R2
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Re:Game in the Times - 2006/06/29 02:07
qualifier, Nigel Johnson (more famous for backing teams than playing in them) played the game of his life against a Luxembourg opponent. His winning move was 22...Be2 winning a queen on f3. Not quite as spectacular finish as yours but not bad.
Schockmel,J - Johnson,N [C45] European Club Cup Grp2 ENG-LUX2 Luxembourg (3.4), 13.09.1998
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nf5 Qf6 6.Nc3 Nge7 7.Ne3 d6 8.g3 Ne5 9.f4 N5g6 10.Bg2 0-0 11.0-0 a6 12.Kh1 Rb8 13.Ncd5 Nxd5 14.exd5 Bd7 15.Rb1 Rfe8 16.Qf3 Qd4 17.Ng4 f5 18.Nf2 Bb5 19.c3 Qa4 20.b3 Qxa2 21.Rb2 Qxb2 22.Bxb2 Be2 23.Qd3 Bxd3 24.Nxd3 Bb6 25.Bh3 Ne7 26.c4 Kf7 27.g4 g6 28.g5 Nxd5 29.cxd5 Re3 30.Bxf5 gxf5 31.Rd1 Rbe8 32.Bf6 R8e4 33.Bb2 Rxd3 0-1
This thing about consistency - it depends what you want out of life/chess. I`ve been graded in the BCF 190s since 1973 (give or take a couple of seasons in the 180s or 200s). But there are a few people around graded in the 140s who frighten the sh** out of me on a regular basis. Here`s one :
Saunders,J (2160) - Young,M (1870) [B03] Mitcham Club Ch (4), 30.12.1992
1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 b5!? (Blimey!) 4.Bxb5 c5 5.Be2 cxd4 6.Qxd4 Bb7 7.Nf3 e6 8.0-0 Nc6 9.Qe4 Qc7 10.c4 Ndb4 11.Na3 a6 12.Qf4 0-0-0 13.Be3 Be7 14.h4 h6 15.h5 g5 16.hxg6 fxg6 17.Qe4 g5 18.c5 g4 19.Nd2 Qxe5 20.Nac4 Qxe4 21.Nxe4 Rdf8 22.Bxg4 h5 23.Be2 h4 24.Rad1 Nd5 25.Bg5 h3 26.g3 Bxg5 27.Ncd6+ Kc7 28.Nxb7 Kxb7 29.Nxg5 Ne5 30.Kh2 Rf5 31.Ne4 Nf3+ 32.Kh1 Ka7 33.Rd3 Ne5 34.Ra3 Nc7 35.f4 Nc6 36.Rd1 Rh7 37.Rad3 1-0
Watch out for Mel, he`s a mad hacker. But he finished with 0/7 in this tournament! I got so stressed out during this game that I suffered severe stomach cramps - thought I had appendicitis!
Some people are striving for that ultimate flashy win whereas others are happy to play boringly to get the points. But it doesn`t necessarily mean you are a better player than your grade just because you play out of your skin occasionally. Tennis players who do that might win wonderfully in Rd 1 or Rd 2 but never make the final. We can all win wonderful sacrificial games if we`re prepared to throw away a lot of other games to produce the pearl. Saying "I made a blunder" is not an excuse any more than getting into time trouble. I`ve match-captained too many players like this over the years and frankly, hanging`s too good for them. The answer is - don`t blunder and don`t get into time trouble. And moral victories score no points.
One of the problems is, magazines and books only tend to show us the pearls. In reality these are few and far between. Force yourself to play through ALL the games of a GM tournament and you`ll find that most of the games are a long, sweaty (and not very spectacular) struggle. Professionals don`t care how they get their points so long as they get `em. Their ambition is to eat that night. If the game is a brilliancy, that`s a bonus because the magazine editors might pay them a few quid more for the annotations - but the pro knows it is unrealistic to set out to win brilliantly. For the rest of us amateurs we have the luxury of trying to emulate Morphy or trying to get a result. But - no excuses when you lose!
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He is a very modest man with a great deal to be modest about.
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