Caviar to the general

As mentioned before, the e2e4 Buxton Congress was won by GM Keith Arkell. Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a great fan of "Ulfing", that most effective of winning techniques, which involves exchanging pieces and winning the ending. In English chess, Keith is the high priest of this style, and his round 3 game at Buxton was a perfect example. In the opening, Black's 6th and 7th moves are an Arkell speciality, objectively not the best perhaps (White should be better with his bishop pair), but avoiding the sharp theory of the main line. Thereafter, with some assistance from his opponent, Black exchanges down to the so-called "Capablanca endgame" of Q+N v Q+B, with White having the queenside pawn majority and Black the central/kingside. This structure is one that Arkell has won on countless occasions, despite the famed advantage of the queenside majority. Here, too, he soon obtains the advantage, and by the time of White's desperation pawn sacrifice, the latter is already suffering. The result is that another strong player loses as White, seemingly without doing an awful lot wrong.

It may not be the sort of game that appeals to the masses, but a careful study will do much to improve your chess.