[Event "Julius Day Shield (Jamboree)"]
[Site "St Clement's Hall"]
[Date "2023.06.20"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Jon Hunt"]
[Black "Alan Atkinson"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1597"]
[BlackElo "1910"]
[EventDate "2023.06.20"]
[ECO "A07"]
{I arrived in front of Alan Atkinson as a last-minute substitute with the clock already running. As it turned out, Bridge needed this point to eclipse Herne Bay, who scored an impressive 4.5/6. Alan secured their 5/6 jamboree victory, but not without a fight!} 1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.O-O h6 5.d3 Bf5 6.Nbd2 Qc8 7.Re1 e6 8.Nd4 $5 Bg6 9.e4 c5 10.N4b3 ( 10.Nxe6 $5 fxe6 11.exd5 Be7 12.Nc4 $1 Bh5 13.Qd2 O-O 14.Rxe6 {White collects his third pawn for the piece.} 14...Re8 15.Qe1 $1 $10 ) 10...d4 $6 11.e5 ( {White has a move more in keeping with the KIA:} 11.Nc4 $1 Bh5 12.Qd2 Nbd7 13.e5 $1 Nd5 14.Bxd5 $1 exd5 15.Nd6+ Bxd6 16.exd6+ Kf8 17.Qf4 $16 ) 11...Bh5 $2 {I had feared this move, but in fact at this moment it's a poor choice.} ( 11...Nd5 ) 12.Bf3 $2 ( 12.g4 $1 Nxg4 ( 12...Bxg4 13.f3 Bf5 14.exf6 gxf6 15.Ne4 $1 $16 ) 13.Bf3 $1 Nxf2 14.Kxf2 Bxf3 15.Qxf3 $16 ) 12...Bxf3 13.Qxf3 Nd5 {End of Round 1. Honours even!} 14.h4 $6 ( {The position really cries out for} 14.Nc4 $1 a5 ( 14...Nb4 15.Qe2 ) 15.a4 ) 14...Nb4 $1 15.Qd1 Nd7 16.f4 {It's not that what White's doing on the kingside doesn't make sense. It's just that it hasn't really prevented ...g5, which was rather the point.} 16...a5 ( 16...g5 $5 17.Ne4 gxh4 18.c3 dxc3 19.bxc3 Nxd3 20.Qxd3 c4 21.Qf3 cxb3 22.axb3 Qc6 23.gxh4 Rg8+ 24.Kh2 $1 $14 ) 17.Nc4 {A bit late} ( {I should have gone with my first thought:} 17.a4 $1 Nb6 18.Ne4 $1 Qc6 19.h5 $10 ) 17...a4 18.Nbd2 b5 19.Na3 {End of Round 2. White has found answers to Black's queenside attack so far, but the knight on a3 is rather awkward.} 19...Qc6 20.Qf3 {A reasonable proposition to slow Alan's brewing attack} 20...Qxf3 21.Nxf3 Rb8 22.Bd2 $1 {At least White has cleared his back rank at last.} 22...Nd5 23.c4 dxc3 24.bxc3 Nc7 25.c4 b4 26.Nc2 Be7 27.Rab1 O-O {End of Round 3. Black's attack is far from over, but he's been stopped for now, and Alan has finally spent two moves on castling.} 28.d4 $1 Rfd8 29.Be3 $6 {This takes away an important square from the knight on c2.} 29...b3 30.axb3 axb3 31.Na3 $2 {The rot finally sets in.} ( {In fact, there *was* a good square left for the knight:} 31.Na1 $1 b2 32.Nc2 {but I didn't like the idea of giving Black ...b2 so easily.} ) 31...cxd4 $1 32.Nxd4 Bxa3 33.Nc6 {With this knight manoeuvre I make the best of this losing proposition.} 33...Re8 $1 34.Nxb8 Rxb8 35.Red1 $1 {White is still punching.} 35...Nc5 $1 36.Bxc5 Bxc5+ 37.Kf1 Na6 38.Rd3 b2 39.Ke2 ( {In retrospect I prefer the engine's choice here, even though it seems to lead to a similar demise:} 39.h5 $1 Nc7 40.Rd2 Ba3 41.Rd7 Rc8 42.Ke2 f6 $1 43.Kd3 fxe5 44.fxe5 Na6 45.Ra7 Nb4+ 46.Kc3 Nd5+ 47.Kd3 Bc5 48.Rb7 Nb4+ 49.Ke4 Bf8 50.Rxb2 Rxc4+ 51.Kf3 $17 ) 39...Kf8 $6 ( 39...g5 $1 40.hxg5 hxg5 41.fxg5 Rb4 $17 ) 40.Kd2 $2 Nb4 $2 41.Rb3 $2 {I'm on Plan B now, but Plan A was better...} ( {I missed this, even though I knew about the pin on the b-file:} 41.Rxb2 $1 Rc8 42.Rdb3 Rd8+ 43.Ke2 $1 Nc6 $1 $15 ) 41...Rd8+ 42.Kc3 Rd3+ $2 {In a humorous moment, Alan declared checkmate! He suffered a nasty shock after...} 43.Kxb2 {And White has managed to round up that pesky passed pawn.} 43...Rd2+ {My scoresheet runs out, but sadly the memory lingers on...} 44.Kc1 {(only square to avoid mate)} 44...Rc2+ 45.Kd1 Rxc4 46.Rc1 $1 Rxc1+ 47.Kxc1 g6 $6 48.g4 $4 {Alan has taken all the fight out of me, and with less than five minutes on the clock sadly I make a mess of things, when perhaps the draw was still salvageable.} ( 48.Kd2 $1 {and White still has chances.} ) 48...Nd5 49.Rf3 Be3+ {It's game over. I played on for a few more moves before resigning.} 0-1
