The winner and runner-up of the World Cup presently taking place in Norway will qualify for the Candidates Tournament of the next World Championship cycle.

With such a prize, the competition has been fierce and England’s two representatives Michael Adams and Gawain Jones have both been knocked out early. Jones travelled to Norway immediately after the British Championship where he finished – disappointingly for him – only equal second to the runaway winner David Howell.

I would recommend following the exciting action from Norway live online via the official website where commentary is provided by Susan Polgar and Lawrence Trent.

In the last round of the British, Witney’s Peter Wells had a chance to share second with Jones. Indeed, as you can see from the following exciting game, Wells came very close to securing the victory he needed – and will no doubt still be cursing himself for the missed opportunity.

White: Peter Wells

Black: Mark Hebden

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Be3 Qf6 6.c3 Qg6 7.Qf3 Nge7?! 8.Nb5! Bxe3 9.Qxe3 0–0?! Gifting White a pawn. 9...Kd8 had to be played – but this far from ideal king placement will lead to problems developing for Black.

10.Nxc7 Rb8 11.Nd2 f5 12.f4 fxe4 13.Bc4+ Kh8 14.Qxe4! Well played! - because it needs careful calculation to make sure this doesn’t dissipate all of White’s advantage.

14...Qd6 After 14...Qxe4+ 15.Nxe4 Rxf4 16.Nd6 White can castle queenside and though he’s no longer a pawn to the good, his positional trumps are significant.

15.Nb5 Qc5 16.b4 d5?! 17.bxc5 dxe4 18.0–0! Na5 19.Rae1! Bf5 20.Nd6 White’s pieces dominate and he still has that extra pawn.

20...b6 21.N2xe4 Nxc4 22.Nxc4 bxc5 23.Ncd6 Bxe4 24.Rxe4 Nd5 25.c4 Nc3 26.Re7 Rb6 27.Nf7+ Kg8 28.Ng5 Rb2?! Typically, Hebden goes for activity – but here 28...h6 29.Ne6 Ne2+ 30.Kh1 Rf6 offered him better chances of hanging on.

29.Ne6 Rf6 30.Rxg7+ Kh8 31.Re7 Kg8 32.Rg7+ Kh8 33.Re7 Kg8 34.Re1! By now Wells was very short of time and playing ‘on the increment’. This was an excellent move to find under the pressure of both the position and the tournament situation.

34...Ne2+ 35.Kf1 Nd4 36.Re8+ Kf7 37.Nxd4?! I’m sure Wells looked at the simplifying 37.Rf8+! Ke7 38.Rxf6 Kxf6 39.Nxd4 cxd4 and felt that Black had some chances to save the game. However after the further moves 40.Re2! Rb1+ 41.Kf2 Rc1 42.Kf3 Rxc4 43.g3 Ra4 44.Ke4 it’s clear that White will swap his a-pawn for Black’s d-pawn and create connected passers which should easily overcome Black’s a-pawn.

37...cxd4 38.R1e7+ Kg6 39.Rg8+?! Now it’s not so easy to win and Peter had to find the difficult move 39.g3! to keep his winning advantage.

39...Kf5 40.g3 Ra6! 41.Re5+ Kf6 42.Re2 Raxa2 43.Rf8+ Kg6 44.Rxb2 Rxb2 45.Rd8?! Rxh2 46.Rxd4 Kf5 47.Rd3 Watching online I thought 47.Rd5+ Kg4 48.Rg5+ Kf3 49.Ke1 was worth a punt – but I don’t think it would have changed the result.

47...Rc2 48.Ra3 Kg4 ½–½