The great tradition of the Varsity match rolls on, ringing in the 141st edition earlier this month at the Royal Automobile Club in Pall Mall, London. Oxford were slight favourites, but the match finished on a knife edge. The game on board 2 was particularly hard-fought, with both sides having winning chances at different stages.
This diagram shows the position after the advance 56 f4-f5, with Jan Petr (Cambridge) playing White. Striving to win the game, he has advanced his pawn to f5 instead of capturing the pawn on d3 (which led to a straightforward draw).
Jan Petr (Cambridge)-Emil Powierski (Oxford)
Varsity Chess Match, March 2023
(See left diagram)
White’s move would be justified by 56…a3 57 fxe6 a2 58 e7 a1=Q 59 e8=Q, with an easy win with the extra knight. But in fact Black was handed a golden opportunity. The correct response was 56…Bxf5! since after 57 gxf5 a3 the pawn duo is unstoppable. One last throw of the dice is 58 Nxf7 a2 59 Ng5 a1=Q 60 f7, hoping for 60…Qf6 61 Ne6+. But 60…Qa5+! is stronger, and wins eventually, e.g. 61 Kxd3 Qxf5+ followed by 62…Kd7 56…Bd5 57 Nxd3 Kd6 58 Kc3 Be4 59 Nf2 Ke5 60 Kb4 Bc2 61 Kc3 Bb3 62 Kb4 Kxf6 63 Ne4+ Ke5 64 Ng5 Kf6 65 Nxf7 Even without the kingside pawns, the position would be drawn. White withdraws the king to a1, and Black’s advances will only end in stalemate. Draw agreed
Oxford’s missed opportunity was offset by a surprise turnaround on board 7, where Imogen Camp (Cambridge) had enjoyed a winning attack in the middlegame, but allowed Nugith Jayawarna (Oxford) to escape into a drawish rook endgame. Jayawarna kept going, and even scored a win in the final minutes of the six-hour match, which thus ended in a 4-4 tie. Daniel Gallagher (Cambridge) was awarded the brilliancy prize for this win on board 4.
Daniel Gallagher (Cambridge)-
Max French (Oxford)
Varsity Chess Match, March 2023
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 f3 e6 4 Nc3 Nf6 5 e5 Nfd7 6 f4 c5 We have transposed from the Caro Kann via the ‘Fantasy variation’ (3 f3) into a variation of the French defence. White appears more familiar with the middlegame which arises. 7 Nf3 Nc6 8 Be3 cxd4 9 Nxd4 Nxd4 10 Bxd4 Be7 11 Qg4 g6 12 O-O-O Nb6 Nd7-b8-c6, to contest the d4 square, was worth considering. 13 h4 Bd7 13…h5 was essential, to prevent the incursion of White’s rook. 14 h5 Rf8 15 hxg6 hxg6 16 Rh7 Qc7 17 Bd3
(See right diagram)
Simple and strong, since 17…O-O-O 18 Bxg6 fxg6 19 Rxe7 wins easily. Bc5 18 Bxg6 Bxd4 After 18…fxg6, the clearest win is 19 Nb5! Qc6 20 Bxc5 Qxc5 21 Nd6+ Kd8 22 Nxb7+19 Bxf7+ Rxf7 20 8+ Rf8 21 Qg6+ Ke7 22 Qg7+ Rf7 23 Qg5+ Black resigns
Comments