Tag: Cumnor 1

Oxford City 2 v Cumnor 1

Last night saw Cumnor 1 draw for the first time this season against Oxford City 2.

City 2 Cumnor 1
1 Lee, Anthony (178) 1/2-1/2 Terrington, Simon ( )
2 Smith, Roger A ( ) 0-1 Stevens, Gareth (142)
3 Biswas, Karl (149) 1/2-1/2 Varney, Andrew (145)
4 Yates, John O (145) 1-0 Glenn, Liam (141)
5 King, Simon E (139) 1/2-1/2 Jones, Michael (115)
6 Smith, Lucy K (119) 1/2-1/2 Bennett, Steven (109)
Match played: 3 March 2014 3-3

Steve and Mike were the first to finish getting draws against stronger opponents on the bottom two boards. Liam made a blunder in the opening, loosing a pawn and getting a bad position, he resigned soon after. Andrew drew against Karl Biswas and Gareth won on board 2. His opponent was low on time when Gareth checkmated him. Simon was in a very complicated position, with little time on both clocks him and Paul Lee played some entertaining Chess both missing better variations and it finished with a draw King v Rook Pawn and King. The evening was an fascinating match with some interesting characters. The result put us in to 3rd in the table which can be found here.

Cumnor 1 v Didcot 1 [Match Report]

Thursday night saw Cumnor 1 lose by the closest margin (2.5-3.5) to top-of-the-table Didcot 1.

Cumnor 1 Didcot 1
1 Terrington, Simon ( ) 0-1 Gough, Nicholas L (179)
2 Stevens, Gareth (142) 0-1 Robins, Andrew S (157)
3 Varney, Andrew (145) 0-1 Sheridan, Martin (142)
4 Varney, Daniel (142) 1-0 Jacobs, Robert B (126)
5 Glenn, Liam (141) 1-0 Harvey, John (132)
6 Sayers, Mark (138) 1/2-1/2 Duck, Mike J (107)
Match played: 27 Feb 2014 2.5-3.5

Daniel won his game first in typical fashion winning in under hour, it took another hour before Gareth lost his game. Simon lost his game on the top board and Mark played out a drawish game on the bottom. Liam finished his game with Quadruple Fork! Forking his opponents King, Queen, Rook and Bishop. In Andrew’s game, he went an exchange up but went in to the endgame with Rook and Bishop v Queen with little time on the clock, he lost the game and the match fell from Cumnor’s grasp. Cumnor 1 need to dust themselves down with the next game on Monday against Oxford City 2.

The updated table can be found here.

Witney 2 v Cumnor 1 [Match Report]

Monday evening saw Cumnor 1 lose for the first time in 2014. Going down 5-1 to Witney 2.

Witney 2 Cumnor 1
1 Hannon, Mark (179) 1-0 Terrington, Simon (-)
2 Asenov, Pavel (170) ½ – ½ Stevens, Gareth (142)
3 Searle, Howard AJ (154) 1-0 Glenn, Liam (141)
4 Weston, Richard (149) ½ – ½ Sayers, Mark (138)
5 O’Byrne, Daniel (143) 1 – 0 _default (-)
6 Edwards, Derek F (142) 1 – 0 Bennett, Steven (109)
Match played: 03 Feb 2014 5-1

Simon playing for the first time on board one lost his game, in a strange move Mark offered Simon a draw on move 3 (a grandmaster draw maybe). Gareth picked up a draw against young Pavel while Liam lost his game in the endgame and ended up just trying to win on time. Steve lost on the bottom board but it was Mark’s game which had the most entertaining endgame v Richard, eventually Mark offered a draw with Richard on 11 seconds left. Pako was meant to play on board 5 however due to a number of problems including a strangely acting SatNav he was unable to make it in time. The result keeps us mid-table and the updated table can be found here.

Cumnor 1 v Cowley 3 [Match Report]

Thursday night saw Cumnor 1 gain another win in the league to make it 4 wins in a row.

Cumnor 1 Cowley 3
1 Stevens, Gareth (149) 1-0 Marcus, Clifford (163)
2 Varney, Andrew (146) 1-0 Keeling, David (144)
3 Terrington, Simon () ½ – ½ Mate, Maria (140)
4 Glenn, Liam (140) ½ – ½ Viscu, Catalin (139)
5 Varney, Daniel (133) 1 – 0 Taylor, John F (137)
6 Sayers, Mark (134) 1 – 0 Stanley, William (Bill) (128)
Match played: 23 Jan 2014 5-1

Cumnor 1 fielded an unchanged team for the match and in typical fashion the first person to finish was Daniel, his opponent blundered a Knight in the midgame. Andrew went a piece for a couple of pawns up in the opening and went on to win. Liam and Simon entered drawish endgames and both agreed draws within seconds of each other, Liam was waiting for Simon to agree a draw so that his draw wound put us 3-1 up! Mark finished next with another win to make the win safe for Cumnor and Gareth playing on top board gained his first win of the season to complete the rout. Cumnor 1 are now in 3rd, the table can be found here.

Cumnor 1 v Wantage 1 [Match Report]

Cumnor 1 made it three wins in a row on Thursday night vs Wantage 1.

Cumnor 1 Wantage 1
1 Stevens, Gareth (149) 0 – 1 Bush, Martin L (158)
2 Varney, Andrew (146) ½ – ½ Piggott, Roly (147)
3 Terrington, Simon () ½ – ½ Hemmings, Peter (143)
4 Glenn, Liam (140) 1 – 0 Ashford, Martin E (131)
5 Varney, Daniel (133) 1 – 0 Richards, Simon A (127)
6 Sayers, Mark (134) 1 – 0 Cordon, Ray (103)
Match played: 06 Jan 2014 3.5-2.5

The first game to finish was Liam’s, he quickly gained a better position playing against his favourite opening (the Caro-Kann) and eventually won a knight. Simon playing with the Caro-Kann as black, gained a draw against Peter Hemmings. Daniel also picked up another win to make it 2.5-0.5 to Cumnor 1. The remaining games created a tense atmosphere. Andrew lost under time pressure but Mark managed to win the endgame against Ray Corden putting us 3.5-1.5 up and winning the match. Gareth had a massive time advantage against his opponent in a complicated position but Martin Bush had just enough time to win, he had 1 minute 12 seconds left when Gareth resigned.

Cumnor 1 v Bicester 1 [Match Report]

Cumnor 1 picked up another win on Thursday night vs Bicester 1.

Our second league win of the season was helped in part due to Bicester defaulting on two boards. Liam and Mark sat out meaning we started 2-0 up.

Cumnor 1 Bicester 1
1 Stevens, Gareth (149) 0 – 1 Hepworth, Nicholas J (156)
2 Varney, Andrew (146) ½ – ½ Burcham, Anthony (133)
3 Terrington, Simon () 1 – 0 Earl, Chris (115)
4 Glenn, Liam (140) 1 – 0 Default
5 Varney, Daniel (133) 0 – 1 Corduff, Ian ()
6 Sayers, Mark (134) 1 – 0 Default
Match played: 05 Dec 2013 3.5-2.5

Daniel lost his game while Simon playing his first game for Cumnor, won after gaining material in the opening. Gareth lost his game in a drawn endgame. Andrew agreed a draw in spite of there still being play in the position, to win the match for Cumnor.

Cumnor 1 vs Oxford City 2 [Match Report]

Last Thursday saw Cumnor 1 gain their first league win of the season at home to Oxford City 2.

After suffering a couple of heavy losses in recent weeks, it was Cumnor’s turn to move up a gear and win handsomely.

Cumnor 1 City 2
1 Stevens, Gareth (149) 0 – 1 Smith, Roger A ( )
2 Varney, Andrew (146) 1 – 0 Biswas, Karl (147)
3 Glenn, Liam (140) 1 – 0 Yates, John O (142)
4 Varney, Daniel (133) 1 – 0 Godfrey, David (140)
5 Sayers, Mark (134) 1 – 0 Smith, Lucy K (125)
6 Carr, Robin (126) 1 – 0 Brooke, Ian R (109)
Match played: 21 Nov 2013 5 – 1

The first to finish was Daniel who played the Smith-Morra gambit as white. He sacrificed two pieces in the build-up to the mate.

Gareth on top board played against a Smith-Morra and suffered the same fate, 1-1.

Andrew won a piece early in the game and went in to win, while Liam was under a lot of pressure but wiggled his away out to end up in a better position.

Robin and Mark also won to produce a 5-1 win for Cumnor 1!

Even more shocking is that this win puts us up to 4th place (for now at least) in Division Two.

Current state of Division 2

Cumnor 1 vs Witney 2 [Match Report]

Cumnor Chess Club’s depleted first team lost 5-1 on Thursday night at home to Witney 2.

Cumnor 1 Witney 2
1 Stevens, Gareth (149) 0 – 1 Truran, Michael (188)
2 Glenn, Liam (140) 0 – 1 Weston, Richard (157)
3 Carr, Robin (126) 0 – 1 Searle, Howard AJ (147)
4 Steel, Robert (87) 0 – 1 O’Byrne, Daniel (143)
5 Ives, Marc ( ) ½ – ½ Edwards, Derek F (143)
6 Ives, Leonora ( ) ½ – ½ Smith, Paul ( )
Match played: 31 Oct 2013 1 – 5

Games against Witney 2 are always difficult, and this time things weren’t helped by a number of Cumnor 1 players being unavailable due to holidays, work and sickness.

Gareth Stevens played against Mike Truran on top board, a close game was played out between the two players however Mike had enough to win.

Liam Glenn had a great game with Richard, both players went on the attack very early. However, a small miscalculation by Liam allowed Richard to gain a tempo and went on to win. Richard pointed out that the last time they played, they where playing on board 6 of their respective teams!

Both Robin Carr and Robert Steel had hard games against much stronger players, and both went on to lose.

It was Marc Ives and young Leonora Ives who stepped up to the mark and gained some points for Cumnor 1.

Marc had a close game and got the draw as Derek was slipping into time trouble and Leonora was winning her game but her opponent managed a repetitive check. He was very complimentary about her game.

Our next game is Wednesday against Didcot 1 who have won both of their games so far this season. We have sadly lost both. :(

The Season Starts Here…

The first games of the season are starting this week!

Cumnor 1 are first in action against Wantage 1 away on Tuesday evening. The same fixture last year saw Cumnor 1 come out 3.5-2.5 winners in the last game of the season.

Cumnor 2’s first game is playing Wantage 2 on Thursday at home, in a fixture which is always a close match.

Cumnor 1 then play in the first round of the Frank Wood Shield against Wantage (again!) the following Tuesday. However, they are playing Wantage 2 and need to win 4.5-1.5 minimum to progress.

If they do progress they will meet Cowley 1.

The last match of the month is a Cumnor 1 match against Witney 2 on Halloween (spooky!).

Hope to see many of you at the club in the coming weeks, as we hope to get a good start for both teams this season.