Dyfed League Reopens

The first match of the reincarnated Dyfed League took place at Aberystwyth University between the Town and University teams on Tuesday 10th January. Unfortunately the University team defaulted on top board, so Murray Smith didn't get a game. On second board Luis Ortiz Sanchez was in fine form, trading off against Toby Carter's Pirc to reach a superior ending, which he played with relentless accuracy to claim the win. Peter Windows played the comparatively rare Owen's Defence against Toby Bates and never quite managed to equalize. Black's pieces were tied up defending the kingside, and his attempt to gain counterplay on the queenside only opened lines for the White pieces to come in for the kill. Tom Gunn weakened Filip Zurek's kingside in a Queen's Gambit Accepted, and Black missed the best defence, allowing a quick mating attack. A winning start for the Town team, 3-1 including the defaulted game.

[Event "Dyfed League"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.01.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Sanchez, , Luis"] [Black "Carter, Toby"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B08"] [WhiteElo "1895"] [BlackElo "1700"] [PlyCount "93"] [EventDate "2023.01.11"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.01.11"] 1. d4 d6 2. e4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Be2 {Pirc Defence} O-O 6. O-O e5 7. dxe5 dxe5 8. Qxd8 Rxd8 9. Bg5 Re8 10. Rad1 Be6 {White decides to give up the two bishops, reckoning that his next move will force Black on to the defensive. } 11. Bxf6 Bxf6 12. Nd5 Bxd5 {So Black gives the asset back.} 13. Rxd5 Nc6 14. Bb5 Rad8 (14... Rab8 $14) 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Rxd8 Rxd8 17. Re1 {Black's baddish bishop and queenside pawn structure are weaknesses.} Bg7 18. Kf1 Kf8 19. Ke2 Ke7 20. Rd1 Rxd1 21. Kxd1 f6 {White has a clear plan, to go after the pawns on the queenside.} 22. Ke2 Kd7 23. Kd3 Bf8 24. Kc4 {Now the Black bishop can't get to c5 and its only good diagonal, but White will still have trouble getting to the a-pawn.} Ke6 25. Nd2 f5 26. f3 Be7 27. Nb3 Bg5 {Taking another route.} 28. a4 {The advancing pawn can kick or even win the bishop when it reaches b6, and will be closer to queening if the a7 pawn falls.} Be3 29. Nc5+ Kd6 30. Nb7+ Kd7 31. Kb4 h5 32. Ka5 {The king advances.} fxe4 33. fxe4 g5 ( 33... Kc8 34. Ka6 Kb8 35. c4 c5 36. Nd8 {is hopeless.}) 34. c4 g4 35. Ka6 Kc8 36. c5 h4 37. h3 {Now the kingside pawns are safe.} gxh3 38. gxh3 Kb8 39. b3 Ka8 40. Na5 Bxc5 41. Nxc6 Bd4 42. a5 (42. Nxd4 exd4 43. e5 d3 44. e6 d2 { wins for Black - I miscounted watching the game.}) 42... Bc3 43. Nxa7 Bxa5 44. Kxa5 Kxa7 45. Kb5 Kb7 46. Kc5 Ka6 47. Kc6 {and Black resigns. A ruthless endgame by White.} 1-0 [Event "?"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.01.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Bates, Toby"] [Black "Windows, Peter"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B00"] [WhiteElo "1700"] [BlackElo "1366"] [PlyCount "99"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.01.11"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 b6 3. Nf3 Bb7 {Owen's Defence.} 4. Bd3 c5 5. c3 h6 {To play Nf6 without getting pinned. But Black is conceding a big lead in development.} 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Nbd2 Qc7 8. Rc1 Ng4 9. O-O {White doesn't mind losing the two bishops - he continues quick development and has an open f file to attack on.} Nxe3 10. fxe3 d6 11. e5 Nd7 12. exd6 Bxd6 13. Nc4 Be7 14. Nfe5 Nxe5 15. Nxe5 Bf6 (15... O-O {looks safer.}) 16. Bb5+ Ke7 17. Qh5 Raf8 (17... g6 18. Rxf6 $1 {leads to wild complications.} gxh5 19. Rxf7+ Kd8 20. Rd1 a6 (20... Qd6 21. Rxb7 {and Black is losing more material.}) 21. dxc5+ Bd5 22. Rxc7 Kxc7 23. Ba4 $14) 18. Nd3 a6 19. Ba4 b5 20. Bc2 $16 g6 21. Qxc5+ Qxc5 22. Nxc5 Bc8 23. a3 Bg5 24. Rce1 h5 25. e4 h4 26. h3 Bh6 27. e5 g5 28. Bd1 Bg7 29. Bg4 Rh6 { Black has done his best to build a fortress, but White has all the play.} 30. Re3 a5 31. Ref3 b4 {Black understandably seeks to create counterplay, but with all his pieces tied down only White can take advantage of the open lines.} ( 31... f5 32. exf6+ Rhxf6 33. Rxf6 Bxf6 {holds on, though White is still much better.}) 32. axb4 axb4 33. Ra1 f5 34. exf6+ Rhxf6 35. Ra7+ Kd8 36. Rxg7 Rxf3 37. Bxf3 bxc3 38. bxc3 e5 39. Rxg5 (39. dxe5 Re8 40. Bg4 Rxe5 (40... Bxg4 41. Nb7+ Kc8 42. Nd6+ Kd8 43. Nxe8) 41. Rg8+ {is quicker.}) 39... exd4 40. cxd4 Rf6 41. Rh5 Rf4 42. d5 Ke7 43. Kf2 Rc4 44. Ne6 Rb4 45. Ke3 Kf6 46. Be4 Kf7 47. Rxh4 Rb3+ 48. Kf4 Bxe6 49. dxe6+ Kxe6 50. Rh6+ {and Black resigns.} 1-0 [Event "Dyfed League"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.01.10"] [Round "?"] [White "Gunn, Tom"] [Black "Zurek, Filip"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D26"] [WhiteElo "1398"] [BlackElo "1300"] [PlyCount "45"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.01.11"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. c4 dxc4 5. Bxc4 {Queen's Gambit Accepted.} c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 cxd4 {Accepting an isolated queen's pawn.} 8. exd4 Be7 9. Re1 O-O 10. a3 a6 11. b4 b5 12. Bb3 Bb7 $11 13. Bb2 Re8 14. d5 {The IQP disappears. } exd5 15. Nxd5 Nxd5 16. Bxd5 Bf6 $6 {This allows White to weaken his opponent's pawn structure.} 17. Rxe8+ Qxe8 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Nh4 Rd8 $2 (19... Qe5 $1 20. Qg4+ Kf8 21. Rd1 $11) 20. Qg4+ Kf8 $4 (20... Kh8 21. Nf5 Qg8 $16) 21. Nf5 {Now there's no excape for the king.} Qd7 22. Qg7+ Ke8 23. Qg8# 1-0 /