Atticus 1  4½-3½  Widnes 1, Monday April 16 2012

The two leading contenders for the Division 1 title met last night and the result was an extremely exciting win for Atticus 1. Our opponents arrived with some major reinforcements - not least GM Arkell on Board 1. Many of the games went down to the last 5 minutes and, with players unable to keep track of the score, some agreed draws without knowing the consequences for the match. Given that my own game was fairly involving, my sense of what went on board-by-board was necessarily impressionistic. In the top match, Charlie tried out the Slav Triangle against Keith (the side-step 4 Bg5 met by the idiosyncratic 4...f6) but a tactic misfired and he was soon in a hopeless double rook ending. Dave Lawson, our resident gambiteer, again pitched a pawn for lively play, but his opponent stuck clamp-like to his material. Martin and I fought it out in the French Universal System with balancing pawn-chains advancing on either side of the board. Although Dave James had a Classical KID structure once again, his opponent had got a knight to d4 - often a sign that Black has equalised. From a distance, Nick looked to be playing on the back three ranks in something that resembled a Panno KID. On Board 6, Giorgos played an English Botvinnik System and had got a pawn to f5. Philippe was on the Black side of what seemed to be a double Stonewall, his opponent's 'W' of pawns, leaving holes on e4 and g4. Brian's opening had the look of a Catalan - he told me later that he missed a chance to sac a pawn for a huge attack. In the end, our lower boards carried the day, with vital wins for Philippe and Giorgos. Meanwhile, the Englishman, the Irishman, the Welshman and the Scotsman (our top four boards) did enough by splitting the points. The final two games to finish - boards 2 and 3 - both ended in repetitions. My opponent was down to 32 seconds, uncertain whether to keep playing, while Dave Lawson had little more than a minute, his opponent, who had retained a material advantage, also uncertain about continuing. In the end, after a flurry of handshakes, the scorecard was consulted and the overall result was clear. This was probably the best victory scored by Atticus 1 for several years. We now play Waterloo, knowing that a win in that tie would ensure us of the title.

 Aigburth 2   1½-6½   Atticus 1, March 21, 2012

Atticus 1 enjoyed a comfortable win away to Aigburth 2 last night. Given our strength on the top boards (where the Aigburth team was heavily out-rated) we were concerned to get something from the contests on the lower boards. And we did. John Lambert played a solid QGD which at first looked to peter out to a drawn Q+P ending. But somehow he nabbed an extra pawn and, avoiding the risk of perpetual, shepherded it home. Chris (who had sacrificed an evening at Goodison) secured a handy half on the White side of a Modern. Martin achieved a remarkable result, having looked in all sorts of trouble early on - a pawn down with an exposed king. It seemed like an achievement for him just to enter an opposite-coloured bishop ending two pawns down - even more remarkable that he actually won it. Elsewhere, Charlie just about kept control of a tricky King's Gambit. Dave James exploited his knowledge of the Najdorf's tricky by-ways. I got a comfortable version of the Symmetrical English which allowed no counterplay. Meanwhile Nick Hawkins' unbeaten run with the White pieces - which apparently had exceeded fifty games! - was finally brought to an end by Dave Lawson. 

 Atticus 1  6½-1½  Wallasey, March 5 2012

Division 1 is close again this year and those sides who want to stay in the hunt need to win their remaining games. With the benefit of a heavy rating advantage, Atticus 1 managed to overcome Wallasey last night and still have a good chance of the title.

 Table of Individual Results for Atticus 1