Deadly Duo Do It Again!

On another memorable  night of chess, the B team pulled of a dramatic 3-2 win over the strong Ludlow A team to elevate us into second place in the division, just behind our next opponents, Telepost B. We could conceivably go into the Christmas break as leaders.

Norman got the ball rolling on board 4, when he and his opponent agreed a draw because neither could make any headway. The less said about my abject attempt to play the Dutch defence the better. I think it’s time to consign it to the dustbin.  All credit to my opponent, who played some nice moves, including a delayed rook sacrifice, which completely tore my position to shreds.  From hero to zero you might say!  Mark on board 1 was playing L. Davis, a 183-graded recent recruit to Ludlow’s team, a daunting task for anyone in the second division.  However, he secured a highly creditable draw after matching his opponent all the way and having a slightly  better position at the end.

With the score at 2-1 to Ludlow, all attention now turned to the Deadly Duo once again, namely Celia and Ile, of course, playing boards 2 and 3 respectively. They were playing two very strong and experienced  players, so to do what they did was pretty remarkable. Celia was first to finish and for someone aged 14, her play is so calm and precise. On the front foot from the start she outwitted her opponent with some nice attacking play and then kept it all together after he made the slightest of errors, to force her passed pawn through to make it 2-2. Ile’s game was looking like a draw, but his time was rapidly running out and I, for one, feared the worst. His opponent then surprisingly  lost the exchange and Ile, again like our Senorita, showed remarkable calmness and precision to give the exchange back, so he could march his passed pawn to queen, had his opponent not graciously  conceded the game and the match at this point.  Applause all round and a nice ‘high-five’ from Celia for the Doc. Brilliant stuff.

Ian Davies, B Team Captain