We have three matches to report on this week. The “E” team went to play Newcastle E in division 5 on Monday; the “D” team hosted Cheddleton E in division 4 and the Open Cup team travelled to Chedd on Friday.
The E team were underdogs on Monday with 20-30 grading point deficits on top two boards while the other boards were closely matched. Captain Nigel punched above his weight as usual to pick up a top board draw and Ben Harrison went one better on board 2 with our only win as the team lost narrowly 1.5-2.5
The D team would have been favourites against Chedd’s E team as the visitors arrived with a team approx 30 grading pts lower than their previous away match. Captain Les Hall maintained his recent form with an early win on bd 4. Neville Layhe cemented the lead with another win on bd 2 before son Simon added the third point with an impressive performance on top board before the visitors grabbed a consolation on bd 3. This result put further daylight at the top of the table as the Ds made it 4 from 4 for a maximum of 8pts to date opening up a 4 pts gap to 2nd placed Fenton C who have a game in hand.
On Friday our Open Cup team faced a daunting trip to Cheddleton. Doug Barnett got us off the mark with an early draw before the wheels started to fall off. David Hulme on bd 3 was too slow to generate a King side attack as opposition captain Simon Edwards strolled to victory barely using 20 minutes on the clock in a 41 move game. As David went to analyse his game with Simon he returned to find the match had been convincingly won by Cheddleton as we lost on boards 1,2 and 5 as well. The only glimmer of light came from a superb game by Amy Lovatt on bd 4 who seemed to be in control after a clever tactical opening gained two pawns. Amy was made to work hard as she went into increment time before securing our only win in a 1.5-4.5 reverse.