[Event "Spring League Competitors"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.04.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "T Thynne"]
[Black "A Kinder"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[EventDate "2022.04.21"]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ne4 4.Nf3 b6!? 5.a3
{It looks as though black has blundered material but}
( 5.Qd5 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Nxd2 7.Nbxd2 Nc6 {is okay for black.} )
5...Bb7 6.Bf4 Be7 7.e3 g5 8.Bg3 h5
{Objectively white is better, but black's pawns and pieces on the
kingside look threatening.}
9.h3 Nxg3 10.fxg3 d6 11.Nc3 Nd7 12.e6
{This works out well but isn't really necessary.}
( 12.Qc2 dxe5 13.O-O-O {might be better.} )
12...fxe6 13.Qd3 Rh6 14.Rd1 Nc5
{The knight becomes a target here. Simply}
( 14...Bf6 15.b4 Qe7 {followed by castling would leave white
struggling to co-ordinate his pieces.} )
15.Qc2 a5 16.Be2 Bf6 17.O-O Qe7 18.Nd4 Be5?
{A blunder.}
( 18...g4 {would leave things unclear.} )
19.Bxh5+ Rxh5 20.Qg6+ Kd7 21.Rf7 Rah8 22.Rxe7+ Kxe7 23.Rf1 R5h7 24.
Qxg5+ Ke8
{Black can only hope his kingside pressure counts for something.}
25.Qg6+ Ke7 26.Qc2
{Here }
( 26.g4 {would have made it more difficult for black to break
through.} )
26...Bxg3 27.e4 Be5 28.Nf3 Bxc3 29.Qxc3 Nxe4 30.Qd4 c5 31.Qd3 Rg7 32.
Re1 Ng5
( 32...Nd2! {would have been clearer.} 33.Qxd2 Bxf3 {and white
would have to find } 34.Rxe6+ Kxe6 35.Qe3+ Kd7 36.Qxf3 Kc7 {when
black would still have good drawing chances.} )
33.Nxg5 Rxg5 34.Re2
( 34.g4 {is correct here.} )
34...Rhg8 35.Qh7+?
{This is the last chance for 35.g4 defending from behind the
pawns. Instead Trefor plays his queen forward to pin Andrew's rook
but this is easily dealt with.}
35...R8g7 36.Qh4 Kd7 37.g4 Bf3
{This is the move Trefor missed. Now it's drawn.}
38.Rf2 Rxg4+ 39.hxg4 Rxg4+ 40.Qxg4 Bxg4 41.Rf7+ Kc6 42.Kf2 b5 43.cxb5+
Kxb5 44.Rf4 Bf5 1/2-1/2
[Event "Spring League Challengers"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.04.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "R Brenton"]
[Black "S Abdalla"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[EventDate "2022.04.21"]
1.g3 d5 2.Bg2 Nf6 3.d3 e5 4.b3 Nc6 5.Bb2 Bb4+ 6.Nd2 d4 7.a3 Be7 8.Bxc6+
bxc6 9.Ngf3 Bd6 10.Nc4 Qe7 11.Qd2 h6 12.h3 Bb7 13.Na5 Rb8 14.Nxb7 Rxb7 15.
Nh4 Qe6 16.g4 Qd5 17.Rg1 g6 18.f3 a5 19.Ng2 g5 20.h4 Rg8 21.Rf1 Nxg4 22.
hxg5 hxg5 23.Rh1
( 23.e4 {was better here as Richard will regain the pawn if it is
captured with open lines towards Suhayl's king.} 23...dxe3 24.Qe2 Nf6
25.Nxe3 Qe6 {is better for white than the position reached in the
game.} )
23...Nf6 24.O-O-O
{Now Suhayl has a clear plan of advancing his pawns on the queenside.}
24...a4 25.e4 Qb5 26.b4 c5 27.c3 dxc3 28.Bxc3 cxb4 29.axb4 Bxb4
{Black could gain powerful connected passed pawns with}
( 29...c5 30.Ne3
( 30.bxc5 {is impossible because of } 30...Qb1# )
30...cxb4 )
30.Bxb4 Qxb4 31.Qxb4 Rxb4 32.Kc2 Ke7 33.Ne3 Rgb8 34.Nc4 Ke6 35.Rdg1 Rg8
36.Ra1 g4 37.fxg4 Rxg4 38.Ne3 Rg3 39.Rhe1 Ng4 40.Nc4 Rg2+ 41.Nd2 c5 42.Ra2
Nh2 43.Kc3 Nf3 44.Rd1 Nxd2
( 44...Nd4 {putting the knight on its strongest square would leave
Richard struggling for moves.} )
45.Rdxd2 Rxd2 46.Kxd2 f5 47.exf5+ Kxf5 48.Kc2 Kf4 49.Kd2 Kf3 50.Ra3 Kf4
51.Rc3 Rb2+ 52.Kc1 Rg2 53.Rxc5 a3 54.Kb1 Rd2 55.Rc3 a2+ 56.Ka1
{The endgame is still won but now quite tricky.}
56...Ke3?
{The counter-intuitive }
( 56...Rd1+ {is the only way to force a win.} 57.Kxa2 Ke3 58.Rc5 Kd4
59.Ra5 Rxd3 {and the king and rook will be able to shepherd the e-pawn
through.} )
57.Ra3?
( 57.d4+! {would give Richard the chance to play the stalemate trick a
move earlier.} 57...Kxd4 58.Rc4+ {and there's no escape.} )
57...Kd4?
{Now Suhayl misses an easy win.}
( 57...Rxd3 58.Rxa2 Rd1+ 59.Kb2 Rd2+ 60.Kb1 Rxa2 61.Kxa2 Kd2 {and the
pawn will queen.} )
58.Ra4+ Kxd3 59.Rd4+!
{It's a draw. There is no way to evade the rook checks, and if the
rook is taken, it's immediate stalemate.}
1/2-1/2
[Event "South Hams v NA A"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2022.04.21"]
[Round "?"]
[White "A Brusey"]
[Black "S Levy"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[EventDate "2022.04.21"]
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.Bc4 Be7 6.Ng5 O-O 7.Bxf7+ Rxf7 8.
Ne6 Qe8 9.Nxc7 Qd8 10.Nxa8 b5 11.O-O Ba6 12.Re1 Qxa8
{In this line material is about level, but black gets active piece
play.}
13.f3 b4 14.Ne2 d5 15.dxe5 Bc5+ 16.Nd4 Nxe5 17.exd5 Qxd5 18.Be3
{Black's pieces look threatening - can Alan hold on?}
18...Nc4 19.c3 Nxb2 20.Qc2 Nd3 21.Red1 Qc4
( 21...Ng4! {is hard to spot but looks as though it allows black to
break through. eg} 22.fxg4 Qe4 23.Qe2 bxc3 24.Nc2 Nf4 25.Qf3 Ne2+ {and
the queen is lost.} )
22.Nf5 bxc3 23.Rab1 Nb4
( 23...Nd7 {defending b8 while attacking the knight on f5 leaves white
in big trouble.} )
24.Rd8+ Rf8 25.Rxf8+ Kxf8
( 25...Bxf8 {also forces a winning position. eg} 26.Qb3 Nfd5 27.Qxc4
Bxc4 28.Rc1 Nxa2 {and white will have to sacrifice material to stop
the c-pawn.} )
26.Qf2 Nd3 27.Qg3 Bxe3+ 28.Nxe3 Qd4 29.Rb8+ Ne8 30.Qg5 Qf4?
( 30...c2 {is the computer recommendation.} 31.Qf5+ Ke7 32.Qg5+ Nf6
33.Qxg7+ Ke6 34.Re8+ Nxe8 35.Qxd4 c1=Q+ 36.Nf1 Ne5 {winning.} )
31.Qxf4+ Nxf4 32.Kf2
{Now it's difficult to queen the pawn.}
32...Nd3+ 33.Ke2 Nb2+ 34.Ke1 Kf7 35.Ra8 Bd3 36.Rxa7+ Ke6 37.a4 Nd6 38.a5
Nb5 39.Rxg7 Nd4 40.Rc7 c2 41.Nxc2 Nxc2+ 42.Kd2
{Alan has escaped. The computer thinks he is now better, but
realistically this is hard for either side to win.}
42...Nb4 43.Rb7 Nc4+ 44.Kc3 Nxa5 45.Rxb4 Bf1 46.g3 Nc6 47.Rh4 Bg2 48.Rh6+
Kd5 49.Rxh7 Bxf3 50.Rf7 Ne5 51.Rf8 Bg4 52.Rf4 Ke6 53.h4 Bf5 54.Kd4 Ng4 55.
Rf1 Kf6 56.Ra1 Ne5 57.Ra6+ Be6 58.Ke4 Ng4 59.Kf4 Ne5 60.h5 Nd3+ 61.Ke4 Ne5
{Neither side can make progress. A battling performance from Alan
which ensured the match was drawn - this allowed Newton Abbot teams to
claim the top two positions in Division 1.}
1/2-1/2