Poulton 1 V Preston 1

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Result not entered by home team so apologies for the sketchiness of this match report. Board 1 finished first, I didn't see the details but basically Martyn fell into a mate after a "brain-fart". He said he was probably losing anyway so the blunder may not have affected the final result. Next to finish was board 4. I don't know if Mike is a chess newcomer but if he is he played very well and kept the experienced Alan contained. Malcolm slowly built up a kingside attack. Into the finishing straits Oleg had Queen and two rooks versus Malcolm's queen, rook and knight. I don't know whether Malcolm being the exchange down was by plan or default but his knight occupied a magnificent position in the middle of the board and could not be shifted, if I was to guess I would say it was part of his plan. As the mating threats unfolded Oleg was forced to return rook for knight but was not out of the woods yet. Finally Oleg was facing mate or the exchange of his queen for rook, he chose to resign. In my game Simon suffered from a lack of development of his pieces so in the middle-game he was forced on the defensive. I won a couple of pawns and after an exchange of pieces my two passed pawns settled the contest.

Graham Ashcroft