We’ve added a fourth team to give some of our new recruits a chance to play regular league chess and last night they did themselves proud. Two of our matches were at home. The B team took on Hanham and the C team were playing Cabot B, the third match of the night was our D team away against Clifton C (also new to the league).
B team vs Hanham
Honours were shared in pretty dramatic fashion. Matches finished in reverse order (like a countdown which is nice); the first to finish was Adam, who on his debut, was a bit too good for Richard. Black battled gamely in a slightly messy encounter with loose pawns everywhere, but white was always ahead. Next to finish was Kana and Matt. White had much the better of it; winning a piece early and easing to victory. On Board 2 Phil built what looked like an overwhelming positional advantage and won a pawn as he started to squeeze Scott off the Board. However he then let it slip with a miscalculated tactic which returned the material and actually gave Scott some chances but it ended as a draw meaning only the top board was left in play and scores were level. Jon had bossed the game and was a knight and pawn up into the ending. He then began to hover up Nigel’s isolated pawns and with black’s king stuck on the back rank and white’s rook on the seventh and knight on the sixth it felt like the end was nigh. However Nigel offered his rook for free, Jon (into his last minute on the clock) took it and it was stalemate. A swindle but a half point and a drawn match from nowhere.
| 1 | Nigel Pollett (1778) | .5 | Jon Gould (1741) | .5 |
| 2 | Scott White (1557) | .5 | Philip Lawson (1561) | .5 |
| 3 | Kana Balasubramaniam (1327) | 0 | Matt Howells (1414) | 1 |
| 4 | Adam Henderson (UNG) | 1 | Richard Kirk (1147) | 0 |
| Horfield B | 2 | Hanham | 2 |
C team vs Cabot B
It was something of a romp. Both teams had experience on board one but everyone else was either brand new or new this season. Mike won his first game of the season on Board 1 winning a piece early and once he’d untangled his slightly awkward pieces eased to victory. Judd was ahead throughout and controlled the centre comfortably and won without much fuss or drama (surely the best types of wins for the blood pressure). On three there were two debutants. James prevailed in a game where white tried to play down the semi-open g-file towards black’s king and black looked for counter-play on the queenside. The static pawn structure favoured James who spotted gaps and invaded behind the lines delivering a really nicely executed mating net. Props. Lionel won material early against Alicia but was in what looked like a slightly exposed position with king and all kingside pieces on their original squares but he developed with a minimum of fuss and calmly won through with hardly any drama. A super team performance.
| 1 | Mike Levene (1910) | 1 | Richard Collis (1484) | 0 |
| 2 | Judd Chidwick (UNG) | 1 | Robbie Thornhill (1582) | 0 |
| 3 | James Kirk (UNG) | 1 | Lewis Minshi (UNG) | 0 |
| 4 | Lionel Germane (UNG) | 1 | Alicia McGuire (UNG) | 0 |
| Horfield C | 4 | Cabot B | 0 |
D team vs Clifton C
Alex won in 16 moves and went home to probably regale Mrs Alex with tales of daring-do and glory. Owen was probably ahead out of the opening then there was a quite bizarre clearing of the decks in the middle of the board. Once the smoke lifted Owen was left with queen + 5 vs Arthur’s 2 rooks + 6. Black managed to fork the rooks making the ending simple and finished it off comfortably. On three Remi and Dimitirjs played a game that swung back and forth until they reached a two rook and pawn ending. Remi showed more understanding of pawn breaks and structure turning an even position into a winning one. Finally Piotr and Peter shared the honours in a very much drawn draw. A very comfortable win overall.
| 1 | Peter Ackland (UNG) | .5 | Piotr Zielinski (1592) | .5 |
| 2 | Elliott Bleeg (1205) | 0 | Alex Dunn (1529) | 1 |
| 3 | Dimitirjs Zujeves (UNG) | 0 | Remi Questiaux (UNG) | 1 |
| 4 | Arthur Shipp (UNG) | 0 | Owen Rees (UNG) | 1 |
| Clifton C | .5 | Horfield D | 3.5 |
Some big team wins combined with a stalemate to secure a draw. That surely is enough excitement for anyone
Horfield & Redland Chess Club 