David Gilbert finished at Hastings with three successive wins to take a share of the grading prize. Taking his turn with the black pieces, in the fourth round David found himself up against the wily Barry Sandercock, a regular at Chess congresses up-and-down the country.

The game begins as a Queen’s Pawn opening, with a hint of Colle, Benoni and the Benko Gambit. David soon reaches equality and begins to open up the game. After a series of complications, David finds a tactic to secure the two bishops and with their combined power he gradually turns the screw.

Barry Sandercock. Picture courtesy of Brendan O'Gorman.

Interactive Chess Board

PGN Notation:

[pgn height=400 layout=horizontal autoplayMode=none]
[Event "Hastings"]
[Site "Hastings"]
[Date "2013.01.06"]
[Round "4"]
[White "Sandercock, Barry"]
[Black "Gilbert, David"]
[WhiteElo "134"]
[BlackElo "130"]
[ECO "A48"]
[Result "0-1"]
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.d4 c5 3.e3 g6 4.Nbd2 Bg7 5.b3 cxd4 6.exd4 Nc6 7.Bb2 O-O 8.Be2 d6 9.O-O Re8 10.Bb5 a6 
11.Bxc6 bxc6 12.h3 a5 13.Re1 Qc7 14.Rc1 c5 15.c4 a4 16.Ra1 cxd4 17.Nxd4 axb3 18.axb3 Bb7 19.Qc2 Qc5 
20.Bc3 Qg5 21.N2f3 Qc5 22.Rxa8 Bxa8 23.Qd3 d5 24.Ne5 dxc4 25.Qxc4 Qd5 26.Qxd5 Nxd5 27.Ba5 Nf4 
28.f3 Nd3 29.Nxd3 Bxd4+ 30.Kf1 Bd5 31.Rb1 Rb8 32.Bb4 e5 33.Ke2 e4 34.fxe4 Bxe4 35.Bd6 Rb6 
36.Bf4 Bxg2 37.h4 Be4 38.Bh6 Bf6 39.h5 Rd6 40.Rd1 g5 41.Nc5 Bf3+ 42.Kxf3 Rxd1 43.b4 Be7 
44.Ne4 f6 45.b5 Rb1 46.Nc3 Rb3 0-1 [/pgn]

David Gilbert