An excellent result! Congratulations to John Turner on holding his opponent to a draw, and to Jonathan for defeating Bradford’s FM. How did the opening go, Jonathan? Something like this:

Holmes Chapel 2056   Bradford DCA Knights A 2098

321 w Blackburn, Jonathan LB 2170 1 – 0 Hague, Ben f 2301

322 b Turner, John M 2071 ½ – ½ Williams, Winston 2220

323 w Clark, Robert G 2035 0 – 1 Molofej, Denis 2043

324 b Hancock, Michael L 2098 1 – 0 Lang, Adam R 2050

325 w Doran, Chris 2020 ½ – ½ Brijmohun, Louis 2018

326 b Gorman, John A 1942 0 – 1 Patrick, David A 1961

3 – 3

Many thanks to Chris for stepping in and obtaining a solid result when Tony Soames had a “senior moment”, turning up for a two o’clock start, to find everyone had started without him! Never mind, Tony – it happens to all of us, and with increasing frequency in my experience ..

I sign off in sunny Dunedin – it’s time to go to the beach.

PS Jon points out to me that if his opponent had played 49 .. exf3, the ending was drawn. I agree.

This match should not have been difficult, based on the difference in grading strength, and that is how it has turned out, despite the opposition’s captain describing his team as his “Young Guns”. The grades of the youth in chess should always be regarded with the deepest suspicion.

Bradford DCA Knights B 1874   Holmes Chapel 2030

331 w Bak, Andrew 1946 ½ – ½ Turner, John M 2071

332 b Edwards-Wright, Miles D 1946 1 – 0 Hancock, Michael L 2098

333 w Corcoran, Gary 1868 ½ – ½ Clark, Robert G 2035

334 b Jones, Steven A 1829 0 – 1 Doran, Chris 2020

335 w Dean, Robert A 1882 0 – 1 Bennion, David A 2015

336 b Hackner, Oskar A 1778 0 – 1 Gorman, John A 1942

2 – 4

Dave Bennion had a topsy-turvy game with a neat finish:

Congratulations everyone, and now for the big boys tomorrow – Good Luck!

Rounds 3 and 4 are to be played at the De Vere Wychwood Park (near Crewe). Round 3 is on Saturday January 15th, and play starts at 14.00 hrs. The opposition is Bradford DCA Knights B and our team is as follows:

1. Jonathan Blackburn
2. John Turner
3. Bob Clark
4. Mike Hancock
5. Chris Doran
6. John Gorman

On Sunday January 16th, we face the Bradford DCA Knights A team – probably favourites to win the league. But we are going to put a dent in their ambitions with the following team:

1. Jonathan Blackburn
2. John Turner
3. Bob Clark
4. Mike Hancock
5. Tony Soames
6. John Gorman

Play starts at 11.00 hrs.

I trust that we are all keeping ourselves fit for 4NCL chess. You are all aware that the time limits are 40 moves in two hours, 20 moves in the next hour and quickplay finish in 30 minutes. That is a maximum game length of seven hours, so at a minimum, we should do a 3 mile jog before breakfast, work out with weights in the afternoon, and do 20 crosswords in succession in the evening.

And some of us need to do some work on our openings. You hear me, young Jonathan?

Yesterday was good, today held Caissa’s slap in the face for enjoying yesterday too much.

The portents were not good when Ian lost a piece in the opening, and David also came out of the opening poorly. However, a draw from John Turner and a good win by John Gorman gave us hope, particularly as we seemed to have an edge on the top two boards.

However, I mismanaged my time against Craig Whitfield – a fault I cannot shake – and didn’t make it to the first time control, while Jonathan lost a tough game to Alex Richardson.

Our only consolation was Ian’s tremendous fight-back against Bill Armstrong after losing a piece in the opening. From memory, the position was as follows:

The game concluded 1. a6, Kh1 2. a7, h2 3. Kg3, f2 4. Kxf2 Stalemate. Bill had a win, but he didn’t spot it, so Ian gained a deserved draw. I’ll leave it to the reader to spot Bill’s win – it’s always much easier for us spectators to see such things!

Here we are at Redworth Hall near Darlington, for the first round of 4NCL’s Northern League.

Play was in the Conference Room, where conditions were of the usual 4NCL high standard.

Our opponents were Aigburth from Liverpool, and we soon had our noses in front when my game quickly came to a violent conclusion.

Later, the match was finely balanced with just Jonathan and David still in play. When Jonathan won, all depended on David’s game. He had a clear win after playing energetically from the opening, but it came down to a rook and pawn ending in which he was a pawn up.

Pawns gradually came off as the first time control came and went, and our team members came and went, observing David’s progress, pondering on the real possibilities of his opponent promoting a pawn or stealing a mate, feeling the pangs of hunger.

A posse departed to find a pub (the evening meal at the hotel was inordinately expensive) while a rearguard waited upon the final result. Eventually, David’s opponent was ground down and resigned, and we all met at a convivial hostelry where we revived after the tension and enjoyed the aftermath of a successful day.

Cheddleton tomorrow. It’s a long drag to Cheddleton normally, but coming to Darlington to play them seems bizarre.

Some more photos …

We have now entered a team in the 4NCL Northern League, having assembled the following squad:

155319H Doran, Chris                       Chester                      181

182090E Gorman, John A                Caergwrle                   171

108416B Clark, Robert G                 Caergwrle                    176

120687E Turner, John M                  Holmes Chapel           182

106612C Bennett, Patrick                  Holmes Chapel           190

106389D Bates, Ian W                        Holmes Chapel           170

160594L Blackburn, Jonathan LB     Holmes Chapel          196

186957H Hancock, Michael L             Holmes Chapel           181

118034E Roberts, Malcolm A             Holmes Chapel           138

194731L Cattermole, Philip J              Macclesfield               154

114116J Laurence, Geoff                      Macclesfield               152

119406K Soames, Anthony R              Macclesfield               175

The opposition teams in the league are:

Manchester Chess Federation, Bradford DCA Knights 1, Cheddleton 2, Aigburth, Bradford DCA Knights 2, Leeds, Spirit of Atticus and Warrington League.

This is enough to make the league feasible. There are 11 rounds through the year, and the first 8 rounds will be an all-play-all between us and the above teams, while the last three rounds will be played over the May bank holiday weekend at the same venue as the other divisions. For these rounds, the Northern League will join with the existing Division Three.

The only remaining doubt concerns the Warrington League whose entry has not yet been confirmed.

An update to where we are with the 4NCL squad. The following is the total squad at present – all have agreed to be registered to the Holmes Chapel team:

155319H Doran, Chris M Chester A 179
182090E Gorman, John A M Caergwrle A 165
108416B Clark, Robert G M Caergwrle B 177
120687E Turner, John M M Holmes Chapel A 175
106612C Bennett, Patrick J M Holmes Chapel A 174
106389D Bates, Ian W M Holmes Chapel B 172
160594L Blackburn, Jonathan LB M Atticus A 196
186957H Hancock, Michael L M Holmes Chapel B 171
118034E Roberts, Malcolm A M Holmes Chapel A 138

I think that it is enough to justify entering our team, but I would be happier with a couple more players in the squad – the first weekend on 6th/7th November is likely to be a major test as it is at Darlington, which is 142 miles from Holmes Chapel.

At the moment, there are only three teams entered in the Northern League – Manchester Chess Federation, Bradford DCA Knights, and our good friends Cheddleton 2. The 4NCL need at least twelve teams to make it viable, and in February, Mike Truran claimed expressions of interest from 15 teams on the online English Chess Forum, so there will probably be a flurry of entries later.