Tuesday 10th March

Woodseats I (N)

Captain's Corner

Having somehow managed to find our way through to the final of the Cup, we turned up at the Abbey to do battle with our perennial rivals Woodseats.  And, thanks to Bill Ward’s able organisation, it was a memorable night, with two strong teams facing off, a tense but friendly atmosphere, and a generous buffet provided by our hosts…the way a final should be!

My game was first to finish, I successfully countered  Alan’s natural attacking flair with a rather quiet approach to the Benko, and in time trouble, while trying to generate some play against my king,  he forgot about his en prise rook on the queenside, so we were 1-0 up. Jon was up against it on board one though, and was unable to make any inroads against Andrew’s solid approach to his Pirc. Andrew slowly improved his position and pushed through in the centre for a nice win.  So, 1-1.

Three of the other four boards were looking comfortable for us, and at this point I was hopeful.  The exception was Andy, who had sacrificed a pawn for a strong initiative and a big passed pawn on f6, but it was really wild stuff, and in the end he had to bail out for a draw. Jeremy played a very smooth positional game, with his strongly centralise knight on d4 proving more than a match for his opponent’s hemmed-in white-squared bishop, and when he mopped up a couple of pawns in a NvB ending, the win wasn’t long coming. So, 2.5-1.5, just one more point needed…

At this stage it looked like Haidar was winning and Chris drawing. But Chris disagreed with this evaluation, and, having had a slight edge in space and piece activity for most of the game, he persevered in what seemed like a totally drawn bishop ending, probing his opponent’s defences and making him think, and his determination was eventually rewarded when his opponent allowed Chris’s king to penetrate his position, and he had to resign shortly after. And, in fact, Haidar drew his game, opting to force the draw in a queen ending where he was a pawn up, and the match finished 4-2 in our favour.

An excellent finish to our cup campaign. Thanks to all the squad who contributed to it. Now, we can focus on the league…

Kieran

Thursday 12th February

Wombwell (A)

Captain's Corner

We were definitely favourites for this one, but against a team that were playing well, fighting to win Div. 3 and having reached the semi-final of the cup, you can’t take anything for granted! And indeed, I think the score flattered us a bit…

On one Jon swapped queen’s early and managed to get a knight into d6, but when he was forced to exchange it for the undeveloped c8-bishop it was clear things hadn’t gone entirely to plan! He managed to generate some play down the centre files though and eventually broke through for the win.  On two my opponent played a very solid English, against which my hedgehog set-up achieved nothing at all. It was only thanks to an unfortunate blunder by my opponent, as usual on the last move before the time control, that I managed to bring home the point. Chris showed us how it should be done on three, storming through the centre of the board with his pawns; he won a piece and finished it shortly after.  On four Andy played a nice game, generating some pressure on the q-side but switching nicely for a mating attack on the k-side. On five, joining the ranks for the first time, Andrew faced a Scandinavian Gambit, and soon found himself facing some very active looking black pieces. He was forced to jettison the exchange but fought valiantly and managed to generate some counterplay; and, thanks to a very well-timed draw offer in what seems to have been a lost position, managed to salvage half a point. On six, our other new recruit, Paul, seemed to be doing well with a very strong centre. But it proved difficult to make progress and with his centre in danger of becoming static and potentially weak, settled for the half point too.

So…5-1, a good result which we were very happy with! And the final beckons…

Kieran

Wednesday 14th January

University I (H)

Captain's Corner

Having lost to them in the league the previous week, I certainly wasn’t relishing the prospect of facing University, with their top heavy squad, in the Cup. Fortunately they were missing their top two boards, and Andy easily dispatched their very weak bottom board, D Fault, giving us an early lead. 

It still wasn’t easy! I managed to go the exchange down on the top board, with very little in the way of compensation, and Jon was also a clear pawn down on bd.2. Our other three played a bit more sensibly, thankfully, and both Jeremy and Haidar managed to score deserved wins. Chris unfortunately lost from an easily winning position, but, with Jon and I both somehow managing to draw our games, we came away with a 4-2 victory. And, all things considered…we were happy with that! 

Kieran

Monday 10th November

SASCA II (A)

Captain's Corner

This was a real youth versus experience match. Looking at the assembled teams as they sat across from each other, I wasn’t sure if the grading differences or the age differences were greater! In this case experience told… Our youthful opponents fought hard, and played admirably sensible chess, but as time went by the wily old dogs of Nomads I used their years (centuries?) of combined experience to bring the points home. I wouldn’t bet on a repeat of this result in a couple of years though!

Kieran

Wednesday 15th October

Woodseats II (H)

Captain's Corner

Well, of the possible results…this one is the most pleasant to report! 6-0, not bad…I would just let the result speak for itself, but I don’t want to let the team get too complacent, so…I hope everyone’s paying attention…I expect better next time! J

Kieran

07/08 matches are in the archives