We are happy to announce that the American copies of the ‘Killer French’ DVDs are now ready for shipping.
There was a slight delay due to problems at the replicator but the first batch of DVDs have already been sent out. We await to hear your reviews!
The minds behind gingergm.com thought that it was worth applying for the title of ‘ECF website of the year’ award. http://www.englishchess.org.uk/?p=5588 but in the end it went to another site.
We had a quick discussion about this last night and came to the conclusion that if we ever won the award then we really should hold our heads in shame. (we not jealous, really we are not…)
Why don’t we want such a worthy title you may ask? Well for a start it means that we are not being edgy enough and I also suppose that we kind of enjoy being a bit outside of the norm here at gingergm.
In honour of this attitude the ‘bottom board man’ sent me today’s lesson, which can be seen below…
I have been playing like a bit of a patzer of late, so I now welcome ‘bottom board mans’ attempt at cheering me up.
‘Bottom board man’ has found some interesting signs of when one is in danger at chess, on top of this he has also searched the internet for some chess related jokes.
Any other comments/jokes are always welcome!
To be opposite
1. To be in contention or conflict with: oppose the enemy force.
2. To be resistant to: opposes new ideas.
3. To place opposite in contrast or counterbalance.
4. To place so as to be opposite something else.
To act or be in opposition.
We’re now at the final stage of the tournament. With only 3 rounds to go, the pressure is firmly on and every game will prove to be crucial. After a difficult game yesterday, Simon was paired against Stuart Conquest, the 1998 British Champion. As you can see, the pairings don’t get any easier!
Simon chose to wheel out the French – not a bad idea, especially when you have just released two DVDs on the same opening. (Good bit of promotion there, Simon!) ;o) Stuart, a notoriously difficult player to prepare against due to his vast opening repertoire, decided to play a fairly offbeat line in the Advanced Variation. In fact, the position that arose after 8…Nh4 cannot be found in any chess databases at Ginger HQ. Following on from the opening, Black had more control of the centre whereas White had a useful space advantage. The position was fairly dynamic and White seemed to have a slight advantage, however, when given the chance, Stuart should have swapped off Black’s most active piece, namely the dark squared bishop on f6.
Later on in the game, Black exchanged White’s dark squared bishop on d4 with his knight and made full use of his bishop pair by opening the position up. Stuart mistakenly allowed Black to roll his centre pawns down the board. Take a look at the final position below to see Black’s overwhelming pawn storm.
Simon now faces tournament leader and number one seed Mickey Adams with the black pieces. If anyone can stop Mickey in his tracks, it’s Simon. Stay tuned for the outcome!
British Champion? Pah! At Ginger HQ, we were more interested in who was going to win the coveted title of Ginger Champion! With so much pride and honour at stake, this game was always going to be a hotly contested affair and needless to say, both players did not disappoint.
Adam chose to play the Richter-Rauzer Attack against Simon’s Classical Sicilian setup. In typical fashion, White quickly completed his development and started punting his h-pawn down the board with the sole aim of creating havoc on Black’s kingside. Meanwhile Simon, who wisely chose to leave his king in the centre for the time being, wasted no time in mounting an attack on White’s queenside-castled king with the typical a7-a6 and b7-b5 plan. Whilst Adam’s attack seemed to run out of steam, Simon’s was gaining full momentum, so much so that he managed to play b3 in the following position:
On move 24, Simon missed his chance to take full advantage of his huge attack. He chose to play 24… Qa4 in the position below, whereas 24… 0-0 followed by either Na5 or Rc7 would have been better. White is never really threatening to capture on b3 because 25… Qa4 gives Black a big advantage due to the fact that the knight is pinned to the rook on d1.
Later on in the game, Simon sacked the exchange on c3 – now let’s be honest, we all knew that he would be itching to sack somewhere along the lines. It was more a matter of when rather than if. You can see Simon’s moment of glory below:
It was soon clear that Black had more than enough compensation for the exchange so Adam felt that he had to sacrifice the material back in order to keep his position alive. Although Simon was a pawn down in the later stages of the game, he still had a slight advantage as White’s king was so vulnerable. Unfortunately, Black needed a few extra pieces on the board if he wanted to mate White and the position soon petered out to a draw where both players were unable to make progress.
Sadly, the title of ‘Ginger Champion’ cannot be awarded as the game was left undecided. Perhaps we can arrange for a re-match soon. Best of three guys? 
Round 4 GM Simon Williams v Mark Rich 1 – 0
It’s every chess player’s worst nightmare – scrolling down the pairings only to find that you’re paired against a friend who also happens to play in the same team(s) as you. This is exactly what happened in round 4. So, how did the two Drunken Knights prepare for such an occasion? The answer’s pretty obvious given the team they play for – they headed down the pub the night before to celebrate the encounter!
Anyway, back to the game. Mark decided to play the Nimzo-Indian against Simon but made a positional mistake in the opening when he played 6…b6 because after 7. Bg2, Black can never really develop his bishop to b7 as White can play Nd2, exploiting the fact that the black knight on e4 is pinned.
Mark realised this and played 8…d5 in the game, however, by doing so, he weakened his position further. Simon quickly took advantage of this and won a pawn on move 13 in the position below:
Black’s position collapsed shortly after this and the game ended on move 25 in White’s favour.
Simon now has 3 points out of 4 and is back in business!
Round 2’s encounter featured a tense battle in the Nimzo Indian. Simon appeared to have a slight advantage early on and looked to be pressing on the queenside but as move 30 approached, the position became unclear and Black started to take advantage of White’s rigid pawn structure, namely White’s backward pawn on e3. Later on in the game, Black mistakenly played 32 …Qf7 allowing White to play Qh1 and the game quickly turned in White’s favour.
Due to the accelerated pairings in use at the British, Round 2 played host to the first GM clash on board 1 between Grandmasters Michael Adams and Aaron Summerscale. Mickey, on the white side of an advanced Caro Kann, played impressively to beat Aaron in 29 moves.
After 2 rounds, only 5 players remain on maximum points. In round 3, Simon will play IM Jack Rudd, a player known for his speed. Time for some ginger magic!
At long last, the wait is finally over! The 97th annual British Chess Championships has now started and Mr GingerGM himself, Grandmaster Simon Williams, is in full action. In round 1, he defeated Ryan Rhys Griffiths, a talented young player from Ireland who seems to be improving year in, year out. Simon, on the black side of a symmetrical English, managed to break down White’s solid defence using his tactical prowess. Check out 27… Nxe4 in the diagram position!
Shortly after, an ending was reached whereby Simon had the bishop pair and an extra pawn against his opponent’s bishop and knight combo. He successfully managed to convert his advantage and the game ended on move 50. Simon now faces IM Paul Littlewood in round 2. Here’s hoping for another successful day!
I am afraid to announce that there is going to be a slight delay in the release date for the Killer French DVD’s.
I have just been told that the replicator had a slight problem that took a bit of unexpected time to overcome.
This means that the new release date for DVD 1+2 will be the 1st August – For Europe
15th of August – For the USA and Canada.
I must sincerely apologise for this. The delay has annoyed me somewhat but the product must be perfect before we send it out. I hope that you will agree that it is worth the wait.
