v Atherton (Away)
| Atherton | Culcheth/Lymm B | Result |
| Martyn Hamer | Tom Vout | 1-0 |
| Lee Kay | Keith Maudsley | 0.5-0.5 |
| Peter Mulleady | Andy Coe | 1-0 |
| Mark Whitehead | John Reyes | 0.5-0.5 |
| Martin Lythgoe | Nick Burriss | 0.5-0.5 |
| Dave Martindale | Mike Rotchell | 0.5-0.5 |
Acting captain on the night Mike Rotchell rallied his troops to some heroic performances and writes……….
Atherton turned out a very strong team against us with an average grade of 174 against our 142. On some occasions they have fielded a weaker board 6, but not this time as I found myself up against Dave Martindale! Considering the stength of the opposition a 4 – 2 defeat with 4 drawn games seems quite respectable.
John (Reyes) was the first to finish. John had black against Mark Whitehead on board 4 and played the Tartakover variation of the Caro Kann. The game was agreed drawn after 15 moves with the position showing no advantage for either player.
Atherton 0.5 0.5 Culcheth
Tom was the next to finish on board 1 against the highly rated Martyn Hamer. I don’t have any details for this game but from what Tom said afterwards it appears that Martyn calculated a bit further in a critical position.
Atherton 1.5 0.5 Culcheth
The next game to finish was between Keith and Lee Kay on board 2. Keith was black and had been anticipating Lee to play Bird’s opening which is apparently a trademark opening of his. Instead Lee opened e4 and after Keith replied with c5 played a3. Keith thought that this might transpose into a Wing Gambit variation but not so. Queens came off early and though Lee had some pressure with his minor pieces Keith was able to defend carefully and avoid any tactical shots to achieve the draw.
Atherton 2 1 Culcheth
The next game to finish was my own against Dave Martindale on board 6. Dave had white and opened Nc3. I replied Nf6 ( probably my first mistake ) and after e4 e5 I was in a totally unfamiliar position. It appears that Dave missed a chance on move 10 to set a trap that l would have to jettison a pawn to avoid but this would also have left him with doubled isolated pawns on the c file. After this the game was even and l offered a draw after my 23rd move which Dave quickly accepted.
Atherton 2.5 1.5 Culcheth
We now had white on the two remaining boards.
Andy was the next to finish on board 3 against Peter Mulleady. I was only able to get a cursory look at Andy’s game. Material was equal but it looked as though Andy was under a little pressure. Soon after though Andy fell into a mating attack.
Atherton 3.5 1.5 Culcheth
Nick had white against Martin Lythgoe on board 5 and continued playing on in a level postion until the result of Andy’s game was known.Nick opened e4 and Martin responded with the Caro Kann. Believing this to be an opening Martin normally uses Nick tried a novelty on move 5 to get out of main lines. Apparently though this is not an opening Martin is too familiar with.Nick obtained a decent position but Martin’s position was very solid. With the position very equal and the result of the match already decided a draw was agreed.
v Ormskirk (Home)
On the 27th November Ormskirk were the visitors to the Datum, they arrived with a record of played 4 lost 4 so are finding life in Division 1 tough.
Defaulting a board didn’t make their chances of pulling off an upset any easier
1-0 to the Mighty Bees (without even moving a piece !!)
| Culcheth/Lymm B | Ormskirk | Result |
| Tom Vout | Andrew Hawkins | 1-0 |
| Keith Maudsley | Robert Owens | 1-0 |
| Steve Cole | Vaughan Wall | 1-0 |
| Andy Coe | David Tompkins | 1-0 |
| Nick Burriss | Anthony Wells | 0-1 |
| Mike Rotchell | Default | 1-0 |
| 5-1 |
The visitors chances of pulling off their first top flight win was made worse when their top board blundered a piece and tried to redeem the situation by sacrificing a second, but Tom took full advantage and won in 19 moves.
2-0 to the Mighty Bees
And within 2 minutes of Tom’s victory the visitors board 3 decided to castle straight into mate !!
20) ……. 0-0 ?????? 21) Qh7 mate 1-0
3-0 to the Mighty Bees
Andy was next to finish
In the position below Andy already has a big advantage threatening to breakthrough on the A file.
White played 37) Qe2 e4 38) Qc4 e3 and quickly lost.
Instead 37) d6! is an interesting idea
After 37)…..exd6 38) Rb2 Bxa2 39) Bf3! And although black is still winning white has some material compensation for his lost pawns.
4-0 to the Mighty Bees
Nick was next to finish…..
Chess can sometimes be a frustrating experience, you sit for hours building up a winning position only to find out you don’t have enough time to convert the win !!.
This was the fate of poor Nick in this match, winning a pawn early and slowly building up a winning advantage, Nick didn’t manage his time and found himself in a position no chess players wants to be in… won position but lost on time.
Unlucky Nick ☹
4-1 to the Mighty Bees
Last to finish but by no means least was the board 2 game
The game was very interesting though out and was certainly the game of the match.
Keith has kindly provided notes to the game………………..
If you prefer the click and play version it can be found here
R. Owens v K. Maudsley
1 c4 Nf6 2 d4 g6 3 g3 Bg7 4 Bg2 O-O 5 Nc3 d6 6 e4 Nbd7 7 Nge2 e5 8 d5 Nh5
9 O-O f5 10 exf5 gxf5 11 f4 exf4 (I wanted to keep the position open. 11…e4 is also fine) 12 Nxf4 Nxf4 13 Bxf4 Ne5 14 Qb3 b6 (As well as defending b7, giving white the possibility of Ba6 to think about) 15 Ne2 Qf6 16 Nd4 Kh8 (Dealing with white’s Ne6 possibilities) 17 Rfd1 Ng6 18 Be3 f4 19 Rf1 Qe5 20 Bf2 fxg3 21 Be3 (not relishing 20 hxg3 Rxf2 , picking up the N on d4. 20 Qxg3 is much the same) gxh2+ 22 Kh1 Bg4 23 Qd3 Rae8 24 Rxf8+ Rxf8 25 Re1 Qg3 26 Qd2 Nh4 27 Be4
(How best now to finish the game ? 27.. Nf3 looks right, but after 28 Nxf3 Bxf3+ 29 Bxf3 Qxf3+ white doesn’t have to oblige with 30 Kxh2 Be5+ 31 Kg1 Rg8+ but can just play 30 Qg2. Of course black is winning, but it isn’t a quick kill. A better try is 27..Nf3 28 Nxf3 Rxf3, when white can try either 29 Bd4 Bxd4 30 Qxd4+ Kg8 31 Bxh7+ Kf7 – but not 31 ..Kxh7?
32 Re7+. Or white can try 29 Bg5 and White is still alive after 29…Rf2 30 Qd3. After my 27th move I had about 15 minutes on my clock and my opponent had about 5. I didn’t wantto spend 10 minutes on what didn’t immediately seem a forced win with 27..Nf3 and be left with not much time for a winning but much longer endgame So I played 27..Re8 ( I reckoned the pin on the e file, coupled with the threat of Bf3+, should be enough) 28 Bf2 Qh3 29 Bxh4 Qxh4 (Now white is almost in zugzwang. Blocking the e file with 30 Ne6 doesn’t help, as black has 30…Bxe6 31 dxe6 Rxe6 32 Qe2 or Qe3 c6 with d5 to follow. If White does nothing eg 30 b3, black continues with 30…Qg3 with the threat of Rxe4 and Qg1 mate) 30 Nc2 Rxe4 31 Rf1 (31 Rxe4 Bf3+) Re2 32 Qf4 Qh3 33 Ne3 Rxe3 34 Qf7 Bf3+ 35 Rxf3 Re1+ 36 Rf1 Rxf1+ 37 Qxf1 Qxf1+ and White resigned.
5-1 to the Mighty Bees
The B Team have completed their 2019 Division 1 fixtures to finish the first half of the season with a credible played 6 Won 3 Lost 3 (Mid-table stability).
See you all in 2020 have a good festive break.