League table
Latest Match result
First team captain Mick Clark
Another tense win
Worksop A 4½3½Woodseats A
Jonathan A TaitB01Allan W Potts
Jim BurnettW10Paul Fletcher
Neil R LowtherB10Mark S Allison
Christopher ChambersW01John Trafford
Nicholas MahoneyB½½Peter Hulse
Phil GriffithsW10Chern Yean Sim
Phill J BeckettB½½W (Bill) Ward
Brian OldhamW½½Shane Frith
Another short draw for PJB and he deserted the boys and went home. After trying one of the excellent beers on offer.
Looking at the score it was clearly tense!
Tense win as Worksop edge it
Rotherham 3-5 Worksop A
J Peter Ballard01Jim Burnett
Stephen J Mann ½Christopher Chambers
Chris C Williams 01Nicholas Mahoney
Andrew P Baxter 10Phil Griffiths
Colin Whitehouse ½Phill J Beckett
John Baker 10Michael Clark
Philip Sharpe 01Robert Porter
Michael Snowdon 01A David Fidler
This was a must win game and we justed edged it
Jim won after pressurising Pete Ballard
Nick win in some style against Chris WIlliams
Odd losses for Michael and Phil
Good draws for myself and Chris
The bottom boards won it for us!
Worksop edge past Rotherham Juniors in tense encounter
Worksop A 4½3½Rotherham Jnrs. A
Jonathan A TaitB10Peter Shaw
Jim BurnettW10Oskar Hackner
Ivan DavidB01Paul Blackman
Christopher ChambersW01Thomas R Whitaker
Nicholas MahoneyB½½Alan D Coupe
Phil GriffithsW10Nathaniel Holroyd-Doveton
Brian OldhamB01Jonathan Ward
Phill J BeckettW1d bye 0
Early signs were good when Rotherham only had 7 players. Myslef and Brian were both keen to take the default to boost our playing records. I won because I got to the captain first and altered the team list. With that short battle out of the way the serious chess started and early encounters looked tense. Chris Chambers looked to have secured an edge from the opening and in his own words was slowly and comprehensively ouyplayed. Nicholas and Alan coupe fought out a tense draw. Ivan was under pressure from paul and was forced to ceed an exchange and Paul with impeachable technique ground a win. On a person note I was pleased to see Paul at least up and around after he had been unable to get to Rotherham's match on Friday. One interesting tussle was Phil Griffiths v Nathan Phil saced a piece for a phalanx of pawns and a lot of pressure Nathan defended admirably but Phil eventually smashed through the defences to claim a full point. Brian oldham;s game looked diffiuclt few pieces exchanged and Jonathan throwing pawns forward against the king. The attack suceeded. Meanwhile Jim was playing the up and coming Oskar a complex game ensued and I saw Jim apparnetly win a pice, but refusing to take it, the apparently losing an exchange and suddenly hands were being shaken and Jim had won! (so much for my insight) Jonathan and Peter played a tense encounter Jon winning a pawn and reaching a double Knight ending which turned to a single one and then Jon hit Peter with a few tactial blows and won the game. So we edged home 4.5-3.5 and edged towards safety.
Worksop - Ecclesall
Jonathan A Tait W 1 0 David M Adams
Jim Burnett B ½ ½ Peter W Hempson
Ivan David W 1 0 James Marley
Christopher Chambers B ½ ½ Chris J Marley
Nicholas Mahoney W 1 0 Philip G Ellis
Phil Griffiths B 1 0 Ewan Cormack
Phill J Beckett W ½ ½ Alan S McIntosh
Brian Oldham B ½ ½ Ken Norbury
Lots of familar pairings. Another in the Adams Tait saga. Tatically fascinating and none of the crowd knew what was going on when the smoke cleared Jon arrived a piece up and technique brought home the point. Jim and Peter contested a hard fought draw right down to a R &3 each ending. Ivan showed great endgame technique as James bravely played on as the match was slipping away from Ecclesall as he precisely used the opposition to force a win in a Kinga nd pawn ending. Chris v Chris was another complex struggle with differing opinions in the crowd as to who was winning, so a draw seemed the logical conclusion. Nick played a subtle transpositional move order and Phil found himself in an unfamiliar opening and in a poor position he managed to drop a piece and the game. I am afraid I saw littel of Phil Griffiths fine perfomance. After last times fine attacking performance normal order was restored and if you cannot get to sleep see PJB v ASM in the games section, pre match preparation ensured that a sterile position ensued and a draw agreed. Brian and Ken fought out a tight game where a draw was a fair oucome. A great night for the club as the C team won as well.
Worksop - Chesterfield
Again I cannot match the literary skills of my fellow webmasters
Thanks to Dave Latham for permission to use this
Worksop A 3-5 Chesterfield A
1 Jonathan A Tait½ David Latham
2 Jim Burnett 0 Mike Alcock
3 Christopher Chambers 0 D Martin Howard
4 Nicholas Mahoney ½ Michael D Johnson
5 Phil Griffiths 0 Andrew J Mort
6 Brian Oldham 0 Steve Bracey
7 Phill J Beckett 1 George Peters
8 Robert Porter 1 Brian Crofts
After last week's heroics the lower end exercised a well-earned right to bat even this week. Steve Bracey got us going, his bishops swooping on Brian Oldham's queen side, a fine attack in a queenless middlegame. Rob Porter-Brian Crofts saw Worksop strike back, and then something we've done nowt to deserve: Phil Beckett, whose rep is civilised, solid, hard to beat, wheeled out a red in tooth and claw Marshall Attack to defeat George. Down to Andy Mort to level it at the lower end, which he managed with a well played English v Phil Griffiths. Nick Mahoney and Mike Johnson played a Trompowsky which turned into something which looked very much like a Benoni, heavy attack from Nick, which Mike held off during both players' time trouble, a thrilling passage of play. I wondered if Mike had better chances in the endgame, but it was drawn. My own game with Jon Tait was the first result I've ever got against him: I thought I was fine early on, but really struggled in the ending and saved the half point with tricks at the end. And so, as I've told it, still level into the last two.
PJB adds
In my defence I was not feeling well and decided that the best way to get home early was to play one of my pet ultra sharp lines. Of course it back fired and I had to play lots of moves and despite my valiant attempts to misplay the ending I managed to grovel home. Normal service will be resumed in the next match
Another plagerised report
Monday 7th Nov 2011
Worksop A1½ - 6½Nomads A
Jonathan Tait0 - 1Chris Shephard
Jim Burnett½ - ½Kieran O'Driscoll
Ken Morrison0 - 1Mohammad Said
Neil Lowther1 - 0Andrew Hards
Chris Chambers0 - 1Geoff Frost
Nick Mahoney0 - 1Ian Barwick
Phil Griffiths0 - 1Daniel Sullivan
Brian Oldham0 - 1Kevin Marshall
Captain's Corner
A second match against Worksop in the space of a week, and for at least two of us the third in a series of four consecutive games... Nomads don't generally travel well to Worksop (with two defeats in the past two seasons) so anything gained on this trip would be a bonus.
The teams were practically identical - the Worksop line up slightly amended with 6 and 7 swapping, and our team seeing Chris shunt up a board and Kieran come in on 2 to replace Jon. How would the results go?
First to finish was Ian - he obtained his favoured Dragon set up, and brought a lot of pressure to bear on c2. An ill-advised pawn push by Nick on b3, a rook sac, and it was all over. 1-0 and shortly afterwards 1.5-0.5 as Kieran agreed a draw with Jim after some middlegame piece exchanges.
Next to finish was myself - dropping a pawn after a series of exchanges I probably should have held on better than I did - but Neil manouevred his rooks and queen into optimal position for exchanges and the extra pawn became two extra passed pawns and the game was up. 1.5 - 1.5. Geoff had asked me a few minutes earlier whether he needed to draw or win; I had looked around and although Daniel was material up, his position was awkward and Chris' advantage was offset by his clock... so I shrugged my shoulders (and Geoff decided to go for the win anyway).
After my defeat, I went to sit in my car for a few minutes, thinking I would gather my thoughts and come back in before the time control to see what was what. On the way back in, Geoff said 'we've won 6.5 - 1.5, I won, and Mohammad lost' (which was impossible); Kev then muttered something about Mohammad telling him he'd lost when he needed to know the score and my heart sank as I assumed that there had been a mix-up and we'd blown it. So imagine my surprise when I entered the playing room to find that all the games had finished, before the time control, and we had indeed won 6.5 - 1.5. Turns out Mohammad had told Kev he had lost in order to encourage Kev to keep playing for the win! So what had happened when I was outside?
On top board, Jonathan had sent a phalanx of pawns Chris' way at a very early stage (at one point there were pawns on c4-h4). However, Chris dealt with that expansive play accurately, took over the centre and completely locked down Jonathan's queenside. Pawns started to drop and it had looked like only the clock could save Jonathan when I had left. Chris had the clock under control as well.
On three, Mohammad's game wasn't as aggressive as the previous one last week. However, Ken managed to get his rooks to h6 and h8 and then blocked in by his king - Mohammad is a strong enough player but when he effectively has two extra rooks to play with, it's going to be tricky to keep him out. He invaded the seventh, picked up a loose pawn, and Ken fell on his sword.
On 5, Geoff had been shaking his head earlier in the evening but although he had dropped a pawn, he seemed to have Chris' king exposed and some menacing bishops. A piece sacrifice let him take over a key diagonal... a rook sacrifice was going to force mate unless Chris gave up his queen. Game over.
On 7, Daniel had gained an advantage but his king was misplaced and Phil's queen and knight hovered menacingly. He held things together - just - but Phil had the chance to pick up a loose piece and although he might still be in difficulties, he would at least have chances. (Un)fortunately, said capture was overlooked and Phil resigned.
I missed pretty much all of Kev's game. From what I did see, it looked pretty mundane (even by a 'normal' game's comparison). Kev had considered offering a draw, but Mohammad's wise words discouraged him, he played on...and Kev being Kev, he won.
The following report is unashamedly stolen from the Nomads site
Nomads A 6 - 2 Worksop A
Jon Nelson (b) ½ - ½ Jonathan Tait
Chris Shephard ½ - ½ Jim Burnett
Mohammad Said 1 - 0 Ken Morrison
Andrew Hards ½ - ½ Neil Lowther
Geoff Frost ½ - ½ Chris Chambers
Ian Barwick 1 - 0 Phil Griffiths
Daniel Sullivan 1 - 0 Nicholas Mahoney
Kevin Marshall 1 - 0 Brian Oldham
The first Nomads A fixture on a Monday night, and a match against Worksop A
with the return leg to come in a week's time. When Worksop's side turned up, it
was apparent that they were here in force with a very strong side matching us
almost identically on every board (in fact, with the exception of Daniel who
does not yet have a YCA grade, the biggest gap at the start of this season
between any two players was 5 points); so the match could easily go either
way. As it turned out, it was almost exclusively a test of the French defence.
With the exception of my game (a Scandinavian) and Daniel's game (a Queen's Pawn
opening) every other game was French. As is traditional in these matches, Jon and Jonathan agreed an early draw (I'm assured that it was the drawish of draws, in a very drawish line). I
wasn't surprised - in fact, I had been tempted to ink that result in when I
printed the scoresheet earlier! Next to finish was myself - Neil and I exchanged pieces on e4 (twice) and e7
- in a couple of lines we looked at afterwards, both of us blundered pieces but
overall it looked pretty drawn. Geoff then surprised me by saying that he too
had drawn - there was a bit more life in his position and he felt as though he
was slightly on the back foot, so was more than happy to take the half
point. Three games down, and the tie was even. A scout around the boards suggested
Chris might be up against it, Ian and Daniel were both likely to enter
rook/piece endgames, and Kev was, well, in a typical Kev-like position.
Mohammad on the other hand had won a pawn in the opening, and another, and then
another as Ken struggled for counterplay and ate into his time. He made the
time control - just - but dropped a further pawn shortly afterwards and resigned
rather than continue to suffer. Chris and Jim then exchanged down into a knight
+ pawns endgame, which was also agreed drawn - and that was that for the top 5
boards. All eyes, then, on the bottom three and here was where the match could
be won or lost. Kev was struggling on 8 at one point, with his king trapped/left in the
centre and his minor and major pieces uncoordinated. A rook bizarrely placed on
h3 seemed to hold things together and after some exchanges it appears that Brian
was tempted into taking one loose pawn to many - at which point Kev was able to
trap his knight. Running out of time (to the extent he had 0 seconds left at
the time control) he was then faced with a mating threat that would force off
the queens and leave him a piece down - enough reason to throw in the towel and
at 4-2 we couldn't lose the match. Daniel on seven had seemed to be in a little discomfort against Nicholas
fairly early on - under-developed and struggling for any play. The position
simplified once the queens were off, however, and a flurry of exchanges in the
centre saw Daniel emerge a pawn to the good. He then expertly advanced his
kingside pawns, fixed Nicholas' pawns, exchanged rooks and advanced to the
seventh - Nicholas resigned when he realised that his only move would eventually
result in him being mated. 5-2 and the match was won - so the only question was whether Ian could win
his knight and pawn endgame against Phil and gain revenge for a defeat with the
C team a week ago. He marched his king to the centre, optimised his pawn
position, and then manouevred his knight expertly - Phil over-stretched his
pawns and Ian chopped one and forked two more; with time running out on his
clock Phil realised the game was up and resigned, giving us a great 6-2
victory.
Worksop A 5½2½Barnsley A
Jonathan A TaitB½½Andy Butterworth
Jim BurnettW10Martin Sheard
Ken MorrisonB10David Greensmith
Nicholas MahoneyW½½Peter Micklethwaite
Christopher ChambersB½½Ken Hunter
Phil GriffithsW10Neil Todd
Janos J WagenbachB01Richard F Hall
Oliver GrahamW1d bye
Every match in division one should be close if all the teams are at full strength, Barnsley were missing a few players and conceeding a board meant the match had a slightly one sided look. Job well done!
BECKETT BLUNDER PROVES DECISIVE IN CLOSE GAME
Woodseats A4½3½Worksop A
1 wAndrew Ledger10Jonathan A Tait
2 bAllan W Potts01Jim Burnett
3 wPaul Fletcher½½Ken Morrison
4 bJohn Trafford½½Christopher Chambers
5 wSrinivasa Muthukrishnan10Phil Griffiths
6 bChern Yean Sim10Phill J Beckett
7 wW (Bill) Ward½½Janos J Wagenbach
8bJonathan Sparkes01Michael Clark
Both teams were slightly below strentgh but a close match looke on the cards.
The first game to finish was to prove decisive in the outcome
After my complete oversight I said ." well I 'll take the chance to go home early as I cannot bear to see the team lose 4.5-3.5 how prophetic......."
Latest Match result
First team captain Mick Clark
Another tense win
Worksop A 4½3½Woodseats A
Jonathan A TaitB01Allan W Potts
Jim BurnettW10Paul Fletcher
Neil R LowtherB10Mark S Allison
Christopher ChambersW01John Trafford
Nicholas MahoneyB½½Peter Hulse
Phil GriffithsW10Chern Yean Sim
Phill J BeckettB½½W (Bill) Ward
Brian OldhamW½½Shane Frith
Another short draw for PJB and he deserted the boys and went home. After trying one of the excellent beers on offer.
Looking at the score it was clearly tense!
Tense win as Worksop edge it
Rotherham 3-5 Worksop A
J Peter Ballard01Jim Burnett
Stephen J Mann ½Christopher Chambers
Chris C Williams 01Nicholas Mahoney
Andrew P Baxter 10Phil Griffiths
Colin Whitehouse ½Phill J Beckett
John Baker 10Michael Clark
Philip Sharpe 01Robert Porter
Michael Snowdon 01A David Fidler
This was a must win game and we justed edged it
Jim won after pressurising Pete Ballard
Nick win in some style against Chris WIlliams
Odd losses for Michael and Phil
Good draws for myself and Chris
The bottom boards won it for us!
Worksop edge past Rotherham Juniors in tense encounter
Worksop A 4½3½Rotherham Jnrs. A
Jonathan A TaitB10Peter Shaw
Jim BurnettW10Oskar Hackner
Ivan DavidB01Paul Blackman
Christopher ChambersW01Thomas R Whitaker
Nicholas MahoneyB½½Alan D Coupe
Phil GriffithsW10Nathaniel Holroyd-Doveton
Brian OldhamB01Jonathan Ward
Phill J BeckettW1d bye 0
Early signs were good when Rotherham only had 7 players. Myslef and Brian were both keen to take the default to boost our playing records. I won because I got to the captain first and altered the team list. With that short battle out of the way the serious chess started and early encounters looked tense. Chris Chambers looked to have secured an edge from the opening and in his own words was slowly and comprehensively ouyplayed. Nicholas and Alan coupe fought out a tense draw. Ivan was under pressure from paul and was forced to ceed an exchange and Paul with impeachable technique ground a win. On a person note I was pleased to see Paul at least up and around after he had been unable to get to Rotherham's match on Friday. One interesting tussle was Phil Griffiths v Nathan Phil saced a piece for a phalanx of pawns and a lot of pressure Nathan defended admirably but Phil eventually smashed through the defences to claim a full point. Brian oldham;s game looked diffiuclt few pieces exchanged and Jonathan throwing pawns forward against the king. The attack suceeded. Meanwhile Jim was playing the up and coming Oskar a complex game ensued and I saw Jim apparnetly win a pice, but refusing to take it, the apparently losing an exchange and suddenly hands were being shaken and Jim had won! (so much for my insight) Jonathan and Peter played a tense encounter Jon winning a pawn and reaching a double Knight ending which turned to a single one and then Jon hit Peter with a few tactial blows and won the game. So we edged home 4.5-3.5 and edged towards safety.
Worksop - Ecclesall
Jonathan A Tait W 1 0 David M Adams
Jim Burnett B ½ ½ Peter W Hempson
Ivan David W 1 0 James Marley
Christopher Chambers B ½ ½ Chris J Marley
Nicholas Mahoney W 1 0 Philip G Ellis
Phil Griffiths B 1 0 Ewan Cormack
Phill J Beckett W ½ ½ Alan S McIntosh
Brian Oldham B ½ ½ Ken Norbury
Lots of familar pairings. Another in the Adams Tait saga. Tatically fascinating and none of the crowd knew what was going on when the smoke cleared Jon arrived a piece up and technique brought home the point. Jim and Peter contested a hard fought draw right down to a R &3 each ending. Ivan showed great endgame technique as James bravely played on as the match was slipping away from Ecclesall as he precisely used the opposition to force a win in a Kinga nd pawn ending. Chris v Chris was another complex struggle with differing opinions in the crowd as to who was winning, so a draw seemed the logical conclusion. Nick played a subtle transpositional move order and Phil found himself in an unfamiliar opening and in a poor position he managed to drop a piece and the game. I am afraid I saw littel of Phil Griffiths fine perfomance. After last times fine attacking performance normal order was restored and if you cannot get to sleep see PJB v ASM in the games section, pre match preparation ensured that a sterile position ensued and a draw agreed. Brian and Ken fought out a tight game where a draw was a fair oucome. A great night for the club as the C team won as well.
Worksop - Chesterfield
Again I cannot match the literary skills of my fellow webmasters
Thanks to Dave Latham for permission to use this
Worksop A 3-5 Chesterfield A
1 Jonathan A Tait½ David Latham
2 Jim Burnett 0 Mike Alcock
3 Christopher Chambers 0 D Martin Howard
4 Nicholas Mahoney ½ Michael D Johnson
5 Phil Griffiths 0 Andrew J Mort
6 Brian Oldham 0 Steve Bracey
7 Phill J Beckett 1 George Peters
8 Robert Porter 1 Brian Crofts
After last week's heroics the lower end exercised a well-earned right to bat even this week. Steve Bracey got us going, his bishops swooping on Brian Oldham's queen side, a fine attack in a queenless middlegame. Rob Porter-Brian Crofts saw Worksop strike back, and then something we've done nowt to deserve: Phil Beckett, whose rep is civilised, solid, hard to beat, wheeled out a red in tooth and claw Marshall Attack to defeat George. Down to Andy Mort to level it at the lower end, which he managed with a well played English v Phil Griffiths. Nick Mahoney and Mike Johnson played a Trompowsky which turned into something which looked very much like a Benoni, heavy attack from Nick, which Mike held off during both players' time trouble, a thrilling passage of play. I wondered if Mike had better chances in the endgame, but it was drawn. My own game with Jon Tait was the first result I've ever got against him: I thought I was fine early on, but really struggled in the ending and saved the half point with tricks at the end. And so, as I've told it, still level into the last two.
PJB adds
In my defence I was not feeling well and decided that the best way to get home early was to play one of my pet ultra sharp lines. Of course it back fired and I had to play lots of moves and despite my valiant attempts to misplay the ending I managed to grovel home. Normal service will be resumed in the next match
Another plagerised report
Monday 7th Nov 2011
Worksop A1½ - 6½Nomads A
Jonathan Tait0 - 1Chris Shephard
Jim Burnett½ - ½Kieran O'Driscoll
Ken Morrison0 - 1Mohammad Said
Neil Lowther1 - 0Andrew Hards
Chris Chambers0 - 1Geoff Frost
Nick Mahoney0 - 1Ian Barwick
Phil Griffiths0 - 1Daniel Sullivan
Brian Oldham0 - 1Kevin Marshall
Captain's Corner
A second match against Worksop in the space of a week, and for at least two of us the third in a series of four consecutive games... Nomads don't generally travel well to Worksop (with two defeats in the past two seasons) so anything gained on this trip would be a bonus.
The teams were practically identical - the Worksop line up slightly amended with 6 and 7 swapping, and our team seeing Chris shunt up a board and Kieran come in on 2 to replace Jon. How would the results go?
First to finish was Ian - he obtained his favoured Dragon set up, and brought a lot of pressure to bear on c2. An ill-advised pawn push by Nick on b3, a rook sac, and it was all over. 1-0 and shortly afterwards 1.5-0.5 as Kieran agreed a draw with Jim after some middlegame piece exchanges.
Next to finish was myself - dropping a pawn after a series of exchanges I probably should have held on better than I did - but Neil manouevred his rooks and queen into optimal position for exchanges and the extra pawn became two extra passed pawns and the game was up. 1.5 - 1.5. Geoff had asked me a few minutes earlier whether he needed to draw or win; I had looked around and although Daniel was material up, his position was awkward and Chris' advantage was offset by his clock... so I shrugged my shoulders (and Geoff decided to go for the win anyway).
After my defeat, I went to sit in my car for a few minutes, thinking I would gather my thoughts and come back in before the time control to see what was what. On the way back in, Geoff said 'we've won 6.5 - 1.5, I won, and Mohammad lost' (which was impossible); Kev then muttered something about Mohammad telling him he'd lost when he needed to know the score and my heart sank as I assumed that there had been a mix-up and we'd blown it. So imagine my surprise when I entered the playing room to find that all the games had finished, before the time control, and we had indeed won 6.5 - 1.5. Turns out Mohammad had told Kev he had lost in order to encourage Kev to keep playing for the win! So what had happened when I was outside?
On top board, Jonathan had sent a phalanx of pawns Chris' way at a very early stage (at one point there were pawns on c4-h4). However, Chris dealt with that expansive play accurately, took over the centre and completely locked down Jonathan's queenside. Pawns started to drop and it had looked like only the clock could save Jonathan when I had left. Chris had the clock under control as well.
On three, Mohammad's game wasn't as aggressive as the previous one last week. However, Ken managed to get his rooks to h6 and h8 and then blocked in by his king - Mohammad is a strong enough player but when he effectively has two extra rooks to play with, it's going to be tricky to keep him out. He invaded the seventh, picked up a loose pawn, and Ken fell on his sword.
On 5, Geoff had been shaking his head earlier in the evening but although he had dropped a pawn, he seemed to have Chris' king exposed and some menacing bishops. A piece sacrifice let him take over a key diagonal... a rook sacrifice was going to force mate unless Chris gave up his queen. Game over.
On 7, Daniel had gained an advantage but his king was misplaced and Phil's queen and knight hovered menacingly. He held things together - just - but Phil had the chance to pick up a loose piece and although he might still be in difficulties, he would at least have chances. (Un)fortunately, said capture was overlooked and Phil resigned.
I missed pretty much all of Kev's game. From what I did see, it looked pretty mundane (even by a 'normal' game's comparison). Kev had considered offering a draw, but Mohammad's wise words discouraged him, he played on...and Kev being Kev, he won.
The following report is unashamedly stolen from the Nomads site
Nomads A 6 - 2 Worksop A
Jon Nelson (b) ½ - ½ Jonathan Tait
Chris Shephard ½ - ½ Jim Burnett
Mohammad Said 1 - 0 Ken Morrison
Andrew Hards ½ - ½ Neil Lowther
Geoff Frost ½ - ½ Chris Chambers
Ian Barwick 1 - 0 Phil Griffiths
Daniel Sullivan 1 - 0 Nicholas Mahoney
Kevin Marshall 1 - 0 Brian Oldham
The first Nomads A fixture on a Monday night, and a match against Worksop A
with the return leg to come in a week's time. When Worksop's side turned up, it
was apparent that they were here in force with a very strong side matching us
almost identically on every board (in fact, with the exception of Daniel who
does not yet have a YCA grade, the biggest gap at the start of this season
between any two players was 5 points); so the match could easily go either
way. As it turned out, it was almost exclusively a test of the French defence.
With the exception of my game (a Scandinavian) and Daniel's game (a Queen's Pawn
opening) every other game was French. As is traditional in these matches, Jon and Jonathan agreed an early draw (I'm assured that it was the drawish of draws, in a very drawish line). I
wasn't surprised - in fact, I had been tempted to ink that result in when I
printed the scoresheet earlier! Next to finish was myself - Neil and I exchanged pieces on e4 (twice) and e7
- in a couple of lines we looked at afterwards, both of us blundered pieces but
overall it looked pretty drawn. Geoff then surprised me by saying that he too
had drawn - there was a bit more life in his position and he felt as though he
was slightly on the back foot, so was more than happy to take the half
point. Three games down, and the tie was even. A scout around the boards suggested
Chris might be up against it, Ian and Daniel were both likely to enter
rook/piece endgames, and Kev was, well, in a typical Kev-like position.
Mohammad on the other hand had won a pawn in the opening, and another, and then
another as Ken struggled for counterplay and ate into his time. He made the
time control - just - but dropped a further pawn shortly afterwards and resigned
rather than continue to suffer. Chris and Jim then exchanged down into a knight
+ pawns endgame, which was also agreed drawn - and that was that for the top 5
boards. All eyes, then, on the bottom three and here was where the match could
be won or lost. Kev was struggling on 8 at one point, with his king trapped/left in the
centre and his minor and major pieces uncoordinated. A rook bizarrely placed on
h3 seemed to hold things together and after some exchanges it appears that Brian
was tempted into taking one loose pawn to many - at which point Kev was able to
trap his knight. Running out of time (to the extent he had 0 seconds left at
the time control) he was then faced with a mating threat that would force off
the queens and leave him a piece down - enough reason to throw in the towel and
at 4-2 we couldn't lose the match. Daniel on seven had seemed to be in a little discomfort against Nicholas
fairly early on - under-developed and struggling for any play. The position
simplified once the queens were off, however, and a flurry of exchanges in the
centre saw Daniel emerge a pawn to the good. He then expertly advanced his
kingside pawns, fixed Nicholas' pawns, exchanged rooks and advanced to the
seventh - Nicholas resigned when he realised that his only move would eventually
result in him being mated. 5-2 and the match was won - so the only question was whether Ian could win
his knight and pawn endgame against Phil and gain revenge for a defeat with the
C team a week ago. He marched his king to the centre, optimised his pawn
position, and then manouevred his knight expertly - Phil over-stretched his
pawns and Ian chopped one and forked two more; with time running out on his
clock Phil realised the game was up and resigned, giving us a great 6-2
victory.
Worksop A 5½2½Barnsley A
Jonathan A TaitB½½Andy Butterworth
Jim BurnettW10Martin Sheard
Ken MorrisonB10David Greensmith
Nicholas MahoneyW½½Peter Micklethwaite
Christopher ChambersB½½Ken Hunter
Phil GriffithsW10Neil Todd
Janos J WagenbachB01Richard F Hall
Oliver GrahamW1d bye
Every match in division one should be close if all the teams are at full strength, Barnsley were missing a few players and conceeding a board meant the match had a slightly one sided look. Job well done!
BECKETT BLUNDER PROVES DECISIVE IN CLOSE GAME
Woodseats A4½3½Worksop A
1 wAndrew Ledger10Jonathan A Tait
2 bAllan W Potts01Jim Burnett
3 wPaul Fletcher½½Ken Morrison
4 bJohn Trafford½½Christopher Chambers
5 wSrinivasa Muthukrishnan10Phil Griffiths
6 bChern Yean Sim10Phill J Beckett
7 wW (Bill) Ward½½Janos J Wagenbach
8bJonathan Sparkes01Michael Clark
Both teams were slightly below strentgh but a close match looke on the cards.
The first game to finish was to prove decisive in the outcome
After my complete oversight I said ." well I 'll take the chance to go home early as I cannot bear to see the team lose 4.5-3.5 how prophetic......."
