Since the inception of our Club ladder in October 2012, one player,
current Chairman, Paul Kiely has sat at the top. But on 12 June last, the club champion was unseated by the young Mark Halley, who was making his third challenge for the top. What’s more remarkable still is that Mark completed his win in only 28 moves.
Below are the game moves, which was played with a 45-minute time-control.
Mark Halley – Paul Kiely 12 June 2013 Waterford Chess Club Ladder
1.d4 c5 2.d5 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.Nc3 Bg7 5.e4 O-O 6.Nf3 d6 7.h3 b5;
Black’s 7th move is the defining move of the Benko Gambit, a dynamic choice for black to counter white’s imposing pawn wedge in the centre. Black’s plan in this opening is to sacrifice a pawn on the queenside to gain the open a and b files for his queen and rooks, and to gain active play against white’s pawns on a2 and b2.
8.cxb5 a6 9.bxa6 Bxa6 10.Bxa6 Nxa6 11.O-O Qb6 12.Rb1 Rfb8 13.a3 Nd7;
Black reroutes his knight, eyeing the more active post on e5 while uncovering the view of his dark-squared bishop along the a1-h8 diagonal.
14.Qd3;
White develops his queen to the centre, defends the knight on c3 and solves the problem of the b1 rook’s defence.
14…Qb3 15.Bg5 c4;
A thematic move for black in the Benko, which clears the c5 square for the black knight on a6, in this case with tempo.
16.Qd2;
Perhaps better for white was…
16.Qe2 Bxc3 17.bxc3 Qxa3 18.Rxb8 Rxb8 19.e5! with strong play in the centre.
16…Bxc3 17.Qxc3;
17.bxc3 Qxb1 18.Rxb1 Rxb1+ 19. Kh2 was an interesting alternative.
17…Qxc3 18.bxc3 Rxb1 19.Rxb1 f6 20.Be3 Nac5 21.Nd2 Rxa3;
This was black’s idea when he decided to give up his strong dark squared bishop for the knight on c3 on move 16. In return for this slight concession black regains material equality by force with the resulting position being roughly equal.
22.Bd4;
White defends c3 and repositions his bishop to its most active post on d4. White’s hopes for an advantage lie in the potential superiority of the dark squared bishop over black’s knights in the endgame to come, plus his slight space advantage in the centre of the board.
22…Ra2 23.Nxc4 Nxe4 24.Re1 Ndc5 25.f3;
With this move the critical moment of the game is reached. White attempts to dislodge the knight from e4 in order to win the pawn on e7. At first glance it appears that the pawn on e7 is doomed, however black has the surprising resource…
25…Ng3 26.Bxc5 Ne2+!
where white’s best try for an advantage is..
27 Rxe2
With two pieces for the rook. Instead of this black chose to counterattack in the centre with…
25…e5 26.dxe6 d5;
Black aims to complicate matters by attacking white’s knight on c4 but he has overlooked white’s reply..
27. e7!;
To quote Aron Nimzowitsch, “A passed pawn is a criminal which should be kept under lock and key. Mild measures, such as police surveillance, are not sufficient”.
27…Ra8;
The rook switches its attention to defending against the menacing pawn but it’s too late.
28.Bxc5 Nxc5 29.e8=Q+ Rxe8 30.Rxe8+ Kf7 31.Nd6+
1-0. Black Resigns.
A fine win against a seasoned veteran.
Emmet Mordaunt.
Waterford Chess Club 