[Event "Hillingdon League: Ealing vs WLCC"] [Site "The Actonians Sports Club, Gunnersbury Drive, Ealing."] [Date "2025.02.24"] [White "HAYLER, Andy"] [Black "WINTERBOTHAM, Mark"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteTeam "West London"] [BlackTeam "Ealing"] [Board "5"] [Variant "Standard"] [ECO "C41"] [Opening "Philidor Defense: Exchange Variation"] [Annotator "https://lichess.org/@/gurshg"] [StudyName "WLCC games"] [ChapterName "HAYLER, Andy - WINTERBOTHAM, Mark"] [Source "https://lichess.org/study/tR7VVX0U/IgDuhfzt"] [Orientation "white"] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 e5 { Now I chose to enter the Philidor rather than a dull endgame. } 3. Nf3 exd4 { Black has various alternatives here but this is the most played move. White has a win rate io 46% v black of 27%. } 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Be7 6. Bf4 { 6, Be2 ... is most common but I like this line, planning to castle queenside. } 6... O-O 7. Qd2 a6 { 7. ... Nc6 or 7. ... d5 are more common but this is the third most tried move out of no less than ten in the chess opening explorer database. } 8. O-O-O { This is the idea for White; nothing subtle, just go for mate. } 8... Re8 { This looks a bit slow to me, though it has been played. 8. ... b5 seems most natural. } 9. f3 Bd7 { Now we are out of the book. 9. ... b5 is still on the beaten track. } 10. g4 { Nothing subtle about this line. } 10... Nc6 11. h4 { I had considered 11. Nf5 ... initially and indeed this was best, avoiding the possible swap of knights on d4. } 11... Ne5 12. Be2 { Again I looked at Qg2 and should have played this, though Be2 is OK. } 12... b5 13. Rdg1 { Logical and best } 13... b4 14. Nd1 Nexg4!? { Actually, a pretty good practical move, as Black is getting pushed off the board. } 15. fxg4 { 15. h5! ... just ignoring this was best, as White has the g file to play with. Again, I did consider it, but grabbed the material instead. } 15... Nxe4 16. Qd3 Bf6 { 16. ... Bf8! was best. White is still better, but there a lot of work to do. } 17. Bf3 { This is best and quite natural. } 17... d5 { swapping on d4 was optimal, though White is still well on top. } 18. Re1? { This was an error though. 8 g5! ... was my original idea and this was indeed best. } 18... Bxh4? { This looked suicidal though. 18. ... c5! and Black was firmly back in the game. } 19. Bxe4 { Correct. } 19... Bxe1 20. Bxd5 { Even stronger was Bxh7+ } 20... g6? { 20. .. Bh4 was Black's least bad move. } 21. Bxf7+! { This was a nice finish. If Black takes then he is mated quite fast. } 21... Kg7 22. Rxh7+ { but he is mated if he does no take also. } 22... Kxh7 23. Qxg6+ Kh8 24. Qh6# { Mate on the board. } 1-0