1983-01-01 - Binks, Mike 1-0 Poolake, M
[Event "BRISTOL LEAGUE DIV 1"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1983.01.01"]
[Round "?"]
[White "BINKS, ME.."]
[Black "POOLAKE, M.."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B21"]
[Annotator "Tyson,Mordue"]
[PlyCount "53"]
[EventDate "1983.??.??"]
{Yet another Smith-Morra Gambit by a D&F player, this time the popular Mike
Binks. The original notes were by Graham Copeland (GP).} 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3.
c3 {Max Poolake was noted for playing, amongst other openings, the Poisoned
Pawn line in the Sicilian Najdorf. Mike, who always preferred a practical
approach instead of a theoretical argument, tries something different.} dxc3 4.
Nxc3 Nc6 5. Nf3 d6 6. Bc4 Nf6 $2 {"Black must be very careful in the Morra
Gambit: already this should be a near fatal mistake, demonstrating that even
very experienced Board Ones can get caught out in the opening." GP. Black
should play 6...e6 first.} 7. Be3 $6 {"7. e5! gives an advantage since both 7..
.dxe5 8. Qxd8+ Kxd8 9. Bxf7 and 7...dxe5 8. Qxd8+ Nxd8 9. Nb5! leave Black in
a real mess." GP. Most players tend to panic after 7 e5 and lose quickly.
Here's a line of supposed best play from Deep Rybka: 7. e5 Ng4 8. exd6 Qxd6 9.
Qe2 e6 10. h3 Nge5 11. Bb5 Nxf3+ 12. Qxf3 Bd7 13. Bf4 which it evaluates as
level. Black has lost time with his King's Knight but kept his position
together. White certainly has compensation for a Pawn.} Bg4 $2 {"7...a6 or 7...
e6 are better." GP. Once again Black should play 7...e6 but Max was intent on
getting the Bishop out before playing that move. However, he misses something
very simple.} 8. Qb3 $1 {"Now White wins his Pawn back whilst maintaining the
superior position." GP.} e6 $2 {The natural move but not the best defence.
Despite appearances Black should play 8...Be6. After 9. Bxe6 fxe6 10. Qxe6 Qd7
White should avoid swapping Queens with either 11. Qc4 or Qb3 and he will keep
a small but significant plus. Deep Rybka rates White as +0.6 to 0.7 here. The
problem with the text is that the White light-squared Bishop, after White
takes on b7, runs riot on the light squares on the Queenside because Black has
momentarily excommunicated his Bishop from that area.} 9. Qxb7 {White regains
his Pawn and Deep Rybka shows White as plus 2!} Qc8 {Graham suggested 9...Rc8
10. Bb5 Qd7!? in his notes, but Deep Rybka and I both found the
straightforward 11. Qa6 Bxf3 - to rule out 12. Nd4 - 12. gxf3 Be7 13. Rc1 0-0
14. Nd1 and the c6 Knight perishes. In the Smith-Morra the c-file can be a
major avenue of attack for both sides so it's no surprise to see this simple
refutation.} 10. Ba6 $1 {I like the symmetry of the Queenside pieces after
this move which wins material.} e5 {The alternative is 10...Ne7 but after 11.
Nb5 Qxb7 12. Nxd6+ Kd7 13. Bxb7 Rb8 14. Nxf7 Black is falling apart. Note the
amusing continuation here of 14...Rxb7 15. Nxh8 Rxb2?? 16.0-0-0+ winning the
other Rook!} 11. Ng5 {"White squeezes the position to the full before winning
material." GP. Interesting point but Deep Rybka disagrees. It suggests the
immediate 11. Qb5 and follows the game continuation, without move 11 for both
sides, 11... Qc7 12. Bb7 Rc8 13. Nd5 Nxd5 14. exd5 Qa5+ 15. Qxa5 Nxa5 16. Bxc8
Bxc8 17. Rc1 Ba6 18. Rc7 with a plus of 3.6.} Be7 12. Qb5 Qc7 {If 12...Qd7 13.
Bb7 Nd4 14. Bxd4 Rb8 15. Bc6 Rxb5 16. Bxd7+ Nxd7 17. Nxb5 also loses material.
Now we follow the line given in the previous note with the moves 11. Ng5 Be7
thrown in.} 13. Bb7 Rc8 14. Nd5 Nxd5 15. exd5 Qa5+ 16. Qxa5 Nxa5 17. Bxc8 Bxc8
18. Rc1 Ba6 19. b3 $5 {Perhaps Mike declined to play 19. Rc7 because he was
concerned about 19...Nc4 attacking the Bishop which supported the g5 Knight
which was now attacked by the e7 Bishop - the thighbone's connected to the
knee bone etc - so he chose 19. b3 instead, taking c4 away from the Black
pieces. Deep Rybka says the difference between venturing this line on move 11
as opposed to move 12 - that is with 11. Ng5 Be7 not included - is 3.33 to 2.
43, so it clearly values the developing move more highly than the Knight jump.
Regardless White is still winning easily but 19. Rc7 Nc4 20. Rxa7 seems
stronger that the text. If 19...Bb7 20. b4 settles that and 19...Nb7 ... well,
a Knight is always bad on Knight two.} Bd8 {This passive move to prevent 20.
Rc7 justifies Mike's decision to restrict Black's play last move. Now he has a
chance to centralise the Knight attacking the d6 Pawn and gaining a tempo to
snatch the a7 Pawn.} 20. Ne4 Ke7 21. Bxa7 Kd7 {I find this loss of a tempo
inexplicable. Perhaps Max had already mentally given this one up.} 22. h4 {
Amusing. If Black plays 22...f5 White now puts the Knight back on g5. There's
an element of cat and mouse here. The only thing of any real significance
that's happened in the last few moves is the capture of the a7 Pawn which
ensures White a win in the long-term because of his connected passed Pawns.}
Bb7 23. Nc3 {And the Knight goes the other way! Well, Black doesn't have ...
Bg5 to upset the Rook on c1.} f5 24. O-O {I thought there was a case for 24.
Rh3. Mike happily abandons the h4 Pawn knowing his Knight can come in on the
other Knight five square with threats.} Bxh4 $6 {Perhaps Black could develop
his Rook and perhaps it doesn't really matter.} 25. Nb5 {The obvious threat is
the invasion with 26. Rc7+ but there's also 26. b4 trapping the dim on the rim
Knight, hence Max's reply.} Bxd5 26. Rfd1 Bg5 27. Rc2 {If 27...Ke6 28. Nc7+, a
nice trip for the steed which was on g5 a while ago and has come the long way
around to get here! Also 27...Be6 27. Rxd6+ Ke7 28. R (either) xc6 ends all
doubts. The White Rooks are breaking through and Deep Rybka puts this as +6 so
Black finally concedes.} 1-0
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