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
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