Having drawn for the third game in four on Wednesday (the other being my only defeat to date) I could really do with a win. First opportunity... the very next day at Barnsley.
1.d4
c6
2.c4
d5
3.cxd5
cxd5
4.Nc3
Nf6
5.Bf4
Nc6
Avoiding the loss of a pawn (5. ... e6 6. Bxb8 Rxb8 7. Qa4+ Bd7 8. Qxa7)
6.Nf3
e6
This blocks in my white-squared bishop. However, as the game develops, this doesn't prove to be a big problem and the bishop is actually well placed on c8 to protect the pawn on e6.
7.e3
a6
Cutting down on the squares for Neil's white-squared bishop.
8.Bd3
h6
Three pawn moves in a row, and 6 in the first 8 moves I have made. But having played e6, I don't want to have my knight pinned to my queen.
9.a3
Be7
I was still hoping that Neil might commit to castling at this point - so Be7 was something of a stalling move, giving me the option of castling next move if I want. Also, I was struggling a little for useful moves at the moment.
10.Qc2
One drawback of playing h6 in this position are the inherent weaknesses on g6 and f7. Neil now has some indirect pressure on g6 after this move.
10...g5
I felt my position was a bit constricted here - and so decided it was time to break out of my position a little bit. Of course, this rules out castling kingside now, and it's not exactly going to be easy (or advisable) to castle queenside...!
11.Bg3
Nh5
I want to remove Neil's black-squared bishop (as my entire position is full of black-squared holes) but I don't want to give up my own bishop to do so. This forces a bishop/knight exchange which I think is in my favour.
12.Be5
Nxe5
13.Nxe5
Only trouble is, Neil now has a very strong knight on e5. Kicking it away with 13. ... f6 looks natural. However... 13. ... f6 14. Bg6+ Kf8 15. Bxh5 xe5 and now I think I'm in a spot of bother positionally, if not materially.
13...f5
I need to cut out Neil's access to g6. I was now expecting 14. Ng6 Rg8 15. Nxe7 Kxe7. However, I guess Neil liked his knight on e5.
14.g4
Ng7
The natural response - covering f5. I now have a fianchettoed knight :-)
15.Rc1
I was conscious here of an invasion later in the game on c7, which made my king slightly nervous. And I felt like there was a similar weakness in Neil's position on f2. So the answer to both these niggling concerns in my head seemed fairly logical.
15...0-0
16.Qb3
I'm not sure about this move and the reasoning behind it. There's a veiled threat against my king, but I have two pawns in the way and they are both well protected. Also, b5, b6 and b7 are covered so there's no obvious invasion point for the queen.
16...Bd6
Time to shift that knight I think, after which I can start to generate my own threats against Neil's position. Also, the holes in Neil's position are now on white squares, so my black squared bishop is potentially not as valuable, whilst that knight on e5 restricts my pieces. And... there's no easy way for Neil to double up his defence of the knight, so he is going to be left with doubled pawns, with the pawn on e5 very vulnerable to attack.
17.Rg1
Bxe5
18.dxe5
fxg4
Here I had considered 18. ... d4 as an alternative, where my Queen hopefully springs into action and after 19. Ne2 xe3 20. xe3 I've got pressure down both open files, either side of Neil's king. But Rd1 kicks my queen off the d-file and my queenside pieces remain quite inactive.
19.Rxg4
h5
20.Rg2
g4
21.Ne2
b5
I'm now looking to bring my bishop into the game - stick it on b7 and I've got a discovered attack against the rook on g2, although after Neil's next move, this is no longer on the cards.
22.Nf4
Bb7
23.h3
Now my discovered attack isn't as good as it looks. 23. ... d4 24. Nxe6 Nxe6 25. Qxe6+ and Neil has a move to sort out the threat on his rook.
23...Qg5
24.hxg4
hxg4
25.Rh2
Qxe5
I've picked up the extra pawn, I've got all the invasion squares covered, and I think I can cope with the check on h7. After the game, Ken pointed out that Neil's strongest move here is probably 26. Rh8+ Kf7 [26. ... Kxh8? 27. Ng6+ wins the queen] 27. Ng6 and after the queen moves I will end up a pawn and a piece for a rook, making a somewhat unbalanced position and possible chances for both sides.
26.Rh6
This is a blunder - as my next move demonstrates.
26...Rxf4
27.Bh7+
Kf8
The benefit of my previous move becomes twofold... as it covers the b4 square and prevents Neil checking with his queen, which might give him a chance to invade at a later point.
28.Qd3
Qxb2
29.exf4
I was expecting 29. Rc2 here when I have to retreat my queen back to e5 to stop my rook coming off.
29...Qxc1+
30.Ke2
Qxf4
Time control reached... I've got 17mins left. Neil has 1. The position is effectively lost for him now - I am 3 pawns and a piece up, I'm threatening the rook on h6 and when it moves I can play 31. ... Qc4 and force the queens off. However, as is traditional after the time control, Neil's next move is a blunder.
31.Bg6
Qxh6
And Neil understandably resigned. That was the most interesting and fun game that I've had so far for Nomads. A nice open game, lots of tactics, chances for both sides, and ultimately a winning attack. Andy was less than impressed with the manouevres g5, f5 followed by 0-0 but for me, it just seemed the logical thing to do at the time! I hadn't really enjoyed the game the night before, playing too quickly and scraping a draw. Afterwards, speaking to Phil Pickering, we both expressed the view that we were 'chessed out' after playing Doncaster and then a league game quickly afterwards. However, I'd been looking forward to playing all day today so I made a conscious effort before heading off to the venue tonight to really try and enjoy the game and that really seemed to make a difference to my state of mind. I stayed in my seat more than usual, I used a lot more time than usual, and the positions reached set some interesting challenges so I thought more than usual as well. 0-1