Wimborne E V Poole D

Well done Wimborne E

Poole D travelled away to Wimborne for our penultimate match of our season where a win was necessary to keep in the title race for B&DCL Div 4 with Southbourne C. Two new players joined Poole D this evening: Simon Fox and Mike Minvalla (a last-minute replacement for an unwell Leo). I sat down on board 3 to play an inform Andre which ended up being the deciding game of the night for both the match and league. Board 2 was the first to finish with Mike Rutter offering Mike Davidson a draw offer in a very cramped position. Mike Rutter had a very strong knight in enemy territory but at the cost of the exchange. Board 1 and 4 were quick to follow with their draw offers and the match stood at 1.5 – 1.5. I was feeling the pressure on board 3. After move 26, the computer has our position down as -0.1, however, this is where Andre started to open the position and move his f and e pawn down the board, creating space and opening up his bishop. Throughout the game, Andre kept forgetting to press his clock, and after a couple of reminders early on, I did not feel like it was my responsibility to offer any more reminders which is where Wimborne spectators stepped in. I had around 15 minutes left on the clock and Andre down to less than 3 minutes into the deciding moments of the game, Wimborne spectators decided to help Andre and tell him to press his clock. I should have said something at the time, but the pressure and concentration of the position kept me focussed on the game at hand. Andre deservedly went on to win after forcing an exchange of queens and into an endgame of Rook and Bishop vs Rook and I resigned the game, the match, and Poole’s hopes of promotion. I really enjoyed the game despite losing, however, please can spectators not interfere and help their teammates. Well done to Wimborne on the win tonight, and congratulations to Southbourne C on a deserved promotion.

Joe Wood

match

Hi Joe thank you for being such a good sport over this issue . It was me that was hinting to Andre about his clock . i was acting captain and assumed i could prompt him . i am told i could not ! it would have been a pity if such a good game was spoilt by a timing issue. thank you so much Mike

Mike Davidson