Scarpa, Mario – Crosby, Andrew

Scarpa, Mario (1345)
Crosby, Andrew (1384)
Result: 1/2-1/2

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Date: 2 December 2025
Location: Crewe Chess Club
Tournament: 2025/2026 League Season NSDCA Division 3
Round: 1.1.4
Opening: B00 Irregular King's Pawn
Submitted by:
Published on: 3 December 2025
Categories: game

[Event "2025/2026 League Season NSDCA Division 3"]
[Site "Crewe Chess Club"]
[Date "2025.12.02"]
[Round "1.1.4"]
[White "Scarpa, Mario"]
[Black "Crosby, Andrew"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[BlackElo "1384"]
[BlackTeam "Kidsgrove 'A'"]
[ECO "B00"]
[EventDate "2025.12.02"]
[WhiteElo "1345"]
[WhiteTeam "Crewe 'G'"]

1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Bb5 e6 5.Bxc6+ {This forces Black to disrupt his pawns formation.}5...bxc6 6.a3 c5 7.c3 Qd7 8.h3 cxd4 9.cxd4 c5 10.Nf3 f6 11.Nc3 Rb8 12.O-O Qb7 13.Qa4+ {The black King is now forced to move. Protecting it with the Queen would trigger an exchange that would force it to move anyway.}13...Kf7 14.Re1 c4 15.Nh4 Ne7 16.exf6 gxf6 17.Bf4 Re8 18.Nb5 {Nd6+ is the ultimate threat, forking King, Queen and Rook... In fact, it more a trident than a fork!}18...Nc6 19.Nxf5 exf5 20.Rxe8 Kxe8 21.Nc7+ {This is arguably a blunder. While still in substantial advantage, White could have played Nxa7 instead. Black would have been forced to Qxa7, lest giving away the pinned Knight for free. Eventually Qxc6+ leaves White with the advantage of an extra pawn plus the tempo gained through check.}21...Kf7 22.Nb5 {This is another blunder White makes to protect b2. Moving Re1 would have been a much stronger move.}22...a6 23.Nd6+ {This would have been a magic fork a few moves ago, but now it is completely ineffective.}23...Bxd6 24.Bxd6 Nxd4 25.Re1 Ne6 26.Qc2 Qd7 27.Bb4 a5 28.Bxa5 Nd4 29.Qc3 Nc6 30.Bb6 Re8 31.Be3 {White hopes to lure Black into 31... d4 thinking to fork Queen and Bishop. But after 32. Qxc4+ White would still have tempo advantage and would manage to gain one pawn while also saving both pieces.}31...Kg7 32.Bh6+ {White is running out of time and now hopes in Kxh6 because of it would enable Qxf6+, cornering the King.}32...Kf7 (32...Kxh6 33.Qxf6+ Kh5 34.Rxe8 Qxe8 35.Qxf5+ Kh6 36.Qf6+ Kh5 37.g4# )33.Rxe8 Qxe8 34.Qg3 Qe1+ 35.Kh2 Qe5 36.f4 Qxb2 37.Qg7+ Ke6 38.Qg8+ Kd7 39.Qxd5+ Kc7 40.Qxc4 Qxa3 41.Bg7 Qd6 42.Qf7+ Kb6 43.Qb3+ Kc7 44.Qc4 Kd7 45.Qf7+ Kc8 46.Bxf6 Qxf4+ {From now on, Black tries to force a draw.}47.Kg1 Qc1+ 48.Kh2 Qf4+ 49.Kg1 Qc1+ 50.Kf2 Qd2+ 51.Kg3 Qe3+ 52.Kh2 Qf4+ 53.Kh1 Qf1+ 54.Kh2 Qf4+ {White offers a draw and Black accepts.} 1/2-1/2