The Preston Congress is traditionally the last in the year for my son Sam. This time round he got a grading prize and we think that both his rapid play and long play grades may hit new highs. Sam is pictured below with Open winner Adam Ashton in what is a very pleasant venue, the Harrington Building at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN).
Sam's play with Black against 1.d4 has been going well of late, largely due to the amount of time we have been spending on it. He still needs some work as Black against 1.e4, which we have planned in the seven weeks we have before his next event. This in itself should produce a nice improvement in his results as in general we have focussed far more on endgames and tactics than openings. Here's the finish to his last round game.
White to play had just played 38.Nd3-c1, attacking the rook on b3. Sam replied with 38...Rb1! with the point that 39.Rxa3 Rxc1 40.Rc3 is met by 40...Rh1, which would skewer White's rook after 41.Rxc2 Rh2+. In the game White played 39.Nd3 but after 39...Rd1 40.Nc1 Rxc1 threw in the towel (0-1).
Nigel Davies
