Round 4

Last night in round 4 I beat Ted Pye:

[Event "Spondon Summer Open 2007"]
[Date "2007.06.26"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Dean Madden"]
[Black "Ted Pye"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C50"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 f6 4. Bxg8 Rxg8 5. O-O d6 6. Nc3 Bg4 7. h3 Bh5 8. d3 Nd4 9. g4 Nxf3+ 10. Qxf3 Bf7 11. Be3 Rh8 12. b3 g5 13. Qe2 h5 14. Kg2 Qd7 15. f3 a6 16. Rad1 Be6 17. Rh1 h4 18. d4 Qc6 19. Qd2 Qd7 20. dxe5 Be7 21. exf6 Bxf6 22. Bxg5 Rf8 23. Nd5 Bxd5 24. Qxd5 O-O-O 25. Bxf6 Rxf6 26. Qg5 Rdf8 27. Rhf1 Qc6 28. c4 b5 29. Rc1 Qe8 30. Qxh4 Qf7 31. Rc3 b4 32. Rd3 Qg7 33. Qg3 Rh6 34. Rf2 Rfh8 35. Rd5 Rxh3 36. Qxh3 Rxh3 37. Kxh3 Qa1 38. g5 Qh1+ 39. Kg3 Kb7 40. g6 Qg1+ 41. Rg2 Qe1+ 42. Kf4 Qc1+ 43. Kf5 Qf1 44. Rg3 Qf2 45. Kf4 Qh2 46. g7 Qxa2 47. g8=Q Qxb3 48. Qd8 Qxc4 49. Rg8 Kc6 50. Rxd6+ Kb5 51. Rd5+ Ka4 52. Qd7+ c6 53. Rd1 Kb3 54. Qd3+ Qxd3 55. Rxd3+ Kc4 56. Rd1 c5 57. Rc1+ Kb3 58. Rc8 Ka4 59. R8xc5 a5 60. Ra1+ Kb3 61. Raxa5 Kb2 62. Rcb5 b3 63. Rxb3+ Kxb3 64. e5 1-0

I was pleased with the win, I had some sticky moments where I thought I'd slipped up, but managed to hold it together. I managed to gain a few pawns gradually, and this proved decisive. He played right till the bitter end, I stopped keeping score after the above because I was very short of time. I'd used up nearly all the 1hr 35mins.

Round 4 26 06 07

Steven J Burke 161 1½ - 0 David J Brown 120

David Williams 144 0 – 1½ Herbert T Loomes 99

Ian Gregory 146 0 – 1½ Mark Carter 123

Barry W Archer 94 1½ - 0 Richard Hilkling e75

Douglas Bramley 99 1½ - 0 Howard Bradbury 84

Harry A J Ratner 70 0 -1½ Graham J Pace 95

Phil Smith 75 ½ - ½ Gethin T Bowes e80

Phillip Sheldon 97 1½ - 0 Martin J Gibson 46

Malcolm Somers 66 0 – 1½ Maitreya Thakur e120

Joseph A Pacitto e35 0 – 1½ Mick Orridge 80

Dean Madden ug 1½ - 0 Ted Pye 48

1	Harry A J Ratner	1½
2	Barry W Archer	4
3	Ian Gregory	2½
4	Dean Madden	2
5	Gary Davison	1½
6	Joseph A Pacitto	1½
7	Howard Bradbury	1½
8	Ted Pye	1½
9	Gethin T Bowes	2
10	Phil Smith	1
11	David J Brown	3½
12	Mark A K Carter	4½
13	Richard Hilkling	3
14	Douglas Bramley	3½
15	Graham J Pace	3
16	David Williams	3½
17	Maitreya Thakur	4
18	Steven J Burke	5
19	Phillip Sheldon	2
20	Herbert T Loomes	5
21	Mick Orridge	3
22	Martin J Gibson	½
23	Malcolm Somers	2
24	Stuart Tabberer	0
25	Adrian Murfin	3
26	Nathan Atkins	0

Spondon Summer Open 2007 Round 3

Last night in round 3 I was black against Mick Orridge. I resigned after around 29 moves. It wasn't a bad performance and I had quite a good middlegame position after playing the Scandinavian again. After discussing the game with Mick, he pointed out I missed a discovered double attack against unprotected rook and queen. So I could have been up at least a rook for a bishop from what I remember. I haven't had chance to input it in Fritz and analyse it yet, but will update this post when I do.

One thing which is grating me a bit about club chess players is what bad losers the majority of them are! Whenever they lose they think it's because they played badly, made mistakes, were unlucky etc. It's always too difficult for them to admit that their opponent simply played better on the night. I find it insulting especially to older players when the winner has obviously worked hard to get the win, but the brash youngster just dismisses it and doesn't even try to listen when the more experienced player tries to pass on some advice on where the game swung.

I think the game last night has taught me that there's still a long way to go before I'm proficient in basic tactics. I was getting a bit ahead of myself trying to learn openings and positional concepts, but I think I should stick to practicing tactics for now, and have more motivation to do so.

Here are the results and standings after Round 3:

Round 3

David Williams 144 ½ - ½ Steven J Burke 161

Herbert T Loomes 99 ½ - ½ Barry W Archer 94

David J Brown 120 1½ - 0 Gary Davison 80

Gethin T Bowes e80 0 - 1½ Ian Gregory 146

Mark Carter 123 1½ - 0 Graham J Pace 95

Howard Bradbury 84 0 – 1½ Richard Hilkling e75

Maitreya Thakur e120 1½ - 0 Phil Smith 75

Adrian Murfin e60 1½ - 0 Joseph A Pacitto e35

Douglas Bramley 99 1½ - 0 Martin J Gibson 46

Malcolm Somers 66 1½ - 0 Phillip Sheldon 97

Mick Orridge 80 1½ - 0 Dean Madden ug

Ted Pye 48 1½ - 0 Stuart Tabberer 61

Harry A J Ratner 70 1½ - 0 Nathan Atkins 94

Harry A J Ratner	1½
Barry W Archer	2½
Ian Gregory	2½
Dean Madden	½
Gary Davison	½
Joseph A Pacitto	1½
Howard Bradbury	1½
Ted Pye	1½
Gethin T Bowes	1½
Phil Smith	½
David J Brown	3½
Mark A K Carter	3
Richard Hilkling	3
Douglas Bramley	2
Graham J Pace	1½
David Williams	3½
Maitreya Thakur	2½
Steven J Burke	3½
Phillip Sheldon	½
Herbert T Loomes	3½
Mick Orridge	1½
Martin J Gibson	½
Malcolm Somers	2
Stuart Tabberer	0
Adrian Murfin	3
Nathan Atkins	0

Controller

Bert Loomes

Here's the game:

[Event "Spondon Summer Open 2007"]
[Date "2007.06.19"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Mick Orridge"]
[Black "Dean Madden"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. d3 Nf6 5. Be2 c6 6. Nf3 Bf5 7. O-O e6 8. a3 Bd6 9. Bd2 Qc7 10. d4 Ng4 11. g3 Nd7 12. Nh4 Ndf6 13. Nxf5 exf5 14. Bxg4 fxg4 15. Re1+ Be7 16. Bf4 Qd7 17. Ne4 Nxe4 18. Rxe4 O-O-O 19. c3 f5 20. Re2 Rhe8 21. Qa4 a6 22. Qa5 g6 23. Rae1 Bd6 24. Rxe8 Rxe8 25. Rxe8+ Qxe8 26. Bxd6 Qd7 27. Be5 Qf7 28. Qb6 Qd7 29. Qa7 1-0

The position I missed was:

Interestingly, I could have forced a draw with perpetual check after I became a bishop down:

Qe1+, Qe4+, Qe1+ etc

Barry Archer

In round 2 of the Spondon Summer Open, I lost against Barry Archer. I was a bit disappointed because I was winning in the early part of the game. I'm glad that I played well to start off with though. I played the Scandinavian Defence for the first time, and seemed to get a good middlegame out of it so will probably stick with it for a bit. I'm hoping to learn the basics of the Sicilian Defence over the next few months, but there's so much to learn about it. Here's the game from last night.

[Event "Spondon Summer Open 2007"]
[Date "2007.06.12"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Barry Archer"]
[Black "Dean Madden"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qa5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. d4 Bf5 6. Bd2 c6 7. Ne4 Qc7 8. Nxf6+ gxf6 9. g3 e5 10. dxe5 fxe5 11. Bg2 Nd7 12. O-O O-O-O 13. Re1 f6 14. Nh4 Be6 15. Qe2 Bc5 16. Kh1 Qb6 17. f4 Qxb2 18. fxe5 fxe5 19. Bg5 Rdf8 20. Reb1 Qd4 21. Bxc6 bxc6 22. Qa6+ Kc7 23. Qb7+ Kd6 24. Rd1 Bd5+ 25. Ng2 Bxg2+ 26. Kxg2 Rf2+ 27. Kh3 Rxc2 28. Rxd4+ exd4 29. Bf4+ Ne5 30. Bxe5+ Kxe5 31. Qg7+ Ke4 32. Qxh8 d3 33. Qxh7+ Ke3 34. Re1+ Re2 35. Qh6+ Kd4 36. Rxe2 dxe2 37. Qd2+ 1-0

The game changed at move 21 when he sacrificed his bishop by taking c6:


It was a mistake according to Fritz, he's seven points down after the move, but it allowed him to attack more with checks and open up the game. The critical point of the game from my point of view is below.


As you can see he's pinning my Queen with his Rook. He's just moved his knight in front of his king after I checked with the bishop. If I would have played Rf2, I would have had over 14 points advantage, but I just took his knight with the bishop, levelling the game.

The reason the Rf2 move was best was because although he can take my queen, I'll have a very strong mating threat with both bishops pointing at his king along with the rook. He'd have to give up his queen to thwart it. I tried playing on to promote a pawn after this, but it was in vain.

Here are the results from the first two rounds of the competition. I was very impressed with a young boy called Maitreya Thakur, last night he was up in material against the top rated Spondon player, Ian Gregory, who won the competition last year.

Round 1

Steven J Burke 161 1½ -0 Phillip Sheldon 97

David J Brown 120 ½ - ½ Ian Gregory 146

David Williams 144 1½ - 0 Graham J Pace 95

Douglas Bramley 99 0 – 1½ Mark Carter 123

Maitreya Thakur e120 ½ - ½ Barry W Archer 94

Howard Bradbury 84 1½ - 0 Harry A J Ratner 70

Richard Hickling e75 1½ - 0 Gethin T Bowes e80

Ted Pye 48 0 – 1½ Joseph A Pacitto e35

Dean Madden ug ½ - ½ Phil Smith 75

Herbert T Loomes 99 1½ - 0 Gary Davison 80

Round 2

Richard Hickling e75 0 - 1½ David Williams 144

Howard Bradbury 84 0 - 1½ Steven J Burke 161

Joseph A Pacitto e35 0 - 1½ Herbert T Loomes 99

Ian Gregory 146 ½ - ½ Maitreya Thakur e120

Phil Smith 75 0 – 1½ David J Brown 120

Barry W Archer 94 1½ - 0 Dean Madden ug

Gethin T Bowes e80 1½ - 0 Harry A J Ratner 70

Phillip Sheldon 97 ½ - ½ Douglas Bramley 99

Graham J Pace 95 1½ - 0 Ted Pye 48

Gary Davison 80 1½ - 0 Mick Orridge 80

Martin J Gibson 46 ½ - ½ Malcolm Somers 66

Stuart Tabberer 61 0 – 1½ Adrian Murfin e60

JeversonM

My current fics rating is 1414, I did get it up to 1423, but I just got thumped by Jeverson M. He was very aggressive and smashed through me, I was way ahead on material but couldn't stop him mating me.

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2007.06.11"]
[Round "?"]
[White "JeversonM"]
[Black "deanmadden"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1457"]
[BlackElo "1423"]
[ECO "C21"]
[TimeControl "4500"]

1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Nf3 Bb4+ 4. Bd2 c5 5. Bxb4 cxb4 6. Nxd4 Nc6 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Bc4 Ne7 9. O-O Bb7 10. e5 O-O 11. c3 bxc3 12. Nxc3 Re8 13. Qh5 g6 14. Bxf7+ Kxf7 15. Qxh7+ Ke6 16. Rad1 Rh8 17. Rd6+ Kxe5 18. Qg7+ Kxd6 19. Ne4+ Kc7 20. Rd1 Qf8 21. Qe5+ Kc8 22. Nd6+ Kb8 23. Nb5+ Kc8 24. Qc7# {deanmadden checkmated} 1-0

He played the Danish Gambit, which I'd never heard of before. My first mistake was move 4:

I played c5 to support the pawn and bishop, but better would have been Bc5 or Bxd2. A critical point I could have saved the game was below:

I should have played Nd5, but I played the only move that swung it back to him: Qf8. Then I walked into mate below:

Kc7 would have survived longer, but I played Kb8, trapping my king in the corner.

Phil Smith

I played Phil Smith (ECF 75, 1625 fide) in the first round of the Spondon Summer Open last night. It ended up being a draw with just kings left on the board. I was pleased with my performance and didn't seem to make massive tactical mistakes, but did overlook a few things I could have done. A draw was definitely a fair result though and ensures I don't remain on zero for the 8-round tournament :)

He played the Philidor defence and I was making stuff up from move 3, thankfully it looks like I chose the right moves to start with. The time control was 1hr 15mins for first 30 moves, then 20mins extra till end of game. I ended up with just about 2 mins on the clock, I've never used up so much time in a game before.

Here's the game:

[Event "Spondon Summer Open 2007"]
[Date "2007.06.05"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Dean Madden"]
[Black "Phil Smith"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C41"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. Be2 Bxf3 5. Bxf3 Nc6 6. d5 Nd4 7. Be3 Nxf3+ 8. Qxf3 g6 9. Nc3 a6 10. O-O Bh6 11. Bxh6 Nxh6 12. Rfe1 O-O 13. h3 Kg7 14. Rad1 f5 15. Qe2 fxe4 16. Nxe4 Qd7 17. Ng5 Rf5 18. Ne6+ Kg8 19. Qe3 Nf7 20. Qd3 c6 21. c4 Nd8 22. Nxd8 Rxd8 23. Re2 Rdf8 24. f3 c5 25. Rf1 b5 26. b3 bxc4 27. bxc4 Qa4 28. Qb3 Qxb3 29. axb3 Rb8 30. Ra2 Rxb3 31. Rxa6 Rf6 32. Rfa1 Rc3 33. Rc6 Rxc4 34. Ra8+ Kg7 35. Ra7+ Kh6 36. Rd7 Rd4 37. Rcxd6 Rxd6 38. Rxd6 e4 39. fxe4 Rxe4 40. Rc6 c4 41. Rc5 Rd4 42. Kf2 Rd2+ 43. Ke3 Rxg2 44. Rxc4 Rg3+ 45. Kf2 Rd3 46. Rc5 g5 47. Ke2 Ra3 48. Rc6+ Kh5 49. d6 Ra8 50. d7 Rd8 51. Rd6 g4 52. hxg4+ Kxg4 53. Ke3 Kf5 54. Kd4 h5 55. Kd5 h4 56. Kc6 h3 57. Rh6 Kg4 58. Kc7 Rg8 59. d8=Q Rxd8 60. Kxd8 Kg3 61. Rxh3+ Kxh3 1/2-1/2

An apparent blunder was move 19. The position was below:


I played Qe3, but fritz says I should have played g4. I can understand this attacks the rook, but would have thought it weakened my king. Fritz says his best move is then Rf8, losing his rook for a knight. Will look into this later.

Update

It's suddenly clearer now. After g4, he can't play rook to f3, f4, g5, or h5 because it will be taken straight away. If he plays Rf7 then Qe3 attacks the knight leaving it nowhere to move to. Finally if he played Rf6 then g5 forks the rook and knight.

There were a few different things I could have tried in the endgame, but it would probably have still been a draw.

1387

I achieved my highest rating so far on fics, 1387. I had a couple of good wins against higher rated opposition yesterday, both of them went to difficult endgames.

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2007.06.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "deanmadden"]
[Black "Introspection"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteElo "1359"]
[BlackElo "1432"]
[ECO "C88"]
[TimeControl "2700+45"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 d6 8. Nc3 O-O 9. d4 exd4 10. Nxd4 Nxd4 11. Qxd4 c5 12. Qd2 c4 13. Bxc4 bxc4 14. Nd5 Nxd5 15. Qxd5 Rb8 16. Qxc4 Be6 17. Qxa6 Qc7 18. c3 Bc4 19. Qa4 d5 20. g3 dxe4 21. Bf4 Bd6 22. Bxd6 Qxd6 23. Qxc4 Rxb2 24. Qxe4 g6 25. Reb1 Rfb8 26. Rxb2 Rxb2 27. Qd4 Qe6 28. c4 Rb8 29. c5 Rc8 30. a4 Qc6 31. Qd6 Qxc5 32. Qxc5 Rxc5 33. a5 Rc8 34. a6 Kf8 35. a7 Ra8 36. Kg2 Ke7 37. Kf3 Kd7 38. Ke4 Kc7 39. Ke5 Kb7 40. Kf6 Rxa7 41. Rxa7+ Kxa7 42. Kxf7 g5 43. Kg7 h5 44. Kg6 h4 45. Kxg5 hxg3 46. fxg3 Kb7 47. h4 {Introspection resigns} 1-0

The first, against introspection, was a case of being a pawn up in a rook endgame. I pushed the passed pawn as far as it could go, then when his king went across to attack, my king gobbled up his remaining pawns.

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2007.06.02"]
[Round "?"]
[White "cheesyperson"]
[Black "deanmadden"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "1468"]
[BlackElo "1373"]
[ECO "A48"]
[TimeControl "3600"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Bd3 O-O 6. O-O Re8 7. Re1 Nbd7 8. Bf4 e5 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Bg5 h6 11. Be3 Ng4 12. Bd2 Nc5 13. Bc4 Be6 14. Bxe6 Nxe6 15. h3 Nf6 16. Be3 Qxd1 17. Rexd1 Nd8 18. Rd2 Nc6 19. Rad1 b6 20. a3 Nh5 21. Rd7 Rac8 22. R7d5 Rcd8 23. Rxd8 Rxd8 24. Rxd8+ Nxd8 25. Nb5 Nc6 26. Nxc7
Nd4 27. Nxd4 exd4 28. Bd2 Nf6 29. Nb5 Nxe4 30. Bf4 a6 31. Nd6 Nxd6 32. Bxd6 Bf8 33. Bc7 b5 34. Bb6 Bg7 35. Kf1 f5 36. Ke2 d3+ 37. Kxd3 Bxb2 38. Bc5 Kf7 39. c4 bxc4+ 40. Kxc4 Ke6 41. Kb4 Kd5 42. Bf8 h5 43. Ka5 Ke4 44. Kxa6 f4 45. a4 f3 46. gxf3+ Kxf3 47. a5 Kxf2 48. Kb7 Kg3 49. a6 Bd4 50. Bd6+ Kxh3 51. Be5
Bf2 52. Bc7 h4 53. Bb6 Kg2 54. Bxf2 h3 55. a7 h2 56. a8=Q h1=Q 57. Kb8+ Kh2 58. Bg3+ Kg1 59. Bf2+ Kh2 60. Bg3+ Kg1 61. Qa1+ Kg2 62. Qb2+ Kxg3 63. Qc3+ Qf3 64. Qc7+ Qf4 65. Qxf4+ Kxf4 {cheesyperson resigns} 0-1

The game against cheesyperson was very even throughout, and I was convinced it would be a draw. It was a same coloured bishop and pawns endame. He had the advantage in the pawn promotion race, so I let him take my bishop in order for him to have Queen & Bishop versus my Queen and pawn. I managed to force an exchange of queens and then he resigned.

Update:

I'm now 1394. I've wanted to reach 1400 for a while and I'm almost there. I think my next medium term aim is to reach 1500, whether that will take a year or two years I don't know. Once I've reached 1400 I'll try to cement it in place and aim for 1450. Hopefully I'll get an OTB rating in the next couple of months so will have something to aim for with that. My long term aim, i.e. in the next five years or so is to reach a 100 ECF rating, equivalent to about 1750 fide and hopefully do-able.