Wednesday 2nd May

Aughton A (A)

Nomads B	5½-½	Aughton A
Stuart Crosthwaite	½-½	P Swanson
Ian Barwick	1-0	D Glossop
Kevin Marshall	½-½	J Barker
Phil Ford	1-0	J Primrose
Paul Bailey	1-0	B Williams
Eric McKenna	½-½	P Connolly

Captain's Corner

A fine result in the last match of the season. Stuart on board one as Black settled for a very quick draw in dull French Exchange. I managed to win a piece early on as White in a French Tarrasch and forced my opponent to resign after forking his King and Rook. The
other games went the distance. Ian played out an excellent Rook and pawn endgame against a higher rated opponent to earn the full point; Kev was a pawn down from early on but had enough counterplay in the endgame to earn a well deserved half point. Paul combined his King and Bishop to win some pawns and force his opponent to resign; Eric was in control on the e-file from early on and was happy to accept the draw.

Many thanks to all who turned out.

Phil Ford

Wednesday 18th April

Barnby Dun Bishops (H)

Nomads B	1-5	Barnby Dun Bishops
Graham Harrison	0-1	J Burnett
Stuart Crosthwaite	1-0	R Murray
Ian Barwick	0-1	M Simmonds
Kevin Marshall	0-1	N Mahoney
Phil Ford	0-1	P Catt
Paul Bailey	0-1	A Bramall

Wednesday 4th April

Ecclesall B (A)

Nomads B	2½-3½	Ecclesall B
Graham Harrison	0-1	K Norbury
Stuart Crosthwaite	1-0	P Ellis
Ian Barwick	½-½	S Hassani
Kevin Marshall	0-1	R Hirst
Phil Ford	0-1	J Morrison
Simon Nicholson	1-0	P Mitchell

Captain's Corner

Ecclesall had to win to avoid relegation and they came out all guns blazing. Kev had the Black pieces again and ran into the Evans Gambit - he never had chance to castle and was mated on his back rank. Ian's game looked interesting - his opponent castled queenside in a Sicilian and sacrificed a knight for three pawns - Ian later returned the favour by giving up a Bishop for some pawns - so a draw was about right. Graham suffered against Ken Norbury's Modern Defence and was material down from an early stage. Simon played the middlegame very well and was able to dominate his opponent to earn the full point. I had a good position as White in a Sicilian but allowed my opponent counterplay at a vital stage - he sacrificed a pawn for a winning attack. Stuart's game saw both players just making the regulation 30 moves as the flags were about to fall - Stuart then converted his material advantage.

Ecclesall C (A)

Mursal was in extreme time trouble in a complicated middlegame position and emerged several connected outside passed pawns down. Somehow this was transformed into two connected passed pawns up which he pushed home in a blitz ending. Masrura went into an ending a pawn up, was then a (doubled) pawn down, and agreed a draw in a level position. Graham's opponent miscalculated a sacrifice and left a Knight behind with no way out. Ian worked himself into a very strong position but with only five or six minutes for fifteen moves the win hung in the balance. He blitzed his way past a draw offer with a winning attack. You can see the game here (soon). After two and a quarter hours of balance poise and serenity Kev made the most of a small advantage in time when his opponent eventually blundered. My opponent lined up his King and Queen on an open file which gave me chance to kick a Knight to the edge of the board and pick it off with a pawn.

Clay Cross (A)

A good win for the B team after a long trip. Kev and myself both had comfortable victories on the bottom boards. Mursal was in major time trouble and his opponent was able to make the extra pawn count. Graham had an extra pawn in his endgame but it was not going to be easy to promote so a draw was about right. Stuart played his favourite French defence and in a blocked position brought his King into play and managed to win some pawns in the endgame. Ian had a slight positional advantage but his opponent clung on and the game was drawn.

Phil Ford

Worksop A (H)

Despite being a board short, Worksop went away with the points on a disappointing night for the B team. Mursal had to face a kingside pawn storm and although he had some counter play he eventually lost out to his opponent. Masura's game was finally balanced the whole way through and a draw was a fair result. Ken's game eventually settled down to a rook and pawn ending with neither side able to make a breakthrough - an early draw was agreed. Stuart was a whole piece up at one point but his opponent dug in and eventually got his rook and knight on the seventh rank - 0-1. Ian could do nothing once his opponent engineered an outside passed pawn.

Phil Ford

Aughton A (H)

Phil allowed Black a strong knight outpost in a blocked centre and was left to nudge to and fro behind his pawns. Black worked an opening on the a-file, raided with his rooks and overran Phil's position. Kev's opponent thought he'd won a pawn in 6 or 7 moves but in fact he'd lost a piece in 9 or 10. Kev then spent the rest of the night swapping off and (eventually) winning a won game. Ian seemed to be under pressure but he managed to convince us he was in fact under control, marching his c pawn to the queening square, regardless of loose pawns and knight forks. Stuart was very happy with his game and we may get a chance to see it later. Ken's game seemed to be an uneventful 1. d4 d5 draw. In response to 1. e4 Mursal played 1...d5, a mistimed tackle in the centre, and many would say it was all over at that point.

Rotherham Juniors B (A)

Worksop A (A)

An outstanding display by the B team against the previously unbeaten league leaders who fielded a strong side and outgraded us on all boards. Masrura played very well on Board 1 but just lost out in the endgame. Stuart won an early pawn in a French Exchange with Black and after weathering a strong attack he made his extra material count to earn the full point. Ian faced the Marshall Attack in the Ruy Lopez but was confident enough to give up the exchange of rook for bishop and he fully deserved the draw. After thirty minutes I glanced across at Kevin's position and saw his uncastled King facing a pawn storm with the heavy pieces poised to inflict damage but somehow he managed to weather the storm and take the full point. My position was very drawish after some middlegame exchanges and the half point was a fair return. Azmiddin won a pawn and his queenside attack was too powerful for his opponent.

Well done everyone.

Stannington A (H)

A close match to finish the year. It was very cramped in the snug bar so it was difficult to see what happened on the other boards. Simon making his debut on Board 6 won with a nice smothered mate. Kevin succumbed after losing his Queen (perhaps he shouldn't have castled?). Ian seemed to be under the cosh but pulled out a creditable draw. Both Ken and Stuart played well to earn their victories and I threw away an excellent position but fortunately the match had already been won.

Clay Cross (H)

Captain's Corner

The B team eventually prevailed in a hard fought encounter. Bill had manoeuvred his Queen and bishop into a very threatening position but he forgot that he first had to move his Queen which was under threat from a knight - 0-1. Kev played out an excellent endgame to square the match. I thought Ian looked better as Black in a Sicilian but the point went to Clay Cross - 1-2. Stuart played his favourite Milner Barry in the French with White and secured the point after a sweeping attack - 2-2. I noticed that Ken's game on top board was hard to predict so I pressed on in a drawish endgame and eventually mated my opponent with both flags about to fall - 3-2. Ken's draw gave us the half-point we needed - well done everyone!

Ecclesall C (H)

Unfortunately two Nomads B players failed to show for the match, leaving us with an uphill (though not impossible) job. My early loss on board 1 made a won match impossible and Phil's draw put us 3½-2½ down. Ian played a characteristically exciting attacking game bamboozling his opponent. Congratulations to Norman on board 6, playing and winning his first competitive match with Nomads.

Barnby Dun Bishops (A)

Captain's Corner

Although they're called Barnby Dun, the team are, more or less, the best that Doncaster can call on. So Nomads B versus Doncaster A might have been a more accurate billing. That makes the result an excellent one for us. Most of the games were hard fought affairs and could have gone either way. Ian had a tricky minor piece and pawn endgame to negotiate and Azmiddin played a dramatic rook sacrifice which didn't quite work, but guaranteed a draw. Particular congratulations to Masrura - outgraded by over 40 points on Board 1. It looked (to me) that her opponent was slowly building a winning advantage. With both players in time trouble Masrura unbalanced the position, leaving her with a rook and two pawns against her opponent's bishop pair. She stayed calm and determined to win a spectacular point. I thought Kev's comment beforehand that "we could draw the match" was just wishful thinking. I was wrong. Thanks to Phil for doing the two hour drive to and from the Other Side of Doncaster.

Rotherham Juniors B (H)

I didn't see any of the other games (and not that much of mine!) but I got the impression that the score line was a pretty fair reflection of our relative performances. There was a big crowd for the post mortem of Ian's game...I'll let Ian share any treasures that his performance contained. (Click on the score to see Ian's game). Well played everybody.

Stuart

Ecclesall B (H)

A comfortable win for the B team. Stuart said he was a bit rusty and out of practice and then proceeded to win in about 20 minutes! Both Azmiddin and Ian had straightforward wins; Mursal was a whole piece up but in a very complex middlegame he lost on time. I had a stranglehold on my opponent and managed to grind out a win which left Masrura who eventually prevailed in a thrilling endgame; she had rook and three pawns v a rook, knight and pawn and in a frantic time scramble she mated her opponent with both flags about to drop.

Phil Ford

Nomads B	2-4	Worksop A
Mursal Mohammed	0-1	J Davis
Masrura Khakimova	½-½	P Beckett
Ken Dewhurst	½-½	P Griffiths
Stuart Crosthwaite	0-1	M Clark
Ian Barwick	0-1	N Baxendale
Phil Ford	1-0	D Fault

Nomads B	4-2	Worksop A
M Khakimova	0-1	J Davis
S Crosthwaite	1-0	O Graham
I Barwick	½-½	P J Beckett
K Marshall	1-0	P Nixon
P Ford	½-½	P Griffiths
A Mohammed	1-0	M Alvin

Nomads B	3½-2½	Stannington A
K Dewhurst	1-0	R Burgin
S Crosthwaite	1-0	D Grobler
I Barwick	½-½	K Morton
K Marshall	0-1	P Locking
P Ford	0-1	R Keenan
S Nicholson	1-0	J Helliwell

Nomads B	3½-2½	Clay Cross
K Dewhurst	½-½	D Hartley
S Crosthwaite	1-0	P Kelman
I Barwick	0-1	P Williams
K Marshall	1-0	B Redhead
P Ford	1-0	L Byfleet
W Pettigrew	0-1	A Webster

Nomads B	2½-3½	Ecclesall C
S Crosthwaite	0-1	N Wragg
I Barwick	1-0	P Hoare
P Ford	½-½	P Cooper
D Fault	0-1	W Beet
D Fault	0-1	M Howarth
N Wynter	1-0	R Swindell

Nomads B	5½-½	Rotherham Juniors B
Mursal Mohammed	½-½	Alan Coupe
Masrura Khakimova	1-0	Ashley Littelwood
Ken Dewhurst	1-0	David Coupe
Stuart Crosthwaite	1-0	David McMillan
Kevin Marshall	1-0	Jonathan Ward
Phil Ford	1-0	John Littlewood

Nomads B	5-1	Ecclesall B
M Mohammad	0-1	K Norbury
M Khakimova	1-0	S Hassani
S Crosthwaite	1-0	R Hirst
I Barwick	1-0	P Mitchell
P Ford	1-0	J Morrison
A Mohammad	1-0	C Beevers

Nomads B	0-6	Stannington A
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