Friday night:

My entry to our local congress is sometimes deranged by family visits, but an expectedly free weekend allowed another excursion in Exeter's St.George's Hall, now renamed the Corn Exchange.

[It's about as big a hall as a corn exchange would be, but Exeter is a wool town, not a grain one, and this unhistoric renaming of a post-war building rather makes me wince. Not as much as the chess, though...]

I have played less this season, quite deliberately; I've been finding evening chess very hard, and in October even lost to a club member graded 50 points below me, when our grades suggest I should win every single game. But in the daylight, I was hoping for better things.

Click on [...] to see games list.

[Event "41st  E. Devon Open"]
[Site "Exeter"]
[Date "2016.03.04"]
[Round "1"]
[White "de Piro, Tristram"]
[Black "Regis, David"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C06"]
[Annotator "Regis,Dave"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "2016.03.??"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ne2 cxd4 8. cxd4
f6 9. exf6 Nxf6 10. Nf3 Bd6 11. O-O Qc7 12. Bg5 O-O 13. Rc1 Ng4 {The old main
line} (13... h6 {seems to be in favour now}) (13... Nh5 $5) (13... a6 {was
what Theo taught me to play...}) 14. Ng3 h6 15. Bd2 {The Knight is now rather
misplaced.} e5 (15... Qe7 {is a fiendish move with the idea} 16. Bb1 Nxd4 {
which looks terrific but} 17. Nxd4 Qh4 18. h3 Nxf2 19. Rxf2 (19. Nf3 Nxh3+ {
0-1 (24) Ghorbanian,M-Ghane Gardeh,S (2313) Iran 2000}) 19... Rxf2 20. Nh1 $1 {
and White stands better} (20. Be1 Bxg3 {0-1 (33) Felber,J (2061)-Weser,A (2097)
Parsipanny 2009}) (20. Nge2 e5 {0-1 (25) Calangi,Z (2183)-Omolo,K (2053)
Istanbul 2000}) 20... Rf6 (20... Rf8 21. Nf3 Qh5 $14) 21. Nf3 Qh5 22. Qc2 Rxf3
23. Qh7+ Kf7 24. gxf3 Qxh3 25. Qg6+ Kf8 26. f4 Qh4 27. Bc3 Qe7 28. Ng3 Bc5+ 29.
Kg2 d4 30. Bd2 Bd7 31. Qh7 Rc8 32. Bg6 Qh4 33. Qh8+ Ke7 34. Qxg7+ {1-0 (34)
Kupreichik,V (2480)-Chernin,A (2475) Sverdlovsk 1984}) 16. dxe5 Ngxe5 17. Nxe5
Bxe5 18. Qh5 (18. Bb1 Qf7 (18... Qd7 {1-0 (32) Altmann,E-Abma,K IECG email 2004
}) 19. Qc2 g5 20. f4 Bd4+ 21. Kh1 g4 22. f5 h5 23. f6 Be5 (23... Re8 24. Bh6 h4
{1-0 (24) Stiri,A (2180)-Tsiropoulas,A (2012) Athens 2006}) 24. Bh6 Nb4 25. Qd2
{1-0 (25) Korneev,O (2590)-Supriyanto,T (2325) Jakarta 1997}) (18. b4 {1-0 (53)
Escobar,T (2215)-Goldschmidt,B (2210) Buenos Aires 1992}) 18... Qf7 19. Bg6 (
19. Qxf7+ Rxf7) 19... Qf6 20. Bc3 $2 (20. Rce1) 20... Bxc3 21. Rxc3 Ne5 22. f4
$2 (22. Rxc8 Raxc8 23. Bb1) 22... Nxg6 23. Qxd5+ Be6 24. Qxb7 $2 Qd4+ 25. Kh1
Bd5 26. Qc7 Nxf4 27. Rc2 Nxg2 28. Rxf8+ Rxf8 0-1

[Event "41st  E. Devon Open"]
[Site "Exeter"]
[Date "2016.03.05"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Regis, David"]
[Black "Rozanov, Andrei"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D70"]
[Annotator "Regis,Dave"]
[PlyCount "128"]
[EventDate "2016.03.??"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

1. c4 d5 2. cxd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd8 (3... Qa5 {1-0 (30) Aronian,L (2784)-Nielsen,
P (2654) Berlin 2015}) 4. d4 c6 5. e4 Nf6 6. Nf3 (6. Be2 e6 (6... g6)) 6... g6
7. Be2 Bg7 8. O-O O-O 9. h3 Nbd7 10. Be3 Nb6 11. Qd2 Be6 12. b3 Rc8 13. Rfd1 (
13. Bd3) (13. Ng5) 13... Rc7 14. Bf4 Rc8 15. Be3 (15. Rac1) (15. Ng5) 15... Qe8
16. Rac1 Rd8 17. Qe1 h6 18. Ne5 Nfd7 $16 19. Nc4 (19. Nd3) 19... f5 20. exf5 (
20. d5) 20... Bxf5 21. Na5 Rb8 $14 22. g4 $11 (22. d5 Bxc3 23. Qxc3 Nxd5 24.
Bc4 e6 25. Bxd5 cxd5 26. Bxh6 Rf7 27. Be3 Qe7 28. Qc7) 22... Be6 23. Qd2 Qf7
24. Rf1 h5 25. f4 (25. Ne4) 25... Nd5 26. Nxd5 Bxd5 27. f5 hxg4 28. hxg4 gxf5
29. Rxf5 Qg6 30. Rcf1 Rxf5 31. Rxf5 e6 (31... Nf6 $1 $19 32. Qd1) 32. Rf4 e5
33. dxe5 Bxe5 (33... Nxe5 $1) 34. Rf5 $11 Qd6 35. Bf3 Bxf3 36. Qxd6 Bxd6 37.
Rxf3 Ne5 38. Rf6 (38. Rf4 $11) 38... Bc7 39. Nc4 (39. Rf5 Nxg4 40. Bf4 Bxf4 41.
Rxf4 Ne5 42. Re4 Nd3 43. Re7 Kf8 (43... Nc5 44. Re5) 44. Rh7 Kg8 45. Re7) 39...
Nxc4 40. bxc4 Re8 41. Kf2 Re4 42. Rg6+ Kh7 43. Rh6+ Kg7 44. g5 Rxc4 $11 45. g6
$2 (45. Bxa7 Ra4 46. Be3 Rxa2+ 47. Kf3 Ra4 48. Re6 Kf7 49. Rf6+ Kg7 $11 (49...
Ke7 50. Bc5+ Kd7 51. g6 $18) 50. Re6 Kf7 51. Rf6+) 45... Bb6 46. Rh7+ Kxg6 47.
Rxb7 Rc2+ 48. Kf3 Rc3 49. Re7 Kf6 50. Re8 Rxe3+ 51. Rxe3 Bxe3 52. Kxe3 Ke5 53.
Kd3 Kd5 54. Kc3 Kc5 55. a3 Kb5 56. Kb3 Ka5 57. a4 a6 58. Ka3 Kb6 59. Kb4 c5+
60. Kc4 Kc6 61. Kc3 Kd5 62. Kd3 a5 63. Kc3 c4 64. Kc2 Ke4 0-1

[Event "41st  E. Devon Open"]
[Site "Exeter"]
[Date "2016.03.05"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Jepps, Gerry N"]
[Black "Regis, David"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C12"]
[Annotator "Regis,Dave"]
[PlyCount "60"]
[EventDate "2016.03.??"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

1. d4 e6 2. e4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Bb4 5. e5 h6 6. Bd2 Bxc3 7. bxc3 Ne4 8. Qg4
g6 9. Bd3 Nxd2 10. Kxd2 c5 11. Bb5+ (11. Nf3 Bd7 (11... Nc6)) (11. h4 Nc6 12.
Nf3 (12. Rh3 Qa5 13. Bxg6 Nxd4) 12... Qa5 13. Rh3 Nxd4) 11... Bd7 12. Bxd7+
Nxd7 13. Ne2 Qc7 (13... Qa5) 14. Rhb1 Rc8 15. Ke1 Nb6 16. Kf1 Nc4 (16... cxd4
17. Qxd4 (17. cxd4 Qxc2 18. Rc1 Qd3)) 17. Rb5 b6 (17... cxd4 18. cxd4 Qd7 19.
a4 a6 20. Rb4 Nd2+ 21. Kg1 Rxc2) 18. Kg1 a6 19. Rbb1 O-O 20. Nf4 Kh7 21. Qe2
cxd4 22. cxd4 Na3 23. Rc1 Qc4 (23... Nxc2 24. Nd3 Nxd4) 24. c3 Nb5 25. Qb2 (25.
Qe3 Nxc3 26. Rc2 Rc7 27. Rac1 Rfc8 28. Rxc3 Qxc3 29. Rxc3 Rxc3 30. Nd3 Rxd3 31.
Qxd3 Rc1+ 32. Qf1 Rxf1+ 33. Kxf1 b5 34. Ke2 a5) 25... Nxc3 26. Qxb6 (26. Rc2
Qxd4) 26... Rc6 (26... g5) 27. Qb7 Rc7 28. Qb6 g5 29. Nd3 Ne2+ 30. Kf1 Nxc1 0-1

[Event "41st  E. Devon Open"]
[Site "Exeter"]
[Date "2016.03.06"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Regis, D."]
[Black "Wilson, M."]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A00"]
[Annotator "Regis,Dave"]
[PlyCount "83"]
[EventDate "2016.03.??"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg2 Bb4 5. Nd5 O-O 6. Nxb4 (6. Nf3) (6. a3 Bc5
7. e3 a5 8. Ne2 Re8 9. O-O d6 10. b3) (6. e3) 6... Nxb4 7. Nf3 (7. a3 Nc6 8. b4
) 7... Re8 8. O-O h6 (8... e4) 9. d4 e4 10. Ne1 d5 11. cxd5 Nbxd5 12. Nc2 Bf5
13. Ne3 Nxe3 14. Bxe3 Qd7 15. Qd2 Nd5 16. Rfc1 Rad8 17. Qa5 a6 18. Rc4 c6 $15
19. Rac1 Bh3 20. Qd2 Bxg2 21. Kxg2 Qf5 22. a4 Rd6 23. b4 Rf6 24. Rc5 h5 25. b5
axb5 26. axb5 $15 h4 $14 27. bxc6 h3+ 28. Kg1 bxc6 29. Rxc6 Rxc6 30. Rxc6 Rc8
31. Rxc8+ Qxc8 32. Qc1 Qa6 33. Bd2 Qb6 $4 (33... Qxe2 $11 34. Qc8+ Kh7 35.
Qxh3+ Kg6 (35... Kg8 36. Qc8+ Kh7 37. Qf5+ Kg8 38. Qxd5 Qxd2 39. Qa8+ Kh7 40.
Qxe4+)) 34. Qc8+ Kh7 35. Qxh3+ Kg8 36. Qc8+ Kh7 37. Qf5+ Kg8 38. Qxd5 Qb1+ 39.
Kg2 Qc2 40. Qd8+ Kh7 41. Qh4+ Kg8 42. Qf4 1-0

[Event "41st  E. Devon Open"]
[Site "Exeter"]
[Date "2016.03.06"]
[Round "5"]
[White "Regis, David"]
[Black "Helbig, Paul"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "B07"]
[Annotator "Regis,Dave"]
[PlyCount "69"]
[EventDate "2016.03.??"]
[EventRounds "5"]
[EventCountry "ENG"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Ne2 O-O 6. Nbc3 e5 7. h3 (7. O-O Na6
(7... Nc6 8. dxe5) 8. Re1 c6 9. h3 Re8 10. Bg5 h6 11. Be3 Qc7 12. Qd2 Kh7 13.
Rad1 Bd7 14. g4 Rad8 15. Ng3 Bc8 16. f4 b5 17. a3 b4 18. axb4 Nxb4 19. Nce2
exd4 20. Nxd4 a5 21. c3 Na6 22. Qc2 Bd7 23. Nf3 Re7 24. Bf2 Be8 25. Qd3 Qb7 26.
Ra1 Nc7 27. Rxa5 Rdd7 28. b4 Ne6 29. Be3 c5 30. f5 Nd8 31. b5 Kh8 32. Bf2 Qc7
33. Ra4 Qb8 34. c4 Ra7 35. Rxa7 Rxa7 36. e5 dxe5 37. Nxe5 Ra2 38. Bxc5 {1-0 
(38) Karpov,A (2705)-Timman,J (2625) Montreal 1979}) 7... c6 8. a4 Re8 9. Be3 (
9. O-O) 9... Na6 10. O-O Nb4 (10... exd4) 11. Qd2 (11. a5) 11... exd4 ({Our
2009 game went} 11... a5 12. Rad1 exd4 13. Bxd4 d5 14. exd5 Nbxd5 15. Nxd5 Nxd5
16. Bxg7 Kxg7 17. c4 Qe7 18. cxd5 Qxe2 19. dxc6 (19. Qc3+) 19... Qxd2 20. Rxd2
bxc6 $2 (20... Re7) 21. Rc1 (21. Bxc6 $1 Bxh3 22. Rfd1 $1 (22. Ra1 Rad8 $1))
21... Ra7 22. Bxc6 Rc7 23. Rdc2 Re5 24. Kg2 Bf5 25. Rc3 Re2 26. g4 Be6 27. Bb5
Rxc3 28. bxc3 Re5 29. c4 Rc5 30. Kf3 Kf6 31. Ke3 Ke5 32. f4+ Kd6 33. Rd1+ Kc7
34. Kd4 Kb6 $2 (34... Kd6 $1) 35. Rb1 $1 Rc7 36. Bd7+ Ka7 37. Bxe6 fxe6 38. Rb5
Ka6 39. c5 Rd7+ 40. Ke5 Rd5+ 41. Kxe6 Rd4 42. Rb6+ Ka7 43. f5 gxf5 44. gxf5
Rxa4 45. f6 Re4+ 46. Kd7 Rf4 47. Ke7 a4 48. f7 a3 49. Rb3 (49. Rf6 Rxf6 50.
Kxf6 a2 51. f8=Q a1=Q+) 49... Re4+ 50. Kf6 Rf4+ 51. Ke6 a2 (51... Re4+ 52. Kf5)
52. Ra3+ Kb7 53. Rxa2 Rf1 54. Re2 Kc6 55. Ke7 {1-0 Regis-Helbig Torbay (5) 2009
}) 12. Bxd4 (12. Nxd4 d5 13. exd5 Nbxd5 14. Nxd5 Nxd5 15. Bh6 Bh8 16. Rad1 Qb6
17. c4 Nf6 18. a5 Qc5 19. b4 Qh5 20. g4 Bxg4 21. hxg4 Nxg4 22. Bf4 Rad8 23. Qc3
Qh4 24. Rd3 Qf6 25. Be3 Qd6 26. Rfd1 Qh2+ 27. Kf1 Ne5 28. R3d2 Rd6 29. c5 Rd7
30. Qb3 Qh5 31. Ne2 Rxd2 32. Rxd2 Ng4 33. Bf4 Be5 34. Qg3 Qf5 35. Bh3 Bxf4 36.
Nxf4 Qb1+ 37. Kg2 Nf6 38. Rd4 Re1 39. Qd3 Rg1+ 40. Kf3 Qe1 41. Rd6 Qe7 42. Qe3
Qxe3+ 43. Kxe3 Kg7 44. Bc8 Rb1 45. Rd4 g5 46. Nd3 Nd5+ 47. Rxd5 cxd5 48. Bxb7 {
1-0 (48) Danek,L (2350)-Babula,V (2330) Brno 1991}) 12... c5 (12... d5 13. e5
Nd7 14. f4 Nf8 15. Bf2 Na6 16. Rad1 Bd7 17. b3 Nc7 18. g4 f6 19. Bh4 Nce6 20.
f5 Nc7 21. e6 Bxe6 22. fxe6 Nfxe6 23. Kh1 Rf8 24. Nd4 Nxd4 25. Qxd4 Ne6 26. Qd2
Kh8 27. Rde1 Nc7 28. Ne2 Qd7 29. Nd4 Qd6 30. Qf2 Rf7 31. Bg3 Qc5 32. Ne6 Qxf2
33. Rxf2 Nxe6 34. Rxe6 Rd8 35. Bh4 Rdf8 36. Bf1 Kg8 37. Bd3 f5 38. gxf5 gxf5
39. Rfe2 f4 40. Re1 d4 41. Re7 Bf6 42. Bc4 {1-0 (42) Van Kemenade,R (2039)
-Jones,C (2110) Swansea 2006}) (12... a5) (12... Be6) (12... Bd7) (12... b6)
13. Be3 Bd7 14. g4 (14. Rad1 Bc6 15. Bg5 Qd7 16. Bxf6 Bxf6 17. b3 Rad8 18. Rfe1
b6 19. Kh2 Be5 20. Nc1 Qe7 21. N1a2 Nxa2 22. Nxa2 Qb7 23. c4 f5 24. f4 Bd4 25.
exf5 gxf5 26. Bxc6 Qxc6 27. Nc3 Rxe1 28. Qxe1 Re8 29. Qd2 Bxc3) 14... Bc6 15.
Ng3 Qd7 16. Rfd1 (16. g5 Nh5 17. Nxh5 gxh5 18. Rfd1 Rad8 19. Qe2 Qe7 20. a5 $14
) 16... b6 17. a5 (17. g5) 17... Rad8 18. axb6 (18. g5) 18... axb6 19. Bg5 (19.
g5) (19. Bf4) 19... Qb7 $6 20. Qf4 (20. Nd5 $1 Bxd5 21. exd5 h6 22. Bf4 $16)
20... Qe7 21. Rd2 Qe5 (21... h6) 22. Rad1 Qxf4 (22... Rd7 23. Rxd6) 23. Bxf4
Rd7 24. Bxd6 (24. g5 Nh5 25. Nxh5 gxh5 26. Rxd6 Rxd6 27. Rxd6 Re6 28. Rd8+ Re8
29. Rd2 Bxc3 30. bxc3 Na2 31. c4 Bxe4 32. Re2 Bc6 33. Rxe8+ Bxe8 34. Bc7) (24.
Rxd6 Red8 25. Rxd7 Rxd7 26. Bd6) 24... Red8 25. e5 Ne8 26. Nge4 (26. f4) (26.
Nce4 Bxe4 27. Nxe4 Nxc2 28. Rxc2 Bxe5) 26... Nxd6 27. exd6 Be5 28. g5 (28. f4
Bxf4 29. Nf6+ Kg7 30. Nxd7 Bxd2 31. Bxc6 Nxc6 32. Nxb6 Bxc3 (32... Bf4 33. d7)
33. bxc3 Ne5) 28... Kg7 29. Bf3 h5 (29... Bf4) 30. Kg2 Bb7 31. Na4 Bxe4 32.
Bxe4 Rxd6 33. Rxd6 Rxd6 34. Rxd6 Bxd6 35. Nxb6 (35. Nxb6 Bf4 36. h4 Bc1 37. b3
Na6 38. Nd7 Ba3 39. Kf3 Nc7 40. Ke3 Nb5 41. Kd3 Bb4 42. Bc6 Na7 43. Bd5 Be1 44.
Ke3 Bb4) 1/2-1/2

1. Black vs de Piro (141) - win.

Well, the first one is of course an evening game, after a week at work and an abbreviated encounter with the Junior Club.

Tristram joined the Exeter club for a year or so recently, and in many friendly games I couldn't rememeber him playing much theory, so I chanced my arm with the main line, but found, to my horror, that he knew it all backwards. I scrambled together some reasonable moves from bits of half-remembered theory and analogy with the ...Qb6 lines that I have always played before, but got to a position which used to be the main line, yet has since fallen from favour. Characteristically, Tristram went for the attack, but soon had to give away a piece to save his Queen. I wonder how easy the endgame would be; I liked the passed pawn, but in the post mortem I couldn't make progress.

2. White vs. Kazanov (210?) - loss.

What an unforgiving game chess is. After being handed a space advantage, I didn't find a plan to make use of it and was brought back to focus by my opponent breaking on the King's side. It was not clear whose King was the most exposed, but after some swaps we arrived at an endgame. Under pressure to reach move 40 in time, I chose an active, forcing move which made life more difficult for me, even impossible, when a calmer, stabilising move would probably draw. But my real irritation is not making more of the good position from the opening. (Maybe h2-h4? But that's not my style.)

3. Black vs. Jepps (150) - win.

On the four previous occasions we have met, Gerry has walked off with the whole point each time. He is my Kryptonite: he loves gambit play, I hate it; he attacks very well, I defend very badly ... I thought I'd play a straight bat against 1.e4 and my opponent, rather than playing some evil underground gambit, went down a main line of theory, hoping to play the Alekhin-Chatard Attack. Finding himself in the unfamiliar MacCutcheon, he found most of the right moves in the opening, but mistakenly judged his Bishop worse than mine (fearing ...c4), and swapped it off, losing time, when I think Black must have at least equality. The standard attack down the c-file seemed to work smoothly enough, and Gerry's attacking verve and tactical opportunism didn't surface.

4. White vs. Wilson (155) - win.

I got a nice game the last time I played Matt with White, and hoped to repeat the same line, or something like it. But my opponent bashed out a completely different line that I rarely see, and a search of the memory banks returned a familiar result: 404 Page Not Found. Black seemed to equalise very easily, and while I had the Bishop pair it seemed both of them were bad! I couldn't see what else to do but instigate a minority attack and hope Matt faltered on the other wing. My attack flowed well enough, yielding a pawn, then poor Matt missed a sequence of cheap forks around the time control.

[I have something of a reputation as a theory hound, but this is clearly quite unfounded: I read fairly widely, but my knowledge is as shallow as a gnat's bidet.]

5. White vs. Helbig (194) - draw.

I have drawn and even won against Paul Helbig, a strong South West player, but the most common (and expected) result has been a loss. My single win came about from this line of the Pirc, with which I've had some good results. However, once again my opponent bashed out what seems to be a simple equalising line with little hesitation ... which I should have expected, as that's exactly what he did last time! I was beginning to find my position sinking into rigidity, even the rigor of death, but a good-looking Queen manoeuvre by Black was met by an even stronger one by White. Black had to concede a pawn, but, as always with classy players, found the most awkward way of doing so, and I could only retain the pawn by swapping off into an opposite-coloured Bishop endgame with slender hopes of a win.

Overall: This unremarkable performance won me the upper grading prize, remarkably enough (AKA the 'not bad for an old duffer' prize). I came away happier with the result than the games; I got caught out in the opening too often, and was in moderate time trouble in nearly every game. But I can't complain, that's my best tournament result for a while.