Match Details
TCL Division 4: South Hams v Plymouth 30 Jan 2014
| Bd | South Hams | Col | Grade | ECF | Result | Plymouth | Col | Grade | ECF | PGN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Russell, Dennis | B | 110 | 214868H | 0-1 | Dean, John | W | 111 | 179950C | View |
| 2 | McConnell, Phil | W | 107 | 285386D | 1-0 | Tatam, Tony | B | 108 | 134693D | View |
| 3 | Fowler, James | B | 99 | 277497F | 1-0 | Scantlebury, Derek | W | 103 | 191043H | Submit |
| 4 | Collins, Tony | W | 85 | 173334F | 0-1 | Hodge, Nicholas | B | 88 | 291419A | Submit |
| Overall Match | 401 | 2-2 | 410 | |||||||
Match Report
Author: Phil McConnell
Date: 31 Jan 2014
On Board 1, Dennis gained a material advantage (two rooks and a pawn against a queen) but at the expense of a cramped position and an exposed king. He might possibly have been able to weather the storm and let the material advantage tell, but in the event he made a move while his opponent had left the room which was a blunder. "Blunder!" he commented almost as soon as he'd made the move. His opponent, on returning to the table, immediately spotted how to exploit the blunder, and the game was soon over.
On Board 2, Phil played the Kings Gambit (the opening so much loved by Ben), and his opponent declined to take the pawn. On move 15 Phil sacrificed his dark square bishop in return for two pawns and an strong attack on Black's king. The computer shows that Black had options to make his position defensible (but these options were not easy). Phil's opponent didn't find any of these options, and resigned on move 20 facing mate in two. This was Phil's revenge for a defeat by Tony Tatam in Division 3 earlier in the season.
Board 3 was the last game to finish, with James needing a win to tie the match. From a position which looked lost, James fought back to create a material advantage (a rook, knight and pawn vs a rook and two isolated pawns), and the game was effectively over when his opponent allowed James to fork his opponent's king and rook with the knight.
Board 4 was looking like a draw at the tea break, but Tony's opponent gained a two pawn advantage (both of them passed pawns) and the game as effectively over when his opponent queened one of these pawns.
We'll happily settle for a match result of 2-2, as a 3-1 defeat was looking highly likely at one stage of the evening. Still unbeaten, still top of the table!