Magazines Interactive December 1979

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40-40 Strategy

by Vernon Small

 

Small, Vernon A - Garbett, Paul A

Upper Hutt 40-40 (7th) 1979

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d6 3.d4 Bg4 4.Bg2 c6 5.c4 Nbd7 6.Nc3 e5 7.O-O e4 Here, I guess, is lesson one. I doubt very much that a player of Paul's class would ever adopt such a shaky set-up in a longer game, but he was playing fast and loose  8.Ng5 d5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.f3 exf3 11.exf3 Bf5 12.Re1+ Be7 13.Qe2 h6 Black wants to prevent b3 and Ba3, but (13...Kf8 might be more sagacious ) 14.Nh3 g5 15.Nf2 Nf8 Paul wants to close the e-file for good and (15...Be6 16.f4 g4 would leave the threat of f5 always ln the alr ) 16.f4 Ne6 ( Perhaps better was 16...g4 ) 17.Qe5









Moves are clickable

Now, of course, White has a winnlng game so the correct strategy is for White to speed up his own play by only analyslng until he finds a continuation whlch increases or maintains his advantage  17...Be4 18.Ncxe4 ( Of course 18.Bxe4 dxe4 19.Ncxe4 was a much stronger continuation, but I found the text first! ) 18...dxe4 19.Nxe4 Rg8 20.Nxf6+ Bxf6 21.Qb5+ Kf8 22.d5 Nd4 23.Qc5+ Kg7 From memory, this ls as far as I analysed at move eighteen and I decided to worry about whether the pawn on g5 was wlnnable when I got here  24.fxg5 hxg5 25.Bxg5 b6 ( I had only looked at 25...Rc8 intending  26.Bxf6+ Qxf6 27.Qxa7 Ra8 (27...Nc2 28.Rf1 ) 28.Qxb7 Nc2 29.Rf1 Qd4+ 30.Kh1 and White must win / can't lose ) 26.Bxf6+ Qxf6 27.Qe7 Rgd8 28.Qxf6+ Kxf6 29.Rad1 Nb5 30.Rc1 Rd6 31.a4 Nd4 32.Re4 Nb3 33.Rf4+ Kg7 34.Rc7 and White won fairly easily 1-0