View From

Down Under
Chris Depasquale
The British Connection
Tte--tte
I recall being at a party in the early nineteen-eighties, where I learned one of
lifes lessons. It was a good party, by which I mean there was good food, plenty
to drink, and lots of gorgeous young ladies on the make.
Whats more, although most of the partying took place in raucous fashion
around the swimming pool in the back yard, our hosts had made available some
rooms upstairs for those needing an urgent tte--tte.
I fully expected to take the party by storm. My first glance around confirmed
for me that I was the most handsome chap there. A few rounds of the scene
soon confirmed for me that I was also the most knowledgeable person there, the
best conversationalist, the wittiest, most intelligent, best-dressed, most
successful person present. Some sidelong glances in the "little boys room"
reassured me that I was well on top in the firepower department, too.
Soon I started to identify targets among the gorgeous young ladies for an urgent
"tte--tte". I tracked them closely during the evening, and was astonished to
see that, one by one, they each trekked up the stairs in the company of another
chap.
This particular chap I had noticed as soon as I walked in, and rated him as
"least likely to provide competition". He was short. He was fat. He was ugly.
He could barely string two words together. What was the attraction? I followed
him to the "little boys room" but my surreptitious peek revealed no clue.
Finally, in desperation, I mentioned to him that I had been impressed with his
success with the ladies, and asked him what his secret was. He just smiled and
licked his eyebrow.
Dj vu
I had a similar experience when I decided to win the British Chess
Championship. It was 1986, and the event was at Southampton. I knew I was
the best player there, and before the first round I tried to arrange to have my
name engraved on the trophy, to save me some time and money when I got
back home.
[Later a dear friend of mine commemorated my grand entrance in a song, which
went something like this:
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You walked into the Guildhall
Like you were walking onto a yacht.
Your board strategically placed on centre stage
While you munched an apricot.
You had one eye on the trophy
As you knew you would end on top.
And all the GMs dreamed that they'd be your partner,
They'd be your partner, and
I cant recall how the chorus went, which is surprising really, as it was a big hit
at the time, but I am sure it was suitably flattering. But I digress.]
The tournament was a disaster. Just like at the party a few years earlier, I didnt
score as I expected.
Viva La Tromp
Every cloud has a silver lining, however, and in the final round I discovered
that the British players had no idea how to handle the Trompovsky Attack.
Depasquale,C (2305) - Wicker,K (2305) BCF-ch Southampton (11), 1986
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 g6 3.Bxf6 exf6 4.e3 Bg7 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nd2 f5 7.h4 0-0 8.Ne2
Re8 9.c3 Nd7 10.h5 Nf6 11.hxg6 hxg6 12.Nf4 b6 13.Qf3 c5 14.0-0-0 c4?
15.Bxc4 Bb7 (15...dxc4 16.Qxa8) 16.Bb5 Re7 17.Qh3 Qd6 18.Nf3 Ne4
19.Qh7+ Kf8 20.Rh6 Rc8 21.Ne5 Rxe5 (See Diagram)
22.Rxg6+- fxg6 23.dxe5 Ng5 24.Qxg7+
Kxg7 25.exd6 Rd8 26.d7 a6 27.Ba4 b5
28.Bb3 Rxd7 29.Bxd5 Bc8 30.Rd4 Kf6
31.a4 1-0
With this knowledge, I knew then that I
should have won the tournament. My
petition to the organisers to change the
format from an eleven-round Swiss to a
round robin was summarily rejected. The
real reason for this was, of course, that
they wanted to prevent me from claiming
the title that was rightfully mine. The
"official" explanation, however, was that organising the further 50 rounds
required was impractical.
At least I knew how to win the event in future. Every silver lining has a cloud,
however, and as I checked my appointment schedule, I noticed that I had no
plans to be in Britain for the next fifteen years. I buried my frustration in a
flurry of beers from the bar, and wondered what to do to redress matters.
After much introspection, I had a stroke of genius. I would win the tournament
by proxy! All I needed was a suitable person and I could instill into them what
they needed to win the championship on my behalf. I looked around the bar
for a suitable subject and was surprised to find the place empty. Not only was I
a better chess player than them I was a better drinker, too!
Just as I thought I would have to look elsewhere for my chess-playing proxy
an animated conversation moved towards me from the direction of the "little
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boys room". I was surprised to see only one figure lurching towards me in the
gloom, but it turned out this person was quite adept at having conversations
with himself (when you see him on video you will understand this).
It was none other than Julian Hodgson.
Not much to work with, I admit, but we have all read Shaws Pygmalion and
seen My Fair Lady. Had it been some sober, studious, half-competent player it
would have been too easy, and there wouldnt have been a story to tell.
So I poured into him more beers and poured out to him my ideas, and showed
him how to play the Trompowsky a la Depasquale. It is history now that
Hodgson rode the crest of a Trompowsky wave to the Grandmaster title over
the next couple of years.
Sacr Bleu
I had, unfortunately, made one major miscalculation. So successful were
Hodgson and I with the Trompowsky, particularly the line with 1.d4 Nf6
2.Bg5 Ne4 3.h4!? that, over the next few years, nobody at all would allow
Hodgson to play the Trompowsky in the British Championship! Watching
(from afar) Hodgsons miserable fumbling in the other openings year after
year made me feel like Rex Harrison must have felt with Eliza Doolittles
"move yer bloomin arse" ringing in his ears.
Fortunately, by 1991, people had found antidotes to 3.h4, and felt safe
paddling in Trompowsky waters again. The white pieces in rounds 1, 3, 5 & 7
saw four Trompowsky Attacks, and four wins. Here is a sample:
Hodgson,J (2545) - Plaskett,J (2480) BCF-ch Eastbourne (3), 1991
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 Ne4 3.Bf4 c5 4.d5 Qb6 5.Qc1 g6 6.f3 Bg7 7.c3 Nf6 8.e4 e6
9.Na3 0-0 10.Nb5 exd5 11.Nc7 d6 12.Nxa8 Qc6 13.a4 c4 14.Ne2 dxe4
15.Nd4 Qc5 16.Qd2 exf3 17.0-0-0 Na6 18.gxf3 Bd7 19.Nb5 Rxa8 20.Qxd6
Qxd6 21.Nxd6 Bxa4 22.Bxc4 Bxd1 23.Rxd1 (See Diagram)
23...Nh5 (23...Rf8 24.Nxf7 Rxf7 25.Rd8+
Bf8 26.Bh6 etc.) 24.Be3 Be5 25.Nxf7+-
Bf4 26.Ng5+ Kh8 (26...Kg7 27.Ne6+)
27.Bxf4 Nxf4 28.Rd7 1-0
By the time Hodgsons opponents switched
to 1d5 and 1g6 he had already racked
up +7, and that was enough. I had the title
at last! True, it would be Julian Hodgsons
name on the trophy, but in the minds of all
right-thinking people I was the tournament
winner. It felt great, but I wanted more,
and through my proxy Hodgson I was able
to scoop up two more British Championship titles, in 1992 and 1999.
This years British Championship I took to be a foregone conclusion, and
busied myself in other matters while waiting patiently for the announcement
that I had won my fourth British title. Then, on August 4th I was interviewing
the English player Adam Hunt, who had won the Australian Masters title
earlier that day, and I got a shock.
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CD: Have you been keeping in touch with what has been happening back
home in the British Championship?
AH: Yes, Ive been following it on the Internet as much as I can.
CD: Who is your tip to win the tournament?
AH: Hard to say. Maybe [Tony] Miles. I would have said Hodgson before the
tournament started but he got off to a very bad start. He had half out of two, so
I dont know. Maybe Miles.
Je ne sais quoi
A quick check revealed that my proxy had been playing all sorts of garbage
with the White pieces: 1.b3 vs Speelman (0-1, 29), even 1.e4, and not a
Trompowsky in sight. A more detailed investigation showed that Hodgson had
been having trouble with the line 1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 e6 3.e4 h6 4.Bxf6 Qxf6. In
the past Julian had played 5. Nf3 and 6.Nc3 in this line, but it seemed he
wasnt getting an advantage any more.
The next day (August 5
th
) I got the opportunity to test out a different set-up in
the Australian Open rapid-play Championship:
Depasquale,C - Rogers,I Australian Open Rapid Melbourne (2),
05.08.2000
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 e6 3.e4 h6 4.Bxf6 Qxf6 5.c3! d6 6.Bd3 e5 7.Ne2 Nc6 8.0-0
Bd7 9.d5 Nb8 10.Qb3 b6 11.Na3 a6 (See Diagram)
12.f4 Be7 13.Nc4 exf4 14.Rxf4 Qg5
15.Raf1 0-0 16.Ng3 Bd8 17.Qd1 g6
18.Qf3 Qe7 (See Diagram)
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19.e5 dxe5 20.Nxe5 Qxe5 21.Rxf7+- Bf5
22.Rxf8+ Kxf8
Needless to say, Whites advantage is
overwhelming. The simplest, pointed out
by Rogers, was 23.Bxf5! gxf5 24.Nxf5 Bf6
25.Nxh6 Nd7 26.Ng4. I actually played
23.Nxf5 making things difficult for myself,
and a few moves later overstepped the time
limit, making things impossible for myself!
Hmm. Maybe I should play by proxy more
often?
The important point was that the
Trompowsky was resurrected in time for my proxy to score me another British
title. I eagerly awaited the moves of Hodgsons next game with White, which
was his round 8 game against Summerscale. To my surprise, Hodgson opened
1.c4. Urgent inquiries revealed that the nervous tension must have got to him,
and he picked up the wrong pawn!
No harm was done, as Hodgson won anyway, and it meant that the resurrected
Tromp could be used in the crucial round 10 clash with Ward. For notes to this
game see Tony Miles excellent column on the British championship.
Hodgson,J (2640) - Ward,C (2508) BCF-ch Millfield (10.1), 10.08.2000
1.d4 Nf6 2.Bg5 e6 3.e4 h6 4.Bxf6 Qxf6 5.c3! d6 6.Bd3 e5 7.Ne2 g6 8.0-0
Bg7 9.f4 exd4 10.cxd4 Nc6 11.e5 Qd8 12.Nbc3 0-0 13.Rc1 dxe5 14.dxe5 g5
15.Nd5 gxf4 16.Nexf4 Nxe5 17.Rxc7 Bg4 18.Be2 Qg5 19.Bxg4 Nxg4 20.h3
Ne5 21.Nh5 Rad8 22.Nxg7 Qxg7 23.Ne7+ Kh8 24.Qc2 Rd3 25.Rc8 Rdd8
26.Rxd8 Rxd8 27.Qe4 Rd2 28.Nf5 Qf6 (See Diagram)
29.Nxh6 Qxh6 30.Qxe5+ Qg7 31.Qe4
Rxb2 32.Rf4 Rb6 33.Qe8+ Qg8 34.Rh4+
Kg7 35.Qe5+ Kf8 36.Rh8 1-0
When Hodgson wrapped up the title the
next day by drawing with Hebden it
suddenly struck me that I had made a
monumental achievement: without setting
foot in the British Isles I had won four
British championships in a decade. That
was something to celebrate, and
fortunately I had a party invitation. So I put
on my hat and my best apricot scarf and
headed off to the yacht the party was being held on.
They must have seen my limousine arriving, because as I walked into the party
they were playing my song. You know, the one I mentioned before, by
Whatsername Simon. I think its called Youre So Famed or something like
that.
Copyright 2000 Chris Depasquale. All rights reserved.
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