1985-01-06 - Mordue, Tyson 1-0 Zeidler, S
One for the tacticians. In yet another Pirc Defence Tyson is probably already winning at move 29 when he begins a deep combination. In the ensuing melee all of Black's pieces magically disappear.
[Event "CARDIFF OPEN"] [Site "?"] [Date "1985.01.06"] [Round "?"] [White "Mordue, Tyson"] [Black "Zeidler, S"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B09"] [Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"] [PlyCount "81"] {The original notes to this game were by Dave Osborne (DCO) in the February 1985 issue (no. 48) of Bristol Chess Times.} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f4 Bg7 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Bd3 Na6 7. O-O c5 8. d5 Rb8 9. Kh1 Nc7 10. a4 b6 11. Qe1 e6 $6 {"I'm not sure what is book here, but 11...a6 seems reasonable. White's Kingside attack takes a little preparing so central counterattacks can wait a while." DCO. Of course 11...a6 would have been met by my patented 12 Rb1. Both Mordue-GW Lawton, Exeter 1984 and Mordue- KB Richardson, Natcor Continuous Tournament 1983-4, continued 12...b5 13 axb5 axb5 14 b4 c4 15 Be2 e6 16 dxe6. Here Richardson erred with 16...Bxe6 and fell under heavy attack after 17 f5! and lost in 38 moves. Lawton replied with the correct 16...fxe6 and got a sensible position, but couldn't find a plan, was outplayed and also lost in 38 moves! Whatever, 11...e6 is not a move on the database and Deep Rybka doesn't like it as much as 11...a6.} 12. dxe6 fxe6 13. e5 {Also good are 13 Ng5 and 13 Qh4. I try to use my experience from the Lawton game to gain good play on the dark squares.} Nfd5 14. exd6 $6 {Much better, and similar to the Mordue-Lawton game, is the immediate 14 Ne4. Poor for Black is 14...Nxf4 15 exd6 Ncd5 16 Bc4 with a clear advantage for White. What I may have missed was that after 14 Ne4 Nxf4 15 exd6 Nxd3? is not playable because 16 dxc7 wins a piece.} Qxd6 15. Ne4 Qe7 16. Neg5 $5 h6 $2 {"If 16...Nxf4 then 17.Qh4 Nh5 18. g4 Nf6 19.Nxh7!" DCO. Deep Rybka prefers either 16...Nb4 17 Be4 Bb7 or simply the immediate 16...Bb7 although White maintains a small plus. Zeidler decides that he can't abide the Knight on g5 and pushes it back immediately. As a strong player (Sven Zeidler played in several Olympiads for Wales) he would have been aware of the weakness created on g6, but he would have been counting on his next move to create play that compensates for it. See note to Black's 17th.} 17. Nh3 {17.Qh4 looks interesting but after 17...hxg5 18.Nxg5 Bf6 19.Bxg6? Bxg5 White can't recapture on g5 because of the mate on f1. White really needs his Rooks connected before he goes sacrificing but Bd2 doesn't get played until move 23! However 17 Nh4 is good, and it's not really a sacrifice! After 17...hxg5 18 Nxg6 Qd6 19 Nxf8 and 20 fxg5 White has an excellent position and Black would be regretting 16...h6?. The text defends f4 for a second time and White still has an advantage.} e5 $2 {"17...Qf6 is better. It must be unwise to open the way for White's Queen's Bishop." DCO. Right and wrong. The wrong bit comes first. After Queen moves 17...Qf6 (DCO above, 17...Qf7 (me) and 17...Qd6 (Deep Rybka) 18 Ne5 is good against the lot. Deep Rybka actually suggests 17...Ba6 pinning the d3 Bishop so preventing 18 Bxg6, unless White wants to sac an Exchange. It continues 18 Bxa6 Nxa6 19 c4 Ndb4 20 Qe4 with a small but clear advantage. The right bit is about opening the way for the QB. This is actually delayed but Dave's point is good. What Zeidler is trying to do with the text move is free up his Queenside, wreck White's Kingside Pawns, and create a weakness on e5 that he should be able to win back easily. What actually happens is that he gives up his light-squared Bishop and weaknesses on that colour complex plague him to the end of the game, he relieves White of having to worry about back-rank mates, he opens the g-file as a possible attacking avenue for White - although White finds the f-file good enough in the game - and, finally, the e5 Pawn isn't won back and proves to be a strength, not a weakness! Otherwise he could sit there and get squashed.} 18. Nxe5 {Deep Rybka says that 18 Nh4 (again) is better but the text is okay. Within a few moves Black feels the need to give up both his Bishops for the White Knights, which in an open position can only favour White, a point that accentuates Dave's comment on the previous move.} Bxh3 19. gxh3 g5 {The immediate capture on e5 is probably better but Pirc players don't want to exchange this piece lightly.} 20. Qe4 {Deep Rybka claims 20 Nc6 going into an ending a Pawn up is better. I'm not so sure. The text safely plonks the White Queen right in the centre of the board, keeps up the attack and virtually forces Black to give up his dark-squared Bishop. In the game when we enter into the ending (and what an entry we shall see!) White will be a piece up.} Bxe5 21. fxe5 Rxf1+ 22. Bxf1 {This apparent forced retreat is temporary. The Bishop is due to emerge again at the great square c4. } Qe6 $6 {"If 22...Re8 23 Bd3! and now 23...c4 24 Bxc4 Qxe5 25 Qg6+ Qg7 26 Bxd5+. Better was 22...Qh7." DCO. If 22...Re8 then my intention was the immediate 23.Bc4 with similar lines strong. If now 23...Qxe5 regaining the Pawn then Black promptly loses two more after 24.Qg6+ Kh8 or f8 (if instead 24. ..Qg7 25.Bxd5+ wins a piece) 25.Qxh6+ and 26.Qxg5+. The text defends g6 and also d5 in advance. After 22...Qh7 there is 23 Qxh7+ Kxh7 24 Bd3+ Kg7 25 h4! gxh4 26 Bd2 and 27 Rg1+ and Deep Rybka puts White at +1.25. Zeidler's dilemma is that all endgames are poor for him because of the two Bishops against the two Knights in a wide open position. However. with Queens on it's merely a question of time before his King comes under co-ordinated attack from the White forces massing under the cover of the e5 Pawn, so maybe Dave's suggestion is right.} 23. Bd2 Re8 {Deep Rybka prefers 23...Rf8 but Zeidler was getting very short of time already.} 24. Re1 Re7 25. h4 $1 {With this handy strike White undoubles his Pawns and renders Black's King even more insecure. Deep Rybka has White at +2.4 here. The White Bishops are set to dominate and the Black Knights are tied down to defending each other, which is rarely a good scenario in an open position and White proves that it is bad in some style! It might be observed that the h3 square is now clear. Maybe there is some future scenario where the White Bishop emerges to good effect ... but there isn't! However, for those of you who are in the mood for dreaming try to imagine which square the d2 Bishop will be on at move 36 and how it got there.} Rg7 26. hxg5 hxg5 27. Bc4 g4 28. Rf1 {With the threat of 29 Rf6 Qd7 30 Rd6 winning a piece.} Rg6 29. Be1 $1 {With the imaginative idea of going to d8 and to then play Bxc7 breaking the Knights defensive liaison. Black is almost helpess against this and Deep Rybka's evaluation shoots up to +3.81.} Kg7 {If 29...g3 30.Bxg3 (if 30 hxg3 Qh3+ 31 Kg1 Rxg3+ transposes) 30...Rxg3 31.hxg3 Qh3+ 32.Kg1 Qxg3+ is no good because after 33.Qg2 Qxg2+ 34.Kxg2 Black does not have 34...Ne3+ because of the pin. Hence Black unpins but White has anticipated this and proceeds as planned.} 30. Bh4 g3 $2 {"This ? seems a little harsh to me. Black has so few moves at his disposal." DCO. Deep Rybka settles on this move after looking at 30...Rh6 and 30...Qc6. The former just allows White to resume his Bishop manouevre with a small pause to get the Black kIng back on g8 with 31 Bf6+ Kg8 - all captures lose as will become apparent in the next note - 32 Bd8 threatening 33 Bxc7. The latter shows more resistance but White is much better. After 30...Qc6 31.Rd1! Nb4 32.Bf6+ and now: a) 32...Kf8 33.Rd8+ Ne8 34.Rxe8+! Qxe8 (not 34...Kxe8 35.Bb5 wins the Queen) 35.Bb5 wins material because 35...Qf7 holding onto the Rook allows 36 Qa8+ mating so 35...Nc6 36 Bxc6 gives White a big material plus., or b) 32. ..Kh6 33.Qxc6 Nxc6 34.Rd7 Ne8 35.Bh8 Rg5 36.e6 and Deep Rybka has White at over +3. Now the combination given for Black in the previous note works after 31 hxg3 or 31 Bxg3. However, Zeidler now had almost no time left on his clock with the control at move 42. Furthermore I had seen Black's combination and had my own in mind. I'm further delighted to see that Deep Rybka with all its calculating power has missed it. With plenty of time on my own clock I rechecked the main line, and then launched the combination in it's entirity without writing the moves down. This is known as blitzing and, under revised Laws of Chess, is now illegal. At the time of the game it wasn't although it could be regarded as unsporting. Nevertheless I'd seen the position that we reached by move 40 at move 29 and knew that if I was right then the position was a trivial win.} 31. Bf6+ $1 {"Why the exclaims? Because apart from the fairly straightforward analysis of captures on f6 etc Tyson had to calculate the rest of this neat finish with the the threat of ...g3-g2+ always in the air." DCO.} Kf7 {There are several alternatives. a) 31...Kh6?? 32 Qh4 mate. b) 31...Kg8?? leaves the g6 Rook en prise with check. c) 31...Kf8 also leaves the g6 Rook en prise although White has cause to carry on with his idea and play 32 Bd8+. d) 31...Kh7 32 Qh4+ Rh6 33 Bd3+ wins the Rook while 32...Kg8 33 Qh8+ Kf7 34 Bg5+! leaves Black with a choice of material-losing interpositions on f6. e) 31...Nxf6 32 exf6+ and White takes the Black Queen next move. f) 31...Rxf6 32.exf6+ Kf8 (if 32...Kf7 33.Qh7+ Ke8 34.f7+ promotes or wins the Queen, while 32...Nxf6 33.Qxe6 leaves White a Rook up) 33.Qxe6 Nxe6 34.Bxd5 also leaves White a Rook up.} 32. Bd8+ {It's only here that Deep Rybka gets the point of the combination, and this is actually the critical moment.} Ke8 { Played as a reflex but this is the automatic reaction that I'd hoped for. Alternatives are a) 32...Kg7 which I was very confident that I could meet with 33.Rf6! and now a1) 33...g2+ is useless after simply 34 Kg1, and the reader can take that for granted in any line where White has moved his Rook from f1. a2) 33...Nxf6 34.exf6+ and White plays Bishop takes Queen next move, a3) 33...Rxf6 34.exf6+ Nxf6 (if 34...Kg8 35.Qxe6+ Nxe6 36.Bxd5, or 34...Kh6 or h8 35.Qh4+ Kg6 or g7 36.Qxg3+ followed by Bxc7 as appropriate, or 34...Kf7 35. Qxe6+ Kxe6 36.Bxc7) 35.Qxe6 Nxe6 36.Bxe6 wins material. or b) 32...Kg8 was the move that concerned me but it also has a simple refutation, namely 33.Rd1. Now if Black moves his Queen then captures on d5 happen with check so White wins material. Deep Rybka finds the continuation 33...Rg4 34.Bxd5 Rxe4 35.Bxc7 Re1+! 36.Kg2! Rxd1 37.Bxe6+ Kg7 38.Kxg3 when White is winning easily. I can guarantee that Zeidler could not have calculated this before losing on time. How much of this did I actually see at the time? Quite a lot. The pin on the d5 Knight is very powerful and the overloads on the c7 Knight help. if Zeidler had chosen 32...Kg8 then I had plenty of time to find 33 Rd1. 33 Rg1 is also good - I'd seen that too - while Deep Rybka says that 33 Rf5 is +10 (!) for White. As I intended the principal threat is 34 Bxc7 which will also collapse the Knight on d5, and the Rook on f5 cuts out ...Rg4 and ...Qh3. After the text the d8 Bishop is en prise and Black threatens 33...g2+. No problem! This is the main line of the analysis I had done on move 29, and remember, I've only been moving the Bishop!} 33. Bxc7 $1 g2+ {I wonder if Zeidler thought he might have been winning here. Whatever, he didn't have time to think it for long and what else is there to play in this position? Should the reader think that they have found a resource for Black here then you need to take into account White's 35th and 36th moves.} 34. Qxg2 {Quickly but calmly played.} Rxg2 35. Bb5+ {Zeidler looked bewildered.} Ke7 36. Bd6+ {And the crowning moment of this Bishop's Oydessey since move 29. Since 36...Kd8, the only other legal move, gets mated after 37 Rf8+ Black must surrender his Queen for the prelate. Dave Osborne did remark that it was dangerous to let this piece out, way back on move 17! How right he was. Are there any readers out there who had this square as the answer to my suggested dreaming at move 25? If you did then well done!} Qxd6 37. exd6+ {This is the so-called weak Pawn that Black has targeted since move 17. What a glorious end, taking the opposition Queen with check!} Kxd6 38. Kxg2 {Black is now a Rook down and, although the fork on e3 is still viable, even the c4 Bishop has moved out of range. Zeidler was still moving out of inertia.} Ne3+ 39. Kf2 Nxf1 40. Kxf1 Kd5 {A pause for breath and to update the scorsheet which was now out-of-date to the tune of ten moves, or 20 ply if you prefer. It didn't take me long. Zeidler still looked bewildered. Perhaps he thought that he still had a minor piece somewhere. As it is the only two pieces from the ones that were on the d, e, f and g-files at move 32 that have survived the ensuing whirlwind are the White Bishop and the Black King. Everything else is gone.} 41. h4 1-0
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