Past glories

Another of my unannounced long breaks, but we are back, dear readers! I took some time off for my final exam, but I type as a qualified accountant at last - a strangely empty feeling after it has dominated my life for the last few years. Getting back to the 64 squares has been a welcome distraction. I've been catching up on some unread books, I'm playing the Major Open in a fortnight's time, and I am even annotating games again.. this one comes from the March 4NCL weekend, and may have been the most important of my season.

Up to this point, I'd been caught in the same groove since late 2018: the mother of all hangovers from that year's British Championship, when I reached a height I'd never got close to since. More than once I thought to myself that there really wasn't much point carrying on if I couldn't replicate that heady summer: why settle for the pale shadow of past glories? There had been no 'wow' moments telling me that I could still mix it with good players, but plenty of drab, one-sided losses telling me that no, I really couldn't.

One such loss the day before had prompted another bout of introspection, but my captain seems to know how to get the best out of me, and pushed me up the board order - an approach that has worked surprisingly well for us down the years! I duly found myself with the white pieces on board 5 against Ian Snape (2240) from The ADs. I'd played a few previous games against Snape but lost them all, so the omens were not good, especially when my preparation ran out embarrassingly early on. But then a very strange game began to unfold:

[Event "4NCL Div. 1/2"] [Site "?"] [Date "2022.03.27"] [Round "6.5"] [White "Young, Daniel J"] [Black "Snape, Ian L"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B76"] [WhiteElo "2000"] [BlackElo "2240"] [Annotator "Young,Daniel J"] [PlyCount "137"] [EventDate "2022.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2022.03.27"] [WhiteTeam "KJCA Kings"] [BlackTeam "The ADs"] {I was feeling pretty miserable coming into this game, having gone down like a beginner in a very dull Alapin the day before and cost KJCA a big upset. Though I'd correctly guessed my opponent, I have a habit of getting good positions against Snape only to throw them away for no apparent reason. Time control: 100 minutes for 40 moves + 50 minutes to completion + 30 seconds/move. } 1. e4 {(1:40)} c5 {(1:40) An immediate surprise! Snape's Dragon days seemed to be long behind him, and I played 1. e4 hoping for a rematch in the Alekhine. I had only prepared for this briefly as a contingency, but even so I had a surprise of my own...} 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. O-O-O {... and here it is. Hitherto I'd always played 9. Bc4 and scored terribly. Castling is less fun, but more appropriate for my skill set. The point is that although Black *can* play a freeing central break, he also *has* to do so and simplify the game, otherwise White will basically be two tempi up on a normal Yugoslav position having economised on Bc4-b3. Snape is a well-prepared player not so comfortable on his own resources, and I could tell this move irritated him.} d5 10. exd5 {(1:42) Given the limited time to prepare, I chose to play the traditional mainline largely because that's where Snape's past games were.} (10. Qe1 {is the main alternative, setting up pins on the d-file and angling to swing the queen over to the kingside.} e5 {Clarifying the centre at once is best, I believe.} (10... e6 { has also been tried, keeping the tension in the centre, but this feels a bit slow to me and I think White has chances with} 11. h4 Qc7 {and now the less-played} 12. Ndb5 $5 {, further clearing the d-file and trying to drive the black queen out of reach of the kingside dark squares.} (12. h5 {is far more common, however cold-blooded defence seems to work:} Nxh5 13. g4 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 Bxd4 15. Rxd4 Qf4+ {and Black gets sufficient counterplay to disrupt White's attack - pushing all those kingside pawns onto light squares leaves a lot of holes in their wake.}) 12... Qa5 (12... Qb8 {if Black insists on holding the b8-h2 diagonal he risks becoming dangerously passive:} 13. exd5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 exd5 15. Qd2 (15. Rxd5 $2 {is what Black hopes for, needlessly allowing his pieces to become active.} Be6 16. Rd1 Bxa2 $11) 15... h5 16. Bf4 Ne5 17. Be2 $16 {is miserable for Black, who is frozen by the pin against e5 and will soon have to defend d5 for real with two of his major pieces stuck in the corner.}) 13. h5 dxe4 (13... Nxh5 $6 {is too greedy now, giving White a powerful attack after} 14. g4 Nf6 {(notice how White's tenth move ruled out the common ...Ng3 exchanging operation)} 15. exd5 $16 {. A possible continuation is} a6 16. Qh4 $1 axb5 $2 17. Bg5 {regaining the sacrificed piece and forcing Black to compromise his king's shelter.} h5 18. Bxf6 exd5 19. Rxd5) 14. hxg6 fxg6 15. fxe4 Ng4 {Now White has the subtle} 16. Bc5 $1 Rf7 17. Bg1 $14 {, driving the rook to an inferior square before dropping back, leaves White with the more active position thanks to the d- and -h-files, especially the outpost on d6.}) 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. exd5 Nxd5 (12... cxd5 $143 $6 {is too loosening, but obviously needs to be looked at. If it worked, no-one would play into this as White!} 13. Bg5 Be6 14. Bc4 {(and not 14. Qxe5? h6! - White can't preserve his dark-squared bishop, after which its opposite number becomes ruinously powerful on the newly-opened long diagonal)} Qc7 {Now White has a pleasant choice between material or positional advantage:} 15. Bxf6 (15. Bxd5 $144 Nxd5 16. Nxd5 Bxd5 17. Rxd5 $14 {Black enjoys some compensation owing to the open queenside lines (...e4 will likely be played soon too) but results suggest it isn't sufficient.}) 15... dxc4 16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. Nd5 { This virtually forces} Bxd5 {unless Black wants to put his queen on some very strange squares, but now} 18. Rxd5 Rfe8 19. Qc3 $14 {favours White, who controls the d-file and has the superior pawn structure.}) 13. Bc4 Be6 { Now the modern move is} 14. Kb1 {, which at the time of writing has scored 62 percent from 346 games in the database, noticeably better than the older 14. Ne4. This is essentially a useful pass, since Black doesn't have an obvious next move. He wants to meet Bc5 with ...Rd8, but the queen has to get off the d-file for that which would hang the d5 pawn; meanwhile if the other rook goes to b8 then the weakness of d6 becomes more serious.} (14. Ne4 Qc7 15. Bc5 Rfd8 16. g4 Nf4 {is holding up well for Black; the apparent weakness on d6 proves to be a mirage when he can trade rooks:} 17. Bxe6 Rxd1+ 18. Qxd1 Nxe6 $11) 14... Re8 {Again, this is only the second most-played move, but it looks most promising to me (though 14... a5!? also deserves attention, judging by results) . Whilst the rook would be better placed to fight White's play against d6 from d8, its position on the same file as the white queen also has some use.} (14... Rb8 {is logical enough, but if we follow the old line it turns out there is a problem.} 15. Ne4 Qc7 (15... f5 {Black has also tried sacrificing a pawn like this, trusting in the open lines on the queenside, but his results have been none too impressive following} 16. Bxa7 Qe7 17. Bc5 $1 {(if White takes on b8 then he will have to give up his knight next move, as ...e4 simply cannot be allowed)} Qb7 18. Bb3 fxe4 19. Bxf8 Rxf8 20. fxe4 Nf4 21. Qc3 {White emerges with rook and two pawns for two pieces, however the g7 bishop is locked in by the e5 pawn, and the passed a-pawn amplifies the tendency of endings to favour the rooks.} Bxb3 22. Qxb3+ Qxb3 23. cxb3 $1 $14) 16. Bc5 Rfd8 17. g4 {(White should start with this pawn in order to restrict ...f5) and now we can see the catch - 17... Nf4?? no longer works because White takes on e6 then plays 19. Bd6, skewering the queen and b8 rook! Therefore Black has to defend his kingside instead.} h6 {White should now play} 18. Rg1 $14 {, continuing to fight against Black's main source of counterplay. White is finally ready for 19. h4, but} f5 $6 19. gxf5 gxf5 $4 {is ruled out because of} 20. Nf6+ Kh8 21. Nh5 Rg8 22. Rxg7 Rxg7 23. Nxg7 Kxg7 24. Bxd5 cxd5 (24... Bxd5 25. c4 Bxc4 26. Bd6 {returns to an old theme}) 25. Bd4 $18 {and the overextended pawn front finally collapses. Who knew you could play the white side of a Yugoslav Attack in hypermodern style?}) 15. Ne4 f5 {Thanks to the e8 rook's improved position, this is now more promising than after 14... Rb8.} (15... Qc7 {is still an inferior plan since} 16. Bc5 Nf4 {is less useful with White in control of the d-file.} 17. Bxe6 Nxe6 18. Bd6 $14 {Black's queen has been cut off from the kingside, where White's attack will develop quickly.}) 16. Ng5 Bc8 17. h4 { (not 17. g4?? f4 winning a piece, Carlsen-Jones, Wijk aan Zee 2018)} Rb8 $1 { This has scored well for Black in a number of correspondence games. After the forcing sequence} 18. Bxa7 Rb7 19. Bc5 e4 20. Bb3 h6 21. Nh3 exf3 {and the e8 rook proves its worth.} 22. Qg3 fxg2 23. Qxg2 Kh7 {A critical position. Material parity has been restored, and though Black's kingside has been weakened the long diagonal is a strong asset for him. In practice every non-blitz game to reach here has been drawn, but plenty of play remains...}) 10... Nxd5 {(1:44)} 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. Bd4 (12. Nxd5 {Black's ninth move is a pawn sacrifice, but accepting it has been abandoned as a try for an advantage. With all of the queenside lines being opened and Black's bishops quickly getting into play, he gets at least sufficient compensation and White's results have been appalling.} cxd5 13. Qxd5 Qc7 14. Qc5 (14. Qxa8 {'wins' two rooks for the queen, but} Bf5 15. Qxf8+ Kxf8 16. Rd2 $44 {is utterly miserable for White, who has to defend his exposed queenside pawns forever. With a position so badly co-ordinated it's questionable whether the rooks are better than a queen at all.}) 14... Qb7 15. Qa3 Bf5 $44) 12... Bxd4 {Only much later did I discover that this move has superceded 12... e5 - and I'd only looked at that since it was all Snape had played! Well, I suppose that in seven years it is possible to learn a new variation. So now I was completely on my own...} 13. Qxd4 Qb6 14. Na4 Qa5 {Here I went into thought for half an hour. I wanted to get my knight into c5, but obviously the a-pawn is hanging. My knight is loose, but ...e5 is threatened. 15. b3 looked ghastly to me. What to do? I now managed to produce a novelty, which is an achievement of sorts on move 15 in a Dragon, but not one that is likely to be repeated any time soon...} 15. Nc5 $6 $146 {(1:07) I think ?! is about fair - ? for the objective strength of the move but ! for the psychological impact, for Snape was completely thrown by this. By occupying c5 directly, I dare Black to take the a-pawn - it didn't look like a simple task to get the queen back out to me, but of course the engine is not so easily bluffed...} (15. b3 $142 {is the true move, just defending the knight - I barely considered it but it's far less ugly now the DSBs are gone.} Qc7 16. h4 (16. Bc4 {at once is also tried; then} Rd8 17. g4 Be6 18. Nc5 Nf4 19. Nxe6 Nxe6 20. Qc3 Qf4+ 21. Kb2 Nc7 {has proven all but bulletproof for Black in practice.}) 16... h5 17. Bc4 Nb6 (17... Rd8 $6 18. g4 $14 {has more teeth with the h-pawn moves included}) 18. Nb2 Bf5 19. Rde1 Rad8 20. Qe5 Qd6 {Here too, the drawing percentage is remarkably high. White has a slight structural advantage, but Black's control of the d-file and actively-placed bishop make up for this.}) 15... e5 $1 {(1:22) The best response.} (15... Qxa2 $143 $6 {is less effective, but not for the reason I thought. I was hoping to confine the queen to the corner, but Black is able to engineer an escape. Therefore} 16. Qa4 $1 {is what White needs to do - not an easy move to make after sacrificing a pawn. However, it was all based on getting my knight to c5, and the value of that is both real and strengthened by the trade of queens. After} (16. Bc4 $2 {was my first idea, but I abandoned it when I realised that} Qa1+ 17. Kd2 Qa5+ {gets me nowhere, and indeed} 18. Kc1 e5 $19 {takes the initiative straight back as well.}) (16. Nb3 $6 Rd8 17. Bd3 Be6 $17 {My most outlandish idea was to try} 18. Kd2 $2 {, but I was sceptical this would really be on and indeed} Nb6 {leaves my queen without a good square, since b2 needs to be defended.}) 16... Qxa4 17. Nxa4 Bf5 18. Nc5 h5 {(otherwise 19. g4 leaves the bishop looking embarrassed)} 19. Bd3 Bxd3 20. Rxd3 $15 {the well-placed knight and Black's split queenside pawns offer some drawing chances.}) 16. Nb3 Qxa2 17. Qxe5 Bf5 $17 {I can at least console myself with material equality, but Black is far more active than he has any right to be.} 18. Bd3 Rfe8 19. Qd4 Bxd3 20. Rxd3 {(34)} Nb6 $2 {(46) This gives me a moment's respite. Apparently Black's first priority was to extricate the queen, which doesn't make the most of my disorganised position.} (20... Re2 $142 $17 {looked the most obvious move on the board to me, probing the kingside pawns and keeping White tied up.}) 21. Kd2 $4 {A move with noble intentions (denying Black the e2 square) as well as savage ones (threatening 22. Ra1) - the only problem is that it could have lost on the spot!} Qa4 $4 ( 21... c5 $142 $1 {is a bolt from the blue - I semi-consciously noticed this move but dismissed it since, after all, it can be taken by two different pieces. With ...c4 coming they are all it's worth looking at, but} 22. Qxc5 ( 22. Nxc5 {Bringing Black's queen back into play is more obviously wrong:} Nc4+ 23. Kc3 Nxb2 $19 {and White can't survive with his king out in the open, for example} 24. Re3 Rxe3+ 25. Qxe3 Qa3+ 26. Nb3 Rc8+) 22... Rac8 {(the only winning move)} 23. Qd4 Nc4+ 24. Kc1 Na3 $1 $19 {catches the white king in a mating net.}) 22. Qxa4 Nxa4 $11 23. Ra1 $5 {I could have defended b2 if I really wanted to, but I thought it was untouchable, so why not give Black some rope to hang himself with?} Nxb2 $1 {Hmm. This is playable but demands precision of Black. I expected 23... Nb6, when White has a faint edge.} 24. Rd4 Red8 $2 {Trying to keep hold of the pawn gets Black into difficulties. I learnt from my British Championship run that a low rating can be a very powerful weapon!} (24... Rad8 $142 {Black should be seeking to return the pawn to simplify. This lets a7 go, but has the point that Black can meet} 25. Kc3 { with} Re3+ 26. Kxb2 Rxb3+ 27. cxb3 Rxd4 {- in this case Black actually stays a pawn up, but it's meaningless since he has to paralyse his rook to hold onto it following} 28. Kc3 Rd7 29. Ra6 $11 {.}) (24... c5 {also does the job, and White is unable to keep hold of his lock on the fourth rank.} 25. Nxc5 Rec8 26. Ra2 Rxc5 27. Rxb2 $11) 25. Kc3 {(9)} Rxd4 {(40)} 26. Nxd4 c5 $4 {And now the biter gets bitten!} (26... Rd8 $142 {was essential, but even so it's only White with winning chances after} 27. Nxc6 Nd1+ 28. Kb3 Rd2 29. c4 $14) 27. Nc6 {Of course - perhaps Black overlooked 27... Rc8 28. Ne7+. Now he loses a piece. } Re8 28. Kxb2 Re2 {The rest of this game is difficult to look over - even though I did win! The context is everything; at this point I hadn't beaten someone over 2200 (i.e. 200+ in old money) for nearly four years, and in the face of unsteady results both before and after lockdown I had started to doubt whether I could ever do so again. That, combined with my team reaching 3-3 against much stronger opposition with the last board looking drawish, not to mention the time trouble demon, forced me to face down some of the worst nerves I've ever had - and it shows...} 29. Rg1 a6 30. Kc3 {(7)} f5 {(35)} 31. Kd3 Re6 32. Na5 Rd6+ 33. Kc3 Re6 34. Kc4 Re2 35. c3 {(6)} Ra2 {(34)} 36. Nb3 Kf7 37. Kxc5 a5 {Up to here I've played sensible, normal moves and carried out the first stage of the winning plan - encircle the c-pawn and create a passer. But seeing Black's own start moving was the last thing I wanted, especially with the Barlow game fresh in my mind. I really didn't want to commit to a race before the time control, but could see no choice.} 38. Nd4 Rb2 39. Ra1 Rxg2 40. Rxa5 {(2) Reaching the sanctuary of the time control. The first thing I did was go outside for a few minutes and regather my composure. For all the good that did...} Rxh2 {(33)} 41. Kd6 h5 42. c4 {With Black's king cut off and the knight available to shield from checks on the d-file, there's no reason for White to delay pushing his pawn. Black's h-pawn looks scary (again, context!) but is too slow.} Kf6 43. c5 Rd2 44. Kd5 h4 45. Ra6+ {(34)} Kg5 { (1:21)} 46. c6 h3 47. c7 h2 48. c8=Q $6 {As Snape said after the game, every time he got ready to resign after my next move, I made a different one! 48. Ra1 is so obvious that I can't explain not playing it - I was sure there had to be a mate here (and there is one) but why not the simpler choice?} h1=Q { The rest of the game is, to be blunt, a horror show. Try as I might, I couldn't find a mate, and the clock just kept on running. In the end I settled for a simplifying combination.} 49. Rxg6+ $2 (49. Qd8+ $142 Kf4 50. Qc7+ $8 Ke3 (50... Kg5 51. Qg3+ $18 {is easy}) 51. Qc3+ Rd3 {I saw this far, but I think the adrenaline was taking over because it was only necessary to see one move further:} 52. Re6+ $18) 49... Kf4 $5 {A nice practical try given my visible discomfort, but this has to lose.} (49... Kxg6 50. Qxf5+ Kg7 51. Qg5+ Kf7 52. Qxd2 $18 {delays the inevitable.}) 50. Qxf5+ {(19)} Ke3 {(1:18)} 51. Qe4+ $6 ( 51. Qg5+ $142 Kd3 52. Re6 {and Black has no good defence against ...Qe3# - if} Kc3 53. Qe3+ Rd3 54. Rc6+ {is now familiar from the 49. Qd8+ line.}) 51... Kf2 52. f4 $2 (52. Re6 {is another forced mate}) 52... Qh3 53. f5 Qb3+ 54. Ke5 Qb8+ 55. Rd6 {(8)} Qh8+ {(1:15)} 56. f6 Qe8+ 57. Kf4 Qb8 {For all my terror, I have been gradually inching forward, and now there is another forced win (and again, my ability to sense that fact was working just fine!) Feeling blind in such a position is infuriating: how does Black still live? I could see problems everywhere.} 58. Qe3+ Kf1 59. Qh3+ $6 (59. Qxd2 $142 {To win games it's necessary to push through the path of least resistance - I didn't want to allow a check, but after} Qxd6+ 60. Ke4 $1 $18 {there isn't a second, and though Q vs QN is usually drawn Black's king is trapped:} Qxf6 61. Qe2+ Kg1 62. Nf3+) 59... Kf2 60. Qe3+ {(repeating for the increment)} Kf1 61. Qe5 $2 Qc7 62. Qd5 Qh7 63. Qc4+ Kg2 $2 {Perhaps if only to spare my blushes, Black finally brings about his final end.} 64. Qc6+ Kf2 65. Qf3+ Kg1 66. Ne2+ Rxe2 67. Qxe2 $4 {Even if we treat the other oversights with a little indulgence, missing 67. Rd1+ with mate in two is simply ridiculous.} Qh6+ 68. Kf5 Qh7+ 69. Ke5 { Still, the checks are finally over, and Black resigned. This was a landmark win for me, a big confidence booster and it also won the match for KJCA - but at the same time, I was painfully aware that I played atrociously.} 1-0

To get it out of the way, yes, this was just a terrible game. It started with one of my worst ever failures of preparation, trapping myself in a Dragon line about which I knew nothing. Learning 9. O-O-O had been on my to-do list since this loss at the 2019 Major Open, but it was only at the board that I started to regret never getting round to it. My unwitting novelty is refuted very simply, there is a ghastly mutual oversight on move 21, Snape correctly called my bluff with 23... Nxb2! only to make my trap work for me... and then I had to convert an extra piece. Perhaps the only explanation is that I assented to his request to wear a mask despite my strong distaste for them... maybe I was owed some good karma?

'Blessed the mind too small for doubt' is a favourite saying of mine that has seldom been more relevant, for I realised the significance of this game as it unfolded. KJCA were massively outrated for most matches, and we had to steal points wherever we could all season. Beating a side that had flown in a GM for the occasion (oh, the irony!) by 4½-3½ was invaluable. Even so, this win was for me. I take no satisfaction from the quality of the play, chiefly because I couldn't find a forced win to save my life. But to beat someone of Snape's strength, no matter how scrappily, was a reminder that - even as a working man - I am a decent player sometimes. I said at the start of the season that I was trying to balance chess with other interests, and that's still true. But this win was a spur to start giving it some proper attention again.

As I will be playing my one big tournament of the year very soon, I can hopefully get the next game out quicker than three months from now! I've had lots of experience of critical games this season, and now it was the turn of the Wallington club championship.