Underdogs Northumberland reach national finals
(Newcastle Chronicle, 14 June 2024)
Northumberland have qualified for the equivalent of the FA Cup Final of chess for the second time in the county’s history, thanks to a thrilling win over higher-ranked Kent.
The Northumberland Open team beat Kent in the National Counties Championship semi-finals by the narrow margin of 6.5-5.5 on Saturday 8th June, and now go on to play Surrey in the final on June 29. In the other semi-final, Surrey beat Yorkshire decisively by the margin 10-6.
Northumberland’s victory over Kent, at Newark, Nottinghamshire, was achieved by an all-round team performance, even though Northumberland were the underdogs on rating. Northumberland’s wins were scored by Tim Wall (Newcastle), Graeme Oswald (Leam Lane), David Armbruster (Gosforth) and Ed Dodds (Jesmond). With the help of draws by David Walker (South Shields), Andy Burnett (Newcastle), Andrew Dunn (Ashington), Zheming Zhang (Newcastle) and Nathan Ekanem (Newcastle), the North East team were able to come back from being two points down at one stage to emerge as winners at the end of the four-hour match.
Even if Kent had managed to draw level on 6-6, the match would have gone to Northumberland on tie-break, due to their winning games on higher boards. The surprise on the top boards was achieved by Wall, the Northumberland captain, who was playing against a much higher rated player, Grandmaster and renowned chess author Neil McDonald (Gravesend).
The final on June 29, also to be played at Newark, will be a tough fixture for Northumberland, as Surrey are likely to field a team that includes five experienced International Masters: Graeme Buckley, Susan Lalic, Peter Large, Chris Baker and Nigel Povah. The Counties Championship Final has been brought forward a week to allow the Surrey IMs to play for England in the Over 50s and Over 65s sections of the World Senior Team Championships in Poland.
In the North East, this weekend sees a good opportunity for Northumberland’s county players to get some match practice in before the national final. The Northumberland & Durham Rapidplay Championships take place at Forest Hall Social Club, Palmersville on Saturday June 15. The Open & Major and Minor tournaments start at 11:00am and run until 6:00pm. A junior tournament, for players under 18 years old, runs from 12:30pm to 6pm. Games will be played at the time control of 20 minutes plus 10 seconds for the adult tournaments, and 10 minutes plus 5 seconds for the junior tournament. Entries are being taken online at https://northumbriamasters.com and via email by writing to: timpeterwall@gmail.com. Cash entries will also be accepted on the day.
PUZZLES
Puzzle A: McDonald (white) v. Wall (black). Black to play.
Puzzle B: Yoo (white) v Vachier-Lagrave (black). White to play.
Puzzle C: Aronian (white) v Keinanen (black). Black to play.
Puzzle D: Bortnyk (white) v Firouzja (black). Black to play.
ANSWERS:
A: 1…Be5! 0-1.
B: 1 Rxe6! Qxe6 2 Nxc5+ 1-0.
C: 1…e3! 2 gxh6 (if 2 Qxe3 Qxd1+, or 2 Nf3 Qxg2 checkmate) exd2 3 Qe2 Qxd1+! 4 Qxd1 Ra1 0-1.
D: 1…Nxd4! 2 Bxd7 Rxe1+ 3 Rxe1 Nf3+ 4 Kh1 Bg2+! 5 Kxg2 Nxe1+ 0-1.