Three matches this week – two wins and a draw.
Two matches last week – two wins.
Well done us.
The big one first. A team vs Downend A (courtesy of Phil)
We faced a strong Downend team, reinforced with a rising star from the B team, but we were up for the challenge.
Board 5 saw a classic race between kingside and queenside attacks. From where I sat Nigel’s queenside pressure looked ominous and likely to break through first. I was sort of right in as far as it culminated in a second white queen appearing, but the black king was mated next move on the other side of the board to get us off to a flying start.
I developed a comfortable initiative out of the opening but there was always a danger of it fizzling out due to the symmetrical pawn structure. I was tempted to open the centre when I had a chance but elected for a low risk exchange instead. The computer later confirmed this to be the only way to keep the advantage. Still, it felt like half a point gained rather than lost.
Board 1 looked pretty wild and the result was anyone’s guess. Actually my guess was that Matias would prevail, as he seems to thrive in these sorts of positions, and this is indeed what happened in a very well played tactical game.
Tom and Aron’s game always looked like a draw but they kept on playing. It was a nervy watch in a knight and pawn ending and I wasn’t sure who was playing for a win but in the end all the pawns came off. This put us 3-1 up so we just needed something from Peter or Steve.
Steve had given up a pawn in the opening for active play which was looking like a good investment for a long time but now the tide seemed to be turning. Meanwhile, Peter had been enduring a frightening-looking attack but had conjured up some counterplay. Steve’s game was the first to conclude when his position was infiltrated by queen and rooks. Reinhold commented that he’d had a lucky escape.
Now it was just down to Peter to get us the extra match point. He had queen and bishop against queen and knight but Haroon had an extra pawn and was one move away from using it to support his queen to give mate. It seemed as if our only hope was a dubious perpetual check attempt but instead Peter forced off the queens and picked off the advanced pawn. Haroon had some pressure but, after some manoeuvring, couldn’t find a way through and offered a draw.
Hurray we’d done it, but what’s this? Peter is not snapping his hand off.
In fact he’s having a long think. Oh no, he’s actually declined it by moving. No one could believe it. A few moves were repeated and then Peter offered a draw which was thankfully accepted to general amusement and relief. “Why didn’t you accept the draw offer?” I asked Peter afterwards. “I didn’t hear any draw offer” he replied, whilst putting away his ear plugs.
Match card here
C team report:
We outgraded Downend D consistently across the boards and won the match in a quite straightforward manner.
First up Joe won by 8.00 on board six, breaking through David’s kingside defences. Then after about 12 moves of non-drama on board 1, Ian offered Alan a draw. Alan, after a cursory look over the boards decided it was fair enough to have an early night with the team ahead. Afterwards, Alan did note the last time they played (in the last century) Ian also offered a draw after 12 moves.
Next up James won comfortably on board 4, material up he kept a squeeze on the position forcing Dan into passive defence then finished the game off pleasantly. Judd put the match result beyond doubt in a game he probably should/could have lost but didn’t as he was allowed back in and made it count.
Match won and the two remaining games ended in draws. Nigel and Nigel probed away in a queen and knight end game to no particular effect and lost any enthusiasm to carry on. Finally on board 3 Pete built a significant advantage with a piece sack against Dave but completely failed to find a simple two-mover (which was available for three straight moves) to win a piece and settled for a draw.
4.5-1.5. Solid. Certainly in the race to be best of the rest behind Clifton C. Match card here
The E team of course drew. Sixth in a row. So they won their first match and now seem to be happy to sit on their 1-0 lead like a Helenio Herrara catenaccio Inter Milan from the 1960s. Scott and Graham won theirs. Kana and Siobhan not so lucky however a lovely evening out on the coast. Match card here
From Last week:
A solid win for the B team against the Uni B team who are having a struggle this season. Rob finished early for the second game in a row to put us ahead. The next result was on board 5 where Mike (L) from an even position blundered a piece in the ending. He struggled on with a brave passed pawn on d3 but it was a lost cause.
From there we eased through. Andy had, in the parlance of the beautiful game, a game of two halves. He dropped an exchange in the opening but had some compensation. Gradually he managed to improve his position to the point his bishop pair and active knight proved too much for James. Brent had a mostly quiet game; mindful of previous time trouble he took a relatively straightforward approach eschewing complication meaning, unsurprisingly, the game looked to be heading towards a draw. However, he was able to apply some pressure and Hayden’s pieces became uncoordinated leading to a couple of inaccuracies which was enough for black to take the win.
John initially regaled his opponent with stories of being a new undergraduate at Bristol exactly 50 years ago. Argi seemed to find this quite staggering and said he would be pleased if he could still play a long session of chess at that age [a compliment of sorts…]. Argi probably had chances in the early middle game to play actively on the kingside but it didn’t come to pass and John’s pieces were simply on much better squares. After winning the exchange white reached a reasonably simple rook v knight ending where black’s knight and king couldn’t cope with passed pawns on both flanks. Finally, rounding off a bad night for Mike’s, Mike (H) had an interesting game modelled on the attacking romance of the 19th century and/or the Tal school. First a pawn sac, then a knight sack for two pawns on move 8, then a rook sack for a bishop and another pawn (move 20). Tommy’s pieces were awkward and the king still in the middle but Mike missed a two-mover to force a whole piece win, leaving him equal with 2 protected passed pawns. Black then ‘accidentally sacrificed’ his queen for a rook and knight, then finally missed the perpetual. As it goes.
The B team’s form is beginning to come together. Score card here
Also the D team crept over the line against Bath D. Three draws on the top three boards left Ash and Roy duking it out for the glory and it was the Horfield man who took the spoils to win the match. Score card here
Horfield & Redland Chess Club 