Keverel Chess

The 7^th Steve Boniface Memorial Congress took place in the Holiday Inn, Bristol, at the weekend. The winners were as follows (club and grade follow each name, and all scores out of 5):

Open Section: 1^st = David Buckley (Bath - 218) & Lewis Martin (Bristol Uni. - 187) 4 pts. 3^rd= and U-187 grading prize combined. Chris Beaumont (Clifton - 208); Robert Thompson (Bristol Uni. - 180); John Waterfield (Clifton - 178) & David Sully (Penarth - 189) all 3½.

Grading prizes: U-177: Raymond Ilett (Peterborough - 167) 2½. U-165 1^st= Dominic Bennett (Clifton - 159) & Lynda Roberts (Thornbury - 159) 2½.

Major (U-155): 1^st= Harvey Atkinson (Horfield - 154); Roger Hardy (Grendel - 144) & Richard George (Cirencester - 141) all 4pts.

Grading prizes: U-147: Nigel Dicker (Glastonbury) 3½. U-141: Paul Gillett (Cirencester) 3½. U-131: Peter Dimond (Bath) 2½ .

Minor (U-125): 1^st Lee Bullock (London - 118) 4½. 2^{nd =} Laurence Paynter (Bristol Cabot - 121) & Daniel Rowan (Banbury 115) both 4.

Grading prizes: U-115: Alex Ter Hark (Clifton - 109) 3½. U-109: Shaun Walsh (Downend - 75) 3½.

This was a most entertaining and instructive game from Round 3. Last year Musson won the Bristol League’s prize for the most attacking game of the season. Playing through this, one can see why.

White: Lynda Roberts (159). Black: Adam Musson (179).

Bird’s Opening – From Gambit. [A02]

1.f4 An opening devised by H. E. Bird (1830 - 1908) who had a penchant for the unorthodox. 1…e5 A gambit popularised by the Dane, Martin From (1828-95), widely regarded as Black’s most aggressive reply. 2.fxe5 d6 3.exd6 Bxd6 Black has invested a solitary pawn to reach this position; compare Black’s open lines for rapid piece development with White’s, where nothing on the board has moved. 4.Nf3 virtually forced. If, for example, 4.Nc3 retribution would be swift. 4…Qh4+ 5.g3 Bxg3+ 6.hxg3 Qxg3 mate 4…Bg4 5.g3 Nf6 6.Nc3 Qe7 7.Bg2 Nc6 8.d4 0–0–0 9.Nb5? White must continue to develop pieces e.g. 9.0–0. 9…Bc5 10.c3 a6 11.Na3 Rhe8 12.Nc4?? The 4^th move for this one piece in this razor sharp opening. 12.Nc2!? would have been better. Black is now poised to strike. 12…Bxd4! 13.cxd4 Nxd4 14.Nxd4 Rxd4 15.Qc2 Qxe2+ 16.Qxe2 Rxe2+ 17.Kf1 Rd1# 0-1 The unmoved bishop cuts off any defence.

This 2-mover is another first-time publication kindly sent in by Dave Howard of East Harptree.

White to mate in 2.