Gladstone calls for a doctor

Gladstone always said that one doctor is never enough, so it’ll please him that he is now able to get a second opinion. It was a month of triumph for the man formerly known as Mister Hamme. Not only did he back rank mate the joint NLC Champion in round 2, but he also checkmated his PhD, and now proudly goes by the name of ‘Doctor Hamme’. Congratulations, Doctor.

Would he continue this triumphant procession by polishing off the other joint NLC Champion with the same ease that he strode through his thesis defence? Let’s see what the doctor ordered:

Doctor Hamme v Captain Chamberlain

   [Event "Gladstone Trophy 2019"] [Date "03 July 2019"] [Round "3"] [White "Doctor Hamme"] [Black "Captain Chamberlain"] [Result "0-1"]   1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 d6 4.Bc4 Bg4 {Notes by Captain Chamberlain: ...Bg4 a novice error: this allows 5 Bxf7  Kxf7 6 Ng5+ Ke8 Qxg4 } 5.h3 Bh5 6.g4 Bg6 7.d3 h6 8.Be3 Nf6 9.Qd2 e6 10.O-O-O Qd7 11.Rhe1 O-O-O 12.Bb5 a6 13.Ba4 d5 14.Bxc6 Qxc6 15.exd5 exd5 16.Ne5 Qc7 17.Bf4 Bd6 {solves a bit of a problem  on the h2 b8 diagonal } 18.Bg3 {too quiet; Nxg6 would have been better } Rhe8 19.f4 d4 20.Nb1 { too passive; Ne2 was more active } Bxe5 { to stop f5, which would have penned in b lack’s white bishop } 21.fxe5 Nd5 { threatening Ne3 to win the exchange on the trapped rook on d1. By now I felt I had an edge } 22.Rg1 { to free the other rook and to allow e6 with an anchored bishop } Re6 { but this blocks the pawn  and there’s a thought towards a lateral move to the b column later. And things are beginning to look more difficult for white. } 23.c3 { Na4 better }dxc3 24.Nxc3 Nb4 25.Qg2 Nxd3+ 26.Rxd3 Bxd3 27.Nd5 Qa5 28.Rd1 c4 29.Nc3 Qc5 30.Qf3 Rxe5 { it would have been better to have attacked the pawn with my f pawn, or to have guarded my f pawn with my bishop.  However, I felt I was in  strong enough position to give back the exchange to get rid of his threatening black bishop} 31.Bxe5 Qxe5 32.Qg2 Re8 { rather slow – a queen check would have been more forcing } 33.Qd2 Qg3 34.b3 b5 35.bxc4 bxc4 36.Nd5 Re2 37.Nb6+ Kb7 { and the game is clearly won } 38.Qb4 Qe3+ 39.Qd2 Rxd2 40.Rxd2 { good enough, but Qd4 or Qe5 would have led to a quick mate via a1 } Qxb6 41.Rb2 Qxb2+ 42.Kxb2 {the Doctor resigns} 

So Captain Chamberlain saw his way through a stern test, and is sitting pretty at the top of the standings with 2.5/3. What of the chasing pack?

Our Good Friend Mister Taylor vs Doctor Kirby

They say you should never approach a wounded beast, and with the shock defeat of the last round this may well have been the very worst time to take on Doctor Kirby. The Gladstone draw meant that Our Good Friend Mister Taylor had no choice.

    [Event "Gladstone Trophy 2019"] [Date "03 July 2019"] [Round "3"] [White "Our Good Friend Mister Taylor"] [Black "Doctor Kirby"] [Result "0-1"]    1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 Nc6 5.Nf3 Nf6 6.Bb5 Bg4 7.h3 Bh5 8.Bg5 e6 9.Be2 Bb4 10.a3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Qa5 12.Bxf6 Qxc3+ 13.Kf1 gxf6 14.Nd2 Bxe2+ 15.Kxe2 Nxd4+ 16.Kf1 Rc8 17.Nf3 Nxf3 18.gxf3 Rg8 19.Rg1 Qc4+ 20.Qe2 Rxg1+ {and white resigns} 

So Our Good Friend Mister Taylor was thoroughly ‘Kirby’d’. With that result the Doctor remains well in the chasing pack and (quirk of the draw aside) has his fate still in his own hands thanks to the half point byes that others have taken. But the Doctor can’t afford to drop a single half point over the final two rounds.

Mister Pitt the Younger vs Mister Whiteley

The final game was an intriguing encounter. Gladstone has been unforgiving on Mister Whiteley, giving him a tough round 1 game against Doctor Kirby and an unpaired bye in round 2. So he hasn’t really had a chance to get in to his stride. How would he fare against a rapidly improving Mister Pitt the Younger?

 [Event "Gladstone Trophy 2019"] [Date "03 July 2019"] [Round "3"] [White "Mister Pitt the Younger"] [Black "Mister Whiteley"] [Result "0-1"]     1.e4 d6 2.f3 c5 3.c4 Nc6 4.b3 Nf6 5.Ne2 g6 6.Bb2 Bg7 7.Nf4 O-O 8.Be2 a6 9.Bc3 Rb8 10.O-O b5 11.g3 Nd4 12.Na3 Nxe2+ 13.Qxe2 b4 14.Bb2 bxa3 15.Bxa3 Nh5 16.Bb2 Nxf4 17.gxf4 Bxb2 18.Rab1 Bd4+ 19.Kh1 Bh3 20.Rfe1 e5 21.fxe5 Bxe5 22.Rg1 f5 23.d3 fxe4 24.Qxe4 Bf5 25.Qc6 Qh4 26.Qxa6 Qxh2# 0-1 

So Mister Whiteley won convincingly in the end, and will undoubtedly be making up the points over the final two rounds. He’s far from out of the running. A good showing again from Mister Pitt the Younger – his game is strengthening in each round he plays.

Mister Widdicombe vs Mister Giffin QC MA (Oxon)

This match had to be delayed, and will be played shortly. Report to follow.

Standings

The results left the standings tight. Mister Chamberlain is a nose ahead but can feel the breath of the chasing pack…:

1. Captain Chamberlain 2.5 / 3
2. Doctor Kirby 2 / 3
3. Mister Giffin QC MA (Oxon) 2 / 2
4. Doctor Hamme 1.5 / 3
5. Young Master Jacobs 1.5 / 3
6. Mister Whiteley 1.5 / 3
7. Mister Widdicombe 1.5 / 2
8. Our Good Friend Mister Taylor 1 / 3
9. Mister Sharland 0.5 / 3
10. Mister Pitt the Younger 0.5 / 3

Intriguing stuff. Mister Giffin QC MA (Oxon) could move top if he beats Mister Widdicombe. Doctor Kirby may yet finish top if he gets drawn against and beats the other top players in the final rounds – but could an unpaired bye end his dreams?

And how will things end at the bottom end of the table? With Mister Pitt the Younger getting stronger each game and Mister Sharland quickly settling in to NLC chess Our Good Friend Mister Taylor must be on his toes.

Is there another shock result in the offing? Only William Ewert Gladstone knows. Full crosstab here.

Dinner

Speaks for itself. Excellent.