Pieces Against Pawns

It was not really to be expected that Aberystwyth would continue the exceptional results of the last couple of matches, but we have undoubtedly been competing well in the Open Section of the Welsh Chess Union Online League this time, and came close to drawing our latest match, against Pontyfenni. Rudy van Kemenade's attacked on the kingside in a Bird's Opening against Mark Adams, but a flurry of exchanges left Black with the initiative enabling him to grab several pawns, leading to a winning endgame. Adam Watkin-Jones's Owen's Defence gave him a good position against Ian Jones, but he went wrong in the middlegame allowing an attack that should have been decisive. White's miscalculation gave Adam a piece, but stopping the enemy pawns was a challenge, and he eventually resigned in a position where a draw was still in fact possible. I emerged an exchange up against John Waterfield from a series of complications in a Modern Defence, but then hung a rook. Black was now a piece up, but again the ending needed some care, and his return error gifted me a lucky draw. Sam Holman's kingside attack against Anthony Hughes's English Opening was a bit premature. White was able to counter in the centre, and when he won a piece with a pawn fork the end followed quickly. A 3½-½ defeat could have been an impressive 2-2 draw if Adam and I had taken our chances.

Tom Gunn's Queen's Gambit game against Bence Szakmany in the U-1800 match between Cardigan and North Cardiff Panthers was yet another example of a difficult ending between an extra piece and extra pawns. This time it was Tom with the extra piece and after long manoeuvring he managed to bring home the win.

[Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.12.16"] [Round "6.1"] [White "Van Kemenade, R."] [Black "Adams, Mark"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A02"] [WhiteElo "1999"] [BlackElo "2001"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "84"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,84,27,-30,6,13,30,-21,13,-26,-10,-33,-11,-13,44,-20,-6,-12,29,-13,-12, -27,-21,-45,-41,-40,-48,-59,-74,-62,-38,-157,-157,-149,-126,-231,-245,-245, -280,-280,-255,-310,-288,-275,-275,-348,-348,-360,-195,-314,-180,-242,-242, -255,-280,-325,-325,-360,-360,-354,-361,-349,-344,-368,-363,-363,-377,-383, -371,-391,-334,-353,-388,-405,-414,-414,-385,-388,-385,-431,-425,-1015,-1047, -1066,-1120,-1120,-1014]} 1. f4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. O-O Rb8 (6... e6 {main} 7. Nc3 Nge7 8. h3 O-O 9. g4 Rb8 {Van Kemenade-Afek, Monarch Assurance Isle of Man 2001,0-1}) 7. c4 a6 (7... e6 8. Nc3 Nge7 9. e4 O-O 10. g4 f5 11. gxf5 exf5 12. Nd5 Nd4 13. Nxd4 Bxd4+ 14. Kh1 b5 {Van Kemenade-Gibbons, WCPL 2016,0-1}) 8. Nc3 e6 (8... b5 9. Nh4 Bd7 10. cxb5 axb5 11. f5 Nf6 12. Bg5 Nd4 13. fxg6 hxg6 14. Rb1 Rh5 15. Bd2 Qc8 $19 { Stanke-Wippermann, Hamburg Junge op 2005,0-1}) 9. a4 Nge7 10. e3 (10. e4 O-O $15 {3 draws, 5 Bl wins}) 10... O-O 11. g4 f5 12. g5 (12. gxf5 Nxf5 13. Bd2 Nb4 14. Qe2 d5 $15 {KomodoDragon2}) 12... Bd7 13. h4 e5 14. Nd5 (14. h5 {carrying on with the pawn advance idea is a better bet} gxh5 15. Ne2 b5 16. axb5 axb5 17. Ng3 bxc4 18. dxc4 Be6 19. Nd2 h4 20. Nh5 Bh8 21. Qe1 h3 22. Bxh3 Ng6 $17 { though Wh retains Kingside play}) 14... Be6 (14... Nxd5 15. cxd5 Nb4 $17 { Stockfish14 & KomodoDragon2}) 15. e4 (15. Nf6+ {a promising pawn sacrifice according to both Engines} Bxf6 16. gxf6 Rxf6 17. b3 h6 18. Bb2 Rf7 19. d4 $14 {and the position open up for the 2 Bs}) 15... fxe4 16. dxe4 exf4 17. Bxf4 (17. Ra3 {is a lichess suggestion, backed by KomodoDragon2- Wh had underestimated the range of the Bl R coming to f4}) 17... Bxd5 18. exd5 Rxf4 $19 19. dxc6 bxc6 20. Qe2 (20. Bh3 Nf5 21. Bxf5 gxf5 22. Rb1 {suggested by KomodoDragon2, but it is a position with no prospects for Wh}) 20... Qd7 (20... Nf5) 21. Rae1 (21. Rab1 Rg4 22. Kh2 Nf5 23. Bh3 Ng3 24. Bxg4 Qxg4 25. Rg1 Be5 {KomodoDragon2, is not that appealing}) 21... Nf5 22. Qe6+ {attempting to get some R activity} ( 22. Bh3 {getting rid of the N given by Stockfish14 & KomodoDragon2} Qf7 23. Bxf5 Rxf5 {but then Wh is just going pawns down}) 22... Qxe6 23. Rxe6 Rxc4 ( 23... Kf7) 24. h5 $5 (24. Bh3 {both Engines} Rxa4 25. h5 Ng3 26. Rfe1 Rf4 27. R1e3 Nxh5 28. Rxd6 Rbf8 29. Ne5 {is a little better, but not enough}) 24... Ng3 25. Rfe1 Nxh5 26. Rxd6 {hoping to have gained some play, but} Rg4 $1 {and Wh paused for a long think} 27. Red1 (27. Re2 {is one such variation} Nf4 28. Red2 Bxb2 29. Rxc6 Bc3 30. Rc2 Rb2 31. Rxb2 Bxb2 32. Ne1 Bc3 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) 27... Rxb2 28. Rd8+ Bf8 29. R1d2 Rxd2 30. Rxd2 Nf4 31. Kh2 (31. Ne1 Rxg5 $19 ( 31... c4 $19 {KomodoDragon2})) 31... Nxg2 32. Rxg2 Bd6+ 33. Kh3 Rxg2 34. Kxg2 c4 {too many pawns & a N against a wideranging B} 35. Kf2 Bf4 36. Ke2 c5 37. Kd1 c3 38. Kc2 Bd2 39. a5 Kf7 40. Nxd2 cxd2 41. Kxd2 Ke6 42. Kc3 Kd5 {Normal- Wh's pawn sacrifices were in vain against Bl's very accurate defence} 0-1 [Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.12.16"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Jones, Ian Robert"] [Black "Watkin-Jones, Adam"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "2007"] [BlackElo "1918"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "123"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,123,80,48,83,73,60,16,14,1,42,-58,-50,-38,-53,-51,-60,-75,-63,-71,-70, -70,-63,-77,-62,-57,-31,-38,-28,-42,-28,-20,-33,-58,-58,-58,9,29,78,104,117, 125,129,118,166,118,264,276,427,295,295,245,295,274,265,88,88,134,101,111,152, 168,193,78,69,-63,-18,-167,-167,-157,-161,-192,-179,-185,-196,-192,-181,-172, -183,-183,-211,-220,-218,-235,-218,-212,-169,-180,-172,-229,-218,-218,-226, -222,-218,-226,-224,-218,-206,-224,-204,-214,-200,-202,-181,-204,-209,-195, -139,-201,-134,-137,-142,-141,-45,-141,-33,-29,0,0,41,0,0,0,0,13]} 1. e4 b6 { new to both players according to databases} (1... e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nc6 4. g3 {Jones - Watkin-Jones, WCU Online Open 2, 2021,1-0}) 2. d4 Bb7 3. f3 (3. Bd3) (3. Nc3 {main lines}) 3... e6 4. Be3 c5 (4... d5) (4... Nf6 {main lines}) 5. c4 {offering a transposition to some kind of Saemisch} (5. c3 {main}) 5... cxd4 6. Bxd4 (6. Qxd4 $5) 6... Nc6 7. Be3 Bb4+ $17 {KomodoDragon2} (7... Rc8 8. Nh3 Qc7 9. Nd2 Nf6 {Jerome-Smyth,IECC 2000, 0-1}) (7... Nf6 8. Nc3 Bb4 9. Qb3 Bxc3+ 10. Qxc3 e5 11. Ne2 O-O 12. Ng3 Qc7 13. Be2 g6 14. O-O {Tukiran-Abdul Shukor, Johor International Challenge 2018, 1-0}) 8. Nd2 Nge7 9. a3 Bc5 10. Bxc5 bxc5 $17 {KomodoDragon2-Wh has a hole on d4, & Bl is better developed} 11. Bd3 Ng6 12. Ne2 O-O (12... Qg5 $1 {KomodoDragon2} 13. Qb3 Rb8 14. g3 Ba8 15. Qc3 Qe3 16. Bc2 Qxc3 17. bxc3 Na5 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) 13. O-O Nge5 14. Bc2 Ba6 15. b3 d5 16. cxd5 exd5 17. exd5 Bxe2 {but this gives away Bl's advantage, easing Wh's position by swapping off those passive pieces} (17... Qxd5 18. Rf2 Qe6 $17 {KomodoDragon2}) 18. Qxe2 Nd4 $2 {compounds matters} (18... Qxd5 $11) 19. Bxh7+ Kxh7 20. Qxe5 $18 Re8 21. Qh5+ Kg8 22. Ne4 f5 (22... f6 23. d6 Re5 24. Qg6 Re6 25. Nxc5 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 23. Ng5 Qxd5 24. Qh7+ (24. Rae1 $1 $18 {KomodoDragon2, brings in another piece & cuts off lines of a K escape}) 24... Kf8 25. Qg6 Kg8 26. Qh7+ Kf8 27. Qh8+ Qg8 28. Qh5 g6 29. Qh4 Re7 30. b4 Kg7 {Bl has escaped the worst, but is still losing} 31. bxc5 $18 Qc4 32. Ne4 $2 {trying to gain time for the attack, but Bl's next shows up the drawback} (32. Qh7+ Kf6 33. Qh6 {the only winning move apparently} (33. Ne4+ fxe4 34. Qh4+ Kf7 35. fxe4+ Nf5 36. Qh7+ Kf6 37. Rxf5+ gxf5 38. e5+ Rxe5 39. Qh6+ Kf7 40. Qh7+ Kf6 41. Qh6+ {repetition- is one of those precise Engine calculations}) 33... Qxc5 34. Kh1 Rae8 35. Rad1 Qe5 36. f4 Qc5 37. h4 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 32... Rf7 $19 (32... Ne2+ 33. Kh1 Rf7 $19 {is another version}) 33. Qe1 fxe4 34. Qxe4 Ne2+ 35. Kh1 Qxe4 36. fxe4 Rc8 (36... Rxf1+ {removing a pair of Rs looks simpler} 37. Rxf1 Rc8 38. Rd1 Rxc5 39. Rd7+ Kh6 40. g3 a5 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) 37. Rfe1 Nc3 (37... Rf2) 38. h3 Rxc5 39. Re3 Re7 (39... a5) 40. Rc1 Na4 41. Rb1 Rc3 (41... Nb6 42. Kh2 Rce5 43. Rbe1 Nc4 44. Rc3 Rxe4 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) 42. Rf3 Rec7 43. Rb4 Nb6 44. e5 Rxf3 45. gxf3 Rc4 (45... Rc5) (45... Nc4) 46. Rb5 Kf7 47. Ra5 Rc7 {this gives Wh hopes of holding as now the Bl R has gone over to passive defence} (47... Ra4 $1 48. Rc5 Rxa3 49. Kg2 a5 $19 {and the a5 pawn is a menace , especially with Bl's R now active-Rudy}) 48. Kg2 Ke6 49. h4 { Wh by now was living on increments} Nc4 (49... Kf5 $1 {removes the K from a timely ch by Wh.} 50. Kg3 Nc4 51. Ra4 Nxe5 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) 50. Ra6+ Kxe5 ( 50... Nb6 {repeating to go back to the Kf5 move is keeps more winning material on the board ( but Bl was now also running low on time)}) 51. Rxg6 Nxa3 $19 { but, compared to the note at move 49, the Bl forces are far more scattered rather than solidly holding the K side} 52. Kg3 Nc4 53. h5 Rh7 (53... Kf5 { the K needs to come back in defence} 54. f4 Rb7 55. Rg5+ Kf6 56. Kf3 Kf7 57. Kg4 Nd6 58. Ra5 Kg8 59. f5 Nf7 $11 {but after all, KomodoDragon2 thinks all Bl winning chances have gone, though Bl will surely not lose this}) 54. Ra6 (54. Kg4) 54... Nb6 (54... Kf5 $17) 55. Ra5+ Kf6 56. Kg4 Nc4 (56... Rg7+ 57. Kh4 Nc4 58. Ra6+ Kf5 59. h6 Rf7 60. Kh5 Ne5 61. Ra3 Re7 $17 {KomodoDragon2- but the a pawn will not be advancing against the active Wh R}) 57. Ra6+ Ke5 (57... Nb6 { keeps hopes alive,but} 58. f4 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 58. h6 (58. f4+ Ke4 59. Kg5 $11 {but looks even more dangerous for Bl}) 58... Ne3+ 59. Kg5 Nd5 60. Kg6 Rb7 61. h7 Nf4+ 62. Kh6 {Normal, Bl esigned but actually a draw is still there, KomodoDragon2 & Stockfish14 give} (62. Kh6 Rb8 63. Ra5+ Kd6 $11 {but simpler seems}) (62. Kh6 Rxh7+ 63. Kxh7 Nh3 64. Kg6 Kf4 65. Rxa7 Kxf3 {and it should be a draw, as the Bl K is not in a corner, nor seperated from his N}) 1-0 [Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.12.16"] [Round "6.3"] [White "Francis, Matthew"] [Black "Waterfield, John"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B34"] [WhiteElo "1648"] [BlackElo "2078"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,99,39,48,97,77,93,49,120,62,97,50,77,52,45,50,51,-9,-11,-12,-17,-26, -23,-32,-32,-32,17,-19,-4,-172,-74,-79,-30,-22,-18,-2,-81,-114,-96,-94,-94,-90, 136,-134,-132,-176,-154,-262,-133,-133,-98,-68,-59,-96,-100,-100,91,19,130,134, 142,146,144,151,134,157,155,149,162,171,172,-396,-401,-398,-404,-409,-386,-384, -341,-342,-342,-343,-337,-383,-343,-390,-474,-696,-1176,-1252,-1174,-1282, -1292,-1292,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 g6 2. d4 (2. d3 Bg7 3. c4 d6 4. Nc3 e5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 O-O 7. Nge2 c6 8. O-O Be6 9. h3 h5 {Francis-Waterfield, Dyfed Open 2016,1-0}) 2... Bg7 3. Nf3 c5 {The Sniper} (3... d6 4. Bc4 c6 5. O-O Nf6 6. Qe2 O-O 7. e5 {Francis-Pleasants, WCU Online 3 rd1, 2021,0-1}) 4. Bc4 (4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Be3 {leads to a standard Dragon var}) (4. c3 cxd4 5. cxd4 d5 {to a Gurgenidze Caro-Kann}) (4. dxc5 Qa5+ 5. Nc3 (5. c3 Qxc5 6. Be3 Qc7 {main}) (5. Bd2 Qxc5 6. Bc3 Nf6 7. Bd4 Qc7 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. Nd5 { Villiers-Waterfield, BCF, Llandudno 2017,1-0}) 5... Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qxc3+ 7. Bd2 Qxc5 8. Bd3 {53% for Wh}) 4... cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 (5... Nf6 6. Nc3 O-O 7. O-O Nxe4 8. Qd3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 d5 {Poves-Waterfield, 4NCL 2019,0-1}) 6. Nxc6 (6. Be3 Nf6 7. Nc3 {is an Accelerated Dragon, with some 27,000 games}) 6... bxc6 7. O-O d6 8. Qf3 (8. Nc3) 8... Nf6 9. Nc3 (9. e5 dxe5 10. Qxc6+ Bd7 {2-3-6}) 9... O-O 10. Bg5 Qa5 {1-3} (10... Bg4 {1-1-4}) 11. Qe3 $146 (11. Qg3 $11 {Cloud Engines, 1-1}) (11. Bxf6) (11. h4) 11... Rb8 (11... Ng4 12. Qd2 Re8 13. Bb3 Rb8 14. Rad1 Ne5 $15 {KomodoDragon2}) 12. Bb3 Ba6 13. Rfe1 Rb7 14. Ne2 $2 (14. Rad1 $11) 14... Ng4 (14... Nxe4 $19) 15. Qf4 Ne5 (15... Bxb2 16. Rab1 Bf6 17. Bxf6 Nxf6 $17 {KomodoDragon2}) 16. Qh4 Qc7 (16... c5 17. Bd5 Rxb2 $17 {KomodoDragon2}) 17. f4 Nc4 18. f5 $14 Bxb2 19. fxg6 (19. Rad1 Na5 20. Kh1 Nxb3 21. axb3 Bxe2 22. Rxe2 f6 23. Bh6 Rd8 24. Re3 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 19... hxg6 20. Rad1 Be5 ( 20... Na5 $11) 21. Bh6 (21. Rd3 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 21... Rd8 (21... Bg7 $15) 22. Qg4 (22. Bg5 Kg7 23. Bh6+ Kg8 24. Bg5 {repetition- KomodoDragon2}) 22... d5 23. h4 Qb6+ (23... Qd7) 24. Kh1 Ne3 25. Bxe3 Qxe3 26. exd5 (26. h5 $5 Kg7 $17 { KomodoDragon2}) 26... cxd5 (26... c5) 27. Bxd5 Kg7 (27... Rb6 28. c4 Bc8 29. Qf3 Qxf3 30. Bxf3 Rxd1 31. Rxd1 Be6 $19 {KomodoDragon2- the Wh pawns easy targets}) 28. Ng1 (28. Nd4 $1 $18 {exploits the Q position} Qxe1+ (28... Qf4 29. Qxf4 Bxf4 30. Bxb7 Bxb7 31. Ne6+ fxe6 32. Rxd8 $18) 29. Rxe1 Rxd5 30. Nf5+ Kh8 31. Qf3 Rdb5 32. Nh6 Rb1 33. Nxf7+ Kg7 34. Qf2 Bf6 35. Nd8 $18 { KomodoDragon2, though the position remains tricky to play for both sides}) 28... Qg3 $2 (28... Qc3 29. Bxb7 Rxd1 30. Qxd1 Bxb7 31. Nf3 Bf6 $11 {as Tarrasch maintained years ago, 2 Bs are often the equal over the less coordinated R & N}) 29. Qxg3 Bxg3 30. Bxb7 Bxb7 (30... Rxd1 {as advocated by lichess is a little better} 31. Rxd1 Bxb7 32. Rd7 Be4 33. Rxe7 Bxc2 34. Rxa7 Bxh4 {KomodoDragon2, but the a pawn should provide a Wh win in the end}) 31. Rxd8 Bxe1 32. Rd7 Bc6 33. Rxe7 Bxh4 34. Rxa7 Bf2 35. Nh3 $2 (35. Rc7 $18) 35... Bxa7 $132 {and the cry of anguish could be heard across Aberystwyth} 36. Nf4 Kf6 (36... g5) 37. Nd3 Be4 38. Kh2 Bxd3 39. cxd3 Ke5 40. Kg3 f5 41. Kh4 Be3 ( 41... Kf4 $1 $18 {is the clearest}) 42. a4 Kd4 {Bl does not need this pawn, as the B stops both d pawn and a pawn} (42... Kf4 $1 {gets a pawn though}) 43. a5 Kxd3 44. a6 g5+ (44... Ke2 45. Kh3 g5 46. Kh2 Kf2 {will soon force a pawn through}) 45. Kg3 (45. Kh5 {lasts longer, but no need for lichess to label the text move as a blunder}) 45... Kc4 (45... Ke2 46. Kh2 Kf2 47. Kh1 Ba7 48. Kh2 Bb8+ 49. Kh1 g4 {is the exact Engine line}) 46. Kf3 f4 $2 {Bl should refrain from pawn moves, until the K position is maximised and it is clear which one needs to move first} 47. g3 $11 Kb5 48. a7 Bxa7 49. gxf4 gxf4 50. Kxf4 $11 { Normal, the reaction from Somerset is unknown.} 1/2-1/2 [Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.12.15"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Hughes, Anthony"] [Black "Holman, Sam"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A25"] [WhiteElo "1942"] [BlackElo "1386"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "57"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,57,16,-12,-20,-8,-10,-32,16,-6,4,0,33,-34,-30,-11,18,27,41,59,49,20, 22,43,46,33,19,21,61,32,184,222,222,297,262,355,406,406,508,510,599,616,635, 507,485,513,647,502,732,724,730,701,1030,1376,1391,1186,1457,1223,29999,-30000] } 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 f5 (3... g6 {main}) 4. Bg2 Nf6 5. d3 h6 (5... Bb4) (5... Bc5 {main lines}) 6. e4 (6. e3 d6 7. Nge2 g5 8. Nd5 (8. h4 {1-2-1}) 8... Bg7 9. Nec3 O-O {Szymanski-Van Kemenade, 4NCL 2019,0-1}) 6... d6 (6... g6 7. exf5 gxf5 8. Nd5 Bg7 9. Nxf6+ Qxf6 10. Qh5+ (10. Bd5 Nd4 11. Be3 c6 12. Bxd4 cxd5 13. Qe2 O-O 14. Bc3 d4 15. Bb4 Re8 {Hughes-Van Kemenade, WCU blitz ch online ,2020,0-1}) 10... Qf7 11. Qxf7+ Kxf7 {Gibson-Van Kemenade, Wld ch Seniors, Prague 2020, 1/2-1/2}) 7. Nge2 g5 {may be a little risky if Wh has not yet 0-0} (7... g6 {Heap-Van Kemenade, Dyfed Closed 2014, 0-1; Dyfed Closed 2016,1/2-1/2}) 8. h4 Rg8 (8... g4 9. Be3 Bg7 10. Qd2 Qd7 11. Nd5 Qf7 12. Nec3 Nd4 {Kutsanyan (2272)-Sabirov (1948), Moscow open 2019,0-1}) 9. hxg5 hxg5 10. Nd5 (10. exf5 Bxf5 11. Qb3 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 10... f4 11. Bd2 Be6 (11... Bg7 ) 12. Qb3 Rb8 13. O-O-O {looks a little dangerous as Bl has chances of opening up the Q side, but it seems Wh has enough control over the centre} a6 14. d4 Bg7 {missing the Wh threat} (14... Ng4 {looks promising but Wh makes use of superior delopment} 15. Bh3 (15. Rh7 Rg7 16. Rh8 {also promising}) 15... Bxd5 16. cxd5 Nxf2 17. dxc6 Rg7 18. cxb7 Nxh3 19. Rxh3 c5 20. dxe5 Rgxb7 21. Qg8 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 15. Nxf6+ Qxf6 16. d5 $18 f3 17. Qxf3 Rf8 18. Qxf6 Bxf6 (18... Rxf6 $5) 19. dxe6 Nd4 (19... Nd8 $5) 20. Nxd4 exd4 21. f4 (21. Rh7) 21... gxf4 22. gxf4 Ke7 23. f5 (23. Rh7+) 23... b5 24. Rh7+ Ke8 25. Rxc7 (25. e5 $1) 25... d3 26. e5 Bxe5 27. Bc6+ Kd8 28. Ba5 Bd4 29. e7# {Normal} 1-0 [Event "WCU Online U1800 3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.12.16"] [Round "6.4"] [White "Gunn, Tom"] [Black "Szakmany, Bence"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E11"] [WhiteElo "1398"] [BlackElo "1631"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "145"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,145,15,41,12,-25,-17,4,12,12,33,21,19,36,34,36,20,22,22,23,17,19,26,7, 25,23,26,29,33,13,33,33,32,10,62,-31,24,46,51,52,33,26,72,18,295,261,285,239, 229,229,219,220,220,216,219,220,217,202,193,213,211,198,208,185,197,197,202, 170,238,235,200,196,197,184,184,191,194,179,183,165,181,183,224,246,228,188, 192,180,191,147,190,176,163,170,186,180,166,194,181,228,227,181,175,181,220, 154,173,143,214,244,197,160,173,199,198,213,264,215,260,205,194,196,206,223, 293,295,300,292,300,313,350,285,541,616,626,633,667,677,687,687,1774,541,533, 962,1244,1282,1312,1312]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 (3. Nc3 Bb4 {previous games by Bl, 2-1-1}) 3... d5 (3... c5 4. d5 b5 {Gunn-MacDonald, WCU Online Open 2, 2021,0-1}) 4. Nc3 Bb4 (4... c6 5. e3 {Gunn-Boyd, WCU Online Open2, 2021,0-1}) (4... Be7 5. e3 {Gunn-Miga, WCU Online Open 2, 02021,0-1}) 5. Bd2 ( 5. Bg5) (5. cxd5) 5... O-O 6. e3 a5 (6... b6) (6... c5 {main lines}) 7. Bd3 (7. cxd5 exd5 8. Bd3 b6 {Firouzja-Carlsen, lichess bullet feb 2021,0-1}) 7... dxc4 (7... b6 {main}) 8. Bxc4 b6 9. O-O Bb7 10. a3 (10. Qe2 {GM line, 1-5-1}) 10... Be7 (10... Bxc3 {2 draws}) 11. Re1 $146 (11. Qe2 $11 {Cloud Engines ; 0-1}) ( 11. Rc1 {1-0}) 11... Ne4 (11... c5 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 12. Nxe4 Bxe4 13. Rc1 c6 14. Be2 Nd7 15. Bc3 Nf6 16. h3 (16. Ne5 $14 {KomodoDragon2}) 16... b5 $6 { creates a potential weakness on the c file} (16... Bd5 $11) 17. Nd2 (17. Ne5) 17... b4 18. Nxe4 Nxe4 19. axb4 axb4 20. Bd2 $11 Ra2 21. Qc2 (21. Qb3) 21... c5 $2 {the wrong order} (21... Nxd2 22. Qxd2 c5 $11 {Cloud Engines}) 22. Qxe4 $18 Rxb2 23. Rc2 (23. Red1) 23... Rxc2 24. Qxc2 cxd4 25. exd4 (25. e4 $5) 25... Qxd4 26. Be3 Qd7 {Bl has 2 pawns for the piece, but they are static. On the other hand there are few weaknesses for Wh to attack , other than the b4 pawn} 27. Rd1 Qb7 28. Rb1 Rc8 29. Qb3 Rd8 30. Bf3 Qa6 31. Qc2 (31. g3 {secures Wh's K side}) 31... Qb5 32. Be2 Qe5 33. Qb2 Qb8 34. Bd2 Qc7 35. g3 Bc5 36. Kg2 Qb6 37. Be1 h6 38. Qc2 Be7 39. Qe4 Rd4 40. Qc2 Bf6 41. Qa4 Be7 42. Ra1 Bf8 43. Qa5 Qd6 44. Rb1 g6 45. Bf3 e5 46. Qa2 (46. Qa8 $5) 46... e4 47. Be2 h5 48. h4 Qc6 49. Kg1 {none of this is at all clear as to how Wh can make use of his piece ahead} Qd7 (49... e3 $5 {KomodoDragon2}) 50. Qb3 Bc5 51. Qc2 Qf5 52. Rc1 Rd5 53. Kg2 g5 {but any pawn advances on the King's wing should make it easier for Wh to find a way in.Bl looks best just sitting tight.} 54. hxg5 Qxg5 55. Rd1 ( 55. Qxe4 {should work out well for Wh according to the Engines} Qxc1 56. Qxd5 Qxe1 57. Qg5+ Kh8 (57... Kf8 58. Qxc5+) 58. Qxh5+ Kg8 59. Qg5+ Kh8 60. Qxc5 Qxe2 61. Qf8+ Kh7 62. Qxf7+ Kh6 63. Qf4+ Kh5 64. Qxb4 {and the two connected pawns should win- mate in 38 with best play}) 55... Rxd1 56. Bxd1 Qd5 57. Qd2 Qe5 58. Qh6 e3 59. Qxh5 (59. Bc2 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) (59. f4 Qe4+ 60. Kh2 e2 61. Qg5+ Kh8 62. Bb3 Bg1+ 63. Kxg1 Qe3+ 64. Kh2 Qxb3 65. Qxh5+ Kg7 66. Qxe2 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 59... Qxh5 60. Bxh5 exf2 61. Bxf2 {with the exchange of Qs the game has clarified- Wh needs to safeguard his remaing pawn, while ganging up on the b4 pawn.} Bd6 62. Bd4 Kf8 63. Bd1 Ke7 64. g4 Ke6 65. Kf3 {bringing the K up in an endgame is usually an excellent idea} (65. Bc2 {putting the B on f5 & keeping the Bl's f pawn under restraint, looks a winning plan- Rudy}) 65... f5 66. Bb3+ Ke7 67. gxf5 {natural} (67. g5 {is an Engine preference}) 67... Kf8 68. Ke4 Ke8 69. Kd5 Ke7 70. Bc5 {mate in 12, but simplifies drastically} (70. f6+ {mate in 11 , Lomonosov}) (70. Kc6 {mate in 9, Lomonosov} ) 70... Bxc5 71. Kxc5 Kf6 72. Bc2 b3 73. Bb1 {Normal} 1-0

More than Respectable

After my last post suggesting that Aberystwyth were putting up an unexpectedly good fight in the Open Section of the Welsh Chess Union Online League, our match against Morriston on Thursday 9th December confirmed our good form. On top board, an interesting Budapest Gambit game was in prospect when Rudy van Kemande's opponent, Moss McCarthy, dropped a rook and resigned at once. It turned out that both players were too hasty: White could have trapped Black's queen after the capture, forcing her to give herself up for the second rook, leaving an unclear position, while Rudy had overlooked a winning alternative. Adam Watkin-Jones won a piece with a fork in an irregular opening against Chris Howells, who was unable to find any counterplay, and lost further material before resigning. I have recently taken up the Caro-Kann, inspired by Levy Rozman's Gotham Chess YouTube Channel: of his recommended line against the Advance Variation, he says, "You WILL win White's centre pawns, often!" and that's exactly what happened in my game against Francisco Marin, next time I'll remember to take both of them, but one was enough on this occasion. Sam Holman's game against Duncan Williams followed a line played several times in the recent World Championship match between Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi. Black won a pawn in the centre but overlooked White's threats on the kingside and Sam broke through to give mate. 4-0 to Aber was an outstanding result.

[Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.12.09"] [Round "5.1"] [White "McCarthy, Moss"] [Black "Van Kemenade, R."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A52"] [WhiteElo "1989"] [BlackElo "1999"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "40"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] {[%evp 0,40,16,20,33,-28,12,17,21,13,13,-22,23,-10,6,-20,-18,-12,-15,-20,-31, -24,-6,-31,-16,-21,-38,-34,-31,-47,-37,-27,-14,-27,-27,-14,-8,-39,-23,-47,-33, -243,32]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 Ng4 4. e3 (4. Bf4 Bb4+ 5. Nc3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Nc6 7. Nf3 Qe7 8. Qd5 f6 9. exf6 Nxf6 10. Qd3 d6 11. e3 O-O 12. Be2 Kh8 13. O-O {MCCarthy-J Van Kemenade,West Wales Open 2018,1-0}) 4... Nxe5 5. Nh3 ( 5. f4 Nec6 6. Nf3 Bc5 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Bd3 Re8 9. Kf2 h6 {Llewellyn-Van Kemenade, WCPL 2019,1/2-1/2}) (5. Nc3 g6 6. b3 Bg7 7. Bb2 O-O 8. Nf3 Nbc6 9. Be2 Re8 10. O-O d6 {Dudiefa-Van Kemenade,Coventry 2005,0-1}) 5... g6 (5... d6 6. Nf4 g6 7. Nc3 Bg7 8. Be2 a5 9. O-O O-O 10. e4 c6 11. Be3 Qe7 12. Rc1 f5 {Varley-Van Kemenade,S Wales International 2008,1-0}) 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. Nf4 O-O 8. Be2 d6 9. O-O (9. Bd2 a5 10. O-O Nbd7 11. Qc2 Nc5 12. f3 f5 13. Nd3 Ne6 {M Davies-Van Kemenade, West Wales Open 2007,1-0}) 9... Nbd7 10. Qc2 a5 11. b3 Nc5 12. Bb2 Bf5 $146 {Cloud Engines} (12... b6 13. Rad1 Bb7 14. Nfd5 f5 15. Qd2 Re8 16. f4 Nf7 17. e4 c6 {Llewellyn-Van Kemenade, WCPL 2009,0-1}) (12... c6 {main, 3.5-0.5 }) (12... a4 {KomodoDragon2; Lanin-Akrill, ICCF 2016,1/2-1/2}) 13. e4 Bd7 14. Nfd5 c6 (14... Nc6 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 15. Ne3 f5 16. exf5 gxf5 17. f4 Ng6 18. Ncd1 (18. Rad1 $14 {KomodoDragon2}) 18... Qe7 19. Bxg7 (19. g3 a4 20. b4 Ne4 $14 {KomodoDragon2}) 19... Qxg7 20. g3 $2 (20. Qc3 Rf7 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 20... Qxa1 {both players thought that Wh had just dropped a R, but matters are not that simple} (20... Qxa1 {Wh should have continued with} 21. Nc3 Qxf1+ 22. Kxf1 Rae8 23. Qd2 Rf6 24. Bf3 {KomodoDragon2 gives this as winning for Wh, but perhaps with 2 Rs for a Q, Bl should have continued till move 136 to win as in Carlsen-Nepomniachti, Wld Ch 2021,1-0}) (20... Nxf4 $1 $19 {is the correct way to exploit Wh's last, as the Engines indicate.} 21. Bf3 (21. Rxf4 Qxa1 $19) 21... Nh3+ 22. Kh1 f4 23. gxf4 Qxa1 24. Nc3 Qxf1+ 25. Nxf1 Rxf4 26. Bg2 Raf8 $19 (26... Nd3 $19 {KomodoDragon2- as compared with the immediate capture of the R, Wh's K side has been shattered})) 0-1 [Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.12.09"] [Round "5.2"] [White "Watkin-Jones, Adam"] [Black "Howells, Chris"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A15"] [WhiteElo "1918"] [BlackElo "1835"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "67"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,67,80,62,54,-17,20,-22,0,4,40,25,30,43,34,45,42,42,31,41,90,69,70,48, 83,58,53,55,52,32,2,13,36,22,40,33,12,5,7,1,-7,-10,20,-100,-10,-29,67,1,1,5, 253,247,480,486,464,407,452,446,442,463,600,627,728,769,774,937,937,1065,1155, 1196]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 (1... d5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 Bf5 4. O-O e6 5. d3 Nbd7 { Dixon-Howells, S Wales New Year Open, 2017,1/2-1/2}) 2. c4 d6 3. e3 (3. g3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. O-O O-O 6. Nc3 Nbd7 7. d3 e5 8. Rb1 {Watkin-Jones - Buttell, Dyfed League 2019, 1-0}) (3. d4 {main}) 3... e5 4. d4 Nbd7 5. b3 c6 6. Be2 e4 ( 6... Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Bb2 e4 9. Nfd2 d5 10. Nc3 Re8 {2-7}) 7. Nfd2 d5 { usually Bl responds to d4 openings with e6 & d5 lines. Here the opening has transposed to a Reversed King's Indian Attack against a French.} 8. O-O (8. Ba3 Qa5 9. Bxf8 Nxf8 10. c5 b6 11. cxb6 axb6 12. Qc2 Bd7 {Morozova-Petrenko, Centracoop op, Eforie Nord 1999,1/2-1/2}) (8. a3 Bd6 9. Nc3 a6 (9... Nf8 10. f3 exf3 11. Bxf3 {Ivekovic-Bosnjak, CRO ch U17, Vukovar 2013,1/2-1/2}) 10. c5 Bc7 11. Qc2 O-O {Khaitov-Iuldachev, Tashkent Hokim Cup 2009,0-1}) 8... Bd6 9. Nc3 Bb8 $6 {trying to get in Qc7, but it is an awkward rearrangement} (9... a6 10. f3 Bb4 11. Bb2 exf3 12. Bxf3 O-O 13. cxd5 Bxc3 14. dxc6 Bxb2 15. cxb7 Bxb7 16. Bxb7 Ra7 17. Rb1 Bxd4 18. exd4 Rxb7 {Schwarz-Neumann, Wuerttemberg ch Seniors , Ellwangen 2002,0-1}) 10. cxd5 (10. Ba3 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 10... cxd5 11. f4 exf3 (11... Bd6 $11) 12. Nxf3 O-O 13. Bd2 a6 (13... Re8 $15) 14. Rc1 b5 15. b4 Bb7 {the B looks a bit bad here, even if it does support a Ne4} (15... Nb6 $15 {KomodoDragon2}) 16. a4 bxa4 17. Nxa4 Ne4 18. Be1 Qe7 19. Bd3 Ndf6 20. Qe2 (20. Bh4 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 20... Re8 21. b5 $6 {gives Bl's B more scopeand gets rid of a backward Bl pawn; and also lets the Engine indulge in some tactics} axb5 (21... Qa3 22. Bd2 Nxd2 23. Qxd2 axb5 24. Nc5 Bc8 25. Rb1 Bd6 $17 { KomodoDragon2}) 22. Bxb5 Rc8 $2 {Bl misjudges} (22... h6 23. Nc5 $11) 23. Rxc8+ Bxc8 24. Nb6 Ra3 25. Nxc8 Qc7 26. Bb4 $18 {the remaining Bl pieces are all on the wrong squares for cooperation} Rb3 27. Ne7+ Kh8 28. Ne5 g6 29. N7c6 Rxb4 30. Nxb4 Nc3 31. Qd3 Nfe4 32. Nxd5 Nxd5 33. Qxe4 f6 34. Qxd5 {Normal} 1-0 [Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.12.09"] [Round "5.3"] [White "Marin Marin, Francisco"] [Black "Francis, Matthew"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "1832"] [BlackElo "1648"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "88"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,88,39,37,74,74,74,64,64,46,47,38,72,-7,12,-10,28,-40,-15,-15,-12,-15, -39,-62,-63,-64,-59,-63,-57,-97,-83,-108,-110,-130,-92,-144,-107,-113,-134, -156,-107,-125,-141,-169,-180,-194,-206,-206,-144,-184,-152,-209,-199,-257, -211,-286,-286,-297,-303,-304,-259,-260,-261,-261,-247,-255,-181,-187,-187, -197,-187,-188,-200,-206,-196,-206,-185,-195,-196,-206,-221,-215,-246,-278, -288,-275,-288,-314,-323,-323,-323]} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 (3... Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 (5. Bd3 Ne7 6. Bg5 Bxd3 7. Qxd3 h6 8. Be3 Nd7 9. Nc3 {Marin Marin-Keene , WCU Online Open3, rd1, 2021,1/2-1/2}) 5... Ne7 6. O-O Ng6 7. Re1 Be7 8. Be3 O-O 9. Nbd2 Nd7 10. Nf1 {Marin Marin-Southcott, 4NCL Online rd1, 2021,1/2-1/2}) 4. c3 Nc6 {main} (4... cxd4 5. cxd4 Bf5 6. Nc3 Nc6 7. Nf3 e6 8. Bg5 Qb6 9. Qd2 h6 10. Be3 Bb4 11. Be2 Nge7 12. O-O O-O {P Jones-Francis, Dyfed Online closed, nov 2021,1-0}) 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Nge7 (7... Bxf3 8. Bxf3 cxd4 9. cxd4 Qb6 {106 games, 29 % for Wh, Bl has a good French setup minus the bad B}) 8. Bg5 (8. Nbd2 {main}) 8... Qb6 $11 {0.5-6.5, Wh's setup is rather passive} 9. Nbd2 cxd4 10. cxd4 Nf5 11. Nb3 (11. Be3 Bb4 12. Nb3 $15 { 1 Wh win, 2 draws,1 Bl win}) 11... Bxf3 12. Bxf3 Nfxd4 $19 {the key pawn has fallen} 13. Nxd4 Qxd4 14. Qb3 Qb4 15. Qxb4 Bxb4 16. a3 (16. Bf4) 16... Ba5 17. Rac1 O-O (17... Nxe5 {is quite safe}) 18. Bf4 Bc7 19. Rfe1 Rac8 (19... f6) 20. Bg3 Bb6 (20... Nd4) 21. b4 Nd4 22. Bg4 Nc2 23. Red1 Rc7 (23... Nxa3) 24. Bf4 Nxa3 25. Be2 (25. Rxc7 Bxc7 26. Ra1 Nc4 27. Rxa7 Bxe5 28. Be3 Rb8 { KomodoDragon2}) 25... Rfc8 26. Bd3 Nc4 27. h3 Nb2 28. Rxc7 Rxc7 29. Rd2 Nxd3 ( 29... Rc1+ 30. Bf1 Nc4 31. Ra2 Rb1 {ties Wh down, KomodoDragon2}) 30. Rxd3 h6 31. Kf1 Rc4 32. Bd2 Rd4 33. Rxd4 Bxd4 34. f4 f6 (34... g5 $5) 35. exf6 Bxf6 36. Ke2 Kf7 {the K entry decides} 37. Kd3 Ke7 38. Be3 a6 39. Bc5+ Kd7 40. g4 Be7 41. Bd4 g6 42. Bg7 h5 43. Bc3 hxg4 44. hxg4 Kc6 {Normal} 0-1 [Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.12.09"] [Round "5.4"] [White "Holman, Sam"] [Black "Williams, Duncan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C88"] [WhiteElo "1386"] [BlackElo "1752"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "63"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,63,80,4,89,-8,53,-27,45,-92,-38,-109,-3,-116,-90,-90,-18,-117,-55,-69, -20,-41,-23,-75,-63,-97,-97,-88,-72,-76,-3,-18,34,24,35,35,24,-33,-24,2,-8,-21, 9,6,-4,-6,-3,-7,22,-20,31,-131,-78,-75,-75,-105,-87,-83,-90,-90,29991,29992, 29997,29998,29999,-30000]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. a4 {a main anti-Marshall line, that has feutured several times in the Nepomniachti-Carlsen match, with Wh gaining an edge but not enough.} (8. h3 Bb7 9. c3 $6 d5 10. exd5 Nxd5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Rxe5 Nf4 { and Bl had a boosted Marshall Gambit, Holman-Williams. WCU Online Open 2, 2021, 0-1}) 8... Bb7 9. d3 d6 10. Nbd2 (10. Nc3 {alternative}) 10... Nd7 (10... Na5) 11. Nf1 (11. c3 {main in GM practice}) 11... Nc5 12. c3 (12. axb5 axb5 13. Rxa8 {2 Wh wins, 2 draws, 2 Bl wins}) 12... Nxb3 13. Qxb3 Na5 14. Qc2 c5 15. Ne3 Re8 (15... g6 16. b4 cxb4 17. cxb4 Nc6 18. Nd5 f6 19. Be3 Rf7 {Holder-Hersvik, NOR ch tm 2002,0-1}) (15... c4 16. d4 Nb3 17. Ra2 exd4 18. Nxd4 Nxd4 19. cxd4 Bf6 20. d5 Qd7 21. Bd2 {Gruau-Chesters, 4NCL Online 2021,1-0}) (15... Qd7 $11 { several Engines}) 16. Bd2 c4 17. axb5 axb5 18. d4 (18. dxc4 Nxc4 19. Qd3 Nxe3 20. Bxe3 Bc6 21. b4 f5 $15 {KomodoDragon2- the Bs support pawn advances}) (18. Rad1 Nb3 19. Bc1 Nc5 20. dxc4 Bxe4 21. Qe2 bxc4 22. Qxc4 Ra4 23. Qe2 Qa8 $15 { KomodoDragon2}) 18... Nb3 19. Rxa8 Qxa8 20. d5 Bf8 21. Nf5 Qa2 (21... Bc8 $17 { KomodoDragon2}) 22. Be3 $11 Qa5 23. Qe2 Qc7 24. h4 (24. Nd2) 24... Nc5 (24... Bc8 25. h5 Bxf5 26. exf5 Qc8 27. f6 gxf6 28. Nh4 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 25. h5 $5 (25. Bxc5 Qxc5 26. h5 g6 27. hxg6 hxg6 28. N3h4 $16 {KomodoDragon2- despite the exchange of Wh's usual attacking KB, Wh has promising chances on the K side with the Q & 2Ns. Bl really needs to bring his QB back into the game & swap off one of the Ns}) 25... Nxe4 26. Bb6 Qxb6 27. Qxe4 Qc5 {Bl has weakened Wh's centre, but now the Q should go back to strengthen the K side defences, and leave the d pawn till later} (27... Qd8 $17 28. N5d4 Bxd5 29. Qxd5 exd4 30. Rxe8 Qxe8 31. Nxd4 Qe1+ 32. Kh2 Qxf2 33. Qxb5 Qf1 34. Qf5 Qc1 35. Ne6 g6 36. Qf4 Qxf4+ 37. Nxf4 Bh6 38. Nd5 Bc1 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) 28. Ng5 $11 g6 29. hxg6 hxg6 (29... fxg6 {had to be played it seems, when} 30. Nxh7 Kxh7 31. Qh4+ Kg8 32. Qf6 Qxd5 33. Qxg6+ Kh8 34. Qh5+ {is a perpetual}) 30. Qh4 $18 {Bl's pieces are all on the wrong squares to protect their K} Bg7 31. Qh7+ Kf8 32. Qxg7# { Normal} 1-0

Respectable

Fears that Aberystwyth would be totally outclassed by the very strong teams in the Open Section of the Welsh Chess Union Online League haven't materialized in the matches so far. After our excellent win the previous week, we put up a fighting performance against White Knights on Thursday 25 November. Rudy van Kemenade's King's Indian Attack against Alan Young led to a blocked position in which the White pieces were getting in each other's way. Black had the initiative but couldn't find a way through with time getting short and settled for a draw by repetition. Adam Watkin-Jones played rather passively against Allan Pleasants in another hypermodern-type opening, and was soon tied down to the defence of his queenside against White's advancing pawns, resigning when the attack broke through. I took advantage of Adam May's vulnerable kingside with an unexpected tactic in a Caro-Kann Two Knights; there was only a draw there with best defence, but he didn't find the right moves and his position collapsed. Tom Gunn was comfortable in a Queen's Indian against Thomasz Miga till he allowed White's previously blocked central pawns to roll forward, when they proved to be unstoppable without material loss. A 2½-1½ defeat was a respectable result for Aber.

Playing for Cardigan against Peter Smith of De La Beche Rooks, Aberystwyth's Sam Holman managed to win his opponent's queen in a King's Indian Defence, but by that time White's attack in the centre and on the kingside was overwhelming, and mate soon followed.

[Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.11.25"] [Round "4.1"] [White "Van Kemenade, R."] [Black "Young, Ala J"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A08"] [WhiteElo "1999"] [BlackElo "2144"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "64"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,64,19,29,23,-8,10,-10,-10,2,0,-10,-6,-4,-6,-4,-13,-25,-35,-27,-8,-11, -7,-31,-34,-10,-10,-10,10,0,9,-60,-51,-38,-43,-144,-161,-143,-152,-143,-97, -164,-114,-143,-68,-117,-117,-152,-102,-112,-52,-86,-64,-64,-92,-89,-31,-32, -37,-29,-34,-34,-31,-33,-31,-39,-47]} 1. Nf3 (1. f4 d5 {Van Kemenade-Young, 0. 5-1.5}) 1... d5 2. g3 c5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. O-O e5 5. d3 Nf6 6. e4 dxe4 7. dxe4 { the central swap is anodyne for Wh in the King's Indian, and here the KID player has an extra move. Though, as an e4 player, Alan has not faced a full King's Indian Defence before} Bg4 (7... Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Nd4 (8... Bg4 9. c3 { and it is possible for Wh to exploit the holes on d5 and f5 before Bl's K B can get active, 64% for Wh}) 9. Nxd4 cxd4 10. c3 {2 Wh wins, 4 draws}) 8. c3 Be7 9. h3 (9. Nbd2) 9... Bh5 10. Qe2 O-O 11. Rd1 (11. Nbd2 Qc7 $14 {5-3-2} 12. g4 Bg6 13. Nh4 {is better than Wh got later- 2.5-0.5}) 11... Qc7 12. Na3 a6 13. Nc4 Rad8 14. Rxd8 (14. Bg5 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 14... Rxd8 15. g4 (15. a4 b5 16. axb5 axb5 17. Ne3 c4 (17... Nxe4 18. Qxb5 $18) 18. Nf5 Bg6 19. N3h4 Bc5 20. Bg5 Ne7 21. Bxf6 gxf6 22. Nxe7+ Qxe7 23. Bf3 Rd3 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 15... Bg6 16. Nfd2 Qd7 17. Bf1 {too defensive- Wh wished to preserve Qs for a K side attack, but the Wh pieces now get in each other's way} (17. a4 $14 Qd3 18. Qxd3 Rxd3 19. Bf1 Rd8 20. f3 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) (17. Ne3 Na5 (17... Qd3 18. Qxd3 Rxd3 19. Bf1 Rd8 20. f3 Nd7 21. a4 $16 {KomodoDragon2})) 17... b5 $17 18. Na3 ( 18. Nb6 Qc7 19. Nd5 Nxd5 20. exd5 Rxd5 21. Bg2 Rd3 22. Ne4 c4 $17) 18... c4 19. Nc2 h6 (19... h5 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) 20. f3 (20. a4 {liberates the R}) 20... Nh7 {threatening to invade on f4} (20... Bc5+ 21. Kh1 h5 $17 {KomodoDragon2}) 21. Ne3 Nf6 (21... Ng5 $19 22. Nd5 {is no real threat} Bc5+ 23. Kh1 Ne7 $19) ( 21... Bc5 22. Kh1 Ng5 {transposes}) 22. Kh1 (22. b4) 22... Bc5 23. Nf5 (23. a4) (23. Bg2) 23... Bxf5 24. exf5 e4 {opening up the position for Bl's better developed pieces} 25. Nxe4 (25. fxe4 Re8 26. b3 (26. Bg2 Ne5 {Wh's pieces are very badly placed}) 26... Nd4 $1 27. Qg2 Nc2 28. Rb1 Ne3 29. Qf3 Nxf1 30. Nxf1 Nxe4 31. Be3 Bxe3 32. Qxe3 cxb3 33. axb3 Ng5 $19 {Wh's position is just too porous}) 25... Nxe4 26. fxe4 (26. Qxe4 Re8 27. Qc2 Re1 $19) 26... Qd1 {Bl was happy to play this} 27. b4 Be3 {the B becomes a target here} (27... Be7 28. a4 Bf6 29. Qxd1 Rxd1 30. Bb2 Rd2 31. Bc1 Rc2 32. axb5 axb5 33. Bxh6 Bxc3 34. Ra8+ Kh7 35. Be3 Bxb4 $19) 28. Qxd1 Rxd1 29. Bb2 (29. Bxe3 {gets 2Bs for R&N, which often can hold- but here the Bs , especially the wh one, are passive} Rxa1 30. Kg2 Rxa2+ 31. Kf3 Rc2 $19) 29... Rd2 (29... Rd8 $1 {KomodoDragon2} 30. Bc1 Bxc1 31. Rxc1 Rd2 32. a4 bxa4 33. Ra1 Ne5 34. Bg2 Rc2 35. Ra3 f6 $19 {is a very dispiriting position for Wh to defend} 36. Kh2 Kf8 37. Kg3 Ke7 38. Bf3 Rd2 39. Bg2 Kd8 40. Bf1 Rc2 41. Rxa4 {maybe} Rxc3+ 42. Kf2 Rb3 43. Rxa6 c3 44. Ra8+ Kc7 45. Ra7+ Kb6 46. Ra6+ Kb7 47. Ra1 Nc6 {Wh's B is close to useless}) 30. Bc1 Rd1 31. Bb2 Rd2 (31... Rd8 {though Bl was running short of time, so went for the repetition}) 32. Bc1 Rd1 {Normal} 1/2-1/2 [Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.11.25"] [Round "4.2"] [White "Pleasants, Allan J"] [Black "Watkin-Jones, Adam"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A04"] [WhiteElo "2088"] [BlackElo "1918"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,43,16,16,56,0,47,24,35,19,19,41,25,10,6,6,7,18,7,3,42,30,34,7,45,44, 62,69,68,56,52,52,69,68,64,47,47,73,154,140,150,153,153,188,180,87]} 1. Nf3 c5 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. d4 (4. O-O Nc6 {Pleasants 1-1-1}) (4. c4 Nc6 5. Nc3 e5 6. O-O Nge7 7. Ne1 {May- Watkin-Jones,WCPl 2017,1-0} (7. d3 d6 8. Rb1 O-O 9. a3 Rb8 {B Brewer- Watkin-Jones, Dyfed League 2018,1/2-1/2})) 4... cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Nxc6 (6. Nb3 {is an alternative plan}) 6... bxc6 7. O-O Nf6 (7... Rb8 8. Nd2 Nf6 9. Nb3 Qc7 10. Bd2 d6 11. Ba5 Qb7 {4 draws, 1 Bl win}) 8. c4 O-O 9. Nc3 Ba6 (9... Rb8 {main} 10. Qc2 c5 11. Bf4 d6 {5 wins each}) 10. Qa4 Qc8 {3-3-3} ( 10... Bb7 {3-4-4}) 11. Rd1 (11. Rb1) 11... Bb7 (11... Rb8 12. Bf4 Rxb2 13. Qa3 Rc2 {Fernandez Gil-Lopez Heras, Tres Cantos op 2010,0-1}) (11... e6 12. e4 Ne8 13. Bf4 f5 14. Rd2 Bxc3 15. bxc3 fxe4 16. Bxe4 d5 {Strom Engdahl-Bellon Lopez, Gothenburg Kvibergspelen 2018,0-1}) 12. c5 $16 {KomodoDragon2} Qc7 (12... Rd8 13. Bf4 Nh5 14. Be3 a5 15. Rac1 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 13. Bf4 $18 e5 (13... Qc8 $5) 14. Be3 a5 15. Rd2 h6 (15... Ng4 {an idea of Rudy fails to} 16. Qxg4 $2) 16. Rad1 Rfd8 17. h3 (17. Qh4 g5 18. Qa4 Re8 19. h4 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 17... Rab8 18. g4 Nd5 (18... Ne8 19. Ne4 Ba6 20. a3 Qb7 21. h4 Bb5 22. Qc2 Qa6 23. g5 h5 24. Rxd7 Rxd7 25. Rxd7 Bxe2 26. Nd6 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 19. Nxd5 cxd5 20. Bxd5 Bxd5 21. Rxd5 Rxb2 22. c6 {Normal} (22. Rxd7 Rxd7 23. Rxd7 (23. Qxd7 Qxd7 24. Rxd7 Rc2 {the c pawn must be stopped} 25. Rd2 Rc4 26. Rd8+ Kh7 27. Rc8 e4 28. Rc7 a4 29. Rxf7 $18) 23... Rb4 24. Qxb4 Qxd7 25. Qb8+ Kh7 26. Qd6 $18 { KomodoDragon2}) (22. c6 d6 23. Rxa5 Rc8 24. Rc1 e4 25. Ra7 Qd8 26. Qxe4 Be5 27. Rd7 Qf8 28. a4 $18 {KomodoDragon2- is not much fun for Bl}) 1-0 [Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.11.25"] [Round "4.3"] [White "Francis, Matthew"] [Black "May, Adam J"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B11"] [WhiteElo "1648"] [BlackElo "2004"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,81,29,18,70,70,59,40,24,28,28,17,26,32,23,23,36,39,43,45,17,12,48,36, 36,15,15,-11,-15,-15,72,-2,25,17,37,-37,4,-55,20,-106,-120,-120,-149,-161,-90, -75,413,413,457,451,459,451,560,666,879,915,1059,1088,1073,1046,1021,1037,1038, 907,907,1026,1026,1021,1070,676,896,866,960,1110,1159,1153,1227,1314,2076, 29054,29983,29984,29987,29986]} 1. e4 c6 2. Nc3 d5 3. Nf3 dxe4 {avoiding prepared lines against} (3... Bg4 {main, 1-2 May}) 4. Nxe4 Nf6 5. Qe2 (5. Nxf6+ {main}) 5... Nxe4 6. Qxe4 Nd7 7. Bc4 Nf6 8. Ne5 {keeps the QB in} e6 9. Qe2 b5 10. Bb3 {43% for Wh} (10. Bd3 {55% for Wh}) 10... Qc7 11. d4 Bd6 12. O-O O-O 13. h3 $146 {may not be necessary and could be a useful square for a R to go to in a little while} (13. c3) (13. Bf4) (13. Re1 {main lines, playing moves that part of a K side build-up}) 13... Bb7 (13... c5 14. c3 a5 $11 { KomodoDragon2}) 14. c3 (14. Nd3 {is possible}) 14... Kh8 15. Bc2 a6 (15... c5 { is more dynamic} 16. Bg5 (16. Qxb5 cxd4 17. cxd4 Bxg2 18. Kxg2 Qxc2 $17) 16... Rac8 17. Bd3 Ba8 18. Bxb5 Ne4 19. Be3 Bxe5 20. dxe5 Qb7 21. Ba6 Nxc3 22. Qg4 Qxa6 23. bxc3 Bd5 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 16. Bg5 c5 17. f4 Rac8 (17... Ng8 18. Bxh7 Kxh7 19. Qh5+ Nh6 20. Ng4 f6 21. Bxh6 Qf7 22. Qh4 gxh6 23. Qxh6+ Kg8 24. Rae1 cxd4 25. f5 exf5 (25... Qg7) 26. Rxf5 Qg7 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) (17... cxd4 18. cxd4 Rac8 19. Rac1 Qb6 20. Rcd1 Qc7 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 18. Rac1 (18. Rae1 cxd4 19. Qd3 Ne4 20. Rxe4 Bxe4 21. Qxe4 f5 22. Qe2 dxc3 23. bxc3 b4 24. c4 Bxe5 25. fxe5 $18 (25. Qxe5 $16 {KomodoDragon2})) 18... Bd5 (18... cxd4 19. cxd4 Qb6 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 19. b3 (19. f5 $11) (19. Bxf6 gxf6 20. Bxh7 Kxh7 21. Qh5+ (21. c4 $1 bxc4 22. Qh5+ Kg7 23. Qg4+ Kh8 24. Qh4+ Kg7 25. Qg3+ Kh7 26. Ng4 Be7 27. Qh4+ Kg8 28. Rc3 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 21... Kg7 22. Qg4+ $11) 19... cxd4 20. cxd4 Ba3 (20... Ng8 $17) (20... Qc3 21. Kh2 (21. Qf2 Nh5 22. f5 Qg3 $19) 21... Qb2 22. Bd3 Qxe2 23. Bxe2 Kg8 $17 {KomodoDragon2}) 21. Bxf6 gxf6 (21... Bxc1 22. Bxh7 gxf6 23. Qh5 Be3+ 24. Kh1 Bxg2+ 25. Kh2 Kg7 26. Qg4+ Kxh7 27. Qh5+ $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 22. Qh5 f5 (22... Qxc2 $1 {KomodoDragon2 claims a hold} 23. Rxc2 Rxc2 24. Nf3 Bc1 25. Ne1 Be3+ 26. Kh1 Rxa2 27. Qh6 Rg8 28. Qxf6+ Rg7 29. Qd8+ Rg8 30. Qf6+ $11) 23. Bxf5 $1 $18 {clearly missed by Bl} exf5 24. Rxc7 Rxc7 25. Qxf5 Be6 (25... f6 26. Nd7 Rf7 27. Nc5 Bc6 28. Re1 $18 { KomodoDragon2}) 26. Qf6+ Kg8 27. Rf3 Rc1+ 28. Kh2 Rfc8 29. Rg3+ Kf8 30. f5 Rf1 (30... Bd5 31. Re3 $1 Ke8 (31... Kg8 32. Qg5+ Kh8 (32... Kf8 33. Nd7#) 33. Rg3 {mating- KomodoDragon2})) 31. Qg7+ (31. Nc6 $1 {KomodoDragon2} Ke8 32. Rg8+ Kd7 33. fxe6+ Kxc6 (33... fxe6 34. Qg7+) 34. Rxc8+ Kb7 35. Qd8 Rc1 36. Rb8+ Kc6 37. Rb6# (37. Qd7#)) 31... Ke7 32. fxe6 Rcc1 33. Rf3 Rxf3 34. Nxf3 (34. gxf3 Rc2+ 35. Kg3 Kd8 36. exf7 {is quicker}) (34. exf7 $1 {KomodoDragon2} Ke6 35. gxf3 Kd5 36. Qg4 Rc2+ 37. Kg3) 34... Bd6+ (34... Kxe6 35. Ng5+ Kd5 36. Qe5+ (36. Qxf7+) 36... Kc6 37. d5+ Kb7 38. d6 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 35. Ne5 Bxe5+ 36. Qxe5 (36. dxe5 Rf1 37. exf7 Rxf7 38. Qh6 $18 (38. Qxf7+ Kxf7 39. Kg3 Ke6 40. Kf4 $18 {is fine as well})) 36... f6 37. Qf5 (37. Qc5+ Rxc5 38. dxc5 b4 39. Kg3 Kxe6 40. Kf4 {is another easy K & P game, should Wh feel inclined}) 37... Rd1 38. d5 (38. Qd5) 38... b4 39. Qxh7+ Kd6 40. Qd7+ Ke5 41. e7 {Normal} 1-0 [Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.11.25"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Miga, Thomasz"] [Black "Gunn, Tom"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E16"] [WhiteElo "1815"] [BlackElo "1398"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,81,19,31,14,30,28,4,27,14,14,9,12,13,24,29,29,26,26,32,35,23,29,23,33, -1,11,-15,6,-25,-4,-50,-7,-46,-37,-17,-12,-29,-3,-11,-24,-29,-26,-65,21,8,-8, -3,-3,0,-7,-12,-14,-15,37,25,29,25,33,24,27,0,8,-21,0,13,21,30,30,0,38,27,27, 22,44,48,64,43,217,256,241,250,467,461]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 e6 3. c4 (3. a3 Be7 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d6 6. Nbd2 Nbd7 7. e4 e5 8. c3 Re8 {Thacker-Gunn,Dyfed Major 2020,0-1}) 3... b6 4. g3 Bb7 (4... Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 c6 8. Qc2 d5 9. O-O O-O {Miga-Coles, 4NCL Online 2020,0-1}) 5. Bg2 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 c5 (6... Bxd2+) (6... Be7 {main lines}) 7. Bxb4 (7. O-O) 7... cxb4 8. O-O O-O 9. Nbd2 d6 10. Qc2 (10. Re1) (10. Qb3) 10... Nbd7 11. e4 e5 12. d5 Qc7 (12... Rc8 13. Ne1 a5 14. a3 bxa3 15. bxa3 Ba6 16. a4 Qc7 17. Rc1 b5 {Krajewski-Misiuga, POl ch tm 2002,0-1}) (12... Nc5 13. Ne1 Qe7 14. Nb3 Nfd7 15. Nd3 Nxd3 16. Qxd3 Rae8 17. Qe3 Bc8 18. Bh3 Qd8 19. Rae1 a5 20. Nd2 Nc5 {Mitchenko-Kononenko, Rodatychi op 2006,0-1 The control over c5 restrains Wh's centre}) 13. Rac1 ( 13. a3 $14 {Stockfish14 & KomodoDragon2}) 13... a5 14. Ng5 h6 (14... Nc5 $15 { both Engines}) 15. Nh3 {the N is a little out of play here} (15. Ngf3) 15... Nc5 16. Nb3 (16. f3 {both Engines}) 16... Nxb3 17. axb3 Rac8 (17... Qc5 $17) ( 17... Nd7 $17) 18. f4 $11 exf4 19. Nxf4 {puts the N on a better square than h3, but it does not appear to have that many good squares to go to. In the meantime Wh has ceded control over e5, which Bl can occupy, thus keeping Wh's B as a rather bad one. Wh might have to sacrifice a pawn on e5 in order to activate it. Hence, Bl must put a piece onto e5 to keep the Wh pawns immobile} (19. gxf4 $11 {both Engines}) 19... Rfe8 20. Rce1 (20. Rfe1) 20... Qc5+ (20... b5 $1 $19 {both Engines; Wh needs the B to be able to come to f1 to support c4} 21. Rc1 bxc4 22. bxc4 Ba6 23. b3 a4 $19) 21. Kh1 Qc7 (21... b5 $19) 22. Qf2 ( 22. Ne2 $11 {the N will have some threats when it gets to the outpost at f5}) 22... Re7 23. Nd3 Rce8 24. Qd4 Nd7 25. Qf2 Ne5 (25... Bc8 $17 {both Engines}) 26. Nxe5 dxe5 $2 {a positional error} (26... Rxe5 $15 {has to be correct, to keep the Wh pawns barricaded}) 27. Rd1 (27. Bh3 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) (27. Rc1 $16 {Stockfish14}) 27... Qd6 28. Rc1 Rc8 29. Qe2 (29. Bh3 {both Engines}) 29... Rf8 (29... Rc5 $14 {both Engines}) 30. c5 {in turn Wh mixes things unnecssarily } (30. h4 {keeps more control}) 30... bxc5 $15 31. Rf5 Bc8 (31... Rc7 $15 { prevents invasion -both Engines}) 32. Rf2 f6 (32... Rc7 $15) 33. Qb5 $11 Rc7 34. Qxa5 Bd7 (34... f5 35. exf5 Bb7 36. Rd1 Ra8 37. Qb5 Ba6 38. Qa4 Bb7 39. Qb5 Ba6 $11 {both Engines}) 35. Rfc2 Rfc8 (35... f5 36. Rxc5 Rxc5 37. Qxc5 Qxc5 38. Rxc5 fxe4 39. Bxe4 Bf5 40. Bxf5 Rxf5 $11 {both Engines} 41. Rb5 Rf2 42. Rxb4 Rd2 43. Re4 Rxb2 44. Rxe5 Rxb3 45. Kg2 Kf7 {a centre paw is more easily blocked sas the K remains near to its own pawns, and Bl's R is active}) 36. Bf1 Kf8 37. Ra1 Ke7 (37... f5) 38. Qa6 $18 {Bl finds out that the d5 pawn is insufficiently barricaded- life would be very different if Bl had a N rather than a B} Be8 (38... Qxa6 39. Rxa6 Kd8 40. Rc1 $18 {best try- but the Bl pieces are huddled to gether kept in check by that protected passed pawn}) 39. Qxd6+ Kxd6 40. Ra6+ Ke7 41. d6+ {Normal- punishment for moving his own pawn from d6 earlier.} 1-0 [Event "WCU Online U1800 B"] [Site "Lichess"] [Date "2021.11.25"] [Round "4.4"] [White "Smith, Peter"] [Black "Holman, Sam"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E70"] [WhiteElo "1485"] [BlackElo "1386"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "De La Beche Rooks"] [BlackTeam "Cardigan"] {[%evp 0,55,20,20,28,-8,45,43,32,59,59,48,42,66,49,55,111,87,81,52,82,50,72,64, 112,103,162,167,170,157,184,182,216,142,315,263,238,238,377,470,470,449,712, 907,980,621,583,696,707,445,518,562,702,718,845,1281,29999,-30000]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 O-O {this is playable, but in some lines Bl must be prepared to give up a pawn or two to break up the Wh centre before it rolls over the defences.} (4... d6 {main}) 5. e5 (5. Nf3 {main}) 5... Ne8 6. f4 d6 7. Nf3 b6 {this is too slow} (7... c5 $1 8. dxc5 Nc6 {or} (8... Qa5 {are how Bl needs to use his lead in development, when Wh must play carefully to stay afloat at about the 50% level})) 8. Bd3 {4 Wh wins, 2 draws, 1 Bl win} Bb7 9. O-O (9. Be4 {2 draws, 1 Bl win}) (9. h4 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 9... Nd7 (9... c5 10. d5 $18 {2-0}) 10. Qe2 (10. Re1 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 10... c5 (10... Bxf3 11. Rxf3 c5 {is a better attempt at breaking up the centre- Cloud Engines} 12. d5 dxe5 13. f5 $14) 11. d5 $18 dxe5 12. fxe5 {the central pawns are very powerful- they have several ways of advancing to dislocate the Bl position} Qc7 13. Bf4 Qc8 14. Rae1 (14. Ng5 $1 {Stockfish14 & KomodoDragon2, virtually force Bl to create further weaknesses with} h6 {before Wh can sling in an e6 as well} 15. Nf3 $18 {Bl has scarcely any good moves}) 14... Nc7 15. Qe3 (15. e6 fxe6 16. Bxc7 Qxc7 17. Qxe6+ Kh8 18. Nb5 Qc8 (18... Qd8 19. Ng5) 19. Qxe7 {there are too many Bl pieces stuck on the Q side, while Wh has several ways of breaking open Bl's K position even further}) 15... Re8 16. Ng5 (16. e6 $1) 16... b5 17. e6 Bd4 {Bl wins the Q, but at a ruinous cost} 18. exf7+ Kh8 19. fxe8=Q+ Qxe8 20. Bxc7 b4 21. Qxd4+ (21. Rf7 $1 {KomodoDragon2}) 21... cxd4 22. Nb5 (22. Rf7 $1) 22... Nc5 23. Be5+ (23. Rf7 {still prefered by the Engine, but Wh is comfortably ahead, with all his pieces joining in ( as opposed to the Bl stays on the Q side}) 23... Kg8 24. Be2 (24. Nc7) (24. Bxd4) (24. Bd6) 24... d3 25. Bg4 (25. Nc7) (25. Rf7) 25... Bxd5 26. Nc7 (26. cxd5 {also fine}) 26... Qa4 27. Nxd5 b3 (27... Qe8 {best- when KomodoDragon2 gives a mate in 8} 28. Bd4 e6 29. Bxe6+ Nxe6 30. Rxe6 Qxe6 31. Nxe6 h5 32. Ne7+ Kh7 33. Rf7+ Kh6 34. Be3+ g5 35. Bxg5#) 28. Nxe7# 1-0

Happy Days

Aberystwyth scored an excellent result in WCU Online League on Thursay 11 November, beating the top-ranked team of Pontyfenni. On top board, Rudy van Kemenade played the little-known Schallopp Defence against John Waterfield's King's Gambit (at least, it is little-known by me, and on the evidence of this game looks well worth exploring) and a sharp game was initiated, which ended abruptly when White overlooked Black's threat of mate in one. A great result for the team but disappointing from a neutral point of view as the game could have been fascinating. Adam Watkin-Jones had a spatial advantage in a blocked position against Ian Jones's Philidor by transposition; when Black's king was denuded of pawns White looked to have winning chances, but exchanges brought about a difficult queen ending and Adam settled for the draw in view of the team's favourable position in the match. Julie van Kemenade had a solid and active position with her King's Indian against Alan Keene, with chances for both sides, when White, under time pressure, gave away a piece. Sam Holman's game against Justin Morgans was a typical cut-and-thrus Najdorf Sicilian with the players attacking on opposite wings and both missing opportunities to win before White took control in the queen ending. The match finished as a 3½-½ win to Aber.

Aber's Tom Gunn also had a fine result playing for Steynton against Richard Williams of White Knights. Dominating the board against Black's Old Indian Defence, Tom gradually focused all his pieces on the king to force a mating attack.

[Event "WCU Online Open 3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.11.18"] [Round "?"] [White "Waterfield, John"] [Black "Van Kemenade, R."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C34"] [WhiteElo "2078"] [BlackElo "1999"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "30"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+5"] {[%evp 0,30,19,31,34,-42,-1,-32,38,31,12,-48,12,-18,22,22,-6,-79,-79,-186,-128, -130,-176,-193,-170,-194,-120,-97,-154,-108,-124,-29999,-30000]} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e5 Nh5 (4... Ne4 5. d3 Ng5 6. g3 Nxf3+ 7. Qxf3 fxg3 8. Nc3 d6 9. d4 dxe5 10. Bc4 Qd7 11. Be3 Bb4 12. O-O-O Bxc3 13. bxc3 O-O { Waterfield-Hohler, Wld Seniors 65+ 2017,1/2-1/2}) 5. Be2 {John Shaw's recommendation} (5. d4) 5... d6 {pressurising e5} (5... d5) 6. O-O Nc6 (6... dxe5 7. Nxe5 Bc5+ 8. Kh1 Nf6 {main line and given by Shaw 2013}) (6... g6 7. d4 {transposes}) 7. d4 g6 8. d5 $146 (8. Nc3 {Shaw 2013:412, given as a N, since played} Bg7 {2-1-3 in results}) (8. exd6 Bxd6 9. c4 {1-1-2}) 8... Nxe5 (8... Ne7 $15 {should also be ok for Bl}) 9. Nxe5 (9. Re1 {is preferred by lichess analysis}) 9... dxe5 10. Bxh5 gxh5 11. Qxh5 Qxd5 {regarded as a mistake by lichess analysis} (11... Qf6 $1 $19 {Cloud Engines}) 12. Nc3 (12. Bxf4 { insisted upon by lichess analysis, but KomodoDragon2 considers this worse than the text} Qc5+ 13. Kh1 exf4 14. Re1+ Kd8 15. Qxf7 Be7 $19 {KomodoDragon2 also the analysis given by Stockfish14}) 12... Qc5+ (12... Qd4+ {prevents Ne4, but leaves the Q exposed to a Rd1}) 13. Kh1 Be6 14. Ne4 Qc4 $19 {Cloud Engines} 15. Qxe5 $2 {looking at his own prospects rather than what Bl is doing} (15. Nf6+ Ke7 16. Re1 Bg7 $1 (16... Kxf6 17. Qxe5+ Kg6 18. Qxh8 Bb4 19. Qxa8 Bxe1 20. Qg8+ $11) 17. Ne4 Kd7 18. b3 Qc6 19. Bb2 f6 $1 (19... Rag8 20. Rad1+ Kc8 21. Bxe5 f3 22. gxf3 Bxe5 23. Qxe5 Qxc2 $19 {and Bl is a pawn up with perhaps slightly more active pieces}) 20. Rad1+ Kc8 21. Ba3 b6 22. Nd6+ Kb8 23. Nf7 Bxf7 24. Qxf7 Bh6 $19 {KomodoDragon2, and Bl has too many pawns, including the one at f4}) 15... Qxf1# {Normal} 0-1 [Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.11.18"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Watkin-Jones, Adam"] [Black "Jones, Ian Robert"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C41"] [WhiteElo "1918"] [BlackElo "2007"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "94"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,94,26,5,60,60,64,4,58,45,47,31,51,59,48,19,46,30,19,-38,18,-75,-41, -41,-37,-17,-3,-5,14,12,22,-1,2,21,49,49,71,75,77,86,87,40,58,44,81,64,67,41, 40,40,65,63,90,3,72,82,78,72,125,78,156,111,129,131,131,114,159,217,168,113, 162,177,177,186,175,72,116,90,155,182,188,87,87,87,99,99,148,99,56,78,78,78,79, 79,79,81,80]} 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 (2... Nc6 {has been Ian's main move here, scoring 79% against} 3. g3 {and the inverse 21% against} (3. e4 {though in the main databases Wh scores the normal 56% with both these and other moves})) 3. g3 (3. c4 {main}) 3... Nbd7 (3... g6 {main}) 4. Bg2 e5 5. O-O Be7 6. Nc3 (6. c4 {Old Indian, the text transposes into an e4 line against a Philidor}) 6... O-O 7. e4 c6 8. h3 (8. a4 {main}) 8... b5 9. Re1 {Cloud Engines} (9. a3 {main}) 9... a5 $146 (9... Qc7 {1-1}) (9... Bb7 {1/2-1/2}) 10. a4 b4 11. Nb1 Re8 $11 12. Nbd2 {the battle for control over c4 commences} Ba6 13. b3 Bf8 (13... exd4 14. Nxd4 Qb6 15. Bb2 d5 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 14. Bb2 Qc7 15. Rc1 (15. dxe5 dxe5 16. Bf1 Bxf1 17. Kxf1 Nc5 18. Qe2 Nfd7 19. Nc4 f6 20. h4 $14 {KomodoDragon2}) 15... c5 (15... exd4 16. Nxd4 Rad8 {KomodoDragon2- keeps Bl's pawn structure more flexible}) 16. c3 exd4 (16... bxc3 17. Rxc3 exd4 18. Nxd4 Rab8 19. Kh2 $14 {KomodoDragon2}) 17. cxd4 Bb7 (17... h6 18. dxc5 dxc5 19. e5 Nd5 20. Ne4 $16 { KomodoDragon2}) 18. d5 $16 (18. e5 $1 $18 Nd5 19. Ng5 h6 20. Nxf7 Kxf7 21. e6+ Kg8 (21... Rxe6 22. Bxd5 Bxd5 23. Qh5+ Kf6 (23... Kg8 24. Qxd5 Rae8 25. Rxe6) 24. Qxd5 Rae8 25. dxc5+ Kf7 26. Rxe6 Rxe6 27. c6 $18) 22. exd7 Rxe1+ 23. Qxe1 Qxd7 24. Nc4 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) (18. dxc5 Nxc5 (18... dxc5 19. e5 Nd5 20. Ng5 $18) 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20. Nd4 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) (18. Qc2 Nh5 19. e5 g6 20. Ne4 $18 {KomodoDragon2- in these variations Wh wants open lines for his Bs}) 18... Ba6 19. Qc2 g6 20. Bf1 Bxf1 21. Kxf1 Bg7 22. Kg2 Nb6 23. Nc4 (23. e5 dxe5 24. Bxe5 Rxe5 25. d6 Qxd6 26. Nxe5 Nfd5 27. f4 Nc3 28. Ne4 Nxe4 29. Qxe4 $18 { KomodoDragon2}) 23... Nxc4 24. Qxc4 Rad8 (24... Nd7 $14) 25. Qc2 (25. Bxf6 Bxf6 26. e5 dxe5 27. Qxc5 Qxc5 28. Rxc5 e4 29. Nd2 Bc3 30. Re2 Re5 31. Rxa5 $18 { KomodoDragon2}) 25... Rd7 26. Nd2 (26. e5 $18 {KomodoDragon2} dxe5 (26... Nxd5 27. exd6 Qd8 28. Rxe8+ Qxe8 29. Bxg7 Kxg7 30. Qxc5 Qe6 31. Qxa5 Rxd6 32. Rc4 $18) 27. Bxe5 Qa7 28. Qxc5 Qxc5 29. Rxc5 Nxd5 30. Bxg7 Rxe1 31. Be5 Rxe5 32. Nxe5 Rd8 33. Rxa5 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 26... Qd8 27. Nc4 Rde7 28. f3 $18 h5 ( 28... Nxd5 {best try apparently} 29. Bxg7 Kxg7 30. Rcd1 Nc3 31. Rxd6 Rd7 32. Qd2 Rxd6 33. Nxd6 Rf8 34. e5 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 29. h4 (29. Qd2 $18) (29. Rcd1 $18) 29... Rd7 (29... Nxd5 30. Bxg7 Kxg7 31. Rcd1 Nc3 32. Rxd6 $18) 30. Rcd1 Nh7 31. Bxg7 Kxg7 32. Qd2 (32. Qd3 Rde7 (32... Nf6 33. e5 dxe5 34. d6 e4 35. fxe4 Ng4 36. e5 Re6 37. Re4 $18) 33. f4 f6 34. Qf3 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 32... Rde7 33. Qf4 Rd7 34. Kf2 (34. e5 $1 dxe5 35. Nxe5 Rb7 36. Qd2 Qc8 (36... Qf6 37. Nd7) 37. Nc4 Rd8 38. Qb2+ Kg8 39. Nxa5 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 34... f6 35. g4 hxg4 36. Qxg4 Kh8 (36... Nf8 37. Rg1 Kg8 38. Qf4 Kh7 39. Rg4 Kg8 40. Rdg1 Rg7 41. Qxd6 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 37. Rg1 (37. Qxg6 {simplest} Rg8 38. Qf5 Rdg7 39. Rg1 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 37... f5 38. exf5 (38. Qxg6 fxe4 39. Nxd6 Qxh4+ 40. Rg3 Rf8 41. Nxe4 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 38... gxf5 39. Qh5 Rde7 40. Rde1 (40. Rd2) 40... Rxe1 41. Rxe1 Rxe1 42. Kxe1 Qe7+ 43. Kf2 (43. Kd1 Qf6 44. Qe8+ Nf8 45. Qb8 Qd4+ 46. Ke2 Kg7 47. h5 $18 {KomodoDragon2- the kind of position where Engines work things out easily while humans struggle}) 43... Qf6 44. Qe8+ Nf8 45. Qh5+ (45. h5 $18 Kg8 46. Ke2 Qh4 47. Nxa5 Qh2+ 48. Kd3 Qg1 49. Qe2 Qc1 50. Qg2+ Kh7 51. Qd2 Qh1 52. Kc4 Qxf3 53. Kb5 $18 {see note above}) 45... Nh7 46. Qe8+ (46. Kg2 f4 47. Kh3 Qg7 48. Qg4 Qf6 49. Qe6 Qg7 50. Qc8+ Nf8 51. Qg4 Qf6 52. Qh5+ Nh7 53. Kg4 $18 {it seems that Wh can slowly push forward} ) 46... Nf8 47. Qh5+ Nh7 {Normal. the draw consolidated a match win} 1/2-1/2 [Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.11.18"] [Round "3.1"] [White "Keene, Alan"] [Black "Van Kemenade, Julie"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E60"] [WhiteElo "1860"] [BlackElo "1641"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] 1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 g6 4. b3 (4. Nc3 {main} Bg7 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 Nc6 7. O-O e5 8. d5 Ne7 9. e4 Ne8 10. Ne1 f5 11. Nd3 Nf6 {Garcia-Van Kemenade,WCU Online Open3 rd 1,2021,1-0}) 4... Bg7 5. Bb2 O-O 6. g3 Nc6 (6... Nbd7 {main}) ( 6... e5 {is possible as well} 7. dxe5 Ng4) 7. d5 (7. Bg2 {main}) 7... Nb8 (7... Na5 {alternative setup with c5 coming}) 8. Nbd2 $146 {keeps B line open, but the Ns get in each others way} (8. Bg2 e5 {main}) 8... Nbd7 (8... e5 $5) 9. Bg2 a5 10. O-O Nc5 11. Nd4 Bd7 (11... e5 $11) 12. Re1 {leaves f2 - e4 can be played at once if Wh wants to do that} Qc8 13. Qc2 e5 14. dxe6 fxe6 15. Rad1 e5 16. Nb5 Bc6 $11 (16... Bf5 $11) 17. Nc3 Ne6 (17... Bxg2 $1 18. Kxg2 Ng4 $19 { KomodoDragon2; considered by Bl} 19. Nf3 (19. Rf1 Rxf2+ $19 {wins Q}) 19... e4 {missed by Bl} 20. Nd5 Qd7 $19) 18. Nd5 Qd8 (18... Qd7 $14) 19. Nf3 (19. e3 $16 {KomodoDragon2, covers the bl entry squares}) 19... Nh5 20. Rf1 (20. c5 $1 Rf7 (20... Bxd5 21. Rxd5 e4 22. Qxe4 Nxc5 23. Qc4 b5 24. Qc2 Bxb2 25. Qxb2 Nf6 26. Rdd1 $18 {there are various gaps in Bl's position, especially on the wh squares. However the subsequent Engine analysis is far from clearcut} Nce4 27. Nd2 Qe7 28. Nxe4 Nxe4 29. Rd4 Qf6 30. e3 Rae8 31. Re2 Nc5 32. Bc6 Rb8 33. Qa3 a4 34. b4 Ne6 35. Rd1 Rb6 36. Qc1 Kg7 37. h4 h6 38. Red2 $18 {KomodoDragon2; but there still looksto be plenty of defence for Bl}) 21. cxd6 cxd6 22. Ba3 Rc8 23. Qd3 b5 24. h4 $16) 20... a4 21. Bc3 (21. c5 $1 $16) 21... axb3 22. axb3 Nc5 23. Ra1 Rxa1 24. Rxa1 Ne6 25. Bh3 {both sides running short of time and Wh starts to drift} (25. Ra7 $16) 25... Bd7 26. Bg2 c6 27. Ne3 Nd4 28. Qb2 Qf6 $14 {looking at f2 again} (28... c5 {insisted upon by lichess} 29. Nd5 Bc6 $11) 29. Ng4 $2 {beware of lurking Bs} (29. Ra7 Bc8 30. h3 $14) 29... Bxg4 $19 30. Bxd4 exd4 31. Ra7 d3 $1 32. Qxf6 Rxf6 (32... Bxf6 {even stronger according to KomodoDragon2} 33. exd3 Bxf3 34. Bxf3 Bd4) 33. Ra8+ Bf8 {Normal} (33... Bf8 34. Kf1 Ng7 35. h3 Bxf3 36. Bxf3 d2 37. Ra1 Nf5 38. Rd1 Nd4 39. Rxd2 Nxf3 40. exf3 Rxf3 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) 0-1 [Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.11.18"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Holman, Sam"] [Black "Morgans, Justin"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B90"] [WhiteElo "1386"] [BlackElo "1674"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,107,16,28,97,43,109,109,66,36,36,30,66,77,42,46,39,19,21,13,28,36,56, 11,75,27,66,40,159,6,12,12,18,-15,5,9,6,-85,57,18,132,49,114,-30,-6,-62,-30,0, -25,-93,-38,-108,-30,-68,-48,-157,-7,-75,-67,-67,-53,-76,-79,-102,-102,-94,-94, -94,-61,-94,-75,-103,-12,-88,-92,-75,-16,-92,58,-165,-114,-72,-11,-190,-116, -101,-74,-108,-74,-101,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,88,67,74,74,124,135,29999, -30000]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e5 (6... e6 7. f3 Be7 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O Bd7 10. Kb1 b5 (10... Rc8 11. g4 {Holman- P Smith, WCU Online U1800, 2021,1-0}) 11. g4 O-O 12. g5 Ne8 {IR Jones-Morgans, West Wales op 2018,1-0}) 7. Nb3 Be6 8. f3 Be7 9. Qd2 O-O 10. O-O-O Nc6 (10... b5 11. g4 Nbd7 12. h4 {Holman-P Jones, Dyfed Closed oct 2021,0-1} (12. g5 { is better, striking immediately})) (10... Nbd7 {main}) 11. h4 {2 games} (11. g4 {192 games}) 11... b5 12. g4 Rc8 (12... Na5) (12... b4) 13. Kb1 (13. h5 { alternative}) 13... Na5 (13... Qc7 {3-1-2}) 14. Nd5 $146 (14. h5 {4-0}) (14. Nxa5 {Cloud Engines} Qxa5 15. Nd5 Bxd5 (15... Qd8 16. Nxe7+ Qxe7 17. Qxd6 $18 { Cloud Engines}) 16. Qxa5 {Vega Paucar-Larico Flores, Nonalaya Ricardo Online Open blitz 2020,1-0}) 14... Bxd5 (14... Nc4 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 15. Nxa5 (15. exd5 Nc4 16. Qe1 Nxe3 17. Qxe3 Qc7 18. Qd2 $14 {KomodoDragon2}) 15... Be6 $11 16. h5 (16. Nb3 $11) (16. Bh3 $11) 16... Qc7 (16... h6 $15 {KomodoDragon2}) 17. g5 Nd7 18. g6 (18. Rc1 {releases the Q from guard duty}) (18. h6 g6 $11) 18... f5 $2 (18... fxg6 19. hxg6 Rxf3 20. Be2 Rg3 21. Rxh7 (21. gxh7+ Kh8 $19) 21... Rxg6 22. Rdh1 Nf6 $17 {KomodoDragon2}) 19. Bh3 $16 Rf6 (19... h6 20. Rdg1 (20. Bxh6 gxh6 21. Qxh6 Qxc2+ 22. Ka1 Nf6 23. g7 Rfe8 24. Nb3 $11) 20... Nf6 21. Rh2 Rfd8 22. exf5 Bd5 23. Rf2 Bf8 24. a3 $14 {KomodoDragon2}) 20. gxh7+ (20. exf5 $18 {KomodoDragon2} Rxf5 (20... Bxf5 21. Bxf5 Rxf5 22. Qd5+ Kh8 23. h6 $18) 21. h6 Nf6 22. Rdg1 $18 {the Bl K is losing all his cover}) (20. Bg5 $18 {picks up an exchange}) 20... Kxh7 (20... Kh8 {may be a little safer}) 21. h6 (21. Bg5 $18) (21. Rdg1 $18) (21. exf5 Bxf5 22. Bxf5+ Rxf5 23. Rdg1 $18) 21... g6 22. exf5 (22. Bg5 $18) 22... Bxf5 23. Bxf5 Rxf5 $11 24. Rhf1 (24. Rhg1) (24. Rdg1) 24... Nc5 $15 (24... b4 25. Nb3 a5 $15 {KomodoDragon2- a Bl advance finally gets going}) 25. Nb3 Nxb3 (25... Ne6) 26. cxb3 (26. axb3 {is preferable for endgame purposes}) 26... Qb7 27. f4 e4 (27... Qe4+ 28. Ka1 Rc2 29. Qe1 Bf6 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) (27... exf4 28. Rxf4 Rxf4 29. Bxf4 Qe4+ 30. Ka1 Rc2 31. Qe1 Qxe1 32. Rxe1 Bf6 33. Bc1 {KomodoDragon2, and Bl wins the ending on the K side with the Wh pieces tied down} g5) 28. Rh1 (28. Rg1 {Bl can scarcely play K xh6 anyway since it removes a vital shelter}) 28... d5 29. Rdg1 Rg8 (29... Bf6 30. Bd4 Bxd4 31. Qxd4 Qf7 32. Rg4 Re8 33. Rhg1 Re6 {and the e pawn will advance} 34. a3 (34. R1g3 b4 35. Rg1 Ref6 36. Rf1 Qe7 37. Qe3 Qc7 {and Wh's pieces are badly placed - Bl slwly squeezes more and more out of the position} 38. Rc1 Qd6 39. Rd1 a5 $19) 34... e3 35. Ka2 a5 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) 30. Bd4 Bf6 (30... Bd6 $17 {Bl's B is the better piece}) 31. Rg4 (31. Bxf6 Rxf6 32. Rg5 $11) 31... Bxd4 32. Qxd4 Qc7 (32... b4 $15) 33. Rc1 Qb7 34. Rh1 (34. a3 $14) 34... Rc8 { [#] A lichess type puzzle here. What id Wh's best move ( seen by Rudy on the night)} (34... Qe7) 35. Rg5 (35. Rxg6 $1 $18 Kxg6 36. Rg1+ $1 {insist that the K needs to go for a stroll once the cover is gone} (36. h7 {Rudy's idea- is winning, but not by as much} Rxf4 37. h8=Q Rxh8 38. Qxh8 Qe7 39. Qh6+ Kf5 40. Rh5+ Kg4 41. Qg6+ Kf3 42. Qg1 Rf6 43. Rh3+ {Wh must still be very careful not to let the K escape, when the centre pawns deliver a win for Bl} Kf4 44. Qg3+ Kf5 45. Rh5+ Ke6 46. Re5+ Kd7 47. Rxe7+ Kxe7 48. Kc2 Rd6 {and Bl's barricade still needs to broken somehow}) 36... Kxh6 (36... Kh7 37. Rg7+ {wins a whole Q} ) 37. Rh1+ Kg6 (37... Rh5 38. Qf6+ Kh7 39. Rxh5+ Kg8 40. Rh8#) 38. Qg1+ Kf7 39. Rh7+ Kf8 40. Rxb7 {success}) 35... Qc7 36. a3 Rxg5 37. fxg5 Re8 (37... Qf7 { the Wh pawns are further advanced & pose a danger to the Bl K, but, with care, nothing much should be happening for either side. However mutual time trouble can spoil even the best of positions}) 38. Rc1 (38. Rf1 {is the correct file as Wh has a secure outpost on it} Re7 39. Rf8 (39. Rf6 Qe5 40. Rf7+ Kg8 41. h7+ Kh8 42. Rf8+ Kxh7 43. Qb6 {almost works, but Bl's resources are sufficient} e3 44. Qd8 e2 45. Rh8+ Qxh8 46. Qxe7+ Qg7 47. Qxe2 $11) 39... Qe5 40. Qb6 Qxg5 41. Qd6 Rb7 42. Qe6 Rc7 43. Ka2 Kxh6 44. Qh3+ Qh5 45. Qg3 Kg7 46. Ra8 Rf7 47. Qc3+ Kh6 48. Rh8+ Rh7 49. Rf8 Rd7 50. Qh8+ Rh7 51. Qd4 {the Engine insists that Wh is winning this, but it still very unclear to human eyes}) 38... Qb7 (38... Qe5 39. Qxe5 Rxe5 40. Rc7+ Kg8 41. Rc8+ Kh7 42. Rc7+ $11 {is a logical outcome}) 39. Rd1 (39. Rc6 $1 $18 {KomodoDragon2} Rf8 (39... Qf7 40. Rf6 Qd7 41. Rxa6 $18 ) 40. Qe5 Qd7 41. Rc7 $18) 39... e3 $19 {the Wh pieces are now forced into defensive positions} 40. Re1 e2 {the pawns are now split and Wh can hold} ( 40... Re4 $1 {KomodoDragon} 41. Qf6 d4 $19 (41... Qd7 $19)) 41. Qd3 (41. Qf2 Qd7 (41... Qe7 $2 42. Rxe2 $18) 42. Rxe2 Rxe2 43. Qxe2 $11) 41... Qf7 $19 42. Ka2 Qf5 (42... Qe6 $1) 43. Qc3 Qd7 (43... Qe5 $1 {KomodoDragon2- occupies the key diagonal and threatens a d pawn advance} 44. Qxe5 Rxe5 45. Kb1 Rxg5 46. Rxe2 Rf5 47. Rh2 Rh5 48. Re2 g5 {and Bl wins on the K side in the absence of the Wh K}) 44. Qd2 d4 $2 {a wrong move order, the e2 pawn must be kept} (44... Qe6) 45. Rxe2 Rxe2 46. Qxe2 d3 47. Qd2 $11 Qd5 48. Qc3 Qd7 49. Qd2 Qd6 50. Kb1 Qd5 (50... Qd7 {is apparently correct when g7 is guarded for a crucial tempo} 51. Kc1 Qf5 52. Qe3 Qc8+ 53. Kb1 (53. Kd2 Qc2+ 54. Ke1 Qb1+ 55. Kf2 Qc2+ 56. Kg3 Qc7+ {perpetual}) 53... Qd7 {keeps the draw}) 51. Qc3 $18 Qd7 52. Kc1 { now the Wh K joins in} Kg8 53. Kd2 Qd6 $2 {ends things, but after the d pawn goes Bl has nothing left to play for} (53... Kh7 54. Qg7+ Qxg7 55. hxg7 Kxg7 56. Kxd3) (53... Qa7 54. Qg7+ (54. Qf6 {also, but keep it simple}) 54... Qxg7 55. hxg7 Kxg7 56. Kxd3) 54. Qg7# {Normal} 1-0 [Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.11.18"] [Round "3.4"] [White "Gunn, Tom"] [Black "Williams, Richard"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A55"] [WhiteElo "1388"] [BlackElo "1412"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "79"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,79,28,5,56,21,53,29,31,26,22,18,23,26,28,24,38,9,11,8,48,47,45,50,50, 37,43,33,93,98,95,24,42,75,43,39,51,47,40,45,37,41,51,63,67,60,60,67,68,50,94, 83,96,82,95,78,174,141,141,141,486,312,443,271,274,244,269,266,289,271,277,273, 419,704,728,732,841,893,29997,29998,29999,-30000]} 1. d4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 Nbd7 4. Nc3 e5 5. e4 Be7 6. Bd3 O-O 7. O-O c6 {An Old Indian ; a system played over a number of years by Iolo Jones.It is flexible, but, if Wh is not overly ambitious in the initial stages, then Bl may suffer from a longterm space disadvantage.} 8. Be3 (8. h3 Re8 9. Be3 {main lines} (9. Re1)) 8... Ng4 9. Bd2 Qb6 (9... exd4 {gains a bit of space for Bl} 10. Nxd4 Nge5 11. Be2 Nf6 (11... Nb6 12. b3 d5 {KomodoDragon2}) 12. h3 {Schatzberg-Eckl, Bayern Seniors 1995,1-0 }) 10. h3 Ngf6 11. Na4 (11. a4 $5) 11... Qc7 12. Be3 a6 (12... exd4 13. Nxd4 Re8 14. Nc3 Nc5 15. Bc2 a5 16. f3 a4 $16 {though Bl has play on the Bl squares, so Wh cannot afford to push forward too hard}) 13. Rc1 Qb8 (13... exd4 14. Bxd4 c5 15. Be3 b5 $14) 14. dxe5 dxe5 15. Bb6 ({deprives Bl of the c5 square & liberates c4 for a number of Wh pieces. in addition Wh gains easier access to the only open file. Bl should have taken steps earlier to ensure that c5 stays under his control} 15. c5 $1 $18) 15... c5 {Wh can now get a N into d5, but Bl will counter this by getting a N into d4 via c6 or e6} 16. Ba5 b6 17. Bd2 b5 { looks ok to start with, but it results in Bl having split Q side pawns, while Wh retains control over the c4 square.} (17... Re8 $16) 18. Nc3 bxc4 (18... b4 19. Nd5 Re8 20. Bc2 Nf8 21. Be3 Ne6 22. Ba4 Nd7 23. h4 $18 {KomodoDragon2 and Wh is getting ready to open up the K side with several Bl pieces adrift on the Q side}) 19. Bxc4 Nb6 20. Be2 (20. b3 {also favours Wh, but the wh squared B may well have a longterm use on the K side- it certainly helps restrain any pawn -breaks by Bl}) 20... Rd8 21. Qc2 Be6 22. Rfd1 (22. Ng5) 22... Nc4 23. Bxc4 Bxc4 24. Be3 (24. Bg5 h6 25. Bxf6 Bxf6 26. b3 {is an excellent alternative. Wh gains time to plant a N on d5 which sooner or later will force Bl to give up his Wh squared B ( the other Wh N is also on its way to the centre. If that exchange then occurs, Bl will be left with a very bad B impeded by his own pawns on e5 & c5}) 24... Nd7 25. b3 (25. Nd5 {forces the exchange on d5}) 25... Bb5 (25... Be6) 26. Nd5 Bf8 27. Rd2 (27. Nh4 {coming in on f5 & clearing the 3rd rank for the Wh Rs to get to the K side is an option. Moves like g6 then weaken the Bl K defences ( in many lines the N can even then sac itself on f5, to force an entry to the K for the other pieces}) 27... c4 $5 {muddying the waters & liberating squares for his pieces} 28. bxc4 Rc8 29. Qb3 f5 $2 {opening up lines against his K} (29... Bc6 30. Qd1 Bxd5 31. Rxd5 $18) 30. exf5 (30. Nb6 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) (30. Nf6+ gxf6 (30... Nxf6 31. cxb5+ Kh8 32. Rxc8 Qxc8 33. Nxe5 h5 {avoiding a Philidor's legacy smothered mate} (33... Qe8 34. Nf7+ Kg8 35. Nd6+) (33... Qc7 34. Nf7+ Kg8 35. Nh6+ Kh8 36. b6 Qc1+ 37. Rd1 Qc6 38. Qg8+ Nxg8 39. Nf7#) 34. Rd8 $1 {and the Q has no good place to go to.}) 31. cxb5+ Kh8 32. Rxd7 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 30... e4 ( 30... Bc6 31. Qd1 $18) 31. Nd4 (31. c5 {KomodoDragon2} Kh8 32. Ng5 h6 33. Nf7+ Kh7 34. Nb6 {the Bl pieces are standing woodenly aroundwhile Wh controls the board.}) (31. Ne7+ {KomodoDragon2} Kh8 32. Nxc8 Qxc8 33. cxb5 Qxc1+ 34. Rd1 Qc7 35. Rxd7 Qxd7 36. Ne5 Qxf5 37. Nf7+ {wins the Q or K}) 31... Nc5 32. Qc2 Ba4 33. Qc3 Nd3 34. Ne6 $18 (34. f6 $18) (34. Rxd3 exd3 35. Qxd3 $18) 34... Nxc1 35. Ne7+ Kh8 (35... Kf7 36. Ng5+ Ke8 (36... Kxe7 37. f6+ gxf6 38. Qa3+ { Wh can just pick and choose which pieces to win while the Bl K is desperate for some cover}) 37. Nxc8 Nd3 38. f6 Qxc8 39. fxg7 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 36. f6 (36. Bh6 {is the kind of mate the Engines excell in finding- Bl can only delay it ,eg} Ne2+ 37. Rxe2 Qb1+ 38. Kh2 Qb8+ 39. g3 Qb2 40. Rxb2 Rd8 41. Bxg7+ Bxg7 42. Qxg7#) 36... Bxe7 37. fxe7 Rg8 38. Bd4 (38. Bh6 $1 {KomodoDragon2}) 38... e3 (38... h6 39. Bxg7+ Kh7 40. Qf6 {is no fun for Bl either- the Bl pieces remain scattered around the Q side, while the K position is taken apart.}) 39. Bxg7+ Rxg7 40. Qxg7# {Normal} 1-0

Match of the Day

After our defeat in the first round of the Open Section of the WCU Online League, Aberystwyth did much better against Morriston on Thursday 4th November. Rudy van Kemenade's Bird's Opening brought him no middlegame advantage against Peter Bevan, and they arrived at the ending equal. Apparently Black was distracted by the football at this stage, and went wrong, dropping a pawn and accepting an unfavourable exchange that left him with a weak bishop against a strong knight, after which Rudy was able to win comfortably. Adam Watkin-Jones's Pirc against Chris Howells quickly transposed into a King's Indian - I'm not sure whether this was intended or not, but Black's position seemed awkward and he was two pawns down when he resigned, perhaps a bit prematurely, given the opposite-coloured bishops. Against Francisco Marin Marin in a Closed Sicilian, my kingside attack was faster than Black's counter on the queenside and in the centre, and the push of the f-pawn broke open his king's position. My queen's bishop remained on its home square all game. Sam Holman's game against Duncan Williams was another King's Indian, in which Black had a dynamic position and good chances in the early stages. After locking his bishop in, though, he came under pressure, and eventually dropped a rook. A 2-2 draw was a good result for Aber.

In games for other teams, Tom got a good win against Keith Briggs's Slav Defence, exploiting Black's queenside weakness to get a passed pawn, then winning with a nice tactic, while Sam, in another King's-Indian-like opening again had a dynamic position against Gwyn Evans, but after both sides made mistakes in the ending the game was drawn.

[Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.11.04"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Van Kemenade, R."] [Black "Bevan, Peter M"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A03"] [WhiteElo "1999"] [BlackElo "1929"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "111"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,111,19,-30,-33,-19,-33,-74,-40,-40,-40,-39,0,-3,-20,-67,-44,-50,16, -75,-77,-75,-68,-70,-62,-62,-51,-79,-77,-77,-44,-46,-52,-51,-65,-43,-49,-37, -46,-57,-73,-65,-46,-76,-56,-60,-93,-93,-72,-72,-92,-117,9,13,-13,-18,-33,-45, -52,-50,-42,-40,-42,-28,-35,-20,0,0,22,23,8,9,12,-20,0,0,0,-8,0,-7,0,0,79,74, 127,135,131,156,235,144,182,123,286,322,362,212,236,178,227,239,291,283,291, 339,370,398,395,405,444,473,519,572,761,992]} 1. f4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. g3 c5 4. Bg2 g6 5. O-O Bg7 6. d3 Nc6 7. Qe1 (7. c3 O-O 8. Qe1 b6 9. Na3 Ba6 10. h3 h5 11. Ng5 {Van Kemenade-Bevan, WCPL 2014,0-1}) 7... b6 8. h3 (8. e4 {3-1-1}) 8... Nd4 (8... Bb7 {1-1}) 9. Na3 (9. Nxd4 {Bl thought Wh could have played this} cxd4 10. Qf2 (10. Nd2 Bd7 11. Nf3 Qc8 12. Kh2 Qxc2 13. b3 O-O 14. Qf2 Rfe8 15. Ba3 Qc3 $11) 10... O-O 11. Qxd4 Be6 12. Qf2 Qc8 13. g4 Qxc2 $11 {KomodoDragon2} ) 9... Nxf3+ 10. Rxf3 Bb7 11. Rf1 (11. Rf2) 11... O-O $15 12. c3 (12. g4 Qd7 13. f5 {is perhaps worth a try, though KomodoDragon2 counters with} Ne8 (13... d4 $17) 14. c3 Nd6 15. Bf4 e5 $17 {though Wh retains some chances of getting some K side play}) 12... Qd7 13. e4 $6 {this should have been played earlier, or held back now} dxe4 14. dxe4 Ne8 (14... Qc6 $1 $17 {KomodoDragon2- wins the e pawn (which is why earlier the R should have gone to f2)}) 15. e5 (15. Qd1 $11) 15... Bxg2 16. Kxg2 f6 (16... Qd5+ {takes the open file, but Wh has enough resources} 17. Kh2 Rd8 18. Be3 $11) 17. Qe4 Nc7 18. Nc4 (18. exf6 exf6 19. Be3 Rae8 20. Qf3 f5 21. Rfd1 {liberates Wh's Q side}) 18... b5 {can leave c5 hanging - Wh does manage to win it in the end} (18... fxe5 19. Nxe5 (19. Re1 exf4 20. Bxf4 Nd5 21. Be5 Rad8 22. Bxg7 Kxg7 23. Re2 Rf5 24. Rae1 $15) 19... Bxe5 20. Qxe5 Rf6 21. Qe2 Rd8 22. Be3 $11 {though Bl's N is a better piece than Wh's B}) 19. exf6 (19. Ne3 {KomodoDragon} fxe5 20. f5 $11 {bypasses the Bl B}) 19... exf6 20. Ne3 (20. Na5 {considered by Wh, is a possibility}) 20... f5 21. Qb7 $5 {succeeds in luring Bl pieces offside} Rfb8 (21... Rab8 {calls Wh's bluff} 22. Qf3 (22. Qxa7 Qc6+ 23. Kh2 Ra8 $19) 22... Rfd8 $17 {Wh has problems getting the Q side into play}) 22. Qf3 (22. Rd1 $5) 22... b4 23. Rd1 ( 23. Nc4) 23... Qf7 24. c4 {attempting to stabilize the position} Bd4 (24... Re8 $1 $19 {both lichess Stockfish14 & KomodoDragon2 think this simple development should be enough for a decisive advantage}) 25. Rb1 (25. a3 {considered may well be better} a5 26. axb4 Rxb4 27. Ra3 {Komodo Dragon2- but a human will probably be happy just to grab the b2 pawn} Bxb2 (27... a4 $17 {KomodoDragon2}) 28. Bxb2 Rxb2+ 29. Kg1 Qe6 $15) 25... Ne8 (25... Re8 $1 $19 {is again given as winning by both lichess and KomodoDragon2} 26. b3 Re4 27. Nc2 Ne6 28. Rd3 (28. Be3 Bxe3 29. Nxe3 Nd4 $19) (28. Bb2 Bxb2 29. Rxb2 Re8 30. Rd3 g5 $1 $19) 28... Qb7 29. Kh2 Re8 $19 {the Wh pieces have very little activity}) 26. b3 $11 (26. Nd5 $11 {Wh was still hoping to target the c5 pawn, so was reluctant to allow Bl to exchange off the pieces, as implied by Bl's last moves} Nf6 27. Nxf6+ Qxf6 28. Be3 Bxe3 29. Qxe3 Qc6+ {and all the heavy pieces will soon swap off as well.}) 26... Nf6 27. Nc2 (27. Bb2 $5 {KomodoDragon2} Bxe3 28. Qxe3 Re8 29. Be5 Rad8 30. Qxc5 Qb7+ 31. Kh2 Qf3 32. Rd6 Rxd6 33. Qxd6 Qf2+ 34. Kh1 Qxg3 35. Qxf6 Qxh3+ {and its a perpetual}) 27... Bc3 28. Be3 Ne4 (28... Qc7) 29. Rd5 Rd8 (29... Rc8 {allows} 30. Bxc5) (29... a5 {KomodoDragon2} 30. Bxc5 a4 (30... Nd2 31. Rxd2 Bxd2 32. Nd4 Bc3 33. Nc6 Re8 34. Ne7+ Kh8 35. Nd5 Bg7 36. Rd1 Re4 $17) 31. Rbd1 axb3 32. axb3 Ra2 33. Qd3 Re8 34. Bf2 Qe6 35. Kf1 Nxf2 36. Kxf2 Qe4 37. Rc1 Rb2 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) 30. Rbd1 Qc7 31. g4 Rxd5 (31... Kh8 {let the other side do the swapping- it usually brings pieces forward}) 32. Rxd5 $11 Rd8 33. Qd1 Bf6 34. Rxd8+ (34. Qd3 Qc8) 34... Qxd8 35. Qxd8+ Bxd8 36. a3 a5 37. axb4 axb4 38. Kf3 Kf7 39. Bc1 Bf6 40. Ne3 Bc3 {gives Wh an unnecessary edge- Bl admitted afterwards being distracted by the football} (40... Nd6) 41. gxf5 Nd2+ $2 {this leaves the rather useless B facing a Nthat can cover all of the board ( also Wh already has a more active K} (41... Nd6 42. fxg6+ hxg6 { still considered level by KomodoDragon2, which targets the b3 pawn} 43. Nc2 Nb7 44. Be3 Na5 45. Bxc5 Nxb3 46. Bxb4 Bxb4 47. Nxb4 Nd2+ 48. Kg4 Nxc4 {and with the pawns all on one side it is a drawn position}) 42. Bxd2 Bxd2 43. fxg6+ hxg6 44. Ke4 $18 Ke6 45. Ng4 (45. f5+ {KomodoDragon2}) 45... Bc1 46. Ne5 g5 47. fxg5 (47. f5+ {should also be an easy win}) (47. Nd3 $1 {KomodoDragon2} Bd2 48. Nxc5+ Kd6 49. Nd3 {-there are various ways for Wh to win}) 47... Bxg5 48. Nd3 ( 48. Ng6) 48... Be7 49. Nf4+ Kf7 (49... Kd6 50. Kf5 {and the h pawn wins}) 50. Kf5 (50. Kd5) 50... Kg7 51. Ke6 Bf8 52. Nd3 (52. Kd5) 52... Kg6 53. Kd5 Kg5 54. Nxc5 Kh4 55. Nd3 Kxh3 56. c5 {Normal} 1-0 [Event "WCU Online Open 3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.11.04"] [Round "2.2"] [White "Howells, Chris"] [Black "Watkin-Jones, Adam"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E61"] [WhiteElo "1835"] [BlackElo "1918"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "47"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,47,16,28,79,57,56,37,35,39,56,75,69,59,59,51,73,64,114,82,66,79,83,47, 43,36,76,56,72,54,53,46,69,59,65,70,101,97,119,77,115,115,148,59,78,89,89,65, 108,110]} 1. d4 d6 {new to both players it seems} 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 g6 4. Nc3 Bf5 {looks odd, but has been played repeatedly by Kramnik & Caruana ( & other GMs), mostly in rapid or blitz, but also eg in USa ch} 5. h3 (5. g3 {main}) (5. Nh4) (5. Qb3 {both more ambitious}) 5... h5 (5... Bg7) (5... Ne4 {main lines}) 6. Bg5 (6. Ng5 {2.5-0.5}) 6... Nbd7 (6... Bg7 7. Nh4 Bc8 8. e4 Nh7 9. Be3 e5 10. Nf3 c6 11. Be2 Qe7 12. Qd2 Nd7 13. g4 $14 {Lieb-Schmidt, GER ch Seniors 1996,1-0}) (6... Ne4 {KomodoDragon2 & Stockfish5}) 7. Nh4 Nh7 8. Bd2 Bg7 (8... Nhf6 9. g3 e5 10. Bg5 exd4 11. Qxd4 Be6 12. Bg2 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 9. Nxf5 ( 9. e4 e5 10. Nxf5 gxf5 11. dxe5 Nxe5 12. exf5 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 9... gxf5 10. e3 c5 (10... h4 11. Bd3 e6 12. O-O $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 11. dxc5 (11. Qxh5 $18) 11... Nxc5 12. Qxh5 (12. b4 Ne4 13. Nxe4 fxe4 14. Rc1 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 12... Qd7 (12... e6 $5) 13. Qd1 Nf6 14. Qc2 Nfe4 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Bd3 Nxd2 17. Qxd2 Qe6 18. O-O O-O-O {the K looks unsafer than its counterpart. Maybe Bl had to give up hopes of play down the g and h files, and just admit to being a pawn down? A difficult decision, though KomodoDragon2 clearly knows.} 19. Qc2 ( 19. Qa5 $1 Kb8 20. Bxf5 $18 {KomodoDragon2- and Bl may be forced into offering a Q swap to avoid an immediate forceful assault against his lonesome K}) 19... Kb8 (19... Rh5 20. c5 d5 21. Rac1 Kb8 22. Rfd1 $18 {KomodoDragon2- the Wh pieces have a far more effective co-ordination}) 20. Bxf5 Qe5 21. Qe4 (21. Rfd1 ) 21... e6 22. Qxe5 Bxe5 23. Be4 f5 24. Bf3 {Normal- Although Bl has a bit of counterplay, in the end he is simply 2 pawns down.} 1-0 [Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.11.04"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Francis, Matthew"] [Black "Marin Marin, Francisco Javier"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B24"] [WhiteElo "1648"] [BlackElo "1832"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. g3 (3. f4 Nc6 4. Nf3 d6 (4... d5 5. d3 Be7 6. Qe2 d4 7. Nd1 Nf6 8. g3 O-O 9. Bg2 {Kamath-Marin Marin, 4NCL online 2021,1-0}) 5. Bb5 Bd7 6. O-O Be7 7. d3 {Allford-Marin Marin, WCU Online Open 2020,1-0}) (3. d3 Nc6 4. Nf3 d5 5. Qe2 d4 6. Nb1 e5 7. g3 Nf6 8. Bg2 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Nbd2 b5 { Van Kemenade J-Marin Marin, Dyfed Open 2020,0-1}) 3... Nc6 4. Bg2 Nf6 (4... Nge7 5. d3 Ng6 6. f4 Be7 7. Nf3 a6 8. O-O O-O 9. h4 {Francis-Gozdz, Tom Weston Major Cardiff 2009,1-0}) 5. d3 d6 (5... Be7 6. f4 d5 7. e5 Nd7 8. Nf3 a6 9. O-O O-O 10. Kh1 {Francis-Bridges, Tom Weston Major, 2009,1/2-1/2}) (5... Rb8 6. f4 d6 7. Nf3 Be7 8. O-O O-O 9. h3 Ne8 10. Be3 a6 {Francis-Price, Dyfed Major 2008, 0-1}) 6. f4 Be7 7. Nf3 O-O 8. O-O Qb6 {looks at the K, but obstructs the b5 advance Bl usually relies on in the Closed Sicilian} (8... a6) (8... Rb8) (8... Bd7) (8... Qc7 {main lines}) 9. h3 (9. Kh1) 9... Re8 (9... Bd7 {3-2}) 10. Rb1 ( 10. Kh2 h6 11. Nd2 Nd4 12. Nc4 Qc7 13. Be3 Rd8 14. e5 dxe5 15. Nxe5 Nf5 16. Bf2 Rb8 17. a4 {Vivas Font-Celdran Hernandez, ESP cup ICCF 2013,1-0}) (10. g4 $16 { KomodoDragon2}) 10... d5 11. e5 Nd7 12. Ne2 d4 (12... Qa6 13. a3 b5 14. g4 $14 {KomodoDragon2}) 13. g4 f6 14. exf6 Nxf6 15. Ng3 (15. Bd2) 15... Bd6 (15... Nd5 ) 16. Ne4 (16. Nd2 Qc7 17. Nc4 {KomodoDragon2}) 16... Nxe4 17. dxe4 e5 $6 { encourageous a pawn storm} (17... Rf8 18. e5 Be7 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 18. f5 Bd7 19. Qe1 (19. g5 $18) (19. Nh4 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 19... c4 20. Kh1 Nb4 { one of KomodoDragon2's lines for Bl, but more circumspect is} (20... Nd8) 21. Qh4 Nxc2 {but this too hopeful- just look at the Wh pieces poised near to a Bl K with all its troops elswhere} (21... Bf8 {brings 2 pieces to the defence, though} 22. g5 {leaves Bl with nothing much better than taking the pawn & hoping for the best id Wh overextends}) 22. Ng5 h6 23. f6 {the threat of f7ch is just too powerful, though the Engine thinks avoiding it is even worse} gxf6 24. Rxf6 (24. Qxh6 $1) (24. Qh5 $1 {are even stronger it is claimed, but Wh's choice is natural}) 24... Re7 25. Qxh6 {Normal} (25. Rxh6 {Rudy & lichess} Kg7 26. Rh7+ Kf8 27. Rh8+ Kg7 28. Qh6#) (25. Rg6+ Rg7 26. Qxh6 Kf8 27. Qh8+ Rg8 28. Rxg8+ Ke7 29. Qg7# {KomodoDragon2}) (25. Qxh6 Bc5 26. Nf3 (26. Rxb6 {looks simpler to a human eye}) 26... Ne3 27. Bxe3 dxe3 28. Nxe5 Rh7 29. Rg6+ Qxg6 30. Qxg6+ Rg7 31. Qh5 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 1-0 [Event "WCU Open Online3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.11.04"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Williams, Duncan"] [Black "Holman, Sam"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "1725"] [BlackElo "1386"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "113"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,113,19,31,72,49,100,53,53,53,49,47,24,17,51,-4,15,-23,9,-164,-5,-15, 55,24,28,30,20,20,54,-22,14,-22,-14,-30,13,-72,-59,-78,-70,-101,-101,-120,-142, -144,-121,-132,28,0,0,0,0,0,5,-2,32,7,0,0,2,0,0,0,2,-1,0,-43,-41,0,0,0,461,470, 473,474,474,391,473,495,532,489,499,393,403,403,478,475,479,443,495,528,540, 543,662,755,29385,29984,29985,906,1794,28418,29987,29988,29989,29986,29987, 29988,29989,29990,29991,29990,29991,29992,29993,29994,29997,29998]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 g6 (2... d6 3. f4 e6 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bb5 Qc7 6. O-O a6 7. Bxc6+ Qxc6 8. d3 Nf6 9. Qe1 Be7 10. Qg3 O-O 11. f5 {Williams-Holman,WCU Online Open2 , 2021,1-0} ) 3. f4 (3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 d6 5. d3 Nc6 6. Nge2 e5 7. O-O Nge7 8. Bg5 h6 9. Be3 O-O {Paffard-Holman, WCU Online3 U1800, oct 2021,0-1}) 3... Nc6 (3... d6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bb5+ Bd7 6. O-O (6. Bc4 Nc6 7. O-O a6 8. d3 Nh6 9. Qe1 O-O 10. Qh4 { Williams-Miga,WCU Online Open 2020,1-0}) 6... Bxb5 7. Nxb5 a6 8. Nc3 e6 9. d3 Ne7 10. Qe1 {Williams-Pettinger, 4NCL Online 2020,1/2-1/2}) 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bb5 Nd4 6. O-O e6 (6... Nxb5) (6... a6) 7. d3 (7. e5 {main}) 7... Ne7 8. a4 (8. Nxd4) (8. e5) 8... O-O 9. Ne2 (9. Bc4) (9. e5 {main lines}) 9... Nec6 (9... Nxf3+ 10. Rxf3 d5 $19 {the b5 B is in trouble- Cloud Engines; 0.5-1.5}) 10. c3 a6 (10... Nxf3+ 11. Rxf3 Na5 $15) 11. Nexd4 (11. cxd4 axb5 12. dxc5 Rxa4 13. Rxa4 bxa4 14. Qxa4 d6 $14 {Bl will recover the pawn}) 11... Nxd4 12. cxd4 axb5 13. dxc5 b6 {KomoDragon2} 14. d4 Bb7 15. Re1 (15. e5) 15... bxc5 (15... Qc7) 16. dxc5 Qe7 (16... Qc7 17. Qd6 {transposes}) 17. Qd6 (17. a5 $11) 17... Qxd6 18. cxd6 bxa4 $19 {Bl has open lines & Wh is not yet developed} 19. Re3 Rfc8 20. e5 f6 21. Bd2 Bxf3 {this should be winning as well, but the B7 B is a powerful piece, superior to the N} (21... fxe5 22. Nxe5 Rc2 $19) (21... Rc2 22. Bc3 fxe5 23. Bxe5 Bxe5 24. fxe5 Bc6 25. Rb1 Rb8 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) 22. gxf3 f5 $6 {closes in the B & hands the initative over to Wh} (22... Rc2 23. Bc3 fxe5 24. fxe5 Bh6 25. Rd3 Bc1 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) (22... fxe5 23. fxe5 Rc2 { transposes}) (22... Rc4 23. b3 Rc2 24. Bb4 fxe5 25. fxe5 Rb2 26. Bc5 Bh6 27. Rc3 Bf4 28. Rxa4 Rxa4 29. bxa4 Bxh2+ 30. Kh1 Bxe5 $17 {KomodoDragon2}) 23. Rc3 (23. Rea3 Rc4 24. b3 $18) 23... Rxc3 (23... Rcb8 24. Rc7 Rxb2 25. Bc1 Rb3 26. Kg2 a3 27. Ra2 Rd8 (27... g5) 28. Rxa3 Rxa3 29. Bxa3 Kf7 $16 {but Bl might hold the barricade, just waiting}) 24. Bxc3 Bh6 25. Bd2 $18 Bg7 (25... Rb8 26. Ra2 Rb3 27. Kf2 Rd3 28. Be3 Rb3 29. Rxa4 Rxb2+ 30. Kg3 Rb7 (30... Rb8 31. Ra7 Rd8 32. Bb6) 31. Ra8+ Bf8 {and it is not clear where Wh can break in}) 26. b4 { neat, but the solid} (26. Ra3 {wins} Kf7 27. b3 g5 28. bxa4 $18) 26... g5 27. b5 Rb8 28. Rxa4 Rxb5 29. Ra8+ Kf7 30. Rd8 Rb7 31. Kf2 h5 (31... Kg6 32. Kg3 Rb2 33. Bc1 Rc2 34. Be3 Re2 35. Bc1 (35. Bg1 gxf4+ 36. Kxf4 $2 Bxe5#) 35... Rc2 $11 {KomodoDtragon2}) 32. Ba5 (32. h4) 32... gxf4 33. Bc7 Bxe5 34. Rxd7+ Kf6 { the losing move} (34... Kg6 {In principle ,stay away from squares that the B can get to} 35. Re7 Kf6 36. Re8 Kf7 37. Re7+ Kf6 38. Re8 Kf7 $11) (34... Kf8 35. Rd8+ Kf7 36. Rd7+ Kf8 $11) (34... Kg8 35. Re7 Rb2+ 36. Kf1 Rd2 37. Rxe6 Bc3 38. Bd8 Kf7 39. Rh6 Kg7 40. Rxh5 Rxd6 41. Bc7 Rd1+ 42. Kg2 Kg6 $11) (34... Ke8 {also loses though} 35. Re7+ Kf8 36. Rxe6 Bd4+ 37. Kg2 Rb2+ 38. Kh3 Bg1 39. Kh4 Kf7 40. d7 Rd2 41. Rd6 Rxd6 42. Bxd6 Bb6 43. Kxh5 {and the h pawn wins for Wh}) 35. Bd8+ Kg6 36. Rxb7 Bxd6 {Bl carries on, there are some stalemate possibilities later; but a R is a R} 37. Bc7 Bc5+ 38. Ke2 Kg5 39. Bd8+ Kg6 40. Rb5 (40. h4) 40... Bg1 41. h3 Kf7 42. Kd3 Bf2 43. Re5 h4 44. Re2 Bg3 45. Kd4 Ke8 46. Bg5 Kf7 47. Ke5 Kg6 48. Bxf4 (48. Bf6 {mate in 9- leaving the B offside- KomodoDragon2}) 48... Kh5 49. Rg2 Be1 50. Rg5+ Kh6 51. Rg1+ (51. Kxe6) 51... Kh5 52. Rxe1 Kg6 53. Kxe6 Kh5 54. Re5 (54. Rg1 $2 {stalemate}) 54... Kg6 55. Rxf5 Kg7 56. Rg5+ Kh6 57. Kf7 {Normal} 1-0 [Event "WCU Online U1800 B"] [Site "Lichess"] [Date "2021.11.04"] [Round "2.3"] [White "Gunn, Tom"] [Black "Briggs, Keith"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D10"] [WhiteElo "1398"] [BlackElo "1350"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "66"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Cardigan"] [BlackTeam "Steynton B"] {[%evp 0,66,35,15,14,-16,44,29,43,47,39,12,62,62,63,70,162,167,167,40,44,31,75, 59,57,25,112,26,16,15,24,23,44,47,51,53,53,53,62,62,62,64,58,65,83,80,108,112, 112,104,94,55,153,103,169,153,203,193,245,175,352,349,349,349,349,349,349,351, 382]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 (2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 c6 5. e3 Bd6 6. Bd3 O-O 7. O-O Nbd7 8. e4 dxe4 9. Nxe4 Nxe4 10. Bxe4 h6 11. Re1 Nf6 12. Bd3 c5 {Gunn-Boyd, WCU Onlone Open2, 2021,0-1}) 2... c6 3. Nc3 (3. e3 Bf5 4. Nc3 e6 5. Nf3 Nf6 6. Bd3 Bxd3 7. Qxd3 Nbd7 8. O-O Be7 9. a3 O-O 10. b4 {Fox-Briggs, Dyfed Online League 2020,0-1}) (3. Nf3 {main}) 3... Nf6 4. e3 Bf5 {playable in Slav lines, but overall a little risky in Queens G lines, as it leaves b7 sunject to early attacks} 5. Nf3 h6 (5... e6 6. Nh4 {main}) 6. cxd5 cxd5 7. Qb3 {with pressure on b7, d5 & f7} b6 {11 Wh wins, 2 draws} (7... Bc8 {6 Wh wins, 2 draws}) 8. Bb5+ Bd7 (8... Nbd7 9. Nxd5 {5-0}) 9. O-O {missing a trick} (9. Nxd5 $18 { 7 Wh wins, 2 draws}) 9... e6 10. Bd2 Be7 11. Rfc1 O-O $14 {Wh has a pull against the weakened Q side} 12. Rc2 (12. Ne5) 12... Nc6 13. Bxc6 (13. Nxd5 $18 {agains wins an important pawn}) 13... Bxc6 14. Rac1 a5 15. a4 Rb8 16. Ne5 Be8 17. Nb5 Ne4 18. Be1 Nd6 19. Nxd6 Bxd6 20. Nc6 Bxc6 21. Rxc6 Qe7 (21... Re8 { Bl has to settle for a long passive defensive stance, which might hold}) 22. Rxb6 Rxb6 23. Qxb6 $18 Rb8 24. Qxa5 Rxb2 25. Ra1 {a simple plan- just push the a pawn} (25. g3) (25. Qa8+ Kh7 26. Qc6 Ra2 27. a5 Bb8 28. Qb6 $18 { KomodoDragon2}) 25... Qf6 26. h3 Kh7 27. Qc3 Rb8 28. a5 Qe7 29. a6 Bb4 30. a7 ( 30. Qxb4 Rxb4 31. Bxb4 Qxb4 32. a7 {also wins, as does}) (30. Qc2+ g6 31. Bxb4 Qxb4 32. a7 Ra8 33. Qc6 Qf8 34. Qc7 h5 35. Rb1) 30... Bxc3 31. axb8=Q Bxa1 32. Qb1+ g6 33. Qxa1 Kg7 1-0 [Event "WCU Online U1800 B"] [Site "Lichess"] [Date "2021.11.05"] [Round "2.4"] [White "Evans, Gwyn"] [Black "Holman, Sam"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A40"] [WhiteElo "1192"] [BlackElo "1386"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "128"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Steynton B"] [BlackTeam "Cardigan"] {[%evp 0,128,79,15,93,102,139,30,2,3,10,6,29,5,28,15,15,10,13,13,-2,0,-22,-22, -24,-64,-56,-71,-57,-65,-61,-55,-14,-28,-6,-7,-9,-20,-15,-19,26,-5,-4,-19,-35, -21,-18,-68,-74,-60,-26,-45,-32,-13,-1,-58,-37,-80,-62,-114,-107,-90,-69,-21,0, 0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-82,21,12,0,0,98,90,104,93,93,88,72,90,90,88,90,90,114,88,88,0, 0,-926,-429,-560,-561,-560,-632,-806,-898,-934,161,0,0,0,0,-700,-706,-982, -1011,-1011,-1022,-1032,-1032,-1032,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. d4 g6 (1... Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. Nbd2 O-O 5. c3 d6 6. e4 h6 7. Bh4 Re8 8. Bd3 e5 { Evans-Holman,Dyfed Online League 2021,0-1}) 2. Nf3 Bg7 3. g3 (3. c4 {main}) 3... Nf6 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O d6 6. Bg5 (6. c4) 6... Re8 (6... Nbd7) (6... h6 { main lines}) 7. c4 h6 (7... c6 8. Nc3 Nbd7 {transposes 6-2-7 results}) 8. Bxf6 Bxf6 9. Nbd2 Nd7 (9... e5) 10. Qc2 e5 11. d5 a5 12. a4 Nc5 $17 {Bl has a solid position & 2 Bs with more chances for a pawn break than Wh has} 13. Ne4 (13. e4 $5) 13... Nxe4 14. Qxe4 Bf5 (14... Ra6 15. Nd2 Rb6 16. Ra2 Bf5 17. Qe3 Rb4 18. b3 e4 $17 {KomodoDragon2}) 15. Qe3 Kg7 16. Nd2 Qd7 (16... b6 {stops c5 ideas}) 17. Ne4 Be7 18. Qb3 b6 (18... Bxe4 19. Bxe4 f5 20. Bc2 Bg5 $15 {KomodoDragon2}) 19. Qc3 Bh3 (19... Bxe4 20. Bxe4 f5 21. Bf3 h5 22. h3 Rh8 $15 {KomodoDragon2}) 20. b3 Bxg2 21. Kxg2 f5 22. Nd2 Bf6 23. Rae1 (23. e4 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 23... e4 24. Qc1 Re7 (24... e3 {breaks up Wh's pawn structure} 25. Nb1 exf2 26. Rxf2 Bd4 $17) 25. e3 h5 (25... g5 $5) 26. h4 Rh8 27. f4 exf3+ 28. Nxf3 Rhe8 29. Nd4 Bxd4 30. exd4 {Bl now has an effective extra pawn on the K side} Re4 (30... Re2+ 31. Rxe2 Rxe2+ 32. Rf2 Qe7 33. Rxe2 Qxe2+ 34. Kg1 Qd3 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) 31. Qd2 Kh7 (31... Qe7 $19 {KomodoDragon2-insisting on the only open file}) 32. Rxe4 Rxe4 33. Re1 $11 Qe7 34. Kf2 $2 {but this could have lost the game as bl can capitalize on the K side majority} (34. Rxe4 Qxe4+ 35. Kh2 $11) 34... Qf6 ( 34... Rxe1 $1 35. Qxe1 Qxe1+ 36. Kxe1 g5 $1 37. Ke2 (37. hxg5 Kg6 $19) 37... f4 38. Kf3 fxg3 39. Kxg3 gxh4+ (39... g4 40. Kf4 Kg6 41. Kg3 Kf5 {is also an easy win}) 40. Kxh4 Kg6 {and Bl sacs the outside pawn for extensive Qside gains}) 35. Rxe4 fxe4+ 36. Qf4 (36. Ke1 Qf3 37. Qg5 $11 {these Q exchange possibilities require both players to be very eact in their calculations of the resultant K & pawn positions- not always easy while the clock is running}) 36... Qf5 (36... Qxd4+ $19 37. Qe3 Qb2+ 38. Kg1 Qe5 {but it will still take a while as the extra pawn is a centre one- more easily stopped by a K (without getting into an offside position)}) 37. Ke3 Kg7 38. Qxe4 Qxe4+ $2 {and this should lose for Bl, since it rings Wh's K to a dominant position} (38... Qf1 $11) 39. Kxe4 $18 Kf6 40. Kf4 (40. Kd3 Kf5 41. c5 {is one of those exact calculations in which Engines excell , though not humans} Kg4 42. Kc4 Kxg3 43. Kb5 Kxh4 44. Kc6 g5 45. Kxc7 bxc5 46. dxc5 dxc5 47. d6 {when Bl has more pawns, but is lost}) 40... Kg7 41. Kg5 Kf7 42. g4 hxg4 43. Kxg4 Kf6 44. Kf4 Kg7 45. Kg5 Kf7 46. Kh6 {the Wh K strays too far} (46. h5 gxh5 47. Kxh5 Kf6 48. Kg4 Kg6 49. Kf4 Kf6 {and the systematic advance of Wh's Q side majority will win} 50. Ke4 Ke7 51. Kd3 Kd8 52. Kc3 Ke7 53. b4 axb4+ 54. Kxb4 Kd8 55. Kb5 Kd7 56. c5 $18) 46... Kf6 47. h5 {now this should be a losing move- often 'simple' K & P endings contain hidden poison} (47. Kh7 Kf7 (47... Kf5 48. Kg7 Kg4 49. Kxg6 Kxh4 50. Kf5 Kh3 51. Ke6 $18) 48. Kh6 Kf6 49. Kh7 {ensures a draw}) 47... gxh5 (47... g5 $19 48. Kh7 Kf7 (48... g4 {is simpler to calculate} 49. Kg8 g3 50. h6 g2 51. Kh7 g1=Q {Bl Qs first with a check}) 49. Kh6 g4 50. Kg5 g3 {looks pointless for Wh, unable to catch the pawn, or push his own through- let alone that Bl Qs with check}) 48. Kxh5 Kf5 $19 {Bl can just walk into the Q sidewith the Wh K on the edge of the board} 49. Kh6 Ke4 50. Kg6 Kxd4 51. Kf6 Kc5 { Bl is seeing dragons} (51... Kc3 $19 {knocks out the rear of the pawn chain} 52. Ke6 Kxb3 53. Kd7 Kxc4 54. Kxc7 (54. Kc6 Kd4 $19 (54... Kb4 $19)) 54... Kc5 (54... Kxd5 55. Kxb6 Kc4 {and Bl easily wins the pawn race}) 55. Kb7 Kxd5 $19) 52. Ke6 $11 c6 53. dxc6 Kxc6 54. Kf5 $2 (54. Ke7 $11) 54... d5 $19 55. cxd5+ Kxd5 56. Kf6 Kd6 (56... Kd4 {advancing is the simplest} 57. Ke7 Kc3 58. Kd6 Kxb3 59. Kc6 Kxa4 60. Kxb6 Kb4 {and there is no way Wh can stop the a pawn}) 57. Kf7 Kc6 (57... Kc5 {is an easy win} 58. Ke6 Kb4 59. Kd6 Kxb3 60. Kc6 Kxa4 61. Kxb6 Kb4 {as previous note}) (57... b5 58. axb5 Kc5 59. b6 Kxb6 60. Ke6 Kb5 61. Kd5 Kb4 62. Kd4 Kxb3 {and the Wh K remains offside}) 58. Ke6 b5 (58... Kc5 $19) 59. Ke5 $11 Kc5 60. Ke4 Kb4 61. axb5 (61. Kd3 $11 {is good enough}) 61... Kxb5 62. Kd3 Kb4 63. Kc2 a4 64. bxa4 Kxa4 1/2-1/2

Back in Business

Although the club has suspended face-to-face chess for the year, members are continuing to take part in online events. The first round of the Dyfed Closed Online tournament recently took place and it will run until January. The WCU online leagues have also resumed, and we are greatly helped here by the fact that Rudy and Julie van Kemenade are still available to play for us. We are taking part in the formidably strong Open section, with Rudy as our captain and top board. We don't have enough available members to field an under-1800 team as well, so Tom Gunn and Sam Holman, as well as taking their turns in the Open team, will be playing for Steynton at the lower level.

Our first match in the Open was against White Knights. Rudy's Petroff against Bill Hewitt reached an unbalaced middlegame where Black had two pieces for a rook. The advantage was with Rudy, who managed to convert the imbalance to a clear extra knight, only to get it trapped in the endgame. After that he was still a pawn up in the queen ending but could only draw. I spent most of the game trying to shore up the weaknesses in my position against Allan Pleasants's Modern Defence, but was beginning to feel more comfortable as time started to run out for both of us. I then thought I saw an opportunity to go on the attack, but it was an illusion and my position quickly collapsed. Julie took too long getting her counter-attack started against Jason Garcia in a King's Indian Defence. White's centre was very dominant, and, as she tried to mix things up, she walked into a pawn fork and resigned at once. Tom's Queen's Gambit gave Tomasz Miga the two bishops and an imposing phalanx of pawns on the queenside, which ultimately proved impossible to stop. White Knights won the match 3½-½.

[Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.10.28"] [Round "1"] [White "Hewitt, William"] [Black "Van Kemenade, R."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C42"] [WhiteElo "2093"] [BlackElo "1999"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "133"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,133,19,22,22,25,3,23,33,30,30,21,-1,-2,21,21,21,21,17,12,15,15,71,71, 71,58,71,63,63,54,77,65,77,79,77,20,58,-23,37,3,38,19,53,-10,-4,-43,-49,-51, -33,-20,32,32,63,-46,-46,-10,-49,-49,-70,-89,-89,-62,-78,-78,-86,-204,-204, -211,-211,-267,-289,-282,-282,-261,-180,-126,-167,-170,-150,-131,-143,-143,0,0, 0,-51,-48,-60,-52,-65,-61,-62,0,-58,-58,-63,-65,-58,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-55,-11,-8,0, -34,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,-79,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0]} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 (7... Bg4 8. c4 Nf6 9. Nc3 Bxf3 10. Qxf3 Nxd4 11. Qh3 dxc4 (11... Ne6 12. cxd5 Nxd5 13. Re1 Nxc3 14. bxc3 Qf6 15. Bf5 Be7 16. Be3 h6 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Bd4 Qf7 19. Rxe6 O-O 20. Qg3 Bh4 {J Howell-Van Kemenade, Sheffield 1991,0-1}) 12. Bxc4 Qd7 13. Qe3+ Be7 14. Rd1 O-O-O $17 {Hewitt-Van Kemenade, WCPL 2012,0-1}) 8. c4 Nb4 9. Be2 O-O (9... c6 {has been tried here but scores badly for Bl (at 11% with 4-0 losses for Van Kemenade)}) 10. Nc3 (10. a3 Nc6 11. cxd5 Qxd5 12. Nc3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Bf5 14. Re1 Be4 15. Bf4 Bd6 16. c4 Qf5 17. Bxd6 cxd6 18. d5 Bxf3 19. Bxf3 Ne5 20. Be4 Qg5 21. g3 Nd7 22. Qd4 $11 {Mason-Van Kemenade,GBR ch Great Yarmouth, 2007; draw agreed}) (10. h3 Bf5 11. a3 Nc6 12. Nc3 dxc4 13. Bxc4 Nxc3 14. bxc3 Bf6 15. Bf4 Qd7 16. Qd2 Rfe8 17. Rfe1 Na5 18. Ba2 Be4 {Hewitt-Iolo Jones,WCPL 2015, 1/2-1/2}) 10... Nxc3 (10... Bf5 {main, when} 11. a3 Nxc3 12. bxc3 Nc6 13. cxd5 Qxd5 {transposes back to Mason-Van Kemenade above. In the line played Wh has gained by not having to play a3, but then in the other line there are later possibilities for Wh to play Ra2 bringing this R to the e file ( an idea that Wh wished was available later in this game)}) 11. bxc3 Nc6 12. Re1 (12. cxd5) ( 12. Bf4) (12. Rb1 {main lines}) 12... Bf5 13. cxd5 (13. c5 Bf6 14. Bf4 a6 15. Bd3 Be6 16. Qc2 g6 17. Rab1 Rb8 18. Rb2 Re8 19. Qb1 Qc8 20. h4 {Raphael-Sears, De Verteuil Memorial, Port of Spain 2010,1-0}) 13... Qxd5 14. Bf4 (14. Bd3 { main, transposes to 70 games}) 14... Bf6 (14... Rac8 15. Nd2 { Belikov-Shtyrenko, Alushta op 2013, draw agreed}) (14... Bd6) 15. Nd2 (15. Bxc7 Rac8 16. Bg3 Na5 17. Ne5 Rxc3 18. Bf3 Qd8 19. d5 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) (15. Qb3 {possible with the pawn on a2} Qxb3 (15... Be6 16. Qb1 (16. Qxb7 Nxd4 $11) 16... h6 17. h3 $16) 16. axb3 Ne7 (16... Rfc8 17. Nd2 Ne7 18. Bf3 c6 19. Nc4 $18) 17. Bxc7 Rfc8 18. Bd6 Rxc3 19. Bc4 b5 20. Bf1 Nd5 21. Rxa7 Rd8 22. b4 Be6 23. Bc5 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 15... Qa5 (15... Qd7) 16. Qc1 (16. Qb3 Ne7 17. Nc4 $18 {Stockfish10 & KomodoDragon2}) 16... Bg6 17. a4 (17. Nc4 Qf5 18. Bxc7 Rac8 19. Qf4 Ne7 20. Qg3 Qd5 21. Ne3 Qd7 22. Be5 Bxe5 23. Qxe5 Rxc3 24. d5 $18 { KomodoDragon2}) 17... Qf5 (17... Bg5) 18. Be3 (18. Bg3 h5 19. Qd1 Rfe8 20. Nc4 Re7 21. Ne3 Qa5 22. h4 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 18... Na5 $11 19. Qb2 b6 20. Qb5 c6 21. Qb4 (21. Qxf5 Bxf5 $11) 21... Rfe8 22. Rac1 Rad8 (22... Be7 {initial idea} 23. Qb2 Qf6 24. Nf3 Qd6 $13 {KomodoDragon2}) 23. h3 h5 (23... c5 24. Qb5 $11 ( 24. dxc5 Rxe3 25. fxe3 Rxd2 26. cxb6 axb6 27. Qxb6 h5 $19 {looked at by Bl, but concerned about back rank}) 24... cxd4 25. cxd4 h6 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 24. Bf3 c5 (24... Be7) 25. dxc5 Rxe3 26. Rxe3 Rxd2 27. cxb6 (27. Re8+) 27... axb6 28. Qxb6 Nc4 (28... Kh7) 29. Qb8+ (29. Re8+ Kh7 30. Qb8 Kh6 31. Rce1 $11 { KomodoDragon2}) 29... Rd8 30. Re8+ Rxe8 31. Qxe8+ Kh7 32. Qb5 (32. Qe2 Ne5 $15) 32... Qf4 $19 33. Rd1 Be5 34. Qd5 Qh2+ 35. Kf1 Nb2 36. Rd2 Bxc3 (36... Nxa4 $1 37. g3 Bxc3 38. Re2 Bf6 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) (36... Qh1+ 37. Ke2 Qb1 38. Be4 Bxe4 39. Qxe5 Bd3+ 40. Kf3 Nc4 41. Qxh5+ Kg8 42. Qg5 Qb7+ 43. Kg3 Qc7+ 44. Kh4 Ne5 $19 {KomodoDragon2}) 37. Bxh5 Bxd2 (37... Bb1 {keeps g6 covered while the R has nowhere to go} 38. Rxb2 (38. Bxf7 Bxd2 39. Qxd2 (39. Qh5+ Bh6) 39... Bd3+ ) 38... Qh1+ 39. Ke2 Qe1+ 40. Kf3 Bxb2 41. Bxf7 g6 42. Bg8+ Kh6 $19 { KomodoDragon2}) 38. Bxg6+ fxg6 (38... Kxg6 {exposes the Bl K} 39. Qxd2 Qh1+ ( 39... Qe5 40. a5 Qb5+ 41. Kg1 Nc4 42. Qd3+ Kh6 43. g4 $11) (39... Nxa4 40. Qc2+ ) 40. Ke2 Qb1 41. a5 Nc4 42. Qd5 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 39. Qxd2 Qh1+ (39... Qe5 {original idea} 40. Qb4 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 40. Ke2 Nxa4 (40... Qb1 $15 41. Qd4 (41. a5 Qe4+ 42. Kf1 Nc4 43. Qa2 Qe6 44. Qa1 (44. a6 Ne3+) 44... Qa6 $19) 41... Qc2+ 42. Ke3 Nc4+ (42... Nxa4 43. Qh4+ Kg8 44. Qd8+ $11) 43. Kf3 Qb3+ 44. Ke2 Qxa4 45. Qh4+ Kg8 46. Qd8+ Kf7 47. Qd5+ Ke7 48. Kd3 Na3 $14 {KomodoDragon2, is a tricky ending for both human players}) 41. Qd4 {Bl missed that the Q move covers a1 as well} Qxg2 42. Qxa4 Qxh3 $11 43. Qd4 Qf5 44. Kf1 g5 45. Kg2 g4 46. Qe3 g5 47. Qc3 Kg6 48. Qc6+ Qf6 49. Qc2+ (49. Qxf6+ Kxf6 50. Kg3 Kf5 51. Kh2 Kf4 52. Kg2 $11) 49... Kh5 50. Qh7+ Qh6 51. Qf7+ Qg6 52. Qd5 Qf6 53. Qe4 Qg6 54. Qd5 Kh4 55. Kf1 g3 (55... Qa6+ 56. Kg2 Qe2 57. Qf5 $11) 56. fxg3+ Kxg3 57. Qg2+ Kf4 58. Qd2+ Ke5 59. Qc3+ Ke6 60. Qc6+ Kf7 61. Qd7+ Kg8 62. Kg1 Qg7 63. Qe8+ Kh7 64. Qh5+ Kg8 65. Qe8+ Kh7 66. Qh5+ Kg8 67. Qe8+ {Normal} 1/2-1/2 [Event "WCU Online Open3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.10.28"] [Round "1.2"] [White "Francis, Matthew"] [Black "Pleasants, Allan J"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B04"] [WhiteElo "1648"] [BlackElo "2088"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "80"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,80,19,31,80,74,88,86,77,61,96,84,69,30,38,-7,38,7,47,13,63,39,22,-1, 11,6,-4,-29,-18,-38,-45,-46,-40,-17,-23,-20,15,-25,2,8,3,0,23,23,32,-1,-3,0,36, -15,-11,-39,-12,-52,-44,-43,-22,-33,-28,-31,-34,-112,-117,-121,-70,-60,33,35, 32,-92,-88,-127,-133,-335,-374,-383,-404,-409,-433,-480,-498,-543,-547]} 1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nf3 d6 (3... c6 4. Bd3 d6 5. O-O e5 6. Be3 Nf6 7. h3 O-O 8. Nbd2 Nh5 {Francis-J Van Kemenade, Aberystwyth ch 2009,1-0}) 4. Bc4 c6 (4... a6 5. a4 Nc6 6. c3 (6. Be3 e6 7. O-O Bd7 8. Nc3 Nge7 9. Qd2 h6 10. Rfe1 g5 11. h3 Ng6 12. Ne2 {Whitfield-Pleasants, Frome open 2012,1-0}) 6... Nf6 7. Qe2 Bg4 8. Nbd2 {Talsma-Pleasants, 4NCL 2012,1-0}) 5. O-O (5. Bb3 Nf6 6. Qe2 O-O 7. e5 Nd5 8. h3 a5 9. c3 b6 10. Qe4 Bf5 11. Qh4 Nd7 12. Bh6 {Navarro Cia-Pleasants, London Classic 2013,1/2-1/2}) 5... Nf6 6. Qe2 (6. e5) (6. Re1 {main lines}) 6... O-O 7. e5 (7. Bb3 {main} a5 8. a4 Na6 9. Rd1 Nc7 10. c3 b6 11. Nbd2 Ba6 12. Bc4 Bb7 13. Bd3 d5 14. exd5 Ncxd5 15. Ne4 {Frostrick-Pleasants, 4NCL 2018, 0-1}) 7... Nd5 8. h3 Na6 (8... dxe5) (8... h6) (8... a5) (8... b5) 9. Bb3 {3-2} (9. Bxa6 {4-0}) 9... Nac7 10. c4 Nb6 (10... Nb4 11. Bd2 Nba6 12. Nc3 dxe5 13. dxe5 Bf5 14. Rfd1 Qc8 15. Be3 {Hartmann-Foerster, Bundesliga 1983,1-0}) 11. Bf4 (11. Nc3 a5 12. Be3 a4 13. Bc2 Bd7 14. a3 Qc8 15. c5 {Pietrusiak-Balcerowski, POl ch Rzeszow 1966,1/2-1/2}) (11. Bc2 Ne6 12. Rd1 dxe5 13. dxe5 Qc7 14. Nc3 a5 15. b3 Nd7 16. Re1 Nxe5 {Franzoni-Lobron, Biel GM 1981,0-1}) (11. Rd1 $16 { KomodoDragon2}) 11... Ne6 {KomodoDragon2} (11... Bf5 {DeepFritz13}) 12. Bh2 a5 $11 13. a4 dxe5 (13... d5 14. cxd5 Nxd5 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 14. dxe5 (14. Bxe5 $14) 14... Nd7 (14... Nd4 15. Qe3 Nxf3+ 16. Qxf3 Nd7 17. Qc3 Nc5 18. Bc2 Qb6 19. Nd2 Rd8 $15 {KomodoDragon2}) 15. Nbd2 Ndc5 16. Bc2 Qb6 17. b3 Bh6 18. Rab1 $11 (18. Ne4 $11) 18... Qb4 19. Rfd1 Nf4 (19... Bd7 $15 {Deep Fritz13}) (19... b5 $17 {KomodoDragon2}) 20. Bxf4 Bxf4 21. Ne4 Nxe4 (21... Bh6 22. Nxc5 Qxc5 23. Rd4 Be6 24. Rbd1 Bg7 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) (21... f6 {Deep Fritz13} 22. Nxc5 Qxc5 23. e6 Bd6 24. Rd3 Kg7 25. Re1 $14 {KomodoDragon2}) 22. Bxe4 (22. Qxe4 Bh6 23. Qh4 Bg7 24. Re1 $16 {KomodoDragon2- Bl must take a little care of his K side}) 22... Be6 (22... Qc5 $11 {both Engines}) 23. Bc2 Qc5 24. Kf1 (24. Qe4 Bh6 25. Qh4 $14 {both Engines}) 24... Rad8 25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. Rd1 Rxd1+ 27. Bxd1 h5 28. Qe4 Bh6 29. Nd4 Bc8 30. e6 $6 {overpressing} (30. g4 $11) 30... f5 $19 31. Qd3 Bg7 (31... Qd6 {wins the e pawn cleanly}) 32. Nf3 Qd6 (32... Bxe6 33. Qd8+ Bf8 34. Be2 $11 {KomodoDragon2}) 33. Qxd6 exd6 34. Ng5 (34. Nh4 Bxe6 ( 34... Kh7 35. e7 Bd7 36. Nxf5 $1 {an Engine idea} gxf5 37. Bxh5 Kh6 38. e8=Q Bxe8 39. Bxe8 $16 {and Wh has good winning chances despite the opposite colourBs with being able to have two connected passed pawns}) 35. Nxg6 $11 { both Engines}) 34... Bf6 $19 35. Nf7 (35. Nf3 {is safer but} Bxe6 $19) 35... Be7 36. g4 (36. f4 Bxe6 37. Ng5 Bxg5 38. fxg5 {rescues the N, but Bl is still a sound pawn up}) 36... Bxe6 37. Nh6+ Kg7 38. gxf5 gxf5 39. Nxf5+ Bxf5 40. Bxh5 Bc2 {Normal} 0-1 [Event "WCU Online Open 3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.10.28"] [Round "1.3"] [White "Garcia, Jason"] [Black "Van Kemenade, J."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E62"] [WhiteElo "2076"] [BlackElo "1641"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "39"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,39,19,27,80,54,53,28,32,41,45,23,29,26,42,10,35,41,39,46,73,36,33,41, 56,21,39,45,89,75,100,29,86,62,112,112,112,95,265,280,489,468]} 1. Nf3 d6 2. d4 (2. g3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Bg2 e5 5. d3 Nd7 6. Nc3 c6 7. O-O Ne7 8. Rb1 O-O 9. b4 f5 10. Qb3 Kh8 {Garcia-Van Kemenade,Dyfed Open 2020,1-0}) 2... Nf6 3. c4 g6 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 Nc6 (6... Nbd7 {main}) 7. O-O e5 8. d5 Ne7 9. e4 Ne8 10. Ne1 f5 11. Nd3 Nf6 {all mainline play so far by both players} (11... h6 12. f4 exf4 13. Nxf4 g5 14. Nfe2 Ng6 15. Be3 Ne5 16. c5 Qe7 17. cxd6 Nxd6 18. Bc5 Qe8 {Hetherington-R Van Kemenade, Cleveland 1987,1/2-1/2}) 12. Bg5 a6 $146 { Thinking of moving the Q to e8, but it uses up a tempo on the Q side} (12... h6 13. Bxf6 Bxf6 14. f4 exf4 15. Nxf4 Be5 16. exf5 Bxf5) (12... fxe4 13. Nxe4 Nxe4 14. Bxe4 Bf5 15. Qe2 Qd7 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 {main lines}) 13. f4 h6 (13... Nxe4 { Stockfish13 & KomodoDragon2} 14. Nxe4 fxe4 15. Bxe4 h6 16. Bxe7 Qxe7 17. Bxg6 b5 18. Qc2) (13... exf4 14. Nxf4 h6 15. Bxf6 Bxf6 16. exf5 Bxf5 17. g4 Bd7 18. Qd3 Kg7 19. Rae1 Be5 20. Ne6+ Bxe6 21. dxe6 c6 22. Rxf8 Qxf8 23. Rf1 Qe8 24. Rf7+ Kh8 25. Be4 $18 {KomodoDragon2}) 14. Bxf6 Bxf6 15. Qd2 (15. fxe5 dxe5 16. Qd2 Bg7 17. c5 Bd7 18. Rad1 Kh7 19. Rfe1 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 15... Kg7 (15... exf4 16. Nxf4 g5 17. Ne6 Bxe6 18. dxe6 f4 19. gxf4 gxf4 20. Rxf4 Bg5 21. Rxf8+ Qxf8 22. Qe2 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 16. fxe5 Bg5 $6 {trying for some play but Wh's centre is too strong} (16... dxe5 17. Kh1 c6 18. Rad1 cxd5 19. exd5 Ng8 20. c5 Bg5 21. Qc2 e4 22. Ne5 Nf6 $16 {KomodoDragon2}) 17. Qe2 $18 dxe5 18. Nxe5 Qd6 (18... Bf6 19. Nf3 fxe4 20. Nxe4 Nf5 21. Nxf6 Qxf6 22. Rae1 $18 { KomodoDragon2}) 19. Nd3 Bf6 $2 20. e5 {Normal} 1-0 [Event "WCU Online Open 3"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2021.10.28"] [Round "1.4"] [White "Gunn, Tom"] [Black "Miga, Tomasz"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D60"] [WhiteElo "1398"] [BlackElo "1815"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "98"] [EventDate "2021.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,98,28,27,19,-16,0,-7,10,8,25,28,26,24,43,19,86,20,34,31,40,20,34,28, 28,1,-2,-13,-6,-6,0,-15,-16,-41,-2,-2,7,-49,-83,-86,-113,-114,-129,-132,-131, -121,-137,-139,-159,-150,-141,-151,-157,-157,-173,-342,-150,-177,-137,-125, -112,-147,-174,-174,-169,-131,-117,-115,-166,-224,-231,-241,-242,-237,-259, -273,-221,-217,-169,-238,-321,-407,-422,-424,-504,-575,-576,-620,-633,-742, -697,-741,-785,-1577,-820,-1071,-1110,-1652,-2084,-29983,-29984]} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Bg5 (5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 dxc4 7. Bxc4 c5 8. O-O cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nbd7 10. Bxe6 $6 fxe6 11. Nxe6 Qa5 12. Nxf8 Nxf8 $19 {Gunn-Miga, WCU Online Open2, 2021,0-1}) 5... O-O (5... h6 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. e3 O-O 8. Qc2 b6 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. O-O Nd7 {Stuart-Miga, West Wales Congress 2019,0-1 }) 6. e3 Nbd7 7. Bd3 (7. Be2 dxc4 8. Bxc4 c5 9. O-O b6 10. Re1 cxd4 11. exd4 Bb7 12. Qd2 Bxf3 13. gxf3 Qc7 {D Chung-Miga U1850 League 2020,0-1}) (7. Rc1 { deters an early c5} h6 8. Bh4 b6 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Bd3 Bb7 11. Bg3 Ne4 12. Nd2 Nxg3 13. hxg3 Nf6 14. O-O {Andersen-Miga,4NCL online 2021,1-0}) 7... c5 8. O-O dxc4 (8... b6) (8... cxd4) 9. Bxc4 h6 10. Bxf6 (10. Bh4 {transposes to 177 games, 54% for Wh; it is better to keep the B for the moment -(perhaps Bl might even play the weakening ...g5?)}) 10... Bxf6 {4-5-4 results} (10... Nxf6 {2-4-4 results}) 11. Rc1 b6 (11... cxd4) (11... a6) 12. Re1 (12. d5 {2 draws}) 12... Bb7 13. Qe2 (13. d5 $11) 13... Qe7 (13... Bxf3 14. Qxf3 cxd4 15. exd4 Bxd4 $17 {KomodoDragon2}) 14. Red1 a6 15. a3 (15. a4 {holds up the pawn advance }) 15... b5 16. Ba2 c4 (16... Rac8 $17) 17. Bb1 e5 (17... Rfd8) 18. Qc2 (18. d5 $11) (18. a4 $11) 18... g6 19. Ne4 Bg7 20. dxe5 Nxe5 21. Nxe5 Bxe5 $19 { KomodoDragon2; Bl has two Bs, more space, and the Bl pawn majority can advance far more easilt than the sluggish Wh one on the other side} 22. Rd2 Rfe8 23. Ng3 Rad8 24. Rcd1 Qc7 (24... h5 {KomodoDragon2, starts to loosen Wh's K side where the Bl Bs and Q threaten to infiltrate}) 25. Rxd8 Rxd8 26. Rxd8+ Qxd8 27. Ne2 Qg5 (27... Be4 28. Qc1 Bxb2 29. Qe1 Bxb1 30. Qxb1 Qd3 31. Qf1 Qxa3 { KomodoDragon2 demolishes Wh's Qside}) (27... Bxb2 $19 {is less forcing}) 28. Ng3 Qf6 29. b3 c3 (29... Qc6 30. f4 Bd6 31. bxc4 Qc5 32. Nf1 bxc4 $19 { KomodoDragon2}) 30. Ne4 (30. b4 {probably needs playing to prevent Bl getting there instead}) 30... Qc6 31. f3 f5 32. Ng3 Qc5 33. Qd3 (33. Qc1 {keeps the a pawn, but then} a5 34. Kf2 b4 {cements Bl's advantage}) 33... Qxa3 34. Qd8+ Kf7 35. Qd7+ Qe7 36. Qxe7+ Kxe7 37. Kf2 Kd6 {the K march cannot be prevented} ( 37... Bxg3+ 38. hxg3 a5 39. Ke2 b4 40. Bc2 Kd6 {is KomodoDragon2 preferred route}) 38. f4 Bg7 39. Ne2 Kc5 40. g3 Kb4 41. Bc2 Be4 42. Bxe4 fxe4 43. Nc1 c2 (43... Ka3 {also}) 44. Ke2 Bc3 (44... Kc3) 45. g4 Ka3 46. f5 g5 (46... Kb2) 47. f6 Bxf6 48. Kd2 Kb2 49. h3 Bc3+ {Normal} 0-1