How Dona toppled a giant!

Dona Strauss lived in Hull for many years before she came to Brighton. In 1996 Michael Adams, who is one of the best players in the world, came to the Yorkshire city to give a simultaneous. Out of forty one games he lost only three, one of which was against an inspired Dona. We must make allowance for the fact that the grandmaster was taking on so many players at the same time, but Dona deserves credit for enterprising play. The game was published in the Hull Chess Club magazine (November/December 1996 issue) with annotations by club champion, Stuart Brown, but computer analysis has come a long way since 1996. I have tried therefore to update his comments. Please contact me, if you want a game published on the club website.

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[Event "41 board simul at Hull"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "04-11-1996"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Michael Adams"]
[Black "Dona Strauss"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
[B01]

1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Nf6 3. c4 e6 {The Icelandic Gambit, in which the Black player hopes that good piece development and pressure on the d4 square will provide compensation for the pawn sacrificed.} 4. dxe6 Bxe6 5. Be2 {A cautious move, which does not contest Black's pressure on the d4 square. 5 d4 or Nf3 are more normal.} Bc5 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. d3 O-O {A sound move. Also to be considered was 7...Qe7 followed by 0-0-0.} 8.
O-O Nd4 {8...Re8 may have been more accurate to meet 9 Be3 with Bxe3 10 fxe3 Bg4 with approximate equality. After 8...Nd4 White could probably have gained an advantage.} 9. Nxd4 Bxd4 10. Nc3 {Better was 10 Nd2 followed by 11 Nb3 or f3 challenging the d4 square.} c6 11. Be3 Re8 12. Qd2 {We do not know if Michael deliberately sacrificed the pawn back to gain development. White is struggling to gain an advantage because of Black's occupation of the d4 square. He could have tried 12 Qb3 b5 13 Bf3 Rc8, but Black's position was solid.} Bxe3 13. fxe3 Bxc4 14.
Kh1 {A cautious move. 14 Rf3 was a little better.} Be6 15. Rf4 Qe7 16. Raf1 Nd5 {16...Rad8 looks better. The knight on d5 might become a catalyst in allowing White to advance his central pawns - as actually happened in the game.} 17. R4f3 Rad8 18. d4 {White naturally tried to advance his central pawns, though they soon came under attack. 18 Rg3 might have been a little better.} c5 19. e4 Nf6 {The clearest path to equality seems to have been by playing 19...cxd4 20 Nxd5 Bxd5 21 exd5 Qxe2 22 Qxd4 f6. In this line 21 Bb5 can be met with 21...Bc6 with complex play, which is in Black's favour.} 20. d5
Nxe4 {The crucial point in the game. 20..Bd7 was playable with perhaps a slight advantage for White. Instead Dona plays a bold and imaginative move, which probably came as a great surprise to her illustrious opponent. The complex variations might have been in White's favour, but Michael would not have had the time to enter into complicated calculations.} 21. Nxe4 {A losing move. Stuart Brown in the Hull CC magazine gives as his main line 21 Qf4 Bxd5 22 Nxd5 Rxd5 23 Bc4 Nf6 24 Bxd5 Nxd5 25 Qxf7+ Qxf7 26 Rxf7 Ne3 with a draw as White has no good move for his rook on f1. Stuart does not consider other queen moves for White. 21 Qd3 loses against 21..Nxc3 and 21 Qe3 is met by 21...Bg4 22 Rxf7 Qg5 with the better game for Black, but more challenging is 21 Qc2. Black's best reply would seem to be 21..Bg4 when 22 Rxf7 Qh4 23 Nxe4 Bxe2 24 Qxe2 Qxe4 25 Qxe4 Rxe4 26 Rxb7 h5 27 Rxa7 Rxd5 28 h3 Re2 is more or less equal. More dangerous for Black is 24 Rxg7+ Kxg7 25 Qc3+ Kg6 26 Rf6+ Kh5, but amazingly Black's king cannot be mated!} Bxd5 {White is now lost in all variations and Dona mops up in convincing style.} 22. Nf6+ Qxf6 23. Rxf6 Bxg2+ 24. Kxg2 Rxd2 25. Rxf7 Rexe2+
26. Kg3 Rg2+ 27. Kh4 Rxh2+ 28. Kg4 Rdg2+ 0-1

 

Pretty mate by John Henshaw

John gained a vital win for the first team in our recent match against Horsham 1. This season in the Mid-Sussex League he has scored 8/9 which makes him a contender to hold the tankard for a year, which is awarded for the highest individual score in the division. Not everyone knows that John won the county championship in 1972 and regularly played on a high board for the club and Sussex for many years. He took a break from chess in 1996 and it is no coincidence that the first team has fared better in the three seasons since he returned to the game. In this game an attractive sacrifice on move 26 allows penetration on the black squares. John has kindly supplied the comments to the game.

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[Event "Mid-Sussex League"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "20.03.2014"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Ian S Comley"]
[Black "John C Henshaw"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]
[20.03.2014]

1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. Bg2 Bg7 4. Nc3 O-O 5. e4 d6 6. Nge2 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d3
a6 9. a3 Rb8 10. Rb1 b5 11. cxb5 axb5 12. b4 cxb4 13. axb4 Bd7 {White's variation is extremely solid - albeit drawish. It is difficult for Black to inject any dynamics/asymmetry in the set-up he has adopted.} 14. Bg5{?! Better I think is 14 h3 with Be3 & Qd2 and/or f4 & f5.} h6 {?! This does weaken both h6 and g6, but I wanted to avoid Qd2 with Bh6 to follow.} 15.
Bd2 Kh7 {Will be needed anyway.} 16. Qb3 {?! Not really relevant. 16 h3 with f4 & f5 to follow looks better. 16 d4 is also playable.} Ne5 {!? Trying to exploit the slight lack of co-ordination of White's pieces, but also risking speeding up f4-f5.} 17. Nd4 {The computer might prefer 17 Qc2, but this is more human.} Qb6 {17...Nd3 is fine, but I didn't want to give White a passed b-pawn after 18 cNb5.} 18. Be3 {?! cNe2 definitely better.} Neg4 19. Nc2 Nxe3 20. fxe3 {? 20 Ne3 - but Black is very comfortable then.} Be6 {OK but bRc8 is better.} 21.
Nd5 Bxd5 22. exd5 Rbc8 {The idea of Be6 was to dominate the Black squares.} 23. h3 {? But here 23 d4! holds albeit Black has reasonable chances after 23...Rc7 & fRc8.} Nh5 {! White's position falls apart quickly.} 24. g4 Rc3 25. Qa2 Rfc8 26. Rf2 Rxc2 27.
Rxc2 Qxe3+ 28. Kh1 Ng3+ 29. Kh2 Be5 {This was the idea when I played Nh5, but 29...Rc2 30 Qc2 Qf4 is brutal but effective.} 30. d4 {If 30 Rc8 Ne2+ 31 Kh1 Qg3. 30 d4 delays the end. White sportingly allows a mate.} Bf4 31. Rf2 Ne2+ 32. Rxf4 Qxf4+
33. Kh1 Rc1+ 34. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 35. Kh2 Qg1# 0-1

MSCL AGM

The Mid Sussex Chess League AGM will be hosted by Lewes Chess Club and will take place on 17 June. Please take this as a final reminder that any proposals for rule changes should be submitted to me by 12 May 2014.

Ian Comley
Hon Secretary

If anyone would like the club to propose a rule change please discuss it here or let the committee consider it. Individuals can submit their own proposals but having the support of your club will carry more weight.

Fireworks from Michael Hamilton

Rapidly improving Michael recently won an exciting game in the Brighton 3 v Horsham 2 match. Faced by a very experienced opponent in Peter Harbott, he sacrificed a bishop, then a rook and finally a rook for a bishop before mating the enemy king. The comments in the enclosed game are Michael's and mine and are based on computer analysis. If members of the club want a game published on the blog, please contact me.

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[Event "Mid Sussex League Div 2"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "08.04.2014"]
[Round "?"]
[White "Peter Harbott"]
[Black "Michael J Hamilton"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

1. d4 e6 2. e4 d5 3. exd5 {A rather drawish way to play against the French
Defence} 3... exd5 4. Bd3 Nc6 5. c3 Bd6 6. h3 {White's opening moves signal
that he is aiming for a simple, quiet position with everything under control.
With 6.h3 White wants to prepare Nf3 without allowing any Bg4 pins. However,
delaying development can be surprisingly risky in the French Exchange due to
the rather open pawn structure.} 6... Nf6 7. Nf3 O-O 8. O-O Ne4 {This and
Black's next move form an ambitious plan to unsettle White.} 9. Re1 f5 10.
Qb3 Kh8 11. Kf1 {This puts the king on the vulnerable 'f' file. Better 11
Nbd2.} 11... Ne7 {Better 11...Na5} 12. Ne5 {White is in trouble after this. 12
c4 was better.} 12... c5 {A good move, but 12...Bxe5 13 dxe5 Ng6 was even
better.} 13. Bxe4 {Opens the 'f' file for Black, which cannot be healthy.
Better 13 Qd1, though White has a poor position.} 13... fxe4 14. Bg5 Bxe5 {A
good move, but probably better (although leading to complex variations) was
14...Qe8. If 15 Bxe7 Qxe7 16 Qxd5 Qh4 17 Re2 Bxe5 followed by Bg4 wins for
Black. White also has 17 Nf7+ Rxf7 18 Qxf7 Bxh3 19 Nd2 Rf8 20 Qxf8+ Bxf8 21
gxh3 Qxh3+ when Black is probably winning. 14...c4 and Be6 are also very good
for Black.} 15. dxe5 Bxh3 {A splendidly imaginative sacrifice, but
unfortunately White does not have to take the bishop. 15...h6 and Rf5 were
both strong for Black.} 16. gxh3 {This seems to lose. The correct move was 16
Qxb7, when 16...Rf7 (16...Bd7 17 e6)17 gxh3 Qf8 (17...Rb8 also seems to lead
to a draw)18 Bxe7 Rxf2+ 19 Kg1 Rg2+ is a draw. White can also try 18 Nd2 h6 19
Be3 (19 Bh4 e3! and 19 Bxe7 Rxf2+ 20 Kg1 Qf4 winning)Nf5 20 Bxc5 Rxb7 21 Bxf8
Rxf8 with a slight advantage for Black and 18 Kg1 Ng6 19 Qxd5 Rf5 with
compensation for the material sacrificed.} 16... Qd7 17. c4 Rf3 18. Re3 Qxh3+
19. Ke1 Qh1+ 20. Ke2 Rxf2+ {Another pretty sacrifice.} 21. Kxf2 Rf8+ 22. Kg3
Nf5+ 23. Kf2 Nd4+ 24. Kg3 Qg1+ 25. Kh4 Nxb3 26. Rxb3 h6 27. Bd2 d4 28. Rg3
Qh2+ 29. Rh3 Rf4+ {A final sacrifice.} 30. Bxf4 Qxf4+ 31. Kh5 Qg5# 0-1

Using the Game Viewer to post games on the blog

I have used the game viewer on the Resources page of the website to post one of the games Michael linked to in his post below. This can be done by anyone if you click on IMPORT PGN to load the game from your chess programme, then copy the embed code which appears in the box on the game viewer and paste it into your blog post. You need to look at Options before you publish and click on Interpret typed HTML and then publish even though it looks like a white box on the edit page.

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[Event "Sample Game"]
[Site "?"]
[Date ""]
[Round "?"]
[White "Nadya Samova"]
[Black "Michael Cain"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. exd5 cxd5 4. c4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e6 6. c5 Be7 7. Nf3 O-O 8.
Bd3 b6 9. b4 a5 10. Na4 bxc5 11. bxc5 Ba6 12. O-O Bxd3 13. Qxd3 Nc6 14. a3
Nd7 15. Bf4 f6 16. Rfe1 e5 17. dxe5 Nxc5 18. Nxc5 Bxc5 19. exf6 Rxf6 20. Bg5
Rxf3 21. Qxf3 Qxg5 22. Qc3 Nd4 23. Rad1 Ba7 24. Rxd4 Qf6 25. Red1 Rf8 26. Qd2
Bxd4 27. Qxd4 Qxd4 28. Rxd4 Rd8 29. Kf1 Kf7 30. Ke2 g5 31. h4 h6 32. hxg5
hxg5 33. Kd3 Kf6 34. Ra4 Ra8 35. g3 Ke5 36. Ke3 Ra6 37. Rg4 Kf5 1/2-1/2

1st Bexhill Rapidplay Congress, Saturday 17th May

Kill two birds with one stone!
Play chess and support the restoration of a beautiful neo-Gothic church in Bexhill. 
See the details at http://sussexrapidchess.blogspot.co.uk for a day out playing chess by the seaside!
Jeremy Hudson

Player Games History

Brian Denman requested I have provided a demo of how historic games could be displayed on the website. Here are 3 previous games i have played against Duncan Badham, Nadya Somva and Luke Rutherford. please click here to see an example. All the best Michael