Ringwood V Weymouth B

Full of admiration for…

Full of admiration for Weymouth B travelling all this way & sitting down to play almost at once. The teams were evenly matched & they fought hard with Ringwood taking the lead on B2 where Martin used his better development to win a piece for a quick finish at 20-10. The captain Malcs met on B4 where Weymouth made the early running before they didn't so much lock horns as lock pawns leading to a draw. On B2 Richard was a pawn down for much of the game, but held on under pressure with mating chances of his own until Steve, who seemed to have the advantage, was content to settle for a draw (confirmed by Stockfish later). Score: R2 - W1. B1 was closely contested all the way to a rook & pawns ending; Geoff's passed pawn reached A7 with his rook on A8 forcing Graham (Black again - shame!) to keep his rook on the A file & his king on the 7th rank. He kept his cool despite severe time trouble, & clever manoevering of his rook prevented Geoff's king from advancing for a long time. But in the end Geoff found a way through, mopped up Black's king side pawns & forced Graham to concede after 67 moves to draw the match at 22-40ish before Weymouth's long drive home. Thanks for a sporting & friendly evening with a fair result.

Malcolm Day