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The Northern 4NCL
3rd Weekend, 19th-20th Feb 2011 by John
Carleton
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Barcelo Majestic Hotel, Harrogate |
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The third weekend took us to
the luxurious Yorkshire spa town of Harrogate to
play in the aptly named Majestic Hotel. This
hotel is famous for its Victorian facade
impressively visible from much of the town
centre but also because it was the only building
in Harrogate hit by a bomb [unexploded
fortunately] during the second world war.
Apparently the pilot had been
refused entry during the pre-war years because
his jacket was not up to standard and so was out
for revenge. Strangely enough the [as ever]
staggeringly deep Atticus preparations for the
weekend [which leaves many of our rivals gasping
in amazement] had established that in order to
enjoy our Saturday evening meal at our
restaurant of choice we too would have to meet
the demands of a dress code. This was an extra
pressure felt by some of our more sensitive
players which fortunately did not detract
from the heated discussion on several key lines
of the Sicilian Defence, inter alia, which
debate is such a prominent feature of our
pre-weekend regime.
The extra hazard of copious
snow had to be negotiated before we could settle
to our first match of what promised to be our
toughest weekend so far. Overall there was one
default only, although one or two players did
cut it fine as the default hour approached.
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Spirit of
Atticus v Bradford DCA Kts 1 |
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Much of the attention focused
on our match with Bradford DCA Knights A in the
top of the table clash between the two unbeaten
teams. The tension was palpable and relatively
quick draws followed on boards 2 and 6 but in
differing circumstances. On board 2 Peter found
himself faced by a master of defence; perhaps
the manner of Peter's play with the black pieces
in previous games had gone before him, but for
whatever reason conflict was not easy to come
by in this game and Peter downed tools to
nurture a pint of the local brew.
On board 6 Andy equalised
after some awkward moments and was content to
'draw with black'. Two players seemed very
relaxed: Dave on board 4 for us and Ben Hague on
board 1 for Bradford. Each delivered
characteristic impressive wins. Ben sacrificed
for initiative, and soundness is not the
absolute consideration. He backed himself to
outplay me in the resulting melee. His judgement
was absolutely vindicated with a most
publishable [I know they are all published
thanks to the brilliant 4NCL backroom workers,
but you know what I mean] win.
Robbo's game was also a
vintage of its sort: a deadly black Sicilian
leading first to the gain of a pawn, then
pseudo-sacrifices to rip open the white king's
defences and finally conversion to a simple
technically won ending. There was a pleasing
logical thread linking the whole game; oh how
rarely are we able to say that about our games!
The two remaining games had
Atticus playing the white pieces but under
pressure. Steve on board 3 had played an
uncharacteristically hesitant opening saddling
himself with some weaknesses. Gradually he
fought back to equalise and secured the draw.
Mike too had the worst of the
opening and found himself suffering what
appeared a lethal bind. He broke out boldly but
with the draw in sight faltered and was
condemned to further suffering.
The team supported him nobly
until the lure of the bar just across the
corridor proved irresistible. Thus Mike was left
to struggle with only the five remaining
games[!] of the titanic Yorvik v Holmes Chapel
match still in play and one or two others from
the remaining matches for company. In the end
resignation was forced and Mike was able to join
the team for our celebrations of the
match; we were determined to do this with as
much gusto as for the previous games; the
result had not turned as we had hoped but we
felt we had contributed fully to the struggle.
Thus, after due liquid
refreshment, we headed into Harrogate for our
meal. Soon we were captivated by the ambience
and indeed the wines of 'Chez La Vie' and an
excellent meal was enjoyed by all. There was a
moment of sudden sobriety when the bill arrived
but nothing that couldn't be sorted out with the
aid of a nightcap back at the Majestic.
Although Sunday's game featured us, now lying
second in the league, against second from bottom
team and fellow Merseysiders Aigburth, we had no
illusions that this would be anything other than
a very tough encounter. They had come close to
victory on Saturday and there was a relaxed air
about their squad. However, cometh the hour
cometh the man, and Peter on board 2 led us on
our journey with an impressive victory against
Roger Williamson. As with Dave's game the day
before there was an impressive sustained
aggressive logic to this performance. The clean
kill made this perhaps the Atticus game of the
tournament so far.
The
large and spacious playing room at
the hotel was an ideal setting for
the matches in rounds 5 & 6.
Meanwhile all was not going
totally smoothly for us. Andy on board 6 was
meeting stout resistance and could claim little
more than equal chances. Mike on board 5 had
walked into a nasty opening line and was
fighting to try and create any play in a
technically lost ending. Dave on 4 had, for
complex reasons, deserted 1.e4 and this did not
look like a great decision as his pawn structure
began to appear increasingly fragile. Steve on 3
grabbed the initiative early on but gradually
this dissipated and he seemed to look somewhat
worse. Peace was agreed in this match with both
sides appearing wary.
In my game Miroslav Gruca had
a rush of blood in deciding to try and knock me
off the board from the very opening. Fortunately
for me the threats were rather hollow and he
found himself condemned to a long and arduous
defence with his queen shut out of play.
Meanwhile Dave generated active play and a draw
was agreed and Mike had to bow to the inevitable
defeat. Thus we stood at 2-2. Andy was playing
on in case I didn't win and whilst doing so
generated a little pressure which yielded a
piece winning combination [or cheapo to give it
its technical name]. When my anticipated result
finally arrived Andy's win quickly followed to
see us win 4-2 but under no illusions that we
had just had yet another close encounter.
• Rd5
results •
Rd6
results
•
Spirit of Atticus team page
• Northern
league Table •
Games in PGN
This report can also be seen
here.
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