The 2nd Witney Congress took place over the weekend of October 18 and 19. Cokethorpe School generously sponsored the event and provided the venue free of charge.


The small Open section was won by Camberley’s Neil Bridge with Mark Whitehead (Rochdale) and Peter Musgrove (Swindon) taking the honours in the U180 and U145 sections.


Remarkably, in his ninth decade on the planet, Oxford City’s Ian Brooke won the largest section, the U120.

The first games from Sochi, Russia — where Vishy Anand is battling Magnus Carlsen for the title of World Champion — have probably set the pattern for the match. Anand is a theory heavyweight with a depth of openings knowledge few can challenge.


By his own admission, Carlsen is not a workaholic. The initial encounters suggest the Norwegian will rely on surprising Anand in the opening and out-playing the Indian in the middle and end game rather than taking him on in critical, heavily-theoretical lines. Many amateurs successfully adopt this labour-saving approach and, in the following league game, City Club’s Sean Terry gives a masterful and entertaining demonstration.


White: Simon Terrington (Cumnor)
Black: Sean Terry (City)


1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 Nc6!? The Black Knight’s Tango has the merit of surprise at least.


3.Nf3 It looks tempting to push Black’s knights around beginning with 3.d5 — but the great American Grandmaster, Frank Marshall, once tried this and lost in just 7 moves: 3...Ne5 4.b3 e6 5.Bb2 Bb4+ 6.Nd2? Ne4 7.Bc1 Qf6 0-1, Marshall-Torre, 1925.


3...d6!? Another surprise; usually Black aims for a sort of Nimzo-Indian with 3...e6 4.Nc3. Bb4.


4.Nc3 Bf5!? 5.Bg5 e5!? 6.d5 Ne7 7.Nd2 a6!? 8.e4 Bd7 9.Be2 Ng6 Black has played rather eccentrically; but without compromising his position and — since I can’t find a single game which has reached this position before —White would have certainly been on his own by now.


10.0–0 h6 11.Be3 Be7 12.b4 0–0 13.c5 Nf4 14.Bxf4 exf4 15.cxd6?! cxd6 16.Rc1 Re8 17.a3 Bf8 18.f3 Nh5!? 19.Nb3 Ng3!? 20.Re1 The knight looks untouchable — but in fact  20.hxg3 fxg3 21.Qd4! defends. Even so, after the further moves 21…Qh4 22.Rfd1 Rac8, Black has excellent compensation for the piece.


20...Qh4 21.Bd3?! Re5 22.hxg3 fxg3 23.Ne2? White cracks under the pressure. He needed to free d1 for his king so 23.Qc2 was the move. Even then, Black has such dark square dominance that he can take his time with 23...Qh2+ 24.Kf1 Be7! and remain in control.
23...Qh2+ 24.Kf1 Bh3! Now there’s no defence.


25.Nf4 Bxg2+! 26.Nxg2 Qh1+ 27.Ke2 Qxg2+ 28.Ke3 Qf2+! 29.Kf4 h5! 0–1