- Details
- Written by: sjb
- Category: 440-League
440 League
Aigburth V Atticus 1th March 2020
|
Aigburth |
|
Atticus |
Board |
|
Result |
|
1 |
Alistair Bond |
1-0 |
Jim Wiseman |
2 |
Frank Connor |
0-1 |
Tom Webb |
3 |
Bill Collinson |
0-1 |
Steve Winstanley |
4 |
Paul Capstick |
0.5-0.5 |
Peter Ferrett |
|
Result |
1.5-2.5 |
|
The 440 League is a much reduced affair this year with just four teams playing each other three times over the season. If this league is to continue then it may well be worth considering raising the grading limit. Having said that the league has been tremendous fun and as we reach the final leg, any side, which wins their last three matches, will win the league.
Aigburth suffered an early blow as they had to find a late substitute to fill in at Board 2. They were therefore substantially weakened. As fortune would have it, I was playing on Board 2 and was able to overwhelm the game Frank Connor quite quickly with a combination that netted a whole rook.
The next game to finish was Steve Winstanley, who is having a really good season, despite the occasional hiccup. Tonight he really demolished the doughty Bill Collinson. A rook down and about to lose the exchange of his remaining rook even Bill had had enough and resigned a totally lost position.
Next up was Peter and Paul’s game. This was their third clash and each game had gone on for over 30 moves. For the first time in the three matches the players exchanged a pawn. The crowd were shocked, indeed some were scandalised, but quickly soothed as both players realised what they had done and agreed another grandmaster draw.
Jim had earlier developed a huge centre and a very promising attack but had unfortunately switched off for a couple of moves. Alistair is not a person to relax against and seizing his moment he won a piece and had an overwhelming advantage when Jim, realising the match was already in the bag, accepted the inevitable and retreated to the bar
So with two games to go Atticus are still in the hunt for the title, but face formidable opposition.
Many thanks and commiserations to Aigburth who, as always, were great hosts and played the game in the right spirit
Tom Webb
- 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
- Details
- Written by: sjb
- Category: 440-League
The travails of Atticus 440 team
Like the proverbial bus you hang around for ages waiting for a game and then two turn up in quick succession
First up were Formby who despite being out-graded on the top three boards gave Atticus a sound 4-0 spanking. At one stage Jim on Board 1 had a classical Wiseman double edged position but you felt he had an advantage. My opponent, Bob Greaves had allowed me to play the Greek Gift sacrifice of a bishop on h7 in ideal circumstances….unfortunately rather than finish him off I decided to demonstrate I knew far better than classical theory and was duly hammered for my complacency and hubris. Poor Steve Winstanley on Board 3 had a night to forget while Peter Ferret on Board 4 reprised the Knight played by John Cleese in ‘The search for the Holy Grail’ as bit by bit his pieces were all dismembered and he was duly mated.
A true shocker by Atticus
Atticus 440 | 104 | 0.0 : 4.0 | Formby 440 | 100 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Wiseman, Jim K |
122 |
0-1 |
Owens, Robert |
121 |
2 |
Webb, Tom EC |
121 |
0-1 |
Greaves, Robert |
99 |
3 |
Winstanley, Steve |
110 |
0-1 |
Whitby, J Dave |
90 |
4 |
Ferret, Peter |
63 |
0-1 |
Haseman, Rob |
89 |
And so ominously onto Waterloo…..another scene of much carnage. Unfortunately Dave Hurley had been taken ill over the weekend and in the time available it proved impossible to find a fourth player to replace him. Our special guest superstar and would be Russian émigré Natasha Maysheeverforgivemeitch graciously stepped down in order to ensure we had the best team of three we could muster
First to strike a blow for the cause was my good self. Chris Burr always plays his own idiosyncratic d4 openings and tonight was no different. However I managed to build up a big centre and a pair of raking bishops did their usual deadly work. Next to finish was Jim who always had a space advantage and was able to convert this into a material and then winning end game. An excellent demonstration of holding your nerve and sticking to your plan. So the match hinged on Steve Winstanley’s game. Steve patiently built up a strong attack in a very sharp Sicilian defence. He had the opportunity to throw in a risky sacrifice on move 20 but instead regrouped and came back at his opponent with a second attack and after some exchanges of minor pieces he had a slight edge. However, I think the dark influence of sitting next to Jim Wiseman throwing pieces onto the bonfire may be having an effect since Steve proceeded to sacrifice a bishop to free the run of a passed pawn. Game over
So we won the match 3-1, a truly storming performance by Atticus
Waterloo 440 | 93 | 1.0 : 3.0 | Atticus 440 | 118 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Jenkins, Steve |
106 |
0-1 |
Wiseman, Jim K |
122 |
2 |
Burr, Chris |
81 |
0-1 |
Webb, Tom EC |
121 |
3 |
Scaife, Luke |
98 |
0-1 |
Winstanley, Steve |
110 |
4 |
Moran, Jim |
88 |
+/- |
- |
- Details
- Written by: sjb
- Category: 440-League
Aigburth 440 | 105 | 2.0 : 2.0 | Atticus 440 | 102 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 |
Bond, Alistair |
130 |
0-1 |
Wiseman, Jim K |
122 |
2 |
Blades, Tony K |
127 |
1-0 |
Webb, Tom EC |
121 |
3 |
Collinson, William (Bill) EG |
81 |
0.5-0.5 |
Hurley, Dave |
100 |
4 |
Capstick, Paul |
80 |
0.5-0.5 |
Ferret, Peter |
63 |
The opening game of the new campaign couldn’t really have been much tougher as we were drawn against last year’s champions.
First to finish was my good self who was comprehensively outplayed from around move six by Tony Blade who gave a comprehensive lesson on how to gain space in the opening and then use it to tie your opponent in knots before coming up with a very clean finish. Fortunately for the team and my blushes, Jim Wiseman was delivering a chess masterclass to last year’s 440 league player of the year. To give Jim a space advantage, the attack and open lines around your own king is, well fatal, and so it proved and it wasn’t long before Alastair joined me at the trough of despond.
Next to finish were Paul and Peter. Peter managed to lock horns and with neither player prepared to take a gamble and headlong rush into the others cannons the game fizzled out to a fine fighting draw. Given that Peter was out-graded by 20 points and had black this was an outstanding result. So the match result came down to Dave and Bill’s game. As he frequently does Dave screamed into a heavy advantage out of the opening and again as he does he threw it away by blundering a piece for a pawn. However, so strong was Dave’s position he kept his opponents King in the middle and was exploiting weaknesses all over the board. In the event Bill’s position managed to hold but with his flag hovering perilously close to dropping he offered the draw and Dave in the spirit of the match accepted. So the match ended all square.
The captain owes a vote of thanks to his team mates and resolves to do better next time. Many thanks to Aigburth who as usual were excellent hosts.
Report by Tom Webb
- Details
- Written by: Martin Blasczyk
- Category: 440-League
Rnk |
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
Pt |
Boards |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Atticus 440 | X | 0.0 | 2.0 | 3.0 | X | 2.5 | 3.0 | 0.5 | X | 2.5 | 9 | 13.5 | ||||||||
2 | Formby 440 | 4.0 | X | 2.0 | 1.5 | X | 3.5 | 2.0 | X | 2.0 | 7 | 15.0 | |||||||||
3 | Aigburth 440 | 2.0 | 2.0 | X | 1.0 | 0.5 | X | 3.0 | 1.5 | X | 4 | 10.0 | |||||||||
4 | Waterloo 440 | 1.0 | X | 3.5 | 2.0 | 1.0 | X | 2.0 | X | 4 | 9.5 | ||||||||||
5 | St. Helens 440 | X | X | X | |||||||||||||||||
Rnk |
GP | W | D | L |
Pt |
Boards |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Atticus 440 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 13.5 |
2 | Formby 440 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 7 | 15.0 |
3 | Aigburth 440 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 10.0 |
4 | Waterloo 440 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9.5 |
5 | St. Helens 440 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
G = Number of matches played; S = Win; R = Draw; V = Lost
- Details
- Written by: Martin Blasczyk
- Category: 440-League
04th September 2019 19:30 | Round 1 (Leg 1) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 1 | Aigburth 440 | 125 | : | 6 | bye | 125 |
2 | 2 | Atticus 440 | 117 | : | 5 | St. Helens 440 | 117 |
3 | 3 | Formby 440 | 122 | : | 4 | Waterloo 440 | 122 |
23rd September 2019 19:30 | Round 2 (Leg 1) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 6 | bye | - | : | 4 | Waterloo 440 | - |
2 | 5 | St. Helens 440 | 152 | : | 3 | Formby 440 | 152 |
3 | 1 | Aigburth 440 | 105 | 2.0:2.0 | 2 | Atticus 440 | 102 |
09th October 2019 19:30 | Round 3 (Leg 1) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 2 | Atticus 440 | 117 | : | 6 | bye | 117 |
2 | 3 | Formby 440 | 104 | 2.0:2.0 | 1 | Aigburth 440 | 106 |
3 | 4 | Waterloo 440 | 119 | : | 5 | St. Helens 440 | 119 |
21st October 2019 19:30 | Round 4 (Leg 1) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 6 | bye | - | : | 5 | St. Helens 440 | - |
2 | 1 | Aigburth 440 | 125 | : | 4 | Waterloo 440 | 125 |
3 | 2 | Atticus 440 | 104 | 0.0:4.0 | 3 | Formby 440 | 100 |
05th November 2019 19:30 | Round 5 (Leg 1) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 3 | Formby 440 | 122 | : | 6 | bye | 122 |
2 | 4 | Waterloo 440 | 93 | 1.0:3.0 | 2 | Atticus 440 | 118 |
3 | 5 | St. Helens 440 | 152 | : | 1 | Aigburth 440 | 152 |
18th November 2019 19:30 | Round 1 (Leg 2) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 6 | bye | - | : | 1 | Aigburth 440 | - |
2 | 5 | St. Helens 440 | 152 | : | 2 | Atticus 440 | 152 |
3 | 4 | Waterloo 440 | 89 | 2.0:2.0 | 3 | Formby 440 | 104 |
3 | Waterloo board 1 was Brian Butterworth | ||||||
02nd December 2019 19:45 | Round 2 (Leg 2) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 4 | Waterloo 440 | 119 | : | 6 | bye | 119 |
2 | 3 | Formby 440 | 122 | : | 5 | St. Helens 440 | 122 |
3 | 2 | Atticus 440 | 104 | 3.0:1.0 | 1 | Aigburth 440 | 81 |
13th January 2020 19:30 | Round 3 (Leg 2) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 6 | bye | - | : | 2 | Atticus 440 | - |
2 | 1 | Aigburth 440 | 106 | 0.5:3.5 | 3 | Formby 440 | 106 |
3 | 5 | St. Helens 440 | 152 | : | 4 | Waterloo 440 | 152 |
29th January 2020 19:30 | Round 4 (Leg 2) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 5 | St. Helens 440 | 152 | : | 6 | bye | 152 |
2 | 4 | Waterloo 440 | 106 | 1.0:3.0 | 1 | Aigburth 440 | 106 |
3 | 3 | Formby 440 | 107 | 1.5:2.5 | 2 | Atticus 440 | 118 |
3 | Atticus defaulted board 4 we were unable to find a substitute to our regular board 4 player who was unavailable | ||||||
10th February 2020 19:30 | Round 5 (Leg 2) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 6 | bye | - | : | 3 | Formby 440 | - |
2 | 2 | Atticus 440 | 104 | 0.5:3.5 | 4 | Waterloo 440 | 87 |
3 | 1 | Aigburth 440 | 125 | : | 5 | St. Helens 440 | 125 |
26th February 2020 19:30 | Round 1 (Leg 3) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 1 | Aigburth 440 | 125 | : | 6 | bye | 125 |
2 | 2 | Atticus 440 | 117 | : | 5 | St. Helens 440 | 117 |
3 | 3 | Formby 440 | 108 | 2.0:2.0 | 4 | Waterloo 440 | 107 |
09th March 2020 19:30 | Round 2 (Leg 3) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 6 | bye | - | : | 4 | Waterloo 440 | - |
2 | 5 | St. Helens 440 | 152 | : | 3 | Formby 440 | 152 |
3 | 1 | Aigburth 440 | 97 | 1.5:2.5 | 2 | Atticus 440 | 104 |
25th March 2020 19:30 | Round 3 (Leg 3) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 2 | Atticus 440 | 117 | : | 6 | bye | 117 |
2 | 3 | Formby 440 | 122 | : | 1 | Aigburth 440 | 122 |
3 | 4 | Waterloo 440 | 119 | : | 5 | St. Helens 440 | 119 |
06th April 2020 19:30 | Round 4 (Leg 3) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 6 | bye | - | : | 5 | St. Helens 440 | - |
2 | 1 | Aigburth 440 | 125 | : | 4 | Waterloo 440 | 125 |
3 | 2 | Atticus 440 | 117 | : | 3 | Formby 440 | 117 |
21st April 2020 19:30 | Round 5 (Leg 3) | ||||||
Fixture | TNo | Home | Grade | Result | TNo | Guest | Grade |
1 | 3 | Formby 440 | 122 | : | 6 | bye | 122 |
2 | 4 | Waterloo 440 | 119 | : | 2 | Atticus 440 | 119 |
3 | 5 | St. Helens 440 | 152 | : | 1 | Aigburth 440 | 152 |
- Details
- Written by: Martin Blasczyk
- Category: 440-League
Date | Leg | Round | Home | Result | Guest |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
04 Sep 2019 19:30 | 1 | Round 1 (Leg 1) | Atticus 440 | : | St. Helens 440 |
02 Oct 2019 19:30 | 1 | Round 2 (Leg 1) | Aigburth 440 | 2.0:2.0 | Atticus 440 |
09 Oct 2019 19:30 | 1 | Round 3 (Leg 1) | Atticus 440 | : | bye |
23 Oct 2019 19:30 | 1 | Round 4 (Leg 1) | Atticus 440 | 0.0:4.0 | Formby 440 |
04 Nov 2019 19:30 | 1 | Round 5 (Leg 1) | Waterloo 440 | 1.0:3.0 | Atticus 440 |
20 Nov 2019 19:30 | 2 | Round 1 (Leg 2) | St. Helens 440 | : | Atticus 440 |
04 Dec 2019 19:30 | 2 | Round 2 (Leg 2) | Atticus 440 | 3.0:1.0 | Aigburth 440 |
13 Jan 2020 19:30 | 2 | Round 3 (Leg 2) | bye | : | Atticus 440 |
28 Jan 2020 19:30 | 2 | Round 4 (Leg 2) | Formby 440 | 1.5:2.5 | Atticus 440 |
Atticus defaulted board 4 we were unable to find a substitute to our regular board 4 player who was unavailable | |||||
12 Feb 2020 19:30 | 2 | Round 5 (Leg 2) | Atticus 440 | 0.5:3.5 | Waterloo 440 |
24 Feb 2020 19:30 | 3 | Round 1 (Leg 3) | Atticus 440 | : | St. Helens 440 |
11 Mar 2020 19:30 | 3 | Round 2 (Leg 3) | Aigburth 440 | 1.5:2.5 | Atticus 440 |
25 Mar 2020 19:30 | 3 | Round 3 (Leg 3) | Atticus 440 | : | bye |
08 Apr 2020 19:30 | 3 | Round 4 (Leg 3) | Atticus 440 | : | Formby 440 |
20 Apr 2020 19:45 | 3 | Round 5 (Leg 3) | Waterloo 440 | : | Atticus 440 |