Alicia Mason (Kingston) v Yury Krylov (Maidenhead)
Kingston B v Maidenhead B, Thames Valley division 2 match played at the Willoughby Arms, Kingston on 4 November 2024
This was the board 6 game in the match between Kingston B and Maidenhead B in Thames Valley division 2. In many way, it was the pivotal game in the match. We were 2-1 down when it was reaching its conclusion, and Alicia’s opponent appeared to have reasonable drawing chances. But under time pressure she played superbly to convert the small advantage she had nursed for most of the game, drawing admiration from Peter Andrews, whose own board 3 game had just finished and who was watching intently as Alicia’s queen-and-knight mating net closed on her opponent. Her win tied the match at 2-2, and a win and a draw by Peter Hasson and David Rowson on boards 1 and 2 then saw us over the line for a 3.5-2.5 victory. A blessed relief after being 2-0 down earlier in the evening.
Alicia Mason
Yury Krylov
KIngston B v Maidenhead B
November 4, 2024 – Willoughby Arms, Kingston
Annotated by Alicia Mason
1.e4c62.d4d53.Nc3dxe44.Nxe4Bf55.Ng3Bg66.h4h5?! I thought h5 was a bit strange. h6 is more usual. This is the main line of the Caro:6…h67.h5Bh78.Nf3e69.Bd3Bxd310.Qxd3Nf611.Ne4Nbd712.Bd2Nxe413.Qxe4Qb614.O-O-OQa6with a level position.7.Nf3Nd78.Bd3Bxd39.Qxd3Ngf610.Bd2?! Maybe this is a bit timid and something like Bg5 or Ng5 would be better, though I wasn’t sure if there would be much point to it before Black plays …e6. I hadn’t yet decided whether to castle kingside or queenside here.10.Ng5g611.Qb3e612.Qxb7c513.N3e4Nxe414.Qxe4Bg715.dxc5O-O16.O-ONxc517.Qe2Qd518.Rd1Qc619.Be3with a slight advantage for White10…e611.O-OI thought for a long time here before eventually deciding on castling kingside. I expected Black to play …c5 now that the d5 square is covered, and I didn’t fancy having my king on the c-file after an exchange on d4 or c5.11…Be7?!I wonder if he should have played …c5 here to challenge my centre immediately. The computer likes …Bd6. Either way, this looks a bit passive.12.Rfe1Rc8Already there are tempting ideas of sacrificing on e6 here, when if Black takes, Qg6+ and Ng5 will land him in big trouble. I worried about the move Nc5, but the engine likes the sac.13.c4?!13.Rxe6fxe613…Nc514.Rxe7+Qxe715.dxc5O-Owith a winning advantage for White13…O-OBlack’s best defence14.Re2Bd615.Nf5Qc716.Qb3Rce817.Rxe8Rxe818.Nxd6Qxd619.Qxb7Rb820.Qxa7Rxb221.c4Nf8when White stands better14.Qg6+Kf815.Ng5Qe816.Nxe6+Kg817.Qxg7#13…O-O14.Ng5Threatening Nxh5, as the knight on f6 must guard against mate on h7.14…g615.b4?! Now I calculated Rxe6, when again, if Black takes, he’s in big trouble. But Nc5 saves him, and this time, it’s a lot more effective because my d-pawn is pinned. I’m proud of myself for making a point of checking for my opponent’s resources before going for this line. So I chose to play b4 instead, which covers the c5 square and makes Rxe6 a real threat. It also hinders Black’s ideas of playing c5 as well. As it turns out, though, I actually could have played Nxe6!15.Rxe6Nc515.Nxe6Nc516.Nxd8Nxd317.Rxe7Rfxd818.Rxb7Ne819.Ne2a6and White is well on top15…Nh7My opponent parries the threat, though the engine still favours Nxe6.16.N3e416.Nxe6fxe617.Qxg6+Kh818.Rxe6Rf619.Rxf6Bxf620.Nxh5Qg821.Qxg8+Rxg822.Nxf6Nhxf616…Ndf6Black wants to swap off pieces to lessen the attack.17.Nxh717.Nc5is a better way to play17…Bxc5This knight really has to be taken, or it’s carnage on e6.18.bxc5b619.Qc3bxc519…Nd720.Rad1Nxg521.Bxg5Qc722.cxb6axb6and White has the edge20.dxc5Re821.Bf4Re722.Nxh7Nxh723.Bh6e524.Rad1Qe825.Rd6Nf826.Bg5Re617…Nxh717…Kxh718.Ng5+Kh8may be OK18…Kg8would lose to19.Rxe6Kg8 would lose to Rxe6, in the same line that we saw earlier, because Qxg6 would come with check19…fxe620.Qxg6+Kh821.Nxe618.g3I feel like the pawn on h4 is important for restraining Black’s minor pieces and keeping hold of the dark squares, so I wanted to protect it here. We have near-symmetrical pawn formations on the kingside, but the difference is that my bishop can take advantage of his weak dark squares, while it’s much harder for him to get at my light squares because I’ve pushed him back.18…Re819.Bc3Aiming at the kingside dark squares.19…Bf820.Rad1Bg721.Qf3Trying to line up my rook against Black’s queen, and potentially also taking aim at the pawn on f7 eventually.21…Qc722.c5I’d been waiting to play this move. It looks a bit double-edged, because my d-pawn is now backward and weak, but I wanted to try and get my knight to d6, potentially to get him to exchange his bishop for the knight, when I’d be left with a monopoly over the dark squares. Now that he can no longer play Qd5, I thought that this was the right moment.22…Re7Black decides to keep his bishop on g7.23.Nd6Rf824.d5I decided to sac a pawn here to try and open lines for my pieces and keep the knight on h7 out of play. Of course, the engine doesn’t like it.24.Bd2would have been another way of sacrificing the pawn, without giving Black a protected passed pawn!24…Bxd425.Bh6Bg726.Bxg7Kxg727.Qc3+Kg828.a4and White is better24…Bxc325.Qxc3cxd5For some reason I’d only really looked at25…exd5here when I would have exchanged on e7 and taken the e-file with Re1. My opponent obviously wanted to avoid opening up lines.26.Rxe7Qxe727.Re1I certainly have compensation for the pawn here, as Black’s knight is out of the game, I have the e-file and the dark squares, and a beautiful knight on d6. Now my plan would be Qe5-e7, exchanging queens and getting my rook onto the seventh rank, and going after his queenside pawns while his pieces would still be very passive.26.Qe5Setting up a threat, which my opponent misses.26…a6? Not too sure what I would have played after26…Rd727.Rd3b628.Rc3a529.a3axb430.axb4bxc531.bxc5Qd832.Rf3Rc733.Rc1when the position is level, though Black has to be careful33…Rc634.Rxf7!34…Rxf735.Qh8+!!35…Kxh836.Nxf7+Kg837.Nxd8Rc838.Nxe627.Rxd5I regain the pawn and have a much better position.27…Rd728.Rd3Rfd829.Red1There are some lovely tactics in the air here. One idea is to retreat the queen to c3 and then play Ne8, threatening the queen and mate on g7. Black would have to take the knight, when I could win the exchange and crash through with Rxd7.29…Nf8This defends d7, so the Ne8 idea would no longer work.30.Qe3?! Hinting at getting in on h6, and possibly bringing the knight around to f6 via e4.30.Nxf7! would have worked here. I saw Nxf7 ideas during the game, but didn’t see far enough to make them work.30…Qxe530…Rxf731.Qxc7Rxc732.Rxd831.Nxe5Rxd332.Rxd3Rxd333.Nxd330…Qc6The engine prefers31.Ne431.Qe5f532.a3b633.cxb6Qxb634.Ne8Kf735.Rxd7+Rxd736.Rxd7+Nxd737.Nd6+Ke738.Nc8+Kf739.Qc3Qb840.Qc6Nf6But that’s probably beyond human calculation. Mine anyway.31…Nh7Black covers the Nf6 square.31…Rxd3Black should seize the chance to exchange rooks, rather than remaining passive32.Rxd3Rxd333.Qxd3e534.Qe2b635.cxb6Qxb636.Qc4Ne6when White has only a small advantage32.Rxd7I decided to exchange the rooks, since my queen can’t really do much while it’s tied down defending d3.32…Rxd733.Rxd733.Rd6would have been a nice way to do it, giving myself a strong passed d-pawn.33…Rxd634.cxd6e535.Qc5Qxc536.Nxc5Kf837.Nxb7Nf638.Kf1Ke839.Nc5Nd540.a3Nc341.a4f542.a5Nb543.Nxa6Kd744.Nc5+Kxd633…Qxd734.Nd634.Qh6was tempting to try for the royal fork with Qxh7 and Nf6+, but could have frittered away my advantage.34…Qd1+35.Kh2Qd536.Qxh7+Kxh737.Nf6+Kg738.Nxd5exd534…Nf635.Qf3Nd5The only sensible move for Black.36.a3Securing my queenside pawns.36…b637.Qd3bxc538.bxc5OK I have a passed pawn now, though it’ll be some time before it can go anywhere.38…a5I thought for a little while here before taking the plunge with Qa6. I was wary about allowing Black counterplay with …Qa4. I also considered Qb5, but I was worried about losing my c-pawn after the exchange of queens. I was down to my last three minutes here.39.Qa6a4Here, I was very surprised that Black didn’t play Qa4. Maybe he wanted to keep his queen nearer the king and the c-pawn to defend.40.Qa8+Kh7This has to be a blunder as f7 is caving in now.40…Kg741.Ne8+Kh641…Kh7I saw this absolutely mad line during the game42.Qxd5!!42…Qxd542…Qxe843.Qb7Qf844.c6Qxa345.Qxf7+Kh846.c7Qc1+47.Kh2a348.Qe8+Kg749.Qd7+Kf650.c8=QQxc851.Qxc843.Nf6+Kg744.Nxd5exd545.c642.c6Qe741.Qf8f5Forced mate.41…Qe7would have held on longer, though it’s still winning for White42.Nf7!42…g543.Qh8+Kg644.Ne5#Short of time, I didn’t even realise this move was mate until I played it – I just wanted to win his queen! I was very happy at the end of this game, even though there were many points where I could have played better. I resisted the temptation to go for an unsound rook sacrifice on move 15 (even if I missed a couple of sacrifices that actually were viable, as well as a couple of other tactics), and I liked the idea behind my move 24. d5 as well, keeping Black passive (even if Bd2 would have been a better execution of that idea). Takeaways: calculate sacrifices carefully to make sure which ones work and which ones don’t. Maybe spend a bit less time in the opening, so I have more time later to calculate said sacrifices.1–0