John Henderson Reports on the British Championships in Scarborough

Round 1 Monday 30th July 2001

SUNNY SCARBOROUGH

IT’S official! Summer has finally arrived in good old Blighty – and probably for the first time in over twenty-five years. We’ve got people going about dazed, wondering what the hell that big yellow thing is in the sky.

Global warming, so they say. Something to do with a giant hole somewhere over the Ozone, according to experts now taking to wearing asbestoses suits and sunglasses – and that’s indoors! I’m not saying that we’re sort of warming to George “Dubya” Bush’s environmental policies in this part of the world, but I’m positive I passed someone the other day who was lying back, soaking up the rays, while at the same time with an aerosol-can in each hand, was dispensing it in the air!

Britain has been basking in conditions to rival holiday resorts across the globe, as the mercury soared to approaching 32C (to you that’s 90F in old money). Millions made their way to the seaside, blocking roads and cramming on to the beaches as the weather turned out hotter than Havana.

And there was me stuck in my Volvo amongst the throng of traffic trying in vain to get to one of those seaside resorts – Scarborough in North Yorkshire (not far from Bradford: centre of the chess universe), venue for the Smith & Williamson British Championships.

Probably the world's first seaside resort, Scarborough has attracted visitors for almost 400 years - and its steeped in a thousand years of diverse history. From the Romans, the Vikings, the English Civil War to the likes of Anne Bronte, Alan Ayckbourn and Simon & Garfunkle. These are all items that I can assure you will be covered during my two-weeks stay here.

Scarborough is also picturesque in that quaint, British seaside tradition. From the tournament venue right on the beach at the Spa Centre, two splendid bays, separated by the mighty castle headland, surround you. An impressive view if the one at the board isn’t so attractive.

Fittingly, outside in the cool, sea breeze “chess alfresco” opened the 88^th annual Congress. Dabbing on the factor 60 sun cream, Richard Palliser, one of Yorkshire’s top players, took on all comers on the beach in a simultaneous display. Meanwhile inside, the tournament hall was almost ready for the opening day – the only question remaining to be answered was would Julian Hodgson decide to bring back the Executive Chair that won him the title last year, or would he just rely on his skills at the board this year?

Looking to stop the Hodgson hat-trick (not to mention the collection of another cheque for £10,000) will be Britain’s first GM Tony Miles, Mark Hebden, Murray Chandler and John Emms. Also likely to be mounting a strong challenge for the title this year will be the Scottish No.1 Jonathan Rowson, fresh from his recent Scottish Championship win in Aberdeen (Patriotic or what?).

The top four boards for the first round featured the top four seeds, Julian Hodgson, Tony Miles, Mark Hebden and Murray Chandler facing three of England’s top juniors, Desmond Tan, Lawrence Trent, Richard Pert, and the oldest player in the Championship, 61-year-old Norman Stephenson.

Trent,L (2249) - Miles,T (2565) B03]

1 e4 Nf6 2 e5 The Alekhine is at least something I know very well - I've been playing it as long as I've been playing Chess! Over the twenty odd years I've played it, I've faced everything. The one time I came unstuck was after I was conned by 2 f3!?! I couldn't believe this move and pondered my many options for a full 10 minutes before deciding that taking advantage of the weak g1–a7 diagonal was the best option, so played 2 ..e5 only for my opponent to quickly flick out 3 f4! then - and only then - did I realise that we had a true Latvian Gambit Reversed, and my opponent was a fully paid-up member of the Latvian Society. Not having a clue what to do (well, more than usual), I quickly lost in one of the Latvian mainlines. 2 ..Nd5 3 c4 Nb6 4 d4 d6 5 exd6 exd6 A sign of the times. In the past, cxd6 was regarded as black's best option. However, in recent years, it's been shown that White gets an easy game with the simple plan of 5 ..cxd6 6 Nc3 g6 7 Be3 Bg7 8 Rc1 0–0 9 b3 6 Nc3 Nc6 7 Be3 7 d5 Ne5 8 Be2 Be7 9 f4 Ng6 10 Nf3 Nh4 11 0–0 Nxf3+ 12 Bxf3 0–0 13 b3 Bf6 14 Bb2 a5 15 Qc2 Nd7 16 a3 Re8 17 Rae1 Rxe1 18 Rxe1 Nf8 19 Ne4 Bxb2 20 Qxb2 Bd7 21 Qd4 b6 22 Ng3 Ng6 23 Nh5 Qf8 24 Kf2 Nh4 25 g4 f6 26 f5 Nxf3 ½–½ Shaw,J-Miles,A/Birmingham ENG 2001/The Week in Chess 332. 7 ..Be7 8 b3 8 Qf3 0–0 9 0–0–0 Be6 10 b3 a5 11 a4 Qc8 12 Be2 Nb4 13 Nh3 d5 14 c5 Nd7 15 Nf4 Nf6 16 Nxe6 Qxe6 17 Qh3 Qxh3 18 gxh3 c6 19 Bf4 Nd7 20 Rhe1 Bf6 21 Kb2 Rfe8 22 Bd6 Nf8 23 Bf4 Ne6 24 Be3 g6 25 Rg1 Bg7 0–1 Gadjilu,R-Miles,A/Linares 1998/CBM 62 ext (25). 8 ..0–0 9 Be2 Re8 Black has better: 9 ..Bg5!? 10 Nf3 (10 Bxg5 Qxg5 11 Bf3 Re8+ 12 Nge2 Bg4; 10 Qd2 Bxe3 11 fxe3 Qh4+ 12 g3 Qe7) 10 ..Bxe3 11 fxe3 Re8 12 e4 f5! and in each case black has more than equalised. 10 Nf3 10 h3!? is more dangerous. 10 ..Bg4 11 0–0

11 ..d5! A thematic move in such positions with the Alekhine: the rest of the game hinges around white's fixed d-pawn. 12 c5 Nc8 13 h3 Bf5 14 a3 Bf6 15 b4 h6 16 Qb3 N8e7 17 Rad1 a6! 18 Rfe1 18 a4 a5! 19 b5 Nb4 18 ..Qd7 19 Bf4 Be6 With the idea of building-up the pressure on d4 with Nf5. White therefore decides its time to lash out before he gets hemmed in. 20 b5 Na5 21 Qb4 axb5 22 Bxb5 The alternative recapture was also worth considering as c6 is not an option now: 22 Nxb5!? Rec8 23 Ne5 (23 Rb1 Bf5! 24 Rb2 Be4=) 23 ..Bxe5 24 Bxe5 Nec6 25 Qb1 (25 Qb2 Nxe5 26 dxe5 Qe7 27 Rc1 Qg5! 28 Kh1 (28 Bf3 Nc4!) 28 ..Nc6) 25 ..Nxe5 (25 ..Bf5 26 Bd3) 26 dxe5 with a roughly even game: white's active pieces compensate for the weak pawns on a3, c5 and e5 - though long-term this could prove bad for white, which is probably why the youngster decided against this with someone of Miles's endgame prowess. 22 ..c6 23 Bf1 Nc4 24 Na4 Ng6 25 Bg3 Bd8! 26 Bxc4 Ba5

27 Nb6? A decisive mistake. White's only option was to go for 27 Qb2 dxc4 28 Nc3 (28 Nb6? Bxb6 29 cxb6 Bd5 30 Ne5 Qf5!) 28 ..Ra6! 29 Re3 b5! 30 cxb6 Rxb6 and black has the better of it - though no clear path to victory. 27 ..Bxb4 28 Nxd7 Bxe1 29 Nb6 29 Rxe1 Bxd7 30 Rxe8+ Bxe8 31 Bd3 Rxa3 29 ..Rxa3 30 Rxe1 dxc4 31 Nxc4 Rb3 32 Nd6 Ra8 33 Nd2 Rb4 34 f4 Ne7 35 Bf2 Nf5 36 Nxf5 Bxf5 0–1

Although the juniors got over the nerves of being on stage by putting on three creditable performances, the first to fall by the wayside was in fact the Championship veteran, Stormin’ Norman Stephenson, who was the first to lose after a terrible mistake in the opening.

Hebden,M (2550) - Stephenson,N (2246) D58

1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Bg5 Be7 5 Nc3 h6 6 Bh4 0–0 7 e3 b6 The solid Tartakower Defence. 8 Bd3 Bb7 9 0–0 dxc4 10 Bxc4 Ne4 11 Bxe7 Qxe7 12 Nxe4 Bxe4 13 Rc1

13 ..Rc8?! Not the best option. Tartakower expert "Big Al" Beliavsky, easily found the best solution: 13 ..Rd8! 14 Bd3 Bxd3 15 Qxd3 c5 16 Ne5 Qb7 17 b4 cxd4 18 exd4 Nd7 19 Nc6 Re8 20 f4 Nf6 21 f5 Qd7 22 fxe6 Rxe6 23 b5 Rae8 24 Qf5 Qd6 25 Rcd1 Re2 26 a4 a6 27 d5 axb5 28 axb5 Rb2 29 Rde1 Rxe1 30 Rxe1 g6 31 Qf3 Kg7 32 Ne7 Qc5+ 0–1 Yurtaev,L-Beliavsky,A/Yerevan 1996/EXT 97 (32). 14 Ne5!N Strong. Very strong. Strange as it may seem, this move has never been played before: 14 Be2 a6 (14 ..c5 15 dxc5 Rxc5 16 Rxc5 ½–½ Bronstein,D-Taimanov,M/Jurmala 1978/EXT 99 (16)) 15 Ne5 Ra7 16 Bh5 g6 17 Bf3 Bxf3 18 Qxf3 c5 19 dxc5 Rac7 20 c6 Qg5 21 Qe4 Qf5 22 Qxf5 gxf5 23 Rc3 Kf8 24 Rfc1 Ke7 25 Nc4 b5 26 Na5 Kd6 27 Nb7+ Ke7 28 Na5 ½–½ Morovic Fernandez,I-Bruzon,L/Havana 1999/CBM 71; 14 Bd3 Bxd3 15 Qxd3 Nd7 16 Rc6 Nb8 17 Rc3 Nd7 18 Rfc1 c5 19 b4 Rd8 20 bxc5 Nxc5 21 Qc2 Nd7 22 h3 e5 23 dxe5 Nxe5 24 Nxe5 ½–½ Szypulski,A-Sapis,W/Warsaw 1988/EXT 97 14 ..c5 15 Qg4! Bf5? Black also had to worry about tactics like 15 ..Bb7 16 d5! (16 Nxf7!? Kxf7 17 Qf5+ Ke8 18 Bxe6 with unclear complications) 16 ..Qc7 17 Qe4! Bxd5 (17 ..Nd7? 18 Nxd7 Qxd7 19 dxe6! Bxe4 20 exd7 wins.; 17 ..Na6 18 Bd3 Kf8 19 f4 exd5 20 Qh7 wins.; 17 ..b5 18 Bd3 f5 19 Qf4 Bxd5 20 Bxb5 Bxa2 21 Rfd1 and black is in a bit of a fix trying to complete his development.) 18 Bxd5 exd5 19 Qxd5 Nc6 20 Nxc6 Qxc6 21 Qxc6 Rxc6 22 Rfd1 with a difficult ending for black. 16 Qf3 Nd7 17 Qb7! Black's losing a lot of material: 17 Qb7 cxd4 (17 ..Rd8 18 dxc5 bxc5 19 Nc6) 18 exd4 Rd8 19 Bb5! 1–0

ANDY’S BIT’S ‘N’ PIECES

After his success last year at the bottom of this report, IM Andy Martin is back again by popular demand for his spin on the day’s play from his vantage point in the commentary room (where I’m ably assisting him!). Like last year, he’ll be annotating a game from each round.

Take it away Andy!

Hodgson,J (2581) - Tan,D (2253) A45

1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 e6 3 e4 h6 4 Bxf6 Qxf6 5 c3N Hodgson's current favourite. The main point is to leave the f pawn free for action. 5 ..d5! And this is a good, solid reply. Compare the variation 5 Nf3 d5 6 e5 Qd8 7 c4! where White is supposed to hold a small advantage although I have my doubts about that. 6 e5 Qd8 7 Nf3 c5 If White isn't careful, Black will get a very decent 'French'. The soft spot at g7 is carefully protected and ...Qb6,Nc6 is the upcoming plan. 8 dxc5 Bxc5 9 Bd3 Nc6 10 0–0 Bd7 Tan's big idea is to delay castling as long as is humanly possible. He could only have been afraid of the Bc2, Qd3 battery, but perhaps that's not as dangerous as it seems: 10 ..0–0 11 Bc2 f5 (11 ..f6 12 Qd3 Nxe5 13 Qh7+ Kf7 14 Nxe5+ fxe5 15 Qg6+=; 11 ..Qc7 12 Qd3 g6 13 Qd2 Kg7 14 Qf4ƒ) 12 exf6 Qxf6 13 Qd3 Bd7 14 Nbd2 Rae8÷ 11 Nbd2 Qc7 12 Qe2 Be7!? 13 Rfe1 a6

14 Rac1² Initial development over for White, now what the heck to do with this position? The natural plan must be c3-c4! but Hodgson never gets around to playing it. 14 ..Rc8 15 Nb3!? Naturally White could be more direct but Black has chances eg 15 c4 Nb4! 16 Bb1 dxc4 17 Rxc4 Bc6 Decent enough 18 Rec1 0–0 (18 ..b5!? 19 R4c3 Qd7 20 Be4 0–0) 19 a3 Nd5 20 Qe4 15 ..Qb6 16 Bb1 Na5! Hauls Tan back into the game. Black's next task is simply to connect the Rooks if he can. This Hodgson fights to prevent. 17 Nxa5 Qxa5 18 Nd4 Bg5 A clever idea. 19 Rcd1 Ba4 And if 20 b3, Black has forced a weakness. 20 Nb3 Qb6 21 Rd4! White is looking for a way to improve the position. His Rook hits the fourth rank supporting pawn advances such as h4,g4 and attacking the Bishop. 21 Bc2 Qc7 (21 ..Bxb3 22 axb3 Be7) 22 Qf3 Bxb3 23 Bxb3 (23 axb3 0–0 24 Qd3 f5 (24 ..g6 25 Qg3 Kh7 26 h4 Be7 27 h5ƒ) 25 exf6 Rxf6 26 g3!±) 23 ..0–0= 21 ..Bxb3 22 axb3 Be7 23 Bc2 g6 24 Ra1 h5 Looks equal but why should it be ? White has two Rooks in play to Black's one. 25 h4 25 Raa4 0–0 26 g4 h4 The resource that Hodgson prevents. 27 g5 Bxg5 28 Qg4 Bh6 29 Qxh4 Bg7÷ 25 ..Qd8 25 ..0–0 26 g4! with a strong attack. 26 Raa4 Bc5 27 Rf4

27 ..g5!? Now it really starts to sharpen up. Tan goes up a gear and announces that he will fight for the initiative. It's the correct decision! 28 Rf6 Be7 29 hxg5 Bxf6 30 exf6 Debate ensued in the commentary room about the relative merits of each pawn capture. In the end we rejected 30 gxf6 due to 30 ..h4 31 Qg4 Kd7! This is the key idea: 32 Rd4 Kc7 33 Qg7 Qf8 Black defends. 30 ..h4 31 Rb4 b5 32 Qe3 Qd6 33 g6 Tan keeps his head now. Black's position appears almost finished, but this is not yet the case. 33 ..fxg6 34 Qa7 h3! 35 Qg7 Qf8 36 Qb7 Qc5 37 Bxg6+ Kd8 38 Qxa6

38 ..Rc6? It is truly difficult to play chess properly with the King so exposed. Even if you can't see a win for the other guy, fear often gets the better of you and a blunder results. This was Black's last chance-he had to create counterplay with 38 ..h2+! which seems to lead to perpetual or dangers for White eg 39 Kh1 Rb8 (39 ..Qxb4 40 Qb6+ Kd7 41 Be8+!! Kxe8 42 Qxe6+ Kd8 43 Qxd5+ Ke8 44 Qe6+ Kd8 45 Qd5+=) 40 Qxe6 (40 Bd3 Qxf2 41 Qd6+ Kc8 42 Qxe6+ Kc7 43 Qf7+ Kc6 44 Bxb5+ Rxb5 45 Qe6+ Kc7 (45 ..Kc5 46 Qe7+=) 46 Qe7+ Kc6=) 40 ..Ra8!„ 39 Qa5+ Rc7 40 gxh3! Very strong. Now, with no threats to his King, White can march to victory. 40 Rxb5 40 ..Rg8 41 Rg4 Kd7 42 b4 Qc6 43 Bd3 A messy game, where White had to fight every inch of the way. 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.