1996-02-07 - Mordue, Tyson 1-0 Leinmuller, J

[Event "BRISTOL LEAGUE DIV 2"] [Site "?"] [Date "1996.02.07"] [Round "?"] [White "MORDUE, AT.."] [Black "LEINMULLER, J.."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B00"] [Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"] [PlyCount "50"] [EventDate "1996.??.??"] 1. e4 g5 {This opening is apparently called the Borg because it's the Grob reversed. The St. George with ...e6, ...a6 and ...b5 at least bears some resemblance to the French and Sicilian Defences. The one player who used the line played in this game consistently, and with some success (!), was the English IM Mike Basman, so sometimes it's called Basmania. He once played this against me in a rapidplay game at Stroud in the early 80s and was very lucky to escape with a draw. However, he did win the tournament with 51/2/6 after playing 1 g4 in all his White games and 1... g5 in all his Black games so perhaps he knew what he was doing!} 2. d4 h6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. h4 $1 {A handy prod at the exposed Pawn before Black is coordinated. White has delayed Nf3 to rule out ...g4 but the Rook on h1 is immediately in the game. Often Black is left with a weak Pawn on h6 that White can attack with doubled Rooks and Bishop. On the other hand leaving the Pawn on g5 can also have its drawbacks as the following line shows. 4...e6 5 hxg5 hxg5 6 Rxh8 Bxh8 7 Qh5 Bxd4 8 Bxg5 Bf6 9 Qh7 Bxg5 10 Qxg8+ Ke7 11 Qxg5+ and White has won a piece. This line is not forced, but it is a small example of the difficulties Black may encounter here. } gxh4 5. Nf3 d6 6. Rxh4 Nc6 7. Be3 e5 8. Rh1 {A prudent retreat to avoid tactical possibilities based on the f3 Knight's task of guarding both d4 and h4. However, 8 Bb5 may be stronger and is also playable after Black's next move.} Bg4 9. dxe5 {White decides to release the tension in the centre, but this not really a concession because he already has a clear advantage due to Black's broken Kingside Pawns. As indicated 9 Bb5 is an alternative, but 9 d5 could be answered by 9... Nd4. Black has a small problem here. Recapturing with 9...dxe5 may lead to the exchange of Queens, and in an endgame Black's weaknesses will be more obvious. However, taking with the Knight leaves White with a significant space advantage. The centre of Pawn on e4 versus one on d6 is called the "little centre", and often arises from Philidor's Defence e.g. (1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 exd4). Here too Black often has to struggle for equality.} Nxe5 10. Be2 Bxf3 $2 {A significant mistake. Black concedes the Bishop pair in a position that is already fairly open. Perhaps he was expecting the further exchange 11 Bxf3 Nxf3+ 12 Qxf3 when he could consider 12. ..Bxc3+ now that the White Queen can't go to d4. The right move was 10... Nxf3+ 11 gxf3 Bd7, but not 11...Bxc3+ 12 bxc3 Bd7 13 Rb1 b6 14 Qd4! with a big initiative and lead in development.} 11. gxf3 Nf6 12. f4 Ned7 $2 {It is difficult to see why Black did not play the natural 12...Nc6. Leinmuller is conducting an eccentric middle-game to go with an eccentric opening and the result is that he lags in development, is cramped and has glaring Kingside weaknesses. Admittedly White has doubled Pawns but they help bolster his central control. After the text White opts to put his Bishop on f3 with tactical possibilities of e5 and Bxb7. Originally I was going to play f3 to support e4 but with the Knight on d7 rather than c6 the Bishop can be posted more aggressively. Deep Rybka wants to play 13 (or even 14) Qd4 here. It's a good active square, but I think any human would be reluctant to line up his or her Queen against the Bishop on g7, even if there are no effective discoveries immediately available.} 13. Bf3 Qe7 14. Qe2 c6 {Naturally 14...0-0-0 just loses a Pawn to 15 Bxa7 (15...b6?? 16 Qa6 mate) but does Black really have to play a move which just creates further weaknesses? Deep Rybka thinks so because it wants to play 14... c6 too. It also considers 14... 0-0 but again I think any human would reject that as White has two open files bearing down onto an already weakened Kingside. At the time I thought that 14...Nb6 might have been best, but 15 e5! dxe5 16 Bxb7 Rd8 or b8 17 Bc6+ or 17 Qb5+ is very strong. Black keenly feels the absence of his light-squared Bishop here and as two of White's candidate moves here are Qb5 and Nd5, also light squares, Black chooses to rule them out.} 15. O-O-O Nb6 {The engines recommend 15...h5 here. This is a Pawn sacrifice to force some liquidation. However, after 16 Bxh5 Nxh5 17 Rxh5 Bxc3 18 bxc3 Rxh5 19 Qxh5 0-0-0 (not 19... Qxe4? 20 Qh8+ Nf8 21 Rxd6 with a big advantage. Note White threatens 22 Qe5+ repairing his Pawn structure when the ending should be a technical win.) 20 Qf5! White consolidates with a reasonable advantage and threatens 21 Bxa7 in earnest (if 21...b6? 22 Bxb6 because of the pin on the Knight d7). After the text 16 a4 to oust the Knight is certainly a possibility, but my eye was caught by something else. I needed to play a preparatory move first though. What would Black do if I attacked his Bishop?} 16. Rhg1 Rg8 $2 {Falling into the trap. 16. ..Kf8 seems to be no good after 17 Qd3 Rd8 18 e5 because the Rook on d8 is loose now that the King has wandered away. 16...Bf8 is well met by 17 e5! opening up all the central lines with Black's King caught in the middle. 16... Qf8 is even worse for the same reason. It seems that Black has no reasonable alternative to the text, but in view of what happens I would advocate 16...Kf8 and after 17 Qd3 Ne8. However, it's clear White is well on top - +2.38 according to Deep Rybka. After the next move it's even more obvious!} 17. Rxd6 $1 {It takes Deep Rybka a while to find this hammer blow. It prefers 17 e5 as a Pawn sacrifice but after the text I can play it the following move for free.} Nfd7 {It's now clear that if 17...Qxd6 18 e5 forces the win of material. After 19 exf6 not only is the pinned Bishop on g7 threatened (the point of inserting the moves 16 Rg1 Rg8). but White also has Bxb6 with a discovered check, or a different discovery to win the Black Queen if she is still on a dark square. Had Black left his Knight on d7 on move 15 he could answer e5 with ...Nxe5, but that resource is not available. Deep Rybka says Black should play 17...Qxd6 18 e5 Qf8 19 exf6 0-0-0 and he's only -2. Instead White should play 19 Bxb6! If 19... axb6 20 exf6+ is crushing while the subtle 19...Nd7 is met by 20 Bc7 threatening 21 Bd6 trapping the Queen(!). FDeep Rybka has White at +3.2 here. After 19 Bxb6 the engine throws in 19... Ne4 to stop the capture on f6. White has several good replies and Deep Rybka has progressively gone through 20 Nxe4, 20 Bxe4, 20 Nb5!? and 20 Qxe4 with an increasing plus for White in each line, currently at +2.47 both both the latter two candidates. After the text and White's reply the evaluation is at +3.4 for the first player.} 18. e5 {A natural move which is, of course, very strong. Deep Rybka points out that the equally natural 18 Rgd1 is met by the anti-positional 18...Bxc3 19 bxc3, with the tactical point 19...Rg1 forcing liquidation and costing White a big chunk of his advantage. Here the finesse 20 Rxd7? apparently winning a piece actually loses an Exchange after 20...Qa3+. This is not easy to see and there doesn't seem to be any good reason for Black to play 18...Bxc3 unless you spot this line. However, 18 e5 rules out ...Bxc3 anyway.} O-O-O {A safe haven at last? Not with the Roving Rook on the doorstep.} 19. Rgd1 Bf8 {If 19... Kb8 20 Qd3 forces 20... Kc7 because of the threat 21 Bxb6, (if 20...Kc8 21 Bg4 wins) and now 21 Nb5+! cxb5 22 Qe4 Rb8 23 Bxb6+ Nxb6 24 Rc6+! bxc6 25 Qxc6 mates or here 23... axb6 24 Qd5 Rgd8 25 Rc6+ etc. Now that the Knight on d7 is pinned down the d-file White can destroy even more of the enemy King's protective shield.} 20. Bxb6 axb6 {Now 21 Bg4 just wins an Exchange, but there is something more picturesque.} 21. Rxc6+ $1 Kb8 {If 21 ...bxc6 22 Qa6+ Kc7 23 Nb5+ cxb5 24 Qb7 mate, or here 22...Kb8 23 Bxc6 Nc5 24 Qa8+ Kc7 25 Nb5 mate.} 22. Rc7 $1 {The Roving Rook chomps through Black's King position like a hungry Pacman - the computer game, not the Czech/West German GM. Naturally 22...Kxc7 23 Nd5+ wins the Queen.} Qe8 23. Rxb7+ Kc8 {Now 24 Nb5 and there is no defence to 25 Na7 mate, but the Roving Rook hasn't eaten its fill yet!} 24. Qa6 Nb8 { Completing the set of retreats of Black pieces to the back rank!} 25. Rxb8+ { Completing the remarkable journey a1-d1-d6-c6-c7-b7-b8 with a 'Knightcap'.} Kxb8 {and Black resigned in time for a miniature. Obviously 26 Qb7 is mate.} 1-0

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