A Short sharp shock

Along with continuing my abstinence from weekday evening league games, the other prong of my assault on the new season has been a return to the 4NCL. Games at a long control with time to prepare tend to bring out the best in me, and some of my best results have come in this arena, so after a year off I felt eager to return. With the KJCA Kings now disbanded, I decided to set up an Epsom team, conveniently keeping me in touch with my old Surrey club. Even though we have to start at the bottom of the ladder, on top board I don't expect the opposition to be much weaker than the Division 2 days of old.

The opening two rounds were played this last weekend. On the Saturday we were drawn against the division minnows and barely needed two hours to post a 6-0 win - suffice to say that I outrated my opponent by over 650 points. Our campaign began in earnest on Sunday against Watford. Although the average ratings were almost identical, our advantage was all on the top and tail, with the middle four boards favouring our opponents. So my game on board one against 1978-rated Omowale Nelson had even more talismanic value than usual, and really was a must-win encounter for the team. As a marker of Epsom's entry to the league, and my return, it was therefore extremely satisfying to score what proved to be a decisive point, and in the way I know best:

[Event "4NCL Div. 4"] [Site "?"] [Date "2024.11.10"] [Round "2.1"] [White "Young, Daniel J"] [Black "Nelson, Omowale A"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [WhiteElo "2049"] [BlackElo "1972"] [Annotator "Young,Daniel J"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2024.??.??"] [WhiteTeam "Epsom"] [BlackTeam "Watford A"] {After a gentle start, Epsom's 4NCL adventure now began for real. Though I had White and a rating advantage on top board, we were outrated elsewhere so this was an especially important game for the team. Time control: 40 moves in 90 minutes + 30 minutes to completion + 30 seconds/move.} 1. e4 {(1:30)} c6 {(1:30)} 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 {Having prepared overnight, I decided that the best approach was to give full-scale battle in the opening, and the Short Attack was my chosen battlefield. I still don't know how Black equalises, and I took Nelson's constant rotation of lines against it to mean that he doesn't know either. However, he consistently prefers to break with ...c5 quite quickly, after which the game becomes more concrete - and we would see if the depth of his knowledge measured up to its breadth.} c5 {Sure enough, he chooses the most ambitious line. However it is also the riskiest one, since Black opens the position whilst behind in development.} 6. Be3 Qb6 {(for 6... cxd4 see Young-Banerjee, Kingston Invitational 2024)} 7. Nc3 Nc6 8. O-O {This is all heavy-duty theory, and I accordingly blitzed it out. Perhaps my opponent was unnerved by this, for he now thought for a quarter-hour before playing} c4 $6 {, a known move which answers White's threat of 9. dxc5 (9... Bxc5 10. Na4) but also releases Black's pressure on the centre, leaving him with little to show for White's space and development. And if he was hoping to get me out of book then he was about to be disappointed, since I already faced this move in Young-Kadambadi, LJCC Open 2017.} (8... Qxb2 $142 {It is of course very difficult to grab a poisoned pawn when your opponent is still in their preparation, but that was the responsibility Black accepted with his fifth move.} 9. Qe1 {Now there are two main moves. The more popular one is} cxd4 {, which seems to have been worked out. The main line continues} (9... c4 {is more critical, but in the end I think it is inferior. Proving the point isn't easy though - what follows is a heavily abridged version of my analysis, but it probably won't feel like it!} 10. Rb1 Qa3 $5 {Leading to unfathomable complications. Black keeps his queen, instead offering up the rook on a8.} (10... Qxc2 {is actually tried most often, giving up the queen for a bundle of wood, but Black's results have been miserable. A queen is very powerful in a disorganised position, and} 11. Bd1 Qxb1 12. Nxb1 Bxb1 13. Ba4 Bd3 14. Qa5 {immediately seeks to invade (14... Bxf1 15. Qc7). Best is} Kd7 {, but} 15. Rd1 $16 Nge7 (15... Bg6 {The bishop can retreat, but then} 16. Bxc6+ Kxc6 17. Nd2 {comes with the unstoppable threat of Nxc4 followed by d4-d5+.}) 16. Rxd3 $1 cxd3 17. Ng5 {, and Black's king can't defend f7 and c7 alone.}) 11. Nb5 Qa4 12. Nc7+ Kd7 13. Nxa8 {Black counts on rounding up the knight, when he will have at least one pawn for the exchange and can start pushing his queenside foot soldiers down the board. White finds it difficult to funnel his material advantage to the neighbourhood of Black's king, but with extreme measures I believe he can prove an advantage.} Kc8 (13... b5 {has been faced by both Anand and Grischuk. It tries to keep the position closed, but actually has the opposite effect since White has the stunning} 14. Bxc4 $3 $146 {. Now White wins quickly after 14... bxc4 15. Rb7 or 14... dxc4 15. d5+, so the best defence is} Qxc4 {, which gives White time to redeploy his forces to the queenside.} 15. Nd2 Qa4 16. Qe2 Bb4 {White now opens the b-file with absolute single-mindedness:} 17. a3 Bxd2 18. Rxb5 Bxe3 19. fxe3 Nge7 20. Rb7+ Kd8 {Or 20... Kc8 21. Rfb1. The upshot of it all is that White improbably rescues his knight with} 21. Nc7 Kc8 22. Na6 $1 $16 {thanks to the threatened fork on c5. White has a rook and pawn for two pieces, but Black's rook is not playing and his king is in peril.}) 14. Bd1 $146 {White has been willing to offer an exchange with 14. c3 in previous games, restoring communications with the queenside, but I prefer this preparatory move, also defending c2. Amusingly, White wants to force Black to grab his queenside pawns!} Qxa2 15. Be2 Qxc2 16. Rc1 Qb3 {(or 16... Qa4 17. Nb6+! leads to a decisive invasion on a8, illustrating why losing the a-pawn was useful)} 17. Nd2 {Now if the queen retreats, White will sacrifice a piece on c4 in the near future to blast the centre open. Black's best defence is} Bb4 18. Nxb3 Bxe1 {but in this remarkable position White keeps up the initiative by not recapturing, and after} 19. g4 Bg6 20. f4 $1 Nge7 21. f5 exf5 22. Bg5 $3 {, still putting activity over material. Now if Black takes on b3 the c6 knight is pinned so White can take on e7. The strangest continuation is} Kb8 (22... Bb4 23. Bxe7 Nxe7 {does not save Black because of} 24. Bxc4 dxc4 25. Rxc4+ Kb8 26. Nb6 axb6 27. Rxb4 {, since the exchange is much stronger than two pawns in this open position.} Nd5 28. Rb5 Rd8 29. gxf5 $16) 23. Rfxe1 cxb3 24. Nc7 fxg4 25. Nb5 b2 26. Rb1 Bxb1 27. Rxb1 $16 {, and from a position where White was a full rook up he now has two bishops against a knight and five pawns. However, those pawns are scattered will soon start to disappear. Now, is this position ever going to appear in a real game? Probably not. But I think it has instructional value, because it shows the lengths White should be prepared to go to in opening the position after the ambitious but ultimately flawed rook sacrifice.}) 10. Bxd4 Nxd4 11. Nxd4 Bb4 {. In my notes to the Kadambadi game I suggested that} 12. Rb1 {may be a more practical alternative to 12. Ndb5, which was then in vogue on the back of Caruana-Vachier-Lagrave, Sinquefield Cup 2014. Sure enough, White has started to make an impression after} Bxc3 13. Rxb2 Bxe1 14. Rxe1 b6 15. h4 h5 16. Nxf5 exf5 17. c4 $14 {. White is a (doubled) pawn down, but his minor piece is more active than its counterpart, and his rooks even more so. Even so this is as good a position I've found for Black anywhere in the Short Attack.}) 9. Rb1 {Black's last move was enough of a concession that White no longer minds modestly defending his b-pawn.} Qa5 {This was new to me - in the aforementioned game, Kadambadi preferred 9... Bb4. It is tactically well-justified, and turns out to be the most-played move, but even so it is another step with the queen in lieu of developing...} (9... Bb4 {I played the same way as in the feature game with} 10. Nh4 {, however there is a more forcing alternative which 9... Qa5 is intended to prevent:} (10. Bxc4 $142 $1 dxc4 11. d5 {when the discovered attack on Black's queen favourably regains the piece, for example} Qd8 12. dxc6 Qxd1 13. Rfxd1 bxc6 14. Ne1 $16 {, defending c2. Black's pair of bishops does not fully compensate for his broken queenside and lack of development, and in fact for those reasons it is actually White who welcomes the open nature of the position.}) 10... Nge7 $2 {Just as in the main game, 10... Bg6 is obligatory.} 11. g4 Bg6 12. f4 f5 13. exf6 gxf6 14. f5 {Black's best hope of fighting on is 14... exf5, for which see below. Instead Kadambadi decided to accept the loss of a pawn with} Bf7 15. fxe6 Bxe6 16. Rxf6 $18 {, and I went on to win.}) 10. Nh4 {(1:29)} Nge7 $2 {(59) This is essentially the losing move. The wish to develop is understandable, but allowing me to play my next two moves with tempo grants an unstoppable initiative.} (10... Bg6 $142 {allows Black to meet} 11. f4 {(still White's best, in my opinion) with} Be7 {provoking exchanges. That said,} 12. Nxg6 hxg6 13. Bf3 Nh6 14. g4 $14 {(Hartikainen-Kiltti, Finnish Ch. 2009) is pleasant for White. If Black castles short then f4-f5 is bound to follow, but if he tries going long then b2-b3 will likewise not be long in coming.}) 11. g4 Bg6 12. f4 {White can take such liberties with his king because Black helpfully closed the centre on move 8. The f-pawn cannot be held back, and Black now has to make concessions in order to rescue the bishop.} f5 {Still following my earlier game. This blockade is a mirage, but 12... h6 can't please Black either.} (12... h6 $144 {White has an extensive menu of good options to choose from, but the direct approach works well enough.} 13. Nxg6 Nxg6 14. f5 Ngxe5 {This tempting sacrifice, giving up a piece to destroy White's centre, is what turns the engine off for a while, but it ultimately doesn't work because of the accurate} (14... Nh4 {seems to be the relatively best, however} 15. Bf2 g5 16. a3 O-O-O 17. Qd2 $16 {, preparing b2-b4, looks horrible for Black, who has all the downsides of a misplayed Winawer without inflicting any of the upsides on White. The knight on h4 contributes nothing, and as soon as the game opens up Black will be torn to ribbons by White's pair of bishops.}) 15. fxe6 $1 {(a crucial intermezzo)} fxe6 16. dxe5 d4 17. b4 $1 {A decoy sacrifice to open the b-file and remove Black's bishop from the board.} Bxb4 (17... cxb3 18. Bf3 {White makes no attempt to save the piece and just develops as actively as possible, trusting in a development advantage on an open board. After, say,} dxc3 19. Bxc6+ bxc6 20. Qf3 $18 {Black's king is stranded and two extra pawns help him not at all}) 18. Ne4 dxe3 {Now the fun starts.} 19. Rxb4 $1 Rd8 {A clever attempt to stop Nd6+, but...} 20. Qd6 $3 {Now it becomes clear why fxe6 had to be inserted at the start of this variation. Now if Black takes the queen then after Nxd6+ and Rxb7+ he is caught in a mating net, whereas} Qxb4 21. Qxe6+ Qe7 22. Qg6+ Kd7 23. Rf7 {wins material. A long and unlikely variation, but I make no apologies for including it.}) 13. exf6 gxf6 14. f5 exf5 15. gxf5 {(1:26)} Bf7 {(44) I was bemused by Nelson spending 10 minutes on this move, since the bishop has no other square, but actually things are already so bad that Stockfish prefers to castle. Now White is able to take that option away, leaving Black's king stuck in the centre of a disorganised and undeveloped position.} 16. Bh5 $18 Bxh5 17. Qxh5+ Kd7 {Only here, finally, did I start thinking, with a winning position and almost an hour in hand on the clock. I'd been warning my teammates over dinner the night before that 4NCL opponents will be well prepared... if they didn't believe me before, they certainly did now!} 18. Qf7 {Going after the e6 square as much as the f-pawn. As the game continuation shows, this is a half-bluff, but Black can only call it by retreating yet another piece to the back rank.} Nd8 19. Qh5 $5 {I preferred keeping control to taking the f-pawn, which would help Black to activate his kingside pieces.} (19. Qxf6 $144 {Greed was equally good on this occasion. After} Bg7 (19... Rg8+ 20. Ng2 {frees h4 for the queen's retreat}) 20. Qg5 Rg8 {Black seems to have more counterplay than he deserves, but} 21. Kh1 Bxd4 22. Qf4 Bf6 23. Rbd1 $18 {nips it in the bud. Material is equal, but since the centre is collapsing around Black's king, his achievements end there.}) 19... h6 20. Kh1 {(1:16) This is an important consolidating move, pre-empting any tactics along the g-file. The king is safe here in the absence of Black's light-squared bishop (or, indeed, any active enemy pieces at all) and White can now return to hunting his prey without distractions. The main target is the backward pawn on d5.} Rh7 {(16)} 21. Ng6 {Intending Nf4 and Qf3 with a triple attack on d5, and also gaining a tempo on the hanging bishop.} Nf7 22. Qf3 $6 {As planned, but this move rests on a miscalculation. Thankfully White's position is so good that this is a long way from spoiling anything, and as things turn out it induces a move which brings the end a lot closer.} (22. Ne5+ $142 {is the stylish route to the goal suggested by the engine. Black's problem is his undefended rook on h7.} fxe5 (22... Nxe5 23. dxe5 {and the pawns crash through, for instance} Rd8 24. exf6 Nc6 25. Qg6 $18) (22... Ke8 23. Nxf7 Rxf7 24. Rbe1 $18 {disables most of Black's army (especially given he can't castle!)}) 23. f6 Nc6 24. Qf5+ $18) 22... Kc6 $6 {Black hopes to make a virtue of his 'active' king and secure the d5 point, but this Steinitzian defence is elegantly refuted.} (22... Ng5 $142 {is a better practical try. White remains well on top, but he should play the patient} 23. Qe2 {, preventing ...Ne4 since the trade of knights would now overload Black's d-pawn.} (23. Bxg5 $143 {I had noticed that I could win a pawn with} hxg5 24. Nxe7 $4 {, but this felt a bit cheap and hopefully I would have realised that} Bxe7 25. Qxd5+ Qxd5+ 26. Nxd5 Kc6 {doesn't promise any advantage, because in the endgame Black's centralised king really is transformed into a strength.} 27. Nxe7+ Rxe7 28. Rbe1 Rae8 $44 {With the e-file in his grasp, Black is in no danger here despite the pawn deficit.}) 23... Rd8 {Only now would the time be ripe for} 24. Bxg5 hxg5 25. Qe6+ Kc7 26. Qxf6 $18 {, winning a pawn and now also preserving White's dynamic advantages.}) 23. b4 $1 {The signal for the attack! Either Black's queen is driven offside, and my b-pawn included in the assault, or the b-file is opened for my rooks.} cxb3 {This choice at least gives us the oddity of two en passant captures in the same game, one for each side. 23... Qd8 24. Nxe7+ would tee up much the same finish.} 24. Rxb3 Nd6 {Scrambling reinforcements to the queenside, but... too late.} (24... Rd8 $144 {I intended to answer the direct defence of d5 with} 25. Rb5 $1 {, and if} Qxc3 26. Rc5+ {wins material.} Qxc5 27. dxc5 $18) 25. Nxe7+ {(59)} Rxe7 {(9) Taking with the bishop would not change anything. Now White has a winning shot.} 26. Nxd5 $1 Qxd5 {I got the impression from Nelson's body language that he knew what was coming, but there was no good defence.} 27. Rc3+ Nc4 28. Rxc4+ {Black resigned here, as if 28... Kd6 29. Bf4+ wins. This marked my first ever 2/2 4NCL weekend, and it was very useful to my team since we won the match 3.5-2.5. On this occasion I really did lead from the front!} 1-0

My teammates started the weekend with next to no 4NCL experience between them. As such I had been at pains to emphasise that the standard of preparation is much higher, and I knew whereof I spoke. This was a win in the good old serve-and-volley style, in which I landed a 17-move first serve and then just had to put away an easy winner at the net (26. Nxd5!). I had set the stage for that combination to fall into my lap because I did the hard work seven years ago. There really isn't much more of a lesson in this game than that: if you are going to take on a critical opening like the Short Attack, and your opponent has had a chance to prepare, you need to do your homework as well. By the same token, whilst learning the main lines can be a daunting prospect, the effort is ultimately repaid with economical wins like this one.

Winning both of our opening matches was more than I had hoped for, but our division is a Swiss so no doubt we will pay for our sins in the January weekend. For now though, this game stands as a nice memento.