Horsham Club Rapidplay 2024-25: Mansson – Ratcliffe

   [Event "Horsham Club Rapidplay"]  [Site "Horsham"]  [Date "2024.11.26"]  [Round "2.1"]  [White "Mansson, James C"]  [Black "Ratcliffe, James"]  [Result "1/2-1/2"]  [ECO "C88"]  [Annotator "Mansson,James"]  [PlyCount "81"]  [GameId "2116333093618773"]  [EventDate "2024.09.01"]  [EventType "tourn (rapid)"]  [EventCountry "ENG"]  [SourceVersionDate "2024.11.26"]   1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O b5 6. Bb3 Be7 7. Re1 O-O 8. a4 {White decided to avoid the Marshall Attack.} b4 9. d4 d6 10. dxe5 Nxe5 11. Bf4 Ng6 12. Bg3 Nh5 13. Nbd2 (13. Qd5 Bg4 $11) 13... Nxg3 14. hxg3 Bf6 15. Nc4 Be6 16. Nd4 $6 {This allows Black to grab a pawn.} (16. Rb1 $13 {was better, covering the b-pawn.}) 16... Bxc4 $1 17. Bxc4 c5 18. Nf5 $6 {The knight is not well-placed here.} (18. Nc6 Qc7 19. e5 $5 $15) 18... Bxb2 19. Rb1 Bc3 20. Rf1 Qc7 $2 {Black was going to play ...Qe7, but realised at the last moment that Nxe7+ would be the response. However, he had a strong way to consolidate his advantage.} (20... Ne5 $17) 21. Qxd6 Qxd6 22. Nxd6 Ne5 23. Bd5 $6 {White should have moved the bishop back to e2, to allow the knight to be defended by a rook on d1.} (23. Be2 $11) 23... Rad8 24. Nf5 $2 {The knight should go the other way, as it is driven back to a passive square from here.} (24. Nb7 Rc8 25. Rfd1 $15) 24... g6 25. Ne3 Kg7 26. Rfd1 Bd4 27. Kf1 Bxe3 28. fxe3 Ng4 {Black now has a massive advantage because of White's weaknesses.} 29. Ke2 Nf6 $6 {Black starts to go a bit wrong with this move, preparing to swap the knight for the bishop, since the exchange actually helps White.} (29... a5 $19) 30. Kf3 Nxd5 $6 {Black should not make this exchange.} (30... a5 $17) 31. Rxd5 $6 {White should keep both rooks on.} (31. exd5 Kf6 $15) 31... Rxd5 32. exd5 Kf6 $6 (32... f5 $1 $17 {was stronger, impeding both e4 and Ke4.}) 33. Ke4 Rd8 $6 {Black should have the checked the king to drive it to an inferior square.} (33... Re8+ $1 34. Kd3 Ke5 $15) 34. Rf1+ Ke7 35. Ke5 Rd6 36. Rxf7+ $5 {This was played based on a slight oversight, but White is still fine.} Kxf7 37. Kxd6 c4 $1 {White had missed that Black can create a passed pawn of his own.} 38. Kc7 b3 39. d6 $2 {White was actually better off delaying the advance of the pawn.} (39. c3 $1 b2 40. d6 b1=Q 41. d7 {White cannot be stopped from queening, while Black has to deal with the fact that he is currently two pawns down. White can win a pawn back, but Black can force perpetual. For instance:} Qd3 42. d8=Q Qxc3 43. Qd7+ $11) 39... bxc2 40. d7 c1=Q 41. d8=Q {The remaining moves were not recorded. White managed to force perpetual check.} (41. d8=Q Qxe3 42. Qd5+ Qe6 43. Qd4 h5 $17 {Black would seem to have good winning chances here. However, he didn't go down this route.}) 1/2-1/2