The Irish Chess Union

[Event "Irish Junior Chess Championships Under"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.04.08"] [Round "?"] [White "Brozynski, Patryk"] [Black "Venkatesan, Kavin"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C55"] [Annotator "Graham,Gerry"] [ICUid "46494"] {This game was played in round 5 of the Irish Junior Chess Championship, under 10 section. Scheduled to finish by 2:00pm, it went on a good 20 minutes longer, delaying the start of the other sections, first time this happened in the Irish Juniors ! It's a facinating battle from 2 impressive 9 year old players.} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. d3 Be7 5. Be3 O-O 6. O-O d6 7. h3 Be6 8. Nbd2 Qd7 9. c3 Na5 10. Bxe6 fxe6 11. d4 exd4 12. Nxd4 ({Maybe} 12. cxd4 {keeping more control over the centre would be better.}) 12... c5 13. N4b3 Nxb3 14. Qxb3 d5 $1 15. e5 Ne8 16. f4 c4 {Giving up control of an important square, d4} (16... d4 17. cxd4 cxd4 18. Bf2 Rxf4 {would have been a better way to go.}) 17. Qd1 Nc7 18. Nf3 b6 19. Nd4 {White's knight occupies the valuable d4 square, notice how much more powerful pieces are in the centre of the board.} Bc5 20. Nc2 Bxe3+ 21. Nxe3 b5 22. Qh5 {Not the right plan.} (22. Qd4 {would have been a lot better, you'll see why in a minute.}) 22... Qf7 23. Qh4 Na6 24. Ng4 Nc5 25. Qg3 {Threatening the sneaky 26.Nh6+} Qg6 {Well spotted} 26. Qf2 Nd3 $1 { This knight finds his best square.} 27. Qe3 a6 28. b3 Rac8 29. b4 $1 {Black was trying to win his c pawn, but this prevents it, well spotted.} h6 30. g3 Qh5 31. Kg2 Rc6 32. Nh2 $1 {This knight is also headed for his best square, d4 !} Rd8 33. Nf3 Qg6 34. Nd4 Rc7 35. a4 $1 {Now that the knight is so well placed, time to open lines for the rook on the a file, this is good play.} Rb7 36. axb5 axb5 37. Nc6 {White's inexperience is showing here, he had a much better move.} (37. Ra6 $1 {Always attack weak points, and the pawn on e6 is weak. This move also allows white to double his rooks on the a file.}) 37... Rc8 38. Nd4 Rd7 $2 {Overlooking the b5 pawn, I'm afraid, his opponent doesn't.} ({Better would have been} 38... Rd8) 39. Nxb5 h5 40. Nd6 {An even better square for the knight !} Rf8 41. b5 {Well done again, passed pawns mudt be pushed !} h4 42. g4 Rb8 43. b6 Rdd8 44. b7 Rxd6 {A very mature decision for such a young player, recognising that his best chance lay in getting rid of the pawn on b7 and this was a good way to do it. Unfortunately, it does lose to a tatical blow which is very deep and, no surprisingly, white misses.} 45. exd6 Rxb7 46. Ra8+ $2 (46. f5 $3 {This is the tactical blow I referred to, it's completely winning for white now.} exf5 47. Rxf5 Rb8 48. d7 Kh7 49. Qe7 { etc...}) 46... Kh7 47. f5 {It's not the best move now but it's not bad either.} ({Deflecting the rook from the open b file with} 47. d7 Rxd7 48. f5 exf5 49. Rxf5 {is winning}) 47... Rb2+ 48. Kg1 exf5 49. Rxf5 Rb1+ 50. Kg2 Rb2+ 51. Kg1 $2 ({Better would have been} 51. Kf3 $1 {and if} Rf2+ {then} 52. Qxf2 Nxf2 53. Rh5+ {wins easily}) 51... Rb1+ 52. Rf1 Rxf1+ 53. Kxf1 Qxd6 54. Qf3 Qf6 55. Qxf6 gxf6 56. Rd8 Nf4 57. Rd6 {Endgames are the hardest part of the game for young players to master. A good plan would have been} (57. Kf2 Nxh3+ 58. Ke3 Ng5 59. Rxd5 h3 60. Rd1 {and white should win.}) 57... Kg6 58. Rd8 Kf7 59. Rh8 Nxh3 60. Rxh4 Ng5 61. Rh2 Ke6 62. Ke2 Ne4 63. Rh3 Ke5 64. Ke3 $1 Nxc3 65. Rh5+ Kd6 66. Kd4 Ne2+ 67. Ke3 Nc3 68. Kd4 {This was a very hard fought draw which reflects greatly on both players, and as both are only 9 years old, this bodes well for the future !} 1/2-1/2