08-04-2014, 08:07 AM
Very sad to hear about Peter's health and I trust he'll rest and recover as soon as possible. He took the hot spot on top board, ahead of Phil, originally down to play there but recently unhappy about a dip in form. Phil has, however, blossomed at board 2, gaining a lot of ELO points. He won imperiously yesterday.
Unfortunately Alan Scrimgour probably missed at least one clear win, which would have meant a 2.5-1.5 win against England 1 that would have been fully deserved on the balance of play overall. Go to the website and replay his game. Watching it live at the middlegame point where Alan's opponent (in desperate trouble and very short of time) played ...Ne5, I thought Alan could simply play dxe5, and if ...Bxc5; Qf3 Bf8 (apparently forced); Qxf7+ Kh8, and now h3 is probably simplest.
As Black must then avoid ...Qxa4? (winning back the pawn) because of Bh6! and wins. So Black's queen is temporarily tied to the b1-h7 diagonal (needs to be in touch with g6 or g4, in the event of the Bh6 idea). And it therefore looks as if White has a clear extra pawn in a good position, as his king has an escape square on h2 and he has a nasty Rd7 idea, followed by developing his king's rook, aiming for an eventual, almost certainly winning R+B, R or B plus an extra pawn (and better king) endgame.
Alan probably also had good chances to win later on but his opponent proved slippery and escaped the worst to draw. Alan and Ian Robertson are both proving excellent debutants!
Unfortunately Alan Scrimgour probably missed at least one clear win, which would have meant a 2.5-1.5 win against England 1 that would have been fully deserved on the balance of play overall. Go to the website and replay his game. Watching it live at the middlegame point where Alan's opponent (in desperate trouble and very short of time) played ...Ne5, I thought Alan could simply play dxe5, and if ...Bxc5; Qf3 Bf8 (apparently forced); Qxf7+ Kh8, and now h3 is probably simplest.
As Black must then avoid ...Qxa4? (winning back the pawn) because of Bh6! and wins. So Black's queen is temporarily tied to the b1-h7 diagonal (needs to be in touch with g6 or g4, in the event of the Bh6 idea). And it therefore looks as if White has a clear extra pawn in a good position, as his king has an escape square on h2 and he has a nasty Rd7 idea, followed by developing his king's rook, aiming for an eventual, almost certainly winning R+B, R or B plus an extra pawn (and better king) endgame.
Alan probably also had good chances to win later on but his opponent proved slippery and escaped the worst to draw. Alan and Ian Robertson are both proving excellent debutants!