As is our wont, we travelled
in good spirits looking forward to the
battles ahead. Like many an unfancied
football team at this stage of the season we
had quiet hopes of qualifying for the
champions' league [OK, the championship pool
in our case].
After winning our opening
two matches and like said football teams we
were not too keen to discuss these matters
before the event for fear of jinxing our
prospects. Such superstitions obviously have
to be observed and further we were fully
aware of the prospective challenges of the
weekend. First up was the tough match
against Grantham Sharks 2 who had graced
Division 1 last season. Before the game we
felt this encounter was too close to call
and the prospect of a tight match was
confirmed as the play unfolded.
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Captain: John Carleton |
Gradually the draws rolled
in: newcomer to the Atticus colours, David
Phillips on board 6 had time to turn down a
draw with the black pieces before agreeing
peace with Grantham captain Ben Purton.
Peter Ackley on board 7 was downed tools
early having become alarmed by the perceived
increase in activity of opponent Graeme
Kafka's position; that said this appeared
pretty level to most observers. Gradually
the top four boards joined the peaceful
throng: Brett Lund on board 1 never managed
to unbalance his position; Nick Ivell on
board 2 and I on board 3 produced positions
that seemed to offer prospects of lively
play but each game flattened out fairly
rapidly. Martin Mitchell on board 4 strove
manfully to unbalance his game but this too
ended in a draw.
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Spirit of
Atticus A (Round 3) |
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This left two games in
progress: Sheila Jackson on board 5 was up
against Paul Cumbers and he had a pleasant
version of the thematic French Defence
exchange sacrifice against the Tarrasch with
two extra pawns and lively bishops to boot.
Sheila was fighting hard so we had not given
up hope. The other game saw Dave Robertson
on board 8 in play in a wild Winawer French
which was hard to evaluate. His opponent,
Amisha Parmar, was also the exchange down
but this time she was three pawns to the
good. We were certainly hoping our man would
deliver the point and as is often the case
the spectators had loads of ideas as to how
this might happen, but as is also always the
case, we did not face the acid test of
actually having to play the position. Paul
unleashed a snap finish to limit Sheila's
suffering, the light squared black bishop
played the starring role in the finish. Thus
we were one down with one in play; Dave gave
up the fluctuating struggle when it was rook
and king versus rook and king and we retired
for our evening meal well into the 6th hour
of play with perfect timing for our
reservation.
At the evening meal we were
reflective but not totally despondent. We
had to hand it to Grantham who had, in a
style much admired by us when we did it the
previous weekend, squeezed home with 7 draws
and 1 win. We also had to admire their
selection policy : their two wildcards were
left to play a decisive role at the business
end of the match. As skipper I felt I had
been outmanoeuvred but my credibility was
restored a little when I unveiled my 'new
phone' to gasps of admiration and amazement
from the assembled company. I can safely say
that I am at the cutting edge of technology
and have arrived in the 21st century, or at
least I will have when I learn how to use
it. Thereafter the meal followed our
traditional path of thoughtful discussion
accompanied by an appropriate amount of
drink which was suitably topped up in the
hotel bar [despite threats to the contrary
Grantham's Graeme Kafka thoughtfully did not
drink the bar dry before our return] and
then on to bed.
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Spirit of
Atticus A (Round 4) |
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Sunday saw us paired against
Wessex and we were favourites on ratings,
however the historical score of 1-1 between
the teams meant we were fully aware that
this was not likely to be anything other
than a very tight encounter. The match, as
on the previous day, started with no clear
plusses for either side. Gradually the draws
began to arrive. David Phillips on board 6
did not find Oliver Gill's pet 1/...Nc6 an
easy option and had to play carefully to
level the position out. This proved a solid
introduction and a successful weekend for
David on debut.
I had more or less equalised
against Keith Gregory when I wandered
blindly into and luckily out of a dire
position; a draw was agreed in the
symmetrical ending that arose. Brett on
board 1 against Allan Pleasants had to
endure sustained discomfort as an
imaginative sequence left Allan with a
bishop and two pawns [part of a massive
centre] against two passive knights. The
draw seemed a fair result. The next draw to
roll in was Peter on board 7 who had grabbed
a pawn but the passivity of his position
made a draw the realistic limit of his
ambition. This left half the team in play
and Dave on board 8 was next to finish,
landing our first [and alas our last] win of
the weekend following original play and
tactical agility in the complications. Nick
and opponent Gavin Lock on board 2 produced
a top class encounter with a tense opening
leading to a big collision. A queen, rook
and bishop of opposite colour ending saw
Gavin on top with a rampant pawn tying Nick
down. As in the previous match a
traditionally "bad" French light squared
bishop made a big positive contribution to
black's [Gavin's] win. Martin on board 4 had
emerged from the opening with a small edge
and decided it was time for attack as he
threw material at the black king's defences.
Alas this attack was flawed
and his opponent Dominic Tunks found the
flaw and eventually repulsed the attack to
put Wessex into the lead. This left Sheila
in play against Roger de Coverly but with a
balanced position she had no way to try to
make progress that was not suicidal. Another
defeat by the narrowest margin was hard to
take but we had to admire our opponents'
verve and fighting spirit.
We are not standing still;
already plans are being drawn up to
introduce a dietician, fitness experts, a
motivational guru and theoretical trainers
into the squad. Obviously there will be
financial implications so if there should be
a Russian oligarch out there who would like
to start the process of rebuilding trust
between our countries we would welcome his
or her involvement.
Our Grub Meister knows many
restaurants with excellent wine menus and
would be happy to talk through the detail
over a meal [other nationalities may
apply]. In the meantime we will return to
the fray, definitely not dreaming of the
championship pool, but, in time honoured
fashion, taking one match at a time.
Team B: Division
3n, Second Weekend, Shrigley Hall, 10-11 Jan 2015
by
Andy Mort
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Shrigley
Hall originally built in 1825, is now an impressive hotel. |
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The
composition of the B team was quite
different from that of the one which
succumbed to two narrow defeats in the
triangular match at Redworth Hall, but the
team did have a distinctive character, being
mainly composed of northern university
players from the 60’s. Think balding
pensioners with minimal current opening
knowledge rather than long-haired hippies.
Having slumped to the bottom of the Swiss
draw, we hoped for two convincing wins
against other lowly placed opponents, and in
this we were successful, in the process
achieving a handsome number of game points
and without any player losing a single game.
In the third round, our
opponents, whom we substantially out-graded,
were Bradford Knights C, and we got off to a
good start by equalising quickly in the 3
games in which we had black. After
experiencing a few uncomfortable moments
towards the ends of their games, Lloyd
Powell and
John Cooper both drew. Richard won fairly
quickly, but in somewhat unusual
circumstances. After some cat-and- mouse
manoeuvring in a Dutch opening, white won a
pawn and developed a clearly winning
position before black, not apparently aware
of the rules, lost on time with 20(!) moves
to make.
I had established a very
good opening with active play against weak
black squares and my opponent’s
over-extended centre, but went slightly
astray before eventually winning a rook and
3 on the kingside v rook and 3 on the
queenside race as a result of extra tempi
and a commanding rook position.
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Spirit of Atticus B
(Rounds 3 & 4) |
As white in a Slav, John
Hall closed the queen side early and his
opponent attacked vigorously on the king
side, though with insufficient pieces to do
too much damage since his king was stuck in
the centre. John was able to double rooks on
the f file and see home his counter-attack.
And so the score was 4-1, with one game to
go, predictably that of Mike ‘Grinder’
Johnson.
After only 2 weekends, it
has become clear that booking meals and
taxis at the appropriate times is one of the
most challenging aspects of the captain’s
role. I had correctly identified the most
likely suspects to delay our evening’s
revelry at Darlington, but, having
dispatched Robbo to Hinckley, thought we had
more chance of eating before midnight this
weekend. However, Mike decided to ‘go for
gold’ this time, only narrowly missing out
when his game was the second last in the
room to finish.
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Seriously, Mike showed why
his stamina and determination are such
assets in long games where extra half points
can be squeezed out. He had queen v rook,
bishop and a menacing passed pawn, and a
position which spectators were unsure he
could win. However, Mike played the position
skilfully, advancing his two remaining pawns
to control crucial white squares, and
finally breaking his opponent’s stout
resistance by advancing his king on a
totally open queenside from b1 to d8 where
it could be shielded by his queen.
The meal at The Swan, a pub
of considerable character, lived up to
expectations. The real ale (Merlin) and wine
(Cotes du Rhone) were very good, the food
excellent – notably the guinea fowl and
(monstrous) game pie – and the service was
prompt and friendly. A pity we will not be
able to return next year.
No damage was done by the
Saturday revelry, and, bright-eyed and
bushy-tailed, we prepared to engage in
battle with Manchester Manticores C on
Sunday. Lloyd won quickly, his opponent
dropping a piece to a tactic on the long
white diagonal within 15 moves. Richard also
won quickly as black, partly because his
opponent played so quickly, though perhaps
not with a very coherent strategy. After
winning a pawn, Richard was able to utilise
his opponent’s vulnerable king position to
pressurise white’s remaining pawns in the
queen and knight ending.
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'The meal
at The Swan, a pub of
considerable character, lived up
to expectations' - Andy Mort. |
My opponent offered an early
queen exchange which I was happy to accept
to double rooks on the d file and pressurise
a backward pawn, but my opponent defended
doggedly, and I wasn’t too unhappy to shake
hands knowing that we were two games up.
Mike’s opponent announced his intentions
early by playing the Exchange Variation
against his French, even mimicking Mike’s
moves for some time thereafter. Despite his
best efforts, Mike was ultimately unable to
win the resulting knight ending.
We were now comfortably
placed at 3-1, but the further necessary
half-point did not look to be assured at
this juncture. John Cooper gradually
increased the space advantage he had
developed in the opening as white, and
looked to be clearly winning, but despite
having an advanced passed pawn on h6, wisely
chose to ‘sac’ the exchange to eliminate a
hostile knight which was menacing his
draughty king. A draw was then agreed,
enabling us to win the match.
John Hall faced a Four Pawns
Attack against his King’s Indian, though the
position later resembled one typical of a
Czech Benoni, with black controlling e5 and
white having a bad bishop on d3. After
complications which I hadn’t the opportunity
to follow, the game resolved into an ending
in which John used his isolated double
pawn to cramp white’s king position, and, in
the subsequent knight ending, the
infiltration of his king into the vulnerable
black squares on e5 and d4 was decisive.
In the end, another
convincing win to crown a successful and
thoroughly enjoyable weekend. And so to
Buxton, brimful of confidence, where we
expect to meet some of the more highly
placed teams. The search for eating-places
begins, but in the meantime, does anyone
have a book on sharp gambits which could be
passed on to Mike?
