Keverel Chess

Posts Tagged ‘Exmouth. chess’

Former member of the Exmouth Chess Club and Devon President, Dr. Roger Neat lost his wife to cancer last year, and was determined to commemorate her support for his, and his sons, chess efforts, with a special tournament. To give it its full title, The Mary Elizabeth Neat Memorial Seniors Invitation RapidPlay Tournament, Roger had decided it should be an 8-man American, with 20 minutes per player per game, with the invitees being players he had known in his Exmouth days.

To give it some edge, he was offering prizes of £100, £50 & £25 for the first 3 places, and was funding a splendid lunch.

The Manor Hotel on Exmouth’s sea-front Beacon, was booked, and the 8 players duly assembled, together with local Arbiter John Ariss.

Front: Norman Tidy; Seated: John Ariss. Roger Neat, Brian Gosling. Standing: Ivor Annetts, Malcolm Belt, Greg Pond, Fred Hodge, Bob Jones.

After 3 rounds, only Brian Gosling had a maximum score, and everyone retired to the bar for drinks and a splendid repast, while considering the chances for the afternoon; e.g. could Brian be stopped? After lunch he continued in much the same vein, reaching 5/5, but then the wheels came off, trying the Polish Opening against a Polish veteran, Bob Jones. Going in to the final round, Gosling had Black against Neat, who was also having a good tournament, while Jones had White against Hodge. If Neat could hold Gosling and Jones could beat Hodge, the individual encounter between Gosling and Jones would determine the winner.

The first bit went according to plan, as Neat agreed a draw, but the second bit went sadly awry, as Jones not only failed to win, but came within a whisker of losing. So Brian Gosling got the £100 1st prize, while Neat and Jones, the only undefeated players, shared 2nd & 3rd.

All agreed it had been a splendid day, blessed by cloudless skies and a most agreeable venue.

Winners in bold

Rd. 2 gets under way: Tidy-Belt (nearest) & Annetts - Gosling.

Rd. 3: The desired Neat & Tidy game.

Rd. 3: Hodge v Annetts (nearest) & Gosling v Belt.

Break for lunch

Spoilt for choice

Jones & Neat congratulate each other and share 2nd & 3rd

Brian Gosling - clear 1st and £100 winner

The 5 teams in Devon’s 1st Division, play each other once, giving a total of 4 matches. Both Exeter and Exmouth have been a little slow off the mark this season, for one reason or another, and this was the third match for each, with Exeter having won their 1st two matches, while Exmouth had won one and drawn one. So there was everything to play for.

Luck played a part in the team selection for both sides. Exmouth were lucky in that former player, Ken Derrick, had decided to play a more active part in Devon chess, playing both for the county and his old club of Exmouth. This, combined with Dr. Underwood’s recent return from a two year stint in Connecticut, enabled the home team to be at full strength. On the other hand, one Exeter player found himself in another country and had to be substituted at short notice.

The first game to finish was on Bd. 4 where Kevin Hurst gained the upper hand against Simon Waters in a Petroff Defence, and it was all over in 21 moves. This was balanced by a win for Dr. Paulden who broke through Dr. Underwood’s king’s position, utilising long open lines for his pieces, queen, rook and bishops. Then Exeter took the lead as Andy Boyne got a knight established on the 6th rank, and kept all his other pieces working harmoniously. At this point, 2-1 down, and two players a pawn down, for little obvious compensation, even a drawn match looked optimistic.

It was, in fact, like a match of two halves, with the first 3 games finishing in 21, 28 and 32 moves respectively, while the other three all went right down to the wire; in 59, 63 & 64 moves. The 6 free players and non-playing captain all looked on nervously as the games went into extra time and fortunes gradually swung around.

Mark Abbott had looked the only one with a superior position, but this was gradually whittled away until an ending was reached where he only had 3 pawns against a rook. Fortunately, his king was able to protect them as they shuffled forward, like a shepherd coralling his last 3 sheep. The rook alone could do little as his king was trying to catch up with the action. Abbott finished prettily, underpromoting a pawn to a knight with check, allowing a 2nd pawn to queen.

Now 2-all, and the other two games, in which both Exmouth players had been a pawn down, were gradually turning around. The Stephens/Regis game had been positionally congested with 13 pawns still on the board late on, but Stephens was able to grab an open file for his rook, before invading Black’s position to winning effect. The Pope/Shaw game came down to a N + B each with a scattering of pawns, when Shaw opted to swap his bad bishop for Pope’s good knight, after which he was able to grab a few pawns and ran his h-pawn forward to queen, which Pope was unable to prevent.

So it finished 4 - 2, which sounds a healthy margin, but the result was in doubt to the very end. It was unusual at this level to have all six games ending decisively, with no draws, indicative of how all 12 players were committed to the cause.

General view - Bd. 1 nearest.

Bds. 1 - 3 in early action.

Bds 4 - 6 in action.

The draw for Rd. 4 was as follows:-

Of the 6 players on 2.5, only Dodgson and Everson won, making them joint leaders and due to meet in the final round. A number of others have a mathematical chance of becoming joint winners on 4 pts if the top 2 draw, including Openshaw, Page, John Footner, Dinah Norman, Gamble and Gosling.

The top game in the “Juniors” was between Wells on a maximum 3/3 and Heppell, a point behind having drawn 2 games. However, Heppell rediscovered his form and levelled the scores.

Rd. 4 games here:

Pt. 1: http://www.chessdevon.co.uk/HTML/bs2014/base.htm

Pt. 2: http://www.chessdevon.co.uk/HTML/bj2014a/base.htm

All “Junior” gms: http://www.chessdevon.co.uk/HTML/bj2011/base.htm

Tomorrow is the 11th day of the 11th month, 2011, and there has been talk about whether it would be appropriate to have a 2 minute pause at 11 o’clock - clocks stopped to allow folk thoughts to go where they will. The idea was explained at the start of play on Wednesday, and a show of hands to be taken today. When asked, it was clear the mark of respect was wanted.

Top 2 games in the Seniors: Dodgson v Carr: Openshaw v Page

Hazel Welch helps visually-challenged Patching, and a blind player plays Naldrett.

Top game in the Juniors was Heppell v Wells (won by White) and Dean v Orr.