Last time I wrote at length about realising, or perhaps accepting, that the quick and easy path is not always the right one, and that the best way to win some games was to embrace the sort of active and enterprising chess that comes naturally to me, even at the inevitable price of the odd disaster. Around mid January I read Paul Keres's rightly acclaimed autobiographical best games collection, Grandmaster of Chess, which shockingly has yet to be reprinted in algebraic but is well worth searching out. If there is any truth in my theory that I always subconsciously mimic the playing style of the last games collection I read, then I finally found my man! Keres had a very energetic but also sound style, maybe a little Fischer-esque, and I was certainly able to channel the energy. As for the soundness, well, that's for the reader to judge...
Having faced the problem in late 2022 of producing no interesting games, in the last few months I've had the opposite problem - I want to show off all of them! But my editorial policy of only showing the highlights has to work both ways. Today's game, as mentioned last time, followed immediately after the last one, and was a county match for the Surrey U-2050 team. We were at home to Kent, and having lost handily in the reverse fixture Surrey were much strengthened for this match; I was on the lowly depths of board six with white against Keith Nevols, rated 1922 (a big rating difference for the upper boards of an SCCU county match).
With some trepidation, I returned to the Advance French which I'd had misadventures with at the Major Open. My opponent didn't know it very well and had a lost position within nine moves. But, eschewing a prosaic conversion of a clear extra pawn, I decided to sacrifice material and go for the jugular:
[Event "SCCU U-2050"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2023.01.21"]
[Round "5.6"]
[White "Young, Daniel J"]
[Black "Nevols, Keith"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[WhiteElo "1984"]
[BlackElo "1922"]
[Annotator "Young,Daniel J"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[EventDate "2023.??.??"]
[WhiteTeam "Surrey"]
[BlackTeam "Kent"]
{My opponent had no games on the database, so even with an hour's notice of
the pairing I was flying blind, though I had noticed that he has a big plus
score on the grading database - he rarely plays anyone above his own strength.
I missed the start due to a late train. Time control: 2 hours for all moves +
10 seconds/move.} 1. e4 {(1:53)} e6 {(2:00)} 2. d4 d5 3. e5 {My first instinct
was to fall back on 3. Nc3, which I played for so many years. But it seemed a
shame to learn the Advance Variation for the Major Open, lose one game and
then abandon it, so I boldly pushed the e-pawn once again.} c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3
Bd7 6. Be2 {Following the recommendation of Jones's 'coffeehouse repertoire' -
6. Bd3 cxd4 7. cxd4 Qb6 transposes to the Milner-Barry Gambit which isn't
considered fully sound, and 7. O-O dxc3 is viable for Black as he hasn't
wasted time with ...Qb6. The upside for White is that 5... Bd7 creates less
pressure on his centre, so White can get a decent game by more normal means.}
Qb6 7. O-O {To quote Jones "White's plan from here is really quite
straightforward. Having castled, we're ready to capture on c5 and play b2-b4
to develop our pieces while gaining time. Therefore Black usually exchanges on
d4, but then White will have time to play Nc3-a4, swatting away the queen
before Black has time to collect the d4 pawn." Apparently my opponent wasn't
very familiar with the theory, because he now made an astonishing move which
is even harder to understand if you know the plan above.} Na5 $2 {I have often
half-jokingly mused about a disease afflicting French Defence players: they
think they can get away with anything! This proves to be only the first in a
series of stubbornly optimistic moves that have to be wrong but prove
difficult to refute. In this instance, however, my reply is obvious: Black is
trying to prepare ...Bb5 to exchange his bad bishop, but he can't now
recapture on c5 because b2-b4 (the move White was going to play anyway!) wins
a piece.} (7... cxd4 {As noted by Jones above, White's reply to most moves is
8. dxc5, so the main line is to pre-empt this by exchanging in the centre. As
an illustration of his point, he cites the old game} 8. cxd4 Nge7 9. Nc3 Nf5
10. Na4 Qa5 11. Bd2 Bb4 12. Bxb4 Qxb4 13. a3 Qe7 14. Rc1 $16 {(Reti-Spielmann,
Vienna 1928 (!)) which favours White because of his unchallenged central space
advantage and control of the c-file.}) 8. dxc5 Qc7 9. b4 $18 Nc6 10. Bf4 {
(1:40) If White is given a few more moves in peace to complete his development
and consolidate the various advanced pawns then Black's position will be
hopeless. So the race is on for Black to come up with some counterplay before
it's too late.} Nge7 {(1:52)} 11. Re1 {I spent a long time trying to calculate
a refutation of Black making a beeline for the e5 pawn, but without success;
eventually I reasoned that it simply cannot work if I am so far ahead in
development and let Black figure it out.} Ng6 12. Bg3 {Nevols in turn now went
into deep thought, but for almost the only time all game he decided that
discretion was the better part of valour and settled for a much better idea.}
a5 {This is a common sight in the Arkell-Khenkin line of the Caro-Kann (3. e5
c5), seeking counterplay against the imposing queenside pawn chain. On the
other hand, the first thing I saw was the weakening of the b5 square. Provoked
perhaps by Black's opening fiasco, I thought I was already in a position to
try and win the game quickly and therefore took a decision that significantly
sharpens the play.} (12... Ngxe5 $143 $4 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 {I was adamant that
something ought to turn up, but at the board I failed to spot the most
convincing win, namely} 14. Bh5 $18 {to prevent ...f6, as a result of which
Black's knight immediately perishes.}) 13. Na3 $5 {Objectively this move
should be evaluated somewhere between ?! and ?, for though White keeps a
substantial advantage it doesn't measure up to simpler moves, and great energy
is now demanded of him. There was no need to take such risks in a position
that heavily favours me. On the other hand, I was clearly no longer suffering
from the timidity that so afflicted me after the Major Open, and my choice at
least makes for an interesting game...} (13. Qd2 $142 {White can simply defend
b4 again. Black struggles to complete his development now, for instance} Be7
14. b5 {(14. h4 is also extremely strong, emphasising the logjam of pieces on
Black's kingside)} Nb8 15. c4 $1 {- Black can get his pawn back, but only at
the price of line opening on the queenside.} dxc4 16. Nc3 Bxc5 17. Rac1 O-O 18.
Qb2 $18 {Black will soon lose his extra pawn on c4, and his position is
miserably cramped thanks to the b5 and e5 pawns.} Ne7 19. Bxc4) 13... axb4 14.
Nb5 Qa5 15. Nd6+ {(1:10) Consistently maximalist - for the price of a second
pawn I gain a tempo and keep Black's pieces out of b4. The engine agrees with
my judgement that this is stronger than 15. cxb4, although in fairness there
isn't much in it.} Bxd6 {(1:16)} 16. cxd6 {If I had played 15. cxb4, Black
would now have the opportunity to sow some confusion with ...Ba4 followed by ..
.Nc2. The downside, of course, is that from a position where I was a safe pawn
up} bxc3 {leaves me a pawn down. So why did I go in for this? First of all, if
I really wanted to win the c3 pawn back then Black would struggle to stop me,
but I was being more ambitious. My space advantage has been amplified and my
major pieces have a path towards Black's queenside via the b-file. Meanwhile
Black's king is temporarily stuck in the centre, he misses his dark-squared
bishop and his minor pieces are passive. On that note it is important for
White to start with} 17. h4 $16 {, emphasising Black's terrible lack of space.
Now if 17... O-O 18. h5 drives the knight completely out of play on h8, so
Black tries to solve his problems by striking back in the centre.} f6 $6 {
I was not the only one being ambitious to a fault - I suppose it takes two to
tango! Though White must let go of his mighty pawn centre, the opening of
lines more than makes up for it so Black should have wanted nothing to do with
this.} (17... h5 $142 {to block the h-pawn was more measured. White still
enjoys excellent positional compensation, and the defence of the h-pawn is now
an added complication for Black. A possible continuation is} 18. Rb1 b6 19. a3
O-O 20. Bd3 {, when Black must take measures against the threat of 21. Ng5.}
Qa4 21. Bc2 Qg4 22. Rxb6 Rxa3 23. Rb7 Ra7 24. Rb3 $16 {I greatly prefer White
for the reasons already mentioned, in addition to which the c-pawn is about to
be recovered. Black can at least console himself with having completed
development and gained some open lines for his rooks on the queenside.}) 18.
exf6 gxf6 19. h5 $2 {The motive for this move is impeccable: as well as
driving the knight away I gain h4 for my dark-squared bishop, a piece that
Black struggles to deal with since his own one has gone missing. However,
Black should have leapt at the opportunity to return the pawn and ease the
pressure.} (19. Rb1 $142 {is a small addition that makes a big difference:
White improves his position to the maximum possible extent before triggering
the exchanges in the centre.} O-O (19... Qa7 {to defend the b-pawn takes the
queen out of play, and} 20. Qd3 d4 21. Rb5 {clamps down on the e5 square.
Following} Kf7 22. h5 Nf8 23. Qe4 Rg8 24. Bh4 $18 {Black scarcely has a move,
and Qf4 is a very strong threat.}) 20. h5 {With the king committed, this now
works much better:} Nge5 21. Nxe5 Nxe5 22. Bxe5 fxe5 23. Qd3 {develops with
tempo, as 24. Qg3+ is threatened with a winning attack, and} Kh8 24. Rxb7 $18 {
regains the sacrificed pawn with a strong initiative against Black's
scarcely-defended king.}) 19... Nf8 $2 {My opponent believes me, makes the
compliant retreat, and all is well with the world - my world, that is. This
was a common theme in many of my games around this time, but here I was aware
of it and much more worried about 19... Nge5!.} (19... Nge5 $142 $1 {
Presumably my opponent didn't want to give his pawn back, and felt that his
king was safe behind the central pawns, but if so his sense of danger failed
him. It is much more important to trade some pieces, both lessening White's
attacking chances and easing his lack of space.} 20. Nxe5 Nxe5 21. Qd4 O-O 22.
Bxe5 fxe5 23. Qxe5 {This doesn't look fun for Black at first sight, but after}
Rf5 24. Qg3+ Kh8 25. Bd3 Rg8 $11 {his rooks have become active and he is right
back in the game. White's king isn't altogether safe either!}) 20. Bh4 {
(1:03) Finally inducing Black to commit his king.} Kf7 {(1:04)} 21. Rb1 {
With so little space and no dark-squared bishop for Black to defend with,
White's chief target now is f6, which the monarch is having to protect on his
own. First though, I at last took the opportunity to develop my last piece
with tempo.} Rb8 $6 {Greedily defending again. It was worth considering 21...
Rg8!? to at least get a little activity after 22. Rxb7 Rg4; as it is, the rook
on h8 is destined to remain at its post until the very end of the game.} 22.
Qc1 {I like this creeping move, tortuously increasing the pressure by taking
aim at h6, however White now has recourse to fireworks which are even stronger
than the text.} (22. Bxf6 $142 $1 {destroys both the last remnants of Black's
king shelter and his control of the dark squares, with a combination based on,
of all things, the loose rook on b8! I didn't consider any of this since I
felt I could still improve my position with normal moves, but I do like the
methodical nature of what now unfolds.} Kxf6 (22... Rg8 $144 23. Bb5 $18 {
doesn't change anything}) 23. Bb5 $1 {The big point is that White wants to
chop on c6, force the black king onto a light square and then regain his
sacrificed material with Ne5+. Surprisingly Black can't do anything about this.
} Rg8 24. Bxc6 Bxc6 25. Qd4+ Kf7 26. Ne5+ Ke8 27. Nxc6 $18) 22... e5 {"Wow" I
thought, "...surely not." This costs Black his extra pawn without reducing the
pressure, although Black lacks a defence by this point.} 23. Rb5 Qd8 24. Rxd5
Be6 25. Nxe5+ {(49) In this game, as in so many others in the past, I achieved
a fantastic position with fearless dynamic play, but I lacked the
combinational vision to make the most of it. Methodically stripping away
defenders in the centre can't be bad, but taking with the rook is even more
striking.} (25. Rxe5 $142 $1 Qxd6 (25... Nxe5 $2 {leads to mate after} 26.
Nxe5+ Kg7 {(or 26... Kg8 27. Qh6)} 27. h6+ Kg8 28. Qxc3 Qxd6 29. Ng4 $18 {
and f6 falls. If} Bxg4 30. Bc4+) 26. Bxf6 $1 {This hammer blow again - in fact
it crops up in more places than I have space to mention it. Once Black's king
is drawn into the open it soon falls victim to the combined power of all of
White's pieces:} Kxf6 27. Qg5+ Kf7 28. Bc4 {is an attractive win by pin.} Nd8 (
28... Bxc4 $2 29. Rf5+ $18 {mates next move}) 29. Qf5+ Ke7 30. Ng5 $18 {Ouch!})
25... Nxe5 {(53)} 26. Rxe5 Qxd6 27. Re3 Rc8 $6 {Defence by numbers: Black
wants nothing more than to take the a-pawn after exchanges on c3. Isn't the
sight of all those pieces huddled together for warmth on the kingside
offensive? This didn't impress me but I once again failed to find what is by
now a familiar refutation.} 28. Rxc3 $6 (28. Bxf6 $142 {This time the idea is
actually a lot simpler; the unfortunate victim this time is the undefended
rook on h8.} Kxf6 29. Rf3+ Ke7 (29... Bf5 30. Bd3 $18) 30. Qg5+ Kd7 (30... Ke8
31. Bb5+ Nd7 {is a horrible tangle with pins every which way, best emphasised
by} 32. Qf6 $18) 31. Qg7+ $18) 28... Rxc3 29. Qxc3 Bxa2 $6 30. Bf3 $6 {(28) 30.
Bb5 with ideas of Be8+ was even better. Here Black finally made what looks
like a sensible decision on principle, and prefers to develop with} Nd7 $2 {
(38) rather than passively defend his b-pawn. However White is presented with
a hugely tempting opportunity that even I could see might well win on the spot.
Despite investing half of my remaining time, I couldn't work it out to the end
and had to pass the opportunity up.} 31. Qb2 $2 {I was not very surprised when
the machine instantly berated me for not seizing the moment.} (31. Rd1 $142 Qe7
32. Rxd7 $1 {indeed wins the house as I thought after} Qxd7 33. Qxf6+ Kg8 34.
h6 {, but I was unable to find a way through after} Qf7 {. As the interested
reader can check for themselves, White has a long-winded forced mate starting
with 35. Qg5+ which I can hardly blame myself for not finding, but when I went
over this game with John Emms he pointed out a much more elegant way to win:}
35. Bh5 $1 Qxf6 {(otherwise Bg3-e5 wins quickly, or 35... Qf8 36. Qg5+ is mate
next move)} 36. Bxf6 $18 {and Black is virtually stalemated. He also confirmed
my suspicion at the board that a GM would stop calculating after 34. h6; in a
blitz game I would have done too, and would play 31. Rd1 without hesitation,
but at a slow time control I wanted absolute certainty.}) 31... Be6 32. Bg3 Qb6
33. Qxb6 $5 {An unexpected change of tack - heading for a better ending with
an extra pawn and two bishops. Time trouble was beginning to rear its head.}
Nxb6 34. Rb1 {Black has somehow survived into the ending, thanks in no small
part to my feeble tactical sight, but he now produced the tragic blunder} Bd5
$4 {, either having prematurely relaxed or been hypnotised by the desire to
exchange pieces. Either way I wasn't going to let the game slip away now!} (
34... Nd7 $142 35. Rxb7 Rd8 36. Be4 Kg7 37. f3 $18 {White's material and
positional advantages should be sufficient to win, I think, but Black can keep
fighting.}) 35. Rxb6 {(12)} Bxf3 {(34)} 36. gxf3 {Black resigned.
Astonishingly, when I went through the archives this turned out to be the
sixth anniversary to the day of my previous win in an SCCU county match! It
was a pity for the game to be decided by a crass blunder rather than wrapped
up in the middlegame as it deserved, but I look back with fondness on the
audacity of my play despite knowing deep down that it was totally unnecessary.}
1-0
Whatever the reader thinks of the game's objective merits, I hope they would agree it was interesting. 13. Na3!? was gloriously unnecessary, but the game thereafter is instructive as a result. Dynamics are an important part of chess, and you cannot evaluate the position after 17. h4 correctly without them. This has always been the sort of position I play well, and I restored a winning advantage in the space of a few moves. Black didn't enjoy defending, which he tried to do without any concession to reality (17... f6?!, 19... Nf8?, 21... Rb8, 22... e5 and 27... Rb8?! all stick out to me) but that is the point: you win games by setting your opponents problems they are unable to solve. For all of the inferior moves mentioned above, Nevols defended very effectively for a long time, yet I doubt he would have blundered a piece with 34... Bd5?? if we had got to that position by a game full of quiet manoeuvring.
I didn't have to find any particularly clever moves (indeed, I missed a few along the way) but once I started going forwards with my 13th move I simply didn't stop, right until 27. Re3. Therefore I don't feel much remorse for embarking on such a risky course, even though simpler and better options were available. Surrey won by a resounding 11½-4½, so I wasn't endangering the team. However, it was possible to cap my play with a Bxf6 sacrifice at various moments, and I'm particularly sad I didn't have the courage to round things off with 31. Rd1 and the following exchange sacrifice. There are countless examples in the archives of my tactical vision not measuring up to my architecture, and that is the main limiting factor on my results when I play like this.
So, artificial brilliance perhaps but I hadn't felt this good about a game for a long time. It certainly informed how I have been playing since. From here I won easily against a 1500 in the last sixteen of the Epsom Club Knockout, and then it was on to the 4NCL. I was still in a gung-ho mood, and in the game we'll look at next time I got my pawn sacrifice in - with Black - as early as move seven!
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