Falling over the line

The Belconnen Chess Club Championship finished this evening, and a dose of good fortune allowed me to (half) defend my title. Going into the final round I was half a point behind Doug McClure, but due to the small field, and a couple of absences I ended up with a bye. This was somewhat unfortunate from a tournament point of view, as Doug still needed a win to take outright first, or draw to share the title. He also had a potentially tricky pairing against Tomson Qin, who can be quite dangerous, given the right position.
As it turned out Tomson may not have had the 'right' position, but nothing was going to stop his attack. At one point he was down 3 pieces while trying to find the mate, but was able to keep coming up with threats. Faced with multiple ways to get mated, Doug did the sensible thing and offered a draw in a position where things could still go horribly wrong. After some hesitation Tomson shook hands, leaving myself and Doug tied for first. As Belconnen CC is happy to have joint champions, Doug wins his first Belconnen CC title, while I collect my third.


Qin,Tomson - McClure,Doug [C06]
Belconnen CC, 02.07.2013

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. Bd3 c5 6. c3 Nc6 7. Ne2 cxd4 8. cxd4 f6 9. exf6 Nxf6 10. O-O Bd6 11. Re1 O-O 12. Nf3 Qc7 13. Nc3 a6 14. h3 Bd7 15. Bg5 Qb6 16. Bxf6 Rxf6 17. Bxh7+ Kxh7 18. Ng5+ Kh6 19. Qg4 Qxd4 20. Nce4 dxe4 21. Qh4+ Kg6 22. Qh7+ Kxg5 23. Qxg7+ Kf5 24. Rad1 Bh2+ 25. Kxh2 1/2-1/2