Alexander Cup final played at the Adelaide pub, Teddington on 14 April 2023
This was the board 3 game which ultimately decided the fate of the 2023 Alexander Cup final. Kingston’s Silverio Abasolo had to beat IM Chris Baker, or the match would have been drawn 5-5 and Battersea would have taken the title on board count. Fortunes swung both ways, time became a factor, spectators became anxious, but Abasolo was the calmest person at the Adelaide pub and eventually prevailed to ensure that Kingston retained the trophy.
Baker, Chris W2288
Abasolo, Silverio2283
Alexander Cup (Surrey KO) Final
April 14, 2023 – Teddington
Annotated by John Saunders
1.c4Nf62.Nf3c53.g3d54.cxd5Nxd55.Bg2Nc66.Nc3Nc77.d3e58.Be3I never know quite how much notice one should take of database statistics, but the percentage for this line by White are strikingly poor – a miserable 35%. I tried playing the English opening myself many moons ago, but hadn’t the patience for it. Perhaps because of my minimal English DNA – a mere 2%. The opening is named in recognition of its early adoption by Staunton against St Amant, but it sometimes seems as if the name reflects overly polite Englishmen of the Wooster-ish kind in the way that White allows Black to develop much as he pleases, with an air of “after you, old boy”. White acquiesces to a sort of reversed Maroczy Bind with a move in hand. However, it has to be admitted that this line has been adopted by many players who play the game better than I do.8…Be79.Rc1Bd710.O-OO-O11.a3Rc812.Nd2f5Finally exiting known territory: several other moves have been played by Black here with the most popular being12…b613.Nd5Curiously, Stockfish favours13.Nc4f414.Bd2b515.Bxc6bxc416.Bg216.Bxd7Qxd717.dxc4gains a pawn, but17…Rcd8offers considerable counterplay16…cxd317.exd3, suggesting White has a very slight edge. The human player, seeing the isolated pawn on d3, might think it equal at best.13…Ne6Now White is obliged to do something about the threat of f5-f4, trapping the bishop.14.b4cxb415.axb4f416.Nxe7+Qxe717.Bc5Nxc518.bxc5Bg419.Nf3Kh820.Qa4a621.Qa2Bxf3After a series of non-committal moves by both players, Black takes the plunge, banking on his knight being a match for White’s bishop in the resultant position.22.Bxf3Nd423.Be4Rxc524.Rxc5Qxc525.Bxb7a526.Be4Qa727.Kg2Imperceptibly, after a long period of equality, good moves for Black have become harder to find, as White gets ready to deploy his rook on the queenside. It’s still probably level with best play, but Kingston supporters could be forgiven for getting worried.27…Rc828.Ra1A good move by White but there was probably a better one:28.Rb1threatens an invasion on b7. Black can’t counter with the immediate28…Rc2?as White can exploit the undefended back rank with29.Qxa5and it’s all over.28…Qe729.gxf4?Unnecessarily exposing the king to counterplay. 29 Rb1 would still be pretty good but so is29.Qxa5when29…Nxe2is met by30.Ra2!Nd431.Qd5and White has various ways to involve his rook in the action, starting with Ra8.29…Ne6!Black gratefully seizes this unexpected chance of play against the white king. Engines still favour White but now good moves are less intuitive for White than they are for Black.30.f5I wonder how many of us would find30.Kf1, which is the engine choice to retain an edge for White.30…Nf4+31.Kh1Qc5Black plays boldly, threatening a back rank mate and also the pawn on f2. This must have been unnerving for White who by now would have been kicking himself for allowing the black knight to penetrate to f4. White’s position is still salvageable with best play, but the sudden psychological swing towards Black induces a further error.32.Rg1?Instead,32.Qb2Qxf233.Qxe5Nxe234.Qxa5is playable. Though it looks extremely scary leaving the king at the mercy of queen and knight, there seems to be no good way for Black to exploit the situation.32…Nh333.e3To the human eye, White’s position looks lost after 32…Nh3 but remarkably33.Rb1!somehow holds everything together. White could be forgiven for missing that as it is far from obvious how the position would play out. Instead he opts to give up the exchange and rely on the phalanx of pawns around his bishop to act as a barrier to Black’s queen and rook. Having said which, his chosen strategy might still have worked had it been followed up correctly after some inaccurate play by Black.33…Nxg134.Kxg134…Qc1+?Both players were in time trouble and it would be too much to expect accurate play hereafter. But34…Qc2!would be decisive. Black forces off the queens, after which he soon guides the a-pawn to promotion. White cannot avoid the queen exchange with Qxa5 or Qf7 since Black would deliver mate with 35…Qd1+ 36 Kg2 Qg4+ followed by 37…Rc1 mate. After the text there is once again everything to play for.35.Kg2Qd136.Bf3?There was no need to surrender the d3-pawn.36.h3!is remarkably resilient. For example, if Black replies36…a4?White can play37.Qe6!after which the engine concludes that White is winning. There are better replies for Black, but he can no longer claim any advantage.36…Qxd337.Qe6After37.Qxa5Qxf5it is much harder for White to generate any counterplay or mount a convincing defence.37…Rf838.e4Qb539.Qe7Qb840.Bh5Qd841.Qc5a4Good enough, though41…Qg5+42.Kf1Rb8looks like a more natural way to finish the game.42.h4Qa843.Qxe5a344.Bf3a245.Qa1Qa346.h5h647.Be2Qb348.Qe5Qb149.Qe7Qb849…a1=Qalso wins.50.e5a1=Q51.f6It’s hard to resign when you can threaten mate in one.51…gxf652.Bd3I refer you to my previous comment.52…Rg8+53.Kf3Qh1+At this point I took a photo, showing Black calmly recording his move with just 30 seconds remaining on his clock and mate in one threatened. The presence of two queens, a rook and a multiplicity of open lines against a bare king must be more efficacious than a valium tablet in reducing a chess player’s stress level.54.Ke3Qb6+55.Ke2Qxh5+56.Kf1Qd1#Checkmate ends the game and the match, both of which were highly entertaining. Only after the game did Black’s teammates let him into two secrets: one, that his opponent was an IM and, two, that the match result depended on him winning.0–1
