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440 Report Jan 29th 2020
- Details
- Written by tw
- Category: 440-League
440 League
Formby v Atticus 29th January 2020
Board Formby Score Atticus
1 Rob Owens 0 - 1 Jim Wiseman
2 Alan Worthington 0.5- 0.5 Tom Webb
3 Bob Greaves 0 - 1 Steve Winstanley
4 Dave Whitby 1 - 0 Default
Total 1.5 –2.5
A top of the table clash with Atticus starting one point below Formby.
The last time the two teams played Formby whitewashed us, deservedly winning on all four boards. To compound a sense of dread and due to lack of availability and various commitments, Atticus were unable to field a bottom board which meant we started this crunch match with history against us and a full point down.
On Board 1 Jim was playing Rob Owens, who he had beaten the night before. I observe that Rob by nature likes seems to enjoy playing an attacking defence. Well, as I reached my 23rd move I could see that Rob and Jim were on move 48 and they weren’t hanging around. The game was something of an oddity with Jim developing while blocking, stalling and countering Rob’s aggressive attacks. In fact Jim was playing in the classic style to beat Jimmy. Unfortunately for Rob, he kept over extending and being duly picked off. Jim first won the initiative, then material and ultimately the game thereby levelling the match score on the night.
Next to finish was my game with Alan Worthington. Alan is one of those players who gives away nothing, ploughs his own furrow in the opening and is more than capable of finishing a game if his opponent errs. According to Fritz Alan took the game went out of book on move 3. After a highly irregular opening I found myself in a bind, cramped and very uncomfortable with my position. I therefore made an unsound sac of the exchange to get counter play…..well when you are as bad at chess as me then that is the only thing to do. Counter play I duly achieved and thought I had managed to snare his Queen. Unfortunately I had missed one escape square and after a few moves of repetition the game was drawn.
So the whole match went down to Steve Winstanley and Bob Greaves. Again the players had played each other the night before where Bob ran had out the eventual winner. I am afraid I missed the start and middle of the game. However when I looked at the end game Bob had 5 pawns , a Queen and a very strong Knight outpost. Meanwhile, Steve had 5 Pawns, a Queen and a very strong Bishop outpost. The big differences were that Bob had an exposed King, his knight wasn’t as aggressively placed as the Bishop and was well down on time. Eventually Steve was able to capitalise on these advantages and mated Bob who by that time was down to 57 seconds.
That final result gave Atticus a highly improbable win. A great match between two sporting teams…….it’s for nights like this that we know why we play chess. Many thanks and commiserations to Formby but I take my hat off to Jim and Steve.
Tom Webb
The new grades are with us
- Details
- Written by John Redmond
- Category: Club News
Yes, they're here and there are some 'leapers-forward' in the Atticus ranks. Steve Burge is up an eye-catching 9 to 130. Then there are a number of '7-ups'. Sanjoy is up 7 to 136. Jim McCarthy is up 7 to 177. Tom Webb is up 7 to 128 and Nigel is up 7 to 127. Luke is up 6 to 176. Congratulations to one and all!
Atticus 2 ride their luck! 27/1/20
- Details
- Written by Mr Klopp
- Category: Atticus 2
A very exciting Evening of Chess saw Atticus 2 come out on top with a 4-3 Scoreline,this means the positions at the top of MCA Division 1 were reversed and Atticus 2 now lead by 1 point.
Atticus 1 were without 2 of their top players in John Redmond and David James,this gave the edge to the Atticus 2 team however the result could have been a lot different.
On Board 1 Steve Kee seemed to be ahead out of the opening but as the clock became a factor Charlie Kennaugh used his great experience to turn things around in his favour.
On Board 2 Andrej had a possible edge out of the opening but Jim fought well and posed some problems, eventually in the final frantic minutes Andrej found some great moves to reach a winning position with seconds remaining.
On Board 3 Tom and Nick both tried to gain a lead but their efforts were in vain and hard fought draw was agreed
On Board 4 Luke found himself bravely clinging on in a losing position as James Rothwell played a great game however time became a factor and James had to a agree a draw with less than 90 seconds left. Credit must go to Luke for finding some great resources to survive.
On Board 5 Giorgos and John had a very level game until the end game were Giorgos was able to take over for a vital victory.
On Board 6 Dave and Martin had a very exciting tactical battle in the centre of the board.There were many threats from both sides but Martin had been unable to castle and this gave Dave the opportunity to finally take the lead.
On Board 7 Brian seemed a bit off form as Sanjoy dominated the match and continued his fine season.
| Atticus 2 | 171 | 4.0 : 3.0 | Atticus 1 | 156 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Kee, Steve |
195 |
0-1 |
Kennaugh, Charles W |
192 |
2 |
Stancak, Andrej |
193 |
1-0 |
McCarthy, Jim P |
170 |
3 |
Bimpson, Tom |
173 |
0.5-0.5 |
Martin, Nicholas E |
166 |
4 |
Boumphrey, Luke S |
170 |
0.5-0.5 |
Rothwell, James P |
160 |
5 |
Christodoulou, Giorgos |
171 |
1-0 |
Lambert, John F |
145 |
6 |
Stuttard, David |
149 |
1-0 |
Blasczyk, Martin |
132 |
7 |
Ewart, Brian R |
148 |
0-1 |
Banerjee, Sanjoy K |
129 |
Atticus 4 v Formby 2 Jan 27th
- Details
- Written by jw
- Category: Atticus 4
| Atticus 4 | 121 | 3.0 : 3.0 | Formby 2 | 120 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Williams, Michael I |
131 |
0.5-0.5 |
Jordan, Paul |
134 |
2 |
Wadsworth, Mark S |
125 |
0.5-0.5 |
Barrett, Mike D |
132 |
3 |
Wiseman, Jim K |
122 |
1-0 |
Owens, Robert |
121 |
4 |
Webb, Tom EC |
121 |
1-0 |
Grady, John J |
120 |
5 |
Sleeman, Howard D |
114 |
0-1 |
McKee, David |
114 |
6 |
Winstanley, Steve |
110 |
0-1 |
Greaves, Robert |
99 |
Atticus 4 played White on the Even Boards.
As with all their teams, Formby 2 put in a fighting performance. In the end they managed to halve the points after Atticus 4 had made the early running.
Robert Owen came unstuck against me after he miscalculated a Rook sac which failed to deliver. Although it was early days the other games looked favourable for Atticus and, on the strength of this, Mike Williams offered the draw against Paul Jordan which was accepted.
Dave McKee proved too strong for Howard Sleeman whilst Mark Wadsworth, unable to capitalise on an early advantage against Mike Barrett, had to be content with the draw.
Steve Winstanley slipped up towards the end of his match which turned the game around giving Bob Greaves the win.
This left Formby with a 3-2 advantage. However, the final game always favoured Tom Webb and his opponent, John Grady, was unable to prevent him from taking the full point, thus levelling the match.
Report Jim Wiseman Captain
Into the Bearpit
- Details
- Written by Sanjoy Banergee
- Category: Atticus 3
| Wallasey A | 157 | 4.5 : 1.5 | Atticus 3 | 132 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Davies, Phil |
164 |
0-1 |
Ewart, Brian R |
148 |
2 |
Hughes, Greg |
161 |
1-0 |
Lambert, John F |
145 |
3 |
Coffey, Mike J |
162 |
1-0 |
Blasczyk, Martin |
132 |
4 |
Brine, Phil A |
156 |
1-0 |
Banerjee, Sanjoy K |
129 |
5 |
Latham, Chris |
141 |
0.5-0.5 |
Wiseman, Jim K |
122 |
6 |
Smiley, Stuart |
- |
1-0 |
Sleeman, Howard D |
114 |
If you have a modicum of ambition, you want to pit yourself against the best, and at least far as Division 2 of the Merseyside League is concerned, Wallasey are it. A model of consistency, they are in pole position to make a swift return to the top flight, and although we were without one or two key players for this match-up, I always felt we had enough about us to cause an upset if we were on top of our game.
Jim played impeccably against a Sicilian where 2…Nc6 seemed to yield to a tamer position that is usual, built a solid base and as his b-pawn gaily marched towards promotion, look poised to strike an early blow in the match Yet, the hardest thing in chess is winning a won position, as the saying goes, and an almost scandalous piece of opportunism allowed his sharp-witted opponent to salvage a half-point.
My own game was next to finish. After a dozen or so moves, I had a slight edge in a QGD Ragozin, yet in all honesty that was about as good as it got, as Phil comprehensively outplayed me from there on in, and duly wrapped up the point.
Martin looked to have a nice position from a Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation, yet his kingside pressure left holes behind for his opponent to exploit. Mike emerged with a technically won endgame and duly converted. John too succumbed to a clinical masterclass, as Greg subtly insinuated his way to a won endgame without ever seemingly breaking sweat.
Not for the first time this season, the performance of the night came from Brian on top board. After a bout of flu, he had only declared himself fit 24 hours previously, yet in a Catalan, that began cagily, Brian exploited a premature queenside evacuation of the major pieces by his opponent to seize control in the centre, resulting in winning a piece. Mate in four somehow came and went, yet Phil graciously threw in the towel realising there was nothing to be salvaged.
The final game to finish was Howard’s, who looked to be slowly suffocating from the opening, against an opponent who is a good deal stronger than board six would suggest. Eventually, as material was traded, the position took on a sharp character, but in the tactical melee, there only looked to be one winner.
A deserved win and an all round display of excellence from the league leaders, but nothing to be ashamed of on our part. We took on the best, and brought our best to bear.
Atticus 1 go top
- Details
- Written by John Redmond
- Category: Atticus 1
Atticus 1 kept their good record going with a win over Formby. With a number of the squad-members missing this was a fine performance by the away team. It was also good to see Steve Philp putting in a cameo appearance. With the Atticus teams first and second in the League the derby match on Monday takes on even greater significiance.
| Formby 1 | 143 | 2.5 : 4.5 | Atticus 1 | 145 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Haslinger, Gareth J |
171 |
0-1 |
Kennaugh, Charles W |
192 |
2 |
Colbourne, David CA |
150 |
0-1 |
McCarthy, Jim P |
170 |
3 |
Clarke, James |
145 |
0-1 |
Lambert, John F |
145 |
4 |
Fisher, C Phillip |
144 |
0.5-0.5 |
Blasczyk, Martin |
132 |
5 |
Haslinger, J Mike |
139 |
1-0 |
Banerjee, Sanjoy K |
129 |
6 |
Barooah, Michael |
137 |
1-0 |
Philp, Steven |
125 |
7 |
McKee, David |
114 |
0-1 |
Wadsworth, Mark S |
125 |