Exeter Chess Club: Club Games from selected sessions.

I have been asking around for club players' games - not necessarily special ones, just games - with the thought that these 'ordinary' games may also be instructive. Some are presented below.

 

"Why don't you use more club games in the coaching sessions?"
-- This is a common comment. There are some good reasons why not:
  1. The reason for showing master games is often to illustrate a particular point of strategy so the games I use are often 'classics' i.e. particularly clear or attractive.
  2. These games are usually annotated by the players or other masters, perhaps in more than one publication, so the nuances are readily seen and I have confidence in repeating a comment I have read.
  3. Lastly, they are often already typed in by someone else in a database!
But there are also some compelling reasons for using club players' games:
  1. the openings, techniques and ideas seem much more accessible to club players who see the games - "I could do that!"
  2. it is possible to talk through honestly the motivation behind a move, rather than see a maze of variations which may or may not have been seen at the time by the masters, and
  3. any flaws may be as instructive to consider as any nuance in a master game.
If you would like to find games appropriate to your own level:

Bruce Rowston is a stalwart of the Minor sections with a BCF grade approaching 100. Steve Webb has recently graduated from Intermediate to Major (and may yet go further); Mark Blackmore also has made this transition in recent years, and the games below are his set that won the East Devon Major outright this year.

Steve Homer and Andrew Pickering are both county players with grades well over 170 - say, 2000 ELO plus.

  The sets from Bruce and Mark are a natural sequence. Steve W pucked out some games he just found 'interesting', where he had to make a conscious effort to win. Steve H selected some games which showed a particular positional theme - the positional sacrifice. Andrew avoided making generalisations or drawing grand concusions from his experiences, but in his absence I might offer that his play often strikes me as being enterprising as opposed to merely competent, and this is why I invited him to show us a few of his adventures.

  Andrew also wanted to show Nimzovitch's game against Opocensky, which clearly made an impression, and this is included.

  It can be quite daunting to have your games inspected by an audience of your peers, so many thanks are due to these folk for the games and the obvious care that went into the notes.

  The notes below are a mix of mine and the player's own; it should be obvious where the join is if it matters. -- Dr. Dave

 

Contents

  1. Bruce Rowston at work
    1. Mason,DR - Rowston,B [E15] East Devon Minor #1, 1996
    2. Rowston,B - Sewell,G [A27] East Devon Minor #2, 1996
    3. Rowston,B - Penrose,M [A00] East Devon #3
    4. Greenhalgh,I - Rowston,B [] East Devon #4
    5. Rowston,B - Day,L [] East Devon #5
  2. Steve Webb at work
    1. Webb, S - Annetts, I [D04] Exeter vs. Tiverton, 1996
    2. Webb, S - Pattinson, J [D02] Devon II vs. Leicestershire, 1996
    3. Nash, R - Webb, S [B10] Barnstaple vs. Exeter, 1995
  3. Mark Blackmore on a roll
    1. Coburn - Blackmore, Mark (142) East Devon Major, 1996
    2. Blackmore, Mark - Dean (140) East Devon Major, 1996
    3. Dobber, P - Blackmore, Mark (136) East Devon Major, 1996
    4. Blackmore, Mark - Pittman (145) East Devon Major, 1996
    5. Spiegel, Jack - Blackmore, Mark (144) East Devon Major #5, 1996
  4. Steve Homer at work
    1. Wood, DA (2200) - Homer, SJ (Surrey Open ) (2040) (7) [C04] praxis: positional sacrifice in club play, 1988
    2. Smith, AP (2100) - Homer, SJ (Surrey Open ) (2040) (5) [B60] praxis: positional sacrifice in club play, 1996
    3. Homer, SJ (2040) - Parr, F (Surrey Open ) (2145) (2) [B07] praxis: positional sacrifice in club play, 1988
    4. Homer, SJ (2040) - Stokes, PC (Surrey Open ) (1905) (6) [E30] praxis: positional sacrifice in club play, 1988
    5. Rudd, J (2200) - Williams, SJ (British Championship) (2200) [C05] praxis: positional sacrifice in French Defence, 1996
  5. Andrew Pickering at work
    1. Taylor, M (1605) - Pickering, A (2000) (1503) [A21] Exeter vs. Rainham
    2. Pickering, A (2000) - Belt, M (1775) [B03] Exeter Rooks vs. Exmouth, 1995
    3. Keely, L (2000) - Pickering, A (2000) [B93] Exeter vs. Huddersfield, National Major Plate, 1996
    4. Opochensky Karel - Nimzowitsch Aaron (3) [A50] It, Marienbad (Czech Republic), 1925
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This document (clubgams.html) was last modified on 1st Oct 96 by [cool blue cat]

Dr. Dave