Three matches this week.
On Tuesday the A team had a comprehensive victory against University B and the D team came up short against Clifton C. Then on Wednesday the B team battled hard but Downend A had too much firepower.
A team:
Board five finished early with John and Tommy agreeing a draw. A strange and complicated little game, but with no glaring errors on either side. John perhaps could have pressed on, but thought (rightfully) it was looking good on other boards. Tommy wanted to get back for a Halloween party at his student accommodation and as the weather was so foul, John gave him a lift back down to College Green; all part of the service we provide. Board six was next to finish with Nigel having much the better of the position when it broke open. He was able to get his queen and knight behind Finn’s defences and with black’s pieces out of position was able to deliver a neat checkmate.
The other matches almost went the distance. On board 1 Matias and Ian had a difficult but relatively balanced position; Matias assessed he had winning chances but was short on time and chose some wrong options and got lost in the process giving Ian University B’s first full point of the season. On board 2 Carl and Fergus played a game that I looked at a couple of times and couldn’t understand at all; both positionally and tactically it seemed unusually complicated. It ended with black going astray and Carl claiming the full point. Board 3 saw Mike get the better of James, who was playing his first ever classical game. In the end Mike traded queens and relied on white’s terrible bishop. Eventually Mike lured James into taking the f5 pawn (as below) allowing Mike Rxg2 and the promotion of the b pawn. On board four Andy had a relatively comfortable win over Jonas. A pawn up out of the opening, and then after queens came off, white also had the better placed pieces. Jonas took the opportunity to sacrifice the exchange, which gave him some opportunities but it came to nothing material and in time trouble black lost a piece and the game.
| 1 | Matias Candelario (2143) | 0 | Ian Gallagher (2053) | 1 |
| 2 | Carl Bicknell (2151) | 1 | Fergus Skillen (2021) | 0 |
| 3 | Mike Harris (2045) | 1 | James Guest (UNG) | 0 |
| 4 | Andy Hill (1994) | 1 | Jonas Zurba (1724) | 0 |
| 5 | John Richards (1897) | .5 | Tommy Wilkins (1722) | .5 |
| 6 | Nigel Pollett (1735) | 1 | Finn Slater (1713) | 0 |
| Horfield A | 4.5 | University B | 1.5 |
D team:
A trip down to Hotwells and this didn’t go particularly well. Piotr and Harry’s difficult starts to the seasons continued with losses on the top two boards and Joe and Kana lost out on boards 5 and 6. Graham got a draw on board 4 and Mike provided our highlight by beating Sam on board 3. He mainly controlled the position and manufactured a passed outside pawn in the ending which forced black’s king away from the kingside pawns allowing white’s king to mop up the g and h pawns and take the win.
Also good to see a six board match in division 4. Lots of clubs are keen to have as many people playing as possible; long may it continue.
| 1 | Stuart King (1352) | 1 | Piotr Zielinski (1587) | 0 |
| 2 | Mathew Walne (1472) | 1 | Harry Duckworth (1504) | 0 |
| 3 | Sam Thomson (1468) | 0 | Mike Jennings (1489) | 1 |
| 4 | Oli Bain (UNG) | .5 | Graham Strickland (1464) | .5 |
| 5 | Miklos Farkas (1607) | 1 | Joe Fearnhead (1305) | 0 |
| 6 | Rafal Cala (1503) | 1 | Kana Balasubramaniam (1370) | 0 |
| Clifton C | 4.5 | Horfield D | 1.5 |
B team:
Trips to Downend to play their A team are never easy and without Peter, who has been in terrific form this season, our odds were even longer. We were giving up over 200 points per board on average and the difference told. On board 1 Aron was able to repel Derek’s kingside attack and once it was neutralised took advantage of white’s weak queenside and vulnerable king to break through and take the point. On board 3 Mike found Steve’s accuracy too much and gave up material to try to stay in the game but it was to no avail. Nigel did what Nigel does against Rob on board 4; taking slight positional advantages out of the opening and then forcing black into inaccuracies and taking the point. On board 6 Mark’s superior pawns forced Alan into passive and cramped resistance. In the end it could only go on for so long and white broke through.
The highlights for us were on boards 2 and 5. On 5 James got a well-earned draw against Peter and Phil claimed the notable scalp of Oscar in a 93 move marathon. Oscar had turned down a draw earlier in the piece. Phil won a pawn and then showing decent technique in a rook end-game shepherded his pawn down the board to claim the point.
| 1 | Aron Saunders (2252) | 1 | Derek Pugh (2113) | 0 |
| 2 | Oscar Garcia (2190) | 0 | Phil Nendick (1984) | 1 |
| 3 | Steve Meek (2113) | 1 | Mike Levene (1879) | 0 |
| 4 | Nigel Hosken (2075) | 1 | Rob Attar (1907) | 0 |
| 5 | Peter Chaplin (2016) | .5 | James Facey (1722) | .5 |
| 6 | Mark Morris (1995) | 1 | Alan Clarke (1740) | 0 |
| Downend A | 4.5 | Horfield B | 1.5 |
Horfield & Redland Chess Club 