Leinster Intermediate |
Leinster Intermediate |
having been inspired by the lead of other members of the UCU annotating games, particularly the enjoyable ramblings of Mr. O'Fee among others, i felt it was my turn to be ridiculed by the UCU community. corrections and comments always more than welcome. first up is peter d. jackson, not to be confused with peter c. the difference is 400 rating points and a distinct seperation in fashion. my opponent tried to dazzle me by wearing a two-tone leather jacket straight from the set of the professionals
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. Bg5
clinging onto the c4 pawn at any costs is meant to be bad. A slight lead in development for white usually appears
ok, not exac tly standard, but I didn't want any disasters in the first round with ideas of Bb4 and then Ne4
6... exf6 7. e4 b5 8. a3 Bd6 9. Be2
11. e5 and 12. d5 played almost instantly. in all my games i had a significant time advantage and here peter d thought over different possibilities
12... cxd5
12... Rd8 13. d6 Bf8 and with e5 dropping off anytime soon the d6 pawn will feel very lonely
13. Nxd5 Qd8 14. exf6 Bxf6 15. Nxf6+ Qxf6 16. Qd4
offering the queen exchange may seem to be heading for the draw, but with a by now large time advantage, I had other ideas of applying pressure. making good enough moves very quickly is almost as off-putting as making very good moves in equal time
16... Nd7 17. Qxf6 Nxf6 18. Nd4 Rfd8!
an excellent move, keeping a potential pawn chain with a6 is not as important as getting the rooks into play, but having started with a good plan, it must be followed through
a very poor move, with the rook on the d file, it must get to d2 from where it undermines whites position
19... Rd2 20. Bf3 Rb8 21. Rfd1 (21. Nxa7 Rbxb2) 21... Rxb2
20. Nc7 Rab8 21. Nxe6 fxe6 22. Bxc4 Rxb2 23. Rfb1
23... Rxb1+ 24. Rxb1 Rd6 25. f3 Rc6 26. Be2 Rc3 27. a4 Ra3
having played the last few moves poorly, black is back on track to secure the draw. with white's a pawn only able to be defended from the side, black just has to ensure that white's rook does not get active
28. Bd1 Nd5 29. Bb3 Kf7 30. Bxd5 exd5 31. Rb4 a5 32. Rd4
black clearly stands better. if white doesn't act quickly the d pawn is going to be a major headache. better attack something before the white rook is tied down
32... Ra2 33. h4 Ke6 34. Kh2 Ke5
34... h5 a calm move like this would have limited white's rook severly
with a draw offer, but i felt bullish for once and decided to plunder on
36. h5 gxh5 37. Rg5+ Ke6 38. Rxh5 Rxa4 39. Rh6+
white probably has enough to draw now, but with black into his last ten minutes a quick rate of play is needed
39... Ke5 40. Rh5+ Ke6 41. Rxh7 Ra2 42. Kh3 d4 43. Rh6+ Ke5 44. Rh8
trying to put a gap between the rook and the black king means he can't defend as well as attack
44... d3 45. Re8+ Kf5 46. g4+ Kf6
by taking the king away from the pawn, black makes life difficult for himself. the d pawn will have difficulty promoting and the a pawn is a few squares back as well. with his pawns so far up the board Kf4 was needed
46... Kf4 47. Rd8 d2 48. Rd3 Rb2 black's king is perfectly placed and the white rook can't defend both pawns, one will promote and its game over
47. f4 d2 48. Rd8 a4 49. g5+ Kg6
walking into a squeeze. the pawns can't be stopped by the king, so why waste time trying?
50. Kg4 a3 51. f5+ Kf7 52. g6+ Kg7??
whoops, its curtains for black
Leinster Intermediate |
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5
i must get away from this sterile centre-counter opening. it is ultra solid, but black is too content to sit back and wait for the draw to appear
4. Nf3 Bf5 5. d4 c6 6. Bc4 e6 7.
a waiting move, waiting for Black to show his hand. 0-0-0 is still a possibility
10...
this pawn structure is hard to break down in the endgame, and exchange on f6 with gf6 gives the black king anicefortress
13. Ne5 Nxe5 14. Bxe5 Bb4 15. Re3 Bxc3 16. Rxc3
i'm none too sure about the rook sitting on the third , especially with h3 having been played
16... Rad8 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Rf3 Kg7 19. c3 Rd7 20. Qc1 Rd5
an ultra solid position for black, and a wimpish draw to end the first day agreed. compare this steady approach to the scandanavian by black in this game with game 4!
1/2-1/2 [Damien Lavery]
Leinster Intermediate |
the one that got away. mr. duffy was top seed at 1877 and i was hoping to put up some stiff resistance
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 c6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 f5
i hate playing against this dutch nonsense. it looks so weakening, but trying to do something about it is another matter. of course i don't follow the book.. ..
5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 Nf6 7. e3 Bd6 8. Bd3 Be6 9. Rc1 Nbd7 10. Qc2 g6 11. Nh4
white has played the opening fairly solidly. with f4 played priority is secure an outpost on e5, and try to protect the very weak e3 pawn
12... Qe8 13. Nf3 Ne4 14.
i reckon here getting rid of black's bishop pair is more important than retaining two knights. then again i have been known to make the odd wrong assessment or two
this is an important move for me. if white sits back the pressure will mount on the e3 pawn. trying to break up the pawn cover in front of black's king might lead to some play for white on the kingside
18... Nf6 19. Be2 Rae8 20. Nd1
the knight holds the position very well from d1. black can line up his big guns on the e file for as long as he wants; unless he is going to give something up for the e pawn, white is secure
20... Ne4 21. Qe1 Re7 22. Bd3 Nf6 23. Rf3
adding another protection to e3 should the unthinkable happen, but also to try and get access to the h and g files
i can't under stand why black should want to lose his outpost so easily. i didn't take many seconds to think about taking the pesky knight offtheboard
25. Bxe4 Qxe4 26. Qf2 Qd3 27. Rd2 Qb1 28. a3 Qe4 29. h5!
after weathering a storm, i feel that whites time has come
29... gxh5
29... g5 30. fxg5 hxg5 31. Rxf5 Qh4 32. Qxh4 gxh4=
30. Qh4 Kh7 31. Qxh5 Rg7 32. Nf2 Qe6 33. Nh3 Kg8 34. Kf2 Qg6 35. Qxg6 Rxg6 36. Rd3 Rge6 37. Ng1 Kf7 38. Rh3 c5
coming into time pressure, black tries to muddy the waters
39. dxc5
39. Rb3 cxd4 40. Rxb7+ Kg6 41. Rg3+ Kf6 42. Rbg7 dxe3+ 43. Kf3 Bxf4 44. Kxf4 a fantastical variation, but such sharpness wasn't called for at the time control
40. Ne2 this is possibly better, but i felt that steering the game to a drawn ending was sensible
40... Bxe3+ 41. Kf1 Bxf4 42. Rxf5+ Rf6 43. Rxf6+ Kxf6 44. Rf3 Ke5 45. Ne2 Bg5 46. Rb3 Re7 47. Ng1 Kd5 48. Nf3 Be3 49. Ke2 Bf4+ 50. Kf2 Rc7
black's king dominates the centre of the board, but thats about the only comment to make about black's position. accuracy means a draw. with 30 mins left on the clock, surely white can be accurate
51. Ne1 Be5 52. Kf3 a6 53. Nd3 Kc4
i panicked here, having missed the king move. there was a simple defence, but funny things happen when a player thinks he has blundered...
54. Rxb7??
after this nonsense, the rest of the game requires no comment
54. Nc1 after the game, both players thought that even with this move, white is very sensitive about b2, and is hamstrung. but again, this positionisdrawn
54... Rxb7 55. Nxe5+ Kd5 56. Nd3 Rb3 57. Ke2 Kd4 58. Nb4 Rxb2+ 59. Kf1 Rxb4 0-1 [Damien Lavery]
Leinster Intermediate |
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5
i showed my olympian opponent healthy disrespect wheeling out this solid line again. the thinking is that i should be able to outplay white from an equal position
4. d4 c6 5. Bd2 Qc7 6. Nf3 Bf5 7. Bc4 e6 8.
so far so good, black has a good game. Nf6 would ensure equality and the best player wins. having looked more closely, i thought i might have had a problem down the h-file. i remember reading a report on a past olympiad by mark orr in which he gave a game by elizabeth in which she tore open black's king position. so i allowed myself to be swayed by external thoughts; the shame!
this came as a bit of a nasty shock. my initial Kf7 now runs into Bxg6! with a mate to follow any capture. the next move is forced
17... f5
now i have achieved no solidity for my kingside, and black is vulnerable
18. Bc4 Kf7 19. Qf3 Rh8 20. Qh3 Rxh4 21. Qxh4 Nb6 22. Bb3 Qb4 23. c3 Qd6 24. Re1 Re8 25. Qg5 Nd5 26. Bxd5
swapping off this excellent bishop shows white playing for a draw. having been given this reprieve, i try to break through and torture white, but to no avail
26... Qxd5 27. b3 Qa5 28. Qd2 Qc7 29. Re5 Rd8 30. Qf4 Qe7 31. Qe3 a6 32. a4 Rd5 33. f4 Rd7 34. g3 Qd6 35. Kg2 Re7 36. Kh3 Qd8 37. Kg2 Qb6 38. c4 Qb4 39. Kh3 Qb6 1/2-1/2 [Damien Lavery]
Leinster Intermediate |
well this was going to be a difficult day. problems associated with undercooked sausages should give the reader the idea. having battled through this game i withdrew from the tournament, but not before i tried to claim a plus score
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. c4 c6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. e3 b5
another QGA where black tries to hang onto the pawn. this is getting annoying
6. a4 b4 7. Na2 a5 8. Bxc4 e6 9.
the opening has gone well for white. here white should try to bring his errant knight back onside with Nc1, but tries instead to mix things in the centre
16... Bxd2 17. exf6 Bf4 (17... Bh6 18. Bc1 Bxc1 19. Nxc1 gxf6) 18. fxg7 Bxh2+ 19. Kh1 Re8 20. Qh5
17. Bxd5 Bxd2 18. Bxe6 Ba6 19. Bc4
19. Rxf7 Rxf7 (19... Bxe2? 20. Rxc7+ Kh8 21. h3) 20. Qxd2 Kh8 21. Bxf7 Qxf7 computers spot everything
19... Bxc4 20. Qxc4 Be3+ 21. Kh1 Nd7 22. Rf3 Nb6 23. Qd3 Bh6 24. Nc1 Nd5 25. Ne2 Rae8 26. Bc1 Re6
26... Bxc1 and black has a solid position
black has the weakeness, but white will find it difficult to break through
29. Rf1 Qd8 30. Nf4 Nxf4 31. Rxf4 Qg5 32. Qf3 Qe7 33. Rf5
i tried to control g5 with the rook to stop the Qg5 threat again, but it was better with the other rook
33. Rh5 Qe6 34. Rhf5 Qd5 f7 must be protected, leaving either a static rook on f8, or unprotected pawns on c6 and h6
33... Qd7 34. Qd3 Qd5 35. Rg3 Rd8
Rgf3 would ensure a drawish position even after c5 ideas, and an even score in the tournament isn't so demoralising after all
1/2-1/2 [Damien Lavery]
Damien Lavery
Game(s) in PGN