Six Of The Best

PLAYED in the six-round open section of the 50th Cotswold Congress, held at King's School, Gloucester, over the Whitsun bank-holiday weekend.

King's School was founded by Henry VIII in 1541 in the shadow of Gloucester Cathedral

The tournament turned out to be one of my best ever; I drew with a 192, drew with a 171, beat a 187, drew with a 188, beat a 180 and drew with a 188. That adds up to a 201 performance.
I have not yet gone over the games in depth, but am already aware I was missing a lot tactically. Fortunately for me, my opponents were generally missing more.

Position after 28.Re1-d1 in Spanton (163) - Peter Martin (187)

Can you find a good move for Black in this round-three game?
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If you came up with 28...Bc3?, you can console yourself with the thought that this was also the choice of my 187 opponent.
Black needed to play something like 28..Qb7.
The trouble with the move played is, as I had foreseen, it allows White's queen to enter Black's position unopposed. The game continued:
29.Rxa8 Rxa8 30.Qh3 Bb4 This seems to be as good as any other try. 31.Qe6+ Kg7 32.Qd7 Kg8 32.Kh8 was more resilient, but White still has a strong attack after, say, 32...Rd3 Qc5 33.Rf3. 33.h5 Qc5 34.h6 Qf8 35.Qxc6 (1-0, 56 moves).