After the B team went top of the table on Monday, it was the As who overtook them on Tuesday ! An away match at Alsager would see the “A” team as expected favourites but a recipe for failure would be close at hand. The comments from captain Martin Burns explained Harry maintained his 100% record, while Bart had gained a pawn against the NSDCAs highest rated player Jonathan Blackburn on board 1. Martin assessed it was no trouble, but was proved wrong as the huge difference in rating was underlined. Karl maintained another 100% record grinding out a win on board 4 from what appeared to be a drawish position. Finally captain Mart brought home the bacon, although in his own words he was very lucky to win, after his opponent turned down the offer of a draw knowing he would need to win to give Alsager a chance to draw the match. The Division 1 table has an early season glow to it, with As on 6pts and Bs on 5 pts after 3 matches, with 3rd place Cheddleton having a game in hand on 4pts – with the next round of matches including Crewe A vs Cheddleton A.
On Wednesday it was Cheddleton’s B team who travelled to face our D team. Captain Nigel rang the changes with board order, as all four squad players are closely rated. This allowed Nigel to play on board 4, and chalk up the first win. Lukasz Michalek moved to the top of the batting order and earned a full point before we lost on board 2. This left George Bulbeck battling against the clock as usual, against the Chedd captain on board 3. Ultimately he held out for a hard fought draw to see the team narrowly over the winning line by 2.5-1.5. Captain Nigel reported on the scorecard ” Well that was a close one !!!!!!!! Each game could have gone either way and was tense right down to the death. Thanks to all for a good evenings chess. “
As usual club night saw a pack of club championship games. In division 1, defending champion Harry Gardiner added a win to his tally as did David Hulme. In division 2 there were wins for Andrew Crosby, Kobus Nienaber and Doug Barnett. Kobus has moved into the lead with 2.5/3. In div 3, Phil Grocott went to the head of the section with a win to take him also to 2.5/3, and Vicky Kelsall moved into 2nd place (2/4) after a draw with Peter Kanalos.
Our two leading juniors had a 30 minute Rapidplay rated game, that was played at 100 miles an hour, with Joe Hignett emerging successfully.