Wednesday 6th May

Ecclesall D (A)

Captain's Corner

We went into this game with our position in the division guaranteed.  Win, lose or draw, we'd still end up fourth, a comfortable position.  After winning the toss, we  played white on evens.   Ian began with strong pressure on e5, forcing his opponent into a cramped position. After castling, a threatened mate with queen and bishop  allowed Ian to win a piece, followed by steady pressure, and our first  win of the night.   Eric swapped off minor pieces early on, then gained a pawn with a pin.  Howarth tried swapping queens to reduce the pressure, but lost  material in the exchange. Eric then delivered mate using both rooks  and both bishops, two of them being en prise, and two of them each  pinning a key white piece.   On board one, Andrew also swapped the minor pieces off, then won  a bishop in the queen exchange. After further simplification, he was left with  rook, bishop and pawns vs rook and pawns, which was enough to force  promotion, and gain the victory.   Phil was the last to finish. His opponent had played the Torres attack, but material remained even right to the endgame - 1 rook each, opposite  squared bishops, and pawns. For a time it looked like Phil might win,  but these positions are notoriously drawish, so in the end he settled  for the half point

Robert

Friday?! 24th April

Rotherham Juniors C (A)

Captain's Corner

Gordon's opponent brought her queen out too early, and succumbed to a treble knight fork. Checkmate followed swiftly. Robert's game was even into the endgame, with near symmetrical positions. He did have the chance to gain a bishop, but passed it up, suspecting a trap that wasn't there. Finally, it came down to a pawn only end-game, with a one pawn a advantage, just enough to force promotion.

At this point, Phil Pickering had a strong position. He missed a chance to delivered mate in three with a rook sacrifice, but still dominated the board.

On board 3, Eric gained a bishop early on, then proceeded smoothly to checkmate the only adult player.  On board one, Andrew swapped off rooks and both knights, then out-manoeuvred Heather.  Phil Saxby gained a pawn early on, but then lost a piece. His opponent penetrated on the h-file, giving our only loss of the night.

This just left Phil Pickering to finish. He'd ended up in a rook and pawn endgame - 3 pawns to 1, but Francesca was able to capture his surplus pawns then force a rook swap, leading to a draw.

Robert

Wednesday 8th April

Rotherham Juniors C (H)

Captain's Corner

We played Rotherham Juniors at home, white on even boards.

Ian won in 12 moves, after his opponent succumbed to a knight fork on their queen.

There were early fireworks on board four, when Phil  delivered discovered check via an en passant capture, then captured the black queen on the back rank with the same pawn, as part of a queen swap. A later exchange left Phil a Bishop up, then he swapped down to K+2P v K, and marched a second pawn to promotion.

On board 6, Gordon had a early pawn deficit, but spotted a weakness in black's position. After castling, they had advanced the g pawn, giving their king a a flight square on f7 to prevent back rank mates, but Gordon had a bishop on the long diagonal. He initated a mass exchange of of pieces, which cleared the diagonal, then delivered mate with his rook on the back rank.

On board 5, both players opened aggressively. White castled, but Joel sacrificed a bishop to clear pawns from around the white king, then moved in with his queen, supported by his remaining bishop. Mate quickly followed.

The only loss of the night came on board 2, where Eric slipped up in a drawish position - knight + pawns vs knight + pawns. On board one, after a quiet start Phil used a pin to win two bishops. After some further manoevring, Phil delivered check with a bishop, revealing an attack on the white queen. The white king took Phil's bishop, but Phil's queen captured the queen, winning the exchange, and white resigned.

Robert

Monday 16th March

SASCA B (A)

Captain's Corner

Robert lost an early exchange, rook for knight, and was quickly mated. Gordon lasted slightly longer, but lost a rook when his queen was skewered, and could not recover. On board 2, Eric also lost material, but regained it, finishing up in a queen and pawns end game. After some manoeuvring, a draw was agreed. Meanwhile, Ian and Brijmohun swapped down to a NvN endgame, with 6 pawns each. They too agreed a draw. Phil Saxby had a close game throughout, ending up with bishops and pawns in a promotion race, but he got into time trouble. One move short of promoting with check, he slipped up, and the game was lost. Phil Pickering also had time trouble, but so did his opponent. Both had only seconds on the clock at the 30 moves mark, and when the game finished. Emily opened aggressively, and gained material, leaving Phil on the defensive for most of the game, but during the second time scramble he was able to outplay her. Eventually, she resigned, with scant seconds left on her clock, giving us our sole victory of the night.

Robert

Tuesday 24th February

University B (H)

Captain's Corner

Phil P was first to finish, after an error gave his opponent the game. Andrew castled kingside, then swapped down to a draw. Eric also drew, from a lost position. Gordon gained an early material advantage, capturing the queen with a knight fork. Krasina clawed back the some of the lost material, but was left with weak pawns. Gordon sacrificed his final rook to get a won pawn-only endgame. Robert overlooked a potential pin, and tried to skewer his opponent's bishops instead, but eagerness lost him a knight. Robert picked up a pawn, then tried the same attack again, and it worked. Owen lost both bishops, so Robert swapped off rooks, giving a trivial win. The last player to finish was Phil S, who ended up with just pawns against two knights. After some positional play, he ran out of options.

Robert

Tuesday 24th February

Clay Cross B (A)

Captain's Corner

We won toss, and played white on odd boards.

Gordon developed his pieces well, and had a won position, but then slipped up, and couldn't recover.

Robert miscalculated an exchange, ending up with a rook and 2 pawns against a knight and bishop, then put his rook where it could be trapped. Paul overlooked this second error, and made 2 errors of his own. When Robert promoted the second queen, it was all over.

Ian ended up in a N v B endgame with even pawns, and agreed a draw. Phil Saxby mistepped in a king and pawn endgame, leaving us one down. 

Andrew, left with rook, bishop, and pawns, swapped off the bishop, gaining a 1 pawn advantage in the process, then out-manoeuvred Myhill, who was in time trouble, levelling the score.

On board 2, an earlier misjudgement had left Phil Pickering with 6 pawns, including two pairs of doubled pawns, against a rook and 2 pawns. This proved just enough to force promotion, and a win for the team.

Robert

Wednesday 18th February

SASCA C (H)

Captain's Corner

We won 5-1, white on odd boards

Ian and Phil Pickering both had swift wins, Phil gaining a queen in the opening.  Eric and his opponent castled on opposite sides, then swapped down, but Eric came out ahead. Joel went a rook down, but delivered mate with bishops and pawns, in the middle of the board. Robert stumbled in the opening, then was offered a draw in a tangled position, but played on, only to lose a rook and, eventually, the game. Phil Saxby swapped down to rooks and pawns, then won through superior positional play.

Robert

Wednesday 28th January

Stannington B (H)

Captain's Corner

After some last minute substitutions, we won the toss, and played white on odd boards. Oliver went rook for knight down, but was able to force mate, while Andrew cruised to victory. Phil gained a pawn early on but eventually succumbed, and Bill slipped up under time pressure. Gordon swapped down to a king and pawns endgame. Phil Haley had doubled pawns, but he also had a one pawn advantage, which proved enough to force victory. With the first five games resolved, Robert was left playing for the point. He had begun with a strong attack on Lance's kingside, gaining a bishop, but wasn't able to force immediate mate. Instead, Lance forced him to swap down to a bishop and pawns vs pawns ending. After considerable manoeuvring, Robert was able to promote. Overlooking a mate in two, he went about winning the slow way. A few move later, Lance resigned, one move from checkmate, with just one minute left on Robert's clock.

Robert

Wednesday 7th January

Woodseats B (H)

Captain's Corner

Joel, a new player, was the only victor. He lost an early exchange, rook for knight, but stayed in the game gradually squeezing his opponent. After a quiet opening, Gordon lost his queen, but was able to use a promote threat to tie up Amos's rook, and recapture two other pieces. Robert lost a rook for a bishop early on, but recaptured with the Queen, taking control of the long a1-h8 diagonal. Moon was forced to castle kingside to save his rook, then spent the next 30 moves fending off multiple attacks, before eventually finding his way to victory. Afterwards, he asked if it had been a deliberate sacrifice of material for position, but we don't do that in the D team. Eric played a quiet game, which meandered to an uneventful draw. Phil lost two pawns early on, which was enough for Jones to win. Meanwhile, Andrew played a dynamic game. During the middle game, the black root penetrated to his back rank, but proved to be too exposed. It looked like he was about to win, but Ward managed to find a draw.

Friday 19th December

Sheffield Deaf (A)

Captain's Corner

Phil Saxby's opponent resigned after 13 moves. He was only one piece down, but Phil looked so confident. Eric and Phil P both had even games, which they drew without incident. The remaining three players, Ian, Robert, and Gordon all ended up in King and pawn endgames, with three different results.

Gordon and Dingsley both had an equal number of pawns on the queenside but, but Dingsley also had isolated passed pawn on the kingside, allowing him to  force promotion. Robert had two pawns to one,  but  they were not connected. Simmons was able to block the passed pawn and force a draw. (Pawns on f4, f5 & h5) After much manoeuvring, Ian and Eibson both promoted to Queen on the same turn, but then Ian skewered Eibson's King, winning the new Queen, and the game.

Robert

Wednesday 10th December

SASCA B (H)

Captain's Corner

Sasca won the toss, and were white on odd boards.

Robert gave a knight away under pressure on the kingside, and was slow developing his Queenside, but Suneet marooned his Queen on the Queenside, well away from both kings, giving Robert breathing space. After some manoeuvring,  Robert forked both Suneet's rooks. Checkmate followed quickly.

After what seemed a solid opening, Eric's position collapsed. Ian lost an exchange, knight for rook, and was not able to recover. Simon's opponent  sacrificed a bishop on e6, allowing her to double Queen and Rook, a positional advantage that let her force a quick victory. (Aided by the fact that Simon hung his queen to the amusement of the watching crowd.)

Phil Saxby swapped down to a R vs B endgame. He had one more pawn, and his were better positioned, small advantages which he pressed home. His victory made the score 3-2. The last player to finish was Phil Pickering, who had blundered away a knight in the middle game. Despite a strong defence, he eventually succumbed.

Robert Shaw

Wednesday 26th November

Clay Cross B (H)

Captain's Corner

We were white on even boards.

With two of our new members laid low, we called in Paul Bailey, then waited to see if Clay Cross could find us.

Robert was the first to win, somehow. After forgetting knights can move backwards, he lost a rook, knight, and bishop for nothing but played on, taking comfort from some of his opponents odder moves. Alan tried to protect an indefensible knight, and failed, allowing Robert to create a mating threat. Alan defended against this inaccurately, and was promptly mated. (Game to follow later)

Bill opened with the King's Gambit. His opponent doubled rooks on the e file, then swapped down to a B v N endgame. After missing
some chances, he agreed to a draw. Eric developed his pieces well, attacking with both rooks and the queen. Under this pressure, Will
blundered away his queen and resigned.

Phil gained a rook for a knight early on, then swapped down to R+R+pawns vs R+N + pawns and delivered checkmate. Andrew applied steady pressure to his opponent, also delivering checkmate. Paul was the last to finish. His opponent had a slight material advantage but was unable to penetrate Paul's defences and lost on time.

Robert

Monday 17th November

SASCA C (A)

Captain's Corner

Phil Pickering went into the endgame a knight up, then successfully promoted a pawn. Eric applied steady pressure to his opponent,
gradually gaining material, until his opponent resigned.

Phil Saxby castled kingside early on. The position looked fairly even, but then Phil revealed a discovered attack on the Queen which lead to checkmate in 3 moves. Gordon lost a rook, but a quiet pawn move let him bring his bishop off the back rank. Checkmate followed, a few forced moves later, with his bishop and queen working together very effectively.

Robert and his opponent swapped off most of their pieces, going into the end game with rook and pawns against rook and pawns. Robert began with a one pawn advantage, and slightly better pawn structure. After some manoeuvring he gained 2 more pawns, then created a promote threat, forcing decisive material gain - his first victory this season.

Andrew's was the last game to finish. He had gained a rook for a knight early on, then extended this  material advantage to a full piece, but a slight mis-step allowed his opponent to conjure up a promotion threat, forcing loss of material so he settled for a draw.

Robert

Wednesday 5th November

Ecclesall D (H)

Captain's Corner

Phil Pickering deadlocked soon after the opening, and agreed a draw. Eric quickly swapped off both rooks and a bishop, leaving him with a positional advantage, allowing his eventual win. Ian had a strong kingside attack, getting his Queen to h1, but his opponent evaded checkmate and swapped down, leading to a draw. Phil Saxby swapped off both knights early, then was outmanoeuvred.

Robert and Mitchell opened with the Giuoco Piano. Robert had the stronger attack, so Mitchell began swapping pieces off, ending up with K+7P vs K+7P. One side may have had a win with precise play, but this isn't the A team; they agreed a draw. Gordon gained a knight early on, but was unable to capitalise on this since his extra knight was stuck behind a pawn barrier. His queen was in trouble for a while but after Beevers overlooked a bishop move Gordon was able to rescue it. Once Beevers ran out of checks, Gordon piled on the pressure. Faced with further material loss, Beevers resigned.

Robert

Monday 27th October

Stannington B (A)

Captain's Corner

Andrew's game was close throughout, but superior positional play won. Phil gained a rook for a knight early on, which was enough of an advantage to see him through. Eric outmanoeuvred his opponent. I lost a rook early on in a tangled position. Mating threats kept George on the defensive for a while, but couldn't stymie him forever. Gordon castled too late, and lost material protecting his exposed king.

The last player to finish was Ian Copley, who had three pawns against a knight and two pawns. Ian pushed the two connected passed kingside pawns, creating a promote threat, which forced Luke to give up his knight, then moved his king over to the queenside, where it captured both Luke's pawns, leaving Ian with a won K+P vs K endgame.

Robert

Monday 6th October

Woodseats B (A)

Captain's Corner

We won the toss and had white on odds.

On the top 3 boards we were comprehensively outgraded. On board 1 Phil Pickering, though outgraded by 40 points, was able to maintain a fairly even position for a while, but eventually made a minor slip. On board 2, Eric (101) drew with W Ward (137), after swapping off Q+2N for Q+N+B early on. On board 3, I opened poorly, and came under pressure on the kingside. After I escaped from that, we swapped down to a rook and bishop end game, at which point I blundered.

Ian had material parity throughout, but swapped down to a knight and pawns end game. His opponent resigned once it was clear he could force promotion. Phil Saxby lost narrowly after some positional play. Gordon's opponent failed to develop his pieces, and his position was congested. Gordon took full advantage of this, gaining two minor pieces early on, then swapping down to a won endgame.

Robert

Thursday 2nd October

University B (A)

Captain's Corner

I won the toss, and played White on odd boards. Paul beat Azmiddin who blundered in a bad position in mutual time trouble. Eric seemed under pressure most of the evening and eventually succumbed. Norman, for much of his game, had 3 minor pieces against a queen. Over the course of the evening this resulted in a totally lost ending a rook down. 

I got a knight trapped in the middle of the board, but my opponent gave away a rook. Knock on effects of losing the knight meant me losing 2 other pieces - thus ending up a bishop down. More precisely, he covered he was attacking 7 of the 8 flight squares for the knight, which I realised. I was thinking I could make developing moves, then retreat the knight to the 8th square when he attacked, but when I did that he was able to move his knight attacking one of my pieces, while also revealing an attack by his bishop on my queen. Saving my queen lost me the other two pieces. In the end he had a bishop and 6 pawns against 6 pawns - with each of us missing only the d and e pawns. On the queenside, I was able to capture 3 pawns for 2, leaving me one up, but then he got his king over to the other pawns before I could, and gained a passed pawn. The final endgame was bishop and pawns versus pawns.

Ian was under strong pressure on the queenside, but successfully defended, eventually doubling his rooks on the 7th rank, then using a promote threat to lure the knight away from the black king, allowing him to force mate. Phil and his opponent were even until the endgame, when Phil gained a piece, which proved a winning advantage.

Robert