Preston 1 V Lancaster

Press / Admin Comment

*** Board 4 for Lancaster was Callum Woods *** It’s lost. Totally lost. But junior coaches up and down the country will be screaming “never give up”. And so it was proved tonight. Brett lost his hat at Lancaster 6 months ago and tonight it was returned by Captain James. Never give up. On board 2 Malcolm won a piece and then a second piece. With his opponent’s King forced into the centre of the board and facing certain defeat Chan resigned. Alan won the exchange and swapped off Callum’s remaining rook to solidify his advantage. However Callum played well and was able to win a couple of pawns. Alan failed to spot the danger of Callum pushing his passed pawn advantage. “ The passed pawn is a criminal who should be kept under lock & key ” - Nimzowitch Alan was candid and said he played the endgame poorly, but well played Callum. On board three Harry played really well. Up until move 34 the game and material was level but then Harry lost a pawn. The remaining pieces were swapped off. Harry was following Nimzowitch’s advice, with handcuffs applied and Taser gun in hand as a back-up, he was policing my protected passed pawn impeccably. However with his King overloaded he could not protect his queenside pawns from being gobbled up by my King, and he resigned. James too was putting up stout resistance on the top board. In the allegro finish, and with about 6 minutes left on both clocks, material was equal but Brett’s more active pieces were becoming increasingly more threatening. He pinned one of James’s rooks with his bishop and was at least going to win the exchange, but then a neat tactical trick meant he was about to win the rook outright. James resigned. Every credit to Lancaster for making this a very competitive evening.

Graham Ashcroft