Pit Your Wits Against a Grandmaster

Today I bring readers news about two forth coming opportunities to test their skills against Grandmasters. These kinds of events don’t happen all that often so listen up!

First of all my friends at Leeds Chess Club are hosting a simultaneous display by British Grandmaster Daniel Gormally (currently the UK’s number 18) on Saturday the 14th of August – yes, that is this coming Saturday! At the time of posting there are still 9 places left for this event and so the organisers have decided to give players from other clubs the opportunity to take part. The event starts at 2.30pm and takes place at the North Leeds Working Men’s Club. The entry fee is £7.50.

More information can be found on the Leeds Chess Club website. If you’d like to take part please e-mail the event organiser at tony@leedschessclub.org

I will be attending this event myself so if anyone would like to take part and needs a lift from Hebden Bridge please let me know as soon as possible so that I can arrange to pick you up. Either add a comment to this post or e-mail me at hebdenbridgechessclub@gmail.com. News on how I get on against GM Gormally will appear here next week.

Now onto the big one! Fashion brand G-Star Raw are (slightly bizarrely I must confess) organising “Magnus Against The World”, a collaborative game against the Danish wunderkind and youngest ever world number 1, Magnus Carlsen (pictured above modelling for G-Star). The game will be played online on Friday the 10th of September and has none other than Garry Kasparov (Carlsen’s current trainer) acting as ambassador for the event. Three top Grandmasters (Maxime Vachier-Legrave, Hikaru Nakamura and Judit Polgar) have been selected to nominate candidate moves to the general public who will vote on which move gets played at the board.

As far as I’m aware this kind of event has never been tried before and it should offer a fascinating insight into Grandmaster play as well as the opportunity to take part in the biggest collaborative chess game ever! I encourage you all to register for the event and news updates.

Welcome!

Hello and welcome to the new Hebden Bridge Chess Club blog. This site has been designed primarily for club members but anyone and everyone is welcome to participate. As the site develops I hope that we will be able to bring you:

• Updates and information about what’s going on in the chess club
• Match reports and results from our teams taking part in the Calderdale league (and other relevant competitions) 
• Interesting games and practical advice from a varied range of sources
• News and comment relating to the wider chess world

This website will work best if members and visitors participate and feedback on the content that gets posted. I certainly don’t want to develop all of the posts myself so if you have an idea for a post that you would like to see here or write yourself, or if you spot an error in the information that you find on the site please or have a comment to make please drop me a line at hebdenbridgechessclub@gmail.com. 

I look forward to hearing your points of view.

Happy chess playing!

Heavy Weight Encounter (Round 2!)

In a week that sees the final round of the UK general election’s live, televised leadership debates and also the continuation of Viswanathan Anand’s World Chess Championship defence against Veselin Topalov in Bulgaria I am pleased to be able to bring Chessticles readers (belated) news of another clash of the titans. Yes, that’s right, Hebden Bridge ‘A’ vs. Huddersfield, round 2!

Readers may remember that earlier in the season Hebden Bridge ‘A’ managed to draw with the reigning champions away from home (and therefore playing on all boards with the black pieces). Since then Huddersfield, much to everyone’s surprise have slipped up dramatically, losing two matches. This meant that before the crucial match started Hebden Bridge only needed to achieve another tie to guarantee them title the Calderdale League title with one round to spare.

Huddersfield came calling with a strong team. Their top two boards were staffed by, in my opinion, even more proficient personnel than they had been able to call up in the first match. On boards 3 to 5 they were only marginally weaker. Despite this, I was relatively confident before the match that we would get the result we needed.

For once (and I must stress this does not happen very often) I managed to score a full point when it mattered most. Following the strategy that I have tried to remain true to all season, I restrained my baser, speculative instincts and played it safe. I even allowed the queens to come off before move 10 in order to gain a small but enduring positional edge. You can see how the game panned out below.

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My game was the first to finish on the night. 1-0 Hebden Bridge!

Next to finish was the game on board 1. It seemed that our player missed his regular Huddersfield match up who he has scored heavily against over the last few years and took a full point off in the away match. This time, against a different, but equally familiar foe, things turned out differently. Facing the Two Knights Defence our man got into a tricky situation quite early on. After the game he admitted that he had looked the line up after facing it against the same player last year but that, over the board this time around, he couldn’t remember the best way to play. Black played accurately to prevent white from getting a foot hold and then to drove home his advantage mercilessly. 1-1.

At this stage of the evening I had been finished long enough to get a good look at the remaining three games and I didn’t particularly like what I saw. On board five we were a pawn down in a knight and rook ending. On board two our team captain seemed to have a comfortable position in what looked like a Queens Gambit Exchange Variation but it seemed like the kind of position that carried great danger if he over-pressed for a victory. Finally, on board three matters were complicated as our player had sacrificed a pawn for a strong attack and had been repulsed by solid defending. Black now had a piece for two pawns.

Nail biting, stomach churning tension at the Trades Club! I couldn’t see where we would get another win from at that point in the evening and so it seemed like we would have to get three draws in order to tie the match and that looked anything but straight forward. Next to finish was our captain on board 2. Having tried to find a way of improving his position for as long as he could he sensibly decided to take a draw in position where his advantage looked only theoretical. 1.5-1.5.

Soon afterwards board 5 was finished as well with white finding a nice tactical trick to force a repetition of moves. From a pawn down this was a good result. 2-2.

Now the situation was well and truly taut. On the final board black had given up a third pawn for his piece in order to get the queens off. It seemed a sensible decision as he had a central chain of pawns that appeared very strong. However, white played extremely accurately and managed to hold the position with his extra bishop. Towards the very end of the night a draw was agreed to everyone on our team’s great relief. The final score then was 2.5-2.5. Another epic tied match, but it was enough for us to claim the league title.

Well played and “Congratulations” to all my colleagues on the Hebden Bridge ‘A’ team (including our reserves) for achieving very consistent level of performance right through the year.

Dragon Day

Could there ever be a better excuse for me to post a Sicilian Dragon game than to celebrate yesterday – St George’s day? As patron saint of England, (and also of various other nation including Georgia I believe) St George has a special place in the heart of every Englishman. However, if you mention St George and the Dragon to a chess player their mind will also turn to the well-known variation of the Sicilian Defence. The Dragon is notorious for being a double-edged and tactically complex variation which has been analysed in great depth, sometimes to the point where it was in danger of extinction. However, Dragon enthusiasts are die-hards who love their pet and fight courageously to protect it.

My own history with the opening goes right back to point when I first started to learn the rules and play of the game. I’ve always been a bit of a sucker for myths and legends and so as soon as my tutor told me that there was an opening called the Dragon I knew it would end up in my repertoire. I learned the line, played it over the board when I could and, occasionally, I would cheer from the sidelines when the opening made an appearance at the very top flight of Grand Master chess – most illustriously when Kasparov used it to great effect in his World Championship match with Anand in 1996. (I wonder if Topalov will give it a shot in his match with Anand which starts today?)

My understanding and appreciation of the Dragon stepped up to another level when I started to use it in correspondence chess on the Red Hot Pawn web site. To play this opening in correspondence requires a much deeper familiarity with the myriad variations than playing it over the board. I’ve entered several “Dragon Thematics” online and in the later stages of these competitions the level of play is extremely high, much too high for me, but I’ve learned a lot by playing in them.

This Dragon loving is all very well but yesterday was St George’s day so I can’t possibly publish a win for black. Instead, much as it pains me to do so, I will give you an interesting win for white. Playing in thematic tournaments means playing against each opponent with both colours and so even the most ardent Dragon funs must face, and try to defeat, their own beloved favourite. To begin with this feels a little bit odd but once you have grasped the opportunity to play the lines that you find most uncomfortable facing with the black pieces it becomes a great deal of fun. I hope readers will enjoy today’s excursion into the wonderful and crazy world of the Dragon.

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Memento Mori

In ancient Rome when a conquering General returned to the capital after a successful campaign he was often voted the honour of a “triumph” by the senate. This was essentially a ceremonial victory parade through the streets of the city with his army following in his wake. The General would drive in his chariot, the roads lined with jubilant citizens, to the senate house where he would be received by his peers and become the subject of various obsequies.

However, to ensure all this adoration didn’t give him too inflated an opinion of himself, behind him, in the chariot, would be one of his slaves who would murmur again and again in his ear the words “Look behind you! Remember that you are but a man!” It is this phrase that the classic epitaph “Memento mori” (Remember you must die) originates from. I also like to believe that it is the origin of the famous pantomime catch phrase “Look behind you!” but I admit that might be stretching reality a little bit too far!

Over the last few months I’ve been reminded of this lesson from antiquity on several occasions as I’ve seen and experienced life at the chess board deliver some reality checks (no pun intended!) When you are on a good run of form, whether this be at chess, or in any competitive situation, it is easy to get overconfident and start to feel like a Roman General enjoying his moment in the spotlight. Victories are easy to come by, your luck is in and you feel unstoppable. It is at this moment that the game tends to hand you a timely reminder that all good things must come to an end.

As I sat enjoying my Christmas turkey in the mid-season break I reflected on an excellent first half of the chess calendar. I had a score of +6 and I was riding high in the Calderdale league with my team, Hebden Bridge ‘A’, being unbeaten. Immediately after the festive holidays I had a little bit of a stutter but maintained my score at +6 through January. Then in February… disaster struck and I lost five in a row including some pretty painful defeats. Admittedly three of these five loses were against strong opponents who I’d normally expect to struggle against. The other two hurt like hell.

Take this first position which lost me my unbeaten record in the Calderdale league.

I had managed to get myself into a nice position here. White has played the opening phase in a fairly unambitious manner and had allowed me to generate good pressure down the c-file and a1-h8 diagonal. I was looking for a tactical means of capturing the c2 pawn. I spent quite a long time considering the merits of d5, Rh5, Ne5 and Rc8. Instead of any of these however I instead selected the idiotic Rxc3? As soon as I had pressed the clock I realised what was coming next and sure enough my opponent simply played Nb5 and won the exchange. After this I struggled on deep into the endgame and eventually lost on time but my opponent played well and capitalised on my early blunder, fully deserving his point.

The following week, I was playing in round three of the Calderdale individual championship and was right in the running on 2/2. I got a reasonably kind draw against a really solid player graded just a little below me. Out of the opening I felt I had secured a pleasant advantage with the white pieces and was starting to look for ways to capitalise...

I had just played 17.0-0-0 and my opponent now sunk into a long think. He said after he game that he had expected 17.0-0 and instinctively felt that he had good chances after I had castled long. From my point of view we had just reached the end of a crisis period in the game in which I had managed to exchange my e-pawn for black’s f-pawn in the belief that the resulting pawn structures would be to my advantage in the end game. I also felt optimistic that I could take advantage of the open e-file as well as developing a king’s side attack with moves such as Rhf1, g4 and f5. Sure, there were some weaknesses in my position and some organisation would be needed before I could push on but I was optimistic.

Then, black played 17….Bh6! and after reflecting on this for only a few minutes I realised that in fact I had some serious challenges on my hands. The move played both pins the f-pawn and prepares to attack it ferociously with either Nd5 or Nh5 next move. Having been happy that my dark squared bishop was on the long diagonal I now realised that the h6-c1 diagonal was the more important one. In the end I decided to give up the f-pawn and re-organise my pieces for an attack on the black king but it didn’t emerge and I was well beaten. It’s not always easy to find a move like 17….Bh6! as it means re-positioning a piece that already looks like it is on its optimum square. My opponent deserves great credit for finding the right idea and following it through with some strong play.

This loss dropped me out of the running and put the third seed in the competition in a fine position as he was the only other player aside from my opponent in the game above who reached 3/3 and, as he seemed in excellent form, I fully anticipated he would win and go 4/4 on his own before the final round.

Naturally, it didn’t turn out that way. In round four, playing with the black pieces again, the underdog battled grittily to keep the game tight. They reached a pawn ending and the favourite blundered when he calculated that, although he would queen second he would queen with check and be able to win his opponents new queen via a skewer. In fact the opposite was the case as he didn’t queen with check. Simple mistake to make when you are a little fatigued at the end of a long fight but nevertheless, it was something of a shock outcome.

Finally, to press home my historical observation, I should report that the reigning champions of the Calderdale league, Huddersfield, have now been usurped. Having drawn with them away in our match with them before Christmas we had expected the league title race to go right to the wire with the last game of the season scheduled for Hebden Bridge (we played that match this week - expect more in my next post). Imagine our surprise then, when we learnt that Huddersfield had lost by an odd point to the bottom team in the league in January and then again to the then third, now second placed side at the beginning of March. I’m not 100% sure of my facts here but I think Huddersfield have won the title for at least the last two years, and been unbeaten in the process. It just goes to show that even the most glorious of triumphant chariot rides has to end sometime. Hebden Bridge ‘A’ are next in the line of succession, lets hope we can make it through to the end of this season before we get what’s coming to us!