Match reports 2016-2017

Congratulations to Kidderminster, who beat Malvern in the Wheatley Cup Semi Final, thanks to two displays of sterling endgame defence by Terry Pountney and John Gittus.

On board 1 Lee Davis pressed on the queen side and created a passed pawn. Dan was eventually obliged to give up a piece to prevent it queening. After a quiet opening on board 2, White acquired the two bishops at the cost of doubled pawns. After some intricate manoeuvering, a draw was agreed as the first time control drew near. On board 3 the white c pawn and the black e pawn remained unmoved. The queen side became blocked and White managed to break through with the pawn advance e5. Exchanges followed and Black was unable to hold the ending. The opening on board 4 soon led to a blocked centre. White tried to attack on the king side but overlooked a fork which cost a piece. Matthew exchanged into a won ending.

March 28th

March 24th

On board 1 Lee secured a promising opening, but an oversight enabled Jim to reach a won rook ending. The expected cut-and-thrust play after the opening on board 2 led to an ending of R+N v R+B and level pawns, in which both sides had to play carefully. Brian Turner faced an unusual line in the Petroff. Robert built up a dangerous looking king-side attack, but a timely exchange of queens enabled Brian to adjourn two pawns up in an ending where his passed pawns give good winning chances. John Knee pushed forward in the centre and left his opponent with an isolated pawn on e6. However this entailed having an isolated d-pawn himself. Counterplay against this pawn enabled Phil to draw. On board 5 the queen-side and centre soon became blocked. Michael attacked with his pawns on the king-side and forced a neat checkmate.

On board 2 the opening followed well-trodden lines, White playing f4, and then Black tried a risky pawn sacrifice with ….h6 and …g5. Geoff consolidated on the queen-side and then advanced his king-side majority. White secured a promising opening on Board 3, with a knight posted at d6. However the exchange of queens allowed Black to develop his rooks and equalize the position. After a quiet opening on Board 4, Matthew Jordan advanced his centre pawns and attacked his opponent’s uncastled king. He then simplified into a double rook ending in which his extra pawns gave an easy win.

Malvern made progress in the County Chess League, defeating South Birmingham side Olton in a hard fought match. The early results in the match went Malvern's way with a good win by Lee Davis and a quiet draw from Brian Turner. The pendulum swung towards Olton when Ian Clarke and Geoff Marchant lost complex positional games. Going into the last half-hour the match was finely balanced with both Malvern players ahead on material but under pressure. The tension cleared as Dominic Goodwin held out his opponent's attack and team captain Geoffrey Herbert simplified to a clearly won endgame to win the match for Malvern.

On board 1 Dominic attacked on the queen side, and his pressure on the isolated d-pawn compensated for a pawn minus. Peter spurned a draw but allowed Black to penetrate with his queen and rook and force checkmate. Brian Turner was able to clamp down on Black’s possible queen side activity whilst he developed pressure elsewhere. Jim Keene defended carefully and after exchanges a draw was agreed in the time-trouble phase. On board 3 the opening transposed into a slow form of the Queens Gambit. Leigh attacked on the king-side, but this exposed his own king and David won a piece in Black’s time-trouble. Michael Butcher was obliged to allow simplification which allowed Black to build up pressure on the e-file. Ray Collett penetrated with his heavy pieces and this led to checkmate.

March 17th

March 3rd

February 24th

February 15th

February 6th

February 3rd

Board 1 saw an early queen exchange and Lee Davis emerged with bishop and knight against rook and pawn. In the endgame his attack on the king side led to checkmate after black’s counterplay with his rooks came too late. Nick Harris had an off-day and Geoff Marchant quickly gained the exchange with a winning position. Brian Turner attacked throughout the game, sacrificing on the king side and emerging with two pawns for the exchange. He spurned a drawish continuation in order to continue his attack, but fine defence by Steve Mellor left him ahead on material. Ian Clarke was under pressure early on after his opponent chose a relatively unusual variation. Jim later sacrificed a piece for three pawns but counterplay with his queen against some of the pawns gave Ian a draw. On Board 5 the centre became blocked early on. White attempted to attack on the king’s wing but Black defended accurately and equalized. A slow opening on Board 6 led to a position where both players had attacking chances. Unfortunately Matthew lost a piece through an oversight.

Lee Davis gained a slight advantage of bishop v knight but these were the only pieces remaining in the adjourned position. On board 2 a variation of the Meran produced the usual cut-and-thrust play. Geoff ‘s counter on the Queen side proved to be just insufficient. Brian Turner built up a strong position but Mark Cundy found counterplay at just the right moment, and was two pawns ahead at the end of the session. Ian Clarke set up a Stonewall formation against Richard Smith’s unusual h3 and g4 system. White developed a King side attack but Black countered on the Queen's wing by advancing pawns against the castled king. After a hectic scramble the position quietened and a draw was agreed just before the time control. Geoffrey Herbert transposed the opening into a variation of the Maroczy Bind. Gary Hope pressed strongly on the Queen side, had material advantage in the adjourned position and Geoffrey resigned without resumption. Exchanges reduced the value of White’s attacking pawn formation on board 6. An oversight enabled John to reach a won knight and pawn ending.

January 24th

January 20th

After a long break caused by postponed matches, Malvern resumed their League programme against Halesowen. Outgraded on every board, Malvern did well to hold the County League champions to a 3-3 draw. Geoff Marchant and Matthew Jordan both had early pressure but were unable to build on it and draws were agreed. Dominic Goodwin's game was also drawn as both players became short of time after fluctuating tactical skirmishes. Ian Clarke's opponent exploited his pawn weaknesses to win for Halesowen, but a fine win by team captain Geoffrey Herbert brought the scores level. In the last game to finish, Brian Turner recovered from an inferior position in a fierce mutual time scramble and a draw was agreed at the end of the playing session.

November 24th

On Board 1 accurate play gave Geoff Marchant a slightly advantageous ending, knight against ‘bad’ bishop, but only four pawns on each side. The position was too open to provide winning chances. The opening on Board 2 led to a position where pawn advances were difficult. Ian tried to open lines by sacrificing a small amount of material, but a mistake in time-trouble led to a loss. John Knee obtained a favourable opening but could not find an attacking continuation. Jim went over to the attack himself but time-trouble led him to offer a draw in a position still offering him some promise. Matthew Jordan was under pressure for much of the game but defended well. Unfortunately he ran out of time in a defensible Rook and Pawn v Rook ending.

Brian Turner held an advantage for most of the game on board 1 and eventually won the exchange. However the ending of queen and rook v queen and knight contained many difficulties and in the inevitable time-trouble phase a draw was agreed. John Knee developed his pieces carefully before opening up the position. Queens were exchanged and the open d-file always made a draw look likely. The position on Board 3 became more lively when David Close castled queen-side. However he lost his a-pawn, which gave Matthew a quick win. Michael Butcher soon gained the advantage by weakening White’s queenside pawns. After exchanges he reached a pawn ending which was easily wo

The top board game saw early exchanges in the centre, leaving white with a dangerous-looking passed d-pawn. However Lee’s vigorous counterplay on the queen’s wing was sufficient to hold the balance. The close formations on board 2 led to limited contact between the two armies. The draw was the first to be agreed. The opening on board 3 led to an advanced French type of position, but without c-pawns. Matthew was able to hold the position by careful play. Board 4 was the last to finish by some way. Michael played steadily and reached an ending of queen and knight against queen and bishop. Nigel tried hard to make progress but agreed a draw as the second time control approached.

On board 1 Brian Turner faced a King’s Indian Defence. After the first time control Brian had to defend a difficult ending, a pawn down with knight against a good bishop. However in the time trouble phase he managed to eliminate Joe’s last pawn. John Wrench played an unusual variation of the Two Knights’ against John Knee’s CaroKann on board 2. After some interesting cut-and-thrust play on the queen side, a level ending was reached and a draw agreed. Matthew Jordan was a pawn down for most of the game on board 3, but just as he seemed to be equalising, a faulty king manoeuvre in time-trouble led to a lost ending. Michael Butcher seemed on the defensive in the opening, but a prepared combination left him the exchange and a pawn ahead. Careful simplification led to an easily won ending.