Eventually the much awaited
weekend was upon us and the squad arrived
without a hitch at Daventry Court Hotel. The
A team knew 3 wins would ensure promotion
and believed 2 wins and a draw would
probably suffice. The problem was that our
opponents would have similar expectations so
we were sure of a tough time.
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Daventry
Court Hotel with 155 bedrooms, free WiFi and parking. |
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The B team were playing for
pride and the joy of the challenge. This
team found themselves pitted against players
rated between [ECF grades] 220[!] and 196 on
boards 1-5 so there seemed to be greater
prospects of a challenge than of joy. In the
event we came close to a surprise draw with
this formidable Fermented Sharks line-up. On
board 6, David Hulme, following a season of
keeping the bench warm, became the last of
our 19 player squad to actually play and did
not let us down. David seized the initiative
in the opening and direct attack led to
material gain; the conversion to an easily
won ending gave us the perfect start.
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John Carleton |
Andy Mort drew with ease on
board 4 and John Cooper held with aplomb
after coming under pressure on board 2.
Richard Bryant and Steve Connor fought
sustained rearguard battles but eventually
succumbed. The play of Steve's opponent Alan
Agnew particularly caught the eye. This left
Dave Robertson in play deep in an ending
with a piece against 2 pawns; his opponent
Emanuel Maleki was not for lying down
however and Dave had to settle for a hard
fought draw.
The A team rallied after the
last weekend's disappointments and although
not having things all our own way,
eventually took control of the match against
West is Best 1. Michael Johnson on board 6
grabbed an exchange in line with some
Grunfeld variations; however opponent
Matthew Davies showed that this line was
good for white and his victory could not be
denied. I had taken the quick draw on offer
after obtaining a somewhat inferior opening.
Peter Ackley on board 5 won extremely
smoothly with the white pieces and the
captain made a mental note to risk giving
him white again someday.
We took the lead when Nick
Ivell on board 3 played a lovely game based
on the theme of keeping opponent William
Taylor's king in the centre. This required a
neat combination from Nick to thwart
counter-play and switch to an easily won
ending. Brett Lund looked close to a win on
board 1 but met with stubborn defence and
had to settle for a draw. Thus Martin
Mitchell was left playing on board 4,
nurturing a slight endgame advantage which
eventually became overwhelming, thereby
securing us a 4-2 victory.
The evening meal was held at
a new, to us, local gastro-pub
["Sophisticated yet familiar food wrapped up
in a comfy countryside pub" is how they
describe themselves] and proved very
successful, complemented by appropriate
drinks, at helping the assembly unwind. Our
WAG of the day did add slightly to the
stress levels by setting fire to a couple of
table napkins in one of the abundant tea
lights. I can assure concerned readers that
not a drop of wine or beer was wasted in
overcoming the blaze and that the
interruption to the profound conversation
was only temporary. The customary nightcap
in the bar saw a relaxed squad retire in
good spirits.
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The new day brought new
challenges with the A team drawn against
Sussex Smart Survivors and the B team lined
up against Warwickshire Select 2 in round
10. This latter match proved an even affair
with 2 wins apiece and 2 draws leading to a
3-3 result. Dave Robertson on board 1 and
Steve Connor on board 6 were well worth
their wins each in their own style. Steve
favoured a manoeuvring style, gradually
gaining control across the board and Dave
preferred mixing it from an early stage.
Equally, Michael on board 2 and Richard on
board 3 never really recovered from poor
openings and the Warwickshire players were
well worth their wins. Andy on board 5 had a
short draw which arrived at a pretty
lifeless position pretty quickly. John on
board 4 made more of the running but a draw
was a fair result.
The A team started brightly
with Andy Smith soon on the attack on board
6 and Peter Ackley looking to mix matters on
board 5. Martin and Nick seemed to be making
steady progress with the white pieces on
boards 4 and 2. Boards 3 and 1 were not
looking too hot for Brett and myself. As the
match progressed we became mightily
impressed with the opposition young players.
We got two early wins for Peter and Andy but
Brett fell, despite resisting with every
fibre, to David Graham who showed impressive
attacking flair. Martin also lost despite
appearing comfortable on the board at
several junctures; David Grant kept
conjuring up possibilities and showed great
energy throughout. The top two boards showed
big swings; I won on board 1 when having
shed a pawn, I was able to drum up swindling
chances which landed a knockout blow. So we
were 3-2 up with Nick in play against Zhuo
Ren Lim, who from a worse position, played
at tempo and kept the pressure on Spirit of
Atticus's finest endgame player. Eventually
Nick cracked with a draw in sight, but none
of us could have expected to do any better.
You've seen these games of Carlsen where
grandmasters wilt under sustained pressure,
well this game was like that. So 3-3 it was.
And our view of Sussex Smart Survivors?
Well, we will take their word on the Sussex
part. They are undeniably smart and round 11
would determine whether they [and indeed us]
would be survivors.
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The meal at another local
gastro-pub [passionate about food with a
charming rustic bar], also new to us, was
enlivened by Entertainment Secretary Dave
Robertson's annual prize giving ceremony. In
accordance with tradition Dave not only
supplied copious wine for the assembly but
also copious bubbly for the toasts and the
pre-emptive jubilation/despair of the
morrow.
Further, trophies were
supplied for the "Players of the Year" for
each of the four seasons of the existence of
the Spirit of Atticus. These were; 2011:
Peter Ackley. 2012: Nick Ivell. 2013 :Sheila
Jackson. 2014: joint winners Martin Mitchell
and Brett Lund. There was one other prize
which I was honoured to receive although in
the cold light of day I realised it was not
the most competitive category ["Captain of
the Year"]. Again, the meal itself went well
and a relatively early departure from the
bar was the order the day with the final
round awaiting us.
The B team met Broadland and
again a close match resulted. A single win
for each side was the outcome. John Cooper
blundered in the opening and ended up 2
pawns down; try as he might this proved
impossible to redeem. On the positive side
Richard Bryant trapped his opponent's bishop
deep in its own camp and a speedy victory
was the outcome. The other 4 games were
tightly fought with a fresh Sheila Jackson
arriving to bolster the morale. Sheila drew
with ease; Andy Mort decided discretion was
the better part of valour as his advantage
began to slip for his draw. Steve pushed
hard without quite breaking through and
Michael rediscovered some zest and played
many moves before a draw was finally agreed.
3-3 then and a creditable first season for
the B team, being top of the 50% brigade on
SOS in the League table reflected their
tough playing schedule.
At the start of play the A
team were one of 5 teams in joint 4th place
with 14 points. The runaway leaders
Guildford 3 had 19 points followed by
Anglian Avengers 2 and our opposition in the
final round e2-e4.org.uk 2 each with 15
points filling the first 3 places. The
atmosphere was electric in the top 4 matches
involving these 8 teams and it was hard to
envisage results which would allow us to
obtain promotion with anything less than a
win. The results started to arrive in the
4th hour of play. Dave Robertson [in on
board 6 for Peter Ackley who was missing his
first Spirit of Atticus match in the 4 year
history of the team] obtained a decent
opening with the black pieces but slipped to
the edge of defeat before scrambling to a
draw. Nick on board 3 had a notional edge in
the early stages of his game but an
apparently inevitable draw was agreed in due
course. The game which initially attracted
the least interest from the supporters was
Brett's game against Michael Barnes on board
1. As the game moved on it became clear that
Brett was unwinding a deceptively simple
demonstration of the exploitation of a small
advantage and this in due course put us one
ahead.
Students of Chaos Theory are
often attracted to Andy Smith's games and
his match against Alan Byron on board 5
provided excellent study material. After
myriad complications Andy forced a draw by
repetition as the match seemed to have
turned decisively our way. This proved to be
an accurate assessment as my game had flared
up and after the smoke of battle had cleared
I had a winning endgame. Eventually the win
came and we were home. Martin on board 4 had
made the running for much of the game
against Andy Morley but when his position
had slipped neither player had the stomach
to prolong the fight and a draw was agreed
to give a final score of 4-2.
Our experiences force us to
share the good news: if you are not part of
the 4NCL then get involved in playing in the
best team competition in the land.
In particular The Northern
League provides great venues and the intense
yet friendly competition that characterises
the 4NCL in general so if you are a
predominantly Northern team that travels
South then join us, you will not be
disappointed. Equally if you are a Northern
team contemplating joining in, contemplate
no more, do it! You will not be
disappointed.
As ever the chess community
is indebted to the fantastic team who
continue to work tirelessly on our behalf.
Thank-you to every single one of the 4NCL
workers. Special mention has to made of Mike
Truran's continued energy and vision which
shapes the efforts of the brilliant 4NCL
team.