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END OF SEASON NEWS LETTER.
Hello everyone.
We are at the end of another league season which, I am sure, we all enjoyed. Many congratulations to our A team who won the first Division title again! What a strong team we have. Well done to Ian and his team. I would also like to congratulate the B team in the Dorset 3rd Division who came first after an epic last game. Colin’s report on our website is worth a read! As far as other teams are concerned no team got relegated! Full details of the matches and tables are on the LMS section of the Dorset Chess website.
I would also like to congratulate our team that played in the new Bacchus league. Most were new players who gained valuable experience over the season.
The teams for the new season [starting in late September] will be selected once the new gradings are announced by the ECF early in August. It will be very helpful if you could indicate your availability for this.
As a point of interest the ECF will trial producing monthly grading lists in this coming season. If the trial works, they will implement in the following season. Do not forget to renew your ECF membership before September.
As you are aware, we have started sessions for Juniors on the first Saturday of every month at the Wimborne library, we have had upto 10 juniors taking part. Many thanks to Graham and his team for organising this. Our website is now very active thanks to Sam for that improvement.
Finally, a date for your diary. Our Annual General Meeting will be held at the Merley Community Centre on Wednesday 4th September. I hope to see you all there, and just a reminder that we continue to play in the Merley Community Centre all summer on a Wednesday night and at the British Legion in Wimborne on Friday morning.
Mike D (Chairman)
League Report: Wimborne B Team crowned Dorset League Division 3 champions.
Conundrum: when is a defeat not a defeat? Answer: when it results in winning the title!
That was the slightly bizarre outcome of our crucial title decider against defending champions Poole B who needed to win the match by three points to one or better to retain their crown. Poole came into the match on the back of a terrific run of form so we knew we would be in for a tough contest.
The evening began well with an excellent early win for Phil Holden on the bottom board which left us just needing one draw from the remaining three games. All was going according to plan. The non-playing captain was able to relax a little and enjoy his pint. However, as Alan Tyler made a miscalculation on Board 2 and Steve Culleton, despite stout resistance, lost on time on the top board, our increasingly fraying hopes lay with Graham Hillman on Board 3 who was pitting his wits against Poole’s higher graded captain, Tarik.
I had been engrossed in this open and rather wild contest for some time, marvelling at how it bore little resemblance to the dour games I am normally involved in. I thought I saw lots of possibilities for Graham but fortunately for us he chose to follow his own thought processes. There was a flurry of moves on both sides just to meet the 35 move deadline and I suspect both score sheets will have lacunae in them at around this stage. In the period that ensued Graham made a number of cheeky draw offers in the knowledge that that would suffice but captain Tarik, fully cognisant of the cruciality of winning, batted them all away.
There was an increasing sense that time would be the deciding factor in this game, as both clocks steadily counted down in roughly equal measure. Tarik had pawns advancing menacingly down own one flank, while Graham had potential counter opportunities on the other side. The former had a supporting knight, while the latter had a bishop as back up. Or was it the other way around or was it two knights? I am normally, like most people, the best player in the world when looking on but my own mind had turned to mush at this point, as it so often does when I am actually playing.
With about one minute each left there ensued a second bout of frantic move making. As the dust began to clear it became apparent that Graham had emerged with two pawns and Tarik with just a knight. Still they relentlessly played on, until realisation finally dawned that the valiant Tarik could no longer win and that Graham was too mentally drained and time challenged to do anything other than claim the vital draw. There was a clear mutual respect between the two gladiators at this point.
Because of the high stakes and dramatic context, this was one of the most exciting games I have ever witnessed and I applaud both players. Unfortunately, as indicated above, I doubt that any intelligible record of it will have survived for analysis. Perhaps that is just as well.
Many congratulations to our B team squad! The main core has been Graham, Alan and myself, each playing in 7 out of 8 matches, but Sepp and Steve have played a vital part too, stepping in and contributing vital points along the way. It is fitting that it was Graham’s draw in this final match of the season that reclaimed our crown, previously held in 2017, as he has enjoyed an excellent season throughout, accumulating an impressive five points out of a possible seven in the games he has played and remaining undefeated. Well done and thank you to all!
Colin Wilson (B Team Captain)
Thursday 11th April (Dorset) C v Poole: 1.5-2.5
I was first to lose giving away a piece early on. I did have a strong attack on his King and Queen but he defended really well. Phil Wallace was on board 3 against an old opponent Chris Ambrose. He produced a great sacrifice , a Bishop for two pawns and a very attacking situation. He eventually drew.
John Bowley had a very good win on board two. Tim Joyce had his usual long game and time was an enemy. He caved in to a player 20 grades higher.
Mike D (Team Captain)
Wednesday 10th April 2019: Wimborne C v Bournemouth A: 1-3
In truth our team was Wimborne D in disguise with technically three reserves turning out for us and our normal number 4 being promoted to top board. I was particularly grateful to Alan Tyler who played at short notice and to Tony Buckfield who, minding his own business in the midst of a friendly game, was abruptly hauled into the match room at very short notice (7.29 p.m. to be precise!) and achieved a creditable draw. Our last minute shuffles must surely have given Bournemouth a boost and they took full advantage, securing a classic two wins with white and two draws with black to earn a deserved victory and give their survival chances a real boost.
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
Wednesday 3rd April 2019: Wimborne A v Southbourne A: 2-2
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE LEAGUE TITLE WIN!
Congratulations to Ian and his A team who have clinched the Division one title last night . Needing only a draw to win the league , Ian and his team had a thrilling match . We were 2 -1 down with only Ian's match left . He pulled off a great win to clinch the title.
Wednesday 27th March 2019: Wimborne v Poole Knights (Bacchus): 1.5-2.5
A mixed match for Wimborne. On board 1 David Lane stormed to victory. Unfortunately, on board 2 (my board) I missed a King/Queen fork and was on the back foot from there on. My opponent didn't make any errors and beat me handily.
Board 3 was fairly even throughout but unfortunately for Phil, his opponent managed a checkmate. Finally Paul, with many pieces on the board got caught out by a stalemate after canny play by his opponent. Everyone had a good evening and enjoyed some challenging games.
Overall a well deserved win for Poole Knights.
Sam Walker (Team Captain)
Monday 18th March 2019: Ringwood A v Wimborne C: 2.5-1.5
This was a top of the table clash, with the result putting Ringwood A into pole position for promotion and bringing to an end our C team's splendid five match unbeaten run.
The first to finish was my own game on the bottom board against Peter Donaldson; I was happy to accept a back foot draw. On the top board, Peter Anderson, with a 30+ grade advantage, and Graham White played out a "Modern that turned into a French like structure" (a quote way beyond my comprehension!) that ultimately left Graham's king exposed. With Peter managing to double his rooks on the open f file, the game and the point went his way. On Board 3 Steve Culleton engineered a strong position, responding to Niall Woodger's Sicilian. After a couple of inaccuracies on both sides, this turned into a 4 v 3 pawn structure on the king side and a knight and white squared bishop each. A long grind looked in prospect but Steve offered a draw which Niall was grateful to accept. On Board 2 Jorgen was in a very cramped position against Martin Clancy so Steve's draw offer didn't look like it would affect the overall result of the match. Aware of that result, Martin offered a draw to Jorgen, who also gratefully accepted, thus balancing out the kind draw offer ratio. Indeed it was a friendly evening all round!
Ringwood A are now very much strong favourites for promotion to Division 1 but a late surge from our B team could yet make matters interesting. They would need to win their remaining four games, including a match against Ringwood, to cause a stir. A very tall order but, if they could field their full strength line up, then who knows?
B&DCL Div 2
Team Play. Won. Draw Lost For Against Points
Ringwood A 8. 5. 2 1 19½ 12½ 12
Wimborne C 8 3 3 2 17½ 14½ 9
New Milton A 7. 2. 3 2 14 14 7
Wimborne B 6. 3 0 3 11½ 12½ 6
Bournemouth A 7. 1 3 3 13½ 14½ 5
Poole C 6. 1 1 4 8 16 3
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
Thursday 14th March 2019: Dorchester D v Wimborne B: 1.5-2.5
This was a big win for Wimborne B in the context of the Division 3 title race. Dorchester took an early lead but Sepp brought the match level with an impressive win against Paul Brackner; the early capture of a knight was the key and Sepp relentlessly pressed home his advantage. The two captains fought out a dogged draw on Board 2 which left the outcome of the match dependent on the top board. Fortunately we were in the capable hands of Steve Culleton who gradually gained a grip on a hitherto tight game, eventually winning on time but in a dominant position also.
With our C team also recording an emphatic win this week the top three sides still have all to play for. Our B team lead the way with our C team on their coat tails but Dorchester D have a game in hand which keeps them firmly in the picture too.
Dorset County League Div 3
Team Play Won Draw Lost For Against Points
Wimborne B 6 3 2 1 13 11 8
Wimborne C 6 2 2 2 12½ 11½ 6
Dorchester D 5 2 2 1 10½ 9½ 6
Purbeck B 5 2 0 3 9½ 10½ 4
Poole B 4 0 2 2 6½ 9½ 2
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
Wednesday 13th March 2019: Wimborne C v Purbeck B: 3.5-0.5
Wimborne were the stronger team but Purbeck put up a solid defence and provided an enjoyable evening. I had a lucky win against Chris who turns into a Wimborne player on Friday mornings. Sam Walker and his opponent both played carefully and an honourable draw was agreed. John Bowley played a careful and slow game gradually taking control.
Tim Joyce and partner both ended up in time trouble and in a final ridiculous flurry of moving, head scratching and clock bashing, Tim’s youth and endgame skill saw him Queen and mate. It was so quick that the older spectators didn’t know who had won till Tim offered to buy everyone drinks. Then we knew.
Tony Buckfield (Team Captain)
Friday 8th March 2019: Wimborne A v Southbourne B: 3-1
This was another great win for our A team by 3-1 and now we are 4 points clear with 2 matches left so one draw will be enough to win the league. We have Southbourne A to play next on 3rd April at home.
My match was first to finish after a few complications most lines seem to come to a draw so draw was agreed after Martin Simons asked if we could stop the clocks to go for tea and I accepted his draw offer! He then resumed after tea and agreed a draw!
Alan had a queenless middle game but kept the pressure on James Forster and eventually found a way through for a another excellent win ( Alan has 4.5/5 ).
Eddie was playing Michael Litchfield so was favourite to win but it was a difficult game. He managed to keep his pieces active enough to swap off into a won ending.
Mark looked like he had a great position against Russell Pegg but lost his way and seemed to be losing. He managed to hang on for a draw.
This was our 6th win in a row after starting the season with a draw and a loss so great recovery and well played to all players.
Ian Clark (Team Captain)
Wed 6th March 2019: Wimborne C v Wimborne B (B & D) 2.5-1.5
Our alphabetically challenged C team completed the double over our B team. In truth the two teams are, by design, intended to be pretty evenly matched and so it proved across the top three boards where three tight games ended in draws. It was Steve Culleton's game on Board 4, last to finish, that was to prove decisive. Steve is enjoying an excellent season and, despite the plucky resistance of Phil Wallace who was deputising, his passed pawn advance through the centre proved irresistible.
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
20th February 2019: Wimborne D v Poole D: 2.5-1.5
Wimborne notch up a useful win against a very strong Poole team.
Phil Wallace won quickly on board 4. He knows all the tricks and traps in the openings. Steve Culleton,Alan Tyler and John Bowley all drew leaving us the winners.
The result should leave us safe from the fear of demotion and safe from the fear of promotion. We are a good middle of the league team.
Tony Buckfield (Team Captain)
19th February 2019: Bacchus v Bournemouth: 1-3
We started off one up as my opponent failed to turn up. From there it was, sadly, a case consistent losses. Nevertheless everyone seemed to enjoy themselves with good gameplay from everyone.
Sam Walker (Team Captain)
Wed 13th Feb Wimborne B 3 v 1 Wimborne C (County League)
Wimborne B completed the double against their (friendly) rivals in the C team. It was fine margins in all the closely contested games but the B team made the most of white pieces on Boards 2 and 4 with wins for Alan Tyler and Phil Holden, whilst Graham Hillman and Colin Wilson secured draws with black against Phil Wallace and Tim Joyce respectively. Conviviality in the bar after the match underlined the excellent spirit and respect in which the match was played. The B and C teams currently lie 2nd and 3rd in County Division 3 and both still have league leaders Dorchester in their sights.
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
7th February 2019: Poole F v Wimborne F: 3-1
Top board saw Jim Newman deliver a solid performance against a new addition to the Poole F team, which ended in a forced draw when Jim's opponent opted for a perpetual check. Next to Jim, I had black again against Chris Ambrose, and the result, unfortunately, was the same again, a loss to his annoying English!
Board three was an odd affair: David Lane went a piece down to his opponent who then shortly after offered him a draw with plenty of time still on the clocks. David, of course, accepted! Sam Walker playing for us for the first time this season put up a good show against their team captain but it was second place for him too on the night!
Well done team for playing in such good spirit.
Greg Webb (Team Captain)
6th February 2019: Wimborne A v Poole B: 3-1
The match against Poole B included A team debut for our"new" player Graham White who came in for Mark Littleton who has been having a great season.
Graham seemed to be in trouble against Toby but using his end game experience managed to find a draw by threatening a repetition on the seventh rank.
Eddie on 3 had a good attack against Dragi and was able to win enough material to lose a bishop and still be winning.
I was struggling against Chip on 1 but managed to keep enough threats to force a draw. This put us 2-1 up.
Allen on 2 always had a strong position but was not clear how would finish off but found a few nice moves to win the ending by exploiting his passed a pawn to tie down Sergio's last piece.
This result and Poole A beating Southbourne B puts us 3 points clear with 3 remaining games agisnt both Southbourne teams and Poole A.
Ian Clark (Team Captain)
30th January 2019: C v (Dorset) B: 1.5 - 2.5
We had a hard fought match between 2 strong teams. Firstly Phil Wallace on Board 3 agreed an early draw then after a strong defence by Phil Holden I managed a good attack and won pieces so 1.5 to the C team !
John Bowley capitulated to Alan Tyler to match at 1.5 each before the final match lasted well past 10 am but Colin Wilson eventually won through.
Mike D (Team Captain)
23rd January 2019: Bacchus League - Wimborne v Bournemouth: 2-2
We started off one up after Phil's opponent was unable to make it. Unfortunately Paul went a piece down early on and after putting up a valiant effort eventually lost the game. Nigel unfortunately fell to a checkmate but luckily my opponent lost track of his time and so resigned.
Overall, a draw for our first Bacchus match of the year.
Sam Walker (Team Captain)
21st January 2019: Wimborne E v Highcliffe C: 2-2
The E team met Highcliffe on Monday without 2 regulars , Jim Fox and Sep W-Clarke. The substitutes were Jim Newman and Mike Davidson. Mike and I had 2 early wins but Jim and Paul Brackner had long games and fought hard but had to give in.
Graham Hill (Team Captain)
18th-20th January 2019: Fareham Congress
Congratulations to Joergen who came second in the strong Major section of this congress. 4 four of us , the two Davids [Lane and Lewis] Graham Hillman and I competed in the minor. We all had some good results but did not win anything this time!!
Mike D
Wed 16th Jan Wimborne B 1 Wimborne C 3 (B & D)
In grade terms this was a very closely matched derby across all four boards which was very much reflected in the games played. The two Grahams on the top board agreed an early draw but then Wimborne C gained the initiative with a win for Mike Jackson who took full advantage of a central pawn gained in the middle game. The decisive match was a strange affair on the bottom board where Steve Pollyn resigned against Steve Culleton, thinking his bishop lost, only for hindsight to reveal he in fact could potentially have gained a rook for a bishop with best play. With the outcome of the match no longer in doubt, a draw was amicably agreed in a closely contested game on Board 2. As one would expect, the match, between fellow club members, was played in a highly respectful spirit.
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
14th January 2019: Wimborne D v Ringwood B: ½ - 3½
Wimborne D get revenge on Ringwood B. This fine result lifts us from the foot of the table too one above the foot. A good place from which to make our run up the table. The strategic manoeuvring of our players paid off.
Phil Wallace was rested and I was dropped due to unreliable results. On board 1 Steve Culleton took the pressure off the team by a steady draw. Alan Tyler played well to beat his similarly graded opponent. John Bowley found a happy win. Cornelius Cornes playing his first game for the D team played a steady game to win on board 4.
Tony Buckfield (Team Captain)
7th January 2019: Wimborne A Team Update
We have managed to win our last 3 matches which were away to Poole B and home and away against Highcliffe. All the results were by 3-1 and were much tougher than final results suggested.
Mark Littleton has been the star winning all 3 of his matches with all the other team members supplying at least one win.
Wimborne A are now 2 points clear at top of league with 4 matches remaining but all to play for.
Ian Clark (Team Captain)
10th December 2018: Dorset C v Purbeck B: 2½ - 1½
Our Dorset C team won a close match at Purbeck on Monday night.
David Lane on board 4 had an excellent win with a strong attack on his opponent, Paul Stanley. I had an honourable second against Derek Mount who won a pawn and then ‘ground’ me down.
Tim looked well up but had to surrender pawns and managed a draw against Nick Stout on board one .
This left John Bowley on Board 2 against Richard Quinn and he had a long game but had a very good win !
We are now second in Division 3
Mike D (Team Captain)
22nd November 2018: Poole Knights v Wimborne (Bacchus League): 2½ - 1½
Our team played its second match down in Poole . Poole struggled to field a full team and asked to reduce the teams to three players a side. I countered that this was only a friendly league to encourage non league players to get such experiences, so I suggested they could play a player above the grade limit of 100 which they did. So our team was Sam on one , Phil on two, Paul on three and Nigel on four. Phil and Paul came an honourable second after hard games.
Nigel was the star beating his young opponent who gave away his queen. Sam also had an outstanding game with a hard earned draw against Chris Ambrose on board one. Chris had played for Poole F the night before against us and had a long game against our captain Greg and won.
Well done team. Next match this coming Wednesday at home. I think the idea of the Bacchus league is definitely working !
Mike D (Team Captain)
22nd November 2018: Poole D v Wimborne D. 1½-2½
Tony Buckfield had gone to seek the pleasures of Portugal, so I was acting captain.
Alan Tyler and his opponent, possibly under the influence of the World Championship agreed a draw (I'm not sure that they played 30 moves first though). The two Stephens playing on board 1 fought to a conclusion with Wimborne's Stephen Culleton taking the spoils.
John Bowley's position looked good, so when we entered the second time period I offered my opponent a draw. He had also assessed the position and declined. Many moves later he resigned when left with only a king and I had a king and unstoppable pawn. At this point I found John's game had turned around and he had lost. A fortuitous win for Wimborne.
Phil Wallace (Acting Team Captain)
21st November 2018: Wimborne F v Poole F. 2.5 - 1.5
A good win for Wimborne although against a significantly outgraded Poole team on boards 2, 3 and 4.
David Lane had a very quick win on board 4 against a young and inexperienced Ben Harman, who was a last minute stand in for the Poole team. On board 2, Phil Holden also had a short game when he accepted his opponents early draw offer.
David Lewis had a longer, more challenging game against their captain Steve Bailey, but eventually prevailed and brought home the full point. My game against Chris Ambrose dragged on for virtually the full 3 hours, and I eventually lost on time.
So, in the three games we have played so far this season, we have had all three results!
Greg Webb (Team Captain)
8th November 2018: Wimborne A v Poole B. 3-1
We were able to put together our strongest team yet in the away match to Poole B withAllan Pleasants returning from his journeys playing for Wales in recent the Olympiad and a Welsh team in the European Club competition. Poole B were missing at least one of their players so we started hot favourites.
On board 4 Graham had a good position but had overlooked the weakness of his kingside so despite being material up his opponent was able to force a perpetual check for an early draw. My position on 1 was not great and I was too passive with white and was clearly worse but managed to stay in the game and was not as bad as looked and a draw was agreed.
Mark on 3 had a strong kingside attack and found a nice finish to win a piece and the game at same time I was offered a draw.
This left us just needing draw from final game but Allan always had the edge and his minor pieces were covering most of middle of board. His opponent had to either be slowly crushed or go for a sacrificial line which to his credit he did and there were a few threats that Allan had to be careful but eventually the threats ran out and Allan won.
This gave us our first win of the season after one loss and a draw. The next match against Poole A will be crucial.
Ian Clark (Team Captain)
7th November 2018: Wimborne C v Ringwood A. 2-2
An early win for Ringwood's Martin Clancy on Board 2 and a late essential win for Wimborne's Steve Culleton on Board 4 were the book ends to two draws sandwiched in between. From our perspective a warm welcome to Graham White, making his Wimborne debut, and a particular well done in achieving a commendable draw on the top board against a much higher graded opponent. A good evening's chess and a fair result overall.
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
31st October 2018: Wimborne C v Poole B. 2-2
We played against Poole B team who out graded us especially on the bottom two boards. Our team was Tim, John, myself and George.
George had a magnificent defeat despite ‘pawning’ two queens. John had a very good result against their board 2 Tarik. That left Tim and I, I had a sacrifice of a knight for 2 pawns that almost worked as I ended up with 3 linked passed pawns heading towards queening. Unfortunately I ended up in time trouble and after 3 hours made a mistake , giving away a rook! Defeat followed. Finally Tim battled hard against Eric Sachs and won in a strong end game.
Well done John and Tim.
Mike D (Team Captain)
31st October 2018: Wimborne F v High Milton. 1.5 - 2.5
If you were playing against a team which you out-graded on every board AND they were a player short to boot, you'd be forgiven for thinking you had a fairly comfortable win in the bag, right? Wrong! Counting chickens and hatch comes to mind here.
Jim Newman losing on top board relatively quickly should have set the alarm bells ringing, but, 'don't panic Mr Mainwaring,' we still had the default point as a cushion.
However, hot on Jim's heels for an early bath was Phil Holden on board 3, who lost to the good Highcliff player Rachael Richardson who I can never understand is only rated at 81 points when she always seems to win and has claimed some notable scalps in the past, including our own Jim Fox who is no slouch at chess.
That only left yours truly on board 2 to try and save the match. Some hope! My opponent, Aleksandrs Gorbacovs (what's with this club penchant for eastern European players?) played the fastest and most aggressive chess I have ever come across. He also played a completely unconventional opening which he obviously knew well, and as I didn't, it meant I had to spend a lot of time trying to anticipate and analyse what he was up to. To cut a long game short, I eventually neutralised his aggressive play and we ended up with Kings and a pawn each which were both going to fall in the next couple of moves. Draw.
So, while a satisfying game for me, an unfortunate result for the team. Still, you win some, you lose some. Onwards and upwards to our next match.
Greg Webb (Team Captain)
26th October 2018: Wimborne D v Southbourne C. 1.5-2.5
Successful loss for Wimborne D. We were outgraded on each board and by a total of 80 points in total but managed a creditable 1.5 points. Cornelius said he couldn’t make the match on a day-return from India. John Bowley was in Switzerland. ( what sort of excuse is that ?) Unfortunately Phil Wallace is ill and Mike Davidson has water on the knee.
On the top board Alan Tyler couldn’t quite turn his position into a win so a draw was agreed. Michael Litchfield and I moved a few pieces around, agreed a draw and retired to the bar, which in this case is the kitchen, where we discussed digestive biscuits and the state of the world. Graham Hillman stepped in and achieved a creditable draw. David Lane kindly played to help us out and lost to his opponent graded 40 points above him.
A very enjoyable evening with Southbourne’s usual biscuits and tea.
Tony Buckfield (Team Captain)
90th Birthday: John Turnbull
John, who celebrated his 90th birthday recently is still enjoying internet chess and his gardening. He and Sara send their good wishes to everyone at the club.
Phil Wallace 23/10/18
15th October 2018: Bournemouth A v Wimborne C. 1-3
A welcome first win of the season for Wimborne C, the foundations for which were a good win by Mike Jackson on board 2 and two solid draws all round on the bottom two boards. All ultimately hinged on the top board game which was excitingly tense and could have gone either way in an open end game. In the end Jorgen's two rooks and a knight prevailed with a clever mate against his opponent's queen and a knight.
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
REPORT ON 53rd DORSET OPEN CONGRESS
This year's congress took place last week from Friday 12 to Sunday 14 over 5 rounds. It was held in the Elstead Hotel in Bournemouth, a very comfortable for a congress of 100 players. The congress was well managed by our Ian Clark and Martin Simons from Southbourne. Clearly well experienced in handling such tourneys. We had 12 of our members playing in the various sections with middling results !
In the Open section, which was very competitive, we had one player Mark Littleton who achieve a score of 2 /5 , which was very respectable in view of the strong field. In the Major section we had 3 players Colin, Joergen and Tim. Colin finished with 2.5/5. Well done. In the Intermediate section we had only one player, Sepp, who was playing above his grade. He had a respectable score of 2.5/5. Well done. In the Minor section we had 7 members playing and the star was Graham who managed 4.5 /5 . He tied for first place. Again well done. One other player of note was Greg who achieved 3 points. The rest of us, David Lewis, David Lane,Phil, Sam and myself all played ‘par’ chess or below. No other real stars.
However I am sure we all agree that we thoroughly enjoyed the event.
Mike (Chairman)
5th October 2018: Southbourne E v Wimborne F. 2-2
Our first game of the new season was definitely a mixed bag! On board one, Phil Holden was the first to finish but was unlucky to have lost to a back-rank mating tactic with Queen and Bishop. Score 1-0. I was the next to finish on board three, accepting the early draw offer by my opponent following a routine, uneventful game. Score 1.5-0.5. Our veteran player, David Lewis, returning to chess after a lengthy absence, had a long game against stiff opposition, which ended in a kings and pawns end game, where David showed his experience and brought home the full point. Score now 1.5-1.5. Well done David. The fate of the match now rested in the game on board two with Mike Davidson. And what a marathon that was! In a gruelling game that went virtually the full 3 hours, with neither side giving an inch, it was finally decided in the last two minutes of play, when a three-fold repetition check by Mike's opponent, saw honours even, 2-2. Well done Mike. Have a Merlot on me!
So, a good start to the season for Wimborne F, and well done, once more, to my team mates.
Greg Webb (Team Captain)
4th October 2018: Wimborne v Poole Bishops. 2-2
We kicked off the first match of the Bacchus league with an inconclusive skirmish. David got in the first blow with a stunningly quick victory. Paul and Phil played valiantly but lost with good humour. I finished with a rearguard win after using up a great deal of my time.
Overall plenty of lessons were taught and everyone (hopefully) had a good time. Thus a steady start to the new Bacchus league with some more development for players to come (see what I did there).
Sam Walker (Team Captain)
3rd October 2018: Wimborne D v Bournemouth B. 1.5-2.5
PROMOTION FEARS
Phil Wallace played a calm game to win in good time. I came second in my game. Interestingly my opponent check mated me very cleverly with a rook and Bishop, as you do. I congratulated him on his cunning and guile but just as I was about to retreat to the comfort of a Merlot an observant bystander pointed out that my opponent was in check. In fact we were both in check. We calculated that he was in check before I was, so as he had touched his rook to mate me should he have to move it to get out of check? But he couldn’t so we gave up and I lost anyway.
Alan Tyler held steady and drew on the top board. You do need a good top board. John Bowley who hasn’t lost all season, had a comedy of errors, including overlooking that he could take his opponents Queen. Whoops. He lost triumphantly.
Bournemouth B were relegated from Div 2 and if they're not careful could go back there.
Tony Buckfield (Team Captain)
27th September 2018: County League. Dorchester D v Wimborne C. 2-2
Wimborne C started off with a draw away to Dorchester D. It was getting a win from the jaws of defeat and vice versa!
The order of play was Tim on board 1, Tony on 2 , me on 3 and Sam on 4.
Tony and I had neutral games ending in draws then the fireworks started. Sam gave his queen away but recovered to win with a rook and bishop mate ! 2/1 to us. Tim’s game was last finish . He had the much better position with a pawn up and maybe more . He forgot to move his rook which his opponent captured !!
Mike D. (Team Captain)
17th September 2018: Division 3. Highcliffe B v Wimborne D. 2-2
Wimborne D took a positive step towards their aim of not going up nor going down. Alan Tyler lost on board one to the evergreen Richard Ursell. John Bowley on board 2 showed his skill by losing his Queen. Whoops. And then winning the game. I plodded on a bit and when we counted the pieces at the end I had more so my opponent resigned. Phil Wallace played a steady game but something went wrong and he lost
.
Tony Buckfield (Team Captain)
9th September 2018: Start of Season AGM
Summary of the club AGM, held on 5th September 2018
The chairman noted that the club had had a successful season, winning the Division 1 title in the Dorset League and finishing a close second in Division 1 of the Bournemouth and District League. The move to a new venue at the Merley Community Centre had been a success and we will continue to meet there.
At Jørgen Nielsen’s suggestion an initiative to encourage junior chess players has been set up. This is held at Wimborne Library one Saturday per month. Graham Hillman, who now leads the initiative, has attended a course at Chess in Schools and Communities.
On the social side a total of 38 members and guests enjoyed a Christmas meal.
Turning to the coming season, the Treasurer reported that the club’s finances are sound and he recommended a subscription of £35, which includes membership of the Merley Social Club.
We will enter five teams in the Bournemouth and District League, one in Division 1, two in Division 2 and one in each of Divisions 3, 4 and 5. In the Dorset League we will have three teams, one in Division 1 and two in Division 3. We plan to enter a team in the newly formed Bacchus League for less experienced players.
The AGM was followed by the customary sale of second hand books.
Phil Wallace (Secretary)
**End of Year Newsletter 2018**
Hello everyone,
I do hope you are enjoying the festive season and wish you a very happy and successful New Year [especially across the chess board!] I think we had 25 people at our Christmas Dinner which I think was popular.
We are mid-way through the season and as ever have mixed results. Full details can be seen in the new LMS system which may be accessed from the Dorset website. You do not need a username or password to view the results and tables.
One team to note is our very strong A team lead by Ian, who again is top the division. Well done so far.
Our junior section continues to progress, with 7 /8 youngsters attending our Saturday morning sessions ably lead by Graham Hillman.
Our Bacchus team are enjoying their first venture into league play. Their chess is certainly improving.
I would like to thank Sam and Tim for the improvements made to our website. It is now much more interactive! Captains - please do a small write up of each match and send to Sam!
A couple of congresses to note:
1 - Fareham on 18th to 20th January. Full details are on the Castle Chess website.
2 - Frome on 17th to 19th May, again details on their website.
I have played in both with much enjoyment.
Again I wish everyone a very positive New Year.
Mike D (Chairman)
Wimborne A v Southbourne A
9th October 2017
Our first match as defending champions was away to Southbourne A. We sat down and immediately noticed that our board 3 was not there ( Graham had a diary malfunction ! ). As it happened Mike Davidson had come to watch and I asked if he would be willing to stand in and he agreed to play after was apparent Graham was not going to be there ( Also I had forgotten new rule about 10 grading point limit for substitute players so thanks to Martin for allowing him to play ).
The matches started well for us with our new board 4 Eddie Barker playing an excellent game against John Catchpole and after turning down the draw offer went on to nicely win a rook and knight ending.
Mike on 3 despite giving away 25 minutes and 60 grading points was playing a fine game and in the end James Forster had to agree a draw as Mike had him under great pressure and could not move without probably losing. So very well done Mike as super sub.
I ended up playing a modern defence against Russell Pegg and after early pressure managed to find some aggressive moves pushing him back and eventually he had to sacrifice a piece for 2 pawns and he could not withstand my attack and resigned.
Allan on 1 against Martin Simons seemed to have a good position from opening and just built up pressure and eventually forced 2 connected passed pawns and this too much and Martin resigned.
This gave us a great 3.5 to 0.5 win and on to a big match against a very strong Poole A on 25th October.
Ian
Hello everyone.
We are at the end of another league season which, I am sure, we all enjoyed. Many congratulations to our A team who won the first Division title again! What a strong team we have. Well done to Ian and his team. I would also like to congratulate the B team in the Dorset 3rd Division who came first after an epic last game. Colin’s report on our website is worth a read! As far as other teams are concerned no team got relegated! Full details of the matches and tables are on the LMS section of the Dorset Chess website.
I would also like to congratulate our team that played in the new Bacchus league. Most were new players who gained valuable experience over the season.
The teams for the new season [starting in late September] will be selected once the new gradings are announced by the ECF early in August. It will be very helpful if you could indicate your availability for this.
As a point of interest the ECF will trial producing monthly grading lists in this coming season. If the trial works, they will implement in the following season. Do not forget to renew your ECF membership before September.
As you are aware, we have started sessions for Juniors on the first Saturday of every month at the Wimborne library, we have had upto 10 juniors taking part. Many thanks to Graham and his team for organising this. Our website is now very active thanks to Sam for that improvement.
Finally, a date for your diary. Our Annual General Meeting will be held at the Merley Community Centre on Wednesday 4th September. I hope to see you all there, and just a reminder that we continue to play in the Merley Community Centre all summer on a Wednesday night and at the British Legion in Wimborne on Friday morning.
Mike D (Chairman)
League Report: Wimborne B Team crowned Dorset League Division 3 champions.
Conundrum: when is a defeat not a defeat? Answer: when it results in winning the title!
That was the slightly bizarre outcome of our crucial title decider against defending champions Poole B who needed to win the match by three points to one or better to retain their crown. Poole came into the match on the back of a terrific run of form so we knew we would be in for a tough contest.
The evening began well with an excellent early win for Phil Holden on the bottom board which left us just needing one draw from the remaining three games. All was going according to plan. The non-playing captain was able to relax a little and enjoy his pint. However, as Alan Tyler made a miscalculation on Board 2 and Steve Culleton, despite stout resistance, lost on time on the top board, our increasingly fraying hopes lay with Graham Hillman on Board 3 who was pitting his wits against Poole’s higher graded captain, Tarik.
I had been engrossed in this open and rather wild contest for some time, marvelling at how it bore little resemblance to the dour games I am normally involved in. I thought I saw lots of possibilities for Graham but fortunately for us he chose to follow his own thought processes. There was a flurry of moves on both sides just to meet the 35 move deadline and I suspect both score sheets will have lacunae in them at around this stage. In the period that ensued Graham made a number of cheeky draw offers in the knowledge that that would suffice but captain Tarik, fully cognisant of the cruciality of winning, batted them all away.
There was an increasing sense that time would be the deciding factor in this game, as both clocks steadily counted down in roughly equal measure. Tarik had pawns advancing menacingly down own one flank, while Graham had potential counter opportunities on the other side. The former had a supporting knight, while the latter had a bishop as back up. Or was it the other way around or was it two knights? I am normally, like most people, the best player in the world when looking on but my own mind had turned to mush at this point, as it so often does when I am actually playing.
With about one minute each left there ensued a second bout of frantic move making. As the dust began to clear it became apparent that Graham had emerged with two pawns and Tarik with just a knight. Still they relentlessly played on, until realisation finally dawned that the valiant Tarik could no longer win and that Graham was too mentally drained and time challenged to do anything other than claim the vital draw. There was a clear mutual respect between the two gladiators at this point.
Because of the high stakes and dramatic context, this was one of the most exciting games I have ever witnessed and I applaud both players. Unfortunately, as indicated above, I doubt that any intelligible record of it will have survived for analysis. Perhaps that is just as well.
Many congratulations to our B team squad! The main core has been Graham, Alan and myself, each playing in 7 out of 8 matches, but Sepp and Steve have played a vital part too, stepping in and contributing vital points along the way. It is fitting that it was Graham’s draw in this final match of the season that reclaimed our crown, previously held in 2017, as he has enjoyed an excellent season throughout, accumulating an impressive five points out of a possible seven in the games he has played and remaining undefeated. Well done and thank you to all!
Colin Wilson (B Team Captain)
Thursday 11th April (Dorset) C v Poole: 1.5-2.5
I was first to lose giving away a piece early on. I did have a strong attack on his King and Queen but he defended really well. Phil Wallace was on board 3 against an old opponent Chris Ambrose. He produced a great sacrifice , a Bishop for two pawns and a very attacking situation. He eventually drew.
John Bowley had a very good win on board two. Tim Joyce had his usual long game and time was an enemy. He caved in to a player 20 grades higher.
Mike D (Team Captain)
Wednesday 10th April 2019: Wimborne C v Bournemouth A: 1-3
In truth our team was Wimborne D in disguise with technically three reserves turning out for us and our normal number 4 being promoted to top board. I was particularly grateful to Alan Tyler who played at short notice and to Tony Buckfield who, minding his own business in the midst of a friendly game, was abruptly hauled into the match room at very short notice (7.29 p.m. to be precise!) and achieved a creditable draw. Our last minute shuffles must surely have given Bournemouth a boost and they took full advantage, securing a classic two wins with white and two draws with black to earn a deserved victory and give their survival chances a real boost.
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
Wednesday 3rd April 2019: Wimborne A v Southbourne A: 2-2
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE LEAGUE TITLE WIN!
Congratulations to Ian and his A team who have clinched the Division one title last night . Needing only a draw to win the league , Ian and his team had a thrilling match . We were 2 -1 down with only Ian's match left . He pulled off a great win to clinch the title.
Wednesday 27th March 2019: Wimborne v Poole Knights (Bacchus): 1.5-2.5
A mixed match for Wimborne. On board 1 David Lane stormed to victory. Unfortunately, on board 2 (my board) I missed a King/Queen fork and was on the back foot from there on. My opponent didn't make any errors and beat me handily.
Board 3 was fairly even throughout but unfortunately for Phil, his opponent managed a checkmate. Finally Paul, with many pieces on the board got caught out by a stalemate after canny play by his opponent. Everyone had a good evening and enjoyed some challenging games.
Overall a well deserved win for Poole Knights.
Sam Walker (Team Captain)
Monday 18th March 2019: Ringwood A v Wimborne C: 2.5-1.5
This was a top of the table clash, with the result putting Ringwood A into pole position for promotion and bringing to an end our C team's splendid five match unbeaten run.
The first to finish was my own game on the bottom board against Peter Donaldson; I was happy to accept a back foot draw. On the top board, Peter Anderson, with a 30+ grade advantage, and Graham White played out a "Modern that turned into a French like structure" (a quote way beyond my comprehension!) that ultimately left Graham's king exposed. With Peter managing to double his rooks on the open f file, the game and the point went his way. On Board 3 Steve Culleton engineered a strong position, responding to Niall Woodger's Sicilian. After a couple of inaccuracies on both sides, this turned into a 4 v 3 pawn structure on the king side and a knight and white squared bishop each. A long grind looked in prospect but Steve offered a draw which Niall was grateful to accept. On Board 2 Jorgen was in a very cramped position against Martin Clancy so Steve's draw offer didn't look like it would affect the overall result of the match. Aware of that result, Martin offered a draw to Jorgen, who also gratefully accepted, thus balancing out the kind draw offer ratio. Indeed it was a friendly evening all round!
Ringwood A are now very much strong favourites for promotion to Division 1 but a late surge from our B team could yet make matters interesting. They would need to win their remaining four games, including a match against Ringwood, to cause a stir. A very tall order but, if they could field their full strength line up, then who knows?
B&DCL Div 2
Team Play. Won. Draw Lost For Against Points
Ringwood A 8. 5. 2 1 19½ 12½ 12
Wimborne C 8 3 3 2 17½ 14½ 9
New Milton A 7. 2. 3 2 14 14 7
Wimborne B 6. 3 0 3 11½ 12½ 6
Bournemouth A 7. 1 3 3 13½ 14½ 5
Poole C 6. 1 1 4 8 16 3
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
Thursday 14th March 2019: Dorchester D v Wimborne B: 1.5-2.5
This was a big win for Wimborne B in the context of the Division 3 title race. Dorchester took an early lead but Sepp brought the match level with an impressive win against Paul Brackner; the early capture of a knight was the key and Sepp relentlessly pressed home his advantage. The two captains fought out a dogged draw on Board 2 which left the outcome of the match dependent on the top board. Fortunately we were in the capable hands of Steve Culleton who gradually gained a grip on a hitherto tight game, eventually winning on time but in a dominant position also.
With our C team also recording an emphatic win this week the top three sides still have all to play for. Our B team lead the way with our C team on their coat tails but Dorchester D have a game in hand which keeps them firmly in the picture too.
Dorset County League Div 3
Team Play Won Draw Lost For Against Points
Wimborne B 6 3 2 1 13 11 8
Wimborne C 6 2 2 2 12½ 11½ 6
Dorchester D 5 2 2 1 10½ 9½ 6
Purbeck B 5 2 0 3 9½ 10½ 4
Poole B 4 0 2 2 6½ 9½ 2
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
Wednesday 13th March 2019: Wimborne C v Purbeck B: 3.5-0.5
Wimborne were the stronger team but Purbeck put up a solid defence and provided an enjoyable evening. I had a lucky win against Chris who turns into a Wimborne player on Friday mornings. Sam Walker and his opponent both played carefully and an honourable draw was agreed. John Bowley played a careful and slow game gradually taking control.
Tim Joyce and partner both ended up in time trouble and in a final ridiculous flurry of moving, head scratching and clock bashing, Tim’s youth and endgame skill saw him Queen and mate. It was so quick that the older spectators didn’t know who had won till Tim offered to buy everyone drinks. Then we knew.
Tony Buckfield (Team Captain)
Friday 8th March 2019: Wimborne A v Southbourne B: 3-1
This was another great win for our A team by 3-1 and now we are 4 points clear with 2 matches left so one draw will be enough to win the league. We have Southbourne A to play next on 3rd April at home.
My match was first to finish after a few complications most lines seem to come to a draw so draw was agreed after Martin Simons asked if we could stop the clocks to go for tea and I accepted his draw offer! He then resumed after tea and agreed a draw!
Alan had a queenless middle game but kept the pressure on James Forster and eventually found a way through for a another excellent win ( Alan has 4.5/5 ).
Eddie was playing Michael Litchfield so was favourite to win but it was a difficult game. He managed to keep his pieces active enough to swap off into a won ending.
Mark looked like he had a great position against Russell Pegg but lost his way and seemed to be losing. He managed to hang on for a draw.
This was our 6th win in a row after starting the season with a draw and a loss so great recovery and well played to all players.
Ian Clark (Team Captain)
Wed 6th March 2019: Wimborne C v Wimborne B (B & D) 2.5-1.5
Our alphabetically challenged C team completed the double over our B team. In truth the two teams are, by design, intended to be pretty evenly matched and so it proved across the top three boards where three tight games ended in draws. It was Steve Culleton's game on Board 4, last to finish, that was to prove decisive. Steve is enjoying an excellent season and, despite the plucky resistance of Phil Wallace who was deputising, his passed pawn advance through the centre proved irresistible.
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
20th February 2019: Wimborne D v Poole D: 2.5-1.5
Wimborne notch up a useful win against a very strong Poole team.
Phil Wallace won quickly on board 4. He knows all the tricks and traps in the openings. Steve Culleton,Alan Tyler and John Bowley all drew leaving us the winners.
The result should leave us safe from the fear of demotion and safe from the fear of promotion. We are a good middle of the league team.
Tony Buckfield (Team Captain)
19th February 2019: Bacchus v Bournemouth: 1-3
We started off one up as my opponent failed to turn up. From there it was, sadly, a case consistent losses. Nevertheless everyone seemed to enjoy themselves with good gameplay from everyone.
Sam Walker (Team Captain)
Wed 13th Feb Wimborne B 3 v 1 Wimborne C (County League)
Wimborne B completed the double against their (friendly) rivals in the C team. It was fine margins in all the closely contested games but the B team made the most of white pieces on Boards 2 and 4 with wins for Alan Tyler and Phil Holden, whilst Graham Hillman and Colin Wilson secured draws with black against Phil Wallace and Tim Joyce respectively. Conviviality in the bar after the match underlined the excellent spirit and respect in which the match was played. The B and C teams currently lie 2nd and 3rd in County Division 3 and both still have league leaders Dorchester in their sights.
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
7th February 2019: Poole F v Wimborne F: 3-1
Top board saw Jim Newman deliver a solid performance against a new addition to the Poole F team, which ended in a forced draw when Jim's opponent opted for a perpetual check. Next to Jim, I had black again against Chris Ambrose, and the result, unfortunately, was the same again, a loss to his annoying English!
Board three was an odd affair: David Lane went a piece down to his opponent who then shortly after offered him a draw with plenty of time still on the clocks. David, of course, accepted! Sam Walker playing for us for the first time this season put up a good show against their team captain but it was second place for him too on the night!
Well done team for playing in such good spirit.
Greg Webb (Team Captain)
6th February 2019: Wimborne A v Poole B: 3-1
The match against Poole B included A team debut for our"new" player Graham White who came in for Mark Littleton who has been having a great season.
Graham seemed to be in trouble against Toby but using his end game experience managed to find a draw by threatening a repetition on the seventh rank.
Eddie on 3 had a good attack against Dragi and was able to win enough material to lose a bishop and still be winning.
I was struggling against Chip on 1 but managed to keep enough threats to force a draw. This put us 2-1 up.
Allen on 2 always had a strong position but was not clear how would finish off but found a few nice moves to win the ending by exploiting his passed a pawn to tie down Sergio's last piece.
This result and Poole A beating Southbourne B puts us 3 points clear with 3 remaining games agisnt both Southbourne teams and Poole A.
Ian Clark (Team Captain)
30th January 2019: C v (Dorset) B: 1.5 - 2.5
We had a hard fought match between 2 strong teams. Firstly Phil Wallace on Board 3 agreed an early draw then after a strong defence by Phil Holden I managed a good attack and won pieces so 1.5 to the C team !
John Bowley capitulated to Alan Tyler to match at 1.5 each before the final match lasted well past 10 am but Colin Wilson eventually won through.
Mike D (Team Captain)
23rd January 2019: Bacchus League - Wimborne v Bournemouth: 2-2
We started off one up after Phil's opponent was unable to make it. Unfortunately Paul went a piece down early on and after putting up a valiant effort eventually lost the game. Nigel unfortunately fell to a checkmate but luckily my opponent lost track of his time and so resigned.
Overall, a draw for our first Bacchus match of the year.
Sam Walker (Team Captain)
21st January 2019: Wimborne E v Highcliffe C: 2-2
The E team met Highcliffe on Monday without 2 regulars , Jim Fox and Sep W-Clarke. The substitutes were Jim Newman and Mike Davidson. Mike and I had 2 early wins but Jim and Paul Brackner had long games and fought hard but had to give in.
Graham Hill (Team Captain)
18th-20th January 2019: Fareham Congress
Congratulations to Joergen who came second in the strong Major section of this congress. 4 four of us , the two Davids [Lane and Lewis] Graham Hillman and I competed in the minor. We all had some good results but did not win anything this time!!
Mike D
Wed 16th Jan Wimborne B 1 Wimborne C 3 (B & D)
In grade terms this was a very closely matched derby across all four boards which was very much reflected in the games played. The two Grahams on the top board agreed an early draw but then Wimborne C gained the initiative with a win for Mike Jackson who took full advantage of a central pawn gained in the middle game. The decisive match was a strange affair on the bottom board where Steve Pollyn resigned against Steve Culleton, thinking his bishop lost, only for hindsight to reveal he in fact could potentially have gained a rook for a bishop with best play. With the outcome of the match no longer in doubt, a draw was amicably agreed in a closely contested game on Board 2. As one would expect, the match, between fellow club members, was played in a highly respectful spirit.
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
14th January 2019: Wimborne D v Ringwood B: ½ - 3½
Wimborne D get revenge on Ringwood B. This fine result lifts us from the foot of the table too one above the foot. A good place from which to make our run up the table. The strategic manoeuvring of our players paid off.
Phil Wallace was rested and I was dropped due to unreliable results. On board 1 Steve Culleton took the pressure off the team by a steady draw. Alan Tyler played well to beat his similarly graded opponent. John Bowley found a happy win. Cornelius Cornes playing his first game for the D team played a steady game to win on board 4.
Tony Buckfield (Team Captain)
7th January 2019: Wimborne A Team Update
We have managed to win our last 3 matches which were away to Poole B and home and away against Highcliffe. All the results were by 3-1 and were much tougher than final results suggested.
Mark Littleton has been the star winning all 3 of his matches with all the other team members supplying at least one win.
Wimborne A are now 2 points clear at top of league with 4 matches remaining but all to play for.
Ian Clark (Team Captain)
10th December 2018: Dorset C v Purbeck B: 2½ - 1½
Our Dorset C team won a close match at Purbeck on Monday night.
David Lane on board 4 had an excellent win with a strong attack on his opponent, Paul Stanley. I had an honourable second against Derek Mount who won a pawn and then ‘ground’ me down.
Tim looked well up but had to surrender pawns and managed a draw against Nick Stout on board one .
This left John Bowley on Board 2 against Richard Quinn and he had a long game but had a very good win !
We are now second in Division 3
Mike D (Team Captain)
22nd November 2018: Poole Knights v Wimborne (Bacchus League): 2½ - 1½
Our team played its second match down in Poole . Poole struggled to field a full team and asked to reduce the teams to three players a side. I countered that this was only a friendly league to encourage non league players to get such experiences, so I suggested they could play a player above the grade limit of 100 which they did. So our team was Sam on one , Phil on two, Paul on three and Nigel on four. Phil and Paul came an honourable second after hard games.
Nigel was the star beating his young opponent who gave away his queen. Sam also had an outstanding game with a hard earned draw against Chris Ambrose on board one. Chris had played for Poole F the night before against us and had a long game against our captain Greg and won.
Well done team. Next match this coming Wednesday at home. I think the idea of the Bacchus league is definitely working !
Mike D (Team Captain)
22nd November 2018: Poole D v Wimborne D. 1½-2½
Tony Buckfield had gone to seek the pleasures of Portugal, so I was acting captain.
Alan Tyler and his opponent, possibly under the influence of the World Championship agreed a draw (I'm not sure that they played 30 moves first though). The two Stephens playing on board 1 fought to a conclusion with Wimborne's Stephen Culleton taking the spoils.
John Bowley's position looked good, so when we entered the second time period I offered my opponent a draw. He had also assessed the position and declined. Many moves later he resigned when left with only a king and I had a king and unstoppable pawn. At this point I found John's game had turned around and he had lost. A fortuitous win for Wimborne.
Phil Wallace (Acting Team Captain)
21st November 2018: Wimborne F v Poole F. 2.5 - 1.5
A good win for Wimborne although against a significantly outgraded Poole team on boards 2, 3 and 4.
David Lane had a very quick win on board 4 against a young and inexperienced Ben Harman, who was a last minute stand in for the Poole team. On board 2, Phil Holden also had a short game when he accepted his opponents early draw offer.
David Lewis had a longer, more challenging game against their captain Steve Bailey, but eventually prevailed and brought home the full point. My game against Chris Ambrose dragged on for virtually the full 3 hours, and I eventually lost on time.
So, in the three games we have played so far this season, we have had all three results!
Greg Webb (Team Captain)
8th November 2018: Wimborne A v Poole B. 3-1
We were able to put together our strongest team yet in the away match to Poole B withAllan Pleasants returning from his journeys playing for Wales in recent the Olympiad and a Welsh team in the European Club competition. Poole B were missing at least one of their players so we started hot favourites.
On board 4 Graham had a good position but had overlooked the weakness of his kingside so despite being material up his opponent was able to force a perpetual check for an early draw. My position on 1 was not great and I was too passive with white and was clearly worse but managed to stay in the game and was not as bad as looked and a draw was agreed.
Mark on 3 had a strong kingside attack and found a nice finish to win a piece and the game at same time I was offered a draw.
This left us just needing draw from final game but Allan always had the edge and his minor pieces were covering most of middle of board. His opponent had to either be slowly crushed or go for a sacrificial line which to his credit he did and there were a few threats that Allan had to be careful but eventually the threats ran out and Allan won.
This gave us our first win of the season after one loss and a draw. The next match against Poole A will be crucial.
Ian Clark (Team Captain)
7th November 2018: Wimborne C v Ringwood A. 2-2
An early win for Ringwood's Martin Clancy on Board 2 and a late essential win for Wimborne's Steve Culleton on Board 4 were the book ends to two draws sandwiched in between. From our perspective a warm welcome to Graham White, making his Wimborne debut, and a particular well done in achieving a commendable draw on the top board against a much higher graded opponent. A good evening's chess and a fair result overall.
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
31st October 2018: Wimborne C v Poole B. 2-2
We played against Poole B team who out graded us especially on the bottom two boards. Our team was Tim, John, myself and George.
George had a magnificent defeat despite ‘pawning’ two queens. John had a very good result against their board 2 Tarik. That left Tim and I, I had a sacrifice of a knight for 2 pawns that almost worked as I ended up with 3 linked passed pawns heading towards queening. Unfortunately I ended up in time trouble and after 3 hours made a mistake , giving away a rook! Defeat followed. Finally Tim battled hard against Eric Sachs and won in a strong end game.
Well done John and Tim.
Mike D (Team Captain)
31st October 2018: Wimborne F v High Milton. 1.5 - 2.5
If you were playing against a team which you out-graded on every board AND they were a player short to boot, you'd be forgiven for thinking you had a fairly comfortable win in the bag, right? Wrong! Counting chickens and hatch comes to mind here.
Jim Newman losing on top board relatively quickly should have set the alarm bells ringing, but, 'don't panic Mr Mainwaring,' we still had the default point as a cushion.
However, hot on Jim's heels for an early bath was Phil Holden on board 3, who lost to the good Highcliff player Rachael Richardson who I can never understand is only rated at 81 points when she always seems to win and has claimed some notable scalps in the past, including our own Jim Fox who is no slouch at chess.
That only left yours truly on board 2 to try and save the match. Some hope! My opponent, Aleksandrs Gorbacovs (what's with this club penchant for eastern European players?) played the fastest and most aggressive chess I have ever come across. He also played a completely unconventional opening which he obviously knew well, and as I didn't, it meant I had to spend a lot of time trying to anticipate and analyse what he was up to. To cut a long game short, I eventually neutralised his aggressive play and we ended up with Kings and a pawn each which were both going to fall in the next couple of moves. Draw.
So, while a satisfying game for me, an unfortunate result for the team. Still, you win some, you lose some. Onwards and upwards to our next match.
Greg Webb (Team Captain)
26th October 2018: Wimborne D v Southbourne C. 1.5-2.5
Successful loss for Wimborne D. We were outgraded on each board and by a total of 80 points in total but managed a creditable 1.5 points. Cornelius said he couldn’t make the match on a day-return from India. John Bowley was in Switzerland. ( what sort of excuse is that ?) Unfortunately Phil Wallace is ill and Mike Davidson has water on the knee.
On the top board Alan Tyler couldn’t quite turn his position into a win so a draw was agreed. Michael Litchfield and I moved a few pieces around, agreed a draw and retired to the bar, which in this case is the kitchen, where we discussed digestive biscuits and the state of the world. Graham Hillman stepped in and achieved a creditable draw. David Lane kindly played to help us out and lost to his opponent graded 40 points above him.
A very enjoyable evening with Southbourne’s usual biscuits and tea.
Tony Buckfield (Team Captain)
90th Birthday: John Turnbull
John, who celebrated his 90th birthday recently is still enjoying internet chess and his gardening. He and Sara send their good wishes to everyone at the club.
Phil Wallace 23/10/18
15th October 2018: Bournemouth A v Wimborne C. 1-3
A welcome first win of the season for Wimborne C, the foundations for which were a good win by Mike Jackson on board 2 and two solid draws all round on the bottom two boards. All ultimately hinged on the top board game which was excitingly tense and could have gone either way in an open end game. In the end Jorgen's two rooks and a knight prevailed with a clever mate against his opponent's queen and a knight.
Colin Wilson (Team Captain)
REPORT ON 53rd DORSET OPEN CONGRESS
This year's congress took place last week from Friday 12 to Sunday 14 over 5 rounds. It was held in the Elstead Hotel in Bournemouth, a very comfortable for a congress of 100 players. The congress was well managed by our Ian Clark and Martin Simons from Southbourne. Clearly well experienced in handling such tourneys. We had 12 of our members playing in the various sections with middling results !
In the Open section, which was very competitive, we had one player Mark Littleton who achieve a score of 2 /5 , which was very respectable in view of the strong field. In the Major section we had 3 players Colin, Joergen and Tim. Colin finished with 2.5/5. Well done. In the Intermediate section we had only one player, Sepp, who was playing above his grade. He had a respectable score of 2.5/5. Well done. In the Minor section we had 7 members playing and the star was Graham who managed 4.5 /5 . He tied for first place. Again well done. One other player of note was Greg who achieved 3 points. The rest of us, David Lewis, David Lane,Phil, Sam and myself all played ‘par’ chess or below. No other real stars.
However I am sure we all agree that we thoroughly enjoyed the event.
Mike (Chairman)
5th October 2018: Southbourne E v Wimborne F. 2-2
Our first game of the new season was definitely a mixed bag! On board one, Phil Holden was the first to finish but was unlucky to have lost to a back-rank mating tactic with Queen and Bishop. Score 1-0. I was the next to finish on board three, accepting the early draw offer by my opponent following a routine, uneventful game. Score 1.5-0.5. Our veteran player, David Lewis, returning to chess after a lengthy absence, had a long game against stiff opposition, which ended in a kings and pawns end game, where David showed his experience and brought home the full point. Score now 1.5-1.5. Well done David. The fate of the match now rested in the game on board two with Mike Davidson. And what a marathon that was! In a gruelling game that went virtually the full 3 hours, with neither side giving an inch, it was finally decided in the last two minutes of play, when a three-fold repetition check by Mike's opponent, saw honours even, 2-2. Well done Mike. Have a Merlot on me!
So, a good start to the season for Wimborne F, and well done, once more, to my team mates.
Greg Webb (Team Captain)
4th October 2018: Wimborne v Poole Bishops. 2-2
We kicked off the first match of the Bacchus league with an inconclusive skirmish. David got in the first blow with a stunningly quick victory. Paul and Phil played valiantly but lost with good humour. I finished with a rearguard win after using up a great deal of my time.
Overall plenty of lessons were taught and everyone (hopefully) had a good time. Thus a steady start to the new Bacchus league with some more development for players to come (see what I did there).
Sam Walker (Team Captain)
3rd October 2018: Wimborne D v Bournemouth B. 1.5-2.5
PROMOTION FEARS
Phil Wallace played a calm game to win in good time. I came second in my game. Interestingly my opponent check mated me very cleverly with a rook and Bishop, as you do. I congratulated him on his cunning and guile but just as I was about to retreat to the comfort of a Merlot an observant bystander pointed out that my opponent was in check. In fact we were both in check. We calculated that he was in check before I was, so as he had touched his rook to mate me should he have to move it to get out of check? But he couldn’t so we gave up and I lost anyway.
Alan Tyler held steady and drew on the top board. You do need a good top board. John Bowley who hasn’t lost all season, had a comedy of errors, including overlooking that he could take his opponents Queen. Whoops. He lost triumphantly.
Bournemouth B were relegated from Div 2 and if they're not careful could go back there.
Tony Buckfield (Team Captain)
27th September 2018: County League. Dorchester D v Wimborne C. 2-2
Wimborne C started off with a draw away to Dorchester D. It was getting a win from the jaws of defeat and vice versa!
The order of play was Tim on board 1, Tony on 2 , me on 3 and Sam on 4.
Tony and I had neutral games ending in draws then the fireworks started. Sam gave his queen away but recovered to win with a rook and bishop mate ! 2/1 to us. Tim’s game was last finish . He had the much better position with a pawn up and maybe more . He forgot to move his rook which his opponent captured !!
Mike D. (Team Captain)
17th September 2018: Division 3. Highcliffe B v Wimborne D. 2-2
Wimborne D took a positive step towards their aim of not going up nor going down. Alan Tyler lost on board one to the evergreen Richard Ursell. John Bowley on board 2 showed his skill by losing his Queen. Whoops. And then winning the game. I plodded on a bit and when we counted the pieces at the end I had more so my opponent resigned. Phil Wallace played a steady game but something went wrong and he lost
.
Tony Buckfield (Team Captain)
9th September 2018: Start of Season AGM
Summary of the club AGM, held on 5th September 2018
The chairman noted that the club had had a successful season, winning the Division 1 title in the Dorset League and finishing a close second in Division 1 of the Bournemouth and District League. The move to a new venue at the Merley Community Centre had been a success and we will continue to meet there.
At Jørgen Nielsen’s suggestion an initiative to encourage junior chess players has been set up. This is held at Wimborne Library one Saturday per month. Graham Hillman, who now leads the initiative, has attended a course at Chess in Schools and Communities.
On the social side a total of 38 members and guests enjoyed a Christmas meal.
Turning to the coming season, the Treasurer reported that the club’s finances are sound and he recommended a subscription of £35, which includes membership of the Merley Social Club.
We will enter five teams in the Bournemouth and District League, one in Division 1, two in Division 2 and one in each of Divisions 3, 4 and 5. In the Dorset League we will have three teams, one in Division 1 and two in Division 3. We plan to enter a team in the newly formed Bacchus League for less experienced players.
The AGM was followed by the customary sale of second hand books.
Phil Wallace (Secretary)
**End of Year Newsletter 2018**
Hello everyone,
I do hope you are enjoying the festive season and wish you a very happy and successful New Year [especially across the chess board!] I think we had 25 people at our Christmas Dinner which I think was popular.
We are mid-way through the season and as ever have mixed results. Full details can be seen in the new LMS system which may be accessed from the Dorset website. You do not need a username or password to view the results and tables.
One team to note is our very strong A team lead by Ian, who again is top the division. Well done so far.
Our junior section continues to progress, with 7 /8 youngsters attending our Saturday morning sessions ably lead by Graham Hillman.
Our Bacchus team are enjoying their first venture into league play. Their chess is certainly improving.
I would like to thank Sam and Tim for the improvements made to our website. It is now much more interactive! Captains - please do a small write up of each match and send to Sam!
A couple of congresses to note:
1 - Fareham on 18th to 20th January. Full details are on the Castle Chess website.
2 - Frome on 17th to 19th May, again details on their website.
I have played in both with much enjoyment.
Again I wish everyone a very positive New Year.
Mike D (Chairman)
Wimborne A v Southbourne A
9th October 2017
Our first match as defending champions was away to Southbourne A. We sat down and immediately noticed that our board 3 was not there ( Graham had a diary malfunction ! ). As it happened Mike Davidson had come to watch and I asked if he would be willing to stand in and he agreed to play after was apparent Graham was not going to be there ( Also I had forgotten new rule about 10 grading point limit for substitute players so thanks to Martin for allowing him to play ).
The matches started well for us with our new board 4 Eddie Barker playing an excellent game against John Catchpole and after turning down the draw offer went on to nicely win a rook and knight ending.
Mike on 3 despite giving away 25 minutes and 60 grading points was playing a fine game and in the end James Forster had to agree a draw as Mike had him under great pressure and could not move without probably losing. So very well done Mike as super sub.
I ended up playing a modern defence against Russell Pegg and after early pressure managed to find some aggressive moves pushing him back and eventually he had to sacrifice a piece for 2 pawns and he could not withstand my attack and resigned.
Allan on 1 against Martin Simons seemed to have a good position from opening and just built up pressure and eventually forced 2 connected passed pawns and this too much and Martin resigned.
This gave us a great 3.5 to 0.5 win and on to a big match against a very strong Poole A on 25th October.
Ian
Wimborne A 3 v 1 Ringwood A
The match against Ringwood A commenced with us knowing if we won the match we would win the 1st Division. The 4 man team was changed for the first time in season with Allan Pleasants playing in Jersey. Steve Culleton came in on board 4.
Peter was playing Tim Weir and soon managed an advantage which he kept and eventually forced a win. Steve was playing Pete Donaldson and in an open game lost his way and Pete with 2 passed pawns was able to win the game to level the scores.
I was playing Martin Clancy on board 1 and although under pressure was able to soak up the attack and then managed a counter attack and when Martin allowed me to win a crucial pawn his position began to fall apart and I was able to win.
Graham against Neil Woodger was last to finish ( as usual ! ) and played his Blackmar Diemar keeping long term pressure for the gambit pawn. He forced an end game where his bishop was stronger than knight and converted nicely the pawn ending.
The 3-1 win gives us the Division 1 title with 1 draw against Southbourne A ( with the return match to come ) and 8 wins. Congratulations to all players in the team.
The only matter outstanding is the division individual award for best performance. I believe current position is Graham leading with 7.5/9 with myself second on 7/9.
The match against Ringwood A commenced with us knowing if we won the match we would win the 1st Division. The 4 man team was changed for the first time in season with Allan Pleasants playing in Jersey. Steve Culleton came in on board 4.
Peter was playing Tim Weir and soon managed an advantage which he kept and eventually forced a win. Steve was playing Pete Donaldson and in an open game lost his way and Pete with 2 passed pawns was able to win the game to level the scores.
I was playing Martin Clancy on board 1 and although under pressure was able to soak up the attack and then managed a counter attack and when Martin allowed me to win a crucial pawn his position began to fall apart and I was able to win.
Graham against Neil Woodger was last to finish ( as usual ! ) and played his Blackmar Diemar keeping long term pressure for the gambit pawn. He forced an end game where his bishop was stronger than knight and converted nicely the pawn ending.
The 3-1 win gives us the Division 1 title with 1 draw against Southbourne A ( with the return match to come ) and 8 wins. Congratulations to all players in the team.
The only matter outstanding is the division individual award for best performance. I believe current position is Graham leading with 7.5/9 with myself second on 7/9.
Wimborne A 2.5 v 1.5 Southbourne B
The A team moved a step closer the league title by winning 2.5 to 1.5 against Southbourne B.
On board 2 I played my normal line against Nimzowitch defence and Len Laker fell into a trap on move 9 and had no defence against my queenside attack after he had castled queenside and was over after 1 hour.
On board 3 Graham seemed to have a good attack against Brian Curran but seemed to lose the thread of the attack and missed a simple pawn fork of rook and queen and was no way back.
On top board Allan had a comfortable position against Paul Kemp and went into a rooks and pawn endgame with a strong king in centre and broke through to win.
Peter Wilcock was playing Anthony Pitcher on board 4 and had a strong position in idle game with Queen, Knight and a few pawns each and coming up to final timecheck was winning but started to panic ( as did I watching ! ) when time was running out but Anthony's clock went a few seconds first and as Peter had only a Knight against 2 pawns a draw was agreed.
The A team moved a step closer the league title by winning 2.5 to 1.5 against Southbourne B.
On board 2 I played my normal line against Nimzowitch defence and Len Laker fell into a trap on move 9 and had no defence against my queenside attack after he had castled queenside and was over after 1 hour.
On board 3 Graham seemed to have a good attack against Brian Curran but seemed to lose the thread of the attack and missed a simple pawn fork of rook and queen and was no way back.
On top board Allan had a comfortable position against Paul Kemp and went into a rooks and pawn endgame with a strong king in centre and broke through to win.
Peter Wilcock was playing Anthony Pitcher on board 4 and had a strong position in idle game with Queen, Knight and a few pawns each and coming up to final timecheck was winning but started to panic ( as did I watching ! ) when time was running out but Anthony's clock went a few seconds first and as Peter had only a Knight against 2 pawns a draw was agreed.
Wimborne B 3.5 v 0.5 Weymouth B
Wimborne B continued their forward momentum and clambered off the bottom of the table with this impressive win against Weymouth B. In truth the match was much closer than the scoreline might suggest. Wins for Mark Littleton and Phil Holden on top and bottom boards respectively, bolstered by a draw for Jorgen on board 3 guaranteed the win. However, those who stayed until the end witnessed a cracking finish to a very close match on board 2 in which, to the less skilled eye i.e. mine, any outcome seemed possible. Pete Wilcock stayed seemingly unperturbed in the face of a ticking down clock and proved that a dangerously advanced supported pawn can help to overcome a material disadvantage, provided that you you get the sequence of moves right - which he did in calm and clinical fashion.
Colin Wilson 28/02/17
Wimborne B continued their forward momentum and clambered off the bottom of the table with this impressive win against Weymouth B. In truth the match was much closer than the scoreline might suggest. Wins for Mark Littleton and Phil Holden on top and bottom boards respectively, bolstered by a draw for Jorgen on board 3 guaranteed the win. However, those who stayed until the end witnessed a cracking finish to a very close match on board 2 in which, to the less skilled eye i.e. mine, any outcome seemed possible. Pete Wilcock stayed seemingly unperturbed in the face of a ticking down clock and proved that a dangerously advanced supported pawn can help to overcome a material disadvantage, provided that you you get the sequence of moves right - which he did in calm and clinical fashion.
Colin Wilson 28/02/17
Purbeck B 1.5 v 2.5 Wimborne B
This looks like a shock result - Wimborne B picking up their first win and points of the season against runaway leaders Purbeck A. In truth we were able to field our strongest line up thus far, helped by the captain's attentions being diverted to losing elsewhere (see below), and our players fought hard to pull off an excellent win. Mark Littleton was a pawn up at one stage on the top board in a clash of giants against Steve Pierson, his team mate in the B & D first team, but the game turned into a drawn rook and pawn ending. However, this half point proved decisive as Pete Wilcock and Jorgen produced fine wins on boards 2 and 3 respectively to secure overall success.
Highcliffe A 3 v 1 Wimborne D
On the same evening it was defeat for the D team at Highcliffe but that had nothing to do with our two reserves, both of whom achieved commendable draws. The lesser spotted Cornelius found himself in a game of opposite colour bishops which so often results in a drawn situation, while Tony Buckfield managed to acquire a queen for a rook, which seems like good business, but in doing so found himself facing a connected pawn avalanche that convinced him too to accept the offer of a draw. Tony has now completed his maximum allotment of games for the D team as a reserve and I thank him for his valued and cheery contributions throughout.
This looks like a shock result - Wimborne B picking up their first win and points of the season against runaway leaders Purbeck A. In truth we were able to field our strongest line up thus far, helped by the captain's attentions being diverted to losing elsewhere (see below), and our players fought hard to pull off an excellent win. Mark Littleton was a pawn up at one stage on the top board in a clash of giants against Steve Pierson, his team mate in the B & D first team, but the game turned into a drawn rook and pawn ending. However, this half point proved decisive as Pete Wilcock and Jorgen produced fine wins on boards 2 and 3 respectively to secure overall success.
Highcliffe A 3 v 1 Wimborne D
On the same evening it was defeat for the D team at Highcliffe but that had nothing to do with our two reserves, both of whom achieved commendable draws. The lesser spotted Cornelius found himself in a game of opposite colour bishops which so often results in a drawn situation, while Tony Buckfield managed to acquire a queen for a rook, which seems like good business, but in doing so found himself facing a connected pawn avalanche that convinced him too to accept the offer of a draw. Tony has now completed his maximum allotment of games for the D team as a reserve and I thank him for his valued and cheery contributions throughout.
Wimborne D 2 v 2 Wimborne C
It finished all square in the D v C derby match. The C team had a few surprises up their sleeves, not least in trying once again to wrong foot the D team by not competing on the top board! This at least gave me the chance to play three matches in my head as an observer which proved far more taxing and anxiety inducing than playing a single game in my own right. Steve Culleton, tactically demoted to the bottom board by the C team, would undoubtedly have been a match for any of us on the night and duly got the better of D team reserve, the estimable Tony Buckfield. It was a close affair all the way on board 2 between Jørgen H Nielsen (C) and Alan Tyler (D) which seemed to be heading for a worthy draw, until an oversight by Alan in the final throes, involving a rook and pawns, cost him the game. To my eyes the most exciting match was still continuing on board 3 between C team captain, John Bowley, and D team stalwart, Paul Brackner. I think everyone in the vicinity knew from the audible exasperations from Paul during the course of the match that he was under extreme pressure throughout from some typically imaginative and relentless attacking play by John. It was great credit to Paul that he not only contrived somehow to dig himself out of every defensive hole he appeared to be in but also managed to accrue a time advantage in the process. It was this that was to prove crucial as John agonisingly ran out of time before completing his 35th move. The only question that remained was whether Paul, self-confessedly bamboozled by the workings of the digital clock, would realise he had won. Thankfully for the D team, he did!
In a most competitive Division 2, both teams continue their campaigns either to be promoted or to avoid relegation, depending entirely on your perspective of the table. Incredibly at this stage of the season there are just a mere three points between top and bottom positions; promotion and relegation remain distinct possibilities for all seven teams. I suspect a satisfying conclusion for both Wimborne outfits at this stage would be mid table security.
Colin Wilson 07/02/17
It finished all square in the D v C derby match. The C team had a few surprises up their sleeves, not least in trying once again to wrong foot the D team by not competing on the top board! This at least gave me the chance to play three matches in my head as an observer which proved far more taxing and anxiety inducing than playing a single game in my own right. Steve Culleton, tactically demoted to the bottom board by the C team, would undoubtedly have been a match for any of us on the night and duly got the better of D team reserve, the estimable Tony Buckfield. It was a close affair all the way on board 2 between Jørgen H Nielsen (C) and Alan Tyler (D) which seemed to be heading for a worthy draw, until an oversight by Alan in the final throes, involving a rook and pawns, cost him the game. To my eyes the most exciting match was still continuing on board 3 between C team captain, John Bowley, and D team stalwart, Paul Brackner. I think everyone in the vicinity knew from the audible exasperations from Paul during the course of the match that he was under extreme pressure throughout from some typically imaginative and relentless attacking play by John. It was great credit to Paul that he not only contrived somehow to dig himself out of every defensive hole he appeared to be in but also managed to accrue a time advantage in the process. It was this that was to prove crucial as John agonisingly ran out of time before completing his 35th move. The only question that remained was whether Paul, self-confessedly bamboozled by the workings of the digital clock, would realise he had won. Thankfully for the D team, he did!
In a most competitive Division 2, both teams continue their campaigns either to be promoted or to avoid relegation, depending entirely on your perspective of the table. Incredibly at this stage of the season there are just a mere three points between top and bottom positions; promotion and relegation remain distinct possibilities for all seven teams. I suspect a satisfying conclusion for both Wimborne outfits at this stage would be mid table security.
Colin Wilson 07/02/17
Dorset League: Wimborne A 2 v 2 Dorchester A
Wimborne A drew with Dorchester A in what turned out to be a finely balanced match. On board 1 Ian had the most difficult and almost the longest game of the night against Mike Waddington. When I looked across I saw that he was slightly worse off having a rook and pawn against two minor pieces. Once the queens came off Ian seemed to have little counter play and despite a late rear guard action against his opponent’s queen side pwans, had to concede. This game was certainly more interesting than my own which petered out to a draw once most of the major pieces were exchanged. On board 4 Pete had a good and fairly clear win. Last to finish was Stephen on board 3 who sacrificed (or lost depending on your point of view) a pawn to gain counter play. After various twists and turns the game was agreed drawn as was the match.
Mark Littleton
Wimborne A drew with Dorchester A in what turned out to be a finely balanced match. On board 1 Ian had the most difficult and almost the longest game of the night against Mike Waddington. When I looked across I saw that he was slightly worse off having a rook and pawn against two minor pieces. Once the queens came off Ian seemed to have little counter play and despite a late rear guard action against his opponent’s queen side pwans, had to concede. This game was certainly more interesting than my own which petered out to a draw once most of the major pieces were exchanged. On board 4 Pete had a good and fairly clear win. Last to finish was Stephen on board 3 who sacrificed (or lost depending on your point of view) a pawn to gain counter play. After various twists and turns the game was agreed drawn as was the match.
Mark Littleton
Dorset League: Wimborne B 1 v 3 Purbeck A
In the opening match of 2017 all four games went the way of the players with the higher grade. Unfortunately for us we only had one of those in the personage of John Bowley on board 4 whose persistent probing eventually bore fruit at the very end of the evening. The quest for our first point of the season goes on but with games now coming thicker and faster we hope the wait will not be for too much longer.
Colin Wilson 03/01/17
In the opening match of 2017 all four games went the way of the players with the higher grade. Unfortunately for us we only had one of those in the personage of John Bowley on board 4 whose persistent probing eventually bore fruit at the very end of the evening. The quest for our first point of the season goes on but with games now coming thicker and faster we hope the wait will not be for too much longer.
Colin Wilson 03/01/17
Dorset League: Southbourne 1.5 Wimborne C 2.5
Christmas Cheer for the C Team
In the last league match of 2016 good wins for Alan Tyler and John Bowley on boards 2 and 3 respectively put us in a strong position. The decisive extra half point came from the ever dependable Mike Davidson on the bottom board against a player 20+ grading points higher; this proved crucial as our captain capitulated late on in his game on the top board. This excellent win leaves the C team unbeaten and joint top of Division 3 with two matches left to play in March. My thanks to the eight Wimborne players whose efforts to date have put us in this strong position and my best wishes to all for Christmas and the New Year.
Colin Wilson 16/12/16
Christmas Cheer for the C Team
In the last league match of 2016 good wins for Alan Tyler and John Bowley on boards 2 and 3 respectively put us in a strong position. The decisive extra half point came from the ever dependable Mike Davidson on the bottom board against a player 20+ grading points higher; this proved crucial as our captain capitulated late on in his game on the top board. This excellent win leaves the C team unbeaten and joint top of Division 3 with two matches left to play in March. My thanks to the eight Wimborne players whose efforts to date have put us in this strong position and my best wishes to all for Christmas and the New Year.
Colin Wilson 16/12/16
Dorset League: Wimborne C 2 Purbeck B 2
Drawing Conclusions
Not all drawn matches are the same and there were four examples of the different types available in this match. On Board 3 John George accepted an early draw, on bottom board Mike Davidson settled for a front foot draw and on top board Tim Joyce was pleased to agree a rearguard draw. However, it was left to Tony Buckfield on Board 2 to demonstrate the most exciting draw of all - the frantic fight to the finish draw. Tony had by-passed the three other possibilities - the early draw and the front foot draw that for a while was turning into the rearguard draw - and was making determinedly for the finishing line with two pawns and a knight against a knight. Both players were in time trouble and, as blitz chess ensued, it was Tony's flag that fell first in the face of clever and resolute defending by his opponent. Fortunately there was not the requisite material for a win to be claimed and a fourth draw of the evening was the outcome. In the end this was a fair result and a satisfactory outcome for both teams, with Wimborne C reaching the halfway point of the season unbeaten and Purbeck B pleased to pick up their first point.
Colin Wilson 6/12/16
Drawing Conclusions
Not all drawn matches are the same and there were four examples of the different types available in this match. On Board 3 John George accepted an early draw, on bottom board Mike Davidson settled for a front foot draw and on top board Tim Joyce was pleased to agree a rearguard draw. However, it was left to Tony Buckfield on Board 2 to demonstrate the most exciting draw of all - the frantic fight to the finish draw. Tony had by-passed the three other possibilities - the early draw and the front foot draw that for a while was turning into the rearguard draw - and was making determinedly for the finishing line with two pawns and a knight against a knight. Both players were in time trouble and, as blitz chess ensued, it was Tony's flag that fell first in the face of clever and resolute defending by his opponent. Fortunately there was not the requisite material for a win to be claimed and a fourth draw of the evening was the outcome. In the end this was a fair result and a satisfactory outcome for both teams, with Wimborne C reaching the halfway point of the season unbeaten and Purbeck B pleased to pick up their first point.
Colin Wilson 6/12/16
Wimborne C 0.5 Wimborne D 3.5
Derby Day Delight for D team
Excellent wins by Mike Jackson and Paul Brackner on Boards 3 and 4 respectively, backed up by a solid draw for Alan Tyler on Board 2, saw the D team home against the C team who had earlier had to default on Board 1, putting themselves at a considerable disadvantage from the outset. Both Mike and Paul took full advantage of two against one split pawn endings with the defending kings unable to defend both sides of the board. As we approach the halfway point Division 2 looks like being extremely tight this season, with little to choose between teams from top to bottom.
Colin Wilson 6/12/16
Derby Day Delight for D team
Excellent wins by Mike Jackson and Paul Brackner on Boards 3 and 4 respectively, backed up by a solid draw for Alan Tyler on Board 2, saw the D team home against the C team who had earlier had to default on Board 1, putting themselves at a considerable disadvantage from the outset. Both Mike and Paul took full advantage of two against one split pawn endings with the defending kings unable to defend both sides of the board. As we approach the halfway point Division 2 looks like being extremely tight this season, with little to choose between teams from top to bottom.
Colin Wilson 6/12/16
Poole 2.5 Wimborne B 1.5
Colin Wilson - 24/11/16
Our B team remains pointless in the Dorset League after a second narrow away defeat, this time at the hands of a strong Poole outfit. Colin Wilson and Sergey Sim both slipped up in the end game, following generally sound play up to that point, on boards 1 and 2 respectively, while John Bowley's fluctuating game on the bottom board eventually ended in a draw, brought about by his opponent's perpetual check, when John perhaps had slightly the upper hand. Star performance of the evening came from Tim Joyce on board 3, who secured an excellent win against an opponent graded more than 20 points higher. We came tantalisingly close to getting at least a point out of this match - and possibly deserved to, given the considerably lower grade profile of our team - but the Poole players took full advantage of the opportunities that came their way.
Colin Wilson - 24/11/16
Our B team remains pointless in the Dorset League after a second narrow away defeat, this time at the hands of a strong Poole outfit. Colin Wilson and Sergey Sim both slipped up in the end game, following generally sound play up to that point, on boards 1 and 2 respectively, while John Bowley's fluctuating game on the bottom board eventually ended in a draw, brought about by his opponent's perpetual check, when John perhaps had slightly the upper hand. Star performance of the evening came from Tim Joyce on board 3, who secured an excellent win against an opponent graded more than 20 points higher. We came tantalisingly close to getting at least a point out of this match - and possibly deserved to, given the considerably lower grade profile of our team - but the Poole players took full advantage of the opportunities that came their way.
Dorchester B 0.5 Wimborne A 3.5
Mark Littleton - Thursday Nov 24th
Wimborne A scored a convincing win against Dorchester B with a 3.5 to 0.5 scoreline. First to finish was Ian on board 1 who won quite quickly against his opponent’s Scandinavian. First he was a pawn or two up and when I next looked round he had won a piece and it was only move 12! Several moves later it was all over. I next managed to win with what turned out to be a lucky kingside attack which, had my opponent found the correct response, could easily have gone the other way. Next to finish was Pete on board 4 who agreed a draw once the team had established a winning position. On board 3 Stephen was two pawns up in a won endgame in which his opponent soon resigned to leave us with our first win of the season.
Mark Littleton - Thursday Nov 24th
Wimborne A scored a convincing win against Dorchester B with a 3.5 to 0.5 scoreline. First to finish was Ian on board 1 who won quite quickly against his opponent’s Scandinavian. First he was a pawn or two up and when I next looked round he had won a piece and it was only move 12! Several moves later it was all over. I next managed to win with what turned out to be a lucky kingside attack which, had my opponent found the correct response, could easily have gone the other way. Next to finish was Pete on board 4 who agreed a draw once the team had established a winning position. On board 3 Stephen was two pawns up in a won endgame in which his opponent soon resigned to leave us with our first win of the season.
Dorchester D 1.5 Wimborne C 2.5
Colin Wilson (match played 17/11/16)
This was a very close affair with the outcome in the balance throughout. Mike Jackson continued his run of impressive form, in his debut season for the club, with a win against John Kelly on board 2 but this was matched by a win for Dorchester's captain, Bill Woodhouse, against John George on board 3. My game on the top board, against our very own Paul Brackner, looked like ending up even, as it so often does. However, I turned down Paul's sensible offer of a draw, aware that we were up against it a little on board 4. Within a couple of moves Paul had won a knight and understandably politely declined my somewhat desperate reciprocal offer. Forced into a manic pawn counter attack, with both clocks ticking, the game remarkably swung back in my favour and an unlikely win was somehow secured. The overall result now hinged on Mike Davidson's match against Ivan Stringer. Material was slightly against Mike - a rook, bishop and pawns against two rooks and pawns - but his position was secure enough to elicit an offer of a draw from his opponent, who was at a time disadvantage inside the last five minutes. Mike's doughty performance saw us as a team gratefully just across the victory line and we beat a welcome and hasty retreat to the bar, where John George was as generous as he always is.
Colin Wilson (match played 17/11/16)
This was a very close affair with the outcome in the balance throughout. Mike Jackson continued his run of impressive form, in his debut season for the club, with a win against John Kelly on board 2 but this was matched by a win for Dorchester's captain, Bill Woodhouse, against John George on board 3. My game on the top board, against our very own Paul Brackner, looked like ending up even, as it so often does. However, I turned down Paul's sensible offer of a draw, aware that we were up against it a little on board 4. Within a couple of moves Paul had won a knight and understandably politely declined my somewhat desperate reciprocal offer. Forced into a manic pawn counter attack, with both clocks ticking, the game remarkably swung back in my favour and an unlikely win was somehow secured. The overall result now hinged on Mike Davidson's match against Ivan Stringer. Material was slightly against Mike - a rook, bishop and pawns against two rooks and pawns - but his position was secure enough to elicit an offer of a draw from his opponent, who was at a time disadvantage inside the last five minutes. Mike's doughty performance saw us as a team gratefully just across the victory line and we beat a welcome and hasty retreat to the bar, where John George was as generous as he always is.
Wimborne A 2.5 vs Poole A 1.5
14-11-16 - Ian Clarke
The match was very close against Poole. Board 1 was a tight affair with Allan playing a safe opening and managed to keep control and a draw was agreed.
I was playing the opposing captain "Chip" and was very exciting when I decided to sacrifice piece for 2 pawns for kingside attack. This just looked good although had not seen all the moves. Found a decent if not the best follow up to force a won ending.
Peter on 4 was playing a new player ( another Sergei! but from Romania ) and despite seeming to have a good position lost out and eventually had to resign.
This left Graham on 3 who seemed to be under pressure from kingside attack but managed to swop off Queens to end up I a rook and pawn ending in which he specialises and forced a win with at least 30 seconds left!
This gave us a 2.5 to 1.5 win and keeps up at top of table.
14-11-16 - Ian Clarke
The match was very close against Poole. Board 1 was a tight affair with Allan playing a safe opening and managed to keep control and a draw was agreed.
I was playing the opposing captain "Chip" and was very exciting when I decided to sacrifice piece for 2 pawns for kingside attack. This just looked good although had not seen all the moves. Found a decent if not the best follow up to force a won ending.
Peter on 4 was playing a new player ( another Sergei! but from Romania ) and despite seeming to have a good position lost out and eventually had to resign.
This left Graham on 3 who seemed to be under pressure from kingside attack but managed to swop off Queens to end up I a rook and pawn ending in which he specialises and forced a win with at least 30 seconds left!
This gave us a 2.5 to 1.5 win and keeps up at top of table.
Southbourne C 1.5 Wimborne D 2.5
11/09/2016 - Colin Wilson
What a (k)night!
Things looked bleak after Alan Tyler (board 2), hero of our last outing at Poole, gave away a knight fairly early on and with it the game. On board 1 Colin Wilson played resolutely enough to eke out a draw. Meanwhile two very close games - both of which looked like potential draws - were being tensely played out on boards 3 and 4. First to conclude was Mike Jackson who played thoughtfully, creatively and relentlessly with his knight and pawns to force his opponent (bishop and pawns) into a resignation through shortage of time. All hinged on super stand in Tony Buckfield on board 4. Tony offered a draw on a number of occasions, which in itself would have been a creditable result against an adversary graded 20+ points higher, but his opponent was determined to see it through to the finish. However, it was Tony's knight that played its part to win a crucial pawn through a cleverly veiled check. Clocks were ticking on both sides, which added to the excitement, but in the end it was two linked passed pawns, supported by Tony's knight and king, pushing relentlessly up the centre of the board towards a defending bishop and king, that caused his opponent's flag to drop first. This was a morale boosting win for the D team, our first of the season, against a strong Southbourne side who out-graded us on all four boards.
11/09/2016 - Colin Wilson
What a (k)night!
Things looked bleak after Alan Tyler (board 2), hero of our last outing at Poole, gave away a knight fairly early on and with it the game. On board 1 Colin Wilson played resolutely enough to eke out a draw. Meanwhile two very close games - both of which looked like potential draws - were being tensely played out on boards 3 and 4. First to conclude was Mike Jackson who played thoughtfully, creatively and relentlessly with his knight and pawns to force his opponent (bishop and pawns) into a resignation through shortage of time. All hinged on super stand in Tony Buckfield on board 4. Tony offered a draw on a number of occasions, which in itself would have been a creditable result against an adversary graded 20+ points higher, but his opponent was determined to see it through to the finish. However, it was Tony's knight that played its part to win a crucial pawn through a cleverly veiled check. Clocks were ticking on both sides, which added to the excitement, but in the end it was two linked passed pawns, supported by Tony's knight and king, pushing relentlessly up the centre of the board towards a defending bishop and king, that caused his opponent's flag to drop first. This was a morale boosting win for the D team, our first of the season, against a strong Southbourne side who out-graded us on all four boards.
Wimborne B 2.5 vs Southborne B 1.5
05/11/2016 - Mark Littleton
You may have heard fireworks last night. Contrary to what you may think these were not actually for Guy Fawkes night, but rather to celebrate Wimborne B’s first win of the season against Southbourne B. On board 3 Stephen agreed a draw in an equal position to give us the first half point of the night. Soon afterwards I was able to convert an advantage of one pawn into two pawns and then into the exchange to beat Len Laker. On board 1 Steve Peirson beat Paul Kemp with a tactical combination. Last to finish was Joergen on board 4 standing in for Steve Pollyn. Although he fought bravely he was unable to overcome the two pawn advantage his opponent had in a knight and pawn endgame. Nevertheless the 2.5 to 1.5 victory was very welcome!
05/11/2016 - Mark Littleton
You may have heard fireworks last night. Contrary to what you may think these were not actually for Guy Fawkes night, but rather to celebrate Wimborne B’s first win of the season against Southbourne B. On board 3 Stephen agreed a draw in an equal position to give us the first half point of the night. Soon afterwards I was able to convert an advantage of one pawn into two pawns and then into the exchange to beat Len Laker. On board 1 Steve Peirson beat Paul Kemp with a tactical combination. Last to finish was Joergen on board 4 standing in for Steve Pollyn. Although he fought bravely he was unable to overcome the two pawn advantage his opponent had in a knight and pawn endgame. Nevertheless the 2.5 to 1.5 victory was very welcome!
Wimborne A 3 vs Ringwood A 1
26-10-16 - Ian Clarke
We arrived at Ringwood to find they had a much weaker team than expected due to illness, etc.
I was on board 2 against Malcolm Day and I played the Benko against his queens pawn. He did not take my pawn so I achieved a similar benko type position without the loss of a pawn. I managed to put my pieces on good squares and eventually Malcolm missed my threat of winning the exchange and then his position crumbled and I had an early win.
On board 4 Peter was playing Mike Jay and Mike seemed to have a good opening but allowed Peter a King side attack and missed the winning of the exchange which soon became a rook and game was over.
On board 3 Graham was playing Rob Davenport and had a comfortable opening and prised open Rob's defences and found a nice winning combination forcing mate or winning of queen.
On board 1 Allan was playing Martin Clancy and played a slow opening with 2 b3. He never seemed to get any advantage and in a time scramble gave up a rook for 2 passed pawns but these were not sufficient so he had to concede the game.
26-10-16 - Ian Clarke
We arrived at Ringwood to find they had a much weaker team than expected due to illness, etc.
I was on board 2 against Malcolm Day and I played the Benko against his queens pawn. He did not take my pawn so I achieved a similar benko type position without the loss of a pawn. I managed to put my pieces on good squares and eventually Malcolm missed my threat of winning the exchange and then his position crumbled and I had an early win.
On board 4 Peter was playing Mike Jay and Mike seemed to have a good opening but allowed Peter a King side attack and missed the winning of the exchange which soon became a rook and game was over.
On board 3 Graham was playing Rob Davenport and had a comfortable opening and prised open Rob's defences and found a nice winning combination forcing mate or winning of queen.
On board 1 Allan was playing Martin Clancy and played a slow opening with 2 b3. He never seemed to get any advantage and in a time scramble gave up a rook for 2 passed pawns but these were not sufficient so he had to concede the game.
Wimborne G 3 vs Purbeck 1
25-10-16 - Mike Davidson
Our latest recruit Sam Walker won on Board 4 , he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat ! Phil on Board 1 did the opposite . Jim on 2 and me on 3 had routine wins . Purbeck new team was very under-graded compared to us
25-10-16 - Mike Davidson
Our latest recruit Sam Walker won on Board 4 , he snatched victory from the jaws of defeat ! Phil on Board 1 did the opposite . Jim on 2 and me on 3 had routine wins . Purbeck new team was very under-graded compared to us
Match report- Wimborne E v Poole D 14-10-16 - Tony Buckfield
A useful start for Wimborne E, winning 3 - 1
Tim Joyce,heavily out-graded lost after a hard battle on board 1
Cornelius and Phil Wallace both won despite being out-graded.
Tony won after a long game on board 4.
A useful start for Wimborne E, winning 3 - 1
Tim Joyce,heavily out-graded lost after a hard battle on board 1
Cornelius and Phil Wallace both won despite being out-graded.
Tony won after a long game on board 4.
Match report- Wimborne G v New Milton 11-10-16 - Jim Newman
Not a good start for the G team, as the visitors wre victorious 3-1, although in our defence we were considerably outgraded.
On board 1, Phil Holden seemed to have the initiative at the early stages being the exchange up, equality on position and having a small time advantage. But a blunder after some 25 moves resulted a bishop in the loss of a bishop without any compensation. Shortly after this error, white threatened an unstoppable mate, so Phil had no option but to resign.
Jim Newman on board 2 maintained equality on material and position beyond move 35, but an ambitious push of G and H pawns to dislodge a dangerous black Knight proved to be his undoing. This tactic allowed black to advance his E and F pawns towards whites king with positive effect, such that white was forced to give a bishop to avoid mate. Moving into the end game, the extra piece proved telling and white resigned.
George Dodman, playing black on board 3, had a very close game progressing to around 50 moves. George was a single pawn down, but had a time advantage. The end game progressed to King, Knight and pawns opposed by King, bishop and pawns. Unfortunately for black, the single pawn advantage was sufficient to secure a win for white.
Sepp W-clarke played his first league game for Wimborne on board 4, and was our only successful player. Well done Sepp. In the white side of the English opening he managed to win the exchange early on at move 8 at the expense of giving the initiative to black. After a lot of pressure from black, white was able to get into a safe position and was able to execute a nice tactic which ended up in him being a full rook up. A good win followed on board 4 to save the whitewash!
Not a good start for the G team, as the visitors wre victorious 3-1, although in our defence we were considerably outgraded.
On board 1, Phil Holden seemed to have the initiative at the early stages being the exchange up, equality on position and having a small time advantage. But a blunder after some 25 moves resulted a bishop in the loss of a bishop without any compensation. Shortly after this error, white threatened an unstoppable mate, so Phil had no option but to resign.
Jim Newman on board 2 maintained equality on material and position beyond move 35, but an ambitious push of G and H pawns to dislodge a dangerous black Knight proved to be his undoing. This tactic allowed black to advance his E and F pawns towards whites king with positive effect, such that white was forced to give a bishop to avoid mate. Moving into the end game, the extra piece proved telling and white resigned.
George Dodman, playing black on board 3, had a very close game progressing to around 50 moves. George was a single pawn down, but had a time advantage. The end game progressed to King, Knight and pawns opposed by King, bishop and pawns. Unfortunately for black, the single pawn advantage was sufficient to secure a win for white.
Sepp W-clarke played his first league game for Wimborne on board 4, and was our only successful player. Well done Sepp. In the white side of the English opening he managed to win the exchange early on at move 8 at the expense of giving the initiative to black. After a lot of pressure from black, white was able to get into a safe position and was able to execute a nice tactic which ended up in him being a full rook up. A good win followed on board 4 to save the whitewash!
Match report- Wimborne D v New Milton A 28-09-16 - Colin Wilson
Draw 2-2
It was wins for white across the boards in the D team's opening match against New Milton A. Fortunately of course two of those players were our own and it was sterling work by Alan Tyler and debutant Mike Jackson on boards 2 and 4 respectively that earned a share of the spoils.
Draw 2-2
It was wins for white across the boards in the D team's opening match against New Milton A. Fortunately of course two of those players were our own and it was sterling work by Alan Tyler and debutant Mike Jackson on boards 2 and 4 respectively that earned a share of the spoils.
16th September 2016 - Tim Joyce
Fantastic Victory for some at Wimborne
A great turnout of about a dozen Wimborne players for the the annual two towns match (Poole vs Bournemouth) at the Legion on North Road. Many Wimborne players ended up playing for Bournemouth which resulted in an overwhelming Bournemouth victory. Great to see new faces, including our latest signing - Sergei from Kazakhstan who won his first competitive match on European soil playing on board 5.
Fantastic Victory for some at Wimborne
A great turnout of about a dozen Wimborne players for the the annual two towns match (Poole vs Bournemouth) at the Legion on North Road. Many Wimborne players ended up playing for Bournemouth which resulted in an overwhelming Bournemouth victory. Great to see new faces, including our latest signing - Sergei from Kazakhstan who won his first competitive match on European soil playing on board 5.
13 September 2016 - Ian Clarke
Reg Valentine Trophy
There were 20 players taking part including new members Sergei ( from Kazakstan ) , Will Moore and Sepp. There were 4 all play all groups and top 2 from each going through with tie break of lowest players if a tie ( which was bad news for Ian and Peter !). The 4 quarter finals were David Lane v Steve Pollyn ; Mark Littleton v Cornelius Cornes; Sergei ( given 150 estimate ) v Tim Joyce and Greg Webb v Sepp. Tim managed to win an exciting game against Sergei with seconds remaining.
In semi’s Steve beat Mark and Greg used his time well to beat Tim. The final was close with Greg having a decent position but was worse although the clock plays a major part and Steve in time trouble managed to leave his King en-prise which Greg took!
Congratulations to Greg and a good tournament for start of season.
Reg Valentine Trophy
There were 20 players taking part including new members Sergei ( from Kazakstan ) , Will Moore and Sepp. There were 4 all play all groups and top 2 from each going through with tie break of lowest players if a tie ( which was bad news for Ian and Peter !). The 4 quarter finals were David Lane v Steve Pollyn ; Mark Littleton v Cornelius Cornes; Sergei ( given 150 estimate ) v Tim Joyce and Greg Webb v Sepp. Tim managed to win an exciting game against Sergei with seconds remaining.
In semi’s Steve beat Mark and Greg used his time well to beat Tim. The final was close with Greg having a decent position but was worse although the clock plays a major part and Steve in time trouble managed to leave his King en-prise which Greg took!
Congratulations to Greg and a good tournament for start of season.
Dod Caines, Chris Higham, Tony Buckfield, Mike Davidson c1980