11 Feb		Syston 3		v	Wigston 5
				2 - 2
1	B	106	Cresswell, Peter	0 - 1	Chalashkanov, Nikola	129
2	W	102	Leonard, John	½ - ½	Eastlake, Charles	120
3	B	94	Hollingworth, Stuart	1 - 0	Goldsmith, Rory	114
4	W	96	Martin, Maurice	½ - ½	Vaughan, Ben	104

 
Yet another draw, this time with Syston's 3rd team.
I finished first in a totally drawn middlegame. We analysed my threats and the move order we'd have played. I thought I had a decent threat but we worked out that it wasn't such a threat and a draw was fair.
Charles finished next I think. Charles' opponent ran out of ideas in the middlegame and offered a draw which Charles accepted, Analysis seemed to show it was even.
Nik finished next. Having been offered a draw, Nik played on for a bit and forced a mistake from his opponent which won Nik the match. Well played Nik.
Last to finish was Rory. A nice move from Rory's opponent which uncovered an attack on Rory's queen and at the same time protected all his pieces. This forced a rook loss on Rory and he wasn't able to hold on. Nice to see that Rory fought on for a bit but to no avail.
 
Last night away at Kirby now: -
 

20 Feb		Kirby Muxloe 2		v	Wigston 5
				2½ - 1½
1	B	124	McEachran, Ewan	½ - ½	Eastlake, Charles	120
2	W	124	Skelley, John	1 - 0	Goldsmith, Rory	114
3	B	116	Cowley, Jim	1 - 0	Cooper, Barrie	107
4	W	90	Lund, Malcolm	0 - 1	Hammond, Grant	109

 
A disappointing result.
First to finish was our only winner on the night Grant. Grant won a pawn in the middlegame and gradually exchanged pieces off the board, leaving Grant's better placed knight against his opponent's passive knight. Grant activated his king and forced his opponent to give up Knight for two passed pawns leaving Grant's Knight to mop up pawns and win.
Barrie finished next. Having got a better position out of the opening and attacking his opponent's King, Barrie's attack fell apart and to be fair, his opponent played very well and countered with vigour. Barrie made a mistake and resigned.
Rory was next to finish. Again probably slightly better after the opening, Rory's opponent mounted an attack against Rory's king. There seemed to be enough defending pieces, but after a few exchanges, Rory's King was wide open for attack and his opponent converted the win.
Last to finish was Charles. Knowing he had to play for a win, he did so. Charles tried to advance his two centralised pawns and attack. Unfortunately the attack petered out and transposed into a dead draw with Kings opposed on facing squares.
And so we suffer our first defeat for the 5th team. Let's try to make it the ONLY defeat for the 5th team!