Tyson,
Thanks for providing the alternative better line at move 18. I agree
with you, that the position has reached equality there. But due to the
text move and black's subsequent 18....dxc3!, is the game at best a
draw for white at this point? The text move, 19.Qc4 or alternatively
19.Nxc3 seems to spend at least a tempo diverting resources to the
queenside while black never has to back off the pressure on the c-file
by adding a strong Rc8 in somewhere in subsequent moves. It would seem
that white must employ the most careful calculation so as to drain his
opponent and himself of all attacking pieces in hopes of gaining a
favorable endgame stagnation on the kingside.
Looking for any further comment you' ll make.
David
On 5/16/22, mordue andrew <dmarc-noreply@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello all,
My contribution to Steve Thacker games:
[Event "BCA AGM TOURNAMENT "]
[Site "LLANDUDNO"]
[Date "1993.03.12"]
[Round "1"]
[White "MORDUE, AT."]
[Black "THACKER, S."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[Annotator "Mordue,Tyson"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. Bd3 a6 5. c3 c5 6. e5 Nfd7 7. Ne2 Nc6 8. Nf3
b5 9. O-O Bb7 10. Ng3 Qb6 11. dxc5 Bxc5 12. Qe2 Qc7 13. Re1 h6 14. b4 Bb6
15. a4 d4 16. axb5 axb5 17. Rxa8+ Bxa8 18. Bxb5 ?!
(Better is 18. cxd4 Nxd4 19. Nxd4 Bxd4 20.Bxb5 with equality)
18... dxc3! 19. Qc4 O-O 20. Bxh6?!
(Trying to complicate but Steve refused to oblige. Better is the simple 20
Qxc3)
20...Ncxe5 21. Nxe5 Nxe5 22. Qf4 Ng6!
(Once again correctly turning down the Bishop.)23. Qxc7 Bxc7 24. Be3 Bd6 25.
Ne2 1/2-1/2.
Black is much better in the final position.
Regards,
Tyson
On 16 May 2022 at 08:57 Paul Benson <paul.benson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Hello all,
I went looking online for some games of Steve Thacker and found 3 events.
Tournoi Skype 21A, 22A, and 24A offer a total of 18 games.
One game just, "Jumped Off The Page", and the decision to add some
annotations and post was immediate.
Hopefully the game below will offer a flavour of how Steve competed, not
just on but also off the chess board.
Paul Benson.
* * *
White: S. Thacker, TS 1600.
Black: J. Sauvaget, TS 1662.
Event: Tournoi Skype 21A, Round 6, July 2017.
Opening: English Opening, A25.
| The Tournoi Skype time-control is all moves in 105 minutes.
That 1600 TS rating is an estimate, given to all newcomer to Tournoi Skype
Group A, those entering Group B are given an estimated 1000 TS rating.
You might have noted the result is not given in the game header, this is
deliberate.
This time the reader must assess the position on merit as the moves
unfold.
||
1. c4 e5
2. g3 Nc6
3. Bg2 d6
4. Nc3 Bd7
5. d3 Nf6
6. e3 a6
7. Nge2 Rb8
8. b3 Be7
9. Bb2 O-O
10. Qd2 Qc8
11. O-O Bh3
| So far the choices by both players of pawn structure combined with piece
development has been both quiet and fairly sensible.
No advisory rules on handling the opening have been transgressed, but on
the other hand, not much to inspire the paying public to cheer.
However this, "Unspoken Mutual Pact Of Non-Interaction", cannot go on
forever.
It is black who blinks first and judges it is time for some tension to
enter the position.
White inn reply also feels the fight should begin.
||
12. f4 Bxg2
13. Kxg2 exf4
14. Nxf4
| "Imbalance Is The Mother Of Midddlegame Invention."
A couple of semi-open files have been created for potential exploitation
by both players.
Also worth considering was the plan, 14. gxf3 with the idea of, Ng3,
followed by, Kh1, then doubling rooks on the g-file.
||
14. ... Ne5
15. Ncd5 Re8
16. e4 Bd8
17. Rae1 c6
18. Nxf6+ Bxf6
19. Nh5 Be7
| Whether the chosen moves so far by both sides are the best is not the
purpose of annotating this game.
It is sufficient to say, white has found a plan which removes an important
defender of the black king, namely the f6 knight.
Furthermore there are opportunities for white to increase the pressure
where the fight is going to occur, the kingside.
Of course, black can shuffle in the defensive ranks waiting for white to
commit units to an attack.
Each player is about to pose questions to the other, someone somewhere is
about to be out-complicated, but who?
||
20. Qf4
| Setting a trap.
Fine if it fits in with a good plan, but here it is just a 1-mover with no
sensible follow up to increase the pressure on black.
Instead re-locating the somewhat misplaced h5 knight with 20. Nf4, was
preferable.
||
20. ... Qe6
| Avoiding the disastrous, 20. ... Nxd3, apparently winning an exchange,
but there would then come, 21. Qxf7+ Kh8 22. Qxg7+ mate.
||
21. Re3
| Protecting the d3 pawn but aligning the heavy white pieces on a dark
square diagonal.
Instead, 21. Rd1 was to be preferred.
||
21. ... Qg6
| Highlighting the precarious position of the white h5 knight.
White decides to resort to tactics, but be aware that testing, "Tactical
Event Horizons", is a 2-way street.
||
22. Bxe5 dxe5
23. Qxe5
| A doubler.
Firstly, white has snatched a centre pawn, always worth having providing
there are no detrimental consequences.
Secondly, the h5 knight is now defended.
Both of the above reasons to start the tactic are valid, but they do not
take into account another important feature in the position.
||
23. ... Bg5
| A tripler.
Firstly, an unleashing x-ray attack from the black e8 rook hits the white
e5 queen.
Secondly, the black g5 bishop attacks the white e3 rook.
Thirdly, the lateral defence of the white e5 queen to the h5 knight is
broken.
White is in trouble, material must be conceded, the only question is which
unhappy variation to select.
||
24. Qxb8
| The alternative line was equally unpalatable, assuming black would have
found it.
Instead, 24. Nf4 Rxe5 25. Nxg6 hxg6, black emerges a piece up for a pawn,
comfortably winning.
||
24. ... Rxb8
25. Nf4 Bxf4
26. Rxf4 Re8
27. Ref3 Re6
28. Rf5 Rf6
29. d4 Rxf5
30. Rxf5 f6
| Time to take stock.
Grand Master versus Grand Master, this is a clear win for black, just
careful technique required.
But does a club player possess that careful technique?
If not, perhaps white has an outside chance of salvaging something from
the game.
Maybe so, but this places the onus on white to find the best chances to
confuse black into missing out.
The initial consideration in earning a win for black is to centralise the
king, meaning the plan of, Kf8 - Ke7 - Kd6, makes the task simpler,
re-locating the queen for aggressive action can wait.
||
31. Kf3 Qe8
32. d5 cxd5
33. cxd5
| White makes some progress.
The passed d-pawn must now be blocked by a member of the black royal
family.
This task should be taken up by the king in order for the queen to get in
amongst the white pawns.
||
33. ... Qd7
34. Ke3 Qd6
35. Kd3 g6
36. Rf2 Kg7
37. Rd2 b5
| This pawn would do a much better job on the b7 square, now the white
rook can invade on the c6 square.
And again, centralising the black king to blockade the white passed
d--pawn is absolutely necessary, after which the black queen would have
freedom to invade the white position.
||
38. Rc2 Qd7
39. b4 f5
40. Rc5 fxe4+
41. Kxe4 Qf5+
| Opening up the position should favour the black queen, but only if the
black king was in position to blockade the white passed d-pawn.
||
42. Kd4 Qf6+
| Trying to snatch a couple of pawns with, 42. ... Qf2+, would permit the
white pawn to advance to d6, to be followed by Rd5, supporting the pawn
from the rear, and black will be grovelling for a draw.
||
43. Ke4 Qe7+
| It seems black is still playing for the win, fine fighting spirit, but
without the black king assisting the defence this is virtually impossible.
Instead, 43. ... Qf5+, would question the white intentions.
If in reply, 44. Kd4, appears, there could be the mutual relief of 3-fold
repetition in the air.
||
44. Kd4 Kh6
45. a3 Qd7
46. d6
| Puzzlement reigns.
The scoresheet is accurate, white definitely advances the d-pawn.
After trying to maximise from a technically lost position white is surely
throwing away all chances of grabbing something from the game, right?
||
46. ... Qg4+
| Further puzzlement.
Perhaps time is running short on both clocks?
Or perhaps the phenomenon of, "Trusting The Opponent", is drifting across
the board?
Either way, simply, 46. ... Qxd6+, and black is winning.
||
47. Kd5 Qf5+
48. Kc6 Qe6
| Fritz and friends could offer a strong opinion on who is better here.
Unfortunately this aging, "Bio-Organic Thinking Unit", cannot crunch out
lines like it used to in the past.
But suffice it to say white has improved his position massively since the
material imbalance arose.
With 3 active white units closely working in a concerted fashion it is
black who has many problems to solve.
Instead, 48. ... Qc8 + 49. Kb6 Qd8+, sets white a tricky problem.
If white feels playing for a win is on, then, 50. Kxa6 Qxd6+ 51. Kxb5, can
black find a perpetual check or will the pawns be shuffled through?
Or after 48. ... Qc8+ 49. Kb6 Qd8+ 50. Kc6 Qc8+ is suggesting a 3-fold
repetition is on offer.
Similarly, 48. ... Qc8+ 49. Kd5 Qf5+ 50. Kc6 Qc8+ 51. Kd5, another means
to find 3-fold repetition.
||
49. Kc7 Kg7
| Leaving the black king stranded on h6 was wiser, meaning a queen-shuffle
move was needed such as, 49. ... Qf7+, when, 50. d7 Qe7, transposes to
game but with the black king out of the firing line.
||
50. d7 Qe7
51. Rc6
| A nice touch.
This apparently time-wasting rook move is denying both the black king or
queen access to the e6 square.
||
51. ... Kf7
| Black continues to follow the wrong plan, hiding again with, 51. ...
Kh6, was necessary.
||
52. Kc8 Qe4
| Hitting the undefended white c6 rook.
If only clock times were available, this information would surely explain
the next few moves.
||
53. Kc7 Qe7
54. Kc8 Qe4
| With each player having previously side-stepped any thoughts of 3-fold
repetition, it seems both players might be agreeing this is now the best
for both sides, right?
White to play apparently now, "Forgets", his c6 rook is hanging.
||
55. d8=Q Qxc6+
| So it reduces to queen and 4 pawns each, handshake imminent, Right?
||
56. Qc7+
| Had the black king been skulking on the h6 square then this would not be
check and so black could keep queens on the board.
Of course, white needed to calculate the subsequent king and pawn ending
when letting the c6 rook drop off.
||
56. ... Qxc7+
57. Kxc7 h5
| The white plan is now easy to find, wipe out the black queenside pawns
and push a pawn to promotion.
If the black king runs queenside the white king heads kingside to wipe out
the remaining black pawns.
However a similar plan for black to achieve promotion requires the king to
invade the white kingside from a much more distant starting point.
Instead, 57. ... Ke6 58. Kb6 Kd6 59. Kxa6 Kc6 60. h3, white is playing for
zugzwang, black will soon lose the b5 pawn once the kingside becomes
blocked, a simple white win.
||
58. Kb6 Kf6
59. Kxa6 Kf5
60. Kxb5 h4
| Nice try, probably hoping white will spend important clock-time on
worrying about the kingside.
White is not going to be fooled so easily, queenside promotion is the
priority.
||
61. Kc6 hxg3
62. hxg3 Kg4
63. b5 Kxg3
64. b6 g5
65. b7 g4
66. b8=Q+ Kh3
| White now has so many ways to win, if the worst comes to the worst, just
give up the queen for the black g-pawn and promote the passed-a-pawn.
||
67. Qb1 Kh2
68. Qc2+ Kh3
69. Qf2 g3
70. Qg1 g2
71. Kd5 Kg3
72. Ke4
Black resigns, 1-0.
| Question: How many of you spectating this game in real-time would have
phoned up your local Bookmaker to bet on white to win when the material
deficit was established?
Answer: Probably none?
So how did white manage to win a lost game?
Wrong question.
It was: "Black To Play And Win", with, "Good Technique", assumed."
White simply struggled on, trying to make matters as awkward as possible
while waiting for black to take control.
You can only respond to the moves the opponent plays.
Here black failed to make good use of the king, white on the other hand,
sent him on a board-wide journey, therein the difference.
Resignation never won anything except a smile from the opponent.
||
* * *
