THIS week it is time to examine the contribution of Bermuda’s fourth board in the recent Turin Olympiad, Nigel Freeman. During the second half of the event Nigel was preoccupied with his successful campaign to become the new treasurer of FIDE, the sport’s international governing body. However, he was able to play in six of the earlier rounds, achieving two draws and four losses.

This may not sound like a very impressive haul but, as he has been quick to remind his colleagues, by the chance of the pairings he did face opposition which was on average stronger than that experienced by any of the higher boards. This claim is emphasised by the fact that he did indeed emerge with a gain of a few rating points.

I shall, of course, annotate one of his games, but both of the draws, while very welcome and indeed in each case crucial to the result of the match, were brief and without any great excitement. I therefore have no choice but to select one of the losses, and have accordingly hunted for the best of these.

I was immediately struck by the common thread, which was Nigel’s failure in every case to get his king into safety by castling. Regular readers will no doubt have noticed that I frequently stress the importance of this factor, but I hope the game given below adds even more weight to the point.

Freeman’s opponent boasts a rating of 2196, but was able to make no progress in the early part of the game, until White delayed castling for too long and suffered the usual fate.

White: N. Freeman

Black: Chau Sau Ming

1. d4, Nf6 2. c4, e6 3. Nc3, c5

Black is evidently quite an adventurous player, and he is hoping for 4. d5, leading to the controversial Modern Benoni Defence.

4.Nf3

But Nigel will have none of that.

d5

Black now steers the game into a Tarrasch Defence against the Queen’s Gambit, another sharp variation.

5. cxd5, exd5 6. Bg5, cxd4 7. Nxd4, Be7 8. e3, 0-0 9. Bd3, Nc6

See Diagram 1. Both sides have played sensible moves, and indeed this position has been reached in a number of earlier games. Generally White now castled, sometimes having first exchanged knights on c6.

10. Nf5!?

According to my database, this move appeared in a game played in 1905 (White lost ), and after a gap of more than a century Freeman now tries to rehabilitate it!

Be6

In the earlier game Black went for rapid development with 11. . . . Bxf5.

11. Nxe7+, Qxe7

We may forgive Freeman for neglecting to castle up to this point, but now it is absolutely vital.

12. Qb3?, d4!

See Diagram 2, where suddenly White fears for his queen, knight and king.

13. Bxf6!

I assume Nigel had planned this important intermediate move, since without it he could resign here.

Qxf6 14.Nd5

14. Ne4 and 14. Qxb7 were also worth a look, although nothing seems totally satisfactory.

Bxd5 15. Qxd5, dxe3 16. Qf5!?

Personally, I would still have castled, with a safe king White may have a scrap of compensation for his pawn.

Qxf5 17. Bxf5, Nd4 18. e4, Rfe8 19. f3

An important decision, the king is a little safer now, but the e3 pawn looks very powerful.

f5 20. Bd5+, Kf8 21. Rd1, Nc2+ 22. Ke2, Rad8

See Diagram 3. Black’s pressure down the central files is probably unstoppable.

23. a3, Re5 24. Bb3?

Not the best square for the bishop.

Nd4+ 25. Rxd4!

This exchange sacrifice is certainly White’s best chance, now his opponent will at least be called upon to demonstrate some technique.

Rxd4 26. Rd1, Rxd1 27. Bxd1, f4 28. g3, g5 29. Bc2, Rd5 30. Bd3, Ke7 31. b3, h6 32.h3!?

See Diagram 4. This move was evidently designed to confuse, since . . . f4xg3 will now win outright. But Chau Sau Ming has played the ending well, and sticks to his planned winning method.

Kd6 33. b4, b6 34. a4, a5 35. bxa5, bxa5 36. h4, Kc5 37. gxf4, gxf4 38. Bb1, Rd2+ 39. Ke1, Kb4 40. h5, Kxa4 and White resigned after a few more moves<$>

At the local club we have now played four of the six rounds of the Kemper Memorial Tournament. I can give the results of the latest set of games, with each player’s score from the previous rounds.

Nick Faulks (2|0xbd|) 1-0 Ezra Turner (3)

Phil Shadick (2) 1-0 Nathan Wharerimu (2)

Neil Trott (2) 1-0 John Kessaram (2)

Allan Smith (2) 1-0 Brian Davis (1)

Sami Lill (2) 0-1 (def) Michael Webb (1)

Larry Ebbin (1) 0-1 Alvin Amore (|0xbd|)

These results mean that Nick Faulks is in the lead with 3|0xbd| points, followed closely by Ezra Turner and Phil Shadick (both according to the seedings) but also by Neil Trott and Allan Smith, who are enjoying excellent runs of form.