We knew on Saturday night it was going to be a low rated team, but no one wanted to predict the result after such an outperformance in Round 5. More to the point, many players might imagine a draw would be okay as we would win the match easily enough, and that could all too often lead to our downfall.
Richard hoping to get a better result than his draw on Saturday.
Sure enough, Rob steered his game into easy waters with the Black pieces, and Mike decided to do the same after mixing up ideas in the opening. By that point it was fairly certain Dave would win, and shortly afterwards Chris received a draw offer which he eventually accepted, considering that one point from the remaining games of Richard and Dan would win the match. Almost immediately Rich got into difficulties which led to his first loss of the season, and after David made the score 2½ all it was up to Dan on board 6 to lead us to victory.
Daniel finding it so easy he decides to take a nap.
Putting his position on my laptop it seemed he had a clear plus, which helped us relax a little, and subsequently he kept on finding decent ideas in a complicated game. After winning a piece it was a matter of damping down the opponents counter-play, though there was a tough moment when he allowed a piece sacrifice. After a 20 minute think he regrouped and negotiated the position well to achieve a deserved victory. So 3½-2½ was a decent result but really it was a great relief not to mess up. This puts us in a very strong position for the later rounds when the Northern League join us.
Division 3 after Round 6
| Team | P | W | D | L | GP | Pts | | Broadland Bitterns [1] | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 27 | 10 | | Celtic Tigers 1 | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 10 | | Downend & Fishponds | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 22½ | 10 | | The Rookies | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 20½ | 10 | | Fermented Sharks | 6 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 24½ | 9 | | Guildford 4 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 19½ | 9 | | West is Best 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 8 | | e2e4.org.uk 3 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 8 | | Rhyfelwyr Essyllwg 2 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 23 | 8 | | e2e4.org.uk 2 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 8 | | Surbiton 1 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 20 | 8 | | Oxford 2 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 19½ | 8 | | Shropshire | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 18½ | 8 | | Leeds University Old Boys | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 20½ | 7 | | Warwickshire Select 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 19½ | 7 | | Ashfield-Breadsall | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 19½ | 7 | | Anglian Avengers 2 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 19 | 7 | | Barnet Knights 1 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 18 | 7 | | Poisoned Pawns | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 20½ | 6 | | Iceni 1 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 6 | | Iceni 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 18½ | 6 | | Cambridge University 3 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 18 | 6 | | BCM Rhinos [2] | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 6 | | West is Best 2 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 6 | | KJCA Knights | 6 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 6 | | Oxford 3 | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14½ | 6 | | Midland Monarchs 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 21 | 5 | | MK Phoenix 2 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 19½ | 5 | | e2e4.org.uk 4 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 5 | | The Full Ponty | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 5 | | Witney Brown Jack | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 15½ | 5 | | Sussex Martlets 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 17½ | 4 | | Check Us Out | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 16 | 4 | | Throw in the Tal | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 4 | | Banbury Bulldogs | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 4 | | Hackney 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 4 | | Surbiton 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11½ | 4 | | Anglian Avengers 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11½ | 4 | | Broadland Harnsers [2] | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 | | Celtic Tigers 2 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 4 | | BCM Hippos [3] | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 2 | | Barnet Knights 2 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 11½ | 2 | | The Pitstop | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 2 | | Midland Monarchs 2 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 2 | | e2e4.org.uk 5 | 4 | ½ | 0 | 3½ | 8½ | 1 | | Barnet Knights 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3½ | 0 | | West is Best 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |