2009 Championship
The 2nd Law Society of Scotland Secondary Team Allegro Chess Championships was a repeat success this year, we even had sunshine! There were a total of 8 teams after a couple of drop outs. It was wonderful to see new teams with all these new faces welcomed additions who seemed to enjoy the event, learn from the standard of play and leave with an enthusiasm to return to tournaments.
It could be argued the strength of teams in comparison to last year were perhaps not as strong overall, however this did not effect the fierce competitive spirit, which was reflected in the high standard of play. Interestingly team motivation excelled this year as a result in the diversity of strength and experience in teams. It truly left all to play for and with game scores taking priority over board scores (used in tie-break) resulting in some long, tense and determined play which added to the excitement of the tournament.
Robert Gordon's of Aberdeen were the tournament favourites with their years of experience which ultimately lead to their victory, but their race for the championship title was not without nerves and shakes. A draw in the last round against Mearns Castle from Glasgow left an opportunity for Aberdeen Grammar to claim the title. The need for a win rested upon the shoulders of Maryann McDonald who played with maturity despite the pressure for a win. With a win Aberdeen Grammar would win the tournament on board points by tiebreak, a draw would result in a 5 minute blitz play off between Aberdeen Grammar and Robert Gordons and a loss would mean they would lose by half a point on tiebreak of board score.
The result went right down to the wire and unfortunately despite a fantastic effort, Maryann lost, and Robert Gordon's claimed the 2nd Law Society of Scotland Allegro Team title, with Aberdeen Grammar 2nd, and Dollar Academy 3rd. The top 3 teams left with fantastic cash prizes, medals and equipment for their school, whilst board prizes were also awarded - notably Escher Mills of James Gillespies was the only player to achieve a perfect score 5/5!
The event would not be possible without the generous sponsorship of the Law Society of Scotland, because of their commitment to support Chess in Scotland it is possible to provide fantastic venues, incentives and a quality event for our young players - providing them with the very best resources possible.
There are some interesting games available below of Robert Gordon's which are notated by IM Craig Pritchett.
((1) Mathew O'Donnell - Blair Hawthorne [D37]
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Be7 5.Bf4 0–0 6.e3 c5 7.Qb3!?
[7.dxc5 is more common, with the possible plan of exchanging on d5 with play against an isolated Black queen's pawn and a very slight pull.]
7...cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nc6 9.cxd5 Nxd4 10.exd4 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 Qxd5 12.Qxd5 exd5 13.Bb5 a6 14.Ba4 Bb4+ 15.Bd2 Bd6 16.0–0 Be6 17.h3 Rfc8 18.Rfe1?!
[Provocative! Black now wins a pawn with a rook fork that White may simply have overlooked. Fortunately grabbing the pawn does take Black's rook into strange and restricted kingside territory, so White does get some compensation for the pawn. 18.Rac1 or first 18.Bb3 should be fine.]
18...Rc4 19.Bb3 Rxd4 20.Bc3 Rf4!?
[20...Rh4 may be better.]
21.g3 Rf5 22.Bc2 Rh5 23.h4 g5 24.Bf6?!
[24.Bd1! g4 25.Bb3 , followed by Rad1 looks better, with Black's rook on h5 now decidedly awkwardly placed.]
24...gxh4 25.gxh4 Bf5 26.Bb3 Be4 27.Bg5 Bf3?! [Black probably keeps ahead after 27...h6! 28.Bd1 Rxg5+ 29.hxg5 hxg5 with two good bishops and two pawns for the excahnge. Now White recovers his material gaining some initiative to boot.]
28.Re3 h6 29.Rxf3 hxg5 30.Rf5 Rxh4 31.Rxg5+ Kf8 32.Bxd5 Ke7?! 33.Re1+ Kd7 34.Rg7 Rf8 35.Rxf7+ Rxf7 36.Bxf7 Rf4 37.Bb3 Bc5 38.Re2 Kd6 39.Kg2 b5 40.a3 a5 41.Re6+ Kc7 42.Kg3 Rd4 43.Re3 Rd6 44.Rc3 Kb6 45.f4 b4 46.axb4 Bxb4 47.Rc4?? Rd3+ 48.Kg4 Rxb3
With less than a minute on his clock, a relieved Black, offered a draw after White's bad blunder. The last 15 moves or so had been played at very high speed in severe mutual time-trouble, so a draw wasn't an undeserved or even unjust result! ½–½
(2) Daniel Thomas - Blair Hawthorne [D24]
21.03.2009
1.Nf3 e6 2.d4 d5 3.c4 c5 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Bg5 dxc4?!
[Look up your chess history books!! The critical (and best) line is 5...cxd4 6.Qxd4 Nc6 as in two of the greatest ever attacking games in chess between Harry Nelson Pillsbury and world champion Emanuel Lasker in St Petersburg 1895 and Cambridge Springs 1904.]
6.e4 Nc6?!
[6...cxd4! and if 7.Qxd4 Qxd4 8.Nxd4 Bb4 looks more stable, though White remains a bit more active than Black.]
7.e5!?
[7.d5!? exd5 8.e5!? d4 9.exf6 is tempting, but 9...gxf6! seems a good reply(and better than 9...dxc3?! 10.Qe2+ Be6 11.fxg7 , with the idea 11...Qa5 12.Rd1 c2+ 13.Bd2 cxd1Q+ 14.Qxd1 which seems to win for White) ]
7...h6!?
[Black should perhaps still play the thematic exchange 7...cxd4! He looks OK, for example, after either 8.exf6 dxc3 (or even 8...gxf6 ) 9.Qxd8+ Nxd8 10.bxc3]
8.exf6 hxg5 9.fxg7 Bxg7 10.dxc5!
[I like this move. Black must figure out how best to regain this pawn or create sufficient active counterplay. Black still has some opening problems. ]
10...Qxd1+ 11.Rxd1 g4 12.Nd2 Ne5?!
[This looks a bit doubtful. Black doesn't just lose time by exchanging this already well-placed piece, but also fails to regain his pawn or create the slightest compensating piece activity. [Something like 12...Bd4 and if 13.Nde4 Ke7 14.Bxc4 f5 15.Nd6 Bxc5 looks more robust.]
13.Nxc4 Nxc4 14.Bxc4 Bd7?!
[Now 14...Bxc3+ 15.bxc3 may be better, though White still has some pressure. Black can't immediately regain his pawn by playing 15...Rh5 (15...Bd7 looks best) because of 16.Rd4 and if 16...Rxc5 17.Rxg4]
15.Nb5!?
[15.0–0 may be more accurate, as 15...Rc8 is well-met by 16.Ne4]
15...Bxb5?
[This is definitely bad. White's pieces now invade on the weak white squares in Black's position. Black should have played 15...Ke7! ]
16.Bxb5+ Kf8 17.0–0 Be5 18.g3 Bxb2 19.Rd7 Rb8 20.Rb1 Be5 21.Bc4?!
[21.Be2 is more accurate, winning at least a pawn with the better game.]
21...Rc8?
[After this, Black caves in at once on the seventh rank. Black might still resist by playing 21...b6 thougn after 22.Rxa7 bxc5 23.Rxb8+ Bxb8 24.Rb7 the advance of White's a-pawn looks critical.]
22.Rbxb7 Rh7 23.Bxe6 Rxc5 24.Rd8+ Kg7 25.Rxf7+ Kh6 26.Rxh7+ Kxh7 27.Bxg4 Rc2? 28.Bf5+ 1–0
