Month: March 2015

R Merc vs R Shaw

Nomads E vs Barnsley D

Nomads E 3 1 Barnsley D
Duncan Chambers (b) 1/2 1/2 Russell Roe
Peter Morton 1 0 Phil Griffiths
Robert Shaw 1 0 Robbie Merc
Jo Woollard 1/2 1/2 Alan Taylor

On board 4, early exchanges left both Jo and Alan with a week queenside pawn structure, but  Jo’s remaining bishop was well placed on g2.  After further exchanged left both players with a single knight and bishop, plus pawns, a draw was agreed. Duncan’s  game also began with a minor piece exchange, and ended in deadlock.

Peter came out of the opening with two bishops, a knight, and five pawns against two rooks and five pawns, a marginal material advantage, but it proved sufficient. Peter forced further exchanges, with gradual material gain, ending up with a bishop and three pawns against just three pawns, at which point his opponent resigned.

After some initial manoeuvring, Robert won a queen for a bishop, a decisive advantage. His opponent played on for a while, generating some threats, but resigned once mate was clearly inevitable.

Geoff Frost v Khaled

New FIDE rated congress nearby(ish)

For anyone interested, here are the details / link to the webpage of a new congress to be held in Wakefield, with a FIDE rated Open. It does unfortunately clash with Nottingham if that happens to be in your plans.

4NCL
17th-19th April

Cedar Court Hotel
Denby Dale Road
Calder Grove
Wakefield
WF4 3QZ

FIDE Rated Open
ECF Under 175
ECF Under 135

http://www.4ncl.co.uk/fide/information.htm

Ecclesall E vs Nomads E

Ecclesall E 2½ 2½ Nomads E
Mike Howarth 1/2 1/2 Eric McKenna (w)
Elliot Spencer 0 1 Peter Morton
John Speck 1 0 Dave Kesteven
Ken Scott 1 0 Robert Shaw
Peter Mitchell 0 1 Jo Woollard

Nomads won the toss, and chose white on odds.

Dave soon went a knight down. He lured Speck’s king to f7, where it looked pretty vulnerable, but this didn’t prove to be enough. Robert  also lost a piece early on, following a miscalculation in a promising position. He was able to generate some pressure with promotion threat on the a file, but eventually resigned.

Eric maintained material parity throughout his game, both players ending up with six pawns, a knight, and a bishop, on opposite colours. Once it was clear neither player could break through, a draw was agreed.

Peter and Elliot swapped off queens early, then Peter lost the exchange, going a knight for a rook down. He did have an extra pawn in compensation, but three of how pawns were trebled on the e file. However, Peter eventually recovered material in a tangled position, and then his opponents flag fell, before move 30.

Jo and Peter both castled kingside, with an open pawn structure on the queenside. After swapping bishops off, Jo went an exchange up: queen, two rooks and six pawns against queen, rook, knight, and six pawns. She tehn pressed this slight advantage home, until Peter resigned.

 

Sasca E vs Nomads E

Sasca E 1/2 3½ Nomads E
D Evans (w) 1/2 1/2 Eric McKenna
C Wilson 0 1 Robert Shaw
O Walker 0 1 Jo Woollard
N Roberts 0 1 Gordon Shaw

Sasca won the toss, and chose white on odds.

Eric’s opponent opened with a strong attack, but Eric mounted a solid defence, eventually swapping down to a queen, rook and pawn endgame, with a  one pawn advantage for Eric. He tried to press this home, but his opponent manoeuvred him into perpetual check.

Playing against the French defence, Gordon quickly gained a pawn.  After his opponent retreated his bishop to e7, they both castled kingside, then Gordon swapped a bishop and knight for two bishops, giving him the slight theoretical advantage of the bishop pair. Exploiting this, he squeezed his opponent, swapping off queens on move 19 and.ending up with a rook and two pawns against just three pawns. This was enough to force promotion, after which mate swiftly followed.

Jo also opened with an exchange of minor pieces. Further exchanges followed, with Jo steadily gaining positional advantage, until her opponent was mated.

Robert was the last to finish. He and his opponent had exchanged queens on move 19. leaving Robert a pawn down, but with a stronger pawn structure. The next exchanges left Robert with a knight for four pawns, a marginal disadvantage, but after a wobbly middle-game he pulled back, gaining material, so towards the end of the game Robert had a  rook, knight and pawn against just a rook.  Once his opponent’s rook was disposed of, mate soon followed.

Robert’s mate: