[Event "7th Crewe Chess Congress"] [Site "Crewe Alexandra FC, Gresty Road, Crewe"] [Date "2024.06.30"] [Round "4"] [White "Fancourt, Les"] [Black "Renegade, Richard"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1545"] [BlackElo "1674"] [ECO "B00"] [Opening "Nimzowitsch Defence: 2.d4 e5"] 1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 e5 3.Nf3 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.Bc4 Qf6 7.O-O Ne7 8.Nc3 d6 9.a3 a5 10.Qe2 Be6 11.Be3 Rb8 12.Na4 Ba7 13.Bd2 h5 14.Bxa5 Bg4 15.Qd2 Qd4 16.b3 Qf6 17.Bxc7 Rc8 18.Ba5 Ng6 19.Bc3 Qe7 20.Bxg7 Rg8 21.Qc3 Ne5 22.Bxe5 dxe5 23.Ba6 Rc7 24.b4 Bd4 25.Qg3 h4 26.Qd3 Qg5 27.c3 Be2 28.Qh3 Bxa6 29.cxd4 Bc8 30.Qf3 f5 31.dxe5 fxe4 32.Qxe4 Bh3 33.f4 Qh5 34.Rf2 Be6 35.Nc3 h3 36.g3 Bc8 37.b5 Bb7 38.Qc4 Rcg7 39.Ne4 Qg6 40.Nf6+ Kf8 41.Nxg8 Rxg8 42.Rd1 Qe8 43.Rd6 cxb5 44.Rf6+ Kg7 45.Qc7+ {#r} 1-0

[Event "2024 Lancaster Congress"] [Site "Lancaster Royal Grammar School"] [Date "2024.08.11"] [Round "5"] [White "WGM Andreea Nastase"] [Black "Richard Vann"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1855"] [BlackElo "1917"] [ECO "A50"] [Opening "Indian: Mexican Defence, 3.Nc3"] 1.d4 {WGM Nastase is originally from Romania, she said. Why a low grade and why few games on the internet? Possibly a returner after a break. Although I lost this, when you look at the moves here you soon realise both players are mediocre.} Nf6 2.c4 Nc6 {The Two Knights Tango! First time played by me in an OTB game.} 3.Nc3 e5 {The Point! After Nc6, e5 can often be played early on. This indicates the game will be tactical. So the opposite of the Caro I also play. But it's new territory for me.} 4.d5 Ne7 5.Bg5 Ng6 6.h4 {Most aggressive, and the recommended move. She was playing with some speed.} h6 7.Bd2 Bb4 {Probably 7...Bc5 is slightly better, but I was worried that a3 and b4 would come. But ...a6 allows the Bc5 to stay on the g1 diagonal. We worry about too much!} 8.a3 Bxc3 9.Bxc3 d6 10.Qc2 Ne7 {Threatens Bf5, which forces e4, blocking the white light squared bishop, though hate to withdraw a piece like this. The normal O-O is better, because Black can defend the King side in case of a white onslaught. Maybe my round 1 game against Jacob McAtear was still haunting me.} 11.e4 c6 {To swap on d5 and open the c file. A standard way to get some counter play when white has the c4-d5-e4 set up.} 12.Be2 cxd5 13.cxd5 Bd7 14.f4 {Here's the attack. Be careful! But not too bothered as white has not castled and the Ng1 has not moved yet. Played at a pace, but it didn't twig that Andreea would be missing tactics.} Rc8 {Computer line: 14...exf4 15 Bxf6 gxf5 16 Nh3 Ng6 17 h5 Ne5 18 Nxf4 Qb6 is fine for Black. Will study that line.} 15.fxe5 dxe5 16.Nh3 {A bit odd, but on f2 the N will be defending e4 and preparing g4. Apart from play down the c file, my position looks dodgy.} Qb6 {Still reluctant to castle, but at least another piece is developed. At this stage I was just trying to defend and survive,} 17.Nf2 h5 {To stop g4.} 18.Qd2?? {To get out of the pin. But Black now has a tactic that both mediocre players missed. Can you spot what Black can play here? I missed it, as defending e5 seemed essential.} Ng6? {Defends e5. Plausible. Sensible. Solid. Developing. All great reasons. But there's something better. Can you spot the best move? Comes out of the blue, and White's game starts to fall apart, as the d5 pawn turns from a Mighty Passed Pawn into a weak isolani! So what was it? 18 ...Qxf2+ of course! Then no more attack by White.} 19.g3? {Andreea also misses the tactic! I only saw the 18...Qxf2! move in post game analysis at home using Fritz. Please keep looking out in hawk eye mode, as there's another winning chance very soon.} O-O? {The Qxf2 trick still works! Albeit not quite as well according to Fritz. After 3 days with little sleep, I was desperate to get a draw in this game and get off home. A long hot journey on a Sunday afternoon on a jammed motorway is no fun. So 19 ...Qxf2 quickly followed by a " You like a draw?" would have fitted the bill perfectly!} 20.Bf3 a6 21.O-O-O $10 Qb3 {21...Rc4 is better, as it cannot be chased away by 22 Bd2?? on account of 22...Rxc3!! 0-1.} 22.Kb1 Bb5 {Not the best, but I was playing on the light squares.} 23.Nd3 Bc4 24.Nc1 Qb5 25.Qg5 {Aiming for both Bxe5 and Bxh5. But I knew straight away, it's dangerous to leave the White king less defended. Black now has a tactic. Can you spot it?} Bxd5 {Boom! At last I spot a tactic! Glee! 26....Rxc3 is now on. If allowed.} 26.Bb4 {Oh! A riposte! Now both my Bd5 and Rf8 are en prise. But there's a fab move for Black. Can you spot it? PS: My take away from this Lancaster Congress is that both the Alekhin and the Two Knights Tango may get fabulously tactical. My only task for the future is to change the 'may' into a 'must!' I'm aiming for quick games.} Rxc1+?? {A really stupid move. Went into a gung ho! mental aberration. All four wheels dropped off at the same time. Saw both 26...Nxe4 and 26...Bxe4 as being ok. In fact 26...Bxe4+ is best, as the N gets to e4, from where it turns into an ultra vicious attacker.} 27.Qxc1 Be6 28.Bxf8 Qb3 {This is the position I had vaguely seen at move 26. Thought it was a mate or win the white queen. Forgot I no longer have a rook to play to c8, frying the White queen. Rats! And double rats.} 29.Qc3 {A stick, a stone, it's the end of the road. There's no mate and I'm two exchanges down for one pawn. Resigned. 1-0. The end of my foray into the Lancaster chess scene. Had some good conversations during the congress, and the best sandwich Ever and the best cup of tea Ever at the Brew cafe on Brock Street, close to the Town Hall on Dalton Square. The End.} 1-0

[Event "2024 Club Championship"] [Site "Ashby"] [Date "2024.08.22"] [Round "3"] [White "Roberts, Neil"] [Black "Vann, Richard"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1258"] [BlackElo "1917"] [ECO "B02"] [Opening "Alekhine: Maroczy Variation"] 1.e4 Nf6 {The Alekhin! My new opening against 1 e4.} 2.d3 d5 {Was tempted to play 2...e5 transposing to a Philidor reversed.} 3.e5 Nfd7 4.Nf3 e6 5.d4 {But now it looks just like a French, and I'm making things up as I go along.} c5 6.c3 Be7 7.Be3 b6 8.Bb5 a6 9.Ba4 b5 10.Bc2 Nc6 {It's now becoming obvious that White will attack on the kingside, and Black on the queenside.} 11.a3 Bb7 12.Qc1 Rc8 13.Nbd2 Qb6 {Slightly better may have been Qc7, threatening 14...cxd4 and some mischief on the c-file.} 14.O-O cxd4 15.cxd4 b4 16.Qb1 {Gets out of a possible pin on the c-file, and attacks h7.} h6 {The position is equal. I am delaying castling because there might be a vicious attack on my king.} 17.Re1 Na5 18.a4 b3 19.Bd3 {It's still equal, but the pawn on b3 is a thorn in White's side. Although my bishops aren't doing much, the squares b4, c4, and c2 may become available to my knights.} O-O {Castling at last. White would like to play f4-f5-f6, but it would take some time. From here we both pursue our strategies, ie kingside attack v queenside attack. There is potential danger for both of us.} 20.h3 Nb8 {A strange retreat move. The knight aims to get to b4 and then c2!} 21.Nh2 {Better is 21 Rc1 to contest the c-file, keeping the position equal. In conclusion, it was a well-fought game and equal after 20 moves. Then the black knights were allowed too much rope and sneaked in.} Nbc6 22.Ndf3 Nb4 23.Ng4 {It's not obvious, but Bd2 is slightly better, with the aim of chopping the knight on a5. We'll soon see why it's not a sleepy "dim on the rim" piece at all.} Nc2 24.Bxc2 bxc2 25.Qc1 Nb3 {After a short forcing sequence, suddenly the knight on b3 is winning the white queen. To have played 25 Qa2 seems good, but still 23...Nb3 and the rook on a1 has nowhere to go.} 26.Nxh6+ {A Desperado! But there's no mate, and still the queen is lost.} gxh6 27.Bxh6 Nxc1 28.Bxf8 Bxf8 29.Raxc1 Bh6 {Now if Ra1 then c1=Q and it's definitely all over, so Neil resigned here.} {#R} 0-1

[Event "Chess.com online game"] [Date "2024.08.25"] [White "Masruri Rahman FM"] [Black "Andrew Wilson"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "2327"] [BlackElo "1750"] [ECO "A00"] [Opening "Polish: 1...Nf6 2.Bb2"] 1.b4 {AW win against FIDE Master Polish Opening} Nf6 2.Bb2 d5 3.e3 c6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 e6 6.b5 Nbd7 7.a4 Be7 8.h3 Bxf3 9.gxf3 c5 10.Rg1 O-O 11.d3 Qc7 12.Nd2 Qh2 13.Rg3 Nh5 14.Nf1 Qh1 15.Rg4 f5 16.Rg3 Nxg3 17.fxg3 Qxh3 18.Kd2 Rac8 19.c4 dxc4 20.dxc4 Bf6 21.Kc2 Rfd8 22.Qe1 Bxb2 23.Kxb2 Ne5 24.Kc2 Qg2 25.Nd2 Rd7 26.Qf1 Qxf1 27.Rxf1 Rcd8 28.Nb1 Nd3 29.f4 Nb4+ 30.Kb3 b6 31.Rh1 h6 32.Nc3 Rd2 33.g4 Rc2 34.Bd1 Rf2 35.gxf5 exf5 36.Bh5 Rd3 {#R} 0-1

[Event "2024 Lancaster Congress"] [Site "Lancaster Royal Grammar School"] [Date "2024.08.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Cherrington, Josh"] [Black "Richmond, Charles J"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1631"] [BlackElo "1561"] [ECO "A04"] [Opening "Reti: 1...e6"] {This was my second game in the 2nd Lancaster standardplay Congress. The Congress was overall quite poor for me, as I found myself unable to concentrate in a lot of the games. This is probably what I would consider to be the only "good" game of this congress for me, given that I played 2 brilliant moves including a queen sacrifice, with an overall accuracy of 98.8% The game started as most of my games do with white, with 1.Nf3 and 2.b3} 1.Nf3 e6 {My opponent played 1.e6, which is a solid but more passive approach than other main lines.} 2.b3 d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bb2 Be7 5.d4 b6 6.Bd3 Bb7 7.Nbd2 Nbd7 8.O-O O-O 9.c4 $10 {This is a theoretical / book position, that has been played before by a fair amount of grandmasters and titled players. Black's response is fine, but takes the game out of known territory} dxc4 $146 10.Nxc4 c5 11.Rc1 cxd4 12.Bxd4 {Nxd4 was a more agressive approach that is still sound. The bishop was good on b2 and the f3 knight could have been centralised. I opted for this approach since the Knight on f3 can be great for a king-side attack} b5 13.Ncd2 a6 14.Qe2 {Qe2 initially feels like a mistake, since Ba3 forces white to either relinquish control of the C-file, or lose a tempo after Ba3 Rc2 Rc8. However this isn't bad as Rxc8 Qxc8 takes the black queen off of an important diagonal} Ba3 15.Rc2 Rc8 {This contests the file and i am forced to trade} 16.Rxc8 {Bxc8 is simply the loss of the tempo spent moving the bishop to b7, and the tempo that will be spent putting it back on b7, so black takes with the queen which is the best move but removes the queen from the d8-h4 diagonal} Qxc8 17.e4 {This move takes central control and threatens to kick Black's only active defensive piece from a good square} Re8!? {This creates space for the king in the event of some kind of attack. I believe that black saw that a Greek gift was possible after e5 and the Knight moves, so wanted to create space for the king. However this move allows e5 and the attack is better than black anticipated.} 18.e5 Ng4?! {This knight is simply a target now. It was slightly better on d5 even though Black's kingside is weak too in that line} 19.Bxh7+!! {If Kxh7, Ng5+ wins back the piece as the queen then takes on g4. Black was better off taking the bishop in this position as it will be an important piece to restrict the King's space in an attack} Kf8? 20.Ng5! Nh6 21.Qh5 $16 {White has a considerable advantage (~1.5 points) due to this kingside attack that has built up. Black's next move is a blunder that allows a checkmate in 2 moves, which I found instantly.} Be7?? 22.Qxf7+!! Nxf7 23.Nxe6# {Smothered checkmate is on the board, resulting in what was sadly my only win of the tournament. This game was one of very few games where I knew that I played almost perfectly as soon as it was over.} 1-0

[Event "Ashby 1 v Melton M. 1"] [Site "Ashby"] [Date "2021.10.21"] [White "Vann, Richard"] [Black "Jex, Alan"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1859"] [BlackElo "1833"] [ECO "A36"] [Opening "English: Symmetrical, 3.g3 Nf6"] 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 d6 5.e4 e6 6.d3 Be7 7.Nge2 O-O 8.O-O {W has the Botvinnik System set-up.} Nd4 9.Be3 e5 10.f4 Bg4 11.h3 Bxe2 12.Nxe2 Qc7 {May look passive for both sides, but W may attack on the K side, while B should attack on the Q side.} 13.f5 a6 14.Nxd4 cxd4 15.Bd2 Rac8 16.Rc1 Nd7 17.b4 b6 18.g4 f6 {18...h6 or Qd8 are better ways to prevent g5.} 19.h4 Qd8 20.Qe1 b5 21.Bf3 {The plan is to redeploy this bishop to the b3 to g8 diagonal because these squares cannot easily be defended by Black.} bxc4 22.dxc4 Rc7 23.Bd1 Qc8 24.g5 fxg5 25.hxg5 Qd8 {The engine has this as +3 but it's not so obvious how White can win this.} 26.Qh4 Rf7 27.Bb3 Nf8 {Obviously loses the exchange, but Black's problems are deeper than that.} 28.c5 dxc5 29.bxc5 Rxc5 30.Rxc5 Bxc5 31.Bxf7+ Kxf7 32.g6+ Ke8 33.f6 {1-0. Here Black resigns. Note 33 Qxd8 Kxd8 34 f6!! was even stronger.} 1-0

[Event "Ashby Club Championship"] [Site "Ashby"] [Date "2021.10.17"] [Round "4"] [White "Vann, Richard"] [Black "Tipper, Chris"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1907"] [BlackElo "1706"] [ECO "A40"] [Opening "Queen's Pawn: Polish Defence"] 1.d4 b5 {The Polish Defence, most unexpected. Chris normally plays 1...f5 but has gone off it.} 2.e4 Bb7 3.Bd3 e6 4.Nf3 c5 {Aggressive and best.} 5.c3 c4 {Don't particularly like this in general as it freezes Black's queenside pressure on d4.} 6.Bc2 Nf6 7.Nbd2 Qc7 8.O-O d6 {Both sides develop normally into solid (ie no tactics) positions. But both now have to decide how to complete their development.} 9.Re1 Be7 10.Nf1 Nbd7 11.Ng3 Nb6 12.Qe2 {Spent at least half of my clock time considering both d5 and e5 for me, and ...d5 and ...e5 by Black. But at each move, I couldn't see how it would benefit me, because d5 leaves a hole on e5, and e5 leaves a hole on d5. So I preferred to keep the tension and wait a few more moves to see which side, or if at all, Black would castle.} a5 13.Bf4 O-O-O? {Chris did not fancy 13...OO as it seems White has Q Bishops and Knights lined up for a king side attack. The problem with OOO soon becomes obvious.} 14.b3 {14 a4 has a similar aim, ie to open the b file onto the c8 king.} h6 15.bxc4 Nxc4 16.Nd2 {The idea is to play Bd3 combined with a4 to remove the Nc4. It is hard for Black to get back to a level position.} g5 17.Be3 Nxe3 18.Qxe3 Ng4 19.Qe2 h5 20.Rab1 {Calmly adding pieces into the attack. Couldn't see any nasty Black attack on my king.} Kd7 21.Bd3 h4 22.Bxb5+ {22 Nf1 is equally good, if you would have played that. There's nowhere for the black king to hide.} Bc6 23.d5 Rb8 {Note, if 23...Bxb5, then 24 Qxb5+ Kc8 25 Qa6+ Kd7 26 Rb7 wins the Q.} 24.Bxc6+ Kd8 25.Qxg4 hxg3 26.Qxg3 Bf6 27.Nc4 Ke7 28.e5 {The killer move. So White does get to play d5 and e5 after all. Playey here, these pawn moves create devastation, whereas earlier they may have yielded omnly a small advantage.} dxe5 {If 28 Bxe5, the plan was 29 Rxe5, the obvious sacrifice.} 29.d6+ {So even the N on c4 came in useful. Chris resigns, 1-0. As a footnote, I have lost to Chris in an earlier year in the Club Championship. In that game, posted on microbase following this, I am Black and get crused by an obliterating attack on my castled king.} {#r} 1-0

[Event "Ashby Club Championship"] [Site "Ashby"] [Date "2022.05.01"] [Round "0"] [White "Tipper, Chris"] [Black "Vann, Richard"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "1735"] [BlackElo "1859"] [ECO "A03"] [Opening "Bird: 1...d5 2.Nf3"] 1.f4 d5 2.Nf3 Bg4 3.e3 Nf6 4.Be2 e6 5.b3 Be7 6.Bb2 O-O 7.O-O c5 8.Ne5 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Nc6 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.d3 Qb6 12.Nd2 {Now that development has been achieved, it's about equal. But White has chances of a king-side attack.} a5 13.a4 Nd7 14.Rf3 Bf6 15.Bxf6 Nxf6 {With most of the minor pieces gone, you might thing there's less chance of a White attack.But now Chris skilfully organises some mischief down the h and g files.} 16.Rh3 Rfe8 17.g4 Nd7 18.Kh1 e5 19.f5 Qd8 {Here 19...e4 is =, but you need a chess engine to find how to stay = as Black. 19 ... Qd8 is not a disaster though.} 20.Rg1 e4 21.dxe4 dxe4? {21...Qf6 is much better, however risky it looks.} 22.g5 Nf8 23.Nc4! {I had overlooked how strong this is. It The Nc4 has permanent pressure into my position.} Ra7 24.Qh5 {At a time like this, Black has to be like Sherlock Holmes and check all the possible outcomes carefully. Note, a ticking clock, inches from your nose, doesn't help.} f6?? {The absolute losing move. 24..g6 may just hold to a draw. I must have got disorientated by the increasingly threatening attack started by 16 Rh3. After 24...g6 25 Qh6 I had thought that 26 f5-f6 would win outright. But after 25 Qh6 I simply play 25...gxf5 and Black just about survives with careful play.} 25.gxf6 Qxf6 {Loses the Re8, but there is nothing better.} 26.Qxe8 {Black Resigns, 1-0.} {#r} 1-0

[Event "Melton Mowbray 1 v Ashby 1"] [Site "Melton Mowbray Royal British Legion"] [Date "2024.10.23"] [White "Jex, Alan"] [Black "Vann, Richard"] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteElo "1769"] [BlackElo "1907"] [ECO "A50"] [Opening "Indian: Mexican Defence, 3.Nc3"] {Wednesday night, we're away to Melton Mowbray 1. In the Royal British Legion, we get a drink at the bar, thanks Patrick, and we proceed along to the chess room, ground floor. Boards are set up, we take our places. Our team, Gheorghe, me, Tom, Patrick, Andrew. All goes wrong for Patrick. Not too long after, Tom evens the score. Then I get the win. Gheorghe is in a locked position and agrees a draw. We all watch Andrew's game. Tactical, but the opponent is on 10 second increments to Andrew's 20 minutes. His opponent crumbles in the tactics. We win. Overall score 3.5 to 1.5 for the Ashby 1 team. Good result.} 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6 {My first Two Knights Tango in the LRCA league. Can disorientate White.} 3.Nc3 e5 {My old opening line. 3...d5 is also OK for an equal position.} 4.d5 Ne7 5.e4 Ng6 6.Nf3 Bb4 {A bit like a Nimzo Indian defence.} 7.Qc2 O-O 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 {Typical doubled c-pawns for White. My aim is this: if the position can be blocked, then Bf1 may become a Bad Bishop.} d6 10.Be2 h6 {The idea is ...Nh7 then ...f5.} 11.O-O b6 {My dark square strategy is starting to take place. This stops the c4 to c5 move that would free White's game.} 12.a4 a5 {Again, this helps to freeze the white queen side, reducing any chance of Be2 getting some useful breathing space.} 13.h3 {In club chess, you get openly aggressive players, and also cautious players. Alan Jex seems to be the latter.} Nh7 14.Bd3 Bd7 {A waiting move. Often to wait encourages the opponent's mistake. The engine says I am fully equal already. But I have a specific plan, and am not sure White does. The action will be round f4 and f5. Both players seek to advance two spaces their f-pawn.} 15.Nh2 Qe7 {Here ...Qh4 was also considered, though it would be driven back by Nf3. My rooks are now connected, a useful feature for later.} 16.f4 {And there it is! The pawn break. Note that Black must not allow e4 to e5, for then Bd3 would be let out of jail. Obviously I cannot allow f5 by White.} Nxf4 17.Bxf4 exf4 18.Rxf4 Nf6 {I must get this knight to e5 as soon as possible, and try to swap my bishop for the white knight. That would give me a fab N versus a bad bishop. Note also I would be free to play on the dark squares. Obviously, White will try something, and it's my job to make sure it doesn't succeed.} 19.Raf1 Nh5 {Seems pointless. Soon the cunning plan will come clear.} 20.R4f3 g5! {Normally this would be a disaster for Black. But as I have the dark squares, White can do little to smash up my king side. Now the route to e5 becomes clear: Nf4 - g6 - e5! If the N gets to e5, White gets a permanent headache. And it would completely lock up White's whole position. I t's that bad.} 21.Ng4 {Expected this, but it aids my plan enormously.} Bxg4 {Zap!! No hesitation. It's now fully a good N v. a bad B situation, as my N can easily get to the ab fab square, e5.} 22.hxg4 Nf4 23.g3 Ng6 24.Qh2 {This looks like good compensation for the dark squre weakness that White suffers. But h6 is easily defended.} Ne5 25.Rf5 {Here the sac 25 Qxh6 doesn't work, as Nxf3 goes with check, then f6 solidifies g5, and my queen handily covers f7, g7, and h7.} Kg7 {Only briefly looked at 25...Nxd3. It allows 26.Qxh6. Looks way too risky.} 26.Be2 Rh8 27.Qh5 Raf8 28.Kg2 {About here he offered a draw. Refused of course.} f6 {The final steel door slams the posioton shut on the king side. Note here even if White triples on the h file, I can defend easily. Note also the queen on h5 is prevented from getting anywhere quickly. Note also that Rf5 is a bit blocked in. Note also my queen is now free to attack on the queen side. Happy days.} 29.R1f2 Qd7 30.c5 {Desperation. White starts to crumble.} Qxa4 {I refuse to allow Bb5. Machine score is now minus four, that is, Black is the equivalent of 4 pawns up.} 31.cxd6 cxd6 32.c4 Nxc4 33.Bxc4 Qxc4 {For the past few moves, and for the rest of the game, I'm checking there's never a chance of a rook sac and perpetual check by White.} 34.e5 Qxd5+ 35.Kh2 dxe5 36.Rc2 Qf7 37.Qh3 h5 {And now the h file opens for me as well!} 38.Qg2 hxg4+ 39.Kg1 Qd7 40.Rf1 Rc8 41.Qf2 {A little trick on f6. We all spotted it.} Qd4 {0-1. White resigned here. Six pawns against one is no contest. To summarise, an easy game for me to play. In club chess, my opponent often doesn't realise I'm setting up an elephant trap. Until it's too late.} {#R} 0-1

[Event "Braunstone v Ashby 1"] [Site "Braunstone Civic Centre"] [Date "2024.11.30"] [Round "0"] [White "Salisbury, Michael"] [Black "Vann, Richard"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [WhiteElo "1831"] [BlackElo "1907"] [ECO "B02"] [Opening "Alekhine: Scandinavian Variation"] {This game is from the Braunstone v Ashby 1 match on 30/10/24. We won 3.5 -1.5. Gheorghe lost to a strong opponent, Tom won very quickly, Paul won easily, and Patrick converted a passed pawn advantage in a methodical way.} 1.e4 Nf6 {The Alekhin. White may play 2 e5 for a standard line , or try something completely different.} 2.Nc3 {Something different. Tom Dove previously advised not 2..d5, but a switch to the Vienna. Both lines I've studied.} e5 {So it's the Vienna. Salisbury said he used to play 3 f4 but he decided not today.} 3.Nf3 Nc6 {We are now in the Four Knights.} 4.Bc4 {Standard but there's now an equalising tactic.} Nxe4 {The main line, which I had looked at prior to the game.} 5.Nxe4 d5 6.Bb5 {This is =, but Bd3 is book.} dxe4 7.Nxe5 {Looks good for White, but my move is obvious. I am now making it all up.} Qd5 8.Nxc6 {Bxc6 forces doubled c pawns. You will soon see why this is not the best.} Qxb5! 9.Nd4 Qg5 {This is what causes White a problem. Note the frequent Q moves are correct, but grate with my chess upbringing.} 10.Kf1 {White was in a spot. If 10 OO then Bh3 wins the exchange, and 10 g3 is met with Bg4, when White is gummed up and has light square weaknesses.} Bc5 {A reasonable try, but not the best. The best plan is to see ...O-O-O is obvious, so as to attack the White king with pawns. What I saw is that 10...Bg4 11 Qe1 O-O-O 12 Qxe4! and Black may not be winning. But if 10...Bg4 11 Qe1 Qd5!! Black not only defends e4 but also gets out of the line of Bc1.} 11.Nb3 Bb6 12.d3 {The problem for me is we are in a highly tactical position, where the best moves are hard to find. Salisbury is too good to drop a piece or allow mate.} Qf6 13.Qe2 O-O 14.dxe4 {This is the sort of position Black needed to avoid. While the pawn on e4 is a target, it was beyond my skill level to get an advantage. White cleverly squeezes out of the K on f1 problem.} Bd7 15.Be3 {Here 15...Bb5 16 Qxb5 Bxe3 17 Qe2! is about =.} Bxe3 16.Qxe3 Bb5+ {The immediate Qxb2 is better. This achieves little.} 17.Kg1 Qxb2 18.h3 Rad8 {Better is Rae8 going after the e pawn. So obviously leaving the Bishop on c6 would have been better for me. The hoped for win I could feel slipping away, like water disappearing into the sand.} 19.Kh2 Qe5+ {19...Qxc2 seemed to allow Rhc1, though it's still a level game.} 20.f4 Qe7 21.Rhe1 Rfe8 22.Nd4 Bd7 23.Nf3 b6 24.Rad1 {Draw agreed in an entirely level position. A very disappointing game for me because I missed several good opportunities to win. However am glad the Alekhine was a success, even though it transposed.} {#d} 1/2-1/2