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.