This week we had three matches and failed to win any of them but they were all very close.
Bath A added the scalp of the B team to their wins over the A team and our KO team this season. Enough of playing Bath already. Short of a few regulars we were significantly out-graded at the bottom of the card and that made the difference. Peter continued his fine form this season, Derek’s prep paid off and equalised early and drew comfortable. Phil and Judd shared the honours and Joaquim (who took some high risk options which didn’t pay off) and Piotr found it tough going against strong opponents.
| 1 | Derek Pugh (2109) | .5 | David Buckley (2281) | .5 |
| 2 | Peter Kirby (2036) | .5 | Patrick Flores (1938) | .5 |
| 3 | Phil Nendick (1986) | 1 | Matt Dishman (1960) | .0 |
| 4 | Judd Chidwick (1720) | .5 | Rob Hearne (1944) | .5 |
| 5 | Joaquim Luque (1658) | 0 | Clive Walley (1912) | 1 |
| 6 | Piotr Zielinski (1589) | 0 | Andrew Gregory (1857) | 1 |
| Horfield B | 2.5 | Bath A | 3.5 |
Also at home on Tuesday our D team were up against Clevedon C. Honours even. Scott kept his unbeaten run this season going and Kana maintained his 100% record with Mike halving his game to put us 2.5-1.5 ahead. However Ben wasn’t able to hold his game on the top board so we settled for a draw.
| 1 | Ben Learoyd (1637) | 0 | Jack Lintern (1585) | 1 |
| 2 | Scott White (1583) | .5 | Brian Crewe (1635) | .5 |
| 3 | Mike Jennings (1492) | .5 | Michael Dean (1395) | .5 |
| 4 | Kana Balasubramaniam (1357) | 1 | David Wilson (1325) | 0 |
| Horfield D | 2 | Clevedon C | 2 |
Finally the A team, almost at full strength, but not quite, lost a close match to Downend B. Matias had the better of Oli on board one but in time pressure his advantage slipped and it was a fight to hold on for the draw. Carl, making his playing return for us drew with Max on board 2. Andy had a good win over Reinhold (after losing to him last season from a winning position). Early anxieties about black’s 3vs1 pawn majority were resolved and white was able to use his piece activity to get to a winning endgame.
However strength in depth counted Downend and we only took half a point from the bottom half of the match. John’s over the board rustiness led to confusion in the opening and by move 12 he was clinging on by his fingertips. A chance at move 24 to stay in the game (difficult to spot) was missed and Graham took the point. Nigel started well on board 5 but faded under the pressure form Aldrin. Finally Judd accepted a draw in a position where James was better and Judd very passive. However the way through wasn’t obvious and a draw wasn’t unreasonable.
| 1 | Oli Stubbs (2216) | .5 | Matias Candelario (2141) | .5 |
| 2 | Max Walker (2083) | .5 | Carl Bicknell (2153) | .5 |
| 3 | Reinhold Heinlein (2074) | 0 | Andy Hill (1969) | 1 |
| 4 | Graham Iwi (1995) | 1 | John Richards (1905) | 0 |
| 5 | Aldrin Malibiran (1968) | 1 | Nigel Pollett (1739) | 0 |
| 6 | James Thomas (1637) | .5 | Judd Chidwick (1720) | .5 |
| Downend B | 3.5 | Horfield A | 2.5 |
Horfield & Redland Chess Club 