More Grand Games
The Bournemouth Grand coverage continues with two offerings from the main prize winners in the Challengers section, plus a win from a grading prize winner in the Intermediate event. Each one has a swift, often surprising, conclusion and only the speed with which opportunities are taken reflects any difference in the standard of play in the three games selected.
Jul 31st, 2013 by Alan Dommett
Leave a comment »
Majoring on the Minor
As with every good competition reprise, this 2nd Bournemouth Grand Congress review is in reverse order, kicking-off with the Minor event and games from Under 100 grading prize winners, Jake Holton and Keven Lamb. The standard is high in both and even though the final game in my trilogy fails to match them I hope you will agree that it merits inclusion for the sheer amount of interest and unpredictability it packs in over the short course of eighteen moves!
Jun 15th, 2013 by Alan Dommett
Leave a comment »
Bournemouth ‘Grand’ Best Games Span Open and Minor
There were joint winners of the Best Game prize at the Bournemouth ‘Grand’ Congress this year with Ian Clark’s fine combination, in his second round game in the Open, matched only by Barry Childs fourth round effort in the Minor event. Both games feature splendid finishes and are given below:-
May 19th, 2013 by Alan Dommett
[Last updated: May 19th, 2013 by Phil T-B] Leave a comment »
A Case Of ‘If Only’ In Critical Open Game
The last of the Dorset Congress Open selection and perhaps the most interesting of them all. No doubt the players concerned came away from this game thinking both the best and worst of what went on, but their perceptions may be altered with hindsight and the following analysis…
Feb 3rd, 2013 by Alan Dommett
Leave a comment »
Boxing Clever
Another Dorset Congress Open game and another pugilistic analogy, this time used to describe a middlegame combination that would have been good enough to floor most opponents!
Jan 6th, 2013 by Alan Dommett
Leave a comment »
Morra the same, in terms of White’s aim
Unusual, I know, but here I am commenting on the next game and a gambit that isn’t a BDG! It is, in fact, a Morra and there is a strong instructive element to be found in this classic example of White getting an early e5 hit right where it hurts most, flush on his opponent’s centre.
Jan 1st, 2013 by Alan Dommett
Leave a comment »
Impressive, but if only I had played…
Next up is a Closed Sicilian that could have come within a whisker of the Brilliancy Prize, if there had been one and the key to the whole combination had actually been found! Nevertheless, a fine attack by White still manages to put a smooth finishing touch to an entertaining game.
Dec 28th, 2012 by Alan Dommett
Leave a comment »
Are Lions For Life, Not Just For Christmas?
Second cracker - this time it’s a loose Lion that turns the opening into a bit of circus, although there is a lovely piece sacrifice that re-cages the beast before any real damage can be done.
Dec 22nd, 2012 by Alan Dommett
Leave a comment »
Open Crackers Over Christmas
The first of the Dorset Congress Open games previously promised is an opening round example of knights proving more influential than bishops, with a rather nice exchange sacrifice thrown in for good measure.
Dec 21st, 2012 by Alan Dommett
Leave a comment »
A Storming Congress Game Before The Flood Arrives
Last time on here I expressed the hope that new season games might flood in and they have – all eight of them and at the moment I’m sifting through to find the pearls. In the meantime Phil has reached his own saturation point by loading every Dorset Congress game on the Bournemouth Congress website for your enjoyment and my longer term benefit, as the plan will be to analyse at least one from each round of the Open in the near future.
However, before setting off along this path, I’ve been distracted by the following miniature from the Major event which has a few hidden treasures that I simply could not resist sharing. There is a ‘guess the right move’ addition near the end, so I’d advise you not to whisk through it if you wish to take part!
Nov 26th, 2012 by Alan Dommett
Leave a comment »
Another Young Gun Shooting For Stardom
Before the season begins in earnest and an anticipated (I always live in hope) flood of brilliant Bournemouth and Dorset League games leaves me spoilt for choice, here is yet another played by a youngster who is surely destined for success at the highest level.
Only 8 years old, Alex Golding took Michael Basman’s annual tournament by storm, defeating four players with grades much higher than his own, including a 190+ who may still need some time to recover from the shock!
However, what really stands out the most for me in this game is the clarity of play when faced with a modern take on the Sicilian that was probably, at such a tender age, something of a step into the unknown for him – the finish isn’t bad either!
Oct 12th, 2012 by Alan Dommett
[Last updated: Oct 12th, 2012 by Phil T-B] Leave a comment »
Queens Off, But Game Definitely On!
There are many ways of nullifying the advantage White has [allegedly] when making the first move in a game, the simplest being to try to get the queens off the board at the earliest opportunity. However, should achieving this aim come at a price, such as committing your king to the centre right from the start, there is a natural reluctance to be so bold early in proceedings, especially without some established theory to rely on.
The following game, taken from one of the recent e2e4 events and featuring Wimborne’s Allan Pleasants, shows this type of strategy in action and it provides enough evidence to suggest that, when well prepared and of a mind to press on, Black might even look forward to something more than just equality.
Sep 12th, 2012 by Alan Dommett
Leave a comment »
Ledger entry at a quiet British
Local league player representation at this year’s British Championships was limited, to say the least, and only Mike Waddington flew the flag for Dorset chess in the Major Open, finishing in a logjam for 5th place with a 6.5/11 score. GM Gawain Jones took the trophy in the main event, sharing top spot with GM Stephen Gordon on 9/11, following a last round win against FM Dave Ledger that caught the eye of most annotators.
However, the Ledger game that impressed me most was his defeat of Jack Rudd, one that effectively propelled him into the showdown with the eventual trophy winner. An adventurous Austrian Attack against the Pirc, this victory followed an earlier round loss to GM Danny Gormally, which took a similar path in the opening, except that here Jack transposes and pays a heavy price.
Aug 30th, 2012 by Alan Dommett
[Last updated: Sep 1st, 2012 by Phil T-B] Leave a comment »
A Final Look At The Grand
Our Bournemouth Grand trilogy ends with Paul Errington flinging a tempo or two to the winds on his way towards the downing of a Colle System. Whilst the win is not achieved without the smallest slice of luck in a winning position, it is nevertheless well deserved and due to some astute decision-making in the middlegame.
Jul 28th, 2012 by Alan Dommett
[Last updated: Jul 28th, 2012 by Phil T-B] Leave a comment »
Another Local Hero
Next in line on our Bournemouth Grand conveyor belt of local interest is Ivan Willis in the Challengers and he provides an impressive slaying of the Accelerated Dragon that would not have been out of place if it had been played in the Open event. An astute middlegame tactic is quickly followed by a clinical finish as his opponent is tempted into taking that ever-dangerous poisoned pawn.
Jul 13th, 2012 by Alan Dommett
[Last updated: Jul 28th, 2012 by Phil T-B] Leave a comment »
A Grand Performance By Local League Players
There is a mistaken belief amongst some players of a certain standard that the best competitive chess is always played in the top divisions of leagues or at the highest level at a Congress, but, whilst this may be true in terms of overall quality of games and the quantity of them, there will always be a few gems to be found in the lower sections, if you are prepared to look.
So I have… and I’m pleased report that the Bournemouth Grand Congress Challengers and Upper Minor Section not only provide the next three games for these pages, but they all feature local league players supporting the inaugural event in the best way possible – by competing in it and playing well.
Unfortunately, the first of these involves two Bournemouth League stalwarts and they couldn’t both win, although in this instance we must cut Norman some slack because his organisational skills were often required elsewhere throughout the tournament, not solely restricted to the board and a marshalling of his pieces on it!
Jul 7th, 2012 by Alan Dommett
[Last updated: Jul 7th, 2012 by Phil T-B] Leave a comment »
More Emerging Talent
Having showcased Peter Williams in the Bournemouth Grand Congress another 16 year-old catches the eye in this 4NCL game taken from the Division 3 top of the table clash between KJCA Kings and British Universities CA. Bearing in mind the (100 elo pt) rating difference between Victor Jones and his FIDE Master opponent this must go down as another impressive display from a youngster destined to rise swiftly through the rankings.
Jul 3rd, 2012 by Alan Dommett
[Last updated: Jul 3rd, 2012 by Phil T-B] Leave a comment »
One to watch from the Bournemouth Grand
The following game is taken from the recent Bournemouth ‘Grand’ Congress which was won by GM David Howell with a perfect 5/5 score after he defeated FIDE Master Jovica Radovanovic in the last round, the Serbian losing on time in the closest of finishes.
This new addition to the weekend event calendar proved an unqualified success, attracting a quartet of GMs plus a further 150 players who competed in various sections for prize money topped by an Open section winner-takes-all £1000 first prize and this impressive closing round win for 16 year-old rising star Peter Williams took him to a 4.5/5 score and a share of second place alongside GM Alex Cherniaev.
May 23rd, 2012 by Alan Dommett
Leave a comment »
New feature!
This page will display articles by our eminent columnist Alan Dommett.
The display chessboard is the pgn4web WordPress plugin by Paolo Casaschi – details here. Almost every square on the chessboard has a function, for example e7 flips the board. Other useful functions are d8 (shows the PGN), and f8-h8 which show help for all the many options.
Feel free to comment on Alan’s writings on this page – if you have technical issues or queries then simply email the webmaster.
May 13th, 2012 by Phil T-B
[Last updated: May 14th, 2012 by Phil T-B] Leave a comment »
Hi Alan,
I think Nc5 is a mistake. (In the line 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Nbd7 4. f4 e5 5. Nf3 exd4 6. Nxd4 Nc5). I played it against Steve Pearson and struggled. Later found that this is an older line that has been refuted. Current vogue is to transpose the Lion into a Pirc set up fianchettoing the Black bishop and holding Nc5 for a later move depending on what white does. If you like I can send you some analysis.
Hope you are keeping well,
Russ