28 March 2019 - En Passant - Swale v Tunbridge Wells

En Passant - Swale v Tunbridge Wells - Board Two

Thursday 28 March 2019

White: Hugh Tassell (145) - Black: Keith Nevols (163)

Scandinavian Defence

1. e4 d5
2. exd5 Qxd5
3. d4 Nf6
4. Nf3 c6
5. c4

An unusual move order, delaying the development of the c3 knight, and advancing the c-pawn. The disadvantage is that, if I can prevent the d4 pawn from advancing, then it could become a target, because it has no pawns which can defend it.

5. ....  Qa5+
6. Bd2 Qc7
7. Bd3 Bg4
8. Bc3?!

I did not think this was a good square for the White bishop as it becomes blocked and slightly sidelined. But The engine says there is nothing wrong with this.

8. ....  e6
9. Nbd2 Nbd7
10. Qc2 Bd6

All the minor pieces were developed and I considered myself to have equalised.



11. O-O O-O
12. h3 Bh5
13. g3?!

There are a number of sensible White moves - 13. Rfe1, 13. a3, 13. b3 - but this was a surprise. White decides to be provocative. 

Black could look at a pawn sacrifice with 13. .. b5 14. cxb5 cxb5 15. Bxb5 and then he has a choice of 15. … Rab8, Bg6, Bxg3 or Nd5.

I did not consider that move - instead I decided to give up the bishop for three pawns, open up his King and getting an attack - which looked like good value.

13. ..... Bxg3!
14. fxg3 Qxg3+
15. Kh1 Qxh3+



16. Nh2

If 16. Kg1 Ng4 17. Rae1 Black could try 17. .. Qg3+ 18. Kh1 Nf2+ 19. Rxf2 Qxc2 and then it depends if White sees that after 20. Bxh7+! Kh8 21. Qd3 g6 22. Rg1! Kxh7 23. Rg2 the Black queen is trapped.

Or (after 16. Kg1 Ng4 17. Rae1) there is 17. ….  Ne3!? 18. Rxe3 Qh3+ 19. Nh2 Qxe3 and after bagging a pawn with 20. Bxh7+ Kh8 21. Bd3, White has two pieces for a rook and three pawns.

16. .....  Ng4

As played, Black can win the exchange.

17. Nf3

An alternative is 17. Ne4 with options to come to g5 and d6.

17. .....   Ne3
18. Qf2 Nxf1
19. Rxf1 Nf6

And here 19. .. Bg6 is recommended with the idea of 20. Bxg6 fxg6 opening up the f-file.  But it just seemed sensible to bring another piece in to the game.

20. Qg2 Qxg2+
21. Kxg2 Bg6
22. Bxg6 hxg6

The most natural recapture, keeping the king protected, and the pawn island together.



So the dust has cleared and White has a knight and bishop while Black has a rook and three pawns. Regarding my comment earlier about the pawn on d4, I did not now have enough pieces to attack it, nor was I able to exploit the open king. My active pieces had all gone, and, apart from castling, neither of my rooks had made any moves.

I decided on a plan to advance on the queenside and pile up down the d-file to prepare for c5.

23. Ng5 a5
24. Kf3

I did not think this was a good move as it blocks the h2 knight's re-entry to the centre.

24. .....  b5
25. b3 Rfd8
26. Ne4 Nxe4
27. Kxe4 b4

I think 27. ... a4! would have been better, opening up the a-file for the rook to exploit.

28. Be1 Rd7
29. Bg3 Rad8
30. Nf3 f6

I can't allow that knight to get to e5.



Black is doing a good job of keeping those pieces at bay, so what could White do? Perhaps 31. Bf2 to stop Black playing c5 next move.

If, after 31. Bf2, Black played 31. .. Kf7? then White could try 32. Ne5+!? fxe5 33. Bh4+ Kg8 34. Bxd8 Rxd4+ 35. Kxe5 Rxd8 36. Kxe6 and Black is two pawns up in a rook ending, but those pawns are doubled and White's king is far more active.

So perhaps, after 31. Bf2 then 31. . g5 is interesting, trying to manoeuvre the King to g6 via h7.

31. c5

This is the other way to stop Black playing c5. It has the advantage of grabbing the d6 square to interfere with Black's operations but the disadvantage of giving up the d5 square allowing Black to improve the rook.

31. .......  Rd5
32. Rh1 Ra8

Going back to the earlier plan of opening up the a-file, but 32. .. Rh5 is another good option. 33. Rxh5 gxh5 is good for Black.

33. Bd6 a4
34. Nd2 axb3
35. axb3 Ra2
36. Nc4 Rg5

Seeking some co-ordination between the rooks. 36. .. Rh5 might have been better but then I could not have got the rook to the h2 square, covered by the White bishop. On the other hand, though, it would have ended White's domination of the h-file.

37. Nb6!

At the time, I was not sure what this move was for, but it clears the c4 square for the king, and threatens to come forward to c8 and cause mischief.

37. .....  Rb2?

37. .. Rh5 or 37. … Rgg2 would both have been improvements.



Now White's best would be 38. Kd3! to answer 38. .. Rxb3+ with 39. Kc4 Rb2 40. Nc8! with the plan to come to e7, and meeting 40. …. Kf7 with 41. Rh8. 

So Black would have to meet 40. Nc8 with 40. .. Rh5 then 41. Ne7+ Kf7 42. Rd1 or Re1 followed by Nxc6. I am not sure I could have won that position.

After 38. Kd3! better moves for Black would be 38. … Rh5 or 38. .. Rgg2.

At this stage, a rumpus kicked off on the neighbouring board, and White blunders.

38. Rh3??

As my opponent was the opposition team captain, we agreed to stop the clocks to resolve the rumpus.

The game next to us had reached a time scramble, and with both sides in the last five minutes, they did not write down the moves as is allowed. Upon reaching Black's 35th move (the time control adding 15 minutes for the rest of the game), Black stopped the clocks so that both sides could catch up on their scoresheets. White was not happy with that, and claimed a time penalty.

I asked my team mate, playing White, to continue the game and we would sort it all out afterwards. He refused. Tempers were raised, and White left the room. The situation was that Black was a pawn up but it was not yet a decisive advantage. The captains - both of whom were still in the middle of their own games - tried to calm things down, and eventually decided to call the game a draw.

(I checked afterwards. Black was right to stop the clocks but perhaps he should have asked White first. White was wrong to claim a time penalty - there is no such penalty in this situation. I think what should have happened is that Black was given a warning and the clocks then restarted. If White did not come back (as he did not) he would have lost on time).

Visibly distressed, my opponent returned to the game and restarted my clock.

38. ......  Rg4
39. Bf4 g5
40. Nc8 Rxf4+

White then resigned. 

(The engine says it is mate in ten! But the win of a rook would suffice. If you are interested, one of the checkmates is 41. Ke3/d3 Rxb3+ 42. Kd2 Rxh3 43. Ke1 Rxd4 44. Na5 (44. Nd2 Ra3 is another way) b3 45. Nxc6 b2 46. Nxd4 b1=Q 47. Kf2 Qe4 48. Nf3 Rxf3 49. Kg1 Qg4+ 50. Kh1 Rh3++).

Not counting the top two boards, we were 3-1 up, so, in view of the distraction, I offered to make the game a draw, and my opponent agreed. Quite kind of me, I thought, and a bit annoying as I thought I had played quite well.

Agreed draw

Swale v Tunbridge Wells

Stefan Mocanu (158) 1/2-1/2 Russell Goodfellow (151)

Keith Nevols (163) 1/2-1/2  Hugh Tassell (145)
Keith Hyde (162) w/o-def Default

Rob Woolacott (132) 1-0 Stephen Bond (124)

Tyrone Jefferies (119) 1/2-1/2 Richard Woodfield (117)

Kevin French (95) 1/2-1/2 James Robertson (104)

Swale 4-2 Tunbridge Wells