Other commitments prevented WW from attending the jamboree which was run as a 9-board match between Gwent and EG. The captains agreed to change opponents for Round 2, and to keep colours roughly equal in each round, the boards were paired with the colour sequence as given.
Round 1
Gwent E Glam
Phil Smith (W) 1-0 Sam White
June Pennock (W) ½-½ Frank Trombley
Lyn Holland (B) ½-½ Keith Forward
Mark Emblem (B) 0-1 Sioned Rees
Alun Thompson (W) 0-1 Simon Blackmore
Howard James (W) 0-1 Mike Joslin
Mark Summers (B) 0-1 Brenda Miles
George Davies (B) 0-1 Angelo Gauci
Roger Lockyer (W) 1-0 Clive Wheeler
3-6
Early results favoured East Glamorgan with Angelo Gauci crashing through on the K-side against George Davies, Mike Joslin netting material throughout the game against Howard James, and Sioned Rees mating Mark Emblem in mid-board after a complicated struggle. The points continued to pile up - Simon Blackmore winning the following game against Alun Thompson where the enterprising 18...Rxf3 was not the best move, but caused panic enough to win a piece and shortly after the game.
Alun Thompson (1282) – Simon Blackmore (1399) D12 Gwent – East Glamorgan U1500 match – board 5
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Nf3 Bf5 5.e3 e6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.a3 Bd6 8.Bd3 Ne4 9.0-0 Nd7
10.Re1 0-0 11.Qc2 Ndf6 12.Nh4 Bg6 (missing 12…Bxh2+ 13.Kxh2?! Ng4+ 14.Kh3?? Ngxf2+ and mates) 13.Nxg6 fxg6 14.Nxe4 dxe4 15.Bxe4 Ng4!? 16.Bf3? ( 16…f4!) Nxh2 17.Qc4+?
Kh8 18.Qe2 Rxf3?! (The simple 18…Nf3! or 18…Qh4! are both better) 19.g3?? (19.gxf3 is a big improvement – White is much better but does not have a clear win after this) Qf6 20.Kg2 Rf8 0-1
Brenda Miles who had won a Rook quite early claimed her full point, and other games were going quite well for EG. Roger Lockyer started the Gwent fight-back, by outplaying Clive Wheeler in an ending, which was lost at the stage where he donated Clive a Bishop to remain the exchange down. Phil Smith also outplayed Sam White in the ending, ultimately winning on time. Keith Forward couldn’t convert an extra Pawn against Lyn Holland and Jane Pennock’s lone R+N v R eventually mopped up all Frank Trombley’s many pawns, and the draw was agreed with her flag about to fall, and Rooks coming off. So the score was 6-3 to EG after Round 1. Round 2
East Glam Gwent
Sam White (W) 1-0 Jane Pennock
Frank Trombley (W) ½-½ Phil Smith
Keith Forward (B) ½-½ Mark Emblem
Sioned Rees (B) ½-½ Lyn Holland
Simon Blackmore (W) 0-1 Howard James
Mike Joslin (W) ½-½ Alun Thompson
Brenda Miles (B) 1-0 George Davies
Angelo Gauci (B) ½-½ Mark Summers
Clive Wheeler (W) 1-0 Roger Lockyer
5½-3½
After the buffet lunch, the afternoon games were much more peaceful.
Clive Wheeler ensured no endgame problems this time by posting a big attack down the K-side, twice sacrificing a piece. Keith Forward v Mark Emblem was drawn fairly quickly and Mark Summers was unable to squeeze a win out of an endgame where he was initially better. Sam White’s win ensured EG would win the event, while Brenda Miles was the only player to win both games. Howard James outplayed Simon Blackmore competently to gain Gwent’s only win in Round 2. The board 2 game looked worryingly as if it could go on for an hour or more after all the other games had finished, but the players obligingly agreed a draw when they knew they were the last game and nothing depended on the result.
East Glamorgan were left as deserving winners by 11.5-6.5
My thanks to Sarah Kett for the bulk of the organisation, the captains Simon Butler and Gary Wakeham for getting the teams together, the players for being co-operative throughout, and to North Gwent chess club for providing a pleasant venue and most of the equipment.
John D Thornton (arbiter) |
