Horsham Club Championship 2017-18: Mansson – Stimpson

My latest club championship game against Phil Stimpson was an unsatisfactory draw for both players. I was White and my opponent played an interesting gambit line against the Ruy Lopez. Neither player played entirely accurately on the way to a position where I had a Rook and Bishop against my opponent’s queen. A couple more inaccurate moves by me gave my opponent a very good position, but he then wrongly went for a repetition of the position. The game therefore ended as a draw. Continue reading

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Mid-Sussex League Division 1 2017-18: Horsham 1 – Brighton 1

The final match of Horsham 1’s league season has ended in a draw! My game was against Joe Everett and despite obtaining a winning position, I allowed him to set up a fortress and had to concede a draw. This was frustrating, not least because a win in this game would have allowed us to win the match. Continue reading

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Horsham Club Quickplay Knockout 2017-18: Mansson – Higgs

Last night I played Anthony Higgs in the final of the Quickplay Knockout. In order to finish the competition problem, Anthony and Brian Donnelly had arranged to play their Semi-Final, then for me to play the winner all on the same club evening. Anthony overcame Brian 2.5-1.5 in a tightly-contested match, before taking me on in the final. Continue reading

Posted in Club Quickplay Knockout, Games, Opening Analysis, Philidor's Defence, Reports, The Semi-Slav Defence | 1 Comment

County Match (Open) 2017-18: Sussex – Middlesex

Last Saturday, Sussex scored a big win over Middlesex by 10-5 with one game still disputed. I played my part with a 20 move win as White against Simon Spivack. After missing a chance to head for unclear complications, my opponent allowed me to prevent him from castling to safety and to build up a strong attack. Following a further error, I was able to crash through and force an early resignation. Continue reading

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Mid-Sussex League Division 1 2017-18: Horsham 1 – Worthing 2

Last week, Horsham 1 managed a narrow 3-2 away win against Worthing 2. My contribution was what proved to be the decisive win over Grant Bucher. After some tricky complications – and mutual inaccuracies – we ended up in a rook and pawn endgame where I managed to get the better of my opponent. He adjourned the game but subsequently resigned, as the position is clearly lost. Continue reading

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County Match (Open) 2017-18: Sussex – Kent

The Sussex Open Team managed to secure a draw away againt Kent last Saturday, despite being comfortably outgraded. I played my part by winning against Ian Snape with Black, in a game where the advantage swung back and forth. Both players ran short of time. The decisive action took placed just before the time control; my opponent resigned a move after that was passed as his position was hopeless. Continue reading

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Mid-Sussex League Division 1 2017-18: Horsham 1 – Worthing 1

I suffered a bad loss with White in last night’s league match against Worthing 1. We are currently 2-1 down in the match with two games unfinished. In a sharp line of the Dragon, I failed to paly the strongest continuation, then blundered a couple of moves later, leading to a swift defeat. Continue reading

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Horsham Club Championship 2017-18: P.Taylor – Mansson

Following my debacle against Ian Comley, it was good to get things back on track in the club championship with a win over Paul Taylor. I was Black in a Queen’s Indian, and the position was roughly level out of the opening, but following some innacuracies, my opponent found himself in a difficult position, from which he was unable to extract himself. Continue reading

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Mid-Sussex League Division 1 2017-18: Horsham 1 – Brighton 2

Unfortunately, Horsham 1 were only able to draw against Brighton 2 last week. My game saw me playing Black against Anna Charpidou on board two. My opponent allowed me to create a large pawn centre, then managed to block it, but it turned out that my attack on the kingside was of far greatere consequence than hers on the queenside. I managed to break through and force mate. Continue reading

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Horsham Club Championship 2017-18: Comley – Mansson

I suffered a disappointing loss in the club championship last night against Ian Comley. After slipping into a worse (but defensible) position after the opening, a combination of good play by my opponent and some further inaccuracies gave him a big advantage. Fortunately, he then made a significant error, allowing me to win the exchange for the pawn and go into an endgame. Unfortunately, I then proceded to completely misplay the endgame, turning a win into a worse postion, then into a loss. I resigned when facing mate, as my opponent found a bold way to advance his king down the board without being harrassed by my rooks. Continue reading

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