Preston 3 V Poulton 2

Press / Admin Comment

On Board 4 Preston`s new player was Keiran Wilson making his debut. Black won material giving Matthew a confidence-boosting first win. On Board 2 in an endgame with white R and N v black R and B the knight was lost and it looked like , if the pawns went that we could have a R and B v R ending which would have been interesting - a theoretical draw but according to Keres "often needlessly lost" but instead the bishop was lost and a draw resulted, neither player deserved to lose. On Board 3 Guy was another debutant. Black allowed White to win the exchange in a queenless middlegame and although battling to create threats with his pawns the rook was too strong for the bishop on an open board. On Board 1 Simon told me that in response to the Pirc he launched the Austrian Attack. Joss merely licked his lips with the appetite of someone contemplating a slice of sachertorte in a Viennese coffee house. As the conflict flared across the board Joss deployed his forces with the acumen of Napoleon at the Battle of Austerlitz . Finally White`s king was chased across the board like Harry Lime in the Viennese sewers in The Third Man. It was a pleasure to welcome Simon and his team to Preston. A good match.

geoff pennington