Devon’s Inter-Area Jamboree took place on Sunday at the Isca Centre in Exeter. Four teams of 12 players representing the North, South, East and West of the county were paired in such a way that each team had 6 whites and blacks and met 4 players from each of the opposing teams. The teams were very evenly matched in overall playing strength, which showed in the final result. North were 1^st with 6½/12 points; 2^nd= were East and North (6 pts) while South finished on 5½.

This entertaining and instructive game on Bd. 4, featured a well-known former TV presenter against a former British U-16 contender.

White: Adam Hart-Davis (161). Black: Chris Scott (157).

Sicilian Defence [B50]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bc4 Usual here is 3.d4, but White delays this move, and it later costs him a central pawn, which one can rarely afford to do in such double-edged openings as the Sicilian Defence. 3…Nf6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.h3 a6 6.a4 e6 7.d4 Nxe4! 8.Nxe4 d5 In this opening Black is usually looking to get in …d5 as soon as possible in order to free up his position, as long as it doesn’t incur disadvantage elsewhere. Here it wins his piece back. 9.Nxc5 dxc4 10.Be3 Qd5 11.b3 b6 12.bxc4 Qxc4 13.Nd3 Bb4+ 14.Bd2 Bxd2+ 15.Qxd2 Nxd4 16.Nxd4 Qxd4 17.0–0 Bb7 securing the long diagonal. 18.Qg5 0–0 19.Nf4 h6 20.Qg3 Qf6 21.Rab1 Be4 22.Rxb6 Bxc2 23.a5 Rfd8 24.Rc6 Ba4 25.Rc5 Rac8 26.Rfc1 Rxc5 27.Rxc5 And now the position has really opened up, but Black retains the extra pawn and the BvN. 27…Rd4 28.Nh5 Rd1+ 29.Kh2 Qd4 30.Rc4 Qa1 Defending and attacking. 31.Rc8+ Kh7 32.Qb8 Rh1+ 33.Kg3 Re1 34.Nf4 g5 35.Nh5 Qe5+ Forcing off queens to maximise his small advantages. 36.Qxe5 Rxe5 37.Nf6+ Kg7 38.Nh5+ Kg6 39.Kg4 f5+ 40.Kf3 Bd1+ 0–1 The knight is lost. If 41.Kg3 Kxh5 from where the Black king is safe from all attack and is free to shepherd his pawns forward.

The loser’s consolation was that his team won the trophy anyway. Full details are available on keverelchess.com and all games are on the chessdevon site.

On Saturday, Somerset and Gloucestershire met at Stone, in the West of England Inter-County Championship, ending in a 10-6 victory for Somerset, and at Ilchester Devon beat Hants 12½-3½. More details next week.

In last week’s position, Richard Smith won after a rook sacrifice and this series of forcing checks. 1…Rxg4+! 2.hxg4 (2.Kh2 is no better) Qh2+ 3.Kf1 Qh1+ 4.Ke2 Rh2+ 5.Kd3 Qxd1+ 6.Ke4 Qxg4+ 7.Kd3 Qxf5+ 0-1

Here is a new 2-mover by Dave Howard, that he describes as “really easy”.

White to play and mate in 2.

Devon beat  Hampshire 12½-3½ at Ilchester Town Hall, a margin that belies the toughness of the encounter. However, it was Devon’s strength in depth that made the difference, demonstrated by the fact that Devon’s lower half scored 7-1. The details were: (Devon names first in each pairing).

1.D. Mackle (203) 1-0 I. Thompson (213). 2.J. Stephens (194) 1-0 D. Tunks (197). 3.S. Homer (188) 1-0 C. Bellers (185). 4.P. Sivrev (187) 1-0 P. Cooper (177). 5.T, Paulden (185) ½-½ R. Marsh (176). 6.J. Fraser (182) 0-1 A. Cooper (174). 7.J. Wheeler (181) 0-1 D. Fowler (173). 8.J. Underwood (179) 1-0 S. Knox (170). 9.D. Regis (176) 1-0 T. Davis (167). 10.A. Brusey (176) 0-1 S. Smith (160). 11.B. Hewson 1-0 C. Priest (158). 12.W. Ingham (176) 1-0 D. Thompson (156). 13.M. Abbott (173) 1-0 R. Ashmore (147). 14.M. Shaw (170) 1-0 T. Chapman (144). 15.G. Body (169) 1-0 Miss G. Moore (142). 16. M. Stinton-Brownbridge (164) 1-0 D. Culliford (133).

At the same time, Somerset were facing Gloucestershire, and emerged winners by 10-6. Glos names first.

1.J.Stewart (207) ½-½ J. Rudd (224). 2.P. Meade (182) 0-1 D. Buckley (207). 3.N. Hosken (181) ½-½ B. Edgell (198). 4.C. McLaren (181) ½-½ P. Chaplin (189). 5.M. Ashworth (179) 0-1 M. Payne (186). 6.J. Jenkins (176) 0-1 P. Krzyzanowski (182). 7.P. Kirby (173) 1-0 R. Hearne (181). 8.P. Masters (166) ½-½ D. Littlejohns (178). 9.P. Dodwell (163). ½-½ D. Painter-Kooiman (178). 10.B. Whitelaw (159) 0-1 B. Morris (175). 11.R. Ashworth (151) ½-½ P. Cusick (169). 12.C. Haynes (146) ½-½ D. Peters (164). 13.A. Walker (134) 0-1 G. N Jepps (163). 14.P. Baker (132) ½-½ R. Knight (152). 15.T. Chinnick (128) 1-0 C. Purry (152). 16.P. Bending (122) 0-1 M. Blocinski (U/G).

Here is Devon’s win on Bd. 2.

White: P. Meade. Black: J. Stephens.

Sicilian Defence – Moscow Var. [B51]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.d4 cxd4 5.Qxd4 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Qd1 Ngf6 8.Nc3 h6 9.0–0 Nc5 10.Bd3 Be7 11.Re1 Be6 12.Qe2 Rc8 13.Be3 Qc7 14.Bxc5 Qxc5 15.h3 0–0 16.Na4 Qc6 17.b3 b5 18.Nb2 Qc3 19.Rab1 Nh5 At the cost of a pawn White prevents the knight coming to f5. 20.g3 Bxh3 21.Nd1 Qc5 22.Ne3 Nf6 23.c4 b4 24.Rbd1 a5 25.Bc2 Rfd8 26.Rd2 Qc6 27.Qd3 g6 28.Nd5 Nxd5 29.Qxd5 a4 30.bxa4 Qxc4 31.Bb3 Qxd5 32.Rxd5 Rc3 33.Nd2 White is looking for an outpost for his knight on c4, though it does cramp his forward rook, at least temporarily. 33…Bd7 The warning lights should be flashing. 34.a5?? …. but they’re not. 34…Bc6 0–1 White’s rook is trapped.

The solution to Dave Howard’s “really easy” problem last week was 1.Qa2! If 1…Rh7 2.Be7 mate or 1…Ka7 2.Bc5 mate.

This position arose near the end of a recent game in the Devon Individual Championship – Paulden vs Ingham. How did White win quickly?

White to play and win.

Exmouth’s first match in Devon’s premiership was at home against Newton Abbot. There had been problems about finding a venue, but the newly-refurbished Writing Room at the Manor Hotel proved ideal.

Steve Martin’s was the first game to finish. He has the habit of turning up, winning in little over an hour, before going back home immediately. No-one’s complaining, as this immediately puts pressure on the opposition. Then Jonathan Underwood got a draw against the dangerous junior, John Fraser, followed by another win, this time for Chris Scott who made no mistakes and took full advantage of a couple of slight misjudgments by his opponent. This was balanced by a loss by John Stephens who had Black, and failed to get satisfactory counter-play against Mackle’s opening.

This left Bds. 5 & 6 to decide the outcome. Gosling had had something of a harum-scarum game, losing a piece but winning 2 significant pawns by way of compensation. In the end he was able to force a perpetual check with his queen. 3 points in the bag. However, Oliver Wensley’s position looked pretty watertight, and was never in danger of losing, unless he blundered. He offered a draw, but knowing that to accept would mean losing the match Kinder declined. A few moves later he consulted with his captain before accepting the draw, possibly in order to avoid the prospect of a 4-2 loss or to get back home at a respectable hour.

The games scores will shortly be sent to the chessdevon website.

Bds 1 & 2: John Stephens and Jonathan Underwood.

Bds 3 & 4. The two home winners, Chris Scott and Steve Martin (facing left)

Last to finish and both draws. Oliver Wensley and Brian Gosling (facing left)

After several years at Stithians, the Cornish Congress moved back to Truro College last weekend. After 5 rounds the new county champion was James Hooker (Truro) with 4/5 points. 2^nd= were Simon Bartlett (Newquay), Lloyd Retallick (Newquay), David Saqui (Falmouth) and Mark Watkins (Camborne), all a half point behind. As champion, Hooker now holds the Emigrant Cup for the first time since his last victory in 2002.

In the Falmouth Cup section for players graded below 145 the winner was 15 year old Richard Stephens (Penryn College) playing in his first tournament.

2^nd= were Hamad Aljaber (Falmouth), Mick Hill (Truro), David Jenkins (Camborne), Ian Rescorla (Bude) and Jan Rodrigo (Falmouth) a half point behind on 3½.

The Penwith Cup for players new to tournament chess was shared between the promising junior, Harvey Richings (Marazion School & Camborne), and the editor of Athletics Weekly, Jason Henderson, with 5½/6.

Some of the games will eventually be found on the website cornwallchess.org.uk.

In the meantime, here is one of Hooker’s games from 15 months ago, after several years absence from the chess scene.

White: James Hooker. Black: John Wilman.

Indian Defence [A47]

1.d4 Nf6 2.e3 b6 3.Nf3 g6 4.Bd3 Bb7 5.0–0 Bg7 6.Nbd2 0–0 7.e4 d6 8.e5 Ne8 9.e6 f6? It cannot be good to leave the pawn on e6, strangling the life out of any possible defence. 10.Nh4 c5 In view of the e6 pawn, White feels justified in sacrificing a piece in order to break open the king’s position. 11.Nxg6 hxg6 12.Bxg6 f5 13.Qh5 Nf6 14.Bf7+ Rxf7 15.Qxf7+ Kh8 16.dxc5 bxc5 17.Qg6 Na6 18.Qxf5 Nc7 19.Nf3 Bxf3 20.Qxf3 Rb8 21.Rb1 Qe8 Black still can’t take the e-pawn with 21…Nxe6 because of 22.Qh3+ 22.Re1 Rb6 23.Bd2 Qa4 24.b3 Qg4 25.Qxg4 Nxg4 26.Re4 Nf6 27.Rh4+ Kg8 28.Ba5 Rc6 29.Bxc7 Rxc7 30.c4 Rc8 31.f3 Rf8 32.b4 cxb4 33.Rxb4 1-0 A well-placed knight and bishop is often at least as good as a rook, but here it’s the pawns that make the difference. Black hardly has a decent move on the board.

In last week’s position, White won quickly after 1.Nd5! attacking the queen and opening lines towards the Black king’s position which involve at least heavy material loss.

In tune with the Cornish theme this week, here is a 1944 composition by Dr. Maurice Jago. His most prolific period was during the war when he was a lieutenant in the RAMC, and probably had long periods of inactivity between actions. He was generally attracted by the more exotic forms of problems – helpmates, selfmates, fairy chess, etc. but this is one of his more conventional 2-movers.

White to play and mate in 2

Cornwall met their only neighbours on Saturday in the annual Inter-County match, beating Devon by 8½-7½. This was their first victory over Devon in 23 years and only the third since 1973. Individual scores were as follows (Devon names 1^st in each pairing)

1. D. Mackle 1-0 J. Menadue 2. J. Stephens 0-1 T. Slade. 3. S. Homer 0-1  M. Hassall 4. P. Sivrev 0-1 G. Healey 5. J. Wheeler 1-0 Csuri. 6. J. Fraser 1-0 D. Saqui 7. J. Underwood 1-0 R. Kneebone. 8. D. Regis 0-1 J. Hooker. 9. A. W. Brusey ½-½  S. Bartlett 10. B. W. Hewson ½-½ L. Retallick 11. M. Shaw 0-1 J. Wilman. 12. G. Body 0-1 G. Trudeau. 13. W. Ingham ½-½ J. Nicholas 14. T. F. Thynne ½-½ R. Smith. 15. M. Stinton-Brownbridge ½-½ M. Hill 16. I. S. Annetts 1-0 R. Stephens. Cornwall won 8½-7½.

2^nd team (U-160): 1. K. P. Atkins ½-½ D. R. Jenkins. 2. C. J. Scott 0-1 N. Robinson 3. N. Butland 1-0 M. Richards. 4. P. Brooks ½-½ A. Barkhuysen. 5. J. Duckham ½-½ D. Lucas. 6. O. E. Wensley 1-0 D. Hutchinson. 7. A. Kinder 1-0 M. Jones. 8. W. Taylor 0-1 I. Renshaw. 9. V. Ramesh 1-0 J. Rodrigo. 10. R. Wilby 0-1 B. Childs. 11. N. Hodge 1-0 R. Pascoe. 12. N. Bacon ½-½ A. Slade. Devon won 7-5.

This was the second game to finish and seemed to galvanise the other Cornish players to a great collective effort. It contains what Jeremy Menadue called “what they used to call a gold coins on the board moment”. Notes kindly supplied by Menadue and the winner. 

White: M. Shaw (173) Black: John Wilman (150).

King’s Indian Defence [A48]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c5 3.c3 b6 4.Bf4 g6 5.e3 Bg7 6.Nbd2 A London system. 6…cxd4 7.exd4 0–0 8.Bd3 Bb7 A quiet start. 9.Nc4 Rather committal. 9.Qe2; 9.0–0. 9…d6 10.0–0 Nh5 A typical plan against the London. 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bd2 b5 13.Ne3 this looks a great square for the knight. 13…Qd7 14.Nh4? Decentralising and weakening the d4 square. Better might have been 14.Qb3 with a double attack on g6 and b5. 14…Nf4 covering the g6 weakness. 15.Bc2 e5 16.Ng4 White seems to be building up pressure on Black’s king. 16…h5 17.Ne3 Qh3!! That gold coins moment! 18.Nf3 Nxg2 The combinations play themselves. 19.Ng5 19.d5 Nf4. 19…Nf4! a memorable move. 20.Re1 White has to play 20.d5 but it’s not nice. If 20.Nxh3 Nxh3#. 20…Qh4 The queen knows when it’s not wanted. 21.Nf3 Nh3+ 22.Kf1 Of course this is wrong but other king moves also lose. e.g. 22.Kg2 Ng5; 22.Kh1 Nxf2+ 23.Kg1 wins. White resigned before Black could play Qxf2 mate. 0-1.

Dr. Jago’s problem last week was solved by 1.Qh3! If 1…Kxd5 or 1…Pe1=Q then 2.Qd3 mates. If Pe1=N to protect d3 then 2.Be6 is also mate.

As today is St. Valentine’s Day here is an appropriate 2-mover from the darling of the problem composers a century ago, Devon’s own Edith Baird. Can you see how the four islands of pieces spell out the word LOVE?

White to mate in 2.

Chess activity in secondary schools has suffered something of a decline in recent years, and in response the national Manager of Secondary Schools’ Chess, Neill Cooper, has started a new event called the Team Chess Challenge. The format is teams of 4 playing four rounds of 25 minutes each. The first South-West Regional final took place last week at Torquay Boys’ Grammar School, organised by Trefor Thynne. The entry was surprisingly large and varied, which suggests the event has succeeded in its aim and might become a regular item on the chess calendar.                                                       

Results: (All points out of 16) 1^st Torquay Boys’ Grammar School “A” 12½ pts. 2^nd TBGS “B” 12. 3^rd Clyst Vale Community College 11½. 4^th= Devonport High School; Great Torrington School “B”; TBGS “C” & TBGS “D” all 9½. 8^th= St. Boniface’s  Catholic College, Plymouth “A”; Great Torrington School “A” & Millfield School “A” all 9. 11^th Dawlish Community College “A” 8½. 12^th Millfield School “B” 8. 13^th= Shebbear College & St. Boniface’s Catholic College, “B” 7½. 5^th= Coombeshead Academy, Newton Abbot “A”; Great Torrington School “C”; St. Cuthbert Mayne School, Torquay “A” 7. 18^th= Coombeshead Academy, “B”; Dawlish  Community College “B” & Great Torrington School “D” 6. 21^st St. Cuthbert Mayne School “B” 4½.

The death was announced this week of the West of England’s Life Vice President, Frank Kingdon at the age of 85. He first appeared on the westcountry chess scene in 1962, when he became Secretary of the Dorset C.C.A. and their delegate to W.E.C.U. This was his introduction to chess organisation, going on to fill a number of posts in Dorset and the Westcountry.

He was a founding member of the chess club at the Winfrith Atomic Energy Establishment in 1962, and 2 years later started the Dorset Congress at Winfrith, before transferring it to Weymouth.   Although a naturalised Dorset man, Frank was born in Plymouth in 1929 before moving to Exeter in 1932. He attended Hele’s School in Exeter before starting his national service in 1947 with REME where he trained on servicing computers, which in those days were often as a big as a house. After being demobbed he became a pioneering atomic scientist, working first at Harwell and later transferring to Winfrith, a UK Atomic Energy Authority site, near Dorchester, which opened in 1958 and was used for nuclear reactor research until 1995.The funeral is on Friday 27^th Feb. at St. Aldhelm’s Church, Spa Rd. Weymouth at 2 p.m.

Mrs. Baird’s Valentine’s Day problem was solved by 1.Qh6! threatening QxR mate. The only move to prevent this would be 1…Re3, but this cuts off the Black king’s only flight square after 2.Nxc6#.

In this game from last year, how did Black finish sharpishly?

Black to finish off quickly

Exmouth’s 2^nd match in Devon’s premier inter-club competition, the Bremridge Cup, was against Tiverton (A). Their loss of Somerset players, Edgell and Littlejohns has been offset by the acquisition IM Jack Rudd and Theo Slade, which meant that they were probably even a little stronger than before. However, both teams turned out to be missing key players. Tiverton were missing Slade and Duckham, while Exmouth were without Mark Abbott and Steve Martin, which probably cancelled each other out. Another cancelling out was on Bds. 1 & 6 where Exmouth were outgraded by 28 points on Bd. 1, while Tiverton were similarly situated on Bd. 6. Overall, the total difference was just 4 points, so anything could be expected – even the unexpected. Tiverton won the toss and chose white on odd-numbered boards.  

The first game to finish was Rudd-Stephens, both regular quick starters. After just 15 minutes’ play they had reached move 15 (i.e. 30 seconds per move). Stephens went in for the Sicilian Defence with White playing 6. Bb5. Black played 7…Qb3 attacking White’s b-pawn newly abandoned by the bishop. White ignored the threat, leaving Black with the thought “shall I take it and risk the inevitable counter-threats to the advanced queen – or play safe?” Known as the Poisoned Pawn variation, for obvious reasons, top players with either colour wouldn’t go in for it if they didn’t know the risks. Rudd not only sacrificed the pawn but a knight as well, in order to achieve active play, but he chose the wrong follow-up line and after a number of equal exchanges Black finished up with the only piece on the board which was more than enough to deal with the remaining scattering pawns. 1-0 to Exmouth in under 2 hours. On Bd. 6 the game ended rather suddenly when Black resigned, even though there still seemed to be some play in it, although he had been under attack for some time. 2-0 to Exmouth. Meanwhile, Oliver Wensley had been successful in cramping his opponent’s position, while gradually building up his own kingside attack with all his pieces bearing down on the enemy king to a point where mate was unavoidable. 3-0.  

The one game spectators had mentally written off in favour of the home side was on Bd. 4 where Scott looked to be dead in the water. A pawn down, his queen and 2 rooks were cramped in a corner around his king, trying to stave off further material loss, while Black had the freedom of the board. Somehow, and nobody, least of all the losing player himself, could explain how and when it all started to go wrong, but Scott gradually extricated his queen and rook, got counter-play and finished with a sharp mating combination. 4-0.  

With the match result now decided, and there being little advantage to either side in the two remaining games, they quickly agreed draws, and everyone was left scratching their heads about what they had just witnessed.  

This left Tiverton on 50% after 3 matches, while Exmouth have 2 wins out of 2, with another tight-fought match against Exeter next up. 

Bd. 1 Rudd vs Stephens (furthest) & Underwood vs Hewson.

The Poisoned Pawn variation is under way.

Scott vs Annetts (nearest) - a great turn-round at the end.

Atkins vs Wensley (nearest) & Gosling vs Hunter

General view of Tiverton's club room

A very small piece of chess history was made when the small fledgling East Budleigh club played their first ever match against Exmouth, the current Devon champions. 

In fact, the relative strengths of the clubs had little to do with it, as the competition involved was the local League’s new Handicap RapidPlay Competition. The rules state that the total team grade must not exceed 560 (140 average) and stronger players will be handicapped in the time they are allocated on the clock, as indicated below. Team captains can thus select their teams working in two dimensions. East Budleigh chose to play their two strongest players in the hope and expectation that they would be able to rattle off their moves quickly enough to offset their time handicaps. Exmouth chose to play 76 grading points short of the permitted maximum in the hope that their extra time on the clock would make up the difference. Doubtless a delicate balance to try and judge, and get right. 

In the event the different factors seemed to balance themselves out and the match finished 4-all. The only player to finish on 100% was Simon Blake, who played on level terms timewise.  Although these matches are meant to be a bit of fun, (results don’t go for grading) in fact it was an exhausting encounter for all concerned – the players were totally shattered at the end. 

Ready for the off. E. Budleigh on the left - Bd. 4 nearest.

Rd. 2 gets started.

Ivor Grist & Simon Blake look happy with their 3 points out of a possible 4.

Bristol’s Winter Congress ended on Sunday and the winner of the top section was Patryk Krzyzanowski (Yeovil) on 4/5 points, with a 5-way tie for 2^nd. Theo Slade (Barnstaple) won the Grading Prize. I hope to have more details next week. Meanwhile, games may be found on the Bristol League website, chessit.co.uk.

In last week’s position, Black finished with the no-nonsense 1…Rg1+ 2.KxR Qh2+ 3.Kf1 Qh1 mate.

WMN reader Jonathan Brewer of St. Columb has written in to remind me that it’s 150 years since the first publication of Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland. There have been newspaper articles and commemorative stamps issued, so perhaps we should follow suit.

Carroll, or the Rev. Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, to give him his full name, was a leading mathematician, lecturing in the subject at Oxford and with a dozen treatises to his credit; a pioneering photographer; an entertaining story-teller and a chess enthusiast.

Although in his first story, Alice encountered a kingdom of playing cards after falling down the rabbit hole, in the sequel, Through The Looking-Glass, she stepped through a mirror to find a new wonderland populated by anthropomorphic red and white chessmen.

The story was designed around a game of chess. This is made clear at the outset when the reader is confronted with a chess problem and the following note: “White Pawn (Alice) to play, and win in eleven moves.”

The following little sketch, which has had to be further foreshortened, is Mr. Brewer’s own commemorative offering.

“Alice and her older sister were trying to decide how to spend the afternoon. Alice was very tired because she had been up late trying to master her French homework. ‘Perhaps you would be content to pass an hour or two with a book, but I’m afraid you do find some books boring. Why don’t you have a quick look through Father’s books to see if you can find one you like, before we go outside. Some will surely be to your taste, Alice’, said the sister as she rose from the sofa, walking over to the standing bookcase that held so many books. Alice joined her and for the next few minutes both sisters browsed over the books in the study trying to find a good, hopefully engrossing, read. Alice spotted a dark blue covered volume entitled Chess Fun. Turning the crisp pages she came across a chess problem that caught her eye. After unsuccessfully trying to solve this tricky little puzzle Alice asked her sister if she could help, for you see the older sister was a far stronger player. After glancing at the problem she said mysteriously “Alice, maybe your French lessons yesterday could help you!”

Black to mate in 1. What did Alice’s sister mean?

Alice's problem - how does Black mate in 1?

There had been a few question marks over the future of this event earlier earlier in the year, but the committee of 2 decided to go ahead anyway, and a late rush of entries took the total above the hundred mark.

By a quirk of fate, the funeral of the event’s first secretary 40 years ago, Guy Sparke, was held a few hours before the start of Rd. 1. and in the opening remarks from the stage, the players were reminded of his contribution to creating and establishing the event on the chess calendar.

There were about 30 byes being taken on the Friday evening, but there were enough present to give the large playing area a busy look.

Dominic Mackle and committee member Mark Abbott had a chance to catch up in the 2 minute wait between the end of the speeches and the 7 p.m. start.

.... and then it was time to shake hands and start the clocks.

General view of the hall.

Bill Adaway of Bridport (l) was a winner at the Exmouth Seniors' Congress in November and could figure in the prizelist here.

Simon Bartlett and Dr. Tim Paulden start their Rd. 1 game.

Somes games in the Minor Section.

Having played each other in the penultimate round, the two top grades, Jack Rudd and Dominic Mackle, had to face other opposition. Rudd was drawn against Alistair Hill of Battersea, while Mackle faced the perennially solid Steve Dilleigh, not someone you’d want to be playing if you needed a last round win. The Rudd-Hill was over in 90 minutes, making Jack the “leader in the clubhouse”, watching how the other game was going. Eventually Jack had to leave to catch his train home,  and it was soon after that Mackle started to turn the screws and got domination in the centre with free-moving pieces, while Dilleigh’s pieces were forced to edges of the board, from where they had no counter-play.

In the Major Section John Nyman of the famous King’s Head club in London won the Major Section (U-155) and with it the Ken Schofield Salver.

Chess-playing sisters are something of a rarety on the circuit. There are the Polgars, of course, and the Eagles from Liverpool, though they are now inactive because being MPs takes up so much of their time. After that, one might be a little stuck to come up with other names, but here we had the Westcountry Fursman girls; Lynne playing in the Major and Joy in the Minor (U-125). Lynne was a little off the pace in her section, but her sister was on Bd. 1 facing local player, Mark Cockerton of Torquay. She had White, played the Bird’s Opening and won her game to clinch clear 1st and the grandest of the three trophies up for grabs. Joy was truly unconfined in the foyer afterwards, so pleased was she with her success. They were taught chess by their father and though married, play under their maiden names, Joy based in Clevedon, near Bristol, and Lynne in Tewkesbury.

Here is the full prizelist.

The start of Rd. 5 - every table occupied.

Top games: Hill vs Rudd & Mackle vs Dilleigh.

Paulden vs Wensley

Top game in the Major: Nyman vs Neville Senior.

Joy Fursman in pole position at the start of the round.

Apart from Joy Fursman, there were 4 other ladies in the Minor. Here are Frances Brightman (in blue), Hazel Welch (red) and Helen Archer-Lock.

Jack Rudd guaranteed at least a share of the Nat West Cup.

Mackle later caught to add his name to the Nat West trophy.

John Nyman, clearly happy with his prize.

Joyful Joy, winner of the Minor trophy.

Lynne is just as pleased with her sister's success.

The 40^th East Devon Congress finished on Sunday after a successful weekend. The prizewinners were as follows (all scores out of 5).

Open Section: 1^st= Jack Rudd (Barnstaple) & Dominic Mackle (Newton Abbot) both 4½. 3^rd Lorenz Hartmann (Exeter) 4. Grading prizes: U-181: 1^st= Alan Brusey; (Teignmouth); Dave Littlejohns (Taunton) & Mark Abbott  (Exmouth) all                   3½. U-169: 1^st= Robert Wright (Bridport) & Jamie Morgan (Penwith) both 3.

Major (U-155) 1^st John Nyman (King’s Head) 4½. 2^nd= Ben Franklin (Battersea) & Neville Senior (Sedgemoor) both 4. GP (U-148) 1^st= John Morrison (Tiverton) & Rob Wilby (Plymouth) both 3½. GP U-133 Lynne Fursman 3.

Minor (U-125) 1^st Joy Fursman 4½. 2^nd= Reece Whittington (Exeter); Nicky Bacon (Sidmouth); Mark Cockerton (Torquay) & Terence Greenaway (Torquay) all 4.            GP 102-110 James Wallman                          4         40.00

GP (U-102) Terry Dengler (Truro) 3.

Bristol’s Winter Congress was held the weekend before. The winner of the Open was Patryk Krzyzanowski, and he got the British Championship qualifying place.  2^nd= were Peter Kirby, Stephan Meek, Lewis Martin, Matthew Payne and Alistair Hill.  Major Section: 1^st S. Williams 4½/5. 2^nd T. Chinnick 4/5.

Hill missed out on 1^st prize at Exeter by virtue of losing to Jack Rudd in the final round. Here he loses to a sharp attack in Rd. 2 at Bristol.
White: A. Hill (199). Black: Matthew Payne (189).

King’s Indian Defence – Petrosian Variation. [E92]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 e5 7.d5 Petrosian’s move in this classical position. a5 8.Bg5 Qe8 9.Nd2 h6 10.Be3 Na6 11.0–0 Nh7 12.a3 f5 13.f3 Bd7 14.b3 f4 15.Bf2 g5 16.b4 b6 17.Qb3 Kh8 18.c5 dxc5 19.bxa5 bxa5 20.Bxa6 Rxa6 21.Bxc5 Rf7 22.Rab1 Bf8 23.Qc4 Rg6 24.Bxf8 Nxf8 25.Rb7 c6 26.Rfb1 g4 Black’s pawns storm ahead backed by bishop and rooks. 27.fxg4 Bxg4 28.dxc6 Be6 29.Qc5 f3 30.Qxe5+ Kg8 31.Rxf7 Rxg2+ 31…Qxf7 is the obvious move, but the text has the same effect. 32.Kh1 Qxf7 33.Nf1 Qa7 Threatening mate on g1 34.Ng3 Allows White’s rook to defend the kingside, but it’s not enough. 34…Rxh2+! 34…Qf2 will still win but is much slower. 35.Nh5 Rg5 36.Qxg5+ hxg5 37.Rg1. 35.Kxh2 Qf2+ 36.Kh1 Qg2# 0–1.

In last week’s problem, Alice wondered what her sister could possibly mean by referring back to her French lessons. She was, of course, alluding to the French phrase used in chess of “en passant”. If Black’s c-pawn could move to b3 it would indeed be mate, and the only way it can do that is to take White’s c-pawn en passant, which means White’s previous move must have been Pb2-b4.

This position is taken from a book chapter entitled “Simple but not easy”. Jack Rudd of Barnstaple is White and his next move contains enough threats to win the game.

White to play and win

The Devon vs Somerset match at the weekend was always likely to be a championship decider, and so it proved. The 1^st teams were closely matched on paper for the most part, except for the top 4 boards, all of which went Somerset’s way, making their winning total 10-6, thus retaining the Harold Meek trophy for another year. The details were:- (Somerset names first in each pairing).

1.J. Rudd (221) 1-0   D. Mackle (209). 2.D. Buckley (205) 1-0 J. Stephens (196). 3.A. Wong (199) 1-0 S. Homer (184). 4.B. Edgell (197) 1-0 J. F. Wheeler (184). 5.M. Payne (189) 0-1 P. Sivrev (175). 6.P. Krzyzanowski (187) 1-0 J. Fraser (178). 7.M. Blocinski(185) 0-1 J. Underwood (180). 8.P. Chaplin (182) 1-0 D. Regis (181). 9.A. Footner (182) 0-1 A. Brusey (181). 10.B. Morris (178) ½-½ B. Hewson (176). 11.D. Littlejohns (177) ½-½ M. Abbott (173). 12. D. Painter-Kooiman (175) 1-0 S. Martin (171). 13.J. Byrne (172) ½-½ M. Shaw (173). 14.D. Peters (171) 0-1 W. Ingham (168). 15.G. Jepps (171) ½-½ T. Thynne (168). 16. F. Felício (162) 1-0 M. Stinton-Brownbridge (168).

Devon fared better in the 2^nd team match, played over 12 boards. They led by 6½-3½ but Somerset won the last 2 games to finish losing by a single point.

1. D. Freeman (163) ½-½ K. Atkins (160). 2. C. Purry (159) 1-0 N. Butland (158). 3. M. Staniforth (158) 0-1 D. A. Toms (159). 4. A. Gregory (157) 1-0 C. J. Scott (154). 5. C. Strong (155) 0-1 M. Hui (150e). 6. M. French (154) ½-½ B. Gosling (148). 7. M. Worrall (151) 1-0 P. Brooks (152). 8. C. McKinley (149) 0-1 O. Wensley (151). 9. M. Baker (148) 0-1 A. Frangleton (151). 10. C. Fewtrell (148) ½-½ A. Kinder (147). 11. J. Fewkes (145) 1-0 W. Taylor (142). 12. A. Champion (143) 0-1 V. Ramesh (138).

The West of England Championship starts a fortnight on Friday, 3^rd April, at the Royal Beacon Hotel, Exmouth. With its relatively limited accommodation already nearing maximum, there’s little time left for late entries, so don’t delay. Enquiries to Meyrick Shaw on 01395-275494 or e-mail wecu@hotmail.co.uk.

This last round miniature gave White 1^st prize in the recent Bristol Congress.

White: P. Krzyzanowski. Black: M. Lewis

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.Bg5 Ne4 6.cxd5 Nxg5 7.Nxg5 e6 8.Nf3 exd5 9.e3 0–0 10.Be2 c6 11.0–0 Bf5 12.Bd3 Bxd3 13.Qxd3 Nd7 14.b4 a6 15.a4 Qe7 16.b5 axb5 17.axb5 f5 18.bxc6 bxc6 19.Ra6 Rxa6 20.Qxa6 Rf6 21.Qc8+ Bf8 22.Rb1 Black now abandons his defences with fatal consequences. 22…Qa3?? 23.Qxd7 Qxc3 24.Ng5 and mate on h7 is unavoidable. 1–0

In last week’s position Rudd played 1.Rxd4! threatening both f2 and e5. 1…Nd2 (If 1…exd4 2.Bxd4 R2f7 3.Nb6+ Kb8 4.Be5 winning). 2.Rxd2 Rxd2 3.Rc4 Qxc4 4.Bxc4 Rxg2 5.Nb6+ and mate will follow after Qxe5+.

Here is another world premier 2-mover from reader Dave Howard of East Harptree.

White to mate in 2

Stephens vs Paulden on Bd. 1

The first game to finish was on Bd. 4 where Scott was trying to hold an endgame position with a rook each and bishops on opposite coloured squares. With best play it might have been possible to hang on, in view of the bishops, but the pressure told and he inadvertently allowed White’s bishop to fork K & R. 1-0 to Exeter.  

Shaw then managed to convert his positional advantages into material gain, forcing a win to level the scores. Dave Regis then restored Exeter’s lead by applying constant pressure in the endgame. Shortly after, Oliver Wensley exploited the advantage a well-placed, attacking bishop pair vs two defending knights, and forced resignation, to make it 2-all. 

Almost immediately Exeter drew ahead for the 3^rd time when Sean Pope made the most of a mistake by his opponent in allowing him back into the game. He won the exchange and then made equal swaps to snuff out any chance of a kingside attack.  

This assured Exeter of avoiding a loss, but the win hung on the outcome of the top game, which went into extra time after Paulden ran down to the very last second on his digital clock before completing his 40^th move. He had delayed development of his queenside pieces until late in the game and was struggling to get them usefully deployed thereafter. White was the exchange up at this point and his pieces were better coordinated and were focussed on the enemy king.  However, the win wasn’t immediately clear and he had a long think over his 41^st move before finding a knight pseudo-sacrifice that won immediately whether the knight was taken or not, making the final score 3-all. 

If it was unusual to have a match at this level with no drawn games, it was even more so that every game was a White win, giving the final result sheet a certain symmetry.

 Exmouth’s final match in this competition is against Teignmouth, while Exeter are due to play Newton Abbot.

Meyrick Shaw gets his game going.

Exeter captain, Simon Waters, starts with an English Opening.

Oliver Wensley against Tristram de Piro.

Sean Pope against Brian Gosling on Bd. 6

Devon’s RapidPlay tournament, the Newman Cup, has in recent years been the preserve of the same three clubs, Exmouth, Tiverton and Seaton, with Seaton being very much the underdogs. However, under the driving force of their captain, Steve Dean, they have never been downcast or tempted to give it all up, and in fact this season has seen a big change. The difference is the return to the fold of Jonathan Underwood after an absence of several years in the US. He has returned to the Devon scene, refreshed and re-invigorated, turning out regularly for the Devon county team, for Exmouth in Devon’s 1st Division and Seaton.

On Wednesday evening he turned out on top board for Seaton against his other club, Exmouth, in the Devon RapidPlay League. With a RapidPlay grade of 196 and surely about to break the 200 barrier in the next list, he was too much of a handful for the home captain, Mark Abbott, and made it 4 wins to nil in the home and away matches this season. Similarly, on Bd. 3, Oliver Wensley’s attacking skills proved too much for Alan Dowse in both games, with knights seeming to do most damage . On Bd. 2, Chris Scott, nearing the time limit, made an illegal move which lost the 1st game, but got his revenge in the next game when his king became very active in a N+Ps endgame and managed to force one through to queen. On Bd. 4, Simon Blake got a winning advantage in the first game, but lost his way in the 2nd, and Hazel Welch took full advantage, as she is wont to do.

4-all was probably a fair result on the night, but not enough to give Exmouth any hope of retaining the title.

Nervous banter before the start of play.

.... then things get serious.

Simon Blake vs Hazel Welch.

The Cornish Renaissance continues apace, as evidenced by their win over Hampshire at Honiton in the last round of the Inter-County Championship, though the 11-5 victory was helped by Hants being unable to raise a full team and defaulting 4 games. This scalp, added to those of Devon and Gloucestershire, meant Cornwall finished 2^nd in the West of England section and now go on to meet Norfolk in the National Stages quarter-final. Somerset finished 1^st by virtue of their win over Devon reported last week, which in turn pushed Devon down to 3^rd place.

Here are the details (Cornish names first in each pairing).

1. Jeremy Menadue (190) ½-½ D. Tunks (196). 2.Theo Slade (178) 0-1 G. Pafura (192). 3. Mark Hassall (173) 1-0 R. Marsh (176). 4.Grant Healey (176) ½-½ A. Cooper (175) 5. Mate Csuri (175) 0-1 D. Fowler (174). 6.David Saqui (170) 0-1 T. Davis (167). 7. Robin Kneebone (173) 1-0 C. Priest (147). 8. James Hooker (171) 1-0 S. LeFevre (146). 9.Simon Bartlett (168) ½-½ Miss G. Moore (144). 10. Colin Sellwood (156) 1-0 D. Culliford (137). 11. Gary Trudeau (155) 1-0 J. Young (129). 12. David J. Jenkins (133) ½-½ R. Hartley (126).

This was a bright win for the Cornish.

White: Gary Trudeau (157). Black: J. Young (129).

Sicilian Defence–Najdorf Variation [B90]

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 g6 7.Be3 Bg7 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.g4 Qa5? losing a tempo. These open Sicilian Defences are often played on a knife-edge, but this move hands the initiative entirely to White.  10.Nb3 Qd8 11.g5 Let the attack commence. 11…Nd7 12.0–0–0 The Yugoslav system, whereby White castles long and attacks quickly on the other wing. Black, of course, should attack the castled king a.s.a.p. but his loss of a tempo hasn’t helped. 12…Nb6 13.f4 Be6 14.Nd5 Bxd5 15.exd5 Nb8 16.Bd4 White is taking complete control of the centre. 16…Rg8 17.Bxg7 Rxg7 18.Qd4 Rg8 19.Na5 Qc7 20.Rd3 N8d7 21.Rc3 Qb8 Better might have been 21…Nc5 and if 22.b4 hoping to win the pinned knight 22… Nc8 23.bxc5 Qxa5 and Black would have gone some way to implementing his thematic plan. 22.Bg2 Nc5 23.Re1 Kd7 24.Rce3 Re8 25.h4 Qc7 26.Bh3+ Kd8 27.Rxe7 Qxe7 28.Rxe7 Rxe7 29.Qf6 Nc8 White is running out of pieces with which to inflict the coup de grace, but those he has are superbly positioned and the final assault plays itself. 30.Bxc8 Rxc8 31.Qxd6+ Rd7 32.Qf8+ Kc7 33.Qxc5+ Kd8 34.Qb6+ Rdc7 35.d6 1–0.

The solution to last week’s 2-mover was 1.Qe5! Only Black’s two bishops can move, and if it’s the white square one, then 2.Qa5mate, or if the other then it’s 2.Ra1 mate.

In this position, Black is threatening both the pawn on e3 and to free his rook with axb. How can White best deal with this?

White to move and win.

The West of England Championship starts on Friday morning at the Royal Beacon Hotel, Exmouth, with the leading contenders for the title currently being Keith Arkell (GM), Jack Rudd (IM) and Dominic Mackle, and late entries are coming in every day.

I hope to have the prizelist and top games available in a fortnight, but meanwhile here is a look back at a game from the early years of the tournament.

Trevenen of Penzance became the first Champion in 1946, then ’49 and ’50, while Kitto of Exminster had to wait until 1951 & ’55. The centenary of his birth was last month, though he died of cancer aged only 49.

This is their encounter from 1947, the 2^nd  Championship held in Bristol.

White: Francis Ernest Appleyard Kitto. Black: Henry Vickers White Trevenen.

Caro-Kann Defence – Alekhine Gambit. [B15]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Bd3 Alekhine’s Gambit in which White offers his d-pawn in exchange for a gain in tempo and attacking chances. Black accepts the “gift”. 5…Qxd4 6.Nf3 Qd8 7.Qe2 Nxe4 8.Bxe4 Nd7 9.0–0 Nf6 10.Bg5 Bg4 11.Rfe1 e6 12.Rad1 White’s plan is successful inasmuch as his development is complete while Black still has some way to go. How can White use this to further his advantage? 12…Qc7 13.Bxf6 gxf6 14.h3 Bh5 15.Rd3 Bd6 16.Qe3 Ke7? The natural move would be 16…0–0–0 but White has 17.Qxa7. An alternative would be 16…f5 17.Bxf5 and then 17…0–0–0 is safe because White has to look to the safety of his bishop. e.g. 18.Be4 f5 trapping the bishop. Or 18.g4 exf5 19.gxh5 and his king’s stronghold is somewhat compromised. 17.Nd4 Qb6 18.Qh6 Bg6 19.Bxg6 hxg6 With his queen en prise, Kitto spots a winning combination. 20.Rxe6+! Kd7 If 20…fxe6 21.Qg7+ Ke8 22.Qxh8+ Bf8 23.Qxf6 c5 24.Nxe6 Bd6 25.Qh8+ etc. 21.Rxd6+ Kxd6. If 21…Ke7 22.Nf5+ gxf5 23.Qxf6+ Kf8 24.Qxh8+ Ke7 25.Rd7+ Ke6 26.R3d6 mate. 22.Nf5+ Ke6 23.Re3+ Kd7 24.Re7+ The king must retreat to the back rank, allowing QxR mate. 1–0

It won’t be long now until the 26^th Frome  Congress on 15^th – 17^th May at Selwood Academy. Berkley Road, Frome, BA11 2EF. Entry forms are available on the event website, and further details from G. N. Jepps, 27 Lockey Rd. Shepton

Mallet, BA4 5RQ. Tel: 01749-344191 or e-mail: fromecongress@btinternet.com.

In last week’s position, White won with the pseudo-sacrifice 1.QxN! If Black takes the queen he is mated in 3. viz

1…Qxh5 2.Rxg7+ and if 2…Kh8  3.Rg5+ Re5 4.Bxe5 mate, or 2…Kf8 3.Rxf4+ Qf5 4.Rxf5 mate. Moving his rook only delays the inevitable.

It’s an unwritten rule of chess that one should develop all one’s pieces before starting an all-out attack, as in the above game. In this position Black has followed this plan, while White’s queenside pieces are still trapped. How can Black best maximise his advantage?

Black to play and win.

The prizewinners in the 34th Teignmouth Rapidplay Congress, played on Saturday 28th March,  were as follows:

The cross tables, generated by Tournament Director, are here:-

NB    Index:
A = Player’s score
B = Number of graded games played
C = Total grading points
D = Performance Grade

NB: Latest entries in Red