On Tuesday (20/10/26), Derby E welcomed Belper E and the evening ended 2–2, with two wins, two losses and no quiet boards. Here's how each game went, in the players' own words.
Board 1: Curtis (Black), loss
Curtis took the black pieces against Jenny Gartside on board one and went looking for an early advantage:
"My game started with a Jobava London-type setup with the black pieces. I went into a sharp line where I thought I was winning at least a pawn out of the opening, but my opponent found a line I missed. Eventually, they got too much piece activity with my king still stuck in the centre, and after a king and rook fork, I resigned."
Board 2: James (White), loss
Board two, against Edward Brown, was a hard lesson, taken in good spirits:
"Ten moves of decent development for both players, then a lapse of concentration on move 11, and I hung a centre pawn to the classic remove-the-defender tactic. From there my opponent pressed the advantage, and though I asked some questions of his position, including a rook sacrifice with nasty ideas, my opponent defended solidly throughout and allowed no opportunity to recover, ending with a resignation at move 32 with me in a completely lost position.
A tough lesson in transitioning into the middle game without mindlessly developing.
Good fun, but a tough loss for my second OTB game."
Board 3: Josh (Black), win
Board three brought a happier ending, though it took 92 moves to get there:
"I was Black against Dean Davis. His London System led to a fairly level opening, and I was happy with how my pieces were coming together. I had a few nice attacking ideas in the middlegame, but Dean defended each one calmly. Then it was his turn to pile on the pressure on my kingside, starting with his queen and bishops, pinning my pawns, and eventually threatening checkmate with his queen and rook. I felt against the ropes but managed to keep evading. The turning point was pinning his rook, which gave me room to sweep up some of his pawns. After trading down, we reached a king and rook against king endgame. I managed to avoid blundering into stalemate and walked his king down to checkmate in the corner of the board. A great game, though I should still practise my endgames."
Board 4: Duncan (White), win
Duncan's game on board four, against Stuart Hughes, was closer than he would have liked, but it ended in his favour:
"I was playing White and made a reasonably good start with no obvious errors but no clear advantage either.
As the game transitioned into the middle game, I didn't always take the best options, weakening my position a little, so that I hadn't taken advantage of my solid start. At this stage, I was equal at best, and possibly slightly worse off than my opponent.
However, as we reached move 28, there was a sequence of piece swaps that helped me considerably more than my opponent. Moves 30 and 31 then changed the game completely in my favour. Queens came off the board, and I also established a protected passed pawn.
From that point I was able to gain even further, and my opponent was struggling to find answers in a difficult situation. At the point when he ran out of time and lost, we both had just one minor piece each, but I had 7 pawns to his 4. At least 2 of my pawns were passed pawns, so it would not have been long before I would have had the benefit of a new queen or two.
It was great to win, but I was aware that the game had been too close for comfort for a long time."
Final word
Honours even on the night, and we're still unbeaten after two matches. Thanks to everyone for their reports. Next up is Burton & Lichfield E away on Monday 2nd November.
| Derby E | 2 - 2 | Belper E | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Morrell, Curtis | 1493 | 0 - 1 | Gartside, Jenny | 1490 |
| 2 | Cox, James | 0000 | 0 - 1 | Brown, Edward | 1418 |
| 3 | Gahonia, Josh | 1504 | 1 - 0 | Davis, Dean | 1281 |
| 4 | Meikle, Duncan | 1419 | 1 - 0 | Hughes, Stuart | 1245 |
(Match played on Tue 20 Oct 26)
The games are available here (note that due to a fault board 1 did not record)
https://lichess.org/broadcast/derby-e-team-2026-2027-season/derby-e-v-belper-e/1c3rnooM
Josh 25/10/26