Post by jocls2004 on Nov 9, 2012 18:43:27 GMT
By a quirk of fate, Hastings & St Leonards have been drawn to play St Francis & Haywards Heath in the first round of three KO tournaments this season, two matches away, including this, in the SCCA minor tournament. The home side was officially designated as their 2nd, so it was somewhat surprising to see that their top two boards were graded 214 and 171, respectively, in an average-150 event. That meant that they could win the match on board count if the two top boards both won. Boards 3 and 4 were graded 108 and 100 (their ungraded junior was given a notional grade of 100, in accordance with the tournament rules).
The individual scores were:
Feliks Kwiatkowski (W) (204) ½-½ Bob Elliston (174)
Jeffrey Boardman (171) 1-0 Conrado Quintos (E 150)
David Everitt (108) 0-1 Derek Cosens (126)
Matthew Barton (100) 0-1 Con Power (124)
Hastings & St Leonards won the toss and elected to play White on odd boards.
On board 1, Bob Elliston faced Feliks Kwiatkowski and a 30-points grading disadvantage. He obtained a positional edge from a solid opening, but Feliks developed a kingside initiative and would have been much better until he took Bob's queen pawn with the wrong piece. That allowed Bob a combination which won him two rooks and a bishop for his queen. He put Feliks's king under tremendous pressure with a rook check on b1, supported by his knight on d2, and forced it out to f5. Exchanges led to an endgame in which Bob had two rooks, knight and 5 pawns versus queen and 6 pawns. Bob said that he coudn't get a mate but had a draw by repetition. If he had captured Feliks's queen for his rooks, the ending of his (Bob's) knight versus the two extra black pawns would have been problematic. He seemed afterwards to regret having to settle for a draw. This was the first game to finish and it was the result that in effect won the match.
Our board 2, Conrado Quintos arrived about 15 minutes late, having agreed to play at rather short notice, even though he had to drive after finishing work in Battle at 7.00 p.m. He obviously regretted declining a draw offer, as he came under severe pressure from Jeffrey Boardman's Evans Gambit. He lost the exchange and then the queens were exchanged, but Jeffrey's knight was trapped on h8 and eventually fell to the black king. However, Jeffrey was able to capture Conrado's knight on f6 with a passed pawn. Conrado suffered through lack of development of his queenside bishop and rook. In the endgame, he had a rook, 2 bishops, knight and 6 pawns to Jeffrey's 2 rooks, bishop, knight and 6 pawns. He played on but resigned on move 36 when he succumbed to a rook fork on one of his bishops and his knight.
Derek Cosens, who had been suffering from a migraine, faced David Everitt's Marshall attack but delayed capturing the offered pawn with the intermezzo h3. He exchanged his queen for two rooks and seemed to have a mating net, with the black king on g6. But exchanges ensued, leaving Derek with a knight and 5 pawns against David's 5 pawns: an easy win, with pawns on both wings. After the game (which was the last to finish), David said he had placed both his knights on poor squares and played too passively.
Con Power played a Semi-Slav against young Matthew Barton and was soon a pawn up. His opponent played a series of weak moves and lost the exchange. Multiple captures left Con with queen, rook and 6 pawns against queen, bishop and two pawns. Con then exchanged queens and queened his a-pawn. Matthew played on, hoping for a stalemate (which Con admitted he had to be careful to avoid), but was checkmated on move 52.
A satisfying 2½-1½ win, then, perhaps against the odds, and against the club that holds the trophy. But they still have their "1st" team who have yet to play . . . and they have an IM in the wings.
The individual scores were:
Feliks Kwiatkowski (W) (204) ½-½ Bob Elliston (174)
Jeffrey Boardman (171) 1-0 Conrado Quintos (E 150)
David Everitt (108) 0-1 Derek Cosens (126)
Matthew Barton (100) 0-1 Con Power (124)
Hastings & St Leonards won the toss and elected to play White on odd boards.
On board 1, Bob Elliston faced Feliks Kwiatkowski and a 30-points grading disadvantage. He obtained a positional edge from a solid opening, but Feliks developed a kingside initiative and would have been much better until he took Bob's queen pawn with the wrong piece. That allowed Bob a combination which won him two rooks and a bishop for his queen. He put Feliks's king under tremendous pressure with a rook check on b1, supported by his knight on d2, and forced it out to f5. Exchanges led to an endgame in which Bob had two rooks, knight and 5 pawns versus queen and 6 pawns. Bob said that he coudn't get a mate but had a draw by repetition. If he had captured Feliks's queen for his rooks, the ending of his (Bob's) knight versus the two extra black pawns would have been problematic. He seemed afterwards to regret having to settle for a draw. This was the first game to finish and it was the result that in effect won the match.
Our board 2, Conrado Quintos arrived about 15 minutes late, having agreed to play at rather short notice, even though he had to drive after finishing work in Battle at 7.00 p.m. He obviously regretted declining a draw offer, as he came under severe pressure from Jeffrey Boardman's Evans Gambit. He lost the exchange and then the queens were exchanged, but Jeffrey's knight was trapped on h8 and eventually fell to the black king. However, Jeffrey was able to capture Conrado's knight on f6 with a passed pawn. Conrado suffered through lack of development of his queenside bishop and rook. In the endgame, he had a rook, 2 bishops, knight and 6 pawns to Jeffrey's 2 rooks, bishop, knight and 6 pawns. He played on but resigned on move 36 when he succumbed to a rook fork on one of his bishops and his knight.
Derek Cosens, who had been suffering from a migraine, faced David Everitt's Marshall attack but delayed capturing the offered pawn with the intermezzo h3. He exchanged his queen for two rooks and seemed to have a mating net, with the black king on g6. But exchanges ensued, leaving Derek with a knight and 5 pawns against David's 5 pawns: an easy win, with pawns on both wings. After the game (which was the last to finish), David said he had placed both his knights on poor squares and played too passively.
Con Power played a Semi-Slav against young Matthew Barton and was soon a pawn up. His opponent played a series of weak moves and lost the exchange. Multiple captures left Con with queen, rook and 6 pawns against queen, bishop and two pawns. Con then exchanged queens and queened his a-pawn. Matthew played on, hoping for a stalemate (which Con admitted he had to be careful to avoid), but was checkmated on move 52.
A satisfying 2½-1½ win, then, perhaps against the odds, and against the club that holds the trophy. But they still have their "1st" team who have yet to play . . . and they have an IM in the wings.