Andrew Hards vs Martin Howard [Event "Nomads A vs Chesterfield A"] [Site "Hewlett-Packard"] [Date "2016.11.01"] [Round "?"] [White "Andrew Hards"] [Black "Martin Howard"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B12"] [Annotator ",ahards@hotmail.com"] [PlyCount "85"] [TimeControl "120"] {Our fourth meeting – Martin leads 2-1 (and the 1 was fortunate on my part).} 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. dxc5 e6 5. Be3 Nh6 {[%emt 0:00:00]} 6. Bxh6 { This move ultimately would prove crucial even though it’s not best here.} gxh6 7. Nc3 Bd7 8. Qd2 Qc7 9. f4 { I felt that Nf3 was too passive – this at least gives me a chance to try and break up Martin’s centre later.} Qxc5 10. O-O-O a6 11. Nf3 b5 12. f5 { Going for the immediate break.} b4 13. Ne2 Nc6 (13... exf5 14. Nf4 Nc6 15. Nxd5 {Looks dicey with Black’s king exposed.}) 14. f6 {I should maybe have preserved the tension here… but I like the fact this move shuts in the black-squared bishop and the rook to some extent.} Qb6 {Eyeing e3 with the bishop and it’s not so easy to defend with both knights adjacent to the square. } 15. Ned4 Bc5 16. g3 {Strengthening the half open g-file and freeing up either g2 or h3 for my bishop.} Nxd4 (16... Bxd4 17. Nxd4 Nxe5 18. Qxh6 O-O-O { This looks OK for Black – the king is well aired but White’s pieces aren’t easily brought into an attack and long term the passed e-pawn could be an issue.}) 17. Nxd4 {The knight can’t move (Be3 wins the queen) but it’s not easy for Martin to bring anything else to bear on it.} a5 18. Bg2 a4 19. Kb1 Rg8 20. Rhe1 O-O-O 21. Bf3 {Now the king is out of the centre, I don’t want to allow Rg4 (the computer thinks Rg4 was playable instead of castling, but with tactics possibly on f5 and d5 it seems sensible to get the king out of the way first.} Rg5 22. g4 Kc7 23. h4 Rg6 {Fritz scores this at less than +0.1. I did think though at this point I’ve got a few options – switching my knight to f4, maybe supporting the g4 pawn with a rook and bringing the bishop to d3; possibly even look at a pawn break on c3. However, I’m not sure what Martin can do to improve his position significantly.} 24. b3 { With a follow up plan of c3 to break open the c file.} Kb8 25. Qd3 h5 { This drops a pawn and causes real issues for Martin’s kingside.} 26. g5 Be8 { The Black pieces are getting in each other’s way now and f7 is a target.} 27. Bxh5 Rd7 {Now the white-squared bishop is entombed.} 28. Bxg6 hxg6 29. Rh1 Ra7 30. Rh2 {Safety first (and less than 5 minutes to the time control). Rd2 was probably better though!} Qa5 {As long as I don’t do something stupid like move that a-pawn, Martin’s attack has no teeth here.} 31. Rdd2 Rc7 32. h5 { Time to push. That bishop on e8 is unprotected and there’s a pin threat against the king.} gxh5 33. Rxh5 Kb7 34. Rh8 Rc8 35. g6 { One of the white pawns is going through here.} fxg6 36. Nxe6 d4 37. Qe4+ Bc6 38. Rh7+ (38. Nxc5+ Qxc5 39. Rxc8 Kxc8 40. Qxd4 {A neat way to liquidate down to a won ending (I missed the fact that 39. … Bxe4 isn’t possible because of 40. Rxc5 in my calculations).}) 38... Kb8 39. Qxg6 Qb5 { Got to be careful – Qf1+ Kb2 a3# is threatened.} 40. Qd3 Qb6 (40... Qxd3 41. Rxd3 Be4 {Better for Black, but ultimately still a losing position with those passed pawns on e5 and f6 absolute monsters.}) 41. Nxc5 Qxc5 42. Qxd4 { Offering the exchange. Martin tries one last tactic…} Rg8 {Hoping for 43. Qxc5. Unfortunately, 43. … Rg1+ fails anyhow as 44. Qxg1 (not 44. Kb2?? a3# of course!)} 43. Qd8+ {A nice little queen sacrifice to finish off.} 1-0 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization. Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
