Atticus B 3-1 Bishop Trojans

Not to be outshined by Atticus A, our second team also began the new 4NCL campaign with a satisfying win.

Sanjoy Banerjee v Peter J Smith

Chess is a difficult game, and only marginally less so when you have no clue what you are doing.  A blunder (unpunished) on move 14.  An anti-positional move on move 18.  A dubious pawn sacrifice on move 20.  And when black uncorked the super-cute 31…Rg3!, there is no objectively sound way to defend.  White’s only solace is that he won.  Chess is also a cruel game. 

 

Steve J Burge v Brian Robinson

A bad night for the Classical Dutch.  Steve’s handling of this opening has served him well across the course of a recent sustained and rich vein of form, but tonight he ran into an opponent who was simply better on the night.

 

Mark Wadsworth v Brian J Bainbridge

An efficient and technically correct demonstration on board three, no flashes of brilliance, just simple adroit play.  I am tempted to wonder if Mark has been spending the pandemic studying the games of Mikhail Botvinnik.

 

Robert Berry v Jim Wiseman

Who are these people that play online chess?  The Bowdler Attack (2.Bc4) against the Sicilian Defence seems to be an online speciality - barely ever (correction, never) encountered over the board.  Jim demonstrated there is nothing to fear from the line and looked also to be emulating Mark’s efficient modus operandi.  But it would not be Jim without a tactical finesse.  24.dxc4 looks playable due to the back rank weakness, but always look for the intermezzo.  In this case, the queen check allows black to profit by a rook while keeping the f8 square defended.  Bravo.

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Games can be followed live each Tuesday night starting at 7.30pm at https://lichess.org.  Simply search for the player’s online handle and navigate to the games tab.  Fixtures, results and details of player account names can be found on the 4NCL website an hour before games begin.