Fireworks in the last round

Nicolas Croad - Alan Aldridge
Wellington Open (6) 2008

Played during the sixth and final round of the Wellington Open. By winning this game I finished in a share of third place with Russell Dive. It was a very difficult tournament especially over just 6 rounds.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bg5 Bb4 6.e3 Qa5

Somewhat as I guessed at the time Alan wants to play the Cambridge Springs variation of the Queen's gambit, however he doesn't know the correct move order to reach it. In the Cambridge Springs White can't double the Black pawns on f6 because Black develops his other knight to d7 instead of bishop to b4. My next move is forced otherwise Black will get easy equality or better simply by following up with Ne4.

7.Bxf6 Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Qxc3+ 9.Nd2 gxf6 10.Rb1!?

10...Nd7

If there was some improvement I would be looking for it instead of this move. Actually I think that White is better already in any case because the only place the Black king will be perminantly safe is on the kingside which is clearly a risky venture. If the Black king remains in the centre then White has lots of compensation as the process of realising the extra queenside pawn will be a difficult one. Even if Black captures the second pawn on a2 White should not panic but keep on developing and slowly opening the centre. Eventually the Black king will be exposed there.

11.cxd5 cxd5 12.Rb3 Qa5 13.Bd3 Rg8 14.O-O f5 15.f3 Nb6 16.e4 f4 17.Bb5+

Something like this was bound to happen at some point. Maybe 17...Kf8 keeps the king more secure.

17...Bd7 18.Bxd7+ Kxd7 19.exd5 exd5!?

Now with the king sandwiched between two open files the situation looks dire, however the only variation I discovered here leads to a tense situation where most White pieces are hanging and defending each other. 19...Qxd5 20.Ne4 looks wrong on principal and I get the feeling that this was as bad so suggesting it as an alternative just because Black lost with the game continuation would be rather silly.

20.Qc2! Rg5


A check on f5 would be devistating. Self defence by the king with 20...Ke6 is also not sufficient after 21.Rf2 Rac8 22.Qxh7 Rc1+ 23.Nf1 White has the secure king and should soon be material ahead.

21.Qxh7! Ke7

If Black takes a piece with 21...Qxd2 then after 22.Qxf7+ White forces a dark squared check and picks up the lose rook on g5 quite easily. I expected 21...Rag8 22.Qxf7+ Kc8 23.Rfc1+ Kb8 24.Qxf4+ Ka8 25.g3 and White has secured his king position but I did not realise how hopeless this really is. Alan's move is a much better defence.

22.Re1+ Kf6 23.Qh6+ Rg6 24.Qxf4+ Kg7 25.Re7! Rf8 26.h4?!

The position is very tense and not only difficult for Black despite the open Black King and White having an extra pawn. Many of the White pieces are defending each other in long chains and there is a constant problem with a mate on the g2 square in some variations. For example after the careless 26.Nf1 Qxa2 White is forced to reply 27.Nd2 again to meet the dual threats to b3 and g2. Maybe better however was 26.g4! defending against one of the threats. A follow up variation might be 26...Qxa2 27.Rb1 Qc2 28.Re1 and White can start thinking about getting the rooks doubled on the seventh rank. The position remains very sharp however it seems this plan will eventually lead to a break through which I am not sure of a good follow up to the variation mentioned in the next note.

26...Kg8?

Alan flinches and now the h-pawn disrupts his position and it breaks down. Instead 26...Qxa2 27.h5 Rh6 28.Qg5+ Kh7 leads to a sharp position where White might be best to take a perpetual check considering how many White pieces are hanging. I certainly have not found any plan which clearly breaks down the Black position from here.

27.h5 Rg7 28.h6 Rg6 29.h7+

29...Kxh7

29...Kg7 30.Rbe3! cleaverly guards the knight on d2 and prepares something similar to the game because if 30...Qxd2 31.Rxf7+ Rxf7 32.h8=Q+ Kxh8 33.Re8+ Kg7 34.Qxd2 +- White should win. Instead Black can try 30...Rf6 31.Qg5+ Rg6 32.Rxf7+ Rxf7 (32...Kxf7 33.Re7+ Kg8 34.Qxg6+ Kh8 35.Qh7#) 33.h8=Q+ Kxh8 34.Qxg6 Rf8 35.Re7 and White delivers mate shortly.

30.Rxf7+ Rxf7 31.Qxf7+ Rg7 32.Qh5+ Kg8 33.Re3! Rxg2+?!

Russell Dive suggested the defensive move 33...Nd7 with the idea of 34.Re8+ Nf8 and it looks like Black has defended and is only a pawn behind however after 34.Ne4! Black remains in trouble for example 34...Qxa2 35.Qe8+! (Not 35.Ng5?! Qb1+ 36.Kh2 Qf5 and with the queen involved everything is covered.) 35...Kh7 (35...Nf8 36.Nf6+ wins) 36.Ng5+! Kh6 (36...Rxg5 37.Qxd7+ Rg7 38.Qh3+ Kg6 39.Re6+ Kg5 40.Qh6+ Kf5 41.Rf6# or something similar.) 37.Nf7+ wins the exchange because of 37...Kh7 38.Qh8+ Kg6 39.Ne5+ winning even more.

34.Kh1


Of course not 34.Kxg2?? Qxd2+ and Black picks up the rook at e3 with an extra piece.

34...Qxd2

I didn't calculate the mating sequence before reaching this position. It is obvious that there is going to be a forced mate with queen and rook against the lone king. If necessary I could simply have won the rook on g2 however.

35.Re8+ Kg7 36.Qh8+ Kg6 37.Rg8+ Kf7 38.Rf8+ Ke7

A shorter alternative was 38...Kg6 39.Rf6+ Kg5 40.Qh6# and 38...Kf5 39.Rf8+ Kg5 40.Qf6+ Kh5 41.Rh8+ Qh6 42.Rxh6# is also mate.

39.Qf6+ Kd7 40.Rd8+
Alan chooses to resign, one move before I deliver mate with 40...Kc7 41.Qd6#
1-0

Lessons from this game
a) The solutions to tactical problems often have a logical basis. During the final assult it could be noted that the Black king lacks defenders. The only defender is the rook (which vacates it's post shortly before the end) in the position after 33.Re3 the key move brings in another attacker and better defence was offered after 33...Nd7 bringing in another defender. Also earlier with 26...Kg8 it would be possible to note that the queen is isolated from the defence and the maneuvre 26...Qa5xa2-c2 prepares to bring it back into the game. Of course this is usually much easier to see in hindsight but these sorts of evaluations of tactical problems will often save much time finding the best moves where this is possible.
b) Some positions are simply too sharp, complicated or difficult to evaluate or calculate accurately. In these situations you should simply play with the principals you know and have some faith in them. Of course I could not guarantee that I had compensation for the pawn or for two pawns which Alan might have taken later but it was clear that he was going to have to play well in order to survive the opening and middlegame and emerge victorious.
c) Often in a sharp situation with many potential threats a move which stops one or more of these threats is the strongest. With 26.g4 I stopped Alans principal threat of a checkmate on g2. This was the most promising continuation, allowing me to solve my current tactical problems and bring the knight into the attack. The move I played, 26.h4 was less good because although it eventually lead to a tactical breakthrough with best play Alan might have made his own threats count.