Andrew Whiteley, who has died aged 67, belonged to the generation of players who ushered in the ‘English Chess Explosion’ of the late 1970s. Most of them cut their teeth as students at either Oxford (Botterill, Lee, Markland, Whiteley) or Cambridge (Hartston, Keene, Stean, Williams). Whiteley made his mark early, winning the British Under 21 Championship in 1965 aged 18.

This game, with Whiteley’s notes, is typical of his clear positional style with the White pieces and his favourite 1 d4.

 

Andrew Whiteley – Nikolaos Skalkotas

England v Greece, Olympiad (3)

Skopje 1972

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 g3 Bg7 4 Bg2 O-O 5 Nc3 d6 6 Nf3 c6 7 O-O Qa5

The Kavalek Variation.

8 h3

This cuts across Black’s plan of transferring the queen to the kingside since 8…Qh5 is met by 9 g4. The game now transposes into a well-known variation more often reached by the move order 6…Nbd7 7 0-0 e5 8 e4 c6 9 h3 Qa5

8…Nbd7 9 e4 e5 10 Be3 Re8

10…exd4 used to be popular but recent games have shown that 11 Nxd4 Nb6 12 Nb3! followed by 13 c5 is very strong.

11 Re1

11…b5

If now 11… exd4 12 Nxd4 Nb6 13 c5!.

12 dxe5

12 c5 was tempting but Black can equalize by 12…b4 13 Na4 d5!.

12…dxe5 13 Nd2 a6

13… b4 was slightly better though White retains a slight advantage after 14 Qa4.

14 a3 Nf8 15 Nb3 Qc7

Better is 15…Qd8.

16 cxb5 axb5

After 16… cxb5 17 Rc1 Black’s queen would be exposed but this was the lesser evil since now c6 and c5 are very weak.

17 Rc1 Qb8 18 Na2 Bb7 19 Nb4 Rd8 20 Qc2 Rc8 21 Nc5

21…N6d7 22 Nxd7 Nxd7 23 Red1

23…Nf8

The attempt to lift the blockade by 23…c5 fails to 24 Rxd7 cxb4 25 Qb3!.

Now White cannot prevent the freeing 24…c5 without reducing his pressure on c6 by 24 Nd3 or Bc5 and so chooses to convert his advantage into another form.

24 h4 c5 25 Nd5 Bxd5 26 Rxd5 c4 27 Bh3 Ne6 28 Bxe6 fxe6 29 Rd7

White’s better bishop and pawn formation guarantee him a lasting advantage.

29…Rd8 30 Rcd1 Rxd7 31 Rxd7 Qc8 32 Qd2 Qc6 33 Bg5

If 33 Qd6 Qxd6 34 Rxd6 c3! gives Black counterchances. Now Black is in a sort of zugzwang since the natural 33…Rf8 fails to 34 Qd6! when Black is a tempo behind the previous variation. Black’s position was probably lost anyway but he shortens the struggle with a blunder.

33…Qxe4?? 34 Rxg7+ 1-0

34…Kxg7 35 Qd7+ Kg8 36 Bf6 Qe1+ 37 Kg2 Qe4+ 38 Kh2 wins.

Andrew Whiteley in Keene and Levy, Chess Olympiad Skopje 1972 (Batsford, 1973), pp.165-167.

He was a resourceful defender, especially in the French:

 Kupreichik-Whiteley

World U21 Ch, Groningen 1965

White to play

White is winning and needs to find a way to infiltrate Black’s position with his queen. A good plan is 24 Qd2, threatening both Nf5+, Qd6+, Rd1 (with mate to follow) and Qc2-h7/a4. Kupreichik overestimates his chances and lunges with

24 f5? 

Opening lines of attack but crucially allowing the dark-squared bishop to breathe.

24…Rxe5 25 Qf2 Bf6 26 Qc2 Rd5 27 fxe6 fxe6

28 Re1?? Rxd4! 29 Qa4 a5 30 Qc2 Rd3 31 Qe2 Bd5 32 Rf1 Kd7 33 Rd1 Be7 0-1