Speelman's Agony: An English, a London, a Morra

by Jonathan Speelman
1/5/2020 – "How could I refuse the author of my favourite endgame books, so I decided to submit four games", writes Justin Baptie. GM JON SPEELMAN provides his instructive comments on four club-level games. | Send in your own games! Jon welcomes submissions from readers. If your games are selected for the Agony column, not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!
Winning starts with what you know
The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.

Agony & Ecstasy #113

Today's games are by Justin Baptie, a businessman with whom I chatted at the closing dinner of this year's London Classic. A strong club player he kindly agreed  to provide some material for this column and sent me two pairs of games, one pair against a father and son the other two games against a clubmate from Baslidon Chess Club.

He writes:

headshot"How could I refuse the author of my favourite endgame books so I decided to submit four games.

To give you some background. I play only locally these days as with a young family taking off for the weekend for some congress or other might lead to a costly divorce and then I would miss my wife and 2 daughters! I have been playing for about 40 years (having turned 50 a couple of months ago). I had just managed to get over 200 ECF a couple of years ago (2200 JS) when I had a string of bad results and slumped back into the (high) 180s (180 is 2020 and 190 2120 JS) . I am hopeful to get back over 200 again soon. I don’t get to play any FIDE-rated events so that here my rating has sat at 2099 for a decade or so. My favourite chess event these days is the Pro Biz event at the London Chess Classic each year. This year I was fortunate enough to have partnered Levon [Aronian] again. But I still haven't managed to win the event…one day though!

The time limit for the four games selected was: All moves in 80 minutes with a 10 second increment. All played after a hard day at work (ok my colleagues worked hard and I turned up, at least!?)

The first two games were against (I believe) son and father (in that order). Pavel Sygulski (first game) is the younger and I suspect is Artur’s son. I thought I was worse in the ending but expected to hold. But Pavel kept asking questions, as they say, and induced me to err.

Artur Sygulski (the second game) is a Polish IM but to be fair he doesn’t play as much, otherwise I am sure he would have had no trouble in beating me. He actually resigned in a drawn position as we had both missed the saving move. The computer of course finds it quickly. But the game was interesting.

Games 3 and 4 were both against Radu Bara who is a member of Basildon Chess Club (where I am also a member). He has an ECF grade around 180.”

Justin included quite a lot of notes and I'd added my own comments as JS.

 
New ...
Open...
Share...
Layout...
Flip Board
Settings
MoveNResultEloPlayers
Replay and check the LiveBook here
1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nf3 d6 6.0-0 e5 7.d3 Nge7 8.Ne1 0-0 9.Nc2 Be6 10.Ne3 Qd7 11.Ned5 Bh3 12.Ne4 Nxd5 13.cxd5
13...Bxg2!? 13...Ne7 14.Bxh3 Qxh3 15.Qb3 15.Nxd6 worried me at the board but black is fine after Qd7! 15...Nxd5 16.Nxb7 was what I was worrying about but actually even here black gets compensation per Komodo 12 Rab8 17.Nxc5 Rfc8 18.Ne4 Qd7 it might not quite be full compensation but for 2 pawns there is quite a lot. 16.Ne4 Qxd5= 15...Qd7= 14.dxc6 JS Obviously, White would just play Kxg2 as well. 14.Kxg2 14...Qxc6 15.Kxg2 f5 16.f3 fxe4 17.dxe4 Rad8 18.Be3?! d5 19.exd5 Rxd5 20.Qc2 b6 21.b4 21.Qe4 JS is my first instinct since the queen sits very well on e4 and stops e4 by Black though it can't be much for White, if anything. 21...e4 21...c4 was better per the machine and certainly was one of the lines looked at. 22.fxe4 Bxa1 23.Qc4 23.Rxa1?? Re5-+ 23.Rxf8+? Kxf8= 23...Rxf1 24.Kxf1 Qe6 25.Qxd5 Qxd5 26.exd5 cxb4
I thought I'd have good chances to hold this position but the machine simply gives it as winning for white! JS I find this endgame very hard to grasp so am quite unsurprised that during the game Julian underestimated his problems. I think the main question is whether Black can mobilise his queenside somehow before White gets his king in, and with the bishop on e3 paralysing the a and b pawns, he can't. 27.Ke1 Kf7 28.Bg5? JS s allows the black queenside pawns to advance after which he should be okay. 28.Kd2 Ke7 28...Kf6 JS looked more critcial to me but also doesn't work, 29.Kd3 Ke5 30.Kc4 Ke4 31.Bf4 Bf6 32.Bc7 b5+ 32...a5 33.Bxb6 a4 34.Kxb4 Kxd5 35.Kxa4 33.Kc5 29.Kd3 Kd6 30.Kc4+- 28...a5 29.Kd1 a4 30.Kc2 Bf6 31.Bf4 31.Bxf6? was my desperate hope with a simple draw 31...Bd4 32.e4 Ke7 33.g4 Kd7 34.h3
34...h5?! JS This is dubious because it gives the white king a possible entry square on f5.and if the bishop can control the queneside pawns creates a target on h5. It seems that Black will have to play h4 himself which is horribly antipositional but does defend against Kxh5. 35.gxh5 gxh5 36.e5 b5 37.e6+ Ke7 38.Bg3 38.Bd2 Bc5 38...b3+? 39.axb3 a3 40.Bb4+ 39.Bg5+ Kd6 40.Bf6 Bf2 What happens now is that White advances his king to attack the h pawn and Black tries to create counterplay wwith his a pawn. A sample line goes 40...b3+ 41.axb3 a3 42.Kc3 b4+ 43.Kc4 41.Kd3 Bc5 42.Ke4 b3 42...Bf2 43.Be5+ Ke7 44.Kf5 Bc5 43.axb3 a3 44.h4! fixing the pawn on h5. White's centre pawns are so strong that (unobviously to me) Black can't get away with Bxh4 44.Be5+ Ke7 45.Kf5 a2 45...h4! apparently draws. 46.Bf6+ Kd6 47.Bxh4 47.Ke4 a2 48.Be5+ Ke7 49.Kd3 Bd6 50.Bd4 Ba3 51.Kc2 Kd6 47...a2 48.Bf6 Kxd5 49.Ba1 Be7= 46.Kg5 b4 47.Kxh5 Bf2 48.Kg6 Be1 49.Bf6+ Kf8 49...Ke8 50.d6 49...Kd6 50.e7 50.d6 Bc3 51.Be7+ Ke8 52.Bg5 44...a2 45.Be5+ Ke7 46.Kf5 Bb4 47.Kg6 Bd2 47...Bd6 48.Bf6+ Ke8 49.Kxh5 Be7 50.Be5 Bd6 51.Ba1 Be7 52.Kg4 48.Bf6+ 38...Bc5 38...b3+ 39.axb3 a3 and I think black will hold 40.Kb1 b4 41.Be1 Bc5 42.Bh4+ Kd6 43.Bf6 Be3 44.Be5+ Ke7 45.Ka2 Bc5 etc 39.Be5 Bd6 40.Bd4 Ke8 41.Kd3 Ke7 42.Ke4 b3 played with on 1 second left. We were playing with a 10 second increment and I now lose the plot and panic in the time trouble. 43.axb3
43...axb3?? just making it easy. JS This ending is really hard but, yes, from a practical point of view this loses fairly obviously so, yes, Justin should have tried a3, even if he thought it lost. 43...a3 and black may well be able to hold the draw although he will have to be accurate. JS Analysing with an engine it looks to me that White is winning but in practice it could go either way. 44.Kd3 44.Kf5 a2 45.Bf6+ Ke8 46.h4 Be7 47.Bc3 Bxh4 47...b4 48.Bg7 Bxh4 49.d6 Bd8 50.Kf4 h4 51.Kg4 Be7 52.dxe7 Kxe7 53.Kxh4 Kxe6 54.Kg4 48.d6 44...Bb4 45.Kc2 Kd6 46.Bf6 Be1 47.Be5+ Ke7 48.Bd4 48.Kb1 b4 49.Bd4 Bg3 50.Ka2 Bc7 51.Bc5+ Bd6 52.Bf2 Be5 53.Bh4+ Ke8 54.Bg5 Bd6 and I don't see how white can make progress, albeit black will always have to be careful. 48...b4 49.Bc5+ Kf6 50.Bf8 Bc3 51.Kb1 Be1 44.Bb2 Bb4 45.Kd3 Kd6 46.Bf6 Be1 47.Ke4 Bb4 48.Be5+ Ke7 49.Kd3 Ke8 50.d6 Ba3 51.d7+ Kd8 52.Bf6+ JS A very interesting battle , especially in the endgame. While I can of course investigate this endgame with an engine to get a reasonable account of "the truth" at the board it would have been very difficult for anybody to play well. The most clearly key moments were 28.Bg5? allowing Black to advance the queenside pawns, 34...h5?! or perhaps creating the entry point on f5 and the weak h pawn and at the end axb3? making it easy for White. 1–0
  • Start an analysis engine:
  • Try maximizing the board:
  • Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
  • Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
  • Drag the split bars between window panes.
  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
  • Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
  • Create an account to access the games cloud.
WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Sygulski,P2140Baptie,J-1–02019A37Basildon I v Wanstead I - EL
Sygulski,A2378Baptie,J-0–12019A48Wanstead v Rest of League - EL
Baptie,J-Bara,R-0–12018A01S&DCL Senior Individual Final
Baptie,J-Bara,R-1–02019B21BCC 2019-20 Group Stage

Click or tap any game in the list to switch

The aim of these Dvd's is to build a repertoire after 1.c4 and 2.g3 for White. The first DVD includes the systems 1...e5, the Dutch and Indian setups. The second DVD includes the systems with 1...c5, 1...c6 and 1...e6.

Submit your games and win free Premium!

Did you enjoy the column and instructive analysis by GM Jonathan Speelman? Do you wish you could have a world-renowned grandmaster analysing your play? You can!

To submit your games just upload a PGN or ChessBase file (.pgn or .cbv archive), along with your name and e-mail address. Send one success story (Ecstasy) and one loss (Agony).

Tell why you chose them, where or when they were played. Please do include your email address, so Jon can reply, and preferably a photo of yourself for our article.

If your game is selected Jon will contact you personally, and not only will you get free detailed commentary of your games by one of chess’s great authors and instructors, and former world no. 4 player, but you also win a free three-month ChessBase Premium Account!

A three-month Premium subscription to ChessBase Account means you get:

  • Premium access to the Playchess server with ratings, simuls, lectures, and live commentary of top games
  • Access to all Web apps with no restrictions, such as the Cloud database, and more!
  • Full access to the Video archive, which not only includes all the past lectures by Daniel King, Simon Williams and others, but also many full ChessBase products you would normally need to buy in the ChessBase Shop but that you can view for free as a Premium subscriber.

See also:

Jonathan Speelman, born in 1956, studied mathematics but became a professional chess player in 1977. He was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980–2006 and three times British Champion. He played twice in Candidates Tournaments, reaching the semi-final in 1989. He twice seconded a World Championship challenger: Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register

We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.