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Andy's chess
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The chess
diary of a hard-worked club secretary, team captain and ardent player.
Current | Jan-July 2008 | Sept-Dec 2007 | April-June 07 | Jan-Mar 2007 | 2006 27 December 2006 Internet chess  I had the foresight to swap shifts for the last day before the holidays. Even so, I couldn't face making any moves in my correspondence games. I play on only 12 internet sites at the moment and have 115 games on the go. I lost my broadband connection in November, due to some unscrupulous ISP, and have had to connect on dialup. These chess websites aren't designed for dialup. Some of them won't even show up before Internet Explorer times out. I got my broadband back at 25 minutes and 16 seconds past 7pm on Wednesday .So, I got up at 8.30 am on Friday and still had not made a move in all my games by 2.45 am Saturday morning. I resigned the games where, although they were very complicated, I had to rely on a mistake by my opponent to get even a draw. On a better note I actually managed to win a few. The good thing about correspondence chess is that your blunders don't show up until about ten moves later. All the websites that I play on allow you to play for free, and here they are... Hope everyone has a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. January 13th is our most important date, next year. That's the day that we beat the league leaders in division 1. 23 December 2006 Christmas Blitz So we all turned up on Wednesday evening for our annual Christmas quick-play competition - well, most of us. Jacob and Lewis, just back from uni, were a bit out of practice but were keen to make sure Robert didn't have an easy time of it. We started with an even eight players at about 8pm. With only 10 minutes each on the clock, it’s surprising how much noise can be generated by chess players, frantically moving and hitting the clock every few seconds. Actually 10 minutes is quite a long time. It's just that you are used to playing with longer time limits. Most of the games ended well before the time control, due to numerous errors from both sides and the assumption that there was not enough time to calculate all the complications. After the first round was completed, the favourites had, predictably, achieved the full point. Eggert joined us at this stage. Having been a full member in the past (work commitments meant he was unable to make club nights or match days), he was most welcome. I was determined that Robert and Jacob shouldn't outplay me, so I kind of committed suicide in the opening and had to resign, thus depriving them of the satisfaction of actually mating me. The most notable game of the event was, naturally, Jacob vs. Robert. Robert, invariably, plays a Sicilian Dragon against 1. e4 whereas Jacob, invariably, plays 2. Nc3 in reply to 1....c5. Black can still fianchetto the King's Bishop in this line but it can hardly be called a Dragon and is actually what White is hoping for. Unfortunately for Jacob, Robert treats every game as if it is a blitz game and although a whole Queen ahead, Jacob could not mate him before his flag fell. The final score was 1st Robert on 8/8,2nd Jacob on 7/8. The rest of us won a few and lost a few...I reckon I could have won it if everybody (not just me) was in the festive spirit and had had a pint after every game. All in all, a most enjoyable evening, too enjoyable for yours truly. Top
13 December 2006
Penrith B team against Carlisle B The good news is that our 'B' team has, at last, played their first league match of the season. The bad news is that we lost. Unfortunately, Brian's cold escalated into a bad chest infection, so we had to default a board. Carlisle turned up with quite a strong team. I was black against Paul Rivers and was expecting a Scotch Gambit but instead, he played 4 c3, the Goering Gambit, so I took the pawn thinking that if I get to an endgame then I should win. Of course that never happened. Paul soon got excellent positional compensation for his pawn. Then, around move 16, I saw that I could win his Queen for a Knight and sure enough after 18...Nxf3 check, Paul was forced to give up his Queen. Meanwhile, Gerry on board 3, playing with black against Eddie Norris, had just been offered a draw and, although most of the board was blockaded by interlocking pawns, declined the offer as there had only been about half an hour time used. Unfortunately, Gerry was forced to give up the exchange and eventually found himself in 'zugzwang' ( for those unfamiliar with German, this means he was unable to make a move that didn't lose on the spot.) and so had to resign. What did you say? Oh, my game. I was mated on move 24. This meant that Bob had to save face. Bob was playing white against the very solid Bruce Wallace. Bob won a piece early in the game and this seemed to prompt Bruce into some very aggressive play. Bob stayed calm and calculated an excellent finish which, by the time he saw it coming, Bruce could do nothing about except resign. Well played Bob, 3 - 1 is better than 4 - 0. The next day I spent most of my time playing my correspondence games on the internet. I actually won 2 games and drew a couple. That leaves me with only 128 games to think about. Mind you the only game that keeps popping up in my head at the moment isthe one where I was mated in 24 moves on Saturday. Top
5 December 2006 Penrith A team against Austin Friars B We headed for Austin Friars last Saturday to play their B team, only to find that we weren't allowed to play in the school but had to play in the pub across the road. Oddly, no one seemed too upset by this sudden change of venue. Robert, playing with the white pieces against Steve Cunningham, was two pawns up after nine moves! He was five pawns up, when the game ended in his favour, 20 moves later. Dave Siddall, on board 2, found tougher resistance in the form of Syd Cassidy. After a long, positional tussle they agreed to call it even. I think that they both thought they were worse. Dave McMath found his form, beating John Foster's Sicilian in style. My opponent arrived 20 minutes late. No one had told him where we were playing! I utilised the time at the bar while Syd was running around trying to locate him. Ian Mackay played 1 Nf3 and fianchettoed both bishops, a system that was probably designed to try and get me out of book. It worked a treat. I soon found myself in a position that resembled a misplayed Scandinavian Defence. I hung in there and managed to keep it even until move 29 when Ian won a pawn. At this point he could have forced a draw by repetition but elected to play on. He should have regretted this decision as I took the bull by the horns and made an all out assault on his King only to miss the killer blow - 34.....Bf3 forcing mate if he didn't give up his Queen. This move was, kindly, pointed out to me by Robert who had seen it instantly (clever b*$£%*$%). As it happened, Ian managed to consolidate his position and I soon ran out of ammo. I offered a draw at move 50 which Ian seemed glad to accept. So, our first win of the season, 3-1. Now, if Brian can shake off his cold, we should have a good squad for the B team match against Carlisle next Saturday. Why am I writing this at 5 am on Sunday morning? Well I woke up about 3 am screaming "Bishop to f3!!" and couldn't get back to sleep. 25 November 2006 Who would want to be a team captain? I got a call from Robert's wife at 11.30 am on Saturday to tell me that he was still in Poland! Anyway, as the match had already been rearranged once, I decided we would just have to default on board 4. Of course, without Robert, everyone had to play a board higher than expected. Dave McMath (grade133) played Roger Hart (160) in a Pirc and soon had Roger in a lot of trouble. Unfortunately, Dave did not have quite enough pressure to force a win (although had he sac'd a Knight on f5, as he was considering, he would probably have won) and the game ended in a perpetual. Nevertheless, a good result for Dave and the team. I played Philippe Gleizon on board 2 and opted for the King's Indian. Philippe employed the Four Pawns Attack but didn't follow it up with enough aggression and succumbed to some brilliant play by yours truly. With the match score now even, it was all down to the game between Gerry Rowan and Neil Jones. Gerry started very well and soon found himself a pawn up. Sadly, he later had to jettison his Queen for a Rook but still had a bit of play in the form of a passed pawn on the 6th. Neil, however, kept his cool and won the game and the match for Cockermouth. Final result: Cockermouth 2½ Penrith A 1½. Not a bad effort,considering... |