The B Team headed to Luton for its final match of the 2014/15 campaign still be able to finish as high as third, but as low as fifth in the league.
The match proved to be an intriguing contest, fought in somewhat cramped conditions in the glamorous surroundings of the back storeroom:-
- On board one Nick looked to improve on his impressive 0 % record against Andrew Perkins. Coming out of the opening his position seemed strong, and he decided to sacrifice a knight for two pawns to open up the kingside. Sadly, an attack appeared illusory and the position became too much to hold. Nick’s rueful comment was that he thought Andrew deliberately played the openings provocatively to tempt him into inopportune sacrifices as this was not the first time games had gone this way!
- Board two saw Alex up against Michael Joseph. Coming out of the opening, he had (for once) obtained a clear advantage, having opened up Michael’s kingside and seemed to have a good attack. Chess is a funny game, and a slight inaccuracy allowed queens to be exchanged and a push on the white queenside left black struggling for ideas. Despite some attempts to create weaknesses, the game petered out to a draw.
- A similar story on board three where Richard was playing Peter Montgomery. Richard managed to open up black’s kingside and appeared to have created plenty of attacking opportunities, although at the expense of plenty of holes in his position. Matters ended rather abruptly with a draw being agreed, a decision which appeared to be borne out by the post-match analysis.
- On board four, Chris, by his own admission had a very dull draw – ‘nuff said!
- The match was therefore 2.5-1.5 to Luton with only the bottom board to finish. Joe had a very level position in the middle game of his game against John Kelly and it looked like it was heading to a draw. Having negotiated the time control, Joe activated his king and expertly navigated his way through a rook and pawn ending, aided by some indecisive play from his opponent, and was able to force a pawn to queen. The rest, as they say, was just technique.
So a draw to finish the campaign, giving the Team a very creditable 10 points (and a 50% score) in Division 1, which must be the highest tally for many a year.
A Perkins 1-0 N Collacott
M Joseph 0.5-0.5 A Taylor
P Montgomery 0.5-0.5 R Bodily
M Gladysz 0.5-0.5 C Hill
J Kelly 0-1 G Valerio
Result 2.5-2.5