Penrith A were away to Barrow at the weekend. Fortunately, I was able to book a Saturday afternoon at Burneside Cricket Club but unfortunately, the room costs £10 per hour so, to keep costs down, we agreed to play a three hour match over three boards.
The shorter time control didn’t adversely affect the quality of the chess. Eggert’s game, on board 3, finished first with an expected win after out-playing Jon Duffield who is rated more than 300 points lower than Eggert.
Board 2 was next to finish. Dave Siddall and Russ Hayley couldn’t find a way to gain an advantage and eventually agreed to draw.
Alice’s task on, board 1 against Cumbria’s highest rated player, Matthew Mackenzie, was a tough ask but she was up to it. Knowing that Penrith A needed her to avoid losing to win the match, Alice accepted a draw offer from Matthew who was a pawn ahead but very short of time.
A great start for our A team after a mediocre 2025-26 season. Who knows, we might even win the league again this season.
League positions are shown below:
