www.stjohnschess.org.uk...this is the link to our chess club's homepage..click on it to see more.
http://www.lowestoftchessclub.org and this is the link to The Lowestoft Chess Club and a really excellently designed and run web site as well.
Chess: I love chess just as much as cricket.I first began as a young schoolboy in hobbies hour.I belong to the Phoenix Chess club
and we play on Thursdays at 7.30 in Kier Hardie hall,Norwich,which is on St Gregory's Alley.We used to play at the Roman Catholic cathedral,but moved when the fees became too high.
The club is very warm and friendly and we have around 20 members and have three teams in the leagues...the Crusaders,the Templars and the Knights.Our chess is for all levels from beginners to advanced and we often have club nights and parties.Come along...you won't regret it.
Quotes:
"I'll be black."Arnold Swarzeneger aka The Terminator
"Chess has improved me as a human being."Atilla the Hun 358 AD
ChessQuotes "The loss of my childhood was the price for becoming the youngest world champion in history."Kasparov
ChessQuotes "Up to this point white has been following well-known analysis. But now he makes a fatal error: he begins to use his own head.Tarrasch
Chess Quotes "I wish I could someday play like Richard." Gerry Clayton
Chess Quotes: "I'd give my left arm to be ambidextrous." Alekhine
ChessQuotes "Up to this point white has been following well-known analysis. But now he makes a fatal error: he begins to use his own head.Tarrasch
Chess Quotes "I wish I could someday play like Richard." Gerry Clayton
Chess Quotes: "I'd give my left arm to be ambidextrous." Alekhine
It's nice to win a few cups and trophis as well.
Lowestoft V Templars Monday 27th February 2012
What a difference in surroundings.We play in the creaky,quirky old Kier Hardie Hall. Lowestoft on the other hand were in plush,comfortable,nay elegant surroundings.The chess room resembled an exquisite Georgian dining room,with circular windows and delicate lighting on the walls. It seemed so Paul Morphyesque...Nice! And so to the games. We badly needed a win after being held to a draw by the Crabs last week. .However,Lowestoft are top of the league and have three of their players in the top five positions of league 3 chess...the young hand wounded Mr,Jackson,the clinical W.Kingston and the attacking Pooley. (no mean feat considering there are over 85 players in it this season).
Andrew Sangster V Warren Kingston...board one.
Herewith my report: “I played Warren Kingston (135) nearly two years ago and he slaughtered me as black playing a poor French; I was therefore somewhat wary of him and played an Alapin variation when he met my e4 with a Sicilian. It was all book until 13 when after a major swap of pieces we were nearly in the end game. Everything was balanced, and as we approached move 25 and another swap off appeared Warren offered me a draw. I took the offer and was pleased when this morning Fritz declared it a draw as well – thank you Fritz.”
Mark Pooley V Richard Downing...board two.
My game was against Mark Pooley who sits proudly at the top of that 85 man tree,with only one defeat to his name all season..and about seven wins out of eleven.. I have always enjoyed our jousts and there is no one I would rather play than him.It is like walking into a saloon in the old wild west and see him waiting there in his chair like Wild Bill Hiccock. But on this occasion it was more like striding into the hot gladiatorial chess pit. His style is actually very similar to my own...and this game proved to be a rough and tumble,no holds barred classic. I was black and he deviated from his usual line of attack (as he had been warned that Andrew and I had prepared a data base against him).He threw his pieces into the attack and at first it looked promising for him,but in the later stages it began to turn sour and I was able to turn the tables on him and had him up against the ropes with most of his pieces pinned down on the back rank. However,I was only a rook for a knight up,and he suddenly offered a draw.It threw me a bit and I spent 15 minutes wondering if 1) I should take it. 2) if it was in fact a Downingesque ploy designed to mask the fact that downfall was imminent. I finally refused it and four moves later I offered him the draw (this time in a squeaky voice..having realised I had let things slip).This time he refused,and we were set for the final showdown....he with 8 minutes and myself with four. I then began to move wildly and quickly and madly.All the other games had finished and the players were either in the bar or watching the game.I reswopped a rook for a bishop.Both of us had stopped writing the moves down and it looked certain that I would join Charlie Neil on those going down to defeat on time .Then,hope and respite as Mark spent an age on a couple of moves.His seconds ticked away..two minutes for two moves! I was counting off the seconds on my fingers. Finally it was his newly queened pawn against my four pawns.He spent another few precious seconds mopping up the pawns and just as he did...his flag fell! So a draw it was! As Mark said at the end,it was a fair result.He played well at the end and I played badly in the time scramble.I was badly berated and scolded by Andrew Sangster later in the car going home for not seeing the win,and he said Fritz would surely show me the error of my ways,but it is far easier when one isn't in the hot seat...and a hot seat it was.
And now board three. Sneesby,P - Plain,G [D60]
Norfolk League 3 Templars v Lowestoft B, 27.02.2012
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.0-0 Re8 9.Qc2 h6 10.Bh4 c5 11.cxd5 cxd4 12.dxe6 fxe6 13.Nxd4 Ne5 14.Bb5 Bd7 15.Rfd1 Nd5 16.Bxe7 Qxe7 17.Bxd7 Nxd7 18.Nxd5 exd5 19.Rac1 Nb6 20.Qc7 Rad8 21.Qg3 Rd7 22.Rc2 Rc8 23.Rdc1 Rxc2 24.Rxc2 Nc4 25.b3 Qb4 26.f4 Nd6 27.Re2 Ne4 28.Qe1 Qe7 29.Rc2 Rc7 30.Qc1 Rxc2 31.Qxc2 Kh7 32.Nf5 Qf6 33.Nd4 Qe7 1/2-1/2 My first game with the Templars since April 2011 brought me a board three encounter with white against Graham Plain (135). The opening went from Slav, to Semi-Slav before finally settling into a transposition of the Orthodox Queen's Gambit Declined. 10. ... C5 looked premature, but black then played 11. ... Cxd4 (11. ... Nxd5 seems to keep everything in order), losing one pawn and saddling himself with an isolated e-pawn. A couple of pressurizing moves later and I felt I was "practically winning" but it is not always straightforward to convert these chances into victories! The exchange 16. Bxe7 released too much pressure (16. Bg3 kept the tension and was better) and further exchanges seemed to help free black. Black was regrouping nicely and I could not really find the correct plan of continuation. Trying of seize the open file only led to an exchange of a pair of rooks and I did not appreciate the strength of 24. ... Nc4. After 25. B3 black countered with the tricky 25. ... Qb4. Getting short on time, I struck out with 26. F4 but this only gave me a potentially weak e-pawn and a nasty hole on e4 (26. H4 was much better). The black Nc4-d6-e4 manoeuvre announced itself and black has deserving fought back to a nice solid position. After 32. Nf5 and 32. ... Qf6 the white knight obviously has to return to Nd4 and 33. ... Qe7 was a tacit invitation to repeat moves, accompanied by a formal peace offering. Cessation of hostilities. True, white is still a pawn up, but it is difficult to see an easy way through. This defeat then,probably marks the end of our promotion push.We seem too far behind now to catch the top two and too far ahead to be caught by the fourth team.So position three looks like where we are headed for.Not too bad considering we were second from bottom after five games at one point,with no wins.
Finally the match report as seen from the Lowesoft side and written by Warren Kingston.
Lowestoft welcomed the St Johns Templars to Parkhill Hotel. The Templars, along with Broadland Harnsers are the main rivals to Lowestoft for the Championship this year. So a good result was needed by the team tonight, if we could secure a good win this would push us further away from them with only three games to go. At the end of the evening Lowestoft came out winners by 2.5pts to 1.5pts, this increased our lead over the Templars to 5.5pts with Lowestoft playing one more game. The Templars have to play Broadland on March 12th at home and if the result goes against them, Lowestoft might secure promotion without playing a game. This is all speculation of course and you can not count your chickens and all that. Karthik was rested for this match but will return for the remaining fixtures, Daniel won his game by beating Charlie Neil on board four, in a tense and unorthodox approach to the French, Daniel came under a lot of pressure, Charlie had a wonderful bishop with two supporting pawns and supporting rooks. I felt Daniel went backwards a little and should try and keep the initiative, easier said than done though. In time trouble and looking for the win, Charlie froze over the board and lost on time. He didn't get his 30 moves in before the flag fell. "I was looking for the win and just didn't think, it was a great game. It was my only chance of beating Daniel as he will only get better and I will stay the same" said Charlie. Charlie is a great fella and a gracious loser. Myself and Andrew Sangster played on board one, we went down the anti-Sicilian line, I was thinking like a Trojan because I had only analysed the line a week ago, having got home and went through the book I played it correctly and it ended up a draw, felt Andrew had more chances than I did so I felt more relieved. Not sure I could have played more aggressively myself, think I could put more pressure on the opponent which increases the chance of my opponent making a mistake. It is half a point for the team and that's all that matters at the moment. Graham played Phil Sneesby, Phil is a solid player and can cause you problems if you make a mistake, Graham made a mistake and Phil caused him problems!! Graham miscalculated an exchange of pawns and lost a centre pawn, which left him with a IQP. I looked at the position and was really worried for Graham, so when he strolled in to the bar and said he had drawn, I was mightily relieved, Graham instead of playing c5, could have captured the c pawn and then attacked the bishop with the b pawn and then moved his bishop on to b7, this is standard in the Semi Slav, then again what do I know. This gave us two points on the evening and so this meant we couldn't lose. It was all down to the match Pooley v Downing on board two. Mark played the white pieces in this encounter against his old foe Richard, Richard has a good record against Mark. So Mark had to step up to the plate tonight and prove that he can compete against Richard. Mark played ok in the opening, nothing great and could have improved his position. Richard didn't take advantage of his position really. Then with some smart pawn advances by Richard and some negative play by Mark, Richard really got a strong grip on the game. His pawns were really rolling and he had an excellent knight on a wonderful outpost on g3, this caused numerous problems for Mark. Mark responded by getting his queen in to Richards back garden, which attacked the a pawn, Richard dismissed this for the attack. Richard, I feel made a mistake in the attack, which Mark didn't see, the pressure was quite amazing really. Mark blocked his defending bishop, which was covering the dark squares and Richard queen came strolling in to Marks 6th and 7th rank causing Mark all sorts of problems. It looked like a won position for Richard and in the ensuing time scramble, bash clocks, thrown pieces about, Richard run out of material for the win just as Marks clock fell, a draw!!! So they we have it a 2.5 to 1.5 win, if the team can keep up the good run and get a good result against North Norfolk Crabs, promotion will be in sight. Well done team and well done to the left handed gun slinger Danny the Destroyer. On a final note, Karthik has been chosen to represent Norfolk in the England Trials in Liverpool in March, congratulations to Karthik. Mark Jackson will be writing a review of the trials at a later date.
What a difference in surroundings.We play in the creaky,quirky old Kier Hardie Hall. Lowestoft on the other hand were in plush,comfortable,nay elegant surroundings.The chess room resembled an exquisite Georgian dining room,with circular windows and delicate lighting on the walls. It seemed so Paul Morphyesque...Nice! And so to the games. We badly needed a win after being held to a draw by the Crabs last week. .However,Lowestoft are top of the league and have three of their players in the top five positions of league 3 chess...the young hand wounded Mr,Jackson,the clinical W.Kingston and the attacking Pooley. (no mean feat considering there are over 85 players in it this season).
Andrew Sangster V Warren Kingston...board one.
Herewith my report: “I played Warren Kingston (135) nearly two years ago and he slaughtered me as black playing a poor French; I was therefore somewhat wary of him and played an Alapin variation when he met my e4 with a Sicilian. It was all book until 13 when after a major swap of pieces we were nearly in the end game. Everything was balanced, and as we approached move 25 and another swap off appeared Warren offered me a draw. I took the offer and was pleased when this morning Fritz declared it a draw as well – thank you Fritz.”
Mark Pooley V Richard Downing...board two.
My game was against Mark Pooley who sits proudly at the top of that 85 man tree,with only one defeat to his name all season..and about seven wins out of eleven.. I have always enjoyed our jousts and there is no one I would rather play than him.It is like walking into a saloon in the old wild west and see him waiting there in his chair like Wild Bill Hiccock. But on this occasion it was more like striding into the hot gladiatorial chess pit. His style is actually very similar to my own...and this game proved to be a rough and tumble,no holds barred classic. I was black and he deviated from his usual line of attack (as he had been warned that Andrew and I had prepared a data base against him).He threw his pieces into the attack and at first it looked promising for him,but in the later stages it began to turn sour and I was able to turn the tables on him and had him up against the ropes with most of his pieces pinned down on the back rank. However,I was only a rook for a knight up,and he suddenly offered a draw.It threw me a bit and I spent 15 minutes wondering if 1) I should take it. 2) if it was in fact a Downingesque ploy designed to mask the fact that downfall was imminent. I finally refused it and four moves later I offered him the draw (this time in a squeaky voice..having realised I had let things slip).This time he refused,and we were set for the final showdown....he with 8 minutes and myself with four. I then began to move wildly and quickly and madly.All the other games had finished and the players were either in the bar or watching the game.I reswopped a rook for a bishop.Both of us had stopped writing the moves down and it looked certain that I would join Charlie Neil on those going down to defeat on time .Then,hope and respite as Mark spent an age on a couple of moves.His seconds ticked away..two minutes for two moves! I was counting off the seconds on my fingers. Finally it was his newly queened pawn against my four pawns.He spent another few precious seconds mopping up the pawns and just as he did...his flag fell! So a draw it was! As Mark said at the end,it was a fair result.He played well at the end and I played badly in the time scramble.I was badly berated and scolded by Andrew Sangster later in the car going home for not seeing the win,and he said Fritz would surely show me the error of my ways,but it is far easier when one isn't in the hot seat...and a hot seat it was.
And now board three. Sneesby,P - Plain,G [D60]
Norfolk League 3 Templars v Lowestoft B, 27.02.2012
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0-0 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.0-0 Re8 9.Qc2 h6 10.Bh4 c5 11.cxd5 cxd4 12.dxe6 fxe6 13.Nxd4 Ne5 14.Bb5 Bd7 15.Rfd1 Nd5 16.Bxe7 Qxe7 17.Bxd7 Nxd7 18.Nxd5 exd5 19.Rac1 Nb6 20.Qc7 Rad8 21.Qg3 Rd7 22.Rc2 Rc8 23.Rdc1 Rxc2 24.Rxc2 Nc4 25.b3 Qb4 26.f4 Nd6 27.Re2 Ne4 28.Qe1 Qe7 29.Rc2 Rc7 30.Qc1 Rxc2 31.Qxc2 Kh7 32.Nf5 Qf6 33.Nd4 Qe7 1/2-1/2 My first game with the Templars since April 2011 brought me a board three encounter with white against Graham Plain (135). The opening went from Slav, to Semi-Slav before finally settling into a transposition of the Orthodox Queen's Gambit Declined. 10. ... C5 looked premature, but black then played 11. ... Cxd4 (11. ... Nxd5 seems to keep everything in order), losing one pawn and saddling himself with an isolated e-pawn. A couple of pressurizing moves later and I felt I was "practically winning" but it is not always straightforward to convert these chances into victories! The exchange 16. Bxe7 released too much pressure (16. Bg3 kept the tension and was better) and further exchanges seemed to help free black. Black was regrouping nicely and I could not really find the correct plan of continuation. Trying of seize the open file only led to an exchange of a pair of rooks and I did not appreciate the strength of 24. ... Nc4. After 25. B3 black countered with the tricky 25. ... Qb4. Getting short on time, I struck out with 26. F4 but this only gave me a potentially weak e-pawn and a nasty hole on e4 (26. H4 was much better). The black Nc4-d6-e4 manoeuvre announced itself and black has deserving fought back to a nice solid position. After 32. Nf5 and 32. ... Qf6 the white knight obviously has to return to Nd4 and 33. ... Qe7 was a tacit invitation to repeat moves, accompanied by a formal peace offering. Cessation of hostilities. True, white is still a pawn up, but it is difficult to see an easy way through. This defeat then,probably marks the end of our promotion push.We seem too far behind now to catch the top two and too far ahead to be caught by the fourth team.So position three looks like where we are headed for.Not too bad considering we were second from bottom after five games at one point,with no wins.
Finally the match report as seen from the Lowesoft side and written by Warren Kingston.
Lowestoft welcomed the St Johns Templars to Parkhill Hotel. The Templars, along with Broadland Harnsers are the main rivals to Lowestoft for the Championship this year. So a good result was needed by the team tonight, if we could secure a good win this would push us further away from them with only three games to go. At the end of the evening Lowestoft came out winners by 2.5pts to 1.5pts, this increased our lead over the Templars to 5.5pts with Lowestoft playing one more game. The Templars have to play Broadland on March 12th at home and if the result goes against them, Lowestoft might secure promotion without playing a game. This is all speculation of course and you can not count your chickens and all that. Karthik was rested for this match but will return for the remaining fixtures, Daniel won his game by beating Charlie Neil on board four, in a tense and unorthodox approach to the French, Daniel came under a lot of pressure, Charlie had a wonderful bishop with two supporting pawns and supporting rooks. I felt Daniel went backwards a little and should try and keep the initiative, easier said than done though. In time trouble and looking for the win, Charlie froze over the board and lost on time. He didn't get his 30 moves in before the flag fell. "I was looking for the win and just didn't think, it was a great game. It was my only chance of beating Daniel as he will only get better and I will stay the same" said Charlie. Charlie is a great fella and a gracious loser. Myself and Andrew Sangster played on board one, we went down the anti-Sicilian line, I was thinking like a Trojan because I had only analysed the line a week ago, having got home and went through the book I played it correctly and it ended up a draw, felt Andrew had more chances than I did so I felt more relieved. Not sure I could have played more aggressively myself, think I could put more pressure on the opponent which increases the chance of my opponent making a mistake. It is half a point for the team and that's all that matters at the moment. Graham played Phil Sneesby, Phil is a solid player and can cause you problems if you make a mistake, Graham made a mistake and Phil caused him problems!! Graham miscalculated an exchange of pawns and lost a centre pawn, which left him with a IQP. I looked at the position and was really worried for Graham, so when he strolled in to the bar and said he had drawn, I was mightily relieved, Graham instead of playing c5, could have captured the c pawn and then attacked the bishop with the b pawn and then moved his bishop on to b7, this is standard in the Semi Slav, then again what do I know. This gave us two points on the evening and so this meant we couldn't lose. It was all down to the match Pooley v Downing on board two. Mark played the white pieces in this encounter against his old foe Richard, Richard has a good record against Mark. So Mark had to step up to the plate tonight and prove that he can compete against Richard. Mark played ok in the opening, nothing great and could have improved his position. Richard didn't take advantage of his position really. Then with some smart pawn advances by Richard and some negative play by Mark, Richard really got a strong grip on the game. His pawns were really rolling and he had an excellent knight on a wonderful outpost on g3, this caused numerous problems for Mark. Mark responded by getting his queen in to Richards back garden, which attacked the a pawn, Richard dismissed this for the attack. Richard, I feel made a mistake in the attack, which Mark didn't see, the pressure was quite amazing really. Mark blocked his defending bishop, which was covering the dark squares and Richard queen came strolling in to Marks 6th and 7th rank causing Mark all sorts of problems. It looked like a won position for Richard and in the ensuing time scramble, bash clocks, thrown pieces about, Richard run out of material for the win just as Marks clock fell, a draw!!! So they we have it a 2.5 to 1.5 win, if the team can keep up the good run and get a good result against North Norfolk Crabs, promotion will be in sight. Well done team and well done to the left handed gun slinger Danny the Destroyer. On a final note, Karthik has been chosen to represent Norfolk in the England Trials in Liverpool in March, congratulations to Karthik. Mark Jackson will be writing a review of the trials at a later date.
St John's Templars V North Norfolk Crabs played Thursday 25th February 2012 Result 2-2
Richard Downing: board two.
A bit dispiriting and miserable to find there were no score sheets at the Kier Hardie hall and we had to make do with tiny scraps of paper.I hope the visiting Crabs didn't mind too much. Not the best of starts. Then sitting down to play on board two and after only nine moves I had gifted a bishop to Mike Sallon for absolutely nothing.I have given away plenty of pawns for nothing in the past,but a bishop!!! Oh dear! Very difficult to come back from the dead at this level. However,I believe I fought back quite well and was still in the game after 35 odd moves and even had faint to fair chances until I blundered a rook..seeking to overattack...yet again for nothing! This time it was adios....the first time for almost three years I had lost to a player rated lower than myself. But actually looking at the player statistics on the new web,it shows that Mike Sallon has been doing very very well indeed this season. Well done to the Crabs...we outgraded them 3-1 but they did themselves justice.
On board one.Andrew Sangster
My game “Peter Hodkinson opened with a Queen’s attack I had never seen before and as black I was on the defensive from the start; it became a war of a attrition until we were left with a same coloured Bishop each and pawns that blocked any movement by either side. Peter and I are of the same strength so it was no great surprise, but I have to say it’s a pleasure playing chess with someone like a Peter who is so pleasant. - Andrew
Board three:Ken Ellis.
Another draw, I'm afraid. It seems to have become a habit this season. This one, however, was plucked from an inferior position. My opponent, Martin Burnham, had played an e4 bishop opening unfamiliar to me which I proceeded to make a real pig's ear of. I eventually managed to extricate myself and when I was offered the draw, I thought I had better accept it due to shortage of time - time that I had used getting myself out of the mess in the first place. Not one of my better efforts ! Ken.
Board four:Charlie Neil.
I had White against John Pearl. The opening developed into a Scotch 4 Knights, I've had a lot of these games recently in my postal games, and the Doughty John Pearl quickly lost a Knight to a "book trap".When I got the open 'E' file the extra Knight shepherded a pawn to coronation in 29 moves. The game that defies description was Ken 'Nerves of Steel' against Martin 'Battler' Burnham. How did you get that draw? And for Monday I'll borrow the Lovable Mrs Neil's Sat Nav. Nice to see Phil coming off the bench while Ken rests his luck. And, finally what's the scoresheet situation? 500 for £7.00
So,there it was,a 2-2 draw.Not the best of results,but our amazing run of wins had to end sometime,and the Crabs are up there with most players favourite bunch of players.We still have only suffered the one defeat all season and so we go to Lowestoft on Monday in a more sombre yet determined frame of mind. Ken Ellis will be absent for this game due to cricket umpiring duties so a replacement will be brought in.
Richard Downing: board two.
A bit dispiriting and miserable to find there were no score sheets at the Kier Hardie hall and we had to make do with tiny scraps of paper.I hope the visiting Crabs didn't mind too much. Not the best of starts. Then sitting down to play on board two and after only nine moves I had gifted a bishop to Mike Sallon for absolutely nothing.I have given away plenty of pawns for nothing in the past,but a bishop!!! Oh dear! Very difficult to come back from the dead at this level. However,I believe I fought back quite well and was still in the game after 35 odd moves and even had faint to fair chances until I blundered a rook..seeking to overattack...yet again for nothing! This time it was adios....the first time for almost three years I had lost to a player rated lower than myself. But actually looking at the player statistics on the new web,it shows that Mike Sallon has been doing very very well indeed this season. Well done to the Crabs...we outgraded them 3-1 but they did themselves justice.
On board one.Andrew Sangster
My game “Peter Hodkinson opened with a Queen’s attack I had never seen before and as black I was on the defensive from the start; it became a war of a attrition until we were left with a same coloured Bishop each and pawns that blocked any movement by either side. Peter and I are of the same strength so it was no great surprise, but I have to say it’s a pleasure playing chess with someone like a Peter who is so pleasant. - Andrew
Board three:Ken Ellis.
Another draw, I'm afraid. It seems to have become a habit this season. This one, however, was plucked from an inferior position. My opponent, Martin Burnham, had played an e4 bishop opening unfamiliar to me which I proceeded to make a real pig's ear of. I eventually managed to extricate myself and when I was offered the draw, I thought I had better accept it due to shortage of time - time that I had used getting myself out of the mess in the first place. Not one of my better efforts ! Ken.
Board four:Charlie Neil.
I had White against John Pearl. The opening developed into a Scotch 4 Knights, I've had a lot of these games recently in my postal games, and the Doughty John Pearl quickly lost a Knight to a "book trap".When I got the open 'E' file the extra Knight shepherded a pawn to coronation in 29 moves. The game that defies description was Ken 'Nerves of Steel' against Martin 'Battler' Burnham. How did you get that draw? And for Monday I'll borrow the Lovable Mrs Neil's Sat Nav. Nice to see Phil coming off the bench while Ken rests his luck. And, finally what's the scoresheet situation? 500 for £7.00
So,there it was,a 2-2 draw.Not the best of results,but our amazing run of wins had to end sometime,and the Crabs are up there with most players favourite bunch of players.We still have only suffered the one defeat all season and so we go to Lowestoft on Monday in a more sombre yet determined frame of mind. Ken Ellis will be absent for this game due to cricket umpiring duties so a replacement will be brought in.
Wymondham V Templars Friday 20th January 2012 Score 0.5...3.5
My favourite away venue at the Feathers pub on the second floor.Gerry told me they used to have a fire burning in the grate about five years ago. We went to Wymondham knowing that they had only been beaten once in the league all season and were in third position.We drew 2-2 with them on our first game of the season and I thought we were a tad unlucky in a couple of the games,so it was with an optimistic spirit that we set out.We had revenge on our minds as their first team had trounced our brother Crusaders 3.5/0.5 only the other evening in Division two. I have changed the style of the reports a little bit and from now own you can hear each individual players talking about their own games.I did this for two reasons.Firstly I was fed up with just writing about my own games and wanted more player input and secondly it is more fun and useful to read how the guys in the trenches felt. The first is from our number one board Andrew Sangster who was playing the very dangerous Hamisch Lyall.
1. Having just had a wisdom tooth yanked out yet leaving some of the root I was not keen on an away-game on cold wet night in Wymondham. I played on Board 1 against a Hamish Lyall who responded to my e5 with the French defence. I decided to play calmly with the Exchange variation which all the pundits correctly call a draw-game, and so it seemed until move 30 and over two hours into the game. After a series of Rook/Queen and Bishop exchanges I noted that my pawns had a very slight edge, and after a couple of moves I had two passed pawns, although in material we were still equal. Had Hamish launched a counter-attack on his majority side it may well have been a draw, but he defended against my attack and lost. He played well and had it not been his decision to defend and not attack it may well have been a draw. On another note, and for our Club knowledge only, should we not compile a file of the opening moves played by all our opponents? I would be willing to compile the list if people were willing to send me the details. Hamisch has lots of "previous" against Templars/Crusaders.Who can ever forget him mating Gerry Clayton when two pieces down a year or two ago....Richard
2.Next is my own game on board two against the equally dangerous Bodo Reismann. Bodo's grades (107) are far lower than his talents suggest.I have always found him a hard player to face and it proved to be the case last night.I was black and seemingly easing into a comfortable mid game position.His kings pawn were all advanced too far and I was never under any threat;if anything it was myself calling all the shots despite being materially equal.So,why did I foolishly accept his draw offer? And after only 27 moves? And with most of the pieces still left on the board?A good question...especially as when we replayed the game,Bodo lost after about six more moves.Arrrghh! Grinding of teeth and much vexation! I am sure Fritz will call me a mad,but incredibly handsome fool, when I run it through the computer later today.Still...the good thing was my co-players were all doing very well.
3.Next is Ken Ellis on board three. I played Mike Poulton in this match, a player whom I cannot remember playing ever before. We sparred around in a even opening and early middle game until I blundered a pawn away on move 19. However, I managed to get an attack going and Mike miscalculated my combination and when the dust settled, I emerged a rook to the good. It was plain sailing after that and he gave up when he couldn't prevent mate next move. A welcome win as I have been drawing too many this season, a couple of which I probably could have won. 4. And finally Charlie Neil on four. My game against young Dominic was checkmate by a knight in 21 moves, thanks to an un castled King, a neglected open file and too many pawn moves in the opening. But in a years time I'll still be playing about the same strength and young Dominic will be improving if he continues to work at his chess. Out of respect to my opponent I'll leave it at that.
So there we had it...a win by 3.5 to 0.5.This keeps the ball rolling for The Templars and thanks to the Wymondham players who although badly mauled,remained cheerful and friendly to the last. The win also allows me to keep Sam Gibbs on board one in reserve until our two big games against Lowestoft and Broadland later in the season. The team will be the same against Yarmouth for our home match next Thursday. Please be there a little early to help with the setting up etc. By the way,Andrew Sangster has offered to co-ordinate setting up a massive database of all our opponents openings,which will prove invaluable to all three teams of the Phoenix persuasion. I will start the ball rolling by sending him the first six moves of my two games played against Mark Pooley of Lowestoft.Update...this scheme is already bearing fruit..we have six games against Mark.Pooley so far and have found that he likes to employ an all weather white/black opening.
My favourite away venue at the Feathers pub on the second floor.Gerry told me they used to have a fire burning in the grate about five years ago. We went to Wymondham knowing that they had only been beaten once in the league all season and were in third position.We drew 2-2 with them on our first game of the season and I thought we were a tad unlucky in a couple of the games,so it was with an optimistic spirit that we set out.We had revenge on our minds as their first team had trounced our brother Crusaders 3.5/0.5 only the other evening in Division two. I have changed the style of the reports a little bit and from now own you can hear each individual players talking about their own games.I did this for two reasons.Firstly I was fed up with just writing about my own games and wanted more player input and secondly it is more fun and useful to read how the guys in the trenches felt. The first is from our number one board Andrew Sangster who was playing the very dangerous Hamisch Lyall.
1. Having just had a wisdom tooth yanked out yet leaving some of the root I was not keen on an away-game on cold wet night in Wymondham. I played on Board 1 against a Hamish Lyall who responded to my e5 with the French defence. I decided to play calmly with the Exchange variation which all the pundits correctly call a draw-game, and so it seemed until move 30 and over two hours into the game. After a series of Rook/Queen and Bishop exchanges I noted that my pawns had a very slight edge, and after a couple of moves I had two passed pawns, although in material we were still equal. Had Hamish launched a counter-attack on his majority side it may well have been a draw, but he defended against my attack and lost. He played well and had it not been his decision to defend and not attack it may well have been a draw. On another note, and for our Club knowledge only, should we not compile a file of the opening moves played by all our opponents? I would be willing to compile the list if people were willing to send me the details. Hamisch has lots of "previous" against Templars/Crusaders.Who can ever forget him mating Gerry Clayton when two pieces down a year or two ago....Richard
2.Next is my own game on board two against the equally dangerous Bodo Reismann. Bodo's grades (107) are far lower than his talents suggest.I have always found him a hard player to face and it proved to be the case last night.I was black and seemingly easing into a comfortable mid game position.His kings pawn were all advanced too far and I was never under any threat;if anything it was myself calling all the shots despite being materially equal.So,why did I foolishly accept his draw offer? And after only 27 moves? And with most of the pieces still left on the board?A good question...especially as when we replayed the game,Bodo lost after about six more moves.Arrrghh! Grinding of teeth and much vexation! I am sure Fritz will call me a mad,but incredibly handsome fool, when I run it through the computer later today.Still...the good thing was my co-players were all doing very well.
3.Next is Ken Ellis on board three. I played Mike Poulton in this match, a player whom I cannot remember playing ever before. We sparred around in a even opening and early middle game until I blundered a pawn away on move 19. However, I managed to get an attack going and Mike miscalculated my combination and when the dust settled, I emerged a rook to the good. It was plain sailing after that and he gave up when he couldn't prevent mate next move. A welcome win as I have been drawing too many this season, a couple of which I probably could have won. 4. And finally Charlie Neil on four. My game against young Dominic was checkmate by a knight in 21 moves, thanks to an un castled King, a neglected open file and too many pawn moves in the opening. But in a years time I'll still be playing about the same strength and young Dominic will be improving if he continues to work at his chess. Out of respect to my opponent I'll leave it at that.
So there we had it...a win by 3.5 to 0.5.This keeps the ball rolling for The Templars and thanks to the Wymondham players who although badly mauled,remained cheerful and friendly to the last. The win also allows me to keep Sam Gibbs on board one in reserve until our two big games against Lowestoft and Broadland later in the season. The team will be the same against Yarmouth for our home match next Thursday. Please be there a little early to help with the setting up etc. By the way,Andrew Sangster has offered to co-ordinate setting up a massive database of all our opponents openings,which will prove invaluable to all three teams of the Phoenix persuasion. I will start the ball rolling by sending him the first six moves of my two games played against Mark Pooley of Lowestoft.Update...this scheme is already bearing fruit..we have six games against Mark.Pooley so far and have found that he likes to employ an all weather white/black opening.
Phoenix Knights V Phoenix Templars ...played Thursday 12.1.2012
Our local derby at the Kier Hall and it is always a little strange to be playing our fellow club members in the cut and thrust of the league. The first game to finish was my own as Alan Holmes played the four pawn storm against my King's Indian. It is always a little daunting seeing those four pawns come charging up the hill at you,but I went a pawn up,then two and then three and Alan threw in the towel when the queens went and the king's bishop about to take a rook. Charlie had a good win on board four against Dick.I popped over to see his game and he controlled it all the way through.So we were 2-0 up,but things were going to get hairy. In an e-mail earlier this week,I was asked about Ritchie the Gunslinger's playing style.I replied: direct,aggressive and he somehow makes you play at his own speed and has caught many a big scalp in his time.Also he is cunning.My two club games against him this year saw me stalemated and a draw in time trouble,so he was not to be underestimated in the slightest..The secret,I felt,was to play slowly and steadily. He faced Andrew Sangster on board one and after a decent start by Andrew,Ritchie suddenly began to turn the screws and in a series of excellent moves forced Andrew to surrender his bishop. Ritchie's already strong position got better by the move and Andrew was left looking dazed,clinging on the ropes and barely able to muster an attack.Ritchie went in for the kill....at which point I gave the game up for dead and went to watch Ken Ellis's game which was six pawns apiece plus rooks,but Ken had a dominant attacking king in the middle,whilst Rod had to make do with a passive position and an isolated pawn. Upon my return,and to my shock,Ritchie had just a bishop and rook and five pawns versus queen and five pawns and somehow Andrew had turned the game on its head.This was around the seventy move mark and they were going at it like worn out boxers,but Andrew was turning the screws and mopping up Ritchie's pawns on the king side....whilst storming ahead with his own pawns...and easily evading Ritchie's rook checks It was all over for the valiant Gunslinger and he went down to defeat,but as Andrew said later "it was his (Ritchie's) game and he deserved to win." So 3-0 up and on to the final game where Ken probably missed gaining a pawn at the end with not too much time left for him and a draw was agreed against Rod,who has done very well for The Knights since joining this year. The Knights are set to add Brian Cunningham ..the latest Phoenix member to their team and Gerry Clayton rates him very highly,so I expect the Knights to have a good second half to the season. All games were of course played in a sporting and friendly manner. We have Wymondham away next Friday and I will be announcing the team tomorrow after some deep thought. We are now in third spot and hot on the heels on Lowestoft who lost their unbeaten record a couple of nights ago...and with the addition of Sam Gibbs on board one,I feel we can catch them (we have a game in hand).
A.Sangster 1 R.Downie 0
R.Downing 1 A.Holme s 0
K.Ellis 0.5 R.Mills 0.5
C.Neil 1 D.Cousins 0
Result 3.5/0.5
A Win Is A Win Is A Win
Lowestoft 2.5-1.5 St Johns Knights
Over confidence is a bad emotion, something that should be locked away and never let out to play. Then it finds the key to the door and creates havoc. This happened on Monday night in the B Teams match against St Johns Knights. The Knights are bottom of the league without a draw never mind a win, but that didnt stop them hurting Lowestoft with a valiant effort and taking 1� points from us. It could have been so much worse as well!! Firstly Karthik snatch a win against all the odds, his opponent missed the simplest of mates but the Chess Gods were looking down on Karthik and he turned the game on its head within 3 moves and recorded one point for the team, on board three Graham missed a not so simple piece win that hurt him badly, he never recovered and was slowly crushed by Rod Mills. On board One Warren played Ritchie Downie and after Warrens win at St Johns earlier in the season, was expecting a easy ride. This got all thrown out of the window after 13 moves in to the game, Warren lost his best bishop, Ritchie gained an excellent outpost for his knight, all looking bleak for Warren, then after a few lackluste moves by Ritchie let Warren gain some pressure on the his Queen. Ifelt I had some chances of breaking out of the stronghold, I made one major mistake and Ritchie went for the kill but didnt have enough firepower to take the win. Draw. Lucky Warren. Mark Pooley on board Two seemed to make it an easy win against his opponent, Mark is playing quite well at the moment, between us we are dragging the team forward. We are 1� points ahead of Broadland and 4 ahead of Wymondham Owls. The match against the Owls will be crucial to who goes up with Broadland (I think its Broadlands to lose)
Our local derby at the Kier Hall and it is always a little strange to be playing our fellow club members in the cut and thrust of the league. The first game to finish was my own as Alan Holmes played the four pawn storm against my King's Indian. It is always a little daunting seeing those four pawns come charging up the hill at you,but I went a pawn up,then two and then three and Alan threw in the towel when the queens went and the king's bishop about to take a rook. Charlie had a good win on board four against Dick.I popped over to see his game and he controlled it all the way through.So we were 2-0 up,but things were going to get hairy. In an e-mail earlier this week,I was asked about Ritchie the Gunslinger's playing style.I replied: direct,aggressive and he somehow makes you play at his own speed and has caught many a big scalp in his time.Also he is cunning.My two club games against him this year saw me stalemated and a draw in time trouble,so he was not to be underestimated in the slightest..The secret,I felt,was to play slowly and steadily. He faced Andrew Sangster on board one and after a decent start by Andrew,Ritchie suddenly began to turn the screws and in a series of excellent moves forced Andrew to surrender his bishop. Ritchie's already strong position got better by the move and Andrew was left looking dazed,clinging on the ropes and barely able to muster an attack.Ritchie went in for the kill....at which point I gave the game up for dead and went to watch Ken Ellis's game which was six pawns apiece plus rooks,but Ken had a dominant attacking king in the middle,whilst Rod had to make do with a passive position and an isolated pawn. Upon my return,and to my shock,Ritchie had just a bishop and rook and five pawns versus queen and five pawns and somehow Andrew had turned the game on its head.This was around the seventy move mark and they were going at it like worn out boxers,but Andrew was turning the screws and mopping up Ritchie's pawns on the king side....whilst storming ahead with his own pawns...and easily evading Ritchie's rook checks It was all over for the valiant Gunslinger and he went down to defeat,but as Andrew said later "it was his (Ritchie's) game and he deserved to win." So 3-0 up and on to the final game where Ken probably missed gaining a pawn at the end with not too much time left for him and a draw was agreed against Rod,who has done very well for The Knights since joining this year. The Knights are set to add Brian Cunningham ..the latest Phoenix member to their team and Gerry Clayton rates him very highly,so I expect the Knights to have a good second half to the season. All games were of course played in a sporting and friendly manner. We have Wymondham away next Friday and I will be announcing the team tomorrow after some deep thought. We are now in third spot and hot on the heels on Lowestoft who lost their unbeaten record a couple of nights ago...and with the addition of Sam Gibbs on board one,I feel we can catch them (we have a game in hand).
A.Sangster 1 R.Downie 0
R.Downing 1 A.Holme s 0
K.Ellis 0.5 R.Mills 0.5
C.Neil 1 D.Cousins 0
Result 3.5/0.5
A Win Is A Win Is A Win
Lowestoft 2.5-1.5 St Johns Knights
Over confidence is a bad emotion, something that should be locked away and never let out to play. Then it finds the key to the door and creates havoc. This happened on Monday night in the B Teams match against St Johns Knights. The Knights are bottom of the league without a draw never mind a win, but that didnt stop them hurting Lowestoft with a valiant effort and taking 1� points from us. It could have been so much worse as well!! Firstly Karthik snatch a win against all the odds, his opponent missed the simplest of mates but the Chess Gods were looking down on Karthik and he turned the game on its head within 3 moves and recorded one point for the team, on board three Graham missed a not so simple piece win that hurt him badly, he never recovered and was slowly crushed by Rod Mills. On board One Warren played Ritchie Downie and after Warrens win at St Johns earlier in the season, was expecting a easy ride. This got all thrown out of the window after 13 moves in to the game, Warren lost his best bishop, Ritchie gained an excellent outpost for his knight, all looking bleak for Warren, then after a few lackluste moves by Ritchie let Warren gain some pressure on the his Queen. Ifelt I had some chances of breaking out of the stronghold, I made one major mistake and Ritchie went for the kill but didnt have enough firepower to take the win. Draw. Lucky Warren. Mark Pooley on board Two seemed to make it an easy win against his opponent, Mark is playing quite well at the moment, between us we are dragging the team forward. We are 1� points ahead of Broadland and 4 ahead of Wymondham Owls. The match against the Owls will be crucial to who goes up with Broadland (I think its Broadlands to lose)
Phoenix Templars V N and N Pawns…played on 15.12.2011
15 Dec 11
St Johns Templars 3
Norfolk and Norwich Pawns 1
S Gibbs 1 D Moore 0
A Sangster 1 A Bell 0
R Downing 1 F Hooper 0
K Ellis 0 C Magrath 1
It seemed a long time since we had played chess. Charlie Neil was absent due to his wife’s birthday and so we welcomed Sam Gibbs into the team for his Phoenix debut. As you may or not know, Sam was my student and I had watched his chess blossom to the point where he is now rated 156 and on the top board for us. What made it more interesting was that he used to play for our opposition of the night and also owed them some money.
As most of the pressure seemed to be off Andrew Sangster on board two, it was clear he was enjoying himself and was the first to chalk up his win and duly depart.
Sam’s game on board one looked like it was heading for a draw, but the next time I looked up; Sam was meandering around the room with a quiet smile on his face. A fine debut.
Ken on four looked to be holding his own against a sprog whilst I had the dangerous Freddy Hooper who had actually beaten me the last time we played.
It was quite interesting and funny as he allowed his bishop to be trapped and then shook his head ruefully and whispered “Oh my God.” Immediately I smelled a rat. Had he not done so I am sure I would have taken it with awful consequences.anyway,I ended up with a pawn advantage and duly pressed for a win. In true Downing style he didn’t resign despite being three pawns and a bishop down, and I was forced to mate him at about 11.00.
Ken had an awful experience and thought he had completed the 30 moves but instead found to his horror it was only 28 and therefore lost on time.
So it was a 3-1 win to us.
I was hoping for at least a 3.5/0.5 but 3-1 was nice.
On the other side of the hall, the Crusaders were hammering Lowestoft 4-0 and wasn’t it great to see Mark Collins back in the saddle.
So all in all, a fine night for the Phoenix Club. The Templars move up into fourth spot and The Crusaders ease into mid table in division Two.
15 Dec 11
St Johns Templars 3
Norfolk and Norwich Pawns 1
S Gibbs 1 D Moore 0
A Sangster 1 A Bell 0
R Downing 1 F Hooper 0
K Ellis 0 C Magrath 1
It seemed a long time since we had played chess. Charlie Neil was absent due to his wife’s birthday and so we welcomed Sam Gibbs into the team for his Phoenix debut. As you may or not know, Sam was my student and I had watched his chess blossom to the point where he is now rated 156 and on the top board for us. What made it more interesting was that he used to play for our opposition of the night and also owed them some money.
As most of the pressure seemed to be off Andrew Sangster on board two, it was clear he was enjoying himself and was the first to chalk up his win and duly depart.
Sam’s game on board one looked like it was heading for a draw, but the next time I looked up; Sam was meandering around the room with a quiet smile on his face. A fine debut.
Ken on four looked to be holding his own against a sprog whilst I had the dangerous Freddy Hooper who had actually beaten me the last time we played.
It was quite interesting and funny as he allowed his bishop to be trapped and then shook his head ruefully and whispered “Oh my God.” Immediately I smelled a rat. Had he not done so I am sure I would have taken it with awful consequences.anyway,I ended up with a pawn advantage and duly pressed for a win. In true Downing style he didn’t resign despite being three pawns and a bishop down, and I was forced to mate him at about 11.00.
Ken had an awful experience and thought he had completed the 30 moves but instead found to his horror it was only 28 and therefore lost on time.
So it was a 3-1 win to us.
I was hoping for at least a 3.5/0.5 but 3-1 was nice.
On the other side of the hall, the Crusaders were hammering Lowestoft 4-0 and wasn’t it great to see Mark Collins back in the saddle.
So all in all, a fine night for the Phoenix Club. The Templars move up into fourth spot and The Crusaders ease into mid table in division Two.
