4NCL - The Four Nations League - www.4ncl.co.uk/pre2010

Bristol 4NCL Report
weekend 22-23 Jan
by Jack Rudd

Round 5

Bristol 1 v Numerica 3Cs 1

1. Charles Cobb ˝-˝ Nigel Davies GM
2. Rasmus Skytte IM ˝-˝ Stephen Gordon FM
3. Simon Buckley 1-0 Adam Ashton
4. Chris Beaumont IM 0-1 John Bentley
5. Jack Rudd 1-0 Dale James
6. David Buckley 1-0 Alan Walton
7. James Sherwin IM 0-1 Jon Thompson
8. Ann-Marie Ashby 1-0 Katie Martin

Bristol 1 5, Numerica 1 3

Our loss to Guildford 2 in the previous weekend had meant we started this weekend bottom of the table (although only one point off fifth). It was therefore important that we registered a result against our fellow relegation strugglers in this round. To help in this endeavour, we enlisted Danish IM Rasmus Skytte to play on board two.

The match started off well for us; I registered a quick win against former Northwest Eagles player Dale James. Charlie then got off the mark for this season with a draw against Nigel Davies.

At around that point, I went downstairs to help with the arbiting duties. I had had us marked down as winning on 3 and 6, losing on 4 and 7, better on 2 and unclear on 8. When I came back, the dust had settled somewhat. Chris hadn't been able to hold his exchange-down position, but Simon and David had both steered their way through potential complications to win their games. Unfortunately, Stephen Gordon had managed to hold his pawn-down position against Rasmus, so when Jim, who had been in trouble since the opening, lost, it meant we were, as ever, relying on Ann-Marie.

She didn't let us down. Her opponent's good play earlier on had netted the exchange, but left her very short of time, and in the time-scramble, Ann-Marie picked up enough pawns to tilt the balance her way. She proceeded to exploit her advantage in the ending to make the final score 5-3 to Bristol.

Bristol 2 v Barbican 2

1. Paul Helbig 0-1 Richard Palliser IM
2. Stephen Dilleigh 0-1 Neil Berry
3. David Collier 0-1 Stephen Dishman
4. John Curtis ˝-˝ Martin Taylor
5. Alex Easton ˝-˝ Michael Twyble
6. David Bareham 0-1 Craig Pritchett
7. Peter Chaplin ˝-˝ Andrew Mack
8. Torill Hagesaether 0-1 Khanwal Bhatia

Bristol 2 1˝, Barbican 2 6˝

When you're bottom of the division with no points from four matches, facing the league leaders is not the most fun of experiences, and this match was no exception. Alex's game was drawn fairly quickly; the rest of the games were all settled around the time control, and in that depressing manner that has been an unfortunate feature of Bristol 2's matches this season. The most notable game was Paul Helbig's, in which three queens featured; he reckons he had a win somewhere, but couldn't find it over the board.

Round 5

Bristol 1 v Wood Green 2

1. Rasmus Skytte IM ˝-˝ Paul Littlewood IM
2. Charles Cobb 1-0 Jonathan Levitt GM
3. Simon Buckley ˝-˝ Peter Sowray FM
4. Chris Beaumont IM 0-1 Richard Pert IM
5. James Sherwin IM 0-1 Bernd Rechel IM
6. Jack Rudd 0-1 Harriet Hunt IM/WGM
7. David Buckley 1-0 Bjorn Tiller IM
8. Ann-Marie Ashby 0-1 Neil McDonald GM

Bristol 1 3, Wood Green 2 5

This was always going to be the tougher of the weekend's two matches, and any points here were in the nature of a bonus. It became obvious they wouldn't be much of a bonus when I blundered my queen in a difficult position.

Things did not improve much. Simon and Rasmus both had edges but couldn't make them count, and Ann-Marie's material disadvantage proved critical. This meant that we were relying on a win from Jimmy; his 3 pieces-for-a-queen position could have gone either way, but as luck would have it, it was his opponent who benefited. The good wins from Charlie and David, keeping their IM norm chances on track, were in the nature of a consolation, as Chris was already losing by that stage.

Northwest Eagles 2 v Bristol 2

1. Brett Lund 1-0 Paul Helbig
2. David Hulmes ˝-˝ Stephen Dilleigh
3. David Spence 0-1 David Collier
4. Glenn Charleshouse ˝-˝ John Curtis
5. Richard Savory ˝-˝ Alex Easton
6. James Hanley ˝-˝ David Bareham
7. Mark Ruston 1-0 Peter Chaplin
8. Dominic Rabitte 0-1 Torill Hagesaether

Northwest Eagles 2 4, Bristol 2 4

Is there some rule that says "you may, one weekend per season, field a team of eight players of the same sex in divisions two or three. You must do so when playing against Bristol 2"? The Eagles are the second team to do this against us.

This is one of those frustrating matches that could have been so much more. I didn't see Alex's game; it was the first to finish as before, and Peter was always in trouble, but the other games when those had finished looked promising. Dave Collier, in particular, had a very interesting kingside attack v queenside attack game, which he won quite neatly.

The real deciding factor was the games on 1 and 4; John had what looked like a winning attack, but his opponent found a very neat little defence. And Paul's game was always double-edged, as ever, but the time scramble resolved itself in his opponent's favour.

So the second team are off the mark. If we beat King's Head and Mindsports, and somehow collect some more points, we might just stay up. But it's now a long shot...

Games

[Event "4NCL/Div2/NWE2-BRI2"]
[Site "Nottingham"]
[Date "2005.01.23"]
[Round "6.3"]
[White "Spence, David"]
[Black "Collier, David O"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B22"]
[WhiteElo "2216"]
[BlackElo "2142"]
[Annotator "Rudd, Jack"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2005.01.23"]
[Source "4NCL"]
[SourceDate "2004.11.24"]
1. e4 c5 2. c3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Bd3 g6 5. Nf3 Bg7 6. h3 O-O 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5

board

8... Ne5!? {An interesting idea; accepting a weakening of the c5 pawn in exchange for getting the knight onto d6, from where it can put plenty of pressure on the white centre.} 9. Nxe5 dxe5 10. c4 {Falling in with black's plan; it may have been a better idea to delay this in case white wanted to put the knight on c4.} 10... Ne8 11. Nc3 Nd6 12. Be3 b6 13. Qd2 f5

board

14. exf5 {White is happy to allow black a protected passed pawn; bolstering up his pawn would have given black free rein for a King's Indian-style attack on the kingside.} 14... gxf5 15. f4 e4 16. Be2 Qe8 {The battle lines are now clearly drawn; white will attempt to break open the queenside with a well-timed b4, black will have a go at the white king.} 17. Qc2 Qg6 18. Rab1 Bd7 19. a3 Rac8 20. Qd2 Bf6 21. Rfc1 Kh8 22. Nd1 Rg8 23. Bf1 Qh6 24. Kh1 Ba4 {A harmless little feint; going to e8 immediately would have achieved exactly the same effect.} 25. b3 Be8 26. b4 Rg3 27. bxc5 bxc5

board

28. Bxc5?? {A tactic that backfires horribly.} 28... Rxc5 29. Qf2 Qg7 30. Qxc5 Bd4 31. Qxd4 (31. Qc7 Rxh3+ {(the point white may have missed)} 32. gxh3 Qg1#) 31... Qxd4 32. Rb8 Rg8 33. c5 Nb5 34. a4 (34. Bxb5 Qd2) 34... Qd2 35. Ra1 Qxf4 0-1

[Event "4NCL/Div2/NWE2-BRI2"]
[Site "Nottingham"]
[Date "2005.01.23"]
[Round "6.8"]
[White "Hagesaether, Torill"]
[Black "Rabbitte, Dominic"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A48"]
[WhiteElo "1995"]
[BlackElo "1970"]
[Annotator "Rudd, Jack"]
[PlyCount "73"]
[EventDate "2005.01.23"]
[Source "4NCL"]
[SourceDate "2004.11.24"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bf4 Bg7 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 {It is more usual to develop the bishop on e2 in the London System; on d3 it is vulnerable to the e5-e4 pawn push.} 5... c5 6. c3 b6 7. Nbd2 Bb7 8. O-O d6 9. Qc2 (9. e4+/=) 9... Nbd7 10. h3 Re8 11. Bh2 e5

board

12. Ng5?! (12. dxe5 dxe5 13. Ne4 { may be better, hoping to exploit white's control of the d-file.}) 12... d5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 { Black's central control and space advantage now give him a slight edge.} 14. Bb5 Re7 15. Rad1 a6 16. Be2 Qe8 17. Ngf3 Nc6

board

18. Qb3! {White correctly deduces that one of the best features of black's position is the fluidity of his pawn structure; she therefore sets up a plan to fix the pawns.} 18... b5 19. Bd6 c4 20. Qc2 Re6 21. Bc5?! {This frees the black queenside pawns again; the bishop should have retreated along the b8-h2 diagonal.} 21... Nd7 22. Bd4 Nxd4 23. Nxd4 Bxd4 24. cxd4 a5 25. Bf3

board

25... Nb6?! (25... b4-/+) 26. b3 Rc8 27. bxc4 bxc4 { Black now has a protected passed pawn, but it's unlikely to advance very far.} 28. Rb1 Ba6 29. Rfc1 Rd6 30. Qc3 Qa4 31. Rb2 Qd7? 32. Rbb1? (32. Qxa5 Na4 (32... c3 33. Rxc3 Rxc3 34. Qxc3 Na4 35. Rb8+) 33. Rb4) 32... Qa4 33. Rc2

board

33... Rcc6?? 34. Rcb2 {And all of a sudden, black is losing - he can't extricate his queen without losing the knight.} 34... f5 35. Bd1 Qxd1+ 36. Rxd1 Na4 37. Rb8+ 1-0

[Event "4NCL/Div 1/BRI1-WG2"]
[Site "Nottingham ENG"]
[Date "2005.01.23"]
[Round "6.2"]
[White "Levitt, Jonathan P"]
[Black "Cobb, Charles"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A67"]
[WhiteElo "2441"]
[BlackElo "2405"]
[Annotator "Rudd, Jack"]
[PlyCount "62"]
[EventDate "2005.01.23"]
[Source "4NCL"]
[SourceDate "2004.11.24"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. f4 Bg7 8. Bb5+

board

8... Nbd7!? {A daring way to meet the Taimanov variation; black is committing himself with this move to giving up two pieces for a rook.} 9. e5 dxe5 10. fxe5 Nh5 11. e6 {There's no going back now.} (11. Nf3 O-O 12. g4 (12. Bxd7 Bxd7 13. O-O Bg4) 12... Nxe5 13. Nxe5 Bxe5 14. gxh5 Qh4+ 15. Kd2 Bf5 {and white is in big trouble.}) 11... Qh4+ 12. g3 Nxg3 13. hxg3 (13. Nf3? Bxc3+ 14. bxc3 Qe4+ 15. Kf2 Nxh1+ 16. Qxh1 fxe6-+) 13... Qxh1 14. Be3 {There is no hurry to take the knight; it won't run away. Developing and blocking the e-file are much more urgent.} 14... Bxc3+ 15. bxc3 a6 16. exd7+ Bxd7 17. Bxd7+ Kxd7 {The dust has settled somewhat, and black has a rook and two pawns for two minor pieces. This material imbalance would favour him in an endgame; it makes the middlegame decidedly unclear.} 18. Qb3 b5 19. O-O-O Rhe8 20. Bxc5 Qg2 21. a4 (21. c4? Rac8) 21... Rac8 22. Bd4 Rb8 { Black cannot, at the moment, continue the attack sensibly, so he elects to defend for a few moves.} 23. d6 Re6 24. Ba7 Rb7 25. Bc5 Qc6 26. Bb4 bxa4 27. Qc2 Re3 {Threatening Rxb4.} 28. Qd2 Qe4 29. Qd4?? (29. Qa2! { is rather better - white threatens both Qxf7+ and Qxa4.}) 29... Qxd4 30. Rxd4 a5 31. Bc5 (31. Bxa5 Re1+ 32. Rd1 Rxd1+ 33. Kxd1 Rb1+) 31... Rxc3+ 0-1

[Event "4NCL/Div 1/BRI1-WG2"]
[Site "Nottingham ENG"]
[Date "2005.01.23"]
[Round "6.7"]
[White "Buckley, David E"]
[Black "Tiller, Bjorn"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B06"]
[WhiteElo "2223"]
[BlackElo "2382"]
[Annotator "Rudd, Jack"]
[PlyCount "101"]
[EventDate "2005.01.23"]
[Source "4NCL"]
[SourceDate "2004.11.24"]
1. Nf3 g6 2. e4 Bg7 3. d4 d6 4. Nc3 a6 {Tiller may well have seen Buckley's efforts against Cherniaev in an earlier round, and been inspired to try the Hippo as a result. This time, Buckley was ready for it...} 5. a4 b6 6. Bc4 e6 7. O-O Ne7 8. Be3 h6 9. Qd2 Nd7 10. Rfe1 Bb7 11. h3 Kf8 { The white battery lined up against the h-pawn means black can't castle, so he instead has to adopt this slightly artifical method of getting his king to safety.} (11... g5 { is an alternative move in this position, aiming for ...Nf6 and ...Ng6.}) 12. Nh2 Kg8 13. Ng4 Qf8 (13... h5!? 14. Nh6+ Kf8 {leads to a curious position where the knight is neither easy to extract nor easy to win. On balance, I'd prefer white.}) 14. Bf4 Kh7 15. h4 h5 16. Nh2

board

16... Bxd4! { This neat little tactic frees black's game somewhat; the exchange of dark-squared bishops doesn't weaken his kingside significantly.} 17. Qxd4 e5 18. Qd2 exf4 19. Qxf4 Ne5 20. Bb3 f5 21. Nf3 {Now white is the one trying to exchange pieces; black's pawn breaks have altered the character of the position to give him a slight edge.} 21... Nxf3+ 22. Qxf3 Re8 23. Qd3 Qf6 24. Qc4 c5 25. Qf7+ { White is well-advised to exchange queens; the black pieces could co-ordinate well for a kingside attack otherwise.} 25... Qxf7 26. Bxf7 Rd8?! (26...Ref8!=/+) 27. exf5 Nxf5 28. Bd5 Rd7? {Missing the danger.} (28...Bxd5 29. Nxd5+/=) 29. Ne4

board

{All of a sudden, black is in big trouble. The twin threats of Nf6+ and Be6 are hard to meet.} 29... Kh6 (29... Kg7 30. Be6 Rdd8 31. Bxf5 gxf5 32. Nxc5!+/-) 30. Be6 Rg7 31. Bxf5 gxf5 32. Ng5 Rf8 {(=)} (32... Bc8 33. Rad1 Rd8 34. Ne6+/-) 33. Re6+ Rg6 34. Re7 Rg7 35. Rxg7 Kxg7 36. Ne6+ Kf7 37. Nxf8 Kxf8 { The dust has settled, and white is the exchange up with a winning position.} 38. g3 Ke7 39. Re1+ Kf7 {If he goes the other way, white will be able to build up a passed pawn with Re3, f3 and g4.} 40. Re3 Bc6 41. Rb3 b5 42. axb5 axb5

board

43. c4 b4 (43... bxc4 44. Rb6) 44. Re3 Kf6 45. Kf1 d5 46. cxd5 Bxd5 47. Re8! {The rook will stick the black queenside pawns on white squares, where they will do little.} 47... c4 48. Ke2 Bf7 49. Rb8 b3 50. Ke3 Ke5 51. Rb5+ 1-0

[Event "4NCL/Div 1/BRI1-3Cs1"]
[Site "Nottingham ENG"]
[Date "2005.01.22"]
[Round "5.5"]
[White "Rudd, Jack"]
[Black "James, Dale R"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B02"]
[WhiteElo "2291"]
[BlackElo "2199"]
[Annotator "Rudd, Jack"]
[PlyCount "55"]
[EventDate "2005.01.22"]
[Source "4NCL"]
[SourceDate "2004.11.24"]
1. e4 Nf6 2. Nc3 d6 3. f4 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. d4 a6 { A new move to me; I figured I'd just develop and see what happened.} 6. Bd3 c5 7. dxc5 dxc5 8. e5 Ng4 (8... Nd5?? 9. Nxd5 Qxd5 10. Bb5++-) 9. Qe2 Nh6 10. Be3 Qa5 11. O-O-O Nc6 12. Kb1 Nf5 (12... Be6 { is also worthy of consideration, aiming at the vulnerable a2 square.}) 13. Bd2 Ncd4 14. Nxd4 Nxd4

board

15. Nb5! Qxa2+?! {Taking play into a worse ending.} (15... axb5? 16. Bxa5 Nxe2 17. Bxb5+ Bd7 18. Bxd7+ Kf8 19. Bd2+-) (15... Qb6 16. Nxd4 cxd4 unclear) 16. Kxa2 axb5+ 17. Kb1 Nxe2 18. Bxb5+ Bd7 {(=)} 19. Bxe2 Bc6 20. Be3 b6

board

(20...Bxg2 21. Rhg1 Bc6 22. Bxc5+/-) 21. Bf3! {The doubled pawns are not really relevant. The control of the d-file, however...} 21... Bxf3 22. gxf3 Bh6?! (22... Ra4 23. Rd3 O-O 24. Rhd1 {may be survivable for black, although it's a horrible defensive task.}) 23. c4 O-O 24. Rd7 Rfe8 25. Rhd1 Kf8 26. Rb7 Rab8? (26... Ra6 { avoids dropping material immediately, although} 27. Rdd7 { leaves black without any constructive moves.}) 27. Rdd7 Bg7

board

28. Rxe7 1-0

[Event "4NCL/Div 1/BRI1-3Cs1"]
[Site "Nottingham ENG"]
[Date "2005.01.22"]
[Round "5.6"]
[White "Walton, Alan J"]
[Black "Buckley, David E"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A45"]
[WhiteElo "2181"]
[BlackElo "2223"]
[Annotator "Rudd, Jack"]
[PlyCount "64"]
[EventDate "2005.01.22"]
[Source "4NCL"]
[SourceDate "2004.11.24"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 e6 3. e4 h6 4. Bxf6 Qxf6 5. c3 d5 6. Nd2 c5 7. Ngf3 a6

board

8. Qb3?! {The subsequent play shows that white cannot hold onto the pawn gained in this line; it would have been better to carry on developing with Bd3.} 8... cxd4 9. cxd4 Nc6 10. exd5 exd5 11. Qxd5 Be6 12. Qe4 (12. Qh5 g6 13. Qh4 Qxh4 14. Nxh4 Nxd4-/+) 12... O-O-O 13. Qc2 (13. Rc1? {(a desperate attempt to hold the pawn)} 13... Bf5 14. Qe3 (14. Qf4 Re8+ 15. Be2 Bd3-+) 14... Bb4 15. Be2 Rhe8 16. Qb3 Kb8!-+) 13... Kb8 14. a3 {It's essential to prevent a black piece's landing on b4.} 14... Nxd4 15. Nxd4 Qxd4 16. Nf3 Qf6 17. Be2 g5 18. O-O

board

18... Bg7 {And white has got his king out of the firing line, but the b-pawn is going to drop.} 19. a4 g4 20. Ne1 Qxb2 21. Qxb2 Bxb2 22. Rb1 Rd2 23. Bd3? (23. Nd3 {is white's last chance to salvage something; he's only a pawn down in this line. Of course, it should still be a win for black.}) 23... Ba2 {The rest of the game is simple.} 24. f3 Bxb1 25. Bxb1 Bd4+ 26. Kh1 Rd1 27. Bc2 Rc1 28. Bd3 Bc3 29. Nc2 Rxf1+ 30. Bxf1 Rd8 31. Ne3 (31. fxg4 Rd1 32. Ne3 Re1) 31... gxf3 32. gxf3 Rd4

board

0-1

[Event "4NCL/Div 1/BRI1-3Cs1"]
[Site "Nottingham ENG"]
[Date "2005.01.22"]
[Round "5.8"]
[White "Martin, Katie"]
[Black "Ashby, Ann Marie"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B01"]
[WhiteElo "1960"]
[BlackElo "2079"]
[PlyCount "70"]
[EventDate "2005.01.22"]
[Source "4NCL"]
[SourceDate "2004.11.24"]
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. d4 Bg4 4. Nf3 Qxd5 5. Be2 Nc6 6. c4 Qf5 7. O-O O-O-O 8. Be3 e5 9. d5 Nb4 10. Na3 Bxf3 11. Bxf3 a6 12. Qb3 Qd3 13. Qa4 Qf5 14. d6 e4 15. dxc7 Kxc7 16. Be2 Nd3 17. Nc2 Bd6 18. Bxd3 exd3 19. Nd4 Bxh2+ 20. Kxh2 Ng4+ 21. Kg1 Rxd4 22. Bxd4 Qh5 23. Be5+ Qxe5 24. g3 Re8 25. c5 Qh5 26. Kg2 Qh2+ 27. Kf3 Ne5+ 28. Ke3 Nd7+ 29. Kd2 Re2+ 30. Kc3 Rc2+ 31. Kd4 Nxc5 32. Qe8 Qh5 33. Qe5+ Qxe5+ 34. Kxe5 Rxb2 35. Kd4 35... Kd6 {Remaining moves unavailable but 0-1, 54. } 0-1

[Event "4NCL/Div 1/BRI1-3Cs1"]
[Site "Nottingham ENG"]
[Date "2005.01.22"]
[Round "5.3"]
[White "Buckley, Simon T"]
[Black "Ashton, Adam G"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D36"]
[WhiteElo "2332"]
[BlackElo "2299"]
[Annotator "Rudd, Jack"]
[PlyCount "61"]
[EventDate "2005.01.22"]
[Source "4NCL"]
[SourceDate "2004.11.24"]
1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bg5 Nbd7 6. e3 Be7 7. Qc2 O-O 8. Bd3 c6 9. Nge2 Re8 10. h3 Nf8 11. g4 b5 12. Ng3 a5 13. Nf5 Bxf5 14. Bxf5

board

14... Ne4? {This proves to ship a pawn without giving black much compensation.} 15. Nxe4 (15. Bxe7? Qxe7 16. Nxe4? dxe4 17. Qxc6 g6) 15... dxe4 16. Bf4 Bb4+ 17. Kf1 Ne6 18. Bg3 Ng5 19. Qxc6

board

{The next few moves are crucial; can white extract the f5 bishop safely?} 19... g6 20. Bc7 Qe7 21. Bd7 Rac8 (21... Rf8 22. a3!) 22. a3 Rxc7 (22... Bd2 23. Qd6+-) 23. Qxc7 Bd6 24. Qb7 Rb8 (24... Rd8 25. Bc6) 25. Qd5 Qf6 26. h4

board

26... Qf3 (26... Bg3 27. Bf5!) 27. Kg1 Bg3 (27... Nh3+ 28. Rxh3 Qxh3 29.Qxd6) 28. Rf1 Ne6 29. Bxe6 fxe6 30. Qxe6+ Kh8 31. Rh3 1-0