Sam Collins' run to be the first ever Irish Chess Grandmaster

L1m1tless

Thought this needs its own thread.

For those of you who don't know, IM Sam Collins has an excellent chance to gain his 3rd and final GM norm this week at the Bunratty Classic.

He needs a minimum score of 6.5/9

The first round starts today at 5 P.M. and Sam plays white against French Grandmaster Sebastien Maze.

Games can be watched live here


Of course, we will all be rooting for Sam but it is a tough competition, do you think he will be successful?

L1m1tless

Game 1 Draw

Decent start against a GM

Zugszwang

Not bad indeed. Drawing against a 2585 who's on an upward trend is in keeping with the 2600 performance Sam needs. Of course Sam is capable of making the norm, but it's impossible to predict if he will at this stage. A win tomorrow would be very desirable. He's unlucky to have only 4 Whites.

L1m1tless

A win today would be fantastic. Simon Williams played a 6 move draw this morning. Pretty disgusting but maybe he was tired. His game last night started later than the rest

L1m1tless

Another Draw this morning for Sam. He has Bjorn Thorfinnsson in the afternoon game, might be a good chance to get a win.

Lawrence Trent on 2/2. Both wins with Black, looking good for his GM norm

cdeb

Has Trent had two blacks? The colours on the site are wrong - the Icelandic guy has white in every round for example.

L1m1tless

yeah he has had 2 blacks, There are 2 Icelandic guys with very similar names

cdeb

Ah, that could explain it!

Strange to start off with two blacks?

L1m1tless

Sam started off with 2 whites as well, not sure why they do it like that!?

brianhere

Although they are dead even in material I think Sam is going to lose this. He dived in looking for a perpetual there but he didnt get it. Instead it was an offer to swap queens but he cannot afford that, he has one passed pawn but the other guy has two interconnected ones.

cdeb

And he has lost.

1/3; norm chances more or less gone now. Needs 5½/6 at this stage.

Shame to have it effectively over so soon.

brianhere

There must be a lot of pressure on him too, to win at home in a tournament almost set up for him. The expectation just adds a lot to the pressure...

brilliantboy

A lot of pressure, but if it was easy then everybody would be doing it

L1m1tless

Looking good for Sam to bounce back with a win this morning

maol

What a game! Williams looks utterly lost, but no doubt he'll conjure up some chances.

L1m1tless

He just blundered away his advantage

brianhere

Yes he was coasting before he put the knight out, still he might be still a smidgin ahead...

maol

Black's position where he played Nc6 was sticky. Qb5+, Qd3, Nf5 were all threats.

brianhere

Could he have just castled at that point?

brianhere

Will Sam go king to e8 here, which releases both rooks either side of the king?

maol

There are forcing lines with Qd3 forking Bg3 and mate on h7. Actually, Black seems ok, but they would certainly have scared me in a game.

brianhere

Gosh I missed that, scary alright but i guess black has a few checks which might make a difference.

brianhere

I wonder why Sam went king to g7 rather than g6 there? Would be nice to threaten the rook and stay on white squares?

brianhere

He has done that now but could have done it on move 27?

brianhere

Sorry now i see, he was staying in touch with h8, which now being off that spot his opponent is now exploiting... Still we are ahead a bit...

maol

h6 was pinned so g5 would hang after Kg6. I don't like how this position is trending for Sam...

brianhere

Well I know that Simon has got his queen side pawn majority rolling but still Sam might free up his rook on h8 and get that in play so who knows...

brianhere

Williams just sacced a bishop to get pot shots at Sam's king. I wonder will it work..

cdeb

He's not aiming for pot shots; he's trying to get to a pawnless (and drawn) ending. Sam's a-pawn is dead, the e-pawn can be ganged up on and Sam has the wrong colour bishop for the h pawn. So that I presume is the aim (rooks have to be swapped as well of course). And maybe the strongest pawn on the board is Simon's b-pawn (well, after the exchange on b5)

cdeb

Simon going after the h-pawn now - seems the only way Sam can hold onto it is by repeating the position (Kh6 Rg6+ Kh7 Rg5, etc). Without the h-pawn, Sam has no chance.

brianhere

But the way he played it I think he is aiming for something quicker? Maybe you are right though but if Sam holds onto his bishop maybe the e pawn is not so easily captured.

brianhere

I suspect Williams is still holding out for a win rather than a draw too, he is making progress with his queenside pawns?

brianhere

Williams resigned, mustn't have been happy with his sac then.

brilliantboy

I assume the live board has malfunctioned? Simon Williams surely didn't resign that position. Is he hammered?

cdeb

Interesting. Wasn't expecting it that quick. Is the position really that bad for white? The h-pawn is dead; Sam has one pawn left. The bishop is pinned, and the g rook is tied to defending the bishop. Don't really understand that tbh.

cdeb

There are more moves showing at the bottom of the screen - looks like a malfunction alright. They're on move 47 now. Board has stopped at move 43.

brianhere

Anyway congratulations Sam, first win of the classic. He butchered Simon Williams in the opening, then let him back into it, then went very passive desperately holding onto his two passed interconnected pawns until Williams panicked and sacced his bishop to get one of them. Thats how I see it anyways but I know there are probably deeper issues going on with that sac!

brianhere

I guess you are right, these boards are mighty flaky...

brianhere

I see Lawrence Trent lost so I guess he wont get a norm either.

Ciaran

Last few moves don't make much sense. 46.Kxe5 blundering a rook doesn't seem very likely. Are these from a post-mortem? Dead draw after 45...Rc8.

brianhere

We will have to await the press conference with boards.ie 's accredited representative at the scene i.e. Cowboy dreams!

brianhere

Come to think of it the two of you will be there in a few hours too? Good luck anyways in the competition!

maol

I think the game did indeed end with Simons blundering a Rook, in an easily drawn position (R+B v. R is never going to happen as Black's King is too far away). Sam had a big dose of luck here, but it may be just what he needs to fight on for a good tournament result.

eclipsechaser

brianhere wrote: »

We will have to await the press conference with boards.ie 's accredited representative at the scene i.e. Cowboy dreams!

Talking to Sam. Incredibly Williams did play Kxe5??

There's hope for all of us.

brianhere

Human intel wins out again, you cannot rely on the electronic stuff. But I wonder why the net feed wouldn't register those moves at first? Its frustrating the way it seems to freeze so much.

L1m1tless

Thanks! I'm here a while now. The WiFi in the hotel is rubbish as is the phone signal!

brianhere

No excuses you are our man on the ground! It is your job to find out the state of inebriation of Simon Williams and why Sam hasn't started his game yet and any other pertinent facts as they arise!lol

L1m1tless

There's no time. Brushing up on some sicilian dragon lines before the first game! Simon Williams was knocking them back earlier tho so you can come to your own conclusions on that one! lol

Sparks

Don't give us that "no time" stuff. Did you not read the fine print when you signed up to be a Boards mod? Article 14 says quite clearly you have to live-blog any relevant event you attend!

L1m1tless

Damn fine print! Gets me every time!

brianhere

Seriously though good luck. You are playing in the only section that matters the 1200-1600. Its a way higher standard than those posers and opening droids you get in the other sections, it is the best mix of high quality and exciting chess!lol