Game 5 - Zak Tomlinson (105) vs Julian Hawthorne (119)
Sitting on board 3 in the final round,
I needed a full point to have a chance of winning something substantial, if at all.
What did the tense final round have in store for me?
[Event "Manchester Congress"] [Site "?"] [Date "2018.9.19"] [Round "5"] [White "Zak Tomlinson"] [Black "Julian Hawthorne"] [Result "1-0"] [WhiteELO "105"] [BlackELO "119"] {Game 5 - Manchester Chess Congress 2018} 1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 {The same as Round 2, however my opponent is a better player, so let's see where we'll deviate} 3. Nc3 d6 {? Hmmm... another player who doesn't like fighting for the centre, OK I'll take it} 4. d4 h6 5. Bd3 Nc6 6. a3 e5 {Establishes a fight in the centre but Black is a move behind} 7. Bb5 {I could have played d5 immediately but instead chose to settle for damaging Black's pawn structure} 7... exd4 8. Nxd4 Bd7 9. Nxc6 bxc6 10. Bc4 Be7 11. O-O O-O 12. Bf4 {Looking to cause more trouble with an e5 push} 12... Re8 13. e5 {I decide to do it now, with the idea to at least have the doubled pawns also be isolated} 13... Nh7 {? This drops a pawn, Black should have just taken on e5} 14. exd6 cxd6 15. Bxd6 Bf6 16. Qd2 Bf5 17. Rad1 Qb6 {? This loses tempo to Na4, helping White improve the Knight's position} 18. Na4 Qb7 19. b4 Rad8 20. Nc5 Qa8 {The lady is cornered, and short on squares} 21. Ba6 Bc8 {Defends the Queen} 22. Bd3 {A cheapo attempt, Rxd6 falls to Bxh7+} 22... Ng5 23. Rfe1 {More cheapo's! The Bishop still can't be taken due to a weak back rank} 23... Rxe1+ 24. Rxe1 {Same as before} 24... Ne6 25. Nxe6 {Ne4 was the alternative but, being a pawn up, I wanted to trade down a little} 25... Bxe6 26. Qf4 Qc8 27. Bc5 Bc3 28. Rd1 Bf5 29. h3 {Stops any back rank casualties} 29... Bxd3 {a5 was also an option} 30. Rxd3 Re8 {?? Simply bizarre, he forgot that the Bishop was en prise... the standard of this tournament has been sub-par to say the least} 31. Rxc3 Re6 32. Bxa7 f6 33. Qb8 Qxb8 34. Bxb8 Re8 35. Bd6 Rd8 36. Rxc6 Kf7 37. a4 Ke6 {Black moved and then resigned, lamenting the earlier loss of a pawn which he felt cost the game} 1-0
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So, after 5 rounds I managed to SOMEHOW finish joint 1st,
taking home a cheque with a value of £292... not too bad at all.
Patrick, whom I had lost to in the 1st round, was one of the 2 guys I shared 1st with.
Here's the results crosstable for those interested:
http://chess-results.com/tnr371062.aspx?lan=1&art=4
So that's that.
Anybody who says there is virtually no luck in chess has clearly not played enough over the board!
I hope you guys enjoyed the games and maybe learned something from them,
even if the lesson was "don't play the French" (3 games, 3 losses!)
My next tournament will be in Scarborough at the end of October... maybe see some of you there?
http://www.scarboroughchesscongress.org.uk/downloads/scarborough-entry-form-2018.pdf
Cheers all,
Zak
p.s. I forgot to mention that in the final round, both games either side of me on boards 2 & 4 ended in a draw.
Because of this, all 4 players finished half a point behind me.
If either game won, we would have had to split the money 4 ways or even 5 ways... lucky lucky lucky!