Rounds 3 and 4 of the 4 Nations Chess League took place over the weekend (11-12 Jan) and once again Crowthorne Chess Club was in action.
Click here for 4NCL Tables
Derek had a good weekend, winning both games in short order. Here is his Sunday game, where he had the Black pieces:
[Event "4NCL Division 3"]
[Date "2020.1.12"]
[White "Rasanen, Otto"]
[Black "Johnson, Derek R"]
[Result "0-1"]
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 {The Modern Benoni Defence}
6.e4 g6 7.f4 Bg7 8.Bb5+ {
White plays the sharpest attempt to gain an advantage against the Benoni –
indeed it is so dangerous that many Black players only play the defence when
white has played an early Nf3 (thus making f4 impossible without loss of time).
However, the variations are very sharp and complex, and any advantage White may gain can easily be lost with a single slip.}
Nfd7 {Considered best, as 8 …Nbd7 or 8 …Bd7 both allow an immediate 9 e5 with a
strong attack. Still, those moves (especially Nbd7) do have their adherents!}
9.Bd3 {White does not want to allow Black to expand with …a6 and …b5 so retreats
the bishop to d3, intending to reply to …a6 with a4. The immediate a4 is more common, but both are fine}
O-O 10.Nf3 Re8 ( 10 ...Na6 11.O-O Nc7 {immediately is the most common continuation here}
) 11.O-O Nf6 {Not only helping the queenside development, but also making e5 harder to play by attacking d5}
12.Qc2 {The queen is not well placed here, as Black’s next natural move demonstrates}
( 12.e5 dxe5 13.fxe5 Nxd5 {
gives white some play for the pawn, but would be a genuine pawn sacrifice with
roughly equal chances. White should probably have played like this in the next few moves.}
) ( 12.h3 {Prevents any Black pieces from landing on g4, and is probably best}
) Na6 13.a3 {…Nb4 was threatened} Nc7 14.Nd2 {
?! Although c4 is often a good square for a knight in the Benoni, this looks
too slow here. Again, white should be trying to prepare e5 and this takes the knight away from any potential kingside action.}
Ng4{!?} 15.Nc4 {??} ( {White had to return with} 15.Nf3 {although this is understandably difficult to do having just moved the knight from that square} ) Bd4+ 16.Kh1 Nxh2{! and wins}
( 16...Qh4 {achieves nothing after} 17.g3 ) 17.Nxd6 Nxf1 {and white resigned, as …Qh4 mate can only be prevented with huge loss of material}
0-1
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