It's a Thursday (but 5-a-side was cancelled anyway) and I'm making my debut in the cup, for Nomads I. As ever, satnav led me astray, and I turned up 10 minutes late - same time as two of my team-mates and just in time to ease Andy's nerves as he prowled up and down outside the club where we were playing.
1.e4
d5
2.exd5
Nf6
3.c4
c6
4.dxc6
The Scandinavian Gambit, or so Kieran told me afterwards.
4...Nxc6
5.Nf3
Up to now, it has been the same game as my match against Bill Ward. However, the next move is new.
5...Bg4
6.h3
Bh5
7.Be2
As I recall, at this point I left the room for a bathroom break after Barry spent some time thinking. I came back a few minutes later - he was still thinking, and his clock had stopped. Lesson #1. Always check the clock is wound up.
7...Qa5
8.Nc3
e5
There are a lot of threats here. I'm already struggling with my d-pawn, blocking in my queen and bishop and generally getting in the way.
9.0-0
0-0-0
10.Ng5
Perhaps Nh4 is better here - forcing the bishop off one way or the other. I've got a gaping hole in c2 and removing the white-squared bishop would help me cope with this a bit better than I did, I think.
10...Bg6
11.Nf3
Nb4
12.Nh4
Bc2
Running out of safe squares for my queen here...
13.Bg4+
Trying to get some room to breathe
13...Kb8
14.Qf3
Bd3
Winning the exchange - and still hemming in my black-squared bishop. I can't even play 15. a3 because capturing the knight on b4 leaves my rook en prise. So I have to accept my rook is lost and try to come up with some sort of positive move.
15.b3
Bxf1
16.Kxf1
Nc2
After the game, Barry mentioned that he was considering 16. ... Nd3 here - hemming in my bishop totally. One other alternative, 16. ... h5, appears to win a piece. 17. Bf5 g5 and my knight on h4 has nowhere to go. However, 18. Bb1, at least on the face of it, appears to retrieve the position as I'm now threatening the knight on f6 - whilst also freeing up f5 for my own knight.
17.Rb1
Nd4
18.Qg3
Bd6
19.Nb5
Nxb5
20.cxb5
Qxb5+
21.Be2
Qd7
22.d3
At last, my bishop gets to take a breath.
22...Rhg8
Personally I think this was a wasted move - I hadn't seriously considered capturing on g7 as there seemed to be a lot that could go wrong with my queen trapped up there in the corner.
23.Qe3
Nd5
24.Qd2
Bb4
25.Qb2
Now, if I can just sac my b-pawn, get rid of that black bishop, and move Barry's queen off the seventh, I've got a mate on b7 :-)
25...Rc8
26.Bg4
On the face of it, winning back the exchange. However, this is a complicated position and there are threats everywhere. By now, Barry was down to his last 5 minutes, so I started to make things as complicated as I could, whilst moving as quickly as possible, to make him do all the thinking in his time. It nearly worked too!
26...Qb5
27.Qxe5+
Ka8
28.Bxc8
Not the best move, given the circumstances....
28...Qxd3+
After the game, we were looking at this in a bit more detail and Richard Desmedt pointed out that 28. ... Re8!! wins. It looks wrong, somehow, on the board, but the rook is covered by the queen on b5, and if I shift my queen off the e-file, it's mate on e1. Hindsight is a wonderful thing though... particularly when you don't have to worry about an imminent flag fall.... [28...Re8
]
29.Kg1
Rxc8
29. ... Qxb1 might let me escape with a draw here. After 30. Bxb7+ Kxb7 31. Qxd5+ there are going to be a lot of White checks. Not sure if it leads to anything substantial, but there has to be a risk that I'll manage to fork the other black rook and even the position up somewhat. [29...Qxb1
30.Bxb7+
Kxb7
31.Qxd5+
]
30.Qf5
The only move I could see that covers all my pieces whilst giving a threat of my own. 30. Qb2? was the other alternative, at which point 30. ... Bc3 wins my rook.
30...Qxf5
Time control reached with about 30 seconds or so to spare... at which point the clocks were set back and I ended up with less time left than Barry. Lesson #2: Make sure when the clocks are reset, you put them back on the same side of the board.
31.Nxf5
At this point I offered a draw, and Barry gracefully accepted. The gathered crowd then showed us the next few moves, which appear (with best play) to win black a piece: 31. ... Nc3 32. Rb2 Ba3 33. Rc2 Bxc1 34. Nd6 [34. Rxc1? Ne2+] Rc7 35. Nc4 b5 36. Rxc3 Bh6 and my knight is coming off next move. A lucky escape I feel - but it had been a tough game mentally for both of us, with some complex tactics to look at, so I think as much as anything we were relieved to call it a day. The result of the match was already decided as well, so it had no bearing on that. Now I must speak to Paul and find out if there's a book available on how to beat the Scandinavian.... 1/2-1/2