Preston 1 V Lytham 1

Press / Admin Comment

Prior to the match Brett e-mailed John Cooper asking for permission to bring his dog. John replied stating he knew perfectly well what Brett was up to. Using the dog to give Brett coded messages : e.g. one woof = pawn advance , scratches his fleas = castle queenside. As we approach the season’s finale, and tension is high, the Blackpool & Fylde Chess League is suddenly in the grip of cold-war style espionage techniques and paranoia. At the start of the match everyone with a Huawei mobile phone was asked to switch it off. First to finish was my game. Dave managed to manoeuvre his two nights beautifully to the centre of the board where they applied great pressure. My position was bad, clearly my planning had utterly failed. Last week spies were sent to Booths at Lytham to check out the opposition. They got the wrong night, and could only report there was a 20% discount on sprouts. I was somehow able to hang on and as pieces were exchanged a drawn position ensued. Malcolm won the exchange for the price of a pawn. However his pieces then became a little tied up and Rob was more active and possibly going to win another pawn. Rob was also threatening to unleash the KGB ( King gone bandit). A draw was agreed. Lytham players on boards 4 & 5 were soon under great pressure by their higher graded opponents and both had crucial decisions to make. A stranger was seen walking upstairs with a tray full of different types of yoghurt. Was he about to surreptitiously deliver a crucial message ? He didn’t get past Checkpoint Charlie so we will never know. Both Lytham players lost a piece and eventually their games. Brett built up an attractive attack but John’s Berlin wall of pawns was keeping him out. John also used his Berlin Airlift to concentrate his pieces around his king. The dog gave a little whine which was a signal to sacrifice a piece, which Brett duly did to smash through John’s defences. A stylish finish, although John would have been ok if it wasn’t for the dog. Every credit to Lytham, despite key players being unavailable, for making it a competitive night. PS : John did in fact send the above mentioned e-mail to Brett, very tongue-in-cheek, and very funny. Nice one John.

Graham Ashcroft