19 September 2019 - Swale Club Championship - Round Three

Swale Club Chess Championship - Round Three

Thursday 19 September 2019

White: Keith Nevols (157) - Black: Keith Hyde (149)

Kings Indian Defence

In our last two games, in which I had the white pieces, the games had been closed Sicilians in which I had not got anything. So, as with my game with Rob Woolacott, I decided to try out the left hand side. The plan was to play solidly and gently and see if I can take advantage of any weaknesses.

1. d4 Nf6

2. Nf3 g6

I had planned to play 3. e3 and enter the Colle system but this move has put an end to that plan, so the Indians it is.

3. c4 Bg7

In our very first game, four years ago, Black had played the Grunfeld defence. I wondered if he would do so here with 3. ... d5. I tried to remember my theory because I have played 4. Nf3 here instead of 4. Nc3, so is 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 any good? But the best move to respond to 3. .. d5 might be 4. Nc3.

4. Nc3 O-O

So the King's Indian it is.

5. e3?!

5. e4 is a much better and more ambitious move. I gave it a lot of thought but decided to stick to the plan of being solid.

5. .....   d6

6. Bd3

I think 6. Be2 might have been more accurate but I was concerned about Black playing 6. ...Bf5.

6. ......  Nbd7

I did not think this was the best move, as the c8 bishop is now restricted and the knight not well placed. If it goes to the b6 square, I could play a4 maybe creating some weaknesses.
6. ... c5 might be better.

7. O-O e5

8. b3

8. dxe5 Nxe5 9. Be2 Bf5 looks good for Black. I wanted to consider how to develop the queen's bishop.

8. .....  Re8

9. Qc2 Qe7

10. Nd2?! 

Defending against e4, but 10. Be2 would have been an improvement. After 10. .. e4 11. Nd2 White could continue development with Bb2, Rfd1, Rac1 etc.

10. ....Nf8

After 10. .. exd4 11. exd4 c5, the engine thinks Black has a slight advantage.

11. Bb2 c6

12. a4 

Planning to put pressure on the now weakened d-pawn.

12. ..... Qc7

13. Ba3?!

13. d5 is better. If 13. .. cxd5 14. Nxd5 and the opening of the c-file could be to White's advantage. If Black does not take, then the White pawn on d5 is a restraint on the Black position.

Black takes the chance to relieve some tension and take some control of the centre.

13. ......exd4!

14. exd4 Ne6

15. Nf3 Nf4

16. Rfe1 

16. ....     Nxd3?!

Exchanging the well-placed knight for a not-so-good bishop. 16. .. Bg4 poses awkward questions, which White cannot meet by either 17. g3 or 17. h3. After 17. Nd2 Black can continue to build up with 17. .. d5 or 17. .. Rad8.

There is an interesting piece sacrifice with 16. .. Bg4 17. Nd2 Qd7 18. f3 N6h5 19. fxg4 Bxd4+ 20. Kh1 Qxg4.

17. Qxd3 Bf5

18. Qd2 Ne4

19. Nxe4 Bxe4

By now, I had the sense of being outplayed.

20. Qf4 Bxf3

21. Bxd6 Qa5

22. b4 Qxa4!

I had overlooked that this was possible. Obviously 23. Rxa4 loses to 23. .. Re1 mate. I did not like 23. Qxf3 Bxd4 so had to weaken the pawn structure.

23. gxf3 Qc2

24. Rxe8+ Rxe8

25. Rxa7 Qxc4

26. Bc5? 

White ought to play 26. Rxb7 Bxd4 27. Kg2 and hang in there.

26. .... Re1+

27. Kg2 

Black's best move here is 27. .. h5 or 27. .. h6. Black's threat is to play Qf1+ and Re2, but he then also has a future option of Be5! which we both overlooked, exploiting the pin against the queen. (He cannot play it yet. If 27. .. Bd5?? now then 28. Ra8+ forces mate - hence the move of the h-pawn giving h7 as a flight square).

After 27. .. h5 28. Rxb7 Be5! White has to give up material to stop mate - 29. Qxf7+ Qxf7 30 Rxf7 Kxf7 31. dxe5 Rxe5. Black has the exchange for a pawn - still work to do, but a clear advantage.

Black saw the bank rank threat but, thankfully for me, did not see Be5, and so decided to force a draw. 

27. ..... Qf1+?

28. Kg3 Qg1+

29. Kh3 Qf1+?

30. Kg3 Qg1+

31. Kh3 Qf1+?

32. Kg3

Draw. Perhaps not the most exciting of games and my strategy had not worked.