Raymond Keene vs William Hartston - Southend 1968.??.??Tags:Raymond-KeeneWilliam-HartstonRaymond Keene vs William HartstonSouthend Southend 1968.??.??King’s Indian Attack 1-0[Event "Southend"] [Site "Southend-on-Sea ENG"] [Date "1968.09.??"] [EventDate "1968.09.08"] [Round "?"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Raymond Keene"] [Black "William Hartston"] [ECO "A05"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "107"] 1. Nf3 { Notes by Raymond Keene. } Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O c6 6. Qc2 d5 7. b3 Bf5 {I am convinced that the best move in this and similar positions is ...Bg4 with the intention of capturing on f3 and setting up a solid barrier of pawns in the centre.} 8. d3 Qc8 9. Bb2 {I saw no reason to waste time preserving the g2-bishop from exchange. I felt that Black's light squares would be more likely to suffer than White's if such an exchange occurred.} 9...Bh3 10. Nbd2 Bxg2 11. Kxg2 Nbd7 {11...a5! followed by ...Na6 is more active. The text impairs the freedom of movement of Black's queen.} 12. Rac1 Re8 13. Rfe1 e6 {13...e5 14 cxd5 cxd5 15 Qb1 Qb8 16 c4 would still be better for White but not quite so overwhelming as the text.} 14. e4 dxe4 {Since this leads to almost immediate disaster it might have been more advisable to allow White to play e5, although Black would then be in some danger of gradual suffocation.} 15. dxe4 e5 16. c5 b5 {A radical method of breaking White's grip on d6, but otherwise Nc4 followed by b4 and moving rooks to the d-file would be fatal for Black.} 17. cxb6 axb6 18. a3 {! Not 18 a4? b5! and Black equalises. If now 18...Bf8 then 19 h4! so Black must play ...c5 to avoid losing a pawn.} 18...c5 {Now Black has weak light squares, a bad bishop and vulnerable points in the d-file. It is remarkable how swiftly White's pieces are able to seize all the key posts and occupy their naturally attractive squares.} 19. Nc4 Qc7 20. a4 Nh5 21. Rcd1 Bf8 22. Rd5 f6 23. Red1 Nb8 24. Qd3 Qc6 25. Nd6 Re6 26. Qc4 Ng7 27. Nb5 Na6 28. Rd7 {Black has no good move available and must now lose at least the exchange.} 28...Kh8 29. Na7 Rxa7 30. Rxa7 Nc7 31. b4 b5 32. axb5 Nxb5 33. Rd8 Re8 34. Raa8 Nd6 35. Qxc5 Qxa8 {! The only way of putting up any further resistance. The remainder of the game is fairly simple, if lengthy, technique and requires little comment.} 36. Rxa8 Rxa8 37. Qd5 Rb8 38. Bc3 Rb5 39. Qa8 Kg8 40. Qa2+ Kh8 41. Nd2 Rb8 42. Qb3 Nb5 43. Ba1 Ne8 44. Nc4 Ned6 45. Nxd6 Nxd6 46. Qe6 Kg7 47. f4 Nxe4 {It says much for Hartston that even in this hopeless situation he continues to play the best move available.} 48. fxe5 f5 49. Qd7+ Kh6 50. e6 Ra8 51. Bd4 Ra2+ 52. Kg1 Bxb4 53. Qg7+ Kg5 54. Qxh7 1-0 Download PGNUpdated: 31 January, 2022Created: 31 January, 2022Please enable JavaScript to view the comments powered by Disqus.comments powered by Disqus
