One that got away

by Jonathan Speelman
12/16/2018 – In this week's Agony/Ecstasy column, GM JON SPEELMAN analyses a pair of online games from American tournament veteran Ted Jewell, one an English Opening and the other a King's Indian Defence. Feel free to send in your own games! Jon can always use more material 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!
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Speelman's Agony #89

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This week's pair of games are from Ted Jewell, an American who wrote:

My reason for choosing these games is that they fit into the categories of one that got away and one that didn't. These were played online (hence my username Woofledust).

Everyone has had a game that went very well until a moment when a single move turned a big advantage into a certain defeat with no chance for coming back.  Those for me are especially painful, and I am only too familiar with the feeling (having started playing in tournaments in 1968). On the other hand, everyone has had a game where an attack was built, there were decisions to be made, and the victory eventually arrived.

The first game (Caesar v. Woofledust) is one that got away. During the game I was pleased to find 30... Qb1. When my opponent played 32.Qe6+, I had three legal moves to consider. Two of them maintain a large edge, and the other can draw (but requires accurate play). I failed to appreciate the danger and played the worst of the three and then saw my position disintegrate. In the old days one could wonder whether there might have been something else possible, but engines eliminate that mystery (and any delusional ignorance) and demonstrate what should have been done and what was there to be had. Oh well.

The second game (Chess999 v. Woofledust) is not the tidiest game (as I discovered post-mortem with engines), but it was a satisfying win that made me feel that I can at least consider myself somewhat skilled at this game. In going over the game with my engines (Stockfish 8 and Houdini 3), I was intrigued by how differently they approached the positions. Often the engines will basically have the same few candidate moves and prefer one or another by some slight amount, but in this case they took radically disparate strategies. In the early part I tended to be aligned with Stockfish, but toward the end, I shifted over to Houdini's moves.

Ted sent the games as bare scores and so the notes are all mine. As he did, I used Houdini to bounce off (but, as ever, asked it questions rather than blindly followed it). 

 
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1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.e4 d6 6.Nge2 c5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d3 Bg4 8...a6 9.h3 Rb8 10.a4 Ne8 9.f3 In this line, White creates a weakness on d4 in return for a grip on the centre and chances of either a later kingside attack after f4-f5 or queenside play starting Rb1, a3 and b4. f3 prevents Bxe2 which would acentuate Black's control of d4. 9.h3 Bxe2 10.Nxe2 Ne8 9...Bd7
10.Be3 e5 Radically preventing d3-d4 and fighting for the dark squares. But Black could also start with 10...a6 when d4 at once is too early: 11.d4 11.Qd2 Rb8 12.a4 Ne8 is fairly nornal. 11...cxd4 12.Nxd4 Ne5 13.b3 b5 14.cxb5 Qa5 11.a3 Rc8 11...a6 12.Rb1 Rb8 13.b4 cxb4 14.axb4 b5 would also be fairly normal. 12.Rb1 Nd4 13.b4 b6 14.b5 14.h3 Ne8 14...Nh5? 15.g4 Nf4 16.Nxf4 exf4 17.Bxf4 Ne6 18.Bd2 g5 was played in a game in 2009. Black doesn't have enough for the pawn. 1-0 (59) Stankovic,I (2094)-Paulic,B (2201) Belgrade SRB 2009 15.f4 Nc7 16.Qd2 16.b5 16...b5 14...Ne8 15.a4 f5 16.Nd5 Nf6
17.Nec3 17.Bg5 is possible. White would like to exchange on d4 play Bxf6 and then get in f4 to activate the bishop. Obviously Black can try to frustrate this. Nxe2+ 17...Qe8 18.Bxf6 18.Nxd4 18...Bxf6 18...Nxe2+ 19.Qxe2 Bxf6 20.exf5 Bxf5 21.Nxf6+ 21.a5 21...Rxf6 19.Nxd4 cxd4 20.f4 is the idea intending to play a5 and work with the long diagonal and the a-file. 18.Qxe2 f4 19.gxf4 exf4 20.Nxf4 h6 21.Bxf6 Qxf6 22.Nd5 Qd4+ 23.Kh1 17...fxe4 18.dxe4 Perhaps more ambitious than fxe4 and so requiring some accuracy afterwards. 18.fxe4 Ng4 19.Bd2 Bh6 19...Be6 20.Rxf8+ Qxf8 21.Qf1 20.Rxf8+ Qxf8 21.Bxh6 Nxh6 22.Qf1 18...Nxd5 19.Nxd5 Be6 20.Ra1?! Bxd5 21.exd5
21.cxd5 c4 22.Bh3 Rc5 23.Rc1 c3 24.Qd3 Nxf3+ 24...Qc7 25.f4 is very unclear. 25.Kg2 Nd4 26.Rxc3 21...e4! 22.Ra2 22.fxe4 Rxf1+ 23.Bxf1 Nc2 and White's least bad option is 24.Qxc2 Bxa1 25.Bh3 with a scintilla of play for the exchange but surely not enough. 22...exf3 23.Bxf3 Qe7 24.Bf4? 24.Bxd4 looks unpleasant but would still have kept matters within bounds. cxd4 24...Bxd4+ 25.Kg2 doesn't mean too much 25.Bg4 Rxc4 26.Rxf8+ Qxf8 27.Be6+ Kh8 28.Rf2 Qd8 29.Kg2 and Black must be better but perhaps only a little since all of White's pieces are active and his king now looks at least safer than Black's. 24...g5 24...Nxf3+ was also winning. 25.Qxf3 25.Rxf3 g5 26.Bd2 Qe4 25...g5 26.Re2 Qd7 25.Bc1 Nxf3+ 26.Rxf3 Rxf3 27.Qxf3 Qe1+ 28.Qf1 Bd4+ 29.Kg2 Qe4+ 30.Qf3 Qb1 31.Qe2! the only way to fight on but insufficient. Rf8 32.Qe6+
32...Kg7? As Ted said in the introduction, he had three moves and chose the worst. 32...Kh8! was easy 33.Qe2 33.Qxd6 Qxa2+ or indeed 33...Qe4+ 34.Kh3 Qf5+ 34...g4+? 35.Kh4 Bf6+ 36.Bg5 Bxg5+ 37.Kxg5 Rf5+ 38.Kh4 Qe8 39.Qh6 is only a draw 35.g4 Qf1+ 36.Rg2 Rf3+ 37.Qg3 Rxg3+ 38.Kxg3 Qxc1 34.Kh3 Rg8 33...Qxc1 and Black can resign 32...Rf7 33.Ra3 Kg7 also wins but why pin your own rook when you can simply hide the king. 33.Qe7+ Rf7? 33...Kg8 34.Qxg5+ Kh8 35.Re2 Qd3 was still okay for Black. 34.Qxg5+ Kh8 35.Re2 Now eveything works for White and he is winning. Be5 36.Bf4 Rf5 37.Qd8+ Kg7 38.Qd7+ Kg6 39.Qe6+ Rf6 40.Qg8+ Kf5 41.Qg5# A sad end for Ted to a fierce battle in which he gained dark square control and came within a whisker of victory but then went wrong with fatal consequences. 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Caesar (1953)-Woofledust (1990)-1–02018A36Chessbase Rapid1
Chess999 (1972)-Woofledust (1899)-0–12018E97Chessbase Rapid1

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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.

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