CASTLEHILL SUMMER FUN ONLINE – Update: 05/08/20
TAFCA LEAGUE ONLINE – Match Report
Castlehill Chess Club kicked off it`s TAFCA League online campaign on Thursday 9th July with the division two derby between;
Castlehill Dragons (Avg grade 1047) & Castlehill Cobra`s (Avg grade 1367)!
Cobra`s (“C” team) were heavy favourites with a lot of bite, but did not get it all their own way as the Dragons (“D” team) proved they had some fire power as well.
- Board 4; Ramit Kanodia J12 (882) v (1164) Innes Ford
Ramit with white tried his best, but was always second best to an improving Innes who once he gets the bit between his teeth does not let his opponent off! It was revenge for the last time they played when Ramit won!Accuracy: White = 20%, Black = 84%
First blood to Cobra`s!
Dragons 0, Cobra`s 1
- Board 1: Subhayu Banerjee (1483) v (1161) Norman Waugh
Norman despite his grade is a very experienced player, but Subhayu`s grading strength and having the advantage of white was just too much in the end and Subhayu comfortably crossed the winning line with some nice moves. He may not have been at his best, but it was more than good enough in the end!Accuracy: White = 67%, Black = 28%
Subhayu`s win give`s the Cobra`s at least a draw, but they would be disappointed if that’s all they got after going 2-0 up!
Dragons 0, Cobra`s 2
- Board 3: Colm Hawkins (1350) v (1056) Daniel Coleman
This was a cracker of a game and given the grading difference between the players, it could be classed a remarkable game of chess! After 9 moves the game was all square, with white having the advantage of moving first only. But Colm seen the chance to play the bishop sack Bxh7 (Greek gift) and put his lesser graded opponent under a lot of pressure! But Daniel did not panic and played the next few moves perfectly and had the defence of Bf5 defending h7 from the white queens mate! In the end Daniel did not panic and found his way out of all the complications and pressure to deliver a really good mate to win the game. Daniel’s performance under pressure was nothing short of outstanding. It was not a sound sack by Colm, but it was not easy to find your way out of all the complications, but Daniel didAccuracy: White = 38%, Black = 89%
This gave the Dragons a life line and it all rested on the last match…
Dragons 1, Cobra`s 2
- Board 2: Marten Kats (1091) v (1472)e Peter Sallai
Peter as black always held a small advantage through the game (barring a couple of errors on both sides!), right up to move 30. But the next few moves from both players saw the game swing both ways as time was becoming a factor, especially for Peter! moved into a superior position, but time was his enemy has he went down to less than 10 seconds at one point and looked dead and buried!Was the Cobra going too be burned after all by the Dragon despite having more bite in the game? Unfortunately just as it looked like Marten might get the win on time, he blundered which gave Peter some hope as Marten started getting into time trouble as well now. Well it looked all over after Marten blundered for the second time, but “wow”;Peter squandered a mate in 1 on move 36 under intense time trouble!
This could have cost him and his team dear, but in the end with both players in time trouble it was Peter who held his nerve and got the win and the match for the Cobra`s! It was some match to play in and a fantastic match to watch and Marten and the Dragons can consider themselves a bit unlucky in the end. Marten you played very, very well, but you came up against a player who under colossal pressure held it together and got what his performance deserved!
Accuracy: White = 44%, Black = 50%
Dragons 1, Cobra`s 3
Congratulations to Castlehill Cobra`s on a great start to their league campaign and they hold top spot on board points. Castlehill Dragons can consider themselves a bit unlucky and if they can play like that in their next match, they will have a chance!
All the results and league tables are on the TAFCA website along with all the games played with analysis which you can play through or/and download. The TAFCA website has a lot of helpful info on it including video guides to help you on lichess!
Next week it’s the turn of the big teams in division one and another Castlehill derby against our A & B teams;
Castlehill Armadillo`s v Castlehill Bandicoots!
It all went well in the first week of this new competition and everybody involved seemed to have no problems with the mechanics of playing chess on lichess! It was a nice feature to be able to watch all the games, despite not being in the same room!
Almost as good as being at a OTB match!
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