Exeter Chess Club

An account of our Christmas simul

Genial Cornish giant Andrew Greet came to show us how it was done before Christmas, and I'm sorry it's taken me this long to catch up and do some notes.  Bob Jones was generous and prompt in his transcription of the games to PGN, so please don't blame him!

Having watched Gary Lane wipe the floor with us a few times, I thought I had a view about how it was done, but clearly personal style has a bearing too: Andrew seemed much less inclined to go for broke and played quite conservatively in the openings, content to go for a solid position with a bit of an edge and wait for us to self-destruct.  In most cases, he didn't have too long to wait!

It's often thought that top players have a vast depth of opening theory and a capacity for lightning calculation.  I'm sure they do, but you don't need all that to beat us!  I guess my game followed established theory for the longest -- 7 moves -- after which Andrew produced a move I hadn't seen before, but which has been seen recently among the elite.  And as for calculation, there were rather few tactics around, and Andrew generally let them go -- except against Keith, when perhaps he wished he hadn't!  Keith made a determined effort to attack Andrew's King, but it was White's centralised and active pieces who were best able to make use of the newly opened lines and spaces, a story that was repeated in my game.  Other common faults by the home team were making unnecessary concessions (Richard, Sean, Robin) and in particular making up new unsound moves in the opening (Brian, Bob) -- there's really no need to do this, and I expect if you wanted to play a main line of theory (like Simon) then Andrew would be the first to dodge.  Freddie perhaps did best for longest, although Richard was last to finish.

• Aldwin (1-0): Don't make it up as you go along (285)
  • Greet A. - Aldwin B. [D23]
• Atkins (0-1): Think twice! (286)
  • Greet A. - Atkins K. [A86]
• Boyne (1-0): Kings are stronger than Knights (287)
  • Greet A. - Boyne A. [B01]
• Cubbon (1-0): Don't force your opponent to carry out their threat (288)
  • Greet A. - Cubbon R. [E00]
• Jones (1-0): Don't make it up as you go along (289)
  • Greet A. - Jones R. [C10]
• Pope (1-0): It's easy to slide from Passive to Lost (290)
  • Greet A. - Pope S. [B19]
• Waters (1/2-1/2): Winning demands Accuracy (291)
  • Greet A. - Waters S. [C42]
• Sugden (1-0): Thirty Good Moves can be cancelled by One Bad One (292)
  • Greet A. - Sugden F. [E67]
• Scholes (1-0): Chess Is More About Avoiding Bad Moves That You Know You Shouldn't Make, than Learning Great New Ideas. (293)
  • Greet A. - Scholes R. [C41]
• Regis (1-0):  Don't Open Up the Game when you are Behind in Development (294)
  • Greet A. - Regis D. [C11]