tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86404968294118714482024-02-23T06:45:09.002+00:00Hebden Bridge Chess ClubHebden Bridge Chess ClubIntermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.comBlogger130125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-17804659068749860682011-11-08T14:19:00.001+00:002011-11-08T14:19:25.079+00:00We've moved house!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdOyPyGC-r01Dh2l0abpHyEfLLq7yWOAksAaKuFy1Rhnmcj5MEKhfop6Wd53qyiGnNCjzxpRtdFzFWDuPrQAJWSqB_M7pTkuNCRyfSQPBJAzK82WWjALGUUbJkBGohLdWlDYgn6B74-0/s1600/Removals.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRdOyPyGC-r01Dh2l0abpHyEfLLq7yWOAksAaKuFy1Rhnmcj5MEKhfop6Wd53qyiGnNCjzxpRtdFzFWDuPrQAJWSqB_M7pTkuNCRyfSQPBJAzK82WWjALGUUbJkBGohLdWlDYgn6B74-0/s320/Removals.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
The Hebden Bridge Chess Club website has moved to a brand new home. Please go to <a href="http://www.hebdenbridgechessclub.co.uk/"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">www.hebdenbridgechessclub.co.uk</span></strong></a> where we hope you will find that nothing has been broken en route!<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-37605519629607277772011-10-31T21:49:00.001+00:002011-10-31T21:49:37.703+00:00An all hallows gambit!I couldn't possibly let Halloween pass by without taking the opportunity to publish another game in the Halloween Gambit. This one comes with as many horror-ridden cliches in the commentary as I could muster. It was played at a recent edition of the Victoria Gardens Blitz Tournament in Leeds where one can justify and get away with playing such bilge. Happy Halloween!<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script> <br />
<br />
<div>
<object data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" height="350" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" />
<param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=FF9900&pgndata=[Event "Victoria Gardens Blitz"] [Site "Leeds"] [Date "2011.08.22"] [Round "5"] [White "Intermezzo"] [Black "Ponent, O.P."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C47"] [Annotator "Intermezzo"] [PlyCount "49"] [EventType "blitz"] [TimeControl "240%2B2"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 $5 {The first surprise of the game. In all my previous encounters with this player his second move has always been either 2...d5 (the Elephant Gambit) or 2...f5 (the Latvian Gambit). Once the momentary feeling of surprise had passed I realised there was a chance for me to unleash a whacky gambit myself and so instead of my usual 3.Bc4 I instead played...} 3. Nc3 $5 { Now I just had to hope he didn’t go for the Three Knights Game with 3...Bc5. Fingers crossed!} Nf6 {Excellent!} 4. Nxe5 $5 {It was worth selecting the dubious Halloween Gambit purely for the pleasant recollection I will always have of the expression on my opponents face! It took a moment for him to register that the knight was enprise, then briefly a look of total surprise and bewilderment passed across his features before, finally he looked up at my grinning visage and realised that I was playing a gambit that I knew. In a few more seconds he had composed himself enough to be able to accept the piece sacrifice. This is the best way to proceed for Black. Afterall it was Wilhelm Steinitz who said "The best way to refute a sacrifice is to accept it."} Nxe5 5. d4 Nc6 $6 {Natural, but I think this is dubious.} ({ In my view the best move is} 5... Ng6 {which doesn’t give White quite as many tempi for his piece and forces White to advance his e-pawn when he’d much rather advance his d-pawn. Play now usually continues with} 6. e5 Ng8 7. Bc4 { and now either 7...d6 or 7...d5 leaves in question the judgement as to whether White has enough compensation for his piece. I doubt that he does but Black has to be vigilant for a long period in order to demonstrate that.}) 6. d5 Ne5 7. f4 Ng6 8. e5 {Now White has gained two further useful tempi on the variation given above where f4 and d5 had not been played.} Qe7 $5 {An interest ing idea and one that now roused me from autopilot. Black refuses to give more ground and tries to restrain White’s advance by pinning the e-pawn. Subsequent research on Halloween officionado, Jakob Steffen’s website revealed that he has named this the "Bill-Gates Variation". Heaven only knows why. Maybe I should e-mail him and find out.} 9. Be3 $2 {An early inaccuracy and the first of many in this hi-speed, zeitnot-ridden affair. Steffen gives 9.Qe2 as the only move after which it appears Black must retreat his knight to g8 in order to maintain his material advantage.} Ng8 $2 {Black believed me for some reason. A snap decision no doubt. Of course the knight was in no danger as the bishop on e3 is unprotected and therefore the pin on the e-pawn remains. Black should have taken the opportunity to try and establish some resistance in the centre with 9...d6! when I had planned to play 10.Bd4!? in the hopes of seeing dxe5 11.fxe5 Nxe5 12.Qe2 winning back the piece.} 10. Nb5 {A critical move in this line as White tries to create threats on the dark squares. In this instance the threat is easily parried.} Qb4%2B $2 {Perhaps my opponents nature became a factor at this point as the best move here was once again d6. Perhaps Black didn’t like the passive and cramped looking position this would have yielded him regardless of the extra material he would have maintained. As a gambit player himself I suspect he would rather have been playing with the White pieces here and so it isn’t surprising that he strove for an active game at this point. However, the queen foray is misguided.} 11. Nc3 $2 {I played this almost instantly and then immediately reaslised that my knght had been protected on b5 and therefore I could have played the much better move 11.c3! reinstating horrendous threats on the dark squares in the Black camp.} d6 $2 { Finally Black gets round to playing this move... just at the moment that there was a better one! He could have cememnted his advantagewith} (11... Nxf4 12. Qd2 Ng6) 12. a3 $1 {Undoubtedly this was the continuation that was most in keeping with the spirit of the gambit. White tempts Black to grab a pawn to add to his extra knight.} Qxb2 {There wasn’t really any other choice!} 13. Nb5 Kd8 $2 {This appears to be the most natural move in the world. Black wants to avoid the seemingly deadly knight fork on c7. However, this move is the decisive mistake in the game. Instead Black had to find a tricky resource to equalise in the form of} (13... Bg4 $1 {A typical computer defence. The White queen can’t leave the back rank without haning the rook on a1 and so Black now escapes alive after} 14. Bd4 Bxd1 15. Bxb2 O-O-O 16. Rxd1 {and the position is about equal. In fairness there was no way my oppoenent would have had a chance of finding this line over the board given the time constraints.}) 14. Bd4 { Now the point of White’s play is revealed. A hideous snare for the Black queen. There is no escape.} Qxa1 15. Qxa1 Nxf4 {A knight and a pawn are not really enough compensation for the queen. The rest is carnage.} 16. c4 dxe5 17. Bxe5 Nh5 18. Bxc7%2B Ke8 19. Qe5%2B Be7 20. Nd6%2B {White’s pieces swoop like phantoms to their ideal squares. Black is bound hand and foot.} Kd7 {White isn’t really interesed in the hangin knight on h5. He has a torture session to complete.} 21. Nxf7 Ngf6 22. Nxh8 Bxa3 23. d6 Bb4%2B 24. Kd1 Kc6 25. Qb5# { An attractive finishing tableau for this little horror story.} 1-0 '/>
</object></div>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-92086059051494118202011-10-29T22:03:00.000+01:002011-10-29T22:03:02.349+01:00Brave 'B's hold their own<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjslvld7JrPfyU4vaITiHAp3R_dSIQzwckzcvMhR_JqPYTPpcYwwIJXLfWVdgbK0KV2k2nX41AXVA_yES04BgqPBZ9pECTST87udYwMq835JQq9zdgTJXBgO22JF1ImFZPgpjCuioh4dj0/s1600/atlanta+braves.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" ida="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjslvld7JrPfyU4vaITiHAp3R_dSIQzwckzcvMhR_JqPYTPpcYwwIJXLfWVdgbK0KV2k2nX41AXVA_yES04BgqPBZ9pECTST87udYwMq835JQq9zdgTJXBgO22JF1ImFZPgpjCuioh4dj0/s320/atlanta+braves.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Martin Syrett and his team donned their best war paint<br />
for Monday's match with Hebden Bridge 'A'</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On Monday night the Trades Club hosted the first derby clash of the season as Hebden Bridge ‘A’ played against Hebden Bridge ‘B’ in Calderdale League 1. In the past these ties have been the first to take place in the fixture list in order to avoid any suggestion of collusion later in the season. This season the sides met in round 3. If there had been any sceptics invigilating this fixture they can rest assured that the ‘B’ team gave their comrades no quarter and were rewarded for their trouble as they ended up stealing a hard earned point. <br />
Both sides fielded changed lines ups from their previous fixtures. The ‘A’ team have been handed a blow to their title hopes by the withdrawal from league competition of their top board, Matthew Parsons. The side still have a strong line up but it looks very different from the team that finished runners-up last season. Dave Wedge, Matthew Wedge-Roberts, Alastair Wright and now Matthew Parsons have all gone. As a result of this new set-back ‘A’ team Captain has drafted in Dave Sugden from the ‘B’ team to play on board 5 and everyone else has moved up the board order.<br />
<br />
Martin Syrett’s ‘B’ team thus had to deal with the loss of Dave Sugden and, furthermore, the unavailability of several regular selections due to the fixture being played in half-term week. In the end Martin recruited three ‘C’ team stalwarts in the form of Josh Blinkhorn, Steve Priest and Neil Bamford. They repaid his faith in them by performing admirably on the night.<br />
<br />
An early warning shot was fired across the bows of the ‘A’ team has Dave Sugden perished at the hands of Neil Bamford after barely half an hour’s play. Playing a Vienna Gambit, Dave made an uncharacteristic tactical oversight and was dispatched instantaneously by Neil, who is having a wonderful start to this season.<br />
<br />
This surprise result left the ‘A’s needing to win 3 out of the last 4 boards to take the match. They weren’t able to do this. First of all in the battle of the team Captains on board 2 Dave Shapland and Martin Syrett agreed to a draw in a lifeless pawn ending. Dave and acceded to the exchange of all the heavy pieces on the basis that he felt the resultant ending was winning for him. He was wrong and Martin held the draw easily.<br />
<br />
The remaining three fixtures went right to wire at the end of the evening and could have gone either way. At one point it even seemed that the ‘B’ team would clinch an astounding victory. On board one Darwin Ursal was held to a draw by Andy Leatherbarrow who defended himself stoutly and took advantage of Darwin’s exposed king by giving him perpetual check. Shortly afterwards Pete Leonard and Josh Blinkhorn also agreed to share their point in fascinating, fluctuating battle. The endgame of this encounter is worthy of study as it contains lots of interesting points. Both players had to play very accurately in order to maintain their chances and a draw was a fair result.<br />
<br />
<div>
<object data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" height="350" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" />
<param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=FF9900&pgndata=[Event "Calderdale League I"] [Site "Hebden Bridge"] [Date "2011.10.24"] [Round "3"] [White "Leonard, P."] [Black "Blinkhorn, J."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C82"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 {My favourite opening, or it used to be, 30%2B years ago. In the light of my mediocre performance in the summer’s "Opening" night, I may have to reassess this.} 3... a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 b5 7. Bb3 d5 8. dxe5 Be6 9. c3 Bc5 10. Qe2 {Fritz gives this a ’?’ despite the fact that its admittedly limited database has 6 wins, 4 draws and only 2 losses for White. Knowing what I do of Josh’s preference for wild, complicated, positions, I wanted to make it as hard as possible for him to "mix it".} 10... O-O 11. Be3 Qe7 12. Nbd2 {Now the database is down to just two games, both wins for White. I need to do more research, in a larger database. [Rybka has 33 games were 12.Nbd2 was played. It’s the most popular choice so there can’t be much wrong with it - Ed.]} 12... Nxd2 13. Qxd2 Bxe3 14. Qxe3 {Intermezzo says that I shouldn’t have let this pair of pieces be exchanged; in that case, I shouldn’t have played 12.Nbd2. I was quite happy with my position: his bishop is potentially "bad" and I have space on the king side. Just because I didn’t capitalise on this, it doesn’t become an inferior position. [It’s true that I felt there must be something wrong with the White queen taking three moves to get to e3. However, there is no denying White’s position is perfectly fine and Rybka thinks he retains a small edge. What do I know! - Ed]} 14... Rad8 15. Nd4 {Fritz also chooses this. I’m thinking of advancing my f pawn (I did look at 15.Ng5, too) and expect that he’ll be hitting my e pawn with f6, any time now. I did also wonder if he might be contemplating N-a5-c4 and looked at 15.Bc2 and 16.b3 to prevent this; but that does little to support my e pawn. [Rybka prefers} (15. Rfe1 {with the idea of holding up the thematic f6 pawn break.} 15... Na5 16. Rad1 c5 17. h3 h6 {and White maintains a small advantage - Ed]} ) 15... Nxd4 16. cxd4 c5 {A (the) crucial point; I let my desire to avoid complications get the better of me.} 17. Rfd1 {I bottled out of} (17. dxc5 d4 18. Qc1 {which leaves me a pawn up. If I’m not going to take the pawn then} )(17. Rad1 c4 18. Bc2 {leaves my rooks better placed to support my centre. I chose the f rook in case of queen’s side activity; wrong one!} ) 17... c4 18. Bc2 f6 19. Re1 {If this rook had been on f1, I should have been much happier playing19.f4} 19... Rde8 20. f4 fxe5 21. Qxe5 {I rejected} (21. dxe5 {because I was concerned that his queen’s side pawns might become too strong. Fritz prefers this; at least my rooks will be better placed. I certainly didn’t fancy 21.fxe5, when he has the open f file.} ) 21... Qf6 22. g3 Qxe5 23. Rxe5 Bh3 $6 24. Rae1 {We both missed} (24. Rh5 Bc8 25. Bxh7%2B Kf7 26. Rxd5 {though I’m not sure whether or not my bishop can avoid being trapped. Fritz seems to think so!} ) 24... Kf7 25. Rxe8 ({Matthew and Dave suggested} 25. Bf5 {would win the d pawn; I’m not sure:} 25... Bxf5 26. Rxf5%2B Kg6 27. Rg5%2B Kf6 {doesn’t seem to be getting me anywhere. [Rybka is suggesting 29.Kf2 as the best way for White to keep an edge but the advantage is miniscule - Ed]} ) 25... Rxe8 26. Rxe8 Kxe8 27. Bxh7 {I thought this would leave me a safe pawn up; I underestimated the danger of his queen’s side pawns.} 27... Kf7 28. Bc2 Kf6 29. Kf2 Bf5 $2 {Fritz didn’t rate this, but what does Fritz know?} 30. Bd1 (30. Bxf5 {Fritz knows I should have played this!} 30... Kxf5 31. Kf3 b4 32. h4 {My pawns get further advanced than in the game, e.g.} 32... a5 33. g4%2B Kf6 34. Ke3 a4 35. Kd2 g6 36. Kc2 Ke6 {Black daren’t advance his pawns, and White has} 37. a3 bxa3 38. bxa3 {followed by K-c3-b4xa4. [In fact it appears to me that 29...Bf5? is about the only identifiable error Josh made in this game! - Ed]} ) 30... b4 31. Ke3 {I was needlessly terrified of his pawns; I should have spent more time analysing the position, but I, too, was getting a bit short of time now.} (31. Bf3 c3 32. bxc3 bxc3 33. Ke3 Ke6 34. Be2 {is winning} ) 31... Bb1 32. Kd2 {Now I should simply have played} (32. Bf3 Ke6 33. Bg4%2B {and 34.a4 (or a3), rather than meekly giving back the pawn.} ) 32... Bxa2 33. g4 a5 34. h4 Bb1 35. Ba4 {I’m not sure what I was up to; we both just wanted to reach the time control!} 35... Be4 36. Bd7 Ke7 37. Ba4 Bf3 38. Bd1 {I really don’t want my pawns to be split, but Fritz now rates Black as better.} 38... Bxd1 39. Kxd1 Kf6 40. h5 a4 41. Kc2 Kf7 42. g5 Ke6 43. h6 gxh6 44. gxh6 Kf6 45. f5 Kf7 46. Kb1 {My pawns can’t advance any further...} 46... b3 ({Amazingly, Fritz suggests} 46... Kg8 47. f6 {which leaves his king unable to move!} ) 47. Ka1 c3 48. bxc3 a3 49. Kb1 {I looked at} (49. c4 dxc4 50. d5 c3 {and fortunately thought better of it!} 51. Kb1 a2%2B 52. Ka1 c2 53. Kb2 {and I’m mated in four moves.} ) 49... Kf6 {...and neither can his pawns advance, so we agreed a draw. 50.c4 still loses. [A really very high standard of play from both adversaries. Entertaining stuff! - Ed]} 1/2-1/2'/>
</object></div>
<br />
This meant that the ‘A’ team had to win the final game of the tie in order to draw level. On board 4 Nick Sykes kept hold of a strong initiative throughout his game against Steve Priest. He developed a raging attack in the middle game and, although he missed a couple of quicker kills, the result was never really in doubt and he duly collected the point at the end of the evening.<br />
<br />
<div>
<object data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" height="350" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" />
<param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=FF9900&pgndata=[Event "Calderdale League 1"] [Site "Hebden Bridge"] [Date "2011.10.24"] [Round "3"] [White "Sykes, N."] [Black "Priest, S."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C03"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Ne7 4. Bd3 Nbc6 5. c3 Bd7 6. Ngf3 Ng6 7. Nf1 Be7 8. Ng3 O-O 9. e5 b6 10. O-O Na5 11. Ne2 c5 12. Be3 c4 13. Bc2 Nc6 14. Rc1 b5 15. Bb1 a5 16. Nf4 a4 17. g3 b4 18. cxb4 Bxb4 19. a3 Be7 20. Qc2 Rb8 21. h4 Re8 22. h5 Nf8 23. Bd2 Qb6 24. Bc3 Qa7 25. Nh3 {White is having all the fun here but unfortunately the build up play must be slow and patient as the centre of the board is very static. Rybka and Fritz both suggest that} (25. h6 g6 26. Qd2 Bc8 {and only now} 27. Nh3 {is the best way for White to prosecute his attack.} ) 25... Rb7 26. Nhg5 $2 {This error that hands Black the edge - shortlived though it turns out to be. Instead Rybka suggests again the move} (26. h6 f5 27. exf6 Bxf6 28. Rcd1 gxh6 29. Nf4 Bg7 30. Nh5 {and White will play 31.Qd2 and then 32.Nxg7 and 33.Qxh6 to press his advantage.} ) 26... Bxg5 27. Nxg5 Nxd4 28. Qd1 Nf5 $6 {Now it’s Black’s turn to hand over the advantage! Instead he could have maintained it by planting his knight on a wonderful outpost with} (28... Nb3 $1 29. Rc2 Bb5 30. Nf3 {White must prevent the advance of Black’s d-pawn.} 30... h6 {and Black keeps his advantage and reduces White’s counter chances.} ) 29. Qf3 {This is fine. Rybka suggest that} (29. Bxf5 exf5 30. Qxd5 {is even better.} ) 29... Bc6 30. Bxf5 exf5 31. Qxf5 Ree7 {Why not simply} (31... h6 32. Nf3 Ne6 {when Black appears to be at least equal?} ) 32. Bb4 g6 $4 {This is the decisive error of the game. Now White get’s a very powerful attack. Instead Black could have tried an interesting exchange sacrifice.} (32... Rxb4 $5 33. axb4 h6 34. Nf3 Rb7 {With decent compensation for the exchange according to Rybka} ) 33. hxg6 hxg6 34. Qf6 Rec7 $2 {The exchange sacrifice on b4 was now pretty much Black’s only option. Fortunatley for him, White misses his opportunity.} 35. Bd6 {Missing an immediate check mate in 4 after} (35. Bxf8 Qxf2%2B 36. Rxf2 Kxf8 37. Ne6%2B {and mate on d8 or g7 is inevitable next move. This would have been a pretty conclusion.} ) 35... Rd7 36. Bxf8 Kxf8 {The mating chance has gone because the rook is covering d8. However, White can console himself with the extra knight!} 37. Qxc6 {Fritz never-the-less found an even better way to conclude the game after} (37. e6 Kg8 {Or} (37... Ke8 38. Rce1 Rd8 39. exf7%2B Kd7 40. f8=Q Qa5 41. Re7%2B Kc8 42. Qxc6%2B Rc7 43. Qxd8%2B Kxd8 44. Re8# {or even} )(37... Rdc7 38. e7%2B Ke8 39. Qxf7%2B Kd7 40. e8=Q%2B Kd6 41. Qff8%2B Re7 42. Qf6%2B Re6 43. Qfxe6%2B Kc5 44. Q6xc6%2B Kd4 45. Rcd1#)38. exf7%2B Rxf7 39. Qxc6 {in fairness this is all rather hard to calculate at the board with the clock ticking.} ) 37... Rb3 38. Qf6 Qd4 $4 {At this stage even the immediately promising looking} (38... Rxg3%2B {is to no avail as after} 39. Kh2 {Black has nothing better than giving up the exchange for the pawn.} 39... Rxg5 40. Qxg5 {and it’s all a bit hopeless.} ) 39. Kg2 {In a completely winning position White can afford to pass up another gilt-edged opportunity to end the game at once with} (39. Ne6%2B Ke8 40. Nxd4) 39... Rb6 {Now the game culminates in a king hunt.} 40. Qh8%2B Ke7 41. Qg7 Kd8 42. Qg8%2B Kc7 43. e6 fxe6 44. Nxe6%2B Rxe6 45. Qxe6 Rh7 {A last desperate throw of the dice, but White is untroubled.} 46. Qe3 Qh8 47. Rh1 Rxh1 48. Rxh1 {and after this move Black resigned. A nice win for Nick. He may have missed some clean kills but he was never in trouble in this game and retained control throughout.} 1-0'/>
</object></div>
<br />
The final match score card looked like this then:<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Hebden Bridge ‘A’ vs. Hebden Bridge ‘B’</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D.Ursal ½-½ A.Leatherbarrow</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D.Shapland ½-½ M.Syrett</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
P.Leonard ½-½ J.Blinkhorn</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
N.Sykes 1-0 S.Priest</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D.Sugden 0-1 N.Bamford</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>2½-2½</strong></div>
<br />
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="416" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=g&d=3000&ig=r&ss=40&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=____&dcs=_Uz$&bbcs=____&hm=s&hcs=LHa1&bd=s&cbcs=W_iH&ctcs=$$$$&hd=j&md=j&tm=10&fhcs=____&fhs=100p&fmcs=____&fccs=LHa1&hmcs=_Uz$&fms=100p&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=t&fp=0&hl=t&fh=b&fw=650&pe=1580$zlax9RvkYWao6R_o3yextimzvLEG8ovpM74BE5Izkv8X5RBfjQzyWQxf81wy$bD050ilhWXKkS$B1BHz4YUYJ054coaZt2l8$vZue_o0V2T$EG80otD6faextHXgXQUXZZ6Ttyd$4coaE6V_9P1bRftbRf9pNgpZmfadpT9pMnn3qM$Nm7f19nxBDn1cVvBDL10Fbyu7P11nv7wjr01l78ka34$v9Fl75pRk2v75hnHm6AP2vf3g3tU0A$gW3crvMvfJeaD5tQ0z$v7y7iU0B$v8Wz28Afq$7sRx$zJfqf71hLHs7k0J$yKx5vnBDbj10FzQ$khpvOv71FijdQ8F22vfVYN$IAfwf3shM$M67fn3s7zonVBk13$wQej8rw2$fVBN0F4fy$7VYx0xdfyf71iM1lDgL33FAF$FEpw0f71FAFdQhPHfT1dQhQ1sjIfvr16jzfVCF59$yFl75i9wwvfYx6jZfM$7iM6hdfMv7iQ2S7ov3shnHtFCF5p02QjYfWkemV5r06jRfWfSV54$xUc3s7k26$gQezm84fLr1dQSN6jYuDLD1azya6p5_foHvXoHwnHzlax9RvkYWao6R_o3yextimzvLEG8ovpM74BE5Izkv8X5RBfjQzyWQxf81wy$bD050ilhWXKkS$B1BHz4YUYJ074coaZt2l8$HMWOuaNJLY0X$jQzvHKj2D4B4UXhQvY4Z$9pNmheQZkD3oHvXoHvjQzxQXJvfhwwila2$vB7SF3$vAsVvoazb0$g3fWmtDL10zBgizp05XfWWmVd$vpy71iM0f71Rx6p4fT0nXN$CIfd01t71iU0A$fbij2cq9vMvfAx1rvN$f3zN4MUrtmfov7s7x0FzQ0H$yshpl2qQ0I$wrtm6AP2cnvS$f3i30k8x24$wREbf3fF2d$v7y75SF22vfcmtDEmtDfD16unl0jQ12$vat7Jprw1$gSq71GK37n16pWM2Ibfy$7sGi3qGi37P1dQRUZyIsJfyv7WHNOIsB_fvD3mkRpaF4fwL3mqg4Qdfvr1axbxWtDnD16HfCN55045fQF5701tDYF5b$HXNaFrwB$gsK3mcrwBvgri3mjQ2d$xTy7Yx54$xTB7bRftbRfHlha4M4qf9ZYAHyWuHxgCMe8GNfnjQzHLcnz1OjylN9L3Z2qi79pNgYVM73wfMv5j$y$EG8sZmFWvi0ilh1ZXZS$I1BHA_e0G3vlnKiRgjefu$4co7aaQ$V00t6NmOWntvn$EG8s7_mUlvhwTLEG84GUs$GU5wila2$vB78F3$vpy71EF5$wa3qU5$fbzN0Fryf71pQ$No1DT13FzQ6Jfj1$FPUZvpIda6$fhJZfWmu76$yq71pM0A$fXN6jRuDbn3mqg2IjPuDje5$0" width="650"></iframe><br />
<br />
Congratulations to the ‘B’ team for this excellent result. All their players were all out-graded by 20 points or more so this really is a tremendous achievement.<br />
<br />
At the end of the evening the next question to ask was “how much has this draw hurt the ‘A’ team’s title challenge?” The answer was, “not as much as it might have”!<br />
<br />
Champions Huddersfield ‘A’ have had a terrible start to the year with consecutive loses to Brighouse and Courier ‘A’. They needed to win to have any chance of fighting their way back into contention and they did just that in a heavy-weight encounter away to Todmorden ‘A’. Both sides fielded phenomenally strong line-ups but it was the visitors who took the spoils. Wins for Chris Booth against Andrew Clarkson, Mitchell Burke against Alastair Wright and Richard Boylan against Chris Edwards were enough for Huddersfield to win 3½-1½.<br />
<br />
The season’s early leaders, Courier ‘A’ and Brighouse, both pinched their third successive wins to maintain their 100% records. Courier beat Belgrave 3½-1½ at home and Brighouse, also at home, beat Huddersfield ‘B’ 3-2. Courier and Brighouse now share a 2 point lead at the top of the table although both sides are still to play Hebden Bridge ‘A’ and Todmorden ‘A’. The two race leaders play each other next Monday for the rights to sole leadership.<br />
<br />
Hebden Bridge ‘A’ climb over Todmorden ‘A’ into third place in the league. The ‘A’ team must next face Huddersfield ‘A’ away and could therefore soon be caught again. Already this next match is set to be crucial to Hebden’s title challenge. Win, or even draw, and they will be right in the battle. Lose and the champions will draw level with them. If Huddersfield turn up with the same side that won this week it will be an uphill struggle.<br />
<br />
Hebden Bridge ‘B’ occupy the lower reaches of the table but should take heart from the fact that they have now played Courier, Todmorden and Hebden Bridge ‘A’ and can look forward to an easier run of fixtures before Christmas. The fact that they have taken a point from these first matches should be a source of some consolation to Captain Syrett. Their next match is away to Huddersfield ‘B’ and they should be optimistic about getting a result against one of their fellow strugglers.<br />
<br />
Tune in again next week for further updates as both leagues are in action next week. Our division 2 teams play on Monday and our division 1 teams are in action on Thursday.<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-13756040216339482132011-10-26T00:07:00.000+01:002011-10-26T00:07:55.664+01:00The playful side of Bobby Fischer<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcGrv67fT_VG8Is_Zcj-5cu4dsEI6Ca9X4jl4tu1ydOXbmoOa02faPHwJWxbibzhoCVdL_y-RQW8FYdjm5IQ9qi9SjwpYjq7bZUYgjCUzSisUc6cJZSlCS3kwl_B420xXWd-HIo4fMA8/s1600/fischer-with-horse-benson-1972-jpg.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="268" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgcGrv67fT_VG8Is_Zcj-5cu4dsEI6Ca9X4jl4tu1ydOXbmoOa02faPHwJWxbibzhoCVdL_y-RQW8FYdjm5IQ9qi9SjwpYjq7bZUYgjCUzSisUc6cJZSlCS3kwl_B420xXWd-HIo4fMA8/s400/fischer-with-horse-benson-1972-jpg.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Bobby felt very at ease with animals and children, <br />
but not adults", Harry Benson</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Like many chess enthusiasts I was fascinated by the prospect of seeing the recent biopic about the greatest of all chess enigmas, Bobby Fischer.<br />
<br />
I am a member of the post-Fischer generation in that I started playing long after he had disappeared from public life. Of course I've heard so many of my elders talk in rapt terms about his genius and one can get a feeling for this by playing through his legacy of great games. <br />
<br />
Unfortunately, what you can't do is get any kind of impression of the man himself or the astounding impact he made on the world (not just the chess world) in 1972 when he played Boris Spassky for the World title in Iceland. It was this aspect of Fischer, as a man, and a global phenomena that I found so enthralling about the film. <br />
<br />
The Director, Liz Garbus, had gone to great lengths to pull together as much archive interview footage of Fischer as she could and this really gave you a feel for the kind of man he was. Quite a lot was made of his lonely and damaged child-hood. This was put forward as the predominant reason why the stubborn, self-reliant streak that helped him become so successful also transformed him into a rampant paranoid delusional in later life.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFUEK5HunBmwPJLXEBRDvZga5vgMQHad6AGpypPQZo2UzWIpM9CdU6K8ymVk-b-uhvnZUgrQdYEkIAZa1Eif0dJr7ZkATg08wQhDBOPZw1HNZdxDV4ATwebbtFN1PfL1n_D5HehK9SxyQ/s1600/Fischer-at-hot-spring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="277" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFUEK5HunBmwPJLXEBRDvZga5vgMQHad6AGpypPQZo2UzWIpM9CdU6K8ymVk-b-uhvnZUgrQdYEkIAZa1Eif0dJr7ZkATg08wQhDBOPZw1HNZdxDV4ATwebbtFN1PfL1n_D5HehK9SxyQ/s400/Fischer-at-hot-spring.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Many of the photos taken by Benson in Iceland give a real feeling for the<br />
"loneliness and isolation of the position he was in".</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Probably the aspect of the film that captivated me the most was the photography of Harry Benson. He was chosen to shoot Fischer for <em>LIFE</em> magazine at the Buenos Aires Candidates Tournament the year before Reykjavik and became, if not a friend, then at least a companion to Fischer during that period of his life. Evidently Garbus had approached Benson during her preparations for the film and had been amazed to find that he had a large collection of photographs that had never been published. They are amazing, a real window into Fischer's soul. Much more than the interview footage, in which Fischer always seems so guarded and defensive. After I'd watched the film I was delighted to find out that Benson had subsequently published <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bobby-Fischer-Harry-Benson/dp/1576875814/ref=sr_1_6?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1318605953&sr=1-6">a book of his Fischer photographs</a> and I immediately rushed to Amazon to buy it.<br />
<br />
I'd certainly urge anyone who has an interest in chess to see the film when you get the chance. Just don't expect lots of involved chess content. There is plenty about the 1972 match in Reykjavik but it is covered mostly from a personal and political angle. All-in-all it's a really superbly made glimpse into the life of this brilliant, complicated and damaged man.<br />
<br />
All of this thinking about Bobby Fischer put me back in a frame of mind to look at some of his games and then I remembered the game and comments published by Walter Polhill in The Independent on Sunday back in the late 1990's. Polhill selects a very unusual Fischer game that has a real splash of humour in it. Playing against Ulf Andersson, who had a reputation for labarinthine strategic and manoeuvring play, Fischer chooses to adopt the style himself and delivers a masterpiece. Enjoy!<br />
<br />
<em><strong><span style="color: orange;">"</span><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">B</span></strong>y far the greatest player the world has ever seen, Bobby Fischer was also a superb parodist. The following victory of his is often dismissed as a mere display of attacking imagination. Yet making such an assessment would be to overlook one of the finest acheivements of the parodic art this century."</em><br />
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="371" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=g&d=3000&ig=r&ss=40&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=____&dcs=_Uz$&bbcs=____&hm=s&hcs=LHa1&bd=s&cbcs=W_iH&ctcs=$$$$&hd=j&md=j&tm=10&fhcs=____&fhs=100p&fmcs=____&fccs=LHa1&hmcs=_Uz$&fms=100p&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=t&fp=0&hl=t&fh=b&fw=650&pe=1799$zlax9RvkXXgZ_wszmwXS2tR9pNln5Hh0ovnxo4gilheKl8$y2xA0ilh_CvQxfadwCY6xevY6f1BHz4AVvs$HTGHyUZ_Zk2P0X$jQzJzuGXGf7MUfjQzxQXJvlrjb9pNlrkkZIVSOV0uSHG3ugtZNt2oo1BHl502i7e_rvKXU2uL_kelZe0LokbXAXKufeK9MKTuFMqV6vOZau3kX5NuwVae0CX2WTJ84bxtuo4Un5kR5EVMcMoWQDODo_gTyV0_U_$ol5ZmxXzKNvuuuq$uP3Q1$f3Px0Frwv7Ex0zJgv33o$g1ABvgUz6_yfmVOZtYp0YXZ801TcHxI1giUuAJ0Zh6MbRmwCM7HYVPoPb_DXgY$_X_wmVP3kH5u3NaPeNevSNYZe6Y1TXJlr02I3gPyz4$yq71hrwL328byRD6$v7x7SF29$xAsVvpJYfnL75pRx3Jfo$7m6AP03THa_Zt2l82SCXtDX57m3S6Dq_eLQvSNH2WUXh9etutEnyTb_2lE6Njlt8$lmF0PeLRNgXA6ABn5D5N2tkvZ7zglw$g_3wZYXKNS4Cxex8uexfhGrAagXFhezDHe_DqUtkuC_gVbRmwF0NLAhjmR2u9MXA5X0V3KCPtEncXG$olae3xw4qex0VeCPtyaOmNYX5ZmKTqKxc_eKl2u9LAXZwG$tl0Aq3kR5kiyPdCCTqo7YHJXGfv7ycuqveHzDOxJNeCW_Ul6vLZuzNhwDw4nZqzutH5kixOM4CXX5Hh0XgjefeNfevNqQDtXm3yaWTd8J3KCL_XZS4KDWVwvY6jIB2PdI5yNJTsXn30aWgqUoWuOtPtkaPu8goTyXzcXK9KT6_N_arc3vu3u3vbevQKl2u9vydwCY6xey_eTX56LtwXfu36Og6Ltvb_lc_eKIATefeSvQ6D8kKATbF_wTb_wjAqf_mINeBHxY6OTbB5kYA$ZXGXgtmex$eV2b04OMDe_bwSohLR$gQbP6_BgSRS7cD323M2Fgj5T13XfuZo0uAY6wY1KQDkZu2WRlgtyUjzlZyno_oX5pmR7H6SCLr_yU91kEATbeKl2u9LzZ7i7K0V5AYD29MoTb_xCCU7HXgXh9tkwDz9_gHxEt29EMoTvZ$uNMez5906jRf3Bk0C$gSNoD5pU0wL75EF1__Cx9Li8ZhcwIMCfOZyM6PcXK4V2dfeKxTyZ0Z5HXHHXheUTcnzcLM93uLeLQCKAYDZkDh1TxIAWTbFC6NHlZwTb_yUJSZk7Gn_OZa3ueK0AgT_D1DU14$a0CHfcHF350$MbfbzU13$voaj6_yfmVOZ2ltw1$$$CkajoueLNFrlZw2$8QhP6DHXh3_2Tz0CXtNu3YHKf_HZYnxnpCHHxY5Nj2q8H0_a$xrw2$fcij239w5$fckbFaFEAfyf7iQ0_TP4_ueKj2vNFrucN9MoTztbttrynqNuNKHv6Y$NlAxd$yFi7pU11vfCkaCVaCC7fT10FzU6pzU10L7Sx1kSx59$v9B7RN550$ksHyIsHvKQvlmF0PjZmUqwWMrh6_xTBTt22UZi896_LZ84CSNYG7zc4V6M6TocjbFC2M6M$6Y23$wRJRgSu4y5$wRB758N5n0$gcgSqzbP16HfcKzbT16jXfbzU21vfYF0xdfML33M6sDwvT3stnHJiry1v7tFCN0FEXy0vfAxazC7Lv3dEVvqu7LL30kSOY0yNxMnH$0" width="650"></iframe><br />
<br />
I'll finish this post on another light note by re-telling the famous Fischer anecdote of Hungarian Grandmaster, Laszlo Szabo. At the Buenos Aires international tournament of 1960, he and Fischer had adjacent hotel rooms. One night, someone brought a young woman to Bobby's room. The following morning it happened that both Fischer and Szabo left their rooms at the same time and Szabo shot an enquiring glance at Fischer who responded by simply saying: "Chess is better."<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-161297667330219092011-10-20T08:30:00.000+01:002011-10-21T14:30:46.244+01:00Round upThere’s a lot going on across the Calderdale and Yorkshire chess circuit at the moment. Today I’d like to take a short pause for breath to round up some of the news and results you may have missed.<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Calderdale Individual Championship 2011-12</span></strong><br />
<br />
<div>
This year’s championship is being hosted by the Belgrave and Courier Chess Clubs at the Belgrave Social Club on Claremount Road in Halifax. As always there are 5 rounds and these take place on the first or second Monday of the month from November through to March. This year’s schedule is as follows:</div>
<ul>
<li>Round 1: 7th of November, 2011</li>
<li>Round 2: 12th of December, 2011</li>
<li>Round 3: 9th of January, 2012</li>
<li>Round 4: 13th of February, 2012</li>
<li>Round 5: 12th of March, 2012</li>
</ul>
<br />
<div>
Pairings for each round will be posted at 19.30 and play will begin promptly at 19.45. Entry for this year’s competition costs £3.50 and £2.50 for juniors.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Anyone interested in registering to play in this event should contact this year’s organiser, Paul Edwards, by e-mailing him at: <a href="mailto:clic2012@gmail.com"><span style="color: cyan;"><strong>clic2012@gmail.com</strong></span></a><span style="color: cyan;"><strong> </strong></span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Entry fees can be paid on the night of the first round but you must pay before the start of play.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
As an aside from the details of the competition I must say that it’s great to see another club other than our own hosting this year’s competition and I’d like to wish Paul the very best with the organisation. Here’s hoping that Hebden Bridge players will continue to support the championship just as enthusiastically as we have done in recent years. I am hoping to once again provide extensive coverage of the competition as it progresses right here. Get yourselves signed up.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Yorkshire Chess Association website</span></strong></div>
<br />
<div>
Hot off the press is this <a href="http://yorkshirechess.org/"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">new website</span></strong></a> that acts as a hub for chess players across the county and, in particular, the Yorkshire League. YCA President, Ihor Lewyk and his assistant website editor, Matthew Webb, have done a fantastic job to get this up and running. I’m looking forward to seeing how it develops over the coming months.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br />
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Yorkshire League Results</span></strong></div>
<br />
<div>
Adrian Dawson has once again been swift in furnishing me with the latest efforts from our two Calderdale teams.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<em>“A mixed day for the Calderdale teams on Saturday. A great result for the ‘A’ team who thrashed Bradford ‘A’. It has to be said that Bradford had to split their side in an effort to keep their ‘B’ team in the First Division but it was still a very strong team as the grades prove.”</em></div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Bradford ‘A’ vs. Calderdale ‘A’</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
W.Williams (190) ½-½ P.Watson (189)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I.Lewyk (178) 0–1 R.Newton (181)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D.Barlow (176) 0-1 M.Hamer (177)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
C.Wright (170) ½-½ M.Whitehead (173)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
M.Bramson (170) 0-1 J.Morgan (173)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I.Hunter (165) ½-½ D.Ursal (166)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
M.Ashdown (158) 0-1 D.Patrick (165)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
J.Holliday (126) 0-1 M.Corbett (138)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>1½-6½</strong> </div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<em>“Calderdale ‘B’ were out-gunned on all boards and suffered a severe defeat. If they continue to play teams of the strength of the first two in this season’s campaign, they will struggle for sure.”</em><br />
<br />
<div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Bradford Central vs. Calderdale ‘B’</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
P.D.Rooney (203) ½-½ M.I.Connor (154)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
M.D.Crowther (174) 1-0 N.Suttie (148)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
J.D.H.Milnes (169) 1-0 D.Colledge (143)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D.Breen (167) 1-0 A.Leatherbarrow (140)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
N.J.Edwards (163) 1-0 M.Syrett (139)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
P.G.Day (153) 1-0 D.Sugden (137)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
DEFAULT 0-1 D.Milton (132)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
G.Laszlo (130) ½-½ S.Priest (121)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>6-2</strong></div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Calderdale League 2 Results</span></strong><br />
<br />
<div>
Hebden Bridge ‘C’ were the only side in action in Calderdale League 2 on Monday night. Calderdale ‘D’ had a walk over as a result of Wheatley’s withdrawal from the league earlier this season. The ‘C’ team faced up to Courier ‘B’ and were unusually depleted for the match with regular Captain, John Kerrane, being away on holiday. As a result, stand Captain, Neil Bamford, led the side to a superb victory under the circumstances. After the match he was moved to remark, “The good guys came out on top thanks to some inspired performances from the ‘D’ team refugees”.</div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Here is the full match scorecard:</div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Hebden Bridge ‘C’ vs. Courier ‘B’</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
J.Blinkhorn 1-0 P.Hughes</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
S.Priest 0-1 D.Colledge</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
N.Bamford 0-1 J.Smith</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
C.Greaves 1-0 J.Whitehead</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D.Crampton 1-0 R.Bottomley</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>3-2</strong></div>
<br />
<div>
</div>
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Hebden Bridge Chess Club database</span></strong><br />
<br />
<div>
Last, but by no means least I would like to draw members’ attention to <a href="http://drnicksykes.blogspot.com/p/all-games.html"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">Nick Sykes’ blog</span></strong></a> on which you will now be able to find the latest version of this year’s games database. This is up to date to the 17th of October<strong>.<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script> </strong></div>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-64005607508175145452011-10-17T19:45:00.000+01:002011-10-17T20:36:39.435+01:00The French, fried (again!)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBKCslZc16pC3qgSHkC3vqZ_Dp45Jh1Mk5sRaKKwd1a9L47OSn_NWkBDOOAseR2Oh4QCL5VTsj0GULlrKJSrzLpVhXgFliuXEWuzSnGG6cCLb0P2u1ApD2JrAKLNjaC3FcAKn8AoyqU5U/s1600/French+Fries.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBKCslZc16pC3qgSHkC3vqZ_Dp45Jh1Mk5sRaKKwd1a9L47OSn_NWkBDOOAseR2Oh4QCL5VTsj0GULlrKJSrzLpVhXgFliuXEWuzSnGG6cCLb0P2u1ApD2JrAKLNjaC3FcAKn8AoyqU5U/s400/French+Fries.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
On the 15th of October last year I reminded readers of an anniversary that any good Englishman should cherish - the anniversary of Henry V's victory over the French at Agincourt in 1418.<br />
<br />
Well, this year I didn't quite manage to post on the 15th (which was on Saturday), but I did think it was appropriate to mention the anniversary (the 596th) again this year. On Saturday morning, as the brave men of Wales went down in a tight battle against the French in the Rubgy World Cup in New Zealand I couldn't help thinking how ironic it was that this fixture should have been played on the 15th of October. In 1418 it was the renowned longbow men of Wales who were instrumental in helping good king Harry defeat the French knights on away soil.<br />
<br />
So, today, in tribute to the brave men of Wales who fought the French on two battle fields nearly 500 years apart, I would like to offer another thrashing of the French Defence. Something to warm the heart.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=FF9900&background=C2C2C2&pgndata=[Event "Wandering Dragons Club Championship"] [Site "Edinburgh"] [Date "1998.03.17"] [White "Intermezzo."] [Black "O.P.Ponent."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C06"] {I spent three very happy years living in Edinburgh during my early twenties. It was an exciting city to live in and of course I found a good chess club to go to. "Wandering Dragons" played at (and may well still play at) a Polish club in the city centre a short walk from my flat. It was a great location and the company was always convivial. This game was played as part of the club’s own championship which was held annually and progressed at a sedate pace over the course of the league season on nights when there were no fixtures.} 1. e4 e6 {For the first time on this blog here is a French Defence. It will make regular reappearances as it is such a popular reposnse to 1.e4. This is the opening that Wilhelm Steinitz famously claimed to be "the dullest of all". For many years I would have tended to agree with him because I used to hate playing against the French. I simply couldn’t find a system that I liked playing with the White pieces. For quite some time I floundered around pretty badly until eventually I settled on the Tarrasch variation and committed myself to familiarising myself with it’s strategic and tactical themes. Since I made the effort to do this I have found that I rather enjoy playing some of the main lines of this variation and indeed, the reader will find quite a number of games against the French on this site from this point forwards. This game, more than any other, was the one that changed my negative perceptions of White’s possibilities against the French Defence.} 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 {This move is the signature move of the Tarrasch variation. White develops his queen’s knight in such a way as to avoid having it pinned after 3.Nc3 Bb4 (the Winawer variation) and indicates his willingness to try and support his strong central pawns by leaving the c3 square available for his c-pawn to occupy. This method of development can sometimes cause White difficulties as his pieces strive to activate themselves harmoniously but, this is a secondary concern compared to the objective of taking and holding a dominant space advantage in the centre of the board.} 3... Nf6 {This is the "closed" variation of the Tarrasch. With this move Black indicates that he is prepared to accept a slightly cramped position in order to lure White’s pawns to squares on which they are more susceptable to a counter attack. Black will surrender the centre to White’s pawns and then attempt to undermine them as the game develops. The other frequently employed method for Black to employ against the Tarrasch is the "open" system which involves playing 3...c5 at once. This forces early pawn exchanges in the centre which succeed in dissolving White’s spacial advantage but allow him instead to develop his pieces quite actively and rapidly. As always with openings it is a matter of personal taste with each exponent trying to direct the game down an avenue that they will feel most comfortable playing.} 4. e5 {White accepts the bait and takes the central space that Black has offered him. Into the bargain he also gains a tempo on the Black knight which will now have to relocate.} 4... Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 {Black begins his counter measures. From c5 this Black pawn aims to undermine White’s pawn on d4 and, indirectly therefore, also the pawn on e5.} 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ne2 {It may seem odd to develop the king’s knight here but White is preparing for Black to add further pressure to d4 by putting his queen on b6. In such an eventuality it is important for White to be able to play Nd2-f3. As we can see the d4 square is pivotal to the battle at this early stage of the game.} 7... cxd4 {Another viable option here for Black is to maintain the tension in the centre for the moment and heap up pressure on d4 by playing 7...Qb6. I’ve faced this line several times before and will be posting games in this line here in future.} 8. cxd4 f6 {The second part of Black’s plan to undermine the White pawn centre now comes into play. Having weakened the d4 pawn by exchanging on that square Black now attacks the pawn on e5. White can’t support e5 so he must either exchange pawns on f6 or play a gambit line.} 9. exf6 {This was my choice (and it is the mainline choice) in this variation for a number of years. More recently I have unearthed and prepared a sharper alternative (9.Nf4!?) which has served me well and provided me with a great deal of fun and some very interesting games.} 9... Qxf6 $5 {An interesting choice from my colleague. Most of the time Black plays 9...Nxf6 here. The concept behind this move is to immediately put pressure on the d4 square again. Black is also preparing for the third part of his strategy in this variation which is to play e5. The down side to this move (as Lev Psakhis points out in his wonderful bible of a book on the Tarrasch variation) is that the queen can become vulnerable to a counterattack from the White pieces on this square.} 10. Nf3 h6 {Black prevents his opponent from playing 11.Bg5 which of course is highly desirable. This may be in keeping with his strategy but the downside is a further weakening of his king’s side pawn structure.} 11. O-O Bd6 {This is still all straight out of the opening book. Black’s plan is to castle short and then play e5. If he succeeds in doing this then he will have equalised and, in all likelihood, gained an isolated but passed pawn on d5. The game still pivots around the central dark squares and, in particular, the d4 square.} 12. Nc3 {White seeks to prevent an immediate e5 by placing Black’s d5 pawn under survaillence. This choice is a popular one although Psakhis prefers} (12. Bc2 {when there can follow} 12... O-O 13. Be3 Rd8 14. Qd2 Bb4 15. Qd3 Bd6 16. a3 Nf8 {and a dynamic position has arisen which is fairly typical of this variation.} ) 12... O-O 13. Re1 $2 {This mistake should have allowed my opponent to gain a meaningful advantage. White can’t afford to leave f2 so vulnerable. Instead of this the most frequently chosen alternative is 13.Be3 which continues to maintain the tension.} 13... Rd8 $6 {Not so much an error as a missing opporunity. My opponent played this move very quickly. Had I played 13.Be3 then this response would have been correct, (at least according to the opening manuals anyway) so it would appear that Black simply banged out the "book" move without realising I had made an error.} ({Why did Black not play} 13... Nxd4 {when the following line is practically forced} 14. Nxd4 Qxf2%2B 15. Kh1 Qh4 16. g3 Bxg3 17. Re2 Ne5 18. Rg2 Bf2 19. Nde2 Nxd3 20. Qxd3 Bc5 {and Black has three pawns (two of them connected and passed!) for his piece? More than enough for him to claim to be holding the balance in my view.} ) 14. g3 $6 {This is an odd looking move. As I remember it my idea here was to try to play Nh4-g6. Aside from the fact that this doesn’t really threaten anything, Black can easily prevent the plan by moving his rook back to f8 and taking advantage of White’s suicidal weakening of the f2 and f3 squares. Simply completing my development with 14.Be3 would have been a far more sensible approach.} 14... Nf8 {Fortunately for me, my opponent, having played the opening fairly actively and energetically up to this point, suddenly becomes very jumpy and cautious. Perhaps he had been on the end of some defeats in this line were White had taken advantage of the weak g6 and h7 squares. At least this move also enables his light squared bishop to dream about entering the fray.} 15. Be3 Bd7 16. h4 $5 {Having thought better of my original plan to occupy g6 I know decided to attempt to bother the Black queen with the manouevre Nf3-h2-g4. On this occasion the plan has some merit as Black has renounced the opportunity to counter attack down the f-file, at least for the moment.} 16... Be8 {Black is going through contortions in order to rid himself of his "bad" bishop. The idea is to try and engineer its exchange on g6 or h5.} 17. Rc1 {Continuing with the plan of 17.Nh2 immediately would have been more consistent but I wanted to get my last piece developed and enable my king’s bishop to retreat to b1 without blocking the queen’s rook.} 17... Bh5 18. Be2 Rac8 19. Nh2 {19.a3 should also have come into consideration. With this move I demonstrated that I felt my knight was more valuable than my bishop. As the game goes this judgement turned out to be correct but objectively it might have been the wrong judgement.} 19... Bxe2 20. Rxe2 {White is aiming to double his rooks on the c-file so recapturing with the queen or knight were rejected.} 20... Na5 {After something of a hiatus over the last 8 or 9 moves the game is beginning to stutter back to life again. Black is aiming to land his knight on c4 which White can easily prevent by playing 21.b3 but this will, in turn, allow Black play 21...Ba3. In this position I felt that I needed to get active fairly quickly as otherwise Black would simply keep improving his position.} 21. Ng4 Qg6 22. Ne5 {Black can’t allow this knight to remain on this outpost and so must exchange off his nice bishop for it.} 22... Bxe5 23. dxe5 Nc4 {Now Black’s knight has found its way to its target outpost. White could drive it off with b3 now but only at the cost of losing his own bishop after 24.b3 Nxe3 25. Rxe3 and Black’s passed pawn must give him some sort of advantage. It was for this reason that I decided it was time to try and mix things up a little.} 24. Bxa7 $1 {Grabbing a hot pawn and setting up a little trap. 24.Bd4 would have been playable too but it’s pretty passive.} 24... Nd7 {Black returns his second knight to the fray and aims to capture the e5 pawn. White could now justifiably play 25.Bd4 but I had seen something else that I liked the look of.} 25. Nxd5 $5 {This certainly puts the cat amongst the pigeons! Of course, it isn’t totally sound, but it does set Black some challenging practical problems and changes the nature of the game from slow positional manouevring to a tactial fire fight.} 25... exd5 26. Qxd5%2B Kh8 $2 {Wrong square! Black had one chance to refute my combination and this could have been done by playing} (26... Kh7 $1 {We’ll see in a moment why putting his king here would have made all the difference.} 27. Rxc4 Nb6 28. Bxb6 Rxd5 29. Rxc8 {The point of 26...Kh7! is that now this move is played without a check! This means that White can’t keep his bishop on the board} 29... Qxb6 30. e6 {and White is lost although Black will have a little work to do rounding up the e-pawn.} ) 27. Rxc4 {The point now is that on 27...Nb6 White plays 28.Rxc8! Nxd5 (or 28...Rxc8 29.Bxb6) 29.Rxd8%2B Kh7 30.Rxd5 and Black is done for. The threats to Black’s king along the back rank are crucial to these tactics being successful.} 27... Qb1%2B $5 {Seeing that the above variation leads no where my opponent tries to create confusion. This cunning move is aimed at capturing on a2 when the White bishop will be attacked and the White rook on c4 pinned to the queen. A devious resource that I had overlooked in my analysis.} 28. Kh2 {It is now important for the White king to choose the correct flight square. On g2 he would have been susceptable to Black capturing on d5 with check. Furthermore the defending pawns are all on black squares so h2 is the safest option.} 28... Qxa2 29. Rxc8 $1 {White turns the tables on the Black queen. The rook may have been pinned but it turns out to be of now concern. The pinned rook now moves with a tempo to deliver a discovered attack on Black’s queen! This compels Black to accept the exchange of his two rooks for the White queen.} 29... Qxd5 {Black has no other option.} 30. Rxd8%2B {Again, an extra tempo for White’s attack due to the Black king’s position. Now the passed e-pawn will decide the game.} 30... Kh7 31. e6 Qh5 {A last desperate attempt at creating problems. White can ignore the threat to the rook.} 32. exd7 $1 32... Qxe2 33. Re8 {I think it was only now that my opponent realised he couldn’t capture on f2 because the bishop is defending it! There is no way of stopping the d7 pawn from queening now so he resigned.} 1-0'/></object></div><br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-82959625746749303082011-10-14T13:28:00.000+01:002011-10-14T13:28:07.350+01:00Special delivery from Courier<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitu4gHIuabSa4dWOi9AuEAo6gDe9DYx2V8q9S0nBL8tKnH9OWVSQDANv-S7_lODyK5sIfITYSoNnduv4XImAPDaAFyumZybTWCU0fMVLhcoU97RmoWHAXsG_1xL1qCe9xx-aNu960XiSs/s1600/couriers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="232" oda="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitu4gHIuabSa4dWOi9AuEAo6gDe9DYx2V8q9S0nBL8tKnH9OWVSQDANv-S7_lODyK5sIfITYSoNnduv4XImAPDaAFyumZybTWCU0fMVLhcoU97RmoWHAXsG_1xL1qCe9xx-aNu960XiSs/s320/couriers.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Huddersfield 'A's title defence now looks even more fragile<br />
than this parcel thanks to Courier's win on Monday night</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On Monday night it was the turn of Calderdale's Division 1 teams to wade into action for round 2 of this year's competition. But, before we turn to our own teams' results, I should first relate the seismic result that has reached our ears from Halifax where Courier 'A' overwhelmed the reigning league champions Huddersfield 'A' by a score of 3½-1½. <br />
<br />
In itself this would not necessarily mean all that much (Courier also beat Huddersfield in the second round last season) but, coming on the back of the champion's defeat away to Brighouse in round 1, this result leaves them bereft and cut adrift from this year's title race after only two matches! Last year they recovered from a draw and a loss to claim their victory with an perfect run of 12 won matches. This year they will have to do that again and it still may not be enough to save them.<br />
<br />
Courier's excellent win deservedly leaves them top of the table with two wins from two matches. Brighouse join them on 4 points (they are second on board score) after they saw off Belgrave away in a tight match. The other two fixtures both featured Hebden Bridge teams and so, without further ado, over to John Kerrane who reports on the action from the Trades Club.<br />
<br />
<em><strong><span style="color: orange;">“</span><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">H</span></strong>ebden Bridge Chess Club’s A team confirmed their status as contenders for the Calderdale Chess League first division championships on Monday evening at the Trades Club, Holme Street, when they hosted newly-promoted Huddersfield B, and beat them 4½-½.</em><br />
<em>The individual results were:</em><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Hebden Bridge ‘A’ – Huddersfield ‘B’</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
M. Parsons 1-0 N. Hepworth</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D. Ursal 1-0 N. Hepworth</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D. Shapland 1-0 B. Corner</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
N. Sykes ½-½ E. Mellor</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D. Sugden 1-0 M. Rojinsky</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>4½-½</strong></div>
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="416" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=g&d=3000&ig=r&ss=40&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=____&dcs=_Uz$&bbcs=____&hm=s&hcs=LHa1&bd=s&cbcs=W_iH&ctcs=$$$$&hd=j&md=j&tm=10&fhcs=____&fhs=100p&fmcs=____&fccs=LHa1&hmcs=_Uz$&fms=100p&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=t&fp=0&hl=t&fh=b&fw=650&pe=1824$zlax9RvkYWao6R_o3yextimzvLEG8ovpM74BE5Izkv8X5RBfjQzyWQxf81wy$bD$NvEG80utuqvgwilh_CvQxf9YUX_ZkuwVaX$jQzvHKj2D4BE5T_Zult2P2$4coaE6V_9P1btj4co7IuaD3u991BHA_e0G3eMe2V0oFgGo4n1u0IEzv_RreX9pNflmF0MZ8TufackZYzuePvMbILuT7_LEG4wvgK3qQ1$f3Ax0zJfL33o$hlDL19nvC7P10Fbv8G3r02Gi75EN1vgUz0kDOY2v4ykpbwGz2vghJYfWmtDbD16pWQ$QsVvMvf3QFaIAfo$757xervO$f4lCePmkEN2n04ba0zJfqf7ho$lRfqv7WfP0k7x24$xVE3fbYF2d$v8ejst7U0wL7iM2S7fD1$CHfCF35$H1hg$Noj7f1$zRgrPk15$v7BDVBU1b$wW323rw5vfYkejekiQ1d$yGMj8rw0f71io6jNAx6$gRyMDWIN32vgQUNdEW9wxv7VzU0cfLL7VXXU6h4fM$7SFaFdfMv78xaIAfO$71hfHJSN5p04RRgijbT1dQhUZvpFm7nj1dQRUZxVwjbr06jC75Rk20L7VXU2lDLD1dKrxUDEovL7EkGjtFQFb70$g5gi6Vbb04Q5gQ7Fbn06mBgQbFbp04Ol75pry6$gskGjjo51vaaBHgg3nr04Oi7WfFb2vgrPx0IAgEf3stc$Om7Pn30kpU4QlJgE$7WfPsh9yi$gRI3adQho5H$yIduDJp9ylvgPC7VAxcr06pzQ6pETygf7JDNdEByiv7VfGY4Q67Pd06jNDiLHTD1aITwczrb1axpwc3rf1enyKygMv7Wkc3sGW3rL1dEAgSS7UD3qU6up_gOv7J8MoSS7Tj11pyGm7TT1dEJuDJp9yvT3m39xVC79j05NDVPk0gvgRyCV26A4xNfmSCRT4vjQzKUTcnz1O1X63uwV0v1BHz4AVvs$GXiaaUX6Da$4coaE6V_9P1bRftbRf9pNgpZmfad954cnHb15BgKj70$ih75EN5$vy75hU5$fAx$IAgD328bvC7T1$x7v7wj4$wrtmfJeaDr02O4vM676$vpy71hU0A$fCx6JfnL7XNervN$fVfP2qU0B$yGgD58x2n0$QhnyshnvRva$FErwRFm7cL32e7yKIJfnD3dEHwQez5r04Nh757k0wL7tM$kdfwf3qo09Wo12$v9JRa$xnw1$fYF6mxDfL3spDp9rw5$f4jB7sFi37P1azOfcKj7T1dE3c$Q5fvD3dEbwRFi4x6$fck8z5q7e5q7la80utuqvlwilh_CvQxfabmEW7F6Dev1BHz4AVvs$J_0Z29KLTK0VaX$jQzJzuGXGf7MUfjQzxQXJvfh21BHl500bgij705XghJXfL3jo5VPo5$fcly78Nc$vo8ztU6$f4i3cpvD30cbyu7r01TXJldP9vr16h7wWz5j06sBvpC7bn308nwej5f1$zRfQx2b0$SHfbAN2n00cgJEcfqf4vQhpvpEcfqv71Fijdz9vMf7sho1t7bT16pZrwQDF22vfWkDF$FI4fwf30khU$g1Dfn1L9GOz5e9a4xMnHla4v0" width="650"></iframe><em></em><br />
<br />
<em>Meanwhile, one of their rivals, Todmorden ‘A’, was dealing out similar harsh treatment to Hebden Bridge ‘B’ at the same venue. The 4-1 score line does not reflect the closeness of the match, as several of the Hebden players came close to causing an upset, but only Steve Priest on board five could win a point for the home side.</em><br />
<br />
<em>The individual scores were:</em> <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Hebden Bridge ‘B’ – Todmorden ‘A’</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A.Leatherbarrow 0-1 M.Hamer</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
M.Syrett 0-1 A.Clarkson</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
J.Blinkhorn 0-1 A.Wright</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
J.Kerrane 0-1 R.Tokeley</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
S.Priest 1-0 C.Edwards</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>1-4</strong></div>
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="416" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=g&d=3000&ig=r&ss=40&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=____&dcs=_Uz$&bbcs=____&hm=s&hcs=LHa1&bd=s&cbcs=W_iH&ctcs=$$$$&hd=j&md=j&tm=10&fhcs=____&fhs=100p&fmcs=____&fccs=LHa1&hmcs=_Uz$&fms=100p&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=t&fp=0&hl=t&fh=b&fw=650&pe=1597$zlax9RvkYWao6R_o3yextimzvLEG8ovpM74BE5Izkv8X5RBfjQzyWQxf81wy$bD$NvEG80utuqvgwilh_CvQxfaextHXgXQUXZZ6Ttyd$4co7aaQ$V0oGTu3u0VaX$jQzJzuGXGf8fXnjQzxQXJvfhy0ilh_CvQx6TCwY$HQ7QHxH0evRPNfuT7_LEG80otD66TCwY$yYYHuueIzkv_RreX9pMnn33M$Nm7f11pvqtDn1cTyu7L19nvoGzp009WU09WU6$f3gz039vD32jo1TXJwL1Laq75EN0L7XNdzrvNv7sDx3ZfnL75i7x$zJfo$7m6APqQ0B$xAsVvpJYfq$7sRx0F39l5P10xnv8bF2r0$iS71FYN24$wRGS75hQ0C$fWI3jU0wL75Mgz2enw1v75io$iO7fn1L7B7WjB7fv328Q8x$FEDw2$fVYN$FE5w5$gsk7P28bw5vgSoDstM1d$wRGR75FYx34$l23g$NlDfT10zjo6sJfvr10FWQ49WQ24$fcgzm8AfLL7J7xazJfM$7JRNazYfMv7VfNNUe3bL1dzQ4Ni7oD32qc6sAfOv757N0Fzo21vfAjy7hQ26$fQxazXfDtbHlh1ZXZS$B1BHA_e0G3vflfojdtZu9wVb_$4co7aaQ$V0uOTbBYnegC$1BHAPyYuAp096y1BHzlKAP1Oyc1BHl500bgiz705XgKjb009WQ49WQ5$gi328ryf75DN0Fryv75ho1u7902Gi75YF6$a6lIuD1Rk$T3jGKj0kpQ0A$f4kGmV0IAfnL758F$zNDbv32kRk6Jfov75pUZyQlIfq$4vQudfWmOz5P10FIpwrtmfqv717N0FnvMf7WfPdZQZvOv75DN0FI7vLT3ayNV0IHw1v4Cp7yI67fn30qg2JS7fv303o$Ol7fL3sEfPsEx3n06BfcIz7P1dPg2I67gL30qfH1GK37906sBv9I5fwL30erv8bF32vgRIbfWlB7je5la80utuqvl0ilh_CvQxf9TyUYUjvtyeL0ilh1NYfdvgZZ2xo3aLtyD0ilhVgZKNI$A2MwilhamNV06MB1BHl504bgiz701q7SF5$xAsVxAsVy$7Sx0Fryf71ig$Nm7T10zBfiz4$wrtmf4Kzd$vpy4xTXJvr1ebyS7bD1$IDvaoj5b1dPc6pdfo$75Yx0xnvO$fcij0kEF2n05VPQ2E1DcD1MG33Q0J$vy7VAIN24$wRx7iQ0C$f4gz08pvLT3dI7waz7j06jIBwPC7fn32qg$Qpbl7f16pPo5Xfwv78mt75GK37L1dzc6p4fyf758xazNDgL32qU0_W3sGKz7902Gh7WKohM2v7WioDspo10L7sFPN0FIbwxv7WKzsGKzbb19kSNdW9wx$gSoD5Sx42MAxMnH$0" width="650"></iframe><em></em><br />
<br />
<em>On the same evening, Hebden Bridge ‘C’ was playing away against Halifax ‘A’ in one of the semi-finals of the Calderdale Summer Team Knock-Out Competition. In this time–handicap competition, lowly Hebden Bridge ‘C’ had a genuine chance, but the Halifax side won the match in the end. The match featured the debut for the Hebden Bridge league teams of 9-year-old Kyle Sharpe, who came away with a creditable draw against old campaigner John Nicholson.</em><br />
<em><br /></em><br />
<em>The individual results were:</em><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Halifax ‘A’ – Hebden Bridge ‘C’</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
C.Velosa 1-0 T.Sullivan</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
R.Cully 0-1 N. Bamford</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
H.Wood 1-0 T.Wilton-Davies</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
J.Aldridge 1-0 D.Crampton </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
J.Nicholson ½-½ K.Sharpe</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>3½-1½</strong></div>
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="371" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=g&d=3000&ig=r&ss=40&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=____&dcs=_Uz$&bbcs=____&hm=s&hcs=LHa1&bd=s&cbcs=W_iH&ctcs=$$$$&hd=j&md=j&tm=10&fhcs=____&fhs=100p&fmcs=____&fccs=LHa1&hmcs=_Uz$&fms=100p&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=t&fp=0&hl=t&fh=b&fw=650&pe=1033$zlax9RvkYWao6R_o3v_3XeDJm1BHAB0G3vlpZN28tF9pNgYVM73wfMv5j$ofjQzJ_aQsLab7evMWdwAuo1BHA_e0G3vkXZXeBYKAfY0X$jQzvHKj2D4CbIKvRPN0Vb_$4coaE6V_9P1je54co7IuaD3u974coaZt2l7uxt6P1OjylN9L3Z2qi80_GT_LEG80otD66TCwY$HQYz5hYl2_oL_LEG4wvgK3qQ1$fbzN0zJfL308nvC7L1ebxBDP11bxAsTyv75GK30jQ0f717x0BIAfT0nJeaD8F0L71iQ09WM0A$fhJXf3fF2506h5wrtmfo$71RN0xnvO$f3Ax$IXvR$f4mu4vQsXvRvfVYF0zJfqv7sho$ht7bj16jHfWHF2d$wUz0kto0wL7stM$kjPfwf3mkig2FteNM0vfWke32kiM13$yGMDiU15$vqp7VzgN3n06mHfYF3p0$Ni758x3r0$ilDVfF34$ls7perw2v71Yx5Ifvr1$BBgSM67nD1$FWQ$M9E7wwvgRE1DWjwjbf10zYgrBk25$l0kh9yIjxDov32kh9xVFgjbP1azRgrizbT1azHgrAN54$ytDiQZwyv7Jio1smHuDnd$HJFYxaxpy1v7JFYFaFWQ52$xUej23Q53$xUa323M55$xTy75EyY5b$xWq75FPyY5c$lm3g4Qbgyv7J7N0Fby0f7JRx0ByuDLT1aF5vpKBgvr1aFI7xUG3pj04Q2gsgzpb1aIBl2kDxc704Q2fQxcb04OgDpo5H$xVwD5XNcp04ROfPxcr04M3fPqc6nPj1azBgsIzpr$HJhM4RXgDr1azBfVi6Vd9$xU83dWo62$xUc3m3o63$xUczdE5yy$grCx6jHuDUv3mepldEHyBvgrYNazHgOv7Jt9xUaj96ya4xMnH$0" width="650"></iframe><br />
<br />
Halifax ‘A’ will now play Hebden Bridge ‘A’ in the final of this competition.<br />
<br />
Hebden Bridge 'A's assured victory has left them in third place in the table hot on the heals of Courier and Brighouse and with Todmorden for company. These four sides have already pulled clear of the rest of the division and poor old Hebden 'B' find themselves rock bottom and with the unappetising prospect of facing their colleagues in the 'A' team in the next round of fixtures. Anyone interested in seeing the current league table can do so at the <a href="http://www.calderdalechess.netii.net/index.php">league website</a>.<br />
<br />
This just leaves me to introduce a few more of the games from Monday night. These ones all come with a little commentary. First up is another combative victory for Darwin Ursal on board 2 for Hebden Bridge 'A'. He showed his young opponent no mercy has he brushed him aside early on in the evening. I've used the "Show/Hide" function on Chess Flash here to try and ensure this post loads as quickly as possible. Just click below for the second and third game viewers to be revealed!<br />
<br />
<div>
<object data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" height="350" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" />
<param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=FF9900&background=C2C2C2&pgndata=[Event "Calderdale League 1"] [Site "Hebden Bridge"] [Date "2011.10.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Ursal, D."] [Black "Hepworth, P."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A50"] [Annotator "Darwin Ursal"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 b6 3. Nc3 Bb7 {I was a bit confused on what he was doing. I was thinking of the Queens Indian defence.} 4. d5 c5 {I played d5 straight away to block the long white diagonal and gain some space advantage.} 5. e4 d6 6. Bd3 h6 $6 {Waste of move he should have played e6 to develop his bishop and castles afterwards.} 7. f4 Qd7 { He just took the best square for his knight to be developed on.} 8. Nf3 e6 9. O-O Na6 10. e5 Nh7 11. dxe6 {As theory says, open up the centre whilst your opponent’s king is still in the middle.} Qxe6 12. exd6 Qxd6 ({Alternatively} 12... O-O-O {and Black slightly recovers. [%emt 0:00:00]}) 13. Re1%2B Be7 14. Qe2 $1 Nf6 (14... Kf8 {He can play} 15. Nb5 Qd8) 15. Nb5 Qd8 16. Nh4 g6 $2 17. Nxg6 Ne4 $2 (17... fxg6 18. Bxg6%2B Kf8 ({Not} 18... Kd7 19. Qe6#) 19. Qe6 Rh7 20. Bxh7 Nxh7 21. Qxh6%2B Kg8) 18. Bxe4 Bxe4 19. Qxe4 fxg6 20. Qxg6%2B Kf8 21. Qf5%2B Bf6 22. Bd2 $1 {Now White’s last minor piece joins the action.} Kg7 ({ It’s mate in 8 if} 22... Qxd2 $4 23. Qxf6%2B Kg8 24. Re7 Rh7 25. Qg6%2B Kf8 26. Rxh7 Qe3%2B 27. Kh1 Qxf4 28. Qg7%2B Ke8 29. Qe7#) 23. Re6 $1 Rf8 24. Qg4%2B (24. Rxf6 Rxf6 25. Bc3 {will lead to an exchange of queens but I prefer to keep my lady!} ) 24... Kh8 $2 ({Better was} 24... Kh7) 25. Bc3 $1 Kh7 (25... Bxc3 $4 26. Rxh6# ) 26. Rd1 $1 {The other rook joins attacking the queen and therefore removing the other defence for his bishop at f6.} Qc8 27. Qf5%2B Kg7 28. Bxf6%2B Rxf6 29. Qxf6%2B Kg8 30. Re7 Qf8 31. Qg6%2B Qg7 32. Qxg7# 1-0 '/>
</object></div>
<br />
Next up, and also a board 2 clash, here is Andrew Clarkson's victory of 'B' team captain, Martin Syrett. My thanks go to Andrew for taking the time to send us this game. <br />
<br />
<div>
<object data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" height="350" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" />
<param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=FF9900&background=C2C2C2&pgndata=[Event "Caldrdale League 1"] [Site "Hebden Bridge"] [Date "2011.10.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Syrett, M."] [Black "Clarkson, A.A."] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B08"] {B08: Pirc Defence: Classical System} 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5 c6 6. Be2 O-O 7. Qd2 b5 8. b4 $2 {Asking for trouble along the long dark diagonal.} (8. a3 Nbd7 (8... a6 9. Rd1 a5 10. Qf4 b4 11. Na4 Ba6 12. c4 bxc3 13. Nxc3 Qb6 14. Rd2 Bxe2 15. Rxe2 e5 16. dxe5 dxe5 17. Qh4 Nbd7 18. O-O Nh5 19. Rd1 Qc7 20. Red2 Nc5 21. Be7 Ne6 22. Bxf8 Rxf8 23. Ne2 {Schepel,K (2255)-Kassabe,E (2275)/Novi Sad 1990/TD/1-0 (36)} )9. O-O Qc7 10. Rad1 Bb7 11. Rfe1 Rad8 12. Qf4 a5 13. Qh4 b4 14. Nb1 c5 15. d5 c4 16. axb4 axb4 17. c3 bxc3 18. bxc3 Ba6 19. Bf1 e6 20. dxe6 fxe6 21. e5 dxe5 22. Nbd2 Rc8 {Espig,L-Vogt,L/Erfurt 1973/EXT 1999/1-0 (57)} ) (8. Bd3 Bg4 (8... a6 9. h3 Nbd7 10. Bh6 Nb6 11. Bxg7 Kxg7 12. O-O-O Be6 13. g4 Bc4 14. Nh4 Bxd3 15. cxd3 c5 16. f4 cxd4 17. Ne2 e5 18. g5 Nxe4 19. dxe4 Nc4 20. Qe1 Ne3 21. Kb1 Nxd1 22. Qxd1 f6 23. Rg1 {Gaismar,H (2000)-Romano,T (1981)/Caorle 1984/EXT 2002/0-1 (34)} )9. h3 Bxf3 10. gxf3 Nbd7 11. f4 Qb6 12. Ne2 c5 13. c3 b4 14. Rb1 a5 15. O-O Rfc8 16. e5 Nd5 17. c4 Nc7 18. Bxe7 dxe5 19. dxe5 Qe6 20. Bh4 Qxh3 21. Bg3 Rd8 22. Qe3 Ne6 {Matas,M (2053)-Ivic,M (2303)/Sibenik 2007/CBM 118 ext/1/2-1/2 (73)} )(8. a3 $5 $14 ) 8... a5 $1 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. bxa5 b4 11. Nd1 Qxa5 12. Ne3 Ba6 13. O-O Bxe2 14. Qxe2 Nd7 15. Ng4 (15. Rfe1 Bg7 $15 ) 15... Bg7 16. Qd2 (16. Ne3 e6 $17 ) 16... Qh5 (16... c5 17. Rab1 $17 ) 17. h3 $15 17... c5 18. Rab1 Rxa2 19. dxc5 (19. e5 $5 $15 ) 19... Bc3 $1 {Securing the advantage.} 20. Qd5 $2 ({Or} 20. Qd3 $5 20... Qxc5 21. Ne3 Nf6 $17 ) 20... Qxd5 21. exd5 Nxc5 22. Ne3 Rfa8 23. Nd1 $2 ({I expected} 23. Rbd1 Kg7) 23... Rxc2 24. Nxc3 bxc3 25. Nd4 (25. Rbc1 Rxc1 26. Rxc1 Ra3 $19 ) 25... Rd2 26. Nf3 Rb2 27. Rbc1 (27. Nd4 Nd3 28. Rbd1 Nf4 $19 ) 27... c2 28. Nd4 Raa2 {White resigned.} 0-1'/>
</object></div>
<br />
<script language="javascript" src="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/showhidebase.js">
</script><script language="javascript" src="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/showhidemain.js">
</script><style>
.boardhidden {display:none}; .boardshown {display:inline}
</style><script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script><br />
Finally, here is 'A' team captain Dave Shapland's effort against Brian Corner. <br />
<br />
<div>
<object data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" height="350" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" />
<param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=FF9900&background=C2C2C2&pgndata=[Event "Calderdale League 1"] [Site "Hebden Bridge"] [Date "2011.10.10"] [Round "2"] [White "Shapland, D."] [Black "Corner, B."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C10"] 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 dxe4 {The Rubenstein Variation. It has a reputation for being solid and rather dull. In my experience White has to settle for a modest but lasting advantage and be careful not to overstretch himself.} 4. Nxe4 Nf6 ({More frequently played is} 4... Nd7 5. Nf3 Ngf6 {and now White can exchange on f6 or maintain the tension for a little longer with 6.Bd3 or 6.Bg5.} ) 5. Ng3 {This is not a popular line. It’s pretty quiet in fact. However, given my current form I wanted to keep things fairly simple and wait for my opponent to weaken his position.} ({The most popular line in my Rybka database is} 5. Nxf6%2B Qxf6 6. Nf3 h6 7. Bd3 Bd6) 5... Be7 6. Nf3 Nc6 ({Also possible, and more consistent with orthodox French Defence strategy would have been to play for the liberating c5 pawn break after} 6... O-O 7. Bd3 c5 {and the position is pretty much equal.} ) 7. Bc4 $5 {Normally White would develop his king’s bishop to d3 as the pawn on d4 is taboo. 7.Bd3 Nxd3 8.Nxd3 Qxd3 9.Bb5%2B and the Black queen is lost.} 7... Nd5 $6 {This seems a bit premature. Rybka thinks that 7...b6 is a better idea. That at least allows the light squared bishop to get into the action.} 8. c3 {8.0-0 straight away was also a good option.} 8... a6 9. O-O b5 {Black takes the bait and advances on the queen’s-side. This weakens the a8-h1 diagonal.} 10. Bd3 {My plan was to occupy e4 or e5 with my knights and provoke further weakening of the Black position.} 10... Nf6 {Black retreats. Why? Maybe he wanted to hold e4. The knight was under no immediate threat on d5 and now he’s wasted another tempo. I had expected 10...0-0.} 11. Re1 Bb7 12. Bf4 {Objectively this move may not be the best but I figured that the only way Black could take advantage of it was to reinstate his knight on d5 and I didn’t think he’d want to do that. Turns out I was right.} 12... Qd7 {Looks like Black is angling to castle long. I would have been happy with that because it appears easy enough for White to open lines on that side of the board with either a4 or c4.} 13. Ne4 {Rybka here prefers either 13.Bg5!? or 13.Qc2. I also spent time looking at 13.Ng5, 13.Be5 and 13.Ne5. All of these seem plausible but in the end I felt that, strategically, the game move was most consistent. I was hoping to manouvre my bishop to e4 somehow.} 13... Nxe4 14. Bxe4 {Now White is aiming to break in the centre with 15.d5. Black should really get his king to safety as quickly as possible. Instead he weakens the monarch’s only safe haven.} 14... f6 $6 {I don’t like this move. I think Black had to take what was coming his way by allowing the variation} (14... O-O 15. d5 exd5 16. Qxd5 Qxd5 17. Bxd5 Bd6 ({No better was} 17... Rfe8 18. Bxc7 Rac8 19. Bf4 {and White has won a pawn for nothing.} )18. Bxd6 cxd6 19. Rad1 {and White stands much better due to the very weak pawn on d6.} ) 15. Qe2 {I felt I could afford to be patiewnt and pick at Black’s position. Now his e6 pawn is weakened and there is still the threat of Rad1 and d5 to come.} 15... O-O $6 {Finally, Black commits to castle. It’s ironic that this is the first point of the game where Rybka recommends that he should go the other way or even opt for 15...Kf8.} 16. Rad1 Bd6 17. Bxd6 cxd6 18. d5 $1 {This is been the point of my play for the last four or five moves. Now Black’s position in the centre becomes critically weak.} 18... exd5 19. Bxd5%2B Kh8 20. Be6 {Rybka here prefers} (20. Qe6 $1 {The point here is that Black can’t afford to exchange queens on e6 because} 20... Rad8 (20... Qxe6 21. Rxe6 Rad8 22. Bxc6 Bxc6 23. Rdxd6 Rxd6 24. Rxd6 Bxf3 25. gxf3 {and White’s advantage is clear cut int he roook and pawn ending.} )21. Nh4 $1 {Requiring Black to further loosen the position of his king in order to prevent the knight getting to f5.} 21... g6 22. f4 {and White dominates the game.} ) 20... Qc7 21. Qd3 {This isn’t the best choice but it is sufficient in this game. Rybka suggests the deeply cunning} (21. Bb3 $1 {and now after} 21... Ne5 22. Nd4 {it becomes clear that White wants to put the knight on e6 and so Black must play} 22... Bc8 23. Bd5 {and now Black’s position is in disarray.} ) 21... Ne5 $1 {This is best. I had been hoping for} (21... Rad8 22. Nh4 {the threat is 23.Ng6%2B!! hxg6 24.Qh3 mate.} 22... g6 23. Qh3 Kg7 {and things are looking rosy for White here.} ) 22. Nxe5 dxe5 {Black has been allowed to heal his broken pawn structure but the initiative is still in White’s hands.} 23. Qh3 Rad8 {Rybka recommends putting the other rook on this square to allow the Black king a flight square on f8 in some key variations. Now the White attack becomes very dangerous.} 24. Bf5 h6 ({After} 24... g6 $5 25. Bxg6 {matters aren’t as clear cut as I had assessed them to be at the board provided Black can find the excellent} 25... Bxg2 $1 (25... Rg8 {doesn’t quite work after} 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. g3)26. Kxg2 Rxd1 27. Rxd1 Rg8 28. Kf3 Rxg6 29. Qe6 {and White’s advantage is now minimal.} ) 25. Qh5 {This move appears to be very dangerous. White is threatening to play simply Qg6 and then mate on h7.} 25... Rxd1 {The best defence here was certainly not easy to find as it involves a retreat on the opposite side of the board!} (25... Bc8 $1 {A proper "computer" move! This is sufficient to help Black hold not only the defence but also the balance. A very hard move to spot though. Rybka now gives the continuation} 26. Be4 Rxd1 27. Rxd1 Rd8 28. Rd3 Kg8 {and White’s advantage is practically none existent.} ) 26. Rxd1 Qf7 $4 {A blunder that ends the game quickly although unless he’d been able to find 26...Bc8! he would have remained in a good deal of trouble. For example} (26... Rd8 {looks good but is well met by the stunning} 27. Rd7 $3 {allowing White the time to play 28.Qg6 and then mate as 28...Rxd7 runs into back rank mate.} )(26... g6 {is also terminal after} 27. Qxh6%2B Kg8 28. Be6%2B Rf7 29. Qxg6%2B Kh8 30. Bxf7) 27. Qxf7 {and only now did my opponent realise that 27...Rxf7 28.Rd8 is check mate. So, he resigned.} 1-0'/>
</object><br />
<br />
Thanks to all the players who took the time to send me their games by e-mail this week.</div>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-20520327045921053612011-10-12T02:55:00.000+01:002011-10-12T02:55:35.781+01:00Yorkshire League under way<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWonlAWvgSGUnGv4_xCeN2UH4Ck7jFaH4VSgTRewGAgoYYqsK6kE9ZNPUyZEF2WR1uQCIMwoubz8L36at8e0z6jhxb-KHn-xt7ti-clCelPGABdr5A_RAaj0oDveWTUzh08uJtoA2wWJc/s1600/White+Rose.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWonlAWvgSGUnGv4_xCeN2UH4Ck7jFaH4VSgTRewGAgoYYqsK6kE9ZNPUyZEF2WR1uQCIMwoubz8L36at8e0z6jhxb-KHn-xt7ti-clCelPGABdr5A_RAaj0oDveWTUzh08uJtoA2wWJc/s320/White+Rose.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Today’s post comes from Adrian Dawson who reports on the first round fixtures from the Yorkshire League which began last Saturday with two tough away fixtures for Calderdale’s two teams.<br />
<br />
<em><strong><span style="color: orange;">"</span><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">I</span></strong>n this article it is time to give grateful mention to some of Calderdale's heroes for their out-standing work in, not only representing our League, but in the way they have shown out-standing fortitude by organising teams that can not just compete at the highest level but can compete at all! People such as David Patrick, who for years has kept a team in the Woodhouse Cup by consistently finding strong players who are happy to represent us and is also the Fixtures Secretary to the League; Dave Colledge who does a sterling job as the League's Secretary and also captain's the Calderdale 'B' team, who also perform admirably in the I.M.Brown (Yorkshire's Second Division). Both 'A' & 'B' teams finished mid-table last season and promise to improve this term. Finally, Dave Milton, a former Yorkshire Secretary, who has done what no chess player has done for many a year in organising, not just one Todmorden team but a thriving club that now boasts 3 teams, all of which are showing great promise in the local league.</em><br />
<br />
<em>The Calderdale teams had perhaps the toughest matches they will face in their campaign in the first round of the Yorkshire Saturday League. The 'A' team travelled to face the champions for the past 3 years, York, and it has to be said, gave a very good account of them selves, especially in the middle order. Being out-graded on all boards bar one the 'A' team battled hard and the score, although looking like a heavy defeat, does not give a true reflection of how the match went.</em><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">The Woodhouse Cup, Round 1</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">York 'A' – Calderdale 'A'</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
C.Ross (189) 1-0 P.Watson (189)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
J.Weller (192) 1-0 R.Newton (181)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D.Adams (198) ½-½ M.Hamer (177)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
J.Nicholson (183) ½-½ M.Whitehead (173)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A.Combie (185) ½-½ J.Morgan (173)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
M.Carpenter (177) 1-0 D.Patrick (165)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
R.Mounce (160) 1-0 M.Corbett (138)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
R.Cowan (164) 1-0 M.Huett (123)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>6½-1½</strong></div>
<br />
<em>Although the 'B' team's result was the same this match showed the 'B' team can do battle with the strongest. Hull used to be the largest club in Yorkshire and won the Woodhouse Cup 13 years in succession, from 1987 to 2000. They soon after had some internal problems and withdrew from playing in Yorkshire. The present team is now fighting to try and replicate those glory days. Our 'B' team were heavily out-graded on all boards and had to default on bottom board. In the match Neil Suttie and Dave Sugden both had their opponents on the rack but couldn’t convert. Dave Milton was much better against his opponent but lost on time. Last to finish was Steve Priest who turned down a draw offer and tried to squeeze out a win but in the end had to give a perpetual check to avoid defeat. The rest of the side were outplayed by a much stronger team that seems to be on its way back to Division 1."</em><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">The I.M.Brown Shield, Round 1</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Hull D.C.A. – Calderdale 'B'</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
E.Gardner (179) 1-0 M.Connor (154)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D.Stephenson (175) ½-½ N.Suttie (148)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
J.Thackray (172) 1-0 D.Colledge (143)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
I.Bell (163) 1-0 M.Syrett (139)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
B.Hesler (157) ½-½D.Sugden (137)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
R.Callis (162) 1-0 D.Milton (132)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A.Grice (133) ½-½ S.Priest (121)</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D.Mills (153) 1- 0 Default</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>6½-1½</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
Thanks to Adrian for sending us this report. I hope to continue to update readers on the progress of both Calderdale teams as the season progresses. Both team Captains are always on the lookout for new recruits so if you are interested in representing Calderdale in the Yorkshire League leave a comment here or e-mail me at <a href="mailto:hebdenbridgechessclub@gmail.com">hebdenbridgechessclub@gmail.com</a> and I'll send your contact details on to them.<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script> </div>
Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-57674076310935533142011-10-07T08:23:00.000+01:002011-10-07T08:23:07.374+01:00Notice anything?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRcl58bgj6U1sQ2_BNGOV-KNGabXDsuNbRFN-m6VL-2uwnGrrwbBCBWLVg_-VTTcTKZJIg4OI2De3f6ZYWJVh8aOunK6ioXYx9bYzZ0MDdytXQguYqgMbLadwe3AgB1YG6jXFPYUJY4HA/s1600/Grand+Central.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRcl58bgj6U1sQ2_BNGOV-KNGabXDsuNbRFN-m6VL-2uwnGrrwbBCBWLVg_-VTTcTKZJIg4OI2De3f6ZYWJVh8aOunK6ioXYx9bYzZ0MDdytXQguYqgMbLadwe3AgB1YG6jXFPYUJY4HA/s320/Grand+Central.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the 40 or so chess boards on each<br />
Grand Central train</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
On the way back from London to Halifax aboard a Grand Central train last Sunday night I was pleased to see that all the table tops had chess boards printed on them. “A great idea,” I thought, “to help bored travellers while away the interminable delays: a nice game of chess”. Then I looked more closely and laughed out loud. The boards were printed the wrong way round thus rendering them completely useless – unless you like playing at a 90° angle. Hilarious!<br />
<br />
It wasn’t all that long ago that John Kerrane told me he’d had a similar problem with boards printed on table tops at a school he teaches chess at. It’s ironic isn’t it that when an organisation spends a little money on creating facilities for our great game they fail so miserably with the practicalities of getting the board the right way round.<br />
<br />
Over at the <a href="http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess/chess.html">“Chess Curiosities” website</a> this was a favourite subject of Tim Krabbé who collected many instances of the work of a group he conspiratorially called the “dark-right-hand-corner-square-mafia”. See “Open Chess Diary” entries <a href="http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess2/diary_13.htm">259</a>, <a href="http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess2/diary_5.htm">83</a>, <a href="http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess2/diary_3.htm">51</a> and <a href="http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess2/diary_2.htm">30</a> for many more tragic-comic tales of chess boards displayed incorrectly. Perhaps we should revert back to the board that was used for “Shatranj”, the precursor to our modern game, in the Middle-East, which had no coloured squares on it at all.<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script> Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-80145056151493040392011-10-05T02:41:00.001+01:002011-10-05T02:48:25.880+01:00League 2 Champions take control<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeVyg1BAoTagXuSvPBHQtApb6ImUCcH-2gJqZEDIK0tf7HQD1dLO6fU15qLuiiED5_v2tgzvzdyOcW7Lkf82xhwBN_nGEzY67mXi4rgMukIzhuEgaoy1saVJB-FPLVYms4EAKBlWTHDXA/s1600/Neil+Bamford.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeVyg1BAoTagXuSvPBHQtApb6ImUCcH-2gJqZEDIK0tf7HQD1dLO6fU15qLuiiED5_v2tgzvzdyOcW7Lkf82xhwBN_nGEzY67mXi4rgMukIzhuEgaoy1saVJB-FPLVYms4EAKBlWTHDXA/s1600/Neil+Bamford.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Neil Bamford: Strong start to the <br />
season</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
John Kerrane has filed us this report on Monday night’s league 2 fixture.<br />
<br />
<em><span style="font-size: large;"><strong><span style="color: orange;">"</span><span style="color: orange;">T</span></strong></span>he players of Hebden Bridge Chess Club’s D team set off on Monday evening to play away against the current Calderdale Chess League second division champions, Todmorden B, knowing they had a tough task ahead of them. Their own senior colleagues in the C team had only managed a draw against them in a home match a fortnight before.</em><br />
<br />
<em>The games all followed a similar pattern – after getting into difficulties in unfamiliar openings, the D team players fought back, but only Neil Bamford, on board 2, managed to overcome his initial disadvantage and won a complex rook-and-pawn endgame against his highly-rated opponent, Paul Logan. Finally, Todmorden emerged winners by a score of 4-1, which reflected the much greater experience of the Todmorden side.<span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><strong>"</strong></span></em><br />
<br />
The individual results were: <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Todmorden ‘B’ – Hebden Bridge ‘D’</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
P.Edwards 1 – 0 J.Blinkhorn</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
P.Logan 0 – 1 N.Bamford</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
M.Huett 1 – 0 C.Greaves</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
R.Stoelman 1 – 0 M.Levy</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
R.Pratt 1 – 0 P.Dearden</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>4 – 1</strong></div>
<br />
I should add that both Josh Blinkhorn and Neil Bamford on the top two boards would normally have expected to play for the ‘C’ team. Unfortunately, Wheatley’s late withdrawal from League 2 has left only 7 teams in the competition and so Hebden Bridge ‘C’ had a walkover this week as their scheduled fixture was against Wheatley. I understand they will be awarded a 5-0 win.<br />
<br />
Elsewhere in League 2: Courier B put an early dent in Halifax ‘A’s plans to return to League 1, after relegation from the top flight last season, by beating them 3½-1½. Courier won on all of the top 3 boards to seal the match.<br />
<br />
Todmorden ‘C’ won their match at home against Halifax ‘B’ by an impressive 4-1 margin with Tom Webster, Dave Milton, Geoff Bowker and JP Ellis all winning their games. This win carries Tod ‘C’ to the top of the table as the only side in the league to have managed 2 wins from their opening fixtures. Their next match is away at Halifax ‘A’ in a tie one suspects Halifax are already under pressure to win.<br />
<br />
I’ll end this post by saying “Well done” to Neil Bamford who has started the new season strongly with 2 wins from 2 games. He also won with White against Bob Pratt on board 5 in Hebden Bridge ‘C’s draw at home with Todmorden ‘B’ in the opening match of the season. As I don’t have his game from this Monday and didn’t publish that win at the time I will publish it now.<br />
<br />
Neil has a straight-forward and uncomplicated style with an eye for exploiting a tactical opportunity which makes him particular dangerous with the White pieces. In this game he plays sensible developing moves in the opening and gives himself the best chance of capitalising on his opponents mistakes. The nice sacrifice 26.Bxf7+! wins at least the exchange and is the kind of combination some players of higher grade would easily overlook.<br />
<br />
Keep up the good work Neil!<br />
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="371" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=g&d=3000&ig=r&ss=40&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=____&dcs=_Uz$&bbcs=$$$$&hm=s&hcs=LHa1&bd=s&cbcs=W_iH&ctcs=$$$$&hd=j&md=j&tm=10&fhcs=v71$&fhs=100p&fmcs=v71$&fccs=$$$$&hmcs=_Uz$&fms=100p&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=t&fp=0&hl=t&fh=b&fw=650&pe=635$zlax9RvkYWao6R_o3yextimzw$EG8ovpM74BE5Izkv8X5RBfjQzyWQxf81wy$j6$bd4coaKNYmr1b9pNmXX5Hh00t6NmOWntvn$EG80otD6f9XZYpLtv7$EG8s7_mUlvgyNvEG84GUs$GTELjQzKUTcnwZ8Tufachcq7G$iTcIbz6ZKy_1BHz4AVvruxt6P1eSRMYXZRgl2_06Z4cnHb11nvBDf10zBfcizb0$ilD5hU5$fJeaDYNc$vaR7pQ6$f3PN0KpvD3s7pcXwL3jnHEF0L71Dx$x4fof3cnxAlHfnL7EkG32jU0z$yO7m6AP5n16Bf3Pk0H$yt78mt7cD1LpJXfcmt7cL3dQSx6p4fnD3dWo2IdfoL32qg6ujrvLT3sXx0IAfwf328bvnBDfn1LpEcgJEcfw$7sio2Edfwv71po2Fm7gv3sXg3sh7U1c$yE5fVCF3r0$kjxKQ_Pmkh9w0f4CjBuDshU16$gRFmeP0khU10L7siM4Nqzbj02R7Wizbb16IgPA67nv303o6pbwy$f4ihOIubwB$fWHFdIdfOf7sDk0yNxMn0" width="650"></iframe><script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-19114100329733500022011-10-01T08:05:00.000+01:002011-10-01T08:05:16.496+01:00Jorvik Chess Congress Diary <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjalcE1b1Fp6QiexzXzd_3urpW_AilVL_gRSctPyxDra5SW77TqtqJnzh_Kcq5hdGfi-aDnb-oWXMhDNJYmX-J-eA8bw8bkWStjnRpBnUBJLw27k4P2ppnYGAZ3-ae5DW8PkBjpnE15NKQ/s1600/pete+leonard.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="216" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjalcE1b1Fp6QiexzXzd_3urpW_AilVL_gRSctPyxDra5SW77TqtqJnzh_Kcq5hdGfi-aDnb-oWXMhDNJYmX-J-eA8bw8bkWStjnRpBnUBJLw27k4P2ppnYGAZ3-ae5DW8PkBjpnE15NKQ/s320/pete+leonard.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pete Leonard reveals the secret of his early successes <br />
for HBCC: an ice cream sundae before every match!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Today’s post comes courtesy of <a href="http://www.hebdenbridgechessclub.com/2011/09/who-is-tmwdwmt.html"><strong>“T.M.W.D.W.M.T”</strong></a> (a.k.a. Pete Leonard). Who took part in the Jorvik Chess Congress in York back at the beginning of this month. Pete has been through all his games and annotated them so my thanks go to him for taking the time to prepare this report for us.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><strong>"I</strong></span>ntermezzo was not the only person to have entered a chess tournament this summer, though my choice was a much less prestigious affair than the <a href="http://www.hebdenbridgechessclub.com/2011/08/british-chess-championship-2011-final.html"><strong><span style="color: blue;">British Championships</span></strong></a>. However, I followed similar reasoning to his, when I saw the flyers for this event at the HBCC. We have friends who live in York, so I could stay with them and have a pleasant walk to and from the hotel each day.<br />
<br />
This congress is in its second year. According to the organiser, Peter Cloudsdale, he had just ten entries last year; this time there were 34, which is a healthy increase. We were divided into two sections: A for those graded above 130 and B for those on 130 or below. A five round Swiss would suffice for such numbers, but I didn’t have his problems of managing the draw, so could simply enjoy an extra game for my entry fee.<br />
<br />
Unlike the <a href="http://www.hebdenbridgechessclub.com/2011/08/use-fullness-of-time.html"><strong>British Championships, the time allowance</strong></a> was quite short: just an hour apiece for the entire game. As my first game lasted over 60 moves, that was quicker than a minute a move! My target was to achieve a 50% score overall; not unreasonable, as my grade placed me pretty well in the middle, between a highest of 187 and a lowest of 131. I should be disappointed with less than 3/6 and pleased with more.<br />
<br />
Everyone else was a stranger to me; in the first round, I drew White against Eric Key. A pleasant chap, I think we both had similar ambitions: to play as well as we could but chiefly to enjoy the experience. He confessed to not having touched a piece in anger for four months; together with my lack of match practice, this probably accounts for the less than perfect, though close, game.<br />
<br />
<script id="oChessViewer" type="text/javascript">
/*
[Event "Yorvik Congress #2 Section A"]
[Site "York"]
[Date "2011.08.30"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Leonard, Pete"]
[Black "Key, Eric"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "160"]
[ECO "C11"]
[PlyCount "121"]
[TimeControl "300"]
[WhiteElo "158"]
1. e4 {Round 2 gave me Black against Adam Ismail; another person who it was easy to talk to, before and after the game. Among our number were one blind and two partially sighted players, so we all became used to hearing moves announced and repeated. Adam and I were startled to hear "Checkmate", remarkably early on; someone had an easy afternoon, after that!} e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. Be3 Nc6 7. Nf3 Qb6 8. Qd2
cxd4 9. Nxd4 Nc5 $2 ({Better} 9... Qxb2 10. Rb1 Qa3 11. Ndb5 Qa5 12. Nxd5
Qxd2+ 13. Kxd2 Kd8 14. Ndc3) 10. Bb5 ({Missing} 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Na4 Nxa4
12. Bxb6 {and I'd rather have the queen than the three minor pieces.} ) 10...
Bd7 11. Na4 $6 11... Nxa4 12. Bxa4 Qxb2 13. O-O Bb4 14. Qd3 $6 {I could have
prevented his reply by 14. Qf2} 14... Nxe5 15. Bxd7+ ({I didn't like the look
of his bishops after} 15. fxe5 Bxa4 {but I was probably wrong:} 16. a3 Bc5
17. Rfb1 Bxd4 18. Rxb2 Bxb2 19. Rb1 Bxe5 20. Bd4) 15... Nxd7 16. a3 Ba5
({Better} 16... Bc3 17. Nb5 d4 18. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 19. Nxd4 Nc5) 17. Rab1 Qc3 18.
Qxc3 ({I'm not actually forced to swap queens, but} 18. Rxb7 Qxd3 19. cxd3
Bb6 20. Nc2 O-O-O 21. Bxb6 axb6 {still leaves me a pawn down.} ) 18... Bxc3
19. Rxb7 Nc5 20. Rc7 Ne4 21. Nb5 {Harrying his pieces as much as I can, and
aiming to get my pawn back.} 21... Ba5 22. Rxa7 (22. Bxa7 Bxc7 23. Nxc7+ Kd7
24. Nxa8 Rxa8 25. Bd4 Rxa3 26. Bxg7 {looks as though it should be drawn,
though his knight is well placed and my pieces are uncoordinated.} ) 22... O-O
(22... Rxa7 23. Nxa7 Kd7 {is judged by Fritz to be better for Black.} ) 23.
Rc1 {Fritz recommends either Rd7 or Re7, but I wanted to get in c4 while I had
the chance, which would exchange my weak pawn and undermine his knight.}
23... f6 ({Fritz prefers} 23... Rxa7 24. Nxa7 Nc3 {preventing c4} ) 24. c4
Rxa7 25. Nxa7 Rb8 26. cxd5 exd5 {Fritz suggests Nc6 or a4, but I thought my
outside passed pawn would be stronger with the rooks off.} 27. Rc8+ Rxc8 28.
Nxc8 Kf7 29. Kf1 {Fritz prefers Na7; I want to centralise my king.} 29... Ke6
({Better} 29... Bc3 {when I can't play} 30. Ke2 {because of} ({or} 30. Nb6
d4 {and his pawn looks more dangerous than mine.} )30... Bb2 31. a4 Nc3+ {and
32. ... Nxa4} ) 30. Ke2 Nc3+ {Helping me to go where I wanted to; Fritz
prefers any of Bc7, g5 g6 or Bc3} 31. Kd3 Nb5 32. a4 {For the first time in a
while, Fritz prefers White's position.} 32... Na3 (32... Nc3 33. Bd2 d4 34.
g3 {is better for White.} ) 33. Bb6 ({Fritz prefers} 33. Nb6 Kd6 34. Bd4 {but
I don't see how White makes progress. I reckoned that, if I could exchange
the minor pieces, I would be favourite to win.} ) 33... Bxb6 ({Fritz prefers}
33... Nc4 34. Bxa5 Nxa5) 34. Nxb6 Kd6 35. Kd4 ({Fritz prefers} 35. a5
{answering either 35. ... Kc5 or Kc6 with 36. f5} ) 35... Nc2+ 36. Kc3 Ne1 37.
Kd4 {We're level again} 37... Nxg2 $6 {I thought this took his knight too far
away; better to repeat, by Nc2+} 38. Nxd5 Kc6 {Better to start getting his
knight back into the game, by Nh4 or Ne1} 39. Kc4 Ne1 40. a5 Kb7 ({Fritz
prefers} 40... Nf3 41. Nb4+ {and Kb7 or Kc7} ) 41. Kb5 Nf3 42. a6+ Ka7 43.
Nb4 Nd4+ ({Both of us judged that he couldn't risk taking the h pawn, but
after} 43... Nxh2 44. Nc6+ Ka8 45. Kb6 Nf3 46. Ne7 Nd2 47. Nd5 Nc4+ 48. Kc5
{it's White who's going to have to repeat the position.} ) 44. Kc4 Ne6 45. f5
{A bit late!} 45... Nc7 {Black's better again.} 46. h4 h5 47. Kc5 {Odd!
Fritz now puts Black more than a point up; where did he go wrong in what
follows?} 47... Nxa6+ 48. Nxa6 Kxa6 49. Kd6 {No! It's Fritz that was "wrong"
as White is now 3 points ahead.} 49... Kb6 50. Ke6 Kc6 51. Kf7 Kd5 ({Fritz
now proposes} 51... Kd6 52. Kxg7 Ke7 53. Kg6 {when White wins both pawns.} )
52. Kxg7 Ke5 53. Kg6 {He missed this, a standard motif in king and pawn
endings. It's easy now, though I did stop writing the moves down, as my hour
was nearly up!} 53... Kf4 54. Kxf6 Kg4 55. Ke5 Kxh4 56. f6 Kg3 57. f7 h4 58.
f8=Q h3 59. Qf4+ Kg2 60. Qg4+ Kh2 61. Kf4 1-0
[Event "Yorvik Congress #2 Section A"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2011.08.30"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Ismail, Adam"]
[Black "PAL"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "158"]
[ECO "B03"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[WhiteElo "160"]
{Round 2 gave me Black against Adam Ismail; another person who it was easy to
talk to, before and after the game. Among our number were one blind and two
partially sighted players, so we all became used to hearing moves announced
and repeated. Adam and I were startled to hear "Checkmate", remarkably early
on; someone had an easy afternoon, after that!} 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6
4. c4 Nb6 5. exd6 cxd6 6. Nc3 Bf5 {The bishop becomes the start of my problems
here; g6 looks better.} 7. Be3 g6 8. Rc1 Bg7 9. Be2 O-O 10. Nf3 Nc6 11. d5
Ne5 12. b3 ({Fritz prefers} 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 {and O-O or Qb3} ) 12... Nbd7 $6
{Too passive, and blocks the bishop's retreat;} ({better is} 12... Ng4 13.
O-O Nxe3 14. fxe3 e5 {If he exchanges pawns, my queen pawn and his king pawn
are about equally weak, but I like my two bishops.} ) 13. Nd4 {Instead, he
gets the two bishops, and compromises my pawn structure.} 13... Nf6 {This
blocks my bishop; Nc5 may be better.} 14. Nxf5 gxf5 15. O-O Qa5 $2 {The queen
doesn't achieve anything here, now he's castled, and with both knights
blocking my bishop; probably the right move in the wrong place.} 16. h3 Rad8
(16... Ne4 17. Nxe4 fxe4 {was more active} ) 17. Qc2 e6 {Forced, as my queen
is out of play, but now my central pawns become weak, which he exploits
nicely.} 18. Rfd1 a6 19. Na4 {Ow! My queen is in danger of getting trapped.}
19... Ned7 $2 {But this is not the way to respond (I accepted I was losing a
pawn); better to try} (19... Qb4 20. dxe6 fxe6 21. Bd2 Qa3 {and my queen is
still alive, though perhaps not for long.} ) 20. dxe6 fxe6 21. Rxd6 Qe5
{Trying to hang on to the e pawn} (21... Ne4 22. Rxe6 {doesn't look much
better} ) 22. Rcd1 {This is resignable, but we only had an hour each and he'd
used quite a lot of his. Perhaps I can get a swindle, say by Nd5 at some
point.} 22... Rf7 (22... f4 {is more active, though after} 23. Bc1 {and Bb2
my queen gets harried some more.} ) 23. Nc5 Bf8 (23... Nd5 24. cxd5 {doesn't
help me} ) 24. Rxe6 Qc7 25. Nxd7 Rdxd7 26. Qxf5 {Yet another pawn bites the
dust!} 26... Nd5 27. Qg4+ Rg7 28. Qf3 Nxe3 29. Qxe3 Rde7 {My poor bishop!}
30. Bf3 Kh8 31. Bd5 Rxe6 32. Qxe6 Qf4 {Desperately trying to bring my bishop
into play.} 33. Qe8 Re7 34. Qh5 {Or simply keep the queen on the eighth rank.}
34... Bg7 {Still struggling to get out.} 35. g3 {Puts paid to most of my
tricks!} 35... Qf6 ({Fritz suggests} 35... Re5 36. gxf4 Rxh5 37. Bxb7 {but
he's four pawns up and can stand a bit of damage to his pawn structure.} ) 36.
Qg4 Qe5 37. Rd3 Qe1+ 38. Kg2 h6 {Trying to make wriggle room for my king and
free up one of my pieces.} 39. Qc8+ Re8 40. Qxb7 Re2 {What the hell; perhaps
he won't notice!} 41. Rf3 ({He was getting short of time and "missed"} 41.
Qf7 Kh7 42. Qg8+ Kg6 43. Be4+ Rxe4 44. Rd6+ {winning the queen or mating.} )
41... Rxa2 {He now has a choice of mates in four} 42. Qc8+ Kh7 43. Bg8+ 1-0
[Event "Yorvik Congress #2 Section A"]
[Site "York"]
[Date "2011.08.31"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Leonard, Pete"]
[Black "Duckworth, Jack"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "133"]
[ECO "C11"]
[PlyCount "109"]
[WhiteElo "158"]
{On Wednesday morning, I had White again, against Jack Duckworth. I
congratulated myself on not asking even once whether his wife was called Vera;
I bet he'd never heard that before!} 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 {I
must try Bg5 some time; it would help if I knew some openings!} 4... Nfd7
{Here's an example of Fritz's limitations; everyone plays this, but the engine
suggests Ne4 and then gives it a ? in the Openings Book!} 5. f4 {This worked,
just about, on Tuesday.} 5... c5 6. Nf3 c4 $6 {I hesitate to give this a full
? but it seems strategically wrong to me.} 7. Be2 ({Fritz suggests} 7. f5
{yes, it does look nice; e.g.} 7... Nc6 ({Of course not} 7... exf5 $2 8.
Nxd5 {and his centre's in tatters} )8. fxe6 fxe6 9. Ng5) 7... Be7 8. O-O O-O
9. Be3 ({Fritz suggests I could now have hit his queen side, by} 9. b3 cxb3
10. axb3 {As he appeared to be a passive player I was more interested in going
after his king.} ) 9... a6 10. a4 {Again, Fritz proposes b3; I wanted to
restrain his queen's side.} 10... Nc6 11. g4 $6 {Again, f5 could be played; I
wasn't noticing how weak his d pawn could be.} 11... f6 $6 {It's surely a bad
idea to open lines on the side where your opponent's attacking.} 12. Qe1
({Again, I bottled out of} 12. f5 {as too complicated. I may have been
right:} 12... fxe5 (12... exf5 13. gxf5 Qa5 14. e6)(12... Ndb8 13. exf6 Rxf6
14. Bg5)13. fxe6 Nf6 14. Nxe5 Bxe6 15. g5 Ne4 {looks defensible for Black, who
certainly has more room than in the game.} ) 12... fxe5 13. fxe5 Rf7 {I judged
his style correctly; he really should be trying for play on the queen side.}
14. Qg3 Nf8 15. Bd1 {I'm being rather slow, for my part; I planned to switch
the knight to f4, block the queen side further with c3 and get my bishop on to
the diagonal c2 to h7.} 15... Ng6 16. g5 Bb4 {He's manoeuvring his knights,
too; it seemed to me that I was planning to move my c3 knight anyway and c3
then gains a tempo.} 17. Ne2 {Interesting! I greatly prefer my position and
yet Fritz gives it a negative score. He neglected so many chances of playing
Qb6.} 17... Nce7 18. c3 Nf5 {That's OK, I'd rather have a knight than my
black-squared bishop.} 19. Qf2 Nxe3 {But he didn't see it that way.} 20.
Qxe3 Be7 21. Bc2 Bd7 22. Rf2 {To bring my other rook into play.} 22... Qb6
{At last! But too late; my king's rook can protect the b pawn.} 23. Bxg6 hxg6
24. Nf4 Rxf4 ({Fritz suggests} 24... Kh7 {but doesn't "see"} 25. Nxg6 Rxf3
(25... Kxg6 26. Nh4+ Kh5 27. Rxf7 Bxg5 ({Neither} 27... Qxb2 28. Qf3+ {and
mates in four} )({nor} 27... Kxh4 28. Rxg7 {is any good} ))26. Qxf3 Bxg5 27.
Qh5+ Bh6 28. Rf8 Rd8 29. Raf1) 25. Qxf4 Rf8 26. Qg3 Rf5 27. h4 {Tricky! I'd
love to be able to play Nh4 but don't see how that can be done. Tidier was to
play a5 first, but he seemed totally disinclined to counterattack.} 27... Qd8
28. Raf1 Bxa4 29. Nh2 Be8 30. Ng4 Bf7 31. Rxf5 gxf5 32. Nf6+ Kh8 ({If} 32...
Kf8 33. Rf2 gxf6 34. gxf6 Bxf6 35. exf6 Qxf6 36. Qb8+ Be8 37. Rg2) ({or}
32... Bxf6 33. exf6)({or} 32... gxf6 33. gxf6+ Kf8 34. Qg7+ Ke8 35. fxe7 Qxe7
36. h5) 33. g6 Bxg6 34. Qxg6 ({Alternatively} 34. Nxd5 Qxd5 35. Qxg6 Kg8
{(else White has 36. Qf7, followed by Rf2-g2)} 36. Qe8+ Bf8 37. h5) 34...
gxf6 35. Rf2 Qg8 36. Rg2 {I'm happy to have the queens off; his bishop can't
protect his pawns, and has a way to go to get at mine.} 36... Qxg6 37. Rxg6
Kh7 38. h5 fxe5 39. Rxe6 Bg5 40. Rxe5 ({Better} 40. dxe5 {when my e pawn is
not blocked by his king.} ) 40... Kh6 ({Fritz prefers} 40... Bc1 {but after}
41. Re7+ Kh6 42. Rxb7 Kxh5 {my rook holds things while my king comes forward.}
) 41. Rxf5 Bc1 42. Rxd5 {Simpler was} (42. Rf6+ Kxh5 43. Rb6) 42... Bxb2 43.
Rc5 Bxc3 ({or} 43... b5 44. Kf2 Bxc3 45. Ke3 {when he keeps his c pawn, but I
now have two passed pawns.} ) 44. Rxc4 Bd2 45. Kf2 {Or simply d5} 45... a5
46. Kf3 Kxh5 {Now he must take it, and my king is more centralised.} 47. Rc7
b6 48. Rb7 Bc3 49. Ke4 a4 50. Rxb6 a3 51. Ra6 Bb4 52. Kf5 Kh4 53. d5 Kg3 54.
Ke6 Kf4 55. d6 {Completely missing} (55. Ra4 {but never mind, he'd had
enough!} ) 1-0
[Event "Yorvik Congress #2 Section A"]
[Site "York"]
[Date "2011.08.31"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Pride, Stephen"]
[Black "Leonard, Pete"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "158"]
[ECO "D03"]
[PlyCount "97"]
[TimeControl "300"]
[WhiteElo "158"]
{I had Black again after lunch; Stephen Pride comes from Cambridge and I
discovered that he'd matriculated at Trinity Hall to read Philosophy, the year
after I'd graduated from Queens'with a (3rd class) Maths degree. We spent
half an hour after our game, looking at possibilities, until we noticed that
we were the only people left apart from Peter Cloudsdale and that the staff
were waiting to lay tables for dinner!} 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 {As I had confessed
to a 30 year gap, my opponent thought I wouldn't know the Trompovsky. He was
right!} 2... e6 {Apparently 2...Ne4 is the main line, but what do I know?}
3. Nf3 Be7 4. Nbd2 d5 5. e3 O-O {I should have played c5 sooner than I did,
but I wanted to avoid silly checks on b5.} 6. Bd3 h6 {Given what happened
later, I wished I hadn't played this.} 7. Bh4 Nbd7 {Fritz prefers 7...Nc6,
presumably preparing e5.} 8. Ne5 {Apparently he often plays this; I'm not
convinced by it.} 8... Nxe5 9. dxe5 Nd7 10. Bg3 c5 {And now Fritz thinks this
is too late} ({and prefers} 10... Nc5 11. O-O Nxd3 12. cxd3 Bd7 {giving
Black half a point advantage.} ) 11. c3 Bh4 {I had some idea of winning his e5
pawn, but} (11... c4 {was much better:} 12. Be2 ({or} 12. Bc2 Qb6 13. Qb1
Nc5 {for instance} )12... Nc5 13. b3 cxb3 14. axb3 Qc7 {say.} ) 12. Nf3 {12.
Qg4 or 12. Qh5 looks better still.} 12... Bxg3 13. hxg3 Qc7 {He said he
hadn't expected this; I thought I'd won a pawn, but} 14. Rh5 f5 {Trying to
shut the bishop out.} 15. exf6 Nxf6 16. Rh4 e5 {We and Fritz all think Black
stands better.} 17. Bc2 Bg4 ({Why oh why didn't I simply play} 17... e4 18.
Nd2 Qb6 {and his rook looks a bit silly and I've a nice initiative.} ) 18.
Rxg4 Nxg4 19. Qxd5+ Kh8 ({I didn't want to let another pawn go by} 19... Qf7
20. Qxc5 {but actually} ({Fritz actually prefers} 20. Qxf7+ Kxf7 ({not}
20... Rxf7 21. Bb3)21. Bf5 e4 22. Bxg4 exf3 23. Bxf3 Rfd8 {and rates the
position as even.} )20... Kh8 21. Bb3 Qh5 22. Ke2 ({or} 22. O-O-O Nxf2)22...
Qg6 {doesn't look too bad.} ) 20. Qe4 Nf6 21. Qxe5 {He wins another pawn,
anyway.} 21... Qxe5 {Perhaps better to keep the queens on, say by} (21...
Qb6 22. O-O-O Rfd8) 22. Nxe5 {Now I have terrible time avoiding forks, or even
mates; why did I play 6...h6?} 22... Rfe8 23. Nf7+ Kg8 24. Bb3 Kf8 {I wanted
my king nearer the centre, but} (24... Kh7 25. Nd6 Re7 26. O-O-O {and either}
26... Ng4 {or 26...Rd8 may have made it easier to develop my pieces.} ) 25.
O-O-O {Fritz is right to prefer 25. Rd1} 25... Re7 ({I'd missed} 25... Ne4
{though} 26. Bd5 {and I can't play} 26... Nxf2 27. Rf1) 26. Nh8 {Not
commonly seen!} 26... Rc7 ({I didn't like the look of} 26... Re4 27. Ng6+
Ke8 28. Bc2 {and my rook is getting into difficulties.} ) 27. Ng6+ Ke8 28. f3
{Subtle, while preparing e4} 28... c4 ({He hoped I'd be tempted to play}
28... Rd8 29. Ba4+) 29. Ba4+ Kf7 30. Ne5+ Ke6 31. Ng6 a6 32. e4 b5 33. Bc2 Rd7
{At last! I can challenge him for the open file.} 34. Rxd7 ({Fritz suggests}
34. Re1 Rad8 35. e5 Nh5 36. f4 Nxg3 37. f5+ Kd5 38. e6 {, which is beginning
to look uncomfortable for Black.} ) 34... Nxd7 {Fritz now puts Black slightly
ahead.} 35. Kd2 Rd8 36. Ke3 {Hereabouts he offered a draw; why didn't I
accept it!} 36... Ne5 {With hindsight, I may have done better to keep the
knights on, especially if I could have got mine to d3.} 37. Nxe5 Kxe5 38. f4+
Ke6 39. g4 a5 (39... g5 40. g3 Rg8 41. Kf3 Rd8 {makes sure of the draw. I
foolishly thought I could win, if only I could get my rook among his pawns.} )
40. e5 g5 {Now this is a bad idea and helps in my downfall.} 41. g3 Kd5 42.
Be4+ Kc5 $6 {Overambitious!} 43. f5 Rd1 $2 {Again "at last!" but this is a
bridge too far.} 44. f6 Re1+ $2 {I have a death wish! I'm embarrassed to
record that I offered him a draw: "Let's play a few more moves" was his reply.}
45. Kf3 (45. Kf2 Rxe4 46. f7 {is even easier.} ) 45... Rd1 46. Bf5 Rd8 {Too
late!} (46... b4 47. e6 Kd6 48. e7 Re1 {is no better.} 49. Bg6) 47. Ke4 Kc6
48. e6 Kd6 49. e7 1-0
[Event "Yorvik Congress #2 Section A"]
[Site "York"]
[Date "2011.09.01"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Leonard, Pete"]
[Black "Lovell, Stan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "131"]
[ECO "B00"]
[PlyCount "71"]
[WhiteElo "158"]
{So, I had 2/4 when I'd been offered 2.5 . I suppose my "reward" was to
draw White against Stan Lovell, with the lowest grade of the 18 of us, on the
Thursday morning. As Stan is blind, I had to a) make sure I didn't
inadvertently tread on his very patient dog, Quentin, as he lay under the
table and b) tell him my moves and copy his moves on "my" board. I coped
quite well, though at move 7, when he repeated my "Bxe4", I thought that this
was his reply! We quickly sorted out the confusion.} 1. e4 b6 2. d4 e6 3.
Nc3 Bb7 4. Bd3 Bb4 5. Nge2 {This seemed a good idea, with the plan of f3 to
blunt his queen's bishop.} 5... Nf6 6. O-O Nxe4 {My opponent had a rush of
blood to the head, so I no longer have an e4 pawn to support and I wished my
knight was on f3!} 7. Bxe4 d5 8. Bf3 Nd7 9. Bf4 a6 10. a3 Be7 11. Re1 {To
restrain any ambitions on the part of his e pawn; Fritz is keen for White play
Qd3 and advance the a pawn.} 11... g5 {What's this?} 12. Bg3 h5 {Charge!}
13. h3 Nf6 14. Nc1 {To give my white-squared bishop some breathing space. I
spent the rest of the game trying to do something useful with my knights.}
14... Bd6 15. Be5 {No way is his queen having the d6-h2 diagonal!} 15... g4
{He left the kitchen sink at home; I suppose he has nothing to lose, after his
mistake on the 6th move.} 16. hxg4 {I missed that either my bishop or knight
could take on d5; no matter.} 16... hxg4 17. Bxg4 Qe7 18. Nd3 O-O-O 19. Bf3
{Fritz wants me to play 19. Bh3; given that I'd like to open up the centre by
c4 at some stage, I want my bishop on the long diagonal.} 19... Rh7 {Better
Rh6, if he's planning to double rooks, as he'll need to unpin the knight.}
20. a4 {He blinked, but I saw no need to panic. I don't want to move either
knight, as each is performing important defensive work against his kamikaze
tendencies. It occurred to me that 21 a5 b5 22.Nxb5 and 23.a6 might be one way
of getting at his king.} 20... Rdh8 21. g3 {My king could do a runner, but I
felt that was undignified!} 21... Rh6 {He wants to free the knight; he
probably considered moving it anyway, but} (21... Ne4 22. Bxh8 {and, e.g.}
22... Nxg3 23. Nxd5 Qh4 24. Nxb6+ cxb6 25. Bxb7+ Kxb7 26. Qf3+ Kb8 27. fxg3
Qh2+ 28. Kf1 Rxh8 29. Nf2 {doesn't help him.} ) 22. a5 Bxe5 23. dxe5 {Fritz
prefers 23. Nxe5, but I wanted to hassle his knight.} 23... Ne4 {I didn't
think it would come this way!} 24. Nxe4 dxe4 25. Rxe4 ({I think he'd been
banking on} 25. Bxe4 Rh1+ 26. Kg2 ({not} 26. Bxh1 Rxh1#)26... Bxe4+ 27. Rxe4
Rxd1 28. Rxd1 {and Black is better.} ) 25... Bxe4 26. Bxe4 {Now I have that
diagonal!} 26... f5 27. exf6 Qxf6 28. Bg2 {I wanted to get my queen (who
hasn't moved yet!) on the long diagonal,} ({but} 28. axb6 cxb6 29. Rxa6 {was
simpler.} ) 28... b5 29. Nc5 {Starting to develop some threats of my own.}
29... Rd8 {I've finally relieved the pressure on the h file!} 30. Qf3 Qxf3
31. Bxf3 e5 {Protecting the a pawn, but not for long.} 32. b4 ({not
straightaway} 32. Bb7+ Kb8 33. Bxa6 Rd5) 32... Rd2 33. Bb7+ Kb8 34. Bxa6 Rf6
{Still attacking! Unfortunately} 35. Ne4 Rxa6 36. Nxd2 {and he resigned
"before my flag falls" as he said.} 1-0
[Event "Yorvik Congress #2 Section A"]
[Site "York"]
[Date "2011.09.01"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Combie, Alexander"]
[Black "Leonard, Pete"]
[Result "1-0"]
[BlackElo "158"]
[ECO "D85"]
[PlyCount "92"]
[WhiteElo "187"]
{The observant will have noticed a pattern beginning to form: every game I
have played has been won by White. Best for me to have left at lunchtime on
Thursday, then! I'd been very good at lunch on Tuesday and Wednesday,
eschewing a pint in favour of coffee and yet, as one of our friends pointed
out, I'd still lost both afternoon games. So I threw caution to the winds and
had a very acceptable pint of (bottled, but none the worse for that) Black
Sheep; I noticed quite a number of other participants in the bar, compared
with on the other two days.^13 ^10 } {It didn't do me a ha'p'orth of good, as
I drew Black again in the final round, against the strongest player, who
already had 5/5. I suppose I'd been lucky to get the lowest graded player in
the fifth round, and this was just payback time. My opponent has an unusual
personality and spent the entire time, while waiting to reach the scheduled
start time, doing number and word puzzles. Not to be outdone, I got my
spindle out and spun a few yards of yarn!} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4.
cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Nf3 O-O {It's 33 years since my last
Grunfeld, so I don't really blame myself for failing to find the "normal"
7...c5. I wanted my king to be clear of annoying checks.} 8. Be2 c5 9. Be3
Nc6 10. Rc1 Qa5 11. Qd2 {Where did White go wrong in the opening?} ({Fritz
prefers} 11. O-O {but I don't see why I couldn't grab the a pawn with} 11...
cxd4 12. cxd4 Qxa2 13. d5 Rd8 {However, Fritz gives White half a point
advantage, despite being a pawn down.} ) 11... cxd4 12. cxd4 Qxd2+ 13. Kxd2
Rd8 {I can now put a lot of pressure on his d pawn.} 14. Rc4 Bg4 ({Fritz
prefers} 14... f5 15. exf5 Bxf5) 15. Kc3 $6 {He's getting into a muddle.}
({Fritz suggests the counter-intuitive} 15. Ng1 {and has Black playing}
15... Bc8 ({but I don't see what's wrong with} 15... Be6 16. d5 Ne5 17. Rc7
Rd7)16. Nf3) 15... Be6 {Taking advantage of the pin, but 15...Rac8 was even
better. I did think of it, but not hard enough.} 16. Ra4 a6 17. Kd3 b5 18.
Ra3 Bc4+ 19. Kd2 Bxe2 {The crucial point.} ({Looking at the game briefly,
afterwards, we reckoned that} 19... Nxd4 20. Nxd4 (20. Bxc4 Nxf3+ 21. Ke2
bxc4 22. Kxf3 Bb2 {was even worse for White.} )20... Bxd4 21. Bxd4 Rxd4+ 22.
Ke3 e5 {was the better choice. Still, I have won my pawn.} ) 20. Kxe2 Nxd4+
21. Bxd4 Bxd4 22. Rd1 Bb6 23. Rxd8+ Bxd8 24. Nd4 Bb6 $6 {Missing his reply;}
({better was} 24... b4 25. Ra4 a5 26. Nc6 Bc7 {He gets his pawn back, by
either 27.Nxe7+ or 27. Nxb5, but I get a more active position, in which I'd
sooner have the bishop than the knight.} ) 25. Nxb5 Bc5 26. Ra4 a5 $2 ({I
have a so much more active position after} 26... Rb8 27. Nd4 Rb2+ 28. Kf3 e5
29. Ne2 Rb6) 27. Rc4 Bb6 {Now he's showing positive on Fritz.} 28. Nc3 e6 {I
felt I had to prevent Nd5, but this weakens my position.} 29. e5 Kf8 $6
{29...Kg7 was a better way to advance my king; keep it with the pawns and not
much can go wrong.} 30. Ne4 Ke7 31. Nd6 Kd7 32. Rh4 {We both thought he'd win
one of these pawns, but} ({not} 32. Nxf7 Rf8) 32... h5 33. Rf4 f5 {I
wriggled out!} 34. h4 Bd8 $6 {Too passive; I should never have stopped
protecting d4.} ({Instead} 34... Kc6 35. Rc4+ Kd5 {was more active.} ) 35.
Rd4 Kc6 36. Nf7 Be7 37. Ng5 Bc5 {37...Bxg5 left us even.} 38. Rd2 Re8 39. f4
{Now if I'd just stayed put, say shuffling my bishop between c5 and b4, what
could he have done?} 39... Kb5 $6 40. Rd7 Ka4 $2 {Far too ambitious; I must
try 40...Bf8} 41. Rg7 Ka3 42. Rxg6 Kxa2 43. Nxe6 Be7 44. Nd4 Bxh4 45. Ra6 Bd8
46. Nc6 (46. Ra8 Rg8 47. Nc6 Rxg2+ 48. Kf3 {was even better} ) 46... Re6 {Then
I saw what I had done, and resigned. What a pity!} 1-0*/ makeChessApplet ( null, { LightSquares: "FFFFFF", DarkSquares: "FF9900", Background: "FFFFFF" } );
</script><br />
<br />
So, I won each morning with White and lost each afternoon with Black. It must be my age; I’m missing my afternoon nap! Still, I can take satisfaction from the fact that I achieved my target and could even have had 3½ or 4/6.<br />
<br />
It was a friendly, informal, tournament, held in a pleasant atmosphere; my thanks and congratulations to Peter and Claire Cloudsdale for their excellent organisation. Also to the various winners: of course Alexander Combie won Section A, with Adam Ismail joint second, so it’s no disgrace to have lost to him, either. Section B had joint winners and a five-way tie for third; there would probably have been a clearer result, from 16 players, if there had only been five, or even four, rounds. However, I can understand why six rounds were played; I certainly plan to enter the Jorvik Congress again<span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><strong>."<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script> </strong></span>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-55455194995615282702011-09-28T08:25:00.003+01:002011-10-01T08:23:48.967+01:00The dark art of games(wo)manship<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZAOL-SPCf6_gSW2gr7ewCuJt4mRe3R1wPgmepWQdai7rpa5HqyoPvj3qtDxgr1fOejQTxixeUw9O1xxG7-LTHJibqycQvKa6kUYppa22mxPOgd5nCzEqJ6WrQij_M2Kx8yt4hvFUf0G8/s1600/rudyard-kipling.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZAOL-SPCf6_gSW2gr7ewCuJt4mRe3R1wPgmepWQdai7rpa5HqyoPvj3qtDxgr1fOejQTxixeUw9O1xxG7-LTHJibqycQvKa6kUYppa22mxPOgd5nCzEqJ6WrQij_M2Kx8yt4hvFUf0G8/s1600/rudyard-kipling.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rudyard Kipling: Somewhat less deadly than his wife</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em>“The female of the species is more deadly than the male.”</em><br />
Rudyard Kipling<br />
<br />
<em>“If cunning alone were needed to excel, women would be the best chess players.”</em> <br />
Adolf Albin<br />
<br />
A couple of weekends ago, as I watched live coverage of the FIDE World Cup Final in Khanty Mansiysk my wife took an interest (most unusual) and asked about the lady commentator, GM Anna Sharevich. We started to talk about women in the game and I explained that there was a women’s World Champion and that most top female players played in specific, women only tournaments. Quite rightly she asked me why there were separate women’s events and titles when the game of chess conferred no physical advantage to men as it does in most sports. “Surely men and women should compete together” she said and cited show jumping (horse riding is her favourite pastime) as an example of a sport where men and women compete on equal terms.<br />
<br />
Of course my wife is right (she almost always is I find) to point out this strange state of affairs in chess. I must admit I struggled to justify why women competed separately from men although I did point out a very significant exception to the rule. Judit Polgar. When I provided my wife with Judit’s potted curriculum vitae and went on to add that she had performed very well at the same World Cup in reaching the quarter-finals and losing to the eventual winner she simply nodded and said “Well, there you go”.<br />
<br />
That discussion caused me to reflect a little on the differences between women and men and how they think. I don’t want to get embroiled in a gender debate and I’m no scientist but, I reasoned that physiologically, there must be some attributes that are more prevalent in one gender or the other and that those attributes must have an impact on the workings of the mind even if it’s at a trivial level. I’m fairly sure that male and female GMs approach preparation and in-game-analysis in the same way but at an amateur level, perhaps different approaches are more apparent.<br />
<br />
Of course there was only one course of action for me to take at this point and I immediately logged on to exchange instant messenger correspondence with this website’s most illustrious contributor, Lady Cynthia Blunderboro. Our chat progressed thusly:<br />
<br />
<strong>Intermezzo:</strong> Do you think women approach chess in a different way to men or display any attributes more or less prominently then their male counterparts?<br />
<br />
<strong>Blunderboro:</strong> Generally I’d say no because such a blend and balance of skills are required to excel and the best players, men and women, tend to demonstrate these universally. However, remembering the words of Rudyard Kipling, I’d suggest that maybe we ladies bare chess grudges longer than men do, and, baring in mind the words of Adolf Albin, perhaps we occasionally display greater levels of imagination in our deviousness.<br />
<br />
<strong>Intermezzo:</strong> I assume that you have examples in mind?<br />
<br />
<strong>Blunderboro:</strong> Of course. Shall I write you a blog post?<br />
<br />
<strong>Intermezzo:</strong> Yes please!<br />
<br />
So now, I’ll hand you over to Lady Cynthia who, as always, has an intriguing tale to tell.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyEQBz66ujohiegF7C_GNG2lwIcWhPIH8I6TOAD9IlMJDoT4UK-9VDYMGo136L-pLwsGoYNiIl29c-z7SNh9uqBKrfFhOvbk7JiKZR03lDCyMcBd_WR6U79RQj5trDeoWGPaEJqJ34lRc/s1600/img_1626-1024x682.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyEQBz66ujohiegF7C_GNG2lwIcWhPIH8I6TOAD9IlMJDoT4UK-9VDYMGo136L-pLwsGoYNiIl29c-z7SNh9uqBKrfFhOvbk7JiKZR03lDCyMcBd_WR6U79RQj5trDeoWGPaEJqJ34lRc/s320/img_1626-1024x682.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><strong>H</strong></span>ello again fellow chess-heads! The gender debate surrounding the royal game has long been a cause of heated discourse. Personally I find such chatter to be rather dull as generally speaking it is, like the game itself, dominated by male opinion! Questions such as “Why don’t more women play chess?” and “Why are women not as good at chess as men?” tend to be questions that men ask when they want to pontificate about the perceived masculine intellectual attributes they possess. The truth of the matter seems to be that, proportionally, we <a href="http://www.physorg.com/news150954140.html"><strong>women are at least as good at chess as men</strong></a>. Should any of my undoubtedly overwhelmingly male readership be interested in a more balanced female perspective on such matters then I can hardly do better than to direct you to the excellent <a href="http://www.goddesschess.com/genderandchess/gendertoc.html"><strong>Goddess Chess website</strong></a>.<br />
<br />
From a Lady’s perspective, I’m not convinced that our approach to chess or the attributes we display are really all that different to men’s. Certainly I’m unable to recall any examples that would support such a theory. What I certainly can provide evidence to support is that when it comes to clear thinking, cold-blooded ruthlessness and down-right craftiness at the chess board, we ladies can behave in a most ungentlemanly fashion!<br />
<br />
Today’s story begins in 1932 when I was 10 years old and attending St. Ethel’s boarding school for girls. Of course I was a member of the school chess team and we regularly played matches in the local chess league as well as against other schools around the country. At this early stage in my career I was not by any means an expert but the fire of competitive spirit was certainly stoked during my school days. This was never more evident than when St Ethel’s played our annual match against our great rivals, St Agnes’ Catholic School for Girls. By the time I represented St Ethel’s for the first time in this fixture it had already taken place 35 times previously and our school held an 18-17 lead. In 1932 then I had, for the first time, been offered the opportunity to defend the honour of St Ethel’s in this unfolding legend of inter-school rivalry. I was selected to play on the bottom board, board 10.<br />
<br />
If further incentive to succeed were needed that day it was provided when I arrived for the match (which we played on a Saturday afternoon in our school library that year) and discovered that my opponent was to be Prunella DeLauncy. I knew this girl and we already detested each other. Prunella was the daughter of Sir Stephen and Lady Margaret DeLauncy who owned DeLauncy Castle, the nearest estate to my own family’s holdings. Although our families were not especially friendly we did operate in each others ambit on numerous social occasions and so I had already had numerous run-ins with this odious little girl. Prunella was three years older than me and took every possible opportunity to belittle, bully and taunt me for being smaller, weaker and younger than her. I reasoned that, on this occasion at least, her physical advantages would be of no use to her and resolved to take full advantage of the fact that the controlled conditions of the competition would prevent her from cheating. An deep irony baring in mind what was to take place that day.<br />
<br />
When we took our seats at the board she looked at me as if I were something unpleasant and smelly that she had stepped in on the street and could barely bring herself to shake hands with me. When the handshake did come it was half-hearted and limp. At this point, as I looked along the two lines of players on my right, I noticed to my amusement that she was stationed beneath several girls who looked to be about my age whereas I was clearly the youngest in our team. This gave me a fresh injection of confidence for now I felt that my playing abilities would be a match for hers.<br />
<br />
Sadly, on that wet autumnal afternoon I was to be disappointed and even devastated by my own naivety. The game started off well enough. She responded to my king’s pawn advance with the Sicilian Defence. I chose an anti-Sicilian line I’d been studying and elected to play it safe by swapping the queens off very early in the game. I felt confident of securing at least a draw from my enemy until we reached the diagram position below where Prunella was to play.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrtNPaPaYORj9LeV_Ut3uvTRSd8rrUQcV6GGKYTSlDTvMKkRvvvd90rm8U6WBkmHmBSGNq90IlpRc4xenjoYNBG8alX6PRD_j9HkpV2jnsqvz5SJTFD6wQxBmjFglaOAhdxSS-EjRoHro/s1600/Blunderboro+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrtNPaPaYORj9LeV_Ut3uvTRSd8rrUQcV6GGKYTSlDTvMKkRvvvd90rm8U6WBkmHmBSGNq90IlpRc4xenjoYNBG8alX6PRD_j9HkpV2jnsqvz5SJTFD6wQxBmjFglaOAhdxSS-EjRoHro/s320/Blunderboro+1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
By now Prunella had begun to openly express some dissatisfaction with her position. Perhaps she felt that she ought to have already secured a decisive advantage against a player three years her junior, perhaps she had simply staged these emotions in order to prepare the way for what now came next. After a relatively short think of only a couple of minute she aggressively bashed out the move 18…Bc6, whacked her clock and then sat back smugly with a sneer on her face and her arms folded across her chest.<br />
<br />
As I considered my response I noticed that her facial expression was slowly changing from smugness to concern. After a couple of minutes her face reddened, she muttered something to herself under her breath and then suddenly stood up, her chair scrapping noisily on the wooden floor as she did so, and stormed out of the room in disgust. The eyes of all the players followed her as she left. Amazed and excited at what had just occurred I studied the board again looking for the error that she obviously felt she had committed. It didn’t take long to for me to realise that she had left her pawn on f5 unprotected.<br />
<br />
“A free pawn!” I thought. “Is there a trap?”<br />
<br />
It took only the briefest of moments to check that after I captured with 19.Rxf5 there was nothing unpleasant that was going to happen to my king and saw that if she played 19…Rd1+ 20.Kh2 Bb8+ then 21.g3?? would be a dire error on account of 21…Rh1 mate! However, I soon saw that instead of this I could play 21. f4, or even better 21.Bf4 and would have simply gained a two pawn advantage.<br />
<br />
“She must have missed 21.Bf4”, I reasoned and then wrote down the move 19.Rxf5, played it and pressed my clock confident that I had secured a decisive advantage.<br />
<br />
Five minutes passed by and then another five. There was no sign of Prunella, where was she? I began to get restless, had she given up in dismay or been rendered physically unwell by her error? I was about to go and speak to the match referee when the door of the library creaked open and Prunella slowly crept back in. She looked like she had composed herself and she returned to our game tight lipped and serious. She sat down at the board, looked at my move and sighed meaningfully and then with a depressed air about her she responded as I had anticipated with 19…Rd1+. I played my only move 20.Kh2 and then she rocked back in her chair her expression completely transformed once again. Suddenly she was leering at me with a malignant twinkle in her eye. She paused only long enough to let me register that something was a miss before reaching forward and playing not 20…Bb8+ but the move 20…Be4!<br />
<br />
I stared at the board in disbelief. My rook and knight forked by the bishop. How had I missed it? It was clear I had been duped by an acting performance of consummate skill. She had wanted me to think that she had made an error and so all I had done was look for one. It was a brilliant diversion. Looking only for a mistake I had found one and completely missed the best rejoinder! I couldn’t even escape with 21.Ne3 as Bxe3 simply reinstated the threat.<br />
<br />
At that point, I confess that my world fell apart. I have never again since felt so abject at the board. Playing on in a mist of demoralised inertia I continued on auto-pilot until Prunella finally ground me down with her extra piece in the end game. To make matters even worse St Ethel’s lost the match by a score of 4½-5½! My naivety had lost us the match and it took me months and months to recover from the trauma of losing that game to Prunella DeLauncy who I should add, I never played again in the annual encounter as my game improved rapidly enough to stay above her in the board order in subsequent years. Never the less, in each year that I took part I had to endure her hard, sneering gazing on me every time I caught her eye.<br />
<br />
I thought I would never have the chance to avenge that painful defeat. But then, over twenty years later, in 1953, fate dropped an opportunity into my lap. I received a letter from the St Ethels’ Head Mistress of that time informing me that the annual chess match against St Agnes’ had reached it’s 50th edition (the fixture was not held between 1940-45 on account of World War II) and, to commemorate this, a special anniversary match between chess-playing alumni from each school was to take place alongside the traditional match for the pupils. Of course I accepted the invitation to take part as, by this point in my life, I was an accomplished player and wanted to repay in some way the chess education I had received from my old school.<br />
<br />
The day of the match arrived. Once more the venue was St Ethel’s School Library. I had arrived early and was enjoying chatting to several old friends who I hadn’t seen for years when suddenly on of them drew my attention to the library doorway. Prunella DeLauncy had just arrived. I hadn’t expected her to attend but I would guess that she wouldn’t have wanted to miss another opportunity to flaunt her success of 21 years previously. There she was, as tight faced and smugly superior as ever. She glared at me as she made her way over to her team mates and I found myself yearning for a re-match even though I imagined that she would not be their top board player.<br />
<br />
When we saw our Captain’s match card I couldn’t believe what I saw, for Prunella was indeed playing on board 1 for the St. Agnes Alumni team. Her game must have improved somewhat over the last twenty odd years for I was sure there were others in the St.Agnes line up who had previously been her betters. As we sat across from one another I could sense her disdain but forced myself to be polite and looked up smiling at her.<br />
<br />
“Good luck”, I said as I shook that limp, cold hand.<br />
<br />
For this return game I was fortunate once again to have the White pieces. My improved skills as a player in the intervening years between our encounters had given me the confidence I needed to play for a small but enduring advantage out of the opening. I played solidly, possibly too solidly and Prunella, to her credit defended staunchly, and at times, resourcefully. As the game meandered on my advantage dwindled and I began to realise that Prunella, whilst having no winning chances herself, had succeeded in neutralising my attacking potential completely.<br />
<br />
Stubbornly, for in all other circumstances I would have offered a draw, I played on, politely declining her curt offer of a draw when the queens came off the board as the end game began. We were now the last board playing and the match was tied at 4½-4½. Vainly I scoured the position for any opportunity to create complications and managed to find a clever way of sacrificing a pawn to reactivate my pieces. I conjured up some significant problems for my opponent and she began to spend more and more time trying to solve them. Finally though, she dug herself out of trouble yet again and, with both our clocks down to their last two minutes, we reached the position below.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOMjPI4eERVa8EiXmYxfUTqQNMdz0k2p0Ut6hgBSZB2-Kd6WYzcb8IZE1-vUEvenn3jfyLhQEyM2e5T6tSliPEYkBV1Q5GFISLasb8jjdAkO-6MEKWRZqh5MAGf29JFspyfArG6yGXtw4/s1600/Blunderboro+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" kca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOMjPI4eERVa8EiXmYxfUTqQNMdz0k2p0Ut6hgBSZB2-Kd6WYzcb8IZE1-vUEvenn3jfyLhQEyM2e5T6tSliPEYkBV1Q5GFISLasb8jjdAkO-6MEKWRZqh5MAGf29JFspyfArG6yGXtw4/s320/Blunderboro+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I had just checked the Black king and Prunella moved it with 61…Kh6. I sat staring intently at the board. The position, with equal material and opposite coloured bishop was drawn I had to accept it and offer to share the honours. My clock was almost spent. But then, a glimmer of an idea came into my mind, perhaps there was a way and I could try to win it without any risk of losing. Quickly I checked it again and glanced at my clock. One minute left. Prunella had a little more but not much. To make this work I had to blitz her and rely on her disdain of me and need to belittle me. I could use that to my advantage.<br />
<br />
Very swiftly we now both banged out the moves…<br />
62. Bf4+ Kg7<br />
63. Be5+ Kh6<br />
64. Bf4+ Kg7<br />
<br />
I’d made a point of calling out “Check” throughout this sequence. First of all because I knew it would annoy her and secondly because it was integral to my plan. I paused here for a couple of seconds with my hand hovering over the bishop. Prunella, flushed with adrenaline looked at me intently expecting that the repetition of moves would follow and enable her to thwart me again and draw the match. However, I now played 65.Bd6 and called out “Check” again. Immediatley Prunella’s hand darted out to her king and moved it back to h6. She pressed her clock again and then said, mockingly, “That wasn’t check.”<br />
<br />
“Sorry! Yes, you’re right. My mistake” I replied as I paused again for a few seconds. I must have had about twenty seconds left. I used ten of those to allow Prunella to realise the full horror of her mistake before playing 66.Bf8!<br />
<br />
“But that,” I said “is checkmate. If I’m not mistaken.”<br />
<br />
And so it was that on this occasion it was Prunella who was left devastated. My vengeance felt very, very sweet and my team mates crowded round to congratulate me on my play. Later on, at the local pub they also congratulated me on my gameswomanship. The ultimate compliment.<br />
<br />
As a post script to this story I should add that recently I was most surprised to find this last little set piece (listed as being played by NN and NN) in Christian Hesse’s new book <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Joys-Chess-Heroes-Battles-Brilliancies/dp/9056913557/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1317194688&sr=1-1"><strong>“The Joys of Chess:Heroes, Battles and Brilliancies</strong>”.</a> The position features in a chapter named “Gamesmanship” and I will end this article with a quote that features at the beginning of that chapter which seems very appropriate to the subject and an object lesson for all chess players regardless of their gender.<br />
<br />
<em>“As a medium for demonstrating one’s mastery of the game the board and pieces are, in fact, most unreliable.”</em><br />
William Hartston<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script> <br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Addendum: 01/10/2011</span></strong><br />
<span style="color: black;">Since I published this post (by a bizarre coincidence) <a href="http://www.chessbase.com/"><strong>Chessbase</strong></a> have put up a <a href="http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7569"><strong>very interesting related article</strong></a> on their website which I would commend to all readers interested in the gender discussion. It turns out that some research now suggests that there are differences between men and women when it comes to how they approach their chess playing. Or, rather, there are differences to their approach when men play against attractive women! Evidently a man playing a game against an attractive woman is much more likely to essay an aggressive opening system and take more risks to try and win the game. On the other hand, women are unlikely to change their approach when playing against men, regardless of whether or not they think they are attractive! So, there you go, some kind of answer to the original question I posed in the introduction to this post.</span>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-2648153270272481802011-09-22T21:44:00.001+01:002011-09-24T11:01:24.831+01:00Half full or half empty?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqbK5-ybXDBN1RlE8oaiZw0qepNwas-nV5qQ3XETf4q7PP7Lb86h1CenPxT5DCV-WjVHWWuCSzcOSPF5p_hNkaBqivM04LS02AoMsSkP9qeYSrJ-_qMAA0WLLFRY4WZIh47_QxVqV-8OA/s1600/glass+half+full.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" hca="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqbK5-ybXDBN1RlE8oaiZw0qepNwas-nV5qQ3XETf4q7PP7Lb86h1CenPxT5DCV-WjVHWWuCSzcOSPF5p_hNkaBqivM04LS02AoMsSkP9qeYSrJ-_qMAA0WLLFRY4WZIh47_QxVqV-8OA/s1600/glass+half+full.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Which one are you?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It’s all about your frame of mind isn’t it? I mean, whether you perceive the proverbial glass to be half full or half empty. Sometimes it’s a close call though. Monday night’s first round match of the Calderdale Evening Chess League left me puzzling over which view to take. Ultimately I think I’m a “glass-half-full” kind of chap. Perhaps I should explain my dilemma.<br />
<br />
I’m new to this team Captain business and whilst the logistical dealings of organising a team and getting them to a venue come to me easily enough I hadn’t anticipated some of the thoughts and feelings I’d experience on game night itself. I found myself paying quite a lot more attention to the status of my colleagues’ games and at the end of the night I found myself weighing up the value of the result much more extensively than I might have done if I’d just been participating as a player.<br />
<br />
As I prepared Hebden Bridge ‘A’ for the season I did so with the goal of winning the League 1 title in my mind. Huddersfield won last season with our team a close second and I wanted to create a team capable of winning the title back from them. I think we have such a team but we’ve had to re-build. Dave Wedge has done sterling service for the ‘A’ team on board 1 for many years, but a career opportunity has taken him away to Cambridge. His son Matthew, coincidentally, has achieved a place at Cambridge University studying Mathematics and he was one of the ‘A’ team’s top performers last season. In addition, last year’s Captain, Alastair Wright, has decided to offer his services to Todmorden ‘A’ this year. That left just Nick Sykes and Matthew Parsons from last year’s squad.<br />
<br />
So, we’ve started again. Matthew Parsons is now on board 1. He would have been even if Dave was still here due to his higher rating. We have managed to secure the services of Darwin Ursal on board 2. He was a board 1 player with Halifax ‘A’ last season but, as they were relegated, he wanted League 1 chess so we’ve have him on a “season’s loan”. Darwin hopes and expects to go back to Halifax next year assuming they can get one of their two teams in League 2 promoted. Last season I was in the ‘B’ team but playing on board 1 or 2. This year I’ve switched teams but will operate on board 3. Finally, we have drafted in Pete Leonard who was probably the club’s surprise package last year as he returned to league chess for the first time in many years and performed admirably in the ‘C’ team. In the end, on paper anyway, we actually have a stronger line up than last year so I’m confident that we can compete.<br />
<br />
Round 1 took us away to Todmorden for the first tie of the new campaign. I suspected they would be able to generate a strong line up. Martin Hamer and Andrew Clarkeson (both very strong players) were only guest stars last season but this year I suspect they will be regulars. The addition of Alastair Wright on board 3 gives them a powerful top order. And so with my new Captain’s head on I suspected we’d have to win on the lower boards to win the match. In my experience this is always where things are decided in League 1 as the best teams can all field very strong and evenly matched players on the top 2 or 3 boards. Baring in mind that we’d all have the Black pieces this fixture seemed like it would be one of the season’s toughest encounters.<br />
<br />
Half way through the evening I admit I was worried. On board 1 Matthew appeared to be under pressure but was holding his own against Martin. On board 2 Darwin was playing his favourite Sicilian Dragon variation but Andrew appeared to know his way about and was playing accurately in the opening phase. My own game against Alastair had begun disastrously as his chosen move order completely flummoxed me. I had ended up with a terribly uncoordinated mess (king forced to f8 by a massive White knight on d6 (!), queen’s bishop trapped at home with no prospects of escape, rooks disconnected and a knight on the h-file) and was reduced to hunkering down to a long night of misery grovelling for a draw.<br />
<br />
Boards 4 and 5 appeared to offer the best cause for optimism. Pete had achieved a huge passed pawn on the c-file straight out of the opening against Chris Edwards and seemed in control of things and Nick seemed to have a very satisfactory position from another Sicilian Defence against David Innes.<br />
<br />
There was a brief moment mid-evening when disaster seemed imminent. Darwin had his queen trapped in the centre of the board and, to my eyes at least, there appeared no way out without giving up material. As you’ll see from the game analysis below, it turns out my assessment was correct (most unusual) but Darwin found a tricky response and Andrew overlooked the correct reply. Darwin went on to play the resultant endgame very actively and accurately and deserves great credit for overturning a -2 previous score against Andrew (admittedly one of those losses was in the lightning chess format).<br />
<div>
<object data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" height="450" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" />
<param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=FF9900&background=FFFFFF&pgndata=[Event "Calderdale League 1"] [Site "Todmorden"] [Date "2011.09.19"] [Round "1"] [White "Clarkeson, A."] [Black "Ursal, D."] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteTeam "Todmorden A"] [BlackTeam "Hebden Bridge A"] [ECO "B79"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 {"With this move the player of the White pieces is signalling his intent to push Black to the very limits. 9.Bc4 always heralds a very sharp and complicated struggle." Intermezzo} 9... Bd7 10. O-O-O Qa5 $5 {"This is an interesting sideline of the Yugoslav Attack with it’s own devoted band of fanatics. I believe the line was very popular in the 1980’s and many of it’s devotees latched onto it then and have not been parted from it. It isn’t my own choice of variant in this complex labyrinth of lines. I prefer the ’mainline’ which continues with 10...Rc8." Intermezzo} 11. Kb1 Rfc8 12. Bb3 Ne5 13. h4 Nc4 14. Bxc4 Rxc4 15. Nb3 Qe5 $5 {"Qc7 is an option but a bit slow" DU. "In fact, Rybka gives 15...Qc7 as the mainline here (there are 355 instances of Qc7 in the database I have and 41 games with Qe5) and suggests that after...} (15... Qc7 16. Bd4 Be6 17. g4 a5 18. g5 Nh5 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 {the assessment is aproximately equal." Intermezzo} ) 16. Bd4 Qe6 17. g4 b5 {"Also interesting is 17...a5 intending 18... a4 kicking the knight on b3. This is more aggressive and prepares the way for an exchange sacrifice with Rxd4 in the future." DU} 18. h5 {"There’s nothing much wrong with this approach but the only line I could find in my own small library continued instead with...} (18. g5 Nh5 19. Bxg7 Kxg7 20. Rhe1 {...and I think White stands slightly better." Intermezzo} ) 18... b4 19. Ne2 a5 $6 {"Better is Ba4 to give a retreat square for the queen." DU} 20. Nf4 Nxe4 $6 {"I’ve added the assessment to this move as ultimately the assessment of it is not good. Objectively Black cannot save his queen this way so this isn’t the best way to play. However, the game choice turned out well for Black so let’s not be too picky." Intermezzo "There was also...} (20... Rxd4 {...but after...} 21. Qxd4 Qe5 22. Qxe5 dxe5 23. g5 Nxe4 24. fxe4 Bg4 25. Nd5 Bxd1 26. Rxd1 Bf8 27. h6 {... I’m a piece down and my black squared bishop is become passive. There is also...} )(20... Bh6 {... but it will lead to a exchange down on my part without a pair of bishops a no pawn compensation." DU} 21. Nxe6 {[%t bLon] In fact after...} 21... Bxd2 22. Nxd2 Bxe6 23. Nxc4 Bxc4 24. Bxf6 exf6 25. Rxd6 {Black is both the exchange and a pawn down.} ) 21. Nxe6 $2 {"It would be interesting to understand, from a psycological perspective, why White missed his opportunity here. Did he panic or just get caught up in analysing the chain of forcing moves and miss the way to break it as a result? There was a refutation to Black’s play in the form of...} (21. Qg2 $1 {Simply stepping away from the threat and leaving the enemy queen with nowhere to go. The resultant position is pretty conclusive after...} 21... Nc3%2B 22. bxc3 Rxd4 23. Nxe6 Rxd1%2B 24. Rxd1 Bxe6 {The position tells it’s own story. All this suggests that 20...Rxd4 probably was the best option available for Black afterall." Intermezzo} )({"If...} 21. fxe4 Qxe4 {...I’m prepared to have this variation giving me compensation of 3 pawns for a piece." DU} ) 21... Nxd2%2B 22. Rxd2 $4 {"Andrew followed his mistake with a blunder. It should be...} (22. Nxd2 Rxd4 23. Nxd4 Bxd4 {... I was prepared to give up the exchange but having a pair of bishops and a rook plus a pawn to compensate against his 2 rooks and a knight. His king’s side pawn formation is weak and I could create strong central passed pawns in the endgame." DU} ) 22... Bxe6 23. Bxg7 Kxg7 24. hxg6 fxg6 {"24...hxg6 is better." DU} 25. Rdh2 $6 {"Better is...} (25. Re2 Kf6 26. Rxh7 Bd5 {... and matters are still unclear." DU} ) 25... Bg8 26. Nd2 Rf4 27. Re2 e5 28. g5 Rf5 29. Ne4 d5 30. Nd6 {[%t bLon] "At this point Andrew shows his frustration." DU} 30... Rxg5 31. f4 exf4 {"Giving up another pawn was not a good idea but he is taking his chance." DU} 32. b3 f3 $1 {"I think this move was the exclamation point of a convincing win." DU} 33. Rf2 Rf8 34. Rhf1 Rg3 35. Nb5 g5 36. Nd4 g4 37. Kb2 Rf4 38. c3 $2 38... Rg2 $1 {"He just put his king in the line of fire at this point. But I can’t see anymore option for him at this point either." DU} 39. Kc2 g3 40. Rxg2 fxg2 41. Rg1 Rf2%2B 42. Kd3 h5 43. Ke3 bxc3 44. Ne2 h4 45. Nf4 d4%2B $1 46. Ke4 c2 47. Rc1 Rf1 {White resigned} {A complicated and exciting struggle in a major line of the Yugoslav Attack. Andrew missed one tactical chance to secure a winning advnatage but after that Darwin took his opportunity really clinically. A nice win to start the season." Intermezzo} 0-1'/>
</object></div>
<br />
By the time Darwin had won his game Matthew had agreed a draw against Martin Hamer, an excellent outcome given he had Black, and I had finally given up the fight against Alastair who played accurately and without fuss to convert his huge positional advantage. My queen’s bishop was still on c8 when it was trapped at the end of the game! All of this left the scores even from the top 3 boards, proving once again my opinion that League 1 games are decided on the lower boards.<br />
<br />
<div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="450"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=FF9900&background=FFFFFF&pgndata=[Event "Calderdale League 1"] [Site "Todmorden"] [Date "2011.09.19"] [Round "1"] [White "Edwards, C."] [Black "Leonard, P."] [Result "0-1"] [WhiteTeam "Todmorden A"] [BlackTeam "Hebden Bridge A"] [ECO "C44"] 1. e4 Nf6 2. d3 {Fritz’s openings book gives this a ? - it certainly seems unambitious as White, IMHO.} 2... Nc6 3. Nf3 e5 4. Be2 Bc5 ({Or indeed} 4... d5 {straight away.} ) 5. c3 O-O {Or again d5; I’m being a bit cautious myself.} 6. O-O Bb6 7. Nbd2 d5 8. Qc2 {Fritz prefers any of c4, Qb3, Qa4 or exd5} 8... Qe7 9. b4 $6 {This is my ?! as it seems unnecessarily weakening} 9... d4 10. a3 $6 ({Because of his previous move, he can’t play either} 10. c4 Nxb4) ({or} 10. cxd4 Bxd4) ({Fritz suggests} 10. Bb2 dxc3 11. Bxc3 a5)({I’d looked at} 10. b5 dxc3 11. bxc6 cxd2 12. Bxd2 bxc6 {which looked OK to me; I fancy his backward Q pawn} ) 10... dxc3 {Now he simply loses a pawn; I was looking forward to all sorts of fun with Nd4} 11. Nb3 Nd4 12. Nbxd4 Bxd4 ({Fritz prefers} 12... exd4 {but I wanted his knight off before giving him any opportunity of playing e5} ) 13. Nxd4 exd4 14. Bg5 h6 15. Bh4 g5 $6 {Loosens my king’s position} ({Fritz rightly prefers} 15... Bd7 16. f4 Qe6 {and I don’t think his attack’s going anywhere} ) 16. Bg3 a5 17. f4 {My g5 didn’t prevent this, it just helped him to open lines} 17... Bg4 $6 {getting above myself; he’s not going to oblige by playing Bxg4} ({Simply} 17... axb4 {was better, though Fritz does suggest ...Bg4 in a number of lines} ) 18. fxg5 {For a horrible moment I thought I’d blundered away two pieces for a rook} 18... hxg5 19. h4 $6 (19. Rxf6 Bxe2 20. e5 Rfe8 {looks OK to me} )({Fritz suggests} 19. Qc1 Nxe4 (19... Kh7 20. Qxg5 {is winning for White} )20. Bxg4 Nxg3 21. Re1 ({or} 21. hxg3 Qe3%2B 22. Qxe3 dxe3 23. Rac1 axb4 24. axb4 {and it’s going to be difficult to make my pawns count} )21... Qd8 22. hxg3 axb4 23. axb4 Rxa1 24. Qxa1 Re8 {which looks far from over} ) 19... Bxe2 20. Qxe2 axb4 21. axb4 Rxa1 $6 ({I missed} 21... Nd5 {which makes my position much easier} ) 22. Rxa1 Qxb4 23. hxg5 Nh7 ({I did wonder about} 23... Qb2 24. Qxb2 cxb2 25. Rb1 {but felt I’d lose too many pawns} ) 24. Be5 Qc5 ({Definitely not} 24... Nxg5 25. Qh5 {and I think White is winning} ) 25. Bf6 Re8 {I was worried about my king getting stuck on the g and h files with either perpetual check or a mate to follow} ({I didn’t see that I had time simply to roll my pawns} 25... b5 {though after, say} 26. Qf2 Nxf6 27. gxf6 Kh7 28. Qg3 Rg8 29. Qh2%2B Kg6 30. e5 Qf8 {it’s still not entirely clear to me} ) 26. e5 Nxf6 (26... b5 27. Qg4 c2 28. Rc1 Re6 29. Qh4 Nxf6 {or} 30. exf6 Re2 31. g6 fxg6 32. Qg4 Qh5 33. Qc8%2B Kf7 34. Qxc7%2B Kxf6 35. Rf1%2B Ke6 36. Qf7%2B Ke5 37. Qe8%2B Kd5 38. Qxb5%2B {ends in a draw by perpetual, unless Black contrives to get mated. So it’s mystery to me why Fritz prefers 26...b5} ) 27. gxf6 Rxe5 ({Not} 27... Qxe5 28. Qg4%2B {and mates} ) 28. Ra8%2B ({We both missed} 28. Qg4%2B Rg5 29. Qh4 Rh5 30. Qe4 Rf5 31. Qe8%2B Kh7 32. Qxf7%2B Kh6 33. Qg7%2B Kh5 34. g4%2B {All down to 15...g5} ) 28... Kh7 29. Qg4 Rg5 30. Qh4%2B Rh5 ({Better} 30... Kg6 31. Qf4 c2 32. Ra1 (32. Qc1 Re5 33. Kf2 Qc6)(32. Qe4%2B Qf5)32... Rf5) 31. Qe4%2B ({If} 31. Qg4 Qg5 32. Qe4%2B ({Not} 32. Qxd4 Rh4)32... Qg6 33. Qe2 Rh4) 31... Qf5 32. Qe8 (32. Qe7 {was better; he was getting pretty short of time} 32... Qg6 (32... Qe6 33. Rh8%2B Kg6 34. Rg8%2B Kh7 35. Rh8%2B {and we’re drawing} )33. Rf8 c2 34. Rxf7%2B Kh6 35. Qf8%2B Kg5 36. Qc5%2B Kh6 {and White must repeat moves} )({If he had played} 32. Rh8%2B {I do hope I would have spotted} 32... Kg6 ({and not fallen for} 32... Kxh8 33. Qe8%2B Kh7 34. Qxf7%2B {and mate next move} )33. g4 Qxe4 34. gxh5%2B Kxf6 35. dxe4 c2) 32... Qxf6 {I’m glad to see the back of that pawn! Now I’m far less likely to be mated} 33. Qg8%2B Kh6 34. Qf8%2B Qg7 35. Qb4 Qe5 {I feel I’ve driven him away. One move to the time control; surely he’ll just play 36.Qf8%2B when I’d probably just have repeated moves and given myself more time to think. However, he was still thinking when his flag fell!} 0-1'/></object></div>
<br />
Pete Leonard put our noses in front with his first League 1 win against Chris. That left us a point up with one to play and it appeared we would win the match as Nick seemed to be well in control of his game. Sadly he then overlooked a tactic that left him with too much ground to make up and he resigned in disgust.<br />
<br />
At the time it felt disappointing to draw the match when we seemed to have it in the bag despite my own abysmal contribution. The glass was half empty. Nick was gutted at blundering in a winning position and I felt thoroughly dispirited from the molestation I had suffered. However, by the time I had gotten home and tucked myself in I was feeling a bit more positive. Looking at the Todmorden line up before the match I’d have taken a draw if you’d offered me one and the other three members of our team had all performed extremely creditably. I also reasoned that other teams (even our closest rivals) would struggle to achieve a drawn match if Todmorden put the same team out for every home tie.<br />
<br />
A few days later I’m now convinced that my optimism is well founded for the champions, Huddersfield ‘A’, stumbled to a 3½-1½ defeat away to Brighouse in their first match of the season. Suddenly our draw seemed all the more like a point gained rather than a point lost. Recent history suggests that Huddersfield are more than capable of recovering to challenge for the title. Last year they draw their first match and lost their second but then went on a 12 match winning streak to claim victory. They’ll hope to do the same again but for the moment my glass stays half full.<br />
<br />
Whilst we are on the subject of optimism let us pause to appreciate this quality in Martin Syrett, our ‘B’ team Captain, under whom I served with great pleasure last season (and in previous years also). Martin has been the ‘B’ team Captain for a number of years now and he labours under the most difficult circumstances. He knows that the best he can hope for each year is for his team to maintain their League 1 status. He knows that if the ‘A’ team find themselves a player or two short he will be expected to weaken his line up to support their title bid. Yet despite these travails he maintains a jovial and easy-going demeanour no matter how desperate the situation appears to be.<br />
<br />
Last year the ‘B’ team appeared doomed for the drop and yet he led the charge to safety as we rallied to win our final two matches and stay up at Halifax’s expense. This season I think he has cause for a little optimism. In contrast to the ‘A’ team he has only lost one player. Me. In addition he also has access to some players who distinguished themselves in League 2 last season. On paper they like a big hitter on board 1 to help protect the rest of the troops but all of his regulars are rated within 5 or 6 points of each other and that should provide him with the chance to rotate them a bit in order to give them all the chance to win some games and test themselves on higher board.<br />
<br />
Sadly, on Monday night at least, it didn’t work out for the ’B’s. Matthew Wedge Roberts guest starred on board 1 for his final match before heading off to university and he did well to draw with Courier ‘A’s number 1, John Morgan. John was last season’s individual super star as he collected not only the Calderdale Individual title but also the prize for best individual score in the league. I posted their game in the express report on Monday. John appeared to have most of the pressure in the game but Matthew knuckled down and held his position to prevent his opponent breaking through.<br />
<br />
On board 2 Andy Leatherbarrow played tenaciously against Dave Patrick and pushed him all the way to the end of the night’s play (when does Andy ever play a game that is over in an hour or less!) but in the end an extra pawn in a rook ending wasn’t enough for a win.<br />
<br />
It was further down the order that the ‘B’ team’s night went sour. Captain Syrett seemed to be doing well but then lost a piece as the endgame approached and went down swiftly to Robert Clegg after that. On board 4 Pete Olley seemed to be a certain winner before he also capitulated in dramatic fashion. Finally, Dave Sugden, so solid and dependable on board 1 for the ‘C’ team in League 2 last season, seems to have had an early catastrophe in his game and also lost. <br />
<br />
Hebden ‘B’ matched up favourable grading-wise on the bottom two boards so (having drawn boards 1 and 2) the margin of the 1-4 score was disappointing. They next face Todmorden ‘A’ at home before playing their derby match with the ‘A’ team later in October, so they may already be looking at another slow start to the season. Martin’s side should be able to compete and pick up points against the likes of Brighouse, Belgrave and Huddersfield ‘B’ later in the Autumn. They’ll need to if they are to help Mr. Syrett is to continue performing his little miracles.<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script> Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-81444104528079935162011-09-21T02:42:00.001+01:002011-09-21T02:42:37.936+01:00Let battle commence!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazKjgNMLy5Nf0Z_cWVAV5mBlB6Rwbt1B0IgJi6gVV6T6krNisvfb6JdblhAvhos_PTDddMURWRRnw7ohNEltMjX9AfXcMHNlglJXw94kYMVaqt5Ksp0IlsRg_UQakRYL2cfh99zyfUtM/s1600/Arms+Race_Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="218" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhazKjgNMLy5Nf0Z_cWVAV5mBlB6Rwbt1B0IgJi6gVV6T6krNisvfb6JdblhAvhos_PTDddMURWRRnw7ohNEltMjX9AfXcMHNlglJXw94kYMVaqt5Ksp0IlsRg_UQakRYL2cfh99zyfUtM/s400/Arms+Race_Small.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
Today John Kerrane provides us with a report on Monday night’s Calderdale League round 1 matches. Match score cards and some of the games from each fixture have also been added. I'll be publishing some annotated games from these matches later in the week. <br />
<br />
To use the game viewers simply select the game you wish to view from the drop down list above each board. Each viewer displays a random game from the selection. The games are presented at a rate of one move every 3 seconds. To play through them at your own pace select the "=" button and then move forward and back with the arrow buttons.<br />
<br />
<em><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><strong>H</strong></span>ebden Bridge Chess Club started the new Calderdale Chess League season with a bang on Monday evening, with all four of their teams in action.</em><br />
<br />
<em>The A team, playing away against Todmorden A, were held to a draw by the home side, who were aided by a win for Alastair Wright, former Hebden A team captain now playing for Todmorden, against the new captain, Dave Shapland. However, a win by new A team member Pete Leonard evened the account. The individual results were:</em> <br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Todmorden ‘A’ vs. Hebden Bridge ‘A’</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
M. Hamer ½ – ½ M. Parsons</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A. Clarkson 0 – 1 D. Ursal</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A. Wright 1 – 0 D. Shapland</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
C. Edwards 0 – 1 P. Leonard 1</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D. A. Innes 1 – 0 N. Sykes</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>2½ – 2½</strong></div>
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="416" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=g&d=3000&ig=r&ss=40&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=____&dcs=_Uz$&bbcs=$$$$&hm=s&hcs=LHa1&bd=s&cbcs=W_iH&ctcs=$$$$&hd=j&md=j&tm=10&fhcs=v71$&fhs=100p&fmcs=v71$&fccs=$$$$&hmcs=_Uz$&fms=100p&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=t&fp=0&hl=t&fh=b&fw=650&pe=1769$zlax9RvkYWao6R_o3yextimzvLEG8ovpM73uKIyWUYHxDEG86SG3vgwL40L395b9pNmuAVJT3njQzKUTcnz1OmLZ7Z2PmT$EG80otD6f9YUX_ZkuwVaX$jQzJzuGXGf7Oo0TOo$EG84GUs$vz41BHl500bfCN3$yt71i9wv75ho4cgv3jo49WM5vghJXgKjr00cfciz4$v7x75tU2v7m6ANMrtmfd02O75hQ0A$fcgz03U0y$we32ervN$f3gz8rvO$fhFm78kaz5L16sDvo7F2p$HWVwDhQ0J$voU32qU0xvfzN6jJfoL38VwQ7F22vfAxdZRU14$gQaoDsRk12$v883084a370$Ni758x3b02E2fVfF3n06Bfcly7gD3sGgzdzM1d$v7y7s7k11vfVzx6sAfwL1L8GjsDU10L758F$FzQ24$gJEcgWzbb1$FPU6pPU23$yJV5yFk67nL30qM$gdfO$4yE5gRI5fOf7Wly7Wly7oL3dQDN2cz6ycza4zxMrglP1KKoq7ZSW7zoXiNpXz54coab2l8$HQ7QHxH0evRPN1BHzutHh056$j6$fDnLEG8sZmFWvgwilh_CvQxfaZu0zSG0VbT$jQzvHKj2D4BetqUtkR6Dev1BHAPyYuAp05e91BHzlKAP1OwC0ila2$xB75hU1$fcgz3U2$fi30cny$78F0zS7P10zBgijr0$Mbfciz4$yO71YF6$fcKCUorzU$T30qo2E1DbD16h7voWz5b15BfAF270$ih7YN2b02O75h9vR$fck7FaFE4fqf7iLHiU0J$wW3shrvMf7iFAF1khQ0C$fJeayNV$F4fnr16IgrgN39$wVFu7tFCN3506sEBvqt4x3$vpJXghJXfwv7hM2Edfy$7VYNdEJfyf7sig4Ngj7T1$x7yRDfj1aF7yKJfwL3jPHsEN32vf4i6VazC7nD16pPU6pPU22$v9Fqzmkirwx$gQVFuePsFCN5b06pEX_grzk2b$lsiQ4MdfOf7VBU0yNxMo7Hm3kI$GWRlNeIZN85u3XBK80wilhO$Qxf7_uq6SOWo4gilheKl8$y2v92v7jbnjQzJ_aQsL7LEG8uOLpM73mNFE6TtvZ$9pNflmF0P1O1X63uwV0v1BHAPyYuAp05e91BHzlKAP11fnjQxLL78x9pw$7Sx9kSx5$xy7SFb$vBDSly7P10FPo0dgL328bvpC790$hl75i7k2v4vlRgWz2vfJeaD1Rk0A$gRwD5iU0y$v8cz039vN$gPwDWgN2b0$igD5YF2n0$RPfVQMnqf7po$Qdfqv75Yx6u4fnD3me5wrtmfoL38nvoG356$yIpdgRI67fD1dE5v9KHfvL4ykunwSt7fv3dzg2Gh7fL38pvAjIfy$78NdPc1c$vAjxKPmedfyv7sFfF0Fz9w0f4xiBpd_D5irw2v7sFAF0F7w$T30kDxdQDx59$v7BDsGU3bb16jC7WfF570$kp4fWmp7nL1L7BDsiQ2b$wQajdz9wBvfXN6JfOv71Xp6sXwwf7sh9yt7nT1dWc0yNxMnHla4xL0" width="650"></iframe><br />
<br />
<em>The B team, playing at their home venue, the Trades Club, Holme Street found it hard going against Courier A and went down 4-1. Matthew Wedge-Roberts and Andy Leatherbarrow, on boards 1 and 2, managed creditable draws, but the visitors’ lower board players proved too strong for Hebden B. The individual results were: </em><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Hebden Bridge ‘B’ vs. Courier ‘A’</span></strong></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
M. Wedge-Roberts ½ – ½ J. Morgan</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
A. Leatherbarrow ½ – ½ D. Patrick</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
M. Syrett 0 – 1 R. Clegg</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
P. Olley 0 – 1 D. Colledge </div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
D. Sugden 0 – 1 G. Thompson</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>1 – 4</strong></div>
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="416" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=g&d=3000&ig=r&ss=40&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=____&dcs=_Uz$&bbcs=$$$$&hm=s&hcs=LHa1&bd=s&cbcs=W_iH&ctcs=$$$$&hd=j&md=j&tm=10&fhcs=v71$&fhs=100p&fmcs=v71$&fccs=$$$$&hmcs=_Uz$&fms=100p&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=t&fp=0&hl=t&fh=b&fw=650&pe=1804$zlax9RvkYWao6R_o3yextimzvLEG8ovpM74BE5Izkv8X5RBfjQzyWQxf7LT1vT14254coaKNYmr1b9pNmXX5Hh0uMcEzyKOg6QCTtx_$4co7aaQ$V0mWUXCUjegCT$EG8s7_mUlvgBN2MBN0ilhamNV00941BHl500bgKz705XfbAN5$vpy7iU5$f3gzjU5vf4IzdZQ6$fAx$zND902O7m6APd$we33PH6$yshpyshpvNv7hQ6sJfnL7s7x5Ifo$71Rx5Hfov75Rp$KrvR$fbzN$FWo0I$xAsHldIpvS$fbzx0KrvMf717N0IAfoL3ayNV0IPQ0wL7VAHPcbw1v7XNdW9w0vgSQ2gSRS4x3$vnwD5Yx3b06pnv88N3n06sPc4cfyf7Jtc0BN2MBN4xNgnJ7Gp0mSHIzuqYzhbZ8Ucth21BHAB0G3vlpzpRgl$CLqpo0ilheKl8$y2v92v7jbnjQzJ_aQsL7LEG8uOLpM74CMelt7ZpXZuu2XegC$1BHz4AVvs$GSGevQ$Tefu$4coaE6V_9P1bRftbRf9pNgpZmf9ZbnjQxLL78x1rw$7SxcVwv75DN0zJgv33Q$NlNDP13Hgijr0$Ni75EN1vf3gztU2v7sRx5Ia0L7XN$BxDbD10x7waz5b19bv7wj5f13RfJeaDbL30ebwaj5L10zYf4kej5P13FEVl2jFij5T1cQ8FcTvMf7m6APqFgz5r02IhbwRwj56$voa3sh7U14$gSM2fbQN350$hp4vkjPfw$7JFBx0Fnw2$fVg3sYIN3n04NoDWI37P16mIfVfF3r06jzgPBS7fj13ZfYMnwL3dEbyIjzfvr1aFE7vpGh7nD1dzg$QbfLL7sEN6sAfM$7sGWzs7U25$yR75XN5n$HsSN6u4fOf75Fiz2jM2d$wRIcfWlBKPb90$QppwFKHfML33U4Nizb6$vpKHgrfFb9$l2c7vqu7Ln3m8bvnB7Lv3jM4Nm7LL32qo6pzU5b$voa3sENbp0$RYuDJ8Fbr0$M5adQiU51vfckajmkhQ56$gREbgRC7Ld01teP5q7e5q7la84xTxID4utNRgYKRg7OTCzQU7b9pNln5Hh0oFgGo4n1u0IEz4co7ZYnz1bd$Dd$wfMwilhWXKkS$y1BHA_e0G3vlnmCMal2PmT$EG80otD6f9ZN7BB6DV$jQzJzuGXGf8fXnjQzxQXJvkXDD9pMnn33M0dfv3qM5YfL303o5VzM5$fcI328ryf7ho$RYgL3dzg$Qdfj19bvAjBfT0nbCk8z0qU$T32jM1TXJvNv75GKzjGKz5b1$zYfAN270$iR71Rk0B$wSp75RfF2n0$lRa$xdfqf7m6AP08XvS$f4i3qQ0xvf4Iz0kRN2d$wRJRfbAF22vf3zx0IXw1v7WTwDsRjHfn32qg6u3rw1$gPx757k15$yFg2fbCN3n0$hq75hQ1c$voEzcrw6$gi32kio11va6FEHyE1DfT19pyFg67fd06p5vBDnD19rwSu7nn3s8g3sDk23$wPy78x5b0$RPgPA64yb$vpEbgJEbfOf7sFi3239wC$gKj96ya4xMnH$0" width="650"></iframe><br />
<br />
The C team, also playing at home, held a strong Todmorden B side to a 2 ½ - 2 ½ draw, this time with strong play on the lower boards. The individual results were: </em><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong><span style="color: orange;">Hebden Bridge ‘C’ vs. Todmorden ‘B’</span></strong><br />
T. Sullivan 0 – 1 R. Tokeley</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
T. DeLuca 0 – 1 P. Logan</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
J. Kerrane 1 – 0 G. Bowker</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
S. Priest ½ – ½ R. Stoelman</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
N. Bamford 1 – 0 R. Pratt</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<strong>2½ – 2½</strong></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="416" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=g&d=3000&ig=r&ss=40&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=____&dcs=_Uz$&bbcs=$$$$&hm=s&hcs=LHa1&bd=s&cbcs=W_iH&ctcs=$$$$&hd=j&md=j&tm=10&fhcs=v71$&fhs=100p&fmcs=v71$&fccs=$$$$&hmcs=_Uz$&fms=100p&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=t&fp=0&hl=t&fh=b&fw=650&pe=1903$zlax9RvkYWao6R_o3yextimzw$EG8ovpM74BE5Izkv8X5RBfjQzyWQxf7LT1vT14254coaKNYmr1b9pNmXX5Hh0ox_a7bmtk2P6T$EG80otD6f7_u0Mbx4TegP$EG8s7_mUlvhwTLEG84GUs$vyb4cnHb11nxC7f1cTytDn11kSF9kSFb$vaq75hU5vggz8Xyv71hM$hoj4$vo8zayNV6$fJeaAvQdfd0$OlPfbYF29$v7y7hQ0y$voEz8nvN$f4I33Q0B$yshpvpEcfq$75Fij0k8Enqf717x6mHfqv71FYF3BfnD38HwRGRDbT1$xbwQUz56$wRJYuD18N42MAxNgnJ7Gp0mSHIzuqYzhbZ8Ucth31BHAB0G3vlpzpRgl$CLqpo0ilheKl8$y2v92v7jbnjQzJ_aQsL7LEG8uOLpM74rgXZXFfegCT$EG80otD6f7aTuwM6Ltye$4coaE6V_9P1btj4co7IuaD4C2p4cnHb19nvoaz701q78N5$v8c3qQ5$ghJYfhJYgD3qM4dgL32jo$hlD90$htD1pM2v7spnH1GgCV0L7pGgzcrvNv75ho2S7bn30qg1TXJvN$fJeaD58x2b06jx5vqoj5L1dZDpdzrl5P1$zHfWgN2r0$RPfcIaz5901i75GI35r0$ksDv8Uz56$v8TP03U14$fWg3cpw0vfi1Oshnw1$fAjB71Ex3b0$hl7sYN3n06u5yKIJfyf7Yx6lJfyv717N6lxDfj1$zBgWxM2v7WWoDs7k10L71hg2KBfMf3sXp$BBfLL7spc$mzfM$7WmN7sGgzbn16sBwG3bL0oRx7sXN5p06pPU6IfOv7VgzdI7wwf7Vg3dZo26$gPy7spg20L7VPN6u7y1v7VgzsDTHLn3dPc6pPU53$wRIdfPNbb02IbgQENbn04Np7VQxbp02I6ePme4gyv7shQZwezn9$HsGWjsGW3nr02GlDpg50L7VPN5yoDW5A$gRGgDWmt7Pn3dI7vMUgnHzlax9RvkYWao6R_o3yextimzw$EG8ovpM74BE5Izkv8X5RBfjQzyWQxf7LT1vT14254coaKNYmr1b9pNmXX5Hh0mCLnyZLtyb$9pNflmF0P1Oau3N6SAfY6f1BHAPyYuAp05q7e5q74co7IuaD4u974cnHb11nvC7f1cTytDn11pxBDL19bvpC7P10zBfVQNd$wEzjGK34$xAsTv8G6V6$f4I1LpJXfd0$klHfWkG6V29$voap75EN250$g3fWK35f10KbwREcfov7m6AP28rvR$gPwAyJZfqf75pQ2E1DcL308byS7bj10FbwSu7bT10FnwRwj56$vpJYfcmtDfD1$FWQ1TXJl7b1$xnyJS7fv3dPg1lDfL30kEN6pPU1b$yKF5wGj7P10xpwPyz7T16h7v8DF34$lsDk$lYfwL3dzo2GRDfd02I5fVCF59$wcz8nwwvfYx6jIfM$7iM2Fm7nL3dKbyE67ov1OFgjdQh9wBvfck7FaFE4fOv7sRNazS7nj16sTw8zbr06hpyFizb6$xUU3sYgNb9$yFtACp4gvL7VijsDzk53$wejsDk55$wWjsENbn01u7tU5c$wSMjshDU5d$wSt7VgNb4$lsGKj3GKjnr02IsV_gRwdgvr16sHvOo0TOo1MnHl$0" width="650"></iframe></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br />
As these game viewers are still relatively new to this blog I'd like some feedback from readers. Can everyone see these ok? Do they display correctly? Do you like them? etc.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script></div>
Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-77100476103776712972011-09-16T13:33:00.002+01:002011-10-01T08:09:54.371+01:00Parsons knows <br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMieIvrkQWEce5ZrYRCdl4NGNVnMbVxS1HAGmXf5WanuvC9pRsFMfM9qWej6yR_YWnc1mTbmGziGIZqoo71lTwJaomalgf2C8uO5FUlb_U4_UsdSQP7pmLglxFzjGcJL7k6BfNbOAe_UU/s1600/Matthew+Parsons.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMieIvrkQWEce5ZrYRCdl4NGNVnMbVxS1HAGmXf5WanuvC9pRsFMfM9qWej6yR_YWnc1mTbmGziGIZqoo71lTwJaomalgf2C8uO5FUlb_U4_UsdSQP7pmLglxFzjGcJL7k6BfNbOAe_UU/s1600/Matthew+Parsons.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matthew Parsons will be filling the <br />
Dave Wedge-shaped vacancy on <br />
board 1 for the 'A' team this season</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Today’s post comes courtesy of Hebden Bridge Chess Club’s highest graded player, Matthew Parsons. In a post from earlier this week we covered off his successes at the Huddersfield Rapidplay and the Club Lightning competition but Matthew had started his warm up routine for the new league season even earlier as he explains below.<br />
<br />
<em><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><strong>O</strong></span>ver the Bank Holiday weekend in August I played in the Major Section (Under 170) at Leyland Chess Congress. With my ECF grade of 167 taking preference over my YCA (174), which would have placed me in the Open, I could have expected to be one of the favourites for the 1st prize. There were two other players with the same grade as me and one higher, Abigail Pritchard, who was graded 168. She, like myself, did not have the best tournament. I finished on 3.5/6, with 3 wins, 2 defeats, and 1 draw.</em><br />
<br />
<em>As you will see from the games below, the 2 defeats were nothing to do with my opponent beating me, but rather foolish errors from myself. In round 1 I over-pressed against a weaker opponent, searching too hard for a win, only to blunder in time trouble and lose. In round 4 I had a totally won ending which I messed up in terrific style.</em><br />
<br />
<em>My play was sporadically good, but I was definitely very rusty having not played over the board since March, where as many of the other players in the tournament had played in various sections at the British Championships in Sheffield earlier in the month. I also found myself exhausted each day, much more so than normal. That said, it was a good warm up for the league season and hopefully any rustiness is now out of my system.</em><br />
<br />
<em>In fact I finished 2nd at the Huddersfield Rapidplay Open Section last weekend, beating the top seed Peter Shaw in round 1 in the process, a player graded over 200. My play on this day was at another level to how I played at Leyland.</em><br />
<br />
<em>Here are the games from Leyland with my own annotations.</em><br />
<br />
<script id="oChessViewer" type="text/javascript">
/*
[Event "Leyland Congress"]
[Site "Leyland"]
[Date "2011.08.27"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Parsons, M."]
[Black "Connor, M."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A48"]
[WhiteElo "2042"]
[BlackElo "1858"]
[Annotator "Parsons,Matthew"]
[PlyCount "78"]
[EventDate "2011.08.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 g6 3. e3 Bg7 4. Nf3 d5 5. Be2 Bg4 6. h3 Bxf3 7. Bxf3 {
I dont really understand the point of this , which i have had played against
me a few times. Black just gives up the bishop pair, and white has a slight
edge.} e6 {Here i should play Nc3 without having played c4 first. Very much in
the style of many of Mark Hebdens games. There is nothing wrong with c4, in
fact it is the 2nd best move for white in this position, but still Nc3 is
stronger.} 8. c4 O-O 9. Nc3 c5 {This has to be a blunder, black is playing ala
Grunfeld, but with those 2 bishops hitting the queenside this has to be too
risky.} 10. dxc5 Qa5 11. Bd6 Rd8 12. O-O Ne8 13. Qb3 Nxd6 14. cxd6 Na6 15. Qxb7
{Nothing wrong with Qb7, i maintain my advantage.} Rab8 16. Qxa7 dxc4 17. Bb7 {
Here is where i go wrong, Bb7 is actually a blunder. I thought i was winning a
piece. This is a sign of how rusty i was, this being the first game i had
played over the board in about 4 months. Why am i neglecting to get my rooks
into play!} Rxd6 18. Bxa6 Rxb2 {I had completely overlooked this move, now
there is only 1 move that doesnt lose, fortunately i was able to find it.} 19.
Qe7 Rxa6 20. Qe8+ Bf8 21. Ne4 Qe5 22. Qc8 Raxa2 {Here black could have played
for more, with 22... Rab6, but he was clearly happy with a draw against a
higher rated opponent. I however wanted to win too much against someone i know
full well i would normally beat, but i wasnt playing anyway near my best.} 23.
Rxa2 Rxa2 24. Qxc4 Rb2 {
Here black offered me a draw, which i should have accepted.} 25. f4 Qb5 26.
Nf6+ Kg7 27. Qd4 Qe2 28. Ng4+ Kg8 29. Nf6+ Kg7 {
Another draw offer, again turned down.} 30. Ng4+ Kg8 31. Qe4 h5 32. Ne5 {
Still trying too hard for a win, Bc5 is now totally winning for black.} Kg7 33.
Rc1 h4 {I now had 8 seconds to make 6 moves, very unusual for me. I had used
the time pushing too hard for a win that wasnt there anymore after Bb7, and
now instead of the simple Rc7 which forces black to take a draw through
repetition, i had a moment of madness.} 34. Nxg6 fxg6 35. Rc7+ Kh6 {What a blow
! I had overlooked this simple escape, thinking black had to go to the back
rank leading to mate. Alas i am now totally lost.} 36. Rc1 Qf2+ 37. Kh1 Re2 38.
Qa8 Bg7 39. Qe4 Qxe3 0-1
[Event "Leyland Congress"]
[Site "Leyland"]
[Date "2011.08.27"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Crockett, S."]
[Black "Parsons, M."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A40"]
[WhiteElo "1762"]
[BlackElo "2042"]
[Annotator "Parsons,Matthew"]
[PlyCount "124"]
[EventDate "2011.08.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[TimeControl "240+2"]
{This game is not worthy of comment, its of a terrible standard. More evidence
of the fact that i was not playing at all well on the 27th of August, its
laughable that i won this game really.} 1. d4 {[%emt 0:00:00]} g6 2. Nf3 Bg7 3.
c4 c5 4. g3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bg2 O-O 8. O-O Ng4 9. Nc3 Nxe3 10.
fxe3 Ne5 11. b3 Ng4 12. Rf3 Qa5 13. Nd5 e6 14. Ne7+ Kh8 15. h3 Ne5 16. Rf2 Qd8
17. Nxc8 Qxc8 18. Rc1 Bh6 19. Qd2 a6 20. Qc3 Bg7 21. Qd2 Rb8 22. Nf3 Qc7 23.
Rd1 Rbd8 24. Qd6 Qxd6 25. Rxd6 b5 26. c5 a5 27. Rf1 a4 28. Nd4 axb3 29. axb3
Rc8 30. Rc1 Rfd8 31. c6 dxc6 32. Rxd8+ Rxd8 33. Nxc6 Nxc6 34. Rxc6 b4 35. Ra6
Rd1+ 36. Kf2 Bc3 37. Be4 Kg7 38. Ra7 Kf6 39. g4 Be1+ 40. Kf3 h6 41. Ra8 Bh4 42.
Bd3 Rc1 43. Ra4 Be1 44. Ra2 Rc7 45. Rc2 Ra7 46. Rc4 Kg5 47. Rc1 Bc3 48. h4+
Kxh4 49. Kf4 e5+ 50. Ke4 Kxg4 51. Rg1+ Kh5 52. Rh1+ Kg5 53. Kf3 f5 54. Rg1+ Kf6
55. Bc4 Rd7 56. e4 f4 57. Bb5 Rd8 58. Bc6 g5 59. Bd5 h5 60. Rh1 g4+ 61. Kg2 Kg5
62. Bf7 h4 0-1
[Event "Leyland Congress"]
[Site "Leyland"]
[Date "2011.08.28"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Parsons, M."]
[Black "Owens, D."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A85"]
[WhiteElo "2042"]
[BlackElo "1866"]
[Annotator "Parsons,Matthew"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2011.08.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
{I felt this was one of my few good games at Leyland, my play was logical from
start to finish. I was playing much better on the 2nd day of the congress, but
as the game in the afternoon will show, i was still very rusty. But here is
the morning game, which i am quite pleased with.} 1. d4 f5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3 e6
4. Nf3 d5 {Stonewall Dutch just loses against the London System. 4 moves in,
and white already has a half pawn advantage.} 5. c4 Bd6 6. Nc3 c6 {
Perhaps here i should have played Ne5.} 7. Bd3 O-O 8. Ne5 Qe7 {I wasnt sure
what to play here. 9. c5 seemed logical, but i was concerned about black
playing b6, but computer analyis has shown c5 to be correct which i will
remember for future games.} 9. Qc2 Bxe5 10. Bxe5 Nbd7 11. Bxf6 Nxf6 12. f4 {
Theoretically black is fine here, as i misplayed with 9. Qc2. However, i still
feel black has the problems as he has the bad bishop. Practically then blacks
position seems harder to play for the club player.} Ne4 13. Bxe4 fxe4 14. O-O-O
{This might seem risky, but i didnt feel that black could build an attack
against my king. There arent enough minor pieces left on the board for
sacrifices, and i just block any pawn advances, taking care not to open lines.}
Bd7 15. Kb1 {I was pleased with this game, because i took the time to play
moves like this, instead of jumping ahead with g4 and h4 too quickly.} b5 16.
c5 a5 17. Rdg1 Bc8 18. Nd1 Ba6 19. Nf2 b4 20. Qd2 Rfb8 21. Ng4 a4 22. Ne5 {
What a Knight!} Qc7 23. Rc1 b3 {Here black offered me a draw. No way, not its
my time to attack, and my attack is actually dangerous!} 24. a3 {
How exactly does black get at my king now?} Rf8 {
Admitting his 'attack' is going nowhere.} 25. h4 {Here come the pawns!} Rf5 26.
g4 Rxe5 {No good, but what else? The knight was just too strong.} 27. dxe5 Bd3+
28. Ka1 Ra5 29. Qc3 Qa7 30. f5 {How quickly the advantage grows for white.} Kf7
31. Qb4 Rb5 32. Qd4 Bc2 33. fxe6+ Kxe6 34. h5 h6 35. g5 Rxc5 {This move,
g a pawn, is a huge blunder. In one move, black pins his bishop and rook, and
ties down his queen to the defence of the rook, allowing white the time to
demolish all defence around blacks king. Suddenly is +15 for white...} 36. gxh6
gxh6 37. Rhg1 {It took 37 moves for this rook to move, but now it comes into
play with devestating effect.} Qa5 {Its now forced mate in 13 moves.} 38. Rg6+
Kd7 39. e6+ Kc7 40. Rg7+ Kb6 41. e7 Qa8 42. Qb4+ Rb5 43. Qd6 {
And here black resigned.} 1-0
[Event "Leyland Congress"]
[Site "Leyland"]
[Date "2011.08.28"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Walsh, M."]
[Black "Parsons, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1802"]
[BlackElo "2042"]
[Annotator "Parsons,Matthew"]
[SetUp "1"]
[FEN "r1b2r2/pp2pk2/3p3b/q1pP3p/4n3/2N2Q1P/PPP1N1P1/R3KB1R b KQ - 0 18"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2011.08.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
[TimeControl "240+2"]
{After some mad tactics we had reached this position with a slight plus for
black.} 18... Nf6 19. Nf4 {[%emt 0:00:00]} Qb4 20. Nd3 Qd4 21. Be2 {
Tactical Miss! Black should play c4, allowing Bd2+ winning.} Qe3 22. Qxe3 Bxe3
23. Rf1 Kg7 24. Bf3 Bd7 25. Ke2 Bd4 26. Kd2 c4 27. Nf4 h4 28. Ne6+ Bxe6 29.
dxe6 Rab8 30. Be2 Bxc3+ 31. Kxc3 b5 32. Bf3 Rfc8 33. Kd2 b4 34. b3 c3+ 35. Kd3
Rc5 36. a4 a5 37. Rae1 Rbc8 38. Ke2 Re5+ 39. Kd1 Rcc5 40. Rxe5 Rxe5 41. Re1
Rxe1+ 42. Kxe1 {I cannot credit i went on to lose this ending. Rusty does not
begin to describe how bad i played in a moment.} Ne8 43. Ke2 Kf6 44. Bg4 Nc7
45. Kd3 Nxe6 46. Bxe6 Kxe6 47. Kc4 {This is a plus 13 position for black. Why
i did not play d5 i struggle to explain. Whether tired or rusty, of which i
was both, this is a huge blunder and not an excusable move to miss.} Kf5 {
After this the position is a draw, but only if i go after the c2 pawn, after
my next move i am lost.} 48. Kb5 e5 49. Kxa5 d5 50. Kxb4 d4 51. a5 e4 52. Kc4
e3 53. Kd3 {A disaster.} 1-0
[Event "Leyland Congress"]
[Site "Leyland"]
[Date "2011.08.29"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Parsons, M."]
[Black "Desmedt, R."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A80"]
[WhiteElo "2042"]
[BlackElo "1890"]
[Annotator "Parsons,Matthew"]
[PlyCount "65"]
[EventDate "2011.08.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
1. d4 {Sometimes you have an advantage before the game has started. Here my
opponent has lost quite a few times against me, especially in the Dutch.
Normally a stonewall dutch player, he was put off playing that and went into
the Leningrad, which he admitted to not knowing as well.} f5 2. Bf4 Nf6 3. e3
g6 4. h4 Bg7 5. h5 {Scarily aggressive, and perfectly sound! White is already
better, again the Dutch runs into trouble against the London.} d6 6. Bc4 Nc6 7.
h6 Bf8 8. Nf3 d5 9. Bb5 a6 {I guess here Bc6 is correct, but i shied away from
this. Nick Sykes was quick to suggest this when he looked at the game. I
retreated, thinking that if black plays b5 his king will struggle to find
safety, not really thinking he would dare to castle kingside.} 10. Ba4 b5 11.
Bb3 e6 12. Nbd2 Bd6 13. Ne5 Bxe5 14. dxe5 Ne4 15. Nxe4 fxe4 16. Qg4 O-O 17. Qg3
Na5 18. Bg5 Qe8 19. Bf6 {This is a monster bishop. Combined with the pawn on
h6 black will always have trouble with his back rank, and crucially the bishop
covers the d8 square, stopping black from doubling on the d file and playing
for the d4 break.} c5 20. c3 Nxb3 21. axb3 Rf7 22. O-O Bb7 23. Rfd1 c4 24. b4
Qd7 25. Qg4 {A crucial and absolutely correct move. The queen bears down on e6,
forcing black to maintain a defence, whilst also starting to suggest tactics
involving e4, and smashing open the d file for me rooks.} Rc8 26. Rd2 Ra8 27.
Rad1 Qc6 28. f3 exf3 29. gxf3 d4 {What a blunder! Black had intended 30. Qf3,
but after my next move he realises he has no time for this as he will be mated.
Remember what i said about attacking e6?} 30. Rxd4 Bc8 31. Rd8+ Rf8 {The comput
er now tells me this is mate in 7 , if i can see the following variation.} 32.
Bg7 (32. Rxf8+ Kxf8 33. Be7+ Kg8 34. Qf4 Bb7 35. Qf6 Qxf3 36. Qg7#) 32... Re8
33. R1d6 {Still this is enough to win.} 1-0
[Event "Leyland Congress"]
[Site "Leyland"]
[Date "2011.08.29"]
[Round "6"]
[White "Collins, R."]
[Black "Parsons, M."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A35"]
[WhiteElo "1978"]
[BlackElo "2042"]
[Annotator "Parsons,Matthew"]
[PlyCount "42"]
[EventDate "2011.08.27"]
[EventType "swiss"]
[EventRounds "6"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]
{I was exhausted going into this game. I was happy with a draw, and after the
complications that result over the following 18 moves, i was happy to offer a
draw, and happy for my opponent to accept. In actual fact he has no choice,
unless he wants to give up his queen.} 1. d4 g6 2. c4 Bg7 3. Nc3 c5 4. Nf3 cxd4
5. Nxd4 Nc6 6. Nxc6 {This is very unusual. Normal here would black to play nc2,
e4 and adopt a marcozy bind.} bxc6 7. g3 Nf6 8. Bg2 O-O 9. O-O Rb8 10. Rb1 e5 {
This may not be correct, and it certainly leads to a forced set of moves.} (
10... Ng4 11. Bd2 Qb6 12. Qa4 Qd4 13. Bf4 Rb7 14. Rbd1 Qb6 {
A possible way of playing this position.}) 11. Qd6 Ba6 12. b3 Ne8 13. Qa3 Nc7
14. Rd1 Qc8 15. Qd6 Rd8 16. Bg5 Ne8 17. Qc5 f6 18. Be3 Bf8 19. Qxa7 Ra8 20. Qb6
Rb8 21. Qa7 Ra8 {Draw agreed. It is rare indeed for me to have a draw by 3rd
repetition in my games.} 1/2-1/2*/ makeChessApplet ( null, { LightSquares: "FFFFFF", DarkSquares: "FF9900", Background: "FFFFFF" } );
</script><br />
My thanks go to Matthew for taking the time to provide this report and annotated games to us. I hope that other players will find his thoughts enlightening and entertaining.<br />
<br />
The Calderdale League season begins next Monday the 19th of September with all four of the club’s teams in action as both leagues 1 and 2 kick off. A full list of the season’s fixture can be found on the new <a href="http://www.calderdalechess.netii.net/"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">Calderdale League website</span></strong></a> and all fixtures pertinent to Hebden Bridge teams can be found by visiting the <a href="http://www.hebdenbridgechessclub.com/p/2010-11-season-fixtures.html"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">“Calderdale League Fixtures 2011-12”</span></strong></a> page on this site.<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script> Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-53128751766461907712011-09-14T14:45:00.000+01:002011-09-16T13:40:07.659+01:00Lightning victory for Parsons<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYoRyBeKv-Xp_tbWJeN0tBPfN0_g34Xpb-POGX4Oo73-Fz672lRbP9Vm1wm5erXkrlWw-3aXapgsnFp2nj9rbTkHnMyIEWRmPkQ1ddb8MdVLYIwQ0WNwiaMyxPzdAK8FKDrBjSFAmqP4g/s1600/Bolt_from_the_blue_Small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYoRyBeKv-Xp_tbWJeN0tBPfN0_g34Xpb-POGX4Oo73-Fz672lRbP9Vm1wm5erXkrlWw-3aXapgsnFp2nj9rbTkHnMyIEWRmPkQ1ddb8MdVLYIwQ0WNwiaMyxPzdAK8FKDrBjSFAmqP4g/s200/Bolt_from_the_blue_Small.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
The new Calderdale Evening Chess League is just around the corner (it starts next Monday) and, in the time honoured tradition, Hebden Bridge Chess Club held its annual Club Lightning Competition to give club members the opportunity to limber up in a light-hearted yet competitive way.<br />
<br />
In addition to this contest several members of the club joined other Calderdale players at the Huddersfield Rapidplay on Sunday the 11th of September.<br />
<br />
Today’s post reports on the outcome of both competitions and we begin with John Kerrane’s report for the Hebden Bridge Times.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwOiwFJc8kagQyqXyLdvb4nh1dG4W-htu4ebl3Qr-BEuxQz9KY04s4D8OSPpdl97qVjkI6QG-MeKldr04jdZPumcVePjx3AU7SgJEZsLft7dyYpUNFu2FNyICrO6hY25ZwjWTwcr1qVH8/s1600/John+Kerrane.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwOiwFJc8kagQyqXyLdvb4nh1dG4W-htu4ebl3Qr-BEuxQz9KY04s4D8OSPpdl97qVjkI6QG-MeKldr04jdZPumcVePjx3AU7SgJEZsLft7dyYpUNFu2FNyICrO6hY25ZwjWTwcr1qVH8/s200/John+Kerrane.JPG" width="186" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Report by John Kerrane</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<em><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><strong>A</strong></span>s the new Calderdale Chess League season approaches, Hebden Bridge Chess Club held their regular warm-up, the annual Lightning Chess Trophy competition, on Monday at the Trades Club, Holme Street.</em><br />
<br />
<em>With the current lightning champion, Dave Wedge, retiring from active play for the club, the competition was wide open, and several of the stronger players were in contention from the outset. The early leader was Matthew Wedge-Roberts, but he was overhauled by Matthew Parsons, who finished the evening with 5/6, while Wedge-Roberts, with 4½/6, came second.</em><br />
<br />
<em>This result confirmed Matthew Parsons’s fine form for the beginning of the new season, after he finished second in the Huddersfield Rapidplay Congress the previous weekend in a very strong field. He managed to beat the strongest player in the competition, Peter Shaw, in the first round and was, in fact, the only player not to lose a game.</em><br />
<br />
<em>Next week, the club’s players, after limbering up, must get down to some serious business when the league matches start in earnest, with all four of the club’s teams in action on the first night.</em><br />
<br />
So, Hebden Bridge Chess Club has a new Lightning Champion in the form of Matthew Parsons. He was a worthy winner. The final ranking table of all entrants is published below. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4KSszi05PO9v3HjaVQhYfage30mC8l3UM47ZRup-YYyhpkFFBXeqtZU_pIgRFT4-540FEaUoYITV-33PvCjW6TaP-BEM8PNsyAE7_PnJHGQLb9vTPMatHpP0NTewgOGZvV8tV1fLwFo/s1600/2011+Club+Lightning+Tournament.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" rba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq4KSszi05PO9v3HjaVQhYfage30mC8l3UM47ZRup-YYyhpkFFBXeqtZU_pIgRFT4-540FEaUoYITV-33PvCjW6TaP-BEM8PNsyAE7_PnJHGQLb9vTPMatHpP0NTewgOGZvV8tV1fLwFo/s400/2011+Club+Lightning+Tournament.JPG" width="450" /></a></div>
I know that some contestants were very interested in the software I used to generate the pairings and enter the results. It’s a piece of free software called <a href="http://www.jbfsoftware.com/"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">Sevilla</span></strong></a> and I found it very easy to use. It probably saved us 30 minutes of time working out the pairings in between rounds so I’d definitely recommend it to anyone who wants to run a competition at club level.<br />
<br />
The format of lightning chess often leads to some quite comical circumstances that you simply wouldn’t see in any other form of the game. In particular the rules dictate that there is no need to announce check and that any king left enprise can be captured to end the game. Likewise, any illegal move that isn’t picked up on before the next move is due to be made has to stand. When you only have 10 second to make each move these idiosyncratic rules come into play more often than you might imagine. I won two of my games on Monday night by capturing my opponent’s king and I've witnessed a game of Lightning chess that ended with one player having two bishops operating on the same colour squares! Neither player had the slightest idea when the error had occured.<br />
<br />
A particularly amusing episode took place on Monday in the final round as two of the club’s less experienced players battled it out for the final point of the round. Tim Wilton-Davis was playing White and was up an exchange and several pawns and appeared to be cruising to a win when Tim Whelan, playing Black, gave check with his one remaining piece, a knight. When the buzzer went 10 seconds later Wilton-Davis advanced a pawn and, immediately realising his blunder, actually got up from the board in disgust to storm off. Meanwhile, Whelan, totally absorbed in proceedings, didn’t seem to notice Wilton-Davis' distress and didn’t notice that his opponent's king was enprise! When the buzzer sounded again he also advanced a pawn at which point Wilton-Davis returned to the board with a smirk to move his king out of check and he went on to win the game. Whelan meanwhile remained completely oblivious of his oversight!<br />
<br />
As a parting shot for this post I'd like to publish Matthew Parson's excellent win against Peter Shaw from the Huddersfield Rapidplay. This was a notable scalp for Matthew and he went on to be undefeated for the rest of the day tying for second behind Shaw who managed to win all but one of his remaining games to win with 4.5/6. The game below is published using a new game viewer (yet another!) by <a href="http://pgn4web.casaschi.net/board-generator.html#game_preview"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">Casaschi</span></strong></a>. I'm hoping to use this viewer more often in future as hopefully I will be able to display all the games in a single league fixture through a single viewer. It's only draw back is that it isn't so good with annotations and commentary (there is a limit to the number of characters one can have in the PGN file) and so for single games with commentary I hope to use another viewer that is best for this purpose. As always I'd value feedback on the viewer below.<br />
<br />
<iframe allowtransparency="allowtransparency" frameborder="0" height="771" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" scrolling="no" src="http://pgn4web-board.casaschi.net/?am=g&d=3000&ss=40&ps=d&pf=d&lcs=____&dcs=_Uz$&bbcs=$$$$&hm=s&hcs=LHa1&bd=s&cbcs=W_iH&ctcs=$$$$&hd=j&md=j&tm=0&fhcs=____&fhs=100p&fmcs=____&fccs=v71$&hmcs=_Uz$&fms=100p&fcs=m&cd=i&bcs=t&fp=0&hl=f&fh=771&fw=489&pe=552$zlax9RvlpGYW7ZuE0xoqyKBTqquaMteZwrS7F9pNln5Hh0oFKSHyUZz58AHjQzyWQxf81wy$j6$bnjQzJ_aQsL7LEG8uOLpM74Bet6TtxX$jQzvHKj2D4tXZu_9KLY4Z$9pNmheQZkD3Dtb9pNgpZmf78yvEG84xTxIyXmBU74SOrcHjQxLL7Sx3Zfv3jM$hojb00bgijn05YgKzp0$lRfbANd$vo8zcpvD32jo6JfT19kpPHm6AP2vfQmS71GWz5j0$kuryIurvMvfJeaD5pRk0z$wPx7sXU0B$vqp75pU0H$vpB4ClC7cD32kpU6ukpU0J$wRx75Rk0xvfPNdQpo0C$gVGi7sGTP56$v8E3dZU14$gSMAyGgj7b1dZo4bfw$75Rp$FI7w2$fckE3jFPN3n02I5fcij7P16sTwQG37T16pInlsFQx34$w8zsSx3d$yKygSp7fd06lygrBk24$fXNdPg22$xUU3m8rwfXn0" width="700"></iframe><br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-91147461506540796542011-09-10T05:40:00.001+01:002011-09-10T05:43:18.395+01:00"Lost on time" <table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnp14TVczuGpUnV4Fztip4QChQ2QNNj4OCVy4g87yI5PpEFnixZoxZ4_Jwzyyj8DZUNkLGdyTzBYxXRDMTmy_iS7CxZRxSpEIYDUliIbgD0VVYDC91pDjzlS7ol_5RRbrz16UWyUOk58I/s1600/Joys+of+Chess.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnp14TVczuGpUnV4Fztip4QChQ2QNNj4OCVy4g87yI5PpEFnixZoxZ4_Jwzyyj8DZUNkLGdyTzBYxXRDMTmy_iS7CxZRxSpEIYDUliIbgD0VVYDC91pDjzlS7ol_5RRbrz16UWyUOk58I/s320/Joys+of+Chess.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ok, so the cover looks like it was designed<br />
by a simpleton, but don't let that put you off.<br />
This book is superb!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
They are the words chess players hate seeing at the end of a scoresheet. Yes, today’s post is all about time forfeits. It’s also a first opportunity for me to offer readers a bit of a book review for a title I purchased recently called <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Joys-Chess-Heroes-Battles-Brilliancies/dp/9056913557/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1315594977&sr=1-1"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">“The Joys of Chess”</span></strong></a> by Christian Hesse. I purchased it last month and it was the first chess book I had bought in quite some time. My attraction to it probably reflects my changing needs as a chess player, or, to be more precise, a chess publisher. That’s because this book is not an opening treatise or a self-help manual. It is pure entertainment and there is a bucket load of material here for a chess blogger.<br />
<br />
To be blunt, I can’t recommend this book heartily enough. Rarely has the title of a book so aptly reflected its content. This work is a gem that has been some years in the making. Hesse has been gathering material throughout his 30-year career as a chess player (he is a Professor of Mathematics by trade). The format of the book makes it very easy to dip in and out of and so you don’t need to spend hours at a time pouring over it with a board. In my household we call this type of publication a “good toilet book” because you can easily consume a chapter during the course of a call of nature! The chapters are mostly fairly short and there are enough diagrams in it to allow you to follow the course of any play without having to use a computer or a board. The subjects are many (there are over 50 chapters in here) and varied cover such diverse topics as “Chess and Psychology”, “Quantum Logic in Chess”, “Retreats of Genius”, “Brilliant Bad Moves” and “Provocation”. I already know that I’m going to be sharing and expanding on some of the contents of this book here on the blog for a long time to come. Fans of Tim Krabbe’s <a href="http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess/chess.html"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">“Chess Curiosities”</span></strong></a> will love it.<br />
<br />
Amongst the chapters is a section called “Time and Time Forfeits” and it is from here that I would like reach for some entertaining examples for today’s post. I’ve written about <a href="http://www.hebdenbridgechessclub.com/2011/08/use-fullness-of-time.html"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">time management</span></strong></a> and <a href="http://www.hebdenbridgechessclub.com/2010/10/unreasonable-haste-is-direct-road-to.html"><span style="color: cyan;"><strong>time trouble</strong></span></a> on these pages before and the drama of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_control"><span style="color: cyan;"><strong>"zeitnot"</strong></span></a> can be most compelling for spectators watching a game. For the participants however it is exceedingly stressful and yet, some players across every level of competitive chess get into habitual time trouble.<br />
<br />
On occasions the likely outcome of a game can be completely turned on it’s head due to one player blundering in time trouble or even running out of time. I’ve only forfeited on time in competitive play once or twice and I can well remember the anguish of feeling like I had wasted my efforts on a game that I had “thrown away”. Let’s face it, most time forfeits are conceded when the game situation is still unclear and often complicated. Losing in such a way with the potential of the game unfulfilled can leave a deep psychological wound.<br />
<br />
For example, Hesse mentions Nigel Short’s traumatic loss in the <a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1070673"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">first game</span></strong></a> of his World Championship match with Garry Kasparov in London in 1993. I had not long started playing chess at the time of this match and remember it vividly. Short had a winning position at the board but over stepped the time limit and forfeited the game. He never really recovered from that loss and went on to lose the match by some margin. As a small diversion however I'd like to recommend the following You Tube clip to readers which is very funny indeed and cleverly made...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/-FmwxrCQutE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Right, back to the task at hand. Hesse references two further examples of time forfeiture that I was not aware of.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6YJElsG50ou9lhHH6LFtUg6MdQX_0N3M1HTXGCehmm5VK2-iu-lMwJSFS1zDTqUOSsfSclb12jvhudsSpeERC6lRMDDMjT3NKhBOI9Im9Ax2O8mBcE949xvwW-nfxm6vfYvO7nu7NH_g/s1600/Spassky+vs.+Hort.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6YJElsG50ou9lhHH6LFtUg6MdQX_0N3M1HTXGCehmm5VK2-iu-lMwJSFS1zDTqUOSsfSclb12jvhudsSpeERC6lRMDDMjT3NKhBOI9Im9Ax2O8mBcE949xvwW-nfxm6vfYvO7nu7NH_g/s200/Spassky+vs.+Hort.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Position after 35.Bc5. <br />
Spassky vs. Hort, Game 15<br />
Candidates quarterfinal, Reykjavik, 1977</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The position on the left was reached in the penultimate game of a Candidates quarterfinal match. With the match score level the Czech superstar Vlastimil Hort had succeeded in giving himself a wonderful chance of qualification after gaining a winning advantage with Black in this position. An eyewitness to the encounter, Australian Grandmaster Ian Rogers, picks up the story.<br />
<br />
<em>“Hort had 4 minutes left in which to reach move 40, and his hand was over the queen about to play the winning move 35…Qg4. Just one of several variations is 36.Rf2 (36.g3 Qh3 is just as bad) Rd1+ 37.Rf1 Rxc1 38.Rxc1 Qd1+ 39.Kf2 Bc5 and White must resign. But Hort’s brain refused to let his hand play the move and the numerous spectators witnessed the horrific drama as Hort’s clock ticked down to zero and he lost on time.”</em><br />
<br />
This is a bizarre case that seems to be analogous to a golfer getting <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yips"><span style="color: cyan;"><strong>the yips</strong></span></a> and being unable to execute his putting stroke. Hort was later moved to say in an interview “It was the blackest day of my life”. Truly it scarred him deeply for he was unable to win the last game of the match with the White pieces and lost the match never again to qualify for the Candidates cycle.<br />
<br />
Hesse then recounts another extraordinary rabbit-in-the-headlights case of time forfeiture.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1KpQM4HfXjb76-GP1AClm-79XmVlP382BJE4wYoc9aTnvlQsIYVJpUYCxmmQKkOwdeOhcoftxexlROhxpRKUmgJ7g6C0pF9zhdjwUsG6jNDxitshYU3gKPF6tqCogRycDP8uAa67YkA/s1600/Larsen+vs.+Gheorghiu.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjV1KpQM4HfXjb76-GP1AClm-79XmVlP382BJE4wYoc9aTnvlQsIYVJpUYCxmmQKkOwdeOhcoftxexlROhxpRKUmgJ7g6C0pF9zhdjwUsG6jNDxitshYU3gKPF6tqCogRycDP8uAa67YkA/s200/Larsen+vs.+Gheorghiu.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Position after 39.Kh3<br />
Larsen vs Gheorghiu, Olympiad<br />
Siegen, 1970</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This case (on the right) occurred in another high profile and high stakes environment, the Olympiad, but this time there was some history between the two players that seems to have effected the Romanian’s psyche. He had a terrible personal score against Larsen and admitted that he found playing the irrepressible Dane to be extremely wearing. Never-the-less, in the position above he had managed to secure a winning advantage and needed now only to play 39…Nf3 (threatening 40…Ng5 mate) and Black will be able to convert his material advantage after, for example, 40.Kg2 Ng5+ 41.Kf1 Qxc4+ 42.Qe2 Qxd5. Instead of doing this however, the history books recorded another point in Larsen’s favour. In their book about the Siegen Olympiad, David Levy and Raymond Keene described what happened.<br />
<br />
<em>“Eye-witnesses of this remarkable encounter report that Gheorghiu stretched out his arm to play the decisive move 39…Nf3, but just at that moment the said arm was seized by a convulsive shake to such an extent that the Romanian grandmaster was not able to move the piece to the target square. As he tried to summon up the willpower to overcome this unfortunate case of paralysis he over-stepped the time-limit.”</em><br />
<br />
The Larsen hoodoo had triumphed once again.<br />
<br />
At least in both of these two cases the victims were aware of their imminent plight despite their physical incapability to doing anything to mitigate against it. In this last case from my own files the victim remained blissfully unaware of what lay in store for him.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHKut_nsw_Yl6S_qezQfQ3FWqJQgqlX0j_Enu5fMbqvNBfu8mu5OF1N1jacmVcLxJKLxQO-EvZQ_AoIpHIQbU7h_tcwmybU8oUhuiow2u6GG0nGhHHZF9xHl06w8cN0wT3ShnrjvgmFE/s1600/McCormick+vs.+Shapland.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" nba="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWHKut_nsw_Yl6S_qezQfQ3FWqJQgqlX0j_Enu5fMbqvNBfu8mu5OF1N1jacmVcLxJKLxQO-EvZQ_AoIpHIQbU7h_tcwmybU8oUhuiow2u6GG0nGhHHZF9xHl06w8cN0wT3ShnrjvgmFE/s200/McCormick+vs.+Shapland.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Position after 61...Kc5</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
This is the final position from my third round encounter at the recent <a href="http://www.hebdenbridgechessclub.com/2011/08/intermezzos-british-chess-championship.html"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">British Championships</span></strong></a>. It had been a tough battle and I had had my opponent on the ropes for much of the game. Having missed some chances to convert my pressure into a win, White now had the better of an endgame that was however, most likely, still drawn. Both of us were down to our last 2 minutes to complete the game and I was expecting my opponent to offer me a draw or try and play for a win. As I sat and waited, along with a gathering crowd, it became apparent to me that my adversary was not aware of the time crisis he was facing. He sat looking at the board as his clock ticked. He didn’t look up, he just thought... and thought... and ran out of time!<br />
<br />
When I informed my hapless foe that he had forfeited the game he stared at me with glassy, vacant eyes and then, as realisation dawned on him, he shook his head miserably and said "I didn't realise. The game is drawn. It's a draw." But unfortunately it wasn't, he had lost! <br />
<br />
I would only like to add by way of a salutory note that my opponent had arrived 20 minutes late for the start of the game. I leave it to readers to draw the moral from this tale of woe. <script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script> Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-45266570653177076522011-09-07T10:59:00.001+01:002011-09-07T10:59:57.501+01:00Who is "T.M.W.D.W.M.T"?<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’ve been light heartedly toying with the idea of referring to club members only through the medium of amusing pseudonyms during the course of the forth coming season. I probably won’t do it but it for a few minutes I enjoyed brain storming a few ideas. One idea came very quickly to mind and that was a 'handle' for one of our club's newest members, Pete Leonard. Pete joined us last year and quickly made a name for himself by scoring 6/7 for the ‘C’ team during the latter half of last season and ending it with a new Yorkshire rating of 158. Quite a debut!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Over the summer months I’ve had the chance to play a few games against Pete and chat to him about his ‘first’ chess career back in the 1970’s and 80’s. After an analysis evening at the club he mentioned that he’d once played in a simultaneous event against one of my chess heroes and member of the true all time greats, Mikhail Tal. When my jaw dropped open in amazement Pete proceeded to dumbfound me even further by telling me that he secured a draw against the former World Champion with the Black pieces and using Alekhine’s Defence! Now I was really impressed and asked him if he would send me the moves for publication here on the blog. Today I am delighted to be able to present Pete’s draw with Mikhail Tal.</span><br />
<br />
<object data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" height="500" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="100%"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" />
<param name="flashvars" value='orientation=H&tabmode=false&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=FFF9900&background=C2C2C2&pgndata=[Event "Luton Simultaneous Event"] [Site "Luton"] [Date "1973.07.16"] [White "Tal, M."] [Black "Leonard, P."] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B02"] [Annotator "Pete Leonard"] 1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. Nc3 {It’s a curious thing; I’ve played Alekhine’s Defence often over the years and the only time I’d ever seen this move was against Tal and in my only other simul, against Harry Golombek. To judge by Fritz 12, they knew something that we ordinary mortals didn’t!} Nxc3 4. dxc3 { Golombek played 4. bxc3; Fritz prefers this. It seems to me that White must be planning to win in the middle game as he’s messed up his likely queen side pawn majority for the endgame.} d6 {Fritz prefers any of Nc6, g6 or e6, though d6 is by far the most frequent continuation in its Openings Book. I was probably following what I’d normally do, after 3. d4 or 3. c4 Nb6 4. d4. We’ve left my "book" already!} 5. Nf3 Nc6 6. Bb5 Bd7 7. Qe2 Nxe5 {Fritz prefers 7. .. . a6 8. Bd3 and only then Nxe5. Playing against someone with Tal’s reputation, the more wood I can chop the better I like it! This "strategy" influences quite a lot of my moves.} 8. Nxe5 dxe5 9. Qxe5 a6 10. Bc4 {He was surprisingly unadventurous; perhaps you are, when you’re playing 32 unknowns. Fritz prefers 10.0-0 [11.Bf4 e6 and then 12.0-0 ]} Bc6 11. O-O Qd6 { I like the way that Fritz keeps agreeing with my choices :D} 12. Qe2 { Fritz didn’t appear to consider this.} Qg6 { "Will he see it?" Fritz prefers 12...Qf6 13.Rd1 e6 14.Bd5 Bxd5 15.Rxd5 Bd6.} 13. f3 e6 {Fritz is starting to rate the position as better for Black; wow!} 14. Bf4 Bd6 {Fritz prefers 14. ... Bc5%2B 15. Kh1 Bd6. About now, it also starts angling for O-O-O; I ask you, would you castle opposite sides against someone like Tal?} 15. Be5 {Fritz prefers 15.Bxd6 cxd6 16.Rad1 Rd8 17.Bd5 Bxd5 18.Rxd5. } O-O {Fritz really wants 15...0-0-0 16.Bxd6 Rxd6 17.Rad1 Rhd8.} 16. Bd3 Qh5 { Fritz prefers 16. ... Qg5.} 17. Rfe1 Bxe5 { More woodchopping! Fritz doesn’t rate this, preferring 17. ... Rad8.} 18. Qxe5 Qxe5 19. Rxe5 Rad8 {Fritz reckons White is better again.} 20. Kf2 Rd5 { I’m still following my KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid - Ed.) strategy; after all, my king side majority is mobile. Fritz doesn’t rate this either, preferring 20. ..Rd6 21.Rae1 (or 21.Rd1 f6 22.Rh5 g6 23.Rh4 Rfd8) 21...Rfd8.} 21. Rae1 { Fritz prefers 21.Rxd5 Bxd5 22.Rd1 g6 (Not 22...Bxa2? 23.b3 when Black loses the bishop.) 23.c4 Bc6 24.Be4 Bxe4 25.fxe4 when White has the open file and will get his rook to the seventh.} Rfd8 22. Rxd5 Rxd5 { Fritz prefers 22. ... Bxd5} 23. Rd1 {Fritz prefers 23. h4 or g4. I’m not clear why White should be advancing on the side where Black has the majority.} Kf8 24. Re1 {Very unambitious. Fritz suggests 24.Kg3 Bb5 25.b3 and reckons Black will soon play ... Bxd3. No way am I undoubling his pawns!} Ke7 25. Re3 { Fritz reckons any of 25. f4, g4, Kg3 or a3 is better than this move.} g6 26. Ke2 {And here Fritz prefers any of 26. Re1, Kg3, Re2 or f4.} Kd6 27. Re4 { And again, any of 27. g4, a3, h3 or Be4; perhaps he was getting tired!} Re5 { Still woodchopping! Better is 27...Rh5 28.Rd4%2B Bd5 29.c4 c5 30.Rf4 e5 31.Rf6%2B Be6 which leaves Black comfortably ahead.} 28. Rxe5 Kxe5 29. Ke3 f5 {I want to advance my king side pawns, but Fritz wants 29. ... b5 or a5, presumably with a view to making a way in for my king, later.} 30. g3 Kd6 31. f4 {This doesn’t achieve much, as he can’t stop me from advancing. Fritz suggests any of 31.a3, b4, h3 or h4.} e5 32. Bc4 Bd5 33. Be2 {He’s just helped my bishop to advance; Fritz prefers 33.fxe5%2B Kxe5 34.Bxd5 Kxd5 35.Kf4 though Black’s now more than a pawn ahead; even I might have managed to win!} h6 {My turn to be too timid. Either of the following was better: 33...exf4%2B 34.gxf4 Bxa2 35.b3 a5 36.Kd2 a4 37.bxa4 Bd5 and Black’s king will have a way in on the queen side. Or 33... Bxa2 34.b3 a5 35.Kd2 a4 36.Bc4 a3 37.fxe5%2B Kxe5 also looks good for Black.} 34. h4 $6 {He should have played 34.a3} Ke6 $6 { And I could still have played 34. ... Bxa2} 35. a3 Kf6 36. Bd3 g5 37. hxg5%2B hxg5 38. c4 Bc6 39. c3 {Fritz prefers 39.fxg5%2B Kxg5 40.b4 Kg4 41.b5 Be8 42.Kf2 though this seems to leave his g pawn vulnerable. I should have thought 39. fxe5%2B Kxe5 40.b4 f4%2B 41.gxf4%2B gxf4%2B 42.Ke2 Be4 43.Kd2 made more sense, though Black is still more than a pawn ahead.} exf4%2B 40. gxf4 g4 41. Kf2 Be4 42. Be2 { Now, I’ve made all the "right" moves and am still more than a pawn ahead, but can I breakthrough?} Ke6 {Fritz suggests 42...c5 43.Bd1 Ke6 44.Kg3 b6 45.b4 Bd3 46.Bb3 Kd6 47.Kg2 cxb4 48.cxb4 Bb1 49.Bd1 a5 50.bxa5 I don’t understand. Why would he do this? 50...bxa5 51.Kg3 Kc5 Has he let Black’s king in, or is it simply heading for draw? Now he’s got a passed pawn too, albeit not supported.} 43. b4 Kd6 44. Bf1 Kc6 {Fritz suggests 44...c5 45.Be2 Bc2 46.Bf1 b6 47.Bg2 Bd3 48.Bd5 b5 49.Bb7 cxb4 50.axb4 Kc7 51.Bxa6 Bxc4 52.Kg3 Kd6 53.Kh4 Ke6 54.Bc8%2B Kf6 55.Kg3 Bd3 56.Kf2 Ke7 57.Kg3 Kd6 58.Bb7 Bc4 59.Bc8 Be6 60.Bb7 Bd5 61.Bc8 Be4 62.Kf2 Kd5 63.Bb7%2B Kc4 and surely Black is winning as 64.Bxe4 fxe4 65.f5 Kd5 66.f6 Ke6 67.f7 Kxf7 is won for Black. Well, I didn’t see it all.} 45. Be2 {And Mikhail Tal offered me a draw, which I accepted! Well, how do you say "No" to a grandmaster? Of his 42 games, Tal won 39 and drew just 3, so I wasn’t exactly disappointed!} 1/2-1/2'/>
</object><br />
<div>
</div>
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As Pete himself points out the game was not particularly in keeping with the great man’s usual modus operandi. In fact it’s pretty dull and all those who attended the analysis evening that Pete was asked to host at the beginning of August to replay this historic game were probably a little surprised to spend most of their time analysing a technical endgame rather than a labyrinthine, tactical, atom bomb. Never mind. I did at least manage to dig out some further details of the simultaneous display itself with help of the chess historian par excellence, Edward Winter from </span><a href="http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/"><span style="color: cyan; font-family: inherit;"><strong>Chess Notes</strong></span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I sent Mr Winter an e-mail and asked if there was any good way to find out about the details of the simultaneous display which, at that point, Pete thought had been played in 1977. Mr Winter kindly and politely responded that he couldn’t really help because if he did then he’d open the flood gates for similar requests that he simply didn’t have the time to deal with. But he did say that he’d had a cursory glance through some reference material and wondered whether I had provided him with the right date because the only simultaneous display he could find that had been played by Mikhail Tal in Luton was given in 1973.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Of course Mr Winter’s brief research turned out to be completely accurate and Pete later confirmed that on closer inspection of his handwriting it turned out his game had indeed been played in 1973. I was therefore pleased to be able to tell him that both Tal and Svetozar Gligoric participated in that simultaneous event at Stockwood High School in Luton on the 16th of July, 1973. Tal’s score that day was +39 -0 =3!</span><br />
<br />
Now I truly am impressed because achieving one of only three draws out of 42 games played that day is a fantastic effort. In fact, ever since I found out about Pete's back story I have been jokingly referring to him as "The Man Who Drew With Mikhail Tal" or, palendromically, as "T.M.W.D.W.M.T" for short. Maybe we'll use that acronym to strike fear into the hearts of our enemies next season for if we can deploy "T.M.W.D.W.M.T" in the lower reaches of our 'A' team then how good must the rest of the side be?<br />
<div>
</div>
Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-73552913401460154582011-09-05T05:21:00.003+01:002011-09-06T15:02:16.089+01:00Chess Improvement Carnival: September Edition<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuLgU48u-gR9uvvSyYNx3nNAx2Uqk-i3RIUqgO2q53suyTlmDR5Y9o1jOa81IjOafrveX-t1QKcHAd4ULsK_k0GgULh39Z52-4aeLXYGnUHi-1SKDqg7PINb-Ukl8UORvGvnL23EQiqyI/s1600/HarvestDisplay.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuLgU48u-gR9uvvSyYNx3nNAx2Uqk-i3RIUqgO2q53suyTlmDR5Y9o1jOa81IjOafrveX-t1QKcHAd4ULsK_k0GgULh39Z52-4aeLXYGnUHi-1SKDqg7PINb-Ukl8UORvGvnL23EQiqyI/s400/HarvestDisplay.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This attractive pile of fruit and vegitables appears to have nothing <br />
whatsoever to do with chess.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Welcome everyone to the September edition of the Chess Improvement Carnival! Hebden Bridge Chess Club are delighted to have been offered the opportunity to host this months feast of chess delicacies. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">For this month's theme (as we approach the time of year here in the UK) I have chosen the <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvest_festival"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">"Harvest Festival"</span></a> </span></b>and, in the best traditions of this event, chess bloggers from around the world have brought forth the very best of their produce to share with the community.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">There has been a bumper crop of material submitted this month so I've tried to divide it into sub-catagories for easier consumption. So without further ado, lets cast our eye over the pick of the bunch.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Training and Development</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">On the <a href="http://pathtochessmastery.blogspot.com/2011/08/game-analysis-for-improvement-in-play.html"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">"Path to Chess Mastery"</span></b></a> blog our host explains his methodology for analysing his own games and how this is helping him to improve his play.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Over at the <a href="http://empiricalrabbit.blogspot.com/2011/09/time-to-move-up-gear.html"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">"Empirical Rabbit"</span></b></a> blog Bright Knight provides readers with the latest news on his tactical development programme and considers his future plans.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Back at the beginning of August I took part in the British Chess Championships for only the second time in my 18 year career as a player. It was a lot of fun, a fantastic development opportunity and also very hard work! I feel I learned something about the level of intensity required to be successful in tournament play. I posted a range of material about my preparations, lessons learned and (I'm afraid!) the games themselves. Anyone who is interested in this narrative can find them in amongst the <a href="http://www.hebdenbridgechessclub.com/2011_08_01_archive.html"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">August archive</span></b></a> of this blog.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Reviews</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">The ever interesting and thought provoking <a href="http://chessforallages.blogspot.com/2011/08/spraggett-on-smirnov.html"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">Mark Weeks</span></b></a> digs deeper into the contents of a YouTube video he linked to recently, distilling some of its lessons as he goes.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Seasoned chess blogger, <a href="http://rlpchessblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/book-review-studying-chess-made-easy-by.html"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">Robert Pearson</span></b></a> reviews Andrew Soltis’s book “Studying Chess Made Easy” and concludes that it’s well worth recommending. Prompted by reader feedback Robert then expands further on his review in this <a href="http://rlpchessblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/little-more-on-soltiss-studying-chess.html"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">second post</span></b></a>.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Robert also points out to us an interesting article and illustrative game on Grand Master Nigel Davies’s <a href="http://chessimprover.com/?p=1230"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">“The Chess Improver”</span></b></a> blog in which GM Davies gives an insightful view on “unfashionable” chess openings. This one is a must for anyone who plays Philidor’s Defence.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;">Anyone looking for a decent chess engine for Playstation 3? If so then </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"><a href="http://blog.chess.com/GersFan1982/fritz-chess-for-playsation-3-review"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">GersFan1982</span></b></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px;"> seems to think that the new Fritz 3 package may be the answer to your prayers.</span></span></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><b>Games and Problems</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Our thanks to “Chess Improvement Carnival” originator Blue Devil Knight who furnished me with a wonderful sweep of his favourite posts from the blogs on the <a href="http://www.chess.com/"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">Chess.com</span></b></a> website.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">First up, here is <a href="http://blog.chess.com/ih8sens/space-and-the-marching-king"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">a classic masterpiece by Nigel Short</span></b></a> (posted and commented on by ih8sens) which demonstrates the power of the king even in the middle game. </span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">If you thought that game was interesting then you need to <a href="http://blog.chess.com/CharlyAZ/when-the-king-goes-to-war"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">check out this one</span></b></a> as Fide Master CharlyAZ continues the<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_walk"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">“Steel King”</span></b></a> </span></span>theme with a crazy game in the Poisoned Pawn Variation of the Sicilian Defence. CharlyAZ goes on to give several more examples of this phenomena including the Short vs. Timman game given above. An entertaining read! (On a similar theme, one of my <b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;"><a href="http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1123199"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">favorite games by Alexei Shirov</span></a> </span></b>involves White launching an attack on the enemy king whilst his own monarch is perched precariously on d3!)</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">If it’s tests and puzzles you’re after then <a href="http://blog.chess.com/CharlyAZ/a-positional-combination-when-kramnik-outplayed-kasparov"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">CharlyAZ provides another classic game</span></b></a> for our education and enjoyment. This time readers are invited to participate and try to predict the moves played by Vladimir Kramnik against Garry Kasparov. It’s a challenging example of a “positional” sacrifice theme to test yourself with.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">There is another nice tactical problem to solve in <a href="http://blog.chess.com/mis3u/blunder-of-the-day--the-puzzle"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">this post by mis3u</span></b></a> where you'll have the chance to improve on the play of a Georgian Grandmaster. Double rook endgames are notoriously difficult to handle and this post shows that even GMs can mess up sometimes.</span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://blog.chess.com/ACEChess/its-always-nice-when"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">IM Daniel Rensch</span></b></a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"> houses his own blog on the Chess.com site and in this post he reviews his performance at a recent tournament. There are three interesting games to look at too.</span></li>
</ul>
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"></span></b> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0px;">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Jonny at <a href="http://jonny-smartblog.blogspot.com/2011/07/does-chess-boost-iq.html"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: cyan;">“Smartblog”</span></b></a> considers how playing chess can help boost your IQ and considers the intellectual benefits that players can derive from the game</span></li>
</ul>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"></span> <br />
<div style="font-family: "Times New Roman";">
</div>
<br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
That's all for this month. See you all in a month's time on another host site from October the 4th!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 59.25pt;">
<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: orange; font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></b></div>
General InterestIntermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-14167487813214744702011-08-19T08:14:00.000+01:002011-10-01T08:25:14.073+01:00A battle of wills<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGyDIduy-U-gzrXJnCRUQyLdZQ__BsEiRoWHF9-Le7qaFYVVa82SORnbvyGZYbZyj_BvJSz6O7RhbwBV1CN4u60ymIWnqJxRInY5uRJcVMHHIfQ0GZxKyK0yksGyE8WnDJOeDvWJqt7Is/s1600/Kasparov+and+Karpov.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" qaa="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGyDIduy-U-gzrXJnCRUQyLdZQ__BsEiRoWHF9-Le7qaFYVVa82SORnbvyGZYbZyj_BvJSz6O7RhbwBV1CN4u60ymIWnqJxRInY5uRJcVMHHIfQ0GZxKyK0yksGyE8WnDJOeDvWJqt7Is/s320/Kasparov+and+Karpov.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kasparov never had a problem with expressing his feelings <br />
at the board</td></tr>
</tbody></table><em><span style="color: orange;"><strong>“He has an extreme capacity for work, extreme determination to win and extreme perfectionism.” </strong></span></em><em><span style="color: orange;"><strong>Magnus Carlson on Garry Kasparov</strong></span></em><br />
<br />
I’ve been reflecting further on my recent experience at the British Championships and in particular thinking about the attributes required to be successful as a chess player. By ‘successful’ I don’t just mean winning the odd game in the league but winning tournaments and league titles on a regular basis. <br />
<br />
In Sheffield I experienced first hand the levels of determination and fighting spirit that were required to carry me as far as the top board of my section in the final round. I had to play some of the best chess of my life to do it. I also needed to capitalise on the odd bit of good fortune and some bad mistakes from opponents at crucial moments. But, I’d say more than anything else, I found it essential to consciously collect together my reserves of will power and determination before every game in a way that I wouldn’t normally do before a league match. This was the first occasion on which I had asked myself to play two games a day for 5 days and I found that maintaining the necessary level of intensity was the most challenging and exhausting aspect of the whole experience. It made me realise what it must take for the professionals to compete successfully at the highest levels.<br />
<br />
Last week I was interested to hear the thoughts of Michaels Adams who won the Championship after a play off with Nigel Short. He was pretty open about saying that had didn’t think he’d had a particularly good tournament.<br />
<br />
<em>“…the whole tournament was just really hard work actually. I mean, nothing went smoothly really… I thought Nigel was playing much better actually in general. It seemed to me Nigel was winning games quite smoothly a lot of the time.”</em><br />
<br />
I’ve edited this quote from an interview Adams gave to <a href="http://thefeb.com/"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">“The Full English Breakfast” podcast</span></strong></a> (well worth subscribing to by the way) shortly after his victory. Adams clearly felt like he’d had to work very hard for his victory and also mentioned that he’d had to save a few desperate situations, particularly against his closest rivals, Short, David Howell and Gawain Jones. Despite this he still emerged the winner and that was in no small part due to his resilience and strength of character. Adams may have thought Short had played a better tournament but it wasn’t enough to take the title off him.<br />
<br />
Of course Garry Kasparov was the arch competitor and made his will and determination physically manifest during play. Having seen video footage of Kasparov in action it is fascinating to see how expressive and energised he was at the board. It’s as if he simply couldn’t restrain his strength of character from seeping out. I’m pretty sure that will to win gave him an extra 10% against even the most talented opponents and may even have seen him through the tightest situations against Karpov, who was himself an iron-willed competitor.<br />
<br />
So, maybe there is a lesson for me in all this. I need to try and find a way of bringing the intensity I found at the British Championships to my play in the coming league season. If I can succeed in doing this consistently then I think I can be confident that I will play to the best of my abilities and that my results will improve further in 2011-12. Now I just need the discipline to apply what I’ve learned game after game. That’s always the hard part!<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script> Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-46928195356590956192011-08-15T09:12:00.000+01:002011-08-15T09:12:27.527+01:00Heroes of Swashbuckling #1: Brause<strong><span style="color: orange;">Brause = German (noun). To fizz or pop in an effervescent way, like soda.</span></strong><br />
<br />
For this post I’d like to welcome back (after a slightly longer break than originally anticipated!) one of our guest columnists, The Swashbuckler. In his first post he set out his manifesto by sharing with us his <a href="http://hebdenbridgechessclub.blogspot.com/2011/04/how-to-swash-your-buckle.html"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">“</span><span style="color: cyan;">Rules of Swashbuckling</span></strong></a>”. In this second post he starts his very own “Swashbuckler’s Hall of Fame”.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1p8UwStX6pnRr5naiVxyzvgA7RJOiDTdk8I4ETKUn3XMq11aat83EMK4ULdiigUlnQdhHt0V5hPF8kh1YIWlNC5-IhcQpU1Ow6WyCggGPdsErlZu-AgT-pEB3cOt1bNCVTgO6TbhM6c/s1600/Swashbuckler.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiN1p8UwStX6pnRr5naiVxyzvgA7RJOiDTdk8I4ETKUn3XMq11aat83EMK4ULdiigUlnQdhHt0V5hPF8kh1YIWlNC5-IhcQpU1Ow6WyCggGPdsErlZu-AgT-pEB3cOt1bNCVTgO6TbhM6c/s1600/Swashbuckler.jpg" t$="true" /></a></div>“<span style="color: orange; font-size: large;"><strong>H</strong></span>ello readers. It’s good to be back to continue a series that I hope will become a monthly instalment in future. Today I would like to introduce you to the first of my swashbuckling heroes, Brause. Ok, so none of you have heard of him, if indeed I can call it a him! Readers will have gathered from the quote at the beginning of this post that the name is in fact, a nom de guerre – in this case the name given to a very particular chess engine.<br />
<br />
Perhaps I should explain. Years and years ago (we’re talking mid to late ‘90’s here) I was playing chess on the Internet Chess Club when I happened to accept a challenge by a player called “Brause”. We agreed on a game of blitz and, playing with the Black pieces, I was most perturbed when the opening moves went 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3. “Oh dear”, I thought, “this is going to be a dull Four Knights Game. Perhaps I should have ventured the Latvian Gambit.” I paused for a moment’s thought as I tried to figure out how I could enliven proceedings in the next few moves and then played 3…Nf6. To my very great surprise the response was 4.Nxe5!?<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3sYD4kQPTXUfk34NJfqAWgQWGab3zmeq3mazICuDGoqYj2M8sCpgq_ePNzEeshbtWBVqQ2FInL6fD2rtNa9RKf5Kajjy-nMzlR72R1jmX4wbXmuhTSTnmK3-kR9bZO6oEacavZgDYXFs/s1600/Halloween+Gambit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3sYD4kQPTXUfk34NJfqAWgQWGab3zmeq3mazICuDGoqYj2M8sCpgq_ePNzEeshbtWBVqQ2FInL6fD2rtNa9RKf5Kajjy-nMzlR72R1jmX4wbXmuhTSTnmK3-kR9bZO6oEacavZgDYXFs/s320/Halloween+Gambit.jpg" t$="true" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Halloween Gambit after 4.Nxe5!?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>What on earth was this? I paused again for a few precious seconds and then remembered that I’d seen this played before. It was a known gambit but I couldn’t remember what it was called. All I could remember was that it was supposed to be highly dubious for White.<br />
<br />
“Ok,” I thought, “let’s just play natural moves and see what happens”. So I played 4…Nxe5 5.d4 Nc6 6.d5 Nb8 and thought; “This just can’t be enough initiative for the pawn”. <br />
<br />
But it turned out I was wrong for Brause absolutely crushed me inside 20 moves! I couldn’t believe it. Ok, his rating was much higher than mine but he’d just played one of the most “swashbuckely” openings I’d ever seen and destroyed me. Wow!<br />
<br />
A few days later I bumped into Brause online again. Again we played. Again the same line appeared. Again I lost a violent miniature. Now I was intrigued. Who was this Brause and how did he get away with playing this line? I researched the opening variation and found out that it was called the ”Muller-Schultz Gambit”. Every piece of writing I could find on it condemned it as tripe. Sure White could develop some initiative for his knight but not enough to offer real compensation. The line didn’t even seem to be held in high regard by the types of player who were willing to venture things like the Cochrane Gambit against Petroff’s Defence or the Traxler Variation of the Two Knights Defence. In the end I stopped looking at it. It just didn’t seem viable. Eventually I forgot about the Muller-Schultz Gambit and I forgot about Brause.<br />
<br />
But then, this time only a couple of years ago, I stumbled upon an article by <a href="http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/tour/breeze.htm"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">Tim Krabbé</span></strong></a> in which he described having had a similar experience on the ICC. He had faced a player who had taken him to the cleaners with the Muller-Schultz. Krabbé, however, had not taken it lying down. He’d done proper research (not like my half hearted effort) with databases and he stumbled on a gold mine of swashbuckling brilliance. Many of the games (over 300!) he tracked down were from online blitz games and lots of them had been played by, you guessed it, Brause.<br />
<br />
But Krabbé went further. His interest piqued, he resolved to track down Brause and he succeeded. In his database he noticed something that I had not. Brause was an engine. Armed with that knowledge he tried his luck with the internet search engines and he got lucky. Arriving at a <a href="http://www.jakob.at/steffen/halloween/"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">website</span></strong></a> he discovered that Brause was the fevered brain-child of one Steffen Jakob. This German is the chess equivalent of one of those guys who “pimps” their car. He’d taken an existing engine called “Crafty” and tweaked it. One of his tweaks was to adjust it’s repertoire so that it favoured lines like the Muller-Schultz. Over the course of two years Brause played the opening many times and, in between blitz sessions, Jakob built up a formidable understanding of an opening that he renamed the Halloween Gambit. In an e-mail to Krabbé, Jakob explained:<br />
<br />
<em>“Many players are shocked, the way they would be frightened by a Halloween mask, when they are mentally prepared for a boring Four Knight’s, they are faced with Nxe5.”</em><br />
<br />
Visitors to <a href="http://www.jakob.at/steffen/halloween/"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">Jakob’s website</span></strong></a> can chare the wonder of this crazy line because he has published his variation tree as well as a PGN <a href="http://www.jakob.at/steffen/halloween/database.html"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">database of Brause’s games</span></strong></a>. Jakob is clearly a generous man and I suppose that he is the real hero behind this story. The aspect of it that I find most interesting is that, through skilful and focused programming, Jakob was able to create an engine that played with the swagger and braggadocio of a swashbuckler on steroids! I’ve started to play the Halloween Gambit myself in blitz games – I published one such in my first post for this website. One day I might even try it over the board.<br />
<br />
Personally, I think the opening should be renamed again in honour of the labours of Steffan Jakob and his swashbuckling chess engine. I think it should be called “The Brause Gambit”.<br />
<br />
Here's one of my favorite games from the treasury in the Brause database.<br />
<br />
<div><object type="application/x-shockwave-flash" data="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" width="100%" height="650"><param name="movie" value="http://chessflash.com/releases/latest/ChessFlash.swf" /><param name="flashvars" value='orientation=V&tabmode=true&light=f4f4fF&dark=0072b9&bordertext=494949&headerforeground=ffffff&mtforeground=000000&mtvariations=FF0000&mtmainline=000000&mtbackground=ffffff&dark=FF9900&background=333333&initialmove=7&pgndata=[Event "Blitz Game"] [Site "Internet Chess Club"] [Date "1998"] [White "Brause"] [Black "HPROL"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C47"] [Annotator "Intermezzo"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5 Nxe5 5. d4 Nc6 $6 {Personally, I don’t think this is the most testing move because, as we’ll see in a moment, Black will lose several more tempi and each one helps Brause to build compensation. The Halloween Gambit is a classic debate about the relative values of White’s extra time to develop and Black’s extra knight. Probably the most testing variation (because it concede’s fewer tempi) is...} (5... Ng6 6. e5 { White would have preferred to advance his d-pawn first.} Ng8 {and we’ve reached a critical position in the theory of this extraordinary gambit. Black has only had to take one knight home and the other may prove useful on g6. Compared to the line played in the game White has slightly less initiative. From here, White will normally continue with 6.Bc4 and Black can start to think about re-grouping and trying to untangle himself.}) 6. d5 Ne5 (6... Nb8 {leads to a imilar situation to the game but without White having been able to play f4 (another extra tempo!)} 7. e5 Ng8 8. d6 {and White will have ideas based around playing Nb5 and Be3 looking to exploit the weak dark squares in the Black position. Steffan Jakob affectionately call this line the "Back to the Roots" variation - no explaination is needed!}) 7. f4 { Now the White pawn-roller is starting to look really menacing.} Ng6 8. e5 Ng8 9. d6 cxd6 10. exd6 {Here we see a critical theme in this line. When White manages to establish a pawn on d6 like this Black can find it very difficult to develop properly and often has to operate in extremely cramped circumstances. Essentially the White pawn operates as the first man over the barracades holding the position whilst the White reinforcements come up to support him.} Qf6 {White was threatening to win his piece back by simply playing 11.Qe2%2B and there is no way for Black to block the check without giving back the material. After this move 11.Qe2%2B will be met by ...Qe6, so Brause has to keep building the pressure on his opponents position.} 11. Nb5 Kd8 12. Be3 {The simple idea here is to prevent Black from freeing driving off the knight with 12...a6.} Qe6 {HPROL tries to create counter threats but this move does nothing to compete for the centre and Brause immediately moves to capitalise on this.} 13. Qd4 $1 {Brause strengthens its grip on the dark squares and prepares to introduce its white squared bishop into the game on c4 from which square it will gain another tempo on the hapless Black queen.} Nf6 { Is there anything better? Fritz seems to like the extraordinary 13...Qf6!? but after the ice cold 14.0-0-0! I think that a transposition of the actual game is likely to occur.} 14. Bc4 Qe4 {I’m guessing that HPROL was feeling quite smug about this move as it pretty much forces off the queens. 15.Qc5 will be met by ...Ng4 and Black is starting to create counter threats.} 15. O-O-O $3 { A very cool decision from the combustable engine! How many human players would have the courge to allow the queens to come off when operating a knight down? The point though is that the Black queen is actually a good defender and is causing some irritation. In contrast White’s attack will still be very powerful indeed and Brause has now almost completed it’s development. HPROL still has both rooks and both bishops at home.} Qxd4 16. Rxd4 a6 $2 {On the one hand it’s easy to understand how HPROL could make a mistake like this in a blitz game when considering only the tactical threats, Black wants to dive the knight off the b5 square. On the otherhand this is a strategic error in that it weakens b6 and allows Brause to tighten its grip on the position. Incidentally, given the extra period of reflection allowed in an over the board clash, Black avoided this trap in a game that continued...} (16... Ne8 { Trying to secure the c7 square before playing a6. But this approach is also flawed.} 17. Bxf7 a6 18. Re4 $1 {This is the point.} Bxd6 { Finally ridding himself of the pesky d-pawn, but it’s already too late.} 19. Bb6%2B Bc7 20. Rhe1 {Bringing up the last of the artilary.} d5 21. Rxe8%2B Rxe8 22. Bxc7%2B Kd7 23. Bxe8# { was a very beautiful conclusion to Schlenker vs. Klostermann, Germany, 1993}) 17. Re4 $3 {Brause’s positional advantage is so overwhelming that it can afford to sacrifice even more material to give check mate.} Be7 { Desperate stuff now from HPROL. No better was...} (17... Nxe4 { allowing White to demonstrate his beautiful idea with...} 18. Bb6%2B Ke8 19. Nc7%2B Kd8 20. Bxf7 {and Black can’t prevent mate next move.}) 18. Bxf7 $1 {Another ch illing move from Brause who ignore’s the material on offer in order to threaten checkmate with 19.Bb6.} Nd5 {The only move.} 19. Bxd5 Ke8 { Now it’s all hopeless for Black. No better was...} (19... axb5 20. dxe7%2B Ke8 21. f5 {and Black is about to go a knight down himself after 21...Nxe7 22.Bg5.} ) 20. Nc7%2B Kf8 21. Bc5 $1 {a beautiful end to a beautiful game. It’s mate in two no matter what Black plays. Bravo Brause! Bravo Heir Jakob!} 1-0'/></object></div><br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-68785065306170185812011-08-12T01:00:00.000+01:002011-10-01T08:25:14.082+01:00British Chess Championship 2011: Final Diary Entry<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi7bEq7mDjlwbWJiH89EbnhkBn3qsV96NYRhdqnjeM_43uIo0HfrZfD3A9jr_6FvcDq5CWSoLOOBQIFWk14oJAZhTE6Ylf-XoMdKG_zGFP8WBBOxSTCv8-h3FH5yb5d5sEiUQp-EHjg_Q/s1600/British+Championship+Round+11.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhi7bEq7mDjlwbWJiH89EbnhkBn3qsV96NYRhdqnjeM_43uIo0HfrZfD3A9jr_6FvcDq5CWSoLOOBQIFWk14oJAZhTE6Ylf-XoMdKG_zGFP8WBBOxSTCv8-h3FH5yb5d5sEiUQp-EHjg_Q/s640/British+Championship+Round+11.JPG" t$="true" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A busy scene during the final round's play at the British Chess Championship</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The boards and clocks have been packed away and the players have returned home weary and battle scarred after (for those in the Open anyway) two weeks of exhausting action at Sheffield Pond’s Forge. Sadly, I’m one of a small number of players who will have left feeling slightly traumatised by falling at the final hurdle. I couldn’t write a diary post last Friday because the emotions were all still a bit too fresh. Readers will gather from this that, having worked so hard to get to 3½/4, I lost in my final round game in the Under 160 Championship. All I can say is that a simple straightforward loss would have been easy to take than what actually happened. <br />
<br />
On Friday morning I found myself pitted against Roger Greatorex on the top board with an opportunity to take the title. I gathered that my opponent was a seasoned weekend congress veteran and I imagined that he would play solidly with the White pieces. This turned out to be the case as he deployed the Torre Attack against me. Normally this is the kind of opening that I’d just set myself up for in a solid fashion and accept a draw if my opponent decided to behave peaceably. I couldn’t afford to do that here so I tried to organise my play in a slightly more dynamic fashion by allowing him to double my f-pawns and then later exchanging my d-pawn for his c-pawn in order to open the centre and try and create an environment where I would get some winning chances.<br />
<br />
You will see from the game below that I succeeded in my efforts and in fact my opponent seemed to get a little frustrated and struck out on the king’s side in a fashion that left him weakened there in the longer term. I was able to repel his sortie and then took the initiative eventually winning a pawn and then getting to a pleasant endgame. I got into a little time trouble again but handled it sensibly to reach time control at move 40 and felt confident enough in my position to decline a draw offer from my opponent even though it appeared it would be difficult to break through in a blocked position.<br />
<br />
I found a way to achieve the break through and forced him to give up his remaining rook when I queened on f1. That should have been it. Game over. I had a rook against his two connected passed pawns and enough pawns of my own to be able to sacrifice this piece if I needed to and still win. But that’s when it all went wrong. I was struggling with the clock again and after nearly 4 hours play the exertions of the week finally caught up with me. I couldn’t find the right plan and my opponent managed to get both his d and e pawns to the seventh rank. The game was up. To make matters worse, as we were pretty much the last game to finish, I had a host of kibitzers demonstrating for me just how I could have won the end game in straight forward fashion.<br />
<br />
That was that then. Off I sloped, feeling too sick with myself to eat anything before the final game of the second competition I had entered that afternoon. The last thing I felt like was playing another long game of chess but in the end I decided that I had to get back on the horse and try and win my last game so that I could leave Sheffield with the taste of victory in my mouth. I at least succeeded in this regard as I managed to win another game with my Classical Spanish. This game is also featured in the viewer below.<br />
<br />
<br />
<script id="oChessViewer" type="text/javascript">
/*
[Event "British Chess Championships"]
[Site "Sheffield"]
[Date "2011.07.04"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Greatorex, R."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D03"]
[Annotator "Intermezzo"]
[PlyCount "125"]
[TimeControl "240+2"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 d5 3. Bg5 h6 4. Bxf6 exf6 5. e3 Bg4 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O c6 8. c4
dxc4 9. Bxc4 O-O 10. Nbd2 Nd7 11. Rc1 Nb6 12. Bd3 Rc8 13. Nb3 Qe7 14. Bb1 Bh5
15. Bf5 Rcd8 16. g4 Bg6 17. Bxg6 fxg6 18. Nh4 Kh7 19. Ng2 Nd5 20. a3 f5 21. Nd2
Nf6 22. gxf5 gxf5 23. Qf3 Ng4 24. Nf4 g5 25. h3 gxf4 26. hxg4 fxg4 27. Qe4+
Qxe4 28. Nxe4 f3 29. Nxd6 Rxd6 30. Kh2 h5 31. Kg3 Rg8 (31... h4+ $2 32. Kxh4
Rh6+ 33. Kg3 $1) 32. Rh1 Kg6 33. b4 b6 34. Kh4 Rf8 35. Rc3 Rf5 36. Rhc1 Rff6
37. R3c2 Kf5 38. Rc4 Rh6 39. R4c3 Ke4 40. Rg1 Rdg6 41. Rg3 Kd5 42. Rg1 Re6 43.
Rgc1 Rh8 44. R3c2 Rg8 45. Rg1 Ke4 46. Rc3 g3 47. Rxg3 Rxg3 48. Kxg3 Rg6+ 49.
Kh3 Rg2 50. Rxc6 Rxf2 51. Re6+ Kd3 52. d5 Rd2 53. Kg3 Ke2 54. Rf6 h4+ 55. Kxh4
f2 56. e4 f1=Q 57. Rxf1 Kxf1 58. Kg4 Rf2 (58... Ke2 59. Kf5 a5 60. bxa5 bxa5
61. Ke6 Ke3 62. e5 Ke4 63. d6 a4 64. Kf6 Rd3 65. Ke6 Rxa3 66. d7 Rd3 67. Ke7
Kxe5 68. d8=Q Rxd8 69. Kxd8) 59. d6 Ke2 60. e5 Ke3 61. d7 Rd2 62. e6 Ke4 63. e7
1-0
[Event "Week 2 Afternoon Open"]
[Site "Sheffield"]
[Date "2011.08.05"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Brace, P."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C64"]
[Annotator "Intermezzo"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[TimeControl "240+2"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. O-O Qf6 5. d3 h6 6. Nbd2 Nge7 7. Nb3 Bb6 8.
Be3 Nd4 9. Nbxd4 Bxd4 10. Nxd4 exd4 11. Bc1 O-O 12. f4 a6 13. Bc4 b5 14. Bb3 d6
15. Qf3 Be6 16. Bd2 c5 17. c4 Rfc8 18. Qg3 Qg6 19. Qf3 Bg4 20. Qf2 Kh8 21. h3
Bd7 22. f5 Qf6 23. Bc2 Nc6 24. b3 Ne5 25. Qg3 Rab8 26. cxb5 axb5 27. Rf4 c4 28.
bxc4 bxc4 29. dxc4 Rb2 30. Bb3 Rxd2 31. Qe1 Rd3 32. Rc1 Qg5 33. Rf1 Rxh3 {
Black is threatening 34...d3 followed by 35...Rh3+ 36.Kxh1+ Qh5+ 37.Kg1 Ng4
and it's all over.} 0-1
*/ makeChessApplet ( null, { LightSquares: "FFFFFF", DarkSquares: "FF9900", Background: "C2C2C2" } );
</script><br />
<br />
<br />
I was at least in good company in my disappointment. Nigel Short tied with Michael Adams in the Championship itself after 11 rounds had failed to separate them by more than half a point at any stage and they had drawn their individual encounter. This meant they had to play off for the title on Saturday morning with two rapidplay games which Adams won by 1½-½. Short must have felt even more disconsolate than I after that. There must also have been other players who tasted bitter defeat in the final rounds of their competitions. For those of you who are looking for some slightly better quality games to digest than those of mine above then I can heartily recommend the bite sized chunks you'll find on Andrew Martin's <a href="http://www.britishchess2011.com/videos.htm"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">"Game of the Day"</span></strong></a> pages on the Championship website. These are expertly annotated and very instructive.<br />
<br />
In the end I have to look for some positive things to take out of my week at the British Championships. I think generally I played well. I scrambled to save games when I got into trouble and I won a couple of very nice efforts as well. In the U160 I calculate my performance to have been rated at approximately 174 which is a good result. Nevertheless, the game I’ve been thinking about the most since last Friday is that rook vs. passed pawns ending. I think I’ll be thinking about it for a while longer yet…<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script> Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-1137781661996199452011-08-04T23:35:00.000+01:002011-10-01T08:25:14.069+01:00Just a minute dearFor a married man like me, justifying the use of a whole week of annual leave to go and play chess is a big deal. Fortunately this year I have 5 days more annual leave to take than my wife, the British Chess Championship is taking place in Sheffield where my folks live and I’ve not played any weekend chess this year apart from the Brighouse Quickplay. I’ve built up a solid justification for playing in the British Championships this week then but it does make me think how much harder it must be for a chess player with a family to take part in this contest. <br />
<br />
Usually, the Championships take place at a coastal destination in order to give the families of chess players something to do whilst they are feeding their addiction at the board. This year I think it unlikely that many competitors will have found it easy to persuade their nearest and dearest that a week (or even two!) in Sheffield was an enticing vacation prospect. Still I can’t complain as there is no way I would have wanted to spend the money on a week’s accommodation so being able to stay with friends and family is what’s enabled me to take part this time around.<br />
<br />
Of course it’s always challenging for any amateur chess enthusiast to manoeuvre their chess habit into their marriage or family time. Chess is after all a fairly solitary, time-consuming and antisocial pass time. I’m sure many marital and family relationships have been put under strain because the royal game. <a href="http://hebdenbridgechessclub.blogspot.com/2010/09/chess-widows-husband.html"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">I’ve written before</span></strong></a> about the short lived tribulations of the artist and chess addict Marcel Duchamp’s marriage. A short while ago I discovered another amusing anecdote concerning the novelist Vladimir Nabokov who was famously a chess nut (in fact his book, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Defense"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">The Defence</span></strong></a> is about a chess master). Whilst grazing around Tim Krabbé’s endlessly engrossing <a href="http://timkr.home.xs4all.nl/chess/chess.html"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">Chess Curiosities website</span></strong></a> I found this quote:<br />
<br />
<em>"More than a few heads turned when, in the supermarket parking lot, Vèra set her bagged groceries down in the snow while she shuffled for her keys, then loaded the trunk. In the car her husband sat immobile, oblivious. A similar routine was observed during a move, when Nabakov made his way into the new home carrying a chess set and a small lamp. Vèra followed with two bulky suitcases."</em><br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcnqQlba9ke_GDm0TMrkbvjSNAR9aLxZsnvRHd0BvfrzgAlw1R3cLYjOv4m7wS3iy3GqBaq8rZMvQiZ44jYek10I2naOUv880oocrGTgL06-VfDDKnBZdBVpkFsKp2dECy8oGok8zxxPo/s1600/the+nabokovs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcnqQlba9ke_GDm0TMrkbvjSNAR9aLxZsnvRHd0BvfrzgAlw1R3cLYjOv4m7wS3iy3GqBaq8rZMvQiZ44jYek10I2naOUv880oocrGTgL06-VfDDKnBZdBVpkFsKp2dECy8oGok8zxxPo/s1600/the+nabokovs.jpg" t$="true" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vera and Vladimir at play!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>This is from Stacy Schiff’s biography of Vèra Nabakov which is titled <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Vera-Mrs-Vladimir-Nabokov-Portrait-Marriage/dp/0330346733"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">Vèra (Mrs Vladimir Nabokov) - Portrait of a marriage</span></strong></a><strong><span style="color: cyan;">.</span></strong> Krabbé also posts the picture I’ve put into this post of the happy couple studying together. What fortitude this lady showed in the face of chess widowhood! Perhaps Duchamp also harboured dreams of enticing his wife into the study of rook and pawn endings.<br />
<br />
Of course I can see all too clearly that some of Nabokov’s traits could become bad habits for me as well. He may have had a pocket chess set in the car’s glove compartment to fiddle with whilst poor Vèra struggled with the shopping but I have an iPhone that goes everywhere with me and on it there is an app for accessing all my correspondence games on Chess.com and also the Chessbase Online app so that I can keep track of the latest opening theory. All of that is in addition to the RSS news feeds that go directly to my phone from a host of chess websites and blogs! I must admit that sometimes, when my wife is watching “rubbish” on the telly, I do reach for the iPhone. So far I haven't yet caught myself studying a chess game on my phone whilst my wife grapples with heavy objects but it must be said that I couldn't rule it out from ever happening in the future...<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-37214247258070243432011-08-03T01:13:00.043+01:002011-10-01T08:25:14.077+01:00Intermezzo's British Chess Championship Diary<strong><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">Thursday the 4th of August </span></strong><br />
<br />
I think Alex Ferguson would have called yesterday at the British Chess Championships "squeeky bum time" as the penultimate rounds took place in all competitions. <br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWifnpIuBmxh6WRnIb9uwilva-WBOrJ1wabV6ewWGnY364gn33t9MoqRbYBkkQ9ExbDQOqoZkCCuVItYzo0L76EPa4YJWPU27PCrH4yuCbBr_cUoGuMoDk-Xz6q6DiIoD4aRbpwk8PuY/s1600/Kevin+Winter.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiWifnpIuBmxh6WRnIb9uwilva-WBOrJ1wabV6ewWGnY364gn33t9MoqRbYBkkQ9ExbDQOqoZkCCuVItYzo0L76EPa4YJWPU27PCrH4yuCbBr_cUoGuMoDk-Xz6q6DiIoD4aRbpwk8PuY/s320/Kevin+Winter.JPG" t$="true" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Do not let appearances deceive you. <br />
Kevin Winter was a very resiliant opponent!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>It was all on the line in the Under 160 section in the morning where I had to win with White to give myself a shot at the title on Friday. I played against Kevin Winter who is seasoned weekend player and I knew he'd be hard to break down. That was exactly how it was as he played a closed variation of the French Tarrasch (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7). This opening has been kind to me and it was again as I played actively but solidly and managed to build a big positional advantage on the back of only a couple of small inaccuracies from Kevin. Eventually I won a pawn but once again I had used a lot of time to get into that situation and was left with only 6 minutes for my last 10 moves. Kevin sensibly went in for complications and so I was very pleased to have been able to refute his play despite my time shortage. The critical moment in the game came on move 29 when Black played Qh3, threatening my pinned knight on e6. I then found 30.Ng5 after which Qh6 runs into a pretty combination and so Kevin was forced to swap off the queens. He then fell into a little trap so that I was able to pick up an extra piece. Job done! The game is in the viewer at the end of this post.<br />
<br />
So I now face Roger Greatorex on Friday morning for my chance to win the title. He and I and one other have 3.5 points so it's still all to play for.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFU__7MNEX0e6OnF14ZjmGnTkxOnWH_HtPt7VQp_Zyo2dkYiTyMBBYGteeV3JzFVzfTLhekoHOi_FvZIOvV34GbdYhsbubN61Tu6ztvN1Zgr3VwIp94-wLBpY7Ai9YRiy6dge2aCF0ZA/s1600/Raymond+Wynarczyk.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFU__7MNEX0e6OnF14ZjmGnTkxOnWH_HtPt7VQp_Zyo2dkYiTyMBBYGteeV3JzFVzfTLhekoHOi_FvZIOvV34GbdYhsbubN61Tu6ztvN1Zgr3VwIp94-wLBpY7Ai9YRiy6dge2aCF0ZA/s320/Raymond+Wynarczyk.JPG" t$="true" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Raymond Wynarczyk. Top bloke!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Having put myself in contention in the Under 160 the last thing I needed in the afternoon was a long drawn out struggle in the Open competition where a defeat and a draw had already put me out of contention. I had drawn another very strong player in the form of Raymond Wynarczyk (178) from Tyneside. I decided not to commit myself 100% to the game but to nevertheless have a go. He played a Sicilian Defence and confused me a bit with the move order. I tried to steer the position towards a sort of Classical Schevenigan and managed to do so but with some important differences. Raymond defended my desperado attack very accurately and in the end I was losing my queen. The game is also in the viewer below.<br />
<br />
The game was over in 3 hours but it was exciting enough to merit some analysis and I didn't want to miss the chance to pick the brains of such a good player so we had an enjoyable 45 minutes or so of analysis which was really useful for me. Thanks to Raymond for being so generous with his time. After that I decided to go to the gym for an hour to let off some steam and left Pond's Forge feeling energised for action on Friday!<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">Wednesday the 3rd of August</span></strong><br />
<br />
A really tough day today and I left Pond's Forge feeling totally hollow despite having picked up a point and a half. The fact of the matter is that I stole my points today and made some bad mistakes that I was fortunate to avoid being punished for. On the plus side I've successfully negoatiated two more games with Black and my reasonable level of physical fitness was, I believe, a major factor in my success today. I managed to outlast two opponents over a total of 9 hours of play and benefited from tired mistakes at the end of epic struggles! <br />
<br />
In the morning I played Graeme McCormick of Northern Ireland. He arrived 20 minutes late for the start of the game (a fateful error as it turned out) and we got down to business in a Classical Spanish (3...Bc5). He played 4.c3 and I decided to be brave and venture the Cordel Gambit 4...f5!? Objectively it's a bit dubious but, as with so many gambits, it's hard to meet over the board and I got a great position in the middle game as he played a series of inaccurate moves. Looking at the game tonight was a bit depressing though as I overlooked a simple trick to win a pawn early on and he then missed a golden opportunity to win a piece! I applied great pressure in the middle game but, in trying to find the best moves to put him under pressure I strated to chew up clock time and in the end I had to rush my last 7 or 8 moves at a critical point in the game and missed what would have been a very beautiful conclusion to the game (though it was hard to see even with lots of time) in the form of 38...Qe6!!<br />
<br />
We ended up in an endgame where I had a nice bishop, queen and four pawns vs his temporarily passive knight, queen and four pawns. I missed yet another golden opportunity when could have played 44...Bxa2 winning a pawn (for some reason I thought he could play 45.Qe8+ but my queen is guarding that square! On we bowled into a bishop vs. knight ending and we both had just 2 minutes left at each by this point. To my utter amazement he then sat thinking for all of that time and forfeited. I couldn't believe my luck as the end game could only have been winning for White by that stage. He'd just "forgotten" about the clock. I think he needs to read my post from Monday! This game can hopefully be seen in the game viewer below (I've added it into the code so I hope it works.)<br />
<br />
After this epic encounter I found it hard to get motivated for the afternoon game. Especially as I was playing Alexander Freeland again (I played him in round one of the U160) and was already out of contention for the prizes. We both played the opening casually and he avoided the theory books this time. Again there were lots of errors. He won a pawn and I failed to spot that I cold win it back immediately with 16...Nb4. Then things got tough as I desperately sought counterplay. I was pleased with my plan to get two connected pawns in the centre of the board but he should have been winning with his queen's side passers and made a pigs ear of it. At the end after 5 long hours (surely I must now be a candidate for my own "Obduracy Award") my resiliance paid off when he made a terrible error (my last throw of the dice) with 68.Kb7?? and the game was drawn!<br />
<br />
Tomorrow's morning game is now massive as I'm one of 9 (!) players on 2.5 and there is one leader on 3. I have White and I must win...<br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: orange; font-size: large;">Tuesday the 2nd of August</span></strong><br />
<br />
Well readers, I promised you a Championship diary and by jingos you shall have one! I had hoped to post every day but after travelling to and from Sheffield from Hebden Bridge yesterday (as well as playing for 8 hours!) I just didn't have the energy last night. Tonight, and for the rest of the week, I'm staying with family and friends and so I'll have the opportunity to tell my story and give you the news.<br />
<br />
Before I dive into the action some general thoughts. The British Chess Championships is being held at Pond's Forge in Sheffield this year and there have been around 1,000 entries across the range of competitions taking place across the fortnight's competition. The venue itself is pretty good. My only minor compliant would be that it is far too hot in the sports hall. For such a big room capable of holding so many folks and a bunch of sweaty sporty types you'd have thought the air-conditioning would have been a little bit more effective. All the competitions are taking place in the same room and this lends the event a really nice atmosphere. In the afternoons when most of the competitors are in there is a real buzz in the room. <br />
<br />
Of course the main event is the Championship itself in which the main contenders are GMs Adams, Short, Howell, Jones, Pert et al. It's a strong line up. Grandmaster Andrew Martin is providing expert and excellent commentary on proceedings in the analysis room and I managed to pop in there for a while this afternoon to try and get my head around some of the action. Today was Round 8 and a real battle of the big beasts was in prospect as Nigel Short played Michael Adams and Gawain Jones played David Howell. The action was not disappointing for Short put Adams under huge pressure before finally having to concede a draw and Jones won very nicely against Howell. This leaves Short and Adams in co-lead on 6.5/8 and Jones, Nicholas Pert and Jonathan Hawkins just behind on 6. Then come Howell and Simon Ansell on 5.5 and a vast army on 5. Anyone interested in the games can <a href="http://www.livestream.com/leylandchess"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">replay Andrew Martin's commentary</span></strong></a> or <a href="http://www.britishchess2011.com/live_games.htm"><strong><span style="color: cyan;">just look at the moves</span></strong></a> on the <strong><a href="http://www.britishchess2011.com/index.htm"><span style="color: cyan;">Championship website</span></a></strong>.<br />
<br />
So what of me? I'm taking part in two competitions this week. In the mornings I'm contesting the Under 160 Championship and in the afternoon taking part in an Open competition for all comers. Lets start with my progress in the U160 which is the one I probably have the best chance of performing well in.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-U0CCg0hcT1bYa_6LJg45R09a4-UmezWwTkhi4qOOmj2Jld2IKRz8-QsxU7WtWXUNfLprpf343R-LXfeJqstJ6xQpQ1cHfwmvFl6edJrVzYWWfpGZOD2BYwlafz3XaIhT4XNv0G7oro/s1600/Mark+Szymanski.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-U0CCg0hcT1bYa_6LJg45R09a4-UmezWwTkhi4qOOmj2Jld2IKRz8-QsxU7WtWXUNfLprpf343R-LXfeJqstJ6xQpQ1cHfwmvFl6edJrVzYWWfpGZOD2BYwlafz3XaIhT4XNv0G7oro/s320/Mark+Szymanski.JPG" t$="true" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The draw with Mark Szymanski was no peace<br />
treaty between club colleagues.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>In yesterday's first round I drew the third seed, Alexander Freeland, and played pretty well to win with Black in a King's Gambit. I acceped it and found myself facing the Allgaier Gambit (where White puts his king's knight on g5). After a couple of months without competative chess I could have done without such a sharp opening to be honest but it worked out ok in the end . I didn't play the book line (which is to force White to sacrifice the knight on f7 early in the game) as I figured my opponent would be well prepared for that and instead gave back the gambit pawn and tried to develop as quickly as possible. Eventually my opponent forced off the queens and tried to defend an unfavorable ending but I managed to convert my advantage.<br />
<br />
Today's round 2 draw me against the 5th seed and my club mate from Leeds Chess Club, Mark Szymanski.<br />
Mark is a top bloke and an excellent player but I nevertheless gave myself a chance with White against him. Normally I'd have expected him to opt for the Caro-Kann against 1.e4 but today, perhaps weary of my preparation, he elected to play the Scandinavian. I built up a good advantage in the opening with some accurate play but then threw it all away on move 13 with one careless move which provided him with counterplay. We fought on in a middle game in which he always had a slight edge and my king's security was not great. Mark won two pawns in a queen and rook ending but then allowed me to swindle a draw from him just as victory seemed to be in his grasp. I was happy with a draw after a terrific see-saw game that I'll be analysing for weeks.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9O0ZW7jyIYIatz7dHWXGN5iNk5jAezFeW23tQaTXP6w9v6BSip9hMHf7G5DBOah7M-JIOZ1n9TVstTZUj9MBPUOWOLyR3IhSV2EJ68Adlr8KV38PTKIh07Y3ZS0xthaon2ea1ZziROeQ/s1600/Peter+Leggett.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9O0ZW7jyIYIatz7dHWXGN5iNk5jAezFeW23tQaTXP6w9v6BSip9hMHf7G5DBOah7M-JIOZ1n9TVstTZUj9MBPUOWOLyR3IhSV2EJ68Adlr8KV38PTKIh07Y3ZS0xthaon2ea1ZziROeQ/s320/Peter+Leggett.JPG" t$="true" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peter Leggett. A friendly fellow.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>Monday's round 1 draw of the Week 2 Afternoon Open was not kind to me as I drew the top seed with Black! Andrew Smith is a FIDE Master. Needless to say I wasn't expecting to win the game but merely put up spirited resistance for as long as possible. In this endeavour I was not helped by his chice of opening, the off-beat Centre Game - 1.e4 e5 2.d4 exd4 3.Qxd4!? Nc6 4.Qe3. It only required a slightly inaccurate move order for me to hand him a positional advantage and after that it was pretty mich a forgone conclusion although I tried to go down fighting.<br />
<br />
Round 2 was this afternoon and I had a much easier task at hand in the form of Peter Leggett. The opening of this game was bizarre. I tried to lure him into a Four Knights Opening so that I could try a wild gambit that I fancied experimenting with. However it all took a strange turn and it took me quite a while to get anything going at all. In the end the closing stages were quite aesthetic.<br />
<br />
All four of my games so far can be seen in the viewer below. I haven't had chance to add many notes yet but I hope readers will nevertheless find them interesting.<br />
<br />
<br />
<script id="oChessViewer" type="text/javascript">
/*
[Event "British Chess Championships"]
[Site "Sheffield"]
[Date "2011.08.04"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Shapland, D."]
[Black "Winter, K."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C06"]
[Annotator "Intermezzo"]
[PlyCount "?"]
[TimeControl "100+20"]
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. c3 c5 6. Bd3 Nc6 7. Ne2 Qb6 8. Nf3
cxd4 9. cxd4 f6 10. exf6 Nxf6 11. O-O Bd6 12. Bf4 {I think Black's next may be
inaccurate. Fritz's opening book gives instead 12...Bxf4 and you can see a
sample line in the variation box on the right.} Qc7 $6 (12... Bxf4 13. Nxf4
Qxb2 14. Rb1 Qa3 15. Ng5 O-O 16. Nfxe6 Bxe6 17. Nxe6 Rf7 18. Rb3) 13. g3 {
Fritz preferred 13.Bg3 which has the advantage of freeing f4 for the knight
but the bishop will still be vulnerable to a well timed Nh5 from Black.} O-O
14. Rc1 $1 {A crucial move. The pin on Black's knight becomes a real pain for
him as the game progresses. For the moment it will prevent him from mobilising
his central pawns which is always a strategic objective fo Black in this
variation. Whilst the knight is pinned Black can't play e5.} Nh5 $6 15. Ne5 (
15. Bxh7+ $2 {I thought for a long time about this sacrifice but eventually
decided it couldn't be sound. Fritz proves that assessment was correct.} Kxh7
16. Ng5+ Kg8 17. Qd3 Nf6 18. Bxd6 Qxd6) (15. Ng5 $1 {This would have been the
best way to put pressure on h7 as now if Black captures on f4 there follows...}
Nxf4 16. Bxh7+ Kh8 17. Nxf4 Bxf4 18. gxf4 g6 {
Black hasn't time to play 18...Qxf4 or Rxf4 because 19.Qh5 is killing.} 19.
Bxg6 Qxf4 20. Qh5+ Kg7) 15... Nf6 (15... Nxf4 {
This was the way for Black to refute my play.} 16. gxf4 {and now White's
pressure has fizzled out and Black has succeeded in badly damaging his
structure.}) 16. Nc3 a6 17. Na4 Bd7 18. Re1 Rae8 19. Nc5 Bc8 20. Nxa6 Qe7 21.
Nxc6 bxc6 22. Bxd6 Qxd6 23. Nc5 e5 24. dxe5 Rxe5 25. Rxe5 Qxe5 26. Qe2 Qg5 27.
f4 Qh6 28. Ne6 Re8 29. Rxc6 Qh3 30. Ng5 $3 {Considering the level of pressure
I was under I was delighted to spot this resource which is the refutation of
Black's idea. The point is that Black is forced to swap the queens off as the
only alternative (30...Qh6) leads to check mate - see the variation box on the
right.} Rxe2 (30... Qh6 31. Rxc8 $1 Rxc8 32. Qe6+ Kh8 33. Qxc8+ Ng8 34. Nf7# {
Nice!}) 31. Nxh3 Re8 32. Nf2 Be6 33. b4 $1 {
Setting a tantalising snare for Black.} d4 $4 {
He thinks he is attacking the a-pawn and winning a tempo for his d-pawn but...}
34. Rxe6 $1 {Ouch!} Rxe6 35. Bc4 Kf7 36. f5 Ke7 37. fxe6 Ne8 38. Nd3 Nd6 39.
Bb3 Ne4 40. a4 {and having reached time control with about 45 seconds to spare
the rest was easy.} Nd2 41. Ba2 Nf3+ 42. Kg2 Nd2 43. a5 Ne4 44. a6 Nc3 45. a7
Nxa2 46. a8=Q Nxb4 47. Qb7+ Kxe6 48. Qxb4 g5 49. Kf3 h5 50. Ke4 h4 51. Qb6+ Kf7
52. Ke5 1-0
[Event "Week 2 Afternoon Open"]
[Site "Sheffield"]
[Date "2011.08.04"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Shapland, D."]
[Black "Wynarczyk, R."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B40"]
[Annotator "Intermezzo"]
[PlyCount "?"]
[TimeControl "100+50+15"]
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Bd3 (5. Nc3 Bb4 6. e5 Nd5 7. Qg4
O-O 8. Bh6 g6 9. Bxf8 Qxf8 10. Qg3 Qc5 11. Nde2) 5... Bc5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. Nc3 d6
8. Be3 a6 9. a4 Nbd7 10. O-O b6 11. f4 Bb7 12. Qf3 Rc8 13. a5 b5 14. Nd2 O-O
15. g4 g6 16. h4 Nc5 17. h5 d5 18. hxg6 fxg6 19. Bxc5 Bxc5+ 20. Kg2 Bb4 21. Rh1
Rxc3 22. bxc3 Bxc3 23. e5 Bxa1 24. Rxa1 Nd7 25. Qh3 Rxf4 26. Kg3 Qg5 27. Rh1 h5
28. Nf3 Rxf3+ 29. Kxf3 hxg4+ 30. Qxg4 Nxe5+ 0-1
[Event "Week 2 Afternoon Open"]
[Site "Sheffield"]
[Date "2011.08.03"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Freeland, A."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "A08"]
[Annotator "Intermezzo"]
[PlyCount "136"]
[TimeControl "240+2"]
1. Nf3 c5 2. g3 d5 3. Bg2 Nc6 4. O-O e5 5. d3 Be7 6. Nbd2 Be6 7. e4 d4 8. Qe2
b5 9. Re1 Qd7 10. Nf1 Bg4 11. h4 h6 12. N1h2 g5 13. hxg5 hxg5 14. Nxg4 Qxg4 15.
Nxd4 Qxe2 16. Nxe2 Nh6 (16... Nb4 17. Rd1 Nxc2 18. Rb1) 17. Bd2 O-O-O 18. f3 c4
19. Rac1 Bc5+ 20. Kf1 f6 21. Nc3 Bb4 22. Red1 Nd4 23. Ne2 Bxd2 24. Rxd2 g4 25.
Nxd4 Rxd4 26. Rcd1 Rhd8 27. Ke2 f5 28. dxc4 gxf3+ 29. Bxf3 fxe4 30. Bg2 e3 31.
Rxd4 exd4 32. cxb5 Kc7 33. Rf1 Ng4 34. Rf4 Ne5 35. Re4 Nc4 36. b4 Na3 37. Re7+
Kd6 38. Rxa7 Nxc2 39. b6 Ke6 40. Be4 Rf8 41. Bf3 (41. b7 Rf2+ 42. Kd3 Rd2+ 43.
Kc4 e2 44. b8=Q) 41... Rd8 42. b7 d3+ 43. Kd1 Rf8 44. Be2 dxe2+ 45. Kxe2 Rf2+
46. Kd3 Rd2+ 47. Kc3 Rd8 48. Kxc2 e2 49. b8=Q e1=N+ 50. Kb3 Rxb8 51. Rc7 Nf3
52. a4 Kd6 53. Rc3 Nd4+ (53... Nd2+ 54. Kc2 Ne4 55. Rc4 Kd5 56. Kd3 Nf2+ 57.
Kc3 Ne4+) 54. Kc4 Ke5 55. b5 Rc8+ 56. Kd3 Rd8 57. Rc5+ Ke6 58. Kc4 Ne2 59. b6
Nxg3 60. a5 Ne4 61. Rc6+ Kd7 62. Rc7+ Kd6 63. a6 Nf6 64. Kb5 Nd5 65. Rc6+ Kd7
66. a7 Nxb6 67. Kxb6 Ra8 68. Kb7 Rxa7+ 1/2-1/2
[Event "British Chess Championships"]
[Site "Sheffield"]
[Date "2011.08.03"]
[Round "3"]
[White "McCormick, G."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C64"]
[Annotator "Intermezzo"]
[PlyCount "122"]
[TimeControl "240+2"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bc5 4. c3 (4. Nxe5 Qg5 5. Bxc6 dxc6 6. d4 Qxg2 7.
Qf3 Qxf3 8. Nxf3 Be7) 4... f5 5. d3 Nf6 6. Bg5 fxe4 7. dxe4 O-O (7... Bxf2+ 8.
Kxf2 Nxe4+ 9. Kg1 Nxg5 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Nxe5 O-O) 8. O-O Qe8 9. Nbd2 (9. Bxf6
Rxf6 10. Qd5+) 9... Qg6 10. Qe2 d6 11. h3 h6 (11... Nh5 12. Kh1 h6 13. Be3 Bxe3
14. Qxe3 Nf4) 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Qxe3 Nh5 14. Nh4 Qf6 15. Nhf3 Ne7 16. Nh2 Nf4
17. Kh1 a6 18. Bc4+ Kh8 19. Rg1 d5 20. exd5 Nf5 21. Qe4 Nd6 22. Qf3 Qg6 23. g4
b5 24. Bb3 Bb7 25. Qe3 Nc4 (25... Rae8 26. Nhf3 Bxd5 27. Rg3 (27. Bxd5 Nxd5 28.
Qe2 Nf4 29. Qe3 e4) 27... Qf7) 26. Bxc4 bxc4 27. f3 Bxd5 28. Rg3 Nd3 29. h4 Rf4
30. h5 Qc6 31. b3 e4 (31... Rd8) 32. bxc4 Bxc4 33. fxe4 Raf8 34. Qd4 Nf2+ 35.
Kg1 Nxe4 36. Rg2 Ng5 (36... Nxd2 37. Qxd2 Qc5+ 38. Kh1 Rf2 39. Rxf2 Rxf2) 37.
Qe3 Bd5 (37... Re8 38. Qg3 Bd5 39. Rf2 Qc5) 38. Re2 Nf3+ (38... Qe6 $3 39. Ndf3
Rxf3 40. Nxf3 Qxg4+ 41. Kf1 Rxf3+ 42. Ke1 Rxe3) 39. Ndxf3 Bxf3 40. Rf2 Bh1 41.
Raf1 Rxf2 42. Rxf2 Rxf2 43. Qxf2 Bd5 44. Qe3 Qe6 (44... Bxa2 {[%emt 0:00:00]})
45. Qxe6 Bxe6 46. a3 Kg8 47. Kf2 Kf7 48. Ke3 Ke7 49. Kf4 Kf6 50. Nf3 Bc4 51.
Nd4 Bd3 52. Nc6 g5+ 53. hxg6 Bxg6 54. Nb4 a5 55. Nd5+ Ke6 56. Nxc7+ Kd6 57.
Nb5+ Kc5 58. Nd4 Kc4 59. Nc6 Kb5 60. Ne5 Be8 61. Ke3 Kc5 0-1
[Event "Week 2 Afternoon Open"]
[Site "Sheffield"]
[Date "2011.10.02"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Shapland, D."]
[Black "Leggett, P."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B00"]
[Annotator "Intermezzo"]
[PlyCount "?"]
[TimeControl "100+50+15"]
1. e4 Nc6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nc3 d5 4. exd5 Nxd5 5. Bd3 e6 6. O-O b6 7. Re1 Be7 8.
b3 O-O 9. Bb2 Nf6 10. Ne2 Bd6 11. Ng3 Bxg3 12. hxg3 h6 13. Bb5 Bb7 14. Ba3 Ne7
15. d4 a6 16. Bd3 Rc8 17. Qe2 b5 18. c4 Bxf3 19. Qxf3 Qxd4 20. Bxe7 Rfe8 21.
Bxf6 gxf6 22. Rad1 f5 23. Bxf5 Qg7 24. Be4 bxc4 25. bxc4 Rb8 26. Bb7 a5 27. c5
Qg5 28. c6 Re7 29. Rd4 h5 30. Red1 Rbe8 31. Rh4 f5 32. Rxh5 Qf6 33. Qf4 Rg7 34.
Qh4 Kf7 35. Rd7+ Re7 36. Rh7 a4 {Here is the picturesque final position from
my game with Peter Leggett. A truly bizarre sight with all those rooks in a
row. White can now play a rather interesting game of billiards with the Black
king's entourage.} 37. Rxe7+ {With Rxe7 being well met by 38. Rxg7+ Kxg7 39. Qxe7+} 1-0
[Event "British Chess Championships U160"]
[Site "Sheffield"]
[Date "2011.10.02"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Shapland, D."]
[Black "Szymanski, M."]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B01"]
[Annotator "Intermezzo"]
[PlyCount "?"]
[TimeControl "100+20"]
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Bc4 Bg4 6. f3 Bf5 7. Nge2 c6 8.
Bd2 e6 9. a3 Nbd7 10. g4 Bg6 11. h4 h6 12. Nf4 Bh7 {White is well on top in
this position it seems but how to proceed. I thought I'd found a way to
undermine the Black knight on f6 with my next move.} 13. Rg1 $2 {The idea is
to play 14.g5 when the knight is forced to go back to g8 and White's momentum
is looking unstoppable. However, I had overlooked that Mark could make a
simple and effective reply to get counter play.} (13. Bxe6 {Mark told me
afterwards that he'd been worried about me sacrificing something on e6. Of
course I'd looked at it every which way but I couldn't find a way to make it
work. Fritz now tells me that this is how it's done...} fxe6 14. Ncd5 Qd8 15.
Nxe6 Qc8 16. Ndc7+ Kf7 17. Nxa8 Qxa8 18. Nxf8 Rxf8) 13... Qb6 14. Qe2 Bxc2 15.
Rc1 Bb3 16. Bxb3 Qxb3 17. Kf2 O-O-O 18. Be3 Nb6 19. Nd3 Nbd5 20. Ne5 Re8 21.
Nxf7 Rg8 22. Ne5 Nxe3 23. Qxe3 Bd6 24. Ne4 Qxb2+ 25. Kg3 Bxe5+ 26. dxe5 Qxe5+
27. Kh3 Nxe4 28. fxe4 Rgf8 29. Rgf1 Kb8 30. Rcd1 Rxf1 31. Rxf1 Rd8 32. Rf7 Qb2
33. Qg3+ Ka8 34. Qd6 $5 {Played in great time pressure and in desperation.
It's nothing but a swindle attempt.} Rb8 $2 {Amazingly Mark believed me and
now I can force a draw. He could still have won the game though had he found
the alternative move here.} (34... Qc3+ 35. Kh2 Qd2+) 35. Rf8 Qc3+ 36. Kg2 Qc2+
37. Kh3 {and we agreed on a draw here. Lucky me!} 1/2-1/2
[Event "Week 2 Afternoon Open"]
[Site "Sheffield"]
[Date "2011.10.01"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Smith, A."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C22"]
[Annotator "Intermezzo"]
[PlyCount "?"]
[TimeControl "100+50+15"]
1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qe3 Bb4+ 5. Nc3 Qf6 6. Bd2 Nge7 7. O-O-O d6
8. Nd5 Bxd2+ 9. Rxd2 Nxd5 10. exd5+ Ne7 11. Bb5+ Bd7 12. Bxd7+ Kxd7 13. Nf3
Rhe8 14. Qb3 a6 15. Re1 b5 16. c4 Reb8 17. c5 Qf4 18. g3 Qh6 19. Kd1 Qh5 20.
c6+ Nxc6 21. dxc6+ Kxc6 22. Re7 Re8 23. Rc2+ Kb6 24. Rexc7 1-0
[Event "British Chess Championships U160"]
[Site "Sheffield"]
[Date "2011.10.02"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Freeland, A."]
[Black "Shapland, D."]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C39"]
[Annotator "Intermezzo"]
[PlyCount "?"]
[TimeControl "100+20"]
1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ng5 d5 6. exd5 Nf6 7. Nc3 Bf5 8. Bb5+
Nbd7 9. O-O a6 10. Bc4 Bd6 11. d4 Nh5 12. Nge4 Qxh4 13. Nxd6+ cxd6 14. Qe1+
Qxe1 15. Rxe1+ Kd8 16. Bb3 Rg8 17. Kf2 Ndf6 18. Bd2 Kd7 19. Na4 Rae8 20. Nb6+
Kc7 21. Ba5 Ne4+ 22. Rxe4 Rxe4 23. c3 Rge8 24. Nc4+ Kb8 25. Nxd6 Re2+ 26. Kf1
$2 (26. Kg1 Ng3 27. Nxf5 Re1+ 28. Kh2 Nf1+ 29. Kg1 g3 30. Ne3 R8xe3 31. Bc7+
Kxc7 32. d6+ Kxd6 33. Rxe1 Rxe1 34. Bc4 Ne3+ 35. Bf1 Rxf1#) 26... Ng3+ 27. Kg1
Re1+ 28. Rxe1 Rxe1+ 29. Kf2 Re2+ 30. Kg1 Re1+ 31. Kf2 Rf1# 0-1
*/ makeChessApplet ( null, { LightSquares: "FFFFFF", DarkSquares: "FF9900", Background: "C2C2C2" } );
</script><br />
<br />
<br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8640496829411871448.post-15190684236902348652011-08-02T08:21:00.000+01:002011-08-02T08:21:48.212+01:00A diamond in the ash<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8sK4ao0AcjU2lbgKMP6pnfK78jCksdDF1EOdjL7vviyUDmJLCQLVd4DV5OiS0kuIpvHpEP8BZzqSgUtd-KQ29IRseBBUsc8NaAfk60dc62dIOr2p1tY4cfZZdjl5o-3Ez8yT1byNXcxQ/s1600/cyrano-de-bergerac.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8sK4ao0AcjU2lbgKMP6pnfK78jCksdDF1EOdjL7vviyUDmJLCQLVd4DV5OiS0kuIpvHpEP8BZzqSgUtd-KQ29IRseBBUsc8NaAfk60dc62dIOr2p1tY4cfZZdjl5o-3Ez8yT1byNXcxQ/s320/cyrano-de-bergerac.jpg" t$="true" width="318" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not to be confused with John Nettles who just played <br />
the part of Jim Bergerac, Gerard Depardieu played <br />
Cyrano De Bergerac in the 1990 film of the same name</td></tr>
</tbody></table><em>You strip from me the laurel and the rose!</em> <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><em>Take all! Despite you there is yet one thing</em></div><em>I hold against you all, and when, tonight,</em> <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><em>I enter Christ's fair courts, and, lowly bowed,</em></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><em>Sweep with doffed casque the heavens' threshold blue,</em></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><em>One thing is left, that, void of stain or smutch,</em></div><em>I bear away despite you...</em> <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><em>My panache. </em></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><strong>Cyrano, Act 5, Sc. 6</strong></div><br />
That quote from Edmond Rostand's classic play is a poetic introduction to today's theme. Cyrano delivers this monologue in his heart-rending final speech. Everything seems to have gone wrong for him and yet, even at the end, he defiantly maintains his dignity and makes his case for immortality. In the 1990 film of the same name the script writer frames the sentiment even more succinctly.<br />
<br />
<em>"A diamond in the ash which I take in spite of you; and that is my panache."</em><br />
<br />
Today it seems that in any given competetive setting the result matters more than than the manner in which it is acheived. "No-one remembers the runner-up" say coaches and trainers around the world. That may be true but I think we can find something even more precious in the spirit of the competitor who reaches for something more than a work-man-like victory, even if they fail to acheive it.<br />
<br />
Today's game is another delve into the treasure trove of articles written back in the mid-1990's for The Independent on Sunday by Walter Polhill. The game also seems appropriate given that it was played in the great Hastings tournament of 1895. A classic tournament played on British soil. Let us hope that the current British Championships turns up a few more diamonds for us to marvel at. Today then, Colonel Polhill laments a miscarriage of creative justice.<br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><em></em><em>"The laws of chess carry no rewards for beauty. Some of the greatest, most aesthetically pleasing ideas have earned their creators only a zero on the score table. Take this game for example, from the great Hastings event a century ago."</em><br />
<br />
<br />
<script id="oChessViewer" type="text/javascript">
/*
[Event "Hastings 1895"]
[Site "Hastings"]
[Date "1895"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lasker, Emanuel"]
[Black "Steinitz, Wilhelm"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C75"]
[Annotator "Walter Polhill"]
[PlyCount ""]
[TimeControl ""]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 d6 5. O-O Nge7 6. c3 Bd7 7. d4 Ng6 8. Re1
Be7 9. Nbd2 O-O 10. Nf1 Qe8 {Apparently just a shallow trick, with its blatant
threat of 11...Nxd4! but Steinitz would never play such a move without a deep
positional idea behind it. At this point a more recent game, Spassky-Larsen,
played in 1969, continued... (Select Bb3 from the variation box on the right to see the alternative line - Ed.)} 11. Bc2 (11. Bb3 Bg4 12. Ne3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 exd4 14.
Nf5 {but the moderns have always been rather too impatient for my tastes.})
11... Kh8 12. Ng3 Bg4 13. d5 Nb8 $1 14. h3 Bc8 $1 15. Nf5 Bd8 $3 16. g4 Ne7 $1
17. Ng3 Ng8 $3 {A magnificent concept. having lured White forwards, Black
adopts a perfect rearguard formation ready to break out with g6 and f5.} 18.
Kg2 Nd7 19. Be3 Nb6 20. b3 Bd7 21. c4 Nc8 22. Qd2 Nce7 23. c5 g6 24. Qc3 f5 $1
{Brave and consistent, though 24...h6 might have been more circumspect.} 25.
Nxe5 $1 {
Recognising that he has been strategicaly outplayed, Lasker complicates.} dxe5
26. Qxe5+ Nf6 27. Bd4 fxg4 28. hxg4 Bxg4 $2 ({With...} 28... Kg8 29. g5 Nexd5 {
Black wouldn't have bee doing too badly.}) 29. Qg5 $1 Qd7 30. Bxf6+ Kg8 31. Bd1
Bh3+ 32. Kg1 Nxd5 33. Bxd8 Nf4 34. Bf6 Qd2 35. Re2 $1 {
Calmly returning material to kill off all counterplay.} Nxe2+ 36. Bxe2 Qd7 37.
Rd1 Qc8 38. Bc4+ Be6 39. Be5 Bxc4 40. Nf5 {
41.Nh6 mate is threatened and 40...Rxf5 41.gxf5 Bf7 42.Qf6 is fatal.} 1-0
*/ makeChessApplet ( null, { LightSquares: "FFFFFF", DarkSquares: "FF9900", Background: "C2C2C2" } );
</script><br />
<br />
<strong><span style="color: orange;">I'll be publishing the first of my British Ches Championship diary entries later today so do stay tuned.</span></strong><br />
<br />
<script type="text/javascript">
var _gaq = _gaq || [];
_gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-12602108-3']);
_gaq.push(['_trackPageview']);
(function() {
var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true;
ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js';
var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s);
})();
</script><br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Intermezzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09506234400044036036noreply@blogger.com2