Sheffield Nomads Chess Club

Captain's Corner

Sheffield Deaf were unable to play at the Harlequin on any date, so offered to concede, but after consulting with my team, I managed to find an alternative - playing our home match at their venue outside the season proper. We lost the toss, so played white on evens.

Early on, Robert decided delay castling by one move to pick up a stray pawn. Eibson immediate sacrificed his Bishop to lure Robert's king into a double check, leaving it badly exposed, then sacrificed a knight to force checkmate.

Phil Pickering doubled rooks on the e-file, then swapped them both off, producing a deadlocked position. Ian went 2 pans down, then was forced into a queen swap, leaving him facing a passed pawn, and the imminent collapse of his position. Gordon missed a knight fork and swapped down to an opposite-coloured bishop endgame, which looked typically drawish, but after missteps on both sides he lost his last pawn.

Meanwhile, on board four, Phil Saxby gained a knight early on, then slowly pushed his opponent to checkmate, out only victory of the night.

Captain's Corner

Away, against the division leaders, Nomads D lost the toss, and played black on odd boards.

After a solid start, Robert stepped into a pawn fork, lost a knight and never quite recovered. Gordon also lost a knight early on, recovered it, then lost a rook. Multiple mating threats delayed the end, but not permanently.

In the board 3 end game, Phil's opponent forced him to swap off first queens, then the last rooks, leaving the opponent with a passed pawn, but Phil managed to block this with his king while advancing his own pawns. When the dust cleared, both players were down to a single pawn, both of them en prise.

Phil Pickering seemed to be defending well but then his opponent claiemd a key knight, and the position crumbled. Meanwhile, Eric achieved the sole victory of the night, comprehensively outmanoeuvring his opponent in a queen, rook, and knight ending.

Captain's Corner

Ecclesall defaulted on the bottom two boards, giving us a good start, but it soon went sour.

We lost the toss, so played white on evens. Robert launched an early attack which looked promising, but moved his queen two squares too far, leaving a key pawn exposed, and his position crumbled.

Eric sacrificed a bishop in an attack on the castled king, but couldn't quite exploit the opening. Once he was driven back, the material disadvantage proved decisive. Ian, meanwhile, swapped off two minor pieces, then succumbed to a knight fork.

Everyone then gathered round Phil, to see if he could save the point. He had swapped down to rooks and one bishop each, on opposite coloured squares. After some manoeuvring, Phil forced an exchange of one rook pair, then advanced a passed pawn, using the promotion threat to gain Tranter's last rook.

As Phil was pressing home this advantage, Tranter's flag fell.

Captain's Corner

Stannington won the toss, and chose white on odd boards.

Eric finished first, exploiting Kennedy's lapse to gain a queen. Robert lost a pawn in an ill-judged exchange, but eventually regained it, then swapped down to an all pawn endgame, with his king better positioned, and won the promotion race.

On board three, Marek exchanged his queen for rook and bishop, putting him at a slight, but decisive disadvantage, while on board one, Phil Pickering succumbed to a knight fork.

Phil Saxby and Milan were the last to finish, by a good margin. Phil gained a bishop for two pawns, which was enough to force checkmate. Milan ended in a queen and pawns endgame, with a one pawn advantage and the clock ticking down. With neither player having a clear advantage, they accepted a draw.

Captain's Corner

Gordon stumbled in the opening, and never quite recovered. Robert castled queenside, then attacked kingside. Browning counter-attacked with queen and bishop, posing a strong mating threat, but Robert got his checks in first, revealing a discovered attack on the queen. Once this was won,victory soon followed.

On board five, Phil let his queen be pinned, luring black away from his king, which gave Phil a mate in two. Marek, meanwhile, used a promotion threat to win a bishop, swapped down to knight plus pawns vs pawns, then manoeuvred a second pawn tro inevitable promotion.

We were now three-one up, but the top boards didn't look so promising. Joel was a piece down, and under strong pressure, a position that proved untenable. Phil Pickering ended up with three pawns to five, also a decisive disadvantage.

Captain's Corner

Aughton won the toss, and played white on odd boards.

Gordon's game was close throughout, with mating threats on both side, but in the end, his king was trapped in the middle of the board, with queen and rooks blocking its flight squares. Robert lost two pawns in misjudged exchanged, but regained one. After some manoeuvring with R+BvsR+N, all pieces were swapped off, leaving Robert with a bare king against a rook pawn, drawing the game.

Phil never recovered from losing pawns, but Bill developed his pieces well, mating his opponent in the midgame with queen and rook, our only victory of the night.

Eric swapped down Q+R, with no pawn advantage, then accepted a draw. Joel advanced his rook pawn early, weakening his opponents position, but could not capitalise, ended up rook for knight down, and under time pressure, a losing position.

Captain's Corner

Bill was the first to lose, after an oversight with his Queen. Robert was next, after fumbling the sequence of moves and losing a rook for a bishop.

Eric's opponent quickly brought his queen into play, but after some careful manoeuvring, Eric trapped and won that queen, winning the game. Marek, meanwhile, went into a rook endgame a pawn down, which proved a losing disadvantage.

On the top board, once all the pieces were swapped off, Ian was left with four pawns to four - one each on the a file, four to three on the queen side. Ian's king blocked his opponent's from penetrating his lines while the pawns pushed through to promotion, and victory.

Captain's Corner

After a level start, Robert lurched into a premature attack, creating a weakness in his position which was quickly exploited. Doubled rooks claimed first a knight, then the game.

Phil had an initial advantage in development, but lost a bishop for a pawn, and then the game. Ian's game was the near opposite, with him gaining a bishop for a pawn, which proved a winning advantage.

Marek swapped down to a pure pawn endgame - two pawns each on the kingside, but four to three on the queenside, and kings on opposite sides of the board. Both players gained passed pawns, but Marek comfortably won the promotion race. Ward was left with connected passed pawns, but they weren't quite far enough forwards to counter a queen.

Milan was the last to finish. After regaining a piece in a complex exchange, he went into the endgame with even material, but a strong position, and a time advantage - 20 minutes against 5. Moon stepped in a knight fork, leaving Milan rook to bishop up, which proved enough to win.

Captain's Corner

We lost the toss, so Rotherham Juniors chose white on odds.

Board five was the first to finish. Phil gained queen for knight and bishop in an early exchange, after which victory was swift. Marek finished next, after gaining the queen via a pin on the diagonal.

Ian's game deadlocked soon after, with two pawn chain blocking all movement. Milan's king was forced off the back rank early on, ending up looking rather exposed on d3, with most pieces still on the board, but he used paired bishops to threaten mate, pushing his opponent into a pin, which won Milan the Queen, and then the game.

Board one was the last to finish. Phil had been on the defensive early on, and went into a rook and pawns two pawns down, with an inferior pawn structure. Oliver then picked up Phil's doubled pawns, increasing his advantage to three pawns, two of them passed. Phil tried bringing his king into play, but was unable to block both pawns.

Captain's Corner

We won the toss, and played white on od boards.

Marek gained a rook for bishop early on, with an attack along the long diagonal, then pressed home that advantage to force a win. Milan also won quickly. His queen, supported by a knight, threatened mate, forcing his opponent to sacrifice a rook.

On board six, Gordon gained a piece early on, but Grayson recovered, and the game ended in a draw. Robert swapped down to a knight vs bishop endgame, with equal pawns but then, while trying to get his knight out from behind his own pawn wall, he miscalculated, and went two pawns down, allowing Cobbold to push for promotion, after considerable manoeuvring.

Phil had gone a piece down early on, but put up a strong defence, at one point escaping a knight fork of his rooks by pinning the knight against Kirk's rook. However, he eventually lost on time.

meanwhile, Eric's game had come down to R+3PvsR+P. He forced a rook exchange with a pin, losing one pawn in the process. WIth promotion clearly inevitable, his opponent resigned.

Captain's Corner

Phil finished first, drawing in thirteen moves. Robert threw everything into the attack, but couldn't quite break through. As Roger was developing his counterplay, Robert slipped up, allowing a sequence of forced moves that won his queen, then resigned.

Ian was mated in the corner, with his bishop pinned, after a strong attack. Marek went first knight then rook down, and promotion threats proved insufficient to keep him in the game.

Meanwhile Oliver had gone a piece down, ending up with rook against rook and bishop, but had enough positional play to force a draw. On board one, a delicate balance of threat and counterthreat also ended in deadlock.

Captain's Corner

A default on board six put us one game up, a good start. After a quiet opening, Bill lured his opponent's queen into irrelevance, then attacked, forcing check mate with even material.

A forced bishop exchange left Milan in a weak position, with his king exposed on f7, and an open h-file. Precise play allowed him to fend off the attack, but Eddershaw eventually manoeuvred his way to a material advantage, and mate. Meanwhile, Milan had gained two pieces, but his opponent had strong mating threats. With careful play, Matrek extricated his king from immediate danger, then forced victory.

After a symmetric English opening, Eric was in a promising position when his opponents flag fell. Ian opened more aggressively, bringing his queen out early on, but Morrison's bishop was able to establish itself on his seventh rank. When the dust settled, the position was deadlocked.

Captain's Corner

Robert was the first to finish. Playing white, he first prevented the black king from castling with a knight check, then pressed forwards with queen and rooks. George tried a queen swap, but this left his rook en prise. After that, Robert swapped down, gained a bishop via a pawn fork, and delivered mate.

Gordon finished only seconds later. The position had been close for the first 30 moves, but then his queen succumbed to a pin, and the game was over. Eric meanwhile, began with a knight swap, then lined up queen and both rooks on the e file, an aggressive attack which gained a bishop. After swapping down, Eric then pushed his pawns to promotion.

Marek also began with a knight swap, but then lost a piece in the middle game, which he couldn't recover from. Milan started well, developing plentiful threats, and getting his g pawn to his 7th rank, but just when it was looking promising, he lsot on time, at move 30.

Paul was the last to finish. After an hard-fought game, both players had under five minutes left on their clocks, and Paul was a bishop down, but he pulled back to level material, leaving both player with just one rook and pawns. A flurry of moves later, John's flag fell, with Paul in a winning position.

Captain's Corner

Captain's Corner

On board four, Milan exchanged knight and bishop early on, coming out with a positional advantage, then gained a piece via a pin. His opponent's queen soon followed, giving Milan 3 wins in his first 3 matches.

Marek was the next to finish. After a midgame with both players attacking on the kingside, they ended with just rook and pawns each. After extensive manoeuvring, Basu swapped rooks off, emerging with connected passed pawns, a winning advantage.

After castling kingside, Phil established his queen on his seventh rank, generating a mate threat he used to win a bishop. He then swapped down, before bringing his rook out to deliver mte.

On board 5, Bill had gained a knight but Cobbold got two connected passed pawns as compensation. Though they had not reached the endgame, this was still a powerful threat, which Bill could not stop without sacrificing his own knight, producing an even position. Rather than play his out, they agreed a draw.

After solid early development, Eric placed strong pressure on his opponent's castled king. At one point, queen, bishop, and both rooks were all attacking g7. Attempting to escape, Wills stepped into a pin on his Queen, and Eric won, though subsequent analysis showed Wills could have checked Eric, probably forcing a draw.

On board one, Ian and his opponent swapped down to an evenly balanced bishop and rook endgame. Much subtle manoeuvring followed while the other five games finished then, with the match result no longer in doubt, they agreed a draw.

Captain's Corner

After getting tangled in one-way systems, the bottom three boards arrived twenty-five minutes late, not the best start, but despite the effective time penalty two of the three still won.

I didn't see the start of the top three games, but Oliver's ended first, his opponent having gained a decisive advantage. Milan finished next. He had a clear advantage through most of the game, then his queen and rook penetrated to the seventh rank to deliver mate.

Under steady pressure from his opponent, Gordon defended well, but lost pawns, until his position became indefensible. Marek pushed his rook aggressively early on, and gained a bishop advantage, but in a bishop versus pawns endgame, his opponent manoeuvred his way to promotion.

After an even opening, Robert boxed his opponent's Queen in with his rooks and bishop. Faced with a choice between losing a knight and a queen, Reynold instead opted to lose a rook. Robert then traded this rook for a knight and superior pawns, then pushed for promotion until Reynold resigned. (game to follow)

Eric was the last to finish. He needed to win to level the match, but after much thought it became apparent that the position was deadlocked. An A team player might have found a win but, this being the D team, a draw was agreed.

Captain's Corner

Robert's game finished early when he spotted a threat to his knight, moved to avoid it, and succumbed to a windmill attack. Soon after, Eric resigned, having reached the endgame with a decisive positional disadvantage. Ian was next to finish, resigning a bishop of rook down.

Three-nil down, but on board 6, Milan had gained a knight advantage, then swapped off pieces until Edwards resigned, a victory for our new player in his first match.

Joel was now a rook up, with a pawn of the seventh rank. When he brought out his kingside bishop, moving for the first time in the game, Moon resigned, overwhelmed by multiple mate and promotion threats.

On board one, after an even game, Andrew was forced to sacrifice his rook to prevent promotion, leaving him with two connected pawns against a rook, but Ward's flag fell.

Captain's Corner

After a slip with a Bishop, Gordon was the first to lose, but on board one Andrew adeptly countered the French defence, his queen penetrating to the 8th rank to deliver mate.

Phil retained material parity, but was out-manoeuvred. Oliver advanced his queenside pawns aggressively, but lost a bishop, and was mated.

Robert and Robbie swapped down to a pawn endgame, with two connected passed pawns each - Robert's on the a and b files, Robbie's on the f and g files. After some calculation, it became apparent that Robert would promote first, and Robbie resigned.

Marek was the last to finish. After much positional play, he gained a bishop via a pinned pawned, but Vladimir threatened perpetual check. Marek sacrificed a rook, but wasn't quite able to forestall this, and accepted the draw

Captain's Corner

Gordon began by losing a bishop, but was able to pull back, ending up a rook ahead. Robert won a rook and knight early on, then gained a second knight in a queen exchange, Q+B for Q+B+N. After that, it was just a matter of finding the quickest mate.

Our new player, Marek, developed his pieces well, then steadily pressured his opponent until he won a piece via fork.

Ian lost a knight and did not recover. Phil went into the endgame with just knight against rook and knight, but was able to out-manoeuvre his opponent for a long time, before eventually succumbing.

Andrew had a pawn on the 7th rank early on, which he traded for positional advantage. In a rook + pawns endgsme, Andrew gained a three pawn majority, then swapped a rook for the promoted pawn.

Overall, it was a victory for our team, and our new player, not a bad way to start the season