On Wednesday’s (29 Jan) match against Guildford A, Ken Coates played an attacking game against Alan Punnett – who responded with a strong counterattack that produced tremendous complications for both players to solve. The game follows, and it is fun to play through and try to work out the variations:
[Event "Surrey Border League"]
[Date "2020.01.29"]
[White "Coates, Ken"]
[Black "Punnett, Alan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B08"]
[PlyCount "67"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be3 {By transposition, we have
reached the Pirc Defence} c6 6. Qd2 b5 7. Bd3 Nbd7 8. Ne2 {N-e2-g3 is a fairly
common manoeuvre in this line although it is not usually played so early in
the game. 9 Bh6 and 9 h3 are played more often} O-O 9. Bh6 c5 10. Bxg7 Kxg7 11. c3 Bb7
12. Ng3 Qb6 13. h4 h5 ({Understandably not allowing the h-file to be opened,
but Black may have been better playing in the centre with} 13... e5 14. h5 exd4
15. hxg6 fxg6 16. Qh6+ Kg8 {when White’s attack isn’t crashing through
immediately, and his own king is also a little unsafe on the e-file. He could
castle kingside into safety, but then the attack fizzles out}) 14. O-O $1 {
A nice decision. Now that the h-file can’t be utilised, White castles and
concentrates on g5, which was weakened by Black’s previous move} e5 15. dxe5
dxe5 16. Rad1 c4 17. Bb1 Rfe8 ({Black defends the e-pawn, but it was also
possible to contest the d-file, although the lines are tricky:} 17... Rad8 18.
Qg5 Kh7 19. Nxe5 Nxe5 20. Rxd8 (20. Qxe5 Rxd1 21. Rxd1 Qxf2+ $1 22. Kxf2 Ng4+ {
is fine for Black}) 20... Qxd8 21. Qxe5 Ng4 22. Qg5 Qxg5 23. hxg5 Rd8 {gives
Black enough counterplay for the pawn}) 18. Qg5 {White has threats of both 19
Nf5+ and 19 Nxh5} Kh7 ({Not bad, but} 18... Kf8 {is best, surpisingly (except
perhaps to a computer engine). If White continues as in the game then Black
can counter with:} 19. Rd2 Rad8 20. Rfd1 Ng4 {and his play against f2 gives
equality. The position is still complex, with chances for both sides}) 19. Rd2
Nc5 $2 {Black goes for activity against White’s e4 pawn, but it doesn’t work
here.} (19... Rad8 {is better}) 20. Rfd1 (20. Nxe5 {immediately is winning, as
White has unanswerable threats of Nxf7 and Nxg6 followed by e5} Rac8 21. Nxg6)
20... Rad8 21. Nxe5 Rxd2 22. Rxd2 Bxe4 $1 23. Nxf7 $6 ({Brave, but it would be
better to play} 23. Bxe4 Ncxe4 24. Nxe4 Nxe4 25. Qf4 $1 {Where the threat
against f7 preserves some advantage}) 23... Bxb1 24. Rd6 Re1+ $2 ({In a very
complex position, Black goes astray. Best is} 24... Ng4 $1 {when} 25. Rxb6 {
fails to} Re1+ 26. Nf1 Bd3 {eg} 27. g3 Rxf1+ 28. Kg2 Rxf2+ 29. Kg1 Rf1+ 30. Kg2
Re1 {and the threat of Be4+ is killing.}) 25. Nf1 Bd3 26. Qxf6 $1 {this wins,
as Qh8 mate is also a threat} (26. Rxb6 $2 Ng4 {transposes to the previous line
}) 26... Rxf1+ 27. Kh2 Qb8 {the only move to defend both the mate and the queen
} 28. Ng5+ Kh6 29. Qe7 Qg8 {Forced} 30. Rd8 Qg7 31. Qxc5 {Material, amazingly,
is almost equal, but White just has too many threats: Qc8, Ne6, Qe3 and
R-e8-e7 are all killers and cannot be defended against. White is winning.
Black tries a nice tactic, but it doesn’t quite work.} Rxf2 ({On} 31... Bf5 {
simplest is} 32. Re8 Rd1 33. Re7) 32. Qxf2 Qc7+ 33. Kh1 Qxd8 34. Nf7+ 1-0
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This win helped Crowthorne to a welcome first match victory in Division 1 this season.
