Highcliffe Carlsens v Poole The Other One

A fantastic night of chess all matches were very close and Poole showed why they are last years winners. I’m very proud of all my team who gave everything. Well done Poole good luck going forwards best RU

It seems like we have been spending half of our lives at the Highcliffe Chess Club recently, and the John Weatherlake/Christian Westrap sequence rather reminds me of the mid 80s when the two Ks were at it hammer and tongs for months and Mike Duggs was only just out of nappies. Those were the days.

Aiming to set off a sequence to defend the title which Poole narrowly won last season, we turned up with the usual suspects; Highcliffe were strong but only had two Ursells, but as Meatloaf has correctly advised: 'Two Out of Three Ain't Bad'.

Gradings meant that a draw would be sufficient for Highcliffe; we needed 3.5.

The standard of play was excellent, apart from Ursell The Elder and myself, who rather laboured through a Petrov. I got a good position with the White pieces, but couldn't see a way forward with Richard having a single weakness with a backward d-pawn. I rejected a draw with a flourish of my hand and a 'how dare you' stare, only to offer one back the next move seeing the state of the other games. I like to think that I won that psychological battle!!

Tony Sanderson (B) vs Ursell The Younger on B6 moved on rapidly and was the first to finish. I didn't see the opening, but a reasonably balanced game seemed to be in progress. Something bad must have happened because the next time I looked Tony was a piece up and queening a pawn. Bad luck Dan, well played both.

Martin O'Neill (B) vs Matthew Smith was an Open Sicilian, sort of Scheveningenish, with very active play for White. I was concentrating hard on my game when I heard a groan from next door and a couple of White pawns seemed to have disappeared. Still, both White and Black pieces were very active and both Kings could reasonably complain about their cover, and so care was required. Martin took the good care required and closed down potential tricks to claim the full point.

On top board Mike (W) and Bruce weren't holding back either. I was amused to see an isolated 'Irish' Pawn Centre on the board (no letters please), c3/c4/c5, but Bruce also had his issues with no g-pawn in front of his castled King. I am sure that both hearts were racing throughout this fascinating game and with both sides down to three minutes on the clock, and complexities on the board, anything could happen. Mike tried a cheapo, but Bruce sidestepped nicely for the win. A quick post mortem seemed to suggest that this was the right result. BUT, in the pub later (we always grab a quick couple in Chaplin's after a night out in Highcliffe), Mike's phone was showing 0.0 at the critical moment. Horror! There was a lovely combination involving a Q sac, regaining the Q with a Knight fork and dissolve to a probably winning endgame. Tricky to see with second left. We had to have another pint to calm down. Bad luck Mike, with just a couple more minutes...

John (B) and Christian was another feisty affair with Christian going all-in with a piece sac, John's king stuck in the centre, and John hanging on gamely. A passed a-pawn decided matters in Christian's favour, but analysis afterwards showed a path to hold the piece for Black. Again, a great game to watch. Well played both sides.

And so to the final game, B5, Tim (W) vs Neil. Nothing but a win would do for Poole and who would we prefer to have in the box seat? Tim, of course! We weren't worried that poor old Tim has an unfortunate record when it comes to crunch games to win matches/leagues these last couple of years, oh no, absolutely no worries at all. Heh heh. It looked a well controlled game on both sides with Black solid and White just a little more active and more space. Tim pressed nicely and was able to exchange down to same-colour bishop and pawns. A few move accurate moves and White should be able to convert, so what does Tim do? He played those moves and Neil was not able to save the game. And in an instant, all of history was re-written, no more will Tim be seen as the guy who came second... (OK, perhaps I am overdoing that bit, but it made me laugh). Well played both.

Highcliffe 2.5 - 3.5 Poole (Poole win on handicap)

So on this occasion, Poole squeaked through, although, I think both sides will agree that it was a fair result. Its always lovely going to Highcliffe, as long as the front door isn't locked that is.