Tony Locke Rapidplay 2022

The club's internal rapidplay championship (Tony Locke Rapidplay) was held on Wednesday 17th August. The competition was won by Nathan Barnes with a score of 5/5 (his fourth consecutive win). Mae, Michael and Rezin Catabay tied for second with 3.5/5. Twelve players took part.

Note: some of the ratings shown in the crosstable are estimated ratings or are provisional ratings based on very few games so are not always accurate.

In round 1, the games went with rating with the exception of Rezin Catabay who won following his opponent's queen blunder. Rezin also won in round 2 to join Michael Catabay and Nathan Barnes on 2/2. The latter had a lucky escape against Mae Catabay who would have won if there had been a longer time control. Round 3 saw Rezin have a slight edge most of the time in his game against Nathan until the endgame was reached when things turned around. Felix was the unlucky player to get the upfloat to play against Michael. David York won his first rated game, playing against Ed Southgate (also in his first tournament). Max Conley and Mae Catabay's game was level throughout, though it took a while for the draw to play out. Rob Petrovai and James Martin won their games to move to 2/3.

Round 4 saw the two player's on a 100% score play each other. Following a pawn sacrifice, Michael chose the wrong way to try to hold onto the material advantage and his king got stuck in the centre. A position from the game is below, White to play and win (answer in the comments).

Wins for Rezin and James saw them join Michael on 3/4, one point behind Nathan and with a chance to finish the competition in a tie for the lead. Mae won her second match of the evening; Andrew English won his first game of the evening.

Round 5 saw a father-son match-up, the result was a draw so Rezin and Michael finished on 3.5/5. Mae won her game against Felix to match her brother and father's final score. Strong opening play saw Nathan struggle in his game against James, losing a pawn for no real compensation. Active rook play and a removal of the guard tactic saw the game turn and meant Nathan was able to maintain his 100% record.

Tony Locke Rapidplay

The club's internal rapidplay championship (Tony Locke Rapidplay) was held on Thursday 30th May. The competition was won by Nathan Barnes with a score of 5/5 (his third consecutive win). Felix, John, Phil and Craig tied for second with 3/5. Seven players took part.

In round 1 the three highest graded players Ian, Nathan and Felix all won. Round 2 saw Felix beat Ian to move to 2/2 and Phil picked up his first win of the evening against Colin. John successfully nullified Nathan's attack in a complex position but at a significant time cost which meant he could not hold onto the deserved draw in a completely level endgame.

This meant that round 3 would see the only two players to win both their first games would play each other. Nathan won a pawn in the middle game and agressive play won the game soon after. The finish to this game can be seen below. John was unlucky not to pick up a half point in round 2 and had the chance to pick up at least that in round 3 but an error in a won position meant a 2nd loss against a higher graded opponent. Phil won his 2nd game in a row to join the chasing pack on 2/3.

[Event "Tony Locke Rapidplay"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.05.30"] [Round "3"] [White "Barnes, Nathan"] [Black "Schnell, Felix"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "150"] [BlackElo "142"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "4rrk1/7p/1q2pbp1/1p6/p2PQP2/P1P1NR2/1P5P/4R1K1 w - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "9"] {[#]} {White is a pawn up but with all the major pieces still in play the game isn't won yet.} 1. Ng4 Bh4 {OK, Bg7 was a bit more solid.} 2. Qe5 $5 {No better than the simpler Re2 but gives scope for Black to go wrong.} Rf5 $4 ({ The rook on e1 was safe} 2... Bxe1 3. Nh6#) (2... h5 $142 $1 {The only move that keeps Black in the game.} 3. Nf2 $16 {White still has the pawn advantage.} ) 3. Nh6+ Kf8 4. Nxf5 Bxe1 {Black allows the mate finish.} (4... gxf5 {The best move, according to the computer, but Black is still completely lost.} 5. Qh8+ Ke7 6. Qxh7+ Kd6 7. Qxh4) 5. Qg7# 1-0

Round 4 saw the top two seeds play. Clearly having a bad evening, Ian made several errors in the opening and lost quickly, though the resignation was perhaps slightly premature the position was lost. John was playing his 3rd higher-graded opponent in a row and this time converted his early advantage to pick up the result his play in the earlier rounds had deserved. Craig won his first game of the evening and, due to the small number of players, Phil had a bye to move into sole 2nd place with 3/4.

Going into the final round, Nathan was in the lead with 4/4; Phil was in 2nd with 3/4 and there were then four players a point further back. Craig took advantage of a blunder by Ian to win a rook, John beat Colin to join Craig on 3/5. Phil found the right defensive moves in a complex position, but like John in round 2, used up too much time against Nathan who took advantage and had a definite edge in the middle game when Phil's flag fell.

Tony Locke Rapidplay 2018

The club's internal rapidplay championship (Tony Locke Rapidplay) was held on Wednesday 30th May. The competition was won by Nathan Barnes (with a score of 4.5/5, matching his score from the previous year). Dom Lee, with an unbeaten 4/5 was second. Matt, Felix and Pete tied for third with 3/5. Ten players took part.

In round 1 Matt and Felix were the first to finish. Nathan got a slight edge in a queen-less middlegame against Brian's Grob, it took a while to get there but once the position opened up his more active rooks finished the game quite quickly. Craig sprung the upset of the round - he won a couple of pawns against Mark and that was enough to convert a potentially tricky queen and pawn endgame. The last game to finish was between Dom and John which reached a knight and four pawns each endgame. The position looked drawn but Dom was down to his last few seconds and looked like losing on time. However, an illegal move from John meant Dom gained two minutes and a draw was agreed.

Round 2's main talking point was Pete beating the much higher-graded Felix. There were also wins for Nathan, Phil, Matt and Dom. The first two rounds had all been based on seeding with the top 5 seeded players (Matt, Nathan, Felix, Dom and Mark) playing against players from the other half but only two players - Matt and Nathan - had won both their games. This meant that round 3 would see the top two seeds play each other. A blunder in the early middle game saw Nathan lose a piece for no compensation; however, active play in a QRB5P v QR5P endgame along with an awkwardly-placed White king saw Nathan get a couple of pawns and then the bishop. Pete laid a successful opening trap against Craig; Felix recovered from his round 2 loss by beating John; Mark against Brian saw a rematch of the club championship quarter-final with the same result; Phil and Dom's game went to the wire with Dom having a very strong attack but only six seconds on the clock to Phil's 20 seconds, Phil tried to find a defence and lost on time.

Round 4 saw the two unbeaten players drawn against each other. A long game went to a fairly even knight and pawn endgame. Nathan had two minutes on the clock to Dom's one but offered a draw to preserve his tournament lead rather than risk going wrong. Matt resigned after blundering a piece against Felix; Pete beat Phil to win his third game in a row and bring himself into contention for first place; a hard-fought game resulted in a draw for Mark and John; Brian beat Craig meaning that everyone had at least a point.

Going into the final round, Nathan was in the lead with 3.5/4; Dom, Felix and Pete were half a point back. Mark and Matt's game resulted in a queen and pawn endgame where Matt always had an advantage, these endings can be tricky to win as both sides have to be wary of the other's queen. This was Mark's second queen and pawn endgame of the evening but Matt's extra pawn proved sufficient. Brian beat Phil when he managed to bring his rook down to the 7th rank after a fairly even struggle. John versus Craig saw John pick up his first win, to go with his two earlier draws. Dom and Pete went into an even endgame where Dom had a rook and five pawns against Pete's bishop, knight and four pawns. A risky knight incursion resulted in Dom being able to trap the knight and force an exchange of his rook for Pete's two pieces, the extra pawn was then decisive. Nathan forced a transposition from a Sicilian to a symmetrical English in his game against Felix, and the typical queenside pawn advances resulted in a clear edge. The finish to this game can be seen below.

[Event "Tony Locke Rapidplay"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.05.30"] [Round "5"] [White "Barnes, Nathan"] [Black "Schnell, Felix"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteElo "157"] [BlackElo "155"] [Annotator "Barnes,Nathan"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "b1r2rk1/4np1p/1q1pp1p1/Rp6/1P1PP3/1QN1P1P1/6BP/R5K1 b - - 0 1"] [PlyCount "3"] [EventDate "2018.05.30"] [EventType "rapid"] {The pressure on the b5 pawn and the control over the a-file give White a definite, but not yet decisive, advantage.} 1... e5 $2 {Putting pressure on White's central pawns and trying to take advantage of the fact that Black's queen and White's king are on the same diagonal.} 2. Ra6 $1 {Forces the queen to move off the diagonal and means White will win material - the knight on e7 is loose, the pawns on b5 and d6 are both attacked and Black is tied down protecting the bishop on a8.} (2. dxe5 $4 {is clearly very bad} Qxe3+ 3. Kf1 Rxc3 $19) (2. d5 $4 {is just as bad}) (2. Rxb5 $2 Rxc3 3. Qxf7+ Kxf7 4. Rxb6 $17) (2. Nxb5 $2 Nc6 3. Bf1 Nxa5 4. bxa5 $15) 2... Qb8 $2 {[%csl Ra8][%cal Ra6a8,Ra1a8] and realising the error immediately Black resigned without waiting for White to move.} (2... Qb7 $142 3. Ra7 Qc6 4. Rxe7 Qxc3 5. Qxc3 Rxc3 6. d5 Rxe3 (6... Rc4 7. Rea7 Rcc8 8. Bf1 Rb8 9. Rd7 Rb6 $18 {Black is completely tied down and will eventually lose material.}) 7. Rea7 $18 {and Black has some, but not enough, compensation for the piece that is now lost.}) 1-0

Fooling the computer

The position below is taken from S Coughlan - I Gooding (Board 1, Witham A v Colchester A, 2017), black to play. When you put this position into the computer it spots the best move straight away but thinks that there are many other moves that are also winning. It is only when you leave it to think for a while that it realises that there is only one move to win. What is it? Answer in the comments.

Club competitions

The winners of the club competitions for 2015/16 are:

• Club Championship: Nathan Barnes
• Tony Locke Rapidplay: Svein Kjenner & Matt Stemp (tie)
• Club Shield: Pete Smith
• Grand Prix: Norbert Voelker

The Club Shield was awarded to the best performance by a player graded under 120ECF in the Club Championship. The Grand Prix was won by the player with the highest combined score in the Club Championship, Tony Locke Rapidplay and NECL matches.

The Club Honours page has been updated to show the 2015/16 results and also now includes more historical results than previously.

The position at the top of the page is taken from the decisive game in the Club Championship (N Barnes - N Voelker). It shows the position after Black's 36th move. Nothing particularly special about the position, except that neither the White rook or bishop had moved at all in the first 36 moves. So, is the game still technically in the opening until White completes development?

DITO 4

An opening disaster caused by playing a sideline which an opponent was able to prepare for, taken from Barnes, N (ECF:146) 0.5 - 0.5 Kjenner, S (ECF:154) (2016).

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 is the Scotch Opening. 4...Qh4 is a sideline, but not a bad one. This was the move that White had expected Black to play.

5.Nb5 is not the most common reply but does give scope for Black to go wrong. The knight threatens to fork the king and rook by capturing on c7. 5...Bc5 replies with a stronger threat.

6.Qf3 is one way of protecting the f2 pawn and also sets a trap.

6...Ne5 looks strong as it threatens the white queen on f3 and so seems to be bringing another piece into the attack with tempo.

However, Ne5 was a serious error allowing White to win material.

7.Qf4! was the prepared trap. According to the computer the best option for Black is 7...Qxf2+ 8.Qxf2 Bxf2+ 9.Kxf2 and White has won a piece for a pawn. The game continuation was 7...Qxf4. White missed the best move here - 8.Nxc7+ as after 8...Kd8 9.Bxf4 the knight on c7 is safe as 9...Kxc7 10.Bxe5+ Kd8 11.Bxg7 and White has an even greater material advantage than if Black allows the knight to take the a8 rook.

White's preparation ran out on move 7 though and 8.Bxf4 Bd6 9.Nxd6 cxd6 leaves White much better (more than +2 according to the computer) but the advantage is not as clear cut as after 8.Nxc7+.

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Previous opening disasters: DITO 1, DITO 2, DITO 3

DITO 3

An opening disaster caused by not paying attention to the line being played and just playing "normal" moves for the opening without checking...

Today's DITO shows an example of a common idea against the Slav, or rather a common idea that is not often seen as Black doesn't normally allow it, taken from Forrester, A (ECF:134) 0 - 1 Barnes, N (ECF:146) (2016).

Nothing wrong with the first few moves 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Bxc4 4. e3

However, 4...Nf6 is dubious as Black is giving the pawn back and allowing White to develop freely at the same time. Nf6 is normally played in the Slav but this is not the right time, 4...b5 is best.

White's reply is obvious, but after 5. Bxc4 Black is just losing after playing another "normal" Slav move (5...Bf5).

White can now win material and get a better position, with a tactic that Black should be well aware of if they are playing this opening...

White is a pawn up, for no compensation, after just six moves and the rest (should be) simple. Black made things worse by playing 6...Qc8 7. Bxf7+ Kd8, which the computer evaluates as being nearly the equivalent of a piece down for Black.

Tony Locke Rapidplay - Round 4

The 4th round of the Tony Locke Rapidplay has now been made. There are still a number of games from earlier rounds outstanding but two players so far - Matt Stemp and Svein Kjenner - have won all three of their matches. For the purposes of making the draw games not played so far have been assumed to be draws. Three players have been removed from the draw for round 4 as they have not played in the 1st three rounds.

Draw for round 4:

WHITE		BLACK
Svein Kjenner	V	Matt Stemp
Felix Schnell	V	Clive Bellinger
Nathan Barnes	V	Denzel Gonzales
Norbert Voelker	V	Dave Chatfield
Phil Daley	V	Mark Johnson
Brian Remmer	V	John Duff-Cole
Pete Smith	V	Martin Harris
Ed Goodman		BYE

Currently the outstanding games are (if any of these matches have taken place, results have not been reported):

WHITE		BLACK
Clive Bellinger	V	Denzel Gonzales
Phil Daley	V	Felix Schnell
Felix Schnell	V	Mark Johnson
Martin Harris	V	Ed Goodman
John Duff-Cole	V	Pete Smith
Mark Johnson	V	Brian Remmer

The answer to the question in the previous post cannot be shown in a viewer. Black played 1...Rxd3+!, White replied 2.Rxb4 removing the knight guarding Black's rook, but it is an illegal move as the king is still in check. Black, playing quickly, failed to notice and captured White's rook. White then took the rook on d3 and had an easily won pawn endgame. If the illegal move had been noticed Black had a simple win and would have had enough time on the clock to finish the game.

NECL player of the year

The Al Scibor prize is awarded to the adult player with the best percentage score in the NECL league - it has been won by Colchester players for the last two years (and the winners' main rivals have been mostly Colchester players as well).

Back in the 2013/14 season, Eldar Lachinov was player of the season closely followed by Mike Wagstaff and Pete Smith. Nathan Barnes and Phil Daley also scored more than 70%.

Last season, Alex Orava was player of the season closely followed by Svein Kjenner, Nathan Barnes, Matt Stamp and Ian Gooding. Simon Denney and Mark Johnson also scored more than 70%.

This season? Again it is looking good for Colchester players. Currently in the lead having scored 100% from 9 games is Norbert Voelker. In 2nd place is Svein Kjenner, also on 100% but from 7 games. Pete Smith is in joint 10th with (in order) Felix Schnell, Clive Bellinger, Martin Harris, Mike Wagstaff, Matt Stemp, Nathan Barnes and Ian Gooding also all scoring 50% or more from at least 4 games.

There was one key game that decided the winner of the trophy last year. The position below is taken from the Hughes, P - Barnes, N game in the Colchester A - Witham B match. Black is winning, though running short of time, and a win in this game would mean Black would win the Al Scibor trophy. How did Black make sure that this didn't happen? The answer is far from obvious...

Colchester C

Colchester C have played 3 league matches and won all 3 (a 2.5-1.5 win over the D team and 3-1 wins against Chelmsford C and Chelmsford D) so they are currently top of Division 3. Rest of this post is from Clive.

Here is a position from a league game, White is already a piece up and has a winning position with plenty of options, but can you find the crushing move?

Did you find it? The answer is: Qd1-a1 The threatened loss of the g pawn is overwhelming (computer gives this as +8). If you picked Rc6xd6 (I did) that is still pretty good at nearly +7.

Following Qd1-a1, if black castles, Ne4-c5 Bd6xc5, b4xc5 white is 2 pieces up, game over. If : Ke8 (to give the rook room) Ne4-c5 Bd6xc5, b4xc5 Rh8-g8, c5xb6 a7xb6, again 2 pieces up If: e6-e5 (to try and block in centre) Rc6xd6 c7xd6, Ne4xd6+ Ke8-f8, Be3xb6 Rc8-c2, Bb6-c5

If: Bd6-f8 then white has Ne4-c5 Bf8xc5 (forced) Qa1xg7 Bc5xe3 Rc6xe6+ f7xe6 Bg2-c6+ Nb6-d7 Qg7xh8+ Ke8-f7 f2xe3+ Kf7-e7 Qh8xh7+ Ke7-d6 Qh7xd7+ Kd6-e5. Lovely line this... Black King all alone in the middle of the board!

DITO 2

The previous post in this occasional series was an example of forgetting opening preparation, today is an example of playing your normal line without paying sufficient attention to the move order being used by your opponent and is taken from the same tournament.

When playing the first game in your first tournament for nearly two decades it always helps if your opponent has a DITO...

Lines where Black plays an early ...d5 in the Symmetrical English are quite common as instead of trying to maintain symmetry Black tries to grab the initiative. 1.c4 c5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.g3 d5 leads to a fairly common position:

There are numerous possibilities after this e.g. 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.Bg2 Nc7 is the Rubinstein System, a complex line often seen in grandmaster play.

Today's DITO shows an example of ...d5 being played too early in a Symmetrical English, taken from Barnes, N (ECF:146) - Burrows, J (ECF:164)(2014).

2.g3 is the 4th most common move in response to 1...c5; Nc3, Nf3 and d4 are the more frequently seen alternatives. The game continued in a normal manner 2...Nc6 3.Bg2 Nf6 4.Nc3

However, 4...d5? just throws a pawn away. The difference from the line shown at the top of the post is that White has played Bg2 instead of Nf3 and so d5 is attacked three times and only protected twice. Black has not noticed the move order difference and has lost a pawn. It is going to get worse though...

Black still hasn't noticed that the knight is not on f3 and played 5...Nxd5??

White is a piece up after just six moves and the rest (should be) simple.

DITO

DITO (Disaster In The Opening)

This is the first in an occasional series of posts about openings going badly wrong in the hands of experienced players (no beginners falling for Fool's Mate here). The guilty will be named. Today's example is Lamont, R (ECF: 169) - Barnes, N (ECF: 146)(2014).

To show that nobody is safe we will start with a DITO of my own at the 2014 Bury St Edmunds congress.

This was my first chess tournament for nearly 20 years and the first day had gone well (scoring 2 out of 3 against higher-grade opposition). The morning of the 2nd day didn't go quite to plan. I had stayed overnight in Bury St Edmunds - not realising that the church bell would ring every 15 minutes throughout the night (so I knew exactly what time it was when I couldn't sleep).

I was a bit groggy at the start of the day but was pleased to see my opponent go for a line that I (thought) I knew well.

On move 3 I played c5 entering a respectable line (though not the main line) against the Advanced Variation of the Caro-Kann.

White accepted the pawn (the first person to do against me since I had started playing chess again), which is the critical response to 3...c5, and after 4...e6 played 5.Be3 protecting the pawn.

So far, so normal. However, I now couldn't remember the continuation to play. At the back of my mind something was telling me to go with 5...Nh6

The idea is to swing the knight to f5 where it will attack the bishop on e3 and start to put pressure on White's weakened pawn structure in the centre. This is generally considered to be the best plan. But I couldn't remember if this was right or not. After a few minutes thought I was confident that I had worked out something a bit better than Nh6...

A temporary sacrifice of a bishop that will regain a pawn and leave Black with a decent position. After White captures the bishop the queen can come out with forking White's king and bishop.

But this overlooks the obvious...

Black has lost a piece and the rest is simple for White.

What would you do? Part 2 continued

Below is the game continuation from the position given in "What would you do? Part 2". White declined the draw and did go onto win the game - but, while it worked out, it is not clear that this was the right decision - the time spent calculating had made had made it clear that with this continuation White was playing two losing sacrifices to try and swindle a win.

[Event "NECL Division 2 2014/15"] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.10.22"] [Round "?"] [White "Barnes, Nathan"] [Black "Coughtrey, Mike"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A24"] [WhiteElo "146"] [BlackElo "120"] [Annotator "Barnes, Nathan"] [SetUp "1"] [FEN "r3r3/pp4np/2p1bR2/2PpP1k1/1P4P1/3P1B2/P6P/4R1K1 w - - 0 31"] [PlyCount "19"] [EventDate "2015.02.18"] [WhiteTeam "Colchester A"] [BlackTeam "Clacton B"] {A24: English Opening vs King's Indian: Lines without ...Nc6} 31. h4+ $2 {An unsound sacrifice. Technically, this is a ? move but if you are going for a win as White playing sensible moves will result in a draw at best.} (31. Kf2 $142 Rf8 32. h4+ Kxh4 33. g5 Rxf6 34. exf6 (34. gxf6 $2 Nf5 $19) 34... Kxg5 35. fxg7 $15 {but if White is going to go down this line it would be best to accept the original draw offer.}) 31... Kxh4 $19 32. g5 $2 {Unsound sacrifice - again this is really a ? move but Black's king is exposed.} Kxg5 33. Kf2 Nf5 $2 (33... h5 $1 {was the only move that leads to an advantage for Black and shows that White's play was unsound - it gives an escape route for the king behind the h pawn.}) 34. Rg1+ $1 $15 Kf4 {the only sensible move} (34... Ng3 35. Rxg3+ Bg4 36. Rxg4+ Kh5 37. Rg1+ Kh4 38. Rh6#) (34... Kh4 35. d4 Re7 36. Rh1+ Kg5 37. Rh5+ Kf4 38. Rh4+ Kg5 39. Rg4+ Kh5 40. Rg8+ Kh4 41. Rxa8 {and White is winning easily}) 35. d4 {the only move that keeps the position as roughly equal - White must protect the pawn on e5.} Rg8 {Pushing the pawn to h5 was slightly better - but either way White is not much worse anymore.} (35... -- 36. Rg4# {was White's threat.}) 36. Rh1 $1 $11 { Every other move leads to an easy win for Black.} Rg4 $4 {Prevents mate but leads to an easy win for White.} (36... -- 37. Rh4+ Kg5 38. Rg4+ Kh5 39. Rg7+ Kh4 40. Rxh7+ Kg5 41. Rh5+ Kf4 42. Rh4+ Kg5 43. Rg4+ Kh5 44. Rxg8+ Kh4 45. Rg4+ Kh3 46. Rg1 Kh4 47. Rfg6 Ng3 48. R6xg3 a5 49. Rh1+ Bh3 50. Rhxh3# {is a forced mate - it is unlikely that all this could be calculated but it is easy to see that 37.Rh4+ would lead to an easy win.}) (36... Rg6 {is the only move that saves Black} 37. Rh4+ Kg5 38. Rh5+ Kf4 39. Rh4+ Kg5 40. Rh5+ Kf4 41. Rh4+ { with a draw by repetition. White can't play Rg4+ instead of Rh5+ as the king will be able to escape via h6-g7 leading to a win for Black.}) 37. Bxg4 $18 Kxg4 38. Rxe6 Nxd4 39. Rf6 $1 Kg5 $2 {Not that it really matters anymore} 40. Rg1+ {Black then actually played 40...Kh6 (an illegal move as the king moves into check) and White played 41.Rf5 (not noticing the illegal move). Black then resigned as the knight can't be saved due to the threat of mate.} (40. Rg1+ Kh5 41. Ke3 Ne6 42. Rxe6 d4+ 43. Kf4 Rf8+ 44. Rf6 Rxf6+ 45. exf6 d3 46. b5 cxb5 47. f7 d2 48. Rh1+ Kg6 49. f8=Q h5 50. Rg1+ Kh7 51. Qg7#) 1-0

What would you do? Part 2.

Here is a position reached in a league game this season:

Black is a piece for two pawns up but his king is a bit exposed. Black made his move 20 minutes ago and offered a draw. You, playing White, have used this 20 minutes to calculate the various possibilities and it is now decision time.

The clock situation is that White has now got 3 minutes left for the rest of the game, Black has 30 minutes.

The team situation is that the scores are 1.5-1.5 so the result of this game will determine the result of the match. White is the higher-graded player and based on grades the match result would be expected to be in the 4-0 area.

Would you:

1. Agree a draw - thus ensuring the team don't lose?
2. Consider the position as slightly better for Black but approximately equal, blitz a few moves (perhaps starting with Kf2 or Rf1) to see what happens - hoping that if the position stays equal Black will accept a draw offer at a later stage? If so, what would you play?
3. Consider the position as slightly better for Black but play for a win anyway? If so, what would you play?

Remember, you have had a lot of thinking time so you have as much time to calculate lines as you like - but you have only got 3 minutes left if you decide to play on!! Did you choose correctly?

What would you do?

A post from Clive

Here is a position reached in a league game:

Black is a rook for bishop and pawn up, but white has a dangerous passed pawn. More importantly black has 8 mins left on his clock and white 34 mins. Black to move.

Would you:

1. Agree a draw immediately - thus protecting the team ensuring they, (with sensible play in the last remaining game), cannot lose the match?
2. Spend 6 mins looking for a win, play on for a bit if you can’t find a win offer a draw and hope your opponent agrees? Of course if he plays on and there isn’t a quick win, Black has essentially lost on time.
3. Play on immediately, and go for it regardless?

Right the clock is ticking, you have 6 mins!! Did you choose correctly?

November summary

The current top ten players in the club grand prix are:

		Points
1st	Nathan Barnes	7.5
2nd	Mohammud Jaufarally	5
3rd	Svein Kjenner	4.5
4th=	Clive Bellinger	3
	Mike Wagstaff	3
6th	Ed Goodman	3
7th	Martin Harris	3
8th	Aleksander Orava	2.5
9th	Mark Johnson	2
10th	Ian Gooding	2

Games played in the club championship, Tony Locke rapidplay and the NECL league/knockout count for points in the grand prix. Where points are equal percentage score and then number of games played are used as tie-breakers. This month the top two have swapped places and Svein is the month's big gainer - moving up to 3rd.

Only one game has been played in the seeding round of the club championship (a draw between Dave Chatfield and Brian Remmer). In the Tony Locke Rapidplay Nathan Barnes is the only player on 3/3 - though Svein Kjenner is on 2/2 and there are a number of players who have won their first game but not yet played their second and third games yet.

In the NECL, two players have 100% records in league matches and have played more than one game - Nathan Barnes (3 games for the A team, 1 game for the B team) and Mohammud Jaufarally (2 games for the D team, 1 game for the C team). Two players are on 2.5 out of 3 - Aleksander Orava (2 games for the A team, 1 game for the B team) and Svein Kjenner (2 games for the A team, 1 game for the B team).

It is still early in the NECL season with some teams having only played one or two matches so far. In Division 2, Colchester A are in 1st place having won their first three matches and drawn their fourth. Colchester B are in 5th place having only played two games (losing to the A team and beating Dunmow). In Division 3, Colchester D are in 1st place after winning their first three matches; Colchester C are in 5th place winning one match and losing one (to the D team).

This week the B team beat Dunmow (3.5-0.5). Svein Kjenner won a pawn in the opening and was always in control on board 4 to continue his good start in his first NECL season. Mike Wagstaff also won a pawn early on and held onto his advantage throughout. Nathan Barnes probably should have lost but instead maintained his 100% record in the league - winning a queen and pawn endgame after surviving middlegame pressure. Aleksander Orava agreed a draw, after a fairly quiet Sicilian opening, when the team win was in the bag after the wins on boards 3 and 4.

Date: Nov-2014
NECL Division 2
Brd	Col	DUNMOW	Result		COLCHESTER B	Col
1	w	Derek Jones (128)	½	½	Aleksander Orava (e155)	b
2	b	John Bradley (120)	0	1	Nathan Barnes (146)	w
3	w	Bill Atwood (111)	0	1	Mike Wagstaff (147)	b
4	b	John Fletcher (e100)	0	1	Svein Kjenner (e139)	w
		(avg=114)	0.5	3.5	(avg=146)

 

There are only two matches in December - Colchester D play CRGS in Division 3 and Colchester A play Wethersfield for the second time this season (in the 2nd round of the plate competition).

The position below is taken from the game Barnes, N - Burrows, J (Bury St Edmunds Chess Congress). White has an extra piece but Black has two additional pawns. Should White play 34.Qd8+ to force the exchange of queens? Answer in the comments.

NECL update

After three disappointing results (the B team drawing with Billericay B and losing to Chelmsford D; the A team losing narrowly to Braintree B), the A and B teams have got back on track with three 4-0 whitewashes. The A team beat Dunmow and Witham B, the B team beat Chelmsford C.

Date: 20-Mar-2014
NECL League: Division 3
Brd	Col	CHELMSFORD C	Result		COLCHESTER B	Col
1	b	John Constantine (123)	0	1	Nathan Barnes (e145)	w
2	w	Peter Brander (118)	0	1	Mike Wagstaff (145)	b
3	b	Elliot Cocks (100)	0	1	Phil Daley (124)	w
4	w	Mario Cassar (76)	0	1	Peter Smith (122)	b
		(avg=104)	0	4	(avg=134)

 

Date: 19-Mar-2014
NECL League: Division 2
Brd	Col	WITHAM B	Result		COLCHESTER A	Col
1	w	Peter O'Malley (116)	0	1	Javier Ruano Marco (e189)	b
2	b	Barrie Quin (115)	0	1	Ian Gooding (176)	w
3	w	Barry Mitchell (111)	0	1	Eldar Lachinov (e155)	b
4	b	John Staplehurst (110)	0	1	Michael Wagstaff (145)	w
		(avg=113)	0	4	(avg=166)

 

Date: 10-Mar-2014
NECL League: Division 2
Brd	Col	DUNMOW	Result		COLCHESTER A	Col
1	b	John Bradley (119)	0	1	Ian Gooding (176)	w
2	w	Derek Jones (125)	0	1	Eldar Lachinov (e155)	b
3	b	William Attwood (115)	0	1	Aleksander Orava (e155)	w
4	w	Eric Page (86)	0	1	Mike Wagstaff (145)	b
		(avg=111)	0	4	(avg=157)

The position below is from Barnes - Constantine. White to play, Black has just played 9...c5 - solution in the comments.

Two league matches - two wins

The A team and the C team were both in action on Wednesday night. The A team's first league match of the season was a whitewashing of Brentwood C and an inexperienced C team beat Billericay C in a close match. The C team have overtaken the B team and are top of Division 3.

There are a number of new players for Colchester this season - Nathan Barnes played his second match for Colchester with Martin Harris, Rob Smith and Jake Stones all playing their first matches as Colchester players. Rob and Jake have never played league chess before.

Date: 30-Oct-2013
NECL League: Division 2
Brd	Col	COLCHESTER A	Result		BRENTWOOD C	Col
1	b	Ian Gooding (167)	1	0	Rod Johnson (152)	w
2	w	Dimitrios Kolomvas (e160)	1	0	Chris Darbon (148)	b
3	b	Nathan Barnes (e145)	1	0	Ben Smith (117)	w
4	w	Clive Bellinger (143)	1	0	Colin Ellis (86)	b
		(avg=154)	4	0	(avg=125)

 

Date: 30-Oct-2013
NECL League: Division 3
Brd	Col	COLCHESTER C	Result		BILLERICAY C	Col
1	b	Brian Remmer (116)	1	0	Ken Young (115)	w
2	w	Martin Harris (e115)	1	0	Charles Newman (109)	b
3	b	Rob Smith (e78)	½	½	Ian Fuller (93)	w
4	w	Jake Stones (e75)	0	1	Hugh Tanton (74)	b
		(avg=96)	2.5	1.5	(avg=97)

The position below is from the match on Board 3 of Colchester A v Brentwood C. White has just played 12.Re1, how can Black now obtain a winning advantage? Answer in the comments.

British Championship 2013

Adam Taylor is currently playing in the British Championship. The position below is taken from Adam's round seven game against Amy Hoare. The game has been fairly even but Adam (white) is looking for more than a draw. What was Adam's best option here to improve his winning chances?

Answer can be found in the comments for this post.

Later on in the same game, Adam's plan has been successful and he now has a winning position. There are several good moves to choose from in the diagram below - what move leads to the simplest win? Answer, again, in the comments.