The first round threw up one main shock, with Fraser McLeod  losing to Joe Coburn. This was a case of Fraser trying too hard to win in a position, where he had earlier been offered a draw. This meant that Fraser's second place result from last year was going to be hard to repeat. 

Sherif Gonem showed he was not there to make up the numbers, with a fine win against Gillian Moore. I understand that Gillian was a British girls champion in the past - if you have any details, let me know. Update Gillian Moore shared the British Ladies title in 1966 with Margaret Clarke (played at Sunderland).

 My draw against David Cordner was not particularly long or spectacular, but I was probably more pleased with the result than my opponent.

Apart from these, all the other games went to form, with the higher graded players winning.

The following is from Thomas Rendle's game against Richard Perrin, where Richard miscalculated. The opening went: 

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.c3 Nf6 4.Be2 Nbd7 5.d3 g6 6.Nbd2 6...Bg7 7.0-0 b6 8.d4 Bb7 9.e5 9...Ne4? 10.Nxe4 Bxe4 11.Ng5 after which Richard decided to sacrifice his White square Bishop with 11..Bxg2. This is because moves like 11.Bb7 allows 12.e6, or 11..Bf5 sees 12.ed or 12.g4 where White has a big advantage.

The piece sacrifice was not enough though and Thomas Rendle won in 31 moves.

The whole game can be played through: Rendle,T - Perrin,R

Round Two

 

White	Grade	Res	Black	Grade	Res
M.Yeo	193	1	J.Wheeler	169	0
K.Esmat	165	0	T.Rendle	187	1
D.Tunks	187	½	P.J.Patience	162	½
J.Coburn	136	½	D.Pye	187	½
W.Purkiss	177	0	S.Gonem	127	1
D.Cordner	169	1	G.Pafura	169	0
N.Campbell	u	1	G.Stuart	144	0
F.McLeod	162	0	P.Walters	147	1
R.Perrin	152	½	N.Burton	u	½
R.Short	132	½	T.R.Anderson	151	½
L.Stables	150	½	I. Matthew	147	½
I.Stenhouse	142	1	G.Moore	u	0

The biggest upset in the round was Sherif Gonem's win against Bill Purkiss. This game is worth going through, it seems that Bill's Rook and Bishop sacrifice is not enough. But as the King was driven up the board, Black's position was looking more and more difficult. The turning point, was where Bill missed the mate. This was not easy to spot, but did justify the sacrifice. If 40.Nc1 was played, the result would certainly have been different. How many games are lost on the time control move?

After missing the mate, Black managed to escape the other threats and soon won. Purkiss, W - Gonem,S

Joe Coburn continued his excellent start, with a draw against David Pye. David Cordner had a pretty combination against G.Pafura, winning two pieces and a pawn for a Rook. 33 Rxg6+ Bxg6 34 Rxg6+ Kh8 35 Rxb6

Cordner, D - Pafura,G