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Tuesday 24 April 2018

Nigel vs Dane, Game 3 of the Fourth Boris Chessky Cup Head-To-Head

Game 3 was, if I do say so myself, a very good game.

I believe it's been 588 days since I'd won a Chessy Cup game, with only one Chessy Cup draw in that mix.

That's exactly 7 times as long as Santiago, the old fisherman in Hemingway's The Old Man And The Sea, went without catching a fish. He went 84 days without catching a fish. The connection seems relevant.


First to 5 points: 
  • Dane: 1.5
  • Nigel: 1.5

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. c4 c6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bf4 g6 7. e3 Bg7 8. h3 O-O 9. a3 a6 10. Bd3 Re8 11. O-O b5 12. Rc1 Bb7 13. Qd2 b4(+0.02 → +0.89) Inaccuracy. A better move was 13... e6. (13... e6 14. Ne5 Nxe5 15. Bxe5 Ne4 16. Bxe4 dxe4 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Ne2) 14. Na4 a5 15. Nc5 Bc8(+1.14 → +2.66) Inaccuracy. A better move was 15... Qb6. (15... Qb6 16. Qe2 Ne4 17. Nxe4 dxe4 18. Bxe4 e5 19. dxe5 Nxe5 20. Bxb7) 16. Ne5(+2.52 → +1.27) Inaccuracy. A better move was 16. Bb5. (16. Bb5 Qb6 17. Qe2 Na7 18. Bxe8 Nxe8 19. axb4 Qxb4 20. Ne5 Bf5) 16... Nxe5 17. Bxe5 bxa3 18. bxa3 Nd7(+1.23 → +2.52) Inaccuracy. A better move was 18... Rf8. (18... Rf8 19. Qa2 e6 20. Bb5 Qe7 21. Bg3 Ra7 22. Bh4 e5 23. dxe5) 19. Bxg7(+2.51 → +1.09) Mistake. The best move was 19. Ne6. (19. Ne6 Qb6 (19... fxe6 20. Bc7) 20. Nxg7 Rf8 21. Bc7 Qf6 22. Qa2 Kxg7 23. Qxd5 Ra7) 19... Kxg7 20. Bb5 Nxc5(+1.02 → +2.07) Inaccuracy. A better move was 20... Ra7. (20... Ra7 21. Rfd1 Rh8 22. e4 dxe4 23. Bxd7 Bxd7 24. d5 Qa8 25. Nxe4) 21. Rxc5 Rf8 22. Bc6 Ba6 23. Rxa5 Ra7 24. Rc1 e6 25. Bb5 Bxb5(+1.44 → +3.83) Mistake. The best move was 25... Qa8. (25... Qa8 26. a4 Rb8 27. Bc6 Bb7 28. Rxa7 Qxa7 29. Bb5 Qa8 30. Qd3) 26. Rxa7 Bc4 27. Rb1 Qd6 28. Qa5 Rb8 29. Rxb8(+7.59 → +5.23) Inaccuracy. A better move was 29. Rxf7+. (29. Rxf7+ Kxf7 30. Qa7+ Kf6 31. Rxb8 Be2 32. Rb7 Qf8 33. Rxh7 g5) 29... Qxb8 30. Ra8 Qb1+ 31. Kh2 Qe4 32. Qd8 Bf1 33. Qh8+ Kh6 34. Qf8+ Kh5 35. g4+ Kg5 36. f4+ Kf6 37. Qh8+ Ke7 38. Qd8#

Sunday 15 April 2018

Dane vs Nigel, Game 2 of the Fourth Boris Chessky Cup Head-To-Head

Game 2 of the Fourth Boris Chessky Cup Head-To-Head played at Watery Mouth Cafe with extra chess.com analysis sent through from Dane, who again played well... thought I might've had him for a while there.

First to 5 points: 
  • Dane: 1.5
  • Nigel: 0.5

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.e5 Ne4 5.Qxd4 d5 6.exd6 Nxd6 7.Bd3 Nc6 8.Qe3+ Qe7 9.O-O Qxe3 10.Bxe3 Bf5 11.Bxf5 Nxf5 12.Bg5 Be7 { (-0.65 → +0.15) Inaccuracy. A better move was 12... f6. } ( 12...f6 13.Re1+ 13...Kf7 14.Be3 14...Re8 15.Bf4 15...Rxe1+ 16.Nxe1 16...Bb4 17.Nc3 ) 13.Re1 { (+0.10 → -0.63) Inaccuracy. A better move was 13. Bxe7. } ( 13.Bxe7 13...Nfxe7 14.Rd1 14...Rd8 15.Nc3 15...f6 16.Rxd8+ 16...Kxd8 17.Re1 17...h5 ) 13...f6 14.Bf4 O-O-O 15.Nc3 Bb4 16.a3 Bxc3 17.bxc3 g5 18.Bc1 h5 19.Re6 Rd6 20.Rxd6 Nxd6 21.Bb2 Nc4 22.Bc1 Rd8 23.Kf1 g4 24.Ne1 N6e5 25.f4 gxf3 { (-1.67 → -0.87) Inaccuracy. A better move was 25... Nc6. } ( 25...Nc6 26.a4 26...b6 27.Nd3 27...Ne7 28.g3 28...Nd5 29.Nb2 29...Nd6 30.Bd2 ) 26.Nxf3 Ng4 { (-1.88 → -0.96) Inaccuracy. A better move was 26... Nxf3. } ( 26...Nxf3 27.gxf3 27...Rd1+ 28.Kf2 28...Nxa3 29.Rxa3 29...Rxc1 30.Ra2 30...a6 31.Kg3 ) 27.h3 Nge3+ 28.Ke2 Re8 { (-1.41 → +0.22) Mistake. The best move was 28... Nd5. } ( 28...Nd5 29.Bd2 29...a5 30.a4 30...Nxd2 31.Kxd2 31...Nf4+ 32.Kc1 32...Rg8 33.g4 ) 29.Kd3 Rd8+ { (-0.24 → +0.96) Inaccuracy. A better move was 29... f5. } ( 29...f5 30.Bxe3 30...Nxe3 31.Re1 31...f4 32.g4 32...Rd8+ 33.Ke4 33...hxg4 34.hxg4 ) 30.Nd4 Re8 { (+0.94 → +3.07) Mistake. The best move was 30... c5. } ( 30...c5 31.Bxe3 31...Nxe3 32.Kxe3 32...cxd4+ 33.cxd4 33...Rg8 34.Kf2 34...h4 35.Re1 ) 31.Bxe3 Nxe3 32.Re1 Rd8 33.Kxe3 c5 34.Ne2 Re8+ 35.Kf4 Rg8 36.g3 Kd7 37.c4 Rg5 38.Nc3 h4 39.Ne4 Rg7 40.Nxc5+ { (+9.77 → +4.39) Blunder. The best move was 40. Nxf6+. } ( 40.Nxf6+ 40...Kd8 41.gxh4 41...Rg2 42.Re8+ 42...Kc7 43.h5 43...Rf2+ 44.Ke5 44...Re2+ ) 40...Kc6 41.Ne4 hxg3 42.Nxg3 Rh7 43.Kg4 Rg7+ 44.Kh4 Rh7+ 45.Nh5 Rd7 46.Nxf6 Rd4+ 47.Re4 Rd6 48.Kg5 Rd2 49.h4 Rg2+ 50.Rg4 Kd6 { (+11.96 → +61.87) Inaccuracy. A better move was 50... Rd2. } ( 50...Rd2 51.h5 51...Rd8 52.Re4 52...Rd1 53.h6 53...Rg1+ 54.Rg4 54...Rh1 55.h7 )

Sunday 8 April 2018

Nigel vs Dane, Game 1 of the Fourth Boris Chessky Cup Head-To-Head

A few firsts for the first game of the Fourth Boris Chessky Cup Head-To-Head:

  • first time playing at the Watery Mouth Cafe; 
  • first time playing with chess clock time restraints (60 minutes each, no increment - neither of us got into time trouble, but it was an interesting factor to the game); 
  • first time playing with the touch-move rule (didn't end up a problem, but, again, was interesting having that potential rule hanging over us, compared to our usual social approach to the games).

First to 5 points: 
  • Dane: 0.5
  • Nigel: 0.5

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 d5 3. c4 c6 4. cxd5 cxd5 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bf4 g6 7. e3 Bg7 8. h3 a6 9. Bd3 O-O 10. a3 Re8 11. O-O Nh5 12. Bh2 Bh8 13. b4 b5 14. Rc1 Bb7 15. Ne2 f6 16. Nf4 Ng7 17. Ne2 e5 18. dxe5 fxe5 19. Bb1 Nh5 20. Ba2 Nf6 21. Nc3 e4 22. Nd4 Nxd4 23. Qxd4 Rc8 24. Ne2 Rxc1 25. Rxc1 Ng4 26. Qd2 Nxh2 27. Kxh2 Be5+ 28. Kg1 Kg7 29. Rc5 Re7 30. Nd4 Bd6 31. Qc3 Kh6 32. Rxd5 Bxd5 33. Bxd5 Rc7 34. Qd2 Bxb4 35. axb4 Qxd5 36. g4 Qc4 37. Nf5+ gxf5 38. Qd6+ Kg7 39. Qe5+ Kf8 40. Qxf5+ Rf7 41. Qe5 Qe2 42. Qh8+ Ke7 43. Qe5+ Kd8 44. Qh8+ Kd7 45. Qd4+ Ke6 46. Qxe4+ Kf6 47. Qd4+ Kg6 48. Qe4+ Kg7 49. Qd4+ Kg8 50. Qd8+ Rf8 51. Qd5+ Kg7 52. Qe5+ Rf6 53. Qg5+ Rg6 54. Qe7+ Kh8 55. Qe5+ Rg7 1/2-1/2