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British
Championships 2000
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John Henderson's Round 9 Report on Wednesday 9th August
REAR OF THE YEAR
WHAT with my past history with regard to this part of the anatomy, I suppose asking if there was a Proctologist in the playing hall was just taking it a tad too far. But you could at least see why I asked the question of IM Andrew Martin during his entertaining commentary, couldn’t you? Well, what with the continued medical problems of Danny Gormally – now taking to walking like John Wayne for some strange reason – and the opening choice of Murray Chandler, round nine could have been described as a “bummer bonanza”.
Julian Hodgson beat Murray Chandler
Julian Hodgson coolly refuted Murray Chandler’s route-one approach to goal against his Modern Defence with a provocative line, called the “Monkey’s Bum”. So why the sobriquet Monkey’s Bum, I hear you ask? The line was aptly christened after the Streatham player Nigel Povah showed one of his fellow club members his new innovation in the Modern Defence (all the rage in the 1970s in Britain due to two pioneering works by Ray Keene and George Botterill, The Modern Defence and The Pirc Defence) late one night in the pub. “Well, if that works”, he replied the worse for the weather, “then I’m a Monkey’s Bum!”. And, such is chess nomenclature, when Povah subsequently published an article on it in the normally staid British Chess Magazine in the 1970s, the name stuck.
However, funny names aside (and lets not also forget painful predicaments – D. Gormally), an exciting finish is now in prospect for the Smith & Williamson British Championships at Millfield School in Somerset as the defending champion, Julian “Master of Disaster” Hodgson, has now miraculously joined GM Chris Ward on 7/9, to share the lead going into the final two rounds.
Chandler,M - Hodgson,J [B06]
1 e4 g6 2 d4 Strictly speaking, the Monkey's Bum proper is 2 Bc4 Bg7 3 Qf3 e6 4 d4 Bxd4 5 Nge2 Bg7 6 Nbc3, and, much like the Morra Gambit, White just sacrifices the d-pawn for active piece-play.
If you don't fancy the idea of facing a storming attack, Black can easily sidestep it all by playing 2 ..d6 after Bc4 as 3 Qf3 is ably met by 3 ..Nf6. The only game I was able to find of Povah's in the latest ChessBase Mega 2000 database (Happy with that plug, Freddie?) was 2 Bc4 Bg7 3 Qf3 e6 4 d4 Bxd4 5 Ne2 Bg7 6 Nbc3 Nc6 7 Bf4 Ne5 8 Bxe5 Bxe5 9 Qe3 d6 10 0–0–0 Bd7 11 f4 Bg7 12 g4 a6 13 h4 b5 14 Bb3 a5 15 a4 bxa4 16 Nxa4 h5 17 e5 Nh6 18 exd6 Nxg4 19 Qc5 c6 20 Nd4 Bxd4 21 Rxd4 0–0 22 Nb6 Rb8 23 Nxd7 Qxd7 24 Ba4 Qb7 25 b3 Qb6 26 Qxb6 Rxb6 27 Rc4 Rd8 28 Bxc6 Rxd6 29 Bf3 Ne3 30 Ra4 Rb4 31 Rxa5 Rxf4 32 Bb7 Rb6 33 Ba8 Nf5 34 Kb2 Nxh4 35 Ka3 Nf5 36 c4 Nd4 37 Rb1 Nc2+ 38 Ka2 Nb4+ 39 Kb2 Rb8 40 c5 Nd3+ 0–1 Povah,N-Kagan,S/Birmingham 1977/EXT 99 (40) 2 ..Bg7 3 Nc3 c6 4 Bc4 d6 5 Qf3 The Deferred Monkey's Bum: White holds onto the d-pawn. 5 ..e6 6 Nge2 b5 7 Bb3 a5 Black ignores development, which enables White the possibility of opening the game up in the centre. 8 a3 8 a4 b4 9 Nd1 8 ..Ba6 9 0–0
9 d5!? was the winning choice of both Judit Polgar and Vishy Anand against Alexei Shirov: 9 d5 cxd5 10 exd5 e5 11 Ne4 h6 (11 ..Qc7 12 c4 bxc4 13 Ba4+ Nd7 14 N2c3 Ke7 15 Nxd6 Qxd6 16 Ne4 Qxd5 17 Bg5+ Ndf6 18 Rd1 Qb7 19 Rd7+ Qxd7 20 Bxd7 h6 21 Qd1 1–0 Polgar,J-Shirov,A/Amsterdam 1995/CBM 49 (21)) 12 g4 Nf6 13 N2g3 Nxe4 14 Nxe4 0–0 15 Qh3 f5 16 gxf5 Bc8 17 Ng3 Rxf5 18 Qg2 a4 19 Ba2 Rf4 20 c3 Rh4 21 h3 Bf5 22 Nxf5 gxf5 23 Qg6 Qf8 24 Be3 Kh8 25 0–0–0 Nd7 26 Qe6 Rd8 27 Rdg1 f4 28 Ba7 Nf6 29 Bb1 Re8 30 Qf5 Qf7 31 Bb6 Rf8 32 Rg6 Rh5 33 Qe6 Rg5 34 Rxg5 hxg5 35 Rd1 Qd7 36 Qxd7 Nxd7 37 Bc7 Rf6 38 Bd3 Nc5 39 Bxb5 e4 40 Bb6 Bf8 41 Bxc5 dxc5 42 Re1 e3 43 fxe3 f3 44 Bxa4 c4 45 Bb5 Rh6 46 Bd7 f2 47 Rf1 Bc5 48 e4 Rf6 49 Bb5 Rf4 50 Bxc4 Rxe4 51 Bb5 Re3 52 d6 Bxd6 53 Rxf2 Rxh3 54 Bd7 Rg3 55 Kc2 g4 56 Rd2 Bc7 57 a4 Rg1 58 Bc6 1–0 Anand,V-Shirov,A/Dos Hermanas 1996/CBM 53 (58) 9 ..Nd7 10 Bf4 Qe7 11 e5 11 Rad1 e5 12 Bg5 Ngf6 13 d5 c5 14 a4 b4 15 Nb5 Nb6 16 Qd3 c4 17 Bxc4 Nxa4 18 Ra1 Nxb2 19 Qb3 Nxc4 20 Qxc4 Rc8 21 Qd3 Qd8 22 c4 0–0 23 Ra2 Rxc4 24 Bxf6 Bxf6 25 Qxc4 Qb6 26 Qc7 Qxb5 27 Qxd6 Kg7 28 Rc1 Rd8 29 Qc6 b3 30 Rb2 Qd3 31 Rcb1 Rc8 32 Qa4 Rc2 33 Rxb3 Qxe2 34 Rf3 Bd3 35 Qd7 Bxe4 36 Rxf6 Kxf6 37 Qd6+ Kf5 38 Rf1 Bd3 39 Qd7+ Kf6 0–1 Nunn,J-Shirov,A/Germany 1996/GER-chT (39) 11 ..d5 12 Qe3 f6 13 Rfe1 fxe5 14 dxe5 Qf7 Black makes way for the knight to develop on e7. 15 Nxd5?
Based on a miscalculation by Chandler, who failed to notice Hodgson's 18th move. Instead, the game should have continued with 15 Nd4 Ne7 16 Qh3 Nc5 17 Bg5 Nf5! 18 Nxc6 Nxb3 19 cxb3 Qc7 20 g4 Qxc6 21 gxf5 gxf5 22 Qh5+ Kf8 23 Rac1 Qd7 and Black has the better prospects due to the bishop pair and weak, White pawn structure. 15 ..cxd5 16 Bxd5 exd5 17 e6 Qe7 18 exd7+ Kf7! This came as a shock for Chandler, who, not realising that Hodgson could play this, had only anticipated 18 ..Kxd7 19 Qb6 Be5 20 Bxe5 Qxe5 21 Nc3 which is near winning for White, and ; 18 ..Kf8 19 Nd4 Qxe3 20 Bxe3 Kf7 21 Nc6 Ne7 22 Nxe7 Kxe7 23 Bd4+ Kf7 24 Bxg7 Kxg7 25 Re7+ Kf6 26 Rae1 with a decisive advantage. 19 Qh3 Nf6 20 Nd4 Qxd7 21 Re6 Ne4 22 Re1 Rad8!
A cruel move to play when your opponent is in serious time-trouble. Chandler no doubt had used up what valuable time he had analysing something like 22 ..Bxd4 23 R1xe4 dxe4 24 Rf6+ A) 24 ..Ke8 25 Re6+! Kf8 (25 ..Kd8 26 Rd6!) 26 Rf6+ draws!; B) 24 ..Kxf6 25 Qxd7 Rhd8 26 Qc6+ Kf7 27 Bg5 Rac8 28 Qxa6 Rxc2 29 h3 Be5 30 g3 Rd1+ 31 Kg2 Rxb2 with survival chances. However it was not to be... 23 Qf3 Bxd4 24 Rxa6 Bxf2+ 25 Kh1 Rhf8 0–1
Gormally,D - Crawley,G [E17]
1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 c4 b6 4 g3 Bb7 5 Bg2 Be7 6 0–0 0–0 7 d5
A gambit line that was pioneered by Gennadi Sosonko and Oleg Romanishin in the early 1980s. However it "suddenly" became all the rage after a certain Garry Kasparov started using it to good effect. 7 ..exd5 8 Nh4 c6 9 Nf5 The critical line is 9 cxd5 Nxd5 10 Nf5 Bf6 11 e4 9 ..dxc4 10 e4 d5 11 Nc3 Nbd7 12 Bf4 Nc5 13 exd5 cxd5 14 Nxd5! Nxd5 15 Bxd5 Bxd5 16 Qxd5 Bf6 16 ..Qxd5 17 Nxe7+! 17 Bd6 Re8 18 Qxc4 Qc8? 18 ..Bxb2! 19 Rab1 (19 Rad1 Qf6!) 19 ..Qf6 20 Bxc5 bxc5 21 Qxc5 with equal play. 19 Qd5 19 Qf4! may have been better. 19 ..Qe6 20 Qf3 Bxb2 21 Rae1 Qf6?
21 ..Qxe1!? 22 Rxe1 Rxe1+ 23 Kg2 Rd8 would have led to an interesting struggle. 22 Be7 Qg6?? 23 Bxc5 23 Bxc5 bxc5 24 Ne7+ Rxe7 25 Qxa8+! 1–0
ANDY’S BIT’S ‘N’ PIECES
Exhausted - and saddened - by the outbreak of London Systems and Torre Attacks on the top boards, this annotator’s attention turned elsewhere for some serious chess – the bottom of the playing hall!
Jack Rudd and Martin Simons
Rudd,J - Simons,M [B01]
1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Nf6 3 c4 e6 4 dxe6 Bxe6 5 d4?!
Untrustworthy. Black simply gets too much play in this line. 5 Nf3 is the most sensible choice. White puts top priority on getting the King to safety and only then will he look to expand in the centre; 5 Nf3 A) RR 5 ..c5 6 Be2 Nc6 7 0–0 Qd7 8 a3 0–0–0 9 b4 Nd4 The d4 square gives Black enough play for his pawn. 10 Nxd4 Qxd4 11 Qb3 Bd6 12 Bb2 Qh4 13 g3 Qh3 14 bxc5 Bxc5 15 Bf3 Bb6 16 Bg2 Qh5 17 d4 Bh3 18 c5 Bxg2 19 Kxg2 Ba5 20 Nc3 Plachetka,J-Dejkalo,S/Prague 1988/CBM 08/½–½ (38); B) 5 ..Nc6; C) RR 5 ..Nc6 C1) 6 Be2 Bc5 7 0–0 Qd7 C1a) RR 8 a3 a5 9 Nc3 0–0 10 d3 Rfe8 11 Bg5 Ng4 12 Ne4 Bd4 13 h3 Nge5 14 Nxd4 Nxd4 15 Nc5 Qd6 16 Nxe6 Rxe6 17 Re1 Rae8 18 Be3 Nxe2+ 19 Rxe2 Qxd3 20 Rd2 Qg6 21 Rc1 f5 22 Rd8 c6 Bolzoni,V-Van Leeuwen,E/BEL 1992/TD/1–0 (70); C1b) RR 8 Nc3 0–0–0 9 Na4 (RR 9 a3 Nd4 10 Nxd4 Qxd4 11 b4 Bd6 12 c5 Be5 13 Qa4 Qh4 14 g3 Qh3 15 Qxa7 Bc4 16 c6 bxc6 17 Bxc4 Ng4 18 Re1 Rhe8 19 Ba6+ Kd7 20 Ne4 Qxh2+ 21 Kf1 Qh1+ 22 Ke2 Qxe4+ 0–1 Dory,J-Kerek,C/HUN 1999/EXT 2000 (22)) 9 ..Bd4 10 d3 Rhe8 11 Bf4 Bf5 Zeroing in on d3. 12 Re1 Ng4 13 Bg3 Nge5 14 Nxd4 Nxd4 15 Nc3 Bxd3 16 Bg4 Nxg4 17 Qxd3 Ne2+ 18 Qxe2 Rxe2 19 Rxe2 Re8 20 Rxe8+ Qxe8 21 Nb5 Qe2 22 b3 f5 Brunner,L-Manor,I/Bern 1990/CBM 17/0–1 (36); C1c) 8 b4! is critical. Others: C2) 6 d4 6 ..Bb4+ 7 Bd2 (RR 7 Nc3 Ne4 8 Bd2 Nxd2 9 Qxd2 Qe7 10 Qe3 0–0–0 11 0–0–0 Rhe8 12 d5 Bxc3 13 Qxc3 Nb4 14 Qe5 Nxa2+ 15 Kb1 Nb4 16 Be2 Bxd5 17 Qxe7 Rxe7 18 Rhe1 Be4+ 19 Kc1 Na2# 0–1 Mortensen,E-Thorhallsson,T/Gausdal 1987/EXT 97 (19)) 7 ..Qe7 (RR 7 ..Bxd2+ 8 Qxd2 Qe7 9 Qe3 Ng4 10 Qe2 0–0–0 11 d5 Rhe8 12 Nc3 Bxd5 13 0–0–0 Bxf3 14 Qxf3 Rxd1+ 15 Nxd1 Qg5+ 16 Kb1 Re1 17 g3 Nd4 18 Qd3 Qg6 0–1 Martin del Campo,R-Thorhallsson,T/Baguio 1987/EXT 97 (18)) 8 d5 Bg4+ 9 Be2 Bxf3 10 gxf3 Nd4 11 Kf1 Nxe2 12 Qxe2 Bxd2 13 Nxd2 Qxe2+ 14 Kxe2 0–0 15 Ne4 Rfe8 16 Kd3 Re5 17 Rhg1 Nxe4 18 fxe4 Rae8 19 f3 c6 20 Rac1 Ransom,G-Skulte,C/Canberra 1996/EXT 98/1–0 (55); D) 5 ..Qe7 the latest fashion. 6 Qe2 (6 Be2!? Michael Adams played 6 ..Bxc4 7 d3 in a quickplay game recently, castling next. The idea is to make the Qe7 look silly. I'm not convinced that Black isn't OK there but he has to work hard to make it to equality.) 6 ..Nc6 7 d4 0–0–0! (RR 7 ..Bg4 8 Qxe7+ Bxe7 9 Be3 0–0–0 10 d5 Nb4 11 Na3 c6 12 Be2 cxd5 13 0–0 Kb8 14 Nb5 a6 15 Bf4+ Ka8 16 Nbd4 dxc4 17 Bxc4 Nfd5 18 Be5 f6 19 Bg3 Rc8 20 Rac1 Rhd8 21 h3 Nb6 22 Bb3 Bxf3 23 Nxf3 Nd3 24 Rc7 Rd7 25 Rxc8+ Nxc8 26 Be6 Rd8 27 Rd1 1–0 Frois,A-Almeida,R/Almada 1988/EXT 97 (27)) 8 d5 Qb4+ 9 Nc3 Bf5 10 Be3 Ne4‚ 11 Rc1 g6 12 a3 Qa5 13 dxc6 Bg7 14 cxb7+ Kb8 15 Nd2 Bxc3 16 bxc3 Nxd2 17 Bxd2 Rhe8 It is really crazy to give Black the initiative like this. Juck Rudd does the same thing in our featured game - for some reason he thinks he can defend against the overwhelming Black attack. 18 Be3 Qxa3 19 Rc2 Be4 20 Bxa7+ Qxa7 21 Ra2 Bc2 0–1 Minasian,A-Tu Hoang Thong/Yerevan 1996/EXT 97 (21) 5 ..Bb4+ 6 Bd2 Bxd2+ 7 Qxd2 Qe7!
I'm convinced this is the best way for Black who prepares ...Nc6, 0–0–0 and Rhe8 with full development. 8 Qe2 Rather an awkward move to have to play. 8 Qe3 is half-decent, but even there White has to toil to make it to even a remotely playable position. 8 ..Nc6 A) 9 Nf3 0–0–0 A1) 10 Be2 Rhe8 11 d5 there is nothing else. (11 0–0?! Bg4! 12 Nc3 Bxf3 13 Bxf3 Qb4! 14 Qg5 Nxd4 Romilly-A.Martin Aberdeen 1991–a happy experience.) 11 ..Nb4 12 0–0 Nc2 (12 ..Bxd5 13 cxd5 Qxe3 14 fxe3 Nc2 15 Nc3 Nxa1 16 Rxa1 Nxd5 17 Nxd5 Rxd5) 13 Qxa7; A2) 10 d5 10 ..Rhe8! The Black pieces radiate activity. 11 dxe6 (11 dxc6 Ng4 12 cxb7+ Kb8–+) 11 ..Ng4 12 Qe2 Qb4+–+; B) 9 d5 9 ..Ng4! 10 Qc3 Bxd5+ 11 Ne2 Be6 12 Qxg7 0–0–0–+ Frankly, all this is impractical for White. No wonder modern Grandmasters have turned away from 3 c4 as an antidote to the Scandinavian. Jack Rudd continues in his usual speedy, manic, cavalier fashion and gets wiped off the board. 8 ..Nc6 9 Nf3 0–0–0 10 d5 10 Nbd2 Nxd4 11 Nxd4 Rxd4 12 Rd1 Re8 13 g3 Bg4! 14 f3 Qb4–+ Prill-Gurieli Badenweiler Open 1990 was yet another disaster for White. 10 ..Rhe8 11 Kd1
UGH ! 11 Nc3 Qc5 (11 ..Bxd5! is devastating too 12 cxd5 Qb4 13 dxc6 Qxb2!) 12 0–0–0 Bxd5 13 Qc2 Bxf3 14 Rxd8+ Rxd8 15 gxf3 Nd4 16 Qd1 Qg5+ 17 Kb1 Qf5+ 18 Bd3 Qxf3 19 Qxf3 Nxf3 20 Kc2 c6 21 h3 Kc7 22 a3 Nd7 23 Rd1 Nde5 24 Bf1 Nd4+ 25 Kc1 Nef3 26 b4 Ne6 27 Rd3 Rxd3 28 Bxd3 Nf4 29 Bxh7 g6 30 Bg8 Ne5 31 Kd2 Nxc4+ 32 Ke1 Ne5 33 Kd2 Nc4+ 34 Ke1 Nd6 0–1 Nagy,M-Konig,B/HUN 1999/EXT 2000 (34); 11 dxe6 Qb4+–+; 11 dxc6 Bxc4!–+ 11 ..Nxd5N RR 11 ..Qc5! 12 Qe3 Nxd5 13 cxd5 Bxd5 14 Qxc5 Bb3+ 15 Kc1 Rd1# 0–1 Finn,S-Heasman,R/Berks & Bucks 1993/EXT 99 (15) A comical finish, I think you will agree. 12 cxd5 Bxd5 13 Nfd2 Qf6! Martin Simons is on the ball; this free-flowing attacking game is right up his street. 14 Qd3 Bxg2–+ 15 Qg3 Bxh1 16 Nc3 Bf3+ Leading to a very attractive mate. 17 Kc1 Re1+ 18 Kc2 Nd4+ 19 Kd3 Nb3+ 20 Kc2 Nxa1#
The local anesthetic on the top boards failed to affect Martin Simons who made it all look rather easy. White cannot play down the main line of the Icelandic Gambit and expect to live! 0–1