Games played by club members in the 2015-16 season

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    35. Qais Conquers Codger (Old).

    This is a decent example of Qais’s style – more interested in making threats than conventional ideas such as “develop your pieces” and “get your king safe”.
    Fritz has him the best part of a pawn down for the whole game, since Fritz knows all about piece development and king safety.

     

    34. Idiot of the year award?

    As part of the general call for games of the year, Gerry has nominated  a  new category and submitted a game for it!  (Typically (?), it involves that recently departed Hickman bloke! )

    33. Losing the County Championship with style!

    Steve Ledger  was deposed as County Champion (by our own Paul Habershon) at the weekend but he still managed a pretty final round victory over the county captain.  Steve himself takes up the story ….

    My 3 year reign as Beds County champ had come to an end in round 4, when I left a mate in 1 on against Graham Borrowdale, in fact I had a fairly miserable CC this year with this last round game being the sole high point.

    Now find the spectacular winning move (or moves!) for White

     

    32. The oldest ever county champion ?

    The clinching game!

    31. Triumph of wisdom over youth

    Here is a nice little triumph of wisdom over youth, played in Division 2 – apologies to both players, neither of whom have given me permission to publish it!

    30. Top board struggle

    The top board game in the C v D match was a tough struggle; White got an initiative, Black defended rather well; White went for one simplification too many and Black emerged with the better ending, but the “old Russian proverb” eventually reasserted itself.

     

    29. English senior success (and defeat)

    Paul scored (3/5) in the English Seniors.  Typically modest, he shows us his loss.

    This was when I lost in the following game. It’s worth a look just for the aesthetic formation of the four bishops on two occasions. It also ends in mate!

    28. A funny thing happened on c6 !?

    Joe explains how to “self-mate your queen in 9 easy moves”

     

    27. A team decider

    Michael was the first to finish in a close match against Luton, when he turned his game round in dramatic fashion.
     

    26. Youth over experience in the county individual

    An interesting struggle where Jan holds on during a difficult game to ultimately show better endgame appreciation (although time trouble probably had a part in this!).


    25. Thrills and spills in the county individual

    A topsy turvy game where both players missed opportunities.

    Some comments from the original post:-

    1. Always good to see my efforts pulled apart!

      At the time I thought white’s attempt to develop with 10 e4 could be answered by b5 followed by b4, winning the e-pawn, but as I haven’t got a board in front of me I can’t be sure.

      I have to admit I thought that avoiding the queen exchange on move 16 gave black more chances than it actually did. I spent far too long looking for an elusive winning continuation, and blundered as a result.

      Oh, and I would definitely have taken the smothered mate had Paul allowed it – that’s a once in a lifetime opportunity, all too often consigned to the notes!

      Nice website, by the way.

    2. Neil Hickmanon March 11, 2016 at 8:17 pm said:Edit

      Disdaining Philidor’s Legacy (note to 22 Qxe7?) has a certain classiness, as well…

      Paul Habershon on March 12, 2016 at 11:29 am said:Edit

      Yes, Neil, the trouble with the flashy Philidor thingy is that after 25 Kg1 it is an inferior mate in three, as opposed to the mate in two of the note.

    3. Always amusing when both players miss the same move more than once! Good save by White after a tough start though.

    24. Good king hunting

    When White snapped off  Ravi’s b-pawn on move 7, he may not have suspected that his King would be forced to seek and fail to find refuge on a1 – a pretty attack.

    23. Game of three thirds

    This was not so much a game of two halves as a game of three thirds; first third pretty much book, second third chaotic, as John Harbour aptly observed; final third the game runs like clockwork…

    22. Division 1 clash

    Chris and John slug it out …

    21. 4NCL missed opportunity

    I played this game today at the Holiday Inn, Birmingham Airport, and missed a drawing chance.

    20. Lessons to be learnt
    At first sight, there wasn’t much to say about the game that Nigel and I had in Division II. Black got a difficult opening and lost material, White won, apparently without too much fuss. But it turns out there were lessons for both players…

    19. What might have been

    By ‘popular’ demand, I reluctantly share the following for which I can only apologise!

    18. “Nice ideas” in the McCutcheon

    Not quite as bad a game as I (NH) first thought, and quite a nice little idea “in the notes” though I’m slightly annoyed with myself for missing it:


    17. Top seed clash
    Notes by Paul.


    16. The incredible emptying d-file

    Well it was short and I won without any obvious clangers so it might as well be my publication for the season.


    15. Richard at Christmas

    I would describe this as a typical game of mine around Christmas time, aggressive, not always sound and careless which should have cost me.

     


    14. Neil’s Nightmare (Part 2)
    A classic Harbour-Hickman struggle with chances for, and blunders by,
    both sides, and Harbour “luckily” coming out on top in the end.


    13. Neil’s Nightmare
    They say you learn more from your losses than from your wins, from which I
    must try to take comfort following my part in the Bedford D v MKC debacle.
    With one hiccup I build up a pretty solid advantage which I keep almost to the
    end of the game, but sensible defence by Colin Solloway underlines how
    difficult it can sometimes be to win “won” games.


    12. Paul vs Suffolk
    Unusually one of my games actually reached mate, probably because I was down to 15 second increments with the time control at move 36. I might not have made it.


    11. Gerry vs Norfolk
    I sat down at board 14 against Norfolk and you can imagine my feelings to see my opponent was a teenager with a 161 grading and I had the black pieces! I always fear young opponents, as they tend to be tactically very clued up and full of new opening theory. This guy proved the exception to the rule and his tactics were sharp but dubious. The result was a really interesting game with lots of opportunity to go wrong, but which worked out well in the end.


    10. Pins Galore!
    Gerry’s notes on his Division 2 clash with Nigel.


    9. Derby action
    Apart from move 14, I thought I played okay in this game. However it doesn’t take long to prove that I didn’t. Still, the game was quite instructive and I’ve learnt a few things from it.


    8. Top board clash
    My game against James Alexander seems to have been quite a reasonable one until the last move before the time control…


    7. Harbour arrives in Division 1!
    Inspired by Anderssen’s 1858 heroics (Miles’ 1980 heroics, more like), John shows he is not there to make up the numbers against the strongest player in the competition.


    6. A cry for help!?
    Notes (and title) by Peter.


    5. Knights on the rim …
    A solid game by White, finished prettily. Notes by Chris..


    4. The CvD top board 1 clash
    An interesting game that shows how small advantages can cause increasing problems and grow much bigger – notes by the winner.

    It’s always interesting to hear what the opposition thought – Neil subsequently made a few points from his perspective:-

    I am not sure I quite agree with Gerry at two or three points in our game.
    Gerry saw 12 e5 as bottling up the white square bishop – I saw it as potentially offering some tasty white squares. Wouldn’t it be boring if such questions had clear answers?
    Fritz suggests 18…Bb7 aiming for the white squares. I think that was more to the point and indeed after 19.c4 Qa6 20.Qd3 Bxf3 (swapping the white squares for a pawn weakness) 21.gxf3 (21.Qxf3? Rac8 and the c-pawn drops) 21…f6 Black seems to have equalised.
    I don’t agree at all that 21 Bb4! was dubious. Getting rid of the two bishops and decentralising the BQ is worth more than the pawn.
    24 d5! is very strong. I agree with Gerry that 24…a5 is a better idea than the move I played – at least with a passed pawn with a rook behind it, Black will have a useful imbalance to work with, though White seems clearly better after 25.Qxb6 Qxc4 26.d6 a4.
    And the rest is just too horrible to discuss…


    3. A Captain’s Innings

    The new B team captain plays decisively to hold Leighton Buzzard A.



    2. Nice pair of bishops!

    My game in the 2015 Fleming Trophy match wasn’t terribly profound – reasonable positional play followed by a blunder by the opponent – but had its instructive aspects.


    1. Mayhem in the season opener
    Peter confounds the rating system and Richard gets a bit lucky!

     

     

    2 Replies to “Games played by club members in the 2015-16 season”

    1. I am not sure I quite agree with Gerry at two or three points in our game.
      Gerry saw 12 e5 as bottling up the white square bishop – I saw it as potentially offering some tasty white squares. Wouldn’t it be boring if such questions had clear answers?
      Fritz suggests 18…Bb7 aiming for the white squares. I think that was more to the point and indeed after 19.c4 Qa6 20.Qd3 Bxf3 (swapping the white squares for a pawn weakness) 21.gxf3 (21.Qxf3? Rac8 and the c-pawn drops) 21…f6 Black seems to have equalised.
      I don’t agree at all that 21 Bb4! was dubious. Getting rid of the two bishops and decentralising the BQ is worth more than the pawn.
      24 d5! is very strong. I agree with Gerry that 24…a5 is a better idea than the move I played – at least with a passed pawn with a rook behind it, Black will have a useful imbalance to work with, though White seems clearly better after 25.Qxb6 Qxc4 26.d6 a4.
      And the rest is just too horrible to discuss…

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