English Chess Forum

"Best of Chess" on this forum doesn't get used much, so I thought I'd post this game of Keith Arkell's from a few days ago when he was on his way to 7/7 at the Isle of Wight Seniors section:
[Event "2026 Isle of Wight Chess Tournament"] [Site "Isle of Wight"] [Date "2026.02.18"] [Round "4"] [Board "1"] [White "Arkell, Keith C"] [Black "Dunnington, Angus J"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A00"] [WhiteElo "2463"] [BlackElo "2279"] [PlyCount "55"] [EventDate "2026.02.16"] [EventRounds "7"] [EventCountry "ENG"] 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. c4 Bg4 4. Nc3 e6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bg5 Be7 7. Bxe7 Ngxe7 8. e3 O-O 9. Bd3 Bh5 10. O-O Bg6 11. Bxg6 hxg6 12. h4 Nc8 13. g3 N6e7 14. Kg2 Nd6 15. Rh1 c6 16. h5 f6 17. hxg6 Nxg6 18. Nh4 Ne7 19. Rh2 Qe8 20. Qb3 f5 21. Nf3 Ng6 22. Ne2 Kf7 23. Rah1 Rh8 24. Rxh8 Nxh8 25. e4 fxe4 26. Ne5+ Kf6 27. Nf4 Rb8 28. Rh7 1-0

12. h4 surprised me and it would never have occurred to me to consider playing it.
and then 25. e4 was a real shocker! Both Qxe4 and fxe4 look like plausible replies and that would have been the end of my analysis of that line, even assuming that I had considered e4 in the first place.

Playing h4 or h5 in front of a castled King is becoming quite a common motif these days, and Black's doubled g-pawns are a target in this position - but e4!! lifts this game well above the ordinary, even if it is quite "obvious" once it is actually played.

I did wonder about e4, then decided it didn't work!

Very nice game Keith! 25.e4!! deserves to win any game. If 26..Kg8 27.g4! continues the theme and wins with Keiths favourite move.

No idea what the continuations are after Nick's 26...Kg8 27.g4.

I did however look at the final position where presumably Angus Dunnington resigned, and moves like 28...Qg8 and either knight to f7 seem to fail to 29. Nh5+ and the g-pawn and more goes.

28...g5 allows 29.Rh6+. Not sure what White plays after 28...g6. I am sure a computer would tell me, but pondering this for a bit. Oh! 29.Nd7+ wins the rook on b8.

There will be other variations, but presumably Black is out of any sensible moves at this point, other than resigning. Amazing.

EDIT: White has the immediate threat 29.Nh5+ and 28...Nf5 fails to 29.g4. No way to avoid the g-pawn falling (or worse) so resignation more than justified.

Christopher Kreuzer wrote: ↑

Sat Feb 21, 2026 9:25 am

No idea what the continuations are after Nick's 26...Kg8 27.g4.

28.Qh3

Hard game to compute.

Apart from its soon-to-be attacking intentions I see that 12 h4 also has the significant point of preventing Black from playing ...g5. Only Keith is allowed to play that move in his games. I'm not sure what he would have done had Black opted for 14...c6 15 Rh1 f6, preparing to meet h4-h5 with ...g5 again. Perhaps offered a draw