Alex says that no-one wants to re-live this and I couldn’t agree more!
For the record….
Bedford B faced Luton in their first match of 2018.
The early excitement was cause by Richard testing out Luton’s new location, forgetting that we were at home. Fortunately, he made it to Bedford with four minutes to go before he technically defaulted (although his opponent and Michael had generously agreed not to claim it in any event!).
Things rapidly went downhill for the team. Marc was under pressure early in his game and his position looked very difficult. Sadly an oversight meant that he dropped a piece and duly resigned.
Matters were not much better for me on Board 2. After a solid opening, things rapidly went downhill and an oversight cost a vital pawn and rapidly the game. So in the blink of an eye it was 2-0 to Luton.
Despite giving up nearly half an hour of time Richard played an impressive game on Board 3. An early d5 in a Sicilian allowed him to free his position and simplify the game by getting queens off. His bishop pair and knight were far too active for his opponent, which led to him winning a pawn. Against accurate play and under pressure his opponent gave away a piece and the game.
Steve endured one of those horrible games we have all played. Under pressure early on, he shed a pawn and saw his kingside pawn structure shattered which always gave Peter the advantage. The win of a second pawn and the exchange of queens meant that it was always going to be very difficult to hold. Peter ground on and eventually Steve ran out of ploys and the game was lost.
Nick’s game on Board 4 was the last to finish and was the most topsy-turvy. In the middle game Nick had a shattered kingside and had to shed the exchange. This did give Nick an active bishop pair and he managed to win three pawns for the exchange and it looked like the table were turning. In the ending Nick missed a neat trick which saw his opponent simplify the position. Despite pawn majorities on both sides of the board, Nick was not able to make progress, mainly because of the weaknesses in the kingside structure and a draw was agreed.
Overall a 3.5-1.5 loss, which tightens up the league (except Leighton Buzzard A); indeed leaves the A Team currently bottom.
The Bedford derby is up next, with much more than bragging rights up for grabs.