Horsham Club Quickplay Knockout 2016-17: Mansson – Taylor

Posted on November 5, 2016 by James Mansson

The second round of the quickplay saw me up against Paul Taylor. Paul is a tricky but erratic player, and while I have generally done well against him, I have suffered a few defeats too.

In the first game, Paul played an unusual line that he had used to defeat me in last year’s Horsham 1 vs Horsham 2 match. However, I was prepared for it and he made a serious mistake on move 9, allowing me to win the exchange and a pawn. Although I didn’t play as well as I might in what followed, I was still able to win in the end.

In the second game, I was able to establish a slight advantage out of the opening. An aggressive, double-edged thrust (15 g4!?) did not immediately yield dividends, but fortunately for me, my opponent tried an exchange sacrifice that was simply unsound. With some calm play, I was able to consolidate and win. Continue reading →

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Horsham Club Quickplay Knockout 2016-17: Mansson – Waddingham

Posted on November 5, 2016 by James Mansson

The first couple of rounds of the Horsham Chess Club Quickplay Knockout were played on the 20th September. It has become customary to play the first two rounds like this en masses to ensure that the competition gets moving.

I was paired against Roger Waddingham in Round One. As usual, he played his “King’s Fianchetto Against Anything With Both Colours” system. In both games – you play each other once with Black and White – I managed to build up an advantage quickly, and was able to win without any great difficultly, apart, of course, from the pressure of the clock.

Continue reading →

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Horsham Club Championship 2016-17: Pavlovic – Mansson

Posted on October 16, 2016 by James Mansson

I made an early start to my club championship games this season, but because the game was adjourned and not completed until last Tuesday. I was up against Tim Pavlovic as Black. This time he did not play the King’s Gambit, apparently influence by a recent blog post (!), but instead played a form of the Colle, which was not especially effective. Although a slip by me gave him a chance to mix things up in his favour, he did not take the chance. Instead, he allowed me to head for an endgame where Black had a nagging edge; following a later mistake, his position was much worse. By the time he reached the time control, he was two pawns down. None the less, he decide to adjourn and play on, but there were no surprises in the second session, and I was able to secure the win without much drama. Continue reading →

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Horsham Club Championship 2015-16: Stimpson – Mansson

Posted on June 8, 2016 by James Mansson

I played my final game in this season’s club championship just over a week ago. I was up against Phil Stimpson with Black. It was a complicated encounter in which I twice allowed my opponent a strong possibility, and twice he failed to take it. He followed the second miss with a couple of further poor moves, after which his position was hopeless. Continue reading →

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Horsham Club Championship 2015-16: Comley – Mansson

Posted on May 30, 2016 by James Mansson

The Symmetrical English is an opening that does not have the most exciting of reputations. However, there are plenty of opportunities to break the symmetry and create an interesting position. The following game is a good example, as play becomes extremely sharp as the position opens up towards the end. Continue reading →

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Horsham Club Championship 2015-16: Pavlovic – Mansson

Posted on May 18, 2016 by James Mansson

I played the King’s Gambit as White for a couple of years a while back (1994-5), but although my overall score with it was good, I nevertheless decided to give it up after a game in a County Match which I won! This might seem a strange decision, but the point was that the game confirmed my misgivings about the opening. I had been very lucky to win, as I had been a clear two pawns down when my opponent blundered a piece. My own experience with the opening, along with observations of other King’s Gambit games in event I participated in, suggested that while it was an effective weapon against weaker opposition, against a well-prepared opponent, I was likely to end up in a poor position from the opening. The point was that the opening had lost the surprise value it long had, following the publication of Gallagher’s 1992 book on the gambit, so Black was likely to be ready for it. Also, having followed the recent development of the opening closely, it struck me that White was having to make great efforts to prove that he was equal, let alone better, which is not desirable in a system that takes centre place in one’s repertoire! Continue reading →

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McArthur Cup 2015-16: Horsham – Brighton

Posted on May 7, 2016 by James Mansson

Horsham finally beat Brighton in the McArthur Cup last Tuesday!

Brighton got off to a bad start by arriving a player short. In the other games, both Mike Forster and Dix Roberts drew fairly comfortably, before Gavin Lock scored an exciting win on board one. This left Horsham with a decisive lead, as even if Brighton won the two remaining games to level the scores at 3-3, Horsham would then win on board count. As it happened, the two remaining games saw Anthony Higgs and I record a couple of draws fairly quickly, as our opponents lacked the motivation, or indeed the position on the board, to press for more. Continue reading →

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Horsham Club Championship 2015-16: Richardson – Mansson

Posted on April 21, 2016 by James Mansson

Last Tuesday I played by Club Championship game against Paul Richardson. It was a tough encounter, which was only decide deep in the endgame. The finish was neat, as Black found a way to give up his extra pawn in order to force a won king and pawn endgame. Continue reading →

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Horsham Club Championship 2015-16: Mansson – Heath

Posted on April 14, 2016 by James Mansson

Last Tuesday I played my club championship game against Chris Heath. After 14 moves, I had established a comfortable advantage, when my opponent made a tactical oversight, which allowed me to establish a winning advantage. As he was soon forced to exchange queens into an endgame two pawns down, it was no surprise that I went on to win. Continue reading →

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Mid-Sussex League Division 1 2015-16: Horsham 1 – Lewes 1

Posted on April 6, 2016 by James Mansson

Last night, Horsham 1 scored a decisive 4-1 win over Lewes 1, which could have been 5-0 had Gavin Lock not overlooked a tricky mate in time trouble in the last game to finish. My game against Richard Welford saw my opponent make an unfortunate decision on move 16, after which he failed to generate much play. I was able to swap queens, then methodically prepare …f5, after which his position collapsed. Continue reading →

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