AN ENGLISHMAN IN ASCONA
Ascona, according to my Rough Guide to Switzerland, has been a cosmopolitan sort of place for many years. Set on the shores of Lake Maggiore, in the Italian-speaking south of the country, it has attracted artists, philosophers, intellectuals, anarchists and pacifists. Before the First World War, there was also a nudist School of Natural and Expressive Dance which attracted Isadora Duncan amongst others.
Ascona was therefore an appropriate setting for a tournament at the beginning of December containing 38 players from a dozen national federations. They included Joe Gallagher, former British Champion and now long-time Swiss resident; the four chess-playing members of the Romanian Foisor family; and married couple Vadim Malakhatko and Anna Zozulia, both originally from the Ukraine but now Belgium registered, and who are regular participants at Hastings, the Isle of Man and Gibraltar. In all there were six grandmasters and more than a dozen other titled players.
There was also myself, taking a change from my normal overseas circuit of the Isle of Man, Gibraltar and Budapest. I hadn't actually played competitive chess in any Italian-speaking part of the world since winning a beginners' tournament in Sicily when I was a very young junior. For reasons now lost in time, this had led to me being declared the junior chess champion of Sicily on the front page of the now-defunct Salford City Reporter.
The Ascona tournament was organised by Signor Claudio Boschetti. It took place at the 4-star Hotel Ascona, overlooking the lake with snow-capped mountains in the distance. In the summer, Ascona can be very busy, with tourists thronging the narrow streets which stretch from the shore front back up the hill. But in the winter, the town was extremely quiet - though the weather was mild enough to be able to sit outside admiring the beautiful setting in shirt and light jacket. Special rates were available for players - around £30 a night B&B for a single ensuite room. Getting to Ascona was also relatively inexpensive - my return flight to Zurich cost £100, and for £50 I got a return transfer ticket from the airport all the way to the hotel.
Three players finished on 7 points out of 9: but the winner on tie-break was the young Bulgarian grandmaster Boris Chatalbashev. He is a quiet, friendly guy, who a couple of weeks later made his first visit to England to play at Hastings.
I finished on 4.5 points, winning a grading prize and beating a WIM on the way in a 6 hour game which ended with King and Pawn against bare King. But playing two rounds on some days was tiring, and whilst the temptation was to sink some excellent local Ticino Merlot afterwards over dinner, this did make preparation for the following mornings' 9am start problematic.
On the final two days, I was visited by an old friend from the all-conquering Manchester Grammar School chess team of the late 1970s and early 1980s - Saul Richman, now living in Zurich and playing as much chess as work and family permit.
None of my own games really deserves to be preserved for posterity. But there were some interesting moments:
1
Sabirova, O - Goodger, M
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.Bc4 Nc6 4.d3 Bb4 5.Nge2 d5 6.exd5 Nxd5 7.0-0 Be6 8.Bxd5 Bxd5 9.f4 0-0 10.f5 Bxc3 11.bxc3 f6 12.Ng3 Kh8 13.Be3 Qd7 14.c4 Bf7 15.Qf3 b6 16.Ne4 Nd4 17.Qf2 Rad8 18.g4 Bg8 19.c3 Nc6 20.Rad1 Ne7 21.Rd2 Qc6 22.Qg2 Rd7 23.Ng3 Qxg2+ 24.Kxg2 Rfd8 25.Rfd1 c5 26.Ne4 Bf7 27.a4 Nc6 28.Kf2 Kg8 29.Ke2 Na5 30.Nf2 Re7 31.Rg1 Rc7 32.g5 Bh5+ 33.Ke1 fxg5 34.Rxg5 Bf3 35.Rg3 Bb7 36.Ng4 e4 37.dxe4 Rxd2 38.Bxd2 Nxc4 39.e5 Nxd2 40.Kxd2 Re7? a blunder - better was something like 40...Kf8 when the position remains roughly balanced 41.f6+- Rd7+ 42.Ke3 g6 43.Nh6+ Kf8 44.Kf4 Bd5 45.Rd3 Be6 46.Rd6 Rxd6 47.exd6 Bd7 48.Ng4 Bxa4 49.Ne5 c4 50.Nxc4 Kf7 51.Ke5?
I have managed to turn a decent queenless middlegame into a lost ending. But the diagram shows White - a WIM from Uzbhekistan - now having mistakenly advanced her King to defend her two passed pawns. This gives me the opportunity to demonstrate the advantage of Bishop over Knight when there are potential passed pawns on both sides of the board. After my next four moves, there is going to be a runner on at least one side of the board. [51.d7! was much better 51...Bxd7 52.Ne5+ Kxf6 53.Nxd7+ Ke7 54.Ne5 and White appears to be winning] 51...Bd7 52.h4 h6 53.Ne3 a5 54.Nc4 a4 55.Kd5 Kxf6 56.Nxb6 Be6+ 57.Kc6 a3 58.d7 Bxd7+ 59.Nxd7+ Kf5 60.Nc5 a2 61.Nb3 g5 62.hxg5 hxg5 63.Kd5 g4 64.c4 g3 65.c5 g2 66.c6 g1Q 67.c7 Qd1+ 68.Kc6 Qxb3 69.c8Q+ Qe6+ 70.Qxe6+ Kxe6 0-1
Sabirova(WIM,2 - Goodger,M 0-1
2
Bertazzo, G - Goodger, M
My position is solid, if slightly cramped. To create an imbalance, I now decided to offer an exchange sacrifice on the 'e5' square, with the idea of gaining control of the dark squares. White probably should have turned the sacrifice down, at least initially, because the rook isn't actually threatening to do anything. Objectively, White may still be OK once he has taken the rook, but the initiative quickly swings in Black's favour.
34...Re5!? 35.Bxe5 Nxe5 36.Red2 Qe7 37.Ne2 Nf7 38.Qc3 Ng5 39.Ng3 Nf7 40.Re2 Bg8 41.Rde1 Qc7 42.Nf1 a6 43.Rd1 Kh7 44.Kf2 White decides to seek sanctuary for his King elsewhere 44...Ba7+ 45.Ke1 Bb6 46.Kd2 Ba5 47.b4 Bb6 48.Kc2 Ne5 49.Nd2 Qe7 50.Kb1 Bc7 51.Ree1 b5 52.Be2 Rb8 53.cxb5 axb5 54.Rc1 Qf7 55.Kc2 c5
We rejoin the action with White having run with his King all the way to the queenside. But it is no safer here than on the kingside. I have just played 52...c5 in order to open the position for my remaining rook. Even the computer now assesses Black's position as better, and over the board White was unable to find a defence to Black's final attack. 56.Kd1 Bb6 57.bxc5 Bxc5 58.Rb1 Ra8 59.Ra1 Qa7 60.Rb1 Qa4+ 61.Qc2 Qxa3 62.Rxb5 Nc6 63.Nb1 Qa1 64.Qb2 Qa4+ 65.Kd2 Qxe4 66.Nc3 Be3+ 67.Kd1 Qd4+ 0-1