Bemused after Very Few Moves

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
8									8
7									7
6									6
5									5
4									4
3									3
2									2
1									1
	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H

Heard Andy - Granat, Russell

0-1, 28/03/2012.

[#] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Bf5² +0.56 3.cxd5 Bxb1 4.Rxb1 Qxd5 5.a3 +0.18 Nc6 6.Nf3 +0.15 O-O-O 7.Be3 g6 +0.26 8.Rc1 +0.26 CAP N

[8.g3 Bg7 9.Bh3+ Kb8 10.O-O Nf6 11.Bg2 Qh5 12.Qb3 Ng4 13.Nh4 Na5 14.Qxf7 Nxe3 15.fxe3 Bh6 16.Rf3 Qb5 17.Qxe7 Nc6 18.Qe4 Rde8 19.Qc2 Bxe3+ 20.Kh1 Nxd4 21.Qc3 Nxf3 22.Bxf3 Qc5 23.Qb3 Qb6 24.Qd5 Rd8 25.Qe5 Qb3 26.Kg2 Bd4 27.Qe4 Rhe8 ...0-1, Russell Sean - Satterlee RD, USA 1994 It (open);

8.Qc2 Nh6 9.Bxh6 Bxh6 10.e3 e5 11.dxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.Be2 Rhe8 14.O-O Bxe3 15.fxe3 Qxe3+ 16.Rf2 Rd2 17.Qxd2 1-0, Mahmoud Pe 2266 - Roghani Arash 2276 , Teheran 2001 Ch Iran]

8...Nf6 9.Bf4 +0.11 Nh5 10.Bg3?! -0.89

[10.Bd2!? Nxd4 11.Nxd4 Qxd4 12.Qc2 Qd6 13.g3 c6 14.Bg2 Bg7 +0.11]

10...Nxg3 11.hxg3 Nxd4 12.Nxd4 Qxd4 13.Qc2 Qb6 14.Rh4?! -1.06

[14.e3!? Bg7 15.b4 h5 16.Be2 Rd7 17.O-O Rhd8 18.Rfd1 Rxd1+ -0.80;

14.Qc3 Qd6 ]

14...Bg7 15.Rb4 Qa5 16.Qe4?! -2.13

[16.e3!? e6 17.Ke2 c6 18.Qa4 Qxa4 19.Rxa4 a6 20.Rc2 h5 -1.22]

16...Rd5 17.Rc2 Rhd8 18.f3 -3.25 Bd4 19.e3 Bc5 -3.25 [0-1]

Generated by Aquarium

White to move.  Not exactly difficult, I think you'll agree, but still show off a vaguely elegant dance around B on g7.

This is the endpoint of a 4NCL game I played last week versus an Andy Martin Chess Academy team.  My opponent offered me a draw at this point, and again in two moves time, which probably represents the dividing line between optimism and bad form.

New Improved ECF Grading Database

Check out the new grading database and January's (yes, you read that right) grades.  Now gives full match results for recent years, even graphs to plot your decline.

Venues for Away Matches

In case you're wondering where this went, it's now incorporated into the Fixtures List.