Wimborne F V Poole E

Rain doesn't stop play!

Firstly, thanks to both teams for braving yet another rain swept night in Wimborne! As for the match itself, boards 3 and 4 were mostly one-way traffic, with the Poole team delivering quick victories. David Lewis v Joe Wood on board 2 was a much more balanced game, and the eventual agreed draw seemed a fair result with neither player being able to gain any meaningful advantage. The last game to finish was the epic on board 1. By late middle-game, Christine had very good winning chances being a significant number of pawns up, one already on the seventh, and David at that point stuck to defence. Unfortunately she missed a free rook on her 33rd move, which would have virtually guaranteed her win, and from then Christine appeared to lose her way and allowed David back into the game with a vengeance. Having eliminated all her pawns advantage, and everything else on the board, the eventual end came down to a King and pawn (Christine) v king end game. The problem was, her King was behind the pawn, and David made no mistake in his somewhat unconventional defence. The final result after all that effort, a draw. So well done Poole, and we look forward to the rematch.

Gregory C Webb

Another good match at Wimborne

Thanks to Wimborne for making us welcome, as always. I won't comment more on the games, as Greg has already painted a good picture. It was a shame (for me) that the analogue clock on Board 1 wasn't working properly, and my opponent's flag should have dropped 2-3 minutes before I noticed that the clock was faulty, and that the flag hadn't dropped at the appropriate time. Whether that meant a win for me is hard to say, as I was short of mating material by the end of the (over-run) game, but might still have had enough material when the flag should properly have dropped. Oh the joys of competitive chess!

Christine Roberts