Charlie sent me this game for comment. I thought it would be interesting for us both to annotate. If you would like to join in, please assign each move of Black a symbol:
! = almost certainly the best move
!? = a good move among alternatives
?! = probably not the best move
? = clearly wrong
White missed a big chance early on with his home-made system, then kept the lid on Black's initiative later. White dropped a pawn while trying something on the King's-side, but when Black pushed his luck got a monster passed pawn. In the end, Black was grateful to be offered a perpetual check.
Ken Bloodworth, who donated the Cup for this junior chess league, died just over a week ago aged 96, playing chess even in his last year. A wonderful man and a player, who did so much for junior chess, not just in Devon but all over Britain.
Want to improve your chess? Start here! I have watched and analysed and commented on many junior chess games over the years, and I am pretty clear now about the most common reasons for losing a game [or drawing a game you were winning]. They are:
* missing basic tactics
* not sure what to do in the opening
* not sure what to do *after* the opening
* mistakes in finishing off and endgames
I was unsure whether to put in a team this year, but the squad put up an excellent fight last week to lose a close match to the visitors. The return fixture is in Fenruary.
