1990-04-25 - Mordue, Tyson 1-0 Osborne, David

Here's the decisive game from the 1990 League Congress and it's a miniature. It's littered with errors but hopefully it will serve as a lesson not to neglect development, nor to allow the opponent to make strong, practical sacrifices that give the defender lots of ways to go wrong.

[Event "BRISTOL LEAGUE CONGRESS"] [Site "STUDENTS UNION"] [Date "1990.04.25"] [Round "5"] [White "MORDUE, AT."] [Black "OSBORNE, DC."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B43"] [Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"] [PlyCount "31"] [EventDate "29.??.??"] {A Bristol League Individual Championship winning game from 1990. The play is not high quality. Original notes in BCT number 82 (July 1990) by John Richards (JR).} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. Be3 {"Humphreys vs Osborne in Round 1 went 6 Be2 b5 7 a3 Bb7 8 f4 Bc5 9 Be3 d6 10 Bxb5+ Ke7 11 Bd3 and White has a very comfortable position which he contrived to lose." JR. Frankly I don't understand why Black didn't take the Bishop. After 10...axb5 11 Ndxb5 Qc6 12 Bxc5 dxc5 13 Nd6+ Ke7! (Not 13...Kf8?? 14 Nxb7 and Black can't recapture because of 15 Qd8 mate) Black has a piece for two Pawns. Usually sacs on b5 secure three Pawns and good value for the piece but not here. However, it has to be said that Dave Osborne was tactically fragile in the opening and I won several miniatures against him, this game being the shortest. } Nf6 7. Be2 $6 {Far more common is 7 Bd3 giving support to the e4 Pawn,} Bb4 { Now two Pawns are en prise.} 8. f3 {Defending the more important e4 Pawn and effectively gambiting the other one. After 8...Bxc3+ 9 bxc3 Qxc3+ 10 Kf2 Deep Rybka says that it's almost level. That's understandable given Black's lack of development and weak dark squares but those can be fixed. So can White's odd King placement and it's really a matter of taste if you prefer the White or the Black position. The alternative 8 Qd3 looks okay until you find 8...Bxc3+ 9 bxc3 Nxe4 and 10 Qxe4 isn't playable because of 10...Qxc3+ winning the a1 Rook. Perhaps 8 Qd3 had been mu original intention and I changed my mind upon belatedly seeing this line. The immediate 8...Nxe4 is also playable. Instead of taking on c3 immediately Dave plays Black's main freeing move in the Sicilian instead which is a fair choice.} d5 9. Nb3 {After the last move Black was threatening 9...e5 and 10....d4 winning a piece. If instead 9 exd5? Nxd5 and Black is winning a Pawn on c3 without the inconvience of giving up his dark-squared Bishop. White's will be exchanged also and he will have no compensation. With the text White secures the c5 square for his own dark-squared Bishop in the event of exchanges on c3. This would make it awkward for Black to castle. Of course White must still be willing to gambit a Pawn, but judges that after 9...dxe4 10 0-0 exf3 11 Bxf3 he has a significant lead in development which would offer compensation. Black can go for a second Pawn with 11...Bxc3 12 bxc3 Qxc3 but after 13 Bc5 there is a big threat of 14 Qd6. Deep Rybka continues 13...Qe5 14 Re1 Qc7 15 Rb1 and evaluates White as +0. 86, a considerable margin bearing in mind he is two Pawns down but indicative of White's compensation. The reader is invited to explore these lines further. Given the above it is no surprise that Osborne gets his King to safety at this point.} O-O 10. O-O Bxc3 {Inflicting weak Pawns on White but, as already indicated, at the cost of giving up his dark-squared Bishop. The big question is ... does Black want to take one of the two Pawns on offer after White's 12th move? I wasn't too concerned at the weak Pawns. I still had a lead in development and active piece play. Also I remembered that I had an analogous position in one of my very first games for Downend & Fishponds. It was in the second round of the KO Cup in the 1977-78 season and I messed up the opening against my strong University opponent. I wasn't entirely sure how strong he was, but I recall that three times British Ladies Champion Susan Caldwell was on an adjacent board and she was in the 190s at the time. Somehow I avoided losing material and established equality going into the middle game. After that I somehow outplayed him and won. So that was a useful memory to have.} 11. bxc3 dxe4 {The simple snatch with 11...Qxc3 is no good. After 12 Bd4 Qc7 13 Bxf6 gxf6 14 exd5 Rd8 15 Qd4 White has regained his Pawn with a slight plus. Instead 12...Qc6 13 Bxf6 gxf6 14 Qd2 is another line where White has compensation due to Black's shattered Kingside Pawns.} 12. fxe4 e5 {Once again 12...Qxc3 is answered by 13 Bd4 Qc7 and now White can regain the Pawn with 14 Bxf6 gxf6 15 Rxf6 as 15...Qe5 forking f6 and e4 is answered by 16 Qd4. In the ending after a Queen swap both sides have ragged Pawn structures but the engine says that it's roughly equal. However, it also offers 16 Qf1 daring Black to take the e4 Pawn, which he shouldn't as 16 Bd3 is strong, ans says White is roughly +0.5. Once again interesting to analyse. The critical move is 12...Nxe4. White should reply with 12...Nxe4 13.Bd3 and now: A) 13... Nf6 loses after 14.Rxf6 gxf6 15.Qg4+ Kh8 16.Qh4 f5 17.Qf6+ Kg8 18.Bh6 and Black must give up his Queen to avoid mate. This variation demonstrates the perils of having surrendered the dark-squared Bishop. B) 13...Nxc3 B1) My original intention had been 14. Qe1 which was originally evaluated as a slight advantage for Black, and then later as a clear advantage to the tune of 0.7 or so. B2) Deep Rybka suggests instead 14 Qd2 and analyses; B2a) 14...Nd7 15 Bd4 Nd5 when it won't be hard for any human to find 16 Bxh7+ Kxh7 17 Bxg7 - the classic double Bishop sacrifice. Black does best to accept the second Bishop with 17...Kxg7 when White has a perpetual check with 18 Qg5+ (the point of 14 Qd2 over 14 Qe1 - Black controls g3.) 18...Kh8 19 Qh6+ Kg8 20 Qg5+. Instead the attempt to mate with 19 Rf3 fails after 19...N5f6! (Not 19...N7f6? 20 Rh3+ Nh7 21 Qh6 Qxc2 22 Qxf8+) 20 Rh3+ Nh7 21 Qh6 Qxc2 because the d7 Knight defends the f8 Rook. Of course White still has a perpetual with 21 Rxh7+ Kxh7 22 Qg5+ Kh7 23 Qh5+ etc. B2b) There's also 14...Nd5 when 15.Bc5 Ne7 16.Bd6 Qb6+ 17.Bc5 Qc7 18.Bd6 is an amusing repetition. Instead there is 15...Re8 16. c4 Nf6? (if 16...Ne7 17.Bxh7+ Kxh7 18.Rxf7 is definitely worth examining.) 17. Rxf6 gxf6 18.Bd6 Qxd6 19.Bxh7+ Kxh7 20.Qxd6. Okay, this is Deep Rybka having a field day but the variations clearly indicate that White has chances. Black's Queenside pieces aren't doing much in these lines. After some thought Dave decided to decline both Pawns and prevent the move Bd4. However, this concedes control of the d5 square although it would take the White Knight a while to get there, but it is feasible after c3-c4 and Nd2-b1-c3-d5. Moreover the text positively invites 13 Rxf6. Is it any good?} 13. Bd3 $6 {The answer is that 13 Rxf6 isn't bad and gives White plenty of practical chances. Some lines from Deep Rybka after 13.Rxf6 gxf6 A) 14 Qe1: A1) 14...Kh8 15.Qh4 Qc6 16.Na5 Qe6 17. Nxb7! Bxb7 18.Bg4 and 19 Bf5 winning; A2) 14...f5 15.Qg3+ Kh8 16.exf5 Qxc3 17. Bd3 Rg8 18.Qh4 Nd7 with an evaluation of equality. B) 14 Bh6 Qb6+ 15 Kh1 Rd8 16 Qe1 f5! 17 Qh4 (Not 17 exf5 Qxh6) 17...Rd6! and Black is okay although the position is unbalanced. Also possible is 13 Qe1 heading for g3 or h4. Deep Rybka analyses 13...Nbd7 14 Bd3 b6 15 c4 Bb7 16 Qh4 Qc6 17 Rad1 ( counterattacking d7 in the event of multiple captures on e4) 17...Rac8 18 Nd2 claiming a slight advantage for Black but I'm not certain. The passive text move isn't so good as it gives the Black pieces access to g4. Certainly 13... Bg4 14 Qe1 Bh5 followed by 15...Bg6 looks okay for Black. The evaluation is +0. 2 to Black. However, 13...Ng4 14 Bc5 Rd8 15 Qf3 Be6 is better value at nearly +0.5.} b6 $2 {This position after this move featured on the cover of Bristol Chess Times no. 82 (July 1990). A mistake that lands Black in a lot of trouble. The move is very understandable from a strategical viewpoint. Having fixed White's e-Pawn last move Black wants to target it with ...Bb7. Also the move ...b7-b6 takes control of the c5 square which White minor pieces have been occupying regularly in the last few notes. Unfortunately the text does nothing about either immediately getting the Queenside pieces into play or defending the Kingside. 13...Nbd7 would have contributed to both. Now it turns out that White's last move had a side benefit which wasn't apparent previously. His Queen can get directly to f3 with serious consequences for Black.} 14. Rxf6 $1 {A standard sacrifice to weaken the enemy King position. My analysis showed that I could at least regain the Exchange and there was the prospect of more.} gxf6 15. Bh6 {Now White intends 16 Qf3 and either 17 Qg3+ Kh8 18 Qg7 mate or 17 Qxf6 with the same object. I was now feeling very confident but even so Black's next came as a surprise.} f5 $4 {"This was desperation by Osborne but there is nothing that will save him. If 15...Re8 16 Qf3 Qd7 17 h3! and there is no defence against 18 Qg3+." (JR) Obviously 15...Kh8 merely leaves the f8 Rook en prise but 15...Re8 or d8 16 Qf3 doesn't help as indicated above. 15. ..Qd7 intending 16...Qg4 is met by 16 h3. That much I'd managed to see. Deep Rybka analyses 15...Qd7 16.h3 Qc6 17.Qe1 f5 18.Qh4 f4 19.Bc4 b5 20.Bd5 Qb6+ 21. Kh1 Ra7 22.g3 f3 23.Rf1 with an evaluation of +2. This line gives an idea of some of White's other attacking possibilities, and there are plenty of variations here, but it's clear that Black's Kingside is badly compromised. The text was incomprehensible to me. Although ...f6-f5 is useful in some other lines all it does here is allow White access to g4. After looking at the position for a few minutes I took the Pawn.} 16. exf5 { Now White has the direct threat of 17 Qg4+ Kh8 18 Qg7 mate. Once again 16... Kh8 leaves the f8 Rook en prise so the only alternative is to create another flight square with 16...f6. However, after 17 Qg4+ Kf7 18 Qg7+ skewers and wins the Queen for nothing. After a few minutes of desperate searching for another move Osborne resigned. This victory enabled me to win my fourth Bristol Championship.} 1-0

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