Poulton 1 V Preston 2

Press / Admin Comment

On board 3, Carl seemed to get the better position out of the opening with pressure against a backward pawn. But Kuba defended well and after being unable to make progress a draw was agreed. Next to finish was board 2, where Paul seemed to get a very strong position, with numerous pins tying up Conor's pieces. However Conor found some tough moves to keep everything defended, traded off some pieces into an even-looking position, and a draw was agreed. On board 4 Peter got a strong position out of the opening, with pressure against Paul's king, and Paul being unable to get a rook or knight off their starting squares for most of the game. However, converting this was difficult and Paul was able to find a knight fork that would lead to a forced exchange of pieces and take most of the sting out of Peter's position. At this point a draw was offered, and having about 30 minutes left on his clock (to Pauls' 2 minutes!), Peter decided to wait for about 15 minutes to see how board 1 played out before deciding... Board 1 looked even for much of the game, but Martin was able to get dangerous play against Jim's king, whilst Jim's pieces were all on the queenside. It looked like Jim may be able to hold (with a knight pinned against his king and defended by his queen; being attacked by rook and queen) -- until Martin sacrificed some pawns to get his final piece (a bishop) into the attack and forced the resignation (and allowed Peter to accept the draw!)

Paul Fearnhead