Newcastle Open 2012 – The Chess Page

Newcastle Open – Round 6

In my final round of the Newcastle open I was up against Toby Coates from Newcastle. Toby is a strong player and a great guy so I was glad to play him in the last round of the tournament.

I opened with the Albin Counter Gambit but found myself struggling to gain anything from the opening and had to tread very carefully as I watched my clock go down very quickly.

I have found it hard to stay focused during my last round games at recent tournaments. I get quite tired by the end of a tournament and I am ready for a break and tend to try for more aggressive lines to finish the game quickly but I have not had much success yet!

I did learn a lot from this game though as it showed some obvious holes in my opening theory.

Newcastle Open – Round 6 Read More »

Newcastle Open 2012 – Round 5

In this game I was paired off against one of the strongest players at the tournament.

I was keen to give the Smith Morra Gambit a go against a strong player to see what defence they would play. I did not expect to come up against what I did. I have played the Smith Morra Gambit numerous times and never seen the trap that I feel into in this game. It was really good to analyse the game after with Ronald and learn about the trap that can occur in the opening and think of the continuations that I might play next time if I come up against this line.

Newcastle Open 2012 – Round 5 Read More »

Newcastle Open 2012 – Round 4

Leave a Comment / Newcastle Open 2012, Queens Gambit - Slav / March 10, 2012

In this game I was up against Ian Bull, a player I played against at the Country Teams Tournament. He is a great guy and a really strong player and I was ready for a tough game. I have really enjoyed both the games we have played. In this game we played a variation of the Queens Gambit Slav but with White playing an early fianchetto on the King side. I have included the ratings we had at the time of the tournament although both of us have improved our ratings since the tournament.

I still have 2 games to put up from the Newcastle Open so keep posted for those!

Newcastle Open 2012 – Round 4 Read More »

Newcastle Open 2012 – Round 3

Leave a Comment / Newcastle Open 2012, Ruy Lopez, Schliemann Defense / March 2, 2012

This years Newcastle Open was a 6 round event. I don’t mind 6 round events but generally find that it is hard to split away from those players that are of a similar rating to you and it is harder to finish the tournament with a result that reflects your performance. This was the case in this tournament as I scored 3 out of 6 but felt I did really well in the tournament with 5 of my games against higher rated players.

In my round 3 game I came up against a much stronger opponent. I enjoyed the game and although I went away with the loss it was great to have the chance to analyse the Schliemann Defence variation of the Ruy Lopez as I had not come across this opening before (and you know how often I play the Ruy Lopez). It will definitely be an opening line I research further to make sure I am a little better prepared in the future!

In this game I thought there were a few attacking chances and therefore played very aggressively in the opening, only to find the attack was not sound. After I went down in material my opponent was able to hold on to the advantage and secure the win.

Newcastle Open 2012 – Round 3 Read More »