Keverel Chess

At the end of the recent West of England Championship, held over the Easter weekend, there was a four-way tie at the top of the Open Section and although the cash prize could easily be calculated (£155 each), there was some uncertainty about who should get the title of WECU Champion and the qualifying place for this year’s British Championship. Richard McMichael was the first to be eliminated under the eligibility rule as he has no connection to the West of England by birth or residence. Next to go was Patryk Krzyzanowski of Yeovil as he had the lowest sum-of-opponents’ scores, the next level of tie-break.  This left Dominic Mackle and Robert Thompson, both of the Newton Abbot Club, but it took 3 days to be absolutely sure that Mackle had already qualified for “the British” via his success at the Paignton Congress in September. Therefore this place went to Thompson. However, as Mackle had the superior sum-of-opponents’ score, he became the new West of England Champion.

Here is a game from Rd. 4 in which two players from Hull battled it out.

White: D. Stephenson (169). Black: T. Paulden (177).

Robatsch Defence [B06]

1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nc3 a6 4.f4 d5 5.e5 h5 6.Be3 Bg4 7.Qd2 Nh6 8.h3 Bf5 9.Nf3 e6 10.0–0–0 White has built up a strong centre, but his castled position looks vulnerable to a quick pawn-storm – and here it comes. 10…b5 11.Be2 Nd7 12.Nh2 h4 13.Nf3 Bf8 14.Bf2 Be7 15.Ng5 Ng8 16.Bg4 Nb6 17.Bxf5 gxf5 18.b3 c6 19.Kb1 a5 As Black’s attack proceeds, White must try to some activity on the other wing. 20.g4 hxg3 21.Bxg3 a4 22.h4 Qb8 23.h5 Nh6 Developing a piece and blocking the h-pawn. 24.Ka1 Qa7 25.Nf3 White’s kingside ambitions are thwarted so he must attend to his defences. Bb4 26.Rc1 Qa5 27.Be1 Kd7 28.Ng1 Rhg8 29.Nge2 Rg2 30.Rh3 Ba3 31.Rb1 b4 32.Nd1 Qb5 33.Bf2 Ng4 34.Rg3 Rxf2! 35.Nxf2 Nxf2 36.Rg7 Ne4 37.Qe1 axb3 38.cxb3 Qd3 39.Rxf7+ White is trying to get some counterplay but  a single piece is not enough.  39…Ke8 40.Rb7 which brings us to this week’s position in which Black found a winning move before White could threaten mate himself with Qh4. Can you find it?

The solution to last week’s problem was 1.Rh3! Kf4 (forced) 2.Rf3 mate

Black to play and win

The West of England Championship finished on Monday in Exmouth after the coldest Easter weekend since records began, but although it was bitter outside there was plenty of hot chess inside, with a very open Championship section. After 7 hard-fought rounds the winners were as follows (All scores out of 7):

Open: 1^st= Dominic Mackle (Newton Abbot); Richard McMichael (King’s Head); Robert Thompson (Bristol Uni.) & Patryk Krzyzanowski (Yeovil) all 5 points. Grading prizes: (U-188) Steve Dilleigh (Bristol) 4½. (U-180) Dave Littlejohns (Taunton) 4½.

Major Section: (U-175). 1^st= Yasser Tello (Wimbledon); David Razzell (King’s Head) & John Nyman (Sutton) all 5. C07Grading prizes: (U-158) Theo Slade (Barnstaple) & Joshua Higgs (Worth School) both 4½. (U-150) Andrew Farthing (Worcester) 4½.

Minor (U-140) 1^st Graham Shepherd (Church Stretton) 6. 2^nd= Dave Rogers (Exmouth) & Nathan Mills (Brixham) both 5½. Grading prizes: (U-124) John Dean (Plymouth) & Nigel Mills (Yeovil) both 4½. (U-109) Alan Fraser (Beckenham) 4.

The standard in the Open section was high and there were very few short draws, many games being long drawn out affairs. Going in to the last round, 8 players, a third of the section, were either in the lead or a half point off it.

Here is a sharp finish from round 7 by two non-prizewinners.

White: Steve Homer (183 – Newton Abbot). Black: Alan Brusey (171 – Teignmouth).

French Defence – Tarrasch Variation [C07]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.e5 Ne4 6.Nxe4 dxe4 7.Ng5 cxd4 8.Nxe4 Qa5+ 9.Bd2 Qxe5 A nice manoeuvre to win a pawn, but it leaves his queen in the centre, vulnerable to harassment. 10.Bd3 Nc6 11.0–0 Bd7 12.f4 Now, as the position opens up, Black’s tardy development proves fatal. 12…Qc7 13.Ng5 g6 14.f5 exf5 15.Bc4 Nd8 16.Qe2+ Ne6 17.Bxe6 Bxe6 18.Nxe6 fxe6 19.Qxe6+ Qe7 20.Qc4 Qc5 Now the Black king is really exposed. 21.Rae1+ Kd7 If 21…Be7?? 22.Qxc5. 22.Qe6+ Kc7 23.Bf4+ Bd6 24.Qe7+ Again, the bishop is pinned. Kc6 the least worst move. 25.Bxd6 Qxd6 26.Re6 the Black queen falls. 1–0

The key move in last week’s problem was 1.Nd6!

In this position, how can White mate in 2 while avoiding stalemate.

White to mate in 2

The death occurred recently of former West of England Champion and Britain’s 6^th Grandmaster, A. S.  Hollis.  Born in 1940, Adrian Swayne Hollis was the only child of Sir Roger Hollis and Evelyn Esme (née Swayne) whose families came from Wells and Burnham-on-Sea respectively. At the time of Adrian’s greatest chess activity, his father was Director-General of MI5 (1956 – 1965) a period that saw a string of high profile spy cases, including the Burgess, Philby, Blunt, Blake and Vassall affairs and the Profumo scandal.

He went to Eton and read Classics at Oxford. He was a contemporary of future WECU President, Philip Meade, of Queen’s College, Cambridge, and the two played each other on Bd. 1 in the 1961 Varsity match.  Adrian had learned the game at 13 and within 7 years had become the then youngest West of England Champion at Weymouth in 1961. He was also British Universities Champion and played in six Anglo-Dutch matches scoring 7½ / 12.

His first teaching post was at St. Andrews University before moving to Keble College, Oxford, where he lectured in Classics from 1967 until his retirement in 2008. The twin demands of academic and family life led him to abandon any serious ambitions in over-the-board play and to concentrate instead on postal play from 1965. Ironically, his retirement from active chess coincided with the award of International Master. However, greater recognition came when he became England’s 6^th Grandmaster in 1976, for postal play. After retirement he returned to his roots in Wells.

Here is a lively win of his from the 1961 WECU Championship.

White:A. S. Hollis. Black: J. A. Henley.

 Queen’s Gambit Declined [D61]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.e3 0–0 7.Qc2 h6 8.h4! c6 9.0–0–0 b5 10.cxb5 cxb5 11.Bxb5 Bb7 12.Kb1 hxg5 13.hxg5 Ne4 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Rh3 Bxg5 16.Nxg5 Qxg5 17.Rdh1 f5 18.Bxd7 Bd5 19.Qc7 Qe7 20.Bxe6+ 1–0 Mate cannot be avoided.

In last week’s position, Magnus Carlsen broke through after…1.Bxf7+! 2.Qf3+ Kg8 3.Rxh8+ Kxh8 4.Rh1+ Kg8 5.Qh5 Rf8 6.Bf6 and Black resigned in view 6…gxf6 7.exf6 Rxf6 8.Qh8+ Kf7 9.Rh7+ Kg6 10.Qg8+ Kf5 11.Rh5+ Ke4 12.Qg4+ Kd3 13.Qd1+ Ke4 14.Qe2#.

This 2-mover, resembling a mass brawl, was composed by Gerald Frank Anderson (1893-1983) and first appeared in the Western Daily Mercury in 1919.

White to mate in 2

Easter Monday morning saw the 7th and final round of the Congress. Often this is the opportunity for many players, already exhausted and not in line for a prize, are only too happy to agree to a quick draw and get off home, but this was unlikely to feature in the Open Section as no less than 8 players were either in the lead or just a half point behind.

One exception featured two of the joint leaders, Thompson & McMichael. Keen to be in the mix for the Qualifying Place, Robert Thompson kept an eye on the adjacent board where Steve Dilleigh (W) was playing fellow leader Patryk Krzyzanowski, and reckoned that (a) the Pole had no discernable advantage and in any case his sum-of-opponents’ score was likely to be lower than his own, and (b) Dilleigh was a solid player, not liable to unforced errors or blunders. So he made a calculated gamble and offered a draw after just 16 moves, which was accepted. That left Kryzyzanowski to try for a win in order to become clear winner. And try he certainly did, but to no avail. The game went right down to the final minute of extra time, but there was nothing in the position for Patryk, in fact, in danger of over-pressing, he came close to losing. As the last game to finish in the hall, there was a crowd, four deep in places, pressing for a view of how it would turn out. The last moves were either indecipherable or they stopped recording, but as I recall it, when the last 2 pawns came off, they were left with a minor piece each, and a draw was agreed.

This left a 4-way tie for 1st place, between, Kryzyzanowski, McMichael, Mackle (who had caught up by winning his game against Smith) and Thompson. The cash prize was shared equally, each getting £155. The question of the British Championship Qualifying Place was to be determined and proved more complicated than in most years. It can only go to an eligible player, i.e. someone either born in, or resident in the one of the 7 counties that comprise the Union, Cornwall to Gloucestershire to Hampshire.

Richard McMichael told me afterwards he would dearly have loved to have qualified but had to confess he was a proud Lancastrian by birth. Kryzyzanowski lives in Yeovil but had the lowest Sum-of-Opponents’ score of the four, so he was out of the reckoning as well. That left Mackle and Thompson, Mackle with the better S-o-S.  There was some confusion as to whether Mackle had actually got a qualifying place at the Paignton Congress, as there were some anomalies surrounding it. It took a couple of days to ascertain that he had done so, and was thus pre-qualified, which left Robert Thompson the last man standing.

So Torbay  resident, Robert Thompson, has qualified for the Torquay British Championship, later in the year, and will receive a £100 bursary towards the entry fee.

Dominic Mackle, on the other hand, became West of England Champion.

At the end of the day, the complete prizelist looked like this. Special mention should be made of Graham Shepherd, the highest scorer and only clear section winner. The Major was even more closely contested that the Open, with no less than 10 players with the highest score or within a half point of it. Of the 6 who got a winner’s cheque, only Theo Slade qualified for the WECU Trophy (see below). 

Recently retired ECF Chief Executive, Andrew Farthing, kindly agreed to present the prizes, and the ceremony was moved forward to 2.30p.m. in the hope that more would stay for the prizegiving. In this respect it was a good move as about half the players clapped and cheered the winners as they stepped into the spotlight. The only hiccup was that there had not been time to identify which of the 4 Open winners should get the QP and which the Champion’s title. In fact, it took a further 3 days to do this, so it was, perhaps, just as well we didn’t wait.

The 2 top games; one very short - the other (nearest) very long.

Steve Dilleigh receiving top grading prize from Andrew Farthing.

Robert Thompson won the British Championship QP

Lancastrian Richard McMichael receives his winner's cheque.

Patryk Krzyzanowski made a brave shot at becoming clear winner, but had to be content with a quarter share

New WECU Champion, Dominic Mackle.

Hazel Welch retained her Ladies Championship.

Graham Shepherd, clear winner of the Minor with 6/7 points

The problem of Andrew Farthing presenting a cheque to himself was solved by Section Controller, John Arris.

Of the 6 Major Section cheque winners, only Theo Slade was eligible for the trophy.

Life, like chess, has a habit of biting one on the b*m just when you thought things were going well. Having been a little smug yesterday about the virtues of Exmouth as a chess venue, last evening I went to book the hotel for 2014, only to be told there was a wedding booked for the Easter weekend, and they would be unable to host the congress next year. The first course of action is for me to approach the Town Council to see if they can come with the possibility of somewhere suitable in the town. Failing that, it’s back to the WECU Executive to devise a Plan B. So, a warning to the regulars – Don’t book any hotel rooms in Exmouth for 2014 just yet, as it may yet be held anywhere within the Union – from Penzance to Portsmouth to Cheltenham. Watch this space.

Meanwhile, the draw for Rd. 5 was as follows:

Bd. 1 Smith 1-0 Berry. Bd. 2 Regis 0-1 McMichael

 

 

Stephen Berry lost the overall lead by losing to Andrew Smith, while McMichael joined Smith in the joint lead by ending Dave Regis’s fine run.  Stephens lost ground when he got into time trouble, and Shaw, 21st grade of the 24 remaining players, maintained a steady run of results. 

Bd.	Open -  Rd. 5
1	Smith , A.	(3)	1	0	Berry, S	(3½)
2	Regis, D	(3)	0	1	McMichael, R	(3)
3	Mackle, D	(2½)	1	0	Littlejohns, D	(2½)
4	Homer, S	(1½)	0	1	Krzyzanowski	(2½)
5	Stephens, J.	(2½)	0	1	Thompson, R	(2½)
6	De Coverley	(2)	0	1	Dilleigh, S	(2½)
7	Boyne, A	(2)	1	0	Cutmore, M	(2½)
8	Shaw, M	(2)	½	½	Bass, J.	(2)
9	Paulden, T	(2)	1	0	Cutmore, D	(1½)
10	Stephenson, D	(1½)	0	1	Brusey, A. W.	(1½)
11	Bartlett, S	(1)	½	½	Helbig, P	(1)
12	Czegeny, M	(½)	0	1	Medina, P	(1)

Round 6:

It was a case of a perfect Easter for Krzyzanowski, Thompson and Boyne, all chalking up 2 wins in the day, but a nightmare for Stephens,  Stephenson and Homer who drew blanks. With 1 round to go, the joint leaders are Krzyzanowski, McMichael and Thompson. while just a half point beind are Berry, Mackle, Boyne, Dilleigh and Smith – 8 players with the scent of blood in their nostrils. 

Bd.	Open -  Rd. 6
1	McMichael, R	(4)	½	½	Mackle, D	(3½)
2	Krzyzanowski	(3½)	1	0	Smith , A.	(4)
3	Berry, S	(3½)	½	½	Dilleigh, S	(3½)
4	Thompson, R	(3½)	1	0	D. Regis	(3)
5	Paulden, T	(3)	0	1	Boyne, A	(3)
6	Bass, J	(2½)	1	0	Stephens, J	(2½)
7	Littlejohns, D	(2½)	1	0	Homer, S. J	(2½)
8	Brusey, A	(2½)	0	1	Shaw, M	(2½)
9	Cutmore, M	(2)	½	½	De Coverley, R	(2)
10	Medina, P	(2)	1	0	Bartlett, S	(1½)
11	Helbig, P	(1½)	1	0	Stephenson, D	(1½)
12	Cutmore, M	(1½)	1	0	Czegeny, M	(½)

 

Saturday dawned with sunny skies and the air like a sparkling white wine - another way of saying freezing cold. This weekend has every prospect of being the coldest Easter Congress ever; beautiful to behold from behind glass, but with a constant biting wind sweeping in from the Russian steppes. Difficult to think the clocks go forward tonight and from then on we’re working to British Summer Time. 

Round 3:

In the Open, Megan Owens withdrew overnight, feeling unwell. Mackle sacrificed a pawn in return for activity in a Catalan-ish opening, but at the end of the day was simply a pawn down inthe endgame. Stephens continued his recovery after a bad start to the tournament with a winning attack against Alan Brusey, but his clubmate Meyrick Shaw lost ground, after being the exchange down in the endgame. 

In the Major, Gosling and Slade made up ground on the leaders, while all the others, bar one, could only draw. 

Rd. 3 starts - general view

Open Section - Rd. 3: Bds 3 - 7.

Top boards in the Major: With Black are Steve Dean, Oliver Wensley & Brian Gosling.

Top boards in the Minor Section.

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After a lot of hard work by a handful of volunteers and the inevitable, unforeseeable glitches, the 65th West of England Championship & Congress, finally got on the road at 10 a.m. precisely, in the Royal Beacon Hotel, Exmouth. In fact, after a half century of moving around the 7 counties that comprise the Union, it was decided to try and keep it in one spot for several years to see how it might affect the entry. The criteria was that it should (a) be near the sea, so that other family members could enjoy a seaside Easter break; (b) it should have good travel connections, by road, rail and bus; (c) should be reasonably near the centre of the area, and (d) should be a comfortable, cheap venue. Exmouth met all those wishes and 15 years on, it is still held there. 

The entry this year increased significantly to 94, close to the maximum the venue could hold, with 24 contesting the Open Section, and with the Major Section taking players up to a 174 grade, it made for a very competitve section, as there were no GMs to walk off with the top prizes. 

After a few welcoming words by Alan Crickmore, the joint Entry Secretary, clocks were started and battles commenced. 

Open: Nearest Brusey V Bass; Stephens V Medina - both White losses.

Bds. 1-3 in the Major: Hurst V Gosling: Hibbitt V Wensley & Thynne V Higgs.

Bds 13-15 in the Major: Slade V Hamilton; Worrall V Morgan & Nyman V Lawrence.

By the end of Rd. 1, the scores were:-

                                                                  Round 2. 

Gosling Vs Slade; Morgan Vs Annetts & Wensley Vs Sandercock.

Dilleigh Vs Bartlett; Homer Vs Shaw & Czegeny Vs Smith.

Adrian Swayne Hollis (b. 02.08.1940 – d. Feb. 2013.)

Adrian Hollis, former West of England Champion, WECU Vice President and Grandmaster of Postal Chess, died recently at his home in Wells, Somerset after a long illness.

Hollis was the only child of Sir Roger Hollis and Evelyn Esme (née Swayne) whose families came from the North Somerset towns of Wells and Burnham-on-Sea respectively. At the time of Adrian’s greatest over-the-board activity, his father was Director-General of MI5 (1956 – 1965) a period that saw a string of controversial and high profile spy cases, including the Guy Burgess, Kim Philby, Anthony Blunt, George Blake and John Vassall affairs and the Profumo scandal. 

Adrian went to Eton and studied Classics at Christ Church, Oxford. He played in four Varsity matches from 1959 – ’62, the first three of which were drawn. He was an exact contemporary of future WECU President, Philip Meade, of Queen’s College, Cambridge, and the two played against each other on Board 1 in the 1961 match.  Adrian had learned the game at the age of 13 from a cousin and within 7 years had become the then youngest West of England Champion in 1961. He was also British Universities Champion and played in six Anglo-Dutch matches scoring 7½ / 12. Although the nature of his boarding education meant that he could take little part in Somerset’s domestic tournaments, he played in their correspondence teams from an early age. 

His first teaching post was at St. Andrews University before moving to Keble College, Oxford, where he lectured in Classics from 1967 until his retirement in 2008. He wrote books on the Roman poet Ovid and became a Fellow of his College. However, the twin calls of academic and family life (he had married Margaret and had daughters) soon led him to abandon any serious ambitions in over-the-board play and to concentrate instead on postal play from 1965. Ironically, his retirement from this stage of his chess career coincided with the award of International Master. 

However, he was destined for even greater recognition when he became England’s 6^th Grandmaster in 1976, for postal play, when he got his final GM norm in the Potter Memorial Tournament. 

After retirement he returned to his Somerset roots in Wells.

The brightest of Devon’s ten wins against Gloucestershire in their recent match was this one from Board 3.

White: S. J. Homer (183). Black: S. J. Waterfield (178).

Sicilian Defence – Dragon Variation [B72]

1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c5 4.Nf3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Nb3 Nf6 7.Be2 0–0 8.Be3 d6 Black has transposed into a classic Sicilian Dragon formation… 9.g4 … and White responds accordingly with a quick kingside attack. 9…Be6 10.g5 Nd7 11.h4 Nce5 12.h5 Nc4 13.Bxc4 Bxc4 14.Bd4 Ne5 15.f4 Bxb3 16.axb3 Nf3+ 17.Qxf3 Bxd4 18.0–0–0 Gaining a vital tempo, which allows White’s attack to continue. 18…Bg7 19.hxg6 fxg6 20.Qh3 Kf7 21.f5 Not 21.Qxh7?? which loses the queen to 21…Rh8. 21…Rh8 22.Rdf1 Ke8 23.fxg6 hxg6 24.Qxh8+! 1–0 Black resigned, as he would lose a piece after 24…Bxh8 25.Rxh8+ Kd7 26.Rxd8+ Rxd8.  Another attacking possibility would have been 24.Qe6 Rxh1 25.Rxh1 Bf8 26.Nd5 Qc8 27.Qxg6+ Kd7 28.Rh3 and White would again win material.

Today marks the half-way stage (the 7^th of 14 rounds) of the World Championship Candidates tournament currently being held at 2, Savoy Place, London, the strongest tournament of its kind in history. Eight of the world’s chess elite will play each of their opponents twice, the winner earning the right to challenge the World Champion, Vishi Anand of India.

The favourite is the former child prodigy, 22 year old Magnus Carlsen of Norway. Not only is he the highest rated of the contestants, he is the only one not from a former Soviet bloc country. It’s strange that neither China, India nor the Americas, with all their many millions of players, could produce just one person between them good enough to claim a place at this “high table”.

Today Carlsen is due to play Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan. The final round is on 1^st April, with the next day reserved for a possible play-off. Anand, for one, will be watching developments closely.

Last week’s 2-mover was solved by 1.Bf6! after which Black has 4 “tries”, each of which is answered with a different mate, viz 1…Ne3 2.Qxd6#. 1…Ne4 2.fxe4#. 1…Ne1 Rh4# and 1…Nc4 2.Qd4#.

This position is from an earlier game by Carlsen. How did he break through Black’s defences to record a win in 6 more moves?

White to play and win

Exmouth put themselves in pole position to retain Devon’s RapidPlay League, the Newman Cup, after a comfortable away win over Seaton, last evening.

Exmouth won the toss (for a change) and opted for white on the odd-numbered boards in Rd. 1.  It’s of less significance in a 2 round match like this, but if it helps to build a lead by half time, it can’t be too bad. In fact, Exmouth white players both recorded quick wins. Hazel Welch overlooked the fact that after an exchange of pieces her opponent could grab her b-pawn without any of the risks that usually attend the snaffling of a knight’s pawn, and it rather went downhill from then on. Simon Blake ran out of time, and Shaw was involved in a desperate finish in which he allowed his opponent counter-play. However, with seconds left, Alexander missed the best line and time ran out for him too. 3-1 at the break.

In Rd. 2, Stephens agreed a quick draw. The position in Jones’ game was much more blocked than in their first encounter, but he eventually found the space for his pieces (Q + 2R) while Hazel’s were trapped behind her own pawns, and he managed to break through. Blake, meanwhile, was having his game of the season so far, winning material left and right, and rightly giving some of it back in order to simplify out to a win. Ken Alexander showed his skill by beating his opponent, winner of the recent Kingsbridge RapidPlay.

It only remains for the return match to be played. Exmouth may be in pole position, but nothing will be, nor can be, taken for granted. This game has a nasty habit of biting you on the b-t-m. 

WECU Ladies Champion, Hazel Welch patiently waiting for the photographer to finish.

Seaton Captain, Steve Dean (W), on his way to an excellent draw in Rd. 2

Ken Alexander (B) on his way to an excellent win against Shaw.

Simon Blake (nearest) playing his game of the season, so far.