After the Chess Club committee met and decided to be cautious and maintain the Club lockdown, it was agreed that the Koelle tournaments would be played on-line. As a result, a number of players who would otherwise not be able to play were able to enter.
16 players signed up for the Koelle 'A', including a remarkable 8 former Club Champions! Another 16 players entered the Koelle 'B'.
In the 'A' group, James Watson took on tournament leader Garry Voigt in a Nimzo-Indian. It was a tough, very even game until Garry won a pawn in the endgame before finishing James off with a spectacular tactical blow. Scott Stewart faced Joel Beggs in a Spanish. Scott won a piece in the opening, and kept his advantage throughout a lively game. Leo Kalina met Sean Macak in a Sicilian Sveshnikov. Leo seized the initiative, and converted it to win a fine game. Jamie Brotheridge versus Bas van Riel was a French Burn variation. In a fierce tactical battle Jamie won after Bas collapsed at the end. Kevin Perrin met Ben Naughton with a Bird's Opening. Ben grabbed the exchange early and never let it go to score a good win.
Patrick Lenne faced George Maksacheff in a Sicilian Grand Prix Attack. It was an interesting, fighting game which Patrick resigned perhaps a little prematurely. Ruari Coffey took on Adeepa Keerthiratne in a Queen Pawn Opening. In a tactically feisty game, Adeepa blundered away his Queen and was quickly crushed. Patrick Cook met Rob Loveband in a Nimzo-Indian. A cautious, sparring game ended in a draw. Andrew Vincent versus Leonard Goodison was a win by forfeit for Leonard, while Paul Dao versus James Eldridge was a win for Paul by forfeit.
So Garry Voigt powered to an impressive victory in the 2020 Koelle 'A'.
In the 'B' group, tournament leader Kalen Douglas fell to Nigel Block, allowing Dylan Douglas to catch him after dispatching Bjorn Lategan.
So Kalen and Dylan Douglas share the title in the Koelle 'B' 2020.
In the 'A' group, tournament leader Garry Voigt took on Scott Stewart in a Sicilian. The players were evenly matched, and a free flowing, tactically sharp game ended as a draw. Bas van Riel faced Joel Beggs in a Spanish. A complex struggle ended abruptly when Bas overlooked a mate in 1! James Watson met Patrick Cook in an English. Patrick won a pawn and gained a seemingly good position in the middle game, but one incautious move and James pounced to win a good game.
Sean Macak versus Kevin Perrin was a Dutch Defence. A feisty, interesting game reached a Bishop's of opposite colour ending that probably should have been drawn, but Kevin mishandled it and fell to defeat. Andrew Vincent faced Leo Kalina in a Sicilian and achieved a winning position, but then messed up horribly in the endgame to hand Leo the point. Jamie Brotheridge met Ruari Coffey in a QBD. A tough, even contest seemed headed for a draw until a fateful decision by Ruari resulted in Jamie winning a pawn race and scooping up the point.
Leonard Goodison took on Rob Loveband in a Sicilian Najdorf. A full scale tactical battle ensued that eventually rumbled to a draw. James Eldridge faced George Maksacheff in a Sicilian. A short, sharp tactical shootout resulted. When the smoke cleared, George had the full point. Adeepa Keerthiratne versus Ben Naughton was a Spanish. Adeepa blundered a piece in the middle game and was unable to recover in the wild tactics that followed. Paul Dao met Patrick Lenne in a strange French-Sicilian hybrid. Paul gained material, but missed an easy win in the endgame by declining to swap Queens, giving Patrick the chance to scrape a draw.
In the 'B' group Kalen Douglas kept his lead with a win over Anna Yates, while wins for Dylan Douglas and Justin Goodison kept them in range.
In the 'A' group, Joel Beggs faced Garry Voigt in a Caro-Kann that quickly morphed into a Blackmar-Diemar Gambit. Garry grabbed 2 pawns early and held them throughout to win a strong game. Scott Stewart took on Kevin Perrin in a Scandinavian. Kevin snatched the exchange early, but later blundered away his advantage, and Scott scooped up the point.
Patrick Cook met his old rival Bas van Riel in a Grunfeld. Bas won a pawn in the middle game, prompting Patrick to steer into a rook and pawn ending that he proved able to hold. Rob Loveband faced James Watson in a Benko Gambit. Rob was brushed aside in an efficient win for James.
Leonard Goodison versus Sean Macak was a Sicilian. Leonard's Queen was trapped in a complicated middle game and he did not recover. Newcomer Leo Kalina met Jamie Brotheridge in a Sicilian Rossolimo. Neither player could gain a decisive edge, and a draw was eventually agreed. Andrew Vincent faced James Eldridge in a sharp Sicilian Dragon. James won the exchange, but then appeared to panic, gave away his advantage and lost in the endgame.
Ruari Coffey took on Patrick Lenne in a Dutch Defence. Ruari opted for an unusual response and outplayed Patrick to score a fine win. George Maksacheff versus Adeepa Keerthiratne was a Danish Gambit. George launched a typical smash and grab attack that ended in a crisp mate.
In the 'B' group, Kalen Douglas now leads alone after defeating Jasan Barnett, while his brother Dylan Douglas fell to Justin Goodison.
In the 'A' section, Gary Voigt met Patrick Cook in a French Exchange. The game slumbered along until Patrick decided to have some fun and sacrificed a Bishop for 3 pawns. He missed a nice defence by Gary and was then overwhelmed by a savage counterattack.
Joel Beggs faced Rob Loveband in a Sicilian Dragon. It was a feisty, sharp, unbalanced game from which Joel emerged victorious after Rob blundered an exchange. Bas van Riel met Leonard Goodison in a complicated Spanish. Leonard fought hard but fell to a nicely timed King side attack.
Sean Macak took on Scott Stewart in a London System. In an interesting positional game, Scott won a pawn and eventually the game after pushing it through to Queen. Kevin Perrin versus Andrew Vincent was an open Sicilian. In a feisty game Andrew stumbled and Kevin then finished him off in style!
Jamie Brotheridge faced James Eldridge in another Sicilian Dragon. It was a sharp, tactical game that never quite strayed from equality and was agreed a draw. Patrick Lenne met Leo Kalina and Patrick wheeled out his favourite Sokolski (1.b4). He won a pawn in the middle game and seemed on track for a win, but stumbled badly in the endgame to hand the point to Leo.
James Watson took on George Maksacheff, returning to the Club after nearly 40 years (welcome back). In a Nimzo-Indian James found a nice tactical shot in the early middle game that gave him a firm grip on the position that he never let go of, and made it count. Adeepa Keerthiratne faced newcomer Paul Dao in a Spanish. Tactical alertness by Adeepa won him a piece and he finally gained the reward for his enterprising play in the tournament. Ruari Coffey and Ben Naughton took half point byes.
In the 'B' section the 2 leaders, Kalen Douglas and Dylan Douglas, fought each other to a stand still after a French Exchange.
The 2 leaders, Patrick Cook and Joel Beggs, met in a quiet, uneventful QGD that slumbered to a draw. Kevin Perrin faced Gary Voigt in a Bird's Opening. Kevin's attack failed, and he was then brushed aside by Gary's forceful play. Scott Stewart versus Bas van Riel was a French Winawer variation. It's not Bas' forte, and Scott scored a convincing win.
James Eldridge took on Sean Macak in an Open Sicilian. Tactical alertness gave Sean a decisive advantage right in the opening, and he made no mistake converting. Patrick Lenne versus Rob Loveband was a win by forfeit for Rob. Ruari Coffey versus Andrew Vincent was a Queen-Pawn Opening. Andrew profited from several uncharacteristic errors by Ruari.
Ben Naughton met James Watson in something like a Benoni. A faulty tactic by Ben resulted in loss of his Queen and the game. Leo Kalina faced Adeepa Keerthiratne in a Sicilian. A neat tactical trick in a complex position gave Leo the win. Leonard Goodison took on Jamie Brotheridge in a Sicilian. Leonard won the exchange in the middle game and went on to make it count.
In the 'B' tournament, Dylan Douglas and Kalen Douglas defeated Jasan Barnett and Justin Goodison respectively. Kalen's final move was a bolt from the blue that gave him a most picaresque mate.
In the 'A' Group, Gary Voight faced Ruari Coffey in an unusual Sicilian that culminated in a spectacular attack by Gary to win in fine style. Sean Macak took on Joel Beggs in a Queens Gambit Declined. An enterprising game ended with a win for Joel after Sean slipped in the endgame.
Rob Loveband met Scott Stewart in a Sicilian Accelerated Dragon. The game was drawn after a sharp, even, well played tussle by both players. Top seed James Watson played Leonard Goodison in another QGD. Leonard won the exchange in messy middle game tactics, and showed excellent technique to go on and win.
Jamie Brotheridge versus Ben Naughton was a strange Queen Pawn opening that rumbled to a draw. James Eldridge faced Patrick Cook in a French that quickly became a Larsen. Patrick was the "victim" of a mouse slip early on that turned out to be a much better move than the one he intended. The game ended abruptly when James hung his Queen in a promising position. Mouse slip or hallucination by James is unknown.
The two veterans Bas van Riel and Kevin Perrin faced each other in a Scandinavian with lots of tactical nuances. In a drawish position, Kevin appeared to resign. It transpired that Kevin was another victim of a mouse slip and thought he was offering a draw. Bas generously accepted.
Adeepa Keerthiratne met Patrick Lenne in a Spanish. Adeepa played a complex position well and won the exchange, before once again stumbling in a tactical endgame. Andrew Vincent had the bye.
In the 'B' Group Dylan Douglas, Justin Goodison, Jasan Barnett and Kalen Douglas lead with 2/2.
In the 'A' group, Scott Stewart faced Jamie Brotheridge in a very sharp Morra Gambit that smouldered to a draw after a lively game. Joel Beggs versus James Watson was a Sicilian Dragon. Having won a pawn, James blundered a piece late in the game to gift Joel the point.
Ben Naughton took on Bas van Riel in a Pirc. A complicated manoeuvring game ensued. Ben failed to grab his chances and then dropped his Queen and resigned on the spot. Veteran Patrick Cook faced 12 year old newcomer Adeepa Keerthiratne in a Kings Indian Averbakh. The youngster completely outplayed the old bloke, before a moment's inattention allowed Patrick to pull off a nifty swindle.
Junior Leonard Goodison versus Kevin Perrin was an Italian Game. With excellent play, Leonard built up a winning position, before a slip squandered his advantage. He then spurned a repetition and tragically crashed to defeat. Andrew Vincent met Sean Macak in a Benoni (of sorts). Sean won convincingly with direct, forcing play.
3 players, Rob Loveband, Gary Voight, and Ruari Coffey, took a half point bye, while James Eldridge was not paired.
In the 'B' group, games went pretty much as expected. One curiosity was the game Kanishk Mahasuar versus Ishan Madugamuwa. The game ended abruptly with a resignation by White. Kanishk insisted that he hadn't resigned. It was clear from the final position that White was about to give mate. The arbiters ruled in favour of Kanishk. Anna Yates versus Lashen Jayaweera was postponed.
To view this year's games full screen - Koelle all years here...