ECA 2 Chorlton 4

So the final match of the season!

With Denton recently being whitewashed by Marple we only needed two game points to avoid finishing bottom. This should be possible but we were missing three of our top six and Chorlton have a strong squad. Let's see what happened.

The night got off two a strong start with super-sub Paul catching his opponent in a tactical trick and winning a piece early on. He then swapped off the pieces into a straightforward endgame. Well done Paul!

Tudor played an active King's Indian system and seemed to have good play against his opponent's King but agreed a draw for the team. So just half a point needed.

David then completed the job with a solid Reti against a strong opponent leading to a painless draw.

So we had our two points and the top three boards were still to finish. This was looking like a good night.

Sadly we all got ground down on the top boards.

Geoff played his normal Owen's defence and seemed to have an active position. He eventually won a pawn at the expense of a rather stranded Knight. I didn't see how this one ended.

Steve had to face Alekhine's defence and took a risky pawn in the centre, leaving his Queen in the targets of his opponent's Black Bishop. After some complications it became clear that Steve was losing the exchange and he had no respite after that.

I was heading into a mainline Sicilian Dragon but managed to avoid theory with an early Ng4. An exciting game ensued with Kings on opposite sides of the board. Sadly I ended up in a position where I had nothing to do while my opponent could attack my King at will. Eventually his attack stormed home and I had to concede.

Despite ending with three defeats we got what we needed and avoided last place in the league. We should now stay up (unless the size of the league is changed again!)

Over and out from me. Look out for a new first team captain next season.

1. Phil 0 - 1 M Carpenter (188)
2. Steve 0 - 1 D Lee (177)
3. Geoff B 0 - 1 R Doney (172)
4. David T 0.5 - 0.5 D Owen (164)
5. Tudor 0.5 - 0.5 A Beresford (142)
6. Paul 1 - 0 P Harnett (138)