Miller time! How Bobby beat his Macau opponent
IN my round-up of Bermuda’s achievements in the recent Olympiad in Turin, we now turn to the performance of our third board, Bobby Miller, who played so well in the 2004 event in Majorca, earning himself a FIDE rating of 1970 in the process.Bobby (pictured) was unable to reproduce this terrific form consistently in Italy, but still won some very nice games. The best was probably played in round four against Macau, a match which I sat out and was therefore able to watch online — this also meant that Bobby was promoted to board two.
Our captain, Nick deFirmian, had discovered that his opponent generally played an offbeat defence to Bobby’s regular choice of 1. e4, and had shown him a strong way to meet this line. He was therefore able to play the opening with confidence, always a pleasant way to start the game, and went on to produce an excellent strategic victory.
White: B. Miller
Black: R. Fesalbon
1. e4, Nf6
Alekhine’s Defence, a somewhat unusual but very tricky choice which can baffle the unprepared. Fortunately Bobby knew what to do.
2. e5!
The only challenging move.
Nd5 3. d4, d6 4. c4, Nb6 5. exd6
Not the only way to proceed, but the most solid. White is guaranteed a long-term spatial advantage, and from now on can just play chess.
cxd6 6. Nc3, g6 7. Nf3, Bg4 8. Be2, Bg7 9. h3, Bxf3 10. Bxf3, Nc6 11. Bxc6+, bxc6 12. b3, 0-0 13. 0-0
With both players making sensible moves we have reached Diagram 1. It’s hard to claim that White has a big advantage, but his position should prove the easier to play.
Rb8 14. Be3, e5!?
Black is the first to lash out, which may have been a mistake, but finding defensive moves is always difficult.
15. Ne2, d5 16. dxe5, Bxe5 17. Rc1, Rb7 18. cxd5, cxd5 19. Nd4
See Diagram 2. White has a beautifully posted knight, and a weakness on d5 to aim at, things are going well.
Qd7 20. Nc6, Bf6 21. a4, Rc8 22. Nd4, Rcc7 23. Qd2, Nc8 24. Rxc7, Rxc7 25. Rc1, Ne7?
This turns out to be a mistake, but I like White’s position anyway.
26. Rxc7!
Winning a pawn.
Qxc7 27. Nb5, Qb7 28. Bxa7, Nf5 29. Bc5, Kg7 30. b4, Be5 31. Nd4, Nh4 32. b5, h5 33. a5, Bb8
Black cannot fight against the passed pawns, but has one trick left. Bobby could have nailed this down with a move such as 34. Qc3, but decided instead to take the attack on the chin.
34. a6!?, Qc7! 35. Qc3, Qh2+
See Diagram 3. Watching on the Internet, I was rather nervous here, but it turns out that our man’s calculations were watertight.
36. Kf1, Qxg2+ 37. Ke1, Qh1+ 38. Kd2, Bf4+ 39. Kc2, Qc1+ 40. Kb3, Qb1+ 41. Ka4
The white king has been chased right across the board, to a spot where he is completely safe!
Qa2+ 42. Ba3, f6?
A blunder, but it was hopeless anyway, since after a short break for the king’s expedition White can now get on with queening his pawns.
43. Ne6+, Kh6 44. Nxf4, Nf5 45.a7
[obox] At the local club, we have now reached the halfway stage of the 2006 competition for the Kemper Memorial Trophy. In round three Ezra Turner won an exciting game on top board against Sami Lill, and is now in sole lead on three points. I shall give fuller details next week.
