21 November 2018 - En Passant - Rainham v Swale

En Passant - Rainham v Swale - Board One

Wednesday 21 November 2018

White: David Barnes (161) - Black: Keith Nevols (163)

Dutch Defence

1. d4 f5

2. g3 Nf6

3. Bg2 e6

4. Nf3 Be7

5. O-O O-O

6. b3

White adopts a system where he delays c4 and sets up the double fianchetto.

6. .... d6

7. Bb2 Qe8

7. ... Nc6 would be a way to exploit the White delay in playing c4 as White would not have the d5 move available. If then 8. c4 Ne4 9. d5 Bf6!

8. c4 a5

9. Nc3 Qh5

And so we begin. The standard plan of kingside attack.

10. Qc2

The engine prefers the interesting plan 10. Ne1 and then Nd3 to hold up the Black development.

10. .....  Nc6

This is now possible because 11. d5 can be met with 11. .. Nb4. Hence White's next move.

11. a3 e5!?

My plan begins with a pawn sacrifice to get the queen's bishop involved in the action. 11. ... Bd7 might be more conservative.

12. dxe5 dxe5

13. Nb5 f4!?

14. gxf4

If 14. Nxc7 Bf5 15. Qc1 Rac8 16. Nb5 e4 and I have some good play for the pawn.

14. ....  Bf5

15. Qc1 e4

Just clunking chess, as might be said. I want to checkmate the White king. 15. ... exf4 16. Qf4 would obviously be a big mistake - White is a straight pawn up with active pieces.

16. Ne5 Nxe5

17. fxe5 Ng4?

17. .. Qg6 is a better move, making 18. exf6 not possible due to 18. ... Bh3. But I did not see that. 17. .. Ng4 is inferior, hoping White will slip up.

18. h3 Bg5

19. Qc3?!

19. e3 is the best move. I was not too worried about this move, as both of us thought it would cut the White queen off from the defence. Black could then go for 19. .... Nxe3!? 20. fxe3 Bxh3 and after Bxg2 has chances to force a draw by perpetual check.

Another move could be 19. Qe1 adding defence to f2, preventing the rook on a8 from moving,  and reminding Black that his c7 pawn is still under attack.

White's move is based on a lateral defence across the third rank but discards his advantage and Black's gamble holds up.

19. ....  Bf4

20. e3?

Failing to justify the last move. 20. e6! was a good way to keep the pawn lead for a little while at least. Now the White queen is cut off and he must tread carefully.

20. ....  Bh2+

21. Kh1 Bxe5

I have a few seconds thought to 21. .. Nxe5? which would have been a blunder. 22. Kxh2 Nf3+ 23. Bxf3 Qxh3+ 24. Kg1 and here 24. ... exf3 does not win because White can mate on g7 so he has to play 24. ... Rf6 and after 25. Bg2 Rg6 26. Qxg7+! Rxg7 27. Bxg7 Qh4 28. Be5, White has a rook and two pieces for the queen.

21. .... Bxe5 was clearly more natural, which also defends the c7 pawn which has been under attack for eight moves, and the Black pieces are co-ordinating nicely. I just had to try to find the knockout punch, or liquidate into a better ending.

22. Qc2

What should Black play here? 22. ... c6 looks promising, finally protecting the pawn and after 23. Nd4 Bd7 24. Kg1 Nf6 - two tactical retreats but keeping White under pressure.

But 22. ... Ra6! is interesting - a move I did not spot but my opponent did.
23. Bxe5 Nxe5 and if 24. Nxc7 then 24. ..... Bxh3! wins (25. Nxa6 Nf3! 26. Qxe4 Bxg2+ 27. Kxg2 Qh2 mate), or 24. Qd1 then simply 24. .. Qh4 (25. Qd5+ Re6! 26. Nd4 (otherwise ... c6) Bxh3 and it gets exciting) - or to avoid excitement - 24. ... Rh6.

Instead, I could not see anything better than to consolidate.

22. ....  Bxb2?

23. Qxb2 Nh6

24. Qe5!

A good redeployment to add to the defence.

24. .... Rae8

25. Qh2

25. Qg3 looked slightly more accurate. I was concerned about 25. Qd5+ and the queenside pawns falling apart.

25. ......  c6

26. Nd4 Bc8

So where are we now? Material is level. Black's attack has run out of steam and he has a number of weak pawns around. However, White has to still be wary of an attack on his king from a rook swinging over. The engine classes the position as level.

27. Ra2

This odd looking move surprised me but the engine says it is the best. It wants to come to the d-file but Rad1 would lose a pawn to Rxf2. I did not like that knight on d4, which was doing quite a good job, and considered 27. ... c5 but thought that would only help it on the way to a better square with 28. Ne2 where it could think about either Ng3 or Nf4.

So I took the more direct route to improve the position of my own knight.

27. ......  Nf5

28. Nxf5

I had expected 28. Ne2 Nh4 29. Ng3 Qf7 and I would think again.

28. ......  Rxf5

29. Rd2 Qf7

Part of a plan to readjust the position of the rooks and queen, although this eases the pressure on h3. Playing Rg5 or Rf6, reopening the Bc8 diagonal to h3, would have kept some pressure on.

30. Kg1 Rg5

31. Kh1 Rh5

32. Kg1



32.. ....... Bxh3?

Based on a faulty calculation, I thought this was a temporary piece sacrifice, but the game is not over yet.

32. .. Qg6 is a better move, forcing 33. Kh1 and then 33. .. Qh6! 34. Qd6 Bxh3 35. Qxh6 Bxg2+ 36. Kxg2 Rxh6. Black would be a pawn up although White's rooks could develop activity so there would be a lot of the game to go.

33. Bxh3 Qf3??

The second part of the double whammy. 33. ..Qg6+ 34. Kh1 Qh6 35. Kg2 Rg5+ 36. Kh1 Rh5 would have forced a draw.

34. Bg2

For some reason I have overlooked that this was possible.

34. ...  Rg5

And here I saw 35. Rfd1, giving White a bolt hole, allowing Kf1 breaking the g-file pin. While he was thinking, I studied hard but could not find anything. I am simply a piece for a pawn down.

35. Kh1?

Well, that was a piece of luck.

35. ......  Qf5

36. Bh3?

Kg1 and Rfd1 still win.

36. .......  Qf3+

37. Bg2 Qf5

38. Bh3 Qf3+

And as 39. Bg2 would be a three-time repetition, we shook hands on a draw.

What a relief!! A dramatic game but I thought a fair result.

Rainham v Swale

David Barnes (161) 1/2-1/2 Keith Nevols (163)

Chris Marshall (146) 1/2-1/2 David Page (141)

Robert Springett (134) 0-1 Rob Woolacott (132)

Constantine Tucker (130) 0-1 Tyrone Jefferies (119)

Stephen Pike (128) 1-0 Vytautas Gedminas (116)

Gary Clifford (109) 1-0 (def) Andrew Gillard (113)

Rainham 3-3 Swale