Posted on November 21, 2018November 23, 2018 by SpikeTwo mad clergymen An entertaining encounter [Event "Bedford Division 2C"] [Date "2018.11.15"] [White "Peter Gill"] [Black "John Harbour"] [Result "0-1"] [Annotator "Peter Gill"] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 c6 4. f4 Qa5 5. Bd3 e5 6. dxe5 dxe5 7. f5 Bc5 8. Nf3 Nbd7 9. Bd2 Qc7 10. Qe2 b5 11. a3 Bb7 12. Be3 a6 13. Bxc5 Nxc5 14. O-O Ncd7 15. Rfe1 {my chess program Hiarcs has had nothing to say until now but from here on, few moves go without critical comment} O-O $6 16. Nd1 Ng4 17. h3 Nh6 $6 { apparently, John had planned the relocation of his knight from f3 to f7 but it looked like an ignominious threat to me. Hiarcs has White better here but only just.} 18. Ne3 f6 19. g4 $6 Nf7 20. h4 Qd8 21. Rad1 Qe7 22. Kh2 Rfd8 $6 23. Rg1 c5 24. c4 Nd6 25. Nd5 Qf7 $6 (25... Bxd5 26. cxd5 c4 {looks better for Black - Ed}) 26. b3 {wimpish and worse!} (26. Nc7 {and on to e6 would give me a definite edge}) 26... Bxd5 27. cxd5 Nb6 28. Rc1 Qc7 {I only considered the c-file, I ought to have thought about the b8-h2 diagonal} 29. g5 Kh8 30. Rc2 $6 Nxf5 {Whoops - not actually John's best move - Nd5 was slightly better - but enough to shatter my belief that I was winning} 31. Rgc1 {still playing in the wrong areas (as they say in rugby) - gxf6 would be equal} Rxd5 {At this point John announced that if he won he'd put the game on the website but after discovering how many moves we had both missed, he changed his mind. This move was not the best (Nd4 better) but it had novelty value} 32. exd5 e4+ 33. Kg1 exf3 $6 (33... Qg3+ {better}) 34. Qxf3 ({Shell shocked!} 34. Qh2 {would leave me slightly better}) 34... Nd4 35. Qf2 $2 ({Missing my last chance} 35. Qe4 { forces Black to take the perpetual as the knight is en prise}) 35... Nxc2 36. gxf6 $2 Nxd5 $2 37. Rxc2 Nxf6 38. Rxc5 Qd6 39. Bc2 $4 Rd8 $2 40. Kf1 $4 Rf8 $2 41. Rf5 Qxa3 42. Kg2 Nd7 43. Rxf8+ Qxf8 44. Qd4 Qc8 45. Qd3 Nf6 46. Kf1 Qf8 47. Qf5 Nd7 48. Qxf8+ Nxf8 49. Be4 b4 50. Ke2 Ne6 51. Bd5 Nf4+ 0-1 your web browser and/or your host do not support iframes as required to display the chessboard; alternatively your wordpress theme might suppress the html iframe tag from articles or excerpts