Tomkovich-Hickman, KCC v West Orange 2005

White to play and win after 36....Rd6

Greg gave me his game from the West Orange match. He lost the first half but won the more important second half. Once he gained the advantage, there was no stopping him. The diagram above is taken from his game and you can find the "solution" below.

To play over the game in Fritz, simply select it, copy it to the clipboard (Edit>Copy), then open Fritz and use Edit>Paste>Paste Game to load it.

[Event "Kenilworth CC at West Orange CC"]
[Site "West Orange, NJ USA"]
[Date "2005.06.28"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Tomkovich, Greg"]
[Black "Hickman, Herb"]
[Result "1-0"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[TimeControl "G60"]

1. d4 f5 2. c4 ({Anyone who plays the Dutch must be ready to encounter any number of lines that White can throw at him, including} 2. Bg5 $5 {hoping for} h6 3. Bh4 g5 4. e3 ({or} 4. e4 $5) 4... Nf6 (4... gxh4 $4 5. Qh5#) 5. Bg3 d6 $11) (2. e4 $5 fxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f3 $44) (2. g4 $5 fxg4 3. e4 d5 $1 $15) 2... Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Bf4 { A solid idea for White, working to control the dark squares.} ({It is probably rare when a club player of the Dutch faces the supposedly "standard"} 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. g3 d6 6. Bg2) 4... d6 5. h3 {This move might not be necessary, since White would not mind Black wasting time to exchange at f4, when exf4 retains the dark-square bind with extra time and the better minor pieces for the closed position.} Bg7 6. Nf3 O-O 7. e3 Qe8 $5 {To support a potential ...e5 push. But this seems premature and commital. Usually Black prepares central action by c6 and Nbd7, when the Queen might go to c7 or a5 rather than e8 depending on what White does.} (7... Ne4) 8. Nb5 $6 { This seems a bit off-base as a way of trying to "punish" Black's last.} ({ Fritz 8 likes} 8. c5 $5 dxc5 $6 9. Bc4+ e6 10. Bxc7 $14) ({ Other ideas to delay Black's central plans include} 8. Qb3 Kh8 9. Nd5) ({or} 8. Nd5 $5 Na6 9. Nxf6+ Bxf6 10. c5 $5) 8... Na6 9. Qb3 Kh8 (9... c5 $1 $11) 10. Bd3 Be6 $6 ({Black has much better in} 10... Nd7 $1 {which forces through ... e5! and has the potential to fork the f3-Knight and d3-Bishop with ...e5-e4.}) 11. d5 (11. O-O) 11... Bg8 12. O-O Nc5 13. Qc2 Nxd3 14. Qxd3 Qd7 15. Rac1 c6 16. Nc3 Rfd8 {Preparing Black's next.} ({A better idea, though, may be} 16... b5 $1 17. cxb5 (17. dxc6 bxc4 18. cxd7 cxd3 $15 19. Rfd1 (19. Bg5 e5 $1 $17) 19... e5 $5 20. Bxe5 dxe5 21. Nxe5 Rad8 22. Rxd3 Ne4 $17) 17... Nxd5 18. bxc6 ( 18. Nxd5 Bxd5) 18... Qxc6 19. Nxd5 Qxd5 20. Qxd5 Bxd5 {and Black's two Bishops and pressure against White's queenside pawns guarantee him a slight edge.}) 17. Rfd1 e5 $1 18. dxe6 Qxe6 19. b3 Ne4 (19... d5 $1 20. cxd5 Nxd5 21. Bg5 Rd7 22. Nxd5 Rxd5 23. Qe2 h6 $15) 20. Ne2 $6 d5 $1 21. cxd5 $6 (21. c5 $13) 21... Rxd5 22. Qc2 Rad8 23. Rxd5 Qxd5 24. Ned4 h6 25. Kf1 c5 26. Ne2 b6 27. Ng3 $2 g5 $1 28. Bc7 Rc8 29. Rd1 Qe6 30. Bd8 Nxg3+ 31. fxg3 Bh7 ({ Black's natural break-through is by} 31... c4 $1 $19) 32. Qd2 g4 33. Nh4 Bd4 $2 {Black is too obsessed with trying to win White's wayward Bishop. Simply continuing with his attack by} (33... f4 $1 34. exf4 gxh3) ({or} 33... gxh3 34. gxh3 f4 $1 {guarantees Black a substantial edge.}) 34. exd4 Rxd8 35. d5 $1 { Suddenly the lowly isolated pawn from e3 is transformed into a powerhouse passer at d5! Black has clearly done something wrong.} Qe5 $2 { Black is clearly reeling from the reversal of his fortunes.} ({Der Blockade by } 35... Qd6 {is necessary.}) 36. Qxh6 Rd6 37. Qf8+ $1 Bg8 38. Nxf5 Rd7 39. Qh6+ ({Better is} 39. Re1 $1 {getting all the gang involved in the attack.}) 39... Rh7 40. Qf4 Qf6 41. d6 $5 { From this point on White has a number of ways to force the win.} (41. Qxg4 $142 ) 41... gxh3 42. gxh3 Be6 43. g4 Bd7 44. Qg3 Bb5+ 45. Kg1 Bd7 46. Ne7 Rf7 47. Qg2 (47. g5 $1) 47... Qe6 48. Qa8+ Kh7 49. Qg8+ Kh6 50. Qh8+ (50. g5+ $1 $18) 50... Rh7 51. Qf8+ Kg5 (51... Rg7 52. Nf5+ $18) 52. Rd5+ $1 Kh4 53. Qf2+ $1 Kxh3 54. Qg2+ (54. Rd3+ $142 $1 {forces mate by} Kxg4 55. Rg3+ Kh5 56. Qh2+ Qh3 57. Rxh3+ Bxh3 58. Qxh3+ Kg5 59. Qf5+ $1 Kh4 60. Ng6+ {etc.}) 54... Kh4 55. Nf5+ Kg5 56. Ng7+ {winning the Queen.} 1-0