Hastings 2007/08

After the mild disappointment that was Coulsdon, I'm now at Hastings. Two rounds have been played so far; I lost to GM Farhad Tahirov of Azerbaijan in the first round, and beat an English junior called George Salimbeni in the second. I was winning in the first game and losing in the second, but that's life.

"I'm off to do some Christmas Shopping"

My final game from Coulsdon:

J.Rudd (2332) - B.Lalic (2500), Coulsdon 2007:

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.f3 c6 5.e4 dxe4 6.fxe4 e5 ½-½

This meant I finished on 4½ out of 9, for a loss of 2.7 rating points.

I get ground down by a GM

Colin McNab is one of British chess's most active grandmasters. One of his skills is grinding people down in endgames, as demonstrated here:

C.McNab(2427) - J.Rudd(2332), Coulsdon 2007
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.g3 g6 4.Bg2 Bg7 5.Nc3 d6 6.d3 e5 7.a3 Nge7 8.Rb1 a5 9.a3 0-0 10.Bg5 h6 11.Bxe7 Nxe7 12.b4 axb4 13.axb4 b6 14.Nd2 Ra6 15.Qb3 f5 16.Ra1 Rxa1 17.Rxa1 f4 18.bxc5 bxc5 19.Ra7 Nf5 20.Qb8 Nd4 21.Qc7 Qxc7 22.Rxc7 Bg4 23.Bd5+ Kh8 24.f3 Bh3 25.Nde4 Rb8 26.Kf2 Rb7 27.Ra7 Be6 28.Bxe6 Nxe6 29.Nxd6 e4 30.Ndxe4 Bd4+ 31.Kg2 Rc2 32.Ra2 Rc1 33.Ra8+ Kg7 34.Ra7+ Kf8 35.Nd5 Rc2 36.Ra8+ Kg7 37.Ra7+ Kf8 38.Nxf4 Nxf4+ 39.gxf4 Rxe2+ 40.Kg3 Bg1 41.h4 h5 42.Nc3 Rd2 43.Nd5 Bf2+ 44.Kh3 Rxd3 45.Ra2 Bd4 46.Kg3 Rb3 47.Re2 Ra3 48.f5 gxf5 49.Kf4 Kf7 50.Re7+ Kg6 51.Rb7 Ra4 52.Rb6+ Kf7 53.Kxf5 Rxc4 54.Rb7+ Kf8 55.Kg6 Ke8 56.Rb8+ Kd7 57.Nb6+ Kc7 58.Nxc4 Kxb8 59.f4 Bf2 60.Kxh5 Kc7 61.Kg5 Kd7 62.h5 Bd4 63.Ne5+ Ke7 64.h6 Kf8 65.Kg6 Kg8 66.h7+ Kh8 67.Nf7#

There's nothing like a well-played ending

And this game had nothing like a well-played ending. It was very much an end-of-tournament game.

Rudd,J.(2332)-Muter, D.(2212)
1.Nc3 d5 2.e4 d4 3.Nce2 e5 4.Ng3 Be6 5.Nf3 f6 6.b3 Bc5 7.Bc4 Bxc4 8.bxc4 d3 9.0-0 dxc2 10.Qxc2 Nc6 11.Rb1 b6 12.Nf5 Qd7 13.Rd1 g6 14.Ne3 Nge7 15.Nd5 0-0 16.d3 Nd4 17.Nxd4 Bxd4 18.Ba3 c5 19.Bb2 Nc6 20.Qa4 Bxb2 21.Qxc6 Qxc6 22.Ne7+ Kf7 23.Nxc6 Ba3?? {23...Bc3(=)} 24.Rb3 Rfc8 25.Nxe5+ fxe5 26.Rxa3 Rc6 27.Kf1 Ke7 28.Ke2 a5 29.Rb3 Kd7 30.Rdb1 Kc7 31.Rf1 Rf8 32.h4 Rcf6 33.f3 R8f7 34.Rb2 h6 35.Ke3 a4 36.g3 Rh7 37.f4 g5 38.f5?? g4 39.h5 Rd7 40.Rc1 Kb7 41.Rc3 Kc6 42.Ra3 Ra7 43.d4 cxd4+ 44.Kd3 Rf8 45.Rb5 Re8 46.Rd5 Raa8 47.Kc2 Ra7 48.Kb2 Ra5 49.Rxa5 bxa5 50.Rxa4 Ra8 51.Kc2 Kb6 52.Kd2 Kc6 53.Kd3 Kc5 54.f6 Kb6 55.c5+ Kxc5 56.f7 Kb6 57.Kc4 Rxf7 58.Kd5 Kb5 59.Ra3 Rxf7 60.Rb3+ Ka4 61.Kxe5 Rf3 62.Rb6 d3. 63.Rxh6 Kb4 64.Rd6 Kc3 65.h6 Rxg3 66.Kf4 Rg1 67.e5 g3 68.Kf3 d2? {68...g2 69.e6 Rh1 70.Kxg2 Rxh6 71.e7 Rxd6 72.e8Q d2 (=)} 69.e6 g2 70.e7 Re1 71.h7 g1Q 72.h8Q+ Kc4 73.Qc8+ Qc5 74.Qg8+ Kb5 75.Qb3+ Qb4 76.a4+ 1-0

I am hacker. Hear me roar!

Well, I managed to break the run with a win today:

Heinis, V.(2202) - Rudd, J.(2332), Coulsdon 2007
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 c5 4.e3 d5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Bb5 Bd6 8.dxc5 Bxc5 9.0-0 0-0 10.h3 a6 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Na4 Ba7 13.b3 Qd6 14.Bb2 Re8 15.Bd4 c5 16.Bxf6 gxf6 17.Qd3 Bb7 18.Rfd1 Rad8 19.Rac1 d4 20.Qf5 Be4 21.Qh5 Bg6 22.Qh6 d3 23.Nb2 Qc6 24.Rc4 Bb8 25.Rg4 f5 26.Rc4 Qf6 27.Rd2 Rd5 28.Qh4 Qd6 29.Rf4 Re4 30.Nc4 Qe6 31.g3 Bxf4 32.gxf4 Rxc4 33.bxc4 Rd6 34.Ne5 f6 35.Nxg6 hxg6 36.Qh6 Qxc4 37.Qxg6+ Kf8 38.Qh6+ Ke7 39.Qh7+ Kd8 40.Kh2 Qc1 41.Qg8+ Kc7 42.Qf7+ Rd7 43.Qxf6 Qxd2 44.Qe5+ Kb7 0-1

Another norm chance dead

Rudd, J.(2332) - Snape, I. (2230)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 g6 6.e4 Bg7 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.h3 0-0 9.Bd3 b5 10.Bxb5 Nxe4 11.Nxe4 Qa5+ 12.Qd2 Qxb5 13.Nxd6 Qa6 14.Qf4 Nd7 15.Nc4 Nb6 16.Nxb6 axb6 17.Ng5 Bf5 18.g4 Rae8+ 19.Be3 Bxb2 20.gxf5 Qd3 21.Qh4 Bc3#

And that is that. Ah well, roll on Hastings.

Norm chances hanging by a thread

I lost again this morning, to FM Jovica Radovanovic of Serbia, who got his second IM norm in the August international.

J.Radovanovic (2355) - J.Rudd (2332), Coulsdon 2007:
1.e4 d6 2.d4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Be3 Nd7 5.Qd2 a6 6.0-0-0 b5 7.h4 Bb7 8.h5 gxh5 9.Kb1 b4 10.Nd5 Ngf6 11.Nxf6+ Nxf6 12.f3 a5 13.Nh3 e5 14.dxe5 dxe5 15.Bb5+ c6 16.Qf2 Qc7 17.Bb6 Qb8 18.Rd8+ Qxd8 19.Bxd8 Rxd8 20.Bc4 Rd4 21.Qe2 Bh6 22.Rd1 Be3 23.Rd3 Rxd3 24.Qxd3 Bxd4 25.c3 bxc3 26.bxc3 Bc5 27.Bxf7+ Ke7 28.Qc4 Nd7 29.Bg8 Ba8 30.Qf7+ Kd6 31.Qg7 Rxg8 32.Qxg8 Bd3+ 33.Ka1 h6 34.Qg6+ Kc7 35.Qxh6 Bf1 36.Ng5 Bb6 37.Ne6+ Kb7 38.Qg7 Kc8 39.Qg8+ Kb7 40.Qf7 1-0

That leaves me needing 4½/5, with McNab and Lalic yet to come.

My chances get dented somewhat

Round 3 was a bit of a setback; I lost to David Eggleston with white. This leaves him in a very good place to get a norm; me in a rather worse one.

Rudd, J.(2332) - Eggleston, D.(2341)
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 exd5 5.Bb5+ Bd7 {black offers draw} 6.Qe2+ Be7 7.dxc5 Nf6 8.Nb3 0-0 9.Be3 a6 10.Bd3 Ba4 11.0-0-0 Nbd7 12.Kb1 Re8 13.Qd2 Bxb3 14.cxb3 Bxc5 15.Bg5 Qb6 16.Nh3 Nf8 17.f3 Be3 18.Bxe3 Rxe3 19.Rhe1 Rae8 20.Rxe3 Rxe3 21.Nf4 Ne6 22.Ne2 g6 23.Nc3 Qd4 24.Bc2 Qe5 25.Nxd5 Nxd5 26.Qxd5 Qxd5 27.Rxd5 Re2 28.g4 Rxh2 29.Be4 h5 30.gxh5 gxh5 31.b4 h4 32.Rd1 b6 33.Rd6 h3 34.f4 Nxf4 35.Rxb6 Re2 36.Bb7 Re7 37.Kc2 Rxb7 0-1

Fortune favours the lucky

Readers of the late Simon Webb's classic Chess For Tigers will recognise this heading as that of his chapter on swindling. The following game, against an up-and-coming Scotland international, is an excellent example:

FM I.Gourlay (2349) - FM J.Rudd (2332), Coulsdon 2007:
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b5 3.Bg2 Bb7 4.0-0 e6 5.d3 Be7 6.e4 d5 7.Nbd2 0-0 8.e5 Nfd7 9.Re1 c5 10.Nf1 Nc6 11.h4 Qc7 12.Bf4 d4 13.h5 Nb4 14.h6 g6 15.Qe2 Rfd8 16.N1h2 Rac8 17.a3 Nd5 18.Bg5 N7b6 19.Bxe7 Qxe7 20.Ng4 a5 21.Nd2 Nd7 22.Ne4 c4 23.Nd6 {Oops, didn't see that - was looking at things on f6} Nb6 24.Nxc8 Rxc8 25.Qe4 Qc6 26.Red1 c3 27.b3 Bc6 28.Qe2 Nd7 29.Be4 Qe7 30.Qf3 Qg5 31.Re1 Rf8 32.Kg2?? {walking into the bishop's diagonal} f5 33.exf6 N7xf6 34.Nxf6+ Rxf6 35.Qd1 Nf4+ 36.Kf1 Nh3 37.Qf3 Rxf3 38.Bxf3 Bxf3 0-1

I start Coulsdon with a win

Well, I didn't expect to win this afternoon's game this quickly:

M.White (2274) - J.Rudd (2332), Coulsdon 2007
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.a3 a5 7.Bd3 Bd7 8.0-0 Nh6 9.Kh1 Rc8 10.dxc5 Bxc5 11.Qe2 Ng4 12.Kg1 Qc7 13.b4 Ba7 14.Nd4 Ncxe5 15.Nb5 Nf3+ 0-1

15.Nb5?? is obviously a blunder, but black may have the advantage anyway by that point. We looked at 15.Bf4 g5 16.Nb5 Bxb5 17.Bxb5+ Kf8 18.Bg3 h5 19.h3 h4 20.Qxg4 hxg3 21.Qxg3 g4 after the game, and came to the conclusion that black's attack would be hard to defend against.

The Diary Of A Normseeker

Hello, everyone. I'm Jack Rudd.

For those who don't know me, I'm an English FM with, at the time of writing, one IM norm. This blog will catalogue my attempts to get the necessary norms for the title.

My next attempt will be the Coulsdon International, which starts on Monday. 6½ out of 9 against that field is tricky, but not impossible.