Game 5 - Zak Tomlinson vs Neal Fisher
What a difficult game this was.
I was constantly feeling pressure from my opponent who was playing very fast and very aggressively.
He was one of the higher rated opponents in the field, and just had an air of "I'm going to beat you" about him.
He was also quite a heavy-build, and sported a Leeds United shirt,
so I almost didn't want to beat him for fear of getting my head kicked in!
Pre-game excuses aside... let's see how the drama of the final round unfolds!
[Event "Telford Congress"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.7.15"] [Round "5"] [White "Zak Tomlinson"] [Black "Neal Fisher"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteELO "u/g"] [BlackELO "132"] {Round 5} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 {Now I'm thinking "If you play e6 here then something is definitely wrong with the minor section!"} 2... Nf6 {Thankfully (I guess) we see a proper Pirc.} 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. Bc4 c6 5. Nf3 h6 6. O-O Qc7 7. a3 {Purely to tuck my Bishop away properly if provoked.} 7... e5 {White doesn't necessarily need to respond to this directly, how about h3 or develop the Bishop?} 8. dxe5 dxe5 {OK, maybe h3 now then?} 9. Re1 Nb6 10. Ba2 Bg4 {This could have been avoided, now things become awkward for White.} 11. h3 Bh5 12. Qe2 O-O-O {Somewhat unexpected, but it matches his playing style perfectly.} 13. Be3 g5 {My instincts were telling me "g4!" but this time I held back...} 14. g3 {... by one square, the idea that after Black pushes g4 I take and then the King can sit on g2, allowing Rh1 if needed.} 14... g4 {This is what happens.} 15. hxg4 Bxg4 {Nxg4 may have been an option, but I guess Black wants to maintain the pin.} 16. Kg2 Bg7 {This is Black's worst piece, simply move it out of the way for the Rook.} 17. b4 {He returns to the table after my think: "what have you.... oh a pawn? OK" He says before blitzing his next move in seconds.} 17... Nh7 {With the obvious intent of f5.} 18. Bxb6 {Initially with the idea that he must take with pawn, otherwise f7 falls, but if Bxf7 he simply has Rf8, and f3 is weak.} 18... axb6 19. Qe3 {At least now my Queen can use the vacated e3 square, breaking the pin.} 19... Bxf3+ {He seeks to improve the Knight with tempo.} 20. Qxf3 Ng5 21. Qe3 Qd7 22. Rh1 {Stops any h-file activity.} 22... f5 {? Here's the move I expected... but with the Queen on d7, I can play Ra1-d1 and simply pick up f5, as the Queen cannot defend it.} 23. Na4 {? I instead spied a different threat, a family fork no less, but unfortunately I can't hold on to e4.} 23... Qd4 24. Nxb6+ Kc7 25. Nc4 Qxe4+ 26. Qxe4 Nxe4 27. Rhe1 Rhe8 28. Ne3 {Throws a hit at f5, but allows Rd2} 28... Rd2 29. Rf1 {Nxf5 immediately was also playable, chopping the Knights and a pawn each.} 29... f4 {Now Nf5 is the only move.} 30. Nf5 {Not just hitting the Bishop, but defending the threat on g3 (note, the f2 pawn is pinned)} 30... Bf8 {? Good for me, the Rook's mobility is reduced.} 31. Rae1 {? Bad for me, Black can take on g3 and after exchanges c2 falls... Bb3 was better.} 31... Ng5 {? The first real costly mistake, White wins a pawn now} 32. gxf4 Nh7 {? The Knight wobbled as he slammed the clock... surely Ne6 was better.} 33. fxe5 Rxc2 34. Bb1 {Not just the Rook, but the Knight on h7 is targeted also.} 34... Rc3 35. Nd6 {? The move looked good to me, hitting two undefended pieces, but simply pushing the e-pawn was better.} 35... Re7 36. f4 {We've seen f-pawn pushes all tournament, why stop now?} 36... Rg7+ {Ah, that's why not... I overlooked this check and now Black wins back the pawn.} 37. Kf2 Bxd6 38. exd6+ Kxd6 39. Rd1+ Kc7 40. Rd3 {Look to trade and maybe start thinking about the draw... I'm nearly 50 minutes behind on the clock by this point.} 40... Rxd3 41. Bxd3 Nf6 42. Kf3 h5 43. Rh1 Kd6 44. Bc4 {I don't want to allow his King in the centre.} 44... b5 45. Bb3 Rg4 {Strange move at first, but he wants to enable h4 then Rg3+ winning the Bishop.} 46. Rxh5 {I had thought about playing Rd1+ with a draw offer, but opted for this instead... now Rxf4+ is a dead draw.} 46... Nxh5 {?? Unbelievably, he shook his head and quickly played Nxh5... an absolute howler, he realised later during the game where he went wrong and pointed his finger on f4 to tell me so.} 47. Kxg4 {However, this endgame is not to be taken for granted, so I carried on with caution although was shaking with excitement (seriously!)} 47... Nf6+ 48. Kg5 Ke7 49. Kg6 Ne4 50. f5 Kf8 51. f6 c5 52. bxc5 Nxc5 53. Bd5 Na6 {Threatens b4... the important thing with this endgame is to keep pawns alive...} 54. Bb7 {! So play this first} 54... Nc7 55. Bc6 {Before hitting the pawn.} 55... Kg8 56. Bd7 Kf8 57. f7 {A possible swindle Black has now is 57... Ke7 58. Kg7 Kxd7 59.P=Qf8 Ne6+ and Black survives, but I saw this and figured I'd play Bxb5 after Ke7, then at least I'd be promoting with check!} 57... b4 {Black had different ideas though, so we don't see all that.} 58. axb4 Nd5 59. b5 Ne7+ 60. Kf6 {Kg5 was also playable here, as Black doesn't have time for Kxf7 (b-pawn can't be stopped)} 60... Nd5+ 61. Ke5 Nb6 62. Be6 Ke7 63. Bb3 Nd7+ 64. Kd4 Kd6 65. Kc4 Ke7 {Or Ne5+, either way Kb4 renews the protection of f7.} 66. Kb4 Kd6 67. Ka5 Kc7 68. Be6 Nf8 69. Bf5 {I have only 14 minutes left on the clock (compared to his 72 minutes!) but it is surely enough to see this through.} 69... Kb8 {To the bitter, bitter end.} 70. Kb6 Ka8 71. Kc7 Ka7 72. b6+ {Black resigns begrudgingly, exclaiming he should have offered a draw much earlier, as he was in a hurry to catch a train... I humbly and sincerely apologised.} 1-0
My opponent had a rating of ECF132, roughly 1690 FIDE.
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So, overall I finished the tournament on 3.5/5, finishing tied for 4th place with 3 other people.
We shared 4th prize, £20 each.
Here's the results cross table if anyone would care to see:
http://chess-results.com/tnr365917.aspx?lan=1&art=4&flag=30
The fella who won with 5/5 was apparently a "dark horse",
who's real playing strength was much greater than the cut-off grade of 135.
My tournament performance was 142 (around 1765 FIDE)
I'm looking forward to receiving my first grade, which I've been told will be at the end of this month 🙂
So that's it, hope you guys enjoyed the games and/or got something out of them...
...namely, don't push your f-pawns!
Cheers,
Zak
p.s. My next tournament will be in Manchester, weekend 17th-19th of August, details and entry form here:
https://www.englishchess.org.uk/event/manchester-summer-congress-4/