Rudy Wins Blitz Championship

Congratulations to Rudy van Kemenade on winning the Welsh Blitz Championship, jointly with William Hewitt, against strong opposition including two FMs. Two of his wins are given below. Meanwhile, the Club is adjourning for the summer. Tuesday 27 June will be our last club night till we resume in September.

[Event "Welsh ch blitz"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "3"] [White "White, Michael"] [Black "Van Kemenade, R."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2258"] [BlackElo "1977"] [Annotator "Rudy"] [PlyCount "42"] [EventDate "2017.06.17"] 1. e4 {(FM)} e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. Nc3 d5 (5... Nf6 6. d4 Be7 7. Bf4 O-O 8. Qd2 d5 9. Bd3 {M White-Van Kemenade, WLS ch Hensol Park, 2007,1-0 }) 6. Qe2 Be7 7. Nxe4 dxe4 8. Qxe4 O-O 9. Be2 (9. Bc4 {following Alekhine in 1918; is more active which led to two losses for Bl against Bujnoch & Byron at the Gibraltar Masters in early 2017}) 9... Re8 10. O-O Bd6 11. Qd3 Nc6 (11... b6 12. b3 Qf6 13. Rb1 Bb7 14. Bb2 Qh6 15. g3 Nd7 16. Rfe1 Nc5 17. Qc3 Rad8 18. d4 {Strobusch-Maahs, Ger ch Seniors, Magdeburg 2015,1/2-1/2}) 12. a3 (12. c3 Qf6 13. Bd1 Bf5 14. Qc4 Qg6 15. Qh4 Bd3 16. Re1 Rxe1+ 17. Nxe1 Re8 18. f3 Qh6 19. Qxh6 Rxe1+ 20. Kf2 Rf1+ 21. Ke3 gxh6 {Loman-Marshall, London m 1902,0-1}) 12... Qf6 (12... g5 $15 {Deep Fritz13 & Komodo11}) 13. Rb1 (13. Re1 Bg4 $19 14. Kf1 Rad8 $17 {djetlic-hearthstones9,2014,1-0} (14... Ne5 $18 {Houdini4 & Komodo11})) (13. Bd1 Bg4 14. Qc3 Ne5 15. d4 Nxf3+ 16. Bxf3 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 (17. gxf3 Qg6+ 18. Kh1 Qh5 $19) 17... Qxd4 18. Qxb7 Qc4 $11 {Komodo11} 19. c3 Bxh2+ $19) 13... Bf5 $19 14. Qc4 Na5 15. Qb5 Bxc2 16. Ra1 (16. Qxa5) 16... Nb3 17. Ra2 a6 (17... Bb1 18. Qxb3 Bxa2 19. Qxa2 Rxe2 $19 {Bl afterthoughts}) (17... Rxe2 18. Qxe2 Bb1 $19 {Komodo11}) (17... Qf4 18. g3 Qe4 19. Re1 Nxc1 20. Rxc1 Ba4 21. Ng5 Qxe2 22. Qxa4 Qxd2 23. Raa1 Qxg5 $19 {Komodo11}) 18. Qc4 Nxc1 ( 18... Rxe2 19. Qxc2 Qe6 20. Qb1 Bf4 $19 {Komodo11}) (18... Bb1 19. Qxb3 Bxa2 20. Qxa2 Rxe2 $19) (18... Qf5 19. Bd1 Bxd1 20. Rxd1 Na5 21. Qc3 Qb1 $19 { Komodo11}) 19. Rxc1 Bf5 $19 20. Nd4 (20. Raa1 b5 21. Qc6 Qxb2 $19 {Komodo11}) 20... b5 21. Qd5 (21. Qc3 Be5) 21... Be4 $19 0-1 [Event "Welsh Ch blitz"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.06.17"] [Round "11"] [White "Van Kemenade, R."] [Black "Gilbert, J."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "1977"] [BlackElo "2035"] [Annotator "Rudy"] [PlyCount "75"] [EventDate "2017.06.18"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {the Rossolimo, turning a Sicilian into something more akin to a Ruy Lopez} g6 4. O-O Bg7 5. c3 Nf6 6. Re1 O-O 7. h3 a6 8. Bf1 e5 (8... b5 9. d4 cxd4 10. cxd4 d5 11. e5 Ne4 12. Nbd2 Nxd2 13. Bxd2 Be6 14. a4 b4 15. Rc1 {led to great complications in Van Kemenade-Gilbert, WCPL2009,1/2-1/2}) 9. d4 d6 (9... cxd4 10. cxd4 exd4 11. Nxd4 d5 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. exd5 Nxd5 14. Na3 {Van Kemenade-Hill, BCF ch Aberystwyth 2014, 1/2-1/2; after an endgame of B vs 3 connected passed pawns}) 10. dxc5 {the idea is to be able in the longterm to put a N on d5} (10. a4 Qc7 11. Na3 {should be ok, although it didn't work as planned against an IM; Van Kemenade-Veremeichik, EU Seniors tm, Wales- Belarus, Dresden 2013,0-1}) 10... dxc5 11. Qxd8 {60%} (11. Qc2 {scores even better for Wh , 73%}) 11... Rxd8 12. Bg5 (12. a4 {is too slow; & in any case b5 by Bl can be a source of weakness, as in this game}) 12... Be6 13. Na3 {leaves open c2 as a path to e3 & d5, should Bl throw in b5 to control c4} (13. Nbd2 h6 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Bc4 Rd6 16. Bxe6 Rxe6 17. Red1 Rd8 18. Nc4 Ree8 19. Nb6 $14 {Barth-Heumann, Landesliga Nord, Bayern 2007,1-0}) 13... h6 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Nc4 (15. Bc4 {removing a defender of d5 is also a good idea}) 15... b5 16. Ne3 Rd7 17. a4 b4 (17... Rb8 {is safer, but Bl sticks to the plan of doubling on the d file}) 18. Rad1 Rad8 (18... Rxd1 19. Rxd1 Bb3 $2 {loses a piece} 20. Rd6 $18) 19. Rxd7 Rxd7 20. Bxa6 $16 {its easy to forget about the power of lurking Bs} bxc3 21. bxc3 Ra7 22. Bb5 Rc7 (22... Na5 23. Ng4 {& Bl has to give up the 2 Bs or lose another pawn}) 23. Nd5 {mission accomplished} Bxd5 24. exd5 $18 Nd8 (24... Na7 {Komodo11} 25. Nxe5 Nxb5 26. axb5 Bxe5 27. Rxe5 Kg7 28. c4 $18) 25. d6 Rb7 26. Nxe5 Ne6 27. Nxg6 $5 (27. g3 Kg7 28. Kg2 Rb6 29. Nc4 Rb8 30. Re3 {Komodo11,Wh must be winning with 2 pawns up, but Bl does have a lot of bl square control}) 27... Bxc3 28. Ne7+ (28. Re4 Kg7 29. d7 Ba5 30. Nf4 Nxf4 31. Rxf4 Rb8 32. Kf1 $18 {Komodo11}) 28... Kf8 29. Rd1 (29. Re4 {Komodo11}) 29... Bd4 (29... Nd4 30. Nc8 Ba5 31. d7 f5 32. Nd6 Rb8 33. Nc4 Bb4 34. Ba6 Ke7 35. Bc8 Kd8 36. a5 $18 {Komodo11}) 30. Nf5 (30. Nc6 Bf6 31. Rd5 Rb6 32. g3 Nd8 33. Na5 Ne6 34. Kg2 $18 {Komodo11}) 30... Bf6 (30... Bg7 31. d7) 31. Nxh6 {no rush, a further insurance giving Wh a K side weapon as well as the a pwn & d pawn} (31. g4 {Komodo11}) 31... Nd4 32. d7 (32. Ng4 Bg7 (32... Bd8 33. Ne5 Nxb5 34. axb5 Rxb5 35. Nc6 Bb6 (35... Ke8 36. d7+ Kf8 37. Nxd8) 36. d7 $18) 33. Ne3 Nxb5 34. d7 Bf6 35. axb5 Bd8 36. Nf5 c4 37. g4 c3 38. Rc1 Rxd7 39. Rxc3 Rd1+ 40. Kg2 Rb1 41. Rc5 Ke8 42. h4 Bb6 43. Rc2 Kd7 (43... Rxb5 44. Nd6+) (43... Kf8 44. Rc8+ Bd8 45. Rxd8#) 44. h5 Rxb5 45. Rd2+ Ke6 46. h6 Ba5 47. Rd6+ Ke5 48. Rc6 Bd2 49. h7 Rb8 50. Nd6 Kd5 51. Nc8 $1 (51. Rc8 Rxc8 52. Nxc8 Bc3 {holds out longer}) 51... Kxc6 52. h8=Q $18 {Komodo11}) 32... Ke7 { its natural to bring the K towards the most dangerous pawn; however there are tactical problems} (32... Kg7) 33. Nf5+ (33. Ng8+ Kd8 34. Nxf6 $18 {Komodo11 even stronger}) (33. Re1+ Kd8 (33... Ne6 34. Ng8+) 34. Nxf7+ Kc7 35. Re5 Nxb5 36. d8=Q+ Bxd8 37. Rxc5+ Kd7 38. Nxd8 Kxd8 39. Rxb5 {is another typical Engine series of complexities from komodo11 few humans would contemplate}) 33... Kd8 34. Nxd4 cxd4 35. Re1 (35. g3 {provides the h pawn with protection to advance Komodo11. Engines remain materialistically inclined, preferring often to keep as many of the material gains intact, rather than going for a simple line of play}) (35. Rc1 Rc7 36. Re1 {gives the Bl R a bit of freedom}) 35... Be7 36. h4 {though this may not be the most accurate way, it proves to be effective within the time controls[ 3 mins + 2 secs increment]} (36. Re4 d3 37. Rd4 { Komodo11. cf earlier note about Engines , though they are, of course, very accurate & alert to nuances of tactics}) 36... Bxh4 (36... d3 {best chance} 37. h5 {may take a little longer} (37. Rd1 Bxh4 38. Rxd3 Rb6 39. Re3 Be7 40. g4) 37... d2 38. Rd1 Bb4 39. h6 Rb6 40. h7 Rh6 41. Bd3 Kxd7 42. Kf1 Kd6 43. Ke2) 37. Re8+ Kc7 38. Rc8+ {Bl was down to only a few seconds as well now.} 1-0