1986-11-01 - Mordue, Tyson 0-1 Collier, David
A clear example of the consequences of not playing a standard plan. In a Sicilian Defence Tyson fails to apply pressure on e6 with the usual f4-f5. An oversight obliges him to weaken his King position which costs him all his advantage. On move 27 a poor Knight to Knight two tips the balance in Collier's favour. The Clifton player regroups efficiently to seal the win and his only Bristol Individual Championship.
[Event "BRISTOL LEAGUE CONGRESS"] [Site "?"] [Date "1986.11.01"] [Round "3"] [White "Mordue, Tyson"] [Black "Collier, David"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B96"] [Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"] [PlyCount "86"] [EventDate "1986.??.??"] {Original notes by Alex Easton (AE) in BCT Issue 62, December 1986.} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qc7 8. Qf3 Nc6 { "Apparently Dave Collier had become fed up of being smashed up by Tyson in the Byrne system. 7...Qc7 and 8...Nc6 is his new try." AE. I assume this is a typo and that Alex meant the Browne system with ...h7-h6 and ...g7-g5. There are several Byrne systems/variations but the one in the Sicilian isn't one I play.} 9. O-O-O Nxd4 10. Rxd4 b5 11. Be2 Bb7 12. Rhd1 Rc8 13. Bxf6 {Holzer vs. Schweda, internet game 2004 continued 13.f5 e5 14.R4d2 Be7 15.g4 O-O 16.h4 b4 and now White blundered a piece with 17.Bxf6?? bxc3 18.Qxc3 Qxc3 19.bxc3 gxf6.} gxf6 14. Qh5 {"Round about here Tyson must have been considering f4-f5, either now or on most of the next seven moves. It looks like a strong idea and I wonder Tyson rejected it." AE. Alex is quite right and 14 Qh3 is a good preface. The text seems to be a loss of tempo after Black's reply because White doesn't want to swap Queens on c5.} Qc5 15. Qh3 $2 {Actually 15 f5 is playable. After 15...b4 16 Rc4 Qe3+ 17 Kb1 bxc3? (or 17...Rxc4 18 Bxc4 bxc3) 18 fxe6 and Black is in big trouble on the light squares. Of course Black has better moves that 15...b4 but he needs to be careful.} h5 {"A standard idea, stopping White's Bishop coming to h5 or g4 and preparing ...Bh6." AE.} 16. Kb1 b4 {"The threat of f4-f5 now looks strong." AE.} 17. Rc4 Qa5 18. Rxc8+ Bxc8 19. Nd5 Rh6 {"This looks like an only move as they say." AE. Actually 19...Bg7 followed by 20...Kf8 is a possibility. At this point Deep Rybka says White is + 0.84.} 20. Ne3 Qc5 21. Nc4 $6 {"21 f5 and Bc4 to follow." AE. This is indeed a better plan. e6 is the point that White needs to pressure, not d6.} a5 22. c3 $2 {"A terrible move which exposes the King and creates a glaring weakness on c3. Presumably Tyson was intending to recapture with the Queen [after 22... bxc3] and follow up with Rc1 - a reasonable idea - but Collier's next move prevents this. White is probably not yet lost but his game is difficult. Collier plays the next part of the game efficiently, bringing up the reserves and opening the position for the Bishops." AE. A simple oversight that costs White all of his advantage. The straightforward 22 Qd3 keeps a good plus. However, the position is far from lost.} Bb7 23. Qd3 bxc3 24. bxc3 h4 25. Bf3 { I was probably reluctant to play 25 h3 because of possible Rook penetrations on g3 as well as putting more Pawns on the same colour square as my Bishop. The trouble is that after the next two moves White has to reckon with ...Rxg3 in certain Rook endgames because of the advance Black Pawn on h3.} h3 26. g3 f5 27. Nb2 $2 {Knights are always bad on Knight two! Instead 27.Nxd6+ Bxd6 28. Qxd6 Bxe4+ 29.Bxe4 Qxd6 30.Rxd6 fxe4 is equal according to Deep Rybka. I was probably reluctant to go into this ending for two reasons. One is that Black gets a protected passed Pawn on e4 and the other is that afore-mentioned possibility of a Rook sac on g3. However, if we continue this line a bit further we find that it is Black who has to be accurate: 31 Kc2 Ke7 32 Ra6 Rh8! (if 32...Rg6 33 Rxa5 Rxg3? 34 hxg3 h2 35 Rh5 wins or 32...f5 33 Rxa5 Rg6 34 Ra8 and 35 Rh8 is good for White. With 32...Rh8 Black plays to come down the d-file or cut White's King off from the front e-Pawn whilst keeping the option of ...f7-f6 to keep White's Rook from e5.) 33 Rxa5 Rd8 34 Ra4 f5 and now 35 Rd4! holds Black up. However, after the swap of Rooks the Pawn ending may be drawn because White has to stay within the square of the e4 Pawn. The Black King has to stay close to White's Queenside pawns and that leaves White with the only available Pawn break: g3-g4, but it doesn't work. Place the White King on e3 and play g3-g4, Black plays ...f5xg4, White takes on e4, Black goes ...g4-g3 and after Ke4-f3 g3xh2 the Black Pawn on h3 prevents Kf3-g2 so Black promotes. This is admittedly a long piece of analysis, well beyond the imagination of an engine, and White doesn't play g3-g4, but it demonstrates the depth to which a position can be plumbed. I certainly should have given the position after 27.Nxd6+ Bxd6 28.Qxd6 Bxe4+ 29. Bxe4 Qxd6 30. Rxd6 fxe4 deeper consideration because White's Queenside Pawns are potentially useful. As for the text this was probably the start of my antipathy towards Knights on Knight two (b2, g2, b7 and g7). Today I'd be playing 27 Nxd6+ regardless.} fxe4 28. Bxe4 d5 $17 {Now Black is clearly positionally better - there is no opposition to the g7 Bishop - and it's a matter of time before he regroups to attack White's King.} 29. Bf3 Bg7 30. Rc1 Qb6 31. Be2 Ke7 32. Ka1 { White should play 32 Qb5 but the ending is poor. The middlegame is even worse!} Rh8 33. Na4 {Having struggled to find a decent square for a while the Knight arrives on a very dodgy one.} Qc6 34. Rb1 Rc8 35. Rb3 Rc7 36. Qb5 {Too little too late.} Qxb5 37. Bxb5 d4 $1 {Both thematic and effective. If White swaps on d4 the Black Bishop has the superb option of going to g1 and taking on h2, virtually guaranteeing a promotion.} 38. Kb2 Bd5 39. c4 Bxc4 40. Bxc4 Rxc4 { Now the idea is ...d3+, ...Rc2 and ...Rxh2, also with a great chance of a quick promotion.} 41. Rb7+ Kf6 42. Kb3 Rc1 43. Nb6 Kg6 {Avoiding a Knight check. Now the pile-up on the b-file cause White too much inconvenience and it's time to concede.} 0-1
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