The 33rd Kidlington Congress took place last weekend and saw 174 players battling it out in three sections. In the bottom section — for those with a grade of 145 and below — Alan Heath from Milton Keynes triumphed. He beat Banbury’s Nathan Manley in the last round to take first place with a perfect 5 ahead of Sasa Rakovic and Dean Hartley — both on 4.5/5 In the (under 180) middle section, 14-year-old Bicester star, Georgs Vikanis finished in outright first with 4.5/5. There was a five-way tie for second place between Didcot’s Nick Gough, Bicester’s Marcus Harvey, MCSBlackbird’s Matthew Daggitt, David Cutmore and Mark Ruston.

In the top section, City Club’s Jon Manley faced Grantham player Paul Cumber in the last round decider. Both had 3.5/4 — half-a-point ahead of the chasing pack. In the following encounter, it is clear Jon played the better chess for much of the game; but as usual in these circumstances, it was decided by a mixture of good moves, missed opportunities, time trouble and nerves.

White: Paul Cumbers Black Jon Manley 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0–0 6.Be2 Na6 7.0–0 e5 8.Re1 8.Be3 Ng4 9.Bg5 Qe8 is the main line and then 10.c5!? is the move currently causing Black the most trouble.

8...c6 9.Bf1 Bg4 10.d5 Ne8!? 11.Be2 c5!? 12.a3 Bd7!? 12...f5 13.h3 is awkward for Black; so he retreats the bishop in preparation for …f5.

13.Rb1 b6 14.b4 f5 15.Nd2 Nf6 16.f3 Bh6!? In other openings it is unusual to seek to swap off the finachettoed bishop like this — but it is a common theme of the King’s Indian Defence.

17.Nb3 Bxc1 18.Nxc1 f4 19.Nd3 g5 20.bxc5 Nxc5 21.Nxc5 bxc5 22.Nb5 Ne8 23.Qd2 Rf6! 24.Bd1!? a6 25.Nc3 Qa5!? 26.Qb2 Rg6 27.g4!? fxg3 28.hxg3 Nf6 29.Kg2 Rf8 30.Rh1 h5! 31.Be2 Qd8! 32.Nd1 g4! 33.Ne3? Qe7 This was Jon’s big chance to win the tournament in style. In his defence, he saw the idea; but was too short of time to work it all out and chose a quieter alternative. In fact, White’s last move was a big mistake and left Black the possibility of a stunning winning tactic to end the game: 33...gxf3+! 34.Bxf3 Nxe4! 35.Bxe4 Rxg3+! 36.Kxg3 Qg5+ 37.Kh2 Qf4+ and Black will clear up.

34.Qd2 gxf3+ 35.Bxf3 Qg7 36.Qe1 Rg5 37.Rb6! Qe7 38.Rh4 Rf7! 39.Qh1 Rfg7 Very natural; but with 39...Qf8! Jon might have left Paul unable to find a good move in the time remaining.

40.Rb8+! Kf7 41.Bxh5+! Nxh5 42.Rxh5 Rxg3+ 43.Kf2 Qf6+ 44.Nf5 Rg2+ 45.Qxg2 Rxg2+ 46.Kxg2 Qg6+ 47.Ng3 Bg4 48.Rb7+ Kf6 49.Rh8 At this point both players were very short of time and stopped recording moves — with Jon in particular down to his last few seconds. Of course, objectively White has a won position and, though it cannot be said that he made no further mistakes, he eventually triumphed and finished the tournament in a deserved first place on 4.5/5 ahead of Brandon Clarke and Russell James on 4/5.