Escape

Played at Denton Chess Club last evening,

Denton A           V       Marple A   Stockport Lge Div One   09/12/2015

1 S Thestrup     1-0     Default
2 P Lopez          0-1     M Fernandez
3 T Hilton      0.5/0.5   A Walton
4 K Celinsky    0-1      I Craft
5 J Eversley     1-0      Default
6 D Holt         0.5/0.5   P Kirby

                          3-3 

Prior to the match I was pleased that six very strong Marple players wanted to play. It meant that I could help out with the juniors at Ashton Chess Club. Fate however was to take an unfortunate grip on proceedings. Sarah and Alex left their house at 7pm -the journey, which would normally take around twenty minutes, ended up taking over ninety owing to a fire, a police chase and an overturned lorry.By the time they finally arrived at Denton it was simply too late, they had been defaulted.So Marple were 2-0 down and to make matters even worse had Black in three of the four games that were able to be played.
I arrived about 9.30 just in time to see Paul agree to a draw proposal from David Holt. David is a difficult opponent, particularly when he has White, and Paul had reached a position where the very best he could hope for was a draw. (0.5-2.5).
Isaac later told me had been in severe difficulties early in his game. As usual he managed to turn things round and secured a Knight ending where he was two pawns to the good. It was still tricky though as there were possibilities that his opponent could eliminate all Isaacs pawns leaving him with no mating material. Careful play ensured this did not happen and White resigned when the last pawn on the board promoted. (1.5-2.5).
Michael had been embroiled in a ferocious battle on Board Two. I really didn't know what was happening but both players got in time trouble. Although Michael had slightly less time on his clock he continued to find strong moves and a very nice Bh6+  zwischenzug  proved decisive. (2.5-2.5).
So we were back on level terms. The only problem was Alan was losing on Board Three. Because of the match situation previously Alan had felt he had to play for a win in a position where a draw by repetition was probably best play. Such an approach is of course risky and a position was eventually reached where Alan only had a Rook left, while Tim had a Rook and e and f pawns. I looked at the position and concluded it was hopeless. Most chess players know there are good drawing chances when the remaining pawns are on the f and h files, but f and e seems resignable. However Alan showed just how strong he is, not least by remaining completely calm. Both sides were down to the last few minutes and when Tim prematurely pushed his pawn to e2 Alan swooped to create a completely drawn position. It was worth being there just to see the look on  Isaacs face. Afterwards Alan revealed he had drawn the same ending previously. (3.0-3.0).
So we had escaped with a drawn match. In this seasons more competitive Stockport League the point gained could be very important at the end of May.
Many thanks to those who played/drove  or tried to and to Alan who stood in as Captain on the night at zero notice.

PS "Escape" is a song title, being a hit for Rupert Holmes in 1980. It is more often remembered ,incorrectly, as the "Pina Colada Song". Released on Infinity Records I always thought it would have  been a more appropriate song for Infidelity Records.