The Mick Jagger Centre in Dartford

Dear All,

Unfortunately I must report today that we lost yesterday to Kent in a hard fought game 8½ to 7½ .  For me this was my first loss as captain to another SCCU side over 3 years.  So although I knew the team would lose eventually I did not expect it to be yesterday.  But alas such is life and hopefully we can learn from this and comeback stronger for the remainder of our games.

I must congratulate Kent as they fielded no less than 5 youngsters and if they can keep hold of these and add a few more along the way signs are good for them in the future.  So I expect Kent over the next few years to be a very strong team.  Hopefully Essex can learn a lesson from this and we can start fielding a few youngsters ourselves.  I know Adam Taylor is keen to play and I intend playing him in our next match in January 2012.

Anyway to the match report.

Essex won the toss and we were white on odd boards.  On paper we out graded Kent by a massive 110 points of which 25 of those were because their Captain stepped in for one of their players who was late on board 7.

The playing room, where Kent v Sussex U140 also took place.

From the start things were fairly even and after about 20 minutes there was no obvious advantage to either side.  As I was playing myself I did not get a chance to study all of the games but I did notice that Colin Ramage was having his usual wild game (more to follow).  Chris Hampton was under a bit of pressure from his young opponent and had to give up a piece to survive .  I had the advantage myself in a Barry attack against my own young opponent.

The first game to finish was Mark Murrell with an early draw.  This was shortly followed by draws by both John Moore and Ian Hunnable.  Ian’s opponent the Kent Captain did particularly well as he had to step in after 45 minutes as one of his players had not appeared.  However as soon as he started playing his player turned up and did not seem too happy that he did not have a game.  I could see both sides as a captain how long do you wait for someone to step in and as a player you have travelled all that way not to have a game?  Who is right and who is wrong?

Finishes by John Philpott and David Millward followed with further draws.  In Chris Hampton’s game he seemed to have got back in the game with pressure against his opponent despite being a piece down.  However his young opponent seemed to have an answer to everything he tried and eventually the extra piece paid off and he lost.

Brock v Bell

Luckily enough I was next to finish with a nice win against my youngster who overplayed his position and was left with an isolated pawn on my 7th rank.  Which I quickly mopped up and left me with a passed pawn and an extra pawn to the good. He resigned soon after.  This levelled up the score.

Just after this there was a few games which finished in succession with points going both ways.  Firstly Matthew Shaw could not hold against his own opponent who had a pawn on the 7th supported by his Queen and two rooks.  With Matthew stuck on the back rank he was eventually worn down.

 

Colin Ramage seemed to have the game of the day with first one winning then the other.  At one stage Colin had an all out attack against his opponent and I thought he was going to mate him easily.  Next I looked Colin had lost all of his pieces and had a Queen and pawn on the seventh against his opponent who was about 3 pieces up but they were all stuck on the back rank.  But some how he managed to win the game and I have put the details below.

Reynolds v Stephenson

Then Ian Reynolds managed to win on board 1 with a passed pawn supported by his bishop on the a file against his opponents knight.  The bishop won that battle.

Next was Neville Twitchell who was up against 3 pawns to his 1 and unfortunately Neville could snatch two pawns back out of the 3 but chose the wrong pawn to attack and lost a few moves later on time in a lost position.

This left the scores all level.

Strachan v Smith

Both Peter Doye and Philip Staniland agreed draws in level positions and this left 3 games to go.  On two they seemed fairly level but on Gavin’s board he was a piece down against his young sharp opponent.  In fact I saw his young opponent’s Mum and sister outside in the corridor trying to peer through the door as they did not want to put him off.  They asked me how he was doing and I had to confirm that unfortunately he seemed to have a won position.  Which was proved right a few moves later when Gavin resigned.

Everson v Smith, with Howson v Anstead in the background.

Which left two games to salvage something and both games were down to the last few minutes.  Jim Howson agreed a draw with his opponent in a fairly level position.  This just left Ivor Smith who at one stage seemed to have the better position. But once things were swapped off his opponent managed to get his king into Ivor’s position and win a pawn.  This led to a pawn race with Ivor having to give up both knight and bishop.  His opponent Queened his pawn and we were down to the last few minutes on the clock.  Ivor had his king and  two pawns on the seventh where his opponent checked him with his queen in haste.  Ivor could have taken the queen but mistakenly seemed to think it was protected by a pawn which was pointing in the wrong direction.  But instead he moved his king away !!!!.  However his opponent managed to stalemate Ivor soon after.

This meant that Kent won the match by the odd point.  At least we did not lose the battle of the youngsters as it was 2 1/2 each. Thanks to all who played and our next game is at home on January 21st next year.

 

Rao,Raunak – Ramage,Colin [C40]

Kent v Essex U180 board 16, 23.10.2011

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f5 3.Nxe5 Nc6 4.Qh5+ g6 5.Nxg6 Nf6 6.Qh4 hxg6 7.Qxh8 Qe7 8.Bd3 fxe4 9.Bc4 d5 10.Bb5 Bf5 11.Bxc6+ bxc6 12.0–0 0–0–0 13.Qh4 Bg7 14.Qg3 Ng4 15.Qa3 Qe5 16.Qg3 Qe6 17.h3 Be5 18.Qa3 Nh2 19.Rd1 Nf3+ 20.gxf3 Bxh3 21.d4 Bg4 22.Nd2 Bxf3 23.Nxf3 Qg4+ 24.Kf1 exf3 25.dxe5 Rh8 26.Ke1 Rh1+ 27.Kd2 Qd4+ 28.Qd3 Qxf2+ 29.Kc3 Qc5+ 30.Kb3 Qc4+ 31.Ka3 Rxd1 32.Qxd1 Qa6+ 33.Kb3 Qb5+ 34.Kc3?? [34.Ka3 would have resulted in a draw by repetition] 34…Qc4+ 35.Kd2 f2 36.b3 Qd4+ 37.Ke2 Qxd1+ 38.Kxd1 f1Q+ 39.Kd2 Qf4+ 40.Kd3 Qe4+ 0–1

22 October 2011 – Kent (A)

21 January 2012 – Middlesex (H)

25 February 2012 – Sussex (A)

17 March 2012 – Surrey (H)

More information will be published about venues for away matches when these have been confirmed.

Played at Thurmaston, Leicestershire.

Lancashire won on board count.

Our opponents, it seemed, had taken this game seriously as they had one of their strongest teams out and out-graded us by 49 points.  Unfortunately, I missed the start of the match as I was stuck in traffic after picking up Ken Groce.  I would like to blame him for being late but I think it might have been down to my poor judgement in route choice and the fact I kept taking shortcuts that were not shortcuts.  But in my absence the team sorted itself out and in fact everyone was in the same place apart from David Spearman and Philip Gregory who had reversed the order, but as they are the same grade it did not really matter.  What I was not aware of though was that my opposite number was in fact late himself and Surrey had to re-shuffle leaving out a player who should have been playing (David Sedgwick).  Less said the better.

Anyway I was offered a graded game myself to play him as I had decided to sit this one out but I declined the invitation.

The first to finish after winning an endgame was Aidan who won by putting his opponent in zugwang and then snapping up pawns.  Then there was a large gap until the next game finished which was Ken Groce who unfortunately lost.  He can blame me for getting him there late for that one.  Howard Grist agreed a draw with his opponent and then Colin Ramage told me he won but things were levelled up by Syd getting outplayed.  This seemed rather a strange game as both sides for a long time had most of their pieces still on the back ranks.

At that time David Spearman was under a lot of pressure and a few pawns down, while Philip Gregory was winning as his opponent had sac’d his queen for a rook and minor piece.  Neville seemed to be winning; Paul Barclay was under pressure with his opponent’s queen on the 7th rank, Peter Doye had a passed pawn stuck on the 7th and was clearly winning.  The other games looked fairly level so at this point the omens were good.

John White then said he was going to offer his opponent a draw.  He was in the endgame and seemed fine but did not want to muck up the endgame.  Ian Reynolds agreed a draw on board one in what looked an interesting but level encounter.  Peter Doye quickly won his game which put us one up in the match.  Unfortunately, then we had two losess as Paul Barclay and John White both lost.  John was outplayed by his opponent in a King and Pawn end game that at one stage looked like it was going to be a draw.

By now, in the games left, the omens did not look good for us as although we were clearly up in Neville’s, Philip’s and Chris Hampton’s games we were clearly losing David Spearman’s and David Millward’s with Ian Hunnable’s unclear (at this stage).  Philip was next to finish alongside David Spearman with one win and one loss.  This still left us one game behind.

By now Ian Hunnable was also in a difficult position which looked like it was lost to my eyes.  So I was getting ready to congratulate my opposition Captain and suffer my first SCCU loss as U180 Captain.  However, then miraculously things started to happen on David Millward’s game where what appeared to be a loss was now not as clear as his opponent had let him back in the game.  Chris Hampton was next to finish with a good win after tying down his opponent where Chris’s Rook versus Bishop made all the difference.  This left three games, one winning, one losing and one double-edged but winning (David Millward’s).

Then Neville won and miraculously David Millward also won and had managed to turn around a definite loss into a win. What a get-out-of-jail card that was!  Ian then resigned shortly afterwards and the match was won.  Instead of congratulating my opposition Captain I was being congratulated by him.

But it was close.

Played at Coulsdon Chess Fellowship.

Millward,David – Staples,Don [B07]

Surrey v Essex U180 board 8, 26.02.2011

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.d5 Be7 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 c6 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.0–0 Qc7 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bh4 Be6 11.Qd2 Nbd7 12.Rad1 Qb6 13.Qc1 Rab8 14.b3 Rfe8 15.h3 Qb4 16.Qe3 Bd8 17.Bxf6 Bb6 18.Qd3 Nxf6 19.Nd2 Rbd8 20.Na4 d5 21.exd5 Nxd5 22.Qe4 Bd4 23.c4 f5 24.Qc2 Nf4 25.Nf3 c5 26.Kh2 e4 27.Ng1 Bd7 28.Nb2 Ne6 29.f3 Be5+ 30.g3 Nd4 31.Qb1 Bc6 32.fxe4 fxe4 33.Bg4 Qc3 34.Nd3 exd3 35.Rxd3 Nf3+ 36.Rdxf3 Bxf3 37.Rxf3 Qd2+ 38.Kh1 Bd4 39.Rd3 Qe1 40.Rd1 Qxg3 41.Rf1 Rf8 42.Nf3 Rde8 43.Qg6 Be5 44.Rg1 Qf4 45.Be6+ Kh8 46.Bd5 Bd4 47.Ng5 Qxg5 48.Rxg5 Re1+ 49.Kh2 Rf2+ 50.Kg3 Rg1+ 51.Kh4 hxg5+ 52.Kh5 Re1 53.Be4 Kg8 54.Qe8+ Rf8 55.Bd5+ Kh7 56.Qxf8 g6+ 57.Kxg5 Re5+ 58.Kg4 Rf5 59.Bg8+ Kh8 60.Bf7+ Kh7 61.Qg8+ Kh6 62.Qxg6# 1–0

We started the match 15 minutes late to allow for delayed travelling times owing to an accident on Eastern Avenue.

David Millward was first to finish with a quick draw after about half an hour.  Looking at the boards at around that time most were fairly level with the exception of John White having exchanged his queen for a rook and two knights, John Philpott was an exchange down and Terry Whitton had his queen in the heart of his opponent’s pieces.

Next to finish was Howard Grist, who won convincingly, and then John White who had agreed a draw as he took the safer option rather than trying to prove his extra pieces were better than his opponent’s Queen.

Jim Howson shortly followed after agreeing a draw and Matthew Shaw with another draw.  This was then followed by a somewhat surprising win by John Philpott from a losing position: Tim Woods thought he had played a winning rook sacrifice, but John refuted the sac in spectacular fashion.

 Woods-Philpott – position after 29 Re1xe6

29…. fxe6 30.Qxe6+ Kh8 31.Bxd5 Nc7! (31…Nf6 would be insufficient in view of 32 Bxa8 Qxa8 33 Rc8+, but after the text, White has to resign) 0-1

Next to finish with another two draws were Philip Gregory and Mark Murrell. Terry Whitton then agreed a draw after checking the score which then won us the match.

Ian Hunnable’s game nearly finished with a dispute.  Ian explains: “Having gone a pawn down in a R&P ending to Adrian Pickersgill, I managed to liquidate to K+R v K+R+1P, with my king in front of the pawn, and was then sure of the draw.  Adrian then inexplicably offered the exchange of rooks leaving a book draw K v K+P.  On establishing the drawn position, I said `It’s a draw’ expecting a handshake to conclude proceedings, having reached a book draw that one learns in schooldays.  Adrian, however, sought clarification that I was claiming a draw, explaining that, if so, we should stop play and submit the position for arbiter’s decision.  Of course, the draw claim was not available as we were using the incremental time control and, in any event, I had at the time more than two minutes on my clock.  I replied that I was making a statement of fact that the position was drawn.  In the ensuing discussion, which unfortunately caused a bit of a distraction for the other players, I said that my statement that the position was drawn could be taken as a draw offer, which was then declined.  The game resumed and after another dozen moves, Adrian acknowledged that it was indeed drawn.”

This left three games to play with Ian Reynolds in a rather level position, David Spearman a pawn up but his opponent having a passed pawn which looked rather dangerous, and Chris Hampton who had a double edged game but found all of the right moves at the right time.  This just left David Spearman and Ian Reynolds whose games continued for another hour or so before both being agreed drawn.  David played particularly well to hold his position against an opposing passed pawn on the seventh.

Played at Wanstead House.

Paul Taylor – Chris Hampton [B70]

Essex v Sussex U180 board 7, 29.01.2011

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be2 Bg7 7.Be3 a6 8.Bf3 Nbd7 9.Nd5 Ne5 10.Nxf6+ Bxf6 11.Be2 Bd7 12.f4 Nc6 13.c3 Qa5 14.0-0 0-0 15.Nf3 Qc7 16.a4 Na5 17.Bd4 e5 18.fxe5 dxe5 19.Bxe5 Bxe5 20.Nxe5 Qxe5 21.Qxd7 Qxe4 22.Bf3 Qe3+ 23.Kh1 Rad8 24.Qc7 b6 25.Rae1 Qc5 26.Qa7 Nb3 27.Bb7 Qc7 28.Rf6 Nc5 29.Qxb6 Rfe8 30.Rxe8+ Rxe8 31.Kg1

 Taylor-Hampton, position after 31 Kg1

In this position, with Chris to move, I thought he could have played 31 …Re1+ 32 Kf2 Nd3+ 33 Kf3 Rf1+ 34 Kg4 h5+ winning. But Chris played Qe7 and still won.33…Qe7 32.Bxa6 Nd7 33.Rxg6+ hxg6 34.Qa7 Qe1+ 35.Bf1 Ne5 0-1

Denton,Julie – Grist,Howard [A04]

Essex v Sussex U180 board 13, 29.01.2011

1.Nf3 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.b3 d6 5.Bb2 e5 6.d3 Bg7 7.Nc3 c6 8.e4 0–0 9.Qd2 b5 10.0–0–0 Qb6 11.h3 a5 12.exf5 Bxf5 13.Qe3 Qc7 14.a4 bxa4 15.Nxa4 Nd5 16.Qe1 Na6 17.Nd2 Nab4 18.Nc4 Rfb8 19.Bxd5+ cxd5 20.Ne3 Nxd3+ 21.Rxd3 Bxd3 22.Qd1 Be4 23.f3 d4 24.Nc4 Bc6 25.Ba3 Bh6+ 26.Kb1 Bxa4 27.Bxd6 Qxc4 28.Bxe5 Bxb3 0–1

We found ourselves playing at a new venue today at Lytton Estate, Kensington, two minutes from West Kensington District Line Station and the home of Hammersmith Chess Club.

We started at 2pm on the dot after Anthony Fulton went through the usual formalities which ended in a rather long speech comparing the event with the Ashes and Anthony deciding that Middlesex were England and we were Australia.  Rather strange but at least it laid down the gauntlet and I do believe we rose to the challenge admirably [as did England in Brisbane! IDH].

At the start both sides were missing a number of players but after about 10 minutes we had a full side apart from Syd Kalinsky and Middlesex were still missing a few players.  Then after 25 minutes Syd arrived along with the last of the Middlesex players.

From the start it looked like it was going to be a close match and we were out graded on 12 out of the 16 boards by a total of 40 points as Middlesex had their full team out.

After half an hour Aidan Corish was first to finish with an early draw.  The next game finished around 3.20 and was a good win for Mark Murrell against Anthony the Middlesex Captain; Mark had excellent pressure against Anthony’s King-side and sac’d a bishop to open up the pawns.  The game ended when Mark found a two move combination to win a piece.

Looking around the games a number were close but Philip Gregory was a piece up, John Moore had a lot of pressure on his opponent and Martin McCall seemed to have a lot of pressure with a pawn on the seventh rank.  Next to finish were a couple of draws for David Millward and John White at around 4pm.

Then Philip’s extra piece won out and he won at around 4.25pm.  Syd seemed to be in a bit of trouble with an attack against his kingside going on and no pawns in front of  his King to help him out.  As his opponent was exerting pressure on the open files.  His late start may have not helped him.

Chris Hampton was next to finish with another draw at around 4.40.  Then two games finished in quick succession one a win for us by John Moore and the other was a loss by Syd as he succumbed to his opponent’s pressure.  So the score was 5-3 to us with a 2 point clear margin.  So things were looking good so far.

Peter Doye was next to finish after his opponent offered him a draw.  This was followed by Martin agreeing a draw with his opponent as he could not find any clear advantage with his pawn on the seventh and his opponent had counterplay with his queen and access to Martin’s King as there was a lack of pawns to protect it.

David Spearman then had an excellent win against his lady opponent and Ian Hunnable agreed a draw this was around 5.30pm.

So with four games to go we were three games up.  However that did not tell the full story as on the last four games we did not look good and I should know because one of those was my own game.  Paul Barclay was under pressure in the middle with his opponent seemingly having a passed pawn and pressure with his rooks.

Terry Whitton was fighting a losing battle with his opponent’s passed pawn on the h-file supported by a rook and the pawn was on the 6th rank.

I was trying to hold my position against my opponent’s two bishops which were not helped by the fact I had doubled pawns in the centre.  I was not sure I could hold the game at this stage as I thought I was losing.

On the bottom board Neville Twitchell was pulling out all the stops to hold his position as his opponent had all of his pieces pointed at Neville’s King.  My estimation was that we were losing on all of the last four games.  I was looking for the half point that would get us a draw and could not see it anywhere.

Paul unfortunately lost at around 5.40pm shortly followed by Terry also losing.  This just left Neville and me. Neville thankfully was cancelling out all of his opponent’s attacks and simplified to a position where a draw was agreed.

So that just left me in a position where I was at least a pawn down at best.  I don’t like to necessarily give my own games but as it was the last one I will to show you the position and the moves.  At least this Captain did not let his side down (but it was close).

Brock-White - White to play (that is to say, Brock!)

This was the position I was in at the time. I played 37.d5 (maybe not the best move).

Brock-White.  The game concluded, from the diagram 37.d5+ Kxd5 38.Bxf6 exf6 39.Ke1 Bc2 40.Ne4 Bxd3 41.Nxf6+ Kc4 42.Nh5 Kb3 43.Nxf4 Bf5 44.Kd2 Kxa3 45.Kc3 Bd7 46.Nd3 Bb5 47.f4 Bd7 48.Nb2 d5 49.Nd3 b6 50.Ne5 Bf5 51.Nc6 Ka4 52.Nd4 Bg6 53.f5 Bf7 54.f6 a5 55.bxa5 Kxa5 56.Nc6+ Kb5 57.Ne5 Be6 58.f7 Bxf7 59.Nxf7 Kc5 60.h4 d4+ 61.Kd3 b5 62.h5 Kd5 63.h6 Ke6 64.Ng5+ Kf6 65.Nxh7+ Kg6 66.Nf6 ½–½

As I eventually managed to turn it around with a knight versus my opponent’s bishop and in fact I may have been able to win in the end with correct play but the draw was enough and we managed to win the match 8½-7½.  So onwards and upwards and now puts us currently at the top of the table with 2 wins out of two.

Played at the Lytton Community Centre, Kensington.

We outgraded our opponents by 103 points so on paper the omens were good.  However 33 of those points were on the bottom board.

We started just after 1.30 pm with three players short for us and four for Kent.  After about 15 minutes all of our players finally arrived and three players then turned up for Kent with  one player still absent.  Terry Donnelly agreed a quick draw in a French exchange and stated he would win next time (I’ll put that point in the bank for next time then Terry).  Unfortunately the next point went to Kent when Peter Doye’s phone went off.  I believe Peter had a winning position at the time but unfortunately rules are rules and by the fact the phone rang was an automatic win for the opponent.  It would appear that Peter did turn his phone off at the start but then went out and made a call later on and forgot to turn it off again.  So there’s a message for all of us that phones and chess do not mix.

Aidan’s opponent failed to turn up after an hour and this default win levelled the scores.  After Syd Kalinsky and John White drew, next to finish were, alas, myself and Tom Winter both with losses which did not do much for my ego as I got bashed up by a Junior after playing what I thought was a innocent pawn move.  However after my opponent’s reply, I realised that this led to a long term weakness for me and at best to an eventual loss of a piece.  Trying to generate some counterplay I lost my way completely and should have resigned a lot early than I did.  Tom lost out to a rook and pawns ending against his knight and pawns ending.  This left us two games down but to my delight about five minutes later Mark Murrell and Howard Grist both came in with good wins.  This levelled the match.  I then had a wander round and thought that Ian Reynolds on board one was better, with Philip a little worse, David Spearman was a pawn up, and Ian Hunnable seemed to have a lot of pressure, with the other games looking level.  David Smith had about eight moves to play in about four minutes to make the time control.

Next to finish was Paul Barclay with a good win in a fairly level game.  I believe his opponent made a blunder by attacking Paul’s rook with his own rook which was protected by his opponents king.  However he missed a pawn check which led to his king having to move with the consequential loss of his rook.  David Millward agreed a draw and we were still one point up.  By now though, Ian Reynolds’ game had turned and he was hard pressed to stop his opponent’s pawns from queening. P hilip looked under a bit of pressure from his young opponent’s active queen.  However David Spearman, Ian Hunnable and David Smith all looked in good positions.

Next to finish was David Smith who finished his opponent off nicely in a king and pawn endgame with his active king making the difference by securing a passed pawn.  However, he did have to work out the correct finish in a tricky position against an opponent who seemed to be playing above his grade.  This put us up two points with four games to go.

Philip managed to work to a level position in an endgame with knight versus bishop and agreed a draw.  However, next to finish was Ian Reynolds who failed to stop his opponent’s pawn advantage and resigned in a lost position as his opponent’s pawns were about to queen.  Then Ian Hunnable, who had good compensation for a pawn, thought he had recovered the pawn minus but missed a queen recapture with check which led to him dropping not just a piece, but as a consequence, his Q-side pawns.  He resigned as he had a lost position.

This then left just David Spearman’s game.  He asked me what the score was and I told him he needed to win for us to win the match. So no pressure then.

He was still a pawn up in a R&N ending.  It looked like David might have a combination to win a pawn, but it didn’t quite work.  However a few moves later David managed to move his king to a better square and the combo was back on and played!

Played at Wanstead House.

* – loss by mobile phone

Spearman,David – Everson,Robert [A48]

Essex v Kent U180, board 3, 30.10.2010

[Hunnable,Ian]

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bg5 Ne4 4.Bf4 Bg7 5.e3 0–0 6.Bd3 d5 7.c4 c6 8.Qb3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nd7 10.Nc3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Nf6 12.Ne5 e6 13.h3 b5 14.Be2 Bb7 15.0–0 a6 16.a4 Rc8 17.c4 Qb6 18.Rfb1 Ra8 19.Bf3 Rfc8 20.axb5 axb5 21.Rxa8 Bxa8 22.Nd3 h6 23.cxb5 cxb5 24.Qxb5 Qa7 25.Bxa8 Rxa8 26.Qb7 Nd5 27.Be5 Nc3 28.Qxa7 Rxa7 29.Rb8+ Kh7 30.Bxg7 Kxg7 31.Kh2 Nd5 32.Rb1 Nc3 33.Rc1 Nd5 34.Kg3 Ra3 35.Ne5 Nc3 36.Rc2 Nd5 37.Kf3 Rb3 38.Ra2 Rb7 39.Nd3 Kf6 40.Nc5 Rc7 41.Ra6 Kg7 42.e4 Nf6 43.g4 [Not yet 43.Rxe6 Rxc5 44.Rxf6 Rc3+–+] 43…g5 44.Ke3 Kg6 45.f4 gxf4+ 46.Kxf4 Kg7 47.Rxe6 Rxc5 [There is more play in 47...Nd7 48.Na6 Rc3 49.Re8! (49.Rd6 Nf8 50.e5 Ne6+ 51.Ke4 Rxh3 52.Nc5 Ng5+ 53.Kd5 Rh4 54.Nd7 Rxg4 55.Nf6 Rh4 56.Ne8+ (Not 56.Rd8 Rxd4+ 57.Kxd4 Ne6+=) 56...Kf8 57.Nc7²) 49...Rxh3 50.Nc5 Nxc5 (50...Nf8 51.e5 Ng6+ 52.Ke4 Rg3 53.d5 Rxg4+ 54.Ke3 Rg3+ 55.Kd4 Rg1 56.d6+-) 51.dxc5 Rc3 52.Rc8+-] 48.Rxf6 Rc3 49.Rf5 Rxh3 50.e5 Rd3 51.Ke4 Rd1 52.Rf4 Rd2 53.d5 Rd1 54.d6 Rd2 55.Rf3 Kf8 56.Rd3 Re2+ 57.Kf3 1–0

Rather than provide a conventional match report, I have reproduced below the live updates that I provided in the course of the afternoon on the Essex blog site.

Whitton v Gibson

4.01 pm. First blood to Essex as Terry Whitton’s kingside attack crashes through. 1-0.

Terry Whitton - Geoff Gibson [A07]

Essex v Notts U180 board 5, 19.06.2010

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 Bf5 4.0–0 Nbd7 5.c4 c6 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Nc3 e6 8.d3 Rc8 9.Qa4 Bc5 10.e4 dxe4 11.dxe4 Bg6 12.Bg5 Qc7 13.e5 Nd5 14.Ne4 b5 15.Qc2 0–0 16.Qe2 Bxe4 17.Qxe4 h6 18.Bf4 Qb6 19.Rad1 Rfd8 20.Bd2 a5 21.Qg4 Kh8 22.Qh5 Kg8 23.g4 Bf8 24.Nh4 Ne7 25.Nf3 g6 26.Qh4 Kh7? 27.Ng5+ Kg8 28.Ne4 g5? 29.Bxg5 hxg5 30.Qxg5+ Ng6 31.Rxd7 Rxd7 32.Nf6+ Kh8 33.Qh5+ 1–0

Kalinsky v Place

4.18 pm.  Syd Kalinsky doubles the Essex lead. 2-0

Syd Kalinsky - Will Place [B22]

Essex v Notts U180 board 13, 19.06.2010

 1.e4 c5 2.c3 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.d4 cxd4 5.cxd4 Nc6 6.Nf3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Qa5 8.d5 Nb4 9.Bc4 Bg4 10.Bg5 0–0–0 11.Bxf6 exf6 12.0–0 Kb8 13.a3 Qc5 14.Qb3 Nc2 15.Rac1 Nd4 16.Nxd4 Qxd4 17.Nb5 Qb6 18.Qg3+ 1–0

4.23 pm. A solid draw by David Millward. 2½-½

4.30 pm. Tom Winter draws. 3-1

4.49 pm. Ray Purse agrees a draw in an unbalanced position. 3½-1½.

McCall v Kingston

5.03 pm. Martin McCall drives his opponent’s king up the board and delivers mate. 4½-1½.

Martin McCall – Ian Kingston [C28]

Essex v Notts U180 board 9, 19.06.2010

1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nc6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d3 Nf6 5.f4 Be6 6.Bxe6 fxe6 7.Nf3 exf4 8.Bxf4 e5 9.Bd2 Be7 10.0–0 Qd7 11.Nd5 0–0 12.c3 Rae8 13.Ne3 d5 14.exd5 Nxd5 15.Qb3 Rd8 16.Nc4 Bf6 17.Rae1 Rfe8 18.Bg5 Kh8 19.Ncxe5 Nxe5 20.Nxe5 Bxe5 21.Bxd8 Qxd8 22.d4 Bxh2+ 23.Kh1 Rxe1 24.Rxe1 h6 25.c4 Nb6 26.Re4 Nxc4 27.Qxc4 Bd6 28.Qf7 Qg5 29.Re8+ Kh7 30.Qg8+ Kg6 31.Re6+ Kh5 32.Qf7+ Kh4 33.Re4+ Bf4 34.Rxf4+ Kg3 35.Rf3+ Kh4 36.Rh3+ Kg4 37.Qf3# 1–0

5.15 pm. Ian Hunnable loses his way when short of time. 4½-2½.

5.17 pm.  Why can we never do things the easy way? Kanwal Bhatia resigns. 4½-3½.

Levens v Moore

5.29 pm.  John Moore resigns after a fascinating game in which he missed a clear win. 4½-4½. Notts ahead on board count!

David Levens - John Moore [C56]

Essex v Notts U180 board 2, 19.06.2010

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0–0 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.e5 d5 7.exf6 dxc4 8.Re1+ Be6 9.Ng5 Qd5 10.Nc3 Qf5 11.Nce4 0–0–0 12.Nxc5 Qxc5 13.fxg7 Rhg8 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.Bh6 Qf5 16.Qe2 e5 17.g4 Qe6 18.g5 d3 19.Qe3 dxc2 20.Rac1 Nd4 21.Qe4 Rxg7?? [21...Qh3 22.Re3 Nf3+ 23.Qxf3 Rd1+ 24.Qxd1 cxd1Q+ 25.Rxd1 Qg4+–+] 22.Bxg7 Rg8 23.Qxd4 exd4 24.Rxe6 d3 25.Bc3 Rxg5+ 26.Kf1 Rh5 27.Re4 b5 28.h4 c5 29.Ke1 Kd7 30.Kd2 Rf5 31.f4 Kd6 32.Rf1 b4 33.Be5+ Kd5 34.Re3 a5 35.b3 cxb3 36.Rxd3+ Kc4 37.axb3+ Kb5 38.Kxc2 1–0

5.42 pm. A fourth successive win for Notts as Chris Hampton goes down. 4½-5½.

5.52 pm. Colin Ramage levels. 5½-5½.

Colin Ramage – Tim Lane [C01]

Essex v Notts U180 board 11, 19.06.2010

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Be3 dxe4 4.Nd2 Nf6 5.f3 Nd5 6.Qe2 c5 7.dxc5 Nxe3 8.Qxe3 Qa5 9.Qxe4 Bxc5 10.0–0–0 Nd7 11.Nb3 Qb6 12.Nh3 0–0 13.Bd3 Nf6 14.Qh4 e5 15.g4 e4 16.Bxe4 Nxe4 17.fxe4 Be3+ 18.Kb1 Be6 19.Ng5 Bxg5 20.Qxg5 f6 21.Qf4 Rad8 22.h3 a5 23.e5 Bxb3 24.axb3 Qc7 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 26.Re1 Re8 27.Qa4 Rxe5 28.Rxe5 Qxe5 29.Qc4+ Kf8 30.Qc8+ Qe8 31.Qxb7 Qe1+ 32.Ka2 Qe3 33.Qc8+ Kf7 34.Qd7+ Kf8 35.Qd8+ Kf7 36.Qd5+ Kf8 37.Qxa5 Qxh3 38.Qd8+ Kf7 39.Qd7+ Kf8 40.b4 Qf1 41.Qd8+ Kf7 42.Qd5+ Kf8 43.b5 Qe2 44.Qc5+ Kf7 45.c4 Qc2 46.b6 Qa4+ 47.Qa3 Qc6 48.c5 Kg6 49.Qb4 Qd5+ 50.Ka3 Qf3+ 51.Ka4 Qc6+ 52.Kb3 Qf3+ 53.Qc3 Qd5+ 54.Kc2 Qg2+ 55.Qd2 Qc6 56.Kb1 Qh1+ 57.Qc1 Qc6 58.Qc2+ Kh6 59.Qd2+ Kg6 60.Qd6 Qe4+ 61.Kc1 Qh1+ 62.Kc2 Qg2+ 63.Kc3 Qa8 64.Qd3+ Kh6 65.Kb4 Qc6 66.Qd6 Qe4+ 67.Kb5 Qe2+ 68.Kc6 Qe8+ 69.Kc7 Qf7+ 70.Qd7 Qc4 71.c6 Qb4 72.b7 Qa5+ 73.Kc8 Qa6 74.Kb8 Qb5 75.Qd6 Qxb2 76.c7 g5 77.c8Q 1–0

5.58 pm. Essex back in the lead, courtesy of Neville Twitchell. Two points needed from the four games in play. 6½-5½.

Jonathan Day – Neville Twitchell [B90]

Essex v Notts U180 board 14, 19.06.2010

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.a4 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Bc4 0–0 9.0–0 Be6 10.Bd5 Qc7 11.Be3 Nbd7 12.a5 Bxd5 13.Nxd5 Nxd5 14.Qxd5 Rac8 15.Rfc1 Nf6 16.Qd3 Qc6 17.Bg5 h6 18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.c4 Bg5 20.Rc3 f5 21.Qd5+ Qxd5 22.exd5 Rf7 23.Ra4 e4 24.Rb4 f4 25.Rb6 e3 26.Nc1 Re8 27.Rc2 Bh4 28.Kf1 f3 29.g3 e2+ 30.Ke1 Bd8 31.Nd3 Bxb6 32.axb6 a5 33.b3 Rf5 34.Nf4 g5 35.Ne6 g4 36.Nf4 Re4 37.Rd2 a4 38.c5 dxc5 39.d6 Rf8 40.d7 Rd8 41.Rd6 Rd4 0–1

Last 10 minutes.  The final games go down to the wire. Jim Howson loses, but John White reaches a position of two bishops against king with time to win it.  Howard Grist draws, but then disaster: Larry Marden (who cannot have known whether a win or a draw was required) loses on top board. Although the match finishes 8-8 Notts have a very convincing win on board count. This was the eighth successive National Stage match to go to board count which Essex have lost, with the U175/U180 team on the wrong end of four of these decisions. It is necessary to go back to the summer of 2002 to find an Essex board count victory (against Sussex in the U175 final).

Postscript.  Abel Yap, the Notts board 7 who had been cleared by the National controller to play on the basis of an estimated grade of 172, had a grade of 180 when the next list was published.

Played at Eaton Ford, Cambridgeshire.

Nottinghamshire won on board count.

Played at Syston.

Played at Wanstead House.

Marden,Larry – McCullough,Simon [A52]

Essex v Surrey U180 board 1, 27.02.2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e5 3.dxe5 Ng4 4.e3 Nxe5 5.Nh3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 a5 7.Nf4 0–0 8.Nd5 Bxd2+ 9.Qxd2 c6 10.Nf4 Ng6 11.Nxg6 fxg6 12.Nc3 Na6 13.Be2 Nc7 14.Rd1 Qh4 15.0–0 Ne6 16.f4 Nc5 17.e4 b6 18.f5 Ba6 19.fxg6 hxg6 20.b3 Rae8 21.Bd3 Qe7 22.Bc2 Qe5 23.Qe3 Rxf1+ 24.Rxf1 d5 25.Qf3 Nxe4 26.Nxe4 dxe4 27.Qf7+ Kh7 28.Rf4 Qd4+ 29.Kf1 g5?? 30.Qh5+ Kg8 31.Qxe8+ 1–0

McCall,Martin – Archer,Paul [B06]

Essex v Surrey U180 board 7, 27.02.2010

1.e4 Nc6 2.Nc3 g6 3.d4 Bg7 4.Be3 d6 5.Qd2 e5 6.Nf3 exd4 7.Nxd4 Bd7 8.0–0–0 Nf6 9.f3 Ne5 10.Kb1 a6 11.f4 Neg4 12.Bg1 Nh5 13.Be2 Qh4 14.Nf3 Qf6 15.Bd4 Qd8 16.h3 Bxd4 17.Qxd4 Ngf6 18.e5 Ng3 19.Rhe1 Nf5 20.Qd2 dxe5 21.fxe5 Ng8 22.g4 Ng7 23.Qe3 Ne6 24.Nd5 h5 25.Rd2 hxg4 26.hxg4 Rh7 27.Red1 f6 28.Bc4 Ng5 29.Nxf6+ 1–0

Fenwick,Hugh – Parker,Robert [C41]

Essex v Surrey U180 board 8, 27.02.2010

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Nbd7 4.e4 e5 5.Be2 Be7 6.0–0 0–0 7.Re1 c6 8.dxe5 dxe5 9.h3 Qb6 10.Bc4 a5 11.Qe2 a4 12.a3 Qc7 13.b4 axb3 14.cxb3 b5 15.Bd3 Nc5 16.Bc2 Be6 17.Rb1 h6 18.Qe3 Rfd8 19.Bb2 Ncd7 20.b4 Nb6 21.Nxe5 Bd6 22.Nd3 Nc4 23.Qc1 Nh5 24.e5 Nxe5 25.Nxb5 Nf3+ 26.gxf3 cxb5 27.Be5 Bf5 28.Nc5 Bxh3 29.Bxd6 Rxd6 30.Be4 Rc8 31.Qe3 f5 32.Qb3+ Kh8 33.Ne6 Qf7 34.Kh2 fxe4 35.Kxh3 Qxe6+ 36.Qxe6 Rxe6 37.fxe4 Rc3+ 38.Kg4 Nf6+ 39.Kf5 Ra6 40.f4 Kh7 41.Rg1 Rc4 42.Rbe1 Rxa3 43.e5 Ne8 44.Rgf1 Rxb4 45.Ke6 Rd4 46.f5 b4 47.Rb1 Kg8 48.Ke7 Ra8 49.Rfc1 Rb8 50.Re1 Nc7 0–1