11 Feb		Syston 3		v	Wigston 5
				2 - 2
1	B	106	Cresswell, Peter	0 - 1	Chalashkanov, Nikola	129
2	W	102	Leonard, John	½ - ½	Eastlake, Charles	120
3	B	94	Hollingworth, Stuart	1 - 0	Goldsmith, Rory	114
4	W	96	Martin, Maurice	½ - ½	Vaughan, Ben	104

 
Yet another draw, this time with Syston's 3rd team.
I finished first in a totally drawn middlegame. We analysed my threats and the move order we'd have played. I thought I had a decent threat but we worked out that it wasn't such a threat and a draw was fair.
Charles finished next I think. Charles' opponent ran out of ideas in the middlegame and offered a draw which Charles accepted, Analysis seemed to show it was even.
Nik finished next. Having been offered a draw, Nik played on for a bit and forced a mistake from his opponent which won Nik the match. Well played Nik.
Last to finish was Rory. A nice move from Rory's opponent which uncovered an attack on Rory's queen and at the same time protected all his pieces. This forced a rook loss on Rory and he wasn't able to hold on. Nice to see that Rory fought on for a bit but to no avail.
 
Last night away at Kirby now: -
 

20 Feb		Kirby Muxloe 2		v	Wigston 5
				2½ - 1½
1	B	124	McEachran, Ewan	½ - ½	Eastlake, Charles	120
2	W	124	Skelley, John	1 - 0	Goldsmith, Rory	114
3	B	116	Cowley, Jim	1 - 0	Cooper, Barrie	107
4	W	90	Lund, Malcolm	0 - 1	Hammond, Grant	109

 
A disappointing result.
First to finish was our only winner on the night Grant. Grant won a pawn in the middlegame and gradually exchanged pieces off the board, leaving Grant's better placed knight against his opponent's passive knight. Grant activated his king and forced his opponent to give up Knight for two passed pawns leaving Grant's Knight to mop up pawns and win.
Barrie finished next. Having got a better position out of the opening and attacking his opponent's King, Barrie's attack fell apart and to be fair, his opponent played very well and countered with vigour. Barrie made a mistake and resigned.
Rory was next to finish. Again probably slightly better after the opening, Rory's opponent mounted an attack against Rory's king. There seemed to be enough defending pieces, but after a few exchanges, Rory's King was wide open for attack and his opponent converted the win.
Last to finish was Charles. Knowing he had to play for a win, he did so. Charles tried to advance his two centralised pawns and attack. Unfortunately the attack petered out and transposed into a dead draw with Kings opposed on facing squares.
And so we suffer our first defeat for the 5th team. Let's try to make it the ONLY defeat for the 5th team!
 

LEAGUE RESULTS - WEEK 18

DIV 1 – 2nd Team Lost to Shepshed 1

 

	13-Feb-14	v.	Shepshed 1 (H)
1.	A. Morley	0.5		A. Toothill	0.5
2.	A. Ward	0.5		R. Bowley	0.5
3.	P. Horspool	0.5		S. Sheahan	0.5
4.	A. Reeves	0		N. Toothill	1
5.	I. Dodds	0.5		P. McDermott	0.5
		2			3

 

 

DIV 2 – 3rd Team Lost to leaders Heathcote 1

 

	11-Feb-14	v.	Heathcote 1(A)
1.	P Thethi	1		P. Harlow	0
2.	D. Bray	0.5		S. Wylie	0.5
3.	P. Harrison	1		G. Sim	0
4.	G. Booley	1		R. Van Stee	0
5.	M. Cowley	1		S Dawkins	0
		4.5			0.5

 

 

DIV 3 – 4th Team Win against Latimer 1

 

	13-Feb-14	v.	Latimer 1 (A)
1.	K. Potter	0.5		S. Smith	0.5
2.	M. Garland	0		G. Sim	1
3.	B. Slater	0		S. Dawkins	1
4.	G. Hill	1		N.Chalashkanov	0
		1.5			2.5

 

 

DIV 4 – 5th team Draw yet again against Syston 3

 

	11-Feb-14	v.	Syston 3 (A)
1.	P. Cresswell	0		N.Chalashkanov	1
2.	J. Leonard	0.5		C. Eastlake	0.5
3.	S. Hollingworth	1		R. Goldsmith	0
4.	M. Martin	0.5		B. Vaughan	0.5
		2			2

 

Neil

We start with a brief outline of the last couple of results: -
 

04 Feb		Braunstone 4		v	Wigston 5
				2 - 2
1	B	122	Robinson, Anthony	1 - 0	Chalashkanov, Nikola	129
2	W	80	Barker, Ian	1 - 0	Eastlake, Charles	120
3	B	116	Oliver, John	0 - 1	Goldsmith, Rory	114
4	W	108	Hill, Cyril	0 - 1	Vaughan, Ben	104

 
A pleasing draw with Braunstone 4.
I think first to finish was Nik, all I can say about the game was I heard Nik make a sound that seemed like something bad had happened. I think he lost a piece in the middlegame and played on for a bit but wasn't able to hang on.
Charles was next to finish. An exciting game with the most amusing part being Charles declaring 'Checkmate' during the middlegame. His opponent pointed out that Charles had played an illegal move. Charles sheepishly moved his Queen back to it's original square and eventually lost.
I finished next - I had stepped in after neither Charles or I had heard from Frenchy. I won with a Knight hopping around the board and he fell for a King and Rook fork. I felt that his game wasn't lost but he resigned.
Rory was last to finish. He was in a better position out of the middlegame and converted it really well into an endgame. You trod very carefully and won the point for the team in spectacular fashion. Well played Rory.
That is another draw and we avoid defeat again!
 

06 Feb		Ashby 4		v	Wigston 6
				1½ - 4½
1	B	118	Armstrong, Victor	½ - ½	Winterton, Paul	111
2	W	80	Roberts, Neil	0 - 1	Hammond, Grant	109
3	B	87	Brown, Mick	1 - 0	McKiernan, John	110
4	W	86	Williams, Richard	0 - 1	Vaughan, Ben	104
5	B	59	Nicholson, Brian	0 - 1	Poulacheris, Darren	102
6	W	54	Holmes, Stephen	0 - 1	Dean, Simon	69

 
On to last night's match now, an excellent victory against Ashby's 4th team.
Thanks to Paul and Simon for giving the lifts.
Grant finished first I think. I am sorry Grant, I didn't see any of your game but a good win against the Ashby 4th team captain, well done.
Paul finished next with a good draw. To quote Paul 'That was the most boring game I've ever played'. A Knight each and 5 or 6 pawns each and centralised Kings with no way through. (It did look a little boring Paul!)
Simon was next to finish. Simon said that it was fairly even early on but his opponent removed his Queen from the mating square it was defending and Simon mated his opponent.
I finished next (2 wins in a week!). My opponent missed a skewer with two rooks and his pressure down the centre collapsed and I was up Rook against Knight. I was forcing my opponent to lose his Knight to stop a pawn queening and he resigned.
Darren's opponent made the one move that he couldn't, allowing a Knight to fork King and Queen and Darren converted the obvious advantage.
Last to finish was John. It looked a fantastic game with so much going on. John played a Bishop takes pawn move that he thought allowed him a way in, but the Bishop that took John's bishop, still defended the square that John thought was the access square. In time trouble John tried to fight on (like it John - well done!), but his opponent was going to queen a pawn and John resigned.
Nevertheless, a good result. Let's keep these positive results going everyone!
 
Ben Vaughan

LEAGUE RESULTS - WEEK 17

DIV 1 – 1st Team have clean sweep v. Shepshed 2

 

	6-Feb-14	v.	Shepshed 2(H)
1.	A. Morley	1		R. Henfrey	0
2.	A. Ward	1		D. Jarvis	0
3.	P. Horspool	1		D. Farrall	0
4.	A. Reeves	1		S. Rice	0
5.	P. Harlow	1		K. Bennett	0
		5			0

 

 

DIV 2 – 3rd Team have creditable Draw away at Braunstone 2

 

	04-Feb-14	v.	Braunstone 2(A)
1.	R. Hanscombe	0.5		I. Dodds	0.5
2.	M. Salisbury	0.5		A. Reeves	0.5
3.	J. Bingham	0		P. Harlow	1
4.	C. Reid	0.5		S. Wylie	0.5
5.	S. Hamby	1		R. Van Stee	0
		2.5			2.5

 

 

DIV 3 – 4th team Win against Mkt Harborough

 

	6-Feb-14	v.	Mkt Harboro (H)
1.	A. Pike	0.5		R. Ilersic	0.5
2.	S. Smith	1		C. Oppenheim	0
3.	G. Sim	0.5		R. King	0.5
4.	S. Dawkins	0.5		T. Murray	0.5
		2.5			1.5

 

 

DIV 4 – 5th Team Draw again away at Braunstone 4

 

	4-Feb-14	v.	Braunstone 4(A)
1.	A. Robinson	1		N.Chalashkanov	0
2.	I. Barker	1		C. Eastlake	0
3.	J. Oliver	0		R. Goldsmith	1
4.	C. Hill	0		B. Vaughan	1
		2			2

 

 

DIV 5 – 6th Team Win well away at Ashby 4

 

	6-Feb-14	v.	Ashby 4 (A)
1.	V. Armstrong	0.5		P. Winterton	0.5
2.	N. Roberts	0		G. Hammond	1
3.	M. Brown	1		J. McKeirnan	0
4.	R. Williams	0		B. Vaughan	1
5.	B. Nicholson	0		D. Poulacheris	1
6.	S. Holmes	0		S. Dean	1
		1.5			4.5

 

Neil