4NCL Match Report- 6th October

As we approach the midway point, Division 3 was starting to look hopeful for Horsham 1, with three wins & a draw so far.
This week we took on Streatham B which looked like a match that we should win based on the average grades.

I was first to finish with the black pieces, my opponent started with the English. I quickly managed to get in an early pounce and prevent the white king from castling and then built a solid attack, white soon after resigned.

Mark started Board 1 with white and played a g3 variation of the English. It looked fairly even approaching the middle game until Mark started advancing his Kingside f & g pawns. Black looking a little hemmed in decided to break up the party and sacrifice a minor piece to dismantle the attack, but the end game proved too much with white having the extra piece and Mark converted nicely.

Dix had a very evenly matched game on Board 2 as black. Black did look like having a slight edge as they entered the end game with rooks and equal pawns. White seemed to somehow gain the slightest of advantages and converted a pawn race first which left Dix with a rook V’s queen situation , unfortunately white played very accurately and secured their first win.

This left Alex playing on board 3 needing a draw to secure the match win. I checked into his game early on and it was looking very promising with his Roy Lopez attack. However black was playing the middle game well and seemed to be building a queen side attack that was making me a little nervous! Alex held really well though and managed to create a queen and rook fork which gave a good material advantage. With the win looking decidedly tricky to convert Alex secured a solid draw to enable the team to win the match.

So Horsham now top the table and looking in good shape for the next match on 20th October @ 7.30pm against Chessmates

The 2nd team lost a very close match. John and Guy lost in messy tactical games. Chris won a pawn early on, but his opponent countered with a central pawn thrust that won the game. Amid another tense game Richard won a close one.

The 3rd team also in Division 6 were up against very strong opposition this round and sadly succumbed to a heavy loss.
Despite this there were some really close games and some great play by the Horsham players.

All teams play again on Tuesday 20th October at 7.30pm