County Match (Open) 2015-16: Sussex – Essex

Posted on November 22, 2015 by James Mansson

Last Saturday Sussex successfully overcame Essex at home, to get back on track following their disastrous loss in the first match of the season. My game was a draw in the end, although at several points I seemed to have chances of achieving more. None the less, it was an important result in securing the win. Continue reading →

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Mid-Sussex League Division 1 2015-16: Horsham 1 – Horsham 2

Posted on November 11, 2015 by James Mansson

As both Horsham 1 and Horsham 2 are in division one, their first match of the season was against each other. The teams are closely matched, so I was up against a tough opponent in Paul Taylor. The game did not have a happy result for me. I went into an inferior endgame early on, and did not play it well. When I blundered a piece on move 23, my position was in any case lost. Continue reading →

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Horsham Club Championship 2015-16: Mansson – Harbott

Posted on October 28, 2015 by James Mansson

I continued my good start to the Club Championship last night by winning in 21 moves against Peter Harbott. Right out of the opening, I achieved a promising position, and when my opponent slipped up to allow a combination opening the centre, he was in big trouble. A further oversight allowed me to force mate. Continue reading →

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County Match (Open) 2015-16: Sussex – Surrey

Posted on October 25, 2015 by James Mansson

Yesterday, I played my first game of the season for the Sussex Open team. We were playing Surrey away at Coulsdon. Unfortunately, Dix had great trouble getting players for the match; we ended up four players short, so started 0-4 down. We also had the problem that the players we lost were in the middle of the team, so a number of players were a few boards above where they usually would be. Not surprisingly, we lost heavily. However, on a personal note, I achieved a decent result: a draw against a strong player (current grade 199), against whom I had twice lost previously in county matches over the years.

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Horsham Club Championship 2015-16: Mansson – Warren

Posted on October 19, 2015 by James Mansson

I got off to a good start is this year’s Horsham Chess Club Championship, with a 26-move win against Nick Warren two weeks ago. We reached a sharp position after my 21st move, where Black was still doing fine, but my opponent slipped up and lost rapidly. Continue reading →

Posted in Club Championship, Games, Opening Analysis, Reports, The Gruenfeld Defence | 2 Comments

Horsham Club Championship 2014-15: Pavlovic – Mansson

Posted on May 29, 2015 by James Mansson

My latest game in the Horsham club championship was against Tim Pavlovic. I was very lucky to win after he blundered in a completely winning position, allowing me to turn the tables with a simple temporary queen sacrifice. Continue reading →

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County Match (U180) 2014-15: Sussex – Warwickshire

Posted on May 29, 2015 by James Mansson

Sussex were up against Warwickshire in their ECF stage quarter-final match. The match was not a happy experience for the Sussex team. We had a long journey to the match venue near Birmingham. Because of some delays, I (along with John Cannon and Paul Taylor) arrived late at the match, thus starting behind on the clocks. We then discovered that the team was two players short, which did not help matters either. The overall result was a crushing defeat for Sussex by the score 11.5-4.5. Continue reading →

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Horsham Club Championship 2014-15: Kington – Mansson

Posted on May 28, 2015 by James Mansson

At the start of this month, I played my Horsham club championship game against Paul Kington. Paul has a reputation for being hard to beat, so I was pleased to score a victory against him, especially as I had the Black pieces. Continue reading →

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4NCL Division 3 2014-15: e2e4.org.uk 2 – Warwickshire Select 2

Posted on May 17, 2015 by James Mansson

Following our narrow defeat in the penultimate round, we were pessimistic about our chances of promotion. However, it was still possible if we won and the right combintation of results occurred in the other matches. We were up against Warwickshire Select 2 and I was paired against Nicholas Fallowfield, whom I had previous played in one of my very first correspondence chess games back in 1989! I was able to score a win in only 24 moves, which put us one up. Although there were a few tense moments in the other games, our players held firm for a draw in all of them, which gave us the necessary victory. It was then down to the other matches, which also went in our favour, so against the odds we had won promotion! Continue reading →

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4NCL Division 3 2014-15: e2e4.org.uk 2 – North East England 1

Posted on May 12, 2015 by James Mansson

In round 10, I played on bottom board for the second team against North East England 1. The match was a tense affair. My game was a fairly uneventful draw. All the others saw the two players split the point eventually, except for Alan Byron’s game against Nick Tavoularis as Black. In this Alan was apparently holding firm for a long time. However, his position suddenly collapsed, not only losing the match but also appearing to end the second team’s chances of promotion.

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