England has always underperformed in the chess Olympiad. The last time England medaled (a bronze) was in 1990 with a team of Nigel Short, Jonathan Speelman, John Nunn, Michael Adams, Murray Chandler, and Julian Hodgson. And the last time the country finished in the top 10 was 2002 when it came in seventh. This year it may be more of the same, as a terrible fourth-round loss to the Netherlands may signal the beginning of another sub-par performance.
Gawain Jones is a former British champion (2012) and the author of several books, most recently a two-volume set on the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian as viewed from the black side (“The Dragon, Volume One and Two,’’ Quality Chess, 2015). He is known for his aggressive and perhaps reckless style of play. Today’s game is his fifth-round win over the young (13) Vietnamese player Anh Khoi Nguyen, in which, true to his nature, Jones plays a positional queen sacrifice. This creates immeasurable complication, which the young Nguyen gets lost in.
2016 42nd Olympiad, Baku, Azerbaijan
Anh Khoi Nguyen (2448) - Gawain Jones (2635)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0–0 5.Nf3 d6 The King’s Indian Defense has long been a favorite of Jones’, this is in spite of its dubious theoretical standing. 6.h3 e5 7.d5 Na6 8.Be3 Nc5 9.Nd2 Nh5!? Very provocative as it gives White a free tempo on the queenside. 10.b4 Na6 11.a3 Qe8 11…Qe7!? 12.c5 f5 13.cxd6 cxd6 14.Nb5 Forcing the issue. 14...f4!? 15.Nxd6?! This may be OK for White but he’s asking for trouble and clearly doesn’t understand Gawain Jones intentions at all. Safer and saner is 15.Bxa7 which after something like 15…Qe716.Rc1 Bh6 17.Rc2 Nf6 18.Bd3 f3 19.Nxf3 Bd7 20.Bb6 Nxe4 21.0–0 Rac8 22.Re1 Bxb5 23.Rxc8 Rxc8 24.Bxb5 White is better. 15...fxe3!! Of course a positional queen sacrifice. Though Black may not be better and in fact may still be worse, this certainly creates interesting complications. 16.Nxe8 exf2+! Though exd2+ gains more material, White has much less to worry about after 17.Qxd2. 17.Ke2 Ng3+ 18.Kd3 Rxe8 Black only has two pieces for the queen but White's king is on the run, the black’ f-pawn has potential and the White rook on h1 is in trouble. 19.Kc2? 19.Qa4 is better preventing Black’s easy development with Bd7 and forcing the unclear 19…Bf5 (if 20.exf5 e4+ 21.Kc2 Bxa1) 19...Bd7 20.Bc4Ba4+ 21.Bb3 Bb5 22.Kb2?! Weak. White needs to bail out with 22.Bc4 forcing Black to either repeat the position with 22…Ba4+ or to ,unwisely, try for more with 22…Rac8 23.Kb3 Bd7 but after 24.Qf3 Black is struggling 22...Be2! Now the f-pawn is a real problem for White. 23.Qb1 Overly passive. The computer suggests 23.d6+ Kh8 24.Qc2 Rac825.Bc4 Red8 26.Rhc1 Bh6 27.Qb3 Rxd6 28.Rc2 Rxd2 29.Rxd2 Bxc4 30.Qxg3 Bxd2 31.Qxf2 with near equality 23...Bh6 24.Nf3 Kh8 25.Ka2 Rac8 25...Nc7 may be better aiming for b5 and then c3 causing major mayhem in the White position 26.Qb2?! 26.d6 is Whites’ last chance here but after 26… Nb8 27.Qb2 Bf4 28.Rab1 Nd7 29.Bd5 Bd3 30.Qb3 Bc2 Black is still winning 26...Nxe4 Now, the roof caves in on White as 27…Nc3+ is hard to meet. 27.Raf1 Bxf1 28.Rxf1 Nc3+ 29.Ka1 e4 The a1–h8 diagonal will be the ruin of White. 30.Qxf2 exf3 31.Qxf3 Bg7 32.d6 Re2 Faced with a mate starting with 33…Nd1+ White gave up, i.e.; 33.b5 Nd1+ 34.Kb1 Rb2+ 35.Ka1 Rc1#; 0–1
Chris Chase can be reached at BostonGlobeChessNotes@gmail.com.
