2008-09-01 - Mordue, Tyson 1-0 Gregory, K
Tyson - The Best Game Prize winner from the 2008 Paignton Congress. Actually Tyson was just trying to avoid losing a Pawn out of the opening, but the after the sac on c6 it's one almighty clash of the pieces.
[Event "PAIGNTON PREMIER"] [Site "?"] [Date "2008.09.01"] [Round 2] [White "Mordue, Tyson"] [Black "Gregory, K"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B06"] [Annotator "Doe,John"] [PlyCount "55"] {This encounter won the Best Game Prize at the 2008 Paignton Congress.} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 g6 3. Nc3 c6 4. Be2 Bg7 5. Be3 a5 {An ambitious variation of the Modern defence. Black actually intends ...Qd8-a5 but by advancing this Pawn to a4 first he ensures his Queen is defended by the a8 Rook and not vulnerable to Nc3-d5 tricks as in Mordue-KC Arkell, Paignton 1987. Of course White can stop the whole idea with 6 a4 but that leaves a possible whole on b4 for , say, ... Nb8-a6-b4 and rules out Queenside castling.} 6. Qd2 a4 7. a3 {Deciding that allowing ...a4-a3 would be too weakening on the White Queenside. Maybe the a4 Pawn will be a weakness that needs defending by a Black piece? Perhaps Black will further commit himself on the Queenside with ...b7-b5? Well, the latter never happens but the possibility is eventually enough to deter White from Queenside castling.} Qa5 8. f4 {White plays an Austrian attack formation which gives him more options in the centre. Black decides now that Be3-h6 is not playable then he will commit his Knight to f6.} Nf6 9. Nf3 O-O 10. h3 {A precautionary move that prevents ...Ng4 which would lead to the exchange of Whites e3 Bishop if White carelessly played 10 0-0? However, it should be noted that the two tempi expended by Black on ...a7-a5-a4 have been equalised by White's two Pawn to Rook Threes so Black's 'ambitious' choice has not met with either a refutation or even any real inconvenience.} Nbd7 11. O-O {The advance 11 e5 is quite playable. After 11...Nd5 12 Nxd5 Qxd5 13 c4 Qa5 the position is more akin to an Alekhines Defence but with the Queens coming off. Black can exchange on e5 first with 11...dxe5 and then change his mind about .. .Nd5 if he wishes. White continues to keep his central options open but commits his King to the right.} e5 {On the other hand Black decides this is the moment to make his prime central break. Fair enough, particularly as Deep Rybka preferred either the odd 11...Qc7 which just loses a tempo, or 11...Nb6. The actual point of the latter is unclear to me but it does demonstrate the thinking behind Black's 5th and 6th moves. Put the Black a-Pawn back on a7 here and after ...Nb6 White wins a Pawn with the sequence Nd5 Qxd2 (not check now that the White King is on g1, not e1 or c1), Nxe7+ before recapturing on d2. There is the additional point that after ...Bd7 Black may be able to trap the Knight on e7 but the line is given to warn the unwary.} 12. Rad1 {Rather than taking on e5 or making an advance of f4-f5, d4-d5 or a combination or taking and advancing White prefers once again to keep his options open and placing the Rook opposite Black's weak d6 Pawn is logical. White's problem is that he keeps his options open next move as well and it backfires. However, a bit of analysis seems to indicate the text is accurate. If 12.dxe5 dxe5 13. f5 gxf5! 14.exf5 Nd5 15.Bh6 f6 is okay for Black, slightly better according to Deep Rybka as Black has the centre and White has no Kingside initiative, while here 15 Nxd5 cxd5! (not 15...Qxd2 16 Ne7+ wins a piece - see above note) is also better for the second player. The hypermoderns would be delighted. Alternatively 12.fxe5 dxe5 13.d5 fails to 13...Nc5 when e4 is under pressure. After 14.dxc6 bxc6 15.Bd3 Rd8 once again Black is doing well. However, this line should have acted as a warning to White on the next move.} exd4 {Black chooses the straightforward-looking move. Very tempting is 12...Nh5 because of the hole on g3 but prompting Deep Rybka produced the following line: [12... Nh5 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.f5 Ng3 15.fxg6!? hxg6 (If 15...Nxf1 16.gxh7+ Kxh7 17.Ng5+ Kg8 18.Bxf1 which Deep Rybka rated as about +1.4 for White because of Black's damaged King position and undeveloped Queenside) 16.Rfe1 (Not 16 Rf2 Nc5 with pressure on e4. The difference becomes apparent in the other line) 16...Nc5 17. Bc4 with a plus of 0.3 to White. And the under-defended e-Pawn? 17...Ncxe4? 18. Nxe4 Nxe4 (Not 18...Qxd2 19 N(either) xd2) 19.Qxa5 Rxa5 20.Bb6 wins material.} 13. Nxd4 {White played this natural move very quickly and then started worrying about his e4 Pawn. The simple point is that 13 Bxd4 is the better move because it keeps the central options open and Deep Rybka says White has a plus of 0.6 to 0.7, Black's lagging Queenside again. After the text it says the game is absolutely even: 0.00. If that is the case then how does White defend his e4 Pawn after Black's obvious 13...Re8 14.Bf3 Nc5? The other Bishop is in the way of a Rook coming to e1. Should White have played a Rook to e1 on move 12 instead? Well, that's in the past. Time for a lot of hard thinking and, not surprisingly, Deep Rybka considered this game well-played by both participants. But Black used up so much time from this point on.} Re8 14. Bf3 Nc5 15. e5 $1 {There's nothing else to seriously consider. The centre is blown wide open and it's White who has the better placed pieces.} dxe5 16. fxe5 Nfd7 {Black declines to make the initial capture of the Pawn and it's not difficult to see why. If 16...Rxe5 17.Bxc6! and now Deep Rybka doesn't even consider taking the Bishop but prefers putting Knights on e4. The players of course checked it out afterwards. If 16...bxc6 18.Nxc6 Qc7 19.Nxe5 Qxe5 20.Qd8+ and now: A) 20...Bf8 21.Bd4 wins the f6 Knight; B) 20...Ne8 21.Bd4 (not 21 Bxc5 Qxc5 is check) Qe6 22.Bxc5 wins the c5 Knight; C) 20...Qe8 21.Qxe8+ Nxe8 22. Rd8 Bb7 23.Rxa8 Bxa8 24.Bxc5 wins the game. After the text the e5 Pawn is under threefold attack.} 17. Nxc6 $3 {A sacrifice that was later praised by GM Gwaine Jones. Now the Queenside is cracked open as well and White's pieces are having a field day. There's no point in declining the Knight but Black has to play very accurately. A Rook for two pieces is a likely outcome at some point but White's active Bishops come with a lot of VAT (Value Added in Tactics).} bxc6 {Remarkably this is the last Pawn move of the game! There follows an exciting hand-to-hand battle involving all the pieces except one, yet that one gets to make the final move!} 18. Bxc6 {There are three immediate threats for Black to ponder. They are 19 Bxa8 but 19...Qxa8 is currently okay, 19 Bxc5 removing the Knight's defence of d7 and following up with 20 Bxd7 but this is currently met by 19...Qxc5 with check. The third threat is the big one, namely 19 Qd5 with another attack on a8 and hitting f7 as well.} Rb8 {The other Rook move, 18...Ra7, is answered by 19 Qf2 hitting f7 and the targets down the g1-a7 diagonal. The only serious alternative seems to be 18...Rxe5. After 19. Bxa8 Qxa8 20.Bd4 there is: A) 20...Re8 21.Bxg7 Kxg7 22.Qd4+ Kg8 23.Nd5 which seems quite frightening although Deep Rybka says Black is equal with 23...Qa5. B) 20...Ne4 21.Nxe4 Rxe4 22.Bxg7 Kxg7 23.Qc3+ Ne5 24.Rfe1 Rxe1+ 25.Rxe1 f6 26. Qc7+ Kh6 which again Deep Rybka claims to be equal. Black's reservations about these lines lie not just in White's continued attacking chances particularly in line A, but also in the ending. With Queens off White's 3-1 Queenside majority will count for a lot. As the game goes this factor becomes more prominent. While waiting for my opponent to reply I considered 18...Ba6. I found 19 Rxf7! Kxf7 20 Qd5+ Kf8 (if 20... Re6 21 Bxd7 wins - 21...Nxd7 is no good because Black's Queen is now undefended!) and I was happy with 21 Bxa8. Deep Rybka finds 21 Rd2! threatening the crushing 22 Rf2+ and this is too strong.} 19. Qd5 {The difference between 18...Rb8 and 18...Ra7 is that the Queen is no longer guarded so 19...Ne6 is not a defence. Also 19...Re6 is met by the strong 20 Ne4 and if 20...Rxc6 then 21 Qxf7+ Kh8 22 Qe8+ Bf8 23 Rxf8+ Nxf8 24 Qxf8 mate.} Rxe5 {The pins on the Knights leave Black with no sensible alternative. However, Gregory was now running into time trouble.} 20. Qxf7+ Kh8 21. Bd4 {Now White is threatening 22.Bxe5 Bxe5 23.Qe8+ Kg7 24.Rf7+ Kh6 25.Qe7 Nf6 - the only move to stop mates on h7 and h4 - 26.Qxe5. If 21...Qc7 22 Bxe5 Qxe5 23 Rde1 and 24 Re8+ follows. These lines indicate how weak Black is on the back rank. Black actually has 42 legal moves here but little choice about playing a constructive defensive move.} Ba6 {Black finally develops his Queen's Bishop. This defends the back rank and attacks the Rook on f1. It does however leave the d7 Knight under-defended.} 22. Bxd7 {If 22.Bxe5? Nxe5 23.Qd5 Bxf1 24.Rxf1 Rd8 and White loses the c6 Bishop as well going two pieces down. Or 22 Rf2? Rf8 23 Qa2 - the only safe square! - and now Deep Rybka goes flashy with 23...Re1+! 24 Rxe1 Bxd4 and the a6 Bishop prevents the other White Rook going to f1 I spent a lot of time here looking for an alternative to 22 Bxd7 but that is still good. White comes out an Exchange down but he has two Pawns for it and his pieces are still very active.} Bxf1 23. Rxf1 $2 {White's first mistake of the game. Better is 23.Bxe5 Bxe5 when I'd analysed 24.Rxf1, but then found 24...Qa7! 25.Bg4 Qxf7 26.Rxf7 Rxb2 and Deep Rybka claims Black is +1! However, instead after 23.Bxe5 Bxe5 there is the counter-intuitive 24. Kxf1! . We could continue with 24...Bg7! 25.Qe7 Qb6 26.Bg4 Rf8+ 27.Bf3 Qxb2 28. Qxc5 Qxc3 29.Qxc3 Bxc3 30.Rb1 and Deep Rybka says White is slightly better. I hadn't seen 24 Kxf1 otherwise I would have chosen 23 Bxe5. After the text I still thought the pin on the a1-g8 diagonal meant I was better. Gregory was now very short of time to get to the time-control at move 36.} Nxd7 24. Qxd7 { A tense position and a critical moment in the game. After playing a fine defensive game up to this point Gregory cracks. Play could go 24...Rd8 25. Qg4 Ree8 26.Bxg7+ Kxg7 27.Qc4 (also possible is 27.Qxa4 Qb6+ 28.Kh1 Qxb2 29. Nd5 Rf8 30.Qa7+ Kg8) 27...Qg5 28.Qc7+ Kh6 29.Rf7 Qe3+ 30.Kh1 Qe1+ 31.Kh2 Qe5+ 32.Qxe5 Rxe5 33.Rf2 and Deep Rybka claims Black is 0.2 to 0.3 better in both of these lines. I think Gregory calculated 24...Rd8 25.Qg4 Ree8 26.Bxg7+ Kxg7 27.Qxa4 Qxa4 28 Nxa4 and saw, as I had earlier, that either 28...Rd2 or e2 could be safely met by 29 Rf2. However, he had missed 27...Qb6+. I had seen it which is why I would have preferred 27 Qc4. The point is that now 27...Qb6+ 28 Kh1 Qxb2?? - a clearly poisoned Pawn if ever there was one - 29 Rf7+ Kh8 (29...Kg8 30 Rd7+ Kh8 31 Qd4+ also leads to mate) 30 Qh4 and Black has no defence to both 32 Qxh7 or 32 Qf6+ Kg8 33 Qg7 mate. The margin for calculation error is not great here, especially when Black has an exposed King. As for judging the endgame where White has three connected passed Pawns for an Exchange, anyone would have cold feet about going into that despite the activity of the Black Rooks} Re7 $2 {A miscalculation in time severe pressure.} 25. Qxe7 Bxd4+ 26. Kh1 {Only now did Black realise his intended 26...Bxc3 is met by 27 Rf8+ mating. The only sensible defence is 26...Bg7 but harried by the clock Gregory makes another oversight.} Qc5 $4 27. Qxc5 {Not 27 Rf8+?? Rxf8 and Black's Rook is defended through White's Queen} Bxc5 28. Nxa4 { Finally the c3 Knight gets a say. The difference is now three Pawns for nothing but there is still enough time on his clock for Black to make the right decision.} 1-0
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