1. Lee Davis 0-1 Dan Lambourne
2. Geoff Marchant 0.5-0.5 Jon Vaughan
3. Matthew Jordan 0.5-0.5 Nigel Towers
4. John Knee 0.5-0.5 Scott Russell
1.5-2.5
1. Lee Davis 0.5-0.5 Peter Kitson
2. Geoff Marchant 0.5-0.5 Ed Osbourn
3. Brian Turner 1-0 Nick Harris
4. Leigh Canham 0.5-0.5 Ray Collett
5. Ian Clarke 1-0 Phil Austin
6. Geoffrey Herbert 0.5-0.5 Tony Shaw
4-2
1. Leigh Canham 0.5-0.5 Z Koncki
2. Ian Clarke 1-0 N Fallowfield
3. John Knee 1-0 H Aboushady
4. Miroslaw Woron 0-1 J Foxall
2.5-1.5
1. Geoff Marchant 0-1 Mark Riley
2. Lee Davis 1-0 David Spowart
3. Brian Turner 0.5-0.5 Maurice Bissell
4. Matthew Jordan 1-0 John Varilone
2.5-1.5
Geoff gave up a pawn in the opening and then sacrificed a piece to attack the castled king. Mark managed to catch up on development whilst retaining a decisive material advantage. Lee played his usual effective opening and won the black a-pawn. Further queen-side pressure enabled him to simplify into a won pawn ending. Brian played an unusual variation and White reacted cautiously. After various exchanges the players reached a drawn ending. Matthew weakened his opponent’s pawns and established a strong knight on the queen-side. Further pressure on the king’s wing forced a decisive advantage in material.
1. Geoff Marchant 0-1 Ed Osbourn
2. Lee Davis0.5-0.5 Ray Collett
3. Matthew Jordan 0.5-0.5 Jim Keene
4. John Knee 0.5-0.5 Phil Smith
1.5-2.5
On Board 1 a complex theoretical variation simplified into an ending where White was able to attack on the queen’s wing. Ed gained a pawn and eventually forced a won pawn ending with just a minute to spare on his clock. Lee’s favourite opening saw him gain some advantage on board 2, but a slight miscalculation enabled Ray to reach a drawn ending. The opening on Board 3 led to a position where both players had isolated d pawns. Jim had pressure on the c file, but Matthew’s careful defence equalised the position. Board 4 also saw White gaining some advantage. John gained a pawn, but had to allow simplification to an ending with opposite coloured bishops.
1. Brian Turner 1-0 John Dale
2. John Knee 0.5-0.5 Jon Asbury
3. Miroslaw Woron 0-1 Kenny Mycock
4. Michael Butcher 0-1 Frank Jiminez
5. Michael Chester 0.5-0.5 Chun Chiu
2-3.8 with handicap
1. Geoff Marchant 0.5-0.5 Malcolm Hunt
2. Lee Davis 0.5-0.5 Stewart Fishburne
3. Brian Turner 0.5-0.5 John Edge
4. Lee Canham 0.5-0.5 Mike Hadley
5. Ian Clarke 1-0 Don Curry
6. Matthew Jordan 0.5-0.5 Paul Evans
3.5-2.5
Three games were decided well before the end of the playing session. Lee Davis played his favourite opening on board 2, using a fianchettoed bishop to augment queen side pressure. Black defended accurately to reach a level position. On board 3 the position opened quickly, leading to complex tactical play. After the minor pieces were exchanged, the position evened out and, with further exchanges likely, a draw was agreed. Ian Clarke scored a convincing win after opening the centre with …d5. He weakened White’s Q side pawns and forced a gain of material after attacking the king. After moves were sealed in the remaining games, draws were agreed on all three boards, giving Malvern the match. Matthew had a distinct advantage on board 6, a pawn up in a rook ending with an active versus a passive rook. Leigh had defended accurately on board 4 after his opponent gained a space advantage, and the position appeared level. Board 1 was unclear, with both players having potential passed pawns.
1. Geoff Marchant 1-0 Mark Riley
2. Lee Davis 0.5-0.5 David Spowart
3. Brian Turner 0.5-0.5 Maurice Bissell
4. Ian Clarke 0.5-0.5 David Close
5. Geoffrey Herbert 0.5-0.5 John Varilone
6. Leigh Canham 1-0 Default
4-2
1. Geoff Marchant 0.5-0.5 Alan Lloyd
2. Lee Davis 0.5-0.5 Mark Cundy
3. Brian Turner 1-0 Richard Smith
4. Ian Clarke 0.5-0.5 Robert Reynolds
5. Geoffrey Herbert 0.5-0.5 Robert Wallman
6. John Knee 0.5-0.5 Kenneth Allen
3.5-2.5
1. Geoff Marchant 1-0 Dan Lambourne
2. Brian Turner 1-0 Mihai Zbircea
3. Matthew Jordan 0-1 Peter Seeley
4. Miroslaw Woron 0-1 Harry Evans
2-2
The latest result was most unusual, a drawn match without any draws. The Malvern top boards scored well, Geoff transposing into an advantageous ending after securing the two bishops and Brian winning pawns and overwhelmed his opponent on the Queen's side with the extra material. Matthew had to face strong pressure from his opponent and lost a pawn. He reached a difficult rook ending and had to concede defeat shortly before the final time control. Miroslaw secured an attacking position but his sacrifice of material was unsuccessful against an exact defence.
1. Matthew Jordan (146) 0.5-0.5 Ray Collett (147)
2. John Knee (145) 0.5-0.5 Arnold Kirkland (114)
3. Miroslaw Woron (129) 1-0 Eugene Byrne (99)
4. Michael Butcher (121) 1-0 Terry Radford (89)
5. Michael Chester (110) 1-0 Gary Walton (66)
Handicap Droitwich +2.7
4-3.7
Malvern needed to win 4-1 to overcome the handicap and eventually did so. Boards 1 and 2 were both steady draws. Miroslaw Woron and Michael Chester won from initially unpromising positions. The highlight of the evening was Michael Butcher's queen sacrifice to force a classic smothered mate.
1. Geoff Marchant 1-0 Peter Kitson
2. Lee Davis 0-1 Ed Osbourne
3. Brian Turner 1-0 Ray Collett
4. Ian Clarke 1-0 Andrew Farthing
5. Leigh Canham 0.5-0.5 Tony Shaw
6. Geoffrey Herbert 1-0 Will Kemp
1. Geoff Marchant 0-1 Finlay Bowcott-Terry
2. Brian Turner 0.5-0.5 Adrian Priest
3. Ian Clarke 0.5-0.5 Dustin Bowcott
4. Geoffrey Herbert 0.5-0.5 Mark Bethel
5. Matthew Jordan 0.5-0.5 Andy Ambrose
6. John Knee 0.5-0.5 Manwith Sandhu
1. Geoff Marchant 0-1 Peter Kitson
2. Ian Clarke 0.5-0.5 Nick Harris
3. Leigh Canham 1-0 Jim Keene
4. John Knee 0.5-0.5 Rob Sutton
1. Lee Davis 1-0 Maurice Bissell
2. Brian Turner 0.5-0.5 John Chester
3. Matthew Jordan 0.5-0.5 David Close
4. John Knee 0.5-0.5 David Spowart
Board 1 featured some strangely erratic play. Lee Davis, soon to play in the World Senior Championship at Bled, established a strong position but then lost a piece, only to regain it later with considerable interest. On Board 2 Brian tried hard to create chances against his opponent’s solid formation, but eventually had to be content with a draw after various exchanges. Boards 3 and 4 soon resolved themselves into drawish positions, though Matthew may have missed a chance to gain an advantage at one stage.
1. Geoff Marchant 0.5-0.5 John Wrench
2. Lee Davis 1-0 Maurice Bissell
3. Leigh Canham 0.5-0.5 David Spowart
4. Ian Clarke 1-0 John Varilone
5. Geoffrey Herbert 1-0 Clive Billinge
6. Matthew Jordan 1-0 Terry Poutney
1. Ian Clarke 0-1 Greg Dyett
2. Leigh Canham 0.5-0.5 Paul Sharratt
3. John Knee 0.5-0.5 David Scriven
4. Miroslaw Woron 0-1 Hossam Aboushady
A disappointing result for Malvern in their opening Worcester and District fixture. On board one Ian was unable to completely equalize in the opening and lost pawns as he tried to prevent his bishop from being trapped. On board 2 Leigh doubled his opponent’s pawns in exchange for the ‘minor exchange’, but was unable to make much progress thereafter. This game was the first to finish. John’s opponent played the opening well and established a promising attacking position. However a sacrifice of 2 knights for a rook and two pawns did not quite come off and the players repeated moves in the endgame. Miroslaw lost a piece in the opening but fought back to reach an endgame with drawing chances. Unfortunately he made a crucial slip right at the end.
1. Geoff Marchant 0.5-0.5 Nick Arkell
2. Brian Turner 0-1 Stewart Fishburne
3. Ian Clarke 0.5-0.5 John Edge
4. Leigh Canham 0.5-0.5 Dale Jackson
5. Geoffrey Herbert 1-0 Mike Hadley
6. Matthew Jordan 0.5-0.5 Don Curry
1. Geoff Marchant 0.5-0.5 Mark Cundy
2. Lee Davis 0.5-0.5 Richard Smith
3. Brian Turner 0.5-0.5 Gary Hope
4. Leigh Canham 0.5-0.5 Robert Reynolds
5. Ian Clarke 0.5-0.5 Robert Wallman
6. John Knee 0.5-0.5 John Asbury
The Malvern players with white were the first to finish after playing steady openings which met firm resistance. The opening on board 5 promised an interesting game but an exchange of pawns gave an open c-file which restricted possibilities. Board 3 also saw a somewhat unusual opening but exchanges in the centre led to a level position. The top board game was the last to finish. Geoff seemed to have a promising position at one stage but could only reach a level endgame.