Marple B 1.5 - 3.5 Altrincham B
1. 107 D Preen 0-1 A Lane 129 -22
2. 100 N Dainty 0.5-0.5 N Lowe 128 -28
3. 93 A Doust 1-0 T Tomkins 127 -34
4. 99 T Thomas 0-1 V Kakarparthi 119 -20
5. 94 N Dee. 0-1 W McCartney 108 -14
So we were out-graded by an average of twenty three points with Altrincham's top three boards all equally strong.
My game with Nick Lowe was first to finish. We met only a few weeks ago in an A-team match and once again I was pleased to get a draw. After my twentieth move we each had two rooks, bishop and seven pawns with the e-file open but locked. Nick accepted my offer and my German overseer was unable to find an error by either player.
On board five Neil's castled king was under seige and his defiant defence eventually crumbled. Nothing to be ashamed of as Bill was graded 141 only a couple of years ago.
Trefor too only lost after putting up a good fight and it was only Vijay's strong endgame play that won the point. David also had an equal game which was the last to finish.
Which leaves me with our only win to comment on (and that headline to explain. Ed.) Put simply Tomtom Kins was the latest to face the Douster; and dousted he was! The game seemed equal but Tom's position collapsed and he resigned in a remarkably good humoured and sporting manner when Tony forked his king and rook.
Now it not be unreasonable to think that if you've just passed your eightieth birthday and your grade is 93 it may not be long before the larger number becomes the smaller. Not so! In case you haven't noticed, Tony's SDCL performance after fifteen games this season is a mighty 122. Better even than (better not mention names! Ed.). He then followed that with a strong performance in the Blackpool Chess Congress scoring 3.5 from 5 games with a tournament performance of 118.
So perhaps my headline should have read 80 getting on 120! Happy Birthday!
