Swindles

Diligent explorers of this website may have found a little collection of the finest swindles that I had perpetrated in my career, up to the point where I established this website.nbsp; I pulled off another one so appalling that I thought it too should be displayed as a dreadful warning to others.nbsp; The serendipity of life ensured that a week or two before, hot new signing Tim Paulden had pulled off a win when a piece down in an endgame, and a week or two after, I witnessed Ian Jamieson come out with a win in a position that the most sympathetic reading would say was unpromising.

Click [...] to see list of games

[Event "East Devon Jamboree"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.01.17"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Annetts, Ivor"]
[Black "Regis, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C02"]
[PlyCount "68"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2009.08.10"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Bd7 6. a3 f6 7. Bf4 cxd4 8. cxd4 g5
$4 (8... Qb6 {Iregui,V-Lo Presti,R/79th ch-ARG 2004/0-1 (39)}) 9. Nxg5 $1 (9.
Bg3 g4 10. Nh4 Qb6 {was my idea...}) 9... h5 {Well, I thought I might resign,
but I had to give another player a lift home, and what was I going to do for
the next three hours? So, the main thing for the next few moves is try not to
lose my queen or get checkmated.} (9... fxg5 10. Qh5+ Ke7 11. Bxg5+ Nf6 12.
Bxf6#) 10. Bd3 f5 11. Be2 Bg7 12. Bxh5+ Kf8 13. Nf7 Qb6 14. Nxh8 Bxh8 {So, the
loss is the Exchange and two Pawns, but I'll get one Pawn back...} 15. b4 Nxd4
16. Nc3 Nc6 17. Qe2 Qd4 18. Qe3 Qxe3+ 19. fxe3 Nxe5 {So, now the pawns are
level, and we have the same number of pieces, and White hasn't got the Rh1
going, so I'm doingbetter!} 20. Bxe5 Bxe5 21. Rc1 Nf6 22. Bf3 a5 23. b5 Ke7 (
23... Bxc3+ 24. Rxc3 Bxb5 {wins a pawn but I was scared it will still lose
because of swapping pieces} 25. Rb3 Bc6 26. h4 {This pawn may be very
dangerous, and Black doesn't have any active pieces any more.}) (23... Rc8 $5)
24. a4 Rh8 {Black's Be5 is a monster.} 25. Kf2 (25. g3 $1 Bxg3+ {was what
White was afraid of, but} 26. hxg3 Rxh1+ {The Rook is defended backwards.} 27.
Bxh1) 25... Rh4 {Black is just being active and creating pressure where he can.
} 26. Bd1 $4 Bxc3 $1 27. Kg3 (27. Rxc3 Ne4+) 27... Rb4 28. h4 (28. Rxc3 Ne4+)
28... Be5+ 29. Kf3 Be8 30. Kf2 Bh5 31. Bxh5 Nxh5 32. Kf3 Rxa4 33. Rb1 d4 (33...
Ng3 34. Rh3 Ne4 35. Re1 (35. Rd1 Ra2)) 34. exd4 Bxd4 (34... Bxd4 35. g4 {
trying to swap pawns} Ra3+ 36. Ke2 Nf4+ (36... Ng3+) 37. Kd2 $2 Ra2+ 38. Ke1 $2
Ng2+ 39. Kd1 Ne3+ 40. Ke1 Bc3#) 0-1

[Event "ICC"]
[Site "Internet Chess Club"]
[Date "2009.12.24"]
[Round "?"]
[White "WoollyMitten"]
[Black "KnightClub"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "1756"]
[BlackElo "1809"]
[PlyCount "112"]
[EventDate "2009.??.??"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Bg4 4. Be2 Bxe2 5. Nxe2 Qxd5 6. O-O e6 7. b3 c5 8.
c4 Qh5 9. Ng3 Qxd1 10. Rxd1 cxd4 11. Rxd4 Nc6 12. Rd1 Bc5 13. Bb2 Ke7 14. Nd2
Rad8 15. Nde4 Bd4 16. Ba3+ Kd7 17. Nxf6+ gxf6 18. Ne2 Kc7 19. Nxd4 Rxd4 20.
Rxd4 Nxd4 21. Be7 Rg8 22. Bxf6 Nf3+ 23. Kh1 Rg6 24. Bc3 Nh4 25. g3 Nf5 26. Rd1
Rg4 27. Be5+ Kc8 28. h3 Re4 29. Bf6 Re2 30. g4 Rxf2 31. gxf5 Rxf5 32. Bd4 b6
33. Kg2 Kb7 34. Bf2 Kc6 35. Bg3 Rg5 36. h4 Rg4 37. Kf3 h5 38. Rd6+ Kc5 39. Rd7
f6 40. Rxa7 e5 41. Rf7 e4+ 42. Kg2 Rg6 43. Rc7+ Kd4 44. Rd7+ Ke3 45. Kh2 Kf3
46. Be1 f5 47. Bc3 Kf2 48. Rg7 Rg4 49. Rxg4 hxg4 50. h5 e3 51. h6 g3+ 52. Kh3
g2 53. Be1+ Kf1 54. Bg3 g1=Q 55. h7 Qh1+ 56. Bh2 Qg2+ 0-1

[Event "Devon v Somerset"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2010.02.13"]
[Round "?"]
[White "McFinley, C."]
[Black "Jamieson, Ian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A10"]
[PlyCount "128"]
[EventDate "2010.??.??"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[SourceDate "2010.02.24"]

1. c4 b6 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 Bb7 4. e3 f5 5. g3 Nf6 6. Bg2 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Qc2
Qe8 9. d4 Qh5 10. Qe2 Ng4 11. h3 Nf6 12. Ne5 Bxg2 13. Qxh5 Nxh5 14. Kxg2 d6 15.
Nd3 Nd7 16. Nb4 a5 17. Nc6 Bg5 18. f4 Bh6 19. Nb5 Nhf6 20. Nxc7 Kf7 21. Nxa8
Rxa8 22. b3 Ne4 23. g4 g6 24. Ba3 Bg7 25. Rac1 h6 26. d5 exd5 27. cxd5 Ndf6 28.
gxf5 Nxd5 29. fxg6+ Kxg6 30. Rf3 b5 31. Nd4 Bxd4 32. exd4 Kf5 33. Rc6 b4 34.
Bc1 h5 35. Kf1 Ndc3 36. a4 Nd5 37. Kg2 Rg8+ 38. Kh2 Ra8 39. Rf1 Ndf6 40. Rg1
Ra7 41. Rg2 d5 42. Rgc2 Nc3 43. Bd2 Nfe4 44. Rc8 Nxd2 45. Rxd2 Kxf4 46. Re8 Ne4
47. Rc2 Ke3 48. Re5 Kxd4 49. Rxh5 Kd3 50. Rc8 Rd7 51. Kg2 Nc3 52. Rc5 Kc2 53.
Rxa5 Kxb3 54. Re5 d4 55. Re1 Kc2 56. Rf5 d3 57. Rf2+ d2 58. Rh1 Rg7+ 59. Kh2 b3
60. a5 b2 61. Rff1 Ne2 62. a6 Nc1 63. Rf5 b1=Q 64. Rc5+ Kd3 0-1


I am reminded of the wise words of Grigory Sanokoev:

"There are no hopeless positions; there are only inferior positions that can be saved.
"There are no drawn positions; there are only equal ones in which you can play for a win.
"But at the same time, don't forget that there is no such thing as a won position in which it is impossible to lose."
--Grigory SANAKOEV

[I am grateful to my esteemed former colleague Peter Lane for drawing my attention to this quote.]

Class: