Southbourne B v Poole B

I sit here, glass of whisky (Irish of course) in hand, considering the events of this successful season now that we have concluded hostilities.

The casual observer might assume that this match was a foregone conclusion looking at the league positions. But a more studious examination might reveal how Poole B have 'done an Arsenal' and scraped home in most of their matches. As well a that, both sides were somewhat depleted. No Jon or Jamie for the home team, nor Richie or Sergio for us. Myself and Dragi are joined by Zander and Joe.

At the heady heights of Board 1, I am paired with Tony who, last time out, didnt mess around beating me with the White pieces. I am hoping for some revenge.

First to finish was Zander playing with white in his first game in the second division vs Michael. I didn't see much of the game but glancing at a photo of the scoresheet now it seems that both players were happy to play around a blocked centre (c4/d5/e4 vs c5/d6/e5) until both were happy with a draw. A great result from a Zander/Poole-centric perspective and we will see many more solid games from Zander in due course I am sure.

Joe was playing up from our D Team and played a solid game against John with, unfortunately for Joe, just two inaccurate moves, the second shedding a piece due to an unfortunate pin, and the game. Well played both.

Ooh, my whisky has evaporated, blast, here is another.

My game with Tony was a breakneck affair and I was under time pressure from the start with most black moves being made almost before my clock had been pressed. A Wing Gambit against Tony's French (well, it's the end of the season) created some potential for chaos, but I didn't expect g and h pawns heading towards my kingside-castled king. But more active white pieces and no safe spot for the black king was just too much and a strange Bg6 behing the black pawns pinning, and subsequently winning, a N on f7 decided the result. The critical issue was that the additional defensive piece for the knight was overloaded. Bad luck Tony. Honours even this year.

And so to Dragi's game vs Brian. Have a guess what I am going to say... I could just cut and paste from the last report... pawns blocked up blah blah, no way through blah blah. There is something to be said for a safety first approach I suppose. A draw was agreed.

Match score 2-2 and perhaps a nice friendly way to end the season bearing on mind that the league result had been confirmed previously. Well played Southbourne.

So off down to the Riverside for a reflective pint during which a picture was taken of the team (on the Poole Website). Zander was not able to buy his round for obvious reasons but we have long memories at Poole Chess Club. All will be well in time.

Happy Summer Break everyone!

DF

Congratulations to the Poole B team for comfortably winning the division.

With both teams depleted, this was a fair result for an end of season match. Nice well played Wing Gambit, David!