As may become a frequent preface to my match reports, the timings of the game endings may be a little off as I was engrossed in my own endgame mess.
The A-Team were without Henry, but this week's star-substitute was Javier from the B-team. Chris and Derek had a wild looking game, where the e-pawn managed to march e7-e6-e5-e4-e3 in the first 14 moves. Charlie was anxious not to extend his club performance to 5 draws, and started a solid game but with some clear ambition. Richard's game against Chris Jones had a slow start, with neither player making any stake in the centre for some time. Javier made a solid start, not stretching himself in the opening, waiting to see how black would react. My game with Mike began with the customary trash-talk, but a sensible position followed, much to everyone's disappointment. Jerry too, played a calm opening, but Phil managed to play an aggressive f5 very early (which I thoroughly enjoyed).
As the match progressed it was noted that our positions did not appear as precarious as they usually do but clearly that must be a bad sign. Chris' invading-pawn seemed unable to manage the mating attack by itself and much of the play revolved around its defence, however by audaciously sitting on e3 it played a strong cramping role. Charlie had pushed very hard and won a weak pawn on d6, but was soon compelled to give it back to extricate his piece. Richard had allowed himself doubled c-pawns for reasonable control over the d-file but was quickly swapping off into a reasonably level bishop endgame, perhaps even with the slightly better bishop.
Javier appeared to be making gains after black was forced to deal with his bind on d5 with-pawns on c4 and e4, though still with a level position. My game with Mike had suddenly become quite interesting when I tried a dubious rook invasion, which looked aggressive but ultimately left my pieces uncoordinated. Jerry's position was reminiscent of the recent game with Dave Tipper where white gets a queenside expansion and black attempts an attack on the kingside, where Jerry was up at least half an hour on the clock.
Chris was first to finish after agreeing a draw with Derek in an opposite-coloured bishops ending although the reconstructions suggest that either Derek was completely winning, or we can't reconstruct games. I believe Charlie spurned a draw offer in pursuit of an aggressive attack, but it was defended very well, which resulted in some over-extending and ultimately a loss. Richard's good endgame bishop became trapped (perhaps trying to emulate Bobby Fischer) and was lost in exchange for some-pawns, but a heroic draw was still reached.
Javier managed to save the team from a win-less match with a nicely converted position (Edit: Javier's game is now available to view). Some well-calculated complications by Mike left me struggling and a pragmatic (and quite sound) bishop sacrifice left my king exposed against all the heavy pieces. It didn't last much longer. Jerry had returned his time advantage in an effort to gain a significant positional advantage, but agreed a draw with a mere 17 seconds left. Bold play from the captain!
It was certainly a disappointing result for us, but to paraphrase Richard's summary, "It's a pity we lost, but we're not out of the title race yet!"