1980-10-02 - Brigden, Michael ½-½ Mordue, Tyson
Tyson - The decisive game from the 1980 Club Championship. An early Queenless middle-game arises with a big plus for White. The turning point is Tyson's 33rd move which he sealed. The rest of the game is impeccable adjournment analysis with both King's fate in the balance as each plays for the win. Much to learn here about simplified endings, even though the players don't get that far!
[Event "D&F CLUB CHAMP F4"] [Site "?"] [Date "1980.10.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Brigden , Michael"] [Black "Mordue, Tyson"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "E39"] [Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"] [PlyCount "82"] [EventDate "9.??.??"] {Yet another game against Mike Brigden and the decisive one from the 1980 Club Championship. Both of us had 2/3 with Mike being routed by Colin Powney and myself losing to Mike Wood despite having an extra Queen at move 18 or so. His Kingside attack was too good.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 {A collector's item. This game is from the early days of my career when against 1 d4 I played 1...Nf6 2 c4 e6. After 3 Nf3 I chose 3...c5 hoping for the Modern Benoni, which I didn't always get so I ended up in a few Queen's Gambit positions, while after 3 Nc3 it was 3...Bb4 and a Nimzo-Indian Defence. I think I had two Nimzos, this one and a win in a friendly match against Bristol & Clifton. Shortly afterwards I decided that the King's Indian Defence was not only more suited to my style but it sometimes transposed into the Benoni anyway. Also it was also useful when facing the English Opening and other unusual and infrequent stuff such as the London or Colle System or 1 b4 or 1 b3. I even had 1 e3 on one occasion, played a KID and won in 18 moves, but that's another story.} 4. Qc2 {This has an undeservedly passive reputation, but it avoids the doubling of the c-Pawns after ...Bxc3 and so denies Black the chance to play one of the main themes of the Nimzo-Indian. A good psychological ploy against someone whose experience with this opening in casual and quickplay had been almost exclusively involved ...Bxc3+, bxc3. I knew a few moves after 4 Qc2 but had no strategical concept of what to do. To my surprise on the openings database this is the second most popular choice after 4 e3, and even the sharp Samisch Variation with 4 a3 only features in sixth place.} c5 5. dxc5 Nc6 {I was actually aware that 5...Na6 was probably a more popular choice here, but I simply didn't have the courage to play Knight to Rook three on move 5! There is nothing wrong with the text though.} 6. Nf3 O-O 7. a3 Bxc5 {We are still very much in regular theory here. It could be argued that 7...Bxc3+ is the consistent move, but it only appears in five games on the database compared to 59 games with the text. There are also games where ...Bxc5 has been played earlier, and after White's next we have effectively transposed back to a main line because there are 221 games featuring the position after 8 Bg5.} 8. Bg5 {Deep Rybka evaluates White as better by +0.27 here which is usually okay from Black's perspective at this point. Unfortunately I was unaware of what the usual line was at this point so I had to start making it up.} h6 $6 {And this is not a good start. It turns out that the inclusion of 8...h6 9 Bh4 is in White's favour. The best line is the immediate 8...Nd4 9 Nxd4 Bxd4 10 e3 and now 10...Qa5! hits both c3 and g5. Best for White is 11 exd4 Qxg5 12 Qd2 - 102 games on the database say this and so does Deep Rybka with a plus of 0.32 for White.} 9. Bh4 Nd4 {Deep Rybka says Black's best here is 9...b6 10 Rd1 (10 0-0-0 looks even better to me. Follow up with 11 g4 and attack on the Kingside!) 10...Bb7 11 e4 e5 with a slight plus to White. Intriguing stuff which I would play today but I didn't have the nerve to endure a backward Pawn on an open file then. Anyway the line with 10 0-0-0 was enough to put me off so I went for the liquidation.} 10. Nxd4 Bxd4 11. e3 {And at this point 11...Qa5 no longer hits the Bishop on g5 because Black forced its retreat to h4! I didn't fancy a Bishop retreat of my own so I continued exchanging.} Bxc3+ 12. Qxc3 Ne4 $2 {Consistent but Black winds up in a poor ending. According to Deep Rybka better are 12...g5 - which I'd never play because of the weakened Kingside while White still has the chance to castle on the opposite wing - and the far more modest 12...b6 and fianchettoing the Bishop. Black doesn't have to be concerned with exchanges on f6 in the latter line because White can't attack the theoretically weak Pawn there, but I was more concerned about the one on d7. Nevertheless Black should try this as the game choice leaves White well in control. Deep Rybka says White is now +1.08 compared to just +0.36 after 12...b6.} 13. Bxd8 Nxc3 14. Bc7 Ne4 {FInally, although I didn't know it, we diverge from theory. Biriukov (2369) vs. Karasev (2429), St. Petersburg 2003 continued 14...Na4 15 Bd6 at which point Black, an experienced Soviet/Russian IM, realised that 15...Re8 16 b3 Nb6 17 e4! left him with no defence to 18 c5 trapping the Knight! So he sacrificed the Exchange with 15...b6 and remarkably held on to draw in 55 moves. I don't recall seeing this precise line, but if I wasn't going to play 5...Na6 then I was going to play 14...Na4 either. The central square for me please! However, Deep Rybka has White at +1.15 here. He has more space, he'll have better development after moving the f1 Bishop and castling, also the two Bishops in a semi-open position, and finally that juicy target Pawn on d7, backward on an open file! In the way of compensation for all this Black has ... an active Knight on e4 which probably won't be allowed to stay there!} 15. Bd3 $6 {Tempting but a small inaccuracy. Better is the immediate 15 f3 Nf6 when Black doesn't get to play 15...f5 as in the game.} f5 16. f3 Nf6 17. Bd6 { Preventing Black from playing ...d7-d5 which would straighten out the Pawn structure to some extent. However, there are a couple of drawbacks to this impressive-looking move. It actually forces a move that Black wants to play, namely ...Rf8-f7 giving lateral defence to the d7 Pawn and permitting the Queenside fianchetto, and it also blocks the d-file so the d7 Pawn doesn't come under immediate fire.} Rf7 18. O-O-O {There's something to be said for 18 c5. If Black now plays 18...b6, which he almost certainly will otherwise the c8 Bishop remains entombed, White can take an establish a 2-1 Queenside majority. Of course it's entirely possilbe that this may happen anyway if White plays a subsequent c5 bxc5, Bxc5, but here Black's Pawn is on a7 rather than the more exposed b6.} b6 19. Rd2 Bb7 20. Rhd1 Rc8 21. Kb1 {Evacuating the c-file before Black plays ...b6-b5 exploiting the pinned c4 pawn. This and all White's preceding play is natural enough but Deep Rybka now says that White is only 0.56 better. All the White advantaages that I listed earlier all still extant, bar the lead in development, but Black has some activity and a solid position. White needs to consider placing his Bishops on more effective squares. The ones that appeal to me are e5 to attack the f6 Knight and a4 to attack the d7 Pawn. However, that leaves the c4 Pawn loose and the natural defence of b2-b3 denies White the manoeuvre Bd3-c2-a4. Maybe Black had ...Bc6 anyway to stop Ba4 but the point is that White needs a plan. However, it's Black's move and the same point applies. Black needs a plan too but he also needs to be careful. He has weak dark squares and his pieces don't really co-operate with each other. Then again the c8 Rook is on a nice file and his Bishop on a reasonable diagonal. The Knight and Rook defend d7 but they would rather have something else to do. So I found a plan which seems to go against some of the features of the position, particularly turning a semi-open position into an open one, but Black needs more space to breathe in.} g5 $5 { It transpires that there is a target in the White position, the f3 Pawn. Should that go then Black will have a lovely outpost on e4. Suddenly White has things to think about.} 22. h3 {A natural reaction, and I prefer this to the engines other suggestions of 22 b3 - which I think weakens c3 and inbibits the Bishop - and 22 h4 to which Black should just reply 22...g4. White would like as many open lines on the Kingside as he can get for his Bishop and Rooks to work on, and 22 h3 focuses on swapping on g4.} h5 23. b3 {Deciding to play this anyway and solidify the c4 Pawn. I wondered if Black should try ...a7-a5 hoping to get ...a5-a4 in, but I suspect that after a3-a4 in reply the b6 pawn is a ready target for Bd6-e5-d4.} g4 {The consistent move. Despite Black having a lot of Pawns on the same colour square as his Bishop the prelate is not a bad piece. The Pawns co-operate with it to create light-square pressure, and Black now gets a result of sorts because White retreats a piece to defend f3.} 24. Be2 gxh3 $5 {An ambitious idea but keeping a positive approach. The point is to follow up with ...h5-h4 and use g3 as a penetration point for either my Knight or my Rook. I didn't seem to be deterred by the fact that the Bishop on d6 controls g3! Unfortunately the h4 Pawn was weaker than I'd anticipated.} 25. gxh3 h4 $6 {In retrospect both 25...Kh7 or 25...Bc6 may be better moves.} 26. Rd4 $1 Rg7 27. Be5 {There's nothing wrong with the immediate 27 Rxh4 but Mike tries to tie the Black Rook down with the threat of 28 Bxf6. I fail to oblige and head for the seventh rank.} Rg2 28. Bf1 {Much stronger is 28.Bxf6 Rxe2 29.Rxd7 Bxf3 30.Rg7+ Kf8 31.Rdd7. The immediate threat is 32 Rh7 and 33 Rh8 mate so Black is obliged to play 31...f4 to be able to answer 32 Rh7 with the fork 33...Be4+. White can now try 32.Be5 threatening 33 Bd6+ Ke8 34 Rde7+ Kf8 (if 34...Kd8 35 Rg8 is mate) 35 Ref7+ Ke8 36 Rf8 mate. Black does have a defence with 32...Re1+ 33 Ka2 (If 33 Kc2 Re2+ and White can't step on the d-file because 34...Rxe3+ wins the e5 Bishop) 33... Re2+ 34 Bb2 Rg2 35 Rdf7+ Ke8 36 Rh7 and Black is in lots of trouble with plenty of Pawns en prise as well. However, this line is long and complicated so in time trouble Mike tries to keep it simple. Black now has two pieces en prise so his reply is forced.} Rg6 29. Be2 {Inviting a repetition with 29...Rg2 30 Bf1 Rg6 which gets both players to the time-control whereupon White can try to find something stronger. Once again Black fails to fall in with White's wishes and plays the move that he could safely have played on move 1!} d5 30. Rxh4 Kf7 {The time-control. White has won a Pawn but Black has a reasonable degree of activity for it. Deep Rybka says White is +1.02.} 31. Bxf6 $2 {I understand the point of this move but it can't be right. The Bishop is a much better piece than the Knight in this open position and the steed has little prospect of getting to a better square. Deep Rybka prefers 31 Rc1 or 31 Rd2 which effectively challenges either one of the Black Rooks, the first down the c-file after say 32 cxd5 and the second opposes a potential 31...Rg2 although White needs to do something about unpinning the e2 Bishop.The point of the exchange is to give the Rook on h4 access to the h7 square, but White is making a particular assumption which Black proves is tactically wrong. However, it needs a very brave decision by Black to prove the error.} Kxf6 32. Rh7 Rg2 33. Re1 $2 {The right move is 33 Bf1 forcing 33...Rg7. What's more White should seal the move so as to determine at home whether swapping Rooks on move 34 is best or if something else should be played. Given that the g7 Rook is probably better than the h7 tower White should swap. Deep Rybka says White is still +1 but winning this ending is not easy. Black now turns the game upside-down with one inspired move, but it happens to be the sealed move so there was no turning back from it. I had to make the decision there and then so it was a fine bit of judgement. Nevertheless, having been on the defensive for most of the game it was refreshing to analyse winning opportunities at home.} dxc4 $3 34. Rxb7 {If instead 34 bxc4 then 34...Ba6 is equal, while after 34 Bxc4 Bxf3 35 Rh6+ Rg6 36 Rxg6+ Kxg6 37 Bxe6 Be4+ Black stands better despite being a Pawn down. Each Black piece is better than its White counterpart and the third rank has several Pawns that Black can target. After the game had finished Mike said that he'd guessed what my sealed move has been, and spent quite a while at home analysing the ending of King, Rook and Bishop against King and Rook. Such an ending is theoretically drawn although Swedish GM Ulf Andersson won it twice in twelve months in 1974/5. In my own analysis I never got anywhere near this ending and there are a lot of Pawns to eliminate!} cxb3 {Black's idea now becomes apparent. He wants to play ...Rc2 and depending on where the Bishop goes there are perptual checks, promotion ideas and, given enough time, Black could take on a3, play b3-b2 and mate on a1. There are many moves to consider here. 1) 35.Rxa7 Rc2 and now: 1a) 36.Bd1 Rb2+ 37.Kc1 Ra2 38.Kb1 is a common repetition in this analysis; 1b) 36.Bd3 Rb2+ 37.Kc1 Ra2 38.Kb1 (if 38.Bb1?? Ra1 followed by 39...b2+ wins) 38... Rgb2+ 39.Kc1 Rd2 40.Bc4? (40 Bb5 is an obvious improvement.) 40...Rac2+ 41.Kb1 Rxc4 is good for Black; 1c) 36.Bf1 Rb2+ 37.Ka1 (not 37.Kc1?? Rgc2+ 38.Kd1 Rb1 mate) 37...Ra2+ 38.Kb1 Rgb2+ 39.Kc1 Rc2+ 40.Kb1 is a draw; 1d) 36.Bb5 Rb2+ is similar to other drawing lines; 1e) 36.Rd7 Rcxe2 37.Rxe2 Rxe2 38.Rd3 Rh2 39. Rxb3 Rxh3 40.f4 is given as level by Deep Rybka who now plays 40...e5! to prove a point. 2) 35.e4 Rc2 36.e5+ Kg6 (Obviously not 36...Kxe5?? 37.Bf1+.) 37.Rxa7 Rgxe2 38.Rxe2 Rxe2 39.f4 Re4 40.Re7 Rxf4 41.Rxe6+ Kg5 42.Rxb6 Rf3 43. a4 Re3 44.Re6 (if 44.e6 f4 is better for Black) 44...f4 45.a5 Rxh3 46.Kb2 Kf5 with a level ending; 3) 35.Bf1 Ra2 36.Rxa7 Rcc2 37.Rc1?? Rcb2 mate is just a demonstration of a quick way to lose but White has no need to play 37 Rc1; 4) 35.Bd3 Rd2! is an important move because Black forces his other Rook on to c2 and lines similar to above arise. Note that 36 Rd7 Rcc2 37 Bxc2 dxc2+ 38 Kc1 Rxd7 39 Kxc2 Rg7 is better for Black by 1.19 according to Deep Rybka. The patterns are fairly clear. Black seems to have an easy draw by perpetual check. White can easily lose if he does something silly. Giving back the Bishop is not silly but a justified winning attempt, but it doesn't seem to get White very far anyway. There remains the variation that Mike played in the game which is probably the critical line.} 35. Bd1 $1 {White is provoking the Pawn to advance to b2 which rules out a lot of the perpetual checks and repetitions, but risks getting mated in some variations.} b2 $1 {Black must be accurate as playing 35...Rc3 first loses after 36 f4! b2 37 Bh5 - threat 38 Rf7 mate - 37...e5 38 Rxa7. Black doesn't get time to play ...Rxa3, White has activated his Bishop and Deep Rybka says White is +3. The try 38...R2c2 threatening 39...Rc1+ is negated by 39 Rd1 getting the Rook to a square where it's defended so that after 39...Rc1+ the answer is 40 Kxb2. Now Black is threatening 36...Rc1+ 37 Ka2 b1=Q mate.} 36. Ba4 {The line 36.Be2? Rc1+ 37. Rxc1 bxc1=Q+ 38.Kxc1 Rxe2 39.Rxa7 Rxe3 is very good for Black, but 36.Re2 Rg1 37.Rd2 (or 37.Rxa7 Rxd1+ 38.Kxb2) 37...Rc1+ 38.Kxb2 Rcxd1 is level. Needing more calculation is 36.Bb3 Rc3 37.Bxe6 (not 37...Rxa3? 38.Ba2 and White is winning) 37...Kxe6 38.Rxa7 Rgc2 39.e4 Rc1+ 40.Kxb2 R3c2+ 41.Kb3 Rc3+ 42.Kb4 Rc4+ 43.Kb5 Rc5+ 44.Kxb6 Rc6+ 45 Kb7 Rc7+ 46 Kb8 Rc8+! with an intriguing draw regardless.} Rc3 {Now 37 Rxa7 doesn't guard a3 so Black threatens mate in two.} 37. Be8 {37 Ka2 fails to 37...Rc1, while 37 Bb5 Rxa3 38 Re2 avoids mate but White has dropped two Pawns after 38...Rxe2 39 Bxe2 Rxe3. However, the position is probably drawn after 40 Bd1 Re1 41 Rd7 Rh1 42 Kxb2 Rxh3. Maybe this is the line that Mike thought could reduce down to King, Rook and Bishop against King and Rook but I doubt it.} Rxa3 {Now Black threatens mate in one with 38...Ra1 so whatever White has up his sleeve had better be good.} 38. Rf7+ Ke5 $1 {If 38...Kg6?? 39 Rxa7+ and 40 Rxa3 definitely settles matters in White's favour. However, 38...Kg5 is playable. After 39.Rg7+ Kh4 40.Rxg2 Ra1+ 41.Kxb2 Rxe1 42.Bc6 Kxh3 43.Rg7 Rxe3 44.Rxa7 e5 Black is going to liquidate White's last pawn. So we would be closer to King, Rook and Bishop versus King and Rook than in any other variation, but Black isn't forced into this line either. However, the Black monarch is running a remarkable gauntlet!} 39. f4+ Ke4 $1 {This is more accurate than 39...Kd5 40.Rd1+ and now: A) 40...Kc5 41.Rc7+ Kb4 42.Rd4+ Kb3 43.Rd3+ Kb4 44.Rxa3 Kxa3 45.Rxa7+ Kb3 46.Ba4+ Kc3 47. Rd7 when White is winning but has work to do, or; B) 40...Kc4 41.Rc7+ Kb3 42. Rd3+ Kb4 transposes to line A, or; C) 40...Ke4 41.Bc6+ Kxe3 42.Bxg2 Ra1+ 43. Kxb2 Rxd1 44.Bc6 Kxf4 45.Rxa7 is probably drawn but White is justified playing on for a win.} 40. Bc6+ Kd3 41. Bb5+ $1 {Not 41 Bxg2?? Kc3 and White is getting mated, Deep Rybka says in five moves!} Ke4 {41...Kc3 is possible. After 42.Rc7+ Kb3 43.Bc4+ Kb4 44.Re2 Rxe2 45.Bxe2 Rxe3 46.Bd1 Rxh3 47.Kxb2 looks level to me and Deep Rybka continues with 47...a5 48.Rc6 Rh2+ 49.Bc2 b5 50.Rxe6 Rf2 51.Re5 Rxf4 52.Rxf5 Rh4 which is a drawn position.After the text White can try 42 Re2 but after 42...Rxe2 43 Bxe2 Rxe3 he is losing all his Pawns and Black is the only one with winning chances. Instead Mike indicated that he was going to play 42 Bc6+ and repeat the position so we agreed a draw. This meant that we shared the 1980 Downend & Fishponds Club Championship.} 1/2-1/2
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