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.}
[Event "EJCC vs Exeter Gambits"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.03.30"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Trott, Tomas"]
[Black "Scholes, Richard"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C41"]
[PlyCount "91"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 exd4 4. Nxd4 (4. Qxd4 Nc6 5. Bb5 {is another idea} (5.
Bb5 Bd7 6. Bxc6 Bxc6 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. O-O Be7 9. Nd5 Bxd5 10. exd5 O-O 11. Bg5 c6
12. c4 cxd5 13. cxd5 Re8 14. Rfe1 a5 15. Re2 Rc8 16. Rae1 Qd7 17. Bxf6 Bxf6 18.
Qg4 Qb5 19. Qc4 Qd7 20. Qc7 Qb5 21. a4 Qxa4 22. Re4 Qb4 23. Qxb7 {1-0 Adams,E-T
orre,C/New Orleans 1920 is a famous game, but probably made up by Torre as a
present for Adams!})) 4... Nf6 5. Bd3 (5. Nc3 Be7 6. Bc4 $1 {
gives the Bishop a better outlook.}) 5... Be7 6. Nc3 O-O 7. Be3 Re8 8. Qf3 (8.
f3 $1 {with a Yugoslav-style attack may be best of all}) 8... Bg4 9. Qg3 Qd7
10. f3 Bh5 11. Bh6 {It's a nice threat, but it's only one move, and can be met
by one move, and then you have to retreat.} (11. O-O-O $1 {
is most aggressive, with excellent chances}) (11. Nf5 $5 {
threatens mate without risking a muddle} 11... Bg6 12. Nxe7+ Qxe7 13. Bg5 $1 {
threatening Nd5} 13... c6 14. O-O-O {and White has pressure against d6}) 11...
Bg6 12. e5 $4 (12. Be3 $1 $11 {was essential}) 12... Nh5 (12... dxe5 $1 {
and Black has time to take a piece as well as this pawn}) 13. Qg4 gxh6 14. e6
Bf6 15. O-O Qe7 (15... Bxd4+ $1 16. Qxd4 16... Qxe6 $1) 16. Nd5 Bxd4+ 17. Qxd4
Qd8 18. e7 Rxe7 19. Bxg6 hxg6 20. Nxe7+ Qxe7 21. Rfe1 Qd7 22. Qb4 c5 23. Qc3 (
23. Qd2 $1 {hits h6} 23... Kg7 24. Rad1 $1 {wins a pawn}) 23... Nc6 24. Rad1
Nd4 25. Qc4 Rd8 26. b4 b5 27. Qc3 Qc8 28. a3 Nf4 29. Rd2 Re8 30. Kf2 Rxe1 31.
Kxe1 Qe6+ 32. Kf2 Nd5 33. Qd3 Qe5 34. c3 Nf4 35. Qe4 Nf5 36. Qxe5 dxe5 37. bxc5
Ne6 38. c6 Ne7 39. Rd6 Kf8 40. Ke2 Ke8 41. Kd2 Nd8 42. c7 42... Nb7 $2 (42...
Ne6 $1 {avoids the tactic next move}) 43. Ra6 (43. Rd5 $1 {
forks b5 and e5, winning a pawn.} 43... Nxd5 $4 44. c8=Q+) 43... Nc8 44. a4
bxa4 45. Rxa4 Nbd6 46. c4 1/2-1/2
{2. A carefully-played game ended in a draw, but both sides missed good chances to go ahead.}
[Event "EJCC vs Exeter Gambits"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.03.30"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Fairbairn, Bill"]
[Black "Trott, Rebecca"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C55"]
[PlyCount "58"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. O-O 4... d5 $5 {The right sort of move, but
Black needs to be careful opening up the position before castling.} 5. exd5
5... Nxd5 {White will take 4 more moves to connect the Rooks, and Black also 4.
} 6. Bxd5 $6 (6. d4 exd4 7. Re1+ Be7 8. Nxd4) 6... Qxd5 {
White gets a free move with Nc3, but lost a move by taking the Knight.} 7. Nc3
7... Qd6 {It will now take each side 3 moves to connect the Rooks, so White
didn't gain from that idea.} 8. Re1 Bg4 9. d3 9... g6 $6 (9... Be7 $1 {
keeps up with development.}) (9... Nd4 $1 {
will make a mess of White's King's-side pawns.}) 10. Bf4 Bg7 11. Bg3 (11. Nxe5
$5 {just about works:} 11... Bxd1 12. Nxc6+ {
with discovered attack on the Queen.} 12... Qe6 13. Rxe6+ fxe6 14. Rxd1 bxc6)
11... O-O (11... Nd4 $1 {must be played if you can}) 12. h3 Bxf3 13. Qxf3 Nd4
14. Qd1 Rae8 15. Ne4 Qc6 16. c3 16... f5 $2 {
Refusing to retreat, but this isn't right for tactical reasons.} (16... Ne6)
17. cxd4 fxe4 18. dxe5 (18. Qb3+ $1 {wins a pawn fairly easily} 18... Rf7 19.
d5 $1 19... Qd7 20. dxe4 $16 20... Rb8) 18... Bxe5 19. Bxe5 Rxe5 20. Qb3+ Rf7 (
20... Kg7 21. dxe4 Rxe4) 21. Rac1 (21. dxe4 $1 21... Rxe4 22. Rad1) 21... Qf6
22. Rf1 c6 23. dxe4 Rxe4 24. Rcd1 Kg7 (24... Re2 $1 {forks f2 and b2}) 25. Rd2
Rd4 26. Re2 Re7 27. Rxe7+ Qxe7 28. Qc3 Qf6 29. Re1 Kh6 1/2-1/2
{3. Black was allowed to launch a tactic to win a piece early on, after which White was not allowed much fun.}
[Event "EJCC vs Exeter Gambits"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.03.30"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Frangleton, Elsa"]
[Black "Aldwin, Brian"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C50"]
[PlyCount "96"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 d6 4. h3 {That's a bit weedy. White should be
happy to see ...Bg4; if Black swaps the light-squared Bishop, the remaining
Bishop will be just rubbish.} (4. d4 $1 4... Bg4 5. c3 $1 {
sets up a big aggressive centre}) (4. Nc3 $1) 4... Be7 5. O-O Nf6 6. d3 {
Again a bit slow. If you go in hard and fast, and put pressure on, you can
expect your opponent to make mistakes.} (6. Nc3 $1 {keeps d2-d4 as an option.})
(6. Re1 $1 {keeps both c3 and d4 as options}) 6... O-O 7. Nc3 Bd7 8. Nh4 $2 {
Loose pieces drop off! (LPDO!) - Nunn} (8. Be3 $1 {
gives a solid but boring position.}) 8... Nd4 (8... Nxe4 $1 {
wins a pawn because of the discovered attack on the Knight.}) 9. Be3 c5 10. Nd5
$4 {Forces Black to think of playing the discovery.} 10... Nxd5 $1 {
with a discovered attack on h4.} 11. Bxd5 Bxh4 12. c3 Nc6 13. d4 b6 14. Bxc6
Bxc6 15. Qg4 Bd7 16. Qh5 f5 17. dxe5 f4 18. Bd2 g6 19. Qf3 dxe5 20. c4 Bc6 21.
Rad1 Qc7 22. Qg4 Bf6 23. b4 Bxe4 24. Rfe1 Bf5 25. Qf3 {White was thinking a
long time here, but this a problem that can't be solved: Black has an extra
piece and a huge space advantage.} 25... Rad8 26. Bc3 {Right sort of idea, but}
26... Rfe8 (26... e4 $1 27. Qe2 Bxc3) 27. g4 e4 28. Qe2 Bxc3 29. gxf5 f3 30.
Qe3 Bd4 31. Qg5 Qg7 (31... Bxf2+ $1 {is flashy but unnecessary} 32. Kxf2 Qh2+
33. Ke3 Rxd1 34. Rxd1 Qe2+ 35. Kf4 Qxd1) 32. fxg6 Qxg6 33. Qxg6+ hxg6 34. h4
Kf7 35. a4 Kf6 36. a5 Ke5 37. axb6 axb6 38. Rb1 Rd6 39. b5 Red8 40. Rec1 Kf4
41. Kf1 e3 42. fxe3+ Bxe3 43. Re1 Rd2 44. Rxe3 Kxe3 45. Re1+ Re2 46. h5 Rxe1+
47. Kxe1 gxh5 48. Kf1 Rd1# 0-1
{4. Black grabbed a Rook but then seemed to run out of ideas; White then had an idea and Black missed it!}
[Event "EJCC vs Exeter Gambits"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2012.03.30"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Hutchings, David"]
[Black "Frangleton, Beth"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "C46"]
[PlyCount "41"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Bc5 4. b3 {
The Bishop is best developed by moving the d-pawn.} (4. Nxe5 $5) 4... Nf6 5.
Bc4 5... Ng4 $5 {A bit early, but can't complain about the result!} (5... d6 {
is simplest}) 6. d3 $4 (6. O-O $1 {
and Black shouldn't throw two developed pieces away for a Rook and pawn.}) 6...
Nxf2 7. Qd2 Nxh1 8. d4 Bb4 (8... Nxd4 $1) 9. dxe5 O-O 10. Qe3 d6 11. a3 Bc5 12.
Qe2 12... Bf2+ {This risks getting a piece stuck.} 13. Kd1 dxe5+ 14. Bd2 Nd4
15. Qf1 Nxf3 16. gxf3 16... Re8 $2 (16... Bd4 $1 {threat ...Bxc3 gives Black
time to rescue the Knight, at least for a move or two.}) 17. Qxh1 Bc5 18. Qg2
18... Be7 {Not sure what the idea was behind this move.} (18... Be6 $1 {
Develop, swap off and win the endgame!}) 19. Nd5 c6 20. Bh6 $2 {
Setting a trap, but should lose a piece.} 20... cxd5 $4 {
Really, the only mistake in chess is underestimating your opponent.} (20... Bf8
$1 {or}) (20... Bf6 $1 {
protects against mate, winning the Knight which is now pinned.}) 21. Qxg7# 0-1