Barry Lings

I played my first game of the season in the Derby & District league on Thursday. I lost to Barry Lings of Rolls Royce 'B', in a quite dull game where he converted a pawn advantage. In the match, Mick Orridge got a good win so we weren't white-washed against a higher graded team. Full results:

444 ROLLS ROYCE (B) 3 SPONDON (D) 1
1 Boreham Michael D 0 Orridge Mick 71 1
2 Archer Barry W 101 1 Tabberer Stuart 61 0
3 Marshall Nigel 97 1 Gibson Martin 55 0
4 Lings Barry W 85 1 Madden Dean 46 0

The game:

[Event "Derbyshire League Division 4"]
[Date "2007.09.27"]
[White "Barry Lings, Rolls Royce B"]
[Black "Dean Madden, Spondon D"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E61"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. Nf3 d6 5. e3 O-O 6. Be2 Re8 7. O-O Nbd7 8. Rb1 e5 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. b3 e4 11. Nd2 Nc5 12. Bb2 Bf5 13. Nb5 a6 14. Nd4 Qd7 15. Nxf5 Qxf5 16. Qc2 Rad8 17. Rfd1 Nd3 18. Bxd3 exd3 19. Qc1 Ng4 20. Nf3 Bxb2 21. Rxb2 Ne5 22. Nxe5 Qxe5 23. Rbd2 Qe4 24. Qc3 Qe5 25. Qxe5 Rxe5 26. Rxd3 Rxd3 27. Rxd3 b5 28. Rd5 Rxd5 29. cxd5 Kf8 30. e4 Ke7 31. f3 Kd6 32. b4 f5 33. Kf2 fxe4 34. fxe4 c6 35. dxc6 Kxc6 36. Ke3 Kd6 37. Kd4 Ke6 38. Kc5 Ke5 39. Kb6 Kxe4 40. Kxa6 1-0

This morning I achieved a draw after being a pawn down in an STC Gauntlet game against higher rated twotowers:

[Event "rated standard match"]
[Site "Free Internet Chess Server"]
[Date "2007.09.30"]
[White "deanmadden"]
[Black "twotowers"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteElo "1456"]
[BlackElo "1683"]
[ECO "B00"]
[TimeControl "3600+15"]

1. e4 d6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. d3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. O-O Nbd7 7. Re1 e5 8. Nbd2 a5 9. Nf1 Nc5 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bxf6 Qxf6 12. Ne3 c6 13. d4 exd4 14. Nc4 Bg4 15. h3 Bxf3 16. Qxf3 Qxf3 17. Bxf3 Rfd8 18. Rad1 b5 19. Na3 Rac8 20. Nb1 Na4 21. b3 Nc3 22. Nxc3 dxc3 23. Bg4 Rb8 24. f4 c5 25. e5 dxe5 26. fxe5 h5 27. Bf3 Bh6 28. e6 fxe6 29. Rxe6 Kf7 30. Rxd8 Rxd8 31. Re5 Re8 32. Rxe8 Kxe8 33. Bc6+ Ke7 34. Bxb5 Be3+ 35. Kf1 g5 36. Ke2 Bd4 37. Kf3 h4 38. g4 Kd6 39. Ke4 Bg1 {Game drawn by mutual agreement} 1/2-1/2

I agreed a draw in an opposite colour bishop endgame. This gave me alltime high fics rating of 1463. This will probably decrease after the rematch tonight :)

Another loss in a winning position

The latest recipient of me giving away matches for free was Ted Pye in the club championship. I was up a piece, but allowed myself to get checkmated. Arrgh!

[Event "Spondon Club Championship 2007/08"]
[Date "2007.09.25"]
[White "Dean Madden"]
[Black "Ted Pye"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 h6 4. d4 exd4 5. Nxd4 Ne5 6. Nd2 Nf6 7. f3 d5 8. exd5 Nxd5 9. Bxd5 Qxd5 10. N2b3 Bd7 11. O-O c5 12. Ne2 Qxd1 13. Rxd1 c4 14. Nd2 Bb5 15. Nc3 Ba6 16. Re1 f6 17. f4 Bc5+ 18. Kh1 O-O 19. fxe5 Rae8 20. b3 b5 21. Bb2 fxe5 22. Rf1 Bb7 23. Rxf8+ Rxf8 24. Rf1 Rd8 25. Nde4 Bd4 26. Rd1 Rf8 27. Nd6 Ba8 28. Ndxb5 a6 29. Nxd4 exd4 30. Ne2 d3 31. cxd3 cxd3 32. Ng3 Rf2 33. Bc3 Rxg2 34. Nf1 Rg5# 0-1

Leicester Rounds 4 & 5

I had a better day yesterday and enjoyed both games. First I beat Chris Fox with a Fried Liver opening. The opening gave me a pawn advantage after just a few moves, and this stayed the same until a pawn ending which I managed to convert to a win, even though my opponent assured me it was a draw. Gamesmanship or miscalculation? Not too sure. Anyway there were lots of points early on when I could have got more material but I didn't see them so will need to look more at the game.

[Event "Leicester Congress 2007 Amateur section"]
[Date "2007.09.23"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Dean Madden"]
[Black "Chris Fox"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C57"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Nxd5 6. Nxf7 Kxf7 7. Qf3+ Ke6 8. Nc3 Nce7 9. Qg4+ Nf5 10. Bxd5+ Kf6 11. Ne4+ Ke7 12. Qg5+ Ke8 13. Qxd8+ Kxd8 14. d3 Be7 15. Bg5 Bxg5 16. Nxg5 Ke7 17. O-O h6 18. Nf3 c6 19. Be4 Kf6 20. Rfe1 Re8 21. g4 Nd6 22. h3 Bd7 23. Rad1 Re7 24. Nd2 Rf8 25. Rf1 Ref7 26. f4 g5 27. fxe5+ Kxe5 28. Nf3+ Ke6 29. Nd2 Rf4 30. Rde1 Rxf1+ 31. Rxf1 Rf4 32. Re1 Nxe4 33. Rxe4+ Rxe4 34. Nxe4 Ke5 35. Nc5 Be6 36. Nxe6 Kxe6 37. Kf2 Ke5 38. Ke3 Kd5 39. c4+ Ke5 40. d4+ Kd6 41. Ke4 Ke6 42. d5+ cxd5+ 43. cxd5+ Kd6 44. Kd4 b6 45. Ke4 a6 46. b4 a5 47. bxa5 bxa5 48. a4 1-0

Fifth and last game of the tournament was against 11 year old Amy Milson, a member of a very talented chess family. She was a pawn up early on, but I dug in and managed to scrape a draw after 68 very interesting moves. She'd offered a draw twice earlier, but I declined as although the positions were equal materially, there were lots of different things happening and I wanted to see it played out - win or lose. Overall a great experience for me and I hope to come back next year.

[Event "Leicester Congress 2007 Amateur section"]
[Date "2007.09.23"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Dean Madden"]
[Black "Amy Milson"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B30"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. g3 Nf6 4. d3 e5 5. Bg2 Nc6 6. O-O Be7 7. Nbd2 O-O 8. Re1 Be6 9. Nf1 Qd7 10. Bg5 Ng4 11. Bxe7 Qxe7 12. Bh3 Nxf2 13. Kxf2 Bxh3 14. Ng1 Be6 15. Ne3 Nd4 16. Kg2 f5 17. c3 Nc6 18. Rf1 fxe4 19. dxe4 Qg5 20. Nd5 Bg4 21. Qc1 Qh5 22. Qe3 Rf7 23. Rxf7 Qxf7 24. Rf1 Qh5 25. Rf6 Rd8 26. h3 Bd1 27. g4 Qh4 28. Rf1 Ba4 29. Nf3 Qh6 30. Qxh6 gxh6 31. Nf6+ Kg7 32. Nh5+ Kh8 33. b3 Bb5 34. c4 Ba6 35. Nh4 b5 36. cxb5 Bxb5 37. Rf6 Bd3 38. Rxh6 Bxe4+ 39. Kg3 Nd4 40. Nf6 Kg7 41. g5 Bf5 42. Kh2 Bc2 43. Ng4 e4 44. Ne3 Bd3 45. Nhf5+ Nxf5 46. Nxf5+ Kg8 47. Nxd6 e3 48. Kg1 e2 49. Kf2 Rd7 50. Re6 Kg7 51. h4 a5 52. h5 Kg8 53. h6 Rd8 54. Nb7 Rf8+ 55. Rf6 Re8 56. Ke1 Bb1 57. a3 Ba2 58. Nxa5 Re3 59. Rf2 Bxb3 60. Rxe2 Rxe2+ 61. Kxe2 Ba4 62. Kd2 Kf7 63. Kc3 Kg6 64. Nb3 Kxg5 65. Nxc5 Bc6 66. a4 Bxa4 67. Nxa4 Kxh6 68. Nc5 1/2-1/2

Leicester rounds 2 & 3

In round 2, I was paired against Joe Pacitto, but after waiting half an hour he didn't turn up. Disappointing since I would have stood a chance against him. So anyway I was repaired with someone much higher graded from the intermediate section. I tried a Kingside attack against his Sicilian, but it didn't come to much:

[Event "Leicester Congress 2007 Amateur"]
[Date "2007.09.22"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Dean Madden"]
[Black "Grant Hammond"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "A05"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. g3 Nf6 4. d3 g6 5. Bg2 Bg7 6. O-O O-O 7. Re1 Nc6 8. Nbd2 Qc7 9. Nh4 e5 10. f4 exf4 11. gxf4 Bg4 12. Bf3 Bxf3 13. Ndxf3 Rfe8 14. f5 d5 15. fxg6 fxg6 16. exd5 Nxd5 17. c3 Qd7 18. Ng2 Rxe1+ 19. Qxe1 Re8 20. Qf2 Rf8 21. Bd2 Qg4 22. Qxc5 Qxf3 23. Re1 Qxd3 0-1

In round 3, I played Neil Roberts, the top seed in the group. I gained a two pawn advantage, but as usual for me I didn't convert it to the win. I couldn't stop his attack.

[Event "Leicester Congress 2007 Amateur section"]
[Date "2007.09.22"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Neil Roberts"]
[Black "Dean Madden"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]

1. e4 d5 2. c3 dxe4 3. Qa4+ Nc6 4. Qxe4 Nf6 5. Qc2 e5 6. Be2 Bc5 (6... Qd5 7. Nf3 e4 8. Nd4) 7. b4 Bb6 8. a4 a5 (8... Nxb4 9. cxb4 Qd4 10. Nh3 Bxh3 11. O-O Qxa1) 9. b5 Ne7 10. Bf3 O-O 11. d3 Ng6 12. g3 Rb8 13. c4 Bd4 14. Ra3 Bg4 15. Bb2 Bc5 16. Rb3 Bxf3 17. Nxf3 Re8 18. O-O b6 19. Rd1 Ng4 20. Qe2 Nxf2 21. Rf1 Nxd3+ 22. Kg2 Nxb2 (22... Ngf4+ 23. gxf4 Nxf4+ 24. Kh1 Nxe2) 23. Qxb2 f6 24. Nc3 Bd4 25. Nxd4 Qxd4 26. Qe2 Red8 27. Rd1 Qc5 28. Ne4 Qe7 29. Rf1 Rd4 30. Rf2 Qe6 31. Rc3 Rbd8 32. c5 f5 33. Ng5 Qf6 34. Nf3 Rxa4 35. cxb6 cxb6 36. Rc6 Rd6 37. Rc8+ Rd8 38. Qc2 Rxc8 39. Qxc8+ Qf8 40. Qc6 Qf6 41. Qd5+ Kh8 42. Rc2 e4 43. Rc8+ Nf8 44. Ne5 g6 45. Nd7 Kg7 (45... Qb2+ 46. Kh3 Ra2 47. Rxf8+ Kg7 48. Qf7+ Kh6) 46. Nxf6 1-0

Even more annoying is that I missed the following chance to fork his king and queen:


Should have played any of the knights to f4, then when he takes it with the pawn, play the other knight to the same spot! I just didn't think far enough ahead when I saw the first knight would be taken with the pawn.

Hopefully I'll play better tomorrow.

Leicester Congress Round 1

I lost to Phil Smith in the first round. Disappointed as it all came down to one mistake in the end game where I let him knight fork my king and a pawn. Ah well, four more games to go.

[White "Dean Madden"]
[Black "Phil Smith"]
[Result "0-1"]

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Bg4 4. dxe5 Bxf3 5. Qxf3 dxe5 6. Bb5+ c6 7. Bc4 Nf6 8. c3 h6 9. O-O Nbd7 10. Rd1 Qc7 11. Be3 b5 12. Bb3 Nc5 13. Nd2 O-O-O 14. Bc2 Be7 15. Nb3 Nxb3 16. axb3 Rxd1+ 17. Bxd1 c5 18. b4 Kb7 19. bxc5 Bxc5 20. Be2 a6 21. Rd1 Bxe3 22. Qxe3 Qc6 23. f3 Rc8 24. Qd3 Rc7 25. Qd6 Qxd6 26. Rxd6 Rd7 27. Rxd7+ Nxd7 28. Kf2 Nc5 29. Bd1 Nd3+ 30. Ke3 Nxb2 31. Bb3 f6 32. Kd2 Kb6 33. Kc2 Na4 34. Bxa4 bxa4 35. Kb2 Kc5 36. Ka3 Kc4 37. Kb2 a3+ 38. Kxa3 Kxc3 39. Ka4 Kd3 40. Ka5 Ke2 41. Kxa6 Kf2 42. g3 Kxf3 0-1

Grandmaster draw

I had what reminded me of some of the early recent world championship games on Tuesday. I played Getting Bowes in the club championship.

[Event "Spondon Club Championship 2007/08"]
[Date "2007.09.18"]
[White "Dean Madden"]
[Black "Getting Bowes"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d3 Nf6 4. Nbd2 g6 5. g3 Bg7 6. Bg2 O-O 7. O-O Nc6 8. Re1 Qc7 9. Nc4 Re8 10. Bg5 h6 11. Bd2 Kh7 12. c3 a6 13. d4 cxd4 14. cxd4 Bg4 15. d5 Nd4 16. Rc1 Nxf3+ 17. Bxf3 Bxf3 18. Qxf3 b5 19. Na5 Qd7 20. Nc6 e6 21. b3 Rac8 22. Bb4 Kg8 23. h4 1/2-1/2

Getting offered a draw after my 23rd move and I agreed. I was quite please with it as he's a much more experienced player than me. The position was difficult and I don't think I'd have much chance in and endgame with him. I was lucky early on in that he could have been up a pawn, but he must have overlooked it. The only issue that made me think twice though was that I was way ahead of time. But even if he just moved his king back and forth, I still couldn't figure a way of forcing through. Maybe if I had more experience I would have played on.

Tonight is the first game in the Leicester congress, then 2 on saturday and 2 on sunday. The entrants so far for my U80 section are:

Roberts, Neil	Ashby	75
Green, Conrad	Hassell	73
Smith, Phil	Rolls Royce	70
Green, Eliot	Hassell	69
Mackay, Ross	West Notts	60
Blampied, Dorothy	Nottinghamshire	57
Heath, Kenneth	Gambit	55
Milson, Amy	Louth	47
Madden, Dean	Spondon	46
Pacitto, Joseph	Ashfield	38
Holliday, Lucien	West Nottingham

I've played Joe Pacitto and Phil Smith in long games recently in the Spondon summer tournament, and have played Amy Milson once in the Nottingham Rapidplay.

I'm hoping to do better than what my ranking suggests. I need to concentrate on every move, and double-check for any blunders or tactics I'm presenting my opponents. Then if I get ahead on material, gradually grind down my opponent and exchange pieces. Easier said than done.

KnightRiders

I decided to move up into the U1600 division for the next teamleague tournament. Since I didn't have a team, I thought I might as well create one, and hence the KnightRiders were born! I've currently got five players including myself. Am looking forward to my first tournament as a captain and will be pleased if I don't get any dropouts. The team so far is:

jsswaheguru 1575
sreeneni 1538
schoorl 1490
deanmadden 1456
Jasher 1557

New Season

It's a new season in English chess, and I started it off with a win against Martin Gibson in the 2007/08 Spondon club championship:

[Event "Spondon Club Championship 2007/08"]
[Date "2007.09.11"]
[White "Martin Gibson"]
[Black "Dean Madden"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B01"]

1. e4 d5 2. e5 Nc6 3. Bb5 Bd7 4. Bxc6 Bxc6 5. d4 e6 6. Nf3 Bb5 7. Nc3 Qd7 8. a4 Ba6 9. Rb1 Bb4 10. Ra1 Bxc3+ 11. bxc3 Qc6 12. Bb2 Qb6 13. Rb1 Qc6 14. Ra1 Ne7 15. Nh4 Bc4 16. Qd2 O-O 17. a5 Qb5 18. Ba3 Qxa5 19. Bxe7 Qxa1+ 20. Qd1 Qxd1+ 21. Kxd1 Rfe8 22. Bb4 a5 23. Ba3 Reb8 24. Kd2 b5 25. Bc5 a4 26. Ra1 Ra6 27. Bb4 Rba8 28. Ra3 f5 29. f4 c6 30. g3 h6 31. Nf3 R8a7 32. Ke3 g6 33. Nh4 g5 34. fxg5 hxg5 35. Nf3 Rg7 36. Kf2 f4 37. g4 Kf7 38. Ke1 Kg6 39. Kf2 Rh7 40. Ke1 Rh3 41. Kf2 Ra8 42. Be7 Rb8 43. Bxg5 Rxf3+ 44. Kxf3 Kxg5 45. Ra1 b4 46. Rxa4 bxc3 47. Ra3 Rh8 48. Ra7 Rh3+ 49. Kg2 Rd3 50. Rg7+ Kh4 51. g5 Rd2+ 52. Kf3 Be2+ 53. Kxf4 Rxc2 54. Rh7+ Bh5 55. g6 Rf2+ 56. Ke3 Rf3+ 57. Ke2 Rg3+ 58. Ke1 Rxg6 59. Rc7 Rg1+ 60. Kf2 c2 61. Rxc6 c1=Q 62. Rxc1 Rxc1 63. Ke3 Rc2 64. Kf4 Rf2+ 65. Ke3 Rf3+ 66. Kd2 Bg6 0-1

I was up the exchange after he miscalculated a series of captures, but then the game got very tight and difficult to force the advantage. It took 66 moves and 1hr 39mins out of the 1hr 45mins to force the win, was very relieved afterwards.

Since the last post, I've updated the Spondon chess club website with the last seasons review after the AGM. Mr Lauri Nelson donated 49 chess books to our club after contacting me on the website, a very nice gesture. I've worked on my endgame a bit with Silmans book, but still a long way to go. I've entered the Leicester Chess Congress over the weekend of 21st to 23rd September, my first longplay tournament, five games: 1 friday, 2 saturday and 2 sunday. Looking forward to it and expect to be knackered afterwards!

I'm currently playing in the online STC Gauntlet while teamleague takes a break. I enjoy playing in these organised competitions more than just logging on and playing any random player. My current FICS standard rating is 1445 after a recent high of 1458, I'll be happy while I tend to constantly improve like this.