Rock Cup Round 1:
Steve Heath (117) vs Dave Wightman (165)
Dave Wightman travelled
to Rugeley with some trepidation, to open this year's assault on the
Rock Cup, having gone out of the competition at the same stage last
year. As a result, he was probably unnecessarily
cautious in the opening, which led to a modest space and development
advantage as white, but nothing concrete. As the middle game developed,
black enjoyed attacking chances against the advanced white centre and
sacrificed a pawn in order to build up a dangerous
attack. With the white king still trapped in the centre, black
centralised his rooks and then sacrificed a piece in order to break the
position open. In the ensuing carnage, white was fortunate to emerge
unmated and with a rook for bishop material advantage.
The position remained complicated but, with time running out, black
misplaced a rook and resigned immediately. However, the narrowness of
the winning margin belied the theoretical grading differential in what
was in reality a very closely fought game. Thanks
to Steve for an excellent game and good luck in the Bidgood Cup.
By Dave Wightman
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