Clearly I can't live up to the standard set by my fellow bloggers but I thought it bad form to leave the C team without updates on here.....
Since the turn of 2024 the C team have been following the trend of all of the other Kenilworth teams this year, we have been winning. Turning our pre-Christmas draws and losses into narrow wins. Now, I am happy to claim full credit for this as this turning of the tide has corresponded with my self-demotion to Board 4, but that would be to not recognise the impact of Keatan who has moved from Board 1 on the D team to Board 1 on the C team and continues to have a very strong season.
Last week we defeated Olton B 2.5-1.5 (we drew with them earlier in the season). My game finished first as my opponent Andrew Cottom plays at a rate of knots (mainly due to his discomfort with sitting down I think) that meant our 45 move game was over while Bernard was still on move 12....anyway I was not playing very well (another theme of the season) but got into a Bishop vs Knight endgame where my opponent overstepped thinking he was going to fork me with his pesky Knight but actually helped me secure an outside passed pawn which, when I exchanged the minor pieces, won the game for me. This left me plenty of time to see Keatan squeeze Robert Reynolds on Board 1 (much to my amusement, I thought Keatan had overlooked an earlier winning move but on review of the game I was wrong and Keatan's play perfectly pushed home his advantage - what do I know!!). Paul then delivered a solid draw from slight time pressure in a Bishop vs Knight endgame that secured the point. This left Bernard playing what looked a(nother) very complicated position with a lot of pieces still on the Board. It suddenly took a turn for the worst as the time got low and his opponent emerged with a won position but the points were already secured by then....onwards and upwards....
No comments:
Post a Comment