18 February 2019 - Central League Division 1

Badgers Brook A		v		Stirling A
Suzy Cooke Kenny McGeoch Mark Cooke Fabio Biancalana Mark Brown	1997 1966 1964 1705 1483	½ - ½ 1 - 0 ½ - ½ 1 - 0 0 - 1	1771 1712 1667 1576 1488	Jim Shemilt Steve Smith Graham Anderson Bill Cook Brad Duthie
		3 - 2

With nearly as many as call-offs as the Scotland squad, we travelled in hope more than expectation. Bill and Brad finished pretty much together, at 1-1, then Jim finished with a draw on the top board. I offered a draw with both of us down to three minutes - I had hoped that my passed a5, b5 and c5 pawns would win the game, but see below. In time trouble at the very end, down to seconds, Steve blundered his Bishop (which was waiting to take Kenny's last remaining pawn and thus secure the draw) to give Badgers Brook the victory.

[Event "Badgers Brook A v Stirling A"] [Site "Badgers Brook CC"] [Date "2019.02.18"] [Round "-"] [White "Anderson, G"] [Black "Cooke, M"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Be3 Bb4 7. Bd3 d5 8. Nxc6 bxc6 9. exd5 cxd5 10. Bd2 { Not my finest opening, and I'm feeling quite deflated here. } 10... O-O 11. O-O e5 12. a3 Be7 13. b4 e4 14. Bb5 Bb7 { Although this seems fairly innocuous (it prevents Bc6), this move seems to be the cause of Black's later problems. } 15. Be3 { Although Black's d5 and e4 pawns look commanding in the centre of the board, they now can't really go anywhere. } 15... Rc8 16. Na4 { Aiming for c5. } 16... a6 17. Be2 Nd7 18. Rc1 { Looking to disrupt Black's pawns with c4. } 18... Ne5 19. Nc5 Bxc5 20. Bxc5 Re8 21. Qd4 Nc6 22. Qb2 Qg5 23. Rfd1 Ne5 24. Be3 Qg6 25. Qd4 Rc4 26. Qb6 Rc6 { We're both short on time to get to the time control, and only after I played my next move did I realise I could have just taken on b7... } 27. Qd4 Rf6 28. Kf1 Ng4 29. Bxg4 Qxg4 30. Qa7 { White makes the time control with seconds to spare. } 30... Bc6 31. Qxa6 Rg6 32. g3 Qh3+ { I'm not sure I can hang on to the pawn, but let's give it a shot. The option was for the King to run to the Queen side. } 33. Kg1 h5 34. Qf1 Qg4 35. b5 Bb7 36. a4 h4 37. a5 { Stockfish recommends Rd2 instead. } 37... hxg3 38. hxg3 Qd7 39. c4 Qd6 40. c5 Rxg3+ 41. fxg3 Qxg3+ 42. Kh1 Re5 43. Qg2 Rh5+ 44. Kg1 Qxe3+ 45. Qf2 { We're both down to three minutes here, and I offered a draw, which was accepted after a minute. White will have to sacrifice the Queen for the Rook, and Black has a lot of checks. Stockfish, however, has other ideas - Black wins. 45 ... Rg5+ 46 Kf1 Qh3+ 47 Ke2 Rg2 48 Qxg2 Qxg2+ 49 Ke3 Qf3+ 50 Kd4 Qf6+ 51 Ke3 d4+ 52 Rxd4 Qf3+ 53 Kd2 Qf2+ 54 Kc3 Qe3+ 55 Kc4 Qxc1+ 56 Kb4 e3 57 Rd8+ Kh7 58 c6 e2 59 Re8 e1=B+ 60 Rxe1 Qxe1+ 61 Kc4 Bc8 62 b6 Qe2+ 63 Kc5 Qe5+ 64 Kc4 Ba6+ 65 Kb3 Qb5+ 66 Kc2 Qxc6+ 67 Kb3 Qb5+ 68 Kc2 Qxa5 69 b7 Bxb7 70 Kb3 Ba6 } 1/2-1/2

Thanks to Brad for the game and (heavily edited) analysis below, where he had Black against Mark Brown.

[Event "Badgers Brook A v Stirling A"] [Site "Badgers Brook CC"] [Date "2019.02.18"] [Round "?"] [White "Mark Brown"] [Black "Brad Duthie"] [Result "0-1"] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 { C01: French Defense: Exchange Variation, 3...exd5 } 4.c3 Nf6 5.Bg5 { (+0.13 ? -0.53) Inaccuracy. A better move was 5. Bd3. } ( 5.Bd3 5...Bd6 6.Nf3 6...O-O 7.O-O 7...c6 8.Re1 8...Re8 9.Bg5 9...Rxe1+ ) 5...Be7 { (-0.48 ? +0.22) Inaccuracy. A better move was 5... Bd6. } ( 5...Bd6 6.Bd3 ) 6.Bd3 h6 7.Bf4 Bg4 8.f3 { (+0.18 ? -0.50) Inaccuracy. A better move was 8. Nf3. } ( 8.Nf3 8...O-O 9.O-O 9...Bd6 10.Bxd6 10...Qxd6 11.h3 11...Bxf3 12.Qxf3 12...Nbd7 ) 8...Be6 { (-0.78 ? -0.20) Inaccuracy. A better move was 8... Bd7. } ( 8...Bd7 9.Ne2 9...c5 10.O-O 10...Nc6 11.Na3 11...c4 12.Bc2 12...Qa5 13.Ng3 ) 9.Ne2 Nbd7 10.b4 Nh5 11.Be3 Bd6 12.O-O Qh4 13.f4 Bg4 14.Nd2 { (-1.01 ? -2.62) Inaccuracy. A better move was 14. Na3. } ( 14.Na3 14...Qe7 ) 14...Qe7 15.Kf2 { (-2.26 ? -4.06) Inaccuracy. A better move was 15. Bf2. } ( 15.Bf2 15...Nxf4 ) 15...Qh4+ 16.Kg1 Qe7 17.Bf2 Nxf4 18.Nf3 Bxf3 19.gxf3 Qg5+ 20.Ng3 { (-2.90 ? -7.19) Mistake. The best move was 20. Bg3. } ( 20.Bg3 ) 20...Nh3+ { (-7.74 ? -1.76) Blunder. The best move was 20... h5. } ( 20...h5 ) 21.Kg2 Nf4+ 22.Kh1 O-O-O 23.Be3 h5 24.Rg1 Qf6 25.Bc2 { (-2.33 ? -3.51) Inaccuracy. A better move was 25. Nf5. } ( 25.Nf5 25...Nxd3 ) 25...h4 { (-2.76 ? -1.49) Inaccuracy. A better move was 25... g6. } ( 25...g6 26.Qd2 ) 26.Nf5 Nh5 { (-1.08 ? -0.41) Inaccuracy. A better move was 26... g6. } ( 26...g6 27.Qd2 27...Ne6 28.Nxd6+ 28...cxd6 29.f4 29...Nb6 30.Qd3 30...Nc4 31.Raf1 ) 27.Bg5 Ng3+ 28.Rxg3 hxg3 29.Bxf6 Rxh2+ 30.Kg1 Nxf6 31.Nxd6+ cxd6 32.Bf5+ Kb8 33.Qe1 Rdh8 34.Qxg3 Rh1+ 35.Kg2 Rxa1 36.Qf2 { (0.00 ? -5.87) Blunder. The best move was 36. Qxd6+. } ( 36.Qxd6+ 36...Ka8 37.Qc7 37...Rxa2+ 38.Kg1 38...Ra1+ 39.Kf2 39...Ra2+ ) 36...Rah1 { (-6.13 ? -3.38) Mistake. The best move was 36... Rhh1. } ( 36...Rhh1 ) 37.Kg3 { (-4.13 ? -9.33) Mistake. The best move was 37. Qg3. } ( 37.Qg3 37...Kc7 ) 37...Nh5+ { (-9.52 ? -5.91) Mistake. The best move was 37... R8h4. } ( 37...R8h4 38.Qd2 38...Nh5+ 39.Kf2 39...R4h2+ 40.Ke3 40...Rxd2 41.Kxd2 41...Ng3 42.Bd3 ) 38.Kg4 g6 39.Bd3 Nf6+ { (-7.08 ? -3.47) Blunder. The best move was 39... f5+. } ( 39...f5+ 40.Kg5 ) 40.Kg5 Nh7+ 41.Kf4 Nf8 42.Bf1 Ne6+ 43.Ke3 f5 { (-7.83 ? -4.96) Mistake. The best move was 43... g5. } ( 43...g5 44.Qg2 44...f5 45.c4 45...R8h2 46.cxd5 46...Rxg2 47.Bxg2 47...Re1+ 48.Kf2 ) 44.a4 { (-4.74 ? -7.72) Inaccuracy. A better move was 44. f4. } ( 44.f4 44...R8h4 ) 44...R8h2 45.Bg2 f4+ { (-9.12 ? -6.11) Inaccuracy. A better move was 45... Rc1. } ( 45...Rc1 46.f4 46...g5 47.Qd2 47...Rg1 48.Kf3 48...g4+ 49.Kg3 49...Rhxg2+ 50.Qxg2 ) 46.Kd3 Rd1+ { (-7.22 ? -3.09) Blunder. The best move was 46... Ra1. } ( 46...Ra1 47.a5 47...Nxd4 48.cxd4 48...Ra3+ 49.Ke2 49...Ra2+ 50.Kf1 50...Ra1+ 51.Ke2 ) 47.Kc2 Ra1 48.Kb3 Rb1+ { (-4.98 ? -3.04) Mistake. The best move was 48... a6. } ( 48...a6 49.Qe2 49...Nc7 50.Qf2 50...Rah1 51.b5 51...axb5 52.a5 52...Ka7 53.Kb4 ) 49.Ka2 Rc1 50.Kb2 Rd1 51.a5 { (-3.96 ? -6.01) Inaccuracy. A better move was 51. Kc2. } ( 51.Kc2 ) 51...Ng7 52.a6 { (-5.75 ? -13.68) Inaccuracy. A better move was 52. Kc2. } ( 52.Kc2 52...Ra1 ) 52...Nf5 53.Qe2 { (-16.29 ? -58.85) Inaccuracy. A better move was 53. c4. } ( 53.c4 53...Ne3 54.Qe2 54...Rxg2 55.Qxg2 55...Nxg2 56.c5 56...bxa6 57.cxd6 57...Ne1 ) 53...Ne3 54.Qb5 { (-63.75 ? ? Mate in 7) Mistake. The best move was 54. Kb3. } ( 54.Kb3 54...Rxg2 55.Qxg2 55...Nxg2 56.b5 56...Ne3 57.Kb2 57...Rd2+ 58.Kb1 58...Rc2 ) 54...Rxg2+ 55.Kb3 Rb1+ 56.Ka3 Nc4+ * 0-1