Keverel Chess

Archive for October, 2014

Last year, Seaton improved their chances by bringing in Steve Martin, and this year added Dr. Jonathan Underwood, which tipped the balance altogether. Seaton won both rounds 2.5 - 1.5 and finished 5-3 winners. Chris Scott maintained his continuing improvement by winning his individual encounter against Martin, while Jones managed to stem early aggression from Adams and may have had very slight advantages in both games but with time running out offered draws, which Adams was minded to accept. But Underwood was clearly fired up after winning 6 Blitz games eight days earlier and the combination of his endgame technique and speed of move proved too much for the Exmouth captain. Blake had a won position in Rd. 1 but ran very low on time and Dowse kindly offered a draw when he could have won on time.

Exmouth have started with a loss several times before in this competition, but managed to make up lost ground. In this case, this seems less likely than hitherto, and Seaton must be considered serious contenders for the title.

Seaton players facing camera: Underwood, Martin (shaking hands), Adams (purple shirt) and Dowse.

Martin (l) vs Scott (nearest) & Underwood vs Abbott.

All westcountry congresses depend on small groups of volunteers, who take a quiet satisfaction in running a successful event that gives pleasure to the players.

The latest of these was the 1^st Bude Rapidplay Congress organised recently by John and Christine Constable. The entry was small but strong – 16 players with an average grade of 153. 1^st J. Rudd (Barnstaple – 231) 6/6 pts. 2^nd J. Byrne (Taunton – 165) 5 pts. 3^rd G. Trudeau (Liskeard – 155) 4 pts. 4^th= G. Body (Exeter – 167); T. Slade (Bude – 164) & R. Nash (Barnstaple – 124) all 3½. 7^th= S. Homer (Exeter – 200); M. Richardt (Taunton – 187); D. J. Jenkins (Camborne – 132) & S. Woolgar (Bristol – 132) all 3. 11^th C. Sellwood (Camborne – 158) 2½. 12^th= D. R. Jenkins (Liskeard – 126); S. Bartlett (Newquay – 165) & B. Childs (Lerryn – 106) all 2. 15^th= P. May (114) & M. Jones (Newquay – 121) 1.

Longer-established events need their organising committee refreshed from time to time, otherwise they risk withering on the vine. The East Devon Congress, for example, is on the brink of collapse as the committee has dwindled to two, Sean Pope and Mark Abbott, who are already highly committed with their daytime professions. They need fresh blood coming in from the Exeter region to share the load and keep it afloat, as it’s a bigger event, with a larger venue. Prospective volunteers should contact Sean on 01392-436420 or e-mail: [email protected].

Meanwhile, here is a win by a great supporter of the Exeter Congress.

White: J. F. Wheeler Black: J. Duckham.

Benko Gambit [A57]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 The signature move of the Benko Gambit in which Black offers a pawn in order to open up space in which his queenside pieces can operate freely. 4.cxb5 a6 5.b6 White doesn’t wish to fall in with Black’s plans. 5…g6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.e4 d6 8.Nf3 Nbd7 9.Be2 0–0 10.0–0 Nxb6 11.h3 Bb7 12.Bf4 Nfd7 13.Qd2 f5? Leaving a big hole at the heart of his position. 14.Ng5 fxe4 15.Ne6 Qe8 16.Nxf8 Qxf8 17.Bg4 Ne5 18.Be6+ Kh8 19.Bg3 Nbc4 20.Qe2 Bc8 21.Bxc8 Rxc8 22.Bxe5 Nxe5 23.Qxe4 c4 24.Rab1 Nd3 25.Nd1 Ne5 26.Ne3 Rc5 27.Rfc1 Qc8 28.f4 Nd3 29.Rxc4 Nxb2 30.Rxc5 Qxc5 31.Qxe7 h6 32.Kh2 Qd4 33.Rf1 Nd3 34.g3 Qb2+ 35.Ng2 Qf6 White would be delighted to simplify out, leaving him still materially ahead. 36.Qxf6 Bxf6 1–0

Last week’s problem was solved by 1.Ra1! and when Black checks on h8 2.Bg8 not only blocks that check but allows the rook on a1 to administer mate at the same time.

This is not a beginners’ game but from this year’s British Championship. Four moves each have been played and now it is White to move.

White to play and win quickly

Here is the list of entries so far received for the 15th Seniors Congress, correct as at 31.10.2014.

Latest entries in Bold.

Entry forms may be downloaded from the chessdevon website.

It is several years since Trefor Thynne revived Devon’s Team Blitz tournament after it lapsed as traditional season starter. It is for teams of 4 players, each having 12 minutes on the clock for all moves, and 6 rounds played on a Swiss system. Its regular venue has been the Newton Abbot Club

Each year there have been a few more teams involved, with a new trophy added in each of the last 3 years to reflect the renewed interest. However, this year the number of teams entered dropped to 8, and several of these were not as strong as in recent years. In view of this, it was decided to change it to an all-play-all tournament of 7 rounds, with the tea break abolished to keep the timings about the same.

Round 1 paired Exmouth Eagles against a Newton Abbot team led by former Devon and West of England Champion Dominic Mackle. Normally this would have been a top-of-the-table affair, but when it finished 4 - 0 to the Eagles it was clear something unexpected was afoot. There was an element of luck involved as, at the end of the top game, Stephens had 10 seconds left compared to Mackle’s 60, and yet somehow managed to win on time. From then on the Eagles never looked back. At the start of the 7th and final round, three of them still had maximum points. Then Underwood lost, leaving Stephens and Gosling as the only two on 100%, the tie break giving the new Individual trophy to Stephens by virtue of it being gained on Bd. 1.

The other excellent team performance was by Sidmouth Juniors, comprising two set of brothers, the Susevee and Bacon boys, who, with the 2nd lowest team grade total, accumulated 13 points and the U-450 Cup.

The evnt was organised by Trefor Thynne and controlled by Ray Chubb.

Here are summary charts showing where all the points went.

Round 1 gets under way.

The Eagles (l) meet the "Newts".

The Egrets (l) were no match for the Eagles in Rd. 4

Teignmouth A (r) vs Teignmouth B

Start of the final round.

Angela Susevee presents the U-450 cup to her son Greg.

Fred Hodge presents his U-600 cup to Dominic Mackle.

John Stephens receives the Thomas Cup.

John Stephens receives the individual trophy.

The Eagles - Dominant on the day: (l-r) Stephens, Underwood, Scott & Gosling.

Gloucestershire met Devon on Saturday at West Buckland in Rd. 1 of the 2014 – ‘15 Inter-County competition. It was a well-contested contest, although in the end Devon forced a comfortable enough 12-4 win, mainly due to their greater strength in the bottom half of the team.

This was also the debut for former presenter of TV science programmes, Adam Hart-Davis, who is now a regular at the Plymouth Chess Club.

Here are the details, with Gloucestershire names first in each pairing and grades in brackets.

1.J. Stewart (207) 0-1 D. Mackle (203). 2. P. J. Meade (182) 0-1 J. K. Stephens (194). 3. N. K. Hosken (181) ½- ½ S. J. Homer (188). 4. M. J. Ashworth (181) ½- ½ P. Sivrev (187). 5. J. Jenkins (176) 1-0 J. Wheeler (181). 6. P. J. Kirby (173) ½- ½ J. Underwood (179). 7. P. Dodwell (163) 0-1 D. Regis (176). 8. B. Whitelaw (159) 0-1 A. W. Brusey (176). 9. R. M. Ashworth (151) 0-1 B. W. Hewson (174). 10. A. Richards (136) ½- ½ W. Ingham (176). 11. A. N. Walker (134) ½- ½ M. Shaw (170) 12. P. Baker (132) 0-1 G. Body (169). 13 K. Bendall (131) ½- ½ M. Stinton-Brownbridge (164). 14. J. Caterer (128) 0-1 I. S. Annetts (162) 15. P. Bending (122) 0-1 A. Hart-Davis (161). 16. J. B. Harris (115) 0-1 C. J. Scott (157).

Here is a game with notes based on those kindly supplied by the winner.

White: Jim Caterer (128). Black: Ivor Annetts (162).

Caro-Kann – Exchange Variation [B13]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.c3 Qc7 6.Ne2 If 6.Nf3 then 6…Bg4 is a little more problematic. 6…Bg4 7.f3 Bd7 8.Bf4 e5 9.dxe5 Nxe5 So far, but no further, all was known to Black from the 2002 game Gonzalez v Sasikiran. 10.Bc2 Bd6 11.0–0 Ne7 12.Nd4 h5 13.Ba4 0–0–0 Now the race is on to start a telling attack against the enemy king. White starts well in this respect. 14.Bxd7+ Rxd7 15.b4 Kb8 16.a4 N7g6 17.Bg3 h4 18.Nb5 Qc6 19.Qd4 b6 If 19…hxg3 20.Qxa7+ Kc8 21.Qa8+ Bb8 22.Na7+ That’s as far as Black got with his analysis. It seems to win the Black queen but White’s own queen can become trapped in the corner – or worse e.g. 24…Ba7+ 25.Kh1 Rxh2 mate. 24…Ba7+ 25.Qxa7 Nxa7 and Black is a piece for a pawn to the good! 20.Bf2 h3 21.Nxd6 hxg2 22.Kxg2 Rxh2+ 23.Kg3 If 23.Kxh2 Nxf3+ 24.Kg2 Nxd4 25.Bg3 Black was mildly worried about this move but all lines are good for him. 23…Rh4 24.Qxh4 Nxh4 25.Kxh4 Qxd6 Black was thinking his opponent would not pin the knight with Bg3 because it would be mate. And yet…. 26.Bg3?? Qh6# 0–1

Last week’s position was ended after 1.Qxa7+! RxQ 2.RxR+ Kb4 3.Ra4 mate.

Here is another hitherto unpublished 2-mover by Dave Howard.

White to mate in 2

The start of Exmouth’s league season was a unique event in the history of the club. For the first time ever, they had entered two teams in the Exeter & District League Division 1, and the league rules rightly state that any club with 2 teams in the same division must make that their first match, to avoid any possible suspicion that, should they meet in a later round, one team might voluntarily lose in order for the other to win the cup. Not that they would, of course, but any team so edged out couldn’t help but wonder…..

Not that there would be any danger of that happening in this case, as, given the club’s relatively limited playing resources, both teams were likely to be well short of the maximum team grade total of 640, unless they acquire some strong new members from somewhere. But the club are treating it as a fun event with no high expectations of ultimate glory.

On the night, blunders abounded; one player tore his scoresheet up in disgust while another didn’t submit his scoresheet at all - all good fun. At the end of night it was the Elephants that got trampled while the Eagles soared above.

The death in Cheltenham of Brian William Clapp at the age of 87 was reported last week. Brian was a regular member of the Exeter Club in the 1960s and ‘70s, having been club champion in 1963, ’68, ’69 and ’71. He was a lecturer in Economic History at Exeter University and published several books, notably Manchester Merchants 1850 – 1939 (1956), John Owens – Manchester Merchant (1965), The University of Exeter – A History (1982) and An Environmental History of Britain Since the Industrial Revolution (1994 – Longman).

In this 1966 game he took full advantage of some loose play by a much stronger opponent. 21 year old Richard Hall from Bradford was reading law and went on to become a district judge in 1998 and British Correspondence Chess Champion and a Grandmaster of postal chess. It is taken from Dr. Dave Regis’ excellent book 100-Odd Years of Exeter Chess Club.

White: B. W. Clapp. Black: R. V. M. Hall.

Sicilian Defence – Paulsen Var. [B45]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Be3 Bb4 7.Bd3 d5 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.e5 d4 10.exf6 dxe3 11.Qf3 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 exf2+ 13.Qxf2 Qxf6 14.Qc5 preventing castling. 14…Rb8 15.Rd1 Qe7? 16.Qe5 Hitting rook and g-pawn. 16…Rb2 17.Qxg7 Qf8?? 18.Qf6 Bd7 19.Be4 Rb6 20.Qd4 Qh6 21.Qxd7+ Kf8 22.Qd6+ Kg8 22…Kg7 is no better. 23.Qg3+ 1–0 Black resigned as he could see what was to follow i.e. 23…Kf8 24.Rd8+ Ke7 25.Qc7+ Kf6 26.0–0+ and mate must follow very shortly.

The 49^th Dorset Congress takes place on the weekend commencing Friday 24^th October (contact: Ian Clark on 01202-536370 or e-mail [email protected]). If you can only spare one day that weekend there’s the Chipping Sodbury Rapidplay on the Saturday; (Contact: Graham Mill-Wilson on 07790-187-415 or e-mail [email protected]. Then there’s the Royal Beacon Seniors Congress in Exmouth starting on Monday 3^rd November (Contact: R. H. Jones on 01395-0223340 or e-mail: [email protected].)

The solution to last week’s problem by A. C. White involving pawn promotion was 1.Qc4! threatening 2.Pc8=N mate, and Black’s capture with the rook to prevent this, merely allows 2.g8=N mate.

This position arose in a game earlier this year. White is the exchange and a pawn down, but can win by force. How did he do it?

White to mate by force

The 1^st Bristol Summer Congress was held on Aug 22^nd-24^th and the section winners were as follows: Open: 1^st S. Dilleigh. Major (U-155): 1^st A. Papier. Minor (U-125): 1^st Nikhil Hakeem – at 9 yrs old Nikhil is clearly one to watch.

Here is Dilleigh’s fine Rd. 3 win against a stronger opponent.

White: Ryszard Maciol (215). Black: Steve Dilleigh (182)

Queen’s Gambit – Exchange Var. [D36]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.e3 c6 7.Bd3 Be7 8.Nge2 Nh5 9.Bxe7 Qxe7 10.Qc2 g6 11.0–0–0 Nb6 12.Kb1 Ng7 13.e4 dxe4 14.Bxe4 Black has to decide whether to risk castling on the kingside and inviting a pawn storm. However, if he castles long, White threatens to break open the centre with d5. 14…0–0 15.Nf4 Qf6 16.g3 Ne6 17.Nce2 Ng5 18.Bd3 Bg4 19.h3 Bf3 20.Rhf1 Rad8 21.h4 Ne6 22.Nxe6 Qxe6 23.Rd2 Qf6 24.Qc3 Rfe8 25.h5 White pushed on with his attack, but Black is able to create counter threats. 25…Nd5 26.Qb3 Qg5 27.Rc2 Qxh5 28.Nc3 Nxc3+ 29.Qxc3 Qg4 30.Rd2 Qxd4 Black is able to grab another pawn to open up the central files, while White’s pieces are not well co-ordinated. 31.Qxd4 Rxd4 32.Kc2 Red8 33.Re1 Bg4 preparing for the killer blow. 34.Kc3 Bf5 0–1 White can avoid losing a piece, with 35.Re8+ Rxe8 36.Kxd4 Rd8+ 37.Ke3 Rxd3+ 38.Rxd3 Bxd3 39.Kxd3. but is left a pawn down on both wings.

The solution to last week’s problem was the waiting move 1.Qh8! and wherever the king moves to 2.Qd4 or 2.Bf5 are mates.

In Alain C. White’s 1912 book, The Theory of Pawn Promotion, he talks about the evolution of the concept of what should happen to a pawn if it manages to get to the opposite side of the board, before assembling a collection of about 500 problems based on this idea. He writes “The origin of the Promotion of Pawns is buried beyond recovery in the past. Evidently, since pawns can only march ‘breast forward’, as Browning would have described it, something startling must happen when they reach the opposite end of the board. Several possibilities could be imagined. They might turn round and walk back again. They might be compelled to walk straight off the board in a novel form of self-annihilation. But this would be a penalty for their prowess instead of a reward. Their transfiguration is a most ingenious and appropriate solution to the difficulty.” He goes on to describe the gradual modification in the promotion rules, from queen-only, to any piece that has already been captured, to the present state of any piece, regardless of the earlier course of the game.

One of the given examples is this, his own 2-mover.

White to mate in 2