Marc Obi in the 4NCL Congress - Bedford Chess Club

Marc details his recent success and shares an interesting game against a strong opponent …

“Chess is 99% tactics” is a saying attributed to Richard Teichmann. In the just concluded 10^th 4NCL Congress, there were ‘tons’ of tactics both missed and actualized in my games. I managed to end the tournament in 2^nd place with 4/5…and some prize money. Here is my game against the top seed of the U2000 FIDE section which I participated.

   [Event "10th 4NCL FIDE RATED CONGRESS; U2000 SEC"]  [Date "2016.09.11"]  [White "Obi, Marc (1815 FIDE)"]  [Black "Whitehead, Mark (1990 FIDE)"]  [Result "1-0"]  [PlyCount "143"]  [EventDate "2016.??.??"]   1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 d6 {I won a game in an earlier round using the London system  and decided to give it another go} 3. Nf3 g6 4. h3 Bg7 5. e3 c6 6. c3 O-O 7.  Bd3 Nbd7 8. O-O Re8 9. Bg5 Qc7 10. Nbd2 e5 11. dxe5 dxe5 12. e4 Nc5 13. Bc2 Ne6  14. Be3 b6 15. Bb3 Ba6 16. Re1 h6 17. Qc2 Rad8 18. Bc4 b5 19. Be2 Nf4 20. Bf1  Bc8 21. Kh2 g5 22. g3 Ng6 23. a4 g4 24. hxg4 Nxg4+ 25. Kg1 Nxe3 26. Rxe3 a6 27.  axb5 axb5 28. c4 bxc4 29. Bxc4 Be6 30. Rc3 Bf8 31. Bxe6 Rxe6 32. Ra6 Rc8 33.  Qa4 Kg7 34. b4 Be7 35. Nb3 Rf6 36. Nfd2 Qb7 37. Nc5 Qb5 38. Qxb5 $1 {wins  nicely as} cxb5 39. Rxf6 Bxf6 ({or} 39... Kxf6 40. Nd7+) 40. Ne6+ fxe6 41. Rxc8  Be7 {at this point I was getting low on time and as the game progressed I did  not find several tactical shots to end the game quicker than it did, but at  move 69 I set a tactical trap that sealed the deal} 42. Rb8 Bxb4 43. Nf3 Kf6  44. Rxb5 Be7 45. Kg2 Bd8 46. Kh3 h5 47. Nh4 Ne7 48. Rb8 Bc7 49. Rh8 Kg5 50. Rh7  Bd6 51. Rh8 Bc5 52. f3 Bd6 53. Ng2 Ng6 54. Rd8 Be7 55. Ra8 Kf6 56. f4 Bd6 57.  Ra6 Ke7 58. f5 Nh8 59. Kh4 exf5 60. exf5 e4 61. Nf4 Nf7 62. Kxh5 Kf6 63. g4 Ke5  64. Ne2 e3 65. Kg6 Nd8 66. f6 Ne6 67. g5 Bb4 68. f7 Be7 69. Ra7 $1 Bxg5 {falls  for it!} 70. Ra5+ Ke4 71. Rxg5 Kd3 72. Ng1 1-0