English Chess Forum

The venue is a couple of miles away from the various hotels. Amazing venue really - 'the city of culture' https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of ... of_Galicia

But it also has some building works going on and various health and safety issues with all this torrential rain today. It's been a pretty wet week all round.

Michael - we'll have to see if Niamh can play her game through Skype! Lol

"Are we blaming climate change or the Russians?"

Or ECF membership schemes?

NickFaulks wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 06, 2018 2:47 pm

https://www.accuweather.com/en/es/santi ... ast/307771

Doesn't look great. Are we blaming climate change or the Russians?

This is what Galicia is like a lot of the time, though in fact this week has been (and is going to be) pretty wet over most of Northern Spain.

Team photo taken this morning.

Good photograph and thanks for informative reports. I recognise GM Peter Wells and I think John Merriman on the left. Who are the other coaches?
Shame about the weather, kids and team members usually find worthwhile things to do. All the very best to players and supporters.

Peter Turner wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 06, 2018 10:37 pm

Who are the other coaches?

Charlie Storey in the cap and I think Adam Taylor between Charlie and Peter Wells.

As there are 2 Adam Taylor’s in the domestic chess scene, the coach pictured is FM Adam C Taylor who coached Jessica Mellor to her Gold medal at the 2018 European Schools Chess Championship.

Roger de Coverly wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 06, 2018 10:44 pm

Peter Turner wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 06, 2018 10:37 pm

Who are the other coaches?

Charlie Storey in the cap and I think Adam Taylor between Charlie and Peter Wells.

Gyula Meszaros on the far left.

Do we know if there will be play today?

Matthew Turner wrote: ↑

Wed Nov 07, 2018 10:11 am

Do we know if there will be play today?

Yes, one of the parents has said that the weather is better today and the games are going ahead. The forecast from tomorrow is much worse though.

Matt Bridgeman wrote: ↑

Tue Nov 06, 2018 2:50 pm

Michael - we'll have to see if Niamh can play her game through Skype! Lol

In the absence of Niamh we only managed a 2-2 draw yesterday but I see she used her time more productively and my congratulations and best wishes to her for the rest of the tournament.

Somewhat ominously the two lead news articles on the website https://www.wccc2018.com/ are one that is only available in 'European Spanish' and a bus timetable with no comment.

Round 3 report

The prayers of all the players were answered on day 4 – it was a beautiful day, with the sun shining till late afternoon, a welcome relief from the doom and gloom of the day before. I think the parents and organisers were both relieved as this round started. There were many questions in the air about the suspended round, and there was a meeting between the organisers and delegates to answer those questions. It was decided to cancel the free day and change the round timings to 16:00.

Back to the white and black squares — round 3 commenced at the normal time on Tuesday. The early rest day on Monday certainly helped the England team, who scored a magnificent 11/14 points. Lots of good things happened across the team. Going into the second round, Julia Volovich, George Clarkson and Jacob Yoon were all jointly leading their respective sections.

Julia – Girls U12 – turned what looked like a quiet opening into a tactical battle. She won very impressively with pieces marauding over the board in an unconventional formation, which gradually overran her higher-rated opponent. A very strong effort for Julia, who has looked comfortable in all her games. Julia moves to 3/3 and will again be on the live boards today.

George – U10 Open – was a little nervous before his match, but overcame his nerves to secure a nice position from the opening – his middlegame resulted in the most dynamic, chaotic opening in the tournament to date. After securing a won position, George’s opponent (rated hundreds of point higher than him) found incredible resources to swing the game back, only for George to once again take control with a lovely Queen sacrifice and a won position, determined to give his father and coach a heart attack – he proceeded to hand over his winning position to his seeded opponent until once again, somehow, attaining a drawn position. His opponent declined George’s draw offer, but this time George took complete control and brought home the full point, to leave his father and coach Charlie Storey amazed at the rollercoaster that was witnessed on the live boards at Chess24.com. George is now on 100% despite being a massive underdog in the seedings – a truly remarkable start to this World tournament and more live board action tomorrow! Game of the Tournament so far!

Jacob was on top board in in the open U12 – a real achievement. He played a good game against a highly-rated Indian IM who has some notable victories to his name. The opening was broadly level, but his opponent developed a nagging edge which then became a decisive central advantage. Jacob can take a lot from the loss and looks well placed in round 4.

Girls U12. Anum Sheikh lost a tough, well-played game. Her opponent headed for an unfamiliar position with a new system which lead to a balanced situation where Anum had more experience in the middlegame. The pressure from the middlegame resulted in a complicated endgame, which her opponent played without error. Anum missed some better plans – I am sure she will learn from this game.

Niamh Bridgeman’s preparation was sidestepped, but a good understanding of the opening principles ensured her middlegame had excellent attacking chances, and she delivered a brutal attack to set her tournament on fire! A great win for Niamh.

Abigail and Jessica were the last two to finish on the day – Abigail beat a talented WCM from America to progress to 2/3. Jessica bounced back well to win a long game against a player from Azerbaijan.

Boys U12. Giulio's preparation was sidestepped by his opponent, but this meant his opponent was in slightly unfamiliar territory. Giulio used his positional skill in his middlegame to transform into a very good endgame, which he converted very well. James Merriman played a nice combination to win and move on to 1.5/3. Adam Hussain played a strong game to overwhelm his opponent, and he also moves to 1.5/3.

Girls U10. Roxolana beat the Austrian Girls Champion to move on to 2/3, bouncing back back well from tough round 2. Keerthana was narrowly beaten by a talented player from Bulgaria and remains well positioned on 1.5/3.

Boys U10. Shreyas and Nishchal won their games relatively quickly against lower-rated opponents, and both move to a promising 2/3.

Come on England team – 14/14 is the next target!

John Merriman via John Higgs wrote: ↑

Thu Nov 08, 2018 5:12 pm

George – U10 Open – was a little nervous before his match, but overcame his nerves to secure a nice position from the opening – his middlegame resulted in the most dynamic, chaotic opening in the tournament to date. After securing a won position, George’s opponent (rated hundreds of point higher than him) found incredible resources to swing the game back, only for George to once again take control with a lovely Queen sacrifice and a won position, determined to give his father and coach a heart attack – he proceeded to hand over his winning position to his seeded opponent until once again, somehow, attaining a drawn position. His opponent declined George’s draw offer, but this time George took complete control and brought home the full point, to leave his father and coach Charlie Storey amazed at the rollercoaster that was witnessed on the live boards at Chess24.com. George is now on 100% despite being a massive underdog in the seedings – a truly remarkable start to this World tournament and more live board action tomorrow! Game of the Tournament so far!

Clarkson, George (ENG) - Lee, Jayden Z (USA) 1-0
World Cadet Championship u10 2018 round 03
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. h4 c5 7. d5 h5 8. Nh3 Nbd7 9. Bf4 Qa5 10. O-O Ne5 11. Bxe5 dxe5 12. Ng5 Rd8 13. Qb3 Bd7 14. a3 a6 15. Rfb1 Rdb8 16. Qc2 b5 17. b4 Qc7 18. Qa2 cxb4 19. axb4 bxc4 20. b5 axb5 21. Qxa8 Rxa8 22. Rxa8+ Bf8 23. Nxb5 Qc5 24. Na3 c3 25. Rbb8 Ne8 26. Nc2 Qc7 27. Rd8 Bh6 28. Nf3 Kg7 29. Bd3 Nf6 30. Ng5 Qb7 31. Rdb8 Qc7 32. Kh1 Qc5 33. Kg1 Ba4 34. Rxa4 Bxg5 35. hxg5 Ng4 36. Nd4 c2 37. Bxc2 Nf6 38. gxf6+ exf6 39. Rb7 exd4 40. Bb3 Qc1+ 41. Kh2 Qf4+ 42. Kg1 Qxe4 43. Rbb4 Qe1+ 44. Kh2 Qe5+ 45. Kg1 d3 46. Rd4 Qe1+ 47. Kh2 Qe5+ 48. Kg1 d2 49. d6 Qe1+ 50. Kh2 Qe5+ 51. Kg1 Qe1+ 52. Kh2 Qe5+ 53. g3 h4 54. Rxd2 hxg3+ 55. fxg3 Qe8 56. d7 Qd8 57. Ra8 Qxa8 58. d8=Q Qf3 59. Qd5 Qe3 60. Qxf7+ Kh6 61. Qf8+ Kh5 62. Qh8+ Kg4 63. Qh4+ Kf5 64. Rd5+ Ke6 65. Rd3+ Kf5 66. Rxe3 g5 67. Qh7+ Kg4 68. Qh4+ Kf5 69. Bc2

Nice game!

I apologise for the pedantry but the words above are supplied by John Higgs but written by I think John Merriman, as per the previous daily up-dates.