Stop All the Clocks!

Aberystwyth Town's "home" match against Carmarthen A on Monday 13th February at the Emlyn Cafe, Tanygroes, was a convivial affair like the old days of the Dyfed League, with the University team's match against Carmarthen B taking place on adjacent tables. On Board 1, Murray Smith reached a rook ending a pawn up against Ewan Ferguson's Grand Prix Attack in the Sicilian Defence. White looked able to hold for a while, but once the rooks came off the win followed quickly. In the only non-Sicilian of the match, a Scotch Four Knights, Luis Sanchez also had an extra pawn and the initiative, but Black's position looked solid until a blunder which should have cost him material. White went wrong in the complications that followed but clinched the win anyway after another error by his opponent.Peter Windows was facing the sharp Smith-Morra Gambit for the first time on Board 3, but White was too generous with his pawns and the attack didn't materialize: by the time White had recovered some material the Black passed pawns were unstoppable. I missed a chance for an advantage with my Closed Variation of the Sicilian against Grenville Brazener and the game was level until I was able to break in the centre. Both players were down to their last few minutes, with the top three boards having already finished when the team captain, Murray, came up and asked if we knew that the clocks weren't giving us the intended 20-seconds per move increment; they're new and we hadn't set them properly. Fortunately for me, I was now in control of the game if not the technology, and mate followed shortly. It was a good night for the Aber teams, less so for Carmarthen, with 4-0 whitewashes in both matches.

[Event "Dyfed League"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.02.13"] [Round "?"] [White "Ferguson, Ewan"] [Black "Smith, Murray"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B23"] [WhiteElo "1800"] [BlackElo "2200"] [PlyCount "86"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.02.15"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4 {Sicilian Defence, Grand Prix Attack.} g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bb5 Nd4 6. O-O a6 7. Be2 e6 8. d3 Ne7 9. Nb1 {Intending to kick the annoying knight with c3, but it's a loss of time.} d6 10. Nbd2 O-O 11. c3 Nxe2+ 12. Qxe2 b5 $11 13. Qe1 Nc6 14. Ng5 h6 15. Ngf3 f5 16. e5 $2 {Losing a pawn for no clear compensation.} dxe5 17. Nxe5 Nxe5 18. fxe5 Qxd3 19. Rf3 Qd5 20. Rh3 Qxe5 {The flaw in White's plan - while his rook can penetrate the kingside, he allows the queens to come off, and remains a pawn behind.} 21. Qxe5 Bxe5 22. Rxh6 Kg7 23. Nf3 Bf6 24. Rh3 Rh8 25. Rxh8 Kxh8 26. Be3 c4 27. Bd4 Kg7 28. Rd1 Bb7 29. Bxf6+ Kxf6 $16 {Black has an extra, passed pawn and a powerful long-range bishop, but there's still a lot to do to win the game.} 30. Kf2 Bd5 31. h3 g5 32. Rd4 Rg8 33. h4 Bxf3 (33... gxh4 34. Rxh4 Rd8 {keeps the bishop on the board.}) 34. hxg5+ Rxg5 35. gxf3 $15 {Rook endings are tough to win, and Black no longer has a passed pawn.} Rh5 36. Kg2 Ke7 37. a4 $6 {Too committal. White should stay put and wait.} Rh8 38. axb5 axb5 39. b3 Rc8 40. bxc4 Rxc4 41. Rxc4 $2 (41. Rd3 $1 {is White's only chance.}) 41... bxc4 42. f4 e5 43. fxe5 Ke6 {and White resigns.} 0-1 [Event "Aberystwyth Town vs Carmarthen A: Board"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/BlN"] [Date "2023.02.13"] [Round "?"] [White "Sanchez, L.."] [Black "Narayan-Taylor, R.."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C45"] [WhiteElo "1950"] [BlackElo "1422"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/pwbourne"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 d6 4. d4 {Scotch Four Knights.} exd4 5. Nxd4 Nxd4 $6 {Generally regarded as an inaccuracy. White's centralized queen can't be easily driven away.} 6. Qxd4 Be6 7. Bd3 Ne7 8. O-O Nc6 {Black gets to play the thematic counter to the central queen, but at a cost of extra time.} 9. Qe3 Qd7 10. f4 f6 11. a3 O-O-O 12. Bb5 Kb8 13. Bd2 d5 14. exd5 Bxd5 15. Be1 Re8 16. Qf2 $11 Qf5 17. Bd3 Qd7 18. Rd1 Ne7 $2 (18... Bf7 $1 {White has no useful discoveries, but moves like this are hard to play.} 19. Bxh7 Qg4 20. Bd3 Qh5 { with good compensation for the pawn.}) 19. Bd2 c6 20. Be3 Nc8 21. Bc4 (21. Bb5 cxb5 22. Rxd5 $16) 21... Qf5 (21... Qe6 $1 22. Rfe1 Bxc4 23. Bxa7+ Nxa7 24. Rxe6 Bxe6 $15) 22. Bxd5 cxd5 23. Rxd5 Qe6 {Too late!} 24. Re1 Qc6 25. Qd2 Be7 26. Rd1 Nb6 27. Bxb6 Qxb6+ 28. Kh1 Rd8 29. Qc1 g5 30. f5 Rhe8 31. h3 h5 32. R1d3 $14 {White has the extra pawn, but Black's position looks solid.} Bc5 $4 33. Na4 Be3 34. Nxb6 Bxc1 35. Rxd8+ Kc7 36. Rd1 $2 (36. Na8+ $1 Kc6 37. Rc3+ Kb5 38. Rd5+ Ka6 39. Nc7+ Kb6 40. Rb5#) 36... Bxb2 $4 {and Black resigns. Na8+ as before is the best way for White to win.} (36... Rxd8 $1 37. Nd5+ Kb8 38. Nc3 Rxd1+ 39. Nxd1 $14) 1-0 [Event "Aberystwyth Town vs Carmarthen A: Board"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/BlN"] [Date "2023.02.13"] [Round "?"] [White "Hopkins, M.."] [Black "Windows, P.."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B21"] [WhiteElo "1400"] [BlackElo "1700"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/pwbourne"] [PlyCount "118"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 {Sicilian Defence, Smith-Morra Gambit Accepted.} e6 5. Nf3 Bb4 6. Be2 $6 {White must play aggessively after gambiting a pawn.} (6. Bc4 $1) 6... d6 7. O-O Nc6 8. Be3 Nf6 9. Nb5 $5 { The engine thinks this is not too bad,} Nxe4 10. Nfd4 (10. a3 $15) 10... d5 11. a3 Be7 $17 {Now White is two pawns down with no real compensation.} 12. Bh5 Nf6 13. Be2 a6 14. Nc3 O-O 15. Nf3 Bd6 (15... e5 $1 $19) 16. Bg5 h6 17. Bh4 Ne5 18. Ne1 Ng6 19. Bg3 Bxg3 20. fxg3 b5 (20... d4 21. Na4 e5 $19) 21. b4 Bb7 22. Nd3 { At last White has a target, c5, but Black dominates the centre.} Ne4 (22... d4 $1 23. Nb1 Nd5 24. Nc5 Ne3 25. Nxb7 Qb6 $1 26. Qc1 Nxf1 $19) 23. Nxe4 dxe4 24. Nc5 Qxd1 25. Raxd1 Bd5 $17 26. Rxd5 $2 {White is being extravagant with material.} exd5 27. a4 a5 28. axb5 axb4 29. Rb1 Rfc8 30. Nd7 Ra2 31. b6 Rxe2 32. b7 Rd8 33. Rxb4 e3 $19 {White's passed pawn will win back the rook, but Black's central pawns constitute a winning advantage.} 34. Rb1 Rd2 35. b8=Q Rxb8 36. Rxb8+ Kh7 37. Rb1 f6 38. Nb6 Ne5 39. Na4 d4 40. Nc5 d3 41. Ne4 Rc2 42. Kf1 Nc4 43. Ke1 Nd2 44. Nxd2 Rxd2 45. Rb3 Kg6 46. h3 Kg5 47. h4+ Kg4 48. Rb7 g5 49. Re7 Re2+ 50. Kf1 Kxg3 51. hxg5 hxg5 52. Rd7 Rf2+ 53. Ke1 d2+ 54. Kd1 Rxg2 55. Rd3 Kf3 56. Kc2 f5 57. Kd1 Rg1+ 58. Kc2 Rc1+ 59. Kb2 d1=Q {and White resigns.} 0-1 [Event "Aberystwyth Town vs Carmarthen A: Board"] [Site "https://lichess.org/study/BlN"] [Date "2023.02.13"] [Round "?"] [White "Francis, M.."] [Black "Brazener, G.."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B24"] [WhiteElo "1648"] [BlackElo "1175"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/pwbourne"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. g3 e6 4. Bg2 h6 5. d3 d6 {Sicilian Defence, Closed Variation.} 6. f4 Nf6 7. Nf3 Qb6 8. O-O Be7 9. h3 Nh5 $6 {Hitting a target which is easily defended, especially with the Black queen on the other side of the board.} 10. Kh2 e5 $6 {And this is premature, allowing White to open the e file before Black has castled.} 11. fxe5 dxe5 12. Nd5 (12. Nxe5 $1 Nxe5 (12... Nxg3 13. Rxf7 $1 Nxe5 14. Rxe7+ Kxe7 15. Nd5+ {wins.}) 13. Qxh5 Qe6 14. Nd5 $16 ) 12... Qd8 13. Nxe7 $2 {throwing away the advantage.} (13. Nxe5 $1 Nxg3 14. Nxf7 Nxf1+ 15. Qxf1 Rf8 16. Nxd8 Rxf1 17. Nxc6 bxc6 18. Bxf1 $16) 13... Qxe7 14. Nh4 {Now both players have knights on the rim.} g6 $2 {Determined to prove the knight is not misplaced.} (14... Nf6 $1) 15. c3 Be6 16. Be3 O-O-O $11 17. Qc2 Kb8 18. Nf3 f6 19. Rad1 g5 {Beginning to menace the White kingside.} 20. d4 $1 {The thematic counter in the centre comes just in time.} exd4 21. cxd4 cxd4 22. Nxd4 Nxd4 23. Bxd4 Rc8 24. Qe2 Qf7 25. Qf2 Rhf8 (25... a6 {looks necessary. }) 26. Bxa7+ $16 Ka8 27. Bc5 Rg8 28. e5 {Opening the line for the fianchettoed bishop.} f5 29. Qe3 Qc7 (29... Rxc5 {postpones defeat a little longer.}) 30. Qa3+ Kb8 31. Qa7# 1-0 /