2017-05-18 - Passmore, Mike 1-0 P, McAfee
[Event "BRISTOL LEAGUE DIV 3"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2017.05.18"]
[Round "?"]
[White "PASSMORE, M..."]
[Black "McAFEE, P..."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[Annotator "Tyson,Mordue"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2017.??.??"]
1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. f3 {A popular system at club level that is
akin to the Yugoslav Attack against the Sicilian Dragon.} Bg7 5. Be3 O-O 6. Qd2
c6 7. g4 {An aggressive choice but 7.0-0-0 first is more popular and less
commital. Nevertheless Black should be reacting quickly with play in the
centre. This means he should be playing ...e7-e5 as soon a reasonably possible.
Like now!?} Qc7 $6 {I think this is a touch passive and, as in the previous
note, I advocate instead 7...e5. The text does have a clear idea behind it as
we shall see, but that notion does not involve development of the Queenside
pieces. Moreover, the idea fails as a result of a simple oversight.} 8. h4 Rd8
9. h5 e5 {McAfee's idea becomes apparent. If White trades Pawns on e5 then his
Queen comes under fire from the Black Rook. However, White is not obliged to
do so. Is Black considering ...d6-d5? Given that White has superior
development and it's his turn to move then that seems unlikely, but Mike needs
to bear this possibility in mind precisely because of the vis-à-vis of Queen
and Rook.} 10. hxg6 {There's nothing wrong with this move but I prefer the
immediate 10.0-0-0. Delaying the swap on g6 keeps open the option of h5-h6 to
inconvenience the g7-Bishop. I recall once playing h5-h6 in an analogous
position against a strong player who had thrown in ...Kg8-h8. The upshot was
that he had to go ...Bg7-f8 and he lost the f6-Knight to a pin. The
opportunity arose precisely because I'd delayed h5xg6.} fxg6 {This is always
the right way to recapture in these sort of positions. Allowing White access
to the h8-square is never good, whereas with the text there is the possibility
of defending h7 laterally with a major piece. Here Black's Queen is already
poised to do that particular task. Nevertheless White already has a
considerable initiative here. He's made inroads into the Black King's fortress,
and when he castles Queenside, as he does next move, his own King will be much
safer compared to the opposing monarch. Black has made no aggressive overtures
on the Queenside.} 11. O-O-O b5 $4 {In his haste to start a Queenside advance
McAfee overlooks that White's last move introduced a potential pin on the
d-file. Instead 11...Nbd7 negates the threat but Black still stands worse. He
could also play 11...exd4 but that gives up his central strongpoint and
improves the White Bishop after 12. Bxd4.} 12. dxe5 Ne8 13. Bf4 {White has
several good moves here aside from the text. There is 13. Bg5 with the point
that 13...Rd7 is met by 14. e6 winning the Rook. Deep Rybka suggests 13.. .
Bxe5 14. Bxd8 Qxd8 and now 15. Bxb5 based on the point 15...cxb5 16. Qd5+
picks off the Rook in the corner. So White emerges an Exchange and a Pawn up
after 15. Bxb5. That leads to the realisation that the immediate 13. Nxb5 is
playable because of the same tactic. However, after 13...cxb5 14. Qd5+ Kh8 15.
Qxa8 Nc6 Black threatens 16...Bb7 trapping the Queen. This isn't a good a
continuation for White as other moves here, including the text. The flank
development with 13. Nh3 is also okay.} Qf7 $5 {Given that d6 seems to be
collapsing Black tries a sly counterattack. The point is that after 14. exd6
there is 14...Bxc3 when White doesn't have 15. Qxc3 because of 15...Qxf4+. So
it has to be 15. bxc3 when Black has 15...Qxa2 threatening mate on a1. This is
easily met by the lateral 16. Qh2 maintaining defence of d6 and threatening 17.
Qxh7+. In this line White is still a Pawn with a good position, especially
when you consider that Black's dark-squared Bishop is gone. However, this is a
messy position with both KIngs compromised. The text does rule out tactics
with captures on b5 followed by Qd5+, but it's vulnerable from a different
direction.} 14. Nh3 $1 {Mike rightly rejects the messy line in the previous
note and plays a developing move. This Knight defends the f4-Bishop so 15.
exd6 is a concrete threat, and there is also 15. Ng5 forking f7 and h7.
Moreover the Black Pawn on d6 is still pinned and vulnerable to capture.} b4
15. Nb1 {It seems that the spectacular 15. Nd5!? cxd5 16. Ng5 Qb7 (to continue
controlling d5) 17. Rxh7 is playable when White has two Pawns for a piece, and
every chance of getting a third, plus a great position. But why risk it? Mike
has already turned down one messy line on the previous turn. He still has an
excellent position right here.} a5 $6 {Given that McAfee's position is so poor
it's hard to criticise his choices, but I will do so here. He should play 15...
Qxa2 immediately because this move has to be worth more than 16. Qxb4. Black
has no reason to be concerned about White doing things on the Queenside, but
the defensive text gives White and extra move to do something on the Kingside.}
16. Ng5 Qxa2 17. Nxh7 $2 {This is the wrong choice of capture. Much better is
17. Rxh7 which gives White the resource of Rxg7+ for both offensive and
defensive purposes. The g7-Bishop means White can't go e5xd6 because of the
mates on b2, so after 17. Rxh7 White can chop the Bishop at a moment's notice.
Given that the same Bishop is a key defensive piece that is also a good reason
for it's capture. After 17. Rxh7 a possible line is 17...Be6 18. Rxg7+! Kxg7
19. Qh2 Bg8 20. exd6 Nf6 21. Bd3 Ra7 22. Be5 Nbd7 23. Rh1 and it's clear that
White is having all the fun. Having said that it is entirely possible that
Mike had the specific line that comes up in the game in mind, and Black
actually gives him a big assist.} Ba6 $2 {[This is a right move at the wrong
moment. Much better is 17...Nd7 breaking the d-file pin and threatening to
take on e5. Deep Rybka analyses 18. Qd4 Ba6 (to prevent 19. Bc4+ winning the
Queen.) 19. Bxa6 Rxa6 20. Nf6+ Ndxf6 21. exf6 Bxf6 22. e5! dxe5 23. Qe4! Rxd1+
24. Rxd1 Qf7 25. Bxe5 and White keeps a clear initiative despite the material
equality.]} 18. Nf6+ $1 {Now Mike begins his combination and McAfee has little
choice to go along with it for the first two moves.} Nxf6 19. exf6 Bxf6 20. e5
dxe5 $2 {[As tempting as this must have been at first sight, the text loses
the game, and in some style! Obviously 20...Bxe5?? 21. Bxe5 and the d6-pawn is
still pinned. So instead Black has to play the retreat 20...Bg7 when 21. Qh2
threatens 22. Qh7+ and 23. Bh6. Any Queen retreat by Black to help the defence
seems to allow a free e5xd6. Worth analysing.]} 21. Qxd8+ $1 {With both Queen
and Bishop en prise there was nothing else to play. But this is an excellent
sacrifice because all Black's defensive pieces are eliminated and his King is
laid bare.} Bxd8 22. Rxd8+ Kg7 {[Instead 22... Kf7 runs into 23. Rh7+ Ke6 24.
Bg5 and there is no defence to Re7 mate.]} 23. Bxe5+ Kf7 24. Rh7+ Ke6 25. f4 $1
{[Now there is no defence to Rd6 mate. At this point Black should resign and
give Mike a miniature - that's a win in 25 moves or less.]} Nd7 26. Rdxd7 Qxb1+
27. Kxb1 b3 28. Rd6# {Of course 28. Rhe7 is also mate but the text is prettier
in my opinion.} 1-0
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