19-07-2012, 05:22 PM
I said I would comment on my top three best games, so here goes. I made a provisional decision about the best game on the Saturday night and I came down to three candidates. I ran these through an engine, just to check that I, and the players, hadn't missed something horrible. There were a lot of good games on the Sunday and I think probably one of these deserved to be in the top 3.
4th Place Iain Swan - Imre Hera 0-1 (Round 3 board 4)
I really enjoyed this his game. Iain took the fight to his opponent and we had a dynamic, unbalanced position, White with a Queen and lots of passed pawns against a collection of Black forces. Hera played incredibly well to coordinate his pieces and secure a victory. Unfortunately, I think the Silicon monster did for this game's chances. It showed that White was 2 points ahead at one point and I questioned how objectively good a game could be if such a seemingly big advantage was allowed to slip.
3rd Place Arghyadip Das - Momchil Nikolov 0-1 (Round 6 board 4)
This was a game between two very strong players and it looked like it. Nikolov demonstrated how to play a Sicilian and there were lots of thematic ideas - A minority attack, opening lines to utilise two Bishops. My reservation about this game was was it special, would people remember it was played at the scottish? could it just have easily come from the 4NCL or the Paris Championships?
2nd Place Andrew McClement - Mark Orr 1-0 (round 9 board 8)
I found it difficult to evaluate this objectively in a short space of time. It would be very nice for scottish youngster to win the prize for defeating a titled player. I think it was superb diplay, extinguishing Black's attacking play in the Dragon (never an easy thing to do) and then using the two Bishop to dominate the endgame. There was a cheesy little tactic at the end too. I really enjoyed this game, but I didn't know if it would be everyone's cup of tea. Best Game Prize - Dragon might evoke a slightly different image.
Winner Vlad-Victor Barnaure - Donald Holmes 0-1 (Round 7 board 6)
A tremendously creative game from both players. White established a mass of central pawns in the opening and a tense struggled ensued to established whether these gave White the advantage by controlling the key squares or were a potential target for Black. Very accurate play by Donald Holmes led to Black seizing the initiative and he kept control to score a very fine victory.
4th Place Iain Swan - Imre Hera 0-1 (Round 3 board 4)
I really enjoyed this his game. Iain took the fight to his opponent and we had a dynamic, unbalanced position, White with a Queen and lots of passed pawns against a collection of Black forces. Hera played incredibly well to coordinate his pieces and secure a victory. Unfortunately, I think the Silicon monster did for this game's chances. It showed that White was 2 points ahead at one point and I questioned how objectively good a game could be if such a seemingly big advantage was allowed to slip.
3rd Place Arghyadip Das - Momchil Nikolov 0-1 (Round 6 board 4)
This was a game between two very strong players and it looked like it. Nikolov demonstrated how to play a Sicilian and there were lots of thematic ideas - A minority attack, opening lines to utilise two Bishops. My reservation about this game was was it special, would people remember it was played at the scottish? could it just have easily come from the 4NCL or the Paris Championships?
2nd Place Andrew McClement - Mark Orr 1-0 (round 9 board 8)
I found it difficult to evaluate this objectively in a short space of time. It would be very nice for scottish youngster to win the prize for defeating a titled player. I think it was superb diplay, extinguishing Black's attacking play in the Dragon (never an easy thing to do) and then using the two Bishop to dominate the endgame. There was a cheesy little tactic at the end too. I really enjoyed this game, but I didn't know if it would be everyone's cup of tea. Best Game Prize - Dragon might evoke a slightly different image.
Winner Vlad-Victor Barnaure - Donald Holmes 0-1 (Round 7 board 6)
A tremendously creative game from both players. White established a mass of central pawns in the opening and a tense struggled ensued to established whether these gave White the advantage by controlling the key squares or were a potential target for Black. Very accurate play by Donald Holmes led to Black seizing the initiative and he kept control to score a very fine victory.