Derby D Battle Hard in Spirited Match at Spondon
Derby D travelled to Spondon A on Tuesday evening (11/11/25) and came away on the wrong side of a 3–1 result. Despite the loss, there were competitive games on every board and some encouraging performances.
Curtis, playing Board 1, opened with the Queen’s Gambit Accepted and reached a promising position out of the opening. However, a missed tactic on the queenside allowed his opponent to win the exchange, and with a strong passed pawn on the a-file, the game soon slipped away. He resigned once the pawn’s promotion became inevitable.
On Board 2, Graham opened with the King’s Knight Opening, which soon transposed into a Ruy Lopez with the Steinitz Defence. After some early manoeuvring, I was able to chase his bishop from b5 and gradually take control of the centre. Graham sought safety by repositioning his king, but once the position opened up, my pieces became more active and his defences began to crumble. I maintained steady pressure through the middlegame and eventually finished the game with a clean mating attack. It took a while to bring home, but patience paid off with a well-earned win.
Board 3 saw André face a familiar opponent in Doug, someone he’s played many times over the years, including at the Nottingham Congress back in the early nineties. They contested the Exchange Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, with André gaining a clear space advantage and keeping his opponent’s queenside cramped. After parrying an attempted exchange sacrifice, André went an exchange up, but a hasty move later allowed a king–rook fork, turning the tables. With time running low and the position difficult to recover, he was forced to resign.
Meanwhile, on Board 4, Chris’s game was finely balanced throughout the opening and middlegame. Both players’ light-squared bishops were restricted by their own pawns, and Chris spent time trying to activate his pieces. As the endgame approached, his opponent brought the king into play more quickly, creating pressure on Chris’s dark-squared bishop, which became overloaded. Despite opposite-coloured bishops, White’s passed pawns proved decisive, and Chris resigned around move 40.
It was a tough evening against well-prepared opponents, but there were positive moments across the boards and plenty of lessons to take forward into the next match.
| Spondon A | 3 - 1 | Derby D | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sheldon, Philip | 1643 | 1 - 0 | Morrell, Curtis | 1829 |
| 2 | Pace, Graham J | 1486 | 0 - 1 | Sands, Garry | 1579 |
| 3 | Bramley, Douglas | 1173 | 1 - 0 | Cockburn, Andre | 1542 |
| 4 | Warner, Ross | 1511 | 1 - 0 | Sharp, Chris | 1560 |
Garry Sands 12/11/25