The 'A' Team had an excellent 3.5-0.5 win last night away to Olton B, who had inflicted our only defeat of the season (so far!) back in November. As a result of this victory, we have returned to the top of the Division 1 table - for the time being, at least.
On Board 1, Paul gave us our normal scare by running his clock down to the wire, and though things got slightly random in the time scramble, he still delivered the fairly emphatic checkmate that his strong opening and middle game play always threatened. On Board 2, I won shortly after the time control when, already a passed c-pawn down, Gary Hope got his rook trapped which cost him the exchange. Or at least it should have, but in trying to extricate the rook he managed to lose first a bishop and then a whole rook as well.
Carl arrived late and left early after a draw on Board 3 with Rob Reynolds. Carl had an initiative on the king side and hopes of a win if he could prise open the h-file, but his opponent was having none of it and defused the attack to leave a balanced position. Finally, Phil emerged from a potentially difficult situation on Board 4, where Richard Reynolds had two bishops and some mighty-looking connected pawns, to somehow win two pieces for a rook and then successfully blockade the white pawns before getting his own passed pawn moving to seal the victory.
The grades of the Olton B team were confined within a spread of just 5 grading points, and there was a difference of only 1 point between Boards 1 and 4. This must be some kind of record!?
No comments:
Post a Comment