Time-Trouble Drama as Derby A Salvage Crucial Draw
On Monday (09/03/26), it was time-trouble drama and a Leonid late show as Derby A clinched a draw away to Breadsall to keep title dreams alive.
Derby remain front-runners in form but were once again underdogs on rating as we faced a Breadsall side traditionally always in the title mix.
Kevin faced record Derbyshire Individual County Championship title winner Paul Madden with Black on board two. Preparation and poise paid dividends early on as he emerged from the opening with an advantage in a Grand Prix Attack anti-Sicilian.
George, meanwhile, was struggling as an experiment with the English went sour (he clearly needs ‘Iron English’ lessons from our Steve Retout…!) against one of the division’s most in-form players, Derek Jarvis. George might have bought me a pack of Lockets from the nearby shop just before the game, but Jarvis cocked the trigger to unlock the kingside and capitalised on a blunder to snatch a pawn and mount an ominous attack.
Leonid, on board four, managed the impressive feat of turning a Caro-Kann into a swashbuckling attack with Black by castling long and hurling a g-pawn down the board against his opponent’s king.
As for me, I navigated the opening pretty well and found some early middlegame tactics to achieve an almost winning position — but sadly an engine evaluation doesn’t play itself, and a poor misjudgement cost me the chance to simplify into an endgame where only I could win. I kept the queens on, and my opponent, John Molyneux, snatched a grip in an opposite-coloured bishops position to limit my intended attack with the major pieces.
Kevin missed a chance to press a decent advantage but, just as his higher-rated opponent started to turn the screw with White, he held his nerve to defend well and soon afterwards accepted a draw.
As Jarvis closed in on victory against George on board three, Steven Burke was holding firm against Leonid’s attack and appeared to have the advantage, as an exchange sacrifice from Leonid had put all his chips on the table. I rejected a draw offer around this time, believing I had little choice — especially when George resigned. Things were potentially getting even worse when I started to come under pressure and my clock dipped very low.
But while Leonid was an exchange down, he had a passed pawn and activated blitz-beast mode to put his opponent under severe time trouble. Soon playing on increment, Burke blundered and Leonid clinched a huge win to level the match.
Down to 20 seconds, I then flick-knife offered the draw in what was a slightly better position, but one in which blunders could easily have occurred. Had I played on a few more moves and shown signs of cracking, my rival might have sensed blood and gone for the kill — so all in all it felt like a match point gained as we shared the spoils in an overall draw.
Our Leicester City-style Premier League title push remains very much alive — and still in our hands — but two tough away trips to Burton & Lichfield and Chesterfield await later this month. These could either derail our surprise challenge for the league crown or, with Belper finishing their season while we still have three games to play, leave us with a three-match volley shot at glory.
| Breadsall | 2 - 2 | Derby A | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Molyneux, John | 2110 | ½ - ½ | Tompson, John C | 2113 |
| 2 | Madden, Paul | 2052 | ½ - ½ | Dalley, Kevin J | 1850 |
| 3 | Jarvis, Derek A | 1949 | 1 - 0 | Burdell, George | 1838 |
| 4 | Burke, Steven J | 1887 | 0 - 1 | Siedielnikov, Leonid | 1801 |
John Tompson 15/03/26