Malcolm Clarke reports on Chandlers Ford B’s victory over draw specialists Southampton D on Tuesday 16th April.

Chandlers Ford B ended the season with a 3-1 win against draw specialists Southampton D who had previously drawn six of their nine league matches including two draws with Chandlers Ford C and one with Chandlers Ford B.

The first game to finish was the board 4 encounter between Chandlers Ford’s Simon Kay and Southampton captain Terry Hutchins which finished all square, although Kay looked at one stage to have the best chance of obtaining a full point for Chandlers Ford.  For Hutchins the draw was something of a relief as Kay was the fourth Chandlers Ford player he had played against this season and he had lost the previous three games.

At the time that Kay’s game finished Nobby George’s opponent on board 3 seemed to be putting him under a degree of pressure, Sam Murphy had lost a rook in exchange for a minor piece, while Dick Meredith on board 1 had a level position against a higher graded player.

However George was able to mount a counter attack which exploited his opponent’s exposed king and this won him the game.  Murphy did well to deal with his material deficit and he managed to obtained a draw.  This just left Meredith’s game and he won a pawn and once he reached a position with only kings and pawns left on the board it was clear he would win, although his opponent eventually lost on time.

Winchester B beat Andover B 4.5-0.5 which was only their second league win of the season, with both successes coming against bottom of the table Andover with Pankaj Tomar. Robin Atkins, David Kinsler and Michael White being their winners.