Division 2 4NCL
First Weekend, Staverton Park, 12th-13th Nov
2011 by John Carleton
The memories of a year earlier
when the 4NCL adventure began for the Spirit of
Atticus came flooding back when we were greeted
this year, as then, by a beautiful sunny
November morning. The butterflies in the stomach
that were in place in anticipation of the
unknown last year were active this time with the
prospect of upgrading ourselves from medium
sized fish in a small pond to life in the big
pool. And what opponents were likely to be more
fearsome than our first round opponents, the
Sharks?
At this point I should emphasise
that Spirit of Atticus for this campaign, like
the England Rugby Union team in the recent World
Cup, explored new levels of preparation
unanticipated by their rivals. Some matters
cannot be revealed because of their
revolutionary impact, but let me ask,"does your
team have target setting?" Atticus did. "Does
your team gather round their computers to sing
along with video clips [The Jet song from West
Side Story; the Jets, of course, sworn enemies
of the Sharks] thoughtfully provided by their
support staff?" Atticus did.
To return to the weekend itself
and the first match; after welcoming new
recruits, Andrew Smith and Dave Latham, the team
were soon locked in battle. The early stages
seemed fairly level which we took as a good sign
as there was a chance we could be swept away if
we started badly. There was a flurry of activity
around the 3-3½ hour mark; Dave L had drummed up
some initiative as black on board 4, turned down
a draw but having initiated play in the wrong
sector of the board, resigned when prohibitive
material in arrears with no activity. This was
balanced by Andy M on board 7 who had had his
draw offer turned down by an opponent who could
sense long term attacking options. Unfortunately
for him this was not backed up by suitable short
term choices; a simple sequence netted the
exchange and a straightforward win for Andy.
Sheila on board 3 had emerged from a dodgy
opening with some activity for a pawn and when
her opponent moved in for the kill with what was
anticipated as a pseudo-sacrifice but succinctly
demonstrated to be a real one by Sheila, the
point that gave us the lead was not long
delayed. Steve on board 6 put in a measured
display to hold the half point as black in a
game that never varied significantly from level.
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Rd1: Spirit
of Atticus v Sambuca Sharks |
This left four games in play:
Dave R on board 8 had equalised comfortably with
the black pieces but in trying to break into his
youthful opponent's position walked into a
sucker punch and selected playing on with rook
and pawn for a queen as his best practical
chance: this was not, as you will anticipate, a
great chance and in due course Dave succumbed
leaving three of us playing, with Sambuca Sharks
better in each game. Andy S on board 2 had
gradually moved to neutralise the slight but
nagging pressure he had been under throughout
when a time trouble blunder lost a piece and
ended his resistance. Peter and his opponent on
board 5 had constructed a position where Peter
had acquired a bad bishop; however the pawn
formation had become blocked and after extreme
care and some suffering Peter was able to
complete the exchanges that made a draw
inevitable. Last to finish was my game against
Thomas Rendle: a sharp skirmish in the opening
saw us progress to an ending where Thomas had
two pawns for the exchange. When this extended
to three pawns a loss for me seemed inevitable,
but a couple of small errors on his part were
enough for me to generate activity sufficient to
wriggle into a straightforward theoretical draw.
Thus we set off somewhat belatedly for our
traditional post match celebration, following a
match of many ifs and buts but one where we had
contributed fully to the tension in the narrow
defeat.
This time we ate English style
in Northampton, close to our hotel. Steve's
assiduous research was applauded by one and all,
for it was he who had found the Brabenec
Restaurant some months before, and he has
immediately been installed as assistant to the
deputy Entertainment Secretary.
The food was much appreciated
and, hard though it will be to comprehend by
those who know us, I got the impression that the
drink was appreciated even more than the food.
The conversation was as ever, varied, inspiring
and lucid. We were graced by Jeannie Latham's
presence and look forward to welcoming her on a
regular basis even if Dave should be unavailable
for a particular match. It was Sunday morning
when we retired, looking forward to the
challenges of the new day.
We were higher rated than our
opponents 3Cs and we settled down with
confidence for we felt that they would have been
unsettled by their defeat to the impressive,
largely North Wales based opponents, called
South Wales Dragons. As a team who has regularly
beaten higher rated opponents we should have
expected that one day the tables would be
turned, and, after two and a half hours or so it
might have dawned on us that this was the day.
The games where we were making the running
seemed few and far between: on board 3, Sheila
had ventured into the home ground of well-known
Trompowsky aficionado Alan Walton and an
interesting and rather obscure position arose.
On board 2 Andy S appeared to be on the verge of
breaking through into his opponent's rather
undeveloped position.
The rest of the match did not
look promising: my game on board 1 was set for
long term action on opposite sides of the board
and my position looked reasonable; this changed
when I rashly opened up lines in the centre
meaning that the pawn cover round my king was
extremely scant. Dave L on board 4 was, as
white, struggling to get play. Peter on board 5
set up what appeared to be a fairly balanced
position with maybe an edge for his opponent
Graham Burton. Only after the draw was agreed
did the players establish that Peter's situation
was in fact extremely dicey and we were
fortunate to get the draw. Over the bottom three
boards, the Spirit of Atticus team had between
them something in the region of one hundred and
fifty years extra chess experience over their
opponents. This did not show with Dave R on
board 8 and Steve on board 6 in very poor
positions and Andy between them struggling to
equalise.
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Rd2: 3C's 1 v
Spirit of Atticus |
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Our destruction was complete
approaching the first time control: Dave L duly
obtained enough to draw on board 4 and Sheila
also agreed a draw in a position where maybe
most would have preferred her opponent.
Dale James against me did not
rush into matters, calmly playing defensive
moves before launching his cavalry against my
king. Where his knights led the heavy artillery
soon followed and I was blown away. Andy's
opponent on board 2 played some clever
defensive/counter attacking ideas with both
sides short of time: those watching from our
side could only admire this intense battle
whilst feeling, on Andy's forced resignation
that this may have been the one that got away.
There is no criticism of our player here nor
complaint concerning the match result, since the
bottom three boards proved the three that got
away for 3C's, experience having the last word
and three of our elder statesmen managing to
capture three difficult draws. We thus lie equal
bottom of our section, and, like the Rugby Union
Board before us we will not stand idle for a
moment faced with this grave situation. Extracts
from the first report of the management
committee include the following:
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We have no comment regarding
the unsubstantiated dwarf throwing
allegations in Northampton on Saturday
night.
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A moratorium on target
setting is now in place whilst we consider
the whole matter; we will in the meantime
hope for the best like we always have.
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We will ensure that the new
song [to a tune by a band called the Village
People, we believe] ♪♫
"It's fun to play 'gainst the AMCA"
♪♫
will be ready for distribution in good time
for the second round of matches.
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In brief we intend to enjoy
this season's competition and camaraderie
every bit as much as we did last season.
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Rd1 results •
Rd2 results
•
Spirit of Atticus team page
•
Division 2b Table •
Games in PGN
•
This report is also available here
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