3rd World School Championships - Round 7

By What Then Tum?

Day breaks early, roughly around the same time as the sun rises (is that a Greek thing?) and it is a somewhat overcast day as per the mood of some of the England contingent. The four Players up against each other have to put aside friendships and prepare as if for a foreign opponent, but they all know that at this crucial stage in the tournament they are taking points off each other. Cruel, cruel world. The only small consolation is that… well, actually, there is no consolation. There is, however, a lot of beer …

{Three hours later, enter stage right} [What’s with the theatrical stage directions? – ed.] (It’s Break-a-Leg to POB!)

Where was I? Ah yes, in the piano bar again. “You wanna me to make a new door?” shouts Alex the barman as I meander towards the wall just to the left of the current door. “Yeah, why not!” Not sure if I have said it out loud as he goes back to polishing the glasses. Maybe now he’ll be able to see what he’s pouring and hit the glass more often than the bar top. Now, I remember I was here for a reason… ah yes, it’s coming back to me… [Today would be good – ed.] I remember snatches of conversation: “…and the last thing you must do is leave him on his own!” I think that was before I left home to get to wherever I am now. Who is the “him” though? A Player? What’s that? I’m definitely receiving the word “Player”… That’s it! Chess! CHESS! I have it. I’m in Greece playing chess – well not myself actually, I’m looking after my very own Player! Or trying to. Now where did I leave him? What chance he’s still there anyway? I know, I’ll ask Alex. But first, I’ll just retire to my workplace, and I don’t mean the piano bar …

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT STOP DUE TO THE IMMINENT CRUNCH GAME OF HIS VERY OWN PLAYER COMMA YOUR REPORTER HAS HAD TO GO LIE DOWN STOP ABNORMAL SERVICE WILL RESUME IF YOU ARE REALLY UNLUCKY STOP

Flight AB434 is now ready for takeoff. All passengers waiting for flight AB434, we are sorry to inform you that you have now missed the flight. Do enjoy the airport terminal and duty free shopping, and we hope you are not inconvenient.

Day breaks early, slightly later than the sun rises (as if to prove a point) and it is a somewhat overcast day as per the mood of some of the England contingent. The four Players up against each other have to put aside friendships and prepare as if for a foreign opponent, but they all know that at this crucial stage in the tournament they are taking points off each other. Cruel, cruel world. The only small consolation is that… well, actually, there is no consolation.

By an even crueller twist of fate, each of the two Eng v Eng pairings is between Players of the same two coaches so coaching is particularly intense, becoming a match within the match (a bit like Gatusso vs the referee). Coaching tips are kept strictly within coaching rooms, voices are lowered and bluffs / double bluffs and poisoned blunders are planned …

Some AHOs relieve the tension with a 5 hour round coach trip to the tomb of Alexander the Great’s AHO, Philip the Second. A great way to take our minds off things! Meanwhile, walks around the hotel complex and surrounding environs help pass the time, as do games of tennis or table tennis, and playing with pesky little bouncy balls that seem to come out of the slot machine by the bagful. And of course, amongst the Players, games of chess commence almost spontaneously wherever there is a chequered board, check table cloth or alternating tone tiles. You’d have thought they would want a break!

Walks locally have revealed a number of surprises, not least of which is the flock of wild boar [Flock? Doesn’t sound threatening enough to be right – ed.] that a group of AHOs stumbled across whilst walking to the local “lively town” (not) of Kallithea. Only afterwards did the resident lawyer and familiar of mediterranean wildlife say: “Run before their mother finds you!”

Now the Chess bit:

Callum – had a slight edge over George but thought maybe not, a draw was good.
George – had a slight edge over Callum but thought maybe not, a draw was good.
David – lost
Ed – swindled a win!
Jessica – guess what, drew again.
Lateefah – great win, back in the running.
Samuel – draws with the Russian top seed, excellent result!
Saravanan – banked Daniel’s sacrificial knight, took the win.
Daniel – miscalculated. Oops.
Charlie – miscalculated too, but on another board. Oops.
Patrick – won
Joseph – good comeback to win, everyone (i.e. Noel) said he had lost already!

STOP PRESS STOP NOEL QUINN LEAVES PLAYING HALL VOLUNTARILY DURING MATCH STOP STOCK MARKETS TUMBLE STOP WESTERN CIVILISATION ON THE BRINK STOP INCLUDING EASTERN CIVILISATION STOP ONLY NEW ZEALAND SAFE STOP TOURNAMENT ABANDONED WHILST SEARCH IS MOUNTED STOP SUSAN QUINN FLIES HOME FOR WEDDING ON SATURDAY STOP MAY NOT BE CONNECTED STOP BETTER STOP NOW STOP

(Hi to Matthew Q!)

The results of Round 7 are as follows:

The Players’ results to date as at the end of Round 7:

The England “teams” and their overall scores at the end of Round 7:

Highlight of Round 7 is:

Barros, Raul - Quinn, Joseph
World Schools Chess Champioships, U13B, Kallithea, Greece, 3 rd May 2007
[Annotated by Neil McDonald]

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.cxd4 Bb4+ 7.Nc3!? A celebrated gambit. 7...Nxe4 8.0–0 Bxc3! The correct way to defuse the Moller Attack. It has been known for more than 300 years that White gets a withering attack after the greedy [8...Nxc3? : 9.bxc3 Bxc3 10.Qb3! Bxa1 11.Bxf7+ Kf8 12.Bg5 Ne7 13.Ne5 etc.] 9.d5 Bf6 10.Re1 Ne7 11.Rxe4 d6 12.Bg5 Bxg5 13.Nxg5 h6! [White's attack is good enough for a draw upon 13...0–0 14.Nxh7 Kxh7 15.Qh5+ Kg8 16.Rh4 f5] 14.Qe2 The only way to keep up the initiative. 14...hxg5 15.Re1 Be6! Giving up the bishop rather than the knight on e7 allows Black to block the e-file and so frustrate the white rooks.

16.Re3 An unusual move. White can keep up the pressure albeit a pawn down with [16.dxe6 f6 17.Re3 and then 18.Rh3 etc.] 16...g6 [More solid was 16...c6 transposing to known opening theory after 17.dxe6 f6 18.Rh3 Rxh3 19.gxh3 g6] 17.h3?! [Too slow. Black would have more problems after 17.dxe6 f6 18.Qf3 or similarly; 17.Qf3!? g4?! 18.Qf6] 17...Qc8?! Joe plans to castle queenside, but more attractive was [17...c6 18.dxe6 f6 without any fear of Rh3 due to the stupid pawn on h3.] 18.dxe6 f6 19.Rf3 Rf8 20.Bd3 c6 21.Qc2 f5 22.Rg3 Qc7 23.Rxg5 Qa5 24.Qb1 0–0–0 25.b4 Qa4 26.b5 c5 27.Bc2 Qh4 28.Rg3 Rg8 29.Ra3 [White missed the chance to muddy the waters with 29.b6 a6 30.Ra3 If Black is careless there are some charming mating variations for example 30...g5 31.Qb5! Nc6 (if 31...axb5 32.Ra8#; or 31...Kb8 32.Rxa6 bxa6 33.Qxa6 Nc8 34.e7 Rde8 35.b7 with an unstoppable attack.) 32.Rxa6 Nb8 33.Ra8 g4 34.Bd3 gxh3 35.Qc6+!! bxc6 36.Ba6#] 29...Kb8 30.Ra4 Qf6 31.Qb3 g5! Joe takes control and bludgeons his opponent with some powerful attacking moves. 32.Qa3 Nc8 33.Bd3 g4 34.e7 Rde8 35.Bc4 Rg7 36.b6 Too late! 36...Nxb6 37.Rxa7 gxh3

38.Rxb7+ A desperate attempt to force perpetual check, as otherwise the attack on g2 is decisive. 38...Kxb7 39.Qa6+ Kc7 40.Rb1 Rxg2+ 41.Kh1 Rh2+! An excellent move that buys time for the black queen to join in the onslaught. 42.Kxh2 Qe5+ 43.Kxh3 Rh8+ 44.Kg2 Qe4+ 45.f3 Qc2+ 46.Be2 Rg8+ 47.Kh3 Qxb1 The curtain might have come down here. 48.Bf1 Qb2 49.Qa7+ Kc6 50.e8Q+ Rxe8 51.f4 Re3+ 52.Kh4 Qf2+ 53.Kg5 Qxf1 An impressive counterattack by the mighty Joe Quinn. 0–1

The draw for Round 8:

It doesn’t get easier. In the draw for Round 8, 9 opponents are FIDE graded. That’s as many as a Player can get queens in one game or put another way, the same number as Looney Toot got bouncy balls out of the machine for 20 cents.

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'Excellence at chess is one mark of a scheming mind.'   Sherlock Holmes

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Facts For the Memory

Mate

There are 8 different ways to mate in two moves and 355 different ways to mate in three moves. But only a maximum of 9 queens per colour.