| October 2000 | Newsletter of the British Chess Federation | Online Edition |
Further Expansion at the Grand4NCL
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 Slough Captain Tony Miles shows off the First Division Trophy... and his remarkable ties Photo by John Saunders |
This season's favourites to win the First Division are a team who have never won the title before. IndexIT, sponsored by David Norwood and Michael Hennigan's company, have recruited many class players in the close season, including England's numbers one and two Michael Adams and Nigel Short. IndexIT's amalgamation with the ADs has improved their squad further and also given them two teams in the top division. Defending champions Slough have been weakened by the departure of Mark Hebden (to IndexIT) and Matthew Turner (to Wood Green), but their squad is still imposing and has benefited from the addition of the Australian IM Alex Wohl. Last year's runners-up Wood Green are one of five clubs who now have three teams running through the divisions; the others are IndexIT, Guildford-ADC, Barbican 4NCL and Bristol.
There were no shocks in round one, which saw both Barbican teams and both IndexIT teams pitched against each other. IndexIT's first team dealt comfortably with their second string, but the match between the two Barbican 4NCL sides was far closer, finally ending in a narrow 4½-3½ victory for the first team. Elsewhere Slough flexed their muscles by inflicting a 7-1 defeat on Richmond, while a solid Wood Green team achieved the same feat against the newly promoted Poisoned Pawns. Guildford-ADC fielded a strong team and managed to overcome Midland Monarchs. Birmingham Thistle White Rose had a reasonably comfortable 5½-2½ win over South Wales Dragons, though the Welsh side had good chances on two or three boards.
 Melanie Buckley receives her award from Richard Furness Photo by John Saunders |
The evening after round 1 saw what has become the Annual Awards Ceremony of the 4NCL. Among the many titles going - Player of the Year - went to Wood Green's Jon Speelman, who scored a very impressive 7/8. He missed out on the "Big Hitter's Award", however, which went to Slough's Colin McNab with 8½/11. Junior player of the year was Luke McShane for his unbeaten score in Division 1, while female player of the year was Melanie Buckley, who also remained unbeaten and scored a WIM norm. One curiosity was that all the nominations for the best game prize were encounters where Wood Green players were on the receiving end. In the end the prize deservedly went to Guildford's Jim Plaskett, for his fine win over Nigel Short.
Round 2 witnessed the first clash of the big guns, when Slough entertained Wood Green. As far as I can remember, Wood Green are still to register their first win over Slough (their all-star battle at the end of last season ended in an honourable 4-4 draw). This occasion must have represented their best chance ever, especially as they outrated their rivals on every board. Indeed, at one stage the match looked to be going their way, but changes in fortunes at critical moments on the top boards allowed Slough to once again come through with a 5-3 victory. Elsewhere IndexIT leaped to the top of the table on game points by defeating Barbican I by the score of 6-2, while Guildford-ADC also kept up their 100% record with a crushing 6½-1½ win over Birmingham Thistle White Rose. The first weekend proved to be a tough on the promoted teams: South Wales Dragons, Barbican II and Poisoned Pawns, who have yet to score a single match point between them. The Dragons lost 5½-2½ to Midland Monarchs, Barbican II lost 5-3 to IndexIT II and Poisoned Pawns managed a win and two draws on the top three boards against Richmond, but lost the rest.
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It's difficult to believe now, but only a few moves earlier my
opponent had been in virtual zugzwang. Now, just after the first time control,
White has suddenly sprung out and threatens mate in one by e3-e4. Of course, I
hadn't been totally idle myself, but as I was pushing my c and d-pawns to their
coronation I just hadn't realised how much "counterplay" White would obtain.
1...Rd3
There are two other ways to avoid mate.
1) 1...Nd4+
(as far as I could see, this only leads to a draw) 2 exd4 c2 3 Rh5+ Ke6
(3...Kf6 4 Nxd7+ Rxd7 5 Rhh1 Rxd4 6 Ke3 cxd1Q 7 Rxd1 Rxa4 8 Rxd2 with a drawn
position) 4 Rh6+ Kd5 5 Rhh1 Rh7 6 Rxd2 Rxh1 7 Rxc2 and I felt that this should
be a draw.
2) 1...Nc5!? (I overlooked this simple move) 2 Ng4 (threatening 3
e4+ Nxe4 4 Ne3 mate!) 2...Ne4 3 Rh5+! Ke6 (3...Kg6 4 Ne5+!) 4 f5+ Ke7 5 Kxe4 c2
6 Rh7+ Kf8 7 Rh8+ Kg7 8 Rhh1 and I get the feeling that Black should be
winning, but there's nothing obvious.
2 Rh5+ Kf6 3 Rh6+ Kf5 4 Rh5+ Kf6 5
Rh6+ Kg7
Going for it!
6 Rhh1!
The only move. 6 Rg6+?
Kf8 7 Rf6+ Ke7 8 Rf7+ Ke6 9 Rc7 Nc5 10 Nxd3 Rxd3 11 Ke2 c2 12 Rxd2 c1Q 13 Rxd3
Qc4 is winning for Black. Now White threatens a devastating check on g1.
6...Kf8
6...c2? loses after 7 Rdg1+ Kf8 8 Rh8+ Ke7 9 Rg7+ Kd6 (or
9...Kf6 10 Rg6+ Ke7 11 Rh7+ Kf8 12 Rf7+ Ke8 13 Rg8 mate) 10 Rxd8+ Kc5 11 Nxd3+
and White wins.
7 Ke4?
Played very quickly by my opponent, who
was obviously enjoiying his new found freedom of movement. In fact, as far as I
can see, 7 Rh8+ forces a draw, for example 7...Ke7 8 Rh7+ Kd6? (8...Kf6 9 Rh6+
is a draw by perpetual) 9 Nxd3 c2 10 Ke2 Rg8 11 Rxd2 Rg2+ 12 Nf2+ Nxd2 13 Kxd2
Rxf2+ 14 Kc1 and it's White who has the winning chances.
7...R3d5
7...c2!? 8 Nxd3 Rxd3 9 Kxd3 c1Q 10 Rxc1 dxc1Q 11 Rxc1 Nxc1+ 12 Kd4
looks like a draw, but Black can win with 7...Nc5+ 8 Kf5 c2 9 Rdg1 Ke7! 10 Rh7+
Kd6 and the black king escapes.
8 Rdg1
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8...d1Q?
Black has two other possibilities, one losing
and one winning:
1) 8...c2? 9 Rh8+ Ke7 10 Rg7+ Kd6 11 Rxd8+ Kc5 12 Rxd5+ and
White wins.
2) 8...Ke7! (Speelman suggested this idea: Black must sacrifice
a rook in order to "run to the hills" with his king) 9 Nc6+ Kd6 10 Nxd8 Kc5 and
despite the extra rook White is losing, for example 11 Ne6+ Kc4 12 Nd4 Nxd4 13
exd4 Rxd4+ 14 Ke3 c2 15 Rd1 Kc3 16 f5 cxd1Q 17 Rxd1 Kc2.
9 Rh8+ Ke7 10
Nc6+!
I had missed this move, which forces perpetual. 10 Rg7+? Kd6 11
Rxd8+ Kc5 12 Rc7+ Kb4 13 Rxd5 Qh1+ 14 Nf3 Nd2+ is winning for Black.
10...Ke7 11 f5+ Kf7 12 Rh7+ Kf8 13 Rh8+ Kf7 14 Rh7+ Kf8 15 Rh8+
1/2-1/2
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Downloadable Games1,117 Games included:Chessbase 6/7 Format (Zipped) PGN Format (Zipped) Events included: British Championship - 375 games MSO Ron Banwell Memorial - 272 games 4NCL - Div.1, Rd.1 - 48 games Civil Service Championship - 50 games Glorney Cup - 100 games Faber Cup - 60 games Harry Golombek Memorial - 45 games Grangemouth Premier - 69 games British Land Challenge Tera-Final - 19 games and many more |
Results SupplementCrosstables for the British Championship, Mind Sports Masters (Ron Banwell Memorial), etc, and the results from recent congresses may be found here. |
EditorialMany congratulations go to Jon Speelman, for his qualification from the Mondariz Zonal. He now joins both Michael Adams and Nigel Short in the FIDE World Championship Finals, which will take place in India and Iran, starting in November. Before this event one version of the world title will already have been settled. Only a few days remain before Gary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik do battle over 16 games at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith London, for the title of Brain Games Network World Champion. For further information on tickets etc click here. If you have any contributions, questions or opinions you wish to reach ChessMoves send them to me at jemms@ukgateway.net |
World NewsThe FIDE Olympic Exhibition was held at the Olympic Village in Sydney, on 24th September. Vishy Anand and Alexei Shirov played against each other in two rapidplay games, both of which ended in draws. Also in attendance were FIDE President Kirsan Iljumzhinov and FIDE officials such as David Jarrett, Emmanuel Omuku and Florencio Campomanes. Alexei Shirov had major problems travelling to the event, and arrived jet-lagged just six hours before the games were due to start. If chess is allowed in as an Olympiad event, it would be likely to join the Winter Games, the next of which is to be held in Salt Lake City in 2002. |
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MESSAGE CONCERNING THE REPUBLISHED BCF GRADING LISTFor those who have an original copy of the 2000 Grading list the correct procedure for obtaining the new list is as follows: 1. List obtained from BCF Office: no action required. 2. List obtained at British Championships at Millfield School: send front and back cover of old list to BCF Office. 3. List bought from commercial supplier: apply to supplier. 4. Not already bought a copy: hurry and order the new list. |
Advertisement Cover: Michael Adams British Chess
Magazine |
Istanbul OlympiadThe England men's and women's teams, once again generously
sponsored by Duncan Lawrie, will soon be on their way to the Olympiad. |
 Jon Speelman - through to the World Championship Finals Photo by Christine Higgins |
British Grandmaster Jon Speelman was one of six players to qualify for the final stages of the World Championship, which will take place in India and Iran later this year. Speelman played impressively at Mondariz, coming joint second with a score of 7½/11. He qualified along with Frenchmen Joel Lautier (who won the event with 8 points) and Igor Nataf (7), and the two Dutch GMs Loek van Wely (7½) and Jeroen Piket (7).
The final round was a very tense affair. Of the other English players, Tony Miles, John Emms and Jonathan Parker all had chances win and reach the qualifying scoregroup on 7/11, but all were denied by stubborn endgame defence. This left a situation of 10 players on 6½/11, all vying for the final qualifying spot. The organisers had planned a taxing all-play-all rapidplay play-off, which would have meant a severe change to the players' routine (every round of the tournament started at 3pm and the scheduled time of the first play-off game was at 7am!). The three English players proposed instead that the ten players should be split into two groups of five, with the winner of each all-play-all section battling it out over two games for the final place. After a vote amongst the players this format was accepted. This meant that the games could be started at a reasonable time (10 am). Perhaps more importantly, by switching to only 5 player all-play-alls, this ensured that there were also a much smaller number of meaningless games involving players who started badly and thus had nothing to fight for.
 Jon Parker scored his third GM norm Photo by John Saunders |
Jonathan Parker scored 2/4 in his group, which was won by Michele Godena of Italy. In the other group, four players still had a chance of playing Godena when the final round started. Tony Miles overturned a lost position against Christian Bauer to reach 2½/4, leaving everything hanging on the Tiviakov-Emms game. A win for either player would see them through to meet Godena, while a draw would allow Miles through. In the end Tiviakov won when a gamble in a completely drawn position paid off. Tiviakov's luck ran out in the final, where he lost 2-0 to Godena, the Italian deservedly grabbing the final place.
More English success in this event came in the shape of Jonathan Parker's third grandmaster norm, which should be sufficient for his title. Other English scores in a 43 player event were Stuart Conquest and Julian Hodgson on 5½/11 and Jim Plaskett on 4½/11.
1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 c3 b6 4 Bg5 Bb7 5 Nbd2 Be7 6 e3 h6 7 Bh4
c5
Tony and Jon had reached this position twice before in recent 4NCL
battles. On both occasions Jon had plumped for the simplifying 7...Ne4. The
first time the players agreed a quick draw, while last season Tony pushed a
little before suggesting peace. On this occasion, Jon tries an aggressive idea
which has been played by Chris Ward.
8 Bd3 g5!?
An unsettling
move to have to face, as many Torre players are unprepared for such early
complications.
9 Bg3 g4 10 Ne5 h5 11 f3 d6 12 Bb5+
Bourne-Ward,
Jersey 1999 continued instead 12 Nec4 b5 13 Na3 a6 14 Qe2 h4 15 Bf4 h3! and
Black went on to win a fine game.
12...Kf8 13 Nd3 a6 14 Ba4 h4 15 Bf2 h3
16 e4 c4?!
Speelman criticises this move, suggesting instead the crude
and material grabbing 16...hxg2 17 Rg1 Rxh2 as an improvement.
17 Nf4 e5
18 Ne2 hxg2 19 Rg1 gxf3 20 Ng3!
Speelman had missed this excellent
move. Now White prepares Qxf3 and 0-0-0. Black is already in some trouble. At
around this point Miles remarked to Speelman that "he could use his pieces
too!" However, Speelman continued going "pawn happy".
20...d5?
Speelman described this move as "very loosening". Miles was expecting
something like 20...b5 21 Bc2 Ng4 22 Qxf3 Nxf2 23 Qxf2 Bg5 which is not so bad
for Black.
21 Qxf3 dxe4 22 Ngxe4
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22...exd4
This must set some sort of record, being
Black's 18th pawn move out of 22. By this stage Speelman had realised that he
was facing a raging attack, for example 22...Nxe4 23 Qxg2 Bf6 24 Nxe4 Qd5? 25
Qg8+! Rxg8 26 Rxg8+ Kxg8 27 Nxf6+ with a clear advantage.
23 Bxd4 Nxe4
24 Nxe4 Rh4 25 Bc2 Bg5 26 Qxg2
26 Rxg2 also looks good.
26...Bxe4 27 Bxe4 Ra7!?
Setting a nasty trap. 27...Qe7 would
have been a complete grovel by Black.
28 Kd1?
28 Qxg5 Rxe4+ 29
Kf2 Qxg5 30 Rxg5 gives White an excellent endgame, where the bishop is superior
to the knight.
28...Nc6!! 29 Qxg5
29 Bxc6 Rxd4+! 30 cxd4 Qxd4+
31 Ke2 Re7+ wins for Black. Miles' next move was accompanied by a draw offer,
but the game was already swinging in Black's favour.
29...Qxg5 30 Rxg5
Nxd4 31 cxd4 Rxe4 32 d5 Rh4 33 Kc2 Rxh2+ 34 Kc3 Re7 35 d6?
According
to Speelman 35 Rag1 is much stronger.
35...Re3+ 36 Kxc4 Rd2?
And
here Speelman suggests the improvement 36...Rc2+ 37 Kd4 Re6 38 Kd3 Rxb2 39 Rd5
Ree2 40 Rd1 Ke8 41 d7+ Kd8 when Black should win.
37 Rf1 Rxd6 38 Rgf5 Re7
39 a4 Kg7 40 a5 Re4+ 41 Kc3 f6 42 axb6 Rxb6 43 Ra5 Rg4 44 Rfa1 Rg3+ 45 Kc2 Rg2+
46 Kc3 Rbxb2 47 Rxa6
Although Black has only one pawn, the position
remains difficult for White as his king is far away from the action and there
are always tricks with two pairs of rooks on the board.
47...Rbf2 48 Kd4
Rg3 49 Re1 Kg6 50 Re3 Rgg2 51 Ree6 Kg5 52 Ke3 Rh2 53 Reb6?
53 Rab6
holds according to Speelman.
53...Re2+ 54 Kf3?
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54...Kh4! 0-1
Suddenly White is caught in a mating net.
A great fighting game which reflects credit on both players.
TERENCE CHAPMAN
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| GRAND PRIX | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Summerscale | 190.0 |
| 2 | M Hebden | 187.3 |
| 3 | D Gormally | 185.2 |
| 4 | M Turner | 180.6 |
| 5 | K Arkell | 177.1 |
| 6 | B Lalic | 171.4 |
| JUNIOR PRIX | ||
| 1 | S Williams | 84.9 |
| 2 | B Kelly | 73.0 |
| 3 | N Pert | 72.0 |
| 4 | R Bates | 57.9 |
| 5 | C Hanley (U18) | 52.9 |
| 6 | T Pym (U16) | 48.9 |
| PRIXETTE | ||
| 1 | T Khoo | 55.2 |
| 2 | E Rutherford | 53.0 |
| 3 | S Hegarty | 52.5 |
| 4 | A Partington (U18) | 44.9 |
| 5 | H Richards | 44.7 |
| 6 | L Broomfield | 40.9 |
| AMATEUR PRIX | ||
| 1 | D Hartley | 40.3 |
| 2 | D Patrick | 37.1 |
| 3 | M Kobylka | 37.0 |
| 4 | M Cutmore | 31.8 |
| 5 | A Dasaolu | 31.5 |
| 6 | D Cutmore | 30.1 |
| SENIOR PRIX | ||
| 1 | J Sherwin | 39.4 |
| 2 | M Franklin | 26.8 |
| 3 | I Baros | 26.5 |
| 4 | J Wagenbach | 25.3 |
| DISABLED PRIX | ||
| 1 | D Hartley | 38.9 |
| 2 | G Lilley | 35.2 |
| 3 | C Kreuzer | 24.2 |
| 4 | W Armstrong | 10.0 |
| 5 | J Whitfield | 10.0 |
| For full details of the 2000 Terence Chapman
Grand Prix, visit http://www.bcmchess.co.uk/ news/grandprix9900.htm |
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Harry Golombek, OBE, the doyen of English chess for over half a century, left money in his will to the Friends of Chess, who decided to use it to fund a tournament in his memory. This tournament ran alongside the 50th Paignton Congress, in the magnificent setting of Oldway Mansion, Paignton. It was felt this was an appropriate venue, as Golombek had won the 1st Paignton Congress in 1951, ahead of former World Champion Euwe, and had graced the event as player and journalist for many years after.
Here's a summary of the final few rounds:
Round 4: 20-year-old French Junior Champion Robert Fontaine was the surprise package in the tournament. In the fourth round, as the bottom-seeded player, he defeated second seed Klaus Bischoff of Germany to reach 3½/4 and set up a full point lead over the field. At this point he required 50% in his remaining five games to score a GM norm.
Round 5: A number of players seemed to deem round 5 as a de facto rest day, Klaus Bischoff, for one, claiming that the group photograph session with the Lord Mayor of Torbay shortly before the start of play, had tired him out. Only two games were committed to a long struggle, and eventually all five games were drawn.
 Standing: Tiger Hillarp Persson, Robert Fontaine, Klaus Bischoff, Keith Arkell, Danny Gormally, Karel van der Weide Seated: Matthew Turner, John Nunn, Gerry Walsh,The Mayor - Councillor Colin Charlwood, the Lady Mayor, Mark Hebden, Alexander Naumann Photo by Bob Jones |
Round 6: Any thoughts Robert Fontaine may have entertained about coasting to a GM norm were rudely dashed by Matthew Turner, who soon found himself in the ascendancy and seemed to enjoy the hunt. John Nunn too made the most of this opportunity, beating Tiger Hillarp Persson around the first time control, bringing him up level with Fontaine, both in the lead with 4/6.
Round 7: The two leaders drew a fairly quiet game and were now caught by Bischoff, who outplayed Arkell. Turner won his second successive game to get within half a point of the leaders, leaving him requiring 2/2 for a GM norm.
Round 8: GM norm hopes were dashed as Fontaine lost again and Turner drew. Top seeds Nunn and Bischoff emerged as leaders going into the last round, but third seed Tiger Hillarp Persson subsided into joint last place.
Round 9: The Golombek Memorial finally came to a close beneath summery skies at Oldway Mansion. The top two rated players, Nunn and Bischoff finished joint first, as might have been expected, but this belies the closeness of the overall competition, with just two points separating highest and lowest scores. No-one, not even the grandmasters, made a GM norm. Almost inevitably, there were a fair number of draws, but the majority of them were well-contested.
The Best Game Prize was won by Danny Gormally, for his win against Alexander Naumann in Round 7. Unusually, this was determined by the players themselves. They were each invited to submit their own best game, and then voted on the selection of 10 games. Satisfying indeed for Gormally, to have been deemed, by his peers, to have played the best game. And the £250 prize, made him far and away the biggest cash winner, after Nunn & Bischoff.
Hebden had done as well as one would expect in coming joint third, but 19-year-old Robert Fontaine made a big impression in the early rounds, and looked set for a norm, until his loss to the other impressive IM, Matthew Turner. Both will surely achieve their GM norms with form like this. The Tournament Controller, Gerry Walsh, declared himself very happy with the way the event had gone throughout the week.
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 Nf6 4 Nc3 cxd4 5 Nxd4 a6 6 Bg5 e6 7 f4 Be7 8 Qf3 Qc7 9 0-0-0 Nbd7 10 g4 b5 11 Bxf6 Nxf6 12 g5 Nd7
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13 Bd3
This is a relatively rare move. White's two main
lines are 13 a3, preventing....b5-b4 and more commonly the direct 13 f5.
13...Nc5
13...b4 14 Nce2 Bb7 15 Qh3 0-0-0 16 Kb1 Kb8 17 Qe3 Qb6 18
h4 led to a level position in Antonio-Momeni, Dubai 1992.
14 h4 b4 15
Nce2 Bb7 16 Kb1 f5 17 gxf6 Bxf6 18 Qg4 Bc8 19 Nf3 e5 20 f5 Bb7 21 Ng3 0-0-0 22
Ng5 Kb8 23 b3 d5 24 exd5 Rxd5 25 Be4 Rd4!? 26 Rxd4 exd4 27 Bxb7
d3!?
The beginning of some very ambitious play by Gormally.
28
cxd3
28 Bd5 Ne4! wins for Black.
28...Na4! 29 bxa4 Qc3
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A crucial position. White is two pieces up, but is faced with
some deadly threats. Certainly it's very difficult for White to find the best
defence here and it's no surprise that White's next move is a mistake. It seems
that White should play 30 Qe2! and now:
1) 30...Kxb7? 31 d4! and the threat
of Qf3+, exchanging queens, gives White the advantage.
2) 30...Qa1+! 31 Kc2
Qxa2+ 32 Kd1 (32 Kc1? b3! 33 Qxa2 bxa2 is better for Black) 32...b3 33 Be4
(once again 33 Qxa2 bxa2 is better for Black, while 33 Qd2!? b2 34 Ke2 Kxb7 35
Qb4+ Ka8 offers White a draw with perpetual starting with 36 Qe4+, but probably
nothing more) 33...b2 34 d4 Bxg5 35 hxg5 Re8 36 Qh2 b1Q+ 37 Bxb1 Qxb1+ 38 Kd2
Qb2+ with a draw by perpetual check.
So perhaps Black's sacrificial attack
is worth a draw with best play.
30 d4? Bxd4 31 Qf4+
Or 31
Rh2 b3! 32 axb3 Qxb3+ 33 Kc1 Be3+ 34 Rd2 Rd8 and Black wins.
31...Be5 32
Qc1 Qa1+ 33 Kc2 Qxa2+ 34 Kd3 Rd8+ 35 Ke4 Bxg3 36 Kf3
White has no time
to save the extra piece. After 36 Bxa6 Black wins with 36...Qd5+ 37 Ke3 Re8+ 38
Ne6 Qxf5 39 Bc4 Bf4+.
36...Rd3+ 37 Kg4 Kxb7
Now Black is a pawn
up and White's king has no safe place to hide. The rest is relatively
straightforward.
38 Qf1 Qc4+ 39 Kh5 Qd5 40 Rh3 h6 41 Qg1 hxg5 42 Rxg3
Qxf5 43 Qg2+ Kb8 44 Rxg5 Qh7+ 45 Kg4 Rd4+ 0-1
Black wins after 46 Kf3
Qe4+ 47 Kg3 (or 47 Kf2 Rd2+) 47...Qf4+ 48 Kh3 Qxh4 mate. A creative game by
Gormally.
A match between former World Under 18 Champion Nicholas Pert and one of England's most experienced Grandmasters, Murray Chandler was played in London and sponsored by The Terence Chapman Group. A fluctuating battle ended in a 3-3 draw, with both players winning twice with the White pieces. Thus both competitors took home half the combined prize fund of £1500.
Pert had the White pieces in game 1, a Nimzo-Indian. Black achieved a plus from the opening but White played well to achieve a position where it was unlikely Black could make progress. A draw was agreed after 37 moves.
Murray Chandler was the first to strike when he won in convincing fashion in game 2. In a French Defence, Pert grabbed an early pawn with his rook, only for it to be trapped and won in exchange for a bishop. Black never obtained enough compensation for the material deficit and Chandler converted his advantage in 39 moves.
 Murray Chandler - devastating with White, devastated with Black! Photo by Christine Higgins |
The third game was perhaps the best of the match, at least from the youngster's point of view. This was a fine effort from Pert (see the annotated game below). Chandler was again convincing with the white pieces in game 4, gaining a clear advantage in a 3 Nc3 dxe4 French. On move 19 Chandler won a pawn which finally netted him a win after 50 moves.
Pert once again struck back with the white pieces to level the score in game 5. This was a relatively easy win for the youngster, who benefited from Chandler blundering a piece on move 14. The last game of the match was again a French Defence. The players reached an equal queen and pawn ending and agreed a draw after 38 moves.
Opportunities to play matches are rare. They are a severe test of a player's skill. It is very easy to be overwhelmed. One would have expected Murray's greater experience (he has played a couple of matches) and over 20 years international play would tell. But the youngster proved his equal. Murray reminisced wryly on the fact he had beaten Kasparov before Nicholas was born.
Stewart Reuben/John Emms
1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 c4 b6 4 a3 Ba6 5 Qc2 Bb7
On first
sight it seems a little silly to move the bishop twice in succession, but
Black's plan is quite common and well motivated. By inducing the queen to c2,
Black lessens White's control over the d5-square and now aims to hit back in
the centre with ...c7-c5, without allowing the advance d4-d5.
6 Nc3 c5 7
e4 cxd4 8 Nxd4 Nc6 9 Nxc6 Bxc6 10 Be2
In game 5 Pert chose 10 e5. I
believe it was the Dutch GM Jeroen Piket who first tried this natural move.Pert
quickly obtained a decisive advantage after 10 ..Ng4?! 11 Qe2 f5 12 h3 Qh4 13
g3 Qh5 14 Rg1 Bc5? 15 Be3 and Black was forced to give up a piece. Probably 10
Ng8 is a safer choice.
10...Qc7 11 f4 Bc5 12 b4
This is the
first new move of the game. Lputian-Timman, Belgrade 1999 continued 12 Bd2 e5
13 Rf1 Bd4 14 0-0-0 0-0 15 g4 which Black eventually won, although at this
stage the position remains very unclear.
12...Bd4 13 e5 Bxc3+
13...Nd5!? looks enticing, as 14 cxd5 runs into 14...Ba4!. However,
after 14 Ne4! Nxb4 15 axb4 Bxa1 16 Nd6+ Kf8 17 Be3 it's Black who's in
trouble.
14 Qxc3 Ne4 15 Qe3 0-0 16 0-0 f6!
Black must fight back
in the centre.
17 exf6 Nxf6 18 Bb2 Qb7 19 Qg3 Be4 20 Rad1 Rac8 21 Rd6
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21...Rf7?
After this move Black is condemned to a
passive defence. 21...Kh8! would have prevented White's next move.
22
f5! Rcf8
After 22...Bxf5 23 Rxf5! exf5 24 Rxf6 White's bishop pair
outweigh the rook.
23 fxe6 dxe6 24 Bxf6!
24 Rxe6? Nh5! gives
Black a dangerous attack.
24...Rxf6 25 Rxf6 Rxf6 26 Qe5 Qe7 27 Bg4 Kf7
28 c5 bxc5 29 bxc5
The pressure on the e6-pawn, coupled with the
dangerous passed c-pawn, gives White an undisputed advantage.
29...Bb7
30 c6 Bc8 31 h3 g6 32 Rd3 h5 33 Bf3 Rf5
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34 Qh8! Qc5+ 35 Kh1 Re5 36 Rd1 Qa5 37 Qxc8 Re1+ 38 Rxe1 Qxe1+
39 Kh2 Qe5+ 40 g3 h4 41 Qd7+ 1-0
42 Qd8+ will follow.
The International Braille Chess Association (IBCA) Olympiad for visually handicapped players was held on 29 August - 7 September in Zakapane, Poland. The IBCA Olympiad, held every 4 years, is the premier international event in chess for the visually handicapped. This year, 30 teams of four players, from 29 countries, competed over 9 rounds. Each country sent one team except for Poland, which fielded two teams.
 Graham Lilley Photo by John Saunders |
The Great Britain squad consisted of Braille Chess Association (BCA) members Graham Lilley, Chris Ross, Colin Chambers, Bill Armstrong and Stan Lovell, with GM Neil McDonald as coach and Geoff Ward and IBCA Arbiter Julie Leonard as guides. Their goal was to finish in the top 12 and thereby qualify for the IBCA World Cup in 2002. They finished in 13th place with 18½ points from a possible 36. This was a good result against very strong opposition, including the teams who took the top four places. The top places went to Russia (24½), Poland 1 (24½), Ukraine (24½) and Germany (22½). As both Polish teams finished in the top 12, but only one team from each country can enter the World Cup, Great Britain clinched a qualifying place. Highlights of the team's performance included 4-0 wins over Israel and South Africa and a draw by Graham Lilley on Board 1 against the visually handicapped World Champion, Smirnov (Russia). Overall scores for the GB team were: Lilley 4½/9; Ross 5½/9; Chambers 3½/8; Armstrong 3½/7; Lovell 1½/3.
The BCA would like to thank all chess organisations, charities, individuals, businesses and other organisations who supported the squad and made this achievement possible.
Richard Murphy
On Sunday 8th October the keenly awaited Brain Games Network World Chess Championship will start between World number one Gary Kasparov and his closest rival Vladimir Kramnik. The latest details on tickets are:
Ticket for one game: £20 (£15 concessions)
Season
ticket (all games): £280 (£200 concessions)
Booking Details:http://www.braingames.net/framehowtobook.htm
Official Web Site for the event: http://www.braingames.net
The judges were faced with a difficult final choice between three contrasting books, all excellent in their chosen fields, and each of which in other years could have been Book of the Year.
Andrew Soltis's Soviet Chess 1917-1991 McFarland £39.00 is a highly readable, authoritative account of the dominant school of chess. It will retain its value for many years.
The Road to Chess Improvement, Alex Yermolinsky Gambit £17.99 tackles the practical problems of playing by showing how the writer progressed to grandmaster and USA champion by eliminating weaknesses in his approach to the game. This book complements last years award winner, Watson's Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy very well. Watson discusses the theory of the game, whilst Yermolinsky tackles the problems all players face in putting the theory into practice!
However the Book of the Year is:
Queen's Gambit Declined, Matthew
Sadler, Everyman Chess £14.99. It is unusual for an opening
book to win the award. Too many opening books are churned out from databases
with little input by the author, or alternatively resemble academic treatises
with a short shelf life and low readability. Sadler has avoided these
problems. The writing is clear and concise with flashes of humour. The
material is well organized and the book is attractively laid out and printed.
The impression is given that the author, who has deep knowledge of his
subject, has held nothing back from the reader- this is how Sadler sees
and plays the Queen's Gambit Declined. A particularly valuable feature
is the question and answer approach which is done in such a way that the
reader feels he or she is receiving a personal tutorial from the grandmaster.
Queen's Gambit Declined wins the Book of the Year on its own considerable merits; but the judges also feel it also has additional value as an example to future authors and publishers of opening books.
R B Edwards, M Fox, J Toothill
On 23rd Sepotember the England U12 team played a match against Flanders at Yateley Manor School. The match was over 2 rounds, 20 boards, with all moves played in 80 minutes.
Results:
Round 1: England 12½ Flanders
7½.
Round 2: England 12½ Flanders 7½.
On 24th September 24 there was a 4 round tournament involving
England, Flanders and a number of children from host families. There were three
categories of prizes:
England Squad winner - Li Wu 4/4, Simon Fowler 3/4,
Sarah Hegarty 3/4.
Flemish Winner - C. van Peer 4/4, C. Maggen (2nd on count
back) 3½/4, B. Feys 3½/4.
Hosts winner T. Smith 1/4.
Neville Belinfante
The 10th World Senior Championships took place last month in Rowy, Poland. The 11 round event, open to players born in 1939 or earlier, was won on tiebreak by Oleg Chernikov, who along with the defending champion Janis Klovans, scored 8½/11.
England's John Littlewood performed very well, scoring 7/11 to reach joint 13th. Only a last round defeat by Ratmir Kholmov (who once beat Bobby Fischer) prevented Littlewood from finishing even higher. The highlight of Littlewood's tournament was undoubtedly his fifth round win with the black pieces over Klovans (see below).
In the women's event Elena Fatalibekova scored 9/11, taking the title on tie-break from defending champion Tamara Khmiadashvili.
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White's last move was 27 Be2-h5? (27 Bd3 was
stronger). Now Littlewood was able to take advantage of White's vulnerable back
rank in fine style.
27...Re1! 28 Ra1
28 Nd2 looks sensible, but
then Black has 28...Qh4 29 Bxg6 Qf2! winning, for example 30 Bd3 f3 31 gxf3 Be5
32 f4 Rg8 and Black mates. 28 Qd3 Qh4 29 Bxg6 Qf2! also wins for Black.
28...Rxa1 29 Rxa1 Qh4 30 Qd1
Or 30 Be2 Qf2!.
30...f3!
This interference move is decisive. Now Black attacks both c4 and h5,
so White's move is forced.
31 Bxg6 Re2! 32 Ne3 Be5 0-1
White will
soon be mated.
Leading junior players have accepted invitations to play in this prestigious new event. Several competed with distinction in the British Championships. Joint Under 13 Champions, Sabrina Chevannes and Robert Payne will be resuming their 'rivalry' when they do battle in Battle.
 Aly Wilson - one of the junior players competing at Ampleforth |
Other players competing include:
Ameet Ghassi - The highest rated U14 in England. A prodigy of Tony Miles, England's first International Grandmaster. Ameet's brother, Sumeet, is also taking part.The Ampleforth Junior Masters looks set to become the strongest ever gathering of Under 16 players in Britain.
Peter Turner
The World Chess Solving Championship took place recently in Pula, Croatia.
17 teams competed: 1st Germany 167/180; 2nd Yugoslavia 152; 3rd Slovakia 152. The British team (J Mestel, M McDowell, G Lee) finished 10th.
The best individual performance was by Caillaud (FRA) with 82 out of 90, followed by Timmes (GER), also with 82 (tie-break on time taken), and then Azhusin (RUS) 81½.
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