Hello all,
Brighton & Hove 1 Hastings 1
Julien Carron a – a Nicolas Varley (w)
Callum Brewer 0 – 1 Francis Rayner
Geoff James 0.5 0.5 Ollie Willson
Mikolaj Rogacewicz 0.5 – 0.5 John Sugden
Paul Batchelor 0.5 – 0.5 Howard Tebbs
1.5 – 2.5
Both teams had strong sides for this top of the table clash so a close match was to be expected. John had a solid draw and Francis had a nice mating attack when his opponent over-pressed, However three games were still unfinished at the time control. Ollie had a small edge throughout but we will need to look at the final position to see if there are any winning chances. I pressed hard and missed a win at one point but have adjourned in a position which the computer seems to hold despite me still having the advantage. So it is likely that Nicolas’s game will decide whether we win the match and with it the Division 1 championship. Both players have g and h pawns in a queen and pawn ending but his opponent has an additional pawn on the queenside. The additional pawn is not very far advanced so it looks to be very difficult for his opponent to make progress without allowing perpetual checks but we will have to see.
Would Nicolas and Ollie please provide us with copies of their positions so that can have a look.
Thanks again to John for driving and eventually finding somewhere to park.
Regards,
Howard
[
[Date “2018.03.22”]
[
[White “Varley, Nicolas”]
[Black “Carron, Julien”]
[
[WhiteElo “2111”]
[BlackElo “2363”]
[P
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. e4 h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. Nc3 Bb4 6. e5 {Other moves are
possible, but this pre-empts …d6} Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 Qe7 8. Bd3 d6 9. f4 b6 $6 10.
Qf3 c6 11. Qg3 g6 ({The engine likes} 11… O-O {for Black, but it’s
understandable why my opponent was reluctant to go for this:} 12. Qe3 d5 13.
Nf3 c5 14. g4 $36 {looks like a strong attack, irrespective of the engine
evaluation.}) 12. Nf3 (12. exd6 $5 {I really should have opened the position
while I still had the chance.} Qxd6 13. Nf3 Ba6 14. Ne5 (14. Bxa6 Nxa6 15. O-O
Nc7 16. c4 $14 {is also possible.}) 14… Bxd3 15. Qxd3 Nd7 16. O-O $14) 12…
Ba6 13. O-O d5 14. a4 Bxd3 15. cxd3 O-O 16. Nd2 $2 {As the game demonstrated,
White’s play was not on the queenside.} (16. h4 h5 17. f5 $1 {I didn’t
appreciate just how strong this move was during the game.} exf5 18. Rae1 $1 $18
) 16… Kh7 17. a5 Nd7 18. Rfb1 Rfc8 19. Qe1 c5 20. axb6 $6 {I had incorrectly
assumed I was seizing the a-file after subsequent play.} axb6 21. Nf3 cxd4 22.
Nxd4 Qc5 23. Rxa8 Rxa8 24. Ra1 Ra3 $1 $15 25. Rxa3 (25. Rc1 $2 b5 $1 {is
extremely unpleasant.}) 25… Qxa3 26. Nb5 (26. Kf2 $5) 26… Qc5+ 27. Nd4 Qa5
28. Nc6 $2 (28. h3 $1 Nc5 29. Qh4 Qxc3 30. Qf6 $3 {is a brilliant saving
resource:} Qa1+ 31. Kh2 Qa7 32. Qd8 $1 Nxd3 33. Qf8 $1 {and Black cannot
prevent Nb5-d6 without allowing a perpetual.}) 28… Qc5+ 29. Nd4 Qa3 30. Nb5
Qb2 $19 31. c4 Nc5 32. Qf1 Qd2 $2 (32… Qb3 $1) 33. cxd5 exd5 34. d4 Ne6 $2
35. f5 Nf4 36. fxg6+ fxg6 37. g3 $2 {Played too quickly.} Qe3+ 38. Kh1 Qe4+ 39.
Kg1 Ne2+ 40. Kf2 Nxd4 41. Nxd4 Qxd4+ 42. Kg2 Qe4+ 43. Kg1 Qe3+ (43… Qf5 {was
probably a better try, but} 44. Qa1 {looks like a good reply.}) 44. Kg2 Qxe5
45. Qf7+ Qg7 46. Qxd5 Qc7