Round 3 commenced on 6th Jan 2022. Announced pairings corrected, top pair Jallal and Scott faced up in a Dutch with Scott as Black, fianchettoing his Q Bishop but omitting the freeing c5 for some time, allowing White to make early central pawn advances. Paradoxically, these “forced” Scott’s Queen to an awkward g5…for White. Care was needed re threats on the long diagonal, and Jallal’s g3 response was arguably second best, but Scott failed to capitalise. The game moved towards an even, pawn-infested Rooks endgame, but Scott’s doubling Rooks on the king-side (where both Kings were) came to nought whilst Jallal made a pawn break on the Queen side, forcing an open b file for his Rook which then commanded the 7th rank and the game. 1-0
Meanwhile Robert had White against Craig, whose fiancetto’d Queen Bishop looked less threatening behind a blocked centre. In exchanges, he opted to hold onto the Bishop pair, but they seemed ineffective. Robert marshalled his forces centrally, and when he launched his h pawn against an uncastled position, all Hell broke loose. A Knight jumped to f4 then h5, then its colleague brought “the cavalry”. Craig tried to nestle his King behind an f6 pawn move, but Robert’s attack was ferocious against best efforts and Craig’s King fell. 1-0
Two wins for White, but this never to be repeated in Game 3. Lewis opted for the Chigorin (always different) against my Queen’s Gambit and I gave away the usual White advantage with a premature e4. This allowed a long manoeuvre of Black’s QN to g6 threatening a nice intrusion at f4. Perhaps I over-worried, though engines agreed with the ugly g3. Not so with a long-winded manoeuvre by my own Knight in order to force an ill-advised f4. Things were still fairly even other than a “hole” in front of my queenside castling. How to combat? I used up five of my remaining 18 minutes considering Ne4 (+0.1), and opted for Kb1 (-0.7). Then considered Ne4 (-0.7) for six minutes and opted for Qc3 (-1.5). It was still complicated, and I decided to throw all my Kingside pawns at his King just when simple play on the Queen side would hold things. It became a race to see whose attack prevailed first, and Lewis won by about 4 moves (and 32 seconds vs. my 15). 0-1
Danny faced Dairena’s Najdorf Sicilian (with 6…b5), and a major tussle soon developed over a fluid centre. Dairena eschewed a frisky piece-swap and pawn advance forking Bishop and Knight (ultimately successful, but major complications), and minor advantages swapped back and forth. Suddenly Queens came off, and Danny was left more space in the rook and minors battle. He overlooked a pinned supporting pawn however, and almost as suddenly was 5-3 down in connected pawns in a Rook endgame. Dairena seemed uncertain how to continue as Danny’s Rook sniped potential traps. With 3 minutes left to White’s 19 it was difficult online to judge whether she was conned into a three-move repetition, or embraced it.
Austin belatedly joined the fray with White against Alistair. They produced an oddly conservative QGD with Bg5 (White's position at move 10 mirroring mine twice between 1970-72). An aborted Knight sortie (cf. R2) by Alistair allowed major White central pawn advances, and a cramped Black opted to swap a knight for two of them. One expected Austin to ease home, but his pieces cluttered around a semi-exposed King, and suddenly an innocent recapture with Rook rather than Queen allowed a beautiful Re3 from Alistair and about a dozen White pieces were en prise. After 6 minutes, Austin went for, as he described, a “Hail Mary” check Bh7+ which Black should ignore with Kh8. After two minutes, Alistair took it. Five moves later in the forced combination, White now “retook” Black’s Queen with check, forking Black’s Rook. White ended with the exchange instead of nothing for the two pawns he was still behind. An even position, but Black understandably made a couple of errors in positioning his forces for the new battle, and White’s Rooks got the seventh rank. 1-0
Michael’s usual “Bird’s” set-up was interrupted by Eric’s BxKN, but he soon castled long and advanced all K-side pawns. Eric’s counter on the Qside looked useful, but he lost heart, tried to defend and was soon in trouble. When Queens came off, White still led and opted for extra pawns rather than the exchange. Eric picked the wrong pawn exchange and White entered a theoretically won endgame - seemingly inescapable when it came down to Rook ending, with two sixth-rank passed pawns vs. a choked h7 variety. But White’s King chased a checking Rook rather than tuck behind pawns, and a rather pretty little fork-pin-latercheck move drew the day for Eric. .5-.5
Andy and Alex played a balanced English until Black’s …Ng4 harried Andy’s B from e3 to an awkward d2, leaving the d3 pawn open to …Ne5. The Bishop could find no peace, and when a4 allowed Black’s other knight to join the fray at an unassailable b4, White’s only option was to swap the first pesky knight with the suddenly usefully-placed Bishop. But it didn’t look right, and the marauding knights were able to take what seemed like all his pawns with various forks. Andy tried attacking Black’s King, but was clearly flagging before an oversight finished things.
Richard played English against Brian. Black obtained a heavy pawn centre, and opportunities arose to advance, balanced by opportunities for White’s sniping pieces to win a major pawn. Eventually, White allowed a seemingly innocuous pin of a Knight along the bared h-file, and Brian soon proved its vulnerability. Richard tried some counter-pins, but was soon a knight down with two isolated double pawns as compensation. He was thrown a lifeline on move 32, but with 2 minutes on his clock, was unable to make full use of opportunities against the uncastled Black King and fell a full 20 moves later. 0-1
S Blackwell (2) 0 v 1 J Shaheen (2)
R Gibb (1.5) 1 v 0 C Fay (1.5)
J Larkin (1.5) 0 v 1 L Brookens (1.5)
D Breslin (1) .5 v .5 D Gaffney (1)
A Connor (1) 1 v 0 A McIntyre (1)
M Matar (1) .5 v .5 E Martin (1)
A Heron (0) 0 v 1 A Marshall (1)
R Hall (0) 0 v 1 B Fitzpatrick (0)
STANDINGS
3 J Shaheen
2.5 L Brookens R Gibb
2 A Connor A Marshall S Blackwell
1.5 D Breslin J Larkin M Matar E Martin D Gaffney C Fay
1 A McIntyre B Fitzpatrick
0 A Heron R Hall
