Father and Son

As an arbiter it can be a little tricky when the pairings come up with parent v child or sibling v sibling. On occasion I've had requests from players that they not be paired with other family members, although I usually have to explain why such requests are not granted.
But while I can see why such pairings can make things a little difficult, I feel that it is something that is to be expected from time to time. In my case my son and I have played in a number of tournaments together, and a Press v Press pairing is always on the cards. However, this has mainly happened in Blitz/Rapid events (where he now has the upper hand), and very rarely at longer time controls. In fact the total number of long time control games we have played is 2, with one of those happening this very evening.
Sadly for him, and to a degree myself, I turned around a few weeks of poor form to score a win. The opening was quite sharp, and followed theory for around 16 moves. 17.Nf4 was new (17.Qh3 had been played before), but once my pawn got to f6, the writing was on the wall.


Press,Shaun - Press,Harry [B42]
Swiss Festive Fun, 13.11.2012