Marple B 3 - 3 ECB

Last night's match featured two B teams for clubs who don't have A teams!  Over the last few years playing against the Marple first team was a formidable task with all their titled players but this year their stars have moved on to pastures new.  They still put out a decent team last night - although grading wise we were favorites.

John had an entertaining well fought game game in his contest but had to be content with a draw.  In my game I thought I had the edge but in the end was happy with a draw and then the ever reliable David T also weighed in with a draw.

At this point it was looking good with Geoff B and Jim both looking in good shape.  Unfortunately though Geoff was tempted to take an extra pawn which turned out to be poisonous as a few moves later he was left with the choice of either losing his Q or being mated.  It's a tough game!

Meanwhile Steve Mc had gone a pawn up but his position was awkward and with time trouble issues was happy to settle for a draw.  The match therefore rested on Jim who needed to win for us to draw on the night - no pressure then.  He was a pawn up in an endgame and after some patient maneuvering was able to make it count and claim the full point.

Next up is the trip to Chorlton on December 19th and then a Charnley Cup semi to be arranged probably in January.

1/2    Paul Kirby (154) v John
1 - 0  Alan Hall (151) v Geoff B
1/2    Andy Jenkins (142) v Paul
1/2    Chris Baker (126) v David T
0 - 1  Tony Doust (105) v Jim
1/2    Martin Cutts (108) v Steve Mc
3 - 3

Macc c 1 - 5 ECB

Keven's report below (with a postcript from Tudor) on a great much needed win by the B team...

Under the inspirational leadership of former ‘Captain Kev’, with such useful orders as “ don’t shoot until you see the whites of their eyes”, we comprehensively defeated a relatively weak but decidedly pleasant Macc C.

# Mike Renshaw 0    John Reed 1   -- comfortable win against a rather improvised hybrid Benoni defence.

# Tony Lane 0         Geoff Brindle 1 ---- Geoff’s employed his beloved b6 system and beat off a rather overly ambitious Kings-side attack and quickly tuned the tables forcing resignation.

# Marc Jouannet 0   KRH 1 – A tricky customer Marc, who also used the b6 English Defence and threw everything at me but positionally I had a strong hold on the game and took my own tactical chances to force an easy win.

# John Astley 0    David Taylor 1 ---  David tried to deploy his favourite Nimzo but his opponent didn’t oblige and a a rather slow QP game ensued. Latterly  White rushed his end game and crumpled into defeat.

# Tom Robson 0   Tudor Rickards 1   -- didn’t see the game but Tudor with the white pieces played his standard QP stuff and clearly won convincingly.

# Alan Cope 1  Jim McKie 0 --  strange game, a sort of passive unorthodox Sicilian where Jim won a quick pawn. He then lost the exchange and elected  to defensively hunker down and allow the pawn structure to get locked. But he got ground down by Mr Cope’s ‘mogadon’ strategy and ultimately his opponent found a way to break though and force a win.

Captain Kev ---  retired . (again) 

Quiz – name a Chess Club in the Stockport & District league that Francis Moan has not been a member of ?? !!!!

First prize a ticket to see Stockport County’s U21  team. Second prize = two tickets !!!


Tudor's comments !....

"Still stands the clock?"

"Er, yes, unfortunately"

Age shall not weary them, the East Cheshire pensioners. Conscripted again, Cap'n Kev retains his awesome leadership characteristics.

One further story of our glorious victory. The swanky new clocks at Macc Served to defeat the efforts of some the home side to crack the code permitting the required Fischer time limits of the match.

Increasingly frenzied efforts went unrewarded.  After four moves, the clocks at my board showed we had both added  half an hour each of time, and gaining by the move.

The efforts to correct this were rather like resetting the clock in the car to from Summer Time recently, more trial and error than accomplished know-how.

Unlike in the poem, the clocks eventually tired of toying with their operators, and the games began. 

By then, Cap'n Kev was well into walloping his opponent, and the seeds of our glorious victory had been sowed.

ECB 1 - 5 Wilmslow

It was as though Halloween had come a week early as we experienced a horror show against the surprise runaway league leaders.  It was just one of those nights.  I was chatting to their captain after the match and he admitted that at 9.30 he thought that we were going to win by at least 4 - 2.  Sadly that didn't happen and by soon after 10.00 it had all turned pear shaped - or should that be pumpkin shaped.

We gave a warm welcome back to David Broadbent who was making his first return to the Institute in Wilmslow colours.  He started well and was in a good position but David T again showed his Houdini qualities and earned a good draw.

In my game I got a strong attack in and sacrificed a bishop which meant Colin had to offer me a rook in return to stay in the game.  I would be an exchange and a pawn up in a completely winning position.  However, I saw a "clever" move which would win a further pawn before I took his rook.  Unfortunately this wasted tempi gave him a defensive resource and it just meant I was a piece down for a couple of pawns.  Lesson to myself:  just play in a practical way when in a winning position instead of looking for smart arse moves, especially when behind on the clock!

Jim had flown home from the other side (of the world) earlier in the day but showed no sign of jet lag.  He had good pressure against his opponent's king but unfortunately his flag fell trying to find the killer move.  Keven also lost on time.  He too was piling on the pressure and trying to make a breakthrough but his opponent defended well and ran down the clock well.

Tudor was in a tight match that evolved into a rook and pawn endgame.  He had a good time advantage and was hoping to convert the full point but, at about the fifth draw offer, reluctantly settled for the half point -  which probably was the right thing to do in the position.

The match was already lost but John was a pawn up in his minor piece endgame.  The pawn advantage then disappeared but he was still in a winning position.  His bishop was en prise and John was calculating several moves ahead as to how best to win when.... inadvertently....he touched the king, with his bishop of course hanging.  Nobody actually noticed that he had touched his king but in a moment of sportsmanship not seen since Jimmy White against Stephen Hendry, he felt compelled to move his king and therefore resigned.

So all in all a very frustrating evening.  Despite all our early tricks we ended up treating them to a scoreline which really flattered them.  Never mind, I have the feeling that a long winning run is just around the corner (as Ronald Koeman was saying just before the sack...)

0 - 1  John v Kevin Moran (164)
0 - 1  Keven v Richard Evans (155)
0 - 1  Paul v Colin Mills (150)
1/2    David T v Dave Broadbent (140)
1/2    Tudor v Mike Palmer (118)
0 - 1  Jim v Robin Warhurst (102)
1 - 5

ECC 0.5 - 4.5 Stockport C

Please see the report of last week's match from our on the spot reporter - Tudor.

Astonishing match by East Cheshire's Finest

East Cheshire gallant lads ran up against formidable opposition from the Stockport All. Stars recently. Your sports correspondent witnessed the battle.

For some time the match was evenly balanced. Then the players shook hands and started the clocks. It was then that the games began to swing in favour of the all stars.

At first, my attention wears grabbed by Edwin's game against  Gareth Griffiths,the Stockport Captain. From the start, this contest had an air of unreality about it.

 Gareth had an array devices to assist his play. These included special chess-player's yellow and red ear plugs, , and a tin of tasty looking gob-stoppers. 

The opening took on a surreal air, as Edwin began making incalculable gambit moves. I quickly lost the thread of the game, as each player found moves other than those I expected.  Pieces were moved in unanticipated fashion. Then, as I turned my attention to the other games, there was another flurry of activity, and Edwin was facing an irresistible attack from queen, two rooks, and a bishop all intent on doing terminal damage. Edwin's plan of keeping his king in the centre had backfired. "I made mistakes on moves 5 and 9" he told me. I confessed that I hadn't noticed them.

Meanwhile, things were hotting up on other boards. There was a particularly tactical battle going on between our captain Steve McCall  and Brian McGlone. The players chose all-out attack, with pawns flung forward against kings on opposite sides of the board. It began to look as if one move would end the contest. 

Steve appeared to have lost a piece, which forced him into an even more vicious attack. I thought it might succeed but it needed a tricky intermediate move. Steve ran out of time, and Stockport notched a second win.

Boards one and two were epic grandmaster battles. Paul wriggled against a vicious king side attack threatening a sacrificial win. Although that was avoided, the position had deteriorated fatally.

On board two, David Taylor excited his uncanny ability to suck the life out of his opponent's position. Move after move consolidated his own forces, pinning back Peter Taylor (no relation). The titanic encounter continued and for a fleeting moment there seemed the possibility of the game opening up. 

I turned to another close battle on board five. Dave Harris accumulated material advantages but his opponent refused to give up, and found a way of getting one piece back, with some sneaky chances of a perpetual, or even a cheapo checkmate. 

Meanwhile The other David had re clamped the position. Long after I left, the inevitable draw was agreed.  What's that chess saying about 'biting on granite?'p

The season seems to promise another one with more roller-coaster rides at the East Cheshire fun-fair

East Cheshire C  0.5 - 4.5 Stockport C

1	Bamford, Paul	0	1	Mason, Jeff
2	Taylor, David R	½	½	Taylor, Peter H
3	Cooke, Edwin	0	1	Griffiths, Gareth
4	McCall, Steve D	0	1	McGlone, Brian
5	Harris, David	0	1	Kelly, John