Traffic Fails to Prevent D Team Victory
The D team kicked off its season on Tuesday (23/9/25), with an away game against Clay Cross B.
The A38 traffic north of Derby was sluggish, sometimes stationary, and there were real concerns about when we would arrive. In the end we were able to make up some time, and the match started only a few minutes late.
I was on board 2, Black against George. After a stodgy opening, George offered an exchange of queens, which left him with isolated doubled pawns. Ten moves later I was two pawns up in a king and rook ending, with a better placed king.
Sam had a good middle-game position, but succumbed to tactical complications.
Chris's opponent played f5 and advanced other king-side pawns. Chris deftly exploited the ensuing weaknesses with crushing effect.
It was Curtis's first league match for the club. By late middle-game, he had space advantage, but was looking to become a piece down and had less than a minute on the clock. Using instinct and adrenaline, Curtis got a slightly better king-and-pawn ending, and smartly won the queening race.
| Clay Cross B | 1 - 3 | Derby D | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cameron, Neil | 1674 | 0 - 1 | Morrell, Curtis | 0000 |
| 2 | Heath, George K | 1456 | 0 - 1 | Cockburn, Andre | 1563 |
| 3 | Thorpe, Dudley | 1401 | 0 - 1 | Sharp, Chris | 1537 |
| 4 | Fores, Craig 1 | 1359 | 1 - 0 | Samra, Mohinderpal | 1478 |
Andre Cockburn 24/09/25