Exeter Juniors 3-1 Torquay Boys Friday 2nd May 2014

Edmund Kelly (B) 1-0 Yul Lee (W) Taylor Finch 1-0 Alex Lee Leif Hafstad 1-0 Ben Sturt Codie Finch 0-1 Jakub Kubiak

The home side scored a quick win when Taylor Finch picked up the black Queen using an ancient trap in the French Defence, but the visitors equalised soon after when Jakub Kubiak's threat to the enemy King was ignored.

Leif Hafstad was never in trouble with his own French Defence, and was happy to collect one pawn after another in a game where White never looked comfortable.

Game of the day was a full-blooded struggle on top board, where a cheeky pawn grab in a Sicilian Defence led to the usual trouble surviving White's extra development and activity. It looked certain that White was going to wrestle back the pawn, but Black hung on and eventually swapped enough material to emerge into a winning Bishop endgame.

Yet the clock also had a say and, with Black's hour almost up, a few hasty decisions nearly let the win slip. The evaluation of the position swung crazily between 'Black win' and 'Draw' almost move by move, but finally the extra pawn was promoted and Edmund delivered mate with seconds to spare.

Another great match, well-contested on all boards, and credit to all involved.

[Event "Exeter Juniors vs. Torquay Boys' Grammar School"]
[Site "Heavitree Social Club"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Finch, Codie"]
[Black "Kubiak, Jakub"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[TimeControl "G/60"]
{ Some sound ideas with a sprinkling of blunders!  Both players ignored some basic opening ideas and also made some simple mistakes in calculation.  The game was decided when White forgot to ask: what is the point of my opponent's last move? } 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 f6  { That's not best - not developing, and actually takes away the best square from the Nf8. 4.Ng5 is no threat after 3...Bc5 and not much of a threat after 3...Nf6}  ( 3... Nf6 4. Ng5 $5 d5 $1 ( 4... Bc5 $5 ) 5. exd5 b5 $5 ( 5... Na5 $1 ) ) ( 3... Bc5 4. Ng5 $2 Nh6 $1 ) 4. O-O ( 4. d4  { looks like the best way to show up the flaws in Black's last move}  ) 4... Bc5 5. b3 ( 5. c3  { is your best plan here}  ) 5... Nge7 6. Bb2 Ng6 7. Nc3 ( 7. d4  { still looks good}  ) 7... d6 8. Re1 Bg4 9. Be2  { White should not be bullied into retreating}  ( 9. h3 $1  { else ...Nd4}  ) 9... Nf4 10. Na4 Bd4 11. Bxd4 ( 11. Nxd4 $1  { wins a piece simply enough}  ) 11... Nxd4  {  Giving White a second chance!}  ( 11... Nxe2+ 12. Qxe2 Nxd4 13. Qd3 Bxf3 14. gxf3 f5 15. c3 Nc6 16. Qd5 Qg5+ 17. Kh1 fxe4 18. fxe4 Qf6 19. Rg1 Qf3+ 20. Rg2  { -1.25}  ) 12. Nxd4 $1  {  Winning a piece}  12... Bd7 $1  {  Fighting back}  13. Nc3  {  White is distracted and gives back the piece}  ( 13. Nf5 ) 13... exd4 14. Nb1 Qe7 15. Na3 Qf7 16. Nc4 Qg6  {  Black has spent three moves getting the Queen to this square - there must be a reason!}  17. Na5 $4 Qxg2#  0-1

[Event "Exeter Juniors vs. Torquay Boys' Grammar School"]
[Site "Heavitree Social Club"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Sturt, Ben"]
[Black "Hafstad, Leif"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C02"]
[TimeControl "G/60"]
{ Black happily collected pawns while White struggled to find ideas. } 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 ( 4. c3  {  is usual}  ) 4... Nc6 ( 4... cxd4  {  is the way to test White's unusual move order.  White will never be able to defend e5 with the d-pawn, and that should make life easier for Black.}  ) 5. c3  {  Back to the usual line}  5... Qb6  {  Black at least has seen this position before.  Black is putting pressure on d4, hoping at least to stop White building up an attack.  Two moves are commonly tried.}  6. Nbd2  {  This undefends d4.  Compare the Board 2 game!}  ( 6. a3 ) ( 6. Be2 ) ( 6. Bd3  {  is an uncommon try, setting a trap.}  ) 6... cxd4 7. cxd4 Nxd4  {  In junior chess, the French Defence often wins a pawn.}  8. Qa4+  {  Has White sprung a trap?}  8... Nc6 9. Nb3 Qb4+  {  Very logical.  Black reduces White's swindling chances.}  10. Qxb4 Bxb4+ 11. Bd2 Bxd2+  {  Black is guaranteed an exchange, so needn't swap now.}  ( 11... Nge7 ) 12. Nbxd2 ( 12. Kxd2  {  Connecting Rooks this way is often best, after the Queens are off the board.}  ) 12... Nge7 13. Bb5 Bd7 14. O-O  {  There are clues for a tactic here: a loose piece on b5, an only-just-defended-enough pawn on e5, and a discovered attack from d7.}  14... Nxe5  {  Black wins a second pawn with another common French Defence idea.}  15. Bxd7+ Nxd7 16. Nd4 O-O  {  Black could have played ...Nc6 and ...Ke7 to keep the King active}  17. N2f3 Nc6 18. Ne2  {  Now we have a phase where both sides shuffle their Knights around, but don't get very far.}  18... Nde5 19. Nd2 Rac8 20. Nf4 Nd4  {  Black's nicely centralised Knights are actually in the way of the extra pawns.}  ( 20... Nb4 ) ( 20... d4 ) 21. Rad1 Rfe8 22. Rfe1 Nec6 23. Re3 Nf5 24. Re2 Ncd4 25. Re5 Rc2  {  That's more purposeful.}  26. g4  {  It's hard to sit tight, but this move only makes holes in the White position.}  26... Nh4  {  Now the Nd4 is loose but there is no way to make use of it.}  27. Kf1 Nhf3 28. Nxf3 Nxf3  {  Forking e5 and h2}  29. Re3 ( 29. Rh5  {  isn't pretty, but had to be tried}  ) 29... Nxh2+  {  picking up two more pawns}  30. Kg2 Nxg4 31. Rf3 Rxb2 32. a3 Nf6 33. Re3 Rd8  0-1

[Event "Exeter Juniors vs. Torquay Boys' Grammar School"]
[Site "Heavitree Social Club"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Finch, Taylor"]
[Black "Lee, Alex"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "C02"]
[TimeControl "G/60"]
{ Black lost a pawn to an ancient trap. } 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Nf3 Qb6 6. Bd3  {  This undefends d4 - but deliberately, as it sets a trap.}  6... cxd4 7. cxd4 Nxd4 $2 8. Nxd4 Qxd4 $4 9. Bb5+  {  White wins the Queen and the game.}  9... Bd7 10. Bxd7+ Kxd7 11. Qxd4 Rc8 12. O-O Bc5 13. Qa4+ Ke7 14. Be3 Bxe3 15. fxe3 Nh6 16. Qb4+ Kd7 17. Qxb7+ Rc7 18. Qb5+ Ke7 19. Nc3 Ng4 $4  {  If you're not going to resign, you do need to fight back, but this overlooks another simple tactic.  The undefended Knight can be forked.}  20. Qb4+ Kd7 21. Qxg4 Rhc8 22. Rxf7+ Ke8 23. Qxe6+ Re7 24. Qxe7#  1-0

[Event "Exeter Juniors vs. Torquay Boys' Grammar School"]
[Site "Heavitree Social Club"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Lee, Yul"]
[Black "Kelly, Edmund"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B50"]
[TimeControl "G/60"]
{ A cheeky pawn grab in a Sicilian Defence led to the usual trouble surviving White's extra development and activity.  It looked certain that White was going to wrestle back the pawn, but Black hung on and eventually swapped enough material to emerge into a winning Bishop endgame. } 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bc4 Nc6  {  White has three pieces developed, and Black two; White to move.}  5. Nd5 e6 6. Nxf6+ Qxf6  {  Now it's two each!  That's not the idea of the opening.}  7. c3 Qg6  {  Black spots a fork (e4/g2), but falls behind in development in using it.}  8. O-O Qxe4 9. d4 cxd4 10. cxd4 Qf5 11. d5  {  Excellent - White wants open lines for the use of his active pieces, especially with Black uncastled.}  11... exd5 12. Bxd5 Be7 13. Bxc6+  {  No need for that - it just helps Black}  ( 13. Re1 ) 13... bxc6 14. Re1 Be6 15. Qa4 Qb5  {  Black is being stubborn about keeping the extra pawn.}  16. Qxb5 cxb5 17. Nd4 Bd7 18. Bg5 f6 19. Bf4 Kd8 ( 19... Kf7  {  looks better, connecting Rooks}  ) 20. Ne6+ Bxe6 21. Rxe6 Kd7 22. Re3 ( 22. Rae1 Rhe8 ) 22... Rac8 23. Rd3 Rc6 24. b4 Rhc8 25. g3 Rc3 26. Rd5 a6 27. a4  {  White's pressure looks likely to recover the pawn.}  27... bxa4 28. Rxa4 R3c6 29. b5 axb5 30. Rxb5 Bd8 31. Rd4 Bc7 32. Rbd5 Ra8  {  Black has found some wiggle room.}  33. h4 Ra5  {  Exchanges relieve the pressure and head towards a winning endgame.}  34. Rxa5 Bxa5 35. Rd5 Bc7 ( 35... Bb4  {  is more active and I'm sure is better}  ) 36. g4 $2  {  White had run out of useful ideas, and should sit still.}  36... Rc4 $1 37. Bg3 Rxg4 38. Kg2 Rc4 39. f4 Rc5 40. Rd3  {  Black ran out of time to keep writing down the moves, while White had stopped a long while ago.  The remaining play had lots of points of interest and couldn't be dismissed as 'Black won the endgame' -- in fact, the correct result swung back and forth between a win and a draw several times before Black was allowed to promote a pawn.}   0-1

[Event "Exeter Juniors vs. Torquay Boys' Grammar School"]
[Site "Heavitree Social Club"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Lee, Yul"]
[Black "Kelly, Edmund"]
[Result "0-1"]
[FEN "8/8/5p2/4bk2/8/6Bp/5K2/8 b - - 0 1"]
[Setup "1"]
[TimeControl "G/60"]
{ Black jumped at the chance to swap Bishops, which I agree looks good, but ...h2 would have won with more certainty. }  0-1

[Event "Exeter Juniors vs. Torquay Boys' Grammar School"]
[Site "Heavitree Social Club"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Lee, Yul"]
[Black "Kelly, Edmund"]
[Result "0-1"]
[FEN "8/8/5p2/b4k1p/5B2/4K3/8/8 b - - 0 1"]
[Setup "1"]
[TimeControl "G/60"]
{ In this position, or one like it, I spotted ...Bd2+! winning simply. }  0-1

[Event "Exeter Juniors vs. Torquay Boys' Grammar School"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "????.??.??"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Lee, Yul"]
[Black "Kelly, Edmund"]
[Result "0-1"]
[FEN "8/8/8/5p2/4k3/8/6K1/8 b - - 0 1"]
[Setup "1"]
[TimeControl "G/60"]
{ Both ...Kf4 and ...Ke3 win for Black, but in fact he chose ...f4, which can only draw against the best defence. However, White didn't play the best defence!}  0-1