Rock Cup Semi-Final Philip Burgess (118) vs Dave Wightman (165)
Dave Wightman met Philip Burgess on home ground,
but as black, in the contest to fill the last place in the Rock Cup
Final. The game was played at a good pace, with the first 10 moves
taking just a few minutes. The opening yielded no
clear advantage for either side, but then black unwisely chose to
castle queenside and ran into an almost immediate attack. White surged
forwards, giving up a pawn to open up the board and swarm the black
king. A period of frantic defence followed, with
pieces hanging all over the board, concluding with an extensive
exchange. Thanks to a back rank mating threat, white was forced spend a
move playing h3 at a crucial moment, and this allowed black to emerge
from the exchange with a rook for knight and pawn
advantage. With passed pawns on both sides of the board, the game
became a race. White, however, was tied to the defence of an isolated
central pawn and this slowed the progress. Black was able to run the b
pawn and this proved to be crucial. Tied to holding
up this pawn, white allowed sufficient space for black to break into
the position and force off the queens and the game was won. Thanks are
due to Philip Burgess for a fascinating game, full of excitement, played
in the best of spirits.
By Dave Wightman
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