Death Anniversary of IM Simon Webb (10-vi-1949 14-iii-2005)

Name: Death Anniversary of IM Simon Webb (10-vi-1949 14-iii-2005)
Start: 2023-03-14T00:00:00+00:00
End: 2023-03-14T23:59:59+00:00

March 14, 2023

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We remember IM Simon Webb (10-vi-1949 14-iii-2005)

David Nixon and Simon Webb at the London Evening Standard Congress

Simon became England’s fourth Correspondence Grandmaster in 1983 following Keith Richardson, Adrian Hollis and Peter Clarke.

IM Jonathan Speelman vs IM Simon Webb at the 1978 British Championships in Ayr, Courtesy of John Upham

[Event "British CF-61 Championship"] [Site "Clacton on Sea/ Essex"] [Date "1974.08.14"] [Round "9"] [White "Webb, Simon"] [Black "Hartston, William R"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A31"] [Annotator "Simon Webb and Bill Hartston"] [PlyCount "74"] [EventDate "1974.08.05"] [EventType "swiss"] [EventRounds "11"] [EventCountry "GBR"] [SourceTitle "EXT 2000"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.11.16"] [SourceVersion "1"] [SourceVersionDate "1999.11.16"] [SourceQuality "1"] {[%evp 0,74,19,29,18,21,56,-11,-17,-25,25,16,18,-3,56,33,50,36,37,36,38,34,59, 54,58,44,43,48,44,23,44,31,47,31,43,36,24,22,8,17,17,-16,-27,-79,-109,-66,-59, -94,-86,-61,-65,-168,-179,-171,-224,-224,-199,-199,-202,-202,-56,-161,-80,-90, -162,-338,-326,-489,-539,-548,-311,-401,-465,-389,-337,-616,-671]} 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. d4 c5 3. c4 (3. d5) 3... cxd4 4. Nxd4 b6 $1 {An unusual move allowing White full control of the centre and with no particular intrinsic merit. Its get an exclamation mark however, because the player of the white pieces is S. Webb! I always like to fianchetto my king’s bishop in such positions and this is the one move which prevents me from doing so. Had it occurred to me that Hartston might play this move I would have played 3.g3 or 2.c4 and then 3.g3.} 5. Nc3 Bb7 6. f3 d6 7. e4 e6 8. Be2 Be7 9. O-O O-O 10. Be3 Nbd7 {Putting White very much on the spot to find a plan, despite his spatial advantage for four ranks to three. Again quotes from the two players : “Now the position bears a strong resemblance to a Sicilian. I felt quite happy now since I seem to have spent half my life playing positions of this type, while my opponent, not normally an e4 player, had to be less familiar with the problems” : Hartston. “Objectively speaking, I knew that this position was good for White but from this point I had to decide on some sort of strategy. Should I go for f4 and then f5? Or g4 and then g5? Or try to and get play against the backward d-pawn by doubling rooks on the d-file? None of these plans looked particularly convincing so I settled for putting my rooks in the centre and waiting to see what happened ! Its no good having a good position if you don’t know what to do with it!”} 11. Qd2 a6 12. Rfd1 Qc7 13. Rac1 $14 Rac8 14. Bf1 Qb8 15. Qf2 Rfe8 {“White has made a series of natural moves and maintains a spatial advantage; nevertheless I believe that Black already has the better prospects. The Black pieces, are at first sight a little cramped, are beautifully placed to leap into action after the thematic d5 breakout, possibly with a pawn sacrifice” : Hartston Indeed it seems that the best White can hope for is to try and prevent b5 or d5 by perhaps 16.Nc2 followed by Rd2 and Rcd1 although even in that case his c-pawn is weak.} 16. Kh1 $2 {Weirdly enough this is the most popular move here.} (16. g4 {(is the 2020 engine’s choice)}) 16... Bf8 17. Nc2 Ne5 18. Bxb6 {An ugly sort of move. The loss of the b-pawn is inconsequential compared with the disappearance of White’s valuable c-pawn which is restraining Black’s advances.} ({The alternative} 18. b3 $2 b5 $1 { was even worse.}) (18. Na3 $2 d5 $1) 18... Nxc4 19. Bxc4 (19. Ba7 Qa8 20. b3 Nb2 21. Rd2 Rxc3 22. Bd4 Na4 23. bxa4 Rc6) 19... Rxc4 20. Ne3 Rc6 21. Ba5 { The bonfire is lit and now the fireworks begin. Hartston immediately activates his entire force giving Webb no time to reorganise his disjointed position} d5 $1 22. exd5 exd5 23. Nf5 {[#] taking the pawn with either night loses immediately so Webb tries to put up some sort of blockade on d If he could indeed achieve this, then he would have defensive chances} ({e.g.} 23. Nexd5 Nxd5 24. Rxd5 Rxc3 $19) ({and e.g.} 23. Ncxd5 Nxd5 24. Rxc6 Nxe3 $19) {By the following sacrifice Hartston rips open the position} 23... d4 $1 24. Nxd4 (24. Rxd4 $2 Bc5) (24. Qxd4 Rc5 $1 {[%cal Gc5a5,Gc5f5]} (24... Re5 $1 {[%cal Ge5f5, Ge5a5]})) 24... Rc5 {[%cal Gc5a5,Gc5h5]} 25. Bb6 Rh5 26. h3 Ng4 $3 { highlighting the fantastic coordination in the Black camp. Although this move doesn’t lead to immediate mate White has no way of reorganising his defence to meet the threats.} 27. fxg4 {This is one offer that cannot be refused.} ({if} 27. Qg1 {then} Qg3 $1) 27... Rxh3+ 28. Kg1 Qh2+ 29. Kf1 Rg3 30. Rc2 Rxg4 $1 ( 30... Bxg2+ 31. Qxg2 Rxg2 32. Rxg2 Qf4+ 33. Kg1 Qd6 34. Ba5 Qc5 35. Kf1 Qxa5 $19) (30... Rxg2 31. Qxg2 Bxg2+ 32. Rxg2 Qf4+) 31. Qg1 Qh6 32. Nf5 $2 {A wild attempt at playing actively which only succeeds in losing back the piece without blunting Black’s attack. But it is difficult to see how White could defend.} ({If} 32. Ba5 {the reply} Bc5 {leaves White hopelessly tied up}) ({ while} 32. Nb3 {allows} a5 {[%cal Gb7a6] with the powerful threat of Ba6+}) ({ Possibly} 32. Ba7 {would have been the best chance} {planning to meet} Rh4 ({ After} 32... Re5 {it is difficult to find a move which doesn’t lose something (Webb)}) {with} 33. Nf5) 32... Qf6 33. Rf2 Qxb6 34. Qh2 a5 35. Qh3 Rg6 36. Nd5 $2 {there was no defence to Ba6+ but this loses a straight piece.} Qb5+ 37. Kg1 Bxd5 {and White resigned} 0-1 You must activate JavaScript to enhance chess game visualization.