07/03/2012 - C.Sreeves vs A.Burnett

[Clement Sreeves]

24.e5

[andyburnett]

[pgn]1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. e4 h5 7. h4 Nd4 8. Nce2 Ne6 9. Nf3 Nf6 10. O-O a5 11. b3 O-O 12. a3 c6 13. Bb2 c5 14. Bc3 Nd4 15. Nexd4 exd4 16. Bd2 Ng4 17. b4 axb4 18. axb4 Rxa1 19. Qxa1 f5 20. Ng5 Ne5 21. Qa3 Qe7 22. bxc5 dxc5 23. f4 Ng4 24.e5 Bh6[/pgn]

Spoiler here>> Following the plan outlined in the previous note <<Spoiler here

[Clement Sreeves]

1.c4 e5
2.g3 Nc6
3.Nc3 g6
4.Bg2 Bg7
5.d3 d6
6.e4 h5
7.h4 Nd4
8.Nce2 Ne6
9.Nf3 Nf6
10.0-0 a5
11.b3 0-0
12.a3 c6
13.Bb2 c5
14.Bc3 Nd4
15.Nexd4 exd4
16.Bd2 Ng4
17.b4 axb4
18.axb4 Rxa1
19.Qxa1 f5
20.Ng5 Ne5
21.Qa3 Qe7
22.bxc5 dxc5
23.f4 Ng4
24.e5 Bh6
25.Bd5+



Spoiler here>> OK, so everything according to plan so far. Now with Bh6, I can see he is trying to get some counterplay- let's say after the natural 25.Rb1 Bxg5 26.hxg5 h4!?, there could be some annoying tricks to watch out for. 27.gxh4 Qh7 To be honest, I think I would still be completely winning in this line, but it would be terrible to give him any counterplay if it is avoidable. Also he would be getting rid of his terrible bishop. Instead I have found a much simpler solution: 25.Bd5+ Kh8 (Kg7 would block to the queen's route to h7) 26.Nf3! Sure, my knight is not so active anymore, but Black just has 0 counterplay here. If he ever goes Ne3 I can just take and pick up that pawn at any time. Otherwise I'm just going Rb1-b5 and it's game over. <<Spoiler here

[andyburnett]

[pgn]1.c4 e5
2.g3 Nc6
3.Nc3 g6
4.Bg2 Bg7
5.d3 d6
6.e4 h5
7.h4 Nd4
8.Nce2 Ne6
9.Nf3 Nf6
10.0-0 a5
11.b3 0-0
12.a3 c6
13.Bb2 c5
14.Bc3 Nd4
15.Nexd4 exd4
16.Bd2 Ng4
17.b4 axb4
18.axb4 Rxa1
19.Qxa1 f5
20.Ng5 Ne5
21.Qa3 Qe7
22.bxc5 dxc5
23.f4 Ng4
24.e5 Bh6
25.Bd5+ Kg7[/pgn]

Spoiler here>> Not a great deal of choice here 25...Kh8 just looks wrong. In fact, I'm simply lost regardless of where the king goes to.
Clement will just retreat the knight to f3 and keep it there. This stops any counterplay I might hope for. Then he plays Rb1-b6, Ba5 if my rook comes to c7 as I had planned, and then I am completely stuck for moves. He will zugzwang me into losing either b7 or c5 (or b6 if the pawn goes there) and it's game over.
I might hope for a mistake in an OTB game, but I doubt if Clement will miss this simple approach. Hmmm, he has played this well whereas I, as per usual, have combined some good ideas with my normal ropey decision-making! <<Spoiler here

[Clement Sreeves]

1.c4 e5
2.g3 Nc6
3.Nc3 g6
4.Bg2 Bg7
5.d3 d6
6.e4 h5
7.h4 Nd4
8.Nce2 Ne6
9.Nf3 Nf6
10.0-0 a5
11.b3 0-0
12.a3 c6
13.Bb2 c5
14.Bc3 Nd4
15.Nexd4 exd4
16.Bd2 Ng4
17.b4 axb4
18.axb4 Rxa1
19.Qxa1 f5
20.Ng5 Ne5
21.Qa3 Qe7
22.bxc5 dxc5
23.f4 Ng4
24.e5 Bh6
25.Bd5+ Kg7
26.Nf3



Spoiler here>> Slightly unexpected, but it makes no difference to my plan. Between writing my last post and now I also realised that I'm threatening Nxd4. An added bonus! <<Spoiler here

[andyburnett]

[pgn]1.c4 e5
2.g3 Nc6
3.Nc3 g6
4.Bg2 Bg7
5.d3 d6
6.e4 h5
7.h4 Nd4
8.Nce2 Ne6
9.Nf3 Nf6
10.0-0 a5
11.b3 0-0
12.a3 c6
13.Bb2 c5
14.Bc3 Nd4
15.Nexd4 exd4
16.Bd2 Ng4
17.b4 axb4
18.axb4 Rxa1
19.Qxa1 f5
20.Ng5 Ne5
21.Qa3 Qe7
22.bxc5 dxc5
23.f4 Ng4
24.e5 Bh6
25.Bd5+ Kg7
26.Nf3 Be6[/pgn]

Spoiler here>> Well, my ...Kg7 last move was pretty rubbish! I needed to have the option of ...Bf8 (helping to defend c5) to prolong matters. Now I can't really see any defence to Rb1-b5 and my q-side falls apart. But, a desperate drowning man will clutch at straws (or something of that sort!) so...how about this outlandish variation?!
26...Be6 27.Bxe6 Qxe6 28.Qxc5 Rc8 29.Qxd4 Kh8 30.Qb2 Bf8 31.Ng5 Bc5+ 32.d4 Qxc4 33.dxc5 Qxc5+ 34.Kg2 Qd5+ 35.Kh3 Nf2+ 36.Rxf2 Qh1+ 37.Rh2 Qf1+ 38.Rg2 Qh1+ with a draw Ok, he blocks on f3 with the knight (or comes up with something better much earlier! 27.Rb1 for example-deviations on the first move are so annoying!) but still, it's something!?
26...b6 looks like a slow death. It will fall, the queens will come off and the e-pawn will win the day
26...Rd8 27. Rb1 Kh8 28.Rb5 Bf8 29.Ng5 looks terminal too, so....
26...Be6 and hope Clement forgets how to play chess in the next day or 2! <<Spoiler here

[Clement Sreeves]

Woops sorry, didn't realise it was my move!

27.Bxe6

[andyburnett]

27...Qxe6 obviously forced.
[pgn]1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Bg2 Bg7 5. d3 d6 6. e4 h5 7. h4 Nd4 8. Nce2 Ne6 9. Nf3 Nf6 10. O-O a5 11. b3 O-O 12. a3 c6 13. Bb2 c5 14. Bc3 Nd4 15. Nexd4 exd4 16. Bd2 Ng4 17. b4 axb4 18. axb4 Rxa1 19. Qxa1 f5 20. Ng5 Ne5 21. Qa3 Qe7 22. bxc5 dxc5 23. f4 Ng4 24. e5 Bh6 25. Bd5 Kg7 26. Nf3 Be6 27. Bxe6 Qxe6[/pgn]

[Clement Sreeves]

28.Qxc5

[Clement Sreeves]

Spoiler here>> All the pawns are dropping off now, to be honest I'm not sure why the game is still going on :S <<Spoiler here