Marple 2 vs Eccles 11/08/2014

I think we were all expecting a tough match last Monday night, as it turned out Eccles fielded a weaker team and defaulted bottom board.  We out-graded them significantly on all boards but I only discovered this after the match.  Eccles also played quickly, I was trying to avoid time trouble myself but couldn't keep up with my opponent. This didn't matter as it soon became clear that my game would finish well within the time allowed.  In fact my match was the last but one to finish and it was all over by 9.00pm.  I then saw the last 5 -10 minutes of Chris' game in which he had a full rook advantage.

Andy's game was the first to finish with a draw, so with a default already in the bag things were looking good.  The speed of play was such that I could not follow the other games but all were won for Marple so the final score was as follows:-

1.    Andy Jenkins (130)      0.5 - 0.5      L Harold (118)
2.    Chris Baker    (129)         1 - 0        G Whitehead (104)
3.    David Preen   (125)         1 - 0        C Lysons (117)
4.    Jeff Barlow     (124)        1 - 0        D Perryman (103)
5.    Tony Doust     (99)          1 - 0        J White   (??)
6.    Peter Kelly      (68)          1 - 0         Defaulted

Here is my game

[Event "ManFed"]
[Date "2014.08.11"]
[White "Barlow, Jeff"]
[Black "Perryman, Des"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B20"]

1. e4 c5
2. Nc3 d6
3. Bc4 e6
4. f4 a6
5. a4 g6
6. Nf3 Bg7
7. O-O Ne7
8. Bb3  Of course, Fritz does not like this.  I am trying to side step ...d5 and I suppose it does waste time and allows black to play Nc6 now I think about it.  A better move might have been Qe1 as it is more active and prevents d5 indirectly while the King is still on e8 and it is a move I wanted to play anyway!
       ........0-0
9. d3     This also lacks gumption according to Fritz,  d4 is the move evidently he prefers.
        ......Nbc6
10. Kh1  According to Fritz Black is 0.5 ahead now after my timid play.
        .......Qc7
11. Qe1 Bd7
12. Qh4 Rae8
13. Ng5 h5            A mistake, h6 is more challenging
14. g4                    Tally-ho!
        .....f6              A serious clanger is this one!
15. Nxe6 Bxe6
16. Bxe6+ Kh8     Another 2 pawns down with this move,  Our German friend prefers Rf7.
17. gxh5 g5
18. fxg5 fxg5
19. Bxg5 Rxf1+     This only makes things worse for black but he is losing anyway.
20. Rxf1 Ng8         Sinking deeper, now.
21. Bxg8                Here Fritz gives me a black mark, Nd5 is stronger, but more complicated, while I am simplifying to negate any chance of a swindle for black and I am going to play Nd5 next anyway!
                ......... Rxg8
22. Nd5 Qd7
23. Bf6 Ne5
24. h6 Ng6
25. hxg7# 1-0        It is still a pretty neat finish anyway, a double check with my queen hanging.