Club chessboard logo
 Title - club name
Andy's chess log
Home
Activities
Joining
Champ'ship
Matches
Players
Games
Links
Andy's log
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


31 March 2007
Penrith B against Carlisle B.
And now world domination
Chess king in central Penrith
Guest log by Bob Challis. Carlisle B outgraded us by an average of 15 points across the boards, but we understood that we only had to get half a point - one draw - to ensure that we came top of Division 2 North.

And we got that early in the match, when my game against Paul Rivers was agreed a draw after sixteen moves. Symmetrical pawn structures, minor pieces off apart from opposite-coloured bishops, heavy pieces about to be swapped - instant draw offer, readily accepted. So dull that Fritz has nothing to say about it. I wish I could claim that I had planned it like that.

But it was hardly necessary, as it turned out. Peter Harrington on board 2 was the next to finish, when his opponent Ian Stone couldn't cope with a far advanced passed pawn. Then Kevin Southernwood on board 4 won a piece on move 21 and accepted the resignation on move 22 (with 25 minutes left on the clock, a lifetime for Kevin). And Gerry Rowan, on board 3 against Bruce Wallace, agreed a draw in a game in which neither side felt sufficiently confident to take it forward.

So 3-1 to us, victory in the Division, and a county decider to play against Barrow C, winners of Div 2 South.

29 March 2007
Penrith B against Austin Friars C, 25 March 2007

We drew on Sunday, no thanks to me. I lost to Ian Mackay but Gerry and Kevin both won and we had to default on board 4.

I've been without the internet since a week gone Monday so I've not been able to get much done. It came back on at 7.52 pm Monday 27th. I've an awful lot of games in which to make a move. Could end up losing some due to rushed moves but that's better than timing out.

We play away to Carlisle B this Saturday 31st March, last game of the season for our B team (apart from the North/South play-offs).

23 March 2007
Cumbria Individual Championships (Final part)

The next day we arrived back at Barrow in good time for the start of the penultimate round. Dave was looking for his first win and I needed a win to stay in touch with the leaders of my section. My opponent in this round was Chris Underhill of Ulverston and although I had met Chris in the past, we had never crossed swords over the board. I had the advantage of the white pieces but I played rather passively against Chris' French Defence, and by about move 10 my advantage was no more. I knew that Chris was the captain of Cumbria's correspondence team so I tried to steer the game away from known theory by avoiding lines which involved my queen going to g4. Unfortunately for me, this resulted in a rather cramped position and, if I was going to win, I had to break out. With my advanced pawn on e5 under attack from three of Chris's pieces and no direct way of defending it, I decided to mount an attack on his king by sacrificing my knight on g5. This inevitably led to the loss of that piece, but in compensation I managed to maintain my e pawn and with it control of the centre. Chris defended against my assault and emerged a knight to the good but a pawn down. Eventually, with the pawns locked, Chris, sensing that he could make no headway, offered the draw on move 42. For me to play on in this position seemed suicidal to me so I accepted the half point.

Dave held Stephen Barnes to a draw with the black pieces after a "Greek Gift" sacrifice, Bxh2 check, that Stephen, probably wisely, declined to take. Graham lost his game but remained in good spirits after Vicky got on the score board with her first win of the tournament.

Dave's game received its fair share of analysis, during the lunch break in the bar, with all levels of players getting involved, and I think the consensus was that Dave's sacrifice was quite sound. I'm sure this gave Dave almost as much satisfaction as a win would have done.

Two or three pints later and it was time for the last round. In the bar, at lunchtime, I heard a groaning sound that, upon further inspection, appeared to be emanating from Philippe Gleizon. "Are you unwell, Philippe?" I enquired. "Yes" he replied "I am playing you in the last round!" Bearing in mind our previous encounters this season, his reaction was, perhaps, understandable. Philippe abandoned the Four Pawns Attack against my King's Indian in favour of the Samisch Variation. This seemed to me to be a spur of the moment decision as he didn't play the strongest moves. Had he played the correct 8. Qxd8 then he would have had the better game. Instead, he played 8. Bd3. Four moves later and that bishop fell victim to my knight. It still is not clear to me why Philippe left this bishop "en prise"; perhaps he thought he could regain the piece after moving his knight to attack my queen. At this point I offered Philippe a draw. Not because I thought it was a draw, but because I felt that Philippe was not playing at his best and I didn't think there was anything to gain by winning at this stage of the tournament. Besides, I didn't see the point of subjecting a nice guy like Philippe to any more punishment. Philippe, naturally, seemed surprised at my offer and went into deep thought. Time for a pint. About 15 minutes later, Philippe came through to the bar and announced that he had made his move. I thought he was joking and proceeded to get us a drink. "Your clock is teeking" exclaimed Philippe. I began to wonder if I'd fallen into an elaborate trap that Philippe had prepared especially for me. No, I was quite safe, and after checking on f2 with my knight, Philippe gave me his rook for it. A few moves later, a whole rook down and unable to trap my queen, Philippe resigned.

Dave, desperate to win a game, pushed too hard against Frank Whalley from Barrow and what he was hoping would be his first win turned out to be his first loss of the tournament. Both Graham and Vicky were unsuccessful in the final round. With only 3 out of 5, I was somewhat surprised to find that I came equal third with Ian Mackay and Peter Caulfield.

Well, that's it for this year. Perhaps next year it will be held a little closer to home and we'll be able to play all five games.

16 March 2007
Cumbria Individual Championships (Part II)

In the next round I was black against Peter Caulfield of Windermere chess club. There weren't many players in Cumbria that I hadn't encountered across the board but Peter was one of them. Unlike the game against my previous opponent, I had no idea what to expect, and after 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 I was out of book. After 17 moves I felt that I was in control of the situation. So much so, in fact, that I totally underestimated the consequences of allowing Peter's intended 19. NxBe6, deflecting my queen from the h4-d8 diagonal and allowing 20. Ng5! I had expected this but was sure that I would be able to kick it with the h pawn when necessary. Peter, however, never gave me the time to do this and, after he forced me to block a bishop check with a piece on d5, my king was in a pin for the duration. Try as I might, I couldn't shake that pin and eventually the inevitable loss of that piece cost me the game. I was a little disappointed, as I could have avoided all this on move 18 with a timely knight move, discovering a pin on his knight to his queen with my rook.

Another innovation this year was to allow the participation of all comers to the competition which had, until now, been a Cumbrian only event. So Dave found himself up against Nick Hawkins (ECF 154) from Aigburth, somewhere near Liverpool I think. Dave had the opportunity to play the Scotch Gambit, which he had done a bit of homework on. Nick had obviously come across the opening before and Dave had to be content with another draw.

Meanwhile, Graham was clearly better against Eric Fleet but let the win slip when Eric, getting short of time, began to move very quickly. Graham fell into the trap of moving too quickly in his opponent's time trouble and his winning position ended in a draw. Sadly, Vicky was unable to get off the mark and lost to Nick Hill of Grange.

Now for the long drive back to Penrith. I knew, after my loss, that I had no chance of winning the trophy this year but I was still looking forward to the next day and the last two rounds.

8 March 2007
Cumbria Individual Championships, 2-4 March (Part I)

The Cumbria Individual Championships took on a new format this year. Up till now it has been held over two days, with three games being played on Saturday and two on Sunday. This year it was decided that the first round would be held on the Friday evening, perhaps to avoid the number of 3rd round byes that have blighted previous years. This may well have worked out but for one problem: the competition was held at Barrow. For the first time in the ten years that I've participated, I was unable to play all five games. When it was last held at Barrow, in 2003, I took B&B along with Dave McMath and Mark Saunders. Dave and I came joint 1st in the under 130 section along with three other players. This year, however, it was going to prove too expensive to stay over. The 1st round was from 7pm to 10.30 pm. on Friday evening. If I was going to play, I would have to fork out £20 B&B and probably more than that for beer! So I took the half point bye, as did Dave.

A couple of our newer members (perhaps keener) did play in the 1st round. Graham and Vicky, from Appleby, played all five rounds. Grahame was a little disappointed to get a draw from a won position but Vicky was less fortunate, in that she lost.

Dave and I set off at about 7.15 am and arrived at Barrow, with half an hour to spare, at about 8.30 am. Dave was playing in the Open (over 130) but I had entered the U130 section. I was not too dismayed to discover that I was to play Ian Mackay, with white, in the 1st round. As expected, my 1.e4 was met with 1...c6 and I could recall just about every move of our last game, but six seconds later, as I was about to grab my bishop, I thought "hang on a minute. He's played 6....Bg4!”. I raised my head, just to confirm that it was Ian sitting opposite me but there he was. Although this is not a new move in the Caro-Kann, it was a new move for Ian. He had obviously done some homework. The game became a real tussle with Ian getting both bishops lined up against my uncastled king which had moved to f1 blocking my rook's development. With his rook on the semi-open g file, I was in a bit of bother.

Fortunately for me, I was able to keep Ian's king in the centre and eventually got my king's rook into play. I began to get the upper hand but my play was not without risk and Ian came back at me. He pushed his e pawn to the 7th rank, defended by a rook and, with his bishop covering the queening square, it looked as though I would have to give up a rook for pawn and bishop. Sensing that he had turned the game around, Ian mistakenly thought that he could pick up my loose knight while he was at it. Although he did get my knight, it was to prove a costly detour, as I won six moves later on move 62 after over three hours. By now my brain was suffering from dehydration, so I headed for the bar and the barman, sensing my plight, kindly opened up 20 minutes early.

Dave's game, against the young and talented Richard Bennett, was also a long battle. Dave thought himself lucky to get away with a draw after Richard missed the winning continuation in a complicated position. Grahame had an easy win as his opponent never showed face. Vicky came worse off against Eric Fleet but did beat him in a couple of friendly rematches.

I was pleased with my performance that morning and felt that I was on track to get my name on the U130 trophy for the 4th time. There were, however, still three rounds to go.

20 February 2007
Penrith B against Carlisle C, 17 February

Tony Baker rang me on Wednesday afternoon to ask if the match, between Penrith B and Carlisle C was still on for the 17th. When I told him that we were all sorted at this end he said he would do his best to round up a team. Bearing in mind that he could not get any players for their home game against us, back in November, it came as no real surprise when I received a call, three hours before the match, to say that Carlisle could not raise a team. He did, however, have two players that were willing to play. I had already arranged for Barrow and Hartlepool to play their NCCU match at the club and, as I had to be there anyway, I said we would play them. So, who to disappoint? As Kevin lives furthest away, I rang him and told him of the situation. He explained that, as the weather was nice, it was a good opportunity to get a bit of gardening done. At the last minute, I had a brainwave and gave Dave McMath a ring and arranged to play him in our Rapid-play Championship while the match was on.

Brian and Peter turned up at 2pm and, although it meant we had a two point head start, were a little disappointed, as was I, that Carlisle could not get a full team. Brian played Bill Henderson on Board 1 and after less than an hour and a half, it became clear that there was little headway to be made by either player and a draw was agreed.

Board 2, between Peter and Eddie Norris, looked to be heading in the same way but Eddie managed to get the exchange ahead and broke through Peter's pawn chain with his queen and rook. Peter found himself having to defend his bishop with his king and queen. Eddie managed to force Peter's king away from the bishop and Peter, realising the inevitable, resigned.

Well we won the match so we can't grumble but, with a 2 point start, it was a close call.

Dave McMath and I drew our Rapid-play match with a win each.

Barrow lost to Hartlepool 1.5 - 2.5. Martin Gawne, Barrow's only winner last week, lost a drawn endgame. Dave Cole, a pawn down, managed to steer the game to an opposite colour bishop endgame and a draw. Eric Fleet lost on time in a better position. George Horne won his game after creating an unstoppable passed pawn.

I bumped into Nick Thomas as he was leaving a pub. When he played for Penrith his grade was between 150 and 160. Now he's over the 180 mark. He was with company so didn't have time to chat but I informed him that we would soon be playing at the RAFA and invited him to drop in some time. It's likely that we'll have two teams in Division 1 next season, so the more players the better

10 February 2007
Penrith A against Cockermouth

Saturday was cold and wet so I went down the club a couple of hours early to put the heating on and set up the boards. Cockermouth were our intended victims this week but Penrith were also playing host to a NCCU cup match between Barrow and Hartlepool, so I had 8 boards to set up. By about 12.30 I was satisfied that everything was ready so it was time to head for the pub and relax for an hour before battle commenced.

We started more or less on time and within an hour Martin Gawne got the ball rolling for Barrow with a fine win.

In our match, as fate would have it, I was again playing with black against Philippe Gleizon, on board 3. I would normally be playing on board 4 but Dave Siddall was away for a month so both Dave McMath and myself had been pushed up a board. In our last game, Philippe played 5. f4 against my King's Indian Defence but soon found himself in an inferior, if not lost, position. This time he played 5. Bg5 and after 5....0-0 6. f4, soon found himself in an inferior, if not lost, position. By move 32 I had a two pawn advantage and my only concern was that we had opposite coloured bishops, but then Philippe slipped up and gave me his bishop for free. To be fair, I could have won it ten moves earlier if I had been on the ball and used my queen instead of rook to recapture a piece on d4. A few moves later, as I reached out my hand to move my rook, Philippe reached out with his and our campaign was still on track.

Sadly, we went off the rails a little when Dave McMath, playing on board 2, again found himself against Roger Hart. After having no real problems in their earlier encounter, which ended in a draw, Dave, perhaps, got a bit too ambitious and began an attack that turned out to be premature and having fought bravely, with a two pawn deficit, for most of the game, threw in the towel after losing a third pawn.

By now Robert, playing against Nigel South on board 1, was an hour ahead on the clock but did not have what I would cal a winning position. In fact he overlooked a bishop move skewering his rook to his king. He explained later that because the bishop had not moved all game, he had totally forgotten about it! Anyway, although Nigel pushed hard for the win, Robert was up to the task and defended well until Nigel's flag fell. Nigel didn't seem too disappointed as, even though he lost, he did more than hold his own on the board against a player he referred to as "the best in Cumbria".

This left Brian Mackay on board 4, out to get revenge against Neil Jones (Neil beat him in the last Cumbria Championships at Askham after Brian had left his queen en prise).Brian, playing for the 'A' team for the first time in years and in only his second game this season, played calmly and accurately. With bishop and rook against knight and rook but a pawn down, Brian gave Neil the choice of saving his pawns or his knight which was trapped on Brian's first rank. Neil chose to save his knight and attempted to set up a mating net against Brian's king. Meanwhile, Brian had created a passed 'a' pawn and it soon became clear to Neil that it was his own king that was in a mating net unless he gave up his rook, and so he despondently knocked over his king in resignation.

So the unstoppable Penrith chess machine trundles on. Sadly, Barrow's cup hopes were dashed as they went down 3-1.

It looks very much as though our A team could be joined by our B team, in the 1st division, next season. A good result next Saturday against Carlisle C would just about give us an unassailable lead at the top of division 2.

7 February 2007
Penrith B against Austin Friars D

On Saturday Feb 3rd, a week after our last encounter with them, Austin Friars D turned up at Penrith with a modified team. Perhaps they were hoping to improve on the previous result but, as chance would have it, we also had a modified team, as both Bob and Gerry had other commitments. I stepped in to take Bob's place on board 1 and Brian Mackay, playing his first game of the season, played on board 2. I employed the Two Knights Defence, hoping for a Traxler, against thirteen year old Tom Collier. Possibly showing wisdom beyond his years, Tom declined with 4. d3 but soon got into difficulties and faced with the choice of going a piece and a queen down, elected to be checkmated instead.

Peter, playing a board lower than last week, against Stephen Lowis, won a rook quite early in the game and went on to promote two pawns. With two queens, Peter only had to avoid giving stalemate and managed with apparent ease.

I was surprised to see Brian open with 1. e4 as he usually plays Bird's Opening : 1. f4. He explained later that, as he was a bit rusty, he thought he would keep it simple. Bill Burgess, his opponent, did not find the resulting position at all simple as he entered into a combination that should have resulted in his favour but instead cost a piece for two pawns, and Brian took full advantage and the full point.

So, 3-0 up in the space of about two hours. Board 4 was a rematch between Kevin and Bill Hardwick. Time for a pint or two and come back when the action starts. Kevin had a good attacking position against Bill's Sicilian Dragon but as usual was very short of time. I could sense that Bill knew that all he had to do was try to hold his position. Fortunately for Penrith, Kevin had utilised his time wisely and with half a dozen accurate moves, he trapped Bill's king and won with over three minutes to spare.

Another 4-0 victory. Let's hope our A team can do the same next week against Cockermouth.

29 January 2007
Penrith A against Carlisle A

Our A team had an excellent start against Carlisle A when Dave McMath on board 3 beat Tony Baker very convincingly after a very impressive, sacrificial attack out of the opening.

Robert Patla had a tough time of it against a much lower graded George Glover. Robert, convinced he had no more than a draw, pressed on regardless (having seen my position). His determination paid off when, with a few pawns and a light squared bishop each, George made a slight mistake and Robert didn't need a second chance to collect the win.

Dave Siddall seemed to have no real problems against Paul Rivers on board 2 but Paul had a surprise lined up for Dave and caught him out with a back rank mate.

So, it was down to me to get a result for the team. Rohan Ratnakumar with white, played a solid King's Indian Attack. For the price of a pawn, I got a good attack against his king but he found the correct moves and I was unable to make any headway. Rohan soon picked up another queenside pawn and things looked a little unfavourable for yours truly. Time to take stock. We are 2-1 up. If I lose then we go away with only a draw. I'm two passed pawns down, his queen is on my second rank and both his knights have joined in the attack. What to do? My best plan was probably just to panic but I decided my only chance to avoid immediate disaster was to sac' the exchange. Now Rohan was the exchange and 2 passed pawns ahead but time was not on his side. With under 5 minutes on his clock, I figured I had to take a chance that he would not find the best moves, so I played a queen check and, after he moved his king instead of blocking with a pawn, I was able to threaten a "Royal Fork" with my knight, forcing him to give back the exchange and allowing a perpetual check . Well I reckon I've used my "get out of jail free" card. The highlight of that game had to be the look of amazement on Robert's face when he realised I had managed to scrape a draw and win the match.

28 January 2007
Penrith B against Austin Frians D

Guest log by Bob Challis. A good day for the B team against Austin Friars D on Saturday 27th. Peter Harrington and I, on Boards 2 and 1, were both donated pieces by our junior opponents, and we both went on to steely wins. Gerry Rowan on Board 3 brought off a powerful attack on Stephen Lowis's king, and Kevin Southernwood on Board 4 infiltrated on the queen's side and hammered along the seventh rank to victory against Bill Hardwick. Last week, against Austin Friars C, Kevin lost on time. In this game he finished with two minutes to spare, against the hour and two minutes of his opponent. Hard on his team mates, who were watching, but a nice win in his second Cumbrian league game (and despite the televised racing commentary from Cheltenham in the next bar). Surely this puts us top of the division.

22 January 2007
Penrith B team against Austin Friars C, 20 January

We set off for Austin Friars at 10.15 am for a 11.00 am start. I'm not sure of the reason for the early start but I suspect it had something to do with Carlisle United playing at home that afternoon. When we arrived at our destination, however, the home team was nowhere to be seen. I was a little concerned that not everyone knew that they were meant to be playing at 11.00 am. My fears were laid to rest by the arrival of their board one, Ian Mackay, only about five minutes late. I've always had the impression that all headmasters had a penchant for punctuality but maybe I've watched too many John Cleese films. Within another five minutes, everyone had turned up and we commenced play.

Ian's reply to 1. e4 came as no surprise. I have only ever seen Ian play anything other than 1...c6 a couple of years ago, in the Carlisle Rapid-play, when he played 1....Nc6. He explained later that he had accidentally touched his knight and felt obliged to play it. I am not unfamiliar with the Caro-Kann and having used less than 3 minutes on the clock, reached a position, at move 11, that I recognised from a previous encounter with Ian, a year ago. Here, Ian varied with 11....Qe7, possibly hoping to improve on 11....Qd7 which lost last time. Sadly, for Ian, it was not to be. Having found a couple of good moves, which pinned most of his pieces to most of his other pieces, I managed to force resignation at move 27.

The time was now 12.20 pm and Gerry had already built up a formidable attack against the young Saathvik Shetty on board 3. Saathvik defended well but at the cost of a piece which Gerry soon converted to a rook. With his rook controlling the board, Gerry was easily able to promote a pawn and deliver mate two moves later. Bob, playing a little more conservatively, on board 2 against Saathvik's brother Shaswath, cunningly won a piece with a pawn fork and continued to play in a calm (must try not to blunder) and precise manner to win the game.

Kevin, playing on board 4 against another youngster, Stephen Lowis, found the going quite tough as his opening play had left him with a somewhat undesirable pawn structure. Although technically in an even position, Kevin consumed a lot of time trying to come up with a plan. With less than 30 minutes to Stephen's 100 minutes, Kevin was under increasing pressure. It was about now that Syd Cassidy and I felt we had time to go for a pint and get back to see the climax. Upon our return, Kevin's position had improved somewhat with an extra pawn on the Queenside, but with a rook each it was still probably drawish. The deciding factor was time - Kevin now had less than 5 minutes and, with still over an hour and a half on his clock, Stephen was able to play constructive moves until Kevin's flag fell.

So another good result for Penrith. Sadly, Ian's support for Carlisle Utd was not enough to stop Crewe beating them 2-0.

15 January 2007
Penrith A team against Austin Friars A, 13 January

It was a close call but we managed to win. My game, on board 4, was first to finish despite having an adjournment at move 14, when Alan Hiatt and I decided it was a good time to go for a pint. We had exchanged most of the heavy pieces and arrived at an endgame with a rook each and my knight to his bishop. Alan had played some kind of gambit in a Philidor Defence, and with an extra king's side pawn I was able to create a passed h pawn that couldn't be stopped.

Board 1 was next to finish. Robert came out of the opening a pawn to the good, but Mike Green kept him on the back foot for the rest of the game and, when he thought Robert was on the verge of breaking out, offered a draw, which was quickly accepted.

The last two games were closely contested. Dave Siddall, on board 2, appeared to be struggling in the opening against the young and talented Terence Nabbs, but Dave's experience in the middle game was the deciding factor. This left Dave McMath and Syd Cassidy. Syd, playing with the white pieces, played a captain's innings and put pressure on Dave from the very outset, and eventually the pressure paid off when Dave lost a vital pawn which let Syd in with a crushing attack.

The final score of 2½ to 1½ was not enough to put us ahead of Austin Friars 'A' but it did put us joint first. Not a bad start to 2007. Our next victims, in division 1, are Carlisle A on the 27th. In the meantime we have quite a formidable B team for our 2nd division match against Austin Friars C on the 20th.