U175 NATIONAL CLUB CHAMPIONSHIP 2000/1

28 January 2001

Wanstead were drawn away to King's Head in round 1. However, because of the inability of King's Head to offer the prescribed selection of dates, the match was switched to Wanstead House. In the event George McNally's opponent failed to arrive, and the outcome was decided within two hours as Julian Winkworth held his opponent on top board and Terry Whitton proved too strong for Alan Parsons, meaning that at worst Wanstead would win on bottom board eleimination. However a tie-break was not needed as Larry Marden agreed a draw near to the time control and Ian Hunnable eventually finished his opponent off.

Terry Whitton v Alan Parsons

1.Nf3 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 d6 4.c4 Nc6 5.Nc3 e5 6.d3 h5 7.h4 Bg4 8.Rb1 Nh6 9.Nd5 Bxf3 10.Bxf3 Nd4 11.Bg2 c6 12.Nc3 Ne6 13.Ne4 f5 14.Ng5 Nxg5 15.Bxg5 Qc7 16.b4 Nf7 17.Bd2 0-0 18.Qb3 Rae8 19.a4 Re7 20.a5 Rfe8 21.b5 e4 22.dxe4 fxe4 23.0-0 Bh6 24.Bc3 Qd7 25.Bf6 e3 26.f4 Qf5 27.Bxe7 Rxe7 28.bxc6 bxc6 29.Bxc6 Qxa5 30.Bd5 and White easily converted his advantage 1-0

Ian Hunnable v W K Osborne

1.Nf3 e6 2.d4 f5 3.c4 Nf6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.Nc3 Qe8 8.Qc2 Nc6 9.a3 e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Nd5 Bd8 12.Rd1 a5 13.b3 e4 14.Ng5 Ne5 15.Nh3 c6 16.Nxf6+ Bxf6 17.Ra2 Be6 18.f3 b5 19.cxb5 cxb5 20.Nf4 Rc8 21.Qb1 Bf7 22.Rc2 a4 23.Rxc8 Qxc8 24.bxa4 bxa4 25.fxe4 Bb3 26.Re1 Ng4 27.h3 Bc3 28.Rf1 Bd4+ 29.Kh1 Nf2+ 30.Kh2 fxe4 31.e3 g5 32.Rxf2 gxf4 33.gxf4 Bf6 34.Bxe4 Rf7 35.Rg2+ Kh8 36.Bb2 Qe6 37.Bxf6+ Qxf6 38.Qd3 Rc7 39.Qb5 Rf7 40.Qh5 Qe7 41.Bd5 Bxd5 42.Qxd5 h6 43.Rg6 Kh7 44.Qd3 Kh8 45.Rxh6+ Kg8 46.Rg6+ Rg7 47.Qd5+ Kf8 48.Ra6 Rf7 49.Ra8+ Kg7 50.Qg2+ Kh6 51.Rh8+ Rh7 52.Qg5+ Qxg5 53.fxg5+ Kg6 54.Rxh7 1-0

18 March 2001

Wanstead were drawn at home to reigning champions Southampton in the quarter-final. Southampton conceded board 5 in advance as a result of illness, so George McNally had a second successive win by default, but at least no unnecessary journey on this occasion. The home team soon went 2-0 up thanks to an authoritative performance by Gerry Hayes with the Benko Gambit. Wanstead still needed one point from the remaining three games, and at one stage it looked as if this would quickly be provided by Terry Whitton who was playing at his accustomed speed.  However, Terry's opponent managed to find some good moves just before the first time control and had the better of the game thereafter.  With time running out Terry spurned a draw by repetition to go down a line that appeared to be losing, but Black had so little time on his clock that a draw was still agreed.  Larry Marden and Julian Winkworth were each a pawn up in bishop and rook endings respectively but were unable to achieve more than draws.

Richard Perrin v Gerry Hayes

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 Bxa6 6.g3 g6 7.Bg2 Bg7 8.d6 Nc6 9.Nc3 0-0 10.dxe7 Qxe7 11.Bf4 d5 12.Nxd5 Nxd5 13.Qxd5 Nb4 14.Qe4 Qxe4 15.Bxe4 Rae8 16.a3 Bxb2 17.axb4 Bxa1 18.Bc6 Bc3+ 19.Kf1 cxb4 20.Bxe8 Rxe8 21.Be3 b3 22.Nf3 b2 23.Kg2 Bxe2 24.Nd2 Bxd2 25.Bxd2 Bd3 0-1

Semi-final - 22 April 2001

Syston in Leicestershire was agreed upon as an appropriate neutral venue for the smi-final against Leeds-based Rose Forgrove. Gerry Hayes and Larry Marden both won, but the match appeared in the balance after Julian Winkworth's opponent, two pawns down, found a Bxg7 sacrifice that appeared to work. However, Terry Whitton saw Wanstead home when his hour in hand on the clock proved more important than his opponent's extra pawn. Although George McNally lost, Julian managed to consolidate his position and a draw was eventually agreed.

Gerry Hayes v Michael Round

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.e3 0-0 8.cxd5 Qxd5 9.Bxe7 Re8 10.Ba3 Nc6 11.Nf3 Qa5 12.Bb2 Bg4 13.Be2 Bxf3 14.gxf3 Nxd4 15.exd4 Qb5 16.Bc1 Bf6 17.Kf1 Qf5 18.Qd3 Qh3+ 19.Kg1 c5 20.Be3 Rad8 21.Rb1 b6 22.d5 Re5 23.c4 Rde8 24.Bf1 Qxf3 25.Bg2 Qg4 26.h3 Qh4 27.d6 Rd8 28.Rd1 Re6 29.d7 Be5 30.Qa3 Qh5 31.Rd5 Qe2 32.Qxa7 Qe1+ 33.Bf1 Bb8 34.Qa3 Qb1 35.h4 Re4 36.f3 Re6 37.Qc3 f6 38.Qd2 Qa1 39.h5 Bc7 40.hxg6 hxg6 41.Kf2 f5 42.Bg5 Re1 43.Bxd8 1-0

Ian Smith v Larry Marden,

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.Ng5 d5 5.exd5 b5 6.Bxb5 Qxd5 7.Nc3 Qxg2 8.Qf3 Qxf3 9.Nxf3 Bd7 10.d3 Bd6 11.Bg5 Ng8 12.0-0-0 f6 13.Be3 Nge7 14.Rhg1 Nf5 15.d4 exd4 16.Bxd4 0-0 17.Bc4+ Kh8 18.Ne4 Ncxd4 19.Nxd4 Bxh2 20.Rge1 Rfe8 21.Nb5 Bc6 22.f3 Bf4+ 23.Kb1 a6 24.Na3 Ne3 25.Bf7 Re7 26.Bb3 Nxd1 27.Rxd1 Rae8 28.c3 f5 29.Nd2 Re1 30.Kc2 Rxd1 31.Kxd1 Rd8 32.Nac4 Bxf3+ 33.Ke1 Bb7 34.Bc2 g6 35.b4 h5 36.a4 h4 37.Nf1 h3 38.Ncd2 0-1

Final 15 July 2001

Wanstead came desperately close to following up last year's Major Plate success in the National Club by winning the Major.  The home advantage effectively provided by the match taking place at Wanstead library was offset by Aylesbury's winning the toss which gave them White on three of the five boards.  Wanstead made the most of the their two Whites by winning both games to establish a 2-0 lead in the match.  Gerry Hayes completely outplayed his opponent, while Terry Whitton made slightly hard work of the game after winning the exchange but eventually achieved victory.  The question then became whether enough could be extracted from the three Blacks to clinch the match. When Larry Marden resigned it became clear that a draw on board 1 by Julian Winkworth would of itself be sufficent to give Wanstead the match, but that if Julian lost, George McNally would need to win on board 5 as board count would then favour Aylesbury.

Both games went on deep into the quickplay finish.  Julian had been on the receiving end most of the afternoon but it looked at one stage as if he might have succeeded in blocking the position.  However, Aylesbury captain Bill Hughes found a way through and attention focused on George's game.  George seemed to have been on the point of breaking through just before the time control after establishing doubled rooks on the seventh rank, but his young opponent found a flaw in Black's set up and forced simplification into a knight ending.  White seemed to be on top here, but George somehow created chances for himself and eventually emerged with g and h pawns and knight against knight.  The danger here was that Black could give up his knight for the two pawns, and with time running out George was eventually forced to concede the draw when the loss of the last pawn became inevitable.

Well played Aylesbury!

Gerry Hayes v Brian Shipley

1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nf6 3.cxd5 Nxd5 4.Nf3 e6 5.e4 Nf6 6.Bd3 h6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Qe2 c5 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.e5 Nfd7 12.Rd1 Qe7 13.a3 a6 14.b4 Ba7 15.Ne4 Nc6 16.Bb2 f6 17.exf6 Nxf6 18.Nxf6+ Rxf6 19.Qe4 e5 20.Qh7+ Kf7 21.Rac1 Rxf3 22.Bg6+ Kf6 23.gxf3 Bh3 24.Be4 Kf7 25.Bd5+ Kf6 26.Qe4 Bf5 27.Qh4+ Kg6 28.Rxc6+ 1-0

Terry Whitton v Andy Hughes

1.Nf3 e6 2.g3 b6 3.Bg2 Bb7 4.c4 Nf6 5.0-0 d6 6.Nc3 Be7 7.d3 Nbd7 8.Rb1 0-0 9.b4 d5 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Nxd5 Bxd5 12.Qc2 Rc8 13.e4 Bb7 14.Qb3 c5 15.a3 Nf6 16.Bf4 h6 17.Rfd1 g5 18.Be3 Ng4 19.Bd2 Bf6 20.bxc5 Rxc5 21.Bb4 Rc7 22.Bxf8 Qxf8 23.Rbc1 Rd7 24.Qa4 Qd8 25.d4 Bg7 26.h3 Nf6 27.Ne5 Re7 28.Nc6 Bxc6 29.Qxc6 Ne8 30.Qa4 Rd7 31.d5 exd5 32.Rxd5 Rxd5 33.exd5 a5 34.Qc6 Nd6 35.a4 Bd4 36.Rf1 Bc5 37.Kh2 Qf6 38.Qd7 Qd4 39.Bf3 Kg7 40.Qg4 Qe5 41.Bg2 f5 42.Qd1 Qf6 43.Qe2 Qd4 44.Qe7+ Kg8 45.Qe6+ Kg7 46.Bf3 Qd3 47.Kg2 Ne4 48.Qxf5 Nxf2 49.Qe5+ Kf8 50.Rxf2 Bxf2 51.Kxf2 Qc2+ 52.Kg1 Qc1+ 53.Kh2 Qc2+ 54.Bg2 Qxa4 55.Qd6+ Kf7 56.Qxb6 h5 57.Qe6+ Kf8 58.Qf6+ Ke8 59.Qxg5 Qd1 60.Qe5+ Kd8 61.d6 1-0

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