Thurs 01 May 2014
Robert Ward Memorial Trophy – Dave Wightman vs Frank Wood
Dave Wightman met Frank Wood in the Final of the
Robert Ward Memorial Trophy. It was the second time in three years that
the final has been an all-Wolverhampton contest. Dave Wightman won the
toss and chose the white pieces. The opening
was a Queen’s Gambit Accepted, which led to advanced but scattered
black pawns on the queenside. White benefited from the early
developmental advantage of the gambit, but this was soon traded back to
equalise the material by recapturing the extra black pawn
that had made it all the way to c2. No clear advantage went to either
side once the material had been recovered, although black’s castled king
was more secure than white’s exposed king.
Both players moved quickly and so time was never
going to be a factor. As the middle game developed, white tried to
apply pressure to black’s inferior pawn structure, while black tried to
break into the white position in order to take
advantage of the open king. The pressure built on the centre until a
crucial pawn pair was exchanged and both queens took the opportunity to
move forwards. White’s king was sent scurrying for the corner, while
black’s a and f pawns came under pressure from
the opposing queen on the seventh rank. In the end, white had
sufficient time to take the f and e pawns before black’s mating attack
could come to fruition. Once the queens were forced off, black’s attack
could not succeed and the two pawn advantage was
sufficient to win the game for white.
Thanks are due to Frank Wood, for an exciting game
featuring chances on both sides, and to Roy Smith for organising the
competition.
Courtesy Dave Wightman