Of course, this is a work in progress - I'd like to think I'm still improving. Games are ordered chronologically - ranking them would be an impossible task. Whether they deserve to be singled out is for the reader to judge.
Index created 31st August 2013, last updated 22nd August 2018.
Young, D 1-0 Fields, F (CCF Rapidplay Open, July 2011) - For a long time this was my biggest upset by grade difference - black plays too complacently and pays the price.
Bullock, L 0-1 Young, D (Jessie Gilbert Festival U-2000, August 2011) - Certainly one of my strangest ever games - I blunder two pawns in the opening only to discover quite by accident that I have game-winning compensation for them.
Young, D 1-0 Morse, G (CCF Superleague, January 2012) - In those days, the French really did lose by force. White's game looks primitive, but Black's counterplay is too slow and he gets demolished in a miniature.
Young, D 1-0 Reutimann, H (Surrey Congress U-180, April 2012) - Another French victory, but this time a slow-burner; an opening advantage waxes and wanes before assuming decisive proportions around the time control.
Smith, P 1-0 Young, D (e2e4 Diamond Jubilee Open, June 2012) - Memorable, not best! Resolving my positional problems with a fantastic array of tactical shots, I emerge a Rook up for nothing and yet still contrive to lose...
Young, D 1-0 Susevee, G (ECF U-18 Counties Championship, June 2012) - My very last game graded as a junior, and I bow out in an appropriately energetic way, mating on move 14 via a Greek Gift sacrifice.
Lalic, P ½–½ Young, D (Wallington C.C. Simultaneous, September 2012) - I try to confuse the issue but totally overdo it; white is forced to sacrifice a whole Rook for a massive attack that is too hard for either player to evaluate.
Young, D 1-0 Grey, N (Wallington vs. Kingston, September 2012) - A gritty showing, but with huge competitive significance as Wallington win their first cup match in 4 years; after 'falling' for black's trap and sacrificing a piece, my pawn flotilla finally decides the issue.
Andreev, P 0-1 Young, D (London Junior U-21/18 Open, December 2012) - Probably my best game to date - white tries too hard to win, prompting me to rise to the occasion with hyper-active play and conclude matters with a stunning Queen sacrifice.
Young, D 1-0 Gregory, A (Bristol University vs. Bath, February 2013) - Played on my 19th birthday, I celebrated the occasion with a precise performance - black's attempt to free his cramped position is drastically refuted.
Young, D 1-0 Powell, D (Surrey Rapidplay Congress, April 2013) - The only positive from an otherwise terrible event - a smooth positional demonstration leaves black completely suffocated.
Purvis, A 0-1 Young, D (Sandhurst Scorpions vs. Bristol University, February 2014) - My first win in the 4NCL was quite one-sided but very satisfying: white flouts all principles of the opening and gets blown away in 23 moves.
Young, D 1-0 Collier, D (Bristol University vs. Clifton, March 2014) - A rare triumph for my preparation - in one evening league game I completely refute a line my opponent has championed for twenty years.
Anilkumar, A 1-0 Young, D (CCF Summer Cup U-2000, July 2014) - A new low in chess, but again one I could hardly forget. In a game that could decide the tournament, I out-prepare and out-play my opponent only to hang a Rook in a trivially won position.
Rudd, J 0-1 Young, D (Counties Correspondence Championship, 2014-15) - A dream introduction to correspondence chess: when my logical style is allied with Fritz's calculation and an uncompromising opponent, the result is a sacrificial massacre.
Young, D 1-0 Lenoir, A (London Junior U-21/18 Open, December 2014) - Ever the Botvinnik disciple, I prefer to win in the style of a tank offensive rather than with a spectacular tactical shot. I was very proud of this strategic rout: White quietly manouevres for 20 moves, before Na2 brings Black's position tumbling down like a house of cards.
Young, D 1-0 Misyura, I (London Junior U-21/18 Open, December 2014) - Differing from my beloved 3. Nc3 against the French for the first time, some simple but powerful play puts Black to the sword after he plays a little too rashly. A fitting way to end my final 'junior' tournament.
Young, D 0-1 Weaving, R (Bristol University vs. Cambridge University, February 2015) - A bizarre game that serves as a proxy for the whole tournament, where I squandered overwhelming positions against a string of 200+ opponents. Black's opening choice looks like off-the-scale arrogance, but inevitably I find a way to make it work.
Matta, F 0-1 Young, D (Berks & Bucks Championship, August 2015) - After spending the summer working on endgames, psychology and a classical defence to 1. d4, everything comes together: the opening goes well but I still have to win for a second time in an ending where 38... g5! is the star move.
Bahra, P 0-1 Young, D (London Junior U-21/18 Open, December 2015) - After enduring three months of horrible form, this rout of a former Bristol University team-mate snapped the streak. White's imprecise opening costs him several tempi, and he gets flattened before being subjected to a pretty finish.
Young, D 1-0 Haydon, D (Drunken Knights vs. Wood Green, February 2016) - A cameo role in the most powerful evening league match of the year. It's a scrappy game, but after getting on top in the opening, the middlegame and the endgame, I'm finally able to put away a titled player for the first time.
Young, D 0-1 Moreby, J (Colin Crouch Celebration Chess Congress Masters, April 2016) - A near-brilliancy spoilt by a tactical accident, but I'm still proud of taking the fight to a strong junior opponent. I don't always make speculative piece sacrifices, but when I do...
Young, D 1-0 Norinkeviciute, R (CCF Rapidplay Open, September 2016) - A neat little combination that graced the pages of CHESS Magazine - Black's attempts to wing it in a 6. Bg5 Najdorf end just as you would expect, for titled scalp number two.
Lopez Gomez, J 0-1 Young, D (e2e4 Gatwick Challengers, October 2016) - The game that turned a good tournament into a superb one. White's offbeat opening choice only allows me to launch a textbook Sicilian attack, eventually catching his king in a mating net even after the queens are exchanged.
Ismailov, R 0-1 Young, D (CSC Dragons vs. Downend, November 2016) - An emphatic win against my employers' 4NCL team, and one of the charity's tutors to boot. Preparing an anti-theory line right off the board is always sweet, and by the time the real game starts it's already as good as over.
Young, D 1-0 O'Driscoll, K (Downend vs. White Rose, May 2017) - Downend's last dance in the 4NCL, but what a way to go out! Needing an unlikely win and some help elsewhere to avoid relegation, we came up trumps thanks in no small part to one of my greatest 'prep bombs'.
Blake, M 0-1 Young, D (Major Open, August 2017) - The gritty summit of my achievements in storming to 5½/6 and qualifying for the British Championship. After getting a taste of my own medicine in the opening I wriggle out with an accidental exchange sacrifice, and finally convert a topsy-turvy game after five hours.
Brown, T 1-0 Young, D (Major Open, August 2017) - The 2017 Major Open will forever be the one that got away - my mental weakness is clear to see in the final round, as after drifting into a lost ending I heroically fight back only to throw it all away...
Gower, S 0-1 Young, D (London Junior U-21/18 Open, December 2017) - I am proud of this game despite the mutual blindness at the start; dynamic understanding comes into its own as I sacrifice the exchange to trap White's queen in the corner and mate him in just 21 moves.
Haldane, R 0-1 Young, D (Richmond Rapidplay Open, June 2018) - This win was a rebirth after the disastrous first half of 2018, setting me up for this tournament and beyond. A textbook Najdorf dark-square strategy brings me my first win against a 160+ since the game above!
Muir, A 0-1 Young, D (British Championship, August 2018) - My first win against an IM, and of course it had to be with the theory hammer! But don't underestimate the burden of defusing White's counterplay whilst grappling with nerves: this game was an achievement at the board too.
Young, D 1-0 Pollack, O (British Championship, August 2018) - Showing an unknown mastery of psychology, I dig my way out of a sharp opposite-bishops ending and turn the tide before confidently reeling in the point to unexpectedly reach a 50% score after seven rounds.
Zapolskis, A 0-1 Young, D (British Championship, August 2018) - I will always remember my second win against an IM, even if a cynic will rightly say that he hung a rook with check: now I was on a plus score after eight rounds, and both sides played their part in a fascinating if brief battle.
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