Tournament organiser Sean Hewitt has started running a number of successful fide open tournaments in the last couple of years. I thought that I would try my hand in the Amersham open which was due to take place at the end of May. The venue was a grand building stuck in the country by the town of Amersham. Take a look at the view from the outside bar…

It was reasonable strong at the top with 3 Grandmaster playing; myself, Keith Arkell and Mark Hebden. The hotel really was rather grand and being the professional that I am, I decided to to see if the bar was up to scratch. On my way I bumped into Manchester’s finest, Alan Walton, and we decided that it would be a good idea to prepare with a pre game drink.

 

 

For those of you who do wonder, as you can tell from the picture Alan does sometimes also drink non alcoholic drinks…

Most of the chat was about a previous chess trip to Amsterdam but that is another story… Anyway onto the first game. I was White paired against Malcolm Armstrong

And we reached the following position after 16 moves.

Unfortunately for my opponent I had had this opening before against Nigel Short and Jon Speelman so I knew what the right plan was. In the following position I am clearly better but what should White play? 17 e4! Black’s bishop on c6 is the piece that I am most scared about and the move 17 e4 blocks it out of the game. I also had another idea in mind. 17…b5 Black plans 18…b4 kicking my knight away. 18 0-0! Ignoring Black’s plan. 18…Rd8 18…b4 runs into 19 Nd5 when White has gained a tempo on the game, for example, 19…exd5 20 exd5 and I am threatening Re1 and dxc6. 19 Nd5!

This is still strong. Black’s king is stuck in the centre and White has a strong pawn on f6. 19…Bxd5 19…exd5 20 exd5 is too dangerous for Black. 20 exd5 Rxd5 21 Rxd5 Qxd5 22 Qb4

Black is struggling after this; he can’t castle, is threatened with mate on e7 and his pawn is weak on b5. 22…Kd8?! 22…Qd7 was a better try. 23 Qe7+ Kc8 24 Qxf7 The game is now over, my pawn on f7 is too strong. The game finished 24…Qd6 25 Qh5 Rd8 26 Qxh6 e5 27 Qh3+ Kb8 28 Qb3 a6 29 f7 c5 30 h4 Rd7

31 Qd1! The simplest way to win. 31…Qxd1 32 f8=Q+ Rd8 33 Qxc5 1-0.

Not a bad way to start the tournament. I then spent a good evening drinking with some friends in the hotel bar. The problem with a tournament of this sort is the heavy schedule. 7 games cramped into 4 days is tough going. Especially when you enjoy yourself in the evening…

Anyway the next round was very interesting. I was Black faced against Chino Atoko.

1 e4 e6 2 Nf3 I have played this move on a number of occasions. It can turn into a dangerous gambit line against the French after, 2…d5 3 e5 c5 4 b4!? The French Wing gambit, White sacrifices a pawn to consolidate his strong centre. I prefer to sacrifice pawns rather then accept them so I decided to play. 2…b6 Which steers the game towards the Hippo, am opening I have very good results in. 3 d4 Bb7 4 Bb3 d6 5 0-0 Nd7 6 Qe2 Ne7 7 c4 g6 8 Nc3 Bg7 9 Be3 h6 10 Qd2 g5!

This is a typical plan in the Hippo. Black starts to expand on the kingside, I can also now move my knight on e7 to g6, gradually creeping nearer the White king and checkmate! 11 d5 Ng6 12 Nd4 Qe7 

13 Ncb5 This looks a bit scary but I have nothing to fear. 13…Ndf8 I had to be a bit careful, it was important for me to guard e6, for example, 13…Nde5? 14 dxe6 dxe6 15 Nxe6! and White wins a pawn. 14 Rfe1 a6 15 Nc3 Nf4 16 Bf1 N8g6 17 g3

Around here I was feeling very confident. My pieces have found good squares, and I have good chances of launching an attack on the kingside. 17…h5!? My plan is to play 18…h4 and hxg3 opening the h-file for my rook. 18 Nb3 e5!? Another interesting decision which forces me to sacrifice a piece. 19 f3

Originally I had planned 19…g4 here, but I went off the idea after analysing the following variations. 20 gxf4 exf4 (20…Nh4 21 Bg2 looked fairly save for White) 21 Bxf4 Nxf4 22 Qxf4 Bxe5 23 Qe3 and now I had the choice between 23…Qf6 and 23…gxf3 but I rather doubted that I had enough compensation for the sacrificed piece. 19…h4!? The idea behind this is to plant the pawn on h3 and then to attack down the g-file. The h-pawn is a real thorn in White’s side but it is unclear if I have enough compensation for the piece. 20 gxf4 gxf4 21 Bf2 h3

The position I was aiming for. I believed that I had long term pressure for the piece, Fritz does not agree though… 22 Kh1 Qg5 I had to stop 23 Be2 followed by 24 Rg1 when White has consolidated his piece. 23 Bg1 A rather odd move. 23…Bf6 Clearing the g-file. 24 a4! This is a good plan. White creates some counterplay on the queenside. 24…Bc8 The bishop was doing nothing on b7 so I decided to re route around towards White’s king. 25 a5 Nh4!

It’s time for action. 26 Qf2?? This obvious move is probably the critical mistake. White should have left f2 free for the bishop on g1, for example, 26 Qe2 Rg8 27 Bf2 and White is fairly safe on the kingside, whilst being a piece up with a queenside attack! 26…Rg8 27 Nd2

I had an important decision to make here. The obvious move is 27…Qg2+! when the position is simplified after 28 Bxg2 hxg2+ 29 Qxg2 Rxg2 and Black should have the advantage but I did not want to release the tension so soon. Therefore I decided to play 27…Qh5!? which sets up a nasty trap. 28 axb6?? Which White falls into! The critical line was 28 Qe2 Rg2 29 Bf2 Qg6 with a very unclear position. My plan is rook on a8 to g8 when Rg1+ will be mate but it all depends on whether White can stop this plan or not.

28…Rg2! It should all be over now. 29 Bxg2 hxg2+ 30 Qxg2 Nxg2 31 Kxg2 Bh3+ 32 Kh1 Kd7?

A mistake I should have played 32…Qg5 33 Re2 Ke7 with …Rg8 and 0-1 to follow. 33 Bf2 Rh8 34 Rg1 Bg4 35 Rg2 Bxf3 36 Nxf3 Qxf3 37 b7? The final error, as soon as White loses his trump card, the b-pawn the rest is easy for me. 37…Rb8 38 c5 dxc5 39 Rxa6 Rg8 40 Bg3 fxg3 41 Ra8 Qf1+ and White resigned as 42 Rg1 g2++ is mate.

So a good start, 2/2 for the first couple of rounds only 5 to go! Which included an interesting scrap against M Hebden and a quick game against Arkell. Anyway I will finish my report on Amersham soon, cheers for now!