B1 Chris Ross 1-0 Giuseppe Valerio
B2 Eva Ressell ½-½ Gerry Nolan
B3 Dave Curran ½-½ Peter Gill
B4 S Ashley 1-0 Nigel Staddon
B5 D Lindsay ½-½ Peter Housden
Result 3½-1½
This was our worst result in the league so far this year and ironically against a team we beat comprehensively earlier in the season. Admittedly, the Northampton team was a lot stronger than in our earlier match, but still not the strongest we’ve met this year.
Peter G was first to finish. Peter’s opponent reckons to have played about 1,000 games with his unusual version of the Scandinavian, and drawn most of them. Peter couldn’t unlock the defence, pieces were steadily swapped off and the advantage swung from one to the other, but only marginally, until an early draw was agreed and they went to the bar.
My game finished next. I had some pressure throughout, but not enough to make much impact. My opponent managed to get herself into a desperate situation with only seconds left and 8 moves to meet the first time control. Sadly, the position was fairly simple by then and when she successfully made the time control, the position was dead level and we agreed a draw.
Nigel had a game that was relatively even throughout, but his opponent managed to grab a passed Pawn which was advanced without much opportunity to prevent it, as the material was seriously reduced by then. Queening was inevitable, so that gave the advantage to Northampton.
Peter H had an interesting game of fluctuating fortunes. His opponent was finally able to reach a strong position, which forced Peter’s King onto the back rank, but despite winning a pawn, the presence of opposite coloured Bishops was enough to earn a draw.
Finally, Giuseppe had volunteered to be the sacrificial lamb and be ritually disembowelled by Chris Ross. The game was initially fairly quiet from both sides, but in the middle game Chris was able to grab first one Pawn, then a second one. By the end, there was a passed Pawn that would have probably been impossible to stop, but Chris created a tactic that won a piece and with it the game, as Giuseppe had only seconds left against Chris’s 15 minutes.
So a bad result overall, but as I’ve said before, fortunately there’s no relegation from Division 2!