This page is updated every Saturday at midday. The games published in the following articles in playable and downloadable form can be found by clicking HERE 29th September 2007 Here are further details of the prizewinners at the recent highly-successful Paignton Congress. All sections involved 7 rounds, except where stated. Premier Section: 1st K. Arkell 6; 2nd= S. Berry & L. Cooper 5½. Grading Prizes: (2138 - 2079) 1st= A. Brown, S. Dilleigh & I. Lewyk. 4½ U-2079: 1st M. Cutmore 4½. Slow Starter: R. Marsh & J. Hickman 4. Challengers Section: 1st = W. Ingham, A. Footner & C. Davies. Grading Prizes: U-147: 1st = S. Bartlett & I. M. Jamieson, both 4½. U-137: R. Fisher 4. Slow Starter: A. Price & S. Foster. Intermediate Section: 1st R. Desmedt 5½. 2nd= D. Rogers, G. Naldrett, R. Thompson & A. Clarke, all 5. Grading Prizes: (U-116) A. Farthing & F. Moreland both 4½. U-107: 1st= W. A. Frost, J. Farrell & R. Hamilton, all 4. Slow starter: A. Primett. Minor Section: 1st G. Darling 6. 2nd = C. Constable, A. Doust & P. Ruszelak, all 5. Grading Prizes (85 - 74): 1st P. Broderick 4½. U-74: C. Sobers & D. Bate-Smith 3½. Slow Starter: G. Chapman 3½. American All-play-All: 1st = R. Burton & N. Dennis both 5. 3rd = M. Kimber & C. Oliver both 4. 5 Rd. Morning Section: 1st= R. Gamble 4½. 2nd = A. Combie, A. Footner, B. O'Gorman & D. Patrick. Grading Prizes (U-135): 1st = S. Foster & M. Roberts 3½/5. U-120: L. Plunkett 3. Slow Starter: R. H. Jones. Douglas Bates Bursaries: Best Lady : Dinah Norman 3/5. Best Senior: J. Robinson 5 (Challengers). Best Disabled: S. Thacker 4½. Grandmaster Keith Arkell, hasn't been seen so much on the congress circuit recently, but after a gap of several years he returned to Oldway Mansion, a favourite haunt, where he was already the most frequent winner. In the final round, he needed a win to be sure of clear 1st prize. In typical GM style, he kept it simple, relying on his superior endgame technique to secure the full point. This week's position is taken from a game at Paignton. Black looks totally lost, of course, and was about to resign when a moment of inspiration struck, which rescued the half point. Can you be similarly inspired and save the game for Black?
22nd September 2007 There were two Best Game prizes to be awarded at the recent Paignton Congress, where players were invited to submit the score of their own best game for consideration by the judge. This was one of the first to be entered.
See
link above for game It's a lovely ending, but Black's cooperation in his own demise may preclude it from the prize list. Yet who knows what might catch the eye of the anonymous judge. His (or her) decision will be announced later in the autumn and the games will appear here. The winners of the Boniface Morning tournament were as follows:- 1st R. Gamble (Spondon) 4½. 2nd= A. Footner (Dorchester); A. Combie (Newark); B. O'Gorman (DHSS) & D. Patrick (Courier), all on 4 pts. Grading prizes: U-135 -1st= S. Foster (Worcester) & M. Roberts (Holmes Chapel). U-120 - 1st L. Plunkett (Ipswich). Best Lady: Dinah Norman (Wokingham) 3 pts. Best Senior: R. Gamble. Best Slow Starter: R. H. Jones (Exmouth). 3 pts. The evening rapidplay tournament was won by Neil Crickmore (Plymouth). A full list of winners will appear next week. Tomorrow sees the WECU Jamboree at the Tacchi-Morris Arts Centre, Taunton, with at least six teams involved. This is followed by the 43rd Dorset Congress at Weymouth on the weekend starting Friday 5th October. Details from Frank Kingdon on 01305-812237 or dorset.chess.cong@btinternet.com. The 8th Seniors Congress starts on Monday 19th November, shortly after it finished on the Friday, the 41st Torbay Congress starts at the Belgrave Hotel, Torquay. Details of both these events may be found on the chessdevon website. In this case, retired folk can enjoy a full seven day week of chess in superb surroundings. Last week's problem by A. C. Reeves was solved by 1.dxe4! This week's 2-mover is by the late Godfrey Heathcote, who for a time lived in Devon.
15th September 2007 Late entries flooded in for the Paignton Congress, finishing up with a near record entry of 190. Not only that, but the Premier Section was unusually strong, with Grandmaster Keith Arkell, the most frequent winner, returning after an absence of several years, and a whole raft of players graded close to the 200 mark. Meanwhile, there was an unusual occurrence in the Boniface Morning section. At the start of any game, White has 20 different moves to consider; Black likewise, giving 400 different positions possible after just one move each. With each subsequent move this increases exponentially, until after just a few more moves, the number of possibilities quickly runs into many millions. The chances, therefore, of two complete games being identical are slim indeed. Now read on….
See
link above for game Compare and contrast that game with this one played in Plymouth 69 years ago, between the great world champion and his local opponent. Peter Halmkin, of the Teignmouth Club, although familiar with the line he played, didn't realise the full extent of its similarity to that of Alekhine's game so long ago. Did you spot any significant difference? The Torbay League will be celebrating their 50th anniversary with a match against the Exeter & District League to be held on Sunday 30th September in the new Centenary Hall of Torquay Boys' Grammar School. It is hoped to have 50 players a side, but such is their keenness, the League President, Trefor Thynne, thinks he may be able to field up to 60. The Sunday before that, both Leagues will be entering teams in the WECU Jamboree at Taunton. Here is a 2-mover, composed in 1964 by the Revd. Dr. Arthur Christopher Reeves, of St. Agnes, Cornwall, who was playing at Paignton last week.
8th September 2007 Of the 68 players contesting the British Championship, only 3 had held title before, one being Yarmouth-born Robert Bellin, and he was one of only 2 players who went through all 11 rounds undefeated. Here he has kindly analysed his Rd. 3 game for WMN readers. Late entries flooded in for the Paignton Congress, finishing up with a near record entry of 190. Not only that, but the Premier Section was unusually strong, with Grandmaster Keith Arkell, the most frequent winner, returning after an absence of several years, and a whole raft of players graded close to the 200 mark. The problem will be held over till next week.
See
link above for game 25th August 2007 One of the favourites for this year's British Championship was David Howell (16). He didn't win but has kindly selected and annotated his best game exclusively for WMN readers.
See
link above for game A splendidly played game, which brought Howell up to 7/11 points Jago's problem last week was solved by 1.e6! There will be another position to solve next week. 18th August 2007 The British Championship came to a tense and exciting climax last week, when, as the final round started, every one of the players on the top 4 boards had a chance of claiming the title. There was no question of any short grandmaster draws, as everyone had to play for a win. As play went on into the evening, a hundred spectators crowded round, transfixed by the big demonstration boards, while the website was recording two and a half million hits. A little down the order, even the Ladies Championship was close, as the defending champion and Georgia-born Scot, Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant was on a level score with Lithuanian-born English player, Dagne Cuiksyte, both Women Grandmasters. Keti was able to build up a positional pressure to a point where she won her game, while Dagne had to agree a draw shortly after. With that particular issue settled, matters came to a head on the top boards. Danish-born Scot, Jacob Aagaard eventually decided to launch an attack whatever the outcome, and it paid off. The only other player with a level score at the start, Stephen Gordon, now also needed to win in order to force a play-off, but try as he might, he had to reconcile himself to a draw. So the two main titles were won by adopted Scots, and no less than 3 new grandmasters were created during the fortnight; Aagaard on the first day, Stewart Haslinger and Stephen Gordon on the last day., It was agreed all round that this was the most open, closest and most exciting finish to the event for many years. Even Bideford's Jack Rudd was in the mix at the end. He plays every year and usually finishes somewhere near a 50% score. This time, however, he was seated on the "top table" in the penultimate round, with the white pieces against the defending champion, Jonathan Rowson. Even though Rowson's handling of the Sicilian Defence was too good for him, Jack bounced back with a quick win in the final round, to finish with his best ever score. Attention now turns to the next Paignton Congress which starts at Oldway Mansion on Sunday 2nd September. Anyone thinking of entering and has not yet done so should contact Alan Crickmore on 01752-768206, before 9 p.m. Recently, I asked for more details on the Cornish player, Dr. Jago. Arising from that, I have been contacted by his son, now living in Portreath, so I hope to have more information on him shortly. Meanwhile, here is one of his 2-movers from 1945, when he was serving in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Polgars' third position last week was solved by 1.Ra4+ Rxa4 which allows 2.dxe6 discovered check and mate.
11th August 2007 Chris Archer-Lock was a pupil at Plymouth College in the 1970's and took over captaincy of the team from schoolfriend Ben Collinson when he left. Chris now lives in Reading and son Adrian is also keen on the game, so they entered the British Championships in Great Yarmouth. A strong player, Chris entered the Under-175 section, and was surprised to bump into Ben, whom he had not seen since school days but had entered the same section. As if this was not coincidence enough, they were paired to meet in the final round, the winner to become British U-175 Champion. Here is the game:
See
link above for game In the championship itself, Bideford's Jack Rudd had his usual mixed bag of results in the first week, about which there will be more next week. Last week, Polgar's second position was solved by 1.Qb7 forcing ---Kc8 and 2.Ra8 mates. This week's two-mover is a little more complex.
4th August 2007 The British Championships got off to a successful start at Great Yarmouth College on Monday, with more than 750 players entered for the various sections. Unusually, the 67 playing in the championship itself included two husband and wife couples and a father and son, both called Michael White. Almost half of them have Master titles of one sort or another, so there were not many easy games for anyone. The round one pairings threw up the interesting prospect of Jack Rudd of Bideford against the second favourite, Stuart Conquest, who learned to play the game as a child while living in nearby Braunton. Here is the game - notes based on those kindly supplied by Rudd.
See
link above for game Anyone wishing to follow the top games live each day as the tournament hots up in the second week can access them via the English Chess Federation website, clicking on the Championship logo and then "live games". A shortcut would be to type in www.bcfservices.org.uk/livechess/british/2007. The site also provides live coverage of Andrew Martin's commentaries on the top games at the venue in front of an often amused audience. News, results on all the different sections are updated daily, and game scores from the top section may be played through on screen or downloaded. The first of Polgar's positions last week was solved by 1.Kd1 forcing Ka1 enabling 2.Nc3 mate. Here's the second 2-mover.
28th July 2007 When, in February 1975, Devon was due to meet Dorset, team captain Ron Bruce was faced with a last-minute withdrawal and was not best pleased, the more so because the only replacement he could get in the time was an untried 11 year old primary school pupil. However, the boy went on to win his game, and Ken Bloodworth published the score in the WMN with this observation; …"his win in his first match shows considerable maturity for one so young, and he might well develop into another leading player. Judge for yourself". This was the game.
See
link above for game Ken's judgement was fully justified, for three decades on, the boy involved has certainly made his mark on the chess world; several times West of England, Commonwealth and Australian Champion, Gary Lane (for it was he) has also become a noted author of chess books. His latest is called Improve Your Chess In 7 Days (Batsford paperback 205pp £12.99). The work is split into 7 sections, each covering a major aspect of the game, but written sufficiently lightly that one could reasonably read and absorb the main points in a day. His examples are right up-to-date with many taken from games played in 2006 and 2007, and a sprinkling of amusing anecdotes and cartoons help sugar the pill. A fuller review of the book may be found on the chessdevon website, written by Bill Frost, who played next to Gary in that match back in 1975. The British Championships start on Monday and progress may be monitored on their website. Conquest's combination in last week's position was an up-and-down Queen manoeuvre i.e. 1.Qd8+ forcing Kh7 and 2.Qd3 hitting the Rook and threatening e5+ winning the Knight. Lazlo Polgar of Budapest, father of Susan, Sofia and Judit, had a chess library of 5,000 books, and was constantly scouring them for suitable examples that would help his young girls. When he had gathered over 5,000 relatively easy positions, he published in them in a weighty tome of some 1100 pages. Here is the first of three easy 2-movers taken from his book.
21st July 2007 Devon's loss to Middlesex in the Quarter-final of the Under-175 competition was only partly explained by their weakened team. The fact is that this is Middlesex's centenary year and they were making a special effort to make it a memorable season. In the semi-final they beat Essex 9½ - 6½, and in the Final met Surrey, edging past them 8½ - 7½ to fulfil their ambition. Lancashire won both the Open and U-150 tournaments. In the other sections, Bedfordshire beat Norfolk in the Minor Counties, who in turn beat Essex in the U-125, and Shropshire beat Worcestershire in the U-100. The British Championships start next weekend in Great Yarmouth. Although Smith & Williamson's sponsorship has now stopped and no successor yet identified, the prize fund has been re-jigged to attract Britain's stronger grandmasters, and Jonathan Rowson will have a tough fight if he is to make it four titles in a row. Grandmasters Howell, Kosten, Pert, Conquest, Gormally, Hebden and Flear will each be out to get their names on the trophy for the first time, and a number of others of master strength will also have their say. Local interest centres on whether Jack Rudd can get another International Master's norm. Here is one of his wins from 2005.
See
link above for game Dr. Jago's problem last week was solved by 1.Qh3, and the threat of mate on d3 cannot be prevented. Here is another of Stuart Conquest's winning combinations. Can you spot the 2-move combination that won significant material, causing Black to resign?
14th July 2007 Flicking through an old chess magazine recently, I noticed a distinctive but unfamiliar name in connection with Cornish chess, that of Dr. M. E. M. Jago. A few minutes' research on the internet produced a few basic facts. He was born Maurice Edwin MacDowell Jago on 15th December 1902 in St. Buryan, 3 miles from Land's End. He attended Penzance Boys' Grammar School and qualified as a doctor at London University in 1927. He lived in Sutton, Surrey for many years, but played for the Cornwall Correspondence team at the top of the order and won prizes for both composing and solving chess problems. His most active period was the mid-century, but he was listed as a Vice President of the C.C.A. as recently as 1989. If his results for the county were a bit mixed, it is probably because he played with an almost insane bravado, as this game from 1954 exemplifies, when he was paired against Devon's top player on Board 1. Notes by the late J. E. Jones. See link above for games If anyone knows more about Dr. Jago, please write in. In last week's position, Conquest went for 1.Nxf7, then if Kxf7 2.Qxe6+ Kg6 3.f6+ Kh5 and Qe3 mates. Here is a Jago 2-mover from 1944.
7th July 2007 A fortnight today sees the start of a new event in Devon, the 1st Bideford Congress based at Tanton's Hotel on the picturesque waterfront. It is organised by the Spectrum Chess syndicate, who put on several similar events each year around the country. Unusually, although it is a 5 round affair, the first round starts on Saturday morning, with two further games that day and two more on Sunday. There are four sections, the Open, Major (U-165), Minor (U-125) and Challengers (U-100). Entry forms are available on-line or contact Tony Corfe on 01707-659080. With Devon already well supplied with weekend congresses, it will be interesting to see what the response is for this newcomer. Also creeping up on us are the British Championships, which start on Sunday 30th July at Great Yarmouth College. There are 24 sections catering for all ages and abilities. Details are available on the ECF website or phone 01424-775222. GM Stuart Conquest, just turned 40, has already entered the lists and will be hoping for his first British title before it's too late. With strong Devon connections, (his parents lived near Barnstaple), he has a sharp attacking style, which produces many enjoyable games but can mean variable tournament results. In this week's position, with Black waiting to get castled next move, how did Conquest seize the moment and crush his hopes very quickly?
Last week's ingenious 2-mover by Mansfield was solved by 1.Qg2. It originally appeared in the Devon & Exeter Gazette on 1st March 1928, and Mansfield dedicated it to his father, himself a keen chessplayer for Devon, who had just died. Here is another Grandmaster win from one of the joint winners at the recent Yeovil Congress, with notes kindly supplied by FIDE Master Jack Rudd.
See
link above for game
|
