Chess: McDonald wins at Cafe Baroque
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Your support makes all the difference.NEIL MCDONALD recovered from his early loss to Ali Mortazavi to take first place in the Cafe Baroque international at Simpsons-in-the-Strand, London, writes William Hartston. Final scores were: McDonald 7; Agnos and Mortazavi 61 2 ; Morris 6; Summerscale 51 2 ; Etmans, McEwan, Tyrtania 3; O'Shaughnessy 21 2 ; Harley 2.
With the top five scoring heavily against the lower half of the tournament (20 wins, 4 draws and only one loss from 25 games), the following game between two of the stronger players, had a strong bearing on the final positions.
McDonald's formation, beginning with 5. Ng5, is geared towards the sacrifice at move 8. White's compensation for the piece looks nebulous, but it is difficult for Black to disentangle his pieces. White continues improving his position. 26. Bh7] was a nice touch, with Nxh7 losing to Qxe6+. The final move was a blunder losing the bishop on e8, but with c6 dropping, Black's game was desperate.
White: McDonald
Black: Summerscale
1 e4 c6 19 c4 Nxb4 2 d4 d5 20 Be4 Be8 3 Nd2 dxe4 21 Nd6+ Bxd6 4 Nxe4 Nd7 22 Bxd6 a5 5 Ng5 Ngf6 23 a3 Na6 6 Bd3 e6 24 Qf3 Ng6 7 N1f3 h6 25 Qg4 Nf8 8 Nxe6 fxe6 26 Bh7 h5 9 Bg6+ Ke7 27 Qe2 Rh8 10 Bf4 Qa5+ 28 Bc2 Qd8 11 c3 Kd8 29 Qe5 Rg8 12 0-0 Be7 30 Rab1 Bf7 13 Re1 Nf8 31 d5 Qf6 14 Bd3 Bd7 32 dxc6 bxc6 15 Ne5 Kc8 33 Qe4 Be8 16 b4 Qb6 34 Ba4 Qf5 17 Nf7 Nd5 35 Qxf5 1-0 18 Bg3 Rg8
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