Sheffield Nomads Chess Club

Captain's Corner

The Richardson Cup Final; Sheffield's finest battling it out over six boards. It's supposed to be tough, and it was. We were missing Jon Nelson, they were missing Simon Buckley, but there was no shortage of quality players on offer and two formidable teams faced off, slugging it out for the silverware.

We were slightly outgraded over the boards, but at this level no games are easy, and cup matches have a habit of upsetting the statisticians. As might be expected the early stages were a bit cagey and Jonathan and I led the way with a safety first approach: draw in 17. Andy then demonstrated that he really is beginning to master the Modern, castling into the space left by his advancing kingside pawns. And it worked, he won a nice game with his pieces swarming over Tristram's kingside. Geoff had seemed to have the upper hand, but when his advantage dissipated bailed out with a draw. So 2-1 to us at the half-way stage.

Jeremy had seemed to be faring well against Mithun's Morra Gambit, but time was a factor and he was forced to take a draw. Which left Mohammad and Chris to bring home the point needed. Mohammad had lost a pawn early on but was battling valiantly; pawns are a trifle when you play like Mohammad! But it was Chris who eventually brought us that elusive point, with a finely played positional game. Prasun felt obliged to sacrifice for counterplay but Chris quietly took the material and when Prasun walked into a fork was obliged to resign. Mohammad's brave battling proved to no avail as he eventually lost (maybe he should have sacrificed a piece like Kevin does?), but the final score was 3.5-2.5 and we'd retained the Richardson Cup.

A fine campaign by all involved, including those who didn’t play in the final. If we win it three in a row can we keep it?

Captain's Corner

We had our strongest cup team out, which, considering our analogous previous fixture in the league, had me a bit worried! In the early stages the match seemed fairly balanced: Jon seemed to have equalised easily in a Bishop’s Opening; Chris had pushed most of his pawns and seemed to have an edge with far more space; I was involved in a strategic Najdorf; Jeremy’s Maroczy bind seemed to be working well; Mohammad had seized the initiative against his opponent’s passive looking King’s Indian Attack; and Andy also seemed to have an initiative, which he was using to generate play against his opponent’s kingside.

Then things went slightly awry! Chris overlooked a tactic and ended up a pawn down in an ending, struggling to hold it. And Andy’s decision to sacrifice the exchange was looking somewhat optimistic. So, things were a little tense, with no games seeming likely to finish before the time control.

I’m not sure the order in which things happened, my own game proving a little distracting. But Chris managed to hold his endgame. Andy’s optimistic play failed to generate sufficient momentum and he lost. Jon went down in an endgame which had looked quite level. But Jeremy and Mohammad had both converted their advantages: Jeremy crashing though on the kingside, and Mohammad’s active play picking up a pawn and, soon after, the game. This made it 2.5-2.5, with me needing to win. I was blissfully unaware of the match situation, but managed to secure the point that the rest of the team knew was needed, with my time advantage and niggling pressure proving the crucial factors in a game that had seemed quite balanced for long periods.

3.5-2.5 was the final result. We have University in the final and, no doubt, a titanic struggle lying ahead...

Captain's Corner

The quarter-finals of the Richardson and an away trip to SASCA, with them employing the ‘very small chairs’ gambit. We were forced to accept the gambit but fought valiantly and sped into an early lead with Andy winning quickly. Oliver contrived to lose a key pawn in a promising looking position which soon made it 1-1. However, with Jeremy calmly swapping queens and demonstrating his superior endgame technique, and Jon crashing through against Evie’s king our lead was re-established; and when I managed to recover from a dubious middlegame position to win the match was all over. At this point Chris was clearly winning with a completely dominating position, and turned down a draw offer pressing for the win. However, with his flag rising it proved elusive and he eventually lost on time. So, 4-2 was the final result, with a semi-final against Ecclesall looming...

Captain's Corner

Chesterfield are always a tough proposition, but we had a strong team out and were looking forward to an entertaining contest. The early stages were a bit cagey with most boards looking very close and it was hard to predict the outcome. As usual when two strong teams face off a little bit of luck might be all that separates them…

As the time control approached my own game got quite complicated. I had gone for an optimistic kingside attack and had built up considerable pressure with rooks doubled on the h-file. Engrossed in trying to figure out the complications I didn’t see much of what happened on the other boards. My attack fortuitously broke through and my opponent resigned just after the time control was reached. By this time Jon had also won, demonstrating with Bb5 that 2.c3 isn’t all he can play against the Sicilian. Jeremy had won a nice positional game in an English, keeping his opponent’s central pawns well under control all the time. Mohammad had very uncharacteristically blundered an exchange and lost, but it was 3-1 and the tie-break favoured us so the two remaining games were played for pride. Chris seemed to be under a bit of pressure with his opponent having a strong central passed pawn, but when queens came off his knight proved more agile than the bishop it faced and he showed good endgame technique to win. The game of the night was taking place on six though, where Geoff had given a piece for a mighty passed pawn on the seventh rank. Unfortunately the complications were proving to be unfathomable and he eventually overstepped the time limit. A lengthy post-mortem with lots of interested bystanders couldn’t figure them out either, so I guess Fritz will have the final say. So, 4-2 final result, and our cup defence is on track…