24 October 2019 - En Passant - Swale v Hastings

En Passant - Swale vs Hastings
Thursday 24 October 2019

White: Henry Cove (164) - Black: Keith Nevols (157)

Dutch Defence

1. d4 f5
2. Nf3 Nf6
3. g3 e6
4. Bg2 d6
5. O-O Be7
6. c4 O-O
7. Nc3 a5

The standard starting position as per the Simon Williams DVD. The point of 7. .. a5 is to take a time out and delay White's queenside play. Alternatives are 7. ... Qe8 - which seems to be OK for me - 7.  ... Ne4 or 7 .. Nc6?!

8. b3 Qe8

Williams' recommendation is 8. .. Ne4 with 9. Bb2 Nxc3 10. Bxc3 Qe8. But I had forgotten that and carried on with the usual plan.

9. Bb2 Qh5?!

Again, 9. .. Ne4 is better. 

10. Ne1! 

The correct move to re-deploy the knight and beat back the faint Black attack. 10. Nb5 Bd8 11. Rc1 is another way to make progress.

10. .... Ng4

With the intention of causing a weakness in front of the white King. 10. .. Nc6, 10.Nbd7 or 10. .. c6 are alternatives which each help to develop.  10. ... g5 looks fun but a bit risky with Black behind on development.

11. h3 Nf6
12. Nd3 

I had achieved the slight weakness on the kingside that I was aiming for.

12. ...... Nbd7

Blocking the defence of the e6 pawn but Black is already struggling with space.

13. Nf4 Qf7
14. d5 

White has two good alternatives. 14. Qc2 prepares both to undermine the f5 pawn by playing d5, but also to bring the rooks into the centre. Also 14. e4 - the move which Black usually tries to prevent in the Dutch - is playable with 14. .. fxe4 15. Nxe4 Nxe4 16. Bxe4 Nf6 17. Bg2 and White can get pressure down the e-file.

14. ...... Nc5

15. dxe6 Nxe6
16. Nfd5?! 

With 16. Nxe6 Bxe6 17. Nb5 (preferable to 17. Bxb7 Rb8 18. Bc6 Bxc4) or 16. .. Qxe6 17. Nd5 White would have a clear advantage.

16. .....Bd8

I felt a little more secure about things now, with everything defended. The White queen still seeks a square. 

17. a3? 

This move is a waste of time. b4 is not a threat and Ba3 is ruled out as an option.

17. ..... Qg6?

The purpose of this move was to get off the d5-g8 diagonal and move on to the g-file. However 17. .. c6 would have forced the knight off the central d5 square. (White cannot play 18. Nxf6+ Bxf6 19. Qxd6 because of 19. ... Rd8 trapping the queen).

18. Nxf6 Bxf6
19. Nd5 Bd8
20. Qc2 

Black's main hope is to get in f4 and try to attack the defences around the White king. So 20. e3 would have been a better way to prevent that move.

20. .... c6

I did not play f4 because of the queen exchange. 20. .. f4 21. Qxg6 hxg6 22. Nxf4 Nxf4 23. gxf4 Rxf4 reaches an equal position, although I would argue that the pawn structure gives White the better position.

20. .... c6 at last forces the knight to move and blocks the White g2 bishop.

21. Ne3? 

A poor square for the knight. Either 21. Nc3 or 21. Nf4 would keep it in the action. From this square, only d1 is open. I can now grasp some initiative.

21. ..... Bb6
22. Kh2 Nc5

The engine prefers 22. .. Qf7 with the plan to play f4 next, but I wanted to bring the knight to e4. White could play 23. Bd4 to prevent this and force off the exchange of a Black piece.

23. Rad1 Ne4

Now we are equal. My plan is to use the bishops and develop the other rook to see if I could get some play against the white King with f4 at the right time.

24. Bd4 Bc7
25. Kg1?! 

25. Bxe4 fxe4 26. f4! and the White kingside is a little more secure.

25. ..... Bd7
26. g4?!

Another dubious move - it looks wrong to move pawns and open lines in front of the king.

26. .....  Rae8!

27. gxf5 Bxf5

Astonishingly, 27. .. Rxf5! is better. If 28. Nxf5 Bxf5 29. Qb2 Bxh3 mates, or 29. Qd3 d5 opening up the bishop and thinking of Ng5 next.

28. Nxf5 Rxf5

To my surprise, as I was calculating ideas such as d5, Rg5 or Rh5, White resigned. 

White's best might be 29. f3 which can be met with 29. ... Ng3 30. Rfe1 Nh5 31. e3 Bd8 planning to come to h4.

Although I am better, the position is far from won, and I think the resignation might have been influenced by the fact that it was 10.30pm, everyone else had finished, and my opponent had a 90 minute drive back to Hastings.

Swale v Hastings

Keith Nevols (157) 1-0 Henry Cove (164)

Keith Hyde (149) 1-0 James Wheeler (156)

David Page (144) 1-0 Marc Bryant (139)

Rob Woolacott (141) 0-1 John Kimber (137)

Vytautas Gedminas (117) 1-0 Derek Cosens (133)

Tyrone Jefferies (114) 1-0 Martin Fletcher (92)

Swale 5-1 Hastings