It's a sure sign that the last dregs of summer ale are washed down the gullet of the year when 4ncl comes to town.
Actually, I don't think summer brew made it as far north as Manchester in 2008. Nonetheless the chess circus proves a welcome diversion from the rainclouds. And what a circus! Key changes in the rule merry-go-round include 6.3
Divisions 1 and 2 will comprise two preliminary pools of eight for the first seven rounds, with the two pools in each division of broadly equal strength as determined by the Management Board. The top four and bottom four teams in each preliminary pool will form two final championship/promotion and relegation pools respectively. With regard to the teams in each final pool, only matches played between themselves during the first seven rounds will be carried forward to the final pools (i.e. matches played by teams against teams in the other final pool during the first seven rounds will not be carried forward).
and 7.2
In Division 2 each match shall be played over eight boards and each team must include at least one representative from two of the following three groups: (a) male players (b) female players (c) junior players who are under sixteen years on the date of the match.
Right.
I may be at risk of repeating myself, but this year we really should have enough in reserve to secure promotion. Watch this space.
Round 1 v. Brown Jack
| OXFORD 1 | 5 - 3 | BROWN JACK | ||||
| 1 | w | Savage, Ben D | 2308 | 1 - 0 | Richmond, Peter A | 2244 |
| 2 | b | White, Michael J R | 2242 | ½ - ½ | Headlong, Timothy | 2198 |
| 3 | w | Shaw, David A | 2250 | ½ - ½ | Girdlestone, Paul | 2100 |
| 4 | b | Rawlinson, Aidan | 2243 | ½ - ½ | Cabero, Pablo Padilla | 2163 |
| 5 | w | Eckersley-Waites, Tom | 2222 | 1 - 0 | Richmond, Jane | 2145 |
| 6 | b | Smallbone, Kieran | 2235 | 0 - 1 | Rabbitt, Michael | 2025 |
| 7 | w | Tidman, Sophie | 2095 | ½ - ½ | Streeter, Harry | 1924 |
| 8 | b | Dickinson, Timothy R | 2158 | 1 - 0 | Coats, Robbie J | 1820 |
Our first match against Brown Jack gave us the opportunity to avange a defeat suffered some four years ago. Your dishonourable reporter was back to his old tricks, this time hanging a queen in a rush to grab another coffee, whilst Aidan's game caused Fritz™ to crash when the silicon monster ran out of question marks. Saving both our faces, game of the day is Ben's clean demolition of notoriously-difficult-to-face Peter Richmond.
Savage, Ben (2308) - Richmond, Peter (2244)
4NCL/Div2/OXF1-BRJ Sunningdale (1.1), 04.10.2008
1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3 e6 6.cxd4 b6 7.Bd3 Ba6 8.0-0 Be7 9.Nc3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Qc8 10...Bxd3 is theory's choice (according to the big man) 11.Bg5 f6 12.exf6 gxf6 13.Bh6 Qxc3 14.Be4 d5 15.Rc1
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15...Qxc1? This randomiser is not forced, but after 15...Qa3 16.Qc2! White has great compensation for the pawn – it's not easy to counter the threat of Bxh7 and Bg7 16.Qxc1 dxe4 17.Nd2 Kf7 18.Re1 Rc8 19.Qd1 Rg8
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20.Nxe4 20.d5! rips the remainder of Black's defence away. I really like the geometry behind this pseudo-fork of the two black rooks 20...Bb7 21.Bf4 Rg6 22.Qh5 Kg7 23.Ng3 1-0 Ben was surprised at the resignation here, although meeting Nf5+ is somewhat tricky
Round 2 v. Barbican 4NCL Youth
| BARBICAN 4NCL YOUTH | 1 - 7 | OXFORD 1 | ||||
| 1 | w | Franklin, Samuel | 2156 | ½ - ½ | Savage, Ben D | 2308 |
| 2 | b | Ynojosa, Felix J | 2145 | 0 - 1 | Rose, Matthew | 2249 |
| 3 | w | O'Toole, George E | 2054 | ½ - ½ | Rawlinson, Aidan | 2243 |
| 4 | b | Wells, Daniel | 2012 | 0 - 1 | White, Michael J R | 2242 |
| 5 | w | Moore, John C | 2063 | 0 - 1 | Shaw, David A | 2250 |
| 6 | b | Cumming, Rhys | 1894 | 0 - 1 | Eckersley-Waites, Tom | 2222 |
| 7 | w | Anandajeyarajah, Thilagini | 1735 | 0 - 1 | Smallbone, Kieran | 2235 |
| 8 | b | Ynojosa, Angelica M | 1725 | 0 - 1 | Tidman, Sophie | 2095 |
Our second-round match proved much closer than the scoreline and rating difference might suggest. This is, in no small part, due to the fact that this year the Barbican Youth team really are a Youth team, and moreover one packed with talent, particularly at the top end. Indeed, Mike looked to be walking on thin ice in the mid-portion of his game, whilst Ben grovelled all the way through.
Afterthought – Read Jack Rudd's annotation of Mike's game on the 4NCL website.
Matt found himself up against an 11-year-old originally hailing from Venezuela. This particular youngster scored 5/11 in the recent British Championships against an average 2340. Ooooer missus.
Rose, Matthew (2249) - Ynojosa, Felix J (2145)
4NCL/Div2/BARY-OXF1 Sunningdale (2.2), 05.10.2008
1.e4 c5 2.c3 Nf6 3.e5 Nd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nf3 d6 6.Bc4 Nb6 7.Bb3 Nc6 8.cxd4 d5 9.Nh4 Nc4 10.Nc3 a6 11.0-0 e6 12.g3 Be7 13.Nf3 b5 14.Bc2 b4 15.Na4 a5 16.b3 Nb6
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17.Nc5 Thus far, both players have been found shuffling knights around randomly, presumably to edge closer to the time control. I find this particular shuffle fascinating — long-term it involves the sac of a pawn or two (e5 and/or c5 must drop eventually). In return White can fill the squares where the pawns used to be with peices, particularly in the absence of Black's dark-squared bishop 17...Bxc5 18.dxc5 Nd7 19.Be3 Qc7 20.Re1 Bb7 21.Rc1 Ndxe5 22.Nd4 Nxd4 23.Bxd4 Nd7
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24.c6!? Bxc6 25.Bxg7 Rg8 26.Qd4 Nf8 27.Bd3 Qd7 28.Rc5 f5 29.Bxf8 Rxf8 30.Rec1
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The cumlination of White's strategy: total domination of the dark-squares 30...Qa7 31.Qe5 Bd7 32.Rc7 Qb8 33.Qd6 Rf7 34.Rxd7 Rxd7 35.Qxe6+ Re7
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36.Qg8+ Kd7 37.Qxd5+ Ke8 38.Qg8+ Kd7 39.Bxf5+?! The ?! is harsh, but Matt was very low on time here, and it was worth throwing in another Qd5-g8 combo to make it to move 40. Tim would no doubt be keen to point out this this wouldn't be a threefold repitition, due to that pawn on d5 first time round 39...Kd6 40.Qg5 Rf7 41.Qh6+ Ke7 42.Re1+ Kd8 43.Qd2+ Kc7 44.Rc1+ Kb6 45.Qd4+ Kb5 46.Bd3# 1-0
All in all a most respectable start. Let's hope we can keep it up against the big-hitters of division 2A, Pandora's Box and Jutes of Kent. A task that may prove more tricky with the other party-animals (Oxford 2 and 3) in town...