Ross Harris 24 hour Chess-A-Thon

Starting at 8am on Saturday 11th February and continuing right through the night until 8am on Sunday 12th, Ross Harris took on all-comers in a non-stop 24 hour "Chess-a-thon". In doing so he has raised over £500 for a new children's chess club at Strand Arts Centre in East Belfast.

There's a report by Brendan Jamison at the UCU website that provides the context for this prodigious effort. I caught some of the action at various times on the Saturday and managed to download a couple of games from the UCU Live transmission.

On the Saturday morning Ross got the better of Brendan Jamison after a capture threatened a mate in two. Brendan managed to bailout into an inferior ending but Ross's technique was up to the task.

[Event "24 hour Chess-A-Thon"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.02.11"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Jamison, Brendan"] [Black "Harris, Ross"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A45"] [PlyCount "108"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bf4 e6 3. e3 c5 4. c3 Nc6 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nd2 Bd6 7. Bg3 O-O 8. Ngf3 Re8 9. Ne5 Qc7 10. Ndf3 h6 11. h4 Ne4 12. Bf4 cxd4 13. exd4 f6 14. Nxc6 Bxf4 15. Nb4 a5 16. Nc2 Bd7 17. Ne3 Bxe3 18. Bxe4 (18. fxe3 Qg3+ 19. Ke2 Qf2#) 18... Bxf2+ 19. Kxf2 dxe4 20. Nd2 Qf4+ 21. Kg1 Bb5 22. c4 $2 e3 23. Nf3 Bxc4 24. Qc2 Bd5 25. Rh3 Bxf3 26. Rxf3 Qxd4 27. Qe2 Qd2 28. Rxe3 Qxe2 29. Rxe2 e5 30. Rc1 Rac8 31. Rec2 Rxc2 32. Rxc2 Kf7 33. Kf2 Kg6 34. Rc5 b6 35. Rb5 Re6 36. g4 Rc6 37. Ke3 Kf7 38. g5 hxg5 39. hxg5 Ke6 40. gxf6 gxf6 41. b4 axb4 42. Rxb4 f5 43. a4 Kf6 44. Kf3 Kg5 45. Rb5 e4+ 46. Ke3 Rc4 47. Rxb6 Rxa4 48. Rb8 f4+ 49. Kf2 Ra2+ 50. Ke1 f3 51. Rf8 Kg4 52. Rf7 Kg3 53. Rg7+ Kf4 54. Rf7+ Ke3 0-1

Screen grab from UCU Live of Jamison-Harris

On Saturday evening Ross faced off against Ulster Champion Stephen Rush and I managed to catch this well-played effort that ended in a draw.

[Event "24 hour Chess-A-Thon"] [Site "?"] [Date "2017.02.11"] [Round "1.1"] [White "Harris, Ross"] [Black "Rush, Stephen"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "A40"] [PlyCount "92"] [EventDate "2017.??.??"] 1. d4 e6 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 c5 4. c3 Be7 5. h3 b6 6. e3 O-O 7. Nbd2 d5 8. Bd3 Ba6 9. Qe2 Bxd3 10. Qxd3 Nc6 11. O-O Qd7 12. a4 Rfc8 13. Ne5 Qb7 14. Nxc6 Qxc6 15. Qb5 a6 16. Qxc6 Rxc6 17. Nf3 Rcc8 18. Ne5 h6 19. f3 b5 20. axb5 axb5 21. Nd3 c4 22. Ne5 Kf8 23. Kf2 Ke8 24. Ng4 Nxg4+ 25. hxg4 b4 26. e4 Kd7 27. exd5 exd5 28. Rfe1 Bf6 29. Be5 b3 30. Bxf6 gxf6 31. Rxa8 Rxa8 32. Kg3 Ra2 33. Re2 Ra1 34. f4 Rc1 35. Kf3 Rf1+ 36. Kg3 Kd6 37. f5 Kd7 38. Re3 Rd1 39. Re2 Rh1 40. Kf3 h5 41. gxh5 Rxh5 42. Kg4 Rh1 43. Kf3 Rf1+ 44. Rf2 Rc1 45. Re2 Rc2 46. Kf2 Rc1 1/2-1/2