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.
No. The computer evaluates the resulting position as being equal - but Black's connected passed pawns would be very difficult to stop, White will almost certainly have to give up his extra piece to stop them.
ReplyDeleteWhite can win by playing 34.Qf6! and Black loses material - his best move is to give up material with 34...Bd5 35.exd5 Qxc3 36.Qxc3 Rxc3 37.dxe5 fxe6 38.Rd8+ Kg7 39.Rd7+ and Black's pawns on the queenside can't be saved.
In the game, Black played 34...Qb6+ and resigned a few moves later.