London Design Festival- The Tournament

[Claire Summerscale]

Keep it up Ben, you're doing a great job.
Claire

[Brendan O'Gorman]

Ben,
I went along today to view proceedings in Trafalgar Square. You and David Sedgwick were doing the commentary. A fun event, even if the piece designs are no threat to the Staunton pattern. I've posted some pics here: http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/197280951

[David Sedgwick]

Ben,
I went along today to view proceedings in Trafalgar Square. You and David Sedgwick were doing the commentary. A fun event, even if the piece designs are no threat to the Staunton pattern. I've posted some pics here: http://www.photobox.co.uk/album/197280951

Thank you Brendan. I don't much like being photographed, but I seem to have escaped relatively lightly.

I hope that you heard me give this Forum a plug during my commentary.

[Brendan O'Gorman]

David,
Yes, I heard the plug.
As to the photos, you should see some of the ones I've not posted to Photobox. Bear this in mind if you're ever an arbitor settling a dispute involving me.
Seriously, I can delete the photo if you'd like.

[Adam Raoof]

Don't delete David's photo! At least not until I've posted it on Facebook Is there any way of seeing a larger version, Brendan? I mean of all the photos, not just David's...

[David Sedgwick]

As to the photos, you should see some of the ones I've not posted to Photobox. Bear this in mind if you're ever an arbitor settling a dispute involving me.
Seriously, I can delete the photo if you'd like.

Don't delete David's photo! At least not until I've posted it on Facebook Is there any way of seeing a larger version, Brendan?

I'm not going to win this one, am I?

How about a compromise that the existing photograph is allowed to remain in place but the others stay private.

I knew I should never have allowed Stewart Reuben to persuade me to appear.

On a more serious note, it's been a great event. Many thanks to the London Design Festival and to Stewart Reuben and Ben Edgell.

[IM Jack Rudd]

I have mentioned this event on my blog.

[Brendan O'Gorman]

Adam,

Try http://picasaweb.google.com/bogorman29/ ... feat=email# for a larger David

[benedgell]

Thanks for all the comments. It's nice when work's as fun as it's been over the last few days.

Day 5 of The Tournament.
Just saw today's Blue Peter. They didn't show the footage, but there is another show tomorrow, so hopefully it'll be on there. Honestly Stewart and myself couldn't do all of the chess work by ourselves, and we've been very fortunate to have people happy to volunteer their time to helping. The following people, a big thanks for today: Alexander Cherniaev, Simon Williams, and especially to both David Sedgewick and Matthew Piper, who were there for virtually the entire day, happy to commentate and relay moves.
Game 1 for today was supposed to feature Daniel Runcan against Gary O' Grady, but when Daniel didn't arrive Matthew Piper stepped in to play. Gary played very well against a strong opponent, but in the end Matthew's class shone through. I don't have the moves to this game, sadly, but Matthew spotted a very nice tactic at the end to win it.
Game 2 was the one I've been waiting for all week, if I'm honest. Simon Williams against Alexander Chernaiev. It's a real mark of the quality of play on display, that between myself and Matthew (and all arrogance aside we're not too bad at chess ourselves) completely missed some of Simon's stunning attacking moves. The game's featured at the end of today's blog, and it's really worth playing through. Before I move on from this game, both guys were more then happy to answer questions from the crowd afterwards, which was very generous of them both. Sadly their generosity wasn't particularly well rewarded as we only got one question from the crowd, but nevertheless we got a chance to hear both players' thoughts at the end of the game, and for me personally I found that quite rewarding.
Game 3 featured Bob Krstic, former Australian senior champion, against Wade Courson, an enthusiastic amateur, from Canada, now residing in London. We've been very fortunate with the number of champions of all ages who've been here to play. As it turns out perhaps Wade was being modest in his description of himself- he played a decent game, and was matching Bob blow for blow, until ultimately they ran out of time to carry on the game, and agreed a draw.
Game 4 was originally scheduled to feature Gwyneth Holland against Ed Magee, but Gwyneth didn't arrive for her game. Up stepped Jan Mol, sponsor of the Staunton tournaments. Now how on Earth as commentator I could criticise the moves of a man who's done so much to help British chess, and indeed chess in general, I don't know. Towards the end of the game there was some confusion on Ed's part, with a move being misheard on the headphones, and it resulted in him making what he thought was an innocent re-capture, but in reality it put the queen en prise. Ever the gentleman, Jan offered a draw, and everyone went away happy.
Game 5... well, for possibly the first time whilst writing this blog, I'm going to have a bit of a moan. It was originally scheduled to be 2 members of the public who had been drawn from the people who had registered online beforehand, but come game time they hadn't arrived. Now I understand that between receiving confirmation that they can play, and the time of the game, maybe people's plans change. But to not turn up, not make any attempt to contact the organisers to inform them, well it's just bad manners. With the game due to start, the event organisers were forced to make a public announcement inviting anyone who fancied a game of chess to come on down. Several people swiftly put their names forward, and the first 2 to do so were Anthony Bland and Steven Byrne. Although they didn't have a particularly high level of chess skill, they both had a great time. We couldn't get near to finishing the game, and it ended drawn, but it was certainly fun while it lasted.
As the game was drawing to a finish, we got word that the BBC were arriving to film with the pieces for the weather report. I haven't had a chance to see it myself, so did anyone who reads this watch the BBC news between 6.30 and 7pm? If I'm remembering this correctly, 6.30-7.00 is the local news slot, so it may have just been the London area that saw this. Anyone who saw the pieces featured in the background of the BBC news weather report around that time, please let me know.
The last game of the day, Game 6, and my fifth stint of commentating for the day. I must admit I'm quite getting into the swing of things with the commentary now, and finding it all rather fun. Game 6 featured Brandon Bennett and Kevin Jackson, 2 friends who were both probably what you would call enthusiastic amateurs. The chess quality wasn't particularly high, but once again both guys thoroughly enjoyed the experience, and went away smiling. The game ended in a win for black.
Tomorrow is the last day of The Tournament, so anyone who hasn't been along so far this is your last chance to see some stunning pieces, stunning chess, and stunning commentators. I know which one most of the spectators have come along to see It all kicks off with game 1 at 11.30, and the last game of the day, and the event is 5.30pm.
As promised here's the Cherniaev- Williams game. As Simon gave up his time to play and answer some questions afterwards, I'll repay the generosity and mention that he was filming a dvd on the Dutch defence throughout the day, which could very well be on sale in the near future. Games like this can only help convert more people to playing the Dutch. Enjoy.

Alexander Cherniaev - Simon Williams

1. d4 f5
2. e4 fxe4
3. Nc3 Nf6
4. Bg5 c6
5. f3 d5
6. fxe4 dxe4
7. Qd2 Bf5
8. 0-0-0 e6
9. h3 Nbd7
10. g4 Bg6
11. Bc4 Qe7
12. Nge2 b5
13. Bb3 a5
14. a4 Nb6
15. Nf4 Bf7
16. Qe2 e5
17. Bxf7+ Kxf7
18. Nh5 Nc4
19. Nxe4 Nxb2
20. Kxb2 Qa3+
21. Kb1 Rb8
22. axb5 Rxb5+
23. Qxb5 cxb5
24. Nexf6 Qb4+
25 Kc1 Qc3
26 Rdf1 Ba3+
27. Kd1 Qxd4+
28. Bd2 Rd8
29. Ne4+ Kg8
30. Nhg3 Bb4
31. Rf3 Qc4=

As a postscript to this, I should mention that I'm travelling directly back to Somerset after the games have finished this evening, and then back to work tomorrow. With any luck I'll find some time on Thursday morning to write the final day's entry, but otherwise it'll be the weekend before I can post. Just to keep you all in suspense a little bit.

[Kevin Thurlow]

Sounds a great event - sorry I couldn't get there. Shame about all the no-shows.
Well done Ben.

I hope David didn't have to decide if a move is complete when a piece stops rolling, or when it reaches the nominated square!?

[benedgell]

Day 6, the last day at The Tournament. A big thanks to John Constable, Jeff Goldberg, and especially Wade Courson who helped today. Personally I always find it easier when commentating to have a co-commentator to bounce questions off of, halve the responsibility of filling the gaps between moves and so on. With John, Jeff, and Wade happy to help relaying moves, Stewart and myself got to share the commentating.

Of course the biggest thanks has to go to Stewart Reuben. He helped the London Design Festival with the chess side of this exhibit prior to the event, was there helping with commentary and move- relaying for the entire event, and put up with me for the week (not an easy task in the slightest). It's been great to be able to shadow Stewart, with all of his experience of these type of events, and learn from him, and I'm very appreciative of that.

I should also thank everyone at the London Design Festival as well. I can't remember the names of everyone who volunteered (sorry guys) to move pieces, help promote the event etc, but those pieces really are quite heavy, and the volunteers did it with aplomb, and were great fun to boot. Also Jaime Hayon ( I'm not sure how to get the accent over the 'o') who designed the pieces. As much as I might like to think my commentary was the reason for the huge crowds we got, it almost certainly was to see the magnificently crafted pieces. Finally, and deserving of a huge thank you, Luisa West. Luisa was responsibile for organisation on site- she arrived before everyone else, left after everyone else, and handled everything, including the various no-shows, cooly and efficiently.

Okay, all the thanks out of the way, time for some game reporting.

Unfortunately the first game suffered a sadly all too familiar problem- neither of the scheduled opponents arrived. I've mentioned my feelings about the people who don't arrive in a previous post, so I won't go in to too much detail here, but I really do feel bad for the many, many people who've asked during the event could they play, and had to be turned away because the schedule was filled up. As it turned out we had a lovely lady called Dominique Anderson who was happy to play, whilst Steven Coles, who had previously played on Monday, was nabbed as he walked past and roped into playing. Steven's extra experience told in fairly decisive fashion, but it was good fun for both players nonetheless.
Game 2, and both players arrived on time, and ready to play. It was Jai Stokes against Fernando Villasevil, and just to stoke up the rivalry, Fernando had brought along minature Spanish and English flags. It was a fairly usual sort of bishop's opening, with Jai having white when Fernado played ...g4. Myself and Stewart had been discussing the usual developing moves for black, and hadn't even considered it. "Okay, ...g4, threatening the queen. Well the queen can't go to, umm, oh crikey, that is sneaky" Yup, the queen had run out of squares, and we'd missed it. As I told Stewart "We're both as rubbish as each other" Jai had to give up his queen for just a bishop after which it was only a matter of time. He did manage to win the 'a' pawn, and we had good fun cheering on white's 'a' pawn as it went a2-a4-a5-a6, only to be stopped when black gave checkmate.
Game 3 featured another Fernando, this time Fernando Lopez, playing against Shamal Kamalyan. This was a good lesson in why it's better to develop pieces then pawns in the opening, as Fernando built up a strong attack, and won in decisive fashions, whilst most of Shamal's pieces were stuck on the back rank watching on.
Game 4, and again we were hit by 2 people failing to turn up. Fortunately, such has been the interest from people at the event in playing, that we haven't had any problems bringing in other people to play. This time Karisma Griffiths ( we were all in agreement as to the awesome-ness of her forename) played against Tom Golds, both studying performing arts at degree level. If I'm honest this game was the lowest quality in terms of chess of the event. How do you give possible reasons for f3 g3 h3 d3 Be3 a3 and c3 for white, and a5 b6 Na6 etc for black, when commentating? Well we tried, although I lost count of the number of times I used the phrase " Black/ white may have missed something here, but I don't want to give hints, so I'll keep schtum" Nevertheless I also got to use other phrases I never though I'd use such as "well white's fought back from a queen down to just a pawn down now, can she complete the comeback and go on to win?" and also "just the white king left against blacks rook, bishop, and four pawns, but she's come back from greater odds before now..." The quality may have been low, but it was played in great spirt, and was good fun all the same. For the record, Tom won.
Game 5, the last game of the day, and indeed the event, and ironically we were hoping for someone to drop out. Ryad Rizouk, an Algerian IM, had arrived during the previous game, and asked if it was possible to play. His wish was granted as once again both scheduled opponents failed to arrive. His opponent, Miles Shaw, was about 1900 strength, and promised to show us the new opening he'd been perfecting called 'The Back Jamaican'. It consisted of a somewhat- odd looking hippo type opening, where black developed the bishop to e7, played h6 and g5, and proceed to swing the queens- knight round to g6. If I'm honest it all looked a little on the slow side, and Ryad tore through with strong, aggressive play. There was a point where we thought maybe Miles had some chances, based on white's king being boxed in the corner, but Ryad had it well covered and won decisively. I should mention that after a number of the earlier games ending draw, today every game had a winner. So 5 people are going to be getting a pair of Camper's shoes in the near future. Also, we had the pleasure of Chris Ferguson kibitzing this game. Knowing a lot of chess players are also poker players, I'm sure a fair number of people already know who he is just from the name, but for those unaware, he's one of the world's leading cash- game poker players. He seemed a little embarrassed to be name-checked, and even more embarrassed when I announced over the commentary "my week just gets better and better- this is going in the diary", but we got a smile and a thumbs- up, and I'm sure he enjoyed the chess.

So that's it. Hope you've enjoyed both the blog, and The Tournament for those of you who went to see it in person. It's been a tremendous learning experience for me, and also great fun to boot. It's got a lot of publicity for chess- we've had hundreds of people watching each game and countless media groups featuring it in newspapers and on television- and so all in all job well done.

[Adam Raoof]

Ben, you were a pleasure to work with! Just one correction; I suspect that the lucky player facing Rizouk was Miles Shaw (145145F) ex-? Streatham Chess Club. The whole event is worth a documentary - where was Tryfon Gavriel with his iPhone?

[benedgell]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffjeffje ... 420958976/

has photos from the festival by Jeff A Goldberg.

with

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffjeffje ... 952015772/

being my favourite shot.

[Susan Owens]

Well done to everyone involved in The Tournament in Trafalgar Square. It was an amazing centre piece to the London Design Festival and my daughter felt priviledged to be part of it. These opportunities to take chess to the public are too few, and it was great to see people enjoying the art of chess in both senses.

See my pics:
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/boznet/Th ... directlink

Susan Owens
Director Women's Chess Wales

[Claire Summerscale]

I've been told that the Blue Peter segment on the match will appear on tuesday 6th october.

Claire