Thursday 24 October 2013

ECA 3 Wilmslow 3

I think it would be safe to say that ECA are not firing on all cylinders yet! Maybe we had too much sun over the summer or maybe the dark evening are getting us down?

Either way this was a match we should have won comfortably. Wilmslow defaulted on the bottom two boards and we easily out-graded the four that turned up. Ooops.

1. Phil 1-0 C Mills (155)

I played my favourite King's Indian setup against a sort of Colle system. My opponent seemed unsure what to do against it and wasted a couple of moves, allowing me to win a couple of advanced pawns. My opponent dropped another pawn in the middlegame allowing me a straightforward ending.

2. Dave N 0-1 K Moran (142)

Dave once again got a promising position out of the opening with chances of a Kingside attack and no counterplay for his opponent. However his opponent managed to mix things up a bit and eventually win a pawn. Dave didn't have enough time on the clock to hold the ending.

3. Tudor 0-1 R Warhurst (115)

Tudor seemed to have a great opening and had a crushing attack against his opponent's King. However in the heat of the moment he took a pawn with his Queen that was defended by a distant Bishop. Although Tudor noticed his mistake as he made the move he had already touched the pawn so it was game over.

4. Keven 0-1 A Flynn (95)

Keven seemed to have a lot of space after the opening and was executing a sort of minority attack on the Queenside. However his King was slightly exposed and this ultimately led to his downfall.

5. D Broadbent 1-0 Default

6. P Bamford 1-0 Default

Thursday 17 October 2013

ECA vs ECB

After last season's debacle in one of the head-to-head matches where ECB won, ECA made sure of a strong team this time around. This time the match went by the form book and the B team only managed two draws.

1. Phil 0.5 - 0.5 Paul

I played an obscure Benoni system which I am quite familiar with and gained a lot of time on the clock but had a cramped position. When Paul chose to push some Kingside pawns rather than advance in the centre I had the time to break free on the Queenside and free my game. Eventually Paul's attack petered out and I managed to win a piece but did not have enough time to convert my advantage.

2. Tudor 1-0 Nick

Tudor seemed to get nothing out of the opening but managed to win a couple of pawns in the endgame and easily converted his advantage.

3. Keven 1-0 Geoff

Despite having White Geoff invited Keven to attack him and Keven gradually advanced his pawns and pieces to win comfortably.

4. Alan 0.5 - 0.5 Keith

Playing the Queen's Gambit Declined this game looked very even for much of the game. Alan eventually gained an advantage but then had to bale out into a drawn ending.

5. Bill 1-0 Myles

Bill played a strong Nimzo-Indian defence and gradually took over the board.

6. David T 1-0 Ian

David played a solid Reti and steadily won material until Ian had no tricks left to try.

So a 5-1 win for ECA and hopefully a fun evening for all.

Wednesday 9 October 2013

ECA 2 Marple 4

D'oh!

The team and I managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of a draw last night against a decent Marple team.

1. Phil 0-1 I Lentzos (160 est) 

My young opponent launched a speculative attack right out of the opening but I repulsed it and then countered with a strong attack of my own. Lentzos didn't defend carefully and I soon went four pawns up with his King on the run and a big time advantage.

However I couldn't find a clinical way of finishing him off and then he managed to get some counter-play. I blundered away a piece but still had four pawns for his Bishop. However I didn't have enough time to find the right plan and he won the endgame.

2. Dave  N 0-1 P Kirby (158)

Dave played a sort of Colle system and built up a useful Kingside attack. However the clock kept ticking away and eventually Dave lost on time in a very good position.

3. Tudor 0-1 N Livesey (147)

Tudor played ambitiously on the Black side of an English, playing c5 and d5 early on. However this opened up the game for White's Bishop on g2 and ultimately this was Tudor's undoing.

4. Keven 1-0 T Kay (141)

Keven played aggressively from the outset, castling Queenside and flinging his Kingside pawns forward. I thought he was losing the exchange and the game but apparently Keven had it all worked out and eventually his connected passed pawns on the g and h files won the day.

5. Paul 1-0 C Baker (126)

This was an impressive win with the Black pieces. Paul seemed to have no problems out of the opening, exchanged of White's fianchettoed Bishop and launched a Kingside attack that won the Queen.


6. Nick 0-1 T Cowling (125)

Nick played sensibly against Terry's Albin Counter Gambit and seemed to have a good position with advancing pawns against Terry's Queenside castled King. However Nick lost the endgame somehow.

3-3 would have been a fair result. 2-4 was painful.

ECA take on ECB next week. See you there.