Ginger GM

Amersham Open: Part 2

In the 3rd round I was paired against Hans Richter, a player I had not faced before and the game was a real mess, with pieces flying about all over the place. The game could have gone either way at many moments and I felt very relieved when my opponent put out his hand to give me the game, this was followed by a lively bit of analysis where we decided it was a better idea to have a cigarette then try to work out what was going on!                       

Simon.Williams vs Hans Richter

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 e6 5 Bg5

The most aggressive option which normally leads to lively play. As I have stated before I enjoy playing these positions as White can often sacrifice a pawn in return for active play. 5…dxc4!? The sharpest option, Black enters the Botvinnik variation which is extremely complicated. I was inspired by my opponents opening and even decided to play it in the next game, as Black! 6 e4 b5 7 e5 h6 8 Bh4 g5 9 Bg3 This is slightly unusual, 9 Nxg5 is the main option. 9…Nd5 10 Nd2 Qb6 11 Nde4 Nd7 12 Be2 Bb7 13 a4 a6!

Previously Stephen Gordon had played 13…a5 against me at Hastings but I believe that this pawn move is better as it supports the b5 pawn which makes Black’s main pawn break, …c5, easier to achieve. 14 h4? I have always wondered why White has not played this move in this position and I found out why here! gxh4! 15 Bxh4 Understandable I wanted to stop Black from castling queenside but in hindsight this is inferior to 15 Rxh4 because of Black’s reply.

15…Nf4! A logical and strong move which makes a farce of my plan! 16 Bg3 I was struggling to find a plan as 16 Bf3 allows 16…Nd3+ which is very strong. Strangely 16 Bf1 may be the best move. 16…Ne2 My main problem is that after …c5 Black’s light squared bishop will be a very strong piece, as now I have no bishop to contest it. 17 Qxe2 0-0-0 I was hoping for 17…Qxd4 which is a bit greedy due to 18 Rd1 Qb6 19 Bh4 and Black’s king is stuck in no mans land. 18 0-0 c5 19 axb5 axb5

This is a critical moment and I was not happy with my position. I took a quick glance at the variation 20 dxc5 Nxc5 21 Nxc5 Bxc5 and Black plays 22…Qc6 next. Which was a very unappetising thought. For this reason I started searching for a way to complicate matters and fortunately I came across  an interesting idea. 20 Rfc1!?

My idea was to meet 20…cxd4 with 21 Nxb5 when I might be able to drum up an attack, for example, 21…Qxb5 22 Rxc4+ Bc6 (22 Kb8 Rc8+! wins Black’s queen) 23 Qc2 and White has some compensation but I doubt it is enough. 20…Rg8 was another useful move that Black should have considered. 20…Kb8? This was too wet, Black should have taken up the gauntlet! 21 d5! And now I should be better as Black has not been able to free his pieces but Black fights back into the game. 21…Rg8 22 Rd1 Rxg3!?

An interesting decision! Black shows a lack of respect for material but decides that White’s bishop is stronger then his rook. I have to admit that this took me by surprise, it is a brave choice and fits in well with Black’s plan of going for the most complicated variation! 23 Nxg3 b4 24 Na4 Qb5 25 dxe6 As I have an extra rook, it makes sense to open up files for it to move along. 25…fxe6 26 Ne4 Be7 27 Nd6 Qc6 28 Nxb7 Kxb7

I was feeling very happy around here, as I have managed to swap off Black’s strong bishop on b7. The problem is, what do I do now? After a long think I decided on a fairly risky plan. 29 b3!? I played this in order to re-route my knight on a4, via b2 then c4, even at the cost of a pawn. Another idea was 29 Qh5 planning 30 Qf7. 29…Rg8 30 f3 c3 A tricky decision for Black but I would have chosen this move as well. The other choice 30…cxb3 hands me the initiative after 31 Nb2.

31 Kh1 I could have also played 31 Nxc3 with the probable result being a draw, for example, 31…bxc3 32 Rxd7+ Qxd7 33 Qa6+ Kc7 34 Qa7+ Kc8 35 Qa8+ Kc7 and what does White do here? Maybe I should take the draw as there is no clear continuation. 31…c4! Trying to create 2 dangerous passed pawns. 32 Qe3! Creating some threats against Black’s king. 32…c2

Only one option sprang to mind here. 33 Rxd7+!? Qxd7 34 Qb6+ Kc8

35 Nb2 I should have played 35 Nc3! which I saw but I had missed 35…c1=Q+ 36 Rxc1 bxc3 37 Ra1! with an easy win. 35…c1=Q+ 36 Rxc1 c3 37 Ra1 Qd5 38 Nc4

38…Rg5! A very good move. Black threatens a nasty check on h5, the rook also moves away from a possible queen fork on e6. 39 Ne3! The only way to play for a win. 39…Rh5+? This is a mistake as the rook is unstable on g5. Black should have played 39…Bc5! with an unclear game. White has a draw at minimum after 40 Ra8+ but it is not clear whether there is more. 40 Kg1 Bc5

Things look pretty bad but I had a counter strike up my sleeve. 41 Ra8+! I should be winning after this. 41…Qxa8 42 Qxc5+

Black has 3 big problems: His queen on a8, rook on h5 and king. 42…Kb7 43 Qxb4 With a series of checks I am able to capture 3 pawns and bring my knight into the game, a very good deal! 43…Ka7 44 Qc5+ Kb7 45 Qe7+ Kb6 46 Nc4+ Kb5 47 Na3+ Ka5 48 Qc5+ Ka6 49 Qd6+ Kb7 50 Qb4+ Kc7 51 Nb5+ Kb6 52 Nxc3+ Kc7 53 Nb5+ Kb6 54 Nd4+ 1-0.

As you can see things could have gone either way so I was relieved to have won the game. It was a sunny afternoon/evening as you can see from the following picture.

It is always nice to relax in the evening with maximum points. Around this point in the bar myself, Mark Hebden, Keith Arkell and Alan Walton were challenged to a 5 a side game of football by a group of Northern chess players, to be played the next day, Sunday at 8pm. Now it did seem like a good idea at the time, as most things are after a couple of jars but it seemed like the worse idea in the world the next day when we were all struggling with tiredness and hangovers.

To cut a long story short on Sunday we bottled it and decided to stay in the bar instead. It would have been great to have seen us all struggle on the pitch, but the amount of GMs dropping from heart attacks and lung failures would have ended the tournament.

The biggest challenge on paper was to come the next day, as I was faced against Mark Hebden in the morning and Keith Arkell in the afternoon. I had decided the night before what variation I was going to try against Mark, it was rather a gamble as the line is known to be bad for Black but it is very complicated and Mark had only just started playing the opening. I was hoping that he had not had a chance to learn all the variations which went with it.

As you can tell from the picture it is clear that it was a morning game…

Mark Hebden vs Simon Williams

1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 d5 3 c4 e6 4 Bg5 dxc4 5 Nc3 c6 6 e4 b5 7 e5 h6 8 Bh4 g5 9 Nxg5 Nd5!?

An old move which has not been played at the highest level for a long time. Black sacrifices the exchange in order to get an active and messy position. 10 Nxf7 Mark bravely takes up the challenge. 10…Qxh4 11 Nxh8 Bb4

The main move here is 12 Rc1 which is meant to be good for White. I wont tell you what I had planned here just in case I decide to wheel out this variation again! I was happy here as Mark took a long time to pick 12 Qd2 which was a sign he was out of his preparation. 12 Qd2 c5! I must play actively. 13 dxc5 Around here Mark really should have castled queenside with a complicated game. 13…Nd7 14 Be2 Nxe5

Black’s pieces are gaining some very good squares. I only need to get my light squared bishop into the game and White will really be struggling. 15 0-0? A bad decision, the White king walks straight into the attack. 15…Bb7

The main threat here is 16…Nf4 with 17…Qh3!! to follow, for example 16 Rad1 Nf4 17 a3?! Qh3!!

When White can not stop mate. A nice variation. 16 f4 White understandable tries to stop 16…Nf4. The only problem with this move is that White has weakened his dark squares and I can now bring another piece into the attack. 16…Bxc5+ 17 Kh1

17…Ne3! 17…Be3 was also very strong, for example, 18 Qe1 Nxf4! 19 Qxh4 Bxg2++ 18 Bf3 White’s position is already hopeless, for example, 18 fxe5 Bxg2+ 19 Kg1 Nxf1+ 20 Kxg2 Qxh2+! and I can capture White’s queen at will.

18…N3g4 and Mark resigned as he can not stop mate. a) 19 g3 Nxf3 20 Qg2 Qxh2+ 21 Qxh2 Nfxh2+ 22 Rf3 Bxf3++ b) 19 h3 Qg3 20 hxg4 Qh4++

A tough game for Mark but it is good to see him playing main lines as this will obviously help him out in the long run. He was really just tricked in the opening. I was surprised to find out afterwards that the whole game had been played before except that in the previous game White had played 18 Rf3 instead of 18 Bf3.

I was obviously very happy with the result but I felt a tad sad for Mark (only a tad mind you!) as it is never nice losing in such a manner. This result put me in great shape and when Keith offered me a quick draw and drink of whisky in the next round, I thought that I had better go and enjoy the sun and whisky with him, rather then slog it out at the chess board for the next 4 hours.

I then managed to win my two remaining games on the Sunday against Mark Lyell

and Tomer Eden which gave me a total score of 6.5/7 and clear first. So a good tournament and some nice rating points!

I would recommend these tournaments to anyone interested, I had a great time (it helps when you win!) but the playing conditions were great and the chess was fought at a high level. For more information go to http://www.e2e4.org.uk/default.htm. Ok cheers for now!