Preston 1 V Poulton 1

Press / Admin Comment

The first victory of the night was recorded by Poulton. They found the venue !! The mysterious and hidden Temple of Jalgos. To ensure fair play tonight door staff were instructed to confiscate any green laser pens being smuggled in. First to finish was board four. After the game Mike was very candid and explained that he was bored by the stale position and played a reckless g5. Alan pounced on this and with a mating threat with bishop and queen the game soon ended. Martyn was soon a pawn down on board 1 and didn’t look to have any compensation against his stronger opponent. Boards 2 & 3 continued, fairly even. On board three the players castled on opposite sides. Simon had made some pawn thrusts on his queenside earlier and when he castled on this side I thought this gave me the advantage. However as the game continued he slowly strengthened his position and may have been better. However a series of piece exchanges left Simon’s king vulnerable, he lost a pawn and I had passed pawns on both sides of the board which ultimately decided the game. Mr Mitchell on board 1 seemed distracted by some noise from club players enjoying the Wednesday Preston Chess Club night and went to remonstrate with them. Malcolm on board two got into time trouble and lost a piece but with a passed h pawn thought he could draw. However Ben was about to queen his pawn first and Malcolm resigned. Another very good win for this rising star. Martyn cleverly advanced a black pawn to b3 hemming in white’s king and neutralising the advantage of white’s extra pawn. A very good result for Martyn who earlier looked far worse. Mr Mitchell headed for the bar and asked for the strongest drink available. This was an under strength Poulton team who nearly ran out winners – a very creditable performance by them.

Graham Ashcroft