[Alex writes his own headlines! – Ed]
The recent flurry of inter-Bedford matches reached its final leg with a meeting between the C and D teams. Once again the teams looked evenly matched – very evenly matched as it turned out, with Abigail missing for the Ds, and me deciding to give myself the evening off by way of balance.
| Board | Rating | Bedford D | V | Bedford C | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1606 | Gill, Peter S | ½ – ½ | Shields, Callum T | 1747 |
| 2 | 1500 | Avern-Love, Andrew | ½ – ½ | Darmendra, Shivadharshan | 0000 |
| 3 | 1445 | Evans, Andy | ½ – ½ | Walker, Nigel B | 1446 |
| 4 | 1344 | Dairi, Mahmoud | 1 – 0 | Hylton, Cedric | 1300 |
| 5 | 0966 | Dairi, Daniella | ½ – ½ | Graf, Francesco | 0000 |
| Total | 6861 | 3 – 2 | 4493 |
Shiva and Andy (Avern-Love) were the first to finish on board 3. Entering a closed position out of Slav defence, Andy lined up his pieces on the board’s only open file but Shiva was able to neutralise the threat, leading to a liquidation of all the heavy pieces and a very drawn-looking bishop ending. Andy apparently missed a chance to win a pawn, though it is unclear whether that would have been decisive – in any case, the draw was swiftly agreed.
Peter has quietly been building an impressive unbeaten run these past few months, which as of the beginning of this match stretched to ten games. His game against Callum on top board provided continued this trend – Callum seemed unable to get any advantage at all with the white pieces as the game once again drifted towards gridlock and the exchanging of pieces. Callum did find an opportunity to take the game into a queen-versus-two-rooks position, but this did not yield an advantage for either side as the point was split.
Clearly fed up of the soporific action on the other boards, Mahmoud put in a captain’s innings on board 4 as he launched an assault on Cedric’s king. He may have had a forced checkmate available, but having not found the absolute strongest move instead found a path where he picked up two pieces – more than enough to win. He had perhaps not counted on Cedric playing all the way to the bitter end, but it was only a matter of time and the end came eventually.
Andy (Evans) and Nigel played out yet another draw on board 3, that I didn’t see too much of. This one was always likely given how evenly matched the players are, as well as in my experience both of them tending to prefer a cagier, lower-risk approach to chess. I don’t think either of them ever looked they had a significant edge.
So this left the bottom board, where Daniella and Francesco locked horns yet again in what I hope is a rivalry that will encourage both of them to continue to grow. This one looked pretty even up until the late middlegame, when Francesco wandered into a crushing pin. Daniella won an exchange and had an objectively winning position, but got herself into some quite serious time trouble. Aware of the results on the other boards, and in keeping with the tone of the evening, she pragmatically offered a draw rather than risking a game-losing blunder; and Francesco accepted, giving the overall win to the D team.
One more note off-the-board – I have recently learned that Cedric is moving to London in a few months, and he has other priorities he needs to focus on between now and then, so I have agreed to retire him from the C team. Thank you Cedric for playing for us, you took to the task with gusto, and best of luck going forward!
Alex Potts, 1st February 2026