In the first match of the 2026-27 Cumbria Open League, Penrith B played Penrith C at the Beacon Social on Saturday. To accommodate Cameron’s work schedule, we started at 2 pm, though this didn’t prevent him from arriving late.
The first result came from board 4 when Dave, uncharacteristically, misplayed the opening losing both knights and a rook to new member, Dan Blythe. 1 – 0 to B.
Board 2 was next to finish after an on form Richard won against an out of practice Ciso. 1 – 1.
Mike had Greg in all sorts of trouble on board 3 but couldn’t find the killer move and the game ended in a draw. 1½ – 1½.
This left board 1 which looked like it too might finish a draw. Nathan had a strong position against Cameron, in a rook and pawns endgame and tempted Cameron to take a pawn but Cameron spotted that it was a trap that would have led to his downfall and as in so many past games, Cameron manged to steer the game in his favour, winning the match for the B team by the narrowest of margins.
So, will we see a repeat of last season with Penrith B vying for the title? It’s early days but I’m sure they’ll do their best and I’m sure that our C team will get a win or two before the season’s out.
League positions are shown below:
