John Henderson Reports on the British Championships in Scarborough

Round 2 Tuesday 31st July 2001

ARE YOU GOING TO SCARBOROUGH FAIR?

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme
Remember me to one who lives there
For once she was a true love of mine

WHILST on the road reporting on these tournaments, I like to chill out by listen to some of my favourite CDs on my trusty old IBM ThinkPad: James Taylor, Elvis Costello, Robert Huebner on Alekhine for ChessBase, Sting, Van Morrison, k.d. lang, Joan Armatrading, and my all-time favourite, a three-album set by Simon & Garfunkel, entitled Old Friends.

One of the songs on the album, Are You Going To Scarborough Fair?, made the seaside town famous after it was used in the soundtrack to the classic 1967 film, The Graduate, that also made famous Dustin “Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs Robinson?” Hoffman and Katherine Ross.

The song is a rendition of an old English folk song that dates back to late medieval times, when this part of the world was an important venue for tradesmen from all over England. Scarborough quickly became a major port engaging in the North Sea Trade with Germany and Scandinavia. Medieval trading vessels were built in the south bay.

The world famous Scarborough Fair was a six-week trading festival, which ran for 500 years, until ending in the 1700s. Each year, however, the Fair is re-enacted in period costume over the water in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada. Scarborough Fair was not a fair, as we know it today (although it attracted jesters and jugglers). Way back then, it was a huge six-week trading festival attracting merchants from all over Europe, running from Assumption Day, the 15th of August, until Michaelmas Day, the 29th September.

People from all over England, and even some from the continent, came to Scarborough to do their business. As eventually the harbour started to decline, so did the fair, and Scarborough is a quiet, small town now. But the Fair left behind the legacy of that song with the haunting lyrics – and a song that the writer never received any royalties for.

In the middle ages, people didn't usually take credit for songs or other works of art they made, so the writer of Scarborough Fair is unknown. Like some sort of medieval karaoke, bards who went from town to town sang the song. And as others heard the little ditty, they took it with them to another town, and the lyrics and arrangements changed with it. This is why today there are many versions of Scarborough Fair, and there are dozens of ways in which the words have been written down.

However, the most famous version is unquestionably the one that “alleged” came from the man who gave us 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover: Paul Simon. Along with the Andrew Ridgley of his day, Art Garfunkel, Simon popularised the song on their 1966 album Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (And yes, I do have the original vinyl version. Sad, eh?).

So, how did Paul Simon get to know about the song? Well, before he became really, really famous and got fed up with wearing heavy woollen pullovers, drinking real ale and singing with a finger in his ear, he lived and toured on the folk scene in Britain in the early 1960s. Whilst there, he learned the song from folk singer Martin Carthy. And, despite using his arrangement of the song on the album, Simon didn’t even mention Carthy’s name in the credits.

WARNING!: Well that’s the first piece of history on Scarborough, and there’ll be more to come over the eleven rounds of the tournament as I struggle to find material to use in these reports.

Now, after the musical interlude with Simon & Garfunkel, how about that well-known Scottish duo of Gallagher & Lyell? (Believe me, the links don’t come anymore tenuous than this!) In the first round, to some mirth, we discovered that we had the pop pairing of (Joe) Gallagher and (Mark) Lyell. I’m sure there’s hundreds of wonderful pairings out there. I even remember a Scottish Congress a few years ago with the intellectual meeting of the minds as (Alan) Plato come up against (Graham) Kafka!

The Gallagher in question, however, was none other than "Smokin'" Joe Gallagher. Now based and playing for Switzerland, Joe was again back at the British Championships to try to become one of the few players in the world to win two national championships. However, he's never really had much luck over the years playing at the British. And somehow I don't think Scarborough is going to be fair to him this year also.

Williams,S (2369) - Gallagher,J (2516) E70

1 c4 g6 2 Nc3 Bg7 3 d4 Nf6 4 e4 d6 5 Nge2 a6 6 g3!? We've just transposed into the g3 King's Indian Defence, the knight being on e2 rather than f3 makes no difference in the system favoured by Joe Gallagher as he invariably exchanges on d4. 6 ..0–0 7 Bg2 Nbd7 8 0–0 e5 9 b3 exd4 10 Nxd4 Re8 11 h3 Rb8

The so-called Gallagher Variation. Joe pioneered this very active system to such good effect in the early 90s, that it was named after him. 12 Be3 c5 13 Nde2 b5 14 Qxd6 b4 15 Na4 Nxe4 16 Bxe4 Rxe4! Taking on a1 first is wrong: 16 ..Bxa1 17 Rxa1 Rxe4 18 Nxc5 Rxe3 19 fxe3 Qe8 20 e4 Rb6 21 Qc7 Rf6 22 Rd1 Nf8 23 Rd8 Rc6 24 Rxe8 Rxc7 25 Nd3 a5 26 Nef4 1–0 Horvath,J-Berthelot,Y/Cannes 1992/EXT 97 (26). 17 Rad1 Qe8 18 Nxc5N 18 Nf4 Bf8 19 Qc7 (RR 19 Qd3 Nf6 20 Bxc5 g5 21 Bxf8 gxf4 22 Nc5 Re5 23 Bd6 Bxh3 24 gxf4 Rxc5 25 Qxh3 Rh5 26 Qg3+ Kh8 27 Bxb8 Qxb8 28 Rd4 Rc5 29 f5 Qe8 30 Rfd1 Rc8 31 Kh2 Qf8 32 Qh4 Qe7 33 Re1 Qc7+ 34 Qg3 Qb7 35 Qe5 Qb6 36 Qd6 Rc6 37 Re8+ Ng8 38 Rxg8+ 1–0 Khurtsidze,N-Kovalevskaya,E/Nova Gorica 1999/CBM 71 ext) 19 ..Re5 20 h4 Rxe3 21 fxe3 Qxe3+ 22 Kg2 Qe4+ 23 Kh2 Ne5 24 Qxb8 Ng4+ 25 Kg1 Qe3+ 26 Kg2 Qe4+ 27 Kg1 Qe3+ 28 Kg2 Qe4+ 29 Kg1 ½–½ Horvath,J-Reinderman,D/Haarlem 1993/EXT 98 18 ..Rxe3 19 Nxd7 Rxe2 20 Nxb8 Bxh3

21 Nd7? Williams misses his shot at transposing down into a winning ending: 21 Qb6! Bf8 22 Rd8 Qe4 23 Qc6! Qxc6 (23 ..Bxf1? 24 Qxe4 Rxe4 25 Kxf1 Kg7 26 Nxa6 Re6 27 Nc7 wins with ease.) 24 Nxc6 Bxf1 25 Kxf1 Rxa2 26 Nxb4 Ra1+ (26 ..Ra3? 27 c5! Rxb3 28 Nd5 Rb1+ 29 Kg2 Rc1 30 c6!) 27 Ke2 Kg7 28 Nd3 and black will be hard pushed to stop the c-pawn. 21 ..Bxf1 22 Nf6+ 22 Kxf1? Rxa2 23 Re1 Qa8! 22 ..Bxf6 23 Qxf6 Re1! 24 Rd8 Bxc4+ 25 Kh2 Bd5 26 Rxe8+ Rxe8 27 Qd6 Bf3 28 Qxb4 Re2 29 Qc5 If white was going to have a go at winning this difficult position, then he had to try 29 Qc3!? Bg4 a)29 ..Rxf2+? 30 Kg1 (a)30 Kh3?? h5!) 30 ..Rg2+ 31 Kf1 Rxg3 32 Kf2; b)29 ..Bd5 30 Qf6 Be6 31 a4; 30 Qa5! h5 (30 ..Rxf2+? 31 Kg1 Re2 32 Qd8+ Kg7 33 Qd4+!) 31 Kg2 Re6 32 b4 is going to be difficult to defend against as white creates a passed pawn on the queenside. 29 ..h5 29 ..Rxa2?? 30 Qc8+ Kg7 31 Qc3+ 30 g4 30 Qc8+ Kh7 31 Qf8 Bd5!= 30 ..hxg4 31 Kg3 Rxa2 32 Kf4 Re2 33 Kg5 Re6 34 Kh6 g5+ 35 Kxg5 Kg7 It's impossible for white to win - Black simply oscillates the rook between g6 and e6. ½–½

ANDY’S BIT’S ‘N’ PIECES

Despite being Britain’s first GM, the British Championships has always been an event that Tony Miles has never been at his best – even when he was by far the strongest player in the country! Could it be Scarborough Fair this time for one of the world’s most active players?

Miles,T (2565) - Ledger,A (2418) D15

IM Andrew Martin

1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 c6 3 d4 d5 4 Nc3 Qb6!? I can't say that I have seen this move before. Ledger throws down the gauntlet. 5 Qc2 Miles reacts calmly 5 ..Bg4 Not having anything to go on I have one suggestion that can be rejected immediately and a Fritz-fuelled pawn grab. Actually 5...dxc4 isn't too clear. 5 ..g6? 6 cxd5 cxd5 7 Nxd5!; 5 ..dxc4 6 e4 (6 e3 Be6 7 Ng5 Bg4 8 Bxc4 e6) 6 ..Bg4 7 Be3 Bxf3 8 gxf3 Qb4!? 6 c5 Qc7 7 Ne5 Nbd7 8 h3 Be6 An important moment in the game. I'm sure that Andrew Ledger sensed that his Bishop on f8 might have problems but what to do about it ?.I think that 8...Bh5 was a better choice: 8 ..Bh5 9 Bf4 Nxe5 10 Bxe5 Qc8 Here Black might be able to improve eg (10 ..Qa5!? 11 e3 (11 b4 Qxb4 12 Rb1 Qa5 13 Rxb7 Ne4 14 Rb3 f6 15 Bh2 Bg6; 11 Bxf6 exf6 12 e3 Bg6 13 Qd2 b6!) 11 ..Nd7 (11 ..Ne4 12 Bd3 Bg6) 12 Bg3 Bg6 13 Qb3 0–0–0 At least he doesn't end up chronically passive, as happens here.) 11 Bxf6 gxf6 12 e3 e5 13 Be2 Bg6 14 Qd2 Be7 15 0–0 Qe6 16 b4 0–0 17 f4 e4 18 b5 Kh8 19 Rab1 Rg8 20 bxc6 bxc6 21 Rb7 f5 22 Rfb1 Bd8 23 Na4 Qf6 24 Qe1 Qg7 25 Qf2 Qh6 26 Kh2 Bh5 27 Bf1 Bg4 28 g3 Qh5 29 Rd7 Rg6 30 Rbb7 Rh6 31 h4 Bf6 32 Rxa7 Rg8 33 Nb6 Bf3 34 Ra8 Rxa8 35 Nxa8 Bxh4 36 gxh4 Qg4 37 Bh3 Qg6 38 Qg3 Bg4 39 Nc7 Bh5 40 Rd8+ Kg7 41 Ne8+ Kf8 42 Nf6+ Ke7 43 Rd6 1–0 Dambrauskas,V-Lasinskas,P/Vilnius 1999/EXT 2000. 9 Bf4 Nxe5 10 Bxe5 Qc8

11 Bxf6!N An excellent move, producing a Trompowsky-like pawn structure. Whereas White has the comfortable plan of b4-b5 etc, Black toils to get his pieces into he game. With such a structure ,Miles is deadly . RR 11 f3 Nd7 12 Bh2 g6 13 e4 Bg7 14 Rd1 0–0 15 Be2 b6 16 Na4 bxc5 17 Nxc5 Nxc5 18 Qxc5 dxe4 19 fxe4 Bxa2 20 0–0 Qe6 21 Bf3 Qc4 22 e5 Qxc5 23 dxc5 Bc4 24 Rf2 Bh6 25 Bxc6 Rac8 26 Bf4 g5 27 Bd7 gxf4 28 c6 Rc7 29 b4 Rb8 30 Rb1 Bd5 31 b5 f3 32 gxf3 Be3 0–1 Dobias,J-Hromadka,K/Prague 1926/EXT 99 11 ..gxf6 11 ..exf6 12 e3 h5!? Trying for ...g6,...h4,...Bh6,...f4. 12 e3 Bf5 13 Bd3 Bxd3 14 Qxd3 This is just so unpleasant for Black-he has to sit and watch White play. Any attempt to get active rebounds in his face eg 14 ..f5 14 ..e5? 15 e4! exd4 16 Qxd4 Qe6 17 0–0–0 with a big advantage. 15 b4 Rg8 16 0–0 Qe6 17 f4 Rg3

18 Kf2! Psychological byplay. As Graham Lee puts it, 'Miles plays a move you cannot expect 'It's unsettling. Ledger's hopes of a draw momentarily rise only to be immediately dashed. In its own way 18 Kf2 is a very special little move. 18 ..Rg8 19 Kg1 Rg3 20 Rf3! And on with the game. Of course, exchanging off Black's only active piece is a very good idea. 20 ..Rxf3 21 gxf3 Qg6+ 22 Kh2 Qh5 23 b5 Black can do nothing against the Queenside invasion. He tries a last desperate trick but nothing is working. The Bishop is entombed. 23 ..Rc8 24 Qe2! f6 25 Rb1 Kf7 26 bxc6 bxc6 27 Rb7 Bh6 27 ..Qh4 28 Nd1 (28 Rxa7? Bh6 29 Nd1 Rg8! 30 Qf2 Bxf4+ 31 exf4 Qxf4+ 32 Kh1 Rg3 would be a good example of the trick Black is aiming for.) 28 ..Bh6 29 Qf2 Careful play snuffs out the attack 29 ..Bxf4+ 30 exf4 Qxf4+ 31 Kh1 winning. 28 Qf2! Preventing ...Qh4 and thus any ...Bxf4 cheapo. Game over. 28 ..a5 29 Na4 Rg8 30 Rc7 Rg6 31 Nc3 Kf8 32 Rxc6 e5 33 Nxd5 e4 34 Qb2 High-level technique from Tony Miles. 1–0

You can contact John Henderson at: jbhthescots@cableinet.co.uk

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of TWIC, Chess & Bridge Ltd or the London Chess Center.