RR's moronic play in 2011 continued in his game against Matthew Wyza.

Matthew Wyza v RR after 9 ... Bg6

RR's position is already less than healthy, the pawn on c6 where a knight should live forcing a certain passivity on him. However plenty of white's mistime their attempts to force entry - too quick and their attack collapses, too slow and everything grinds to a halt before black junps out.
10 Qb3 It is natural for white to vacate the d1 square for a rook, and on b3 the queen both threatens the b-pawn and support of a later d5 advance. Time for some faulty analysis from RR. Concentrating on c2 he thinks he can get a knight there via a6 and b4, entirely overlooking the fact that the obvious advance c5 cuts off protection of b4. With thought processes of that ilk, 'tis not surprising that 2011 has not been good for RR. Maybe he needs warm weather to warm up his brain.

10 ... Na6, 11 c5 Nd5, 12 Nxd5 White gives too much credence to blacks threat on c2 via Nb4, undervaluing his own attack in comparison.
(12 Qxb7 Nbd4, 13 0-0-0 Rb8, 14 Qxa7 Nc7 and white is 2 pawns up. Other defences such as
12 ... Nab4, 13 Nxd5 Nxd5 designed to hold material lead to disaster for black starting with Qxc6+)

12 ... Qxd5 Be4 better, bringing it to the defence of the c6 pawn as well as causing problems to white's kingside on the long diagonal. But the recapture reflex is alive and kicking and currently appearing in RR's repertoire.

13 Qxd5 Once more white prefers to liquidate black's threats than to pursue his own with
13 Qxb7 Rb8, 14 Qxa6 Qxf3, 15 Rg1 Qd5 and white can create a passed pawn with Qxa7 or consolodate his pawn advantage with b3.
13 ... exd5, 14 Bxa6 bxa6

With Cheddleton totalling over 900 on the night against our mere 810 our task would not be easy. RR found himself opposed by Rob Shaw, one of the very biggest beasts on the local scene. What to do?

There seem to be three schools of thought of how to confront a much stronger player. One simply says play your natural game. Anything else and you are likely to play below your normal standard, making the opponent's task even easier. Against this, the beasts thrive on normal, so deviate is the cry.

One deviation is to mix things up, playing any double edged move you can find, and generally trying to randomise the position and so hopefully the result. But the stronger player may well see through the fog more clearly, or simply sidestep the randomising efforts leaving you with an untenable mess.

Method three is to deviate in the opposite direction, playing KISS (keep it simple, stupid) chess. This involves playing solid moves and exchanging material when the opportunity arises. I've had quite a bit of experience of being on the recieving end of such tactics from weaker players than myself (they do exist), and have to say that often this approach is most welcome. Frequently what happens is that in the rush to swap material off they allow weaknesses in their pawn structure to develop which are easy to exploit in the endgame, or allow my final piece(s) to become dominant.

So none of the methods really work. But then against a significantly stronger player that is no surprise. However play something I must, so I elected to attempt a style at the KISS end of my normal one.

RR v Rob Shaw after 6 ... d5

We join the game with RR contemplating his seventh move. My natural reaction here is castles. If black elects to exchange pawns there will be lasting assymetry in the pawn structures, otherwise tension grows. Both give white something to play with. But I'm looking for an ultra quiet game so
7 cxd5 cxd5 The natural recapture. Nxd5 would have allowed white to remove the dark squared bishops, queen recapture allows white a knight development with gain of tempo.
8 0-0 Nc6 (making use of the vacated square)
9 b5 Na5, 10 d3 A modest advance that temporarily reduces the bishop to spectator status, but which also keeps the black knight out of c4 and provides cover against Bf5 from black should I later wish to place a rook on b1.
10 ... a6, 11 bxa6 Developing the knight with Na3 is again perhaps more normal, but I'm trying to avoid providing a target for later attack. Similarly I was concerned that a4 followed by an exchange of pawns would leave my new b-pawn vulnerable.
11 ... bxa6 Hardly unexpected, though Rxa6 would perhaps have provided the rook with a quicker entry into the game and given Rob a chance to display his superior technique when we both attempt to exploit the possible weakness of an isolated pawn on a half-open file.
12 Nbd2 Nc6, 13 Ne5 Again lacking aggression - Rc1 or Qa4 are more the moves of a man trying to win, but there is a fair chance that Rob won't want to leave my knight in his half of the board, nor my bishop covering b8 after a knight exchange. Consequently the chosen move fits my gameplan.

RR v Rob Shaw after 13 Ne5

13 ... Nxe5, 14 Bxe5 Ne8, 15 Bxg7 Bxg7, 16 Nb3 Qd6, 17 Qd2 Bd7
18 Rfc1 Rfc8, 19 Rxc8+ Rxc8, 20 Rc1 Rxc1+, 21 Qxc1

Some fairly painless exchanges which RR has managed to induce without compromising his own position (see left). Indeed with c5 under his control RR still has a real foothold in the game, even if there are no black weaknesses to attack.

RR v Rob Shaw after 21 Qxc1

21 ... Ne6, 22 d4 Bb5, 23 Qc8+ Kg7,
24 Bxb5 axb5, 25 Nc5 Nxc5 Difficult to come with credible alternatives for black
26 dxc5 Black would gleefully accept the offer of exchange of queens as his king can catch the pawn. Black's superior pawn structure would then surely be decisive.
26 ... Qe5, 27 g3

RR v Rob Shaw after 27 g3

Black is running out of options. Grabbing the a-pawn via a check on a1, and then racing the b-pawn home doesn't work - both players end up with two queens, with white then to move first. eg
27 ... Qa1+, 28 Kg2 Qxa2, 29 c6 b4, 30 c7 b3
31 Qd8 b2, 32 c8Q b1Q, 33 Qh8+ Kh6, 34 Qh3+ Kg5
35 Qe5+ with Qh4 mate to follow.
Even if the route to mate isn't calculated, white having first check with two queens on the board is surely something for black to avoid.
Rob runs for the safety of perpetual:
27 ... d4, 28 exd4 Qe1+ Draw agreed.