Ryanair Chess and First-Class Results for Derby A
Bounce-back-ability helped Derby A conquer Chesterfield and remain on the coat tails of bullish Belper at the league’s summit.
On Tuesday (9/12/25) Dave “Geometry” Williams brought his physics and maths skills to the board, first by solving the puzzle of cramming six teams and 24 players into our compact match room. This did mean we had to pass on using the digital boards!
It may have felt like a Ryanair flight in terms of legroom and chair space, but after defeats on the bottom and top boards last week, two wins on those same boards this time around lifted us to a first-class 3–1 match victory. Belper teams, meanwhile, saw off our B and C teams, both by 4–0 scorelines.
After securing some much-needed ventilation via the church’s skyline window, Dave struck first in a key game with the white pieces on board four, engineering queenside play in the London System. He crashed through with a neat a-file alignment of queen and rook, trapping his opponent’s bishop on a8.
Kevin “Taking a Break from DGT” Dalley had been kept sharp following his clutch win at Belper by Steve Retout peppering him with chess puzzles and trivia.
That sharpness showed early on, as he reached an almost winning position in just ten moves. A clean pawn up, he even offered a picturesque queen sacrifice to threaten checkmate with a pawn and two bishops. There was just one minor catch: his experienced 2000+ opponent didn’t have to take the queen.
Although still around +3 and winning according to the engine, the position was far less straightforward in practice. Kevin didn’t quite find the optimal plan to maintain momentum, perhaps exchanging pieces too soon, and his opponent defended resourcefully to reach an endgame where the extra pawn—locked into doubled pawns—proved insufficient. A draw by repetition followed, though it was still another excellent result on paper and leaves Kevin on 2½/3 against 2000-rated opposition.
My own game took the form of a Reversed Benoni. The slow, positional jostling contrasted sharply with the high-volume, stop-start battle of my stomach performing rumbling somersaults after I bolted down food just in time for kick-off.
Although the engine later suggested I held a small but stable advantage, at the board it felt far more volatile, as my opponent sacrificed a pawn to seize key squares and activate his bishops. I was able to liquidate in time, however, and as pieces were exchanged the counterplay gradually faded.
My three-pawn advantage eventually shrank to one—one of them admittedly lost to a tactic I’d missed—but the material reduction inadvertently allowed me to activate my pieces. With my opponent also in time trouble, I was able to steer the rumbling Ryanair onto the runway and land the win that secured the match—and the Paul Hollywood handshake. This time, it was Dalley delivering the dough.
George’s result was now redundant, but despite the match scorecard being wafted under his nose, he didn’t quite sniff the sweet smell of success and felt a loss could still be costly. In the end it mattered little: although a rash pawn push gave his positionally strong opponent some weak squares to target, George held firm in a locked-up rooks-and-pawns endgame, and a draw was mutually agreed.
All in all, a strong 3–1 win against one of the league’s usual title challengers as we maintain our unbeaten charge into the festive break—with Kevin also still unbeaten on board two. “Ding Dong Dalley on a High!”
| Derby A | 3 - 1 | Chesterfield A | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tompson, John C | 2085 | 1 - 0 | Ackley, Peter | 2070 |
| 2 | Dalley, Kevin J | 1866 | ½ - ½ | Latham, David | 2036 |
| 3 | Burdell, George | 1823 | ½ - ½ | Howard, D Martin | 1974 |
| 4 | Williams, David | 1824 | 1 - 0 | Trafford, John | 1864 |
John Tompson 10/12/25