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

First Draw For Battersea

PLAYED twice more for Battersea, losing last week to a 180 and drawing yesterday with a 199.

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

Overall for Battersea I am +2=1-5 with a grading performance of 167.

Weak Squares v Dynamic Piece Play

I FINISHED Benidorm with a score of +5=2-3 for a rating gain of 8.4 Fide elo.
I cannot claim to have played an outstanding game, but I was pleased with aspects of my round six win.
Spanton (1880) - Jose Maria Najarro Garcia (1765), Benidorm U2000
1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.g3 d6 4.Bg2 e5 5.e4
A Botvinnik English formation, as championed by Tony Kosten in his classic 1999 book, The Dynamic English. The set-up is generally reckoned to work best when Black has committed to blocking his dark-square bishop with the move...e5.
5...Nc6 6.Nge2 Nge7 7.0-0 0-0 8.d3 a6!?

Position after 8...a6!?, which goes back at least to the 1950s

Most popular is 8...Be6, but the text has been played by some strong players, including Joe Gallagher. Black scores 58 percent with it in ChessBase's 2018 Mega database.
9.Rb1 Rb8 10.a4
Played to stop Black advancing with ...b5. Now White is threatening to push his own b-pawn to b5.
10...a5 11.Nb5
This may be a novelty, but it was part of my plan in playing 10.a4. The idea is that the knight on b5 supports a White central advance.
11...Nb4 12.d4 c6 13.Nbc3 Qc7 14.Be3 b6 15.Qd2 Ba6 16.b3 Rbd8
Black plans his own advance in the centre. He uses this rook as White can now close the centre with d5, in which case the rook on f8 would be well-placed to support the push ...f5.
17.Rfd1?
Sloppy play. This rook may or may not belong on d1, but clearly White's other rook should go to c1, where it is opposite Black's queen and so prevents ...d5. Unfortunately, I was under the misapprehension that ...d5 was impossible anyway as Black only had three men supporting the move; I had missed that the knight on b4 was a fourth support.
17...d5 18.cxd5 cxd5 19.exd5 Nexd5 20.Nxd5 Nxd5 21.Rbc1
At least I get to occupy the open file with tempo.
21...Qe7

The key position in the game

22.Bxd5!?
I was quite pleased with this surprising move, which turns out to be the analysis engine Komodo9's second choice, behind 22.Bg5. White gives up the bishop-pair and leaves horrible weaknesses around his king. But in return he gets a central passed pawn, which White's pieces are better positioned to support than Black's are to restrain.
22...Rxd5 23.Nc3 Rd7
I thought 23...Rd6 was better, keeping an eye on b6, but Black may have feared this would lose a tempo later to White's knight landing on e4 or b5.
24.d5 Qb4
This aggressive move looks good as the queen defends b6 and attacks b3.
Komodo9 prefers 24...Qf6, but still slightly favours White's position.
25.d6 Bb7
A natural-looking attempt to exploit White's weakened light squares.
On 25...Qxb3, I planned 26.Rb1, followed by capturing on b6 and threatening, among other things, the a5-pawn.
Komodo9 reckons that even better is 26.Nd5, so that the knight captures on b6, hitting the d7-rook. Capturing the d-pawn with 26...Rxd6?? loses to 27.Ne7+.
26.Nd5 Qe4
26...Rxd6?? is still bad, eg 27.Qxb4 axb4 28.Ne7+, etc.
27.Qd3 Bxd5
Black's attack also comes to nothing after 27...Qf3 28.Bxb6.
28.Qxd5 Qxd5 29.Rxd5
White is winning.
29...Rb8 30.Rc7 Rdd8
Not 30...Rb7? 31.Rc8+ Bf8 32.Bh6.
31.d7 f6 32.Bxb6!
Black played on for another 30 moves, but the result was never seriously in doubt.

Happy Ending

I AM playing at the annual Benidorm chess festival held in the Gran Bali Hotel, where I am seeded 75th out of 384 entrants in the U2000 tournament.
Just for a change, I managed to come up trumps in an ending in today's round two.

Black offered a draw after playing 36...Kg7-f6 in Spanton (1880) - Andres Parreno Cueto (1766)

Black is a pawn up, but I was ahead on time and felt I should be able to hold a draw if my attempts to win came to nothing.
37.Ke2 Ke6 38.Rc5 Kd7?
This gives White chances. Analysis engines reckon Black should hold comfortably after either 38...f5 39.Ra5 g4 40.Rxa6 g5 41.Ra5 gxf3+ 42.Kxf3 Rd2, or 38...Ke7, eg 39.Rxg5 f5 40.g4 fxg3 41.Rxg3.
39.Rxg5 Re6+ 40.Kd2 Rd6+
Komodo9's choice for a long time, but it comes to prefer 40...Kd6! when 41.Ra5 Re5 seems to hold whether White goes for the pawn ending after 42.Rxe5 Kxe5 43.Kd3 Kd5, or the rook-and-pawn ending after 42.Rxa6 Rh5 43.h3 Rg5.
41.Kc3 Re6
41...f5 prevents White's next, but then comes 42.h4, eg 42...Ke7 43.h5 gxh5 44.Rxh5, and at least one of Black's f pawns drops anyway (Komodo9).
42.Rg4 Re2
The passive 42...Rf6 will not save Black, eg 43.h4 Kd6 44.Kd4 Rf5 45.Rg5! (the hasty 45.Ke4 is well-met by activating the rook with 45...Rb5) 45...Rf6 46.Re5 Kd7 47.Ke4, and White's advantage is huge thanks to his dominant pieces and Black's pawn weaknesses (Komodo9/Stockfish8).
43.Rxf4 Rxg2 44.Rxf7+ Ke6 45.Rc7 Kd6 46.Rg7 Kd5?
This makes White's task easier.
47.Rd7+ Ke6 48.Rd2 Rg1 49.Rf2 Re1 50.Kd3 Re5??
A serious positional blunder that makes the win relatively trivial by allowing White to get down to a pawn ending.
51.Re2 Rxe2 52.Kxe2 52...Kf5 53.Ke3 a5 54.b3 g5 55.a3 c5 56.h3 Ke5 57.a4 Kf5 58.f4
This pawn sac is the only way to win, but it is also very simple to calculate. The game finished:
58...gxf4+ 59.Kf3 Kg5 60.h4+ Kxh4 61.Kxf4 Kh5 62.Ke5 Kg6 63.Kd5 1-0.

Time To Improve

I PLAYED in a nine-round swiss in Malta from Nov 19-25.
The tournament was organised by Juergen Wempe, who also runs one of my all-time favourite events, Bad Woerishofen in Bavaria.
The Maltese open was blessed by excellent weather and very good playing conditions at the Topaz Hotel, Bugibba.

The well-lit main playing hall

My final score of +3=4-2 was sufficient to gain 21.2 Fide elo, which in itself is good enough reason to go back next year!
They say you learn most from your losses, but I think I picked up quite a bit of knowledge from the following draw.
Per Green (1973) - Spanton (1859), Malta 2017, Round 8
I had noticed in preparing for this game that PG nearly always played 1.Nf3. I intended to offer a Sicilian by replying 1...c5, to which I expected, judging by his repertoire, that he would play 2.c4. We were chatting idly before the round started, and PG made reference to the fact that I enter a lot of tournaments. I took this to be evidence that he had looked me up. So when he opened with ...
1.c4
... I decided he wanted a Symmetrical English - these days I normally reply 1...c5 to 1.c4 - but without being committed to bringing the king's knight to f3. Accordingly, I switched to another old favourite of mine, viz:
1...e6
The game proceeded:
2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nf3 c5 5.e3
I expected 5.cxd5 or 5.d4. In fact 5.0-0 is the commonest option. The text, although looking strange to me, is also popular.
5...Nc6 6.b3

Can Black take serious advantage of White's last move?

I thought White's last was a straightforward mistake, but the position has been reached by some strong players, including Botvinnik in a consultation game against Keres.
6...dxc4 7.bxc4 Qd3 8.Qb3!
Since this loses the bishop-pair, I had thought White was practically obliged to play 8.Bf1, after which 8...Qd7 9.Bg2 would have been a clear gain-of-tempo for Black.
8...Nb4 9.Na3N
This seems to be a new move. Two games in ChessBase's 2018 Mega database feature an immediate queen swop.
9...Qxb3
It was better to get on with development, but I did not want to miss the chance of exchanging knight for bishop.
10.axb3 Nd3+ 11.Ke2 Nxc1+ 12.Rhxc1
It was around here I realised that, far from having an advantage, I could be in serious trouble. Black has the bishop-pair, but White has a massive lead in development. Even his king is well-placed for the late middlegame, with nothing to fear from Black's inactive pieces.
12...a6
Played to prevent Nb5, but it does nothing of the sort!
13.Nb5 Kd8?
For some reason I rejected the superior 13...Rb8 with hardly a second glance.
14.Ne5 Ke7 15.Nc7 Ra7
Definitely not 15...Rb8? 16.Nxa6!
16.Nb5 Ra8 17.Rd1

Black faces a tricky decision after 17.Rd1

17...Ne8
I rejected 17...Nd7 because of 18.Nxd7 Kxd7 19.d4. I rejected 17...Rb8 because of 18.Na7 Nd7 (I think I also saw 18...Bd7 19.Rxa6!) 19.Nxc8+ Rxc8 20.Bxb7.
18.d4 f6 19.Nd3 cxd4 20.exd4 Kf7 21.Re1 Rb8 22.Nc3 h5 23.h4 Nd6 24.Kd2 Nf5 25.Ne2 Be7 26.Kc3 g6
Somehow I have managed to avoid material loss while slowly getting my pieces developed. 27.Nb4?!
Nevertheless White could have maintained a clear advantage with 27.Be4 according to Stockfish8, or 27.c5 according to Komodo9. The text is presumably aimed at trying to create a passed d pawn, but instead the knight becomes the means by which Black untangles his queenside.
27...Rd8 28.Rad1 a5 29.Nc2 b6 30.Bh3 Ng7
I tried but failed to make 30...Nxd4?? work. Instead, S8 points out 30...e5!? 31.dxe5 Rxd1 32.Rxd1 fxe5, when Black's bishops are starting to get some freedom.
31.Nf4 Bd6 32.Nd3 Bb7 33.Re3 Nf5!? 34.Bxf5 exf5
34...gxf5 looked too loosening to me, but is preferred by the analysis engines.
35.d5 Re8
White wins the e6 square, but it turns out he cannot really afford this as his king is vulnerable. S8 reckons Black is clearly better after 35...Rbc8 eg 36.Kb2 b5.
Instead, I neutralised White's pressure along the e file, but after ...
36.Rde1 Rxe3 37.Rxe3 Re8 38.Rxe8 Kxe8 39.f4
... the game ended in a draw following ...
39...Bc8 40.Kd4 Ba6 41.Kc3 Bc8 42.Kb2 Ke7 43.Nd4 Bd7 44.Kc3 Kd8 45.Nc2 Bc8 46.b4 axb4+ 47.Ncxb4 Bb7 48.Nc2 Bc8 49.Nd4 Bd7 50.Kb3 Kc7 51.Nc2 Bc8 1/2-1/2.

Two Losses - And A Missed Opportunity

TURNED out twice more for Battersea this week, playing bottom board in the London League first team against Wood Green, and top board in the Central London League Division Two third team against Kings Head.
In the first game I had the black pieces against an Evans' Gambit. I played a recommendation of GM Victor Bologan, but without having studied it to anything like a decent degree, and lost in 20 moves.
My second outing also ended in defat, but only after I missed a glorious chance to score an upset.

Position after 23...Nf5-d4 in Spanton (169) - Simon Randall (203)

I had been under the cosh on the queenside earlier thanks to my weak pawn on a2. But by now I had generated kingside counterplay, aided by Black's queen being a long way from what had become the key part of the board.
24.Bxd4 Bxd4
I now played the uninspired ...
25.g4?
... and after ...
25...hxg4
... compounded the error with ...
26.Qe1??
... completely missing ...
26...Kg7
I lost quickly, but it could have been so different if I had played 25.f5. If Black plays, similar to the game, 25...Kg7, White has 26.fxg6 fxg6 27.Rxf8 Kxf8 28.Rf1+ with a huge attack.
Komodo9 prefers the plausible-looking 25...Bf6, but the tactically-superior engine Stockfish8 gives 26.Nxf7+!, which both engines agree wins in all lines, eg 26...Rxf7 27.fxg6 Rg7 28.Qh5+ Kg8 29.Rf2, etc.
I am certainly not claiming I would have found all this over the board, but it is galling to have missed the strength of 25.f5.

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

Overall for Battersea I am +2=0-4 with a grading performance of 167.

Endgame Mate

PLAYED in my first Royal Beacon Seniors, which ended today.
The congress, held at the Royal Beacon Hotel in Exmouth, Devon, is divided into players aged 65+ and 50-64 - colloquially known as the Senior and Junior Wrinklies.

Royal Beacon...stylish venue

I scored +2=2-1 for a grading performance of 184 (15 over my ECF of 169).
None of the games was especially noteworthy, but I did have a neat endgame finish in round four.

Position after White's 33rd move in Spanton (169) - Philip Kennedy (158*)

Black is lost whatever he plays, but PK's choice of the active ...
33...Kf5?
...walked into a mating net. The game finished:
34.Kf3 Rf7 35.g4#
34...h5 would only have delayed the mate after 35.h3, while 34...Rg8 would have lost instantly to 35.Rf6#.
*PK does not have a currently published ECF grade, so I have converted his Fide elo.

Opening My Account For Battersea

HAVING lost my first two games for my new club Battersea, I bounced back on successive nights by wining for them in the London League (LL) last night and the Central London League (CLL) tonight. My Battersea record now reads:

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

Overall for Battersea I am +2=0-2 with a grading performance of 174.