Independent Pusuits: Chess
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Your support makes all the difference.CHARLES STOREY, the organiser of the Holycity International tournament, today kicks off the third Holycity tournament at White's Hotel, in Newcastle. The event, which runs until 1 October, will afford opportunities for International Master and Grandmaster norms and provide the top players with an arena in which they can slug it out in the race for the pounds 3,000 first prize in the Onyx-Leigh Grand Prix.
In the absence of leader Mark Hebden, who is representing England at the Olympiad, his two closest rivals Jim Plaskett and Keith Arkell have excellent chances to better their scores; but they must cope with "dark horse" Colin McNab, who, while far behind, has many games in hand.
There was plenty of action last weekend with nearly a dozen tournaments of varying strengths. Storey himself was first equal in the Tyne and Wear Congress. But perhaps most notable were Aaron Summerscale's 5/5 at the Golders Green Rapidplay and Keith Arkell's victory at the Greater Manchester Autumn Congress, where he made the same score, a point clear of Alan Smith and Brett Lund.
In his last-round game against the England women's board three, Arkell got quite a pleasant space advantage from the opening. Black should have tried to exchange off the black squared bishops by playing ...Qf8 to prepare ...Bh6, as soon as possible - that is either on move 16 or 17. Instead she instituted increasingly committal action on the queen side. And although she did then play 23...Qf8, Arkell was already in time with 24 a5! to break open that flank.
In the diagram 26 Bxc5! saddled Black with a permanently bad pawn structure albeit with "opposite coloured bishops": a type of advantage which Arkell would be delighted with. Instead 26 Qxa5? would have run into Nb3! 27 Qxc7 Rc8 winning material. 30...Nxd5? was inventive - if 31 exd5? Qxd5 32 f3 Qd4 33 Qxc5 Qxa4 is excellent, but failed to the intermediate 31 Qa8+.
White: Keith Arkell
Black: Ruth Sheldon
Greater Manchester 1998
King's Indian Defence
speelman@compuserve.com
1 d4 Nf6
2 Nf3 g6
3 c4 Bg7
4 g3 d6
5 Bg2 0-0
6 0-0 c6
7 Nc3 Qa5
8 e4 Bg4
9 h3 Bxf3
10 Bxf3 e5
11 d5 cxd5
12 cxd5 Na6
13 a3 Rfc8
14 Bd2 Qd8
15 b4 Nd7
16 Qb3 Nc7
17 Be2 Rab8
18 Be3 a6
19 a4 b6
20 Rfc1 a5
21 Rab1 axb4
22 Qxb4 Nc5
23 Qa3 Qf8
24 a5 bxa5
25 Rxb8 Rxb8 (see diagram)
26 Bxc5! dxc5
27 Qxa5 Bh6
28 Rc2 Qd6
29 Na4 Rb1+
30 Kh2 Nxd5?
31 Qa8+! resigns
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