Ian Bates v RR after 7 Be2

7 ... dxc4, 8 Qa4 Qa5 e6 is superior as
9 Ne5 Bxe2, 10 Nxc6 Qd7 doesn't hurt black and he has now released his dark squared bishop.

9 Qxa5 pulling black's knight to the rim Nxa5
10 Bd2 (Nb5 Nd5) a6, 11 Na4 Nc6, 12 Nb6 Rd8, 13 Nxc4

Ian Bates v RR after 13 Nxc4

3rkb1r/1p2pppp/p1n2n2/8/2NP2b1/5N2/PP1BBPPP/R3K2R b

RR can now win the d-pawn with a simple
13 ... Nxd4, 14 Nxd4 Rxd4, but being aware that he lags in development declines the opportunity now and on his next move. Cowardice - white has no storming attack to play against this.

13 ... e6, 14 0-0 Be7, 15 Bc3 0-0, 16 Ne3 b5 Probably sounder to keep the bishop on, though every exchange of material is likely to weaken the isolated pawn.
17 Nxg4 Nxg4, 18 a3 Nf6 a voluntary retreat, but it seems unlikely to be doing a job on g4 any time soon.
19 Ne5 vacating f3 for the bishop and being annoying with the knight. Slower play may lead to black winning the game simply by blockading the pawn and removing pieces as opportunity arises.
19 ... Nxd4, 20 Bxd4 Rxd4, 21 Nc6 Rd7, 22 Rad1 Nd5
23 Bf3 Bf6, 24 Nb4 Bxb2, 25 Rd3

Ian Bates v RR after 25 Rd3

5rk1/3r1ppp/p3p3/1p1n4/1N6/P2R1B2/1b3PPP/5RK b

It wouldn't be an RR game without a blunder - here it comes:
25 ... a5, 26 Nc6 Ian returns the compliment
(26 Nxd5 exd5, 27 Rb1 and white is back in the game as the b-pawn and at least one other falls. That's why a5 was wrong - Rd6 would have easily held blacks advantage)

26 ... Bf6, 27 Nxa5 Ra8, 28 Nc6 Rc7 using the excuse of chasing the knight to unpin his own
29 Nb4 Nxb4, 30 axb4 Ra4, 31 Rfd1 g6, 32 Rb3 Rc2 RR switches his attention to the seventh. Ian can force him back to going for the b-pawn with
33 Be4 Rc4, 34 Bd3 Rd4, 35 Rdb1 when black has the pawn and better activity. Instead its the kingside threats that concern him.

Newcastle still top the first division table, though Alsager and Cheddleton can use their games in hand to challenge them. Defending champions Stafford are yet to get off the mark, with 2009/10 champions Holmes Chapel only just above them.

Division two remains wide open, with Newcastle catching Knights during January. The league doesn't differentiate between teams on equal points, so I simply list such teams in order of those who first reached the given total. Macclesfield have come to life, and with matches against the top two in February could yet complete a bottom to top transformation, something that Cheddleton will also be eyeing, with the help of their game in hand.

Division 3 Cheddleton D 10 7 2 1 16 Fenton B 9 7 1 1 15 Newcastle C 11 6 1 4 13 H C Pawns 10 3 2 5 8 Stafford B 8 3 2 3 8 Cheddleton C 10 3 1 6 7 Kidsgrove 8 3 0 5 6 Newcastle D 9 3 0 6 6 Alsager C 9 2 1 6 5

Division 4 Cheddleton E 7 5 2 0 12 Fenton C 8 5 2 1 12 Cheddleton F 7 4 2 2 10 Meir C 8 4 0 4 8 Fenton D 10 3 2 5 8 Alsager D 9 3 1 5 7 Meir B 8 2 2 5 6 Newcastle E 9 2 1 6 5

A clear breakaway has occurred at the top of division three over the last month, though Newcastle C have used up games to keep in the slipstream of Cheddleton D and Fenton B. At the moment the rest look like squabbling over fourth spot, though there is no Champions League place at stake. With all teams picking up points on at least an occasional basis, there is no clarity as to which one will be left at the bottom when the music stops.

John Yee v RR after 6 Bb3

rn1qkb1r/ppp2ppp/4p3/3n1b2/3P4/1B3N2/PPP2PPP/RNBQK2R b
This bishop retreat (there is only one square it can have come from) clearly indicates that the focus of John's game is going to be on trying to play d5, with intent to open the centre to his advantage. RR's response acknowledges this, though perhaps developing the f8 bishop is superior. Bb4+, Be7 and Bd6 are all playable. Note that after Bd6 black is not afraid of c4 and c5 to hit the knight and bishop successively as black would then permanently own d5 and also have a backward d pawn to play against.

6 ... c6, 7 c4 Nb6, 8 Nc3 Be7, 9 0-0 N8d7, 10 d5 Nc5, 11 Nd4

John Yee v RR after 11 Nd4

r2qk2r/pp2bppp/1np1p3/2nP1b2/2PN4/1BN5/PP3PPP/P1BQ1RK1 b
At this point I wanted to play Bd3 with pressure on the c-pawn, but I didn't like the idea of pushing his rook onto the same file as my king. I failed to notice that in this line, RR now castles and with white's d-pawn pinned against his knight, the apparent pressure against e6 is negated.

11 ... cxd5, 12 Nxf5 exf5, 13 cxd5
Yes, I concede that white is probably better. Black will probably need to play g6 at some stage, though he will have time to relocate his bishop to offset some of the weakness on black squares around his king so created. In return black has long term prospects of picking up the isolated d-pawn, which should be reasonably easy to blockade in the meantime. Both sides have things to do, so should be interesting.

13 ... 0-0, 14 Bc2 Qd7 Possibly I should play g6 immediately, though I wanted to cover b5 as rightly or wrongly I was a little concerned about the knight appearing there. A downside of this move is that it leaves a6 as the only retreat for my c5 knight, which means it will be a while before I can play a6 to cover b5 with a pawn. Thus I am tying up my pieces a little.

15 Qf3 g6, 16 Be3 Rac8, 17 Bxc5 Unexpected. I cannot believe this is right. Suddenly the holes around my king seem of minor importance - not only do I still have my bishop to patrol them, but it will take several moves for his knight to threaten to use them. It also cures my previous worries about the knight retreat.

17 ... Bxc5, 18 Bb3 Bd6 That d-pawn is going nowhere in a hurry. Realising this, John switches his attention to the kingside.

John Yee v RR after 18 ... Bd6

2r2rk1/pp1q1p1p/1n1b2p1/3P1p2/8/1BN2Q2/PP3PPP/R4RK1 w
19 h4 a6, 20 h5 Nc4, 21 Rad1 Ne5 Nxb2 is an entirely different game, played with RR a solid pawn to the good. Consequently it is probably sounder than the chosen continuation in which RR decides he'd like to move pieces in the general direction of his opponent's king.

22 Qh3 Ng4 With f3 not possible because of the fork on e3 white may struggle to maintain an h-pawn, which explains

23 hxg6 hxg6. No automatic undoubling of the pawns. The h-file will surely prove useful for a black rook or two, and the f7 pawn prevents the white knight relocating to e6 via e2 and d4. Perhaps the white h-pawn should have been left to its fate, which might well have been to be bypassed by advancing black kingside pawns.

24 Qd3 Kg7, 25 g3 Rh8, 26 Rfe1 Rh2
26 ... Rh1+, 27 Kxh1 Nxf2+ and black picks up queen and pawn for knight and rook. White does have Kg2 instead of Kxh1, in which case Rh2+ is now a gain in tempo. However RR is content to continue with his natural double rooks on h-file attack.

27 Rd2 Rch8, 28 Ree2

John Yee v RR after 28 Ree2

7r/1p1q1pk1/p2b2p1/3P1p2/6n1/1BNQ2P1/PP1RRP1r/6K1 b
RR can win the exchange Ne5 - white cannot allow the knight to live here as he loses his queen or gets mated. However there are bigger fish to fry.

28 ... f4, 29 Qd4+ Kf8 A blunder in Fritz' book as it allows white to give up his queen for rook. How awful. Nf6 would have been better though as it gets this piece out of the way.

30 gxf4 Clearly white cannot allow f3 even if he covers the square with a piece as he is easily mated. However his goose is cooked anyway:

RR v George Scattergood after 5 Bd3

rnbqkbnr/p4ppp/1p1pp3/2p5/2PPP3/3B1N2/PP3PPP/RNBQK2R b
5 ... Nc6 Must be better to play cxd4 first as the chosen move simply invites the cramping d5

6 d5 exd5, 7 exd5 Qe7+ With white close to castling can black really afford to place his queen in front of his king in this way?

8 Be3 Nb4, 9 O-O Nxd3, 10 Qxd3

RR v George Scattergood after 10 Qxd3

r1b1kbnr/p3qppp/1p1p4/2pP4/2P5/3QBN2/PP3PPP/RN3RK1 b
The long term health of black's queen is under considerable threat.

10 ... Nh6 Presumably with intent to play Bf5, but RR scuppers that idea. 11 Bxh6 gxh6, 12 Re1 Be6, 13 dxe6 fxe6, 14 Qe4 Rd8
15 Nc3 Rg8, 16 Qxe6 Nd5 with threat of Nc7+ is more powerful, but RR is already in mopping up mode.

16 ... Qxe6, 17 Rxe6+ Kd7, 18 Rae1 Rg6, 19 R6e2 Bg7
20 Re7+ Kc6, 21 Nd5 b5, 22 Rc7#

Klaudia Zak v RR after 14 N(c3)e4

r4rk1/pp1n1ppp/2p1p3/q5B1/1bPPN3/8/PP2QPPP/R4RK1 b
RR has been playing his usual non-committal stuff, with an eye perhaps on winning an endgame in a week or twos time. With the white knight leaving c3 RR finds his pieces somewhat misplaced, with an immediate problem of a lack of squares for his bishop, and lesser ones of defence against a kingside attack, and maybe white's minor pieces taking over d6. RR ignores the sensible Qf5 for a rather more foolish line:

14 ... h6, 15 Bh4 g5, 16 Bg3 Be7, 17 f4 Nf6
18 fxg5 Nxe4, 19 Qxe4

Klaudia Zak v RR after 19 Qxe4

r4rk1/pp2bp2/2p1p2p/q5P1/2PPQ3/6B1/PP4PP/R4RK1 b
The lack of intelligence behind black's recent pawn moves is laid bare. He has some vague survival chances if he now plays Qxg5 as the queen provides some much needed defence. However RR ignores this and the inferior hxg5 and plays the truely awful Bxg5 instead. The rest is fun for white.

RR v Derrick Wallace after 8 ... Re8

r1bqr1k1/pp1nbppp/2pp1n2/4p3/2PPP3/2N2N2/PPQ1BPPP/R1B2RK1 w
d5 by white at any point over the next several moves gives him a small but lasting space advantage, but RR prefers to keep some flexibility in the position. Derrick meanwhile starts to put pressure on e4.

9 Rd1 not very subtle threat against the e5 pawn Qc7
10 b4 Qb8, 11 Bb2 b6, 12 Rab1 Bb7, 13 a4 Bf8, 14 Ba3 Fatuous - trying to open the b-file against the black queen is no threat. Black can ignore and simply take the d-pawn.
14 ... Qc8, 15 Bd3 Still crying out for d5, but at least this bishop move does something, protecting the e-pawn and creating a latent threat against h7.
15 ... g6, 16 Qb3 Having been so keen on shoving pawns earlier, RR shows a distinct reluctance to venture into the enemy half of the board. The chosen move is clearly a blunder that costs a pawn.

16 ... exd4, 17 Nxd4 c5, 18 Nf3 Nxe4, 19 Nd5 Bxd5
20 cxd5 Bg7, 21 Bb2 Bxb2, 22 Rxb2 Qd8, 23 Bb5 Re7
24 Bc6 Rb8, 25 b5 Ne5, 26 Nxe5 Rxe5

RR v Derrick Wallace after 26 ... Rxe5

1r1q2k1/p4p1p/1pBp2p1/1PpPr3/P3n3/1Q6/1R3PPP/3R2K1 w
The dust has now settled following the loss of the pawn, and its time to reassess progress. White's control over e8 makes it difficult for black to make maximum use of the e-file, whilst it will be a long time before the extra queenside pawn comes into play. Thus white is not badly off, though the material deficit does ask for active play. Re2 with intent to take over the e-file seems called for. Instead RR plays innocuous moves which encourage the black knight to reach better squares.

27 f3 Nf6, 28 Qc3 Qe7, 29 Kf1 Nh5, 30 Re1 Rxe1+
31 Qxe1 Qxe1+, 32 Kxe1 Nf4

RR v Derrick Wallace after 32 ... Nf4

1r4k1/p4p1p/1pBp2p1/1PpP4/P4n2/5P2/1R4PP/4K3 w
The smoke has cleared somewhat, but RR still fails to see a way forward. the threatened fork on d3 is of minor import as the natural way forward for white is Ra2 and a5, with intent to bring his rook to the seventh and tie black down to the defendce of his pawns. Instead we get

33 Rc2 Kf8, 34 g3 Nd3+, 35 Kd2 Ne5, 36 Ke3 Rc8
37 Ke4 a waste. f4 helps to move the knight away from the action, but when a good kick to the knight is available, RR fails to use it.
37 ... f5+, 38 Ke3 Rc7, 39 Ra2 Too late. Black can now prevent a5.
39 ... Nc4+, 40 Kd3 Na5, 41 Re2 Re7, 42 Re6 Rxe6
43 dxe6 Ke7, 44 Bd5 Kf6, 45 h4 Ke7, 46 g4 fxg4
47 fxg4 Kf6, 48 Kc3 Ke7, 49 g5 h5 a more sensible attempt to create kingside distractions.

RR v Derrick Wallace after 49 g5

8/p3k2p/1p1pP1p1/nPpB2P1/P6P/2K5/8/8 b
c4 is good for Derrick here as Bxc4 Nxc4, Kxc4 Kxe6 is an easy win for black, whilst failing to take the pawn allow Nb3 and Nc5 and black is again well placed. However Derrick is content with a draw and plays Ke8. RR who needs a win for the team makes a vain attempt to create something and loses.

Geoff Laurence v RR after 7 ... Bg7

9 Nc3 Bb7, 10 Qc2 Nbd7, 11 e4 O-O, 12 h3 ruling out any possibility of Ng4 as a release for black's fianchettoed bishop.

12 ... Qc7, 13 Rd1 Diagram (right)

Geoff Laurence v RR after 13 Rd1

r4rk1/pbqnppbp/3p1np1/1Pp5/4P3/2N2N1P/PPQ1BPP1/R1BR2K1 b
A case of who is playing where? Does Geoff try to win by queening a queenside pawn or look to disrupt the centre with a suitably prepared e5? Does RR look to win a queenside pawn with the help of major pieces or play down the centre with e6 and d5? On reflection I like Rfb8 (or even c8 to protect the queen), also allowing the f6 knight to retreat to e8 without separating the rooks. At the time though I decided to vacate d7 for the use of the f6 knight, a use to which the square was never put.

13 ... Nb6, 14 a4 The obvious but still annoying response. I can't allow a5, so:

14 ... a5, 15 bxa6 Bxa6, 16 Bxa6 Rxa6, 17 Nb5 Qc6 As is the case too often for my liking I couldn't see what the best square for my queen would be - would it be better on b7?

18 e5

Geoff Laurence v RR after 18 e5

5rk1/4ppbp/rnqp1np1/1Np1P3/P7/5N1P/1PQ2PP1/R1BR2K1 b
Felt this was the most critical point in the game. Obviously I cannot allow
19 exd6 exd6, 20 Rxd6 so I need a good eighteenth move.
Didn't like the 'clever' pawn sac:
18 ... Nfd7, 20 exd6 e6.
Nor did 18 ... dxe5, 19 Nxe5 seem an appealing continuation.
Blocking the d-file with Nfd5 felt right, though my crystal ball refused to tell me anything concrete about what would happen next. So I offered the exchange of queens, a route that naturally led to further exchanges and a sterile ending:

18 ... Qe4 19 Qxe4 From the point of view of extending the interest there is little virtue from white's side in keeping the queens on.

19 ... Nxe4, 20 exd6 exd6, 21 Nxd6 Rd8, 22 Bf4 Nxd6
23 Rxd6 Rxd6, 24 Bxd6 Bxb2, 25 Ra2 Nxa4, 26 Bxc5 Nxc5
27 Rxb2 Ra1+, 28 Kh2 Rf1, 29 Ne5 f5, 30 Rc2