I am delighted to be posting on this site for the second time, a mere two years and two months after my first contribution! As readers of this site will be aware, I was part of the intrepid KCC contingent that travelled to Llandudno, Wales to play in the 2017 British Chess Championships. I was the sole KCC representative in the Main Event and scored 4.5/9, matching my 50% score from my last Championship in 2015.
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| Me before the start of round 4, courtesy of the British Championships website |
The main motivation however behind being present at the Championships was so I could support the Coventry Chess Academy (CCA) members playing in the junior sections. An unprecedented nine of them competed in age sections ranging from under 8 to under 16, showcasing skill, resilience, determination and effort throughout the event. Some were challenging for medal positions right up to the final rounds and, to my knowledge, more than one England junior squad norm was scored (bringing the recipient closer to selection for the national team). It wasn’t plain-sailing the whole way through. There were blunders, mid-tournament roadblocks and missed opportunities, but these are all part and parcel of the chess tournament experience (including my own). As I said to everyone, each setback or loss represents an opportunity for growth and improvement; a useful lesson for life, not just chess. And the chess on display was at times awe-inspiring. Highlights included Iolanda Ercsei's round 5 masterclass, David Phillips taking a 171-rated opponent to school, Manvith Sandhu defeating last year's British Champion in his age group, Silas Bowcott-Terry scoring 4/7 despite being seeded second from bottom in a field of 41 and Jude Shearsby finishing the tournament playing on the heights of 2nd board. Simply brilliant. Moreover, alongside the serious stuff, everyone had a lot of fun and we took away some very fond memories of our time in Wales.
I spent every morning and evening during the Championships with the CCA's members; watching, encouraging, analysing and preparing. What preparation I did for my own games usually took place the wrong side of 00:00! The nature of my schedule had an impact on my choice of opening and style and too often I found emotions drawing me into the type of battles which were not always to my best advantage. My best performance was probably in round 1 against International Master Craig Hanley, a game in which I stood better and was even winning at various points before I committed errors under time pressure. He went on to achieve a share of first place, losing his playoff to the eventual tournament winner, Grandmaster Gawain Jones. Talk about fine margins! My play ranged from precise, controlled efforts to emulating a drunken machine gunner over the chessboard, which gave the commentators a field day. The only thing that can be said with any certainty is that the brand of chess I displayed was not nearly as dubious as my fashion sense during the event (please see Mark's last post for context)! On reflection, I suppose that scoring 50%, almost exactly what would have been expected of me based on my tournament seeding, was a satisfactory showing under the circumstances. I wore my heart on my sleeve the whole tournament and the results were, if anything, entertaining for everyone concerned. Moreover, I just about managed to play respectably enough to avoid embarrassing myself completely in front of the CCA's members!
I'm pleased to present one of my better efforts from the Championship. It came with the White pieces in
round 7 against a young female player, Katherine
Shepherd. Katherine is a former member of the England Junior Squad and has a
FIDE rating of 1929 and an ECF grade of 173. She was a fellow competitor at the
last British Championship I played in, at the University of Warwick in 2015, in
which she defeated none other than Mark! She also has a number of notable wins
or draws against titled players, so I knew she was not to be taken lightly.
In the game I reverted to a romantic opening of my youth, the French Wing Gambit. I was introduced to this offbeat but enterprising gambit via a Nigel Davies video at the age of twelve and was instantly enamoured. Over the next decade, I used it frequently and with devastating effect, claiming the scalps of dozens of club and county players. However, all indications in the last few years pointed to it having passed its use-by-date. An increasing number of French adherents were finding antidotes to the gambit, equalising with worrying ease and steering the game down dreary paths that left few opportunities for dynamic play. After a fortunate draw against Mark in a Coventry League game, I decided that enough was enough and, with a heavy heart, cast my beloved opening onto the rubbish heap of history. Or so I thought until round 7 of the 2017 British Chess Championship when I once again assumed the mantle of the Wing Gambiteer! Up to that point in the tournament, I had opened with only 1.Nc3 and 1.d4, while the majority of my recently published White games began with 1.g3. None of these choices seemed palatable to me in the circumstances. Through my preparation, I learned that Katherine was well-acquainted with the kind of queen’s pawn openings that I play as White and while ordinarily I would have been content to gradually outplay her in a strategic game starting with 1.g3, I was loath to follow this path due to the tiring nature of a schedule that involved coaching before and after every one of my rounds. In the course of my preparation, I did however notice that she was an exclusive devotee of the French Defence against 1.e4. Memories of past glories with the Wing Gambit were invoked and I was overcome by pangs of nostalgia. Before I knew it, I once again had the position after 4.b4 set up on the chessboard and was engrossed in analysis. I confronted my worst fears - the Black responses that had once seemed to sound the death knell of my beloved opening - and discovered lines for White that appeared to offer excellent practical chances and led to play that resonated with the spirit of the opening. I took further confidence from the opening’s absence in my recently published games as Katherine would be unlikely to expect or prepare for it.
In the game I reverted to a romantic opening of my youth, the French Wing Gambit. I was introduced to this offbeat but enterprising gambit via a Nigel Davies video at the age of twelve and was instantly enamoured. Over the next decade, I used it frequently and with devastating effect, claiming the scalps of dozens of club and county players. However, all indications in the last few years pointed to it having passed its use-by-date. An increasing number of French adherents were finding antidotes to the gambit, equalising with worrying ease and steering the game down dreary paths that left few opportunities for dynamic play. After a fortunate draw against Mark in a Coventry League game, I decided that enough was enough and, with a heavy heart, cast my beloved opening onto the rubbish heap of history. Or so I thought until round 7 of the 2017 British Chess Championship when I once again assumed the mantle of the Wing Gambiteer! Up to that point in the tournament, I had opened with only 1.Nc3 and 1.d4, while the majority of my recently published White games began with 1.g3. None of these choices seemed palatable to me in the circumstances. Through my preparation, I learned that Katherine was well-acquainted with the kind of queen’s pawn openings that I play as White and while ordinarily I would have been content to gradually outplay her in a strategic game starting with 1.g3, I was loath to follow this path due to the tiring nature of a schedule that involved coaching before and after every one of my rounds. In the course of my preparation, I did however notice that she was an exclusive devotee of the French Defence against 1.e4. Memories of past glories with the Wing Gambit were invoked and I was overcome by pangs of nostalgia. Before I knew it, I once again had the position after 4.b4 set up on the chessboard and was engrossed in analysis. I confronted my worst fears - the Black responses that had once seemed to sound the death knell of my beloved opening - and discovered lines for White that appeared to offer excellent practical chances and led to play that resonated with the spirit of the opening. I took further confidence from the opening’s absence in my recently published games as Katherine would be unlikely to expect or prepare for it.
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