Gentlemen’s agreement

Simon Kim Williams – Daniel W. Gormally
91st Hastings International Chess Congress; Hastings, January 4, 2016
King’s Indian Defence E90

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 c5 4. Nc3 Bg7 5. d5 0-0 6. e4 d6 7. Bf4 Re8 8. Be2 Qb6!? Playable, although probably not useful. Another try is 8. ... e6 9. dxe6 Bxe6 10. Bxd6 Nc6 11. 0-0 Nd4 12. e5 Nd7 13. Nxd4 cxd4 14. Qxd4 Nxe5 15. Bxe5 Qxd4 16. Bxd4 Bxd4 17. Rac1 Rad8 18. b3 Bxc3 19. Rxc3 Rd2 20. Bf3 Rxa2 21. Bxb7 Rb8 22. Bc6 Ra3 23. Ba4 Rb4 24. Rfc1 Bxc4 25. Rxc4 Rxc4 26. bxc4 ½ : ½ Ornstein – Bilek, 21st Chess Olympiad, Nice 1974. 9. Qd2 e6 10. 0-0 exd5 11. exd5 Bg4 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Bxf3 Nbd7 14. Rfe1 a6 15. Qc2 Ne5 16. Bxe5 Rxe5 17. Rxe5 dxe5 18. Qb3 Qc7 19. d6!? Qxd6 20. Rd1. If 20. Qxb7 then 20. ... Rb8 21. Rd1 Rxb7 22. Rxd6 Rxb2 23. Rxa6 h5 with roughly equal chances. 20. ... Qf8 21. Qxb7 Rb8 22. Qc7. After 22. Qxa6 Rxb2 Black is very close to equality. 22. ... Re8 23. Bc6 Rc8 24. Qd6 Nh5 25. Bb7 Qxd6 26. Rxd6 Rb8 27. Rb6 Nf4 28. Rb3 Nd3 29. Ne4 Rd8 30. Bd5 Nf4 31. Nxc5 Nxd5 32. Rd3 Bf8 33. Nb3 Rc8 34. cxd5 e4 35. Rd4 f5 36. d6 Kf7 37. Na5 Ke6 38. Nb7 Kd7 39. b4. Intending Nb7-c5+. 1 : 0.

“I’m such a gentleman that today I resigned in a drawn position!”, Gormally eventually said. Indeed, he was so scared about the threat – as Aron Nimzowitsch once said, “The threat is stronger than the execution” – to resign immediately, without analyzing deeper. It would seem, however, that 39. ... Rc1+! 40. Kh2 Bg7! 41. Rd2 Bc3! 42. Nc5+ Kd8 43. Rd5 Bxb4 44. Ne6+ Kd7 45. Nf8+ Kd8 46. Ne6+ forces White to take the perpetual check.

Out of Nothing

Francesco Rambaldi – Simon Kim Williams
7th CSC London Chess Classic FIDE Open; London, December 6, 2015
Sicilian Defence B51

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Bb5+ Nc6 4. 0-0 Bd7 5. Re1 Nf6 6. c3 a6 7. Bf1 e5 8. d4 cxd4 9. cxd4 Bg4 10. d5 Nd4 11. Be3 Nxf3+ 12. gxf3 Bd7 13. a4 Be7 14. Qb3 0-0 15. Qxb7 Rb8. Or 15. ... Nh5 16. Kh1 f5 17. Bh3 Rb8 18. Qa7 Nf6 19. a5 Qe8 20. Nd2 Ra8 21. Qb7 Rb8 22. Qa7 Ra8 ½ : ½ Delchev – Goumas, 11th International Open, Gazi 2015. 16. Qxa6 Nh5 17. Nd2 f5 18. Nc4 fxe4 19. fxe4 Bc8 20. Qa7 Rb7 21. Qa5 Qe8 22. Bg2 Qg6 23. Kh1 Bh4 24. Rf1 Rbf7. Williams leaves White with a free hand on the Queenside hoping to mount an attack on the opposite flank. Apparently 24. ... Rb3! pursues the same goal without ceding ground. 25. Qb6 Rf6 26. a5 Qg4 27. f3. It’s maybe not the best solution, but the position is very double-edged.

27. ... Rxf3?? As they say, from “illusions” to “hallucinations” there is only a step. Correct was 27. ... Qg6 28. Nd2! Ng3+! 29. hxg3 Bxg3 30. Kg1 Qh5 31. Rf2 Bh3! with a very unclear situation. 28. Nd2 Bd8 29. Qxd6 Rxf1+ 30. Rxf1 Nf4 31. Bxf4 exf4 32. Nf3 Bxa5 33. e5 Bf5 34. e6 Qh5 35. e7 Re8 36. b4 Bd3 37. Re1 1 : 0.

Francesco Rambaldi at Wien in 2015
Photo: Wikipedia