William Hartston vs Raymond Keene - Cambridge 1970.??.??

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William Hartston vs Raymond Keene
Cambridge Cambridge ENG 1970.??.??
French Defense: Winawer Variation, Advance Variation 1/2-1/2

[Event "Cambridge"]
[Site "Cambridge ENG"]
[Date "1970.??.??"]
[EventDate "?"]
[Round "?"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[White "William Hartston"]
[Black "Raymond Keene"]
[ECO "C18"]
[WhiteElo "?"]
[BlackElo "?"]
[PlyCount "41"]

1. e4 { Notes by Raymond Keene. } e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5
c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qc7 7. Nf3 Ne7 8. a4 b6 {Black's last
move intends ...Ba6, exchanging White's dangerous king's
bishop. The English team had spent some time in joint
examination of this line before the Olympiad, with Hartston
supporting White's prospects and Lee, Whiteley and myself
inclining towards Black's chances.} 9. Bb5+ Bd7 10. Bd3 {White
expends a tempo to prevent the aforementioned exchange. This
idea stems from an early Fischer win against Darga.} 10...Nbc6
11. O-O h6 {First played by Krogius and given an "!" by
Keres. It is dangerous for Black to play 11...O-O on account
of Bxh7+ possibilities. Black must also prevent the manoeuvre
Nf3-g5-h3-f4-h5. Frankly, I don't see any other viable idea
for Black in this position, and his next move seems forced as
well. } 12. Re1 {A definite improvement on the 12 h4? which
Hartston played against me at Coventry earlier in the
year. The English team had also looked at the position (after
12 Re1) before the 1970 Siegen Olympiad and concluded that if
now 12...O-O then 13 Bxh6 gxh6 14 Qd2 Kg7 15 Qf4 was critical
for Black in view of the possibility of Re3-g3 (or Rh3) and
h4-h5. I then discovered the resource 12...O-O 13 Bxh6 c4!?
which I felt was adequate for Black. However ...} 12...O-O {By
this stage I suspected that Hartston had not come to the board
unprepared for this variation.} 13. Bxh6 {And this confirmed
my suspicions.} 13...c4 14. Bh7+ {I must admit that this move
had escaped my attention. Hartston had discovered 14 Bh7+ the
afternoon before this game was to be played. His analysis was
14...Kxh7 15 Ng5+ Kg8 16 Bxg7 Kxg7 17 Qh5 or 15...Kxh6 16
Qg4. After the game he confessed that he had barely considered
my actual 14th move, which introduces a whole range of new
complications.} 14...Kh8 {! A droll situation. Black appears
to be dangling over the brink of a precipice, but his position
reveals unexpected resources - Note, in particular, that the
bishop on h7 is trapped!} 15. Ng5 {Another serious plan is 15
Bc1. Post mortem analysis finally produced the following line:
15...f6 16 Ng5 fxg5 17 Qh5 Ng8 18 Bxg5 Be8 19 Bg6+ Nh6 20 Bxh6
gxh6 21 Qxh6+ Kg8 22 Bxe8 Raxe8 23 Re3 Qh7! and Black still
lives.} 15...gxh6 16. Qh5 Kg7 17. Re3 f6 {! Just in time. If
now 18 exf6+ Rxf6 19 Rg3 Black could try 19...Qxg3 and
20...hxg5, although there is probably no need for such extreme
measures.} 18. Rh3 hxg5 {Not 18...fxg5 19 Qxh6+ Kf7 20 Rf3+
Nf5 21 Bg6+ etc.} 19. Qh6+ Kf7 20. Qh5+ Kg7 21. Qh6+ {And
White opted for a draw by perpetual check. After 21...Kf7 22
Qxf6+ Ke8 Black's king runs away. Or 22 exf6 Ke8 23 fxe7 Nxe7
and White has nothing really convincing to show for his
pieces. At the close of the game White had 2 minutes on his
clock to reach move 36, while Black had 45 minutes to spare,
but it would still have been foolhardy of Black to play for
the full point; e.g. 20 Qh5+ Ng6? 21 Qxg6+ Ke7 22 Qg7+ Rf7 23
exf6+ threatening all sorts of horrors. A draw seems a fair
result. Later analysis proved, after all, that Black could
indeed have accepted the sacrifice with 13...gxh6 14 Qd2 Kg7
15 Qf4 Ng8! but I still harbour a fond affection for this
unique game, with its strange double bishop sacrifice
declined.} 1/2-1/2

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Updated: 30 January, 2022
Created: 30 January, 2022