Limit League: Marple 3 Wilmslow 1

Maxim and Anderson bring home the bacon

1 Neil Dee drew with Gordon Lloyd
2 Phil Macneill drew with Robin Warhurst
3 Paul Maxim 1-0 Mike Craven
4 Joseph Anderson 1-0 David Broadbridge 

It was early doors, early draws as boards 1 and 2 took a half point each, leaving our destiny in the hands of Paul and Joseph. On board 3, Paul with black scrapped hard to gain a material advantage. With his opponent's three passed pawns clustered defensively around the back-rank king, Paul brought his heavy artillery to good squares. A rook check on the bank rank forced the white king to h2, enabling Paul to pin the g3 rook against the king with his bishop to end the game. On board 4, Joseph got into some good positions but found a breakthrough difficult. 'Passed pawns must be pushed' is received wisdom and Joseph duly rolled forward his connected pair of central unopposed pawns. Another adage is that on an emptying board the king must be mobilised. When it finally joined the fray here, Joseph's extra knight and two pawns received the help they needed and he took the full point.

Don't forget: Thurs 19 March – come and enjoy an evening of Chess960, the exuberant chesslike game invented by Bobby Fischer.