Originally, this match was to be a 4 board match but Maryport announced, at short notice, that they had a player drop out and couldn’t get a replacement. Our team was to be Ciso, Yousef, Richard and Teo so, rather than someone not get a game, I asked Teo and Ciso if they would mind playing their Club Championship game and I would play for the C team. With Teo and Ciso happy with that arrangement, we now had myself (Andy), Yousef and Richard.
The match got under way at 1 pm with, at Maryport’s request, 90 minutes on the clock plus a 10 second per move increment.
On Board 3, Dennis Renney, playing white, faced off against Richard. Their game was the first to conclude when Richard, despite having the advantage of a superior opening, failed to capitalize on it, leading to a mutually agreed draw.
Yousef’s game with white against Maryport captain, Andy Pringle, on board 2 didn’t go as well as he had hoped but to be fair, he had been practicing black openings all week, after I sent an e-mail to the team stating that we’d be white on 1 and 3. My bad…sorry Yousef.
In my game against Neil Druggan, I faced the Trompowsky Attack but managed to fend it off without too much difficulty and actually gained a slight advantage. After castling on opposite sides, Neil’s doubled rooks hitting h6 looked quite menacing but once I initiated an attack on his king’s position, it was Neil who was feeling the pressure. Unfortunately, my 29th move, Rf4 was to lose the game, against the run of play, as I had overlooked Neil pulling his bishop back to e2 trapping my queen on f3. Game and match to Maryport.
So, Penrith C look favourites for the ‘wooden spoon’, with only one match to play and that’s away to Carlisle A.
See below for the latest table:
