Round 1 - 16 September 2006
| OXFORD 1 | 5-3 | WESSEX 1 | ||||
| 1 | w | Savage, Ben D | 2319 | ½ - ½ | Corkett, Anthony R | 2339 |
| 2 | b | Milovanovic, Aleksander | 2272 | 1 - 0 | Webb, Richard M | 2286 |
| 3 | w | Bilalic, Merim | 2288 | ½ - ½ | Allicock, Rawle A | 2308 |
| 4 | b | Rawlinson, Aidan | 2183 | 0 - 1 | Upton, Ian J | 2259 |
| 5 | w | Smallbone, Kieran | 2228 | 1 - 0 | Simons, Martin J | 2238 |
| 6 | b | Eckersley-Waites, Tom | 2141 | 1 - 0 | Yeo, Michael J | 2161 |
| 7 | w | Duggan, Chris | 2138 | 0 - 1 | Jenks, Bruce | 2100 |
| 8 | b | Messam-Sparkes, Lateefah | 1855 | 1 - 0 | Norman, Dinah | 2003 |
The first rounds of the 4NCL clashing with student enrolment at Oxford Brookes University , the team lacked an official groupie cum reporter, so instead have trawled the file. It seems to have been a close match, with tense draws with White on the top boards, and excitement most everywhere else. On board 5, for instance, Kieran played White, and readers will of course be interested in how Kieran would treat this novelty at the board. Let's sample a flavour:
Smallbone,Kieran (2228) - Simons,Martin J (2238) [B00]
4NCL/Div2/OXF1 vs. WES1 Sunningdale ENG (1.5), 16.09.2006
1.e4 Nc6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nd7 5.Nge2 Nb6 6.Ng3 g6 7.a4 h5 8.Bb5 h4 9.Nf1 a5 10.Ne3 Bg7 11.0-0 Be6 12.f4 Qd7 13.Qf3 Rh5 14.b3 0-0-0 15.Ba3 Kb8 16.Ne2 Nc8 17.c3
Yeah, right. In summary, he's managed to play Black with colours reversed (1-0, 42).
Two losses needed to be made up: on board 4, Aidan's position was always rocky from the moment he "won" the exchange for two pawns in the transposition to the endgame from a Slav, and after the exchange was blundered back on move 24 it was a losing battle but to his credit he eked out the position until move 55 in search of salvation. Completing a bad day for the White pieces (1/4) was Chris Duggan, whose decision to exchange his central pawns for Black's a- and b-pawns never looked convincing on Fritz.
Duggan,Chris (2138) - Jenks,Bruce (2100) [B27]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.c3 Bg7 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 d5 6.e5 Bg4 7.h3 Bxf3 8.Qxf3 e6
9.Qb3 Nc6 10.Nc3 Nge7 11.Bd3 Nxd4 12.Qxb7 Rb8 13.Qxa7 Nec6 14.Qa4 0-0 15.Be3 Nxe5 16.Rd1 Nxd3+ 17.Rxd3 Nf5 18.Bc1 Ra8 19.Qc2 Qa5 20.0-0 Rfc8 21.Qe2 h5 22.g4 hxg4 23.hxg4 Nd6 24.Kg2 Rc4 25.Rh1 Ne4 26.Rdh3 Nxc3 27.bxc3 Qxa2 28.Qf3 Qa4 29.Kg3 Be5+ 30.Bf4 Rxf4 31.Qe3 Re4+ 0-1
Yeo,Michael J (2161) - Eckersley-Waites,Tom (2141) [B33]
4NCL/Div2/OXF1 vs. WES1 Sunningdale ENG (1.6), 16.09.2006
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.Bxb5 Bd7 13.exf5 Bg7 14.c3 0-0 15.Qg4 f6 16.0-0 Rb8 17.a4 Ne7 18.Rfd1 Kh8 19.Bxd7 Qxd7 20.Nxe7 Qxe7 21.b4 Rfc8
One of the many positions from the Sveshnikov that I can't evaluate. Here, though, the annotator is helped by the positioning of Black's extra bishop. Normally one concludes notes in such positions with the comment that the extra material will count in the endgame, but here (i) we are at the endgame; (ii) those ruddy pawns are on the move already and (iii) the bishop is hibernating.
So the race is on. 22.b5 Rxc3 23.Qb4 Rc5 24.b6 Rc6 25.a5 Qb7 26.Rdb1 Bf8 27.a6 Qa8
By now we're beginning to worry about the integrity of the black position. 28.b7?? Too hasty by half; Black is just about holding on and if White were patient then Black's absence of concrete moves might become apparent. After this move Black starts to free himself from the bind and emerges with a clear piece up. Fritz comes up instead with the slower lines: 28.Qa5 e4 (which doesn't seem right, but but if say (28…Be7 29.b7 Qa7 30.Qb5 Rc2 31.Qb6 when 31…Rc1+ 32.Rxc1 Qxb6 33.Rc8+ is check - compare with note to move 30. ) 29.a7 Rb7 30.Qd5 Rc8 31.Qe6 ( and not 31.Qxe4 Rxb6) 31…Rc2 32.Qxe4 Rc8 black is still in knots. 28…Qa7 29.Qb5 Rc2 30.Qf1 30.Qb6 Rc1+ 31.Rxc1 Qxb6 32.Rc8 might just bail out into something salvageable for White. 30…Bh6 31.Rb3 e4 32.Kh1 Bf4 33.g3 Be5 34.Rc1 Rxc1 35.Qxc1 Qxa6 36.Kg2 d5 37.Qc5 Qc4 0-1
On board 8, Lateefah was it appeared gradually overwhelming her opponent:
Norman,Dinah (2003) - Messam-Sparkes,Lateefah (1855) [A46]
4NCL/Div2/OXF1 vs. WES1 Sunningdale ENG (1.8), 16.09.2006
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bg5 Be7 4.Nbd2 b6 5.e4 Bb7 6.Bd3 h6 7.Bh4 Nc6 8.c3 d5 9.e5 Nd7 10.Bxe7 Nxe7 11.Qe2 c5 12.0-0 c4 13.Bc2 0-0 14.a4 a6 15.Rfb1 Qc7 16.Nf1 Nc6 17.Ng3 Rfe8 18.Nd2 b5 19.axb5 axb5 20.Qe1 b4 21.Rxa8 Rxa8 22.Ra1 Rxa1 23.Qxa1 b3 24.Bd1 Qa5 25.Qc1 Qa2 26.Bh5 g6 27.Bg4 Nb6 28.Nf3 Nd8
Black seems to have the upper hand here, with the long-term weakness on b2 bound to be decisive. Fritz, as usual, disagrees. 29.Qxh6! looking at it first time this looks like it's straight out of the Fred Reinfeld "desperation" book of cliche… 29…Qxb2 30.Ng5 30.Qh4 seems (also?) to hold. The basic idea is that the Nd8 is central to the flimsy defence of the Black king; our silicon chip gives the following variations: 30…Qc1+ 31.Nf1 Nc6 32.Ng5 Nd8 33.Qh7+ Kf8 34.Qh8+ Ke7 35.Qf6+ Ke8 36.Bxe6 fxe6 37.Nxe6 and White is doing better, even; and 30…Qa1+ 31.Nf1 Qa8 32.Ng5 b2 33.Bxe6 fxe6 34.Qh7+ Kf8 35.Qc7 b1Q 36.Nh7+ Kg8 37.Nf6+ Kf8 30…Qa3?
Maybe this isn't a mistake and the position is a draw at best - you need to have a better version of Fritz or a longer time to analyse, but… 30…Qc1+ 31.Nf1 b2 32.Qh7+ Kf8 33.Qh8+ Ke7 34.Qf6+ Ke8 35.Bxe6 Qxf1+ 36.Kxf1 b1Q+ 37.Ke2 Qd3+ 38.Ke1 Qxc3+ 39.Kf1 Qd3+ 40.Ke1 Qb1+ 41.Ke2 and it's not clear how Black is going to avoid perpetual; likewise after 30…Qa1+ 31.Nf1 b2 32.Nh7 Qxf1+ 33.Kxf1 b1Q+ 34.Ke2 Qd3+ 35.Ke1 Qxc3+ 36.Ke2 Qb2+ 37.Kf1 Qb1+. 31.Qh7+ 31.Bxe6 Qc1+ 32.Nf1 fxe6 33.Qxg6+ Kf8 34.Nh7+ Ke7 35.Qg7+ Nf7 36.Qf8+ Kd7 37.Qc5 may be drawn also. 31…Kf8 32.Qh8+ Ke7 33.Qf6+ Ke8 34.Nxf7 Nxf7 35.Qxe6+? 35.Bxe6 seems to secure the draw 35…Kf8 36.Qxb6 b2 37.Nf1 Qa1 38.Qb4+ Kg7 39.Qe7 b1Q 40.Qf6+ Kf8 41.Be2 Qf5 42.Qb6 Qa6 43.Qb4+ Kg7 1-0
All of which made the scores 4-3 to the good guys with just this game to end:
Webb,Richard M (2286) - Milovanovic,Aleksander (2272) [B76]
4NCL/Div2/OXF1 vs. WES1 Sunningdale ENG (1.2), 16.09.2006
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Nc6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 0-0 8.Bb3 d6 9.f3 Nd7 10.h4 h5 11.Qd2 Nde5 12.0-0-0 Na5 13.Qe2 Nxb3+ 14.axb3 Bd7 15.g4 hxg4 16.f4 Nc6 17.h5 Nxd4 18.Bxd4 e5 Disinformator skips the first 18 or so moves on the grounds that it's someone else's book.
Black adopts an enterprising approach to the White attack, conceding some pawns in the centre while mopping up the white pawns on the king-side. 19.fxe5 Qg5+ 20.Kb1 gxh5 21.exd6 Rfe8 22.Be3 Qg6 23.Nd5 Qxd6 24.Rxh5 Rxe4
This sacrifices the exchange but is well calculated to give Black the two bishops and a running g-pawn (or two). 25.Nc3 Rxe3 26.Qxe3 Qe6 27.Qd3 Qg6! A fine resource, which offers the exchange of queens with the attractive prospect of broken king-side pawns thrown into the bargain… 28.Qxg6 fxg6 29.Rhd5 Bf5
a pity not to know the time position here, but Fritz says this is more or less equal - but in practice Black has the prospects. 30.R1d2 Re8 31.Nb5 Bh6 32.Rd1 g3 33.Nd6 Rf8 34.Rg1 Bf4 35.Nxf5? This and the next constitute the losing moves, allowing simplification to an ending where the g-pawns are decisive. 35…Rxf5? (recapturing with the pawn is surely better here) 36.Rxf5? rectifying Black's inaccuracy on the last move. 36…gxf5 37.c3 Bc7 38.Kc2 f4 39.Kd3 f3 0-1
Round 2 - 17 September 2006
| WHITE ROSE | 3-5 | OXFORD 1 | ||||
| 1 | w | Van de Griendt, Jan W | 2373 | ½ - ½ | Bilalic, Merim | 2288 |
| 2 | b | Kaid, Almar | 2281 | ½ - ½ | Milovanovic, Aleksander | 2272 |
| 3 | w | Adams, David M | 2223 | 1 - 0 | Smallbone, Kieran | 2228 |
| 4 | b | Gayson, Peter M | 2240 | 0 - 1 | White, Michael J R | 2239 |
| 5 | w | Barrett, Steve J | 2206 | 0 - 1 | Rawlinson, Aidan | 2183 |
| 6 | b | Cumbers, Paul | 2171 | 0 - 1 | Eckersley-Waites, Tom | 2141 |
| 7 | w | Arnott, Jonathan W | 2126 | 0 - 1 | Duggan, Chris | 2138 |
| 8 | b | Mohammad, Mursal | 1960 | 1 - 0 | Messam-Sparkes, Lateefah | 1855 |
The value of a squad with ratings in or about the same mark is that it allows a good deal of flexibility in the announced board order. So, with Ben not playing Sunday and Michael White making his debut, there was a change in the composition of the top boards, with our East European reps doing the business there with two solid draws of contrasting style. On board 2, Alex's classical play allows a white minority attack in the QGD - the sort of post-modern rarity that deserves a 'cuckoo' style letter to the Times, while on top board Merim as he is wont to do with an eclectic approach to the opening phase that marks him out as a candidate for future fame as next editor of this magazine, lost a pawn in the transposition to the ending phase around move 20. Not in the least bit daunted, he then spent the the next 40 moves attempting to win. The Disinformator moral to this story seems to be that if you want to be sure of a result against Merim, you need to win two pawns before transposing to the ending…
On board 3, Kieran - happily restored to the black side of the board - was grinding away solidly before this happened:
Adams (2223) - Smallbone (2228)
30…Rb8 31.Bxb8 1-0
Ho hum. So that left us with one to make up. And up to the plate stood our other new signing this year, Michael White, with this little belter:
White,Michael J R (2239) - Gayson,Peter M (2240) [B40]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.c3 d5 4.e5 d4 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.0-0 Nge7 7.Re1 Ng6 8.g3 Be7 9.h4 Qc7 10.Qe2 b6 11.Na3
righteo then, what's the story here then? Fully approving of the White play (by Mr White) so far, I'm still thinking that Black is comfortable enough here. OK, his Ng6 is about to get his marching orders, but after say … a6 and … Bb7 then both sides seem to have an issue with their lack of piece-coordination. Right? OK, so now I'll switch on the analysis function. 11…Bb7 12.h5 Nf8 13.Be4 0-0-0 (any takers for … a6 hereabouts?) 14.Nb5 Qb8 15.cxd4 a6
16.dxc5 Fritz takes the view that 16.Nd6+ Bxd6 17.exd6 Qxd6 18.dxc5 Qxc5 19.d4 Nxd4 20.Nxd4 Qxd4 21.Bg5 gives White has plenty of empty space on the queenside for the pawn sacrificed. Instead, though. 16…Bxc5 17.d4 Bb4 18.Bg5 axb5 19.Qxb5! there's a lot to be said for the simple Rec1, too. 19…Bxe1 20.Bxc6 Bxf2+ 21.Kxf2 Bxc6 22.Rc1
White is running out of material but Black's material is unable to do any running. 22…Rd7 23.Rxc6+ Qc7 24.Qa6+ Kb8 25.Rxb6+ Qb7 26.Rxb7+ Rxb7 27.Qd6+ Ka7 28.Qa3+ Kb8 29.Be7
And the rest is a pleasurable mopping up operation: 29…Nd7 30.Bd6+ Kc8 31.Qa8+ Nb8 32.Bxb8 Rxb2+ 33.Ke3 Rxb8 34.Qc6+ Kd8 35.Ng5 Rc8 36.Nxf7+ Ke7 37.Qd6+ Kxf7 38.Qd7+ 1-0
Convincing wins on boards 5 to 7 for Aidan, Chris and Tom E-W, and here they are…:
Barrett - Rawlinson (A)
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxc4 5.a4 Qa5 6.Bd2 e5 7.dxe5 Qxe5 8.Nf3 Qc5 9.e4 Ng4 10.Qe2 Nd7 11.Bf4 Nde5 12.Nxe5 Nxe5 13.Qc2 Be6 14.Be2 Nd3+ 15.Bxd3 cxd3 16.Qxd3 Bc4 17.Qc2 0-0-0 18.Rd1 Be7 19.Rxd8+ Rxd8 20.Ne2
White (Fide 2200) goes wrong it seems very early in this Slav, and never manages to get castled, thanks to Aidan's skilful harassing… 20…Qa5+ 21.Bd2 Bb4 22.Nc3 Bd3 23.Qc1 f5 24.f3 fxe4 25.Kf2 exf3 26.gxf3 Qh5 27.Bg5 Rf8 28.Qd1 Bc5+ 29.Be3 Qh4+ 30.Kg2 Bxe3 31.Qxd3 Qf2+ 32.Kh3 Qxf3+ 0-1
Eckersley-Waites - Cumbers
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Be7 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.e5 Nfd7 6.c4 dxc4 7.Bxc4 Nb6 8.Bd3 Nc6 9.Ne4 h6 10.a3 0-0 11.Bc2 f5 12.exf6 Bxf6 13.Qd3 Bxd4 14.Ng3 Ne5 15.Qh7+ Kf7 16.Nxd4 Qxd4 17.Bxh6 Ke8 18.Be3 Qxb2 19.0-0 Nf7 20.Nh5 Bd7 21.Rfd1 Nd5 22.Bd4 Qb5 23.Bxg7 Ke7
Tom doesn't need any second invites to a tactical melee, as his Oxford opponents are finding out in the leagues… 24.Rxd5 exd5 25.Qg6 Qe2 26.Qf6+ Ke8 27.Bh6 Qe7 28.Bxf8 Kxf8 29.Qg7+ Ke8 30.Qg8+ Qf8 31.Re1+ 1-0
Arnott - Duggan
1.e4 c5 2.d3 Nc6 3.g3 d5 4.Nd2 Nf6 5.Ngf3 g6 6.Bg2 Bg7 7.0-0 0-0 8.Re1 e5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nc4 Re8 11.Ne3 Nc7 12.c3 Be6 13.Qc2 h6 14.Nc4 Bf5 15.Rd1 Qe7 16.Nh4 Be6 17.Be3 Nd5 18.Qc1 Kh7 19.Nf3 Rad8 20.a3
White's last move (20. a3) leaves the Nc4 suitably embarrassed and Chris piles in without any scruples: 20…b5 21.Ncd2 Nxe3 22.fxe3 Rxd3 23.Bf1 Rxe3 24.Bxb5 Qb7 25.Bf1 Bg4 26.Kf2 Rxf3+ 27.Nxf3 e4 28.Re1 Bxf3 29.Be2 Ne5 30.Kf1 Re6 31.Kg1 Bf6 32.Qe3 Qb6 33.b3 Bg5 34.Qf2 Ng4 0-1