Altrincham A v Marple B: 15th December 2015

 

 

 

SDCL: DIVISION 2
MATCH:      Altrincham A                              v                          Marple B
Home Team	Scores		Away Team
1          Yaroslav Kolodiy	0.5	0.5	Andy Jenkins
2          Reg Clucas	1	0	Alan Hall
3          Nick Lowe	0	1	Chris Baker
4          Richard White	0.5	0.5	Terry Cowling
5          Tony Lane	0	1	David Preen
6          Steve Douglas	0.5	0.5	Jeff Barlow
MATCH RESULT	2.5	3.5	DATE:           15/12/15

 

The B team came up with an impressive win away to Altrincham A last Tuesday.  We were outgraded on all boards except for mine. The evening got off to a good start with Andy drawing when Yaroslav surprised him by repeating moves. After a considerably longer wait Terry's game was drawn, too. Terry played an Albin counter gambit and his opponent duly returned the material to equalise the position.  I was next up to draw.  I played a Budapest gambit which was declined giving me a very pleasant position.  I managed to worsen my position and eventually entered an  a very open end game exchange down for one pawn. I manage to win all his pawns leaving me with 3 pawns + N + B vs R + B, which might be enough to win, but didn't have enough time left.  I think David finished next with a splendid win and Alan lost, I'm afraid I didn't see any of that game.  Anyway the match all square with Chris' game still to finish and a small crowd gathered around.  Both players by now were playing on the 10 second increments.  Chris' position looked better but who could handle the time pressure?  I was really impressed with Chris' cool play and he went on win in fine style.  It made me think I should have played on in my game!

 

 

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.
   

The Boys are back in Town

Played at the Navigation last evening -

Marple 1              V     3C's 1      Mcr Lge Div One  03/12/2015

1 A Longson      0.5/0.5  A Horton
2 I Craft            0.5/0.5  D Abbas
3 S Hegarty          0-1     A Walton
4 G Trueman       0-1     A Lang
5  J Reed              1-0      M Tebelev
6  P Kirby            1-0       R McLean
7 A Hall              0.5/0.5  K Ye

                           3.5/3.5

Fortunately for Marple 3C's were at least four players short of their strongest line up.They were still formidable opposition though and to get anything from a match against them is always an achievement. As last week there was the slightly strange experience of two members of the team we were facing playing for us in a different league.
I haven't got time to write a full report and in any case as my game was the last but one to finish I only really have a superficial understanding of what happened. There were solid draws for Alex, Isaac and Alan. Sarah and myself both got ground down by very strong opponents. My game was amusing in that I literally made the move 30 time control with one second to spare. As is so often the case it was actually my 31st move that made defeat certain for me, although my position was already disadvantageous by that point. As played I was able to reach an opposite coloured Bishop ending two pawns down but my Bishop was such a poor piece there were no drawing chances at all.
There were good wins for Paul (in very quick time) and John on boards six and five. Johns victory secured the draw for us in the last game to finish and he played  lovely chess with his Knight dominating a restricted Bishop.Although his opponent kept finding ways to keep the game going he eventually resigned with both players down to the last few minutes.
So Marple became the first team to take anything off the 3 C's first team this season and  remain with a theoretical chance of being Champions. Thanks to all who played/ helped with setting up.