Marple A v Denton A

Another victory last night for the first team means that we now have more points already that we did in the whole of last season! We had a bit of an advantage grading wise, but Denton are always hard fighters and we knew it wouldn't be an easy match. First to finish just after 9pm was Daniel who, I think it's fair to say, chopped Ali Jaunooby into tiny little pieces – especially as Daniel opened 1. ...b5 2 ...Bb7 3...b4. It was a sight to behold and I do hope Daniel will send the game around.

At this stage I had a look at the games and was seriously thinking we might 6-0. Alex had sacked a piece for 2 pawns, only to then regain his piece to be 2 clear pawns up. Alan had got a great position from the opening, was material up and looked to be coasting. Glenn had had the better of the middle game and had then won an exchange. I had a very pleasant position, the type I like, with an easy to play attack and Michael also looked in control of his game.

So when the next to finish was Alan I assumed he had won – but he hadn't. Unfortunately he blundered in a won position which was bad luck having played so well up to then. However, my attack then all dropped into place and my opponent resigned when it was forced mate in 9!

Glenn then drew. Although he might still have been better his opponent had a few knight tricks up his sleeve so Glenn pragmatically took a draw which looked likely to be enough to win the match which we duly did when Alex, with a pawn nicely wedged in on b7 played a pseudo queen sacrifice followed by a pseudo rook sacrifice to win the game. His opponents flag had in fact already fallen but Alex declined to claim it – lest anyone not realise he was winning over the board anyway!!

Which left Michael, who didn't let the side down with a controlled victory in a nice position. Well done all.

Next match is two weeks on Tuesday (28^th February) away at Stockport Reds.

BD	COLOUR	MARPLE	Result	DENTON
1	B	Daniel Fernandez	1-0	Ali Jaunooby
2	W	Alex Longson	1-0	David Toole
3	B	Alan Walton	0-1	Paul Cawley
4	W	Glenn Trueman	½-½	Anthony Entwistle
5	B	Sean Hewitt	1-0	Kamran Ahmadi
6	W	Michael Fernandez	1-0	David Holt
			4½-1½

Charnley Cup Semi Final : Chorlton v Marple

We're off to Wemberley!

Well, not quite, but we have reached the final of the Charnley Cup. We knew that Chorlton would be a tough team to beat and so it proved on a bizarre evening at Chorlton (what else?).

Firstly, we were all late arriving (us and them) due to traffic around Old Trafford. All except Glenn that is, who we suspected must have left home at about 6pm! Then, after no more than 10 minutes play all you could hear was Alex's opponent wittering on about something or other that had happened to him whilst it was Alex's move! I went over to have a look but by the time I had got there he had blundered and resigned!

We were soon 2-0 up when Glenn, having cast aside his copy of 'Drawing with White' got a huge position and quickly converted. It looked good, and I hope Glenn circulates the game. As Glenn was winning, my opponent offered me a draw. I had a look at the other games before deciding. I didn't know what the heck was going on in Daniel's game - he had sacced the exchange of f3 but it looked like it was his opponent who had the raging attack. Paul was in fairly early stages still and Michael was material down so I declined. Later he offered me a second draw which I also turned down. Michael then resigned as he was now 2 pawns down without any play but Daniel had defended the attack and possibly could win! Nevertheless, a draw was agreed in a game I'd like to see Daniel show us all.

So now my opponent offered a third draw! I didn't think I could lose the position and was minded to decline but the draw now guaranteed us a place in the final on board count even if Paul lost so I accepted. In the event, Paul drew (timidly, he said. I don't believe that) so we play Stockport Blues or Buxton in the final.

Well done all.

Sean

BD	COLOUR	HOME TEAM	Result	AWAY TEAM
1	W	Hope Mkhumba	½-½	Daniel Fernandez
2	B	David Knox	0-1	Alex Longson
3	W	Philip Olbison	½-½	Paul Kirby
4	B	Dennis Owen	0-1	Glenn Trueman
5	W	Chris Vassiliou	1-0	Michael Fernandez
6	B	Alan Beresford	½-½	Sean Hewitt
			2½-3½

New January Grades

The new ECF grades have been published and are shown below

Marple A v Stockport Reds

Dear All,

The first team returned to winning ways with a convincing win against Stockport Reds. Alan was first to win with a nice game, finishing by playing b1=N+!!

Then Daniel won a very attractive looking sacrificial attack. On the way home he said it was unsound, but it looked pretty to defend against over the board to me.

I finished next. A typical boring positional game from me where I was able to sacrifice a pawn to open up lines against the opposing King for my heavy pieces. A nice tactic at the end finished it, but it wasn't particularly tricky.

As we got to the end of the night, Michael's position which looked great to me earlier did not look as good as it had. However, he had it all under control (of course) as he swapped all the pieces off and left himself a trivially winning ending.

And so we were 4-0 up with Paul and Alex adjourning. Paul looked to have a huge position throughout the game but, when he finished he was a pawn down and, having looked at the game he has since resigned. Alex was up against it for a fair bit but there is still play in it so will be resuming some time soon.

Cheers

Sean

BD		Marple	Result	Stockport Reds
1	B	Alex Longson	Adj	David Hulmes
2	W	Daniel Fernandez	1-0	Mike Taylor
3	B	Alan Walton	1-0	Crowther, Michael
4	W	Paul Kirby	0-1	Sheppard, Daniel
5	B	Sean Hewitt	1-0	Mason, Jeff
6	W	Michael Fernandez	1-0	Barber, Jill

Marple A v Buxton

A game that didn't quite go according to plan!

First to finish was Glenn, who was unable to secure any advantage and drew. Then Michael also finished when, despite being the aggressor in a Q+P ending he was unable to force anything. Then Daniel unexpectedly lost. I didn't see much of the game but he appeared to have lost his queen for rook and knight and his opponent made his advantage count. Meanwhile, I had managed to blow a nice position by playing a combination which, far from winning a pawn (as I thought) lost a piece! I managed to generate some play which looked tricky but was hopeless. So we needed Alex and Sarah to draw. Both tried valiantly and just when it looked like we might get out of jail both opponents resourcefully found draws.

Let's hope for a better result against Stockport Reds next week!

BD		Marple	Result	Stockport Reds
1	B	Daniel Fernandez	0-1	Martin Olsson
2	W	Alex Longson	½-½	Robert Shaw
3	B	Sarah Hegarty	½-½	Ron Doney
4	W	Sean Hewitt	0-1	John Rout
5	B	Michael Fernandez	½-½	Chris Sizeland
6	W	Glenn Trueman	½-½	Carl Pinel