Darlington Junior Chess Competition - March 24 2012

Darlington District

Junior  CHESS  Championships

Saturday 24^th March 

09:45am – 1.00pm

Cockerton Band & Musical Institute Club, DL3 9AB

The venue can be found at the end of Woodland Road, just before Cockerton village.  The event is in the club’s large function room, there will be no alcohol in the room.

v   Open to any juniors born after 31/08/1998, living within the Darlington district (Darlington, Richmond, Bishop Auckland etc)

v   Play will be split between an under 13 section and an under 10.  Younger players may play in the older section.

v   The winner of each section will receive a trophy

v   Entry fee is £3 per player (Cheques to “Darlington chess events fund”).  Please give name, date of birth, telephone / email, age section you wish to enter.

v   Groups from schools are welcome.

v   Entries to:

Kevin Wilson, 31 Woodland Terrace, Darlington, Co.Durham,

DL3 9NT

v   (Tel. 01325 485715, email:darlingtonchessclub@gmail.com).

Junior Club: Game Analysis

Here is a game played between a junior and adult.  I don't want to mention names so I will refer to the junior as A.

It is a good idea to play through games once they have finished and try and see where you went wrong.  There are no hard and fast rules as the best way to do this, but I like to try and verbalise my plans.  Often its obvious why that plan failed you can look back a few moves and see if anything could have been done to change the outcome.  Even better is to get a stronger player to look at the game afterwards.

Adult player V A.


1. d4 d5 Black takes a share of the centre and opens lines for his pieces.
2. c4 Nc6 Develops a piece towards the centre, although this blocks Black's best break move for a beginner its still a good move, but as the player progresses he will need to understand that 2...e6 or 2...Nf6 are better.  The pawn on d5 can be taken and may result in loss of time.
3. Nc3 Nf6 Another piece joins the fight.  So far so good.

4. f3 e5 Fights for the centre, but perhaps is too aggressive.
5. dxe5 Nxe5 Breaks up White's centre and gets better piece play.
6. Nxd5 Nxd5 Looks like a good idea, but this loses a pawn.  Black could have played Nxc4

7. cxd5 c6 A clever move to fight for the centre, But Bb4+ and 0-0 is just getting developed and may be better for Black
8.e4 Bb4+ 9. Bd2 Bxd2+ 10. Qxd2 O-O Black finds the suggested moves anyway and although a pawn down has decent chances.
11. Rd1 

cxd5 I want Black to make another move instead here, but I can't suggest a better move.  It's just that White's king is in the centre and he hasn't developed his king side pieces at all yet.  You would think that Black could start an attack from this position.  cxd5 is ok, perhaps Qf6.
12. Qxd5 Qxd5 13. Rxd5 f6 Any pawn moves in front of the king have to be well and truly justified! If another move for example Nc6 can be played in stead it should be preferred, as the weakening of the king side is often an invitation for tactics.
14. f4 Nc6 The knight ends up on c6 anyway.

15. Bc4 Be6 White threatens a discovery by moving his rook.  Black does well to block that trick with his last.
16. Rc5 Rac8 - Black loses with this move.  After Bxc4 the game is still well and truly on.  When the game gets complicated like this.  You have to try and see all the threats.  First look at any checks and captures, if Black had done this he should have spotted the 5...Bxc4 was ok and that 5...Rca6 6.Bxe6+ was a disaster.  This is a material mistake and is common in junior chess, in fact Black had played very well up to here, probably better than is older opponent.  Black quickly collapses after this.
17. Bxe6+ Kh8 18. Bxc8 Nd4 19. Bxb7 Rb8 20. Rc8+

Break moves

Last time we looked at a rook on the seventh.  To best use rooks we need to open files, but how do we do that?  The obvious answer is by using pawns, but we get told not to make too many pawn moves in the opening. That is true, but once you have developed then what?

This article is on break moves, but Dan Heiman has already written the perfect break move essay at Chesscafe, see here - http://www.chesscafe.com/text/heisman17.pdf.  Most of what I present can also be found there.

After you develop, or along side developing you will often want to break the pawn position to increase the mobility of your pieces.
Dan writes: "A 'break' move is a pawn move that 'breaks up' an opponent's (fixed) pawn chain by attacking the opponent's pawns with that pawn."


Break moves are not solely for the use of the defender, but they are definitely required more when defending.  The attacker should often seek to advance a pawn alongside his most advanced pawn.  This action can also be thought of as a break move, but is often done more to gain space and cramp the defender.

White would like to advance a pawn to either e4 or d4 the yellow squares.  Black would love to break with c5 or e5 the green squares.  As always with chess short term tactics need to be considered, c4 is a much stronger move than e4, a Black pawn on c4 can be recaptured while e4 is a gambit.  Note that a true break move requires the pawn to be fixed otherwise the pawn may just be pushed past.


Lets look at another position: After 1.e4 e6, 2.d4 d5, 3.e5 we have the Advanced French

Black's break moves are c5 or f6.  f6 may leave the king a little weak, so may be delayed until the king is safe.  Nimzowitsch taught us to attack the base of a pawn chain, so c5 is very strong.  If White captures then Bxc5 develops a piece and leaves White with a pawn on e5 that needs to be defended.


In Dan's article he presents the following position:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 O-O 6.Nf3 e5 7.O-O (7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8 Rxd8 9.Nxe5 does not win a pawn because of 9…Nxe4 and if 10.Nxf7?? then 10…Bxc3+ wins a piece) 7…Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 - The mainline King's Indian

In this position what is Black’s best break move (hint: it is not legal – yet)?

Black wants to attack the base of White's pawn chain, so breaks on either b5 or f5.  Remember though the pawn needs to be fixed to be a break move, so b5 is not an option.  Therefore Black wants to play f5.  If you look through a King's Indian book you will see this position and perhaps wonder why Black plays either Nh5, Nd7 or Ne8 on his next move, depending on White's move, and doesn't move the at home bishop on c8.  Now you know the strategy of breaking, the knight moves don't look so strange.  Some of White's ideas in this opening are to stop Black's best knight move, so you will see lines beginning with 9.Ne1, or 9.Nd2, both prevent 9...Nh5 and allow f3 to support the e4 pawn.

Perhaps White should be trying to advance his c-pawn to c5 so he has a pawn alongside his most advanced pawn, but c5 allows the pawn to be captured, which cedes some advantage to Black.  9.b4 preparing c5 is one plan in this position and makes perfect strategic sense.

Note that in opening play, theory sometimes finds flaws in plans that seem perfectly strategically sound. That is because these ideas have been tested in thousands of games and tactical flaws discovered.  

Please read Dan's article it is available for free and is brilliant!

Junior Club:Rook on the seventh

Coaching a large group of children is difficult, especially when there is a wide range of abilities.  This year we are trying to introduce more advanced concepts to the older or more advanced children.

Perhaps the most important element of chess are the pawns.  "The pawns are the soul of chess"  Philidor.  The pawn structure dictate where the piece should be placed, which pieces have more power and the plan to follow for an advantage.
Before any pawn play though, we looked at a rook on the seventh rank.  
For this we used one of the most famous examples J.Capablanca - S.Tartakower New York 1924.  You might think that showing Grandmaster games to children is too advanced, perhaps so for modern masters, but the giants of yesterday often played games of sparkling clarity that demonstrate particular strategic devices clearly.
Of this game Irving Chernev writes "Search the annals of chess from the days of Philidor to the reign of Karpov, and you will find no ending equal to this for demonstrating the power of a Rook on the seventh rank" in his excellent Capablanca's best chess endings.
Who are we to argue with that?  
Rather than play through the whole game we picked up the action after move 28.

29.Rh1 - Capablanca sizes the open h-file.  Placing the rook on an open file is usually a very good move.  Do you see how this fits in with the chat about pawns above?  Black's rook is tied to the defence of the pawn on g6, so can not prevent 30.Rh7

29...Kf8 - Did you spot the weak pawn on c3?  Why not play Rc6 then?  Unfortunately for Black Bb5 would pin and win the rook.  In every position tactics have to support the strategy.

30.Rh7

Chernev obviously likes this game, as in The most instructive games of chess ever played he writes:
"Rook to the seventh - the magic move in rook and pawn endings.  What is the secret in the strength of this move?  It is this:
(a) The rook is in perfect position to attack any pawns that have not yet moved - those still standing on the second rank.
(b) The rook is prepared to attack any that have moved, by getting behind them without loss of time.  The pawns would be under constant threat of capture, no matter how many squares they advanced on the file.
(c)The rook's domination of the seventh rank confines the opposing king to the last rank, preventing him from taking any part in the fighting."


30...Rc6 31.g4!

31...Nc4 Black tries to activate his knight.  31...Rxc4 32.Bxg6 would give White two connected passed pawns and the f-pawn in particular would almost inevitably be able to queen.
32.g5 - White fixes the weak pawn on g6
32...Ne3+, 33.Kf3 Nf5

Black has managed to defend the g6 pawn by Nf5 from the White bishop, therefore Black now threatens Rxc3.
34.Bxf5 - Neil Mcdonald writes in "The Giants of Strategy" - "Capablanca trusts in the power of the seventh rank absolute to triumph over material.  He will give up several pawns in order to get his king to f6, where it will introduce both mating and queening threats."
34...gxf5 35.Kg3 - See the notes to 34, Cappa isn't bothered about 'spare' pawns, or indeed the pointless check.
35...Rxc3+, 36.Kh4 Rf3 37.g6! letting another pawn fall to advance the king. 
37...Rxf4 38.Kg5

Just note how dangerous Cappa's king has now become!  If for example Black continues with Rxe4 then Kf6 threatens mate next move when Black has to move his king which will allow White to queen.  Therefore Black plays 38...Re4, 39.Kf6 Kg8, 40.Rg7+ forcing the king to a non blockading square before the rook gorges itself on Black's pawns. 40...Kh7

41.Rxc7 - Here comes the payback!!  White is preparing to harvest Black's weak pawns in revenge for Black's earlier gluttony.  If he can promote the g-pawn to a queen bonus.  Note how the Black king is useless on the back rank, see Chernev's notes above.  A constant liability to Black the king has to be babysat by the rook otherwise the game will end very quickly. 41...Re8 - Passive, but forced, Tartakover will have hated making this move.
42.Kxf5 - Cappa takes the pawn before regaining mate and promotion threats.
42...Re4, 43.Kf6 - Another mate threat allows White to get his king across the e-file.
43...Rf4+, 44.Ke5 Rg4, 45.g7+ Kg8 Rxg7 Rxg7 is a completely lost pawn ending as White can quickly queen the d-pawn.

46.Rxa7 Rg1, 47.Kxd5 White now has four pawns for his earlier 2 pawn investment.

Black is lost, he now has to try and stop the d-pawn's advance.  Cappa finished the game quickly with
47...Rc1, 48.Kd6 Rc2, 49.d5 Rc1, 50.Rc7 Ra1 51.Kc6 Rxa4 52.d6 1-0


Explaining chess concepts in words can be difficult, but when the concepts can be seen in a game and students can play with the positions, ask questions and see how and why the strategy works then lessons are easier to understand and we think more fun.


How does this all fit in with pawns?  To get a rook to the seventh rank there must be pawn moves and most probably a pawn exchange.  The plan is to introduce pawn breaks next. 

School chess Championship

On the 8th of October 2011 Yarm preparatory school held the 17th Yarm Chess Championship.  There was an under 11 section and an under 9 section.  Darlington chess club were delighted to send a team to compete for the first time.  The Darlington youngsters were joined by over 100 children from around the North East.

The competition was a team event with each team been made up from children attending the same school or chess club.  The format was a five round swiss event.

As it was Darlington's first time we had no idea what the standard would be like, would we be completely blown away?
Round one and Darlington were playing one of the super strong Royal Grammar School (RGS) teams.

The Darlington kids were smashed 3.5 - 0.5 with only 5-year-old Dylan securing a draw.

After that round I congratulated the kids, much to their surprise.  I was pleased at how hard they had fought, two of our games were the last to finish.  I likened them to wild cats fighting every inch of the way.  Round two came and the wild cats had their tails up winning 3-1.  Round three was another victory 2.5 - 1.5.  The Darlington kids were now playing well.

 Dylan, Lea, Harry and Aidan.

Round four we played the second placed RGS team and were smashed 4-0.  Time for a break.

A feature of the competition, was a room for the kids to eat and a large astro turf area to let off steam.  A large game of no rules football erupted, with 20-30 a-side teams, great fun and just what the kids needed.  We made friend with some great kids during the chess and the football.

Round five was a draw 2-2.

My man of the match was Dylan, I may be biased as he is my son.  At 5 the tables were too big for him to reach all the way to the other side of the board.  Below he executed his walk round the table to finish his move technique.

Dylan finished on +2 =2 -1.

I was very proud and pleased with the whole team.

Well done to Sean Marsh for organising a brilliant event.  Next year we hope to have at least two teams enter.

Junior Club - Breaking the pieces down

The coaching philosophy of Darlington chess club has always been a light touch.  Try and keep the coaching to short sessions and let the kids play chess.
There is such a range of abilities at the club we have started to coach more advanced topics to some of the older kids that are progressing well.  With the other kids we have decided to try and break the pieces down, so the kids get a feel for each piece's unique qualities.  This is not a new idea and it is mainly based on the ideas of Richard James.  I will give a flavour of what we are doing below, but if you want to see more of what Richard is doing take a look at http://www.chesskids.com/newcourse/index.htm.

Playing mini games.
We pair the kids up and ask them to play the following position.

Black tries to get one of his pawns to the first rank and White tries to stop him.  Each child takes a turn with Black and White.  Give it a go here http://www.chesskids.com/newcourse/bishopcomb.htm#t1a

The general consensus was the bishop is better than pawns.  Agreeing with this we showed them how the bishop can stop advancing pawns by controlling the squares in front of the pawns.  After playing the games the kids easily understood this concept.

Next time we played the same game with a knight

The overwhelming feedback here was that the pawns were stronger than the knight.  Interesting...

We encouraged the children to play with these positions to see how they affected the results.  For example

Next time we will look at what the advanced group have been up to.

Member Games - Garry Hewitt

Garry Hewitt is a very good player. Graded at 132 he has to be below his actual playing strength. Play through the game below. Note how Garry takes on a good knight v Bad bishop, doubles his rooks on the only open file before exchanging these advantages for a win of a pawn. Thereafter his rooks dominate and the outside passed pawn proves decisive. Finally there is an instructive finish, which we will examine below the game.

The notes to the game are provided by Garry.

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After 54...Rxa7 55.Rh7+ White skewers the rook through the Black king.  This is vital endgame technique and needs to be remembered.

Lets take a look at the simplest form of this ending.



 This position is a book draw, as long as Black keeps his king on one of his 7 safe squares, shown below.

Black can shuffle his king between h7 and g7 and if White tries to advance his king to help the pawn then the Black rook can check from behind to frustrate White's winning chances. The point is that White no longer has his skewer trick, or a tempo gaining check.  So the draw is easy to defend for example:
1.Kf3 Kh7, 2.Ke4 Kg7 3.Kd5 Kh7, 4.Kc6 Kg7, 5.Kb7 Rb1+

Once White moves his king Black can either throw in a few more checks or return his rook to the a-file, there is no way for White to make progress.

From the pure form of these endings we have to try and calculate the difference we may see in an actual game.


here White plays 52.a6 and I would argue that after 52...Kg7 53.a7 we have the book draw.  However, White can increase his winning chances by delaying a7, then his plan should be

• walk his king to Ka7
• use the rook to cover the b-file to block checks
• Move the king to b7
• Advance the a-pawn

This plan is discussed by Karsten Muller and Frank Lamprecht in their Fundamental chess endings.  Frustratingly they provide an advanced drawing technique for Black in the purest form of the position from a composition by J.Vancura in 1924

Black then has checks from the side to save him, but there are some tough-to-find moves in this defence.  Perhaps another time...

Junior Club: Recording the moves

Recording the moves is a big step up from casual player to competitive player.  This week some of the kids learnt how to record the moves.

The squares on a chess board each have a unique coordinate.  The columns start with a and go to h which we also call files and the rows from 1 to 8 also called ranks.  See below board.

This allows us to talk about squares on the chess board quite easily.  If you have ever player battle ships you will easily get the idea.  First call the file and then the rank.  So the square at the bottom left is called a1.

For chess notation we abbreviate each of the chess pieces as follows:-
King         K
Queen      Q
Rook        R
Bishop      B
Knight      N
Pawn        Space when moving and the file it was on when capturing.

There are also some special notations we need to know
Castle king's     0-0
Castle queen's  0-0-0
Capture            X
Check              +
Mate                #

When we make a move we name the piece (The abbreviation from the list above) and the square it is moving to.

If two pieces can move to the same square usually knights or rooks we name the piece the rank or file it was on and the square it is moving to.

 If for example we want to move the knight on b7 to d6 we would write down 1.N7d6

Here is an example game.
1.e4 the king's pawn moves forward two squares, c5 Black's queen's bishop pawn moves forward 2.
2.Nf3 d6

 3.d4 cxd4 Black captures the White pawn on d4 with his pawn that was on the c-file.
4.Nxd4 Nc6

5.Bb5 Bd7, 6.0-0 White castles king-side 6...e6

7.Be3 Qf6, 8.Nc3 0-0-0 Black castles queen-side, 9.Qd2 Nge7 Black's other knight could also have moved to e7 so it is important to note which knight was moving.

Recording the moves is easy, but takes a little practice to get used to.

Daily Chess Puzzles

Below is a daily puzzle from game knot
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Darlington new chess column

Darlington chess club have managed to secure some space in our local paper.  A number of local players intend to publish various articles each week bringing chess to the masses of Darlington.  Below is an example article from a North East chess great Norman Stephenson.

 Chess is a fun game to play and it requires the minimum of equipment … you can buy a decent

board and set for not much more than a tenner and annual fees for local clubs aren’t much more.

Playing skills and knowledge are acquirable from the usual sources - books/CDs/DVDs/internet

(as well as talking to other players) - and, like many other pastimes, the game can be enjoyed at

any level. For those who might wonder about getting to be a really strong player, the good news

is that chess talent is scattered pretty randomly throughout the population; the best ever British

player (who reached World No 4 ten years ago) came from out-of-the-way Truro, while the 2nd strongest ever (who was World No 3 twenty years ago and played for the World Title in 1993) was brought up in Atherton, Lancs. In neither case is there any evidence of any chess-playing strength

in their families.

Perhaps the first really great player in the world by modern standards was Paul Morphy, born in

New Orleans, who learned the game as a 4 year-old just by watching his father and uncle playing.

Paul lived in the mid-1800s and toured the US and Europe, beating all the best players of the age

and laying down the standard for how to play the game.

8-+-+-mKlmk
7+-+-+-zpp
6-+-+-+P+
5+-+-+-+-
4-+-+-+-+
3+-+-+-+-
2-+-+-+-+
1+-+-+-+R
xabcdefghy

White to play and give checkmate on his second

move … this is the only chess problem that Paul

Morphy was known to have composed. It was

published in The New York Clipper in June 1856.

SOLUTION: White begins 1 Rh6 when either 1 – gxh6 2 g7 or 1 – B anywhere 2 Rxh7 are both checkmate

-----

Morphy was indeed a genius, and I couldn't resist using this opportunity to share his famous opera box game.

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Holidays

I'm off on my holidays soon, so this blog will be quiet for a while.  I just wanted to let you know what we had coming up at the club over the next few weeks.

22 August 2011 - Chess lecture

We are lucky enough to secure the services of the excellent Norman Stephenson to deliver one of his chess lectures.  Norman prepares his lectures carefully and presents them by playing through famous grandmaster games and his own games.  An example below from his "Interplay of strategy and tactics".

Norman took the audience through the ideas behind the moves, hidden tactics and overall strategies.  Norman has had years of teaching experience and presents these lectures in an enjoyable and informal fashion.

The lecture is free, so if you can make it, kick off is at 19:15.

29 August 2011 - Bank holiday.
The club is open, but is usually quiet.

5 September 2011 - Club's AGM
The club's members meet to discuss the topics on the agenda.  There is usually time for a game of chess afterwards.

12 September - Junior club
Yes its the return of the kids!  All ages and abilities welcome.


Whet your appetite before the lecture.  Be assured Norman's commentary turns these games into front row entertainment, he should be on TV, he really is that good.  No he's better...  

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Out and about - The British

The annual British chess championship is the highlight of the chess year for many chess fans in the UK.  The tournament moves around the different regions and countries of the UK.  This year the tournament was held in Sheffield at the Ponds Forge leisure complex.

The Ponds is a short walk from the train station and is a huge complex.  The main chess events were held in a giant sports hall, that was well ventilated and nice and light.  Lets take a look inside.

The games are played in normal tournament style i.e. rows of tables with several boards side by side.  There was plenty of space between the tables and each player had enough room to record their moves and store drinks etc.  At the front of the hall were the 6 top boards.  Boards 1-4 also included a wide screen monitor displaying the moves as they were played.

I went down to the event on day five which was Friday 29th July.

Board 1 Was Nigel Short V David Howell.  I was a little star struck when Nigel came in.  Nigel is such a big name in chess, remember the world championships in the early 90s in London?  Nigel chatted to a few people before the round started and posed for a couple of pictures with youngsters.  Below Nigel waits for the start of the round.

Board 2 was Michael "Mickey" Adams V Garwain Jones.

 Board 3 Gordon V Hunt, no picture.

Board 4 Peter Wells V Jovanka Houska.  I was pleased to see Jovanka on the top boards, as she will be a great inspiration to the girls at our club.  Below a picture of me watching the games (stripy top), with Peter and Jovanka getting in the way.  I suppose they are the stars!

There I am again!

Board 5 Griffiths V Pert no picture.
Board 6 Jonathan "The Hawk" Hawkins V Jack Rudd.

 Johnny's game wasn't on a monitor, so I tried to get as close as I could to watch without being intrusive, as there was a clear space between the audience and the top boards.  I will have a look at this game later.

Play started at 14:15 and from 15:00 Andy Martin hosted an entertaining analysis sessions, where he discussed the top games as they happened.

Andy attempted to explain the players thinking, possible continuations and provided his assessments of the games.  When a game reached an interesting position he would hold a guess the next move competition, where a book could be won.  For example can you find Black's next move in the following?

Answers at the end.  Andy also required a brief explanation of why, so be prepared if you guess the move without the reason I will dock some points.

Hawkins, J V Rudd,J
Johnny is a hero in the North East.  His improvement from young major player to international master is astounding, but a testament to the two pillars of success, hard work and talent.
1.Nf3 Richard Palliser writes in his "beating unusual chess openings", 'For the club player 1.Nf3 usually heralds either a King's Indian Attack (KIA) or a Reti,but things are somewhat different at higher-rated levels.  There fiendish White players often employ 1.Nf3 with the aim of transposing to certain d4 openings while avoiding others.'
So far Johnny has opened 1.e4, 1.d4 and here 1.Nf3.  At the very highest level the top players need a broad repertoire otherwise players will prepare vigorously for their pet lines.   
1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 b6 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.d4 As predicted we have a d4 opening, a Queen's Indian.

Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 These type of moves look like a wast of time, but Black would argue that White's bishop is not well placed on d2.
7.Nc3 0-0 8.0-0 c5 9.d5 White plays to open the centre and use tactics on the long diagonal to reposition his pieces. 9...exd5 10.Nh4 Re811.Nf5 now White has a well placed knight eyeing Black's bishop and his bishop on g2 exerts pressure right along the h1-a8 diagonal.  Note although a pawn down, I'm sure White is more than able to regain the pawn on d5.

 Bf8 12.Bg5 h6 - Things are looking tricky.

13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.Bxd5 Nc6 Now White heads towards an ending after inflicting some structural damage to Black's pawns.15.Bxc6 dxc6 16.Qxd8 Raxd8 17.Nxh6+ gxh6 18.Bxf6Rd6 19.Bc3 Rxe2 Does White have enough to win here?  I would asses this as a small plus for White, but with plenty to do.  Johnny shows that to be a top player its not all just opening prep, but excellent endgame skill is also required.

20.Rfe1 Rc2 21.Re8 b5 22.cxb5 cxb5 23.Rc8 Rb6 - Probably a mistake, as the plan Re6-Re2 would see Black having doubled rooks on the second rank, which is often enough to make a draw. 24.Rd1 Black's bishop is in mortal danger.  Black stares defeat squarely in the eye.  Can you find a move?

 24...Rxc3 What else is there?  White has numerous ways to win the bishop otherwise.  Unfortunately for Black I would say he is dead lost here, but fights on for a few moves to make sure.25.bxc3 Kg7 26.Rc7 a527.Rdd7 Rf6 28.Ra7 b4 29.c4 1-0
Remember Jack Rudd is a strong player himself with an IM title.

I thoroughly enjoyed my day at the British.  You can reply, or download all the games at http://britishchess2011.com/pgn_games.htm and also check out Andy Martin's excellent game of the day at http://britishchess2011.com/videos.htm

Guess the move

Did you want to play Nh5?  This clever move by Black will be followed by Nf4 establishing a strong knight on f4 and if White doesn't want to swap a bishop for a knight he needs to vacate the e2 and d3 squares.  Award yourself 5 points.