Claremont Invitational Round 8

Nick Barnett 0 - 1 Laura Irving
Tinto Seotloadi 0 - 1 Nathan Geffen (default)
Anant Dole ½ - ½ Stephen Gallied
Denise Frick ½ - ½ Anzel Solomons

Games from previous rounds:

Deon Solomons 1 - 0 Anant Dole
Nathan Geffen 0 - 1 Charles de Villiers

Games still to be played:

Charles de Villiers - Deon Solomons


Standings after Round 8:

A Section

		(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	Total	Rank
1	Charles de Villiers	X		1	1	1	1	4	1
2	Deon Solomons		X	1	1	½	1	3½	2
3	Tinto Seotloadi	0	0	X	1	0d	1	2	3
4	Stephen Gallied	0	0	0	X	1	½	1½	5
5	Nathan Geffen	0	½	1d	0	X	½	2	3
6	Anant Dole	0	0	0	½	½	X	1	6

B Section

		(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	Total	Rank
1	Warrick Erlank	X	1	1	½	1	3½	1
2	Nick Barnett	0	X	0	½	1	1½	3
3	Laura Irving	0	1	X	1	0	2	2
4	Anzel Solomons	½	½	0	X	½	1½	3
5	Denise Frick	0	0	1	½	X	1½	3

Claremont Open Round 7

Claremont Open Round 7

After a mighty struggle, the last game to finish on the night, Andrew Fereday was unable to end the unbeaten run of Neil Horne. Congratulations to Neil on an excellent performance and impressive consistency. Another notable performance was by Andrew McInnes who turned the tables on Rodney "The Giant Killer" Daniels.

So comes to an end an entertaining Swiss Tournament...

Results from Round 7:

Neil Horne 1 - 0 Andrew Fereday
James Gaylard 0 - 1 Jean-Paul du Plessis
Daniel Russouw 1/2 - 1/2 Otto-Carl Marte
Sam Milner 0 - 1 Errol Bathurst
Keith Breetzke 0 - 1 Travers Waker
Ben van Bruggen 0 - 1 Gershwin Kimar
Andrew McInnes 1 - 0 Rodney T Daniels

Final Standings: (# games played in brackets)

Neil Horne 6½ (7)

Oatse Wally 4 (4)
Jean-Paul du Plessis 4(4)

James Gaylard 3½ (7)
Daniel Russouw 3½ (7)

Ian Broughton 3 (3)
Ingo Holland 3 (5)
Andrew McInnes 3 (6)
John van Ryneveld 3 (6)
Andrew Fereday 3 (7)

Otto Marte 2½(4)
Andre van Reenen 2½ (5)

Imraan Banderker 2 (2)
Keith Breetzke 2 (4)

Georges Torres 2 (5)
Sam Milner 2 (6)
Errol Batthurst 2 (6)

Garry Jolly 1½ (5)
Rodney T Daniels 1½ (6)

Gershwin Kimar 1 (1)
Travers Waker 1 (1)
Jacob Rochoene 1 (2)
Emmanuel Morutwa 1 (4)
Jean Kimbona 1 (5)

Daniel Barrish 0 (1)
Arao Antonio 0 (2)

Dale Green 0 (2)
Ben van Bruggen 0 (6)

Claremont Invitational Round 7

Stephen Galleid 0 - 1 Tinto Seotloadi
Anzel Solomons ½ - ½ Nick Barnett
Warrick Erlank 1 - 0 Denise Frick
Nathan Geffen vs Charles de Villiers was postponed.
Deon Solomons vs Anant Dole was postponed.
Laura had a bye.

Postponed game from last week: Tinto Seotloadi 0 - 1 Deon Solomons

Standings after Round 7:

A Section

		(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	Total	Rank
1	Charles de Villiers	X		1	1		1	3	1
2	Deon Solomons		X	1	1	½		2½	2
3	Tinto Seotloadi	0	0	X	1		1	2	3
4	Stephen Gallied	0	0	0	X	1		1	4
5	Nathan Geffen		½		0	X	½	1	4
6	Anant Dole	0		0		½	X	½	6

B Section

		(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	Total	Rank
1	Warrick Erlank	X	1	1	½	1	3½	1
2	Nick Barnett	0	X		½	1	1½	2
3	Laura Irving	0		X	1	0	1	3
4	Anzel Solomons	½	½	0	X		1	3
5	Denise Frick	0	0	1		X	1	3

The Charles vs Deon game will decide who is the 2007 Claremont Inivitaional Champion.

Warrick has won the B section.

Claremont Invitational Round 6

Results from Round 6:

Charles de Villiers 1 - 0 Stephen Galleid
Warrick Erlank 1 - 0 Nick Barnett
Denise Frick 1 - 0 Laura Irving
Nathan Geffen ½ - ½ Anant Dole
Tinto Seotloadi vs Deon Solomons was postponed.
Anzel had a bye.

Standings after Round 6:

A Section

		(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	Total	Rank
1	Charles de Villiers	X		1	1		1	3	1
2	Deon Solomons		X		1	½		1½	2
3	Tinto Seotloadi	0		X			1	1	3
4	Stephen Gallied	0	0	0	X	1		1	3
5	Nathan Geffen		½		0	X	½	1	3
6	Anant Dole	0		0		½	X	½	6

B Section

		(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	Total	Rank
1	Warrick Erlank	X	1	1	½		2½	1
2	Nick Barnett	0	X			1	1	2
3	Laura Irving	0		X	1	0	1	2
4	Anzel Solomons	½		0	X		½	5
5	Denise Frick		0	1		X	1	2

Claremont Open Round 6

Results from Round 6:

James Gaylard ½ - ½ Neil Horne
John van Ryneveld 0 - 1 Oaitse Wally
Andrew Fereday 1 - 0 Sam Milner
Daniel Russouw 1 - 0 Andrew McInnes
Jean-Paul du Plessis 1 - 0 Jean Kimbona
Ben van Bruggen 0 - 1 Errol Batthurst
Keith Breedske 1 - 0 Arao Antonio


Standings after Round 6: (# games played in brackets)

Neil Horne 5½ (6)

Oatse Wally 4 (4)

James Gaylard 3½ (6)

Jean-Paul du Plessis 3 (3)
Ian Broughton 3 (3)
Ingo Holland 3 (5)
John van Ryneveld 3 (6)
Daniel Russouw 3 (6)
Andrew Fereday 3 (6)

Andre van Reenen 2½ (5)

Imraan Banderker 2 (2)
Keith Breetzke 2 (3)
Otto Marte 2 (3)
Andrew McInnes 2 (5)
Georges Torres 2 (5)
Sam Milner 2 (6)
Errol Batthurst 2 (6)

Garry Jolly 1½ (5)
Rodney T Daniels 1½ (5)

Jacob Rochoene 1 (2)
Emmanuel Morutwa 1 (4)
Jean Kimbona 1 (5)

Daniel Barrish 0 (1)
Arao Antonio 0 (2)

Dale Green 0 (2)
Ben van Bruggen 0 (5)

Here's James managing to end Neil's winning streak. His unbeaten streak is still intact, though.

James Gaylard – Neil Horne
C43 Petroff defence
[Analysis by James Gaylard, Neil Horne and Fritz 6]

1.e4 C43: Petroff Defence: 3 d4 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Bc4?! [4.e5 is more common. The text is good for Black assuming accurate play to follow; but also presents Black with numerous opportunities to make subtle yet fatal errors.]




4...d5? [Black has a selection of good moves here 4... Nxe4; 4.... Nc6; 4...Bc5; 4....Bb4+ would each give Black a slight lead, the move played allows white to open the e-file with advantage]

5.exd5 Nxd5 6.0–0 Be7? [ this allows a tremendous build-up of pressure by white, 6...Nb6 seems the best way to blunt white’s initiative]

7.Qxd4±.Nf6 8.Qxd8+ Bxd8 9.Re1+ Be7 10.Nc3 Nc6




11.Bf4? [White resists the immediate Nb5 and instead strives to maintain his lead in development, safe in the knowledge that the c7 pawn is there for the taking, however this is an opportunity missed. 11.Nb5 0–0 (11..Kd8 would be suicidal) 12.Nxc7 Rb8 and black’s position is very unpleasant]

11...0–0 12.Nb5 Bf5 13.Nfd4 ?! [ this appears on face value to be a killer move forcing the Black bishop to a pinned position on d4, but should be prefaced by c3 ]




13...Nxd4² 14.Nxd4 [14.Rxe7?! Nxb5 15.Bxb5 Be6 16.Bxc7 Nd5 17.Rxe6 fxe6 is interesting]

14...Be4 [the pin ensues, but how can white exploit it in the face of Black’s powerful resource of Bc5? Note that Black cannot avoid the pin. Any other move loses a piece E.g. 14…Be6 15 Nxe6 fxe6 Rxe6 is devastating]




15.Be5 [15.Bg5 seems better ] 15...Bd5 16.Bxc7? [White despairs of his dissipating initiative and snatches the pawn in a vain attempt to extract some reward from his pressure up to this point. But this is a mistake, giving Black a forced draw. 16.BxB NxB 15.c4 would have maintained some advantage for white] 16...Bxc4 17.Rxe7 Nd5 18.Rd7 Nf6 ½-½ [white must repeat the position or lose the c7 bishop e.g. 19.Rd6 Ne8]

Claremont Open Round 5

Round 5 results:

Neil Horne 1 - 0 John van Ryneveld
Ingo Holland 1 - 0 James Gaylard
Oaitse Wally 1 - 0 Georges Torres
Rodney T Daniels 0.5 - 0.5 Andre van Reenen
Garry Jolly 0 - 1 Andrew Fereday
Sam Milner 1 - 0 Arao Antonio
Errol Batthurst 0 - 1 Daniel Russouw
Keith Breetzke 1 - 0 Ben van Bruggen
Jean Kimbona 1 - 0 Dale Green

Standings after Round 5:

(Not everybody has played every round. The number in brackets indicates the number of games played)

Neil Horne 5 (5)

Ian Broughton 3 (3)
Oatse Wally 3 (3)
James Gaylard 3 (5)
John van Ryneveld 3 (5)
Ingo Holland 3 (5)

Andre van Reenen 2.5 (5)

Jean-Paul du Plessis 2 (2)
Imraan Banderker 2 (2)
Otto Marte 2 (3)
Andrew McInnes 2 (4)
Georges Torres 2 (5)
Daniel Russouw 2 (5)
Andrew Fereday 2 (5)
Sam Milner 2 (5)

Garry Jolly 1.5 (5)
Rodney T Daniels 1.5 (5)

Keith Breetzke 1 (2)
Jacob Rochoene 1 (2)
Jean Kimbona 1 (4)
Emmanuel Morutwa 1 (4)
Errol Batthurst 1 (5)

Daniel Barrish 0 (1)
Arao Antonio 0 (1)
Dale Green 0 (2)
Ben van Bruggen 0 (4)

Claremont Invitational Round 5

by James Gaylard.

Phase 1 of the tournament has been successfully completed.

Deon Solomons drew with Nathan Geffen and Charles de Villiers beat Warrick Erlank to top their respective groups in this event.

Laura Irving continued her good form of late with an upset win over Tinto. The two key games of the evening (with A section qualification at stake) were between Stephen Gallied and Nick Barnett and between Anant Dole and Anzel Solomons. Stephen and Anant both won with the white pieces to earn their spots in the Championship Section of the competition.

Anant had been credited with a default 1st round win over Tinto. Before the 5th round started however, Anand very graciously offered Tinto the opportunity to play a blitz game for the point. Tinto accepted and went on to win the game.

The other outstanding game from Phase 1 was the 4th round clash between Anant and Laura (who was unfortunately not able to play on the scheduled evening.) Sadly, the players were unable to find a time to make up the game before Sunday's deadline, and so Anant is credited with the point.

Laura finishes Phase 1 with a very creditable 2 points out of 4 games played and a performance rating of approximately 2000. Considering that she also finished 3rd in the recent Cape of Good Hope Open, this confirms that her official Chessa rating needs to do some serious catching-up with her form.

The full set of results from round 5 are:

Deon Solomons ½ - ½ Nathan Geffen
Stephen Gallied 1 - 0 Nick Barnett
Anant Dole 1 - 0 Anzel Solomons
Tinto Seotladi 0 - 1 Laura Irving
Warrick Erlank 0 - 1 Charles de Villiers
Denise Frick 1 - 0 Howard Goldberg (default)

Final group standings after Phase 1 are:

Alekhine Group

1. Deon Solomons 4
2. Nathan Geffen 3½
3. Stephen Gallied 3
4. Nick Barnett 2½
5. Denise Frick 2

Bronstein Group

1. Charles de Villiers 4
2. Tinto Seotladi, Anant Dole 2½
4. Laura Irving, Warrick Erlank, Anzel Solomons 2

The Championship Section in phase 2 will thus consist of:
Deon, Nathan, Stephen, Charles, Tinto and Anant.

The B Section will consist of:
Nick, Denise, Laura, Warrick and Anzel.

Phase 2 of the competition will take place on Thursdays 8,15 and 22 March in round-robin format with each player taking 2 results through from phase 1.

The draw for rounds 6, 7 and 8 is as follows:

Round 6, Thursday 8 March
A Section: Tinto vs Deon, Nathan vs Anant, Charles vs Stephen
B Section: Warrick vs Nick, Denise vs Laura. Anzel has a bye.

Round 7, Thursday 15 March
A Section: Stephen vs Tinto, Deon vs Anant, Nathan vs Charles
B Section: Anzel vs Nick, Warrick vs Denise. Laura has a bye.

Round 8, Thursday 22 March
A Section: Tinto vs Nathan, Anant vs Stephen, Charles vs Deon
B Section: Nick vs Laura, Denise vs Anzel. Warrick has a bye.

Standings in the 2 Sections (incorporating the 2 results carried from Phase 1) are as follows:

A Section

		(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	(6)	Total	Rank
1	Charles de Villiers	X		1			1	2	1
2	Deon Solomons		X		1	½		1½	2
3	Tinto Seotloadi	0		X			1	1	3
4	Stephen Gallied		0	0	X	1		1	3
5	Nathan Geffen		½		0	X		½	5
6	Anant Dole	0		0			X	0	6

B Section

		(1)	(2)	(3)	(4)	(5)	Total	Rank
1	Warrick Erlank	X		1	½		1½	1
2	Nick Barnett		X			1	1	2
3	Laura Irving	0		X	1		1	2
4	Anzel Solomons	½		0	X		½	4
5	Denise Frick		0			X	0	5

Nick has once again obliged us by providing his 5th round game against Stephen. The analysis is by Nick.

Galleid,Stephen - Barnett,Nick
Claremont Invitational, Round 5 01.03.2007

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 c6 too refined.
[4...Nc6 is more usual]

5.Nf3 d6 6.0-0 Bxc3 7.bxc3 Na6 8.Rb1 Qa5 9.Qc2 0-0 10.d3 e4 11.Nd4 exd3 12.exd3 Nc5 13.Bf4 Qd8 14.Rfe1 Ne6 15.Nxe6 fxe6 16.d4 Nh5 17.Be3 Qa5 18.Be4 Nf6 19.Bd3 e5 20.dxe5 dxe5 21.c5 Kh8 22.Rb4 e4 23.Bc4 Nd5 24.Bxd5 cxd5 25.Rd1 Be6 After this Black is struggling.



The bishop should go [25...Bd7 26.Rxd5 Not (26.Rxb7 Ba4) 26...Bc6 27.Rd6 Qc7 28.Qe2 Rac8 29.a4 Rf3 30.Qc4 Qf7 And Black's grip on the White squares almost equalizes]

26.Rxb7 Qa6 27.Qb2 h6
[27...Rf7 28.Rb8+ Rf8 29.Qb5 Qxb5 30.Rxb5 Rac8 31.Rb7 a5]



28.Bxh6 [28.c4 Rf7 29.Rxf7 Bxf7 30.cxd5 Rd8 31.Qb3 Qe2]

28...Rf7 [28...Bf7 29.Bxg7+ Kxg7 30.c4+ Kg8 31.cxd5 Qg6 32.h3 Rad8 33.d6 Qf5]

29.Rxf7
The spectacular [29.Bxg7+ Rxg7 30.Rxg7 Kxg7 31.c4+ Kh7 32.cxd5 Bg4 33.Rb1 Qd3 34.Qb7+ Kh6 35.Qc6+ Kh5 also wins]

29...Bxf7



30.Be3
And again [30.Bxg7+ Kxg7 31.c4+ Qf6 Or (31...d4 when 32.Qxd4+ Kg8 33.Qxe4 Re8 34.Qg4+ Kf8 35.Qh4 Kg7 36.Rd6 Re1+ 37.Kg2 Qxa2 38.Qh6+ Kg8 39.Rd8+ Be8 40.Rd5 is deadly) 32.Qxf6+ Kxf6 33.cxd5 Rc8 34.d6 Bxa2 35.d7 Rd8 36.h3 wins, but White strangles with simple moves.]

30...Qa4 31.Rb1 Be8 32.Qb7 Bc6 33.Qf7 Qxa2
[33...Qc2 34.Rc1 Qb2 35.Qe6 Qb7 36.c4 dxc4 37.Qxc4 Rf8 offered some hope.]



34.Rb7 Brilliant

34...Bxb7 Black's flag was hovering, but [34...Qa1+ 35.Kg2 Qxc3 36.Rc7 Be8 37.Qxd5 Qf6 38.Bh6 gxh6 39.Qxe4 Bc6 40.Qxc6 Qxc6+ 41.Rxc6 is kaput]

35.Bd4 1-0

Quite ironic that, in the previous round, Nick finished off Denise with the threat of Rb7 and, in the very next round, Nick is on the receiving end of a decisive Rb7!