Board 1. John Paines had the Black pieces against Steve Meek. He says: “I played Stephen J Meek, formerly of this parish and rated a mere 683 points higher than me. He replied to my Sicilian with 2. c3 which I never enjoy facing. I played 2…d6 which Steve later pointed out is an essentially passive approach which allows White to seize the centre and dominate the game from the start. (I’ll play 2…Nf6 next time.) Steve enjoyed more freedom of movement from the outset and very efficiently pushed me into a more and more constricted position before launching a crushing attack on my exposed King, whereupon I resigned on move 24.” You’ll get him next time, John!
Board 2. Hector Hu had the White pieces against Jon Gould. His mum says: “Hector played as White, started the game with English opening, and Black responded with a Dutch Defence. In the middlegame, White tried expanding on the Queenside while Black built Kingside pressure with ...Rh6 and ...Qh5. However, both players avoided complications, leading to a tense but balanced position and the game ended in a threefold repetition draw.” An excellent result against a seasoned opponent rated in the high 1600s.
Board 3. Charlie Higenbottam had the black pieces against Phillip Lawson. He says: “Phillip played e4 so I did the Sicilian back. As the game progressed it became the Yugoslav Attack with White pawn storming on the Kingside. I had my own attack on his King with my Queen and rooks which took his attention away from my King. Throughout the game, it was equal until the endgame as the computer analysis gave it between -0.2 and +0.5 until it all started falling apart for White in the endgame. His pawns became exposed in the place where a pawn storm would have happened and my rooks acted as a battery. It became clear to him that he would lose a pawn so he did some counterplay in response. He exchanged rooks, which was a mistake because it made it easier for me to push my pawns and attack his pawn and he got a computer evaluation of -1.5. I pushed my pawns, won one of his and then he strangely sacrificed a rook for a pawn. Not long after that, his King was trapped in a box by my remaining rook and with checkmate inevitable, he resigned.” A great result against someone who has been playing in the league for a quarter of a century!
Board 4. Shaun Walsh had the White pieces against Guy Roper. He says: “Black replied to E4 with Karo Cann which White attacked with Panov attack. White wasted a tempo after the initial opening by bringing the Queen out too early and nearly getting trapped. From a difficult position White equalised but after an exchange of pieces Black was better and won a Knight, eventually leading to a win.”
Board 5. Danny Wilkins had the Black pieces against Jim Rowlands, another player who has been around since the start of the millennium! He says: I played this game poorly, put myself in a poor position early on, literally 3rd move putting my Knight on h6 (computer analysis had me 1.3 points down already) and failed to recover back from it. My opponent was a slightly stronger player but I feel I should have given him more of a challenge than I did.
Board 6. Ivan Penev had the White pieces against Adrian Catchpole. It was good to welcome Ivan for his first game for the club. I have no details but Adrian won the game.
Gregory Sumner