In this bulletin Peter Anderson annotates five more games from the 1st Dorset Online Rapidplay that took place a few weeks ago, starting with games from Allan Pleasants and Richard Allis who were placed joint 4th. Each game is entertaining, of good quality and instructive, with the losers as well as the winners playing their parts in producing good chess.

There is a bit of everything in these games from a quick finish in game 1 to a really fascinating rook ending in game 5.

Game 1

Here Allan Pleasants takes advantage of a slip in the opening to quickly build a crushing position and then finishes the game in style in just 21 moves.

Game 2

Anyone who has played against Richard Allis knows how resourceful he is.   In a difficult position he finds a way to generate counterplay and then some nice tactics to turn the game around.

Game 3

In this next game Mike Duggan plays very smooth attacking chess.

Game 4

One of Ian Clark’s strengths is that he can be deadly accurate in converting advantages, often finding a string of the very best moves.   This game is a good example where he wins a pawn early on and then uses precision to quickly reach a completely won endgame.

Game 5

This next game is a great example of two things: how hard it can be to close out winning positions at Rapidplay speeds and how tricky rook endings can be even with lots of time.   It is also a testament to Eddie Barker’s resilience under pressure as he survives a lost position and then plays the rook ending well to bring home the full point.