1 Tate, Mick 131 1-0 130 Harlow, PhilA very close match against the lowest team in the Division; we were lucky to come out with a win.
2 Jarvis, James 122 1-0 129 Smith, Stephen
3 Pratt, Dave 109 0-1 123 Watkinson, Phil
4 Busby, Mick 94 0-1 112 Pike, Andrew
5 Adams, Michael 87 0-1 113 Cooper, Barrie
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Match Score 2-3
Things seemed to start brightly on boards 1 and 5; but the rest of us seemed to be struggling; especially Stephen on board 2.
Barrie's game was the first to finish, with hindsight a straight forward win, but not without its dangers - as Barrie explained in the bar afterwards: "He was playing so poorly. I couldn't guess
what he was going to play next". The rest of the games were very different - Phil on board 1 was an exchange up against Mick Tate, but the position was very knife edge and Phil had to be careful; Stephen was badly losing, me and Andy each had slightly worst positions.
Stephen resigned just before Mick Tate skewered Phil's queen with a rook, Phil resigned a move later. It looked like we would have to push it to get a draw. Imagine my relief when my opponent fell for a cheapo trap that secured the exchange, and although there were still some difficulties the win was achieved.
That left Andrew on board 4 with an equal king and pawn endgame. Ignoring the pressure, Andrew excellently played a textbook endgame with the use of opposition and zugwang, to confidently gain the win for the game and the match.
Regards,
Phil.
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