Division
3,
Fourth Weekend, Daventry Court Hotel, 22nd-23rd
Mar 2014
by John Carleton
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Daventry
Court Hotel with 155 bedrooms, spacious chess playing
facilities,
minutes from junction 18 (M1), free WiFi and parking. |
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There were early signs that
the usually well oiled wheels of our
transport provision were not turning totally
smoothly as different parts of the squad
arrived at various 4NCL venues [past and
present] at Staverton, Hinckley Island and
indeed the scheduled venue of Daventry
Court. Nonetheless all were present and
correct at the scheduled start of play and
we settled for what promised to be two
exceedingly tough encounters.
After the draw for the
Champions League quarter finals was made
Manchester United manager David Moyes
announced that he had found weaknesses in
United's upcoming opponents, Bayern Munich.
I have to say that our in-depth analyses had
revealed no such frailties in the likely
line-up of the A team's opponents Guildford
3 and the B team were due to face the ever
dangerous Celtic Tigers 1. The B team's task
was made even more difficult by the Tigers
having their strongest team of the season to
date.
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Captain: John Carleton |
With everyone primed for
action round 7 commenced in the worst
possible manner for the A team; I managed to
blunder and have a totally lost position by
move 10 against Nigel Povah . There are two
approaches to this dilemma for the player
concerned: you can play on as though nothing
has happened or you can bravely accept your
fate. I took the coward's way out and played
on; by the time my resignation came we were
about to go two down. Peter Ackley, having
gambled on a radical change of pawn
formation, was outplayed by Daniel Hunt and
we were indeed two down with four games in
play. That became two down with three in
play when Brett Lund drew with Andrew Martin
on top board. Brett broke out from a cramped
position with the aid of a neat exchange
sacrifice and a dynamic balance arose. We
thus had our three games with the white
pieces still in play. In all three we had
realistic hopes of a return and all three
games went into a sixth hour of play.
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Michael Johnson on board 6
threaded his way through the middle game
complications and was able to tease out an
endgame victory. Nick having played brightly
in the middle game emerged into a double
rook and pawn ending three pawns up but with
tactical chances for opponent Graham
Buckley. Eventually, Nick gave back a pawn
to reduce it to rook and two split pawns
against a rook and his technique delivered
the point. This left Andy Smith in play
against Marcus Osborne.
Andy's adventurous pawn
sacrifice in the opening left him with an
initiative enough to get the pawn back and
to keep some pressure. Marcus fought back
and emerged into a semi-ending with queen
against rook and bishop but with his king
hemmed in. Patient and painstaking play
eventually broke Andy's spirited resistance
and we were left to reflect on a great fight
and a narrow defeat against our erstwhile
opponents.
The B team game saw interesting struggles throughout. If
you play through Dave Robertson's game on
board 1 it appears to be a game where his
opponent Hendrik Hoffman gets an opening
initiative, goes on the attack, is met by
resourceful defence but eventually crashes
through.
Our silicon friends show
this summary has flaws; Dave is well in
contention until near the end and in fact
misses a snap win at move 34! Juan on board
2 kept his opening edge for a good while but
one rash move saw him fall to Ryszard
Marciol's sustained counter attack.
Sheila
on her seasonal debut could reasonably claim
to have had the better of her lively game
which ended in a draw and John Cooper on
board 4 was likewise never in trouble
drawing against his seasoned opponent. Board
5 went against us; Richard Bryant's
variation of this thematic exchange
sacrifice gave plenty of activity but
ultimately it seems just left his king too
exposed. Our sole win in this match was on
board 6 and was vintage Steve Connor. Steve
headed for the black king, threw in an
exchange sacrifice to deflect defenders and
broke through with panache. So a match
largely of " if onlys" from our point of
view, but that is the nature of chess, and
we can only congratulate Celtic Tigers on
their togetherness and fighting spirit
whilst believing we showed the same
characteristics in defeat.
The evening meal proved an ideal opportunity to lick our
wounds and unwind at a local village
restaurant. The venue, although top secret,
is highly recommended in all respects. If
there is something of a conundrum in this
statement then it mixes well with the
closing phase of the meal which featured the
inaugural annual Spirit of Atticus, "Grand
Chess Quiz" prepared, delivered and marked
by quizmaster Andy Smith. This proved a
great success with Dave Latham [accompanied
by leading wag Jeannie spectating and
supporting the teams between working
commitments] lifting the splendid trophy.
Appreciation was showered upon Andy and I
understand he has already started preparing
next year's version. The obligatory pause at
the Hotel bar saw the company ready to face
the new day.
Round 8 saw echoes of round
7 for the A team with the first two results
in the match against Anglian Avengers 2
going against us. Most worrying for us was
that two of our big hitters were downed:
Nick Ivell and Michael Johnson each had a
run of three consecutive victories ended by
their defeats. Brett started our fight back
with a fine win: energetic play saw him trap
David Lemoir's king in the middle and an
incisive finish clinched matters. Peter
Ackley and opponent Gordon Scott constructed
a truly messy position but the complexities
ate into Peter's time and he allowed his
alert opponent a knock-out blow. I had
generated some pressure against Philip Tozer
but his defences held firm and an impasse
arose which left only a draw.
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The spacious
Danetree Suite with 483m sq is ideal
for 6-board Division 3 matches. |
So, despite exhortations
heaped upon me to conjure up a win, the
comeback was over. Andy Smith ensured that
defeat was again by just one point by
converting the advantage of an extra pawn
into a victory following a middlegame of
manoeuvring and mutual targetting of
weaknesses. The B team did give us something
to celebrate in their victory over MK
Phoenix 2. Sheila on board 3 led the way
with a pawn grab in the opening and
exemplary technique to snuff out any
resistance.
An opening of aggressive intent
saw Dave Robertson on board 1 obtaining a
won position and displaying the required
accuracy in the endgame to complete the win.
Meanwhile solid draws for John Cooper and
Richard Bryant on boards 4 and 5
respectively brought us to the verge of
victory. Around the 5 hour mark Steve Connor
ensured victory in the match with a draw in
an always interesting but balanced game on
board 6. The all Spanish clash on board 2
between Juan Lasheras and David Martinez
Villena saw the MK Phoenix player sacrifice
a piece in the opening for two pawns and initiative. Juan gradually found work
for the much maligned French defence light squared bishop, quelled his
opponent's activity and forced the win to confirm a 4½-1½ score line.
And what of the final
weekend for the A team? We [and this goes
for the B team also] await the May weekend
with our customary relish. Further, our
mindset will not be Doris Day [Que sera
sera] but Arnold Schwarzenegger [We will be
back]. It will not be through lack of effort
that the team honouring the memory of Titus
Pomponius [Editor's note: better known by
his nickname of Atticus] will remain in the
third tier of the 4NCL.
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Rd7 results •
Rd8 results
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Spirit of Atticus team A |
Spirit of Atticus team B
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Div3 Crosstable •
Games in PGN
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Previous Spirit of Atticus
reports
Chess Photos © Steve Connor
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