Stockport C 3 - ECA 3

Our last match of the season was away to Stockport C in their plush new venue.

David T lost on time and then I evened up the match to leave it all in John's hands. John was winning but ran out of time to work things out and had to settle for the draw.

1. L Smith (149) 0 - 1 Phil

I took on the King's Indian with the quiet fianchetto system. However my opponent played it badly and ended up in a cramped position. I then found an accurate move to win a piece and ground down my opponent in the endgame. And for once no time trouble!

2. J Mason (151) 0.5 - 0.5 John

Mason played a quiet system that didn't allow John's Albin Counter Gambit. However John developed quickly while Mason dithered and John soon had the advantage. After the time control John had the advantage of good Knight against bad Bishop and a passed pawn but Mason defended well and John didn't have time to find the win.

3. M McNulty (145) 0.5 - 0.5 Keven

Keven played his "bore Black" system again and again did well, winning a pawn in the middlegame. However he didn't see a safe way to make progress so took the draw.

4. P King (137) 0.5 - 0.5 Dave B

As always Dave got a decent position out of the opening and managed to get some pressure but King played sensibly and got the draw.

5. A Catlow (UG) 0.5 - 0.5 Paul

Paul played his slow anti-Sicilian system again and again managed to expose his opponent's King at the cost of exposing his own. Catlow won a pawn but Paul had enough activity to get the draw.

6. V Rushworth (137) 1 - 0 David T

David had a decent French Defence but the classic bad Bishop. In a slightly worse position David lost on time.

So a decent season for ECA. We came close to beating Chorlton twice and almost beat Macclesfield in our first match. However we are not ready for the A division yet so a solid mid table position is about right.