Preparations for our away match against Burton and Lichfield E on Monday (02/11/26) had not been smooth. Only one player from our squad was actually available, so three gallant players from our club stepped forward. Well done to Sam, Curtis and Angharad.
On the evening itself, we met in the bar first, ready and keen for the match. This was probably the high point.
The first game to finish was on board four. Angharad was playing Black against a strong opponent; it emerged later that Angharad was having to play their highest-rated player. Very unlucky! It was a lively, fast-moving game and, despite Angharad's best efforts, it ended in defeat.
On board one, Sam was White and came up with our only score of the evening, a draw. The game was equally matched throughout and Sam's opponent offered a draw relatively early. Sam played on for a while because he was aware that we were losing overall but, as he himself reported, "A dozen moves later, I ran out of ideas to break through and offered a draw which was accepted". Well done, Sam, for our only score.
On board two, Curtis was playing Black in a London-type position. He had good development and felt he had a slight edge against his opponent. However, in his own words, "Time was getting low and I went for a break in the centre, but it backfired". Curtis ended up a knight down, short of time and with passed pawns against him, so resignation was inevitable.
That left me on board three against the Burton and Lichfield captain. I was White and faced a solid hypermodern defence, which my opponent played effectively. I was aware that the match was not going well, so knew I had to try to find a win. I took far too long trying to find small advantages, but did eventually go one pawn ahead. Towards the end of the middlegame there was an exchange that lost me a rook for a bishop but then allowed me to gain a knight for a pawn, so I was still slightly ahead on material. Even so, the position was very complicated and my opponent had managed his time far better than I had. For the last dozen or so moves I was playing too quickly, with less than a minute on my clock. I made mistakes and lost.
Overall, a 3½–½ defeat was a disappointing outcome, but there had been some exciting games and the excellent spirit of our club was very obvious. Sincere thanks to Sam, Curtis and Angharad for stepping in and helping us to make the match happen.
| Burton & Lichfield E | 3½ - ½ | Derby E | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ayres, Richard | 1546 | ½ - ½ | Samra, Mohinderpal | 1498 |
| 2 | Whetnall, Connor | 1538 | 1 - 0 | Morrell, Curtis | 1478 |
| 3 | Drayton, Graeme | 1267 | 1 - 0 | Meikle, Duncan | 1424 |
| 4 | Majcher, Piotr | 1559 | 1 - 0 | Parkes, Angharad | 0930 |
(Match played on Mon 2 Nov 26)
Duncan 8/11/26