Dangerous chess

Next up it was Olton B, last years relegation team. The club has quite a few players and so you can never be too certain as to who will turn up. As it turned out, only Richard Reynolds was in the team that we played us in the first half of the season.

Phil was the first to finish playing against Robert Reynolds with white. Having played black for the last eight games, the white pieces must have been a bit of a shock. White emerged from the opening with a slightly cramped position. Black was able to attack on the king side but white had a bishop pair and could hold the position. A draw was agreed.

Dave was next to finish playing Bob Wallman. Black's opening play left him with more space and white position cramped. Black plan to attack on the king side allowed white to improve his position and win a king side pawn. Both sides then moved all their pieces over to the king side and nothing else happened. With Bob unwilling to risk opening up the game, a draw was agreed.

Mike was playing Richard with the black pieces in a super solid opening. Ignoring white's attempt to sacrifice material allowed black to get into an ending with advantage. Black kindly declined a draw offer as he wasn't sure how Dave's game would turn out. However, once Dave game was drawn, Mike prudently offered a draw which was accepted.

Ben was playing what could only be called dangerous chess. Playing quickly he gained an advantage against Warren with the white pieces. When black lost a piece, he felt disinclined to continue and resigned. At the conclusion of the game, Ben thanked Warren for the game and then said that he had to get going as it was his wife's birthday. No one said anything, but I felt sure that we were all thinking the same thing - how did he get away with that! Well done Ben.