Its been so long since I wrote a match report that I've almost forgotten what I need to catch up on. But I think I'm currently running one B team and 2 Cov League fixtures in arrears.
Our bad run in the Coventry League continued a week ago, when a quick return fixture against Warwick University A resulted in a second 1-3 defeat, even though they gave us a chance by omitting their two top boards from the previous week. Truth be told, we were lucky to score any points at all, as I was more lost than a penguin in the Sahara Desert against Ben Fearnhead who played a brilliant sacrificial game against me right up until he missed a further exchange sac (he was already 2 pieces down) which would have left me completely defenceless. Instead he played into a level-ish position, only to make a monumental blunder which allowed me to win. E|ven I was a bit embarrassed to take the full point. But take it I did. Keatan sacked two pawns in the opening on Board 1 but only got one of them back and lost in the ending. Mike seemed to be making all the running on Board 3, but allowed the queen side to open up for the Black major pieces which flooded into his position, before delivering a knockout blow on the kingside. Paul seemed to be worse out of the opening and could never get his game back on track, eventually being overpowered by an armada of White pieces. His opponent seemed to play a rather good game to me.
But despair not, because last night we managed to bounce back with a 3-1 win over Coventry A to notch our first points since Christmas. In truth it was like watching a mixed up version of a Kenilworth B v Kenilworth C match, as three of the Coventry team have played for us in the Leamington League this season!
Keatan kicked things off by beating Joshua with the White pieces on Board 1. How it happened I have no idea. Joshua had a knight firmly entrenched (or so it appeared to me) on d3 while Keatan had a big pawn on e6 supported by a mighty central knight. I thought that these respective advantages probably meant it was level, but that shows how much I know these days. Bruce, on board 2 v Dave, was playing a splendid and vigorous game (especially for one of his advancing years) and duly brought home the full point. Though again I failed to see the climax, though the rumour is that an exchange sac did the trick.
It was far from plain sailing to wrap up the match, though, as I played a very poor opening against Jonathan Fowler, and was soon clearly worse with White. However, he allowed me one chance to jump out and we ended up in a rook ending which should have been an easy hold for me. But I carelessly lost a pawn, which meant I had to suffer the tortures of the damned for 80+ moves before getting my half-point, though I think I was always holding on. The engine may beg to differ when I look more closely, though. Phil also looked to be in big trouble in the ending when Rhys got a queen and rook to the 8th rank menacing a rather exposed Black king and also targeting a very weak pawn on c6. It looked lost, but short of time Rhys couldn't find a mate or decisive breakthrough and exchanged off into a rook ending a pawn up. But he mistakenly pushed his passed c pawn one square too far and Phil was able to cut the White king off permanently and keep the passed pawn under control to secure another half point for us, making a final score of 3-1 to Kenilworth.
But hold your horses, because we're not finished yet! On Monday the A team lurched back into action for only the third time since Christmas. With our titled players all absent (Jude and Billy in the Isle of Wight and Javier "resting") we were not at super-strength, but we still packed too much of a punch for visitors Leamington A, chalking up a 4-0 win - some revenge, I suppose, for the poor B team who had gone down to a disastrous defeat against Leamington only a week or so earlier.
Mike was first to notch the full point, with a total rout on Board 4 - winning a whole rook after some very suspect opening play by Black. Nothing else happened for some time, but then Keatan won against Tom Darling on top board, defusing all of Tom's attacking ideas in a way that I have twice totally failed to do this season! This looked like a very good and controlled win to me. I then got a rather lucky win over Chris Ward after a rather tense game. he went wrong by falling into a trap. It looked like he was winning a piece but I had a counter combo that in fact netted me a pawn. But then (I went wrong and it should have been a draw - first in a double rook ending and then in a single rook ending. However, he let my king cross to the queenside and it proved impossible to stop the advance of my passed c pawn. The evening was rounded off by Andrew winning a very interesting game against Ben Egid. He had played almost single-mindedly against a bad Black light squared bishop and cashed in by sacking his own bishop for a mass of centre pawns - so that even when the Black bishop was the only one left on the board it was still bad, as it was powerless to stop the White pawns yomping down the board to success. A slightly flattering score-line, but most welcome nevertheless.
Right - on to the music. None of this A, B or C themed malarkey this time. Just some good old rock 'n roll! And another tribute to a recently departed great. RIP Bob Weir - rhythm/lead guitarist and vocalist and knock-out song writer with the Grateful Dead.
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