Too Good by 3½

With a limited pool of players to draw on, Aberystwyth has entered the Open section of the Welsh Chess Union Online League this session, so that our strongest player, Rudy van Kemenade, can take part. It is going to prove a tough challenge, as the match against 3½ Men on Tuesday 16th March showed. The disarming name belies a formidably strong team, with masters on the top two boards. Against FM Jonathan Blackburn Rudy deviated from his normal line in the Nc3 variation of the Petroff to avoid opening preparation, and soon found himself under kingside pressure. He was holding his own till an error meant that he must drop a piece - games can end very suddenly at this level. Adam Watkin-Jones's pawn sacrifice in a London System against CM Tim Kett didn't produce the hoped-for advantage: he was soon going backwards, and resigned on losing material. My French against Hugo Fowler produced a horribly cramped position, with White pressure all over the board. Losing a pawn did nothing to free the position and I limped into a hopeless ending before resigning. Tom Gunn looked to be doing OK against Duncan MacDonald's dangerous Blumenfeld Gambit, but his complicated combination was miscalculated, leaving him behind on material and with Black dominating the board. A 4-0 defeat was a painful introduction to this section of the league.

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Move	N	Result	Elo

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1.e4 FM e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Nc3 Nxc3 5...d5 is what Wh had examined , noticing that Bl regularly played this in the Quarantine League on lichess, where both play for Welsh Dragons. In the chat he disclosed he had also looked at Bujnoch-Van Kemenade, Gibraltar Masters 2017,1-0. 6.Qe2 Be7 7.Nxe4 dxe4 8.Qxe4 0-0 9.Bc4 Bd6 10.0-0 Re8 11.Qd3 Qf6 12.Qc3 Qg6 13.d4 Nc6 14.h3 14.Ng5 Rf8 15.Bd3 Bf5 16.Bxf5 Qxf5 17.a3 Rad8 18.Nf3 Qh5 Hickman-Van Kemenade,S Wales International 2012,0-1 6.dxc3 Be7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 Bl decided to follow some other lines, avoiding specific prrepared analysis, & rely on general experience with the Petroff. 8...b6 also examined by Wh, when 9.h4 Bb7 10.h5 Nd7 11.Bd3 Nc5 12.Rh3 turned disastrous for Bl in V Sivarajasingham-Van Kemenade,WCPl 2018,1-0 9.0-0-0 Nf6 9...Ne5 9...c6 other elite GM lines 10.Bd3 Be6 10...c5 main 10...Re8 11.Nd4 Bd5 11...Bd7 12.c4 Re8 13.f3 d5 Caruana-Duda,Chess.com speed chess blitz, nov 2020,1/2-1/2. In the chat Jonathan indicated that he, as well as Rudy, had looked at some recent Caruana-Duda games 11...c5 12.Nf5 Rc8 13.Nxe7+ Qxe7 14.Bg5 Qd8 15.c4 b5 Anonuevo-Siegrist, California State ch , 2003,1-0 11...Bxa2 12.b3 a5 works in some earlier versions, but not in this one 13.Kb2 a4 14.Ra1! 14.Kxa2 axb3+ 15.Kxb3 d5= Bl regains the piece 14...axb3 15.cxb3 Bxb3 16.Nxb3+- 12.c4 12.Nf5 Ne4 13.Qe2 Bf6 14.Qh5 14.Nh6+ gxh6 15.Qg4+ Bg5 16.Bxe4 Bxe4 17.Qxe4 Bxe3+ 18.Qxe3 Qf6 19.Rd4± Stockfish13 14...Bc6 15.h4 g6 16.Nh6+ Kh8 17.Qg4 Qe7 18.h5 d5 19.Qh3+- Cuccarini-Esposito,ITA CIN 18, ICCF 2018,1-0 12...Be4 12...Bxg2 looks far too dangerous, though an Engine might survive 13.Rhg1 Be4 14.Bh6 g6 14...Bg6 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Bxg6 hxg6 17.Nf5+ Kg8 18.Qh6 Ne8 19.Rxg6+ fxg6 20.Qxg6+ Kh8 21.Qh6+ Kg8 22.Rg1+ 15.Bxf8 Bxf8 16.Bxe4 Nxe4 17.Qf4± Stockfish13 13.f3 Bxd3 14.Qxd3 Nd7 14...Re8 15.Nf5 Bf8 16.Bg5 g6 17.Nh6+ Bxh6 18.Bxh6 Nd7 19.Kb1 Qf6 20.Bc1 Re6 Stockfish13 15.Nf5 Bf6 15...Ne5 half expected by Wh; Bl was wary of then being kicked by f4 16.Qd5 Bf6 17.f4 Ng6 18.g4 Ne7 19.Nxe7+ Qxe7 20.Rhe1 Bh4 21.Bf2 Qf6 22.Bg3 h6 23.Kb1± Stockfish13 16.f4 Re8 16...Nc5!? considered by both 17.g4 g6 18.Nh6+ Kf8 19.g5 Qe7 19...Bg7 is forced according to Stockfish13 20.c5 Bxh6 21.gxh6 Qf6 22.cxd6 cxd6 23.Rhe1 Re6 24.Qd2 Rae8 25.Bd4 Qh4 26.Bg7+ Kg8 27.Rxe6 Rxe6 28.Kb1 Qh5 Stockfish13 20.Rhe1+- 20.Bd4 Bxd4 21.Qxd4 Qe3+ hoped for by Bl 20...Bg7 21.Bf2 Qd8 21...Nc5 22.Bxc5 Qxe1 23.Rxe1 Rxe1+ 24.Kd2+- 22.Qh3 22.Rxe8+ Qxe8 23.Re1 Qd8 24.Bd4 demanded by lichess analysis Bxh6 25.gxh6 Qh4 26.Qe4 Kg8 27.Bc3 Qxh6 28.Qxb7 Rf8 29.Qxc7+- 22...Rxe1 23.Bxe1 23.Rxe1 Nc5 23...Qe7 23...f5 considered by both players- to prevent Ng4 24.Bc3 and Bl has to give ip the N 23...Bxh6 24.Qxh6+ Kg8 25.f5 Qf8 26.Qh3 Nc5 27.Bc3 Re8 28.Rf1 gxf5 29.Qxf5 Ne4 30.Bf6 Re6 31.Rg1 Qe8 32.b3 Nc5 33.Qh3 Re1+ 34.Rxe1 Qxe1+ 35.Kb2 Qe8 36.Qh6 Qf8 37.Qh3 Qe8 38.a4± Bl is holding on, but finding it difficult to find active moves 24.Bc3 Qe6 Bl missed something, seeing it too late 24...Re8 appears to hold 25.Bxg7+ Kxg7 26.c5 Stockfish13 26.Qc3+ f6 26...f6 26...Nxc5 27.Ng4 Ne4 27...Nd7 28.Qc3+ f6 29.Qxc7 28.Re1 h5 29.Nf6+- 27.cxd6 cxd6 28.Qc3 Qe4 29.Qd2 Re6 30.h4 Kf8 31.b3 25.Bxg7+ Kxg7 26.Qc3+ f6 27.Re1 Normal- the Q has no squares, so a N must go 1–0

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White	EloW	Black	EloB	Res

Blackburn,J	2327	Van Kemenade,R	1999	1–0
Watkin-Jones,A	1918	Kett,T	2246	0–1
Fowler,H	1921	Francis,M	1648	1–0
Gunn,T	1398	MacDonald,D	1849	0–1

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