Worcester & District Chess League

Bennett Cup 2010-11 Season

Final

This was won by Brian Turner, who defeated Ian Clarke in crushing style in an all-Malvern final on 4th July.  This was a replay, following a draw in their initial encounter ten days before.  The first game saw Ian as Black essaying the Schliemann variation of the Spanish, after which both players felt that the other side stood better.  In the end, a dynamic equality was reached, in which neither player could usefully attempt any winning tries without risking becoming worse.  As time grew short on both sides, a draw was agreed in 30 moves.

In the replay, Brian Turner's Petroff Defence transposed to a symmetrical Four Knights opening.  On move 7, White made a slight inaccuracy, self-pinning his c3 knight against his rook on e1, after which Brian seized the initiative with a thematic 7...Nd4.  Ian made a couple of inaccuracies in the early middlegame, following which Brian launched a kingside pawn storm with ...g5 and ...h5.  Under pressure, White's game teetered and fell, and Ian resigned on move 24, facing an immediate mate avoidable only at ruinous material cost.

This was Brian Turner's third victory in a row in the Bennett Cup.  Brian was made to work hard for his hat-trick; for the first time in three years, he conceded a draw in the preliminary group stages and again in the semi final and final.

Semi-Finals

Ian Clarke 1 - 0 David Richardson
Maurice Bissell ½-½, 0-1 Brian Turner

Quarter-Finals

Dave Richardson 1 - 0 Jason Cole
Andrew Moore 0 - 1 Ian Clarke
Maurice Bissell ½ - ½, 1 - 0 Andrew Wiggins
Robert Mitchell 0 - 1 Brian Turner

In the knockout stages, a drawn game should be replayed with reversed colours.  This will need to be arranged on a separate date.  If the replay is also drawn, the tie will be broken by a sudden-death rapid play game, in which the players toss for colours.  White will have 6 minutes on the clock for the whole game; Black 5 minutes.  In the event of a draw, Black is deemed the winner.

Qualifying Stage Results

Pool A. Automatic Semi-Final place: Brian Turner. Next stage qualifier: Jason Cole

Pool B. Colin Vernon has withdrawn and the remaining game will be played fo determine first and second , which affects the draw for the knockout stages.

Pool C. Maurice Bissell won pool C. He and Andrew Moore go through to the Quarter Finals.

Pool D. What a bunch of pretend GMs!! Dave and Andrew go through to the Quarter Finals.

Structure of the Competition

The competition was structured so that everyone had at least 3 games.

• Three all-play-all groups of 4 players each;
• The winner of each group qualified automatically for the first knockout phase (semi-final);
• The runner-up from each group took part in a further all-play-all phase, the winner of which will also qualify for the semi-finals;
• The winners of the semi-finals competed in the final to determine the Cup winner.

Click here for the rules for the Bennett Cup.

Qualifying Stages

The draw for the qualifying groups was carried out by ranking the players in grade order and then ‘slicing’ the list into four sets of three. A name was drawn at random from each of these four sets and placed in each qualifying group. In this way, the strength of the three groups should be roughly similar, but the spirit of a Cup competition (the “luck of the draw”) was retained. The tables were completed by drawing for colour for each game.

Knockout Stages

TA drawn game should be played with reversed colours on a separate date. If the replay is also drawn, the tie will be broken by a sudden death rapid play game, in which the players toss for colours. White will have 6 minutes on the clock for the whole game; black 5 minutes. In the event of a draw, black is deemed the winner.