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.

Match against Maldon

The A team drew their match against Maldon B - with draws on all four boards. The result keeps Colchester A at the top of Division 2 having played 4 matches (three wins and a draw). Maldon B came top of Division 2 last season.

Date: Nov-2014
NECL Division 2
Brd	Col	MALDON B	Result		COLCHESTER A	Col
1	b	Dave Pearse (156)	½	½	Ian Gooding (185)	w
2	w	Tom Winter (146)	½	½	Mike Wagstaff (147)	b
3	b	Keith Cook (139)	½	½	Svein Kjenner (e139)	w
4	w	Doug Mothershaw (114)	½	½	Clive Bellinger (139)	b
		(avg=138)	2	2	(avg=152)

 

The D team were due to have a match against Braintree C but this has been postponed to later in the season.

Below is another Smith-Morra Gambit from Martin's games at the Paignton Congress in September.

[Event "Paignton"] [Site "Paignton"] [Date "2014.09.02"] [Round "?"] [White "Harris, M."] [Black "Robson, C."] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B21"] [Annotator "Harris, M"] [PlyCount "57"] 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. c3 dxc3 4. Nxc3 {I thought I'd include this game to complete the comment I made in one of my other games about people shunning dynamic play in the Morra. This lady decided to accept the gambit but she didn't really know what to do after that and was basically lost after move 6. Which I suppose is why people do prefer the quieter lines.} d6 5. Nf3 a6 6. Bc4 Nf6 {e6 was better.} 7. e5 $1 b5 (7... dxe5 $2 8. Bxf7+ $3 Kxf7 9. Qxd8) 8. Bxf7+ Kxf7 9. exf6 Be6 $2 {A horrible blunder. Which often happens when you are on the back foot, as my opponent obviously was here.} (9... Qd7 10. Qd5+ Qe6+ {was an adequate defence against losing the rook if that was what my opponent was concerned about, but then Qd5+ was unnecessary and I would have played 10. Ng5 anyway and I still held the upper hand.}) 10. Ng5+ Ke8 (10... Kxf6 11. h4 h5 12. Nd5+ Bxd5 13. Qxd5 g6 14. Qe6+ Kg7 15. Qf7+ Kh6 16. Ne6+ g5 17. hxg5# {I didn't work all this out over the board but it was obvious that if Black's king went into the open it would be checkmated somehow.}) 11. Nxe6 Qd7 12. Nxg7+ Bxg7 13. Qh5+ Kd8 14. fxg7 Qe6+ 15. Be3 Re8 16. O-O Nd7 17. Rfe1 Qg8 18. Qd5 Qxd5 {Nd5 was better but I thought after the forced exchange of queens that Black would resign due to lack of counterplay. I was wrong but Black was still very much a lost cause.} 19. Nxd5 Rg8 20. Bh6 Ne5 21. Nxe7 Kxe7 22. f4 Ke6 23. fxe5 dxe5 24. Rac1 Rad8 25. Rc6+ Kf5 26. Rf1+ Ke4 27. Rf8 Rd1+ 28. Kf2 Rd2+ 29. Bxd2 {Anyone for the Morra?} 1-0

New website for junior club

The newly-formed Colchester Junior Chess Club continues to grow - it has well over 20 members now. They also have a new website with news about the club, training hints and much more.

Colchester D win again

The D team won their 3rd match of the season - maintaining their 100% start. Simon Denney won his first game as a Colchester player, Ed Goodman won his second game in a row and on board 4 Mark Johnson drew against a higher-graded opponent.

Date: Nov-2014
NECL Division 3
Brd	Col	CHELMSFORD C	Result		COLCHESTER D	Col
1	w	Trevor Dickerson (115)	1	0	Pete Smith (123)	b
2	b	Peter Saunders (112)	0	1	Simon Denney (115)	w
3	w	Mario Cassar (78)	0	1	Ed Goodman (71)	b
4	b	Scott Shelley (91)	½	½	Mark Johnson (69)	w
		(avg=99)	1.5	2.5	(avg=94)

 

The D team's next match is on the 19th November against Braintree C.

Bury St Edmunds Chess Congress

Six Colchester players took part in the annual Bury St Edmunds Chess Congress.

In the 50-player Minor (U120) Section, John Duff-Cole scored 2.5/5 to finish in 29th place. Shazia Jaufarally's 2/5 included a win over John. Also on 2/5 were Mark Johnson (whose results included a win over former Colchester player Dave Wood) and 10-year-old Nadia Jaufarally who lost her first three matches but finished strongly.

Playing up a section in the Intermediate (U145), Mohammud Jaufarally finished on 0.5/5.

In the Major (U170), Nathan Barnes finished in 15th place with a score of 2.5/5 - all five games were against higher-graded opponents. Two annotated games are given below - a win from round 2 against one of the players who finished in joint 3rd and one of Nathan's two defeats (the two players who beat Nathan finished in joint 1st).

 

 

 

[Event "Bury St Edmunds Congress 2014: Major"] [Site "Bury St Edmunds"] [Date "2014.10.25"] [Round "2"] [White "Barnes, Nathan"] [Black "Kirkham, Ed"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A22"] [Annotator "Barnes, Nathan"] [PlyCount "65"] [EventDate "2014.10.25"] {Board: 4 White ECF: 146 Black ECF: 155} 1. c4 d6 2. g3 e5 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. d3 Nbd7 6. e4 {White has the Botvinnik system setup with pawns on c4, d3 and e4.} c6 7. Nge2 Nc5 8. O-O Bg4 9. f3 Bh5 {e6 or d7 would be better squares for the bishop as it would help to support advances in the centre.} 10. Be3 Ne6 11. d4 exd4 {Slightly inaccurate - this allows White to get a strong knight on d4.} 12. Nxd4 O-O 13. Nf5 {Winning the bishop pair} Bg6 14. Nxe7+ Qxe7 15. b4 Nd7 (15... a5 $5 {effectively neutralises White's advance on the queenside.}) 16. b5 (16. f4 $142 f5 17. exf5 Rxf5) 16... Nec5 17. bxc6 bxc6 18. Re1 (18. -- f5 {I thought this would be good for Black and so decided to play a move that prevents this.}) 18... f6 (18... f5 $4 19. exf5 {and White wins a piece} Qf6 (19... Bxf5 20. Bxc5 Qf6 21. Bd4) 20. fxg6) 19. Qd2 Ne5 20. Bxc5 dxc5 21. f4 $5 {Forcing the knight away from its strong position in the centre. Black wins a pawn - but this is likely to be only temporary as Black's doubled c pawns form an easy target. A well-timed push of the e pawn will release the bishop on g2 and could cause Black some problems.} Nxc4 22. Qe2 Bf7 23. e5 $1 { every other move means Black keeps his one pawn advantage} fxe5 (23... -- 24. e6 $1 {wins a piece} Bxe6 (24... Bg6 25. Qxc4) 25. Qxe6+ Qxe6 26. Rxe6) 24. Bxc6 Rad8 25. Rad1 Nb6 (25... -- 26. Nd5 $1 {is White's threat - gaining a substantial material advantage.} Qe6 (26... Bxd5 27. Bxd5+ Kh8 28. Bxc4) 27. Qxc4 {The bishop is safe as if Black takes it then the white knight can fork Black's king and queen - leading to White winning a rook.}) 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. Qxe5 Qd6 $6 28. Rd1 $1 Qf8 29. Rxd8 Qxd8 30. Qxc5 { White is now a pawn ahead} Bxa2 $2 {In severe time pressure Black miscalculates and doesn't see that the white queen can come back to f2.} 31. Nxa2 Qd1+ 32. Kg2 Nc4 $2 (32... Qd2+ 33. Qf2 {is the move that Black missed - leaving White a piece up}) 33. Bd5+ 1-0

 

[Event "Bury St Edmunds Congress 2014: Major"] [Site "?"] [Date "2014.10.25"] [Round "3"] [White "Daugman, John"] [Black "Barnes, Nathan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D18"] [Annotator "Barnes, Nathan"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "25.??.??"] {D18: Slav Defence: 5 a4 Bf5 6 e3} {Board: 2 White ECF: 169 Black ECF: 146} 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. Nc3 dxc4 5. a4 Bf5 6. e3 e6 7. Bxc4 Bb4 8. Qb3 a5 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Na2 Be7 11. Nh4 (11. Qxb7 {is safe, but leads to a forced draw} Rb8 12. Qxc6 $4 (12. Qa6 Ra8 13. Qxc6 Rc8 14. Qb5 Rb8 {and the only way to avoid losing the queen is to take a draw by repetition}) 12... Rb6 {traps the queen}) 11... Be4 12. Nc3 Bd5 13. Nxd5 (13. Bxd5 Nxd5 14. Nxd5 cxd5 15. Nf3 Qb6 16. Qxb6 Nxb6 17. b3 f6 18. Bd2 Kd7 19. Rfc1 Rhc8 20. Ne1 Rxc1 21. Rxc1 Ba3 22. Rc2 Nc8 23. Nd3 Ne7 24. Nc5+ Bxc5 25. Rxc5 b6 26. Rc2 h5 27. f3 Nc6 28. Kf2 Rb8 29. Ke2 b5 30. axb5 Rxb5 31. Ra2 Rxb3 32. Bxa5 Nxa5 {1/2-1/2 (32) Ivanchuk, V (2781)-Anand,V (2798) Bilbao 2008}) 13... Nxd5 {with a discovered attach on the h4 knight} 14. Nf3 Qb6 15. e4 $146 (15. Qd1 O-O 16. e4 Nb4 17. Qe2 Rad8 18. Be3 c5 19. Bb5 cxd4 20. Bxd4 Bc5 {1-0 (51) Mirzoev,A (2529)-Camarena Gimenez,R (2376) La Roda 2005}) 15... Qxb3 16. Bxb3 Nb4 {The knight occupies a strong position here.} 17. Rd1 Nf6 18. e5 Nfd5 {Black's knights dominate the board - White's minor pieces lack coordination.} 19. Ng5 h6 20. Ne4 O-O 21. g3 Rac8 22. Bd2 Rfd8 {looking to start targeting the weak pawn on d4} 23. Nc3 {Black has come out of the opening better and has comfortably equalised.} c5 $6 {the c5 pawn push is often a vital move in the Slav defense - but the timing is not quite right here.} 24. Nxd5 exd5 {Nxd5 was the better choice - but I hadn't yet realised how I had weakened my position with c5.} 25. dxc5 d4 $5 {the best chance for counterplay} (25... -- 26. Bxb4 axb4 27. Rxd5 {wins a pawn for White }) 26. Bxb4 axb4 27. e6 d3 28. exf7+ Kf8 29. Rd2 (29. -- d2 {and Black has no problems}) 29... Rd4 30. Be6 Rxc5 31. b3 Rc2 32. Rad1 {White had to move one of his rooks to d1 to prevent Black from winning} (32. Rxc2 $4 dxc2 33. Bg4 Rxg4 34. Rc1 Rc4 35. bxc4 b3 {and White can't prevent a pawn from queening}) 32... Re4 33. Bf5 Re2 $2 {Missing the chance to equalise with Re1+ - I forgot to check all checks} (33... Re1+ 34. Rxe1 Rxd2 35. Bg6 Rb2 36. Rc1 Rc2 37. Rxc2 dxc2 38. Bxc2 Kxf7 {and Black will easily hold the opposite-coloured bishop endgame}) 34. Rxd3 Rxf2 35. Rd8+ $1 {and White went on to win} 1-0

 

Photos are from the pool of photos taken by tournament organiser Bob Jones. Further photos from the event can be found here and the full tournament cross-tables are available for the Minor, Intermediate, Major and Open sections.

On the same weekend, Martin Harris scored 2/5 in the Foundation (U121) Section of the Scarborough Chess Congress.

October summary - including two more NECL wins

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

		Points
1st	Mohammud Jaufarally	5
2nd	Nathan Barnes	4.5
3rd	Martin Harris	2.5
4th=	Clive Bellinger	2
	Aleksander Orava	2
6th	Ed Goodman	2
7th	Ian Gooding	1.5
8th	Mike Wagstaff	1.5
9th=	Dave Chatfield	1
	Svein Kjenner	1
	Mark Johnson	1

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 number of games played are used as tie-breakers. The top two in the grand prix are due to play each other in both the club championship and the Tony Locke rapidplay - giving the chance for either one of them to extend their lead at the top or to allow the chasing pack to catch-up.

No games have been played in the club championship yet. In the Tony Locke Rapidplay Mohammud Jaufarally is the only player on 2/2 - thought there are a number of players who have won their first game but not yet played their second game.

In the NECL, three players have 100% records in league matches and have played more than one game - Nathan Barnes (3 games for the A team), Mohammud Jaufarally (2 games for the D team, 1 game for the C team) and Aleksander Orava (2 games for the A team).

It is very early in the NECL season with some teams not even having played their first match yet. In Division 2, Colchester A are in 1st place having won their first three matches. Colchester B have only played one game (losing to the A team). In Division 3, Colchester D are in 1st place after winning their first two matches; Colchester C are in 2nd place winning one match and losing one (to the D team).

This week the A team beat Wethersfield (3.5-0.5). Matt Stemp got his first win for the team on board 2. Aleksander Orava and Nathan Barnes won matches with stronger endgame play - Aleksander's better king activity being enough to win in a pawn and same-colour bishop endgame and Nathan's better rook activity enabling him to win a pawn and rook endgame despite being a pawn down. Ian forced a three-fold repetition with time running out.

Date: Oct-2014
NECL Division 2
Brd	Col	COLCHESTER A	Result		WETHERSFIELD	Col
1	b	Ian Gooding (185)	½	½	Stefaan Van Poucke (148)	w
2	w	Matt Stemp (e165)	1	0	Bill Norman (131)	b
3	b	Aleksander Orava (e155)	1	0	Steven Marshall (115)	w
4	w	Nathan Barnes (146)	1	0	Sid McDonald (79)	b
		(avg=162)	3.5	0.5	(avg=118)

The D team won their second match of the season. Simon Denney made his debut for the club - playing on board 1. Birthday-boy John Duff-Cole drew his match against a higher-graded opponent. Mohammud Jaufarally continued his 100% record so far this season with a win on board 4 and Ed Goodman was the star - winning the decisive point with a well-played game on board 3.

Date: Oct-2014
NECL Division 3
Brd	Col	MALDON C	Result		COLCHESTER D	Col
1	b	Doug Mothershaw (114)	1	0	Simon Denney (115)	w
2	w	Frank Sealey (99)	½	½	John Duff-Cole (90)	b
3	b	Toby Pugh (75)	0	1	Ed Goodman (71)	w
4	w	William Pugh (70)	0	1	Mohammud Jaufarally (e70)	b
		(avg=89)	1.5	2.5	(avg=86)

 

Next week the D team have an away match against Chelmsford C.