Sheffield Nomads Chess Club

Captain's Corner

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Captain's Corner

This was a crucial match in our bid to make it as difficult as possible for Chesterfield to take our crown. So we made the arduous trip to Barnsley fully intending to fight to the bitter end. Barnsley were without the services of a couple of their stronger players and defaulted the bottom board, but this was not a match to be taken lightly so, for once, I decided to lead by example and was the first to win, my unusual (read dubious) opening serving to confuse my opponent who fell victim to a kingisde attack. At this point, two down, the Barnsley side obviously felt that extreme measures were called for, and organised for the karaoke night to begin in the bar below. With the music blaring up the stairs and a seemingly endless succession of tone-deaf pub patrons queuing for their turn on the microphone, poise and patience were the order of the day...

Unperturbed by the din emanating up through the floorboards Geoff finished next, winning a nice ending (maybe his opponent’s Albin counter-gambit had prepared him for the unsettling tactics?). Ian was playing against the Closed Sicilian and, with a passed pawn on c3 distracting his opponent, switched to a kingside attack and, after a short delay, eventually saw the mate in one. Chris finished around this time too, with Martin blundering a piece on move 31, having apparently been unaware of having reached the time control. And Jon, playing an English for variety this time, put enough pressure on his opponent’s position to cause him to overstep the time limit. This was the cue for Kevin to take a draw, having as usual played a game that confounded all expectations of what a first division chess game should look like. Which only left Jeremy, but he was a clear piece up and just had to nullify his opponent’s vague threats, and the victory soon came.

So 7.5-0.5 was the final result. We’re not going to give up our title that easy!

Captain's Corner

Being a bit jet lagged from an overnight flight I neglected my usual duties of observing the other games. Thankfully Jeremy, as non-playing captain for the night, has offered his impartial and unbiased thoughts (see below!). Clay Cross have fought hard this season, and, though already relegated, are always up for a fight. There were some tough games (and some boring ones, cf. Jeremy), on board one notably where Jon valiantly clung on for a draw in what seemed a hopeless endgame. Overall, it was obviously a good result and helps us keep the pressure on Chesterfield. We might now be the underdogs in the fight for the title, but we’ll make sure that Chesterfield earn our crown!

Kieran

I tried hard, as part of my non-playing status for this match, to pay attention to the games being played - but unfortunately there were too many dull positions and moves going on for me to sustain concentration for very long, and I was forced to slope off to the smaller room, where some real chess was being played. Is this the true secret of our success: boring our opponents into submission?

The two exceptions - notably both involving our opponents rather than our own team members - were Chris's game (where his opponent Dean Hartley - entirely unprovoked in an early middle game position - launched his g pawn forward to g4, completely unbalancing the position) and Ian's (where his opponent, on the White side of a Yugoslav Dragon, gave away or sacrificed a whole knight early on in the game, gaining a tempo or two for his attack but probably not much more). So, there was some excitement. Chris and Ian both won - I'm sure there were some interesting moments in their games.

Captain's Corner

There's not much I can say about this match as it clashed with a rather important day in an Irishman's calendar, and a quick draw ensued on board two. My sudden departure seemed to buoy the team (!) and they produced a rather impressive team performance to keep our title hopes alive. Another three matches to go and we've got to aim to win them all and hope Chesterfield slip up somewhere along that treacherous path to the Davy...

Captain's Corner

(Special Guest Correspondent - Paul B)

Only seven players and no Jon, Kieran, or Mohammad, with a player graded >130 taking the default on bottom board I thought we might be up against it in this match.

Rotherham Juniors won the toss and chose White on odds. On 1: Chris took an early draw with Black, a good result to steady the ship. On 2: Paul and Paul were throwing pins, forks, skewers, intermezzi(?), pincer movements, and other assorted tactical devices at each other. Paul C eventually came out a piece up but still had to navigate dangerous waters to safety. On 3: Jeremy's opponent played automatically in the opening and lost material to a simple response. Jeremy held on very comfortably and won the ending. On 4: Geoff's game is available for your viewing pleasure. "Ruthlessly exploiting a series of inferior moves." On 5: Mursal played his first match of the season, cleared the board of most of the material early on, and eliminated any danger. On 6: It was hard to tell whether Masrura's young opponent had sacced adventurously or just miscalculated but Masrura took the material on offer and never looked in any trouble. On 7: Because Alan Coupe was down for Board 8 I figured my opponent was graded ~140, and when he played 1 c4 I thought I was going to be positionally strangled in 94 moves. Even when I managed to provoke Nd1 and Ne1 on successive moves I still thought he was regrouping for some devastating counterattack. So when his queen ventured into my territory and I wasn't quite sure of a path through the tactical sequence to follow I took a draw, only to discover my opponent was graded 105. Still a draw is better than a loss. ½s or 1s for everyone who played. 5½-2½ was a lot better than we had feared.

Captain's Corner

A home match away (the Harlequin being unavailable), the C-team colonising the A-team, the league leaders defeated yet again...are things really as they seem?

Well, the only indisputable fact is that we lost, again. Not a great result for either us or the B-team, whose survival prospects were diminished by our second league defeat in a row. I didn’t see a lot of the games, being completely engrossed in my own one, having been out of book on move 10 and struggling to reach the end of my opponent’s preparation at move 18. Our plan of switching boards one and two didn’t quite work out: I was defeated on board one by some impressive opening preparation, although Jon’s endgame victory at least meant that we did get more points on the top two boards than against the same opposition in the cup last week.

The rest of the match was a tale of time-pressure and blunders, with the silver lining of Kevin’s fourth consecutive victory for us (albeit with a little bit of controversy when his fallen flag was pointed out by his opponent’s team mate = win for us!), Ian’s sacrificial attack leading to perpetual (was there more?), and Milan’s comfortable draw, tarnished by a couple of uncharacteristic one move blunders by Geoff and Paul. And with Jeremy’s draw, taken with time pressure looming, the overall score was 3.5-4.5.

Our ‘bouncebackability’ has been called into question. We’ll have to demonstrate it in the next match...

Captain's Corner

Well, what can I say? These things happen! We had our strongest team out yet this year, and were hoping to cement our position at the top of the table but...it didn’t quite work out like that. A combination of most of us playing poorly and our opponents playing well set the scene for a bit of an upset...

Jon seemed to be doing okay on the top board with his opponent struggling to win back a pawn he’d given up in the opening, but none of the other boards were overly convincing. And as the evening wore on things didn’t improve. Ian overlooked a tactic in a position that had appeared promising, and Chris succumbed to a trademark KID kingsde attack, despite having the better of the opening, and we were 2-0 down. I was a bit engrossed in my own game and missed much of the subsequent developments, but Geoff ended up drawing an endgame a pawn down; Paul also drew a complicated ending of bishop v pawns; and Jeremy notched up our sole win with some fine endgame technique, despite losing a pawn for some rather scant compensation in the opening.

The match situation meant that wins were necessary and it wasn’t clear where they could come from so the remaining three boards were going to the wire! I turned down a draw and played to win, sacrificing a piece for winning chances but eventually going down in a crazy time scramble. So 4-2 down. Jon was clearly winning but under severe time pressure, and though it looked like he might have a mating attack in an endgame it wasn’t possible to realise it in the time available and he eventually lost on time in a completely winning position. At this point Mohammad was just playing for pride, and a draw was agreed soon after with both flags hanging.

2.5-5.5. Not at all what we hoped for, but Worksop deserved the win on the night. So, to use a word which was apparently coined in soccer (which renders its legitimacy dubious): it’s time to demonstrate our bouncebackability*!

*http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=bouncebackability

Captain's Corner

The return match against Chesterfield; we were filled with a desire for revenge tinged with slight trepidation and as usual the scene was set for a great struggle, and we weren’t let down...

Chesterfield started well with wins on the bottom two boards, Ian going down to a typical exchange sacrifice in a Dragon, and Masrura failing to recover from losing a pawn in a symmetrical English. So we were 2-0 down, and, to be honest, weren’t looking all that great on the other boards; my own lost position being particularly worrying. But of most concern was the consensus emerging from the huddled sages of the B/C teams: a loss for us. Could they be right?

Well, Mohammad disagreed anyway, as is his wont, and won with his customary aggressive play in a Centre Counter. Jeremy agreed with Mohammad and won on the white side of a French with his e5 strongpoint proving pivotal. Personally, given my position, I wasn’t too sure whether Mohammad/Jeremy or the sages were right, but with a clearly lost position I decided to march my king into the centre of the board and leave it to the vagaries of fate. Mike, admittedly under time pressure, missed a clear win at one point and fate smiled kindly, giving me the full point after an unfortunate blunder in an ending that would have been very difficult to win. When Paul won a long ending against Mike Jonhson it seemed the wise men of the B/C teams might have got it wrong. But it still took Chris to hold a difficult, exchange down, ending to secure the victory, allowing Jon to take a draw in a position where he seemed to have some pressure but nothing clear, for a final result of 5-3 to us.

A great struggle and, at least when it comes to Nomads-Chesterfield clashes, it seems that Lady Luck can override the auguries of B/C team oracles!

Captain's Corner

The score flatters us a bit in this match as it was quite a struggle! Milan lost quickly on the bottom board and we had ground to make up, and it wasn’t that easy, especially with Chris and I opting to enter severe time pressure and Kevin going his customary material down. Thankfully the rest of the team rose to the occasion: Jon reverted to his faithful c3 Siclian and won with a nice kingside attack; Jeremy demonstrated that maybe 1.b4 isn’t the best opening move; Ian traded queens and won a nice ending; and Paul had the better of the draw on the white side of a Grunfeld. With my position deteriorating in time trouble I was delighted to accept my opponent’s draw offer, leaving us needing just a half point to clinch the match. And, as we’ve come to expect Kevin turned around his dubious looking position and won convincingly. So Chris was just playing for pride, but this he took very seriously, pressing hard for a win with rook, bishop and pawn against rook and two pawns. He spurned all draw offers and with his flag hanging pressed for the win, but sadly his clock fell when he was on the verge of mating with queen against bare king, and had to settle for the draw. So, 5.5-2.5 was the final result.

Captain's Corner

A convincing win for us against an under-strength Barnsley side, helped on our way by a default on the bottom board. A few dashing kingside attacks by Ian, Geoff and myself, Jeremy’s three connected passed pawns, and Jon’s endgame technique all combined rather well. Due to a mixture of poor note taking, bad memory, and laziness in writing this report Paul’s style of victory eludes me, but overall, even with Simon’s unfortunate overlooking of a decisive knight fork, it was a good night’s work. Though I’m sure a much stronger Barnsley side will be looking for revenge in the return match...

Captain's Corner

Missing Mohammad and family for this crucial match we were forced to call in our super-sub, Paul C, to bolster the side. The main question when facing University is whether or not they’ll have managed to find any strong new players amongst the student population, and with five of their regulars, and their captain standing aside to let three new names man the bottom boards, it was never going to be easy to predict.

In such a big match there are rarely any quick wins, although Chris was doing his best on two to counter this trend, boldly taking his opponent’s queenside pawns and leaving pieces hanging everywhere. But Prasun was hanging on and it was Geoff who brought us our first point, with his passed a-pawn proving too strong in a rook and minor piece ending. On one, Jon had me slightly worried with two pieces against a rook and many pawns, but he played actively against his opponent’s king and managed to win. Ian then surprised me by telling me he’d lost a game I was sure he was comfortably winning, but with super-sub, Paul C, finding a nice tactic to win the exchange and his opponent resigning in a hopeless position after the time control, it was 3-1 to us with half the games finished.

Chris finally overcame Prasun’s stiff resistance to leave us needing only half a point to win, and with Paul B looking in trouble on eight, and Jeremy under pressure too, it was up to me to provide it. I’d won a pawn and was much better in an ending, but I then contrived to let Mithun’s pieces reach their optimal squares and was tied down to weaknesses in my own camp. But there was no way through, and a repetition soon followed, so we’d won the match, leaving Paul B and Jeremy to fight for their pride. Paul had been under a lot of pressure in the middle game, a pawn down and king in the centre, but he fought back to give himself some chances: talking to him after, he apparently missed a draw, but sadly eventually went down after a long battle. Jeremy, too, was struggling, having been saddled with a slightly passive position on the white side of a Scandinavian. Azmiddin exchanged into a winning endgame but Jeremy fought on and eventually secured a draw with his rook pawn against his opponent’s queen.

5-3, final result. Any win is good against University, and this leaves us with our title defence still on track.

Captain's Corner

Having lost to Chesterfield previously and with University up next, we were hoping to get our title defence back on track with a victory. However, with a couple of new players with scary sounding Eastern European names in their line-up, Rotherham Juniors weren’t to be taken lightly.

Kevin got us off to a good start. From what appeared a fairly quiet opening he went for his usual complications and well before the first time control had wrapped up things with a ferocious kingside attack. Jeremy was facing one of their new players, and played a nice positional game on the white side of a Sicilian and was next to finish when his opponent missed a tactic. I didn’t see much of his game, due to crazy complications in my own, but Geoff was on the white side of an exchange Grunfeld and drew soon after. On three Paul Blackman had sacrificed a piece against me and, with my own pieces completely tangled up and my king looking a little nervy on the queenside with the a-file open, I was fast approaching time trouble. It doesn’t matter that Fritz subsequently said I was fine, at the time I was worried! Thankfully I found the moves necessary to stay alive and was able to wrap it up shortly after the time control. This left the score at 3.5-0.5, only one more pointed needed...

The other games all went down to the wire and, preoccupied with getting myself a pint after my own tense game, I’m not sure who it was who finally pushed us over the finish line, but eventually we did get that point we needed to win. On one Jon had a slightly inferior middle game but sacrificed a piece for a kingside attack, which eventually gave him a winning position, but not before he over-stepped the time limit. Chris had faced an aggressive line against his English but those doubled c-pawns he was saddled with eventually paid dividends when he emerged into a winning queen and bishop ending a pawn up, which he duly converted. Mohammad, like Jon, was also a victim of the clock. Having lost a pawn he fought gallantly but eventually lost on time in what seemed like a drawn rook ending. Meanwhile Ian, on seven, was doing his best to notch up his first win for the A-team, showing great fighting spirit in turning down a draw offer and fighting on until bare kings, but even with such spirit he finally had to settle for a draw in that position.

So 5-3 was the final result, and a result we would have been happy with before the match, though some of our players are probably lamenting poor clock handling on the night. Back on track; University next...

Captain's Corner

An away fan (guessing about much of what was going on on the higher boards) writes...

Chesterfield won the toss and, obviously up to something, went into a huddle. When they emerged they had chosen Black on odd boards. They were schemeing. The game was afoot.

Jon scored a quick win. White seemed to have the choice between losing his queen and allowing Bxf7 check. The uncastled king dodged back and forth but couldn't escape for long. Chris's game looked even throughout, though at one point he might have been in danger of losing the ending. Paul C had a very strong position against a King's Indian with everything aimed at a pawn on e6, but apparently blundered near the time control. Two rooks were no match for a rook and two bishops on a wide open board, and Paul was mated on h3. Jeremy had a reasonable position out of the opening but says he was outplayed against an opponent who is a bit of a nemesis. Again time trouble was a factor. Mohammad worked a strong position, and queen and knight teamed up to win a piece. Geoff faced two Bishops against a B+N but with symmetrical pawns and a very strong square available as an outpost, never looked in too much trouble. Ian got into an even position and looked set for a good game when he missed a tactic wrecking his pawn structure. A desperate attack never really got going and he lost on time when he was about to be mated. Masrura weathered an early storm and seemed to have secured an extra pawn but White's major pieces were too active. He broke through in the centre and cleaned up. Well played Chesterfield A.

Captain's Corner

Worksop had already beaten Chesterfield this season and we were wary of the challenge they posed. However, they were somewhat under strength and we heavily outgraded them on most boards, so before the match started I was hopeful of continuing our winning start to the season.

And for once, it sort of went to plan! We won on boards two to six, with Chris’s impressive demolition of his opponent’s King’s Indian being a highlight. On three I won a pawn early on and, despite facing some kingside pressure and presenting my opponent with a gilded chance just before the time control, went on to win. Jeremy faced the French Winawer but managed to avoid the usual doubled c-pawns and won what seemed a fairly smooth positional game. Mohammad played his favourite Centre-Counter and went for his usual attempts to complicate matters by castling queenside which, as always it seems, paid dividends. In his debut for his new club Geoff opted to play very sensibly and would have been happy to draw, but his opponent gifted him a pawn and he had to settle for a quick win! On one Jon seemed to be doing well against the fianchetto variation of the King’s Indian, but his decision to block the queenside backfired when counterplay failed to materialise and he eventually went down. Ian, on seven, lost an exchange in the early middle game and also failed to generate enough counterplay to justify it and also lost. And on eight Masrura had to settle for a draw when her opponent put up a tough defence after losing (sacrificing?) a pawn in the opening.

So, 5.5-2.5 was the final result. Against tradition, and despite the best efforts of our B-team, we’ve managed a string of three consecutive victories to launch our title defence. Hopefully we’re just getting into our stride...

Captain's Corner

Having been less than convincing in our first match against the B-team, it was time to demonstrate why we had the letter ‘A’ attached to our name. However, a few late withdrawals and facing a full-strength B-team, and at the start of the match I was just hoping for a victory.

Outgraded on the bottom four, it was up to the old A-team stalwarts on the top four to set an example. Thankfully most of us managed it: Jon won a complex game against Uday on one, with some active central play against Uday’s kingside pawn advance. Chris played his usual English and won a pawn early on, finally claiming victory when Andy lost a second pawn. On three I had a couple of central pawns in the Sicilian, with the question of their strength/weakness being a worrying concern; Haidar played for the win, sacrificing the exchange, but I had a few defensive resources and was able to hold on for the draw. Jeremy was faced with a very unusual line against his English and wisely opted to avoid the crazy complications Stuart was offering (which I can verify is a good idea!). He eventually won, so giving us 3.5/4 on the top four boards. So all we needed was a point from the bottom four to secure victory...

On five Ian was faced with Andrew’s new pet variation, the wing gambit against everything! It got complicated quickly and after losing his a8 rook to a knight fork was unable to make up for the material deficit. Paul seemed to be doing fine against Ken’s IQP on six, but eventually lost the exchange and went down in an ending. On eight Simon also seemed to be doing fine against Oliver’s French but also eventually lost material and was unable to generate enough counterplay to justify it. So it was up to Kevin to save our blushes: the one game I was scared to even look at, fully expecting Kevin to have sacrificed at least a piece by move ten! But no, Kevin rose to the occasion and even went material up (which still had me worried), and eventually won a fine game against Phil. And this was the point we needed, 4.5-3.5 final result, even closer than last time, but we just about managed it.

Captain's Corner

Our first match of the season, we were hoping to get off to a better start than we usually do, and since it was only the B-team it should have been a nice easy match to kick-start the defence of our title. That was the plan anyway...

Jon led the way on one, happy to take Andy’s blundered piece, and was never really in any danger after that, especially when Andy decided to give him another one. But on six Ian, possibly a little over-awed by the responsibility of being a regular first team player and the pressure that that entails, succumbed to a kingside onslaught and the points were level. Masrura went a pawn up on seven, but allowed Oliver to get some strong pressure in the centre and couldn’t find a way out. But Paul won on eight and that meant it was 2-2 at the half way stage.

With things not going exactly as planned, I felt it was time to perform my captain’s duties and motivate the team...so I lost. In middle game complications I was probably a little too focussed on my opponent’s time pressure and went astray, and then allowed Stuart a nice two-move mate...oops! I was a little apprehensive then, waiting to see if my leadership style would pay dividends. Mohammad piled some relentless pressure on Ken’s position and eventually broke through for victory. So 3-3, with Jeremy and Chris still battling hard to salvage some of our pride; they both had come through far from convincing openings to reach superior endings, and I was reasonably confident at this point. And, yes, experience did eventually tell with the new boys going down to two canny old first division veterans. 5-3 final result...phew!

The B-team deserve a lot of credit for an impressive performance in their first match in the top flight. As for the A-team, it seems to be the same every year: a stuttering start, but the fighting spirit shown by some team members will hopefully be the harbinger of better things to come from us all...