4NCL - The Four Nations League - www.4ncl.co.uk/pre2010

Lorin D'Costa annotates

D'Costa,Lorin (2445) - Pinter,Gabor (2355) [B81]

4NCL Camb Uni 1 v Barbican 1 (5), 17.01.2009

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.g4 a6

I played Keres attack as I noticed my opponent played this a6 variation.

7.g5 Nfd7 8.Be3 b5 9.Bg2 Nb6

9...Bb7 10.0-0 Be7 11.f4 Nb6 was what I’d expected; the fact that he didn’t play Be7 led me to this interesting piece sac on e6.

10.0-0 Bb7 11.f4 b4

White is almost fully developed and Black has only developed 2 pieces. Then he moves another pawn!

12.f5?!

I didn’t think the computer would like this, yet it actually offers 12. f5 as the best choice! Logically it makes sense as mentioned above, Black hasn’t played Be7 and White is well developed. Hence the reason why I try to launch an early attack. 12.Nce2 was the obvious move; 12.Nce2 N8d7 13.b3 Nc5 14.Ng3 is probably the standard way to play this, but I was attracted by the Ne6 sacrifice to try and 'punish' Black.

12...e5

12...bxc3 13.fxe6 fxe6 14.Nxe6 Qe7 15.Nxf8 cxb2 (15...Rxf8 16.Rxf8+ Kxf8 17.Bxb6 cxb2 18.Rb1 and after all the fireworks white is only a little better. However, I can imagine my opponent didn’t look at this line to much as it doesn’t look that appealing.) 16.Rb1 Nc4 17.Qh5+ Kd8 was what I’d calculated; however White has a great move here 18.Rxb2! (FM J. Rogers) which looks to be crushing for White; 18...Nxb2 19.Bb6+ Kc8 20.Bh3+ Nd7 21.Nxd7

13.Ne6 fxe6 14.Qh5+ Kd7

14...g6 I didn’t really look at this idea; to keep the e6 pawn for shielding the king when it runs to c8, and keeps the knight from d5. White should still hold a big advantage though. 15.fxg6 Kd7 16.Nd1 Kc7 17.Rf7+ N8d7 18.gxh7 Nc4 19.g6 and White has a big advantage – Black’s king still isn’t safe and I can win the piece back with g7 almost whenever I like.

15.fxe6+ Kc8

15...Kxe6 16.Qf7# was not an option!

16.Nd5 Bxd5 17.exd5

This was the position I had in my analysis before playing 12.f5. White has compensation for the piece, a pawn (passed on e6) and Black has bad king and no development. At least it led to an interesting game.....

17...Be7

17...Nc4 18.Bf2 Be7 now rook can’t reach f7 is possible.

18.Rf7

18.Qg4 attacking b4 and preventing Nc4 was better, White then continues as in the game with Rf7 etc. Black has a difficult defensive task ahead of him. e.g. 18...a5 19.Rf7 Na6 20.Rxe7 Qxe7 21.Bxb6+/-

18...Nc4 19.Bf2 e4

A good practical try by Pinter, attempting to get active by sacrificing a pawn back. 19...a5 20.Qe2 Nb6 21.c3 bxc3 22.Rc1 Na6 23.Rxc3+ Nc5 24.Bxc5 dxc5 25.d6 Qxd6 26.Bxa8 Nxa8 27.Rxe7 Qxe7 28.Qa6+ Qb7 29.Rxc5+ Nc7 30.Qd6 Rd8 31.Qxe5

20.Rf4

20.Bd4 Ne5 21.Rxg7 again may have been better according to Rybka, but I didn’t see what was wrong by moving the rook and pre-emptying Ne5.

20...Ne5 21.Rxe4 a5 22.a3

Time to bring in the one piece White hasnt used!

22...Ra6 23.Qe2 Rf8 24.Bd4

24.axb4 Rxf2 is hard to assess, but I thought the dark squared bishop was important enough to keep.; 24.axb4 for some reason I thought black was going to play 24...Rxf2 but after 25.Qxf2 axb4 (25...Bxg5 26.Bf1 Ra8 27.Rxa5 Rxa5 28.bxa5 Qxa5 29.Qf8+ Qd8 30.Qxg7 Qb6+ 31.Kg2 white has 3 pawns and initiative for the two pieces. ) 26.Rxa6 Nxa6 27.Qa7 Nc5 28.Rxb4 its going to be forced mate.

24...Rb6

What else? 24...Bxg5 25.Bxe5 dxe5 26.Rc4+ Nc6 27.axb4 is similar to the game and should just be winning. Of course, it’s never that easy over the board...

25.Bxe5 dxe5 26.Rc4+

Surely White should be winning now?

26...Nc6

26...Kb7 27.d6++/-

27.axb4 Bxb4 28.c3

Just cashing in with 28.Rxc6+ Rxc6 29.dxc6 Qb6+ 30.Kh1 would have kept things simple for White. Now in the mutual time trouble the game started to slip from me.

28...Bd6 29.Rxa5 Qxg5 30.Ra1!?

30.Rxc6+ Rxc6 31.dxc6 Qc1+ 32.Bf1 Qg5+ 33.Kh1 Qf4 34.e7 (FM J.Rogers) also looks to be winning for White.

30...e4 31.Qxe4

A terrible move which I remember playing far too casually, assuming this position was just winning. Now within a few moves I turn a winning position into a losing one! 31.Rxc6+ Rxc6 32.dxc6 Qe5 33.Bxe4 was the way forward for White. Black’s king looks too exposed.

31...Rf4 32.Qe2 Rxc4 33.Qxc4 Qe3+

I underestimated the strength of this move - now Black is simply winning. Luckily for me, he had about 13 seconds for 7 moves.

34.Kf1??

This has to deserve two questions marks despite the massive time trouble. I’d simply missed my opponents next (winning) move... 34.Kh1 Qe5 35.Qh4 was definitely the lesser evil (and safer!) as White goes from losing to completely lost.

34...Bc5

Didn’t see this. Only that 34...Rxb2 35.Qxc6+ wins for White.

35.Ra8+ Nb8

35...Kb7 36.dxc6+ Kxa8 37.Qa4+ Kb8 38.c7+ Kxc7 39.Qd7+ Kb8 40.Qd8+ Ka7 41.Qa8# was my idea - I can’t say I saw all that within just seconds left, but Pinter correctly doesn’t allow me this fun.

36.Qh4 Qg1+

36...Rxb2 is resignable for White, but he had about 8 seconds for 5 moves and he lets me get away.; Rybka also announces mate in 9 with 36...Qd3+

37.Ke2 Rxb2+ 38.Kd3 Qe3+ 39.Kc4 Qe2+ 40.Kxc5 Rb5+

We reached the time control here, and amazingly White’s king sortie doesn’t result in checkmate.

41.Kd6

My opponent now repeated moves but I thought I needed to win due to the match situation, so played on.

41...Rb6+ 42.Kc5 Rb5+ 43.Kd6 Rb6+ 44.Ke7 Qxg2 45.Qc4+

45.Qh5 looks like a slightly strange suggestion from Rybka, but it gives White +1.54 here so there must be some merit in it. 45...Kb7 46.Ra5 Qd2 47.Kf8 Na6 48.Qf7+ Nc7 49.Rc5 Qxh2 50.e7 Qd6 51.Kg8 Qxc5 52.e8Q is one crazy line given by the comp.

45...Kb7 46.Qa4 Qg5+ 47.Kf7 Qf5+

47...Qf6+ 48.Kg8 Qd8+ 49.Kxh7 Qxd5 50.Qa7+ Kc8 51.Qxb6 Qxa8 52.Qc5+ Kd8 53.Qd6+ Ke8 54.Kg8! was the attractive line I’d calculated. Of course, the game move should be drawn.

48.Kg8 Qxd5 49.Qa7+ Kc6

49...Kc8 50.Qxb6 Qxa8 51.Qc5+ is similar to the line above, except the king is already on g8 so it’s winning for White. 51...Kd8 52.Qd6+ Kc8 53.e7

50.Rxb8 Qxe6+ 51.Kh8

A well traveled king! In the now ensuing queen and pawn endgame, this king will prove the difference.

51...Rxb8+ 52.Qxb8 Qh6 53.Qe5 g5 54.Qe4+ Kc5 55.Qd4+ Kc6 56.Qe5 Kb6 57.c4

This move has the required effect because in the second mad time scramble, Black goes for the c4 pawn and loses!

57...Qf8+

57...g4 was possibly the way to draw.

58.Kxh7 Qf7+ 59.Kh6 Qxc4 60.Kxg5 Qc1+

With the second time control reached, again with seconds to spare from both players, a queen ending with an h pawn has been reached. Normally these are very difficult to win but I think White’s greater coordination and the fact that Black’s king is far away and on a bad square (as seen in the game) offers very good winning chances for White.

61.Qf4 Qg1+ 62.Kh6 Kc6?

The final blunder. 62...Qa1 was possibly the most difficult move for me to face, for example 63.Qd6+ Kb5 64.h4 Qh8+ 65.Kg5 Qg8+ 66.Qg6 Qd8+ 67.Qf6 Qg8+ 68.Kh6 followed by the slow advance of the h pawn. Black’s king is out of the game. ; 62...Qe1 63.Qf6+ Kc5 64.h4 Qe4 65.h5 Kd5 (65...Kb4 is possibly better because it offers room for Black’s queen to start checking; bringing the king closer doesn’t really help Black and may even be a hindrance e.g. ) 66.Kg7 Qg4+ 67.Qg6 Qd4+ 68.Kg8 Kc4 69.h6 Qd8+ 70.Kg7 Qd4+ 71.Qf6 Qg4+ 72.Kf7 Qd7+ 73.Kg8 Qg4+ 74.Qg7 Qc8+ 75.Qf8 Qg4+ 76.Kh8 Qd4+ 77.Qg7 and Black runs out of checks eventually. Of course, I wouldn’t have had to find this over the board...

63.Qf6+

Here he resigned, as the queens will be exchanged whether black goes to the 5th or 7th rank, leaving the h pawn to queen. An absolutely crazy game and one of the last to finish in the 5th round.

1-0

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