Archive: UNCUT! 15

The Sean Marsh Chess Column
UNCUT!

Column 15

2.6.2002

Dear Readers.....

Our glorious part of the world has been featured more than once in the media recently. I’m sure the millions of people who tuned in to see ‘Auf Wiedersehen, Pet’ would have enjoyed the scenic part of dear old Middlesbrough; and I wonder what the Queen thought of the streaker in Gateshead when she was on the Northern part of her tour?

Maybe the ensuing Royal conversation went like this:

The Duke of Edinburgh: ‘Bah! Pesky streakers! Should be jolly well hung!’

HRH: ‘That one was, dear!’

Or maybe it didn’t.

Anyway, there was plenty of local interest for the chess players of the region, in the form of the two cup finals. A full round-up of the action is included in this column. Also, at long last, there are some local games for you to play over and enjoy.

Tom Wise Memorial K.O. Cup

Final Scores and Details

Elmwood 3.5,Middlesbrough Rooks 1.5

Sean Marsh draw Mike Closs

A relatively short but lively tussle, ending in perpetual check.

Steve Dauber 1-0 David Smith

David had a big positional bind and a material advantage but Steve brilliantly turned the tables in his opponent’s time trouble.

John Garnett 1-0 Ian Elcoate

John got the better of the opening and then netted a pawn with a nice combination. Despite Ian’s tough defence, the Knight ending was only likely to have one result.

Philip Mitcheson 1-0 Ernie Lazenby

An exciting game. Ernie sacrificed a pawn in the opening, followed by another one in the early middlegame, for lots of piece play and pressure. There was a probable win at one critical moment, but Ernie missed it. Philip then soaked up the pressure and forced victory with a devastating counter-attack.

Alan Trotter 0-1 Ron Stather

Another lively encounter. Alan pushed hard on the Kingside but ultimately his attack cost too much material. Ron had to watch a couple of late threats but kept control well.

Plate Tournament

Stokesley 3, Elmwood Juniors2

Suresh Keswani 0-1 Steve Ashworth

Big Steve avenged an earlier league defeat in a great Open Sicilian encounter.

Carl Shuttleworth 1-0 Matthew Gee-Smith

A game of fluctuating fortunes. Matthew let slip a likely win in the sort of game that was never going to be a draw!

Peter Archer 1-0 David Gorley

Peter had the edge all the way through and carefully brought home the full point. This was the last game to finish.

Graham Shuttleworth 0-1 Nick Webb

A great scrap. Nick’s positional control was excellent but Graham kept creating threats from nothing. Nick eventually stamped out all remaining counter play.

Norman Cole 1-0 Dominic Leigh

Dominic defended an inferior position for a long time but Norman eventually ended his resistance.

The big clash between the county’s top two teams was eagerly anticipated.The Rooks have by far the superior league record, but Elmwood’s cup form of late has been second to none.

Compare the last five years in the cup:

1998: Elmwood beat Guisborough in the final. Rooks knocked out by Elmwood in the Quarter-finals

1999: Elmwood lose to Guisborough in the final. Rooks knocked out, on board count, by Middlesbrough Bishops in the Quarter-finals

2000: Rooks beat Hartlepool in the final. Elmwood knocked out by Rooks, on board count, in the semi-finals.

2001: Elmwood beat Middlesbrough Knights in the final. Rooks knocked out by Darlington B, by default.

2002: Elmwood beat Middlesbrough Rooks in the final.

I’m sure that Middlesbrough Rooks will be eager to start challenging again for what, for them, has been a bit of an elusive prize in recent times.

Bernie Price: County Champion

Here are two key games from Bernie’s successful Cleveland Individual Minor Championship campaign, 2001-2. The notes are from the county champion himself!

Round 5

My score against Gordon before this game was 0/2 so I was anxious to start and redress the balance.

B Price v G Middlemiss

1 e4 b6 2 d4 e6 3 Nf3 Bb7 4 Bd3! Nf6 5 Nbd2 Nc6?!

5...c5! is better inorder to challenge white’s centre. 6 c3 g6 7 0-0 Bh6?! 7...Bh6 I feelis positionally dubious. 8 Re1 d6 9 Nf1 Bxc1 10 Rxc1 Ne7 11 Qd2 h6 I was happy with my position out of the opening.

12 Ng3 Qd7 13 c4 a5 14 Qf4 Neg8 15 e5

15 ... Bxf3?? Now black loses a piece for a pawn. Maybe 15...g5 16Qe3...Ng4 17 Qe2...0-0-0 18 h3...dxe5 is relatively best but white remains much better due to black’s pawn weaknesses. Now as long as I can avoid blunders, I should take the lead in the tournament. 16 Qxf3 Qd8 Black’s a8 rook and f6 knight are now attacked.

17 exf6 Nxf6 18 Be4 Rb8 19 Bc6+ Kf8 20 Ne4 Nxe4 21 Bxe4 Kg7

Being materially ahead, I was happy to exchange pieces.

22 Bd3 Qg5 23 Qe3 Qf6 24 b3 Rhe8 25 f4 h5 26 Qf2 Rbd8 27 Re2 Rh8 28 Rce1 h4 29 d5 Rde8

29...e5 would make white’s task more difficult. Now white can realize his advantage.

30 dxe6 fxe6 31 f5! gxf5 32 Bxf5! e5

The bishop cannot be taken due to the pin on the f-file.

33 Bh3 Qd8 34 Re4 Ref8?

Now black gets mated, but it was difficult to suggest anything.35 Rg4+ Kh6 36 Rxh4+ Kg7 37 Qg3+ Kf7 38 Rf1+ Ke7 39 Qg5+ Ke840 Qg6+ Ke741 Qe6+ mate

Round 7

A win for me in this game would give me the Individual Minor Championship.While a win for Mike would secure him at least joint first. Given the tensionand both our predilictions for sharp games errors were perhaps inevitable, so while not a game of the highest quality it certainly got the adrenaline flowing!

M Mossom v B Price
1 f4 e5 I’m already out of book! I’ve only met 1 f4 once in 7 years of playing chess. I remember reading a Nigel Short book which recommended this gambit, so I thought I’d give it a go. It also gives white the option of goinginto the King’s Gambit with 2 e4 which I would be confident facing; but Michael accepts the challenge of the From’s Gambit.2 fxe5 d6 3 exd6 Bxd6 4 Nf3 Nf6 Black was threatening 4...Qh4+forcing mate. Apparently 4...g5 is black’s best move here, treatening ...g4 and ...Qh4+, but already being in unfamiliar territory I didn’t fancy a wrecked kingside to join my pawn deficit! 5 g3! Bg4 Other white moves allow ...Ng4! which gives black the unclear tactical game he seeks.6 Bg2 Nc6 7 d4 Qd7 8 Nc3 0-0-0 9 Bg5 Bxf3 10 Bxf3 Nxd4 11 0-0 Bc5 Not 11Qxd4?? 12...Bxg3+! winning white’s queen.12 Kh1 Qe6 Black has got his pawn back, the game is probably dynamically balanced. 13 e4 Nxf3 I wanted to play 13...Nb3 with an attack on the rook and queen, but I couldn’t take the rook after 14 Qe2...Nxa1? 14 Bxf6!...gxf6 15 Bg4 winning the black queen. 14 Qxf3 Bd4 15 Nd5!? Rd6 15...Bxb2 or 15...Nxd5 16 Bxd8...Ne3 maybe better. 16 Bf4 Be5 17 c4 Bxf4 18 Qxf4 Nh5!? Each side have had quite a few possible moves over the last 3 or 4 moves and its beyond me to say who is orcould have been better! 19 Qxf7?!
19 ... Nxg3+! 19 Qf5 may be better. 20 Kg2! Qxe4+ Not 20 hxg3??...Qh3+ and white is soon mated.

21 Rf3 Qe2+?

Now white can capture the knight and black is left struggling when the checks run out. 21...Rd7! and black is probably slightly better in the endgame after 22 Qf4...Qxf4 23 Rxf4...Nf6, but with a draw being most likely.

22 Kxg3 Rg6+

23 Kf4 Qxh2+ 23...Qxc4+ or Qd2+ give black better chances of baling out with a perpetual check.24 Ke3 Qe5+ 25 Kd3 Rg3 White is now much better. 26 Qf4?? Qxf4 Blunders often occur when the complexion of the position has just changed, which can explain Michael’s blunder here. The dust has justsettled. After 26 Raf1 the best line I can see for black is the pessimistic26...Rd8 27 Rxg3...Qxg3+ 28 Rf3...Qg6+ 29 Qxg6...hxg6 when black’s two isolatedpawns hardly compensate for the knight. In the game white lost a rook which left him the exchange and two pawns down, so he promptly resigned 0-1

Thanks for those Bernie, and congratulations on taking the title!

Here’s a game from late in the season, when the Rooks suffered a shock league defeat. It did not, however, prevent them form taking the title. Soon afterwards they made sure of ultimate success by defeating Elmwood 5-1.

Kiddle,T - Welch,M

M'bro Knights v Rooks, 22.03.2002

1.b4 d5 2.e3 Nf6 3.Bb2 c6 4.c4 e6 5.b5 Qb6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Nf3Nbd7 8.d4 0–0 9.Bd3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Nd5 11.Qb3 Bb4 12.Rc1 N7f6 13.0–0 Nxc314.Bxc3 Bxc3 15.Rxc3 Nd5 16.Bxd5 exd5 17.bxc6 bxc6 18.Qxb6 axb6 19.Rxc6 Rxa220.Rxb6 Ba6 21.Rc1 f6 22.h3 Bc4 23.Rcb1 Rfa8 24.Rb8+ Rxb8 25.Rxb8+ Kf7 26.Rb7+Kf8 27.Nh4 Ra1+ 28.Kh2 Ra2 29.Kg3 Bd3 30.Rd7 Ra5 31.Nf3 Bf5 32.Rc7 Bd3 33.Rc5Rxc5 34.dxc5 Ke7 35.Nd4 g6 36.h4 Bf1 37.Kf3 Bd3 38.g4 h6 39.Kg3 Be4 40.h5 g5

Tony has been in control so far; a sound pawn up, nimble, centralised Knight,one pawn passed and the chance to create another one soon.

Yet after: 41.Nf5+ Bxf5 42.gxf5 Kd7

Tony must have assumed that Mike has to move his King and allow fxg5, creating a second passed pawn. Now Mike turns the tables with the surprisingcapture:
43.f4 gxf4+ 44.Kxf4 Kc6 45.e4 dxe4 46.Kxe4 Kxc5 0–1

It just to go show how very tricky King and pawn endings can be - one little slip and it’s suddenly a case of defeat snatched from the jaws of victory.

Archive: UNCUT! 14

The Sean Marsh Chess Column UNCUT! Column 14 5/5/2002 Time For A Change? The Cleveland Individual Chess Championship is over for another year...or is it? We knowthat Bernie Price has won the Minor section, thanks to a critical last round victory over candidate Michael Mossom and Norman Stephenson added to his amazing record number of titles when he won the Open section. Congratulations to the two champions. Unfortunately, the Open section has ended with more than a touch of farce and there was a major dispute which looks set to run for some time to come. I have, in writing, one side of the story and I will put it in a future column if I can also get the other side. Versions of the story are already been passed by word of mouth around the clubs but no doubt the full tale will be told at the next Cleveland meeting. For me, the tournament had more than one unsatisfactory aspect. The dispute mentioned above, a number of very short draws and more than one extension to themonthly deadline for each round marred what should be a showcase of the very best local players, given their all in pursuit of the biggest individual honourof Cleveland chess. The original format of the tournament, giving each pair ofplayers a month to play the game, seems to me to be not working as well as itused to. In my own experience there have been some very annoying cases. Of course, most opponents have been absolutely fine, a pleasure to play, but several times I have had to put up with opponents not entering into the spirit of the tournament, delaying contact, making it very difficult to arrange the game, turning up very late and then creating difficulties when games need to beresumed after adjournments. I have been involved in some very tense title battles but I have also suffered when defaults in third-party games have destroyed my chances of winning the event. I think it is time for a change. I had the idea, some years ago, of wanting to see the county championship run on either of these two formats: 1) With the one round-a-month format intact, but with all games played at the same venue, at the same time. (Just like the KO Cup is now). 2) A weekend tournament, five round Swiss, providing a high point in the local chess calendar. I firmly believe that the above suggestions would lead to more players competing, making the tournament more interesting. If the tournament was held as a weekender, more people will be able to free up the time to play and coasting to a title with short, colourless draws will be less of an option. All disputes regarding venues, times, overstepping the monthly deadline, and not reporting the results would vanish immediately. Defaulters would be reduced to a minimum. I’ve never had any truck with people who pull out once they’ve lost a game and feel they have no chance of winning the tournament. Such a mentality is very selfish and harms the balance of the event. One year, when the title was decidedby tie breaks involving sum of opponents’ scores, my first three opponents withdrew from the tournament having lost to me, thus destroying any chance I would have if it came down to a tie break. Well, there’s my initial ideas. What do you think? Do you agree? Disagree? Don’t care? I want to know!! Either e-mail me or reply to the forum, where a thread has been started off by Mike Welch. Middlesbrough Rooks - Champions Again! Congratulations to Middlesbrough Rooks on winning the A division title with a match to spare. The last chance to derail them came when Elmwood took them on in a tense encounter. Following a failed attempt to bring back former Rook David Spence all the way from Ipswich to play in this crunch encounter (he’s now a rookie in the police force) and with no reserves to cover for the absent Peter Ridsdale (now working in Wales), captain Tony Kiddle brought in former county champion David Smith,who fitted very comfortably into the board three spot. This made The Rooks big favourites (sporting four county champions, past and present) and the pressure of being so never looked likely to affect their performance. The match looked close at one point, with the top board drawn and Elmwood looking good on boards two and six, but The Rooks stamped their authority on the match and ran out 5-1winners, thus taking an unassailable three point lead at the top, with just onematch to go. There is no doubt about it - Middlesbrough Rooks are the strongest local chess team. Elmwood are perpetually runners-up. However, in the Tom Wise K.O.Cup, Elmwood have a much better record and they will be hoping to continue thatas they take on The Rooks in this year’s final. Why not come along and watch? FRIDAY 17TH MAY @ LADLE M'BRO ROOKS V ELMWOOD A Plate Final ELMWOOD JUNIORS V STOKESLEY Coming soon, in the next column.... More on the county championship dispute News from the cup finals And, at long last, some games from recent local events!

Archive: UNCUT! 13

The Sean Marsh Chess Column UNCUT! Column 13 Title Battle The local chess scene has now entered its final phase of the season, and all titles, cups, relegations, promotions, elation and heartache should be over anddone with by the end of May. The top of the A division took a very interesting turn in round 11. Defending champions Middlesbrough Rooks suffered their first defeat of the season when thejunior-based side Middlesbrough Knights eventually outplayed them. Chris Duggan started the possibility of a shock result when he held Mike Closs, current co-county champion, to a relatively painless draw with Black. Robin Killick then won in good style, showing a welcome return to form after a patchy spell. Ian Elcoate was always winning his game for the Rooks but the great turning point came on board 5. Tony Kiddle was not only a pawn up againstMike Welch, but he also had the advantage of good Knight v poor Bishop. However,a terrible and uncharacteristic miscalculation on Tony’s part allowed a transition into a King and pawn ending which was completely lost. Mike Welch duly picked up the full point. It can be said that Mike enjoyed a little luck inthis game, but he displayed great coolness in defending a very difficultposition up to that point. When Matthew Jackman’s armada of passed pawns sailed majestically into the heart of Peter Ridsdale’s position, the match was over. Ernie Lazenby made desperate attempts to pull back a full point for the Rooks but William Place not only held on, despite a severe shortage of time, but actually stood better when the draw was finally agreed. So the final score of this exciting match was Middlesbrough Knights 4, Middlesbrough Rooks 2. Playing at the same time, the arch-rivals of the Rooks, Elmwood, were busy demolishing Middlesbrough Bishops to the tune of 5-1. All of this keeps the Rooks on top of the table, but only by one point. Both teams have tough matches coming up. Elmwood must face the Knights and the Rooks play Redcar. Both are having good seasons and both are capable of an upset. Then all is set for the big clash between the Rooks and Elmwood, in the penultimate round of the fixtures. Should be very interesting! Cup Finals The two big cup finals will take place at The Ladle on Friday 17th May. TheRooks play Elmwood in the main section of the Tom Wise Memorial Cup and ElmwoodJuniors take on Stokesley. Both should be very tough matches, potentially classics. Nobody can remember a previous cup final between The Rooks and Elmwood, although they have met twice at other stages of the competition over the last five years. One win each! There is the possibility of an incredible Elmwood double of both cups, and also a possibility of a slightly less impressive Elmwood double of two runners-up places. Spectators are, as always, welcome. New Book A short time ago, the world of chess books was enhanced by the publication of‘The English Morphy? The Life and Games of Cecil De Vere’ byOwen Hindle and Bob Jones, published by Keverel Chess Books. There is a review of this book in a previous column (see the archive). Keverel Chess Books have just announced their latest project, which will be ‘TheGolden Age of Chess’ and will cover the period from Philidor to the great match of 1834 between McDonnell and La Bourdonnais. The added twist is that both players were buried in Kensal Green Cemetery,West London. Sadly, both graves are now in a very poor condition. As part of the work on this new project, Bob Jones of Keverel Chess Books is seeking donations for a fund to restore both graves. Anyone interested in helping the cause is encouraged to send £25.00 to Keverel Chess Books. This will guarantee a signed copy of the book and an invitation to the unveiling ceremony.

Archive: UNCUT! 12

The Sean Marsh Chess Column UNCUT! Column 12 5/3/2002 Drama at the KO Cup Semis The Tom Wise K.O. Cup semi-finals were played at TheTouchdown, Hartlepool (venue for many of Graham Marshall’s excellent Rapidplay events). The Touchdown produced a very welcome buffet, enabling the players to refue las they gave their opponents food for thought. Four A division teams (three from Middlesbrough!) battled it out for a placein the big final. Middlesbrough Rooks,holders of the local A division title seemingly in perpetuity, have only won thecup once in the last five years but are always eager to improve on this somewhat disappointing record. They were up against Middlesbrough Bishops in a tie which proved to be a bit of mismatch. With on-form county champion Mike Closs leading the team, the Rooks never looked like giving anything away from start to finish. A solitary draw was all the Bishops could manage from five boards, and that was conceded long after a convincing victory was already in the bag. The other semi-final was tougher. Elmwood faced Middlesbrough Knights in a replay of last season’s final in a close match that kept everyone guessing until very late into the evening. For a long time, the match was balanced at one win each and then Elmwood seized the lead thanks to another win from Steve Dauber. Steve, currently leading the county individual championship with two rounds to go, is on great form this season. There then followed alengthy period without a further result. Elmwood needed just a single half-point from the two remaining games, and their players were a pawn up in both endgames.However, extreme resourcefulness from the two Knights, Robin Killick and William Place, seemed to be swinging the balance and suddenly any result was possible. Eventually, after much interesting play, both games were indeed drawn, sendingElmwood through to the final as 3-2 winners. Elmwood have a fantastic recent record in the cup. This will be their fourth final in five seasons (they were knocked-out in the semis the other year). In those finals, two ended in success and one in defeat. What will be the outcome this time? It is the first time I know of that The Rooks and Elmwood will meet in thecup final; curious, as they have been the two strongest local teams for many years. The Rooks usually triumph narrowly over Elmwood in the league and muststart as favourites in the final. I suspect it will be close , exciting andentertaining. Both sides have done well to reach the final - despite being the strongest teams, places in finals must still be earned by hard work - and I hope it does live up to expectations and produces a showcase of competitive, localchess talent. The Plate final should also be a great match. Elmwood Juniors take on Stokesley in another one that is difficult to predict the outcome of. The date has yet to be arranged for the finals, but will be up on this siteas soon as it is announced. 36th Southlands Junior Tournament 24/2/2002 Ever since 1990, the Cleveland Schools’ Chess Association has run three tournaments a year at Southlands Centre, Middlesbrough. Over the years the events have attracted many players, of all ages and abilities. Some have become chess superstars (Richard Palliser, Bret Addison, Gawain Jones etc.....), some will undoubtedly go on to become great players and, of course, the vast majority just wanted to play a little chess at a well-organized tournament. At the height of local chess activity, the record turnout was an incredible 130 participants.Then 100 became the acceptable norm, then 80...then numbers tumbled down to40-ish. The latest tournament attracted just 27 entries. TWENTY SEVEN. Yet do you have any idea how many entry forms I printed, copied and distributed to attract this number of players? Well...I’m not sure I should tell you. Each one of the three annual events takes an average of four months to prepare,publicise and run. They are advertised locally, nationally, on the CEEFAX, Teletext, chess magazines, websites, chess club notice boards, schoolnewsletters, by word of mouth, by pre-released lists of ‘dates for the season’. Every players finishing in the top three of any age group wins a trophy for keeps. Tied places are not subjected to tie-breaks; every placed player receivesa trophy regardless of sum of opponents scores, sum of progressive scores, play-offs or even who has the biggest nose. So many trophies! And in addition, we have given away book prizes, magazine subscriptions, great cash prizes, certificates and thousands of sweets. What do I have to do to make juniors play in chess tournaments? Do I have to come round on the morning of the event, apologise for not giving reminder number 100 and lead you directly to your playing table? Would a 500 foot neon sign over Southlands Centre help to remind you of what, when and where? Yet there are some players who have stayed loyal to the tournaments, through thick and thin. They have nearly all become highly reliable players for their local senior chess clubs. So, hopefully some of the 27 people did enjoy the 36th tournament. Or Goldreich won the Under-9 section with five straight wins, a point ahead of Matthew Williamson, and Emma Mavin took third with 3/5. James Thorne-Wallis also scored five points, in the Under-11 section, to take clear first. Vijay ShyamSundar was second with four points and there was a big tie for third, with Thomas Mavin (still only six years old!), Abbey Arnison, Hayley Allan and Michael Davison all scoring 2.5/5. Carl Shuttleworth was his usual extremely impressive self and he easily won the Over-11 section with 5/5. Christopher Dale held second with 4/5 and David Gorley sharedthird with Nick Webb, both on 3.5/5. Given the continuous downward trend in the number of entries, I have decided that the 36th tournament should also be the last of the series. The 37th event,scheduled for June 2002, has been cancelled. The numbers just do not justify the time and money spent on running these tournaments. I am working on new ideas forj unior tournaments and will post full details here in this column if and when they become available. These are the final Grand Prix scores for the 2001-2 season. The first column shows the score from last November’s event. Column two shows the score fromthe February event and the third column is the final aggregate. A cheque for£20 is on its way to each of the three section winners. Under-9s Or Goldreich 4/5 5/5 9 Thomas Mavin 4/5 4 Matthew Williamson 4/5 4/5 8 Catriona Bruce 3/5 2.5/5 5.5 Kane Moore 1/5 2.5/5 3.5 Emma Mavin 3/5 3 Tom Bulmer 3/5 3 Thomas Donald 3/5 3 Jenny Openshaw 2.5/5 2.5 Andrew Lodge 2/5 2 James Herbert 1.5/5 1.5 Jason Loveridge 1.5/5 1.5 Abigail Mealing 1.5/5 1.5 Emma Robinson 1/5 1 Under-11s James Thorne-Wallis 3/5 5/5 8 Vijay Shyam Sundar 3/5 4/5 7 Michael Davison 4/5 2.5/5 6.5 Abbey Arnison 2/5 2.5/5 4.5 Ben Harker 4/5 4 Thomas Beckwith 4/5 4 Hayley Allan 2.5/5 2.5 Thomas Mavin 2.5/5 2.5 Jonathan Robison 2/5 2 Markus Waddoup 2/5 2 Michael Briggs 1.5/5 1.5 Kenneth Kilburn 1.5/5 1.5 Michael Lau 1.5/5 1.5 Michael Lee 1.5/5 1.5 Kyle McGee 1/5 1 Over-11s Carl Shuttleworth 4.5/5 5/5 9 Christopher Dale 3/5 4/5 7 Graham Shuttleworth 4/5 2.5/5 6.5 Matthew Jackman 2.5/5 3/5 5.5 David Gorley 2/5 3.5/5 5.5 Matthew Hammond 2/5 3/5 5 Dominic Leigh 2/5 2/5 4 Robin Killick 4/5 4 Nathan Huntley 3.5/5 3.5 Nick Webb 3.5/5 3.5 Peter Harker 3/5 3 Thomas Watson 2/5 1/5 3 Calum Arnison 1/5 2/5 3 Andrew Watts 2.5/5 2.5 Amy Dryden 1/5 1/5 2 Tony Jefferson 2/5 2

Archive: UNCUT! 11

The Sean Marsh Chess Column UNCUT! Column 11 February 2002 Sometimes, It’s All Goodbyes The recent Redcar Congress saw a number of our players curiously off-form, with local favourites suffering a number of painful defeats. The Open section was a great success for Durham’s James Simpson, repeating his victory of the previous year. James seemed to be the only person playing consistently well; after the fourth round, he had already guaranteed himself sole first place, as he had a mighty one and half point advantage over his nearest rivals. An on-form James Simpson is almost unstoppable - always fighting, never compromising, never agreeing draws when there is a chance to play on an interesting game. He is one of my favourite local players and he thoroughly deserved his success. However, I think most of us were not up the challenge this time. Take a look at the full scores elsewhere on this site and you will see what I mean about the locals being on poor form. For me, and for many others, the congress was overshadowed by the terrible news that Peter Bashford had died on the way to the tournament. Peter, 74, was one of the most committed club players in our county. Since I joined Elmwood, five years ago, there can’t have been more than three or fourclub nights when Peter was not there, and that was when he had an away match.Peter came into club chess late in life but showed a loyalty and dedication to his local scene that is lacking in so many these days. He and I often travelled to tournaments together - Tyne & Wear, Durham, Hartlepool...even Nottingham, on one occasion. ‘Fancy playing some different people next weekend?’ He would ask, and off we’d go. During the journeys, we would have discussions on a whole range of subjects, but we’d always come back to chess and football. He was a supporter of Charlton and was pleased to see them holding their own in the Premiership, but his experience and knowledge of football in general was very deep. I enjoyed his tales of watching the greats, such as Sir Stanley Matthews. Peter always followed my chess progress with great interest, even when I kept him up late, waiting for me to finish my first round in a congress! The last time I saw him was the Thursday night, one day before the Redcar Congress. He seemed perfectly okay and was looking forward to playing. His last sentence to me was about the chess column which featured the Bronstein visit.What a cruel twist of fate that my very next column should feature his most unexpected death. When the sadness has had time to settle, Elmwood chess club will plan a memorial tournament for our great friend, Peter Bashford. Sometimes, it’s all goodbyes. This latest loss comes only shortly after Steve Welbourne and Howard Bowyer, Bob Hammond and, from Hull, Antonius (‘Tony’) Stalmans; not to mention England’s former No.1 GM, Tony Miles. I feel such things often have a bigger impact on chess players, because ourchess world is usually insulated from many things in the ‘real world’. We will continue playing, but things will never be quite the same again.

Archive: UNCUT! 10

The Sean Marsh Chess Column UNCUT! Column 10 January 2002 GM David Bronstein Simultaneous Display Yarm School, 14/1/2002 Local chess was given a late Christmas present when one of the greatest players in the history of chess came to our county for two nights of chess heaven. Grandmaster David Bronstein needs no introduction from me; I’ll just jump straight into an account of his activities while he was here. First up was a simultaneous display at Yarm School. This was his third in our county in about a decade, and the latest in a very long series of such events in our area. Previously, we have had visits from Botvinnik, Stein, Zatulovskaja, Smyslov,Gligoric, Korchnoy, Tal, Larsen, Short, Keene, Suba, King.....I may even have missed some. This was a well-attended display and our players were an excellent mix, with experienced players, county champions and juniors all taking part. Here are the scores: Andrew Killick 0.5 Garry Hewitt 0 Ian Peden 0 Joe Richardson 0.5 Jamie Peden 0 Richard Hall 1 Peter Nevard 0 John Garnett 0.5 James Thorne-Wallis 0 Sean Marsh 0 Matthew Jackman 0 Chris Duggan 0 Nick Webb 0 Brian Clark 0 Dominic Leigh 0 Terry Legge 1 David Richardson 0 Dennis Sawdon 0 Robin Killick 1 Keith Rattue 0 Graham Edwards 0 George Laszlo 0.5 Chris Edwards 0 Kevin Winter 0.5 William Place 0.5 Andrew Watts 0.5 Bronstein scored +16, =7, -3. The last game finished at exactly 11.00 p.m.,when the Grandmaster offered Stokesley’s Joe Richardson a draw in a Rook and pawn ending. Joe offered to resign instead, thinking he was losing a critical pawn, but Bronstein typically pointed out a drawing resource! Terry Legge, Richard Hall and Robin Killick all won, with the latter comingin for special praise from the Grandmaster. Robin sacrificed a piece in the goodold style and won in Bronstein style! I am hoping to present one or two of the games in a future column. An Evening with David Bronstein Claxton Hotel, Redcar 15/1/2002 This was a wonderful evening. For virtually four hours, our Grandmaster guestwent through some of his brilliant games and shared his theories and ideas on awhole range of chess topics. Can you imagine having some of Bronstein’s games presented by the man himself - battles with other chess giants, such as Keres -complete with extraordinary anecdotes? It was a chess-lover’s dream come true. Here, we heard stories covering the Grandmaster’s chess life; from being taught the moves, through the cold war years, right up to the present day and his battles with the latest chess computers. Then, when it was gone 11.00 p.m., having asked us several times to give him‘just five more minutes’, he finally confessed to being a little tired. At 78, so he should have been! Those who dared to miss this event missed something very special indeed; the opportunity of a lifetime. David Bronstein - living chess legend and hero of chess players everywhere,we thank you for two wonderful evenings!

Archive: UNCUT! 9

The Sean Marsh Chess Column UNCUT! No. 9 Readers, dear readers, how faithfully (and silently) you have followed my writings since my chess column began, way back in 1985. Now, I fear my life is approaching its end. I could have as few as 50 years remaining..... So it is time to reveal, in this first of an occasional series, some of thetruth behind a life totally immersed in chess. All of what follows is true(well, very nearly all). Only the names have been withheld to protect the guilty. True Confessions From................ The Congress Weekend The journey to a congress and the obtaining of accommodation are often thetwo hardest parts of the whole weekend. Either the map, or the navigator, is totally useless. On the vast majority of my expeditions, usually both. Once, a little bit astray on the way to the Cruddas Park Tyne & Wear Congress, wedecided to stop a passer-by to ask for directions. A tricky business in itself.We drove on past a tramp and stopped by a smartly dressed man in a suit. He scratched his head for a while, decided he didn’t know, and then called the tramp over.... Another time, to avoid the hassles of parking and navigating, we travelled tothe Scarborough congress by bus. Man, that quarter of a day certainly dragged.Then we had to change buses at Whitby. If the journey was going to be any longer it would have been just about time to turn around and go home again. Scarborough journeys are prone to difficulties, due to the long distance andthe fact that the congress traditionally takes place in the winter (or very lateautumn) months. On one perilous journey, the car developed a serious faultsomewhere in the wilderness between Whitby and Scarborough, deep into the long,winding journey to nowhere. Steam billowed away from the engine like it was onits way to a Hammer Horror film set, completely engulfing an unluckymotorcyclist at one point. The car then conked out completely in the darkness ona narrow lane. It was so remote that we could find neither a Barclays Bank or a McDonalds. Now that is remote. It was so dark, it was impossible to see ahand in front of your face. Later, I doubted that there really was one there.Several modes of transport thundered past until eventually a kind soul stoppedto see what the problem was. My friend and I jumped straight in, leaving ourdriver to his fate, and issued the instruction, ‘The Corner Cafe on the North Bay. Play starts in five minutes!’ Fortunately we had found an obedient soul and we duly arrived more or less on time. Three hours later thedriver arrived. Luckily, he was a non-player. Solo public transport journeys introduce the traveller to a very widecross-section of the Great British Public. Or at least, a wide cross-section ofthe biggest nutters you could ever hope to avoid. Standing in a queue next to adrunken Scotsman who claims you strangled his parrot 10 years ago is not theideal soother for a long bus trip and I’ve found that reading chess books at the bus stand is absolutely no deterrent. The lonely bus journey home, having lost a vital match in midwinter, is in no way made easier by the inebriated Elvis impersonators who threaten to smack people who don’t want to sing alongwith their own, highly unique, rendition of ‘Why Can’t Every Day Be Like Christmas?’ Worst of all was the glue-sniffer on the through-the-night coach back from London, with his two plastic bags full of solvent and his abusive behaviour. His idea of a night trip was evidently somewhat different toours. We were stuck with him all the way to Ferrybridge before he was introduced to the Boys in Blue. Searching for accommodation is one problem; getting booked in is quite another. Desperation sets in when play is due to start in a matter of minutes and still nowhere has been found. Nobody wants to take in people just for two nights, nobody wants to take in young people (this was all some time ago, ofcourse) in case of noise and trouble and nobody really wants to take in chessplayers. Chess players demand unreasonable things such as wanting breakfast 15 minutes earlier so they can get to the tournament hall by 9.00 a.m. Outrageous behaviour. They also eat all of the cornflakes and leave nearly all of their plate full of ‘Full Monty’ English breakfast. 100% grease and fat just doesn’treally set you up for a hard chess match and the less said about the baked beans the better. I was once at a guest house where there was no plug for the bath, so I took the one off my room sink and used that. Later, a discrete sign was discovered saying that baths were extra, see them for the plug..... an extra couple of quid was stuck on my bill for this diabolical liberty. Worst of all was the awful time during the storm. Nowhere could be found, itwas dark, we were wet and we were cold. The last chance appeared at the end of along path; we rang the bell and after what seemed an eternity, a creepy,withered old butler creaked the door open, oh-so-slowly. Holding up his candlestick, a small light played about our faces as he peared into the gloom. ‘Yes?’ ‘Er - can we stay here for the night, please?’ ‘You can stay there as long as you like’, he said, and closed the door again. Twit. Go on, have a laugh. It is the festive season. Enjoy a couple of weeks’break in the chess hostilities. Take care as you roast your chestnuts by the open fire (don’t stand so close next time). And for all of you reading this at home ........ what are you doing in my house?????