[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 "Lancaster Congress 2024"] [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