On Wed night we took on Stockport in the President's Cup and it looked a fairly even affair on paper, although they were particularly handy on the top 2 boards. We got off to a good start by winning the toss which meant we had 3 White's to their 2.
Kev was first to finish and managed to earn a fairly quick draw against his higher graded opponent. He was considering playing a spicey gambit line against against e4 but instead opted for his trusted Pirc and ended up with a better pawn structure and good knight against a ragged pawn structure and bishop pair. Mike offered a draw and Kev sensibly agreed in a very even position.
Dave, looking relaxed after his recent successful trip to the Channel Islands, finished soon after with an excellent draw. On board 3 was the "game of the academics" and Tudor looked in a losing position but his amazing bouncebackability came in to play again and was able to brilliantly swindle a very useful draw. On board 4, Jim was up against a very slow looking Queen pawn opening which seemed a bit lifeless and indeed after 50 odd moves it was pronounced dead and a draw agreed.
Four games played - all draws. So it all depended on the 2 captains on the bottom board. Peter perhaps had a slight edge but it was difficult for him to find a plan and in the meantime I was able to open up the h file and fill it with R and Q. I had a good knight too and it looked like it was going to be a winning attack. Unfortunately (as confirmed by Fritz) there was no breakthrough and all the excitement petered out into an opposite colour B draw. Another draw!
So, the match score was stalemate at 2 and a half each and with nothing in the Stockport League rules for a Cup result of all draws, we'll have to have a replay at their place.
1/2 Dave N v Mike Crowther (167)
1/2 Keven v Mike Tunstall (160)
1/2 Tudor v Jill Barber (141)
1/2 Jim v Jeff Mason (133)
1/2 Paul v Peter Taylor (121)
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