Morecambe 1 V Preston 1

Press / Admin Comment

First to finish was board 1. Following an exchange of pieces which meant only minor pieces were left Brett won a pawn and manoeuvred his king into an active position in the centre. A second pawn was about to fall ( and then a third). Phil resigned but Brett said that Phil had put up sturdy resistance and made it very difficult for him. Alan had gone two pawns down in his game and his prospects did not look good. On board three Danny posted his queen on h5, had a bishop pointed at f2, and with pawns on e5 & f5 was constantly threatening the f4 push to break open white's position. Danny failed to claim the open d file ( which he could have done) so I was able to post a rook and queen on it. As my queen made its way to e7 there were mating threats on g7, and threats against a black bishop on a7 and his c6 pawn. So at this stage material equal and chances for both sides. I was in some time trouble, having about 6 minutes to make 11 moves before the 35 move time control. Danny had about 25 minutes left. But he then spent around 20 minutes on one move, I then won a pawn, and Danny's flag fell before he made his 29th move. He believed that he was still owed the extra 15 minutes but didn't realise he had to reach move 35 first. Alan regained one of his pawns and was providing some counter-play with his two rooks. On board two Material was equal but Malcolm was able to post his queen in a dangerous position on g3. Alan's minor pieces were awkwardly placed and then Malcolm cleverly offered a pawn, which if accepted would have completely destroyed Alan's defence around his king. The next time I looked at this game Malcolm was three pawns up and closed out to a finish. Alan and John both had less than 5 minutes, with John still a pawn up. In the time scramble Alan was able to win another pawn which returned material parity and a draw was agreed. John understandably frustrated as he thought he should have won given his earlier position, but active play from Alan always kept him in the game. A closer game than the score suggests. If John had won and Danny had made the time control a different result may have occurred - credit to Morecambe for providing a competitive evening.

Graham Ashcroft