Devon have experienced several defeats at the hands of Hampshire in recent years, so it was of some interest to see whether changing the venue from Wincanton to the old Roman town of Ilchester might have some effect on the eventual outcome. Ilchester, the only Roman town in Somerset apart from Aqua Sullis, situated as it is beside the old Fosse Way at its junction with the A303, seems to have changed little since its historic heyday, with the Town Hall probably built on the site of the Roman Forum. 

The playing room is comfortable, warm and well-lit, with a small analysis area and kitchen adjacent. The only disadvantage was that it was an upstairs room, making the carrying of equipment somewhat more onerous.

The first result in was a quick draw between former colleagues Regis and Bellers, but closely followed by a win for Jonathan Underwood, and Devon were never headed from then on, although never by more than 1 or 2 points. Eventually, with the last game in progress, Devon led 8-7, but with Stephens down to his last 2 minutes, abandoning his recording and having to move almost instantly in a complex unclear position. Yet somehow he managed to coordinate his remaining 3 pieces, Queen, rook and a knight had hadn’t moved for 44 moves, into a mating net. Match won 9-7.

Here are some views of the match in progress.

General view of the Main Hall

General view of the top boards

Top 4 games - Bellers V Regis nearest.

Boards 9 - 12 (nearest)

Bd. 16 Chilton V Rahimili nearest.

Exmouth’s last match in Devon’s Newman Cup (for RapidPlay teams of 4 totalling U-600 grade) was against Tiverton and was effectively a cup final, with the winner taking all. However, Tiverton had a built-in edge as a 4-4 draw would give them the Cup on the 1st level of tie-break (game points). Before clocks were started, their captain explained that even if we had been level on game points, Exmouth would still have lost out due to having lost to Tiverton in Rd. 1, which led his opponent to quip “I see – even if we win we lose!” 

Round 1:

Tiverton won the toss and chose Black on Bd. 1. for the 1st round.  Simon Blake played forcefully and at one point was looking at the opportunity of possibly being able to sacrifice his queen for a back rank mate, but his opponent was alert to the risk. The game finished with opposite coloured bishops and level pawns all on squares that could not be attack by the enemy piece, amd a draw was agreed.

Oliver Wensley was happy to push all his pawns forward whenever he could, which Annetts avoided taking, so the endgame featured two long strings of pawns across the board, like WWI trench lines, except that Oliver was able to probe for weaknesses and eventually had 2 pawns that could run for the line. Annetts could only stop one by letting the other queen.

On Bd. 2 Mark Abbott started with some advantages in piece development but was unable to convert this into any other more practical advantage and the game slid into a R+5 vs R+4 endgame, and Atkin’s extra pawn was central, advanced and shepherded by his king. However, Abbott’s rook cleverly pecked away at the other pawns, won one back and the danger was over. Draw agreed.

The game on Bd. 1 was more difficult to assess by the spectator. Hewson had an attack down the open g-file against the enemy king involving Q, R + N, which White was managing to hold, while creating a passed pawn on the a-file that could not be ignored. The pressure built up as time started to press and it was Hewson that broke first.

Round 2:

Exmouth had to score a minimum of 4½ points to win the cup and a 3-1 lead from Rd. 1 was a healthy start, but this competition is notorious for the way in which the luck changes from one round to the next. For any one player, the hardest thing to do is to win both games outright, so nothing could be taken for granted. 

Sure enough, Blake’s position crumbled after overlooking a knight capture in the middle of the board and Exmouth started with a loss. This was evened up when Annetts overlooked a bishop skewering both rooks and getting out of that merely allowed a bishop to fork king and knight, and Wensley scored his 2nd win soon after.

Abbott’s endgame looked not unlike the first one in some respects, but this time Atkins did not let things slip and he evened up their personal scores.

In the top game, Shaw broke through against the enemy king using both bishops, a knight and his queen, which was enough to win, leaving the round a 2-2 draw, but 5-3 overall.

The competition overall has once again proved a close one, with all teams losing at least one match.

Exmouth approached this match in bullish mood, on the backs of a win against Newton Abbot and a win and a draw against Tiverton, in 3 different competitions. However, there’s nothing like chess for bringing folk back down to earth again, and this was the case here.  

In the first game to finish, Abbott gave up a piece in order to try and get a stranglehold on White’s back rank with mating threats. Ingham had to be careful, and he was, managing to repeat moves 3 times. At this point, although Shaw’s position looked unclear, Wensley and Scott seemed to have their games under control. But as Shaw started to run out of time, Wensley lost his outside passed pawns and was suddenly on the back foot, while Scott missed a winning move and had to settle for a draw as Tidy was able to repeat moves. Shaw’s position collapsed under time pressure, leaving Wensley forced to try for a win in order to save the match, but with only pawns and opposite-coloured bishops left there was nothing he could do except agree a draw.  Full results below.

This loss rather undid the excellent win against Newton Abbot just two weeks earlier. We now await the visit of Barnstaple on 12th April, the final match in Division 2.  

General view of the Alice Cross Centre, Teignmouth.

Shaw vs Brusey nearest.

Ingham vs Abbott

Wensley vs Gorodi

Tidy vs Scott

Devon met Hampshire at the weekend and the new venue of Ilchester Town Hall, brought a new result (a 9-7 win) after a series of Devon losses in recent years Devon names first:- 1. S. Homer ½-½ I. Thompson. 2. J Stephens 1-0 W. McDougall. 3.P. Sivrev ½-½ D. Tunks. 4.D. Regis ½-½ C. Bellers. 5.J. Fraser ½-½ P. Cooper. 6.B. Hewson 0-1 D. Fowler. 7. J. Wheeler ½-½ A. McDougall. 8.A. Brusey ½-½ F. McLeod. 9. M. Shaw ½-½ S. Knox. 10.J. Underwood 1-0 D. Thompson. 11.T. Thynne 0-1 C. Priest. 12. W. Ingham 1-0 S. Smith. 13. P. Brooks ½-½ G. Jones. 14. S. Martin 1-0 Miss G, Moore. 15. M. Stinton 0-1 B. Kocan. N. Rahimili 1-0 J. Chilton.

Dr. Underwood’s early win gave Devon an early lead and they were never headed, though the match result still depended on this last game to finish. If White had won, Hampshire would have drawn the match. After a long positional game the game ends suddenly.

White: W. M. McDougall (192). Black: J. K. Stephens (186).

Queen’s Gambit – Slav Defence [D12]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bf5 5.Nc3 e6 6.Nh4 Bg6 7.Qb3 Qc8 8.Bd2 Nbd7 9.Rc1 a6 10.Be2 Bd6 11.0–0 Qb8 12.g3 Ne4 13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.Bb4 0–0 15.f3 Bg6 16.Nxg6 hxg6 17.Rfd1 Nf6 18.Kg2 Bxb4 19.Qxb4 Qc7 20.a4 a5 21.Qb3 Rfe8 22.f4 Rad8 23.Bf3 Qe7 24.c5 Qc7 25.Qc3 Ra8 26.Rb1 Ra7 27.b4 axb4 28.Rxb4 Rea8 29.Qb3 Nd7 30.Rb1 Rb8 31.g4 f6 32.Qc2 Kf7 33.Be2 Rh8 34.Qb3 Rb8 35.Qd3 Rh8 36.Qb3 Rb8 37.Bd1 g5 38.fxg5 fxg5 39.Bc2 Nf6 40.Rf1 Rh8 41.h3 Ke7 42.Bg6 Rh6 43.Qb1 Qd7 44.Rf2 Kd8 45.Rfb2 Kc8 46.Bd3 Qc7 47.Qd1 Kb8 48.Qe2 Ka8 49.Rb1 Rh4 50.Rf1 Ra5 51.Rh1 e5 52.e4 White has 2 minutes left for all his moves yet must avoid losing or the team will miss a vital win. No pressure, then. 52…dxe4 53.Bxe4 exd4 54.Bf3 Qf4 55.Rd1 Rxc5 56.Rdxd4 Qc1 57.Rd8+ Ka7 58.Rbd4 Rc2 59.Rd2 Rxd2 60.Rxd2 Qc5 61.Rb2 Nd5! Having remained stationary for 44 moves the knight springs to the rescue. White sees the threatened fork on f4 but not the even greater danger on h6. 62.Qd2 Nf4+ 63.Kh2 Rxh3# 0–1

The 2^nd team match was reduced to four games after Hants defaulted on most boards, handing Devon a 10-2 win. 1. O. Wensley ½-½ T. Chapan. 2. B. Gosling ½-½ K. Steele. 3. A. Kinder ½-½ J. Young. 4.C. Scott ½-½ D. Culliford.

In last week’s position, although Black was a rook down, he had 1…Bb2+! Taking it would leave his queen defenceless, so White has to reply 2.Ka4 to which Black replies 2…b5+ forcing 3.Ka5 allowing 3…Bc3 pinning queen against king so that 4.QxQ is impossible.

With love in the air this weekend, here is a heart-shaped 2-mover by Mrs. Baird (née Winter-Wood) who died in Paignton 90 years ago this month.

Love doing this 2-mover

The rivalry between these neighbouring clubs is rarely greater than in the Bremridge Cup, Devon’s premier inter-club tournament, and after their reverse at the hands of Teignmouth the previous Saturday in a Div. 2 match, Exmouth approached this particular encounter knowing anything was possible. Both teams were well below full strength and a major factor in the eventual outcome was clearly going to be the depth of the reserve pool. In this respect, it seems Exmouth were slightly better off.

Exmouth won the toss and chose to have White on Bds. 1, 3 & 5.  The Wensley-Marjoram game on Bd. 3 set off at a rate of knots with White trying a Scotch Gambit, which Black bought in to. This allowed a short-term bishop sacrifice on f7 and Black’s game, which featured a king stuck in the centre, quickly fell apart thereafter. 0-1

The Scott-Amos game featured a much steadier opening, though Black found himself a pawn up but his pieces somewhat pegged back behind his pawn shield. In giving up a pawn to free up his position, he also opened it up to his opponent’s benefit. Soon after, he blundered R & B and resigned immediately.0-2.

Bd. 6 featured a game between  13 yr old Taylor Finch and the vastly experienced Scot, Steve Murray. In a c3 Sicilian, Taylor pressed early on and was soon 2 passed pawns up, but in so doing, had helped Black by opening long lines for his rooks and bishops, while his own Kingside pieces remained untouched. The game turned on how long Black could frustrate his opponent’s development by creating threats. In this respect it was Black who succeeded, whose rook pair cut swathes across the board in the endgame. 0-3.

On Bd. 4 Brian Gosling had given up his queen for 3 pieces, but in a complex position could make no telling inroads into White’s defences, and he offered a draw. Palmer correctly consulted his captain as to whether he should accept. He returned to the board, shook hands and the match was won. ½-3½

Meanwhile, the games on the top 2 boards continued. On 2, a Black knight forked Q & R and Underwood resigned. 1½-3½.

On top board, Boyne played the French Winawer, which led to an increasingly complex postion that, nevertheless, remained in the book until move 20 when Black missed a trick.  He later sacrificed a knight in order to get in a back rank attack, but that fizzled out with Black a rook and bishop down. White had held out and  Black resigned as he could not assemble any more attacks and White could unscramble his heavy pieces. 1½-4½

So it was the visitors’ greater strength and experience on the lower 3 boards that made the difference. Nevertheless, the score did not necessarily reflect the closeness of several of the games.

Stephens & Boyne lock horns in a complex French Winawer.

Clock ticking and White appears stumped for an opening move.

Wensley, with a sly grin, already eyeing up Bxf7+

 

Bds 4 - 6 in a separate room.

 

A battle of Youth vs Experience on Bd. 6

A strong Somerset team beat Gloucestershire 13-3, without losing a single game in their recent match. Somerset names 1^st: 1.D. Buckley 1-0 J. Stewart. 2.J. Rudd 1-0 N. Hosken. 3.P. Krzyzanowski ½-½ D. Lambourne. 4.B. Edgell 1-0 J. Jenkins. 5.M. Payne ½-½ M. Ashworth. 6.P. Chaplin ½-½ P. Kirby. 7.D. Littlejohns 1-0 P. Meade. 8.B. Morris 1-0 B. Whitelaw. 9.P. Cusick ½-½ P. Dodwell. 10.C. Purry ½-½ A. Walker. 11.R. Hearne 1-0 P. Baker. 12.G. Jepps 1-0 G. Taylor. 13.W. Taylor 1-0 K. Bendall. 14.A. Champion 1-0 R. Ashworth. 15.J. Fewkes ½-½ A. Richards. 16. R. Knight 1-0 P. Bending.

The Cornwall Championship was held at Stithians recently, and saw Mark Watkins (Camborne), the defending champion, retaining his title with 4½/5 points. 2^nd was 13 yr old Theo Slade (Bude) on 4 pts and 3^rd was Grant Healey (Falmouth) with 3 pts.

The intermediate section for players graded U-145, the Falmouth Cup, was won by Marcus Pilling (Truro) on 4 pts.

A one-day rapidplay event was held on the Saturday for players graded U-86 and was won by Kenton Richings (Camborne) ahead of Harvey Richings.

A key game in the Championship was this one from Rd. 2.

White: Grant Healey (162). Black: Mark Watkins (188).

Trompowsky Attack [A45]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bf4 d5 4.f3 Nf6 5.Nc3 c5 6.dxc5 Nc6 7.a3 d4 8.Na2 e5 9.Bg5 Bxc5 10.e4 Black has to decide whether to take or not. The former option will hand White an initiative, but will Black have compensations? 10…dxe3 11.Qxd8+ Kxd8 12.0–0–0+ Ke7 13.Bc4 Be6 14.Bxe6 Kxe6 15.Nc3 Rad8 16.Nge2 h6 17.Na4 Bd4 18.Bxf6 Kxf6 19.c3 Bb6 20.Nxb6 axb6 21.Rhe1 Ke6 22.Ng3 f5 23.f4 White still can’t take the pawn with 23.Rxe3 because of the fork 23…f4. 23…exf4 24.Nh5 g5 Black has 5 pawns advancing against 2. 25.g3 Ne5 26.Re2 Rxd1+ 27.Kxd1 Rd8+ 28.Ke1 Nd3+ 29.Kf1 Ke5 30.gxf4+ gxf4 31.Kg2 Ke4 32.Nf6+ Ke5 33.Nh5 Nc1 34.Re1 Rd2+ 35.Kh1 Nd3 0-1 White’s pieces on the edge of the board can do nothing against the 3 passed pawns.

The E. Devon Congress is taking place next weekend at Exeter’s Corn Exchange. With the entries in so far, the Open has about 8 players all closely matched and in with a chance. However, the top players often have a habit of leaving their entries to the last minute, so things may change. For details contact the Entry Secretary John Stephens on 07891-648689 or e-mail johnkfstephens@hotmail.com.

Mrs. Baird’s Valentine problem last week was solved by 1.Kd6!

In this 2-mover, White must be careful to avoid stalemate.

White to mate in 2 moves.

The 10-times British Champion, Dr. Jonathan Penrose, was 80 in October. As a teenager he brought the Scotch Gambit back into popularity, and Bob Wade recommended it for White in his system called Method Chess, based on Penrose’s games.

It is indeed a dangerous weapon, as after 3.d4 White plans to open up the game early on and there are many ways Black can go wrong. This example arose in an inter-club match at the weekend.

White: O. Wensley (157). Black: W. Marjoram (146).

Scotch Gambit [C44]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4 Bb4+ 5.c3 dxc3 6.bxc3 Bc5? Black already has things to think about, as White has several open lines to exploit. Best might be 6…Bd6. Too good a chance to pass up. 7.Bxf7+ Kxf7 8.Qd5+ Ke8 9.Qxc5 White could have added to the disruption with 9.Qh5+ Kf8 10.Qxc5+ d6. Or 9…g6 10.Qxc5 Qe7 11.Qe3 d6 12.0–0. 9…Qe7 10.Qc4 b5 11.Qe2 Nf6 12.0–0 Qxe4 13.Qxb5 with the threat of Re1 13…Kd8 14.Ng5 White can keep the niggling threats going. 14…Qg6 15.Ne6+! dxe6 Black had little choice, but his king is further exposed. 16.Qxc6 Rb8 17.Bf4 Nd5 18.Rd1 Bd7 19.Bxc7+ Ke7 If 19…Nxc7?? 20.Qxd7#; 19…Ke8 20.Qd6 Rb7 21.c4 Qc2 22.Na3 Qa4 23.cxd5; Possibly the least worst move is 19…Kc8 20.Qd6 Rb7 21.Ba5 Ba4 22.Re1 and Black does have activity while White still needs to complete development. 20.Qd6+ Kf7 21.Qxd7+ Kf6 22.Bxb8 Rxb8 23.Rxd5 Rxb1+ If 23…exd5?? 24.Qd6+ winning the rook. 24.Rd1 Rxa1 25.Rxa1 a5 26.Qd4+ Kf5 26…e5 27.Qd6+ Kf5 28.Qxg6+ hxg6. 27.Qd3+ Kf6 28.Qxg6+ Kxg6 29.Rd1 1–0

The British Chess Problem-Solving Championship was held at Eton College at the weekend. It is usually won by any combination of Jon Nunn, Jon Mestel and Colin McNab, whenever all three are free to enter. In 2012 it was McNab, Mestel and Nunn, in that order; last year it was McNab, Nunn and Mestel, and this year it was 1^st Nunn, 2^nd Mestel and 3^rd McNab.

Last week’s problem was solved by 1.Na5+! Kd6 2.Rd5 mate or 1…Ke8 2.Rc8 mate.

Christopher Jones, Bristol’s own Grandmaster of chess composition, was on Channel 4’s Countdown programme recently, but he fell at the first hurdle. He is one of the world’s leading authorities on composing a form of problem called “helpmate” in which Black makes the first move and both sides conspire to mate Black in a specified number of moves. If that sounds complicated, it is. One of his earliest compositions was this standard 2-mover, published in 1987. This in itself is complicated enough to hint at the route he would subsequently take. Clue: think sacrifice.

White to mate in 2

With only 6 days to the start of this year’s East Devon Congress, the new Entry Secretary, John Stephens, told me that, at 183, he was the 6th highest-graded player in the Open. It was accepted that very often the top players leave their entries to the last minute, and this was no exception. By the Friday evening, he had dropped to 10th, as a whole raft of top players had joined the fray, bringing the total to 43 and making this the strongest Exeter Open for many years. The top 20’s average grade was 188.

The overall entry was 125, bringing the event safely over the break-even point. As the regulars well know, the hall is spacious, with a waiting space and facilities for refreshment adjacent. In John Ariss and Tony Tatam they have excellent Arbiters, but the Committee has dropped to just three people, which is causing concern to them. The regulars are Mark Abbott and Sean Pope, while John Stephens has replaced Alan Maynard who moved to near Weston-Super-Mare. They have put out an appeal for at least 2 more local players to come forward and share the load, if the event is to continue satisfactorily.

General view from the stage.

Bd. 1 Open Section: Bolt v Rudd, both destined to finish 2nd =

Bd. 2: Dom Mackle v Simon Bartlett.

Rd. 1: Theo Slade vs Steve Dilleigh

Minor Section - Rd. 1: Graham Mill-Wilson vs Mike Kaye

Luppitt Village Hall, tucked away in a hidden valley, high in the Blackdown Hills, is the traditional venue for this annual match. This year, like most, the sky was clear and bright, and both sides looked forward to an entertaining afternoon.

Although Dorset had received a real trouncing at the hands of Somerset in an earlier round and were not expected to win here, they were always in the match and it was only a few late wins for Devon that made the score look respectable to Devon eyes.

The result meant that Devon had won the Wayling Cup for 2nd teams for the 16th consecutive year.

The venue set in the Blackdowns

Oliver Wensley, whose paternal ancesters go back in Luppitt for several generations, moves on top board.

Bds 5 = 8

Willis v Scott on Bd. 8

A neat win by Tidy (Black) put Devon on the road to victory.

Bds. 13 - 16.

Luppitt Village Hall is the traditional venue for the Devon vs Dorset U-160 match. Although Dorset had suffered a heavy defeat at the hands of Somerset in an earlier round and were not expected to win here, they were always in the match and it was only a few late wins for Devon that made the score 10-6. The result meant that Devon have won the Wayling Cup for 2^nd teams for the 16^th consecutive year. Dorset names 1^st in each pairing: 1.M. Littleton 1-0 O.Wensley. 2. W. Legg 0-1 M. Stinton-Brownbridge. 3.G. Searing 1-0 P. Halmkin. 4.J. Cherryson 0-1 I. Annetts. 5.D. Aldwinckle 0-1 B. G.Gosling. 6.P. Brackner ½-½ A. Kinder 7. C. Winch 0-1 A. Frangleton. 8. I. Willis 0-1 C. J. Scott. 9.P. Errington 0-1 K. Atkins. 10.T.Lundin 1-0 R.Wilby. 11.A. Young ½-½ W. Taylor. 12.P. Jackson ½-½ P. Dobber. 13.M. Rogan ½-½ N. Mills.14.J. Kelly ½-½ Jacquie Barber-Lafon. 15. K. Spooner ½-½ R. Jones. 16.S. Jones 0-1 N. Tidy.

In this game, White missed a combination known as the Windmill, or see-saw, first played by Torre to defeat Lasker at Moscow 1925. (Notes kindly supplied by the winner).

White: B. Gosling (152). Black: D. Aldwinckle (133).

Sicilian Defence  [B40]

1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nc6 5.g3 Bd6 6.Bg2 d4 7.0–0 e5 8.a4 Bg4 9.h3 Bh5 10.g4 Bg6 11.Nc4 f6 12.Nh4 Nge7 13.c3 Bf7 14.f4 Trying to unravel the pawn chain 14…Bxc4 15.dxc4 Qc7 16.f5 White keeps the centre closed and anticipates Black castling on the queenside. 16…0–0–0 17.Bd2 Kb8 18.Nf3 Nc8 White should press home an attack while Black’s pieces are still blocked in. 19.a5 Qf7 20.Qa4 a6 21.cxd4 exd4 22.e5 Nxe5 23.Nxe5 fxe5 24.Ra3 The idea is Ra1–a3-b3-b6 24…Qd7?? Both players miss the famous Windmill combination thus the ?? marks. 25.Qc2?? This comprises the nice 25.Rb3!! White temporarily offers his Queen but it can’t be accepted because if 25….Qxa4 26.Rxb7+ and White repeats the checking pattern and wins much material viz 26.Rxb7+ Ka8 27.Rxg7+ Kb8 28.Rb7+ Ka8 29.Rxh7+ Kb8 30.Rb7+ Ka8 31.Rb4+ Ka7 32.Rxa4 25…Ne7 26.Rb3 White threatens to win material with Rb3xb7. 26…Nc6 27.Rb6! Ka7 28.Qb3 Rb8 29.Qa4 Rhc8 30.Bd5 Rc7 31.f6 Rf8 32.f7 Nd8 33.Qb3 Be7?? 33…Nc6 was necessary. 34.Rxa6+! Kb8 35.Rb6 Ka7 36.a6! bxa6 37.Rxa6+!! 1–0

Pictures of the games in progress may be seen on keverelchess.com.

Meanwhile, Somerset overcame Hampshire to clinch the Div. 1 trophy.

The solution to last week’s was 1.Qh5!

Soon after an early retirement, Nick Arkell has returned to the game he first learned by playing hundreds of games with his brother, Keith. Here, however, in a recent game he loses to White’s next move.

White to play and win

On Monday, Paignton’s resident Grandmaster, Keith Arkell, won the European Championship for Seniors over 50, the first English player to win a European title since Jovanka Houska became Girls’ U-20 Champion in 2000.

At Oporto, Portugal, Keith went through undefeated, finishing with 7/9 points. He is expert at the long drawn out endgame, but here is his quickest win.

White: K. C. Arkell (2448). Black: D. Kurka GER. (2045).

Queen’s Gambit  [D37]

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.cxd5 exd5 6.Bg5 c6 7.e3 Nbd7 8.Qc2 0–0 9.Bd3 Re8 10.0–0 Nf8 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.b4 a6 13.a4 g6 14.b5 a5 15.bxc6 bxc6 16.Ne2 Bd7 17.Rab1 Be7 18.Ne5 Rc8 19.Rb7 Bd6 20.Nxd7 Nxd7 21.Qb3 Re7 22.g3 Bb4 23.Qc2 c5 24.dxc5 Rxc5 25.Qd1 Ne5 26.Rxe7 Qxe7 27.Nf4 Nc4 28.Qe2 Nb6 29.Bb5 Qe4 30.Rd1 Rc2 31.Qg4 Nc4 At this point Black has 2 isolated pawns as opposed to White’s 1, but with bishops of opposite colour this might not be enough to win. White needs something extra…. 32.Nxd5! leaving his queen unprotected yet winning a vital pawn. 32…Qxg4 33.Nf6+ Kg7 34.Nxg4 h5 The knight has nowhere to go, so… 35.Bxc4 Rxc4 36.Ne5 Re4 37.Nf3 Rc4 38.Rd7 Kf6 39.h4 Ba3 40.Rxf7+ Black falls for the same trick again.1-0 If 40…Kxf7 41.Ne5+. White’s 2 extra pawns are now enough for an easy win for someone of Arkell’s expertise.

After drawing with the eventual Champions, Somerset, and beating Hants, Cornwall finished their season in style with a comfortable 9½ – 6½ win over Gloucestershire at Exminster Village Hall. In fact, it went according to form as they outgraded their opponents by about 100 points and lost only 2 of the 16 games. Cornish names first in each pairing:- 1.J. Menadue 1-0 D. Lambourne. 2.M. Hassall ½-½ J. Jenkins. 3.D. Saqui ½-½ J. Waterfield. 4.S. Bartlett 0-1 M. Ashworth. 5.T. Slade 1-0 P. Kirby. 6.R. Kneebone ½-½ P. Meade. 7.G. Healey 1-0 P.  Denison. 8.M. Csuri ½-½ B. Whitelaw. 9.J. Hooker ½-½ P. Dodwell. 10.G. Trudeau ½-½ A. Walker. 11.C. Sellwood 1-0 P. Baker. 12.J. Nicholas 0-1 G. Taylor. 13.J. Wilman ½-½ R. Ashworth. 14.R. Smith ½-½ A. Richards. 15.M. Hill 1-0 J. Caterer. 16.D. R. Jenkins ½-½ P. Bending.

Meanwhile, Somerset overcame Hampshire by 8½-6½, even though their top 5 boards could only muster 1½ points. This made them Div. 1 winners.

In last week’s position, only Black’s bishop prevented White from playing 1.Qf6 and mating on g7, so White can afford to sacrifice his rook by taking it with 1.Rxe5! and there is nothing Black can do.

Here is an original 3-mover from the fertile mind of Dave Howard of East Harptree. Don’t forget Black’s pawns are ready to queen.

Exmouth’s penultimate game in Devon’s senior club championship was at home against Teignmouth. Although missing a number of their top players, Exmouth still outgraded the visitors by 115 points, and on paper it looked a relatively easy challenge, except that at this level nothing can be taken for granted. Pre-match chat before the kick-off revealed, for example, that Graham Bramley (109) had already beaten and drawn with Alan Brusey (181) in club games, and Stormin’ Norman Tidy was sweeping all before him in 2014, including having won his section in the recent E. Devon Congress. And that was only on the bottom boards, while the top 3 consisted of the regular triumvirate of Brusey, Ingham and the British U-150 champion, John Gorodi, all capable of beating anyone at any time. So this was clearly not going to an easy task.

And sure enough, Tidy swept away Oliver Wensley, (who won the E. Devon Premier 2 years ago) in short order, after a quick draw on Bd. 2, leaving Teignmouth needing only 1½ points from the last 4 games to spoil the party for the home team. However, John Ariss had left himself very weak on the white squares around his king, and Gosling was not slow to extract full advantage. Playing a Closed Sicilian, Steve Martin managed to open lines to Gorodi’s king, especially down the h-file, and again extracted maximum advantage with a quick, sharp attack. Chris Scott played steadily, gradually putting a positional squeeze on his opponent, eventually getting adjacent central pawns on the 6th rank that couldn’t be stopped. This win secured the 3½ points required. But the Bd. 1 game went the full distance, with Shaw winning a piece and having a positional advantage, but shortage of time meant he lost his way, losing a piece back, and with it the game. Fortunately, in the circumstances it didn’t matter as the match was already won.

The games are all accessible on the chessdevon website.

The win puts Exmouth in top spot, a point clear of the holders, Newton Abbot, the teams to meet in what will now be the deciding match in April. Unlike last year, game points won’t be a factor as it’s impossible for teams to tie at the top on the same number of match points.

The Exmouth team (facing)

As reported last week, Somerset won the WECU Championship by beating Hampshire 8½-6½ in a close match at Mere. The details were as follows (Hants names first in each pairing). 1. I. Thompson (217) 1-0 D. Buckley (212). 2. J. Tambini (198) 0-1 J. Rudd (211). 3. D. Tunks (188) ½-½ P. Krzyzanowski (199). C. Bellers (186) 1-0 B. Edgell (198). 5. P. Cooper (182) 1-0 M. Payne (193). 6. D. Fowler (181) 0-1 P. Chaplin (189). 7. S. Knox (167) 0-1 A. Footner (183). 8. D. F. Thompson (160) ½-½ D. Littlejohns (182). 9. T. Davis (159) ½-½ B. Morris (174). 10. C. Priest (158) ½-½ G. Jepps (158). 11. G. Jones (158) ½-½ C. Purry (165). 12. Miss G. Moore (147) 0-1 J. Byrne (161). 13. R. Davenport (140) 0-1 D. Peters (158). 14. J. Chilton (139) ½-½ W. Taylor (157). 15. R. Ashmore (137) ½-½ J. Fewkes (152).  Somerset also won an U-160 match by 3½-2½ the details of which are:- 1. T. Chapman (135) ½-½ A. Champion (154). 2. D. Culliford (131) ½-½ D.  Freeman (148). 3. M. Pope (119) ½-½ U. Effiong (142). 4. S. Murphy (113) 0-1 P. Wojcik (141). 5. J. Barnett (111) 1-0 T. West (137). 6. T. Cutter (109) 0-1 S. Pickard (111).

The next big event is the Bristol Spring Congress on the weekend of 11^th – 13^th April. Details from G. Mill-Wilson on 0779 0167415 or e-mail tugmw@blueyonder.co.uk. This is followed by the WECU Championship and congress in Exmouth. Details from Meyrick Shaw on 01395-275494 or e-mail: meyrick.shaw@hotmail.co.uk.

In this game from last year’s event, a former WECU Champion loses out in a lively game.

White: Paul Helbig (180). Black: John Stephens (191).

Closed Sicilian Defence [B26]

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.Be3 Rb8 7.Qd2 b5 8.Nge2 Nd4 9.0–0 e6 10.Nc1 b4 White usually tries to get in a quick kingside attack, with Black countering later on the queenside, but here it is the other way round. 11.Nd1 Qa5 12.c3 bxc3 13.bxc3 Nc6 14.f4 Now White’s attack gets under way.Nge7 15.Ne2 Ba6 16.f5 exf5 17.exf5 gxf5 18.Bh6 Be5 19.Ne3 Nd4 20.Rab1 Kd7 21.Nf4 Bxf4 22.Bxf4 Qxc3! Black cleverly wins another pawn.  23.Qxc3 Ne2+ 24.Kh1 Nxc3 25.Rxb8 Rxb8 26.Nc4 Bxc4 27.dxc4 Rb2 28.Bg5 Rxa2 29.Bf3 Rb2 30.g4 a5 31.gxf5 Nc6 32.Bf6 Ne5 33.Bxe5 dxe5 34.f6 Rb1 35.Rxb1 Nxb1 36.Bg4+ Kd6 37.Bf5 Nc3 38.Bxh7 a4 0–1.

Last week’s 3-mover was solved by 1.Bb1 threatening 2.Qxa2 mate, so Black must play 1…Nb4 and then 2.Kb7 leaving Black the option of either taking the bishop or moving the defending knight.

In this position, White last played h5 to which Black played the natural-looking counter Re4. What did White now play to earn a double !! and the full point?

White to play a "Magic Move".

Barnstaple made the long trip to Exmouth knowing that a drawn match would secure them the Div. 2 championship. With International Master Jack Rudd and England Junior International Theo Slade on board, this was always a distinct possibility. However, in any grade-limited tournament like this one (639 max) the price has to be paid on the lower boards where players of a more modest grade have to be played. On this occasion, Exmouth chose to play 4 middle-range grades in the hope that 2 points could be rescued on Bds. 3 & 4. And this is exactly how it played out, although all 4 games were tense and well-contested affairs by both players.

On Bd. 1 the position soon developed into a complex one with pieces of both colours all over the board, but with only 3 pawns each. Rudd, of course, is known to play only at express speed, and he made his 35 moves in 35 minutes, but such were the comlications that Shaw ran out of time and his flag fell 5 moves short.

On Bd. 2 Oliver Wensley orchestrated a kingside attack based on the rock of having a knight posted immovably on his 5th rank. However, his massed pieces left the other wing vulnerable, and Slade countered down the a-file with doubled rooks. This won material and with it the game.

Gosling’s position looked relatively even until Smith put his king into trouble and lost out to a Q+K fork, and resigned on move 28.

Scott won a piece in a series of exchanges around move 30, but still had the tricky job of finding the best lines to exploit this advantage to a winning one. A Q+R knight fork settled the outcome.

Thus the drawn match was what Barnstaple came for and they were duly delighted, whereas Exmouth had nothing to play for in this tournament except pride in a good perfomance on the day, and this they achieved.

The games may be found on the chessdevon website.

General view of the match - Exmouth on the right.

Exmouth settle into the match - Shaw; Wensley; Gosling & Scott.

Rudd (nearest); Slade; Smith & Dow.

The Teignmouth RapidPlay tournament on Sunday was won outright by Steve Homer (182 – Newton Abbot) with 5/6 points. 2^nd= were Graham Bolt (176 – Exeter), Alan Brusey (174 – Teignmouth) and Stephen Piper (183 – Salisbury). The Minor Section for players graded Under 140 was won jointly by Ray Hunt (125 – Bognor) and Vignesh Ramesh (106 – Newton Abbot) on 5/6 points.

These games are played too quickly to record the moves, so here are two wins by Homer from last year’s WECU Championship that show how dangerous he can be given half a chance to attack.

White: S. J. Homer Black: A. W. Brusey. French Defence – Tarrasch Var.  [C07]

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.Ngf3 Nf6 5.e5 Ne4 6.Nxe4 dxe4 7.Ng5 cxd4 8.Nxe4 Qa5+ 9.Bd2 Qxe5 A nice manoeuvre to win a pawn, but it leaves his queen in the centre, vulnerable to harassment. 10.Bd3 Nc6 11.0–0 Bd7 12.f4 As the position opens up, Black’s tardy development proves fatal. 12…Qc7 13.Ng5 g6 14.f5! It’s time to break open the centre before Black has time to get organised. 14…exf5 15.Bc4 Nd8 16.Qe2+ Ne6 17.Bxe6 Bxe6 18.Nxe6 fxe6 19.Qxe6+ Qe7 20.Qc4 Threatening Re1 while preventing castling to avoid it. 20…Qc5 Now the Black king is really exposed. 21.Rae1+ Kd7. If 21…Be7?? 22.Qxc5. 22.Qe6+ Kc7 23.Bf4+ Bd6 24.Qe7+ Kc6 25.Bxd6 Qxd6 26.Re6 and the Black queen falls. 1–0

White: T. Paulden. Black: S. J.  Homer. Nimzo-Larsen Opening [A01]

1.b3 d5 2.Bb2 c5 3.e3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Qc7 5.f4 a6 6.Bxc6+ Qxc6 7.Nf3 f6 8.0–0 e6 9.d3 Nh6 10.Qe2 Bd6 11.e4 d4 12.e5 Be7 13.c3 dxc3 14.Nxc3 Bd7 15.exf6 gxf6 16.Ne4 Rf8 17.Ne5 fxe5 18.Qh5+ Nf7 19.fxe5 0–0–0 20.Qxf7. Not 20.Rxf7?? Be8. 20…Rxf7 21.Rxf7 Re8 22.Rxh7 In this skirmish White just about got material equality for his queen, but had already sacrificed a knight to no clear purpose, so is left with a rook and 2 passed pawns for his queen. 22…Qd5 23.Rg7 Qxd3 24.Nf6! Now Black has a problem to solve. 24…Kd8 25.Nxe8 Bxe8 26.Rf1 The balance of forces is roughly level, provided Black can free up his bishop pair. 26…c4 27.Re1 Bb4 28.Rc1 c3 29.Rg3 Qxg3 30.hxg3 cxb2 31.Rb1 Bc3 32.Rd1+ Ke7 33.Kf2 Bg6 Suddenly the bishops hold sway. 34.Ke2 b1Q 35.Rxb1 Bxb1 36.a4 Bc2 0–1

This year’s event starts on Friday morning. Details regarding late entries to M. Shaw on 01395-275494.

Last week’s position gave rise to a familiar old combination that never fails to amuse everyone – except the victim. Black played 1…Nh3 double check, forcing 2.Kh1. Then 2…Qg1+ forcing Rxg1 and then the knight jumps back to f2+ – what is called a “smothered mate”.

Here is another recent game ending. How does White finish off smartly?

White to play and win.

This year the venue had to be moved from the Royal Beacon Hotel, where the event had been held for the previous15 years, on account of a wedding having been booked for our usualk playing hall. So the nearby Manor Hotel, kindly moved in and made an offer we couldn’t refuse, and for the past year this has been the focus of attention – new circumstances, new staff, what can possibly go wrong etc.

However, this did not prevent a number of players booking their accommodation at the Beacon. One of them, who shall be nameless, expressed the hope that the wedding festivities would not prove too noisy for other guests, only to be told the wedding had long since been cancelled!

The Manor’s function room, although somewhat smaller than the Beacon’s, managed to accommodate all the games asked of it, the entry being a little down on recent years and probably just as well in the circumstances.

After a few words of welcome, White clocks were started at exactly 10.00. Rd. 1 results were as follows;-

 Round 1 was completed by 2 p.m. and 90 minutes was allowed between rounds, the afternoon rounds all starting at 3.30. However, it became apparent that modern arbiters are now so efficient at making the draws using specialised software, that this task could easily be done in an hour, making it possible to re-start at 3 p.m. Although it’s too late to change for this year, the committee will certainly be considering this change for next year. 

Round 2 saw McMichael, a last minute entry, moving into the sole lead , with 4 players a half point behind. Perhaps the most remarkable of these is the veteran David Toms, who has been in declining health for a number of years, yet opted for the Open as he thought “It might be my last congress and I might as well give it a go”. He’s certainly doing that.

Rd. 1 The top players' side - Simons vs Bartlett nearest.

Martin Simons waits patiently on Bd. 4

Nearest: Jim Robertson of E. Kilbride, the furthest travellor to the event.

Former Junior International, David Toms, plays current Junior international John Fraser. Game drawn.

Rd 2 - Bd 4: Littlejohns vs Simons

Minor Section Rd. 2: Top 3 boards.

Saturday dawned with the brightest of sunshine and a renewed spirit of optimism in the minds of yesterday’s losers. One of those was certainly not David Toms, the lowest graded player in the Open by some margin, yet starting today in joint 2nd place after a fine win the previous evening against the redoubtable Simon Bartlett. This morning he was paired against another local player, David Regis of Exeter, while on Bd. 1 we saw the two top grades facing up at a relatively early stage in the proceedings.

The results of all sections were as follows:-

The afternoon’s Rd. 4 games ended like this:-

Rd. 3: The two Dr. Daves on Bd. 2, with the two top seeds nearest wall.

Rd. 3: Top Bds in the Major.

Rd. 4: Bds. 1 & 2 (nearest)

Rd 4 Open: Fraser vs Bartlett (nearest) & Stephens vs Stephenson

Rd. 4: Top bds in the Major

 The draw for Rd. 5 is as follows

The West of England Championships finished on Monday with a new Champion in the form of Andrew Boyne of Exeter with 5/7 points. Richard McMichael of London had half a point more, but he was ineligible for the Westcountry title. Dr. Dave Regis of Exeter was 3^rd. Grading prizes were won by:- (U-186) Dave Littlejohns (Taunton) & Graham Bolt (Railways London); (U-177) Robert Thompson (Bristol University).

Major Section (U-175): 1^st= Bill Ingham (Teignmouth), John Bass, (Richmond) & Ivor Annetts (Tiverton). Annetts won the Wilkinson Cup on tie break. Grading prizes (U-159) Dave Rogers (Exmouth). (U-1146) Martin Worrall (Taunton).

Minor: 1^st Norman Tidy (Teignmouth). 2^nd= Paul Jackson (Bournemouth), Rob Wilby (Plymouth) & Ken Alexander (Tiverton). Grading prizes: (U-127) Ray Hunt (Bognor). (U-116) Dave Burt (Bournemouth), Greg Bailey (Netherton) & Edmund Kelly (Exeter Juniors).

Of his four wins, this was the one that McMichael liked best, involving as it does a queen pseudo sacrifice.

White: Martin Simons (191). Black: Richard  McMichael (213).

                 French Defence. [C10]

1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 Transposing into a French Defence. 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e5 Ne4 7.Bxe7 Qxe7 8.a3 Bd7 9.Bd3 Ng5 10.Be2 Nxf3+ 11.Bxf3 f6 12.exf6 Qxf6 13.Ne2 0–0–0 14.Qd2 g5 Having castled long, Black seeks to attack on the other wing. 15.0–0–0 h5 Threatening to win the bishop. 16.h3 Rdg8 17.Ng3 Be8 18.Qe3 Bf7 19.Kb1 Re8 20.Rhe1 Bg6 21.Be2 e5 Choosing this moment to break open the centre. 22.dxe5 Rxe5 23.Qf3 Qe6 24.Rd2 Kb8 25.Nf1 White’s queen currently has nowhere to retreat to. 25…Be4 26.Qg3 h4 27.Qb3 Bxg2 28.Ne3 Bxh3 29.Rh1 d4 30.Bc4 Black leaves his queen to be taken. 30…dxe3! 31.Bxe6 Bxe6 32.Qd3 exd2 33.Qxd2 After this skirmish, Black has rook, bishop, knight and a pawn for his queen – plenty of compensation. 33…h3 34.f4 gxf4 35.Qxf4 a6 36.Qf6 Rh7 37.b4 b6 38.c4 Kb7 39.c5 b5 With Black’s king as secure as White’s is exposed, White has no play, so he called it a day. 0–1

The 25^th Frome Congress will be held on 9^th – 11^th May at Selwood Academy, Frome, with an increased prize fund in recognition of their silver anniversary. Full details may be found on their website (somersetchess.org) where it is now possible to enter on-line.

In last week’s position, Smith won by force after 42…h2+ 43.Kxh2 Qh4+ 44.Kg1 Qh1 mate.

Here is a miniature 2-mover.

White mates in 2