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Neville Gill
Last revised:
12 September, 2004.
Isle of Man Chess Association
Douglas Chess Club
Southern Chess Club
Visitor Number
Visitor Number
http://www.fxweb.com/tracker/index.shtml
Neville Gill playing in the Smith & Williamson 2004 British Senior Championship at Scarborough from the 7th - 13th August 2004. Neville scored 4 points and finished in equal 10th position after losing his final game against David A Smith, a joint winner. See the latest results at :- http://www.bcfservices.org.uk/live2004/tournaments/british_senior.htm
Neville Gill - Smith & Williamson 2004 British Championship - 5 Day Open Week 1 at Scarborough from the 2nd - 6th August 2004. Neville's final score was 3½/5 and he finished in equal 2nd position. See the latest results at :- http://www.bcfservices.org.uk/live2004/tournaments/5_day_open_wk1.htm
Smith & Williamson 2004 - British Senior Championship
Selected final results
1 SMITH,David A..................... ENG 11/06/1942 w30+ b3= w4= b13+ w6+ b2= w12+ 5½
2 STEPHENSON,Norman........ ENG 2218 404900 w18= b23+ w12+ w9= b11+ w1= b10+ 5½
5 DICKSON,George................ ENG 14/10/1939 b29+ w28+ b11- w10= w12= b16+ b8= 4½
6 ELLISON,D George............. ENG 2102 404365 b25+ w20+ b9= w11+ b1- b3- w17+ 4½
11 ARMSTRONG,William G...... ENG 20/03/1941 b24+ w7+ w5+ b6- w2- b12- w18+ 4
12 GILL,Neville...................... ENG 2053 404012 b14= w27+ b2- w25+ b5= w11+ b1- 4
25 SMITH,David................... ENG 28/09/1939 w6- b32= w23+ b12- w16- b22= w31+ 3
27 MACRAE,James S........... SCO 22/05/1936 w17= b12- w18- b15= b28= w31+ w16- 2½
| Isle of Man Newspapers report - 19 August 2004 |
| Douglas Chess player Neville Gill was in equal fifth place going into the final round of the British Senior Chess Championship. played on Friday the 13th August. The four leaders each had 4½ points from 6 games, and the next group of four players including Neville had 4 points. |
| The final round was played on Friday the 13th August and in Neville’s own words “Total disaster! Lost a pawn after only 10 moves” and though he struggled on, his opponent David A Smith eventually won the game on the 55th move and with it an equal share in the championship with Neville finishing equal 10th |
| Neville’s only other defeat was in round three against Norman Stephenson, who was the other equal champion with 5½ points from 7 games. Neville was bitterly disappointed with his uncharacteristic blunder in the final game and has stated that he may not enter next year’s event. Hopefully he will change his mind and play, especially as the British Chess Championships are being held at the Villa Marina in 2005! |
|
Friday 13th August - Neville's daily report - Final Round |
| Total disaster! Lost a pawn after only 10 moves, like the Dickson game. |
| White: David A Smith, 2166 Black: Neville Gill, 2053 |
| 1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Bf4 c5 4.e3 Qb6 5.Nc3 Bf5 6.Bb5+ Nc6 7.dxc5 Qxc5 8.Nd4 Bd7 9.Nb3 Qb6 10.Nxd5 Nxd5 11.Qxd5 e6 12.Qh5 G6 13.Qe2 Bg7 14.c3 0-0 and White won (55 moves) |
| Norman Stephenson said it must be nervousness. I do not know what it is but something is badly wrong. It will be a long journey back to the island! |
|
Thursday 12th August - Neville's daily report - Round 6 |
| It's all getting rather tense, with the leaders drawing with each other. There are 4 on 4½ points. I am one of four players ½ point behind. One of the leaders has played the other three so he will have to drop down to play somebody on 4 points. |
| White: Neville Gill, 2053 Black: William Armstrong, 1810 |
| 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.d5 Ne5 8.Nxe5 dxe5 9.Bg5 h6 10.Be3 Kh7 11.g4 Ng8 12.g5 f5 13.gxh6 Nxh6 14.Bg5 fxe4 15.h4 Bf5 16.h5 Qd6 17.Qd2 e3 18.Bxe3 g5 19.c5 Qd7 20.Bxg5 Nf7 21.h6 Bf6 22.Bxf6 exf6 23.0-0-0 Ng5 24.f4 Ne4 25.Nxe4 Bxe4 26.Bd3 Qf5 27.fxe5 Bxd3 28.Qxd3 fxe5 29.Qxf5+ Rxf5 30.d6 cxd6 31.Rxd6 Raf8 32.Rd7+ R8f7 33.Rxf7+ Rxf7 "Draw?" 34.Kd2 Rc7 35.b4 a5 36.a3 axb4 37.axb4 b6 38.cxb6 Rc6 39.Kd3 Rxb6 40.Kc4 e4 41.b5 e3 42.Kc5 Rxh6 43.Re1 Re6 44.b6 Kg6 45.b7 Re8 46.Rxe3 Rxe3 47.b8 (Q) Queen v Rook is far from easy to win and I only just managed it. 1-0, 82 moves! |
|
Wednesday 11th August - Neville's daily report - Round 5 |
| A lost position after only 10 moves against one of the defending champions. After 12.e5! (a) White should have won easily. Somehow Black held on for the draw. No idea how! |
| White: George Dickson, 1900 (One of the defending Champions) Black: Neville Gill, 2053 |
| 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Qf6 5.Be3 Bc5 6.c3 Nge7 7.Bc4 0-0 8.0-0 Bb6 9.Na3 d6 10.N4b5! a6 11.Nxd6 Rd8 12.e5! (a) Qg6 13.Bxf7+ Qxf7 14.Nxf7 Rxd1 15.Raxd1 Kxf7 16.Bxb6 cxb6 17.Nc4 b5 18.Nb6 Rb8 19.Nxc8 Rxc8 20.f4 Rc7 21.Kf2 h5 22.Rd3 Nf5 23.Rfd1 Ke6 24.g3 g6 25.h3 Nb8 26.g4 hxg4 27.hxg4 Ne7 28.Rd6+ Kf7 29.f5 gxf5 30.gxf5 Rc5 31.Rf6+ Ke8 32.Rh1 N8c6 33.Rh8+ Kd7 34.Rd6+ Kc7 35.f6 Rxe5 36.fxe7 Rxe7 37.Rdh6 Re4 38.R8h7+ Kb6 39.b3 Rf4+ 40.Ke3 Rf1 41.Rd6 Re1+ 42.Kd2 Ra1 43.Rdd7 Rxa1+ 44.Kc1 Na5 45.b4 Nc4 46.Rxb7+ Kc6 47.Rbg7 Kd5 48.Rg5+ Ke4 49.Rh4+ Kf3 50.Rxc4 bxc4 51.Rc5 Ke3 52.Kb1 Rh2 53.Rxc4 Kd3 54.Rc6 Rg2 ½-½ |
|
Tuesday 10th August - Neville's daily report - Round 4 |
| For three quarters of the game I took things far too easily and drifted into a very bad position. Black should have played (a) 30.....e4! to activate his pieces or (b) 28.....dxe5 (instead of Nxe3) 29.f5 e4! After (c) 31.Be4! White had plenty of time to build up his attack. When he resigned (d) Black was short of time. |
| White: Neville Gill, 2053 Black: David Smith, 1800 (King's Indian) |
| 1.d4 g6 2.e4 d6 3.c4 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Be2 0-0 6.Nf3 c6 7.0-0 Qc7 8.Re1 Bg4 9.Be3 e5 10.h3 Bxf3 11.Bxf3 Nbd7 12.d5 c5 13.a3 a6 14.Be2 Rfe8 15.Qd2 Nf8 16.b4 N6d7 17.Bd3 Rab8 18.Rab1 b6 19.Rec1 Rb7 20.g3 Reb8 21.b5 a5 22.f4 exf4 23.gxf4 Re8 24.Ne2 Nf6 25.Ng3 N8d7 26.Kg2 h5 27.h4 Ng4 28.e5 Nxe3 (b) 29.Qxe3 dxe5 30.f5 Nf8 (a) 31.Be4! (c) R7b8 32.Rg1 Qe7 33.Kh3 Kh8 34.Rg2 Kh7 35.Nxh5! Bh6 36.Qf3 Resigns 1-0 |
|
It's the result that counts (My brother in a text message) |
|
Monday 9th August - Neville's daily report - Round 3 |
| (a) 7.a3 turned out to be very good for White. I was struggling all the way. Probably (b) 11.....cxd4 was an error. I lasted a lot longer than I should have but Black always seemed to be losing. |
| White: Norman Stephenson, 2218 Black: Neville Gill, 2053 |
| 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.a3 (a) Be7 8.Nf3 0-0 9.Bd3 b6 10.Qe2 Bb7 11.0-0 cxd4 (b) 12.cxd4 Nc6 13.Bb2 Rc8 14.Rac1 Na5 15.Ba6 Rxc1 16.Rxc1 Qb8 17.Bxb7 Qxb7 18.Qc2 Bd6 19.e5 Bb8 20.Ng5 g6 21.Ne4 Kg7 22.Nf6 b5 23.d5 Nc4 24.d6 Rc8 25.d7 Rd8 26.Qe2 Rxd7 27.Nxd7 Qxd7 28.Rd1 Qe7 29.a4 a6 30.axb5 axb5 31.Bc3 Qc5 32.Bd4 Qe7 33.Qe4 h6 34.Rc1 Ba7 35.Bxa7 Qxa7 36.Qf4 Qe7 37.Rb1 Nb6 38.Rxb5 Nd5 39.Qc1 Qa7 40.g3 Qd4 41.Qe1 Nc3 42.Rb3 Nd5 43.h3 h5 44.h4 Ne7 45.Rb4 Qd5 46.Qe4 Qxe4 47.Rxe4 f6 48.exf6+ Kxf6 49.Kg2 e5 50.Ra4 g5? 51.Ra6+ Kf5 52.Rh6 1-0 |
|
Sunday 8th August - Neville's daily report - Round 2 |
| This was a "must win" game |
| White: Neville Gill, 2053 Black: James Macrae, 1720 |
| 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 dxc4 4.Nf3 Bg4 (4.....Nf6 is better) 5.d5 Bxf3 6.exf3 Ne5 7.Bf4 Nd3+ 8.Bxd3 cxd3 9.0-0 Qd7 10.Qxd3 c6 11.Rfd1 Nf6 12.dxc6! (wins) Qxd3 13.cxb7! (The Black Queen can be left on the board) Rb8 14.Bxb8! Qa6 15.Bc7 1-0 At the end 15.....Nd7 16.Rxd7 does not help Black. |
|
Saturday 7th August - Neville's daily report - Round 1 |
| 32 players, 8 former winners. No 8 seed (means 4 Blacks yet again) |
| White: Dr D Baldwin, 1780 (1988 Champion) Black: Neville Gill, 2053 He looks very good indeed for his age. Used to be a GP and has visited the island. |
| 1.Nc3 Nf6 2.e4 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.0-0 0-0 7.h3 bxc3 8.dxc3 Nxe4 9.Nxe5 Qxd1 10.Rxd1 Bf5 11.Bf4 ½-½ |
| I had no idea he would play for a draw right from the start! It was all over in 25 minutes. Later Norman Stephenson also conceded half a point, although his game was far longer. |
| Isle of Man Newspapers report - 12 August 2004 |
| Douglas Chess player Neville Gill is currently playing at the British Chess Championships being held at Scarborough. Neville’s first competition, which he regards as a warm up event to prepare for the Senior Championships, took place from the 2nd to 6th August. This was a five-day event with an entry of 20 players and Neville finished in equal second place, unbeaten with two wins and three drawn games. |
| His next competition is the British Senior Championships, a 7-day event from the 7th to 13th August, against more players and much stronger opposition. See next week’s Courier for a report. Neville’s record in this event is impressive, having won the title in 2001 at Scarborough, finished equal 2nd in 2002 at Torquay and equal 4th last year at Edinburgh. |
| Next year Neville will be playing on home soil as the British Chess Championships are being held at the Villa Marina from the 25th July to the 6th August 2005. |
Smith & Williamson 2004 - 5 Day Week 1
| Final result:- |
| 1st Lutton 4½ £150 |
| 2nd = Gill, Connor, Schmerwitz 3½ £25 each |
| I did not meet Lutton or Connor and did not play the German either! That is the way of the world in a 5 round Swiss. |
| Start again tomorrow. More players and much stronger opposition. |
|
Friday 6th August - Neville's daily report - Final Round |
| Round 5 top pairings; Connor (3) v Lutton (4); Harris (2½) v Gill (3) |
| Connor - Lutton began 1.e4 Nc6 2.Nf3 f5; Completely new to me! It was soon drawn. I immediately offered a draw in my game, giving me a share of second prize. Of course we could have played on but at best I could have finished second alone. |
| White: Martyn Harris 142; Black: Neville Gill 188 |
| 1.Nf3 d5 2.c4 e6 3.b3 Nf6 4.e3 Be7 5.Be2 0-0 6.0-0 c5 7.Bb2 Nc6 8.d4 b6 9.dxc5 bxc5 10.Ne5 Bb7 11.Nxc6 Bxc6 12.Bf3 Qb6 13.cxd5 exd5 14.Qc2 Rfd8 15.Nd2 Rac8 16.Rfe1 Qb7 17.Rac1 Nd7 18.h3 Bf8 ½-½ |
|
Thursday 5th August - Neville's daily report - Round 4 |
| A much better day today. I am getting rid of this cold at long last. My opponent, in a somewhat inferior position, blundered a pawn (16..... Ne7?) after which it was just a matter of time. Black hoped for Rxc3 and b2. |
| White: Neville Gill 188; Black: Anthony Eccles 150 |
| 1.d4 Nc6 2.e4 e5 3.dxe5 Nxe5 4.Nf3 Bb4+ 5.c3 Nxf3+ 6.Qxf3 Bc5 7.Be3 Bxe3 8.Qxe3 d6 9.Bd3 Nf6 10.0-0 0-0 11.Nd2 Ng4 12.Qg3 Ne5 13.Bc2 f5 14.f4 Ng6 15.Rae1 fxe4 16.Bxe4 Ne7? 17.Bxh7+ Kxh7 18.Qh4+ Kg8 19.Qxe7 Qxe7 20.Rxe7 Rf7 21.Rfe1 Bd7 22.Nf3 Kf8 23.Rxf7+ Kxf7 24.Kf2 Kf6 25.h3 b5 26.g4 a5 27.a3 c5 28.Ng5 Ra6 29.Ne4+ Kf7 30.Rd1 Ke7 31.f5 b4 32.axb4 cxb4 33.cxb4 axb4 34.Rd4 Rb6 35.Ke3 Bc8 36.Kf4 Ba6 37.g5 b3 38.Nc3 Rc6 39.Rb4 Bc4 40.Rb7+ Ke8 41.h4 Kf8 42.h5 Bf7 43.g6 Bc4 44.f6 gxf6 45.h6 Rc5 46.h7 Rh5 47.g7+ 1-0 |
| After the game I met Stewart Reuben. He said that Richard Furness was wrong to always give the top seed white in round 1. He also explained the logic behind the half point bye. He is a world expert on chess tournaments. |
|
Wednesday 4th August - Neville's daily report - Round 3 |
| Yesterday Dinah Norman did not move a single piece into my half of the board, and only 3 pawns. It shows White's domination, but all I got was a draw! |
| White: Paul Stokes 157; Black: Neville Gill 188 |
| 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 (5.d3 leads to a very dull game, 5.d4 is much more exciting) a6 6.0-0 d6 7.Bb3 0-0 8.Re1 Ba7 9.Nbd2 Be6 10.Bxe6 fxe6 11.Qb3 Qd7 12.Nf1 Rab8 13.Be3 Bxe3 14.Nxe3 Nd8 15.Rad1 Qb5 16.Qxb5 axb5 ½-½ |
| Nothing really happened! After the Queen's came off I offered a draw. Dinah also drew today quite quickly. |
|
Tuesday 3rd August - Neville's daily report - Round 2 |
| My opponent today is Dinah Norman. As Dinah Dobson she was British Ladies Champion in 1968 and 1969. Even so, drawing with her was a poor result. I had much the better of it. |
| White: Neville Gill 188; Black: Dinah Norman 138 |
| 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Be7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.e4 b4 10.Na4 Bb7 11.e5 Nd5 12.0-0 0-0 13.Qc2 g6 14.Bh6 Re8 15.Nc5 Nxc5 16.dxc5 a5 17.Rac1 Ba6 18.Bxa6 Rxa6 19.Qc4 Ra7 20.Qg4 Bf8 21.Bxf8 Rxf8 22.Rfe1 Qe7 23.Ng5 Kg7 24.Ne4 Rh8 25.Nd6 h5 26.Qg3 h4 27.Qg4 Raa8 28.f4 Rh5 29.Rcd1 Rah8 30.Rd3 Qa7 31.Rc1 Qa6 32.Rd4 Qa7 33.Qe2 Kf8 34.a3 Ke7 35.Qc4 Rb8 36.a4 Kf8 37.Qe2 Kg7 38.b3 Rbh8 39.Rcc4 Qe7 40.Qf3 Qa7 41.Qf2 ½-½ |
|
Monday 2nd August - Neville's daily report - Round 1 |
| There are 20 players. As the top seed I expected White in round 1 but the rules have been changed!! |
| White: Roger Amram (France) 136 Black: Neville Gill, new grade 188 (down 1 - I was undefeated in Edinburgh last year but had too many draws.) Bishop's opening |
| 1.e4 e5 2.Bc4 Nf6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nf3 Nxe4 (Giving up 2 pawns was far too ambitious. White can recover 1 of them but not both) 5.0-0 d5 6.Re1 Be7 7.Bxd5 Qxd5 8.c4 Qf5 9.Qe2 Nc6 10.Qxe4 Qxe4 11.Rxe4 Bf5 12.Rf4 Be6 13.Na3 (13.Nxd4? 0-0-0) 0-0-0 14.Nb5 Bxc4 15.Nbxd4 Nxd4 16.Rxd4 Bf6 17.Rxd8+ Rxd8 18.g3? (g3 lost at once but Black's advantage was huge) Rd1+ 19.Kg2 Bf1+ 0-1 |
The Smith & Williamson British Senior Championship 2003
Reports from Neville Gill (5 Day week 1 results, games and reports)
Smith & Williamson 2003 - British Senior Championship
Neville is seeded number two in the Seniors.
| Sunday 3 August 2003 - Neville's final report |
| With time to kill on Saturday morning I went to the awards ceremony, sitting with Steven Barr and David Tidworth. The presentation party arrived to the sound of bagpipes, it was lead by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh. The Indians had a field day, winning most of the junior titles plus the British Championship itself. A Russian won the Major Open with 11/11! I would imagine that the first prize of £700 is a fortune to many players from the old Soviet Union. Julian Farrand finished on 50%. David Anderton remarked that in the Major Open these days one is likely to encounter junior players in game after game, which can be disconcerting. |
| Alec Toll shared first prize in the U175 championship. I knew he would be a leading contender. Ketevan Arakhamia Grant, the Georgian lady who married a Scotsman, won two prizes, the British Ladies title and a share of 5th place. Next year it will be very different. There will be a Commonwealth championship and a World Major Open. Only British players will be eligible for the various British championships, and not before time! (Most of the leading English players have boycotted the British Championship proper in protest against other entries allowed.) |
| In 2004 the World Senior Team championship will be held in Port Erin. It is for teams of four players plus a reserve or reserves. Anybody can enter a team which can represent a Country, Town or even a club. I told Stewart Reuben that the Isle of man will have a team. Robert Kermeen (139) will come in handy for board 2. We may need to dig some players out of retirement! There is no reason why we cannot field more than one team. David Anderton will bring a team from his area (Walsall) and so will Ivor Smith (Essex). The more the merrier. |
| It was Tony Bridson and Paul from the Tourist Board who came to Edinburgh last Thursday. They had their stall up and running in good time, by 12 noon. It seemed to attract a lot of interest. No final decision has been taken by the British Chess Federation Management Board but I have been told on good authority that that the British Championships will be held at the new Villa Marina complex in 2005. However I am wondering if the Tourist Board really know what is involved. A large hall in itself is not sufficient. You need at least one other playing area (at George Heriot's there were three) plus a commentary room, analysis room, B.C.F. office, Chess and Bridge bookstall, B.C.F. bookstall ......... There is no such thing as a venue that is too big for the British Championships. After the 8.00pm presentation questions were invited from the audience. The main sticking point seems to be car ownership. Players jump in their car and drive to a tournament. Of course they can still drive on and off the boat but it will cost them money. There is a crucial difference! |
| Entries at Edinburgh were a record at 1009 but there was only one Manx player. If the Isle of Man is hosting the championships in 2005 we will have to do better than that at Scarborough next year. No player can feel out of his or her depth. There is a U100 championship and even a tournament for girls under 8. The Weekender is split into sections, similar to the Monarch Open, Major and Minor. With Scarborough being a particularly attractive venue I really don't know what the problem is! |
| Final scores were:- |
| Anderton, Dickson, Stephenson 5 (£125 each); Gill, Toothill 4½ |
Final crosstable (abbreviated)
| Pos Player Grade /e 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Score |
| 1 ANDERTON,David W......... 198 w12+ b2= w6= b7+ w3- b10+ w8+ 5 |
| 2 DICKSON,George........... 166 b20+ w1= b8+ w9= b5= b4= w7+ 5 |
| 3 STEPHENSON,Norman...... 184 b18+ w15= b14+ w5= b1+ b8= w4= 5 |
| 4 GILL,Neville............. 189 b14= w17= b21+ w6= b15+ w2= b3= 4½ |
| 5 TOOTHILL,John............ 173 w16+ b6= w10+ b3= w2= b7- w12+ 4½ |
| 6 BISSELL,Maurice.......... 155 b19+ w5= b1= b4= w8- w14+ b15= 4 |
| 7 ELLISON,D George......... 172 b17= w9= b15+ w1- b13+ w5+ b2- 4 |
| 8 HEMPSON,Peter............ 172 w21+ b10= w2- b12+ b6+ w3= b1- 4 |
| 9 REUBEN,Stewart........... 186 w11= b7= w13+ b2= w10= b12- w18 4 |
| 14 ROTH,Michael J........... 152 e w4= b11+ w3- b18- w19+ b6- w20+ 3½ |
| 15 SMITH,Ivor B N........... 165 w13+ b3= w7- b11+ w4- b18= w6= 3½ |
| 17 NICOLSON,James R......... 136 w7= b4= w16= b10- w12- bye+ b11= 3 |
| 21 WATSON,James P........... 134 e b8- bye+ w4- b16- w11- b20= w19= 2 |
| Friday 1 August 2003 - Neville's daily report - Round 7 (Final round) |
| LAST DAY! |
|
Stephenson (4½) - Gill (4) |
|
Anderton (4) - Hempson (4) |
|
Dickson (4) - Ellison (4) |
| Only two players could win outright but four others had a chance to share the championship if results went their way. How should I approach the game? I could play Morphy, going all out for glory but running the risk of losing my unbeaten record in Edinburgh, or I could play normally and see what turned up. After much deliberation I chose the second course, meeting 1.e4 with my usual 1.e5. |
| Norman Stephenson(184) ½-½ Neville Gill (189) |
| 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.Nxe5 Qe7 7.Nd3 Bxc3 8.dxc3 Qxe4+ ½-½ Norman Stevenson had decided to play as carefully as possible in a drawish 4 Knights opening. In the final position White plays 9.Qe2, the Queens come off and the position goes dead. |
|
Stephenson (½) - Gill (½) |
|
Anderton (1) - Hempson (0) |
|
Dickson (1) - Ellison (0) |
|
Toothill (1) - Levens (0) |
| I do not feel in the least bit tired, even at my age! I could quite easily start all over again on Monday morning. Tomorrow I will attend the prizegiving and then catch the 11.55am train to Wigan North Western and the 7.00pm boat from Liverpool. After 12 games in 12 days (6 wins, 6 draws) I expect to be suffering from withdrawal symptoms for the next few days. |
|
Thursday 31 July - Neville's daily report - Round 6 |
| In the Anderton-Stephenson game yesterday it seemed that White missed all manner of wins. He had two Bishops in effective play, doubled Rooks, an attack on the King...... but it is water under the bridge now. The top seed is not out of it yet by any means. Two wins will bring him up to 5 points which may be enough for a share of the championship. In the penultimate round the top games are:- |
|
Hempson (3½) - Stephenson (4) |
|
Gill (3½) - Dickson (3½) |
|
Ellison (3) - Toothill (3½) |
|
Levens (2½) - Reuben (3) |
| David Tidworth saved me a walk yesterday. I was on my way to the school to find out who I was playing when I met him on the way back. I am twice as far away as I was in Scarborough and Torquay. You have to climb 80 concrete steps just before the school! It is like going from Douglas harbour bridge to Head Road except that there are more level bits on the way up. |
| Tonight at 8.00pm officials from the Isle of Man Department of Tourism will be here to make their presentation. I don't think I know any of them but of course I will attend. Entries are a record this year. 1007 players, young and not so young have come to Edinburgh. It will be a big boost for local tourism if we can bring them to the Isle of Man in 2005. It will have to be held in Douglas. |
| Nobody knows very much about George Dickson. He plays for Metropolitan, one of the oldest London clubs. Ivor Smith recalls playing him many years ago. |
| Neville Gill (189) ½-½ George Dickson (166) |
| .1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.f4 Bg7 5.Nf3 c5 6.e5 Ng4 7.h3 cxd4 8.Qxd4 Nh6 9.g4 Nc6 10.Bb5 0-0 11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.Be3 dxe5 13.Nxe5 Qxd4 14.Bxd4 f6 15.Nd3 e5 16.fxe5 fxe5 17.Be3 e4 18.Nc5 Rf3 19.Bxh6 Bxh6 20.N3xe4 Re3+ 21.Kf2 Ba6 22.g5 Re2+ 23.Kf3 Rf8+ 24.Nf6+ Rxf6+ 25.gxf6 Re3+ 26.Kf2 Re2+ 27.Kf3 ½-½ |
| George Dickson and I went for it right from the start! A fluctuating struggle ended in repetition of moves. At the end if 27.Kf1 Bc4 28.b3 (looks good for White) Rh2+! 29.Kg1 Rxh1+ 30.Kxh1 Bd5+ 31.Kh2 Bf4+ 32.Kg1 Be3+. Fascinating play! |
| The results were:- |
|
Hempson 3½ - Stephenson ½ |
|
Gill ½ - Dickson ½ |
|
Ellison 1 - Toothill 0 |
|
Boyce 0 - Anderton 1 |
| Scores before the final round are:- |
| Stephenson 4½; Gill, Dickson, Anderton, Ellison, Hempson 4. Reuben (3) still playing. |
| I hope to play Stephenson tomorrow. |
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Wednesday 30 July - Neville's daily report - Round 5 |
| At breakfast this morning Jeffrey Heath suddenly appeared at my table. He is a fellow veteran and a participant in the Monarch Assurance major. He was unable to play in Edinburgh this year but he will certainly be in Scarborough in 2004. He has come along for three days only. His latest BCF grade is 140. In this championship my grading performance, by the way, is 165! Regardless of what happens in the last three rounds I will be glad to get to the end of the tournament. |
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In round 5 we have |
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Anderton (3) - Stephenson (3) |
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Toothill (3) - Dickson (3) |
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I Smith (2½) - Gill (2½) |
| Ivor Smith is an extremely sharp player. I thought he might play a King's Gambit! But it turned out to be a Panziani opening which I had played against before, in a European team championship postal game 25 years ago. The first 8 moves were identical. |
| Ivor Smith (165) 0-1 Neville Gill (189) Panziani |
| 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.c3 Nf6 4.d4 Nxe4 5.d5 Ne7 6.Nxe5 Ng6 7.Bd3 Nxe5 8.Bxe4 Bc5 9.Qh5 d6 10.Bg5 Bg4 11.Qh4 (Here White got his Queen and Bishop on poor squares and was soon in serious trouble. He should have tried 11.Bxd8 Bxh5 12.Bxc7 Rc8 13.b4 Rxc7 14.bxc5 Rxc5 but Black is much better even here.) 11.....f6 12.Be3 g5 13.Qg3 f5 14.Bxf5 Bxf5 15.Bxg5 Qd7 16.0-0 Rg8 17.Qf4 Bxb1 18.Raxb1 Qg3 19.b4 Bb6 0-1 |
| Since this game was the first to finish I became the tournament leader for the first time being. Big deal! Other results were:- |
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Anderton 0 Stephenson 1 |
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Toothill ½ Dickson ½ |
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Reuben ½ Boyce ½ |
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Bissell 0 Hempson 1 |
| Norman Stephenson (184) is making his debut. Anderton had a fair position but it all went wrong when he ran short of time on the clock. Leading scores are:- |
| Stephenson 4; Gill, Toothill, Dickson, Hempson 3½ |
| This afternoon I met Stephen Barr, my very first opponent in Edinburgh (it seems a long time ago). He is competing in the U 175 championship. In Princess Street I have never seen so many buses. Also I went along the Royal Mile (part of it) for the first time. There is so much to see in this place! |
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Tuesday 29 July - Neville's daily report - Round 4 |
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| I looked at the room where the adjourned games are played. It is much bigger than we were led to believe. We should have been playing there right from the start on Saturday morning. It would have avoided a lot of hassle. | |||||
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| Today there was another change for the better when we spread out around the hall instead of playing on adjacent boards. | |||||
| Neville Gill (189) ½-½ Maurice Bissell (155) Dutch | |||||
| 1.Nf3 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.0-0 Bg7 5.d4 0-0 6.c4 d6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.d5 Ne5 9.Qb3 Nfd7 10.Be3 Nc5 11.Bxc5 dxc5 12.Ng5 Rb8 13.Rad1 Nf7 14.Nxf7 Rxf7 15.Qa3 b6 16.Qxa7 Bd7 17.Qa3 Ra8 18.Qb3 Bxc3 19.Qxc3 Rxa2 20.e4 fxe4 21.Bxe4 Bf5 22.Rfe1 Qf8 23.Bxf5 Rxf5 ½-½ | |||||
| Maurice Bissell played a good game. He kept finding reserves! In the final position if 24.Qb3? Rxf2! 25.Qxa2 Qf3 wins. White must play 24.f4 if he is trying to win but I was concerned about 24.....g5. You do not win tournaments by agreeing draws with white in 23 moves, but it is still wide open and anything can happen in the last three rounds. |
| Isle of Man Newspapers report - 31 July 2003 |
| Playing in the British Senior Championships, Neville has drawn his first two games and is just half a point behind the leaders. There are still five rounds to play, the competition finishing on Friday 1st August and daily reports from Neville will be found on the chess website www.isleofmanchess.7p.com |
| Neville has confirmed that talks will be held between the British Chess authorities and the Department of Tourism and Leisure, concerning major chess competitions, which may be held in the Isle of Man. These are the World Senior Team Championships in 2004 and the British Championships in 2005. Currently, the Monarch Assurance Plc International held in the Isle of Man each year, is a major chess tournament within the British Isles, if not the World |
| If the additional championships are held in the next two years this will be a big boost for tourism and junior chess on the island. The British Championships consists of 24 competitions, 8 of which are for juniors, in age groups from under 8 to under 16 years old. There are championship titles for both boys and girls, and playing against players from the UK and beyond would be a tremendous experience for the Isle of Man junior players. |
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Monday 28 July - Neville's daily report - Round 3 |
| One thing I have noticed about Edinburgh is the amount of rubbish awaiting disposal. There are black bin bags for collection everywhere. Also the weather is poor. It seems to rain every day at some stage. I wonder if it is like this all the time. It is supposed to be high summer. |
| Before we commenced play today the man himself turned up, Congress Director Neil Graham. He knows that some of the players are unhappy to say the least! Instead of moving to another building and carrying on immediately a player has the right to adjourn until 3.00pm. We should be grateful for small mercies. Today I was up against a Scottish player, James Watson. |
| James Watson (134) 0-1 Neville Gill (189) Queens Gambit Declined |
| 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Nf3 0-0 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.Rc1 c6 10.Bd3 Nxc3 11.bxc3 e5 12.Qc2 g6 13.0-0 b6 14.Rfd1 Bb7 15.Bc4 Rfd8? (Rfd8 was a mistake because White can win a pawn with 16.Nxe5 Nxe5 17.Qe4.) 16.h4 b5 17.Bb3 c5 18.Bxf7+ Kxf7 (My opponent went off on a wild goose chase, 18.Bxf7+ being useless. White could have resigned at once when he only got 1 pawn for the piece.) 19.Ng5+ Kg7 20.Qb3 Nf8 21.d5 a6 22.e4 c4 23.Qb2 h6 24.Nf3 Nd7 25.Qe2 Nc5 and Black won 0-1 |
| So I have 2 points from what were probably three lost positions! I am level with Anderton who could only draw again today. John Toothill won convincingly to join the leaders on 2½. George Ellison commented that the tournament is very even this year. |
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Sunday 27 July - Neville's daily report - Round 2 |
| I suppose it is inevitable that I would play Jim Nicholson. We avoided each other at Scarborough and Torquay. A win for me was absolutely essential after Anderton and Toothill had won their games in the opening round. It is true that you get weaker opposition if you start slowly in a Swiss tournament but I cannot afford to lose touch with the big names. |
| Before play began we discussed the playing venue(s). Today we had the main hall to ourselves but in future we will move to a small room at 1.30pm where at least it will be quiet. I find all this completely unsatisfactory! In a National Championship playing conditions should be top quality. We should not be shifted about from one place to another. Maybe all this is bothering me because today I drew a game I almost resigned on more than one occasion. |
| Neville Gill (189) ½-½ James Nicholson (136) Benko Gambit |
| 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 d6 6.Nc3 Bxa6 7.e4 g6 8.Bxa6 Rxa6 9.Nf3 Nbd7 10.0-0 Bg7 11.Qe2 Qa8 12.Bg5 0-0 13.Rad1 e6 14.dxe6 fxe6 15.Qc4 Re8 16.Rd2 Ng4 17.Rfd1 Nge5 18.Nxe5 Nxe5 19.Qe2 Nf7 20.Bf4 d5 21.exd5 exd5 22.Qb5 Ra5 23.Qb6 d4 24.Nd5 Rxa2 (Against the Benko Gambit I was never really comfortable and Jim Nicholson could have won material with 24.....Qxd5! 25.Qxa5 Qe4 attacking the Bishop and threatening a back rank mate) 25.Nc7 Qb8 26.Qxc5 Rc8 27.Qb5 Qxb5 28.Nxb5 Rd8 29.b3 Rxd2 30.Rxd2 d3 31.f3 Rd5 32.Nc7 Rd7 33.Kf1 Bc3 34.Rd1 Ne5 35.Nb5 Bb2 36.Rb1 d2 37.Ke2 Bc1 38.Nc3 d1(Q)+ 39.Nxd1 Bxf4 (I blundered with Nc3? instead of Kd1, overlooking d1(Q)+ winning a piece.) 40.g3 Rd2+ 41.Kf1 Bh6 42.f4 Nf3 43.h4 Bg7 44.b4 Bd4 45.b5 Rf2+ 46.Nxf2 Nd2+ 47.Ke2 Nxb1 48.Ne4 Na3 49.Kd3 Bb6 50.Nf6+ Kf7 51.Nd7 Nxb5 52.Nxb6 h5 (Black, probably stunned by the way things had turned out, got careless and nearly lost the game himself! How lucky can you get?) 53.Nd5 Nd6 54.Ne3 Ke6 55.Kd4 Nf5+ 56.Nxf5 Kxf5 57.Ke3 Kf6 58.Kd4 Kf5 59.Ke3 Kf6 60.Kf3 Kf5 61.g4+ hxg4+ 62.Kg3 Kf6 63.Kxg4 Kf7 64.Kg5 ½-½ |
| "A travesty" and "daylight robbery" were some of the words I used when describing the game to Ivor Smith. All the top games were drawn so I am only half a point behind. It is surprising that there is no one on 100% after just two rounds. |
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Saturday 26 July 2003 - Neville's daily report - Round 1 |
| To contact me ring 0131 337 1186 - (Messages only) |
| Last night the new grading list came out:- |
| GILL N | 189 | 0 |
| ORMSBY A | 149 | -5 |
| WAUGH J | 145 | +9 |
| CROSS G | 138 | -3 |
| WARE M | 88 | New |
| ROBERTSON A | 86 | -6 |
| KEIG B | 73 | -7 |
| KERMEEN R W | 139 | 0 |
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Keith Allen is no longer on it. Among the veterans I am not in the top 10 (some of the others have gone up)! My grading performance in the 5 DAY (207) was much better than Scarborough (177) or Torquay (176). I have possibly made a gain of +3 to 192. I was talking to Alec Toll today. Hr knows Robert Kermeen very well. After the cricket match on Sunday Alec Toll will be a leading contender in the U 175 championship. |
| The Seniors Championship is played in the main hall. However there is no room for us in the afternoon when the British Championship proper and Major Open are played. So we were told we would have to adjourn at 1.30pm and start again at 2.00pm across the playground in the Castle Hall, but round 3 of the Weekender started at 2.15pm so there was bedlam for a time. This is totally unsatisfactory! Some of us protested strongly. If the I.O.M. was not bidding for the championships in 2005 I would certainly have withdrawn. As for the chess, I played a poor game and drew. Things can only get better, in more ways than one. |
| Michael Roth (152) ½-½ Neville Gill (189) Four Knights |
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.Qe2 0-0 6.a3 Bxc3 7.dxc3 d5 8.exd5 Qxd5 9.h3 e4 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.Nd4 c5 12.Nb5 Qc6 13.c3 Bb7 14.Be3 Ne8 15.Nc3 f5 16.Nd5 Rf7 17.0-0-0 Nd6 18.Rd2 Raf8 19.Rhd1 Nc8 20.g3 Nb6 21.Bf4 Ba6 22.b3 Bc8 23.Qe3 a5 24.Be5 a4 25.Qf4 axb3 26.cxb3 Nxd5 27.cxd5 Qb5 28.Qe3 c4 29.bxc4 Qxc4+ 30.Rc2 Qa4 31.Bxc7 Ba6 32.d6 Bd3 33.Rc3 Qb5 34.Qb6 Qxb6 35.Bxb6 Rb8 36.Ba5 Rb1+ 37.Kd2 Rb2+ 38.Ke3 Rd7 39.Rc8+ Kf7 40.Rc7 Re2+ 41.Kd4 Ke6 42.Rxd7 Kxd7 43.Kd5 Rxf2 44.Rc1 Bc2 45.Bb4 g5 46.a4 Bxa4 47.Rc7+ Kd8 48.Rxh7 e3 49.Ba5+ Kc8 50.Rc7+ Kb8 51.Re7 f4 52.gxf4 gxf4 53.Bc3 Rh2 54.Be5 Kc8 55.Bxf4 Rxh3 56.Bxe3 Rh5+ 57.Ke6 Bb3+ 58.Kf6 Rd5 59.Bf4 Kd8 60.Ke6 Rd1+ ½-½ |
Smith & Williamson 2003 - British Senior Championship
Last update: Friday July 4, 2003 10:41
26 July - 1 August 2003
ANDERTON, David – Aldridge; BISSELL, Maurice – Kidderminster; BOYCE, James – Bristol; DICKSON, George – London; ELLISON, George – Thornton Cleveleys; FLOCKHART. Hugh – Edinburgh; GILL, Neville – Douglas; HEMPSON, Peter – Sheffield; LEVENS, David – Nottingham; MACRAE, James – Glasgow; MURPHY, George – Cardross; NICOLSON, James – Manchester; REUBEN, Stewart – Twickenham; ROSE, Anthony – Rosehearty; ROTH, Michael – Perth; SMITH, David – London; SMITH, Ivor – Writtle; STEPHENSON, Norman – Middlesbrough; THOMAS, Norman – Norwich; TIDMARSH, David – Tunbridge Wells; TOOTHILL, John – Windermere; WATSON, James – Falkirk; 22 entrants
Smith & Williamson 2003 - 5 Day Week 1
Neville, seeded number one, is the Winner (£150) with a score of 4½ from 5 games.
| Final scores were:- GILL 4½ (£150); ALMOND, NEWMAN 4 (£37.50 each) |
| There is not one prizegiving but several. Some people are only here for one week or even 3 days in the case of the Weekender. Our ceremony took place in the packed Commentary Room at 3.00pm. When my turn came Neil Graham, Congress Director, introduced me as "warming up for the Seniors Championship". |
| Tomorrow I start all over again, right from scratch. With one thing and another today has been even more frantic than usual. I could do with having a holiday in Edinburgh!! |
| Isle of Man Newspapers report - 31 July 2003 |
| Douglas Chess player Neville Gill currently playing at the British Chess Championships in Edinburgh, has won the five-day event competition he played in as a warm up in his bid to regain the British Senior Champion title, which he won at Torquay two years ago. Neville was joint leader of the five-day event for the first four rounds then was the clear winner with a victory against his rival Stewart Reubens in the final round. Neville was undefeated finishing with 4½ points from 5 games. |
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Friday 25 July 2003 - Neville's daily report - Round 5 (Final round) |
| Last night as it began to get dark, I went for a walk along Princess Street. One cannot but fail to be impressed because Edinburgh really is a magnificent city. And who did I meet opposite the castle? None other than Stewart Reuben! He has a strong interest in Jazz and is signing on for the Edinburgh Fringe. There is a cricket match on Sunday between a BCF XI and George Heriot's School and Alec Toll is the BCF captain. The school, by the way, is fee paying with a highly selective admissions policy. They pick and choose! |
| Julian Farrand is doing well in the Major Open. He has 3/4 so far and yesterday I saw a bit of his game. James Nicholson is in the U 150 championship. The U 100 championship is being held at the same time. If the championships come to the island in 2005 there are suitable events for local players. Why should a Manx player not become a 2005 British graded champion? |
| For the final round of the 5 day the pairings on the top boards were: GILL (3½) - REUBEN (3), ALMOND 3 - DORAN 3½. Richard Almond is a 174 player who drew with Alec Toll yesterday (another Trompowski opening). It seems that he and Chris Doran had come to an explicit agreement that a draw would be useless, hence the very sharp Kings Indian they played, White going all out to attack on the Q - side and Black doing exactly the same thing on the other wing. Stewart Reuben played the Nimzo Indian. I had seen him play it against David Anderton in Torquay. |
| Neville Gill (189) 1-0 Stewart Reuben (186) Nimzo Indian |
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 c5 5.dxc5 0-0 6.a3 Bxc5 7.Nf3 d5 8.Bg5 Be7 9.e3 Nc6 10.Be2 (10.Be2 looks a little slow. More active moves are 10.cxd5 or 10.Rd1 or even 10.0-0-0.) 10.....dxc4 11.Bxc4 a6 12.0-0 b5 (Things got interesting when Black played 12.....b5. He should have gone 12.....h6 first which I intended to meet with 13.Rfd1.) 13.Bd3 (Why are diagonal moves backwards so easily overlooked?) 13.....h6 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.Nxb5 axb5 16.Qxc6 Qxd3 17.Qxa8 Bxb2 18.Frd1 Qc3 19.Rab1 e5 20.Qd5 Ba6 21.Qa2 forcing resignation 1-0 |
| In the other game Doran tried too hard to win and paid the usual price! |
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Thursday 24 July - Neville's daily report - Round 4 |
| Last night I paid a visit to the Congress office for the first time. There was a notice on the wall about the Monarch Assurance in the "Isle of Mann". How do you spell Isle of Man? The Department of Tourism & Leisure are coming here next week to bid for the 2005 British Championships. Stewart Reuben told me all about it. Nobody in the Isle of Man said a word to me before I left for Edinburgh! ( Monday 21 July at the IoMCA AGM, under any other business, Dennis Hemsley organiser of the Monarch Assurance stated that in 2005 the British Championships may be held in the Isle of Man.) |
| Every day I wonder where all the time goes. I am still attempting to inspect the large range of chess books on display at the book-stall but I have not managed it as yet. On the other hand I have seen the Water of Leith which runs by quite close to Haymarket. It is like the river Douglas at Pulrose except that it is much cleaner and clearer. On the way I passed a Cathedral with a central spire 276 feet high, taller than Pulrose Power Station. |
| Christopher Doran (160) ½-½ Neville Gill (189) Spanish |
| It transpired that Chris Doran is a man in form. He told me that he has only played 8 games this season but he has won 7 of them including a win against Stewart Reuben yesterday. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.c3 f5 (My hopes were high when he allowed me to play the Siesta variation 5.....f5 but he was familiar with it!) 6.exf5 Bxf5 7.0-0 Bd3 8.Re1 Be7 9.Bc2 Bxc2 10.Qxc2 Nf6 11.d4 Qd7 12.dxe5 Nxe5 13.Nxe5 dxe5 14.Bg5 0-0-0 (M.W.Wood-Gill, 1st Grand Open Postal tournament 1979, went 14.Nd2 0-0-0 14.Rxe5 is far too risky for White. My pieces were always more active but I had to keep an eye on the isolated pawn and the white square in front of it which was beyond the reach of my Bishop.) 15.Nd2 h6 16.Be3 Qd3 17.Qb3 Rd5 18.c4 Qxb3 19.Nxb3 Rd3 20.Rad1 Rhd8 21.Rxd3 Rxd3 22.h3 Bb4 23.Re2 b6 24.Bd2 Bxd2 25.Rxd2 Rxd2 ½-½ (After just 25 moves there was nothing in it for either side.) |
| A draw was not what I was looking for but I will still share the lead with one round to go. Stewart Reuben won today. Since he is number two seed I would expect the top pairing to be GILL-REUBEN. |
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Wednesday 23 July - Neville's daily report - Round 3 |
| Alec Toll is a regular participant in this tournament and a previous winner. He knows my old adversary John Dodgson very well. This was to be our first encounter; at Scarborough and Torquay we managed to avoid each other. He lives in Norwich and is significantly younger than me. He played the Leningrad Dutch. After losing against David Anderton at Torquay I made a particularly careful study of this opening and was well prepared to meet it! |
| Neville Gill (189) 1-0 Alec Toll (170) Dutch |
| 1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d6 4.Nf3 g6 5.0-0 Bg7 6.c4 0-0 7.Nc3 Qe8 8.d5 Na6 9.Rb1 c5 10.dxc6(e.p.) bxc6 11.b4 Rb8 (11.....Bd7 at once is more accurate.) 12.Ba3 Bd7 13.b5 (On move 13 if cxb5 14.cxb5 Bxb5? 15.Qb3+) 13.....Nc7 14.Nd4 cxb5 15.cxb5 Qf7 (15.....Nxb5? loses to 16.Ncxb5 Bxb5 17.Rxb5 Rxb5. 18.Bc6) 16.Nc6 Bxc6 17.Bxc6 Kh8 18.Qa4 (With 18.Qa4 White burns his boats behind him. If he is not seen to be clearly winning in the next few moves then he is definitely losing! At the time I was only too well aware of this.) 18.....Ng4 19.Qxa7 Bxc3 20.Qxc7 Qxa2 21.Be8! (Be8! is the key move. White gives up both Bishops in return for a Rook and monster passed pawn.) 21.....Qxa3 22.Qxb8 Nf6 (During the after game analysis Alec Toll recommended going all out for attack with 22.....f4 but white seems to hold everything with 23.Qc7 Rxe8 24.b6) 23.b6 Bd4 (If 23.....Rxe8 then 24.Qxe8+ Nxe8 25.b7, the triumph of the passed pawn!) 24.b7 Qc5 25.Qc8 Rxe8 26.Qxe8+ 1-0 |
| Leading scores are;- Gill, Doran 3; Almond 2½. No one else has more than 2. Chris Doran (grade 160) has the same colour allocation as me, W.B.W. I do not know who has White tomorrow. |
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Tuesday 22 July - Neville's daily report - Round 2 |
| In Edinburgh there is no shortage of fresh air and we have already had more rain than in two weeks in Torquay. Before crossing the road one has to determine the direction of the traffic. It is like crossing Athol Street outside the I.O.M. Bank only here the streets are so much wider. From the school playground there is an excellent view of the Castle. Before leaving the island Duncan Walker was ungraded as far as I was concerned. In Scotland they have their own grading list and he is 170. |
| Duncan Walker (170) 0-1 Neville Gill (189) Trompowski |
| 1.d4 d5 2.Bg5 (Bg5 is a tiresome move to have to meet) 2.....h6 3.Bh4 c6 4.Nf3 Qb6 5.Qc1 (On move 5 White normally plays b3. Probably Black can take the pawn with 5......g5 6.Bg3 g4 7.Ne5 Qxd4. White's play was too passive; he has to play c4 to get an active game.) 5.....Bf5 6.e3 e6 7.Bg3 Nf6 8.h3 Nbd7 9.Be2 Be7 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.0-0 c5 12.c3 Rac8 13.Ne5 Nxe5 14.dxe5 Nd7 15.Nf3 Rfd8 16.Rd1 Nb8! (After 15 moves Black had every piece in perfect play and 16....Nb8! improved his position even more.) 17.Bd3 Bxd3 18.Rxd3 Nc6 19.Nh2 d4 (After 19....d4 I was clearly winning) 20.exd4 cxd4 21.Bf4 dxc3 22.Rxc3 Nd4! (Nd4 was decisive) 23.Qd1 Qxb2 24.Rxc8 Rxc8 25.Be3 Rd8 (I wasn't sure if 25.... Rd8 was the very best move but it is certainly good enough) 26.Qb1 Qc3 27.Kh1 (Kh1 lost on the spot; 27.Bxd4 was the only way to soldier on.) 27.....Nc2 0-1 |
| Number two seed Stewart Reuben is having a good tournament. In round 1 he took just 17 moves to demolish his Japanese opponent and today he won an important game against Paul Bielby. It's unlikely that we will be paired tomorrow because there will be others on 2/2. |
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Monday 21 July 2003 - Neville's daily report - Round 1 |
| This chess takes the whole day up! because it was 2.45pm by the time I got away from the school. There were no late surprises among the entries. Being number 1 seed is scary, White on top board in round one. Look at Clayton Hewitt at Wimbledon this year. Losing, or even drawing, against an opponent 50 points below does not bear thinking about. (In round 1 the top half play the bottom half). |
| Neville Gill (189) 1-0 Steven Barr (139) Queen's gambit Declined |
| 1. d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Be7 5.Nf3 h6 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.e3 0-0 8.Rc1 b6 (Black should have played c6 instead of b6, e4 opened up the game to my benefit.) 9.cxd5 exd5 10.Bd3 Re8 11.0-0 Bb7 12.Qb3 c6 13.e4 dxe4 14.Nxe4 c5 15.Nxf6+ Qxf6 16.dxc5 Nd7 17.cxb6 axb6 18.Rc7 Bxf3 19.Rxd7 Bc6 20.Rxf7! (Steven Barr overlooked this killing move, so I exchanged Queens and reached a semi-ending 2 pawns up.) 20......Bd5 21.Rxf6 Bxb3 22.Rxb6 Bxa2 23.b4 Rad8 (An easy win? It would have been if I had played 23.b3! which I did not notice for some reason. Maybe it is lack of practice (only 1 game since Xmas)). 24.Bg6 Re2 25.Rc1 Red2 26.h3 Rf8 27.Rc2 (From move 23 to 26 Black might have made more of his chances, what chances he had, whereas after 27.Rc2 he had no hope at all.) 27.....Rd1+ 28.Kh2 Bb1 29.Rb2 Bxg6 30.Rxg6 Rb8 31.b5 Kf7 32.Rc6 Rb7 33.b6 R1d7 34.Rb3 Re7 35.Rf3+ Kg8 36.Kg3 Re5 37.Rb3 Ree7 38.f4 Kh7 39.f5 Rf7 40.Kf4 Rbe7 41.g4 Rd7 42.h4 Rf37 43.Rb4 Re1 44.b7 Rf1+ 45.Ke3 Re1+ 46.Kf2 Rdd1 47.b8(Q) Rf1+ 48.Ke3 Rfe1+ 49.Kf4 1-0 |
| Black used far more time than I did, only just managing to reach the first time control on move 40. At the end the respective clock times were 5.18 and 6.41. Afterwards we had a most friendly post-mortem. Steven has a large number of books which he studies avidly. We both possess a copy of Geller's "The Applications of Chess Theory". When he gets home I told him to look up the game Geller-Ivkov, Beverwijk 1965 which had an identical opening to our game. |
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Sunday 20 July - Neville's daily report |
| After breakfast I set out for George Heriot's School which is quite unlike any school in the Isle of Man. In fact it looks more like a medieval castle with huge gates at the entrances, both main and side. I believe it is one of the top Scottish schools. As well as the main building, surrounded by terraces, there are various smaller buildings in which some of the tournaments will be held. Tomorrow we play in Castle Hall on the North side of the playground. |
| The hotel proprietor had said that the school was "10 minutes walk" from Haymarket, but it takes a lot longer than that! After some experimentation I found that even the quickest route means a 20 minutes stroll through the Edinburgh streets. |
| I met James Nicholson a fellow veteran and regular participant in the Monarch Assurance major. I also saw Richard Furness, busy as usual with pairings etc..... The wooden floors will mean a significant amount of background noise and flights of stairs make access for the disabled almost impossible. |
| There is a Tesco store quite close to the school which is something I badly missed in Torquay. I passed a takeaway on the way back where "Haddock and chips were £2.50". Try buying them for that price in the Isle of Man, where cod and chips costs something like £3.55 Manx residents are being ripped off time and again, make no mistake. Mobile phones are another example (mine does not work outside the island, by the way) |
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Saturday 19 July - Neville's daily report |
| I left the island shortly before 7.00am. At Liverpool my bag was one of the first to appear on the conveyor belt so I was able to make a quick getaway. The taxi to Lime Street Station cost £3.10, less than last time and the time before that. Have prices really gone down? I had to change at Wigan North Western for Scotland. The train I intended catching was half an hour late which meant that I would probably have missed the connection at Motherwell. So I decided to wait for a direct train to Edinburgh. All told I spent the best part of 2 hours sitting in Wigan! |
| Passing through the lake District I thought that it looked like the Isle of Man, except that there are more trees. Speaking of trees, in Scotland there are plantations everywhere. Why are there so many conifers?, there must be a reason for it. |
| I arrived at 3.35pm, only about 15 minutes behind schedule. When all is said and done, the rail service is really very good. The hotel is just across the road from Haymarket Station. The proprietor showed me a press cutting about Jonathan Rowson, the highest rated Scottish player, who will be giving a simultaneous display as a curtain raiser for the Congress. It seems that George Heriot's School is 10 minutes walk away, so tomorrow I will have a good look at the place. Sunday is my only completely free day. |
| 17 July 2003 - As usual the Championship is much stronger then the 5 day. The current grading list shows David Anderton 194, myself 189, and Norman Stephenson 184, If I am second seed I can once again expect 4 blacks in the 7 games. However, the new grading list (to be used) may be quite different. |
| Julian Farrand is in the Major open. Most of the leading English players have boycotted the British Championship proper in protest against other entries allowed. |
| According to the program, the Isle of Man Department of Tourism will be visiting the Congress on Thursday 31st July. This will probably be to discuss the 2004 World Senior Team Championships which may be played in the Isle of Man. |
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24th July 2003 - IOM Newspapers report |
| Douglas Chess player Neville Gill is currently playing in two chess competitions at the British Chess Championships being held at Edinburgh. His first competition is a five-day event from the 21st to 25th July 2003, and this is a warm up for his bid to regain his British Senior Champion title, a 7-day event from the 26th July to 8th August 2003. |
| Neville was first eligible to play in the Senior Championships two years ago and won the title at his first attempt, with George Ellison, a regular visitor to the Isle of Man, coming equal second, a point behind Neville. Last year, George turned the tables, coming first with Neville equal second, a half point behind. |
| This year’s event has a strong field with most of the top seeded “Veterans” making the long trip to Edinburgh. Daily reports from Neville will be found on the chess website www.isleofmanchess.7p.com |
Smith & Williamson 2003 - 5 Day Week 1
21 July - 25 July 2003
ALMOND, Richard – St.Leonards-on-Sea; BARR, Steven – Beckenham; BIELBY, Paul – Sunderland; BURRELL, Arthur – Sheffield; DENISON, Michael – Wakefield; GILL, Neville – Douglas; HENDERSON, John - Broadstairs; ILIC, Stevo – Oxford; LANGRIDGE, David – Brighton; MacCONNELL, David – Livingston; MAYSUMOTO, Kenshin – Japan; MERCS, Peter – Gedling; NEUMAN, Carlo – Luxembourg; NG, Stephen – Wolverhampton; O’GORMAN, Brendan – London; PURKINS Terry – Roslin; REUBEN, Stewart – Twickenham; ROTH, Michael – Perth; SHARP, Anthony – Lamberhurst; TAYLOR, Marcel – Gedling; TOLL, Alec – Coltishall; WALKER, Duncan – Livingston; 22 entrants