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British
Championships 2000
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John Henderson's Round 2 Report on Tuesday 1st August
CASTORS SPOILED
HEAVY is the head that wears the crown – and the backside that sits on the executive chair! Thinking that he’d be stting comfortably on board one throughout his defence of his British crown, GM Julian Hodgson’s policy of bringing his own comfy chair to the tournament has backfired badly for the defending champion with a second round loss to second seed Jon Speelman – forcing Hodgson to further wheel it around the tournament hall as he slumps to the depths of the lower boards.
Julian Hodgson seeks comfort down on board 17
Commenting to your intrepid reporter on his reasons for providing his own chair, Hodgson said: “We-ell, John, it’s like this: those school chairs didn’t look all that comfy to me.” A fair comment, Jules, but I just had to remind him that school chairs were never designed for comfort anyway, more for you to sit on and concentrate! “With all this wheeling around,” I ask the Master of Disaster, “I do hope you’ve got a good set of castors on that chair?” Popping his head into my office in the commentary room on the third day, Hodgson asked to check my computer to look at the games of his third round opponent, David Spence. “Unlucky bugger,” commented Hodgson, “he’s had two Black’s in-a-row - and now he faces me on board 25!”
Following the surprise first round draws by the no’s. 1 and 2, Hodgson, who was the odds-on favourite to retain the title, found himself up against his main rival and second seed, Jon Speelman, as early as round two due to a quirk of the ‘Swiss’ pairing system. Not to be totally fazed by Hodgson’s chair policy, Speelman himself managed to “obtain” a more comfy chair from the pressroom (perks of the job, folks!) and soon found himself in the driving seat, so to speak.
A Chair-Hunting Speelman won the battle on board 17
Many questions have been asked about the early pairing between Hodgson and Speelman, with my views well known: Hey! They had to play some time during the fortnight The tournament arbiter’s mulled long and hard over the pairings because they knew that criticism was sure to follow with the top two meeting so early in the Championships (an event that’s usually reserved for the second week of the competition). Chief Arbiter David Welch (slide-rule, charts and overhead projector at the ready) explained in great detail some of the machinations of the 'Swiss System' that is employed in large events of this kind that led to the unusual – but correct - pairing.
There were only six players on 0.5/1 and they were placed in rating order with Hodgson and Speelman one and two respectively. IM Gavin Crawley was number three. A notional line called the median was drawn between numbers three and four to divide the players on the score group into two. BCF pairing rules clearly state the player above the median, number three, Crawley, receives what is known as an 'upfloat' and plays an opponent on a higher score group. Crawley was paired against IM Colin Crouch who won his first game. The rules also stipulate that the player below the median, the fourth highest rated player on 0.5, which was Chandran, receives a 'downfloat'. So Chandran played Clive Waters who was on 0/1. This leaves four players on the score 0.5/1 to be paired; Hodgson, Speelman, Simon Buckley and Desmond Tan. Speelman had already played Buckley in round one and could not play Tan because they had both played white. Under the rules, players must alternate colours where possible. QED, Speelman, due black, had to play Hodgson who was due the white pieces. Elsewhere in the tournament, Brian Kelly against John Emms was drawn quickly while Murray Chandler, looking for his first British title) had a hard-fought victory against Simon Knott. The Zambian IM Amon Simutowe, winner of the Southern Africa Zonal, got perhaps one of the results of his career with an impressive win over GM Peter Wells.
So who’s going to win the British? Well I’m not a betting man (and I’ve got a full wardrobe of shirts to prove it!), but I think at this early stage the new favourites looks like the Old Man of UK Chess himself, GM Tony Miles, who believe it or not, celebrates his 25th anniversary of becoming Britain’s first GM next year. However, we’ve still got a long way to go (as Hodgson keeps on remind us merchants of doom), so therefore the correct answer should be “Don’t know, Guv!”
Game of the day however comes from the Croation GM, Bogdan Lalic, who was probably up all night with his trusty laptop preparing all the variations in this entertaining encounter with IM Simon Williams.
Simon Williams vs Bogdan Lalic
Williams,S (2353) - Lalic,B (2520) [A27]
1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Nf3 g6 4 d4 exd4 5 Nxd4 Bg7 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 g3 Qe7!? An interesting little system that's used in the past by Akopian and Piket. The big idea is to put pressure on White's c4-pawn, that's difficult to defend by b3 because of ..Bxc3. 8 Bg2 Qe6 9 Nb5!? [As predicted, Simon Williams goes for the jugular by choosing the most aggressive line. Instead 9 0–0 Rb8 (9 ..Qxc4?! 10 Bf4 Rb8 11 Rc1 and Black is under pressure.) 10 Qa4 a6 11 Qa5 Ne7 12 Qxc7 Rb4 13 Qa5 Rxc4 14 Bd2 h5 15 b3 Rd4 16 Be3 Rg4 17 Rad1 h4 18 Bc5 hxg3 19 hxg3 Be5 20 Rd3 Nf5 21 Rfd1 f6 22 Ne4 d5 23 Nc3 Nxg3 24 fxg3 Bxg3 25 Nxd5 cxd5 26 Rxd5 Kf7 27 Qb6 Bf2+ 28 Kxf2 Rxg2+ 29 Kxg2 Qxe2+ 30 Bf2 Bh3+ 31 Kh2 Be6+ 32 Kg1 Qg4+ 33 Kf1 Rh1+ 34 Bg1 Qf3+ 35 Qf2 Bxd5 36 Qxf3 Bxf3 37 Rd6 Be4 38 Kf2 a5 39 Rd4 Bc6 40 Rc4 Bd7 41 Rc7 Ke6 42 Ra7 Rh5 43 Ra6+ Kf7 44 Ra7 Rd5 45 Ke3 Ke6 46 Bf2 g5 47 Be1 Re5+ 48 Kf2 a4 49 bxa4 Re4 50 Ra6+ Kf7 51 Bc3 f5 52 Rf6+ Ke7 53 Rg6 g4 54 a5 Rc4 55 Be5 Ra4 56 a6 Be6 57 Rg7+ Bf7 58 Rh7 Rxa6 59 Rh1 Rxa2+ 60 Kg3 Bd5 61 Re1 Be4 62 Rd1 Ke6 63 Bf4 Ra3+ 64 Kh4 Rh3+ 65 Kg5 g3 66 Be3 g2 67 Bf2 Rf3 0–1 Christiansen,L-Piket,J/Monte Carlo 1993/CBM 34 ext (67)] 9 ..cxb5 10 Bxa8 bxc4 11 Bd5 Qa6 We now have a double-edged position, where Black's compensation lies with pressure on b2. 12 0–0 Ne7 13 Bg2 0–0 14 Bg5 Nc6 15 Qd2 Nd4 16 e4? A mistake, according to Lalic, who thought that 16 e3 was better. 16 ..Re8 17 Bh6 Bxh6!?
[Lalic also had to consider the other option of 17 ..c3 18 bxc3 Ne2+ 19 Kh1 Bxc3 20 Qd1 Bxa1 21 Qxa1 f6 A) 22 Re1? c5 23 Be3 (23 Bf1? Rxe4 24 f3 Re6 25 Rxe2 Rxe2 26 Kg1 Qe6!) 23 ..Bb7 24 f3 Nd4 25 Qc3 Qb6 26 Rc1 d6 27 Qc4+ Kf8; B) 22 Qb2! 22 ..c5 23 Be3 Bb7 24 f3 d5 25 Bxc5 dxe4 26 fxe4 Re5 27 Be3 Bxe4 28 Qb8+ Kg7 29 Qc7+ Kg8 with a draw in the offing.] 18 Qxd4 [18 Qxh6 leaves White with the problem of what to do with Black knight cemented in d4? 18 ..d6 19 Qd2 c5 20 Rfe1 Bd7] 18 ..Bg7 19 Qd2 d6 20 Kh1?! A waste of time. White would have been better continuing with [20 Rfc1 Be6 21 Qb4 Qb6 22 Qxb6 axb6 23 Rc2 b5 but even then Williams would have an uphill task to defend.] 20 ..Qb6 21 Rab1 Ba6 22 Rfc1 Rb8 Relentless pressure on b2 soon pays off for Lalic as Williams cracks. 23 h4? [A defining moment in the game. How does Black continue after 23 b4? 23 b4 c3 24 Qc2 (24 Rxc3? Bxc3 25 Qxc3 Qxf2!) 24 ..Bc4 25 Bf1 Be6 26 a4 c6 27 Bg2 Bd4 28 f4 and White appears to be over the worst of it.] 23 ..Bd4! 24 Kg1 Qc5 25 Bf1 [Now if 25 Rd1 Be5 26 b4 cxb3! 27 Rxb3 Rxb3 28 axb3 Bxg3 29 b4 Qb6 and Black's much better.] 25 ..Re8 26 Qf4 Re6!
Just look at how harmonious Black's pieces are in comparison to White. Lalic is now threatening ..Rf6 with intolerable pressure on f2. 27 b4 Qb6 28 b5 [28 Bxc4 Rf6 29 Qg4 Rxf2 30 Kh1 Be3 31 Rc3 Qd4 is decisive.] 28 ..Bb7 29 Rxc4 Rf6 30 Qd2 Bxf2+ 31 Kg2 d5 32 exd5 Be3 33 Qd3 Rf2+ 34 Kh1 Rd2 35 Rc6 Rxd3! [White has chances if Black immediately takes on c6: 35 ..Bxc6? 36 bxc6 Qc5 37 Qc4 Rxd5 38 Qxc5 Rxc5 39 Bg2] 36 Rxb6 Bxd5+ [36 ..Bxd5+ 37 Kh2 Rd2+ 38 Kh3 cxb6] 0–1
ANDY’S BIT’S ‘N’ PIECES
IM Andrew Martin
In what’s going to become a regular feature in these reports throughout the eleven rounds of the tournament, IM Andrew Martin will annotate a game each round, which today will be the Hodgson-Speelman encounter.
Hodgson,J - Speelman,J [A06]
1 b3 d5 [1 ..Nf6 2 Bb2 g6 3 Bxf6 A) RR 3 ..exf6 A1) RR 4 d4 Bg7 (RR 4 ..f5 5 e3 Bg7 6 g3 d6 7 Bg2 c6 8 Ne2 Na6 9 0–0 Nc7 10 c4 0–0 11 Nbc3 Rb8 12 Qd3 a6 13 Rab1 Bd7 14 b4 b5 15 a4 bxa4 16 c5 d5 17 Nxa4 Qe7 18 Nb6 Be6 19 Ra1 Engel,B-Dubeck,M/Donaueschingen 1985/GER/1–0 (69)) 5 e3 0–0 6 Bd3 f5 7 Ne2 d5 8 0–0 Nd7 9 Nd2 Nf6 10 c3 c6 11 Qc2 ½–½ Kirov,N-Radev,N/Pernik 1976/EXT 99 (11); A2) 4 c4 4 ..Bg7 5 Nc3 0–0 6 g3 d6 7 Bg2 Re8 8 Rc1 (I prefer 8 e3 in order to answer ..f5 with Nge2 and then White can maybe follow up with Rb1! and b4-b5.) 8 ..c6 9 e3 f5 10 Nge2 Nd7 11 0–0 Nf6 12 d3 Be6 13 Nd4 Qd7 14 Nf3 d5 15 c5 Rad8 16 b4 Qe7 17 d4 Ne4 18 Ne1 Pridorozhni,A-Palas,A/Decin 1997/EXT 98/½–½ (54); B) 3 ..exf6 ] 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Bb2 Bg4 4 Bxf6N <
A most unsuccessful opening experiment. Hodgson borrows the idea of doubling Black's pawns from his beloved Trompowsky but this position bears no resemblance to the Trompowsky whatsoever! A similar idea appears after 1 b3 g6 2 Bb2 Nf6 3 Bxf6 but there White has the positional plan of controlling d5 following up with the easy plan Nc3,g3,Bg2,e3 Ne2-f4-d5. Here no such plan is available. Essentially, with 3 Bxf6, White renounces his advantage of the first move. Other tries: [RR 4 d3 e6 (RR 4 ..Nbd7 5 Nbd2 e6 6 e4 dxe4 7 dxe4 Nc5 8 h3 Bh5 9 Qe2 Qd7 10 g4 Bg6 11 Ne5 Qe7 12 Bg2 0–0–0 13 0–0–0 Nfd7 14 Ndc4 Nxe5 15 Nxe5 Nd7 16 Nxd7 Rxd7 17 Rxd7 Qxd7 18 Rd1 Qe8 19 f4 Stradej,V-Virostko,P/CZE 1999/EXT 2000/0–1 (34)) 5 Nbd2 c5 6 h3 Bxf3 7 Nxf3 Nc6 8 g3 Bd6 9 Bg2 0–0 10 0–0 Re8 11 Nd2 Be5 12 c3 Rc8 13 f4 Bb8 14 e4 b5 15 e5 Nd7 16 Qe2 f6 17 c4 bxc4 18 bxc4 d4 Blatny,P-Eisterer,H/AUT-chT2O 9495 1995/EXT 99/1–0 (30); RR 4 g3 Nbd7 5 Bg2 e6 6 0–0 Be7 7 d3 0–0 8 Nbd2 a5 9 a4 c6 10 e4 dxe4 11 dxe4 Qc7 12 h3 Bh5 13 Qe2 h6 14 g4 Bg6 15 Ne1 e5 16 Nd3 Bd6 17 Nc4 b5 18 Nxd6 Qxd6 Smyslov,V-Polgar,S/Reykjavik 1995/CBM 49/1–0 (37); RR 4 Ne5 Bh5 5 d4 (RR 5 g3 Nbd7 6 Bg2 Nxe5 7 Bxe5 e6 8 c4 c6 9 0–0 Bd6 10 Bb2 0–0 11 d3 b5 12 Qc2 bxc4 13 dxc4 Qe7 14 Nc3 Bg6 15 e4 Ba3 16 Rae1 Rad8 17 cxd5 cxd5 18 Qc1 Bxb2 19 Qxb2 Nxe4 Machate,G-Roedl,L/Weidenau 1947/EXT 99/½–½ (69)) 5 ..e6 6 Qd3 Bb4+ 7 c3 Bd6 8 Qh3 0–0 9 e3 Nbd7 10 f4 Bg6 11 Nxg6 hxg6 12 Bd3 c5 13 0–0 cxd4 14 exd4 Ne4 15 Bxe4 dxe4 16 Nd2 Qc7 17 Nxe4 Bxf4 18 Bc1 Bxc1 Alatortsev,V-Rauzer,V/Leningrad 1936/EXT 98/1–0 (75)] 4 ..gxf6 5 e3 Bg7 [5 ..e5 6 Be2 c5 was interesting too. Speelman chooses a very safe way.] 6 h3 Bxf3 7 Qxf3 f5! A move which exposes the poverty of the White set-up. It's not even clear that Hodgson's pawn structure is better either. 8 d4 c5 9 c3? The real culprit. White had to take a risk with 9 Qxf5 eg 9 Qxf5 cxd4 Doesn't work. (9 ..Nc6! The best move, relying on fast development. 10 c3 cxd4 11 Qg4 0–0 12 exd4 e5 Place your bets. Black's initiative is fearsome-White has an extra pawn.) 10 Qg4 Qa5+ 11 b4! A resource that saves the day. 11 ..Qxb4+ 12 c3 Qb2?? 13 Qc8#] 9 ..Nc6 10 Bb5 [10 Qxf5 leads to the previous note. Hodgson is very loathe to give the opponent any attack whatsoever.] 10 ..Qa5 11 Bxc6+ bxc6 12 0–0?!
White misses the last chance to take on f5. 13 exd4! (as pointed out by Hodgson, draws with ease) 13 ..Bxd4 14 b4 Qb6 15 cxd4 Qxd4 16 Qc2 Qxa1 17 Qxc6+ Kf8 18 Qxa8+ Kg7 19 Qxd5 Qxb1+ 20 Ke2 Qxh1 21 Qg5+ Kf8 22 Qh6+ Ke8 23 Qc6 12 ..e6 13 a3 Rb8!ƒ 14 b4 An attempt to bail out by offering a pawn sacrifice. White gets his Queen active but that's about it! 14 ..cxb4 15 cxb4 Rxb4! 16 axb4 Qxa1 17 Qg3" 00 18 Qc7 White is hoping for a liquidation which will leave him with good Knight against bad Bishop. Some sort of trade of all the queenside pawns. Speelman has seen his way through the whole business and plays a couple of tremendous moves. 18 ..Qb2! Very good, keeping a Rook out of c1 and attacking b4. White's Knight is hobbled too! 19 Qxa7 f4! And this is the best move of the game, undermining White's entire position. Black intends to take on e3 creating a pawn weakness and opening up the second rank. In turn this locks the White Queen to the a file since Speelman would threaten further activation with ..Ra8-a2.Since Julian's game is entirely passive in this case he is forced to make a horrible move. 20 exf4?! Qxb4!µ 21 Rd1 Qb3 Encroaching. Black forces an exchange of Queens leaving Hodgson's position in tatters. 22 Rc1 Qb2! 23 Qa3 Rb8 24 f5 Qxa3 25 Nxa3 Rb3 26 Nb1 [26 Nc2 Rc3] 26 ..Bxd4 27 fxe6 fxe6 28 Nd2 Rb2 29 Nf3 At this point Julian sportingly resigned after a disappointing performance.. 29...Bxf2+ would the next move and there's nothing left for White. 0–1