Serious chess in 2012 got off to a reasonable start, with this steady draw.  It’s West London against Wimbledon’s second team in the London League, and I have White on board eight of ten against Wimbledon’s Chris Clegg, rated some 230 Elo points above me, and hence favourite to win.


But I held my nerve and although the advantage swung to and fro slightly during the game, neither player got decisively ahead.


1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Bd3 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ndf3 Qb6 8.Ne2 cxd4 9.cxd4 f6 10.exf6 Nxf6 11.a3
Give or take, we’re still in the main line of the Tarrasch variation of the French Defence, but here I go out of book to prevent Black’s knight from hassling my d3 bishop, and to prepare b4 to gain space on the queenside.


11...Bd6 12.O-O O-O 13.b4 Bd7

14.Bc2
This is slightly passive – there’s no real threat to the d-pawn that demands I put an extra defender on it.  Better is 14.Bf4 to exchange off Black’s good bishop for my slightly bad one.  The d-pawn is safe, as if 14...Bxf4 15.Nxf4 Nxd4 16.Nxd4 Qxd4, then 17.Bxh7+ wins the undefended queen.  If instead Black forks with 16...e5, then 17.Nxd5 Qxd4 (because the queen is now defended) 18.Nxf6+ Rxf6 19.Rc1 and White has a fairly comfortable position.


14...Rac8 15.Bf4 Qc7
Black could have won a pawn instead with the tactic 15...Nxd4 16.Nfxd4 e5 17.Be3 exd4 18.Bxd4 Bxh2+ 19.Kxh2 Qc7+.


16.Bxd6 Qxd6 17.Rc1
Where to put the rooks is always a tricky decision.  17.Rc1 contests the only open file, but ...e5 was more of an imminent threat than the distant attack down the semi-open f-file which I was worried about, so 17.Re1 was better here.


17...e5 18.dxe5 Nxe5 19.Nxe5 Qxe5 20.Nd4
It looks very natural to dive straight in and blockade the isolated pawn, knowing it’s very difficult for Black to kick the knight out of d4 – but ultimately chess is about going after the big guy, and Black should have taken advantage right away on the kingside with 20...Ng4, provoking 21.g3 and an exploitable light-square weakness.  Instead Black attacks the knight and allows me to reposition it for more immediate defensive purposes.


20...Rc4 21.Nf3 Qh5
Alternatively, 21...Qb2 creates mischief on the queenside, but Black quite understandably thinks there is enough manpower massing on the kingside to make it worthwhile to direct his play there.


22.Bb3 Rxc1 23.Qxc1 Bc6
Black blocks the queen from reaching c7 (from where, incidentally, it can also come back to g3 for defence), but this move turns the bishop into basically a “big pawn”.   I can now exchange out of immediate danger.


24.Qg5 Qxg5 25.Nxg5 h6 26.Ne6 Re8 27.Nd4
And the blockade is re-established.


27...Re4 28.Rd1 Bd7 29.Bc2 Re8 30.h3 Kf8
The time control. Both clocks are put back fifteen minutes and it’s sudden-death: I have about 20 minutes left to complete the whole game, Black around double that.


31.Kf1 Ne4 32.Rd3 Nf6 33.Rc3 Ne4 34.Rf3+ Kg8 35.Rd3 Rc8 36.Ke2
Rashly I walk into a tactic. Instead, patience would have been rewarded: 36.Bb3 Rc1+ 37.Ke2 Nf6 38.Bc2 Rg1 39.Kf3 and White has improved his position considerably – Black’s rook is caged on the back rank out of harm’s way for the moment.


36...Rxc2+ 37.Nxc2 Bb5 38.Ke3

Black will win back the exchange, the pawns on f2 and d5 will come off, and with a symmetrical position a draw is most likely.  White’s king position is slightly better, but that won’t be decisive on its own, and with the clock ticking, I offered a draw which was accepted.

½-½

I noticed that the cover of this street cabinet was open and the telecoms and cable TV wiring inside was exposed. I called BT to report it, and within ten minutes, on a Saturday afternoon, an Openreach van was outside and its driver was calling me to check its precise location.


Once he had taken a look at it, he said it wasn't a BT installation and I should report it to Virgin Media instead, as it is probably one of theirs.  Virgin doesn't have a number on their website to report damaged street furniture like cabinets, but they do have a web form to fill in.


I'm not a Virgin Media customer, but I didn't like the idea of my neighbours having their service disrupted, so being a good citizen I reported it.
  


That was six weeks ago, and the cabinet is still open!

Tournament 51 in the Team 45 45 League online came to an end for the team with this loss to Croatian opponent Ivio, where I had the black pieces.  A good scrap led to one of those endings where the slightest slip costs you the full point, but just like crossing the event horizon of a black hole, you don't notice the point at which your situation becomes irredeemable.


Ivio-pauliewoll
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bh4 c5 4.c3 d5 5.Nd2 Nxd2 6.Qxd2 cxd4 7.cxd4 Nc6 8.a3 g6 9.e3 Bg7 10.Nf3 O-O 11.Bd3 Be6 12.O-O

The messy opening sequence has given White a slight edge, thanks to Black's difficulties in playing any freeing pawn break.

12...Qd7 13.Rfe1 Rac8 14.h3 Bf5 15.Rac1 Bxd3 16.Qxd3 e6 17.Bg3 Qe7 18.Rc2 e5 19.dxe5 Nxe5 20.Nxe5 Bxe5 21.Bxe5 Qxe5 22.Rec1 Rxc2 23.Rxc2 Rd8 24.Rd2 Qc7

Black has finally managed to play the pawn break but has left himself with an isolated d-pawn which White can target.

25.Rd1 Qc5 26.b4 Qc6 27.Qd4 b6 28.e4 Qa4 29.Rd3 Qc2 30.exd5 Qc1+ 31.Kh2 Qc7+ 32.d6 Qd7 33.Qf6 Re8 34.Re3 Re6 35.Rxe6 fxe6 36.Qe7

A mistake by White, allowing me to win back the pawn and go into an endgame that's slightly inferior, but with reasonable chances to hold on.  White would do better using that advanced d pawn to keep Black cooped up: 36.Qf4 h6 47.h4 h5 38.g3 Kg7 39.a4 Qf7 40.Qd4+ Qf6 41.Qd2 Qd8 42.b5, and I can only watch White improve his position at his leisure.

36...Qxe7 37.dxe7 Kf7 38.Kg3 Kxe7 39.Kf4

39...Kd6 Better is 39...Kf6 to maintain opposition.  The text move, which is probably the losing one, allows White to go after the kingside pawns with 40.Kg5 and White will clear the way for his own pawns more quickly than Black can for his.  Instead White is slightly spooked by Black's feint to the queenside.  He hesitates slightly, but the damage is already done for Black, and White wraps up the game nicely.


40.Ke4 Kc6 41.a4 b5 42.a5 Kd6 43.f4 h6 44.h4 a6 45.Kd4

We have zugzwang.  Black has only 45...h5 to stall for time, but after 46.Ke4 he must give ground with his king and allow White in to win the game.  I resign.
1-0

Let's tally today's train travails.

• First thing: District line off, overrunning overnight engineering work.
• Overhead line damage, Birmingham services diverted via Northampton.
• Track fault reported, train instructed to inspect line dead slow, 45 minutes late into Brum.
• Overhead line damage still not repaired in the evening, diverted via Northampton again, 35 minutes late into London.
• Just miss a Richmond train, 10 minutes till the next one.
• ...and hold at a red while an Overground is let into the destination ahead of us.

There's not much to say about this Team 45 45 loss, no brilliant play or huge blunders - quite simply I got a good position out of the opening, chose to give up some material for a speculative attack, and my opponent had enough defensive resources to keep me at bay and win once the smoke had cleared.  Good practice, though, lessons to be learned for the future, and fun to play, which is always the main thing.


I had the white pieces against Dutch opponent LazyPeon.


pauliewoll-LazyPeon
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Nd4
The Rubinstein Four Knights again.


5.Ba4 Bc5 6.Nxe5 Qe7 7.Nd3
It looks a little antipositional blocking the bishop's exit route with the knight, but the pawn won't stay on d2 for long.


7...Nxe4 8.O-O Nxc3 9.bxc3 Ne6 10.Nxc5 Qxc5 11.Qf3 O-O 12.d4
White has obtained a terrific position out of the opening: open lines, the bishop pair and a pawn centre.  Positionally I'm slightly compromised by the doubled pawns, but on the other side Black is going to have serious difficulties developing his bishop thanks to the threats along the h1-a8 diagonal.  Meanwhile if he ever advances his d-pawn he's going to have trouble opposing rooks on the e-file.  So I'm sitting pretty.

12...Nxd4
Black opts for extreme countermeasures and complicates the position, instead of going down the positional route with 12...Qa5 13.Bb3 d6 14.h4 Bd7 15.Bb2 Rae8 and a roughly equal position.  The approach pays off, as I go wrong almost immediately.


13.cxd4 Qxd4 14.Bb3
White loses the game right here by going for the speculative attack. It's much safer to play 14.Qa3 - which I didn't even consider at the time - 14...a5 (if 14...Qxa1, 15.Bb2 traps the queen) 15.Bb2 Qb4 16.Rfe1, and White is only too pleased to let Black exchange queens any time he likes; the extra bishop, and total control of the e-file prior to invading unopposed on e7, will win easily.


14...Qxa1 15.Ba3 Qf6
Black, two safe pawns up assuming White wins back the exchange, is now the one happy to exchange queens.  I take a long, hard look at the position and come to the view that even without the queens I still have more pieces in active play if I don't win back the exchange, and if I can attack on the kingside there might still be winning chances.


16.Qxf6 gxf6 17.Re1 d6 18.Re3 Bf5 19.Rg3+ Bg6 20.h4
A better move order is 20.f4 f5, and only then 21.h4 Kg7 22.h5 Rae8 23.hxg6 hxg6, and White is still hanging in there.  The move played allows Black to set up a blockade that White doesn't have the firepower to break.  After that Black wins by repeatedly throwing the unpleasant choice at White: exchange or back off.


20...Kh8 21.Bb2 h5 22.Bxf6+ Kh7 23.Bd5 c6 24.Bf3 Rg8 25.Rg5 Kh6 26.g4
Still desperate to prise open the black king position, I throw more material on the fire.


26...Rae8 27.Kh2
Stepping out of potential pins or checks on the g-file.


27...hxg4 28.Bxg4 Bxc2 29.Rh5+ Kg6 30.Bc3 f6
Forced, in view of the threat of perpetual check from the rook on g5 and h5.  But an excellent move in its own right, as it gives the king an escape tunnel via f7.


31.f4 Rh8
And now here comes the exchange-or-yield move.  My rook has nowhere sensible to run, and after the exchange Black's extra material makes the win a formality.
0-1