Many thanks are due to FM Ankush Khandelwal, now resident in Melbourne, Australia, for kindly agreeing to be our guest adjudicator and for providing comments. Games were as usual anonymised before they were sent down under!
Open
Winner Game C played by Dave Flynn
Ankush: “a close call between game B and C but I have to edge it to game C.”
Game C
4NCL Division IV 2 May 2026
White: Dave Flynn (Ashfield II) Black: Paul H. Kenning (Iceni II)
1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Nge2 Nbd7 5.g3 Be7 6.Bg2 c6 7.a4 O-O 8.h3 b6 9.O-O Qc7 10.Be3 a5 11.g4 h6 12.Ng3 Re8 13.Nce2 Nf8 14.Qd2 Ng6 15.Nf5 Nh7 16. Nxe7+ Qxe7 17.dxe5 dxe5 18.Bxb6 Nh4 19.Ng3 Ng5 20.Qc3 Qf6 21.f4 exf4 22.Qxf6 gxf6 23.Nh5 f3 24.Nxf6+ Kf8 25.Bc5+ Re7 26.Bh1 Be6 27.b3 Rd8 28.Rad1 Nxh3+ 29.Kh2 Rxd1 30.Rxd1 Ng5 31.Rd8+ Kg7 32.Rg8+ Kxf6 33.Bd4#
Ankush: “Initially, White was a little imprecise, with 13.Nce2 and 15.Nf5 being less convincing than the more thematic f4. Black’s queen venture to f6 on move 20 marked the beginning of their demise, eventually culminating in a picturesque finish that makes this a worthy winner of the Best Game prize.”
Game B
NCA Division 1 5 February 2026
White: Ted Ronald (Radcliffe and Bingham I) Black: Jonathan A Tait (Mansfield I)
1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 5.Bc4 Ngf6 6.Qe2 e6 7.d4 Nxe4 8.Qxe4 Nf6 9.Qe2 Be7 10.Bg5 O-O 11.O-O-O b5 12.Bd3 Nd5 13.h4 h6 14.Bxe7 Qxe7 15.g4 Qf6 16.g5 Qf4+ 17.Kb1 h5 18.Ne5 g6 19.Bxg6 fxg6 20.Nxg6 Qf3 21.Qe5 Bd7 22.Qh8+ Kf7 23.Qh7+ Ke8 24.Ne5 Rf7 25.Qg8+ 1-0
This game was very sportingly submitted by Jon Tait, who commented “absolutely hammered”!
Ankush: “Clean attack from White punishing 15…Qf6 with great accuracy but White lacked attacking flair on move 14 and Black made it easier than it could have been.”
Game A:
NCA Division 1 26 January 2026
White: Jonathan A Tait (Mansfield I) Black: Benjamin Humphreys (West Bridgford I)
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.d4 Qh4+ 5.Ke2 d5 6.Nxd5 Bg4+ 7.Nf3 0-0-0 8.Kd3 Qh5 9.c3 f5
10.Nxf4 fxe4+ 11.Kxe4 Re8+ 12.Kd3 Qf5+ 13.Kc4 Na5#
Ankush: “Efficient kill from Black but White was playing suicide with Ke2 Kd3.
Game D:
4NCL Division III Knights 4 May 2026
White: Oscar Garcia Hernandez (Poole Patzers) Black: Michael Naylor Eade (Ashfield I)
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bb5 Bb4 5.O-O O-O 6.d3 d6 7.Bg5 Bxc3 8.bxc3 Qe7 9.Ne1 Nd8
10.f4 h6 11.fxe5 Qxe5 12.Bxf6 Qxb5 13.Bd4 Ne6 14.Be3 Qe5 15.Qd2 Qh5 16.Nf3 f5 17.exf5 Rxf5
18.h3 Rf7 19.Kh2 Nf8 20.Nd4 Be6 21.Rab1 Rxf1 22.Rxf1 Re8 23.Qf2 a6 24.c4 Nh7 25.Qg3 Bd7
26.Bf4 Rf8 27.Re1 Nf6 28.Kg1 Re8 29.Be3 Kh7 30.Nf3 Qg6 31.Qxg6+ Kxg6 32.Kf2 Ba4 33.Nd4 c5
34.Nb3 Nd7 35.Rb1 b6 36.Bf4 Re6 37.g4 Kf7 38.Rd1 g5 39.Bd2 Ne5 40.Bc3 Ng6 41.Bd2 Rf6+
42.Ke2 Bc6 43.Rg1 Bf3+ 44.Ke3 Nh4 45.d4 Bg2 46.Be1 Re6+ 47.Kf2 Bxh3 48.Rg3 Rf6+ 49.Ke3 Bf1
50.dxc5 dxc5 51.Rg1 Re6+ 52.Kf2 Bxc4 53.Nc1 Rf6+ 54.Kg3 Nf3 55.Rh1 Nd4 56.c3 Bd5 57.Rh5
Ne6 58.Ne2 Rf3+ 59.Kg2 Rxc3+ 60.Kf1 Rf3+ 61.Bf2 Kg7 62.Ng3 Nd4 63.Ke1 Be6 64.Ne4 Bxg4
65.Rh2 Rd3 66.Kf1 Be2+ 0-1
Ankush “A good technical grind by Black but White could have offered more resistance.”
Game E
4NCL Division IV 4 May 2026
White: Dale Westcott (Castell Nedd) Black: Dave Flynn (Ashfield II)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5 4.cxb5 a6 5.bxa6 e6 6.Nc3 exd5 7.Nxd5 Be7 8.e3 0-0 9.Nxe7+ Qxe7
10.Nf3 d5 11.Be2 Rxa6 12.0-0 Rd6 13.Qc2 Ne4 14.b3 Rg6 15.Re1 Bb7 16.a4 Nd7 17.Bb2 f5
18.a5 f4 19.a6 Ba8 20.exf4 Rxf4 21.Bc1 Rf5 22.a7 Ne5 23.Nxe5 Rxg2+ 24.Kxg2 Rxf2+ 25.Kg1 Qxe5
0-1
Ankush: “A swingy game where the advantage switched multiple times. Well finished by Black but too many missed opportunities before.”