County News
The U125 side have won both their games in the Chiltern League this season. First was a close win against Bucks (8½ to 7½ ) and then a more decisive win against Oxon (10½ to 5½). Not everyone played in both games, but of the players who did congratulations to Stephen LeFevre, who managed to win both his games.
As it has been difficult for players graded under 125 to get county matches, this reasonably new adventure is proving extremely successful. Good luck to the team for their remaining four matches.
Games
I’ve had a couple of games sent to me from last season’s County Correspondence Championship. Peter Marshall has supplied some comments on Fraser McLeod’s game and I have added my own (gs) with the use of Fritz and Chessbase.
McLeod,F - Escott,K [B44]
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nb5 d6 6.c4 (transposing into a Moraczy Bind variation) Nf6 7.N1c3 a6 8.Na3 Be7 9.Be2 0-0 10.0-0 b6 11.Be3 Bb7 12.Qb3 Nd7 13.Rfd1 Nc5 14.Qc2 (Seeing through Blacks trap. The win of a piece by 14. Bxc5 bc 15.Qxb7 fails against Na5, winning the White Queen) 15.Rac1 Bxc3 (Black wins a pawn, but surrenders the two Bishops) 16.Qxc3 Nxe4 17.Qd3 (White looks as though he will recover his pawn, but Black hangs on to his booty by a judicious mixture of defence and counter-attack, albeit moving his Knights 12 times in 16 moves!) Ne5 18.Qd4 Nd7 19.f3 e5 20.Qd3 Ndc5 21.Qb1
(In Kopelevich - Tsyplakov - corr 1994 White played 21 Bxc5 and went on to win, although Black seemed to have the better position, is this Fraser’s improvement? gs) Nf6 22.b4 Ne6 23.Qb2 Qc7 24.Nb1 Rfb8 (Surely not! Rfd8 with QR going to c8 looks far better. As played the two Rooks do not move again and stay passive spectators to the end) 25.Nc3 Nf8 26.Qd2 Ne8 27.a3 (Here and hereabouts Nd5 looks more aggressive) Ng6 28.Bd3 Ne7 29.f4 (Abandoning any attempt to recover his pawn and instead opening the position while the Black pieces are passively placed) Nf6 30.fxe5 dxe5 31.Bg5 Ne8 32.Qf2 h6 33.Be3 Nc8 34.Na4 Qc6 35.Bc2 Kh8 36.Bxb6 (The game suddenly erupts into a tactical melee) Qxc4 37.Bf5 Qb3 38.Rd3 Qxa4 39.Bd7 Nxb6 40.Bxa4 Nxa4 41.Qxf7 ½-½ (At this point ‘time’ intervened at a critical juncture and a draw was agreed. Can anyone confound the Match Captain by demonstrating a quick knockout for White before Black untangles his pieces? Suggestions to the Editor!
The other game is from Dave Kinsler of Winchester, which I will hopefully publish in the next edition.
Hampshire
Championship
The Hampshire Championship was held at the Eastleigh Unity Club over the weekend 12 - 14 November. Although not as many players played as hoped, the 27 entrants certainly produced some fine chess. The Open was an all play all with 6 players. Dominic Tunks successfully defended his title, scoring 4½ out of 5, whilst D.Cordner was second with 3½ points.
In the U-150 Daniel Asiimwe played very strongly in winning, whilst Malcolm Body and defending title holder Tom Anderson were joint second.
The U-110 was also an all play all, with Sherif Gonem and Martin Garrod coming first and second respectively.
This year's championship is planned for the 10 - 12 November. The format is again changing with 2 sections, an Open and U125. Grading prizes will be on offer in the sections. More details will be supplied in the next newsletter.
E-Mail
Database
To facilitate better communication I am trying to put together a list of Hampshire players e-mail addresses. These will be used to let people know about County matches, the Hampshire Championship and matters relating to the Hampshire chess scene in general. I can also e-mail the Newsletter to anyone who requires it, if they are interested.
Therefore if you have an e-mail address and want to be
on this list, please e-mail on Hampshire.chess1@btinternet.com
and I will add you to the list. This list will only be used by officers of
the Hampshire Chess Association, so you will not have to worry about being
spammed!
Correspondence
Captain
Peter Marshall has confirmed that he is stepping down as the Hampshire Correspondence Match Captain this year. A replacement for this post is therefore required.
Peter advises me that this job normally takes no more than 4 to 5 hours at the beginning and end of the process; as the majority of players continue to play each season. If you are interested in taking over this post please contact Peter on 01703 902328.
Hampshire
Quickplay
The Hampshire Team Quickplay is scheduled for Sunday 16 April, at a venue which has yet to be decided, although it will probably be in Southampton. This will be played as an individual tournament, but with prizes for the best team. There will also be a prize for the best grading improvement performance.
This will be for teams of four players, so speak to your colleagues to get a team together. The entry fee is £6 per player. Roger Marsh is organising this event and he can be contacted on 01705 503595.
Entries will be accepted on the day and if players cannot get a team together, Roger is willing to set up teams of individual players.
International
News
If you read the newsletter from this time last year, you will have seen me reporting on Garry Kasparov winning the Wijk aan Zee tournament in Holland. Well a year has passed but the story is the same. The worlds best player dominated again and won with a score of 9½ out of 13.
With the merger of British Steel and Koninkjke Hoogovens two English players were invited this year. Although the English players did not challenge for the top spot, they both gave Kasparov his toughest games and had real winning chances (both games were drawn).
Final
Table
Grade
Score
1.
Kasparov, Gary g RUS
2851 9.5
2. Kramnik,
Vladimir g RUS
2758
8.0
3. Leko, Peter g
HUN
2725
8.0
4. Anand,
Viswanathan g IND
2769
8.0
5. Morozevich,
Alexander g RUS 2748
7.5
6.
Adams, Michael g ENG
2715
7.0
7. Piket,
Jeroen g NED
2633
6.5
8. Timman, Jan H g NED
2655 6.5
9. Nikolic, Predrag g
BIH
2659 6.0
10.
Short, Nigel D g ENG
2683
5.5
11. Polgar, Judit g HUN
2658
5.0
12. Korchnoi, Viktor g SUI
2659 5.0
13. Lputian, Smbat G g ARM
2605 4.5
14. Van Wely, Loek g NED
2646 4.0
Although Kasparov won the tournament, the fans favourite seemed to be rising star Alexander Morozevich. His games certainly are very entertaining.
Morozevich,A
(2748) - Nikolic,P (2659)
King's Indian Attack
1 e4 e6 2 d3 d5 3 Qe2 (A Morozevich favourite against the French) 3
..dxe4 4 dxe4 e5 5 Nf3 Nd7 6 Nbd2 c6 7 b3 Qc7 8 Bb2 a5 9 g3 Nh6 10 Bh3! (Placing
the bishop directly on h3 rather than g2 causes immediate trouble in the black
camp.) 10 ..f6 11 a4 Bb4 12 0–0 0–0 13 Nc4 Nf7 14 Ne1 Re8 15 Nd3 Bf8 16
Bc3! (Another nice little subtle move. By attacking the a-pawn, White can
re-direct the bishop to the more useful square of d2 where it can help on the
queenside or even the kingside –depending on where Morozevich strikes.) 16 ..b6 17 Bd2 Nd6 18 Nxd6 Bxd6 19 Be3 Nf8 20 Bxc8 Raxc8 21 c3 Ne6 22
Rfd1 Rb8 23 b4 axb4 24 Nxb4 Bxb4 25 cxb4 c5 26 Rac1 Qc6 27 Qa2 Kh8 28 Rd5 Ra8
29 a5! Nc7 30 Rdd1 Qxe4 (It’s amazing how quickly White penetrates Black’s
position) 31 Qf7 Ne6 32 axb6 Qxb4 33
Rb1 Qa4 34 b7 Rab8 35 Rd7 Qc6
36 Bh6!! (Throwing in the kitchen sink) 36 ..Rg8 37 Rbd1 Rbf8 38 Bxg7+ Nxg7 (38 ..Rxg7 39 Qxf8+ Nxf8 40 b8Q) 39 Qxf8 Rxf8 40 Rd8 Ne6 41 Rxf8+ Nxf8 42 b8Q Kg7 43 Qa7+ Kh6 44 Qf7 1–0
I am still looking for more articles, so please send to me at the address below. An article on the recent Basingstoke or Portsmouth congresses is one idea
Next Issue
By the next issue, the outcome of this seasons chess league in Southampton and Portsmouth should be known. Hopefully I will be able to publish the final table, maybe with some comments from the captains of this years top division winners.
Graham
Stuart
1
Prospect Cottage
The
Drove
Blackfield
Southampton
S045 1XB
Hampshire.chess1@btinternet.com