Jaden Jermy is one of the strongest players to emerge from the Bury Knights Junior club in recent years. This is my fourth game against Jaden and my only victory against him. It's good to end the season on a positive note!
1.Nf3 c5
2.e4 Nc6
3.d4
My previous game against Jaden in the Sicilian continued: 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.0-0 e5 6.d3 Nge7 7.Be3 d6 8.Qd2 h6 9.c3 g5 10.h4!? 1-0 Jermy,J-Lewis,A Suffolk League with a wild position
3... cxd4
4.Nxd4 Nf6
5.Nc3 d6
6.g3 g6
A new move for me in this position! GM Sethuraman recommends this no nonsense approach in his 2025 CB course on the Classical Sicilian. 6... Bg4!? is a move I have tried once only. 7.f3! Bd7 8.Be3 e6?! (8...g6 transposing to the Dragon.) 9.g4! h6 10.Qd2 a6 11.h4 + 1-0 Beach,R-Lewis,A Essex v G Manchester CC QF 1999-2000 with a strong K-side initiative. Usually I have played the safe and solid: 6... e5 aiming for a Boleslavski type position.
7.Bg2 Bd7
Black already has to take precautions around Nc6. 7... Bg7?! 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.e5 dxe5 10.Qxd8+! (10.Bxc6+? Bd7 11.Bxa8 Qxa8 12.f3 e4 with full compensation for the exchange.) 10... Kxd8 11.Bxc6 Rb8 12.Be3 White has a small but clear advantage in the endgame.
Sethuraman recommends: 7... Nxd4! 8.Qxd4 Bg7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qd3 Nd7 11.a4 Ne5 12.Qe2 Bg4 13.f3 Bd7 14.f4 Nc6=
8.0-0 Bg7
9.Re1 0-0
10.Be3!?
This move looked wrong and is certainly provocative. I had expected: 10.h3 when Black should respond (as per Sutharaman) with 10... Nxd4=.
10...Ng4
11.Nxc6 bxc6
It took me a couple of minutes to see that 11... Nxe3? is a duffer's move allowing 12.Nxe7+ Qxe7 13.Rxe3+/- with a clear pawn advantage.
12.Bd4
White can attempt to preserve his bishop with 12.Bc1. However, this leads to an extraordinarily complex position after (e.g.) 12...Qb6 13.Qe2 Bxc3!? 14.bxc3 Be6 15.h3 Ne5 16.Be3 Qa5= when it isn't remotely clear whether or not the structural damage to the White Q-side is worth the important Black dark-squared bishop.
12...e5
13.Be3 Be6
I would have prefered to eliminate Be3 immediately, but a little caution is necessary. 13...Nxe3? 14.Rxe3 Be6 15.Rd3 wins the d6 pawn.
14.Qd3
White can preserve his dark-squared bishop with 14.Bc1 but Black can then take the initiative in the centre with 14...Qb6 15.Qe2 f5. (14.Bd2? Qb6 wins the b2 pawn.)
14...Nxe3
15.Rxe3 Qc7
16.Rd1 Rad8
16...Rfd8 allows ...Rab8 and would have saved several moves on the game continuation. But I had not given up hopes of an early ...f5.
17.Qa6!?
An unusual move, with an unusual follow-up in mind - characteristic of Jaden's unorthodox style.
17...Bg4
18.f3
With the benefit of hindsight 18.Bf3 appears preferable, avoiding any (further) weakening of the dark-squares on the K-side.
Bc8
19.Qa3 Rfe8
20.b4!?
What's this? Is White even allowed to advance his pawns like this. This unorthodox move creates obvious weaknesses on c3 and c4. However, the idea is b4-b5xc6, enabling Nc3 to obtain control over the d5 square.
20...Bf8
21.Kh1 Be6
It looks like Black has to make some further moves in order to prepare the advance of the d6 pawn. But in fact, the immediate 21...d5!? can be considered. The main point is that 22.exd5 cxd5 23.Nxd5 Qxc2 24.Rc1 does not win the exchange, due to the defence 24...Qf5 and while Nd5 looks impressive, the knight does not have a pawn to support it on that square, and it may end up a target.
22.Bf1 Rb8
The immediate 22...d5! is natural and strong. I was concerned about 23.exd5 cxd5 24.Bb5. However 24...d4 25.Bxe8 dxe3 is better for Black with a powerful passed pawn on e3.
23.Rb1 h5!?
Not the best move, but a natural follow-up to Black's earlier dark-squared play. I wanted to defer ...d5 until I weakened White's K-side - so that if the c-file gets opened Qxc2 can be followed by ...Qf2 molesting the K-side pawns. Both here and on the subsequent move 23...d5! is still best.
24.Ree1 h4
25.Qa6
White should surely have played 25.gxh4 with a complex position after 25...d5.
25...hxg3
26.hxg3 d5
27.a3
The point behind b4 and Qa6. White stabilizes the Q-side and prepares Na4-c5.
27...d4
28.Na4 c5
At this point I had only 11 minutes on the clock, Jaden has slightly more.
29.b5
I was expecting 29.Nxc5 Bxc5 30.bxc5 Qxc5 31.Bd3 Kg7 Black is simply better due to his superior pawn structure and safer king's position.
29...Rb6!
For the small price of the exchange, Black converts a positional advantage into a powerful attack against the weakened White king. After this move, I'm down to less than 5 minutes, and my score sheet visibly deteriorates. The rest of the game was played with between 5 minutes to 10 seconds on the clock. Great entertainment for our travelling supporters!
29...c4 is the normal move, but I was concerned about 30.b6. Nonetheless Black retains an advantage after 30...Qc6! since 31.Qxa7 fails to Ra8.
30.Qa5
White can avoid ceding even a pawn for the exchange with 30.Nxb6 axb6 31.a4 c4! (31...Rb8 does not catch the queen due to 32.a5 Bc8 33.axb6 ) 32.a5 Bc5 33.axb6 Bxb6 34.Qa3 Kg7 gives Black an obvious attack. Note that for practical purposes the bishop on b6 is a stronger piece (and will remain so for a number of moves) than either of the White rooks, while the passed b5 pawn just provides a shelter for that bishop.
30...c4
31.Nxb6 axb6
32.Qd2 Bxa3
White now proceeds to make four queen in a row, after which the queen can find nothing better than to return to d2. It's hard to justify the loss of 4 tempi in any position, but I'm not sure even with best play, White's position is salvageable.
33.Qh6 Bf8
34.Qh4 Kg7
35.Qg5 Be7
36.Qd2 Rh8+
37.Kg1 Bc5
38.Bg2 Qd7
39.Kf1 d3
40.c3
White obviously wants to avoid the devastating ...Qd4. But cementing the passed-pawn on d3, gives White a positionally lost game - irrespective of the attack on the White king. 40.cxd3 Qd4 41.Ke2 Rh2 42.Rg1 c3-/+
40...Rh2
41.g4
Necessary in view the threat of ...Bh3.
41...Qe7
42.Re3 Qh4
Black has umpteen ways to win this position, and the reader is invited to find the swiftest path. However, an important principle of "hanging-flag" chess is not to try to find the most elegant solution, but simply one which certainly wins.
43.Rbe1 Qg3
43...Rh1+! wins the queen on d2.
44.Kg1 Bxe3+
44...Rxg2+! picks up both rooks.
45.Rxe3 Bxg4
45...Rxg2+! forces through a queen, as in the game (a tactic I noticed immediately after playing my move).
46.Qf2
46.fxg4 Rxg2+ 47.Qxg2 Qxe3+ {or even 47...Qxg2+ 48.Kxg2 d2)
Qxf2+
47.Kxf2 Rxg2+
48.Kxg2 d2
Here it's time to resign (even given the time situation). White plays on hoping to fabricate a stalemate trap.
49.fxg4 d1=Q
50.Rf3 Qe2+
51.Kg3 Qxe4
52.g5 Qd5
53.Rf6 Qxb5
54.Kf3 Qb2
55.Ke4 Qxc3
56.Kd5 Qd4+
57.Kc6 c3
Here I picked up the Black queen from Board 1 as it will soon make an appearance on c1 and White conceded.
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