3 January 2019 - Swale Club Championship - Round Nine

Swale Club Chess Championship - Round Nine

Thursday 3 January 2019

White: Dennis Simpson (120) - Black: Keith Nevols (163)

Dutch Defence

The new venue for our chess club was the Avenue Theatre, Sittingbourne. Facilities were fine although not as nice as our last place. My opponent is a good defender and I knew this would be a tough battle.

1. d4 f5

2. Nc3

The same anti-Dutch variation he had played against me last time. I decide to try something different and set up the stonewall defence.

2. ......  d5

The point is to stop White playing e4 and hopefully grab that square for a knight myself.

3. Nf3 Nf6

4. e3 e6

5. Be2

I had planned to answer 5. Bb5+ with 5. ... Bd7. With my pawns on white squares, it seemed to make sense to exchange those bishops.

5. ....  Be7

6. O-O O-O

7. a3

This is part of White's plan, although I did not realise that at this point. 7. Ne5 Nd7 is equal.

7. ....  Qe8

Preparing the usual plan to move the queen to g6 or h5, and allowing the option of Bd8 if is necessary.

8. Na2!?

This surprised me. The plan is obviously to advance with c4. I decide to move my knights into their usual positions although 8. .. Nc6 might be better - I just could not see any future for the black knight  on this square and felt it was open to a quick b4-b5.

8. ....  Ne4

9. Bd2 Nd7

I considered 9. .. Nxd2 but exchanging a centralised knight for a bad bishop did not feel right.

I did wonder if the plan was now to play 10. Bb4 to which I considered 10. .. c5 with some initiative. But White gets on with his plan.

10. c4 Ndf6

The computer recommends 10. .. Nxd2 11. Nxd2 f4, or 11. Qxd2 c6. I just carry on with my plan to secure the e4 square for the knights.

11. Rc1

With the threat 12. dxc5 where I would have to retake with the knight. I figured if I could tempt him into 12. c5 his bishop would have even less space. So I did not want to play 11. ... Nxd2 just yet.

11. .....  Bd6

The computer now gives 12. Bb4 with equality.

12. Nc3 Nxc3

13. Bxc3 Ne4

Now if 14. Bb4 I was planning 14. .. Bxb4 15. axb4 Qe7. I was also aware of the threat of Qb3 at a bad time.

14. c5?!

I was pleased to see this which ends the tension.. My plan is now to get to a good knight versus bad bishop ending.

14. ...Be7

15. Ne5 Bd7

Keeping with my strategy, I want to exchange off the white squared bishops.





However White could now play 16. c6! with 16. .. Bxc6 17. Nxc6 bxc6 18. Ba5 and some strong queenside play for the pawn - so perhaps I should have played 15... Nxc3, which did not look right, but is a safer option.

16. b4 Ba4

The logic of this is that if I played 16. .. Bb5 17. Bxb5 Qxb5 White then has 18. a4 and then could think about Be1, f3 and b5. By distracting the queen, I decided to gain a little time.

17. Qe1

If 17. Qd3 I had intended 17. .. a6 with Bb5 coming next.

17. .....  Bb5

18. Qd1 Bxe2

19. Qxe2 Bf6

Keeping with the plan, I want to swap my bad bishop for this good knight.

20. f4!

I expected 20. f3 Ng5 but the text introduces the white rook into the attack and gives me something to think about. I considered 20. .. Qa4 but after 21. Bb2 could not see any progress (21. ... a5!?) and did not want the queen wandering off if White was planning Rf3-h3.

20. ....  Bxe5

21. dxe5 g5?

A bad move only because I was not expecting White's next. 22. g3 or 22. b5 were in my mind.

22. fxg5 Nxg5

23. Rf4 Qg6

Back to the plan. Keep exchanging pieces until I get to knight v bishop.

24. Rh4 Kf7

Intending to move the rooks over and expecting Qh5 where I could swap the queens off and play Kg6.

25. Kh1



25. ....Rad8?

No! 25. .. c6 is better.

The point of 25. .. Rad8 was to give an option of d4 at some stage (after Ne4) but White has two very good moves to choose from.

26. Qb5! gives Black a lot of difficulties, exploiting Black's lack of co-ordination. He would have to play 26. .. b6 and after 27. Qa4 a pawn will be going (27. .... Ra8 28. Qd7+).

White plays the second best move.

26. c6!

If 26. .. bxc6 then 27. Bd4 and coming to c5.

26. ..... b6

I saw 27. Qa6 Ra8 28. Qb7 Rfc8 which is not pretty but would keep the queen under control while I thought of what to do next.

27. b5 Ne4

28. Bd4

The position is equal again. I think White is planning a4-a5 and try to get a breakthrough on the queenside so I had better get on with my attack.

28. .....  Rg8

29. g3 Rg7

Defending the h7 pawn in order to prepare for the upcoming blunder.

30. a4



30. .....   Qxg3??

I should write 100 times 'I must not play tactics .. I must not play tactics' as I always overlook something, and once again I have done so here.

30. .. Qg5 is a better move, thinking of Qe7 and then a move to the queenside. The problem is that I think I am winning but, throughout this game, I have never had a winning position. As we have seen, White had two chances to get a clear edge, but I have not had such a chance.

Now if 31. hxg3 then Nxg3+ and I win two pawns.

If 31. Qh5+, which I had expected, then 31. .. Qg6 and I win one pawn.

But while White was thinking, my heart sunk as I saw the obvious refutation.

31. Rxe4!

Of course. Now the game is lost, but I have two main points which save the day. Firstly, I have a pawn for the piece and a strong attack down the g-file. But more important than that, my opponent was down to one minute on the clock and, even with 15 second increments, it might not be easy to find a way.

31. ....  Qg5

32. Rf4 Rdg8

33. Qf2 Qh5

Now if White had more time, he may have found 34. Rh4 Qg5 35. Bc3 preparing Bb4, or a5, and gradually take over the initiative. My only option - and I had 15 minutes left - would be to hope that I could generate enough play against the king.

Fortunately for me, White, conscious of his last minute, decides to repeat and take the draw.

34. Qf3 Qg5

35. Qf2 Qh5

36. Qf3

Draw - with relief and disappointment.