Farewell to Joshua

This week's match was probably the most important of the season for the B team. A victory against Banbury B would leave us four points clear of them and very difficult to catch. Banbury were not taking any chances and turned up with their strongest team permitted. Kenilworth B weren't taking any chances either, playing without their liability of a captain.

Phil played Gary Jackson on board 3 and played his trademark Scandinavian defence. Both sides emerged from the opening with equal chances. White managed to win a pawn in the middle game but black managed to regain it. White continued to press and some complications allowed him to win a bishop. The endgame still wasn't easy for white as black had an advanced passed pawn although he still had the skill required to win it.

Joshua was playing the normally solid Neil Staples with the white pieces. However, solid only applies against regular opening play. Joshua produced another of his home made unusual lines featuring the use of h4-h5 again. Against an opening that he clearly wasn't comfortable with, Neil had to defend a constant stream of positional and tactical threats which took it's toll on the clock. Despite being down to his last five minutes, the game was far from over and blacks castled position was still under attack. Black resigned when all the following were still an option - loss of queen, running out of time or getting mated.

Mike was playing Paul Rowan with black in a repeat of a previous queens pawn game. However, this time the main line was followed. The most interesting point of the game was that whilst a draw was a likely outcome, white was concerned about the team position and was reluctant to offer a draw. However playing on was slightly risky. Eventually white found that playing on was becoming too dangerous and accepted Mike's repeating of the position. It was always a balance as whether Nathan on board four could beat Ben. It looked as if he should and so a draw was agreed. It really looked as if board four was won for Banbury.

For quite some time Ben had a very good position against Nathan Manley on board four, even winning. However, some tactical opportunism by black allowed him to win a piece. Then, to make matter worse, white had to give up an exchange to avoid getting mated. With a whole rook less, most players would normally resign unless of course your opponent only had two minutes left. Some fantastic play in a time scramble by Ben saw him prolong the game to where black had just five seconds left and still hadn't won. With four seconds left Nathan accepted Ben's offer of a draw.

So that was it, the points shared. Although we haven't distanced ourselves from Banbury B, they hadn't made up any ground on us. Next stop Stratford.

This was Joshua's last appearance for the B team before becoming tied against the A Team. His four win out four game has been invaluable. Thanks Joshua.