29 February 2020 - County U-160s - Kent v Essex

County Under-160s match - Kent v Essex

Saturday 29 February 2020

White: Keith Nevols (164) - Black: J. Robinson (170)

Pirc Defence

Top board for the Under-160s so anticipated a difficult battle.

1. e4 d6

2. d4 Nf6

3. Nc3 g6

4. Bg5 

The Byrne variation. I do not know a great deal about the Pirc but this line has always worked fine for me.

4. .......Bg7

5. Qd2 h6

6. Bh4 g5!?

I thought this was a little premature, making gaps before developing. Castling for Black, or 6. ... Nc6 seemed more sensible.

7. Bg3 Nh5

8. Bc4 

I was not afraid of 8. .. Nxg3 9. hxg3 where, after castling queenside, I had the makings of a kingside attack. However, the engine thinks 8. O-O-O is more accurate with Nge2 and f3, and leaving open the option of where to place the bishop.

8. ......c6

9. Nge2 

9. ......b5?

Six pawns moves out of nine can't be good. With the king in the centre, Black has created weaknesses on both sides.

White can now grab a pawn with 10. Nxb5! (10. ... cxb5 11. Bd5) which I did not see.

10. Bb3 Qb6

11. a4! 

I did think about castling but instead was pleased to find this move, which grabs some initiative.

11. ......b4

12. Nd1 Nxg3

13. hxg3

The in-between move 13. a5 was better isolating the pawn on b4.

13. ..... a5

14. Ne3 

I could see that Ba6 was coming and wanted to get the knight back into the game as soon as I could. 14. f4 is another option followed by e5 with the intention of breaking open the centre while the Black king stood there - but we will come back to that.

14. ..... e6

That's now nine pawns moves out of 14. White is in a nice position of a choice of good moves - he can castle, he can play d5, or he can play the move I chose.

15. Nc4 Qc7

The question is how to break into the Black position. I gave a lot of thought to 16. d5 but this would be a mistake. After 16. .... cxd5 17. exd5 Ba6! 18. Ne3 Bxb2 19. Rb1 Bc3 20. Nxc3 bxc3 21. Qd1 e5 the position is equal, and Black has Nb8-d7-c5 to come.

A pawn sacrifice 16. e5! also occupied a lot of thought, and this is the best move, with 16. .. d5 17. Nd6+ Ke7 18. f4.  Or 16. .. dxe5 17. dxe5 Bxe5 18. Nxe5 Qxe5 19. O-O-O and Black cannot castle because the h6 pawn is hanging.

In the end, I decided not to commit yet in the centre and bring another soldier into the battle.

16. f4 f6?

From my point of view, wonderful - more weak squares around the king. 16. .. d5 is best. White can now commit in the centre.

17. e5 fxe5?

17. .. d5 18. Nd6+ Kd8 and Black has a difficult defence, but White can now open up some areas.

18. dxe5 dxe5

That's 12 pawn moves out of 18. But no matter, Black does not make any more pawn moves.

19. fxg5 Qd8

20. Nd6+ Ke7

21. O-O-O! 

It can be very difficult to win a won game, and causes a lot of pressure. Anyone who sees this blog can see plenty of examples of won games being drawn or lost. I did not want to let this one go. White threatens Nxc8+ Qxc8, Qd6+.

21. ......Ba6

22. gxh6 Bf6

23. Qe3 

To consolidate. The engine recommends 23. .. Bxe2 24. Qxe2 Qxd6 25. Rxd6 Kxd6 but this is still overwhelming for White.

23. ....... Qg8

24. Nf5+ Kf7

25. Nf4 

I have never had my knights in this sort of position before - both attacked by pawns.

25. ........Bc8

26. Nd6+ Ke7

27. Nxc8 Qxc8

28. Ng6+ 

28. Qc5+ is better but I wanted to grab some material while I had the chance.

28. .......Kf7

29. Nxh8+ Qxh8

30. Rd6

The exchange and a pawn down, the e-pawn is about to drop, the h-pawn can make trouble, so Black decided to resign. I was very pleased with this win over a 170-graded player.

27 February 2020 - En Passant - Swale v Folkestone

En Passant - Swale vs Folkestone

Thursday 27 February 2020

White: Keith Nevols (157) - Black: Martin Cutmore (161)

Silician Defence

1. e4 c5

2. Nc3 a6!?

An interesting sideline, an early precaution against Bb5. 

3. f4 e6

4. Nf3 d5

5. d3 dxe4?!

A slight inaccuracy, opening the centre before development.

6. Nxe4 Nf6

7. Be2? 

White is too cautious in return - 7. Nxf6+ Qxf6 8. g3 with Bg2 and maybe Ne5 gives an edge. I am just not used to finachetto-ing the bishop in this line and usually play with the bishop on e2.

7. ..... Nc6

8. O-O Be7

9. Qe1 

A move I am familiar with and waiting the usual question - where will Black put his King?

9. .....Nd4

10. Bd1 O-O

11. Ne5 

Now that Black has answered that question, I can proceed with an initiative.

11. .......Nf5

12. g4 

This is the sort of move that gives you a buzz when you play it, but the engine states it is not the best. It prefers 12. c3. I think I simply overlooked that my knight on e5 is defending the d3 pawn backwards. 12. a4 is another idea to hold up any Black ideas of counterplay.

12. ... Nxe4

13. dxe4 Qd4+

14. Qf2 

The two players look to be peacefully minded, as neither would have much of an early attack without the queens.

14. .......Qxf2+

15. Rxf2 Nd6

16. Bf3 f6

17. Nd3 

Black has pushed away any thoughts White may have of getting an early attack and we now enter the middlegame. I think Black has a slight edge as the knight on d6 has all sorts of possibilities. On the other hand, the white bishop is well placed on f3 - I just need to find something to do with the other bishop.

17. ...... Nb5

18. Be3 

Of course not 18. c3?? - not only does 18. ... c4 give Black a foothold on the d3 square but he can follow up with Bc5.

18. ......c4

19. Nc5 

19. a4! ties up the queenside nicely. 19. ... Nc7 20. Nc1 and coming round to e2, or 19. .. cxd3 20. axb5 and White can exert pressure in the to left hand corner.

19. ......e5

20. f5 

I wanted to keep the pawns together - after 20. fxe5 fxe5 the bishop on f3 does not seem to have much of a future whereas some squares open up for Black.

I also wanted to examine the possibility of closing the kingside for the moment while seeing if I could do anything on the queenside.

20. .......Nd4

20. .. c3 is an annoying little move. White can choose between 21. b3 Nd4 or 21. bxc3 Nxc3.

I was not too bothered about the exchange of the d4 knight for the f3 bishop.

21. Na4 b5

22. Nb6 Rb8

Now was the time for a big think and, as is often the case after a big think, the wrong move was made.

I was examining the possibilities after 23. Nd5, which would have been a good square for the knight, but made the strategic error of swapping off a bishop which was not doing anything.

23. Nxc8? Rbxc8

24. Kg2 Rfd8

Black now takes over with a strong initiative.

25. Rd1 c3!

26. b3 Kf7

And now a classic blunder. I tried to examine the possibility of Bxd4 and Be2 coming to d3, then decided the bishop might be quite good on d3 and picked it up. As my bishop lifted into the air, my heart sunk as I immediately saw that the c2 pawn will be en prise. However, it was too late. Only one possible move.

27. Be2??? 

White should play 27. Bxd4 Rxd4 28. Rxd4 exd4 and then 29. Be2.

27. ....... Nxc2

Now the game is lost.

28. Bb6 Rxd1

29. Bxd1 Nd4

29. .... Ne1+ 30. Kf1 c2 and White can resign.

30. Bc2 b4

30. .... Nxc2 31. Rxc2 b4 was better. One last throw of the dice.

31. Bxd4 exd4

32. Rf3 Bd6

33. h3 Re8

34. Kf1 a5

35. Ke2 Be5

And Black offered a draw which I jumped at. My king will get to d3 so it is question of whether Black can get through with the kingside and use his extra pawn. 

The late night, the long journey home, and the fact that the half point won the match, may have persuaded my opponent to be charitable. Nevertheless. a fortunate escape.

Swale v Folkestone

Keith Nevols (157) 1/2-1/2 Martin Cutmore (161)

David Page (144) 0-1 Kevin Smyth (161)

Rob Woolacott (141) 0-1 Alec Nicol (143)

Dennis Simpson (135) 1-0 Andrew Haycock (106)

Tyrone Jefferies (114) 0-1 David Erwee (95)

Andrew Gillard (109) 1-0 Robert Twigg (90)

Swale 2.5-3.5 Folkestone

26 February 2020 - En Passant - Maidstone v Swale

En Passant - Maidstone vs Swale

Wednesday 26 February 2020

White: George Hollands (172) - Black: Keith Nevols (157)

Dutch Defence

1. d4 f5

2. g3 Nf6

3. Bg2 e6

4. b3 

The double fianchetto attack to the Dutch defence.

4. ........Bb4+

I thought this to be sufficiently annoying to throw it in. 4. .. c5 and 4... d5 are also playable.

5. c3 Be7

If 5. Bd2 then 5. .. Be7 and the white bishop is slightly misplaced.

6. Bb2 O-O

7. Nd2 d6?!

Slightly inaccurate. 7. .. d5 would have blocked both white bishops and prepared a knight move to the e4 square.

8. c4 

I wondered if 8. e4 was better. I don't think I would have played the exchange sacrifice 8. e4 e5 9. exf5 Bxf5 10. Bxb7 Nbd7 11. Bxa8 Qxa8 12. f3 although Black does look good here.

The move played is fine. Both sides are still developing and I needed to know what he was going to do with his king.

8. ........Qe8

This is a natural move in the Dutch defence but the engine does not like it, preferring 8. .. c5 or 8. .. Na6. However, it suits my style. I want to move over to g6 or h5, and co-ordinate an attack on the White king. The one problem is that the White king has not yet castled.

9. Nh3 

Developing the knight while keeping the diagonal of the bishop open.

9. .....Nc6

Inviting White to play 10. d5 Nd8 11. dxe6 (11. Nf4? e5) Nxe6 but he declines the invite. 

10. O-O a5!

I like this move - the Simon Williams idea of holding up the black queenside play.

11. a3 Ng4

I had no plans with this move except that, like Bb4+, it looked suitably annoying to create a White weakness in the side of the board that I intended to attack. The engine recommendation is 11. . e5 but that is coming along.

12. Nf4 g5

13. Nd3 Bf6

14. h3 Nh6

Mission accomplished. The Black king's bishop has moved to a better square, the attack is about to begin, and White has a slight weakness in front of his king. I am thinking Ne7 to g6, maybe Qh5 at some point, and f4.

15. e3 e5

16. d5 

16. dxe5 dxe5 17. Bxc6 bxc6 is apparently level but I think the Black ability to attack and the lack of a white bishop on g2 makes up for the defects in the pawn positions.

I was not unhappy to see the closure of the g2-b7 diagonal, and the pushing of the knight to where I was planning to put it anyway.

16. .....Ne7

17. Nc1 

A surprise - but it pre-empts e4 and plans to relocate the knight to e2. 

17. ......Ng6

18. Qh5 Kg7

19. Qd1!? 

In the battle of annoying moves, Qh5 was the White entrant. I was not sure what I could do while the queen was sitting pretty on h5. Presumably White was worried about the queen being trapped but it looked hard to be able to achieve this.

It was a relief to see this retreat and get on with the attack.

19. ....g4

20. Kh2?

Against 20. h4 I had prepared 20. .. f4 although White is OK after 21. exf4 exf4 22. Re1 and Ne4 coming next.

Thankfully for me White has allowed Black to open up his kingside.

20. ....f4

21. exf4 gxh3

22. fxe5?? 

Badly wrong - I think Black just overlooked the next move.

22. ....Ng4+?

An inaccuracy in return - 22. ... Bxe5 23. Bxe5+ Nxe5 and Black will just come out a piece up.

23. Kh1 

Of course, 23. Kxh3 loses at once to 23. ...Ne3+ , although I did not see that 23. ... N6xe5 is even stronger because Qh5 is coming with mate.

White's best might be 23. Qxg4!? Bxg4 24. exf6+ and White has two pieces and a pawn for the queen. Indeed, after 24. .. Kf7 25. Be4 the engine rates Black with a small advantage.

23. ......   hxg2+

24. Kxg2 N4xe5

Now a piece for a pawn up, I aim to consolidate and swap off a few pieces.

25. Rh1 Bg4

26. f3 Nxf3

White had overlooked that his bishop on b2 is now en prise and if, for example, 27. Bxf6+ Rxf6, White cannot defend all his pieces.

27. Qc2 Ne1+

28. Rxe1 Qxe1

29. Ne4 Bxb2

29. ... Nh4+ is mate in ten!! (30. gxh4 Bf3+ 31. Kh2 Qh1+ 32. Kg3 Qg1+ 33. Kxf3 Bxb2+ 34. Nf6 Rf6+ 35. Qf5 Qxf5+ 36. Ke2 Qg2+ 3Kd3 Rf3+ 38. Ke4 Qg4 mate). Of course I did not see any of that.

30. Qxb2+ Ne5

31. Ng5 Qf1+

But I did see that this was forcing mate, as did White, who now resigned.

Maidstone v Swale

George Hollands (172) 0-1 Keith Nevols (157)

David Heath (160) 1/2-1/2 David Page (144)

Barrington Beavis (153) 1/2-1/2 Rob Woolacott (141)

Robert Thompson (131) 1-0 Tyrone Jefferies (114)

Chris Barton (105) 1-0 Andrew Gillard (109)

Douglas Smith (117) 1/2-1/2 Duncan Marsh (100)

Maidstone 3.5-2.5 Swale