Last night the D team completed the double in the League against Banbury B, to add to our triumph against the Banbury squad in the cup. Three matches we can most definitely be very proud of!
We were delighted to welcome Michal Bylica, who made his debut on Board 1, of which more later...
By some quirk of fate I was the only Kenilworth player to play in both League games, which really underscores our bench strength. As in the previous two fixtures, I was white against Mal Waddell, this time on Board 2. Mal had to take a call before the game started, and was late to the Board, but in many ways this was the least interesting of the games in our mini-series (albeit that was more than compensated for by the fireworks elsewhere!) An early queen exchange was followed by more wood being swapped. We eventually reached an ending where we both had a light squared bishop, a knight and six pawns. Mal had the edge as my pawns were essentially all on the light squares, but he had no entry points. Once I had demonstrated that I had a full blockade, we split the point and focussed on enjoying the melee in the other three matches.
Dhairya played brilliantly against Chris Evans on three. As if often the case in games involving Chris, the position was ablaze within moments of the start. Dhairya landed his queen on h4 and knight on g4 and both sides appeared to have a host of wild tactical threats at their disposal. Chris is normally a speed merchant, but the fact that he was taking his time, said a lot about how complex the game truly was. Essentially after the dust settled, Dhairya appeared to be well on top, but a slightly inaccurate capturing sequence allowed Chris back into the game. A queening race ensued, with the rarest of sights, four queens in play in a game that was still in the balance. Dhairya was very short of time, but had the tempo and bravely turned down the draw to bring home the full point. An absolutely fantastic effort, and this was the game I've most enjoyed watching as the captain this season. Well done Dhairya!
On Board 1, Michal also battled the clock. I thought Paul Rowen was better out of the opening, and he appeared to have strong threats against Michal's king. I did not see the critical moments in this one, so I'm not sure if Paul tried a sacrifice that did not quite come off, or if Michal landed a tactical blow of his own, but either way, Michal repelled Paul's attack and ended significantly up on material. Unfortunately Paul had a perpetual (but not much else). The drama was heightened as Paul let his clock run, while watching Solomon's game against Barry Kagan on Board 4, but the reality was he had no option but to force the draw or lose, and after a few minutes peace was agreed. A terrific debut by Michal, to hold the draw on Board 1 with black (with Paul being the one who had ultimately clung on.)
All of which left the score at 2-1 to us, with Solomon and Barry battling it out in front of a cluster of spectators. I thought Solomon had been better the whole game, and when he found a nice tactic to pick up a pawn, and opened up Barry's king, it seemed victory was close. However, with both players at about three minutes, Solomon slightly lost control, and Barry landed several tactical blows which narrowed Solomon's advantage. In the dying moments, Solomon gave up his queen for two rooks and the combination of his grip on the seventh rank and Barry's collapsing queen side proved too much. Barry lost on time in a position where he was a handful of moves away from losing on the board. A really good effort from Solomon. Strong play throughout and he really held his nerve at the end in a situation where a strong temperament was vital.
So we continue our climb up the table. We have two more League games and a cup semi-final against Solihull to come this month. We always said this team had the ability to have a good season, and a strong League finish and silverware remain in our sights!
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