Wilmslow A 2 ECA 4

Last night Wilmslow A had their chance to avenge the defeat they suffered against us last week. Happily for us they didn't take it and we collected another valuable 2 match points.

1. S Shepherd (158) 0.5-0.5 J Reed

John managed to play another Queen's Gambit Exchange and, shock horror, did not win! Steve forgot to follow the script and created some kingside counterplay, forcing John to exchange Queens and force the draw.

2. C Guffogg (126) 0.5-0.5 G Ball

Chris proved that his draw last week was no fluke with another cut and thrust game taking on Graham's Dutch Defence.

3. R Warhurst (122) 0-1 P Ramsey

I continued to ride my luck with another unconvincing victory. I played the opening and early middlegame rather smoothly, trying the Catalan again and winning a queenside pawn. Then in time trouble I played a horrendous move which gave Robin two ways to win a piece. Fortunately he spotted neither of them and I then ground out the endgame.

4. M Palmer (114) 0-1 D Newall

Dave seemed to get the better of things quite rapidly with his Dutch Leningrad and then Mike blundered a piece to bring things to a rapid conclusion.

5. T Flynn (109) 0-1 K Holton

Tony merrily flung his pawns forwards without bothering to castle and Keven eventually made him pay for his bravado.

6. C Jackson (108) 1-0 D Broadbent

Dave once again wheeled out his Cambridge Springs Defence but Chris played well, won a pawn and then unleashed an unstoppable attack.

So 2 more match points and 4 more game points for ECA. Now we just need to win against Denton B and Macc A!

ECA 4.5 Wilmslow A 1.5

ECA discovered that winning feeling again last night with a comfortable win over Division II strugglers Wilmslow A. Here is what happened:

1. John Reed 1-0 Steven Shepherd (158)

Playing against the English John got a great position out of the opening and never let go, eventually winning the exchange and a pawn. A great win against their strongest player.

2. Graham Ball 0.5-0.5 Chris Guffogg (126)

Knowing that he was playing a weaker opponent and taking on his own favourite French Defence Graham must have thought he would have an easy night but Chris more than held his own in an exciting game and in the end Graham was happy to take the draw.

3. Phil Ramsey 1-0 Robin Warhurst (122)

My swindling skills have improved this season - I have now won at least three games that should have been drawn. Robin played the solid Torre Attack but I managed to get a good endgame only to throw away my advantage in time trouble (as usual.) Robin was better in the knight endgame but then miscalculated and let me queen a pawn.

4. Dave Newall 0-1 Colin Mills (120)

Dave played his favourite Bird's opening and had a very long think on move 4. This cost him dearly later as he ended up in desperate time trouble and allowed a snap checkmate.

5. Dave Broadbent 1-0 David Booth (111)

Dave has had a lot of success with his Cambridge Springs System recently but David played all the right moves and didn't succumb until the endgame.

6. Keven Holton 1-0 Tony Flynn (109)

Keven played his new Bird's Opening which ended up looking more like an Advance French Defence. Keven had a lot of space and eventually swept Tony away with a Kingside attack.

Wilmslow will get their chance for rematch on Monday night. See you at the Ship Inn?

The Stockport Jinx strikes again

East Cheshire have lost every match against a Stockport team that I have been involved with and last night the run continued against a weakened Stockport C. Dave B got us off to a good start with a quick win as Black and then Dave N won to keep us in the lead but things went downhill after that. Here is what happened:

Andy Coe (148) 1-0 John Reed

Andy played a strange kind of Queenside Scandinavian Defence and John built a very strong position. However the wily Coe got a sniff at John's King and duly built a winning attack. Ouch.

Peter King (146) 1-0 Graham Ball

Peter played the Catalan and gradually built up an overwhelming position.

Mark McNulty (144) 0.5-0.5 Phil Ramsey

In a Classical King's Indian I never found a way to build an advantage and in the end was glad to take a draw a pawn down in the endgame.

Vic Rushworth (139) 0-1 Dave Newall

Playing his favourite Accelerated Dragon Dave won a pawn with a clever tactic and then won Vic's queen.

David Preen (131) 1-0 Keven Holton

Keven inadvertently invented a new gambit, losing a pawn on move four. He had insufficient compensation and eventually had to give up his bishop to avoid a back rank mate.

Ray Bradney (80) 0-1 Dave Broadbent

Ray fell into an opening trap against Dave's Cambridge Springs Defence and lost in 12 moves. Well played Dave!

We out-rated Stockport on every board so a disappointing result. Maybe we will do better against Wilmslow next Wednesday?

Another QGD, another win for John

John is doing his best to persuade us all to play the Queen's Gambit Declined, Exchange Variation. The game below, with notes by John, explains why.

C Team avoids whitewash - just

The C Team hosted the dedicated under 18s of Ashton Community Chess Club on 23 February 2011, and only Mike's win on board 2 saved a whitewash. Well done Mike. In a year or two it may well be the A Team whom Ashton visit.
East Cheshire C 1, Ashton 4.

C Team beats Stockport D

In a close contest the C Team scored a near win against Stockport D last night (Thursday 17 February 2011). The scorecard (below) involved only integers this time ...

Stockport D.....................East Cheshire C
1....D. Preen........0...1......B. Tait
2....J. Kelly..........0...1......G. Clarke
3....M. Jackson...1....0.....M. Cunnane
4....I. Anderson ..1....0.....I. Vaughan
5....A. Prime.........0...1.....A. Buckley
TOTALS.............2....3

Three wins and a near miss

East Cheshire A kept their promotion drive on track with a 3.5 - 2.5 victory at Altrincham.

Graham lost a game he could have won and Dave N won a game he should have lost so in the end the luck cancelled out and our strength showed.

1. John Reed 1-0 Y Kolodiy (160)

Is the Queen's Gambit Exchange Variation a forced win for White? John thinks so and here is more evidence. John bashed out his first 15 moves in about 5 minutes and ultimately had to apologise for knowing the opening so well. Kolodiy played actively but got ground down.

2. Graham Ball 0-1 K Lockett (159)

Graham appeared to have a slightly dodgy opening (too many pawn moves on the Kingside maybe?) but played actively and created some nasty threats. He appeared to be winning but then allowed Karl a mating attack.

3. Phil Ramsey 1-0 N Lowe (148)

I played a Reti / Catalan hybrid and Nick seemed rather unsure what to do against it. After 20 moves Nick had used nearly all his time and he then collapsed in the middlegame complications.

4. Dave Newall 1-0 R Clucas (UG)

Dave played his favourite Accelerated Dragon and got a very nice position from the opening with pressure on White's queenside pawns. However he then blundered a piece but still managed to win by pushing his central passed pawns.

5. Alan Stokes 0-1 T Tomkins (131)

Alan played a very patient English opening but finally lost his Queen and the game.

6. Dave Broadbent 0.5-0.5 D Hughes (130)

Dave played the French Defence and quickly assumed the initiative with a kingside attack. However David defended well and eventually managed to block off the whole board!

Thanks everyone for making the long trip to Altrincham.

ECA has a few weeks off now until we play Stockport C on March 17th.