Minor Counties: Lincolnshire Progress to the QF After Emphatic Victory

Hi Everyone,

Thanks to all who played in today's match.The match looked as if it would be quite close at one point, but a good team performance enabled us to power away in the closing stages to score an emphatic win.This victory in our final match saw off our closest rivals in the group, maintained our 100% record and clinched the MCCU Minor Counties title. Lincolnshire now progress to the Quarter Final stage of the Minor Counties Competition on Saturday May 19th. I have attached the match result sheet for viewing.

All the Best,

Nigel

Midland Counties Chess Union COUNTY MATCH RESULT FORM

Section:  Minor Counties
Home Team: Derbyshire					Away Team: Lincolnshire
Venue:  Clay Cross					Date: 2nd February 2013
Team having white on odd boards: Derbyshire					Result reported by: Nigel Birtwistle
Board	ECF Code	Grade	Home team players’ names	Score	Score	Away Team players’ names	Grade	ECF Code
1	114779B	195	Paul Madden	½	½	Chris Dorrington	225	175238J
2	105573C	194	Mike Alcock	0	1	Andrew Dyce	202	129719D
3	111455E	191	Dave Gothard	0	1	Claudio Mangione	199	280840H
4	113695B	179	Mike Johnson	0	1	Nick Stead	189	119629H
5	111264J	172	Simon Gilmore	0	1	David Coates	185	222105G
6	120518D	172	Andrew Toothhill	0	1	Joe Kilshaw	184	181511D
7	265256A	171	Anthony Natt	0	1	Nigel Birtwistle	184	106801F
8	107033C	168	Trevor Bould	0	1	Daniel Wells	179	231112E
9	139864H	164	Kevin Dalley	0	1	Jiri Lhotka	E178	-
10	133744B	164	Derek Jarvis	½	½	Harry Russell	177	216825L
11	121714J	164	David Williams	1	0	Keith Palmer	175	116655E
12	115852B	158	Andrew Mort	0	1	Ivan David	161	772821E
13	166478F	156	Luke Alldread	1	0	Alastair Summers	160	270555C
14	112778A	156	John Hoddy	1	0	Stuart Macdonald	155	277721G
15	112669G	149	Maurice Hill	½	½	Graham Ladds	153	113979E
16	115733E	146	Paul Moore	0	1	Denis Georgiou	142	111157H
				4½	11½

I think that there is nothing much to add to what Nigel already said. So let's have a look at some games which I was able to collect.
On the top board, our strongest player - Chris Dorrington (225) - faced up to Paul Madden (195), who did not pay any respect to his substantially higher rated opponent. Chris, playing Black, defended himself against 1.e4 by Caro-Kann which has a reputation of very solid opening. Smyslov-Petrosian variation (4.Nd7) was played and as you may know this used to be a “pet-line” of former world chess champion Anatoly Karpov. This game just convinced me that not everything "solid" means "easy to play" or “user-friendly”. Chris made two weaker moves and his position quickly became worse. But his opponent was happy with quick draw against 30-ECF-points-higher-rated player. I venture to say that if Chris had been in his shoes he would have played further.

Andrew Dyce (202) played against Mike Alcock (194). Quick look at the opening tells me that late Danish GM Bent Larsen would be pleased. Playing the opening, Andy wanted to get his opponent quickly out of books. Much to my surprise, similar opening was played in the game Boabanac vs Kovacevic, Bosnjaci 2011 and where Blak chose for more active move 13...e5!? which gave him better game. Finally we got on the board some “Réti-like” or “English-like” pawn structure where Black surprisingly had certain edge. However, Mike made a couple of weak moves (25...Re8 and 26...f4) after which he was lost and it was a point for Lincolnshire.

In the next game, Claudio Mangione (199) beat Dave Gothard (191) in King’s Indian Defence. Opening, played in the style of Averbakh variation, was managed by Black according to a standard operating procedure, i.e. ...e5 and then ...f5 and then “hooray” down to the kingside going after the King. However, once Claudio sorted the problem of the centre which was blocked then he gained space on the queenside and eventually he delivered the final blow on the kingside again.

Despite that Nick Stead (189) started his game against Mike Johnson (179) with 1.d4 the opening was quickly transposed into the Maroczy Bind Sicilian. Strategically demanding opening is definitely not easy to play for Black and great precision is required. In this game, the Black’s strategical concept was rather passive. Nick gain small edge first, then he stepped up the pressure and finally he won another point for Lincolnshire.

In the game Simon Gilmore (172) vs David Coates (185) the English Opening was played. David opted for topical line with 5...e5 and quickly equalized the game. Then he delivered standard blow in the centre (11...d5). Simon came up with certain novelty when he played 13.Rad1. Several moves later he played 15.Qc1 with the idea which had been shown by Richard Réti almost century ago, i.e. to put the Queen on the a1 behind the dark-squared Bishop and create the pressure along the long diagonal a1-h8. This plan was followed by counter-punch in centre 17.d4, which did not work very well this time and Black had upper hand. Several moves later Simon even blundered and David quickly won another point for Lincolnshire.

Joe Kilshaw (184) outplayed Andrew Toothill (172) in Sicilian Kan Variation. Joe needed 27 moves only...

Nigel Birtwistle (184) outplayed Anthony Natt (171) in the Sicilian. Perhaps the “Anti-Sicilian” is more relevant description of what was played on the board. Tabiya of the Grand Prix Attack finally arose on the board when Nigel fianchettoed his dark-squared Bishop and soon afterwards an interesting position with Black doubled pawn in the centre arouse. Then Nigel gained the space on the Queenside. After many simplifications Nigel went into the Queen and Bishop endgame where he had strong passed pawn. On the top of that White King was quite exposed. Another good performance and another point for Lincolnshire.

On the board 9 there was a new face in the Lincolnshire team. Jiří Lhotka (E178), 17-yr-old rookie from Prague, Czech Republic, played his debut in MCCU. His opponent, Kevin Dalley (164), wanted to surprise or even to intimidate our youngest player and he chose for the Morra Gambit. Alas, his attacking concept was overly optimistic and his Knight sac on d5 was apparently bad decision. Jiří was not impressed  and defended his position skillfully not giving to his opponent any reall chance for attack. Finaly Kevin simply blundered. Another point for Lincolnshire was won. 

O the board 11 I, Ivan David (161), played against Andrew Mort (158). By move transposition we reached the Dutch Defence - Stonewall setup. Despite of many simplifications finally we had on the board quite complex blocked position and “good vs bad Bishop” scenario. Under time constrain Andrew made a mistake, White King penetrated on e5 square and it was just matter of time when “zugzwang” would come. It came very quickly. Two possible Bishop sacs were impossible to parry. Despite this fact, the position after move 43. Kf4 deserves serious attention and analysis. Black could have defended himself if he had sacrificed e6 pawn playing 43...e5!! Make your own opinion!

Game on board 14 is an example of a “chess tragedy”. Stuart McDonald played against John Hoddy. Stuart as Black chose for French Defence and he played well. Alas, eventually, in the balanced position Stuart blundered. But this is what has happened perhaps to every chess player in the world, from novice to GM. Just bad luck Stuart!

Last game which is available for publishing is a nice performance of Denis Georgiou (142) against Paul Moore (146). A "real" Sicilian Defence was played. In Scheveningen line Denis was uncompromising player. He launched a pawn storm on the Kingside.

There was also another win for Daniel Wells who beat Trevor Bould, two another draws made by Harry Russell (against Derek Jarvis) and Graham Ladds (against Maurice Hill); and two more defeats when Keith Palmer lost after interesting battle to David Williams and Alastair Summers to Luke Alldread. 

Much as I like to publish these games the score sheets or transcripts of those games are not available at this moment.