Tuesday 31 October 2017

Club Championship Weeks 5-6

Russell is accustomed to getting picket fences in the Club Championship, but he's out of luck this year. Bill Forster has been playing against Russell for over 30 years, at standard, rapid and blitz time controls, and on Thursday he managed not to lose to him for the first time!

He writes:
"Russell slowly outplayed me in this game (no surprises there). I spent a lot of time early, although it turns out my worries at that stage were largely phantoms. I did come up with a plan to hold White up, and if I had followed up my ...f6 with ...e5 as intended I would have got a reasonable position. Instead I relaxed thinking I could play ...e5 whenever I wanted, and Russell was able to get a complete grip with exactly the kind of crushing space advantage he loves. Also I was out of time. I was reduced to 3 ranks and waiting. I tried to tell myself it was like a delayed hippo with dynamic potential, but I didn't really believe my own propaganda. Surprisingly Russell spent all his time advantage enjoying his space advantage with a lot of manoeuvring back and forth but no decisive breakthrough (yet). I was slightly encouraged to achieve time parity (both players increment only), whilst still clinging on to dear life. Interestingly through this entire phase Stockfish tells me that I could have played ...e5 at various times as a freeing move, so there was some dynamic potential. I was tempted but could never see the tactical justification.

Anyway, with no time anyone can make a mistake and surprisingly it was Russell rather than me. I defended a loose pawn indirectly, Russell thought I was defending it with an (ineffective) counter-threat. The phony counter-threat was just a lucky coincidence. He took the pawn and basically (sadly) this means I won through a one move blunder."



Philip Rossiter also lost for the first time on Thursday, against Phillip Coghini, but such is his dominance, he still leads the B grade by a whole point.

Grade C has so many unplayed games, it is impossible to talk about a leader.

Grade D has seen many interesting games. I particularly like the style of young newcomer Josh Langford, who seems to do rather well out of gambit lines, but doesn't always convert his winning positions.
Hamish Leask now shares the lead with Karthik Konakanchi.

Week 5
Sellen          0-1     Ker
Timergazi     0-1    Croad
Nyberg         0-1    Jackson
Nijman          0-1    Dive

Chen            0-1    Stoeveken
Barraza     1/2-1/2 Brockway
Farrington     0-1    Mullan
Benitez          0-1    Rossiter
Coghini          1-0    Aldridge

Stracy           1-0     Forlong-Ford
Sole               1-0    Rabina  
Thorpe           0-1    Day
Dixon             0-1    Wight

Leask             1-0   Tagos
Kibblewhite    1-0   Theodosiou
Hall                 1-0   De Briey
Zhao               0-1   Bennett
Asher              0-1   Darr
Langford          0-1  Konakanchi K
Proctor            0-1   Konakanchi P
Carroll             0-1   Stannard


Week 6
Nyberg           0-1    Sellen
Jackson          0-1   Croad
Dive                0-1    Forster
Perry               0-1    Timergazi
Ker                  1-0    Nijman

Farrington        0-1    Benitez
Aldridge         1/2-1/2 Chen
Mullan           1/2-1/2 Brockway
Rossiter            0-1    Coghini

Dixon                1-0    Rabina
Day                   1-0    Sole

Leask             1/2-1/2 Kibblewhite
Darr                  0-1    Konakanchi K
Tagos              1/2-1/2 Hall
Bennett             1-0    Konakanchi P
Jacobsen           1-0   Langford
Theodosiou        0-1   Stannard
De Briey             1-0   Proctor
Zhao                  1-0    Carroll

A grade

No Name Loc Total #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
1 Dive, Russell 2434 4 * 1 1 0 1 1
2 Ker, Anthony 2489 4 0 * 1 1 1 1
3 Nijman, Brian 2146 3 0 0 * 1 1 1
4 Croad, Nic 2393 3 * 1 1 1
5 Timergazi, Layla 2158 3 0 0 * ½ 1 1 ½
6 Jackson, Ross 2020 2 0 0 ½ * ½ 1
7 Perry, Roger 2124 2 0 0 * 1 1
8 Forster, Bill 2093 1.5 1 0 0 ½ *
9 Sellen, Ian 2056 1.5 0 0 0 ½ 0 * 1
10 Nyberg, Michael 2101 0 0 0 0 0 0 *

B grade

No Name Loc Total #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
1 Rossiter, Philip 1978 5 * ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 1
2 Mullan, Brett 1800 4 ½ * 1 ½ 0 1 1
3 Benitez, Edgar 1809 4 0 * 1 0 1 1 1
4 Coghini, Phillip 1888 3 1 * 1 0 1
5 Aldridge, Alan 1936 3 ½ 0 0 0 * ½ 1 1
6 Brockway, Andrew 1899 2.5 ½ 1 * ½ ½
7 Chen, Wei Kai 1813 2 1 ½ * ½ 0
8 Barraza, Jesse 1890 2 0 0 0 1 0 ½ ½ *
9 Stoeveken, Peter 1849 1.5 0 0 0 1 * ½
10 Farrington, Lawrence 1838 1 0 0 0 0 ½ ½ *


C grade

No Name Loc Total #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
1 Wight, Joshua 1609 3 * 1 0 1 1
2 Sole, Michael 1727 3 * 0 0 0 1 1 1
3 Day, Fabian 1784 2 0 1 * 1 0
4 Forlong-Ford, Colwyn 1738 2 1 * 1 0 0
5 Thorpe, Richard 1632 2 1 0 0 * 0 1
6 Wevers, Alexis 1654 2 1 0 * 1
7 Winter, Ryan 1711 2 1 * 1
8 Dixon, Hamish 1697 2 0 1 0 * 1
9 Rabina, Romeo 1767 1 0 1 0 *
10 Stracy, Don 1737 1 0 0 1 0 0 *


D grade

No Name                     Loc  Total  1    2    3    4    5    6  

1  Leask, Hamish            1570 4.5    0:½  8:½  5:1  2:1  3:1  6:½
2  Konakanchi, Karthik      1504 4.5   18:1  0:½  4:1  1:0  7:1  8:1
3  Tagos, Bernardo          1483 4      5:1  0:½ 11:1  7:1  1:0  4:½
4  Hall, Nathan             1278 4      0:½ 20:1  2:0 10:1  9:1  3:½
5  Jacobsen-Grocott, Josiah 1238 4      3:0 14:1  1:0 12:1 11:+  7:1
6  Kibblewhite, Daniel      1400 4     16:1  9:1  7:0  0:½ 13:1  1:½
7  Langford, Joshua         800  3      0:1 13:1  6:1  3:0  2:0  5:0
8  Darr, Samuel             1444 3     19:½  1:½  0:½  0:½ 14:1  2:0
9  De Briey, Aurian         1549 3     15:1  6:0  0:½  0:½  4:0 20:1
10 Bennett, Sarah           1427 3      0:½ 11:0  0:½  4:0 18:1 12:1
11 Benitez, Ric             1566 2.5    0:½ 10:1  3:0 13:½  5:-  0:½
12 Konakanchi, Pramodh      1106 2.5   17:0  0:½ 15:1  5:0 20:1 10:0
13 Theodosiou, Andreas      1493 2.5   14:1  7:0 16:1 11:½  6:0 15:0
14 Asher, Bruce             1258 2.5   13:0  5:0 20:1 18:1  8:0  0:½
15 Stannard, Bobby          1369 2.5    9:0  0:½ 12:0 20:0 21:1 13:1
16 Nagrecha, Prashant       899  2      6:0  0:1 13:0  0:½  0:½  0:0
17 He, Caleb                1413 2     12:1  0:½  0:½  0:0  0:0  0:0
18 Zhao, Aiden              1279 2      2:0  0:½  0:½ 14:0 10:0 21:1
19 He, Paul                 1142 1.5    8:½  0:½  0:½  0:0  0:0  0:0
20 Proctor, Matthew         1478 1.5    0:½  4:0 14:0 15:1 12:0  9:0
21 Carroll, Lewis                1      0:½  0:½  0:   0:  15:0 18:0


Saturday 14 October 2017

Club Championship 2017 Weeks 3-4

Sorry for the delay in publishing round 3. I'll give you the results for the last two weeks, and the tables, but some of the games played I think are from later rounds, because of the usual problem of getting people to turn up for their games.
Jesse and Alan played their fixture for round 7 at Alan's Art shop on Tuesday - Jesse is trying to play as many of his games as possible while he can, because he is, sadly, relocating to Christchurch.

Going well in the A group are Russell Dive and Brian Nijman, who have both won all the three games they have played.
Equal first in the B grade are Philip Rossiter and Edgar Benitez, Edgar having scored a useful win against Alan Aldridge on Thursday.
There are so many missing results in the C grade that it's not worth giving a leader (lots of people on two points).
And in the D grade we have Bernardo Tagos on top, after he beat the new young talent Josh Langford in round 4. Bernardo can maybe count himself a bit lucky in this game, as he was a piece down at one point.

5-Oct
Nijman     1-0       Forster
Sellen    1/2-1/2   Timergazi

Rossiter  1/2-1/2   Mullan
Benitez E   1-0     Stöveken
Chen       1/2-1/2  Barraza
Farrington  0-1     Aldridge

Rabina      1-0     Thorpe
Day           0-1     Wight
Sole           0-1     Forlong-Ford
Wevers      1-0     Stracy

Kibblewhite  0-1    Langford
Tagos            1-0    Benitez R
Hall               0-1    Konakanchi K
Leask            1-0    Jacobsen-Grocott
Theodosiou   1-0    Nagrecha
Proctor          0-1    Asher
Stannard        0-1    Konakanchi P

10-Oct
Barraza         0-1     Aldridge

12-Oct
Dive              1-0    Sellen
Jackson      1/2-1/2 Timergazi
Perry             0-1     Perry
Ker                1-0     Nyberg

Mullan           1-0    Barraza
Rossiter          1-0    Farrington
Aldridge         0-1    Benitez E
Stöveken        0-1    Coghini

Thorpe          1-0     Sole
Wight            1-0     Stracy

Langford          0-1   Tagos
Konakanchi K 0-1    Leask
Benitez R     1/2-1/2 Theodosiou
Stannard          0-1    Proctor
Asher               1-0    Zhao
Bennett             0-1   Hall
Konakanchi P   0-1   Jacobsen-Grocott


A grade

No Name Loc Total #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
1 Nijman, Brian 2146 3 *   1   1       1  
2 Dive, Russell 2434 3   *   1       1   1
3 Timergazi, Layla 2158 2 0   *     ½   ½ 1  
4 Ker, Anthony 2489 2   0   *   1       1
5 Perry, Roger 2124 2 0       *     1   1
6 Jackson, Ross 2020 1     ½ 0   *     ½  
7 Croad, Nic 2393 1             * 1    
8 Sellen, Ian 2056 .5   0 ½   0   0 *    
9 Forster, Bill 2093 .5 0   0     ½     *  
10 Nyberg, Michael 2101 0   0   0 0         *


B grade

No Name Loc Total #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
1 Benitez, Edgar 1809 3 *     1 0   1     1
2 Rossiter, Philip 1978 3   * ½ ½       1   1
3 Mullan, Brett 1800 2.5   ½ * 1   0 1      
4 Aldridge, Alan 1936 2.5 0 ½ 0 *     1 1    
5 Brockway, Andrew 1899 1.5 1       *     ½    
6 Chen, Wei Kai 1813 1.5     1     * ½      
7 Barraza, Jesse 1890 1.5 0   0 0   ½ *   1  
8 Farrington, Lawrence 1838 1   0   0 ½     *   ½
9 Coghini, Phillip 1888 1             0   * 1
10 Stoeveken, Peter 1849 .5 0 0           ½ 0 *


C grade

No Name Loc Total #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
1 Forlong-Ford, Colwyn 1738 2 * 1 1         0    
2 Thorpe, Richard 1632 2 0 * 1       0     1
3 Sole, Michael 1727 2 0 0 * 1           1
4 Wevers, Alexis 1654 2     0 *   1       1
5 Winter, Ryan 1711 2         *     1 1  
6 Wight, Joshua 1609 2       0   *     1 1
7 Rabina, Romeo 1767 1   1         *      
8 Dixon, Hamish 1697 1 1       0     *    
9 Day, Fabian 1784 0         0 0     *  
10 Stracy, Don 1737 0   0 0 0   0       *


D Grade

No Name                     Loc  Total  1    2    3    4  

1  Tagos, Bernardo          1483 3.5    8:1  0:½  9:1  2:1
2  Langford, Joshua         800  3      0:1  6:1  5:1  1:0
3  Leask, Hamish            1570 3      0:½ 10:½  8:1  4:1
4  Konakanchi, Karthik      1504 2.5   19:1  0:½  7:1  3:0
5  Kibblewhite, Daniel      1400 2.5   14:1 12:1  2:0  0:½
6  Theodosiou, Andreas      1493 2.5   13:1  2:0 14:1  9:½
7  Hall, Nathan             1278 2.5    0:½ 17:1  4:0 18:1
8  Jacobsen-Grocott, Josiah 1238 2      1:0 13:1  3:0 16:1
9  Benitez, Ric             1566 2      0:½ 18:1  1:0  6:½
10 Darr, Samuel             1444 2     15:½  3:½  0:½  0:½
11 He, Caleb                1413 2     16:1  0:½  0:½  0:0
12 De Briey, Aurian         1549 2     20:1  5:0  0:½  0:½
13 Asher, Bruce             1258 2      6:0  8:0 17:1 19:1
14 Nagrecha, Prashant       899  1.5    5:0  0:1  6:0  0:½
15 He, Paul                 1142 1.5   10:½  0:½  0:½  0:0
16 Konakanchi, Pramodh      1106 1.5   11:0  0:½ 20:1  8:0
17 Proctor, Matthew         1478 1.5    0:½  7:0 13:0 20:1
18 Bennett, Sarah           1427 1      0:½  9:0  0:½  7:0
19 Zhao, Aiden              1279 1      4:0  0:½  0:½ 13:0
20 Stannard, Bobby          1369 .5    12:0  0:½ 16:0 17:0



Wednesday 4 October 2017

Club Championship R2 - Dive Beats Ker Again


In the latest NZCF ratings list Anthony Ker is still ahead of Russell Dive, but that may change soon. Russell scored his second win in a row against his old friend and rival, both times with the black pieces. The Club Championship victory may have lacked the fireworks of the earlier Julian Mazur one, but it was impressive nonetheless. Russell maintained steady pressure throughout, mostly on the queen side, then all the pieces came off bar queens and pawns, and Anthony's king got stuck in a mating net, leading to resignation after 49 moves.
Joining Russell at the top of the table is Roger Perry, who beat Michael Nyberg also for the 2nd time in a row.

The B grade is headed jointly by Philip Rossiter and Andrew Brockway, both on 1.5/2.

In the C grade, Wellington College comrades Ryan Winter and Michael Sole continue to set the pace. They are both playing so well at the moment it is hard to choose between them.

And in the D grade, Daniel Kibblewhite, who has had 2 wins, shares the lead with young Josh Langford, who has a win and a one point bye

A grade

No Name             Loc   Result   Name            Loc 

 1 Ker, Anthony     2489    0:1    Dive, Russell   2434
 2 Jackson, Ross    2020    ½:½    Forster, Bill   2093
 3 Timergazi, Layla 2158    0:1    Nijman, Brian   2146
 4 Croad, Nic       2393    1:0    Sellen, Ian     2056
 5 Perry, Roger     2124    1:0    Nyberg, Michael 2101

Cross Table

No Name Loc Total #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
1 Dive, Russell 2434 2 *     1         1  
2 Perry, Roger 2124 2   *             1 1
3 Nijman, Brian 2146 1     *   1          
4 Ker, Anthony 2489 1 0     *       1    
5 Timergazi, Layla 2158 1     0   *   1      
6 Croad, Nic 2393 1           *       1
7 Forster, Bill 2093 .5         0   * ½    
8 Jackson, Ross 2020 .5       0     ½ *    
9 Nyberg, Michael 2101 0 0 0             *  
10 Sellen, Ian 2056 0   0       0       *


B grade

No Name             Loc   Result   Name                 Loc 

 1 Mullan, Brett    1800    0:1    Chen, Wei Kai        1813
 2 Barraza, Jesse   1890    1:0    Coghini, Phillip     1888
 3 Brockway, Andrew 1899    1:0    Benitez, Edgar       1809
 4 Stoeveken, Peter 1849    ½:½    Farrington, Lawrence 1838
 5 Aldridge, Alan   1936    ½:½    Rossiter, Philip     1978

Cross Table


No Name Loc Total #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
1 Brockway, Andrew 1899 1.5 *   1   ½          
2 Rossiter, Philip 1978 1.5   *           ½ 1  
3 Benitez, Edgar 1809 1 0   *       1      
4 Chen, Wei Kai 1813 1       *   1        
5 Farrington, Lawrence 1838 1 ½       *       ½  
6 Mullan, Brett 1800 1       0   *   1    
7 Barraza, Jesse 1890 1     0       *     1
8 Aldridge, Alan 1936 .5   ½       0   *    
9 Stoeveken, Peter 1849 .5   0     ½       *  
10 Coghini, Phillip 1888 0             0     *


C grade

No Name                 Loc   Result   Name            Loc 

 1 Wight, Joshua        1609    0:1    Wevers, Alexis  1654
 2 Stracy, Don          1737    0:1    Sole, Michael   1727
 3 Forlong-Ford, Colwyn 1738    1:0    Thorpe, Richard 1632
 4 Winter, Ryan         1711    1:0    Dixon, Hamish   1697
 5 Rabina, Romeo        1767     :     Day, Fabian     1784

Cross Table


No Name Loc Total #1 #2 #3 #4 #5 #6 #7 #8 #9 #10
1 Sole, Michael 1727 2 *         1     1  
2 Winter, Ryan 1711 2   * 1         1    
3 Dixon, Hamish 1697 1   0 * 1            
4 Forlong-Ford, Colwyn 1738 1     0 * 1          
5 Thorpe, Richard 1632 1       0 *       1  
6 Wevers, Alexis 1654 1 0         *       1
7 Rabina, Romeo 1767 0             *      
8 Day, Fabian 1784 0   0           *    
9 Stracy, Don 1737 0 0       0       *  
10 Wight, Joshua 1609 0           0       *


Results

No Name                    Loc   Result   Name            Loc 

 1 Daniel Kibblewhite      1400    1:0    Aurian De Briey     
 2 Andreas Theodosiou      1493    0:1    Joshua Langford     
 3 Samuel Darr             1444    ½:½    Hamish Leask    1570
 4 Ric Benitez             1566    1:0    Sarah Bennett   1427
 5 Matthew Proctor         1478    0:1    Nathan Hall     1278
 6 Josiah Jacobsen-Grocott 1238    1:0    Bruce Asher     1258
 7 Prashant Nagrecha       899     1:0    BYE                 
 8 Karthik Konakanchi      1504    ½:½    BYE                 
 9 Bernardo Tagos          1483    ½:½    BYE                 
10 Caleb He                1413    ½:½    BYE                 
11 Bobby Stannard          1369    ½:½    BYE                 
12 Aiden Zhao              1279    ½:½    BYE                 
13 Paul He                 1142    ½:½    BYE                 
14 Pramodh Konakanchi      1106    ½:½    BYE                 

Cross Table


No Name                     Loc  Total  1    2  

1  Langford, Joshua              2      0:1 13:1
2  Kibblewhite, Daniel      1400 2      8:1  9:1
3  Tagos, Bernardo          1483 1.5   14:1  0:½
4  Konakanchi, Karthik      1504 1.5   17:1  0:½
5  He, Caleb                1413 1.5   18:1  0:½
6  Benitez, Ric             1566 1.5    0:½ 16:1
7  Hall, Nathan             1278 1.5    0:½ 15:1
8  Nagrecha, Prashant       899  1      2:0  0:1
9  De Briey, Aurian              1     19:1  2:0
10 Leask, Hamish            1570 1      0:½ 11:½
11 Darr, Samuel             1444 1     12:½ 10:½
12 He, Paul                 1142 1     11:½  0:½
13 Theodosiou, Andreas      1493 1     20:1  1:0
14 Jacobsen-Grocott, Josiah 1238 1      3:0 20:1
15 Proctor, Matthew         1478 .5     0:½  7:0
16 Bennett, Sarah           1427 .5     0:½  6:0
17 Zhao, Aiden              1279 .5     4:0  0:½
18 Konakanchi, Pramodh      1106 .5     5:0  0:½
19 Stannard, Bobby          1369 .5     9:0  0:½
20 Asher, Bruce             1258 0     13:0 14:0