My very last graded slowplay game before the pandemic hit was a Surrey League match in a miserable community centre. My very first graded slowplay game back was a Surrey League match in a... well, less miserable community centre, since Wallington's season opener took us to Ashtead, which is at least at the leafier end of the county. Still, I'd never seen the place so quiet; Ashtead's best years seem to be behind them at this point - the late, great Mike Bolan, who was immensely supportive of me and so many others as a junior and beyond, is very sorely missed - and even though we are now in the third division this was a meeting of two first teams.
Ashtead outdid us for depth on the night, but on board 2 the ratings were closely matched. I had black against Dan Rosen (2020), a CM, the league treasurer and a man notorious for the rapid-fire barrage of dad jokes that follows wherever he goes. Though I'm no longer able to prepare deeply for evening league games, I was able to land a solid blow in the opening only to spoil it immediately and condemn myself to a difficult defence. But that was only the beginning of the struggle...
[Event "Surrey League Div. 3"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2021.11.16"]
[Round "1.2"]
[White "Rosen, Daniel B"]
[Black "Young, Daniel J"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B23"]
[WhiteElo "2020"]
[BlackElo "2005"]
[Annotator "Young,Daniel J"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[EventDate "2021.??.??"]
[SourceVersionDate "2021.11.16"]
[WhiteTeam "Ashtead 1"]
[BlackTeam "Wallington"]
{Having been unwillingly
relegated, Wallington had a point to prove for this match, but with several
players missing, our opponents - who came down voluntarily - looked the
stronger side. My opponent is a CM who had been graded in the 190s until a
year before the transition to four-figure ratings. Time control: 1 hour for 30
moves + 20 minutes to completion.} 1. e4 {(1:00)} c5 {(1:00)} 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. f4
g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bc4 {I used to think that this move was no worse than 5. Bb5,
which tends to be preferred nowadays, but having prepared a little for this
game I'm no longer so sure. The bishop will get into difficulties when it is
inevitably pushed back to b3.} e6 6. d3 Nge7 7. O-O O-O 8. Bb3 d5 $15 9. Qe1 {
This is the mainline of the 5. Bc4 Grand Prix, although it's usually reached
via 8. Qe1 d5 9. Bb3. However, White is scoring just 30 percent in the
database after} Na5 {. Whilst Black has ...Nxb3 in reserve, the real venom is
based on trying to trap the bishop outright. White's problem is that he can't
create any luft: after a2-a3 I take and cripple his structure, and removing
the c3 knight to prepare c2-c3 takes too much time.} 10. Bd2 {(53) Rosen had
used this plan in several earlier games - the idea is Nd1 followed by Bc3,
activating what is usually White's bad bishop. Unfortunately for him,} Nec6 {
(52) doesn't give him time to get it in. After some thought, he continued with}
11. exd5 {, which is the safest move but concedes that White is already worse.}
(11. Nd1 $143 $2 {The point of Black's play is that this drops a piece to} c4
$1 12. dxc4 dxc4 13. Ba4 $6 (13. Ne3 {is slightly more tenacious, since} cxb3
14. axb3 b6 15. Bc3 f6 16. b4 Nb7 $17 {muddles up Black's pieces a little, but
it doesn't fundamentally change anything}) 13... b5 14. Bxb5 Qb6+ $19 {This
tactic almost never works, but since the a5 knight is defended twice and White
has weakened his grip over b5 by his 11th move, Black is able to pocket the
bishop here.}) (11. e5 {was what I expected, however Black can keep playing
against the cornered b3 bishop with} a6 {, intending the primitive ...b5 and ..
.c4. I can't see a good answer to this, for example Stockfish's} 12. Qf2 (12.
f5 {creates some fleeting activity, but} gxf5 13. Bg5 f6 14. exf6 Bxf6 15. Qg3
Kh8 16. Bxf6+ Rxf6 $17 {covers everything and keeps an extra pawn.}) 12... c4
13. Be3 {is refuted by the patient} b5 (13... cxb3 $143 $2 {Black shouldn't
rush in with the capture and allow} 14. Bb6 Qe8 15. axb3 {, trapping the
knight on the rim.} Nxb3 16. cxb3 Bd7 17. Bc5 Ne7 18. Rfc1 $14 {White's active
rooks and outpost on d4 more than outweigh Black's neater structure and two
bishops - the second player is so passive!}) 14. dxc4 dxc4 15. Bb6 Qe8 16. Bc5
f5 {, taking away any Ne4 ideas.} 17. Bxf8 Bxf8 $17 {Black is finally now
ready to take the bishop, after which his two bishops will rule the board from
the a7-g1 and a8-h1 diagonals.}) 11... Nxb3 (11... exd5 $6 {is a tricky move,
and although I missed a lot of finesses I think my conclusion from the time is
accurate: there's no need to reinvent the wheel here. Unless White wants to be
run over quickly he can hardly avoid} 12. Bxd5 Nb4 {, and here I believe White
has to find the far from obvious} 13. Rd1 {to maintain the balance. Black
isn't really threatening to win a piece on d5 because of the hanging knight on
a5, so White avoids the Nxc2 fork without allowing a different fork on a2.
Black has to settle for} (13. Bb3 $4 {loses to} Nxb3 14. cxb3 Nc2 $19) (13. Rc1
{Black could transpose into the 13. Rd1 line if he wishes, but as alluded to
above there is a new option created by the position of the c1 rook:} Bxc3 {
(I can't remember exactly what I saw at the time, but in general I felt that
if I was relying on ...BxNc3 then I was on shaky ground)} 14. Bxc3 Qxd5 15. Qh4
{Black defends with} (15. a3 Na2 {is the point:} 16. Bxa5 Nxc1 17. Qxc1 c4 18.
Bc3 cxd3 19. cxd3 Bf5 $17 {with a weakness on d3 in addition to the slight
material advantage.}) 15... f6 16. Bxf6 Qh5 17. Qxh5 gxh5 18. Be7 Rf5 $17 {
, keeping a material advantage.}) 13... Nxd5 14. Nxd5 Qxd5 15. Bxa5 Bxb2 16.
Rb1 Bg7 17. Bc3 {(finally achieving what he set out to do on move 10!)} f6 18.
a4 $11 {Although Black has two bishops, they are both stuck defending pawns
and White will be able to generate enough counterplay with his a-pawn to hold
on.}) 12. axb3 exd5 $17 {My preparation has been fruitful - with more space
and two bishops, my position is much better; White is also nursing a potential
weakness on c2 and his bishop remains passive behind an f-pawn that would
really rather be on its starting square. Sadly I was not able to find an
appropriate plan and rapidly spoil things.} 13. Kh1 b6 (13... Nb4 $144 {
I also gave this a lot of consideration, eyeballing the c-pawn. I couldn't see
where to go from here, and was reluctant to decentralise, but forcing White to
put one of his major pieces on guard duty is a useful achievement.} 14. Rc1 Bf5
{Black can continue to gradually improve his pieces, since White finds it very
difficult to get active - for example the queen can't stray too far because of}
15. Qh4 $6 Nxc2 16. Rxc2 Bxd3 17. Rcc1 Bxf1 18. Rxf1 Re8 $17 {, which is an
unusually favourable case of RPP vs NN because of the onrushing central pawns,
the potential for invasion along the e-file and White's weak b-pawns.}) 14. Qg3
Nd4 $2 {A bad misunderstanding. Opening up the c-file is a thematic idea in
slow Sicilian positions, but I overestimated my activity with both of my
knights gone, and if I can't create anything then the static weaknesses on the
d-file will come to the fore. I should have preferred 14... Nb4 with similar
play to the above variation.} 15. Nxd4 {(36)} cxd4 {(31)} 16. Ne2 Bf5 {Besides
simply developing a piece, this allows my heavy pieces to use the c-file and
aims to dissuade White from liquidating his weakness with c2-c3.} 17. Qf2 {
Immediately homing in on the damage I've caused. The d4-pawn is very
vulnerable, and the only way to defend it, ...Qf6, felt worryingly artificial.
Agonising over how to handle a position that seemed to be going downhill
unreasonably quickly, I spent 21 minutes over my next move, leaving me just 6
minutes to reach the time control at move 30.} (17. c3 $143 $2 {White should
be in no hurry to open the position whilst his opponent has two bishops.} dxc3
18. bxc3 (18. Bxc3 $6 d4 19. Bb4 Re8 20. Nc1 a5 $19 {relegates White to total
passivity - not} 21. Ba3 b5 {winning material}) 18... Qd7 $17 {Black is rid of
his weak pawn on d4. He now intends ...Qb5 to target the weaknesses on b3 and
d3, and also has the plan of creating a passed pawn on the queenside starting
with ...a5.}) 17... Rc8 $2 {Insisting on getting active at any price. This
turns out to be a good practical choice, but needless to say the computer
isn't buying it at all - and to be honest, I wasn't at the board either. Black
has to swallow his pride and play ...Qf6, which comes with more resources than
I realised.} (17... Qf6 $142 {I was afraid of the single-minded pursuit of the
pawn with} 18. Ra4 $6 {but missed the quiet move} (18. Ng3 {is wiser, but
gives Black a precious move to arrange his defences.} Rfc8 19. Nxf5 Qxf5 20.
Bb4 a5 21. Be7 Rc6 22. Rae1 Rac8 23. Re2 $11 {Black is able to stop his d4
pawn falling straight off the board, but this position illustrates the deeper
problem with 14... Nd4 - even if it does all work out, White is able to defend
if all the action is confined to a single front.}) 18... Rfe8 $1 {, and the
pawn remains under wraps:} 19. Nxd4 $6 (19. Rxd4 $4 Rxe2 {is even worse}) 19...
Bd7 20. Rb4 a5 {I was looking at ways of trapping the rook, but a calm rook
move followed by a bishop retreat just didn't enter my thoughts at all - I was
panicking and only looked at forcing moves.}) 18. Nxd4 Bxd4 {I of all people
hated playing this, which is why I spent so much time, but I just couldn't see
anything else palatable.} 19. Qxd4 Rxc2 20. Bc3 {(28)} f6 {(5)} 21. Rfe1 $2 {
This was a big relief - White's nerves got the better of him here. I was
expecting him to lop the a-pawn off.} (21. Rxa7 $142 {After the game, Rosen
said that he was afraid of me invading the second rank with} Re8 {(actually, I
was considering ...Rf7, but this has to be a better practical try) however the
cold-blooded} 22. Rfa1 Ree2 23. Qxf6 (23. Ra8 Rc1+ 24. Rxc1 Qxa8 $16 {is also
adequate, so long as White avoids} 25. Qxf6 $4 d4) 23... Qxf6 24. Bxf6 $16 {
leaves him with two extra pawns but more importantly he has his share of the
activity. Crucially, Black can't consummate his invasion because of his own
weak king:} Rxg2 $4 25. Rg7+ Kf8 26. Ra8+ {and the c2 rook is overloaded.})
21... Qd7 $11 {Now things have settled down - apart from my ongoing time
trouble - and my hail Mary on move 17 has paid off. With the weaknesses on f6
and a7 covered, my active rook on c2 combined with White's split queenside
pawns offer sufficient counterplay. The dominant feature of the position now
is the opposite-coloured bishops; the drawishness of the pure endgames is far
from irrelevant, but in the meantime activating the heavy pieces becomes the
foremost concern.} 22. Re3 Rf7 {A good move, consistent with the last note -
now my queen is relieved from defending a7. Spending three of my final four
minutes on it was less impressive though...} 23. Rae1 Qc6 24. h3 $6 {A
reasonable enough pass, no doubt with an eye on the clock, but it creates
tactical possibilities if the long diagonal ever opens and also gives Black a
spare move.} (24. Re8+ $142 {The machine prefers to trade a pair of rooks,
although this can hardly be considered a winning try.} Kg7 25. R8e7 Rxe7 26.
Rxe7+ Kf8 {White is unable to take on f6 because of the back rank, so must
content himself with} 27. Re1 Kf7 28. h3 $11 {and Black is able to cover
everything.}) 24... Qc5 25. Qa4 {(17)} d4 $4 {(0) Conceptually this pawn
sacrifice is absolutely right - like I said, activity is key here - but the
specifics are not quite so good for me!} (25... Bd7 $142 {With ...d4 now
threatened for real, White has no choice but to return with} 26. Qd4 {when} (
26. Bd4 $2 Qc7 $17 {loses the f-pawn}) 26... Qxd4 27. Bxd4 h5 {secures f5 for
Black's bishop with comfortable equality. Indeed, White is probably the one
with something to prove now.}) 26. Qxd4 $4 {Incredibly, both sides miss that
White has 26. b4 winning the exchange! I at least have the flimsy excuse of
time trouble, but Rosen still had 15 minutes on the clock and really should
have punished my bad time management.} Qxd4 {The practical choice with just a
few seconds to go, simply regaining the pawn. With the queens off, the
fortress tendencies of the position start to increase.} (26... Qc6 $144 {
This also came into consideration but was too risky given the clock.} 27. R3e2
Rxe2 28. Rxe2 Bxh3 {The point of course. But White can simplify after all with}
29. Qc4 Qxc4 30. dxc4 Bf5 $11 {, when a draw seems inevitable.}) 27. Bxd4 Rd2
28. Re8+ Kg7 29. Bc3 Rxd3 30. Kh2 {(12)} h5 $6 {(0.06) Phew! Now I could
breathe at last. This was a reflex choice to avoid any g4-g5 accidents and, I
thought, give my king some air, but it's not the best way to make the time
control since it turns out to be counterproductive on the second point. Only
here could I have a quick look at how the match was going - we were 1.5-0.5
down but other boards looked promising, so it looked like things would go down
to the wire.} (30... Bd7 $142 {is simplest, not allowing White to get his
rooks onto the eight rank.} 31. Ra8 Bc6 32. Rc8 Bd7 $11 {There's no way in.})
31. Ra8 $1 {Having been sure he was on the point of victory ten moves ago,
Rosen said afterwards he couldn't quite believe I'd made it to the time
control intact. But having regathered himself, he finds the best way to set me
some more problems. This move clears the way for the other rook to arrive on
e8, and by attacking a7 it stops my f7 rook participating in the defence.} Rdd7
$1 {Blow for blow! I too was a little disappointed, having thought I'd solved
all my problems, to now realise that my previous move denies my king an escape
on h6, meaning that I have to meet Rh8+ with ...Rh7 and surrender my f-pawn.
Unflinchingly using half of the 20 minutes I'd just gained, I decided to
abandon the f-pawn and play to activate my other rook and my king. Once again,
activity over all, and especially at an evening league time control!} 32. Ree8
Rfe7 33. Rg8+ Kf7 34. Rgf8+ Ke6 35. Rxf6+ {(20)} (35. Bxf6 $144 {Both sides
concluded that Black would get enough counterplay by leaving the rook to its
fate and invading the second rank, but I would have had to be precise with the
move order:} Be4 $1 (35... Rd2 $143 $6 {The more natural order loses material
to} 36. Bxe7 Be4 37. f5+ $1 {Sneaky! Now g2 can be defended along the file.}
gxf5 38. Rg8 Bxa8 39. Bb4 Rxb2 40. Rxa8 Rxb3 $16 {I'm not certain that even
this is enough for White to win, but Black certainly shouldn't be trying to
find out.}) 36. Bxe7 Bxa8 37. Bg5 Be4 38. Re8+ {Despite the extra pawn, White
is the one defending here, but he's able to deny the black king any entry
square.} Kd5 39. Bf6 $11) 35... Kd5 {(9)} 36. Be5 Ke4 {With my king
participating as well, and White's extra pawn of purely symbolic significance,
I was feeling happy again now.} 37. Rc8 Rd3 38. Rc4+ Ke3 39. Rd6 Rxd6 40. Bxd6
{(15)} Rd7 {(4)} 41. Bb4 Rd3 {(Black draw offer) I was too absorbed to be
following the match properly, and since things had gone awry on the board next
to me and we'd only drawn, I thought it was 2.5-2.5 with just our game going.
Only after the game did Rosen explain that he would have accepted... but
Wallington were 3-2 up! However, his main hope of winning the game now was
that the time trouble demon was flaring up again - I only had four minutes for
the rest of the game, with no increment. I did offer him an incremental time
control, but he declined since he feels playing on 10 seconds per move forever
is even worse...} 42. Bc3 Be4 43. Rc7 Kxf4 (43... a5 {is probably more precise,
but in the heat of the moment it was hard to see that the rook can't re-route
to attack b6 easily.} 44. Re7 Kxf4 45. Re6 b5 46. Bxa5 Rxb3 47. Bc3 b4 48. Bg7
Rd3 49. Rf6+ Ke3 50. Rb6 b3 {Now it's a clear draw (though 50... Rd2?? 51.
Bh6+ would be unfortunate.)} 51. Bh6+ Kd4 $11) 44. Rf7+ Ke3 45. Rxa7 Rd1 46.
Ra4 Rf1 {I realised after making this move that it isn't the way to the second
rank because White has Bd4+. So I have to retrace my steps.} 47. Rb4 Rc1 48.
Rc4 (48. Bd2+ $144 {I wondered if he might grab at the chance to get the
opposite bishops off the board, though objectively} Kxd2 49. Rxe4 {has to be
drawn after} Rc6 $11 {(or even ...Re1).}) 48... Rc2 {At long last Black has
achieved his dream constellation - and just in time! White is practically
forced to exchange rooks, after which even the faint winning chances that
remained are gone. And, as our top board pointed out afterwards, it's now much
easier to demonstrate the point to an arbiter...} 49. Bd4+ Kd3 50. Rxc2 Kxc2
51. Bxb6 Kxb3 52. Bd4 Kc4 53. Bf6 Kd5 54. g3 Ke6 55. Bd8 Kf5 {By now I only
had seven seconds left. I offered another draw here, and when Rosen played} 56.
b4 {- definitely only because of the match score this time - I claimed a draw
under the two-minute rule, which to be honest I had almost forgotten existed.
I don't think I've called upon it since I was at school! After an anxious wait
for everybody, my claim was upheld, giving Wallington the match by 3.5-2.5.
Although a very scruffy game in which I squandered a big opening advantage, I
am still happy at having shown I remember how to fight.} 1/2-1/2
When my claim finally came back as a draw, I looked up the records and discovered that this was Wallington's first match win in the Surrey League since March 2018! To say it was worth the wait might be pushing it, but so far we look like the two strongest sides in the division and this gives us real chances to fight for the title.
Having lost a little motivation, and spent so much time playing throwaway bullet games on the internet where there's no incentive to dig in, I was no longer sure if I was ready to fight tooth and nail in a difficult position. I still hate losing as much as ever though, and I was able to make him keep on solving little problems. At the crucial moment on move 21, Rosen saw a few too many ghosts - a malady I know only too well. And thereafter I stuck to the cardinal principle of opposite-coloured bishop positions and remained active at any price. It was only a shame that I had to go to all the trouble in the first place - the opening went very well, but I misevaluated 14... Nd4? and failed to find a good plan, maybe because I wanted instant gratification rather than the gradual squeeze that comes with ...Nb4 - another symptom of all that online chess, I suppose. My woeful time management was, of course, the dominant feature of the whole game and is something that has dogged me in all my games since. Most of the time I play at normal speed, but then there are one or two moves in every game where I just freeze. But we'll talk more about that next time.
After this, my next games (in the Alexander Cup and Wallington's rapid championship) were, to say the least, not ones I want to dwell on. So in the spirit of blogging because I can rather than because I must, let's have a look at my battles from this weekend in the opening rounds of the 4NCL.
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