Southbourne Seagulls V Bournemouth Bandits

Chess Knockout Match

Very close result, particularly good results by Michael and Ken . We tried to lower our overall average grade but all credit to Southbourne deserved win tonight. Played match great spirit great chess match Paul Errington captain

Paul Errington

A see-saw of a match

A real see-saw of a match with the individual games switching back and forth, along with the score. Ben was the first to finish, looking like he should capitalise on his opponents position after the opening but took a while to do so. Conversely, on board 3, Lindsay got the better of John Harris so levelling the overall score at 1-1. But the 4 remaining games swung back and forth repeatedly and the final outcome was guesswork! Chris Lane looked in a difficult position early on but then found a way to recover, whereas Finn's game on board 2 looked like a draw, then a win, then a loss. Chris then misplayed a move and lost, so 2-1 to Bournemouth. Games on board 1 and 5 were difficult to predict, although Bournemouth looked favourites on Board 1. Then it all changed again with wins by Ken and then Michael for Southbourne to make it 3-2 to Southbourne. Last to finish, well into the evening due to a clock issue, was the battle on board 2 where black won for Bournemouth, although the team result was already decided. Many thanks to Bournemouth for being such great opponents.

Nikki Forster