Scottish Centenary Tournament

Last updated 22 February 2004

Povah,N (2475) - Bohak,J (2395) [A66]
SCCA-100, 1984
[Notes by Nigel Povah]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f4 0-0 6.Be2 [The off-beat 6.Bd3 was seen in Carnstam-Pyrich, III European TT Prelims, continuing: 6...Nc6 7.Nge2 Bg4 8.Be3 e5 9.fxe5 dxe5 10.d5 Nd4 11.Qd2 Bxe2 12.Bxe2 c6 13.0-0 Qa5 14.Bd1! 1-0 in 31.]

6...c5 7.d5 e6 8.Nf3 exd5 9.e5 A gambit which is very testing for Black. He has big decisions to make right away: does he exchange pawns on e5, and where does the knight move to? [ The more restrained 9.cxd5 was played in Chandler-Slinger, British CC Championship, 1989-90, continuing: 9...Bg4 10.e5 dxe5 11.fxe5 Nfd7 12.e6 fxe6 13.0-0 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Ne5 0-1 in 24.]

9...Ng4 [9...Ne8 10.cxd5 Bg4 11.Ng5 Bxe2 12.Qxe2 Nc7 13.0-0 dxe5 14.fxe5 Nxd5 15.Nxf7 Nxc3 16.bxc3 Qd5 17.e6 Nc6 18.Nh6+ Gibbs-Singleton, British CC Championship, 1983-84, 1-0.; 9...Ne4!? 10.cxd5 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Nd7! 12.0-0 dxe5 13.fxe5 Nxe5 14.Ng5 b6 15.Bf4 h6 16.Ne4 Bb7 17.c4 f5 18.Nf2 Qf6 Alcock-Williams, British CC Championship, 1984-85, 0-1.; 9...dxe5 10.fxe5 Ng4 11.Bg5 Qa5 12.cxd5 Nxe5 13.0-0 Re8 14.Nxe5 Bxe5 15.Bb5 Bd7 16.Bd3 c4 17.Bc2 Qb6+ 18.Kh1 Qxb2 19.Bd2 Bg4! Chandler-Hawley, British CC Championship, 1986-87, and cool defensive simplification by Black resulted in 0-1.]

10.cxd5 dxe5 11.h3 e4 12.hxg4! A line which has produced some strong attacks on the Black king. [ The older continuation yields little, eg: 12.Nxe4 Nf6 13.Nxf6+ Qxf6 14.0-0 Nd7 15.a4 Qd6 16.Qb3 Nf6 17.Bc4 b6 18.Be3 Bb7 19.Rad1 Rad8 20.Rd3 Rfe8= Chandler-Singleton, BPCF Open.]

12...exf3 13.gxf3 Re8 [Informator shows 13...f5? to be suspect by the line: 14.Be3 b6 15.Bc4 Re8 16.d6+ Be6 17.Bd5+/- ]

14.f5 In OTB, an extremely troublesome move for Black to meet.

14...b6 [14...Nd7 15.Bh6 Bxh6 16.Rxh6 Ne5 17.Kf2 gxf5 18.Qc2! Qg5 19.Rah1 Ng6 20.Rxh7 fxg4? (20...Qe3+~~ )21.Rh8+! Nxh8 22.Qh7+ Kf8 23.Qxh8+ Ke7 24.d6+ Kd8 25.Qxe8+!! Kxe8 26.Rh8+ Kd7 27.Bb5+ Ke6 (27...Kxd6 28.Ne4+ )28.Re8+ Kf5 29.Bd3+ etc. Catalan-Saeed, Dubai Olympiad.; 14...Qb6 15.Bh6 Qxb2 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Rc1! ]

15.fxg6 [15.Kf1 Ba6 16.Bxa6 Nxa6 17.Ne4 Nb4 18.d6 gxf5 19.gxf5 Re5 20.Bg5 f6 21.Qb3+ Nd5 22.Rd1 c4 23.Qxc4 Rc8 24.Qb3 Kh8 25.Rxd5 Rxd5 26.Qxd5 fxg5 27.d7 Rc1+ 28.Ke2 Truran-Adams, Ward Higgs, 1984-85, 1-0.]

15...hxg6 [15...fxg6 16.Kf1! Ba6 17.Bxa6 Nxa6 18.d6! (Informator)]

16.Ne4! A strong pawn sacrifice completely in the spirit of the opening. [ 16.Kf1 Ba6 17.Ne4 Bxe2+ 18.Qxe2 Nd7 19.Qh2 Nf8 20.Bh6 Be5 21.Qd2 Qd7 22.Bg5 f5 23.Nf6+ Bxf6 24.Bxf6 Qd6 25.g5+/- Huerta-Nogueiras, Santa Clara, 1984.]

16...Bxg4 17.Bg5 f6 [17...Qd7 18.Nf6+ Bxf6 19.Bxf6 Bh3 (19...Bh5 20.Rxh5 gxh5 21.Kf2 Qf5 22.Qg1+ Qg6 23.Bd3 Qxg1+ 24.Rxg1+ Kf8 25.Bh7+- )20.Kf2 Qf5 21.Bc3+/- ; 17...Qc7 18.d6 Qc6 19.Nf6+ and wins.]

18.Bh6 Nd7 [18...Bf5 19.Ng3! Bc8 20.Qd2+/- with Kf2 or 0-0-0 to follow.]

19.Qd2 Nf8 20.Bxg7 Kxg7 21.Qh6+ Kf7 [21...Kg8 22.Qh8+ Kf7 23.Rh7+ Nxh7 24.Qxh7+ Kf8 25.Qxg6+- ]

22.Qf4 Winning the exchange with thethreat of Nd6+

22...Rxe4 23.Qxe4 Bf5 24.Qf4 b5 25.Kf2! This thematic move comes in very late this time.

25...Qd7 [25...Qxd5 26.Bxb5 Qd4+ 27.Qxd4 cxd4 28.Rad1 Rd8 29.Bc4+ Kg7 30.Rd2 Idea Rhd1, and wins.]

26.a4! A decisive loosener.

26...g5 27.Qe3 c4 28.Qd4 Kg6 29.axb5 Ne6 Letting White finish in style. [ 29...Nh7 30.b6 ]

30.Rh6+! It's mate despite the presence of the two Black minor pieces. 1-0