1984-10-25 - Barron, Clive ½-½ Wood, Michael
Another Bristol League thriller from Mike Wood. An original opening, uncompromising middle-game play, and a time-scramble to behold.
[Event "BRISTOL LEAGUE"] [Site "?"] [Date "1984.10.25"] [Round "?"] [White "Barron, Clive"] [Black "Wood, Michael"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A13"] [Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"] [PlyCount "70"] {Another Mike Wood classic, except that in time trouble he forgets to win the game. Clive Barron was a 160ish graded player who was at Bristol Uni before going to Horfield for a few seasons.} 1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. b3 Nf6 4. g3 Bd7 $5 {An odd move but Mike was never one for theoretical opening debates. He just liked to get his pieces out. Personally I would prefer playing ...c7-c5 and ... Nb8-c6 before thinking about where to put the Bishop, and a fianchetto is probably more promising than d7 anyway.} 5. Bb2 Nc6 6. Bg2 Be7 {I prefer d6 to e7 simply to give the Queen a square but Mike has a concrete idea in mind.} 7. O-O h5 $5 {"An enterprising attempt to unsettle White, who reacts classically with a break in the centre to counter the wing attack." Obviously the idea of advancing an h-Pawn towards a fianchetto position is nothing new, and is clearly going to be more effective if there is no Knight on f3 (f6) controlling h4 (h5), in this instance Mike has a Bishop and Queen on the h4-d8 diagonal to enforce the advance.} 8. d4 {"I prefer 8 d3 retaining control of e4." One wonders how much that comment was influenced by Black's next move. In view of the fact that White's 11th move is e2-e4 I think we can safely agree with Clive's choice.} Ne4 9. Nfd2 $1 {Not annotated originally but this is the modern way of usurping a Knight on e4 (e5) in these sort of structures. White delays his Queenside development in the belief that action in the centre is more important. Nor is it clear that Black's Queen's Knight and Bishop are on good squares. Both sides are breaking some classical rules here but the struggle is all the more fascinating for it.} f5 {Uncompromising but what else was Black going to play? Swapping Knight can only help White even if Black does have a free tempo to play ...h5-h4. Getting other pieces into the 'attack' is the problem. Deep Rybka suggests the extremely retrograde 9... Nf6 10 Nc3 Bc8. It's only move 9 and I'm already wondering if I'm working the engine too hard!} 10. f3 {Deep Rybka suggests either a) 10 Nxe4 fxe4 11 Nc3 or the amusing b) 10 Nc3 Ba3!? 11 Qc1 Nxc3 12 Qxc3 Bxb2 13 Qxb2 and also c) 10 cxd5 exd5 11 Nc3. All this suggests that the engine doesn't see Dutch Defence structures very often. In a) giving Black an advanced Pawn on e4 is usually good for the second player unless White can play an effective f2-f3. He can and he should. In b) no self-respecting Dutch player would play 10... Ba3 giving up his dark-squared Bishop. White should simply take with 11 Bxa3 Nxc3 12 Qe1 and then proceed with f2-f3 and e2-e4 anyway. Certainly in the line given Black has 13...h4 continuing his Kingside advance. Finally c). White is normally reluctant to take on d5 too quickly in Dutch structures because the removal, after the recapture ...e6xd5, of the e6 Pawn gives the Black light-squared Bishop options on the Kingside. Even if ...f5-f4 has to played as a sacrifice the possibility of ...Bh3 to swap White's g2 Bishop can de dangerous. Clive's choice is natural, thematic and equally uncompromising. If Black now swaps on d2 White has a natural with his own Knight, hence Mike chooses to retreat momentarily leaving White's Queenside still undeveloped.} Nf6 11. e4 {Once again the natural and thematic move. Deep Rybka suggests 11 e3 which is much more cautious but White can build with Qd1-e2, Nb1-c3 and maybe Ra1-e1. It's not clear that Black can do anything really dangerous on the Kingside yet. Note the similar comment on Black's 9th. The engine also looks at 11.Nc3 which is a desirable move but leaves the d4 Pawn en prise, so we analysed the tactics 11....Nxd4 12.Nxd5 Nxe2+ (if 12... Nxf3+ instead 13 Nxf3 exd5 14 Ne5 gives White a lot of compensation for the Pawn.) 13.Qxe2 exd5 14.Rfe1 (on the presumption that the other Rook wants to go to d1 as the f-file remains closed here.) 14...Kf7 15.cxd5 Bc5+ 16.Kh1 h4, and here I prefer Black and so does Deep Rybka now.} fxe4 12. fxe4 Ng4 $5 { "Although it looks as if a beginner is handling the Black pieces White's Queenside is completely out of play and he can take no drastic action to refute Black's opening." The test is going to be whether White can take on d5 immediately or not and ignore the threat of 13...Ne3.} 13. Qe2 {Clive prefers to avoid the fork. However both 13.exd5 Ne3 14.Qe2 Nxf1 15.dxc6 Nxd2 16.cxd7+ Qxd7 17.Nxd2 and 13.cxd5 Ne3 14.Qe2 Nxf1 15.dxc6 Bxc6 16.Nxf1 win material for White. Incidentally there is no mileage for Black throwing in ...Nxg2 either as in the famous game Robert Byrne-Fischer, US Championship 1963-4. There simply aren't enough open lines. However, there are enough open lines for White to use tactics. After 13 exd5 (or 13 cxd5) exd5 14 cxd5! Ne3? 15 Be4! - threat 16 Bg6 mate! - 15...Nxf1 16 Bg6+ Kf8 17 Qxf1+ Bf6 18 dxc6 Bxc6 19 Be4! White has two pieces for a Rook and Black has no counterplay. Another line is 13 exd5 exd5 14 cxd5 Nb4 15 Qe2 and now 15...Nc2?? loses a piece to 16 Be4.} Bg5 $5 {Fascinating stuff. Mike intends ...Be3+, Kh1 h4 followed by ...h4xg3 and ...Rh8xh2 mate. Of course White gets moves as well!} 14. exd5 {Deep Rybka agrees with this. It's second alternative is 14 Kh1 which just transposes after 14...Be3 although the engine does look at 14...Ne3.} Be3+ 15. Kh1 Nxd4 16. Qd3 {Deep Rybka gave a lot of time to 16.Bxd4 Bxd4 17.Qe4 here. If 17... Bxa1 then it's mate after 18.Qg6+ Ke7 19.Qf7+ Kd6 20.Ne4+ Ke5 21.Qf4+ Kd4 22. Rd1. Instead 17...Bf6 18.Qg6+ Ke7? 19.Rxf6! Nxf6 (even worse is 19...gxf6 20. Qg7+ Kd6 21.Ne4+ Ke5 22.Nbd2 and it's only White having fun now.) 20.Qxg7+ Kd6 21.Nc3 which the engine says is +3 for White. However, the sober 18...Kf8 seems to be level. Clive naturally chooses to keep his dark-squared Bishop and invites Mike to play the fork 16...Nf2+? This loses material to 17 Rxf2 Bxf2 18 Bxd4 (18 Ne4 is also good) and White has two pieces for a Rook and Black has no attack. Naturally Mike avoids this.} Nf5 {"Now Black has the perennial threat of ...Nf5xg3+, ...h5-h4 and ...h4xg3 completely exposing the White King."} 17. dxe6 {Deep Rybka examines 17.Bxg7. The point is 17...Nxg7?? 18.Qg6+ Ke7 19.Qxg7+ Kd6 20.Ne4 mate. However, we know a Knight is bad on Knight two so instead we play 17...Rh7 18.dxe6 (the miserable retreat 18.Bb2? is met by 18...h4 19.Ne4 hxg3 20.h3 Qh4 and the engine has Black at +2 which is no surprise as White has effectively lost two tempi with his Bishop) 18... Bxe6 19.Bd5 (19.Qxd8+ Rxd8 leaves White with two pieces en prise.) 19...Nxg3+ 20.hxg3 Bxd5+ 21.cxd5 Rxg7 which is evaluated at +0.26 to Black. That seems reasonable. The text is more thematic, opening the other long diagonal for White's Bishop, taking out the principal support of the f5 Knight and opening the centre to counterattack the Black King.} Bxe6 18. Qe4 {"Exchanging Queens affords White no relief." After 18 Qxd8+ Rxd8 Deep Rybka has Black at nearly +2. This is no surprise as White has an undeveloped Queenside while Black has much better pieces and his threat of ...h5-h4. The engine gives an amusing line: 18.Qxd8+ Rxd8 19.Ne4 h4 20.gxh4 Nxh2! 21.Kxh2 Rxh4+ 22.Bh3 Rd3! 23.Kg2? (better is 23 Rf3 although after 23...Bf4+ 24 Kg2 - if 24 Rxf4 Rdxh3+ is mate in 8 apparently 25 Kg2 Ne3+ and 26...Rxf4 looks convincing anyway) 23. ..Rxh3 24.Kxh3 Bc1+ 25.Kh2 Bxb2 regaining the sacrificed material and coming out with an extra Pawn and an excellent position.} Qe7 {If 18...Qd7 simply 19 Rxf5 wins a piece because of the pin on the e6 Bishop, although Black does have 19...Nf2+ and White can now afford 20 Rxf2 with two pieces for the Rook.} 19. Ba3 {"Not 19.Rxf5 Bxf5 20.Qxf5 Nf2+ 21.Kg1 Nd3+ and 22...Nxb2 emerging the Exchange up." ran the original note. However, Deep Rybka went further: 19. Rxf5 Bxf5 20.Qxf5 Nf2+ 21.Kg1 Nd3+ 22.Kh1 (not 22.Kf1 Rf8 wins the Queen) Nxb2 (the engine prefers the repetition with 22...Nf2+) 23.Bxb7 Rb8 24.Bc6+ Kd8 25. Ne4 claiming the position is equal but Black has a Knight on a Knight two so he must be worse! The text is clearly a winning attempt, and why not? It rules out Kingside castling and White is going to take on b7 next move so what is the Black King going to do?} Qf6 {An alternative is 19...Nd6 but it's inferior after 20 Qg6+.} 20. Qxb7 {There is a draw by repetition with 20 Bb2 Qe7 21 Ba3 Qf6 22 Bb2 etc. Black can't play 20...Qxb2? because of 21 Qxe6+ Ne7 22 Bxb7 and the threat of 23 Bc6+ and 24 Qd7 mate is too strong. Naturally Clive takes the Pawn with various threats.} Kf7 $5 {"Simply strolling to a safer place on g6." Originally this move was given an !! What's astonishing is that Black can get away with having both his King and Queen on the same open file as an enemy Rook. I later found out that Larsen did a similar King walk in his game against Uhlmann at the 1973 Leningrad Interzonal, his monarch going on to play an important role in his Kingside attack! Deep Rybka suggests instead 20...Rd8 21.Ne4 Qxa1 22.Nbc3 - almost trapping the Queen - 22. ..Nf2+ 23.Nxf2 (if 23 Kg1 Nxe4+ 24 Kh1 Nexg3+ leads to a mate in 6) 23...Qxc3 24.Qxc7 Bxf2 25.Bc6+ Rd7 claiming Black is much better at +0.8 or so, but it's very complicated. Much like the game!} 21. Qxc7+ {Once again there's a sensible-looking alternative with 21.Ne4 Qxa1 22.Nbc3 Nf2+ 23.Nxf2 Qxc3 24. Qxc7+ Kg6 25.Bxa8 Rxa8? 26.Qc6 forking a8 and e6. However, Black has a hidden improvement with 25...Rc8! 26.Qb7 Bxf2 and if now 27.Rxf2 Black is winning after 27...Qe1+ 28.Kg2 Ne3+ 29.Kf3 Bg4+ 30.Kf4 Qxf2+.} Kg6 22. Qc6 $2 {"If 22 Bxa8 h4! and Black's local superiority is worth a Rook and two Pawns. If here 23 Nf3 Qxa1 and ...Qxa2 leaves White in dire trouble." The judgement appears to be accurate but the analysis isn't. After 22.Bxa8 h4! 23.Nf3 Qxa1? puts the Queen out of play. White should reply 24.Be4 and if 24...hxg3? 25.Qxg3 is winning because of the pinned Knights. Instead (22.Bxa8 h4! 23.Nf3) hxg3 24. Nbd2 Bb6 25.Qf4 Nxh2 26 Kg2 Ne3+ it's Black who is winning but obviously this is not a forced variation. The alternative 22 Ne4 Qxa1 seems to transpose into lines given in a previous note. Deep Rybka also suggests 22.Be4. This seems sensible as it pins the important Knight on f5 and gives the King a flight square. After 22...Rac8 (or 22...Nf2+ 23.Rxf2 Bxf2 24.Nf3) 23.Qe7 - one of the points of the afore-mentioned pin - 23...Qxe7 24.Bxe7 Bd4 25.Bxf5+ Bxf5 26.Nf3 Bxa1 27.Nh4+, in both cases with rough equality. Much to ponder here as well. The text doesn't seem to do as much as other candidate moves and it eventually transpires that the Queen is on a fork square! After Black's next the evaluation swings way up to +3.45 for Black! It's all due to the local superiority of attacking forces.} h4 $1 {Mike doesn't even contemplate taking the Rook, being intent on attacking the White King. Deep Rybka gives 22...Qxa1 23.Be4 - already +2 for White so the difference between taking the White Rook and declining it is 5 points but that's the value of the initiative here. The White Rook isn't doing anything so there is no point in capturing it. - 23... Qf6 24.Bb2! Qxb2 25.Qxe6+ Qf6 26.Bxf5+ Kh6 27.Bxg4 Qxe6 28.Bxe6 and White has two pieces and two Pawns for that measly Rook.} 23. Ne4 {Deep Rybka has a field day with fancy sacrificial variations in this position. Here's a few: A) 23.Qe4 Nf2+ 24.Rxf2 hxg3 25.Nf3 gxf2 and this is great for Black with a passed Pawn on the seventh. B) 23.Be4 hxg3 24.Bxf5+ (or 24.Nf3 Rxh2+ 25.Nxh2 Rh8 26. Bxf5+ Qxf5 27.Qe8+ Rxe8 28.Rxf5 Rh8) 24...Qxf5 25.Qg2 (or 25.Rxf5 Rxh2 mate) Rxh2+ 26.Qxh2 Nf2+ 27.Rxf2 Rh8 28.Qxh8 Qxf2 29.Qe8+ Kh7 30.Qh5+ Bh6 winning. Loads to look at but Black, despite having many options, needs to be accurate. No wonder both sides were in time trouble. The text attacks the Queen and defends g3 but this doesn't deter Mike.} hxg3 {The obvious move is the right one here but 23...Nxg3+ needs looking at too. Play can go 24.Nxg3 hxg3 25. Rxf6+ gxf6 and Deep Rybka changed its mind here. First it wanted to play 26. Be4+ Kg5 27.Kg2 Rxh2+ 28.Kf1 (not 28.Kf3 Rf2+ 29.Kxg3 Bf4+ 30.Kh3 Rh2 mate) but after 28...Rd8 29.Bd6 Ne5 it said Black was better to the tune of +7! This is carrying randomisation too far. Instead it preferred 26.h3 Rad8 27.Be4+(if 27.Nc3 Rd2 threatening 28...Rxh3+ 29 Bxh3 Rh2 mate) 27...Kf7 28.Bd5 and said White was a little better! There are sensible alternatives and losing tries for both sides amongst this morass of variations and I'm not going to make a comprehensive analysis. I'd have played the text move as well.} 24. h3 Rxh3+ $5 {"Spectacular, but if Black first plays 24...Qe5! threatening 25...Rxh3+ 26 Bxh3 g2+ 27 Kxg2 (if 27 Bxg2 Qh2 is an immediate mate.) 27...Qh2+ 28 Kf3 Ne5 mate. White can still attempt 25 Rxf5 but after 25...Kxf5 he is still in big trouble." Deep Rybka agrees with me for the first bit save that it wants to mate with 28...Nd4 or 28...Nh4 instead! As for 25...Kxf5 it much prefers 25... Qxf5 with the twin threats of 26...Ne5 followed by 27...Rxh3+ mating and 26... Rxh3+ 27 Bxh3 Qf3+28 Bg2 Rh8 mate. The only alternative to 25 Rxf5 seems to be 25 Bd6 but after 25...Nxd6 26.Nxd6 (26.Qxd6 Rxh3+ 27.Bxh3 Qxe4+ 28.Bg2 Rh8 mate.) 26...Nf2+ 7.Rxf2 (Not 27.Kg1 Nxh3+ 28.Kh1 Nf4+ 29.Bh3 Rxh3 mate.) 27...Bxh3 28.Ne4+ Be6+ 29.Kg1 Bxf2+ 30.Kf1 Raf8 the engine says Black is winning again. The text does the job as well but now White gets to play a sequence of obvious moves in his time-trouble which clearly helps with the decision-making process.} 25. Bxh3 Rh8 {Given an !! with the comment "Why study Alekhine and Tal when Mike's games are available? If now 26 Kxg2 Rxh3 anyway." Perhaps slightly over the top but Black is a Rook down with his Queen en prise! After 26 Kg2 the most accurate is 26...Nh4+ 27 Kh1 g2+ 28 Bxg2 Nf5+ 29 Bh3 Rxh3+ 30 Kg2 Rh2+ 31 Kf3 and Black has mates on e5, d4 and h4 as indicated in a previous note. After both the text and 26 Kg2 Rxh3 White has 26 (27) Qe8+ messing Black about somewhat. Specifically 26 Qe8+ Rxe8 27 Nxf6 Nxf6 still leaves Black at +2 according to Deep Rybka. There are awkward threats of 28...Bd4 and 28...Rh8 and a check on the h1-a8 diagonal would be fatal too. That latter factor makes White reluctant to play 28 Bxf5+ Bxf5 because of the threat of 29...Be4+. Deep Rybka prefers 26 Qe8+ to 26 Nxf6 but still give Black a significant plus. The good point about the latter is that it clears the e4 square for the White King!} 26. Nxf6 Rxh3+ 27. Kg2 Rh2+ 28. Kf3 Ne5+ 29. Ke4 Nxc6 {"At the moment Black is the Exchange down but he is threatening 30...g2 winning a Rook. Also the f6 Knight is en prise so White only has one move." There is an alternative (to the forthcoming 30 Ng4) which is 30.Rxf5 but after 30...g2 31.Nc3 Rh1 32.Rf3 Rxa1 33.Rg3+ Bg5 34.Rxg2 gxf6 Black comes out a piece up.} 30. Ng4 Rh4 31. Rxf5 Bxf5+ $2 {"After all the preceding complications both players were in bad time-trouble. Here Black can simply play 31...g2 and at best White comes out a piece down." This is correct. After 31...g2 32 Nc3 or d2 Bxf5+ 33 Kxe3 Rh1 34 Kf3 or f2 Rxa1 35 Kxg2 Bxg4 White is indeed a piece down. An alternative is 31...Bd4. White is a Rook up but he has two Rooks en prise! Even after the mistaken text Black is still winning however.} 32. Kxe3 Rxg4 33. Nd2 Ne5 $2 {After 33...Nd4 White has no defence to the triple fork on c2. However, Black has to arrange getting the Knight out of a3 so White could play on. After 33...Nd4 34.Rc1 Nc2+ 35.Kf3 Nxa3 36.Nf1 g2 (or 36...Nc2 and now not 37.Rxc2? Bxc2 38.Kxg4 g2 promoting) 37. Ng3 Nxc4!? 38.bxc4 Rxc4 39.Re1 Bh3 40.Ne4 Rc2 and Black has a slow win. Now the game is roughly level and the opposite colour Bishops hint at the result.} 34. Bd6 Kf6 35. Rg1 g2 {"Time control reached. The players sportingly agreed a draw after a game that's a pleasure to play through."} 1/2-1/2
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