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Last revised:
02 April, 2005.
Isle of Man Chess Association
Douglas Chess Club
Southern Chess Club
Manx Chess Championship Archives - 2001/2/3 2004
MANX CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 2005
|
VICTORY FOR NEVILLE GILL IN THE MANX CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS |
| ROUND 5 REPORT by Alan Ormsby |
| Neville Gill is the 2005 Manx Chess Champion. In one of the most dramatic finishes in the history of the tournament, he beat the top seed, Keith Allen, in a time scramble to take the title for an incredible nineteenth time. |
| Although both players finished with 4 points, Neville takes the title on tiebreak. |
| Neville has kindly commented on the game elsewhere. Computer analysis shows that Keith missed a big opportunity in the middle game (35..Nc3+!) when he could have given up his knight and pawn for a rook. This slight material advantage would have at least led to a draw, sufficient for Keith to take the title. |
| A King and Rook endgame was reached with Neville having a big advantage on the board but with the pressure of knowing that he had to win the game to take the title. In severe time trouble both players made mistakes but Neville was able to force the promotion of a pawn, Keith resigning with only 6 seconds left on his clock. This was Keith’s first ever loss in local chess. |
| Elsewhere, John Griffin drew with Jonathan Waugh, sufficient to take third place on tiebreak from Glenn Cross and Henrik Fabri, who beat Alan Robertson and Zahed Miah respectively. |
| Mike Ware finished strongly by beating Sanjay Reddy with the black pieces, to finish on 3 points with Jonathan Waugh. |
| Rod Wiseman was another player to finish the tournament strongly as he beat Richard Mylrea by showing better knowledge in a King and Pawn endgame. |
| Final Scores: N Gill, K Allen 4; J Griffin, G Cross, H Fabri 3½; J Waugh, M Ware, 3; Z Miah 2½; A Robertson, S Reddy, R Furner, B Keig, R Wiseman 2; A Ormsby 1½; R Mylrea 1; J Barrow 0. |
| Round 5 Game annotated by Neville Gill | |||
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Move 35......a3. Keith Allen says 35...Nc3 check wins at least a R for a N and P. Black would have most likely won the game after this although my time was very short so it is not definite! Such is life!! |
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Black Keith Allen |
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White Neville Gill |
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| All winter I have had problems with the "1½ hours for all moves" time limit. Against Jonathan Waugh in the Douglas Club Championship I even lost on time in a position that was certainly not lost. Therefore in this game I decided to make reasonable moves quickly and avoid time shortage if at all possible. | |||
| It is far from easy to get a draw if that is all that is required. A player tends not to play his normal game. In an identical situation against George Ellison at Scarborough 2001 I rashly exchanged queens instead of playing a move I knew perfectly well was stronger. After that it was uphill all the way. A tournament is not over until it is over! Possibly that is why Keith Allen chose the Slav Defence, a solid opening he said he had never played before. | |||
| White Neville Gill (188 BCF); Black Keith Allen (188 BCF) Slav Defence | |||
| 1 | d4 | d5 | |
| 2 | c4 | c6 | |
| 3 | Nc3 | Nf6 | |
| 4 | e3 | e6 | In an earlier round Alan Ormsby played 4.......a6 |
| 5 | Nf3 | Nbd7 | |
| 6 | Bd3 | dxc4 | |
| 7 | Bxc4 | b5 | |
| 8 | Bd3 | Bb7 | |
| 9 | e4 | b4 | |
| 10 | Na4 | c5 | |
| 11 | e5 | Nd5 | |
| 12 | 0-0 | h6 | Christine Fleur, a French ladies champion, played 12.....cxd4 13.Nxd4 Nxe5 13.Bb5+ and we eventually drew (Monarch Assurance). |
| 13 | Qe2 | Rc8 | |
| 14 | Bd2 | Be7 | Black cannot castle because of Qe4 |
| 15 | Nxc5 | Bxc5! | Much better than Nxc5 |
| 16 | dxc5 | Nxc5 | |
| 17 | Bb5+ | Ke7! | The King is quite safe here. If 17.....Bc6 18.Bxc6+ Rxc6 19.Nd4 and 20.Qg4 |
| 18 | Rad1 | Qb6 | |
| 19 | Bc1 | Rhd8 | White has nothing at all. Black is the only one who might win this position. But throughout the game I had a significant lead on the clock and this proved decisive. |
| 20 | Nd4 | Ba6 | |
| 21 | Bxa6 | Qxa6 | |
| 22 | Qxa6 | Nxa6 | |
| 23 | Rfe1 | Rc5 | |
| 24 | Kf1 | Nb8 | |
| 25 | Bd2 | White continues to make his "reasonable moves" in the hope that something will turn up | |
| 25 | Rc4 | ||
| 26 | Re4 | Rc5 | An important moment. During the game we both thought that 26.....Rdc8 could be met by 27.b3 but Black is OK. He was beginning to run short of time already |
| 27 | Nb3 | Rb5 | Conceding the "c" file gave me real hope. If 27.....Rc2 28.Bxb4+ Nxb4 29.Rxd8 Kxd8 30.Rxb4 attacks the Knight |
| 28 | Rc1 | a5 | |
| 29 | Ke2 | Rd7 | |
| 30 | Rec4 | a4 | |
| 31 | Nc5 | Ra7 | |
| 32 | Nd3 | From here the Knight attacks b4 and defends e5 | |
| 32 | Nd7 | ||
| 33 | f4 | Rab7 | Now White can force a useful exchange |
| 34 | Nc5? | Nxc5 | |
| 35 | Rxc5 | If Black does nothing in particular the White King will go to c4 | |
| 35 | a3? | Keith Allen says 35...Nc3 check wins at least a R for a N and P. Black would have most likely won the game after this although my time was very short so it is not definite! Such is life!! | |
| 36 | Rxb5 | Rxb5 | |
| 37 | b3 | f6 | Black must keep lashing out |
| 38 | exf6+ | Kxf6 | |
| 39 | Kf3 | This move is not the best but there is a neat tactical point I could not resist. If 39.....e5 40.Rc6+ Kf5? 41.g4 mate | |
| 39 | e5? | Black played it! He had very little time left for reflection | |
| 40 | Rc6+ | Ke7 | |
| 41 | fxe5 | Nc3 | |
| 42 | Bxc3 | bxc3 | Threatening 43.....Rxb3! and if 44.axb3 a2 45.ra6 c2 |
| 43 | Rxc3 | Ke6 | |
| 44 | Rc6+ | Kxe5 | |
| 45 | Ra6 | Kd4 | |
| 46 | Rxa3 | Rf5+ | By now moves were coming thick and fast |
| 47 | Ke2 | Kc3 | |
| 48 | Ra7 | Rg5 | Black is completely lost of course |
| 49 | g3 | h5 | |
| 50 | Rb7 | h4 | |
| 51 | gxh4 | I remember playing this move instantly. The excitement was getting to me. With about 3 minutes on my clock I had plenty of time to find 51.Kf3 | |
| 51 | Rg2+ | ||
| 52 | Kf3 | Rxa2 | |
| 53 | Rxg7 | Kxb3 | Both players had stopped keeping score and tournament controller Alan Ormsby was doing it for us. Here 54.Rc7 Rxh2 55.Kg4 was the simplest win |
| 54 | Rg2 | Ra5 | |
| 55 | Rg5 | Ra2 | |
| 56 | h3 | Kc4 | |
| 57 | Re5 | Kd4 | |
| 58 | Re1 | Kd5 | |
| 59 | h5 | Rh2 | |
| 60 | Kg4 | Rg2+ | |
| 61 | Kf5 | Rf2+ | |
| 62 | Kg6 | Rh2 | |
| 63 | h6 | Rxh3 | |
| 64 | Rg1 | 1-0 | |
| The last game to finish. We need a new time limit! No championship should be decided like this. | |||
| Leaders after 4 rounds |
| 4 Points :- Keith Allen |
| 3 Points:- Neville Gill; John Griffin |
| 2½ Points :- Zahed Miah; Jonathan Waugh; Glenn Cross; Henrik Fabri |
|
Results Round 4 - 24th February 2005 |
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White |
Black |
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K Allen (3) |
1 - 0 |
G Cross (2½) |
Sicilian Dragon, 22 moves |
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J Waugh (2) |
½ - ½ |
N Gill (2½) |
Ruy Lopez, 63 |
|
A Robertson (2) |
0 - 1 |
J Griffin (2) |
French Defence, 19 |
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Z Miah (2) |
½ - ½ |
S Reddy (1½) |
Italian Game, 59 |
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A Ormsby (1½) |
0 - 1 |
H Fabri (1½) |
Alekhine’s Defence, 45 |
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B Keig (1) |
0 - 1 |
R Furner (1) |
Grunfeld Defence, 55 |
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M Ware (1) |
1 - 0 |
R Mylrea (1) |
Italian Game, 35 |
|
R Wiseman (0) |
1 - 0 |
J Barrow (0) |
Bishop’s Opening, 42 |
| ROUND 4 REPORT by Alan Ormsby |
| The contest for the 2005 Manx Championship is now down to just the top two seeds, Keith Allen and Neville Gill. In a fitting climax to the tournament, they are set to face each other in the final round on 24 March. Neville will have the advantage of the white pieces and will need to win in order to take the title on tie-break. John Griffin cannot win the tournament as he lost to Keith Allen in their individual game. |
| Neville is very fortunate to still be in contention for the title as he escaped with a draw after being on the brink of defeat in his game with Jonathan Waugh. Jonathan had the white pieces and played a variation of the Ruy Lopez whereby he gave up bishop for knight in order to weaken black’s queenside pawn structure. Gradually, Jonathan was able to exchange most of the pieces which magnified black’s pawn weaknesses in the resulting endgame. However, as always, the clock played a significant role in the game and Jonathan by now only had 2 minutes remaining to make all his moves. On move 49 he missed a sequence of moves that would have left him 2 pawns ahead giving him an easy win. Instead, the game continued with Jonathan only one pawn ahead, an endgame which Neville was able to hold and force a draw. |
| At the start of the round, Glenn Cross was still in contention for the title and he played the aggressive Sicilian Dragon against Keith Allen’s king’s pawn opening. Keith chose a quiet continuation keeping a slight advantage in the early middle-game when Glenn made an error leading to the loss of a rook for a knight. There was no doubt that Keith would have eventually converted this advantage and so Glenn resigned. |
| John Griffin is still in the hunt for second place after a convincing victory over Alan Robertson in just 19 moves. Alan tried an offbeat variation against John’s favourite French Defence but it backfired as John won a pawn in the opening. The game later ended when Alan overlooked a knight fork, losing the exchange |
| Although he can no longer defend his title, Henrik Fabri is still in with a chance of second place after beating Alan Ormsby with his favourite Alekhine’s defence. In a risky winning attempt, Alan played an exchange sacrifice in return for obtaining the bishop pair and a dangerous passed pawn. However, Henrik was able to stop the progress of the pawn and after exchanging queens and a set of rooks, the pawn fell, Henrik winning in the endgame. |
| Zahed Miah had two very lucky escapes playing the white pieces against Sanjay Reddy. Sanjay built up a big attack against Zahed’s King but missed the best continuation which would have forced the win of Zahed’s queen. Zahed later blundered his knight but Sanjay returned the favour, the game ending in a draw. |
| Leaders after 3 rounds |
| 3 Points :- Keith Allen |
| 2½ Points:- Glenn Cross; Neville Gill |
| 2 Points :- John Griffin; Zahed Miah; Jonathan Waugh; Alan Robertson |
|
Results Round 3 - 10th February 2005 |
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White |
Black |
Notes |
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J Griffin (2) |
0 - 1 |
K Allen (2) |
Sicilian Defence, 36 moves |
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N Gill (1½) |
1 - 0 |
A Ormsby (1½) |
Slav Defence, 37 |
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G Cross (1½) |
1 - 0 |
H Fabri (1½) |
Nimzo-Indian Defence |
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M Ware (1) |
0 - 1 |
Z Miah (1) |
Italian Game, 26 |
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R Furner (1) |
0 - 1 |
J Waugh (1) |
Queens Pawn Game, 32 |
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R Mylrea (1) |
0 - 1 |
A Robertson (1) |
Sicilian Defence, 52 |
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S Reddy (½) |
1 - 0 |
R Colvin (-) |
(Score not available) |
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B Keig (0) |
1 - 0 |
R Wiseman (0) |
Philidor’s Defence, 29 |
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J Barrow (0) |
Default | ||
| ROUND 3 REPORT by Alan Ormsby |
| Glenn Cross produced the best performance of the competition so far with a stunning victory over defending champion, Henrik Fabri, leaving him in joint second place just half a point behind the number one seed, Keith Allen. |
| Glenn faced Henrik’s Nimzo-Indian defence, an opening whereby black gives up bishop for knight in the hope of obtaining the better pawn structure. On move 25, Henrik had the opportunity of exchanging his knight for bishop that would have led to a queen and pawn endgame with at least equal chances. However, he decided to avoid this sequence and suddenly found himself on the defensive as Glenn was able to advance a passed pawn, shepherded by his bishop. The endgame may have been defendable but Henrik left himself desperately short of time and resigned with only 2 seconds remaining on his clock. |
| Keith Allen had the black pieces against John Griffin and played the Sicilian Defence. John played aggressively but overlooked a neat tactical sequence that lead to Keith winning two pawns. Keith finished the game clinically by giving back both pawns in order to force a winning king and pawn endgame. |
| Neville Gill joined Glenn in second place with a straight forward win against Alan Ormsby. Alan missed a tactic in the opening which led to the loss of two pawns. Although he obtained very active pieces, there was never enough compensation for the lost material. Neville gradually forced a series of exchanges and won easily in the endgame. |
| Jonathan Waugh is amongst a group of three players in joint fourth place after his best game of the tournament so far. His opponent was Rich Furner who was ahead on material by grabbing two pawns. However, this opened lines to his king and Jonathan obtained a huge attack through his queen and two bishops. Rich did well to survive so long but the result was never in doubt. |
| Zahed Miah pulled off a shock by beating Mike Ware with the black pieces. Although Zahed obtained a slight advantage in the opening, he was faced with a tricky position in which he could win a bishop but at the expense of Mike obtaining a very dangerous attack against the black king. Zahed made the right decision by playing a good defensive move and converted his advantage after Mike’s attack fizzled out |
| Leaders after 2 rounds |
| 2 Points :- John Griffin; Keith Allen |
| 1½ Points:- Alan Ormsby; Glenn Cross; Neville Gill; Henrik Fabri |
|
Results Round 2 - 27th January 2005 |
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White |
Black |
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A Ormsby (1) |
½ - ½ |
G Cross (1) |
Sicilian Najdorf, 35 moves |
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Z Miah (1) |
0 - 1 |
J Griffin (1) |
French Advance, 43 |
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K Allen (1) |
1 - 0 |
M Ware (1) |
Scotch Game, 10 |
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A Robertson (1) |
0 - 1 |
N Gill (½) |
Larsen Opening, 27 |
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H Fabri (½) |
1 - 0 |
B Keig (0) |
Evans Gambit, 29 |
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J Waugh (0) |
1 - 0 |
R Colvin |
Pirc Defence, 29 |
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J Barrow (0) |
0 - 1 |
R Mylrea (0) |
English Opening, 30 |
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R Wiseman (0) |
0 - 1 |
R Furner (0) |
(Moves Not Available) |
| Half point Bye | ½ |
S Reddy (0) |
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| ROUND 2 REPORT by Alan Ormsby |
| Keith Allen and John Griffin are the joint leaders after two rounds of the 2005 Manx Chess Championship and are set to play each other in round three. |
| Keith surprised Mike Ware with the Scotch Game, an active king’s pawn opening. This seemed to take Mike by surprise and he quickly got into difficulties before blundering a piece which caused his instant resignation. |
| John Griffin played his favourite French Defence against Zahed Miah who put up very good resistance, despite having a far lower rating. Zahed gave up a rook and two pawns for two minor pieces and established a knight on a very active outpost which led to him winning back a pawn. However, John’s rooks were also very active and he may have held a slight advantage when Zahed blundered away his bishop on move 35 and with it, the game. |
| Alan Ormsby’s game against Glenn Cross was the round’s most dramatic encounter. A Sicilian Defence led to castling on opposite sides of the board and a race to attack each other’s king. Alan held a slight advantage in the early middle game but overlooked a knight manoeuvre from Glenn that led to a huge attack against the white king. In desperation Alan gave up rook for bishop to stop Glenn castling but it didn’t stop his king being chased into the middle of the board where it looked doomed. However, Glenn became very short of time and was unable to finish off his opponent, Alan hanging on for an undeserved draw. Subsequent analysis showed white was completely lost in the final position. This result leaves both players on 1½ points, in joint third place. |
| Neville Gill and Henrik Fabri are the only other players on 1½ points after comfortable wins over Alan Robertson and Brian Keig respectively. |
| There were no surprises in the other games. Special mention goes to Rob Colvin who stepped in at the last minute to play Jonathan Waugh and put up good resistance before Jonathan eventually made his experience tell. |
| Round 3 is being played on the 10th February and the draw will be published in next week’s Courier. |
The Elementary FIDE Swiss System has been used, whereby a random draw was used to determine the first round pairings.
| ROUND I REPORT by Alan Ormsby |
| The top board game of Gill v Fabri was an uneventful draw. Glenn Cross beat Jonathan Waugh after the latter got his queen trapped which he had to give up for a bishop. Jonathan eventually lost on time in a very bad position. The evening's best performance was probably Zahed Miah who ground down Brian Keig. Brian resigned when it became inevitable that Zahed would queen a pawn. There were no shocks in the other games. |
| White Black |
| S Reddy 0 v 1 A Robertson (Default) |
| R Furner 0 v 1 K Allen (Kings Indian Attack, 20 moves) |
| G Cross 1 v 0 J Waugh (Kings Indian Defence, 38 moves) |
| J Griffin 1 v 0 J Barrow (Orang Utan Opening, (that is,1.b4.) 36 moves) |
| R Mylrea 0 v 1 A Ormsby (Caro Kann, 29 moves) |
| B Keig 0 v 1 Z Miah (Vienna Game, 49 moves) |
| M Ware 1 v 0 R Wiseman (Philidor Defence, 25 moves) |
| N Gill ½ v ½ H Fabri (Queens Indian Defence, 26 moves) |
This year’s tournament will be held at the Belsfield Hotel in Douglas on the following Thursday evenings:
| Round 1 | 13 January |
| 2 | 27 January |
| 3 | 10 February |
| 4 | 24 February |
| 5 | 10 March |
Clocks will start promptly at 7.45pm.
There are 16 entries for the tournament as follows:
| Ranking | Name | IOMCA Grade |
| 1 | Keith Allen | 210 |
| 2 | Neville Gill | 195 |
| 3 | Henrik Fabri | 170 |
| 4 | Jonathan Waugh | 155 |
| 5 | Alan Ormsby | 144 |
| 6 | Glenn Cross | 141 |
| 7 | John Griffin | 126 |
| 8 | Mike Ware | 121 |
| 9 | Alan Robertson | 108 |
| 10 | Rich Furner | 101 |
| 11 | Zahed Miah | 100 (e) |
| 12 | Sanjay Reddy | 100 (e) |
| 13 | Richard Mylrea | 92 |
| 14 | Brian Keig | 80 |
| 15 | Rod Wiseman | 67 |
| 16 | Jamie Barrow | 65 (e) |
Rate of play will be all moves in 90 minutes. Quickplay Finish Rules apply.
It is my aim (Alan Ormsby) that the draw will be distributed by email at least 7 days before each round and will be made available upon telephone request to those without email. It will also appear on Richard Sargent’s website.
|
VICTORY FOR SWEDEN IN THE MANX CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS |
| The Manx Chess Championships has just finished with the largest number of competitors in decades. 14 players endured 7 rounds over 2 months and at the final round it was possible that a repeat of last year could occur with either one player winning outright or a three way tie would be the outcome. |
| As events turned out, one winner emerged as the overall champion - Henrik Fabri, from Sweden who works for the Isle of Man Government as a dentist, won at his first entry to the competition. Henrik has only been on the island for a year but has made a great impact on the chess arena, proving this with an impressive total of 6½ pts out of a possible 7. |
| Runner up was Chris Beards with 6 pts. Chris entertained the tournament with some flashy play and it is good to see a player of such quality return to Isle of Man chess. |
| Stalwart of Manx chess, Jonathan Waugh came in third with 5½ pts. As one of last years champions, he will perhaps be slightly disappointed to hand over the trophy due to some strong impressive performances. |
| FINAL SCORES; Henrik Fabri 6½; Chris beards 6; Jonathan Waugh 5½; Mike Ware, Alan Robertson, Rich Furner 4; Richard Mylrea 3½; Robert van Ollfen, John Griffin, Edward Milner 3; Glenn Cross, Derek Ware 2½; Paul Rodgers 1½; Rod Wiseman 1 |
| Chess on the Isle of Man is thriving. Later this year the 13th Monarch Assurance Chess Festival, followed by the Inaugural World senior Team Championships are being held in Port Erin. In 2005, for the first time, the Isle of Man will be hosting the British Chess Championships at the Villa Marina. This event normally lasts 2 weeks and up to a thousand chess players, aged from under 8 years to over 80 years, will be taking part in the various competitions. |
TENSE FINISH TO THE MANX CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS
With the final round of the Manx Chess Championships being held tonight (Thursday 25th), a battle of stamina is expected after six rounds of competitive play.
Chris Beards is currently leading with Jonathan Waugh, Mike Ware and Henrik Fabri close on his tail, being made particularly interesting as Mike and Henrik have a game in hand, the game in hand being that they are to play each other!
A full report of the final scores in what has been an enthralling tournament will appear in next week’s paper
Round 5 - 4 March 2004
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FIXTURES |
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Fabri 1-0 Cross |
| Waugh ½-½ Beards |
| Griffin 0-1 M Ware |
| Mylrea 0-1 R van Olffen |
| Milner 0-1 Furner |
| Rodgers ½-½ D Ware |
| Wiseman 0-1 Robertson |
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| Current scores:- |
| 4½ Henrik Fabri |
| 4 Mike Ware; Chris Beards |
| 3½ Jonathan Waugh |
| 3 Robert van Olffen; Rich Furner |
| 2½ Glenn Cross; Paul Rodgers |
| 2 Richard Mylrea ; Edward Milner; John Griffin; Derek Ware; Alan Robertson |
| 0 Rod Wiseman |
Round 4 - 26 February 2004
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FIXTURES |
| M Ware 0-1 Beards |
|
Fabri 1-0 Mylrea |
| R van Olffen 0-1 Waugh |
| Cross ½-½ Milner |
| Rodgers 0-1 Griffin |
| Robertson 0-1 Furner |
| Wiseman 0-1 D Ware |
| Current scores:- |
| 3½ Henrik Fabri; Chris Beards |
| 3 Mike Ware; Jonathan Waugh |
| 2½ Glenn Cross |
| 2 Richard Mylrea; Robert van Olffen; Edward Milner; John Griffin, Paul Rodgers; Rich Furner |
| 1½ Derek Ware |
| 1 Alan Robertson |
| 0 Rod Wiseman |
Round 3 - 5 February 2004
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FIXTURES |
| Mylrea 0-1 M Ware |
| Fabri 1-0 Waugh |
| Beards 1-0 Griffin |
| R van Olffen 1-0 A Robertson |
| Cross 1-0 Rodgers |
| Milner 1-0 D Ware |
| Furner 1-0 Wiseman |
| Mike Ware has taken the sole lead in the 2004 Manx Chess Championship. He is the only player with maximum points, winning convincingly against Richard Mylrea. Mike has had a good run lately, being the Best Manx Player in the Monarch Assurance congress. |
| White: Richard Mylrea - Black: Mike Ware; (French Defence) 1.e4 e6 2.f4 d5 3.e5 Nd7 4.d4 c5 5.Be3 cxd4 6.Bxd4 Bc5 7.Nf3 Ne7 8.g3 Nf5 9.Bh3 Nxd4 10.Nxd4 Qb6 11.Nb3 a5 12.Nxc5 Nxc5 13.Qd4 Qc6 14.Nc3 b5 15.a3 0-0 16.0-0-0? (White never got going in this game. After 16.0-0-0? Black had a huge attack on the White King) Bd7 17.b4 axb4 18.axb4 Na4 19.Nxa4 Rxa4 20.Rd3 Rc8 21.Kd2 Qxc2+ 22.Ke3 Ra2 23.Rd2 Ra3+ 24.Ke2 Qb3 25.Rhd1 Qf3+ 26.Ke1 Re3+(White could have resigned now!) 27.Qxe3 Qxe3+ 28.Re2 Qc3+ 29.Kf1 Qxb4 30.Ra1 g6 31.R1a2 Qd4 32.Rad2 Qb6 33.Bg2 b4 34.Rd3 Bb5 35.Rb3 Rc1++ 0-1 |
| Only five games were played on the night. Glenn Cross always looked like winning his game with Paul Rodgers. Since his initial setback Glenn has been giving his opponents no chance at all! |
| White: Glenn Cross - Black: Paul Rodgers; (Slav Defence) 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.e3 e6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nf3 Na6(a) 6.Bd3 g6 7.0-0 Bd6 8.a3 0-0 9.b4 Nc7 10.c5 Be7 11.Ne5 Nb5? 12.Nxb5 cxb5 13.Bxb5 a6 14.Bd3 Ne4 15.Qc2 Ng5 16.Bd2 h5 17.f4 f6? 18.Nxg6 Rf7 19.fxg5 Bf8 20.gxf6 and White won comfortably 1-0 |
| (a) 5.....Nbd7 is better than 5.....Na6 and if 6.....g6 then 7.....Bg7 has to be played. |
| Chris Beards beat John Griffin in a tough battle eventually decided in a King and pawns ending |
| White: Chris Beards - Black: John Griffin; (Queens pawn opening) 1.Nf3 Nc6 2.g3 e6 3.Bg2 d5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.c3 h6 7.Bf4 g5 8.Be3 Na5 9.Ne5 Nd7 10.Qa4 c6 11.Nd2 Nxe5 12.dxe5 b5 13.Qc2 Qc7 14.f4 Bb7 15.b3 0-0-0 16.Nf3 g4 17.Nd2 h5 18.b4 Nc4 19.Nxc4 dxc4 20.Qe4 a5 21.Bc5 axb4 22.Bxb4 Qd7 23.Bxe7 Qxe7 24.a4 Rd7 25.Qe3 Qd8 26.axb5 cxb5 27.Bxb7+ Rxb7 28.Ra8+ Rb8 29.Qc5+ Qc7 30.Rxb8+ Kxb8 31.Qxb5+ Qb7 32.Qxb7+ Kxb7 33.Kd2 h4 34.Rb1+ Kc6 35.Ke3 hxg3 36.hxg3 Rh3 37.Kf2 Rh2+ 38.Ke3 Rg2 39.Kd4 Rxg3 40.Kxc4 Re3 41.Rg1 Re4+ 42.Kd3 Rxf4 43.e3 Rf5 44.Ke4 Rg5 45.Kf4 Rg6?(a) 46.Rxg4 Rxg4+?(b) 47.Kxg4 Kd5 48.Kf4 Kc4 49.Kg5 Kd3 50.Kf6 Ke4 51.c4 1-0 |
| (a) 45.....Rf5+! draws. |
| (b) 46.....Rh6! Can white win? |
| The Swedish player Henrik Fabri gave the best performance of the tournament so far. He always seemed to have the edge against Jonathan Waugh. One felt that Waugh should have been able to draw but he did not! Waugh said later that he was most impressed with Fabri’s play. |
| White: Jonathan Waugh - Black: Henrik Fabri; (Alekhine's Defence) 1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 Bg4 5.Be2 e6 6.0-0 Be7 7.h3 Bh5 8.c4 Nb6 9.Nc3 Nc6 10.exd6 cxd6 11.d5 exd5 12.cxd5(a) Bxf3 13.Bxf3 Ne5 14.Be2 0-0 15.Be3 Rc8 16.Bd4 Bf6 17.Rc1 a6 18.b3 Re8 19.f4(b) Ned2 20.Bg4 Nxd5!(c) 21.Bxf6 Nd5xf6 22.Qxd6 Nxg4 23.hxg4 Nf6 24.Qxd8 Rcxd8 25.g5 Ng4 26.Rfe1 f5 27.gxf6(e.p.) Nxf6 28.Kf1 Kf7(d) 29.Na4 Rxe1+ 30.Kxe1 Nd5 31.g3 h5 32.Rd1 Re8+ 33.Kf2 Nf6 34.Nc5 Rc8 35.b4 b6 36.Nax6 Rc2+ 37.Kf3 Rxa2 38.b5 Ra3+ 39.Kg2 Rb3 40.Nc7 Ne4 41.Rd4 Rxg3+ 42.Kh2 Re3 43.Nd5 Re2+ 44.Kg1(e) h4 45.Nxb6 h3 46.Rd5 h2+ and mate with the Knight on the next move 0-1 |
| (a) Better 12.Nxd5 (H.F.) |
| (b) White is making too many pawn moves. Just what Black hopes for in this opening! |
| (c) A move like this has to be based on exact calculations. |
| (d) White should be able to hold the draw but he goes downhill gradually. |
| (e) 44.Kh3! (H.F.) |
| Dutch player Robert van Olffen defeated Alan Robertson and undoubtedly both van Olffen and Fabri have brought something new and vital to Manx chess. |
| Leading Scores are:- 1.M Ware 3 points; 2.Fabri, Beards 2½ points; Waugh, Mylrea, Cross, van Olffen 2 points. Round 4 will be played Thursday 26th Feb after a two week break to give the players a much needed rest from the intense struggle. In the next round Mike Ware will be playing either Fabri or Beards. |
| Current scores:- |
| 3 Mike Ware |
| 2½ Henrik Fabri; Chris Beards |
| 2 Richard Mylrea; Robert van Olffen; Glenn Cross; Jonathan Waugh |
| 1½ Edward Milner |
| 1 Alan Robertson; John Griffin; Paul Rodgers, Rich Furner |
| ½ Derek Ware |
| 0 Rod Wiseman |
Round 2 - 29 January 2004
| Current scores:- |
| Waugh, M Ware, Mylrea 2 points |
| Fabri, Beards 1½ points |
| van Olffen, Cross, Griffin, Robertson, Rodgers 1 point |
| Milner, D Ware ½ point |
| Wiseman, Furner 0 points |
| There was a sensation in round 2 of the 2004 Manx Chess Championship when top seed Robert van Olffen lost on time against Mike Ware. A player has to make 40 moves in 1½ hours and van Olffen only made 25. He had an excellent position when his time ran out and might well have gone on to win but rules are rules! |
| Mike Ware (White) v Robert van Olffen (Black) – Caro Kann | |
|
Robert van Olffen |
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|
1.e4 c6
2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 dxe4
4.dxe4 e5 5.Ngf3 Bg4
6.Be2(a) Nd7 7.h3
Bh5(b) 8.Nc4 Qc7
9.0-0 Ngf6 10.Nfd2
Bxe2 11.Qxe2 Nc5
12.b3 b5 13.Nb2 Ne6(c)
14.Nd3 Bc5 15.Nf3
Nd4 16.Nxd4 Bxd4
17.Bb2 Bxb2 18.Nxb2(d)
0-0 19.Rfe1 a5
20.a3 Rfd8 21.Rad1
Rd4 22.Rxd4 exd4
23.Qf3(e) Re8 24.Qd3 Qe5 25.f3
Nd5! 26.Nd1 1-0 (TIME)
(f)
Diagram; Position after White's 26th move. |
|
Mike Ware |
|
| (a) Better 6.h3! Bxf3 7.Qxf3 |
| (b) On move 6 this would not have been possible because of g4 and Nxe5. |
| (c) Black is outplaying his opponent. This Knight can go to f4, d4 or c5. |
| (d) The Knight has taken 5 moves to get to b2 where it is still poorly placed. |
| (e) If white intended Qd3 he could have played it at once. |
| (f) Black is far better. After 26…..Nf4 and Re6 with an attack he had every chance of winning. |
| Defending champions Glenn Cross and Jonathan Waugh both scored competent victories with the Black pieces. Their games with van Olffen will be crucial and should decide something in this tournament. |
| White: Rod Wiseman - Black: Glenn Cross; (irregular opening) 1.d3 d5 2.Bf4 c5 3.e3 Nf6 4.h3 Nc6 5.Nf3 g6 6.b3(a) Bg7 7.d4 Ne4 8.Nbd2 Nc3 9.Qc1 0-0 10.Qb2 cxd4 11.exd4 Qa5 12.Be3 Bf5 13.a3 Ne4 14.b4 Qc7 15.c3 Rac8 16.g4 Nxd2 17.Qxd2 Be4 18.Bg2 e5 19.Rg1 exd4 20.cxd4 Rfe8 21.Rc1 Qb6 22.Qb2 Bxf3 0-1 White lost mainly because he did not castle! |
| (a) This was one of those games where b3 was too risky for White. |
| Rich Furner missed a good chance against John Griffin and lost. Had he taken all his chances he could have won both his games so far and would be sharing the lead instead of propping up the tournament score table. |
| White: John Griffin - Black: Rich Furner; (Modern Defence) 1.e4 g6 2.Nf3 Bg7 3.d4 d6 4.Nc3 Bg4 5.Be3 e5 6.Bc4 Bxf3 7.gxf3 exd4 8.Bxd4 Bxd4 9.Qxd4 Qf6 10.0-0-0 Nd7 11.Nd5 Qxd4 12.Rxd4 0-0-0 13.f4 Nh6 14.f3 Rde8 15.Bb3 f5 16.Ra4 a6 17.Rc4 c6 18.h3 Nc5(a) 19.Nc3 b5 20.Rd4 Nxb3+ 21.cxb3 Kc7 22.Rhd1 Re6 23.Kc2 c5 24.Rd5 b4 25.Na4 Rd8?(b) 26.Nxc5 1-0 |
| (a) 18.....Kb8! is good for Black. The Knight does not have a good square and the Rook is poorly placed on c4. If 19.Ne3 d5. If 19.Nc3 c5. |
| (b) A blunder. Black had to try and find something against e5. |
| Edward Milner, another newcomer, also gave a good account of himself. His Evans Gambit had Richard Mylrea in a lot of trouble but Richard survived and won with a material balance of Rook and 3 pawns against Bishop and Knight. |
| White: Edward Milner - Black: Richard Mylrea; (Evans Gambit) 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6(a) 4.0-0 Nf6 5.Re1 Bc5 6.b4 Bxb4 7.c3 Ba5 8.d4 exd4 9.Nxd4(b) Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Bb6 11.Qe5+ Qe7 12.Qg3?(c) Nxe4 13.Qf3 Bxf2+ 14.Qxf2 Nxf2 15.Rxc7+ Kxc7 16.Kxf2 Re8(d) 17.Nd2 Kf8 18.Ba3+ d6 19.Rf1 Re5 20.Nf3 Re4 21.Bb3 Be6 22.Nd2 Re5 23.Nf3 Rf5 24.Kg1 a5 25.Nd4 Rxf1+ 26.Kxf1 Bxb3 27.axb3 Re8 28.Nb5 Rc8 29.Ke2 Ke7 30.Na7 Re8 31.Nb5 Kd7+ 32.Kd3 g5 33.Kd2 f5(e) 34.Nd4 f4 35.h3 h5 36.Nf3 Rg8 37.Nh2 Re8 38.Bb2 Re5 39.c4? Re3 40.Nf3 Rxb3 41.Bc3 g4 42.hxg4 hxg4 43.Nh2 f3!(f) 44.Nxf3 gxf3 45.gxf3 a4 46.Kc2 c6 47.f4 Ke6 48.Bd2 b5 49.cxb5 cxb5 50.Bc3 Kf5 51.Bd2 d5 52.Kc1 a3 53.Kc2 Rb2+ 54.Kc1 Rxd2 0-1 |
| (a) Black cannot afford time for this. 3.....Bc5 4.b4 is the normal Evans gambit. |
| (b) 9.e5! was the move. If 9.....Nh7 10.Ba3 stops 0-0 and threatens Qb3. |
| (c) It was still not too late for 12.Qxe7+ Kxe7 13.e5 |
| (d) Rook + 3 Pawns is better than Bishop + Knight. |
| (e) Black wins by advancing his pawns on both sides of the board. |
| (f) The best move of the game, if not of the tournament so far. If 44.gxf3 Rxc3 45.Kxc3 g3 and queen's the pawn! |
| Alan Robertson defeated Derek Ware in a long game. So far Alan has made more moves than anyone else and fully deserves his 50% score. |
| White: Derek Ware - Black: Alan Robertson; (Pirc Defence) 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Bg5 Bg7 5.Qd2 h6 6.Bxf6(a) exf6 7.Nf3 c6 8.g3 0-0 9.Bg2 Re8 10.0-0 Na6 11.Rfe1 Nc7 12.h3 Be6 13.a3 Qd7 14.Qf4 g5 15.Qe3 f5 16.e5 d5 17.Nh2 Qe7 18.Ne2 f6 19.Rad1 fxe5 20.c3?(b) e4(c) 21.f3 Rf8 22.Rf1 Rf7 23.f4 Raf8 24.Rf2 Ne8 25.a4 Nd6 26.b3 Bd7 27.Rc1 Bh8 28.c4 dxc4 29.bxc4 b5 30.cxb5 cxb5 31.Nc3 b4 32.Nd5 Qe6 33.Nc7(d) Qf6 34.Rd2 Bxa4 35.Nd5 Qd8 36.Nxb4 Bb5 37.Bf1 Bxf1 38.Nxf1 Nb5 39.Nc6 Qb6 40.Ne5 Rg7 41.Rdc2(e) Nxd4 42.Rf2 gxf4 43.Rxf4 Rd8(f) 44.Kg2 Rg5 45.Nc6 Rd7 46.Nh2 Qb2+ 47.Kf1?(g) Qxh2 48.Nxd4 Qxh3+ 49.Kf2 Bxd4 50.Qxd4 Rxd4 51.Rc8+ Kf3 52.Rc7+ Ke6 53.Rc3 Qh2+ 54.Ke3 Qd2 MATE 0-1 |
| (a) There is no need to exchange. 6.Bf4 would stop 6.....0-0. |
| (b) Why not 20.dxe5? |
| (c) Black should win now! |
| (d) 33.Nxb4 at once. |
| (e) White collapses after this. |
| (f) Ne2+! wins a Rook (nice fork) |
| (g) With 47.Rf2 White could have struggled on. |
| Henrik Fabri drew with Chris Beards. Both players allowed doubled pawns. Fabri got two Rooks on the seventh rank but nothing came of it. |
| White: Henrik Fabri - Black: Chris Beards 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 d6 4.d3 Be7 5.Be3 Na5 6.Nbd2 Bg4 7.c3 Nxc4 8.Nxc4 Qd7 9.h3 Bh5 10.Qb3 b6 11.0-0-0 Qc6 12.d4 Bxf3 13.gxf3(a) exd4 14.Bxd4 Bg5+ 15.Kb1 f6 16.Rhg1 Ne7 17.h4(b) Bh6 18.Ne3 0-0-0 19.Ng4 Rdf8? 20.Nxh6 gxh6(c) 21.Rg7(d) Ng6 22.Qe6+ Kb2 23.Bxf6 Nf4 24.Qf5 Nh5 25.Qxh5 Rxf6 26.Rf7 Rg6 27.e5 Qc4 28.Qf5 dxe5 29.Qe4+ Rc6 30.Qxc4 Rxc4 31.Rdd7 Rc8 32.h5 Rh4 33.Rf5 Re8 34.Rd2 Re7 35.Re2 Kc8 36.R(?)xe5 Rxe5 37.Rxe5 Kd7 38.Rf5 Ke6 39.Rf8 Rxh5 40.Kc2 Rf5 41.Rg8 Rxf3 42.Rg2 Rf6 43.Kd2 Rg6 44.Rh2 Kf5 45.Ke3 Re6+ 46.Kf3 ½-½ |
| (a) As in the game Griffin - Furner, White has to think hard before allowing doubled pawns. |
| (b) Otherwise Ng6. |
| (c) These doubled pawns are horrible. There is nothing wrong with 19.....Bf4. |
| (d) White should be winning now but in the end he only draws. |
27 January 2004 - Isle of Man Examiner Newspaper Report
| The 2004 Manx Chess Championships started at the Belsfield Hotel, Douglas, on Thursday. |
| Fourteen competitors from across the Island will battle over 7 rounds, with the final round taking place on Thursday, March 25. |
| The popularity of chess in the Island goes back many years. |
| Competition secretary Richard Mylrea said the Douglas Chess Club was started in 1946, The Isle of Man Chess Association started in 1950 with clubs in Douglas, Peel, Ramsey and Port Erin, and the Manx Chess Championships were first held in 1947 when the winner was J. G. Radcliffe. |
| Bob Kermeen took his first win in 1953 and went on to dominate the event in the 50s, 60s and 70s, winning 20 times. |
| Other prominent winners include High Bailiff Michael Moyle, who has won four times, Neville Gill, who is involved in the administration this year and is a 15-times winner, and Keith Allen, another four-times winner. |
| Last year was an historic event, as three people - John Costello, Jonathon Waugh and Glenn Cross tied for the title. |
| The championship is run in a Swiss system, which means the people who have won the most times in the rounds should face each other in the final! |
Round 1 - 22 January 2004
| Neville Gill reports: There were originally seventeen entries for this years championships causing a few organisational head-aches. These were added to by a couple of withdrawals and a non-arriver, but the final complement of players is an impressive fifteen. Being played as a Swiss Tournament, it is far too early at this stage to make any predictions as to the result, but plenty of exciting chess can be expected. |
| There was a major surprise in round 1 when Richard Mylrea defeated Glenn Cross, one of the defending champions. Glenn sacrificed a pawn for attack and got an excellent position. However, he missed the best line and lost an endgame where Richard made good use of his King. To retain the title, Glenn will probably have to win all his remaining games. |
| White: Richard Mylrea - Black: Glenn Cross; 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Bg4 3.Nbd2 Nf6 4.h3 Bh5 5.g4 Bg6 6.Bg2 e6 7.0-0 Bd6 8.Re1 Nbd7 9.c4 c5 (c6 is safer) 10.Qb3 b6 11.e3 0-0 12.Nh4 Rc8 (Black gives up a pawn for attack) 13.cxd5 Nxd5 14.Nxg6 hxg6 15.Bxd5 exd5 16.Qxd5 Nf6 17.Qb7 Bb8 18.dxc5 Rxc5 19.b3 Qd6 20.Ba3 Qh2+ 21.Kf1 Rc7(a) 22.Qg2 Qxg2+ 23.Kxg2 Rd8 24.Nc4 Rcd7 25.Bb2 Rd5 26.e4 Rd3 27.Ne5 Rd2 28.Nc6 Re8 29.Bxf6 gxf6 30.Nxb8 Rxb8 31.Red1 Rbd8 32.Rxd2 Rxd2 (a pawn down, Black should be able to draw this ending) 33.h4! (otherwise Black plays g5 and a draw is certain) a5 34.Kf3 b5 35.Ke3 Rc2 36.f3 Rh2 37.Kd4 Rc2 38.a4 b4 39.Rf1 Rc3 40.Rb1 Rxf3? (he should not let the White King through) 41.Kc5! Rf4 42.Kb5 Rxe4 43.Kxa5 Rxg4 44.Rh1 Kf8 45.Kb6 Re4 46.h5 gxh5 47.Rxh5 Re3 48.a5 rxb3 49.a6 Ra3 50.Ra5 1 - 0 |
| (a) Why not 21......Rd5! 22.Bxf8? loses at once to 22.....Qh1+ 23.Ke2 Rxd2+ 24.Kxd2 Qxb7!!. If 22.Nf3 Qxh3+ 23.Ke2 Rfd8 |
| Chris Beards played his favourite Bird’s opening against Rod Wiseman. He won a pawn and exploited it smoothly. Chris might do very well in this tournament. Opponents beware! |
| White: Chris Beards - Black: Rod Wiseman; 1.f4 e6 2.Nf3 Bc5 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Nf6 5.d4 Bb6 6.0-0 Qd6 7.Nbd2 Nc6 8.c3 a6 9.Re1 Bd7 10.e4 dxe4 11.Nxe4 Nxe4 12.Rxe4 0-0-0 13.Ne5 Nxe5 14.fxe5 Qe7 15.Qb3 f6 16.a4 Bc6? (loses a pawn) 17.exf6 Qxf6 18.Qxe6+ Qxe6 19.Rxe6 Bxg2 20.Kxg2 Rde8 21.Rxe8 Rxe8 22.Kf2 Kd7 23.Bf4 Re6 24.Re1 c6 25.Re5 Bd8 26.Kf3 Rf6 27.Kg4 Bc7 28.Rf5 Bd8 29.Rxf6 Bxf6 30.Bg5 Ke6 31.Bxf6 Kxf6 32.Kf4 Ke6 33.Ke4 Kd6 34.g4 Ke6 35.c4 g6 36.a5 Kd6 37.h4 Ke6 38.g5 Kd6 39.b3 Ke6 40.c5 Ke7 41.Ke5 1 - 0 |
| Newcomer Rich Furner had the better position against Mike Ware until one of his Rooks was seen to be awkwardly placed. Mike won material and the game. |
| White: Rich Furner - Black: Mike Ware; 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.Qb3 c5 7.0-0 Qc7 8.Na3 a6 9.dxc5 dxc5 10.Bf4 Qd8 11.Rfd1 (White is clearly better here) Qe8 12.Rd2 Nc6 13.Rad1 Ne4 14.Rd3 e5 15.Be3 Qe7 16.Nd2 Nxd2 17.R1xd2 (R3xd2! The rook at d3 is poorly placed and White loses material) Nd4 18.Qb6 e4 19.Bxd4 (He had to try 19.Rc3) Bxd4 20.Rxd4 cxd4 21.Rxd4 Bf5 22.e3 Rac8 23.Nb1 Rc6 24.Qb3 b5! 25.Nc3 bxc4 26.Rxc4 Be6 27.Rxe4 Qc7 28.Qd1 Rb6 29.Na4 Rd6 30.Rd4 Rfd8 31.b3 Rxd4 32.exd4 Bd5 33.Nc5? (loses a piece) Bxg2 34.Kxg2 Qxc5! 35.dxc5 Rxd1 36.Kf3 Kf8 37.b4 Ke8 38.a4 Kd7 39.b5 axb5 40.axb5 Kc7 41.h4 Rd5 42.b6+ Kc6 0 - 1 |
| Top seed Robert van Olffen did all that was necessary against John Griffin. In a French Defence he was always on top. John was another player in this round who ended up with a Rook on a bad square. It is remarkable how difficult it is to extricate it from such a situation. |
| White: Robert van Olffen - Black: John Griffin; 1.e4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e5 Nfd7 6.Bxe7 Qxe7 7.f4 0-0 8.Nf3 f6 9.Bd3 c5 10.dxc5 Nxc5 11.0-0 Nxd3 12.cxd3 fxe5 13.fxe5 Nc6 14.d4 Qb4 15.Qd2 Bd7 16.a3 Qc4 17.Rac1 Rf7 18.Ne4 Qa6 19.Nd6 Re7 20.Rc3 (20.Qg5! at once, threatens Rxc6) Qb6 21.Kh1 Rf8 22.Rfc1 Na5 23.b4 Nc6 24.Qg5 Nxd4 25.Qxe7 Ne2 26.Qxd7 Nxc3 27.Qxe6+ Kh8 28.Nf7+ 1 - 0 (White mates by 28.....Kg8 29.Nh6+ Kh8 30.Qg8+ Rxg8 31.Nf7++ |
| Alan Robertson did well against Henrik Fabri, a Swedish player and another of the favourites. Although losing a pawn early on he put up sterling resistance and was not clearly lost until late in the game. Apparently Fabri used almost all of his allotted time. |
| White: Alan Robertson - Black: Henrik Fabri; 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 d5 3.Bg5 Nbd7 4.e3 e6 5.c4 c6 6.Nc3 Bb4 7.a3 (7.cxd5 is correct) Bxc3+ 8.bxc3 Qa5 9.Qc2 Ne4 10.Bf4 0-0 11.Nd2 7f6 12.Bd3 Qxc3 13.Ra2 Qxd2+ 14.Qxd2 Nxd2 15.Rxd2 Re8 (Black is a pawn up but it is hard to exploit it) 16.0-0 b6 17.Rc1 Bb7 18.h3 Rac8 19.Rdc2 dxc4 20.Bxc4 h6 21.Be2 Nd5 22.Bg3 Red8 23.Bh4 g5 24.Bg3 Kf8 25.Be5 Ke7 26.g4 f6 27.Bg3 Kf7 28.h4 Ke7 29.hxg5 hxg5 30.Kg2? (White should not have allowed Black to free his game with c5) c5! 31.Bf3 cxd4 32.exd4 Rxc2 33.Rxc2 Rc8 34.Rxc8 Bxc8 35.Kf1 (a) Ba6+ 36.Ke1 Bc4 37.Kd2 a5 38.Be4 Kd7 39.f3 Nc7 40.Kc3 Bf1 41.Bf2 Nd5+ 42.Kd2 Kc6 43.Kc2 Kb5 44.Kb2 Kc4 45.Bc2 Be2 46.Be4 b5 47.Kc2 b4 48.axb4 axb4 49.Kd2 Bf1 50.Bb1 Nc3 51.Bg6 b3 52.Kc1 Na4 53.Be3 Bd3 54.Bxd3+ Kxd3 55.Bg1 Ke2 0 - 1 |
| (a) here or later White had Bxd5 with Bishops of opposite colour. However such positions are not automatic draws. |
| In round 2 things will start to hot up when the round 1 winners play each other. |
| Round 1 Results (gradings in brackets) | |
| (1) Robert van Olffen 1-0 John Griffin (7) | (8) Alan Robertson 0-1 Henrik Fabri (2) |
| (3) Jonathan Waugh 1-0 Ian Bell (9) [W/O] | (11) Richard Mylrea 1-0 Glenn Cross (4) |
| (5) Chris Beards 1-0 Rod Wiseman (12) | (13) Rich Furner 0-1 Mike Ware (6) |
| One point bye = Paul Rodgers | |
| Half point byes (due to pre-arranged agreement) = Edward Milner and Derek Ware. | |
| 22 January 2004 - Isle of Man Newspaper Report |
| BUMPER ENTRY FOR MANX CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS. Sixteen players have entered the 2004 Manx Chess Championships commencing on Thursday 22 January at the Belsfield Hotel, Douglas. This is by far the largest number of competitors for many a year and despite the absence of Neville Gill, tough competition can be expected from regular favourites John Costello, Glenn Cross and Jonathan Waugh (all present joint holders) and newcomers to the island, Henrik Fabri and Robert Van Ollfen. |
Manxchampionships 2002 Archives
MANX CHAMPIONSHIPS 2000/2001 ARCHIVES
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MANX CHAMPIONSHIPS 2003
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Final Round Thursday 27th March 2003
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John Costello |
Glenn Cross |
Jonathan Waugh |
|
The final round was played in a tense atmosphere in the Curzon room at the
Hilton Hotel with Frank Maher as independent arbiter.
For
the first time ever, the 2003 Manx Chess Championship resulted in a triple tie
with John Costello, Glenn Cross and Jonathan Waugh sharing the title and the
Patrick Taylor cup that goes with it.
The number of living Manx chess champions has increased from four to seven, the others being Bob Kermeen who has won more than anyone else, High Bailiff Michael Moyle, former Northern Island champion Keith Allen and former British Senior champion Neville Gill. |
| The final scores were Costello, Cross and Waugh 5½; Griffin and Ormsby 4; Ware 2½; Mylrea and Robertson ½. |
| So ended a most interesting tournament. Of the new champions, John Costello is the highest rated; Glenn Cross looked like winning the championship outright but faltered; and Jonathan Waugh was undefeated. |
| We shall have to see what happens in 2004! (Report by Neville Gill) |
| The game between John Costello and Alan Ormsby was by far and away the most dramatic encounter. A position with Queen, 2 Bishops and even pawns was reached which is notoriously drawish. John had spent a lot of time trying to make something out of nothing and offered Alan a draw on move 21 which Alan turned down as he was 1hr 16mins ahead on the clock. Matters came to a head on move 35. John had less than 2 minutes for 14 moves whereas Alan had almost an hour. As so often happens in chess, the player with more time on the clock played far worse on the board. Alan opened up his King position and was suddenly faced with checkmate! | |
|
Alan Ormsby |
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1.d4
Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 a6 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.a4
Nc6 7.Bf4 Bf5 8.e3 e6 9.Be2 Be7 10.0-0 h6
11.h3 0-0 12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 Ne4 14.Nxe4 Bxe4
15.Qb3 Qd7 16.Rfc1 Rac8 17.a5 Rxc1+ 18.Rxc1 Rc8
19.Rc3 Bd8 20.Qb4 Rxc3 21.bxc3 (With 16mins left, White
offered a draw which was not accepted by Black who had 1hr 32mins left)
Qc6 22.Bf1 f6 23.Bg3 Kf7 24.Be2 Bg6 25.Bf1 Be7
26.Qb3 Kf8 27.Be2 Be8 (White 6mins 31secs left, Black 1hr 8mins
left) 28.Bf1 g5?! 29.Be2 Kg7 30.Bf1 Bd8
31.Qb4 Bd7 32.Be2 Bd8 33.Bh5 b5 34.Qb1 f5 35.Be5+ Bf6?!
(White 1min 56secs left, Black 59mins left)
Diagram - position after Black's 35th move 36.Bxf6+ Kxf6 37.Qb4 Kg7 38.Qe7+ Kh8 39.Bg6 1-0 |
|
John Costello |
|
| On the night, the most polished chess came from Glenn Cross. He played a sound positional game against Mike Ware, being content to await chances rather than create them. He always had some advantage and infiltrated along the "c" file, getting a Rook on the seventh rank, which was decisive. |
| White: Glenn Cross; Black: Mike Ware |
| 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 0-0 5.Bf4 d6 6.e3 c6 7.Bd3 Qa5 8.0-0 Bf5 9.e4 Bg4 10.a3 c5 11.dxc5 Qxc5 12.Be2 Nbd7 13.Rc1 Nb6 14.Be3 Qc6 15.Nd5 Nfxd5 16.cxd5 Qd7 17.Qd2 Na4 18.b3 Nb6 19.h3 Bxf3 20.Bxf3 Rfc8 21.Be2 Qd8 22.Bg4 Rxc1 23.Rxc1 h5 24.Be2 Nd7 25.Qc2 b6 26.Bb5 Kh7 27.Qc7 Nc5 28.Qxd8 Rxd8 29.b4 Nxe4 30.Rc7 Nc3 31.Bc6 Be5 32.Rxa7 Rc8 33.g3 Ne2+ 34.Kg2 Nd4 35.b5 Kg7 36.Rxe7 Nf5 37.Ra7 Rb8 38.Bd2 Bb2 39.a4 Bd4 40.Rd7 Re8 41.Kf1 Bc5 42.a5 bxa 43.Bxa5 Nd4 44.Bc3 Re4 45.Rb7 Kf8 46.Rb8+ Ke7?! 47.Re8+ winning the Rook 1-0 |
| Jonathan Waugh played a poor opening by his standards and stood clearly worse. However, Alan Robertson gave up a pawn for inadequate compensation and lost control of the white squares. Jonathan finished the game with a flourish, sacrificing a Rook to force checkmate. |
| White: Jonathan Waugh; Black: Alan Robertson |
| 1.e4 g7 2.c4 d6 3.Nc3 c6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Nge2 Bg4 6.h3 Bf3 7.Rh2 Nf6 8.d3 Bxe2 9.Qxe2 Qc7 10.Be3 e5 11.Bg2 a6 12.Qd2 Nbd7 13.Bh6 Nh5 14.Bxg7 Nxg7 15.Bf3 Ne6 16.Ne2 Qb6 17.Kf1 0-0 18.Kg1 Rac8 19.Rb1 Qa7 20.Qe3 Nd4 21.Nxd4 exd4 22.Qh6 Ne5 23.Be2 f6 24.Qd2 b5 25.f4 Nf7 26.cxb5 axb5 27.a3 Qa4 28.Bg4 Rc7 29.Qc2 Qa8 30.Qb3 Kg7 31.Rc2 Nd8 32.Qb4 c5 33.Qxb5 Rb7 34.Qc4Re8 35.Qd5 Qb8 36.Qc4 Rbe7 37.b4 f5 38.Bf3 Qc8 39.Kh2 Ne6 40.b5 Qb7 41.Kg2 Qb6 42.a4 Ra7 43.Ra2 Ra5 44.Qd5 Nc7 45.Qc6 Rb8 46.Qd7+ Kg8 47.exf5 gxf5 48.Qxf5 Rf8 49.Qg5+ Kh8 50.Re1 Ra7 51.Re7 Ne8 52.Rae2 Rxe7 53.Rxe7 c4 54.Rxh7+ Resigns - Mate to follow 1-0 |
| Richard Mylrea v John Griffin was the only game with no bearing on the outcome of the championship. After playing an excellent opening, John let Richard right back into the game, but finally John won in a Rook and pawn ending |
| White: Richard Mylrea; Black: John Griffin |
| 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Bb5 Qb6 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.Nf3 Rb8 8.0-0 cxd4 9.cxd4 c5 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.Qd3 Ba6 12.Qb3 Qc7 13.Qa4+ Bb5 14.Qg4 Ne7 15.Rd1 Bxf2+ 16.Kxf2 h5 17.Qd4 Nf5 18.Qc3 Qb6+ 19.Nd4 0-0 20.Qb4 Rfc8 21.Na3 Rc5 22.Ke1 a5 23.Qb3 a4 24.Qb4 Nxd4 25.Qxd4 Qc7 26.Nxb5 Rbxb5 27.Bf4 Rc4 28.Qf2 Rc2 29.Rac1!? Rxf2 30.Rxc7 Rxf4 31.Rd2 Re4+ 32.Kf2 Rxe5 33.Rc3 d4 34.Rc4 Re4 35.Rxa4 Rf5+ 36.Kg3 Re3+ 37.Kh4 Rf4+ 38.g4 Rxg4+ 39.Kxh5 Ree4 40.Raxd4 Rxd4 White resigned 0-1 |
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Round
6 Thursday 13/20th March 2003| Neville Gill, last year’s Isle of Man Chess Champion reports: The three leaders all won in the penultimate round of the 2003 Manx Chess Championship but had varying fortunes. |
| After his disaster in the previous round Glenn Cross got back on track by defeating Alan Robertson who moved too many pawns in front of his King severely weakening his defences. |
| White: Alan Robertson; Black: Glenn Cross |
| 1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.g3 Bf5 4.Bg2 e6 5.0-0 Nbd7 6.b3 Ne4 7.Bb2 Bd6 8.Nbd2 Ndf6 9.Rc1 0-0 10.c4 c6 11.Ne5 Re8 12.Bxe4 Nxe4 13.Nxe4 Bxe4 14.f3 Bf5 15.Kg2 Qg5 16.Qe1 f6 17.f4 Qh6 18.g4 Be4+ 19.Nf3 Bxf4 20.h3 Bxc1 21.Bxc1 Qg6 22.Kh2 Qf7 23.Bf4 Rad8 24.c5 Qd7 25.Qg3 b6 26.Bd6 bxc5 27.Bxc5 Bxf3 28.Qxf3 e5 29.Qc3 exd4 30.Bxd4 Rxe2+ 31.Kg1 Qd6 32.Bf2 Rxa2 33.Bg3 Qd7 34.Rc1 Re8 35.Re1 Rae2 36.Rxe2 Rxe2 37.Kf1 Qe8 0-1 |
| In this tournament each player has to make 48 moves in 2 hours. Jonathan Waugh and John Griffin both ran very short of time and had a frantic struggle to beat the clock. They ended up moving so quickly that they did not keep score and did not even know how many moves they had made. Therefore the final part of their game has been lost for ever. John Griffin resigned when he found himself a Rook down. Jonathan had the better of the game anyway, so justice was done. |
| White: John Griffin; Black: Jonathan Waugh |
| 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bc4 e6 5.d3 a6 6.a3 Be7 7.e5 dxe5 8.Nxe5 0-0 9.0-0 Qc7 10.Ng4 Nbd7 11.Re1 b5 12.Bb3 Bb7 13.a4 Qc6 14.Ne4 Nxe4 15.dxe4 c4 16.Ba2 f5 17.Ne4 f4 18.Nf1 Rad8 19.axb5 axb5 20.Qf3 Nc5 21.Nd2 Ra8 22.Qc3 Bf6 23.Qh3 e5 24.c3 Bc8 25.Qh5 Be6 26.Nf3 Nd3 27.Rd1 Qc8 28.Ng5 Bxg5 29.Qxg5 Qc5 30.Rxd3 Rxa2 31.Rxa2 cxd3 32.Ra6 Bc8 33.Ra5 Bb7 34.Bd2 Bxe4 35.b4 Qd5 36.f3 Bg6 37.Qe7 Re8 38.Qc7 Qb3 39.Ra1 Bf7 rest of score lost 0-1 |
| John Costello had a narrow escape. He tried too hard to beat Mike Ware and should have paid the penalty. On move 35 Mike had a clear win by moving his Bishop to f7. What he played instead should also have been good enough to win, but he did not activate his pieces and allowed himself to be driven back. John wrapped up the game on move 60. | |
|
John Costello |
|
|
|
1.d4
d5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Bg5 e6 4.Nbd2 Be7 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3
c5 7.c3 0-0 8.0-0 c4 9.Bc2 b5 10.Ne5 Bb7 11.Qf3
Re8 12.a3 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Nd7 14.Bf4 Nc5 15.Qe2 a5
16.Rfd1 Qb6 17.Nf3 g6 18.Nd4 Bf8 19.h4 h5 20.g4
hxg4 21.Qxg4 Bg7 22.h5 gxh5 23.Qxh5 Kf8 24.Kf1
Nd3 25.Ke2 Nxf4+ 26.exf4 b4 27.Rab1 Ba6 28.a4
Qc5 29.Qg5 Qe7 30.Qg3 f6 31.Rg1 Bc8 32.Bg6 Red8
33.Nc6 Qd7 34.Nxd8 Qxd8
See Diagram 35.Bf7 should win! 35.Bh5 Qe7 36.Qg6 Ba6 37.exf6 Qxf6 38.Qxf6 Bxf6 39.Rg6 Ke7 40.Kd2 Bc8 41.Bf3 Bd7 42.Ra1 Rb8 43.Bd1 bxc3+ 44.bxc3 Rb2+ 45.Bc2 Be8 46.Rg3 Bc6 47.Kc1 Rb8 48.Kd2 Rh8 49.Rf1 Rh2 50.f5 e5 51.Rg6 Be8 52.Rg3 Bh4 53.Rg7+ Bf7 54.Ke1 Kf6 55.Rg1 e4 56.Ke2 Bh5+ 57.Ke1 e3 58.Rg3 Bxg3 59.fxg3 Rxc2 60.g4 Bxg4 0-1 |
|
Mike Ware |
|
| In the Alan Ormsby, Richard Mylrea game, Richard lost 2 pawns and a Knight in just four moves. |
| White: Alan Ormsby; Black: Richard Mylrea |
| 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb3 Be6 6.Nc3 Bxb3 7.axb3 Nf6 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.Nd5 Qd8 11.Bc4 Be7 12.0-0 0-0 13.c3 Nc6 14.b4 Kh8 15.Ne3 Bg5 16.Nf5 Be7 17.Qg4 Bg5 18.Rfd1 g6 19.Nxd6 Qf6 20.Nxb7 Rfc8 21.Nc5 Nxb4?! 22.cxb4 Qb6 23.Bxf7 Qxb4 24.Ne6 Kh7 25.h4 Qe7 26.Bxg6+ Kxg6 27.Qf5+ Kh5 28.g4+ Kxh4 29.Kg2 Rc6 30.Rh1++ 1-0 |
| Leading scores: Cross, Costello and Waugh 4½; Ormsby 4; Griffin 3. |
| The pairings in the final round, being played tonight Thursday 27th at the Hilton Hotel, are Cross v Ware, Waugh v Robertson, Mylrea v Griffin and Costello v Ormsby. The magnificent Patrick Taylor cup will be on display. That is what the tournament is all about! The three joint leaders know that a win will guarantee at least a share in the championship but not winning will leave him empty handed. It should be interesting! |
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Round
5 Thursday 6th March 2003
| The 2003 Manx Chess Championship being played at the Hilton Hotel is turning out to be the most closely contested in living memory. There are two rounds left and any one of five players could emerge as the new Manx champion. |
| Pride of place in round five goes to John Griffin who defeated tournament leader Glenn Cross in a game with an English opening which John handled much better than his opponent. Later on, Glenn allowed his Bishop to be stranded at the edge of the board and when John pinned two Rooks with his Bishop Glenn immediately resigned. For him it was a very bad day at the office. | |
|
John Griffin |
|
|
|
1.d4
e6 2.c4 c5 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bc5
6.Bg5 e5 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.Nf3 Nc6 9.e3 e4 10.Nd5
Qxb2 11.Nd2 Qe5 12.Rb1 0-0 13.Qc2 f5 14.g3 Kh8
15.Be2 Ne7 16.Nf4 b6 17.0-0 Bb7 18.Rfd1 g5 19.Ng2
d6 20.Nb3 Rg8 21.Qb2 Qxb2 22.Rxb2 Ng6 23.Nxc5
dxc5 24.Rbd2 f4 25.Bh5 f3 26.Ne1 Ne5 27.Rd6 g4
28.Re6 Nxc4
See Diagram 29.Rd7 Bc8 0-1
|
|
Glenn Cross |
|
| John Costello came right back into contention with a smooth performance against Richard Mylrea, winning first a pawn then a piece and the game. |
| White: Richard Mylrea; Black: John Costello |
| 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.c4 Qa5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.h3 c6 6.Nf3 Bf5 7.Qb3 Qc7 8.Nd4 [8.d4=] Bg6 9.d3 e5 10.Nf3 h6 11.Be2 Nbd7 12.0-0 Be7 13.Nh4 Bh7 14.f4 Nc5 15.Qd1 0-0-0 16.Bg4+ Kb8 17.Nf5 Nxd3 18.Qa4 Bc5+ 19.Kh2 h5 20.Be2 Bxf5 21.fxe5 Qxe5+ 22.g3 Nxc1 23.Raxc1 h4 24.Rf3 hxg3+ 25.Kg2 Bxh3+ 0-1 |
| Mike Ware is also having a good tournament. Playing against Alan Robertson, in another English opening, he was on top from the first few moves. The game continued for 53 moves, when Alan resigned as Mike was about to "Queen" a pawn. Mike plays John Costello and Glenn Cross in the final two rounds, so will be in the thick of the action right until the end of the tournament. |
| White: Alan Robertson; Black: Mike Ware |
| 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.g3 0-0 5.Bg2 d6 6.0-0 e5 7.d4 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.e4 b6 10.h3 a5 11.a4 Nd7 12.Be3 Nc5 13.Ne1 f5 14.Bxc5 bxc5 15.Nc2 Rb8 16.Nb5 fxe4! 17.Bxe4 Bxh3 18.Re1 Bf5 19.Bg2 Bd7 20.Qd2 Ra8 21.Nca3 Nf5 22.Qd3 Nh6 23.Be4 Bf5 24.Nc3 Qd7 25.Nab5 Rf6 26.Ra2 Nf7 27.b3 Ng5 28.Bxf5 Rxf5 29.Kg2 Raf8 30.Ne4 Rf3 31.Qf1 Nxe4 [31......Qh3+] 32.Rxe4 Rxb3 33.Qe1 c6 34.Na3 cxd5 35.cxd5 Qf7 36.Nc4 Qxd5 37.Rd2 Qf7 38.Nxd6 Qf3+ 39.Kg1 Rb4 40.Re3 Qc6 41.Red3 e4 42.Ra3 Rxa4 43.Rxa4 Qxa4 44.Nxe4 Re8 45.Re2 Rd8 46.Qf1 c4 47.Re3 Rd1 48.Re1 Rxe1 49.Qxe1 Qa1 50.Kf1 Qxe1+ 51.Kxe1 a4 52.Kd1 a3 53.Kc2 a2 0-1 |
| In the important game between Jonathan Waugh and Alan Ormsby, Alan sacrificed a Knight in exchange for a small army of pawns. The question was whether Jonathan could make use of his extra piece before he was overrun by the enemy pawns. Suddenly, on the 31st move, a draw was offered and accepted, neither player wishing to make a fatal error and lose the game. |
|
1.e4
c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.c3 e6 5.Be3 Nd7 6.Nd2
Ne7 7.f4 Nc8 8.Ngf3 Be7 9.Be2 0-0 10.0-0 c5
11.Kh1 c4 12.Ne1 h6 13.g4 Bh7 14.Ng2 a5 15.f5
Bg5 16.Qe1 Bxe3 17.Nxe3 Qb6 18.Nd1 Ne7 19.f6
Nc6 20.Qh4 Nxd4 21.cxd4 Qxd4 22.Nf3 Be4 23.fxg7
Kxg7 24.Nc3 Nxe5 25.Nxe4 Qxe4 26.Rae1 Nxf3 27.Bxf3
Qd4 28.Re2 b5 29.Rg2 b4 30.Qh5 f6 31.g5
Draw agreed ½-½ |
| Leading scores: Cross, Costello and Waugh 3½; Waugh 3; Griffin and Ormsby 3; Ware 2½. |
| The players now know that from now on in, wins, and only wins are required; draws are no longer a sensible option! |
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Round
4 Thursday 27th February 2003
| Neville Gill reports. At the start of play in round 4 of the Manx Chess Championship, Glenn Cross, Alan Ormsby and Jonathan Waugh shared the lead with John Costello half a point behind. With Ormsby v Cross and Costello v Waugh amongst the pairings there was clearly going to be some big action! |
| Glenn Cross took a big step towards the title by defeating Alan Ormsby, but it could have been so different. Alan showed his wide knowledge of chess openings by adopting an opening system recently tried against no less then Garry Kasparov. He built up an excellent position and on move 21 he had a pseudo-sacrifice of a Bishop that should certainly have won the game. In chess when one golden chance goes begging you and you do not normally get another, and that was the case here as Alan suddenly found himself on the defensive and never looked like saving the game. | |
|
Glenn Cross |
|
|
|
1.e4
c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Rg1
g6 7.g4 Bg7 8.Be3 b5 9.Bd3 Bb7 10.g5 Nfd2 11.Qe2
Nb6 12.a3 Nb8d7 13.0-0-0 Rc8 14.h4 Nc5 15.Kb1 Nca4
16.Nxa4 Nxa4 17.h5 Qc7 18.h6 Bf8 19.f4 e5 20.fxe5 dxe5
See Diagram 21.Nb3 Bxa3 22.Bc1 0-0 23.Qf2 Be7 24.Qf1 f6 25.gxf6 Rxf6 26.Qh3 Rcf8 27.Rde1 Bc8 28.Qh1 Be6 29.Be3 Nb6 30.Nd2 Nc4 31.Nxc4 bxc4 32.Be2 c3 33.Qh2 Qb8 34.Bc1 Bc5 35.Rg2 Be3 36.Bc4 Bxc1 37.Bxe6+ Rxe6 38.Kxc1 Qxb2+ 1-0 |
|
Alan Ormsby |
|
| In contrast, the game between John Costello and Jonathan Waugh was agreed a draw after just 16 moves. It may be that both players were happy with the result because it keeps them in contention. |
| White: John Costello; Black: Jonathan Waugh |
| 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 G6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Bg5 c5 7.dxc5 dxc5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Nf3 Nc6 10.0-0 Bg4 11.Be3 Bxf3 12.Bxf3 Nd4 13.Rad1 Nd7 14.Bf4 Nxf3 15.gxf3 Ne5 16.Bxe5 ½-½ |
| Mike Ware won against Richard Mylrea in one of those games which one player always looks like winning, and Mike duly did |
| White: Mike Ware; Black: Richard Mylrea |
| 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 h6 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.b4 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.0-0 Be6 9.Bb5 Qd6 10.Re1 f6 11.a3 a6 12.Ba4 Be7 13.Bc2 b5 14.Nh4 a5 15.Ng6 Rg8 16.Bb2 Kf7 17.Qh5 axb4 18.cxb4 Nf4 19.Nxf4+ g6 20.Nxg6 f5 21.Nxe5+ Kf8 22.Qxh6+ Ke8 23.Qh5+ Kd8 24.Nf7+ Bxf7 25.Qxf7 Kd7 26.Qxf5+ Kd8 27.Nd2 Rf8 28.Qh3 Nd4 29.Ne4 Qb6 30.Nc5 Qd6 31.Nb7+ 1-0 |
| Oversights are the bane of every chess player. Alan Robertson lost a piece in his game with John Griffin. That said, with his imaginative play John deserved to win. John still has to play Cross and Waugh in the final rounds, so may yet have an important say in the outcome of the tournament. |
| White: John Griffin; Black: A Robertson |
| 1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 Qc7 5.Bc4 e6 6.0-0 Bc7 7.Ng5 0-0 8.Re1 h6 9.e5 Nd5 10.exd6 Qxd6 11.Nge4 Qd8 12.Qh5 Nxc3 13.bxc3 f5 14.Ng3 Qe8 15.Qh3 Rf6 16.Nxf5 Bf8 17.Qh4 b5 18.Nxh6+ Rxh6 19.Bxh6 bxc4 20.Qg3 a6 21.Re4 Qe7 22.Rae1 Bd7 23.Bf4 Qd8 24.Rb1 Qa5 25.Rb2 Qh5 26.h3 Qh7 27.f3 c5 28.Bxb8 Bc6 29.Rxe6 Bd7 30.Re5 cxd4 31.cxd4 Bb5 32.Rg5 c3 33.Rbxb5 axb5 34.Qe5 Qxc2?! 35.Qd5+ and wins the Rook 1-0 |
| Leading scores are: Cross 3½; Waugh 3; Costello and Ormsby 2½; Griffin 2. Glenn Cross is now very well placed having already met Waugh, Costello and Ormsby, and if he wins his last three games his rivals can do nothing about it. |
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Round
3 Thursday 6th February 2003| Cross, Ormsby and Waugh now share the lead with 2½ points, John Costello has 2 points, and it is good to see that every player has at least half a point. The players now have a 2 week break before resuming play on the 27th February. |
| Games analysis and report by Neville Gill the current Manx Chess champion. |
| The players were well aware the Glenn Cross v John Costello was the highlight of round 3 of the championships. By winning the game, Glenn Cross took a step forward of some significance in his quest for the title. John Costello can have no complaint about the earlier stages of the game because he got a fully equal position, however, later on, Glenn attacked a Bishop followed by a Knight. The Bishop could move away safely, but the Knight was trapped. Losing a piece means losing the game, so that was that. |
| White: Glenn Cross; Black: John Costello |
| 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 0-0 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.Bd3 a6 8.0-0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5 10.Be2 Bb7 11.Rc1 Rc8 12.Ne5 Nb6 13.Bf3 Nfd5 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.Ne4 f6 16.Nd3 Rcd8 17.Nec5 Bc8 18.e4 Qf7 19.exd5 Rxd5 20.Bxd5 exd5 21.Rfe1 g5 22.Qe2 1-0 |
| Material was also the decisive factor in the Jonathan Waugh - Richard Mylrea game, Richard was already three pawns down when he lost his Queen and the game. |
| White: Jonathan Waugh; Black: Richard Mylrea |
| 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 d6 3.d3 h6 4.g3 e5 5.Bg2 Nf6 6.Nge2 Be6 7.0-0 Be7 8.f4 Nc6 9.h3 Rb8 10.Be3 Qb6 11.Rb1 Qa5 12.Kh2 Bg4(interesting!) 13.Nd5 Bxe2 14.Qxe2 Qxa2 15.Qf2 Nxd5 16.exd5 Nb4 17.fxe5 0-0 18.exd6 Bxd6 19.Bxc5 Bxc5 20.Qxc5 Na6 21.Qd4 Qa5 22.Qxa7 Rfe8 23.Qf2 f6 24.Be4 Re5 25.Qf4 Qa4(?!) 26.Bh7+ Kxh7 27.Qxa4 Re2+ 28.Kg1 Rd8 29.Rbe1 Rxe1 30.Rxe1 Nc7 31.Qa5 Rd7 32.d6 Rxd6 33.Qxc7 Rc6 34.Qxb7 Rxc2 35.Qe4 1-0 |
| John Griffin v Mike Ware was drawn but John should have won comfortably. Like countless players before him he lost the thread of the game and ended up struggling to draw. |
| White: John Griffin; Black: Mike Ware |
| .1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Bd3 a6 6.f4 e5 7.Nf5 Bxf5 8.exf5 e4 9.Qe2 Qa5+ 10.Nc3 d5 11.Bd2 Be7 12.Nxe4 Qb6 13.Nxf6+ Qxf6 14.0-0-0 0-0 15.g4 Nc6 16.g5 Qd4 17.Qg4 f6 18.h4 Ne5 19.Qe2 Nxd3+ 20.cxd3 Ba3 21.Be3 Bxb2+ 22.Kb1 Qa4 23.Qxb2 Qd7 24.h5 Qxf5 25.Qb3 Kh8 26.Rc1 Qd7 27.h6 d4 28.hxg7+ Kxg7 29.Bxd4+ Qxd4 30.Rc7+ Kg6 31.Rh6+ Kf5 32.Re7 Qg1+ 33.Kb2 Qf2+ 34.Qc2 Qd4+ 35.Kc1 Qxf4+ 36.Kd1 Qf1+ 37.Re1 Qf3+ 38.Re2 Qf1+ 39.Re1 Qf3+ 40.Re2 ½-½ |
| Unlike pieces, pawns can forwards but not backwards. Alan Robertson moved the pawns in front of his King but left holes behind them which Alan Ormsby was able to exploit to win. |
| White: Alan Robertson; Black: Alan Ormsby |
| 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Bf5 7.a3 e6 8.Bf4 Be7 9.Rc1 0-0 10.Nf3 h6 11.0-0 Rc8 12.Qa4 Qd7 13.h3 g5 14.Be3 a6 15.Qd1 Bd6 16.Na4 Rb8 17.Nc5 Qe7 18.b4 Rfc8 19.Qb3 Ra8 20.Na4 Rd8 21.Nb6 Rab8 22.Rfd1 Ne4 23.g4 Bg6 24.Nd2 Nxd2 25.Rxd2 Bc7 26.Na4 Kg7 27.Rf1 f5 28.fx fxg4 29.fxg4 Qd6 30.Rf2 Rf8 31.Rd1 Qg3 32.Rf3 Qh2+ 33.Kf1 Be4 34.Bg1 Qd6 35.Rxf8 Rxf8+ 36.Bf3 Qg3 37.Nc5 Nd8 38.Qe3 Bxf3 39.Bf2 Bg2+ 40.Ke1 Qxe3 41.Bxe3 Rf1+ 42.Kd2 Rxd1+ 43.Kxd1 Bxh3 44.Kd2 Bf4 45.Bxf4 gxf4 0-1 |
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Round
2 Thursday 30th January 2003| Leading scores are Costello 2; Cross, Ormsby and Waugh 1½. So far we have only had one game involving the top four players and next week the top game is Glen Cross v John Costello. Jonathan Waugh, having already had two games playing Black, will be thereabouts at the end if he can win his games with the White pieces which are normally advantageous. |
| After two rounds of the 2003 Manx Chess Championship, top seed John Costello is the only player with maximum points. His opponent in round 2 Alan Robertson went badly astray on move 12 and never had another chance. |
| White: John Costello; Black: Alan Robertson |
| 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 b6 6.Bf3 c6 7.Nge2 Bb7 8.Ng3 Na6 9.Be3 Nc7 10.Qd2 h6 11.h4 h5 12.0-0-0 c5 13.dxc5 bxc5 14.e5 Bxf3 15.exf6 Bxf6 16.gxf3 Ne6 17.f4 Qb6 18.Nd5 Qa6 19.Nxf6+ exf6 20.b3 Rd1 21.Ne4 Ke7 22.Nc3 Nc7 23.Rhe1 Kf8 24.f5 Kg7 25.fxg6 fxg6 26.Qc2 Rhe8 27.Rg1 f5 28.Qxf5 Re6 29.Qg5 Rh8 30.Kb2 Qc6 31.Nd5 Qd7 32.Nf4 Rf6 33.Nxh5+ Rxh5 34.Qxh5 Qf7 35.Qh6+ Kg8 36.h5 Ne6 37.Rxg6+ Resigns 1-0 |
| Chess is 99% tactics. Richard Mylrea assumed that attacking a Bishop (a) would prevent Glenn Cross from castling, but it did not. Within a few moves Cross was attacking strongly and wound up with a Knight sacrifice to win. (tactics again!). |
| White: Richard Mylrea; Black: Glenn Cross |
| 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 h6 3.Bxh6 exh6 4.e4 d5 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.c3 Bf5 7.Qe2+ Be7 (a) 8.Nd2 Nd7 9.a3 0-0 10.0-0-0 Qa2 11.Ne4 Nb6 12.g4 Bg6 13.Bg2 Na4 14.Qb5 Bxe4 15.Bxe4 Nxc3 16.bxc3 Bxa3+ 17. Resigns 0-1 |
| Jonathan Waugh was also on the warpath in his game against Mike Ware. Knights and Bishops were exchanged quite quickly leaving a position with Queens and 2 Rooks. Jonathan gave up a useless pawn in order to attack Mike’s King, and when Mike resigned on move 28 it was checkmate next move. |
| White: Mike Ware; Black: Jonathan Waugh |
| 1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 d6 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Bc4 e6 6.0-0 Nxe4 7.Nxe4 d5 8.Bb5 dxe4 9.Ne5 Bd7 10.Nxc6 Bxc6 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Qe2 Qd4+ 13.Kh1 Bd6 14.Rb1 0-0 15.b3 f5 16.Bb2 Qd5 17.Rbd1 e5 18.Bxe5 Bxe5 19.fxe5 Qxe5 20.c3 Rae8 21.Qa6 Re6 22.Qxa7 Rh6 23.h3 f4 24.Qd7 f3 25.Rf2 Qg3 26.Kg1 Rg6 27.Qe7 Qxh3 28.Qxe4 Rxg2+ 0-1 |
| Alan Ormsby and John Griffin fought each other to a finish. Although Queens were exchanged on move 14 it was not until move 42 that a draw was agreed. In the final position neither player had the slightest chance of winning. |
| White: Alan Ormsby; Black: John Griffin |
| 1.e4 e6 2.d3 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.Ngf3 Bb4 5.c3 Bc5 6.d4 dxe4 7.Ne5 Bb6 8.Qc2 Nbd7 9.Nec4 c5 10.Nxe4 Nxe4 11.Qxe4 Nf6 12.Qe5 cxd4 13.Nxb6 Qxb6 14.Qxd4 Qxd4 15.cxd4 Ke7 16.Be3 b6 17.Rc1 Nd5 18.Bd3 Bb7 19.Kd2 Rac8 20.Rxc8 Rxc8 21.a3 g6 22.Rg1 f5 23.Bg5+ Kf7 24.g4 f4 25.Be4 Rc4 26.Bxd5 Rxd4+ 27.Kc3 Rxd5 28.Bxf4 h5 29.gxh5 Rxh5 30.Rd1 Ke7 31.b4 Rf5 32.Bg3 Rf3+ 33.Rd3 Rxd3+ 34.Kxd3 Bd5 35.b5 Kd7 36.Be5 Kc8 37.h4 Kb7 38.Kc3 Bf3 39.Kb4 Be2 40.Bd4 a5+ 41.bxa6+ Kxa6 42.a4 ½-½ |
Round 1 Thursday 23rd January 2003
| Due to personal commitments, Neville Gill is unable to defend his Manx Championship title in this year’s competition. Eight players will contest the championship being played at the Hilton Hotel, and with no previous winner in the field, there will be a new champion this year. Perhaps five wins and two draws will be enough to clinch the title, but that is pure speculation. |
| With 6 rounds to play, the early leaders are John Costello and Alan Ormsby with 1 point each. |
| One of the key games In round one was between Glenn Cross and Jonathan Waugh, two of the likely front runners. A draw was agreed after only 19 moves, no doubt because there was a good deal of mutual respect involved here. |
| White: Glenn Cross; Black: Jonathan Waugh |
| 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.b3 g6 5.Bb2 Bg7 6.e4 d6 7.Bd3 0-0 8.Ne2 bxc4 9.bxc4 Nbd7 10.0-0 Rb8 11.Qc2 Ne5 12.Bc3 Nh5 13.f4 Nxd3 14.Qxd3 Bxc3 15.Qxc3 Ba6 16.Nd2 Qd7 17.Qc2 Rb4 18.Rf3 Rfb8 19.Rb3 Rb8b6 ½-½ |
| The Alan Robertson, Richard Mylrea game was also drawn. It was an up and down struggle which both players can lay claim to have been winning at some stage. Winning opportunities missed are frequent in chess, and can often be spotted when re-playing the moves of the game after it has been finished! (such is life) |
| White: Alan Robertson; Black: Richard Mylrea (Philidor's Defence) |
| 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.Nc3? Nxe4! (very neat) 7.Nxe4 Bxg5 8.Nxg5 Qxg5 9.Nf3 Qe7+ 10.Be2 0-0 11.0-0 h6 12.Re1 Qf6 13.c3 Nc6 14.Qa4 Bd7 15.Rad1 Rfe8 16.Qb3 b6 17.Nd2 a5 18.Qc4 Rac8 19.Ne4 Qf4 20.Bf3 Ne5 21.Qe2 Nxf3+ 22.Qxf3 Qxf3 23.gxf3 Re5 (Black should win easily) 24.Kg2 Rce8 25.Rg1 Bc6 26.Ng3 Rg5 27.b3 Re2 28.a3 h5 29.Kf1 Bxf3? (Ra2!) 30.Nxe2 Rxg1+ 31.Kxg1 Bxe2 32.Re1 Bb5 33.Re7 c6 34.Rb7 a4 (Black is losing now) 35.bxa4 Bxa4 36.Rxb6 Bb5 37.Kg2 g5 38.Kg3 Kg7 39.Rb7 d5 40.a4? (Ra7! then a4) Bxa4 41.Rb4 Bb5 42.h3 h4+ 43.Kf3 Kg6 44.Ke3 Kf5 45.Rg4 Bf1 (could have been played earlier) 46.f4 Bah3 47.Rxg5+ Kf6 48.Rh5 Bf5 49.Rxh4 Ke6 50.Rh6+ f6 51.Kd4 Be4 52.Rh5 Kd6 ½-½ |
| John Costello, the highest rated player, used his favourite Centre Counter to win a pawn quite early against John Griffin. He drove his opponent’s King right up the board and duly delivered checkmate. John Costello will take a lot of stopping if he keeps playing like this! |
| White: John Griffin; Black: John Costello |
| 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Qxd5 3.d3 Nf6 4.Nc3 Qd8 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.Be2 e5 7.Ng5 Bb4 8.Bd2 Bf5 9.a3 Be7 10.f4 exf4 11.Bxf4 0-0 12.Rf1 Bg6 13.Qd2 Nd4 14.Bf3 Nh5 15.Bxh5 Bxh5 16.h3 Nxc2+ 17.Qxc2 Bxg5 18.g4 Bh4+ 19.Kd2 Bg6 20.Nb5 c6 21.Nd6 Qa5+ 22.b4 Qd5 23.Rg1 Qd4 24.Qc4 Qf2+ 25.Kc3 Bf6+ 26.Kb3 Qb2+ 27.Ka4 b5+ 28.Nxb5 Cxb+ 29.Qxb5 Qc2+ 30.Ka5 Bd8+ 31.Ka6 Bxd3 32.a4 Qc8++ 0-1 |
| Alan Ormsby is another player who is in there with a real chance. He chose a modern method of meeting Mike Ware’s Sicilian defence. After the exchange of Queens he had an advantage in space, but in such positions it is difficult to make anything of it, especially if Black links his two Rooks together. Here, after 25 moves, Mike wrongly allowed Alan to position a Knight on a secure attacking square from which it could never be removed. Alan used this to his advantage and won in 53 moves. |
| White: Alan Ormsby; Black: Mike Ware |
| 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7 Nxd7 5.c4 Ngf6 6.Nc3 g6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Qb6 9.0-0 Qxd4 10.Nxd4 a6 11.f3 Bg7 12.Be3 0-0 13.Rac1 Rac8 14.b3 Nc5 15.Rfd1 Rfd8 16.Nde2 Ne8 17.Nd5 Kf8 18.Nd4 Nd7 19.Bg5 Nef6 20.g4 Nxd5 21.exd5 h6 22.Bh4 Ne5 23.Kg2 g5 24.Bg3 Ng6 25.Nf5 Nf4+ 26.Bxf4 gxf4 27.a4 e6 28.dxe6 fxe6 29.Nxd6 Rc7 30.Ne4 Re8 31.h4 Be5 32.h5 Rh7 33.Rd3 Rhe7 34.Rcd1 Kg7 35.Kf2 Bb8 36.Ke2 e5 37.Rd7Kf7 38.R1d5 Rxd7 39.Rxd7+ Re7 40.Rxe7+ Kxe7 41.Kd3 b6 42.Nc3 Ke6 43.Ke4 Bd6 44.Nd5 Bc5 45.Nc7+ Kf6 46.Nxa6 Bd4 47.b4 Ke6 48.c5 bxc5 49.Nxc5+ Kd6 50.Nd3 Bc3 51.b5 Bd4 52.Nxf4 Bc3 53.Nd3 1-0 |
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