Southbourne B V Poole B

Press / Admin Comment

Board 1 Jon came out of the opening ahead, but after a combination from Ritchie things evened up with a drawn position. Board 2 Well done to Tony (Antal) on a good win on his first outing for Southbourne. Board 3 Dragi won, but afterwards it was shown that Michael had winning chances. Board 4 John kept making errors and by the endgame it looked like a lost game for him. However he managed to open up Tims Kings position and could have won Tim's queeen and a rook for a rook, but did not take the right course.

John Harris

Match Report

Well John beat me to press, so here is my take on the evening's events. My game (B2) first (I am the captain and I can do what I want!). Tony had an excellent game. I felt that I had equalised in a Classical Dutch but then slowly got suffocated while not being aware of making any mistakes, with a few cheapos at the end being avoided. A post mortem didn't clarify matters for me, but quickly passing the game through Fritz actually showed a completely level assessment after 27 moves. A slight inaccuracy by myself led to a slight pull for Tony which was converted. As I said an excellent game with zero errors by my opponent. Well done. Tim v John (B4) was a topsy turvy affair. Tim had a won position but allowed an opportunity for a turnaround which was not taken. Chess is a funny game and it ain't over till it's over. Tim gaining the full point evened the match up. Dragi v Michael (B3) was a tough, even game dissolving down to Dragi's favourite 'Rook Ending with a load of pawns'. With Richie's game looking positive a draw would seem enough. Both sides had connected passed pawns but Dragi seemed to have everything under control and Michael graciously conceded. A group post mortem demonstrated how tricky such Rook and Pawns endings can be. And so to Richie v Jon (B1). Another tipsy turvy affair which ended in a strange fashion. Jon seemed completely winning about 18 moves in but was then caught by a tricky combination which reversed the situation. Much later a N+B+ap+hp vs R ending was reached. An unlike-Richie error dropped the a-pawn and allowed a RxN leaving Bishop and Rook pawn of opposite queening square colour setup. A draw was agreed (ensuring a Poole match win) and then it was noted that the queening square was actually the right colour. Bemusement all round. So another narrow win again for Poole B who are starting the season a bit like Arsenal winning 1-0 all of the time. Boring. We all decided to move to the Riverside Pub to discuss the strange Richie-Jon game outcome; Richie was puzzled and amused. Drinks were bought and everything was ok again. Thanks Martin for the excellent covid-aware set-up including the table service for the mid-game cuppa. It was great to meet up with old friends and adversaries after all this time. A close match. D

David M Fuller