Some excellent tactical play

Nicolas Croad - John Duneas
Wellington Open (2) 2008

This game was another sharp one from the Wellington Open.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.a4 Bf5 6.Ne5 Nbd7 7.Nxc4 Qc7 8.g3

I realised I was entering a very sharp opening and in fact one I didn't really know anything about but I decided not to let my opponent dictate the terms on which we would play.

8...e5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 10.Bf4 Nbd7 11.Qd4 f6 12.Rad1 g5?!

12...Bc5 would have lead to an equal position with chances for both sides. None of the Black pawns are really weak after 13.Bxe5 fxe5 14.Nd6+ Bxd6 15.Qxd6 Qxd6 16.Rxd6 and a roughly level endgame arises. There are also other possibilities for White but none lead to a clear advantage.

13.Bxe5 fxe5 14.Qd2 h6 15.Bg2 Bb4 16.O-O O-O-O 17.Qc1!



I didn't like the opposition of white queen and black rook on the open d-file and was looking to move my knight preparing b2-b4-b5 with chances to develop an attack on the black king position. It turns out this is the winning move because my opponent over-estimates his position and interprets this move as a mistake.

17...Nc5?

Thinking that the queen is in trouble... We didn't find a clear evaluation after 17...h5 and White can take the pawn with 18.Qxg5 Be6 or continue with the attack via 18.Na2 Be7 both positions offer chances to both sides.

18.Na2 Nb3 19.Qe3 Rxd1 20.Rxd1 Bc2 21.Qxa7!

I had also prepared the bail-out variation 21.Rf1 though after 21...Bc5 22.Qc3 Nd4 23.Re1 the position is very unclear and Black might be able to take a pawn with ...Bxa4

21...Bxd1

21...g4 does not improve Black's predicament 22.Nxb4 Bxd1 23.Nb6+ Kd8 24.Qa8+ Ke7 25.N6d5+ cxd5 26.Nxd5+ Kd6 27.Qxh8! Qc1 28.Qd8+ Kc5 29.Qb6+ Kc4 30.Ne3+ forces Black to give up the queen.

22.Bh3+

Not 22.Nb6+? Qxb6! 23.Qxb6 Bc5 as my opponent pointed out after the game.

22...Kd8 23.Qa8+ Ke7 24.Qxh8 Bxe2

Of course Black is totally lost with or without this move. 24...Bc5 25.Qh7+ Kd8 26.Qd3+ picks up a piece as well.

25.Qg7+ Kd8 26.Qg8+ Ke7 27.Nxb4 g4 28.Qg7+ Kd8 29.Qf8+ Kd7 30.Nd3

This was the point though I stuffed up the execution slightly.

30...gxh3 31.Ncxe5+?!

Instead 31.Ndxe5+ Ke6 32.Qg8+ Kf6 33.Qg6+ Ke7 34.Qf7+ Kd8 35.Qg8# is the most accurate. White could have been forced to retract his steps with 31.Ncxe5+ Kd6 32.Nc4+ Ke7 33.Qg7+ Kd8 34.Qf8+ Kd7 35.Nde5+ reaching the mating setup.

31...Ke6 32.Qg8+ Kf5 33.Qg6# 1-0

It's pleasant when your opponent doesn't see the mate coming.
The only lesson from this game is the value of good accurate calculation. Black had little idea what was going on during this game because he simply didn't see all the critical tactical ideas in time.