It’s been said that when 22-year-old Magnus Carlsen defeated Vishy Anand in Chennai, India to claim the World crown last month, a new era in chess was ushered in.

The Carlsen era – like the Fischer era of the late 1960s and early 1970s – has the potential to bring many young people to the game. Of course, for chess players the world over and in Oxfordshire in particular, nothing changes very quickly.

The good news is that there are local opportunities for aspiring players to take part in tournaments.

The Oxfordshire Sunday League represents one such opportunity and details can be found on the Witney Chess Club website.

The second round of this competition takes play in Ducklington Village Hall this Sunday – but the following game was played in November’s first round. Black’s opening is solid and he has his chance in the middle-game – but City Club’s Jon Manley proves too wily and he plays the endgame faultlessly.

White: Jon Manley

Black: Nick Burrows

1.e4 c6 The Caro-Kann was Carlsen’s surprise choice in the second game of the Chennai match.

2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 One of the main moves here and Anand’s choice against Carlsen – but at the highest levels it’s usually felt that 3.e5 offers White more chances of an advantage. Another alternative, the Panov-Botvinnik attack – which begins

3.exd5 cxd5 4.c4 – has seemingly gone out of fashion for the top players. Nevertheless, the Panov-Botvinnik remains a minefield for Black to negotiate and is the subject of a new book by Lorin D’Costa in the Everyman Chess Move by Move series.

3...dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 Here Carlsen played 7...e6 against Anand. There followed the sequence: 8.Ne5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 Nd7 11.f4 Bb4+ 12.c3 Be7 13.Bd2 Ngf6 14.0–0–0 0–0 15.Ne4 Nxe4 16.Qxe4 Nxe5 17.fxe5 Qd5 18.Qxd5 cxd5 and the players agreed a draw shortly afterwards. White can vary – but it’s difficult see an obvious improvement – only emphasising the solidity of this line for Black.

8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bd2 Ngf6 12.0–0–0 Be7 13.Kb1 0–0 14.c4!? The usual move is 14.Ne4 14...b5!?

An interesting pawn sacrifice to open lines.

15.Rc1 Jon is not interested and chooses the positional move.

15...bxc4 16.Qxc4 Nd5!?

17.Ne4 Again, Jon resists the pawn offer.

17...Rb8 18.Rc2 a5 19.Qxc6 In the end Jon can see no reason to refuse the gift.

19...Bb4 20.Ne5?! N7b6?! Missing a very dangerous tactical opportunity: 20...Nxe5 21.dxe5 Rb6 22.Qc4 Bxd2 23.Rxd2 Rb4 24.Qc2 Rxe4! 25.Qxe4 Nc3+!

21.Qb5! Na8?! Very ugly!

22.Qd3 Rc8 23.Rxc8 Qxc8 24.Rh3!? Bxd2 25.Qxd2 Qa6 26.Qd3! Correctly judging the endgame to be very good for White.

26...Nac7?! 27.Qxa6 Nxa6 28.Ra3 Winning a pawn. The rest of the game is flawlessly played out by White.

28...Nf4 29.Rxa5 Nb4 30.g4 Ne2 31.Ra4 Rb8 32.a3 Nd5 33.Rc4 Ndf4 34.Nc5 Rd8 35.Nc6 Rd6 36.Ne4 Rd7 37.a4 f5 38.gxf5 exf5 39.Nc3 Nxc3+ 40.Rxc3 Nxh5 41.a5 Nf6 42.a6 Nd5 43.Rc5 Nc7 44.a7 Na8 45.Rb5 Kh7 46.Rb8 Nc7 47.Rb7 1–0