ADDICTS’ CORNER

by Mike Fox and Richard James, the fourteenth and fifteenth most fascinating people in chess (but not necessarily in that order).

Burmese Days

Browsing through the latest ELO list we came across a large number of highly rated players from Myanmar (that’s Burma to you), none of whom we had heard of before. There was evidently something very strange going on.
We are indebted to the indispensible TWIC, in particular an article by Milan Novkovic and an extract from Ian Rogers’ column in the Canberra Times (7/3/99), and to Leonard Barden (in the Guardian) for what follows.
In January 1997 Myanmar had only six rated players. Now, two years later, they have 201, of whom 16 are 2500+ and 52 2400+ (compared, for example, to the Netherlands with 12 2500+ and 45 2400+). They are headed by Zaw Win Lay (2565), Moun Moun Latt (2554), Htun Lynn Kyaw (2541), Khin Than (2541), Thein Dan Oo (2539) and Ye Naung Win Myint (2531). (You think we’re making up these names, don’t you?) Zaw Win Lay had a modest rating of 2230 from 1994 to 1997. In the last three lists his ratings have been 2395, 2465 and 2565.
Further research revealed that, but for a new FIDE rule preventing any player from gaining more than 100 points in a six month period, he would have reached 2577. As he is improving by 100 points every six months, by July 2000 his rating will be 2865, making him number 1 in the world. Other players made even greater strides in the last six months. Nay Oo Kyaw Tun’s real improvement was 237.45 points, which would have put him up to 2632, not 2495 as published. Likewise, Zaw Oo (2300 + 251.7 would have been 2552, not 2400), Myo Naing (2345 + 309.45 would have been 2654, not 2445), and Aung Thant Zin (2310 + 348.75 would have been 2659, not 2410 as published). `
A GM tournament in Yangon (the city formerly known as Rangoon) with eighteen participants produced no less than six GM and eight IM norms. Nine of the lucky recipients were Burmese. The Chinese winner’s performance rating exceeded that of Kasparov at Wijk an Zee.
Here’s a game from the event

Hafizulhelmi Mas (2401) - Thein Dan Oo (2539)
Yangon 1999
Sicilian Defence Grand Prix Attack
1.e4 c5 2.f4 d6 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bb5 g6 5.0-0 Bg7 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.d3 Rb8 8.Nc3 Nf6 9.Qe1 0-0 10.b3 d5 11.e5 Nd7 12.Ba3 Re8 13.Na4 Rb5 14.e6 Nf6 15.c4 Ra5 16.exf7+ Kxf7 17.Ne5+ Kg8 18.Nxc6 1-0

It’s clear that the Myanmar chess authorities are exploiting loopholes in the FIDE rating system to engineer a massive scam. FIDE presumably have no mechanism to prevent this sort of thing happening, and the FIDE Ratings Subcommittee is not scheduled to meet for another 18 months.

Lucky for Some

Some days everything goes right for you, you play as if inspired, the board seems huge, your opponents all blunder against you. It happened to Clemens Allwermann in the Böblingen (Germany) Open in December. 55-year-old Clemens, with a modest national rating of 1925, was keeping pace with a strong field of Grandmasters. When friends asked for the secret of his sudden success he replied "Just lucky this time around". In the last round, facing Russian GM Sergei Kalinichev (2505), he was winning again. Kalinichev resigned, leaving Allwermann in a tie for first place with a score of 7½/9 and an IM norm. Clemens said "It’s mate in 8". The spectators laughed in amazement. "Don’t laugh", said Clemens, "just check it out for yourself". Getting suspicious, they put the position on FRITZ: mate in 8! They then put his other games on FRITZ, and found that the silicon beast usually came up with the same moves. Other questions were asked. Why did the electronics expert never take off his jacket despite the heat in the tournament room? Why was he wearing the same tie throughout the tournament? Why were his ears covered with long hair? Why did he leave the playing room during the game? Nothing was proved, but it’s reported that Clemens intends to play in more tournaments in the future.
Judge for yourself: here’s how Allwermann played before Böblingen.

H Waldmann – Clemens Allwermann
Dresden Open 1993
Modern Defence
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.c4 d6 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.d5 Nd4 6.Nge2 c5 7.Nxd4 cxd4 8.Nb5 Qb6 9.c5 Qxc5 10.Bd2 d3 11.Bxd3 Qb6 12.Rc1 Kf8 13.Nc7 Rb8 14.Qa4 Bd4 15.0-0 Bf6 16.Be3 1-0

And a game from the event:

Clemens Allwermann – Igor Berezovsky (2375)
Böblingen Open 1998
Ruy Lopez
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.Qe2 a6 5.Ba4 d6 6.0-0 b5 7.Bb3 Na5 8.d4 Nxb3 9.axb3 Bb7 10.d5 g6 11.c4 b4 12.Rd1 Nd7 13.Bg5 f6 14.Be3 Nc5 15.Nbd2 a5 16.Ra2 Ra6 17.Ne1 Qa8 18.Rda1 Be7 19.Nc2 0-0 20.Bxc5 dxc5 21.Ne3 Bc8 22.Qf3 Bd7 23.Qg3 Bd6 24.Nf3 Kg7 25.h3 Qb7 26.Nh4 Kf7 27.Ng4 Ke7 28.Nf3 Kf7 29.Qh4 Kg7 30.Qh6+ Kg8 31.Nxf6+ Rxf6 32.Ng5 Be8 33.Qxh7+ Kf8 34.Qh8+ Ke7 35.Qg7+ Rf7 36.Nxf7 Bxf7 37.f4 Ke8 38.fxe5 Bf8 39.Qh7 Qc8 40.Rxa5 Rxa5 41.Rxa5 Qd8 42.Ra6 Qg5 43.Rf6 Bxd5 44.exd5 Qe3+ 45.Rf2 Be7 46.Qxg6+ Kd7 47.Qc6+ Kc8 48.Qa8+ Kd7 49.e6+ Kd6 50.Qc6+ Ke5 51.Qxc7+ Bd6 52.Qg7+ Ke4 53.e7 Kd3 54.Qg6+ Kd4 55.e8Q Bh2+ 56.Kf1 Be5 57.Qxe5+ 1-0

Stop press: we’ve just downloaded TWIC227, which contains 7 games played by Allwermann at the Bad Wörishofen Open. He scored two wins, one draw and four losses, all against players we’ve never heard of.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire?

If, like us, you are among the handful of discerning viewers who regularly give Chris Tarrant and his schlocky quiz show the big E, you will have missed one of the great moments in the history of chess trivia. So did we, but according to eye-witnesses it went thusly: Contestant X is going for thirty-two grand. The question is: 'If you used a gambit, would you be A) cooking; B) gardening; C) playing chess; or D) sewing?'

Contestant X hasn't the faintest, so, as he is entitled to, he says: 'Can I ask the audience, Chris?' 38% of the audience come back with the correct answer. (For the benefit of all you fourth team players, it's C.) Unfortunately, 39% press button B - gardening. The anguished contestant wrestles with this information for some moments, then decides to go for the majority verdict. Oops.

Promotion for Bill and Malc

Check out Hansard (March 16, pp 859 - 860). It records the adjournment debate on the funding of chess, in which Lib-Dem MP Dr Evan Harris (Oxford West and Abingdon) made a passionate speech on the virtues of our game. He listed the famous British Grandmasters who have made such a contribution to the game: Miles, Keene, Stean, Nunn and ...Hartston. Dr Harris, whose advocacy wasn't quite matched by his erudition, then went on to include Munificent Malcolm in his list of notable GMs. A well deserved promotion for our distinguished Executive Editor. Thanks Mabel, for this.

Blackpool Again

We have before in these columns raved about the delights of the annual Blackpool Congress. Where else would you be able to nip out between rounds and see the India Rubber Man and the World's Tallest Woman (Ripley's Believe It or Not Emporium); or sample the World's Scariest Ride (the Pepsi Max, on the Pleasure Beach)? Where else could you play in a hall (The Winter Gardens) which has been illumined by Sir Charles Chaplin, Sir Laurence Olivier, Bob Hope, Dame Vera Lynn, the Grumbleweeds and Freddie (Parrot Face) Davis? Where else but Britain's biggest weekend congress?

This year, the more elderly of your columnists graced this excellent Chessfest with an appearance and was not unsuccessful (well, compared to our recent efforts, four draws and a flukey win looked like a million dollars to us).

Sexists' Corner

The organisers of the aforesaid Congress wouldn't reveal his identity, but one of the male entrants answered the question: 'Do you qualify for the ladies' prize?' as follows: 'Yes I do. Under the Act against Sexual Discrimination.' He didn't win it.

A Sport

As we were composing this month's column, we were telephoned by the BBC's Today programme. They wanted an eminence from the chess world (eg one of us) to appear in a live television debate entitled 'Is Chess a Sport?'. But before we could utter our television appearance mantra ('What's the fee?') the researcher said that she wanted us to take the anti position.

When we explained that this would get us lynched by the chess Establishment, she groaned and revealed that we were number fourteen on her list of possible debaters and the first thirteen had responded in similar vein. This raises two questions: a) is there anyone out there sufficiently loony to take the 'Chess isn't a sport' line? And b) who on earth are the thirteen people the BBC think are more newsworthy/televisual/fascinating than the authors of this column? We are baffled.

The Knaresborough Effect

The Omniscient One (Ken Whyld if you're a new reader) came back to us on the question of drawless tournaments - like the recent Knaresborough Rapid Play (Minor). He tells us that numerous 19th century tournament tables showed no drawn games; but this, says TOO, is misleading. In those enlightened times, draws were regarded as non-games, and were replayed; and yournament tables do not always reflect this. So we're still waiting for further examples of drawlessness from our readers. (And
come on, you guys who organised the Knaresborough thingy; can we have the details please? How many defaults? How many yes? How many games? Otherwise you don't get into the AC Book of Records.)

En passant, Ken draws our attention to the spooky happenings in Germany in 1871. Three tournaments (at Crefeld, Ems and Wiesbaden) had all the ones above the diagonal line, all the zeros below. Any other sightings of this phenomenon will be rewarded with a FARCE GM norm (and a free entry into our Anorak of the Year contest).

More from The Omniscient One

Further to AC 803, TOO says that: a) Steinitz said he could believe that Donisthorpe was Jack the Ripper (fl. circa 1888) b) that he researched the inquest on Donisthorpe (1914) some years ago. D's address was given as 'Dottisholme', Shottermill; and c) Steinitz was of the opinion that The Song of the Nit was by Cubison.

From the same source a nice IAGOCOT: 'He is a lunatic. But he's a splendid chess player. He fed us all his pawns while he deployed his smarter pieces round the back'. Said of Saddam by Gulf War tank commander Col. Mike Vickery (BBC Ceefax Dec 1998

King Homer Joins LASTBUR

An email from young Michael Hamilton Hove with an absolutely scintillating contribution to LASTBUR. He points out that front of the Simpson's chess set not only has the board the wrong way round, but features the following position:
XIIIIIIIIY
9+l+q+-+r0
9pzppzp-+pzp0
9+-+-+-+-0
9-+-zp-+l+0
9+-+n+-+-0
9-+P+-zP-+0
9+PzPPzP-zPP0
9RsNLmK-vLN+0
xiiiiiiiiy
Black, explains Michael, has sacced his king for a queen and an attacking position, with the extremely rare black bishops of the same colour complex.

IAGOCOT 4199572/LASTBUR 9467

Several chessic sightings a propos the recent Lennox Lewis-Evander Holyfield bout.

1. Before the match, Lewis was pictured in the Evening Standard with the board the wrong way round.
2. Commentator Reg Gutteridge was quoted as saying "I don’t think it will be one of the great fights; I see it more as a chess game." Yes, and anyone who’s had a totally won adjudication come back as a draw will know exactly what he meant.
3. When asked his view of the verdict, promoter Don King said, referring to Lennox’s favourite hobby, "When you have a man on the ropes, you’re supposed to finish him, not play chess with him."

Oh, and for new or amnesiac readers, and to answer a recent telephone enquiry, IAGOCOT – It’s A Game Of Chess Out There (using chess metaphors in sporting or other contexts) and LASTBUR – League Against Setting The Board Up Rong (self-explanatory).
 
IAGOCOT 4199573

From the Evening Standard, writing about Geri Halliwell (aka Ginger Spice):
"First came a toe-curling appearance on the Michael Parkinson show, in which the former Spice Girl delivered one-liners with all the spontaneity of a grandmaster making a chess move."

GM

The recent publicity about genetically modified food has produced a spate of GM headlines. Our favourites so far are "Key GM Gene Owned by Monsanto" (but we couldn’t find any GMs called Gene, or even Eugene, on the current ELO list) and "We’ve had GM Tomatoes for Years" (Cabbages, perhaps, but tomatoes?). Any more in a similar vein will be most welcome.

Any Port in a Storm

The normally sedate world of poetry was rocked by scandal when Dragon (the Cambridge University Chess Club magazine) withheld the prize of a bottle of port to the rightful winner of its limerick competition (a certain R James) on the entirely specious grounds that there was only one entry.
As some of the winning verses were not suitable for publication in a family magazine you’ll have to buy a copy of Dragon yourself to read them. Only £2.50 from David Moskovic, Queen’s College Cambridge CB3 9ET or Stuart White, Jesus College Cambridge CB6 8BL.

Basman

A recent Times article informed us that the Jordanian Royal Court is housed at a palace called Basman. We assume the racehorse of that name (which, by the way, is now running over hurdles) is named after the palace, not the Shamble Maniac.

Baseman

Some more records from ChessBase:
The longest game with no captures is now:

Egon Brestian (2455) – Hartmuth Beck (2250)
Austrian Team Championship 1997
St George’s Defence
1.e4 a6 2.d4 b5 3.Be3 Bb7 4.Nd2 e6 5.Bd3 d6 6.a4 c6 7.Ngf3 Nd7 8.c4 b4 9.Nb3 c5 10.d5 e5 11.0-0 Ne7 12.Ne1 Ng6 13.g3 Be7 14.Ng2 a5 15.Nc1 Qc7 16.Ne2 0-0-0 17.f4 Bf6 18.f5 Ne7 19.g4 Ng8 20.g5 Be7 21.Ng3 f6 22.h4 h6 23.Qh5 Rf8 24.b3 Qd8 25.g6 Re8 26.Qe2 Nb8 27.Nh5 Bf8 28.Ne1 Na6 29.Nf3 Kb8 30.Kf2 Ka8 31.Rh1 Qe7 32.Rag1 Qd8 33.Ke1 Bc8 34.Kd2 Bb7 35.Kc1 Nb8 36.Kb2 Nd7 37.Bc2 Bc8 38.Nh2 Bb7 39.Ng4 Qe7 40.Qd2 Rc8 41.Rh2 Re8 42.Bd1 Bc8 43.Be2 Kb8 44.Kc1 Qd8 45.Rhg2 Qe7 46.Kd1 Qd8 47.Ke1 Qe7 48.Kf2 Qd8 49.Kg3 Nb6 50.Rh1 Nd7 51.Kf2 Qe7 52.Kg1 Qd8 53.Rhh2 Qe7 54.Nf2 Qd8 55.Nd3 Qc7 56.Qe1 Bb7 57.Bf1 Rc8 58.Rb2 Re8 59.Rhc2 Rc8 60.Nf2 Re8 61.Rb1 Rc8 62.Rcb2 Re8 63.Bd2 Qb6 64.Nd1 Kc7 65.Bc1 Ra8 66.Rg2 Re8 67.Bd2 Ra8 68.Ne3 Re8 69.Nc2 Ra8 70.Ng3 Qa7 71.Ne2 Nb8 72.Nc1 Kd7 73.h5 Na6 74.Nd3 Nc7 75.Ne3 Re8 76.Ng4 Re7 77.Be3 Kc8 78.Bf2 Rd7 79.Rd1 Qb8 80.Be3 Ne8 81.Rgd2 Qc7 82.Bg2 Qb6 83.Qf2 Nc7 84.Bf3 Na6 85.Nc1 Ba8
½-½

The longest game in which a Knight never moves:

Boris Galanov (2435) – Stanko Kosanski (2425)
Schneider Memorial Budapest 1994
Modern Defence
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Be3 c6 5.Qd2 b5 6.0-0-0 Nd7 7.e5 d5 8.h4 Nb6 9.h5 Nc4 10.Bxc4 bxc4 11.Na4 Bf5 12.Ne2 Rb8 13.f3 gxh5 14.Nf4 e6 15.Nxh5 Bf8 16.a3 Qc7 17.g4 Bg6 18.Nf4 Qb7 19.Qc3 h6 20.Rh2 Qb5 21.Nc5 Bxc5 22.dxc5 Kd7 23.Rdh1 a5 24.Bd4 a4 25.Qe3 Rf8 26.Ne2 Rb8 27.Bc3 Re8 28.f4 Be4 29.Rd1 Kc8 30.Bd4 Qa6 31.Ng3 Bg6 32.f5 Bh7 33.Qf4 Qb7 34.Rdh1 Qd7 35.f6 Bg6 36.Nh5 Qb7 37.Qd2 Qb5 38.Qc3 Kd7 39.Rg1 Rb8 40.Nf4 Rh7 41.Rh4 Be4 42.Nh5 Qa6 43.Ng3 Bg6 44.Rgh1 Rb5 45.g5 Rb8 46.gxh6 Qc8 47.Nf1 Qf8 48.Qe3 Re8 49.Qf4 Be4 50.R1h2 Rb8 51.Qe3 Bg6 52.Nd2 Rb5 53.Nf3 Bf5 54.Bc3 Rb8 55.Bd2 Rb7 56.Qg1 Bg6 57.Qd4 Ke8 58.Be3 Rb5 59.Qc3 Kd7 60.Nd4 Rb8 61.Qa5 Ra8 62.Qb6 Qc8 63.Nf3 Rb8 64.Qa5 Rb5 65.Qa7+ Rb7 66.Qxa4 Qb8 67.Bd4 Qf8 68.Qa6 Rc7 69.Be3 Qb8 70.Qa5 Ra7 71.Qc3 Qf8 72.Qd4 Ke8 73.Qd2 Kd7 74.Rxc4 Qa8 75.Rch4 Ra4 76.Rxa4 Qxa4 77.Qb4 Qa6 78.b3 Qf1+ 79.Kb2 Qxf3 80.Qb7+ Kd8 81.Qb8+ Kd7 82.Qd6+ Ke8 83.Qxc6+ Kd8 84.Qb6+ Ke8 85.c6 1-0

The longest game in which a Bishop never moves:

Ye Rongguang (2520) - ZUGZWANG
AEGON Humans v Computers The Hague 1997
English Opening
1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.d3 d6 6.e3 a5 7.Nge2 Nf6 8.a3 0-0 9.Rb1 Bg4 10.b4 axb4 11.axb4 e4 12.dxe4 Ne5 13.h3 Be6 14.f4 Nxc4 15.0-0 Re8 16.Nd4 c6 17.Qd3 d5 18.e5 Nd7 19.g4 Qb6 20.Kh1 Rad8 21.Nxe6 fxe6 22.h4 Ra8 23.g5 Qc7 24.Bh3 Ndb6 25.Qc2 Qe7 26.Qb3 h5 27.Ne2 Qc7 28.Nd4 Qf7 29.Re1 Bf8 30.Nf3 Ra4 31.Qc3 Ra2 32.e4 Bg7 33.exd5 cxd5 34.Ra1 Rxa1 35.Qxa1 Bf8 36.Qb1 Nd7 37.Nd4 Nb8 38.Bf1 Nc6 39.Nxc6 bxc6 40.Bd3 Kh7 41.Bxc4 dxc4 42.Rd1 Qb7 43.Qe4 c3 44.Rd4 Rb8 45.Kh2 c5 46.Qxb7+ Rxb7 47.bxc5 Bxc5 48.Rc4 Rc7 49.Kg2 Bb6 50.Rb4 Rc6 51.Kf1 c2 52.Ke2 Ba5 53.Rb5 Bc7 54.Rb7 Kg8 55.Ra7 Bb6 56.Rd7 Bc7 57.Kd3 Ba5 58.Ke2 Bc7 59.Rd3 Kf8 60.Ra3 Bb6 61.Ra8+ Kg7 62.Ra2 Kf7 63.Ra1 Bc5 64.Ra4 Bg1 65.Ra3 Rc7 66.Rf3 Bd4 67.Kd2 Bb6 68.Ke2 Ba5 69.Ra3 Bb4 70.Rb3 Bc3 71.Ra3 Kf8 72.Ra2 Bd4 73.Ra4 Ba7 74.Ra6 Kf7 75.Rd6 Bc5 76.Rd8 Rc6 77.Rd7+ Kf8 78.Rd3 Be7 79.Rb3 Bd8 80.Rb8 Ke7 81.Rb7+ Kf8 82.Ra7 Be7 83.Kd3 Bc5 84.Ra8+ Kf7 85.Ke2 Kg7 86.Ra4 Bg1 87.Ra3 Rc8 88.Rg3 Bd4 89.Rd3 Bc3 90.Rd7+ Kf8 91.Rd6 Ke7 92.Ra6 Rc7 93.Ra8 Bd4 94.Ra4 Bb6 95.Rb4 Rc6 96.Rb3 Kd7 97.Ra3 Rc5 98.Rd3+ Ke7 99.Rd6 Ba5 100.Ra6 Kf7 101.Ra7+ Bc7 102.Kd3 Rc6 103.Ra2 Bb6 104.Ra6 Ke7 105.Ke2 Kd8 106.Ra8+ Rc8 ½-½

 
The longest game in which a Rook never moves, also 74 consecutive checks (note that B blunders a piece on move 3 but W doesn’t notice):

H Rebickova – M Voracova
Czech Girls U16 Championship Plzen 1995
Nimzowitsch Defence
1.e4 e5 2.d4 Nc6 3.d5 Nd4 4.Be3 Bc5 5.Nf3 Qf6 6.Bg5 Qb6 7.Nc3 Qxb2 8.Na4 Nxc2+ 9.Ke2 Qxa1 10.Qxc2 d6 11.Nxc5 dxc5 12.Qxc5 Qxa2+ 13.Nd2 a5 14.Qxc7 Nf6 15.Qxe5+ Kd7 16.g3 Qa3 17.Bh3+ Kd8 18.Bxf6+ gxf6 19.Qxf6+ Qe7 20.Qxh8+ Qe8 21.Qf6+ Qe7 22.Qb6+ Qc7 23.Qb2 Qe7 24.Qg7 Bxh3 25.Qxh7 Bg4+ 26.f3 Bd7 27.Nc4 Bb5 28.Kd3 Bxc4+ 29.Kxc4 Qc7+ 30.Kd4 a4 31.Qg8+ Kd7 32.Qxa8 Qb6+ 33.Ke5 Qd6+ 34.Kf5 Qg6+ 35.Kf4 Qf6+ 36.Ke3 Qc3+ 37.Kf2 Qd2+ 38.Kf1 Qd1+ 39.Kg2 Qd2+ 40.Kh3 Qh6+ 41.Kg4 Qg6+ 42.Kh3 Qh6+ 43.Kg4 Qg6+ 44.Kh3 Qh6+ 45.Kg4 Qg6+ 46.Kf4 Qf6+ 47.Ke3 Qc3+ 48.Ke2 Qc2+ 49.Kf1 Qd1+ 50.Kg2 Qd2+ 51.Kg1 Qe3+ 52.Kg2 Qd2+ 53.Kh3 Qh6+ 54.Kg4 Qg6+ 55.Kf4 Qf6+ 56.Ke3 Qc3+ 57.Kf2 Qd2+ 58.Kg1 Qe3+ 59.Kf1 Qc1+ 60.Ke2 Qc2+ 61.Ke3 Qc3+ 62.Kf4 Qf6+ 63.Kg4 Qg6+ 64.Kh3 Qh6+ 65.Kg2 Qd2+ 66.Kf1 Qd1+ 67.Kf2 Qd2+ 68.Kg1 Qe3+ 69.Kg2 Qd2+ 70.Kh3 Qh6+ 71.Kg4 Qg6+ 72.Kf4 Qf6+ 73.Kg4 Qg6+ 74.Kh3 Qh6+ 75.Kg2 Qd2+ 76.Kg1 Qe3+ 77.Kf1 Qxf3+ 78.Ke1 Qe3+ 79.Kd1 Qd3+ 80.Kc1 Qc3+ 81.Kb1 Qb3+ 82.Ka1 Qa3+ 83.Kb1 Qb3+ 84.Kc1 Qc3+ 85.Kd1 Qd3+ 86.Ke1 Qe3+ 87.Kd1 Qd3+ 88.Kc1 Qc3+ 89.Kb1 Qb3+ 90.Kc1 Qc3+ 91.Kd1 Qd3+ 92.Ke1 Qe3+ 93.Kf1 Qf3+ 94.Kg1 Qe3+ 95.Kg2 Qxe4+ 96.Kh3 Qh7+ 97.Kg2 Qc2+ 98.Kf1 Qf5+ 99.Ke2 Qe4+ 100.Kd2 Qxd5+ 101.Kc3 Qc5+ 102.Kd3 Qd5+ 103.Ke3 Qe5+ 104.Kf2 Qf5+ 105.Kg2 Qc2+ ½-½

Incidentally, we’re surprised how much junk there is in MEGABASE: try searching for 1-0, 0-1 and stalemate and see what happens.

Short and Sweet

We kick off with a couple of games from recent Richmond Rapidplays. 9-year-old Peter Poobalasingam, of Barnet Knights and Richmond Juniors, offers a queen in exchange for a King.

Peter Poobalasingam – David Manders
Richmond Rapidplay 21: Intermediate 1999
Albin Counter-Gambit
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e5 3.cxd5 c6 4.dxc6 Nxc6 5.d5 Nce7 6.e4 Nf6 7.Nc3 Bd7 8.Qc2 Rc8 9.Bd3 g6 10.Nf3 b5 11.Nxb5 Rxc2 12.Nd6#

The Richmond Rapidplays are gaining a reputation for remarkable performances by young players. In the 22^nd tournament, Murugan Thiruchelvam beat Danny Gormally, becoming the second youngest English player to beat an IM, as well as drawing with Simon Williams and Gavin Wall, losing only to Gentleman Jim Plaskett. And David Howell shared second place in the Major with a 157 grading performance. Meanwhile, one of our most promising girl players, 15-year-old Heather Richards, won this game in the Open.

Heather Richards – Howard Mather
Richmond Rapidplay 22: Open 1999
Vienna Game
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.d3 Na5 5.Nge2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Ng3 Re8 8.Nf5 Bf8 9.Bg5 c6 10.Qf3 Nxc4 11.Nh6+ gxh6 12.Bxf6 Qc7 13.Qg3+ 1-0

Our next tournament is on April 18 – we look forward to seeing you there.

Two games submitted via e-mail from Chris Kreuzer Cambridge University

Dimitris Vartis – Chris Kreuzer
Cambridge U Cuppers 1998
Sicilian Defence
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.b3 a6 4.Bb2 b5 5.e5 Qc7 6.Ne4 Qc6 7.Qf3 Bb7 8.d3 c4 9.Nh3 cxb3 10.axb3 Qxc2 11.Nd6+ Bxd6 12.Qxb7 Bb4+ 0-1

Chris Kreuzer – Rohan Churm
Cambridge U Championship 1999
French Defence Tarrasch Variation
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nc6 4.c3 e5 5.dxe5 dxe4 6.Nxe4 Qxd1+ 7.Kxd1 Nxe5 8.Bf4 Nf6 9.Nxf6+ gxf6 10.Bb5+ c6 11.Ba4 Nd3
0-1

Fraser McLeod Southampton e-mailed us with a game from the Southampton League, The winner was graded 110, the loser 160.

AC Summers – M Buckley
Southampton League 1998
Franco-Sicilian Defence
1.e4 e6 2.d4 c5 3.d5 Nf6 4.dxe6 fxe6 5.e5 Nd5 6.Qh5+ g6 7.Be2 gxh5 Qa5+ would have won a piece 8.Bxh5+ Ke7 9.Bg5+ Nf6 10.Bxf6#

From Peter Lord Uxbridge:

PR Lord – MH Michlethwaite
Kent Open 1991
Bird’s Opening
1.f4 d6 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.b3 e5 4.fxe5 Nxe5 5.e3 Bg4 6.Be2 g6 7.Nxe5 Bxe2 8.Qxe2 dxe5 9.Qb5+ 1-0

Thanks to Ivor Smith Writtle for giving us a copy of the latest issue of his county magazine, the ambiguously titled Chessex. We found it contained much chess, but precious little sex.

Here’s a win by the Editor:

Ivor Smith – Erki Pesonen
Sussex v Essex U175 1999
Scandinavian Defence
1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6 3.Nf3 g6 4.Bb5+ Bd7 5.Bc4 Bg7 6.0-0 b5 7.Bb3 a5 8.a3 Bc8 9.Nc3 Ba6 10.Re1 b4 11.axb4 axb4 12.Nb5 Nxd5 13.Bxd5 1-0

And proof that the Grob is Good For You:

Colin Ramage – Peter Thompson
Essex League 1999
Grob’s Opening
1.g4 d5 2.Bg2 Bxg4 3.c4 c6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Qb3 Qc7 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.Nxd5 Nxd5 8.Bxd5 Be6 9.Qxb7 and White won a few moves later.