CHESS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19813, 28 December 1929, Page 17

CHESS.

I ♦ j CHAMPIONSHIP MEETING. | YESTERDAY'S PLAY. | , iiSOCIATIO;; TELEOaAIf. ; WAXGANTT, December The Dominion Chess Championship . was continued to-day. Results in the first round were: Jeffreys (Auckland, v. Purdy ''Sydney}.—Jettrevs opened with the Zukedort game. in which the early tx- ; change* icado by Purdy gave him a j very free attacking position. Jeffreys j pushed forward his King side pawr.n, i leaving his King somewhat open. Purdy | cid nor take time to castle but pushed j | forward bis king rook's rami. His at- ' j tack seemed overwhelming, but he had ' shut in hi 2 queeii, which Jeffreys was '> able to win l'or a bishop. Purdy thej j attj-eked with rook* and bishops, »,ut [ Jeureys playing v.eil. counter-attacked 1 wnb qis<-i-n and rook »n the queens' j wing forcing a checkmate upon his opponent on the thiity-sixth move. ! Gundersell (Melbourne) v. iluthorfurd (btratford} T'.e early exchanges ■ in this king's pawn game forced Gun- | dersen to capture with his kicg, thu? | hindering castling. H e gaine-1 " somn I ccn.peiisafion from his fine, well advanced pawn moves, and subsequent piav left him with pawn at knight seven, threatening to pawn. Huliierfnrd defended well, but should have won Gundersen's bishop for the sacrifice of a pawn. There being no chance of forcing ail advantage on either side, a <;rnw was agreed upon. Beyer v. Fairburn—The latter adopted the Akkon defence, Beyer getting a tine centre pawn position. Steady development Lv Bevei gave him an in- ! creased advantage, and, although Fairburn defended well he could not prevert the loss of two important pawns. At the thirty-fifth move Fairburn'a game was hopeless, so he resigned. Pleasants v. Topp (Wel-lington)—-Pleasants opened with the liuy Lopez, which Topp was hardly familiar with. His defence was not sound, and Pleasants was able to win the exchange. This advantage was maintained until the exchangee left Topp without hope of avoiding defeat, whereupon he resigned. I In the first game of the second round Kelling (Wellington) met Erskine fMelbourne). This was a very steady Sicilian game, in which Erskine early developed a strong attack upon Kefling's knight at king's second. Kelling provided adequate defence and maSe a useful counter-attack, hoping to win the exchange. A series of intricate moves involving the changing of-rooks left Kelling in a critical position, but fortunately for him he had in reserve perpetual check should Erskine make a capture of the unprotected bishop. Erskine gained nothing by his series of checks, so was forced to accept a draw. Severne (Nelson) v. Scott (Wanganui). The French defence adopted by Scott gave very even positions, and the early exchanges and those of the middle game all tended Howards a draw. Correct play could produce only a draw, and this Severne offered. Scott refused to accept the offer, and later making a weak move, suffered defeat. Anderson (Wellington) v. Hicks (Wellington). This Giuoco Piano game proved the longest m the tournament so far, reaching 67 moves. Both players manoeuvred their pieces most carefully and soundly until the midday adjournment, when Hicks scaled a weak move. Anderson saw his advantage and won a pawn and built up a strong atack down the open king's file. Hicks defended nobly, but was gradually worn down by Anderson's skilful exchanges and was forced t-o resign on the-" 67th mov o In the third round the first game finished ws that between Severne (Nelson) and Purdy (Sydney), and it proved a short exciting encounter. Purdy replied with the Sicilian defence to Severne's opening and allowed Severne to develop a series of threats. Instead of changing off pieces Purdy weakly attacked Severne 'a well posted knight at queen's fourth,but a series of checks drove Purdy's king to knight square, locking up his rook. The latter's queen side pieces were undeveloped, and Severne threatened to win queen for rook. As an alternative to checkmate Purdy 's reply was not sufficient, and Severne brought off a very pretty checkmate. Pleasants (Wanganui) v. Rutherford (Stratford). Kurtherford played the Sicilian defence, Pleasants playing queens to knight's fourth to hamper his opr>onent's development. Rutherford playing carefully, made some good exchanges, leaving him with a well advanced passed pawn on the rook's file. In his search for adequate defence Pleasants exceeded his time limit and lost the game. j Anderson v. Topp. This was a Buy ; Lopez game, in the development of j which Anderson seemed to get the j better position. Topp, however, made ( a good recovery by forcing the ex- j change of queens at a critical stage. A j draw resulted, though Topp perhaps had , the better chances of forcing a win. However, he did well to accept a draw from so seasoned a player as Anderson. I -