In a
dramatic first session, Inverclyde Central made a good start in their efforts
to win promotion from Division 3 of the Scottish National Chess League. Their
first match was against Lanark, and Inverclyde, with significant grading
advantages on three out of the five boards could consider themselves
favourites. They got off to an excellent start as David Logue’s opponent fell
in to an opening trap and resigned - facing checkmate after only a dozen moves.
Things swiftly turned against Inverclyde though, as Lanark struck back, winning
on boards three and five; defeat looked imminent, as Kevin McDonald got into
difficulties on the top board. However, his opponent overlooked a critical
threat in Kevin’s attack, and Kevin was able to force resignation despite being
heavily behind in material. This meant that the match would be decided on Andy
Smith’s board four. Andy had been in a very difficult position, but gradually
managed to co-ordinate his pieces, and draw the game, securing an overall tie.
This result was a little disappointing given Inverclyde’s grading advantages,
but at the end Inverclyde’s players very relieved to have fought back to claim
a point.
The
afternoon game versus Pentland Hills presented Inverclyde with a similar level
of challenge, with the gradings again favouring them. Once again though, things
did not go to plan: as David Logue’s early win was cancelled out by Kevin
McDonald’s surprise defeat on board one. Andy Smith produced a good win on
board four, but Pentland Hills took board five, taking the score to 2-2 with
one match to finish.
In this game Inverclyde’s Andrew Curran had a small
material advantage, but his opponent’s pieces were very active, and he was able
to create many threats. The drama was heightened by Andrew being very short of
time compared to his opponent. Andrew played skilfully and was able to extend
his advantage to secure a clearly winning position. The question was whether or
not he would be able to win the game before he ran out of time. While his
opponent constantly sought to check Andrew’s king and retard his progress;
Andrew advanced his pawn, threatening to promote it to a queen and secure a
decisive advantage. Andrew’s opponent had to place his King in the corner of
the board to prevent this, and Andrew used the opportunity to encircle it with
his pieces, while his time remaining got lower and lower. Just when it seemed
that he would run out of time, Andrew found a series of powerful moves, which
culminated in checkmate with six seconds remaining!
The win gave Inverclyde a
3-2 victory, and two vital points in their promotion quest.
Inverclyde
will take on Oban and Dumfries & District in their next round of fixtures
at the end of November. They will need to at least match their first round
results to keep in contention for promotion.
Full
Results:
|
Bd
|
Grade
|
Inverclyde
|
(3)
|
vs
|
(4)
|
Lanark
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
|
1
|
2069
|
McDonald, Kevin
|
1
|
-
|
0
|
Brownlee, Ian G
|
1698
|
Home Win
|
|
2
|
1696
|
Logue, David
|
1
|
-
|
0
|
Brown, Tom W B
|
1592
|
Home Win
|
|
3
|
1666
|
Curran, Andrew D
|
0
|
-
|
1
|
Bond, Alexander
|
1480
|
Away Win
|
|
4
|
1391
|
Smith, Andy
|
½
|
-
|
½
|
Nicol, John B
|
1441
|
Draw
|
|
5
|
1328
|
Fisher, Alex
|
0
|
-
|
1
|
Burns, Anthony
|
1271
|
Away Win
|
|
2½
|
-
|
2½
|
||||||
|
Bd
|
Grade
|
Pentland Hills
|
(8)
|
vs
|
(3)
|
Inverclyde
|
Grade
|
Comments
|
|
1
|
1616
|
Bauld, Robin W
|
1
|
-
|
0
|
McDonald, Kevin
|
2069
|
Home Win
|
|
2
|
1605
|
Nisbet, Charles
|
0
|
-
|
1
|
Logue, David
|
1696
|
Away Win
|
|
3
|
1458
|
Pearson, Walter J
|
0
|
-
|
1
|
Curran, Andrew D
|
1666
|
Away Win
|
|
4
|
1436
|
Heathwood, Richard
|
0
|
-
|
1
|
Smith, Andy
|
1391
|
Away Win
|
|
5
|
1247
|
Wallace, Jim
|
1
|
-
|
0
|
Fisher, Alex
|
1328
|
Home Win
|
|
2
|
-
|
3
|
||||||
