[Event "Southend Easter Chess Congress U1600"]
[Site "Southend Adult Community College"]
[Date "2024.03.30"]
[Round "4"]
[White "John Jestico"]
[Black "Jon Hunt"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1438"]
[BlackElo "1490"]
[EventDate "2024.03.30"]
[ECO "A22"]
{I come to the Southend Easter Congress (it's my second year - of many, I hope) just to get games as closely fought as this one. I hope it entertains our website readers half as much as it entertained the players!} 1.c4 {I had forgotten that John plays the English until shortly before the game. Last time we played (Round 1 of last year's congress) he went wrong in his own opening. No such luck this year...} 1...Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 {I was careful to give John the same defence I offered last year, hoping he would play the same line with 3.g3.} 3.e3 ( {Last year's game continued} 3.g3 Nc6 4.a3 d5 $1 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Nxd5 $2 Qxd5 $17 {and you might wonder how Black didn't win from here.} ) 3...Nc6 4.d3 d5 $1 5.d4 $2 dxc4 ( 5...exd4 $1 6.exd4 dxc4 7.Bxc4 Qxd4 8.Qe2+ Be7 9.Nf3 Qc5 $15 {gives Black a slim edge out of the first skirmishes.} ) 6.d5 $1 Nb4 7.Bxc4 c6 ( {Here's a line for next year against John:} 7...Bf5 $1 8.Qa4+ c6 9.dxc6 bxc6 10.Nf3 Bc2 $1 11.b3 Nd7 12.O-O Nb6 13.Qa5 Nxc4 14.Qxd8+ Rxd8 15.bxc4 f6 $17 ) 8.Qb3 $2 cxd5 ( 8...b5 $1 9.d6 Bxd6 10.Bxf7+ Kf8 $1 {is nothing at all to fear for Black:} 11.Nf3 Nd3+ 12.Kf1 Nc5 13.Qc2 Kxf7 $19 ) 9.Nxd5 Nc2+ $2 ( {I thought} 9...Nbxd5 10.e4 {was disaster, but by no means:} 10...Nf4 $1 {Black is a piece up, and losing only a pawn on f7. Do the math!} 11.Bxf4 exf4 12.Bxf7+ Ke7 $1 13.Ne2 Qb6 $17 ) 10.Qxc2 Nxd5 11.Qb3 $1 {Ah, I hadn't thought of that.} 11...Be6 12.a3 $6 {John appears a bit too scared of the other knight trying the same trip to c2.} 12...Qb6 $1 {A good practical get-out from this messy opening.} 13.Qxb6 axb6 $1 $10 {I rightly allow doubled pawns on the b-file, and not the e-file. White has nothing useful out of his early attack.} ( 13...Nxb6 $6 14.Bxe6 fxe6 $14 {isn't a lot worse, but it's worse.} ) 14.Bb5+ Ke7 15.Nf3 f6 16.Bd2 Kf7 $1 {Black makes sure his king is safe before entering into any further complications.} 17.O-O g5 18.Rfc1 Bd6 19.e4 Ne7 $6 ( 19...Nc7 20.Be2 Rhc8 $10 ) 20.Rd1 $6 ( {I had expected to see} 20.Be3 $1 {at once.} 20...Nc8 21.Rc3 Rd8 22.Rac1 Na7 23.Be2 b5 $14 {all looks very difficult for Black.} ) 20...Bb3 $1 21.Rdc1 Be6 $6 {Inviting a repetition, but risky if John finds Be3 now.} 22.Rc3 {Phew!} 22...Rac8 23.Rac1 Rxc3 24.Rxc3 Rc8 25.b4 g4 $5 26.Rxc8 ( {I suspected John wouldn't be happy to send the knight to the rim:} 26.Nh4 $1 h5 27.f3 Rxc3 28.Bxc3 gxf3 29.gxf3 f5 30.Nxf5 Nxf5 31.exf5 Bxf5 $14 {Any edge here is White's, but it looks drawish.} ) 26...Nxc8 27.Ne1 $6 Na7 28.Be2 Nc6 29.Be3 Bc7 $14 {I was unhappy to have to defend the pawn so passively, but it still looked like a drawn position to me, and the engine still agrees. With this move, I made my one draw offer of the game. John rightly saw plenty more play left in the position, and an opponent slipping behind on the clock, and turned it down flat.} 30.Bb5 Na7 31.Ba4 $6 b5 $1 32.Bd1 Nc8 $1 33.f3 h5 34.Nd3 b6 $6 {The pawn becomes the e3-bishop's new target.} ( {Black should allow Nc5:} 34...Nd6 $1 {clearing the c8-square} 35.Nc5 Bc8 $10 ) 35.Nf2 gxf3 36.Bxf3 Kg6 {Forced, and it felt as if I was only just clinging on to the game.} 37.h4 Nd6 38.Be2 Bc4 $5 {Oh, for a passed pawn to drive play!} 39.Bd1 {No such luck...yet.} 39...f5 $5 {I'm not going down without a fight.} 40.exf5+ Nxf5 $1 {Black has his passed pawn at last, and with a tempo hit.} 41.Bc2 $1 {Hang on, you mean it was a good move to walk into this pin?} 41...Be2 $2 {Wrong way.} ( {But the pin was no problem if I just played this elegant deflection:} 41...Bb3 42.Bb1 Ba2 43.Be4 Bd5 $10 ) 42.Bg5 $1 {Now I'm in trouble.} 42...Bc4 43.Ne4 $4 {John touched the knight to play this move, then put it back down and had another think. He might wish he had then played it to d1 instead, but in fact he went through with his original choice, despite the fact that it cuts the awkward pin I'm in.} 43...Nd4 $1 44.Bd1 $10 {It's a wonder I'm still in this game, especially with my clock running on fumes and the increment, but somehow I am.} ( 44.Bb1 $1 $18 ) 44...Nf5 $6 {An odd attempt at a repetition - but I sensed I should be glad of a draw after the game I'd had.} 45.g3 $6 {I was sure John needed to keep this square clear for the knight. I was right about that.} ( 45.Kf2 $1 Ng7 46.Ng3 $14 ) 45...Bd3 $1 46.Nf2 e4 $2 {Finally! My passed pawn starts rolling. Unfortunately, the engine is not mesmerised by it as my opponent was.} 47.Kg2 $2 ( 47.Bxh5+ $1 Kxh5 48.g4+ {Ouch. This assures White of a draw.} 48...Kg6 49.gxf5+ Kxf5 50.Nxd3 exd3 51.Kf2 Ke4 52.Ke1 Be5 $10 ) 47...Bxg3 $1 $17 {It has only taken me 47 moves to get the engine to swing in my favour. Beware the long-range bishop!} 48.Nh3 $2 Bxh4 49.Bd2 {John still has his tactical wits about him and eyes a fork on f4.} 49...Ng7 $2 {The trouble is I'm now under five minutes on the clock, so I need to start making moves within the 30 second increment to stay alive. I picked this as something solid that couldn't lose on the spot. It doesn't, and Black is still much better.} ( {It turns out John's fork doesn't work!} 49...e3 50.Nf4+ Kg5 51.Nxd3 exd2 52.Kf3 Be1 53.Ke2 Ng3+ 54.Kf3 h4 55.Nf4 Kf5 56.Bc2+ Kf6 $1 57.Bd1 Nf5 58.Nh3 Ke5 59.Ke2 Kd4 $19 ) 50.Nf4+ Kf5 51.Nxd3 $1 {A good decision under pressure - John keeps the bishop pair, which proves his salvation in the ending.} 51...exd3 52.Be3 Ke4 $2 ( {I assumed} 52...Bd8 53.Bd4 {won the h-pawn, but no:} 53...Ne6 $1 54.Be3 Ke4 55.Bc1 Bg5 $1 56.Bxg5 Nxg5 57.Bxh5 Ke3 58.Bd1 d2 59.Kf1 Ne4 60.Bc2 Nc3 $19 ) 53.Bxb6 {This is a surprisingly difficult position for Black to play. He has the extra pawn, and two passed pawns, but White still has that valuable bishop pair.} 53...Bf6 54.Kf2 h4 $2 ( {I need to get in the first check and smash the bishop pair:} 54...Bd4+ $1 55.Bxd4 Kxd4 $19 ) 55.Bf3+ $1 $10 {John is alert to the fact that the black king is an easy target, and already I've lost any advantage I had in this ending.} 55...Kf4 56.Be3+ Ke5 57.Bd2 $2 Kd4 $1 58.Bc6 Kc4 59.Kf3 Bb2 $6 ( {This doesn't work, but I'm not sure there's a win here anyway for Black, despite all the progress he's made:} 59...Ne6 60.Ke4 Ng5+ 61.Kf5 Be7 62.a4 bxa4 63.Bxa4 Nf3 64.Bf4 h3 $1 65.Bd1 Nh4+ 66.Kg4 Ng2 67.Bf3 Nxf4 68.Kxf4 Bd6+ 69.Ke3 {and now HIARCS reckons either taking on b4 or pushing the h-pawn leads to a drawn ending.} ) 60.Ke4 $1 {And the next move only proves my maxim that in an ending you need to know whether you ought to be playing for the win or the draw.} 60...Bxa3 $4 ( 60...Kb3 61.Bxb5 Bxa3 62.Kxd3 Bxb4 63.Bxb4 Kxb4 64.Bd7 $10 ) 61.Bd5# {A shock finish, but a well deserved win for John, who was rarely worse in this entertaining Saturday night thriller.} 1-0
