On paper this should have been a mismatch - the all-conquering (well, all except Banbury A!) Kenilworth A team against bottom of the table Shirley B. But all was not entirely as it seemed. For a start, I was on Board 1 for us, so you can immediately tell that we had at least 2 players missing! Nevertheless, we still managed a rating advantage averaging very nearly 250 points per board, so you'd think the match was guaranteed to go our way, wouldn't you? Not so fast, I'm afraid!
It all began swimmingly with one of the most remarkable carve ups I've seen in a long time, as Andrew put the late arriving Keith Ingram completely to the sword with a devastating king side onslaught. If I tell you that by move 10 Andrew's queen's knight had captured a Black pawn on h7, you can tell this was no ordinary game! The finish was swift and brutal.
Not surprisingly there was then a long wait for the next point, which arrived when I checkmated Jonathan Dale to get some revenge for my loss against him in last season's KO Cup Final. After winning a pawn in the opening, and with the Black c8 bishop becalmed on its starting square by a White knight on c5 for nearly the whole game, Black was reduced to a rather unconvincing kingside attack, but as his own king opened up it was me on the attack and the end was inevitable for several moves.
Meanwhile, on Board 2 Bruce had launched a kingside pawn storm of his own against Darren Whitmore, which looked likely to win the game in short order. And Keatan, making his A team debut (after starting the season in the D team!), was much better/maybe winning from the opening, against Gordon Christie. So it all looked like plain sailing - but as soon as I retreated to the bar for a well earned drink, the wheels began to come off in spectacular fashion.
So on my return what do I find but Bruce a queen and a rook down (and White with 2 queens!) and Keatan facing disaster with a mighty White pawn on c7. Gulp! We're only going to draw the match. But cometh the hour cometh the men.
Given a sniff of opportunity Bruce somehow forced the White king out into the middle of the board, where it was hounded by Bruce's queen and rook, while a bishop on h6 threatened to join the fun if it could just get to give a check. But it was still losing for Bruce (-8.1 he tells me!), but despite having more time on the clock, Darren chose the wrong escape route for his king and after first turning the win into a draw, he then fell into mate by avoiding a perpetual. Phew! And all the time White's 2 queens just looked on from h3 and a8, powerless to intervene!
So I adjourned back to the bar, happy we had somehow managed to claim the match victory, but expecting news of Keatan's loss any moment. Only it never came, as right at the end Gordon apparently went wrong and Keatan's tenacity was rewarded with what had seemed an impossible draw.
Talk about snatching victory from the jaws of disaster. In other circumstances you'd have to feel for the Shirley team, but with us still trailing the B team before last night, the best I can offer them is a song dedicated to their misfortune. "If it wasn't for bad luck, I wouldn't have no luck at all." Ain't that the truth!
But on a more upbeat note, the A team has regained the lead at the top of Division 1 and has a 1 point advantage, with a game in hand. Its over to the B team now, who are in action against Olton A before the A team return to action against Solihull A another week later.
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