2019-10-22 - Hosken, Nigel 1-0 Krzyzanowski, Patryk
Game of the Month October 2019
[Event "Horfield B v Downend A"]
[Site "Redland Park"]
[Date "2019.10.22"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Hosken, Nigel"]
[Black "Krzyzanowski, Patryk"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E20"]
[PlyCount "119"]
[EventDate "2019.10.22"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. f3 {Nigel's favourite set-up in a number of games as white.} d5 5. a3 Be7 6. e4 dxe4 7. fxe4 {White has achieved a fantastic centre and space advantage but for how long?} e5!? {Striking back immediately in an attempt to undermine white.} 8. d5 Bc5 9. Nf3 Ng4?! {Black eyes material but white has an accurate defence.} 10. Na4! Bf2+ 11. Ke2 Bh4 12. Nxh4 Qxh4 13. Qe1 Qh5 14. Kd3!? {Rare for a 14th move, and even more rare for it to be good.} f5 15. Be2 fxe4+ 16. Kc3 (16. Kxe4?? Qf5#) Qg6 17. Qg3 O-O 18. h3 Nf6 19. Qxg6 hxg6 {Being up a pawn doesn't count for much when you have two pairs of doubled and isolated pawns.} 20. Rf1 Nbd7 21. Be3 b6 22. Kc2 Bb7 23. Nc3 a6 24. g4 c6 25. dxc6 {Increasing the ease with which a passed pawn can be made on the queenside.} (25. d6? Nd5! 26. cxd5 cxd5 {Black will regain the material as the d-pawn pushes through.}) Bxc6 26. b4 Rac8 27. Kb2 Rb8 28. Rad1 b5 29. Rd6 Rfc8 30. Rfd1 Nf8 31. cxb5 {White is so dominant that this pawn structure won't matter. The endgame is a long way off for black.} (31. c5!? {Not bad, but white can get more than this.} Ne8 32. R6d2 Ne6 {White is better, but black is fighting back.} ) axb5 32. g5! {The black camp is running out of squares fast.} Ne8 33. R6d2 Rc7 34. Bg4 Rbb7 35. h4 Rf7 36. Rd8 Nc7? (36...Rf5 {The space is such a problem that black should try to gain some compensation with this sacrifice.} 37. Bxf5 gxf5 38. Rc8 Rc7 39. Rxc7 Nxc7 {White continues to be better but the black pawns are ominous.}) 37. R8d6 Be8 38. Nxe4 {Material is finally equal!} Na8 {We all know how bad a cornered knight is, but black was struggling for moves.} (38... Rb8!? 39. Rd8 Rxd8 40. Rxd8 Bc6 41. Nd6 Rf1 42. Rc8!) 39. Rd8 Bc6 40. Nd6 Rbd7 41. Nxf7 Rxd1 42. Rxd1 Kxf7 43. Rf1+ Ke8 44. Bc5 Nd7 45. Bxd7+ Kxd7 {After all these exchanges, white has converted their positional advantage to a very concrete one. The rest is largely a mop-up job.} 46. Rf7+ Ke6 47. Rxg7 Kf5 48. Kc3 Be4 49. Kd2 Kg4 50. Ke3 Bg2 51. Rxg6 Kxh4 52. Rg8 Kh5 53. Re8 Nc7 {The knight tries to get back into the action, but only briefly.} 54. Rxe5 Kg6 55. Kd4 Bh1 56. Bd6 Na8 57. Rxb5 Bc6 58. Rc5 Bd7 59. Bc7 Bf5 60. Bd8 {There is nothing left for black but to shuffle the bishop until a pawn promotes.} 1-0
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