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1st April 2006

The WECU Inter-County competition has now been completed with Devon as the clear winners of the 1^st team section, the Harold Meek Cup, with a maximum score of 5 wins. Their Under-175 team now goes on the national semi-final. Hampshire came 2^nd winning all their matches except against Devon. Joint 3^rd were Cornwall and Somerset with two wins each. Gloucestershire's only win was against Somerset, and Wiltshire's only win was against Gloucestershire.

In the Wayling Cup for 2^nd teams, Devon got another maximum score of 3 wins, ahead of Somerset (2 wins) and Dorset (1 win) while Hampshire struggled to get out a team at all and defaulted 2 matches.

Hants have entered a team in the U-125 section of the National Finals, and another in the Minor County section, together with one from Wiltshire.

In spite of Devon's series of wins this season, the normally reliable John Wheeler has had more than his usual number of losses. This game provided one of only 3 Somerset wins out of 35 games in their recent match with Devon.

White: D. Pugh (187). Black: J. Wheeler (191)

Vienna Game  [C28]

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bb4 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Qxf6 7.Nge2 d6 8.0–0 Qg6 9.Nd5 Ba5 10.c3 Be6 11.a4 Nd8 12.b4 c6 13.bxa5 cxd5 14.exd5 Bd7 15.Bb5 f6 16.Ng3 Bxb5 17.axb5 0–0 18.Qe2 Black has a chance to develop the Q-Rook, but chooses instead to open up the K-side, a choice that rebounds. 18...f5 19.f4 exf4 20.Rxf4 Qg5 21.Qf2 g6 22.Re1 Nf7 23.h4 Qd8 24.d4 h5 25.Re6 Nh8 When a Knight has to retreat into a corner like this it's usually a sign things aren't going too well. White needs no second invitation. 26.Nxh5 gxh5 27.Qg3+ Kh7 28.Qf3 Re8 29.Qxh5+ Kg8 30.Rh6 Nf7 31.Qg6+ Kf8 32.Rxf5 (Or White could finish with... 32.Rh8+ Nxh8 33.Rxf5+ Qf6 34.Qxf6+ Kg8 35.Rg5+) 32...Qe7 33.Rh8 mate 1–0

Two weeks today, the West of England Championship will be well under way at Exmouth with the maximum entry of 100. Entries have already been closed, but enquiries about the possibility of filling a late withdrawal should be directed to Linda Crickmore on 01752-768206.

Favourite for the Championship itself must be Grandmaster Matthew Turner, chess teacher at Millfield School. However, the last time he entered, it was Jack Rudd that won the cup, so perhaps we shouldn't be too presumptive.

The Saturday after that, 22^nd April, is the Teignmouth Rapidplay. Entries for that event should go to Ray Chubb on 01626-888245.

The solution to last week's problem was 1.Bf8! Readers seeking a little off-beat April humour this morning may care to try today's 2-mover by P. H. Williams (1903).  

25th March 2006

Devon completed the West of England stages of the inter-county competition by notching up two thumping wins over Somerset whose 1^st team they beat 11½ - 4½ and 2nd team by 12 - 3. They now go on to defend the English U-175 County Championship that they won last June. Since then, under the captaincy of Brian Hewson, Devon have won the WECU Jamboree and all their five 1^st team and all three 2^nd team Union matches. With a number of new players in the174 - 154 range, there is every prospect of them retaining their national title.

I predicted a short, sharp game on Board 1 between the Somerset captain, Jack Rudd, and Devon's Oleg Kirsanov, and that's exactly what happened.

White: O. Kirsanov. (216). Black: J. Rudd (207).

Benoni Defence  [A68]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.e4 g6 7.f4 a6 8.a4 Bg7 9.Nf3 0–0 10.Be2 Bg4 11.0–0 Nbd7 12.h3 Bxf3 13.Bxf3 c4 Played to free up c5 for the Knight from where it would be eyeing up the occupancy of d3. 14.Be3 Rc8 15.Bd4 Nc5 16.Bxc5 Rxc5 17.e5 dxe5 18.fxe5 Nd7 19.e6 Ne5  So far, the total time taken for the game was 10 minutes, at an average rate of 15 seconds per move - presumably this is either familiar territory for both players, or each is trying to rush the other into an error. 20.Ne4 Nxf3+ 21.Qxf3 fxe6 22.Qg4 Rxf1+ 23.Rxf1 Rxd5 24.Qxe6+ Kh8 White is now a pawn and the "minor exchange" down with another pawn likely to drop, and White now has to put in some serious thinking. 25.Nc3 Rd2 26.Rf7 Rxb2 27.Nd5 White opts to place his all his pieces in Black's "penalty area", rather than try to play defensively on the back foot. On d5 the Knight just about holds everything together. 27...c3 28.Rc7 Bd4+ 29.Kh2 Rb6 30.Qe4 Qd6+ 31.Kh1 Be5 Blocking off White's threat of mate on e8, but allowing ... 32.Rc8+ Kg7 33.Rc7+ Kh8 Forcing a draw by repetition, for if 33...Kh6 34.Qh4#. Total time taken: White 53 minutes - Black: 23 minutes. ½–½

Some of the lesser prizewinners from the recent East Devon Congress, not already reported, were as follows: Major Section: Grading prize: Wayne Batt (Mid Devon). Intermediate: Grading prizes: D. Cooper (Bath), D. Gilbert (DHSS) & I. Renshaw (Falmouth). Minor: 3^rd= K. Alexander (Sidmouth), Miss T. Garrett (Barnstaple), A. Tatam (Plymouth) & J. Ariss (Teignmouth). Grading prizes R. Bruton (Oxford), Mrs. C. Constable (Coulsdon), A. Fraser (Beckenham) & J. Whitfield (Ottery St. Mary). Best Senior - S. Thorpe-Tracey (Tiverton) & Ms. S. Farrington (Beckenham). Best Junior: D. Holt (Isca).

Last week's Sam Loyd miniature was solved by 1. Ke7! leaving Black forced to move his Queen away from defending his Rook on g2 while denying him a saving check. Here is another of his 2-movers.

18th March 2006

The 31^st East Devon Congress was held successfully at its usual venue in St. George's Hall, Exeter. The winners were as follows:

Premier Section: (U-205) 1^st Andrew Boyne (Exeter) 4½/5 points. 2^nd= Jeremy Menadue (Truro), Peter Richmond (Brown Jack, Wroughton) & David Sully (Cardiff) 4 Pts. Grading prize: Brian Gosling & Ian Jamieson (both Exmouth).

Major: (U-150) 1^st= S. Cranmer (Long Eaton), R. Livesey, (London), C. Sellwood (Camborne) & M. Webley (Plymouth) 4 points.

Intermediate (U-125) 1^st= R. Desmedt (Wombwell) & Lynne Furseman (Gloucester). 3^rd P. Brackner (Weymouth) 4 pts.

1^st C. Webb (Dorchester) 4½. 2^nd T. Dickerson (Maldon) 4.

Team prize: 1^st= Exeter & Camborne.

White: Andy Dunn (160). Black Alex Therrien. (197)

     11th March 2006

Devon's newest and strongest player is the Russian Oleg Kirsanov (216) who played his second game in the county last weekend in the Bremridge Cup.

White: Alan Brusey (175). Black: Oleg Kirsanov  (216)

Alekhine's Defence - 4 Pawns Attack. [B03]

1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.c4 Nb6 5.f4 The 4 Pawns Attack to Black's Alekhine's Defence - White is clearly not going to hold back. 5...dxe5 6.fxe5 Nc6 7.Be3 Bf5 8.Nc3 e6 9.Nf3 Be7 10.Be2 0–0 11.0–0 f6 12.exf6 Bxf6 13.Qd2 Qe7 14.c5 Nd5 15.Nxd5 exd5 16.Bb5 Nd8 17.Rae1 c6 18.Bf4 Qd7 19.Bd3 Nf7 20.Ne5 Most of the pieces are now to be swapped off - the key is who hits the ground running immediately after the skirmish. 20...Nxe5 21.Bxe5 Bxe5 22.Rxe5 Bxd3 23.Qxd3 Rxf1+ 24.Kxf1 Rf8+! 25.Ke1 Qf7 It's Black's better coordinated pieces that now seize the initiative 26.Re2 Qf4! with twin threats on c1 and h2. 27.Qe3 (If White tries to defend his h-pawn with something like 27.g3 then 27...Qc1+ 28.Qd1 Rf1+ wins the Queen). 27...Qxh2 28.Qe6+ Kh8 29.Qe3 h6 30.Kd2 Qf4 31.Qxf4 Rxf4 There now follows a fine Rook & Pawn endgame 32.Re8+ Kh7 33.Ke3 Rf7 34.b4 a6 35.a4 Kg6 36.b5 axb5 37.axb5 Kf6 38.bxc6 bxc6 39.Rc8 Re7+ Fortunately it's a check. 40.Kf3 Re6 Securing the backward c-pawn; now Black can now fully exploit his advantage by advancing his King-side pawns. 41.g4 Kg5 42.Rc7 g6 43.Rc8 Re4 44.Rxc6 Rxd4 45.Rd6 Rd3+ 46.Ke2 Rc3 47.Rxd5+ Kxg4 48.Rd6 Kh5 49.c6 g5 50.Kf2 g4 51.Kg2 Kg5 52.Re6 h5 53.Re5+ Kh4 54.Re6 Rc2+ 55.Kg1 Kg3 56.Re3+ Kf4 57.Re6 h4 58.Rd6 h3 59.Rd4+ Kg3 60.Rd3+ Kh4 61.Re3 h2+ 62.Kh1 g3 63.Rd3 Kh3 and White resigned.

Total time taken by Kirsanov for this game was 45 minutes. This afternoon he will almost certainly be playing Jack Rudd on Board 1 in the Devon - Somerset match, who usually plays even more quickly, so expect to see a short sharp game from them in this column. Devon's captain, Brian Hewson, has assembled Devon's strongest team for some years, and hopes that this combination of new players and regular stalwarts will prove the key to winning the West of England county championship - the Harold Meek Cup.

Cornwall's Division 1 is proving to be a close fight between Camborne A (14 pts from 8 matches) and Godolphin A with 13 pts from 7. Penwith B are clear leaders of Division 2 with 16 pts from 10 matches, well ahead of Camborne B who have 11 points.

The key move in last week's problem by H. D'O Bernard was the innocuous-looking 1.Bb5! and although Black has no less than 25 possible moves, each can be met with a different mate.

This 2-mover was set by Somerset WMN reader David Howard.

4th March 2006

    Devon's premier club competition is the Bremridge Cup in which the Exeter Club has under-performed in recent years. However, the potent combination of a new team captain, (Graham Bolt), some new chess talent arriving at the University and the rub of the green, has changed things this season. Local rivals Exmouth, who had won the trophy for 5 consecutive years, were steeled for stiffer opposition this year, but had no answer this time. In December they lost their away leg 4½ - 1½ and recently lost 1 - 5 at home, giving Exeter the cup for the first time since the millennium.

The home team fielded Devon's two strongest resident players, but it made little difference. On Board 1 was ex-Muscovite and former Exmouth resident, Oleg Kirsanov (Grade 216), facing 1^st year maths student Tim Seymour (170).

White: T. Seymour (Exeter). Black: O. Kirsanov (Exmouth).

Alekhine's Defence  [B02]

1.e4 Nf6 2.Nc3 d5 3.exd5 Nxd5 4.Bc4 Nb6 5.Bb3 c5 6.Qh5 e6 7.d3 Nc6 8.Ne4 Nd5 9.Ne2 Nf6 10.Nxf6+ Qxf6 11.Nc3 Bd7 12.Ne4 Qg6 13.Qxg6 hxg6 14.Bf4 e5 15.Bg3?? This loses a piece. 15...f5 16.Ng5 f4 17.Bf7+ Ke7 18.Bxg6 fxg3 19.fxg3 Rh6 20.Be4 Rh5? Black is now neglecting development, and running his Rook up a cul-de-sac 21.h4 Nd4 22.0–0 Ne6 23.Nf7 Nd8 24.Bg6 The Rook is marooned 24...Be8 25.Bxh5 Bxf7 26.Bxf7 Nxf7 27.Rf2 Re8 28.Re1 Ke6 29.Ref1 Re7 30.g4 White rightly mobilises his 3 - 1 pawn majority while Black's pieces are so constricted. 30...Rc7 31.c4 Bd6 32.g5 e4 33.Re2 Be5 34.Rxe4 Kd6 35.g4 Bxb2 36.Rf5 Ne5 37.h5 a6 38.g6 b5 39.g5 Bd4+ 40.Kg2 Nxd3 41.h6 bxc4 42.Rf8 gxh6 43.gxh6 c3 44.Rxd4+ cxd4 45.h7 c2 46.h8Q Ne1+ 47.Kf2 c1Q Both sides Queen, but crucially it leaves White with the 1st move, who now finishes off in great style. 48.Qxd4+ Kc6 49.Rf6+ Kb7 50.Qb6+ Kc8 51.Rf8+ Kd7 52.Rf7+ Resigns. White forces the pieces off and the g-pawn queens. 

There were also wins for G. Bolt, B. Hewson and D. Regis.

In last week's position, although not immediately obvious the White Queen was overloaded, and Black could play 1.Nxf3 from which square it defended its own Queen should White choose to take it, thus winning a piece. If White should play QxN, (the only way to take it and prevent mate) then Black has QxN.

The British Solving Championship was won last weekend by Jonathan Mestel, scoring 58 points out of a maximum of 65. Jon Lawrence of Paignton was 16^th of the 28 British competitors with 20 pts, Peter Clarke (Morwenstow) came 18^th with 16 points and Quentin Thwaites (Tuckenhay) 22^nd with 12 points.

This was the first position they had to deal with, appropriately enough by the Devonian Henry D'Oyly Bernard (1878-1954).Time allowed - 3 minutes

25th February 2006

White: Matthew Guy (Stroud). Black: Ken Derrick. (Sidmouth).

English Opening  [A29]

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Nb6 6.d3 Be7 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.0–0 0–0 9.a3 Re8 10.b4 Bf8 11.Bb2 Nd4 12.e3 Nxf3+ 13.Bxf3 c6 14.Qc2 Bh3 15.Bg2 Qd7 16.Rad1 Bxg2 17.Kxg2 a5 18.bxa5 Rxa5 19.Qb3 Nd5 20.Nxd5 Qxd5+ 21.Qxd5 Rxd5 22.e4 Rb5 23.Rd2 Ra8 24.Ra1 f6 25.d4 exd4 26.Bxd4 Rxa3 With this capture, Black has secured two passed pawns that he will activate as soon as possible. 27.Rad1 Ra4 28.Kf3 Bb4 29.Rd3 Ra3 Black wishes to keep it simple: swap off the big guns and let the pawns do the talking. 30.Rxa3 Bxa3 31.Ke3 Rb3+ 32.Rd3 Rxd3+ 33.Kxd3 c5 34.Ba1 b5 35.f4 Kf7 36.f5 g6 37.g4 gxf5 38.gxf5 c4+ 39.Kc3 Bd6 40. Resigns, as Black can now force off the Bishops, leaving the White King tied to trying to hold back the passed pawns, while the Black King can roam the board at will.

18th February 2006

Devon's recent victory over Gloucestershire by 11½ - 4½ put them in prime position to go forward to the National Finals in the Under-175 section. Devon's winners were Andrew Boyne and Dave Regis, (both Exeter), Alan Brusey and Bill Ingham (both Teignmouth), Ken Derrick & Brian Gosling (both Sidmouth), Mike Stinton-Brownbridge (Plymouth) and Chris Bellers. All the others drew, except John Wheeler.

Here is Devon's win on Board 4.

White: Andrew Boyne (175) . Black: Phil Meade. (161).

English Opening Symmetrical  [A39]

1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 g6 5.Bg2 Bg7 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 0–0 8.0–0 Qb6 9.Nc2 d6 10.h3 Be6 11.b3 a6 12.e4 Nd7 13.Nd5 Bxd5 14.exd5 Nb4 (Grabbing the Rook now would prove a Pyrrhic victory; for example 14...Bxa1 15.dxc6 Bg7 16.cxd7 leaves White two pieces for a Rook up.) 15.Be3 Nc5 16.Nd4 a5 17.a3 Nba6 18.Rb1 Qd8 19.Qd2 Re8 20.h4 h5 21.f4 a4 22.f5 Bxd4 23.Bxd4 Nxb3 24.Rxb3 (White could probably have launched his intended attack right away with 24.Qh6 Nxd4 25.fxg6 with a forced mate in view, but the text has the same result). 24...axb3 25.Qh6 e5 26.fxg6 f6 Not good enough to avoid mate, so Black resigned right away.

The Queenstown Classic, New Zealand's biggest-ever tournament, set amid the spectacular scenery that formed the backdrop to much of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, finished recently.  Many of the 193 entrants came from the Antipodean elite, including the 2005 Australian Champion, Paignton-born Gary Lane, who came 13^th= with the 4^th highest score of 6½/10 points. He was involved in some interesting games that I hope to feature at some future point.

The popular East Devon Congress starts a week on Friday at St. George's Hall, Exeter. Late enquiries should be directed to the Entry Secretary, Mrs. L. Crickmore on 01752-768206. She is also taking entries for the West of England Congress which starts on Friday 14^th April at the Royal Beacon Hotel, Exmouth.  As entries are limited to the first 100 and they are already half-way there, delay in entering should be avoided.

Last week's problem by the late David Pritchard was solved by 1.Qc3! threatening 2.Qb4 mate. All seven of Black's moves can be met with a mate.

The final of the British Solving Championship takes place this afternoon at Oakham School, Rutland, with three local representatives taking part; Jon Lawrence, (Paignton), Quentin Thwaites (Tuckenhay) and Peter Clarke (Morwenstow). All got 100% in the preliminary postal round, and have taken part in the final before.

Here is one of the three 2-movers they had to solve in the postal round. White to play.

11th February 2006

In the super-strong event at Wijk aan Zee, Cornishman Michael Adams finished up a highly-respectable 3^rd= behind joint winners Topolov and Anand. He lost only one of his 13 games, winning 3 and drawing the rest. This could augur well for further better results in 2006.

The death of David Brine Pritchard at the age of 86 was reported recently after a fall, having recently moved to Gloucester. As a classic chess player he competed in ten British Championships between 1959 and 1978, but was better known as the country's leading expert on chess variants. He wrote many books on the game, but his seminal work was the Encyclopaedia of Chess Variants. He married Elaine Saunders, a chess prodigy who became British Ladies Champion in 1939 at the age of 13. Their last competitive visit to the westcountry was when they both played in the 2^nd Royal Beacon Seniors Congress in 2001.

In this game from the 1973 British Championship, he quickly puts the 18 year old Tony Miles to the sword.

White: A. J. Miles. (221). Black: D. B. Pritchard.

Four Knights' Game  [C47]

1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 Bc5 4.Bg2 d6 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.0–0 a6 7.h3 Be6 8.d3 h6 9.Qe2 Qd7 10.Kh2 g5 Black decides to strike early on the Kingside. 11.Ne1 Nd4 12.Qd2 g4 13.h4 0–0–0 14.Nd5 Bxd5 15.exd5 Nf5 16.b4 Bb6 17.c3 Qe7 18.Qe2 Rhg8 19.Be3? This is a big mistake, and Black duly pounces. 19...Bxe3 20.fxe3 Nxg3 With his pieces all marshalled Black swings into action with a defence-weakening sacrifice. 21.Kxg3 Nh5+ 22.Kh2 Qxh4+ 23.Kg1 Ng3 24.Qf2 f5 25.Nc2 Rg5 Rather than snatching the Rook immediately, Black brings up more forces. 26.Rfe1 Rh5 27.Qd2 Rf8 28.Rf1 f4 29.exf4 Qh2+ 30.Kf2 Rxf4+ 31.Ke1 Nxf1 and Miles resigned, but he learned from this and went on to win the World Junior Championship the following year.

Devon's junior organisers, Vic Cross and Tim Onions, recently hosted an informal West of England junior event at Tiverton High School with teams from Devon, Somerset and Glamorgan in three age groups. Results were: Under-9s: 1^st Somerset; 2^nd Devon; 3^rd Glamorgan. Under-11s: 1^st Somerset; 2^nd Devon; 3^rd Wiltshire; 4^th Glamorgan. Under-14s: 1^st Devon; 2^nd Somerset;  3^rd Glamorgan.

The same afternoon, Devon's adult team beat Gloucestershire 11½ - 4½ at Taunton. More details next week.

In last week's position, Plaskett played 1.e5 and Pein resigned immediately as, after forced exchanges on e5, (e.g. 1…fxe5 2.fxe5 Bxe5 3. Rxe5 Qxe5), 4. Rf8+ leaves the Black Queen high and dry. Nice, but not as good as winning a quarter of a million pounds on a TV quiz show!

Here is a problem composed by David Pritchard in 1943. White to play and mate in two moves.

4th February 2006

At the Corus Congress at Wijk aan Zee, Perranporth-born Mickey Adams  showed mixed form in the early rounds, but at least rediscovered the art of winning against top opposition. His second win came in round 6 in a lively game against the 36 year old Ukrainian, Vasily Ivanchuk.

White: M. Adams. Black: V. Ivanchuk.

Sicilian Defence Scheveningen Variation. (B80)

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.a4 b6 8.g4 Bb7 9.Bg2 Nfd7 10.f4 Nc6 11.0–0 Rc8 12.Nxc6 Rxc6 13.f5 g6 14.fxe6 fxe6 Opening the f-file means the Black King may be forced to stay in the centre, and may be exploited by White. 15.Ne2 Bg7 16.Nd4 Bxd4 17.Bxd4 e5 18.Be3 Rf8 19.Qe2 [ 19.Qd5 was playable 19...Qe7 20.g5 Nc5 21.Rxf8+ Kxf8] 19...Qe7 20.c3 Qe6 21.Rxf8+ Nxf8 22.a5 b5 23.Qf2 Qe7 24.h4 Ne6 25.Rd1 Rc4 The lack of clarity in the position was demonstrated by the fact that not only did Adams offer a draw at this point, even though spectators felt he was standing better, but also that Ivanchuk declined. 26.g5 Nc5 27.Bxc5 Rxc5 28.Rd3 Bc8 29.Rf3 Be6 30.Rf6 Rc6 31.Kh2 Rc5 32.Qe3 Qd7 33.Qf3 Qe7 34.h5 b4 35.cxb4 Rc2 The Rook is on a lone raid, without backup, and easy prey for the mobile Queen. 36.Qd3 Rxb2 37.Qc3 Ra2 38.Qc6+ Kd8 39.Qb6+ Kd7 40.Qxa6 gxh5 41.Qb7+ Kd8 42.Qb8+ Kd7 43.a6 Kc6 (if 43...Rxa6 44.Qb7+ winning the Rook.) 44.Qb7+ Forcing off the Queens, and the pawn on b7 must be prevented from Queening, meanwhile losing the Bishop. 1–0

Meanwhile, back in his home county, Cornish League Division 1 is currently headed by Camborne A with 12 points from 7 matches, followed by Godolphin A with 10 from 5. Penwith B seem to have it all their own way in Division 2 with 14 points from 9 matches.

Devon's Inter-Area Jamboree held at Torquay Boys' Grammar School, was won by the host team of South Devon with 7 out of a maximum of 12 points, followed by the West (6) and with the East team bringing up the rear with 4½. The South's winners were Bill Ingham & John Gorodi (both Teignmouth), Rob Wilby (Totnes), Norman Tidy (St. Marychurch), and Mike Cuggy (Brixham) and E. Smith. Andy Dunn and Justin Yau both drew.

GM Jim Plaskett enjoyed his best payday yet when he won £250,000 on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? recently. In last week's position he enjoyed a good, if less remunerative, win after 1.Rxd6!! Rxd6 2.Re7+ Rd7 3.Be5+ and the King must retreat to the back rank where he is mated with either Re8 or Qf8.

Here is another of Plaskett's wins, this time against chess columnist and entrepreneur Malcolm Pein. What move by Plaskett (White) forced Black to resign immediately?

28th January 2006

For Michael Adams, 2005 was an annus horribilis, and his poor results (by his standards) have meant that he has slipped to World No. 17 in the latest FIDE list. At the same time, the Bulgarian Veselin Topolov enjoyed a brilliant year capped by winning the World Championship at San Luis in Argentina last October. So would the New Year bring a change of fortune for the Cornishman? This question was soon addressed when the two met in round 2 of the super-strong Corus event in the Dutch village of Wijk aan Zee last week.

White: M. Adams. Black: V. Topolov

Sicilian Scheveningen   B85:

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e6 7.0–0 Be7 8.a4 Nc6 9.Be3 0–0 10.f4 Qc7 11.Kh1 Re8 12.Bf3 Bf8 13.Qd2 Na5 14.b3 Rb8 15.Rad1 Nc6?! 16.Bf2 Nd7 Black's Queenside pieces are horribly restricted. 17.Bg3 Nxd4 18.Qxd4 b5 19.axb5 axb5 20.b4 g6 Prevents intrusion on h5 21.e5 d5 22.f5 gxf5 23.Nxd5! White is ready to attack. 23...Qc4 (If 23…exd5 then 24.Qb6 25.exf7+ Kxf726.Bh5+ Kg8 27.Qxd5+ and the Black king is exposed to a fierce attack.) Now, should White exchange Queens or not? Adams opted to keep then on, though afterwards he felt 24.Qe3 would have been more precise. 24.Qd2 h6 25.h3 exd5 26.Bxd5 Qxb4 27.c3 Qc5 28.Rxf5 Re6? 29.Rxf7 The threatened breakthrough, demolishing the pawn shield. 29...Nb6 30.Rdf1 Nxd5 31.Rxf8+ Qxf8 32.Rxf8+ Kxf8 33.Qxd5 Ke8 Taking stock after this skirmish, Black has 2 Rooks against a Queen, which in many positions would be a good match, but here White's Queen is strong and centralised, while the Rooks are disconnected; White's King is safe in a corner while Black's is exposed and White has 2 extra pawns. Adams is not going to lose this one. 34.Bh4 Bd7 35.Bf6 The Bishop is now an unmovable object, ready to usher pawns to a queening square while constricting any attempt by Black to harmonise his pieces.  b4  36.Qe4 Bc8 37.cxb4 38.Qg6+ Kd7 39.Qxh6 Kc7 40.Qf4 Kb8 41.h4 Rc7 42.h5 and Topolov resigned 1-0. A great start to 2006 by Adams. The tournament finishes tomorrow.

21st January 2006

White: Gareth Williams. Black: Brian Hewson. (Devon Bd. 10)

Queen's Gambit  (D51)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 Nbd7 7.e3 Qa5 8.Bd3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Bb3 Bb7 11.0–0 Be7 12.Rc1 (12.Re1 is better) 12...0–0 13.Re1 c5 14.dxc5 Nxc5 15.Bc2 b4 16.a3 (If 16.Na4 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Rfd8 wins a piece. But if 16.Ne2 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Rfd8 18.Nd4 e5 19.Nc6 is OK for White). 16...bxc3 17.b4 Qxa3 18.bxc5 Rfd8 19.Qe2 Ba6 Trapping the Queen - desperate measures are called for. 20.Bh7+ Losing the Bishop but at least giving the Queen a flight square. 20...Nxh7 21.Qc2 Bxh4 22.Nxh4 Qxc5 23.Qxc3 Qxc3 Now a piece up Black is delighted to exchange material. 24.Rxc3 Nf6 25.h3 Bb7 26.Rc7 Rd7 27.Rec1 Rxc7 28.Rxc7 Bd5 29.f3?? One blunder too many. 29...g5 trapping the Knight 0–1

14th January 2006

White: P. Halmkin. Black: P. Trussler.

French Defence [C11]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Ne2 b5 9.c3 Qc7 10.g3 cxd4 11.Nexd4 Be7 12.Bd3 Nc5 13.Bc2 g6 14.h4 h5 15.0–0 Bd7 16.Qe2 Kf8 17.Qf2 The Black Knight has now become a potential object of attack. 17...Nb7 18.Ng5 Kg7 White now launches a speculative attack on the uncastled King. 19.Bxg6 Nxd4 20.Bxf7 Both players seem more intent on their own attack than defence. 20...Nf5 21.Nxe6+ Bxe6 22.Bxe6 Nxe3 23.Kh1 The Knight could not be re-taken because of Bc5. 23...Nxf1 24.Rxf1 That skirmish leaves Black a Rook & Knight up for 3 pawns, and White very short of time. 24...Rad8 25.Qe3 d4 26.Qe4 Nc5 27.Qf5 Hoping to get in a check on f7, but 27...Qc6+ 28.Kh2 Qxe6 0–1

7th January 2006

Devon's Inter-Area Jamboree will be held at Torquay Boys Grammar School on Sunday 22^nd January when it is hoped teams of 12 players from the four quarters of the county will compete for the trophy currently held by the West.

White: Emanuel Lasker. Black: J. E. Moysey.

Falkbeer Counter Gambit [C31]

1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4 4.d4 Nf6 5.c4 c6 6.dxc6 Nxc6 7.d5 (if 7.Be3 Ng4) 7...Bc5 8.Nc3 (if 8.dxc6 Bf2+ 9.Ke2 Bg4+ 10.Nf3 exf3+ 11.gxf3 Bxf3+ winning the Queen.) 8...Qb6 9.Nh3 Bxh3 10.gxh3 Bf2+ 11.Ke2 e3 12.dxc6 Qc5 threatening Qh5+ 13.Bg2 Rd8 14.Qa4 0–0 15.Qb5 Qd4 16.Rd1 Qxf4 17.cxb7 Qxh2 18.Qc6 Nh5 19.Bxe3 Bxe3 20.Rxd8 (if 20.Kxe3 then 20...Qf4+ with a mate in 4.) 20...Rxd8 21.Kxe3 and Black announced a mate in 3 starting with Qf5+ 0–1