Highcliffe Fischers v Poole Position

Highcliffe needed 5-1 to win. More of a report coming soon!

For this epic match, we bring you a 3 part report, with 3 different authors. We’ll start with John’s take on the start of the match
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In a crowded schedule Poole Position rocked up to sunny Southbourne to take on Highcliffe Fischer’s in the opening round of the B&D Handicap Cup. (Thank you kindly Southbourne for hosting!! Monday nights seem a bit thin on the ground for both parties at this stage of the season).
It was soon evident that the two sides were coming armed with very differing tactical approaches.
Poole opting for a mix of youth and experience, loading the side with youngsters but at least the inclusion of Dave Burt on board 6 gave the average age an air of respectability.
Meanwhile it seemed that Highcliffe had gone with a mix of Ursells accompanied by some slightly older ‘youngsters’. Some of whom would have been Poole’s toughest ever opponents!! On a normal day this would have been a real ‘David vs Goliath’ fixture. However, the beauty of the handicap cup is that the scales (and calculators) come out beforehand as always levelling the playing field.
Poole must also give a special thanks to Tarik for stepping into the Poole board 4 as a last-minute replacement. Despite Poole’s protests his rustiness was not allowed to be factored into the calculations and once underway Highcliffe would need 5 points to win. Whereas Poole would need 1.5 points to cross the finish line.
20 mins into the match I was concerned that there may have been an issue with the clocks as most faces on the Poole side were spookily displaying 1hr 00mins. Turns out these kids seem to have trained themselves to play a move every 30 seconds – spooky.
Some maintained this brisk rate of play for longer than others, but it was a real pleasure to see this six-board match develop into a true battle. 40 mins in and Poole were looking no worse on any. In fact, Harry looked on the verge of creating a big upset on board five as he was the exchange ‘and some’ up. However just one error was enough to undo all his hard work. One small exchange of pawns swiftly activated Thomas’s only remaining pieces into activity. Harry had clearly underestimated this activity but a valuable lesson, I hope. Hard luck Harry but very well played up to that point. (1-0 Highcliffe).
A similar fate soon befell Dave Burt on board 6 who had seemed to be better in his R+P ending. Then level, then worse, then lost. An unfortunate finish for Poole but well-done Dan in efficiently and ruthlessly executing the finish! (2-0 Highcliffe)
As I left Tarik was resolutely trying to fend off Madison’s London system on 4. White always seemed to pull an edge through the game but without any black structural weaknesses, I wondered if this would materialise into anything. However with each pawn move from Tarik (sometimes forced) it seemed the task of holding might get more difficult.
But on 3 Leo was on the verge of a victory against Richard. Leo seemed to have come armed with a game-plan of consistently placing pieces on good squares. I was particularly impressed with his composure as he seemed more comfortable going into the think-tank on occasion and coming up with good plans each time. Very well played Leo.
Ellis and Adam’s game at first appeared to be looking a little dry, but then some of Ellis’s intuitive tactical resources soon brought about a melee forcing Adam into the think-tank on occasion. Adam appeared to come out of it unscathed and it appeared Ellis was going to have the tougher side of a R+P ending to try and hold. (Ellis has clearly demonstrated an exciting style in his first full season and his games are always worth a watch as there always seems to be something going on – Keep it up)!!!
Zander was tasked with facing one of the league’s top performers and I’m sure it wasn’t long before James was more familiar with the Scandinavian’s nuances than his opponent. However Zander appeared to be combining real grit alongside good positional understanding and made James work and work in order to prove an advantage. There was real maturity to Zander’s play as it is sometimes all too easy to try and force activity when it is simply not on. When I left, the position was difficult but still playable with an undertone of opportunity. Anyway Zander once again had put in another good performance.
As I left, the match was very finely in the balance and if anything, it looked like Poole might struggle to get there. But I couldn’t have been prouder of Poole Position and the team that captain Ellis had assembled. Great games, great spirit and great entertainment. Well done guys!!
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Thank you John for your insights. You join us 2-0 down with two boards looking even, one promising and one dicey.
With John departing we were getting to the difficult part, where a single slip up can decide a game and match. It’s worth checking the grades at this point. Dave Burt was the only player outgrading his opponent, with each other player AT LEAST 200 rating points below. With the bottom two boards decided against us, we had it all to do.
I kept looking across at Leo, thankful for having a front row seat, because it was nicer than watching my own game which the computer wasn’t quite as pessimistic as I was in hindsight. I’ve still to understand endgames and how a position that looks lost can be held together with a well placed bishop, and the exchange is a very bad idea until its the best idea. Without these key insights I was unable to hold on and my position slowly lost viability.
Leo was a Rook against a Knight with three pawns apiece facing each other, but crucially a lone pawn of Leo’s in the centre of the board. Leo exchanged the Rook for the Knight in what I thought was a blunder, then I thought was genius. Then I counted the squares, had Leo miscounted? The King could get back and intercept it before it promoted! Perhaps the recapturing move shifted the pawn one column closer to the King messing up all the calculations? Sure enough, the King was about to get back and take it just as it promoted. However, that then leaves 3v3 but with Leo having his King in the mix and Richard’s King being in no-man’s land. Leo quickly forced a passed pawn and promoted it with Richard attempting to do the same, but not quite having enough moves. It was an epic battle and Leo managed to come out with the win, 1616 vs 1881. Well fought Richard, thank you for your gentlemanly conduct, I’m sure you’re just as happy as we are to see a junior progressing so well.
That gave us one vital point, we need a draw to win the match.
Then came Zander and Ellis on boards 1 and 2, with a draw needed from two competitive games, but they were against some handy players.
When I looked over at Zander’s game it was getting very complicated, he was a rook down, but with a pawn in inevitability from promoting. With the rook sac for the pawn it left Zander 2 pawns up, but unfortunately these were doubled and the opponent King was able to get across and take control of the situation just in time. A really close game against someone over 2000, an impressive showing.
This left Ellis against Adam, and for this I’ll pass over to the third and final author, Ellis himself:
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Ah, the game of chess, a battle of the mind! And what a fierce battle it was, when I played black on board 2 against Adam. I had predicted he would play his favoured e4 opening, but in this particular game, he surprised me with a moment of hesitation before opting for Nf3. His move forced me to adapt to my slightly outdated preparation.
The contest between Adam and I was a close and intense one, each move calculated with precision and strategy. I decided to sacrifice a pawn to activate my rook and gain the initiative against his poorly placed queen. My play put Adam on the defensive and forced him to defend with care.
Yet, as with all great battles, the tide turned, and we eventually traded into an endgame with a rook and 2 pawns each. An endgame neither of us were going to lose. Thus, a draw was the outcome, thought not without great effort from both Adam and me.
In the end, this combined with Leo's earlier victory was enough to secure triumph over Highcliffe, and hence we celebrated our win with great satisfaction.
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That final half a point gave Poole the final bit they needed to win the match.
Result: 4.5 - 1.5
Result needed for Highcliffe: 5 - 1
Win for Poole Position
Well done to all players on both sides. It was an entertaining match full of twists and turns. All the games were competitive. Thanks to Highcliffe for the game and thanks to Southbourne for hosting.

Since I’m the one with the next morning to think about the result and the way the game panned out I’ll write this report on Dad’s behalf.

That’s quite the report from Poole showing the story of the night so I will try to give a little more information where I can.

We had absolutely no idea who to expect which I guess is the beauty of this tournament, the one thing I was confident about was that John W would be there… he was, but just as a decoy.

Seems since James Tom and I were the juniors for so long giving people headaches now we are being punished by playing the youngsters ourselves!

So we were up against a young Poole team targeted with winning the match 5-1. A big ask but one we were ready for.

I am not quite sure what happened in Tom’s game, he looked significantly worse, then 10 minutes later they shook hands and it was written as 1-0 Highcliffe. It’s never over until it’s over. Tough luck Harry but well played getting yourself into such a strong position against such a strong player!

Dan and Dave played an intense battle in which Dan had some strong central control with Dave playing around it and taking and trying to hold a pawn on c4. After a complex middle game we ended up in ending where Dan navigated better and eventually took home the point.

As John left it, good start, not easy but we were on our way.

Board 3 was what I have to say extraordinarily played by Leo. I’ll have to sit down with the theory books with Dad as when he tried to play a newer opening to increase winning chances there were some typical ideas and Dad lost a couple of tempi with slightly inconvenient piece placement for the nature of the position. Both players castled queenside and there was an f7 pawn dropping and Leo gave absolutely nothing away and converted the game with class… I didn’t even see a single opportunity from the point it slid so very very well played Leo!

So then it’s really close, 2-1, 3 games to go. Poole need one draw from 3 games. Mads had a fascinating game with Tariq and it seemed like he was always pressing and I didn’t see all too much due to Ellis’ quick play making me feel like it was always my move! But it seems the persistent pressure eventually paid off leaving two more boards.

James and I had multiple draw offers throughout the game but knew we couldn’t take them and it would’ve had to go down to king vs king for the draw.

James vs zander was a very entertaining battle. Zander played something of a sideline which maybe gave James an extra move but it was going to be a tough battle throughout, both of us kept our games complicated and double edged in order to make sure there would always be chances. James poked and prodded and a black king infiltration to a2 with 2 rooks each on the board left Zander with no choice but to go for counter play, James managed to queen and zander had to sack his rook for the queen leaving James with a rook and zander with a 5th rank pawn and both players had a couple of queenside pawns. Deep calculation and concentration led to James squeezing out the win that was desperately needed, well played zander; but top quality James showing why he’s up there with the very best Dorset has to offer.

I decided to switch up from my usual play for this one and Ellis took the opportunities he could to get as much space as possible, which worked, but I felt like there were some gaps to infiltrate to and I spent a lot of time trying to work out whether I could sac one of my pieces for two pawns, but I managed to resist. Ellis’ play was fast and accurate so it was almost always my move! But we reached a critical position after I won a pawn but it was very complicated. It is true that I thought my position was a little more clear cut than it was, I was looking at 3 moves but the clock was ticking, the one I chose was equal and should’ve been played the move before. The others were showing on the engine as around +2. I think it was simply a rushed decision, one lesson to be learnt as we then ended up with an ending where I was ever so slightly better but black had very good chances to draw, I continued to poke and prod and once again it looked like my protected passed d pawn was moving faster than the a pawn for Ellis. However I made another oversight and Ellis snapped off the d pawn in exchange for the a pawn meaning that the position was remaining ever so slightly better but rook and 3 vs rook and 3 was always going to be a difficult win, and Ellis played very accurately and my chances ran out. I have to say the confidence and belief and quality of Ellis’ play was extremely high and he played very very well.

The coaching and chess boom around the area and the world as a whole with resources is definitely making these evening games significantly more difficult as everyone is learning so much! Good to see.

It was a match that felt like it could’ve gone either way all Evening and we were so close. But it’s always fine margins and despite them going our way at the start of the evening, they started to go the other way at the end of the evening.

Well played Poole! See you on Monday! Thank you Southbourne for warmly hosting us and to Martin for lending us a board so we could do something at the pub!