[Event "Bury st edmunds congress "]
[Site "Moreton Hall"]
[Date "2021.10.24"]
[Round "5"]
[White "David May"]
[Black "Steven Ashworth "]
[Result "*"]
[WhiteElo "1465"]
[BlackElo "1513"]
[TimeControl "90 plus 15 secs"]

1. d4 f5 {We had worked out we would be paired and as he knows I play the London
we had been teasing each other with insane openings we would 'definitely' play,
he plumped for the complicating Dutch} 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 b6 4. Nf3 e6 5. c3 Bd6
6. Bg3 {If he takes he castles into a storm up Harry's alley} 6... O-O 7. Nbd2
{Here he took 15 minutes to think} 7... Ba6 {This works in some lines to
neutralize the light square problem but here it is I think the wrong choice} 8.
Bxa6 Nxa6 9. Qe2 {The knight is poor} 9... Qc8 {The queen is now also poor} 10.
Ne5 Qb7 11. O-O c5 {An error, a variation on a common trap in the London, I can
win a pawn with} 12. Nxd7 {He now very much surprised me with the very bold}
12... Bxg3 13. Nxf8 {I get the exchange but does he have tactics on the king $2}
13... Bxh2+ 14. Kxh2 Rxf8 {He realized after bxg3 that the knight hangs if the
queen joins the attack and bailed} 15. Kg1 {I'm plus 3 and feeling good} 15...
Nb8 {The old undeveloping malarky} 16. Qf3 {A fairly naive offer of a queen
trade, he will never accept} 16... Ne4 17. Nxe4 fxe4 18. Qg4 {He looked engaged
and I could put work out why, I'm being blind to danger here} 18... Rf6 19. dxc5
{Still ok, but do get that queen back in the game........} 19... Rg6 20. Qf4
{Looking at Qd6} 20... Nd7 21. cxb6 e5 {Computer still loves it but my queen is
now stuck on the wrong side and from here I slowly give away all my advantage}
22. Qh4 Nf6 23. Qh3 Ng4 24. f3 {Just a horrible blunder, completely rushed and
no excuse other than tiredness and thinking despite everything my advantage had
to hold, and really impetuous to get pieces off} 24... Nxe3 {He offered a draw
but I didn't accept as I still had further screwing up to do} 25. Rf2 h6
{Clever, it prevents a mating net and allows the queen to move} 26. Re1 {I'm
just not seeing the threat am i $2} 26... Qxb6 {That latent pin is utterly brutal}
27. fxe4 Nxg2 28. Qxg2 {Offered the draw he accepted, we can both win this, but
he needs a half to share first and whilst a win and I share first I would be
devastated to get nothing from a game I was utterly dominating. Computer has it
0.27 black so dead even, I marginally prefer white but I much prefer white 5
moves earlier $1} *