a team

Nomads A	5½-2½	Worksop A
Paul Cumbers	0-1	J.Davis (w)
Prasun Chakravorty	1-0	O.Graham
Jeremy Hamm	1-0	P.J.Beckett
Mohammad Said	1-0	P.Griffiths
Stuart Crosthwaite	½-½	M.Alvin
Ken Dewhurst	1-0	P.Herring
Masrura Khakimova	½-½	M.Clark
Mursal Mohammad	½-½	A.D.Fidler

Chesterfield A (A)

Nomads A	5-3	Chesterfield A
Paul Cumbers	1-0	D.Latham (w)
Chris Shephard	1-0	M.Alcock
Prasun Chakravorty	½-½	M.Johnson
Jeremy Hamm	1-0	A.Marsland
Mohammad Said	½-½	A.J.Mort
Ken Dewhurst	0-1	D.M.Howard
Masrura Khakimova	½-½	S.Bracey
Mursal Mohammad	½-½	S.Housley

Ecclesall A (H)

Nomads A	5½-2½	Ecclesall A
Paul Cumbers	0-1	A.Akbarinia (b)
Chris Shephard	0-1	D.Adams
Prasun Chakravorty	½-½	P.Hempson
Jeremy Hamm	1-0	C.Marley
Mohammad Said	1-0	K.McIntosh
Stuart Crosthwaite	1-0	K.Norbury
Ken Dewhurst	1-0	N.Wragg
Masrura Khakimova	1-0	P.Hoare

Rotherham Juniors A (H)

Nomads A	5½-2½	Rotherham Juniors A
Paul Cumbers	0-1	P.Shaw (b)
Chris Shephard	1-0	P.Blackman
Prasun Chakravorty	1-0	Y.Guo
Mohammad Said	1-0	M.Coupe
Stuart Crosthwaite	½-½	T.Whittaker
Ken Dewhurst	0-1	Alan Coupe
Mursal Mohammad	1-0	N.Holroyd-Doveton
Azmiddin Mohammad	1-0	M.Littlewood

Phoenix A (A)

Nomads A	4½-3½	Phoenix A
Paul Cumbers	0-1	C.Walker (w)
Chris Shephard	1-0	P.Fletcher
Prasun Chakravorty	1-0	G.Fletcher
Jeremy Hamm	½-½	T.Cole
Mohammad Said	1-0	M.Arrian
Ken Dewhurst	1-0	M.Lally
Masrura Khakimova	0-1	J.Mercy
Mursal Mohammad	0-1	A.Samson

Barnby Dun Bishops (A)

Nomads A	7-1	Barnby Dun Bishops
Paul Cumbers	1-0	J.Burnett (w)
Chris Shephard	1-0	R.Murray
Prasun Chakravorty	1-0	A.Bramall
Jeremy Hamm	1-0	M.Simmonds
Mohammad Said	1-0	P.Catt
Masrura Khakimova	½-½	N.Mahoney
Mursal Mohammad	1-0	S.Brooks
Ian Barwick	½-½	N.Shaw

Chesterfield A (H)

Nomads A	4-4	Chesterfield A
Paul Cumbers	1-0	M.Alcock (b)
Chris Shephard	1-0	D.Latham
Prasun Chakravorty	1-0	M.Johnson
Jeremy Hamm	½-½	A.J.Mort
Mohammad Said	½-½	S.Bracey
Stuart Crosthwaite	0-1	S.Housley
Ken Dewhurst	0-1	J.Denby
Mursal Mohammad	0-1	G.Peters

Ecclesall A (A)

Nomads A	2-6	Ecclesall A
Paul Cumbers	0-1	Arash Akbarinia (b)
Chris Shephard	½-½	D.Adams
Jeremy Hamm	1-0	P.Hempson
Stuart Crosthwaite	0-1	C.Marley
Ken Dewhurst	0-1	P.Szalapaj
Mursal Mohammad	0-1	K.McIntosh
Phil Ford	½-½	A.McIntosh
Azmiddin Mohammad	0-1	K.Norbury

Woodseats A (H)

Nomads A	3½-4½	Woodseats A
Paul Cumbers	0-1	A.Ledger (w)
Chris Shephard	0-1	A.Potts
Prasun Chakravorty	½-½	M.Hankinson
Jeremy Hamm	0-1	Nigel Carpino
Mohammad Said	1-0	M.Allison
Stuart Crosthwaite	1-0	J.Fletcher
Ken Dewhurst	0-1	J.Trafford
Mursal Mohammad	1-0	W.Ward

Barnsley A (A)

Nomads A	5½-2½	Barnsley A
Paul Cumbers	1-0	A.Drabble
Chris Shephard	0-1	T.Pogson
Prasun Chakravorty	1-0	A.Butterworth
Jeremy Hamm	1-0	D.Greensmith
Stuart Crosthwaite	0-1	M.Sheard
Ken Dewhurst	1-0	K.Hunter
Mursal Mohammad	½-½	D.Gray
Masrura Khakimova	1-0	N.Todd

Worksop A (A)

Nomads A	4-4	Worksop A
Paul Cumbers	1-0	J.Davis
Chris Shephard	½-½	P.J.Beckett
Prasun Chakravorty	½-½	G.Hinchcliffe
Jeremy Hamm	1-0	P.Griffiths
Stuart Crosthwaite	0-1	M.Alvin
Ken Dewhurst	0-1	P.Herring
Mursal Mohammad	0-1	M.Clark
Masrura Khakimova	1-0	T.England

Phoenix A (H)

Nomads A	6½-1½	Phoenix A
Paul Cumbers	1-0	C.Walker
Chris Shephard	1-0	P.Fletcher
Stuart Crosthwaite	½-½	G.Fletcher
Mursal Mohammad	0-1	P.Griffiths
Ken Dewhurst	1-0	T.Cole
Masrura Khakimova	1-0	A.Samson
Azmiddin Mohammad	1-0	P.Beckett
Kevin Marshall	1-0	S.Moxon

Rotherham Juniors A (A)

Nomads A	5-3	Rotherham Juniors A
Paul Cumbers	0-1	Peter Shaw
Chris Shephard	1-0	Paul Blackman
Prasun Chakravorty	0-1	Yang Guo
Jeremy Hamm	1-0	Tom Whitaker
Stuart Crosthwaite	½-½	Sam Haystead
Mursal Mohammed	½-½	Marcus Coupe
Ken Dewhurst	1-0	N Holroyd-Doveton
Masrura Khakimova	1-0	Ashley Littlewood

Our 100% record continues! Rotherham Juniors were weaker on the lower boards, so that's where the damage was done. We never looked in trouble, and eased past the winning post. At 5-1, the Juniors finished with a flourish by winning the last 2 games on boards 1 and 3. A bad day at the office for myself and Prasun, but a good one for the Nomads A-team as a whole.

Paul Cumbers

Barnby Dun Bishops (H)

Nomads A	7-1	Barnby Dun Bishops
Paul Cumbers	1-0	J Burnett(w)
Chris Shephard	½-½	R Murray
Prasun Chakravorty	1-0	A Bramall
Jeremy Hamm	½-½	M Simmonds
Mohammad Said	1-0	N Mahoney
Stuart Crosthwaite	1-0	S Brooks
Ken Dewhurst	1-0	N Shaw
Mursal Mohammed	1-0	B Julius

Captain's Corner

When the news arrived that Chris, Mohammad, and Mursal were stranded due to car trouble, it looked like we would be 3 points down off the bat! But I needn't have worried. They finally arrived, and Mursal hit the ground running, notching up one of the quickest wins I've seen in a long time! Meanwhile, my opponent tried to refute my 9...Nbd7 (a newish move which he hadn't seen before), and came unstuck. Suddenly we were a comfortable 2-0 up, so Chris was happy to agree an early draw and head off to sort out his car. A quick scan round the other boards revealed that Ken and Stuart had both won a piece in the opening, so after only an hour's play the match seemed to be ours for the taking. Ken and Stuart did the business, while Prasun took an opportunity to trap and win a knight on the back-rank. Mohammad munched on some pawns, leaving himself with 2 unstoppable passers on the queenside. Jeremy had been on top for most of his game, but couldn't quite push home the advantage. Our most emphatic win of the season so far - no wooden spoons this week. Or so I thought...Mursal wins the wooden spoon prize for not spotting an illegal move by his opponent! That's right folks, Mr. Julius played ...Nc6-e6! Very peculiar. It wasn't even a good illegal move! ...Nc6-e5 would have been better, although Mursal was winning easily either way, so it didn't really make any difference. Ever had the feeling there's nothing new under the sun? I went "out of book" on move 13, but discovered later that ALL the moves of my game had been played before! Kalousek v A.Toth (Budapest 1998) took the same path (via a King's Indian move-order) and went one extra move (18.Rxf3 Qh4+) before White resigned. John Watson mentions this game in his 2001 book on the Modern Benoni. Also, Chris Ward uses this game as his main line for the whole 9...Nbd7 variation in his 1999 video on the Modern Benoni!

Woodseats A (A)

Nomads A	5-3	Woodseats A
Paul Cumbers (B)	½-½	Andrew Ledger (IM)
Chris Shephard	½-½	Wei Sin Tan
Prasun Chakravorty	½-½	Nigel Carpino
Jeremy Hamm	1-0	Geoff Frost
Mohammad Said	1-0	John Fletcher
Stuart Crosthwaite	½-½	Bill Ward
Mursal Mohammed	0-1	Tony Farrell
Ken Dewhurst	1-0	Andy Lee

An historic victory for the Nomads A-team! Woodseats are the side to beat, having retained their Division 1 title last year. In recent encounters, they've been just too strong for us, but not this time! If we could hold them on the top boards where they usually score so heavily, then we'd have a good chance. Chris and I did just that, drawing against 2 of the strongest players in Yorkshire. The way was clear for our strength-in-depth to shine through. Wins from Mohammad, Ken, and Jeremy (who teased his opponent with sacrifices to force a pawn through) gave us the points we needed. Stuart was still playing (in a game that would be marred by a time-scramble), while we started to celebrate. Now the League gets interesting!

My game reached an intriguing position after 20 moves. Are my far-flung knights strong or weak? The resulting exchange of 2 pieces for a rook and a pawn would usually favour the player with the 2 pieces (slightly), but this game shows that things aren't always so simple.

Barnsley A (H)

Nomads A	5-3	Barnsley A
Paul Cumbers (w)	1-0	A.Drabble
Chris Shephard	1-0	T.Pogson
Prasun Chakravorty	0-1	A.Butterworth
Jeremy Hamm	1-0	D.Greensmith
Mohammad Said	½-½	M.Sheard
Stuart Crosthwaite	½-½	K.Hunter
Ken Dewhurst	0-1	S.Hewitt
Mursal Mohammed	1-0	J.N.Stevens

A good start to the season for the A-team. Mohammad was the first to finish with an early draw. I then became so involved in my own game that I was completely unaware of what else was happening! By the time I'd ground out a win, everyone else had finished apart from Chris. With pawns flying down the board on both sides, the ending looked more like a game of Space Invaders! Chris went for the full point, not knowing that a draw was all that was needed (I blame the captain for not keeping the scorecard up-to-date!). Nevertheless, a win seemed like a fair result, so it all worked out fine in the end.

Paul Cumbers.