8 August 2019 - Rochester Championship - Round Three

Rochester Championship - Round Three

Thursday 8 August 2019

White: Sam Woolacott (176) - Black: Keith Nevols (157)
Irregular Defence

A tough opponent and the defending champion.

1. Nf3 f5
2. d3!? 

A surprise! 2. d4 goes into the regular Dutch. Now 2. .. d6 3. e4 goes into the Lisitsin Gambit which I had seen before. Once again I was on unfamiliar territory at an early point.

2. .......Nf6
3. e4 

One line appears to be 3. ... fxe4 4. dxe4 Nxe4 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. Ng5 g6 7. Nxh7 (or even 7. h4!) Rxh7 8. Bxg6+ Rf7. This does not look much fun for Black.

Or 3. .. e5?! will convert to the Latvian Gambit with 4. Nxe5 Qe7 about which I have some knowledge but only for fun games.

I go for a safer option. My logic, as with the last time I faced this system, was to get through the first opening moves and, at worst, get into an equal or slightly worse middlegame.

3. ...... d6

4. exf5 Bxf5
5. d4! 

It is rare to move a pawn to the third and then the fourth rank so early, but this releases the bishop and prevents a black e5. (5. ... e5 6. dxe5 Qe7 is too risky with 7. Bd3 or 7. Bb5+ and castles to come).

5. ..... c6

To stop a White d5 and aiming to develop the queenside to castle to safety.

6. Bd3 Qd7?

An interesting pawn sacrifice is 6. .. Bxd3 7. Qxd3 e5?!. Then 8. dxe5 dxe5 9. Qxd8+ Kxd8 10. Nxe5 Bb4+ 11. c3 Re8 12. O-O Rxe5 13. cxb4 Nbd7. But 9. Qb3! ties Black up in knots.

The main problem with 6. .. Qd7 is, after c6, taking another square away from the knight. 

So 6. .. Bg4 was probably more accurate, with 7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Qb6.

7. O-O Bg4

Better 7. .. Bxd3 8. Qxd3 Na6.

8. Re1 Na6

The knight has to be developed and I decided that the weakness on the queenside was worth it to get rid of that bishop.

9. Bxa6 bxa6
10. Qd3 Bf5

Offering to exchange my doubled a-pawn for his central c-pawn, an offer he does refuse.

11. Qe2 h6

12. c4 O-O-O?

12. .. e6 looks odd but Black needs to be castling kingside, where there is a little more comfort. After 12. .. e6, White can take a pawn with 13. Nh4 Bh7 14. Qxe6+ Qxe6 15. Rxe6 Kf7 16. Re1 but then16. .. g5 17. Nf3 Bg7 and Black might get some compensation while White has still to develop the queenside.

13. Nc3 

13. Bd2! coming to a5 would have put Black under greater pressure.

13. ....... Re8
14. d5 

White is well on top and has a selection of so many good moves. As well as the text, the engine recommends 14. c5, 14. Bf4 or 14. Be3. Black is into familiar grovelling mode.

14. ...... e5

15. dxc6 Qxc6
16. Be3 Be6
17. Nd5 

Again there are a lot of good moves to choose from. 17. c5 and 17. Rac1 are good alternatives.

17. ......Kb7

18. Red1!

And White now sacrifices a pawn to open up some space. I decide that, as I am going to be under attack anyway, I might as well grab a pawn for the effort.

18. .....Nxd5
19. cxd5 Bxd5
20. Rac1 Bxf3
21. gxf3 Qd7
22. Rc3 

The game is won. Black just does not have enough time to put together any defence or counter attack. There is not much to say from here as White can just move pieces around at will.

22. ..... Rc8
23. Rb3+ Ka8
24. Qxa6 Be7
25. Rd5 Rc6
26. Qb5 Rc7
27. Qd3 Rb7
28. Ra3 

28. Ra5 with Qd5 is a nice finish.

28. ....Rc8
29. Rda5 R8c7
30. Qd5 Kb8

Remarkably I am still on the board, and White now goes wrong. He should play 31.Kg2.

31. b4?

I have a free unenforced move. What shall I do with it? I looked at 31. .. Qc6 and saw 32. Qg8+.

But I did not see 31. .. Qf5! which threatens perpetual check with Qb1+ and Qg6+. 

If 32. Qe4 then 32. ... Qxe4 33. fxe4 Rxb4. Or 32. Rb3 Qg6+ 33. Kh1 Qc2. Or 32. Rd3 Rxb4.

To meet 31. .. Qf5, White would have had to find 32. h3!! and Black would then need to find 32. .. Kc8! to remain with a chance. (32. ... Qb1+ 33. Kh2 Qxb4 34. Rb3). White cannot move the bishop from d3 or else Black can use the g5-f4-c1 diagonal for perpetual check again. Also 33. Qg8+ Kd7 34. Qxg7 Qxh3 is also a draw.

After 32. ... Kc8! White should play 33. Ra6! to tie the bishop to the defence of the d6 pawn, and he would still have the advantage.

Unfortunately I did not see any of this, and decided to both block the eighth rank, protect the seventh rank, and threaten a cheap tactic - which seemed a good deal for a move.

31. ........Bd8?

32. Ra6! Rb5??

The final mistake. Black should go back with 32. ... Be7 and see if he sees Qf5 next time.

33. Bxa7 Rxa7
34. Rxa7 Rxd5
35. Rxd7 Bf6

And now, after twigging that I am a rook down, it was time to resign. 

A disappointing game where I was on the ropes from move two, and so made the resolution not to meet 1. Nf3 with 1. .. f5 in future.