ECF National County Finals 2019

64squaresofpain

The drunk knight

Only Chess

14 Jul 19

64squaresofpain

The drunk knight

Stuck on g1

Joined: 02 Sep 12
Moves: 60738

14 Jul 19

2

It was actually the 100th annual finals this year, so they celebrated by giving everyone a piece of wood.

There's also the Open team trophy, which is quite spectacular:
https://www.englishchess.org.uk/the-lowenthal-cup-a-new-beginning/

The winning team can't take it with them though, just have their picture taken with it.
I was told by one of the team that it's reported as being worth £70K....

Anyway, I now list for you the winners of each section, in a completely unbiased fashion:

Open - THE MIGHTY YORKSHIRE!!! 😀 😀
Under180 - Essex
Under160 - Middlesex
Under140 - THE MIGHTY YORKSHIRE!!! 😀 😀
Under120 - Essex
Under100 - Staffordshire

.....

I was part of the Under140 team, which consisted of 16 boards.
Our opponents were Worcestershire.

They put me on board 5.
We drew White on even boards, which meant I had Black.
I played their team captain, nice chap, he was rated 135.

Here's the game with some analysis:

[Event "Yorkshire vs Worcestershire"] [Site "?"] [Date "2019.07.13"] [Round "?"] [White "Shaw, Tony"] [Black "Tomlinson, Zak"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "C84"] [PlyCount "50"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 {I'm still waiting for someone to play the delayed Bxc6 now, as Greenpawn has championed} 5. d3 {My wait continues...} b5 6. Bb3 Be7 {I usually play Bc5 here, but fancied a different approach this time} 7. O-O O-O 8. c3 {? Often a typical idea, to reinforce d4, but at this moment development becomes slower} d5 {Nc3 instead for White would have prevented this move} 9. exd5 Nxd5 10. h3 Be6 11. Re1 f6 {? This caused some problems for Black, mainly because the Bishop placed on e6 is now undefended, Bf6 worked better} 12. Nbd2 {After this move I was looking for a way to exploit the unprotected d3 pawn, but Nf4 now just allows BxB+} Na5 {? So I settled on chasing the Bishop away, except now...} 13. d4 {It looks like I'm losing a pawn here, e5 is overloaded} Nxb3 14. axb3 {Take with pawn, as the Knight wants to go to e4, also the Rook gets an open file} Bd6 15. dxe5 fxe5 {Now I thought White can just grab the pawn, but Black stands well after 16.Nxe5 Bxe5 17.Rxe5 Nf4, where White has multiple piece weaknesses to address} 16. Ne4 {My opponent agreed and opted to free his pieces} h6 17. b4 {This move looked odd at first, but then I realised he wants Nc5} Qe7 18. Bd2 {This Bishop is probably the worst piece on the board, I'd have played Be3 to offer trading it for Black's Knight} Qf7 {Bxh3 is threatened, computer suggests Bishop back to c1 as that would make the tactic not work due to the hanging d5 Knight} 19. Qc1 {? Instead this was a mistake, my opponent said he actually forgot Bxh3 was a threat} Bxh3 20. Bxh6 {? So White, having forgot about h3, throws a desperate counter-punch which is actually a blunder} gxh6 {? A blunder which I then return, Bxg2 was best as then Ng5 is met with Qh5 forcing Kxg2 then Nf4+ and Black will at least win a full piece following gxh6} 21. Qxh6 Bg4 22. Nxd6 {? Swapping pieces off to nick another pawn is not advisable here, Ra1-d1 asked a tricker question} cxd6 23. Qxd6 Bxf3 {Of course Black gets a crushing attack if this Bishop is taken} 24. Rxe5 {This move wasn't much better, but the position was virtually lost anyway} Qg7 {And here's why, not only threatening mate but stopping Rg5+ and also if White plays Qe6+ then Rf7 solves all problems} 25. g3 Rf6 {0-1} 0-1

For those interested, you can find all the results via this URL:
https://ecflms.org.uk/lms/node/36/tables

Click on one of the county names and you should then see all the board results.

Anyway, I just thought I'd share this with everyone here, particularly the folks from the UK.

If you are from a county that won something, then congrats!
If you're from Yorkshire, then DOUBLE CONGRATS!!!

ketchuplover

Isolated Pawn

Wisconsin USA

Joined: 09 Dec 01
Moves: 72654

14 Jul 19

jolly good show

aquatabby

Joined: 25 Jul 07
Moves: 28068

14 Jul 19

Congratulations - also nice to see Essex did well 🙂

greenpawn34

e4

Joined: 06 May 08
Moves: 43363

15 Jul 19

Again a good chess post '64'

The Delayed Exchange took a bit of beating last Hardcore.
Here I broke my cardinal rule about never playing c3.

and here too hasty getting a Knight to f5. May have to consider in some
set up's playing Ne3 from from Nf1. so I get g2-g4 in.

Marinkatomb

wotagr8game

tbc

Joined: 18 Feb 04
Moves: 61941

15 Jul 19

I actually played in this as well, in the U160 section. I play for Suffolk and we narrowly lost to Middlesex 8.5-7.5 after one of our players got the wrong day and defaulted! I had a really tense game, which ends with some delicious tactics! 🙂

64squaresofpain

The drunk knight

Stuck on g1

Joined: 02 Sep 12
Moves: 60738

15 Jul 19

@Marinkatomb

An awesome finish, another notch for Philidor!

Pity we didn't know we were there, could have had a natter 🙂
Will you be playing in Telford this weekend?

Marinkatomb

wotagr8game

tbc

Joined: 18 Feb 04
Moves: 61941

15 Jul 19

2 edits

@64squaresofpain Thanks, it's not a perfect game, I didn't really intend to lose the d-pawn but thankfully my opponent returned the blunder with ..Nb5.

I have a friend who wants to play but i have to go to London so won't be there unfortunately. I would be up for it normally. I was playing 4NCL this season but have withdrawn from this coming season. One game a day means too much waiting around between games for my liking. Plus my results stink as well so it wasn't a hard decision. 🙂

EDIT: Will you be playing the Bury St.Edmunds congress? It's a top tournament, well worth a visit.

64squaresofpain

The drunk knight

Stuck on g1

Joined: 02 Sep 12
Moves: 60738

15 Jul 19

@Marinkatomb

It's funny, I was playing 4NCL too but it was the division 3 north...
I played in the Manx Liberty team, following a personal invitation from IM Dietmar Kolbus!

As for Bury St Edmunds... it looks like it is 25th-27th October, which regrettably clashes with Scarborough Congress.
I'll keep an eye out for a good southern tournament I can enter...

EVENT	Hardcore Grand
SITE	https://www.redhotpawn.com
DATE	2019.06.18
ROUND	1
WHITE	greenpawn34
BLACK	NN Cheap
RESULT	0-1
WHITEELO	1876
BLACKELO	2175

EVENT	Hardcore Grand
SITE	https://www.redhotpawn.com
DATE	2019.06.18
ROUND	1
WHITE	greenpawn34
BLACK	scorpio44
RESULT	0-1
WHITEELO	1876
BLACKELO	2042

EVENT	U160 County finals
SITE	?
DATE	????.??.??
ROUND	?
WHITE	James Pack
BLACK	Leon Fincham
RESULT	*
ECO	A41