Tag: Wantage Chess Club

When Cumnor 1 last pitted itself against Wantage 1 in a chess match, we pulled off an unexpected victory.

So, it was with fingers crossed for a repeat performance that the Cumnor 1 team again made the journey to Wantage 1 for an away game.

Well, we always knew it was going to be an uphill struggle against a strong Wantage team, with their players outgunning ours with higher grades on every board – and, sadly, that’s borne out by the result.

Liam Glenn (140) started well as Black, and gained a past pawn on d3 early on in the middle game. However, his opponent quickly countered and he lost an exchange – Bishop for Rook. Later analysis revealed that this wasn’t as bad as first imagined, and Liam managed to gain a better pawn structure that allowed him to queen his extra pawn. Well done Liam!

A solid game was played by Mark Sayers (134), who gained a strong initiative in the middle game. Mark played a tactical sequence with a strong attack on his opponent’s King, but missed an opportunity to gain a winning position. Unfortunately, he fell behind on time and this eventually proved to be his downfall as there was just five minutes left as the game entered the end game.

Pako Alvarez (114) “fought like a lion”, but sadly it wasn’t enough on this occasion. Despite winning an extra pawn with his Queen’s Gambit opening, the situation changed rapidly and Pako found himself under permanent attack. Pako felt forced to exchange his king’s rook for his opponent’s knight. After that, his Wantage opponent mopped up the board by exchanging pieces and winning material.

Most chuffed of the Cumnor players on the night was Graham Cluley (113), on board six, who claims he played an opening he’d never tried in a match before – the Dutch Stonewall.

Almost certainly rapidly leaving the normal book line, Graham managed to pin his opponent’s knight and increase pressure against his opponent’s king side. However, the noose wasn’t tight enough, and white was able to swap his Queen for a black rook and bishop. This proved to be a sensible exchange for White, who had mating chances.

Ultimately, however, the combination of Graham’s Queen versus white’s knight and rook proved too powerful, allowing him to mop up white’s pawns, push his own and force a win.

Thanks to everyone who played.

The Cumnor 1 chess team caused an upset on Tuesday night, managing to beat Wantage 1.

With some of Cumnor 1’s players unavailable to play because of vacations, Wantage might have been expecting a less than challenging match. How mistaken they were!

Liam Glenn (129) was the first to finish his game, somehow managing to get a win after his opponent weakened his kingside attempting an attack. Liam managed to deflect the attack and gained enough material to force his opponent to resign.

Junior player Daniel Varney (111), who was playing his first ever game in Division 2, and his second game in two consecutive evenings for Cumnor, won against Simon Richards (141) with a very quick Smith-Morra kingside attack.

Steve Bennett (108) and Mike Jones (117) both drew against, again, much stronger players with both playing with black.

Andrew Varney (143) secured the win for Cumnor, with a draw against a player rated a mighty 204! Understandably, Andrew feels pretty good about that!

Mark Sayers (141) was the last Cumnor player to finish. Mark played a very long game, and with only seconds left on his clock found himself in a Knight vs Bishop endgame. Unfortunately, Mark had the knight.

Cumnor 1 can feel very proud of their performance against Wantage, outranked as we were on every board by the opponents’ grades.

Nice work chaps!

Back in December, a team of six brave Cumnor 2 chess players visited Wantage – seizing victory 4-2 on Wantage 2’s home turf.

Last night, it was time for the rematch, and Wantage 2 visited Cumnor Chess Club to play the Cumnor 2 squad.

Here’s how the different games went:

Liam Glenn (129), played Black on board one against the experienced Peter Hemmings (132), and appeared for most of the game to be in a stronger position. Unfortunately, as Liam seemed to be pressing home his advantage, he overlooked something which had appeared insignificant, and the tide rapidly turned. Well-considered play by White resulted in a win for Wantage, and put an end to a series of excellent match results for Liam.

Michael Jones (117), on board two, feels he’s had a bad run recently, and approached the chessboard with a certain degree of trepidation.

Playing as White, Mike played a fairly closed game, hoping his opponent would get bored and make a silly mistake. Mike’s experienced opponent didn’t fall into the trap, however, and Mike’s attempts to get his bishop behind enemy lines and force a mating position were rebuffed.

Realising that the game had reached an impasse, Black offered a draw which Mike gladly accepted.

Although claiming he couldn’t remember the last time someone played the Ruy Lopez against him, Graham Cluley (118) played confidently as Black, and managed to pin down most of his opponent’s major pieces, tying them in the tightest of knots.

White critically weakened his defences by advancing the pawns in front of his King, perhaps to attempt some counterplay, but the killer blow was a dramatic Bishop sacrifice by Graham after which there was no doubt as to the outcome. A win for Cumnor 2!

On board four, Cumnor 2 captain Steve Bennett (110) played strongly with an English opening, and gained a piece over his opponent. Careful, methodical play ultimately resulted in another win for Cumnor 2.

Meanwhile, on board five, Robert Steel (89) lost his match. However, I didn’t see any of it – so I can’t possibly explain what happened! Robert, if you want to fill in the gaps, please feel free!

Richard Harrop (56), on board six, spent most of the game a pawn done. He managed to rectify this in the endgame, but due to two opposite-squared bishops the game ended in a draw due to “repetitive check syndrome”!

Cumnor 2 vs Wantage 2 result:
3 – 3

Cumnor 2’s next chess match is an away game against Witney 4, on Monday 22 April.