Notts News Newsletter of the Nottinghamshire Chess Association 2007–08 No. 22 12 January 2008 http://www.nottschess.org/ [email protected] Copyright © Nottinghamshire Chess Association 2008 Nottingham Rapidplay Forthcoming events Don’t forget: the Nottingham Rapidplay is next Sunday at the High School (details in the box opposite). If you haven’t already entered, download an entry form and get it done now! 19th Nottingham Rapidplay: 20 January 2008 Nottingham High School, Waverley Mount, Nottingham NG7 4ED Ashfield 3 venue change Please remember that all remaining Ashfield 3 fixtures have been moved from the Sherwood House Inn to East Kirkby Miners Welfare, Off Low Moor Road, Kirkby. Matches are still on Tuesday nights. Team captains and club secretaries should make sure that all players know about the change. Four sections: N N N N 4NCL news Open Major (U150) Intermediate (U125) Minor (U100) Grading prizes in all sections. Full details at http://www. nottschess.org/2007_08/rapidplay.html Neil Graham spotted just before Christmas that the 2008–09 4NCL dates and venues have been published (http://www. 4ncl.co.uk/0809_dates.htm). The good news is that four of the bottom division fixtures are relatively close to home, with only one trip to Berkshire. Those who are likely to be playing in the next set of matches in February might like to check out the Round 5 pairings: Nottinghamshire 1 vs. Oxford 3 and Nottinghamshire 2 vs. Littlethorpe 1. But these matches won’t be played in Birmingham, as originally scheduled – according to the 4NCL web site, the Paragon Hotel’s new management have decided to charge for the room hire, and as that would have cost almost £7,000 per day the Division 4 matches have been moved to Staverton Park, near Daventry. top board; Derek played well, but as the game reached its last minutes his opponent’s king found safety from the checks and so Warks won the match by one point. As we have already qualified for the semi-finals, there may well be a rematch. Nottinghamshire U100 – Warwickshire U100 Nottinghamshire U150 – Warwickshire U150 Terry Norris-Hunt Warwickshire’s team arrived a little late, but fielded a full side, outgrading us on almost all boards. The first result was a win by Ric Dawson, but soon the match was level, and stayed that way until one game remained, the score 5½ each. It was the Details below – report to follow. English Seniors Championship: 28 January–1 February 2008 Izaak Walton Hotel, Dovedale, Derbyshire. Five-round FIDE-rated event for players aged 60 and over. Details and entry form: http://www.englishchess.org.uk/events/ecfsenior08/index.htm Nottinghamshire U150–Warwickshire U150 12 January 2008 Nottinghamshire U100–Warwickshire U100 12 January 2008 Board Grade 1 2 3 4 5 96 94 92 90 86 0–1 1–0 0–1 ½–½ ½–½ Kim Gilbert Malcolm Phipps Robert Statham Pauline Woodward Keegan Harrisson 95 96 96 94 93 86 84 83 80 64 85 55 ½–½ ½–½ ½–½ 1–0 0–1 ½–½ ½–½ Dennis Horsely Graham Gee Steven Bowen Bramwell Garner Ken Wise Joe Rourke David Rowe 93 88 89 87 86 86 81 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Cronshaw, Derek McIntosh, Sally Harper, George Zhang, Michael Hobson, Benjamin L Brown, Alan Ali, Hamzah Morrell, Len J Dawson, Richard Todd, Paul J Peter Smith (sub) Heath, Kenneth B Board Grade 1 129 0–1 149 149 147 148 145 143 141 141 138 136 132 132 130 129 126 1–0 1–0 0–1 1–0 ½–½ 0–1 ½–½ 1–0 0–1 ½–½ 0–1 ½–½ 0–1 0–1 0–1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Grade 5½–6½ Neil Graham (reserve) Antony. J. Wright Mike McBeth Will Place Alex Combie Tim A. Lane Kevin Harvey Steve Hunter Brian Thompson David Toms Brian M.Hayward Daniel Lin Stan Cranmer J. Keith Walters Keith Brameld Keith Roper Grade 6–10 1 Colin Eckloff 148 Robert Reynolds Mike Doran Robert Wallman Mark Cundy Mike Maher Robert Walker Richard C Reynolds Keith Thomas Gary Hope Darren Lee Simon Williams Adam Draper John Fahy Phil Bull Alan Burnett 144 146 148 147 144 143 142 141 140 140 140 135 135 135 127 FIDE Rating list – January 2008 The official site is at http://www.coruschess.com/, with live games every day. Other sites (including ICC, PlayChess and Chessdom) are also providing live coverage, including commentary, and ChessVibes is once again showing videos of winners analysing their games for the media. Listening to super-GMs demonstrating what they were thinking about during the game is a great way to learn. The January FIDE rating list shows Vladimir Kramnik and Viswanathan Anand at the top, both with ratings of 2799. Kramnik takes the No. 1 position by virtue of having played more games in the relevant period. The leading Nottinghamshire players (those over 2000 and active in the last 12 months in both the Notts League and FIDE-rated events) are: Perfect endgame play – solutions Last First Club Rating Richmond Barnes Posazhennikov Khandelwal Cumbers Grewal Mercs Dudognon Coates Payne Truman Wells Levens Emanuel Robert Michael Alex Ankush Paul Balvinder Peter Julien David Nick Richard Daniel David John West Bridgford Gambit University Ashfield Grantham University Gambit West Nottingham Newark Grantham West Bridgford Newark West Nottingham University 2260 2256 2231 2152 2143 2113 2086 2059 2056 2052 2031 2022 2010 2006 The last issue before Christmas contained five endgames to be solved. And there was a sting in the tail: one of them was a 50+ move nightmare of a problem, but I didn’t say which it was. To put you out of your misery, here are the solutions. 1. White to play and win As there is no way of searching for Nottinghamshire players other than by looking up each one separately I may have overlooked some players. If you spot any missing names please let me know. No. 1 is not too hard. It was composed by Henri Rinck, a Frenchman so obsessed with endgame studies that he was buried with a copy of his own book of endgame compositions. This one dates from 1950. White wins by 1. Ke5 Rd7 (1... Rd8 is similar) and now any move by the rook along the rank allows either a capture or a knight fork. But now White has 2. Rd1+ Kc2 (2... Ke2 and 2... Kc4 fall to the same idea) 3. Ne3+, winning the rook. Other first moves by White only draw (R+N vs. R is drawn in general). National Club Championship Bob Taylor Ashfield Chess Club played in the first round of the Minor championship on 6 January. We had home advantage against Bedford and came out the victors, 3–1, with wins for Bob Taylor, Stan Cranmer and Phil Morgan; sadly Neil Graham lost. We only won the match because my opponent left his mobile switched on; another Mobile Phone Gambit to add to the list. 2. White to play and win London Junior Championships Saaras Mehan (West Nottingham) scored 4½/7 in the Under 10 Minor and Arun Maini (West Nottingham) 5/9 in the Under 12 section at the London Junior Championships (12–28 December). Former NPSCA top board Brandon Clarke won the Under 12 title with a score of 8/9. York Congress Alex Combie (Newark) scored 4/5 in the Major (U161) at the York Congress (4–6 January), winning £50. Hastings International There was just one NCA player in this year’s Hastings International – David Coates (Newark) scored 4/10 and should gain a few rating points. This endgame is normally drawn. Any winning chances usually lie with the queen, but in this example (by Amelung, 1901) the black king is trapped in the corner and White can win by threatening mate. 1. Nc5 Kb1 The queen cannot abandon its defence of d1, but simply keeping it on the d1–h5 diagonal fails to deal with White’s mating threat: 1... Qh5 2. Nb3+ Kb1 3. Rb2# or 1... Qf3+ 2. Nb3+ Qxb3+ 3. Kxb3 Kb1 4. Rd1#. Corus 2008 The 2008 Corus super-GM tournament is under way in Wijkaan-Zee, The Netherlands. The top three players in the world (Anand, Kramnik and Topalov) are taking part, with England’s Michael Adams among the lower-rated players (which should tell you just how strong this tournament is). 2 After 1... Kb1 the move 2. Nb3 no longer works because of several Black defences, of which the most conclusive is 2... Qa4+, forcing stalemate, but White now has a simple win by. 2. Rb2+ Kc1 3. Nd3+ Kd1 4. Nf2+, winning the queen. Back to sanity with No. 4 (even if this one is quite hard). This is an endgame that crops up quite often in practical play (most recently in Rychagov–Grischuk, Russian Ch. 2007). Most positions are drawn in theory, but the stronger side has some winning chances (indeed, Grischuk was able to win from a drawn starting position in the game just mentioned). Here, the win involves spotting a neat tactical point as well as knowing a key piece of theory: 1. Rc7+ Kd8 2. Kd6 Rf1 2... Rxe5 doesn’t draw because of 3. Ra7!, when the threat of mate wins the rook 3. Ke6 Rd1 4. Rc2 Ke8 White has reached the standard winning position, known since Philidor in 1749. The win is still quite involved: 5. Rc8+ Rd8 6. Rc7 Rd2 7. Ra7 Rd1 8. Rg7 Rf1 9. Bg3 Rf3 10. Bd6 Re3+ 11. Be5 Rf3 12. Re7+ Kf8 13. Ra7 Kg8 14. Rg7+ Kf8 15. Rg4 Re3 16. Rh4 and the threat of mate wins the rook. 3. White to play and win 5. Black to play and draw No. 3 is the really difficult one that I warned you about. According to John Nunn, the ending of Q vs. B+B used to be considered a draw in general, but the computer proved otherwise. Many wins take longer than 50 moves, and in this case we have the longest win in this ending – mate in 81! For what it’s worth, here’s one winning sequence: 1. Kb8 Bd6+ 2. Ka7 Bc5+ 3. Ka6 Bc4+ 4. Ka5 Kd6 5. Qc1 Kd5 6. Qc3 Bd4 7. Qf3+Ke5 8. Qg3+ Ke4 9. Qh4+ Ke3 10. Qe7+ Kd3 11. Kb4 Bd5 12. Qe1 Bf3 13. Qh4 Ke3 14. Kc4 Be2+ 15. Kd5 Bf3+ 16. Ke6 Be4 17. Qg3+ Kd2 18. Qf4+ Kd3 19. Kd6 Bc3 20. Qg3+ Kd2 21. Qg1 Bd3 22. Kc5 Kc2 23. Qe3 Bb2 24. Kb4 Bc3+ 25. Ka3 Bb2+ 26. Ka4 Bc3 27. Qc5 Be4 28. Qc4 Bf3 29. Qf1 Bd1 30. Qg2+ Kd3+ 31. Kb5 Be2 32. Kc5 Bd1 33. Qg3+ Kd2 34. Kd5 Bb3+ 35. Ke4 Bc2+ 36. Kf4 Bd4 37. Qa3 Bd3 38. Qb4+ Bc3 39. Qb3 Bd4 40. Kf3 Bc3 41. Qa4 Bb1 42. Kf2 Bc2 43. Qc4 Bd3 44. Qa2+ Bc2 45. Kf3 Kd3 46. Qa6+ Kd4 47. Ke2 Bb4 48. Qa7+ Bc5 49. Qa1+ Kc4 50. Qa2+ Bb3 51. Qb1 Bb6 52. Qb2 Bc5 53. Qe5 Bc2 54. Kd2 Ba4 55. Qc3+ Kb5 56. Kd3 Kc6 57. Qf6+ Bd6 58. Kd4 Bb5 59. Qf5 Ba6 60. Qc2+ Kb5 61. Kd5 Bb4 62. Qc6+ Ka5 63. Kd4 Bf1 64. Qc7+ Ka6 65. Kd5 Bd3 66. Qe5 Bb5 67. Qa1+ Kb6 68. Qd4+ Ka5 69. Qa7+ Ba6 70. Kc6 Bf8 71. Qb6+ Ka4 72. Qxa6+ Kb3 73. Qd3+ Kb4 74. Qd4+ Ka3 75. Kb5 Bg7 76. Qd1 Kb2 77. Kc4 Bc3 78. Qe2+ Bd2 79. Qxd2+ Ka1 80. Kb3 Kb1 81. Qd1# Finally, some light relief. Obviously the queen usually wins against a lone rook, but there are a few positions in which the rook can sneak a draw, such as this one. 1... Rg3+ 2. Kc4 Rg4+ 3. Kd5 Rg5+ 4. Ke6 Rg6+ and now 5. Qxg6 is stalemate. Alternatively, 5. Ke7 Rg7 pins the queen. Finally, after 5. Kf5, as long as the rook keeps checking on the g-file White cannot take the rook, again because of stalemate. Moro Magic Alexander Morozevich won this year’s Russian Championship in quite extraordinary style. Starting with a draw and a loss, he then went on a spectacular winning streak, beating no fewer than six strong opponents (including Peter Svidler) in a row. He was finally halted by defeat against Alexei Dreev, but another draw and and a last round win took him to clear first place. Morozevich doesn’t always play by the rules, and this game is an example of why the World No. 4 is always worth watching. 4. White to play and win Morozevich, A (2755) – Sakaev, K (2634) 60th ch-RUS Superfinal Moscow RUS (5), 23.12.2007 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Bf4 Nc6 6.e3 a6 7.Rc1 Bg4 8.f3 Bd7 9.g4 This ultra-aggressive move has only been tried three times before according to my database. Morozevich must have something in mind 9...e6 10.h4!? And this is it: a novelty. Even though he trails in development and has yet to castle, Morozevich throws his pawns forward to gain space. Mikhail Tal once took this idea to an extreme, making eight pawn moves before moving a piece in his win against Ludek Pachman at Bled in 1961. Geniuses can get away 3 behind, but he has complete control of the board 49...bxc6 50.Qe5+ Rg7 51.Qf6 Possibly short of time, Morozevich misses the best move 51.Rg3! after which White crashes through: 51...Rc8 (objectively best is 51...Bxe6 52.Ngxe6 Rdd7 53.Rxg6 Qxg6 54.Nxg6+, but who would choose that?) 52. Nxh5! gxh5 53.Nf7+ Qxf7 54.exf7 Bxf7 55.Qxg7# 51...Rb8 52.e7 Bh7 53.Re3 Kg8 54.Qe6+ Kh8 55.Qf6 Kg8 56. Qe6+ Kh8 57.Qd6 Ra8 The threat was 58.Qxb8 Qxb8 59. e8Q+ Qxe8 60.Rxe8+ Rg8 61.Re6 with an easy win 58.Qc7 Rg8? 58...Bg8 would have been the toughest defence, but White still wins, for example: 59.Re5 Bf7 60.Nxf7+ Rxf7 61. Nxg6+ Kg8 62.Re6 Rg7 63.Ne5 h4 64.Nd7 Rxe7 65.Nf6+ Kf7 66.Nxe8 Rxc7 67.Nxc7 Rc8 68.Rxc6 59.Nfe6 After 59. Nfe6 Rg7 (the only move), White wins as follows: 60.Nxg7 Kxg7 61.Qd6 Ra7 (or 61...Rc8 62.Ne6+ Kg8 63.Nd8 Ra8 64. Qxc6 Qxc6 65.e8Q+ Qxe8 66.Rxe8+ Kg7 67.Ne6+ Kf6 68. Rxa8) 62.Qd8 Ra8 63.Qxa8 Qxa8 64.e8Q Qxe8 65.Rxe8 1–0 with this sort of thing... 10...Be7 11.Bd3 0–0 12.Bb1 Morozevich sets up the possibility of the primitive threat of mating at h7. It just looks like he’s undeveloping the bishop 12...Qb6 13.Rh2 An imaginative way to protect b2 13...Rfc8 14.h5 Be8 15.Qd3 with the simple idea of winning material by attacking the knight. Black has an easy defence, of course 15...Nb4 16.Qd2 Nd7 17.Nh3 Nf8 18.Bg5 Qd8 Around here it becomes clear that Sakaev can find no way to exploit Morozevich’s unorthodox play. Black’s position is still perfectly OK, of course, but White gradually improves his position over the next few moves 19.Bxe7 Qxe7 20.f4 f6 21.Kf2 Qd6 22. Ng1 Rc7 23.Nf3 Rac8 24.h6 g6 It looks as though Black has plenty of play down the c-file, so Morozevich first obstructs that and then makes a push in the centre 25.a3 Nc6 26.e4 Qd8 26...dxe4 would be bad, as after 27.Nxe4 Qe7 28.Ba2 White has a strong initiative because of the weak e-pawn 27. Ba2 Ne7 28.e5 Not having been able to find a Tal-like sacrificial attack, Morozevich switches to emulating Nimzowitsch. Sakaev nevertheless defends well despite the cramped position 28...f5 29.Rg1 Rc6 30.Bb1 Kh8 31.Rhg2 fxg4 32.Rxg4 Bf7 33.Ne2 Nd7 34.Ng5 Bg8 35.R4g3 Nb6 36.b3 Qf8 37.a4 Nd7 38.a5 R6c7 39.Rf3 Nb8 40.b4 Nbc6 41.Rc1 White has gained plenty of space, but there is still no breakthrough in sight. Sakaev judges that he can now grab the pawn that’s on offer 41...Qxh6 42.Rh3 Qf8 It doesn’t look like White can profit from the half-open h-file, but now Morozevich really moves into Nimzowitsch mode 43.f5!? Freeing f4 for a knight. Morozevich is applying Nimzowitsch’s principle of the blockade, even at the cost of a couple of pawns 43...Nxf5 44.Nf4!? Qe8 League results Division 1 No matches this week Division 2 Gambit 2 – West Nottingham 2 1 2 3 4 5 Hunter, S. Sudar, D. Wright, A. Roper, K. Tassi, J. (141) (138) (149) (126) (128) ½ ½ 1 0 ½ – – – – – ½ ½ 0 1 ½ Day, J. Collins, J. Nehra, P. Berdunov, N. Willoughby, R. (127) (122) (99) (91) (107) 2½ – 2½ *Mansfield 2 – Ashfield 2 1 2 3 4 5 Wagenbach, J. Smith, V. Connolly, K. Default Default (142) (129) (–) (–) (–) 0 0 0 0 0 – – – – – 1 1 1 1 1 0 – 5 Taylor, R. Graham, N. Robinson, A. Cranmer, S. Morgan, D. P. (129) (129) (124) (132) (109) Division 3 Nomads 2 – Nomads 1 1 2 3 4 5 The critical moment. White is offering two more pawns (four in all!), but can Black afford to take them? Sakaev decided not to test Morozevich’s idea, but computers think that he could have done, giving this line as best: 44...Nfxd4 45.Kg2 Qxb4 46. Nxg6+ Kg7 47.Qf4 Nf5 48.Bxf5 Qxf4 49.Nxf4 exf5 50. Nge6+ Bxe6 51.Nxe6+ Kh8 52.Nxc7 Rxc7 53.Rc5 Black has three pawns for the exchange, and the endgame is unclear, to say the least 45.Bxf5 exf5 46.Rc5 More Nimzowitsch, putting the squeeze on Sakaev who is now completely passive 46...Rd8 47.Qe3 h5 This may be the moment at which Sakaev cracks. The computer likes the ugly 47...Rg7 instead 48.e6 ‘The passed pawn’s lust to expand’ as Nimzowitsch would have said. The pawn is well supported and now e5 is available to White’s pieces – but for one small detail 48...Re7? 48...Rg7 was necessary 49.Rxc6! Clearing away the only defender of e5. White is now the exchange and two pawns Thurgood, T. Pynegar, H. Dhir, S. Cronshaw, D. Smith, P. (114) (103) (40) (96) (85) ½ 0 0 ½ ½ – – – – – ½ 1 1 ½ ½ Hill, M. Pynegar, T. Ince, D. Flynn, D. Griffiths, D. (140) (122) (108) (122) (109) 1½ – 3½ Division 4 The Ashfield 4–Gambit 4 result may look odd, but the League rules seem pretty clear. Playing an ineligible player incurs both the loss of the game and the additional transfer of one point from the offending team to the opponents. West Nottingham 5 – West Nottingham 4 1 2 3 4 5 4 Zhang, M. Garside, A. Gupta-Kaistha, A. Nicholson, J. Garside, H. (90) (74) (73) (–) (–) 0 0 0 0 0 – – – – – 1 1 1 1 1 0 – 5 Willoughby, R. Berdunov, N. Lim, E. Thacker, S. Crawley, J. (107) (91) (99) (106) (70) Ashfield 4 – Gambit 4 1 2 3 4 5 Cranmer, S. Potter, C. McIntosh, S. Justice, E. Dyce, R. (132) (96) (94) (86) (79) ½ 0 ½ 0 0 – – – – – ½ 1 ½ 1 1 3 – 2 Division 4 Hobson, B. Ineligible player Padvis, D. Hopkinson, G. Heath, K. (86) (–) (96) (83) (55) Team Gambit player ineligible on Board 4; game lost (Rules D2 and C4) plus 1 point penalty (Rule D6) Division 5 West Bridgford 3 – West Bridgford 2 1 2 3 4 Garnett, R. Frazer, C. Gold, D. Tys, S. (–) (–) (59) (73) ½ 0 0 ½ – – – – ½ 1 1 ½ 1 – 3 (96) (125) (101) (71) F A Team P 1 Gambit 1 7 7 0 0 26 9 17 0 14 2 3 4 5 6 University 1 Long Eaton University 2 Ashfield 1 West Bridgford 1 7 7 7 7 7 4 4 3 1 2 1 0 0 4 1 2 3 4 2 4 20 18½ 17½ 16½ 15 15 16½ 17½ 18½ 20 5 2 0 –2 –5 0 0 0 0 0 9 8 6 6 5 7 Mansfield 1 8 West Nottingham 1 7 7 2 1 1 1 4 5 14 21 –7 0 12½ 22½ –10 0 5 3 Df Pn Pt Team P W D L F 1 Ashfield 2 2 Newark 1 7 6 4 4 2 1 1 1 21½ 13½ 8 20 10 10 0 0 10 9 3 4 5 6 6 6 7 7 4 4 3 2 0 0 2 2 2 2 2 3 20 17½ 17½ 15½ 10 12½ 17½ 19½ 10 5 0 –4 0 0 0 0 8 8 8 6 7 Radcliffe & Bingham 1 6 8 Mansfield 2 7 0 1 1 0 5 6 11 7 19 28 –8 0 1 –21 –4 –2 Division 2 Grantham 1 Navigation 1 West Nottingham 2 Gambit 2 A Df Pn Pt Division 3 Team P W D L F A Df Pn Pt 1 West Nottingham 3 2 University 3 6 6 5 4 0 1 1 1 19 19 11 11 8 8 0 0 10 9 3 4 5 6 7 5 6 7 3 3 2 1 2 0 1 2 2 2 3 4 18½ 12 12½ 15 16½ 13 17½ 20 2 –1 –5 –5 0 0 0 0 8 6 5 4 5 6 0 1 3 1 2 4 11 13 14 17 –3 –4 0 0 3 3 Nomads 1 Navigation 2 Gambit 3 Nomads 2 7 Ashfield 3 8 Newark 2 L F A Df Pn Pt 4 5 2 0 1 2 23 18 12 17 11 1 0 0 10 10 3 Grantham 2 4 Nomads 3 5 Gambit 4 6 6 6 4 2 3 0 2 0 2 2 3 17½ 12½ 5 17 13 4 14½ 15½ –1 0 0 0 8 6 6 6 West Nottingham 5 7 7 Radcliffe & Bingham 2 5 1 0 2 0 4 5 14 6 21 19 –7 0 –13 0 4 0 A Team Division 1 L W D 7 7 Division 5 Hill, F. Budd, C. Lavelle, T. Milford, M. League tables W D P 1 West Nottingham 4 2 Ashfield 4 5 P W D L F Df Pn Pt 1 West Bridgford 2 2 Navigation 3 7 6 6 3 0 2 1 1 19½ 8½ 14 10 11 4 0 0 12 8 3 4 5 6 7 7 6 6 6 6 3 2 2 2 0 2 1 1 1 1 2 3 3 3 5 15 12½ 11½ 10½ 5 2 1 –1 –3 –14 0 0 0 0 0 8 5 5 5 1 West Bridgford 3 Ashfield 5 University 4 West Nottingham 6 West Nottingham 7 13 11½ 12½ 13½ 19
© Copyright 2026 Paperzz