En Passant Cup - Swale v Maidstone - Board One
Thursday 15 November 2018
White: Keith Nevols (163) - Black: Robert Lane (148)
Caro-Kann Defence
My original opponent did not appear and so, after 29 minutes (the game is forfeited after 30) the opposing captain stepped in, having lost that time on the clock.
1. e4 c6
2. Ne2
This move has done well for me so far with 2.5 out of 3.
2. .... d5
3. e5 c5
4. d4 Nc6
5. c3 Qb6
A change from 5. .. e6 which he played against me when we had last met. But this is beginning to look quite French-ish anyway.
6. dxc5 Qxc5
7. Be3 Qa5
8. Nd4!?
The engine recommends 8. b4 Qc7/d8 9. f4 but I did not like the look of that., nor did I particularly like 8. f4.
I was drawn to this pawn sacrifice with 8. .. Nxe5 9. Nb3 Qd8 10. Bb5+ Nc6 11. Nd4 and 11. .. a4 12. Nxc6 or 11. ... Bd7 12. Qa4 (which is not so good after 12. .. a6 13. Nxc6 axb5 14. Nxd8 bxa4 15. Nxb7 Rb8 or 12. .. a6 13. Bxc6 bxc6!).
Black decided not to take any chances.
8. ..... e6
9. Nxc6 bxc6
10. Nd2
With an eye on the c5 square.
10. .... Ne7
11. Nb3 Qc7
12. f4
This move had to come sooner or later, both to defend the e5 pawn but also to be able to drop the bishop back and patrol c5.
12. .... Nf5
13. Bf2 Be7
14. Nc5
Landing on the desired square. Now 14. .. Bxc5 15. Bxc5 prevents Black castling and gives White the advantage.
14. ...... O-O
14. .. g5! is good. Obviously not 15. fxg5 Qxe5+. Probably White has to play 15. g3 and then Black can think of ideas around Rb8, f6 or gxf4 to give White some concern.
15. Bd3
Although the White knight looks impressive on c5, it is still not clear what it intends to do there. I was still unsure about a plan, and also what to do with my king. I wanted to leave the option of g4 open.
Here Black could play 15. .. Rb8 16. Qe2 Qa5 and begin an attack on the queenside.
15. .... g6?!
This move surprised me. I assumed the idea was Bf8-g7 but this seemed quite slow. It did, however, combined with the knight on f5, give me targets for a kingside attack.
16. Qe2!
Adding further defence to e5 in case of g4 and f5, defending the b2 pawn, and glancing at a6 in case I wanted to do something there. Quite a multi-purpose move.
16. .. Rd8
17. g4!
Well, why not?
17. ..... Ng7
18. h4 a5
The engine fearlessly pumps out 18. .. h5. I might have replied with 19. Kd2 (not 19. O-O-O Qa5) preparing Rag1. I thought, from the Black point of view, that the a5 square would be better used for the Black queen.
19. h5 a4
20. hxg6 fxg6
After 20. .. hxg6 21. Bd4 and the queen will come to the h-file with devastating effect.
21. Bd4
Another multi-purpose move - to threaten to bring the bishop into the attack with f5 and aim to move the pawn from the e5 square, if I get the chance, and also to clear a space for the queen to move over to the h-file.
Now if 21. .. Ra5 then 22. Qf2 holds the knight on c5, which is in danger of getting cut off, and I can see if I can work up something around f5, or O-O-O bringing the other rook into play.
21. .... Kf7??
But I did not understand this at all. Black sacrifices a pawn.
22. Rxh7 Bxc5?
23. Bxc5 Rg8
Now 24. Bxg6+ Kxg6 25. Qh2 and there is no decent way to stop Qh6+ Kf7; Qh5 mate. But I did not see this. However the way I chose is good enough.
24. Qc2
If 24. .. Ke8 25. Bxg6+ Kd8 26. Qf2 and White is two pawns up with a large advantage. Instead Black goes down to a mate in one, and ends a satisfying game.
24. ...... g5?
25. Bg6 mate
Swale v Maidstone
Keith Nevols (163) 1-0 Robert Lane (148)
Keith Hyde (162) 0-1 David Heath (146)
David Page (141) 1-0 Robert Thompson (139)
Rob Woolacott (132) 0-1 Peter Dirmauskas (135)
Dennis Simpson (120) 1-0 Stefan Sainiuc (133)
Vytautas Gedminas (116) 1-0 Ian Clark (125)
Swale 4-2 Maidstone
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