Division
3n,
First Weekend, Redworth Hall, 16th-17th Nov
2013
by John Carleton
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Redworth
Hall, a 17th-century country house. Now a listed building. |
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It was just three years ago that
Spirit of Atticus made its first tentative steps
in the 4NCL at the same luxuriously appointed
venue with the same baffling inter-connection of
facilities. The League of the region of
post-industrial dereliction [Editor's note: The
Northern League] was born that day too and has
proved another great success for the 4NCL with
this year's entry moving towards double the
original number. Taking the positives from our
narrow relegation after two seasons in the
second tier of Britain's premier team
tournament, we bit the bullet and Spirit of
Atticus B was born.
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Captain: John Carleton |
The first round promised to be a
real test of our resolve with the A team in
action against the 1st team of the newly formed
[by amalgamation] Ferry 'Cross the Maroczy. The
B team found themselves pitted against North
East England 1, relegated from division 2 like
us at the end of last season, who were very firm
favourites for this contest even without "home"
advantage. With three new boys on show across
our teams the traditional first round nerves
were heightened. The first of the newcomers was
Peter Jowett, who after loyally sitting on the
bench last season without getting the call,
found himself in at the deep end on board 3 in
the first team. It should perhaps be stressed
that there was no shallow end for us on this
Saturday: Michael Johnson whom I had met only
via the net prior to this weekend [reassurance
to worried parents at this point: Michael is
known personally by other members of the squad.
Warnings: children [1] do not meet people in
person to play chess if you have only previously
met in cyberspace. [2] do not trust people who
play the Benko gambit, was on board 2 for the
second team; John Hall who has a claim on Andy
Mort's record of 35 years between successive
Atticus appearances [1975-2010] with a figure of
43 years between appearances [1970- 2013] was on
board 3 in the second team. This claim is in
dispute because Atticus was not formed until
1972 but it is definitely 43 years since John
and I last met.
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Redworth Hall
Restaurant |
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The first team match gradually
crystallised: a quick but entertaining game on
board 6 between Dave Latham and Tom Bimpson
ended with a perpetual check. Next Peter Jowett
delivered a speedy win on board 3 which enabled
everyone on our side of the pairings to relax a
little and was a vital contribution by Peter on
his debut. Draws followed by the three hour mark
for Peter Ackley on board 5 and myself on board
1. This left two in play; Nick Ivell on board 2,
seemingly inexorably advancing on opponent
Steven Kee's king and Andy Smith on board 4.
Following a war of attrition, Andy suddenly
broke from behind his lines to consume lots of
pawns and the victory followed swiftly. Nick
completed the slightly flattering 4½-1½ victory
with the best game of this match.
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Rd1: Spirit
of Atticus B v NE England (r) |
As this match concluded all six
games were still in play for the B team!
Although finally succumbing 5-1 we were able to
draw some positives from the match. Steve
Connor's win on board 5 was game of the day by
an Atticus player, showing adventure throughout
and flair in the denouement, and the fighting
spirit throughout the team was tremendous.
John Hall and opponent Roger
Coathup were last in the hall to finish, into
their seventh hour of play. It was, as the
players observed, a game with an opening, a
middlegame and an ending. The middlegame was
electric, seemingly incalculable at times, and
it was there that the decisive moments came.
Julian Allinson on board 4 against Andy Mort
played a fine game [at least it caught the
spectators' collective eye].
There was almost rioting on the
streets of Bourne End [Editor's note: a place in
the South of England where some of our team
reside] when the Grubmeister, Dave Robertson,
announced that the Spirit of Atticus team would,
for the first time ever, eat at the hotel where
the matches were being played, [i.e. in this
case at Redworth Hall] rather than heading into
the local or indeed not so local community. The
mob was placated by Dave promising this to be a
one off venture and it went smoothly enough with
a decent variety of good food, pleasant service
and, crucially for many, a suitable wine list.
With the World Championship match in full swing
quite a lot of the discussion centred on the
methods of Magnus Carlsen. At this juncture we
feel that already we have made real progress in
looking inscrutable but are having some problems
in turning this into actual chess moves; still
it is early days.
And so to the second round : The
A team were playing Manchester Manticores 1, who
had won 6-0 on the Saturday and the B team were
against Bradford DCA C. The first team match was
unclear for a long time; eventually the top 4
boards were all drawn. We could claim to have
made the running in three of these games but the
escape of the day was by Andy Smith on board 4
who made the most of good fortune to make up
what had been a piece deficit. The match was
delivered safely by John Hall and Michael
Johnson on the bottom boards, each gradually
increasing the pressure: John landed a quick K.O.
and Michael just accumulated material as his
advantage became overwhelming. This was a
pleasing bounce back by our two debutants after
a tough baptism on Saturday.
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The Surtees Room
at Redworth Hall's Conference Centre
- an ideal venue for seven, 6-board
matches. |
Dave Robertson walked into an
opening trap so the B team soon found themselves
trailing. However they proved unflappable to a
man and after many murky adventures emerged as
4-2 victors. Dave Latham caught the eye for the
messiest of the messy wins just edging out Dave
Stuttard and Peter Ackley but it was a close run
thing. The B team is the place for the all or
nothing brigade; who will be the first to crack
and agree a draw? The answer to this and other
more pertinent questions will have to wait until
January when we assemble at a new venue to us,
Shrigley Hall near Macclesfield. As usual we can
hardly wait.
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Rd1 results •
Rd2 results •
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Spirit of Atticus team A |
Spirit of Atticus team B
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Div3n Crosstable •
Games in PGN
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Previous Spirit of Atticus
reports
Photos © Steve Connor
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