Firstly the B team vs Yate A
Even with three C team players the B team were too good for Yate.
Andy had played Lawrence at the Clevedon Congress in January and had won after a long grind. For a while he was worried the position was going to get too blocked to get a meaningful advantage but white had left his king in the centre and black was able to force open the pawns. With the monarch exposed Andy was able to win a piece and Lawrence accepted the inevitable as black began to pick up weak pawns.
On board 2 Brent slowly took positional control and forced Andy into passivity and a defeat. The Jeremys on board 3 drew their game denying the B team a perfect score. Jeremy (H) had something of a space advantage on the queenside but simplification down the c file and a lack of entry points meant honours equal.
On board 4 Alan took an uncompromising approach to the opening and Andy was very much under the pump but he managed to find awkward but effective moves to equalise into the middle game. However white retrenched and found pressure down the queenside, which black wasn’t able to cope with. On board 5 Nigel had probably the best of the opening but the position became locked. Nigel offered a draw, Ben declined. Shortly afterwards Ben offered a draw and this time Nigel declined because he was beginning to liquidate the centre then in the position below he played Bxf4 and that was that.
Finally on board 6 Pete completely misplayed the middlegame to end up in a lost double rook and queen position. Chris had played nicely but then decided to simplify into a queen and pawn ending but hadn’t calculated quite far enough as white’s passed d pawn couldn’t be stopped.
Match card here.
Also on Tuesday the E team came back from Clifton with a win. Still unbeaten as we approach the business end of the season. Duncan and Ashish won with the white pieces on boards 1 and 3. Duncan’s endgame was 2 bishops and rook vs two rooks. Potentially a tough grind but Will blundered a rook and that was that. Graham’s half-point on board 2 was enough to secure the match. Poor Mike managed to lose a tight endgame in time trouble.
Match card here.
Then on Thursday the D team visited the University C and dealt them their first defeat of the season. Duncan made it two wins in the week by brushing aside a 150 point rating deficit to beat Hayden on board 1. Piotr overcame Lukasz on board 2 after a loss to the same opponent earlier in the season. The game had moved to an even endgame but with white pushing for a win he missed a double attack on king and rook to lose material and Piotr, (unsurprisingly) into his last minute, managed to find the right moves to take the win. Jacob continued his excellent debut season with a win on board 3 against Tom. White had done most of the running but missed a tactic that would have secured the draw for black. Fortunately black missed it too and the game was won. Finally on board 4 Mike’s difficult run of results continued as time trouble again turned a drawn position into a loss.
Match card here.
So. The A team is second in division 1, the B team third in division 2, the C team second in division 3, the D team second in division 5, the E team third in division 6 and the F team third in division 7. We have teams in the both cup semi-finals. Potentially glory, glory, glory. Potentially not. Potentially somewhere in between. Exciting times.
Horfield & Redland Chess Club 