Keverel Chess

In the National Stages of the Inter-County Championships several westcountry teams were involved in very close matches. In the Open section, Somerset drew 8-8 against Yorkshire but went through after the tie-break rules were applied, and are now due to meet Middlesex who beat Staffordshire 11½-4½. However, the Middlesex team was not as strong on paper as Yorkshire, so Somerset will not be underdogs. In the U-180 section Devon lost narrowly to Surrey and in the Minor Counties section, Gloucestershire narrowly lost 7½-8½ to Hertfordshire in a match where 11 of the 16 games were drawn. Gloucestershire’s only two winners were Joseph Stewart on Bd. 1 and Graham Brown on Bd. 13. In the same section, Hampshire had a walk-over against Suffolk and will meet Hertfordshire in the semi-final.

This Round 2 game from the recent Frome Congress was the favourite’s second consecutive loss, ending his interest in the prize list at an early stage.

White: Bruce Jenks (206). Black: Mark Littleton (171).

Queen’s Gambit – Exchange Variation [D36].

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Nbd7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 Be7 7.e3 0–0 8.Bd3 c6 9.Qc2 h6 10.Bh4 Ne8 11.Bg3 Bd6 Black is determined to exchange off the black square bishops. 12.0–0 Bxg3 13.hxg3 The resulting break-up of White’s protective pawns plays a part in the course of the game. 13…Nd6 14.Rae1 Re8 15.Nh4 Nf6 16.f3 Nh5 17.Qf2 The queen is deflected from applying pressure to f5 and allows… 17…g5 18.g4 forced. 18…Ng7 19.Nf5 Black can now win the pawn that started on the h-file. 19…Ngxf5 20.gxf5 Bxf5 21.Bxf5 Nxf5 22.e4 Ng7 23.f4 g4 24.f5 Nh5 25.exd5 Rxe1 26.Rxe1 cxd5 27.Re5 Nf6! Defending 2 pawns while holding back White’s f-pawn and will prove to be the key to the mating net. 28.Qe2 Qd7 29.a4 Rd8 The White king now sets out to invade down the kingside – a bold but dangerous and ultimately fatal plan. 30.Kf2 a6 31.Kg3 Qd6 32.Kh4 Kh7 33.g3 Entombing his own king 33…Qf8 34.Qe3 Qg7 35.a5 White doesn’t have a good move, but must simply await the last rites. 35…Rg8 36.Nxd5 Qg5+ 37.Qxg5 hxg5 mate 0–1.

In this week’s position, how does White mate in 2 moves, while avoiding stalemate or allowing the Black king to escape its net?

White to mate in 2