Cozy Tomatoes/Chessy McChessface Matchday 1

Match start:

The time control is 45+15, so we expect to be here for approximately two hours.

Cozy Tomatoes 0-0 Beckenham
Chessy McChessface 0-0 Wessex Some Stars H

40 minutes after the match started:

Cozy Tomatoes

Cozy Tomatoes' match got off to a rocky start when PuzzlingPuzzler quickly fell into trouble. Their opponent played precisely to convert the win:

Here White could win the bishop with 13. Bh6, but 13... Qh4 might cause some psychological trouble for White. Instead, White played the precise 13. Bg5! Qf8 14. Bh6, and Black's goose was cooked.

This was an unlucky debut for PuzzlingPuzzler and I am confident they can shake it off and show their strength next time.

Meanwhile, Lordb0rn invited their opponent to enter the Nakhmanson Gambit with 6. Nc3

The idea is 6... dxc3 7. Bxf7+! Kxf7 8. Qd5+ and it would have been an exciting game! Unfortunately, their opponent decided to decline it with 6... Nxc3, remaining a healthy pawn up after move 10.

The other two boards were relatively even at this point. Thus with one lost game and one game down a pawn, the match is already looking bleak.

Cozy Tomatoes 0-1 Beckenham

Chessy McChessface

We start by taking a look at sparkierjonesz's game which got into a seemingly closed game after move 11:

However, their opponent thinking that the position was always going to be closed ventured forth with 15. Kd2:

Here, Stockfish points out that Black can crack the position open with 15... Bxc5!!, for example, 16. dxc5 d4! 17. exd4 e3+! 18. fxe3 Ne4+! and White is ill-equipped to defend against Black's attack. This motif is available for many moves ahead. However, it was missed by both players.

The game continued somewhat cagey. The rooks came off. Then sparkier set up a tactic which was missed by their opponent:

25... Bxh4! and an important pawn goes. This is not just a pawn, it also gives black an easy plan to create a passed pawn on that side of the board which, given the positioning of White's pieces, is hard to stop.

Desperate, White tries to make something happen on the queenside with 27. Na6:

However, this just drops a piece to 27... Nxa6 28. Bxa6 Qa5+, and the game concluded soon after by attacking White's exposed king with the extra piece.

Meanwhile, Knubz_the_Red's opponent chose the hippopotamus structure against them:

Unperturbed, Knubz_the_Red set out to slowly gain space with their pawns, reaching this position with 14. c5:

Here their opponent blundered with 14... g4 because 15. c6! wins a piece with tempo, not giving Black time to capture on f3.

The other two boards are relatively even. Thus with one won game and another game a piece up, the match is looking rosey.

Chessy McChessface 1-0 Wessex Some Stars H

70 minutes after the match started:

Cozy Tomatoes

We last saw Lordb0rn a pawn down out of the opening. After some exchanges, the game reached an opposite colour bishop middlegame:

It is somewhat well known that opposite colour bishops give drawing chances in the endgame, but it is less well known that this actually does not apply in the middlegame. Instead, opposite colour bishops give an advantage to the attacker, because they are able to effectively have a piece advantage on the squares which are the same colour as the bishop.

Hence, the race is to be the first to activate their pieces. 21. Bf4! was essential, and now if black continues with 21... fxe5 22. Bxe5 putting real pressure on the Black squares. For example 22... Rf7 23. Qh4! wins back the pawn because of a double attack against the rook on d8 and the pawn on h6. Compare this with the continuation in the game: 21. exf6 Rxf6 22. Bf4 Bf5 23. Rbe1 Rg6! and suddenly Black's king is looking very safe and it's White's king that is looking in jeopardy. Under big pressure, Lordb0rn lost an exchange with 25. Qh5:

25... Bd3! wins the rook. And worse still, the attack is by no means over because 27... d4! later uncorks an attack on g2. Lordb0rn tried to put up resistance, but resigned at move 46.

K_A_L_E entered the Schlechter Variation of the Slav:

I am no expert, but I've played the Slav myself and it seems that that if Black wants to go for dxc4 lines as K_A_L_E chooses here at move 6, it is much better for the bishop to be on the f8-a3 diagonal. On the other hand, the line I recommend would be the Semi-Slav Meran which has huge theory, and it may be a conscious choice to try to sidestep this.

But the opening choice did work. K_A_L_E developed pieces into good positions while their opponent drifted. One example of this can be seen in the position after 15 moves:

Here White was spooked at the "threat" of Black playing a4, and played 16. a4 themselves. This was a big positional concession because now the Black knight can nest itself in b4 forever, the b3 pawn is also weak, and Black's play is not halted because they can slowly prepare b5 anyway. Instead, White could ignore the "threat", or they could also play 16. a3 because if Black tried 16... a4 17. b4! halts all play because Black has no pawn breaks except c5 which is all but impossible.

Play continued relatively logically until 20. Nc4 attacking the a-pawn:

K_A_L_E ignored this attack and played the thematic 20... b5!? Finding the evaluation after 21. axb5 intending Nxa5 is not easy, and it may be even more difficult to predict how the game may have gone with White had chosen this line. Instead, White chose the bad 22. Ne5 where 22... Be6! would have highlighted the weakness in the b3 pawn caused by 16. a4. Black seems to be much better, for example 23. Bc2 bxa4 24. bxa4 Nxc2 25. Rxc2 Bxe5 26. dxe5 Rxd1 27. Qxd1 Bb3 wins the exchange. But Black continued with 22... Be8 which keeps all the positional trumps but they will need to look for another opportunity to win the game. This was duly found after 26. Nd3?:

K_A_L_E found 26... f5! White found the best defence, but K_A_L_E found the best line through the complications, and White lost a piece and soon after the game.

So it comes down to LOF77's game, where LOF77 needed to win due to the match situation. It started out with a King's Gambit which I know nothing about so I will refrain from commenting on it. At the 70 minute mark, the game had played 15 moves:

Both sides are down to just 15 minutes on their clocks, but it seemed quiet and equal. Can LOF77 create chances for a win?

Cozy Tomatoes 1-2 Beckenham

Chessy McChessface

We last saw Knubz_the_Red win a piece. They quickly won another piece in the exact same way two moves later:

Here Black played 17... gxh3, which loses another piece to 18. bxc6. Knubz_the_Red then went on to win the game relatively smoothly.

UsernameTaken96's game started with a Closed Sicilian, which looked like this after 7 moves:

UsernameTaken96 decided to try to play d4 here (alternative ideas are a4 and/or f4). Needing to support it with c3, the knight on c3 thus needed to move out of the way. They thus decided on 8. Na4. But this gets hit by 8... b5! 9. Nb2. Jesus de la Villa calls b2, b7, g2 and g7 as the knight's "dumb squares" where it only controls 4 squares, and worse still, it can't actually go to two of them because of the black pawn on b5. Better would have been 8. Nb1, where it can reroute via d2 and c3.

After some more adventures (notably UsernameTaken96 missed that 12. c4 or 13. c4 would have won a piece - when your heart is set on d4, a move like c4 might not hit the scanner), both UsernameTaken96 and their opponent played d4 and d5 respectively to reach this position:

Now is UsernameTaken96's last chance to untangle the knight with 16. Nd3 Bf6 17. Ne5, and the position is precarious but still holding. But UsernameTaken96 saw an opportunity to put pressure on the knight on d5 with 16. Rd1 Bf6 17. Qd3. Now it's their opponent's last chance to untangle with 17.... Nc3, but instead chooses 17... Nb4 18. Qe4 Qe7 19. a3 and the knight is trapped!

UsernameTaken96 is now a piece up but their opponent has still a puncher's chance because UsernameTaken96 has to untangle carefully. The biggest problem is that the White knight on b2 is still pinned to the rook on a1, and the bishop on c1 has to be protecting the knight whereas Black's bishops are raking down the board:

White must untangle their pieces before doing anything else, one of the simplest ways to do it is 22. Bf4 Qb6 23. Be5 neutralising the bishop, though other moves like 22. Rb1 can work too. Unfortunately UsernameTaken96 did not see the danger, and sallied forth with their with 22. Qb7 Qxb4 23. Rxa6 to capture the queenside. However, this unprotects the bishop on c1, and 23... Qe1+ picks up the bishop, leading to the following position.

We are back to material equality. Worse still, the "dumb" knight on b2 is also going to fall. After 24. Bf1 Qxc1, the knight is trapped. White does actually have an ingenious way to keep material equality with 25. Ra8 Qxb2 26. Qc6 g6 27. Rxd8+ Bxd8 28. Qe8+ Kg7 29. Qxd8 b4 30. Bc4 Bxc4 31. bxc4, but in queen endings like this it's about the quality of the passed pawns, and Black's b-pawn will queen so much sooner than White's c-pawn.

But this did not happen! Black actually played 24... Bh3 25. Qxb5 Qxc1, and now UsernameTaken96 has a final, impossible-to-find chance in the following position:

26. Na4 seems to save the knight, and Black cannot play 26... Rd1 due to mate, but when a threat is that huge, Black can prepare it with 26... h6 intending 27... Rd1 next, and White cannot do anything to save their king from checkmate. The only move to save White is exploit Black's back rank problems with the impossible looking 26. Rd6!!. Black must either allow the rooks to be exchanged upon which White can save the knight with Na4, or they can move the rook allowing Nd1 blocking the terrible threats.

However, UsernameTaken96 chose 26 Qc4 and Black wins material with 26... Qxf1+ (the engine actually cold-bloodedly suggests 26... Qb1 renewing the attack on the knight, similar to the previous line 26. Na4 h6) 27. Qxf1 Bxf1 leading to the following position:

White's best shot is to regain some material by playing 28. Rxf6, leaving rook against knight. Instead UsernameTaken96 went into the position a piece down with 28. Kxf1 and eventually lost on move 56.

So it comes down to PeregrinRook's game, where PeregrinRook only needs to draw to win the match. It started out with a Nimzo-Indian which I know nothing about so I will refrain from commenting on it. At the 40 minute mark, I mentioned that the game looked relatively even. Actually to tell you the truth, I don't actually know what is happening with all of the pawn tensions.

I am actually surprised that the pawn tensions lasted so long. Usually lower rated players would rush to resolve the pawn tensions to their detriment. Positions like these feel more like games between 2000+ rated players.

At the 70 minute mark, the pawn tensions were resolved and we reach this position:

PeregrinRook has managed to expose their opponent's king and if they can coordinate their pieces, an attack can be very dangerous. On the other hand, PeregrinRook must also be wary about an attack on their king, due to the possibility of two raking bishops combined with a pawn storm. Can PeregrinRook get at least a draw to win the match?

Chessy McChessface 2-1 Wessex Some Stars H

100 minutes after the match started:

Cozy Tomatoes

We recall that LOF77 is the final game of this match going, and they need to win in order to draw the match. After 22 moves, the following position is reached:

LOF77 has lined up their pieces against the opponent's king, but there is actually no danger because the bishop and the queen control all the key squares. However after 23. Rg3, their opponent made the kneejerk but understandable reaction of 23... g6 weakening the squares around the king. We then reach this position after the 25 moves:

LOF77 played 26. Qg5 and their opponent made another kneejerk reaction of 26.... f5. These moves are not losing by any stretch of the imagination. But you should think of the f, g and h pawns as a box around the king. Often you do end up moving one of them one square to give the king room to breathe (that is, against back rank mate), but no further. You don't really want to break the box because that will leave the king feeling uneasy.

After 32 moves, we reach the following position:

LOF77 seems to have run out of improving moves... or has they? 33. g4! must be hard to face especially since LOF77's opponent is down to 90 seconds on the clock, though with the 15 second increment it should still be holdable.

LOF77 finally gets the chance after 35. Qe5 Rce8? (35... Qe8! holds) leading to the following position:

Now we see why g6 is so weakening, LOF77 can crown the probing play with 36. Rxg6+!. LOF77's opponent cannot take the rook because 37. Qh8+ Kf7 38. Rh7+ leads to mate, so instead they must block the check with Rg7 upon which LOF77 simply wins the piece with 37. Rxe6... wait they do not play it?! What do you mean they played 36. Ne2?

Now 36... Rg7 holds everything... what's that? Black played 36... Bf7? Now LOF77 is either winning with 37. Rxh7 or they are simply losing the silly knight on e2... phew they find it. With two wins and two losses we draw the match.

Cozy Tomatoes 2-2 Beckenham

Chessy McChessface

We recall that PeregrinRook is the final game of this match going, and if they at least draw, we win the match. We last saw the game in this position, where PeregrinRook is in potential danger from the two bishops and the pawn storm:

Now in response to 19. Ba2, PeregrinRook played the excellent 19... c4! This means that it will very difficult for the b2 bishop to join in the fight, and thus lessens the danger against PeregrinRook's king. Thus PeregrinRook's opponent reverts to the pawn storm, reaching this position:

Here PeregrinRook has a choice of protecting their king with either 21... g6 or 21... f5. Due the box principle mentioned earlier, I would have preferred 21... g6, though both moves have their merits. However, after 22. Rde1, 22... g5 just seems to open up the lines against one's own king. Now the h-file comes open and the danger becomes very real. But PeregrinRook's opponent also loses the plot with 23. Rhg1 - the rook wants to stay on the h-file which will come open shortly.

PeregrinRook's opponent continues to miss more chances to put away the game. For example, at move 28:

PeregrinRook's opponent could have played 28. g5 crashing through on the kingside. This move is also available one move later. Instead PeregrinRook's opponent gives up two rooks for the queen leading to this position.

Now comes the checks: 31. Qh2+ Kg7 32. Qh7+ Kf6 33. g5+! - finally PeregrinRook's opponent finds a winning idea. After 33... Ke5 34. Qg7+ wins a piece, and instead PeregrinRook sportingly allows mate in 2. With two wins and two losses we draw the match.

Chessy McChessface 2-2 Wessex Some Stars H

Final Results and Thoughts

Cozy Tomatoes 2-2 Beckenham
Chessy McChessface 2-2 Wessex Some Stars H

Captain's pick for most exciting game: LOF77 - johnlewin

https://lichess.org/VKBoeV6K

Every player played their heart out. I look forward to the Matchday 2 with confidence.

One takeaway we can get from the analysis of these games is that king safety is very important. Try to keep your king behind three pawns. You can push one of them (usually the rook pawn) one square to prevent back-rank mate, but that should generally be the limit.