Both Welsh teams lost their opening round games.
All games are available for download on a daily basis during the Championship on the Games page.
Round 1
Sweden 1 3.5 Wales Deheubarth 0.5
On Board 1, Iolo Jones defended resolutely in a QP game and managed to force a draw in a very difficult posiotion.
On Board 2, John Thornton was well beaten playing White against a Pirc.
On Board 3, John Waterfield defended a Sicilian Najdorf but in an increasingly difficult position sacrificed a piece for a pawn and active piece play but failed to get sufficient compensation and resigned.
On Board 4, Rudy staged a kingside attack in a Kings Indian Attack and came close to a breakthrough after sacrificing a piece but his opponent defended well and took the full point eventually.
Austria 3.5 Wales Silures 0.5
On Board 1 Sven when wrong in complications as Black against 1.b3.
On Board 2, Nigel Ralphs blundered a piece as White against a Najdorf.
On Board 3, Mark Adamds lost the exchange as Black in a Sicilian and lost the endgame.
On Board 4, John Fletcher drew with White in a Trompovsky.
Round 2
Wales Deheubarth 3 Sweden IV 1
On Board 1, Iolo won a tricky game against a Dutch. Despite his opponents best efforts to sacrifice on the queenside, Iolo’s control of the h file brought the victory.
On Board 2, John Thornton was Black in a Budapest and secured a good draw.
On Board 3, John Waterfield had the white side of a King’s Gambit and his attack crashed home.
On Board 4, Peter Bevan had Black against a London System. Despie coming out of the opening with a slight edge, he evetually agreed a draw.
Wales Silures 3.5 SCCU 125 0.5
On Board 1, Sven ground out a victory in a Queen ending.
On Board 2, Nigel Ralphs ground out a win playing black in a Queen’s Gambit Declined thanks to his opponenent kindly swapping rooks into a lost King and pawn endgame.
On Board 3, Mark Adamd drew with White against a French Defence Fort Knox variation.
On Board 4, Anthony Hughes managed win the d pawn as Black and soon converted the victory.
Round 3
Wales Deheubarth 2 England 1 2
On Board 1, Iolo missed a win against Anthony Stebbings and had to settle for a draw.
On Board 2, John Thornton acheived a creditable draw playing Black in a Ruy Lopez.
On Board 3, Rudy won an exchange in a Bird’s and converted the win.
On Board 4, Peter Bevan lost a dissapointing game playing a Dutch against Stuart Reuben.
Latvia Women 2 Wales Silures 2
On Board 1, Sven had a complicated draw in a Scandinavian.
On Board 2, Nigel Ralphs played the Moscow variation against the Sicillian but could get no m ore than a draw.
On Board 3, John Fletcher defended a Rossolimo Attack comfortably against his Sicillian and secured the draw.
On Board 4, Anthony Hughes managed to get an initiative against a Nimzo Indian but failed to convert the win so agreed a draw.
Round 4
Sweden II 2.5 Wales Deheubarth 1.5
On Board 1, John Thornton played his Budapest Gambit again and drew.
On Board 2, John Waterfield played a French Tarrasch as White but made an fatal Ne5 allowing his opponent to force John to give up his Queen for insufficient compensation so had to resign.
On Board 3, Rudy played a Petroff but, like John, made a horrible Knight move which he lost as to recapture would lose his Queen.
On Board 4, Peter Bevan played an English Opening and despite his opponent exchanging Queens resulting in a minor piece ending with both sides having 3 to 2 pawn majorities on either wing, Peter managed to double his opponents queenside pawns and shepherd home his passed kingside pawn to claim the win.
Athens/Crete 3.5 Wales Silures 0.5
On Board 1, Sven played a Dutch and sacrificed a pawn on the sixth rank. In trying to gain compensation however, he lost an exchange in the middlegame and the sacrificed pawn eventually managed to Queen forcing his resignation.
On Board 2, Mark Adams played White against a Sicilian and despite managing to create a connected passed d pawn, agreed a draw as he felt his opponent had sufficient compensation.
On Board 3, John Fletcher defended against a Nomzovitch Larsen attack but despite getting the Queens off, he lost a couple of pawns in a Bishop v Knight ending and resigned.
On Board 4, Anthony played White against a Semi Slav and got a slightly worse position. This deteriorated further when he lost a pawn and the Queens were exvchanged leaving Black with two connected passed pawns. After one Queened mate soon followed.
Round 5
Koninklijke DD 2 Wales Deheubarth 2
On Board 1, Iolo playing a Bogo Indian secured the draw without grat difficulty.
On Board 2, John Watewrfield faced a Scaninavian as White and although both sides castled on opposite wings, a draw was soon agreed.
On Board 3, Rudy played Black against his favourite Bird’s Opening and although White launched a Kingside attack, he bit off a bit more than he could chew and lost a pawns with the Queens having to be exchanged. Rudy then followed up with strong centralisation and eventually won a piece and White resigned.
On Board 4, Peter played his usual English Opening and was slightly better but having declined a draw, in trying to win he lost a Rook and Pawn ending.
Wales Silures 1.5 Sweden 1 2.5
On Board 1, Nigel Ralphs playing White against a Philido’s Defence, was only slightjly worse until he blundered a pawn. His opponent then converted the win in an endgame.
On Board 2, Mark Adams drew as Black despite winning a Queen for a Rook and Bishop.
On Board 3, John Fletcher won as White against a Pirc Defence.
On Board 4, Anthony Hiughes went badly wrong as Black in a Slav and soon lost his Queen and the game.
Round 6
Wales Deheubarth 4 England III 0
On Board 1, Iolo played a Reti/English and swapped Queens off then won a pawn. He then ground out his opponent in a Rook and Pawn ending.
On Board 2, John Thornton played a Dutch against the English opening and as White played inaccurately in the opening John had a Kingside attack which, after a piece sacrifice proved conclusive.
On Board 3, John Waterfield playing White against a Scandinavian, secured an iron grip on the Queenside, winning a pawn and eventually the game.
On Board 4, Peter played a Scandinavian which turned into a Caro Kann Advance Variation. Then, after securing the open c file and swapping off Queens he won the d pawn followed by thepawn in a Rook and Knight each ending and secured the win.
Wales Silures 2.5 Rochade Bielefeld Revival 1.5
On Board 1, Sven played a Closed Sicilian and managed to get a good knight v Bad bishop ending. He then sacrificed a Knight for an elegant endgame finish and Black resigned.
On Board 2, Nigel Raphs acheived a draw with Black.
On Board 3, Mark Adams played and odd line against the Sicilian Defence and Black equalised easily. The game soon ended a draw.
On Board 4, John Fletcher agreed a draw with White in a Triangle system.
Round 7
Switzerland 2 Wales Deheubarth 2
On Board 1, Iolo defended stoutly against a Catalan and despite being very restricted with space in a Rook and Bishop each endgame managed to get the draw his play deserved.
On Board 2, John Waterfield went wrong in a Kings Gambit and after swapping Queens and a Rook each a pawn down, eventually lost.
On Board 3, Rudy won a piece very quickly in a Petroff Defence and White resigned.
On Board 4, Peter faced a Slav against his English but despite having a slight edge the game peterd out into a draw.
Sweden II 1.5 Wales Silures 2.5
On Board 1, Sven played the Dutch but blundered the exchange on move 25 and got ground out in the endgame.
On Board 2, Nigel Ralphs played White against a French Defence and after winning a pawn while exchanging Queens he ground out a won endgame.
On Board 3, Mark drew quickly as Black in a Nimzo Indian Defence. .
On Board 4, Anthony attacked on the Kingside against a nimo Indian and won a piece.
Round 8
Wales Deheubarth 3 Stiftung BSW 1
On Board 1, Iolo won a pawn and an exchane in a QGD, swapped the major pieces off and won the endgame.
On Board 2, John Thornton won a piece im a Queens pawn game and White resigned.
On Board 3, Rudy blndered the exchange playing a Birds and after the Quuens were exchanged he lost.
On Board 4, Peter played a Slav and after sacrificing a Rook and two pieces prior to castling managed to checkmate his opponent.
Wales Silures 3 Oslo 1
On Board 1, Sven faced a Scandinavian and won a pawn and a piece the his opponent resigned.
On Board 2, Nigel Ralphs played against an Italian Game but neither player could make much headway and a draw was agreed.
On Board 3, John Fletcher played against a Caro Kann and won a pawn and the exchange then Black resigned.
On Board 4, Anthonyy played a Slav and his opponent failed to make headway so a draw was agreed.
Round 9
Israel 4 Wales Deheubarth 0
On Board 1, Iolo defended bravely as Black in a Queens Indian but eventually succomed due to his cramped position.
On Board 2, John Thornton’s 2.c3 Sicillian was critically examined by his opponent and was found wanting after surrendering the two bishops. Black domimnated the resulting position forcing John to sacrifice a piece to attempt to salvage the game but thos proved insufficient and John resigned.
On Board 3, John Waterfield struggled to hold the balance as Black in a Najdoef but when he blundered a piece he had to resign.
On Board 4, Rudy’s delay in castling in a Birds Opening cost him two pawns and despite winning one back and attempting a Queenside counterattack, thew Queens were exchanged and the endgame lost.
England 1 4 Wales Silures 0
On Board 1, Nigel Ralphs had the task of playing Black against Nigel Short. Despite early promise of a quiet draw in a Semi Slav, an inhudicious Knight retreat allowed White the advantage and Short sacrificed a piece on e6 and Nigel ressigned shortly afterwards.
On Board 2, Mark, playing John Nunn, used the 6.h3 variation against the Najdorf and managed to secure significant light square control. However, any advantagw White had dissapeqared when he exchanged on e6 resulting in Nunn having superb dark square control. Black the sacrificed a piece and although Mark refused it, the inevitable KKingside mating attack could not be stopped and Mark resigned.
On Board 3, John playing Black tried a QGD Ragaozin but despiite iniotially threaterning mate in one, his opponent Keith Arkell soon won the d pawn and as Arkell usually does attemptted a Queen exchange which John declined but in doing so increased Arkelll’s advantage. The game concluded when John bllundered the exchange.
On Board 4, Anthony played 4.Qc2 against a Benko and despite holding the position for quite a while blundered the exchange forcing Anthony’s resignation.
Summary
Wales Deheubarth were seeded 15th smd finished in 10th place in the Over 65s Section. Individually, Iolo Jones had 5/8, Peter Bevan 4/7, John Thornton 3.5/7,Rudy van Kemenade 3/7 and John Waterfield 2.5/7.
The Rating Performancers were: Iolo Jones 2238, Peter Bevan 2007, John Thornton 2137, Rudy van Kemenade 2091 and John Waterfield 1923.
Wales Silures were seeded 17th and finished in 11th place in the Over 50s Section. Individually, Sven Zeidler had 3.5/7, John Flletcher 3.5/7, Nigel Ralphs 3.5/8, Anthony Hughes 3/7 and Mark Adams 2.5/7.
The Rating Performances were: Sven Zeidler 2095, Nigel Ralphs 2012, John Flewtcher 2017, Anthony Hughes 1809 and Mark Adams 1819.
