                      |
|
|
Notes by David Jenkins with Fritz-assisted interjections by Ian George
It's a shame that David missed the queen sacrifice and forced mate. Otherwise there would have been little point in anyone else submitting their 2020 games for the David Saqui Cup.
Looks odd but prevents the queen's incursion by defending the rook.
The Latvian Gambit main line. Steve playing slowly, perhaps on unfamiliar territory?
Vacating f6 for the knight
Premature? (DJ) 7.f3 Be7 (7...exf3? 8.Qxf3 ) 8.Ne3 (Ian G)
Felt like rough equality but I need an analysis engine here (DK) Fritz agrees (Iang G)
I tend to be more fearful of O-O-O in the Latvian
Fritz gives 12...exf3 13.Bxf3 c6 14.Qe2 Nbd7 (Ian G)
14.Rxf6 gxf6 15.Nxe4 Qe7 16.Bxh5+ wins for white according to Fritz (Ian G)
Critical attempt to open the h-file
15.Nxg4 hxg4 16.Rxf6 gxf6 17.Bxg4?
17.Nxe4 Qf5 18.Qd4 Be7 19.Be3 Better for white according to Fritz (Ian G)
The mating threat allows the subsequent ...f5, making giving up the exchange a mistake.
Fritz gives 18.Bh3 f5 19.Bf4 as equal (Ian G)
My forces are now lining up nicely on the white king and my development is better.
20.Kh1 Nd7Completing development and preparing to castle queen's side
I am beginning to look for a mate via a queen sac. (DJ) The spirit of the great Rashid Nezhmetdinov lives on! (Ian G)
23.Qf1 is better according to Fritz (Ian G)
White's 24th move was a huge error which I failed to spot. The position oh White's bishop on f1 makes g1 vulnerable to a rook if if the g-file can be opened. The forced mate in 3 is 24...Qxh3+ 25.gxh3 Rg1+ 26.Kh2 Ng4# so why did I miss it? Basically because I was lookong for a queen sac with an h-rook follow up and could not shift my paradigm. Had the position benn offered to me as a 'problem' I bellieve I would have soved it in 10 seconds. Why, with ample time on my clock, did I not spend more time analysing? Chess is a game that gives you the option of spending more time on critical positions. The rest was pretty undistinguished.
25.Qc3 Bb6 26.Nxc7 Nf2+ 27.Kh2 Fritz (Ian G) 27...Ng4+=
25...Qh4 26.Nxf5 Qf6 27.Ng3 e3-+ Fritz (Ian G)
26.Rd1 Qh4 27.Nxf5 Nf2+ 28.Kh2 Ng4+
28...e3 wins for black (Ian G)
Draw by repetition of moves. This time I did think for some time. Obviously I could take the draw by repetition which white could only avoid by giving up his queen for the pesky knight. On the other hand I thought that, if anything, I was winning although the tactics seemed Tal-like in their complexity. Fearing my opponent's strength I played out the draw. My only consolation was feeling good about my Latvian Gambit (DJ) (which merited substantial brownie points from the team captain! (Ian G)
½ - ½