Neil Carr wrote some funny articles for Kingpin. His dynamic style of play, breezy sense of humour and fondness for excruciating wordplay made him an ideal contributor. This turbulent game appeared in Kingpin 11.
photo: Jean Lane
The dubious honour of having contributed more to this section of Kingpin than any other player falls to FM Neil Carr and here the Cheapo Supremo offers us another fine example of the swindler’s art. Truly titanic (in the strict maritime sense of the word), this encounter is a brilliant, death-defying act of chescapology, matched for sheer audacity only by the appalling puns that litter the maestro’s annotations.
Grunts and Groans from Guernsey
Neil Carr
The twelfth Lloyds Bank Guernsey International was once again a well-organised and highly enjoyable event. It was won by B. Carlier of Holland, along with J. Hodgson and R. Harris, both of England, and these players all scored six out of seven. This tournament is famous however for the topsy-turvy games it produces year after year, and here is one of my own which I feel exemplifies this type of chess.
H. Van der Poel – Neil Carr
Guernsey, 1986
1 e4 g6 2 d4 Bg7 3 Nc3 d6 4 f4 Nf6
I was feeling like a right Pirc at the time! (It gets worse -Ed)
5 Nf3 c5 6 dxc5
This line is more solid than the normal 6 Bb5+.
6…Qa5 7 Bd3 Qxc5 8 Qe2 Bg4 9 Be3 Qa5 10 O-O Nc6 11 a3 O-O 12 h3 Bxf3 13 Qxf3 Nd7 14 Bd2
After 14 b4 Qd8 15 Ne2 Bxa1 16 Rxa1 e6, White has got some compensation for the exchange, although probably not enough.
14…Qb6+ 15 Kh1 Nc5 16 Rab1
16…Nd4?!
Against Jim Plaskett at the British I played 16…Nxd3, and I now feel that this is better since I can answer 17 Qxd3 Qd4.
17 Qg3 Nxd3 18 Nd5 Qd8 19 Qxd3 f5 20 Bc3
20…e5!
A ‘too long in the sauna’ move. 20…Ne6 had to be played, although admittedly it is still worse for me.
21 fxe5 dxe5 22 Bxd4 exd4 23 Qb3!
OUCH!
23…Kh8 24 exf5 gxf5 25 Nf4!
If 25 Qxb7 Rb8 26 Qc6 Rc8 wins the pawn back.
25…Qd7 26 Rbe1 Rf6 27 Re6 Rc8 28 Rfe1 Rxe6 29 Rxe6
29…d3?
A move of real class. Third class!
30 Qxd3!
If 30 Nxd3 Rxc2 is OK for Black, and 30 cxd3 fails to 30…Qd4.
30…Qa4
If I had played 30…Qxd3 I would have lost after 31 Nxd3 Rxc2? 32 Re8+.
31 Rd6! Re8 32 Rd8 Bxb2 33 Ne6!!
And now I realised that I had lost. All the moves come to the same conclusion. If:
a) 33…h6 34 Qb3 $1 Qxb3 35 Rxe8+
b) 33…Bf6 then 34 Qxf5 Bxd8 35 Qe5+ is a bit of a blow
c) 33…Qc6 and I get squashed after 34 Qd6 Kg8 35 Qf8+!
So I now switched on to swindling mode and played…
33…Kg8
This also loses to 34 Nc5 Qc6 35 Rxe8+ Qxe8 36 Qb3+, but it does rather entice the inviting move he played.
34 Qg3+ Kf7 35 Ng5+ Kg7!
The only move.
36 Qc7+
If White played 36 Ne4+ I could have hung on with 36…Kh8. (In fact even after this 37 Nd6! is winning -Ed)
36…Kh6 37 Nf7+ Kh5
And of course I still thought it was hopeless. But I didn’t know that he was going to play…
38 Qd6??
Yes that’s right, he must also have spent too long in the sauna. And perhaps the massage parlour too!
38…Re1+ 39 Kh2
39…Be5+!!
And now he fell off his chair. (So near and yet sofa!)
40 Qxe5
If he had played 40 Nxe5 he would have got mated after 40… Qf4+.
40…Rxe5 41 g4+ fxg4 42 hxg4+ Kxg4
And now he resigned. Swindle of the year?
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First published in Kingpin 11 (Spring 1987)
