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Ouch! (ECA vs Stockport C)

Posted on: December 9th, 2010 by Phil Ramsey

Ooof that hurt!

ECA can crashing back down to earth with a painful defeat to Stockport C. Stockport’s captain had observed our lofty league position and decided to do the other teams in the league a favour by fielding his strongest team. Although grading-wise we were about equal most of us just weren’t at our best last night. Here is the damage:
1. Graham Ball 1-0 J Mason (153)
Graham defended the Advance French and played solidly, reaching an opposite bishops endgame where he was slightly better. Our resident endgame wizard then steadily outplayed his opponent to take the full point.
2. Phil Ramsey 0-1 A Coe (148)
Oh dear. This was one of those games where I couldn’t find a good plan, dithered for a few moves and missed most of my opponent’s threats. Trying the English opening I didn’t get anything special from the opening and then allowed a sudden attack against my King. Hopefully my brain will work better next Wednesday!
3. Dave Newall 0.5-0.5 P King (146)
Dave gave his good old Dutch Leningrad another outing. However his opponent seemed to know how to meet it (it is rumoured that Stockport has a database of all our openings!) Dave sacrificed a couple of exchanges for in order to get two very powerful Bishops but then offered a draw after his opponent defended well.
4. Keven Holton 0-1 L Smith (146)
Keven had the chance to play against his favourite opening – the Modern Defence. However after castling Queenside his opponents attack came first and Keven was left about 4 pawns down.
5. Dave Broadbent 0-1 V Rushworth (139)
Another Black, another French for Dave. However his opponent played well and Dave ended up with a thoroughly miserable position, resigning shortly after the time control.
6. David Taylor 0-1 D Preen (131)
David, playing his favourite Reti, seemed to get a pleasant enough position from the opening but then went astray and ended up a piece for a pawn down. His opponent made hard work of winning but eventually forced David’s resignation.
The B team play Stockport C next week. Good luck!
Posted in A Team

Frozen but victorious in Chorlton also

Posted on: December 4th, 2010 by Ian Vaughan

On Tuesday East Cheshire C ventured out in the snow to visit Chorlton B and won 3.5 to 1.5. Andy Walker captained. The scores were
Alan Stokes 1 0 Evan Wood
Bill Tait 1 0 Howard Hughes
Mike Cunnane 1/2 1/2 E Patten
Andy Buckley 0 1 P Noel
Andy Walker 1 0 M Fullerton

Alan was playing the white side of a Queen’s gambit accepted. It was even until the middle of the game; he later managed a winning king side attack with an exchange sacrifice.
Bill achieved a precarious advantage and managed to promote a centre pawn for a timely win. The drive home was difficult, said Bill.
Andy W says, “Many thanks gents – a convincing win in less than ideal conditions!”

Posted in C Team

Frozen but Victorious in Denton

Posted on: December 2nd, 2010 by Phil Ramsey

Last night ECA braved the snow and the cold to take on Denton at their venue in Guide Bridge. Unfortunately the playing venue was little warmer than outside as the heating had only just gone on. Therefore we were all hoping for some “fire on board” to warm things up. Here is what happened:

1. Graham Ball 0-1 Dave Toole
Graham was outplayed by the in-form Toole who clearly has been playing the Black side of the Sicilian Najdorf longer than Graham has been taking it on.
2. Phil Ramsey 1-0 John Lysons
John played his favourite Smith-Morra gambit against my Sicilian. However I didn’t fancy defending for two hours so I declined it and played for a solid position. John didn’t come up with any ways to trouble me and I gradually built up a Queenside attack and then won the endgame.
3. Dave Newell 0.5-0.5 Kamran Ahmadi
Playing his favourite Dutch Reversed Dave managed to trap his opponents Knight. A quick win then? Maybe not as his opponent wriggled and squirmed like an eel. Dave was eventually easily winning but had only seconds left on his clock. Dave then lost on time but Kamran only had his King left which meant the result was a draw due to insufficient mating material.
4. Keven Holton 0-1 Dave Holt
Keven achieved a solid position in the Scandinavian Defence but went astray in time trouble.
5. David Taylor 1-0 Stan Bradley
David played his normal Reti but both players seemed reluctant to advance past the halfway line! Stan spent rather too long thinking and eventually froze while in time trouble, allowing his flag to fall. David was winning anyway apparently.
6. Alan Stokes 1-0 Dave Cook
Playing the Sicilian Alan stirred up complications that were too much for Dave to handle and Alan quickly won a piece and then the game.
So a 3.5 – 2.5 victory for ECA! That is 6 out of 6 for ECA!
Posted in A Team

Posted on: November 25th, 2010 by Graham J Ball

She is in Dubai so I will have to do this. Here is last nights game against DB, another tight one hinging on small decisions.

1. d4 e6 2. c4 Nf6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. a3 Bxc3 5. bxc3 b6 6. Bf4

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pawn promotion

White to move
X

(The game Explorer on chess.com gives ….6 …. OO here, but only one game and a white win so Bf4 seems largely untested, cant be bad)

6 …. Bb7 7. e3 d5 (maybe 7 …. d6 is more solid)

8. Nf3 OO 9. Qc2 Nbd7 10. Bd3 ( probably 10. cxd5 first is more accurate)

10. … dxc 11. Bxc4 Be4 12. Bd3 Bxd3 13. Qxd3

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pawn promotion

White to move
X

My thoughts on this positionin the game :-

1. Its pretty level

2. Dont get check mated on h7

3. Best winning chance is the c and d files

4. a Knight for bishop exchange would be useful

13 ….. h6 14. OO Nh5 15. Bg3 Nxg3 16. hxg3 (think I would have played fxg3 here)

16. …. Nf6 17. c4 c5 18. Rfd1 cxd 19. exd Rac8. Reasonably happy now as have achieved 1-4 above

20. a4 Qc7 21. Ne5 Rfd8 22. Qf3 (stopping my planned Nd7)

22. …… Nh7 23. Qe3 f6 24. Nf3 ( and the game swings slightly my way, I had wondered if Ng6 might happen but its hard to see what it might do from there)

24. ….. Qxc4

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pawn promotion

White to move
X

I am a pawn up but all the heavy artillery is still on, dificult win if it stays on, if the artillery comes off then the end game is won, so was not too unhappy when DB started offering exchanges

25. Rdc1 Qd5 26. Rxc8 Rxc8 27. Rc1 Rxc1 28. Qxc1 Qd7 29. Qc4 Nf8

30. Nd2 Qd5 31. Qc3 Kf7 32. f3 Ke7 33. Kf2 Nd7 34. Qb4+ Qd6

35. Qc3 e5 36. Nb3 a5

DB had less than a minute left at the time control, I think time has been significant in both our games

37. dxe fxe. (this broke up my pawns a bit but I felt it was important to keep Dave’s horse off d4)

38. Ke2 Nc5 39. Nxa5? bxa5 40. Qxa5 Qa6+ 41. Qxa6 Nxa6 42. Kd3 Kd6

43. Ke4 g6 44. f4 Nc5+ 45. Kf3 exf 46. gxf Nxa4 47. g4 Nc5

White Resigns

Posted in Uncategorized

ECB close to revenge

Posted on: November 25th, 2010 by Phil Ramsey

Last night the second leg of the ECA vs ECB dual was played. This time it was closer and ECB were only one win away from drawing the match. Here is how it went:

1. John Reed 1-0 Keven Holton
Keven bravely allowed John to play his favourite Queen’s Gambit Exchange opening and had little to do except sit back and wait for John to break through which he eventually did.
2. Graham Ball 1-0 Dave Broadbent
Playing the Nimzo-Indian defence Graham picked up a pawn in the late middlegame and duly won the endgame.
3. Phil Ramsey 1-0 David Taylor
I avoided David’s home preparation by playing the English opening – a first for me. I built up a strong position and when David only had a few seconds for his last four moves he unwittingly exchanged into a lost endgame.
4. Alan Stokes 0-1 Tudor Rickards
In another Nimzo Indian Alan won a pawn early on and built up a winning position but lost his way in the allegro finish.
5. Paul Bamford 0-1 Geoff Clarke
Once again Paul whipped out his favourite Danish Gambit but Geoff defended carefully and finally exchanged into an equal ending. Paul declined a draw offer and then resigned when he felt the game was drifting away from him.
6. Bill Tait 1-0 Ian Vaughan
We unveiled Bill as our secret weapon on board 6 and he delivered the goods by winning a couple of pawns and then a piece in a Caro Cann.
So another win for ECA but we have Denton B away next Wednesday – yikes!
Posted in A Team

C Team vs Marple B, 18th November 2010

Posted on: November 20th, 2010 by Ian Vaughan

A pair of drawers? On Thursday the C Team played away at Marple, and narrowly avoided being whitewashed by virtue of two draws achieved by Geoff and Andy W. But … “We’ll be back.” (Well , not literally – the return match will be at ours.) Thanks for a good match, Marple, enjoyed by all.
Those scores:
East Cheshire C (Away)…………….Marple B (Home)
Geoff Clarke ……………1/2…. 1/2 Jeff Barlow
Mike Cunnane …………0…….. 1 .. Trefor Thomas
Ian Vaughan …………. 0……… 1.. Roy Phillips
Andy Walker …………1/2….. 1/2 .Barrie Edwards
Roy Burrows …………. 0 ……..1 ..Neil Dainty
TOTAL………………….. 1 …….. 4

Posted in C Team

Posted on: November 18th, 2010 by Graham J Ball

Dave Broadbent V Graham Ball
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 c5 4. Nf3 Nc6 5. Bd3 Qb6 6. OO (6. cxd is probably best)
6 ……. cxd 7. Nbd2

I have forgotten how to insert a board but here is the crux of the matter, White has sacrificed a pawn for some play, not much play yet in practise so far its played 3 won 3 for Graham so it must have something

7 ….. Bd7 (7. …..Nge7 or 7. …….f6 according to the chess.com database)
8 Nb3 f6?
9. Re1 (I think getting the Queen to e2 and the Rook to d1 is more accurate in the main line but
after 8…. f6 simply Nbxd4 equalises at least)
9. …… OOO
10. a4 fxe 11. Nxe5 Nxe5 12. Rxe5 Bd6 13. Rh5 Nf6 14. Bg5 Nxh5 15. Bxd8 Qxd8 16. Qxh5 Qf6 17. Bb5 Rf8 18. BxB KxB 19. Qe2 Kc8 20. f3 Qh6
21. g3 Qf6? ( 21….Qe3+ leaves Black with a clear advantage)
22. Kg2 e5 23. Rf1 h5 24. Qb5 Qf7 25. Qd3 g5?! (maybe 25….h4)
26. a5 h4 27. a6 b6 28 Qb5 e4 ?! (better moves available)
29. Nxd4 h3? (time trouble swings the game White’s way)
30. Kg1 (must not just take the h pawn)
30. …….Bc5
31. Qe6+ Qc7? ( 31 …. Kb8 maybe better)
32. Qa8 + Qb8
33. Qxd5 exf
34. C3?! ( 34. Qe6+ needs looking at)
34. ………Qc7
35. Qxg5 Qd7
36. Qd2 Qd5 37. Kf2 Re8 38. Re1 Rxe1 39. Kxe1 Qe4+ 40. Kf2 Qb1 41. Kxf3 Qf1+
42. Qf2 Qd3+ 43. Kg4 Qg6+ 44. Kxh3 Qh7+ 45. Kg2 Qe4+ 46. Qf3 Qb1 47. Qf5+ 1-0

Posted in Uncategorized

ECA shows its class

Posted on: November 18th, 2010 by Phil Ramsey

On a dark frigid night in East Cheshire a momentous event occurred. Two East Cheshire teams met in the league for the first time in living memory. The A team needed to continue their promotion drive while the B team needed to stay clear of the relegation zone. Here is how the games went:

1. John Reed 0.5-0.5 Keven Holton
John played the sharp Schliemann gambit in the Ruy Lopez. Keven played solidly however and kept his extra pawn into the endgame. He then made a generous draw offer which John couldn’t really refuse.
2. Graham Ball 1-0 Dave Broadbent
Graham sacrificed a pawn for development in the Advance French but Dave played carefully and was soon a pawn up with an attack. However in time trouble he gave Graham too much counterplay and Graham mopped up a few loose pawns.
3. Phil Ramsey 1-0 David Taylor
This game was predictably a Reti vs Kings Indian. However David broke a chess rule by pushing a pawn where he was being attacked and soon lost a pawn. I held on to my extra pawn and won the endgame.
4. Dave Newell 1-0 Tudor Rickards
Tudor played the Kings Indian but ended up with a very passive position and Dave’s Queenside pressure soon brought home the bacon.
5. Alan Stokes 1-0 Geoff Clarke
Geoff sacrificed a piece for an attack but Alan managed to survive and win the endgame.
6. Paul Bamford 1-0 Bill Tait
Paul ‘Gambit’ Bamford found another gambit system against the Caro Cann. Bill unwisely accepted and ended up far behind in development. Bill was unable to fend off the ensuing attack.
So a comfortable 5.5 – 0.5 win for the A team. However many of the games were closely fought, particularly on the top four boards, and the result could have been very different.
ECB get their chance for revenge next Wednesday in the return fixture.
Posted in A Team

Bramhall put up a fight

Posted on: November 16th, 2010 by Phil Ramsey

ECA continued their good start to the season last night with another win, this time over Bramhall.

Bramhall, one of the weaker teams in the division, were heavily outgraded but they made us fight for the points and we eventually won 4.5 – 1.5.
Here is how it unfolded:
1. John Reed 1-0 Peter Thursfield (134)
Playing his favourite system against the Nimzo Indian Defence John soon won a piece and then the game with a raging attack.
2. Graham Ball 1-0 Nicholas Flaherty (125)
On the Black side of a Torre attack Graham tempted his opponent to over-extend himself and then mopped up a piece.
3. Phil Ramsey 0.5-0.5 Keith Hodgson (108)
I was expecting an easy game against a lower rated player but he played a solid Philidor’s Defence – an opening I have very little experience of playing. I built up a good position but threw away my advantage in the time scramble and had to fight for the draw in a rook endgame.
4. Dave Broadbent 0-1 Hartley Oldham (101)
It is hard to beat low-rated players who keep making good moves! On the Black side of an Old Benoni Dave had a slightly cramped position and then loosened his kingside too much allowing his opponent a stinging attack.
5. Keven Holton 1-0 Duncan Chandley (86)
Keven played the Exchange Ruy Lopez and soon won a couple of pawns with some accurate moves.
6. David Taylor 1-0 Geoff Smith (71)
Playing a sort of Queen’s Indian Defense David soon had a more active position and then used his pressure to win a pawn and then the endgame. David has continued his good form from last season. Let’s hope he has a bad night on Wednesday when he plays me!
Next up our own East Cheshire B this Wednesday.
Posted in A Team

C Team vs Stockport D, 10th November 2010

Posted on: November 12th, 2010 by Ian Vaughan

A rare defeat.
East Cheshire C – 2: Stockport D – 3. The scores were:
Geoff Clarke…..0…1….David Preen
Mike Cunnane 1…0…Marc Jackson
Ian Vaughan…..0…1…John Kelly
Andy Walker….1….0…Ian Anderson
Roy Burrows….0….1…Ray Bradney
Ian and Geoff took early baths: Ian won an exchange but blundered away a middle game advantage and a solid position. Mike was worse off for much of his game but played a good end game. Andy (playing stronger than his grade this season) attributed his win to a tactical exchange begun by giving away a bishop.
We were outgraded on every board, so a respectable score and congratulations to Mike and Andy.


Posted in C Team

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