Keverel Chess

Archive for September, 2018

In the Open Section of last week’s WECU Jamboree, Somerset came 1^st with 7½/12 pts, Devon were 2^nd with 6½ points, while Cornwall got 4. Here is a win and loss for Somerset from that match.

Jack Rudd can usually be relied upon to provide some entertaining attacking chess for the spectators, and this was no exception.

White: Jack Rudd: (221 – Somerset). Black: Grant Henley: (178 – Cornwall)

1.d4 d6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nd7 5.e4 e5 6.Be3 Ne7 7.Be2 0–0 8.0–0 h6 So far, both sides have concentrated on sensible development. 9.Qc1 Now White quickly starts asking questions of Black’s defence. 9…Kh7 10.Rd1 f6 11.c5 dxc5 12.dxe5 fxe5 13.Bxc5 Both Black’s knights are pinned. 13…c6 14.Bd6 Qe8 15.b4 g5 16.b5 Qf7 17.bxc6 bxc6 18.Qa3 Re8 19.Na4 g4 Black tries to attack on the opposite wing, but beyond the range of any of his pieces 20.Nd2 h5 Weakening his king’s defences. 21.Rac1 Bb7 22.Nc4 Compare and contrast the activity of both side’s rooks and knights. 22…Ng6 23.Bb4 Bf8 24.Bxf8 Rxf8 25.Qe3 Bc8 26.Nd6 Qe7 27.Nf5 Threatening both the queen and to check on h6, winning the knight. 27…Rxf5 28.exf5 Nf4 29.Bc4 Nf6 30.Re1 Bxf5 31.Qxf4 Winning a piece. 1-0

Game 2:

White: Gary Trudeau (161 - Cornwall). Black: Philip Chapman (146 - Somerset).

1.e4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.d4 c5 4.Nf3 Qa5? This doesn’t look like the “sensible development” referred to in the previous game. Will it end well? 5.Bd2 cxd4 6.Nb5 Qb6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Nxe5 Na6 9.Nc4 Qc5 Of course not 9…Qxb5?? 10.Nd6+ winning White’s queen. 10.Ncd6+ Kf8 11.a3 Ne7 12.Bc4 Nc7 13.b4 Qb6 14.Nxc7 Qxc7 15.Qf3 f6 16.0–0 Nc6 17.Nf7 Hitting queen and rook. 17…Qb6 18.Nxh8 Bxh8 19.Bh6+ Ke8 20.Bg8 d6 21.Bxh7 Ne5 22.Qb3 Qc7 23.Bg8 g5 24.f4 Ng4 25.fxg5 1–0 Black’s 4^th move allowed White to harry the queen, helping White’s piece development while hindering Black’s.

Ian George reports on his Cornwall Chess website that players have said how much they enjoyed the summer chess meetings held at the Plume of Feathers in Pool, as reported here earlier. As a result, the management at the Plume have given permission to continue meeting there on the first Tuesday of each month. The next three dates have been fixed as 2^nd October, 6^th November and 4^th December. However, it will be sensible to check before setting out in case a large party has made a booking, in which case chessplayers will have to give way and arrange a different date.

The South Devon Chess Festival starts on Monday 5^th November, of which more news next week.

In last week’s position, Black could indeed save the day with 1…Qd5! threatening to mate on g2. White, of course can take it, but that allows 2.Rc1+ and mate must follow, as White’s queen and rook are unconnected.

This week it’s Black to move and mate in 2.

The West of England Jamboree took place on Saturday at West Hill Village Hall, near Ottery-St-Mary. The definition in chess is similar to that in scouting, in that teams of 12 players from different areas come together, but rather than sit round the campfire singing merry songs, chess players prefer to fight it out for ultimate domination.

The Open Section comprised teams from Devon and Cornwall, while the grade-limited section had teams from East and South Devon, plus a few Somerset players mixed in. In this case, both East and South tied with 8 points out of 12, and agreed to share the trophy for 6 months each, exchanging it at the West of England Championship in Exmouth over the Easter weekend 2019.

Here is the top game from the Open Section, leading the whole Cornish team to a win.

White: Jeremy Menadue (180 - Cornwall)

Black: Dominic Mackle (199 - Devon) Queen’s Indian Defence [E13]

1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 The Queen’s Indian Defence. 4.Nf3 Bb4 5.Bg5 Nf6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 0–0 8.Bd3 d6 9.0–0 Bxc3 10.bxc3 Nbd7 11.Nd2 e5 12.f4 exf4 13.exf4 Re8 14.Bf5 Re3 15.Bxd7 Qxd7 16.Bxf6 White is trying to break open Black’s defensive position. 16…gxf6 17.Qh5 and launches an immediate attack. 17…Rae8 18.d5 Trying to cut off the fianchettoed bishop. 18…c6 19.Nf3 cxd5 20.Nd4 Threatening 21.Nf5, to join the kingside attack. 20…Bc8 Preventing that threat. 21.f5 If the knight is denied the square, this at least cuts off any invasion by White’s queen. 21…Kh7 22.cxd5 Ba6 23.Rf4 It’s getting desperate; Black must try and do something before White gets in Rh4. 23…Re1+ 24.Kf2 Rxa1 25.Rh4 Rf1+ 26.Kg3 Re3+ 27.Nf3 Rexf3+ 28.gxf3 Rg1+ 29.Kf2 Rf1+ 30.Kg2 Black’s queen is powerless while her opponent is all-powerful. 30…Kg8 31.Qxh6 Mate on h8 cannot be avoided. 1–0

Meanwhile, here is a Devon win.

White: Jamie Morgan (159 - Cornwall).

White: Mark Abbott (178 – Devon)

Sicilian Defence – Closed System [B23]

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.f4 Bg7 4.Nf3 e6 5.Bc4 Nc6 6.d3 Nge7 7.0–0 0–0 8.Bb3 d6 9.Qe1 Nd4 10.Nxd4 cxd4 11.Ne2 Kh8 12.Bd2 Bd7 13.c3 Nc6 14.Kh1 Rc8 15.cxd4 Nxd4 16.Nxd4 Bxd4 17.Bc3 Qb6 18.Rc1 Bb5 19.Rf3 Bxc3 20.Rxc3 Qd4 21.Qc1 Rc5 22.Rxc5 dxc5 23.Qc3 Rd8 24.Bc2 b6 25.f5 exf5 26.exf5 c4 27.dxc4 Qxc3 28.Rxc3 Bc6 29.Rd3 Re8 30.Kg1 Re2 Attacking the bishop and whole of the 2^nd rank… 31.f6 but to take it means mate on d8 31…h5 sidestepping the threat. 32.Rc3 Rxg2+ Now the attack bears fruit. 33.Kf1 Rxh2 34.b4 Rh4 35.Ke2 Rf4 36.b5 Bb7 37.c5 Rxf6 38.c6 Bc8 39.Bb3 h4 40.Re3 Bg4+ 41.Kd2 h3 42.Bd5 Rd6! 43.Rd3 Rxd5 Offering the exchange sacrifice in return for queening a pawn on h1. 0–1

The key move to last week’s problem was indeed a good knight’s leap, or rather 1.Ne4!

Here is the finish of a game played earlier this year. White is all set to win by 1.Rd8+ RxR 2.QxR#, but unfortunately for him it’s Black to move. Is there any way Black can save the day?

The 68^th Paignton Congress finishes this afternoon after 7 strenuous rounds. In the early stages, local Grandmaster Keith Arkell with 4 wins out of 4, looked to be well on course to repeat his achievements of numerous previous years in coming clear 1^st in the Premier Section. The full prizelist will appear next week.

This game of his from Rd. 2 was his favourite of the 4 played so far.

White: K. C. Arkell. Black. D. B. Rosen.

1.d4 f5 the Dutch Defence, an opening that has retained its popularity since the 19^th century. 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 d5 5.Bg2 c6 6.0–0 Bd6 7.b3 Qe7 8.Bb2 0–0 9.Nbd2 Ne4 10.Qc2 Nd7 11.e3 Ndf6 12.Ne5 Both players have developed quickly and without bloodshed - so far. 12…Nxd2 13.Qxd2 Bd7 14.a4 Rab8 15.Qc1 Rfc8 16.Ba3 c5 17.Qb2 cxd4 18.exd4 dxc4 19.bxc4 Bxa3 20.Rxa3 Bc6 21.Bxc6 bxc6 22.Nxc6! Cleverly spotting the fact that Black’s rook on c1 is overloaded; If, for example, 22…Rxb2?? 23.Nxe7+ wins a rook; and if 22…Rxc6?? 23.Qxb8+ also wins a rook. 22.Qb7 Qxb7 Rxb7 24.Ne5 Nd7 25.Nf3 Rxc4 26.Re1 Nf8 27.Re5 h6 28.d5 exd5 29.Rxd5 f4 30.Rd8 fxg3 31.hxg3 Rc1+ 32.Kg2 Kf7 33.Re3 Ng6 34.Rd6 Rcc7 35.Ree6 Nf8 36.Ne5+ Kg8 37.Rd8 Re7 38.Rxe7 Rxe7 39.Ng6 Rf7 40.f4 Rf6 41.f5 Rf7 Not 41…Rxf5?? as 42.Ne7+ wins the rook. So Black’s rook is now reduced to moving back and forth one square, and its king cannot even do that. Meanwhile, White’s other pieces can creep up the board to add their own weight to the proceedings, unafraid of being attacked themselves. 42.g4 Rf6 43.Kg3 Rf7 44.a5 Rf6 45.Kf4 Rf7 46.Ke5 Rf6 47.a6 1-0

Two pieces of news hot off the presses. Firstly, the 2019 British Championships are returning to the Riviera Centre, Torquay next July. The two previous occasions were 2013 and 2009, when David Howell was the winner each time. Is this an omen?

Also, a number of changes are afoot for next year’s Cornish Championship Congress. (a) It’s moving from winter to summer, i.e. the weekend of 3^rd – 5^th May. (b) It’s moving to the Terrace Rooms of the prestigious Falmouth Hotel; (c) the new organisers will be Colin & Rebecca Gardiner, who have organised similar events in other parts of the country, and (d) Instead of being a “closed” event, it will be open to any player in the country. The caveat is that while any player is eligible to win the cash prizes, the Cornish championship trophy itself, the Emigrant Cup, may only be won by someone resident in, born in, working in or attending an educational establishment within the county borderline.

In this position, Black has 4 pieces in attack in contrast to White’s pair of knights which don’t look to have much threat beyond a possible check. Anyway, it’s Black to move, so should he protect against the knights or simply ignore them and go for it?

The 68^th Paignton Congress starts at 1.45 p.m. tomorrow at the Livermead House Hotel. At the time of going to print there were 33 entries for the 5 round morning sections and 68 for the 7 round afternoon sections, but more will be coming in every day. The Premier Section has 16 entries of whom Paignton resident, Grandmaster Keith Arkell, is by some margin the favourite to win, though strong challengers may yet emerge from the shadows.

Here is one of Keith’s games from the recent British Championship.

White: David Zakarian (213). Black: Keith Arkell (235)

1.e4 e6 Black tries for the French Defence, but White has no intention of getting sucked into the usual lines, so goes for something quite different. 2.Nf3 d5 3.e5 c5 4.b4 A most unusual response. 4…cxb4 5.a3 bxa3 6.c3 Nc6 7.d4 White has given up pawns in order to establish a strong central pawn formation. 7…Nh6 8.Bd3 Nf5 9.0–0 h5 10.Nxa3 Be7 11.Re1 a6 12.Bb2 g6 13.Nc2 Na5 14.Ne3 b5 15.Bxf5 gxf5 16.Nd2 Bb7 17.Qf3 Rb8 18.Qg3 Looking to invade on g7 18…Kf8 19.Ba3 Bxa3 20.Rxa3 Nc4 21.Ra2 Rg8 22.Qf4 Qg5 23.Qxg5 Rxg5 24.f4 Rg8 25.Nb3 Ke7 26.Nc5 Rgc8 27.Kf2 h4 28.Rb1 Nxe3 29.Kxe3 Rc6 Both kings now set off on an odyssey across the board to where the game will ultimately be decided. 30.Kd3 Bc8 31.Kc2 Kd8 32.Kb3 Kc7 33.Kb4 Kb6 There now follows some jousting as both sides look for an opening. 34.Rf1 Ra8 35.Ra5 Bb7 36.Rf3 Rh8 37.Ra2 Rc7 38.Rff2 Ra8 39.Ra5 Rac8 40.Rfa2 The position is now blocked and neither player can make much headway. Time, perhaps, for something radical. 40…Rxc5! A sacrifice, which subsequent computer analysis shows is the best move. 41.dxc5+ Rxc5 Black now has a bishop and 2 pawns for the rook, so it’s relatively risk-free. 42.g3 Rc4+ 43.Kb3 d4 44.cxd4 Rxd4 45.Kc3 Rc4+ 46.Kd3 hxg3 47.hxg3 Rc8 48.Ra1 Rg8 White can’t defend this pawn as his rooks are locked together. 49.Kd4 Rxg3

Black has now broken through, with free-moving pieces and a menacing pair of united passed pawns. 50.R5a3 Rg4 51.Rf1 b4 52.Ra2 a5 53.Rb2 Bd5 54.Rh2 Rg3 55.Rh8 Rc3 56.Rb8+ Bb7 57.Rf8 Rc7 58.Rb1 Rd7+ 59.Ke3 Kb5 0-1 Resigns, as it’s just a matter of time now. Black’s 2 pieces have the run of the board; White’s rooks are disconnected and ineffective, and the passed pawns will rumble forward with the full support of Black’s king and heavy artillery.

The solution to last week’s M-shaped 2-mover was 1.Be5! and if 1…KxN 2.Bb4#; or 1…PxN 2.Re7# or 1…PxB 2.Nf4#.

This is the starter problem to the British Solving Championship, given earlier. Two readers got it right, so for the rest, here is the correct solution.

1. Qf7! with the threat of 2. Qf1 mate.

Black had 4 unsuccessful tries to avoid this fate, namely:-

1…Qb8+ 2. a x b8 = Q mate.

1…Qb2 2. Rc1 mate.

1…Q x c2 2. Qb7 mate.

1…c x d3 2. Q x b3 mate.