Mate!

I ACHIEVED something quite rare, at least in tournament chess, in round two of the British Chess Championships 50+ seniors: I got mated.

Black to play and win in Spanton (1900/168) - Stephen Homer (2017/186)

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31...Nxa3
The most efficient way to convert Black's large advantage.
32.bxa3 Qb3#

Horrible Loss

LOST feebly in my last-round game at Guernsey this morning.

Position after 20.Nd6-f5 in Stephen Dilleigh (1986) - Spanton (1923)

The game has already gone badly wrong by this (early) stage, but I now made matters much worse:
20...Re8??
A blunder. I had to play something like 20...Bc5, but White has all the chances.
21.Rde1 Rxf2 22.Rxe7 Rb8??
This allows a quick finish. My original idea was 22...Rxe7 23.Nxe7 Rxh2, and struggle on.
23.Nh6 1-0
I finished the tournament with a score of +1=4-2 for a rating gain of 0.6 elo.

Mating!

IT was my turn to deliver mate in this afternoon's round-five game from the Bradford U171.
Siefaldin Holi (151) - Spanton (167)
French Advance
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Bd7
Not as popular as 4...Nc6 or 4...Qb6, but with an interesting idea.
5.Nf3 Qb6 6.Be2 Bb5
The point of Black's play is to ease the cramp in his position by exchanging his bad bishop for White's good one. It was a favourite system of Bob Wade in the 1950s.
7.0-0 cxd4
The immediate 7...Bxe2 is seen much more frequently.
8.Bxb5!?
This seems rather cooperative, but it was played by Jovanka Houska in a win at the 1998 girls' world championship.
8...Qxb5 9.cxd4
JH preferred 9.Nxd4!?
9...Ne7
Played partly so my queen can drop back to d7 after White's next move.
10.Nc3 Qd7 11.Bf4 Nbc6 12.a4?!
Leaving a hole at b4 does not feel right.
12...Ng6 13.Bg3 Bb4 14.Ng5 Qe7 15.Rc1??
Judging by his body language, SH saw this dropped a piece as soon as he picked up the rook.
No game was ever won by resigning, but eventually we reached the following position:

White has just played the forced 61.Kh6-h7, and I replied 61...Rh5#

Mated!

MANAGED to get mated in under 20 moves as White against a lower-graded player this morning in round four of the Bradford U171.
Spanton (167) - Charles Proctor (154)
Modern Defence
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.Nf3 a6 5.a4 c5?
Not in ChessBase's 2018 Mega database.
6.d5?
I rejected 6.dxc5 because of 6...Qa5, but White is much better after both 7.cxd6 and 7.Bd2.
6...Bg4 7.a5 Nd7 8.h3 Bxf3 9.Qxf3 Ne5 10.Qg3 Nf6 11.Be2 0-0 12.Be3

Despite missing the best continuation at move six, White is much better

12...b5!?
Whatever the soundness of this move, it does have the practical advantage of distracting White from his kingside build-up.
13.axb6 Qxb6 14.Ra2?
White is pleasantly better after the calm retreat 14.Bc1, which ends Black's queenside counterplay.
14...Qb4 15.f4??
Catastrophic. I somehow missed that my c3 knight is not protecting e4.
15...Nxe4 16.Qh2 Nxc3 17.Bd2 Nc4 18.Bxc4 Qxc4 19.Ra3?
I have given this a question mark, but it is arguably the best move in the position as it allows my opponent to immediately put me out of my agony.
19...Qe2#

Endgame Mate

PLAYED in my first Royal Beacon Seniors, which ended today.
The congress, held at the Royal Beacon Hotel in Exmouth, Devon, is divided into players aged 65+ and 50-64 - colloquially known as the Senior and Junior Wrinklies.

Royal Beacon...stylish venue

I scored +2=2-1 for a grading performance of 184 (15 over my ECF of 169).
None of the games was especially noteworthy, but I did have a neat endgame finish in round four.

Position after White's 33rd move in Spanton (169) - Philip Kennedy (158*)

Black is lost whatever he plays, but PK's choice of the active ...
33...Kf5?
...walked into a mating net. The game finished:
34.Kf3 Rf7 35.g4#
34...h5 would only have delayed the mate after 35.h3, while 34...Rg8 would have lost instantly to 35.Rf6#.
*PK does not have a currently published ECF grade, so I have converted his Fide elo.