Notable opponents in the Borders League: Stasys Gimbutis
Originally from Lithuania, Stasys came to Britain in 2011, and works for NHS Borders. He intially played for Gala, but in 2016 set up an NHS team which competes in the Borders League to this day. He is one of the fiercest competitors in the Borders League, and always full of surprises in his openings.
22.01.2019: Selkirk B v NHS
S Gimbutis (1664) v D Bogle (1537)
Town Arms, Selkirk
I don't think I have ever played Stasys without him catching me out early on, and this certainly happened here. I was going along quite nicely for nine (!) moves and then he hit me, taking advantage of a sloppy move by myself.
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 d5 4. exd5 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nxd5 6. Nxd5 Qxd5 7. d4 Bg4 8. Be2 Bd6 9. c4 Bb4+
10. Kf2
The first surprise. I had rather lazily imagined that 10.Bd2 was forced, and that after exchanging on d2 I would have a comfortable game. Stasys' choice leaves my bishop in a slightly awkward position and still allows him to castle by hand with Re1 and Kg1 if need be. My reply 10…Qc6 is simply a mistake, and 10…Qd7 or 10…Qd8 would have been better.
10...Qc6
11. c5
11. Ne5 Bxe2 12 Nxc6 Bxd1 13 Nxa5 Bh5 is more complicated, but still leaves White with the advantage. Instead 11 c5 wins the b4 Bishop, since I had blocked the c-pawn from advancing and creating an escape route. A nice tactical idea by Stasys.
11...O-O 12. a3 Bxc5 13. dxc5 Qxc5+ 14. Qd4 Qc6 15. Bxf4 Nd7
16. Rac1
This is all getting rather horrible now for Black, and Stasys does not slip up
16...Qe6 17. Rxc7 Rad8 18. Rd1 h6 19. Bc4 Qf5 20. h3 Nf6 21. Qxd8 Rxd8 22. Rxd8+ Kh7 23. Bd3 Ne4+
24. Ke3 Bxf3 25. gxf3 Qe6 26. Bxe4+ f5 27. Rd6 Qe8 28. Rdd7 1-0
The attack on g7 ends the game
04.04.2017: NHS v Selkirk
D Bogle (1523) v S Gimbutis (1552)
Borders General Hospital
I felt that I was in trouble from the off here, and I was never happy in this intense match from 2017. The opening was an unpleasant surprise, and the complications led to me losing a lot of time on the clock. Kudos to Stasys for keeping his nerve and doing the job for his team.
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Bb4
The Pin variation, which was completely new to me. It is obviously an easy variation to go astray in and I thought quite a long time on my reply. I later found that 6.e5 is the recommended move
6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Nb3 O-O 8. a3 Bxc3+ 9. bxc3 h6 10. Bf4 e5 11. Bg3 d6 12. O-O Ne7 13. f3 Ng6 14. Qe2 Nh5 15. Qf2 f5 16. exf5 Bxf5 17. Qd2 Nhf4 18. Bxf5 Rxf5
19. Rad1
The position is more or less even, but my b3 Knight isn't looking like doing very much and the weakness on c3 will surely tell in due course. I was already running short of time and struggling to find any real activity.
19...Qg5 20. Bxf4 Nxf4 21. g3 Raf8 22. Kh1 Nh3 23. Qd5+
Missing 23.Qg2, when the Black Knight would have been trapped. A double oversight by Stasys and myself
23...Kh8 24. Nd2 Qe3 25. Qd3 Nf2+ 26. Rxf2 Qxf2 27. Rf1 Qc5 28. Ne4 Qc6 0-1
"Only" the exchange down, but Stasys has safely negotiated any complications and my weak pawns will soon prove fatal. Stasys - typically - held his nerve well.