Brighton Victorious

We were pitted against old adversary Hastings & St Leonards First Team in the final of the McArthur cup.I must say i thought us the underdogs in this most recent of our matches.
First blood to Brighton was a default shortly following the hour on board Two to Brian Denman.
Our next success came when Luke Rutherford was able to outplay Patrick Donovan as black in a Colle-Zukertort Opening
Next Geoffrey James was able to draw solidly as black against Chris Howell.
Board Six was next to finish.In the battle of the ladies Nadya Somova was able to outplay her opponent in an Advance French Opening.
Adrian Pickersgill drew as white against Richard Almond.Scoreline now 4-1.
Alas we did not end on a great note as i lost as black versus Bernard Cafferty.
However,despite personal disappointment for me,the team had won 4-2.
The McArthur cup will be coming back to Brighton after an absence of five years.

2nd Team Roundup

A disappointing last two matches for the second team or at least match 7. Against Horsham 3 we were very evenly matched on grade slight favourites even so I was expecting at least a draw. However to paraphrase Brian Clough we don't play chess on paper and took a beating 1.5 - 3.5 . This was three draws, two losses and in largely we were guilty of wanting too much, all the games were at least equal and so a bit of common may well have seen the match won by just a single decisive game. Two good positions became losses in time trouble.
The last round was against Eastbourne 1 so no disgrace losing there and nobody was smashed. The only bright point of that match was an excellant draw for our sub Arthur de Silva.

I said it was a disappointing end to the season but overall it was an improvement on a few years of struggle and almost being relegated. As with the great promotions of teams 3 and 4 this shows the increased strength of the club as a whole. Team 2 finished fifth on game points though equal fourth on match points. I believe that given at some stability in the current availability of players w can be a match for anyone and would have a chance at least of promotion

Thanks to all who played. They are: Paul Selby, Dona Strauss, Brian Izzard, Neil Tasker, Kevin Gee, Felix Haxby, Nadya Somovar, Arthur de Silva and Micheal Caine in the McArthur Cup.

See you next season,

Anyone for a pint?

db

Semi-Final Victory

Brighton & Hove were pitted against an opponent who previously had beaten the Second Team on their home turf.However their success did not continue further.Nadya Somova who was playing her debut for the First Team,got us of to a fine start.She won her game in under One hour from the start time.The game lasted a dozen moves or so.
Next to finish was Adrian Pickersgill crashing in with a King-side attack following his opening move of E4.Two-Nil up and things were looking quite rosy.
I was quite nervous in my game having lost my last three competitive matches.However i was able to conquer any initial nerves and even win!This is much more satisfying than losing!So that made the running score Three-Nil.Technically though it would still have been possible to lose on Board Count.
Luke Rutherford had played a subtle ending with Queen,Knight and Pawns.This he was able to convert.Now it became Four out of Four.The Match at this stage had already been decided in our favour.
Geoffrey James was trying to convert an ending Two Pawns up.This he managed.His opponent did say however he had made a bad mistake to lose material.This must have come as a relief to Geoff who had in previous encounters in this competition Twice drawn with Keith Davies.Five out of Five with one to go.
Brian Denman had attacked gamely from the White side of an Open Sicilian.His opponent surprised him with a move or Two and was able to wriggle out with a draw.
Not quite a White Wash but a sufficiently competent result to progress to the next stage of the McArthur Cup.

Third Team Goes Down To The Wire In Desperate Promotion Bid

We traveled up to Horsham for our last match of the season rather anxiously on Tuesday; we needed at least a draw if our dreams of promotion to the second division were to be realised. (Uckfield 1, with two matches in hand against weaker teams, is expected to come top.) The Horsham fourth team had a grading average of 113 over the season whereas our team average was only 99 on the night (stronger than our 93 for the season so far thanks to Neil now playing top board).

Everyone sat down with the realisation they could be responsible for the fate and future of their team, but whereas the home team needed a win, we could be cautious - and were. Michael, Arthur and I settled for draws while Neil and Kevin battled on to judgement day at move 42. Both looked like draws but neither were accepted by a team hanging on by a thread. Neil's was a rook and pawn ending with equal material, and Kevin's opponent, Julie Denning, had an extra pawn, doubled, to Kevin's passed pawn, with a knight each and opposite coloured bishops. Neil's looked solid but we were nervous about Fritz's opinion on the second. Michael has provided the graphic showing final positions. The Fritz analysis looks promising but not certain.


A good performance against stronger players, but the outcome will be appealed all the way. Should Horsham win the match 3-2 we will be dead level on 5½ match points and 23 game points each with promotion at stake, and the extra twist that both Julie and myself are potential decision-makers comprising half the management committee of the MSCL. Is there a precedent? If there is, and I suppose there must be, I am sure Julie will proceed with the detachment of Solomon.

Brighton&Hove 5 v E.Grinstead 3.

Home Match Weds 18th March 2009. Result-Lost 2-3.
Last match of the Season.

In board order.
Ian had a long duel but unfortunately lost during the end game.It looked as if he had chances of queening a pawn when I observed. Perhaps a general point could be made here.Some players may not wish to be observed by a crowd of their supporters because it could be off putting.I'm open to discussion on this in the future.
Overall a great season by Ian for the team. 4W, 2D, 2L.
Duncan played The Sicilian, dealing with a variation where white plays bishop C4 on move three.By the middle game he had a pawn up and the white pawn structure was broken.Finally a blunder by white led to a knight fork between rook and king, and a win for Mr Roy.
Overall the best individual performance for the team this season.5W, 2L.Excellent Duncan. Well done.
I started with a good position but unfortunately made a weak f3 move on move 12. Black then started an attack from which I never recovered and it was a final check mate for white on move 44.
Overall for the season. 4W, 2D, 3L.
Michael played an excellent game. A pawn up and superior position resulted in a great advantage resulting in his opponent losing a queen. Michael could then afford to play a knight sacrifice in a check mate attack.
Andrew played The Birds Opening with f4 giving his opponent some good opening questions. However by the middle game he was two pawns down from which he never recovered.
Overall for the season. 2W, 2L.
We ended the season on a sad note.A draw would definitely have been a fairer result from this match. However it appears we should be around the middle of Division 4 when all the results are finalised.So the general feeling is, that a good start has been made by Team 5 for their first season in Division 4.
Well done and thank you to all those who have supported the team throughout the season.We look forward to next year.

Away Tie Versus Horsham

Luke Rutherford had to defend a Torre Attack as Black.This he did successfully.So Board one was a draw for Brighton & Hove.Brian Denman seemed to have another wild looking game.Attacks on both King's made it fairly entertaining.However Brian's opponent played with such resource that Brian was forced to cease hostilities with a perpetual attack.Draw on Board two for Brighton & Hove.My own game was quite a slow positional one.I blundered a pawn and was not able to save it.That was a loss for Brighton & Hove on Board five.
At the close of play Both Geoffrey James and Adrian Pickersgill had not reached a result.After further research Geoffrey had to concede that his position was drawn.That was a draw on Board three.The final remaining game where only a win would do to tie the match was conceded without the need for adjudication.Adrian had been a sound exchange up and naturally was intending to claim had his opponent elected to go the next stage.So a win on Board four for Adrian Pickersgill secured Brighton the Tie in this match.
It will still be possible to finish in the top three if we acquit ourselves reasonably well from now on in.I hope we win at least one more match.

Brighton 4 vs Crowborough 4

This was really the crunch match for us, win this and we really should win the division; lose and we would finish second if we were lucky. Fortunately for us we thumped Crowborough 4 around the back of the head and ran off with their wallets.

Duncan Roy blundered twice, but fought back bravely each time and ended up with a draw.

Bob Davies was very mean to his young opponent, and despite yet another mad scramble for the time control won comfortably.

Charles managed only a draw and later admitted that he though he had not played his usual exciting chess.

I won comfortably on board 2 with my opponent seemingly unable to play against a Scheviningen Sicilian.

Arthur De Silver lost the exchange only to come through with a draw by repetition.

I felt sorry for our opponents; they had played well all season only to find themselves unable to field their strongest team for this vital match. Caroline Campion, the opposing captain looked visibly disappointed as we left. Nonetheless, a point is a point, and now, providing we can get a good result in our remaining two matches we stand an excellent chance of winning our division.

Final score 3½ - 1½

Last Week In The Third Team

Click here for Kevin's match against his Worthing 2 opponent on Monday. The apostrophe that's missing from the title stopped this from showing the moves, after I had carefully extracted all Kevin's commentary. I will attempt to put the commentary back in. Durrgh......

No, it doesn't like commentary. This is all it will take.

Kevin says: Horrible start, but once I got over that my opponent let me off the hook and I didn't do badly. I made such a hash of the start that I think he thought he had an easy win on his hands!

Is there a neat way of showing an annotated game on the website? I think this is probably as good as it gets - the commentary has to come separately. Variations also cause confusion. But the game itself is very easy to follow.

We won the match 3-2 on Monday and (probably) 3.5-1.5 against St Francis and Haywards Heath 2 on Wednesday. With one match still to go promotion is still a strong possibility.

Brighton&Hove 5 v Crawley 2

AWAY MATCH THURSDAY 5th MARCH RESULT DRAW



A journey through the labyrinth of Crawley was helped by Ian's previous knowledge and so luckily we were there plenty of time ahead of the start.

In board order.
Arthur De Silver. A tough match for Arthur with an opponent grade of 132.This resulted in a strong struggle and unfortunate loss for Arthur.
Ian George. Another great win.Ian opened with The English which transposed into The Queen's Gambit. A strong careful performance by Ian where he eventually had two rooks and five pawns against a rook, bishop and seven pawns.The two rooks gave the edge with a final win for Ian.
Duncan Roy An unfortunate error left Duncan a piece down early on, from which,although putting up a strong fight he never really recovered.
Myself. I opened with The Queen's Gambit which although initially led to good development, nevertheless led to a final closed game where we both had two rooks,Queen and seven pawns.It all became a very closed game and a final draw was agreed.
Harri Edwards. Harri played The Sicilian.By the late middle game he was two pawns up and Queening pressure finally forced his opponent to capitulate. Well down Harri. Three wins from three games.

Unfortunately only a draw, but are opponents like us, are also in the middle of Division 4, so overall we were satisfied with our trip to Crawley.

1 st TEAM versus Hastings 2

Luke Rutherford almost scored two points for the home team this match.First his opponent's Mobile phone rang.However he decided to waive his right to claim the game.Fortunately or should i say skilfully he managed to prevail over the board which meant we went one-nil up.
Adrian Pickersgill managed to equalise quite comfortably with Black.After thirty moves or so the game was agreed drawn.
There remained at the end of the three hour playing session three unfinished games.Brian Denman's game looked to me at least to have been a rather wild looking affair.Which i thought could have gone either way.Following a thorough analyses by both players this was agreed a draw.
Geoffrey seemed to think he had much the better of it at the close of play.This proved to be so as the Hastings Club chose not to contest the game further.Another win to Brighton for Geoff.My own game which had swung around a bit ended in a position where it was judged i had sufficient play for the Pawn deficit.This was also agreed drawn.
The result a win for the Home team.
A summary of the match position read Brighton & Hove 3 1/2 Hastings & ST Leonards 1 1/2.

A Message from the Webmaster

Due to popular demand, I have turned on the comments facility on this blog. This means that anyone can post a comment to each message on the blog and give feedback on the match reports.

These comments are not moderated by me because I don't have the time. If I find that abusive or otherwise inappropriate comments are posted on our blog, then I'll have to rethink whether commenting will be allowed.

Since it can be very difficult to notice that a particular post on a blog has acquired a comment, especially if the comment is put on an old message, I have set up the new facility so that our 5 team captains and myself will be automatically emailed a copy of all new comments. If the teams captains would prefer to have these comments emails turned off, just let me know.

Can I also take this opportunity to remind team captains that they should only use the following labels for their team reports: 1st team, 2nd team, 3rd team, 4th team and 5th team. Use of other labels to describe which team is involved unecessarily complicates the self-maintaining indexing system. Use of other labels to describe other things, e.g. opening systems, venues etc., is encouraged. Really pleased to see this match reports blog taking off. Happy blogging!

Brighton&Hove 5 v East Grinstead 2

AWAY MATCH TUESDAY 17th FEBRUARY.
An unhurried journey across the Ashdown Forest still gave us time for a quick drink in a local pub, so that we were ready and well primed to do battle.
In board order.
Arthur De Silve. A hard game all the way through with his opponent keeping the upper hand.However towards the end of the middle game his opponent missed a pawn fork against knight and queen and from then on Arthur could steal the initiative and go onto win.
Ian George. An even game resulting from The Centre Counter opening until his opponent made a blunder. From then on Ian was able to take charge and win.
Myself. I played The Dragon Variation of the Sicilian.For a long while he had his black bishop on h6 while mine was on h8. A complex attack occurred with white using in addition his queen and knight attacking my king side castled king.However the attack was thwarted and finally a drawn position arose in the end game.
Duncan Roy. The Queens Gambit opening led to black surprisingly playing h6 and even g5 to drive away Duncan's black bishop. This early development was a setback for black from which white niggled away at until securing a final victory.
Harri Edwards. Harri played the Slav Defence, unfortunately losing material in an early exchange. However careful development and steady long term play gave Hari the initiative and final victory.
FINAL RESULT BTN&HOVE 4.5 E. GRINSTEAD 0.5.
A very pleasing result. Well done team.

Video Report:

2nd team versus East Grinstead1

Arriving this time without suffering any blizzards of snow and taking the route north and across which does seem preferable to the Lewes route, if not so pretty; we faced a slightly weaker team than anticipated. For this reason we were favourites on paper and so it is slightly disappointing to have only drawn the match. Yours truly being fuzzy headed with a cold made the first blunder by calling heads, I never do this, ask my pool playing buddies. Anyway it lost, black again, ho hum. Paul drew comfortably on board one meanwhile Dona, moved up a board as both sides had late players, was going for it. A good sacrifice of the h pawn was followed by an exchange sac that she thought afterwards was bad. I'm not so sure but have not been able to talk to Dona about this since. Either way her opponent consolidated and an endgame was reached with Dona Rook for minor piece and pawn down. She defended this superbly, it was a pleasure to watch. Brian looked to be holding but in the last few minutes a couple of pawns dropped and so did a point. Neil was looking good and travelling back we were optimistic unfortunately in the harsh light of day the two extra pawns were not enough, opposite coloured bishops... . I picked up a fairly easy point but all in all this makes our chances of taking second place fairly low though it could still all turn on a last match decider if we do the biz against a good Horsham 3 next week. Watch this space or come to club and watch there.

MacArthur will not be returning.

I'm sorry to report a defeat at the first hurdle for Brighton 2 in the MacArthur Cup knockout competition. Two cars journeyed down and for a while it looked like we may not be able to make it back with the snow falling thick and fast. Nevertheless we made it in fair time and sat down to play in what I'd say is one of the better venues and which is shared with the local bridge club and arts society if I recall correctly. The time control was 30 in 75 plus 15 so quick and interesting to play in light of the debate about QPFs in the league. In so far as I was able to tell no game was particularly one sided though we were outgunned by about 10-15 points on average. Despite this after four results were in we looked to be on top, leading 2.5 to 1.5 thanks to a draw from Paul Selby and wins for Neil Tasker and Nadya Somova who I put on top board. At this point I was under pressure but should probably have held and Dona Strauss was winning though with clock pressure. We only needed half a point as a tie was to be decided on board count. Unfortunately it was not to be, I lost after a couple of inaccuracies where my bishop looked clumsy against my opponents good knight. Still we thought things OK but Dona simply ran out of time having also faltered under time pressure. This reminds me of the importance of playing an amount of blitz. Nevertheless the losing margin was no disgrace, maybe next year.

Midwich Cuckoos

Simon, I can heartily recommend a bomb and the intense visualization of a brick wall. It may not be too helpful to this seasons scoreline but think not what your club can do for you rather think what you can do for your club. Is there a Nobel prize for this kind of sacrifice? Indeed, can you even receive a Nobel prize posthumously? Questions, always questions.

Meanwhile having finally landed at match report central I am pleased to report that Brighton 2 drew with Eastbourne 2 after going to adjudication. It was my game and I feared for a while that I might have thrown the win away as my opponent basically resigned but the words "think about it"or somesuch apparently flowed from my lips. What was I thinking? Was this more mind control perhaps?

I'm afraid I remember little about the other games as I was both wrapped up in mine and it was a couple of weeks ago now. That said Neil had a fairly quick draw and Dona an efficient win. Both Paul and Brian looked to be doing Ok and so I nearly offered a draw having simplified from a slightly dodgy and mind numbingly complicated position. Fortunately I got up and had a look, realized I needed to win and carried on, winning ultimately because my opponent was in severe time trouble. Moral. Always have an eye on the match score before making or deciding on a draw offer. This is a team game.

I'll try and be a bit more informative about particularly informative games in future.

Anyway that leaves us on 3.5 match points out of 5 and neck and neck for second place. However we have a tougher run in as they say so it's doable but tough. Whatever happens it's a lot more fun than fighting relegation til the last match of the season.

Aaaaargh! Childrens!

On Tuesday 27th of January Brighton and Hove 4 played against Village of the Damned 3. (The Village of the Damned is actually a suburb of East Grinstead).

Once again the genial Charles Holcombe provided transport, little realising that he was ferrying us across the River Styx and into a dark underworld full of terrifying chess playing children. (Felix Haxby is not included among this number because he is on our side, a bit like Seven of Nine was in Star Trek: Voyager.)

We arrived somewhat earlier than our opponents and spent the time chatting to the manager of the day centre where the East Grinstead club play. After about 20 minutes our opponents were delivered by their parents/guardians and the match began. (Actually, two of our opponents were adults, but they were clearly operating under some form of mind control.)

Having once again lost the toss we sat with Kevin Gee on board 1, Arthur De Silver on 2, Charles on Board 3, me on board 4 and Bob Davies on 5.

Charles succumbed first to a boy called Sam (in actual fact Sam is a really sweet kid, and he's getting good quickly; he recognised me from the Brighton Rapidplay but had the good grace not to say anything further about it.).

Shortly after this Arthur and his opponent agreed a draw.

I went the exchange ahead in my game but eventually lost after playing an unsound combination that lost me a piece. My opponent was far too proficient in the King's Indian Defence to be a real 13 yr old boy. I also suspect that he used mind control powers on me to make me play the moves of my combo in the wrong order, as the effort of concentration caused him to have a nosebleed immediately before I blundered...

Kevin Gee eventually won comfortably on top board, he was also playing an adult, so was relatively shielded from the mind control rays. This is the last time he will be able to play for us this season and we will miss him greatly.

The final game was "won" by Bob although sadly this game was marred by controversy. Bob had a won game, having promoted a pawn, however he had less than 2 minutes left on his clock. Despite his opponent's best attempts at mind control, Bob was able to finish the game with a checkmate, under the time control. However, a few moves earlier, Bob had clattered a couple of pawns with his queen while making a move. His opponent had tried to claim that he then had to take one of them under the touch move rule. Nobody else had ever heard this and the game was played on. After the checkmate his opponent, clearly angry that his alien mind powers had failed to clinch the game for him, asked his captain to appeal the result. The team captain initially indicated that he would not be taking the claim any further, however once a second child joined in the calls for an appeal he was no longer able to withstand the psychic assault.

So we left with the result still up in the air, although it was provisionally settled at (2 1/2) / (2 1/2). We were convinced that the claim was illegitimate. Subsequent research showed that this was the case, and having spoken to the opposing team captain, Kevin, he has indicated that he is "unlikely" to take things any further.

So the draw stands. The 4th team now have 4 points from their first 5 games, meaning that we are in with a real chance of promotion this season, great work everybody!

Brighton&Hove 5 v Crowborough 4

Once again we were ready to start; their complete team just making it by 7.45pm.

In board order.
Ian George on board 1 was the first to finish. This match was a draw, but so far this season Ian has only lost one game in the six matches.Well done Ian with this good record.
Duncan Roy had a long game with a material disadvantage for most of it. He played well through the long middle game, not giving his opponent any real advantage even though a rook down.By 10.45pm it was still undecided. Fritz however later gave the result for us a loss rather than a draw.
I had to face a b4 opening.I held the game in the centre and the b pawn became stuck on b5 whereas my c pawn became passed and later was a threatening pawn push.A long struggle ensued with white finally resigning.
Harri Edwards played a great game for his first time in the team and gave us a good win. Well done.
Andrew Shoulders played a long tough game which lasted nearly three hours.He was material up for most of it but Don Grant finally obtained the edge with two well connected past pawns.He later remarked how well Andrew played on board 5.

A good evening was had by all. A big thank you to all our players with a result of 2.5:2.5.

Brighton 4 vs. Uckfield 2

On, Brighton 4th Team played Uckfield's second team. The night started badly with Bob Davies' car developing problem, although all of us did manage to fit into Charles Holcombe's tiny little hatchback.

The opposing team were lead by the uber friendly Sue Carter, who was not playing that evening, but did make herself available for cups of tea and coffee.

After losing the toss we settled to our match with Charles Holcombe on board 1, Kevin Gee on Board 2, Bob Davies on Board 3, Arthur De Silver on 4 and myself on 5.

Kevin won quickly on board 2 with a 20 move miniature. I followed quickly on board 5 having gone a piece and a pawn up early on. Next to finish was Arthur De Silver, who had an extra knight is his end game, and quickly promoted a pawn. I winked at him as he began pushing the pawn that would go on to win but unfortunately the mortified look on his face indicated that he thought I was making a pass at him. Bob Davies could then be seen playing with a rook, bishop and two pawns versus his opponent's naked king. His opponent finally resigned when Bob placed his second pawn on the sixth rank. Last to finish was Charles who had tough time of it, playing against an Uckfield 1st team player, playing down for the evening. He fought tenaciously, bu finally could not stop his opponent promoting his extra pawn.

Result 4-1 to Brighton. A big thankyou to all of our players, and especially to Charles for getting us all there and back safely.

Nadya Somova v Michael Cain, 28th January 2009, Challenge Shield - Caro-Kann, Panov-Botvinnik Attack

Michael asked me to post this match - click here to view it and use the buttons below the board.

Michael's comments:

I used about an hour on my clock while Nadya used 1hr 35 mins.. Move 23 – Nayda took about 30 mins. thinking. She didn't like the idea of capturing the bishop on c5 because of the continuation which brought the black queen to d2. Anyway it was a tough but very interesting game. I had to play my best to get the draw, as you can see Nadya plays well and will of course be much much stronger in the next few years.


NB Any game can be entered so as to be able to play it through directly like this - without the need to copy and paste - using Duncan's instructions: see the link for 'PGN Viewer' under 'LABELS' on the general blog and then go to 'Upgraded Features' no.8 to make the link. Only team captains or the webmaster can post on the match reports blog, so either submit your game to your captain or post a PGN link on the general blog.

Brighton&Hove 5 v Uckfield 2

By 7.45pm the Uckfield Team had not arrived and we started our clocks, choosing white on boards 1,3,5. Within two minutes noises on the stairs indicated their presence, with the captain saying they had been up to the top looking for us.Acting as good sports we generously restarted the clocks and the match!!
In board order.
Ian George played a good tight game and was the first to finish with a win.
Duncan Roy played a fast accurate game winning material early on.The clocks were put back so many times i.e An extra 7 moves/15 minutes that he nearly ended with all his time returned.Just shows all the practice he's been having with chess.com.!! A good win.
Eric Scothron played the longest game.His extra pawns at the end gave him the edge and a final Queen eventually finished his opponent.
I made a good start with the Slav Defence and by move nine was material up and the white pieces were in disarray. A final win was achieved by move 33.
Andrew shoulders played a good steady game being a knight up by the early middle game. He later went on to win a Queen and the game.
RESULT BRIGHTON&HOVE TEAM 5 FIVE UCKFIELD TEAM 2 ZERO

Andrew Caswil ( Team Captain)

5th Team v Horsham 5th

On Tuesday 13th January our gallant crew went to the Horsham venue for the first time. We were so concerned about arriving on time to a new place that we arrived well ahead of everyone else.

The match started on time at 7.30pm. Ian George on board 1 played a good steady game with a final ending with pawns only on the board resulting in a draw. Duncan Roy made a great start with a sac resulting on losing two knights for a queen, his opponent never recovered from this surprise and finally lost. I played the sicilian defence but finally lost through a pawn push on my Queen side. John Smuts played true to form with a long slow development but his opponent cleverly managed to push through pawns in a rapid end-game to win. Erik Scothron played a good long steady game but finally lost.

Match result: Horsham 3.5 Brighton&Hove 1.5.

They had produced a team of strong players on the night who unfortunately won through. We drove home a bit deflated but nevertheless in good spirits.

A night to forget

The third team had a disastrous night against Haywards Heath's second team on Monday. On a horrible dark, wet and busy night my navigational skills suffered an unfortunate set-back and the clocks were already ticking by the time we had tracked down the new venue. Charles got stuck in on board 3 without delay, although down for board 4. Grant, stepping boldly into the breach, had his game wrapped up in minutes - succumbing to his lesser graded opponent in 14 moves. Steve was defeated by his 13yr old opponent on top board and I did dismally against his 10yr old sibling on board 5. Charles's optimism was not rewarded and only Michael was left to salvage our pride, battling on against the progenitor of the prodigious two. He may have had a win, but such was the air of despair he accepted the draw with gratitude and we slunk off into the night. 4.5/0.5

Third team beat Eastbourne 3

Steve, Michael and Grant all won their games last night and Charles, making a welcome reappearance at the club, drew his.

Args Game

This is the game Michael sadly gave away in the endgame on board 2 against the Args..

Kington,Paul (140) - Cain,Michael (105) [D60]
Args, 29.10.2007
318MB 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Be7 5.e3 0–0 6.Nf3 Nbd7 7.Bd3 c5 8.0–0 b6 9.cxd5 Nxd5 10.Bxe7 Nxe7 11.Be4 Rb8 12.Qa4 a6 13.Rac1 b5 14.Qd1 cxd4 15.exd4 Nf6 16.Bb1 Bb7 17.Re1 Bxf3 18.gxf3 Ned5 19.Qd2 Nxc3 20.bxc3 Rc8 21.Be4 Nd5 22.Bxd5 Qxd5 23.Kg2 Rc4 24.Re5 Qc6 25.Rc5 Rxc5 26.dxc5 Qxc5 27.Rd1 Rc8 28.Qd6 Qxd6 29.Rxd6 Ra8 30.f4 Kf8 31.Rd7 Rc8 32.Ra7 Rxc3 33.Rxa6 b4 34.Ra4 Ra3 35.Rxa3 bxa3 36.Kf3 Ke7 37.Ke3 Kd6 38.Kd4 f6 39.Kc4 g5 40.fxg5 fxg5 41.Kb3 h5 42.Kxa3 e5 43.Kb3 h4 44.Kc3 g4 45.Kd3 g3 46.fxg3 1–0

Eric Cohen Cup

Ian George v Duncan Roy
3rd November 2007, Brighton & Hove Chess Club (Internal Competition)
36 moves in 90 minutes each and then 30 minutes each to finish

1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Bc4 e5 4. Nf3 Nf6 5. Ng5 Qe7 6. d3 d6 7. Bxf7 Kd8 8. Bb3 Kc7 9. Bd2 h6 10. Nf3 Bg4 11. h3 Bh5 12. g4 Bf7 13. Bxf7 Qxf7 14. Qe2 a6 15. Nh4 Nd4 16. Qd1 Be7 17. Nf5 Raf8 18. Rhf1 g6 19. Nxh6 Qg7 20. g5 Nh5 21. f3 Nf4 22. Bxf4 Rxf4 23. Nd5+ Kc6 24. Nxf4 Bxg5 25. c3 Qxh6 26. Qa4+ Kb6 27. Nd5+ Ka7 28. c3xd4 Qxh3 29. Qc2 Bh4+ 30. Ke2 Qh2+ 31. Kd1 Qh3 32. Qe2 c5xd4 33. Rc1 Qd7 34. b3 Qb5 35. Qc2 Bg5 36. Rb1 Rh2 37. Qc4 Qd7 38. Qc7 Qh3 39. Qb6+ Ka8 40. Nc7 Kb8 41. Na6+ Ka8 42. Nc7 Kb8 43. Na6+ Ka8 44. Nc7+ Kb8 ½ - ½

A win against Crowborough 4

The third team beat Crowborough 4 last night 3-2.
Congratulations to Simon, playing in his first league match, whose opponent conceded the following game on board 4:

Nick Yates (87) - Simon Hayward (79)
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5 4. d5 b5 5. dxe6 fxe6 6.Bf4 bxc4 7.Qa4 Be7 8. e3 O-O 9. Bxc4 d5 10. Bb5 a6 11. Be2 Bd7 12. Qc2 Nc6 13. a3 Be8 14. O-O Bg6 15.Bd3 Bxd3 16. Qxd3 Ne4 17. Nd2 c4 18. Qc2 Nc5 19. b3 Bf6 20.Rac1 Nd3 21. Rb1 Nxf4 22. exf4 c3 23. Rfd1 Qd6 24. Ne4 Qxf4 25. Nxf6 Qxf6 26. Rd3 d4 27. Rbd1 e5 28. Ne1 e4 29. Rh3 d3 30. Nxd3 exd3 31.Rdxd3 Re8 32. Rd1 Qf5 33. Rxc3 Qxc2 34. Rxc2 Re6 35. Kf1 Rfe8 36. f3 Kf7 37. Rcd2 Kf6 38. b4 Ne5 39. Rd4 Rc6 40. Re4 Rec8 41. Red4 Nc4 42. R1d3 Re8 43. Kf2 Ree6 44. g3 Rcd6 45. Rf4+ Ke7 46. Rxd6 Nxd6 47. Rh4 h6 48. Rh5 Nc4 49. a4 Nb2 50. Ra5 Nd3+ 51. Kg2 Nxb4 52. Rc5 Kd6 53. Rc4 Nd5 54. Rc1 Re2+ 55. Kh3 Ra2 56. Rc4 Nb6 57. Rb4 Kc6 58. Re4 Nd5 59. Re6+ Kb7 60. Rd6 Nf6 61. Re6 Rd2 0-1

Draw confirmed against Argumentatives

Grant Minshull - Dennis Collard
1. e4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. exd5 exd5 4. d4 Bg4 5. Be2 Bxf3 6. Bxf3 Nf6 7. O-O Be7 8. Bg5 O-O 9. Nc3 c6 10. Re1 Nbd7 11. Ne2 h6 12. Bd2 Qc7 13. Ng3 Rfe8 14. Qe2 Bd6 15. Qd3 Bxg3 16. fxg3 Qb6 17. b3 Ne5 18. Qc3 Nxf3+ 19. gxf3 Rac8 20. Kg2 Qd8 21. Re3 Qd7 22. Rae1 Rxe3 23. Rxe3 Re8 24. Qd3 Rxe3 25. Qxe3 a6 26. Qf4 Qe6 27. Qb8+ Kh7 28. Qe5 Nd7 29. Qxe6 fxe6 30. Bf4 Nf6 31. Kf2 Kg6 32. g4 Nh7 33. Be5 Ng5 34. h4 Nf7 35. h5+ Kh7 36. Bf4 Kg8 37. Kg3 Kf8 38. Kh4 Kg8 39. g5 hxg5+ 40. Bxg5 Nxg5 41. Kxg5 Kf7 42. c3 b5 (42... b5 43. b4 Ke7 44. Kg6 Kf8 45. h6 gxh6 46. Kxh6 Kf7 47. Kg5 Kg7 48. Kf4 Kf6 49. a3 Kf7 50. Ke5 Ke7 51. f4 Kf7 52. Kd6 Kf6 53. Kxc6 Kf5 54. Kd6 Kxf4 55. Kxe6 Ke4 56. Kd6 Kd3 57. Kxd5) 1-0

(Play finished after move 42.)

Comments don't come easily on this game because it did seem to be
quite dull with simple exchanges throughout. Without in-depth analysis his
last move, b5 seemed now and at the time to be a mistake as it left him with
no tempo spare to play with. (Grant)

Third team draw against Argumentatives (hopefully!)

Steve Diver, Michael Cain, Grant Minshull and Charles Holcombe whipped up to the Jolly Tanners in Staplefield last night to take on the Args.. Steve put up a brave fight against a 180 player. Michael had a won game against a 140 but sadly let him off the hook in the endgame. Grant's game looks like a won pawn ending and Charles let slip a pawn by being obliged to move it forward only one square instead of two from h3 and ended with a draw. I was winning easily with no opponent. The games would be good to see if anyone feels inclined??

Board 11 in Dieppe

Alain Duchamps v Duncan Roy (29th September 2007, Dieppe)

1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nf3 e6 5. c5 Be7 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. e3 b5 8. b4 Ne4 9. Bxe7 Qxe7 10. Nxe4 dxe4 11. Nd2 Nf6 12. Qc2 O-O 13. Nxe4 Nd5 14. a3 a5 15. bxa5 Rxa5 16. Bd3 Bd7 17. O-O Rfa8 18. Qb3 e5 19. Rfe1 Qh4 20. Nd2 Be6 21. Nf3 Qg4 22. h3 Qh5 23. Qd1 Nc3 24. Qc2 e4 25. Qxc3 exf3 26. Be4 Bd5 27. Bxd5 Qxd5 28. e4 Qc4 29. Qxc4 bxc4 30. gxf3 Rxa3 31. Rxa3 Rxa3 32. Kg2 Rd3 33. Ra1 f6 34. Rc1 Rxd4 35. Kf1 Kf7 36. Ke2 Ke6 37. Rc3 g5 38. Ke3 Rd3+ 39. Rxd3 cxd3 40. Kxd3 Ke5 41. Ke3 h5 42. Kd3 Kf4 43. Ke2 h4 44. Kd2 Ke5 45. Ke2 Kd4 46. Kd2 Kxc5 47. Kc3 Kb5 48. Kb3 c5 49. Kc3 c4 50. Kc2 Kb4 51. Kb2 c3+ 52. Kc2 Kc4 53. Kc1 Kd3 54. Kd1 c2+ 55. Kc1 Ke2 56. Kxc2 Kxf2 57. Kd3 Kxf3 58. Kd4 Kg3 59. Kd5 Kxh3 60. Ke6 Kg4 61. Kxf6 h3 62. e5 h2 63. e6 h1=Q 64. e7 Qh6+ 65. Kf7 Qh7+ 66. Kf6 Qg8 67. Ke5 Kg3 68. Kd6 Kf4 69. Kd7 g4 70. e8=Q Qxe8+ 71.Kxe8 g3 0-1

I put this up in the hope that other players in the Dieppe Match will put their games up. Don't forget we have an online PGN Viewer (see link on the right), into which this code can be copied, pasted and played through...

Third Team's First Match

The third team's first match is an away match against the Argumentatives on Tuesday 23rd October. We have never played them before so should be interesting. I hope the three nominated 3rd team players will all be able to make it: Steve, Charles and Michael. We're going to need all the strength we can get having been promoted at the eleventh hour to the third division. Our goal is still to be there at the end of the season!

Label Generation

Good idea, Duncan. Here's me creating labels for the other teams and our Dieppe rendez-vous.

4th team

Just wanted to create a team label and of course to say what a great weekend in Dieppe, bring on the return. Any ideas for our hospitality next year? Including of course places of worship.

Instructions on labelling your posts

When posting to any blog, there are three dialogue boxes for you to write in: (i) the title field; (ii) the text field; and (iii) the label field. Choose whatever title you want and write whatever you want in the text field. Below the text field is a label field, which says "Labels for this post" to the left of it and "Show all" to the right. Click on show all and if your label is already there then select it from the list (e.g. 1st team). If you wish to create another label then go ahead. This will then become an index to this page, which will mean that over time readers of the page can select which posts they wish to read: they will only be presented with those posts with the label they have chosen. They can always view all the posts if they want. This is an effective way for our 4 teams captains to take control of this page.

I've labelled this post as "Instructions" just to get the ball rolling. I would suggest using the following labels: 1st team, 2nd team, 3rd team, 4th team.

I'd also like to point out that if anyone feels disinhibited enough to post their games here, they can use the PGN viewer (see link on right) to follow it through, as can anyone else who reads this page.