We had the second C v D match of the season on Monday. With Keatan moving across from Board 1 for the D team, to Board 1 for the C team, it was always likely on paper that the C team would have more of an edge this time out. However, while the ultimate 3.5 - 0.5 score might appear to back this up, the actual play on the night told a somewhat different story. This all made for one of the stranger chess experiences I can remember (until the following night's Cup game, which doubtless Mark will report on in due course!)
Half way through the evening, Phil was a pawn up against Bernard C (terrific to see Bernard fully recovered and back at the board!) with a nice looking position. Dhariya and Solomon both appeared to be going well, and I was on top against Keatan.
I built up a strong kingside attack, picked up a pawn (but in hindsight most likely chose to take the wrong one) and was moving through the gears as well as I have in quite some time. However, Keatan defended well, and ultimately we reached an opposite coloured bishop ending, and I had to reluctantly agree to the draw. My games with Keatan are always very interesting and I will look forward to the next one!
We popped out to the bar area to analyse and I was feeling very bullish about the likely match result, but in the time it took us to go through our game, back in the playing room the wheels had well and truly come off. Bernard had moved from material down to material up, and now it was he who had the nice looking position. Harry was also clearly winning against Dharyia and I could see no way back for either D team player. Sadly this proved to be the case.
I still had hopes for Solomon holding against Paul, albeit this wouldn't have been enough to change the match result. Solomon has since told me that he also missed a win in this game, but unfortunately for the D team in the final moments, Paul came out on top. A nice tactic picked up a piece and it was all over.
So a one-sided score line following what was actually a very close match. A somewhat surreal start to 2024, but both teams have plenty of chess left to play. Onwards!
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