John Nunn vs Raymond Keene - Hammersmith 1971.??.??Tags:John-NunnRaymond-KeeneJohn Nunn vs Raymond KeeneHammersmith 1971.??.??Modern Defense 0-1[Event "Hammersmith"] [Site "?"] [Date "1971.??.??"] [EventDate "?"] [Round "?"] [Result "0-1"] [White "John Nunn"] [Black "Raymond Keene"] [ECO "B06"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "44"] 1. e4 { Notes by Raymond Keene. } g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. f4 Nc6 {I have always been tempted by this move, which puts immediate pressure on White's broad pawn centre. The best reply is 5 Be3 but in the early days of this variation White players frequently allowed the coming pin.} 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be3 Bxf3 7. gxf3 {In order to avoid losing a pawn White must allow his pawns to be shattered. Black's best now is the immediate 7...d5, as I later played against Ludgate and the German Grandmaster Unzicker. After 8 Nxd5 e6 or 8 exd5 Nb4 9 Bb5+ Kf8 followed by ...Nxd5 Black has a fine position.} 7...e6 {!?} 8. Qd2 d5 9. f5 {! True to his energetic style the teenage prodigy, who later went on to become one of Britain's strongest players, and a renowned expert on sharp openings, seeks to eradicate his strategic inferiority by blasting the position open.} 9...exf5 10. exf5 {? 10 Nxd5! is far better, leaving the issue still in doubt.} 10...Qh4+ {The idea of playing ...Qh4 to disrupt the opponent's development or take a sideways swipe at the pawn centre crops up frequently in my games. A parallel is the game Keene - Eales, Cambridge 1968 which started 1 d4 f5 2 Nc3 d5 3 e4 e6? 4 exf5 exf5 5 Qh5+ g6 6 Qe2+ Be7 7 Bg5+-.} 11. Bf2 Qe7+ 12. Be2 Bh6 13. f4 O-O-O 14. O-O-O Qd6 15. Bg3 gxf5 {Black has a grip and an extra pawn.} 16. Rhf1 Nge7 17. Bf3 Bg7 18. Qf2 Rde8 19. Qg2 {? White loses patience and allows Black's king's bishop to enter the game with devastating effect.} 19...Nxd4 20. Nxd5 Nxd5 21. Bxd5 Ne2+ 22. Kb1 Qb4 {White resigns on account of the amusing mate 23 Bb3 Nc3+ 24 bxc3 Qxc3 25 Kc1 Qb2+ 26 Kd2 Re7 27 Bh4 Rd8+ 28 Bd5 Qc3+ 29 Kc1 Qa3+ 30 Kd2 Qe3 mate.} 0-1 Download PGNUpdated: 31 January, 2022Created: 31 January, 2022Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.comments powered by Disqus
