The last round of the tournament saw Michael Yeo (4 points) play Tony Corkett (31/2points) on the first table. I had 4 points and was paired against Gavin Lock (31/2) points on the second board. One round earlier I had played Dave Cordner and had not obtained any big advantage against his Ruy Lopez. Just in case Gavin was a Ruy Lopez player, I decided to play something else.
1.Nf3
d5
2.d3
Bg4
3.Nbd2
Nd7
4.g3
c6
5.Bg2
Ngf6
6.h3
Bh5
7.0-0
e6
Gavin has steered the game into a well known position of the Reti opening. I had hoped for the kings Indian attack and this explains my next move.
8.Re1
[8.e4
(starting central action immediately), 8. Qe1 (getting off the soon to be opened d1-h5 diagonal), 8. b3 (to fianchette the bishop on b2 to bear down on e5) have all been played in this position. I played the well known kings Indian attack Re1 move, with the obvious idea of playing e4 at some point in the game. This move might actually be a novelty in this position!]
8...Bc5
Gavin develops the kingside bishop on to the f2-a7 diagonal and is now ready to castle.
9.c3
This move helps to watch the central d4 square.
9...a5
The start of an effective plan of gaining ground on the queenside and preventing space gaining moves like b4.
10.d4
I had decided that after my coming move e4, if Black decided to pick on e4 (which he did), I would pick back with a piece and not a pawn and so I had to get another use for my d3-pawn and that is why I played d4. The d4-pawn closes the f2-a7 diagonal and keeps an eye on the e5 and c5 squares.
10...Bd6
Gavin had to move away this bishop from c5.
11.e4
I had to make this move now to try and get some play in the centre, my obvious threat is e5, winning a piece.
11...dxe4
12.Nxe4
Nxe4
13.Rxe4
0-0
14.Re1
The move 14. c4 was worth a try.
Up till this point I have been trying to gain superiority in the centre since the queenside and kingside are no go areas; besides I need to justify my eighth move.
I have not managed to get anything out of the opening, Gavin must have been happy at this point because the position is equal and Blacks position is solid and does not have any weaknesses
14...a4
This move continues Gavins queenside intentions. Its purpose is three fold; to vacate the a5 square for the queen, watch the b3 square and may be also to move to a3 at some point
15.Be3
Developing my bishop to the e3 and thus completing queenside development.
15...Qa5
Black has a very comfortable game and has no problems at all, the position is roughly equal or even at most Black is slightly better. With the text move, the rooks have been connected and Black can hope for the best.
16.Qc1
Moving out of the pin by the Bh5 and intending to play 17. b3 in case of 16....a3. I also had ideas of playing Nf3-d2-c4.
16...Rfe8
With the idea of playing ...e5 and vacating the f8 square for the dark squared bishop.
I believe 16...Bxf3 was also playable gaining control of the e5 square as the bishop does not seem to be doing anything now that the queen moved off the d1-h5 diagonal.
17.Nd2
Bg6
Probably better is the bishop retreat 17... Bf8.
The move played in the game gives White the advantage of the bishop pair. [17...Bf8
]
18.Nc4
Qc7
19.Nxd6
Qxd6
This position is now just slightly better for White because of the bishop pair but Black is still doing okay because there are no weaknesses in his solid position.
20.Bf4
This move was played too soon. 20. Qd1 preparing Bf4 or the straightforward 20. b4 getting a bite of the queenside was better I think [20.Qd1
; 20.b4
]
20...e5
21.dxe5
Nxe5
22.Qe3
f6
The position seems to be equal again. White has a weak point on d3 and may be this is compensated by Blacks weak square on b6, further more the White bishops do not have anything to boast about. The black army is well coordinated with a strong knight on e5 at the forefront. Interesting to note is that both White and Blacks queenside rooks are missing out on the action at the moment.
23.Qb6
I obviously headed for the weak point on b6 to attack the b7 pawn.
The move 23. Rad1 was probably better. After 23... Qe6 24 Qb6 Qf7 25. Bxe5 fxe5 26. Rd2 (with the idea of Red1) to try and gain control of the d-file.
23...Qd7
Gavin moves the queen out of the pin and defends his b7-pawn.
24.Rad1
Nd3
At around this point in the game, I had about 8 minutes left to make the first time control while Gavin had around 5 minutes left. The probability of making inaccurate moves is now very high.
25.Rxe8+
Rxe8
26.Bf1
Re1
An interesting alternative for Black would be 26...Qd5 and after 27.Qxb7 Qf3, White would sacrifice the exchange with 28.Rxd3 Bxd3 29.Bg2 Qd1+ 30.Kh2 with an equal position because of the weakened Black king position. If Black continues with 30...c5, the move 31.Bh6!! wins on the spot. [26...Qd5
27.Qxb7
Qf3
28.Rxd3
Bxd3
29.Bg2
Qd1+
30.Kh2
c5
31.Bh6
gxh6
32.Bd5+
Kh8
33.Qf7
]
27.Rxe1
Nxe1
28.Qe3
Nd3
29.Qd2
Qd5
30.Be3
Around this time, I thought of offering my opponent a draw, seeing that his well established knight and centralized queen gave me nothing of an advantage to fight for. The position is equal. However, I wanted to win the tournament outright and knew that a draw (if my opponent accepted!) would mean Mike Yeo and I would end with the same points. I was pretty certain Mike had a better tie break, so I decided to play on.
30...Be4
31.f3
31. b3 aiming to watch the c4 square was worth a try. [31.b3
]
31...Bg6
Of course not 31... Bxf3 which loses the knight on d3 and the game. [31...Bxf3
32.Qxd3
]
32.Be2
Qd7
Gavin was threatening to play ... Qxh3 after which he could not lose the game. 32... c5 intending to play c4 was better.
Around this time, the Mayor of Eastleigh walked into the hall, and the game was being watched by virtually everyone. I felt very humbled.
33.Kg2
Ne5
At this point we both had 4 minutes each to complete the game and so the possibility of making mistakes is high.
33... b5 was a much better move.
Gavin, when you have a Lock on your opponents position, throw the keys away!
With just one move, the once centralized queen and knight vanish. Also, my passive queen (a burden) leaves the stage and now my winning chances have increased. Finally my bishop pair is going to make some noise! I was now pretty confident of winning this game. [33...b5
]
34.Qxd7
Nxd7
35.b3
35. f4 was possibly better with the idea of keeping the knight out of e5. [35.f4
]
35...axb3
36.axb3
Bf7
36... Ne5 intending ... Nd3 was preferable. [36...Ne5
]
37.Bd1
I had learnt several years earlier about what to do in such these positions,
Whites overall plan is simple:
1. Keep black from establishing any strong points for his knight,
2. Improve the placement of my pieces to the maximum by putting the king on e3 and the bishops on c2 and b2,
3. Create a breakthrough on the kingside with pawn moves like h4,g4-g5.
(see position below)
Of course one has to constantly be vigilant of any tactics which the position may lend itself too.
37...Kf8
Black begins to activate the king which is a good idea in endgames.
37... Ne5 is playable
38.Kf2
Ke7
We are both rushing our kings to the centre. The importance of activating kings in endgames is very significant.
39.Bc1
Transferring the bishop to a more active diagonal(s) and allowing room for the king to centralize.
39...Kd6
40.Ke3
Be6
40... b5 is a better move gaining space on the queenside and controlling the c4 square. Black would probably be able to draw this game if we were not in time trouble BUT we all know that time trouble is part of chess! [40...b5
]
41.g4
b6
42.f4
Bd5
43.Ba3+
c5
44.h4
With this move, White goes about creating his breakthrough on the kingside. The breakthrough will be supported by the long range bishops on c2 and b2.
44...Nb8
Black should have played 44... b5 intending to later fix the pawn structure on the queenside and obtain an outpost for his knight. This would certainly decrease the potential of the bishops. As the position stands however, the black knight simply feels like a fish out of water.
45.Bb2
45. c4 immediately is what should have been played. [45.c4
]
45...Nd7
Even now 46... b5 is strong. [45...b5
]
46.Bc2
h6
47.h5
Nb8
48.c4
White finally makes the move c4 that he should have made ages ago.
48...Bf7
49.Bd1
Nc6
50.g5
hxg5?
The losing move. 50... Ke7 is much better. At this moment, both Gavin and I were left with about two minutes each on our clocks to finish the game! [50...Ke7
]
51.fxg5
White now has a decisive advantage.
51...Ne5
52.Ke4
52. gxf6 is stronger. [52.gxf6
gxf6
]
52...Be6
53.Bxe5+
fxe5
54.h6
Bg8
55.Bg4
After a flurry of about 10 unrecorded moves, my opponent stopped the clock and shook hands with the New
Hampshire County Chess Champion! 1-0