Played at Stockport chess club last evening -
Stockport A V Marple A Stockport Lge. Div 1 02/12/2014
1 A Smith 0-1 A Longson
2 P Cawley 0.5/0.5 M Fernandez
3 A Reeve 0.5/0.5 A Walton
4 P Siddall 0-5/0.5 J Bentley
5 D Toole 0.5/0.5 G Trueman
6 M Taylor 0-1 S Hegarty
2-4
Alans game against Andy Reeve was the first to finish. Alan told me afterwards that he had felt he got the worst of the opening against Andys d6,g6 system but he managed to get enough play to encourage Andy to make a draw offer. 0.5 -0.5
Eagle eyed readers might have already spotted our unusual board order. I hadn't come to play merely to watch and go through some games with Neil. When Ioannis wasn't around when the match started I wasn't too concerned as there was very heavy traffic in the area. By 7.45 I was getting worried and a phone call revealed that Ioannis had got the dates mixed up. The only possibility was for me to take his place and play Dave Toole. In a 3...Nd7 Moscow variation I tried a somewhat bizarre retreat of the Bishop to d3. I had seen the Canadian GM Erik Hansen play this way at the 4NCL last year but the whole idea is apparently one of Peter Svidlers creations. I'm not sure whether it is good or simply too artificial but whatever it's merits it enabled me to catch up on the clock as Dave took quite a bit of time deciding how to combat it. The game was reasonably accurately played by both players and we agreed a draw in a position the engines think is level.In the circumstances I was quite happy with this, particularly as the remaining games seemed mainly to be in our favour. 1-1.
This view was confirmed when Alex beat Alan Smith. Alex met Alans 2...e6 Sicilian with g3 which I have also seen other 3C's players use. This idea receives scant coverage in the books but I have yet to see a game where Black has come anywhere close to equalising. Later Alan told me his position seemed very bleak after he had allowed Alex to play an advantagous d4.This was a nice game from Alex as he always seemed to be in control against a very strong opponent. 2-1.
John then drew with Phil Siddall. This was a type of Kings Indian Defence where John had good play but the fact that all his pawns were advanced in front of his King made things very double edged. Later John told me for a lot of the game he didn't know who was better and I wasn't too surprised when a draw was agreed. 2.5-1.5.
Sarah took us over the winning line with a lovely game against Mike Taylor. In an e3 Slav Sarah seemed better to me from very early on and try as he might Mike could never quite get his pieces working. The game was concluded with the White King on h1 getting mated with just Rooks on the board. I struggled to understand the finish as in my head Whites pawn was on h3 rather than h2 which did make quite a difference! 3.5-2.5.
Michaels game was the last to finish. Paul played the London system against him which I think is an excellent choice against a higher graded opponent. Michael played to get a complicated middle game and certainly achieved that, although I was somewhat concerned about Michaels King wandering around on the third rank. Eventually it came down to a blitz finish in a position where 5 minutes per move would have not have been enough and I really don't have a clue what was going on.Ultimately a draw was agreed with Michael having about 40 seconds left to Pauls 80. By the way this match was played without increments, each player having 90 minutes for all moves. 4-2.
So a good win in the end. Thanks to all who played/drove. Although we slightly outgraded the opposition on five of the six boards this is no guarantee of success as we saw with roles reversed in the Manchester League fixture between the clubs. Our next A team match is at Denton on Wednesday the 17th of December.
Glenn.
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