[Event "Abbots v S Hams"] [Site "Newton Abbot"] [Date "2019.10.24"] [Round ""] [White "S Levy"] [Black "S Homer"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteECF "187"] [BlackECF "186"] [EventDate "2019.10.24"] 1.d4 d5 2.Nf3 c6 3.c4 dxc4 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.a4 Na6 {The Smyslov Variation of the Slav where black concedes the centre but aims to get active counterplay using his knight.} 6.e4 Bg4 7.Bxc4 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 {Maybe 8.gxf3 is better accepting the doubled pawns as the price for quick development.} 8...Nb4 9.Qe2 $6 {The computer suggests 0-0 at this point. The idea is 9...Qxd4 10.Be2 e5 11.Rd1 Qb6 12.Be3 with a big developmental advantage.} 9...Qxd4 10.O-O e5 $2 {Probably too optimistic. } 11.Be3 Qd8 12.f4 Bd6 13. fxe5 Bxe5 14.Bxf7+ $1 {A very promising sacrifice....} 14...Kxf7 15.Qc4+ $2 {... but the wrong follow up. 15.Qh5+ is very strong eg 15...Ke6 16.Qf5+ Kf7 17.Qxe5 Re8 18.Qg5 h6 19.Qc5 Nd3 20.Rxf6+ Qxf6 21.Qc4+ Qe6 22.Qxd3 and white wins 2 pieces for a rook and maintains an attack. } 15...Kg6 16.Qxb4 Qd6 {Perhaps white missed this move which forces a queen swap because of the threat to h2.} 17.Qxd6 Bxd6 18.Rad1 Rhd8 19.Bd4 Ng4 20.h3 Be5 21.Bxe5 Nxe5 22.Rde1 $6 {Perhaps the wrong idea. White concedes the open file in the hope of generating a king-side attack.} 22...Rd2 23. Rf5 Re8 24.Re3 Rxb2 25.Ne2 $2 {White goes for it but objectively he should have taken the draw with 25.Rg3+ Kh6 24.Rgg5} 25...h6 26.Rg3+ Kh7 27.Nf4 Re7 28.Nh5 Ng6 29.Re3 Rb4 30.e5 Rxa4 31.e6 Kg8 32.Rff3 Ra5 33.Ng3 Ne5 $1 { Black has defended well and only needs to neutralise white's e-pawn. This is a clever way of doing it. (Re5 also works)} 34.Rf4 Rxe6 35.Rfe4 g6 36. Ne2 Kf7 37.Nd4 Re7 38.Rf4+ Kg7 39.Rfe4 Rd5 40.Kf2 Rf7+ 41.Ke2 Nd7 42.Ne6+ Kg8 43.Nc7 Nf6 44.Re6 Rxc7 45.Rxf6 Kg7 46.Ree6 Rg5 47.g4 Rf7 {Very cool defending from Stephen.} 0-1
[Event "Abbots v South Hams"] [Site "Newton Abbot"] [Date "2019.10.24"] [Round ""] [White "P Brooks"] [Black "D Cowley"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteECF "163"] [BlackECF "183"] [EventDate "2019.10.24"] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 c6 5.Bxc4 e6 6.Nc3 Nbd7 7.O-O Be7 8.e4 Qc7 9.e5 Nd5 10.Nxd5 exd5 11.Bd3 Nb6 12.Ng5 Bd7 13.Qf3 Bxg5 14.Bxg5 h6 15. Bh4 Be6 16.b4 $2 {The opening so far has been a success for white. This move loses all his advantage as the knight is given a good outpost for free.} 16...Nc4 17.Qe2 g5 18.Bg3 Qb6 19.Rfd1 Qxb4 20.Rab1 Qe7 21.a4 b6 22. Rf1 $1 {White sees his best chance is to get counterplay on the f-file.} 22...O-O-O 23.f4 gxf4 24.Rxf4 Qd7 25.Rbf1 Rhg8 26.Bf5 Rde8 {Black offered a draw with this move, and white, being a pawn down for some (unclear) compensation, and a bit short of time, agreed.} 1/2-1/2
[Event "Abbots v South Hams"] [Site ""] [Date "2019.10.24"] [Round ""] [White "S Dickinson"] [Black "T Thynne"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteECF "158"] [BlackElo "160"] [EventDate "2019.10.24"] 1.c4 c6 2.b3 d5 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.Bb2 Nc6 5.a3 $2 Nf6 6.e3 e5 7.Bb5 Bd6 8.Qc2 Bd7 9.Nf3 Qe7 10.Nc3 O-O 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.O-O $2 Rab8 $2 {White has played the opening very insipidly and Black misses the opportunity to punish him quickly with a classic Greek gift sacrifice.} ( 12...e4 13.Nd4 Bxh2+ $1 14.Kxh2 Ng4+ 15.Kg3 ( 15.Kg1 Qh4 16.Rfe1 Qxf2+ 17.Kh1 Qh4+ 18.Kg1 Qh2+ 19. Kf1 Qh1+ 20.Ke2 Qxg2+ 21.Kd1 Nf2+ 22.Kc1 Nd3+ 23.Kb1 Nxe1 {with an easy win.} ) 15...h5 {and there is no real defence to 16....h4+ 17 Kh3 Nxe3+ winning.} ) 13.d3 h6 14.Rfe1 a5 15.Nd2 Rfc8 16.Ne2 Be6 17.f3 Nh5 18.d4 Qg5 19.Nf1 Bf5 20.Qd1 e4 21.f4 Qg6 22.Nc1 a4 23.b4 Ra8 {Black has emerged with a very strong position - white has a bad bishop and knights on the back row. But it is sometimes not easy in positions like this to decide on a good plan. The black pawns are pointing towards the kingside, so black comes up with the very logical plan of a king-side attack. He spends the next few moves getting his pieces into place.} 24.Qd2 Nf6 25.Ne2 h5 26.Kh1 h4 27.h3 Nh5 28.Ng1 Qh6 29.Qf2 g5 $1 {Advancing the pawn like this might look dangerous but white can't do anything positive and it's the only way of breaking open the position.} 30.Bc1 Kh7 31.Ne2 Rg8 32.Nh2 Ng3+ {This might be a bit premature - there's no need to commit the knight yet as swapping pieces might ease the defence. Better to increase the pressure by 32...Rg7 followed by doubling rooks on the g-file.} 33.Kg1 Qh5 34.Nf1 Nxe2+ $6 {Here Black misses an opportunity } ( 34...Nxf1 35.Rxf1 g4 36. hxg4 Bxg4 37.Ra2 Bf3 38.Kh1 Rxg2 39.Qxg2 Bxg2+ 40.Kxg2 Rg8+ 41.Kh2 {leaves black with a completely dominant position, and would be a good reward for black's last few moves.} ) 35.Qxe2 Qxe2 {Swapping the queens leaves black still in charge, (and black wins a pawn), but white will now have hopes of surviving. 35....Qh6 followed by 36....g4 was better.} 36.Rxe2 gxf4 37. exf4 Bxh3 38.Kh2 Bg4 39.Rf2 f5 40.Be3 Bh5 41.Rc1 Be8 42.Rfc2 Ra6 43.Kh3 Rg4 44.Rf2 Ra7 45.Rc3 Rag7 46.Bc1 Bc7 {White has built a kind of fortress but his next move gives black another chance.} 47.g3 $2 Bd8 ( 47...Bb6 48. Rd2 Kg8 {leaves white in a kind of zugzwang and black can bring his king into play.} ) 48.Rh2 Kg8 49.Kg2 Bd7 50.Kf2 hxg3+ ( 50...Bb6 51.Rxh4 ( 51. Ke3 hxg3 52.Rg2 {also works.} ) 51...Rxh4 52.gxh4 Bxd4+ 53.Re3 {is a clearer way to win.)} ) 51.Nxg3 Bh4 52.Rg2 {White is again tied up, but everything is defended, and black still has to find a winning plan.} 52... R7g6 53.Bd2 Bc8 54.b5 {White tries to grab some breathing space...} 54... Bxg3+ {.... and black, wary of the pin on the c-pawn, decides to swap off into an ending 2 pawns up.} ( 54...Bb7 55.bxc6 Bxc6 {is still winning easily.} ) 55.Rgxg3 Rxg3 56.Rxg3 Rxg3 57.Kxg3 cxb5 {But the sting in the tail is that this ending is completely drawn, due to the blocked pawns and opposite coloured bishops. White just has to post his king at e3 and stop the b-pawn advancing with his bishop.} 58.Kh4 Kf7 59.Kg3 Ke6 60.Kf2 Kd6 61.Bb4+ Ke6 62.Ke3 Kf6 63.Bc5 Kg6 64.Bb4 Kh5 65.Bc5 Kg4 66.Bb4 Kg3 67.Bc5 Ba6 68.Bb4 Kg2 69.Bc5 Kf1 70.Bb4 Bb7 71.Bc5 Ke1 72.Bb4+ Kd1 73.Bc5 {A sad end for black, but an illustration that chess is sometimes a hard game to win.} 1/2-1/2
[Event "Abbots v South Hams"] [Site "Newton Abbot"] [Date "2019.10.24"] [Round ""] [White "D Wasques"] [Black "J Schofield"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteECF "130"] [BlackECF "148"] [EventDate "2019.10.24"] 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Nd5 Qd8 9.c3 O-O 10.a4 a5 11.h3 Be6 12.O-O Ne7 13.Ne3 Bxe3 14.fxe3 Bxc4 15. dxc4 f5 16.Nh4 $1 {White gets good king-side pressure.} 16...fxe4 17.Qg4 Qc8 18.Qxe4 $6 {18.Rxf8 was definitely better as white would end up with his rook unopposed on the open f-file.} 18...Qe6 19.b3 b6 20.Rad1 Rxf1+ 21.Rxf1 Rf8 22.Rxf8+ Kxf8 {The position is still level. It's now important that white is careful about any queen swaps as they may leave him with the worse pawn structure.} 23.Qb7 Qc8 24.Qf3+ Kg8 25.g4 Qf8 26.Nf5 Nxf5 27. gxf5 Qf6 28.e4 $2 {This allows black's queen to become active. Instead 28.Qg4 held things together.} 28...Qg5+ 29.Kf2 Qd2+ 30.Kg3 Qg5+ $2 { Instead 35...Qe1+ leaves white struggling for moves} 31.Qg4 Qf6 32.h4 Kf8 33.Qg6 $4 {The losing move. White's weak pawn islands will cause him real problems.} 33...Qxg6+ 34.fxg6 h5 $1 {Probably the move white missed. Now white has no entry points and can only watch as his pawns drop off.} 35.b4 Ke7 36.c5 Kf6 37.bxa5 bxa5 38.c6 Kxg6 39.c4 Kf6 40.Kf3 g6 41.Kg3 g5 42.Kh3 g4+ 43.Kg3 Ke7 0-1