Played at the Navigation last evening -
Marple A V Stockport A Stockport Lge. Div. One 30/04/2015
1 A Longson 0.5/0.5 A Smith
2 J Bentley 0.5/0.5 P Siddall
3 S Hegarty 0.5/0.5 P Cawley
4 G Trueman 0.5/0.5 D Toole
5 P Kirby 0.5/0.5 A Coe
6 N Dainty 0.5/0.5 J Mason
3-3
The title of League Champions rested on the result of this match. We held the advantage inasmuch as we could even lose as long as we garnered at least 1.5 points, however there was the problem of a fixture clash for our 3'Cs players as they were playing a Manchester Cup Final against Bolton on the same evening. Fortunately Alex and John were able to play for us and I am grateful to them and Andy (Horton) for this as we were facing a severe shortage of players otherwise.
So I was in a reasonably relaxed frame of mind until I turned on my computer late on Thursday morning to discover Isaac wasn't going to be able to play. I was working in Oldham in the afternoon and it became a frantic scramble to try and find a replacement. However all the players I attempted to reach were either understandably unavailable or uncontactable.
By 6.15 we still only had five players. I then rang Neil who immediately agreed to play , even though he would be facing someone at least fourty or fifty grading points higher than him. At least we had a full team.
When Stockport arrived at the Navigation from a Marple perspective it was pleasing to see they weren't at their strongest with Andy Reeve unable to play owing to illness and Mike Taylor also unavailable. They were still a formidable team though and our overwhelming objective was to get the 1.5 points which we needed to retain the title which helps explain what followed.
John led the way when he played very solidly against Phil Siddall and then offered a draw.After some thought Phil accepted. Alex then followed suit by very exact play with Black reaching a position where Alan Smith could see no way to play for a win. Like Phil, Alan similarly agreed to a draw proposal.
We were half a point from the title. Sarah had faced a very interesting opening from Paul Cawley. He had played a set up based on d4,Bf4 and Nc3. When I started playing chess this would have been considered very bizarre but recent games by Baadur Jobava amongst others have shown just how dangerous this line can be. Sarah always seemed to have enough play to me to be at least equal and she too offered a draw - but Paul played on. My game with Dave Toole had been enlivened by a very surprising pawn sac from Dave. He was understanably trying to obtain a random position with Black to create winning chances. It wasn't really sound though and I thought I had a clear plus. I then totally overlooked a Knight move from Dave.Computer analysis shows I still had a very nice response, but I didn't see that either. What I played led to a reasonably level game with Dave reclaiming his pawn. I offered a draw but Dave politely declined.
Meanwhile Neil playing a much higher graded opponent had emerged from his trusty Vienna Gambit with what seemed to me some advantage. He then played a very nice line where Jeff could have gone pawn grabbing but it would ultimately have cost him a Bishop. As played a position was reached where Jeff was actually a pawn up but with a pretty grim pawn structure (a7,a6,c6,e4) and an inferior Bishop.Neil could legitimately have played on with good prospects of a full point. But putting the team first he made what I thought was a beautifully timed draw offer which put Jeff in a terribly quandary. Ultimately he decided he had to accept.We had won the title and Neil had secured the winning half point!
Shortly afterwards Dave offered me a draw which I accepted and then Sarah also drew against Paul (Cawley).
So it was left to our Paul to try and ensure we went through the season unbeaten. He had faced a c4,g3 system from Andy Coe which he seemed to know well. Paul was very resilient though and eventually a draw by repetition was agreed. The match had finished drawn 3-3.This was the first chess match I have ever played in where every game was drawn, a perhaps appropriate way for me to celebrate my first title as a chess captain in over thirty years.
Many thanks to all who have played and drove througout the season, its not all over yet though - the Charnley Cup Final is at Holmes Chapel next Thursday.
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