Malcolm Clarke reports on an extraordinary result, plus the C Team’s match at the University.

Chandlers Ford A drew 2.5-2.5 with Winchester B, a result that confirms that in division 3 Chandlers Ford will finish 4th and Winchester 5th, while Chandlers Ford C‘s 2-2 draw with University C means that they can only avoid finishing bottom of division 4 if they manage to catch Chandlers Ford B.

The A team’s match was the first drawn encounter in the 20 matches in which Malcolm Clarke has captained the side and in fact the games on all five boards were drawn.  First to finish was the game between Chandlers Ford’s Sam Murphy and Winchester’s Steve Kitley in which Murphy had an extra pawn in a queen and pawn ending, but with double pawns any advantage he had was negligible.

The games on the top three boards saw Chandlers Ford’s Dave Holmes, Phil Overton and Graham Stuart draw with Lukasz Marek Piecha, Bob Cleave and Robin Atkins respectively. All three games were pretty well kevel on material throughout, although not all of the games lacked winning opportunities.

However the most interesting game was on board 4 when Chandlers Ford’s David Culliford took on Winchester stalwart David Kinsler.  Kinsler mounted a strong king side attack and Culliford did well to keep him at bay.  When Culliford was able to counter attack he won a rook for a minor piece, but having done the hard work was not able to make this advantage tell and by the end the material was level.

The C team did well to draw at University with good wins by Don Creasey and James Lesniak on the bottom two boards.  Creassey beat the A team’s nemesis Mo Leily and Lesniak on his debut for the team having previously played for the D team also did well.

Malcolm Clarke reports on the Division 4 match on the 19th March, plus the D Team’s second encounter in 2 weeks with Ringwood C, plus Winchester’s League matches, in his weekly round-up.

Chandlers Ford B lost 3.5-0.5 to Salisbury C, a result that gives the Wiltshire club the division 4 title. Peter Przybycin obtained the only half point, and even he was material down when a draw was agreed, with him having sufficient compensation for his material deficit. 

The other games in the Salisbury match saw  Simon Kay’s opponent on board 4 sacrifice a rook for a minor piece to have a couple of united passed pawns which were enough to win the game.  Sam Murphy was a piece down going into the end game and his efforts to pick up pawns in compensation made him defensively vulnerable and his opponent was able to issue a threat of check mate which he could not escape from.  Dick Meredith lost on time, but his game saw both players have the initiative at different times and went right to the wire.

For the second successive week Chandlers Ford D played Ringwood C and this time they were whitewashed, but they gave a good account of themselves with Simon Kay, Nobby George and Rob Strachan all having good positions at one point.  Both teams made one change from the previous week with Simon Kay coming in for James Lesniak while Ringwood replaced their board 4 with a player good enough to play on board 1.

Winchester A did not have a good week.  They were whitewashed by division 2 title favourites Hamble B and were beaten 4.5-0.5 by Southampton C with captain Alan Dyos picking up their only half point.  Winchester C drew 2-2 with Southampton D with a win for Mike White and draws for Steve Kitley and Brian Jack, and David Green winning a game counting for grading purposes only.

Dorset Rapidplay, Greyfriars Community Centre, Ringwood, Sunday 24th March

There is a Rapid-play chess tournament on Sunday 24th March at Ringwood. Details from the organisers below.

Online entries or paper entry form at: https://www.dorsetchess.co.uk/rapidplay-2019/   

List of current entrants at: https://www.dorsetchess.co.uk/dorset-rapidplay-entries-now-possible-theme-24/  

There are generous prizes, a total prize fund of £648, everybody will win at least a book prize, a free lunch and free refreshments all day, and all this for only a £16 entry.

Ladder latest

See the Ladder page for the latest standings in the Chandler’s Ford Chess Club Ladder, as of the most recent update from 12th March. Peter Przybycin currently leads.

Malcolm Clarke observes the bottom of Division 3 match on 5th March.

Having been unbeaten in their last three league matches Chandlers Ford C‘s unbeaten run came to an end when they lost the bottom of the table match with Winchester C 3-1.

Rob Bird who was previously unbeaten for the team was the first player to finish his game.  Having been a pawn down he was able to regain the pawn, but the exchanges that followed left the opponent in a position to eventually restore the pawn advantage which proved sufficient to win the game.

The game between Chandlers Ford’s Maha Chandar and Winchester’s Graham Payne was level for long periods, but Payne’s pawns were better placed and that helped him to eventually win. On top board Chandlers Ford’s Rob Sims was forced onto the defensive by Winchester’s Mike White and he eventually succumbed.

However the one ray of sunshine for Chandlers Ford was Don Creasey on board 4 who played a very good game of attacking chess to beat Winchester’s Brian Jack.  Also in a game counting for grading purposes only Chandlers Ford’s James Lesniak beat Winchester’s Bryan White.

Winchester will be looking for a new venue next season as they have to leave their current venue at the end of the season.

There were two matches at Chandler’s Ford on Tuesday evening, 12th March: the D team in the Division 5 Cup Final against Ringwood C, and the A Team in the Division 3 fixture against University B. Malcolm Clarke reports.

For the division 5 cup final against Ringwood C, Chandlers Ford D were comfortably outgraded on every board with even the Ringwood bottom board being higher graded than the Chandlers Ford top board.  It was therefore no surprise that Chandlers Ford suffered a 3-1 defeat in which James Lesniak and Steve Dunleavy the two players playing with the white pieces obtained draws. 

Lesniak played very solidly against an experienced player, while technical issues in the latter stages of Dunleavy’s game were resolved by both players agreeing that a drawn game was the fairest outcome.  Rob Strachan on board 3 also had a good position going into the end game, but once his opponent won his rook and forced an exchange of queens the game was effectively over.

In contrast the Chandlers Ford A team suffered their fourth 3-2 defeat in five matches when they lost to University B despite being at full strength with all of their players being available and  they outgraded the opposition on the two boards in which University fielded a graded player.  Phil Overton returning to the team was the sole Chandlers Ford winner with David Holmes and Graham Stuart drawing their games.

However unusually for him David Culliford found himself in a position where his queen was attacked by a knight and he could not move it safely to any square without allowing the knight to fork and win his rook and the handicap of losing a rook proved too much.  On board 5 University’s Mo Leily playing against Dick Meredith was for the second time in matches between the teams this season able to turn the match decisively his team’s way by seemingly snatching victory from the jaws of defeat.

Malcolm Clarke reports on the two matches played on Thursday 28th February 2019, plus Winchester B vs Salisbury B in his weekly League update.

Chandlers Ford D achieved a creditable draw against Salisbury D which was the second time the two teams had drawn this season although in neither match were any of the individual games were drawn.  Chandlers Ford were outgraded on the top three boards, and their board 4 was ungraded, although his playing performances to date have suggested that his grade at the end of the season is likely to be higher than the current grade of his Salisbury opponent.  However it was wins by the top two boards Simon Kay and Nobby George that enabled Chandlers Ford to draw the match with Nobby beating a former team mate of his.

Chandlers Ford A lost 3-2 to division 3 leaders Ringwood A, although they welcomed David Holmes back into the fold.  Although Ringwood were not at full strength they outgraded Chandlers Ford on every board apart from board 1. Graham Stuart obtained a good win on board 2 and Holmes and Sam Murphy drew their games.  However David Culliford suffered his first defeat under Malcolm Clarke’s captaincy and the irony of the situation was that his opponent Richard Ursell had played under Clarke’s captaincy at Eastleigh Rail 20 years ago.  With Dick Meredith also losing it was Chandlers Ford’s third 3-2 defeat in four matches.

Winchester B lost 3.5-1.5 to Salisbury B with a win for Michael White on board 4 and a draw for Graham Payne on board 5 contributing to the 1.5 points.

Next week the A and D team are both in action next week with the A team at home to University B and the D team playing the division 5 cup final against Ringwood C.