Wednesday, 5 December 2018

Town and Gown

The new Aberystwyth University team is off to an excellent start in the Dyfed League. On Tuesday 27 November they took part in their first local derby against champions Aberystwyth Town (as we must call ourselves for the occasion). On top board for the Town team, Adam Watkin-Jones took a poisoned pawn with his queen in a Sicilian Grand Prix against Owain Davies, and instantly regretted it as his queen was sidelined and his newly castled king faced a devastating attack. His resignation may have been a bit premature, but he was in serious trouble. I got an advantage early on against Cameron Westwood when he accepted my Vienna Gambit (one that should always be declined) and, after dithering a bit, was able to consolidate it when he allowed a tactic that won the exchange. Ian Finlay was doing well after declining Jan Piotrowski's Morra Gambit, and entered the endgame a couple of pawns to the good. However, he overlooked the danger from White's advanced passed pawn till it was too late to stop it. Sam Holman won a piece in a French Defence Advance Variation after a complex queenside skirmish against Dan Hardman. However White was able to pick up some pawns as compensation, and a difficult ending was eventually drawn. The match finished 2½-1½ to the University, taking them to the top of the league, though Cardigan have a couple of games in hand.

The previous week had seen two more games in the Club Championship. Hardman-Holman was a dry run for their league game, in the same variation of the French, though this time Sam prevailed in the ending. I played my favourite Botvinnik English formation against Francis Headley's Sicilian and took advantage of Black's tactical error to win a piece, after which I was always comfortably in control.

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1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 g6 4.Bb5 Nd4 4...Bg7 5.Nf3 Nd4 transposes 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.d3 not the most usual & scarcely discussed in the theory books,(eg Kotronias- Beating the Anti-Sicilians 2015) which concentrate on 6.0-0 6.Nxd4 6.Bd3 6.Bc4 6.a4 6...Nxb5= the most frequent move, scores only 37% for Wh 6...e6= next , where after 7.0-0 Wh scores 41 % 6...Qa5 though is the Cloud Engines' choice, with the Wh results at 14.3 % after 7.Bc4 7.Ba4? Nxf3+ 8.Qxf3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Qxa4 7...Nxf3+ 8.gxf3 b5 9.Bd5 Rb8 10.0-0 e6 11.Bb3 11.Qe2 b4 12.Nd1 exd5 13.exd5+ Kf8-+ Akiko-Vo, ASEAN ch U16 girls, Hue 2009,0-1 11...c4 12.dxc4 bxc4 13.Qd6 13.Bxc4 Qc5+-+ 13...Rb6 14.Qc7 Ne7 15.Bxc4 Qh5 16.Qxa7 Bd4+ 17.Kh1 Nc6 18.Qa3 Bc5 19.Nd5 Bxa3 20.Nf6+ Ke7 21.Nxh5 Bxb2 22.Bxb2 Rxb2 23.Ng3 Rxc2 24.Rfc1 Rxc1+ 25.Rxc1 Bb7 Komodo12 , after all that, Qa5 needs a re-look 7.Nxb5 Qa5+ 7...d6= 7...a6= the preferences of the Cloud Engines 8.Nc3= Bxc3+ main move played, usuallyt stronger players risking things to go a pawn up 8...b5 Komodo12 9.0-0 Bb7 9...e6 10.e5 f5 11.Bd2 b4 12.Ne2 Ne7 13.a3± Buiano-Schiappoli, Napoli Province ch 2011,1-0 10.e5 Nh6 11.Ne4 Qc7 12.a4 b4= Komodo12 8...d5 9.exd5 Nf6 10.0-0 Qd8 11.Re1 0-0 11...Nxd5 12.Nxd5 Qxd5 13.Qe2 0-0 14.Qxe7 Be6 15.Qh4 Rfe8= Komodo12 12.Re5 Nd7 12...b5 13.Re1 Nb6 14.Kh1 Re8 15.Bd2 Nxd5= Komodo12 9.bxc3 Qxc3+ only move played 9...d5 10.exd5 c4 11.Be3 Nf6 12.0-0 Nxd5 13.Bd4 f6 14.g3 b5 15.a4 Bh3 16.Re1 0-0 17.axb5 Qxb5 18.dxc4 Qxc4= Komodo12 10.Bd2± Qa3 10...Qg7 main; Komodo12 & Rudy 11.0-0 Nf6 Komodo12 11...Nh6 12.Qe1 d6 13.Bc3 f6 digging in- Rudy, on the way back home 14.a4 0-0= Komodo12 11...e6 12.Qe1 d6 13.Bc3 f6 14.Qh4 14.e5± Komodo12 14...e5 15.f5 15.fxe5 dxe5 16.Nxe5+- fxe5 17.Qf4 exf4 18.Bxg7 Komodo12 15...g5 15...gxf5 15...Ne7= 16.Qh5+ Qf7 17.Qxf7+ 17.Qh3= 17...Kxf7 Galante-Castelli, Terre degli Elini op, Erice 2012,0-1 11...d6 12.Qe1 12.e5± 12...f6 13.Nh4 13.e5± 13...Nh6 14.f5 Nf7 15.Qg3 g5 15...Rg8 16.c3 Bd7 16...Ne5 17.Rab1 Bc6 18.Rfe1 Qg8 18...Ne5 19.d4 Nc4 20.Nf3 b6 19.Nf3 Ne5 20.Nxe5 20.d4 Nxf3+ 21.Qxf3 Qxa2= 20...dxe5 21.a3 b6 21...Qa2 22.Qe3 Rd8 22.Be3 Rd8 Smith-Jacobs,Redpath Mining Millionaire OPen 2016,1-0( after Bl finally let Wh into the K side despite an overwhelming position on the other side) 12.c4± Komodo12 12.Bc3 pm analysis d6 12...0-0?! 13.g4 d5 14.g5 d4 15.gxf6 exf6 16.Bd2 b6 17.f5± Komodo12 13.Rb1 b6 14.Qe1 0-0= Komodo12- but only because it is prepared to give a piece for some extra pawns- so maybe the digging in variation is still to be preferred 15.h3 Rd8 15...Be6 16.g4 Qh6 17.g5 Qxh3 18.gxf6 exf6 19.f5 gxf5 20.Kf2+- only now does Komodo12 begin to appreciate what its let itself in for. 16.g4 Qf8 17.f5 Ne8 Engines may well be happy to defend positions like these , but humans would enjoy the White side much more.( Actually I think its the Engines which relish these kind of positions for both sides) 18.Ng5 f6= 19.e5 dxe5 20.fxg6 hxg6 21.Qe4 Bd7 22.Bxe5 Qh6 23.Qd5+ e6 24.Nxe6 Qe3+ 25.Kg2 Qxe5 26.Qxe5 fxe5 27.Rf8+ Kh7 28.Rf7+ Kg8 29.Rf8+ and its a draw! Proving that Bl's play is totally sound? 11.0-0 Nf6 11...d6 12.Qe1 12.e5 12...Bd7 13.Bc3 f6 14.e5 0-0-0 15.e6 15.Ng5± Komodo12 15...Bc6 16.Ng5 Nh6 17.Nf3 Nf5 Chinasamy-Punongbajam, Tromso ol 2014,1/ 2-1/2 12.Qe1 12.Be3 Ng4 12...d5= 12...0-0= 13.Bd2 d6 14.h3 Nf6 15.Rb1 c4 16.e5 Nd5 17.dxc4 Ne3 18.Bxe3 Qxe3+ 19.Kh1 Qxf4 20.exd6 Qxd6 21.Qxd6 exd6 22.Ng5 0-0= Morales Fajarnes-Olvera Anton, Foment Martinenc op, Barcelona 2013,0-1 12...d5 looks wrong now , as the lines are opened for the Wh Q facing the Bl K. But the game is probably gone already. The Bl Q is simply offside, & Bl is way behind in development. 12...0-0 13.e5 Nd5 14.f5+- just looks unsafe, ( there are too many Wh pieces aimed at the K) as confirmed by Komodo12 after a pause for reflection 12...b6 13.e5 Nd5 14.Qe4 e6 15.c4 Nc7 16.Rfb1 Rb8 17.Rb3 Qa4 18.Qe1 Bb7 19.Ng5 0-0 20.Qh4 h5= the Engine feels no danger, when humans would be hearing all the alarm bells ringing- eg f5 possibilities & d4 letting the b3 R in 21.g4 Qc6 22.Ne4+- yet another example of an Engine misjudging the longterm aspects of a position 12...c4 tries to bring the Q back, but 13.Bb4 Qa6 14.Rd1± when the best suggestion from Komodo12 is d5 anyway, though at leat the Q is available along the 3rd rank. 13.exd5 Nxd5 13...0-0 14.Qe5 14.Qxe7 Nxd5 15.Qg5 Be6 16.Qh6 f6 17.f5 Bxf5 18.Nh4 Ne7 19.Rae1 Rae8 20.Rf3 Qxa2 21.c4 Bd7 22.Rg3 Rf7 23.Nxg6 Nxg6 24.Rxg6+ hxg6 25.Qxg6+ Rg7 26.Rxe8+ Bxe8 27.Qxe8+ Kh7 28.Qh5+ Kg8 29.Qe8+= Komodo12 14...Bf5 15.Nh4 Ng4 16.Qe1 16.Qxe7 Rfe8 17.Qxb7± 16...Rfe8 17.h3 Nf6 18.Nxf5 gxf5 19.Bc3 Kf8 20.Bxf6 exf6 21.Qh4 Kg7 22.Rf3 Qb2 23.Rg3+ Kh8 24.d4!+- Komodo121 14.Qe5 Nf6 15.Rae1 0-0 15...Be6 Rudy, pm analysis 16.Ng5 unsure of what follows , but Bl might stand a chance of holding out 16.f5 Komodo12 gxf5 17.Ng5 Qxa2 18.Rxf5 Qd5 19.Nxe6 Qxe5 20.Ng7+ Kf8 21.Rexe5 Kxg7 22.Rxe7 Rhe8 23.Rxb7+- Wh picks up pawns & the B is better than the N 16...Qxa2 17.Bc3 Rd8 17...0-0-0? 18.Qxc5+ Kb8 19.Ra1 18.f5 gxf5 19.Rxf5 Rg8 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Qxc5 Nd7 22.Qb4 a5 23.Qxa5 Qxa5 24.Rxa5 Rc8 25.Bb4 25.Ra3 e5 25...Rxc2 26.Ra8+ Kf7 27.Rxg8 Kxg8 28.Rxe6 Nb8 29.Rxe7 Nc6 30.Re4 b5 but surely good winning chances for Wh, though there is a risk the d & b pawns will swap 16.Qxe7 16.Qxe7 Kg7 Rudy in pm analysis thought might cling on, however 16...Nh5 Komodo12 only way to last longer 17.f5 Bxf5 18.Bh6 Qxa2 19.Ng5 Qxc2 20.Bxf8 Rxf8 21.g4 Qxd3 22.gxf5 Qd4+ 23.Kh1 Qd5+ 24.Ne4 b5 25.Rd1 Qa8 26.fxg6 hxg6 27.Rd7+- 17.f5 Owain & Komodo12 breaks through Bxf5 18.Nd4! Komodo12, blocks off the Bl Q return 18.Nh4 with the same idea looks more human 18.Bh6+ initial idea in pm analysis Kxh6 19.Qxf6 Qa6 20.Qg5+ Kg7 21.Nh4 Be6 22.c4 f6 23.Qxc5 Rfe8= Komodo12 18...Qb2 19.Nxf5+ gxf5 20.Rxf5 20.Rb1! even better-Komodo12 Qd4+ 21.Be3 Qg4 22.Rxb7 c4 23.Rf3 23.Bh6+ Kxh6 24.Qxf6+ Qg6 25.Qh4+ Kg7 26.Qxc4 23...Rae8 24.Qc5 Qg6 25.Rxf5+- 20...Ng8 21.Qe3+- 21.Qxc5+- 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBRes
Davies,O1594Watkin-Jones,A19401–0
Francis,M1718Westwood,C15981–0
Piotrowski,J1314Finlay,I13631–0
Holman,S1327Hardman,D1306½–½
Holman,S1327Hardman,D13061–0
Francis,M1718Headley,F11821–0

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