Keverel Chess

Archive for October, 2013

Devon’s Team Blitz Tournament was held on Sunday at the Newton Abbot Club and there were several prizewinners. Overall winners were Newton Abbot “A” who took the Thomas Cup. Teignmouth “A” won the Hodge Cup for the highest score by a team with a total grade of Under-600, while Newton Abbot “B” took the cup for U-450s. The only undefeated team was Exmouth Eagles whose Meyrick Shaw took the new trophy for the highest individual score.

A new Plymouth-based organisation has recently started operations in the westcountry, although their ambitions stretch far beyond these shores. They are called Mind Sports International, a subsidiary of Living it Loving it Ltd., and their aim is to harness modern technologies like web TV and live streaming to tournaments involving chess, scrabble, poker etc. making them more accessible to a viewing public. Their ultimate goal is to have 12 festivals happening every year - 4 in Europe, 4 in North America and 4 across Asia and the rest of the World. They have events planned for Las Vegas and Prague in December but much nearer to home is one to be held at Plymouth Guildhall on the 16^th & 17^th November involving a range of games including chess. Visit their website (mindsportsinternational.com) to find out more.

The 14^th Senior Congress at the Royal Beacon Hotel, Exmouth, starts a week on Monday. Entries are filling up fast, but there is still space for a few latecomers. For details contact me on 01395-223340.

Here is a game by the winner of last year’s Bournemouth Congress.

White: David Howell. Black: Francis Rayner

English Opening [A34]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.e3 e5 5.d4 cxd4 6.exd4 e4 7.Ne5 Bb4 8.Be2 0–0 9.0–0 Re8 10.Bf4 d6 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Qa4 c5 13.Rad1 Bd7 14.Qb3 Qb6 15.dxc5 dxc5 16.Rd6 Qa5 17.Rxf6 gxf6 18.Nd5 Kh8 19.Nxf6 Bd2 20.Qg3 Bxf4 21.Qxf4 White now finishes off in style. 21…Re7 22.Qh6 Bf5 23.Nh5 Black is now faced with mate on g7 or losing his rook to 24.Qf6+ 1–0

The general rule is that knights should avoid getting stuck on the edge of the board where they tend to be least effective, (“knights on the rim are dim”) but in the case of last week’s problem 1.Nd1! was, in fact, the key move, as Black has no way of avoiding all the various mates next move.

In this position, White has an easy knight fork that wins the exchange, but there may be a quicker way to finish the game off.

White to play and win

Devon’s Team Blitz Tournament was again hosted by the Newton Abbot Club, with 10 teams competing for a record number of trophies. 12 minutes per player per game.

Newton Abbot’s 1st team, the Abbots, and previous winners, Exmouth Eagles, were the two top-rated teams by some margin , and their final position, after 6 rounds, reflected this. The Eagles’ consolation was to be the only undefeated team and to win the new Best Individual trophy, going to Meyrick Shaw for his 5 wins and a draw. Top-graded Dominic Mackle was denied a maximum score by losing to Kevin Hurst of the Eagles. Other players on 5/6 were Paul Brookes, Chris Scott, Alan Brusey, Trefor Thynne & Andrew Kinder.

The scratch team, Exmouth Egrets underperformed. They had regrets - but then again, too few to mention.

The event was organised by Trefor Thynne (Newton Abbot) and controlled by Ray Chubb (Teignmouth). Refreshments were provided by Mrs. Mackle and friend.

Here is a summary of the results. Photographs will appear a.s.a.p..

Before the kick-off, Devon President, Paul Brookes, presents the Intermediate Championship cup to last season's winner, Theo Slade.

General view of the playing area.

Nunns (l) vs the Eagles in Rd. 1

The eventual winners, the Abbots, in action against Tiverton (Rd. 3)

The Tiverton team in Rd. 3 - John Knowles nearest.

The Nunns, winners of the U-450 Cup. (Nathan Mills missing).

Teignmouth A - winners of the U-600 cup

The Abbots, Paul Brookes included, the overall winners.

Individual winner, Meyrick Shaw of the Eagles.

Organiser Trefor Thynne (l) & Controller Ray Chubb summing up at the end.

In spite of several key absentees, Somerset managed to inflict a heavy defeat over rivals Devon last Saturday, by 10½ - 5½.

Devon names first: 1. D. Mackle 0-1 P. Krzyzanowski. 2. A. Boyne 0-1 P. Chaplain. 3. J. Stephens 0-1 D. LIttlejohns. 4. S. Homer 0-1 M. Payne. 5. T. Paulden 0-1 A. Wong. 6. P. Medina 1-0 C. Purry. 7. K. Hurst 0-1 A. Footner. 8. D. Regis 1-0 J. Fewkes. 9. A. Brusey 0-1 G. Crockart. 10. J. Underwood 0-1 P. Cusick. 11. B. Hewson 0-1 G. Jepps. 12. J. Fraser 1-0 D. Peters. 13. T. Thynne 1-0 A. Champion. 14. P. Brooks 0-1 M. Baker. 15. G. Body 1-0 D. Freeman. 16. S. Martin ½-½ N. Senior.

Devon fared better in the 2^nd team match, winning 8-4. 1. J. Gorodi 1-0 C. McKinley. 2. M. Stinton-Brownbridge 1-0 R. Knight. 3. A. Kinder 0-1 C. Strong. 4. I. Annetts ½-½ T. West. 5. B. Gosling ½-½ U. Effiong. 6. J. Duckham 1-0 G. Daniel. 7. S. Murray ½-½ R. Challoner. 8. K. Atkins 0-1 C. Fewtrell. 9. R. Wilby 1-0 J. Wilkinson. 10. N. Mills ½-½ S. Pickard. 11. P. Dobber 1-0 N. Mills. 12. W. Taylor 1-0 R. Fenton.

This win by a Bath University student was an impressive start to his Westcountry chess career.

White: S. J. Homer (188). Black: M. J. Payne (184).

French Defence – Guimard Var. [C04]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nc6 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.e5 Nd7 6.Bd3 f6 7.Ng5 “Beware Greeks bearing gifts” - Black would be in terrible trouble if he took the knight e.g. 7…fxg5 8.Qh5+ g6 9.Bxg6+ Ke7 10.Qxg5+ forcing 10…Nf6 11.Qxf6+ Kd7 12.Qxh8 etc. 7…Ndxe5 Black can afford to ease the pressure by taking on e5, and also releasing d7 for his king, if required. 8.dxe5 fxg5 9.Qh5+ g6 10.Bxg6+ Kd7 11.Bd3 Nxe5 12.Nf3 Nxf3+ 13.Qxf3 h6 14.0–0 Bd6 15.Bd2 Qf8 White is much better developed at this point, but now helps Black’s cause. 16.Qg4 Kd8 17.f4 e5 18.f5 Qf6 19.h4 e4 20.hxg5 Qd4+ 21.Rf2 Bc5 22.Raf1 exd3 23.Qh5 dxc2 24.Bc1 Bxf5 Black’s bishops proceed to work well from the centre of the board. 25.g6 Qg4 26.g7 Rg8 27.Qf7 Be6 28.Qf6+ Kd7 29.Bxh6 Bd4 White must now exchange his queen and lose a rook. 0–1

Probably the shortest ever game in the history of the championship was this one. White: D. Freeman (151). Black: G. Body (160). 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d3 c6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Nxe5?? Qa5+ winning the knight 0-1.

In last week’s position, White can win immediately with 1.Kc3 when 2.Qb2 mate cannot be avoided.

This week’s position is a hitherto unpublished 2-mover by reader David Howard of East Harptree.

White to Mate in 2.

In their annual match in the WECU Inter-County Championship, Somerset were weakened by the absence of their top player, Jack Rudd and team Captain, Ben Edgell, both attending a crucial ECF meeting. Any pre-match hopes that Devon might have nurtured about the possibility of a rare win were stoked by the fact that they outgraded their opponents on every single one of the 28 boards. Added to that, Somerset gifted their opponents an early point after a few minutes, when Darren Freeman blundered a piece on move 5 and resigned immediately, creating what must surely be the shortest game in the history of the competition. What an opportunity!

However, it was all downhill for Devon from then onwards as they contrived to lose game after game using a variety of methods; weak opening moves, blunders losing a piece or overstepping the time control. Somerset won 9 of the top 11 games, a remarkable sequence. The concession of 3 losses on the lower boards did little to lighten the gloom for Devon. There was an impressive performance by a Somerset newcomer, Matthew J. Payne, recently enrolled at Bath University and formerly of Worthing and a product of the Sussex Juniors chess machine. His grade of 184 is 12 points up from his January grade, indicating he’s on a steep upward trajectory, backed up by his 195 rapidplay grade. He’s one to watch.

Devon’s U-160 team fared much better, losing only 2 of their 12 games, and running out 8 - 4 winners.

Krzyzanowski vs Mackle in foreground.

Steve Homer (W) heading for a tough time against newcomer Matthew Payne.

George Crockart (W) made light of his 19 point grading deficit against Alan Brusey.

British U-150 Champion, John Gorodi, is currently on fire.

N. Mills (back to camera) was switched to avoid playing N. Mills (behind him)

Steve Murray vs Robin Challoner. Jon Duckham, next to him, finished his game in style.