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Chandler Cornered
Jacob the Champion - Ketevan the Championess
Jacob Aagaard. British Chess Champion 2007.
Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant. British Ladies Chess Champion 2007.
Jacob also became a Grandmaster during the British.
I think he will look back on August 2007 with some very
fond memories when he gets older. A Brilliant result.
I remember saying months ago it would be great if he
became a G.M. because his is the first name on the grading list.
Not only is the first name a GM. but it is also the current British Champion.
(the longest name in the Scottish grading list is the British Ladies Champion!).
Here is how the British Championship finished.
Aagaard,Jacob 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 1 0 1 0 1 8½ Gordon,Stephen J 1 1 0 1 ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 1 ½ 8 Rowson,Jonathan 1 0 1 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 1 8 Haslinger,Stewart 1 0 ½ 1 1 1 1 1 ½ 0 ½ 7½ Hebden,Mark 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 7½ Howell,David ½ 0 1 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 7½ Kosten,Anthony 1 ½ 1 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 7½ ArakhamiaGrant,Ketevan ½ ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 7 Bellin,Robert ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 7 Conquest,Stuart ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 0 1 1 ½ 0 1 7 Flear,Glenn C 1 1 0 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 7 Pert,Nicholas 1 1 1 1 0 ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 7 Rudd,Jack ½ 1 0 ½ 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 7 Chapman,Terry 1 0 0 ½ 1 0 1 0 1 1 1 6½ Ciuksyte,Dagne 0 0 1 1 1 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 ½ 6½ Lewis,Andrew P 0 1 ½ 1 0 1 0 1 1 ½ ½ 6½ Sowray,Peter J 0 ½ 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ ½ 1 ½ 6½ Ward,Christopher 1 ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 0 1 ½ 6½ Williams,Simon Kim 1 0 1 ½ 1 1 0 1 ½ ½ 0 6½ Anderson,John ½ 1 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 1 1 ½ 6 Barrett,Steve 1 1 1 0 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ 1 6 Briscoe,Christopher ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 0 6 Buckley,Graeme 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 0 6 Eggleston,David ½ ½ 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 ½ ½ 6 Fowler,Simon ½ 1 ½ ½ ½ 0 1 ½ ½ 1 0 6 Knott,Simon JB 0 1 1 ½ ½ 1 0 0 1 1 0 6 Lyell,Mark ½ ½ ½ 0 1 0 0 1 ½ 1 1 6 Mason,Donald 0 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 1 ½ 0 1 6 Rendle,Thomas 1 0 1 ½ ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 ½ 6 Storey,Charles 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 6 White,Michael J R 0 1 1 ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 0 1 6 Anderton,Matthew ½ 0 ½ 1 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 0 ½ 5½ Gormally,Daniel ½ 1 1 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 5½ James,Russell ½ ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 1 ½ 5½ Lalic,Susan 0 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 0 ½ 1 5½ McEwan,Kenneth 0 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 5½ Posazhennikov,Alex 0 0 ½ 1 1 ½ 0 1 1 0 ½ 5½ Talsma,Paul A ½ 1 0 ½ 0 1 0 0 1 1 ½ 5½ Wu,Li ½ 1 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 ½ ½ ½ 5½ Adams,David M 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 5 Constantinou,Peter 1 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 0 0 ½ 5 Griffiths,RyanRhys ½ ½ 0 ½ 0 ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 1 5 Hanley,James L ½ ½ 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 5 Kwiatkowski,Feliks J 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 1 5 Oswald,Graeme 1 1 1 0 ½ 0 1 0 ½ 0 0 5 Poobalasingam,Peter 1 ½ 0 ½ 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 5 Roberson,Peter 0 1 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ 5 Snape,Ian 0 1 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 0 5 Spence,David 1 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 0 1 ½ 5 Walker,Martin Graham 0 0 1 1 0 0 1 ½ ½ 1 0 5 Armstrong,Malcolm ½ ½ 0 0 0 1 0 1 ½ 1 0 4½ Bonafont,Philip ½ 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 1 0 ½ 0 0 4½ Hodgson,John H 0 ½ 1 1 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 0 ½ 4½ Smith,Graham M ½ 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 ½ ½ 4½ Tippleston,Charles E ½ ½ 0 0 1 ½ 0 0 1 0 1 4½ De Coverly,Roger 1 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 Hall,Daniel 0 ½ 0 1 0 ½ 1 0 0 0 1 4 Makepeace,Philip 1 ½ 1 0 ½ 0 ½ 0 0 ½ 0 4 Stokes,Ivan 0 0 0 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ 0 0 4 Foord,Dominic 0 1 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 3½ Jain,Akash ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 ½ 3½ Van Kemenade,Rudy 0 ½ 0 0 1 ½ ½ 0 0 0 1 3½ Wilson,Alexandra ½ 0 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 ½ 1 0 3½ Wise,David 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 ½ 1 ½ ½ 3½ Zhou,YangFan ½ 0 0 ½ 1 ½ 0 0 1 0 0 3½ GrigoryanLyell,Meri 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 3 White,Michael E 0 0 ½ 0 1 1 0 0 0 ½ 0 3 Dossett,Chris 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 0 ½ ½ 0 0 2
and here are the stats:
There were 68 players, playing 11 games each =374 games.
A total of 30311 moves were made.
King = 2855
Queens = 3485
Rooks = 5152
Bishops = 5467
Knights = 5511
Pawns = 7120
0-0 = 648
0-0-0 = 73
(so 27 Kings never castled).
32 Pawns made it to the 8th rank.
30 became Queens, one became a Knight and one became a Bishop.
There were 1660 checks and 6289 captures.
Here is a board showing which square was visited the most.
The most popular square was d4 - the least a1.
I recall last year Jonathan Rowson had to win a brilliant game
V Jonathan Parker to win the title. This years last round game(s)
were equally as entertaining.
S.Fowler - K.Arakhamia-Grant
First we see Ketevan retain the Ladies title with some wonderful
tactical play. I enjoyed playing this over.
It took some careful calculation to allow Qxf7+ with the
Bishop sitting on d3.
In this position White played 20 Qx5+. I spent a while looking
at Qg6 going for a perpetual. There is no Philidor's Legacy.
20...Nxg4+ 21.Kh1 Nf2+ 22.Rxf2 Re1+ 23.Rf1 Rxf1+ 24.Bxf1
and the game is still in the pot. The win is there and I'm sure
Ketevan would have found it (she probably saw it moves ago).
20...Nxf1+ 21.Kh1 Ng3+! 22.hxg3 Re1+ 23.Kh2 Qg1+ 24.Kh3 Qh1 mate.
Here is the game - best to take a print out and play it over
the board. There are quite a few tricks and traps in this.
[Click here to replay the game]
S.Fowler - K.Arakhamia-Grant
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.b3 Nc6 4.Bb2 d5 5.exd5 exd5 6.d4 Nf6 7.Bd3 cxd4 8.Qe2+ Be7 9.Nxd4 0-0 10.0-0 Re8 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.Qf3 Bg4 13.Qg3 d4 14.Qh4 h5 15.f3 Nd5 16.Qf2 Bg5 17.Bxd4 Ne3 18.fxg4 Qxd4 19.Qxf7+ Kh8 20.Qxh5+ Bh6 21.Kh1 Nxf1 22.Nc3 Ne3 23.Qg6 Kg8 24.g5 Bxg5 25.Qh7+ Kf8 26.Qh8+ Ke7 27.Qh5 Qg4
Glenn Flear - Jacob Aagaard
Jacob's last round game was an enthralling encounter.
I had this position on my board for ages. White to play.
I kept going back here to look at 21.Rxg7. It's a gut
feeling thing. There is something here that is plausible
and difficult for a human to see.
I have not Fritz this. Compare Fritz with an adding machine.
Ask it was is 569 + 431 and in a flash it will reply 1000.
Ask a human in a pressure situation with only one shot at it
and there you have the rub. It's no good chucking a combination into
Fritz and say "There is the refutation."
There were dozens of simple blunders made OTB at these
championships that Fritz would not have made.
So comparing Fritz with human play is totally pointless.
I know me and I would have tossed the Rook on g7.
White's position has peaked. I could not resist it especially
when I found 24.Be7+.
21.Rxg7 Kxg7 22.Nxe4 Qxe4 23.Bxf6+ (23...Nxf6 24.Qxf6 is a perpetual)Kf8 24.Be7+!
It's an interesting idea. Shaky but plausible, it may be playable.
24.Be7+ is a hard move to foresee being played against you.
There again these two are a wee bit better than me. It was most
likely seen and dismissed as a cheapo.
However my next sac on g7 is sound.
If there is a computer hole in this then I give up.
The reason why it was allowed and not played may be speculation,
but it's a good guess as to what was happening.
In this position Jacob has just sacced 23...BxP on d5!?
(make mental note "Do not play poker with this guy.")
This is a good player v good players move. There is no way he would
try this against a weaker player. The weaker player would take the
perpetual. White played 24.Nc7.
If 24.cxd5 Nxd5 (which is the only follow up).
Then 25.Qxg7+ is a perpetual.
24.cxd5 Nxd5 25.Qxg7+ Kxg7 26.Be5+ Kf8 27.Bg7+ Kg8 28.Bxh6+
I think Glenn Flear saw this but did not want to settle for a draw.
His 24.Nc7 wins the exchange and surely keeps the draw in hand.
Was this a bluff by Jacob. Did he see the Queen sac?
We will find out when Jacob annotates the game.
It looks like I'm taking White's side here. I am trying
to be impartial and annotating the position as I see it.
After winning the exchange White seems to drift without a plan.
Between moves 26 and 36 Jacob knits together a very solid position.
"You have the exchange - You win the game?"
White's in a wretched predicament. He has the material plus but
cannot get through the Black position.
A draw is no good to him, he lashes out - and it's a blunder.
37.b4? must be wrong. It's just what Black wanted.
After Black 40...a5 Black takes over and Jacob who is at the
top of game at the moment, makes the win look easy.
[Click here to replay the game]
Glenn Flear - Jacob Aagaard
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 7.Bg5 Bb7 8.e3 d6 9.Ne2 Nbd7 10.Qd3 Re8 11.Nc3 Qe7 12.Be2 h6 13.Bh4 Bxg2 14.Rg1 Bb7 15.0-0-0 Nf8 16.f4 e5 17.fxe5 dxe5 18.Rdf1 N8h7 19.d5 e4 20.Qd4 Kh8 21.Nb5 Rad8 22.Bg3 c5 23.Qc3 Bxd5 24.Nc7 Bc6 25.Nxe8 Nxe8 26.Rd1 Ra8 27.Bf4 f6 28.Bh5 Nf8 29.Bxe8 Bxe8 30.Rd6 Ne6 31.Bg3 Ng5 32.h4 Nf7 33.Rd2 Bd7 34.Bf4 h5 35.Rd5 Bg4 36.Rg2 Kg8 37.b4 cxb4 38.axb4 Qe8 39.Kb2 Rc8 40.c5 a5 41.Qd4 bxc5 42.bxc5 Qb5+ 43.Kc3 Qf1 44.Rb2 Be6 45.Qxe4 Qc1+ 46.Rc2 Qa3+ 47.Kd2 Bxd5 48.Qxd5 Rd8 49.Bd6 Qb4+ 50.Kd3 a4 51.Rc3 Qxh4 52.e4 Qg4 53.Kd4 h4 54.Ra3 h3 55.Qa2 Re8 56.Qd5 Qg1+ 57.Kc4 h2 58.Bxh2 Qxh2 59.Rxa4 Qc2+ 60.Kb5 Rb8+
Wonder what the English Chess Fed. are going to do now?
A few years back players from India were winning the British title.
So they changed the rules. The Championship is now only open
to players who live in Britain.
They are going to have to come up with an anti-Scottish rule.
(The pictures of Jacob & Ketevan were by Bob Jones)
Now if you really want a laugh.
Go to the Scottish Noticeboard and look up comments from the Gordon - Rowson game.
The homo-electronicals could hardly believe their Fritz's and multi-tasking
was the order of the day as they saw the game, gave Fritz the move
and saw Fritz replies.
It transpires they were looking at the wrong game.
Jonathan v Jacob. I'm looking forward to this.
Yup - it looks like a Ruy Lopez.
Jacob played the Lopez last year-Do you think Jonathan knows this?
Sure - Jonathan might play a Marshall.
Yup-Jonathan might play a Marshall
Jonathan played a Marshall last year-Do you think Jacob knows this?
But wait- what's this?
It's over. Jonathan is in the coffee shop across the road.
He must have lost in 6 moves...Incredible.
Yup-That's Jonathan drinking a cup of coffee alright.
Last year he drank tea.
Wow!!!! A GM losing in six moves.
Fantastic.
Last year it would have been bizarre.
You are looking at the outside CC TV.
The man in the coffee shop is NOT Jonathan Rowson.
I don't believe it.
Somebody must be playing tricks on us.
They did not play tricks on us last year.
Why isn't Eddie Dearing playing in this years British?
Eddie did not play in it last year.
STOP PRESS - STOP PRESS - STOP PRESS
News just in from the English Chess Fed.
From now on the British Championship is only open to people born in
Tunbridge Wells who can trace their family tree back to the battle of Waterloo.
