A possibly critical victory

Details

Created on Tuesday, 12 February 2019 10:25

Last Updated on Tuesday, 12 February 2019 10:44

Written by John Redmond

Hits: 7

Atticus 1  5-3  Wallasey, MCA League Division One, Tuesday February 11 2019

Atticus 1 pushed themselves a little higher up the table, having been close to the 'drop' position for much of the season. Nick had a wild-looking game with both players attacking on opposite wings. At the end he sacced a piece to promote a far-advanced pawn. James Rothwell looked to be a 'banker' victory for much of the match but time-trouble allowed him to fall victim to an equalising knight-fork. Jim steered his game to a Rook ending where he was two pawns up and bagged the point. Dave James looked to have the upper hand in his game, offering an exchange sac on e6, but the iniative seemed to dwindle and he only managed a draw. While I was trying to figure out how to break through on the queenside in a typical French sturucture, my opponent opened the K-side too early and allowed me to switch my pieces and break through on that side. John Lambert, though a pawn up, was run off the clock in a situation where his opponent had an initiative and a central preponderance. Derek had an advantage and probably should have won but let it slip towards the end and lost. With the match at 4-3, Mark, who had a dominant position for much of the game with a pawn-wedge on d5 and e6, pressed home his advantage and scored the critical win.

Atticus 1 in Wirral League

Details

Created on Thursday, 07 February 2019 18:58

Last Updated on Thursday, 07 February 2019 18:59

Written by SK

Hits: 20

Atticus 3 get a victory

Details

Created on Wednesday, 06 February 2019 18:14

Last Updated on Wednesday, 06 February 2019 18:18

Written by John Redmond

Hits: 9

Great result last night so well played everyone! We’ve now lifted ourselves to 3^rd from bottom, leap-frogging Aigburth 2, and level on points (but not board points) with Southport. True this is something of a false position since both Aigburth 2 have two games in hand over us but all the same it is a step in the right direction. Atticus 4 also won their match (against Southport) so it all remains very tight.

With the exception of Luke we were, as usual, all heavily out-graded so  that makes the win all the better.

Luke had a comfortable win against Mike O’Mahoney to set the ball rolling. Dave Hurley then drew against Joe Butterworth in a game where he was always better but did not quite have enough to convert to the win. Mark went down to Dave Owens. I didn’t see any of that game so I’m not sure how it played out. I then won against Mike Delaney and Howard quickly followed suit against Chris Ford.

That left us on 3 ½ - 1 ½ with two to play so at worst we would draw the draw the match

Mike Williams had a good game against Kevin Sartain but came unstuck at the end. Tom had a very good game against Dave Al-Daini. Some commentators thought that he had over-reached himself and might actually lose a game which he was clearly winning. However, it appears they looked only at the pieces on the board and failed to appreciate the nuances of the position in which Tom had more freedom of movement. His win therefore meant we won the match, so, once again, well played everyone.

Jim Wiseman (Atticus 3 Captain)

Atticus 4 beat Southport 1 4/2/19

Details

Created on Tuesday, 05 February 2019 00:49

Last Updated on Tuesday, 05 February 2019 01:11

Written by sjb

Hits: 12

A mention tonight for Chris Wentworth and the Atticus 4 team, in a difficult season this was a tremendous result. Unfortunately Board 1 Liam Cadigan has been missing for most of the matches through illness and some crucial defaults have not helped the cause but some great performances tonight. Our thanks to Southport for allowing Ben Ellington to step in after 25 minutes when our board 4 was missing.