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Wayne Coppin (2030) -- Dr. James Cairns (1840)
Kingston 1995, played Feb. 13
Kingston Chess Club Championship, Group 'A', rd. 3 of 9
TD: Chris Hargreaves
Time controls: 30/90', SD/60'
Sicilian, Dragon, B77
Notes by Frank Dixon
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6
[Dr. Cairns was known locally as a player very strong on the Black side of the Dragon variation, both over-the-board and in correspondence play. So it was very interesting to see Wayne Coppin challenge him in a main line, with Wayne being a player who often avoided main lines in heavily analyzed variations.]
6.Bc4 Bg7 7.f3 O-O 8.Be3 Nc6 9.Qd2 Nxd4
[This is the older main line, played a lot in the 1950s and 1960s, when the Yugoslav Attack (known as the Rauzer Attack in the USSR) was coming to the fore. Most modern games see 9...Bd7 here.]
10.Bxd4 Bd7 11.O-O-O Rc8 12.Bb3 a6 13.g4 Bc6 14.h4 h5 15.gxh5 Nxh5 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Rdg1 e6
[The game is shaping up as a positional struggle, without the wild mutual attacking pawn storms seen so often in the Yugoslav Dragon. White will storm, and sac some pawns. Black will try to defend, successfully as it turns out!]
18.f4 Qf6!
[Takes control of the dark squares.]
19.f5 exf5 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.Qxd5 Nf4! 22.Qd2 fxe4 23.Rf1 Nd3+!! 24.Kd1 Nxb2+ 25.Ke2 Qe5
[Black has a clear advantage, and in addition, White was running short of time, with the control at move 30.]
26.h5 Nc4! 27.Bxc4 Rxc4 28.hxg6 e3! 29.Rh7+ Kg6! 30.Qd3+ Qe4!
[Reaches the time control, with White struggling, down material, lacking compensation for it, and now virtually compelled to exchange Queens.]
31.Qxe4+ Rxe4 32.Rh3 f5 33.Rg1+ Kf6 34.Rh6+ Ke5! 35.R1g6 f4 36.Kf3 Rd4! 37.Re6+ Kf5 38.Rxd6 Rxd6 39.Rxd6 Ke5?
[This surrenders some of Black's advantage. Black could have won more quickly with 39...Re8! White now grabs the opportunity to try to save the game.]
40.Rd7 Rc8 41.Re7+ Kf6 42.Re4 Rxc2 43.Rxf4+ Ke5 44.Rb4 b5! 45.a3 Rc3 46.a4 Rc4 47.Rxc4 bxc4 48.Kxe3 Kd5 49.a5 Kc5 50.Kd2 Kb4, 0-1.
[This was an impressive game, with Black, in his 73rd year, defeating a player some 30 years younger, with the Black pieces, and conceding as well some 200 rating points. Dr. Cairns was a player capable of defeating anyone in the Kingston area, well into his 80s. But there was something rather more to it than this. In the previous KCC tournament, the 1994 Whig-Standard Championship, Wayne had rushed out to a 5-0 lead in an event set for eight rounds; he then scored only one draw in his last three rounds, to finish in a tie for third place, having defeated both the winner Jeff Towers and runner-up myself in the event's games. To say Wayne was disappointed and angry doesn't quite do the situation justice. He proceeded to launch a 'memo war', alleging the event had 'too many rounds, eight', for 26 players, and that five rounds would have been enough to declare a winner (namely him, with his 5-0 start). Wayne distributed copies of his missives to KCC members. TD Chris Hargreaves and Dr. Cairns, KCC President, politely rebuffed this rather rude challenge, something unheard of in the KCC before Wayne arrived in Kingston in 1993. But the 'memo war' went on for several weeks, costing Wayne a lot of respect in the Club. Wayne's anger over this matter persists to this day, 30+ years later; it is the ultimate 'sore loser' episode. So, in the wake of this, it was certainly very satisfying for Jim to defeat Wayne, as he did here, in such a good game!!]
Kingston 1995, played Feb. 13
Kingston Chess Club Championship, Group 'A', rd. 3 of 9
TD: Chris Hargreaves
Time controls: 30/90', SD/60'
Sicilian, Dragon, B77
Notes by Frank Dixon
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6
[Dr. Cairns was known locally as a player very strong on the Black side of the Dragon variation, both over-the-board and in correspondence play. So it was very interesting to see Wayne Coppin challenge him in a main line, with Wayne being a player who often avoided main lines in heavily analyzed variations.]
6.Bc4 Bg7 7.f3 O-O 8.Be3 Nc6 9.Qd2 Nxd4
[This is the older main line, played a lot in the 1950s and 1960s, when the Yugoslav Attack (known as the Rauzer Attack in the USSR) was coming to the fore. Most modern games see 9...Bd7 here.]
10.Bxd4 Bd7 11.O-O-O Rc8 12.Bb3 a6 13.g4 Bc6 14.h4 h5 15.gxh5 Nxh5 16.Bxg7 Kxg7 17.Rdg1 e6
[The game is shaping up as a positional struggle, without the wild mutual attacking pawn storms seen so often in the Yugoslav Dragon. White will storm, and sac some pawns. Black will try to defend, successfully as it turns out!]
18.f4 Qf6!
[Takes control of the dark squares.]
19.f5 exf5 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.Qxd5 Nf4! 22.Qd2 fxe4 23.Rf1 Nd3+!! 24.Kd1 Nxb2+ 25.Ke2 Qe5
[Black has a clear advantage, and in addition, White was running short of time, with the control at move 30.]
26.h5 Nc4! 27.Bxc4 Rxc4 28.hxg6 e3! 29.Rh7+ Kg6! 30.Qd3+ Qe4!
[Reaches the time control, with White struggling, down material, lacking compensation for it, and now virtually compelled to exchange Queens.]
31.Qxe4+ Rxe4 32.Rh3 f5 33.Rg1+ Kf6 34.Rh6+ Ke5! 35.R1g6 f4 36.Kf3 Rd4! 37.Re6+ Kf5 38.Rxd6 Rxd6 39.Rxd6 Ke5?
[This surrenders some of Black's advantage. Black could have won more quickly with 39...Re8! White now grabs the opportunity to try to save the game.]
40.Rd7 Rc8 41.Re7+ Kf6 42.Re4 Rxc2 43.Rxf4+ Ke5 44.Rb4 b5! 45.a3 Rc3 46.a4 Rc4 47.Rxc4 bxc4 48.Kxe3 Kd5 49.a5 Kc5 50.Kd2 Kb4, 0-1.
[This was an impressive game, with Black, in his 73rd year, defeating a player some 30 years younger, with the Black pieces, and conceding as well some 200 rating points. Dr. Cairns was a player capable of defeating anyone in the Kingston area, well into his 80s. But there was something rather more to it than this. In the previous KCC tournament, the 1994 Whig-Standard Championship, Wayne had rushed out to a 5-0 lead in an event set for eight rounds; he then scored only one draw in his last three rounds, to finish in a tie for third place, having defeated both the winner Jeff Towers and runner-up myself in the event's games. To say Wayne was disappointed and angry doesn't quite do the situation justice. He proceeded to launch a 'memo war', alleging the event had 'too many rounds, eight', for 26 players, and that five rounds would have been enough to declare a winner (namely him, with his 5-0 start). Wayne distributed copies of his missives to KCC members. TD Chris Hargreaves and Dr. Cairns, KCC President, politely rebuffed this rather rude challenge, something unheard of in the KCC before Wayne arrived in Kingston in 1993. But the 'memo war' went on for several weeks, costing Wayne a lot of respect in the Club. Wayne's anger over this matter persists to this day, 30+ years later; it is the ultimate 'sore loser' episode. So, in the wake of this, it was certainly very satisfying for Jim to defeat Wayne, as he did here, in such a good game!!]
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