Wiltshire marked their return to the West of England Inter-County competition with an 8-4 win over Cornwall in the U-160 section at Chudleigh Knighton Village Hall. Compensation for the Cornish was the continuing emergence of 9 year old Adam Hussein as a force to be reckoned with. Details as follows: (Wilts names first in each pairing).
1. T. Woodward (154) 1-0 C. Sellwood (157). 2. M. Bowhay (152) 1-0 R. Smith (143). 3. D. O’Byrne (149) 1-0 R. Stephens (142). 4. Fenella Headlong (148) 0-1 M. Hill (136). 5. C. Snook-Lumb (139) 1-0 N. Robinson (129). 6. T. Cooper (133) 1-0 D. R Jenkins (124). 7. C. Callow (130e) 1-0 D. Lucas (124). 8. B. Headlong (126) 0-1 R. Clark (124). 9. R. Morris (122) 0-1 I. Renshaw (121). 10. R. Carver (115) 1-0 D. Hutchinson (UG). 11. M. Walters (104) 1-0 B. Parkin (115). 12. R. Sparks (80) 0-1 A. Hussein (82).
The London Chess classic finished on Sunday evening in a 3-way tie for 1st place, after top seed Magnus Carlsen (Norway) won from what was at one stage was a lost position to draw level with Anish Giri (Holland) and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France). This necessitated a play-off which Carlsen won, thus going from potential zero to hero in the space of a few hours.
The other notable achievement was that of Cornishman Michael Adams who drew every one of his 9 games against the World’s best. His defensive qualities were severely tested at times but no one could get the better of him. In fact, wins were rare throughout. Of the 45 games played there were only 9 wins.
Here is the Rd. 9 game that brought Carlsen level with the other leaders.
White: Magnus Carlsen. Black: Alex Grischuk [B51]
1.Nf3 c5 2.e4 d6 3.Bb5+ Nd7 4.0–0 a6 5.Bd3 Ngf6 6.Re1 b5 7.c4 g5 8.Nxg5 Ne5 9.Be2 bxc4 10.Nc3 Rb8 11.Rf1! h6 12.Nf3 Nd3 13.Ne1 Nxb2 14.Bxb2 Rxb2 15.Bxc4 Rb4 16.Qe2 Bg7 17.Nc2 Rb6 18.Rab1 0–0 19.Rxb6 Qxb6 20.Ne3 e6 21.f4 Kh8 22.f5 a5 23.a4 White has a positional and time advantage and seems destined for an easy win. Qd8 24.h3 Qe7 25.Ba6 Bxa6 Black could have defended his a-pawn but thinks there might be chances for himself. 26.Qxa6 Nh5! Opening lines for his queen and bishop, with an eye on g3. 27.Rf3 Rg8! 28.Nb5? Moving a piece away from his attacked kingside. Be5 29.Ng4 Qh4 30.fxe6!? fxe6? 30…Rxg4! would lead to winning chances for Black. 31.Nxe5 dxe5 32.Qxe6 Qe1+? 32…Qg5! would have been good enough to draw. 33.Kh2 Rxg2+ 34.Kxg2 Qxd2+ 35.Kg1 Qe1+ 36.Rf1 Qe3+ 37.Rf2 Qe1+ 38.Kg2 Black suddenly realises he has no perpetual check in hand. 38…Qxe4 39.Kh2 and suddenly it’s all over.1–0
In last week’s position, White played 1.Nxc6 and Topolov blundered by retaking with his bishop instead of rook, which allows 2.BxN and Black can’t retake because there is a back-rank mate, so he loses significant material.
This week’s position is a hitherto unpublished 3-mover by Dave Howard. Black is clearly set to lose, but how can it be done neatly in just 3 moves?
White to mate in 3