League Chess

PLAYED on board one (of five) for Battersea against Hammersmith 2 in Central London League division two last night.

Tom Townsend (1996) - Spanton (1986)

Sicilian Accelerated Dragon

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 Bc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Nxc6!?

This is fourth-most popular in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database, behind 7.f3, 7.Be2 and especially 7.Bc4.

7...bxc6 8.e5 Ng8

Black can try a gambit with 8...Nd5!? 9.Nxd5 cxd5 10.Qxd5 Rb8, when Stockfish17 and Dragon1 reckon 11.0-0-0!? (more common is 11.Bc4) gives White the upper hand.

9.Bd4

How should Black proceed?

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9...c5!?

The main line in Mega25 runs 9...Qa5 10.Bc4!? Bxe5 11.0-0 Nf6!? 12.Re1 d6!? 13.Bxe5 Bxe5 14.Qe2, with an equal position, according to the engines, but there are plenty of promising alternatives for both sides along the way.

10.Bxc5 Qc7

Probably not 10...Bxe5?! as White has 11.Qd5.

11.Bd4 Bxe5 12.Nb5!?

The engines suggest 12.f4!? or 12.Qd2.

What should Black play?

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12...Qa5+?

Correct is 12...Qb8, with an equal position, according to the engines.

White to play and win

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13.b4!

The only game in Mega25 saw a 2010 play 13.c3.

13...Qxb4+ 14.c3 Qa5 15.Bxe5 f6 16.Bc7 1-0

Hammersmith 2 won the match 4.5-0.5.

MY BATTERSEA SEASON 2024-5

DATE.....EVENT...........................COL..RATING..OPP'S RATING..SCORE..SEASON PERF

12/9/24..Central London League....W......1933..........1886................1............2286

26/9/24..Central London League....B.......1933..........2112................1............2399

15/10/24.Club Championship.........W......1968..........1578................1............2259*

31/10/24.Central London League...B.......1968..........1867.................0...........2061*

19/11/24.London League...............W.......1957..........1991................1............2127*

21/11/24.Central London League...B.......1957..........2035................=............2112*

27/11/24.London League...............W.......1957..........1723................=............2056*

12/12/24.Central London League...B.......1965..........2153................0............2018*

7/1/25.....Club Championship.........B.......1958..........1785................1............2037*

9/1/25.....Central London League...B.......1958..........1851................0............1978

14/1/25....Eastman Cup.................B........1958..........2052................1............2021*

28/1/25....London League..............B........1958..........1766................1............2033*

4/2/25......London League..............B........1980..........1757................1............2043*

6/2/25......Central London League..W.......1980..........1932................0............2006*

11/2/25....Central London League..B........1986..........2178................=............2018*

13/2/25....Central London League.W........1986..........1998................1............2042*

27/2/25....Central London League..B........1986..........1996................0............2015*

*My season's performance is slightly better than this as my win against a 1578 is a 1978 performance, lowering my average despite me winning.

Pen Of Participation

A RULE at the world senior team championships banned players from using their own pens.

But at the end of the final round we were allowed to keep the official pens we were using, which was somewhat more useful than the certificates-of-participation we also received

Early Doors

THE ECF has published its first list of entrants for the British championships in Liverpool in August.

Summing Up Prague

MY score of +2=4-3 on board three (of four) for England 3 in the world senior team 65+ championship gained exactly 18 Fide elo.

Proof that I played, I guess 

England 3 were seeded 34th, but finished 27th.

27. England 3 (RtgAvg:1982, Captain: Anthony Ashby / TB1: 9 / TB2: 17,5)
Bo.		Name	Rtg	FED	FideID	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Pts.	Games	Rp	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1		Hewson, Brian W R	2039	ENG	437484	1	0	1	1	½	0	½	½	0	4,5	9	2156	4,5	3,16	1,34	20	26,8
2	CM	Ashby, Anthony C	2049	ENG	405302	0	0	1	0	½	0	0	½	½	2,5	9	1962	2,5	3,67	-1,17	20	-23,4
3		Spanton, Tim R	1896	ENG	404802	½	0	1	0	½	0	1	½	½	4	9	1978	4	3,10	0,90	20	18
4		Higgie, Charles L	1945	ENG	1803263	½	1	1	1	1	0	0	1	1	6,5	9	2102	6,5	4,67	1,83	20	36,6

Here is the final table from Chess-Results

Rk.	SNo		Team	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	2		England 1	9	7	2	0	16	24	0	171,5	188
2	1		Lasker Schachstiftung GK	9	5	4	0	14	24	0	164	179
3	9		Saxonia	9	6	1	2	13	22,5	0	150,5	162,5
4	11		Israel	9	5	3	1	13	22	0	169	187
5	8		England 2	9	5	2	2	12	21,5	0	171,5	186
6	3		France 1	9	4	4	1	12	21,5	0	171	188
7	4		Italy	9	5	2	2	12	21,5	0	168,5	183
8	10		Sweden 1	9	5	2	2	12	21	0	168	184,5
9	13		Switzerland	9	4	4	1	12	21	0	154,5	171,5
10	14		Coriolus	9	6	0	3	12	19,5	0	155,5	167,5
11	17		France 2	9	5	1	3	11	22	0	155,5	172
12	6		Finland 1	9	4	3	2	11	21,5	0	156,5	173,5
13	12		Hungary	9	4	3	2	11	20	0	162	179
14	19		Netherlands Orange	9	4	3	2	11	19	0	156,5	169
15	18		Ireland 1	9	5	0	4	10	19,5	0	147,5	162
16	24		Denmark	9	4	2	3	10	19,5	0	143	157,5
17	22		France 3	9	5	0	4	10	19,5	0	142,5	156,5
18	15		Berlin	9	4	2	3	10	19	0	159	174,5
19	25		Kazakhstan	9	4	2	3	10	19	0	147	160,5
20	20		Brazil 1	9	4	2	3	10	19	0	144	159
21	28		VýchodoČeši	9	4	2	3	10	18,5	2	157,5	174,5
22	21		Switzerland Riehen 1	9	4	2	3	10	18,5	0	150	165
23	27		Senioři Polabí	9	5	0	4	10	18	0	160	177
24	23		ŠK Sokol Vyšehrad	9	3	3	3	9	19,5	0	146,5	158,5
25	5		Czech Republic	9	2	5	2	9	18,5	0	150,5	167,5
26	38		Norway Southeast	9	2	5	2	9	18	0	140	153,5
27	34		England 3	9	3	3	3	9	17,5	0	148,5	161
28	7		Norge - OSS	9	3	3	3	9	17	0	162	179,5
29	30		ŠK Slavoj Litoměřice	9	2	5	2	9	17	0	144	156
30	26		Finland 2	9	4	0	5	8	18,5	0	140,5	155
31	33		Austria	9	4	0	5	8	18	0	154,5	169,5
32	32		Scotland	9	2	4	3	8	17,5	0	145	161,5
33	16		Schach-Club Kreuzberg	9	3	2	4	8	17,5	0	144,5	159,5
34	39		Team Skåne	9	2	4	3	8	17,5	0	141	154,5
35	40		Switzerland Riehen 2	9	3	2	4	8	17,5	0	136	148
36	36		Ukraine	9	3	2	4	8	17	0	158	175
37	44		ŠK Plzeň	9	2	4	3	8	17	0	140,5	154
38	29		Sweden 2	9	2	4	3	8	16,5	0	147,5	161,5
39	37		Latvia Women	9	3	2	4	8	16,5	0	146	158,5
40	43		Czech Republic Women	9	3	2	4	8	16,5	0	130,5	142,5
41	31		Deutsche Bahn / BSW	9	4	0	5	8	14,5	0	136	148
42	53		United States	9	3	1	5	7	17	0	132,5	144,5
43	47		Lokomotiva Praha RaL	9	2	3	4	7	16,5	1	131,5	144
44	50		Turku	9	2	3	4	7	16,5	1	130	142
45	42		Brazil 2	9	3	1	5	7	15,5	0	125,5	137,5
46	48		France 4	9	3	1	5	7	15	0	137	149
47	45		England 4	9	3	0	6	6	15	0	150,5	165
48	35		SK 2012 Denmark	9	2	2	5	6	14,5	0	144	158
49	54		Ireland 3	9	2	2	5	6	12	0	133,5	145,5
50	52		Poland Women	9	2	1	6	5	14,5	0	135	147,5
51	49		Ireland 2	9	1	3	5	5	14	0	130	142,5
52	46		KS-58 Helsinki	9	2	1	6	5	12,5	0	132,5	144,5
53	51		Northern Germany	9	1	2	6	4	13,5	0	134,5	146,5
54	41		Sweden 3	9	0	2	7	2	12	0	129	141

Annotation:
Tie Break1: Matchpoints (2 for wins, 1 for Draws, 0 for Losses)
Tie Break2: points (game-points)
Tie Break3: The results of the teams in then same point group according to Matchpoints
Tie Break4: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)
Tie Break5: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)

The final table in the 50+ championship.

Rk.	SNo		Team	Group	Games	+	=	-	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	TB5
1	1		USA		9	6	3	0	15	24	0	175	191,5
2	4		Italy		9	6	3	0	15	23	0	175	193
3	5		Kazakhstan		9	6	2	1	14	24	0	174	190
4	2		England 1		9	5	2	2	12	24,5	0	176	193
5	16		England 2		9	6	0	3	12	24	0	147,5	160
6	6		Slovakia		9	4	4	1	12	22	0	174	190,5
7	8		Confluentia		9	6	0	3	12	22	0	162,5	178
8	9		Hungary		9	6	0	3	12	20,5	2	164	180
9	18		Canada		9	6	0	3	12	20,5	0	159	175
10	14		ŠK Moravská Slavia		9	5	2	2	12	20	0	167,5	184
11	3		Iceland		9	5	1	3	11	21,5	0	176,5	192
12	7		Czech Republic		9	5	1	3	11	21,5	0	155,5	172
13	10		Sweden		9	4	3	2	11	20	0	157,5	174
14	19		Scotland 2		9	3	5	1	11	20	0	154	168,5
15	15		Denmark		9	4	3	2	11	19	0	158,5	174,5
16	17		Oslo Schakselskap		9	5	1	3	11	19	0	152,5	168
17	13		Equipe FQE		9	5	0	4	10	21,5	0	151	166,5
18	11		LSG 1		9	4	2	3	10	20,5	0	150,5	164,5
19	21		TU Magdeburg		9	4	2	3	10	18,5	0	158	174,5
20	25		Czech Republic Women		9	4	2	3	10	18,5	0	156	171
21	12		China Women		9	4	2	3	10	18	0	161	177
22	35		Caissa Poland		9	4	2	3	10	18	0	148,5	165
23	29		TJ Sokol Údlice		9	4	2	3	10	17	0	152,5	169
24	23		Zuid Limburg		9	4	2	3	10	16	0	152	166
25	26		USA Women		9	3	3	3	9	19	1	148	158,5
26	39		ŠK Bohemia Pardubice		9	4	1	4	9	19	1	141	151,5
27	24		Philidor Brothers		9	3	3	3	9	18	0	154,5	165,5
28	31		Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya		9	4	1	4	9	18	0	150	164
29	42		SC Roter Turm Altstadt		9	3	3	3	9	18	0	139,5	155,5
30	37		ŠK JOLY Lysá nad Labem		9	4	1	4	9	16,5	0	152,5	163,5
31	33		Polish Amateurs		9	3	3	3	9	16,5	0	149	163,5
32	36		Equipe Quebec		9	4	0	5	8	19,5	0	144,5	158,5
33	20		Austria		9	3	2	4	8	18	0	139	155,5
34	34		Brazil		9	4	0	5	8	17	2	147,5	162
35	22		Scotland 1		9	3	2	4	8	17	0	155,5	172,5
36	28		U.S.A. 5 Brothers		9	3	2	4	8	16,5	0	146,5	161
37	32		Kazakhstan Women		9	4	0	5	8	16	0	154	166,5
38	30		England Women		9	4	0	5	8	15,5	0	149	161,5
39	49		Turm Bergheim		9	3	1	5	7	18	0	129,5	136
40	50		Stochov		9	2	3	4	7	17	0	142	154,5
41	48		ŠK Mahrla Praha		9	3	1	5	7	17	0	127,5	138
42	47		England 3		9	3	1	5	7	16,5	0	145,5	162
43	44		Kralupy		9	3	1	5	7	16,5	0	120,5	127
44	27		Finland		9	2	3	4	7	16	0	140,5	147
45	52		TJ Sokol Pečky		9	3	1	5	7	15	0	122	132,5
46	41		TJ Žďár nad Sázavou		9	3	0	6	6	16,5	0	135,5	142
47	40		Sachsenwölfe		9	1	4	4	6	16,5	0	135	141,5
48	45		Středočeši		9	3	0	6	6	16	0	136	146,5
49	46		Steinitz Praha		9	2	2	5	6	14,5	0	128	134,5
50	38		Sekáček		9	2	2	5	6	14	0	141	156
51	43		Guernsey		9	2	2	5	6	12,5	0	129,5	136
52	53		Jawa 2025		9	1	2	6	4	10,5	0	131,5	138
53	51		Scotland 3		9	0	3	6	3	11	0	120,5	127
54	54		Czech Mix Team		9	0	1	8	1	6,5	0	123,5	134

Annotation:
Tie Break1: Matchpoints (2 for wins, 1 for Draws, 0 for Losses)
Tie Break2: points (game-points)
Tie Break3: The results of the teams in then same point group according to Matchpoints
Tie Break4: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)
Tie Break5: Buchholz Tie-Breaks (variabel with parameter)