Playing against e2e4 2nds was never going to be an easy match, but despite being Valentines Day we had our strongest team yet, and the optimists were in the ascendant on the journey to Daventry. The general consensus was that a drawn match would be good but 3½-2½ was achievable. Mike stuck his head above the parapet by confidently predicting a 4-2 victory.
Meanwhile ominous clouds were gathering as we encountered a long traffic queue at the M42/M5 junction but fortunately it cleared up when we joined the M42, and Mike's navigation skills minus satnav took us on a clear route via the A46 and M45 to a hotel surprisingly light on chess players. We then discovered that our opponents too had a stronger team than last time, having added a 2200 to Board 2.
A lack of the Buckley and Thompson contingents made us suspect the roads were not working very well, and we soon learnt there were also major incidents on the M40 and M1, causing hours of delays. To add to the confusion the London to Birmingham rail line was closed. So in the end about a dozen players did not make it to the match, despite the arbiters suspending the one hour default rule.
Richard displaying his trademark attention to the game!
Only one of our matches was affected, with Mike's opponent having only twenty minutes on his clock. Mike sportingly gave him ten minutes to freshen up, but was a little surprised after they subsequently started the match to see him leave the room and spend five minutes eating lunch.
Michael (pictured) not eating lunch. And do I spy Steve Dilleigh in the background?
By then Rob had a decent looking position and the other games were fairly balanced. But Rob's bishops turned out to be clumsy and he had to hold out a-pawn down in a Rook ending; at this point Mike had queen v rook and piece which he made look pretty easy. Nigel's game was starting to look comfortable, as his opponent gained no compensation in a Benko Gambit, and Chris managed to keep hold of a slightly difficult position and then gain a large advantage when his 210 graded opponent turned down a draw offer and played inferior moves in an attempt to create winning chances. Only David's game against Chris Ross looked dubious.
Nigel winning smoothly with his endgame technique.
Richard tried very hard to win a Rook and Pawn ending but eventually had to settle for a draw, and Chris and Nigel soon clinched the match with two wins. We had to wait nearly two hours for the outcome of the top board match, all the time expecting the worst, but David managed to rustle up a little counter-play two pawns down and Chris eventually made do with a draw, for an undefeated 4½-1½. A better score than when we played their 5th team in Round 1 which finished 4-2.
Chris celebrates his win against an FM with a spot of analysis.