The curtain falls

The new season began sluggishly for me. After failing to convert good winning chances against a 2110 in Epsom's Alexander Cup opener against Guildford (although the victory of our depleted team was some consolation) I then cost us a repeat win against our title rivals with an absolutely horrific one-move blunder in the opening league fixture, before contriving to lose a trivially won ending (also against Guildford!) for Wallington. I think I was preoccupied with the knowledge that these Surrey League games were among my last; at the start of November I would be stepping away from a job where I had been popular and successful for the last five years, and since this was something I felt reluctantly forced to do for my career it was rather a melancholy period.

By the time of this game I was two days away from the end, and looking ahead to a fortnight's holiday between jobs. This was another game – my last – for Wallington, and after the debacle of the previous match I very much wanted to remind my clubmates that I can still play chess. I was on board 1 against the Surbiton second team, headed up by 1834-rated Mark Hogarth. By this point I was maybe at peace with developments beyond the chessboard, for I played serenely and won an elegant game in my best style:

[Event "Surrey League Div. 3"] [Site "?"] [Date "2023.11.01"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Young, Daniel J"] [Black "Hogarth, Mark J"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B21"] [WhiteElo "1988"] [BlackElo "1834"] [Annotator "Young,Daniel J"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2023.??.??"] [SourceVersionDate "2023.11.05"] [WhiteTeam "Wallington"] [BlackTeam "Surbiton 2"] {My last match for Wallington; unusually for this division I was much the highest-rated player on either team. Below me it looked trickier, but, with our opponents missing everyone I'd prepared for, this was one of the few matches we could hope to win all season. Time control: 75 minutes for all moves + 10 seconds/move.} 1. e4 {(1:15)} c5 {(1:15)} 2. d4 {With no idea which Open Sicilian I might face, I decided at the board to have another go with the Smith-Morra. Curiously, the same opening appeared on board 2 as well, and turned out even worse for Black than this game. So far this year I have +3 =2 with it (the draws were both Alapin transpositions where I was winning from the opening) which seems like a good endorsement!} cxd4 3. c3 d3 $6 {Calling this move dubious may be controversial, as it's one of the most popular ways to decline, but it really isn't very good. Black spends a move forcing White to regain the gambit pawn by developing a piece to a good square, and the position of the c3 pawn is easily solved by adopting a Maroczy Bind structure. The Alapin transpositions 3... Nf6, 3... d5 or even 3... g6 (in that order of repute) are better ways to decline the gambit.} 4. Bxd3 Nc6 (4... e6 {Rather than the Dragon of the main game, I'd previously faced a Hedgehog setup and scored a quick win. In both cases I largely found myself playing the accepted form of the gambit, just with an extra pawn on c4!} 5. c4 Nf6 6. Nf3 d6 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Nc3 a6 9. Qe2 Be7 10. Rd1 Qc7 11. Bf4 {This setup is familiar to any Smith-Morra player, except with a bishop on c4, and in such cases Black often gets into trouble if he castles before taking measures against e4-e5. Sure enough...} O-O $2 12. Rac1 $2 (12. e5 $142 {worked straight away - I was worried by} Nh5 $2 {, missing} 13. Bxh7+ $1 Kxh7 14. exd6 {regaining the piece with interest - if} Nxf4 15. Qc2+ {wins the queen.}) 12... b6 $2 {Now matters turn out even worse thanks to the hanging rook on a8 - I didn't miss my chance a second time.} 13. e5 dxe5 14. Nxe5 Qc5 $2 15. Ne4 Nxe4 {(if 15... Qb4 16. Nc6 wins)} 16. Qxe4 g6 {Now, rather than settling for the mere win of an exchange, I found the killing deflection} 17. b4 $1 Qc7 18. Nxg6 Nf6 19. Qxa8 Bd6 20. Bxd6 Qxd6 21. Nxf8 Qxf8 22. Qf3 {1-0; Young-Faulkner, Mitcham Rapid 07/2023.}) 5. Nf3 d6 (5... d5 $5 {At the board I found myself wondering about this move, pre-empting a Maroczy Bind, but it feels extravagant to open the position when already behind in development. Of course, White could always start with 5. c4 if this bothers him, but he has multiple routes to an advantage of which the simplest is probably} 6. O-O dxe4 7. Bxe4 Qxd1 8. Rxd1 {, and even without queens on the board Black will struggle to get his pieces out before he comes to grief. A sample line is} Bd7 9. Na3 {(heading for b5 or c4)} Nf6 10. Bc2 e6 11. Nb5 Rc8 12. Bf4 Nd5 13. Nd6+ Bxd6 14. Bxd6 $14 {, pocketing the two bishops.}) 6. h3 {It is important to start this way to rule out ...Bg4 - once White sets up the bind his main weakness is the d4 square, so Black would be delighted to trade off the f3 knight.} g6 7. O-O Bg7 8. Qe2 {Though Stockfish doesn't say anything, I think this is a slightly imprecise move order. Black's main (or only) source of counterplay in this line is to play ...BxNc3 when White is forced to recapture with the pawn, giving up on the dark squares to wreck White's structure . I knew this, and therefore waited for ...Nf6 before bringing my knight to c3, but Black can renew the idea with a subsequent ...Nd7. Therefore, the queen actually belongs on d2 and so it follows that White should start by developing the bishop.} (8. Be3 Nf6 9. c4 {Rather than castling on autopilot,} Nd7 {tests White's vigilance.} 10. Qd2 Qa5 11. Nc3 {In this case, the trade does not work so well in view of} Bxc3 12. bxc3 $14 Nde5 $6 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. Be2 {, and the knight is unable to lodge on e5. Compare this with the 9... Nd7 variation below.}) 8... Nf6 9. c4 $6 {Poor timing, for at this moment White can't conveniently protect both c3 and b2.} (9. Bd2 {is more reliable, though the bishop has little to do here and White will likely have to admit the loss of a tempo in the near future.} O-O 10. c4 Nd7 (10... Nxe4 $143 $4 {tries to exploit the hanging rook in the corner, but fails to} 11. Bxe4 Bxb2 12. Nc3 Bxa1 13. Rxa1 $18 {- Black has a notional material advantage of RPP vs BN, but his kingside will be shredded in the middlegame.}) 11. Nc3 $14 {White has successfully set up the bind, and Black has to suffer passively as in the game.}) 9... O-O $6 {Now White is able to set up his ideal Maroczy structure, without any loss of time and with the d-file clear for the king's rook.} (9... Nd7 $142 $1 {is much more alert. This time Black is well placed to meet} 10. Nc3 {with} (10. Be3 {I had seen the issue and was intending this move instead, but here} O-O 11. Rc1 f5 {gives Black good counterplay - this operation is only feasible because of White's lagging queenside development.} 12. exf5 gxf5 13. Nc3 e5 $11 {White enjoys the d5 square, and d6 has become a liability, but I would prefer Black's space and central pawn mass.}) 10... Bxc3 $1 11. bxc3 Qa5 {Black has enough play on the queenside to prevent White homing in on his weakened dark squares - for instance} 12. Bd2 Nce5 13. Nxe5 Nxe5 14. f4 (14. Bc2 $6 {White cannot evade the exchange on d3 owing to} Be6) 14... Nxd3 15. Qxd3 Bd7 16. Be3 Bc6 $11 {Stockfish considers this position level, but again I would prefer Black. With three pairs of minor pieces exchanged the danger to his king is much reduced, and castling long just to make sure isn't out of the question. White needs to find some play, otherwise his split queenside pawns will become more and more problematic.}) 10. Nc3 {(1:12)} Bd7 $6 {(1:09) Black continues to play thematic Dragon moves, however this leads to a position without any counterplay. With both c4 and e4 securely defended, neither ...Rc8 nor a later ...Bc6 can achieve much. Instead 10... Nd7 has been played in previous games, when 11. Bd2 transposes to the 9. Bd2 variation above.} 11. Rd1 Rc8 12. Be3 {In contrast to the Hedgehog above, d6 is safely covered (for now...) so the bishop belongs here rather than on f4. The main positional threat is 13. c5, which Black naturally prevents.} b6 13. Rac1 $16 Nb4 $6 {The idea of this move is to vacate the c6 square for the bishop with tempo, but since this turns out not to work it has to go down as a shot in the dark that merely wastes time - the knight is exposed here whereas the bishop is perfectly happy to drop back to b1, clearing the central files and ready to transfer onto its best diagonal after a later a2-a3. In fact, White often plays Bb1 voluntarily in this line.} 14. Bb1 Bc6 $2 {Now Black starts to get outplayed tactically as well as strategically. The bishop move is as advertised, but takes away a retreat square from the knight and creates a pin on the d-file.} (14... Nc6 $142 {As the engine has no concept of pride, it not only wants to retract Black's last move but also follow up with} 15. Qd2 Nb8 {, trying to implement the same idea more safely. Still, such a loss of time doesn't come for free and after} 16. b3 Bc6 17. Nd4 Bb7 18. f4 $16 {White dominates every sector of the board and will start to play for an attack on the enemy king.}) 15. c5 $1 {(1:04) Unexpectedly threatening to trap the knight, which is now cut off from its only retreat square on a6. The best way to break down a cramped position is to blast lines open, and this detonating charge soon causes a cave-in across Black's entire trench network.} Bb7 {(50)} 16. cxd6 exd6 17. a3 {Carefully denying Black use of the d5 square before landing the real blow, and also giving the light-squared bishop a route back into play via a2.} Nc6 18. e5 {The real point, single-mindedly opening the centre for my more active pieces. This is a dream Smith-Morra position - and, of course, without having sacrificed a pawn.} Nd7 (18... Ne8 $144 {was what I expected, when White can win forcibly by} 19. Bg5 (19. exd6 {was my intention, when Black can't recapture:} Nxd6 20. Ne4 $18) 19... Qd7 20. Ba2 $1 {, activating the last minor piece with the crunching threat of 21. e6. Stockfish tries} Nd8 {to control that square, but then} 21. exd6 Nxd6 22. Qe7 Qxe7 23. Bxe7 $18 {and White wins material.}) 19. exd6 $18 (19. e6 $142 $1 {is even more destructive, enabling White to take on d6 with the rook instead. The tactical justification shows up after} fxe6 20. Rxd6 Qe7 21. Rxe6 $1 {and Black is undone by the weak a2-g8 diagonal.} Qxe6 {(there is nothing better; if 21... Qd8 22. Rd1 and Black is hopelessly tied up)} 22. Ba2 Qxa2 23. Nxa2 $18 {White's material advantage of QP vs RB is enough to win.}) 19... Na5 20. Ba2 {(42) A good controlling move, keeping the knight out of play with a useful eye towards f7. Having caused enough trouble already, the wandering steed is soon threatened with being trapped again!} a6 {(23) Intending ...b5 and ...Nc4, but of course this is too slow and White is now ready to move in for the kill.} 21. Nd5 Kh8 (21... Bxd5 $144 {I assumed that this had to be played, at least getting rid of one attacking piece and easing the congestion on Black's queenside, however the a5 knight is dominated by the bishop and he can't avoid further material loss.} 22. Bxd5 b5 {is the obvious try, mundanely losing on material to} (22... Nb8 {is beaten most simply by} 23. Rxc8 {(for inveterate show-offs, 23. Bxf7+! also wins)} Qxc8 24. Bxb6 Nac6 25. b4 $18 {, with two pawns in the bank, the bishop pair and a monster passed pawn.}) 23. b4 Nc4 24. Bxc4 bxc4 25. Rxc4 Rxc4 26. Qxc4 $18) 22. Ne7 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 Bxf3 24. Qxf3 {Perhaps Black missed that I didn't need to keep my b-pawn under guard - if 24... Bxb2 25. Rc8 wins.} Ne5 25. Qd5 {(23)} b5 {(16) I expected 25... Qa8, when I would have taken on a8 and then on b6 with an easy win. The text move loses instantly.} 26. Rc8 Qxc8 (26... Qd7 $144 {loses to} 27. Rxf8+ {and the bishop is overloaded:} Bxf8 28. Qxe5+ {. This is worth mentioning if only because after} Bg7 {the fastest mate is the attractive} 29. Bd4 $1 $18) 27. Nxc8 Rxc8 28. d7 {Hogarth made to play 28... Rd8, but realised that I have 29. Bb6 Rxd7 30. Qa8+, and so preferred to resign. This put us 2-0 up, but alas good positions turned against us elsewhere and we went down 2.5-3.5. For me this was a nice way to bring the curtain down on my Wallington days, winning a smooth controlled game in which for once the computer has no major improvements on my play.} 1-0

Whatever my strengths and weaknesses as a player, I can't claim to be a very brilliant one – in a little over twelve years of blogging I have awarded just eight of my moves the coveted '!!' (and don't forget I still annotate everything even if I don't publish it all any more.) So it is games like this which appeal to me the most, when I play with energetic clarity. Only 15. c5! brought a touch of flair to proceedings, and I didn't calculate more than three moves ahead at any point, but see what you can build on such simple foundations – the engine has almost nothing to say, and Hogarth was steamrollered off the board without ever getting a look-in.

The game was essentially decided in the opening, as Black's chosen setup was much too passive – the fact that you can play a dozen natural moves and still have a lifeless position at the end of it is a sign to me that 3... d3?! is not the way to go against the Smith-Morra. Black made a contrived bid for counterplay with his ...Nb4/...Bc6 plan, but it's rarely good to play with floating pieces and here it met with a forceful refutation. As Tarrasch rightly said, tactics flow naturally from a superior position.

My last bow didn't do Wallington much good, as we still lost the match, but it was still very satisfying. A few days later I had even more to be pleased about, as I was able to right a longstanding wrong for the Surrey first team.