disinformator 35 - oxford 4ncl.pdf · disinformator 35 2 may 2006 editorial welcome to the pages of...

Disinformator 35 The Oxford City Chess Club Magazine

May 2006

Disinformator 35 May 2006 1

Table of contents Editorial 2 Peter Harrison by Will Burt 3 Pete – in his own words 4 Tit-bits 5 4NCL Division 2: final tables / report 6 4NCL Division 4: rounds 5-8 reports 8 Kidlington 2006 21 Odds & sods 24 4NCL Division 2: rounds 5-8 reports 25 Frank Wood Shield final 32 Town – Gown 2006 35 Instead of a games section 37

INTRODUCING… Chess Etc, : www.adamraoof.co.uk

Adam Raoof has set up an eBay chess shop, Chess Etc , which (for those not completely comfortable with the technology) is… an online chess shop. A brief browse reveals a vast treasure trove of chess books, magazines, prints, magazines… although users can browse the pages immediately (each item is given a detailed description and photographs of sample pages are standard), if you want to buy something online you need to join up at eBay (which is free, and easy) – and both slick (Paypal) and slow (cheque, etc) payment options are provided. Adam assures that me that a cheque in the post is just as welcome as paying online! Apart from providing rare (on occasion antiquarian) books at fantastic prices, postage is discounted if you buy 5+ books at the same time – while Adam offers the discerning Disinformator reader ™ an extra discount of 10% if they mention the magazine in the notes section of the process (when you’re confirming postage details). The discount will be made by Adam offline (if payment online). Cover picture (clockwise from top left): Peter Wells in play Vs Engine 10 (prop. Alan Dowling, Exeter College) in February, Lateefah Messam -Sparkes alongside Graham Chapman & Ian Webster at the 4NCL in March 2006, Mark Gray (Univ) struggling in a poor position, possibly trying to remember Kieran Smallbone’s telephone number?, Piyal Matilal putting Disinformator’s Secrets of Bad Opening Preparation through its paces at Kidlington 2006, last round at the Major at Kidlington, with Kieran Smallbone on top board wondering how to get out of what our Northern friends might term “this Greet Opening Mess” (others include Mssrs Venkat, White, Sherwin, and Biswas), and a group shot of City 2 – Bicester in the OCA Div 2 leagues (Mssrs Yates, Hepworth, Chessman doing the mafiosa impressions)


Editorial Welcome to the pages of Disinformator 38, the magazine that does for global chess what Hello magazine does for stamp collectors. They say that chess keeps you young and mentally fit; well, if anyone can provide me with their address I want a word with them. Our publication date this time around coincides with the first Oxford University tournament to be held since the death of Peter Harrison, after losing his struggle with cancer in January 2006. The loss of a son (to Marion), to others of a strong and loyal friend, and to the chess community of a chess dynamo is too great to convey in words. In the 3-4 years of his involvement on the Oxford scene, Pete selflessly transformed the chess scene in Oxford, and left us with two tournaments and a strong presence in the national chess leagues – as the reports in the edition bear witness. My thanks to Will & Dave for their contributions, and others whose contributions have been held over to the next time. The final act in Oxford’s 4NCL adventure takes place at the end of the month, in West Bromwich, and this will be reported on in the next edition, along with a look at the league and cup season. With City 1, 3, and 4 managing to bring home the bacon in Divisions 1, 2 and 4, before City 1 took the Frank Wood Shield, the temptation to gloat is always there. On the other hand, perhaps a reflective look at the performance of Div 2’s Dodge n Stodge season is the called-for corrective…

Pete in his element… left , presenting prizes at the April Oxford Univ tournament, and above during a night out for the 4NCL squad at Telford, May 2005.

Sean Terry 92a Church Way, Iffley, Oxford OX4 4EF, 07811 173268 (mob), [email protected] 12 May 2006

Kingpin now it its 38th edition has made a return to the shopping lists of all discerning readers, and those not already subscribers who want to work out what James Plaskett is saying to Chris Tarrant after winning £250k on Who wants to be… ? can have a word with Jon Manley , OR check out subscription details at the TWIC home page. Richard Palliser has drawn my attention to the opening system adopted in a Round 10 Division 1 (sic) match of the 4NCL (diagram right , game below). We leave it to the readers to decide whether this is any better than Weisin’s 1. a3, or indeed the 1. Na3 specially “unfurled” at the Town – Gown match 2006 – be that as it may, White does seem to get some compensation for the a-pawn push, even if he has to settle for a draw in the end…

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Rogers (2340) - Ward (2467) 1. a4

Rogers,Jonathan W (2340) - Ward,Christopher G (2467 ) [A00] 4NCL/Div1/ B’ham ENG 30.04.2006 1.a4 d5 2.âf3 ºg4 3.d4 ºxf3 4.exf3 e6 5.c3 âd7 6.a5 c6 7.a6 b6 8.ºd3 g6 9.ºf4 ºg7 10.0-0 âe7 11.Qd2 0-0 12.ºh6 ºxh6 13.Qxh6 c5 14.¼d1 âc6 15.ºb5 ¼c8

16.âa3 âdb8 17.âc2 Qf6 18.dxc5 bxc5 19.âe3 Qg7 20.Qf4 c4 21.âc2 Qe5 22.Qd2 Qc7 23.f4 ¼fd8 24.Qe3 âe7 25.âd4 Qb6 26.f5 gxf5 27.Qg5+ ¾f8 28.Qh6+ ¾g8 29.¼e1 âg6 30.¼e3 âd7

31.ºxd7 ¼xd7 32.¼ae1 e5 33.âxf5 f6 34.¼g3 Qe6 35.âh4 ¼g7 36.âxg6 hxg6 37.¼xg6 ¼xg6 38.Qxg6+ ¾f8 39.h4 ¾e7 40.Qh7+ Qf7 41.Qc2 Qh5 42.g3 ¾e6 43.Qa4 Qe8 44.Qa5 Qd8 45.Qa4 Qe8

46.Qd1 Qg6 47.b3 cxb3 48.Qxb3 Qd3 49.¼d1 Qf3 50.¼c1 ¼g8 51.Qc2 f5 52.¼e1 f4 53.Qh7 ¼xg3+ 54.fxg3 Qxg3+ 55.¾f1 Qf3+ 56.¾g1 Qg3+ 57.¾f1 Qf3+ DRAW


Pete Harrison (1978 – 2006) Peter Harrison died on 11th January this year. I knew Pete on the same basis that many of us would have done: organizing chess events and teams with self-effacing good humour, and I know that many of us would not have realized that he was seriously ill until seeing him at the University Rapidplay last November: he had lost a lot of weight and hair after chemotherapy but still organized the tournament, wearing a hat and his customary grin. What follows is based on a summary of the tributes and memories of Pete that I heard in the weeks following his death – they make it clear why he is so fondly remembered and so much missed. Pete was born and bred in Guiting Power – a Cotswold village near Cheltenham. One of his schoolteachers, from St. Edward’s Cheltenham, spoke at his funeral explaining that Pete was a quiet but brilliant student not only in Mathematics (his subject at Oxford) but also in English – where his wacky sense of humour was much in evidence. He recalled hilarious recitations of Edward Lear and Lewis Carroll in a way that put me much in mind of friends’ recollections of writer Douglas Adams. Pete also had a python-esque fascination with what can be broadly categorized as “furry animals” – as Matt Ludbrook explained to mourners Pete felt that any sentence could be vastly improved by the inclusion of a reference to a badger or a ferret! This was clearly a fixation that Pete (e-mail: [email protected]) took seriously. He was diagnosed with bowel cancer while at Oxford and took a year out before returning to finish his degree. With his medical treatment making regular employment impossible he spent his remaining years organizing much chess across Gloucestershire and Oxfordshire, while living with his parents in Guiting Power. Here is a brief list of just some of his activities: organizing the Oxford University tournaments, the Oxford 4NCL teams, the Cotswold congress and founding the Edwardians – a Gloucestershire league club for former St. Edward’s boys and parents. Then there was the journalism: he was chess columnist of the Gloucester Citizen, wrote a much-loved column for the national magazine Chess under the pseudonym of Woody Woodpusher, interviewed Mickey Adams and also wrote entertaining reports on Oxford’s exploits in the 4NCL and University players’ efforts at Kidlington (full of quirky details like the problems of finding a pub with a Pool table or catching the bus home). A good place to find out more about planet Pete is the embryonic tribute site at http://www.tisz.com/pete/ which has plenty of photos and where you can find out about Pete’s legendary love of cheese – including his recipe for four-cheese pizza. If you visit http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/ and feed “Peter Harrison” (with the inverted commas) into the search box you can find the tributes from that newspaper, including articles by his friend Chris Mattos who also spoke at the funeral. An obituary with photograph also appeared in the Oxford Times. Peter was an only child and his father died last October so his mother Marion Harrison has been left bereft in a way that I doubt any of us can understand. I hope she will see and approve of this little article – all I can say is a heartfelt “thank you” to her for the trouble she took to meet and talk to so many of us chess players at the funeral. It meant a lot to us and I hope it was some comfort to her. In conclusion a few quotations from the various tributes to Pete: “very inspirational in the chess community in the Gloucestershire area” Chris Mattos (Edwardians Chess Club) “Peter was a brave, influential, enthusiastic and special person and may he now rest in peace” Kieran Smallbone (Oxford 4NCL) “He was one of the genuinely nice guys in chess” James Coleman (Chess magazine contributor)

William Burt, 7th May 2006 Any corrections or comments on this article can be sent to me by e-mailing [email protected] – if you wish to use this material in a chess magazine or newsletter or suchlike then I’m only too happy for you to do so and glad if it has been helpful – perhaps you could drop me an e-mail and let me know.


Pete’s Kidlington (2003) The following extracts from Pete’s fantastical account of Kidlington 2003 were included in Disinformator 27’s report. The original report was put on the web, with pictures, at: http://users.ox.ac.uk/~chess, and having played a decent tournament that year and been distracted from the events of the weekend, I found it while scouring for some idea of how other people had spent the weekend. I have been unable to locate the full version on the web, the OU site having been re-done in the past 12 months.

On 1st and 2nd February 2003, the University Chess Club made its annual pilgrimage to the Red Lion pub in Kidlington for the traditional beer and pool festival. As luck would have it, this once again coincided with the chess tournament held nearby in Exeter Hall, so an impressive University entry of 10 players plus 2 guests took the opportunity to play some weekend chess.

… [T]he highlight of the round, though, was surely in the Open where the failure of Kieran Smallbone's opponent to arrive gave the chance for a renewal of his theoretical debate with Kemal Ozeren, a late entry having decided to take a hard-earned break from his finals revision. Having previously agreed in the game Smallbone-Ozeren, Slovakia 2002 that the position after 1 a3 is theoretically drawn, they now came to the more controversial conclusion that 1 d4 also leads to a forced draw.

The lunch interval was most notable for Chris Duggan's bid to succeed the legendary Chris Dunsmore to the title of chess club 'Muppet' as he upset an entire tableful of cutlery at the Red Lion, perhaps still suffering from the after-effects of his long and ultimately successful grind for a win in round 1. Round 2 was not to be so kind… losses also for Bosson and second successsive defeats for Webster and Daniel Lappage … hopes of glory in the team competition were dispelled when Ozeren also lost surprisingly to a spectacular sacrificial attack …

The Open, meanwhile, was being jointly led by the strong Zimbabwean Olympiad gold medallist Robert Gwaze, although Terry, one of the lowest rated players in the tournament at 160, was hot on his heels after a second successive spectacular win. Back at the Red Lion those who had chosen to skip round 3 were beginning to find the pool tables to be considerably lightening their wallets. And the evening was concluded when Duggan confirmed his Muppet status by trying to travel home using a bus ticket valid between York University and York railway station.

Ozeren bounced back from the previous day's setback with a nice win. Elsewhere there was disappointment as Harrison's chances of a prize slipped away after a convincing defeat and Smallbone lost a crazy game to Simon Williams' Grob. The controllers were clearly out to get Smallbone since he had only escaped the dangerous Williams the previous evening by taking a bye…

In the Open, Smallbone and Tom Nitz both drew to end on 2.5/5 and 2/5 respectively and Heather Lang was unfortunate to record a third loss in a total of 1/5. But Ozeren won convincingly against weak opposition to take a share of the U200 grading prize on 3/5. His knack of winning prizes while playing relatively little chess is a model for us all to follow.

A hugely enjoyable, if ultimately unsuccessful, weekend ended in appropriately comic fashion when Richard Palliser who had come to lend his support to the troops failed to get on the bus home. It turned out that unbeknown to everyone else he had a return ticket for the other bus company and insufficient change to buy a new one. But slow and steady won the day when the bus Richard had boarded came storming past as the first bus stopped to pick up passengers. A dramatic race ensued, but it turned out that the main party had insufficient counterplay and Richard ran out an easy winner.


Tit-bits Justin Horton reports from Marianske Lazne, Jan 2006. Meanwhile in 4NCL Division 2...

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Other,A N − Horton,Justin

At this point, feeling a bit better than I’d done for a few moves (11.c3 looks good for White - Black should probably prefer 9...c5 or 9...g5!?) , I got up and walked around. I looked back at my board from some distance away and there appeared to be a knight on a White square in my position. Ne6? I thought. That can´t be right and hurried back to the board...

13.Nxe6 Qxh2# 0-1

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Savage (2310) − Bigg (2272) 27.Qb1 1-0

They say that backwards queen moves are the hardest to spot, but rarely has one been quite so effective as that shown here. Ben provides his own detailed analysis elsewhere in the magazine.

Scenes from the Xmas wine & cheese, 2005

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Yates,John − Rose,Matt

17.Rh8+ Bxh8 18.Qh1 Re8 19.Qh7+ Kf8 20.Qxf7# 1-0

Savagery at Didcot...

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Cooper,Bernard − Scott,Dave 26.Qg5 Bf5 27.Qxf5 exf5 28.Rxe7 Rxf6 29.Rexh7+ 1-0

DIVISION 2, 4NCL – Rounds 9, 10, 11…


Team Won Drawn Lost Points

BRISTOL 1 7 2 2 16

WOOD GREEN 3 7 1 3 15

SOUTH WALES DRAGONS 1 6 3 2 15

WARWICKSHIRE SELECT 1 7 1 3 15

WHITE ROSE 6 2 3 14

CAMBRIDGE UNIV. 1 6 1 4 13

OXFORD 1 6 0 5 12

WESSEX 1 4 1 6 9

GUILDFORD-ADC 3 4 0 7 8

RICHMOND A 3 1 7 7

PERCEPTRON YOUTH 2 0 9 4

N.W. EAGLES 2 2 0 9 4

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Kobese – Rose

22...Bxc3 23.bxc3 Qg5+ The Oxford team concluded its adventures in its fir st year in Division 2, a disappointing loss on the Sunday providing the sandwich paste for two convinc ing victories on the other days of the first bank holiday in May. In smashing White Rose (6-2) on Saturday, other results now meant that promotion was not a possibility, thus leaving the team to reflect on the narrow loss against Wessex in Round 5, reported elsewhere. Late night festivities leaving only Sean feeling the worse for wear (and a lot older than he had previously suspected, following a straw poll on the streets of Birmingham) a sub-fusc performance on Sunday saw a narrow loss against soon-to-be-relegated Richmond , but normal service was emphatically resumed on Monday when a 5-3 victory dashed Warwickshire ’s promotion chances. (It now appears teams can field 3 sides in Division 1, so Wood Green 3 are promoted.) Game of the weekend was undoubtedly Matt’s fine performance against IM Kobese, who includes Peter Leko amongst his scalps – from the diagram , 24. Kh1 loses to Nxe4! Rating Opp P W D L %

Smallbone, Kieran 2194 2195 11 6 4 1 72.73% Milovanovic, Aleksander 2220 2243 9 5 2 2 66.67% Dickinson, Timothy R 2176 2172 7 2 4 1 57.14% Savage, Ben D 2310 2316 11 4 4 3 54.55% Ozeren, Kemal 2286 2307 11 4 3 4 50.00% Shaw, David A 2200 2221 9 4 1 4 50.00% Webster, Ian 2119 2059 11 3 3 5 40.91% Also rans… : Messam-Sparkes, Lateefah (F) 1785 1932 4 0 2 2 25.00% Levicki, Jeffrey (J) * 1880 1793 3 1 0 2 33.33% Duggan, Chris 2104 2076 2 2 0 0 100.00% Rose, Matt 2219 2364 2 1 0 1 50.00% Tsai, Cindy (F) 2158 2221 2 1 0 1 50.00% Hackett, David G 2167 2134 2 0 0 2 0.00% Coleman, James 2184 2184 1 1 0 0 100.00% Mangion, Nicola * 1750 1997 1 1 0 0 100.00% Chapman, Graham W 2100 2203 1 0 0 1 0.00%

Kobese,Watu (2390) - Rose,Matthew (2219) [B82] 4NCL Birmingham ENG (9.2), 29.04.2006 1.e4 c5 2.âf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.âxd4 âf6 5.âc3 âc6 6.ºc4 Qb6 7.âb3 e6 8.ºe3 Qc7 9.f4 a6 10.ºd3 b5

11.Qf3 ºb7 12.0-0 ºe7 13.¼ae1 âb4 14.a3 âxd3 15.cxd3 0-0 16.Qh3 ¼ae8 17.g4 âd7 18.f5 Qd8 19.âd4 âc5 20.ºf2 ºf6

21.âc2 exf5 22.gxf5 ºxc3 23.bxc3 Qg5+ 24.Qg3 Qxg3+ 25.ºxg3 âxd3 26.¼d1 âe5 27.¼xd6 âc4 28.¼e1 âxd6 29.ºxd6 ¼xe4 30.ºxf8 ¼xe1+

31.âxe1 ¾xf8 32.¾f2 ºe4 33.¾e3 ºxf5 34.¾d4 ¾e7 35.¾c5 ºe4 36.¾b6 ¾d6 37.¾xa6 ¾c5 38.¾a5 ¾c4 39.¾b6 f5 0-1

DIVISION 2, 4NCL – Rounds 9, 10, 11…


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Potts (2274) − Smallbone (2194) 29...Qd6 30.Bxe8 Rxe1+ 31.Kg2 Rg1# 0-1

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Hackett (2167) - Simmons (2060) 36.Bxe6 bxa3 37.Bxb3 axb2 38.e6 Rxc3

39.e7 Bxf3+ 40.Kf2 Bxh1 0-1

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Mason (2277) - Ozeren (2286) 17...h5 18.Qh4 Ne2+ 19.Kh1 Nxf4

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Messam−Sparkes − Chevannes

Saturday: (av 2167) WIN 6-2 against White Rose (2273) Settling in to one’s spartan accommodation is the first task for the 4NCL groupie, and the long process of working out what is, and what isn’t working in the chess hotel can take up to 2 hours. Here I timed my arrival to allow time to wonder if Kieran was going to sacrifice a bishop (he did), and a brief examination of the top four boards showed the good guys to be doing pretty well against opponents rated an average 100 points higher. Very strange. A quick stroll for a cup of coffee was called for. On returning, it became clear that all four boards were winning, and the only question was who would be first to register the fact. (Kemal, as it happens, followed quickly by Kieran, Matt and Ben Savage.) In Potts-Smallbone , Kieran had been repeating moves at this point (Rd1-d2) before a concentrated think produced 29. Qd6! which wins a piece or allows the mate which White, in time trouble anyway, allowed. Alex Milovanovic and Dave Shaw provided the other two wins, with Ian Webster, who lost the thread in the chaos of a double rook and double bishop ending, and Lateefah Messam-Sparkes, conceding 350 points but getting a position to play, the only ones failing to register a point. Sunday: (av 2160) LOSS 3-5 against Richmond A (2264) With Richmond needing a win to keep alive any hope of avoiding the drop, a tense and less immediately exciting match. Draws on the top three boards were the result of tough chess where the opposition seem to have relied on their lesser-graded opponents to provide them with a strategy. (Alternatively, they’d been out on the town also…) With Dave Shaw losing with White against the Sveshnikov, and Kieran drawing, we needed +2 from the bottom three boards, which seemed possible after Lateefah drew (conceding 275 points), but Ian and Dave Hackett were comfortably ahead. All in a flurry though, Ian downwardly converted his advantage to a pawn up in an opposite bishop ending, while Dave, who arrived 50 minutes late after (we surmise) a good Saturday evening spent celebrating Chelsea’s 3-0 win over Man U, self-combusted as illustrated in the diagram . (In fairness though, it’s not that easy to see what to do here: capturing on b4 allows a rook to invade. Fritz suggests the not-obvious-in-time-trouble Rh2…) Monday: (av 2161) WIN 5-3 against Warwickshire Select (2202) With all eyes on the glittering array of Super-GMs in the Wood Green – Guildford Div 1 decider, it was disappointing to find the room set aside for remote viewing empty, as the equipment didn’t work, and with the match taking place in a room too small to house more than 15 spectators, a frustrating afternoon resulted for the chess groupie. Fortunately Oxford were back into the groove and some interesting chess resulted. Alex, Kieran and Kemal all recorded wins to reach 2 ½ / 3 for the weekend, with Kemal showing style (diagram ) with 17. … h5! with the point 18. Qxh5? Qc6! winning a piece) and immense cool in the double rook ending which ensued. The lower boards provided the interest, with Ian losing against Nick Thomas (2252) who’d dropped down a few boards in search of an IM norm for the event, and the Battle of the Bling on board 8, with Lateefah in the diagram position having recovered from being outplayed in the opening, now misjudging the ‘grovel’ position (29. Qxd3 is necessary) and allowing Black’s queen to run riot in the empty spaces surrounding the White king.

29.Bxb4 Qxf3 30.Bxe7 Rxe7 31.Kh2 Ne3

32.Ng1 Ng4+ 0-1

DIVISION 4, 4NCL – rounds 5, 6, 7 & 8…


RESULTS to date: Oxford 2 Oxford 3

05 Nov 05 Rd 1 Celtic Tigers WIN 4 ½ - 1 ½ Gloucester Gambits LOSS 1 - 5

06 Nov 05 Rd 2 Cheddleton LOSS 2 - 4 Nottingham LOSS 2 ½ - 3 ½

03 Dec 05 Rd 3 Gloucester Gambits LOSS 2 ½ - 3 ½ King Takes Pawn WIN 5 - 1

04 Dec 05 Rd 4 Braille CA WIN 4 ½ - 1 ½ SCS LOSS 2 ½ - 3 ½

11 Feb 06 Rd 5 The Conquistadors WIN 5 – 1 Richmond B DRAW 3 – 3

12 Feb 06 Rd 6 Pride & Prejudice LOSS 1 – 5 Celtic Tigers LOSS 2 ½ - 3 ½

18 Mar 06 Rd 7 Metropolitan WIN 4 ½ - 1 ½ Guildford ADC 5 LOSS 2 – 4

19 Mar 06 Rd 8 Guildford 4 DRAW 3-3 Halesowen WIN 4 ½ - 1 ½

FIXTURES to come: Round 9 draw (27 May 2006) Glos Gambits Vs Pride & Prejudice

Brown Jack Vs Cheddleton

Guildford-ADC 4 Vs Nottinghamshire 1

Athenaeum 1 Vs Oxford 2

Metropolitan Vs SCS

Monmouth Vs Cavendish

Warwicks Select 2 Vs 3Cs Oldham 2

Grendel's Mother Vs Suffolk Punches

Slough Sharks 4 Vs Sussex Mindsports

Braille CA Vs The Conquistadors

FCA Solutions 2 Vs Cambridge Uni 2

Oxford 3 Vs Pontypridd

King takes Pawn Vs Richmond B

Halesowen Vs Celtic Tigers

Addlestone Vs Nottinghamshire 2

Guildford-ADC 5 Vs Athenaeum 2

This is a preview of the position in Weisin Tan – Tom Eckersley Waites (p. 31) Weisin starting to struggle…

With three rounds to play in late May, all to play for. Oxford 2 can still achieve promotion but as the table over indicates, it needs to improve on its results against its fellow competitors; that said, we seem to have played most of our near rivals – and more than all except Athenaeum (our next opponents). With 41 points probably guaranteeing a place in the top four, that shows the way to a points tally of 14 from the next 18 games… Oxford 3’s ambitions, though more modest, should nonetheless be stated: mid-table obscurity. (See arrows next page). As this involves basically winning all our matches (or scoring 11 points), this represents an exciting challenge for a team that has been “otherwise challenged” too often this year. Reports & stuff follow. Thanks to Dave for his stuff on Rounds 5 & 6.

4NCL Division 4: Rounds 5-8, reports, round-ups, what you will…


League Tables after Round 8 Notes:

1. Swiss : 11 rounds 2. Top FOUR sides promoted, no relegations issues 3. GAME points decide

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 GP MP

1 Pride & Prejudice xxx 4 4 6 5 4 4 38½ 16

2 Cheddleton 2 xxx 3 4 3½ 3½ 30½ 13

3 Guildford-ADC 4 2 3 xxx 3 3½ 29½ 11

4 Brown Jack 0 xxx 4½ 3 28½ 11

5 Glos Gambits 1½ xxx 3½ 2½ 27 11

6 Oxford 2 1 2 3 2½ xxx 4½ 27 9

7 Notts. 1 xxx 2½ 26½ 10

8 Athenaeum 1 2 2½ 2½ 3 3½ 3½ xxx 3½ 26½ 9

9 Metropolitan 2½ 1½ 2½ xxx 3½ 26 10

10 Monmouth 2 2½ xxx 25 8

Division 4: Table after Round 8

(positions 11 – 19 = mid-table obscurity)

Team 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 GP MP

20 Braille CA xxx 3½ 2½ 4 23 7

21 Cambridge Uni 2 xxx 3½ 2½ 5½ 4½ 22½ 8

22 FCA Solutions 2 2½ xxx 3 5 4½ 22½ 5

23 Celtic Tigers 3 xxx 1½ 3½ 4 5 2½ 22 7

24 Notts. 2 3½ 2½ xxx 4½ 4½ 22 6

25 Pontypridd 2 4½ 1½ xxx 4½ 4½ 22 6

26 Oxford 3 2½ 1½ xxx 2 5 3 4½ 22 5

27 Guildford-ADC 5 4 xxx 5 21½ 6

28 King Takes Pawn 3½ 1 xxx 4 3 3 20½ 7

29 Richmond B 1 2 3 xxx 4 4½ 3½ 20 7

30 Addlestone 1 1½ 1 2 2 xxx 5 5½ 15* 4

31 Halesowen ½ 1½ 1½ 3 1½ 1 xxx 5 15 3

32 Athenaeum 2 1½ 1½ 3½ 3 2½ ½ 1 xxx 12 * 3

4NCL: Rounds 5-8, reports and round-up


11/12 FEBRUARY: NOTTINGHAM Rounds 5 and 6: Ace reporter, Mr Mojo The Four Nations Chess League gathered at Nottingham for the third weekend of division 4. Most took the direct route up the motorway. Some chose the county back roads until persuaded that Nottingham was further from Oxford than the northern provincial outpost of Banbury. The Oxford crew were the usual suspects, with Will Burt having been persuaded to make his first appearance of the year. Pete’s arrangements had been impeccable but the sudden influx of chess-players seemed to play havoc with the hotel registration. Will and myself were booked into the same single room. ‘We’re friends’ I explained to the receptionist ‘but not that good friends’. A hasty amendment was made! Oxford 2 faced a close match in prospect against the Conquistadors who out-graded us on the top boards but this was balanced by our strength in depth. My team orders were to ‘hold’ the top three boards and to win the bottom boards. The match started with a bang. Within 45 minutes my opponent blundered a piece and resigned on move nine. Aidan followed orders by taking a grandmaster draw and Graham produced the following cute miniature. �� + +�+�� +�� +��+�+� �+�+�+�+" !��+�+"+# $+�+�+"+�% &"�""�Q++�+' (+*-.)+�+)/ 0123456789 Cork (1955)– Morris (2025)

Cork,David J (1955) - Morris,Graham P (2025) [B80], 11.02.2006 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.f3 Be7 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 Qc7 9.0–0–0 Nc6 10.g4 b5 11.Be2 Bb7 12.h4 Rc8 13.h5 b4 14.Nb1 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Nxe4 Diagram

16.fxe4 Bg5 17.Bxg7 Qxc2# 0–1

So by a quarter past 3 the three of us were checking out the local hostelry rewarded ourselves with a glass of our favoured beverage. When we returned Matt wrapped up nicely to make it a clean sweep on bottom boards (Editor’s note: this game is provided at the end of this report). In fact everything went nicely to plan, only the rebel Duggan disobeyed orders by winning his game - so the match ended 5-1 in our favour. The thirds were facing a tough match against the kids from Richmond. All eyes were on Comet Stembridge which had blazed across Kidlington. A NASA probe sent to analyse its composition found trace molecules of organic matter, hiccupped and broke into a verse of ‘Frere Jacque’ before ending transmission. Simultaneously Norman creperies were forced to take their signature dish off the menu as stocks of Calvados had mysteriously evaporated. A government spokesman said the incidents were unrelated. Meanwhile Comet Stembridge continued in his elliptical orbit to the outer regions of the solar system as evidenced by the following game.

4NCL: Div 4: Round 5, Nottingham / Saturday 11 February 06


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Kenyon (1731)– Stembridge (1960)

Kenyon,Scott JM (1731) - Stembridge,Ed (1960) [B20] , 11 Feb 06 1.e4 c5 2.a3 e6 3.b4 Qf6 4.Nc3 cxb4 5.axb4 Bxb4 6.Bb2 Qg6 7.Nge2 Na6 8.Nb5 Nf6 9.Rxa6 bxa6 10.Nc7+ Kd8 11.Nxa8 Qxe4 12.Qa1 Nh5 13.c3 Nf4 14.f3 Diagram 14...Nd3+ 15.Kd1 Nf2+ 16.Ke1 Nd3+ 17.Kd1 ½–½

Will, no doubt much relieved that the rooming circumstances had been settled satisfactorily, relaxed enough to play a long game and extract revenge on a former foe, while Justin, playing black, reached the following position where he decided to risk the king and pawn endgame.

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Glover,Robert E (1795) - Hadi,Justin (1895) [B22], 11 Feb 06 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.d4 e5 6.Be3 Bg4 7.Be2 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Nc3 exd4 10.Nxd4 Qxg2 11.Bf3 Bxf3 12.Qxf3 Qxf3 13.Nxf3 Nge7 14.0–0–0 Bxc3 15.bxc3 Rd8 16.Rxd8+ Kxd8 17.Nd4 Kc8 18.Nb5 Nf5 19.Nxa7+ Nxa7 20.Bxa7 Re8 21.Rd1 Kc7 22.Rd5 Nd6 23.c4 Ra8 24.c5 Rxa7 25.cxd6+ Kd7 26.Kb2 Ra6 27.Rf5 f6 28.Rb5 b6 29.Rd5 Diagram The game continued…29…. Ra5?! 30.Rxa5 bxa5 31.Kb3 Kxd6 32.Ka4 Kc5!? 33.Kxa5 h5 34.a4 g5 35.Ka6 f5?? (35…Kc6=) 36.a5?? (Kb7!) Kc6! 37.Ka7 f4 38.a6 Kc7 39.Ka8 h4 40.h3 f3 41.a7 g4 42.hxg4 h3 43.g5 h2 44.g6 h1Q and ended prettily 45.g7 Diagram 45. … Qh7 46.g8Q Qxg8# 0-1

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Henbest (1855)– Hadi (1730)

Henbest,Kevin B (1855) - Hall,Toby J (1730) [B01], 11 Feb 05 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Bb5+ Nbd7 4.Nc3 a6 5.Bxd7+ Bxd7 6.d4 Bg4 7.f3 Bf5 8.g4 Bg6 9.Nge2 Nxd5 10.Nxd5 Qxd5 11.Nf4 Qd6 Diagram 12.Nxg6 hxg6 13.f4 Qd5 14.Kf2 Qe4 15.Kg3 0–0–0 16.c 3 e6 17.Re1 Qc6 18.Qe2 Be7 19.g5 Rh7 20.Bd2 Rdh8 21.Qe4 Rh3+ 22 .Kf2 Rxh2+ 23.Kg1 Qxe4 24.Rxe4 Rh1+ 25.Kg2 Rxa1 26.d5 Rd1 27.B e3 Rxd5 28.Bd4 Rhd8 29.Kf3 Rf5 30.Ke3 Bc5 0–1

4NCL: Div 4: Round 5, Nottingham / Saturday 11 February 06


Editor’s note: Dave’s report briefly mentioned Matt’s superquick win, which I thought made for more interesting reading in slightly elongated format! �� +�+�� +� ��+�+�� +�+�+�+� �+�+�+�+� !*�"��"�+�+# $�"�+��"*��% &��+"+++�+' (�)�+Q�)�+./ 0123456789

Ludbrook (2039)– Foster (1950) �� +�+�� +� �+�+�+�� +�+�+�+� ��+�+�+� !��"��"*+�+# $�"�+++*+�% &��+"+�-.�+' (+�+)+�+)/ 0123456789

Black to move (24)

Ludbrook,Matt - Foster,James C [B01], 11.02.2006 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.Be2 Nf6 5.a3 c6 6.b4 Qc7 7.Bb2 Bf5 8.Nf3 Nbd7 9.0–0 e6 10.Re1 Bd6 11.d4 0–0 12.Na4 Nd5 13.g3 Ne3 an interesting double-piece sacrifice: is it sound, though? 14.fxe3 Bxg3 15.hxg3 Qxg3+ 16.Kh1 Be4 Diagram at the moment, Black isn't threatening anything - perhaps Nd7-f6-g4, but it's not altogether clear how White unwinds this position while keeping the win in hand. Fritz suggests 17.Qd2 Qh3+ 18.Kg1 Qg3+ 19.Kf1 f5 but only rates it as +0.81 – a fairly slender assessment for a 2-piece investment. 17.Rf1 But this allow Black to claim a draw instantly by Qh3-g3-h3. Instead of which... 17...Nf6 18.Nc3 bizarrely, White continues to give Black this option, which is refused yet again! 18. Qe1 was the correct move, surely. 18...Qh3+ 19.Kg1 Ng4? Black's grasp of math fails him at a critical juncture: Q + pawns against 4 developed pieces is no contest. 20.Nxe4 Nxe3 21.Kf2 Nxd1+ 22.Raxd1 a5 23.Rh1 Qf5 24.Bd3 Diagram 24...Qd5 25.Nf6+ 1–0 The moral seems to be that if both sides insist on playing for a win, then someone is bound to lose in the end…

Sean avoided all winning attempts in order to demonstrate his staying power and drawing technique in the endgame ( ½ - ½, 75) . The latter feat he was to repeat in the next round ( ½ - ½, 91). Meanwhile the squad gathered in the pub across the road, dined and entertained themselves with blitz chess with the additional entertainment of avoiding the intermittent torrents of Justin’s beer. After all this fun Sunday proved to be an anticlimax. Oxford 2 were paired against runaway leaders Pride & Prejudice with GM Aaron Summerscale on board 1 and WGM Harriet Hunt on board 2. So outgunned on top boards it was down to the lower orders again to get a result. However my dismal record against the fairer sex continued and though I escaped with a draw, as did Matt, Graham blundered horribly to Heather Lang so the great result of Saturday was reversed and we went down 5-1.

When Will’s promising attack faded in the last quarter Oxford 3 were also in trouble and Sean’s rearguard action this time could not save the match. The only entertainment was provided by Ed whose star is showing no signs of fading. Witness this neat finish.

4NCL: Div 4: Round 6, Nottingham / Sunday 12 February 06


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Stembridge (1960)– Spencer (1902)

Stembridge,Ed (1960) - Spencer,Douglas (1902) [C25] . 12 Feb 06 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 d6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bg4 5.Nge2 Be7 6.f4 exf4 7.Bxf4 0–0 8.0–0 Nbd7 9.Qd2 c6 10.a4 Ne5 11.Bb3 Ng6 12.Ng3 d5 13.Rae1 d4 14.Nce2 Bd6 15.Bxd6 Qxd6 16.Qg5 Ne5 17.h3 h6 Diagram 18.Rxf6 Qb4 19.Qc1 gxf6 20.hxg4 Nxg4 21.Nf5 Rad8 22 .Rf1 Qc5 23.Rf4 Ne3 24.Rf3 Qe5 25.Rxe3 dxe3 26.Qxe3 1–0

The next weekend is 18/19 march at West Bromwich. Contributions are being sought out to provide essential equipment required to the future success of the teams: an intravenous dip to provide alcoholic refreshment to Justin without hazard; and a Sat Nav for Kev. Mr Mojo Editor’s after-note: Chris Duggan played two miniatures that are remarkably similar in character. On the Saturday, his opponent plays a naff opening, Chris responds a little casually and by move 18 Black is back in the game. On the Sunday, Harriet produces as banal an opening sequence as only she can, leaving Chris in a comfortable position. In each case, the lesser-graded player is ‘back in the game’ with good chances for an upset. So, look what happened next…

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Duggan (2035)– Prizant (1931)

Duggan,Chris - Prizant,Michael [B27], 11.02.2006 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 Bg7 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 d5 6.e5 Nc6 7.Qb3 Nh6 8.Bd3 0–0 9.Nc3 Bg4 10.Be3 Bxf3 11.gxf3 e6 12.Qxb7 Rc8 13.h4 f6 14.h5 Rf7 15.Qb3 g5 16.Rg1 fxe5 17.dxe5 [17.Bxg5? Nxd4!] 17...Nxe5 18.Be2 Diagram

and now Black, despite his dodgy opening, is back in the money seat: after 18...Nf5 19.Bxg5 Qa5 he’s doing well: 20.h6 Nxf3+ 21.Bxf3 Nd4 is illustrative, not forcing (but strong). Instead of which: 18...Nxf3+?? 19.Bxf3 Rxf3 20.Bxg5 Qb6 21.Qxb6 1–0

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Hunt (2352)– Duggan (2035)

Hunt,Harriet - Duggan,Chris [B51], 12.02.2006 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.0–0 Bd7 5.Re1 Nf6 6.c3 a6 7.Bf1 Bg4 8.d3 e6 9.Nbd2 Be7 10.a3 d5 11.e5 Nd7 12.Qa4 Bh5 13.g4 Bg6 14.Qf4 Qc7 15.Qg3 h5 16.g5 Diagram 16...h4?! 17.Nxh4 Rh5 18.Ndf3 Ncxe5? 19.Nxe5 Nxe5 2 0.Bf4 1–0

4NCL: Division 4. ROUND 7, Birmingham, Saturday 18 March


And after the heady heights of Nottingham in January, it was soon time to return to the Park Inn, West Bromwich – the hotel chain which continues to defies all expectation by having something new not work for each weekend. Once, a door fell off its hinges; other times, the heating was uncontrolled… this weekend’s speciality was the Bar, which was closed to cater for a regional meeting of Funeral Directors. Much and all as I like the north, and the pleasant accents of the staff, I’m looking forward to the rest that will be the change of venue in 2006-07… details of which can be found at: http://www.4ncl.co.uk/hotel2006.htm ROUND 7: Saturday 18 March 2006 Oxford 2 (av. 2069)

Rd 7 Metropolitan (2072) WIN 4 ½ - 1 ½ Oxford 3 (av. 1833)

Rd 7 Guildford ADC5 (1923) LOSS 2 – 4 With Oxford 2 well in the hunt for promotion this year (top four teams go up), a strong-enough team started off breezily against Metropolitan, with only top board Aidan Rawlinson struggling… … to make sense of his decision to encase his Bb7 in a specially constructed pawn bunker. An early draw by Ray Starkie on Board 2 aside, the other four boards were set fair: even Sean seemed to have got over the shock of having arrived early for his A&G pickup and seemingly justifying his inclusion in the “must-win” board 6 position. �� + +�� +� ��+�+�-�"� ��+�+��)� ��+�+�+� !�+��"�+�+# $+�+�+�+�% &"�"*�Q��""+' (+.+)+�+�/ 0123456789

Fogarasi (2174) – Bruce (2015)

White to play . A minor setback on board 3 when Dave found himself a piece to the good after a speculative sacrifice. Play continued: 25.Rdh1 at which point it seems sensible to put a piece on h8 to prevent any promotion tactics, but which one? 25 … Rh8? The King was needed here, after which White has nothing, and Black’s counterattack starts to build with … Qf5, etc. Dave was probably influenced by an earlier tactic which prevented the King going to h8. 26.Qg5 Nc6 27.R6h3 e5 28.Qh6+ Kf6 ½–½ A nervous draw, with Black still in the driving seat, but the route to victory isn’t that clear-cut, and the road is speckled with speed traps.

By now, Graham Morris had completed an impressive technical grind on board 5, relentlessly chewing opposition pawns without offering a glimmer of counterplay or even time trouble, while Matt Ludbrook was completing a textbook conversion in a Closed / King’s Indian Vs Pirc: �� +�+�+�� +��+�� +��+��Q� ��"�+� !�+��"+�+# $+��*"+��"�% &"�""+�++�"' (+�-.�+)�*)/ 0123456789

Ludbrook (2039) – Fegan (2065)

Black to play. The sort of position that plagued my youth when featuring in the “How good is your chess” monthly feature. Although White’s position is analogous to the closed Sicilian, his king has committed itself a bit early; by way of compensation he has control of the f-file… 13...0–0–0 14.Bh3 dxe5 overlooking White's principal threat. 15.Rxf7 … nice… Nec6 16.Nf3 Bxh3 17.Qxh3+ Kb8 18.Ne1 b5 Black, though strategically busted still has some visual tactical stuff to try against the white king. Matt calmly deals with each sally... 19.Kb1 b4 20.Nd5 Ne2 21.Qe6 Ned4 22.Qf6 Rhg8 23.Nf3 b3 24.axb3 Qa6 25.Nxe5 Rc8 26.Ne7 Rgd8 27.Nxc8 Nb4 28. Qxa6 1–0

4NCL: Division 4. ROUND 7, Birmingham, Saturday 18 March


This left the team 3-1 to the good, which became a “match win” when Aidan blithely sacrificed his ‘castled’ bishop as follows 30...Rc7? Actually it’s debatable if this is really a blunder, as Fritz suggests that Black ditch the c6 pawn with … Rf8. 31.Qd8+ Qxd8 32.Rxd8+ Kg7 33.Rxa8 Bxb4 at which point it’s high time to walk out for some fresh air and leave the opponent some time trouble in which to find a saving continuation… 34.Bc2 … and if this isn’t the US Cavalry, I’m going tone deaf. 34.Ra6 Bxc5 35.Rxc6 clarifies the winning task. But now Black can rid imself of the c5 pawn,and his queen-side pawns are pretty good compensation. So… 34. … Bxc5 35.Nb3 Ba7 ½–½ a decision that Fritz seems to endorse in some part.

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Noden (2209) – Rawlinson (2173)

One game remained, and with every point counting to promotion prospects, it seemed that Dave Bruce’s gamble in selecting Sean for Board 6 had failed, since your correspondent was presiding over a sizeable plus wasting away to a palpably poor position. Rather than suffer death by grinding, White jettisoned the exchange but he’d picked up some positional dry rot as a pair of rooks pecked away at the position:

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Terry (2000) – Cooke (1880)

White looks completely busted, but in the age of Fritz (and the time of trouble) nothing is entirely certain. 36...Rhg2+ 37.Rxg2 Rxg2+ 38.Kh5 I thought this was forced, as a move to the f-file allowed the h-pawn to promote without interference. As it happens, Fritz thinks this is equal after 38.Kf4 since if 38...h5 39.c5 one of White's central pawn mass is threatening to get queened... 38...Rxa2 39.Kh6 Rb2 40.Kg7 [40.Kxh7 Rxb3 41.Kg6 Rg3+ 42.Kh5 is too slow, and with White's king trapped and Black's a-pawn about to run, it's hard to think of a swindle.] 40...Rg2+ [40...h5 41.f6+ Kd7 42.Ne6 Rg2+ 43.Kh6 Rf2 44.Kg6 is still ok for white; 40...Rxb3 41.f6+ Kd7 42.Ne6 Rf3 43.c5 which I thought was good for Black, is rated as winning for White! ] 41.Kxh7 Kf7 42.Kh6 Re2 43.c5 desperation - but Ne6 or Kg5 was better. 43...Kf6?? 44.Ne8+ Ke7 45.Nxd6 Re3 46.Kg5 Rg3+ 47.K f4 Rxb3 48.e5 and White won

Meanwhile, upstairs the third team were going astray, having started the game with a player too many (Jeffrey Levicky having turned up), against a team that had one too few, our initial extra point was swamped by a team stronger to the tune of c. 100 points / board, and with games where none of the top four seemed to get a foothold in their positions for long enough to give their higher-graded opponents the opportunity to go astray. Larissa Cooke, playing on board 5 after Kevin Henbest swapped boards with her so as not to waste her day’s travel, was an exception and before returning to Oxford put a gloss to the scoreline:

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Mills (1705) – Cooke L (1550)

22.b4 Bf2 23.Nd4 Although White has succeeded in losing an exchange, he doesn't find the best way. 23.Bf7+ Kh8 24.Re2 Bxe2 25.Qxe2 Rxf7 26.Qxf2 Rff8 27.Nh4 restores material equality and keep White on top, thanks to the advanced e-pawn. 23...Rb6 and now White miscalculates the exchanges that follow, leaving Black well on top - an advantage that Larissa doesn't let slip. 24.Nxc6? Rxc6 25.b5 Bxb5 26.Rxb5 Bxe1 27.Qxe1 Rd8 28.Bh5 g5 29.Qe3 Rb6 30.Rxb6 axb6 31.h4 Ra8 32.Qd2 Ra5 33.Bf3 Qd6 34.hxg5 hxg5 35.e7 Qxe7 36.Bxd5+ Kg7 37. Be6 Rb5 38.Qe2 Rxf5 decent 39.Qc4 Re5 40.Bf5 Rxf5 encore 0–1

4NCL: Division 4. ROUND 7, Birmingham, Sunday 19 March


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afterthought : my comments on the top board performances by Oxford 3 were no doubt influenced by the plethora of Pelicans on boards 1 & 3 - something which usually has me reaching for my alarm clock. Fritz now finds that Justin’s position (left) provided a resource which Black didn’t notice during the game. Play continued 23...fxe4 24.Nxd6 Bxd6 25.Qxd6 Qf5 26.Rf1 Rf6

and white’s pawn structure won out at the end of the day. Instead 25. … Qf7! eyes mate via f2 while spearing the rook on a2: after 26. Rf1 Qxa2; 27. Qxc6 Rxb2 the white position collapses.

Sunday 19 March 2006 Oxford 2 (av. 2101)

Rd 7 Guildford ADC 4 (2117) DRAW 3 – 3 Most of us woke on Sunday to the sound of bat on ball, as England strove to make headway against India in the Third Test at Mumbai; some (traditionalist) others preferred to watch the affair develop on Ceefax rather than sprawl in the lobby in front of the TV. Breakfast showed (unusually) that Saturday night hadn’t been unkind to the Oxford contingent. Only your correspondent seemed sheepish, having finally lost patience in the Chinese restaurant the night before: a one-hour hour wait, followed by another 40 minutes with no sign of a waiter-with-ordering-pad adds up to one thing nowadays to a medium-aged buffer: mini-strop followed by hasty exit. Breakfast was a pleasant affair, even with a long queue for the coffee machine. (Seriously, though: what is this craze with the fancy coffee makers? – and what’s wrong with a filter coffee maker or caffeine tureen? At Nottingham, I offered my Sunday opponent a cup of coffee after 6 hours, and trundled off to the counter. The first cup arrives in about a minute; the second cup is delayed while the machine goes into ‘automatic self-cleaning cycle’. After eight minutes, I had to resign myself to a caffeine-free last session and rush back to the board after about 10 minutes….)

Oxford 2 were strengthened by the return of Ray Starkie, the arrival of Dave Hackett, and the relegation of Sean to the upper reaches of the thirds. Dave found himself up against Justin Horton on board 3, Justin playing his last game as a resident of London prior to his departure for Spain, and a draw was on the cards after the fourth move of an Exchange Ruy appeared on the board. Ten more moves elapsed while Justin wondered what carrot could induce a Chelsea fan this Sunday to agree an early draw (=, 14). Another early draw on four saw Matt Ludbrook mumbling about cowardly play in the Exchange French, and it seemed that everybody had something better to do than play for a win this particular Sunday when a 40-move draw resulted from this highly-unbalanced position in Graham’s game (right ).

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Morris (2025) - Stimpson (2135) 10...Nxa4 11.Qxa4+ Qd7 12.Qxd7+ Kxd7

But, after Ray had lost courtesy of an uncharacteristic tactical blunder in a difficult queen-less middle game, we needed something from either Aidan (white on 1) or Dave (black on 4), each of them playing their own brand of French Defence, which involves plenty of risk and no rest for the spectators. I had with characteristic Sunday-morning gloom written off Aidan’s position here as better for Black:

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Rawlinson (2173) - Punnett (2173) 18.Bb4 Qb6 19.Bd6 Qa5 20.Qxa5 Nxa5



but Fritz airily takes White’s side from here to the end of the game (drawn, 54). This left the team relying on Captain Bruce to spin something from the Winawer web… Dekker,Alain S (2116) - Bruce,Dave J (2015) [C18] 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 7.Qg4 Qc7 8.Qxg7 Rg8 9.Qxh7 cxd4 10.Kd1 (Diagram)

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Black to play (10) �� +�� +�� +�+�+�� +�+�+� �+�+��"��*� !�+�+��"�+# $�"��++Q+�% &�+"+�+"�"' (�)��+.+�+)/ 0123456789

Black to play (18)

The starting point for many of Dave's games; having picked up a concession with White's last move, Black has good chances providing he (a) weaves his way through the tactical morass; and (b) remembers and distinguishes between the various theoretical lines open to both sides. 10...dxc3 11.Nf3 Nbc6 12.Ng5 Rf8 A curious move, but Dave reasons that since ... Nd8 is seen in GM play that this has to be worth a twirl. 13.f4? Qb6! 14.Bd3 [This is a bit slow and thoughtless. Fritz recommends 14.Qh3 with the idea of Nh7-f6+, and sees White as +0.78, albeit that the position is simply double-edged.] 14...Bd7 15.Qh5 0–0–0 and by now the position is technically equal. White has made no troubling advances with any king-side pawns (g4, h4) while his black squares are troublingly weak. 16.Nh7? (too late!) 16...Rh8 17.Qf3 Nf5 18.Ng5 Diagram 18...Rxh2! 19.Rxh2 Qg1+ 20.Qf1 [if 20.Ke2 Ncd4#!] 20...Qxh2 21.Bxf5 exf5 22.Nxf7? Qh5+ 23.Qf3 Qxf7 [This will do, but 23...Qh1+ 24.Ke2 Nd4+ was more emphatic.] 24.Qxc3 Qh5+ 0–1

This left the scores tied at 3-3, and all to play for in late May… Meantime, in Wantage… the following carnage was witnessed (as reported in the Oxford Times…) Robertson,Stuart - Moyse,Nigel [E73] OCA 1 wan - cow Oxford, 27.02.2006 1.d4 âf6 2.c4 g6 3.âc3 ºg7 4.e4 d6 5.ºe2 0-0 6.ºg5 h6 7.ºf4 ¼e8 8.Qd2 ¾h7 9.0-0-0 âbd7

10.âf3 âg4 11.e5 âxf2 12.e6 fxe6 13.¼df1 âxh1 14.ºd3 e5 15.ºxg6+ ¾xg6 16.ºxh6 ºf6 17.âg5 âc5 18.Qc2+ e4

19.âcxe4 âxe4 20.Qxe4+ ¾h5 21.âf7 Qd7 22.Qh7 ¼h8 23.âxh8 Qf5 24.¼xf5+ ºxf5 25.Qxf5+ 1-0

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11.e5 Nxf2 12.e6 fxe6 13.Rdf1

Nxh1



Oxford 3 (av. 1911) Rd 7 Halesowen (1890) WIN 4 ½ - 1 ½

Meanwhile, upstairs and considerably closer to the cricket coverage, City 3 – playing against one of the lowest performing sides of the Division – were looking decidedly ropey after the first half-hour. On top board, Sean was being attacked in a King’s Gambit Muzio – a little strange, given he was shepherding the White pieces at the time, while next door Jon Smith was barely awake when this happened: (1.e4 c5 2.b4 cxb4 3.a3 d5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.Nf3 e5

6.axb4 Bxb4 7.Na3 Nc6 8.Nb5) �� +�+�+�� +�+�� +�+�+�+� �+*+��+� !��+�+�+# $+�+�+*+�% &�+"�"��""�"' (�)��+Q-.++)/ 0123456789 Cooper (2065) – Smith (1935)

8...Ba5?? 9.Rxa5 1–0 With a killer check to follow on c7 – or d6 if Black plays an intermediate …Qe4+. Given these setbacks on the top boards, the gloom was palpable – and other positions worsened accordingly. Fortunately, Philip Bull wasn’t paying any attention to the nearby disasters and rolled out this brevity on board 3: Bull,Philip (1865) - Ambrose,Andy (1920) [A03] 19.0 3.2006 1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 g6 3.Bd3 Bg7 4.f4 d5 5.Nf3 c5 6.c3 Bg4 7.Nbd2 cxd4 8.exd4 Nc6 9.0–0 Qc7 10.Qb3 0–0 11.Ne5 Diagram

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Black to play (11) �� +�+�� +� ��+�� +�+�� +� �+�+�+�+� !�+��"�+�+# $+��"+�+�+)% &"�"Q+�+"�"' (�)�+�+�-.�/ 0123456789

White to play (18)

Philip clearly likes this opening set up, having entertained readers of Disinformator 34 with his adventures in an earlier round of 4NCL (Bull-Dixon), which ended in a dubious draw in about 40 moves. Here though he's got a better grip on the centre, and accordingly a clearer basis for hacking his way through to the black king. 11...Rad8 12.Ndf3 Bxf3 13.Rxf3 e6 14.Qc2 Unless my eyes deceive me here (and this prepares a queen-side push), here’s a far sighted hacker's move preparing the sacrifice on g6 after a bit of weakening (... h6 or ... f6) 14...Nd7 15.Be3 Ndxe5 15...f6 is probably preferable: although it allows aforementioned hack, Black does have a defence available. Now Black's king side gets further weakened after… 16.fxe5 f6 17.exf6 Rxf6 18.Rh3 Rdf8 Diagram 19.Bg5 R6f7 20.Bxg6 attaboy... 20...hxg6 21.Qxg6 … Now Fritz reckons that (say) 21...Rb8 with the sample follow-up 22.Re1 e5 23.Qh7+ Kf8 24.Bh6 Bxh6 25.Qxh6+ Ke7 26.dxe5 is good enough for a draw. Yeah, right. This being a Sunday in Division 4, a Black blunder or a white overstretch is more likely; and the former wins out here. 21. … Rf6? 22.Qh7+ Kf7 23.Bxf6 Kxf6 24.Rf1+ 1–0



This early equaliser cheered us all immensely, so that – looking once more at the remaining games, it was clear that some sort of editorial apology was called for, because the weather forecast had improved considerably. On top board, Sean’s king was out walking the dog in the empty king-side pastures of a near-equal ending; Marco’s position had ceased to announce “dodgy” to all that would look, and Kevin was defying Fritz to reduce to an ending only marginally worse:

Hendrickson,Jason (1625) - Henbest,Kevin B (1855) [ E67], 19 Mar 06 1.d4 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.Nf3 0–0 5.0–0 d6 6.c4 Nbd7 7.Nc3 e5 8.d5 a5 9.a4 Nc5 10.Nd2 Bf5 11.f3 Bd7 12.Qc2 c6 13.e4 cxd5 14.cxd5 Qb6 15.Nc4 Qc7 16.Be3 Rfc8 17.Rfd1 Ne8 18.Bf1 Qd8 19.Rd2 Rab8 20.Na3 Nxa4 21.Qb3 Nc5 22.Bxc5 Rxc5 23.Na4 Bh6 24.Nxc5 Bxd2 25.Nxd7 Qxd7 26.Nc4 Bb4 27.Nxa5 Bc5+ 28.Kg2 Ra8 29.Bb5 Qe7 30.Bxe8 Qxe8 31.Ra2 Qe7 32.Qc4 Qc7 Diagram

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White to play (33) �� +�+�+�+� �+�-��+�+�� +��+�+� �+"��"��+� !�+�+"+�+# $+�+.+"�"�% &�+*+�+��"' (+�+�+�+�/ 0123456789

White to play (42)

for reasons best known to its innards, Fritz prefers White to the tune of 0.56; my at-the-board instincts were to favour Black in a straight contest, but certainly Kevin’s a lot more comfortable now than a few more previously!

33.b4 Bb6 34.Rc2 Perhaps frightened by the prospect of pins on the a-file, White gets an attack of caution, thereby chucking a bit of advantage overboard. Instead, after 34.Qxc7 Bxc7 35.Ra3 (clever move) 35...Bxa5 36.Rxa5 Rc8 White's b-pawn is a lot healthier than its counterpart.

34...Qxc4 35.Nxc4 Rc8 36.Na3 Rxc2+ 37.Nxc2 Kf8 and once Black gets his king to e7, the longer range of the now-free bishop will begin to tell (White to offer a draw).

38.b5 Ke7 39.Kf1 Bc5 40.Ke2 Kd7 41.Kd3 White needs to be careful here: (a) 41.Ne3 Bxe3 leads to a lost K+P ending; but either (b) 41.g4 Kc7 42.Kd3 (putting all pawns on white squares) or (c) 41.Na1 Kc7 42.Kd3 f5 43.Nb3 seem to hold 41...Kc7 Diagram around about here is where a firm draw offer is required for the lesser-graded White; but usually a gap of 200 points is sufficiently daunting to prevent such overtures unless the drawing mechanism is known. 42.Ne1? Kb6 43.Kc4 Bg1 and now one of the black-squared pawns is lost and 0-1 in 55.

44.h3 Bf2 45.Ng2 Bxg3 46.Ne3 h5 47.Kb4 Be1+ 48.Ka4 Kc5 49.Nc2 Bd2 50.Na3 f5 51.b6 fxe4 52.fxe4 g5 53.Kb3 g4 54.hxg4 hxg4 55.Nc4 Bf4 0–1 Terry,Sean (2000) - Pugh,Glyn D (2080) [C37], 19 Ma r 06 This game produced an entertaining post-mortem not only for followers of the Rook & Pawn ending, but those who enjoy watching cultured players blanch at unusual moves in bog-standard opening positions. Here, it was fun to play over this the first 10 moves in the company of Matt Ludbrook, whose eventual silences we now attribute less to cowed admiration than stunned surprise, as the King’s Gambit Muzio was the victim of my ignorance. Oddly enough, I’m sure I played this rubbish once also from the Black side, in a Long Hanborough game about 8 years ago, and found the endgame resulting at move 10 not half as promising as I’d imagined it would be. It seems only fair to point out, however, that had Black found 9...g3 10.Nf4 f2 11.Qa5 (11.Qc3 Qxh2) 11...Ng4 12.Qxc7 Nd7 13.h3 Nh2+ 14.Ke2 (etc) that the post-mortem might have been shorter and sweeter … and this brief report (and endgame) non existent! 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.Bc4 g4 5.Ne5 Qh4+ 6.Kf1 Nh6 7.d4 d6 8.Nd3 f3 9.Qe1 fxg2+10.Kxg2 Qxe1 11.Rxe1 c6 12.Nf4 Ng8 13.Nh5 b5 14.Bd3 Nd7 15.Bf4 Bb7 16.Kg3 Ngf6 17.Nxf6+ Nxf6 18.e5 Nh5+ 19.Kxg4 Nxf4 20.Kxf4 0–0–0 21.Nc3 dxe5+ 22.dxe5 Bh6+ 23.Kf3 Bd2 24.Re2 Bxc3 25.bxc3 c5+ 26.Kf4 c4 27.Bf5+ Kc7 28.a4 a6 29.axb5 axb5 30.Rg1 Diagram



White has just refused a draw to reach this ending where he has a continuing edge, but no definite win. This counts as a lucky return for someone who could have been wiped out at move 9 had Glyn played like Fritz:

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Black to play (30) �� +�+�+�� +�-��+�+�� +�+�+�+� �+�+��"�+� !�+�+�-.�+# $+��"�+�+�% &�+"+)+��"' (+�+�+�+�/ 0123456789

White to play (42)

30...Bd5 31.Rg7 Rde8 32.Rxh7 Having gotten to here, I gave up on playing 32.e6 thinking that after 32...Kd6 (or Rhf8) White's rooks became too active. As it happens 33.Rxf7 is a clear pawn plus as 33...Bxe6 loses outright to 34.Rf6 32...Rxh7 33.Bxh7 Be6 34.Bf5 Rh8 35.Bxe6 fxe6 Diagram "... and the endgame is won". Fritz agrees on everything except the methods chosen - and in the end doesn't help find a winning scheme of things. 36.Rd2 "cutting the king off" - well, it works in the books huh? [instead, 36.Kg5 Kd7 37.h4 Ke7 38.h5 Rg8+ is the Fritz method] 36...Rh3 37.Kg4 Rxc3 38.h4 Re3 [38...b4 39.h5 b3 40.cxb3 cxb3 41.Rb2 Rc4+ 42.Kg5 Rc3 43.h6 Rh3 was what we examined afterwards, and couldn't get White to win it.] 39.h5 c3?? a final blunder after some solid defence made the draw likely: Black loses a tempo (... Rxe5) while allowing White gain another with his next. 40.Rh2 Rxe5 41.h6 Rd5 42.h7 1–0

Greet,Andrew - White,Michael [B30] Kidlington 2006 Oxford (2), 04.02.2006 1.e4 c5 2.âf3 âc6 3.ºb5 âf6 4.âc3 Qc7 5.ºxc6 Qxc6 6.0-0 âxe4 7.âxe4 Qxe4 8.¼e1 Qd5 9.b3 d6

10.c4 Qh5 11.d4 ºg4 12.¼e3 g6 13.dxc5 ºxf3 14.gxf3 Qxc5 15.ºb2 ¼g8 16.b4 Qg5+ 17.¾h1 ºh6 18.Qa4+ ¾f8

19.Qd7 Qh4 20.¼e4 ºf4 21.¾g2 Qxh2+ 22.¾f1 ºe5 23.ºxe5 dxe5 24.¼ae1 f6 25.Qxb7 Qh3+ 26.¾e2 ¾f7 27.¼d1 ¼gd8

28.¼d5 Qc8 29.Qxc8 ¼axc8 30.¼a5 ¼d7 31.c5 g5 32.¼c4 h5 33.c6 ... and 1-0 in due course

Starkie,Ray - Chola,Stanley [A00] Kidlington 2006 Oxford (2), 04.02.2006 1.âc3 c5 2.âf3 d5 3.d4 e6 4.e4 âf6 5.ºg5 dxe4 6.âxe4 cxd4 7.ºxf6 gxf6 8.Qxd4 Qxd4 9.âxd4 f5 10.ºb5+ ¾e7

11.âc3 a6 12.ºa4 b5 13.ºb3 ºb7 14.f3 ºg7 15.0-0-0 ¼d8 16.âxf5+ exf5 17.¼he1+ ºe4 18.¼xd8 ¾xd8 19.fxe4 ºxc3 20.bxc3 fxe4

21.ºxf7 ¼a7 22.ºd5 ¼c7 23.¾b2 âd7 24.¼xe4 âc5 25.¼e3 âa4+ 26.¾b3 âb6 27.¼d3 ¾e7 28.¾b4 ¾d6 29.ºb7+ ¾e5 30.ºxa6 âd5+

31.¾xb5 âxc3+ 32.¾b6 âb5 33.ºxb5 ¼xc2 34.a4 ¼xg2 35.¼h3 ¼g6+ 36.ºc6 h6 37.a5 1-0

KIDLINGTON 2006


Open 1st Andrew Greet 5/5 2nd Tiruchirapalli Venkat 4/5 = 3rd Mssrs Lappage, Rose & Moyse 3 ½ / 5 Major http://home.btconnect.com/OCA/Kidlington%20Chess%20Congress%2006%20%20U170-%20Results.html = 1st Ed Stembridge (142); Roy Williamson (168) 4 ½ / 5 = 3rd Rich McNally (155), John Waterfield (157) and James Angus (159) 4 / 5 Minor : http://home.btconnect.com/OCA/Kidlington%20Chess%20Tournament%2006%20%20U125-%20Results.html 1st Leszek Jaworski (115) 5 / 5 2nd Colin Eckloff (110) and Rob Thompson (107) 4 ½ / 5 =3rd Mssrs Brindley Bunn Curtis Leeson Martin and Webb 4 Another top drawer effort from the organisers made for another memorable Kidlington, and a second successive win for Andrew Greet , now rumoured to be close to the top of the BCF Grand Prix. Andrew, though not lacking in adventure as a close shave (game left) in Round 2 against Michael White showed, played his usual hard competitive chess throughout, and was spared the agonies of last round nerves when Kieran Smallbone ’s coat pocket went ringtone crazy after 15 moves of the final round. Post mortem analysis in the A&G – Oxford’s premier après match chess locale – replayed the events in detail and the tell-tale “telephone check” turned out to be an audible but not very loud tinkle. While not a satisfactory end to this part of the event – particularly so, since the fateful call came at a time when your correspondent was away at the coffee stand, thus depriving the readers of a first-hand rendition of the drama and pathos of the tournament climax – the FIDE-inspired ringtone rule has set off a ding-dong of sharply divided views on the need for the rule, its severity and the like. Disinformator Central takes the view that the rule is probably barmy, but doubts there’s much purpose in taking to the streets to have it rescinded. There are a lot things worse wrong with FIDE that need attending to. And while we wait the result of the Olympiad power struggle vote on the FIDE presidency, it’s probably as well to obey (and enforce) the rule. Besides, no one should have to win a game twice, after all. In the meantime, and while I draft a stern Dear Larry memo to all chess girlfriends about the importance of timing one’s telephone conversations at critical junctures of major chess events, it’s probably time to call on the makers of Fritz, etc., to provide new symbols indicating the reason for an implausible-looking ending to a game. We present on the next page two illustrations where we know what caused the loser to resign, and two others (culled randomly from a passing pgn file) where the game ends early, without a clear reason. And, apart from 1-0 (time) perhaps Black simply panicked? Did love call? Surely there must be a computicon which translates perfectly the sense of exasperation and premature resignation conjured up so perfectly by the phrase Gegen diesen Idioten muss ich verlieren?! That apart, Kieran had a fine tournament, playing the White pieces especially with the freshness and sense of novelty of someone who… quite frankly, hadn’t played the white bits in about a decade. Venkat once again came second to Greet, and his last-round nerve is something that many stronger players would pay to borrow. Jon Lappage secured himself entry to the UK Championships in the summer. In the Major Ed Stembridge carried on the good form from Cork 2005 and secured a share of top place after a Calvados-inspired end to day 2, which he kept the crowd at the A&G hilariously amused with his strong annotational style - (most OTB decisions being articulated by a “… ahhh fukkit”) in his game against Michael Kobylka . Ed’s reflective account of the event can be found – as yet without games yet, alas (but with some pictures and some interesting reflections on the local beer ‘n’ violence scene) at:

http://users.ox.ac.uk/~chess/events/kidlington2006.html In the Minor, and despite strong local entrants, nobody made it to the top dollar, although Malcolm Brindley and Alex Bunn came through in the end to joint third.

KIDLINGTON 2006


Smallbone, Kieran− Greet,Andrew (223) [A45] Kidlington U225 (5.1), 05.02.2006 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 e6 3.e4 h6 4.Bxf6 Qxf6 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Qd2 d5 7.Bd3 c5 8.a3 Ba5 9.e5 Qd8 10.b4 cxd4 11.Nb5 Bc7 Diagram

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12.f4 ding dong 0-1

Horton,Justin − Pitterman,Jan [A09] Marianske Lanka, 2006 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.cxd5 Qxd5 4.Nc3 Qd8 5.d4 Bg4 6.d5 Bxf3 7.exf3 Ne5 8.Bf4 f6 9.Bxe5 fxe5 10.Qa4+ Kf7 11.Qb3 Nf6 12.Bc4 Kg6 13.0-0 a6 14.f4 exf4 Diagram

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15.Rfe1 and the phone rang... 1-0

Of course in Can – Tezok, Black is already sinking in the mire, but given his play to that point, why resign just then? Can,E (2281) − Tezok,Cevdet Sinan [C42] 7th ch−Euro Kusadasi TUR (11), 15.04.2006 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Be7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Re1 f5 9.c4 Nc6 10.Nc3 Nxc3 11.bxc3

Kh8 12.Bf4 Bd6 13.Bxd6 Qxd6 14.c5 Qf6 15.Qb3 Ne7 16.Re3 c6 17.Rae1 Ng6 18.Ne5 Nf4 19.Rf3 Diagram

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19...Ne6 1-0

Narciso Dublan,M (2525) − Delchev,A (2661) [A40] 7th ch−Euro Kusadasi TUR (1), 04.04.2006 1.c4 b6 2.d4 Bb7 3.Bg5 h6 4.Bh4 Nf6 5.Bxf6 exf6 6.e3 Bb4+ 7.Nd2 d5 8.Qa4+ Nc6 9.Ngf3 0-0 10.Rc1 a6

11.Qc2 Re8 12.Be2 dxc4 13.Qxc4 Bxd2+ 14.Kxd2 Re7 15.Rhd1 Qd6 16.g3 Nb4 17.a3 Nd5 18.Rc2 Diagram

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18...f5 0-1

KIDLINGTON 2006


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Stembridge - Kobylka 15...Qb6 16.Qf4 Bg7 17.Be3 Qc7

White - Venkat 25...Nf4 26.Rxe8+ Rxe8 27.Qf3

Smallbone - Lappage 16.Nd2 Qe5+ 17.Kf2 Qd4+ 18.Kf1

Stembridge,Ed - Kobylka,Mikhail [B07] Kidlington 2005 m Oxford (2), 04.02.2006 1.e4 d6 2.d4 âf6 3.âc3 g6 4.h4 h5 5.âf3 ºg4 6.ºc4 c6 7.e5 âg8 8.ºxf7+ ¾xf7 9.âg5+ ¾e8 10.f3 ºc8 11.e6 Qa5 12.d5 Qa6

13.Qd4 âf6 14.b4 ¼g8 15.a4 Qb6 16.Qf4 ºg7 17.ºe3 Qc7 18.b5 ¼f8 19.0-0 Qa5 20.Qc4 ¼g8 21.âf7 c5 22.¼fb1 âh7 23.ºd2 ºd4+ 24.¾h1 âd7

25.âe4 Qc7 26.exd7+ ºxd7 27.c3 ºg7 28.âeg5 âxg5 29.âxg5 ºf5 30.¼e1 Qd7 31.¼e3 ºf6 32.Qf4 ºe5 33.Qc4 ºf6 34.âh7 ¾f7 35.¼ae1 ¼ae8 36.¼e6 ¾g7

37.Qf4 ¾f7 38.g4 ºe5 39.¼1xe5 dxe5 40.âg5+ ¾f8 41.Qxe5 ºxe6 42.dxe6 ¼d8 43.exd7 ¼xd7 44.Qf4+ ¾e8 45.Qf7+ ¾d8 46.âe6+ 1-0

(57) White,Michael - Venkat,Tiruchirapalli [D58] Kidlington 2006 Oxford (5), 05.02.2006 1.d4 d5 2.âf3 âf6 3.c4 e6 4.âc3 ºe7 5.ºg5 0-0 6.e3 h6 7.ºh4 b6 8.¼c1 ºb7 9.ºxf6 ºxf6 10.cxd5 exd5 11.b4 c6 12.ºe2 ¼e8

13.0-0 âd7 14.Qb3 âf8 15.¼fd1 âe6 16.b5 c5 17.dxc5 âxc5 18.Qb1 ¼c8 19.âd4 ºxd4 20.¼xd4 âe6 21.¼d3 d4 22.ºf1 Qg5 23.exd4 ºe4 24.¼e1 ºxd3

25.Qxd3 âf4 26.¼xe8+ ¼xe8 27.Qf3 ¼e1 28.g3 âe6 29.¾g2 Qc1 30.Qa8+ âf8 31.âd5 ¼xf1 32.âe7+ ¾h7 33.Qxf8 ¼g1+ 34.¾f3 Qd1+ 35.¾e4 ¼e1+ 36.¾d5 Qf3+

37.¾d6 Qf6+ 38.¾d7 Qe6+ 39.¾e8 f6 40.h4 ¼d1 41.Qf7 Qxf7+ 42.¾xf7 ¼xd4 43.h5 ¼d8 44.g4 a6 45.bxa6 ¼a8 46.âg6 ¼a7+ 47.¾f8 ¼xa6 48.¾f7 ¼a7+ 0-1

Smallbone,Kieran - Lappage,Jon (201) [B96] Kidlington U225 (3.3), 04.02.2006 1.e4 c5 2.âf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.âxd4 âf6 5.âc3 a6 6.ºg5 e6 7.f4 âc6

8.âxc6 bxc6 9.e5 h6 10.ºh4 g5 11.fxg5 âd5 12.âe4 Qb6 13.ºd3 hxg5 14.ºxg5 Qxb2

15.exd6 f5 16.âd2 Qe5+ 17.¾f2 Qd4+ 18.¾f1 ºxd6 19.âf3 Qg7 20.c4 âc3 21.Qd2 âe4

22.ºxe4 fxe4 23.Qxd6 Qxa1+ 24.¾f2 Qb2+ 25.âd2 Qb6+ 26.c5 ¼f8+ 27.Qxf8+ 1-0

Odds & Sods…


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OCA 1 − didcot, 08.03.2006

Black has just played ...g5: how did White reply?

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Kidlington 2006 (2), 04.02.2006

And here it’s White to move and …

GM Wells simultaneous exhibition, 21 February 2006 As reported in the Oxford Times recently, Peter Wells gave a Simul at the University on 21 February, conceding a few draws and a couple of losses. The more human of the victors was Marco Zhang, who hung on long enough to lull the visiting GM into overlooking a non-standard cheapo; this is the second, featuring the final year project work of an engineering student, Alan Dowling (Exeter). (see cover page) Peter chose an enterprising line against the machine, which looked to be in a lot of trouble around move 14, when it crashed. After about 5 “passes”, it came back to life to win in some style by revealing White’s 24th move to be hot on visuals but tepid in the analytical department: ideal, in other words, for a second viewing in Disinformator. 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 b5 4.a4 c6 5.axb5 cxb5 6.b3

Bd7 7.bxc4 b4 8.d4 a5 9.Ne5 Nf6 10.g4 Nc6 11.Bg2 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Nxg4 13.c5 Ra7 14.Qd4 Qc8 15.0-0 Qb8 16.Bb2 f6 17.f4 Bb5 18.e6 g6 19.Rd1 Bg7 20.c6 0-0 21.Qc5 Bh6 22.Rd7 Diagram

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Wells,Peter − Engine 10 [A09]

Simultaneous 2006 Oxford, 21.02.2006 22...Bxf4 23.exf4 Qxf4 0-1

DIVISION 2, NCL – 2005-06 season


League Tables after Round 8 Notes:

4. All play all (11 rounds) 5. Top three sides promoted, bottom three sides relegated 6. MATCH points decide

Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 GP MP

1 Bristol 1 xxx 5½ 5 4 5½ 6 4½ 3 5 38½ 13

2 White Rose 2½ xxx 4 4 5 5 4½ 4½ 5½ 35 12

3 S. Wales Dragons 1 4 xxx 3½ 5½ 2 5½ 5 5½ 7 38 11

4 Cambridge Uni 1 3 4 4½ xxx 5 2½ 5 5 5½ 34½ 11

5 Warwicks Select 1 4 3 2½ xxx 5 4½ 5 5 4½ 33½ 11

6 Wood Green 3 6 3 3 xxx 4½ 4 5½ 3 7 36 9

7 Oxford 1 2½ 2½ 5½ 3½ xxx 3½ 4½ 5½ 5 32½ 8

8 Wessex 1 2 3 3 3½ 4½ xxx 4½ 3½ 5½ 29½ 6

9 Richmond A 3½ 3½ 3 4 3½ xxx 4½ 5½ 2½ 30 5

10 Perceptron Youth 5 3½ 3 3 2½ 3½ 3½ xxx 6½ 30½ 4

11 N.W. Eagles 2 2½ 2½ 3 5 2½ 4½ 2½ 1½ xxx 24 4

12 Guildford-ADC 3 3 2½ 1 3½ 1 2 2½ 5½ xxx 21 2

Round 9 - 14:00 Saturday 29 April 2006 Perceptron Youth Vs South Wales Dragons 1 Oxford 1 Vs White Rose Wood Green 3 Vs Wessex 1 Cambridge University 1 Vs Guildford-ADC 3 North West Eagles 2 Vs Bristol 1 Warwickshire Select 1 Vs Richmond A Round 10 - 13:00 Sunday 30 April 2006 Guildford-ADC 3 Vs North West Eagles 2 Richmond A Vs Oxford 1 Bristol 1 Vs South Wales Dragons 1 Wessex 1 Vs Perceptron Youth Cambridge University 1 Vs Warwickshire Select 1 White Rose Vs Wood Green 3 Round 11 - 11:00 Monday 1 May 2006 Perceptron Youth Vs Guildford-ADC 3 Wood Green 3 Vs Bristol 1 Richmond A Vs Cambridge University 1 South Wales Dragons 1 Vs Wessex 1 North West Eagles 2 Vs White Rose Warwickshire Select 1 Vs Oxford 1

MESSAGE from our LEADER: The final 4NCL division 2 weekend is a 3-rounder coming up at the end of the month. Our first team is doing solidly: http://www.4ncl.co.uk/0506_div2table.htm 1/3 will see us stave off relegation, and 3/3 might well get us promoted. Kieran [email protected]

4NCL: Div 2: Round 5, Birmingham / Saturday 14 January 06


Round 5 (av. 2157) 14 Jan 06 Rd 5 Wessex 1 (av. 2206) LOSS 3½ - 4½

A round in which no one seemed entirely comfortable, and results were accordingly mixed, with a striking number of results hinging on the weakness (or otherwise) of the traditional weak squares: f2 / c2 On top board, Ben had already played 18 or so rapid-fire ‘laboratory’ moves in the Tromp before falling into a mate (or worse): all this before the spectators had settled into their rooms, but the rot only set in when 3 other boards turned against us from favourable positions: Ian Webster (6) had the better two bishops in an ending, but wrongly picked up a pawn by transposing into a drawn opposite bishop ending; Kieran’s queen for a rook and minor looked like it was worth a full point until a surprise pseudo-sac on f7, while Alex (game below) took a series of wrong views to spoil a decent if difficult position. With Kemal’s position taking a mashing along the c-file against Rawle Allicock (2309), and Tim holding the draw against another 2300 in the strong line-up, this effectively decided the match score in favour of Wessex, leaving David Shaw and newcomer Nicola Mangion to score a couple of fighting wins from dubious positions.

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Nicola ends up playing against a former schoolmate, and a tight struggle ensues, at the end of which Selina seems to be in control. As the game enters the 7th hour, White wins a bishop, but allows Black too many tempi in so doing and the lowly h-pawn decides the game. 53.a5 Kxg2 54.a6? White’s plan is too slow; by allowing Black to sacrifice the bishop for a pawn on a7 sacrifices 2-3 tempi. Instead 54.Nd4 threatens a5-a6 etc, which forces Bxa5, or: 54. … Bf2 55.Kc4 Bg3 56.a6 Bb8 57.Nc6 Kxh3 58.Nxb8] White can still draw however, but…: 54...Bf2 55.a7 Bxa7 56.Nxa7 Kxh3 57.Ka6 [57.Kc4 g4 58.Nc6 g3 59.Nd4 g2 60.Ne2 Kg4 61.Kd3 h5 62.Ke3 is probably good enough to draw] 57...g4 58.b4 g3 59.b5 g2 60.b6 g1Q 61.b7 Qg6+ 62.Ka5 Qd6 6 3.Nc8 Qb8 64.Kb6 h5 65.Na7 Kg2 66.Nc6 Qd6 67.b8Q Qxb8+ 68.Nxb8 h4 0– 1

Milovanovic,Aleksander (2220) - Upton,Ian J (2259) [D30], 14 Jan 06 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 e6 4.e3 Bd6 5.b3 Nf6 6.Bd3 Nbd7 7.Bb2 Qe7 8.Ne5 c5 9.Nd2 0–0 10.0–0 b6 11.e4 cxd4 12.Nc6 Qe8 13.exd5 Nc5

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Milovanovic (2220) – Upton (2259)

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Milovanovic – Upton, 14 Jan 06 White gets an easy game from the opening but a curiosity from the post-mortem was how neither side felt they had a good position during the opening phase (or to the extent that White did, he nonetheless felt uncomfortable). In the diagram position, I prefer the simpler if riskier-in-the-longer-term 14. Nf3 to Bb1, (which isn’t itself bad, although the follow-up isn’t played with any great conviction). 14.Bb1 [14.Nf3 Bd7 (or 14...exd5 15.cxd5 Nxd3 (15...Nxd5 16.Bxh7+) 16.Qxd3) 15.Ncxd4 15...Nxd3 16.Qxd3 exd5 17.cxd5 Nxd5 18.Ng5 g6] 14...exd5 15.Nxd4 Nce4 16.N4f3 Just to show how contrary this game is, Fritz approves of this, but rates the other knight move, 16.N2f3 to be better for Black: dxc4 17.bxc4 Qd7. 16...Bc5 17.Nxe4 [17.cxd5 Nxd2 18.Qxd2 Ne4 19.Bxe4 Qxe4 20.Rfe1 Qg6 21.Ne5 Qd6 22.Nc4 1.22/11 ] 17...dxe4 18.Bxf6 gxf6 19.Qd5 (Diagram)

19...exf3 20.Qxa8 White temporarily nets an exchange here, and he might also consider the draw by perpetual that was available with 20. Qh5 Bxf2+; 21. Kh1 f5; 22. Qg5+. Bxf2+ 21.Kh1 Bd4 22.Be4 [The decisive error: 22.Bd3 Bxa1 23.Rxa1 Qe5 24.Rf1 is Fritz’s suggestion, while; 22.Bxh7+ Kxh7 23.Rae1 Qd8 24.Qxf3 also suggests itself.] 22...Bxa1 23.Rxa1 Qe5 24.Rg1 f2 0–1

4NCL: Div 2: Round 5, Birmingham / Saturday 14 January 06


Something goes amiss with the Savage opening prep, as his better pawn structure is overshadowed when a snap mate comes to town

While here, an empty-square sacrifice on f7 helps White to hold onto his extra material and force Kieran to accept a draw.

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21...Rc8+ 22.Kb3 Bc2+ 0-1 Savage – Simons

Saturday, 14 Jan 06

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29.Be6+ Kh8 30.Bf7 Qxd3+ 31.Kg4 Qe2+ 32.Kg3 Qd3+ ½-½

Tunks – Smallbone Saturday, 14 Jan 06

Dave Shaw’s season started its about-turn with this victory (below right) against Michael Yeo, which avenged in part the spectacular mating combination unleashed against him by the same opponent in the 2003-04 season (below left)

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24...Qd4+ 25.Kg5 h6+ 26.Kg6 Qg4+ 27.Kf7 Qf5+ 28.Kg8 Qf8+ 29.Kh7 Be4+ 0-1 [30. Ng6 Nf6 is a pretty mate]

Shaw – Yeo

4NCL, May 2004

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57.Rg7+ Kh4 58.Kf4 [not the Fritz recommendation, which is: 58.Nf5+ Kh5 59.Kf4 Rf1+ 60.Ke5 Ng4+ 61.Rxg4 Kxg4 62.Ne3+ but Black had given up hope by this stage…] 58...Rxb2 59.Nf5+

Kh5 60.Rg5# 1-0

Shaw – Yeo

Saturday, 14 Jan 06

4NCL: Div 2: Round 6, Birmingham / Sunday 15 January 06


Round 6 (av. 2219) 15 Jan 06 Rd 6 Guildford ADC 3 (av. 2119) WIN 5 – 2 *

The final score somewhat flattered the victors, after the game was reduced to 7-a-side status when Oxford –initially informed that Guildford were missing one player, told Jeffrey Levicky not to turn up, and then could not re-raise him when an 8th player materialised for the opposition. An easy win for Ian on board 7 against the hyperactive youngster, Stephanie Hale gave Oxford a good start and the lead was doubled after Ben’s quick win on top board. These two wins cancelled out a long-term loss by Kieran and a difficult looking position for Kemal on board 2, which eventually he ground down to a draw on move 30. A longer draw by Tim, once again showcasing the 2. Na3 variation of the Sicilian, left the result of the match depending on Alex and Dave Shaw. �� +��+ +� ��+�+�� +�+��+� �+�+�+�+� !"+"�"��*��*# $�+"+��"��"�% &�+)+��"++' (+�+��Q)+./ 0123456789

Allinson (2121) – Shaw (2200)

White to move . An unnerving game for the spectator; especially for one who supports Black, but has the feeling that White has the better position! By the diagram position I felt the position was adequately blockaded by the Knights, a view which Fritz seems to confirm with his assessment of (+ 0.97). Fritz now suggests 22. Nhg6 but not [22.f3 Nxe3 23.Qxe3 Qxg3 24.Nfg6 Ng4 25.Qg1 Bxh4.] but it’s not clear where this is going; and it may be that this is the sort of position that Fritz can’t evaluate properly and / or explain it to the average player in the time I’ve allowed it ! My guess though is that White’s opportunities for a plus were squandered a few moves earlier… White seems to have shared these views, and he folded planlessly after: 22...Ne4 23.Bc1 Ngxf2+ 24.Rfxf2 Nxg3+ 25.Kh2 Bxh4 2 6.Qd1 Qh6 27.Rf3 Ne4 28.Rh3 Bg3+ 0–1

Ben’s whispered assessment around move 33 “… an edge here”, spoken with an apologetic shrug: two moves later, it’s 0-1 against former Oxford Univ team-mate, Paul Cooksey.

Game of the day was Alex’s win against Matthew Anderton, a speculative pawn sac leading to a queenless middle-game hack and a final blunder by Black on his 40th timetroubled move.

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28.b4 Nc2 29.Nc6 Kf8 30.Kf1 Ke8 31.Be2 Kd7 32.Ne5+ Ke7 33.Nd3 [33.Nc6+ Kd6 34.Na7 Na3 35.Bd3 Kc7 is a better grovel, but it’s Sunday…] 33...Kd6 34.Bf3 e5 35.e4 f5 0–1

Cooksey - Savage Sunday, 15 Jan 06

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40...Bxb5 41.axb5 Be5 42.b6 [and now 42.Nxe5+ Kg7 (if 42...dxe5 43.Rh7+) 43.Nc6 is the simpler, Fritz−preferred option.] 42...Rb7 43.Rh7+ Bg7 44.Nxd6+ Kg6 45.Nxb7 Kxh7 46.Nd6 1-0

Milovanovic – Anderton (M)

Sunday, 15 Jan 06

4NCL: Div 2: Round 6, Birmingham / Saturday 04 March 06


Round 7 (av. 2149) 04 Mar 06 Rd 7 South Wales Dragons (2203) LOSS 2½ - 5½

Notwithstanding the arrival of Lateefah Sparks as bottom board girlie – she provided a useful half-point against Julie Wilson – we found ourselves in early difficulties on too many boards to be able to avoid defeat – notwithstanding some fighting comeback efforts such as Graham’s, below. Early difficulties on the top and bottom boards didn’t resolve themselves and a largely stagnant middle order performance resulted in defeat that finally put paid to chances of promotion for the year. Another bright spot was Kieran’s performance on board 4. A disappointing performance which dents the promotion prospects… �� +�� +� ��+�+�� +�+��+� �+�+��+� !"�"�+"+�+# $+��+++�+�% &*+�+Q�""�"' (�)�+�+)-.�/ 0123456789

Blackburn (2208) – Smallbone Saturday 4 March

It continues to amaze how easy (and interesting) Kieran makes some positions with the Black bits - structurally solid, AND here comes a hack. White, faced with a difficult recapture on f3, sees some tactics (Nd7-e5 wins a piece?!) and decides on a pawn recapture. [This turns out to be the lesser of two grovels, as Fritz suggests 17.Qxf3 Bxc3 18.Nxc3 Ne5 19.Qg3 Qxd3 20.Qxe5 Rfe8 21.Qc5 b6 22.Qe3 Qxe3 23.fxe3 Nxe4 as a possible escape route to a lost ending, albeit only a pawn down.] The pawn recapture doesn’t directly lose a piece, but the route to the White king is now marked. Kieran takes the safety scenic route, but still emerges with a +8 position by move 27. 17.gxf3 Nh5 18.Rfd1 Qh4 19.Bxe5 Nxe5 20.Qe3 Rae8 21 .Nc3 Nf4 22.Bf1 Re6 23.Ne2 Nxe2+ [after the zwischenzug 23...Rh6 24.h3 Nxe2+ will soon force White to sacrifice with Qxh6] 24.Bxe2 Ng6 25.Bc4 Re5 26.f4 Nxf4 27.Kf1 Qxh2 28.Qf3 Rh5 29.Ke1 Rh3 30.Qg4 h5 31.Bxf7+ Rxf7 32.Rd 8+ Kh7 0–1

Ian gets un-done by the legendary Sven Zeidler after an innocuous move allows a spectacular refutation

an interesting end in Chapman – Morris C sees Graham’s opponent over-press just before time control

with the natural looking 39. … c2, which allows for a possible escape on move 43 which Graham overlooks – otherwise we’d be publishing the Immortal Grovelling

game instead of a mere diagram…

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14...Nf5 15.Nxd5 cxd5 [15...Nxh4 16.Nxc7+ Kd7 17.Nxa8] 16.Bb5+ Nd7 17.Nxe6 fxe6 18.Qf6 1-0

Zeidler (2203) - Webster (2119)

Saturday, 4 Mar 06

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39...c2 40.Bb2 c1Q 41.Bxc1 Nxc1 42.Rh8+ Kd7 43.Rb8 [43.g6 b2 44.gxf7 Ne2+ 45.Kh4 b1Q 46.f8Q] 43...Be4 44.Kf4 Bg6 45.Ke3 Kc7 46.Rb4 a5 47.Rb5

Kc6 48.Rb8 a4 49.Kd2 Nd3 50.f3 b2 0-1

Chapman (2100) - Morris (Charles) (2203) Saturday, 4 Mar 06



Round 8 (av. 2171) 05 Mar 06 Rd 8 Perceptron Youth (2070) WIN 4½ - 3½

We don’t have an official team song, but the “Great Escape” might be adopted temporarily after this closest of close shaves against fellow relegation travellers, Perceptron Youth. An inexplicable win by Ben Savage was followed equally quickly by a reverse on board 3 (Tim Dickinson) and a GM draw on board 1 (Kemal). All seemed to be going to plan, until Ian W and Jon Levicki got turned over by the Peceptron girls on boards 7 & 8: all this after 3 hours’ play. This left Kieran, Alex and James Coleman needing to win their games to get the result – and though it took time… the win was eventually assured when Alex completed the opposite bishop ending and James closed out a Benoni / Benko style mess.

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Black (to move) resigns

Savage (2310) – Bigg (2272)

Sunday 5 Mar 06

Post-match analysis:

“Fritz says I’m plus 1”

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Hillman (1999) – Milavanovic Sunday 5 Mar 06

These games are a lot easier when viewed in retrospect, and perhaps a bit easier when you’re playing them. But they are hell to spectate, particularly when a win is required, and when Ben is part of the assessment panel. As it happens, White has too many weaknesses (g2, d3, b3) to be able to guard them all, and in the event allows the h-pawn to slip through to promotion. (Even with best play it’s not feasible to hold the game : 51.hxg4 hxg4 52.Be2 Kg3 53.Bd1 f3 54.gxf3 gxf3 55.Bc2 Kf4 56.Ke1 Ke3) 45...Kg5 46.Ke2 f5 47.Ke1 f4 48.Kf1 Kh4 49.Ke1 g5 5 0.Kf1 g4 51.Bd1 Kg3 52.Be2 f3 0–1 A fine grind…



Tim Dickinson gets the lash from Tom Eckersley-Waites, who was probably in the mood for Oxford blood after his loss the previous Monday against Weisin Tan (see further below)

Meanwhile, Jeffrey loses his way and rather unfairly finds himself busted after his 13th move. (13. Bf4 and all seems well with the White position)

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12.Bd4 Be8 13.Bxf6+ Kd7 14.Qg4 gxf6 15.Nxd5 f5

16.Qa4+ 1-0 Eckersley-Waites (T) (2116) – Dickinson (2176)

Sunday 5 Mar 06

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13.Re1 Qd4 14.Re2 b5 15.Nxb5 cxb5 16.Bd5 etc and

0−1 Levicki (1880) – Thilaganathan J (1900)

Sunday 5 Mar 06

It seems a shame to waste the remainder of this page with waffle, so let’s show how Weisin Tan managed to beat Tom E-W the previous Monday… … actually we can’t (it all happened in the blitz finish), but here’s the last known diagram and some idea of what happened next. (The picture version of this game starts on page 8 and continues on 38…)

A similarly interesting specimen occurred in my game against Jon Manley at Kidlington – and the same fate awaited me, as it happened. There must be a prize to be claimed for an inability to rein in a +3.00 advantage…surely?

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Weisin Tan – Tom Eckersley-Waites OCA 1 (City – Univ)

and … a tense few moves later in the time scramble, White changed a pair of rooks, Black lost his way - then

a further four pawns… 1–0 (sic)

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Terry – Manley Kidlington 2006

White to play and fritter it all away™

Frank Wood Shield Final – match report


Will Burt reports Cowley 1 v Oxford City 1

24th April 2006 at Cowley Community Centre The favourites Oxford City ran out comfortable winners by the margin 4½-1½ completing a remarkable season for my former club: they also won Divisions I, II and IV in the league (they had no team in Division III). The match scorecard was as follows: Board Cowley 1 Result Oxford City 1

1. Jonathan Lappage (201) 0-1 Matt Rose (197)

2. Ray Starkie (183) 0-1 Wei-Sin Tan (c.200?)

3. Nigel Moyse (182) 0-1 John Manley (195)

4. Nick Lee (c.170?) 0-1 Kieran Smallbone (197)

5. Phil Neatherway (168) 1-0 Graham Chapman (170)

6. Heather Lang (158) ½-½ David Scott (c.170?)

Average ratings were c.177 for Cowley and c.188 for Oxford City. Cowley won the toss and had white on the odd boards. I took on the traditional Sean Terry role by noting down the moves to all the games – how does he do it and play a game at the same time?! I also made a few very brief notes as the match unfolded so here they are: 8.07pm It is Cowley to move on all boards 8.19pm Graham Chapman’s mobile goes off but, as far as I know, the OCA has not adopted the FIDE/4NCL

automatic default rule so after some minor raising of eyebrows things continue as normal. After a very odd opening on top board Jonathan Lappage is reading the paper while Matt ponders his tenth move for a long time.

8.28pm Finally Matt makes a move and we’ve reached move ten or beyond on all boards. 8.37pm Kieran’s time management these days seems much improved and he is the last player to reach thirty

minutes on the clock. 8.50pm An astonishing oversight from Jonathan Lappage and it is all over on top board. Did he just miss the

snap mate or was it a case of brain/hand co-ordination breaking down? He had given the position some thought before recapturing with the wrong pawn. Oxford City 1 Cowley 0.

8.58pm Ray plays ...g5! 9.00pm Ray plays ... g4! Nick Lee (Cowley Board 4) and David Scott (Oxford City Board 6) are consuming a lot

of time. 9.13pm Ray plays ...h5! but Wei-Sin looks in control. 9.19pm Nearly at the two hour mark and all players have used at least forty-five minutes. Nick Lee has used

around 70 minutes and looks like he is heading for time trouble. Oxford City look comfortable on all boards except the Neatherway-Chapman game.

9.46pm By now all players have used an hour. Around this time Wei-Sin Tan hauls in a win against Ray Starkie to make it Oxford City 2 Cowley 0. It is hard to see any other result than a City win at the moment.

9.55pm David Scott sues succesfully for a draw on bottom board against Heather Lang to make it Oxford City 2½ Cowley ½.

10.08pm Time trouble and over-the-board pressure are too much for Nick Lee on board four. Kieran’s win makes it Oxford City 3½ Cowley ½ and Oxford City are the winners of the 2006 Frank Wood Shield.

After this Phil Neatherway pulls in a consolation win for Cowley against Graham Chapman but Nigel Moyse loses to John Manley.



The Games

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Board 1: Lappage – Rose 13... Bxd6 14.cxd6 Qxc2# 0–1

Board 2: Tan – Starkie 23.f4 h5 24.Rf2 Rad8

Board 3: Moyse – Manley 21...Nf4 22.gxf4 exf4 23.e5 Qg5

Board 1: Jonathan Lappage v Matt Rose, 0-1 After a bizarre opening Jonathan Lappage’s collosal blunder ends the game abruptly. I think he resigned before Matt Rose was able to play Qxc2# on the board.

Lappage,Jon − Rose,Matt [B00] FWS Final Oxford, 24.04.2006 1.e4 âc6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 ºf5 4.h4 âb4 5.âa3 c5 6.dxc5 Qc7 7.Qd4 âc6 8.ºb5 0-0-0 9.ºxc6 Qxc6 10.ºe3 f6 11.0-0-0 e6 12.âc4 Qc7 13.âd6+ ºxd6 14.cxd6 Qxc2# 0-1

Board 2: Wei-Sin Tan v Ray Starkie, 1-0 The best game of the evening – white’s play is undemonstrative but hugely effective, snuffing out any counterplay and never looking in any trouble at all. Not an immediate eye-catcher but very impressive nonetheless.

Tan,Weisin − Starkie,Ray [A00] FWS Final Oxford, 24.04.2006 1.a3 d5 2.âf3 g6 3.d4 ºg7 4.ºf4 âf6 5.e3 c6 6.ºd3 âbd7 7.h3 0-0 8.0-0 âe4 9.c4 âdf6

10.âc3 âxc3 11.bxc3 Qa5 12.Qb3 dxc4 13.ºxc4 âd5 14.ºxd5 Qxd5 15.c4 Qh5 16.¼ac1 ºf6 17.e4 g5 18.ºe5 Qg6

19.ºxf6 Qxf6 20.Qe3 g4 21.hxg4 ºxg4 22.âe5 Qg7 23.f4 h5 24.¼f2 ¼ad8 25.d5 cxd5 26.cxd5 ¼c8 27.¼fc2 ¼xc2

28.¼xc2 f6 29.âd3 a6 30.¼c7 ¼c8 31.¼xb7 ¼c2 32.âf2 ¼e2 33.Qg3 ¼d2 34.Qe3 ¼c2 35.d6 Qh6 36.âxg4 1-0

Board 3: Nigel Moyse v John Manley, 0-1 Not much action here until the last half hour or so of the match when both sides decide on the same plan of expanding on the kingside. When black gets the better of the tactics the game swings decisively his way.

Moyse,Nigel − Manley,Jon [E91] FWS Final Oxford, 24.04.2006 1.d4 âf6 2.c4 g6 3.âc3 ºg7 4.e4 d6 5.âf3 0-0 6.ºe2 âc6 7.ºg5 Qe8 8.Qd2 e5 9.dxe5 dxe5 10.ºh6 b6

11.ºxg7 ¾xg7 12.ºd3 âh5 13.0-0 ºg4 14.Qe3 âb4 15.âd5 âxd3 16.Qxd3 ¼c8 17.g3 c6 18.âc3 ¼d8 19.Qe3 Qe6 20.b3 Qf6

21.âh4 âf4 22.gxf4 exf4 23.e5 Qg5 24.âe4 Qh6 25.Qc3 Qxh4 26.e6+ ¾h6 27.e7 Qxe7 28.âf6 ºf5 29.¼ae1 Qd6 30.¼d1 Qxd1

31.¼xd1 ¼xd1+ 32.¾g2 ¼fd8 33.Qf3 ¼8d4 34.âg8+ ¾g7 35.Qc3 ¾xg8 36.h4 f3+ 37.¾g3 ¼g4+ 38.¾h3 ¼xc4+ 0-1



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Board 4: Smallbone – Lee 11.Nd5 Nxe4 12.Nxb4 f5 13.f4 Qb8

Board 5: Neatherway – Chapman 20.Na4 Nc7 21.Nxd6 Nb5

Board 6: Scott – Lang 9...e5 10.dxe5 Ng4 11.Qc2 Nb4

Board 4: Kieran Smallbone v Nick Lee, 1-0 An accurately calculated pawn grab, expansion on the queenside and better time management bring in the full point for Kieran. Smallbone,Kieran − Lee,Nick [B90] FWS Final Oxford, 24.04.2006 1.e4 c5 2.âf3 d6 3.d4 âf6 4.âc3 cxd4 5.âxd4 a6 6.ºe3 e5 7.âb3 ºe6

8.ºe2 âbd7 9.0-0 b5 10.a4 b4 11.âd5 âxe4 12.âxb4 f5 13.f4 Qb8 14.âxa6 Qb7

15.âa5 Qc8 16.Qd3 âb8 17.âxb8 ¼xa5 18.âa6 âf6 19.âb4 e4 20.Qd4 ºd7 21.Qb6 ¼xa4

22.¼xa4 ºxa4 23.¼a1 ºd7 24.ºa6 Qa8 25.¼a5 ºe7 26.ºb7 1-0

Board 5: Phil Neatherway v Graham Chapman, 1-0 The middlegame is closely contested but when a pawn on d6 falls Graham’s position implodes. Sound follow-up from Phil and an outside pawn running up the board secure Cowley’s only win of the evening – and a particularly good one too. Neatherway,Phil − Chapman,Graham [A57] FWS Final Oxford, 24.04.2006 1.d4 âf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.b6 d6 6.âc3 âbd7 7.âf3 g6 8.e4 ºg7 9.ºe2 0-0 10.0-0 Qxb6 11.âd2 ¼b8 12.âc4 Qc7 13.Qc2 âb6

14.âe3 ¾h8 15.ºd2 e6 16.a4 e5 17.a5 âbd7 18.âc4 âe8 19.¼a3 Qd8 20.âa4 âc7 21.âxd6 âb5 22.âxb5 axb5 23.âxc5 âxc5 24.Qxc5 f5 25.exf5 ¼xf5 26.b4 e4

27.ºc3 ¼xd5 28.ºxg7+ ¾xg7 29.Qc3+ ¾g8 30.a6 ¼a8 31.Qc6 ¼a7 32.ºxb5 ¼c7 33.Qe8+ Qxe8 34.ºxe8 ¾f8 35.a7 ¼xa7 36.¼xa7 ¾xe8 37.¼xh7 ¼b5 38.¼b1 ºf5 39.¼b2 ¼d5

40.h3 g5 41.¼g7 ºd7 42.¾h2 ºb5 43.¾g3 ºd7 44.h4 g4 45.¾f4 ¾f8 46.¼g5 ¼d4 47.¾e3 ¼c4 48.¼c5 ¼xc5 49.bxc5 ºc6 50.¼b6 ºd5 51.g3 1-0

Board 6: David Scott v Heather Lang, ½-½ A good equalizer from Heather on move nine leaves David happy to settle for a draw in the early middlegame. Both players seemed to be concentrating particularly intensely and, although it was only 23 moves, the game lasted over two-and-a-half hours.

Scott,Dave − Lang,Heather [A87] FW Final Oxford, 24.04.2006 1.âf3 f5 2.g3 âf6 3.ºg2 d6 4.d4 g6 5.b3 ºg7 6.ºb2 0-0

7.0-0 Qe8 8.c4 âa6 9.âbd2 e5 10.dxe5 âg4 11.Qc2 âb4 12.Qc1 âxe5

13.âxe5 dxe5 14.c5 âc6 15.¾h1 h6 16.b4 f4 17.b5 âd4 18.ºxd4 exd4

19.Qc4+ ºe6 20.Qd3 ºf5 21.Qc4+ ºe6 22.Qd3 ºf5 23.Qc4+ DRAW

Will Burt, 25th April 2006

Town – Gown 2006: match report


Sunday 7 May 2006 Town were white on even boards: 36 moves / 90 minutes + 30 mins QP Board Town result Gown

1 Jon Lappage 0-1 Tom Eckersley-Waites

2 Jon D'Souza Eva 0-1 Chris Rawlinson

3 Graham Chapman ½-½ Ben Wagner

4 Dave Bruce 0-1 Seb Straube

5 Mike March 0-1 Graham Morris

6 Sean Terry ½-½ Michael Healey

7 Will Burt 0-1 Ed Stembridge

8 Jeffrey Levicki ½-½ Herve Henson

9 John Yates 0-1 Marco Zhang

10 Alan Collins 1-0 Robert Kiwanaha

result 7 ½ - 2 ½ The annual Town-Gown event took place this year in Univ, was organised by Marco Zhang (Univ) and Gerard O’Reilly (Cowley) and resulted this year in a smashing win for the students, a fitting reply to the dominance of the likely lads in the corresponding fixture, last held in October 2004. With Gerard unable to attend this time around, we are indebted to him for his perseverance in dragging the players to the event, as notwithstanding the one-sided result, a fascinating match ensued, and the notes which follow are based on an uproarious post-mortem at the Turf… Board 1 featured a bright open encounter in the French Tarrasch (see page 37), which both sides contrived to turn into a Winawer style game, with Tom soon playing Qxg7 and eventually winning an exchange with Bh6xf8; Black’s counterplay proved illusory. Things did look brighter for Town on Board 2 , as Jon D’Souza had busted Chris Rawlinson’s standard French razzle (or should I say tabiya?) – see diagram . 33.Nf5? does nothing to stop the mass of passed pawns and the game ends quickly. Dave Bruce did seem to have an advantage with White, but in the diagram position but his draw offer has just been refused. His 28. b4 meets with a spectacular strike by Seb Straube, although Fritz subsequently points out that the desperado 30. Qxd5!! would have given Dave chances of a draw. Further disaster struck on Board 5 when Mike blundered trivially in mild time trouble: the diagram position would not be worth repeating were it not for Mike’s subsequent discovery that in the event of 32...Ra4 (his other candidate move) that the spectacular 33. Nd7!! Is still good for a White advantage. Meanwhile, both players on Board 6 seem to have been playing with a different set of strategic objectives – one can expect the book on the counterpart to the Paris, or Amar Gambit (1. Nh3), to be published on this soon. Tartakower used to defeat Lilienthal in Paris 1933 with 1. Nh3, and the game is given on the next page so that readers can judge for themselves which of the rim-dim knight strategies will survive the test of time… in the game under review, my preference might be for 7. Na3, while Will also notes that “Fritz is pretty happy with black's position as early as move two but by move seven it is struggling to be decide between 7.gxh5 (+0.06) and 7.gxh6 (+0.09) ... although arguably any assessment of this position should be measured in milligrams of an appropriate medication” Terry,Sean − Healey,Michael [A00] TownGown2006, 07.05.2006 1.âa3 d5 2.f4 g5 3.e4 dxe4 4.fxg5 ºf5 5.g4 ºg6 6.h4 h5 7.âc4 e6

8.gxh5 ºxh5 9.ºe2 ºg6 10.ºg4 b5 11.âe3 ºd6 12.¾f2 f5 13.âh3 ¼xh4 14.ºe2 f4

15.âg2 ºc5+ 16.¾f1 Qxg5 17.âxh4 Qxh4 18.Qe1 Qf6 19.d4 ºxd4 20.âxf4 e5 21.ºh5 ºxh5

22.¼xh5 âc6 23.Qxe4 0-0-0 24.c3 ºb6 25.Qf5+ Qxf5 26.¼xf5 exf4 27.ºxf4 DRAW

Town – Gown 2006: match report


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D'Souza−Eva − Rawlinson

33.Nf5 d3 34.Ne3 Re8 35.Nc4 Rxe5 36.Nxe5 d2 0-1

Bruce − Straube 28.b4 Rc4 29.Rxc4 Qxb4 30.Rxc8 Qxd4 31.R8c7 a5

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Morris - March 32...Nd7 33.Nxd7 1-0

Terry − Healey 16...Qxg5 17.Nxh4 Qxh4 18.Qe1 Qf6...

Morris,Graham - March,Mike [A08] TownGown2006, 07.05.2006 1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.âd2 âf6 4.âgf3 c5 5.g3 âc6 6.ºg2 ºe7 7.0-0 0-0 8.¼e1 b5 9.h4 a5

10.e5 âd7 11.âf1 b4 12.â1h2 ºa6 13.h5 a4 14.âg4 âd4 15.ºf4 a3 16.bxa3 âb5 17.axb4 cxb4 18.Qd2 ºb7

19.h6 g6 20.ºg5 ¼a3 21.¼eb1 ¼a4 22.¼b3 ºc6 23.ºxe7 Qxe7 24.¾h2 ¼fa8 25.¼ab1 âc3 26.¼1b2 âxa2 27.âd4 ºb7

28.Qf4 âc5 29.âf6+ ¾h8 30.¼xa2 ¼xa2 31.¼xb4 ¼2a7 32.¼b2 âd7 33.âxd7 1-0

Instead of a games section...


Following on from the antics (or should we say stem game, or tabiya?) that was Terry – Healey… (p35), Will did a bit of research, coming up with: Tartakower - Lilienthal [A00] Paris, 1933 Black fails to come to grips with the game requirements, when as early as move 12 he finds no pawn weaknesses in the White castled position; even so, it’s a bit cheeky of Tartakower to allow a discovered check by the Bg3 with all but one of his pieces on white squares. Will points out that Black falls into oblivion when he misses 19...f5 when Fritz gives 20.Nf5 Qf2! 21.Ng7+ Bxg7 22.Qxg7 Qf3+ with a draw by perpetual check. 1.âh3 d5 2.g3 e5 3.f4 ºxh3 4.ºxh3 exf4 5.0-0 fxg3 6.hxg3 âf6 7.d3 âc6

8.âc3 ºd6 9.ºg5 ºxg3 10.ºxf6 gxf6 11.e4 ¼g8 12.âxd5 ºe5+ 13.¾h1 Qd6 14.c3 ¼g3

15.Qh5 ¼xd3 16.¼ad1 ¼xd1 17.¼xd1 âe7 18.âe3 Qc5 19.Qxh7 âc8 20.Qg8+ 1-0

… all of which leads Will to wonder in an email aside: “Was Lilienthal any good?!” and some quick internet research confirms that the man had this knack of beating the greats:

http://www.chessbase.com/games/2003/lilienthal1.htm features winning games against the likes of Tartakower (also in Paris, 1933, when with the black pieces he managed to punish Savielli for denuding his king-side cover in a Vienna); Marshall, Lasker, and the mighty Chrisablanca… (although some 32 years later the tables were reversed at the Hull School Championships – an honourable blemish nonetheless in a long and distinguished career). Lilienthal Andor - Capablanca Jose [E24] Hastings, 1935 1.d4 âf6 2.c4 e6 3.âc3 ºb4 4.a3 ºxc3+ 5.bxc3 b6 6.f3 d5 7.ºg5 h6 8.ºh4 ºa6 9.e4 ºxc4

10.ºxc4 dxc4 11.Qa4+ Qd7 12.Qxc4 Qc6 13.Qd3 âbd7 14.âe2 ¼d8 15.0-0 a5 16.Qc2 Qc4 17.f4 ¼c8 18.f5 e5

19.dxe5 Qxe4 20.exf6 Qxc2 21.fxg7 ¼g8 22.âd4 Qe4 23.¼ae1 âc5 24.¼xe4+ âxe4 25.¼e1 ¼xg7 26.¼xe4+ ¾d7 1-0

There’s a touch of Tal – Hecht in the queen sacrifice; and at the age of 92 was the guest of honour at the World Rapid Chess Championships held in Cap d’Agde in October 2003. Eckersley-Waites,Tom - Lappage,Jon [C05] TownGown2006, 07.05.2006 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.âd2 âf6 4.e5 âe4 5.ºd3 âxd2 6.ºxd2 c5 7.dxc5 âd7

8.ºb5 ºxc5 9.Qg4 ºxf2+ 10.¾xf2 Qb6+ 11.ºe3 Qxb5 12.Qxg7 ¼f8 13.âf3 Qxb2 14.Qxh7 Qb4

15.ºh6 âc5 16.ºxf8 âe4+ 17.¾e3 Qxf8 18.¼hd1 ºd7 19.c4 ºc6 20.cxd5 ºxd5 21.¼ac1 b5

22.¼c7 âc5 23.¼c1 ºc4 24.âg5 âd7 25.Qe4 ¼d8 26.¾f2 Qa3 27.¼c2 etc soon after 0-1

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Instead of a Games section…


From the City 1 – Univ 1 match, 27 February

Tan – Eckersley Waites Further reports from the diagram position on p31. Weisin has chewed off a pawn (Qxa6) in a reduced ending and still there’s no mate…

Mark Gray hasn’t quite reached for his mobile phone as yet, but with knights on a8 and f1, and an undeveloped rook it’s not looking great…

… and back on Board 2, Weisin has reduced Black’s central pawn mass to two, and his queen takes a well-deserved rest on e2…

Seb Straube ’s Ne6 seems to be causing some grief in the Matt Brown camp

Straube – Brown (fore) and Scott – Morris G.

Graham puts the boot in…

IM Richard Palliser simul @ Keble, 11 May 2006 In advance of the Oxford tournament this weekend, Richard Palliser gave a simul in the Pusey building, at Keble. A pleasant 16-board affair, with a cosmolitan mix of locals, students, academics, and (Cowley?) girl children, Richard completed the task in three hours, allowing time for post-game chat with each of his opponents – a pleasing touch, as was the provision of books (including Rich’s latest, on the Najdorf) as prizes awarded at his nomination. Richard conceded two draws, against someone’s Dad, and Michael Healey (his second of the year, in simuls). The evening concluded with pints in the A&G.

Richard, with Marco Zhang and Kevin Henbest. (Chris Rawlinson background)

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30.Qce6 Qxe6 31.Qxe6 d2

Palliser,Richard - Henbest,Kevin [E97] Simul, Keble Oxford, 11.05.2006 1.âf3 âf6 2.c4 g6 3.âc3 ºg7 4.e4 d6 5.d4 0-0 6.ºe2 e5 7.0-0 âc6 8.d5 âe7 9.b4 âh5 10.¼e1 f5 11.âg5 âf6

12.ºf3 h6 13.âe6 ºxe6 14.dxe6 fxe4 15.âxe4 âxe4 16.ºxe4 âf5 17.ºxb7 ¼b8 18.ºd5 ¾h7 19.ºd2 âd4 20.ºe4 Qf6 21.ºe3 ¼xb4 22.ºxd4 exd4

23.e7 ¼e8 24.Qg4 ¼xc4 25.Qd7 Qf7 26.ºd5 Qxd5 27.Qxe8 d3 28.Qc8 ºxa1 29.e8½ºg7 30.Qce6 Qxe6 31.Qxe6 d2 32.¼d1 ¼c1 33.Qe2 ºc3

34.Qf1 ºb2 35.h4 c5 36.h5 c4 37.¾h2 ¾g7 38.Qe2 ºe5+ 39.g3 gxh5 40.Qxd2 ¼xd1 41.Qxd1 c3 1-0

disinformator 35 - oxford 4ncl.pdf · disinformator 35 2 may 2006 editorial welcome to the pages of...

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