Friday 25 October 2019

Marple A 1.5 - 4.5 ECA

The Navigation was a little spooky last night amid the Halloween decorations but on the upside they now have posh wooden chess boards and the lighting is now excellent.  On to the match....

John  1 - 0  Terry Cowling (130)
John flew out of the traps and immediately launched an attack picking up a pawn but Terry played really well and managed to win the exchange.  In the endgame John had N and 2 connected pawns against a R and showed good technique in slowly marching up the board as a unit to queen a pawn.  It went right to the wire though and the 15 second increment came in useful.

Steve  1 - 0  David Fowler (130)
Playing as black Steve neutralized and settled for an early draw.

Tom  1 - 0  Tony Kay (130)
In a Rossolimo Tom got an early initiative and ploughed in on the Kside with some well placed pieces and an energetic f pawn for an attractive win.

Paul  0 - 1  Chris Baker (124)
In a Carlsbad structure Chris launched a minority attack and in hindsight I should have settled for a draw in an even position.  Instead I tried to mix it up in time trouble and Chris kept his cool better than me.  Bang goes my 100% winning record for this season (OK, defaults don't count!).

David T  1 - 0  Tony Doust (110)
The Power Taylor had plenty of space in the centre and then pushed through on the Kside with a devastating attack.

Tudor  1 - 0  Paul Horrocks (110)
This looked fairly close for a good while before the Wizard from Woodford found a way to finish it off.


Thursday 17 October 2019

East Cheshire 4.5 - 1.5 Worsley

We sailed through our Charnley Cup first round last night against Worsley in fine style.  Another early bath for me so thanks to Keven for some additional match detail.

John  1/2  Adam Tyton (169)
No fireworks from John this time in a Slav and an early draw was agreed.

Steve  1/2  Paul Doherty (139)
Steve's opponent has a modest grading but actually plays in many Open tournaments and with some success.  Steve seemed to have a decisive advantage though but time pressure and stubborn defending held.  (I actually "beat" Paul in a Stockport Rapidplay a couple of years ago in a ridiculous swindle which still gives him nightmares; and I like to remind him every time I see him!)

Geoff  1 - 0  Mick Connor (147)
Older members will remember Mick who was one of 4 or 5 "country members" from Bolton who played for us many years ago.  His return wasn't a happy one for him though as his Grunfeld led to a tricky tactical game where Geoff's attacking pressure became decisive.

Tom  1 - 0  Francis Moan  (140)
Francis's Colle was hunkered down passively as Tom ground him down impressively.

Kev  1/2  Michael Carroll (134)
A Jadoul Gambit!?  Kev's return to e4 ran into a rare line but eventually turned into an easy R&P draw

Paul  1 - 0  DEFAULT

This now gives us a 2nd round match (round of 8) away at Urmston - date TBC.

Thursday 10 October 2019

ECA 5 - 1 Wilmslow

Life back in Division 2 started well for us last night with a comfortable win against Wilmslow.  Very brief details below - my opponent didn't turn up so I left very sharpish to catch a bit of Stockport County on Sky.

John  1/2  Richard Evans (168)
John was up against Mr Consistent but was disappointed not to get the full point as he felt he missed a clear win.

Geoff  1/2  Kevin Moran (157)
Kevin's grade may have dropped since last year but he's always a tough opponent.

Tom Jones  1 - 0  David Mowat (133)
Our new summer signing marked his debut with a nice win.  Well done Tom.

Paul - Default

Nick  1 - 0  Robin Warhurst (102)
Nick made a bright start and went on to claim the full point.

Tudor  1 - 0  Mike Craven (102)
Tudor's game was the last to finish with him a rook and pawn up and about to queen with a time advantage before his opponent finally threw in the towel.