British 2016 Round by Round

[Tim Harding]

Good to see an Evans Gambit being ventured in R. Pert-Waddington.
Black seems to be out of his book already (judging by thinking times on moves 8 and 9) so I predict 1-0.

[MJMcCready]

What on earth is going on in N.Pert's game? I didn't think it was possible to emerge from the white side of a Caro-kann with such a terrible position.

[MJMcCready]

Is this an attempt to lead an opponent astray down a sideline that has gone horribly wrong in a way that only Grand masters can do. Someone please tell me if his position is better than it looks. Can't work out what he was trying to do.

[Barry Sandercock]

I think his position is ok now. (move 12 ) An unusual variation though, I agree.

[Tim Harding]

Yes, Black seems to have a problem on h5 (and hence f6) which prevented the N going back to e4. Batchelor needs to make something happen before the Pert king reaches safety on h1?
The online engine says 12...c5 13 Nh5 forcing BK to return to e7 with a += mess.

LATER: After 10 minutes Black defended the f-pawn by ...Nd7 but that just allows c3, Bd3, 0-0 etc. so probably 12...c5 was critical.

[Jonathan Bryant]

Longson - Hill, Board 20

Move 24 Qxd6 Qxf5

Both moves deserving of "??" if the transmission is correct.

Not the most difficult tactic to spot, you’d think. One of those curious cases where both players miss something that they’d normally see in the blink of an eye perhaps?

[Paul Dargan]

A tactic that is missed more often than you would imagine. Serper has written whole columns of GM games missing them. I can think of three of my games with the same tactic - one missed and two spotted.

Paul

[Jonathan Bryant]

A tactic that is missed more often than you would imagine. Serper has written whole columns of GM games missing them. I can think of three of my games with the same tactic - one missed and two spotted.

Paul

Oh sure. I can miss absolutely anything at all. It feels slightly odd to see my betters doing it though. Of course it’s much easier to pontificate on somebody else’s games from the comfort of your work desk than actually play for real.

If the clock times are correct Black took about 40 seconds on the recapture. It’s the obvious thing to do after all.

[JustinHorton]

Out of interest, why is Mike Waddington's grade surprisingly low for an FM?

[JustinHorton]

Also, does anybody know the answer to this from above (round 1)?

What happened in the 9-move brevity on board 28? Bit early to lose on time, did mobile phone go off or something like that?

[IM Jack Rudd]

Out of interest, why is Mike Waddington's grade surprisingly low for an FM?

He's one of those people who came on the list over 2300 thanks to his first rated tournament being a really good performance.

[JustinHorton]

I didn't know about that. (Personally I seem to remember starting my first rated tournament with 0/4...)

[MJMcCready]

In Pert - Batchelor, black hs castled into his weakened kingside, is the object of this game to find the most obscure moves and plans imaginable?

[LawrenceCooper]

What on earth is going on in N.Pert's game? I didn't think it was possible to emerge from the white side of a Caro-kann with such a terrible position.

When was it terrible?

[JustinHorton]

Interesting turn of events on board one where they've agreed a draw with Peter Wells the exchange up for a pawn. I'm guessing that Mickey miscalculated and Peter offered the draw due to his clock situation.