Redditch visited Sutton Coldfield on Monday in Division Two of the Birmingham League - the club's final match before entering the Christmas break. Pushing for promotion, Sutton Coldfield posed a real danger to struggling Redditch - a situation not helped by Redditch unfortunately missing Dave Spowart and Jason Cole.
The first game to finish was on Board 1 where Dan Lambourne's French Defence against John Mildenhall led to a Rook and Bishop endgame where the interlocked pawns proved too much of an obstacle for either player and a draw was agreed. With Dan holding a 19-point grading superiority over his opponent, it could have been argued that Sutton Coldfield may have taken some advantage from that draw. However, they were to soon be definitely ahead after Tom Robinson succumbed on Board 2 to 152-rated Marek Soszynski - another upset. With the rest of the grades favouring Sutton Coldfield, things looked bleak for Redditch and matters worsened when, as may have been expected with such a gap, Andrew Wiggins had to concede defeat on Board 3 to 151-rated Lawrence Hayden.
However, the bottom three boards had other ideas as to how the match should finish. Steve Crockett sacrificed the exchange on Board 4 against 147-graded Roy Lawrence, picked up a further couple of pawns and finally checkmated his opponent on a8 with the use of King, Bishop and Pawn. Peter Seeley played passively on Board 5 against Shailesh Jobanputra but managed to weather an inital storm. His 145-graded opponent summoned up the reserves to win Rook, Bishop and Knight in exchange for his Queen and go into what should have been a superior endgame. One slip, however, allowed Peter to threaten a repetition of moves from which the only escape was to give up one of those pieces. Jobanputra chose the latter option and then compounded his error by giving up a further pawn, allowing Peter a passed a-pawn that should have allowed him an excellent win. Peter, however, completely missed the opportunity to push this pawn, instead allowing Jobanputra the chance to cause some mischief with his rook. Whilst Peter still had a won position at the end of the game, he didn't have enough time to convert it and instead had to settle for a draw and a missed opportunity.
With Redditch still a point behind, it came down to Michele Clack against 130-rated Iqbal Dhesi on Board 6. Avoiding Dhesi's Marshall Gambit, Michele won a knight in the middle game before returning it and taking a pawn advantage into a Rook and Pawn endgame. Michele missed an initial opportunity to convert before Dhesi missed the drawing line. Michele ultimately promoted the final pawn on the board to secure a 3-3 draw for Redditch and take them into the Christmas break with prospects looking a little brighter.
Redditch play a 'Mince Pie' quickplay on Tuesday as a final social gathering before Christmas. With 15 minutes each on the clock, anything can happen.
Closing thought: "The most powerful weapon in chess is to have the next move." - David Bronstein
Sunday 16 December 2012
Saturday 8 December 2012
A week of improvement
Redditch finally got off the mark in Division Two of the Birmingham League on Tuesday with a 3-3 draw at home against Mutual Circle before following up last Friday's draw with Malvern in Division One of the Worcester & District League with a resounding 4-0 at the Kidderminster Pawns on Wednesday.
Searching for their first point of the season in BDCL2, Reddith got off to a poor start on the lower boards when Steve Crockett lost on Board 6 against Mark Paffard before another defeat swiftly followed for Jason Cole on Board 5 against Christopher Evans. Andrew Wiggins drew on Board 6 against Robert Hollows to leave Redditch trailing 2.5-0.5 and Mutual Circle looked like they would consign Redditch to their fifth successive defeat. Redditch, however, had other ideas. Dave Spowart won a piece against Mark Tallis on Board 3 and then calmly defended his opponent's spacial advantage before the extra piece would prove decisive in his own attack. Tom Robinson followed up on Board 2 establishing a positional advantage against Edward Huang before delivering checkmate with Queen and Rook to level the match. By this point, Dan Lambourne was two pawns ahead in his match on Board 1 against Robin Huq but facing counterthreats. Dan picked up a third pawn but his opponent's counterplay proved too strong for Dan to pursue his attack and a draw was agreed to secure Redditch's first point of the season ahead of their final match before Christmas next week.
Having taken an excellent draw off Malvern last Friday, a full-strength Redditch were in a confident mood for their trip to newly promoted Kidderminster Pawns on Wednesday. Outgrading their opponents on every board, Redditch recorded their first win of the season in style. Victories for Dan Lambourne, Tom Robinson, Dave Spowart and Jason Cole against Mark Riley, David Close, Tim Yates and Clive Billinge gave Redditch a 4-0 victory to haul themselves off the foot of the table and head into Christmas on a real high.
Redditch conclude their pre-Christmas campaign with a trip to Sutton Coldfield in Division Two of the Birmingham League on Monday before the rapidplay tournament enters its second week.
Closing thought: "Your body has to be in top condition. Your chess deteriorates as your body does. You can't separate body from mind." - Bobby Fischer
Searching for their first point of the season in BDCL2, Reddith got off to a poor start on the lower boards when Steve Crockett lost on Board 6 against Mark Paffard before another defeat swiftly followed for Jason Cole on Board 5 against Christopher Evans. Andrew Wiggins drew on Board 6 against Robert Hollows to leave Redditch trailing 2.5-0.5 and Mutual Circle looked like they would consign Redditch to their fifth successive defeat. Redditch, however, had other ideas. Dave Spowart won a piece against Mark Tallis on Board 3 and then calmly defended his opponent's spacial advantage before the extra piece would prove decisive in his own attack. Tom Robinson followed up on Board 2 establishing a positional advantage against Edward Huang before delivering checkmate with Queen and Rook to level the match. By this point, Dan Lambourne was two pawns ahead in his match on Board 1 against Robin Huq but facing counterthreats. Dan picked up a third pawn but his opponent's counterplay proved too strong for Dan to pursue his attack and a draw was agreed to secure Redditch's first point of the season ahead of their final match before Christmas next week.
Having taken an excellent draw off Malvern last Friday, a full-strength Redditch were in a confident mood for their trip to newly promoted Kidderminster Pawns on Wednesday. Outgrading their opponents on every board, Redditch recorded their first win of the season in style. Victories for Dan Lambourne, Tom Robinson, Dave Spowart and Jason Cole against Mark Riley, David Close, Tim Yates and Clive Billinge gave Redditch a 4-0 victory to haul themselves off the foot of the table and head into Christmas on a real high.
Redditch conclude their pre-Christmas campaign with a trip to Sutton Coldfield in Division Two of the Birmingham League on Monday before the rapidplay tournament enters its second week.
Closing thought: "Your body has to be in top condition. Your chess deteriorates as your body does. You can't separate body from mind." - Bobby Fischer
Sunday 2 December 2012
Three matches produce three results
Redditch's struggles continued in Division 2 of the Birmingham Leage on Tuesday as they went down 4-2 against Shirley & Wythall but managed to maintain their 100% record in Division 2 of the Worcester & District League with a 2.5-1.5 win at Worcester Pawns on Thursday before securing a 2-2 draw in Division 1 away to reigning champions Malvern.
Redditch's match against Shirley & Wythall began badly with defeat for Dave Spowart against John Freeman on Board Two. Further defeats followed for Michele Clack and Richard Turner to Jon Asbury and Mike Warden on Board Five and Six respectively left Redditch 3-0 down with three games left and hoping to draw the match at best. Despite the building up of pressure, however, Tom Robinson was unable to capitalise against Dave Thomas on Board One and had to agree a draw to allow Shirley & Whythall to secure the win. With the match decided, Jason Cole agreed a draw with Frank Jiminez on Board Four but Andrew Wiggins recorded an excellent individual victory over Gordon Christie to hand Redditch their only win in a result that leaves them still bottom of Division 2 with no points from their opening four matches.
The other two games this week were fortunately much better. Worcester Pawns put out a strong side on Thursday and would surely have been considered favourites before their home advantage was taken into account. Redditch had other ideas. Jason Cole drew with Andrew Farthing on Board One and Michele Clack made a mockery of her 25 point grading deficit to draw with Ray Collett on Board Two. Ian Clack also drew against Phil Smith on Board Three but Richard Turner beat Roger Yates on Board Four to claim Redditch's third win from their opening three games in the Worcester & District League Division Two and will be hoping to continue that run after Christmas.
With two defeats from their opening two matches in Division One of the Worcester & District League, a trip to Malvern to face the team that has won the last three titles was an even more daunting prospect than usual, although the availability of Dan Lambourne certainly made a difference. After building up some early pressure against Brian Turner on Board One, he declined the opportunity to make an unclear sacrifice and a draw was soon agreed. Andrew Wiggins played a Stonewall Attack on Board Three against John Knee that offered few options to either player and a draw was also agreed. Unfortunately, Peter Seeley was unable to continue the run of draws for Redditch against Geoffrey Herbert on Board Four. After initially repelling Geoffrey's Torre Attack, he gave up a bishop for three pawns to give himself a 4-1 pawn majority on the kingside. He was unable to get the pawns rolling however and Geoffrey used the open files to for the win of a pawn and followed it up with a rook to send Malvern ahead. By this point, Tom Robinson had withstood an early onslaught on Board Two against Ian Clarke's Smith-Morra Gambit before Ian erred in time pressure to leave Tom two pawns ahead. Pressing to salvage the result, Ian dropped a third pawn before conceding the match to Tom, giving Redditch an excellent draw against a full strength Malvern team.
Redditch will be hoping to make further strides on their draw with Malvern on Wednesday as they travel to Kidderminster Pawns in the Worcester & District League the evening after they host Mutual Circle in Division Two of the Birmingham League.
Closing thought: "The hallmark of the artist is simplicity." - Larry Evans
Redditch's match against Shirley & Wythall began badly with defeat for Dave Spowart against John Freeman on Board Two. Further defeats followed for Michele Clack and Richard Turner to Jon Asbury and Mike Warden on Board Five and Six respectively left Redditch 3-0 down with three games left and hoping to draw the match at best. Despite the building up of pressure, however, Tom Robinson was unable to capitalise against Dave Thomas on Board One and had to agree a draw to allow Shirley & Whythall to secure the win. With the match decided, Jason Cole agreed a draw with Frank Jiminez on Board Four but Andrew Wiggins recorded an excellent individual victory over Gordon Christie to hand Redditch their only win in a result that leaves them still bottom of Division 2 with no points from their opening four matches.
The other two games this week were fortunately much better. Worcester Pawns put out a strong side on Thursday and would surely have been considered favourites before their home advantage was taken into account. Redditch had other ideas. Jason Cole drew with Andrew Farthing on Board One and Michele Clack made a mockery of her 25 point grading deficit to draw with Ray Collett on Board Two. Ian Clack also drew against Phil Smith on Board Three but Richard Turner beat Roger Yates on Board Four to claim Redditch's third win from their opening three games in the Worcester & District League Division Two and will be hoping to continue that run after Christmas.
With two defeats from their opening two matches in Division One of the Worcester & District League, a trip to Malvern to face the team that has won the last three titles was an even more daunting prospect than usual, although the availability of Dan Lambourne certainly made a difference. After building up some early pressure against Brian Turner on Board One, he declined the opportunity to make an unclear sacrifice and a draw was soon agreed. Andrew Wiggins played a Stonewall Attack on Board Three against John Knee that offered few options to either player and a draw was also agreed. Unfortunately, Peter Seeley was unable to continue the run of draws for Redditch against Geoffrey Herbert on Board Four. After initially repelling Geoffrey's Torre Attack, he gave up a bishop for three pawns to give himself a 4-1 pawn majority on the kingside. He was unable to get the pawns rolling however and Geoffrey used the open files to for the win of a pawn and followed it up with a rook to send Malvern ahead. By this point, Tom Robinson had withstood an early onslaught on Board Two against Ian Clarke's Smith-Morra Gambit before Ian erred in time pressure to leave Tom two pawns ahead. Pressing to salvage the result, Ian dropped a third pawn before conceding the match to Tom, giving Redditch an excellent draw against a full strength Malvern team.
Redditch will be hoping to make further strides on their draw with Malvern on Wednesday as they travel to Kidderminster Pawns in the Worcester & District League the evening after they host Mutual Circle in Division Two of the Birmingham League.
Closing thought: "The hallmark of the artist is simplicity." - Larry Evans
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