Thursday, 11 February 2021

Changing Places

The last round of the Dyfed Online Closed tournament, played, mostly, on Tuesday 2nd February, saw the Aber players changing places, though Cardigan's Howard Williams continued his serene progress to the title. I got a strong attack against Bill Hewitt with my English opening, but wasn't sure how to continue. After a long think, I took the wrong option and the game changed quickly with his pieces invading the weaknesses in my position instead of the other way round. Adam Watkin-Jones had a lot of pressure against Mark Paffard's backward pawn in a Closed Sicilian, and White's pieces were so tied down to its defence that they were unable to respond when the attack switched to the king. Rudy van Kemenade emerged with a superior development from his Vienna / Bishop's Opening, and when Scott Hammett missed the threat to a piece, Black's collapse was sudden. Tom Gunn had the edge against David Pinch in a Queen's Pawn Game in which the players were castled on opposite sides. Black's attack got though first, but he missed the winning line and settled for a draw against his higher-rated opponent. Sam Holman was under pressure from Gwyn Jones in another Queen's Pawn Game, but White was unable to deal with an unexpected counter-threat, losing a piece, though the ending was still hard work for Black. Howard Williams won the tournament with 5/5, with Martin Jones second on tie-break above Bill Hewitt, both on 4. Adam was Aber's highest-placed player with 3½. Rudy and I finished on 3, Tom on 2½ and Sam on 2.

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1.c4 Nf6 1...g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 d6 4.e4 Nc6 5.d3 f5 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Nge2 0-0 8.0-0 e6 9.exf5 gxf5 10.Rb1 a5 11.Nf4 Nd4 12.Nh5 Nxh5 13.Qxh5 c6 14.Bh6 Qf6 15.Bxg7 Qxg7 16.Rfe1 Bd7 Francis-R Van Kemenade, Dyfed Closed 2014,0-1-(other notes by Bill)-R 2.Nc3 2.g3 c6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.d4 Nc6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Nf3 Bd6 8.0-0 a6 9.Re1 0-0 10.e4!? Francis-Leah, Dyfed Closed 2014, 0-1-R 2...g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Nge2 c5 main-R 6...e5 7.d3 h6 1-0 (33) Morris,C (2149)-Hewitt,W (2061) WCPL: 2015 7.d3 7.0-0 Nc6 ½-½ (45) Heap,G (2111)-Hewitt,W (1990) Fishguard 2020 7...Nc6 8.0-0 a6 8...Ne8 0-1 (47) Francis,M (1648) -Williams,A (2340) Dyfed Online Closed 2021 9.a3 9.h3 I've had before in a few rapid games [main-R] 9...Rb8 10.Rb1 b5 11.cxb5 axb5 12.b4 Ba6 12...c4 13.dxc4 bxc4 14.h3 1-0 (35) Chesters,G-Thomas,B (1790) Cardiff 2014 12...cxb4 main- with this and earlier variants the players are deep into elite GM practice-R 13.h3 Nd7 14.f4 14.Be3 Nd4 15.f4 15.Qd2 main - though we are now out of the GM activity-R 14...Nd4 15.Kh1 I later found games where two other moves were played [both slightly preferred by Stockfish12-R] 15.Be3 e5 0-1 (43) Egeli,P-Salo,H (2240) Gausdal 1991 15.Kh2 e6 1/2-1/2 (32) Csom,I (2455) -Enders,P (2470) Budapest 1995 15...e6 16.Nxd4 cxd4 17.Ne2 f5 Played to prevent f4-f5, but it just causes too many weaknesses. It's often necesary in closed Sicilian positions, but with the white queen having b3 it's a poor choice. 17...Bb7 Stockfish12-R 18.exf5 gxf5 19.Qb3 Re8 Even if black breaks the pin on the e-pawn, ...e5, fxe5 and the f5 pawn drops 19...Kh8 Fritz16, is interesting, it gives black an open e-file and some counterplay. What it's really saying, black is better off without that pawn on e6![Stockfish12 also gives Kh8, but slightly prefers the text- with both continuations it gives Wh a definite plus-R] 20.Qxe6 Re8 21.Qa2 Nb6 20.Bb2 Qb6 21.Rbc1 White is invading on the c-file and black has weak pawns on d4 & e6. I felt here I could be quickly squashed without any play 21.g4 Stockfish12 decides that a K side assault is the best way to take advantage of the f5 weakening, especially since several Bl pieces are hanging around on the Q side, plus e6 ties a R up temporarily-R Kh8 22.Rf2± Stockfish12 also starts off with Rf2 first-R 21...Bb7 22.Bxb7 Qxb7+ 23.Kh2 Qb6 24.Rc2 Stockfish12, after a bit of a pause considers Wh to be winning now-R Kh8 Black has to create counterplay 24...Re7 25.Ng1 bringing the N into position as well- the Engine is maximising all of the pieces before plunging in-R Nf8 26.Rfc1 Qa7 27.Nf3 h6 and Bl is clinging on- according to Stockfish12. though Wh retains excellent prospects with either Rc6 or Rg2-R 25.Rfc1 e5 26.Rc6 Played after about 10 minutes thought, both c6 and c7 seem very inviting squares 26.Rc7! Rb7 26...Nc5 27.Qf7 27.R7c6 Qd8 28.Qd5 I didn't like the look of this at all for black. [Stockfish12 assesses this as winning for Wh, with Rxd6 even stronger-R] 26...Qb7 [and Stockfish12 now thinks it is level- whether Rc7, Qf7, Qd5 or QC2 are played 27.Rc7 27.Qf7 27...Qf3 After the game Matthew said this had surprised him and now black has some activity. We're at a critical point now where things turned surprisingly quickly. [Note how the passive N gives Bl an escape route-and how Stockfish12 in earlier variations put it into a better post before attempting R invasions-R] 28.Qd1 [after this retreat, Stockfish12 has Bl winning in all lines 28.Ng1 Qf2+ 29.Kh1 Is what I expected & I hadn't decided what to do next exf4 was my first choice but white can draw immediately 29...Rbd8 was the next thought, I wasn't too keen at the time, as white has plans such as Qf7, but Fritz says it's "equal" [ as does Stockfish-R] 30.R1c2 30.Rxd7? fxg3 31.Rc2 g2+ 32.Kh2 Be5# 30...Qf1 31.Rc1 is a draw 31.Rxd7 Re1 28...Nf6 29.R7c2 Nd5 all of a sudden the weak d5 square is a massive outpost 30.Nc3 30.Qh1 Qf2+ 31.Qg2 Qxg2+ 32.Kxg2 Ne3+ 30...Qxd1 31.Nxd1 exf4 32.Rc6 Re2+ 33.Kg1 Be5 34.Kf1 Rh2 34...f3! [Stockfish12-R] 35.gxf4 Nxf4 36.Rxd6 Nxd3? 36...Bxd6 37.Bxd4+ Kg8 36...Rh1+ 37.Kf2 Rg8 Stockfish12- and Wh can only delay the by giving up both Rs to make it a mate in 10-R 37.Rdc6 Nxb2 simplest- Stockfish12 goes for the mate with both Rs-R 38.Nxb2 Rxb2 39.Re6 Bf4 40.Rc5 d3 40...Be3 Stockfish12-R It is quite instructive to see how swiftly one inaccurate move in pursuit of the win can transform into a losing position. One just has to keep the momentum going _R 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBRes
Francis,M1914Hewitt,W19490–1
Paffard,M1608Watkin-Jones,A19180–1
Van Kemenade,R1999Hammett,S15901–0
Pinch,D1798Gunn,T1398½–½
Evans,G1192Holman,S13860–1
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