Stevenson Cup - Hastings v Swale - Board One
Saturday 21 October 2018
White: Tobias Stock (183) - Black: Keith Nevols (163)
Dutch Defence
A tough opponent at the top of a tough club.
1. d4 f5
2. g3 Nf6
3. Bg2 e6
4. c4 d6
5. Nh3!?
Well, this is interesting. White develops the king's knight to the edge of the board to avoid blocking the bishop and perhaps thinking of coming to f4.
If 5. . e5 then 6. dxe5 dxe5 7. Qxd8+ Kxd8 8. Ng5 Ke8, White could castle or play 9. Nc3 and have a comfortable game .. or even 9. Ne6!? and already Black is on the back foot. 9. .. Bd6 10. c5 (10. Nxg7+ Kf7 traps the knight).
I rejected 5. .. e5 as I did not want to exchange queens and dislodge the king so early.
5. .... Be7
6. b3
These sort of double fianchettos can be dangerous. With Bb2 this hinders any hope I may have had of playing e5.
6. .... O-O
7. Bb2 Qe8
8. O-O Qh5
With the odd position of White's pieces I was keen to start an attack and g5 looked attractive -perhaps with f4 but also to keep his knight away from that square.. So I gave some thought to 8. .. Nh5 here, but decided for the queen instead as you know what they say about knights on the rim.
Calmer development with 8. ..Nbd7 or 8 ... c6 (planning to follow with d5 shutting out both white bishops) were other options.
9. Nf4 Qh6
10. e3
10. h4 is another idea, hindering g5 and squeezing the queen's space.
10. .... c6
Both to free the bishop of defensive duties on b7 and also to prepare d5 and try to limit the white bishops (although my bishop on c8 does not look too happy).
By now, we had both used up a lot of time. The limit was 35 moves in 75 minutes and then another 15 for the rest of the game. White had 33 minutes left for 25 moves and I had 36 minutes.
11. Nd2 g5
12. Nd3 Ng4
To provoke a weakness in front of the White king.
13. h3 Nf6
14. Qe2 d5
While White continued to develop, I have managed to get this move in to close the centre. I now planned to continue the attack.
15. f4 g4?
I had an eye on the g3 pawn but opening up the g-file with 15. .. gxf4 is better with 16. exf4 Qg7 and then Ne4, or 16. gxf4 Ne4.
16. h4 Nh5
17. Qf2 Nd7
18. Ne5
At this point, a double attack of chess blindness hit me. I had been looking at how I could make a tactic of Nxg3; Qxg3 Bh4 work - with Qh2 Bf2+, and thinking that White had to play Kh1 (whereas he can simply play Rxf2).
Even without the rook, Kh1 would have been good enough. But if I could then exchange queens, and play Rh6+ I would win material back. So I prepared to move the rook to the h-file.
18. .....Rf6?
... and as I played the move I now noticed that the rook is blocking the bishop from h4. Black should play 18. .. Nxe5 and the game is still even.
I patiently waited for when I would be able to do this and play the rook back to f8 when ...
19. e4!!
.. stunned me. The move itself is not that great, but it was the psychological effect. Running low on time, I had to work out all sorts of complications.
Straight away I saw 19. .. fxe4 20. Nxg4 but then 20. .... Qg6 21. Nxf6+ Ndxf6 and although White is the exchange for a pawn ahead, Black's active pieces make good compensation. (The computer rates this as equal).
With 19. .. dxe4 I saw 20. Nxe4 with the same idea but after ...fxe4 21. Nxg4 Qg6 22. Nxf6+ Ndxf6, this time Black has a rook and a pawn for two pieces but is unable to defend the g-pawn.
I don't know what White was preparing after 19. .. dxe4. If 20. d5 trying to break open the diagonals then 20. .. Bc5 21. Bd4 Bxd4 22. Qxd4 Nxg3. More likely, 20. Nxd7 Bxd7 21. d5 cxd5 22.cxd5 exd5 23. Bxf6 Qxf6 and Black has two pawns for the exchange. Perhaps with both of us short of time, Black thought he could outplay me in this position.
But White's bluff worked. Instead of 19. .. dxe4 I went wrong.
19. ..... Nxe5?
20. dxe5 Rf8
21. cxd5 cxd5
22. exd5 Bd8
White has a clear win - he is a pawn up with a much better position. The only problem, from his point of view, is that he has just two minutes left for the next 13 moves.
23. Bd4 b6
24. d6 Rb8
25. Nc4 Qg7
Desperately trying to cover the holes in the queenside and seventh rank.
26. Rac1 Bb7
27. Ne3 Bxg2
28. Nxg2 Qb7
With this move, and with White entering his final minute for seven moves (and no increments), I decide to try a bluff of my own and offer a draw, which naturally White ignores.
29. Rc3
Protecting the g3 pawn, preparing to double, and freeing the queen. Not bad for one move.
29. .... Ng7
30. Qd2 Nh5
I am very low on time too.
31. Bf2 Ng7
32. Rfc1 Ne8
Definitely a back rank defence.
33. Ne1 b5
34. Nd3
Preventing the threat of Ba5.
34. ...... Bb6
35. Nc5 Bxc5
White reached the time control with eleven seconds left, and I had 2 minutes and forty seconds. White now borrowed my scoresheet to write down the moves he had missed and I surveyed the wreckage of my position. White just now needs to consolidate and finish off.
36. Bxc5 Qd7
37. b4 Rb7
38. Be3 Rf7
39. Rc6 Rb8
40. Qf2 Qb7
41. Qg2 Rd7
42. Kh2 h5
43. R1c3 Ra8
44. Ra3 Qb8
45. Rb6! Qc8
46. Rxb5
And I played 46. .... Rb8 but decided to call it a day.
The whole match was a heavy defeat.
Hastings v Swale
Tobias Stock (183) 1-0 Keith Nevols (163)
Stephen Blewitt (162) 1/2-1/2 Keith Hyde (162)
James Wheeler (160) 1-0 Rob Woolacott (132)
John Kimber (142) 1/2-1/2 Tyrone Jefferies (119)
Adrian Cload (135) 1-0 Vytautas Gedminas (116)
Marc Bryant (131) 1-0 Andrew Gillard (113)
Hastings 5-1 Swale
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