Just won Coullsdon U130 LP

[petejwatts]

Four str8 wins and a bye. Might post my best game.

[petejwatts]

Well Ade wants a report so here is a brief one. Oddly, of my four opponents the only one to play a solid opening was the first and weakest one, graded just 87. A drawback of longplay is that if your game finishes early your left kicking your heels waiting for the next round so I decided to play a frence defence (1.e4 e3 2.d4 d5 3. e5....) solely to produce a closed position that was likely to produce a long game. Thematic to the French is black's queen's bishop is trapped behind his pawns and hence is very passive. The usual play is to finchetto it on b7 where is looks at the butt of the d5 pawn for most of the game. I decided to avoid this and placed it on e8 where it guarded f7 and a doubled pawn on g6 in front of my castled king. This made my defence completely solid against an unsound piece sac by white and an easy win. The worst opening was by my nominally strongest 2nd round opponent, graded 120. He too played the French and I expected a long game only for him to first give me a pawn and then pick up the wrong knight to make a cpature that cost him a whole piece. To hiis credit he resigned quickly but that left me with hours to go before round 3. Tired from little sleep I knew that round 3 could go on late and give me little time for sleep before having to get up for round 4 so I took a bye and went home for an early night, only to prang my puter and stay up late trying vainly to fix it. I duly woke early for round 4 only to leave my travel pass at home and have to go back for it so I arrived late and lost about 15 min on my clock. Again seeking a long game I thought I'd try a Caro-Kann (1.e4 c6) to be thrown when my opponent played 2.Nf3 instead of 2.d4 . So I decided to switch to a line of the modern with 2.d6 which I think confused both of us. My opponent obligingly also offered a pawn for nothing but I didnt notice and missed it. We went into a double rook endgame level but I created enough of an imbalance to give me a slight practical edge and when he blundered another pawn this time I ate it. After he allowed me to swap off the rooks it was simple technique for the win. So Round 5 against a guy also with 3 wins and a bye so it was the decider. Again not wanting to have to sit around waiting for the prizegiving I decided to play Queen's Gambit as likely to produce a long game. again my opponent gave me a pawn early and then followed it up with giving me a rook for knight and I thought I was home with swapping off, only for him to put up a heroic and frustrating defence for four hours (I got my long game!) and when he won a pawn back the outcome didnt look at all certain, especially as my time was running low. I considered a sacrifical attack which would have been devastating but I didnt need it as he made a serious blunder allowing my queen to penetrate. Amusingly he thought he resigned when I had won his queen, but in fact I had mated him and neither of us noticed! Just £60 first prize is v meagre for a £25 entry but it was fun. A little way to the cost of a new puter!

[petejwatts]

My winning game:

1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Bf4 {last book move} Bd6 4. Bxd6 cxd6 5. cxd5 exd5 6. e3
Nf6 7. Nc3 O-O 8. Bd3 Re8 9. Nf3 Nc6 10. O-O Ne4+- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 10...
Be6 11. Qb3 Qd7 12. Rac1 Rac8 13. h3 h6 14. Qa3 Red8 15. b4 a6 16. Na4 Qc7 17.
Qb2 Rd7 18. Nc3 Qb6 19. a3 +/=) 11. Nxd5 Qa5 +- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 11... Bg4
12. h3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 Nd2 14. Qf5 g6 15. Nf6+ Kg7 16. Nxe8+ Qxe8 17. Qb5 Nxf1
18. Rxf1 Qe7 19. Rc1 Rc8 20. Rc3 a6 21. Qb3 +/-) 12. Bxe4 Rxe4 13. Nc3 Rg4 14.
Ne2 Bf5 +- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 14... Re4 15. Qb3 Re7 16. d5 Nb4 17. Nf4 Na6 18.
Nd4 Nc5 19. Qc4 Bd7 20. Rfc1 Ne4 21. b4 Qb6 22. f3 Nf6 23. Qb3 Rae8 24. Rc3 +/-
) 15. Ng3 $16 ({Deep Fritz 13:} 15. Nf4 Be4 16. Nd2 Bf5 17. Nc4 Qd8 18. f3 Rh4
19. g3 Rh6 20. e4 b5 21. Ne3 Bd7 22. Qd2 Qf6 23. Rad1 Rc8 24. Ned5 Qg5 25. Rc1
Be6 +-) 15... Be6 16. Qd2 Qd5 +- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 16... Qxd2 17. Nxd2 Rg5
18. Nde4 Rb5 19. Nxd6 Rb6 20. Nde4 Rxb2 21. Rfb1 Rxb1+ 22. Rxb1 b6 23. Rc1 Ne7
24. a3 Rd8 25. f4 h6 26. Kf2 f5 27. Nc3 +/-) 17. e4 +- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 17.
h3 Rxg3 18. fxg3 Bf5 19. Rac1 Re8 20. b3 h5 21. Rc3 Bg6 22. Rfc1 f6 23. Qe1 a6
24. Qf2 Nb4 25. Qe2 Nc6 26. Qd2 Be4 27. Qf2 Qe6 +-) 17... Rxe4 18. Nxe4 Qxe4
19. Rfe1 Qd5 20. Re3 Rc8 21. h3 Ne7 22. Rc3 Nc6 23. a3 Re8 24. Rd1 Bd7 25. Re3
Rc8 26. b4 a5 +- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 26... a6 27. Rc3 h6 28. Rf1 Bf5 29. Re1 Kh7
30. Qf4 Be6 31. Ree3 Kg8 32. Rc1 Bf5 33. Re2 Be6 34. Ree1 Rd8 35. Rc3 a5 36.
bxa5 Qxa5 37. Rec1 Qb5 38. Re3 Qb2 39. Rce1 Qc2 40. R3e2 Qd3 41. Qe3 +-) 27.
Rb1 +- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 27. b5 Nd8 28. a4 Ne6 29. Qxa5 Nf4 30. Rde1 g6 31.
Rc3 Kg7 32. Rxc8 Bxc8 33. Qc3 Bf5 34. Re7 Bd3 35. Qd2 g5 36. h4 h6 37. Re8 b6
38. Rb8 Qc4 +-) 27... axb4 28. axb4 Na7 29. Ra3 +/- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 29. Rc1
Bc6 30. Qd3 Nb5 31. Ree1 g6 32. Kh2 Rf8 33. Ra1 Qh5 34. Re3 Rc8 35. g4 Qd5 36.
Kg3 h5 37. g5 Kg7 38. Kh2 Bd7 +-) 29... Nb5 30. Rd3 Qc4 +- ({Deep Fritz 13:}
30... Bf5 31. Rc1 Ra8 32. Re3 h6 33. Qd1 g6 34. Ra1 Rc8 35. Ra5 b6 36. Ra6 Nc3
37. Qd2 Qc4 38. Ra7 Be6 39. Kh2 Kg7 $16) 31. Re1 Kf8 32. d5 Nc3 ?+- ({Deep
Fritz 13:} 32... Qc2 33. Qxc2 Rxc2 34. Nd4 Rc8 35. Nxb5 Bxb5 36. Ra3 Bc4 37.
Rc1 b5 38. Kh2 g5 39. Kg3 Rd8 40. Rd1 Kg7 41. f4 h6 42. Ra6 Kg6 43. Kf3 f5 44.
g3 +-) 33. Rd4 Qc7 $2 +- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 33... Qb5 34. Kh2 Kg8 35. Rc1 Na4
36. Rxc8+ Bxc8 37. Qc2 Qe8 38. Qc7 Bd7 39. Qxb7 Qd8 40. Rc4 Kf8 41. Ng5 h6 42.
Ne4 Be8 43. Qc7 +-) 34. Ng5 h6?+- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 34... Kg8 35. Re7 Nb5
36. Rde4 h6 37. Rxf7 Qc1+ 38. Qxc1 Rxc1+ 39. Kh2 hxg5 40. Rxd7 Rc7 41. Rxc7
Nxc7 42. Re7 Nxd5 43. Rxb7 Kf8 44. b5 Nf6 45. b6 g4 46. hxg4 +-) 35. Ne4?+-
({Deep Fritz 13:} 35. Nh7+ Kg8 36. Nf6+ Kf8 37. Rh4 Ne2+ 38. Qxe2 Qd8 39.Nxd7+ Qxd7 40. Re4 Qd8 41. Re7 Rb8 42. b5 b6 43. Qc2 Kg8 44. Qc6 Kf8 45. Rd7Qf6 46. Qc7 Ra8 47. Qxb6 +-)
35... Nb5 36. Rd3 Bf5 +- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 36...Re8 37. Rde3 Qd8 38. Nc3 Nxc3 39. Rxe8+ Bxe8 40. Qxc3 b6 41. Qe3 Bb5 42. Ra1Qb8 43. Qf4 Kg8 44. Kh2 Bd7 45. Re1 Qf8 46. Kg3 f6 47. Qd4 Qd8 48. Qd3 Qf8 +-)
37. Rf3?+- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 37. Qf4 Bh7 38. Rde3 Qd8 39. Ng3 Nc7 40. Nf5
Bxf5 41. Qxf5 g6 42. Qd3 b5 43. Qd4 Kg8 44. Re7 Qf8 45. Rd7 Ne8 46. Qb6 Ra8
47.Kh2 Ra2 48. Qd8 +-) 37... Bg6 38. Rg3 +- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 38. Qf4 Kg8 39. h4
Qd7 40. Ng3 Nc7 41. h5 Bh7 42. Rc3 Rd8 43. Qc4 Ne8 44. Rce3 Kf8 45. Qe2 Nf6 46.
Re7 Re8 47. Rxd7 Rxe2 48. Nxe2 Nxd7 49. Rc1 +-) 38... Re8 +-
({Deep Fritz 13:} 38... Bxe4 39. Rxe4 Qc1+ 40. Qxc1 Rxc1+ 41. Kh2 Nc7 42. Ra3 g5 43. Ra7 b5
44.Rb7 Rc2 45. Rd4 Ke7 46. Rd3 f5 47. Re3+ Kd7 48. Ra3 f4 49. f3 Kc8 50. Raa7 Rc4 +-)
39. Rge3 Qd7 ?+- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 39... Bxe4 40. Rxe4 Rxe4 41. Rxe4
Qd7 42. Qd3 Nc7 43. Rc4 Kg8 44. Qc2 Ne8 45. h4 g6 46. Qc3 f5 47. Rc8 Kf7 48.
Qc1 Kg7 49. Qc4 Kf6 50. g3 $18) 40. Nc3 ?+- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 40. Nc5 dxc5
41. Rxe8+ Qxe8 42. Rxe8+ Kxe8 43. Qe2+ Kd8 44. Qxb5 cxb4 45. Qxb4 Kc7 46. Qe7+
Kb6 47. d6 Bf5 48. d7 Bxd7 49. Qxd7 Ka6 50. Qxf7 b5 51. Qxg7 b4 52. Qxh6+ Kb5
53. Qe6 +-) 40... Nc7 41. Rxe8+ Nxe8 42. Re3 Nf6 43. Qe1 Bf5 44. Qa1 Qd8
45.Qa5 Qc8 +- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 45... Qb8 46. Qb6 Kg8 47. b5 Bd7 48. Rf3 Ne8
49.Qd4 b6 50. Ne4 Qd8 51. Ra3 Bxb5 52. Rb3 Bd7 53. Qxb6 Qa8 54. Qb7 Qa4 55. Rb4 +-)
46. Qb6 +- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 46. Nb5 Ne8 47. Qb6 Qd7 48. Nd4 Bg6 49. Nc6
Qc8 50. Nd8 Nf6 51. Nxb7 Qc1+ 52. Kh2 Kg8 53. Nxd6 Qd2 54. b5 Kh7 55. Nc4 Qxd5
56. Qc6 +-) 46... Qd7 47. Qd4 Bg6 48. b5 Qd8 49. b6 Nd7 50. Na4 Bc2 51. Rf3 +-
({Deep Fritz 13:} 51. Nb2 Bg6 52. Nc4 Kg8 53. Ra3 Nc5 54. Kh2 h5 55. Qf4
Nd3 56. Qxd6 Qg5 57. Ra4 Nxf2 58. Qg3 Qf6 59. Qf3 Qd4 60. Qe3 +-) 51... Bxa4
52. Qxa4 Nxb6? +- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 52... Kg8 53. Qf4 Qf8 54. Qb4 Nc5 55. g3
Qd8 56. Kg2 Qg5 57. Qd4 Qd8 58. Qg4 Nd7 59. Qf4 Nf6 60. Qf5 Qxb6 61. Rc3 Qb5
62. Rc8+ Ne8 63. Qe4 Kf8 64. Ra8 +-) 53. Qf4?+- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 53. Qa5
g6 54. Rb3 Qg5 55. Qxb6 Qxd5 56. Qxb7 Qe5 57. Qb4 h5 58. Re3 Qf6 59. Re1 g5 60.
Rd1 Ke7 61. Qb7+ Kf8 62. Qb8+ Kg7 63. Qxd6 Qf5 64. Rd5 Qf6 +-) 53... Qd7 54.
Qd4 Nc8 55. Qe4 g6 ?+- ({Deep Fritz 13:} 55... f6 56. Rb3 Ne7 57. Qd4 Nc8
58. Kh2 Kf7 59. Qb4 b6 60. Qc4 f5 61. Qc6 Qxc6 62. dxc6 d5 63. Re3 g5 64. c7 f4
65. Re1 d4 66. Rd1 +-) 56. Qxg6 Ke8? ({Deep Fritz 13:} 56... Qe7 57. Qxh6+
Ke8 58. Re3 Kd7 59. Rxe7+ Nxe7 60. Qh5 Ke8 61. Qf3 Nc8 62. Qe4+ Kd8 63. Qf4 Ke8
64. Qb4 Kd8 65. Qxb7 Ne7 66. Qa6 Nc8 67. Qa4 Ke7 68. Qh4+ Ke8 69. Qh8+ Kd7 70.
Qg8 f6 71. Qe6+ +-) 57. Qg8+ Ke7 58. Rxf7# 1-0