Penrith C were at home to Maryport B yesterday, in a match that we expected to lose but we almost won it!.

Maryport’s board 1 was a new player to Cumbria, Jesmond’s Andy Trevelyan was a last minute replacement for his son, Sam. Unfortunately for Penrith, Andy has a 1900 rating and even more unfortunate was the fact that I had to play him. As expected, the game was rather one sided, with most of my pieces struggling to leave my first rank. I did eventually get some counter play but only after I’d lost a piece and by then it was too late.

Nathan did rather better against captain, Tim Bowler on board 2. Despite having tripled f pawns, Nathan’s king was surprisingly safe and after winning a piece he went on to win the game.

Richard too, had a great game on board 3. After a close opening and middle game, Richard got the upper hand and guaranteed at least one league point.

Board 4, between Dave Hood and Dennis Renney, looked to be a comfortable win for Dave but as the game went on, Dave lost a rook and the advantage. Dennis had a knight and a couple of pawns against Dave’s few pawns when Dave decided it was lost and resigned, though had he manged to exchange the pawns, the result would have been a draw and a win for Penrith.

So, a 2-2 draw which lifts Penrith C off the bottom of the table.

Meanwhile, Our A team were away to Maryport A. The winner of this crucial match would likely go on to win the league.

On board 1, Jacob, despite having the white pieces, couldn’t get an advantage against Roger Hart and the game was eventually drawn.

Boards 3, between Andrei and Matthew Haworth and board 4, between Michael and Tommy Wilson went the same way as board 1.

Board 2 was to decide the match. Holden was black against Greg Millar, who hadn’t lost a game since the last time he played Holden, so he’d, no doubt, be out for revenge. Unfortunately for Greg, Holden has not lost a league game since January 2019 and all but one of those were wins. Knowing that the match depended on this game, Holden kept up his exemplary record to win the Match for Penrith and give our A team a clear lead in the league 

The current League Table looks like this: