Preston 1 V Lytham 1

Press / Admin Comment

Lytham's current board 1 was unavailable. In London I believe. Probably enjoying a party at Downing Street. First to finish was board one. A complicated position arose from the opening during which Paul lost a piece but had compensation as Martyn's king was stuck in the middle. Paul was happy as he saw the opening unfold as he thought he was familiar with the line but quickly realised he didn't know it as well as he thought. Eventually Martyn, with pint of Guinness in hand, was able to harness his pieces in a sequence that would have led to mate- Paul resigned. On board 4 Dave sacrificed a pawn in the opening which Alan later blundered back. However Alan had managed to double Dave's pawns on f7 and f6 leaving his king vulnerable. With a mating threat on h7, with bishop and queen, and the prospect of knight takes f6, Dave resigned. Alan too was also on the black stuff and mused "Guinness is good for you". Hmmm, that could catch on. On board two Malcolm, in John's words, played an unusual move on move two, which meant John had to do some thinking. Both castled queenside and it looked as though Malcolm might have the initiative but after a series of piece exchanges the position was equal. On board three Phil developed his two bishops on the kingside. I attacked on the queenside which rendered these two pieces largely redundant. Phil was forced to defend an isolated pawn on b4 and as black's pieces were concentrated in this area white faced a series of attacks on his queen which eventually won a piece. A second piece was about to fall when Phil resigned. Thanks to Lytham who although weakened by the loss of their board 1 put up a stiff challenge.

Graham Ashcroft