Round 5

Brendan Shields Vs. Jim Grange
Gwynedd Championships, Round 5, Final Round





This was a must win game for me, as John Blore had won his last round game going on to 4.5/5. I was on 3.5/4 going in to my last round game, and was the only other person in the championship who could catch John. Nothing other than a win would satisfy me, and it was this that influenced my agresive (and unsound) opening choice! I soon had the upper hand and had won a pawn, but went into an endgame (which was winning) but played the obsurd 25)...e5?? which made my extra pawn morribund. I was furious with myself for this move, and a draw soon ensued. Again, I haven't included any analysis as there is so much to cover in this game. I will post some once I have got something to show.

Overall, not a bad tournament. I finished second, undefeated. Not bad for one of the lowest rated players in the field! The title will be mine next year....

Round 4

Jim Grange Vs. John Blore
Gwynedd Championships, Round 4




Both of us were doing well on 3/3, and this game could well have turned out to be the decider of the tournament. John is a great player with a career best OTB of over 2100, so I knew this was David Vs. Goliath! I havent included any analysis here, as I really haven't got to the bottom of this gane yet, and as such didn't want to include second-rate analysis.

The game started off with Black playing an offbeat line, and although my knight on a3 looked hideous it served a purpose. In no way was I worse off in the opening, and after I got e4 in I was definitely better. We fought into a complex middlegame, where I soon sacrificed a pawn to go into an ending with numerous Black weaknesses. White was the one pushing in the endgame, but after a couple of inaccuracies from me, Black secured the draw. All to do going into the final round for both of us!

Round 3

Ted Thonger Vs Jim Grange
Gwynedd Championships, Round 3




In round 3 I was paired with a chap I have only played once before, 2 years ago when he beat me quite convoncingly. This year he had already knocked out the second highest rated player in the tournament, so it was a tough fight ahead!

1) d4 Nf6 2)Nf3 d5 3)b3!? Bf5 4)e3 e6 5)Nbd2 c5 I always like to try and play as actively as I can against tepid White openings such as this. 6)Be2 cd4 7)ed4 Be7 8)O-O Nc6 9)a3 O-O 10)Bb2 Qc7 [slightly more active is Qa5!?]11)Rc1 Rac8 12)c4
Black is very happy in this position, and is slightly better thanks to his more active pieces, most noticably the Bf5 and Nc6 (compared to e2 and d2). I decided to resolve the tension in the centre which may have been premature as it gives White definite pland, whereas the tension may have kept him contorted trying to guess the direction of the play. 12)...dc4!? 13)Rc4 But this can be considered dubious, as the isolani can only be considered a weakness as his minor pieces are not well positioned to take advantage of the dynamic plusses an isolani can bring. For example, the knight on d2 should be on c3 (controlling the blockade square d5) and the Bishop on b2 would be more active on the c1-h6 diagonal. Much better would have been creating hanging pawns with 13)bc4!, which can be strong. But again, its whites minor pieces that are letting him down, as the same pieces are misplaced for a hanging pawn situation also. Black now takes the iniative basing play on restraining the d4 pawn and breaking in on the Queenside. 13)...b5! 14)Rc1 Qb6 15)b4 a5! Maintaining the initiative with forcing play. White is no longer dealing with his own plans (as he didnt have any) but is on the defensive. 16)ba5 Na5 17)Nb3 Nc4
Blacks advantage is clear. Whites Queenside is shattered. 18)Rb1?? A horrible blunder, which after the game my opponent told me was a "sacrifice" (yeh right!). Bb1 19)Qb1 Nb2 simple chess, exchanges bring a winning endgame closer to black. 20)Qb2 Ra8 21)Ra1 Ra7 I think it is important to note that a material advantage is just a positional imbalance. It in itself will not win the game until an endgame has been reached. Therefore, it is imperative that Black fights for other positional advantages, so that White never has time to gain compensation for the lost material. Here Black is fighting for yet more material (the a3 pawn), but also the passed pawn that will come with this material gain. Note White is completely on the defensive, and the initiative is firmly with Black. 22)Nbd2 Rfa8 23)Nb1 Nd5 24)Ne5 Ra4 25)Bb5? Another blunder. R8a5 26)Nc3 Nc3 27)Qc3 Rb5 28)Rc1 Ra8 29)Qf3 Rf8 30)Nd7
It appears that White is fighting back and winning an exchange back, but all dreams were shattered when I instantly bashed out the move... Rb1! I was very pleased with this move, and miy opponent looked resigned. The Queen is immune due to a defficiency on Whites back rank. 31)Qc3 Rc1 32)Qc1 Qd4 33)Nf8 Bf8 34)g3 Qa4 35)Qc8 Qa3 36)Kg2 Qd6 37)Kg1 g6 38)h4 Kg7 39)Qc3 e5 40)Qa1 Qd4 41)Qa2 Bc5 42)Qe2 h5 43)Kg2 Qf2! The simplest way. 44)Qf2 Bf2 45)Kf2 Kf6 46)Kf3 Kf5 47)Ke3 Kg4 White resigns. Satisfying revenge for beating me two years ago!

Round 2

Jim Grange Vs Deio Parri
Gwynedd Championships, Round 2




After my great start, I was paired with board 1 from Caernarfon, so a tough encounter ahead! I played well, got a good middlegame position, and then my opponent fought back with some amazing tactics that I completely had overlooked. I was soon in trouble, and if I had something better to do I would have resigned. But I trundled on, trying to make my moves look "complicated" so as to scare him (he was short of time), and in the end it paid off with a blunder of the year! The rest was childsplay.

1) d5 d5 2)c4 c6 3)Nf3 Nf6 4)Nc3 e6 5)e3 Be7 6)Be2 b6 7)b3 Novelty ...O-O 8)Bb2 Bb7 9)O-O Nbd7 10)Rc1 Re8

So its time to start thinking of plans.Black is obviously aiming for the logical break ...e5 freeing his game, and White wants the break e4. However, I didnt want to place my Queen on c2, as I felt it would be exposed to attack from the rook on c8 at some point. So I placed it on d2, which was just very poor. White is still OK, but would have the edge after Qc2. 11)Qd2?! Bd6 aiming for ...e5, but losing time. This showed my opponents lack of understanding of the position (he normally plays the traditional QGD, but wanted to suprise me with the Slav). 12)Rfd1 Qe7 13)Rc2!? A flexible move, aiming to double either on the d- or e-file. ...Rad8 14)Qe1 e5?!
I was happy to see this, as I felt it was premature. But what else can Black do? This leads to the isolation of blacks d-pawn, and I felt that Black would not get sufficient activity to compensate for this. 15)de5 Ne5 16)cd5!? Nf3 17)Bf3 cd5 18) Nb5! heading for the blockade square on d4 18)...Bb4?!

This move is a mistake. I sank into thought for about 15 minutes, looking at the complications after 19)Bf6 Be1 20)Be7 Bf2 without realising black is just losing a piece. Therefore, after 19)Bf6!, blacks pawn structure is shattered, as gf6 is forced. What a waste of 15 mins! 19)Bf6! gf6 20)Qf1 Bc5 21)Nd4 Qe5 The dust has settled, and White is just better. Plain and simple. I went all "Karpov" here, trying to be fancy by eliminating the "threat" of Bd6 with g3. This "prophylaxis" just weakens the light squares. 22)g3?! Bc8!? Now this is interesting: I felt he was desparate, and was just saccing the exchange out of frustration, but there is a nice tactic hidden that I didnt uncover. So I went for the exchnage. It turned out to be a little greedy. 23)Nc6!? Qf5!
This is the move I overlooked. My rook on c2 and Bf3 are loose. But I thought, whats the big deal after Nd8 Qc2 Nc6 ? I didn't understand the danger. 24)Nd8?? Qf3! WHAT?!?!? I had merely ASSUMED in my analysis that he would go for the Rook on c2. But now, white is losing; BADLY! Now g3 shows itself to be a mistake, and that prophylaxis gone wrong actually can increase your opponents options! Now I go into desparate mode, he was short of time so I was after some cheapos. 25)Rd4 Qf5 25)...Bd4 26)Rc8 = 26)Qc1 Rd8 -+ 27)Rf4 Qe6 28)b4 Bd6 29)Rh4 Qf5 30)Rh6 My moves may "look" agressive, but there is nothing. 30)...Bb7 31)Rh4 Re8 32)Qd1 Re4 33)Rh5 Qg4 34)Rd5!? Bd5 35)Qd5 Bb4 36)Rc7 Re6 37)Qd7 Qg6 38)Ra7
I was starting to feel good about my chances of holding the position (unrealistic or what eh!). But now, my psuedo-aggression pays off as his time trouble leads to a terrible blunder, handing the game to White. Any move here will keep the win for Black, except: 38)...Kg7?? 39)Qe6! Bc5 40)Qd5 Qb1 41)Kg2 Qg6 42)Rc7 Bf8 43)Rb7 Bc5 44)a4 Kg8 45)h4! I finally hit upon the correct plan. There is a mate to be had if the Queen can be moved away from defending f7. 45)...Kg7 46)h5! Qh6 47)Qf7. Black resigned.

2007 Gwynedd Championships

Well, I have not updated here in a while, so let me return with 5 games from the recent Gwynedd (North Wales) Championship, which I came second in. It was a Swiss tournament, with only about 22 players in, but the competition was quite strong. I finished on 4/5, unbeaten, which I was quite pleased with. However, I of course felt that I could (and should) have won. This was the first game of the championship, against a chap from Llandudno, just down the road. I had black, and had prepared a novelty against a move I knew he would play. I was very pleased with this game, but unfortunately I have since lost the game sheet, so the following is not the whole game, just what I can remember.

Gary Fox Vs Jim Grange. Gwynedd Championship, Round 1.



1) e4 e5 2)Nf3 Nc6 3)d4 ed4 4)Nd4 Bc5 5)Be3 Qf6 6)c3 Nge7 7)Bc4 Ne5 8)Bb3?!

This is the move I was counting on Gary playing, and I'm not sure why I was convinced he would play it. The correct move is 8)Be2. I had the afternoon to prepare for this game, and spent the whole time looking at the consequences after this Bb3. I could not find anything useful in my database, so searched the position with Fritz. I found a nice pawn sacrifice, with all variations leading to a small plus to black, and MANY pitfalls leading to a quick loss for White. This was a very pleaseant position to be in, knowing full well I just had to remember my analysis. I did. 8)...Qg6! 9)O-O d5!! Novelty.

This is the sac, which is just crushing. If you are expecting me to reprint all my analysis here, you are sadly mistaken :) I have used my analysis for quick wins twice since this game, and I plan to continue to do so, so no secrets going to be shared here! 10)Nb5?? OK, I will share one secret with you: this move is not best :) 10)...Bh3! 11)g3 Qe4! 12)Nc7 Kd7! Please excuse all the exclamation marks, but they are all great moves! Black is totally winning, but White finds a nice way to bring an ending. The moves are also quite forced! 13)Bd5! Nd5 14)Qd5 Qd5 15)Nd5

It seems that White is fighting back, but the realisation sets in with the next move: 15)...Nf3! 16)Kh1 Bf1 17)Bc5 Kc6! 18)Ne3 Kc5 19)Nf1

White resigned a few moves later. What is amazing is that I had this exact position (and variations arising from it) on my board in my office earlier that day whilst analysing the novelty 9)...d5!! Therefore, all I had to do was to remember my analysis. A great start to the tournament! I won game of the week for this effort.