Post date: 29-Nov-2013 21:33:19
After squeezing through the first round of the Frank Wood Shield, courtesy of a bye, we faced a surprisingly strong Wantage 2 in round two. As the teams play three divisions apart, the handicap system meant that we had to win at least 5-1, giving us little room for error. It was our first visit to Wantage's new location, and very nice it was too, with their home team captain making us teas and coffees. After the friendly pleasantries, it was down to the chess.
Dave was first to finish, after his opponent blundered a piece on move 7. The game played itself after that. Antonio switched to the Sicilian defence and quickly steered it to a won endgame. So 2-0 up, and we needed another three points, but the remaining games looked very murky. Ray seemed to be worse off, Will had his pieces pointing at his opponents king, but there was no obvious way through, Prisicilla lost a knight that was pinned against a king, and Selby went the exchange down, but with some compensation. Ray swapped off the pieces to win a good v bad bishop ending, but Selby and Prisicilla were unable to fend off defeat. By this time, Will's winning chances were gone, and as the match result was no longer in dispute, he ceded the draw.
So we "won" 3.5-2.5, well short of our target. Congratulations to Wantage 2 and good luck to them in the quarter-finals. The match card can be seen here.