Six of us turned up at the Crown, at 1 pm on Saturday, to play our B versus A match. Oddly, the door was still locked but when Meg noticed that we were waiting in the car park, she opened up with shocking news – Mike passed away the previous night. Obviously we all thought that we should call off the match out of respect but Anna insisted we play, as Mike would have wanted it.
There’s usually at least 4 boards in our derby matches but this year, most members were heading off to visit family for Christmas leaving only 6 willing bodies, though most were reluctant but as the match needed to be played by January 5th, it was either now or just after New Year. Playing just before Christmas meant that a win for our A team would put them top of the league.
Naturally, with everyone wondering what the implications of Mike’s passing might mean for the club, it took a while to get started but eventually we did and the room fell silent.
On board 3, I was playing with white for our A team against Dave H, who was probably hoping that I’d still be half asleep after just finishing a 10 hour night shift. However, though Dave managed to gain a pawn in the opening, it was at the expense of development and when he took a second ‘free’ pawn, he soon realised that it was a mistake as I took the pawn back with a bishop which hit his a8 rook. (See diagram).
I think Dave thought that if he played 10…Qxd1+, he could follow up with knight takes e4 but after 11.Rxd1, he suddenly realised that 11..Nxe4?? would be suicide due to 12.Rd8#. So, I won the rook but it wasn’t plain sailing as, despite now being a rook down, Dave conjured up some strong counterplay with his bishops and not least, a passed pawn on a2. However, I eventually managed to castle and prevent Dave from doing so and eventually, won enough material for Dave to call it a day.
Meanwhile, on Board 1, Dave S and Alice both had threats but both looked to have solid defenses so, as far as I could see, no result there any time soon.
The same couldn’t be said about board 2 though. Steve had come out of the opening against Lewis with the better position. His pieces were all active and looked quite menacing against Lewis’ uncastled king and undeveloped queen’s side pieces. Lewis did eventually manage to get his pieces active, for the price of several pawns and even then, they weren’t on attacking squares. From Lewis’ viewpoint it was one of those games where you know your opponent is going to break through and win so, for as long as you can hold out without being disrespectful, you make whatever moves are not losing instantly….until you can’t find one.
So, all square with just one game to go. By now, Dave and Alice were in the endgame but just as before, everything looked solid on both sides but I did think at the time, that Dave might have a slight advantage on the queen’s side but it certainly was a risk. Alice too, no doubt had some ideas but as it happened, neither were willing to risk a loss for both themselves and their team and so a draw was agreed.
A great result for our B team but our A team now has some work cut out for them if they’re to win the league for the fourth year in succession.
Top of the table, Maryport A are our A team’s next opponents and that will be a must win match. The current league table is below:
