Highcliffe A V Purbeck

Press / Admin Comment

Another enthralling encounter, we needed 3.5-2.5 as our team grade was 8 points higher, by 8.30 we were up in 1 and down in 2 Tom pulled off a very unlikely win from a piece down and in the end that made the difference. Thank you Purbeck for another great match

Richard Ursell

A fitting encounter for the

A fitting encounter for the final. As Richard has pointed out, a late team change by Highcliffe meant that a draw would be enough for Purbeck to win the trophy and for much of the evening it looked as though we might manage it. Boards 2 and 5 looked pretty even, Purbeck were better on 3 and 6, worse on 4 and I didn't have a clue what was going on on board 1. I sacrificed a pawn in the opening and got pretty decent compensation and for a while you could probably say there was a dynamic equality. Later in the evening the above evaluations were firming up except I'd gone wrong and Christian was clearly better. As expected, boards 2 and 5 were drawn and Highcliffe won on 4. Although board 3 was the last to finish, we were clearly winning so it was all down to boards 1 and 6. I was only able to have a few brief looks at Chris and Thomas' game but it looked as if Chris was a piece up, then 2 pawns up and then 4 pawns for a piece up but by my last visit he had succumbed to a mating net. So that meant I had to win - unfortunately by that time I was rook down. I should have resigned earlier but Christian was under some time pressure so I tried few cheapos but he didn't have much trouble spotting them so I resigned once we reached the time control. Well done to Highcliffe who win the league and cup double and thanks for being great hosts. Look out on the Dorset chess website for the team photos. We look forward to seeking revenge next season!

Steve Peirson