• Exeter Juniors ½-3½ Tiverton Testosterones

    ByDrDave

    {A terrific scrap where both sides took and missed their chances. In the end
    the struggle with the 32 pieces on the board was decided as much by the clock
    as by the moves.}

    {White played an unknown system and got a bit lost. Trying to save a pawn,
    White lost one piece and should have lost another. The position settled down
    with Black dominant, and White never really had a chance.}

    See also: http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/making-it-you-go-along

    {Black wins a pawn but misses a discovery to lose a piece. Black keeps going
    and eventually finds a perpetual check.}

    {White started very well but the position became blocked and difficult.
    Trying to get something going, you played a poor move, and things then went
    from bad to worse.}

  • Exeter Juniors 1½-2½ Sidmouth UPDATED

    ByDrDave

    UPDATE: Taylor’s game added

    {White avoided an early Queen swap, which might have been a nuisance, but it
    was a move leading out of the frying pan into the fire.}

    {Black improvised in the opening and while trying to sort out the position
    wasted a lot of the time that should be used to develop and get castled.
    White crashed through the middle to win.}

    See also: http://exeterchessclub.org.uk/content/making-it-you-go-along

    {An early mistake by Black left White needing only to avoid an accident to win}

    {Black wasn’t playing badly but overlooked a few simple threats by White to go
    a Rook, a Knight and a few Pawns behind. White should have won easily enough
    after that but somehow lost hold of both the Rook and the Knight and then
    chose not to swap off the Queens. A draw was a generous outcome!}

  • EJCC 1-3 Exeter Gambits 30th March 2012

    ByDrDave

    A close match ended in a 1-3 defeat for the youngsters. As so often in
    chess, it wouldn’t have taken much to reverse the score!

    The juniors, unusually, fielded a team which had a majority of girls.

    {1. A well-fought game: White got some attacking ideas muddled and lost a piece,
    but pressure won the exchange leaving an exciting RvNN endgame.}

    {2. A carefully-played game ended in a draw, but both sides missed good
    chances to go ahead.}

    {3. Black was allowed to launch a tactic to win a piece early on, after which White was not allowed much fun.}

    {4. Black grabbed a Rook but then seemed to run out of ideas; White then
    had an idea and Black missed it!}

  • Exeter Juniors 2-3 Torquay Boys’ Grammar School

    ByDrDave

    A well-fought match which could have gone either way, with lots of good ideas shown by the players. I think in most games the advantage changed hands a couple of times – exciting stuff!

    I’ve added the PGN file so you can play through the games and variations on your own computer.

  • Exeter Juniors 2-3 Torquay Boys’ Grammar School

    ByDrDave

    A well-fought match which could have gone either way, with lots of good ideas shown by the players. I think in most games the advantage changed hands a couple of times – exciting stuff!

    I’ve added the PGN file so you can play through the games and variations on your own computer.

  • EJCC 2-2 Newton Abbot Juniors 16th Dec 2011

    ByDrDave

    One of the best and best-contested matches I’ve had the pleasure to watch. Well done to all players!

    W Royle ½-½ Fraser
    B Trott ½-½ Whitehead
    S Keat 1-0 Ramesh
    B Terrill 0-1 Chornenkyy

    A tough game fought in the jungles of a hypermodern opening, in the end Black’s
    exchange was enough to balance an advanced passed pawn – or maybe the
    other way around!

    A wild game where both sides did enough to win…

    Some devilishly complicated opening play resulted in an early win of a
    piece for White.

  • The 65th square

    ByDrDave

    The secret of Grandmaster play is to make use of the hidden 65th square on the chess board. I’m sure you’ve all had the experience of having a piece come at you, apparently out of nowhere, to take one of your army. That piece came from the 65th square.

    I can’t show you the square, because it’s not on the usual 8×8 grid system, but I can show you that it is there. Watch…

    Take a 8×8 chessboard (64 squares, right?), and divide it up in a special way:

    These can be rearranged to make a rectangle. 

    But of course, the 5×13 rectangle has 65 squares. I’m not sure which one is the extra square… but now you know it’s there, you can maybe use it in your games!

    (Post inspired by Ivor Annetts, but puzzle devised by Sam Loyd, I believe.)

  • Exeter Juniors (3-1) Newton Abbot Juniors 1st April 2011

    ByDrDave

    Ken Bloodworth, who donated the Cup for this junior chess league, died just over a week ago aged 96, playing chess even in his last year. A wonderful man and a player, who did so much for junior chess, not just in Devon but all over Britain.

    Obituary at Keverel Chess: http://www.keverelchess.com/ken-bloodworth-1914-2011/
    Biography at Keverel Chess: http://www.keverelchess.com/k-j-bloodworth-25-06-1914/

    {This back-and-forth game was settling into a tense endgame when White allowed
    a snap mate. Both sides allowed and missed chances!}

    {Black won a pawn and a piece early on and steered the game to a calm win.}

    { White grabbed a loose piece but lost it back to a neat Black tactic. White came up with a tactic of his own to win the exchange, and swapped off to win.}

    {Some loose play by Black gave White a pawn in the opening, and White swapped
    his way to the win.}

  • Exeter Juniors (2½-1½) Seaton, 25th March 2011

    ByDrDave

    [Please ignore the stupid number of page visits, I think someone’s robot threw a wobbly]

    {
    White eventually took a loose pawn and played good aggressive chess to wrap up.
    }

    {Black had the advantage but allowed White to stop him castling, when there
    was always a mating attack up White’s sleeve.}

    {White made good use of his extra space and activity.}

    {Black let a pawn advantage slip through his fingers.}

  • Exeter Juniors (1-3) Exeter School, 11th March 2011

    ByDrDave

    Lots to enjoy in an evenly matched contest.

    Board 1

    {A well-played game by both sides. We don’t see close endgames very often in
    junior chess, and this was a fine one.}

    Board 2

    {Black gets a plus in the opening but gets his wires crossed.}

    Board 3

    {The two sides emerge from a stodgy old opening into a stodgy old middlegame
    and then a roughly level endgame. White adds some interest by losing a piece
    (and it could have been worse!) but makes good use of his chances and
    eventually brings off a swindle.}

    Board 4

    {The game was close for quite a while, with one side then the other looking
    better. Black lost a piece but correctly went on the attack, looking for
    tactics or a perpetual. White survived all the threats and spotted a chance
    for checkmate, and it was all over.}