Some of the games:
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1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ndf3 Qb6 8. g3 Be7 9. Kf2 cxd4 10. cxd4 g5 11. Ne2 gxf4 12. gxf4 f6 13. Kg2 Rg8+ 14. Ng3 Nf8 15. Bd3 Bd7 16. Re1 |
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1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 b5 4. cxb5 a6 5. bxa6 g6 6. Nc3 Bxa6 7. e4 Bxf1 8. Kxf1 d6 9. g3 Bg7 10. Kg2 |
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1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. f3 dxe4 4. fxe4 e5 5. Nf3 exd4 6. Bc4 Nf6 7. Ng5 Be6 8. Nxe6 fxe6 9. Bxe6 Qa5+ 10. Nd2 Qe5 11. Bc4 Bd6 12. Bd3 Bc7 13. Nf3 Qh5 14. Bg5 |
Prior to this match Clifton B were just safe from relegation and we were playing for 3rd place, behind Bath and University.
Mike L started the match well. Playing a Slav and taking on c4, he managed to play Bb4+ and forcing Ke2 since Nd2 led to the loss of a piece after c3 and c2 discovered check. Arthur never managed to develop his kingside and was dispatched very efficiently. Meanwhile Nigel ended up in a passive Guicco Piano after electing to play Bb6 instead of Bb4+ and lost after trying to liven things up. Steve didn't manage to get any advantage against solid play from Jim and a draw was soon agreed. Alex ground his opponent down in his customary relentless way. At the time control Mike G agreed a draw with only a slight edge in a bishop and pawn ending.
After applying significant pressure throughout my game without finding a killer blow, I sacrificed a rook to give a winning position but was then losing after moving my king to the wrong square. When the dust settled I had a bishop and 3 pawns against a rook and 2. The post match consensus is that the position is drawn, so we should have a couple more points in the bag. However Clifton are claiming a win at adjudication as they have any winning chances going. (PN)
The two Clevedon teams have looked very similar for much of the season as many of their players were eligible to play for both teams. By this stage Clevedon B had already been relegated and they elected not to play any A team players, giving us a 50+ grading advantage on 4 boards. Clevedon B hung on well with all games going the distance.
Mike converted pressure into a pawn advantage and then another. John also converted a big lead in development into an extra pawn and forked his opponent's rooks, but then allowed a clever way out which led into a drawn rook and 3 pawns versus rook and 2. The game continued to twist and turn as his opponent allowed John to end up with rook and 2 pawns against rook and promptly resigned. However further analysis failed to find any clear win for John. (John writes - I'd just won the second pawn and realised to my horror I could not see any way through when my opponent gave up. Checking with an endings book confirmed my opponent had a blockade and it was dead drawn).
Meanwhile Alex was developing the kind of position he always seemed to win against weaker opposition but his opponent held on to take the draw. Steve's game looked pretty level but he found a way to win. Martin won a pawn but his opponent found some counterplay and Martin had to give it back. After a few more ups and downs a draw was agreed the following day.
My game was another sorry tale. I avoided exchanges to try and keep winning chances but then blundered a pawn. In the time scramble I desperately sacrificed a piece but in the cold light of the sealed move position it was clear that it didn't work. (PN)
The first I saw of Martin's game he was a rook up and he duly won. Alex had a standard-looking English position, but when he cracked open the position with c4-c5 he netted the exchange and won not long after. Steve seemed to be doing fine but his position may not have been as good as it looked and he lost somehow.
At the close of play the other 3 games were undecided, but we were at least equal in all 3. Although Mike was a pawn up, as he had been all game, the position would soon simplify to a drawn opposite coloured bishop ending. John had done well to survive a difficult position a pawn down for much of the game but had fought back to be a pawn up although his opponent had some compensation. I had had a very promising position having won a pawn and pawns on e5 and d5, but my opponent found ways to make life difficult and by the time control, although I am technically a pawn up, my opponent has a route to a drawn rook and pawn ending.
I made a tactical error in telling Mike and John that they could offer draws to win the match, as I thought I had a draw for the taking. I should have linked the draw offers since Mike and John's opponents accepted the draws, but mine didn't. However I don't see any winning chances for my opponent so the match should be safe. (PN)
Downend were a little under-strength but were still able to field their top two boards and a 172 on board 5. Alex's opponent seemed intent on playing for complications which took up a lot of his time. For a nasty moment it looked as if Alex's trapped queen might be in danger but in the end the win was quite comfortable. Sasot resigned at move 23 with only a minute left on his clock. Mike agreed a draw in a relatively uneventful game. Steve seemed to have a lost position against his opponent's Milner-Barry gambit, but he hung on and managed to gain the initiative by giving the pawn back. With his king safe in the centre he eventually queened his d pawn. Again in my game I had trouble developing my pieces and my opponent's combined threats on the kingside netted the exchange which proved sufficient. Martin's opponent's flag seemed to defy gravity for several minutes but it didn't drop and Martin's position doesn't look too good. Simon played well against Jerry to develop a very strong position but the advantage slipped away in time trouble. (PN)
This was a match of no-holds-barred fighting chess with 2 of our most reliable players having an off day but the rest of the team pulling through. Roger faced a Latvian Gambit and after some hairy moments emerged from the opening with an extra pawn and a lead in development. However there may have been more to the position than met the eye as after an unobvious error and an outright blunder Roger had little choice but to resign. This was Roger's first ever loss for the A team after an impressive record of playing up 7 times last season and twice this season and, by way of ironic symmetry, it gave his opponent his first win of the season. Steve faced an aggressive Torre attack, or something similar, with g4 and h4. He countered on the queenside but delayed a winning piece sacrifice too long. Unfortunately it was one of those positions where if you don't win you lose, and Steve didn't win. Martin provided the first win despite facing an opponent whom Horfield players have recently found as difficult to beat as his name is to spell. Martin gave up a pawn for lots of pressure and preventing his opponent's development, eventually reaching a rook ending several pawns up. Mike played well in an entertaining game and volunteered his scoresheet's carbon copy so that I can share it with the rest of the world (see below). Alex played enterprisingly sacrificing a pawn for a passed c pawn which was then converted into the win of the exchange. However with a rook for a knight and a couple of solid central pawns I wasn't sure that this had worked out OK but then I often don't understand Alex's games (as was shown in my assessment of his game last week - in fact he was a pawn up when his opponent rather prematurely resigned rather than a piece up). Alex duly won in a few more moves. I gambited a pawn for an open f file, a lead in development and kingside pressure. The game was in the balance until my opponent played Nh1 which effectively made him a piece down and I came through the mutual time scramble to win.
Steve Roberts - M. Levene [B20]
22.02.2005
1.e4 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 d6 5.Nf3 Bg7 6.Be2 e6 7.d3 Nge7 8.0-0 0-0
9.Bd2 f5 10.Rb1 a6 11.a3 Nd4 12.b4 b6 13.exf5 gxf5 14.Nxd4 cxd4 15.Na2 Bb7
16.Nc1 e5 17.fxe5 dxe5 18.Bg5 Qd6 19.Rf2 e4 20.Bf4 Qe6 21.Nb3 Ng6 22.dxe4 fxe4
23.Bg3 Rxf2 24.Bxf2 d3 25.Bg4 Qxc4 26.Bxb6 Qc6 27.Be3 Bc8 28.Bxc8 Qxc8 29.Nc5
Ne5 30.Nxe4 Qc2 31.Nc5 Ng4 32.Qxg4 Qxb1+ 33.Kf2 Rf8+ 34.Bf4 d2 35.Ne6 Qe1+ 0-1
Martin had an impressive game.
M.Furnevall - M.Davies [B12]
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nc3 e6 5.g4 Bg6 6.h4 h5 7.Nge2? (playable the move before but now loses a pawn) 7...hxg4 8.Nf4 Bf5 9.h5 c5 10.Be3 Nc6 11.a3 Nge7 12.Nb5 Ng6! 13.Qd2 a6 14.Nxg6 fxg6 15.Bg5 Qb6 16.dxc5 Bxc5 17.Nd6+ Bxd6 18.exd6 Nd4 (after 19.0-0-0 Nb3+ followed by Rc8+ wins the queen and Rc8 immediately may be even stronger) 0-1
Alex developed a commanding position out of the opening and when I next looked up his opponent resigned owing to his being a piece down to put us 2-0 up. Mike also had a comfortable game. After winning a pawn in the middle game it always looked as if he would claim the full point which he duly did. At the time control John's position wasn't looking too good and he later resigned, but that still leaves us 2 games to claim the half point required for the match. Steve weathered some inventive attacking to reach a bishop ending a pawn up. My game has reached a classical Queens Gambit Exchange position where I have a slight edge owing to black's backward c pawn. (PN)
Steve faced the league's highest graded player at 230. Without making any obvious blunder he appeared just to be outplayed in a Nimzo-Indian and was the first to finish. John managed to exchange his opponent's strong d4 knight, cleverly forcing recapture with a pawn, and then established his own knight on d5. With a dominant centre but opposite coloured bishops John's draw offer was accepted, an offer he later felt to be a bit premature. Meanwhile Roger had built up a dominant position against his opponent's King's Indian. With black's king on f8 and rook out of the game on g8 things were set up for the killer blow. This came in the shape of Roger leaving his queen en-prise and winning the game with mating threats on e8 to level the match. My game started well with a promising attacking position and lead in development against the Scotch Gambit. However after developing my bishop on the aggressive a6-f1 diagonal its influence was missed in the centre and in the end I was relieved to bail out with a draw. With the scores at 2-2 the match was in the balance. Alex seemed to have his game well under control but Prakesh's position was under a lot of pressure although he was a pawn up. Prakesh had come into the team at only an hour's notice and battled extremely well. In the last few moves he pulled some wild tactics out of the bag (all 4 rooks were en-prise at one stage) to emerge with 2 rooks for rook and bishop. Meanwhile Alex's game had descended into apparent randomness in mutual time trouble. I didn't stay to the end to see Alex's traditional long-cogitated sealed move, but at the time he was a pawn up in a rook and bishop v rook and knight ending and facing a dangerous looking passed a pawn. (PN)
The top 4 boards saw a repeat of our previous fixture at the start of the season (when we won 3.5 - 2.5), but this time Clifton had strength in depth on the lower boards too. Steve got into an uncomfortable black side of a King's Indian where white's queenside play looked stronger than black's kingside. Steve's explanation for the loss was that Chris played a good move - a bit of an occupational hazard when facing an IM. Andrew Cooper made his traditional move 10 draw offer to Alex. This was declined although he wisely acceded to another offer 6 moves later with only 10 minutes left on his clock. I met the same opponent for the 4th successive Clifton A match. The game started quietly with white developing an edge, without it ever being a clear cut advantage. In mutual time trouble (but mainly mine) the initiative swung my way, then back to white, but by the end I had reached a favourable rooks and bishop ending, to be continued. Martin developed a very good looking position against a Cambridge Springs style defence. It stayed that way for most of the game until Martin made a series of exchanges to simplify to a winning ending, but unfortunately instead reached a worse bishop v knight ending. Mike fought back from a passive looking opening to reach equality in the middle game but eventually succumbed in a rook and pawn ending. Howard played solidly throughout to get a draw, although he tells me he "missed a win just after 10 o'clock".
An addendum:
Martin's position proved to be hopeless on closer inspection and he resigned without continuing the game. My continuation developed according to my plan of developing a passed pawn on the kingside. Some tactics ensued from which I emerged (maybe slightly fortuitously) the exchange down but with a winning position owing to an active king and passed g pawn. I won on move 70. (PN)
Probably our most reliable player, Mike Levene, completely forgot there was a match! Luckily, Peter Risdale was at the club and agreed to step into the breech. He acquitted himself creditably in his first team debut, but had to concede defeat at the end of the session.
The match is in the balance, we could win lose or draw this one. (JR)
Postscript: Phil's game was hopeless and my opponent accepted a draw offer. Steve is claiming a win and Andrew a draw, so we have at least drawn the match. (JR)
The near thing against Keynsham last week in the KO made me a bit nervous about this match; we had an awful time against Thornbury last season. However, Thornbury are having an awful time of their own, having lost a number of players and they had to bring in two reserves (who duly lost). Steve drew quickly on top board and I offered a draw when I got a bit nervous. My opponent spent so long thinking about the offer that he had to accept. We will win this match. Alex is winning and Phil stands better but with some work to do. I hope Thornbury survives their current difficulties; they've been in business for many years, have a good venue and are the only club for miles around their part of South Gloucestershire. They also have a very good Web site. (JR)
Half way through and things were looking bleak. Steve missed a tactic and gave up the exchange for a g pawn and some play. Mike looked dead in the water and no one else seemed to be going anywhere. My game was looking very rocky but I had a couple of saving moves and ended up with a lucky ending that proved to be drawn. Somehow the results came flooding in. Mike held on for a draw. Phil's opponent blundered and Steve crashed through for a point. (JR)
The first match where we haven't lost a game - a good solid performance. Steve ground out a win, while Alex sacced a piece for pawns in a Grunfeld - it looked thematic and it was certainly a decisive finish. My opponent's position just sort of fell apart somehow; it was one of those evenings where everything just worked. (JR)
A tough match with nearly all games going the distance. I won about 10:10 when Toby Stock lost on time by the narrowest margin - he played his final move and the flag fell as he went to press the clock. I'd had a small edge but it was probably drawn by then. Still: 1-0 up.
Phil lost a piece somewhere along the way, but managed to hunt the king with a pair of rooks for some time before having to accept the inevitable. Steve lost to a strong attack from his talented opponent (Sisask had an excellent debut at the British in the summer). Alex's game petered out to a draw.
All depends on the continuations: but it's not looking good (JR).
Postscript: Martin's game turned out to be resignable. Martin said: "I didn't seal the best move, though even if I had I would still be worse. As it was I have to give up a rook to stop mate and have a far worse position. Sadly, the crucial blunder was my 36th. I had two minutes left, it was a tricky position and i just thought I'd play a check to get me to the control. That took the bishop off the key defending diagonal."
After the tough start it was back to the 'bread and butter' fixtures where we try to build up match points. Unfortunately, these are exactly the sort of fixtures where we tend to slip up, e.g. our two losses to Thornbury last season. The start was promising, if a little chaotic. Clifton had just three players when we started the clocks at 7:40 and their captain was not among them, so they selected their own boards. James Hennefeld appeared about five minutes later and allocated the rest, but Dineley did not arrive till 8:05 so we picked up a point by default.
I managed to get what I thought was a very good position and started advancing my king side pawns. Suddenly it all blew up and my opponent had not just an easy route to equality but an easy route to a distinct plus. I quickly offered the draw in the hope he had not appreciated just how good it looked for him and was relieved to have it accepted. Mike got taken apart very efficiently and suddenly the match was level. Was this going to be another Thornbury?
Martin's position looked extremely good. Alex had an edge but was short of time and no one could work out how Phil could win. A disaster was always possible. But then Martin crashed through for a point and Alex agreed a draw. Phil played better than Arthur in mutual time trouble and when it was time to seal Phil had a mate in one - an ironic counterpoint to the first match of the season where Phil found he was facing a mate in two at the same point.
Next it's the University - who will be a much tougher proposition. (JR)
After meeting the top three teams it looks like we should end up with just two match points. Bath was always going to be tough and, on a wet stormy night, this proved to be the case. Still, things started promisingly when John managed to walk a Grunfeld tightrope of an opening and avoid slipping before his opponent did. However, the match was soon level as Steve overstepped the time control; Jack Rudd had played at his usual break-neck speed. Phil was suffering most of the way, but Martin's position looked fine until there was a catastrophic overload in the centre. Mike and Alex both played well, but I think two draws is the best we can hope from the continuations. (JR)
Back to Earth with a bump. The new-look international Downend A is a pretty good side - any side with Mike Brigden on bottom board has to be. Spaniard Eloy Sasot has a 2141 rating; Andolo of Kenya is only a couple of points less, and Gareth Morris is a 2142 Welshman. But we were missing Steve Dilleigh on top board and, as he outrates them all, we really did miss him.
Mike Levene was the first to go; his position looked okay against Morris's Benko and then just collapsed - I'm not sure why. I know why my position collapsed - a silly eighth move left my king in difficulty for the whole game and I eventually overstepped the time control with a hopelessly lost position. I didn't see Martin's loss. Phil and Roger played very well and should get draws.
Alex's game was full of incident. Sasot chose a quickplay finish when Alex failed to show on time - it turned out he'd gone to the wrong venue but managed to get back with just 10 minutes to spare before defaulting. After a wild time scramble, the players had to reconstruct when Alex's flag fell. This took a long while but eventually it was shown that Sasot had played one move past the control so it was impossible to say that Alex had lost on time. However, as all this had taken about 30 minutes, by now it was too late to finish the game before the club closed. Sasot was not enchanted when his captain explained it to him. Welcome to the Bristol League, Eloy!
Downend's Dave Tipper turned up towards the close. "What do you think of the new-look Downend, John? Do you reckon we will beat Bath next month?" "Not if they have their full side out." I replied. I thought he looked a little crestfallen. (JR)
Postscript: Downend duly demolished (a very strong) Bath by 4-2.
The League's computer had a hissy fit and gave the A's a difficult start to the season, playing the other top teams in the first three matches. However, we got off to an excellent start against the old enemy and have at least one point in the bag.
John swapped himself on to bottom board when it looked like Clifton might default, but Peter Saunders was dragged in at the last minute. Peter did okay in the opening but then blundered to put his side one down. By that time, Andrew Cooper had reached move 11 so made his traditional draw offer which Alex accepted. Soon after, Chalks and Steve called it quits when they decided they weren't entirely sure what was going on.
The other three games went the distance. Simon had a nagging initiative which eventually resulted in a blunder by his opponent to put us 3-1 up. Then disaster struck. Phil always had a deficit on the clock but reached the time control safely only to blunder on move 37 giving his opponent a mate in two. Martin's continuation would be an easy draw on adjudication, but may prove more difficult in real life (JR).
19/10/04: Martin got the draw.