Falling at the Last Fence

A point ahead of our nearest rivals going into the last round of the U1800 section of the Welsh Chess Union Online League on Tuesday 8th December, Aberystwyth failed to clinch the title. My Rossolimo attack against Owain Davies's Sicilian followed a standard pattern for the first few moves, but I wasn't sure of the correct way to play against his formation, and became concerned that my intended f4 break would liberate his fianchettoed bishop on g7. Since I didn't have any other plan, I was then compelled to wait around while he attacked on the f file instead, after which my position collapsed quickly. Julie van Kemenade suffered a similar fate against Cameron Westwood's English Opening, a blocked position which suddenly expoded into a decisive kingside attack for White. Tom Gunn lost a pawn in the opening against Matthew Horhey in an irregular Queen's Pawn game; the resulting position was very open, and Tom came off worse in the tactical exchanges that followed. Finally, Sam Holman invited complications by playing the Najdorf Sicilian against Toby Bates, and was doing well for some time, but White finally managed to get his kingside attack going to force the win. A 4-0 defeat means that Aber finished fourth in the section, a good result which could have been so much better. First place went to North Cardiff Panthers, with Aberystwyth University second and Steynton A third.

[Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2020.12.08"] [Round "?"] [White "Francis, Matthew"] [Black "Davies, Owain"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B31"] [WhiteElo "1648"] [BlackElo "1762"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] [PlyCount "48"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] {[%evp 7,48,27,60,57,75,58,88,58,57,56,51,33,42,0,26,0,-1,-92,-81,-284,-291, -293,-272,-371,-354,-455,-478,-474,-340,-446,-371,-477,-176,-480,-471,-551, -359,-510,-485,-757,-700,-1060,-1054]} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 (3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 {Cooke-Davies,Rd5 WCU online U1800,0-1 - R [others from centipawn analysis-R]}) 3... g6 4. Bxc6 (4. O-O {main} Bg7 5. Re1 Nf6 6. c3 O-O 7. d4 d5 8. exd5 Qxd5 9. c4 Qd6 10. d5 Nd4 11. Nxd4 cxd4 12. Bg5 { Francis-Miles, Dyfed Open 2020,0-1 -R}) 4... dxc6 {Stockfish 12:} 5. d3 Bg7 6. h3 Qc7 (6... Nf6 {main-R}) 7. Nc3 {Inaccurate [ main move, as played eg by Muzychuk sisters & a top choice of Stockfish12 -R]} e5 8. Be3 {OK} b6 9. O-O { OK} (9. Qd2 {main-R}) 9... Ne7 {OK [Stockfish12-R]} (9... Nf6 {main, as played in Magsoodloo- Grandelius, Sigeman & Co, Malmo 2019,1/2-1/2 a more flexible square from where it can go to d7. Note , it stays on e7 for quite some time in the game-R}) 10. Nd2 {looks fine, Wh is prepared to bring up a pawn alongside his most advanced e4 one and opening up the f file} (10. Qd2 { main,3 Wh wins, 2 draws, 1 Bl win-R}) (10. a3 {Cloud Engines, 1 game each}) 10... Be6 {OK} 11. Qe2 {Inaccurate} (11. f4 $11 {just has to be played here-R}) 11... O-O {OK} 12. Nc4 {Mistake (0.9)} (12. a4 $11) (12. f4 $11 {Rudy & Stockfish12-R}) 12... f5 $17 {Best} 13. b3 $2 {[#] Loses game (2.0) [ Wh cannot allow Bl to get in ..f3-R} (13. f3 $17) 13... f4 $1 $19 {Strong} 14. Bc1 {OK} f3 {OK} 15. Qe3 {Inaccurate} (15. gxf3 {is better for Wh than what happened, though both Stockfish12 & Komodo10 then delay the oimmediare capture on h3, with ...Rf7-R}) 15... Qd7 {OK [the lichess analysis insists this is an inaccuracy, giving ..h6, Nd2, fxg2 instead -Yet Stockfish12 thinks it's okR} 16. Qg5 {[best move here Stockfish12- a mistake according to lichess anaysis.} fxg2 {OK} 17. Re1 Rae8 {given as inaccurate by lichess, which gives ...b5 as best- supported by Komodo10 & Stockfish12} 18. Qxg2 {Inaccurate [but lichess thinks it fine, no comment-R} Bxh3 19. Qg3 Qe6 $2 {Mistake (3.0) [Blunder- lichess, insisting on ...b5-R]} (19... Rf4) 20. Kh2 $2 {Mistake (3.0)} (20. Re3 ) (20. f3 {Komodo10& Stockfish12-R}) 20... Bg4 $19 {Best} 21. Rg1 Bh5 { Inaccurate[labelled blunder by lichess, all 3 Engines prefer h5, but Wh is in terrible trouble anyway-R} 22. Nd2 {Mistake (1.5)} (22. Bg5 $142) (22. Be3 { preferred by Stockfish12-R}) 22... Rf7 23. Bb2 (23. Rg2 $142) 23... Bh6 $19 24. Nc4 (24. Qh4 Bxd2 25. Qxh5 Rxf2+ {Stockfish12- doesn't save Wh either-R}) 24... Bf4 {Strong: Black=1 Best: Black=2 OK: White=3, Black=6 Inaccurate: White=4, Black=1 Mistake: White=3, Black=1 Loses game: White=1. Weighted Error Value: White=0.99/Black=0.31 Centipawn loss: w=100/b=40} 0-1 [Event "WCU Online U1800"] [Site "Lichess"] [Date "2020.12.08"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Westwood, Cameron"] [Black "Van Kemenade, Julie"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A24"] [WhiteElo "1675"] [BlackElo "1641"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "77"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "U.C. Aberystwyth"] [BlackTeam "Aberystwyth"] {[%evp 11,76,40,36,30,66,60,107,87,98,93,102,90,87,53,86,69,124,65,82,69,137, 121,121,107,122,56,247,254,264,239,244,211,321,282,484,463,759,742,736,735,759, 736,1535,1506,1901,678,675,623,859,730,917,898,848,655,717,584,685,555,847,662, 694,666,29996,29997,29997,29998,29999]} 1. c4 d6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. e4 e5 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. Nge2 {The Botwinnik System-R} O-O {Stockfish 12:} 7. O-O Nbd7 8. h3 (8. d3 {main} Ne8 9. f4 c6 (9... f5) 10. f5 $18 {Howells-Van Kemenade, West Wales open 2018,1-0 -R}) 8... Ne8 (8... c6 9. d3 a6 10. Be3 b5 11. Qd2 Bb7 12. f4 exf4 13. gxf4 Re8 $1 {1 Wh win, 3 draws,1 Bl win -R}) 9. d3 (9. d4 { Stockfish12 & Komodo10 -R}) 9... f5 10. f4 (10. exf5 {! Wh win, 1 Bl win- R} gxf5 11. f4 {1 Wh win, 1 Bl win}) 10... Ndf6 {OK} (10... fxe4 {Komodo10} 11. Nxe4 exf4 12. Bxf4 Ne5 13. Rb1 c6 14. N4c3 Bf5 15. Bxe5 Bxe5 16. g4 Be6 $11 { Jankowski-Kirsz, POL ch tm, Kujawo Pomorskie 2017,1/2-1/2}) (10... a5 11. Rb1 Nc5 12. Be3 Ne6 13. Kh2 c5 14. Nd5 Nd4 15. Qd2 Be6 16. Nec3 { Ovsiannikov-Shpagin, Tula Suetin memorial 2002,0-1 -R}) 11. Be3 c6 12. Kh2 { Inaccurate} (12. c5 {Stockfish12}) (12. Qb3 {Fritz17 -R}) 12... Qe7 {Inaccurate } (12... fxe4 $11 {Stockfish12}) (12... exf4 {Komodo10 - both Engines agree that Bl should open up the position a little-R}) 13. Qd2 Kh8 {Inaccurate} 14. Rf2 {Inaccurate} Be6 {Komodo10-R} 15. Raf1 {OK} a6 {Inaccurate} (15... Nc7 { Komodo10 gets ready to support d5 after an e xf4- R}) 16. b3 {OK} (16. c5 { Stockfish12 & Komodo10}) 16... Rd8 {OK} 17. exf5 {OK} Bxf5 18. Ne4 {Inaccurate} (18. Kg1 {both Engines-R}) 18... Nxe4 $2 {Loses game (1.9)} (18... exf4 $14) ( 18... Bxe4 19. dxe4 exf4 20. Nxf4 (20. gxf4 Nxe4 $15) 20... Nd7 $14 (20... Nxe4 $2 21. Nxg6+ (21. Bxe4 Qxe4 22. Bb6 Rd7 23. Re1 Qf5 24. Ne6 $18) 21... hxg6 22. Rxf8+ Bxf8 23. Bxe4 Qxe4 24. Rxf8+ $18 {Stockfish12- R})) 19. dxe4 $18 Bc8 {OK} (19... Be6 20. f5 Bg8 {extra defence of K, but after} 21. g4 {the pawn storm is still winning for Wh-R}) 20. f5 {OK- [the beginning of a winning K side advance for Wh-R]} Nf6 {OK} 21. g4 gxf5 {Mistake (1.1)} (21... d5 $142) (21... d5 22. g5 Nxe4 23. f6 $18 {still wins for Wh-R}) 22. exf5 $18 (22. exf5 h6 23. Kg1 (23. Bxh6 Nxg4+ $1 $11 {Stockfish12}) 23... Kh7 24. Bb6 Rd7 25. Qc2 Kh8 26. Ng3 $18 {The Bl pieces are passively placed & Wh has a predominance in space, but Wh stil has to find a way in-R} Re8 27. Qe2 Rg8 (27... d5 28. h4 Rg8 29. g5 $18) 28. Re1 Qf7 29. Qb2 Qf8 {and Stockfish12 does not yet come up with a decisive sequence- R}) 22... e4 $2 {Mistake (2.0)} (22... h6) 23. g5 $18 {OK} Nh5 (23... b5 $142) 24. f6 $18 Qe5+ 25. Kg1 Bxf6 26. gxf6 Ng3 (26... Rf7 $5 { Stockfish12-R}) 27. Nxg3 Qxg3 28. Bd4 (28. f7 $142) 28... Rf7 $18 29. Qf4 (29. Qh6 Be6 30. Qg7+ {Stockfish12 & Komodo14}) 29... Qg6 30. Qxe4 Qh5 31. Qe7 Rg8 32. Qe2 Qxh3 33. Qf3 Qh4 34. Qf4 {White is clearly winning} Rg4 35. Qe3 Rg8 36. Re1 h5 37. Qh6+ Rh7 38. f7+ Rgg7 39. Bxg7# {OK: White=5, Black=4 Inaccurate: White=3, Black=3 Mistake: Black=2 Loses game: Black=1. Weighted Error Value: White=0.49/Black=0.57 Centipawn loss: w=44/b=89} 1-0 [Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2020.12.08"] [Round "?"] [White "Gunn, Tom"] [Black "Horhey, Matthew"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "D06"] [WhiteElo "1389"] [BlackElo "1750"] [Annotator "lichess.org"] [PlyCount "48"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] [TimeControl "2700+15"] {[%evp 0,48,19,31,14,30,27,9,8,-3,-8,-21,6,16,50,21,-14,5,5,-5,-13,-56,-60,-77, -40,-83,-112,-112,-18,-76,-52,-165,-99,-111,-102,-517,-532,-521,-525,-658,-621, -622,-376,-381,-388,-819,-804,-813,-819,-850,-840]} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. e3 Bf5 {D04 Queen's Pawn Game: Colle System, Anti-Colle} (3... e6 {Wh player 3 wins, 1draw, 1 loss}) (3... Bg4 {Wh player 1 draw,1 loss}) 4. c4 e6 5. Bd3 $6 { (0.56 ? -0.16) Inaccuracy. Nc3 was best.} (5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Be2 dxc4 7. O-O Bd6 8. Nd2 Bg6 9. Nxc4 O-O) (5. Nc3 {main-R}) (5. Qb3 {targets b7 scores a bit better for Wh than main _R}) 5... Bb4+ (5... Bxd3 {main-R}) (5... dxc4 {Cloud Engines-R}) 6. Nc3 Ne4 $2 {(0.00 ? 1.05) Mistake. Bxd3 was best.} (6... Bxd3 7. Qxd3 O-O 8. O-O c6 9. Ne2 Be7 10. Nc3) 7. Bd2 $4 {(1.05 ? -0.53) Blunder. O-O was best.} (7. O-O) (7. Qc2 {Cloud Engines} O-O 8. a3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 Nc6 10. c5 Qe7 11. O-O e5 12. Re1 $14 {Lucas-Divardjian, Marseille op 1999,0-1} (12. c4 { Komodo14 MC & Stockfish12 -R})) (7. Bxe4 Bxc3+ 8. bxc3 Bxe4 9. O-O Nd7 $11 10. Ng5 $2 Qxg5 {Cropper-Mercedes, CServe 1993,0-1}) 7... Nxf2 8. Kxf2 Bxd3 9. cxd5 exd5 10. Qb3 $6 {(-0.73 ? -1.28) Inaccuracy. Nxd5 was best.} (10. Nxd5 Qxd5 11. Bxb4 Be4 $15) 10... Bxc3 11. Bxc3 Ba6 {Stockfish12-R} (11... O-O {Komodo10-R}) 12. Bb4 Nc6 13. Ba3 Ne7 $2 {(-1.55 ? -0.11) Mistake. Bc4 was best.} (13... Bc4 14. Qc2) (13... Qd7 {Komodo10-R}) 14. Qb4 $2 {(-0.11 ? -1.28) Mistake. Rhe1 was best.} (14. Rhe1 O-O 15. Bxe7 Qxe7 16. Qxd5 $11 {Stockfish12-R}) 14... Nf5 15. e4 $4 {(-0.86 ? -2.71) Blunder. Rhe1 was best.} (15. Rhe1 Nd6) 15... dxe4 16. Rhe1 Nd6 17. Rxe4+ $4 {(-2.81 ? -6.67) Blunder. Qa5 was best. An interesting attempt, unfortunately when the N takes back it's with check. Wh would have had better chances , saving a move & leaving Q on b3, getting in Rhe1 & e4 threat quicker- if N goes to d6 the d pawn hangs.-R} (17. Qa5 O-O) 17... Nxe4+ 18. Kg1 Qd6 19. Qe1 Qd5 20. Qh4 f6 (20... g5 {Rudy & Engines even stronger-R}) 21. Re1 Bd3 22. Nd2 (22. Re3 {regains a piece but Bl stays an exchange & pawn ahead- R}) 22... Qxd4+ {again, it's a check-R} 23. Kh1 O-O-O 24. Nxe4 Bxe4 {Normal White resigns.} 0-1 [Event "Rated Classical game"] [Site "lichess.org"] [Date "2020.12.08"] [Round "?"] [White "Bates, Toby"] [Black "Holman"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "1366"] [BlackElo "1386"] [Annotator "kemen"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2020.??.??"] {[%evp 9,64,41,33,35,87,-6,-6,-8,20,23,71,6,95,108,137,173,163,62,73,79,96,84, 93,32,55,25,14,-47,-64,-103,-79,-108,209,215,208,217,260,247,253,185,329,136, 221,166,145,150,725,706,29993,29994,29994,29995,29995,29996,29998,29999,29999] } 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 {Stockfish 12:} 6. Be2 b5 (6... e5 {main- Najdorf's original idea, akin to Sveshnikov-R}) 7. a3 {main-R} (7. Nd5 $16) 7... Bb7 $11 8. f3 {OK} g6 {Inaccurate} 9. Be3 {OK} Bg7 { Inaccurate} 10. Qd2 {Inaccurate} O-O {Mistake (0.9)} (10... Nbd7 $11) 11. g4 $16 {OK [ lichess actually labels this a mistake! insisting on h4 instead . However any Yugoslav attack player will recognize that both these are theoretically standard.} (11. O-O-O {main, with 5 Wh wins, 1 draw & 5 Bl wins -R}) (11. h4 {1 game, as opposed to 6 games with g4-R}) 11... Re8 {avoiding B exchange} (11... Nc6 {Stockfish12- 2 games won each}) (11... Nbd7 {Komodo10- 2-0}) 12. h4 {OK} Nc6 {[#] Stockfish12, though considers that Wh is winning here} (12... h5 {another standard reply in these kinds of positions, is given as level by Komodo10, though Stockfish12 rates Wh as winning after 0-0-0- R}) 13. Nb3 {Mistake (1.0)} (13. O-O-O $1 $18) 13... Ne5 (13... Rc8 {is also possible-R}) 14. h5 Nc4 {OK} 15. Bxc4 {OK} bxc4 {[#]} 16. Nd4 {OK} e5 {Best (Easy)} 17. Nde2 {Inaccurate[backed by Komodo10- Stockfish 12 wants to play Nf5 for Wh} (17. Nf5 gxf5 18. gxf5 Kf8 19. O-O-O Ke7 20. Qf2 $11 {Stockfish12-R }) 17... d5 $1 {Strong} 18. exd5 {Inaccurate} (18. hxg6 fxg6 19. g5 d4 20. gxf6 Bxf6 $15 {Stockfish12-R}) 18... Nxd5 19. Nxd5 {Inaccurate} Bxd5 (19... Qxd5 { Stockfish12-R}) 20. Rh3 {Inaccurate} c3 $2 {[%mdl 8192] Loses game (3.2) (Bl in the end played it without quite thinking it through-R} (20... Be6 { Stockfish12}) (20... e4 $17 {Komodo10}) 21. Nxc3 $18 {Best (Easy)} Bc6 {OK} 22. O-O-O {OK} Qe7 23. hxg6 {OK} fxg6 24. Bg5 Qb7 {Mistake (1.4)} (24... Qf7 $142) (24... Qe6 {preferred by both Komodo10 & Stockfish12-R}) 25. Ne4 {Missed win (1.9)} (25. Qd3 $18) 25... Rab8 $16 {OK} 26. b3 {OK} Bxe4 {Best} 27. fxe4 Kh8 $2 (27... Qxe4 $16) (27... Qxe4 28. Qd7 Qb7 {both Engines} 29. Rc3 Qxd7 30. Rxd7 Bf8 31. b4 Rbc8 32. Rh3 Rc4 33. Rhxh7 Re6 (33... Rxg4 34. Bf6) 34. Kb2 Rec6 35. Rh3 $1 {a remakable Engine suggestion?!} (35. Rh2 Rxg4 $16 {but Bl is still fighting}) 35... Rxg4 (35... Rxc2+ 36. Kb3 Rf2 37. Ka4 $18) 36. Be7 Bg7 37. Kb3 $16 {Stockfish12}) 28. Rdh1 $18 Qxe4 29. Rxh7+ Kg8 30. Rxg7+ Kxg7 31. Qd7+ Kg8 32. Qh7+ Kf8 33. Bh6# {Strong: Black=1 Best: White=1, Black=2 OK: White=9, Black=3 Inaccurate: White=5, Black=2 Mistake: White=1, Black=2 Missed win: White=1 Loses game: Black=1. Weighted Error Value: White=0.30/ Black=0.68 Centipawn loss: w=26/b=57} 1-0