Over the past 6 seasons we have
not played in the same division in consecutive
years and the smart money was betting that we
would continue that trend with a season in
division 2 in prospect in 2018-19.
However if there was pessimism
in the Spirit of Atticus ranks no-one was
showing it as we awaited the start of round 9
against fellow strugglers Cambridge University 1
on the Saturday of the long holiday weekend. At
the beginning of the season our two teams were
seeded 15th [us] and the 16th [Cambridge
University] and we were also the 15th and 16th
1st division in terms of grading for this round.
These sorts of statistics could easily be used
to confirm that we had little chance of survival
but where there was life there was hope and we
were determined to show that our matches meant
something.
The match saw us off to a flying
start with Nick Ivell on board 5 forcing mate or
enormous gain of material in just 17 moves
against the University black piece specialist
Richard Lee. This took Nick's team-mates by
surprise and over dinner later in the evening he
faced questions regarding his apparent use of
cutting edge opening theory. Nick said we were
close with our suspicions; in fact the what he
used was newspaper cutting theory and he was
able to produce the cutting from a recent
Malcolm Pein Telegraph chess column to prove it.
The line was laid out carefully right down to
the move 9/... Qxg2 after which black is lost.
Shortly after this Craig Hanley on board 1
against Daniel Bisby landed another quick KO to
put us 2-0 up; this was another example of
modern opening theory this time from Larsen's
opening with their own slant from the two
creative players involved.
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Captain: John Carleton |
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At this juncture my game was
hardly underway as my opponent Carl Spencer
had arrived over 50 minutes late for the
start of play. Thus I had nearly an hour
more than my opponent to consider my
options. In round 11 when facing Jack Rudd,
I could not help thinking back to this
occasion when I, after a normal start to the
round 11 game, found myself with an hour and
ten minutes less thinking time at my
disposal than Jack.
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Rounds 9-11,
Weekend 5, 2018 |
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The next three results came on
the lower boards of the match, wins for Robert
Starley against Dave Latham on board 7 and
Stuart Robertson on board 6 against Sheila
Jackson for the University being countered by
Peter Ackley on board 8 for us against Anna
York-Anderson. Each game was something of a slow
burner but with the final results seeming
predictable from some distance from the finish.
I won my game after Carl had launched a
ferocious looking attack which was contained and
he succumbed to a counter-attack as his position
proved over-stretched. Our Silicon friend
confirmed after the match that this result too
was predictable from some way out, but humans
were entitled to have doubts. Thus we were two
up with two games in play.
The match was settled when the
board 3 encounter between Glenn House and Adam
Bukojemski which was combative with, it
appeared, fluctuations in the prospects of each
player throughout, finished in a draw by
perpetual check.
Shortly afterwards, Brett who
had the option of probing at his leisure having
a good Knight v bad bishop ending agreed a draw
to finalise the match score at 5-3. Thus one
good knight being abandoned led to a good night
at the restaurant on the banks of the River
Severn commencing unusually promptly with the
full team plus two wags. The wine and
conversation flowed in direct correlation and a
relaxed party headed hotel-wards with only a
hitch in taxi arrangements delaying our safe
return.
The Sunday of the final weekend
is widely regarded as the best day of the 4NCL
season with a morning's relaxation before the
fray commences at 1:00pm and this season was no
exception amongst the squad. Suitably refreshed
we faced a much higher ranked team in the form
of Blackthorne Russia with Craig's ranking only
being within 100 points of his opponent [GM
Danny Gormally]. The early phases of play saw us
shape up pretty well with the team fighting all
the way down the order.
Gradually the superior class of
the opposition began to tell. Chris Duncan on
board 7 got an edge in the opening against Dave
which led to increasing pressure on the Atticus
player's structure and a smooth transfer into a
winning ending. There were a couple of early but
eventful draws; Craig held Danny Gormally after
a strangely unbalanced [at least to this
observer] game. Danny sacrificed the exchange
and when Craig was obliged to sacrifice it back
to reach a rook, knight and five pawns aside
ending you could be forgiven for thinking that
the Blackthorne player's structure would carry
the day. You would have been mistaken along with
many observers as Craig's active pieces held the
balance.
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Nick on board 5 faced a
dangerous sacrificial attack by Simon Ansell.
Nick, however, returned the material to reach a
two rooks against queen and pawn ending where
Simon was content to implement a perpetual
check. Peter Ackley was the next to draw on
board 8 against Dave Ledger following a neat
tactical sequence which left Peter a pawn up in
a rook and bishops of opposite colour ending;
when Dave forced the rooks off the draw was
inevitable. We fell further behind when Glenn
succumbed to Richard Bates on board 3. Glenn
missed a chance to advance his a-pawn which
seems to hold and thereafter Richard combined
attack and defence neatly to bring home the full
point. Sheila, on board 6 went down to Lawrence
Webb after seemingly being close to having the
draw in hand.
On board 4 against Andrew Ledger
I gave away a pawn for very little in the early
middlegame and was extremely fortunate to be
able to establish and maintain pressure enough
to be able to win that pawn back some twenty-odd
moves later; with the match decided this
provoked a draw offer which I gratefully
accepted. The last game to finish was a titanic
struggle on board 2 between Brett and Harriet
Hunt. There were many unusual features to this
contest: a selection: 2 bishops v 2 knights [not
that unusual], Brett castled on move 34 [not
totally unusual]; at that point Harriet's light
squared bishop was her only piece [including
pawns] to have crossed the half-way line
[unusual]. Further, only one of Brett's six
pawns was still in his half of the board
[unusual with the big guns still on the board].
Brett castled on to an open file with no pawns
of either colour in the vicinity [ditto].
Harriet seemed utterly doomed when her king was
drawn into the centre with no defensive cover in
its vicinity. Somehow Harriet survived and the
result was a draw: well played to both players!
Thus it finished 5 draws to us and 3 wins to
them or 2½-5½ in conventional scoring.
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r to l: All
smiles from John Carleton (Captain),
Nick Ivell, WGM Sheila Jackson and
Dave Latham before the start of
round 10 |
photo: Fran Carleton |
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The meal saw us return to the
riverside and the Severn and we set about
examining our target for our last round game
against West is Best 1. We had quite a big shock
to find that our upcoming opponents had reached
safety for the season by completing a win
against 3Cs by a single point including wins on
the bottom 3 boards. This, incidentally, did not
augur well for our bottom 3 boards which saw us
draft in Chester junior Daniel Savidge for his
first 1st division game. Furthermore, this win
ensured that West is Best would survive and
could not be caught by us whereas at the start
of the weekend we had expected that a win in the
last round, however unlikely would keep us in
division 1. Closer study of our hastily drawn up
league table indicated that there was one set of
circumstances that would see us survive: [1] we
would need to beat West is Best by 6½-1½ or
better [2] The Barbican 2 v Alba match would
have to be a draw. Once you see the requirement
[1] there is no need to worry! The situation had
been identified as out of our reach and we were
able to relax. Alas the service for the meal was
frustratingly slow as the restaurant found
themselves hopelessly over-run by hot weather
and bank holiday crowds but we eventually
returned to the Park Inn determined to give it
our best shot in the morning.
Our need for a replacement had
arisen because Craig was required to work so for
this round only we were the 16th rated team in
the 1st division. With the tension out of the
situation Peter was content to agree, as was his
opponent Alex Bullen, a quick draw in an
uneventful and short game on board 7. Daniel on
debut with the black pieces on board 8
introduced a tactical nuance to keep the balance
against Roy Phillips who had seen enough to
offer the draw which was readily accepted. The
first decisive result came on board 6 where Dave
found his set-up rather cumbersome against Ioan
Rees; a forced exchange sacrifice brought only
temporary respite for our man. I was next to
finish; after a reasonable opening I had had
been rather out-played by Jack Rudd and arrived
in an ending of Rook, bishop and 3 pans against
rook, bishop and 4 pawns all on the king-side.
The attempt to draw this ending promised a good
deal of discomfort but luckily for me Jack
missed a tactical shot which enabled me to force
the draw. By now Nick on board 4 against Steven
Jones was into an advantageous double rook
ending, which unsurprisingly Nick, our endgame
guru, converted to the full point. Sheila played
4/ Ng5 against Tim Kett's Two Knight's Defence
on board 5 and Tim rose to the challenge by
playing the Traxler. The game was agreed drawn
after 30 moves with each side [justifiably]
concerned about the safety of their king.
Division 1d after round 11
Our hopes of getting a [token]
draw in the match rather vanished when John
Cooper won on board 2 after provocative play
with the black pieces in the opening by Brett.
John met Brett's aggression full on and
established the advantage after some interesting
inter-play. This advantage translated to an
easily won ending. This left Glenn in play on
board 3 against Katarzyna Toma. The players had
arrived at a rook and bishops of opposite colour
ending and the struggle moved on with a draw
always seeming the likely result. The delay in
the conclusion of our match gave us the chance
to enjoy the 5 boards still in play in the
survival match between Barbican 2 and Alba. The
scores were level coming into the match and in
the three games completed with complications in
each remaining game. My favourite tussles were
on boards 1, 2 and 8 but others will have
different choices for their top 3. Our match was
completed around the 5 hour mark, the expected
draw giving West is Best their 3rd win of the
weekend and their second by the score of 4½-3½.
and we headed home. It was only later that we
got the result of the "big match", Alba had
prevailed 4½-3½ to win the toughest battle of
their three year existence. Well played indeed
against formidable opponents!
Thus another season is completed
and a time for mature reflection. We will return
to competition keener than ever next season. You
may feel that this immediate reaction does not
represent mature reflection but the problem is
that we are hopeless addicts to the camaraderie,
competition and atmosphere of the 4NCL. We are
ever grateful for the founding fathers and
mothers some 25 years ago and to the current
great team led by Mike Truran. Particular thanks
are due to Alex Holowczak, Matt Carr and Dave
Thomas of divisions 1 and 2 and Lara Barnes and
Alex McFarlane from the Northern League with
whom we have most contact. We do realise that
these hard workers on our behalf are merely the
top of the pyramid of diligent workers in the
cause.
Thanks to one and all.
Congratulations to our oldest rivals from the
North, Bradford DCA A who are promoted to
division 2 from the Northern League; we look
forward to renewing competition with them and
with Northern League champions Gonzaga.
Congratulations too to former Northern League
rivals North East England whom we will not meet
next season since they have continued their
yo-yo run with a return to the 1st division. We
look forward to seeing you all in November ready
for our next fix.
In the above games you can
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click on the side to move
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