There is only one more round to go in the Eric Kemper Memorial Tournament.

June 5 will see the start of the Bermuda Chess Championship. If you wish to play in this tournament, please send an e-mail to me at ebbnorthrock.bm. And please tell any of your friends who is a chess player and would like to compete.

Playing in one of our tournaments does a few things ¿ it lets you know just how strong you are, it tests your ability to control your time, it helps you improve by competing against a much stronger player, and it gets you a Fide rating (unless you already have one!)

The pressure that takes place within a tournament is totally different from when you play at a friend's home or play street-chess at Harbour Nights.

Speaking of Harbour Nights, some years ago Neal Trott (pictured) used to come to the chess tables to play with both locals and tourists.

One evening his opponent was a tourist who was on a cruise ship. After Trott had won all three games the tourist said: "That's it. I'll have to go and find my wife."

No, "Oh well, I think I've had enough" or "I just can't seem to win a game against you".

Just the same, he thanked Trott for the games and was off into the crowd.

Trott had been coming to the Chess Club for a while, then took a break for a bit but has returned to play in the Bermuda Longtail Tournament and now in the Eric Kemper Memorial.

It was in this tournament that he had his biggest win which is the game for this week. It is Neal Trott playing White and Gary Cooper playing Black.

In diagram 1, Cooper has a knight attacking Trott's queen. But instead of moving the knight, Trott made use of his h pawn and gave Cooper's king a check with hxg6+. It was only after the king had moved that Trott moved his queen.

In diagram 2, Trott had just been given an opportunity to gain Cooper's queen with his next move Rg5. Even if the knight captured the bishop on e3 attacking Trott's queen and rook, Trott got to use his rook by capturing the queen and gave a check first.

In diagram 3, the material was even but it was from this point that Trott gained a few pawns and a good position.

In diagram 4, this is how the game looked when Cooper resigned, putting a big smile on Trott's face.

White: Neal Trott

Black: Gary Cooper

The Eric Kemper Memorial 2008

1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Nc3 0-0 5. e4 d6 6. Be3 b6 7. Qc2 Bb7 8. 0-0-0 Nbd7 9. h4 Rc8 10. Be2 a5 11. Ng5 c5 12. d5 h6 13. Nh3 Nb8 14. g4 Ne8 15. Qd2 Kh7 16. f4 Nc7 17. f5 Nba6 18. fxg6+ fxg6 19. Rhf1 Nb4 20. a3 Nba6 21. Qd3 Nb8 22. Nf4 Nd7 23. h5 Ne5 24. hxg6+ Kg8 25. Qd2 Qe8 26. Nb5 Nxb5 27. cxb5 Rf6 28. Nh5 Rxg6 29. Nxg7 Kxg7 30. Rh1 Qh8 31. g5 Nf7 32. gxh6+ Nxh6 33. Qc3+ Kh7 34. Qc2 Qg7 35. Rh5 Rh8 36. Bd3 Kg8 37. e5 Rg2 38. Be2 Ng4 39. Rxh8+ Qxh8 40. Qg6+ Qg7 41. Qe6+ Kf8 42. Bxg4 Qxg4 43. Rf1+ Ke8 44. Qf7+ Kd7 45. e6+ Kc7 46. Qxe7+ Kb8 47. Qxd6+ Ka7 48. Bf4 Qg8 49. e7 Qh8 50. Qb8+

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