I have known Richard Pert for many years, and we have clashed several times over the chessboard. However, recently his children seem to be making the headlines, and I was delighted to see that Max had won the British U16 Championship and Nina had won the British U16 Girls Championship.
The critical game for Max came in round 5, when he met his main rival, Zain Patel.
Max Pert - Zain Patel
British U16 Championship, Hull
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.Bf4 d5 4.e3 c5 5.Nbd2 Bd6 6.dxc5 Bxc5 7.Bd3 0-0 8.0-0 Nc6 9.c4 Re8 10.Bg5 Better was 10.Rc1 Bf8 11.cxd5, as if 11…Nxd5 then 12.Nc4! Nxf4 13.exf4 leaves White standing well.
10….h6 11.Bh4 Be7
An alternative would be 11…Bd6 12.Rc1 Bd7, which leaves White with a marginal advantage.
12.cxd5 Nxd5 13.Bxe7 Rxe7 14.Nc4 Nb6?! Black misses a chance to get active by 14…b5! 15.Nce5 Nxe5 16.Nxe5 Qd6 17.Nf3 b4, with at least equality.
15.Nce5 Bd7 16.Qe2 Qc7?
This exposes the black queen on the c-file. Much better was 16…Rc8.
17.Rac1 Rc8 18.Be4 Nd5 19.Bxd5?! Instead, 19.Nxc6 Bxc6 20.Bxd5 exd5 21.Rc3 leaves White with a significant advantage. He has the better minor piece and the superior pawn structure.
19….exd5 20.Nxd7 Nd4??
An imaginative idea, but Zain has miscalculated. 20….Rxd7 would have left White only slightly better.
21. Nxd4 Qxc1 22.Qg4! Qc4 If 22…f5 then 23.Nxf5 Rxd7 24.Nxh6+ Kh7 25.Qxd7 Kxh6 26.Qh3+ leaves White two pawns to the good.
23.Nf6+ Kf8 24.Nxd5?!
Even better was 24.b3! when the black queen is forced on to a bad square, e.g. 24…Qc7 25.Nxd5 etc. The rest needs no commentary as Max finishes off efficiently.
24…Ree8 25.Nc3 Rc5 26.Ne4 Rce5 27.Nd6 Qxa2 28.Nxe8 Rxe8 29.b3 Qa6 30.h3 Qb6 31.Rc1 Qd8 32.Qf4 a5 33.Rc7 Qd5 34.Qf5 Qxf5 35.Nxf5 b5 36.Nd6 1-0 A solid game by Max, who took advantage of his opponent’s mistakes to eke out the win.
He then went to score 5½/7, leaving him clear winner of the tournament. Meanwhile Nina scored 4/7 to secure the U16 Girls title.
I wish them both every success in the future!