1985-04-11 - Smith, Richard 0-1 Wood, Michael
Mike Wood defeats his opponent in classic coffee-house style in just 17 moves.
[Event "BRISTOL LEAGUE"] [Site "?"] [Date "1985.04.11"] [Round "?"] [White "Smith, Richard"] [Black "Wood, Michael"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C33"] [Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"] [PlyCount "34"] [EventDate "1985.??.??"] {This contest was introduced by the Versus editor Chris Simmons with the remark "A fairly typical game upon which comment is quite superfluous"! Indeed there were no comments at all. However, it's a Mike Wood win which means that it is going to be interesting so I've annotated it. Richard Smith was a student at Bristol University before joining Clifton and, in a relatively brief stay in Bristol, impressed as the Glos County Captain and the League's Auditor.} 1. e4 e5 2. f4 {A King's Gambit! Richard always enjoyed a good fight and in Mike Wood he finds an opponent of the same mind-set.} exf4 3. Nc3 Be7 4. Bc4 Bh4+ 5. Kf1 g5 {This is apparently the King's Gambit Accepted, Keres (Mason-Steinitz) gambit. As Mason and Steinitz never faced each other in a King's Gambit then I'm a bit confused by this appellation. However, I'm not an expert on this opening. The main line here, in both(!) games that I've found is 5...d5. One of them, between two future GMs Luc Winants of the Netherlands and Australian Ian Rogers, continued 6 exd5 Be7!?, so Mike's 5...g5 takes us right out of the book, regardless of the fact he plays ...d5 next move.} 6. Qh5 {Can you spot the threat?} d5 $5 {Mike did and counter-gambits his extra Pawn. Original play by both men.} 7. Bxd5 Qe7 {Deep Rybka says White is +1.23 here.} 8. Qe2 $6 {Regrouping and losing a fair chunk of his advantage. There was nothing wrong with 9 Nf3 threatening to smash up Black's Pawns and, indeed, this is the main drawback to Black's opening. After 9 Nf3 Nf6 10 Qh6 and the White Queen is okay but perhaps Richard didn't want Her Majesty isolated and hence the withdrawal.} c6 $6 {A little provocative giving White a target for the advance of his d-Pawn. Personally I prefer the standard development of the King's Knight on f6 on either this or the next move, but, as per the earlier disclaimer, I'm not a King's Gambit expert.} 9. Bb3 Nh6 $6 {I'm tempted to say that this is originality for originality's sake, but that wasn't how Mike Wood played. I simply assume that he didn't choose 9...Nf6 because of 10 e5 but after 10...Bg4 11 Nf3 Nh5!? this set-up of Knight on h5 and Bishop on g4 is not unusual in a King's Gambit so Black is okay here. The inclusion of the Bishop on h4 is the really controversial element and right now, after 9...Nh6, and on subsequent moves there is 10 g3 with the point 10...fxg3 11 hxg3 Bxg3 12 Rxh6 winning a piece. I don't know if either player saw this and, if Richard did, whether White turned it down because he thought his King was becoming too exposed. This tactical point persists for several moves with Deep Rybka trying to get around it as Black and executing the threat as White, but I'm not going to bore the reader with the theme.} 10. Nf3 Bg4 11. d4 Nd7 12. Bd2 O-O-O {A series of understandable moves by both sides. Deep Rybka has Black at about +0.2 to 0.3. If White could castle Queenside he could claim the advantage, but he can't and therein lies the whole point of the opening line. We should recall that amongst post-Second World War players Spassky, Bronstein and Fischer all played the King's Gambit with a fair measure of success - Spassky beat the other two with it! - so it can be a useful weapon in the right hands, given a bit of theoretical knowledge and a sensible approach. However, Tal also ventured a King's Gambit against Trifunovic at Havana in 1963, got slaughtered for doing so, and never played it again in professional chess.} 13. d5 $6 {This is where White's problems really begin. Deep Rybka suggests two moves. The first is, of course, 13.g3 but after 13...Ne5! 14.dxe5 Rxd2! - this works because White undermined f3 with 13 g3 - 15.Qxd2 Bxf3 it can find nothing better than returning the Exchange with 16.gxh4 Bxh1 and then 17 Qd6 with a slightly inferior endgame. There is also 13.Rg1 Qf6 14.e5 Qg6 with ...Qh5 coming to increase the pressure on f3 but this is probably White's best line.} Ne5 {And now with the swap on f3 coming the Bishop on h4 changes from an endangered piece to a strong piece.} 14. dxc6 $4 {Apparently this is fatal! White had to play 14 h3 to deny the Black Bishop access to h3 after the swap on f3. After the indulgent text it looks like Mike had it all worked out!} Nxf3 $1 {There's no need to recapture on c6. Deep Rybka already has Black at +9!} 15. cxb7+ Kb8 {Ironically there is a line in the King's Gambit Accepted, the Cunningham, which goes 1. e4 e5 2 f4 exf4 3 Bc4 Be7 4 Nf3 Bh4+ 5 g3 fxg3 6 0-0 gxh2+ 7 Kh1 with the King sheltering behind an advanced enemy Pawn. Mike adopts the same approach although Black is probably still winning after 15... Kxb7 16 Qb5+ Kc8 because White is a piece down and d2 is en prise. If after 15. ..Kxb7 16 Bd5+ instead then 16...Rxd5 17 Nxd5 Nxh2+ wins the Queen. Deep Rybka carries this line on with 18 Kg1 Qc5+ 19 Be3 Qxd5 20 exd5 Bxe2 21 Bd4 Rd8 22 Rxh2 Rxd5 23 c3 Nf5 - countering the attack on two Bishops by 24 g3 with 24... Nxg3 - and Black has Bishop, Knight and Pawn for a poorly placed Rook and a better position to boot. The text avoids all of this.} (15... Kxb7 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 16. Qb5+ {[%emt 0:00:02]} (16. Bd5+ Rxd5 17. Nxd5 Nxh2+ 18. Kg1 Qc5+ 19. Be3 Qxd5 20. exd5 Bxe2 21. Bd4 Rd8 22. Rxh2 Rxd5)) 16. gxf3 Bh3+ 17. Kg1 { Now 17...Qc5+ wins a piece after 18 Be3 but Mike's move leaves no room for doubt.} Rxd2 $1 {18 Qxd2 is met by 18...Qc5+ mating next move.} 0-1
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