Participants Pairings Results Progress Table Games Round Report 3

There was some important clashes in this round and not without plenty of fireworks. Easily one of the more exciting games of the day was the one with Brian Kelly and Mark Orr. Their playing styles might be seen as somewhat similar [generally very solid but perhaps not usually so exciting?] and so on account of that it was rather surprising to see such a double edged and crazy game.

Both players deserve credit for their imagination and boldness as the game went into a time scramble phase. After Brian told me that there were about three clear wins for black. But to be fair there was all sorts of things happening in the position and when Black failed to take his chances Brian was quite brilliant in counter attacking and creating complications. He also showed me some of the fantastic possible variations that might have arose from the play which were very funny and interesting from a chess players point of view. I may come back to this game later with some specific details of variations.

No less exciting and every bit as wild was the game between Gavin Wall and Stephen Brady which saw Stephen trade a piece for three pawns and a huge central pawn mass. I cannot really comment to much on the play as it was just so complex and unclear. The players themselves were analyzing long after it was over and I am not sure if any clear consensus was formed.

My own impression was that I would not like to have been playing either side, as even a slight mistake by either side could be fatal. In the end when Stephen did go wrong Gavin showed masterly technique in wrapping up the game and was a deserved winner.

One of the funny things to have occurred in this round was that not unlike wimbledon the play was delayed momentarily due to the rain! Apparently their was a hole in the roof and some of the rain was getting in so the players had to literally move the whole table a few feet to resume the game. It was quite funny as a spectacle, and you had the thought in your head of some comic sketch with some of the top players in the tournament stopping the play and then one of them saying something like, Ok, right lads! On the count of three! Heave! Gently does it! etc etc

The other dramatic result saw Peter Cafolla recover well from his loss the day before with a stubborn and resilient defense against Mark Hebden after the later had sacrificed an exchange early on in a sharp Kingsindian, and the game could have gone either way. Peter showed some skill and composure in countering the threats for a well deserved draw that he will no doubt be very pleased with.

Phillip Short had little trouble making a draw after he played a super solid game against Nick Pert. While the two other GMs were victorious with easy enough wins. My own game was also a pretty odd one as I first went from a rock solid position to a clearly better one in which I seemed to have all the winning chances, and perhaps missed some good chances? However when I went into and ending and misplayed what I thought was still a good position I very nearly paid a huge price when Gerry O Connell played a serious of good moves that left me at first in a difficult situation and then after some inaccurate moves just busted. I was just about resigned to my fate when I got a lucky break and escaped with a draw.

The games from this round are now publicly available for download as pgn files.