the game. The text gave me a second chance to find the engines' …
50.h5!?
… and Black replied with the mistaken …
50...gxh5?
Also wrong was 50...g5? as White has 51.fxg5 fxg5 52.h6 Rh4 53.Rg1 with excellent drawing chances.
Best was the immediate 50...c4, although after 51.hxg6 hxg6 52.bxc4 Rxc4 53.Rg1 Rc3+ 54.Kd4 Rxf3 55.Rg4, Black still has some work to do.
51.Rh1 c4
A tempo too late.
52.bxc4 Rxc4 53.Rxh5 Rxa4 54.Rxh7
Black has a tiny edge, but White can draw without much difficulty.
54...a5 55.Ra7 Ra3+ 56.Ke2 Ke6 57.Ra6+ Ke7
Black cannot make progress. The remaining moves were:
58.f5 a4 59.Re6+ Kf7 60.Rd6 Rc3 61.Kd2 Rxf3 62.Rd7+ Ke8 63.Rxd5 a3 64.Ra5 a2 65.Ke2 a1=Q 66.Rxa1 ½-½
I was pleased to discover after the game that CG has an ECF of 178, so my grading will have edged up as a result of this game even as my Elo rating edged down.

Close Shave

TURNED out for Hastings & St Leonards last night away to Maidstone in the Kent League (155 Average).
I had black on board two against a 163, with my seven-year Hastings & St Leonards unbeaten streak on the line.
It was quite a poorly played game, with both players missing winning shots.
Not for the first time, I was guilty of trying for too much in an equal position, and eventually we reached the following bishops-of-the-same-colour ending:

White to make his 53rd move in George Hollands (163) - Spanton (167)

White has a huge advantage. His king is more advanced, and two of Black's pawns are on the same-coloured squares as the bishops.
53.Bf7?
White must be close to winning after the simple 53.h4, which fixes Black's kingside pawn-structure, leaving him with two pawns on light squares and effectively unable to create a passed pawn.
I suspect GH missed my next move.
53...Bf3
I considered, but quickly dismissed 53...h4! But it was the better move, and is much preferred by my main analysis engines Komodo9 and Stockfish9.
The point is that after the practically forced 54.gxh4 (anything else allows instant equality with ...hxg3), Black is not in danger on the kingside and can hope to hold the queenside. However, White would still be much better.
54.Bb3?
Advancing the h pawn two squares was still the way to go. 54.Ke3 was also strong,
54...g5 55.a4?
GH offered a draw, which I gratefully accepted. White would still be much better after 55.h4, although now 55...f4 creates counter-chances. The engines give 56.gxf4 gxh4! 57.Ke3, when White is clearly on top but the game continues.
The draw means my seven-year unbeaten streak for Hastings & St Leonards has reached eight games.

Trying Too Hard As Black

HAVING tried for too much in yesterday's Guernsey Open game as White, I promptly did the very same today as Black.

White has just offered a draw as he played 41.Kd3-e3 in the round-three game Antoine Canonne (1902) - Spanton (1923)

41...Kd7
There is no justification for playing on here (my main analysis engines Komodo9 and Stockfish9 rate the position as dead-equal), but then again there should be no harm in trying a few more moves - I do hate it when a game finishes!
42.Bf8 Bb6 43.Kf3 Ke8?
Partly caused by trying for more than is justified by the position, and partly by allowing myself to be distracted by a rook-sacrifice on an adjacent board.
I only give the move one question-mark as, amazingly, it seems Black still has the draw in hand.
44.Bd6 Kf7 45.Bxe5
The engines agree, hardly surprisingly, that White is much better, but neither thinks White's advantage is worth a full pawn.
45...Ke6 46.Bb8 Bd8
The engines prefer 46...Ba5 or 46...Kf6, but it is not clear the text is inferior.
One problem with analysing this ending is that the engines tend to overestimate White's chances, as will be graphically illustrated at move 49.
47.Kf4 Bf6 48.e5!?
AC was doubtful about this in the post-mortem, but without pushing the e pawn it is hard to see how White makes progress. The engines reckon White is winning.
48...Be7

Can you find a win for White?

****
****
****
****
****
49.Ke4
White cannot improve his position after this.
Critical was 49.Bd6! which the engines reckon is winning after the forcing 49...Bxd6 50.exd6 Kxd6 51.Kg5 (51.g4? hxg4 52.Kxg4 Ke6 is a trivial draw) Ke5 52.Kxg6 Kd4 53.Kxh5 Kxc4.
Both engines have White winning with 54.g4 or 54.Kg6! but the Nalimov endgame tablebase shows the position to be drawn. However, I have given 49.Bd6! an exclamation-mark as it would have given practical winning chances, especially after 54.Kg6!, which leaves White with a g pawn rather than an h pawn after both players have promoted.
AC had not seen much of this, thinking that giving up the e pawn to get the bishops off was an easy draw. He was right in the sense that it was a draw, but it would have been very possible for Black to go wrong.
The game finished:
49...Bf8 50.Bc7 Kd7 51.Ba5 Ke6 52.Bd2 Bg7 53.Bc3 Bf8 54.Ba5 Bg7 55.Bc7 Bf8 56.Bd8 Kd7 57.Bf6 Ke6 58.Kf3 Kf5 59.Bh8 Bh6 60.Bf6 Bf8 61.Bh8 Bh6 62.Bf6 ½-½
A lucky, and undeserved, escape.

Trying Too Hard As White

I HAVE  a database of my games - 3,448 in all.
There are some rapid and some correspondence games, but the vast majority are at normal time limits.
As Black I score 47 percent - slightly above the average for black of 45-46 percent in large databases. But as White I score 51 percent - significantly below the average for white of 54-55 percent.
Why is this? I have come to the conclusion the main problem is trying for too much as White.
Take today's game as an example.
Spanton (1923) - Mike Waddington (2096), Guernsey Round Two
Leningrad Dutch
1.c4 f5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 0-0 6.e4 e5
Much more popular are 6...fxe4 and 6...d6, but the text has been tried by some strong players.
7.exf5!?
This scores just 28 percent in ChessBase's 2018 Mega database, but it is the choice of my main analysis engines, Stockfish9 and Komodo9.
The idea is to capture on f5 when Black is forced to take back with a pawn rather than a piece.
7...gxf5 8.Nge2 Nc6 9.d4?!
This extravagant move has been played by a 2460, but it is asking too much of the position.
Natural was 9.0-0, and if the normal 9...d6, then 10.f4!? fixes Black's f pawn, while the engines also like 10.d4!? - better now there is no check on the e file.
9...e4?
Black has no difficulties after the simple 9...Nxd4 10.Nxd4 exd4 11.Qxd4 Re8+.
The problem with the text is it gives White a juicy outpost at f4.
10.0-0?
"Castle because you must or because you want to, not because you can."
It was important to play 10.Bg5, setting up a pin that prevents Black grabbing his fair share of the centre with 10...d5.
10...d6?
Failing to challenge White's central control.
After 10...d5 11.cxd5 Nxd5 12.Nxd5 Qxd5 13.Be3, White may well be better, eg 13...Rd8 is met by 14.Nf4 and 15.d5, but Black is in no danger of being overrun.
11.Bg5 Qe8

Try to guess White's boneheaded 12th move

****
****
****
****
****
****
12.Bxf6?
Continuing development with 12.Qd2, or immediately challenging Black's e pawn with 12.f3, are superior ideas.
Stockfish9 very much likes 12.Rc1?!, which I confess I do not understand.
12...Rxf6 13.Nd5 Rf7 14.b4?
Ridiculously trying for too much.
Again, attacking Black's e pawn with 14.f3 was good.
14...Be6 15.Ne3?
Retreating in a position like this is unlikely to be the answer.
Stockfish9 gives 15.Qd2 Bxd5 16.cxd5 Ne7 17.Nc3, with a small edge for Black.
Komodo9 prefers 15.f3 Bxd5 16.cxd5 Nxb4 17.fxe4 fxe4 18.Qb3, with some compensation for the pawn.
15...Nxb4 16.d5?
I rejected 16.Rb1 because of 16...c5, but the text is weaker.
16...Bc8 17.Rb1 Nd3 18.f3 Bh6 19.f4 Bg7 20.Nc1 Bd4 21.Qxd2 Nxc1
I now picked up my queen, intending to play 22.Qxd4??, saw the reply 22...Ne2+, and resigned. I should have played on with 22.Qxc1, but perhaps early resignation was for the best.