Chess
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Your support makes all the difference.AS HAS become traditional, after the end of the main events at Hastings last Thursday - the Premier, Challengers, World Amateur and others - there was one further competition; a weekend tournament. The 16th such began the next evening. Divided into four sections - Open, Major, Minor and Novice - it adhered to the old-fashioned format of one game on Friday night, three on Saturday and two on Sunday.
There were 34 entries in the Open, including last year's Onyx Grand Prix winner Mark Hebden, and Jim Plaskett who came third. It looked like a continuation of last year as Hebden sped out of the blocks to score 6/6 and peel back a substantial proportion of the "stagger" awarded to other prizewinners who receive a bonus towards this year's Grand Prix - the winner himself gets none. He was followed by Oleg Pavlenko and Jim Plaskett on 4.5 and Elchin Allahverdiev, Alexander Cherniaev, Peter Marusenko and Francis Rayner on 4. He looked in sparkling form. Witness these two powerful wins.
White: Ian Henderson
Black: Mark Hebden
King's Indian Defence
In a highly theoretical King's Indian, Henderson produced a novelty with 15 Kh1? "copying" his opponent. But this proved most inappropriate since not only did he lose time - he could start play with 15 b4 or 15 Nd3 followed by 16 c5 - but he also failed to improve his king's defences. Hebden took ruthless advantage and after 26 ...Nxe4! mate was forced in just a few more moves.
In the Slav, Black often gets a weak c pawn temporarily but is generally able to dissolve it with ...c5. But Plaskett couldn't take the bishop with 13 ...Qxb2 in view of 14 Rfb1! trapping it and after 14 Ba3 and later 17 Ne4! Hebden got control of c5 - while Black's apparent compensation in the form of doubled white f pawns after 17 ...Bxf3 proved unimportant since White was too centralised. After 28 Qa6!, Hebden was winning a pawn and at the end he may win more since if 30 ...Rxb5? (30 ...Nd5 is relatively best) 31 Qxc7 Rxc7 32 axb5 (threatening 33 Be4 or 33 Rc4) Rb7 33 bxc6 Nxc6 34 Be4! wins.
White: Mark Hebden
Black: Jim Plaskett
Queen's Gambit Slav
1 d4 Nf6
2 c4 g6
3 Nc3 Bg7
4 e4 d6
5 Nf3 0-0
6 Be2 e5
7 0-0 Nc6
8 d5 Ne7
9 Ne1 Nd7
10 Be3 f5
11 f3 f4
12 Bf2 g5
13 a4 Ng6
14 a5 Kh8
15 Kh1 Rg8
16 b4 Bf8
17 Nd3 Nf6
18 c5 h5
19 cxd6 Bxd6
20 Qb3 g4
21 Nc5 g3
22 Bg1 Nh4
23 Ne6 Bxe6
24 dxe6 Nxg2!
25 Kxg2 gxh2+
26 Kh1 Nxe4!
27 Bxh2 Qg5
28 Rg1 Nf2 mate!
1 d4 Nf6
2 Nf3 c6
3 c4 d5
4 e3 a6
5 Bd3 b5
6 b3 Bg4
7 Nbd2 Nbd7
8 Bb2 e6
9 0-0 Bd6
10 Qc2 Qb8
11 a4 bxc4
12 bxc4 dxc4
13 Qxc4 0-0
14 Ba3 Bxa3
15 Rxa3 Rc8
16 Rb3 Qc7
17 Ne4 Bxf3
18 gxf3 Nd5
19 f4 a5
20 Nc5 N7b6
21 Qc2 h6
22 Qe2 Nb4
23 Bb1 Nd7
24 Rc3 Nd5
25 Rcc1 Nxc5
26 Rxc5 Rab8
27 Rfc1 Rb4
28 Qa6 Rb6
29 Qxa5 Nb4
30 Rb5 1-0
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