The March of the g Pawn

East Cheshire A team recorded their first win of the season on Wednesday night! Chorlton outgraded us on paper but wins by David Taylor and I saw us to a 3.5 - 2.5 victory. Whether we can still avoid relegation is another matter.

After 3 games with Black it was nice to be White for a change. My opponent played the opening carelessly and I managed to punish him, ultimately pushing my g pawn all the way to the 8th rank in the middle game!

P Ramsey vs A Sainsbury (135)

1. e4 d6
2. d4 Nf6
3. Nc3 g6
4. f4 Bg7
5. Nf3 c6
6. Bd3 O-O
7. O-O b5

According to the chess.com games database White wins 65% of the games which have this position so I guess the odds were in my favour.

8. Kh1

A useful waiting move, getting my King safe and waiting to see where he will put his pieces.

8. ... Bb7?

I think this is wrong as the weakening of the e6 squares proves to be painful for Black.

9. e5 Ne8
10. e6!? fxe
11. Ng5 Bc8

A sad retreat to the back rank for the Bishop.

12. Qe2


12. ... Nf6!

A wise decision to return the pawn. On 12. ... Nc7 I would have the possibility of Nxh7 followed by Qh5+.

13. Nxe6 Bxe6
14. Qxe6+ Kh8
15. Re1 Re8?

This looks too passive. We discussed after the game that 15. ... b4 looked better.

16. f5 gxf
17. Qxf5 Nbd7
18. g4!

Not giving Black any breathing space. Of course this opens up my King but Black has no time to exploit the open diagonal.

18. ... Nf8
19. g5 e6
20. Qh3 Ng8
21. Rf1


With the threat of Rxf8.

21. ... h6?

Maybe Qd7 was better.

22. gxh Bxd4
23. Qg4 Bxc3
24. bxc3 Qd7
25. Rg1 Nf6

Can you spot how White wins a piece here?

26. Qg7+ Qxg7
27. hxg7+

The pawns makes its vital contribution before dying.

27. ... Kg8
28. gxf8=Q+ Kxf8

White is a piece up and the attack continues.

29. Bh6+ Ke7
30. Rg7+ Kd8
31. Bg5 1-0

After 31. ... Rf8 32. Bxf6 Rxf6 33. Rg8+ wins a rook.

One of those rare games where you have all the fun and your poor opponent doesn't get out of his own half!