British Over 65 Championship 2018
Posted: Wed Aug 08, 2018 8:44 am
I don't know if this is the right place to post this but if not I'm sure someone will tell me.
Here's a tale from the final round of last week's British Over 65 Championship. Poker players among you might recognise a bad beat story! I arrived at Hull City Hall for my last round game. I'm rated 1726 and had 3 points out of 6. I was hoping to achieve my pre-tournament target of 3 1/2 points out of 7 which I reckoned would be a satisfactory score for my rating and current playing level. I sat awaiting my opponent when an arbiter called me over and told me that through some misunderstanding my opponent would not be putting in an appearance. Standing next to him was Oliver Jackson rated 2143. Oliver was on 4 1/2 points and a win would give him a chance of a share of first place. Oliver's opponent was also unable to play having had to go the local A&E department. The arbiter explained the situation and asked if I would be willing to play Oliver instead of my lower rated no-show opponent. Apparently Oliver had been offered a default win but sportingly agreed to play me rather than take the default. I thought I was, after all, in Hull to play chess so decided to wave goodbye to my 50 % score and play Oliver. To my surprise the game lasted a full five hours and was by a long way the last in our section to finish. Although the game was clearly not error-free I thought that at most stages I had good chances of holding on for a draw. However I resigned after blundering on move 56 when I had less than 2 minutes left on my clock. I was not too disappointed, thinking that I had put up a more than reasonable performance against an opponent rated more than 400 points above me, even though my final move was a beginner's blunder. But to my astonishment, I quickly (but obviously too late) realised that had I been just a little more alert instead of my sub-optimal final move I had an alternative bolt from the blue move that would have completely turned the tables. Here is the game, followed by the possibilities with an alternative White move 56:
Instead of 56. Bc5, I should have played 56. Rxg7
after which both 58. ... Qd6+ 59. Be5 and 58. ... Rxf6 59. Qg5+ seem to lead to a significant, if not winning, advantage for White.
I think 56. Rxg7 would have come as a severe shock to Oliver. For me though - the big fish that got away!
Ian McDonald
Here's a tale from the final round of last week's British Over 65 Championship. Poker players among you might recognise a bad beat story! I arrived at Hull City Hall for my last round game. I'm rated 1726 and had 3 points out of 6. I was hoping to achieve my pre-tournament target of 3 1/2 points out of 7 which I reckoned would be a satisfactory score for my rating and current playing level. I sat awaiting my opponent when an arbiter called me over and told me that through some misunderstanding my opponent would not be putting in an appearance. Standing next to him was Oliver Jackson rated 2143. Oliver was on 4 1/2 points and a win would give him a chance of a share of first place. Oliver's opponent was also unable to play having had to go the local A&E department. The arbiter explained the situation and asked if I would be willing to play Oliver instead of my lower rated no-show opponent. Apparently Oliver had been offered a default win but sportingly agreed to play me rather than take the default. I thought I was, after all, in Hull to play chess so decided to wave goodbye to my 50 % score and play Oliver. To my surprise the game lasted a full five hours and was by a long way the last in our section to finish. Although the game was clearly not error-free I thought that at most stages I had good chances of holding on for a draw. However I resigned after blundering on move 56 when I had less than 2 minutes left on my clock. I was not too disappointed, thinking that I had put up a more than reasonable performance against an opponent rated more than 400 points above me, even though my final move was a beginner's blunder. But to my astonishment, I quickly (but obviously too late) realised that had I been just a little more alert instead of my sub-optimal final move I had an alternative bolt from the blue move that would have completely turned the tables. Here is the game, followed by the possibilities with an alternative White move 56:
Instead of 56. Bc5, I should have played 56. Rxg7
after which both 58. ... Qd6+ 59. Be5 and 58. ... Rxf6 59. Qg5+ seem to lead to a significant, if not winning, advantage for White.
I think 56. Rxg7 would have come as a severe shock to Oliver. For me though - the big fish that got away!
Ian McDonald