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C team home v Sale wed 31st Oct

Posted on: November 1st, 2012 by Bill Tait

this was the eagerly awaited return fixture. both teams tried to confuse the other with delaying the announcement of their line-up with a late arrival on each side.

we managed to keep the score at nil – nil for about an hour until they went one up after just after the  hour. we pulled one back from Andy Walker making his first appearance at No5 (well done Andy) setting it up for a tight finish.

at this point, by my reckoning the top 3 boards entered their end games with all the EC players one pawn down. I was first to fall putting us 2-1 down. then David Taylor had a close finish making it 3-1 before Andrew Parry got the final point in Fergie time against Keith Hodgson. Keith was playing his first match for us and did really well.

final result 4 -1 to Sale. no red or yellow cards and no official complaints to FIDE from EC about the ref.

Bill

C team home v Ashton wed 17th oct

Posted on: October 20th, 2012 by Bill Tait

East Cheshire v Ashton

1 Bill Tait 1 – 0 T Chatys

2 Geoff Clarke 0 – 1 G Chatys

3 Hartley Oldham 1/2 – 1/2 A Abbas

4 Duncan Chandley 0 – 1 S Hayman

5 Roy Burrows 0 – 1 K Ye

Match Result East Cheshire 1 1/2 – Ashton 3 1/2

A good night’s chess. Roy spoke warmly about his 8yr old opponent who played swiftly and impressed Roy. Duncan had a winning position when I looked and then somehow had the tables turned on him by another young opponent – hard luck!

I think Hartley was relieved to get a draw and I managed a winning end game to defeat one member of the Chatys family. Geoff C played the elder Chatys and after being up against it suddenly scared his opponent with a strong attack on his K at the end. Despite his flourish ….it wasn’t to be and he eventually had to resign.

Bill

 

Sale 4 EC C 1

Posted on: October 11th, 2012 by Bill Tait
The C Team lost its first match of the season. A super win from Edwin who seems to be following in Paul Crusher Bamford’s chess-steps! An excellent showing from Geoff S in his first match for EC since his expensive signing from Bramhall (or was it a free transfer?). Geoff held on and might have squeezed out a draw however time had its way in the end. We were heavily out graded and unfortunately have to play them again in a couple of weeks. I went all out for a win but my attack fizzled out in the middle game when what I thought was a potentially winning attack on his K resulted in my Q getting trapped!
PS Can Anyone buy Andy B a satnav fro Christmas please.
Many thanks to all for turning out and we look forward, never back.
Bill
Result EC C Away to Sale 7th Oct
1    Mark Whalley 150        1-0     Bill Tait         121
2    Peter Ming       125       1-0    Andy Buckley 106
3    Lionel Taylor     118       0-1    Edwin Cooke    91
4    Simon Stuchey  78       1-0    Ian Vaughan    82
5    Peter Russell        73    1-0    Geoff Smith    62
Result Sale 4 EC C 1

C Team draws against Altrincham B

Posted on: April 1st, 2012 by Ian Vaughan


East Cheshire C Team remains ‘The Mean Team’ (in the sense of average, actually, but ‘mean team’ sounds better) with a draw against Altrincham B on 27 March 2012. We now have one more match this season, and will be net winners or losers depending on that result (or we might remain… ‘The Mean Team’)

The score card reads:

Paul Bamford 0.5, Callum McNulty 0.5
Andy Buckley 0, Pete Arland 1,
Ian Vaughan 1, Steve Ward 0,
Edwin Cooke 1, Wayne Kranz 0,
Roy Burrows 0, Steve Douglas 1.

East Cheshire C 2.5, Altrincham B 2.5

Edwin writes:
“This was a great game (aren’t they all when you win!) which I thoroughly enjoyed.
“A fascinating strategic opening against a pensive opponent led to two pawn sacrifices followed by my loss of a knight (move 15) and he still had all his pieces! … However I was confident that my position was strong. He had his king side pinned down by my developed pieces which also were holding his advanced queenside pieces.
“Then I saw it (move 19), the match winner or so I thought, he must move his D8 rook onto the G file to tidy up my lone advanced pawn and then I could pin his knight to his king with my G2 bishop on E6 whilst also forking his rook, whatever he did to defend this would leave a gap for further exploitation. Ambitious and a tall order I know, but that was the target and I was certain it could be done!!! My next move I figured would be a rook sacrifice which at worst would gain two pawns and at best leave me two bishops and a knight up.
“I think he could see a threat and chose to swipe my advanced pawn with his queen instead, thus he returned my earlier favour leaving his bishop unprotected (move 20). I had been carving out a position but this mistake let me take stock, “Advantage Edwin, be careful, don’t blow it, just win”
“Then I controlled an inevitable pawn exchange, which left both bishops exposed but me in a commanding position for further pawn attack, this was gold dust as if we continued I could win his king knight and leave his defence in shreds, furthermore his queen tied up in knots defending a knight, but at the same time pinned by my queen (move 23).
“From there he unrolled like a yoyo and each time he bounced back it was weaker and weaker.”

Ian writes:
“This asymmetrical king’s pawn game contained opportunities for both sides and was an exciting contest. An early exchange obliged me to capture with the f-pawn but the open file became a strength after I was able to castle queenside and to launch an attack on the queen. This won material, and I was a knight up.
“Later I blundered away a rook, and was one move away from a draw by repetition with my opponent’s rook and queen likely to force mate. Fortunately, my pawns and knight stopped the momentum of the attack, and the knight remained useful to the end by enabling a mate on g1.”

C Team vs Macclesfield C, Home and Away (Feb 2012)

Posted on: February 25th, 2012 by Ian Vaughan
The C Team has stayed mean by first losing at home to Macc C and then winning away six days later. Following the scoresheets and a few words from me are two accounts of epic games sent by Edwin and Andy W (thank you, Microsoft, for ‘cut and paste’). Grades are ECF half-way where available; U/G = ungraded (Macc website).
East Cheshire C (Home) vs Macclesfield C, 15 February 2012
1. A Buckley (100) 0 R Pomeroy (140)1
2. I Vaughan (84) 0 R Murphy (135) 1
3. E Cooke (65 est) 1 D Mallinson (U/G) 0
4. Q Mohammed (52 est) 0 T Robson (74) 1
5. R Burrows (53) 0.5 A Howe (50) 0.5
Total East Cheshire C 1.5 Macclesfield C 3.5
Macclesfield C (Home) vs East Cheshire C (Away), 21 February 2012
1. Alan Sime (109) 0.5 Paul Bamford (134) 0.5
2. Tom Robson (74) 0 Andy Buckley (100) 1
3. David Styles (U/G) 1 Edwin Cooke (65 est) 0
4. Matthew Wade (U/G) 0 Andrew Walker (78)1
5. Angie Howe (50) 0 Roy Burrows (53) 1
Total Macclesfield C 1.5 East Cheshire C 3.5
Congratulations to both Roy and Andy W on their return to matchplay, with points.
Edwin writes:
Another swashbuckling affair from Mr Delmonte (tonight’s personal pseudonym), proving there is actually more to life than oranges and tinned peaches.
A fairly standard opening left me in an unsatisfactory position where his king was neatly tucked away on the queen sideand mine was exposed in the middle. But hey! It was my go, time to light the touch paper! Since there was a lot of space, I tried to swap his bishop for a knight, thus living me the power of two bishops on the diagonals. I quickly followed this up by pushing his knights into defensive positions making them redundant before launching a salvo of heavily supported prawns to almost queen.
It worked! God knows how, but outside in the fresh air afterwards The Man From Delmonte, he says, “Yes!”
Definitely a food theme here – I like the heavily supported prawns: Ed.
Andy W writes:
Sure I felt nervous, it had been over 18 months since my last match win and only my second match of the season.

The kid facing me looked edgy in a cool kind of way. I sensed he was keen for some action and up for the fight.

1. I punched the clock and he opened 1.e4… confident and matter of fact. I licked my lips nervously, considered the Sicilian but played safe with …e5. I pushed the button on the clock.
2. Without hesitation he

played 2.Bc4… and it was back to me. I sat and looked at the board for a good 2 minutes hoping the throb in my temples was going to subside. I retorted with a nice safe …Nf6 (Berlin
defence) and pushed the time button.
The nerves were starting to ease.
3. He played 3.Bxf7+… with a confidence that sent my head into a spin…. what!! Another 3 minutes passed as I evaluated his gambit – this was new territory for me. What had I missed? I had no choice but to reply …Kxf7 so losing the ability to castle and pushing my king off the back row… and I was already 5 minutes off the pace and feeling very vulnerable and not at all comforted by having a material advantage.
4. He played Nc3… which seemed a bit off beam to me as 4.Qf3… or 4.Nf3… would have put pressure on my exposed king. Still, feeling somewhat defensive in the face of such aggression I played …c6 to block the advance of his knight.
5. Nf3… as expected and I played …Bd6 to open my back row, develop the bishop and defend e5. Maybe …d6 would have been better??
6. d4…Re8. I saw this as an opportunity to get the king behind the rook and also to strengthen my control of the centre An exchange follows:
7. Pxe5 … Bxe5
8. Nxe5 … Rxe5 to leave me reasonably in control of the centre with the rook out very early and pinning d4, and still with a material advantage… I was now starting to think 3.Bxf7+… was bluster on behalf of my opponent as I couldn’t see any advantage to his gambit at this point.
9. Qf3 … D5
10. 0-0 … Kf8 I felt that my king was now safe and his unusual aggressive opening had come to nought.
11. With the king released from the pin he now made the error of Rd1… to bring pressure on d5
but my reply of …Bg4 gave him something to think about as my bishop pinned his queen to his rook!
At this point I thought the game was turning in my favour and I now made up the time deficit.
12. Not wanting to back down, he played Qg3… to threaten the rook exchange. I declined with …Nd7 so developing my pieces further.
13. Re1… moves his rook to safety and I made the decision to attack king’s side and replied with …Qe8
14. He’s not beat yet and played Qf4… (I felt that Bf4 may have been better) I replied …Qg6
15. g3… (?? I think f3 would have been better) … Rf8 signals my firm commitment to the king’s side attack 16. Qd2 … Bh3 that’ll be useful later!
17. b3 (??) … Rf7
18. Ba3 (??) and then my attack commences with …Nxe4
19. Nxe4 … Rxe4 20. Rxe4 … Qxe4 mate in 1 and he should have resigned at this point 21. f3 (??) … Qxf3 22. Bb2 … Qf1+ 23. Rxf1 … Rxf1+ and mate.

So despite the shaky start, it was a tense game and I won through in the end….phew!

EC C 3; Macc B 2

Posted on: January 14th, 2012 by Ian Vaughan

The C Team visited Macclesfield B and won by 3 to 2 this week, despite being outgraded on every board (very substantially on the lower boards: their average grade – 144). Special thanks to Edwin who stepped in at the last minute and won against a tough opponent. See his comments below.
G Laurence (150) 0, P Bamford 1
PWR Caulkett (148) 0, S Howells 1,
JP Taylor (146) 1, B Tait 0,
R Pomeroy (137) 1, I Vaughan 0,
PJ Colville (137) 0, E Cooke 1.
Edwin writes:
“Playing White on Board 5 and drafted in at the last minute to play, this game got off to a stolid start. I pushed my pawns down the right hand side seeking to gain an advantage leaving my king perilously unprotected.
This attack was thwarted but Black was pushed back into a tight space and failed to spot my deft switch of attack to the left flank. Here I constructed a devilish plan to force back his queen confining his pieces further. Unfortunately my opponent, Archimedes, mixed his metaphors and pulled his finger out of the dam allowing my troops to pour forward washing away any chance he had of avoiding defeat!”
Ian writes:
” My game, of the 1. e4, e5 variety, although lost was interesting, with tactics and potential counterplay right up until the last handful of moves.”

Whitewashed by the 3Cs scholars from Oldham

Posted on: January 7th, 2012 by Ian Vaughan

3Cs visited on Wednesday 4 January 2012, and rather unsportingly have probably been practicing! Just as in the pound shop, there is no need to ask – it’s 0-1.
Sion Howells v. Daniel Abbas
Andy Buckley v. Ahmed Abbas
Ian Vaughan v. Sam Hayman
Edwin Cooke v. Jack Mundy
Qasim Mohammed v. Robert McLean
Congratulations, 3Cs.

A dramatic win at Altrincham: the victor explains ….

Posted on: December 18th, 2011 by Ian Vaughan
After a dramatic win away at Altrincham on 13th December ’11, Edwin writes:
Finally after three matches I won my first game for East Cheshire and what a ripsnorter it turned out to be! Playing white and after a steady opening from both players, my gambit was to clear the diagonal so that I could capture his rook with my bishop. This involved a careful and extensive piece exchange disseminating the middle of the board to open up the channel. In response my opponent took my bishop with his queen allowing my queen to charge forward and reek havoc through his defenses. However once I was so far ahead, a little complacency crept in and I almost allowed myself to be mated after a careless move. In desperation to avoid check mate I lost both my rooks and ended up in an inferior position. Enter the end game, I had 3 pawns, 1 knight and 1 queen versus 5 pawns, 1 rook and 1 queen. After being perpetually checked and having pawns picked off, my opponent ran out of steam and I finally had a chance. I returned the salvo of constant checking bringing my knight into the game to assist the queen for the kill. A thoroughly enjoyable rollercoaster of a game. Victory at last!

C Team draws away vs Altrincham B

Posted on: December 15th, 2011 by Ian Vaughan
Andy Buckley (Captain) writes:
Alan on board one played a Q I D, lost a piece early on and was ground down.
Paul’s game led to an all pawn finish and a draw was accepted.
Bill won on board 3 with a strong finish despite being a knight down.
Andy lost after a poor middle game left him three pawns down.
Edwin made sacrifice after sacrifice for position and a good win.
Scoresheet reads:
1. Callum McNulty 1, Alan Stokes 0
2. Pete Arland 1/2, Paul Bamford 1/2
3. Stephen Ward 0, Bill Tait 1,
4. Tom Hague 1, Andy Buckley 0,
5. John Roff 0, Edwin Cooke 1.
Total 2.5 2.5 (Draw)

C Team 2, Macclesfield B 3.

Posted on: November 27th, 2011 by Ian Vaughan
An outgraded C Team (our average grade 111, theirs 134) lost 2-3 at home to Macclesfield B on 23 November 2011, but with an excellent win by Andy B and draws against strong opposition by Paul (fighting the opponent featured in Tudor’s game vs Macc A (blog, passim)) and Sion.
The scoresheet and grades are:
B1 Paul Bamford (130) 1/2 G Laurence (150) 1/2
B2 Bill Tait (120) 0, R Pomeroy (137) 1,
B3 Sion Howells (110) 1/2, R Murphy (134)1/2,
B4 Andy Buckley (100) 1, A Brough (131) 0
B5 Ian Vaughan (93) 0, A Sime (117) 1.
(Nerd alert: the C Team’s grades are almost an arithmetic progression.)
The return match away, on a Tuesday, will be postponed probably until early January 2012.

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