See also:

Exeter Junior Chess Club

Some of these pages are quite old; we have a new site for the

[LINK] Exeter Junior Chess Club


and more recent chess advice is accumulating at

[LINK] Devon Junior Chess Association.

Exeter Juniors 1½-2½ Sidmouth UPDATED

UPDATE: Taylor's game added

{White avoided an early Queen swap, which might have been a nuisance, but it was a move leading out of the frying pan into the fire.}

[Event "Exeter Juniors vs Sidmouth"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.04.28"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Keat, Sam"]
[Black "Martin, Steve"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B30"]
[PlyCount "52"]
1. e4 1... c5 2. Nf3
Nc6 3. c3 d5 4. d3 $6 (4. exd5 $1 4... Qxd5 5. d4 cxd4 (5... e5 $5) 6. cxd4
6... Bg4 {with pressure on the d-pawn, but it's actually safe because of} 7.
Be2 Bxf3 8. Bxf3 8... Qxd4 $4 9. Bxc6+) 4... dxe4 5. Nfd2 $4 (5. dxe4 Qxd1+ 6.
Kxd1 {After the Queen swap, White has no advantage, but offering Black such an
important pawn gives Black the advantage.}) 5... exd3 6. Qf3 Ne5 7. Qe3 Qd5 8.
b3 (8. f4 {was interesting, to try and get one pawn back:} 8... Ng6 9. Bxd3
Qxg2) 8... Bf5 9. c4 Qd4 10. Qxd4 cxd4 11. Na3 a6 12. Bb2 O-O-O 13. g3 Nf6 14.
Bg2 e6 15. O-O Bb4 16. Nab1 Rhe8 17. a3 Bxd2 18. Nxd2 Nc6 19. Rad1 e5 20. b4
20... e4 $1 {
Black is fully developed with two extra pawns and a crushing position.} 21.
Rfe1 $2 21... e3 $1 22. fxe3 dxe3 23. Nf3 d2 24. Re2 Bc2 25. Rdxd2 exd2 26.
Nxd2 26... Rxe2 {A mistake in the opening can really leave you struggling.} 0-1

{Black improvised in the opening and while trying to sort out the position wasted a lot of the time that should be used to develop and get castled. White crashed through the middle to win.}

See also: http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/making-it-you-go-along

[Event "Exeter Juniors vs Sidmouth"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.04.28"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Warburton, Ralph"]
[Black "Royle, James"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A60"]
[PlyCount "49"]
1. d4 e6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 Nf6 4. Nc3 {
By an unusual move order, we are in a Benoni Defence.} 4... d6 (4... exd5 5.
cxd5 5... g6 {is the real Modern Benoni.  White has an extra central pawn but
Black has chances on the wings.}) 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 6... b6 {The first sign of
trouble: Black isn't going to be able to dislodge the Pd5, so the Bishop will
be shut out on b7.  Also, Black should be thinking about developing the other
Bishop, and castling.  It feels like Black is making it up as he goes along,
which is very dangerous.} 7. e4 Bb7 8. Be2 Nbd7 9. Nf3 g5 10. Bg3 Nh5 11. O-O
Nxg3 12. fxg3 {gives Black the e5 square.} (12. hxg3 {is usually best.}) 12...
Nf6 $6 {In fact, if you think about what both sides are supposed to be doing
in the opening (develop, castle, get a stake in the centre), White has done
all three and Black has failed with all three!} (12... Bg7 {
and castling is the best idea here}) 13. e5 $1 {Quite rightly, White breaks
open the centre.  The well-developed White pieces crash through to attack the
uncastled King.} 13... dxe5 14. Nxe5 exd5 15. Qa4+ $1 15... Ke7 16. Rae1 Qd6
17. Bf3 Ne4 18. Nxf7 Kxf7 19. Bxe4+ Ke7 20. Bxd5+ Kd8 21. Bxb7 Rb8 22. Re8+ Kc7
23. Rf7+ Be7 24. Rfxe7+ Qxe7 25. Qc6# {Crushing!  I've seen you do that to
other players, James, when they break the rules - but the rules apply to you
too!} 1-0

{An early mistake by Black left White needing only to avoid an accident to win}

[Event "Exeter junior chess club Vs Sidmouth"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Taylor Finch"]
[Black "Nicky Bacon, 107."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B14"]
[Annotator "Finch,T"]
[PlyCount "91"]
1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 e6 5. Nc3 Nf6 6.
Bg5 {Natural, but probably not best.} (6. Nf3 $1) 6... h6 $2 {As usual, a pawn
move is not as good as a piece move.  Here, Black just drops a pawn.} 7. Bxf6
7... Qxf6 $2 (7... gxf6 $1 8. cxd5 exd5) 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Nxd5 Qd6 10. Nc3 Nc6
11. d5 Ne5 12. Nb5 {You're already winning, because you're a pawn ahead, so
you need to change how you are playing and follow a different plan:  1.
Develop quickly  2. Put your pieces in the middle  3. Swap off pairs of pieces
  4. Win the endgame.} 12... Qb4+ 13. Qd2 13... Bd7 $4 {Missing the point.} (
13... Qe4+ $1) 14. Nc7+ Kd8 15. Nxa8 15... Qxd2+ {
Black is losing, and should keep pieces on.} (15... Qe4+) 16. Kxd2 Bb4+ 17. Kd1
(17. Kc2 $1 {would have avoided some trouble later.}) 17... Ng4 18. Nh3 18...
Re8 {Black has raced to get the remaining pieces out, but it shouldn't matter.}
19. Bc4 19... Nxh2 $6 {Clever, but a mistake!} 20. f3 $2 (20. Be2 $1 {
traps the Knight}) (20. Kc2 Bd6 21. Rae1 {is also enough}) 20... Nxf3 21. gxf3
Bxh3 22. a3 22... Bg2 $1 23. Rg1 Bxf3+ 24. Kc2 24... Ba5 $2 {
Now if Black could just round up the Knight on a8, he would be winning, but...}
(24... Bf8 $1) 25. b4 $1 25... Bb6 26. Nxb6 axb6 27. Rxg7 Rf8 28. Rf1 Be4+ 29.
Bd3 $2 (29. Kc3) 29... Bxd5 30. Bg6 $1 30... f6 $2 31. Rd1 $1 31... Kc8 32.
Rxd5 Kb8 33. Rf7 Rc8+ 34. Kb3 Rc6 35. Be4 Rc8 36. Rh5 Re8 37. Rxb7+ Kc8 38. Bc6
Re3+ 39. Kc4 Kd8 40. Rd5+ (40. Rxh6 $1 {mates quickly}) 40... Kc8 41. Rxb6
41... Re6 $2 42. Bd7+ Kc7 43. Rxe6 f5 44. Rc6+ Kb7 45. Rb5+ Ka7 46. Rc7+ 1-0

{Black wasn't playing badly but overlooked a few simple threats by White to go a Rook, a Knight and a few Pawns behind. White should have won easily enough after that but somehow lost hold of both the Rook and the Knight and then chose not to swap off the Queens. A draw was a generous outcome!}

[Event "Exeter Juniors vs Sidmouth"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.04.28"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Leask, Peter"]
[Black "Frangleton, Elsa"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "D06"]
[PlyCount "118"]
1. d4 d5 2.
c4 2... Bf5 {A sprightly defence.} 3. Qb3 Nc6 4. e3 e6 5. Bd3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 dxc4
7. Qxc4 Qd6 (7... Bxd3) 8. Bxf5 8... exf5 {White has the better centre.} 9. a3
Bxd2+ 10. Nxd2 10... Na5 {
A dodgy move, putting the Knight off-side and undefended.} (10... Nf6 {
A developing move is usually best.}) (10... f4 $1 {saves the pawn}) 11. Qd3 (
11. Qb5+ $1 {forks King Knight and Pf5.}) 11... Nh6 12. Ngf3 O-O 13. h3 Qe6 14.
Ng5 Qg6 15. h4 b6 16. O-O c5 17. dxc5 bxc5 18. Qc3 18... Qd6 $4 19. Qxa5 Ng4
20. Ndf3 h6 21. Nh3 Rfe8 22. Rfd1 Qe6 23. Qxc5 Qb3 24. Rd2 24... Re6 $4 25. Nd4
25... Qb8 $5 26. g3 $4 {White gets bluffed!} (26. Nxe6 $1 26... Qh2+ 27. Kf1
Qh1+ 28. Ng1) 26... Re5 27. Qc2 Qe8 28. Nxf5 Rc8 29. Qb1 29... Qb5 $4 {
Black gives White another chance to grab the Exchange.} 30. Nd6 Qa5 31. Nxc8 (
31. b4 $1) 31... Qxd2 32. Nxa7 32... Rf5 $4 (32... Rxe3 $5 33. fxe3 Qh2+ 34.
Kf1 Qxh3+ 35. Ke2 Qg2+ 36. Kd3 Qd5+ 37. Kc3 Qc5+) 33. Qxf5 Nxe3 34. fxe3 Qxe3+
35. Nf2 (35. Qf2 $1 {saves the Na7}) 35... Qxa7 36. Re1 Qa4 37. Qc8+ Kh7 38.
Re8 g5 39. Qf5+ Kg7 40. hxg5 (40. Qe5+ $1 {is mate in four at most} 40... Kg6
41. Rg8+ Kh5 42. Rxg5+ hxg5 43. Qxg5#) 40... Qxe8 41. gxh6+ Kxh6 42. Ng4+ Kg7
43. Qf6+ Kf8 44. Qh8+ Ke7 45. Qf6+ (45. Qxe8+ $1 {
With the Queens off, it's an easy endgame win.}) 45... Kd7 46. Ne5+ Kc8 47.
Qc6+ Kd8 48. Qd6+ (48. Qxe8+ $1 {With the Queens off, it's an easy endgame win.
}) 48... Kc8 49. Qf6 Qf8 50. Nxf7 Qc5+ 51. Qf2 Qc1+ 52. Kg2 52... Qf4 {e4} 53.
Kf1 Qc4+ 54. Ke1 Qe6+ 55. Qe2 Qxf7 56. Qg4+ Kd8 57. Qd4+ Ke8 58. Qh8+ Ke7 59.
Qe5+ Kf8 (59... Kf8 60. Qf4 $1 {
With the Queens off, it's... oh, you know by now!}) 1/2-1/2