Tag: match report

Match report: Cumnor 1 v. Didcot 1

So last night chess returned to Cumnor Old School for the first time in over 18 months!

It was so nice to welcome Didcot 1 for one of the opening matches of the 21-22 season, and just great both to see so many familiar faces after all this time and to welcome a new one or two into the fold. COVID of course meant we had to be careful about a few things like keeping socially distanced where possible and having the Old School’s windows open in late September, but all in all it didn’t intrude too much into an enjoyable evening.

As for the games Stuart was first to finish. He dropped a pawn to Andy early in the opening, only for Andy to return the compliment with interest, losing a knight to a queen fork. It was over soon after that once Stuart activated his pieces, 1-0 Cumnor.

I (Ian) was next. I had a bit of an advantage out of the opening – more space; a bit of an initiative; a little bit of pressure down the d file; more active pieces. Basically while I had no game winning threats white’s position was easier to play than black’s. Florian worked hard to activate his pieces, but as is typical in such position he got a bit too optimistic, which lead to dropping a knight, and soon after the game. 2-0 Cumnor.

Eldar was playing a fascinating game on board 1 against Nick Gough, a heavyweight clash indeed! Eldar on the black side of an Advance French had grabbed white’s pawn on d4 with his queen, so while a pawn up his queen had very few squares and it would have been so easy to let it get trapped. One position I remember distinctly. On first glance Be3 won the queen, but on looking harder back rank threats saved it – all very complicated! Anyway Eldar navigated all the problems, and as is his way won with the extra pawn. In fact Eldar has previous here, winning a very high quality game in the same line against Dave Hackett in 17-18 4NCL, see below for the game.

So Cumnor were 3-0 up, and couldn’t lose. but the other 3 boards were far from foregone conclusions. Simon’s game on board 5 against Gary Reynolds was interesting. Gary as white had mangled his pawn structure with doubled, isolated h pawns to gain pressure down the open g file against a backward pawn on g7. On going through some of the game afterwards Simon and I demonstrated our different chess philosophies, I very much liked White because of the pressure, Simon preferred black because of the long term structural advantage. As is often the semi-conducting monster told us the truth was somewhere in between … Let’s say dynamic equality. After various excursions Simon lost in the endgame – I suspect as much because he was much lower on time as anything else. 3-1 to Cumnor.

I didn’t see the end of the other two games as I was going through Simon’s with him. On board 6 I thought Mark looked good early on, but his opponent managed to unravel his position and established a strong knight on e5 which Mark couldn’t kick away with a pawn. It went down to a Q+B endgame, which Tony won – 3-2 to Cumnor.

So it came down to board 3. The last time I saw Nigel’s game he was 2 pawns down in a N+P endgame. But, as is his way, he managed to swindle a win. Nigel, how do you keep doing this? A few lessons would be much appreciated. 4-2 to Cumnor!

So a tough and exciting match – I think we just deserved to win it, but then again I’m biased. And with Cowley drawing at Banbury it leaves us top of the table!

Cumnor 1 v Bicester 1 [Match Report]

Cumnor 1 kicked off the season with a draw against Bicester 1 on Thursday night.

cumnor-1-v-bicester-1

On board 6, Chris was playing his first game for Cumnor, even though he lost the game he did say he enjoyed it.

Move 24 Rd3! Black now can't stop 25 Rh3#
My game (white) against Richard Beckett (black) move 24 Rd3! Black now can’t stop 25 Rh3#
I was the next to finish and the final position found been seen right after a Bishop sac on h6. Daniel and Mark finished shortly after, both picking up wins giving Cumnor 1 a 3-1 lead.

Andrew went a piece down after some good play from Tony and Gareth was forced to carry on playing as a Bicester win would draw the match while any other result would lead to a Cumnor victory.

Mike after the match admitted that he would have accepted a draw if the result had already be confirmed.

Unfortunately, Gareth missed a Knight fork and went an exchange down which gave Mike enough material and time to win the game.

The early table can be found here on the Oxfordshire chess website. Our next game is on Monday against Cowley 3 which should be another exciting match. This weekend is the Forth Witney Congress at Cokethorpe School more information can be found here, currently 4 Cumnor Players are amongst the other 65 players.

MCS/B1 v Cumnor 1 and Cumnor 1 v Cowley 3 [Match Report]

After the spectacular start to the season with a 6-0 win against Wantage 1, Cumnor 1 landed with a bump when we took on Magdalen School College (MCS) on Wednesday, the 21st.

Similarly to the Wantage match, many of the games where closer than the score suggests.

#MCS/B1vsCumnor 1
1.D'Souza-Eva, Jon (184)1-0Varney, Zoe (171)
2.Moyse, Nigel (172)1-0Glenn, Liam (157)
3.Cole, James (168)1-0Varney, Daniel (151)
4.Harskin, Robin (159)1-0Sayers, Mark (143)
5.Cole, Graham (156)1-0Cluley, Graham (116)
6.Ward, Eric (135)1-0Bennett, Steve (105)
Result6-0

A word of congratulations to the MSC team for wining the match, the rest of the division will be shaking in their boots.

We are looking forward to getting some revenge on 28th January when we welcome MSC to Cumnor for the return match.

Our following game was against Cowley 3 at home a week later on the 29th.

CCC1 v Cowley 3

Cowley put at a strong team, maybe they had heard about our 6-0 win against Wantage 1 earlier in the month. But as you can see the result was a draw in a very close match.

FullSizeRender

Gareth is in a puzzling endgame against Richard with the seconds ticking away. Gareth’s clock eventually fell while on the verge of victory.

So after three games we have one win, one draw and one loss and sit mid-table in division two. Check the table out here.

Out next game is in a couple of weeks away to Banbury.

Cowley 3 v Cumnor 1 [Match Report]

Cowley Chess ClubCumnor 1 played the last match of the season on Monday, away to Cowley 3. Both teams were comfortably mid-table of Division Two, with only third place up for grabs for the winners. But the match was still a competitive contest on all six boards.

The first to finish was Steve who got a draw on the bottom board. Steve has gained quite a reputation in the club for drawing – maybe we should implement the FIDE “no more draws” rule which was announced on April 1st? :)

In my game, I had a poor position coming out of the opening which I never really recovered from and eventually lost the game.

Mark looked to be doing well on board 4. Going into the endgame he had three extra pawns – but Queen and Pawn endgames are notoriously difficult to win, and he had to draw out.

Andrew meanwhile had a challenging game against Oscar – a draw was offered by Andrew but rejected by Oscar, and Oscar eventually went on to win.

Simon played a junior on the top board called Arvin Hu. I knew Arvin was going to be a hard player to beat as he slipped his strawberry milk.

Impressively, Arvin managed to win against Simon, which shows he could have a great future ahead of him (Arvin that is, not Simon) and I don’t think anyone will fancy playing him in the coming years.

Graham had a game which he was winning right up until he entered the endgame. A time scramble commenced and Graham’s position started to look a little shaky.

Cluley vs Stanley

Graham takes up the commentary:

“A little shaky? It was downright precarious. Black had two very advanced pawns which I really should have nobbled when I had the chance earlier in the game, but I was distracted by my own plans. Despite winning Black’s Queen I failed to halt the promotion of one of the pawns, and before I knew it… I was on the ropes, with only seconds remaining on the clock.”

“By now I had no time to find good moves. I was just looking for legal moves.”

“Black was seconds away from mating me – with no chance of me rescuing things. But it was obviously my lucky day. Black’s clock ran out, with mine only having 20 seconds remaining…”

“It felt a little grubby and embarrassing to claim a victory in such a situation, but hey…”

“I dedicate my game to Simon Terrington, who cajoled me into playing d4 for the first time ever in a competitive game.”

All those hours at the Bear and Ragged Staff playing Blitz must be paying off.

Cowley 3 v Cumnor 1

In the end we lost 4-2 which means Cowley 3 take third and we finish in forth. However, everything being considered we have had a good season and I will do a little write up once all the leagues have finished.

Check out the final table here.

Cumnor 1 v Didcot 2 [Match Report]

With the only two games left a few things in division two of the Oxfordshire Chess League needs to be finalized.

TrophyBicester 1 are heading back into division 1 after a two year absence, with Cumnor 1 being the only team to win against them this season. At the bottom, Didcot 2 look like they are heading for the drop but they would stay up if they win their last two remaining games. One game against Cumnor 1 and a relegation decider against City 2.

But before we get too ahead of ourselves Didcot 2 needed to beat us to have any chance heading into the City 2 game. The return fixture earlier in the season saw Didcot 2 win against Cumnor 1 but Didcot would need a monumental effort to get the wins they need to reach safety.

Daniel’s game was interesting for two reasons, the first being it only lasted 13 moves and less than 30 minutes, while most of us have barely sat down Daniel was getting up with a victory. This isn’t too unusual, Daniel is known to play quickly and is often the first to finish but I think this could be a new record! Secondly, the win takes his percentage score to 93.75% (with 7 wins and a draw from his 8 games) which is not only the highest in the club but the highest in the league! The Bernard C Wyatt Memorial trophy is awarded to the player who scores the highest percentage in the league who has played more than half the games and it looks like it has Daniels name on it this season.

Gareth was the next to finish, with a victory on board 4. I was playing on board one against Roger Thetford, our game was close, I did have some play against his Kingside and a past pawn however Roger closed it off and I had to accept a draw.

Andrew had an exciting game with many tactics yet had to settle for a draw. This meant Didcot’s faint hopes on staying up where ended. Mark picked up a win on board 6 and Zoe completed the rout with a clinical triumph in a Rook endgame.

Cumnor 1 v Didcot 2

The result means Cumnor 1 have reached 13 points which is a record for us in the second division and we still have a game in hand which is away to Cowley on Monday. Cumnor 1 will finish 3rd in the table (again a record) unless Cowley beat us 4-2 or better on Monday evening.

Check out the table here.

Cumnor 2 v Witney 5 and City 4 (Abingdon Sch)

Junior Chess is well supported in Oxfordshire. Clubs with a strong Junior section include Cowley, Witney and ourselves along with the two School teams, Magdalen College School and Abingdon School.

Whenever we have a match in Division Four between Cowley or Witney, we give the juniors a chance to pit themselves against each other.

Thursday night presented one of these opportunities when we welcomed Witney 5 to Cumnor. The teams contained nine juniors out of the 12 players.

It was an unsuccessful evening for the Cumnor team, however it was a closer match than the 0.5-5.5 scoreline suggested.

Cumnor 2 v Witney 5

Monday evening saw Cumnor 2 head to Abingdon School who are currently in pole position at the top of the table. Cumnor 2 suffered a 5-1 defeat at the hands of the Abingdon Boys, with Mark’s win on Board 1 the sole highlight of an otherwise disappointing evening.

Cumnor 2 v City 4

Old-Abingdonian Richard was particularly disappointed with his loss playing for Cumnor on board six. Not only was he playing Black for the 12th (!) match in a row, but he also found himself taken down an unfamiliar variation of the Alekhine defence which saw him sent to an early bath.

Cumnor 2 play their final game of the season at home to Cowley 4 in April – a game that the boys from Abingdon would probably like us to win, as it will help them make the jump to Division 3.

Cumnor 1 v Oxford City 1 FWS [Match Report]

The draw for the 2014/15 Frank Wood Shield (FWS) was not particularly kind for Cumnor 1. Our first game was against Witney 1, currently the Champions of the Oxfordshire Leagues and winners of the Sheild twice in the last 3 years. However, we took them on and won! Well, technically it was a draw but the FWS is a handicap competition and we only needed to “lose” 2.5-3.5 to get into the next round. It was a spectacular result and for the match report please click here.

Simon. Zoe and Liam playing on the top three boards while Daniel and Mark look on.
Simon. Zoe and Liam playing on the top three boards while Daniel and Mark look on.
At least it couldn’t get any harder we said, how wrong we could be. The next round was against Oxford City 1, they are second in the top division with an arguably stronger set of players than Witney 1 to call from! The best analogy I have, is getting Chelsea in the first round of the FA cup beating them only to be “rewarded” in the next round by playing Manchester City and sadly we don’t get the TV money.

Nevertheless the team was in a confident mood for the match which took place at Cumnor on Thursday evening. Again like the first round, we only needed to “lose” 2.5-3.5 to get through or another way of putting it was we only need a draw and 2 wins out of the 6 boards (or better).

The first game to finish was Daniel’s game. An early kingside attack by Sean Terry put Daniel’s King under some pressure and he had to resign. Gareth went an exchange down but his Knight was well placed when entering the endgame meaning Philip Hayward did not have enough to win and the draw was agreed. Phillip even said he thought Gareth was better!

Mark pulled off the first shock of the night as he set up astonishing Queen sac which Lief Dixon missed. Mark never got to sac the Queen as Leif resigned once he spotted it. The pressure was all of a sudden on Cumnor, 1 more point from the remaining 3 games would take us over the finish line and into the next round.

Could you win this position with only 24 seconds left?
Could you win this position with only 24 seconds left?
My (Liams) opponent spent a large chunk of his time in the early midgame, the result was by move 25, with much more of the game remaining than had past and just as Marks game finished, Christian only had 5 minutes left while I had 45 minutes. The seconds lapsed by and I had to decide whether I could play well enough to make him slip up in time trouble or keep him at bay until his clock fell. As the seconds ticked by he opened the game, promoted his Pawns into Queens and checkmated me with only 7 seconds left. It was something like out of a James Bond film!

I will be honest I was concentrating on my game so much I did not see much of Simon’s and Zoe’s but both made their opponents work exceptionally hard so beat them.

CCC1 v City 1

The tie finished 1.5-4.5, a commendable result against such a strong team but sadly not enough to get us into the next round. Congratulations to City 1 as they are head into the next round with a game against Cowley 2 and I would not be surprised if the Sheild has City 1’s name on it come May.

As Simon summed it up best “Ahh well, that’s what makes sport great – there is no script. An interesting night and I learned a lot.”

A thanks goes to Sean Terry who took the pictures.

MCS/B1 v Cumnor 1 [Match Report]

“Tick Tock goes the clock and what now shall we play?”

I think this nursery rhyme sums up last Wednesday’s game vs Magdalen College School.

But let’s start at the beginning of the evening, MCS/B1 had a very strong team. I am guessing they had seen our recent results against Witney 1 and Bicester 1. As normal, I order this on how we finished but 2 hours 35 minutes into a 3 hour game, no one had finished.

I was the first to finish after 2 hours and 38 minutes played. I got a little lucky, I was a pawn down and had to lose a second just to try and get some counter play. Nigel looked like he played a smart move, pinning my Knight but he did not look far enough ahead and I won his Knight.

Gareth was down a pawn for most the game but ended up holding the position in the endgame. Gareth got it down to Bishops and a wrong rook pawn, click here for explanation.

Zoe was on top board after her rapid grade rise, the position was too complicated for me to analyse and Zoe did lose. Richard played very well against John who is 60 grading points above him. However, John had more active pieces against Richard’s King and delivered a checkmate.

I did not see much of Daniel’s game as I was notating Andrews game, as he was down to less than 5 minutes. But in the endgame Daniel got a pawn promoted and had many threats against Robin’s King which was more than enough to win.

With the match level at 2.5-2.5 it all went down to the last game. Andrew made a great effort to get to the match and both players had only minutes left while still in the midgame. A time scramble ensured but Andrew’s clock ran out of time first. The final score was 2.5-3.5, a close match but a loss for Cumnor.

“Tick Tock goes the clock and Cumnor lost this one”

MCS/B1 v Cumnor 1

Cumnor 1 v Cowley 3 [Match Report]

Cumnor 1 had an early Christmas present, after beating Cowley 3, 4-2 on Thursday night.

Cumnor 1 Cowley 3
1 Terrington, Simon (173) 1-0 Idle, Oscar (150)
2 Stevens, Gareth (147) 0-1 Robson, David W (149)
3 Glenn, Liam (147) 0-1 Rasell, Geoff C (147)
4 Varney, Zoe (149) 1-0 Keeling, David (136)
5 Sayers, Mark (139) 1-0 Stanley, William (Bill) (133)
6 Varney, Daniel (137) 1-0 Taylor, John F (131)
Match played on Dec 11 2014. 4-2

Cumnor 1 played the same starting 6 which had beaten Wantage 1 only 3 weeks before, so confidence was high. As tradition dictates Daniel was the first to finish with a win on the bottom board. I (Liam) was the next to go but I ended my night badly with a loss, mainly caused by Geoff playing very accurate and quick moves, poor piece co-ordination and some time trouble at the end. I might ask Father Christmas for an extra 10 minutes on my clock in my stocking this year.

Simon won for the third game in a row on the top board against Oscar just before Gareth lost his game on the board below.

Christmas chess

Zoe confirmed at least a draw for the team with her win and Mark finished it off with a win on board 6. So at the halfway point in the season we have 3 wins and 3 losses out of the 6 games, click here for the table.

The next game for either team isn’t until 2015 and a quick reminder that the club is closed on 25/12 (Christmas Day) and 1/1 (New Years).

The last club night of 2014 therefore is Thursday 18/12 with an exciting game between Mark and Simon to decide the winner of the 2014 Players Cup on offer and maybe some Mince Pies if you are lucky!

If I don’t see you before please eat, drink and be merry!