WUC Whacked!

For reasons which should not be allowed to deflect the reader from the substance of this report a team of six turned up for the home match on Tuesday against Warwick University C.  So, with apologies to Rod - who was left on the bench - I can only take my hat off to the Captain whose managerial and man-management skills were fully revealed for the first time. Watching from the side-line I can reveal that:-

First to finish was Mr Shurrock who as White on board two was "playing Ben Lee for the second time this season. A different variation of c3 Sicilian allowed White to establish a knight on e5 and cramp Black's position. Black pressed too hard to equalise and allowed an attack against f7 which lost him an exchange. A queen foray into the white queenside only served to pull the queen away from defending the king and White subsequently won the h-pawn. A long drawn out ending was avoided when Black allowed an undefended piece to be taken".

Hurrah! One Nil

Second was Mr Shearsby as White on board four and facing a Dutch. Mr Shurrock comments "the black-squared bishop exchanged immediately. Out of the opening Black had the bishop pair but doubled kingside pawns. White was allowed to advance his queenside pawns and created space and restricted the bishop. The resulting pressure placed on Black's position allowed him to win material and ultimately the game". A very mature performance from Mr Shearsrby.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Two Nil.

Next, on board three, Black, was Mr Morris. A London System was played and the middle game position looked almost losing. BUT, as, Mr Shurrock advises that 'Black traded dark square bishop but this allowed the opening of the rook's file against the black kingside castled position. However, White was too slow to launch a kingside attack and this allowed Black to force weakness in the White camp on the queenside. The exchange of a knight on e5 proved the turning point and it allowed the black queen into White's position via c3. Further exchanges left White with a difficult ending, Black's passed h-pawns allowed him to get his king amongst the white queenside pawns and winning'.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Three Nil

And in the final few minutes Mr Graff  'done us proud'. He writes that 'After a near symmetrical flank opening I managed to get my pawn break in first and took a slight initiative. My bishops ended up with a little bit extra room to manoeuvre and my pawn structure was slightly more robust than my opponents. Essentially, it was all more or less still equal but White needed to find the right moves and under pressure on the board and on the clock seemed to lose the thread a bit. I was on the brink of winning a pawn when in a desperate attempt to hold on to it White miscalculated and I was able to win both his bishops for my rook with the queens coming off. In the resulting endgame my bishops had terrific diagonals and my remaining rook was well placed whereas his rooks had no open lines to work with. It took a while but my bishops, rook and pawns built a fantastic net completely controlling all the squares. White resigned when it was clear I was going to mop up'.

Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah! Four Nil!

'Clean Sheet'! Job Done!