I was asked to annotate one of my games from the recent English Seniors Over 65s event, so I chose one of the games I didn’t win! I felt this was a critical game as Black in round 4 against Paul Littlewood (I was hoping to play him in round 5 as White!). Before the event started, I thought Paul was the firm favourite due to his strength and experience at a high level. As I was a half point behind him a win for me would mean that I would leapfrog him, a draw would be satisfactory, but a loss would open up a 1½ point gap.
I should mention there was also other strong opposition in Mark Page (who I last played 44 years before! and is my 4NCL team captain), Ian Snape (a member of the Over 65s team that won the World Championship the previous year), and Paul Raynes whose sharp and original play gave his opponents a headache on more than one occasion.
Paul E Littlewood - Chris W Baker B11
English Seniors 65+ Round 4 06.05.2023
1 e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3
5...e6 After the game Paul said Petrosian recommended 5...Nf6, as 6. e5 Nfd7 e6 leads to nothing for White.
6.d4 Qb6 7.exd5 cxd5 8.Bb5+ Nc6 9.0–0 Bd6!
I like this move, as I had anticipated White's response and my reply.
10.Qg4 Kf8
11.Bxc6 Nf6 Just a tempo-gaining move by putting the knight on its most natural square and so I can see where the queen goes to before deciding how to recapture on c6.
12.Qf3 bxc6 Paul thought, and no doubt he is correct, that 12...Qc6 is a viable alternative.
13.Bf4 Bxf4 14.Qxf4 Qb8!
A good move and necessary, as 14 …Qxb2?? 15. Qd6+ wins outright.
15.Qd2 h5!? 15 … Qxb2 is now possible, but White once again would gain quite an initiative and I didn't want to have to find accurate defensive moves when I was already getting way behind on the clock.
16.Na4 Ne4 17.Qe3 g6 18.Rfe1 Kg7 19.c3 a5 Weakens the b6 square, but I can't allow White to play b4 getting a bind on c5.
20.b3 h4 Gaining space, discouraging g4 ideas and giving me the h5 square to use should I wish.
21.Rac1 Rh5 22.c4
22...Nd6?! I think this is wrong; maybe a rook lift to f5 was better.
23.cxd5 Rxd5! This is a better move than it might appear due to a surprising resource Black has later. 23...cxd5 gives White all the play.
24.Rxc6 Nf5 25.Qc3 Rxd4 Not the sort of move I would normally want to play as it self pins the rook, but in fact it’s difficult for White to exploit this.
26.Rc4 Qd6 27.Nc5!
Strong, as it recentralises the knight and creates new problems for Black to face.
27...e5 I'm not sure about this move; it does unpin the rook but creates a potential weakness as well. 27…Kg8 was an alternative method.
28.Ne4 Rxc4 29.Qxc4 Qb4 I want White to exchange, as a2 becomes a target and the pawn on b4 restricts any chance for White to utilise his queenside majority.
30.Rc1 Paul's having none of it!
30...Nd4 31.Kf1 A good waiting move and bringing the king closer to the centre for the ensuing endgame, whilst also stopping a potential future check on e2.
31...Rd8 32.Qc5 Re8 33.Rc4! Annoyingly forcing me to exchange queens on his terms. I know from this point I was playing on increment, sometimes getting to just a few seconds, while at this stage Paul had over 12 minutes on his clock.
33...Qxc5 34.Rxc5 f5 35.Nc3 e4 I need activity, and while the connected passed pawns are strong White has to concede some ground.
36.Rxa5 Rc8
37.Ne2 37. Nd1 was possible but no better.
37...Nxe2 38.Kxe2 Rc2+ 39.Ke3 Kf6 40.b4 g5 41.a4 Rb2 42.Rb5
42...g4?! This could well be wrong and 42...Rb3+ could be better, but with little time I had to go with my gut.
43.hxg4 fxg4 44.Rb8 h3
I wanted to create my own passer, but remembered at the time also wanting to play 44...g3.
45.gxh3 gxh3 46.b5 Kf5 47.Rf8+ Kg4 48.Kxe4 Rb4+ 49.Kd5 Rxa4 50.Rh8 Rf4 51.b6 Rxf2 52.b7 Rb2 53.b8Q Rxb8 54.Rxb8 h2 55.Rh8 Kg3
½-½