“What was I doing here? What was the meaning of this trip? Was I just roaming around in a drug frenzy of some kind? Or had I really come out here to Las Vegas to work on a story? Who are these people, these faces? Where do they come from? They look like caricatures of used car dealers from Dallas, and sweet Jesus, there were a hell of a lot of them at 4:30 on a Sunday morning, still humping the American dream, that vision of the big winner somehow emerging from the last minute pre-dawn chaos of a stale Vegas casino.” *

So recently I returned from a trip to the USA where, amongst other things, I:

• failed to cash in the World Series of Poker Main Event
• saw Snoop Dogg perform only yards away at a private party
• nearly angrily took out a GM with the Killer Dutch in a crucial last round game of chess

Rock and Roll.

*So says Raoul Duke in Hunter S. Thompson’s classic novel Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

I’ve never been to Las Vegas before and I’m not sure I particularly want to go back for any great length of time. They’re soulless and in many ways depressing, these casinos. There’s nothing else to do but gamble, once you’ve seen a few shows.

Having said that, I did have a good time! I was there to play the Main Event of the World Series of Poker, having qualified by virtue of making Supernova Elite on Pokerstars last year.

Pokerstars hospitality was fantastic: we were put up in a suite at the top of Palms Place that was roughly twice the size of my old flat. Two 42” plasma TV screens? Check. Jacuzzi in the bedroom? Check. Two bathrooms? Check. Walk-in shower (three shower heads) big enough for five? Check. You get the idea.

Then there was Snoop Dogg at the Pokerstars party. There he is, on the right, in a Spain shirt. It was the day of the Soccer World Championship Finals, whatever they are?

Penn and Teller were good too.

I busted the Main Event about ten minutes before the end of Day 2A.

The first day had gone pretty well, I’d chipped up to 45.5k (starting stack was 30k) without any major drama or excitement. I check-raised a low flop against a young internet qualifier, turned the second nut flush then check-raised him again. He tanked and folded. The very next orbit I flopped a full house against the same player’s early position open, raised his continuation bet and he immediately shoved all-in with his flush draw, drawing dead but to a runner-runner straight flush. That was about it.

The second day I back-raised a shortstacked Marcel Lüske (‘The Flying Dutchman’. Trademark – wearing sunglasses upside-down Upside-down? What? Why?) and beat his ace-queen with my pair of tens early on.

Nothing much happened after that, until about ten minutes before the end. I had 60k with blinds of 500/1000/100 and opened ace-queen suited on the button to 2.5k. The very active, aggressive, drunk, irritating, young, fidgety and bad player in the small blind re-raised to 7.5k, so I made it 20k hoping to induce a light shove. Which I did, but unfortunately he had a pair of sixes that held up without even a sweat, because he flopped a set. So that was that.

There I am checking my cards, on the left.

I don’t want to dwell on the exit hand too much, except to say I think my play is fine, if high variance, against this particular player. Obviously there are other options that might be ‘better’ in some sense, such as taking a flop in position or just shoving over his 3-bet. But it was a good time for a flip – either I lose and head off to see San Francisco for a few days, or I win and come back on day 3 with a very healthy stack and a great chance of cashing/going deep. That was the first time I was all-in all tournament.

So San Francisco it was, then. I liked it. There’s culture and stuff to see and do. It feels “European” even, you could say. There’s the bridge, on the right.

Next it was on to L. A. First stop, the Pacific Coast Open. A 6-round weekender, American style*, in a sleepy town called Agoura Hills. I limped to 4/5 and found myself sharing the lead.

*bring your own sets, boards and clocks, players in  the same tournament playing different schedules, high entry fees and big prizes for all sections.

Ramirez, Alejandro (2562) – Ansell, Simon (2398), Pacific Coast Open 2010 (6)

You can replay the game on a Flash board at the bottom of the page.

Why was I angry? There were three of us sharing first going into this, the last round. I had White against IM Enrico Sevillano. So I prepared for an hour or so – there was $3000 at stake after all. It was the only possible pairing.

Apparently not, according to the USCF pairing system, as I discovered five minutes before the round. Colours are not important, I can play a fourth Black against the top seed instead. Marvellous.

Fortunately I knew the perfect opening for my angry, unprepared state.

1. c4 e6 2. g3 f5! This would be it. 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nh3 I was glad to see this, because Simon doesn’t rate Nh3 systems in his DVD. The way to play against them is a quick …e5, keeping the knight from f4. 4… Be7 5. O-O O-O 6. d4 d6 7. Qb3 c6 8. d5!?

Probably not great, but a reasonable idea. The h3 knight won’t have a home on f4, so White tries to exchange it on e6 when the light-squared bishop could dominate. Romanishin played a similar idea against me in Iceland in a game I promised to annotate for this website but have been too lazy to do so, so I had some idea what I should be doing here.

8… cxd5 9. cxd5 e5 10. Ng5 Na6! Obviously this knight wants to be on c5 and as a bonus, I gain time on the White queen.

11. Nc3 If 11. Ne6 I can just take it and play 12… d5 with a huge centre, then round up the e-pawn. 11… Nc5 12. Qc2 a5 Possibly not necessary, 12… Ng4 immediately might have been better… 13. Rd1 …because now White could have played 13. Be3 instead. 13… Ng4! The key move, after which Black is fine, if not slightly better. I also played this move in the game against Romanishin but here I have an improved version because of the time gained on White’s queen.

14. Ne6 Nxe6 15. dxe6 Bxe6 16. Bd5 16. Bxb7 is impossible due to 16…Qb6 hitting f2, so White looks for positional compensation for the pawn instead. 16… Bxd5 17. Nxd5 Rf7 My computer says 17…Kh8 is better, but the principle is the same, to avoid any nasty tactics on the a2-g8 diagonal after White plays Qb3.

18. f3 I’m not sure this is best, White will take the pawn back but lose all the positional advantages. 18. Qb3 would have kept the tension. 18… Nf6 19. Nxe7+ And now possibly taking on f6 then b7 was superior. 19… Qxe7 20. Qxf5 d5

21. Be3 21. Bg5 is also possible. 21… d4 22. Bf2

22… Nd7! I had my longest think of the game here. c5 will be a good square for the knight – it blockades the c-file, a potential source of White counterplay and controls the d3 and e4 squares, which are important because they’re where the Black pawn breaks might be. 23. Qg4 Nc5 24. Rac1

24…b6? Desirable, but unnecessary. 24…Raf8 would have stopped White’s next, his only pawn break, when Black has a great position. I’d seen his next move and had a response ready, but I misjudged the resulting endgame. 25. e3! e4! The only move, but a good one. 25… d3 is answered by 26. e4 when now White is better as d3 can’t be held. The next few moves are forced.

26. exd4 Nd3 27. Rc8+ Rxc8 28. Qxc8+ Rf8 29. Qc4+ Kh8 30. Rxd3 exd3 31. Qxd3

The smoke has cleared. I’d assessed this position as ‘good winning chances’ for Black due to the weakness of the White pawns and the white squares around his king. What I’d failed to consider was the weakness of my queenside pawns. White has to act quickly…

31… Qf7 32. d5! …and he does. 32… Rd8 33. Bxb6 Qxd5 34. Qxd5 Rxd5 35. Be3 Rd1+?! Perhaps there were still winning chances if I’d have transferred the rook to c2 via d6 and c6. 36… Rd6!?

Now it’s just a draw.

36. Kf2 Kg8 37. h4 Kf7 38. h5 Ke6 39. Ke2 Ra1 40. a3 Kd5 41. Bd2 a4 42. Bc3 g6 43. hxg6 hxg6

1/2-1/2

Sevillano won his game to take outright first.

Equal second, a couple of rating points and $720 is better than a kick in the teeth and more than I’ve made at poker recently! Perhaps a new career as a chess professional beckons?

Feel free to comment!

I was going to annotate my game against Oleg Romanishin from Iceland, but I don’t have much time before going away. This one’s quicker and easier and a better advert for the DVD!

You can replay the game on a Flash board at the bottom of the page.

Harari, Zaki (2197) – Ansell, Simon (2385), London League 2010

1. d4 f5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. g3 O-O 6. Bg2 d6 7. O-O a5 “Ye Olde Faithful”, as Simon calls this move on the DVD. 8. Qc2 Nc6 9. Rd1!?

9. a3 e5 10. d5 Nb8 11. Ng5 is Romanishin – Ansell, Reykjavik Open 2010 (9), which was an interesting drawn struggle and will be annotated exclusively for this website at some stage!

9… Qe8 10. a3 e5 11. d5 Nb8

11…Nd8!? could be an alternative now that the d8 square has been vacated (compared to Romanishin – Ansell in the note to White’s 9th move). 12. Nb5 Qd7 with a weird position where Black might actually be ok. Though the Black pieces are slightly awkward right now I can’t see a way for White to exploit this; Black does have his centre. But I was on auto-pilot, as one often is in the London League.

12. e4?! 12. Ng5! a la Romanishin must be the best move. I’m not entirely sure how the inclusion of the moves 9. Rd1 Qe8 affects things, need to do some analysis! 12… Nxe4 Taking with the knight to avoid 12…fxe4 13. Ng5, though Black should be fine here also. 13. Nxe4 fxe4 14. Nd2

On 14. Qxe4 I was intending 14…Qh5, when Black is already threatening …Bg4, so White has to play something artificial such as 15. Re1, when Black must be doing well. 14… e3! Of course White isn’t going to be allowed to put his knight on e4 for free. 15. fxe3 Bg4

16. Re1 I was expecting 16. Rf1 Rxf1+ 17. Nxf1 when after Qh5 18. e4 Nd7 19. Ne3 Bg5

Black certainly has no problems and might be able to claim a slight edge; he can aim for a good Nd7 vs bad Bg2 position.

16… Na6 There are numerous decent moves for Black here, but I was taught to develop my pieces, so I did. 17. b3 I don’t see any other way for White to develop the queenside. Nc5 18. Bb2 Bg5!

Now that e3 is weakened by the bishop leaving c1, and with a specific idea in mind: 19. b4 Bf5!

20. Ne4 19…Bf5! was indeed the idea, but I had to think before playing it as I suddenly realised my intended 20. e4 Bxd2? didn’t work, for a couple of reasons: one being 21. exf5 Bxe1 22. bxc5 and the Be1 is trapped. Fortunately I found 20. e4 Qa4!

when all the tactics work for Black (check them for yourself!) and White is in trouble.

20…axb4 The next few moves are forced; when playing 17…Nc5, I’d analysed to the position after 24…Qa4 and concluded that White was struggling to hold the position together. This was probably slightly over-optimistic, but Black is certainly better (see the note to White’s 25th). 21. axb4 Rxa1 22. Bxa1 Nxe4 23. Bxe4 Bxe4 24. Qxe4 Qa4

25. Qb1? 25. Bc3! is the best try, which I had thought wasn’t possible due to Qa2 26. Rf1 Rxf1+ (maybe the computer line 26…Qe2!? 27. Rxf8+ Kxf8 28. Qf5+ Bf6 is an improvement) 27. Kxf1 Qxh2 but White has 28. Qf5! with sufficient counterplay. So maybe 25 Bc3! Qb3 when the position is still unpleasant for White. 25… Qa3!

Now Black wins at least a pawn and my opponent blundered with: 26. Qc1? Qxc1 0-1

So that’s +2 =2 –0 with the Killer Dutch so far, let’s hope I get the Black pieces another 8 times next season!

Replay the game

^Top

I’m currently in Reykjavik playing in the annual Open tournament. I’ve been meaning to play here for a while, Simon W likes the place and has previously reported favourably. This year I finally managed to make it!

The venue, Reykjavik City Hall

It’s obvious what Simon likes about Reykjavik – the pace of life is very relaxed (unlike the nightlife, which is legendary!) and the scenery is beautiful – even in the heavy snow. I’m looking forward to a few free days after the chess to explore. I’d certainly recommend the tournament to anyone – Iceland isn’t nearly as expensive as it once was since the well-documented financial crisis.

After six rounds, the chess isn’t going particularly well to be honest – I’ve hung two pieces in perfectly good positions, and yesterday was completely winning against American GM Yuri Shulman (2624) but managed to spoil a complicated position and even lost.

There has been one bright spot though. Having recently proof-read (proof-watched?) all 7 hours of a certain ‘Killer Dutch’ DVD and having nothing to lose, I thought it was time to give the opening a punt!

BUY THIS DVD and you too can win games like this:

You can replay the game on a Flash board at the bottom of the page.

Ni, Viktorija (2162) – Ansell, Simon (2381), Reykjavik Open 2010 (5) [A81]

1.d4 f5!

I usually play the Slav, but noticed my opponent had only faced the Dutch once on my database, played an innocuous line and got stuffed. This was the only day with a double round, I was tired and didn’t fancy grinding out another endgame. It all adds up to the Dutch!

Actually I have played the Dutch once before recently in a London League game, and had much the better of a draw using Simon’s Killer Dutch recommendation to neutralise the Staunton gambit.

So BUY THE DVD!

2.g3 e6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.c3 This is the innocuous line I mentioned. I thought the idea was to play for a quick e4 with Nd2; if Black plays …d5 to prevent this then White can play systems with Nh3-f4 because, as Simon mentions on his DVD, a good reaction to White’s Nh3 systems for Black is to play …d6 and …e5. But she seems to mix up her systems.

4…Be7 I couldn’t remember what I was going to play against 5.Nd2 to be honest (I hadn’t really prepared, other than deciding to play the Dutch), but over the board 5…0-0 6.e4 de4 7.Ne4 d5!? was looking ok. I’ll have to check the DVD!

5.Qb3?! I don’t really understand this move, if it’s to force Black to play …d5 so she can play her Nh3 stuff, it doesn’t work…

5…d5 6.Nh3 0-0 7.Nf4 c5!

…and this is why. The f4 knight usually needs the d3 square. Now with the queen on b3, it can’t have it. I am probably already threatening 8…g5 9.Nh3 h6, with a big space advantage on the kingside. She thought for a long time and decided she couldn’t hold the centre:

8.dxc5 Na6 9.c4?! Surely too ambitious, but Black is already better. Nxc5 10.Qc2 d4 11.b4 Na6 I thought this was better than 11…Nce4, when after 12. Nd3 and Bf4 White does have control of the e5 square (11…Nce4 12.Nd3 a5 13.b5 Bd7 14.0-0 Rc8 15.a4 Qc7) 12.a3 e5 13.Nd5 Nxd5 14.Bxd5+ Kh8 15.0-0 Nc7 16.Bg2 a5! Taking more squares. 17.b5 Ne6

Not a bad result after 17 moves on the Black side of an opening you’ve only played once before, in my opinion!

18.Rd1 a4?! Possibly a bit careless, I hadn’t noticed her next move was possible at all. 18…Qb6 or 18…Qe8 are better. This kind of sums up how I’ve been playing in Reykjavik, my play and judgement in general has been ok, but I keep overlooking stupid one-movers – it’s cost me at least 2 points so far! 19.Nc3 Nc5 20.Nd5 Bd6 21.f4?

Thematic, to try and break the centre, but just bad. I assume she missed Black’s next. 21.Bd2 is normal, when I was looking at starting an attack with 21…f4. Black should still be doing well.

21…Nb3! Simple and strong, the knight protects d4 so the centre can be held. Black is probably just winning now. 22.Rb1 22…e4 23.Kh1?! It’s hard to offer White any good advice, but I think Rxb3 should be tried, not that it’s particularly good. 23…Be6 24.g4?! Desperation. 24…Rc8

White’s position is falling apart. She now did try: 25.Rxb3 axb3 26.Qxb3 Bxd5 27.cxd5 Rc3 28.Qa4 28.Qb2 Bxa3 28…Qh4 29.Bd2 29.Qxd4 Rxc1 30.Rxc1 Bxf4 31.Qg1 Bxc1 32.Qxc1 fxg4 is completely winning for Black.

29…Qf2 There are lots of ways to win, but I didn’t want to allow her to take on d4 with the queen, when White might get counterplay against g7, especially if the g-file becomes open. 30.Rf1 30.gxf5 Qxe2 31.Bxc3 dxc3 32.Rg1 e3 33.Qd4 Qd2 doesn’t help. 30…Qxe2 31.Bxc3 dxc3 32.gxf5 32.Rc1 Qd2 32…c2 33.Qxe4 33.Rc1 Rc8 is the point.

33…Qxf1+ 0-1

So, the moral of the story is: buy ‘Killer Dutch’! Hopefully I’ll get another chance to play the Dutch before the tournament ends!

Replay the game

^Top

I made 0.5/4 with Black, spoiling some perfectly acceptable positions with ridiculous moves. But with White I scored 5/5 and played some nice games, in all of which BISHOPS were instrumental!

A Greek Orthodox Bishop.

All three games with annotations are downloadable as a pgn file.

I played a young Greek player in Round 1:

Ansell, Simon (2394) – Sevastopoulous, Vasilis (2063), Kavala Open 2009 (1)

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Be3 e6 5. Nd2 Nd7 6. f4 c5 7. Ngf3 Qb6

Position after 7. Qb6.

8. Qc1 Played once, according to my database (by Kasimdzhanov, no less). Shirov and Short both played 8. Rb1 here, while Morozevich obviously sac’ed the b-pawn with 8. Be2. 8…Rc8 Anand played 8…Ne7 against Kasim and drew fairly quickly. 9. a4 A novelty, apparently, but it seems pretty natural to me. The move takes advantage of the rook staying on a1, compared with 8. Rb1. 9…a6 To stop Bb5. 10. a5 I realised the a4-a5 plan might involve losing the a-pawn, but felt it was important to relieve the pressure on the queenside. Black will lose a lot of time taking the pawn, when I can probably start an attack on the kingside, as happened in the game. 10…Qc7 11. c3 Ne7 12. Nb3 Forcing the closing of the queenside. White has the advantage on the other side of the board. 12…c4 13. Nbd2 Nc6 14. Nh4!

Position after 14. Nh4.

This is the point, I gain the two BISHOPS and Black will find it hard to hold f5. The Black knight will be out of play on a5; with hindsight, it was more prudent for Black to get castled quickly than round up the a-pawn. 14…Nxa5 15. Nxf5 exf5 16. Qc2 It’s useful to include this move I think, compare 16. g4 fxg4 17. Bg2 Qd8 18. Bd5 Nxe5! to the game. With the queen on c2 White can play Qe4 here, winning. 16…g6 17. g4! fxg4 18. Bg2

Position after 18. Bg2.

I thought Black couldn’t defend d5 here but the computer points out 18…Rd8 19. Bxd5 Nxe5 20. Qe4 f5! Funny that I saw the …Qd8 idea but not…Rd8. In any case, White has a strong attack after 18…Rd8 19. f5 and 20. O-O. After the move in the game, the centre collapses, the Black knight on a5 is stranded and White dominates the light squares. Pretty solid compensation for a pawn. Black goes downhill quickly. 18…Bh6? The best defence is probably rushing to get the a5 knight back in the game with 18…Nc6 19. Bxd5 Nb6 20. Bg2 Ne7 21. Ne4 Ned5 22. Bd2. I still like White though, just castle kingside and f5 happens quickly. But at least all the Black pieces are contributing here, compared to the game. 19. Bxd5 O-O 20. O-O Rfe8 I was expecting 20…Kh8, to try and play …f6 and mix it up. 21. Ne4 Re7 22. Nd6 Rd8 23. Qf2 Possibly inaccurate, 23. Qe2 or 23. Qg2 and just taking the g-pawn was better, but this doesn’t spoil anything. 23…Nb3 24. Rae1 Nb6 25. Bg2 I didn’t see any point in taking the b-pawn and possibly leaving the valuable bishop hanging. I’m going to checkmate him! Nc8? Now it is over, I guess Black should try 25…Rxd6. 26. Ne4

Postion after 26. Ne4

26…Bg7 27. f5 Finally. Ree8 28. Bg5 Rd7 29. Nf6+ Gaining the second bishop! 29…Bxf6 30. Bxf6 h6 31. Qh4 Kh7 32. Bg5 h5 33. Be4 The white-squared bishop returns to the game, with complete domination. 33…Ne7 34. f6

Position after 34. f6
1-0

Replay the game:

Round 3, against another young Greek player:

Ansell, Simon (2394) – Skoulakis, Charalambos (2132). Kavala Open 2009 (3)

1. d4! For the third time in a serious game in 25 years of playing chess! 1…d5 2. c4 c6 Fortunately I play the Slav as Black and know the positions well. 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. O-O O-O 9. Qe2 Nbd7 10. e4 Bg6 11. Bd3 Bh5

Position after 11…Bh5.

12. Bf4 A little unusual, 12. e5 is the main move here but he was moving quickly and I wanted to take him out of his theory. 12…Rc8?! Not a terrible move, but there were more useful waiting moves. 12…Re8 or 12…Qe7 for example. Black should be trying to play …e5 in this position rather than …c5. White will have to play e4-e5 sooner or later to stop the pawn break.13. Rfd1 I decided to take the time to make a useful developing move of my own, as Black’s last didn’t threaten anything. 13…Re8 14. Bc2 14. e5 is also possible and fine, but the move in the game also stops the break for a move, and gives Black a chance to go wrong…

Position after 14. Bc2.

14…Qa5? 14…Qe7! finally forces White to play 15.e5 when after 15…Nd5 16. Nxd5 cxd5 the position is roughly equal. 15. e5 What is the difference? 15…Nd5 16. Nxd5 cxd5? 16…Bxf3 was necessary when White is better. After all, he has the BISHOPS! 16…Qxd5 17. Be4 is also better for White.

Position after 16…cxd5.

17. Bxh7+! A BISHOP sacrifice. The Greek Gift. How appropriate. 17…Kxh7 18. Ng5+ The queen doesn’t defend g5 any more, this is why 14…Qe7 was possible and 14…Qa5 is bad. 18…Kg6 19. g4 Rh8 20. gxh5+ Rxh5 21. Qd3+ f5 22. Nxe6 Rch8 23. Kh1 Kf7 24. Ng5+ Ke7

Position after 24…Ke7

25. Qxf5 1-0

Replay the game:

Round 5 was fun, again against a young Greek player moving extremely quickly:

Ansell, Simon (2394) – Kaforos, Dimitrios Alkis (2203). Kavala Open 2009 (5)

1. e4! He doesn’t play the Slav. c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. c3 Nf6 4. Be2

Position after 4.Be2.

This system is not as innocent as it looks, having been played by Morozevich, Kashimdzhanov, Akopian and Svidler (who beat Kasparov) amongst others.

4…Nc6 This was the first time I have faced this move in a non-blitz game, most Black players prefer the quieter alternatives 4…g6 or 4…Nbd7. Now White can play d4 in one move (as opposed to having to play d3-d4, which he does often, for instance after 4…Nbd7), though this does involve sacrificing at least (!) a pawn. 5. d4 cxd4 5…Nxe4 loses a piece to 6. d5 and after the knight moves, 7. Qa4+. 6. cxd4 Nxe4 6…d5 7. e5 Ne4 is safer and more often played, but in my opinion there is nothing wrong with grabbing the pawn(s). 7. d5 Qa5+ Now with the c-pawns off the board Black doesn’t lose a piece, so White sacrifices a couple more pawns for rapid development. 8. Nc3 Nxc3 9. bxc3 Ne5 10. Nxe5 Qxc3+ 11. Bd2 Qxe5 12. O-O Qxd5

Position after 12…Qxd5.

Three pawns down after 12 moves with White!

13. Rb1 As far as I’m aware this position was first reached in Basman – Stean, Hastings 1973, with Mike Basman winning a brilliant game. Since then Black players have been reluctant to defend this line, though according to my database, two grandmasters (Julian Hodgson and Thomas Ernst) have done; both played 13…f6 and won. 13…a6 A novelty, it seems. But it is natural to prevent Bb5+. 13…a6 has definitely been played against me in more than one internet blitz game. Somewhat worryingly, my opponent was blitzing out his moves. 14. Bf3 Qxa2 Four pawns! 15. Rxb7!? Winning a bishop for a rook! This might not be the strongest move and appears to lead to a draw. 15. Re1, 15. Bxb7 and 15. Be3 are serious alternatives according to my computer, with positions more to play rather than evaluate but I’m sure Black is doing fine everywhere. I’m surprised the computer evaluation is only roughly –0.5, it is four pawns after all. It felt like one of those days, and I had faith in the BISHOPS! Bxb7 16. Bxb7 Rb8 17. Bc6+ Kd8

Position after 17…Kd8.

18. Qg4 When I played 15. Rxb7, I had thought this was close to winning by force, but had missed at least one important detail. 18…e6 The only move, 18…Qe6 loses to 19. Qa4 (amongst others), and it’s, err, mate in 12 according to Fritz in about 10 seconds. 19. Qd4 Quiet centralisation the exchange and three pawns down. Qa7 is threatened. 19. Qg5+ Kc8 20. Ba5 f6 21. Qe3 Rb1 22. Qc3 is pointed out by my computer and is similar to the game with the difference that the Black f-pawn is on f6, which doesn’t make any difference. But this way does stop the possible move 20…Qxa5 in the game. 19…Rb1

Position after 19..Rb1.

19… Qc2 is an alternative, but I thought at the time it’s good for White and analysis seems to confirm this. 20. Qa7 Qxc6 21. Qxb8+ Ke7 22. Bg5+ f6 23. Rc1 Qd7 24. Bd2! No rush to take the queen, and the bishop will come to b4. 24…Kf7 25. Rc7 Be7 26. Qb7 Qd8 27. Rd7 Qe8 28. Bb4! +-

Analysis diagram, position after 28. Bb4.

Back to the game. 20. Ba5+ 20…Kc8 20…Qxa5 is interesting. After 21. Rxb1 Qc5 22. Qa4 I thought Black might have problems with the f7-pawn after a future Be8. My computer spoils the fun by suggesting it’s just a draw after 22…d5 23. Be8 Qc7 24. Bc6 Qe5 25. Be8 Qc7 etc. or the obvious 22…Ke7 23. g4! (the best move, apparently). Obvious. 21. Qc3

Position after 21. Qc3

21…Kb8?? He was still blitzing the moves, and this is what happens. 21…Rxf1 22. Kxf1 Qb1+ 23. Ke2 Kb8 (see diagram) is a draw.

Analysis diagram, position after 23…Kb8.

Despite the pretty bishops, White has nothing better than repeating moves with 24. Bc7 Kc8 25. Ba5 Kb8.

The important detail I missed when playing 18. Qg4 was that a move of the c6 bishop on either diagonal allows a queen check – on the a4-e8 diagonal the check is on e4, on the a8-h1 diagonal it’s on b5. It’s a funny position, White can also try to get his king safe before undertaking decisive operations on the queenside as Black can’t move his queen, can’t play Be7 (due to… Bc7+ Kc8 Bxd6!) or move the d-pawn! But there appears to be no way to do this. For example: 24. g4 Rg8 (what else?) 25. Kf3 now White threatens Be4, but Black can now play 25… Be7 because there’s a check on d1 after  26. Bc7+ Kc8 27. Bxd6! Funny old game.

Back in the game, after 22. Be4! Rxf1+ 23. Kxf1 there are no checks, and mate is unstoppable!

Position after 23. Kxf1.

23…d5 24. Qc7+ 1-0

Replay the game:

Two more fun games involving BISHOPS in Part Two to follow!

I expect Simon will be reporting on the 4NCL in due course, where his team Jutes of Kent won promotion to Division 1. Further exciting content we have lined up for the site includes a regular question and answer column with ‘Ginger IM’ Adam Hunt!

On to the chess.

Wall, G – Ansell, S. Richmond v Betsson.com, 4NCL 2009. Position after 22.. Ka8.

Gavin has comprehensively outplayed me so far. White is a pawn up. My d6 pawn is weak, the pawn break …d5 which is my only chance for counterplay will leave the Black king open and it’s really not at all easy to kick the f5 knight with …g6. On the bright side, the h4 knight is out of play for the moment and if by some miracle I can successfully open up the game (…) the White king can also become weak. Fritz doesn’t seem to be as pessimistic about the Black position as both Gavin and I were at the time, but then it’s a computer and wants to play moves like …Bxf5 which make absolutely no sense to me whatsoever.

Gavin played 23. Rd2?, looking to double on the d-file. A natural but unfortunate move. On d2 the rook will come under attack from the black knight in a lot of variations and if the c-file opens after …d5 cxd5 cxd5 then Back is sometimes threatening …Qc3. 23. Rhe1 is better, holding up …d5, when Fritz wants to play 23… Nh3, which obviously hadn’t occurred to me at all. 23… d5 Of course. 24. exd5 cxd5 25. c5 25. cxd5 Qc3! 26. Kb1 Bxd5 27. Rhd1 Qxa3! is the problem. White has to play 27. Rxd5 Rxd5 28. Qe3 in this line, when Black is better. 25… Ne4 26 Rd3

26… g6! 27. hxg6 27. Nxh6 Rh8 and the knight is trapped. That’s not the whole story (28. Qe3), but Black is right back in the game if not better already. 27… fxg6 28. Nxh6 Rgf8 Now 28… Rh8 allows 29. Nxg6 when the h1 rook defends h6.

29. Rf3? White would like to play 29. f3 to kick the e4 knight but this allows 29… Ng3. 29. Nf3 is better when 29… Rf4! was my idea. White is now two pawns up, but his h6 knight is out of play, Black has a massive horse on e4 and moves like …Rdf8 (and then possibly …Nxf2) and …Qg7 are coming. A huge improvement on the first position. 29. Rh2 is also possible when Black replies 29… Qg7 with a position where the assessment ‘unclear’ for once actually seems appropriate. 29… Qg7! 29. Qe3?! 29. Rxf8 Qxh6 is check. 29. g5 was the best try when after 29… Rf4 White has some problems to solve despite being two pawns up, but is still very much in the game. 29… Rf4!

I did mention the White king can become weak! 30. Rxf4 exf4 threatens 31… Qa1 mate. 30. Ng2 d4! 31. Qe2 Rxf3 32. Qxf3 Bd5 is incredibly strong. White is still two pawns up but his pieces are completely uncoordinated and the Black bishop and knight are well-placed, to say the least. Black is winning here.

Gavin played 30. Nxg6 Qxg6 30… d4 might actually be even stronger, but Black is winning in all lines. 31. Rxf4 exf4 32. Qxf4? 32. Qd4 is a better try when Black still has work to do. After 32… Qg7 the queen simply returns to the diagonal and White is busted.

0 – 1

Monday’s game featured a very pleasing geometrical finish.

Morris, C – Ansell, S. South Wales Dragons v Betsson.com, 4NCL 2009. Position after 49…a6.

I’ve been in control for the entire game and after much manoeuvring have recently returned my extra pawn to reach the above position where the Black bishops dominate. Rather than sit and wait for the forthcoming kingside attack White tried 50. Rxe5 dxe5 51. Qxe5

looking for play with the passed d-pawn and ideas of taking my weak c-pawn then putting his bishop on d4 with a counterattack on the dark squares. The position should be winning for Black, but there could be complications. 51… Qf6 to try and take the queens off and win the ending is certainly possible, as is 51… Bd3, but the White king is weak, my queen is on a light square already and I felt a direct attack on the king was appropriate. But how to get the queen into the game? I hadn’t seen the finish yet, but my instinct was right. I started with 51… b6, to create a passed a-pawn. My opponent replied 52. Be3, hitting the c5 pawn as above.

The drawback to Be3 suddenly occurred to me. The White king is obviously weak, and now he has no control over the back rank at all. Before his last move he could have answered a queen check on the back rank with Be1 or Qe1. And my queen is already eyeing the b1 square… 52… Bh3! threatening Qb1+ 53. Bd2 is forced (53. Bc1 loses trivially to 53… Qc2 and 53. Nxh3 allows 53… Qb1 and 54… Qf1 mate). Now the h3 bishop is threatened. I wasn’t planning on playing 53… Bf5 and repeating moves.

53… Qb1+ 54. Be1 54. Qe1 loses to 54… Qxe1 55. Bxe1 bxa5 56. Nxh3 a4 and the a-pawn is unstoppable. 54… Qd3!

The f2 knight, which is doing such a good job defending the White king, suddenly finds itself a bit overloaded.

0 – 1

After being horribly out of form all season this was a really nice way to finish. Chess is beautiful, poker isn’t.

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