A bloodthirsty week with no draws. I will give the results in reverse order.
Board 11.
This saw James Rigby vs Steve Burge. In a Dutch defense Steve had the early initiative but did not make it count. He then allowed James to win 0a pawn or two and it went into a queen and rook ending with James having a passed pawn on the 6th rank Although Steve had some initiative. In the normal course of events James would win but he was in time trouble and he fell into a sneaky trap which won his queen. This was sufficient to win the game for Steve.
Board 10
This was due to be Sanjoy Banerjee vs Sean Frost.
Sean un fortunately did not show so Sanjoy got to play me in a friendly and notched up a point.
Board 9.
This saw Tom Webb vs Phil Davies.
In a London system both sides battled for the centre and the game became quite "stodgy". In an attempt to win material (at least I think this was his motive) Tom made an anti positional capture which gave Phil an advantage. Shortly after this Tom blundered the exchange and Phil managed to convert his advantage .
Board 8
Sean Kane vs Peter Mellor. Sean played in classic style against Peters modern. After some pressure by Sean Peters pawn structure got damaged and this allowed Sean to win a few. I did not see the end of the game but the material advantage was sufficient to win the game.
Board 7
Peter Jenner vs Mike Clarke saw an original treatment of the opening by both players. Mike threw his pawns forward on the kingside which resulted in both sides castling Queen side, My money was on a draw although both players were "going for it". I did not see how the game finished unfortunately but I do know Mike won material and this was sufficient for the win.
Board 6
Robert Owens vs Nick Martin.
Here Robert grabbed a poisoned pawn early on which gave Nick a huge initiative. This initiative lasted virtually the whole game and Nick won material without giving Robert any counter-play. With both players in time trouble Robert was losing. To my mind the only mistake Nick made in the end was missing a mate in 1 for a mate in 3. Nick won a fine game.
Board 5
Tomas Lancoric vs Jim Wiseman
Jim played the opening ok but was under a bit of pressure. Here he had an oversight which simply won a piece for Tomas. On top of this Tomas had a huge initiative and the game was finished quickly.
Board 4
Daniel Rowlandson vs Giorgoous Christodoulou.
In an opening similar to the Tamainov Sicilian both sides fought for the initiative. Giorgous looked to win a pawn but unlike him he overlooked a mate threat which cost him the exchange. The resulting ending was winning for Daniel and he converted the point without undue difficulty.
Board 3
Gerard Cohen vs Alastair Bond
Apologies to both players I did not see a lot of this game. It looked like Gerard had Queen-side pressure which resulted in Alastair being passive. Gerard won the game.
Board 2
Mike Coffey vs Steve Kee
In a complex opening this game was decided by prophylaxis. Steve managed to nullify his opponents Queen side play and had a big Kingside attack which Mike had no answer for. Steve notched up the point with a fine game.
Board 1
Roger Williamson vs Phil Brine
In an off beat line of the Kings-Indian Phil did not manage to get counter-play to offset Rogers King side attack. Phil's pieces on the kingside were tied up and although he had a semi open file against Roger's king his pieces lacked coordination . In the end Rogers attack crashed through with a nice Queen sacrifice notching up the point.
I hope you all enjoyed the week. I will see you on Monday.