Brighton
Raymond Keene
Some months ago I wrote that I was planning to organise an all-play-all tournament in Brighton, in order to give some of our promising juniors vital experience against international opposition. This has now proved possible, largely thanks to the generosity of the 'Friends of Chess', the Slater Foundation and Lloyds Bank, and of local club member Michael Dawes, who have together injected sufficient funds into the project to turn it into a reality. International Master and Fide Master norms will be available to juniors such as Ian Wells, David Cummings and David Goodman, if they can raise their game sufficiently against 1M and 1978 British champion, Jon Speelman, 1M Fedorowicz (US) and IM Murray Chandler (New Zealand). Chandler himself has much to gain from a successful performance at Brighton. If he scores heavily he stands to win the £2,000 Cutty Sark award for the most successful tournament player in Britain of 1979.
The tournament will last from 13 to 19 December inclusive, and the venue is the Sallis Benney Hall in the Brighton Polytechnic on Grand Parade. Rounds will be played from lp.m.-6p.m. everyday, with adjourned games in the evening at the Brighton Chess Club, adjacent to the Royal Pavilion. Spectators are welcome and entry is free.
One of the main points of interest at Brighton will be to see whether fifteenyear-old Ian Wells can secure his first IM norm. Towards the end of November Ian defeated the veteran Soviet Grandmaster, Kotov, in a match sponsored by Lloyds Bank. The score was two wins to one in Ian's favour, and he selected the following as the best game.
Wells — Kotov: 3r1 match game, Caro-Kann Defence. 1 P-K4 P-QB3 2 P-Q4 P-Q4 3 N-Q2 Px.104 NxP B-B4. 4 . . . N-B3 is fashionable at the moment. S N-N3 B-N3 6 N-B3 N-Q2 7 B-Q3 KN-B3 8 0-0 P-K3 9 R-K1 B-Q3?! It is more prudent to block the K-file with 9. . B-K2. After Kotov's choice White captures the B-pair. 10 N-115 BxN 11 BxB 0-012 B-Q3-P-B413P-B3P1.1714NxPN-K4 15 B-82 Q-N3 16 Q-K2 N-N3 17 B-N5 N-Q4. If 17 . . QxNP White wins with 18 N-N5 creating the dual threats of NxB and KR-Ni. 18 P-KR4 Too optimistic. It would have been wiser to defend his QNP. 18. . . B-B5? A miscalculation which has serious consequences. Kotov should have taken his life in his hand s wi th 18.. . QxP, since 191'44N5 is met here by 19 NxBP. After 20 NxN QxN 21 P-R5 N-K422 QR-Q1 White has some attack for his two paw n deficit, but! do not see anything like a clear win. 19 BxB N(N3)xB 20 Q-I(4! P-B4. If, instead, 20 . N-N3 21 P-R5 N-83 22 Q-B3 N-K2 23 P-R6 leads to the demolition of Black's K-side pawn structure, but the text, which leaves Black's knights stranded, is no improvement. 21 Q-B3 QxNP 22 P-N3 P-K4 23 PxN P-K5 24 Q-K2 QztBP 25 N-K6 Q-B3 26 NxR NxP 27 Q-K3 QxP 28 B-N3ch K-R1 Or 28. . KxN 29 Q-B5ch. 29N-K6 N-R6ch 30 K-N2 P-B5 31 QxN Meek 32 K-R2 Qx1Pch 33 K-R1 and Black resigns. A game in which Kotov's play showed the strains of age, but Wells alertly seized his opportunities and deserves credit for remaining calm in a critical situation.
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