Preston 1 V Poulton 1

Press / Admin Comment

First to finish was board 5. Junior player Ben continues to impress and played well but was eventually ground down by the seasoned septuagenarian. Carl overlooked a move against Peter and was forced to either give up the exchange, or give up a minor piece for two pawns. He chose the latter and whilst his extra pawns created a central pawn wall Carl was unable to prevent Peter from penetrating with bishop and Queen. Mate was to follow Carl resigned. I was outplayed by Graham Dobson in the opening and ended up with a passive and bad position. As we approached the time control I was able to activate my pieces and create some threats. With both players short of time a draw was agreed. On board two David had a good knight against Malcolm's bad bishop. However Malcolm had inflicted some damage to David's pawn structure, and David had to use his good knight to defend the furthermost of two isolated pawns on his c file. Neither side could make progress. On board 1 Barry with white achieved a good opening and kept up the pressure throughout. In the final position Barry was a pawn up but Brett had an advanced passed pawn. However his king was exposed in the middle of the board. Brett assessed the position as "unclear". Time was running short for both players - a draw was agreed. A very competitive evening.

Graham Ashcroft