Blackpool Congress Open Roundup

A close battle entertained us in the open section on the final day of the Blackpool Congress.

Into Round 4 we had two players with the outright lead on 3/3, and 10 players hard on their heels with 2.5/3. Inevitably, the co-leaders ended up being paired against each other, and ended up playing out a draw. White was Adithya Vaidanathan against one of the stalwart GMs on the congress scene, GM Mark Hebden. Move 45 and it seemed the GM has made a crucial blunder, and after a couple of moves, White was two rooks and a pawn against one rook and three. However, the position was not clear-cut and although up in material; it needed precise play. On move 49, Rc3 was necessary, but Kc3 was played instead; Mark Hebden’s experience ultimately secured a draw.

After the co-leaders had drawn in Round 4,we ended up with a six-way tie for the lead going into Round 5. Wins for IM Siva Mahadevan and GM Mark Hebden was enough to give both players a share of 1st Place with a score of 4.5/5, with a further four players behind on 4/5.

In Round 5, it was deju-vu for local chess player Martyn Hamer. Last year, he went into the final round tied for the lead, faced an IM, and ultimately lost a hard-fought battle. Alas, history was to repeat itself, however, not without a fight and having come so close to toppling an IM and with it would have been a share of 1st place.

In the early stages of the game, the IM experience was telling and by move 20 appeared to have an edge, being a piece up for a pawn. By move 25, Martyn had an impressive passed pawn in the centre, and despite the material imbalance, was providing some stern resistance for his opponent. The engine evaluation goes to and fro, and it appears Mark gets a chance on move 30 when an error from the IM who (apparently according to the engines – yes, armchair pundits it is so easy with an engine!). Lets see for ourselves. What move would you actually play here as White?

Not easy, and Martyn played what many of us would have played, the natural move of Rxa7 grabbing back a pawn. Two rooks on the 7th, a chance to win another pawn. Such a natural move to play. What does the engine recommend? Re6 to force the Queen off the dark square so the White Queen can then follow up with a devastating check forcing the King back, another move to attack the Queen, forcing it back further, followed by the quiet Re7. Even now, looking at it, I still can’t see what it all achieves, except a sort of zugzwang. The line from the Engine has White coming out with a Queen and 6Ps versus 2Rs and 3Ps.

In the end, a noble attempt by Martyn, and I am sure he will be back next year.

Congratulations to Siva and Mark for their wins, and hopefully see more GM’s and IM’s return next year, it has been a superb tournament this year with a very competitive Open section. A report on the other sections to follow in a separate post.