Stephen Priestley and Nathanael Paul slugged it out for 122 moves in a gripping encounter in a dramatic night of action in Shrewsbury Chess Club Championship.
Priestley sacrificed first a pawn then an exchange in a bold bid to force a decisive result against the club’s highest rated player, writes Peter Kitchen.
But Paul was relentless in his pursuit of victory in the ensuing ending, eventually breaking his opponent’s resistance after nearly two-and-a-half hours play – almost unheard of with shorter online time controls.
The game was one of three intriguing online encounters played on Friday night to meet the deadline for round two fixtures, with all three watched by a group of thoroughly entertained spectating club members.
Norman O’Connor missed the opportunity to take a free rook before drawing with Ivor Salter, while first teamers Peter Kitchen and Mark Smith shared the spoils. Kitchen was perhaps a little fortunate after misplacing a promising position and slipping into an endgame a pawn down.
Paul, defending champion Francis Best and Dan Lockett are all at the top of the table with two wins from the opening two rounds, with Smith half a point adrift. Tournament organiser tony Purser is expected to make the draw for round three imminently.
The game between Priestley and Paul started quietly as a Colle System, and in a level middlegame the queens soon came off and both sides were left with two rooks, a knight and seven pawns each.
A long manoeuvring period followed, during which Paul could lay claim to a fractional edge. But shortly after move 40 the game took a twist when Priestley surprisingly sacrificed a pawn.
The position remained roughly level – but the follow-up exchange sacrifice by Priestley on move 46 was perhaps, with retrospect a little ambitious.
A simplified ending was reached where Paul had an extra exchange (rook versus knight), but Priestley an extra pawn. Over the following 70 (!!) moves – played by both players with little time – Paul tried everything to break Priestley down, while Stephen stubbornly stayed solid and refused to give ground.
The computer evaluation of the position moved close to equal several times, while the occasional slip by Priestley went unpunished in a complex position – all while several club members watched on online.
As move 100 neared, Paul was able to grab Priestley’s h-pawn – but still work remained to break down the white player’s fortress.
More errors understandably followed from both players – including Paul missing an opportunity to win Priestley’s knight on move 119. But by now Paul had made sufficient inroads, and Priestley finally resigned three moves later.
The game – certainly one for the ages – can be seen here: https://lichess.org/dpLKYLRg
O’Connor may now be in his late 80s, but has proved a tough challenge for all club members to face in the online format.
It was no different for Salter, who spent much of the pair’s game on the back foot before escaping with a draw.
O’Connor claimed an early advantage in a Symmetrical English, and swiftly made inroads by invading with his queen.
Inexplicably, Salter put his rook en prise on move 15 – only for O’Connor to retreat his queen instead of capturing the free rook.
O’Connor still retained the advantage with a healthy extra pawn, although Salter – no doubt relieved – started to untangle his pieces and free his position. O’Connor then established two dangerous looking connected passed pawns on the c and d files – but then offered a draw that was gratefully accepted.
The pair’s game can be seen at https://lichess.org/TYdeO5pg
In the Kitchen v Smith game, Kitchen had the better of the opening – a Sicilian Dragadorf – and appeared in prime position to make inroads into his opponent’s position early in the middlegame.
But indecision set in – he missed opportunities to advantageously play Bb6 on moves 15 and 16, allowing Smith to get in his prized …d5 break and wriggle out.
Kitchen compounded his error by allowing Smith to exchange queens – and then made a tactical slip that allowed his opponent to win a pawn as the game moved into an ending.
Fortunately for Kitchen, Smith then went the wrong way with his king and Kitchen was able to drum up enough play to win the pawn back in the ensuing moves with a completely level position. The game finished as a draw by repetition on move 34, and can be seen here: https://lichess.org/UImZDWTKVuOZ.