Statement Win Keeps Derby C Alive
On Tuesday (31/3/26), Derby C faced the league leaders and produced an excellent 3½–½ victory.
Shah was first to finish, offering a draw which was accepted to get Derby on the board. Leonid once again demonstrated his knack for converting equal endgames, turning a seemingly drawn position into a full point.
Matt found himself under pressure but showed great resilience to turn the game around after his opponent went wrong. On board two, I had built up a strong advantage but traded the wrong pieces, allowing my opponent chances for a dangerous attack; with time running short he went astray, and in a position heading towards a draw, he lost on time.
A superb team performance — with just one match remaining to secure Division 2 survival.
| Derby C | 3½ - ½ | Burton & Lichfield B | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Siedielnikov, Leonid | 1832 | 1 - 0 | Hoddy, John D | 1844 |
| 2 | Williams, David | 1835 | 1 - 0 | Smith, Ryan L. | 1802 |
| 3 | Hussain, Shah | 1699 | ½ - ½ | Pickering, David J | 1723 |
| 4 | Caswell, Matthew | 1598 | 1 - 0 | Parker, Joe | 1581 |
The match games can be found at
https://lichess.org/broadcast/derbyshire-league-div-2-derby-c-v-burton--lichfield-b/round-1/HgEc9TPI
Dave 02/04/26