[Event "Ramada Hotel, Telford Ironbridge"]
[Site "22nd 4NCL Congress"]
[Date "2019.07.21"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Keith Arkell, ENG 2461"]
[Black "Shabir Okhai, ENG 2136"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A30"]
[Annotator "Keith"]
[PlyCount "102"]
[EventDate "2019.07.21"]

{Anyone who thinks weekend tournaments are the best way for top players to
gain FIDE rating points need only look at these results. The first three seeds
all lost in round 4, and we finished on 3, 3.5 and 3.5 out of 5, losing 26
rating points between us! Meanwhile Mark Hebden managed to skip his way
through the minefield to take first prize. Here is my round 4 loss:} 1. c4 Nf6
2. Nc3 c5 3. g3 e6 4. Nf3 b6 5. Bg2 Bb7 6. O-O Be7 7. Re1 O-O 8. e4 d6 9. d4
cxd4 10. Nxd4 Qc7 11. Ndb5 Qc6 12. b3 a6 13. Nd4 Qc7 14. Bb2 Re8 15. Rc1 Bf8
16. g4 !? {Normally I wouldn't play such a move when there are alternatives
which keep a safe edge. The problem is one of energy. To successfully
negotiate 5 games of chess in little more than 2 days ( 7pm Friday until about
7 pm Sunday) you need to go on autopilot as often as possible. After a move
like 16 g4 !? a lot more calculation is likely to be needed.} Nfd7 17. g5 Nc6
18. Nc2 {Eyeing g4.} Rad8 19. Re3 Be7 20. Rg3 Nf8 21. Ne3 Qb8 22. Qh5 Ne5 {
My opponent feels obliged to put all hands on deck to stave off my potential
mating attack.} 23. Rd1 Neg6 24. Ne2 Qa8 {This seems logical, counterattacking
whenever possible, but it should lose by force to a move which I trifled with
before chickening out.} 25. Ng4 ? {A pity (for me, anyway!) as 27 Bxg7!!
wins in all variations. I'll leave the readers to check this either by
themselves or with their engines. So the question is where did Black go wrong?
During the game I felt that 18...Rad8 clogged up his position too much.
Sometimes, for example, the Queen might need to use that square.} e5 {Now that
my Bishop has been shut out I simply don't have enough fire-power to checkmate
Shabir. Moreover, controlling f4 is very useful for Black.} 26. f3 Ne6 27. Bc1
Bc8 28. Rh3 Nef8 29. Ng3 Bxg4 30. Qxg4 b5 31. Bf1 Qc6 {He missed a nice idea
here, exploiting the weak square: 31...Ne6 32 Qh5 h6! 33 gxh6 Ngf4 34 Qg4 g6
when Black is on top.} 32. Nf5 Ne6 33. Qh5 Ngf8 34. Kh1 Rd7 {I found this
position awkward. Because there is no mate I felt the need to bring my pieces
back from the Kingside with a view to exploiting my positional advantages. But
there is one small snag: I couldn't see any way to retreat without running
into trouble from his Knights. The engine agrees that I am better, but chooses
the mysterious looking 31 Bd2.} 35. Rg3 Ng6 36. Rh3 Ngf8 37. Be3 Bd8 38. Rc1 b4
39. c5 {I played my last two moves quickly and without calculation. Surely, I
thought, popping my Bishop on the lovely c4 square will cause problems.
This is lazy thinking though, because in return I am surrendering the d-file
and the d4 square and freeing him of his backward pawn.} dxc5 40. Bc4 Bb6 41.
Rg1 {Hoping to blow him away with g6!} Kh8 42. g6 fxg6 43. Rxg6 {Again without
doing much calculation ( the Sunday morning round 4 game always feels like the
most tiring of the 5) I assumed that I now had an overwhelming position, and
the strong players gathered around during the post-mortem felt the same way. I
had broken open the white squares and a tactical knockout could only be
moments away. How right I was, except that the Knockout was against me!} Rd1+
44. Bg1 $2 {45 Rg1 was the best move, after which I have a small advantage,
but hardly the overwhelming position I envisaged.} Qd7 {Suddenly he threatens .
.Nf4, but I thought I had that one covered:} 45. Bxe6 Rxe6 46. Rxg7 {As soon
as I had played this 'winning' move I began to feel more and more
uncomfortable about the turn the game had taken.} Qxg7 47. Nxg7 c4 48. Rg3 Rg6
{Oops - suddenly I'm completely lost.} 49. Kg2 {Or 49 Rxg6 Nxg6 and there is
still no escape.} Rxg1+ 50. Kh3 R6xg3+ {Played with literally one second left
on his clock. But it mattered not because he then had 31 seconds to go get my
Queen.} 51. hxg3 Rh1+ 0-1

