Frozen but Victorious in Denton

Last night ECA braved the snow and the cold to take on Denton at their venue in Guide Bridge. Unfortunately the playing venue was little warmer than outside as the heating had only just gone on. Therefore we were all hoping for some "fire on board" to warm things up. Here is what happened:

1. Graham Ball 0-1 Dave Toole

Graham was outplayed by the in-form Toole who clearly has been playing the Black side of the Sicilian Najdorf longer than Graham has been taking it on.

2. Phil Ramsey 1-0 John Lysons

John played his favourite Smith-Morra gambit against my Sicilian. However I didn't fancy defending for two hours so I declined it and played for a solid position. John didn't come up with any ways to trouble me and I gradually built up a Queenside attack and then won the endgame.

3. Dave Newell 0.5-0.5 Kamran Ahmadi

Playing his favourite Dutch Reversed Dave managed to trap his opponents Knight. A quick win then? Maybe not as his opponent wriggled and squirmed like an eel. Dave was eventually easily winning but had only seconds left on his clock. Dave then lost on time but Kamran only had his King left which meant the result was a draw due to insufficient mating material.

4. Keven Holton 0-1 Dave Holt

Keven achieved a solid position in the Scandinavian Defence but went astray in time trouble.

5. David Taylor 1-0 Stan Bradley

David played his normal Reti but both players seemed reluctant to advance past the halfway line! Stan spent rather too long thinking and eventually froze while in time trouble, allowing his flag to fall. David was winning anyway apparently.

6. Alan Stokes 1-0 Dave Cook

Playing the Sicilian Alan stirred up complications that were too much for Dave to handle and Alan quickly won a piece and then the game.

So a 3.5 - 2.5 victory for ECA! That is 6 out of 6 for ECA!