John Powell

This evening I won against John Powell in Round 3 of the Spondon Summer Open. A bit of a strange game, where I was never really comfortable but managed to make the most of the strange opening and capitalised on my opponents mistakes.

[Event "Spondon Summer Open"]
[Date "2008.06.17"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Dean Madden"]
[Black "John Powell"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B00"]

1. e4 b6 2. d3 Bb7 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 e6 5. Bg2 Nge7 6. O-O Ng6 7. Nc3 Be7 8. Bd2 d6 9. Re1 h5 10. h4 Nce5 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Bf4 Ng6 13. Be3 Qd7 14. Bf3 Ne5 15. Bxh5 g6 16. Be2 Qd8 17. d4 Nd7 18. Bf3 Bxh4 19. gxh4 Qxh4 20. Kf1 Nf6 21. Ke2 Nxe4 22. Nxe4 Bxe4 23. Rh1 Bxf3+ 24. Kxf3 Qxh1+ 25. Qxh1 Rxh1 26. Rxh1 O-O-O 27. Rh7 Rd7 28. Rh8+ Kb7 29. Bg5 e5 30. Rd8 Kc6 1-0

He played 1...b6 which I can't remember playing against before, not sure if it's even got a name.

On move 15 I won a pawn, but I had a scare on move 18 when he sacrificed his bishop by taking my pawn on h4 and I was worried he had a mating attack:


But luckily my king had space and time to escape. We then came down to a rook, bishop and 5 pawns versus rook and seven pawns endgame. I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to force a win.


Above I'd just played 30.Rd8, he then played Kc6 and I said I'll move the clocks back for the time control. He suggested a draw which I declined, then as I was picking up the clock he realised his mistake and resigned. I could play d5+ which gives me the rook. I hadn't noticed it yet as was concentrating on the clocks, so who knows if I would have actually played it? A strange end to the game.

Game in ChessFlash format:



Spondon Chess Club. Results
Summer Open Championship.2008

Round 1
Archer Barry W ½ - ½ Atkins Nathan
Heelan David W 1½ - 0 Bowes Getting T
Williams David ½ - ½ Gregory Ian
Hartley Dean M 1½ - 0 Sheldon Phillip
Brown David 1½ - 0 Bradbury Howard
Burke Steve 1½ - 0 Bramely Doug
Loomes Herbert 0 – 1½ Pace Graham
Smith Phil 1½ - 0 Madden Dean
Hickling Richard 1½ - 0 Orridge Mick
Davison Gary 0 -1½ Pye Ted
Tabberer Stuart ½ - ½ Gibson Martin
Somers Malcolm 0 – 1½ Brace Peter
Crawley John 1½ - 0 Brace Louise
Kirk Colin 1½ - 0 Hill Fred

Round 2
Crawley John 0 – 1½ Burke Steve
Brace Louise 1½ - 0 Bradbury Howard
Brace Peter 1½ - 0 Smith Phil
Praeson Terry 1½ - 0 Davison Gary
Gibson Martin 0 – 1½ Williams David
Ratner Harry 0 – 1½ Somers Malcolm
Gregory Ian 1½ - 0 Archer Barry W
Pye Ted 1½ - 0 Hickling Richard
Atkins Nathan 1½ - 0 Tabberer Stuart
Pace Graham 0 – 1½ Hartley Dean M
Kirk Colin 0 – 1½ Heelan David W
Orridge Mick 1½ - 0 Sheldon Phillip
Bramely Doug ½ - ½ Bowes Getting T

Round 3
Bowes Getting T 1½ - Gibson Martin
Burke Steve ½ - ½ Gregory Ian
Heelan David W 1½ - 0 Brace Peter
Hartley Dean M 1½ - 0 Pye Ted
Williams David ½ - ½ Atkins Nathan
Hickling Richard 1½ - 0 Crawley John
Somers Malcolm 0 – 1½ Orridge Mick
Smith Phil 0 – 1½ Praeson Terry
Brace Louise 0 – 1½ Kirk Colin
Tabberer Stuart 0 – 1½ Bramely Doug
Madden Dean 1½ - 0 Powell John
Davison Gary 0 – 1½ O’Flannagan Paul
Bradbury Howard 1½ v 0 Ratner Harry
Sheldon Phillip ½ - ½ Loomes Herbert






Gregory Ian 2½
Madden Dean 1½
Archer Barry W ½
Gibson Martin ½
Heelan David W 4½
Somers Malcolm 1½
Brace Louise 1½
Brace Peter 3
Tabberer Stuart ½
Atkins Nathan 2½
Hartley Dean M 4½
Bowes Getting T 2
Kirk Colin 3
Smith Phil 1½
Bradbury Howard 1½
Hill Fred 0
Pye Ted 3

Burke Steve 3½
Hickling Richard 3
Williams David 2½
Pace Graham 1½
Sheldon Phillip ½
Bramely Doug 2
Crawley John 1½
Orridge Mick 3
Davison Gary 0
Loomes Herbert ½
Ratner Harry 0
Pearson Terry 3
O’Flannagan Paul H 1½
Powell John 0

Dave Brown - Rest in Peace

I've just read the very sad news that a local player called Dave Brown died last Monday. He played most Tuesdays at Spondon, as well as for Long Eaton chess club. He was a great player who always played with a smile and was very kind and helpful. A sad loss.

It was reported in the Notts News newsletter:

Dave Brown†
Geoff Gibson sends the sad and unexpected news that Long
Eaton’s Dave Brown has died. He writes:
Dave passed away at home [on Monday 9 June] following his
return from cycling to Long Eaton – he had planned to go
further, but changed his mind and returned home – perhaps
he had a premonition of what was coming?
It seems he had a heart attack on his settee and passed as
he had lived – a quiet, dignified man, a little eccentric but
much-loved by all who knew him.
His wife said he has requested no funeral, but the family will
hold a wake in his honour – details to be advised. His only
request was that a beech tree be planted in his memory.
And I’ll just add this: Dave was one of the tiny handful of
players who seemed to treat winning and losing exactly the
same. Whether resigning or accepting his opponent’s
resignation, Dave always had a smile on his face. He will be
missed.

Spondon Summer Open Round 1

Last night was the first round of the Spondon Summer Open, an 8 round swiss tournament that runs during the off-season summer break and attracts players from other local clubs that close over the summer.

[Event "Spondon Summer Open"]
[Date "2008.06.03"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Phil Smith"]
[Black "Dean Madden"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B01"]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Qf3 Qxf3 4. Nxf3 Nf6 5. h3 Bf5 6. d3 Nc6 7. c3 O-O-O 8. d4 g6 9. Ng5 Be6 10. Nxe6 fxe6 11. Bc4 e5 12. dxe5 Nxe5 13. Be2 Bg7 14. Be3 Kb8 15. O-O Nd5 16. Bd4 Rhg8 17. Bxe5 Bxe5 18. Bf3 Nf4 19. Na3 Nd3 20. Rab1 Rgf8 21. Nc4 Bf6 22. Na5 c6 23. Bxc6 bxc6 24. Nxc6+ Ka8 25. Nxd8 Rxd8 26. Rfd1 e5 27. g3 e4 28. Kf1 Kb7 29. Ke2 Bg5 30. f3 exf3+ 31. Kxf3 Ne5+ 32. Ke4 Re8 33. Kd5 Kc7 34. Re1 Bf6 35. Rbd1 Bg7 36. b4 Rd8+ 37. Kc5 Bf8+ 38. Kb5 Rb8+ 39. Ka4 Nc4 40. Kb3 Na5+ 41. Ka4 Nc4 42. Kb3 Na5+ 43. Kc2 Nc4 44. Rd4 Na3+ 45. Kb2 Nb5 46. Rc4+ Kb6 47. Re6+ Bd6 48. a4 1-0

I played Phil Smith, the same opponent I played in Round 1 last year. I managed a draw then, but last night played as black against him for the first time and lost.

He played an unusual 3rd move of Qf3, I was a bit worried how to defend against it so just exchanged queens.

My 8th move was a mistake, I played g6 above, allowing his knight to move to g5, attacking f7. This weakened the pawn structure.

By move 22 he'd taken a rook and 2 pawns for a knight and a bishop. I thought I'd blundered to allow him to do this, but Fritz still gives me the advantage. However I think you need a lot of skill to co-ordinate and prove that two minor pieces are better than a rook.

I was desperate to keep my rook on the board and tried to keep the bishop and knight active, and did quite well for a while.

The big move I missed was at move 38 above. I'd just been checking and chasing his king around, so automatically played Bf8+, i.e. as Bobby Fischer said: 'Patzer sees check, patzer gives check'.

I should have played Nd3+ instead, winning a rook for a knight. His rooks then forced the advantage and I resigned on move 48 below.


I'm on holiday for round 2 next week, so will hopefully do better in round 3!

Update:

Here's the game in the ChessFlash application, see ChessFlash.com for more details.