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Aberystwyth faced our toughest test yet against Steynton A in the third round of the Welsh On-line League on Tuesday 13th October, outgraded on all boards by the strongest team in the U1800 section. In an unusual Dutch Defence with both players castled queenside, I walked into a strong attack as David Pinch threw forward the pawns in front of his king. He had only to play 21.bxa6 and my position would fall apart; instead he took extra time securing his own king's position and succumbed to my desperate counter-attack. Julie van Kemenade lost a pawn to a tactic against Martin C. Jones's Caro-Kann, but had reached a middle game where there was still plenty of play when he won the exchange, finishing the game soon after. Mark Paffard against James Cook was another win for the Caro-Kann; this time White could have won a piece in an exchange combination early on. Instead it was James, with his active piece play, who triumphed in the tactics. The longest game was on Board 4, another Dutch, where Tom Gunn held the advantage against Scott Hammett for most of the time, and continued to do so after giving up his queen for two rooks. In a complex struggle he missed several wins, including the beautiful 46.Rf1!, which I suspect very few club players would have found, and in the end had to settle for a draw. It was still a good result against a much higher graded player, and ensured that Aber won the match 2½-1½.

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Move	N	Result	Elo

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1.d4 David Pinch,1798 e6 A40 Horwitz Defense; Matthew Francis, 1648 2.Nf3 f5?! (0.09 ? 0.74) Inaccuracy. d5 was best. 2...d5 3.c4 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bf4 Bd6 6.Bxd6 Qxd6 7.Qc2 3.Bg5?! (0.74 ? -0.05) Inaccuracy. g3 was best. 3.g3 [main, but the text is an interesting option, played by Korchnoy amongt others-R] Nf6 4.Bg2 Be7 5.c4 0-0 6.0-0 Ne4 7.Qc2 Nc6 3...Nf6 4.Nbd2 h6?! (0.00 ? 0.85) Inaccuracy. Be7 was best. 4...Be7 [feels safer, & has elite GM supporters-R 5.e3 0-0 6.c3 c5 7.Bd3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nc6 9.0-0 5.Bxf6 Qxf6 6.e4 [71% for Wh- Bl's pawn structure looks cumbersome-R] d6 6...d5 [looks worth a try to keep a closed position; 1-2-R] 7.Bd3 7.exf5 exf5 8.Bc4 [2-0; Stockfish12 now tries the very optimistic ...g5- but Bl is getting way behind in development-R 7...Be7? (0.00 ? 1.10) Mistake. g5 was best. 7...g5 [ I suppose so, but very risky-R] 8.e5?! (1.10 ? 0.14) Inaccuracy. O-O was best. 8.0-0 Nc6 9.c3 0-0 10.Re1 Kh8 11.exf5 exf5 12.Nf1 Qf7 13.Qb3 Qxb3 14.axb3 Bd7 8...Qf7 9.Qe2 Nc6 10.c3 Bd7 [keeps options open; Stockfish12 seems onsessed with ... g5-R] 11.0-0-0?! (0.36 ? -0.20) Inaccuracy. O-O was best. 11.0-0 [Well I would go for Stockfish12's ..g5 now-R] 0-0 12.Rae1 g5 13.h3 Qg7 14.b4 g4 15.hxg4 fxg4 16.Nh2 h5 17.a4 Nd8 11...0-0-0= 11...g5= [Stockfish12] 12.exd6 cxd6 13.Rhe1 Bf6 [ this looked like an inaccuracy at the time, yet Stockfish12 second option, =-R] 13...g5 (stockfish12] 13...Rhe8 [looks sensible-R] 14.Nc4 Be7? (0.01 ? 1.48) Mistake. Kc7 was best. 14...Kc7= [Stockfish12] 15.Bc2 g5 16.Kb1 Bc8 17.g3 Kb8 18.Ne3 Ne7 19.Nd2 Rhe8 20.Ba4 Bd7 21.Bxd7 15.Qc2?? (1.48 ? -0.31) Blunder. b4 was best. 15.b4 [given as winning by Stockfish12-R] 15...Kb8 15...g5 [Stockfish12 is certainly consistent-R] 16.b4? (-0.21 ? -1.29) Mistake. Kb1 was best. 16.Kb1 g5 17.Qe2 Rhf8 18.Nfd2 h5 19.f3 Rc8 20.g3 d5 21.Ne5 Nxe5 22.Qxe5+ Ka8 16...Ka8?? (-1.29 ? 1.94) Blunder. b5 was best. 16...b5 17.Na3 Nxb4 Stockfish12 16...Rc8 considered by Rudy, looking at Q & K on same file (similar to b5 variation0 can lead to great complexities 17.b5 Nd8 17...Nb4 18.cxb4 Bxb5 19.Kb1 Bxc4 20.Bxc4 d5 21.Qa4 dxc4 22.Ne5 Qe8 23.Nd7+ Kc7 24.Qa5+ Kxd7 25.d5 e5 26.Rxe5 Qd8 27.Qb5+ Kc7 28.Rxe7+ Qxe7 29.d6+ Qxd6 30.Rxd6 Kxd6 31.Qxb7= Stockfish12-R 18.a4 Qf8 18...g5 both Stockfish12-R 17.b5+- Nb8 18.Qa4 a6? (2.01 ? 3.65) Mistake. Na6 was best. 18...Na6 19.Qa5 Qe8 20.Kd2 Bxb5 20...d5 21.Nce5+- 21.Rxe6 Bxc4 22.Bxc4 Qd7 23.Rde1 Bf6 24.Bxa6 bxa6 25.Qxa6+- Stockfish 11 & !2 19.Nb6+ Stockfish12 19.Qa5+- Stockfish12-R 19...Ka7 20.Nxd7 Rxd7 21.Kb2? (2.65 ? 1.24) Mistake. bxa6 was best. [Worried about a Bg5 ch, not a real problem, but Wh needs the b file-R] 21.bxa6 b6 21...Nxa6 22.Bxa6 bxa6 23.Qxd7+ is check, so Bl has no time to insert a Bg5 ch 22.Bc4 Rc7 23.Bxe6 Qe8 24.Qxe8 Rxe8 25.Kb2+- Stockfish12-The Bl structure is a positional mess-R 21.Bc4 Stockfish12 Qg6 21...d5 22.Ne5 Qe8 23.bxa6+- 22.bxa6 22.Bxe6 22.Rxe6 22...b6 23.Rxe6 23.Bxe6 23...Qxg2 24.Bd5 Rc8 25.c4 Qxf2 26.Kb1 Rdc7 27.Rde1 Bf6 28.R6e2 wins the Q-Stockfish12-R] 21.Kc2 [should still be fine for Wh-R] 21...Bf6 22.Qb3 22.Rb1+- Stockfish12 22...Re7 22...d5± best try- Stockfish12 23.Nd2?! (1.37 ? 0.54) Inaccuracy. Re3 was best. 23.Re3 g6 23...Rc8± gives Bl survival chances-Stockfish12 24.Rb1 b6 25.bxa6 Nc6 26.Ka1 Rb8 27.Qa3 d5 28.Qd6 Na5 29.Bb5 Nc4 23.bxa6 Nxa6 24.Rb1 e5 25.Bc4 Qe8 26.Bd5 Qb8 27.Kc2+- Stockfish12-R 23...d5 24.Nf3 Rc8 Bl is over the worst 25.c4 25.Rb1 25...Nd7= 25...g5= Stockfish12- consistent 26.Kb1?! (0.73 ? -0.14) Inaccuracy. cxd5 was best. [Stockfish12 has this as first option, content now with =-R] 26.cxd5 exd5 26...e5= 26...g5= of couse, as well- Stockfish12 27.Bxf5?? (-0.24 ? -2.15) Blunder. dxe5 was best. 27.dxe5 Nxe5 28.Nxe5 Rxe5 29.Rxe5 Bxe5 30.cxd5 Qf6 31.b6+ Kb8 32.Rc1 Rxc1+ 33.Kxc1 Bd6= 27...dxc4-+ 28.Qa3? (-2.03 ? -3.38) Mistake. Qa4 was best. 28.Qa4 exd4 29.Rxe7 Qxe7 30.Re1 Nb6 31.Rxe7 Nxa4 32.Bxc8 Bxe7 33.Nxd4 Bf6 34.Nf5 axb5-+ 28...c3?? (-3.38 ? -0.12) Blunder. exd4 was best. 28...exd4-+ 29.b6+ 29.Kc2?? (-0.12 ? -1.86) Blunder. dxe5 was best. 29.dxe5 Bxe5 30.g4 Rc5 31.b6+ Kxb6 32.Nxe5 Nxe5 33.Ka1 Nc6 34.Rb1+ Rb5 35.Qxc3 Rxb1+ 29.bxa6 also draws- Stockfish12 29...exd4-+ 30.Bxd7?? (-2.02 ? -6.44) Blunder. Qb3 was best. 30.Qb3 Qe8 30...Rxd7 31.Rd3 Qc4 32.Ne5?! (-5.19 ? -8.10) Inaccuracy. Qb3 was best.[Stockfish12 disagrees, thinks the text best try- but Wh is lost anyway-R] 32.Qb3 Qc5 32...Bxe5 33.Rxe5 Rd5 34.Re7 Rxb5 Time forfeit Black wins on time. 0–1

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White	EloW	Black	EloB	Res

David Pinch	1798	Matthew Francis	1648	0–1
Julie van Kemenade	1641	Martin C. Jones	1725	0–1
Mark Paffard	1608	James Cook	1476	0–1
Tom Gunn	1398	Scott Hammett	1590	½–½

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