Marple Club Tournament - Annotated Games

Here are my three games from the Marple Club tournament played at 20 minutes each plus 10 seconds per move.  All 3 lead to endgames quite early on...

Longson,Alex (225) - Hegarty,Sarah (180) [B22]

Marple Rapid, 18.08.2014

 

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 g6?! A bit passive [3...Nf6] 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 Bg7 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.d5 Not necessary but leads to more direct play than simple development 7...Ne5 8.Nxe5 dxe5 [8...Bxe5 9.Be2 Nf6 10.Bh6 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Nxe4 12.Qd4 Nf6 13.0–0] 9.Be2 Nf6 10.0–0 0–0 11.Bg5 [11.Be3 e6] 11...Ne8 A good thematic move [11...h6 12.Bh4 g5 13.Bg3 Ne8 Here I hoped to exploit the weaknesses of the light squares though it isn't completely clear 14.Bg4 Nd6] 12.Qd2 Nd6 13.Bh6 f5?! I think this is a bit too weakening [13...Bd7 Sarah was concerned about a bishop exchange followed by f4 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.f4 But here black has 15...Qb6+ 16.Kh1 Qd4!] 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.exf5 [15.f4 Qb6+ 16.Kh1 Qd4] 15...gxf5 16.Qe3 Nf7 17.f4 Qb6 18.Qxb6 axb6 I figured white must be considerably better (pawn structure, development) but probably didn't play this phase too well 19.g3 So to take back on f4 with a pawn and keep black knight out of e5 [19.Nb5 Bd7 20.Nc7 Rac8 21.Ne6+ Bxe6 22.dxe6 Nd6 23.fxe5 Loks tempting but it looked fishy as e pawns are doubled and black is getting active; 19.Bb5 exf4 20.Rxf4 Nd6] 19...Bd7 20.Kf2 [20.fxe5 Nxe5 21.Rae1] 20...Ra5 A clever multi-purpose move 21.Ke3 Rfa8 [21...Rc8] 22.a3 Kf6 23.Rfc1 b5? This spoils the coordination of the black pieces and creates a weakness on b5 [23...Nd6 I wasn't sure on what my plan is here - I think black is OK] 24.Na2 exf4+ 25.Kxf4 [25.gxf4] 25...Nd6 26.Nb4 Ra4 27.Rab1 [27.Rc7? Rxb4+ 28.axb4 Rxa1 29.Rxd7 Rb1µ] 27...Be8 28.Bd3 Bf7 29.Ke3 Rd8 [29...Rg8] 30.Rc5 Nc4+? The knight was excellently placed on d6 - the simplification helps white [30...Ra5] 31.Bxc4 bxc4 32.Rd1± the position has clarified and white is wel on top - black has too many weak pawns  [32.Rc1] 32...e6 33.Rxc4 Ra5 [33...exd5 34.Rc7 (34.Nxd5+?? Rxd5–+) ] 34.Rc7 exd5 35.Rxb7 Re8+ 36.Kf2 Rc5 37.Rd2 Re4 38.Rb6+ Kg5 39.Rd6 Rc1 40.Nxd5 Ree1 41.Ne3 Rh1 42.Kg2 Rcg1+ 43.Kh3 Bh5 44.R2d5 Bg6 45.Rd1 Black lost on time 1–0

 

Trueman,Glenn (170) - Longson,Alex (225) [E10]

Marple Rapid, 18.08.2014

 

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 c5 4.e3 Kind of expected - and certainly not a bad move 4...cxd4 I know Keith has played this was previously so thought it was worth a try.  I don't know much about the resulting positions 5.exd4 b6 [5...d5 Will likely transpose to some kind of standard IQP position at some point] 6.Be2 Bb7 7.0–0 Be7 [7...Na6 Keith played this move in a similar position versus Horton-Kitchlow (a very interesting game). In that game white had played Nc3 instead of castling] 8.Nc3 0–0 9.d5 I like this move - leads to an interesting game [9.Bg5 d5] 9...Bb4 10.Bg5 h6 [10...Bxc3 11.bxc3 h6 12.Bf4 exd5 13.Bd6 Re8] 11.Bxf6 Qxf6 12.Rc1 Na6 13.a3 Bxc3 14.Rxc3 Rac8 [14...Nc5 Was my initial intention and is probably more to the point] 15.Qd4 Qxd4 16.Nxd4 Nc7 17.dxe6 [17.Bf3! exd5 18.Nf5 looks unpleasant for black] 17...dxe6 18.Bf3 Bxf3 19.Nxf3 [19.Rxf3 Na6 20.b3 Rfd8 21.Nb5 Rd7³] 19...Rfd8 Surprisingly black has emerged with ever so slightly the more pleasant position.  For the moment white has problems coordinating his rooks and black has the simple plan of expanding in the centre with ...f6...e5...Kf7...Ne6 20.Rfc1 [20.Ne5 Ne8] 20...f6 21.Kf1 Kf7 22.Ke2?! Too routine - whites king will be badly placed here once the knight comes to e6 22...e5 23.R1c2 [23.Rd1 Ne6] 23...Ne6 24.g3? [24.Ke3] 24...e4–+ 25.Nd2 Nd4+ 26.Ke3 Nxc2+ 27.Rxc2 f5 28.Ke2 Ke6 29.Nf1 Ke5 30.Ne3 Rd4 31.b4 g5 32.c5 bxc5 33.bxc5 f4 34.Ng4+ Kd5 35.Nxh6 f3+ 36.Ke1 Rxc5 37.Rxc5+ Kxc5 38.Nf5 Rd3 39.h4 gxh4 40.gxh4 Kd5 41.Ne3+ Rxe3+ 42.fxe3 Ke5 White resigned[42...Ke6 the game might have finished 43.Kf2 Kf5 44.Kg3 Kg6 45.Kh3 (45.Kh2 Kh5 46.Kh3 a5 47.Kg3 a4 (47...f2?? 48.Kxf2 Kxh4 49.Kg2 Kg4 50.a4= is the only thing black needs to avoid) 48.Kh3 f2 49.Kg2 Kxh4 50.Kxf2 Kh3–+ makes no difference) 45...Kh5 46.Kg3 a5 47.Kh3 a4 48.Kg3 f2 49.Kxf2 Kxh4 50.Kg2 Kg4 51.Kf2 Kh3 52.Kf1 Kg3 53.Ke2 Kg2 54.Ke1 Kf3 55.Kd2 Kf2 etc]  0–1

 

Preen,David (135) - Longson,Alex (225) [B07]

Marple Rapid, 18.08.2014

 

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d6 I didn't fancy a Veresov or Blackmar Diemer after 2...d5 today 3.e4 e5 4.dxe5 dxe5 5.Qxd8+ Kxd8 I've got a fair amount of experience from both sides of this position 6.Bg5 [6.Bc4 Ke8 (6...Be6 7.Bxe6 fxe6 is also interesting) ] 6...Be6 7.0–0–0+ Nbd7 8.Nf3 [8.f4 exf4 9.e5 h6 is pleasant for black] 8...Kc8 [8...Bd6 9.Nb5 Ke7 is also played.  On reflection I prefer this as black is better cordinated than in the 9.Bh4 line given below] 9.Bb5?! Black wants to play ...c6 anyway so this just loses a tempo [9.Bh4 Is the most popular move amongst strong players 9...h6 10.Bg3 Bd6 11.Nd2 and black has certain problems to solve as he isn't fully coordinated yet and white is starting to 'nibble' (intending Bc4 for example)] 9...c6 10.Bd3 h6 11.Bh4 Nh5 12.Bg3 Nxg3 13.hxg3 Be7³ Black is simply better (bishop pair and easy play) 14.Nd2 Kc7?! A bit careless [14...b5] 15.f4 f6 16.Bc4 Bxc4 17.Nxc4 Bc5 18.Kb1 b5 19.Nd2 Be3 20.Rhf1 exf4 21.gxf4 Rhe8 22.Rf3 Bxd2 23.Rxd2 b4 24.Ne2? [24.Na4 It's funny but I was well aware of this tactic and yet somehow overlooked it specifically here 24...Rxe4 25.Rxd7+ Kxd7 26.Nc5+ Kc7 27.Nxe4 Re8 28.Re3 f5 29.a3 Rxe4 30.Rxe4? (30.Rg3 Rxf4 31.Rxg7+ Kb6 32.axb4 Is more resilient) 30...fxe4 31.axb4 Instructively this endgame is winning for black (the target is the g2 pawn)! 31...h5 32.Kc1 Kd7 33.Kd2 Ke6 34.Ke3 Kf5 35.c4 a6 36.g3 Kg4 37.Kf2 e3+–+ and the h-pawn will decide] 24...Rxe4 The position should be winning but there is of course a lot of work left to do 25.Rg3 g5 26.fxg5 hxg5 27.c3 Rae8 28.Nc1 a5 29.cxb4 axb4 30.Rf3 Re3 31.Kc2 Rxf3 32.gxf3 Ne5 33.Re2 Rh8 34.Nd3 Nxf3 35.Rf2 Nd4+ 36.Kd2 b3 37.axb3 f5 38.Kc3 Rd8 39.Nc5 g4 40.Kc4 g3 41.Rd2 f4 White resigned 0–1