Post date: 09-Oct-2015 21:40:57
Our first match of the season was a win against neighbours Cowley Workers 1, but it was a bigger struggle than we expected. On average we were graded nearly 30 points higher than our opponents (who have just been promoted), and so we should have expected a relatively straightforward win. Cowley Workers had other ideas, and were very unlucky not to come away with anything. Oscar won comfortably, but myself and Anna drew against lower rated opposition. Raj and Asif had both made piece sacrifices, turning out well for latter, but not the former. This led to the result being decided on board 6 where John Taylor had a lost game. His position was inferior and his opponent had a material plus of two connected passed queen-side pawns. I had mentally written off this game, but John's dogged resistance saw his opponents king wander into a position where it got mated in the middle of the board.
So a luck but welcome win. We will have to play much better for the rest of the season!