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British
Championships 2000
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John Henderson's Round 1 Report on Monday 31st July
THE THOUGHTS OF CHAIRMAN HODGSON
REMEMBER the good old days when the only thing you took to a tournament was your wits and a biro to record the game? Well things started to get out of hand in the late 1980s when Freddie Friedel and the boffins from ChessBase came on the scene, which meant that you also had to cart along a laptop crammed to the gunnels with all the latest theory. The "Master of Disaster" (Julian Hodgson esq) has now gone one better - he's taken to bringing along his own furniture!
Arriving at Millfield School in Street, Somerset (cider country to you and me), he didn't like the thought of defending his British Championship title by sitting on the school chairs (I know how you feel, Jules) provided by the organisers and so decided to invest some of his £10,000 winnings from last year on something a bit more befitting his posterior - a luxurious, executive swivel chair! Hey, Jules, why not go the whole hog and bring along your own table, too? If things continue at this pace then we'll all be arriving at tournament halls in the future alongside a Pickfords van (even better, how about their rivals "Bishop's Move")!
Here in the UK we can almost call late July and early August the "Smith & Williamson month" as the leading London-based accountants and private bank sponsor both the S&M Young Masters (won jointly by IMs Andrew Webster and Richard Bates on 6.5/9) and immediately followed by the British Championships. Could this month-long generosity to the UK chess scene have anything to do with the company's MD, Gareth Pearce? A former Welsh junior internationalist of the 1970s, he actually qualified to play in the British proper after coming second equal in the Major Open in 1980. Unfortunately, like many good men before him, Gareth fell into the usual rat race: got married, big job in the City, kids and hefty mortgage. All of which meant that poor old Gareth missed his chance of immortality as he was too busy to take up his qualifying place in the 1981 Championships (he did promise though to send us some of his games to, and in his words not mine, "remind everyone just how good he really was", that'll appear here later in the championships - but only if his adoring wife hasn't already used the scoresheets for the bottom of the hamster cage!
So, in a typical Viktor Kiam-esque moment ("I liked the company so much, I decided to buy it!"), Gareth has been the driving force behind his company's major investment in chess sponsorship through these two tournaments. As ever, working hat on, Gareth was on hand on the opening day of the tournament to officially open the 87th British Championships - and also to comment on Jules bringing along his own chair!
Well, no matter how comfy and regal Jules may have felt, as he swung from side-to-side in his new chair, it didn't help the chess as he came so close to losing. His opponent, the unknown Indian Panja Mahesh Chandran, came so close to causing an almighty opening day upset as Hodgson defended his title on the top board.
Mahesh Chandran vs Julian Hodgson
Mahesh Chandran,P - Hodgson,J [B93]
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 f4 Qc7 7 Nf3 A bit unusual, more often seen is either 7 a4 or 7 Be2. 7 ..Bg4 8 Bd3 g6 9 0–0 Bg7 10 Qe1 With grandiose plans of a kingside attack. 10 ..Nbd7 11 Kh1 Bxf3 12 Rxf3 e6 13 Be3 Ng4 14 Bg1 0–0 15 Qh4 h5 16 h3 Ngf6 Also worth a try was 16 ..Bf6 17 Qe1 Bxc3 18 bxc3 Ngf6 with the idea of playing against the doubled c-pawns. However, Black will always have to be wary of a kingside attack with White having the bishop pair vs knights. 17 Bd4 Qd8 18 Qf2 Also interesting was 18 e5!? Nh7 19 Qxd8 Raxd8 20 Re1 dxe5 21 fxe5 Ng5 22 Rff1 b5 23 h4 Nh7 24 a4 b4 25 Nb1 and White has a big space advantage.] 18 ..Ne8 19 Rd1 White's advantage now is obvious for all to see: He has the bishop pair, coordinated pieces and active rooks. Hodgson thus seeks to take the pressure off his position by exchanging queens. 19 ..Bxd4 20 Qxd4 Qb6 21 Qxb6 Nxb6 22 f5! This may have been missed by Hodgson. 22 ..Rc8?! Looks like a bad move but, however... 22 ..Nd7? 23 Bc4! Ne5 24 fxe6 Nxc4 25 e7! and Black's in a bad way. 23 fxg6 fxg6 24 Rg3 Nd7 24 ..Rf6? 25 e5! dxe5 26 Bxg6 leaves Black with a hopeless ending. 25 Rxg6+ Ng7 26 Be2 Ne5 27 Rh6 Rc6 28 Kg1?!
28 Rd4! Rb6 29 Nd1 was the correct route to victory. 28 ..Rb6 29 Rb1? Letting Hodgson off the hook. 29 ..Rc8! 30 Nd1 Rxc2 31 Bxh5 Nxh5 32 Rxh5 Rb4 33 Rh4 Re2 34 Rh6 Re1+ 35 Kh2 Rd4 36 Nc3 Rxb1 37 Nxb1 Rxe4 38 Nc3 Re3 39 Rh4 d5 40 Rb4 b5 41 a4 bxa4 42 Rxa4 Nc4 43 Rxa6 Nxb2 The Black pawns on d5 and e6 look menacing, but, in the event of an emergency, White can always seek to sacrifice the knight for the pawns. 44 Nb5 e5 45 Rd6! Rd3 45 ..d4 46 Nxd4 exd4 47 Rxd4 and White will easily draw. 46 Rd7! Setting-up an easy route to the draw. 46 ..Na4 47 Nc7 Nc3 48 Ne8! e4 49 Nf6+ [49 Nf6+ Kf8 (49 ..Kh8?? 50 Rh7#) 50 Nh7+ Ke8 51 Nf6+] ½–½
Similarly on board two, Jon Speelman, despite being better throughout against top English junior Simon Buckley, found to his angst that his opponent found all the necessary tricks in a rook and pawn ending to save the day and the half-point.
With both Speelman and Hodgson being two of only three draws in the first round, in a unique set of circumstances for the two top seeds in such a strong "Swiss" tournament, they now find themselves being justly rewarded by having to play each other as early as the second round! Despite some protests, the tournament arbiter, David Welch, with the aid of slide-rules, charts and an overhead projector, justified this, totally correct, second round pairing. What's the fuss anyway? There going to have to play each other sometime during the tournament, and round two's just as good as any other!
Jon Speelman and Simon Buckley
Speelman,J - Buckley,S [E61]
1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 c4 Bg7 4 Nc3 0–0 5 Bg5 d6 6 e3 c5 7 d5 b5 8 cxb5 a6 9 Nd2 Nbd7 10 e4 h6 11 Be3 axb5 12 Bxb5 Ba6 13 0–0 13 Bxa6 Rxa6 14 0–0 Qa8 (14 ..Qb6 15 Nc4!) 15 Qc2 preparing b3 and White has got a good Benko Gambit. 13 ..Bxb5 14 Nxb5 Ne8 15 Nc4 Nb6! 16 Nba3?! A totally artificial maneuver. 16 ..Na4 Also interesting was 16 ..Rxa3!? 17 Nxa3 Bxb2 18 Bxh6 Bxa3 (18 ..Bxa1 19 Qxa1 Nf6 20 Bxf8 Qxf8) 19 Bxf8 Kxf8 but, after 20 Qb3 Bb4 21 a3 Ba5 22 Rab1 c4 23 Qb5 Qa8 24 Qc6 17 Qd2 Nxb2 18 Bxh6 Nxc4 19 Nxc4 Bxa1 20 Rxa1 Ng7 21 a4 Qc7 22 Qc3 f6 23 f4 Kh7 24 Bxg7 Kxg7 25 a5 Rfb8 26 e5 Qb7! 27 Re1 dxe5 28 fxe5 Qxd5 29 exf6+ exf6 30 Nb6 Qd4+? Speelman thought that the better route to the draw was 30 ..Rxb6! 31 axb6 Ra2! as after 32 Re7+ Kg8 33 Qg3 Qd4+ 34 Kh1 Ra1+ 35 Re1 Kf7! 36 Qc7+ (36 h4 Rxe1+ 37 Qxe1 Qb2 38 Qa5 Qc1+ 39 Kh2 Qf4+=) 36 ..Kg8 White has got nothing better than to repeat the position. 31 Qxd4 cxd4 32 Nxa8 Rxa8 33 Ra1 Ra6 34 Kf2 Kf7 35 Ke2 Ke6 36 Kd3 Kd5 37 Ra4 Kc5 37 ..Ke5? 38 g3! (Buckley) 38 ..f5 39 h4 is zugzwang. 38 g4 Kb5 39 Ra1?
Playing in his opponents time-trouble, Speelman, uncharacteristically, slips-up and misses the win with 39 Rxd4! Kxa5 (39 ..Rxa5 40 Rd5+ Kb6 41 Rxa5 Kxa5 42 Kd4 and the King and pawn ending is lost for Black. 40 Kc4± Re6 41 Kd5 Re2 42 h4 Kb5 43 Re4 Rh2 44 Ke6 Rxh4 45 Kxf6 Kc5 46 Kg5 Kd5 47 Re1 Rh2 48 Kxg6 39 ..Kc5 40 h4? 40 Ra4 Kb5 41 Rxd4! also falls into the note above. 40 ..Kd5 41 Ra4 Ke5 42 Kc4 Ke4 43 Kb5 Ra8 44 a6 Ke3 45 Kb6 d3 46 Kb7 Rd8 47 a7 d2 48 Ra1 Ke2! 49 a8Q Rxa8 50 Kxa8 d1Q 51 Rxd1 Kxd1 52 h5 gxh5 53 gxh5 f5 54 h6 f4 55 h7 f3 56 h8Q f2 57 Qh3 Ke1 58 Ka7 f1Q 59 Qxf1+ Kxf1 60 Kb7 As the ever-witty Mr Speelman pointed out after the game, you can find this position in "Secrets of Pieceless and Pawnless Endings", Chapter 6 - distant opposition! ½–½
My goodness we're an inventive lot at the British! Not only can you follow the games live at www.chesssenter.com/britishlive.html, but you can also take part in the interactive "Commentary Room" discussion. Throughout the day during the live transmission of the games, you can also follow the commentary, which, thanks to the miracles of modern science, comes direct from the virtual Commentary Room where mein host, IM Andrew Martin (who by the way moonlights also as the resident chess coach at Millfield School), struts his funky stuff to the crowds daily. If you want to ask any questions of the live games in play, you can email us directly at millfieldchess@yahoo.com, where we'll endeavor to reply to you.
In the meantime, the following game between the UKs leading blind player, Graham Lilley, and GM Murray Chandler, has been kindly annotated for you by the irrepressible Mr Martin.
Graham Lilley vs Murray Chandler
Lilley,G - Chandler,M [E21]
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Bd2 A rather insipid way to meet the Nimzo-Indian. It's not a good choice from Graham Lilley who is much more comfortable attacking. Obviously 4 Bd2 isn't BAD but it fails to put any pressure at all on Black-that is the primary objection to the move. 4 ..0–0 [4 ..c5; RR 4 ..c5 A) RR 5 dxc5 Bxc5 ( RR 5 ..0–0 6 g3 Bxc5 7 Bg2 Nc6 8 Nh3 d5 9 cxd5 exd5 10 0–0 d4 11 Na4 Be7 12 Nf4 Bf5 13 Rc1 Ne4 14 Nd3 Rc8 15 Nac5 Nxc5 16 Nxc5 Qb6 17 Nb3 Bf6 18 Rc5 Be6 19 Bd5 Bxd5 20 Rxd5 Henneberke,F-Mohrlok,D/Beverwijk 1963/MCD/½–½ (37) ) 6 e3 Nc6 7 Nf3 Bb6 8 Be2 a6 9 0–0 d6 10 a3 a5 11 Qc2 0–0 12 Rfd1 Qe7 13 Nb5 d5 14 Bd3 h6 15 Rac1 dxc4 16 Bxc4 Bd7 17 Bc3 e5 18 Rd6 Bc5 19 Rd2 Bg4 Schneck,R-Koster,H/Hohenlimburg 1978/EXT 98/0–1 (32); B) 5 a3 5 ..Bxc3 6 Bxc3 Ne4 7 Qc2 Nxc3 8 Qxc3 cxd4 9 Qxd4 0–0 10 Nf3 d5 11 e3 Nc6 12 Qc3 Qe7 13 Bd3 dxc4 14 Qxc4 e5 15 Qc2 f5 16 0–0 e4 17 Bc4+ Kh8 18 Nd4 Nxd4 19 exd4 Abunasu,A-Doghri,N/Moscow 1994/CBM 44 ext/0–1 (58); RR 4 ..Nc6 5 Nf3 d5 6 a3 Be7 7 e3 0–0 8 Bd3 a6 9 0–0 dxc4 10 Bxc4 Bd6 11 Re1 Qe8 12 e4 e5 13 Bg5 Nd7 14 d5 Ne7 15 b4 h6 16 Be3 f5 17 Nd2 f4 18 Bc5 g5 19 Bxd6 cxd6 20 b5 a5 ½–½ Panzer,P-Sydor,A/Cattolica 1992/EXT 98 (20); RR 4 ..Bxc3 5 Bxc3 0–0 6 Nf3 b6 7 e3 c5 8 Bd3 cxd4 9 exd4 Re8 10 0–0 Bb7 11 Ne5 d5 12 Re1 dxc4 13 Bxc4 b5 14 Bb3 Nc6 15 Rc1 b4 16 Nxc6 Bxc6 17 Bxb4 Qb6 18 Bc5 Qb7 19 f3 Rodriguez,I-Conde,J/ESP 1999/EXT 2000/1–0 (35)] 5 Nf3N d5 6 e3 b6 7 Be2 Bb7 One of many comfortable schemes at Black's disposal. White actually won a recent game in this line: [RR 8 cxd5 Nxd5?! But this is the culprit. Simply 8...exd5 leaves Black in very good shape. 9 0–0 Qe7 10 Rc1 Nxc3 11 Bxc3 Bd6 12 Ne5 Bxe5 13 dxe5 Rd8 14 Qa4 Qg5 15 Qg4 Qxg4 16 Bxg4 c5 17 Rfd1 Na6 18 Be2 Nc7 19 b4 Rxd1+ 20 Bxd1 cxb4 21 Bxb4 Nd5 22 Bd6 Rc8 23 Rxc8+ Bxc8 24 Bb3 Nc3 25 f3 a5 26 a3 Ba6 27 Kf2 b5 28 Ke1 b4 29 axb4 1–0 Singliar,A-Lukac,J/SVK 1999/EXT 2000 (29)] 8 ..Bd6! An excellent retreat which took the commentary room audience eleven(!) guesses to spot! Obviously nobody likes to go backwards! But 8..Bd6 is very good,eyeing h2 and preparing ..c7-c5. Back only needs a few moves now eg ...a6,...Ne4..f5,...Qf6-h6! to start a very dangerous offensive. Graham Lilley tries to anticipate Black's imminent initiative but finds his position bereft of good moves. [RR 8 ..Be7 9 cxd5 exd5 ½–½ Szypulski,A-Pisulinski,J/Augustow 1996/EXT 99 (9)] 9 cxd5 exd5 10 Ne5N [RR 10 Rc1 a6 11 a3 Nbd7 12 b4 Ne4 13 Be1 Qe7 14 Qb3 Ndf6 15 Na4 Rab8 16 Qb2 Nd7 17 Nd2 f5 18 Nb3 f4 19 exf4 Bxf4 20 Rc2 Rbe8 21 g3 Bd6 22 f3 Ng5 23 h4 Ne6 24 f4 Bxf4 25 gxf4 Nxf4 26 Rxf4 Rxf4 27 Bg3 Qe3+ 28 Kg2 Ref8 29 Bh5 Qe4+ 0–1 Fokin,S-Tukmakov,V/Sverdlovsk 1987/EXT 99 (29)] 10 ..c5! 11 f4 Nc6! Already matters are extremely serious. The erroneous plan with Ne5 and f4 leaves Lilley with a permanent weakness on e3 and whereas before he could hope to hold the position by fiddling about now White is obliged to seek active counterplay which simply isn't there! 12 Bb5 Rc8 13 Qa4 Qc7! 14 Kh1 Pass! And trading on c6 was very bad too eg 14 Nxc6 Bxc6 15 Bxc6 Qxc6 16 Qxa7? (16 Qxc6 Rxc6–+ Just look at the ugly weakness on e3 !! ) 16 ..Ra8–+ 14 ..Ne7! Chandler's second excellent retreat of this game and a move which pushes White's position very much towards the brink. Black has several ideas eg...a6,..b5 and ...Nf5, coupled with the eventual ejection of the Knight from e5 eg ...Rfe8...Nf5...f6 and it's hard to see how White can contest them. 15 Rac1? Both 15 Bd3 and 15 Ba6 would have given better chances. 15 ..c4 16 Qd1 a6 17 Ba4 b5 18 Bc2 Ne4! A move that secures the future of the remaining Black Knight on either d5 or f5. Please note the Queenside pawn majority, another significant trump in Black's hand. 19 Nxe4 dxe4 20 Qe1 Nf5 21 g4??
Panic! But that's what the pressure of playing a Grandmaster does to you. There were two moves offering hope of survival: 21 Ba5 Qe7 22 g4 Nh4 23 Qg3 Bd5; 21 Kg1 f6 22 Ng4 Qd7 21 ..Nxd4! A crushing move. 22 exd4 Perhaps Graham was relying on 22 Ba5 but there's a simple refutation eg 22 ..Nxc2 23 Bxc7 Nxe1 24 Bxd6 Rfd8 25 Be7 Re8-+ The game move leads to total collapse. 22 ..e3+ 23 Nf3 exd2 24 Qxd2 Bxf4 25 Qg2 Bxc1 26 Rxc1 Rce8 27 Kg1 Qf4 28 Rf1 g6 29 Ne5 Qxd4+ A rout, but White deserved it after his spineless opening play. 0-1