Preston 1 V Lytham 1

Press / Admin Comment

Brett brought his one year old son Daniel to the match. We were very concerned he would misbehave and be distracting to the players. But he was absolutely fine. And Daniel was quiet too. Upon arrival at Jalgos we discovered, due to rainwater getting in, a part of the ceiling had collapsed. First to finish was board four. Alan won a pawn, and then a second pawn. These two pawns sat magnificently on d4 and e4, dominating the centre of the board, giving Dave no counter-play. Alan was about to win a third pawn when Dave resigned. Conor too won a pawn in the opening and at the mid-point had a more active position. Phil’s pieces were slightly on the defensive but gradually Phil inched his way back into the game. He was now threatening either a draw by perpetual check, or to recover his pawn. The ceiling was damaged but then the roof caved in on Conor – he overlooked a one move mate ! Naturally he looked devastated, and they say this is the most depressing time of the year, but at least us men are guaranteed a clean pair of properly matching socks. In my game I managed to create some pressure against Colin’s backward e6 pawn, and I had doubled rooks on the C file. However Colin was defending very well and following a series of piece exchanges I had overlooked Colin gaining a pawn. But as we both only had an opposite coloured bishop each, this came to my rescue. Despite being a pawn up there was no way for Colin to break through and a draw was agreed. The match was tied and a huge excitable crowd ( alright – there were 5 of us) surrounded board 1. Material was equal but Malcolm’s pieces were the most active and John was defending an isolated pawn on c2. Both players were short of time but Malcolm played skilfully and and with each move increased the pressure on John’s position. Malcolm won the c2 pawn and then attacked John’s knight which was forced onto the unfortunate b2 square. Malcolm invaded with his two rooks and John was facing either mate or the loss of his knight, and he resigned. Lytham deserve great credit for a close fought game, and I was relieved that we had narrowly won. What a feeling, I was dancing on the ceiling ( well I would if it was still there).

Graham Ashcroft