Tunbridge Wells Chess Congress - Major - Round Five
Sunday 9 June 2019
White: C. Mann (148) - Black: Keith Nevols (157)
Irregular Opening
This was played on board three. I am on 2.5 out of 4 and a win might be enough to squeeze me into the prizes.
1. Nf3 f5
The Dutch defence .. or so I thought.
2. e4!?
But what's this? I had not seen this before. Later research reveals this is the Lisitsin Gambit, played by a Soviet player, Georgy Lisitsin, in 1931.
I was not sure what to do here. 2. … e5 transpose to the Latvian Gambit about which I had some knowledge but have never played in a serious game. I could see that 2. .. fxe4 3. Ng5 Nf6 4. d3 did not look like much fun, nor did 3. .. d5 4. d3.
Instead I decided on a cautious route, as I reasoned this was one of those openings where Black could lose in 12 moves if he is not careful.
2. .. d6
3. d3
3. exf5 Bxf5 4. d4 or 3. Nc3. The text blocks the white bishop from coming to c4.
3. ….. e5
I did not play 3. .. Nf6 as I was concerned about 4. Bg5.
4. d4
A second move of the d-pawn is a bit of an inaccuracy, but I was not to know that.
4. ..... fxe4
5. Ng5 Be7
I decided that my plan should be to keep material level, return material if necessary, and try to get through to the middle game where I might have a positional advantage. For this reason, I rejected 5. .. exd4 here.
6. h4!?
Another surprise. 6. dxe5 is probably best. After 6. .. dxe5 7. Qxd8 Bxd8 8. Bc4 Black could play 8. .. Nc6 and meet 9. Nf7 with 9. .. Na5, so White might prefer 9. Nxe4.
Or Black could counter sacrifice with 6. … Nc6 7. exd6 Qxd6 8. Qxd6 cxd6 9. Nxe4 although this looks a bit messy.
6. …. exd4
7. Qxd4
This has the merits of diverting his queen away from the h5 square.
7. …. Bf6
Better is 7. .. Nf6 8. Nxe4 d5! But, as I said, my plan was to just get through the opening.
8. Qxe4+
White could play 8. Qd5 Qe7 9. Bc4 but Black can hold with 9. .. c6 10. Qf7+ Qxf7 11. Nxf7 d5.
8. ...... Qe7
9. Qxe7 Nxe7
With the disappearance of the queens, I was now confident that I am not heading for a quick defeat and can get back to the main principles of development. White has only one developed piece.
10. Bd3 Bf5
11. Ne4 Bxe4
12. Bxe4 Nbc6
13. Nc3 O-O-O
The position is now almost equal. I think White has the tiniest of edges, with the two bishops and a pawn majority on the kingside.
14. Bg5 Bxg5?!
I wanted to exchange off one of the bishops and put up a defence based around the f-file, but this is too passive. The engine recommends 14. .. Bxc3+ 15. bxc3 h6 followed by … d5 and some central pressure.
15. hxg5 g6
The problem now is that I cannot move the rook on h8.
16. O-O-O Rdf8
17. f3
I am beginning to get outplayed and struggling for things to do.
17. ....Nd8?!
A bizarre defence plan. I wanted to play c6 to protect the d5 square, but, in order to do that, I need to defend the d6 pawn and can do that with Kd7, but I can't play c6 and Kd7 without Nd8 first to defend the b-pawn.
Better moves would be 17. .. Ne5 planning to come to f7 to hit the g5 pawn, or 17. .. Nf5 looking at the g3 and d4 squares.
18. Rde1 Kd7
19. Nd5?!
Allowing the exchange of this knight reduces the White advantage.
19. .... Nxd5
20. Bxd5 c6
21. Bb3
At this stage I had a big think. I wanted to improve the position of my knight and considered various plays around Nf7 and then Ne5 or d5 and Nd6. I did not want to play 21. ….d5 straight away as I feared 22. c4 which would open up the centre while my King was stuck there.
Suddenly a light bulb moment hit me when I realised that I could take the g-pawn pawn and free the h-pawn. It is odd how you often overlook the most obvious moves. White gets some activity for it but I was confident I could hold.
21. …. Rf5
22. Re2 Rxg5
23. Rhe1 h5
24. Re7+ Kc8
25. R1e2
My pawn advantage is offset by the fact that his bishop has a much happier life than my knight. But if I can exchange off the kingside pawns then I would have a draw in hand. Also the knight on d8 does a fine defensive job against White putting the two rooks on the seventh rank.
25. …. h4
26. c3 h3
27. gxh3 Rxh3
28. Be6+?
A mistake. 28. Rf2 or 28. R7d3 would keep the f-pawn, but White not only helps me out by exchanging his good bishop for my bad knight but he also gives me a passed pawn.
28. …. Nxe6
29. R2xe6 Rxf3?
Too eager!! Black should play 29. .. Rg2! threatening Rhh2.
30. Rg7 Re5
31. Rxd6 Re2
32. Rd2 Rxd2
33. Kxd2 Rf2+
34. Kc1 Rg2
Black is now a pawn up in a rook and pawn ending but I was not sure how to win this. I start off fine. The first step is to advance the passed pawn.
35. a3 g5
36. Kb1 g4
37. Ka2 Kb8?
I am too worried about his king advancing. I should get on with pushing the pawn. So 37. .. g3 is best.
In this sort of ending (I discovered afterwards) Black needs to push his passed pawn as far as he can, and then try to get exchanges and push the c-pawn. White is restricted by the need to keep the king from rook checks.
38. Kb3 a6
39. c4 Ka7
40. c5 a5
41. Kc3
The point is that this move would not have been possible if the rook was on g1 and the pawn on g2.
41. ..... Ka6
42. b3 g3
At last but too late.
43. a4 Rg1
44. Kb2 g2
I later concluded this was a mistake, as if my King has to get over there, it needs a hiding hole, and the g2 square would have sufficed. But that would have given White time to sweep up on the queenside. The mistakes have already happened.
45. Rg3 b6
46. cxb6 Kxb6
47. Rg5 c5
48. Rg6+ Kc7
49. Ka2 Kd7
50. Kb2 Ke7
51. Rg5 Kf6
52. Rg8 Kf5
And here we agreed a draw. I could not see how my King could hide from any checks, and, so long as the White king stays on a2 or b2, then the rook cannot do anything useful either.
I played the ending all wrong and think there were several ways I could have improved.
My final score was three out of five - two wins, two draws and one loss - and I finished fourth equal in the Major section - just outside the prizes.
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