Games played by club members in years past

   [Event "Bedford Club Championship"]   [Site "Bedford"]   [Date "1996.??.??"]   [White "Hickman, N."]   [Black "Ledger, A."]   [Result "1/2-1/2"]       [ECO "B14"]   [Annotator "Hickman"]   [PlyCount "116"]   [EventDate "1996.??.??"]    1. e4 {"You   always start a game with Pawn to king four. It's a very good move"- Tony   Hickman (1912-1989), teaching his son to play chess, about 1958. Thank you,   father.} c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 {Facing a very strong   opponent, the first objective is to try not to get wiped out in the opening.   So, realising I was going to have to face Andy, I had paid particular   attention to Andy's game the previous season against Brian Wigginton. And I   got lucky in that Andy played the same line as against Wigginton. He told me   later that he had abandoned this line for most purposes. Obviously you don't   need to play your favourite lines against a rabbit, though.} 6. Qb3 {I had   prepared a line recommended by Leonard Barden which has the merit of forcing   Black to dance to White's tune for a bit.} (6. Nf3 Bg7 7. Be2 O-O {transposing   into a Grunfeld was the Wigginton-Ledger game (0-1 in 43, unsurprisingly}) 6...   Bg7 7. cxd5 O-O 8. Be2 Nbd7 9. Bf3 {Contrary to appearances, the real idea   isn't to hold on to the pawn so much as to induce Black to waste a lot of time   winning it back.} Nb6 10. Nge2 ({Essentially, still playing the Barden line.   "Book" is apparently} 10. Bg5) 10... Bg4 11. Bxg4 Nxg4 12. h3 $2 {Ridiculous   and unnecessary. Simply 12 Bf4 kept a modest but useful advantage.} Nf6 13. Nf4   Qd7 14. O-O Rfd8 15. Re1 Bf8 16. d6 $1 {Now is the time to give the pawn back}   exd6 ({The point is that if} 16... Qxd6 17. Ne6 $1 {Andy had a gratifyingly   long think here}) ({If} 16... e6 {White may be able to exploit the dark   squares with} 17. Nd3 (17. Nxe6 $6 fxe6 18. Rxe6 Nfd5 19. Re5 {is no better   than =}) {e.g.} 17... Qxd6 18. Bg5 Qxd4 19. Ne5 $16) 17. Nfd5 {A bit of a   nothing move.} Nfxd5 18. Nxd5 Nxd5 19. Qxd5 Qc6 20. Qxc6 bxc6 21. Bg5 Rdc8 22.   Bf6 Rab8 23. b3 Rb5 24. g4 Rd5 25. Re2 {Threatening simply to double on the   e-file and play Re8. The activity of the White Rooks is to be the story of the   rest of this game...} Bg7 26. Bxg7 Kxg7 27. Re7 {Not as strong as it looks.} ({   The position is probably still even after} 27. Re4) 27... a5 28. Ra7 Rxd4 29.   Rxa5 Re8 {White has secured a distant passed pawn, but at the cost of Black's   rooks becoming active. The rook on a5, in particular, is not well placed.} 30.   Ra6 c5 31. Rc6 $2 {This wastes time, which White really can't afford. Each   player thought he was slightly better here. As you would expect, Fritz agrees   with Andy.} ({Immediately after the game it seemed that} 31. Rb6 {would have   been better, e.g.} Rd3 32. a4 Rxh3 33. a5) 31... Rd3 32. Rb6 $5 {Bravely   played. I realised that I could afford to lose the h-pawn but not, at any   price, allow Black united passed pawns. And so it's necessary to admit the   previous move was a mistake} Re2 33. a4 Rb2 ({I think Black should have played   } 33... Rdd2) (33... Rxh3 {is also probably better than the move chosen, and,   as will appear, would have avoided some of the ensuing nonsense}) 34. Ra3 $4 ({   "Passed pawns should be pushed" - and indeed after} 34. a5 {Black will have to   play accurately to draw, because the rooks are cut off from the action. But   there is an even worse aspect to the move}) 34... d5 $4 ({My luck was in. Both   of us had missed that after} 34... c4 {White cannot play} 35. bxc4 {after all,   because of} Rd1+ {followed by pouching the loose rook on b6}) 35. a5 Rdd2 36.   Rc6 {Sealed. Those were the days... Nowadays, if an amateur reached this   ending in a blitz finish against a strong IM, the game would be over rather   quickly, and there would be no story} Rxf2 37. Rxc5 Rg2+ 38. Kh1 Rh2+ 39. Kg1   Rxh3 40. a6 {I had realised just in time how important it was going to be to   get this pawn down the board with the rooks behind it.} Rhxb3 41. Rxb3 Rxb3 42.   Ra5 Rb8 43. a7 ({White can't capture the d-pawn -} 43. Rxd5 Rb1+ 44. Kg2 Ra1 {   and crucially the Black rook gets the active position. Rook activity matters   far more than the odd pawn or so.}) 43... Ra8 {All banged out at speed after   the resumption.} 44. Ra6 {The key to this ending is how Black extricates his K   and unravels his K-side pawns. Apparently Andy and Steve Ledger got this far   at home and concluded "3 against 1 on the K-side; easily winning, let's watch   the football" But it is actually far from easy, even for a strong IM against   an amateur. Black has two problems - his rook is pinned down, and when he   unscrambles the k-side pawns he is likely to be left either with g- and   h-pawns, the most difficult case of R+2P v R to win, or with f- and h-pawns.}   Kh6 {This appears to be the best move} (44... h5 45. gxh5 gxh5 46. Kg2 f6 47.   Ra5 d4 48. Rd5 $1 Rxa7 49. Rxd4 Ra2+ 50. Kg3 Re2 {leads to the notorious   configuration in which it is often impossible for Black to win even though two   pawns up. Admittedly the draw is not easy, but White's K is well placed (the   ideal square is g2) and his rook can get to the ideal square b8. And, of   course, having had two weeks of adjournment to look at the position, I had   studied R+fP+hP v R (as well as R + gP + hP v R) very closely!}) 45. Kf2 Kg5   46. Kf3 f5 ({I thought} 46... h5 {was stronger, forcing} 47. gxh5 Kxh5 (47...   gxh5 {leads back into the line in the first note}) 48. Kf4 g5+ 49. Kf5 g4 50.   Ra1 Kh4 {but now Fritz points out that the position is drawn after} 51. Kf4 ({   in 1996 I saw only} 51. Ra4 $2 Kh3 $17) 51... Kh3 52. Ra3+ Kh4 53. Ra1 Kh5 54.   Kf5 Kh6 55. Kxg4 {Anyway, I suspect my body language said that I thought I'd   blundered.}) 47. Ra5 fxg4+ {Temporarily R+4 pawns against R+P!} 48. Kg3 Kf6 $1   ({Better than} 48... h5 49. Rxd5+ Kf6 50. Ra5 {when it is difficult to see how   Black makes any progress}) 49. Kxg4 {Now, there are any number of book draws   with K+R+gP+hP against R+ well-placed K, but White also has the d-pawn to   contend with.} Ke5 ({Immediately after the game, Andy criticised this move,   suggesting that} 49... h5+ {"won easily", but I don't see it.} 50. Kh4 Ke5 51.   Kg5 {is similar to the game but without the tricks which stop the K taking the   rear pawn}) 50. Kg5 Ke4 51. Kh6 d4 {By any reasonable assessment, surely this   pawn should win the game?} 52. Ra6 $1 {The best try, gaining checking distance,   and the result of a lot of time pondering the ending while walking the dog.   White gets his rook round behind the d-pawn while keeping the black rook   bottled up.} d3 53. Re6+ Kf3 54. Re7 d2 55. Rd7 Ke2 (55... Rxa7 56. Rxd2 Ra5)   56. Re7+ Kd1 57. Rxh7 ({There was, of course, time to mess things up with} 57.   Kxh7 $4 {and the idea that will save the game doesn't work because at the   crucial moment ...Rxd7 is check}) 57... Rd8 {Andy allowed himself a slight   smile and visibly relaxed. The Rook is going to guard the crucial d-pawn and   free the king, so that after K-c2/e2-d3 the pawn queens...} 58. Rd7 $3 {Oh, no   it isn't. I had seen this elegant stroke coming a move or two previously. When   your opponent walks into something you have seen and he evidently hasn't, it   is a good feeling. When the opponent is the strongest player you are ever   likely to be facing, it is a very good feeling indeed.} Ra8 {Quietly, Andy   offered the draw. You can understand why I carried the position after 58 Rd7   around with me for several years, captioned "'All Rook Endings Are Drawn' -   Russian Proverb".} 1/2-1/2   

   [Event "Bedford A v Northampton"]  [Site "Bedford"]  [Date "20/10/2011"]  [White "Alex Taylor)"]  [Black "C Schumann"]  [Result "0-1"]  [PlyCount "35"]       1 e4      c5         2 Nf3    Nc6      3 d4      cxd4        4 Nxd4  d6        5 Nc3    Nf6       6Be2     g6        7 Be3    Bg7      8 f3 {my little book of openings suggest either 0-0 or h4 here} Bd7  9 Qd2   0-0        10 0-0-0  a6       11 g4    b5        12 Nxc6   Bxc6  13  Bh6 Qa5      14 Bxg7 Kxg7   15 h4 b4           16 Nb1 {here perhaps Nd5 may have been better} h5  17 gxh5    Nxh5     18 Rhg1  Qb6    19 Qg5  Rh8     20 Qxe7  {I played this rather quickly, overlooking}  Qe3+            21 Nd2           { seemingly losing a piece }          Qxe2?? {– removing the guard from g1 }  22Qxd6?? ({rather thrown by move 20 I missed} 22. Rxg6+ { and mate is inevitable after }Kxg6 23. Rg1+) { The rest of the game is a bit of an anti-climax as I sank to defeat} 22…     Qb5      23 Rg5  Qb7     24 Rdg1  Be8    25 e5  Rc8        26 Qd4  Qc6     27 Qe4  Qxe4    28 Nxe4  Nf4     29 Kd2  Rxh4     30 Nd6  Rd8      31 R5g4  Rxg4   32 Rxg4  Nd5  33  Rd4  Bc6     34  Nc4  Re8     35 f4  Rh8         36 a3  Rh2        37 Kd1 bxa3         38 bxa3  Rf2  {and Black Resigns - if only...!?}